The others all received the quest as well, and Leroy pumped a fist in the air.
“Barely out the gate and we’ve already got a quest!”
They walked across the meadow in the general direction of the orc settlement. Upon reaching the forest’s edge, they found that the ‘trail’ Campbell had said they could follow was little more than a game trail. Still, it headed in the approximate direction they wanted, so they followed it.
Griff took the lead, shield on his left arm and his hand on his weapon. Behind him came Lisa, then Jo, Leroy, and Meg in the back with her halberd over her shoulder. Next to Griff, she was the best armored of the group and should be able to hold off any attacks from the rear until they could get organized.
They weren’t more than a half-hour’s walk from the village when a bear stumbled across their path. Griff froze for a moment, a flashback of the zombie bear’s attack causing him to hesitate.
The bear had no such compunction. It roared and charged at the group of tasty dwarves.
Lisa give Griff a shove from behind, bringing him back into the moment in time to raise his shield and lean into the charge with his legs bent. The impact knocked him backward several feet, and he nearly tripped over Lisa.
A fireball burst against the bear’s snout as Jo entered the fight, and the few seconds it took the bear to recover were enough for Griff to draw his axe and advance on the animal. He shouted to get its attention, then swung his axe into its shoulder for good measure. The bear focused on him instantly and began to swipe at his shield with its right forepaw. The impacts rang off the shield, sharp claws screeching across the metal and scoring the wood. Griff gritted his teeth and took the blows, occasionally managed to strike one of his own. He inspected their foe.
Great Forest Bear
Level 20
Health 1,800/2,000
The bear stood taller than Griff and the others. Griff’s face was about shoulder height on the monster. When it stood on its hind legs and roared in anger, it was more than twice the tank’s height. Griff stepped back a pace, not wanting to let the massive thing come down atop him. As he did so, Meg stepped past him. The tip of her halberd sank deeply into the bear’s gut, causing it to scream in pain. She quickly withdrew the weapon, ripping a wide hole in the animal’s hide and causing a fountain of blood.
She withdrew two steps so that she was once again behind Griff’s shield, but remained ready to attack again. Another fireball struck the bear’s underside as it fell back to all fours.
The burning pain combined with the deep wound it had suffered sent it into a rage. It began to huff and bounce from left paw to right as it took swing after swing at Griff.
Leroy’s healing spells were falling on the dwarf almost nonstop now. He was beginning to sweat as his mana bar steadily drained below fifty percent. The bear still had more than half its health. This was going to be a close one.
Just then a battlecry sounded behind the creature, and Lisa leapt upon its back. She dug in with both of her short swords, jamming one into each shoulder as she used them to keep herself balanced on the thing’s back. At least one of the strikes had been a critical hit, and both were back-stabs. The bear’s health dropped instantly down to forty percent. It was bleeding heavily from the gut wound, its fur smoking in several places.
Griff taunted the bear again, not wanting it to focus on Lisa after the massive damage she’d just inflicted. He slammed his shield into the thing’s snout and felt a couple of teeth break. That got its attention for sure.
Lisa pulled out her right sword and slammed it into the back of the bear’s neck with all her might. Then using that for leverage, she did the same with her left-hand sword.
She felt something give under the second sword, and the bear’s roaring ceased abruptly. Its legs went weak and it collapsed on its belly. Still alive, but unable to move. She called out “I severed its spine! Finish it quick!”
Meg obliged instantly. Stepping forward with spear lowered, she drove the point of the halberd into the bear’s eye and deep into its brain, putting it out of its misery.
As Lisa climbed off the carcass, the three younger members of the group were all consumed in golden light as they leveled up. Meg had been the highest level among them at six when they’d started out this morning. A level twenty beast kill, even with the experience shared among the group, was enough to grant each of them a level. At only level four, Leroy gained two.
They took a moment to allow Lisa to loot and skin the bear. It wasn’t pretty, as her skinning skill was still very low-level. But she was sure she’d be able to make something useful with the hide. Leroy was interested in the bear’s heart and gallbladder, saying something about potion ingredients. And they took the bear meat, teeth, and claws, thinking they might trade them to the orcs.
