by Felix Craft
Bone snorted. “Speak for yourself, little man.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow in the barbarian’s direction but said nothing.
Despite myself, I found I was taking a liking to this trio of nerds. “Where are you all from?”
“Oh, I spawned around Twin Rivers,” Garrett said.
“Honey Vale,” Sylvia said with a grin. “It was delicious.”
Bone snorted. “Softies. I spawned in the Varif range.”
“That explains some things,” Garrett said in a stage whisper, to Sylvia’s giggling. Bone glared at them.
I could have palmed my forehead. “I didn’t mean in MythRune, guys. Where are you actually from?”
They all three stopped and looked at each other. I went a couple steps further before I realized and turned back, an uncomfortable feeling starting in my gut. “What did I say?”
“You really did just get dropped in here, didn’t you?” Garrett studied me, then shook his head and wore his usual smile. “Don’t sweat it. It just — usually, players don’t ask about the real world and each other’s real lives.”
I hadn’t asked about Leesha’s life. But that had been different. Even though we’d become friends of a sort before I’d betrayed her, we’d also always kind of hated each other. “Why not?” I asked, though I thought I knew the answer.
“Because our lives suck,” Sylvia blurted.
Bone shrugged.
Garrett nodded. “Yeah, that’s basically it. Why do you think we’re all here? We get to be whoever we want here. People aren’t petty about stupid stuff like acne and weight and that embarrassing thing that happened to you in third grade that nobody lets go.” He patted his armor. “And we get to do awesome things like fight monsters and save princesses. Eventually.”
To my immense discomfort, I found myself completely getting what they were saying. What one of my friends didn’t give me that pitying look when I went up or down stairs? Which one of them didn’t hesitate when talking about high school football, and give me an uncomfortable glance? Were any of them actually friends, anyway? I wasn’t sure anymore. Those I hadn’t driven away with my bitterness, I held at a distance. I had a dead-end job. I had a bum leg. My shitty-ass parents kicked me out of the house when I came of age and sometimes didn’t even call on my birthday.
Why was I trying to get back so bad?
I shook my head violently again. “Okay. Forget it. Let’s just keep going.” I turned back down the road, not seeing whether they followed, and set a faster pace than we’d been going.
Only when my SP was starting to dip and the other three were lagging quite a ways behind did I stop. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind of all that other stuff, concentrating on the things around me. A butterfly landed on my shoulder, and I didn’t move so I wouldn’t disturb it. After a moment, it fluttered away.
It wasn’t real. I knew that. But I still felt better. And when my band caught up to me, I plastered on a smile and started joking around as we had before. No one held my episode against me. They got it.
A few hours later, we stumbled upon signs of a gang of bandits. Pretty obvious signs, actually. Namely, a broken-down cart in the middle of the road, a lame mule, and a now-destitute man begging us to go after the highwaymen that did him in.
You have received a new quest!
Defenders of the Downtrodden
Find the highwaymen that attacked the man on the road and deal Lord MythRune’s justice upon them.
- Track down the highwaymen.
Garrett, being the nice guy he was, immediately reassured the man we’d do all we could, before I pulled everyone back away to conference.
“I can't do this,” I said in a low voice. “I have to get to the tournament.”
Bone’s bushy eyebrows shot up. “Lord MythRune’s tournament? We want to see it too, but it’s not a big rush.”
“Yes, it is. You have to sign up by tomorrow!”
“Sign up?” Sylvia laughed. “You have to at least be Level 10 to sign up. What, are you going to gain four levels from here to the city?”
I didn't tell them actual plan hinged on finding a 10 who would have me. We were growing to understand each other, but that didn’t mean I should let all my secrets out of the bag.
Garrett seemed to have been weighing the options and had made a decision. “According to my routing tool, even if we get a little sidetracked, we’ll make it to Mythgard in plenty of time. Still, I say we put it to a vote. All in favor of helping that poor man?”
