Elusive Prey

by Cheek, Jason

  “My apologies, milord,” General Dell said, giving me a sideways look. “There hasn’t quite been enough time to get scouts in-“

  “That wasn’t a criticism on your part,” I said, waving his apology away. I wasn’t trying to be a dick, but I was getting more tired and grumpy by the second. “It’s just frustrating that we haven’t had even a second it seems to breathe since this day has started out.” Wisely, Dell just silently nodded. Not that I particularly blamed him. Sometimes, that’s just the way things went.

  “Heavy Royal Lancers,” a strong male voice suddenly called out, “draw swords!”

  As the shouted command went up and down the line of Lancers, General Dell, Thomas, Sarka, Tinyr, Domenic, and my other friends began glancing around unhappily at each other. Not the Uten Syn guild though. Krishna and Angie took that as the signal for the Druids of their guild to immediately shift into their Were-fighting forms. I was just contemplating ordering the zombies forward, when a new voice bellowed angrily.

  “Are you deaf and dumb, Lancer Leader Warf,” the somewhat familiar voice of Sir Anon overrode the command to the cavalry units’ surprise. “Sheath your blades immediately and stand down!”

  “But Scout Leader DeKhayed-” Lancer Leader Warf began to protest.

  “Obviously was a jackass to Overlord Ironwolf,” Sir Anon finished without hesitation.

  “You overstep your bounds, Sir Anon,” Lancer Leader Warf began to say, as he was once again overruled.

  “I overstep nothing,” Sir Anon thundered. “Queen Isolde has charged you to follow my orders as you would her own. Once again, I order all loyal lancers to sheath their blades and to stand down, now!”

  With that said, Sir Anon came riding out alone to greet us without hesitation, followed a moment later by a group of six lancers that I assumed was the rest of the command staff. As the confused Heavy Cavalry units hesitantly began sheathing their blades, the command group got close enough for me to run an Identify on the new commander. Immediately, the information appeared over the Human’s head, Jasper Warf, level 48 Lancer Leader of the Royal Heavy Cavalry Unit.

  Curious, I thought, as I ran another Identify on Sir Anon. Sir Terrance Anon, level 40 Guardian Knight Squad Leader. It was just as I thought. Sir Anon was much lower than the rest of the group, which was probably why he was getting so much flak from the rest of the command group. Nonetheless, he’d been put in charge by the Princess, I mentally corrected myself, Queen Isolde was keeping her oath it seems. As soon as the Guardian Knight reached me, he swung out of his saddle and gave me a fist salute.

  “Overlord Ironwolf,” Sir Anon sharply said, as he snapped to attention.

  “As you were, Sir Anon,” I said, as the other man’s rigid stance somewhat relaxed.

  “It is good to see you alive and well,” the Guardian Knight continued. “The Royal Scouts have been reporting on the massive horde invading the line and we were unsure how you’d fared on your mission.” As the lancers behind him came to a stop, Sir Anon paused to glare at the Royal Lancers behind him.

  “Are you a bunch of honorless knaves?” Sir Anon chastised the group once more. “Dismount and salute the Protector of the Kingdom of Kader!”

  “Please accept my apology,” Sir Anon whispered to me under his breath. “I know you dislike such condescending treatment of good troopers, but I fear that until they’ve sworn their oaths to you, they’ll have difficulty accepting the status quo.”

  “You mean because I’m a halfling?” I asked, as the other man colored slightly.

  “Exactly as you have surmised, Overlord,” Sir Anon answered directly.

  Our introductions were made quickly enough. Inspecting each of the lancers, I got the impression that the command structure was level 46 and 47, while the mainline Heavy Lancer was approximately level 45. There were a few surprised murmurs from those present when they were introduced to General Dell. I guess because of my odd ranking within the Royal Forces as the Champion of the Kingdom of Kader it meant that Dell’s rank of General covered more than just the troopers of the House of Kayden. Though I still didn’t understand what had previously happened, there was a noticeable ripple when the simple fact became known to the rest of the Heavy Cavalry unit.

