by M B Reid
“No sir, thank you for your fair treatment.” I said, trying not to feel so meek.
The mayor nodded in response, then turned on his heel and stalked off back to wherever he had come from. The nobles, including the much put-out Voria, fell in behind him like ducklings once more.
Duncan looked down his big nose at me.
“Put your hood on, I don’t want to see that ugly mug any longer. Follow me.” He snapped.
Thankfully I pulled the hood back into place. My mana had dipped below half, which seemed pretty good for perhaps five minutes of changed appearance. I wished I’d taken the time to ritual cast Flesh Meld before leaving the dungeon. I couldn’t ritual cast it in town, not without access to Voria’s victim. That had been dangerously close to a disaster.
The remaining guards lowered their spears, and I followed Duncan.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“First things first. You’re working for me now, which means when I say jump you start jumping. Don’t ask how high, just jump. Understood?” Duncan the big nosed guard asked.
I gave a meek nod in response, which he apparently saw despite the hood hiding my head.
“Good. Now I’ve seen your face, and it ain’t gonna make nobody feel safe, so you can keep a hood. Those clothes have gotta go though. Guardsman regalia is a requirement, and you ain’t special.” Duncan pulled a set of clothes from a shelf and thrust them into my hands.
“Get changed. Now.”
I cast my Flesh Mold spell before Duncan could start pulling at my hood. I willed the same scar into place across my face, and added several more to my torso and hands in preparation. Hopefully he’d let me keep the gloves as well, otherwise I was going to be in trouble. I stripped to my undergarments quickly, then shimmied into my new clothes. Duncan made a point of leering at my scarred face, though a look of trouble crossed him when he saw the mess of marks across my chest and back. For the briefest of moments I thought I saw something human in him, perhaps pity. I pulled my cloak back on over top of the new clothes, and lifted the hood back into place. I grabbed my gloves and slipped them onto my fingers. Duncan looked like he was going to yell at me, and then that pitying look danced through his eyes, and he let it go.
“Your boots are no worse than what we could offer. Once you’ve got the coin you will buy a full helm. Frankly that hood makes you look ridiculous. You will service and wield your own weapons, we’ve had a… supply issue of late.” It was clear that Duncan was talking about the blacksmiths lack of ore. The way he said it though, it was almost as if he despised Waylan for being unprepared. I wondered if there was some sort of vendetta there.
“Thank you” I said, then added “sir”
Duncan gave me a wide smile. This was a man who relished being in a position of power. That was a dangerous trait in anyone, but especially someone as vindictive as Duncan seemed to be.
“Alright, look sharp. It’s time you met Rudy.” He ushered me in front of him.
“Left up there, through the door”
I followed his directions as we wound deeper into the barracks. I was almost certain he was taking me on a circuitous route, as if to parade me past his colleagues. Finally we reached a large oak door.
“Knock” Duncan ordered.
I rapped my gloves against the door once.
“Come in” A friendly voice called from within.
I opened the door into a study of sorts. A long table was spread out in the middle of the room with a map of the surrounding area spread across it. A man in platemail was leaning over the table studying the map. Stacks of paper were scattered around him, as if he’d just been perusing them.
“Good evening.” The man said with barely concealed surprise.
“Rudy, sir, this is the new recruit.” Duncan sneered.
Rudy seemed to pause then, and took a moment to appraise me. His eyes, though judging, lacked the meanness of Duncan.
“Very well. You look like you can use those?” He was eyeing my weapons.
“Yes sir.”
Though he looked like a very severe man, there was something friendly in his demeanour. A natural charisma. Whatever it was, I’d added ‘sir’ without thinking about it. This was a man born to lead, and everyone around him would naturally follow.
“Give him the tour, then leave him in his quarters.” He said to Duncan, before settling his eyes on me.
“You are conscripted, and I know you wouldn’t be here otherwise. That doesn’t give you any leniency. If you break any law, you will be punished. If you treat your position with disrespect, you will be punished. You will do as instructed until your debt is paid. Am I clear?” There was no threat in his voice, he was simply stating facts. Somehow I respected him more for it.