The group moved on up the trail, trying to keep a quick pace without draining their stamina too badly. Every once in a while they’d have to stop to fight a bear, or boar. Once they encountered a hunting party of five goblins. But they did well; the occasional fights were teaching them how best to combine their skills and abilities during a fight. When the goblins ambushed them, Griff managed to draw their aggro upon himself almost immediately. Then he took refuge behind his shield as Lisa and Meg got behind the monsters and cut through them like a scythe through wheat.
Meg’s home-run swing of her halberd blade sliced cleanly through the first goblin’s neck before embedding itself into the torso of the next. As she ripped the blade free, Lisa dove forward and plunged a blade each into the backs of the leftmost two goblins. One died immediately as the sword punctured its heart. The other took the blade through a shoulder and screamed in pain as it tried feebly to strike at Lisa. Jo finished it with a fireball to the face. Suddenly finding himself with only one small foe, Griff stepped forward and planted his axe in the goblin’s forehead. It dropped like a stone as he removed the blade.
This time Griff leveled along with the others. The creatures and monsters in this part of the forest were all at levels fifteen to twenty-five and were giving pretty good experience. Not to mention the ridiculous loot and cash drops. The goblins that would normally have carried a few coppers at best were dropping several silver coins each.
It was past midday when they spotted the waterfall. Leroy had led them across the creek at a wide shallows, and they were now nearing the orc settlement. Griff knew this because two orc hunters emerged from the underbrush with spears in hand and pointed at his face.
He held up his hands in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “Whoa there, lads! We’re just here to trade.”
He looked over his shoulder, adding “Put yer weapons away.”
As his party members stowed their weapons and raised their empty hands, Griff reached into his bag and withdrew a handful of bear claws. Holding them out toward the orcs, he said, “See? Trade. Campbell sent us to ya.”
One of the orcs nodded, and they both turned their backs to the group as if they were not at all concerned about attack. As it turned out, they didn’t need to be. As they began to lead Griff and company toward their camp, four more orcs with bows appeared out of the forest around them.
Griff chuckled. The fearsome humanoids all stood at least two meters tall. The bows carried by the archers were as long as they were tall. Their arrows were a full meter in length and as thick as Griff’s thumb, with stone heads lashed on with animal sinew.
A short ten minute walk brought them to the orc settlement. There was a gated entry covered with animal bones, skulls, and other totems. But the gate was freestanding, with no doors. Or walls, for that matter.
The camp was semi-permanent, with stick-built huts and thatched roofs scattered about. A stream running nearby provided a water source. And there was a massive fire pit in the center of the cluster of huts.
The group followed their escort through the gateway and into the growing crowd of orcs that began to gather around the fire pit. There were more than just soldiers and hunters. There
were orc females bearing very young children, and older children running about and laughing.
An extremely elderly orc shaman made her way out of a hut near the fire, using an ornately decorated staff for support. One of the archers ran ahead and disappeared into a hut that was larger than the rest. Griff assumed it was their leader’s residence.
A moment later, a much larger orc emerged from the doorway with his head lowered. As he straightened to his full height, he stood easily twice Griff’s height and three times his mass. His tusks were chipped and studded with metal and jewels, and battle scars were etched into every bit of visible skin. One eye was half-closed with scar tissue from what must have been a horrible wound.
He approached the group and, without ceremony, crossed his legs and sat in front of Griff. Which still left him a bit taller than the dwarf. He motioned for Griff and the others to sit as well, and none argued. The other orcs joined them.
“I am Ag’thar, chief of the Falling Water tribe. Welcome to our home, traders. How is my friend Campbell?”
Meg gave the orc a little wave.
“Me da’s well, thank ye. He said to pass on his greetings, and to tell ye that yer still too ugly to find a decent mate.” She grinned at the chief, who roared with laughter.
“I see much of your sire in you, red one.” His grin showed off the rest of his tusks and very sharp fangs. “You must join us for our evening meal. You have come to trade, yes?”
