When Sam and the others reached him, Allistor mentioned for them to spread out. He whispered, “Anybody got one of Meg’s grenades?”
Every single one of them held up one of the crystal balls. Allistor grinned. “Count of three, you guys soak them with that stuff. I’ll light them up. Shoot anything that moves down there.” Heads nodded, and they all approached the front edge of the wall. The red dots showed all but one of the enemy clustered near the doors below, still waiting for their friends to let them in.
“Three… two… one!” Five men lobbed napalm grenades down to splash on the humans below. Allistor sent down a column of fire with Flame Strike, igniting the flammable mixture of chemicals. The people started screaming and running about or rolling on the ground trying to put out the flames. Sam and the others began firing into the crowd.
Allistor focused instead on the one red dot that stood separately. He was a shadow about fifty yards out, standing alone in the dark. Allistor cast Night Vision on himself, and the shadow became a man.
A man who was pointing a rifle up at the wall.
Allistor saw the muzzle flash and heard a grunt to his left. Michael was falling backward, a hole in his chest. Allistor cast a heal on him and shouted for Ramon to look after him.
Turning back to the fight, he canceled his night vision and cast a light globe so that it hovered right in front of Justin’s face. The surprised man ducked down and blinked several times, temporarily blinded by the light. Allistor switched out his shotgun for a hunting rifle and raised it to his shoulder. It took him two seconds to sight in on Justin as the man’s eyes adjusted to the light. He was just raising his own rifle again when Allistor pulled the trigger.
Blood bloomed on the man’s chest as he fell backward. Allistor chambered another round and waited for him to stop moving, then put a hole in Justin’s head. Experience flashed across his screen.
The gunfire had ceased, and Allistor leaned over to look below. All of the attackers were dead or dying. Only 3 of the red dots were still showing on the map, and even as he watched one of them blinked out.
He turned to check on Michael, finding him sitting up with his back against the parapet. Ramon cast another heal on him, and he was looking healthy enough.
When the last red dot disappeared, there was a ringing of chimes, and everyone in the Warren got experience for a successful defense of the Stronghold. Several of them leveled up.
Michael looked at Allistor. “I’m sorry, Allistor. They seemed like good guys. I-”
Allistor cut him off. “Don’t sweat it. We knew something like this would happen eventually. It’s not your fault. But we gotta talk about this later. I need to get back to the Citadel!” Allistor told Sam and George, who were standing next to him watching Michael get healed. “A dragon attacked the place just as I was leaving to come help you here.”
Sam nodded, “Go! I’d offer to go with you, but there might be more of those fellas out there. Just be sure you come back in the morning for the funeral.”
“Funeral?” Allistor’s gut clenched. “Whose funeral.”
Sam lowered his head. “Shit. We didn’t have time to tell you.”
George put a hand on his shoulder. “Luther’s dead. Shot, along with Matt, before any of us knew what was happening. Never even had a chance to defend himself.”
Allistor put an arm around the old man. “I’m sorry, George. I liked Luther a lot. He was a good man.” George nodded his head but didn’t say anything. Tears rolled down his face as he bore the pain in silence.
Sam murmured, “Go, boy. We’ll deal with this. Old men get good at burying our dead.”
Allistor nodded and leapt down off the wall. Hitting the ground running, he met up with Helen halfway to the teleport pad. She stopped him long enough to let Fuzzy catch up, then all three stepped onto the pad. “Nigel, send us back to the Citadel, please.”
A flash of light and they were back in the citadel. The roof of the keep was afire, though it was mostly stone and steel. Allistor could see that some of the skylights had melted. He heard the distinctive crack of the .50 cal firing, and the roar of the drake a second later.
There was a scream that grew louder for a few seconds before a body slammed into the ground not far from Allistor. It was burnt and damaged from the fall, and Allistor couldn’t tell who it was.
Casting Night Vision on himself and Helen, he searched the sky above. The massive drake wasn’t hard to spot. It glided by overhead, one wing tilted down as it banked around the tower. Allistor could see it taking a deep breath.
