“Seems they had planned on intervening in some way,” Amelia whispered, looking to Runner.
“So it seems. Think it’ll hold or should I pop open a portal to the high priestess to keep the battery charged?” Runner looked away from the fight.
Amelia shook her head when she caught his eyes with her own. “You’ll be fine. Besides, I’m here. You can drain me dry, lovey. Be sure to put me somewhere nice so I can recover. Like your bed. Be sure to help me recover. Lots of fluids. You can decide what kind. I meant to ask,” Amelia said, changing the subject, “did you realize Vixen feeds on your nightly antics? She gets drunk off it. I’ve watched her.”
A booming impact dragged Runner’s eyes back to the fight. Heilwig had landed a vicious kick to Sophia’s leg and sent her tumbling.
Sophia held a hand out to the ground as she tumbled and fired off an Air elemental spell. Combining it with a lazy flap of her wings, she spun out of Heilwig’s reach.
“No, I didn’t know that. Can’t be any worse than having a goddess watch me I suppose.”
“True, true. By the way, about tonight. You going to introduce Grace to the ol’—”
“Minxy, please?”
Sophia ducked in close and slammed her palm into Heilwig’s throat. Moving inside the reach of the bigger woman’s blade, Sophia grabbed her wrist and wrenched it sideways.
Heilwig’s blade hit the ground and threw out a clod of dirt.
“Fine, fine. I figure Vixen has a while before she—oh, damn.” Amelia stopped when Sophia drove her fist into Heilwig’s chest and detonated Fireblast.
“You know, Grace makes this look one-sided, but Buttercup is a strong champion. She’s killed several of Rannulf’s champions and a large number of the lesser divine’s champions.”
“I figured,” Runner admitted.
“It’s your ability set. There’s no limits to you, which means there’s very few to her. Ah, it’s over.”
Sophia spun around behind Heilwig and lit her up with a Stunner.
Rike’s champion dropped to the ground like a sapling snapped in half and lay twitching on the ground.
Heilwig’s health was in the red section, only a few percentages above being empty. Sophia’s was orange but still quite full.
Amelia stood up and wrapped an arm around Runner’s waist.
“Be sure to make her feel good tonight. I’ll pretend it’s me and fantasize about it.”
Leaning over, she kissed his cheek. “Love you.” Then she wasn’t there anymore.
“Yield,” Sophia demanded, ramming the butt of her lance into Heilwig’s sternum.
“I’ll n—” Heilwig was cut off when Sophia hit her with Stunner again.
“My lord husband asked me to take you alive if possible. I will do that if you allow it. If not… he’s stated before he wants a skull throne. Maybe you’ll be the first one I collect for him.”
“Grace, dear, bury her in the earth. Except for her head,” Runner called out.
Sophia looked up and then lifted her left hand from her lance. Her hand flashed green and the spell was complete.
Heilwig was brutally pulled down into the ground until only her head was above the grass. Her chin rested on the green turf.
Runner went over to the woman, sighed, and squatted down in front of her.
“Hey there, Buttercup. Here’s the deal,” Runner patiently said. Reaching down he brushed Heilwig’s hair from her eyes.
“Your goddess betrayed you. There was no way you were going to win this without her direct interference. Once I blocked her out, she tried to do something. Then left. She abandoned you even before she knew the outcome. I’m sorry, but she sacrificed you up for a plan that had very little potential to succeed. Everything I’ve told you is the truth, as I swear upon my own power.”
Heilwig wouldn’t meet his eyes and instead looked like she was trying to press her face into the grass.
“I’m going to open this back up to the outside. You’re welcome to call on her, though she may not respond at all.”
Runner dispelled his divine shield and waited.
Heilwig’s eyes immediately sought out the sky as she no doubt tried to contact her divine provider.
During the wait for whatever might happen, Runner looked up to Sophia.
“Damn that was marvelous, Grace. You got Minxy all hot and bothered. Truth be told, me too. Was incredibly impressive.”
