Deserts Of Naroosh

by Bradford Bates

  +2 Endurance, +2 Intelligence

  Special Ability: Wearing these pants boosts your ability to have stimulating conversations with yourself.

  It turned out not every magical ability was useful.

  At least he’d always be entertained while wearing the pants and the stats were better than what he currently had equipped so he was pleased with the reward. Tim was also relieved to find out he didn’t receive a copy of Dracon’s head. It turned out Cassie was honored with that job exclusively, and he was more than okay with that.

  Lorelei moved past him to claim her reward. “Recurve Bow of the Viper. The stats on this thing are amazing. I take back everything I said about the desert. I love this place.”

  JaKobi looked at ShadowLily and realized now wasn’t the time to try and beat her streak of opening the chest last. He moved forward to claim his share of the loot. “Bracelet of the Burning Eye. Increase critical chance with fire-based spells.”

  “That’s pretty nice.” ShadowLily moved toward the chest and laid her hand on it. “Hairpin of Brutality.”

  Everyone watched to see if she was kidding.

  A solid white hairpin appeared in ShadowLily’s raven black hair. “Increase damage from slashing and stabbing. Not exactly the cutest thing but highly effective.”

  “Right, it’d sure be nice if we could customize our look a little. Why do the devs always think players enjoy looking like they were dressed by the colorblind at a rainbow festival?” JaKobi rattled off.

  Tim chuckled. Anyone who played any of the older online games felt the pain of not having a customizations tab. When the best pieces of gear came from different sources, people’s characters often ended up looking quite ridiculous. While The Etheric Coast didn’t have a customizations tab, he didn’t see anyone getting anything out of place yet. Plus, all the gear they were getting now would probably only be around for a few levels at most, then it would be replaced by something better.

  “Don’t be such a snob. Put on your new shinies, and let's get out of here.” Tim moved toward the stables and noted they were full of horses. “At least we have a ride to the meeting spot.”

  Cassie looked down at her bloody midriff and to the trough of water outside the stables. “And some water to clean up with.”

  Lorelei followed them. “I’ll get the horses ready. Hopefully, wherever we’re going has a pool.”

  “I’d be down with that. Or a beach. Beers by the water sound fantastic.” JaKobi grinned. “When do we get to take a vacation?”

  “When you’ve earned it,” Tim grumbled, playing the hardass.

  ShadowLily wrapped an arm around JaKobi’s waist and dragged him toward the stables. “Which will be never, so I hope you enjoy what you do.”

  “Damn, that was cold.” Tim couldn’t keep from cracking up. “You can vacation whenever you want, as long as Cassie approves it first.”

  JaKobi pouted. “I’m a strong independent man. I can make decisions on my own.”

  “Let me know how well that works out for you.” Tim dipped his hands into the trough and started washing the blood off.

  “I’ll have you know Cassie respects me.” JaKobi sounded appalled that anyone would suspect otherwise.

  “I respect that ass,” Cassie shouted back.

  JaKobi turned red and whispered to Tim, “I think she meant mind, my sexy mind.”

  “I’m sure she did.” Tim snickered.

  Khalid’s meeting place turned out to be a cluster of tents in the middle of nowhere.

  While Cassie loved the change in weather, she wasn’t a big fan of the relentless nothingness of the desert. At least there were trees and animals in the forest. Out here, there was nothing but sand.

  Sand was great at the beach or when you had access to a shower. Riding out in the endless ocean of silty grains she had neither of those things. Right now she would have given up her quest reward for an ice-cold beer. Fuck, an ice-cold anything. The only good news was that she couldn’t get any dirtier than she was now. It would take her a year to get all the damn sand out of her hair.

  At least it wasn’t cold.

  The cold was her nemesis. Cassie hated how it dried out her skin, and her nipples were always getting chafed. If she had to wear more than two layers of clothes, she didn’t want to go out. That was why she was a West Coast girl. She could cheer on the Packers from the warmth of her covered patio. So while she was a little grumpy at the sand coating her arms, she realized the alternative could be worse.

