by Cheek, Jason
Several gruff words passed between Domenic and the leader of the first group, before a familiar large bag of gold was passed between the two Dwarves. I couldn’t help the hairs from standing on the back of my neck as I sucked in a ragged breath at seeing the final symbol from our earlier fight being handed over. Domenic flinging the sack at my feet in disdain was still a little too fresh in my mind. With a brusque salute for services rendered, the old squat Dwarf at the head of the column accepted the gold and took off at a brisk run out of the mountainous cave where the main wall used to stand. The sound of jingling armor filled the air as the Dwarves passed us four abreast on their way towards the mouth of the gauntlet. It was an impressive force of five hundred heavily armed Dwarven warriors. While I wished Domenic could’ve kept the grizzled veterans in his employment, I understood that their agreement had only been for the siege. Besides that, like Domenic, I wasn’t a fan of paid mercenaries.
I’d warned Domenic over the phone that I really didn’t know how the Dwarves thought they were going to get back to the Dwarven capital of Dolurn, especially since the main pass was closed off with a bunch of level 90 to 100 monsters. Hell, the Dwarves couldn’t even travel up the coast via the mountainous goat trails due to the first group using that for their escape route. In truth, my biggest concern was that they’d get talked or threatened into siding with the Chaos Storm Alliance. I promised him that I’d slaughter them myself before I let that happen. For better or worse, I let Domenic talk me out of that as he assured me that the Dwarven merc’s would never go back on their word.
Expelling the lungful of air that I’d been holding, I watched them go for a moment longer, before turning back to the second group that was being led by Domenic, Tony, Fluffy, and the rest of my friends. This column held the remaining survivors of the siege. All of them looked like they’d been through the ringer. Even so, the determination and iron will that drove them on was clear in their eyes and the set of their shoulders.
One of the things that set this column apart from the other was that there were two hundred and seventy Water Elementals surrounding the entire group in a protective screen. The Water Elementals’ shifting, humanoid bodies were very different to look at than the zombie pets that were usually a part of our raid’s formation. That lack of undead just highlighted the amount of resources we’d expended to get to this point in evacuating Domenic. While I did have my boss soul stones, I wasn’t planning on using them unless I had no other choice.
Watching his group approach, I silently wondered where Domenic’s Earth Elementals were. A quick count, with a copious use of my Identify skill, let me know that the group consisted of twenty-four Paladins, a hundred and forty dwarves-at-arms, and fifty non-combatants. Most were Half-Dwarves with a handful of full-blooded Dwarves mixed in. The full-blooded Dwarves were easier to see in comparison to that of the Halflings, while the only demi-human of the group was Domenic’s Gnoll companion, Gutirrg.
All but the non-combatants were well-armed and armored. Each trooper wore a coat of scale armor over a chain mail shirt with leather jerkin and pants underneath. This layered armor was further reinforced by pauldrons, gauntlets, and shin guards crafted from iron plates. It was somewhat reminiscent to the iron-plate worn by the Guardian Knights. Most were armed with either one-handed bearded axes or flanged maces as secondary weapons, while their primary was a two-handed polearm that looked something like a Japanese Yari-Naginata spear. I was a little confused at their ranged capability, because other than a smattering of crossbows and the bows that were being used by Tony and Fluffy who were Rangers, I didn’t see any other ranged weapons. Even so, it was an impressive kit and showed just what you could accomplish while under siege with your back to a mine.
Frustratingly enough, it also highlighted my own force’s lack of quality gear. This was an issue that was on the top of my list of things to do. Unfortunately, there was only so much I could personally take care of while traveling across the known map to help my friend in an emergency situation like this. All that I could do was push the aggravating thought aside and promise myself that I would take care of the situation as soon as possible. Nonetheless, it weighed down my heart.