The three of them raised their hands.
Bone shrugged. “Sorry man.”
I tried not to let my annoyance show. Maybe if they knew the true stakes, they wouldn’t have chosen that way. But I couldn’t tell them, not yet. So I smiled. “The band has decided. Let's go get those bandits.”
We crept through the underbrush, following the trail the bandits had left behind. Sylvia, who fancied herself some kind of tracker, made all sorts of claims about their movements, half of which I was sure were BS. But the path of trampled grass was so pronounced I felt even I could follow it. As I picked out each individual sign, a notification appeared.
You have gained a new affinity: Tracking! Affinity bonuses include: +1% chance to successfully stalk prey per affinity level.
Tracking progression: 10% until Level 2
It also looked like I gained some XP for learning it — 100 to be exact. I shrugged. I'd take what I could get. Every little bit brought me closer to Level 10 and independence from Leesha.
I thought about her as we crept, wondering what she would do when she logged back in. I wasn’t sure how many hours it had been since she’d gotten off, though the day had certainly gotten on. Surely not the ten hours she said she’d take. Maybe I should leave our party and make our break official. In fact, I realized too late, I should have done it before I betrayed her, so I would have gotten the full amount of XP from Lady Vash’s quest. Still, I didn’t do it. I guess some part of me still hoped she’d come back and understand, though most of me knew that little part of me was a bit slow.
Sylvia raised a hand, and the rest of us stopped. We’d arrive at a ridge, and our resident tracker was peering down over it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“They’re just ahead,” she whispered back.
I crept up next to her and looked myself. The bandits were spread out below us, having made an impromptu camp within a circle of trees. There, they laughed and slapped backs as they drank from flasks, flagons, and whatever else they could get their hands on to drink from. I’d have bet they would have drunk from human skulls if it was the only way to get their fix of liquor. Their stolen goods were thrown into messy piles, and crates and chests were tipped over, some spilling out their contents.
In total, I counted nine of them. I drew back. “We can take nine.”
Garrett nodded. “Definitely. Bone?”
The big man grinned and padded his club. “Yes.”
“Guess it’s time for you to make some noise. We’ll flank when you get their attention.”
“Right-o, cap’n.” The barbarian rose and stretched, then started sauntering down the other side of the hill, whistling as he went. I drew my battle-axe as I watched him disappear from sight, and gripped it tighter when I heard the first shouts from the bandit camp.
Before Garrett could give the signal to flank, more men and women, about five of them, appeared from just behind us, no doubt hustling to see what the noise. They drew to a halt when they spotted us. “Well, look what we have here!” the woman in the lead said with a grin. She drew two wicked looking daggers.
I didn’t waste time on a half-baked one-liner, but threw myself at the newcomers with a roar. “Sylvia, cover fire for Bone!” I shouted back at my remaining band members as I pumped toward the bandits. “Garrett, with me!”
Not waiting to see if they obeyed, I engaged the first of them. Leesha wouldn’t have called me a coward now. I hacked aside the first man who sprung at me
with a cut to the knees, then spun and blocked a sword blow with the haft of my axe. The other three bandits pushed in for a chance, but Garrett came in with the tackle, bowling two of them over with a shield rush, though it sent him sprawling, as well. The woman with the daggers, who was still standing, was quicker and more devious than the first bandit, and she came in with knives flashing. I took a cut to either shoulder before I managed to shove her back, my HP taking a hit of 10.
Two of the bandits battled Garrett as they rose to their feet, and I still had the woman and another bandit to deal with, who came on with a sword slash. I spun my weapon and blocked his attack with the head of my axe, knocking his blade harmlessly aside. Then I shoved into the man with my shoulder. The bandit with the knives was too quick, though, and she darted in and scored a double hit against my breastplate, mostly managing only to scrape against my armor.
I grinned at her as she drew back, eyes wary. “Frustrating, isn’t it?”