  The icy wasteland of Naroosh.

  So while she hated being covered in grit, with enough sand in her ears to start an ant farm, Cassie decided bitching about the alternative was worse, and it was time to start counting her blessings. She found a man she really liked. Sure, JaKobi wasn’t the type of guy she’d normally go for, but those guys always ended up being assholes so she took a shot in the dark.

  Best decision I ever made.

  Her little ball of fire was a quirky guy. JaKobi liked reading over movies, but he still watched a lot of them. He preferred a night in over a night out on the town, and his taste in music left a lot to be desired. Still, there was something about him that made her feel special. Cassie knew that he’d never hurt her because when it came right down to it, he cared more about her than he did about himself.

  She was starting to feel the same way.

  Movement from inside the tent cluster’s center brought her attention back into the moment, and Cassie scanned the area for threats. Nothing jumped out as being dangerous. The tents were arranged in a tight semicircle to block the wind. Sitting in front of the tents playing a game with stones and dice at a small table was Khalid and a group of warriors.

  One of the men looked up after what must have been a shitty toss of the dice and shouted as he spotted their group. He stood and reached for a weapon leaning against the tent behind him when Khalid reached out and grabbed his arm. She couldn’t hear what the older man said to the warrior, but he sat without his sword.

  Khalid must have known they were approaching although he kept playing the game, never once looking in their direction. He was a cagey bastard, the kind of person it paid to keep an eye on. Not everyone could master the trick of appearing to be less than they were, but he’d done it so well she almost missed it.

  Not trusting the casual display, she scanned the sands around them with a more scrutinizing eye and found two hidden warriors. Nope, it was three. The last guy was pretty decent at staying hidden, but she could make out the whites of his eyes as he laid under a sand-covered tarp.

  “Not to alarm you, but we’re basically surrounded,” Cassie whispered to Tim.

  The healer and leader of their little group didn’t look worried, which was odd for him. Tim always thought three steps ahead, and while it made him the butt of a few of their jokes, it also saved their asses. If he wasn’t worried, there probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

  “Not much we can do about it now.” Tim kept a smile on his face as he watched Khalid. “Lorelei is keeping an eye on things.”

  Cassie wasn’t exactly sure how to play this situation. She wasn’t the kind of girl to hide behind flowery words. She wanted to know the truth and hear it always. Being honest wasn’t the kind of attitude that got someone ahead in many situations, but it was who she was. If people didn’t like her, then they could fuck right the fuck off.

  “How do you want to play this?” Cassie wanted to know when she should pull out the head and wave it around.

  Tim’s gaze left Khalid for a moment to look her directly in the eyes. “Shock and awe.”

  “I can do that.” Cassie tried to hide her smile.

  She might be little, but she packed a hell of a punch in that tiny package. Shock and awe was kind of her specialty. Not to mention Khalid had been a little rude to them earlier, so she would enjoy rubbing this kill in his face. He gave them three days, and they’d finished in one. Less than one really, considering they didn’t start until well after mid-d
ay and spent thirty times as long traveling between destinations as they did fighting.

  Wiping the cocky grins off his men’s faces would feel nice. They obviously hadn’t been able to beat Dracon on their own. The Blue Dagger Society had handled their problem so quickly their heads were going to spin. One would have expected the people solving your problems would be treated with respect, but so far the warriors appeared to be okay with slightly hostile indifference.

  “Did you find the task so unappealing you gave up already?” Khalid sat back with a knowing smile.

  The men around him laughed as if he’d told the funniest joke in the world.

  Cassie pulled the head from her inventory and tossed it on the table. Dracon’s decapitated head plowed through their game, tipping over cups of wine before stopping in front of Khalid with his one remaining eye staring accusingly. The general seemed to be saying, do you see what they did to me?

