Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy

by William D. Arand

  “On our retreat we have our mounted forces do a flanking attack on this side.” He tapped the south-east corner of the castle. “One pass only and then exit. Between these two actions it’ll be enough to break the momentum of the attack.”

  “I’ll prepare the orders, my lord,” Isabelle said with a renewed fanaticism in her eyes. She slammed her fist to her chest, then turned and bolted out the door.

  “Really wish she’d get over that,” Runner muttered. He’d have to be bold here. So far this was a delaying tactic, nothing more.

  Moving his mounted soldiers to the wings of his formation on the board, he toyed with a few ideas. Trying to think several steps ahead was the best way to create your own advantages.

  “What, the pure Elf m-maiden’s infatuation with a lord? Not likely. She sees you as a dem-m-mi-god, at the very least,” Nadine replied.

  “Fool.” Runner grimaced, his fingers sliding his cavalry over into a gully.

  If I can get them over here before the enemy reforms…

  “We all see you as more than-n you do yourself, Runner.”

  “Fools, the lot of you,” Runner muttered. In his head he planned on having the supply division mount up and stand in place as if they were the mounted troops.

  People believe what they want to believe. If the enemy commander believes my cavalry is visible, he’ll hopefully not look for them too hard.

  His chin was yanked aside and he found himself looking into Nadine’s green eyes.

  She released his jaw as quickly as she had pulled on it.

  “You will n-not say that again. Ever. Think about it. To Katarina, you gave her a direction, an identity, and self-worth. To Hannah, redemption, an ally, and trust. Thana gained a patron, an equal, and an opportunity to be herself. For myself, you saved me from death’s door, you’ve never seen me as anything less than what I want, if not more. Isabelle has seen all this and more, and you mock her. You will n-not do so again or so help me…” Nadine snapped off the last words with a growl.

  Runner processed all that. Then he slowly smiled. A chuckle escaped his lips.

  She isn’t wrong.

  Runner felt like laughing at that. He had been pressing Srit towards sentience from the first moment he realized he needed her on his side. The best way to do that was enabling her to throw off her masters. He doubted she’d agree if she knew that.

  “As you will it, Rabbit. I shall not mock her again. My word on it.”

  “Good. N-now, have you eaten?”

  Roughly two hours and a forced breakfast later, his forces were in position.

  His artillery battery was arrayed at the crest of the ridge. They were facing the opposing hill, which would give them plenty of time to fire into the ranks as they raced to the other side.

  Next came his ranged classes. They were set up lower than the SO team but at a location that would give them a perfect arc to the space between the two hills.

  Runner had given them instructions to fire at a forty-five-degree arc and believed that their missiles would go beyond their expected range. All had accepted his word as law and believed it.

  Below his ranged forces was the infantry. They lined the point where the ascent became the most severe. Every mount that could be found had been put under someone from support. Every wagon had been deprived of its horse team.

  These soldiers were scarecrows at best and were held in the reserve position. They’d look like cavalry though. His vanguard forces and actual cavalry weren’t here.

  He’d sent them off on their mission as soon as it was apparent that the siege would be commencing shortly.

  Accompanying them as command officers went both Katarina and Hannah. Katarina would remain with the vanguard force. Hannah would depart with the cavalry to a separate location to await orders.

  Hopefully the cavalry would be overlooked and the ruse believed. It would give him a trump card to use at his discretion. An impossibly strong flank attack that might even be able to be launched at the general himself.

  He had given Katarina last-minute instructions to try and hold as long as possible to hopefully draw some of the forces along behind them. Into Runner’s waiting arms.

  Character boxes in his raid window began flashing as combat was joined. They were too far out to hear anything.

  “They’ve started,” Runner said.

  “Oh? Indeed. So they have,” Thana replied. She stood at his side, her staff held loosely in one arm as she surveyed the countryside.

  “My lord, you can tell?”

