You're Going Down (The World Book 3)

by Jason Cheek

  “Besides, instead of hunting wolves in the wild or hiding behind barricades in Delonshire, you’ve successfully beaten off a siege and now are going to break an invasion.” Kyarina’s exasperated look nearly made me laugh out loud and start the shit all over again as she turned around and snapped.

  “Well, does that mean you’re at least ready to go?”

  “Depends,” I answered as a smirk split my lips. “Is there anyone else who wants to become a Necromancer or Death Knight before we head out?”

  ***

  Captain Miya Faelwen’s eyes swept across the battlefields outside of Delonshire as the last Goblin warrior’s lifeless body slid off her blade. Up and down the makeshift wall, the invaders were punching through their defenses as newfar and guards were being overwhelmed by the enemies’ numbers and levels. Everywhere she looked, groups of newfar bunched up before the collapsing defenses fighting for their lives as they strove to push the invaders back, but they were being cut down to quickly to make a difference as more and more Goblins poured over the wall.

  Once again that annoying Half-Elf, Startum Ironwolf had proven himself right. He’d managed to save her life a handful of times and in the process had seen more of her goods than anyone she wasn’t sleeping with should. Even though the man had a knack for getting under her skin, he’d at least been right about the prisoners. Offering the newfar the option of fighting for Delonshire as reparations for their crimes had made all the difference in holding the city.

  Like half-crazed berserkers, the newfar had repeatedly thrown themselves against their much higher level enemies regardless of how many times they were cut down. Coming back to life in the graveyard, the newfar would reappear after being cut down only to rush out and join the battle once again. But, even with their unnatural help, Delonshire was falling. Once the Goblins opened up their foothold in the defenses that would be it. They’d roll the city up in short order.

  Miya had already called the defenders guarding the rest of the walls forward to push back the attack, but the trickle of reinforcements wasn’t enough to force the Goblins back. By the Light, even if they succeeded in driving the invaders back over the wall, there wouldn’t be enough of them left to stop the next push. Even with the newfar strengthening their lines, if every one of them slaughtered their attackers three to one, the Goblins would still have hundreds of troops left to take the city with. Up until now, she’d held out hope that Ironwolf would come through for her like he’d always done in the past, but whatever his plan was, Delonshire had run out of time.

  She should be angry with him. He’d taken fifty newfar with him for whatever crazy plan he’d come up with, but in these last few moments of her life, she couldn’t find it in her to hate him. With the invaders pushing this far into their lands, there was no way the city would have lasted even this long without his advance warning of the invasion. Still, Delonshire had been her home since birth. To have it fall like this hurt her soul.

  Pushing the morose thoughts away, Miya turned to her right-hand man raising her voice to be heard. “Sergeant Traovudd, prepare the troops. We’re going to show those newfar how it’s done and push those green bastards back over the wall!”

  The wordless shout from her people momentarily drowned out the sounds of battle and was answer enough to her orders. As her gaze swept over her guards, Miya saw in their eyes that each of them knew this was their end run. Nearly half of them were the survivors with her from the mines. Each of them knew what awaited them if they were defeated and taken prisoners. Like her, they’d fight till the death rather than be captured by those animals once more.

  Raising her blade in salute over her head, Miya turned to the enemy and shouted. “For Delonshire!”

  “For Delonshire!” Her guards shouted back as she led the charge into the teeth of the enemy’s advance. Bringing up her shield in front of her and tucking it close into her chest, Miya plowed into the invaders with the rest of her guards like a battering ram blasting Goblins off their clawed feet. Trampling over the injured with her ironshod boots, she repeatedly thrust her blade into the bodies at her feet as she pushed the Goblin line back to the base of the barricades. Pinning the enemy with her shield, she thrust her blade under her shield to gut her foes like a mad woman.

