Feature Windows the Fashionable Fey Install

Puck soothed his eyes by turning away from the game to gaze out the window.

It was one of those feature windows the fashionable Fey install, that can change their view every twenty minutes or so. The scenes showing are actual places that exist – and they act as a living portal into these different lands, though they are far away.

"What country is it this time?" Bart asked excitedly, chewing on a lump of buttered toast. He and the others had been keeping watch with it, whenever they were awake.

"Hard to say - could be Mexico or maybe Peru."

"Finally, some solid land!" exclaimed Biff as he bolted over to see closer, then flipped the latch, heaving it up and open, leaping out through to the other side.

"Do you think he was a bit bored staying here so long?" Goober asked Puck, who was watching Biff disappear into the distance.

"I'd say so" he said casually, and then added, "I'll go get him in the morning after he discovers no one can see him - he still hasn't figured on being dead yet."


-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Many Kinds of Dead

"Puck's dead! He's dead! They've killed him! Finally no more!"

"No he's not" said Goober shaking his head, "he just looks dead ... let me show you” he pointed at the screen with a touch of authority.

"See - he gets right back up again ... just wait for the zombies to finish picking his flesh off his bones, and then he is ready to go again".

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

He had no Control of this Character

Puck reluctantly went over to the screen to see what Goober was going crazy about. And there it was - his very own Avatar of him - only he had no control of this character - someone else had created it.

With a perfect likeness, the game of WAR had not only crafted him into their storyline, but evidently made him out to be a target. Comet spears were being hurled at the Puck in the game and players were rewarded with special powers for striking him.

"He's even got a name like yours" Goober laughed. "Oh really? And what is it then?"
"Puke" said Goober.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

He was not used to having Enemies

He had been heavily depressed for three days now, since moving in with the 'boys' into Goober's apartment.

"Yep! There you are!" Goober motioned for Puck to get up and join him, "you have to see this!"

Puck did not want to see it - he heard Goober loud and clear telepathically and felt crushed. He was not used to having enemies, and this one made him sick with despair. It was personal, it was dangerous, and he could not back off - not now.

"It's hilarious" Goober yelled.

Goober was jiggling the controls and wore that weird open-eyed look that folk get when they have been playing online for far too long.

"Look Peanut-head, this is not hilarious, it's hurtful - amongst other things” Puck muttered to himself.

Biff, Jobe and Bart had all fallen asleep sitting upright. It was the air causing it, and also their being in a house of Fae. The effect meant that they could not stay awake for very long, however, when they were unconscious they were happy, for the dreams in Goober's apartment were always soothing and cheerful.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Seedpods were Exploding Mid Air

There was nothing to be done - in the five minutes or so it had taken Puck to navigate his way back into the Etheric Forest the branches of his home were showering ashes, and seedpods were exploding mid air.

The entire upper level was covered in black and thick oily smoke that was seeping up through the ground at the base of the tree. Biff, Bart and Jobe sat on the grass nearby smoking. Each thought that the other had been the cause of it.

"Can't you just put back time?" Bartholomew asked, trying to salve it all very quickly.

Puck shook his head gravely, no.
"I didn't think that enchanted homes could burn down" Biff objected.

"They can" answered Puck dolefully, "where magic has caused the fire in the first place".

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Spidercrawl (the Fey Web)

Puck did notice a large circular pendant that he wore under his shirt on the breastbone. It emanated a weird pulsing darkness, which was something that only a Fey could have seen. There were no clues as to what strange energy within was causing it. Puck had heard of foreign anti-matter that pulsed with dark rays, but had never seen any himself, he had however read the conjecture on Spidercrawl (the Fey Web).

Marsden had a magnetic implant that actually held the medallion in place, grafted under the skin – another of the gamer's new inventions.

They had sold them in the millions within one year of their release. What the wearers did not know was that each one had been encoded with individual tracking, activated by the WAR's resource unit, should they ever activate them.

Conspicuously Puck was the only one in the room not wearing one. He was all prepared to glamour them, however Marsden walked straight up to him and hissed "You need to find your own game to play in Fae ... your kind are not welcome here".

Puck was mildly taken aback that Marsden had recognised this about him.

Marsden's medallion seemed to emit some kind of black smoke that turned in a spiral like a Catherine wheel before the sparks take flight. The other men in the room all rose from their seats and moved in towards him threateningly.

The animosity was palpable.

"Where there's smoke there's fire,” Marsden snarled cryptically.

And then, in one dreadful moment, Puck could feel it - his chest ached and he suddenly became breathless - his beloved tree was burning.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Locks Were Never a Difficulty for Puck

Puck sensed that Marsden was on the second level of the building - that he was still present, yet hidden away in the viewing room above.

He wanted to make formal contact this night and so the Elf kept his appearance set to tangible. He straightened his hair and proceeded up the stairs to the main deck.

Puck knocked briskly, twice, on the Captain's door.
"We're closed for the night - email headquarters in the morning,” a voice answered abruptly.

The door stayed firmly shut.

Locks were never a difficulty for Puck. He quietly spoke to it, asking it to remember unlocking itself earlier - and with that the lock decided to show him how, went 'click' and turned back – letting Puck inside.

Once there, he saw twenty or more young men entering data into their laptops. Several were counting and bundling notes into bank bags - whilst two others were doing the same with tokens of e-dollars and string medallions.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series