Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy

by William D. Arand

  Enemy forces stretched out deeply, glinting in the early morning sun. It seemed like they were endless and tightly packed.

  All the better.

  Runner pulled up the quick slot bars for his pings. Selecting Nadine, he pinged her with the attack command.

  A second after he issued the command the sound of cannons could be heard. They went off like a barely heard thrum over the din of weapons connecting with armor and shields.

  Then the center of the enemy force exploded. There really was no other way to describe it.

  Exploded.

  Then Ernsta came down from above. Her scythe slid out leisurely at her side and lazily sliced forward. Translucent souls flooded up to her and disappeared into the wicked blade.

  As she began her ascent back to the heavens, her head whipped around and she scoured the crowd below her. Following her line of sight, Runner found Stefan in the enemy lines, swinging his great black blade in giant arcs.

  Runner could only guess that Stefan had taken his advice and decided on whose name to yell. Her attention was his and his alone.

  Stefan left a path of destruction behind him. The flank he led was hard-pressed to catch up to his advance.

  “Time for us to go,” Runner muttered. Taking one last look at Ernsta, he felt a glimmer of hope. Ernsta had circled around again and hovered high above Stefan.

  “Hold on, ladies, it’s showtime,” Runner warned. Dropping the shifter into the third speed setting, he sent Boxy lurching forward, the wheels throwing up grass and dirt.

  Spinning wildly, the wheels caught and then Boxy shot forward.

  “Boxy needs a coat of red paint!” Runner screamed, leaning forward over his controls. A wild grin spread over his face as he sped onwards.

  Frustration, anger, fear, and hate boiled out of him. Such a joy it was to try to save fools who wanted him dead. Save idiots who wouldn’t help him help them save themselves. Spending his own sanity like fucking currency for the benefit of others.

  Breathing hard, heart pounding, and fingers clenched on the steering wheel, he saw a chance to really blow off some steam.

  Angling himself to the back corner of the enemy formation, he called over his shoulder. “Right side, everyone line up and blast the fuckers! Light ’em up!”

  He pushed the gear up to the fourth position, and Boxy’s pistons hammered at the gear train as she barreled forward.

  Wonder how high they’ll bounce? I’ll ask Srit later. Maybe she’ll be able to pull the data.

  Then Runner’s view port filled with enemy bodies soaring through the air as the cow catcher launched men and women upwards into the sky. Bodies slammed into the front and sides of Boxy and blew backwards as they tumbled over the reinforced wood.

  Runner screamed at them even as they died. Obscenities and curses spewed from his lips like steam from a broken radiator. Targeting randomly, he cast Scott into the forces ahead of him.

  Fear in such a close-packed group only created confusion as they tried to bolt in every direction.

  Booms of elemental spells from behind him overshadowed the crunch and thud of bodies being bowled over.

  Bursting free on the other side, Runner shifted the speed down to the second gear. Spinning the wheel to the right, he began driving along the rear of the enemy’s forces.

  As his screams faded, Runner sat panting. He rubbed at his eyes in a futile attempt to clear his vision. Little black dots spun and swam crazily through his sight.

  To his right, his cannons continued to fire into the massed enemy center. Those in the middle tried to push backwards, only to be pushed forward by those attempting to escape Boxy and his team’s spells.

  The panic wouldn’t last. Professional soldiers adapted and fairly quickly. It didn’t have to last that long, really. Just long enough to inflict solid casualties and create confusion before they could pull back and rethink their strategy.

  Reaching the midway point, Runner pulled Boxy to the left and straightened her course out. They were facing the general’s vantage now. He’d marked the location before the battle had even started. She hadn’t exactly been stealthy about it.

  He could even see her standing atop her platform. Young, attractive, dressed in a uniform that hid any figure she had. Blonde hair chopped short was the only detail he could make out beyond that. He could see her watching him. She was transfixed by Runner’s approach.

  Training the tip of the plow on the general, Runner felt his heart speed up even further, if that was even possible at this point.

