“Very well, Sire,” Miramar said with a bow.
The girls and I got dressed in our finest armor then joined Tweak, Frisco, and the Purrrrsian Empire at the base of the tower. The villagers gathered around the army cheered for us when we emerged, but the army stood rigidly, ready to be inspected.
When I saw the Haven Militia in their new armor, pride swelled in me. In front of them stood the Guardians of Haven with Miramar and Mick at the head of the warriors. Then there were the Knights of the Everstone, tall and proud elven spirits with fine armor and well-crafted weapons. Zoe’s orc army stood in tight formation to the elves’ left.
All told we had over 1,300 soldiers, not to mention thirteen guilds who had pledged to aid us in the coming battle. And now we had the support of the barbarians, elves, and dwarves. Somehow, everything had come together. Our city may have been small, but now we had a decent army, and more importantly, we had allies.
Nothing could stop us now, not every guild in the game.
I smiled at my villagers and stepped up onto the podium that Miramar had conjured for my speech. There hadn’t been much thought on what I would say, and as I gazed out over what we had created, too many words to mention flooded through my brain.
“Good people of Haven, I have good news for you all, on this, the eve of the greatest battle of our lives. I am happy to inform you that we have just secured an alliance with the Dwarves of Stonespire, and the Elves of the Great Wood!”
The villagers cheered jubilantly. Some laughed, others cried, a few held each other and danced up and down, but one and all smiled from ear to ear.
“That is not all!” I said over the cheering crowd. They died down, and I allowed a few seconds to pass before I continued, letting the tension grow. “We have also secured an alliance with the barbarians!”
There was a much more mixed reaction to that news, but most of the people, especially the soldiers, cheered the announcement.
“I know the barbarians have hurt us, and I know that these wounds will take time to heal. But I ask that you set aside your feelings of hate and instincts for revenge and give them a chance to prove themselves. With these three great armies on our side, along with others like the Purrrrsian Empire here, we shall no doubt be victorious. That is not to say that this will be an easy win, but I think that we are ready for whatever comes our way. I’m proud of you all. May the gods bless Haven, and gods bless you all.”
“Long live Haven!” Kit cheered, and it was taken up by all.
I strode down the steps and first inspected the Haven Militia. They stood rigidly in their silver armor and blue capes, with a longsword hanging from their left side and a shield draped over their back. Some held long spears, while others had long bows slung over their shoulders, two daggers on their hips, and a quiver full of arrows at the ready.
“What’s your name soldier?” I asked a short young man who still had pimples. I could tell that he was petrified to speak to me, and I waited patiently while he tried to remember his name.
“Jo…Johan…Johanus Smith, my, my lord,” the young man stuttered.
“Smith,” I said with a friendly smile. “Do you still fashion armor?”
“Yes, sir. Every chance I get I help my pa.”
“That’s a good son. You’re a fine man, Johanus.” I moved down the line and stood before another young man, this one with red hair and about a million freckles. “What’s your name?”
“Andrew Gardner at your service!” he said with a crisp salute.
“You got a woman at home yet Andrew?” I asked.
His face turned about a dozen shades redder. “Not yet, Sire. I got one in mind though.”
“Ahhh,” I said, glancing around at the jolly crowd. “Does she know how you feel?”
He shook his head, looking embarrassed.
“Well, what’s stopping you?”
He shrugged. “I guess I want to make sure that I can support her before I ask.”
“That’s a good reason,” I admitted. “But you’re in the militia now, and we take care of our own in Haven.”
“Thank you Sire.”
I walked down the line and inspected the militia, then the Knights of the Everstone, the orc army, and the Guardians of Haven. Pleased with my army, I finished the little meeting with another speech about the coming battle, and how we would be victorious. The villagers and the armies were in good spirits, and I knew that we would be victorious when the guilds came to challenge us.
We dined that night with the Purrrrsian Empire, and I sat with Frisco for most of the festivities, going over the plans for the next day. I knew that there would be a number of ways for the other guilds to get to Ozara once the ban was lifted, and one of those ways was through a portal in Aeorock. There were other portals in other cities, as well as spells that could be used by warlocks and mages to travel to distant lands. Frisco said that most of the guilds would be coming through the Aeorock portal, but we had no way of knowing exactly where they would enter the land until the tower reported it. Once it did, we would be able to prepare. When the allies came through, we were going to have to lead them back to Haven, and without the aid of the barbarians, it would take a while for the enemy guilds to arrive. If all went well, we would have plenty of time to get into position.
After the dinner we retired early. I wanted to be rested up for the next day, and my cooldown just so happened to be up as well.
In the morning I awoke another level higher and in good spirits. The sun rose to greet a cloudless sky, and the song of birds greeted me and the girls when we took our breakfast on the balcony.
“What a beautiful morning,” said Kit as she sipped her tea. “It’s hard to imagine that there will be so much bloodshed in only a few hours.”
“Don’t feel bad for the NPC’s, they’re just following their programming,” said Ember.
“It’s not just them,” Kit said. “We’re all going to die, and more than once if this battle is anything like last time.”
