War Aeternus 2: Sacrifices

by Charles Dean

  Ling stood there staring dumbfoundedly and glassy-eyed despite Amber's continued assurances and soothing words, and she looked like she was on the edge of tears. Her trembling lip and erratic breathing certainly made her appear as if she was on the verge of a breakdown, she just stayed there, staring at him, and then turned around. Lee thought for a second that, if there hadn’t been a wall behind her, she would have already darted like a deer breaking the magical spell of the headlights. She might have even tried to run past him, but that side of the alley was now closed by a greedy Firbolg. When she turned her head back, Lee could see that her eyes had started to swell with shiny pools of water as the tears finally welled up.

  “Hey, it’s okay. These things happen, and I’m still here,” Lee said comfortingly. “You shouldn’t blame yourself. I consented to the play too.” Lee had nicknamed the formations and strategies they used ‘plays,’ since the closest analogous concept he could think of in the real world was when American football players would shout random words like ‘Blue 42,” and it would have a very specifically-executed formation and plan of attack tied to it.

  “I just . . .” Ling bit her lip again, leaving marks as her teeth withdrew. “I don’t know what I should have done . . . what I should do. Do I take the shot and risk hitting you next time? Do I not take the shot because you might die? Do I give you more leeway so that I don’t risk it and just accept that fewer arrows will hit? What should I have done? How do I . . .? What do I do? You have to tell me what to do because I can’t be the one that kills you. You can’t die. You can never die.”

  “Woman, shut up and stop whining,” Miller called out from the pool of spilled beer that he was now literally drinking off the ground. He had started skimming his cup across the ground in order to scoop as much of the large puddle as he could before chugging it and trying again. Lee wasn’t sure if he was able to get more than a few drops at a time, but he did seem determined. Without even looking up, he continued to berate Ling. “If he had died, it would have been because Augustus meant for it to happen. Didn’t you read that book of his? Do you think he fears death? Haven’t you been around him at all?”

  “I . . . I . . .” Ling hesitated, her eyes darting between Lee and Miller. “I did. I read it.”

  “Then you should know that death for him is a step up from this life. If he dies, he’ll just end up hanging out with David, who was far better company than most of the people I remember running into here,” Miller insisted. “But if you don’t believe me and end up killing him by accident, don’t worry, woman. I’ll send you off to be with him myself so your mind will be at ease.”

  Lee put his foot down on that right away. “You will not. If something happens to me, you need to kill the slime I was fighting, not the friends I was with.”

  “Why not both?” Miller asked, seemingly oblivious to Lee’s point. “It’s not like death is a bad thing.”

  “Because I SAID SO!” Lee had had enough of Miller’s arrogance. He often let the Firbolg push him around because their goals aligned. Helping people, running headlong into danger, doing the right thing--Miller was the type of person that Lee didn’t know he had wanted to be before he was kidnapped and dragged to the new world. Even as dumb as he sometimes seemed, there was something to be admired in someone who always did what he thought was right regardless of the consequences. It was the reason Lee rarely fought against Miller’s pushy mannerisms, but this was just one thing he couldn't tolerate. “You will wait for Augustus himself to decide when her time is up, or when any one of our flock that messes up in a fight’s time is, and that’s final.”

  Miller stopped scooping the beer for a moment and looked over at Lee. “If the Herald insists,” he said. His dry tone and odd facial expression as he said it both left Lee confused.

  “And as for you”--Lee turned to Ling--“you just need to execute the moves as I say, stop worrying about what could have happened and focus on what actually did happen. Six of them are dead, and two of them were your kills. Thank you,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you. You didn’t almost kill me. You saved my life.”

  Too cheesy? Too much? Lee tried to read her reaction. Her lip had stopped quivering the moment Miller had yelled at her, but she hadn’t wiped away the tears, so they were still fighting against gravity and clinging to her eyes as she looked at him.

  “You’re . . . You’re welcome,” she mumbled.

