War Aeternus 3: The Culling

by Charles Dean

  Dave shrugged. “Only if you marry that smitten lass. She seems to be more caught up on you than any fish I’ve reeled in was ever into me. Not to be rude to her,” he said, looking over at Ling, “but you already got a better-looking girl.”

  Lee shook his head. “Careful not to tell her that, old man. It’ll either go to her head and make it impossible to work with her, or she’ll go to HR, and they’ll make it impossible to work with her.”

  Dave turned his head. “HR?” he asked.

  “Human Resources, which . . . You know, don’t worry about it. So, why aren’t you saddling back up with the House of Alastar? Now that they’ve had someone step forward and claim the seat, shouldn’t you be there helping her out? I can’t imagine anyone more experienced and knowledgeable than you.”

  Lee glanced around the bar. During his first trip, this particular joint was a Humans-only establishment. There wasn’t a single Firbolg or Leprechaun patron in it, and the Humans were as depressed as could be. Now, they all seemed upbeat, and there were at least two tables with those two races. Those two tables didn’t have a single Human at them, and the Human tables didn’t have a Firbolg or Leprechaun at them, and it was clear that the damage Devin did wasn’t changing overnight, even if things had started to move in the right direction.

  Dave nodded. “I could go back and work with her. Probably should. But I ain’t gonna. As much as she needs me, she is already surrounded by old men who know better than her. You got nothin’ but pretty women and angry spear-chuckers near you. I figure you need my services more than she does, but I didn’t expect to see you back yet, so I reckon’d I had plenty of time to get drunk while I was waiting.”

  “Well, I’m back, but I’m about to leave again soon. Have another Herald to kill.”

  Dave chuckled. “What’s the rush? You going for three in a month? Get yourself a little badge for the effort?”

  “Well, you know, it’s just a business-as-usual kind of thing. No big deal.” Lee shrugged as if trying to hunt down a likely very powerful shape-shifting queen of God-only-knows-what monsters was an everyday occurrence for him.

  “Alright then,” Dave said. “Let me put down my beer and settle up my tab, and I’ll be ready to head off.”

  “Settle up what tab? You’re a hero here,” the man next to Dave said. “I won’t have one of the heroes who fought to the death to save us from that bastard, Devin, paying for his own drinks in a tavern while I am sitting next to him.”

  “I hear that,” another random patron added. “I’ll chip in to cover his bill.”

  Sam shook his head. “I’ll have none of that! His drinks were already free, so there’s no need for you lot to cover it.”

  “Ah, is that how it is?” Lee was kind of happy about this type of comradery and wanted to reward it, so as they kept talking about who would pay for Dave’s drink, he went through his inventory and found the ingredients needed to make a few barrels of beer. Normally, he would try to milk people for money, but after killing the Tigernachs, Devin and so many others, he didn’t see a big point in that type of behavior. “In that case, I’m going to cover everyone’s drinks tonight and leave you something for later.” He dropped the kegs out of his inventory and then used his skill, Nectar of the Gods, to instantly brew five barrels of beer. It even caused Nectar of the Gods to rank up to Initiate Level 5.

  “Even us?” one of the Firbolgs who was watching it asked.

  “Do you believe in Augustus?” Lee asked.

  “Umm . . .” The Firbolg eyed the beer. “Yeah.”

  Lee had to stop himself from laughing at the obvious lie. “Then fine. For anyone who believes in Augustus and celebrates the death of Devin, I’m sure Sam will get them some free beer tonight.”

  Sam seemed rather unhappy with the idea of serving a Firbolg for free, but his eyes were glued to the barrels of beer. One of them was more than enough to fill everyone’s cups for a few nights, and he was walking away with five. It was the same as if Lee had just decided to drop huge piles of silver into the bartender’s hands.

  Due to your public display of generosity, your public persona in Kirshtein has changed. Current public persona: -2 (Unkind).

  Ah, so that’s how it works. Not bad, not bad at all. At least I know it can be moved back and forth without too much difficulty--or at least it can at the lower levels.

