Elusive Prey

by Cheek, Jason

  Quickly, I laid down the same plan to everyone that I’d shared earlier with Mike and Domenic on the phone. Addressing the guild leaders in groups, I explained their individual parts in the overarching strategy that I’d come up with. Having Anders show up with his entire Norwegian guild made what I’d planned all the easier to implement. I was just finishing up explaining the end game and how we’d exit the field, when Assault Leader Dell walked up with my companions. His report that they’d already gotten everyone trained up at Mike’s request with the basic Dark magic, Soul Stone, and Create Zombie spells came as a welcomed surprise. As I came to the end of my spiel, I grinned as I saw everyone’s excited faces looking back at me in anticipation. What can I say, it was a solid plan. Hell, maybe even one of my best yet.

  The preparations went by quickly, mostly due to Mike’s prep work. Assault Leader Dell and my companions caught everyone up as they logged in. Also, it didn’t hurt that I’d logged in late, since the word was we were going to be moving out once I’d logged on. A quick check in with the various group leaders involved gave us an average of about ten minutes before their people would be ready to move out. As everyone moved out, Sarka, Yun, Tinyr, and Unalia walked up to me with unhappy looks on their faces, while Thomas hung back obviously wanting to have a private word with me.

  “I can’t believe you’re letting your friend Dom have a pass,” Sarka said, as soon as they came to a stop. “None of us particularly want to help your friend out after hearing about his temper tantrum after blowing everyone up.” Her eyes turned hard as Tinyr cut in.

  “That’s just bullshit,” Tinyr said, as Unalia and Yun nodded in agreement behind the Rogue.

  “Listen,” I said, holding my hands up to stop their complaints. “I understand where he’s coming from and this shit hasn’t been easy for anyone. Sometimes, you’ve gotta let your friends be human and Domenic deserves a little understanding after how long we’ve been friends together.”

  “I swear,” Sarka muttered under her breath. “Your in real life friends are kind of a bunch of assholes.” A frown creased her lips, before she altered that slightly. “Well, except for Mike and Bonnie Smash.”

  “Everyone can be an asshole in the wrong situation,” I said, trying to calm my new friends down. “Besides, they’ll have our backs if the going gets tough.”

  “Whatever,” Sarka said, as Yun, Tinyr, and Unalia nodded their heads to emphasis her point. “Just so you know, we’re here because you’ve asked us for help. We’re not here because of anyone else. Maybe your other friends will stop being assholes long enough for us to get to know them, but right now, they’re mostly on our shit list.”

  “Well, thanks for being here for me through all of this shit,” I said, feeling let down, but understanding where they were coming from. Sometimes, it took a while for strong personalities to mesh. “I hope you’ve been enjoying the adventures otherwise.”

  “For the most part,” Yun said, as a grin came to his lips. “We’ve had some crazy-ass shit happen to us.”

  “We’ll meet you at the front of the NPCs’ formation,” Sarka said, as she glanced at Thomas who was standing back to give us privacy.”

  “Cool,” I said, somewhat embarrassed. “I’ll join you in a moment.”

  “Everything okay?” Thomas asked, walking up as soon as my normal team jogged away.

  “Yeah,” I said, as a frown came to my lips. “They’re just upset about Domenic’s shenanigans when we met up. Hell, they’re probably not thrilled with Hefe or Jill and the shit they’ve been causing either.”

  “Hefe, I can understand,” Thomas said with a laugh. “But having Jill around is like have a second Kenzie in the group.” Seeing the distressed look on my face at that comparison, the Devil Dog guild leader just laughed. “Yeah, people like Jill and Kenzie are kind of an acquired taste.”

  “That’s one way to say it,” I said, smiling in spite of myself as we both chuckled at the obvious joke. Turning serious, I met his blue eyes. “So are we cool?”

  “Yeah,” Thomas said, grinning to break the seriousness of the moment. “All of my people understand how tempers can flare. If a Marine couldn’t deal with someone having a bad attitude, we wouldn’t be a Marine. That’s kind of par for the course.” His voice momentarily turned serious. “I just hope your friend Domenic does take the time to apologize to Kenzie. That would go far for most of the guild.”

