Stacia began to sing from behind the assassin. His eyes glazed and his hands drooped, the knife almost slipping from his grip. Alburet took a few quick steps forward as the assassin shook his head and brought the knife back up. Alburet was muttering as he moved, and his hands were in motion as well.
“Now I’m going to make you pay,” the assassin snarled, and vanished.
Alburet triggered his Fire Burst, causing a ring of fire to explode out from his position. The Assassin let out a stifled scream as he appeared on the edge of the circle, where he had been trying to get out of range. “My turn this time, asshole, Tiny, come to me.” He pointed behind the assassin.
The assassin snarled and turned to Stacia, “First, her.” As he moved his form shimmered and three copies of him appeared.
Alburet used Copy, which was an instant ability. With a small puff of smoke, there were suddenly two identical Stacias in her demon form. The two Stacias danced back and shifted back and forth, and as neither was washed out the assassin couldn’t tell which was the real Stacia.
“I summon Bob the Mighty,” Alburet said, holding his hand out to his side.
“Let’s fuck him up!” Bob shouted as a Fire Blast formed in his hands.
Three identical Assassins moved toward Stacia. Tiny roared and threw his shield at one, while his axe cut through another. The lone Assassin left plunged his blade into Stacia’s chest, making her scream. She had been trying to use her Ally ability, which failed on the level 80 Assassin.
Alburet rushed forward, wishing he had his weapon, which he’d left in the house. He jumped on the assassin’s back as the blade slammed into Stacia again, causing her to vanish with another scream. Alburet grappled the assassin, who seemed like an eel as he started slipping from Alburet’s grip.
Tiny roared as he dropped his axe and also grabbed the assassin, “No one hurts my friends!”
Bob couldn’t get a clear target for a Fire Blast, but he noticed the other Stacia moving in with her blades. Bob lurched forward as Alburet and Tiny attempted to keep the man from escaping. He jumped past Alburet and slammed his small red skull firmly into the assassin’s nose with a loud crunch. The Assassin’s blood splashed over the front of his shirt as Bob laughed. “Small but fierce!”
Stacia set her blade to the assassin’s neck even as everyone struggled in the pile. “Stop or die,” she said in an angry voice.
The assassin stopped struggling, “Bollocks, I missed the real one.” He sighed. “I surrender under the code of my guild.”
Alburet snatched a dagger from the man’s belt, “Payback time.”
“Master, stop!” Stacia called out in fear, dropping her blade to tackle him.
Alburet started to lash out, barely managing to stay his hand as Stacia was suddenly in front of him. “Kitten, get off me. I’m going to kill him.”
“You can’t,” she cried out. “He surrendered. Their laws are clear, if you kill him now every single Assassin will come after you for a month.”
Alburet was breathing hard as he looked up to see Bob and Tiny also standing off to the side. The assassin got to his feet, stretching as he looked down at Alburet with a smirk. “Way of the world. Sorry, mate. Now, if you would give me back my knife, please, we can talk about the terms of my surrender.”
Stacia felt Alburet shudder as he tried to calm down, “Give me the knife please, Asthore.”
Alburet gave her the knife before they got to their feet. She handed it to the assassin, then turned to Alburet, “Send all of us home. He will talk with you civilly, he has to under the rules of his guild.”
Alburet looked away from the assassin, “Tiny, Bob, Kitten, you are all free to go.” Three puffs of smoke and they were gone. “Now as for you, motherfucker…”
“Asthore, is everything okay out here?” Stacia asked as she came out of the archway from the house and guild hall.
The assassin did a double take and began to laugh. “You make your Succubus look like your wife? Wow, how does she feel about that?”
“Me husband is worth ya entire guild. I will not begrudge him wantin’ to view me figure when he is out huntin’.” Stacia replied coldly, going to stand at Alburet’s side.
“He surrendered to me, but I don’t know what that means,” Alburet said, trying to get his head on straight. He still wanted very badly to kill the man before him.
“It means he be owin’ ya somethin’ equal in value to the contract he gave up as well as his life,” Stacia said simply.
An evil smile crept over Alburet’s face, “Really?”
The assassin chuckled, “Let me guess? Sending me back after the guy who took out the contract? It’s an oldie, but a goodie.”
“That will be part of it, the one more time you owed me is for him,” Alburet replied. “What is your life worth, though?”
Shrugging, the assassin chuckled, “Depends on who you ask. Two coppers to some, two thousand gold to others. What do you think it’s worth?”
“Immunity?” Alburet asked.
“Limited time, maybe,” the assassin replied. “Say, two months of no contracts accepted for your head.”
“One month, but extend it to my entire guild,” Alburet countered.
“Wow, that is a bit far reaching,” the assassin laughed, “but I like the idea. Two months for you and your officers,” he countered.
“Done,” Alburet spat. “Now get lost.”
“Gladly mate, gladly. Just one thing? How did you know I was going to be able to shake off the Daze? And how did you get your Succubus to appear behind me at your level?”
