Viridian Gate Online- Vindication

by N H Paxton

  “Okay, what kind of traps?” Ina picked up a twig and tapped it against the ground.

  “We have spike trap here, here, and here, also pitfall lined with spikes here. Do not fall in, will not be fun.” I marked a series of x’s on the crude diagram. I then made another series of lines that looked like an inverted bottleneck, where I had built barricades to drive the bandits down the main street. “I have special surprise at end of street if they make distance.” I drew a large angry face on the ground at the end of the street, where I had placed my hastily crafted catapult. It launched small boulders and could potentially launch a human if necessary. I was praying it wouldn’t be.

  “You’ve got all sorts of fun planned. How did you get all of this done so quickly?” Ina looked around and down the now deserted main road, where the barricades were a wall of wood, with some spikes protruding at odd angles.

  “Many villagers offer to help. I give direction, they hammer nails. Is simple.” Another shrug from my shoulders, almost unbidden. There was a sudden chirping in my ear. It was gentle at first, but started to grow. While I was working on the traps, I had stumbled upon the alarm clock feature built into the game’s interface. I’d set it for fifteen minutes before we estimated the bandits would arrive. “Is show time. Get hunters, show them tripwires, make combat line, and kill many bad people.” I nodded with ferocity, if one can put ferocity into a nod.

  “You’re a mad genius, Vlad.” Ina clapped me on the shoulder and stood. She hesitated a moment before walking away.

  “Everything is al—mmmmf.” I stood up while speaking, and Ina spun quickly, kissing me. I was taken aback, as I had not expected such an expression of emotion. Her eyes glittered in the afternoon sun—they held so much behind them, like an entire ocean of feelings dying to be set free. She stepped back after the kiss, her face red and a sheepish smile on her lips.

  “That’s for luck, and safety.” Ina tossed me a sly wink as she trotted off toward the gathering hunters.

  “Is for luck...” I said to myself, the air the only witness to my experience, as my jaw hung slack, the shock of the situation still evident on my face and in my head.

  Unfortunately, the time I had to enjoy my moment was ripped from me too quickly as I heard the sounds of shouting from the north. The bandits had arrived, and the fight had begun.

  Superior Tactics...

  I HEARD THE FIGHTING well before I saw it, and already I was concerned about our chances. We were down two hunters in the first arrow volley, and they had only lost a few of their rank. The numbers were not looking good. The opposing force held the advantage for now, but soon, they would see why Cressfal would not be taken without a fight.

  “All hunters, shift back, tactical retreat to Main Street, go, go!” Ina’s voice was a solid beacon amongst the chaos of the yelling combatants. She slipped between two men fighting, burying her sword in the gut of a bandit who had raised his axe to take another hunter by surprise. She moved swiftly, like fire and death, almost ethereal.

  “Just few more meters,” I said as I surveyed the fight from behind a barricade. I wanted to make sure someone was able to man the catapult if they made it that far, and I wasn’t handy with a blade.

  The hunters rallied around Ina as she bellowed loudly, the air vibrating and shimmering in a circle around her. The hunters that were within the radius of the strange phenomenon suddenly fought with renewed vigor, and their attacks were much more disciplined. The icon for the countdown came to an end, and a series of arrows launched outwards from the murder holes within the first layer of choke points.

  Several bandits went down in the barrage, mostly dead. The hunters spread out behind the first bottleneck, and the bandits followed ignorantly. One of the front bandits tripped a series of spike traps. He was rewarded with a solid skewering, along with a few others who were in close proximity. Their bodies hung off the spikes as the springs and pistons snapped from the weight.

  “Unexpected result, wood cannot hold up several bodies. Will make note.” I was talking to myself again, as though this fight weren’t happening right before my eyes, but instead on a video screen, like an experiment gone horribly awry. It wasn’t necessarily a failed experiment, but a chance to experience new data in a semi-controlled environment.

  “Move, move, move! Down!” Ina’s voice shattered the battle din just in time, as a second volley of arrows shot out of the murder holes, streaking into their targets with ease.

