"Once they were done, then they would curse the ground, so no person born there will ever sire a child, no woman would carry a child to term. Is that what they told you we would do to Vamvakena. They would keep you alive until we came back, so we could see you suffer die. Now tell me or I will have my wives extract the information from your sorry hide."
The fat man started to cry and blubber, the man to his right pulled a dagger and tried to stab the man. As three arrows hit him in the chest, killing him instantly, a fourth arrow pinned the dagger hand to the back of the chair the fat man was still sat in. The force of the impacts threw the would be killer from his chair.
"I can't, we can't. Sir Hardy said he would come and kill each of us, painfully and slowly. He promised that they would starve me to death, he would personally see me wither and die," the man said.
"Is he in Vamvakena, are any of his people hiding, waiting for us?" Toni asked.
"Four of Sir Hardy's people are in a new small temple to Erebus. They built the temple two weeks ago and have begun to change the town, please save us, save Vamvakena." A quest prompt popped up onto Cain's HUD. Accepting the quest, Cain sent out a couple of messages.
Once inside the town, Toni, Daphne and Violetta lead the search and ignored Erebus' temple, Cain said, "I'll leave the temple till the end once we have cleared the town." They walked through the gates and went house-to-house. Using one company Violetta gave them instructions on which people to round up, those whom Erebus’ cloying magic had touched. Those so identified did not know Erebus' magic left an identifiable sticky mess of corruption in their lives.
With the town checked and those touched by Erebus's magic rounded up, Cain had Violetta bless a dozen arrows, he knew a travel-post would not work if the initial blessing became marred or sullied with another god's mark. Giving the arrows to two of the special archers, Cain had them climb onto a roof which overlooked the temple.
The fat man told Cain the travel-post was in plain sight near the altar. The two archers let Cain know, using a communications ring, they could see through the top window the travel-post and three players stood nearby. Cain had them wait, telling them to fire when he gave the signal.
Cain gathered his wives and some Amazons, then used his legs he kicked the locked and barred door open. The right hand door flew off its hinges and spun across the temple, knocking down five NPC priests of Erebus.
"Knock, Knock," shouted Cain. "Anyone home?" As Toni, Daphne and he walked into the foyer, a single arrow passed to the right of Cain and hit the white line, breaking the magic which prevented anyone crossing the line without a priestly blessing.
Cain read the Gamer Tags of the players stood near the altar. Speedy Pete, 2Smart4U and a new player Cain had not seen before Boom Junior, a level thirty-nine ranger. Speedy Pete spoke as they each stepped near the travel-post.
"Hi Joseph, fancy meeting you here, sadly we're about to leave. We have messed up the town for you, Jason says he will mar each of your quests so you will never get to leave this zone. He had the main portal tied down in 2027 and doesn't know how you got out before the reboot. Never mind, you will not be getting out of here!"
Cain messaged
Cain used his powerful enhanced legs, leapt and cleared the twenty-seven feet between him and 2Smart4U. Cain's jump surprised 2Smart4U and his feet caught him in the chest, which sent 2Smart4U flying backward into the stone top of the altar, his body bent at ninety degrees as it wrapped around the stone. Cain heard a loud crack, as 2Smart4u’s back broke, a second sound like an egg-shell breaking as his head smashed on the stone.
Cain turned and watched as Daphne fought Boom Junior, their fight moved across the width of the temple. Boom Junior was managing by the skin of his teeth, to keep one foot out of Daphne's range. He turned as he neared the wall and nocked an arrow, only for two blessed arrows to hit him in the chest, killing him instantly. Daphne gave a thumbs up to the two archers, she went over to Boom Junior and looted the few things he was carrying.
Toni reached the travel-post as Speedy Pete pulled his hand free of the arrow. He noticed Toni bearing down on him and he squeaked like a mouse. He turned to run but his foot caught the arrow at the bottom of the travel-post and he fell on his face.
Toni jumped on Speedy Pete and pinned him to the floor, her Ari B'Lilah pressing against his throat. The smell of urine reached Toni's nose, as she slapped Speedy Pete asking him why, he replied, "I hate dying."
"Maybe you should have not picked Jason's team then," she said.
Cain gave Daphne a kiss, then turned to Toni who was squatted near Speedy Pete's head. He knelt and asked him about Jason's plans, Speedy said, "I can't tell you he would kill me in the real world."
Cain asked Violetta if she could bless the former temple of Erebus, make it possible for Cybele to be worshipped here. Twenty minutes later the presence of Cybele filled the former temple. The golden light of Cybele's presence blocked the system recordings.
"OK, now we can't be seen, you can tell us what you can and I will see if I can save you in the real world. If we can't then I will make sure we take care of your family, if you have one," said Cain.
Speedy Pete said, "My real name is Spencer Davis, and I live, lived in Edinburgh before I joined the JW Killers two years ago. Jason has his team of us hard-core PvP players, there were seventy in the clan initially. We are hidden in a secure location somewhere north of Dundee. We were transferred to new PODs in the secure base, in the dead of night before the beta testing started. I've not been out of the POD since.