For now, I had to leave the crafting in Hollysharp, Kyarina, and Orion’s hands. Each of whom were working on the problems from different angles. It was a terrifying thought for someone like me who was used to taking the lead on crafting solutions for the guild. I could only hope that each of them would find a way to implement my ideas to mass produce what was needed in time for us to use them against the Hobgoblin invasion. It was such an overwhelming task that I honestly didn’t have a clue how they’d reach the necessary numbers of crafted materials needed for the projectiles for our Scorpion Ballista, crossbows, and bolts, let alone upgrading the weapons and armor for all of our troopers.
It wasn’t that I was putting my friends’ capabilities down. They were already doing everything they could to build up the two new defensive walls and necessary defenses for securing our lands, which was a staggering feat of construction all by itself and had been the main reason why I’d chosen to travel to Domenic’s lands with only a handful of my friends and companions. It was just happenstance that I was able to get the additional troopers that I had during my travels. Though these additional forces were sorely needed, the logistics of adequately outfitting them was proving to be a nearly impossible task. Ultimately, I figured we’d be facing the Hobgoblin invaders with what we had now along with anything else I could scrounge up along the way. My dark ruminations on my inadequacies were interrupted by a familiar shout.
“Yo, Jay!” a crazy looking Gnome suddenly shouted as he raced ahead of the column. “It’s about time you got your slow ass over here to give us a hand.” I didn’t need to run an Identify to know that this was Jimmy, aka Nuthar Inurface. Ignoring the surprised look from my companions and friends, I strode out to meet my friend.
“Sup, Jimmy!” I shot back, squatting down just as he reached me to put myself at my friend’s level. High-fiving and clapping each other on the back, Jimmy glanced back at our approaching friends, before lowering his voice.
“I’m glad you both were able to get your panties unknotted after all that stupid shit,” Jimmy said, the annoyance clear in his voice. “I know Dom can be a stubborn ass at times, but we’ve been going through a shitstorm here.”
“Naw, man,” I said with a casual ease. “I can only imagine what all of you have been going through. I’m just glad I made it here in time.”
“You’re telling me,” Jimmy said, running a small hand over his sweaty scalp before giving me a wink. “Remind me never to do one of those death runs again for a friend.” We both laughed at our shared pain. Only someone who’d traveled across the breadth of a map at a low level could understand the pain in the ass nature of running to help a friend. Jimmy had made the trip while he was level 2 and died a shit ton along the way. While I hadn’t exactly done that this time around, I well understood the pain of the constant deaths from doing the same in our other games as Jimmy confidently continued. “Honestly, I’m looking forward to getting some good-ole PVE in after all of this crap.”
“I hear you,” I said, clapping him on his bony little shoulder. “Don’t worry, after the Hobgoblin invasion you’ll be wishing you were back here under siege with Dom.”
“Doubtful,” Jimmy said, playfully slapping my hand away as he landed a solid hit on my breastplate. Waving away my companions’ concerned looks, we mocked boxed each other for a moment with me on my knees and Jimmy dancing around me throwing punches. Although it wasn’t serious, I quickly found out that Jimmy could still throw solid punches even as a Gnome. My friend looked much like he did in real life, except shrunken down to a 3’2” sized package with extra bushy eyebrows. His build had always been that of a bruiser. While he looked like an angry skinhead in real life, he was actually a cool guy that didn’t judge people by anything but their actions. Seeing AJ, Hefe, Jill, and Krystal walking up, he stopped
our mock fight, turning suddenly serious. “You know I only ran over here because Dom needed the help.”
“I know man,” I said, matching his grave tone. “Without you being here, I’m sure things would’ve gone much differently. Priests are not easy to come by.” Trading fist bumps, I lowered my voice. “By the way, I’ve got some good news about going full-time pro-gamer.”
“Seriously?” Jimmy asked, his face immediately changing from his typical serious expression to what you’d expect to see from someone upon winning the lottery.
“Yeah, man,” I confirmed, matching his grin. Since I’d first met him, he’d been working shitty jobs trying to make a living. “We’ll talk about it more offline, but I wanted you to know that it’s a go.”
