Watcher’s Fate: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 3)

by Sean Oswald

  It was part of the plan which had been set in place. The duke only meant his troops to engage what was supposed to be a soft target, and then they were to fall back forcing the elves under Lord Itsu to engage. At that point they would put on the duke’s livery over their armor and come to the rescue of the town. The duke’s main frustration was that he had other plans in place and wasn’t being able to spend a proper amount of time on them simply because he was stuck here in the far north.

  As the horns were heard by the duke’s men, they began trying to make an orderly withdrawal. What they hadn’t counted on was just how well organized and potent the defense of Eris’ Rise would be. The casualties on their side had mounted up faster than the duke or his advisors had anticipated. Now even while trying to retreat under cover of shields and elven arrows, the duke’s men continued to take losses.

  Interlude 4

  Northwest of Eris’ Rise - Lord Itsu

  Eisuke’s patrols outside the wall hit the retreating forces as they took arrow fire from the wall. They soon had to pull back because the elven arrows started hitting them with too much accuracy. The plan the leaders of Eris’ Rise developed in Dave and Emily’s absence was one they thought would be pleasing to their rulers. They fought hard, but they always prioritized saving the lives of the villagers and their soldiers over killing the attackers. Thus, as soon as the retreating forces got out of arrow range from the wall, the bands of forest wardens and druids regrouped back at the main gate.

  Out of range from the walls, Lord Itsu stood surrounded by his guards and the archers who had come with him. There were not many druids who had rebelled with him, but two of them stood there supposedly for the purpose of giving him counsel. The men realized days before that Lord Itsu didn’t listen to anyone but himself.

  “How could the humans have been so pathetic? I knew they were weak but only one of their raiding parties made it inside the walls.” Itsu paced as he ranted for the umpteenth time about their supposed human allies.

  No one answered him. The druids and commanders all looked away from him trying to avoid eye contact, thus he felt singled out.

  “It must have been because the elves on the wall were too strong for them. Yes, that’s it. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” The elven lord spoke more for his own benefit than to anyone else.

  “We will have to clean up their mess. To us will go the glory of the victory. Commanders gather your archers and soldiers into assault teams. Druids can you do anything to cover the open ground in front of the wall so that we can attack without drawing too much fire?” The commanders didn’t hesitate. As soon as he spoke, they sprang into action.

  The druids turned and looked at each other speaking in low voices before one finally answered Lord Itsu, “My Lord, it would be best if we waited to attack till night. Their guard will be down, and the human’s see poorly in the dark.”

  “Wait? Wait, is it? What are you–a human coward? Or perhaps you wish you were back in Tsukishiti cowering under Yua’s skirts and waiting to be made into pets for the humans?” Itsu’s eyes held a crazed light as he spoke.

  The druid who had not spoken answered back with a raised voice, “You forget yourself, Lord Itsu. We did not renounce our loyalty to the Throne. We simply believed that the Throne was confused and that our actions were in the interests of all the Circle.”

  “Well then act now. They will never expect a second attack this quickly on the tail of the first. It is time for us to strike. All I ask is that you provide a way to obscure our approach for as long as possible.” Itsu relaxed just a bit and applied more of his Charisma to the problem rather than venting his pent-up emotions.

  After speaking to one another for a moment, the first druid replied, “We could call up a fog which would obscure us from view. However, if they have any spell casters then the first thing they do will be to seek to counter whatever we cast.”

  “Then you will just have to be faster and better than the traitors and human dogs. Go now. Make it so. We will attack as soon as you have obscured the way.” Itsu spoke imperiously and watched as the two robed elves scurried away in search of the third remaining druids who had joined them.

  Chapter Seven

  Blood fights for blood — Line of oral tradition passed down amongst the orcs of Talos.

  Eris’ Rise - Jackson and Sara Nelson

  Back inside the village outside of the Nelson’s home, the attackers heard the call to retreat. This left them without hope of any reinforcements, and so the men began trying to move towards the wall rather than pushing to get into the house. For the moment the only defenders behind them were Eikhorn, Ernst, and Gunidar. Facing down those three was not as simple as three common soldiers. The general and his guard were respectively at the top of Tier 3 and Tier 2 besides being combat veterans. As for Royal Mage, he was the only known Tier 4 human in Albia. In contrast, the attackers were all level nine except for the knight who led them.

  Seeing the attackers’ reaction to the horn, Gunidar called out, “Let them go.” His voice was magnified by a simple spell so that all the defenders could hear it. Most of the defenders had no idea who he was, but they had seen him fighting to help them beside the other newcomers and so were willing to disengage.

  Gunidar began casting a spell, and as soon as the attackers were a good fifty feet away from the house, he released it. There was a rushing sound as the air in front of the runners was sucked into a ten-foot wall of fire which sprang into existence right in front of them. The closest were unable to stop quickly enough and stumbled or were pushed into the burning inferno. Their screams escaped as their bodies hit the ground. An instant later, a quickened fireball sprang off the mage’s hand and burst in their midst encompassing the tightly grouped men.