  “That’s his plan,” I said, nodding in understanding. “He didn’t know she was having a PTSD moment and felt like an ass afterwards.”

  “Shit happens,” Thomas said, clapping me on the shoulder. “I guess that means you and Domenic patched things up?”

  “Mostly,” I said, as a self-depreciating grin came to my lips. “We’re both super stressed out and are dead tired on our feet, but understand where each other are coming from. Shit happens and then you move on.” Looking out at the troopers and players getting into formation, I shook my head and turned back to my friend. “You know, I can’t thank you and the Devil Dogs enough for everything you’ve done to help out.”

  “It’s cool, Star,” Thomas said, letting out a bark of laughter at the relieved look on my face. “We’ve had a blast on this run no matter which way you slice it.” His face turned serious as he held out his hand to me. “Besides, I think we make a pretty awesome alliance.”

  “That we do,” I agreed, shaking his hand.

  “Just don’t let Kenzie see that you got four new levels instead of two like the rest of us,” Thomas said, backing up as he gave me a friendly wink.

  “Yeah, I kind of got credit for two secret quests,” I explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

  "It's all good, man,” Thomas said, waving off my words with a laugh. “Let me grab my gear and I’ll meet up with ya at the head of the formation.”

  “You’ve got it,” I said, letting out a self-conscious sigh while Thomas jogged away to catch up to his people. No doubt I was going to get some shit over the extra levels from my friends, I thought, turning back to help Helgath who was just finishing up packing away our sleeping blankets. Kneeling down next to her, I took over securing the straps on my rucksack as I gave her a nod of thanks. Finishing up with the last straps, I took her calloused hands gently in mine as her yellow cat-eyes looked up at me in surprise.

  “Listen, Helgath,” I said, speaking to her out loud as I tucked a stray lock of black hair behind her pointy ear. “I wanted to thank you for trying to save my friendship with Dom.” A weak smile pulled at the sides of my mouth. “Our fight probably would’ve been that much worse if I’d attacked him directly, whether he can admit that to himself or not.”

  “I live to serve, War Leader,” Helgath uncomfortably said, bowing her head. From our link, I could feel how unused to praise she was of any type as I held onto her rough hands, forcing her to meet my eyes. Seeing the brief frown that flashed across my face, she apologetically hung her head, pleading in a hoarse whisper. “Please forgive me ...”

  “No Helgath, I’m sorry,” I said, the strong emotions I was feeling plain in my voice as I hugged the Half-Orc to my chest. “At times, I prefer to hear my name and not a title.” My explanation seemed to put her at ease as the stiffness slowly left her shoulders. A moment later, Helgath’s slender arms gently pushed me to arms’ length, as a toothy smile suddenly came to her dark green lips.

  “I know you prefer to be called, Star,” Helgath mischievously said, as she bit her lower lip. “But, only I call you War Leader.” The Half-Orc explained as she looked deep into my eyes. “And it has special meaning to me.”

  “Then War Leader it is when you wish,” I said, ruffling the top of her head like I would a younger sister as I stood and slung the heavy rucksack onto my back. “It’s time we headed out.” Glancing over at Neysa, I saw she was intently watching our back and forth, but, before I could ask her about it, Mike’s voice called out.

  “Yo, Jay, do you know a Rani Lamkin? She says, you’re expecting her.”
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  “What is she doing here?” Neristhana asked, as she walked up with the rest of my companions and Fylreh following behind her.

  “I thought you said she died in Telrain?” Ulia asked, as the rest of my companions looked over at her questioningly.

  “I saw her follow you into Telrain just before the city was destroyed,” Neristhana explained, as she saw the surprised look on my face.

  “Yeah, I saw her just before the meteor hit,” I said, as a frown came to my lips. What the fuck, I thought the two of us were finished with one another, I silently complained, as I waved to Mike that I was heading over.

  “How did she survive the explosion that took out Telrain?” Brenna asked Rayne, as my companions traded concerned looks.

  “Don’t tell me, she’s a newfar too,” Neristhana unhappily said, looking over at me for confirmation.