I was opening my mouth to reply when someone screamed from outside. Duncan stiffened and went pale. Rudy fixed me with a level gaze.
“This is your chance to prove yourself. Get out there.”
Rudy was watching me, waiting to see how I’d react. Duncan was frozen in place. This was a proving moment for me. I raced through the door and soon burst out of the barracks into the courtyard. I could only hear one set of footsteps behind me, and I knew it wasn’t Duncan. The yells and clanging of combat came from the direction of the town, rather than either of the gates.
“The church” I yelled over my shoulder to Rudy, already running in that direction. I knew without a shadow of doubt that those monsters had come from beneath the church again. The road outside the old building was a scene of carnage. A few guardsmen were fending off several ratkin coming from the old building. Villagers were running in fear, dropping the goods they were carrying as they did so.
Without waiting for an order from Rudy, I drew my scimitar and waded into combat alongside the other guards. They were holding a rough line for now, but every attack from the ratkin drove them back. Soon the line would have fallen back so far, and spread so thin, that some of the ratkin would be able to break through. If the guards got flanked they wouldn’t stand a chance.
I helped deflect one creatures attack, using my shield to block it as it rushed toward a guard holding a spear. The guard, to his credit, didn’t give me a second thought. He used my defence to gain the moment he needed to thrust at the ratkin, scoring a wound across its shoulder and forcing it backwards. Keeping my shield in place I chased it half a dozen steps, praying that the other guards would push the line forward as well. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t.
“Push them back” Rudy roared from somewhere behind me, and the guards pushed forward, bringing the line up to meet me. The ratkin launched a counterattack immediately, shrieking in their high-pitched language. Two of them crashed against my shield, knocking me back a few steps before the guards stabbed at them with spears. One ratkin scrabbled backwards, the other wasn’t so lucky. I lashed out with my scimitar and caught it in the chest, cutting through flesh and bone. The beast screamed at me and a mist of red blood painted my face. The guard to my right thrust at the creature again, finishing it off.
“Push!” Rudy yelled again, and we rushed forward another dozen steps. This time the ratkin scattered as they retreated. The other guards slowed to a halt. I kept charging, intent on catching up to one of those damnable beasts. I was partially aware of the guards staying behind me as I activated Shield Charge to carry me even further. The creature unlucky enough to be nearest to me collapsed as I slammed the shield against it. Even as I tackled the ratkin to the ground I realised my mistake.
My scimitar buried itself in the prone monsters stomach and it died in an instant. Then its companions fell upon me en mass. My shield was pointed downward, at the corpse of my victim. I was completely exposed as two ratkin slashed their small blades at my head. I ducked aside from one, right into the path of the other. The knife glanced off bone as it scraped across my cheek, causing my health to drop by thirty percent. Another pair of ratkin came at me from either side. Both managed to run a blade across my torso before the guards pushed forward to drive
them off. My health dropped by another sixty percent, leaving me with just ten percent remaining.
I remained on my hands and knees as the guards marched past me, driving the ratkin back towards the church. If I had bowels they would have emptied themselves. Those creatures had almost killed me in a single attack. If Rudy hadn’t got the guards moving to cover me, they would have finished me off. My hands were shaking as I got to my feet and picked up my scimitar.
I glanced over to the river gate. The guards that had been manning the walls were running towards us now, leaving the gate barred but undefended. I had enough mana to turn invisible and sprint past them. I could be through the gate in under a minute.
These were virtual people. NPCs in a ridiculous fantasy game world. I sure as hell shouldn’t be risking my life for them. There was no sense in me giving my only life to protect people that didn’t even exist. And yet, they all acted so real. If I couldn’t still vividly remember the real world I wouldn’t be able to differentiate these NPCs from the people I’d gone to school with.