  After that, we got moving quickly. Neysa left Scout Leader DeKhayed to be disciplined by Sir Anon, which ended up with the Scout Leader being unceremoniously pummeled to the ground. It was just another reminder that we weren’t on earth anymore. The Royal Forces did not suffer from a lack of discipline. While it might not exactly be my cup of tea, I didn’t judge Sir Anon. If anything, he seemed to have a pretty good handle on the situation. That, or it was a noble thing that I’d have to handle once I had a better understanding of the complex situation.

  For the most part, I watched as General Dell and Sir Anon got both forces formed up and on the move. The zombie pets taking up a defensive position around the Heavy Cavalry unit caused a slight commotion. The undead spooked the horses and riders alike, but a harsh command from the Guardian Knight stopped any grumbling. As Sir Anon and the cavalry command staff headed out at the head of the formation, there was a ripple amongst my friends as soon as I grabbed a handful of Neysa’s fur and hopped onto the Silver Dire Wolf’s back.

  “You already have your own mount?” Jill demanded, as Krystal’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

  “Cccooommmbbbaaat Mount,” AJ coughed out, as Jill glared at him warningly.

  “You’re not going to ride the entire way to Palnisdale while the rest of us walk?” Sarka said, as if daring me to say yes.

  “I think you mean, run,” Tinyr chimed in, as Unalia gave him a warning smack while Yun casually covered the smile that came to his lips with a hand.

  “Look guys, I’m not trying to be a dick,” I apologetically said, switching to the raid’s command chat. “But it feels like with these guys I need to build as much perceived authority as possible for when we reach Palnisdale. No matter what, I promise to make sure everyone gets their own mount ASAP. Hell, I’ve already started on the process back in BrokenFang Hold with our new guildmate, Jodi Tempest.”

  “Oh, get over yourself,” AJ said, rolling his eyes at me. “You know they’re just giving you shit. Besides, it wouldn’t be half as much fun if you didn’t get so worked up about it.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Thomas said, clapping Neysa on the shoulder affectionately. “Trust me, if they had their own mounts, they’d have been riding everywhere regardless if anyone else had a mount or not.”

  “You know that’s a fact,” Matt Cobra whole heartedly agreed, as his wife Terry elbowed him in the ribs. “They’d be like,” Matt continued, ignoring his wife’s playful hit as he mockingly continued in a generic female voice. “If you have a problem with it, get your own mount.”

  “Come on, Jill,” Kenzie said, exaggeratingly ignoring the comments from the rest of the Devil Dogs. “While he’s busy playing Overlord,” she said that last part with air quotes, “we’ll go shopping in town and have some fun.”

  “You can never have too many accessories,” Krystal confirmed with a smirk.

  “Are mounts accessories?” Jill asked playfully.

  “They are in an MMO,” Kenzie laughingly said, as they walked away arm and arm following the rest of the formation while the rest of us shook our heads.

  None of us took their play seriously. There was quite a bit of truth in the back and forth we’d had. While the guy’s liked to joke that it was a woman-thing to accessorize in an MMO, in truth it was a gamer-thing. Mounts and combat pets were, most especially, treated as something to collect by most gamers. I personally liked to call it gamer-bling. So while we playfully joked about the girls needing accessories, the boys were already talking about doing the same thing as soon as they hit Palnisdale. I was about to catch up to Sir Anon at the head of the Heavy Cavalry column, when I saw the unhappy look on Sarka’s face.

  “You owe me a mount,” Sarka unhappily grumbled, folding her arms over her chest
.

  “Palnisdale should have enough to go around-” I began to say, as she cut me off.

  “A special one like Neysa,” she reiterated, as I mentally sighed.

  “I’ll buy you one myself,” I promised, as she unhappily stalked away.

  Yun tried to silently apologize with his eyes, which I promptly waved away. Sarka’s problem with how I’d gotten Neysa wasn’t on him. “Horses are fine for us,” Unalia said, while Tinyr nodded in agreement as they hurried after Sarka. I silently shook my head as I watched them go.

  ‘What’s her problem?’ Neysa asked in annoyance as the lines of Kayden Troops marched past us while we talked.