  I saw the bowmen withdraw from their positions and move farther down the line. I didn’t want to seem too optimistic, but it looked like we were winning. The bandits’ attacking force was down to half, and we had only lost four men so far, none fatally.

  “What happen to pi—” My words were cut off as a small group of bandits, who thought they were clever trying to avoid the walls, stepped on the false floor I had created, and fell through. The sound of their agonized screams reached my ears in seconds. “Ah, there is pitfall.”

  A small smile had found its way onto my face. I didn’t want to admit I was enjoying it, but I was. Did that make me a terrible person? I don’t know. I made weapons and devices of destruction for a living. Maybe I was on even ground now, doing enough good to balance out all of the evil my devices had wrought on Earth.

  “Hunters, pincer!” Ina shouted the words so loud she could probably be heard in Val’Fore, if it were still standing.

  Several of our hunters had stayed out of sight, and were now backfilling the bottleneck, pushing the bandits farther into the trap. A series of arrows peppered a bandit who was trying to climb the walls to escape. He fell and crushed two others on his way down.

  The heavy thwang of an overly tightened spring sounded from just a short distance away, heralding the second line of traps. I had managed to find some old honing oil that had started to turn and used it to poison a few of the spike traps for those who survived the immediate impact or impaling. It was working marvelously, if the screams and tortured shouts of the bandits could be believed.

  “Stop watching fight, go man catapult.” I had to tell myself to move. I wasn’t used to the experience of large-scale combat, and it was causing me to be half-entranced and half-paralyzed. “Move ass, or everyone die.”

  I managed to kick myself into gear and headed to the catapult. I had already loaded it with what I could find, mostly sharp rocks and pieces of wood. The payload would be more like a grapeshot than a rock, but that was okay, I was aiming for that effect. Ina glanced up from the battle. She was covered in blood, and her sword dripped gore. She was a mess, looking like the angel of death, my own personal creature of destruction. I raised my arm to get her attention, then jerked it down as quickly as I could, showing her the hunters needed to move to the sides.

  “Walls! Now!” The hunters obeyed her command as one, a couple of them disengaging from bandits who looked confused.

  I jerked the catapult lever back, and the arm shot forward. The entire alleyway I had created turned into a storm of fragmentation as stones, wood, and nails flew through the air. Most of the bandits that were left, less than a quarter of their original fighting force, took simple flesh wounds, but a few of them took arterial lacerations or were given a well-placed wooden plank through their body. One unlucky bandit took a large rock to the face, and moving as fast as it was, his head vanished in a fine, pink mist.

  “Withdraw! You morons, withdraw!” There was a new voice on the battlefield, one I hadn’t heard before. My eyes darted across the field as quickly as they could to find the source. It had come from a tall, muscular man holding a very long sword. He was wearing the same hides and leathers as the other bandits, but his clothing was different. It was decorated with various baubles, almost like war trophies. His voice commanded with the same force as Ina’s, which probably meant he was also capable of the same kind of destruction.

  “Conrad, you finally show yourself. It’s been too long, and my blade hungers for your heart.” There was so much fire in Ina’s voice, I was i
mmediately intimidated.

  “The obnoxious warrior woman who has been keeping my freedom fighters at bay.” The man shoved at the back of a bandit who was running in the opposite direction. An arrow whipped past his face as he continued his approach. If he was concerned, he didn’t show it.

  “Your reign of terror in these lands is over, Conrad. And I will be the one who brings vengeance to those you’ve slain.” They began a deadly dance, circling one another in the largest portion of the bottleneck.

  “You’re too straightforward—you didn’t build these defenses. Who did this? Who is responsible for slaughtering my men?” He looked around the immediate area. The only sound was his own men groaning in agony. Not even leaves dared to rustle on the trees.

  Ina took the opportunity to attack while he was distracted, but Conrad was wickedly fast. He brought his blade up and caught her overhead swing with ease, shifting the weight of the blow, driving her to the ground. He kicked her in the shoulder as she landed on her knee. Ina rolled a half dozen meters before spitting in the dirt and standing.

