DCO Prologue

"Siren, switch to a bow and give Locke support!"

"On it!" Siren's response to Eridu was seamless. In the same moment she received her order, the harp she was holding changed to a silver and gold longbow, and, in an instant, bolts of light streamed forth from her taking down skeleton after skeleton. “Eri, behind you!” Her warning came with an arrow fired right next to his head, landing right in a skeleton's eye, shattering the monster into a burst of shimmering dust.

"Yo! I need some help over here!" Locke was having trouble keeping the skeleton archers at bay while he also handled the skeletons around him. “Hurry!” His health bar was depleting fast; he couldn't keep up with the horde that developed around him.

Suddenly, out from Eridu's hand burst forth a volley of fireballs which engulfed the skeletons surrounding Locke in flames. Blue electricity began to erupt from Eridu's body, eliciting him to release a scream of pain as he collapsed to the ground. “I forgot, that was the last of my MP.” He said as he tried to stand back up, shaking as he tried to regain a sense of balance.

“Sit out for now. Just act as our Watch in case more of these things come out!” Locke was moving forward steadily as he countered the arrows coming at him. “Siren, get the archers on the far right. I'll handle the rest!” He activated a taunt, causing all of the archers to be forced to attack him, regardless of any outside aggro.

“Should I destroy them or just weaken them?” Siren replied as she shot an arrow into each of the archers.

“Destroy them. Get the experience for yourself.” Locke smiled as he declared his attack, “TORNADO SWEEP!” Immediately, Locke began to spin rapidly, his blades striking down archers one at a time. It wasn't a powerful skill, nor did it last long, but it granted its user immunity from nearly any weaker ranged attack during its three-second duration.

“Trouble!” Eridu shouted. “Five hell riders between Level 7 and 10 coming in! We have maybe a few seconds til they arrive.”

As Siren made the last of her skeletons fade to dust, she reached into her bag and grabbed a bottle of blue liquid, passing it to Eridu, “Drink! Now!”

“Thanks!” Eridu downed the mana potion as quickly as possible, but didn't finish before a skeleton riding a large black dog came charging through, barreling into him. “OOMF!”

“ERI!” As fast as she could, Siren landed arrow after arrow into the hell rider, but was unable to destroy it before a second came through swinging its sword into her back. As the pain coursed through her, she fell over, unable to make a sound while the two hell riders turned to charge at Locke.

Without a second thought, Locke rushed between the oncoming hell riders, dragging his twin blades through the monstrous dogs alongside him. “Come and get me!” His taunt did the trick; the two hell riders ran after Locke as he kited them away from his teammates while they tried to regain their strength. “Hurry! Take out the skeletons! We can deal with the mutts afterwards!”

Without hesitation, arrows and fireballs pelted the two skeleton riders, quickly turning them, skeleton and hell hound alike, to dust. As soon as the skeletons disappeared, three more hell riders joined the remaining hell hounds, forcing the group to reunite, now surrounded by the monsters. “Locke, do you have a taunt still?” Urgency emanated from Eridu's voice.

“Just one, but it only targets enemies that hit me for a short time after I use it.”

“If you can get it to work, do so!”

Locke's body began to glow as he initiated his taunt, saying, “This won't last for long, so whatever your plan is, make it qui-!” Before he could finish, the rider-less hell hounds lunged at the group, prompting Locke to intercept their attacks. “I have the mutts, but the target window is about to close!” As one of the hell riders swung its blade, Locke moved to take the strike, but as the blow landed, the glow emanating from Locke faded off. “Shit! I don't know if that was in the window or not, so hurry with whatever you're planning!”

“CAPTURE SEAL!” Eridu declared as vines erupted from the ground entangling the enemies collapsing them on the ground. “This will hold the ones not affected by the taunt for a moment, while those affected will be stuck til the Taunt wears off or someone else draws Aggro. Locke, focus on the hell hounds. Siren focus on the skeleton riders. I'll work on the hell hounds that still have riders.”

In unison, Locke and Siren declared their acknowledgment, “Understood!” The group began chipping away at the enemies and their HP. The majority of their Skills were on Cooldown, and many more of those that weren't were of no use in the moment. As Siren shot her last arrows, the skeleton riders burst into a stream of cackles, laughing as they turned to dust, the vines snapping apart into nothing more than frayed cords.

