Gladiators of Warsong

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  "Very well, six matches," said Rinvet with a self-satisfied smile as he inclined his head. "I accept your terms."

  Quest Offered: Win the clan battle with Angry Owls (+2,000 XP / 500 CPs)

  The experience gain wasn't much, barely enough to put a dent in the monthly logouts to take her medicine, but the conquest points were a nice amount.

  "Agreed," said Alex. "When shall we start? Tonight?"

  Rinvet cleared his throat. "It's customary to give the visiting clan a day to set up camp. Is tomorrow acceptable?"

  Alex needed to fight a lot of clan battles to reach the Champions Competition, so she would have preferred a sooner fight, but it appeared that wasn't in the cards.

  "It is."

  As Rinvet left the longhouse, she analyzed him.

  Rinvet Oldhome, Battleleader of Angry Owl Clan, Level 26

  Angry Owl Clan: Level 2

  They were equal level clans at least, but she didn't learn much more than that.

  After Rinvet and his entourage left, Alex turned to Sophia.

  "What was my mistake? You made a face when I said six teams," said Alex.

  "You only have thirty-two warriors in the clan. If there is a tie, then a seventh match will be required," said Sophia.

  "I see," said Alex, feeling the weight of the upcoming competition settle on her shoulders. There was a reason she'd always preferred solo conquests to leading a clan. When she made a mistake, it was hers to own and fix. She didn't mind the challenge of overcoming it.

  With a clan, it was impossible to hide from her mistakes. Everything she did was front and center, in view of everyone. But she knew she couldn't let it affect her, or she'd never become Champion of Warsong.

  "That was a major error. I need to do better next time," she said eventually, receiving a narrowing of the eyes from Sophia.

  Alex couldn't tell if she approved, but she certainly hadn't disapproved, outwardly anyway.

  "Tell me about the five-on-five matches. I only observed the one with Tormane," said Alex.

  Sophia placed her hands behind her back and lifted her chin. "The teams are decided before each match so no side can choose their team based on their opponents. Stones designated for each gladiator are placed in a closed bag and only revealed before the match."

  "Which means I screwed up again. That was why Rinvet left here with a smile on his face," said Alex.

  "How did you screw up?" asked Nayiri.

  "With six teams, he'll know the combatants in the final battles and be able to counter them with the appropriate gladiators," said Alex.

  "It's not just that," said Sophia. "They have better warriors all around. It's very unlikely that we're going to win this clan battle."

  "Then we have that going for us," said Alex. "They'll underestimate us."

  At that moment, a round of laughter went up on the other side of the longhouse near the ale barrels. A group of novice ranks had poured a round.

  "Sophia, can you tell them there will be no ale until after we win the clan battle," said Alex.

  "They're not going to like that," said Sophia.

  Alex swallowed her sigh. It was much easier when it was only herself that she had to manage—even if they were only NPCs. She knew it wasn't about them, but about her. She'd read that most people couldn't play the evil quest lines in a game because it went against their true nature, regardless that they were only pixels on their screens.

  "It's the only way we're going to beat the Angry Owls," said Alex. "After you tell them, send for the rest of the clan. We need to have a meeting."

  Sophia nodded and went to tell the warriors about her command, leaving Alex with Nayiri.

  The diminutive girl knocked the hair from her eyes, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "You're good at this."

  "I've never done this before," said Alex, who would have preferred to crawl back into the furs with Nayiri than deal with organizing the clan for the battle, but she couldn't ignore what needed to be done.

  "I'd never know."

  Alex lifted one shoulder in the semblance of a shrug. "Every fight is a puzzle. You just have to figure out how you're going to win." She squinted, noticing the dusty color in Nayiri's hair. "Is it just me or is your hair lighter than it was yesterday?"

  With a touch a panic, Nayiri put her hand to the top of her head. "Oh? No, maybe I got some dirt in it."