  “Alright, boss, since I’m settled up now, I guess I’m free for the night. Wanna go kill something before it gets too dark outside?” Dave asked.

  “I think it would be prudent if we returned to Tigernach manor,” Ling weighed in. “Lee has had a rough week, and I don’t think the shock of all the events has worn off yet.”

  Dave looked a little solemn as the three of them exited the bar. “He’s still cut up about losing that girl? Crap, should I not bring that up? I forgot how you youngsters are much more sensitive about death. Haven’t seen enough of it, I guess.”

  If it weren’t for the fact the topic caused Lee to wince, he might have laughed at Ling’s expression when Dave ran his mouth off. It was priceless. She didn’t seem capable of processing what he had said, and her mouth slowly opened and closed, finally settling on closed.

  The three made their way to Tigernach Manor after that. Dave was incredibly pleased to hear exactly what grand mansion Lee now owned and exactly how he got it. As he put it, it would have been better if Dave had done it himself since a few daggers in a man’s chest just didn’t have the oomph of a good flail to the face.

  Lee was greeted by a now-familiar scene of Miller and a few of his paladins face to face with several Firbolgs when they arrived at the manor. They were yelling back and forth at each other, but with so many different voices, it was hard to tell who was yelling exactly and what they were saying.

  “Hey now!” Lee shouted as he approached the group. He wished he hadn’t stabled his mount earlier at the city council, as it would have provided an excellent vantage point to see everything clearly. Instead, Ethan snuck off to a tree to give a third person point of view of what he was worried was about to become a street fight. “What in the heck is going on here?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” one of the no-name Firbolgs that had sat next to Tigernach earlier at the city council said with a grin when he saw Lee. “You’re going to die.”

  Lee laughed. Are you kidding me? “You? You’re going to kill me? You and what army?” he asked, and then immediately kicked himself. He knew better than anyone that, as soon as someone said that, an army would appear. He had basically, and rather accidentally at that, assumed the role of the villain taunting the protagonist kids at the end of a terrible 90s movie with that one, single line.

  Sure enough, just as Lee had feared, an arrow struck him in the back of his left shoulder for 85 damage the second the words left his mouth. He immediately pulled out his shield and turned around at the same time to find that Ling, Dave and he were now only about thirty feet away from a group of what he could only guess were mercenaries.

  And I just freaking healed this shoulder. Lee heaved a sigh and used his mana to patch up the wound and push out the wooden shaft that had embedded itself in his flesh. “You have to be kidding me,” Lee sighed aloud. “You really want to start something. After all the people I’ve killed, you think you’re going to do better?” He noticed then that a small status window had appeared in the bottom right of his field of vision as he was speaking. It had only a single line of text on it--‘The Speed of Rumors’--and there was a green circle next to the text.

  “Well, the way we see it,” one of the mercenaries began, “we’ve got you surrounded and outnumbered, and you’re holding a deed on you that will make us rich after we kill you and rip it from your corpse.” The speaker was covered from head to toe in gold-painted armor that included a gladiator-styled mesh and plate helmet that hid his face.

  “Ah, so you’re the mercenary kind. I take it the people behind me, the people in Tigernach, were the ones that hired you?” Lee
asked as he pulled out his sword and eyed that green circle.

  “Not that it matters, but yeah,” the mercenary answered back. He was taller than Lee, and his voice was gruff enough that it sounded like he had grown up spitting tobacco dip at a motorcycle club.

  Lee stared at The Speed of Rumors, which was still on his screen. It was clearly part of his new skill, True Patriot, and he noticed that there was even a timer on it that was counting down. Twenty-four seconds had passed, and his chance to use the buff was about to expire. Just to see what would happen if it did, Lee quickly looked over at Dave and thought, Imbue him. He knew that Ling would be great with a speed enhancement, but if it was movement speed, and it let Dave close the gap between the parties quicker, then all the better.

  As soon as he sent the buff over to Dave, the text changed from simply saying Speed of Rumors to displaying an entirely new message.

  The Speed of Rumors (Dave): 30 Seconds Remaining

  Next buff - (Unknown): 2 seconds.