“She was waiting for me to get here,” Alburet said truthfully, before he added the fabrication. “You’ve attacked me in the same place twice now, just like last time, so I was half expecting you. I didn’t know you could shake off the Daze, but I feared you would considering the level gap.”
“Well, you deserve more respect than most I’m sent after then. Until next time. Oh, and I’ll be sure to change it up if I come after you again.” With a tip of an imaginary hat, the assassin retrieved his other blade and walked off, whistling as he went.
Chapter Eight
Alburet watched the assassin go with narrowed eyes, his anger still high. Two arms wrapped him gently from behind as Stacia embraced him. “Asthore?”
Taking a deep breath, he turned and hugged his wife in return, “How did you know to be outside?”
“I was takin’ plates back to the Giardinos for Kim. It just turned out this way. Glad I was here to help ya.” She kissed his neck, “Thank ya for listenin’ to me when I told ya to hold.”
Closing his eyes, he pulled her tight to him, “It was close. I wanted to cut his damn neck open. How do you know all these things?”
“Da’ has a friend or two who be Assassins. When they been drinkin’ with Da, it be easy to hear things.”
“The others are waiting for us,” Alburet said, releasing her after a quick kiss. “Let me change and grab my gear, then we can go.”
“Aye,” she followed him inside, changing into her own hunting gear and watching him as he changed. “Ya goin’ to be okay?”
“I almost got us into a fight with Carradine over his comments about you. I managed to be just polite enough to leave, then I get home and get attacked at my front door. This day has been trying my patience. It’s a good thing we’re going out to kill gnolls. Oh, I need to stop by and see Kim before we go.”
They swung by the guild hall to find Kim seated at the desk, alone. “Kim, how is the day?”
“It’s been slow, but steady,” Kim smiled. “Erin went off to train with the Trapsmiths. How did the meeting with House Carradine go?”
“Badly, very badly, I was tempted to punch the fucker. Gerald will be going to all the meetings in my stead from here on out. Can you draw up letters of introduction for him? Use whatever excuse you have for sending my second in command in my stead. He’s used to dealing with people like that. I’m not going to be able to be diplomatic enough.”
“I can do that,” Kim nodded. “It might ding the guild’s reputation a little, but overall it sounds like a better plan than sending you.”
“Thanks,” Alburet snorted wryly. “How about dinner tonight at our house? Stacia, you’ve learned your mother’s recipe for stew, right?”
“Aye, I learned that the day ya was gone. It will be me first attempt, but I be thinkin’ I can do it.” Stacia agreed with a happy smile, “It be nice to have friends over.”
“I’ll let Rolland know,” Kim answered them. “Anything else I need to know about today?”
“I was attacked by an Assassin just a moment ago, outside,” Alburet told her, his hands clenching. “I was kind of expecting it. He wound up surrendering to me.”
Kim whistled softly, “They don’t do that often. Either you had him dead to rights, or he felt you put up a good enough fight. What did you get from him?”
“He has to kill the person who put the price on my head and our guild officers are immune to attempted assassination for two months.”
Blinking, Kim shook her head, “He liked you. A one month reprieve for an individual is rare enough, but two months? And for a group? That is, that… Well, it’s highly unusual.”
“It was the same assassin that had the first contract on me.”
“Keep in mind, we are probably going to catch hell after that two months,” Kim winced slightly, then smiled. “I look forward to dinner and maybe some details about the fight. It had to have been interesting.”
“We’re off to meet up with Gerald, Marysue and Fluff to hunt gnolls until sundown. Get in touch if you need me. See you for dinner, say, two hours after sundown?”
“Will do,” Kim said, waving them goodbye as they left.
As they walked arm in arm, Stacia spoke up, “Asthore?” When he looked at her, she continued, “I do nay mind ya wish for monogamy, but I be curious as to why ya are so set on it.”
Alburet considered how to explain as they walked. “It goes back to my father, may his soul rest in peace. When I was young, he instilled a few rules to live by in me. Respect your elders. Stand up for yourself and others. Show compassion for those who need help, and when you marry never look for another. He told me that it was fine to sample all life had to offer, but once I committed myself to a woman before God, that she would be the only one I should desire. So, out of respect for my father and the way he raised me, I am monogamous now.”
“It was nay tha’ ya did nay like havin’ others join us?”
“No. That was fine before we married,” Alburet told her, squeezing her arm lightly. “Just now I should want only you.”
“Ya do nay believe in Gods?”
“On the other world, it’s a matter of blind faith. We have no real proof whether a God or Gods exist or not. As such, I was never really big on believing.”
“But here, Gods do exist. There be no doubt at all,” Stacia replied. “Can I tell ya about wha’ I believe?”
He considered her request for a minute, “I’m not sure why the sudden need, Kitten, but I’ll listen. We’re almost there, though. Do you want to wait until tonight?”
“Aye, can do tha’, Asthore,” she said softly, gracing him with a smile. “Mayhap after Kim and Rolland leave, while we bathe?”
