Deserts Of Naroosh

by Bradford Bates

  Part of him wondered what it would be like to have sex with an invisible woman, but he liked looking at her so much he almost hoped they never got to try it. Tim walked toward the tent flap as he tried to pull his mind out of the gutter. There were more important things than getting busy, although his body tried to forget that fact at the sight of his girlfriend the instant she walked into or out of a room.

  While he had the tent to himself, he might as well find out what he’d gotten himself into. He looked down at the envelope Khalid had given him and slit it open. Inside was a card with a single golden hieroglyphic on it. When Tim ran his finger across the golden symbol, a quest popped up.

  Quest Received: Healing The People

  There are members of the resistance in dire need of healing. I’ve marked a location on your map. Go there and find out why our warriors aren’t returning to the battlefield as quickly as they should.

  Reward: Ten gold coins

  The quest wasn’t as straightforward as go here and heal everyone, which was nice, and also a little concerning. Tim liked the fact that his healing powers weren’t in question, and it showed that Khalid valued him more than to send him somewhere to heal X number of people for a reward. The part of the quest that had him concerned was that the wounded weren’t returning in a timely manner. From what Tim knew about magical healing, they should be returning the same day, if not sooner.

  Something about this stunk.

  “I guess that’s why he’s sending me.” Tim stepped out into the sunshine and walked toward the stables.

  If he was going to get back before everyone else, he’d better leave now. There was no telling what kinds of quests the others received, and he wanted to sleep before they partied tonight. If anyone deserved a nap it was him, but first, he had to figure out what was going on.

  Tim hopped into the saddle of his camel and started in the direction indicated on his map. He’d never ridden a camel before, but he was in the desert now, and by God, he was going to start doing desert things before a quest forced him into another climate where they didn’t have camels to ride. When in Rome, and all that.

  His camel spat into the wind, and the droplets splattered against them both.

  “Maybe I should have stuck with horses.”

  The village of Har-Han was three concentric circles of dusty huts built around a central courtyard with a well. Telling which of the massive thatched huts was the medical building wouldn’t be a problem since the line of wounded waiting outside marked it clearly enough. It was a mockery of everything he’d tried to accomplish in Promethia, and worse yet, Khalid was paying these jackals.

  Maybe the healer who was working here wasn’t very experienced.

  That was the only real excuse for this, that or there wasn’t a healer at all. If someone here were accepting money from Khalid and not healing the wounded, it would end now. The easiest way Tim knew how to hustle a hustler was to take away their hustle. In this case, if he healed everyone, the healer in Har-Han would be out of a job. That or it would force the idiot to make an appearance, and Tim could deal with him.

  Before he got crazy, it was probably best to get the lay of the land. He didn’t have any bloody clothes handy to blend in with the others, but he could make some if he were gritty enough. Tim pulled his dagger free and slashed his left arm.

  “Son of a rat sucking donkey fucker, that hurts!” Tim gritted his teeth against the pain as he put his dagger away.

  His next thought was to heal the wound quickly. Once he’d done that, he pulled a spare shirt free and used it to bind his now-healed arm. With all the wet blood over the strips of his shirt, he fit right in with the rest of the resistance fighters.

  Tossing a little limp into his giddy-up, Tim proceeded closer to the men in line. He stopped next to the first man he saw. “What’s the holdup?”

  “New, huh?” The man snickered and coughed a little bubble of blood at the corner of his mouth. “They get paid the same if we live or die. They don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to help.”

  Tim frowned. “But Khalid does pay them?” He let the statement trail out there as a question, hoping the man might fill in the blanks.

  “He does, but Jabari sends them whores and spirits. Who has time to heal when they could be drinking and fucking?”

  Well, that explained a few things.

  Jabari’s gifts had corrupted the healers here. Tim wished that he could say he was surprised, but men had sold their honor for a lot less. A famous one even betrayed someone for thirty pieces of silver. He wanted to be sad these men would let others suffer while they delighted themselves, but in the end, he was mostly angry. How many men died while these healers indulged in Jabari’s pleasures?

  “Can you do me a favor?” Tim splashed the man with a Healing Orb and tried not to grin at the expression of astonishment on the man’s face. “Do you think it would be possible to round up the worst of the wounded in one location for me? Get some of the others to help you, and tell them I’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”

  The man pulled his arm from a sling and tested it before extending his hand to Tim. “Josh is my name, and I’ll get it done.”

  It looked like Josh wanted to say more but thought better of it. He turned away from Tim and walked into the crowd, selecting a handful of men and women to help him round up the worst of the wounded. Tim loved working with seasoned fighters. You didn’t need to ask them to do something a thousand times. They did what needed doing without complaint.

  They saved the complaining for their own time.

  The people of Har-Han were probably getting tense, having so many injured warriors in their small village. There had to be a couple of hundred resistance fighters milling around, and there was no way their water well had been built to support that many thirsty mouths. Besides the living, there was a growing pile of corpses. No one seemed to know what to do with the bodies so they rotted under the sun with only a sheet hiding their decomposing bodies from view.