  Runner frowned and looked to Isabelle. He nearly made a comment but saw Nadine a foot beyond Isabelle. Swallowing the rebuke, he managed a partial smile.

  “Think ‘raid window’ in your head. It’ll pull up the relevant information. Everyone has a flashing border around their names. This means they’re in combat. Therefore we can conclude they’ve attacked the supply depot. Which also means that the enemy forces have engaged the capital.”

  “Ah. Thank you for explaining, my lord.”

  “Please, Belle. Please, just call me Runner. If nothing else, I would love to hear my name spoken from your lips,” Runner pleaded. Turning his head, he caught the eyes of his SO team commander and nodded at the man.

  “Load!” shouted the man. Forty breeches opened and closed as the cannons were armed.

  “Such lovely sentiments, dear heart,” Thana purred at him softly.

  “More flies with honey, my lady. I really am tired of her calling me that but I promised Rabbit I’d be nice,” Runner whispered back at her.

  “Where’s my honey then?”

  Runner coughed and looked around. No one seemed to be listening.

  “Whenever, wherever, beloved chancellor. Now tease me no more—it’s go time.”

  Thana harrumphed softly but didn’t appear to actually be angry. If anything she looked pleased.

  It was only an excuse of course. There was no immediate need. Time would pass as the plan carried itself along.

  Runner found himself staring at the map as he watched the dots for Katarina and Hannah separate from each other on their way out. Hannah and the cavalry hit the flank and then wheeled away. Katarina and company were making a beeline back for the main force.

  Runner held up his left hand above his head. Any and all noise died away around him as everyone took this as a ready signal. Up to this point they had suffered no losses, and he was keen to keep that number at zero.

  Run on, Runner.

  Over the opposing hill’s crest came his vanguard. They came in a rough formation, but a formation nonetheless. He felt pride in their movements; they trusted his plan to keep them safe.

  Runner spotted Katarina in the press of bodies. She kept at the rear of the pack, herding them onwards, glorious in her armor, her longs legs pushing her onwards.

  He felt his heart catch at the sight of her. If anything went wrong, she’d be the one to pay the price first.

  They hadn’t even reached the bottom of the hill when mounted soldiers came flowing over the horizon. Runner wanted to drop his hand to let death fly, but he had to hold it.

  They needed more enemies to come over the top. He needed to inflict the maximum number of casualties here to soften up future fights. He also could only afford one salvo. It wouldn’t do to reveal the reload rate.

  Katarina could hold her own if it came down to it. Right?

  I hope so.

  Feeling like the time was right, that more than what had already crossed over would overwhelm his vanguard and infantry, he dropped his hand.

  Cannons thumped, spells arced out, arrows flew, and death came. Literally.

  Ernsta came down from above on her horse. She coasted by, high above the smoke, fire, lightning, ice, and other various spells going off in the midst of shrieking horses and soldiers.

  Runner would have laughed at the theatrics of the situation if he didn’t know it was for his and her benefit.

  Terribly cliche though.

  As she s
ailed over the maelstrom of fire, ice, and explosions, a stream of souls chased after her. They could only be souls as they looked like translucent human bodies. Wraiths that wiggled and twisted in the wind as they sped along behind her.

  Then she was gone. As the smoke dissipated and cleared the field, all that remained were corpses. Every soldier on the far side of the artillery strike had already fled. Those who had already passed beyond the impact point had promptly stopped dead and watched.

  Katarina had turned the entire vanguard force around and renewed the attack on them while they were distracted. The sergeant he’d Awakened led the force, screaming wordlessly at them as he engaged.

  Thrusting out his hand, Runner called out.

  “Healers and ranged squads forward, support the vanguard!” Runner thundered.

  Every member from the groups he called sprinted forward.

  “Belle, targets of opportunity. Go,” he said, swatting her on the backside. She jumped at the impact of his hand and then sprinted forward into the fray. Runner leaned towards Thana and lowered his voice to a whisper.