  The defenders watched in awe as the explosive force knocked their escaping enemies down like bowling pins, and the sudden rush of fire sucked the air from their lungs, seared their skin, and burned off their hair and clothing. Except for those who had been initially injured by the wall of fire, most men continued to burn and were not instantly killed. They were writhing on the ground trying to put out the magically created flames. Once all the enemies were down, Gunidar raised his hand and clenched it into a fist pulling it down. The wall of fire went out so that it would be safe for the defenders to approach.

  “Finish them off!” cried Baron Eikhorn.

  The elves completely ignored his shouted command and started to run inside the house. Jackson pulled his arm away from a distracted Tabor to follow after the elves. The humans other than Ernst stood there unsure what to do. Ernst began chopping with his axe at the burning figures upon the ground.

  “What are you waiting for? I am General Steffen Eikhorn, Commander of the Army of the West. Follow my orders.” Eikhorn’s annoyance at having to repeat a command was apparent in his voice, but this time the paladins, knights, and soldiers at least recognized his name and obeyed by finishing off the rest of the burning attackers.

  Meanwhile, Jackson was greeted by a slender elven blade as he ran into the house. None of these elves had ever seen Jackson as he had already been sent to the academy in Konig before they arrived in Eris’ Rise. However, given his half-elven nature, they stopped before cutting him down as he said, “Whoa, I’m here to save my family.”

  One of the elven monks pushed up next to the soldier holding him at sword point. “What do you mean your family? Speak child. Who are you?”

  “Umm … Jackson. I’mmm Jackson Nelson.” Jackson faltered in his answer while trying to stand up bravely.

  The monk asked, “You are the other child of Lady Emiri?” But then when he saw the confusion on Jackson’s face, he said, “Her human name is Emily Nelson.”

  “Yes, that’s my mom,” Jackson responded.

  That answer caused the guard to lower his blade. In the next moment, a little girl’s scream was coming from deep inside the house. Jackson pushed past the two elves and ran down the hallway.

  Sara’s el
ven monk protector thought he saw an opening and made a forceful swing of his fighting stick along a horizontal plane intending to strike the side of the assassin’s head. The opening had been the result of a feint though and disappeared immediately as the assassin in black leather faded. His form became fuzzy, and he seemed to glide just under the scrim aimed at his head. His short sword was also blurred until the instant before he plunged it into the elf’s stomach and all the way into the hilt. The force of the blow took the monk off of his feet, but as a result of his exhaustive training, he landed arms out and still breathing.

  The assassin's forward momentum carried his shadow form over the sprawled-out elf. His curved dagger dripped green fluid as he brought it in an arc to slice past Balayria into Sara. The move caused him to overextend and gave him no chance to block as Krinnk pounced forward driving his crude dagger into the man’s body (14). Yet for all that, it drew no blood and passed through the smoky form without leaving visible damage.

  Everything was moving so fast. Balayria’s heartbeat was already pounding a hundred miles an hour, and Sara’s scream seemed like a distant echo in her ears. Her pupils became dilated as adrenaline flooded her system and caused a chain of rapid biological changes intended to help her fight. She saw the dagger arcing down in almost impossible perfection; it was aimed to take Sara down from her position under the half-orc’s arm. That put the assassin too close to react in time to her triggered reaction. The magic in her short staff triggered outlining the shape of its wood-carved cave bear in a bright green light.

  An instant later the room was exploding with action as first three members of Emily’s Meiyo Eihei entered the room. They immediately scrambled to the side as the assassin's momentum reversed and was sent flying off the claws of a cave bear. The bear’s massive form lifted the slumped ceiling. Seeing the threat, Jackson ran in after the elves and hopped over the gaping torso of the fallen assassin. He cried out, “Sara!” as he swung his mace in a desperate attempt to strike the cave bear. His only thought was that if he could distract the monster for a second, his sister might get away.

  Fortunately, the cave bear’s form started shrinking. It fell in on itself faster than Jackson’s mace came in. By the time the weapon passed through the space where the bear had been, the creature was already reduced to a naked half-orc laying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. The remnants of her clothing and pouches lay all over the floor where they had burst off of her body as it had rapidly expanded. The power of the staff could only expand her body for a few seconds, but the poisoned wound from the assassin's blade caused her to lose power faster than normal. She lay there in agony, her body convulsing from the poison as her lifeblood flowed out. The strain of the rapid bodily changes combined with the wound was more than Balayria could handle as her mind passed into unconsciousness.

  Sara jumped down placing her hands over the cut getting greenish orc blood and greener poison on her hands. Looking up, she cried out, “Jackson–help me!”

  Chapter Eight

  Dungeons are the greatest resource a kingdom can possess. Wealth, power, and prestige all in hole in the ground. — Settling Talos: The Early Days by Ying Yue official historian of the Sun Throne.

  Moon Elf Capital - Dave Nelson

  The female elf upon the throne stood. “Greetings, Baron Murkwood, it is a pleasure to meet you even if it is not in the flesh.”

  Dave’s high diplomacy skill and observations from watching the elves in Eris’ Rise helped him discern the right depth to bow, which was very deep but not quite as deep as an elf would go.

