by K D Brand
He didn’t have time to ask them about it, though.
A growling goblin slammed into Deven’s broad back, claws slashing away, leaving trails of blood in their wake. The butcher screamed and toppled face-first to the floor, flailing and howling under the assault.
Ty, reacting on instinct, grabbed the goblin and tugged at him, desperately trying to peel him loose of Deven.
It was like wrestling a wolverine.
The small furry animal, not the small furry X-Man.
“Ugh,” Ty grunted, unable to budge the wiry little beast. All the while, it tore and slashed at Deven, making mincemeat of his back, loving every moment of it. It’s helmeted-head bobbed up and down in vicious amusement. “Help me,” Ty shouted, casting a sideways glance at Amon, then to Charice.
Both the NPCs stood there frozen, eyes wide in pale faces, jaws slack. Ty growled at them to get their attention, but neither could drag their gazes from the sight of their friend being savaged.
“At least give me your fripping sword,” he screamed at Charice.
For just an instant, she seemed to hear him, turning her head to look his way, but the look on her face was anything but present and aware.
“I-I don’t have a…” She glanced down at her hip, and her voice faded away, the dull blankness returning.
“Oh, Aunt Jemima’s whiskers!” Ty hissed, letting go of the goblin and spinning around.
Without asking again, he pawed at the pommel protruding from the leather sheath at Charice’s waist and yanked her short sword out with the accompanying scrape of steel against the sheath’s mouth.
Charice’s eyes widened even further, something Ty didn’t think was possible, making her look like some anime princess in need of rescuing. As he adjusted the blade in his hand, he spotted a flicker of movement at her temple, the vein there fluttering. She had no idea what was going on and looked ready to blow a gasket, that much was clear.
But there wasn’t time for Ty to worry about all that. Deven was being torn apart.
Ty spun and brought the sword down on the goblin’s back. It clanked against the creature’s armor, unable to break through.
+4 slashing damage.
The goblin twitched and snarled, stopping his attack on Deven just long enough to look up at Ty to give him the goblin equivalent of stink-eye. Then he went right back to slashing up Deven’s spine. The butcher shrieked as blood ran across his back and pooled on the floor around him.
Ty slammed the short sword in the back of the creature’s head to the same effect, and that’s when he realized he just wasn’t strong enough to slice his way through the goblin’s armor and thick hide.
He growled, shaking his head. “Dang it, I’m an idiot!”
Ty shifted around behind the orc. He spun the blade in his hand as the goblin thrashed about, then lunged in when he saw what he was looking for. For just an instant, the goblin raised his arm to rip at Deven, and opportunity presented itself.
It exposed its unarmored arm pit, and Ty drove the point of his blade right up into the soft spot with all his inconsiderable might.
There was a moment of odd defiance, the flesh fighting the blade, and then it gave way to the sharpened edge. The blade sunk in about halfway before it met further resistance, and the goblin let loose a warbling shriek.
+29 stabbing damage. Critical blow!
You have killed a goblin!
The goblin twitched and went still, toppling over and taking Ty’s borrowed sword with him as he clattered to the floor, jaundiced eyes wide.
You have earned +200 XP!
+1 to Small Bladed Weapons!
+1 to Backstab skill.
Congratulations! You’ve learned which end of the sword points toward the enemy.
“Holy Poké balls!” Ty shouted, amazed that he’d managed to take out the goblin. “That was cool!”
Deven’s groans pulled him from his self-congratulatory aside.
“Crap!” he muttered, feeling selfish. He reached down and grabbed Deven’s arm, doing his best to help the big man up into a more comfortable position. He could barely move him. “A little help, please,” he moaned.
Charice shook off the hesitation first, rushing over and dropping beside Deven. Amon followed a second later and, between the three of them, they managed to get him to his feet.
He looked savaged, pretty much what Ty figured a guy who’d been prison-romanced by a goblin would look like.
“Are you okay?” Charice asked Deven, but Ty waved her to silence.
