It was a minute before I heard the thundering of boots marching in unison from outside. Slowly but surely, all the Hammerton soldiers filed into the outer gate area and began forming orderly columns. Then a chariot entered with the entire command staff, including General Hammersmith in full battle regalia, his dark armor was impressive.
Olaf motioned for me to follow him as he approached the General.
“Well done, Major Crushhammer!” the old General said, beaming with pride. “You and your soldiers have made Hammerton proud this day. I never thought we would be able to get this far with so few casualties. I kept waiting for you to signal for reinforcements, but you never did.”
I really wanted to ask Olaf about signaling for reinforcements, but the timing didn’t feel right.
“Now, I must insist my soldiers and I assist with this next objective. I owe old Anvilroch a beating that is long overdue,” the General stated.
“What was that horn?” I asked, motioning back to the tunnel.
“That was the gauntlet being thrown down,” General Hammersmith answered. “Basically, it was like saying, ‘here I am, come get me if you got the bronze’. We responded in like.”
“Huh,” I mumbled. That was a different way of throwing down the gauntlet. Given the setting, I thought they would have actually thrown down a gauntlet.
“Anyway, assemble your troops, Major, we will give your fallen compatriots an hour to rejoin us and then we march,” the General ordered. Then turning to Mardi, “Are you sure about this, ma’am?”
“Very sure,” Mardi replied.
“Very well. You may assemble your team and see to the Duke. But please, be careful. You are the heart of your people,” the General said, worrying over his leader.
It was a knife to the gut.
“We cannot let my father escape if his General and forces fall,” Gras added.
“I can see there is no dissuading you,” General Hammersmith said. “I will do my best to resolve things with Anvilroch as quickly as I am able to. Then I shall come to reinforce you.”
“Thank you, General Hammersmith,” Mardi said, suddenly hugging the elderly soldier. “For everything.”
The General stiffened at first then relaxed and smiled fondly. I could see the old soldier clearly cared for her. And here I was about to take her away from him forever.
“Did I miss something?” Olaf asked, confused.
“I am taking Bye-bye, Rose, Baby, Heath, Micaela, and Gras and we are attacking the Duke while his forces are occupied with you and the army,” Mardi answered.
Olaf looked stricken when his name wasn't mentioned. He looked at me pathetically.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying my best to act confused.
“Not your fault, mate,” Olaf said, sighing. “It’s my fault for becoming a Major. I’m sorry to be missing out on that fight.”
“We will tell you all about it,” Mardi said confidently.
“I’m looking forward to that story,” Olaf said, grinning. “Good luck.”
“We’ve got a long climb, we should get underway,” Gras said, his eyes focused on the stairs.
“Vision, do me a favor, watch Olaf’s back,” I said, kneeling down to scratch the excitable pup behind the ears.
“But I wanted to come,” Vision whined.
“I’m sorry, bud. I would stay and watch Olaf’s back myself if I could. So, I need you to keep him safe where I can’t, okay?” I said, it was easy to forget sometimes that Vision was less than a month old.
“I will keep him safe,” Vision promised, nuzzling my hand.
It took a minute to gather the others, and another minute of Rose complaining about missing out on fighting the General and how the Duke was just a consolation prize. Still, Mardi convinced her otherwise with a simple, “I suppose I understand that, it is okay to be afraid.” After that, Rose was sold hook, line, and sinker. We took another twenty minutes to rest and then as one, we moved toward the stairs.
“Up we go,” said Gras.
“And you’re sure you know the way?” Rose asked.
“Yes, I am sure I know the way. I have been all over this fortress with Heath and the rest of Operation Gremlin. Trust me, I will get us there,” Gras said.
“Why did you tell Vision to stay with Ollie?” Micaela asked, staring at me. “You know he’s my pet, right?”
“Sorry, Micaela. I just figured he would be safer with Olaf than where we’re going,” I said.
Micaela frowned. “Next time, check with me first.”
“I will, I promise,” I said.
I had clearly not gotten the structure of the city correct with my earlier observation. The barracks and their military complex were down the road leading into the mountain. Apparently, the Lava Forge was reserved for Military use only. The Anvil structure was the city. There were several floors of residences, though most looked empty. And above that, were shops . . . and patrols. It seemed a few soldiers were deployed to stop looters.
“We don’t have time to try to dodge them,” Rose said, blurring forward and attacking the first
I started to run toward the fight when I caught a flash of light to my right, in an alley, slowing me down as my friends ran ahead. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Bushy Bunny was there, and she was fighting Pwn Star69.
I quickly changed direction and ran into the alley. Leaping at Pwn, I knew he couldn’t be trusted.
“Traitor!” I yelled as I landed, my spear glancing off some kind of magic shield.
“Wait, I’m not a traitor,” Pwn said, backing away from me.
“You alright, Bushy?” I asked.
“I am now, he was holding me prisoner, here. A bunch of his friends grabbed me when we were attacking the brewery. With all the commotion today, I was finally able to escape only to run into this guy,” Bushy said.
“What? That’s not true. She kidnapped me!” Pwn insisted.
