by L. R. Wolf
“We can head over to Sorrent, that’s fine.” Voksil was itching to get into a fight, and this was bound to be a long and difficult battle.
“Sounds good, let’s drop by the kitchen and pick up some more rations since we’ll be at this for awhile and we’ll need all the help we can get.” Aya was sorting through her inventory looking for any really good items that she might have missed. She didn’t want to leave anything on the table.
The three headed for the makeshift kitchen, Elohwa was passing out stacks of health, mana and stamina potions while they walked. When they arrived back in Sorrent, they would summon Thorn. As they approached the kitchen, they noticed a commotion. The head foreman of each group they had hired to perform tasks in the city were gathered around and speaking in low voices with one another. When they saw the three approach they all fell silent, looks of fear and apprehension fleeting across their faces as they tried to reign in their emotions.
“What’s wrong?” Aya stopped in front of them looking into each of their faces.
“Lady Aya, may we have a word?” Askar stepped forward, his normal joviality was gone and there was a slight quaver to his usually strong voice.
“Yes. of course. Elohwa? Would you mind grabbing the rations, please?” Aya knew that no matter what was said here, Elohwa would still be able to hear it with her keen elven ears. This way they wouldn’t lose much time in getting prepared for what was to come. Elohwa and Voksil proceeded towards the kitchen.
“Is it true? There is to be an attack on all of the villages where the Dreamers begin their journeys?” Askar lowered his voice a bit so that any nearby workers wouldn’t hear what was going on. A quick glance around told Aya that most of the workers were standing further off as their foremen had removed them from the area temporarily.
“I’m afraid so. We were about to head to Sorrent to help mount a defense. Why? What’s wrong??” Aya was starting to be concerned, to see this giant of a man near to breaking down pulled at her.
Askar gulped as he tried to push the fear in his voice down. “Many of our families are in those villages….”
Askar couldn’t continue, his throat was beginning to close as tears welled up in his eyes. Rhia stepped forward and placed a small hand on his arm. “I fear we must cancel our contracts, Lady Aya. We need to return to our homes and get our families somewhere safe.”
Aya blinked, she knew the event would be an attack on all of the starting villages, but she had never even thought of the families living there. Her heart clenched in her chest at the thought.
“Yes, of...of course. You can bring them here.” Aya knew it was unlikely this fledgling city would be attacked as they had only mentioned the starting areas, and this was not one of them. There was plenty of room here for the workers and their families. All eyes turned towards her, what she had said slowly sinking in.
“You...you would allow our families to come here?” Askar once again found his voice, the other foremen surrounding him nodded, the same question resounding in their minds.
“Of course! Get your families and get them back here. You have under two hours to do it. If you need anything then let us know. We’ll help you if we can.” Aya could see the worry and fear start to melt away. The foremen returned to their workers and told them what was happening. Aya watched as workers suddenly blinked out of existence as they recalled themselves to their respective homes.
Askar’s eyes shined with new respect, “You will need to modify our contracts somewhat in order to allow us to bring civilians.”
Before Aya could say anything, Va'lore appeared and shifted into his Elven form. “I have placed orders for tents so that the refugees will have shelter as well as extra rations if they are needed. Your contracts have been modified to allow civilians and anyone else you need to bring.”
Askar sighed heavily in relief just as Elohwa and Voksil returned with their own rations, Elohwa having heard the entire conversation knew what was going on. “Sounds like Eventide is about to become very busy indeed.”
Aya frowned, something was bothering her when Voksil raised his voice. “We don’t have all of the races represented here though. What will happen to those people and their families?”
Elohwa and Va'lore looked to one another as portals opened nearby, lines of oxen pulling wagons hurried through carrying loads of tents and rations. Elohwa spoke first. “Then we hire them.”
Aya blinked in confusion for a moment before she realized what Elohwa was saying. “We hire one group from each race and then have them bring the people from in and around their villages here?”
Elohwa nodded, a brief smile flitting across her face before it disappeared due to the somber mood.
“It is done. I have hired every available race and ordered more tents and rations to have on hand.” Va'lore had already had his City Interface open from before so he was able to perform the task rather quickly.
A few seconds later, more portals opened nearby as new races of workers stepped through their portals. Askar took command of the new workers, his voice booming once more as he informed them of what would be taking place in the next hour and a half and that they were welcome to return to their villages and fetch their families and the non combatants and bring them here. Aya watched the same look of fear pass through each race as Askar spoke, but it quickly turned to one of hope as he offered them a place here away from what was to come. Once again, the workers disappeared as they used their personal recall spells to return to their homes to gather their families and anyone else who couldn’t fight.
Within ten minutes, portals began to open all over the place. Workers were beginning to return with their families and friends, their neighbors and complete strangers. Anyone who couldn’t fight was fleeing the coming battles. The foremen of each race took charge of their people in an attempt to keep order as so many different races were suddenly in one place. Racial tensions ran high among many of these races, but fear was a powerful motivator and kept people from fighting, at least for the moment.
