The sword lashed out at Gregory’s head.
He parried the blow with his own blade, following up with a slash across his foe’s chest. The soldier stumbled backward, legs buckling. A final thrust made him drop into the muck.
Swords clashed, scraped against armor, hacked into shields. Heavy black smoke wafted over the vibrant blue of the sky, bringing the smell of burning pitch to his senses.
Gregory listened to the screaming and shouting of men on the battlefield and relished the moment.
A man with an axe in hand materialized out of nowhere, charging toward him.
Gregory’s shield, which had already taken more blows than he could count, blocked the incoming axe. With the weapon wedged deep into the oak, Gregory twisted to tear it from the man’s hands. Startled, his foe grasped for the lost axe but was met by a sword through chainmail and heart.
A distinct shout could be heard over the din of battle. Sir Robert was in trouble. Rushing through allies and enemies alike, Gregory managed to find his close friend bloodied in the mud. A hulking knight stood over him, a greatsword raised menacingly in his hands.
Gregory did not hesitate, ramming his sword through the man’s shoulder blades.
A cry of pain, followed by a short struggle, brought the knight to the ground, gasping his last breath. Gregory tore his sword from the body and offered his hand to Sir Robert.
“Thank God, you got here in time.” Though wounded, Sir Robert grasped Gregory’s hand with strength.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”
Robert’s eyes widened. “Sir Gregory, behind you!”
Before he knew it, a sword pierced through his back. Steel, shining a bright crimson, sprouted from his chest. He felt no pain, just shock.
Then he was torn back to reality.
§
“Greg Dawson and Rob Simmons, what do you think you’re doing?”
Greg let his head drop in resignation. He took a moment before removing his VR goggles and winced at the harsh light of the classroom. His teacher, Mr. Hendricks, had his own Virtual Reality cap on, goggles still over his eyes. Greg looked to Rob, sitting next to him, who was resignedly removing the thought-processing pads from his temples.
“Sorry, Mr. Hendricks. We got caught up in the moment.”
“Is that what you call it.” Mr. Hendricks frowned. “You were in the thirteen hundreds while the rest of the class had moved on to the Elizabethan era. You know the drill. Take off your VR gear.”
Greg, stifling a sigh, removed his own pads and pulled the VR cap off his head. While Mr. Hendricks resumed talking with the rest of the class, Greg leaned over and whispered to Rob.
“What happened? You were supposed to keep an eye out for him.”
“Sorry, man. I got beat by that NPC and Hendricks just showed up behind you. He got me right after.”
Greg huffed and they both strode over to the cupboard in the corner of the classroom. Greg reached out to open it and was welcomed by a cloud of dust. Coughing, he took out “their” two front copies of the old books, which were less dusty than the rest.
Back in their seats, Mr. Hendricks stepped up to the students removing his goggles.
“Now boys, how often are we going to have to go through this? You know you’re not allowed to play around with school property.” Obviously, Mr. Hendricks did his best to be authoritative, but then his stern expression mellowed slightly.
“I know how it can be… I enjoy playing Medieval Battleground just as much as the next guy, but if you’re going to do it, do it at home. Not in school. VRs are fun, but they’re not there to forget what’s real. So, go on. Open those books to chapter 4 and read about what actually happened, instead of playing around in your own make-believe worlds.”
Greg and Rob started reading, without 3D imaging, telepathic audio, or any other gadgets. It was a harsh punishment.
Kai Delmas loves creating worlds and magic systems. He is a slush reader for Apex Magazine and The Cosmic Background. His fiction can be found in Zooscape, Martian, Crepuscular, and several Shacklebound anthologies. His debut drabble collection, Darkness Rises, Hope Remains, was published by Shacklebound Books. If you like his work you can support him at patreon.com/kaidelmas and find him on Twitter @KaiDelmas or Bluesky @kaidelmas.bsky.social
If you enjoyed this story, you might also like these other stories by Kai:
“The Last Guardian of Tarugal”
“Salt is Life, Sand is Eternal”
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