  Alex could tell it wasn't dirt, but she had too much on her mind to worry about it. She would have to figure out how to beat the Angry Owls with her barely trained gladiators.

  After the clan gathered in the longhouse, Alex stood on the throne so everyone could hear her. She noted that Tormane stood in back with the small group that had been talking to him before.

  "Thank you, Bravebear clan, for attending to my summons. As your new battleleader, I take my responsibilities very seriously. I want you to know that we're going to win our clan battle with the Angry Owls tomorrow," she said.

  A few younger members of the clan gave whoops of excitement, which brought a smile to her face.

  "That's the spirit," she said, holding up a fist and giving it an emphatic pump. "In preparation for tomorrow's battle, I need to know what weapons and tactics you favor so I can appropriately place each fighter into teams. If we had more time, I would have you train with your teams, but we're battling tomorrow and I don't want to give anything away.

  "For the rest of the afternoon, I want you to practice with your weapons in the yard. Pair up and spar if you prefer, but everyone needs to be working on their best maneuvers. While you practice, I'll have you each enter the longhouse to tell me about your skill sets in the battle circle."

  When she finished speaking, she sent everyone out except for Nayiri, whom she planned to use as the runner to retrieve each member of the clan. One by one they entered and answered her questions. In reality, the questioning was a formality, as she'd collected extensive notes on the fighting habits of each member, but she wanted to hear what they thought their strengths and weaknesses were, and as she listened, the outlines of a strategy formed in her head.

  Taking stock of her clan took the rest of the afternoon. By the time evening came around, everyone was tired and crabby. Rather than going back to their tents, Alex had the clan eat together in the longhouse. There wasn't a lot of talking, and Alex didn't know what to say to them. She ate up front with Sophia and Nayiri, talking quietly with the former about what she knew about the Angry Owls. By the end of the night, Alex still didn't know what kind of teams she was going to form, but she knew one way or the other, the answers would come in the morning.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When the two clans gathered around the battle circle, Alex's heart was in her throat. She stood on one side, surrounded by her friends and clan mates. A nervous excitement filled the air: the shuffling of feet and gripping of weapons.

  Normally before a big challenge a cool resolve filled Alex, but she was usually alone. Surrounded by hundreds of people, she fed off their energy, the anticipation of battle. She felt like she understood what it was like to be on a sports team before a big game.

  Sophia touched her side. "This is your part."

  Her stomach sunk. "Right."

  "Do you remember the words?" asked Sophia.

  "If I don't I'll make something up," said Alex, which brought a hunched forehead from Sophia.

  "I'm kidding," said Alex with a wink.

  She stepped into the circle wearing her leather tunic, whip loosely hanging from her hip and a bag of marked stones in her left hand. She had the urge to adjust her glasses, but didn't want to show signs of nervousness. A brief breeze blew through the camp, washing away the smell of unwashed bodies for a cool moment, refreshing her.

  "When the clan bleeds," she began.

  Rinvet, who had been standing opposite her, joined her in the center.

  "It bleeds as one."

  "Let us begin."

  Sophia and a gruff looking warrior wearing iron pauldrons named Itus joined
them in the circle, accepting the bags of stones from the battleleaders. Sophia started with the Angry Owl clan, pulling the stones from the bag one by one and announcing the names of the competitors. Each stone had a painted symbol on it that signified a gladiator. Sophia and Itus had shared their clan nomenclature that morning. As Sophia spoke, the competitors stepped into the circle. Each clan read each other's stones to ensure no last-minute shenanigans.

  "Pharus the Plow. Sol Swordbearer. Mari Mange. Syphus Stan. Fineus Barren."

  Alex raised her eyebrow at Rinvet and asked in a low voice so no one outside of the circle could hear, "Ran out of clan members with alliterative names?"

  Rinvet reacted as if he'd smelled something terrible, which at least suggested he knew what alliteration meant. Alex switched her attention to the rival team. They wielded a variety of weapons, but nothing stuck out as to what their strategy would be.

