The True Enemy Revealed

by Jason Cheek

  That brought up a whole new slew of questions that my friends got in on. From what Zedic could figure out, the Priests of Light had dragged away the players’ logged out bodies from the graveyards and made a refugee camp for the survivors. Since then, they’d all been running quests to save various groups around the city. Most of these were work camps that had been set up as forced labor for “crimes against the state” as Chaos Storm put it on the announcements. The charges were all trumped up lies meant to fill the vacancies in the work camps, but the Priests of Light were doing everything in their power to make a difference, outside of direct confrontation.

  Midnight Sun had around forty members that called it home. Half of which were either immediate family or extended family, while the rest were in real life friends. Needless to say, it gave them a closeness and cohesion of purpose that was a joy to see. There were a lot of questions about my nightmare start and my future plans for BrokenFang Hold. I talked freely, even though I’d never met many of these people before. It was the least I could do for my old friends, besides their excitement of talking with me had a lot to do with Zedic and Zyndi’s stories of our earlier adventures.

  As everyone settled down, I changed subjects, swearing all them to secrecy. Quickly, I explained our current situation and discussed the possible destruction coming by noon tomorrow. Midnight Sun was down with helping to evacuate the city. We discussed ways to make it worth the effort for the other players helping out. We were just finishing up the vague outline of the evacuation plans I had been putting together, when our discussion was broken-up by a serious faced Team Leader Quaiel walking up.

  “Excuse me, Royal Inspector Lamkin and Lord Ironwolf,” Team Leader Quaiel said in a solemn voice. “The Council of Light has requested your immediate presence.“

  “Everything’s cool.” I said, seeing the confused looks on my old friends’ faces. Nodding for my friends to move out, I clapped Zedic and Zyndi on the shoulders. “We were actually waiting for them to call for us. Go ahead and start with the evacuation and we’ll meet up with you later.”

  “You got it, Star.” Zedic said, getting nods of agreement from his guildmates. Lowering his voice, he leaned in close. “I just don’t understand the need for all the troopers they brought along with them. If something’s not right, don’t hesitate to call if you need a hand.”

  “You got it, my friend.” I agreed, clasping his fist and giving him a shoulder bump. “Be safe.”

  The Combat Priests formed up around our group and lead us to the stairwell in the back of the catacombs that lead up. Team Leader Quaiel took the lead ahead of us with twenty troopers, while another twenty followed behind us in formation. While their numbers were a little bit disconcerting, I wasn’t overly worried. All of us had enhanced stats and, by now, we were used to taking on monsters and humanoids that out leveled us. If anything, after all the grief from the Chaos Storm and their alliance, the Priests of Light were just being very careful with anyone they allowed in their stronghold.

  I was surprised to see some familiar faces fall into the formation with us. Reverent Priest Walt was leading Natalie, Marie, and two men. I recognized their faces from earlier, but they’d been busy when we’d walked up. A quick Identify showed that they were both level 32. The thinner of the two was a long-haired Priest named Narri Lane, while the heavier man was a Combat Priest with short-hair named Sean Ander. Natalie gave us a shy wave, before Marie scolded her as they both hurriedly resumed their steady stride.

  Following the path of Natalie’s wave, I saw a smiling Priest Thompson looking back at me as if he’d gotten his hand caught in the cookie jar. Our distinguished Devil Dog noticeably blushed at the surprised look on my face. Yun must have known something was up too, because he was already nudging Sarka as they both laughed at Thompson. I must have missed out on something good when I was catching up with my friends.

  Reaching the stairwell, I had to focus as we made our way up the winding stairwell that was wide enough to hold four people abreast. The walls were carved granite covered with frescos of great battles against the northern hordes. It at least made the twenty flight climb to reach the top of the stairwell somewhat interesting. Reaching the top, we entered what looked to be the ground level of the fortress. That was just a guess, since it was difficult to know if this was actually the ground level in the windowless defensive room. It was laid out to ward off invaders coming up from the catacombs.