  “She’s worse than a newfar,” I unhappily muttered back. Letting out a sigh of exasperation, I nodded to my companions and soulmates. “Come on, let’s go see what she wants now.” With that, I stalked over to Rani, Mike, and the guards that had brought the Royal Investigator in, while a sinking feeling grew in my stomach.

  Seeing the annoyed look on my face, Mike questioningly cocked his head at me, trying to understand what was up. While I wanted to warn him about who this woman was ahead of time, there was no easy way to do it, especially not with the hawked-eyed look Rani was giving me as I walked up. Vaguely, I was aware of Helgath mounting Neysa who fell in beside me as Neristhana fell in on my opposite side, while the rest of my group followed a few steps behind.

  “So Royal Investigator Rani Lamkin,” I said, coming to a stop in front of the V-MMORG admin and crossing my arms. “Could you give me one good reason not to have you slaughtered here and now?”

  I could have almost laughed at the very different looks that Mike and his subordinates gave me at the words that had come from my lips. While Mike was somewhat surprised about my casual threat to slaughter the woman to her face, the shocked looked on the Dark Elves’ faces from the House of Tuin’Dyrr were even more telling. It was a direct reminder of how the V-MMORG admins used their backstory to go wherever they wanted inside the humanoid realms.

  Did that mean I could possibly come under attack by the House of Tuin’Dyrr’s Dark Elves if I dared to lift a hand against her? The repositioning of Neristhana, Ulia, Fylreh, and the rest of my people as they put themselves between me and Mike’s guards was noticeable even to my friends’ unknowing eye. Stepping back away from Rani like she was a viper, Mike suspiciously glared around at the Dark Elves around him that were supposed to be escorting the intruder as Rani continued unconcerned.

  “Don’t be like that Star,” Rani said in a syrupy-sweet voice, as if the threat hadn’t fazed her one bit. Hell, from the irritating grin on her lips, I’d swear that she’d expected nothing less from me. Looking around at the troops and players forming up into groups to head out, she held her hands out meaningfully to either side as if to include everyone around us. “Wouldn’t it be better to have me seeing the battle from your side than that of the Chaos Storm Alliance when hostilities start?” Mike’s head jerked around to look at the woman incredulously as a frown came to my lips.

  “Did you bring this woman to me because she was an intruder, or because she’d ordered you to?” Mike demanded of the guards, as they looked at each other nervously under his scrutiny not wanting to answer. Getting the gist that something special was up with this plain-looking woman, my friend snapped angrily.

  “Listen to my words very carefully,” Mike stated in no uncertain terms, as he rested his hands on the hilts of his swords. “Regardless if Startum slaughters this Royal Investigator or not, you will not raise a hand against him.” Pausing to look into each of his Assassins’ eyes, his voice turned hard as granite. “If you can’t accept this, leave the House of Tuin’Dyrr now and never return or I’ll take your life. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Head of Midnight,” the Dark Elves replied, obviously uncomfortable with his orders, but not willing to go against them.

  “We’ll discuss this later in more detail,” Mike said in a tone that was almost in a growl. “But, at no time, is someone not of the House of Tuin’Dyrr allowed to pass through lines without my direct prior approval. Is that understood?” Getting another round of affirmatives, my friend turned back to me with a look that said I had some explaining to do. While I didn’t disagree, now wasn’t the time for it.

  Interestingly enough in that moment, it was curious to see the dissatisfied look that had come to Rani’s face at Mike’s interaction with his people. Although it was hard to know for sure if all of the House would follow his orders or not when he wasn’t around, she’d obviously been unhappy at their agreement to his demands. But, that was nothing in comparison to her reaction to my companions and Fylreh who were actively watching her like a hawk and prepared to take her life. That seemed to have seriously freaked her out. It made me wonder if our people of The World’s reaction to V-MMORG admins were not the norm. As if to confirm my thoughts, Rani’s next words sealed the deal.

  “Don’t you think all of this is a bit over the top,” Rani complained, as her eyes nervously swept over the NPCs as if she were evaluating their reaction. “Royal Investigators are given a pass to investigate situations throughout The World. You shouldn’t be threatening them with exile for acting in the way that they’ve been programmed.” Mike traded an unhappy glance with me as I discretely shook my head to let it be. To my surprise, Neristhana responded for me.