“Stop lying!” I shouted, attacking again. This time the magic shield shattered but it slowed my spear down enough for Pwn to roll out of the way.
“Would you stop attacking me and just listen, you stubborn mule?” Pwn yelled, backing away from me.
I ignored him, hitting him with a ‘Beginner Holy Shock’ stunning him mid-step. He fell backward and I heard the sound of breaking glass. I was looking forward to killing him, finally. I tried to mentally command my ‘Perception’ subskill ‘Find Weakness’ to activate. The armband Pwn was wearing lit up, giving me pause. Why was his armband a weak spot? That didn’t make sense. Then I saw the broken glass, it was a mirror. I caught a reflection of Bushy behind me, she wasn’t wearing an armband. Come to think of it, had I ever seen Bushy wearing an armband? Was she even with us when we traveled to the brewery?
Bushy disappeared about the same time Pwn showed up in Hammerton. But why? Why did she vanish? My first inclination was that Bushy was killed by Pwn or kidnapped as she had just said she was. But Baby and the others said, Pwn probably wouldn’t do that. Plus, I had the contract. If anyone on my side of the conflict killed an ally, they would be banished from the province . . . and I was about to kill Pwn, who, despite my distaste for the man, was still an ally if the highlighted armband was any indicator. And if he was an ally . . .
I turned swiftly and stabbed Bushy, who stopped my spear with a single open paw.
“Awe, and you were so close,” Bushy pouted. “Oh well, I suppose I can just kill you the old-fashioned way.”
I never saw her foot move, but I certainly felt it as I flew into the wall next to Pwn. -3122-HP floated away from my body and my buffs showed Baby’s ‘Nature’s Ward’ went with it.
Bushy clicked her tongue. “You lived, I’m kind of surprised. I held back so I didn’t turn you into mush but that still should have killed you.”
“Why?” I asked, barely able to breathe. I had several ‘Crippled’ debuffs that
weren’t there before she kicked me.
Bushy’s smirk vanished. Then she transformed into something that would now make the top ten in my list of monsters I never want to meet in the World Tree Online . . . or in any other world for that matter. All her fur fell away along with sloughs of skin. Underneath was black tar for blood that clung to the exterior of her wrinkled, desiccated body, the black blood that poured from the skin she just shed had even dyed her clothes the same inky color. She was still a Rabbit person . . . I think, but not like any I had ever seen before. Not with the blood red eyes and razor-sharp teeth and a forked tongue that completed her new look.
“Oh hell, she’s a Demon!” Pwn said next to me.
Chapter 36 – Olaf
Olaf was unsettled. In one instant he had lost his best tank, healer, and damage dealers. He couldn’t quantify any of that, except that it was what his gut told him. It was probably more along the lines that they were the ones he trusted most.
“Where are they going?” Icyhot asked, pointing toward the stairs.
“Different mission I guess,” Olaf said. “Duchess’s orders.”
“Damn, there are even secret quests within this mess. God, I love this game,” Icyhot gushed.
Olaf felt a little relieved if he was honest with himself. The last thing he needed was for any of the players to be jealous of his friends getting a secret quest they couldn’t share. Even if Olaf was the one that felt jealous at being left behind. Still, he had his own mission and taking out the General was not going to be easy, especially if he was the same level as General Hammersmith. He looked once more to the stairway as the army passed and sighed, resigned that he wasn’t going to be able to join his friends. A small part of Olaf wondered if this wasn’t what Bye-bye felt when he was asked to help solve Micaela’s Shaman issues while Olaf and the others went off on adventures without him.
“They will be alright,” Vision stated, appearing next to Olaf. “Boss is with them.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Olaf, reaching down and ruffling the fur on Vision’s head.
Another horn sounded from down the road, it was longer and more drawn out than the first horn that sounded.
“Oh ho, now that is a surprise,” General Hammersmith said.
“What’s a surprise?” Olaf asked.
“Anvilton is going to meet us on the road,” the General answered. “Colonel, prepare the soldiers, the fight is coming to us.”
“All of them?” Olaf asked, his eyes drawn to the status notification.
Siege Status
Barracks:
N/A
Soldiers:
200/200
Elite Soldiers:
20/20
Officers:
4/4
War in the Streets!
The status changed slightly. Where before it read ‘Clear the Barracks’, it now read ‘War in the Streets’
“Heavy Guard, form a front line and prepare to repel,” the Colonel started barking orders.
“Tanks, take the line with the Heavy Guards,” Olaf yelled, following the Colonels lead, and placing the players where he could.
“Spearmen behind the Heavy Guard, then I want Mages, Priests of the God Ivaldi and finally Archers,” Colonel Grandmite gave orders. The soldiers quickly forming ranks that took up the entire width of the street, at least forty soldiers wide and each unit was at least two rows deep, and with players mixed in, they were fifteen rows deep in total. This was an army and with the magic they wielded, Olaf would have put this army against any medieval army in history and won.
