Allistor followed their lead and pulled out some water and dragon jerky. After five minutes spent restoring himself, he felt nearly as good as new. Logan was alert enough to reach over and loot the mini-boss level monster when he saw Allistor do it. The others all paused to take their turns, and all seemed pleased with their haul. Fuzzy happily strolled over, set his Fibble doll gently on the floor, and began munching on the softer bits of the monster.
Allistor checked his notifications. First, his loot list showed a thousand klax, ten of the nasty hooks that had impaled him, a stack of twenty octopoid meat, which glowed green for some reason. His eyes widened when he saw there was also a scroll that glowed bright purple!
Disregarding everything else, he focused on the scroll, pulling it from his inventory. It actually glowed with a faint purple hue in real life, and caught Dawn’s attention. “Cool! What is that? In the games I play… I used to play, purple meant super rare.”
Allistor mumbled, “Yeah, I think it’s the same here now.” to her as he read the description.
Spell Scroll: Dimensional Step
Item Quality: Epic
This scroll teaches the user the Dimensional Step spell. When cast, Dimensional Step allows the user to move instantly from the position they occupy, to a position they designate within one hundred feet. User slides into a pocket dimension, emerging at the target location, bypassing any solid obstacles in between. Spell cost: 300 mana. Requires minimum Intelligence attribute of 10. Cooldown: One minute. Can only be cast on self. Target location must be within user’s sight, or well-known enough for user to picture the location in detail. Failure to adequately recall details of target location increases risk of permanent entrapment in pocket dimension.
Chapter 9
Get Off My Lawn!
“Holy shit, that’s one helluva cheat!” Lars declared after Allistor gave them a brief description of the purple scroll’s spell. “That would make you pretty much unbeatable in PVP.” He grinned, giving Allistor the double finger-guns. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
Dawn looked jealous. “Are you… gonna give that to Ramon to copy for us?”
Allistor shook his head. “I’m not sure. This is a rare item, and even though Ramon has been working hard, I doubt he has leveled his skills enough to copy this. But I won’t use it until I have a chance to talk to him. Speaking of which…”
Allistor pulled up his interface and tried to claim the building as a Stronghold. A wide grin spread across his face as the option appeared.
Would you like to claim this structure as a Stronghold? Yes/No
“Yes!” he shouted aloud as he mentally clicked the button. The expected light surrounded them all, and he quickly chose his usual options. He constructed a wall around the building and a big chunk of the park area, added power, water, sensors, then finished. He’d worry about designating housing spaces and the rest later. With a new Stronghold popping up just a few blocks from him, Allistor expected a visit from Paul very soon.
Finishing his selection caused one last flare-up of light as the system constructed the new elements or adjusted the existing ones. When it was done, Allistor realized he had a dilemma he hadn’t considered. As the group walked back through the jail cells and up the stairs, he missed out on the conversation as his mind worked through the problem.
He had wanted to keep his ability to teleport a secret.
Now that he’d established this Stronghold so close to Paul’s, a fight was imminent. He had planned to quickly set up a teleport pad and bring some of his people through to deal with Paul. When Logan and the others had volunteered to come, it hadn’t occurred to him that they’d question how his people arrived so quickly.
So, his options were to reveal his secret, maybe make them swear not to tell anyone using one of those binding system oaths. Or mislead them, distract them somehow and lie about how his people got there. Claim he’d called them down the night before. But he’d also have to somehow hide the teleport pad from his new allies.
The decision was harder than it should have been. The moral thing to do was to be honest with Lars and company. But if Chris, for example, were to disregard his oath and blab to a crowd of people about the teleport system, it didn’t matter if the system struck him dead on the spot. The secret would be out. And his Strongholds would quickly become prime targets for groups looking to secure the valuable asset for themselves.
In the end, two factors made the decision for him. First, his desire to have faith in his fellow humans was strong. He was no fool, and the risks involved in sharing the secret terrified him. Humans were inherently incapable of keeping secrets in general. But the second and overriding factor was that he didn’t want to begin his relationship with Lars and the others by lying to or misleading them.
As they paused in front of the now operable elevator, he said, “Hold on a second guys.”
They all turned to look at him. “Lars, Logan, and Chris. I have some information I haven’t shared with you before now, because, frankly, I wasn’t sure how far I could trust you. Especially you, Chris. No offense.” Chris nodded his head in understanding. He knew his behavior had been uncalled for, and didn’t blame Allistor for his response.
“But I think if we’re going to move forward as friends and allies, we need to be open with each other. And I’ve come to trust you three. So, I’ve decided to bring you in on something that, should it get out, could spell disaster for me and all my people. It would make us a target for every group with any strength on this continent.” He let that soak in for a moment.
“Like I said, I’ve come to trust you. But before I share this with you, I’m going to need all three of you swear a binding oath that you will never speak a word of it to anyone without my express permission.”
Chris was the first to raise his hand. “I swear on my life I’ll never speak of what you reveal here today to anyone without your express permission.”
Lars and Logan looked surprised. Neither had witnessed Allistor and Chris’ earlier conversation. After exchanging a look, they both raised a hand and repeated Chris’ oath. All three were magically bound as the indicative light swirled around and absorbed into them.