  “What was that?”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “That’s better. Now, help me with this.” Lee pointed to the arrow still sticking out of his back. In the heat of the fray and the emotional aftermath, he had forgotten to pull the arrow out of him. It still hurt, and the stinging there and in his side where the dagger had struck him was only getting worse as the adrenaline faded from his system.

  “I’ll get it!” Amber volunteered so quickly it made Lee realize his faux pas.

  Crap. Did I just ask the girl who is torn up about a friendly fire incident to pull her own arrow out of me? God, I’m so stupid. Lee winced at his mistake.

  “You don’t have to tell me. I already knew,” Augustus’s voice chimed in just to make that awkward and overused sitcom burn.

  Not you, the actual one. Lee cursed at his kidnapper right as Amber yanked the arrow out of his back. Surprisingly, even on the way out, the arrow did two points of damage and added a bleed.

  You are bleeding. You will take 1 points of damage every 10 seconds until healed.

  “Crap. That seems to have just re-opened the wound. Anyone got a bandage?” Lee asked. When they shook their heads, he just gave up on the less-draining way out and summoned his spirit. He hadn’t been very successful healing himself in the past, but he also hadn’t needed to worry as much, so he hadn’t practiced. His Divinity Power, Life in Death, had always healed up DOTs or life-threatening issues once he managed to kill the opponent. That’s why it wasn’t a big deal for him to rush a heal when he could just sit down, bandage himself up and heal the old fashion way, but the arrow hadn’t been from an enemy that he could kill. It had been from Ling. In a way, this made friendly fire far deadlier than any neutral or hostile party attacking him. There might even be a time where he would have to choose between staying alive or killing off someone who fought side by side with him, not that Lee ever imagined a scenario where he could actually kill someone he fought side by side with. He’d probably just take the death in that hypothetical case--or at least that’s what he told himself as the thought popped into his head.

  Okay, I can do this, Lee told himself, taking a deep breath and circulating the spirit energy throughout his body the same way he did with the other people he had healed. It took a few moments, but it worked. He could feel his flesh mend as it stitched itself up across the wound, his injuries healing up and even the bruises disappearing. After less than two minutes of work, his entire body had been healed, and he still had a third of his spirit left. “Could you hand me a few water bottles?” Lee said to Ling. She didn’t respond verbally but quickly produced all the bottles she had on her and started giving them to Lee.

  Lee then took the bottles and started filling them up one at a time with his spirit, turning each one purple. Unlike the first time, he was able to do the whole process in a much more energy-efficient manner and managed to turn seven water bottles completely purple.

  Recipe Learned: Mana Water

  Effects: Unknown.

  For fully mastering a new recipe without the assistance of a recipe book, you have been awarded +1 Intelligence. Current Intelligence: 128

  Miller finished his alleyway beer-cleaning service and walked back over while watching Lee fill the last bottle with mana. “He sent them after us,” Miller said as Lee looked up at him.

  “Yeah, the wretch has a death wish,” Lee replied while nodding.

  “Are we doing this now, or do you want to wait until our next trip?” Miller asked, being unusually reasonable.

  “Do you think you can sleep well w
ith him still alive?” Lee asked. He wasn’t one to normally encourage a ‘rampage.’ Nevertheless, half of him was hoping Miller would push them in that direction.

  “Does Augustus have a way for us to kill him and everyone in the Hunter’s Guild at once?” Miller asked, and Lee could see a quiet fury in Miller’s eyes that hadn’t been there for nearly a week.

  “You want to burn the place down? I mean, the building is wood, but I am sure they have measures against it,” Lee responded, looking in the direction of the Hunter’s Guild as he tried to remember the details. “Also, there are too many innocent people in there . . . good people that don’t deserve that.”

  Miller nodded. “That’s right. Innocents. Well, what does Augustus suggest?”