  “That was rude.” Ina wiped the dirt from her face as she switched her sword stance. She pulled a shortsword from a sheath at her hip and held it backward while holding her longsword forward in her other hand.

  This time it was Conrad’s turn to strike. He ate up the distance in the blink of an eye, his blade outstretched, intending to catch Ina with it, but she sidestepped and batted his blade away. She forced her shoulders down, and a glowing aura enveloped her. I couldn’t be too certain—I didn’t have any real measuring devices on me, obviously—but it seemed like she moved faster.

  “You’ve improved.” Conrad switched to a power stance, holding his sword with both hands. He growled loudly, and his clothes suddenly grew tighter; the muscles on his forearms bulged and grew in size, while the seams on the leather pants he was wearing split in places.

  What the hell was going on? Were these fighters directly augmenting their physical prowess with some kind of combat skills?

  He was on the offense again, swinging fiercely, his blows carving sparks from Ina’s blocks and parries. Conrad appeared to be stronger, but Ina was much faster. She spun in a tight circle after she redirected a blow and caught Conrad in the lower leg with one of the swords. She moved to follow up, but Conrad was ready. He pulled his blade up and rammed it into Ina’s chest.

  “NO!” I yelled

  I loaded myself into the catapult and pulled the lever. Flying through the air at a ridiculous speed, I tucked myself into as small a shape as I could and braced for impact. I didn’t know what I was going to do once I got there, but I definitely didn’t expect to slam directly into Conrad.

  “Oof!” Conrad’s body was like a wall.

  My entire body spasmed when I hit the ground. I was wracked with pain, suffering from a new series of debuffs. They popped up in front of my eyes in a solid cascade, one after another.

  <<<>>>

  Debuffs Added

  Fractured Leg: You cannot use your right leg to move, and your movement speed has been reduced by 80%; duration, 2 minutes.

  Cracked Ribs: Your breathing is impaired, and your cracked ribs are causing you pain; Stamina regeneration reduced by 20%; duration, 2 minutes.

  Lower Limbs, Minor Paralysis: Your lower limbs have been paralyzed from a minor spinal injury; unable to stand or walk; duration, 2 minutes.

  Fractured Arm: You cannot use your right arm and cannot cast mage spells requiring hand gestures; duration, 2 minutes.

  <<<>>>

  I dismissed them as quickly as they appeared, I needed to get moving. My Health bar was flashing at 20%, but Ina was lying on the ground, her body shaking, heaving, her lungs trying to work.

  “Ina, Ina!” I crawled to her side, my body hurt in so many ways I couldn’t think straight, but I knew I had a healing potion stashed away, a gift from one of the villagers who had made the trek to Cressfal. I popped the cork and poured it into Ina’s mouth. I was lucky she was lying on her back, or it would have made getting the potion into her mouth a major challenge.

  “You.” Conrad stood up, his body uncertain, his gait unsteady. He leaned on a sword he had picked up, pointing his other hand at me. “This is your doing! My men, dead, because of you.”

  “That’s quite enough, son.” The village elder was suddenly standing there. He must have traversed the path while I was trying to get to Ina.

  “Do not call me son. You threw me out, you abandoned me! I had to become this, this monster, to live. These fools, they took everyth—” His voice cut off as the elder lifted a hand and fired a series of small bolts of energy from his fingertips. They slammed into Conrad’s chest, pushing him back, knocking the air out of him, and driving him to his knees.

  “No, you threw everything away. I gave you a chance to atone, I gave you a chance to be a better person. In the end, it is my fault you are this way. I gave you everything to make you happy.” There was a sad look on the elder’s face, and he suddenly looked very old.

  “I... just... wanted...” Conrad stumbled about as he tried to stand again. He tilted backward and couldn’t stop his own momentum. His eyes went wide as he tumbled into the spiked pit. He didn’t even scream as he landed.

  “My son, may you be at peace, finally.” The elder walked over to the pit and stared into it. I wasn’t sure, but I could have sworn a tear rolled down his cheek.

  It wasn’t long after that when everything in my vision faded slowly to a deep black.