  ‘Oh, Sarka’s still sore that your mother chose to speak with me first to ask for help against the Goblin Slave Master and not her,’ I sent, while Helgath skillfully jumped onto Neysa’s back.

  ‘Why would that matter?’ Neysa asked in confusion, as I helped Helgath to sit down in front of me. I had that déjà vu feeling of riding double on a crotch rocket as my soulmate wiggled back into my arms. ‘Mother chose you to protect and raise me as part of your pack.’

  ‘True,’ I agreed, as I leaned into Helgath’s leather-clad body. Even though the seating was reversed, I think it reminded me so much of a sports motorcycle because of how you had to sit leaning forward and pressed up tight against each other. It was especially the case when doing it without a saddle as Neysa took off at a slow walk so we could get used to riding on her back, while we talked. ‘She still thinks there should’ve been a roll to see who raised you.’

  ‘That’s foolish newfar thinking,’ Neysa snorted in derision at the very thought. By now we were getting a few curious looks from the cavalry troopers that had started to ride past. ‘Why would mother accept anyone but the strongest member in the party to share their life with?’

  ‘Why indeed,’ I sent back. Honestly, what else could I even say in regards to that? I thought with a mental shrug. The problem was that logic and the truth didn’t sooth people’s egos or feelings. Mostly that was because they couldn’t admit the truth of the situation to themselves and were just angry that the results weren’t what they wanted them to be. It was simply easier to get mad for most people.

  While Sarka was still angry that I hadn’t rolled for Neysa even though it hadn’t even been an option, in truth, I felt that saving Neysa had been an unknown bug. That, or it was part of a unique storyline or special event that only someone with a nightmare skill set could’ve pulled off that early in the game. Whatever the case, she’d get over it one way or another. In the interim, I’d do everything I could to help her get a Combat Mount of her own. For now, I think she was enjoying giving me shit about it more than anything else.

  It took a little longer than I expected for me to pick up the knack for riding on Neysa’s back. Riding bareback on a horse was super hard. You had to seriously squeeze the horse’s flanks with your knees so you didn’t simply bounce off the back. While I'd learned to ride in the Boy Scouts, I was much bigger now, which meant I wasn’t perched atop the flanks as I’d been as a kid. Not only that, riding bareback on a Silver Dire Wolf was very different than riding on any type of horse. There was a much sleeker feeling to Neysa’s muscular body that was unlike any horse I’d ever ridden. After about twenty minutes of turns, trots, stops, and starts, two system messages popped open before my eyes.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Riding.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Subskill Riding Exotic Beasts.

  As soon as I received those pop-ups, the trouble I’d been having with staying on Neysa’s back instantly disappeared. The difference in my efforts were like night and day. Suddenly, everything I tried simply worked. I wasn’t almost sliding off Neysa’s back with every turn or shooting over her head with every stop.

  Neysa and Helgath kept up the riding training until I’d reached level 5. While that wasn’t a high enough skill to do anything remotely like fight from her back, it was enough experience for me to ride on her back and not look like a fool. It also had another odd effect. Even though Neysa and I were always mentally connected, riding like this made the connection so much deeper. We got used to reading each other’s thoughts and feelings on an almost instinctual level. It was almost like the three of us were one in body and mind. Once we’d synched to that level, the girls agreed that we were ready to join the others as Neysa headed off at a trot for the front of the column.

  Even at our gentle pace, we caught up to the Heavy and Light Cavalry units at the rear of the column quickly enough. This time, I received several appreciative nods at my passing.

  We were nearly past the Heavy and Light Cavalry units on our way to the head of the column, when we crested the top of the ridge and got our first view of Palnisdale. Through our shared link, I could feel Helgath and Neysa’s awe matching my own as the Silver Dire Wolf slowed to a stop so we could take in the epic view. Due to the odd angle of the ridge, Palnisdale had been completely out of view until now.