  A single guard stood outside the door to the healer’s building. The sounds of music and laughter slipped from under it. So the men inside weren’t afraid that everyone knew what they were doing. Knowing what they were busy doing while the men and women of the resistance died turned Tim’s stomach.

  This had to end.

  The guard at the door held up a hand. “Healings are done for today. Go back and wait with the others.”

  “I don’t think I will.” Tim wondered what this man would do. He was all alone and looked to only have a stout wooden club as a weapon.

  The guard moved forward while lifting the club. “Being smart ain’t going to get that arm healed any faster, friend.”

  “And what, you’ll give me something to go with my hurt arm if I don’t comply?” Tim knew what he was saying, but all he heard coming from his mouth was an unintelligible growl.

  Cruel laughter bubbled from the guard’s lips. “I won’t have to. In a few days when that arm starts to smell, you’ll do anything I want to get in the door.”

  Tim was starting to understand why they needed a man like Khalid in the desert. Someone with honor had to get this rabble under control. This was the kind of behavior he’d expect from murders and thieves, not the people who others counted on to help them in their time of need.

  Tim had seen enough.

  He cast Behold My Power without another thought. The guard’s face twisted for a moment as if he knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what. It was nice to see the man squirm a little, his calm confidence shattered. Tim noticed that it didn’t take much to make an arrogant man uncomfortable. All a person had to do was attack their sense of self-worth.

  Or in this case, curse the fuck out of them.

  “What did you do?” Spittle flew from the guard’s lips as he screamed in fear.

  A younger version of himself would have laughed at the man's panic after he caused the same feeling in so many others, but instead, he felt tired. How some people lost sight of
what was important in life was so damn draining. Tim cast Snare and followed it up with a blast of Divine Light. He quickly healed the damage he’d taken from his curse and waited for it to finish off the guard.

  Death was damn near instantaneous for the man, and it was a good deal better than he deserved. Now that the lone guard was out of the way Tim could go back and heal the others before dealing with the wayward healers in the temple. It had been a while since he’d been able to use his assassin skills, but now was the perfect time to dust them off.

  Josh was true to his word and assembled the worst of the wounded off to one side. Tim clapped him warmly on the back. “Once I get these men healed, can you handle getting them back to wherever they need to be?”

  “I can, but shouldn't we do something about...” Josh pointed at the temple. “Them.”

  Tim pulled a dagger free, flashing it in the sunlight before tucking it away again. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

  “About time someone set them straight,” one of Josh’s helpers replied from behind them.

  Tim hit the man with Healing Orb and sent a quick burst of the spell out to anyone standing nearby. With a few of Josh’s helpers taken care of, he moved to start taking care of the worst of the worst. These were the people who needed immediate healing just to get stabilized before they could be Cleansed and brought back to full health. Keeping them off death's door was the only thing that mattered now.

  Thrusting his hands in the air, Tim let Eternia’s healing waters wash over the dying.

  It felt good to be helping people who really needed it again. The Healing Shack was his baby, and while Tim didn’t get to go there as much as he liked anymore, the High Priest promised him that someone would always man it in his absence. This was his chance to do some of the good he was missing out on back home.

  When Tim finished healing, Josh moved in and organized the healed, getting them back to where they were needed most. Tim moved through the crowds, healing everyone he could while trying to keep an eye on the healer’s building for any sign of trouble. It would take him several hours, but he’d feel better carrying out the next part of his plan after all these people were healed and gone.

  It wouldn’t do a lot of good for his reputation as a healer to get caught assassinating a bunch of other healers, even if they were pieces of shit. Tim had to do this right. Once everyone was gone, he’d sneak in and off the bastards. When he got back to the oasis, he would tell Khalid he needed to find a new group of healers.

  These weren’t worth redeeming.

  Tim moved from cluster to cluster as he healed all of Khalid’s injured warriors. There were several hundred people here. It was the type of opportunity he needed to work on his Tarnished Circlet of Wisdom. He loved it when a quest served more than one purpose. Knocking out skill upgrades, item updates, and a quest all at once was the kind of thing that kept their guild ahead of the others.

  Healing Storm took care of large groups of the lightly wounded, and Healing Orb took care of anything more serious. He moved from cluster to cluster with a purpose, only resting when he completely depleted his mana. What he really wanted now was a pair of those socks JaKobi won. It seemed like such a trivial boost, but he could use it right now. Maybe when this was over, he could search the auction house for something similar.

  This was one of those situations where he didn’t ask for money or thanks. These men had already paid to be healed and didn’t receive the service. All he wanted to do was get them back in the fight and finish his quest.

  Oh, and a nap. He really wanted that fucking nap.

  It wasn’t too long ago he hesitated and struggled with the thought of killing people in the game. Even bad people. He’d gotten over that little bit of hesitation although it still felt weird to him. Tim imagined that stabbing someone in The Etheric Coast felt exactly like it would in real life. The sensation added a sense of realism to the fights he wasn’t exactly ready for, but now he was contemplating violence as the easy solution instead of the last resort.