  “Get them up,” was the last thing I heard the elder saying. “They’ve saved us all.”

  Question of Quests...

  Timeline: 2 Days until Astraea, 19:44

  I AWOKE TO THE SMELL of sweet tobacco lingering on the air. I found myself resting in a small building, not the inn room, but a living area. It was lavishly decorated with rugs, fine furniture, and decorative, hung oil lamps. Across the way, I saw Ina sitting at a small bench, her arms resting on the bottom of an open window. She had her pipe in one hand; the smoke from it created a sort of mystical appearance about her.

  “You survived, is good.” The words croaked out of my throat as though I had swallowed a beast of some kind, likely a toad, or maybe a tortoise. I attempted to rise from where I was lying, but everything was in pain. She let a gentle chuckle slip from her as she took another pull from her pipe. The cherry flame in the bowl lit her face in a pleasant light.

  “Of course I survived. I’m very hard to kill.” She stood slowly and crossed the room, bringing the pipe she held and handed it to me. “Here, I’ve laced it with skullcap. It will help to ease the pain.”

  “You are herbalist?” I should have known, since she lived with the villagers in Val’Fore for so long, and there was a rather large forest nearby. It didn’t matter, really. I was thankful for the tobacco, so I took a few drags. It tasted of earth and had a dry afterburn. It was almost too much for me, even with my years upon years of smoking experience. “Ah, is good,” I lied.

  “It’s an old trick I picked up years ago from the previous village elder in Val’Fore. He was a good man and an excellent herbalist.” She took the pipe back from my outstretched hand and tamped it on a small wooden bedside table. Ina stowed the pipe and then took a moment to help me up. I groaned and struggled to get seated, then tested my limbs as I stood slowly.

  “Thank you for help. I was worried, you know.” I didn’t want to talk about what I felt, I just wanted to let it go. But something was driving me forward, like a giant meteor hurtling through space.

  “Oh, with Conrad?” Ina turned to me, smiled a bit, then stepped to the side and stopped. “There was a history there—we were lovers once. But that was an eternity ago, and our minds were clouded with the stupidity of youth.”

  “Yes, and all this.” I waved a hand at her person in general. I was concerned I would lose her again.

  “Vlad, I am fine. You’re not going to lose me to someone as worthless as Conrad. I had hoped you’d figured that out by now. Enou
gh lollygagging, we need to get going, we’re missing the feast.” Ina pushed open the door to the house, and I was suddenly struck by exceedingly bright light.

  There was a massive bonfire in the middle of the village. People were dancing like maniacs around it, while others were clanging cups and laughing.

  “What is feast for?” My mind was shifting gears, and my thoughts were back on the noise outside. I was confused as to why they would be holding a feast, let alone a massive one.

  “What do you mean? It’s to celebrate! We beat the bandits, and they’re not coming back. Ever. Which is, in and of itself, a great reason to celebrate.” Ina took my hand and gently pulled on it. “Well, come on then. The food isn’t going to eat itself!”

  I left the house, Ina pulling me along, and before I knew it she had entwined her fingers with mine. Well, that was a surprise.

  It only took a moment for someone to holler that we had arrived, and there was an overly loud cheer. One person shouted something about us being the “saviors of Cressfal,” If anyone was the responsible party, Ina would need to take the credit for it. She had worked with the hunters and drilled them in proper movements. She even went so far as to nearly defeat their leader without help; I simply provided tactical advantage.

  There was an older gentleman heading our way. It was hard to see who it was in the darkness, as he was backlit by the fire.

  “Ah, the heroes awaken.” It was the elder, and he was looking in much finer spirits. “It is good that you have come to celebrate. We are not just celebrating the victory, we are celebrating a new beginning.”

  He placed a hand on the side of my face, and I felt power thrum from under his palm. He smiled as he turned about, heading back to the crowd of people by the fireside. I couldn’t be sure, but the smile he’d had when he turned looked sad somehow, as though there were things left unsaid. Far be it from me, though, to know what lies in the heart of a man whose family was just destroyed.