“Thank you, lord husband. I practiced quite a bit while I was mayor. I had already figured out I could use most of your abilities before you gave me Ernsta’s note,” Sophia explained with a smile. “Your powers are incredible. You never use them though. Why?”
“Because they’d never do as much damage for me as they would for you. My damage is paltry in comparison to yours. I’m a utility caster. It’s why I make things like Boxy, Brainwash, Seduction.”
Sophia nodded her head at that. “I’m your blade.”
“You sure are, Grace. Quite literally since you’re my champion.”
Heilwig’s expectant face fell forward, her eyes having the look of someone lost.
“I yield.”
After she spoke those two words, Runner felt Rike’s power slosh into his own.
There was nowhere for it to go, as Runner’s power pool rarely was anything less than full, so it disappeared like water down a drain.
Heilwig flashed brightly and then returned to normal. At first Runner didn’t notice anything different. It dawned on him after a few seconds. She was quietly sobbing into the grass.
Apparently in becoming Runner’s property she’d lost her connection to her divine.
Feeling like an ass, Runner motioned at Sophia. She instantly knew his desire and unstuck Heilwig from the ground.
Runner caught her easily around the waist and then hoisted her up onto his shoulder. Armor and all.
“Make camp. Set up a perimeter, double the guards. May you and all of Norwood’s Own receive my blessing.” Runner said the words gravely, pushing at them with his divinity.
A soft tinkling could be heard as a blue circle spread out from Runner. It swept over his guard and granted them his personal blessing, one and all.
“Give me an hour with Heilwig, then join me in Boxy.” Runner gave Sophia a smile and then trooped off.
Entering Boxy, he pulled the door shut behind him. Leaving it unlocked, he laid Heilwig out in the middle.
“She left me. I failed.” Heilwig sniffled.
“You did fail, but not because of yourself. Rike failed you, so you failed in turn. She sent you into a situation you were never going to walk away from. I mean really, Buttercup, did you think I would let you walk out regardless of what happened?”
“Huh? I don’t understand.”
“It’s not like you’re protected by some code of conduct. The moment you made known who you were, you weren’t leaving. Win or lose. Honestly, I nearly killed you simply to do so when you first walked up. Figured it would be more fun to poke Rike in the eye.”
Heilwig looked up at him with shattered brown eyes. She had the misfortune of knowing her divine’s pleasure and then displeasure.
“So, here’s the deal, Buttercup. I think you have potential. Great potential. Your bravery and zeal are second to none. The problem is you’re an idiot and probably could use an upgrade,” Runner teased, grinning at her.
“Did you call me an idiot?”
“I did, idiot. And you are an idiot. That’s perfectly okay, though, because I’m an idiot, too. I come up with some great idiot plans. I mean, I shot myself out of a catapult. Into a town.”
“That’s… that’s just stupid,” Heilwig muttered, a smile flickering across her lips as tears rolled down the sides of her face.
“Hah, yeah. I know. Hey, at least it was fun. Anyways, let’s… uh. Hm.” Runner pressed his hand to Heilwig’s breastplate and filled her with a full heaping helping of Norwood divine power.
“How’s that, better?” Runner asked, watching her healt
h immediately go back to full. The glow of his power ran up and down her.
Heilwig’s eyes opened wide. Staring at him, she opened her mouth and then closed it.
“So yeah, I think you have potential. I’m going to have you talk to a friend of mine. Her name’s Milicent, I call her Milly. She’s a bit of an idiot too, but she’s nice. You’ll like her. Let me bring her here, one sec.”
Runner took his hand from Heilwig and then popped open a portal to the temple back in Norwood.
A single thought was all he transmitted into the portal. Milicent would feel a gentle request to proceed to the portal room in the back of the temple.
Singular in her nature, Milicent stepped through the portal in under thirty seconds. Being as big as she was, she had to stoop.
“My god,” Milicent said, dropping to one knee. The big woman smiled at him, her large blue eyes boring into him.
“Hey there, Milly. How’s things?”
“Unchanged. All is well.”