“Woohoo!” Jimmy suddenly cheered out loud, as the rest of our group of friends looked over at us in shock. Still whooping like a maniac, he started an impromptu bump and grind dance.
“But, only if you never do that again!” I jokingly complained, while holding up my hands in mock horror as Jill and Krystal began catcalling the little Gnome slapping his ass while Hefe and AJ whistled along with them. It was such a surreal response from Jimmy of all people that the rest of us who knew him couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
“You just wish you were this sexy!” Jimmy crowed back, unconcerned about the looks we were receiving from the rest of the raid. As he continued laughing and dancing, his Water Elemental scurried over and began copying his dance moves to create a surreal dance off. It was so out of left field that it completely broke the tension that had been weighting me down up until then.
It was good to see my friend laughing for once. Jimmy was usually a little too serious and wasn’t exactly known for joking around. Even though our backgrounds were very different from each other’s, Jimmy and I had gotten along from the get-go when we met. That was probably because we were both considered assholes in our own rights for saying things directly to people. Out of all of my friends, he was also the only person I knew that had a more horrible childhood than I’d had which was saying something. That he made it out of the destitute poverty that he’d found himself in was still a wonder and was half the reason I always looked out for him. My attention was pulled from Jimmy’s antics, when another pair of voices called out in greeting.
“Hey Star!” a sexily robed female Dwarf named Lena Stonehammer called out. “It’s good to virtually see you again.”
“I told Kitty that this was all your fault!” a male Dwarven warrior named Runartin Stonehammer grumped out in unison.
“Hey Kitty,” I pleasantly replied to the female Dwarf, as she stepped up and gave me a hug. “I see you’re looking sexy as always.”
“I’m loving the evil Terran Empire look you’ve got going on,” Kitty shot back, as she pinched my butt and made me yelp in surprise, before backing away. It wasn’t that Kitty was hitting on me or anything. She was happily married and old enough to be my great grandma, but she enjoyed flirting with the younger guys in the guild. Besides, we’d been online friends for nearly a decade.
“Sup Run,” I said, clasping the gruff Dwarf’s wrist as we gave each other brotherly claps on the back.
“Dammit Star, you know I hate PVP,” Glen complained, as he tried to pop me in the ribs, before I could dance out of range. Behind his back, Kitty mouthed that “he loved it” as I bit back the smile that came to my lips and shoved him away. “I still can’t believe we let you talk us into coming out here.”
“I’m sure Dom appreciated having the two of you here,” I replied back unperturbed.
“You’re damn right he did,” Glen agreed, somewhat mollified. It wasn’t that the older man was upset, he just liked giving me a hard time and being grouchy at times. “While it’s been exciting, we both agree it would be nice to get some levels and do some PVE for a change.”
“Then, I’m sure you’ll enjoy BrokenFang Hold,” I said with a straight face, as Kitty gave me an appreciative wink for putting up with Glen’s shit. “There’s lots of PVE going on back there.”
“Sounds like fun,” Glen said, glancing back at Kitty to give her a putout look. “Don’t you both go on acting like I don’t know what’s going on. I’ll have you know that I keep up with everyone’s emails even if it’s Kitty doing all of the responding. Besides,” he gave us a rare grin, “at least with the Hobgoblins we’ll be getting experience points.”
“Oh, so now you’re treating me like your secretary and not your wife?” Kitty began laying into her husband, as Glen began backtracking quickly while I laughed out loud. None of it was meant seriously and couples especially had their idiosyncrasies. Giving Kitty a wink, I turned towards the column that had just come to a stop behind them as I greeted the rest of my friends.
Tony and Fluffy both greeted me warmly, while John and I traded polite nods. Shouldering past her father, Julie stepped up to give me a friendly hug as my ex-friend glared at me for acting too friendly with his daughter. It wasn’t a look that was shared by her boyfriend Kenneth as he greeted me next with a wrist clasp completely unconcerned. Thanking them both for helping out with the siege, I turned to Domenic as we clapped each other on the shoulders in a brotherly hug.