I got the feeling that she was starting to get tired of the pain that came with such a violent game. Getting injured in Rebirth Online wasn’t much different than being injured in real life, but at least in game we could be healed by magic.
“This battle will be nothing like last time,” I told her. “It’s sure to be a landslide victory. I mean, we’re going to have thousands if what the others said is true. Hell, Queen Lyra promised over one thousand elves alone.”
“Yeah,” said Stormy as she popped grapes in her mouth. “We’ve got this shit.”
“Last I heard, the assholes that we beat in the tournament had only brought about ten guilds to their side,” said Cecilia.
“Only?” said Nanaya. “And what happens if the barbarians, elves, and dwarves deceive us? What if they don’t show up?”
“They’ll show,” I said.
“Oh yeah? You can say that with 100% confidence?” she pressed.
“Well dude, of course not, but we all just signed a damned peace treaty. If they wanted to kill us all and take our kingdom, they could have done that by now. Why go through all this just to turn on us?”
“These are NPC’s,” Nanaya reminded me, “and you can never trust an NPC.”
I glanced at Mick and Miramar, who I had invited to breakfast. “She doesn’t mean that,” I told them.
“Mean what, Sire?” Mick asked.
“Nothing,” I said, amused at the way that non-player characters never seemed to acknowledge being called an NPC, like they didn’t even hear it. That made me wonder what it would be like trying to explain to one of them what exactly they were, and where they were.
“I just think that we need to plan for these types of things,” said Nanaya.
“Alright,” I said, and glanced down at the necklace that I wore. “Well, if it comes to it, I guess I could summon more demon children.”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Anna asked.
“Of course not,” I said. “I’m just making the point
that we can be just as unpredictable as they can. If they want to double cross us, then they intend on fucking with the wrong crippled mage.”
After breakfast I toured the battlements and inspected the new cannons and ballista that had been erected. At the center of the tower the Everstone hummed steadily, feeding not only the tower and buffing those who inhabited Haven, but also strengthening the emerald shield that encapsulated the city. With the Everstone’s power, the shield was now much wider, and covered not only tent city, but part of the river that snaked through from the forest, and a few of the new farms.
From my perch atop the tower, I saw the first of our allies approaching. The elves were flying toward the city by the thousands with wings that shimmered like soap bubbles. When the sun hit their silver armor it left them glowing like heavenly warriors, and I wondered for a moment what would happen if they indeed were about to attack rather than join us.
My dark imaginings were laid to rest when the queen landed in the courtyard near the cemetery with her generals, and to my delight, Velaria. I strode out to meet them and kissed the queen’s offered hand.
“Thank you again for your help,” I said.
“It is my pleasure,” she said, looking me up and down as though I were on the menu. “You are our allies now, and we take threats against our allies very seriously.”
I glanced up at the badass elven army circling overhead. “How many are in this army?”
“Fifteen hundred,” she said. “A third of them are warriors, and the rest are practitioners of the various arcane schools.”
A horn blared in the distance, and the tower reported to me that the dwarves had arrived. We watched as they came down from the hills on their armored mountain rams. There were at least a thousand of the barrel-chested warriors, and I knew that they too had some magic users among their ranks.
King Hagar halted his army at the border to tent city and rode with a few of his generals up to the tower. “Oui! It be a good day for battle,” he said, glancing up at the clear blue sky.
“Welcome, King Hagar. And thanks again for your assistance,” I said with a bow.
“Bah,” he said as he dismounted and landed on heavy boots. “I should be the one who be thankin’ ye! Ye done gave us a reason to come down from the mountains and wet our war hammers. Yup, it’s a fine day for a battle.”
The barbarians arrived from the opposite direction marching to the heavy beat of war drums. I knew that some of the villagers were less than happy to see them coming, but we needed them if we were going to solidify our rule and defend our kingdom. Now that Gregor was chieftain, I knew that we had an ally that we could trust. The young man seemed like a level-headed fellow, and I looked forward to beginning trade with the legendary hunters. If they could provide meat for the entire dwarven clan, then they would be able to provide us with more than we would need until we could begin harvesting our own livestock.
“Welcome Chieftain Gregor,” I said and extended a hand.
Gregor shook it, and despite his young age, his grip was vise-like, and I knew that if I hadn’t been a high level, he very well may have crushed my fingers.
“My warriors and I are eager to aid the alliance in this, the first of many battles against the foreign invaders,” said Gregor. He shook Hagar’s hand and bowed before the queen.
“Our friends have begun to arrive,” said Frisco.
“Excellent,” I said and turned to Nanaya. “Show them the way, my love.”
The succubus drew a large circle in the air in front of her, cutting a portal door through the very fabric of reality, then she stepped through. We all backed up to allow the hundreds of players to come through, and a moment later they began to emerge. I shook hands with the thirteen guild leaders and shared a few words, and when they were all through, I led the leaders around the tower to show them the defenses that we already had in place.
“I see that you are still enjoying the wonders of the Emerald Stone,” said Queen Lyra as she gazed upon the humming forcefield that surrounded the tower. We could still see through it, and our spells, arrows, spears, and other weapons could pass from the inside out, but nothing could get in unless it was an ally recognized by the tower.
