War Aeternus: The Beginning

by Charles Dean

  Lee looked over at his friend as he realized this. “Well,” he said, “you wanted a fight, Miller. Don’t give them time to talk! Lead your order of would-be Paladins into battle!” He also took the opportunity to make sure that his two mice were nearby. He had no idea what would come out after these three men, and he didn’t want to be caught unaware and have to find out the hard way.

  “Gladly!” Miller’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as he charged forward, everyone else quickly rushing behind him. Unlike previously, he actually carried the small buckler on his left arm in addition to his spear this time.

  Miller dodged past the first two silver knights and slammed shoulder-first into the gold one. His opponent was much bulkier than the people he had tossed around earlier, and while he was knocked back, it was only two steps. The knight dug his feet into the ground, and without losing his balance, he pulled out a large two-handed sword and swung straight down at Miller. Miller did his best to move to the side, but he wasn’t fast enough. The sword sliced down into the back of Miller’s arm, catching him in the triceps. To Miller’s credit, he didn’t scream. He seemed a bit shaken by the blow, but he still adjusted his spear and swung horizontally, hitting the knight in the ribs. Unfortunately, the normally deadly spear bounced off the other man’s plate armor harmlessly without so much as making the man flinch. The attack might as well have been a stick smashing against a rock for all the good it did.

  The knight responded by bringing his sword around in a horizontal arch of his own that was aimed at Miller’s chest. His attack didn't have half as much speed or acceleration as it had before, however, so Miller was easily able to duck under it. Lee watched as Miller stumbled back a few steps and then used his lower position as a form of leverage, pushing forward and tackling the knight to the ground.

  The gold-plated figure landed unceremoniously on his rear with Miller on top of him. It looked like the two were about to get into an old-fashioned scuffle, but Miller sprang back to his feet with an uncanny speed that belied his large frame. The knight managed to push himself halfway back to his feet before Miller kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him right back to the ground.

  The knight scooted back, putting distance between himself and Miller, and tried to stand up again. Miller dropped a drunken shout, and the knight swayed from side to side before falling over for a third time. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but Miller’s spear went right through the man’s mouth and out the back of his head.

  Lee’s Firbolg friend turned toward him, flashed his teeth, and declared, “Justice needs no gear advantage!”

  Yeah, justice. That’s what it is. Lee just laughed despite the fact that he vehemently disagreed. He had played enough games to know that there were times when raw skill just couldn’t overcome a gear advantage.

  There were two other fights that had been going on at the same time as Miller’s. Henslee has rushed in right after Miller, pulling out her two daggers and charging one of the other two knights. The larger man leveled his sword at her, but she pressed onward, undeterred by the threat of the sword, and allowed herself to be gored by the awaiting blade. Her momentum carried her forward, pushing her along the weapon’s blade, until her body slammed to a stop against the hilt.

  Despite her suicidal move, the smile never left her face as she buried one knife in the Firbolg’s neck and grabbed ahold of his arm with her now-free hand before he could pull away. Henslee buried her remaining dagger in the Firbolg’s eye, clearly using every bit of strength she could muster from her aged body, before ripping it out and plunging it back in, time and time again. When it was finally done, Henslee turned and stared straight at Lee. She mouthed a few words that he couldn’t understand and then fell over, flat onto her back.

  One townsman, who had witnessed the event with as much horror as Lee, panicked and rushed over to her. He started trying to bandage her wound, but Lee knew that it wasn’t going to accomplish much. She was as good as dead already. It was only a matter of time until she passed from this world into the next, but he wasn’t going to stop the man from trying. In the end, it was just as gut-wrenching to watch him futilely try to save her life as it had been to watch her suicidal assault.

  The third knight did a much better job of staying alive that the first two had. He had been rushed by three people, and he was able to completely block one with his shield while parrying the other two with a succession of quick movements. He began slowly backing away from the three combatants almost immediately, heading back toward the smoldering entrance to the keep. His movements were mesmerizing to watch, and Lee felt like he could learn a lot by studying this knight’s movements.

  Then, out of nowhere, he parried two incoming blades in such a way that his own sword was lined up for a thrust, and he swapped to an offensive attack. He lunged forward, stabbing one man in the shoulder before pulling back and parrying the next series of attacks. He took a hit on his shield as he performed the maneuver, but it was ultimately as harmless as all the others had been. The girl attacking him howled in rage and anger at the sight of her injured friend, but his calm blade had no problem stopping her wild attacks.

  The man who had been stabbed fell back, holding onto the wound and wearing an open-mouthed expression of shock as he tried to see where he had been stabbed.

  The knight probably would have won right then and there if it wasn’t for the fact that Miller had used his Drunken Shout at just that moment. The knight wobbled on his feet, clearly affected by the intoxicating spell, but the young girl didn’t show even so much as the slightest signs of being inebriated. She struck out with her sword one final time, slicing the knight’s throat open before he could regain his senses.