  Josh appeared after Tim finished healing the last of the wounded. “A few of us are going to stay and make sure you don’t receive any interference from the other villagers.”

  He looked around at the empty courtyard. “Most of them were too afraid to come out when this place was full of the walking dead, but I don’t know how long they’ll stay in now that we’ve mostly cleared out. My guess is you'll want some room to work.”

  Tim thought about it for a few moments. If this town’s entire existence was based on the healers and he wiped them out, there would be a lot of unhappy people here, and he might need help getting out. He also didn’t want anyone to see him do what he was about to do. There was a reason assassins worked in the shadows.

  “Keep the courtyard clear.” Tim looked around at the empty area, wondering if he truly needed the help. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “You got it,” Josh shouted commands to a few of the men. “If any other wounded show up, I’ll have them separated by severity and ready for you.”

  Tim hadn’t considered that other wounded might continue to come for healing. Maybe he shouldn’t kill the healers but give them the scare of a lifetime. His decision still up in the air, he walked toward the door. He’d make the call on what to do once he was inside. Looking at the sheet-covered corpses of people who didn’t receive healing in time only bolstered his resolve.

  Stealth would be his best bet going forward so Tim activated his and hoped the bonus from his Infiltrate skill would help him get eyes on the room and any potential targets before the fighting started. In a one-on-one battle, he might be okay. If there happened to be three or four of them inside, he could be in real trouble. Taking out as many as possible before being noticed would be crucial to his survival.

  If he missed his nap because he died, Tim was going to be so fucking pissed.

  Not to mention the shit he’d get from ShadowLily for missing their together time. She’d be worried, and he’d never hear the end of it. The last thing he wanted to do was have her fight all his battles for him, but if he couldn’t handle this, she’d probably never let him out of her sight. He needed to show her that he was a grown man and fully capable of handling a little trouble on his own.

  The real key here would be making it past the door. If he could slip inside unnoticed, then everything else would fall into place. He closed in on the door and reached out for the handle. Holding the handle down, Tim slid the door open a fraction of an inch. When no one called an alert, he pushed it open all the way.

  Laughter spilled out into the courtyard.

  “At least no one’s going to hear me,” Tim mumbled to himself as he slipped through the door and closed it behind him.

  The building in front of him was one long hallway from back to front with rooms on each side. For now, the hallway was wide open, which was good because he could see the entire space and bad because there was nowhere to hide. Trying not to freak out about his escape options should things go awry, Tim focused on the details he could control.

  Three rooms on each side, but only three lights on.

  Tim looked at the lights. The first and third one on the left side were lit, and the middle one on the right-hand side. His initial feeling was to go toward the single light, but single didn’t have to mean alone. Any of the rooms could have more than one person inside. By the sounds of the women’s voices coming from the building, there was a very good chance he might run into additional complications.

  Maybe murder wasn’t the answer.

  All he needed to do was make an example so the priests wouldn’t accept Jabari’s bribes until after they finished their healing for the day. Then Tim checked himself. People had died while these men indulged their needs. It was one thing to be a dick when you weren’t hurting anyone, but this was some next-level indifference. It wasn’t as if the wounded were half a world away. They were literally dying right outside the door.

  Screw it. He wasn’t goin
g to get anything done by bitching about it.

  Tim moved into the hallway and decided to check the unlit entry on his right before moving to the first room on the left. The longer he could keep things quiet the better, and it didn’t pay to ignore a room because it was dark. His decision made, Tim moved to the door and grabbed the knob. He was pleased to notice that his fingers weren't sweaty.

  JaKobi wasn’t the only one who made strides since coming into the game.

  It felt good to have a dagger back in his hand. Tim would have to buy himself a nice little upgrade if he planned to keep skulking in the shadows from time to time. The last thing he wanted was for his assassin’s gear to fall so far behind it was almost useless. At this point he wasn’t even bothering with changing his outfit. No one was going to tell an assassin they couldn’t wear a robe if that’s what made them happy.

  The door inched open, and he stepped inside then closed the door quietly behind him. It was a good thing Tim decided to check this room first because there was a man passed out on the floor in the middle of the room. The only other thing of note that he could see was a large keg of wine in the corner.

  “Maybe this guy had a personal stash.” Tim looked around the room, but if everyone came in here for their wine, killing this man could potentially put him at risk if one of the other healers found him. Even if everyone was drunk, Tim was pretty sure they’d notice a dead body in the center of the floor.

  Still, he was here now, and his Dad always told him never to leave a task unfinished. He almost laughed at the thought of his Dad’s face if he saw how Tim was applying his life lessons. It was funny how some of the good ones applied to more than one situation.

  If he were ShadowLily, Tim would probably have a cool skill to kill the man by stabbing him through the heart. Despite his cross-training, Tim wasn’t a real assassin so he’d have to settle for something a little more practical. Like slitting the guy’s throat. Last time he tried to kill a sleeping man he’d almost completely botched the job. This time he would do better.