All five hell hounds turned their sights on Siren, growling and barking as they encircled her, swatting away Locke and Eridu. “What the hell is going on?” Siren's shouts of distress barely being heard over the sounds of the pack moving in on its prey. “HELP!”

Suddenly, Locke sprang forth trying to attack the hell hounds only to be thrust away as they continued their march. “Eri, you bastard, why aren't you doing anything?”

“There's nothing either of us can do.” Eridu's voice, flat from the realization, continued, “This is the skill Hell's Quarters, it's a hell hound exclusive skill that allows three or more hell hounds to encircle a single prey, as they prepare their attack. Nothing outside of the circle can hurt them, and given Siren's stats, she can't either, not without a weapon, that is. It's a form of tank ability. All we can do is wait for them to attack her. Once they do, we can attack them.”

“If all five attack her at once, then she'll die!” Locke rushed the hell hounds again, thinking he can get around the system. As he hit a hell hound, he got sent flying, taking damage as he crashed into the ground. “Don't just stand there!” The hell hounds pounced, four of them pinning Siren's limbs beneath their paws while a fifth stood on her body, its face snarling as it got closer to hers. “Get off of her!” His sword swung down landing a fatal blow on of the hell hounds, reducing its remaining HP to nothing, freeing one of her legs. As he sliced at the hell hound, it caught fire as Eridu sent a stream of Fire Balls into its pelt. The hell hound didn't seem to care, instead of retaliating, it pushed its nose into Siren's neck.

Pitiful moans arose from Siren as the hell hound bared its fangs, teeth against her armor-less skin. To give its leader more time, the hell hound on her other leg moved, blocking Eridu's fireballs while striking at Locke as he tried to draw near. As the hell hound leader opened its jaws, Siren drew silent, fear overtook her. “Locke,” Eridu began, “if we let her die, we can focus on the hell hounds.”

“Like hell!” Locke's anger rose even more. Just then, the icon for Tornado Sweep illuminated again, becoming available to use once more. “TORNADO SWEEP!” As he began spinning once more, Siren screamed as her body shattered to dust beneath the paws of the hell hounds. Furious, Locke struck down the first hell hound with a single strike, moving to the one who killed Siren immediately after. As his blades kept slicing into its flank, he saw its snarled lips with a trail of blood running down. Before he could kill it, his timer ran out. Little did he realize, the other two positioned themselves around him, while Eridu kept shooting fireballs into them. Before he could do anything, the hell hounds leaped at him. Suddenly, everything went black.

\* \* \*

“DAMN IT!” Fists pounded against a keyboard as a young man looked at his computer monitor in frustration. “This is the first fucking area, and I already died!” As the screen returned to color, the following display appeared.

```
Welcome to Sanctuary, Leo Lockheart. As you know, your avatar “Locke” died. Here, we have brought back your avatar as this was your set “Respawn Point”. These Sanctuaries can be found in every major city, and if you die after visiting a city with a Sanctuary, your Respawn will occur at that city's Sanctuary, at a cost of  EXP based on your Level at the time of your death. If you take a look in your Inventory, you will notice that a random number of your Items are now missing and you have a SOUL GEM PIECE. The Items that disappeared are stored in that Soul Gem Piece. From here on, you won't receive these reminders. What you do with this information is your choice. Enjoy.

```

"Hmm... so you lose Items and EXP when you die..." Leo thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair. "That's... inconvenient." As he turned back to his computer, he moved his character out of the Sanctuary to see Siren and Eridu Enki waiting for him.

"Took ya long enough, Locke!" A voice came over Leo's headset as the Grande City, Arhilde, appeared on his screen.

"Yeah?" Leo just laughed. "At least I learned something when I respawned, How about you?"

"So what? We die and lose EXP. Big deal." Eridu's avatar shrugged.

"That's not all..." Siren started, noticeably shaken and crying a little.

Leo continued, "She's right. We also lose random Items. Hey, are you okay, Si?" No response.

"She's using VR just like me, Leo." Eridu paused thinking how to continue. "When I was killed, it was quick. The hell hounds were ticked, not in the mood to play. But with her... Just remember, behind that screen, you're playing the game safe. For us, this is like a new reality. We feel the pain and fear of death... You just see characters on a monitor..."