  Chapter 12

  Name: Lee

  Race: Human

  Class: Herald- None

  Level: 11

  Health: 210/210

  EXP: 1920/2500

  Primary Stats:

  Power 21(22)

  Toughness 21(22)

  Spirit 21(22)

  Secondary Stats:

  Charisma 8

  Courage 20

  Deceit 2

  Intelligence 63(66)

  Honor 1

  Faith 26

  Personal Faith 39

  Skills:

  Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 3

  Swordplay Initiate Level 7

  Sneak Initiate Level 4

  Cooking Initiate Level 1

  Trap Detection Initiate Level 1

  Divine Skills:

  Golem Sculpting Novice Level 1

  Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 1

  Faith Healing

  The sound of clapping could be heard from inside the keep as the last and final of the three shiny knights died. A young man wearing a white T-shirt and jeans walked out of the building. He couldn’t have been older than twenty, and he had pale skin, sunken cheeks and lanky arms.

  “I suppose it’s about my turn to make an appearance if the script is right,” the man said drolly. He had about as much enthusiasm in his voice as a student letting his teacher know he was present during roll call.

  “Yeah, I guess it is. I think it’s about my turn to kill you too,” Lee said, looking around at the people surrounding him. Henslee was dead, a man he didn’t know had been run through with a sword, and he hadn’t done anything but watch. He knew that he had to make this his fight. If he didn’t, and if it wasn’t, he’d lose them forever. If he just let the group shoot this man until he was dead, then everything he had worked for would be wiped out: saving the villagers wouldn’t matter, the followers he had gained would be lost, and all the Faith he had gained would be wiped out. He had seen the pain that these people had been through, and he had seen them willingly throw their lives into the path of danger time and again. There was no way they would stick beside someone who claimed to be the son of a god but was unwilling to risk anything with them. “Your death will be by my hands,” he promised.

  Lee looked ov
er at Miller, and the Firbolg nodded back knowingly. He knew the Firbolg wasn’t happy about the lack of life and death fights, that he’d wanted more. “How about you take a few people and make sure Ling can hold that wall,” he said after a moment’s thought. “Another army is coming with reinforcements, probably one he called back from another slave pit when he realized we were going to make it inside. Don’t let them make it over the walls.”

  “Aww . . .! Is the boss concerned about the safety of his future wife? Don't worry! I’ll keep your woman safe.” Miller laughed loudly as he stamped his spear and headed toward the battlements with half the people that had circled the opposing Herald.

  What? Wife? What are you talking about? Lee watched him leave, mouth agape.

  “Oh, no, that reaction is just terrible,” the opposing Herald observed, shaking his head. “You’re not one of the dense characters, are you? The type who has a woman around you for days but still can’t summon the courage to ask them out or tell them how you feel? That just won’t do.”

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Lee said flatly.

  “Oh, but it is my business!” The Herald smiled broadly as he pulled a book out of thin air. “I consider it to be very important to know the backstory of the villains I defeat. What were your motivations? What type of person were you before you fell down the criminal path? You know, the things that humanize you so that no one is forced to put up with two-dimensional characters when everyone reads the story of my path to greatness.”

  Lee didn’t wait for the monologue to finish. His opponent was unarmed, and this was likely the best chance he was going to get, so he wasn’t going to waste it. He charged straight in and lunged forward at the last possible second, hoping to finish him off in one swift go. Just before his sword made contact, however, a flash of light appeared, and his sword was blocked.

  “Now, now. That’s no good! Attacking the unarmed is just another point in villainy. Come, now. You really need to give me something to work with,” the Herald said.

  The light faded just in time for Lee to see the tail end of a horse-sized European dragon with large wings and bright red scales covering every inch of its body worm its way out of the open book the Herald held.

  “So, to help you understand the importance of character, let me tell you a story about a dragon who guarded a precious trove of gold. The dragon had stolen the gold, you see, but not because it was covetous or greedy. No, it understood that it was a soft, shiny, malleable rock. It knew that it could shape it with fire, that it could turn it into anything it wanted, and it enjoyed playing with it.”

  Starting to see the terror that was this Herald’s power, Lee went in for another attack. He had trained against animals as much as people, so when the dragon attacked, he had a rough idea of how to handle it. He knew that the creature was simply too large, and likely too fast, for him to be able to dodge its attacks completely, so he used his sword to block them instead. He twisted the short sword around in his right hand so that he could use it as a makeshift shield, and when the dragon’s front claws wrapped around it, he stabbed forward with the short sword in his other. It was a move that he had already practiced countless times against the wolves, and he was thrilled when one of the dragon’s scales chipped away and allowed his sword to sink several inches into its chest.

  The dragon roared in pain and snapped its head forward, biting down on Lee’s exposed left shoulder. He was lucky that only a few teeth actually managed to bite into him, and he was even luckier that it was a fairly superficial wound as far as dragon bites went. If he had been any closer to the beast, or if it had a better position to begin with, its long teeth would have penetrated through into his organs, and that would have been game over. Still, the teeth sank through his thin armor as if it wasn’t even there, stripping him down to 70% of his life.

  “But the dragon wasn’t the only one who wanted the gold,” the Herald continued, even as Lee battled it out with the monstrous reptile. “In fact, there were several people who desired the gold for their own greedy, nefarious purposes. One of these was a vicious and terrible knight, the kind of wicked man who would do his best to stab people in the back.”