  "Atticus Laine. Andreque the Bold. Brilate Agran. Teq the All-Seeing. Lomare Baron."

  As her team stepped into the circle, Alex and the others stepped out. Her stomach twisted with indecision about her first team. She'd waffled between trying to ensure a victory and throwing her worst warriors on a team to see how the other side played.

  In the end, she'd decided that she wanted a victory to energize her teams and picked what she thought was a good mix of fighters. Right before the ceremony, Alex had given Atticus and Andreque instructions to focus fire, prioritizing healers first, then ranged, DPS, and finally tanks. It was a pretty basic strategy but she didn't know how the matches would play out.

  Standing on the edge of the circle, Alex bounced her foot. She hated not being in the middle of the action.

  "Begin!"

  The big blond warrior, flanked by Andreque and the other three, settled into a wedge formation. Atticus led the charge, looking to break their line and attack Mari Mange, the woman in back who looked like she might be a caster.

  To the surprise of everyone except Rinvet, the Angry Owl line split apart, letting Atticus' side reach Mari. Then the four "warriors" dropped their weapons, raised their hands, and hit her team with an arc of freezing spray.

  In a matter of seconds, all five of her warriors had been captured in an icy crust. It looked like an ice storm had hit the middle of the battle circle. Atticus managed to break free, but the ice kept the others immobile.

  While a round of cheers went up for the blond warrior, Alex knew it was a meaningless effort. Her Bravebears went silent as the Owls took down Atticus, five on one, then dispatched the rest of their side without taking a single point of damage.

  The inadequacies of her clan were being made abundantly clear. The smirk on Rinvet's lips could have cut glass.

  "Angry Owls," muttered Alex. "Should have called them Clever Owls."

  But she knew that was the point. If there was a lesson to be had, it was that these battles wouldn't be easy. Tormane had been singularly powerful, but an idiot as a battleleader. She would have to do better. Much better.

  The second match involved Sophia and four other regular gladiators. The fierce battlerager was a formidable fighter on her own, but after the last battle, Alex wasn't sure that was going to be enough.

  Alex's fears were proved correct when she watched as the other team, using a single tank, three DPS, and a healer, systematically took down Sophia's team. While the battlerager took down two DPS on her own, even as the tank tried to disrupt her, it wasn't enough.

  After the battle was over, Sophia returned to their side, head down. Alex squeezed the warrior's shoulder.

  "You fought well," said Alex.

  "But not well enough."

  "It's not your fault. It's mine. I didn't give you a chance to win," she said, hoping the woman understood that she meant it.

  Before the next match could start, Alex grabbed Blaze and pulled him to the side.

  "Ready to get naked?" she asked.

  "You promised me chainmail underwear," he said as he tugged on his robes nervously.

  "If you win your match, it's the first thing I'll instruct Nadia to make," said Alex.

  Blaze glanced back to the circle, the corners of his lips tugging downward. She gently cupped his cheek, bringing his focus back to her.

  "How's the range on your Fiery Self-Immolation?" she asked.

  "The modifier of 'self' really gives it away," said Blaze.

  "This is what I want you to do," she said, whispering the plan in his ear. When she finished, he snorted with laughter.

  "Really?"

  "Yep."

  He marched into the circle confidently, joining his team. Before they could begin, Blaze spoke quietly to the other four. Alex received rueful glances, which she responded to with a firm nod.

  "What did you tell him?" asked Nayiri.

  "You'll see," said Alex, trying to hide her excitement so it didn't give the ruse away, but knowing a smirk had perched itself on her lips.

  When the match started, Blaze stayed in back while the other four moved cautiously forward in a square. The other team didn't quite know what to make of the formation, but they had their plan and moved towards the front warrior to focus fire.

  "Now!" yelled Blaze, which momentarily froze their opponents with indecision, which aided the plan.

  As they were getting stabbed with swords and daggers, her warriors grabbed their enemies, dragging them into a tight knot. Once they were grouped, Blaze ran into the center of them like he was a suicide bomber, latching onto the nearest rival warrior.