  All around her, newfar and villagers alike rallied around her to push the invaders back. Leaping up onto the barricades amongst the enemy coming over the rim, Light Elf rogues carried the attack into the middle of the Goblins’ ranks on top of the wall as rangers, hunters and mages blasted them from below for everything they were worth. Even with breaking the enemies’ foothold and forcing them back off the barricades, the battle wasn’t won as an endless stream of invaders continued to pour into the breach.

  Blood ran down the wood like a waterfall as Miya fought her way to the top of the barricade. It took her five minutes of constant fighting before she could push the enemy back long enough to climb to her feet as the advancing horde threatened to push them back every step of the way. Bleeding from multiple wounds, Sergeant Traovudd answered her questioning look with a quick shake of his head as they fought side-by-side to hold the invaders back.

  She had never known Goblins to fight with such ferocity like this before. Typically the little green bastards were known to be tricky fighters that fought more with guile and cunning than the direct strength of arms, even when they had overwhelming numbers as they did now. Something wasn’t right. Not that she was complaining. If this invasion force had fought like they had in times past, Delonshire would have already fallen.

  Looking around there was only a handful of guards left standing as newfar and villager alike fought to hold the invaders back with everything they had. It was at that crucial moment, looking out at the sea of shrieking monsters, that Miya heard the clang of battle on the far side of the field. Glancing away from the Goblins climbing up to attack, she saw a battle raging on the backside of the invader’s army at the edge of the treeline.

  A jagged blade skittering off her shin guards brought her mind back into the fight at hand as she slammed the bottom of her shield into the mass of invaders and quickly beheaded her immediate attacker with a backhanded slash of her blade. Calling out as she fought, Miya tried to give hope to the battered defenders.

  “Hold the barricades! Lord Ironwolf and the Devil Dogs have returned!”

  The chant went up around Miya as the defenders around her fought with renewed courage. At first, the attack on the invaders rear didn’t slow down their assault. Fighting on, Miya focused solely on holding the barricade as the Goblins sent everything they had forward. Warriors, rogues, and guards fought side-by-side doing their best to hold the line as the mages and rangers clambered up behind them to rain death down upon the enemy.

  Although Miya was the Captian of the Guard and in control of Delonshire’s defense, any sense of control she had over the defenders had disappeared in the face of the invader’s breach of their defenses. Now she fought like any other defender in the fangs of the enemy, doing her best to hold the invaders back long enough for Lord Ironwolf and the Devil Dogs to make headway in their counterattack.

  A shimmering wall of mystical power flared in the darkening sky as a wave of ice and fire blasted into the backs’ of the invaders. The show of power was enough to make even the Goblins pause in their frenzied assault. Twisting their misshapen heads around in fear, they watched in shock as a more than a hundred mages sent their withering attacks hurling across the field. Across the barricade, the whole battle seemed to pause at the incredible sight. It was in that momentary lull that the blood-curdling shrieking started as the invader’s rear seemed to collapse in on itself.

  For a second, guards and villagers alike looked at each other in confusion. What was so vile that it made Goblins run away in terror?

  “Oorah!” The battle-shout came from hundreds of throats as a wave of melee fighters charged across the gap between the forces. The only reason they could momentarily be seen in the fading light was due t
o the continuous magical blasts slamming into the Goblin ranks. It gave the new attackers an otherworldly appearance as they crashed into the invader’s rear hard enough to send ripples all the way to the leading edge of assaulting force. Again shrieks of terror rang out from the Goblins in the rear as another clump of their lines seemed to collapse in on itself. Instead of turning their formation around and counterattacking, the Goblins in the rear were doing their best to flee the battlefield.

  Incredulously, Miya watched as the whole northern invasion force seemed to disintegrate before her very eyes. Breaking formation, Goblins and Worgs scattered in every direction as the attackers curved around to cut off any escape. Leaping off the walls, groups of newfar threw themselves at the Goblins retreating backs in a frenzy of blood cutting down hundreds as mages, rangers, and Hunters fired down at the enemy non-stop.