  “Truth be told, he wasn’t much of a challenge,” Cassie lied through her teeth. “I’d think about adopting a more respectful tone before the same thing happens to you.”

  Laughter rumbled from Khalid’s belly as his warriors bristled around him. “Fair enough, and as for my respect, you’ve earned it.”

  Khalid stood, plucked Dracon’s head from the table, and tossed it out into the sands. “It will take a few moments for my men to pack up. Then we ride.”

  “Where are we going?” Tim sounded more excited than worried.

  Wiggling his finger back and forth, Khalid grinned like a merchant about to score the deal of the century. “To the home of the resistance. There are many things we need to discuss.”

  “Is Neema going to be there?” Lorelei asked in a hopeful tone.

  Khalid appraised the ranger with a knowing eye. “She will join us for our planning session.”

  The warriors were already busy breaking down the tents, putting out the cooking fire, and readying the horses. They worked together like a well-oiled machine. It was amazing to see what a group of people could accomplish when they worked together as a single unit with a united focus. They’d broken down the camp and loaded their horses in a matter of minutes.

  The wind would blow the sand over this spot, and within hours it would be like they were never there.

  Khalid mounted his horse and motioned for their group to join him at the front. “I will send my men ahead with word of our impending arrival. I think when we reach our home, you will be pleasantly surprised.”

  “I’d settle for a bath and no more surprises,” Cassie grumbled as they started to move.

  Khalid looked her over and seemed to be pleased with what he saw. “Neema is much like you. The sand grates on her as if it were an enemy nipping at her heels.”

  “Well then, she probably knows the best way to get the fucking stuff off. I hate being covered in dirt with a passion.” Cassie brushed off her arm, but there was no hope of getting clean without a bath.

  “We have a saying in the desert. ‘The sands are as unstoppable as time.’” Khalid looked out over the wide-open expanse.

  Cassie snorted. “I guess a little dirt on my arms is no big deal then.”

  “Now you see the light.” Khalid’s smile lit up like the setting sun. “Why worry about what can never be changed when there are already a million small things you can do to make the world a better place?”

  The old warrior leaned back in his saddle. “Neema would say that I talk too much of change and hope, but I see a brighter future for all the people of our land.”

  “Then let us go, and talk about the future.” Cassie patted herself on the back. Maybe she wasn’t too bad at this politics thing after all.

  They rode off into the setting sun on their way to find out what Khalid and the resistance had in store for them.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  JaKobi ran off the edge of the building, body covered in flames. “Cannonball!”

  The fire mage flew through the air and splashed down into the oasis water as everyone cheered him on. It turned out that once you were part of the crew, Khalid threw one hell of a party. It was impossible not to have fun when everyone around them was so happy.

  This was the kind of welcome they’d hoped for when they came through the portal. Although, Tim wasn’t sure why he expected so much. Early on in most games, the NPCs regarded players with a hefty amount of skepticism. Why wouldn’t they when the other would-be heroes they’d run into never came back from their quests?

  While the Blue Dagger Society earned a fair amount of fame on the coast, the desert people had no idea who they were. It wouldn’t have done Khalid any good to lead just anyone back to his secret oasis. Once enough people knew about something, it wasn’t exactly a secret anymore.

  Dracon’s death was cause for great celebration among the people of the resistance. It seemed all of them had suffered at the hands of the warrior in one way or another. Tim watched as JaKobi and Cassie fought against Neema and Lorelei in a game of chicken and wondered how much a person had to drink before they played that game. Then he turned and saw ShadowLily silhouetted against the firelight and realized how happy he was.

  Tim nursed the strong desert wine as he watched the others play for a while, then turned to find Khalid standing on his left. He tilted his glass to the warrior. “This is truly a magnificent place.”

  Khalid beamed with pride as he looked out on the oasis and the people gathered there. “It’s one of the very few places the resistance can truly call home. The oasis was a gift from the Goddess Eternia herself in a roundabout way.”