  He let Boxy coast along at second gear for a few more seconds to help recharge her spell-driven engine. Then he threw the monster into fifth.

  The roar of Boxy’s engine could be heard as she guzzled her magical fuel.

  Runner slapped his hand down on the cannon’s trigger while screaming incoherently. It thumped out a shell that ripped through the air.

  Underestimating his speed and the approach, Runner overshot the trajectory. The general’s tent behind the platform blew up and turned into a fireball. Runner could only hope it took out anyone inside. That and it had actually contained people.

  Reacting faster than he would have given her credit for, she leapt from her viewing tower as Boxy blew through it and ran down officers, retainers, messengers, and soldiers alike.

  Shifting his poor Boxy into second gear, he began the task of spinning her around for another pass.

  Behind him, spells detonated repeatedly as the Sunless called out targets and literally erased them from existence.

  Lining himself up for a second pass, he couldn’t find the general. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he seized on every other target he could identify.

  Pushing Boxy into her third gear, they rumbled into the devastated camp. A few tried to defend themselves, though they had no target and didn’t truly understand what Boxy represented.

  Other than death.

  Sweet. Glorious. Death.

  Not really wanting to make a third pass, Runner cycled Boxy back to second gear and aimed them at Isabelle’s flank.

  “Target at your own discretion as we engage. Kill order is healers, mages, archers, melee damage, and finally tanks!” Thana called out.

  Runner snickered darkly as they closed in on the enemy ranks. Slowly it built from a chuckle to a raging maniacal laugh.

  He oriented himself so that they’d exit near the edge of the fighting so as to not endanger his own troops.

  Pushing the lever to the fifth gear, he felt Boxy surge once more. Half of Boxy’s defense lay in her agility. How quickly she could move through the battle before anyone got a chance at her. Should they be forced to a stop, it’d only be a matter of time before someone figured out a way to get at them that Runner had not accounted for.

  Thinking time came to a close as a woman rebounded off the metal plow and grazed off his viewing slit. She stuck there for a second, then sailed up over the top of Boxy but not before Runner took an insane screenshot as his mind splintered apart.

  Runner lost himself in the haze of flying bodies. The sudden silence in his mind acted like a twisted counterpoint to the sound of bodies being crushed and thrown.

  Looping back around, clearing the line, he began what he knew would be his final pass. The fuel spells would need time to recharge. They’d be near empty after this at the rate he had been expending them.

  Sending out a quick “Defense” ping to Nadine, Runner drove Boxy straight through the middle of the enemy forces. The goal now was simple. From one side of the army to another. Right up their center.

  The cannon trigger flashed as it became available again and Runner fired it immediately. The shell exploded out in front of him, spraying dirt and bodies into the air.

  Runner swerved a little to course correct around that area. Those people were probably already dead and didn’t need Boxy’s loving caress and tender attention.

  Spells detonated, bodies flew, and quite a number went under the churning wheels. Time felt frozen and u
nending as they rolled along. Runner’s mind spun crazily and his emotions became raw ugly things.

  Suddenly Boxy cleared the other end of the flank and Runner found himself staring at the position he’d set off from. There were no enemies before him and the path lay open. His mind went blank, and he had to blink several times to get a coherent thought through.

  Shifting down to the first gear, he threw an “Attack” ping at Nadine for her to reengage the cannon barrage. He lined up the front of his good little death machine with where she’d started and let her roll on.

  Coming to a full stop, he pulled the shifter into the neutral position and engaged the stationary brakes. Runner rolled his shoulders as the tension left him.

  Though he wasn’t sure how deep into the madness he had sunk, it had felt truly cathartic. In his mind it was as if he had shrugged off burdens and baggage that he’d grown so used to that they’d been forgotten.

  Blowing out a shaky breath, he stood up and turned to face his crew.

  All looked at him in awe and fear. Runner couldn’t really disagree. In only a week or two he’d irrevocably changed warfare and acted like the criminally insane. Undeniably for the worse on both counts.