  There was another platoon of Combat Priests quietly standing guard. I’m sure that these were just the on-duty forces and that a quick alarm would flood the chamber with reinforcements. For a bunch of healers, the priests of light sure seemed ready for combat at a moment’s notice. While there was more than one raised eyebrow as our raid past, no one gave us any trouble as Team Leader Quaiel escorted us through a long corridor to the other side of the fortress.

  This defensive room held another platoon of Combat Priests that silently watched as we entered another stairwell heading up. The climb was once again uneventful as I repeatedly entertained myself with the frescos as I ran my fingers through Neysa’s fur. Talk within raid chat was kept to a minimum in case the shit hit the fan. Not that we expected anything to go down, but it was best to careful.

  Honestly, except for the training for our people, this was really just a side trip to warn the Priests of Light of the current situation, and hopefully get their help with evacuating the city. While that sounded simple enough, I had no doubt this surprisingly militant force would balk at being told they had to leave everything they owned behind. Whatever, that was their choice to make. I just hoped they’d still give us a hand with the civilians.

  Exiting at the top of the stairwell, we were once again in another defensive room with a platoon of guards on duty. This time, there was no hallway, but a small foyer before a set of massive double doors. These were instantly swung open by the Combat Priests at our approach. I had a moment to glance around the foyer. The room was richly decorated with fabrics and ornate wooden furniture for guests that needed to wait outside the chamber, while on every wall hung flags that showed the golden, four-pointed star that was the symbol for the Priests of Light.

  As soon as we entered the massive, Romanesque amphitheater, Reverent Priest Walt and his party split away from us while we were led to the center of the room. I was surprised to see the old man take one of the ornate vacant seats on the first level, while his party filled in the rows behind him. All conversation seemed to come to a stop as Team Leader Quaiel bid us to stay, before leading his troopers off to stand at the side of the chamber.

  There were Combat Priests standing guard at evenly spaced intervals around the chamber. If I had to guess, there had to be at least several hundred priests sitting on the bleacher-like stone seats. The first row only had nine very old men and women that were evenly spaced around the chamber with the one directly before us having the largest, most ornate seat out of them all. The councilors were all level 50 and had titles like Reverent Priest, Battle Priest, or Radiant Mage.

  They had three distinct modes of dress. The Reverent Priests and the Radiant Mages had slightly different robes and usually carried two-handed staffs. The Reverent Priests flowing robes looked the part of a Priest of Light, while the Radiant Mages had the look of a Dungeons and Dragons’ magic-user. A few even carried swords. Their robes were less billowy and they had more equipment belts and harnesses which I could see held various components and vials.

  The Battle Priests alone wore heavy armor similar to my own, but with more white colors and copper highlights. Swords and shields were the most common equipment in their ranks, but there were a few that held the Ahlspiess spears I’d seen earlier. The Priests behind the councilors seemed to be of the same class and were grouped by levels that significantly increased in numbers as their levels went down. Until you reached the highest point which only had the level 10 to 20 Priests. I guess anyone below level 10 were considered only acolytes and weren’t a part of this event.

&nb
sp; A fanfare of trumpets brought the meeting to order as a pompous herald stepped forward to introduce the council of nine. Scanning the faces of each councilor as they were introduced, I hoped that I was reading the situation entirely wrong, but I quickly realized that wasn’t going to be the case as only two Priests and one Priestess smiled at me warmly. The rest gave us a variety of looks that ranged from curious to contemptuous as their names were called. By the time the High Councilor Luzanus was introduced, a solid knot had formed in the pit of my stomach. Especially when I saw the look of outright disgust in the old man’s eyes as his hand unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword.

  Our introductions were relatively quick in comparison. The herald introduced Royal Investigator Lamkin and myself, Lord Ironwolf of the House of Kayden, before briefly mentioning that we carried a message directly from Prince Lekroth to the Council of Light. With that completed, the herald bowed and stepped back against the wall. Immediately, High Councilor Luzanus shot to his feet as his shrill voice filled the amphitheater.

  “Who allowed these cretins to be brought before the Council of Light?” The old man demanded as an unhappy rustle went through the priests’ ranks. “I’ll not lower myself to speaking with Halflings!” Before the echoes in the chamber had died down, Reverent Priest Walt had jumped to his feet in outrage.