Aya was absolutely amazed at the sheer amount of races in this world, and they were all gathered here together, if only temporarily. Aya, Voksil, Elohwa and Va'lore all watched in silence as men, women and children came through the portals, many of them clutching belongings or in the case of the children, their favorite toys. Those who were elderly or infirm in some way were carried through or were in the back of wagons.
Va'lore broke the silence as he updated them about what he was purchasing. “Cots, bedding and clothing will be arriving here shortly. I will order more once I get a better count of people.”
Aya nodded before she thought of something else. “Can you hire specific professions? I could swear I saw it somewhere on the interface.”
Elohwa raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? What is it you are thinking?”
“It looks like some of these people need healers. Considering there’s going to be a ton of people moving through here for at least the next day or so we might want to get some healers, guards, that sort of thing.” Aya wondered how it was that some people coming through the portals already looked wounded or ill.
“The people here will be grateful to have access to a healer, many of those villages are so small they can not afford the services of a healer.” Aya’s eye twitched a bit at that knowledge while Va'lore once again hired who he thought they would need for the next few days. Healers for the sick and wounded. Guards to keep people in line and to prevent people from accessing the Keep and its contents. Mages to assist in opening portals to bring people through. Blacksmiths to repair tools and other items.
More portals opened, depositing the newly hired professionals. Askar put Rhia in charge of them while he commanded the battalions of workers. Tents were already rising all over the place in neat orderly lines as workers were pulled away from the jobs they were hired to do and commandeered to help raise the shelters. Those who were assigned to gathering food remained in their position as others were sent to assist due to the
large influx of both new workers and non workers. The Shadow Elven spirits that had moved into the keep and into the temples within the mountains, were now coming out and roaming around in wisp form, curious as to what would bring so many different races here.
As they watched everything coming together so swiftly, Aya turned to Elohwa and Va'lore. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you and your people if this was ok.”
Elohwa waved the thought away. “We would have done the same thing. Besides, this city is yours, you can do with it as you please.” Elohwa smiled to reassure her Dreamer.
“I’m only rebuilding the city so that when we bring your people back they will have someplace to live.” Aya didn’t meet Elohwa’s eyes, but she could feel them staring at her.
“You three should finish getting ready and get going. I will handle anything that comes up here.” Va'lore had already proven his proficiency at solving problems while Aya and Elohwa were away.
“Okay, let’s head to Sorrent and help with the evacuations there.” Aya closed her eyes and held her hand up making a series of complicated gestures in the air before a portal opened in front of them. On the other side, they could see a bustle of activity as residents were fleeing through another portal and straight to Eventide Falls. Aya quickly looked at the countdown she had set when the announcement first blasted their interfaces before she waved Elohwa and Voksil through the portal.
52 mins 38 secs
Once they were through, Aya followed leaving the safe confines of her lands. Around them people were rushing around trying to get organized. A dull, thundering noise caused the three to turn as horses and other ground mounts kicked dust up into the air. Outriders had been sent out to warn the farmers and their families around the edges of the village and were just now returning with women and children being carried in the saddles. Some of the men were arming themselves at the blacksmith.
“Unless you intend to fight then get yourselves through the portals to safety!” Trav was standing on top of an overturned cart to make himself more visible. The Porters were trying their best to make it an orderly retreat, fortunately as these were small villages, there were probably only fifty or so people living in the village itself. Most of the people here now were coming in from the outer edges where they had farms or hunted game.
Aya scanned the village, it looked like a ghost town. Other Dreamers were milling about waiting for the event to begin. A few were watching the controlled chaos going on around them impassively while a few were actually trying to help the NPC’s.
Elohwa’s ears perked up as she listened to the conversations going on around her, her eyes scanning the small groups of people before she focused on two Dreamers standing near the gates.
“I wonder where they are all off to. I can’t see the other side of this portal like I could the others.” The first one was staring into the portal, Elohwa could see through it clearly as she had been there before, but technically it was forbidden at the moment to anyone who hadn’t been there already. No other Dreamer would be able to access the city until it was truly ‘found’ by Aya later.
“Man, who cares, once everyone is gone we can pick the city clean. The guards’ll be too busy to care about things disappearing.” The second Dreamer was actually the stupid thief that had gotten a temporary ban from this village when the two women had come through here just barely a week ago. The guards were still keeping an eye on him, but once fighting started there would be no way to keep track of everyone.
“Dude, what if there’s somethin better on the other side? They ain’t even takin any of the guards. It’s just women, kids and old people. Why mess with guards here when we could take what we want wherever they’re headed?” The first man looked excited at the possibility of unguarded loot.
Elohwa raised her hands to her twin blades fingering the hilts, her eyes narrowing as she prepared to end them should the need arise.
The ambitious Dreamer immediately bolted for the portal leading to Eventide Falls. Elohwa was about to send Va'lore a message warning of thieves, but she didn’t get the chance to send it as the Dreamer ran head first at the portal and was thrown back the way he had come from. His body slid through the dirt about fifteen feet before he finally came to a stop. He raised his head from the dirt and glared back at the portal. Other Dreamers who had been close by were now staring at the would be thief, some wearing grins and shaking their heads. One finally took pity on the man.