“He won’t be if we don’t get out of here right now,” he told her. “We’ve gotta go. We can patch him up once we reach someplace safe.”
Amon glanced toward the broken door, the fight still raging. “But…how can we get passed all that?” he asked “There’s no way to go without running into more goblins.”
Ty raised an eyebrow Spock-like, glancing at the broken window at his back. “Uh…if only there was an open window just a few feet away. We could, I don’t know, maybe climb out it?”
“That would be convenient,” Amon agreed, “but the door is blocked by goblins, and who knows what else stands beyond should we make it past them. We stand no chance of escape.”
Ty blinked a couple times, dumbfounded, unable to think of anything to say to the man.
Instead, he separated from the pair holding Deven and went to the window. Then he waved them over. Amon obliged, and the three of them hobbled over to stand beside Ty, who had moved right in front of the window. That positioned the NPCs there, as well.
“You do see this, right?” he said, motioning to the window again. “You understand that it’s open, correct?”
Amon and Charice both nodded, replying, “Yes.” Deven, too battered to care, just stood there with his chin to his chest, groaning and oozing blood.
Ty stuck his hand through the window and wiggled it around. “You see that, too, huh?”
They both nodded.
“Then, how about we just climb through and get out of here?” he offered.
The NPCs stared at the open window but didn’t move. Just like before when he’d first pointed it out to them, they looked as though they were mentally incapable of rationalizing the open window and how it could be used.
Ty was about to explain it to them again when he caught a whiff of smoke, bitter and cloying. It stung the back of his throat.
They were out of time.
“They’ve fired the Orchid, folks,” he announced. “Time to go.”
Without any warning, Ty circled around the NPCs, leaned into them, and shoved as hard as he could.
Not expecting the maneuver, and off-balance thanks to lugging Deven, the group stumbled forward, toppling right through the window. They crashed to the ground just outside, each letting out pained groans.
+2 RP!
Your reputation has increased for risking your life to save others. Maybe you’ll be a hero someday, after all.
Ty ignored the notification and reached back to reclaim Charice’s sword from the dead goblin. Then he scrambled out after the others, toppling to the ground alongside them with a grunt. He quickly clambered to his feet.
“Sorry about that, guys, but you are some serious kinda dense,” he told them.
They just stared at him from the ground.
He let out another sigh, something he realized he was going to do a lot in-game, and helped the group up.
The invasion roared all around them, the screams of NPCs and the gleeful howls of orcs, goblins, and a trio of vicious trolls tearing the village apart, seeping into every crevice of Altunn, bringing terror with it.
Ty, figuring they’d gotten lucky with only Deven getting whupped on, he knew they didn’t stand a fart’s chance in a tornado of surviving if they tried to fight their way to safety. So, instead, he decided stealth was the right choice.
Now would be a good time to be that thief everyone thinks I am, he thought as he led the three NPCs around the edge of the city, retracing his earlier
steps to get there. He kept to the wall, sticking to the darkness, moving low until he made his way to the Shadow Walk.
There, he let out the breath he’d been holding the entire way, and then ushered them inside. They pressed on until they could no longer hear the ransacking of the horde in the distance or the screams of their victims.
“We’re not allowed here,” Amon mumbled, uncertainty clear in his voice when they finally came to a stop.
“You most certainly should not be in here,” an unexpected voice confirmed from the darkness of the labyrinth.
Ty stiffened and spun about, sword in his hand, and spotted a figure standing in the shadows and watching them, arms crossed over his chest. Ty relaxed and lowered his borrowed weapon when he realized it was Theolin, the kind robber from the night before.
“Hey, Theolin. Remember me?” he asked. “Sorry to barge in on you again but, as you already know, there be monsters out there,” he said, pointing back in the general direction of the main village.
Theolin laughed. “I did warn you.”
“You did indeed,” Ty replied, “And, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take your advice and hunker down here until it’s over.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I suggested you find somewhere to hide, but sure,” he answered with a shrug. “Why not? It’s not like anyone in the rogues’ guild is actually online tonight. You should be fine here, at least until morning.”
