Jacob died immediately of his injuries.
“And it’s done. In an hour his timer will run out, he’ll be forced to a graveyard, and his mind wiped. He kinda sealed his fate when he locked his pod out of the network.” Runner sighed, a weight falling off his shoulders.
“Good. I’m proud of you. Nadine would be, too. Now take us back, fuckstick. This place reeks,” Hannah said through her hand.
With a nod of his head Runner took Hannah’s free hand in his own and activated the return ability.
/GMHubReturn
Teleporting…
His study came back into focus around them.
Hannah dropped the hand from her mouth and gave his hand a good squeeze with the other.
“Done. Don’t fucking disappoint Nadine further. I’m going to go make sure everything is in place. You alright? Do you… do you need me to stay for a bit?” Hannah asked. Her voice held that quality of fear he’d come to associate with her being around him alone.
“No, my dear Hanners. Thank, but no. I’ll be alright,” Runner said. A tired smile formed on his lips. “Things to do.”
Hannah snorted and nodded. Releasing his hand, she went to exit the study.
“I’ll have them send in your next visitor,” Hannah called over her shoulder.
“Thanks.”
Runner moved to the front of his desk to wait. It never did anyone any good to receive people impolitely. Hopefully there weren’t any.
He was feeling a little emotionally charged right now and visitors didn’t suit him.
Runner didn’t have to wait long. Thirty seconds after Hannah had left, the door opened again to admit his next guest.
Sophia closed the door behind her and turned to face Runner.
Before the sound of the door closing had even finished he’d gotten in close to her and wrapped her up in a smothering hug.
“Grace, Grace, Grace. It’s really good to see you. I’m sorry to yank you from Vix like that. I needed you. Needed you in a way that I can’t put words to,” Runner whispered against her ear, crushing her in his embrace.
Sophia snickered and her wings swept out, encircling him as she hugged him back.
“Such a lost little emperor. You send us out on dangerous missions and then miss us. Whatever shall we do with you, hm?” Sophia teased. Her melodic voice managed to prod him with the right amounts of annoyance and care.
“Shut up. I do what I must. Even if I hate it.”
“I know.” Sophia edged in closer a fraction to kiss him. Then she eased away from him even as he tried to move to prolong it. “Later, my idiot emperor. You have things you need to do, and I have news to share. Once Isabelle gets word that I’ve left or that there was a battle here, I imagine she’ll come running.”
Her wings dropped from his shoulders and she pressed a hand to his chest, gently pushing him back from her by a foot. After she got a little distance she met his gaze directly.
“First, as the ruler of Vix, as installed by the king of Norwood, I formally surrender my city to the emperor of Bastion. I have put a city government in place according to the laws of the land of Norwood. They have no more need of me. Here is the deed of ownership to the city,” Sophia intoned. She held a piece of paper out to him with her free hand.
“I would ask the emperor to reinstate me to my previous position,” Sophia said with a grin. It wasn’t really a request.
“Granted, and glad to have you.” Runner took the deed and flipped it into his inventory. Technically it signified little more than a confirmation that the city was fully controlled by Norwood.
“Isabelle will be presenting you with the same. Though I warn you in advance, she renamed the city Giselle,” Sophia admitted.
Giselle, as in Nadine Giselle.
“The little tree mouse. She certainly has a flair for the dramatic at times. As to Vix, any name you’d prefer? Can’t really leave it as Vix, now can I?”
“Actually, you can. Few people refer to this isle as Vix any longer. Most simply call it Norwood. Or Norwood Isle,” Sophia said. Leaning in she continued in a conspiratorial whisper. “The rumor is that the lands of Tirtius and Norwood have banded together in an empire and elected Runner Norwood as its emperor. According to the rumors that are spreading through the lands, the emperor is in fact a divine. And he has a harem of loyal goddesses who serve him. To top that off, he captured an Angelic woman and made her his personal champion. Most can’t seem to agree if she’s part of his harem or not. Together, with his loyal lieutenants, he’ll eventually free the mainland and grant everyone peace.”
Runner blinked a few times and then laughed.
“It does have the ring of a tall tale, doesn’t it? A Werewolf general, Angelic Champion, Barbarian Princess, living machine from another world, Elven Mercenary, Noble Sunless chancellor, and a Thief who spurned her guild as a whole and lived. All following a god-emperor.
“Well, I do plan on crushing Dover and retaking it. So that part is true. Depending on how it turns out… we might launch on Norman’s Port. It would be good to hold it. It would also serve as a good place to rotate green recruits and veterans alike through. Give them experience.”
Sophia took that in for a moment and nodded. “Agreed. Were we able to hold both ports, it would put a strain on anyone who would attack us in the future.”
“Right? I figure that’s probably our best defense. If we hold the channel, we hold the coast. If we hold the coast, they can’t land.”
Runner gave her a quick once-over to make sure she was whole and healthy. His eyes settled on her wings and how her current armor didn’t quite fit anymore.
“That reminds me, here you are. New armor for you since you race changed. Should work better with the wings. I also got a list of notes from Angel about being a champion.”
Runner popped open his inventory and then handed over the equipment to her.