“I’ll just cut around it,” she snarled.
I had no intention of letting her try. Deciding it was time to try out my new skill, I made as if to stab at her with the sharp end of my axe, and she easily dodge out of the way, landing me a punishing cut to my forearm. I gritted my teeth, but I had her where I wanted her. I hooked her heel with my axe and pulled as hard as I could. She recognized a split second before she went crashing to the ground what had happened and screamed in frustration. I cut it off quickly when I brought my axe around and high above my head, then swung it down with all my strength. Now that was what I called Hook and Hack.
Focused as I was on using the skill, I’d let the sword bandit get behind me, and he struck a blow to my less-protected back. I felt a burn go down it as the blade bit in. Roaring with pain and sudden rage, I pried my axe free from the female bandit’s corpse and whirled around, wildly swinging. The bandit dodged the blow and darted in for another attack, but I wasn’t completely off balance. Blocking one blow and then another, I managed to get close enough to kick him in the knee with one booted foot, then when he went down, I chopped into his neck like an executioner.
Leaving their bodies to loot later, I looked up to see how Garrett was faring. He’d downed one and was beating the other one back with his shield, his sword somehow having been lost in the scrabble. I jogged over them and took out the bandit with a blow to the spine. My fellow band member looked from behind his shield as the bandit fell twitching, eyes wide.
“Thanks.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “Lost my sword and head for a second there.”
“No worries.” I found his sword in the grass and handed it to him, then looked back toward the main encampment. Sylvia was no longer on the ridge, and I couldn’t see why she’d go in rather than stay back and provide cover fire. “Come on. I think something’s happening down there.”
Garrett nodded, and we both ran down the hill. As we got closer, the sounds of battle grew louder. Over all the rest came Bone’s insane laughter. He hadn’t been killed yet, at least.
We came over the rise and the situation came into full clarity. There weren’t nine. There were fifteen, and ten were still standing. Another pocket must have been lurking about, similar to the one Garrett and I had taken care of. How a group of bandits this large had stayed together was beyond me.
Bone and Sylvia stood back to back, surrounded by a ring of taunting men and women.
Our barbarian couldn’t help but cackle with laughter against the odds. “Ooh, try that one again!” Then a bandit stabbed forward with a spear, and Bone whacked it out of his hands. “That was a good one!”
Sylvia didn’t look nearly amused, standing with a short sword gripped in both hands, gaze darting about from enemy to enemy.
The tactics and methods were different than football, but suddenly, I started thinking just like I had as a quarterback. “We’ve got to break the line. Get Bone and Sylvia out of there, then face them from just one side.”
The sandy-haired boy’s eyes scrunched up. “Okay. So, we just attack from the flank?”
I studied the situation again, wincing as one bandit darted forth at Sylvia, and she only narrowly batted him back. “Basically. I’ll take down a couple with javelins as we charge, then you go in with that shield bash, except don’t fall to the ground this time.”
“Right.”
“Then I’ll follow up, and we’ll wave them out. Let’s go!” I started leading my band member down the hill.
As we ran at the circle of bandits, I withdrew two of my remaining javelins from my inventory while I carried my battle-axe in my left hand and judged the throw. It wasn’t ideal, not being on straight, even ground like in track & field, but if I’d made due with the situation against that armored golem back in Castle Kronan, I’d be fine here. “First one going,” I said to Garrett, then slowed a bit as I readied the throw. Exhaling in a rush, I threw the javelin with all my might at one of the bandits with their backs turned to us. The bandits on the other side of the circle pointed at us approaching, but it was too late. My pitch was true, and the javelin drove through the unfortunate highwayman and pinned him to the ground.
Others from the circled turned now to us, and that was when Bone bellowed and lashed out with his club, connecting with at least one hapless bandit. The rest was lost in the blur of action, for I was readying my next throw then letting it fly. It was an easy shot at the range we were at now, but I must have been a bit hasty with my throw, for the javelin only took the bandit in a leg.