Olaf knew he would be most effective just behind the Spearmen so when the time came, that was where he intended to stand. He pulled out his hand-cannons to give them a once over. One of them was a bit dinged and dirty but functional. The other was not, it had suffered a misfired round that blew out the chamber and blew off his hand, it left the hand-cannon as little more than scrap. He didn’t even know that a hand-cannon could misfire like that. He had had a few duds where the bullet failed to fire but that was it. Anyway, he was very grateful to healing magic for putting his hand back together. Too bad it couldn’t do anything for the ruined weapon. Olaf re-holstered the destroyed weapon and instead equipped his maul. It was a two-handed weapon but due to his strength, he was able to wield it with just one hand, though it did have a clear damage penalty as it didn’t do nearly as much damage as when he wielded it with both hands.
By the numbers, Hammerton fielded the superior force with its near 400 soldiers, and a handful of its own officers, including the Colonel herself. Olaf knew well enough that numbers didn’t guarantee victory, something he had just proved when he virtually captured the first four objectives with less than 100 players. Still, he couldn’t shake the uneasiness he felt about the coming conflict. The numbers made it seem like they had an overwhelming advantage. But something about those 20 Elite Soldiers was setting him on edge, not knowing who or what they were . . . it was dangerous.
“Sir, the rebels,” Colonel Grandmite said, pointing toward the stairway opposite of where Bye-bye and the others went.
Olaf looked and saw a large mass of Dwarves coming down the stairs, which were now behind them. They all carried weapons at least, but they weren’t very well armored. A lot of it was a hodgepodge of mismatched leather and chainmail, dyed or painted in different colors. It reminded him of several of the players in his group where their equipment choices were made more for function than form.
“If they want to fight for their city, who are we to stop them?” General Hammersmith asked, nodding to the Colonel, silently communicating orders.
The Colonel nodded in return. She moved quickly with several of her soldiers to meet the newcomers and get them sorted into the battle plan.
“Sir,” Olaf started. “What if the rebels’ timely arrival is a trick?”
“You worry too much, trust the Colonel to position them,” General Hammersmith said.
Olaf looked again and saw as the rebels were positioned as a new frontline. It was ruthless. By putting them in the frontline, if they were actually with Anvilton, it would put them at the front of the army and put them where they were less likely to really cause damage. If they weren’t, it let the rebels soak up the initial brunt of the damage, sparing his soldiers at least a few deaths and maybe taking out a few of the Anvilton forces along the way.
“It is a great honor for Dwarves to die in battle, you know,” General Hammersmith said.
Olaf had thought the old Dwarf was grandfatherly in his previous actions. It was only now he saw the real General, a shrewd tactician willing to do whatever it took to bring an end to the war. And if most of the rebel fighting force died along the way, all the better.
As tempting as it was to question the orders, Olaf knew better and wisely kept his mouth shut lest he finds himself on the frontline with them. As it was, there was still a good chance this fight would kill him and everyone else.
“Order forward march, Colonel,” General Hammersmith gave the word to commence with the attack.
“I should get into position,” Olaf said, seeing the soldiers begin to march.
“Good luck, Major,” the General said in parting.
“Same to you, sir,” Olaf replied, giving a quick salute before moving.
“This is going to get messy,” Icyhot said as Olaf lined up just in front of him.
“Yeah, war always is. Still, this will be the biggest fight yet,” Olaf said, still worrying about what was to come. “Do me a favor, as soon as you or anyone else figures out what those elite soldiers are, have it called out.”
“I’ll spread the word,” Icyhot said, running for the end of the line where a group of players had set up. A minute later those players scattered, one of them was Leafy, the Scout Olaf had come to rely on. The kid was good at his job.
A few minutes later, Icyhot retook his spot in line behind Olaf. “Word is going around. Leafy said he was going to sneak ahead and see if he couldn’t find out b
efore the fight actually starts,” Icyhot stated.
“Thanks, Icyhot,” Olaf said.
“Just doing my job,” Icyhot said.
“And a damned good job you’re doing,” Olaf said. “So, I’m not sure what you’re thinking about for joining an Order in the future, but if you’re interested, I’m planning to start one up with my friends. Probably be another month or two before we do, but if you're interested, there might be an officer spot for you.”
“Sounds fun, what’s it called?” Icyhot asked.
“No idea yet, we’ve been debating the name for a while. My wife insists that whatever we call it, it must have ‘Epic’ in the name,” Olaf said with a laugh.
Icyhot laughed. “We’ll see, Ollie. Have you talked to anyone else?”
“Just my friends. I was planning to have a player gathering when the battle is done. Let people know and add them to my friend's list if they are interested,” Olaf answered. “I was trying not to let it distract people in the middle of a war.”
“And you thought now was a good time to bring it up?” Icyhot asked with another laugh.
Olaf shrugged. “Seemed like something to pass the time.”
Icyhot laughed louder, a sound that was quickly drowned out as the charge of the Anvilton rebels began with a dull roar.
Olaf was tall enough to see over the top of the Heavy Guard that made up the two front lines as well as the spearmen. The rebels charged in, not really keeping much of a line. They met the front row of
Siege Status
Barracks:
World Tree Online: The Mountain Valley War: 2nd Dive Concludes Page 63