Fire Drake
Level 13
Health: 4,900/11,000
He cast Mind Spike on the beast. This one was larger than the matron they’d fought in the Silo. And a slightly higher level. Still, the spell caused the monster to falter, its wing catching on the tower and sending it into a spin as it roared in pain.
Unable to recover, the monster slammed into the inner wall, one of its wings snapping on impact. It fell to the ground at the base of the wall, then promptly gained its feet. Turning toward the tower, it roared in defiance.
The .50 cal cracked again, and the drake’s head recoiled as blood sprayed from the wound. Allistor raised his own gun and fired directly into the thing’s face. More of his people joined in, running up next to Allistor or firing down from atop the wall. The monster writhed in pain as round after round stung it. Allistor cast Restraint and the beast froze.
When the .50 cal fired once more, the round penetrated its brain, and the monster went limp. A cheer went up from the crowd as they too got defense experience and leveled up. Allistor shouted, “Andrea! Report!”
She came jogging up. “Six wounded, mostly burns, except one with multiple broken bones. They’ll all live, if you’ll do some quick healing.” She pointed to a row of wounded that could be seen through the food court doors. Allistor sprinted over to them, casting heals as he ran. He couldn’t tell from there which were the most badly burned, so he just healed each of them in turn, starting again with the first after he’d healed the sixth.
Helen handed out health potions to each one of them as he started a third round of heals. When he was satisfied that all had recovered fully, he joined the others in looting and harvesting the dragon. Nigel contacted Allistor with an inquiry.
“Lord Allistor, would you like me to begin repairs of the damaged sections of this facility?”
Allistor paused. “You can do that? That’s great! What will it cost?”
“Based on my damage assessment, repairs can be accomplished in less than twelve hours for a total cost of six thousand system points.”
Allistor grinned. The defense of the citadel against the dragon had awarded much more than that. “Yes, please begin the repairs, Nigel. And thank you.”
An hour later, he stumbled back into bed, exhausted.
Chapter Nineteen
Endings and Beginnings
Four hours later Allistor was awake again, and half-stumbling onto the teleport pad with Fuzzy, Helen, Dean, and Andrea. They had asked to join him at the Warren for the funeral. When the group stepped off the pad on the other side, folks were already moving around inside the compound.
Allistor saw the gates were open, and the bodies had been cleared. A wooden pyre was being erected outside, and the bodies of Luther and the other man were laying nearby, covered with white sheets. Amanda stood guard over them, shotgun in hand.
“Excuse me for a minute, please.” Allistor left the others and walked over to her. He gathered her into a hug that lasted for a long time. “I missed you.”
“Yeah? So much ya couldn’t call, couldn’t write?” She gave him a stern look, but he could tell she wasn’t serious.
“The dog ate my postman.” He shrugged, suppressing his own grin.
“Oh, that’s bad! Too soon, Allistor, too soon.” She kissed him lightly, darting a glance at Helen as she did so. The woman smiled and gave a small wave.
“So that’s the hottie you’ve bee
n romping around the countryside with?” she whispered, though the group was too far away to hear her normal voice.
Allistor chuckled. “Yup. That’s Helen. And the only romping we’ve been doing is fighting monsters and bad people. She’s the one who accidentally made me a Lord. Saved my ass a couple times, too. Come meet her.”
Amanda looked around. “I don’t want to leave these two alone. We’ve had a lot of canids sniffing around lately. They already took the bodies from last night. The ones outside, I mean. We dumped the two you killed in here over the wall.” She looked down at Fuzzy, who was smiling up at her despite holding the goblin in his mouth. “Your cub did a real number on that guy’s face.”
“Oh! You two haven’t met!” Allistor made a flourishing motion with his hand. “Fuzzy bear, meet Amanda. Amanda… Fuzzy.” Amanda extended a hand for the cub to sniff, much like one would do with a new dog. As Fuzzy checked her out, she whispered, “Is that a frog in his mouth?”