  Lee’s eyes flashed open with the implications, and he tried to dodge as soon as the words left the Herald’s mouth. Held fast as he was by the dragon’s maw, however, there was nothing he could do. He tried and failed to shed the dragon off of him, but the dragon’s bite held him tightly. The phantom sword struck him in his lower back and stripped off another 5% of his health. He twisted around and found a black-plated knight.

  “And, while the knight was good at backstabbing, he was also a fearsome fighter in his own right. He was a famous jouster who believed that he could kill even a dragon with a single thrust of his lance.” A light trailed from the book to the knight as he spoke, lifting the black knight into the air, creating a horse underneath him and transforming his sword into a lance.

  Lee heard a series of ‘ooh’s’ and ‘ahh’s’ from the people behind him. He knew that it would be hard for anyone who hadn’t been raised on special effects and video games to not be impressed. He had seen the mystical and the magical effects of Hollywood displayed on the silver screen his entire life, and even he was somewhat mystified by the display.

  “I think you should really just put down the kids’ story,” Lee said, although he didn’t hold out any hope that the Herald would actually listen.

  “It’s not a kids’ story; it’s a bedtime story. You know, the kind that puts people to sleep.”

  Lee winced at the horrible pun. “Well, forgive me if I don’t share your love of ‘knight time stories.’” Lee couldn’t help but keep the wordplay going as he tried to roll away from the jousting horse. Somersaulting around was about the only thing he knew to do in order to not be gored or trampled, but unfortunately, he came up right in front of the dragon, who was waiting with teeth and claws spread wide. He threw his swords up as quickly as he could in an attempt to block the creature’s attack, but he simply wasn’t fast enough. He managed to thwart the dragon’s attempt to bite him again, but its long talons still ripped across his chest. He was lucky the armor stopped them from impaling him, but the damage was done. The swipe took him down to 31% of his life and sent him reeling back several feet.

  “Isn’t it fun to relive your favorite stories?” the Herald asked.

  Lee finally realized that all his getting knocked around hadn’t been for naught. He was now within twenty feet of the opposing Herald. He stole a glance at the dragon, which was just beginning to pounce at him again, and charged toward the Herald without any more hesitation.

  He couldn’t see it, but he knew the dragon was up to something the moment he turned away from it. He heard the sounds of the air as its massive wings whooshed through it and hoofbeats as the knight circled around to place itself between Lee and the Herald.

  So, the Herald is the weak spot. Lee swallowed what felt like a pound of hot air as he summoned up the courage to do something stupid. He was going to take whatever blow was necessary to go right through that horse and just hit that Herald. Just one hit! That’s all I need! He stared at the weak, shaggy-looking, glasses-wearing appearance of the enemy. I can do this, Lee told himself one more time and started toward the knight.

  ‘WOOSH!’ The dragon let loose with a fiery blast before he even made it two steps. He felt the pillar of heat just before it hit and then the searing pain as it scorched his flesh and charred his skin before melting his flesh into the armor he was wearing.

  That stupid freaking dragon. Lee wanted to scream, but the pain was so bad that the only thing he could manage was a torrent of curses. All he could do was grit his teeth and focus on his task at hand. He was down to less than ten percent of his health already, and he was veritably staring death in the face with a dragon behind him and a knight in front.

  Yeah, maybe now is the time to call for help from my followers. Lee rolled to his right just in time to dodge a secon
d spout of flame. The dragon was apparently bent on turning Lee into a well-seared slab of meat.

  Lee’s thoughts raced for ways to finish the fight, a way to save this scenario, but the truth was that he had run out of options. He was effectively pinned in place. The dragon has me hemmed in from the back, the knight is stopping me from charging forward. Even if I throw my swords . . . If I . . . The sounds coming from the dragon behind him let him know that he was only going to have one chance for this to work before he was fried on the spot.

  He dropped his swords and darted for the Herald. The knight was guaranteed to stop him if he tried to run past it, but he wasn’t running anymore. He equipped one of the few daggers he had held onto, and as soon as he was in direct view of the enemy Herald, he threw the dagger as hard as he could—not at the Herald, but at the book. He didn’t hold much hope that it would hit, but he put every bit of strength he could into the throw to make the blade fly as fast and as true as possible. He had never played sports in his life. He had never tossed around a football or played catch with a baseball. His only real hope was that his coordination and reflexes were corrected enough by the game system for his aim to be just good enough.

  The dagger pierced through the book with a small thunk, and the Herald dropped it. Lee watched as it twisted around in the air, finally landing page-first onto the stone floor. The knight just laughed, and Lee heard the dragon behind him charge up the final blast it needed to burn him alive.

  Looks like I was wrong. This death promised to be much worse than the last one. He had been at peace the last time he died. He had been accepting of it. Now, all he wanted was just to punch that smug summoning Herald in the face for using such an awful cheat skill.

  The blast never came. Instead, the knight twisted into shades of light, as if it were a picture on a camera coming in and out of focus, before being sucked into the book along with the dragon at the same time.