  Watching the invader's assault turn into a complete route, Miya attention was pulled away from the blood-bath beneath her as Sergeant Troavudd spoke up next to her hesitantly. “Ma’am, what just happened? I’ve never seen Goblins retreat in terror before.”

  Standing next to her subordinate dumbfounded, Miya’s mind was in turmoil as she tried to make sense of what was happening below. That’s when she felt her blood turn to ice in her veins as she watched a group of undead sprinting across the ground towards a group of Goblins. One-by-one the Zombies tackled their fleeing prey to the ground, ripping them apart with claws and teeth as they quickly ate the Goblins alive. Within moments the undead creatures were back on their feet hunting for their next meal as the gaping wounds riddling their bodies began to close and heal over. Ignoring the newfar killing Goblins around them, the group of Zombies dove back into the scrum as Miya caught her Sergeant’s eye.

  “There!” Miya pointed at the undead creatures tearing apart another group of Goblins. “Ironwolf must have taken the power of BrokenFang Hold.”

  “Zombies!” Sergeant Traovudd spat, making a sign to ward off the dark as he watched the invaders being decimated. Leaning into her ear, he spoke in a hushed whisper. “Where did he get all of the troops? I thought House of Kayden had been wiped out?”

  “Obviously not,” Miya answered back just as quietly. “My question is where did they get all of the mages from?”

  “No idea, Ma’am.” Sergeant Traovudd whispered back. “By the Light, I’m just glad that he’s on our side.”

  “If I’m not around and the council ever asks, make sure they know not ever to screw that halfling over.” Miya's voice hoarsely croaked as she watched unbelievably while hundreds of Goblins were effectively wiped out on the field below in no time at all. The Devil Dogs & Valkyrie Guilds along with the newfar prisoners and the hundred warrior-mages from House of Kayden had a huge role in the invader's defeat, but their effect was almost nothing in comparison to the nearly three hundred Zombies that roved the battlefield like a swarming plague of death. Combined together they were an unstoppable force.

  At the center of the worst fighting, Miya saw a familiar face covered in blood climb atop a pile of green corpses with a large Silver Dire Wolf at his side. She couldn’t accept the sudden feeling in her chest as she watched the man raise his black-bladed sword high above his head. The thought of being attracted to a halfling and a newfar at that was almost too much to be rationally considered.

  Still, she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he’d made it through the battle without serious harm. As she watched, Ironwolf gave a wordless shout of triumph as the wolf howled alongside him. Recognizing the signal of victory for what it was, she heard the warriors around the battlefield shout back in salute as the realization came to everyone that the enemy was truly defeated. A moment later, the guards and civilians along the walls and throughout the city joined in as Delonshire’s streets rang with the cheers of victory.

  Catching her breath as the dancing, hugging and back clapping died down slowly on top of the makeshift battlements, Miya raised her voice to be heard. “Sergeant Traovudd, I want guard details out looking for wounded and at least eight roving patrols on the city streets at all times until order gets fully restored.” There were several muttered ‘Yes Ma’ams’ as she lowered her voice. “While you’re doing that, I’ll go talk with our newfar allies and see if they’re willing to help with the wounded.”

  “Say hello to Lord Ironwolf for me, Ma’am.” Corporal Ibohanydd said with a smirk under his breath as the Sergeant gave him a stern look.

  “What was that, soldier?” Before the words had completely left his lips, Miya was spinning around with her eyes flaring. “Did you just say something, Corporal?”

  “No … no, Ma’am!” Corporal Ibohanydd studdered, snapping to attention with the rest of his guards under his command.

  “That’s what I thought,” Miya muttered, giving both of her subordinates a long look before spinning back around and calling over her shoulder. “Then by all means carry-on.”