“Nope! Goblin!” He waited for the expected wide eyes, then said, “It’s a stuffed Fibble doll he found at the ranger station. He’s… adopted it.” Just then Fuzzy set down the doll and licked Amanda’s hand, giving her a friendly chuff, then lowering his head and bringing it up underneath her hand to demand a scratch.
Laughing, she scratched his ears, earning a pleased rumbling in the bear cub’s chest. “I guess we’re going to be good friends, Fuzzy bear.” She squatted down to hug him, and he licked her face. “Ew! What have you been feeding him?”
“That guy’s face.” Allistor grinned.
She quickly stood back up, patting Fuzzy’s head. “Oh, right.” The look on her face was priceless as she used a sleeve to wipe the slobber from it.
Allistor shrugged, saying, “He killed our people. As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t die slowly enough. I told Fuzzy to eat his face but my kind, sensitive bear cub killed him first. He watched as Fuzzy nodded, then lifted Fibble and ambled off toward the woods to take care of bear business. “Fuzzy’s nose says there are no monsters close by. It’s safe for you to come meet the group.”
He waved to his friends to approach, and he brought Amanda to meet them halfway. “Amanda, this is badass ranger Helen, Chancellor Dean, and Lady Commander Andrea. Guys, this is Amanda, our resident doctor.
They all shook hands and made small talk for a few minutes until Sam and the others emerged en masse. Allistor left the rest of the introductions for after the service. They lifted the bodies and placed them atop the pyre, then Allistor lit the fire. They watched in silence as the bodies burned down to ash, then returned to the Stronghold, shutting the gates behind them.
Inside, they all gathered in the dining area. Allistor made the rest of the introductions, and let everyone spend a little time getting to know one another. Chloe took charge of leading the newcomers on a tour of the cavern, bragging about how well she and the other children took care of the chickens and bunnies. Allistor winked at Nancy and mouthed the words “No mutants?” for which she shot him the finger.
Allistor was surprised at how small and simple the Warren seemed compared to the Mall. He wondered if his people would even want to stay at the Warren after seeing the Citadel. If they didn’t, he decided it was no big deal. The Warren wasn’t exactly in a strategic position. He could probably downgrade it to an Outpost without losing anything. Casper wasn’t so far away, and he planned to establish a Stronghold there. And the teleporter would make it easy to move everyone, including the soon-to-be mutant bunnies.
Back at the dining area, they all sat down to a breakfast of real eggs, sausage, and grilled onions. Meg and Sam got many compliments on the delicious meal. They got caught up on the night’s events, George giving a tearful account of his son’s death. Lilly wrapped her arms around the man and let him cry.
When Dean was through telling about the battle with the drake at the citadel, and Sam was through asking him questions about how sweet it was to fire the Barrett, Allistor invited everyone to the Citadel.
“We can leave the place unguarded for a little while,” he told them. “Nigel will warn us if the sensors are triggered, and we can be back here in minutes.”
“Nigel?” Meg asked, looking around.
“Nigel, say hello to the people of the Warren. And can you tell me how many people can be teleported at once?”
“Hello, good people of the Warren. I am Nigel, your interface at all of Lord Allistor’s facilities. And it is recommended to limit groups to no more than twenty persons per teleport.
Meg organized them into two roughly equal groups. There were a total of twenty-four men, women, and children living at the Warren now. Along with Allistor, Fuzzy, Helen, Andrea, and Dean, that made twenty-nine.
Allistor accompanied the first group, ushering them quickly off the pad when they arrived to make room for the second group. Immediately there were gasps of surprise as they looked around the Citadel. More of the same could be heard with the second group’s arrival. Allistor gave them some time to look around, then he led them all inside.
Most of the Citadel’s citizens were awaiting them in the food court. People mixed and introduced themselves, and several tours were conducted. About midday, Allistor asked Andrea to switch out the three people remaining at the Silo, so the others could join and meet the groups. A moment later, Nigel announced that the repairs to the citadel were complete.