  “My lady, please prepare a contingent to speak with our Barbarian friends. Whoever you think would be helpful in a delegation. I trust you completely in your choices. No idea on timeline—assume in the next two days,” he said.

  “Already done. I’ll send you the list later. I also have your wardrobe set aside. Don’t argue. You’ll wear what I want and like it,” Thana replied, patting him firmly on the ass.

  She’d obviously noticed his cavalier dismissal of Isabelle and felt he should be put in place. He hadn’t intended anything by it, but it didn’t excuse the action.

  Rightly chastised, he smiled and nodded to her.

  “I’ll apologize when she comes back. Thank you, my beloved chancellor. I’d be lost without you. I’m afraid I act without thinking frequently.”

  “I know, dear heart. We’re here to keep you safe. Even from yourself.”

  The support he’d sent had caught up to the vanguard and was working diligently to prevent casualties and eliminate the enemy.

  Much of the battle devolved into pockets of fighting. Small groups working to get the attention of mounted warriors and bring them down effectively.

  The lessons they had learned in the pass were paying off. For every person he had lost, he hoped to save ten with the experience those deaths taught.

  That’s what being a veteran meant. Using your past experience to leverage the present.

  Katarina acted as the center, bolstering and holding the line while pulling more and more enemies in to fight her. Isabelle ranged far and wide on the edges. She utilized her bow for high-value targets. Losing officers tended to end battles much more swiftly.

  Runner spotted what looked like the officer in charge in the rear. Apparently no one had told the poor fool that no one would be joining them.

  The man brought order to the chaos on his side. Runner targeted him and lifted his left hand. Runner then started to channel the large variant of Splatterhouse. Mana bled from his bar rapidly, emptying it within seconds.

  Downing a mana potion in a quick movement, Runner watched his mana bar. Blue-colored mana struggled to fill the empty bar as the spell drained it simultaneously.

  Splitting his focus between his target and the mana bar, he watched both as best as he could. As the effects of the potion waned, his mana bar hit zero.

  Activating the built-up spell, he felt his hand jerk backwards from the small back-blast it created. Cannoning out from his hand, the super-charged Splatterhouse shell shrieked through the air. Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, the projectile smashed into the officer.

  Plasma scorched through the enemy ranks and blew upwards. As the fireball died, nothing remained of the officer or of those who stood around him.

  Heh, I may be a one pump chump, but I can actually get it done in one.

  As if their hands were tied to balloons, the remaining two hundred or so foes threw them up in surrender, offering no further resistance.

  “I do not believe we discussed our position on prisoners,” Thana whispered from beside him. He had been considering the very same problem.

  Katarina decided the situation herself before Runner could get a messenger down there. She rounded up everyone who remained of the opposition and started the trek up the hill.

  Sighing, Runner thought quickly. Few things would guarantee their prisoners remaining as such. After all, it wasn’t as if they could disarm them without permission.

  “Angel, time for some more theatrics,” Runner muttered.

  Catching the eye of one of his messengers nearby, Runner beckoned him over.

  “Find me a clearing and get back to me. Large enough to host all of those prisoners. Also take into account that people will probably want to watch. Go,” Runner said, then flicked his fingers at the man.

  “Runner,” Nadine hissed at him. “Unless you wanted him to spread that they could watch, I don-n’t understand why you told him like that.”

  “No, that’s my goal actually. Until the Barbarians are willing to sally forth, we’ll need to keep their army on their heels. They easily outnumber us. Even with today’s victory,” Runner affirmed.

  Searching for the sergeant in the crowd of returning soldiers, Runner scanned faces and nameplates. After finding him near the rear of the mob, he moved to intercept him.

  “I’ll be right back. If the messenger returns before I do, start making your way to wherever he found. I’ll follow your marker,” Runner called over his shoulder.

  He worked his way to where the column passed into the camp, then eased himself to one side to bide his time as they marched by.

  Runner slid up to the sergeant at the tail end of the line of weary men and women. Deliberately he cleared his throat to give the man a chance to notice him.