  Sure enough, two seconds later, even as Dave’s counter was ticking down, a new line of text was listed. It said: The Monarch’s Word. It had both a red and a green circle next to it, and while Lee wasn’t certain, he had a feeling that it meant this buff had two properties. He quickly looked over at Dave and tried to assign him that buff as well, to see if they stacked, but it failed. Instead, he ended up assigning it to Ling.

  When he finally looked up from assigning buffs, he noticed that there was a green outline around Dave, and he seemed to be moving his hand in a way that made it obvious he was aware of the fact that he had been changed somehow. There were now two separate colors around Ling as well: one red and one green, and they seemed to swirl back and back and forth as if they were either dancing or fighting for territory around her.

  “You heard the man, Miller!” Lee shouted. “They hired people to kill us, so give me five men and then murder everyone from Tigernach. I don’t want a single one alive!”

  “Troop C, head to Lee. The rest of you, to arms! They shall feel justice!” Miller shouted back.

  Within seconds, Lee heard the sound of metal clashing against metal and the poor dying souls of Tigernach screaming. “Dave, can you take the big one on when they reach us?” Lee asked, backing up and trying to reposition himself while he waited for the paladins to reach him.

  Most of the mercenary group charged forward, but four remained behind where they were and began shooting arrows. Ling had positioned herself beside Lee, and as the arrows came at them, she responded with two arrows of her own. Both sank into the same man, and then she ducked behind Lee and took cover. A death notice appeared to let Lee know the girl had been successful.

  You have killed Afric. Your party has been awarded a yew bow, 27 silver, 86 copper and 810 Experience. Your share of this is a yew bow and 270 Experience.

  Two of the other archers had tried to kill Lee by aiming for his head and legs separately. He was able to block the ones going for his head, but he still took an arrow in his shin. It was an unavoidable trade that ticked 34 health off of his bar, but it didn’t take more than a second to fully heal it up.

  The other archer wisely took advantage of the fact that Dave didn’t have a shield, firing several arrows right toward his face. Dave used his left arm, which was covered with thick leather armor, to block three of the bolts, but he grimaced as if he were in a lot of pain as they each struck home. “Dammit, I’m too old and too single to be losing a good arm,” he grumbled loudly as the sixteen other mercenaries closed the distance. “I won’t have a woman to take care of me after if something happens.” Thankfully, the press of bodies stopped any future arrows from hitting Dave since they archers weren’t likely to risk shooting their own people in the back.

  Even if the enemy archers ceased firing, Ling didn’t. She popped out again with several more arrows in hand and launched them into the onrushing mob one after the other. Lee was impressed with the speed of her attacks and could see the red and green colors dancing across the arrows like a Christmas-tree special as they dug into their foes. Within what seemed like seconds, two more death notices popped up. Lee couldn’t say for certain, but given the way the arrows penetrated through the leather armor, it seemed like they were much stronger than they had ever previously been. He had a keen understanding of Ling’s combat abilities after fighting side by side with her and training with her so often, but he didn’t actually have any understanding of the strength of the targets she was hitting.

  Dave lowered the arm he had used to protect his face from arrows and rushed forward to meet the surge, swinging his normally-two-handed flail around with his good arm. Lee watched in slow motion as it crashed into the leader of the group, highlighted by a green light. The flail moved much faster than it normally would have, and the spiked ball at the end exploded right into the mercenary leader’s impressive helmet and crushed it inward. The man’s head exploded like a can of soda being stomped by an angry elephant on meth, and a combination of blood and brains splattered Dave red.

  Dave started backing up, but not in time. He was forced to throw up his left arm defensively again, which was already mangled from the arrows, to fend off a mercenary’s spear strike. The spear pierced through his arm and then became caught between the two bones there, the radius and the ulna, and there was a loud splintering noise as they were split apart. Dave shouted loudly and dropped his flail, and then the spear pushed forward into his chest. The mercenary wielding the spear had a triumphant expression on his face, but he had made one fatal mistake, and Dave was quick to both capitalize on the man’s error and correct his unearned faith. His arm shot out, and he grabbed ahold of the man’s throat in one swift motion. The poor mercenary had stepped forward, hoping to drive his thrust home, but rather than leveraging his spear deeper, he had moved up himself and positioned himself close to Dave. The muscles in Dave’s forearm stood out like cords as he squeezed, and then his fingers sank into the man’s skin. There was a loud pop as the mercenary’s windpipe was crushed, followed by the sound of tearing skin and a fountain of blood as his throat was ripped out.