  “Prince Lekroth personally sent these messengers to us with his sigil to deliver his dire warnings.” Reverent Priest Walt bellowed to be heard by his colleagues as he slowly turned in place until he was glaring back at Luzanus. “The position of the High Councilor is not to determine who should be presented to the Council of Light. It’s to call the council to order, to preserve decorum within these walls, to recognize councilors as they stand to speak, and make rulings on procedures that agree with the majority vote.” His entire arm shot forward as he pointed accusingly at Luzanus.

  “Not proselytizing your personal ideologies or beliefs on the rest of us!” Dropping his arm, Reverent Priest Walt’s voice continued professionally, before Luzanus could respond. “I officially propose that the Council of Light hear the dire warnings these messengers bring.”

  Immediately, there was a second and a third call to let us be heard as High Councilor Luzanus exploded in outrage. The quiet chamber erupted in raucous voices as councilors and priests either spoke for or against the idea of hearing us out. There were three councilors that looked on us favorably. The rest of the council ranged from indifference to varying degrees of prejudice, disgust, and hate.

  It was obvious from the discussions going on around us that a major part of the problem was speciesism. Non-Humans in general were looked down upon by many in the Kingdom of Kader, but an even worse hate seemed to stem from the rest of us being half-breeds. I guess it was even worse in my case, because I was an actual lord that required a certain degree of respect. At the end of the increasingly obnoxious debate, the majority of them decided they should at the very least hear the Prince’s warning.

  By then, my friends and companions were fit to be tied. Our raid chat had become a buzz of seething anger, while our orderly formation quickly shifted as my friends repositioned themselves naturally. Kenzie, Zhou, and Darkhorse were ready to slip into stealth and murder-face the entire lot of them. Sarka had already repositioned herself at the rear of the formation with Unalia and Brenna at her back. The three of them were ready to defend against attacks from the rear if necessary. Phoenix and Neristhana had formed up on one side of our mini formation with Ulia and Rayne doing the same on the other, while Keela, Yun, and Thompson stood at the center ready to offer support. Neysa and Helgath stood stiffly at my back ready to swing into action. Only Tinyr and Rani remained calm as they stood beside me watching the show.

  “This isn’t right.” Rani said, as I studied the machinations of the Council of Light. Her voice lowered as she leaned over to speak into my ear. “I’ve never heard of such,” she struggled for a moment trying to find the right words,” open hostility directed towards an official messenger.” She said, rubbing her arms uncomfortably. “Even non-human guests.”

  “How many Halflings have you met in situations such as this?” I casually asked.

  “None, except for the Gnomeling Traders.” Rani said thoughtfully. “But, they rarely leave their ships.”

  “Is High Councilor Luzanus doing all of this simply because he’s a prejudiced asshat?” Tinyr asked, as he listened to the various comments being made. “It’s almost like he’s trying to rile everyone up to egg us on.”

  “Why would he do such a thing?” Rani asked, noticeably upset.

  “Hate doesn’t need any reason.” I answered back. “Besides, it probably doesn’t help that we’re newfar either.” Switching to raid chat, I raised my voice to be heard over the chatter.

  “Unless we are directly attacked, no one will draw their weapons. Is that clear?”

  “You’re going to let these freaking NPCs talk to us this way?” Kenzie shouted back at me as she seethed in outrage.

  “Use your freaking head, Kenzie!” I snapped back angrily. “How is attacking him going to help anything? Hell, the asshole wants us to attack him. He’s waiting for one of us to lose it so he can slaughter us and justify it as self-defense. Look at him! He’s doing everything in his power to piss us off because he hates half-breeds that much.”

  “But …” Kenzie’s voice died away as she considered my words.

  “He’s a prejudiced asshole who needs to be put in his place.” I said, in the sudden silence as my friends considered my words. “Now let me handle this so we can get the fuck out of here.”

  “But what are you going to do-“ Kenzie began to say as I cut her off.

  “I said I’ll handle it!” Seeing the look on Kenzie’s face, I took a deep breath and tried again. “Sorry about that. Please let me handle it. If it all goes to hell, you can murderface the prick all you want.” Or as long as we’re alive, I silently added. Thankfully though, my words seemed to calm everyone down.

