“Gotcha. Broncar it is.”
Savol’s eyes glazed over for a moment then he said, “Me tells blue hob to come.”
It seemed my new general had already learned to use Akzar’s Commander Ring.
A few moments later, the blue-skinned boss arrived and bowed his head. “Chief.”
I looked over my new party of three women – Lirian, Yulli, and Panda – and three men – Ragnar, Broncar, and me. “We’re going on a small road trip,” I said and added the five to my war party. Their icons appeared on the side of my view next to Kaedric’s, who was always there. “We’re gonna tour the countryside, visit a city, kill its ruler, and make it our own.”
Broncar cracked his fingers. “Yes, Chief.”
“Sounds like fun,” Yulli added.
“I like those two,” Panda said, draping her arms around the two hobs’ shoulders. “They’re like the ugly siblings I never had.”
Yulli and Broncar both eyed the player hugging them with narrow eyes.
“Crazy woman,” Ragnar grunted.
I felt torn between agreeing with his sentiment to pointing out that the two were pretty much cut from the same cloth. “Let’s get this road trip started. Yulli, lead the way.”
We made good time through the open field and thin vegetation, taking care to stay away from the well-traveled roads. This was a ‘civilized’ area, and we would stick out like a cosplayer at a farmers’ market.
To my surprise, Ragnar, the shortest and lowest-level among us, had no trouble keeping up. His thin, long limbs were deceptively strong, and his stamina seemed inexhaustible.
The rest of the army was already marching toward Storg, intending to start the assault at first light the next day. Since we expected Whitebanner to send reinforcements immediately after we started the attack, it meant they’d arrive at nightfall. It gave our army a better chance to hold up both fronts in case I failed.
Not that I was worried about that. Broncar himself was probably strong enough to take out a small army while keeping a few high-level individuals busy. But annihilating enemies wasn’t our objective anymore. Once the town was mine, all surviving soldiers would convert to my clan. Killing as few of them as possible was to our advantage. The blue-skinned hob was here simply to handle any surprises.
A few hours later, we moved onto a barren patch of land. I stopped and frowned as a peculiar sensation came over me. The vegetation seemed to have wilted recently, bearing dry ground instead of fertile earth. The information tendrils were weird, telling of suffering and decay … as if the very earth was being tormented. I didn’t spot anything that could explain it, even though it was growing darker, triggering my Shadow-Touched bonuses.
“Something isn’t right here,” Yulli said, inspecting one of the wilted bushes. “This place reeks of death.” She touched the vegetation, and it crumbled to dust in front of her very eyes. Like a spreading fire, the rest of the vegetation around us crumbled.
“This couldn’t have happened too long ago, or those plants would have already turned to dust,” Lirian said.
“Smart kid,” Ragnar said. “Sure she’s yors, fugly?”
Pandamonium raised a brow. “Fugly?”
“Just ignore him,” I said, motioning for Yulli and Broncar to stand down since they seemed ready to jump the drone for the insult. “He’s all talk.”
“I’ll show ya who’s all talk when we get to Whitebanner,” Ragnar said. “Got a few heads to crack open there.”
Panda beamed at him. “Me too! Want to compare notes? Maybe we know the same people?”
I sighed. “Just keep your eyes peeled, something isn’t right here.”
“All the eyes I’m gonna peel are waiting in tha’ town, so let’s go already,” Ragnar said.
Panda chuckled, clapping his back. “Now, that’s the kind of man-ant-thing I can appreciate.”
Suddenly, an intensely bright light flashed across the horizon. It lit up the entire area, disappearing a second later.
“What tha’ hell was tha’?” Ragnar asked.
“I don’t know,” I said grimly. “But it came from the direction we’re heading. Let’s keep going.”
We continued walking. The devastation gave way to green fields, but I couldn't shake the foul sense. Even though it was green, the vegetation looked sickly, as if it was about to die.
A few hours later, when it was completely dark, Yulli called for a stop. “Something up ahead, Chief,” the scout boss said.
I gazed ahead of us. “Where?”
“About a kilometer away. Looks like wagons, but I don’t see any movement. I think they’re abandoned.”
The scouts’ eyes were much better than mine, so it was no surprise I didn’t see anything, but it certainly fit with the aura of destruction around us. This area was supposed to be well-traveled. There was no reason for abandoned wagons to remain out in the open.
“Could be bandits,” Ragnar suggested.
Panda shook her head. “This is a low-level area. Whitebanner keeps it well-patrolled.”
“Not with us monsters ‘round ‘ere parts, they ain’t,” Ragnar countered.
Panda thought it over for a moment then a smile spread across her face. “You might be right. Man, I’d love to kill me some bandits. Carving up humans when no one around can hear their screams is a real treat. I could really take my time with them.”
Ragnar tilted his head at her, while Broncar gave the crazed woman an appreciative look.
“I’ll check it out,” I said. “Wait here.”
“But–” Lirian started.
“I’m just going to send my shadow. It won’t take long.”
I poured mana into my shadow and rose as a creature of pure darkness, zooming over the open field in a flash. It took me only a few moments to find the site.