  “I don’t care if you’re a Nordic Guardian or not,” the little Gnomeling snapped, annoyed at the other woman’s supercilious attitude. “Raise a hand against Lord Ironwolf and I’ll slit your throat myself.”

  “You’re not seriously going to let your NPCs talk to me that way, are you?” Rani complained, taken aback at the Gnomeling’s threat.

  “Then stop treating them like they’re just a bunch of dumb programs,” I snapped back without hesitation, giving the woman a contemptuous look. “They’re smart enough to make their own decisions about what’s right and wrong.” Resting a supportive hand on Neristhana’s shoulder, I nodded to my companions. “If you have to attack, than make sure you take her head,” a sneer came to my lips, “I doubt even an Admin could survive that.”

  “Really?” Rani demanded, as Helgath, Neristhana, and Fylreh gave serious nods, taking my words to heart. For some reason, I think the straight forward interaction I had with my companions disturbed her more than anything else. Though, she hid it well as she changed the focus of our conversation with her next words. “Is that all the thanks I get for making upper management understand that the destruction of Telrain was not The Revenant guild’s fault?”

  “Wasn’t that basically your job to do in the first place?” I asked in the same tone, as the Royal Investigator’s face screwed up in indignation. “Besides, you’re on my shit list after the whole removing my ability to de-level those asshats just before our first major battle. You know, that was basically my ace in the hole, right?” Ignoring Rani’s scowl, I continued in a sarcastic tone, before she could get a word in edgewise. “Not to mention, that extra F U with the whole permanent death thing for any of my people that die twice within twelve hours was primo. I hope you weren’t expecting a bunch of flowers as a thank you for that one either?”

  “That’s bullshit, Star, and you know it,” Rani snapped at me defensively. “You’re the one who taught the Chaos Storm Alliance how to grief other players by de-leveling them. If we hadn’t changed the rules on that, those assholes would be ruining The World for everyone along with a bunch of other PKing guilds.”

  For a long moment, we angrily stared at each other with neither one of us willing to budge an inch. While I knew in my heart that what she said was true, it was cold comfort in the situation that we now found ourselves facing. From our brief back and forth, I knew that Mike was smart enough to understand who Rani was as he furtively looked between us t
rying to figure out my angle on this with some trepidation. I wasn’t currently in the best place to be dealing with her shit as Mike knew all too well. While there were a lot of positives to having an admin that was more or less friendly to our cause in a battle like this, there was also a lot of possible negatives of getting our abilities gimped if we were smart enough to pull one over on the enemy. A prime example of this was the use of my zombie pets.

  Already, a bunch of players were complaining that my zombie pets were completely overpowering in a game like this. I’d seen the comments all over the forums when I was posting my response video online. Unsurprising enough, the complaints were only growing in strength amongst the player base after everyone saw the wave of undead that my forces hit the enemy with during the attack against the Chaos Storm Alliance in Telrain. While these players’ complaints seemed to have merit at first glance, the truth of the matter, as always, was much more complicated.

  The first part of this was the requirement for me to have fifty points in Intelligence for each additional zombie pet that I fielded. That requirement meant that my Strength, Stamina, and Agility would never match that of a pure melee build. While I had a number of nifty tricks up my sleeve, if it came to a straight up melee fight, I’d lose every time. Well, I would if our skills were equal.

  The second issue was that of my Nightmare magic tree, which basically put me in the support-damage class. That’s because, once my undead pets were taken out, the available magic spells I had left to use in a one-on-one or one-against-many fight was severely limited in comparison to that of the Nightmare magic trees like Lightning, Flame, and the other direct-damage classes. Players with direct-damage magic trees like that could fight until the very end, spamming out massive amounts of damage as long as they had enough mana for their spells.

  Was one really better than the other? Probably not. They each had their pluses and minuses. At the end of the day, how one made use of those abilities was what made the difference. Any change in the balance could severely weaken me in the immediate future. While Rani’s presence could throw a wrench in a lot of my sneakier plans, it all depended on her perspective on gaming. Some might argue that meant I should be kissing up to her instead of being my normal, difficult self, but I’d never been a bootlicker at any time during my life and I wasn’t about to start being one now.