“You’re still an ass,” Domenic said with a shake of his head.
“And you’re still a dick,” I replied, as we both laughed. Sometimes friends fought, it was just how things went. True friends got over that.
“Are you guys finished kissing and making up,” Jill sarcastically taunted from where everyone was talking with Jimmy.
“Suck it, Jill,” I shot back, flipping her off as a low chuckle went around the circle of my new and old friends alike. “I wanted to do a quick round of introductions with everyone before heading out.”
“Can that wait until we get out of this fucking death trap?” Kenzie called out from where she stood with the rest of the Devil Dogs. While it was technically a good point, taking a minute or three to greet my friends and introduce everyone shouldn’t hurt us if everything worked out the way we’d planned. Besides, it was one of the few things I could do to try to bring everyone together somewhat, before the shit hit the fan.
“That depends on if our plan worked or not,” I said, throwing an arm over my shoulder as we faced my people. “How did it go, Dom?”
“Well, the Moonshine Elementals ended up taking out nearly their whole raid,” Domenic said, speaking loud enough for everyone up front to hear. “But, due to how many invaders there were, I could only do it in two groups.”
“What does that even mean?” Kenzie briskly asked, obviously still with a chip on her shoulder about what happened as everyone traded confused glances. Instead of snapping at the Rogue’s aggressive questioning, Domenic shrugged off my arm to better explain what he meant.
“Okay, so the plan Jay and I came up with was to trigger the travel mode while the invaders were inside the fortress.” That immediately got everyone’s attention as Domenic continued with a wicked smile. “The only problem was that we weren’t sure if the enemy had to be completely inside the keep or just inside the outer walls. What ended up being a problem was that only half of the invaders decided to enter the main keep. So, I did the only thing I could think of,” he paused to make sure he had everyone’s attention, “I blew the first group up in the main hall with three of my Moonshine Elementals, which had the side effect of suckering the remaining portion of the raid to rush in to help their raid mates.”
Those of us that had the pleasure of experiencing being blown up by one of his creations grimaced at his words. Even so, it was something that we could easily visualize. I saw Darkhorse, Kenzie, and Zhou in a hushed discussion with the rest of their guildmates. Domenic waited for a moment before continuing his story.
“The biggest problem was that I didn’t know how many players they had in reserves or if Jay’s distraction had even worked. I didn’t want to pop the travel mode and find myself surrounded by a bunch of PKers,” he explained, as everyone followed his reasoning.
“So there I was sitting inside the fortress’ control room with the trap door open so I could keep a watch on these assholes with the whole room covered in blood and guts with all of my Moonshine Elementals used up. I’m staring into the shadowy dark room,” Domenic pantomimed his precarious position as he got to the meat of the story, “when this Ranger comes Stealthing up to me.”
“Now, mind you,” Domenic said, playing up to the audience. “It’s not like I could see her or anything. At the same time she’s sneaking up, I hear a bunch of players begin spawning back in at their bodies, when all of a sudden Jay’s Flying Squirrel comes shooting up to me and hovers before my face to let me know you guys are here and the coast is clear.” He paused to look around at the expectant faces listening to his story, before continuing. “Just as I receive the message, I get a notification that I’ve learned the skill Perception. Immediately, I see this pissed off bitch standing above me getting ready to attack me,” everyone jumped as Domenic suddenly slapped his hands together, “and I’m like “you will be as they say, squished … like … grape” and hit the switch for travel mode.”
“Gawd, you’re such a dork,” Jill complained, as she covered her eyes while the rest of us laughed. Seeing the Devil Dogs confused faces, she explained for everyone else. “He was channeling Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movie.” Jill made air quotes as she continued. “Mike, Jay, and Dom are always making stupid martial arts jokes like that due to their old sensei. Cut him off now, or we’ll be hearing Big Trouble in Little China quotes next.”
“So wait,” Thomas interrupted, as he waved for Jill to quiet down. “So what does that mean? Did your guys’ plan work or not?”