Garrett rushed past me with his shield raised, shouting in what I think he thought was a battle cry but was more of a yodel. I was a dozen paces behind when he connected with a bandit and sent him crumbling to the ground, though again, he went sprawling himself.
I shook my head, but there was nothing for it, so I took my battle-axe in both hands and went for the other side of the collapsed circle of bandits. With a chop to the face, I finished off the bandit with my javelin in his leg. The rest had fallen in on our band members. Seeing Sylvia fending off three bandits, I ran to her aid.
Apparently, my approach didn't go unnoticed, as two of them immediately whirled about to confront me. Striking together with their hammer and hatchet, I was only able to fend off one attack, taking a crushing blow to my left forearm. The metal armor crunched in, and I heard and felt bone crack. Bellowing in pain, it was all I could do to keep from getting hit by another round of blows as I quickly fell back.
The arm glopped uselessly where it was broken, and my battle-axe was unwieldy to handle with one hand. All I could do was grip the weapon at its balance point near the head and fend off the blows as I retreated. I imagined this in football terms — the QB getting rushed and nearly sacked. Except being sacked here involved being cut to pieces.
Suddenly fed up with being on the defensive, I let my hand slip further down the battle-axe shaft so I gripped it near the end. This way, my swings would be a lot slower, but I'd also be able to gain momentum and do some damage if they landed.
Spinning closer to my two assailants and trying not to feel like a ballerina, I leveled a chop into the hammer man’s side. He tried putting his hammer in the way of the oncoming blow, but I just blew past him, knocking his weapon out of the way and biting in deep to his flesh. The hatchet-bearing bandit immediately leaped at me, but I pried my axe loose with a kick to my victim and stepped back. A pivot and a downward chop later, and the hatchet clattered to the ground, its wielder dead, my axe buried deep in his shoulder.
The bandit with the hammer wasn’t quite dead, but I risked a look around me. Sylvia had killed the man attacking her and had gone to help Bone. Between the two of them, they were picking off the last of their highwaymen. Garrett, meanwhile, struggled behind a tree, but from the flashes of his shield rising and falling, I guessed he was just about to vanquish his foe.
“Just you, then,” I snarled to the moaning bandit before me, who’d fallen to his knees. “Got a lair or something to tell me about?”
The bandit tried speaking, b
ut only a pink foam came from his lips. Sighing, I raised my axe and ended it there.
Looking around me at the carnage, I found it didn’t really bother me anymore. I was starting to accept this game as real, but only in the ways it wanted me to. Again, it was disturbing, but I couldn’t help but feel satisfied with a job well done.
The rest of my band members sloughed up, looking weary but satisfied.
“We did it!” Sylvia grinned.
“Just like whack-a-mole,” Bone said.
Garrett was splattered with blood, and he looked a little cross-eyed, but he nodded at me. “Thanks, Zane.”
“For what?”
“You really saved our asses here. I totally lost my head, but you told all of us just what we needed to do and kept us alive.” He shook his head. “You’ve been with the band the shortest, but you’re definitely the leader.”
The leader. Before, with Leesha, she’d considered me a sidekick, if that. I was kind of liking the center stage role.
Before I could reply, someone appeared over the rise, and we all tensed as we looked around. But I was the one who startled in surprise. “Leesha?”
She stared down with fiery anger in her eyes. “What did you do, you idiot?”
22
Facing the Betrayal
I grimaced. Even with all the blood and gore of the bandits’ bodies spread about, it was still more painful to look at my betrayed companion. Talk about party foul.
“Funny thing.” Leesha started slowly walking down the hill, leading Charlotte by the reins. “I was having trouble sleeping. Do you know why? I couldn’t get it out of my head that something was wrong. So I thought I’d take a quick look online, just to check and see if we were okay. And what do I find?” She smiled dangerously at me.