  Why are you being so calm about this? Shouldn’t you have already rushed in there and started killing? “Well, I don’t know about you, but my guess is that he’s probably going to head home when he gets off work. I don’t think the employees sleep at the same place they work, especially with the cost of rooms there. If you don’t mind being a little sneaky about it, we can snag him then.”

  Miller’s neck flexed, and his chin retreated as disgust painted itself across his face. The idea of ‘snagging’ someone in a stealthy and underhanded method clearly didn’t appeal to the Firbolg at all. “Are you sure this is the best idea Augustus could come up with?”

  “You could also get him on the way to the bathroom or pay a girl to seduce him into a secluded area,” Amber suggested. “Back when we were . . .” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Back when we were on the mountain, we used to always talk about doing that to our jailers. We used to always say that, if one of the jailers ever got too far out of line, we’d lure him away from the others, kill him off and then bury him before anyone was ever the wiser. I don’t know if it’d work, but I used to run through ways I’d do it in my head a thousand different ways every time I closed my eyes at night.

  Lee thought about it for a moment. “That could work too, but it seems much riskier. It would also tip him off to the fact that we’re still alive. We can’t use either of you because then he’d know we were still around, and we can’t hire someone because we don’t know anyone in the town we can trust.”

  Amber frowned. “We could just camp near the bathroom and gut him when he goes in though?”

  “I’m not sure I want to deal with that crap,” Lee said. “Let’s just stick to the alleyway idea.”

  “Isn’t there a plan that doesn’t involve us scurrying around like the rats he thinks you are?” Miller asked. “Doesn’t Augustus have a way for us to kill him honorably without having to fight the whole town?”

  “Didn’t we already defeat the enemy in honorable combat?” Lee looked over at the bodies. “This isn’t combat. This is just us tying up a loose end. Compared to our skirmish with those six, this should be like putting the icing on a cake.”

  “Putting what on a cake?” Ling asked curiously, finally wiping her eyes dry.

  “Icing is . . . You know what? Never mind. I’ll show you next time we’re near a kitchen,” Lee said. How the hell do they live in a world without icing? I thought the lack of bacon was bad enough, but they don’t even have any of the other substitute comfort foods either. What sort of monstrosity of a place is this? Lee couldn't help but pity the people of this world, and he began to feel like he understood how these people could be so violent and murderous toward strangers.

  “You better have some for me too,” Amber said, snuggling up to Lee’s arm as she grabbed one of the purple bottles away from him.

  “Fine! I’ll have enough for everyone,” Lee laughed. “But, right now, we need to focus on how we’re taking the bad apple out of the bunch before he spoils our fun.”

  Ling grabbed one of the now-purple water bottles that Lee held out for her. “I think your plan is fine,” she said agreeably.

  Miller hesitantly took the bottle extended to him as well. “Fine. If it’s what you think is best. But, in the meantime, let’s have some of this divine beer. We’ve already been interrupted enough.”

  “Did you manage to save enough of that barrel to hold you for a bit?” Lee asked, pointing to the broken one on the ground.

  “Yeah. Through painstaking efforts, I have recovered some of the fallen Brave Brother’s Brew,” Miller answered, puffing out his chest as he produced a now full mug of beer.

  “That’s . . . not a bad name. Okay, well then, you drink that. I need to take the other one and go find us more supplies. We’re still incredibly far behind what we need in order to finish restoring Satterfield.” Lee grabbed the still-intact, full barrel of beer from next to Miller. The look of horror on the Firbolg’s face was priceless, and it looked as if he were watching his own beloved firstborn son being taken from the crib right in front of him by an evil monster.

  Amber burst out laughing at Miller’s expense. “Relax, Miller! Lee will come back with more, different, and even better beers. Just have some faith in him!” she said between fits of giggles. “I’ll go with him to make sure we get you a good one, big guy, so don’t you worry at all.”

  Miller looked like he wanted to say something, and his mouth hung open for a minute, but after a second, he closed it and just nodded. “Alright then. I’m going to listen to Augustus and hide here and make sure that weasel doesn’t leave before we notice.”