"I'm married and I haven't seen my wife Shona since I went to play for Jason. If I can't get free, I'm sure I'll die in the POD. I know twenty-three of the original players in the team; we share a local chat group, they have disappeared, their names are greyed out in the group chat." Spencer was chatty once he realised Jason could not hear his answers.
Splitting Forces
Cain asked Cybele, if she could leave so they could question Spencer, they wanted the system to record his answers and death. "It will let those who watch for Jason, know Spencer was questioned and died refusing to answer me," he said. Cybele said, "I will try to search for the twenty-three players he mentioned in case they are frozen somewhere in the system." As Cybele left the golden light cleared, Toni slapped Spencer around the face though not as hard as previously.
"You will tell me all I want to know," she said. Spencer spat up at Toni, hitting her chin.
"Do your worst, I will not tell you anything, you are not getting me to speak I'm not like Thorn Tonian." Cain cut Speedy Pete's head off with his gladius, saying, "He won't spit at you again." Toni stood, threw her arms around Cain and he returned the hug.
^T^ We have to finish this game zone so we can move on, we can't let Jason ruin other people's lives too. ^
:Enoch. Do you have any ideas as to where the quest could be hidden or located, which will let us get out of this game zone?: asked Cain.
{I have been checking the game time-line against the historical time-line. If the game programmers have used that as the basis for this zone, we could be looking at several options.
{•One, around this time in the RW, Aristotle was alive and had taught Alexander in Serrena.
{•Two, someone killed Plato in Athens.
{•Three, Philip II, King of Macedon conquers Greece in several battles. The final battle happens three hundred miles from here in five days,}
:OK, so if we discount Philip as we can't travel five hundred miles in three days, sorry three hundred miles in five days. And I doubt we have access to a travel-post on the mainland near that location. What I think we should do is split our forces. We should ask Cybele where she has a large temple or likewise Athena. We can set up a travel-posts there. Send one part of our force up to Serrena where Aristotle and A;Alexander are.
:Send a smaller force back to Pyrgadikian, take three Triremes and two of our converted cargo ships and sail them down the coast to Athens. The main body will travel on to Thessele and complete the quest Cybele gave us to visit the three places and bring the worship of the gods back. I don't like the idea of being separated but I can't see any other way to solve the pull on our resources.:
^C^ Toni, ladies. I think we need to split our forces. We need to send one company without their horses down to Athens, via Pyrgadikian. Another two companies with the horses from those going to Athens, they can travel fast as they can up to Serrena, while the bulk of our force finish the quest Cybele gave. If Jason is trying to stop us, we can cover all the options of where the main quest is located and install travel-posts at each place so we can all join up. Does that seem OK to you? ^
They had a discussion after Cain told them what he thought was the best option; they arranged who would go where. Daphne and Bethany, would take the two companies and travel to Serrena. Sophie and Toni would take the company to Athens, while Cain, Lesley, Myrina and Areto would complete the original quest.
They pitched Bounty in Cybele's new temple, while the Amazons made their camp outside the walls of Vamvakena. Cain arranged for the Amazons to patrol the town, reminding people they were now free to worship the gods of their choice, except Erebus.
Cain made love to Toni, Daphne, Sophie and Bethany, as they would be away for a short period of time. They spent the night in each other's arms, eventually falling asleep in the early hours. Lesley was the first to rise, she let the others sleep in knowing they had been rather active over the evening and early morning. The cries of their orgasms kept her awake past midnight. She understood why they acted so, but she knew Cain would have Myrina, Areto and her for two weeks or more.
The others woke at eleven in the morning, Lesley and Areto had prepared a large breakfast for them, as a going-away meal. As they were eating, Cain reminded them, "If the worst comes to the worst and you get into trouble you can’t handle, plant the travel-post you carry and call for support. The rest of us will turn up as soon as we can."
They packed away Bounty, Lesley put the package into her inventory. Vamvakena seemed quiet as they left Cybele's temple, the few people they met on the streets as they left the town stopped and thanked them for bringing the worship of the gods back.
It was one in the afternoon by the time the three parties separated. Cain led the main party toward Profhena, which was twelve hours journey distant. Toni and Sophie led their combined companies to Pyrgadikian to take their ships to Athens. From Pyrgadikian, Daphne and Bethany who travelled with Toni and Sophie, would go to Serrena and take Toni's companies horses with them. Both parties would collect a priestess from Cybele and Athena's temples, along with travel-posts to both.
Once at Pyrgadikian, Daphne and Bethany would leave once Toni's group set sail. With the extra horses in tow they would make toward Serrena, taking the extra horses as there was no room on the Triremes. Daphne and Bethany's companies would also take an extra ten covered wagons. The wagons would be loaded with a mix of trade items and the new hand grenades, Nithey and the VETS had been making.