Four half-smashed wagons stood beside the road, but there was no sign of life anywhere around. I noticed the vegetation was desiccated, as we had seen before. Something was definitely off here, but whatever attacked the wagons was long gone.
I opened my eyes back in my physical body. “Looks clear, let’s approach.”
Back in my clone, while the party was moving closer, I made a few wide circles around the area but found nothing of interest. There weren’t even any tracks. My Tracking skill wasn’t particularly high, but whatever smashed up those wagons had to be big. There should have been at least some signs of passage, but I could find none.
I dismissed the clone as we arrived and let the others check the site over. “Yulli, what do you see?” The scout’s tracking skill was much higher than mine.
“Nothing, Chief,” she said. “No bodies, no blood, no tracks of anyone escaping. I didn’t find any arrows or discarded weapons, no signs of battle at all.”
“Looks like someone crushed ‘em with a giant hammer,” Ragnar said, indicating the smashed part of the wagons. He had a point. Half the wagons were almost flattened against the ground, while the other half looked mostly untouched.
Yulli crouched down near one of the broken parts and examined the ground. “Definitely not a giant hammer. It looks more like a huge weight landed on it, breaking through the wood without actually leaving signs on the ground beneath it. Nothing I know of can do that.”
“So … magic?” I asked.
The scout shrugged. “Could be.”
“Ha! Would you look at those flimsy things?” Panda pulled a box out of one of the wagons and opened it, revealing several expensive-looking dresses. She scowled at the lacy material. “I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that.”
Lirian peered inside another wagon. “I see a few undamaged barrels of wine.”
“Not bandits, then,” Ragnar said. “Ain’t no half-respecting bandit gonna leave booze laying behind.”
“Or expensive dresses,” I added. “Are there any signs of looting at all?”
The others shook their heads.
“Looks like these wagons weren’t carrying much when they were attacked, Chief,”
Yulli said. “Mostly barrels of wine and general goods, but nothing was taken.”
“Good haul for the clan,” I said. We couldn’t carry the heavy items with us, but with a little luck, it would be left untouched until my army arrived to claim them.
“Father,” Lirian said, her brow furrowed. She was crouching on the road next to a small pile of what looked like sand.
“What is it?” I moved closer to her.
The goblinette gently blew on the pile, raising a small cloud that instantly scattered into nothingness. “More dust.”
Looking around, I spotted several more scattered piles that were already dissipating in the gentle breeze. It reminded me of the crumbling vegetation we’d encountered earlier, only there was no vegetation on the road itself. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what had happened to the missing people, though I had no idea what had caused it.
“It’s two hours to sunrise, Chief,” Yulli said.
“You’re right.” I stood up. “Let’s continue. We can investigate this later.”
We left the broken wagons behind and made our way toward Whitebanner.
***
“Now that ain’t right,” Ragnar said once we got in sight of the town.
I had to agree. Though the skies were getting brighter, it was still dark. The entire town should have been full of light; street lamps, torches on guard posts along the walls and atop high buildings. But everything was dark. There was no movement. The entire city looked deserted.
A sense of foreboding came over me, and it wasn’t just the dead look of the town. Something deeper, more sinister, was at play.
Lirian approached me. “What is it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Something. A feeling.”
“Do you think whatever happened to those wagons happened here?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem likely. Whitebanner is supposed to be a strong town, but I don’t see any signs of life from here. Yulli?”
“No, Chief,” Yulli said. “But I can’t see much beyond their walls. Want me to go ahead and check it out?”
“No. Let me see how the army’s doing first.” I compiled a quick message to Sullivan letting him know we were in position and asked if their target town looked strange.
His reply came within moments. “ We’re getting ready to strike. Positioning the catapult now. Storg looks like what we’d expected. There are a lot of guards on their walls, but not nearly as many as there should have been. I expect a message was already sent out to Whitebanner. Keep your eyes open when they send out their reinforcements.”
With how the town looked, that didn’t seem likely.
“The army is ready to strike,” I said. “I’m going to send my shadow to scout the town. Keep an eye out for any movement.”
The others nodded, and I once again summoned my cloned body then sped toward the town.
As I got closer, I could see wisps of mist coming from the walls. It didn’t seem to pour over the walls from the inside but exuded from the very stone. I moved closer to inspect, but as soon as the smoky substance touched my cloned body, I felt a huge drain on my mana, and the connection broke off.
“What the hell …?” I said, scowling as I found myself back in my physical body.
“What happened?” Lirian asked.
“Some sort of mist. It snuffed out my clone. Something is definitely going on.”
“I bet a ‘undred gold no army comin’ out o’ there,” Ragnar said.
“Makes our job easier,” Yulli said. “Without reinforcements, our army will take over Storg. Then they can come here, and we’ll take over Whitebanner together.”
We settled down and waited for another hour before Sullivan’s next message arrived. “The battle is going as planned. We breached their walls, and they answered with a desperate counterattack to try to take down the catapult. We cut them down easily, suffering only minor casualties that Savol has already resurrected. We sighted some of their high-level mages. They’re currently holding the walls and preventing us from getting closer, but we should breach the wall sufficiently for a full-frontal assault within hours. How does it look on your end? I’d have expected Whitebanner to send out their forces by now.”