  “So. Anyone hungry? It’ll take probably thirty minutes for Boxy to recharge,” Runner said a bit lamely.

  Many of the beautiful Sunless women who had sought his favor earlier in the campaign turned their faces from him. One or two tried but couldn’t hold his gaze for longer than a few seconds. They wouldn’t or couldn’t do it.

  Destroyer of worlds indeed.

  One person had eyes for him though. Thana watched him and gave him a beautiful smile when he looked to her. His sagging heart burst to life, fluttering in his throat.

  “I’d be delighted to, dear heart. Come, I imagine you’ll have a few messengers coming to report on the situation, so our time is short,” Thana said, gesturing to the rear door as she unlocked it. She then held out her hand to him.

  Runner couldn’t dream of ever harming this lovely creature. This woman who saw him for what he was turning himself into as well as who he had been at the same time.

  And accepted him.

  “I’d be lost without you,” he finally choked out.

  “I know.”

  10:23 am Sovereign Earth time

  11/16/43

  Runner had been surprised at how little time had passed. While it felt like hours in the death machine, in reality no more than twenty minutes had elapsed. Twenty minutes of screaming, bloody, body flinging carnage.

  Taking a moment to watch the field, he felt an ache in the pit of his stomach. He had destroyed the command tent and everyone he could in his attack on their leadership. Apparently quite a few of the line officers had noticed that fact and were pulling back.

  Retreat and rout were two very different terms. Unfortunately one led to the other very quickly if the troops being told to pull back had already lost their nerve.

  Between Boxy and the constant cannon attacks, Runner assessed that this would indeed quickly turn into a rout.

  And I have no cavalry to run them down with.

  Blinking as Hannah slammed into the forefront of his mind, he opened up his raid window. Bracing himself, he called up the mounted groups.

  There were casualties. One in eight had a grayed out box for a name. Fortunately Hannah’s box remained bright and active. No one was in combat.

  Feeling his stomach unknot in relief, he called up the map. Hannah’s icon was moving. Moving straight to him by the looks of it. It’d take her five minutes to make it to him he guessed.

  Sitting on the blanket Thana had unrolled on the grass, he pulled out handfuls of fruits and spring water he’d foraged. For Thana he unloaded several different types of seasoned and dried meat. Setting down an open topped box, he dropped a handful of beetles in to round it all out.

  “Right then. I’m betting Boxy won’t be up for another go before our partners quit the field. Hannah is on her way in and she’s got casualties. Whatever happened out there was violent. I say a quick meal, feed her when she gets here, and debrief her. Best guess? Flanked or flanked flankers.”

  “Boxy is the vehicle? That’s a truly awful name. Please stop naming things—leave it to me,” Thana said from behind a hand as she began to eat.

  “Yeah, I suck like that. Shut up and eat your food. I already see a messenger heading this way,” Runner grumped aloud.

  Like a predator zooming in on its prey, the messenger sped towards Runner.

  “Lord Runner, battle is progressing smoothly. Casualties are light and we have gained the upper hand,” blurted out the messenger, his hand slamming into his chest plate.

  “Good. Please advise the SO teams that they’ll have to adjust aim to hit fleeing targets as the enemy begins to break. Keep firing until they’re completely out of range. Also, get ahold of the scouts and have them loot the field. We’ll be heading out from here as soon as the enemy clears the field.”

  “Sir, yes sir,” said the man, saluting again. He turned and sprinted back the way he came.

  “My beloved chancellor, please put together your delegation to see the king. We’ll need to get him on board before the next fight,” Runner said, then put a handful of strawberries into his mouth.

  Scurrying in from the grass came a squirrel. Level ten and the size of a full-grown house cat if not a small dog.

  It promptly sat down at his side and looked up at him.

  “Better manners than the last time. Here,” Runner teased, holding out a strawberry to the furry guy.

  “How? Why is that here?” Thana asked, sounding very confused.