“Yes, and the Everstone has made it quite powerful,” I noted.
“Indeed,” she said with a playful scowl. “I underestimated you, Samson of Haven. But I shall never do that again.”
“It’s usually a good idea not to underestimate Sam and his guild,” said Frisco as he walked with us. “I made that mistake once as well.”
“Our enemies have underestimated all of us,” I said as I stopped with the wide fields and the many armies on display behind me. “And that, my friends, will be their downfall.”
“How many do you expect to be facing?” Gregor asked.
I glanced at Cecilia, who was busy tapping away on her interface. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and cocked a hip before addressing the question. “By my estimates, the Orc Chieftains, Dragons of Fury, and—”
“Let’s just call them the invaders,” I told her.
“Good idea,” she said. “It turns out that the invaders have recruited exactly fifteen other guilds to their side.”
“Damn,” said Tweak.
“Jesus Christmas!” said Kit.
Cecilia went on to elaborate as she tapped away at the air. “There are precisely nine hundred and twenty-seven players all together, and there are some really high skilled warlocks among them, as well as other classes that can summon minions. For instance, one warlock alone can summon entire armies of demons with a powerful enough spell, and I have no doubt that these assholes have been preparing hardcore. They will have used a large percentage of guild funds to attain the most powerful armor, weapons, and spells. So, my best guess is that we will be facing an army of at least ten thousand, with little under a thousand of those being real world players.
“That’s all?” Hagar asked, looking none too pleased by the estimate.
“Trust me,” I said, “that’s enough for a hell of a battle. These are very powerful guilds that we are dealing with. They have master warriors, wizards, witches, warlocks, mages, healers, you name it, they’ve got it.”
“And these invaders,” said Gregor, “They are immortals like you claim to be?”
Lyra and Hagar watched me with interest.
“Yes, but there is a limit to their immortality,” I said, and Cecilia discretely stepped on my foot. “What I mean to say, is that once we have killed them a few times, they will give up in order to preserve their power.”
“Then we ain’t facing just ten thousand,” said Hagar, “But ten thousand who will resurrect themselves many times over before the battle be through.”
“That is correct,” said Cecilia.
“Ahhh.” The dwarf king rocked back on his heels and grinned wide. “That be more like it!”
“Sire,” came the disembodied voice of Miramar. He appeared before me a moment later and bowed to us all. “The invaders have breached the boundaries of Ozara and will be approaching from the south.”
I looked south with the rest of the group, then turned to face them. “Alright, everyone into battle formation. It’s time to kick some ass.”
Chapter 16
Our armies lined up in the southern field a few hundred yards from tent city. We would first engage with the army there, and if things went badly for us, we would then retreat to within the protective emerald shield. When the battle began, there would be a long drawn out fight between the magic users on both sides. Shields would be conjured by both opposing armies, then each would bombard the other with spells meant to destroy the shields, which would amount to a long drawn out standoff. It was the warriors’ jobs to break through the front line, get beneath the shields, and take out the priests, paladins, wizards, and other classes who were controlling the shields, then it would be a turkey shoot for the side who accomplished it first.
The dwarves and the barbarians would be our front line,
and hopefully plow through the defenses of the enemy guilds to get at the conjurers. I knew that Bogrum would be extremely pissed off to have lost his barbarian army to us, and hopefully the loss would put a major kink in their strategy. If they intended on coming right at us, then they were doomed. But I knew that our opponents weren’t stupid. We had fought and won against them in the Guild Wars Tournament, but it hadn’t been easy. They were the best of the best, and I had no doubt that they had a few tricks up their sleeves.
It was for that reason that I had the elves stay back and out of sight for the beginning of the battle. Their job would be to watch out for other armies coming from other directions, as well as head off any surprise minions before they could get a jump on us.
My heart beat hard against my chest as I watched the front line of the invaders emerge over the distant hill. They were perhaps four hundred yards away, and it was hard to make out exactly what race I was looking at. All I knew was that they were big.
“What you got for me Cece?” I asked my foxy guild mate.
“Goblins,” she said as she peered through a long looking glass. “About a thousand by the looks of it.”
“Where the hell did they get goblins?” said Trinity.
“There are many goblins in the swamps to the far south,” said Lyra. “They are a disgusting breed who live off the innards of everything warm blooded, even each other.”
“My monkeys are starting to report back,” said Tweak.
“New power?” I asked.
“Hell yeah,” he said. “Just barely learned it…alright, behind the goblins we’ve got about a hundred minotaurs, and some two-thousand trolls that look like they’re conjured doppelgangers, because large groups of them all look like twins. Damn,” he said and whistled to himself. “They’ve got about five thousand imps. They’re up there pretty high, but we’ll be able to see them with the naked eye pretty soon. I can see a shit load of dragons too. They’re branching out to the east and west, probably coming around behind us.”
“Lyra?” I asked the queen.
“They won’t get far,” she said, and then sprouted translucent wings, kissed me on the lips, and flew into the sky.
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