  In the short interim of our internal discussion, the amphitheater had quieted down and come to order. Our aggressive repositioning hadn’t gone unnoticed as the Combat Priests around the chamber watched us with alert eyes. Seeing that no attack was forthcoming, High Councilor Luzanus gave me a haughty sneer as he sat up straight in his ornate chair.

  “The Halfling will deliver Prince Lekroth’s message to the Council of Light.” Luzanus ordered in a tone that made my skin crawl. God, I so much wanted to ram my foot up his dried up ass. I was just taking a deep breath when a plan solidified in my mind.

  “Gladly, Loose-Anus.” I agreed good-naturedly as my lips curled into a shit-eating grin. Turning to face the chamber, I heard High Councilor Luzanus choke in outrange as a gasp ran through the assembled priests. In front of me, I saw several of the councilors cover their mouths with a hand as they choked back their laughter, while the younger priests did their best to hold to the decorum expected of them.

  “That’s not my name!” The old man suddenly shrieked in outrage. “My name is Battle Priest, High Councilor of Light Luzanus!”

  I could clearly see the distress in the councilors’ faces and that of the other priests as they tried to hold in their laughter. Not that it worked. As I noticeably paused at the High Councilor’s words, the effect seemed to grow as loud snickers and chuckles echoed off the amphitheater walls. Obviously, Luzanus wasn’t particularly liked. He probably only got his position through politics and money, I assumed at seeing everyone’s reaction. It honestly made me wonder if I hadn’t accidently hit on the name the other priests called him behind his back.

  Turning around slowly, I held my head up high with my shoulders back as I met the High Councilor’s beady dark-brown eyes. “Really, because my title is Lord Ironwolf of BrokenFang Hold, Leader of the House of Kayden, and Guild Leader of The Revenants!” I blasted right back. “It’s not Halfling. It’s not hey you. So, until you can’t give me the common courtesy of calling me by my rank and name, you can suck
a bag full of dicks, Loose-Anus!” I finished, distinctively pronouncing the “A” in anus.

  High Councilor Luzanus face turned purple as his face went through a visible conniption. His claw-like hand clutched at the hilt of his sword in a white-knuckled grip as he glared at me. If looks could kill, I’d have been dead a hundred times over. Already, he was being called out for his lack of decorum to an official messenger that bore the Prince’s sigil. Knowing he’d lost this battle of wits against me, his face froze in a caricature of hate.

  “I stand corrected.” He said, stiffly acknowledging the censure from his colleagues. “Please deliver Prince Lekroth’s oh so dire warnings to the Council of Light, Lord Ironwolf.”

  Instead of answering the old bastard by using his actual name, I politely bowed to the High Councilor and silently mouthed “Loose-Anus” with a cocky grin, before turning to face the amphitheater. My voice echoed around the chamber as I warned the Council of Light that the city would be destroyed by noon tomorrow. Ignoring the shouts of denial and concerned faces that my words caused, I explained that the Chaos Storm guild and their allies were responsible for assassinating the King and had gotten their hands on a level 200 scroll called Meteor Strike.

  Ignoring the growing uproar, I went through the rest of the story of what occurred with the Prince and Princess, along with my role in this story. I wound up my speech with the explanation that the Chaos Storm alliance had been holding the city of Telrain hostage since the King’s death. Lastly, I gave them my ex-girlfriend’s in-game name as the holder of the scroll and admonished them not to try to take the scroll from her or she’d surely destroy the city before the expected time.

  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Julie, I thought savagely. In the stunned silence that followed, I explained that in the interim, the House of Kayden alliance was resurrecting as many citizens of Telrain as possible outside the western wall of the city. Also, that we would be doing our best to evacuate as much of the city as possible. Seeing the confused looks from the priests and the Council of Light, I explained that while I didn’t expect any help from the Council of Light, any assistance on either front would be greatly appreciated. Giving the room a polite bow, I wished them a good day, before turning around to walk back to my people as the chamber burst into a roar of excited conversations. As soon as I came to a stop, Rani pulled me close.