  “I dunno. I keep finding them. I started feeding them back at the castle,” Runner said with a shrug of his shoulders. Another strawberry disappeared from Runner’s hand as the squirrel devoured it.

  “Runner, they’re not common to this area. They’re not common anywhere but the castle at Shade’s Rest. If you keep seeing them…is it the same one?”

  “Huh? Err—” Runner stopped and thought about it. Frowning, he had to admit it looked similar but that was no real guarantee. They could all share the same model.

  “I don’t know? It’s certainly possible, I suppose. Maybe? Does it matter? He comes around, I feed him, he eventually leaves.”

  Satisfied with his fill of strawberries, the squirrel jumped into his lap and clambered up his arm. Seating itself on his shoulder, it cleaned its face and then stared at Thana.

  “You’re a cute little thing. I’ll name it personally, if you don’t mind, dear heart. You’d give it a horrible name I’m sure. Along the lines of ‘furryface’ or some god-awful thing.” Thana nodded her head as she spoke. Agreeing with herself.

  “Fine. And no, not that. Though ‘Numb Nuts’ isn’t ba—” Runner stopped as Thana pressed a fingertip to his lips.

  “Stop, dear heart,” she warned him with a sweet smile on her lips.

  Runner instead nodded his head. At nearly the same time, the squirrel leapt from his shoulder and charged down Thana’s arm to seat itself on her shoulder instead.

  Thana froze as it moved and then giggled when it sat down.

  “See? Even the squirrel approves.”

  “Approves of what? You fuckers are having a gods-damned picnic. Gimmie that,” Hannah said, snatching a fistful of peaches from the spread. Sitting down beside Runner and Thana, she bit into one and chewed it.

  “We were waiting for you, Hanners. I promise that,” Runner explained. He gave her a quick once-over and found her exactly as she should be. Then he met her eyes and refused to look away.

  “I’m glad you’re alright. I was worried,” Runner said heavily. Unable to help himself, he leaned over and hugged her tightly.

  Hannah stiffened up in his embrace before relaxing after a second. He could feel her head turn slightly as if she were looking at Thana.

  “Uhm, yeah. I’m fine, Runner. Promise,” she replied quietly. Her arms rested around his midsection as he held
her.

  “Good. Good, okay. Yes,” Runner said stupidly. He gave her a final squeeze, released her, and sat back. “What happened exactly?”

  Hannah blinked a few times and looked uncomfortable. Taking a bite from her peach as if to stall for time, she nodded her head a little.

  “Had a scout out looking around behind us. Found another army, believe it or not. Marching up the road from the south,” she outlined, her left hand gesturing in the air for emphasis.

  “Figuring they were on their way to join in on the fight, we hit them from the side. Rode through them and killed most of their officers. Getting back out became the problem and that’s where we took our casualties. We hurt them, though, hurt them bad. I figure it at about five hundred of them left.”

  Runner closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. The odds kept stacking up against him.

  Even with the most rudimentary of fuzzy math-based assumptions, he could put his active fighters somewhere between eight hundred and nine hundred. The original enemy count had numbered around two thousand. Taking in losses and this newest number, they were still at about two thousand.

  Which meant he’d made up no ground. Truthfully he’d lost ground. Now, more than ever, he really would have to get the Barbarians to commit to assisting him in the defense of their own lands.

  “Mm. Thank you, Hanners. I’m grateful you’ve come back to me. Us. Especially that you successfully turned their flank and inflicted solid casualties. Doubly so that it was to their officers. Though I fear we really must hang this campaign on the willingness of the Barbarian king for aid.”

  Runner made a soft groan and dropped his hand. Opening his eyes, he looked over to the battle once more to confirm his earlier thoughts.

  Indeed, the enemy had turned and now were being pursued by ranged attacks.

  “We’re moving north once the enemy clears the field. We’ll make camp east of Kastell and dig in. With any luck we can get this wrapped up quickly. Once we get the king to agree to help us save his own country,” Runner growled, and shook his head.

  Heaven help us if he tries to refuse me. And him.