“Thank you, Runner. Sir. This will help. It was obvious when you summoned me, though I could feel it even before that. For the armor, you also have my thanks. I had considered asking you to set me up with something new but then Vix happened.” Sophia trailed off. She was staring at the new armor with a smile.
“It really is good to see you, Grace. I missed you,” Runner gushed. He couldn’t help it.
His mind started to tread down along memories of his lieutenants and how long they’d been gone or missing.
He couldn’t even begin to think of how deeply he felt the loss of Thana and Katarina. They’d been gone even longer with no hope for a reunion. At least until he marched an army over to assist them.
“As I you. Now, unless you plan on clearing your calendar for us to have some alone time, I believe you have one more visitor to attend to. Pretty sure they wish to see you as badly as I did. I’m positive I’ll see you later tonight. Tomorrow as well. You promised me an explanation, after all, and I’m waiting.”
Sophia didn’t wait for him to answer, but turned to the door and opened it, stepping through to the adjoining room quickly.
And so it begins. She’s not wrong. I did promise them an answer. All of them. Suppose it’s time to own that.
His door opened and Faye stepped in.
Laughing delightedly, Runner slammed into her, hugging her tightly against the door, closing it in the process.
Today was getting better by the minute.
“Sparky, it’s a blessing to see you,” Runner laughingly said, squeezing his general tightly.
“Err, good to see you too, Lord Runner. Or is it Emperor Runner, now?”
“Oh for crying out loud, Sparky. We’re alone together. Please? If you promise to do it, I’ll scratch behind your ears and give you a good brushing in your Were form.”
Faye grunted, and then actually hugged him back firmly.
“There we go. That’s my girl. Glad to see you looked up the definition of a hug,” Runner teased. Pulling back, he smiled at her.
“How are you, my pretty little Were?”
“I’m well. I think I’ve got a solid grasp on the changes being a Were has put on me. Some things I didn’t care about before, I find I do care for now. Maybe a new preference towards meat.
“After you left the camp, everyone treated me the same as before I had turned. As if they’d never even considered the idea that I couldn’t lead them as a Were.”
Faye huffed and peered at him. She hadn’t made an issue of it at the time, though in retrospect it was clear she had been concerned about being removed from her role.
“Apparently if the great and mighty Runner Norwood was trying to bed a Were, then everything was fine for her to continue leading his armies.”
“Goodness, are you actually teasing me? This is fantastic. A little pessimistic of them to insinuate I was trying to sleep with you. For all they knew, I’d already succeeded. No confidence in their emperor, I say.
“Come, come, let’s have a seat. We do have quite a bit to discuss. Plans to make, people to plot against, the usual. You can sit in my lap or next to me on the couch.”
“Your la—” Faye started to ask and then wrinkled her nose at him. “Not this time. Go, sit. I’ll decide then.”
“Hm. This whole confident and sexy Were general thing is neat, but I do miss being able to bully you already. Fine, fine. So, as you can guess, we’ll be launching a campaign,” Runner started to explain, walking over to a love seat.
“Can I get you anything by the way? Food, drink, me? This’ll probably be a bit of a longer meeting.” Runner took a seat and pulled the coffee table closer. He pulled out a map and laid it out on the table. It had Tirtius and part of the mainland on it. He drew another item from his inventory and set a bag of map markers down on the map.
“You offer me things I don’t desire or already have. Continue.” Faye sat down next to him and leaned forward over the map.
“Damn, where’d this spirit come from? Sound like Thana.” Runner laid down two markers that represented Thana and Katarina on Dover.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. I admire Lady Thana greatly.
“As to where it came from, I thought on what you said. You’ve never lied to me. You flatter and batter me in compliments to the point that at times I feel rather confused. I decided I’m going to take them, and you, going forward. Why should I worry about it? Maybe it’s the fact that I’m now a Were and I want to dominate and submit to my alpha at the same time. Unsure. Don’t care. Tired of worrying about it. Too many sleepless nights nitpicking at thoughts and concerns.”
Faye reached out a hand and laid several enemy icons around the port of Dover. Seemed as if Faye had taken the time to stop by and get the most recent reports from the war room in the keep.
She picked up a dozen fleet tokens and began laying them out in the waters between Tirtius and the mainland.
“You hired me as your general. To lead your armies. Not as manual labor. A warrior. Or a sex slave.
“You told me of your interest in me, and never pushed further when I told you to back off. You know my strength is in military and tactics, and ask things of me that I know I can do. You gift me with weapons and units—”
“Oh, speaking of, here. When I thought about it, the idea of you running around naked as a Were made me a little jealous.” Runner opened his inventory and took out the set of Werewolf artifact gear he’d made for her specifically.
“Minxy assured me that this would actually change with you. Problem fixed. No more sharing my Were with others.” He dumped the equipment at the edge of the table into a neat pile.
“—and equipment that a general could only pray for. Often times when I least expect it or hadn’t considered it,” continued Faye, glaring at him from under her blonde eyebrows. “You trust me implicitly, even though I was your enemy—a woman who sought to put your head on a pike. So to answer your question, yes, confident. I know my place. I know your place. I know your expectations.”