  Moments later, the center of the circle went up in a conflagration, the screams of nine combatants rising into the morning air.

  When the flames dissipated, a naked Blaze Frostmane stood in the middle of nine bodies.

  Clan Bravebear has won the match!

  Quest Progress: Win the clan battle with Angry Owls – 1 match

  You have gained conquest points: 11 CP

  A round of cheers went up for Blaze Frostmane, who marched out of the circle with his chin held high despite his nakedness. His cocky blushing strut made Alex smile.

  "I'm not sure he knows what to feel," said Nayiri.

  It only got worse when Sophia, oblivious to his nakedness, ran over and threw her arms around him to celebrate his victory. Blaze looked simultaneously thrilled and horrified because of the signs of interest his body was displaying.

  Fortunately for him, Mancalf threw him a new set of robes, which he hastily tugged over his head, forgetting that he was no longer protecting himself. Sophia looked back to them and winked before Blaze had himself settled.

  Alex refocused on the clan battle, examining the tray of stones she had remaining. She shot a glance towards Tormane and his friends, who stood apart from her clan, staring blankly forward even though their side had won a match.

  She had a bad feeling about the former battleleader, but there was nothing she could do about it in the middle of a clan battle. If she was right about her intuition about Tormane, then she couldn't put him in the battle circle and expect a win, which meant she was down another match. She hoped that if she were up three to two, then Tormane couldn't throw the match without losing face. But she wasn't so sure about that. Either way, she had to win the next two matches first.

  Before it started, Alex gathered the five warriors around her. They were all novices, low in skill and experience, and they listened as she explained her plan. Their eyebrows went up and down during the description of tactics, but they seemed eager to try.

  The five warriors from Bravebear entered the battle circle wielding mace and shield. Normally, the two sides stood at opposite ends of the makeshift arena, but her team stood as close to the center as they were allowed by the rules.

  Rinvet leaned towards his advisors, face knotted with consternation as they tried to figure out her tactics. A calmness overtook Alex as she waited for the match to start. If her opponents were worried about what she was doing, then she had the upper hand.

  When the match began, the other team, based
on instructions yelled out from Rinvet, grouped together. They were forming a defensive knot in opposition to what looked like a shield wall from her team. Three of their members had shields, so it looked like it would be a grueling line battle.

  Her team marched forward in lockstep, shields fitted against each other.

  The Owl mage in back fired a shocking bolt at her team that crackled through the shields, breaking their formation momentarily. A smile rose on Rinvet's lips as he saw that his countertactic had worked.

  But her team put their shields back together and kept marching with their maces held high. When the opposing team readied their weapons for the ensuing battle, her team shifted into a forward charge, dropping their maces and sprinting at the other team, shoulders braced behind the shields.

  The Owls smacked at the shields with their weapons, expecting that it would be a messy wall battle. But the Bravebears hit them at full speed, shoving with their shields like battering rams. The impact only did a few hit points of damage, but that wasn’t the purpose of their charge.

  Three of the five Owls stumbled backwards out of the circle, and out of the match. Once it was five against two the rest of the fight was a formality.

  Clan Bravebear has won the match!

  Quest Progress: Win the clan battle with Angry Owls – 2 matches

  You have gained conquest points: 9 CP

  You have gained a unique skill point: +1 Cunning Strategist

  The fifth battle would pit Nayiri and Mancalf plus three other Bravebears versus the Owls. Alex didn't give them any instructions since they'd known since the night before that they would be fighting together.

  Alex's trust in the pair was rewarded when their fight only took a minute to resolve. Using devastating hand slaps, Mancalf knocked out two combatants, while Nayiri picked off the enemy healer with her ranged daggers. She'd wanted to use her newly acquired Assassinate skill, but Alex had told her to save it for a special occasion. But it didn't matter because they easily won the match after swinging the advantage of numbers.