“Oh? Good, hey. I’m going to give you this one,” Runner said, pointing at Heilwig. “I call her Buttercup, but her name is Heilwig. She was Rike’s champion until I stole her. I think she’s got potential. I’d like you to take her to the temple, where she’ll be reborn. Then after that, it’s up to you. Alexia might have some insight on her. See what you two think before you make a choice.
“Remember, it’s your call on Paladins. You’re the head of the order.”
“Your will be done, my god. We’ll go straightaway to Alexia.”
“Good. If she can’t serve the order, please leave her in Eden.”
After closing the portal to the Norwood temple, Runner popped open a portal to Eden in its place. Then he targeted Heilwig and pulled up his GM ability bar.
Milicent nodded her head and looked to Heilwig.
“Fortune favors you this day. You’ve been saved by our god Norwood. Come, we shall see to your needs.” Milicent reached down and grabbed Heilwig by the breastplate and began dragging her towards the portal.
Heilwig looked wide eyed to Runner as she slipped through the portal. Milicent let go of her when she’d brought her to the center of the temple.
Runner gauged it to be about the right time based on what he could see from his position.
“Choose wisely, Buttercup, not everyone is given a second chance.”
Runner flashed her a grin and a wave, then hit her with RaceReset and ClassReset at the same time.
Then he closed the portal.
No sooner had he sent them off than the rear door opened and Sophia stepped inside.
“Goodness, has it been an hour already? Felt like ten minutes, tops.”
Sophia looked around the interior before she looked back to him.
“It was ten minutes,” Sophia admitted, her eyes flitting to a bench.
“Feeling jittery?”
Sophia nodded her head a little.
“Close the door, lock it, and sit down with me, Grace. We’ll talk for a bit before we turn in for the night. I imagine the adrenaline is wearing off.”
“I—yes. I think so. It never felt like this before,” Sophia said, holding a hand to her throat.
“Yeah. Server is Awakened at this point. And if it isn’t, it’s a fraction from it. I’m not sure how much will change, but it’ll be interesting. Sunshine has also been putting in some pretty massive patches.”
Sophia took a breath and sat down next to him.
“I was afraid…,” she whispered.
“So was I, but I had faith in you. We can talk about it if you like. Or we could talk about the fact that Rike really screwed her champion over. I mean, she seemed wholly unprepared. Maybe things were different on the mainland. We could chat about the reality that Hannah is around here. Somewhere. Or that Minxy might try to seduce you when she isn’t after me. Whatever you like,” Runner said, draping an arm around her shoulders and offering her whatever comfort he could.
“Thank you…”
3:13 am Sovereign Earth time
5/24/44
“Runner! Get up, problems,” Hannah whispered urgently, her voice tinged with anger and fear.
Sitting bolt upright, Runner blinked stupidly at Hannah. Sophia’s head had slipped from his shoulder and landed on the pillow, waking her from her own sleep.
She sat up slowly and set one hand onto Runner’s shoulder while the other she pressed to the middle of her forehead.
“What’s up, Hanners?” Runner squeezed his eyes shut tight. Letting out a slow breath, he pressed his palms into his eyes, rubbing at them to clear nonexistent grit.
“Couldn’t sleep. Was walking around. There’s a gigantic fucking ditch. Spans the entire camp from tits to ass. That’s what’s up. It’s beyond our perimeter, so we didn’t even see who or what did it, but it goes all the way the fuck around us. I sent a couple sentries to go take a god damn look and they immediately came under fire. They’re watching us. We’re pinned in. It’s too far to drive over without using an engineering team and they won’t be able to work unless we accompany them. None of which will be fucking swift, ya get it?”
Groaning, Runner shook his head back and forth as if to clear the nightmare he was hearing from his ears.
Expecting to merrily drive up to Helen, collect her people, drive to Vasilios, do the same, and then happily run over Rike’s army was a fool’s hope.
Fool that I am.