  The frozen slope gradually went down for maybe a mile before merging into frozen fields covered in frozen ice. Intermixed amongst the landscape were small groves of trees off in the distance that were mostly barren of leaves. What was so incredible was the massive fortress that silently stood guard over the land around it. Its massive black walls of granite rose up nearly fifty feet into the air and towered over the area like a deadly sentinel that was the heart of the Royal Forces. Even from here, I could make out the siege weapons that peppered the top of the walls. If that wasn’t impressive enough, at each corner of the fortress stood giant stern figures of ancient heroes, at least that’s what I assumed, that had been crafted into the walls themselves.

  One statue was a robed figure that looked like a Mage holding a spell book. Another was of a cloaked figure with a long bow. The closest statue was that of a Warrior holding a two-handed sword. Even from this distance, the stone figures solemn faces looked life-like and unique. Almost like they were a personal portrait of some kind. Altogether, the fortress gave off an aura of indomitability which made a certain kind of sense. If rumor were to be believed, Palnisdale had stood against the Northern Hordes for half of a millennium.

  Just looking at the immense structure filled me with a desire to pass through its massive gates and explore its depths. That was only enhanced by the fading light breaking through the storm clouds gathering on the horizon which gave the city a surreal appearance. Even though I had no illusions that it wouldn’t be as pretty up close with the poverty and squalid living conditions that usually came with such packed medieval cities, there was something grand about the place that seemed to fire the imagination.

  Yeah, I know, I could be such a geek at times, I thought, chuckling at my own reactions. Below its impregnable walls, I could make out groups of players on the frozen snow going about their daily routines of running quests and errands. There must have been a few hundred individuals doing their thing like you’d expect to see in any major MMO city. Most seemed to be busy hunting down mobs, chasing Orc Scouts, searching for herbs, or completing other various quests as I surveyed the area and the people that were present. Too bad this was all going to be completely overrun in the next few days.

  Feeling that I was ready to move out, Neysa began trotting to the front of the column. Within short order, we made it to where my friends and the Kayden Troopers that had followed me through thick and thin were marching. Though everyone’s equipment looked beat to hell from the constant fighting we’d been through, it seemed like everyone was in good spirits. While a number of people had died during the fighting, we’d been able to Resurrect everyone without a problem.

  Nodding at the various greetings from the Silver Dire Wolf’s back, I couldn’t help feeling a little “like a boss.” Don’t act like I’m an ass for secretly feeling that way, I chided my subconsciousness. Every once in a while, we needed to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. With everything I’d accomplished up until now, this was one of those
times. Besides that, there was nothing like being one of the first players to get a mount in an MMO game. That alone would make my Twitch Stream of Neysa popular as hell, especially since she wasn’t just a boring ole horse.

  Don’t get me wrong, I knew this would pass in the blink of an eye but, for right now, I was going to enjoy the moment. My internal crowing was suddenly cut short when I neared the head of the column and saw Ayda, the Bard that had been helping my people do the impossible, nearly ready to collapse. Even as I watched, she stumbled in exhaustion only to have her guards stop her from collapsing. Feeling instantly like a heel, I directed Neysa over to the exhausted Half-Elf. Feeling me shifting my weight to dismount, Neysa’s stopped me with a thought.

  ‘Don’t dismount, I can carry all three of you without a problem.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ I asked in surprise. Quickly looking at her Character Sheet, I saw that she was correct. I’d gotten so used to having to increase her carrying capacity that the change had caught me by surprise. With her current level and stats after the Hot Fix and her new levels, she could carry up to 795 lbs. While that was cool, it was somewhat annoying too since if I’d known that was going to happen with the update, I’d have focused her last Feat on a combat related skill instead of carrying capacity. Though, now that she’d hit level 40, I realized that meant she had a new Feat available. Forcing myself to minimize the window for now, I focused my attention back on Ayda first.

  “Go ahead and pass her up,” I called out to the guards as soon as I rode up.

  Everyone immediately jumped in surprise at hearing my voice. There was a noticeable shuffling around as the guards hurried to follow my orders. It didn’t help that Ayda resisted somewhat due to her obvious embarrassment at the special treatment but she deserved it. Not everyone could do what she did and I needed her to be rested and recovered for our journey back to Darom.