  “I am honored to be greeted by all of this,” Dave said as he gestured with his hand at the arrayed elven nobles, druids, and soldiers before continuing, “I must report some grave news and apologize that there is very limited time to do so.”

  “If you are speaking about the goblin attacks, then I agree it is urgent. Our scouts are trying to determine the full extent of the attack, and groups of forest wardens and soldiers are being mobilized to deal with the threat. Anything that you can tell us to help fill in the details of the situation would be ideal.” Yua spoke firmly but left out any mention about the failure of the scrying magic.

  He might be the Consort to an elven noble, but this was still uncharted territory given that he was also a human noble. It had been agreed ahead of time that she would be the one to do most of the talking with him since it was well known that humans tended to view women as less threatening. The very idea made Yua boil and not just because she was an evoker who was fond of fire magic. Yet she was patient enough not to prejudge Dave.

  “Well, your majesty, the threat may be greater than can be dealt with by random groups. We encountered nearly fifty goblins led by a shaman and matched up with six ogres, including an ogre elite.”

  Dave heard murmuring all around him, and if he wasn’t wrong, he even heard the elven equivalent of a coughed “bull----” from one of the nobles. His guess was further confirmed when the Archdruid turned a withering glare upon the suspected noble. “You have something to say Lord Miora?” asked Hidenori.

  “Yes, I would like to hear what is important enough to interrupt this audience,” Konoe said as he joined his wife standing before the throne.

  “Excuse me, Saisho no otoko, I meant no disrespect to the Throne. It is only that–how are we to believe that the esteemed Consort, a Tier 2 druid, and a human ranger were capable of handling the described threat? Certainly a few goblins are no big threat, but an ogre elite?” the noble asked, his voice vacillating between respect and disdain.

  “I understand that it is a significant tale, but we don’t know enough about either of the human’s involved to gauge their capabilities, and the Consort has been spoken for by a Lady of the Circle. Beyond that, he is the official representative of another nation, and it is entirely out of line to question his veracity publically. You will apologize to Baron Murkwood, or you will be removed from this chamber.” Konoe’s tone brooked no disagreement.

  Lord Miora’s eyes sent daggers at Dave, but his words came out even and with a faint hint of sincerity. “I apologize, Baron Murkwood. I misspoke. I hope that you will accept my apology and allow me to restore my loss of honor.”

  Tired and not wanting to delay any longer, Dave said, “I understand, and a couple of weeks ago, I would not have been able to handle that fight, but I have made great strides forward. Captain Raddick is also Tier 3, and honestly the ogres were overconfident.”

  Lord Miora bowed and then tried to fade back into the cluster of nobles. Then Yua asked, “If I may continue then?” No one said anything so she continued. “What more can you tell us about the goblin attack?”

  With that question, Dave spent the next few minutes describing their discovery of the goblins and the rescue of Raddick, finishing with the battle in Nakan’na. Yua asked Lord Hia what he knew about the events there since it was within his district. Once that conversation was over, Dave went on to officially turn in the tree sapper quest. Which gave him the notification:

  You have completed the Stop the Tree Sapper Blight Quest

  Reward: Personal Faction Gain: all Moon Elves: +25

  Personal Faction Gain: Moon Elf Throne: +25

  Title Gained: Blight Slayer

  * * *

  A second notification popped up:

  * * *

  Blight Slayer: you have gained this title by ending a tree sapper horde. Tree sappers are unnatural creatures created by magical experiments gone wrong. You now cause 10% more damage with physical or magical attacks against any creature who is the result of a magical experiment.

  Yua then said, “Since you are not here physically, we will send the rest of the reward. Do you have any specific requests for the magic items?”

  Dave felt like he had gotten the short end on the magic item front so far, at least compared to Emily and Mira, but he didn’t want to be greedy. “I will leave it up to you as we trust your generosity. I would only ask that you find items which will benefit my
family.” He then gave them a rundown of his family despite not knowing if Jackson had made any progression in leveling.

  Yua had a simple smile on her face. “It is good that you are so unassuming. We will make sure that you are appropriately rewarded and will try to get a courier to you as quickly as possible. Now though, there is some important news that I must share with you.

  You may be angry that I have held this back to the end, and I would somewhat understand. If you are anything like your wife, then family is very important to you. I have had a message from Lady Emiri that she and your eldest daughter are stuck in a dungeon. She asked that I urge you to return home right away and seemed more worried about your home than herself.”

  “What–did she say which dungeon, Your Majesty?” Dave didn’t know if it was his diplomacy skill or what that helped him to remember the proper honorific when all he really wanted to do was shake the small woman and demand that she tell him more.

  “She did not, and again, I stress that she seemed far more worried that you get home. Do you have the means to travel quickly?” Yua asked.

  “Yes I can, but I ask that you give free passage to Captain Raddick and Fumihiro back to Eris’ Rise with whatever aid you can render. Should it please the Throne. I also pledge to pay for whatever resources are spent.”

  “We are pleased to help you, and if you were simply an ambassador, then the price would be hefty for Baron Murkwood, but for the Consort of Lady Emiri, we will do so for a minimal cost and simply deduct it from the quest reward. It will even allow the courier bringing the items to you to serve two purposes. Is this agreeable?”