“You dumbass, if you can’t see the other side of the portal then it’s for NPC’s only. Next time read up on the game before you make yourself look stupid.” The Dreamer who had voiced his opinion was standing in the doorway of a nearby building cloaked in the shadows within.
Elohwa, still concerned about the Dreamer Thief, decided to keep an eye on him. A soft whoosh nearby alerted the small party to someone teleporting in close by. Aya saw him first, a smile replacing the apprehension that had clouded her face.
“Brackerd! What are you doing here?” Aya noticed he didn’t have his GM tag on since he was in anonymous mode just as she and Voksil were.
“Oh, I figured I’d drop in and watch the event. You’re the only three who can see me by the way.” Brackerd was still wearing his Angelic Paladin armor that he had found in the marketplace while going through it with Aya. “Also, I won’t be able to intervene. So if you find yourselves in trouble….” He trailed off, the three knew very well that he wouldn’t be able to help.
Elohwa whispered at him, “A few of these Dreamers plan to steal what they can when the fighting begins. Will I be penalized if I kill them?” her fingers gripped the hilts a bit harder as she spoke. She didn’t really like to kill anyone for the sake of killing them, but she wasn’t about to let some thief rummage through the village while people fought and likely died.
A slow, sly grin made its way onto Brackerd’s bearded face. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about them. They might find themselves out of luck.” He cast a look at the two thieves, the one had risen to his feet and brushed the dirt from his leather armor while the other berated his stupidity.
Voksil was staring at Aya and chuckling as she smacked his arm, her eyes rolling at some joke only the two of them knew. Elohwa relaxed her grip on her weapons and turned to look over the vast empty area now surrounding the village. A few people were still rushing to get to the portals, but most had already made it through and were safely within Eventide Falls. Now all they could do was wait for the event to start.
Chapter 37: The First Event Begins
∆∆∆
With ten minutes to go until the event was to begin, Aya summoned Thorn inside an empty barn within the village so that no one would see them. Voksil kept watch at the door while Aya and Elohwa summoned patches of vines for Thorn to absorb. With every new vine he absorbed his size and girth once again increased. He stopped himself when he was seven feet tall. He could have absorbed more as he had done in the keep, but he had done that as a last resort to protect his mistresses.
“Ready, Thorn?” Aya patted his massive fist as Thorn turned his softly glowing eyes down on her, his head bobbing a bit. He raised his arms up and appeared to be flexing his muscles like a bodybuilder. Aya and Elohwa looked at one another before they burst out laughing.
“Is...is he showing off his muscles?” Voksil, still at the door, had noticed Thorn’s comedic gesture.
“You’re not jealous, are you?” Aya raised an eyebrow as Voksil stomped towards Thorn before he, too, posed. He flexed his wood elf muscles and wiggled his eyebrows in a challenge to Thorn. Vines that Thorn had left on the ground started to be pulled towards him as he once again used them to bulk up a bit more before he struck yet another pose.
“Hey, he’s cheating!!” Voksil was trying to sound indignant, but the humor in his voice ruined the effect. Both women were laughing at the manly contest going on right in front of them. Aya was holding her side she was laughing so hard while Elohwa was brushing tears from eyes.
“Goddess, yo
u two…” Elohwa couldn’t even finish the sentence she was laughing so hard.
An incredibly loud CRASH silenced them as urgent messages suddenly filled their interfaces. A counter appeared at the side tracking the event.
Wave 1/24
The Event has begun! The forces of Darkness are moving in to destroy the area so that no new heroes will be able to rise against it. Will you fight the coming darkness or will you flee before it? Your actions here, for good or ill, will be remembered for eternity.
The four looked to one another, Human, Wood Elf, Shadow Elf and Creation. They drew strength from one another, looks of excitement and defiance fleeting across their faces. Aya and Elohwa pulled their hoods over their heads while Voksil lowered his helm down on his head. They left the barn together, a few Dreamers stopping to stare at Thorn as they passed. They made their way to the edge of the village and looked out at the open area before them. The sky was beginning to darken. As it did so, torches within the village lit up. In the distance, coming towards them, were multiple groups of...something. Darkness shifted and flowed between the groups making it difficult to tell how many there were much less what race they were.
“FORM UP IN THE FRONT!” The local Guard Commander’s voice cut through the deafening silence surrounding the village. Dreamers were summoning pets and buffing those around them with whatever they had. Brackerd had given Aya access to all of the starting spells that she would have been able to pick up eventually anyhow and she had already experimented with the buffs turning them into massive area of effect spells. They would drain her mana, but she still had a few of the super mana regen potions that she had gotten before they went into the keep. She opened one and drank it before she dropped the empty bottle into her bag. Elohwa had made sure to stock both her and the bag she had given Thorn with mana potions so that Thorn could keep her supplied if her own supplies ran low. Thorn was now sporting a third bag from Voksil so that he could also keep him supplied as well.