They spent the entire day just mingling and eating, discussing foraging and crafting, telling stories and forming new friendships. A few trade deals were struck, crafters agreeing to share materials or work together in creating something.
Allistor, having been abandoned by Fuzzy who went to romp around with the children, spent most of the day with Amanda. She spent some time checking on citizens who asked for it, and he gave her a personal tour of the Citadel. Then he took her to the Silo and showed her the dragon eggs. She used her Internal Analysis ability and scanned one of them.
“It’s a baby dragon alright. High concentration of those magic atomic critters swirling around in there. I’d say the baby is about eighty percent formed. But I don’t know how long it’ll be till they hatch.”
“We’ve got books in the library that might tell us. Let’s head back and have dinner with everyone, then we can hit the books. I think Ramon’s already been up there all day.” He grinned. Ramon had been ecstatic when Allistor had escorted him into the library. He’d hurried from shelf to shelf calling out titles and laughing like a kid in a candy store.
As they were taking the lift back up to ground level, Amanda asked. “You’re going back out, aren’t you? To find more people and claim more Strongholds.”
Allistor nodded. “I was thinking tomorrow. That’s why I wanted a little quality time with you. I… really did miss you.”
She bumped him with her hip. “Missed you too, goofball. I mean, there are better-looking men at the Warren. But none of them has a face-eating pet bear. I mean, that’s what I’ve always dreamed of in a man.”
“And I thought you were only into me for my big… muscles.”
“Those too. I figure that’s what Helen sees in you, too.” She made a pouty face.
“It’s not like that with us. She’s a good friend. We work and fight well together. But I made it clear I’m interested in being with you.” He held out a hand, and she entwined her fingers with his. He winked at her, adding, “If you play your cards right, you could end up being Lady Amanda!”
“Oh! What an honor!” She rolled her eyes at him. They reached the surface and walked back to the teleport pad. Two minutes later they were joining the others in the food court.
Dinner was still cooking, so they went to the kiosk for some shopping. Allistor divided up the labor, telling Amanda what he was looking for, and authorizing her to spend some of the Citadel’s klax. She purchased some training scrolls for the various professions they thought citizens might be pursuing. If they didn’t need them, they could always resell them later. Allistor bought some spells. He found
an upgraded healing spell called Restore that…oddly enough, restored a thousand health points on a target, and purchased six at two thousand klax each. One each for himself, Helen, Amanda, Dean and Andrea, and one for Ramon to learn and copy for the others. Ramon had already distributed Nature’s Boon to half a dozen of the Citadel’s people so that they had heals for the next battle.
He also purchased six copies of an offensive spell called Vortex that created a tight spiral of air. It was a channeled spell that could be directed at a target, and it would become stronger the more power was pushed into it. He kept one for himself, would offer one to Helen if her stats leaned toward magic use, and would give the others to Andrea and Sam for distribution to appropriate people.
At their low levels, there were very few spells available to the humans. The only other one he found before the dinner bell rang was one called Erupt that would cause a spike of stone to burst forth from the ground and impale a target. He only purchased two copies, one for himself and one for Ramon. Nobody else had the level and intel requirements to use it yet.
That accomplished, he and Amanda returned to the food court where the others were gathering. Sam and Meg had teamed up with Thorne and Dean to create a celebratory meal of dragon steaks, potatoes and vegetables from the Warren’s greenhouse, and canned fruit for dessert. After dinner, they broke out beer and booze and Allistor proposed a toast.
“To you, and you, and all of us! I’m proud to know each of you, and I look forward to all of us sharing long lives together. To the survivors!” He raised his glass.
“TO THE SURVIVORS!” the crowd shouted. In the background, someone shouted, “Gnomes Rule!” getting a laugh from the gamers in the room.
*****
Baldur growled his displeasure at his brother and niece. The mist around him curled and swirled, reflecting his agitation.
Shadow Sun Survival Page 42