I turned back towards the line of guards as they slowly repelled the ratkin. These men were fighting not just for themselves, but for everyone in the city. And truthfully, I had to admire that. They might not be real people, but they were good people.
I rallied myself and rejoined the line. The ratkin were slowly being driven back, and I wanted to be part of that. I threaded between two guards, resuming my previous position. This time however, I followed Rudy’s orders to the letter. Each time he yelled at us to push, I walked shoulder to shoulder with my fellow guardsmen. My shield protected them, and their spears protected me. As a team we pushed them all the way back to the church doors.
That’s when I saw him. The ratkin I had fought just this morning, though it felt like an eternity ago. The mangy rat stood no taller than his friends, and looked no more muscular, but the other ratkin differed to him. A furious madness burnt in his eyes, and the stump that remained of his arm was still bleeding. Perhaps it had been reopened during the fighting.
The scarred ratkin saw me in that moment, and his eyes flared. He gave a low war cry and levelled a scabby finger toward me. Somebody yelled something behind me, but I was too scared to turn away from my foe to see who, or what they had said. The other rats turned their attention toward me, leaving no confusion about what the mangy scarred ratkin had demanded.
I was their target.
“Protect the rookie!” Rudy yelled as the ratkin rushed us. To my surprise, the guards broke their line. All of them rushed in close around me, forming a semicircle in front of me and keeping the ratkin at bay with their spears. Rudy had ordered his men to protect me, and they would give their lives to do it. Hell, they even risked the lives of the village - if the ratkin made a break for it now they would make it past us. Our line was broken.
The ratkin were focused on fighting their way towards me though, attacking with single-minded determination. Two fell limp as they pushed against our wall of spears. A third made it through, and buried its knife in one guards throat. The young man gave a single wide eyed gasp before collapsing, his lifeblood spraying like a waterfall. My scimitar slashed down before I realised I’d charged forward, cleaving through the skull of the ratkin murderer. A critical hit icon flashed above its dead eyes as it fell.
I held the front of the line now, my shield constantly moving to block stabs and slashes. With the spears of the guards pointing out beside me, none of the ratkin could get close enough to hit me without being impaled. The few that tried were killed for their reckless attack.
“Push” Rudy yelled. We pushed forward several paces. The ratkin melted back, there numbers now low enough that they couldn’t hold their ground. The mottled ratkin at the back roared at them in their squeaky language and they launched a failed counterattack. We held our ground. One of them died.
“Push” Rudy yelled and we pushed forward again. We were at the bottom of the stairs to the church now. The mottled rat had retreated through the door frame. The half dozen remaining warriors were spread between us and him, holding the high ground. Even with that advantage, they were armed only with daggers and short swords. Nothing with the reach of our spears.
“Push” Rudy ordered, and we claimed the first few steps. Another guard fell to an unlucky stab, but his assailant died a moment later. The scarred ratkin’s voice suddenly changed. The stilted screeching it had been uttering in an almost endless stream took on a staccato rhythm of short, lower pitched, squeaks.
“Charge” Rudy yelled.
I led the charge up the steps. The ratkin leader had already turned and scampered off into the church. The other ratkin broke ranks behind him, scrabbling past each other in their rush to escape. I poured more mana into my shield, activating the Shield Charge ability once more, and mowed down the nearest ratkin. He died instantly as my shield smashed against his hindquarters. He must have taken several wounds earlier in the fight. The fleeing ratkin ahead of me were almost within range.
“Halt!” Rudy yelled. I was close enough, it would just take another few seconds to catch up to the next ratkin.
I stopped. Charging ahead and ignoring Rudy’s orders was why my health was so low right now. He had led us well during that fight and I owed it to him to listen now. I was standing just a few feet into the church. The solid wooden doors loomed on either side of me. The church was lit with candles that decorated the room.
It looked empty.
CHAPTER FORTY
“Niles, Stirling, I want you out the back now. The rest of you fan out. We’ll sweep it together.” Rudy stepped past the waiting guards, reaching me in the doorway.