  Flinching, the man turned his eyes towards Runner and then ducked his head.

  “Ah, my lord Runner. My apologies, I didn’t see you approach,” said the startled sergeant.

  “Come with me. I’d like to speak with you. I never caught your name,” Runner said by means of opening the conversation.

  “Stefan, Stefan Rune, my lord.”

  “I’m not your lord. You’ll address me as Runner or not at all. Stefan, I’m going to have you play a part in this war. I tell you this now so you’re not surprised as I reward you in advance. It wouldn’t do to have you dying before I can push you into the worldview,” Runner said with an easy smile. He guided Stefan back towards where Runner had started from.

  “My lo—” Runner pierced Stefan with a glare, daring him to finish the word. “Runner. I wouldn’t begin to presume what your need of me is but it wouldn’t warran—”

  Runner interrupted him as they passed where he’d left Thana and Nadine.

  “You can stop right there. Isn’t what you’re doing right now. Well, not completely,” Runner rotated in position to see if he could spot his party. Giving up on it after a second he started moving towards the map marker for Nadine.

  “It’s more about what you’ll be doing in the future. Which is killing a lot of Humans. I need you doing that with style, really. Style and perhaps with a name as your war cry instead of, well, whatever it was you were yelling.”

  “I was just yelling, Lor-Runner,” explained Stefan.

  “That makes it easy then. Any thoughts on a name to yell? Not mine. Nor your king’s. Who rules over a battlefield? Who in fact did you see watching over you today? Don’t answer me, think on it. Perhaps a name will come to you.”

  Runner ended up having to force his way through a press of bodies. Making sure to drag Stefan with him, he pushed his way through and popped out into an open field.

  Up front and center stood his party, minus Hannah, and arrayed out behind them were the prisoners. Squaring his shoulders, Runner walked heavily towards those who’d surrendered.

  Working his charisma, he pushed on the idea that he radiated the promise of a swift dea
th. That he wasn’t one to be crossed unless you didn’t value your life.

  Focusing his attention on the woman at the head of the prisoners, he kept moving in a straight line for her. She looked like any other Natural Human. Brown hair, brown eyes, attractive, athletic. Like every other on the server. Beautiful was the new “cute” here.

  Locking his eyes to hers, he stared into her. Weighed her. Judged her and found her wanting.

  Stopping a pace from her, he said nothing. Seconds ticked by and still he was silent. Perhaps thirty seconds slid by on the clock before he finally moved again.

  Turning, he put his back to the enemy and took several steps from her before rounding to address the group as a whole.

  “You’ve surrendered your lives to me. By the grace of Ernsta you may yet live through this day. You have one avenue open to you that will result in your continued existence. Swear to Ernsta that your service is at an end, that you will offer no aid in any way going forward to the Human army in this war, that you surrender your soul upon the breach of this compact. After you swear, you will be released on your own recognizance.”

  Runner waited a beat before continuing.

  “Understand, should you break this covenant, Ernsta will collect your soul and do with it as she pleases. She could use it as flooring for her horse’s stall, to empower her own strength, or maybe shred it up and use it as a topping for tomorrow’s lunch. Doesn’t matter, it’s hers.

  “Your alternative is death. Now. I empower this man to act as the agent of death for you and execute you swiftly,” Runner said, gesturing towards Stefan.

  “Ernsta, are you ready to witness their oaths?”

  “I am,” boomed Ernsta’s voice from above.

  “Let’s begin. You,” Runner said, pointing at the closest prisoner. Stepping forward, he grabbed the man by the breastplate and forced him to his knees. Staring down into the horror-stricken face of the prisoner, Runner loomed over him. “Swear or die.”

  “I swear! I swear, Breaker, I swear!” bleated the man.

  Rolling his eyes with a grunt Runner manhandled the soldier to his feet and shoved him aside. Runner moved to the woman he had stood in front of first for the next oath.