  Tim looked out over the deep waters and thought about how special this place was. Having access to water made the oasis damn near priceless. Back in the real world, this location would have probably been a posh resort that cost ten thousand dollars a night, instead of a base housing an army.

  Not that the resistance was big enough to be called an army. There simply weren’t enough of them. They must be great fighters if Dracon was the least of their worries. That wasn’t exactly an easy boss fight for them, and if this was the baseline for battles, then the next bosses they faced would be a cut above what they’d seen so far. While Tim knew a great deal about fighting single enemies, he didn't know a lot about war.

  The good guys weren’t the only ones to win wars, and they weren’t always the ones with the best fighters. Most of the time it felt like the side with the best logistics won. Never underestimate how important it was for a soldier to be clean and well-fed. It couldn’t be easy keeping an army supplied with everything they needed to keep fighting. Shit, he couldn’t even keep up with buying enough socks.

  How was it he always lost so many?

  He almost couldn’t wrap his mind around how much effort it would take to keep an army and their families fed, clothed, and in good physical condition. Keeping the oasis afloat must have taken a large group of people to coordinate multiple tasks. It was a nightmare of a job, and one he was happy not to have.

  Khalid's biggest worry might have been that he didn’t have an army to worry about. Instead, he had about a thousand men and twice as many hangers-on. The family members of the resistance fighters were mostly a burden when it came to supplies, but a lot of them must have contributed in other ways. There were animals to attend to, weapons, and armor that needed repairs, but if they couldn’t fight, their contribution was limited.

  And expensive.

  “Not many people have the courage to stand against Jabari and his forces, and for those who do, this is the best I can give them.” Khalid sighed and gestured for Tim to sit. “It’s a constant struggle to keep our hopes alive.”

  Tim wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was one thing in movies when they talked about the resistance’s lack of resources and another when dealing with it yourself. He almost felt as if they were about to be a Viking raiding party pillaging the countryside for the supplies they needed before storming the capital to seize the day.

  ShadowLily sipped her wine as she joined t
hem. “Tell us what we can do to help.”

  The old warrior looked shocked, but a grin showed on his lips as he made the sign of Eternia over his chest and looked at the heavens. “The Goddess always provides, does she not?”

  “She does have a way about her,” Tim agreed with a smile of his own.

  He didn’t know if anyone else in his party had spoken with the goddess directly as he had, but it was always an experience. Eternia didn’t show up often, but when she did, things generally changed in a big way. The fact that Khalid’s faith rested with a goddess Tim already knew made him feel better about which side of the battle they’d chosen to support.

  ShadowLily set her glass down. “It sounds to me like we need to come to terms.”

  “Terms?” Khalid feigned innocence.

  “Yes.” ShadowLily’s eyes locked onto the older warrior’s like a falcon. “What’s in it for us?”

  Khalid rose from his seat, the bones in his knees cracking as they took the full weight of his body. “We all have mouths to feed, is what we tend to say in these parts. Let me think about our conversation for a while, and come up with acceptable terms for your service.”

  Tim felt the weight of the moment as he stood and offered Khalid his hand. “I’m sure whatever you come up with will be acceptable.” He ignored ShadowLily’s groan. “Now tell me that you have something better to drink than this piss.”

  Laughter rumbled from the older warrior's belly. “I might be able to scrounge something up as long as the two of you can keep a secret.”

  After tossing the remaining wine in her glass out onto the sand, ShadowLily rose from where she sat and joined them. “Now, you have my attention.”

  Khalid produced a jug from inside his light cloak. It never dawned on Tim that the NPCs had inventories as well, but there was no way he’d hidden that big-ass jug under his arm this entire time.

  I mean, the guy didn’t even have any pockets.

  “This is something I’ve been saving for a special occasion, but the moment feels right. Thank you for your assistance with Dracon.” Khalid handed ShadowLily the jug of wine. “I will see you again in the morning.”