Cain watched his four wives leave before he pushed his remaining the companies, they reached Profhena two hours before dawn. They rested only twice on the journey as Cain wanted to get a jump on any of Jason's men if they were in the town.
The walls around Profhena were easily scaled, six five-person teams entered the town and opened the locked gates. Cain had the mounted troops enter as silently as possible and spread them through the town, especially at intersections and the main buildings and temples.
As Profhena woke, most of its residents were shocked to see hundreds of mounted Amazons with their weapons bared. Cain's special teams, identified with Violetta’s help, the leaders and dragged them from their beds, unceremoniously brought them to the market square. Two of the leaders were bound hand-and-foot as they refused to come quietly, their journey to the market square was physically painful.
On questioning the leaders, they said they had been informed by a passing priest of Erebus, a daemon lord was leading an army of She-Devils, the succubae. They were capturing towns, turning them into places of debauchery. Violetta disproved the man's lies as she prayed to Cybele, her appearance washed the cloying magic of Erebus from the leadership. They gladly accepted the worship of the gods as they opened the temples the priests of Erebus had closed, the gods and goddesses high priests and priestesses came out of hiding.
. Cain agreed, but they had to complete the task Cybele gave them.
They stayed at Profhena a day, sharing with the town the renewed celebration of the gods. It pleased Cybele and Athena seeing the quest's progress. Athena warned Lesley speaking to her in a dream,
"Jason has hired the city state of Giannitres who have sent five thousand of their best mercenaries. They are following one of Jason's players; somebody called Sir Hardy. He and the mercenaries have made camp five miles outside of Thessele." When she woke, Lesley told Cain and her sister wives what she had learned in her dream from Athena.
"Sir Hardy is leading a force of five thousand men, mercenaries from Giannitres. They have made camp five miles outside of Thessele. They are supposed to be one of the best mercenary companies in Greece," Lesley said. Violetta added, "The Giannitrians are solid phalanx fighters and with five thousand men they will field ten phalanxes. When they see so few of us they will think the battle will be one sided." As Cain listened to Lesley and Violetta he received a message from Toni.
^T^ Cain, we ran into a bandit ambush this morning three hours outside Pyrgadikian. There were no players with them so I think they were the leftovers from what Jason tried earlier. Nobody got hurt, well the fifty bandits did, our horses trampled them into the ground. They tried to make a skirmish line across the main trail, but our horses charged right over them, more than once. We should set sail in a few hours, see you soon and take care of my sister-wives, xxx ^
Chapter 37
Journey To Thessele
Cain kept his companies in Profhena an extra day, more to let Jason have the worry where the other group was moving to. They left Profhena as the fingers of dawn were lighting the buildings. Their horses were as keen as their riders to move from the town, out into the countryside. The forward patrol galloped ahead and rode thirty minutes in front of the main body of riders.
Myrina rode next to Cain, her hands tied to her saddle as she was sharing Josephine's sight, scouting the way ahead beyond even the forward scouts. Josephine spotted a large group of men five hours ahead of the forward scouts, setting large area traps and pits.
Some were laying ropes between the olive trees which the main trail passed. Other men were digging pits and lining them with wooden spikes. There were already felled tree barriers across the trail, some had pits placed in the front and to the side of them. Myrina called Josephine back, she let Cain, Lesley and Areto know what she had seen through Josephine.
Cain messaged the forward patrol, who four hours later dismou
nted and scouted the large ambush site. They counted over three hundred men who worked to finish the ambush area. They said from an observation the Gamer Tags identified most of the men as rogues and warriors and NPCs. Their quick observation identified a few gladiators, rangers and clerics, but no mages. Each NPC belonged to a group called JW Bandit, the lead scout let Cain know what they had seen.
Cain slowed the companies down, taking a longer than normal break at lunchtime, letting the horses have their fill from ample areas of lush grass and water from the small stream they camped beside under the shade of the trees. Myrina drew a rough map in the dirt as they ate, from her map, Cain devised a plan of attack.
Lesley contacted the forward scouts and she let them know what their task was. They left their horses with a two scouts and slipped into the olive trees, cutting partially through the trip ropes so when a horse made contact the rope would break, rather than horse and rider.
They were one mile from the ambush site and Cain split his force. He sent one company to block any escapees in a big loop around the site, to position themselves half a mile beyond. Giving the blocking company a half hour to get into position, Cain ordered the four companies to move out. They moved on a wide front, making any ambush easier to spring. They surprised the forward bandit who must have fallen asleep in the heat of the day. He left his bow and ran screaming,
"They are here, they are here." Letting the lookout escape and disappear behind a felled tree, they increased their gait from a trot to a canter. The noise of the hooves as the pounded the ground ran like thunder before them. Cain could see the heads of some men as he called, "Halt," and the companies pulled up in front of the pits the bandits prepared. Myrina Rode next to Cain and fed him information from Josephine's observations. One company dismounted and proceeded on foot in squads of five, forcing the bandits out of hiding and broke their ambush.
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