Chapter 20 - Final Rest -
3:14 am Sovereign Earth time
5/24/44
“In other words they hit us with an attack the moment we stopped. Designed specifically for our tanks. They employed methods they had clearly planned in advance to create a situation in less than…” Runner dropped his hands from his face and looked at the clock to check the time. “Eight hours? Yeah, shit. We have spies. Whoever they are, they’ve been relaying everything back to someone. And fuck me if I can’t figure out how it’s being done.”
Hannah sighed and shifted her weight back and forth a little. She was squatting in front of him.
“Sorry. Feel like this disaster of a shit show is my fault. I didn’t find them and now we’re paying,” Hannah said, looking to the side.
“Hardly, Hannah. They could as easily be in Norwood’s Own, which would be my fault, not yours. Regardless of blame,” Sophia said, running her fingers through her long hair, “the time we have before sunrise is invaluable. Let’s make it work for us.”
“Normally, I’d make some crack about getting in a three-way with you two, but I seriously don’t even have a spark of humor left.”
Runner sighed and stood up from the bedroll, moving over to a small table in the corner of his personal tent.
On it was laid a map of the isle of Tirtius.
“So, my paranoia tells me that if this is their plan, it’s to stall us indefinitely. I mean, they only stopped our people from looking at the trench. They didn’t launch an assault. I’m betting that if we look to the south road there’s quite a few more problems that way that would either prevent us from traveling back to Sparky or slow us down to a crawl.”
Runner stared at the map as his mind started to rapidly spin up to speed. He pushed on the little program in his head, his link to the ship, and set it to the task.
Sophia came up beside him, still in her thin nightclothes, and set a hand on his lower back.
Hannah came to stand in front of him across the table, unwilling to meet his eyes or Sophia’s.
“Either they’re trying to prevent me from reaching the field, the tanks, the heavy troops, or any combination of that. They don’t have the forces to confront us, but they have enough to slow us.”
Runner paused to rub at his chin with his thumb and forefinger.
“They wouldn’t be pussyfooting around if they felt confident in being able to end us. We’ll have a long slog in either direction for us. Constant traps and one-off attacks.”
“’Kay. So, fuck that then. We bail on the tanks, have you do your god-tard ma
gic and turn us all into birds or what the fuck ever and we fly back to Faye.”
“We’d be leaving the tanks and me behind with that one, but it’d work. As a player, I can only change myself into player-enabled races. That was the original intent of RaceReset for usage. On players at least. I broke it pretty bad when I got it to work on Naturals. Without Sunshine, there’s no way I can recode that in time for it to be useful.”
“I’m not sure I’d be comfortable leaving the tanks behind. They’d be at the mercy of enemies and whatever purposes they have for them. What if we sent half my people off and kept half here?” Sophia asked.
“Not sure. I’d still be here with the forces but I could send you two off with the other group. Actually, that’s not too bad a plan.”
“No, that’s an idiot plan. Worse than an idiot plan, it’s a fucking stupid plan. And Sophia regrets saying it, don’t you?”
“Indeed I do. It’s a fucking stupid plan. Disregard it, lord husband.”
Runner grunted and set it aside for the moment.
“That leads us back to the problem. Don’t want to leave the tanks. If we don’t leave them, we probably won’t get back to our forces in time to be of any use.”
Runner grumped and screwed his face up into a frown. Leaning over the table, he felt trapped. They had so little information and little in the way of tools to work with. He’d been overconfident. Vastly so.
“Brighteyes? Angel? Minxy?” Runner asked hopefully.
No response came.
Reaching out with his divine senses he felt the massive dome that was constructed over him. Him and most of the continent of Tirtius and most of Vix.
The magnitude of the thing meant that every single follower of Rike probably was praying nonstop.
The dome would do little to impede the movement of mortals, but to a divine, the place might as well be on another planet.
Concentrating, Runner threw up a mental spike of force against the dome.
It rang in his head but didn’t even shift. Rike didn’t put it up and leave it, she was actively casting it.
“We’ve been blocked. Which means whoever did this, probably that bitch queen Rike, doesn’t want us talking to our friends.”
Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy Page 34