As Helen pushed the elevator call button, Allistor explained. “You all saw the notice when I first raised the Citadel?”
All three men nodded. Lars said, “I was a little jealous.” To which Allistor chuckled.
“Well, it turns out claiming huge areas of territory and gaining a title, then constructing the planet’s first Citadel, comes with some significant bonuses. Kind of like a first clear of a newly discovered dungeon.” He watched their faces light up as they identified with that reference. It was every gamer’s dream to be the first to clear a dungeon and claim the epic loot.
“Well, one of those bonuses was a teleportation hub, and six pads. The hub is in Cheyenne, and I can set up the pads at my Outposts or Strongholds. They allow me to teleport people and things instantly from one location to the other. I’m going to place one here, and bring my people in to help with the fight against Paul, and maybe with clearing the dungeon.”
Logan began to laugh. Quietly at first, then louder. “I’m glad you’re not crazy.”
Allistor looked confused, and Logan clarified. “I’ve been wondering how the hell you figured to take out Paul and his people, and then clear the dungeon, with just the eight of us. I was trying to decide if you had some secret weapon up your sleeve, or you were just a delusional nutjob. I gotta say, this isn’t what I expected. But I’m damn glad it’s option A, not B.”
The freight elevator opened with a ding, and they all piled in. Fuzzy sniffed suspiciously at the doors for a moment before stepping in, forcing the others to pack tighter to make room. Fifteen seconds later they stepped out into the main corridor on the ground floor level. Moving out to the rotunda in the center of the building, Allistor once again took some time to stare up at the underside of the dome high above. “This place is beautiful.”
A
fter giving him some time to admire his new place, they turned and exited the main doors, which led out to a two-tiered stone stairway wide enough to march a battalion down. Allistor looked around at the thirty-foot high wall that now blocked his view of surrounding buildings and parklands. The gate faced west, as if the system knew that Allistor’s true goal, and his main obstacle, lay in that direction.
The area inside the wall was mainly greenspace. There was a road that circled the entire building with some parking spaces scattered around it. The wall had enclosed two full city blocks, and everything beyond the border road was grass, trees, and shaded walkways. The gate stood open, and Allistor could see more parkland to the west, stretching three more blocks until it ended at an official looking building. Lars saw him staring and said, “That’s the courthouse. And right behind that is the mint and the depository. Paul’s place.”
Allistor called out. “Nigel? Are you there, buddy?”
“Of course, Lord Allistor. Congratulations on the new acquisition. It is truly an impressive structure.”
“Thank you, Nigel. Can you put me in touch with Ramon, please?”
“Of course, Lord Allistor. One moment please.”
Allistor caught Lars staring at him. “Another one of the perks?”
“Yep. He’s an AI that runs all my facilities. Came with the Citadel. You have one at your Stronghold too, it just can’t interact with you yet.”
“That is correct, Lord Allistor. A Stronghold AI cannot verbally interact until it reaches Level 5. Also, Ramon is awaiting your pleasure.”
“Hey Ramon! Guess who!” Allistor couldn’t help it. He was in a good mood, and quite proud of his new acquisition.
“Uhhm… the Easter bunny?” Ramon sounded impatient, but he played along.
“Everything okay there, man? You sound a little stressed.”
“Just real busy, Allistor. So many people needing copies of spells. My team and I are working full time and it’s still not enough.”
“Well, first… thank you for all your hard work. Your people’s, too. And second… how’d you like to take a little break. Do some fighting? Level up a bit?”
“Hell yes!” Ramon’s impatience instantly converted to enthusiasm.
“I’m gonna set up a teleport pad here. Got a sort of Stronghold to attack, some humans to defeat, and then a dungeon to clear. I’m thinking for the first fight we could use about a hundred people. For the dungeon, we’ve already got eight. I’m thinking you, Sam, Meg, Michael, Dean, Andrea, and maybe the awful foursome can join us. Nancy too, if she’s willing. And from Laramie, Richard and any of his leaders that want to come. Can you get the other leaders together and arrange that? Volunteers only. Let them know it’ll be a deadly fight. Several parties have already died down there. Nobody has to come that doesn’t want to. I’ll open the teleport in about two hours.” He paused, then said, “Tell Sam I want a BFG and a couple of the little sisters too.”
Logan grunted at that. “Haven’t seen one of those in years. Remember what I said about having a secret weapon up your sleeve? That would qualify.” He grinned at Allistor.
“You can fight Sam for who gets to fire it.” Allistor shot back.
The group spent some time looking around the grounds, walking the complete circuit around the massive building. Allistor chose a spot within a dense clump of trees to place the teleport pad, and once it was placed, one could easily miss spotting it if one didn’t know it was there. There was an opening between the trees wide enough to allow vehicles to move in and out, but the pad and columns were mainly lost in the high grass and trees.
Allistor had just completed the installation when Nigel’s voice came to them.
“Lord Allistor, there are three groups of humanoids approaching from the west, northwest, and southwest quadrants. Fifteen in total. Nine in the western group, three each in the other two. They are moving slowly.”