  “Suit yourself. Enjoy the beer. And Ling, you mind making sure he doesn’t get in over his head?” Lee asked.

  “If you think that’s best,” Ling said.

  Lee liked having Ling around. She’s always a team player, Lee thought to himself, walking out of the alleyway with his barrel of beer and Amber.

  Chapter 3

  Name: Lee

  Race: Human

  Class: Herald - None

  Level: 17

  Health: 270/270

  EXP: 7889/10500

  Primary Stats:

  Power 27 (28)

  Toughness 27 (28)

  Spirit 27 (28)

  Secondary Stats:

  Charisma 20

  Courage 20

  Deceit 14

  Intelligence 128 (134)

  Honor 5

  Faith 622

  Personal Faith 213

  Skills:

  Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

  Swordplay Novice Level 6

  Sneak Novice Level 9

  Cooking Initiate Level 7

  Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

  Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

  Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

  Divine Skills:

  Golem Sculpting Novice Level 10

  Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

  Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 1

  Faith Healing

  Divinity Powers:

  Life in Death

  Amber and Lee managed to walk for nearly ten minutes without either seeing a restaurant that might buy the beer or exchanging a word between them. It was an awkward sort of silence that felt peaceful at first given the hectic, high-stress nature of the life-or-death fight that Lee had just walked away from, but it started to wear away at him after a while. To make things even more awkward, he was hyper-conscious of the fact that this was the first time they had strolled through town together in a while without even touching, much less holding hands.

  “Something bothering you?” Lee asked, no longer being able to take the pressure of the silence weighing down on him.

  “Umm . . .” Amber looked over at him and then nodded. “Yeah. Something is.”

  “You wanna talk about it?”

  “No,” Amber answered, shaking her head.

  “Did I do something wrong?” Lee asked. “You were fairly peppy a few minutes ago. Is it something I said?”

  “No.” Amber shook her head again.

  “Then . . .?” Lee left the question open, hoping she would fill in the details.

  “I just don’t want to talk about it,” Amber answered, her ton
e on edge. “Just leave it alone.”

  “Sorry. You were just being quiet.” Lee didn’t know what else to say.

  “Well, it’s been a stressful day,” Amber replied. “I think I need a drink more than Miller, but I guess that can wait.”

  “Alright,” Lee sighed. He didn’t have much experience with relationships, but he knew that, if someone didn’t want to talk about something, they wouldn’t. Pushing would only make him into the bad guy. “Well, let’s try to get rid of this quick then.” Luckily, bars, like groceries and restaurants, were a dime a dozen in certain parts of the city, and Lee gave her a smile as they walked into one of the first establishments they came across.

  The bar was relatively empty since it was sometime between lunch and dinner. There were a few patrons sitting at the counter, and one or two tables were occupied by some depressed-looking drunks, but save a few clinks, hushed whispers and the occasional noise coming from the back, the entire place was relatively quiet. Conversations were otherwise either muted or non-existent, and none of the excitement or energy he had grown used to from his own bar in Satterfield were present.

  “What can I do for you today, good sir?” the bartender asked, breaking the quiet.

  “A beer, but not for me.” Lee did his best to put on an old-timey, hokey salesman voice and slapped on an over-emphasized smile as he walked in.

  “Then for that lovely lady by your side?” the bartender asked.

  “No, for you!” Lee responded cheerfully. “Today, I bring you the finest beer, compliments of the gods themselves, as a tribute to your continued efforts to improve the lives of so many great and wonderful people in this city. If not for your hard work, these people who work and toil such long days to make this fair and wondrous city even greater might never relax at the end of a hard day.”

  The load of lies that Lee was spitting was obvious to everyone in the tavern, and while someone might have wanted to call him out on it, not a single one spoke out--likely due to the fact that Lee was spouting compliments as much as nonsense.