I replied, saying that something weird was going on, but no forces had marched out of the town, and I didn’t expect them to. I also told him to carry on with the battle and let me know if I was needed. I could always teleport over to the mobile shrine the army carried, though once I did, I couldn’t teleport back.
Sullivan’s reply was short. “We’re fine. Stay put. I need you to watch our back from over there. Once we’re through here, we’ll march over and take Whitebanner together.”
“Done sextin’ with yor girlfriend already?” Ragnar asked.
I frowned at him then leveled my gaze at the others. “The army will take over Storg and then march over here.”
“So we’re waiting for them to take over Storg, Chief?” Yulli asked.
“No,” I said, drawing the Demon Staff from my inventory. “I’m not going to march our forces into an unknown situation. Gather your stuff; we’re going in to investigate.”
***
We approached the town’s walls warily, cautious of any guards that might be watching us. It was broad daylight at this point, but despite the visibility, there were no signs of life within the town.
“Panda, time to earn your keep,” I said. “See if you can find us a way in.”
“Sure thing, Big Chief,” the woman replied and took the lead. She carelessly headed straight toward the walls.
I cringed when she first set foot inside the vapors coming out of the stone, but nothing harmed her. One after the other, we each carefully stepped inside the thin mist, but other than a slight tingle of cool air, nothing dramatic happened.
I expected the scantily dressed player to lead us into a sewer entrance or some sort of hidden passageway, but she made straight for the town’s gate.
“What are you doing?” I asked, picking up the pace to catch up with her.
“You wanted in, didn’t you?” She put a muscled arm against the heavy gate and pushed. It swung open with a creak. “Voila! One entrance, as ordered.”
“That was stupid. We don’t know what’s going on here yet. There could still be guards behind the walls.”
“Fat chance, with this thing going on,” she said, pointing inside.
My eyes followed the direction she was pointing, looking into Whitebanner for the first time. The streets were thick with fog, reducing visibility to barely ten meters. There were no signs of life.
“What in the flying f–” Ragnar started saying, but I shushed him.
“Keep it down. Weapons ready. Let’s go.”
For a moment, I considered not bringing Lirian along. Taking my daughter into an unknown and potentially dangerous situation wasn’t the smartest idea. But there was no way the wily goblinette would agree to stay behind, and as far as I knew, whatever caused the mist could still be out there somewhere. She was safest with me. If worse came to worst, I’d teleport us both away. The others weren’t as important. The players would simply respawn back in the clan – and the bosses too, albeit it would take them significantly longer.
“Lirian, stay close,” I whispered.
“Yes, Father,” she whispered back.
I nodded at Yulli. “Lead the way.” As the scout, she had the best chance of spotting threats through the fog.
The mist thickened as we pushed into town. We saw no one around and were barely able to see the buildings from across the roads. I didn’t spot any signs of damage, and the heavy silence was eerie.
Everything about the situation felt wrong. I couldn’t tap into the information tendrils around us as deeply as I could back in the clan, but even just skimming them, they practically screamed ‘danger.’
“Ain’t nothing good in there,” Ragnar said gruffly as if confirming my suspicions. “Ya’ sure yor hob pet can lead us through?” The drone curse
d when he suddenly found himself on his back with Yulli’s griffon bow snagging one of his legs.
“Call me pet one more time,” the hob said in a deadly whisper. “And I’ll cut off your hands and legs and make you crawl the rest of the way on your bleeding stumps.”
“I knew I liked you.” Panda chuckled softly, clapping the disapproving scout on her shoulder.
Ragnar sullenly got back to his feet, and we continued following Yulli through the shrouded town.
The scout paused next to a two-story building and cocked her head. “Chief, I hear voices coming from inside,” she whispered. “Sounds like humans.”
Approaching the door, I could hear the hushed voices within. I tried the handle, but it was locked, and I realized it was also probably boarded from the inside.
“I think I heard someone outside,” a young woman whispered through the door.
I cleared my throat, trying to suppress the harsh tone of a goblin. “Greetings, is everyone alright in there?” I asked evenly. “Can you tell me what happened here?”
A pregnant silence followed my questions then I heard the girl’s voice again. “Grandfather, there’s someone still alive out there!”
“Yeah, we are,” I said. “Will you let us in so we can talk, please?”
The man’s voice replied, “It’s just a trick. There’s nothing outside but monsters, girl. Now shush and let’s pray they leave.”
“We’re not mon–” I started then stopped and coughed to cover my blunder.
Vic chuckled in my mind.
“We have nothing to do with what happened to the town,” I corrected myself. “We just got here. Will you please talk to me?”
There was no answer from the other side.
I contemplated what to do. The people inside sounded terrified, and though I was technically a monster, I didn’t relish bringing more horror to the innocents. But we needed answers. I finally decided on the simplest approach. The door was made of thick wood, and breaking it down would normally take time and raise a lot of noise. Normally.
Life Reset: Conquest (New Era Online Book 5) Page 33