  ***

  I was finishing up organizing the distribution of loot with the Devi Dogs and Valkyrie guild leaders when I noticed my NPC companions start spreading out around me in a defensive circle and drawing their weapons. It wasn’t just Brenna, Rayne, Keela and Ulia who had taken it upon themselves to be my personal guardians throughout the battle reacting, but every one of my NPCs from House of Kayden was rushing towards me across the field. Turning around quickly to see what was causing the commotion, I saw a familiar face approaching from the direction of the city’s barricades as I instantly understood the problem. Miya Faelwen was walking towards me, maybe twenty yards away. Surprisingly enough, she was approaching without her gaggle of guards. Even so, I understood my people’s concern for my safety after everything they’d been through with Delonshire.

  “Stand down everyone!” I called out, holding my hands up to get everyone’s attention as I slowly spun around. “Everything is good. Go back to your work. I have a standing agreement with Captain Faelwen and Delonshire.” Searching the faces of the small army of NPCs, I caught Theric’s and Klaern’s eyes as I continued shouting. “Strike Leader Farestrider and Sergeant Maerwen, keep everyone on task while I deal with the Captain. We’ll be heading back to Requiem as soon as we’re finished up here.”

  Getting a nod from both, I turned towards Miya as Theric and Klaen got everyone looting the dead once again. Well, everyone except for my new sexy retinue that had suddenly taken it upon themselves to guard and protect me. I hadn’t noticed what they were doing until the end of the battle, but when I did, I realized they’d been working together with Neysa to keep me from being overwhelmed by the enemy. While a part of me appreciated the help, another was concerned about how this would play out in my future adventuring. Were they acting this way because of my new title or was it some other aspect of the game? I’d have to look into this once we were off the battlefield but for now, I needed to deal with the Captain.

  I had to push my way past Brenna, Rayne, Keela, and Ulia who obviously weren’t willing to leave my side with a military leader from the town of traitors that had left our people to die in the wilds. It wasn’t like I didn’t understand where they were coming from, but my relationship with Miya was based off the personal request from her alter ego to find her in the game when she was my pregame trainer and not the dictates of the Light Elves or the leaders of Delonshire. Still, I was glad to see they’d at least sheathed their blades at my words. Although if looks could kill, the Captain would have been dead four times over.

  “Captain Faelwen, I’m glad to see you survived the siege,” I said as Miya came to a stop before me. “I hope the open use of our Dark magic hasn’t changed our agreement.”

  “Lord Ironwolf,” Miya replied with a slight dip of her head. “It is good to see that even though you follow the Dark, you have kept your word.”

  I waved for the girls to calm down as I steadily met the Captain’s emerald green eyes. “Dark or Light, my honor here is not the one in question.” I calmly answered back, letting the dig hang in the air for a moment since
she hadn’t answered my question before continuing. I could tell that something had Miya out of sorts even more than usual. I just hoped it wasn’t in regards to Delonshire honoring their agreement with House of Kayden. “I expect Delonshire to hold to the terms of our arrangement.”

  I got a pop-up “Quest Complete - Save Delonshire from the Northern invaders!” as Miya’s head rocked back as if I’d physically hit her. Instantly the conflicting emotions on her face disappeared behind her typical mask of annoyance as she stood up straight to look down her nose at me. “Regardless of Amyalneas’ decree, House of Kayden will be given free access to shop and train within our borders as was previously agreed upon.”

  “Excellent, that will do nicely,” I said rubbing my hands together excitedly as my retinue looked at each other in surprise. That I’d taken away the block that would allow House of Kayden to grow and have their own healers to boot was a massive win. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Captain. I take it that you’ve put your newfar prisoners to good use?”

  “Your recommendation worked out quite well,” Miya admitted as the stiffness somewhat left her shoulders while she talked. “Without their help, we’d have never held the walls until your return. Not to mention, the loss of the lower level newfar seems to have broken The Syndicate’s power base within our city. Both of Delonshire’s enemies have fallen today.” Shifting uncomfortably, the Captain stepped closer to me lowering her voice as her calloused hand grip my upper arm lightly. “During the battle, I received reports of your push to break through the siege lines. A good portion of the civilians defending the walls saw what you did to save them and know that without your use of Dark magic the city would have fallen. Your people will be welcomed here.”