Ty grinned, glad to hear that, and slumped to the ground, resting his back against the wall. He was suddenly very tired. The rush of adrenaline that had been sustaining him had reached the end of its fuel. Ty let out a loud yawn.
Theolin popped a squat across from him, against the opposite wall. It wasn’t until he settled in, legs crossed and sitting casually, that the three NPC’s calmed enough to sit down themselves, squeezing as close to Ty as possible.
“Nice to see you made somewhat good use of that cash I gave ya,” Theolin chuckled, examining Ty’s mismatched armor suit. “But seriously, girl’s pants?”
Charice’s eyes narrowed at the declaration and looked over at Ty. Her eyes widened. “You are wearing women’s pants.”
Ty groaned. “You buy what fits you,” he explained. “I’m a little dude, okay? Sheesh.”
“With big feet, apparently,” Amon added, also checking him out.
Theolin grinned, turning his attention to the others, looking ready to keep the trash talk going at their encouragement, when his smile suddenly disappeared. He glanced from Amon, to Deven, to Charice, taking in each in turn. “Wait a second. You’re all NPCs.” Theolin climbed to his feet as if he’d been stung. “There not supposed to be here.”
Ty chuckled. “I think we established that earlier, didn’t we?”
“No, seriously, man,” Theolin went on, “no NPCs ever come here. Ever! The system doesn’t allow it.”
With a lazy wave, Ty motioned to them. “I beg to differ.”
“This is some weird stuff.” Theolin ran a hand over his scruffy scalp. “There have never been NPCs here before. This is a designated PvP area for players only, just like the Silent Woods are. How can they be here?”
Charice glanced about a bit nervously at hearing Theolin’s statement. While she’d already been uncomfortable being there, she looked even more so now.
Ty thought about telling the truth, then he realized just how crazy it would make him sound. Heck, he still wasn’t one-hundred percent sold on the idea himself, but he figured it wouldn’t do him any favors to be honest.
His mind whirling, he thought up something he hoped Theolin might believe. “It’s a beta test of a new mod,” he lied. “We’re testing a new scenario, but the beta server is down, and we’re on a tight schedule, so we had to do it on the main server core. I really can’t say much about it, but Abraxas are looking to push out a stealth upgrade next month, so we’re kinda on the clock with the testing.”
Theolin’s eyes narrowed. “And you picked tonight of all nights to do it?”
“Why not?” Ty shrugged. “Given all the natural chaos in town, folks are bound to be distracted or offline, avoiding the invasion. Even if people see something weird, they won’t have time to really look into it with all the goblins running amok.”
“Except for me…” Theolin offered.
Ty nodded. “Well, yeah, can’t say we expected you to be here again tonight, gotta admit. But it’s cool. You’re not going to tell anyone about this, right?”
Theolin stared at Ty for a moment, then sighed, shaking his head. “Not that anyone would believe me even if I did. Besides, it’s a good thing to have one of the betas in my back pocket, yeah? A secret squirrel.”
“It could well be,” Ty confirmed, grinning despite Theolin’s less than subtle effort at extortion. “One good deed deserves another. Maybe I can talk them into giving you a twenty-four-hour head start on the new mod when it hits, let you loot a bit ahead of the pack. There’s this kick-booty castle siege scenario you’re not going to want to miss out on getting a go at early.”
Theolin grinned so wide Ty thought his cheeks might tear. “That’d be awesome, man!”
“Then keep this under wraps, and I’ll work it out,” Ty assured.
He hated lying to the guy, but he rationalized that it was best if no one in-game knew he was something other than just a weird PC. As some sort of strange anomaly, he had no idea as to what he was up against, and he didn’t need to turn the actual players against him.
He couldn’t imagine outing himself as someone who’d been summoned into the game from real life would do him any favors, even if people actually believed him, which he didn’t figure they would.