  One of Miller’s paladins moved to occupy his place on the line, and Dave retreated back so that he could tend to his wounds. “I can’t help you anymore, boss,” Dave muttered as he passed by, his arm still pinned to his chest by the spear.

  “Don’t pull the spear out. I’ll heal you when I can,” Lee advised, but he was already dealing with his own problem. Miller’s paladins were great, and they had taken up a position on his left side, but they hadn’t been able to reach him quickly enough to cover his right flank. That meant that, when pressed, he was forced to fight defensively and slowly give ground. He was able to use his shield to stop the man directly in front of him, but he couldn’t do anything to block the three that were circling around to his right.

  Ling helped by sticking a few arrows through one, but that only spurred the other to attack. He parried the first attack, a low, two-handed spear thrust aimed at his side, but it took nearly all of his strength to do it, and it left him exposed and out of position to stop the next. Inevitably, the second man’s sword pierced right into his chest and wedged itself between two of his ribs, peeling off 184 hit points in a single blow. Lee gnashed his teeth together and fought to maintain consciousness against the swirling colors that filled his vision. A message popped up as the soldier withdrew his sword, letting Lee know that he had just received a bleeding effect and was taking 12 damage per second and that he had been knocked down to 164 hit points after the first tick.

  Crap. Lee ground his teeth together in pain as he backed up, twisting around to face the two men and trying to cover his right side at the same time as another set of attacks came toward him. He was able to block the spear with his shield this time, but the impact forced him back another step and turned him to the side as he struggled to get his sword around in time to parry a second thrust. He realized his mistake as soon as he made it: his shield was out of position, and there was no way h
e was going to be able to block the man who had moved up with a sword in hand. He looked toward the man just in time to see a dark object land on the man’s face, and then the mercenary screamed out in pain as Ethan dug his teeth and claws into his exposed skin.

  “Fklaj!” the man cried out a second time a moment later in an indescribable, gurgled voice, and Lee, through one of his golem’s eyes, was able to see what had happened despite the fact his eyes were now covered in blood. The paladin who had taken Dave’s spot had apparently realized what was about to happen when he saw Lee in trouble and had pushed himself between the two combatants. He had intercepted the horizontally-angled downward chop that had been intended for Lee, but he hadn’t been able to do it properly. The had sword cut into the base of his neck where it met his collarbone, resulting in a spray of blood that exploded upward from the cut artery, covering everything around him in a mist of red blood.

  Lee instinctively abandoned his defenses and reached out with a hand to help him heal the gravely-wounded man, but before he could even so much as touch the dying paladin’s back, another pair of attacks forced him to back away as he hurried to block and parry the blows.

  Ling was doing her best to relieve Lee of the pressure from the fight, but each time she killed someone, another tried to move in on his right flank. She had nearly four kills before a new threat appeared: the archers from before. She unloaded two arrows into one of them and got another arrow off into the second, but the third actually managed to strike Ling dead in the abdomen. She bit through the pain and returned fire, killing the third one off, but not before taking two more arrows: one into her right thigh and a second shot to her abdomen.

  No, no, no, no! Lee panicked as he realized that his contingent was dying all around him. He noticed that Ling’s buff had faded, and a new option for him to cast appeared in its place: The Wrath of the Demagogue. He didn’t know what it did, but this one had two red circles next to it. He knew it was highly unlikely to have any healing properties based on its name, but he still gave it to the paladin who was dying to his left. He saw the red color engulf him, and the paladin did something no one was expecting: he dropped his shield, grabbed the first blade that arced toward him with one hand and stabbed its wielder multiple times in succession with a savage strength and fury.