Faye looked back to the map and started pulling out army tokens and placing them on Norwood. Of anyone in his empire, she alone would know the full disposition of the Norwood army.
“Glad to hear it, though I can’t help but be sad that teasing you won’t be as easy. I mean, do you know how awesome it was to get you all riled up last time we met? The look on your face. I think I took a screenshot. Will have to check later.”
Runner sighed and then gestured to the map and markers Faye had set up.
“To the matter at hand. We’ll need to leave enough troops here to maintain construction and security, but everyone else will need to go. The information I got from Bullard—”
“Bullard? As in Mr. Personality? The one who tried to kill everyone? When did he show up?” Faye asked, leaning back into the love seat.
“Eh, not too long ago. He had a lot of information on Rike and only asked for a pension and a home. We’ve verified it several times over and I had Vixen validate him as he said it. It’s all accurate. At least as far as he believes it to be.”
Faye grumped and crossed her arms across her stomach.
“Satomi validated it?” she asked.
“Yeah. Her and Hanners are running the intelligence service.”
Faye nodded her head. “Then I trust it. Continue,” she said with a gesture at the map.
“Of course, my beautifully sexy Were general. Care to shift and I’ll pet your belly again?” Runner asked, turning his head to the map.
“Maybe later. Right now I need to know your thoughts and plans so I can come up with a campaign strategy that can work. I can’t serve my emperor without knowing the goal.”
“I ever tell you I love powerful women?” Runner asked her.
She gave no response and looked annoyed that he hadn’t resumed their campaign discussion.
“Right, then. So their general plan as we understand it. Rike wanted to take the port to get our attention, force us to respond. Which of course we did.”
Runner pointed at the port of Dover.
“Lady Death and Kitten led a combined army over to retake the port. After they engaged the city, Rike’s army left. They broke from Dover as if retreating. But only after torching its food storage and markets. They spread out real thin after that into the surrounding lands.”
He wiggled his fingers over the area around Dover.
“Then they reformed, with very little losses from the original engagement. They marched right back up to Dover and began to siege it. That is, if everything has gone down exactly as Bullard said it would. So far as we can tell, he’s right.”
With a finger he tapped one of the naval tokens.
“They can’t blockade the sea from where they are. All roads into Dover are shut down and there’s no way to resupply them by land. We’re fortunate that Vixen sent supplies over the moment she heard about the situation. Originally she had done it to act as surplus. Now we find out that it’ll be siege rations. They’re got more than enough to last for the next three to four months before they have to start rationing it. More than enough time for us to arrive.”
Faye took all that in without a word. She looked deep in thought, her mind probably chewing through the problem.
Thank god she’s on my side.
“Honestly, Sparky, I’ve got nothing. I know our end goal. Retake Dover, clean out the combatants, bring the area back under control. If possible, launch an attack on Norman’s Port and secure it as an optional objective. As long as that port is in enemy hands we’re at their mercy for future attacks.
“When Helen and Vasilios left they said they were going to prepare the way to have their troops march as they assumed their emperor would be calling on them,” Runner said with a sardonic twist to the word “emperor.”
“Good, that’ll help quite a bit. The more forces we can bring to bear, the fewer casualties we should theoretically have. Word is you killed Basile when he revealed himself to be a traitor.”
“Yep. Totally happened. I have a feeling Hanners killed him personally but I haven’t asked. I’ll
need to appoint a king or queen there. So when we pass through it I’ll need to take a detour to set them back on the path of Bastion.”
“That’s fine, we’ll need to strip the city of troops anyways. That’ll take a day or so at the most. Politics is your own burden to bear. One I will allow you to take on completely. I barely understand our own people let alone the hearts of foreign civilians.”
“So generous. Well, there it is in all its fractured glory. I’m hoping we can get troop numbers for Norman’s Port once we take Dover. I’m sure there’s a few people there that can tell us what’s going on across the channel.
“That or I challenge Rike in Dover, make her my personal slave, and then drag the information I need out of her. She has quite a bit to pay for. I doubt Rabbit would fault me for enslaving her. That and truth be told, her portfolio is fairly good-natured and heroic. She’s the problem. Maybe I can turn her around with time after making her part of my pantheon.”
Runner thought on that for a few seconds more. He’d have to decide before they reached Dover. It was topic worthy of conversation with his divine equals.
“Honestly, Norman’s Port is probably so poorly defended I could take it with you and a handful of cows,” Faye groused.
Faye tilted her head, contemplating the map.
“You’re awfully calm, Alpha. The situation you’ve laid out puts Lady Thana and Lady Katarina in grave peril.”
Runner didn’t comment on the change in address and accepted it for what it was. It would only serve to undermine her newfound confidence if he pressed at it.
“You’re right. It does. And there’s nothing I can do to change that. Even if I had known of their plan, or had been there when they made the choice to go, I would have ordered them to do the same. I love them, as I do you, but I must temper that with what I must do to protect an empire. Bastion must endure. For the good of many more than two or three.”
Faye relaxed at his words and then nodded her head once with conviction.
“Good. I’m glad to hear this, Alpha. A proper mindset for an emperor to have.”
Faye then leaned forward over the table.
Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy Page 29