Chuckling, Alburet met her gaze, “Ah, you’re tempting me with treats I see.”
“I will spoil ya as much as I can, Asthore,” she winked at him with a giggle.
At the Portal Guild, they went right up to the portal they wanted. The other four were already waiting for them on the other side. “Sorry for the delay,” Alburet said, “Assassins can put a kink in your plans.”
Karen frowned, “You have another contract on your head?”
“Yes. It’s been cleared up, though. The officers of Alpha Company are now exempt from assassination attempts for two months.” Alburet summoned Bob and Tiny as they processed this new information. “Bob, Tiny. Thank you both for the assist earlier.”
“It is my life to protect you,” Tiny rumbled.
“Can’t believe he surrendered,” Bob said, looking around. “Karen! You should have seen me in action. I totally saved master from that Assassin.”
“Is this related to our meeting this morning?” Gerald asked.
“No, this is ongoing from Skippy, back during my first day or two here,” Alburet replied, his jaw tightening. “He will get his, though. One of the conditions of the Assassin’s surrender was that the Assassin go kill the sender once.”
“Hmm,” Gerald frowned, “is this going to impact our meetings going forward?”
“Your meetings,” Alburet told him. “Kim will have letters ready for each meeting, introducing you and excusing me from them. I need to fill you in on what they all want to know.” He gave the others a quick round of hugs, “I can do that while we kill gnolls, though. We can also hit the cave again, if you want. Stacia has a new trick that will surely help us in the last fight.”
Stacia beamed, “Aye, tha’ I do.”
“I want to hear more about how you made the Assassin surrender,” Karen added as they headed out of the fort.
Alburet chewed his lip for a second, “I’ll get into that after this first bit with the gnolls, okay?”
“Deal,” Karen agreed as they reached the tree line.
Alburet used the time spent traveling through the woods toward the gnoll cave to give them all a quick rundown about the Forgotten Prison and how he had been introduced to the game. He described the book and letter opener, and how he’d traded them for his first bits of gear which led to the later meeting with Sir Jones. He told them about the concessions he’d asked for and received, as well. “So, that’s why we have all these nobles poking around and asking for meetings and stuff. They can all go fuck themselves as far as I’m concerned, they have nothing I need or want.”
“The Forgotten Prison is the max level Raid Instance,” Fluffball said quietly.
“It is?” Gerald asked quickly. “Then why doesn’t everyone know about it?”
“Alpha Worlders all know about it, but it ha’ been missin’ since the first empire fell,” Stacia told him. “Many scholars and explorers ha’ been seekin’ it since the third Empire was founded in Stormguard.”
“And you know where it is?” Marysue asked Alburet.
“Vaguely. The map is blurry in that area still, like a spell still covers the area or something. Sir Jones was flummoxed by that, as was Vladimir Dracon, both of whom got copies of my map from me. Makes me think something like this was supposed to happen at some point, it just wound up happening a bit sooner then it probably should have. None of which will impact us until we can get to the Dead Lands and beyond.”
“The Dead Lands be the place most adventures die the final death,” Stacia added. “It be why none have found much about it. Many who dare the sands of the Dead Lands fail to be seen again.”
“Good thing we always come back, then,” Gerald chuckled. “Cave ahead. Stacia, show us this new ability on the right hand gnoll please.”
Stacia targeted the one he requested and sang at it. The gnoll to the left howled and started forward towards her. Gerald and Tiny stepped forward to meet it, followed by the others. Before it reached them though, the Gnoll Champion Stacia had been singing to bashed its friend from behind, stunning it. “Got him,” Stacia said as she came forward after the others.
Gerald nodded, watching the controlled gnoll tanking its friend, “That will be a huge help in the last fight if we can grab the healers to help Marysue at the beginning.”
“It lasts two minutes, can’t be canceled early, but they can still be dazed when it wears off,” Alburet filled them in. “When we get there, I’m thinking we have Stacia ally both healers and go to town on the melee. Then focus the shield down until it gets low, kill the two healers off, and finish the shield.”
“That will probably work,” Gerald agreed, as they killed the second gnoll once the Ally ability wore off it. “Okay. Same as b
efore once we’re inside.”
Alburet treated the group to a blow by blow recount of the fight with the Assassin while they cleared the first packs of trash, aided by comments from Stacia, Bob and surprisingly, Tiny. Gerald looked thoughtful as Alburet recounted the terms of the Assassin’s surrender. “You know, we may want to not have any Alpha World people as guild officers when that two month reprieve comes to an end. They aren’t guaranteed to come back.”
Gnasher and the Passionate Constrictor both died without issue, since now they knew how to handle them. The Gnoll Shaman was easier than it had been before, with two extra healers the stun and crits from the melee didn’t hurt nearly as much, even more so as Stacia was able to daze two of the melee as well, once she had the healers controlled. They followed the plan and killed the melee, followed by almost breaking the shield before turning on the healers as the Ally ability wore off, then taking the shield down.
Alpha Company (Alpha World Book 3) Page 10