“Thank you, Nigel. Please share your sensor readings with everyone here inside the wall.” Allistor enlarged the map on his interface, seeing the red dots just as Nigel had described them. They were moving erratically, obviously going from cover to cover as they approached. That was good. It gave Allistor time to prepare a greeting.
“Nigel, please connect this teleport pad to the rest of the network, and allow my advisors to access it. They’ll be teleporting in from different locations.” he instructed as the group moved toward the wall. “And please close the gates.”
As they climbed up the stair leading to the western rampart, the multi-ton metal doors swung shut, connecting with a clang that reverberated through their feet. Up on top, they spread out and looked through the trees trying to spot the intruders. Allistor asked, “Can any of you identify Paul’s people on sight?”
Chris spoke first, while Logan and Lars both nodded. “I know most of them. Been watching them, waiting for them to go out alone, or in small groups so I can pick them off.” His lips twitched in an almost-grin. “They stopped going out alone or in small groups.”
“Okay, it looks like all three of you can recognize them. I want to be sure the people out there belong to him before we hurt any of them. They could be a foraging party, curious about the new Stronghold. Though I doubt it by their formation. Lars, if you wouldn’t mind going to check out the group to the south? Take Helen and Nathan with you? Logan, take Dawn to the north? Chris, you stay here with Amanda and me, as the largest group is coming this way. My guess is that if Paul’s here, he’ll be in that group.”
He sent them all party invites, which they accepted. As they left, he added, “Use Nigel to relay messages.”
Allistor pulled the .50 cal from his inventory and set it atop the wall. It was more gun than he needed to deal with human targets inside two hundred yards, but the scope would allow them to get a good look at their targets’ faces. Once the gun was set up, he motioned for Chris to take a look. The man embraced the rifle almost reverently, appreciating its craftsmanship and sheer badassery. Looking through the scope, he scanned the parkland to the west. “I only see six. I can see the other dots’ locations on my map – that’s a little weird, by the way – but those three are staying behind cover. And yeah, these are Paul’s people.”
Chris set the rifle back down and stepped back. Allistor put it away, producing his normal hunting rifle instead. Chris and Amanda did the same, and the three of them leaned into the wall as they sighted on the incoming creepers. “These guys ain’t too smart.” Chris spat over the wall. “They should have at least waited until dark. Big mistake.”
Amanda spoke very quietly. “I want to feel sorry for these guys, offer them the chance to surrender. I want to believe that they’re being coerced somehow by Paul, and aren’t really bad people. But… here they are coming to attack us…” She shook her head slightly.
Allistor set down his rifle and turned to her. “Hey, listen. You can just kick back and heal us if necessary. If you have a problem taking human lives, I totally understand. You shouldn’t have to do this. None of us should.”
Amanda took a deep breath. “No, I don’t think I can. I mean, maybe if they’re shooting at us and it’s us or them. But I just…”
He gathered her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. “I get it. I really do. And I promise I won’t kill them unless we have to. But I also won’t let them continue hurting people.”
Amanda nodded and pulled away from his embrace. Taking up her rifle, she continued to scan the area through her scope, but her finger was nowhere near the trigger.
Allistor watched and waited until the nearest of the intruders was just about fifty yards from the wall, with the others close behind. All but the three who’d taken cover and hung back. The northern and southern groups had both continued to move forward as well. “Nigel, please patch me through to the others.” He waited a couple heartbeats, then said, “I’m going to try to talk to them. Please don’t fire unless I say so, or they fire first.”
When he received acknowledgements from both g
roups, he said, “Nigel, please open the gates.”
“Of course, Lord Allistor.”
The massive doors swung inward, and Allistor watched as a confused look appeared on the face of the intruder he was scoping. Standing upright so he was clearly visible to the people below, he said, “My name is Allistor! If Paul is one of the three people hiding in the back, tell him to step forward! I’ll guarantee his safety while we talk!”
This caused some muttering from down below, too faint for Allistor to make out what they were saying. When nothing happened for a full minute, Allistor shouted again. “I’m giving you thirty seconds! Then, one of three things is going to happen. Either Paul steps inside to have a little chat, you folks all leave my territory at a dead run, or we shoot you all and wait for a smarter group to show up!”
When twenty more seconds had passed without a response or any movement, Allistor tried a third time. “Ten seconds! Your leader is obviously a coward! Do you want to die for a man like that? Send Paul up, or haul ass. We start firing in five… four… three…”
He watched as several of the red dots began to retreat. Not all of them, and not very fast. Two remained directly in front of him, and the groups to the north and south hadn’t moved.
“Time’s up!” he shouted.
Nodding to Chris, he said, “Nigel, tell the others to shoot anyone not retreating.”
Taking aim at a man partly concealed behind a tree, he fired. Almost immediately, shots rang out from Chris and the others. The man he’d shot fell backward with a round in his shoulder, screaming in pain. Chris’ shot had been a fatal one, a woman with a sniper rifle fell with half the back of her head gone. On Allistor’s map, all but two of the red dots to the north and south went grey. Those two began to move quickly away from the wall.
Shadow Sun Expansion Page 17