“I’ll add you to my friend’s list so that I can…” Theolin’s voice trailed off, and he narrowed his gaze on Ty. “I just noticed you don’t have a name tag over your head, and I’m not seeing anyone online anywhere near here.”
“Beta, remember?” Ty asked, chuckling to cover his surprise at learning he didn’t appear as a PC to other PCs in the system.
“Yeah…yeah,” Theolin muttered. “But how will—?”
“I’ll find you,” Ty assured. “I promise. As soon as the mod is scheduled to deploy, I’ll send you a notification a few days before to let you get ready. You’ll be the only one who’ll see all the new upgrades. Folks will think you’re crazy, running around doing stuff you’re not supposed to.” Ty offered a sly smile. “I’ll even convince the guys to let you Livestream it, with a short delay, of course, to keep folks from interfering.”
“Damn! I’d love that.”
“Then done deal,” Ty told him, climbing to his feet, proffering his hand.
Theolin hopped up and clasped Ty’s hand and shook it excitedly.
“This is all sorts of cool, man. No way I’m gonna sleep tonight, but it’s that time. Gotta log out,” he said, his tone thrilled and disappointed at the same time. “I’ve got summer school tomorrow and can’t be late or I’ll fail English. Again,” he laughed. “My mom’ll be all sorts of pissed at me if I do. Anyway, best you be gone by dawn or the other guys who lurk in the Walk will stab you in your sleep just cuz. Would hate to see you get shanked after surviving the horde. You can actually lose your gear if you get ganked here.”
“Thanks, man,” Ty told him.
Theolin nodded. “Later.”
“Have fun storming the castle,” Ty joked, offering up an exaggerated wink to reinforce his earlier lie.
Theolin laughed, and then he then dropped to a squat, chin drooping to his chest. A few seconds later, he began to fade away, his form turning hazy before disappearing altogether, leaving Ty alone with the three NPCs.
Ty let out a long sigh after he was gone, slumping lower against the wall.
“I didn’t understand everything you told him, but you lied, didn’t you?” Charice asked after a moment.
With a subtle nod, Ty acknowledged he had. “I have a feeling I’m going to be doing that more often than I’m comforta
ble with while I’m here.”
“Why not just tell him the truth?” she wondered.
“Because that didn’t work out so well when I told you I was actually AzzKickerofTheGodz420 now, did it?” he fired back.
It was Charice’s turn to sigh. She even had the grace to look a little guilty. “You really are him, aren’t you?”
Ty nodded. “For all the good it did you…or me.”
“We’re alive,” she offered, gesturing to herself, then Deven and Amon. “That’s something.”
“Mostly,” Ty replied, glancing at Deven. The butcher was slumped silent against the wall, his barrel chest rising and falling in slow, shallow, raspy breaths. “Will he be okay?”
Charice nodded. “He will heal once he rests a while,” she assured. “He’s as tough as he looks, fear not.”
“Good,” Ty told her, honestly glad to hear it. “I think I could use a nap myself.” He pressed harder against the wall and rested his head on the cold stones.
Charice muttered something he didn’t quite catch, no longer paying attention.
“I’ll see you all in the morning,” he muttered.
Ty closed his eyes and felt the weight of his day wash over him. Not more than a few moments later, sleep took him, darkness settling over and dragging him under.
Much to his regrets, Ty dreamed of monsters.
Seven
Aftermathematical Algorithms
MORNING ARRIVED, AND Ty found himself lying on his side in a dark alleyway, curled fetal. Notifications went off inside his skull, accompanied by an annoying gong.
You have earned +500 pity XP!
You have survived the raid by Halgor’s Horde! It’s not quite a victory you can be proud of, but any fight you can hide from is better than waking up on Savan’s cot, wondering what happened. That’s something. Not much, but it’s something.
“Where’s the dang mute button?” Ty whined, his skull ringing like it was the clapper in a church bell and Quasimodo had sucked down a dozen too many Red Bulls.
He groaned as he sat up, the cold, hard earth having done him no favors. His body ached from head to toe, the unforgiving ground having compounded the actions of the night before.