“Rookie, you’re with me. Close enough I can kick your ass if you do anything stupid. Everyone else, pair up and watch each others backs.” He paused long enough for the guards to pair up. It only took a second. The efficiency was shocking, these guys clearly practised hard.
“Right. Lets move” Rudy took the lead and I dutifully fell into step beside him, making sure I kept him in my peripheral vision. The other guards took up positions around us, spreading out as they passed through the door so that we formed a line across the room.
We advanced like that, pausing as the guards to the left searched the confession booths. When we reached the hallway that led to the priestesses quarters, Rudy brought us to a halt.
“You four check them out. Everyone else holds the line.” The four people he pointed at fell into a square formation and made their way down the hallway. They paused to let two people burst through each door as they went. The rest of us waited in silence, listening to the thud of doors bursting open. A minute later the guards returned to the line.
“Priestesses are secured in their rooms. No rats.” one of them reported.
Rudy got us moving again, pushing forward together. There was no way anything could have snuck past us. Even if the ratkin were capable of turning invisible they’d almost certainly have had to brush past one of us to get through. I had a newfound appreciation of Rudy’s leadership, it was all but flawless. I’d thought we’d been standing around doing nothing while the other guards had been searching, but he’d been ensuring nothing could reach the doors. Maybe being conscripted into the guards would be a good thing after all, I’d do well to learn everything I could from Rudy.
Behind the alter was a short door. It was slightly ajar, showing nothing but shadows beyond. Rudy gathered everyone in a semi circle around the door as we finished sweeping the room then trained his eyes on me.
“How are you feeling?” He asked. In our time out of combat my health had fully restored.
“Good” I responded, unsure whether I should be addressing him as sir. Was being in the guard like being in the army?
“Then I want you first through that door. You’re good with your shield, and they have to be through there somewhere. I’ll be right behind you. You two stay here, watching the door. If it all goes south, you stick your spears through there as soon as we’re clear. Got it?”
The group as a whole nodded. Rudy gave me a nod, and I took position in front of the door. The door opened inward, and I figured this would be my only chance to add a dramatic flair.
I kicked the door and it slammed back against the stone wall with a loud bang. Rebounding back into position. To my surprise not a single guard snickered. I pushed the door open again, gentler this time. Keeping my shield held up in front of me I walked forward. The hallway wasn’t as dark as I’d expected. Torches burned at even intervals along the wall. After just a few steps we started to descend down a set of stairs. Nothing wanted to jump out at me, nor could I hear that dreadful skittering that always preceded an attack. When the stairs ended, we found ourselves up facing another ancient door. This one was closed.
I glanced over my shoulder at Rudy, and he gave me a reassuring nod. With my sword hand I unlatched the door and pushed it inward. It creaked open on poorly oiled hinges, revealing a large cellar. Barrels were stacked against the far wall. As with the hallway, the cellar was surprisingly well lit. Torches sat on each of the walls, barring the furthest one - it was stacked high with barrels. There were also torches on the few pillars in the room, preventing large shadows from being cast. As far as I could tell, there were no ratkin here with us.
I took another few steps forward, making room for the other guards coming through the door behind me. Following Rudy’s lead they fanned out on either side until we had a wall that stretched the width of the room. As with upstairs we moved forward as one. As I passed the pillars in the middle of the room Rudy called us to a halt. We were definitely alone in the room, but he was now pointing at something I hadn’t noticed.
A large puddle of unknown liquid had pooled beneath a few barrels in one corner. The torch nearest that corner was the only one in the room that wasn’t lit. Rudy disbanded our line, and we shifted into a loose semicircle. Once everyone was in position, Rudy stepped forward and knocked a hand on the nearest barrel. The sound reverberated through the wood, making it sound decidedly empty. In one smooth motion he grabbed the barrel by the edges and pulled it backwards away from the wall. Behind the barrel we could just make out the edges of a tunnel carved into the wall.