Griff nodded. “We have brought goods to trade, yes. But our main purpose is to seek the dungeon near here. We wish to test our skill inside.”
Ag’thar thumped his chest with a massive fist. “Good! Brave warriors are always welcome here! We will trade, then eat, then sleep! In the morning, one of my scouts will lead you to the dungeon.”
Not wanting to offend the giant chief by refusing, Griff agreed. He and his party produced the spoils from the kills they made during their morning trek, and negotiations began.
Chapter 13
Battle!
Mace and Shari were awakened by their alarm. Shari still wasn’t comfortable with Peabody being their alarm clock, so they’d used the one on the stand by the bed. Mace took a moment to reflect on that. All his life, he’d had a phone by his side, or in hand, that he’d used to tell time, set alarms, look up information, take pictures or communicate via holo-call. Now he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen his phone, or where it might be. So many things had changed, and priorities changed, since the world ended.
He reached over and pulled a still sleepy Shari closer to him. All he cared about was right here on the thirtieth level of this underground sanctuary. And soon enough, if he was lucky, he’d trade it for the wide world of Elysia.
They rose and showered before heading to the kitchen. Mace made pancakes as Shari grabbed a jar of peaches from the fridge and spooned some into two bowls. Returning the rest of the jar to the fridge, she grabbed a bottle of syrup and sat down to wait for Mace. Just a couple minutes later, he brought over two stacks of pancakes and they dug in. The meal was quick and silent, other than Mace making a faint ‘nom nom’ sound once in a while.
After cleaning up, they made a quick check with Peabody as to the status of the other survivors. The AI reported that the Russians had been online and received the message with no response. There had been no activity from the survivors in the Hong Kong facility. The folks in Sydney and Texas had not logged in at all.
Seeing no point in sending additional messages if the previous could not have been received yet, they retired to their pods.
Waking up at the inn, they quickly geared up. Mace summoned Minx and Shari summoned Mion, but not Snuffles. The piggy-tank would only get in the way in the tight confines of the warehouse and the other buildings where they were about to do battle.
They met the others downstairs and had a late supper of leftover ribs, which Mace did not mind one bit. The food provided a buff of +3 to Stamina and +1 to Health Regeneration for two hours. There was a celebration in full swing. The crew of the Sea Sprite had completed the memorial service for their dead, and were now well into the victory celebration. Captain Jorin joined them at their table.
“Delilah tells me you’ve offered to pay for our little party here. That could end up being expensive, you know. My boys can drink. And Delilah will surely pad the bill by at least half.” He was slightly tipsy and grinning.
Mace clapped the old elf on the back. “Your crew won a great battle! And there may be more to come.”
As they made their way to the warehouse district on the docks, they passed an alley that featured a half-dozen dark figures lurking just outside the glow of the streetlamps. Layne cleared her throat.
“Down that alley is the sailor tavern controlled by the slavers. They commonly ambush the drunken fools as they depart the tavern to return to their ships.”
Mace stopped in his tracks. A quick check of his UI told him they still had fifteen minutes to get to the warehouse. Plenty of time.
He turned toward the alley and called, “You! In the alley. Show yourselves,” as he walked toward them.
The dark figures that had been lounging against the walls straightened up and put hands on weapons. One of them a half-orc wearing rogue leather with a bandolier of throwing knives across his chest, answered.
“Who are you to call us out? Move along, drow. Or suffer the consequences.”
Mace stopped a pace away from the larger Black Flame fighter. “Name’s Mace. I’m the guy who killed Justin and his men at Darkstone stronghold.” He paused and then motioned toward Lila. “Actually she killed Justin. And probably more than half of his men. Isn’t she cute?” he smiled at the half-orc as Lila waived politely.
Mace continued. “Oh. And the fifty guys your boss sent to retrieve the shipment of slaves? They’re dead too. As are the group that was on the boat headed to check on why you lot lost contact. I’m not sure how many of them were on that boat, but it looked like a lot.”
The orc roared and drew twin daggers as Mace did the same. The fighters in the alley drew weapons and advanced, except for two in the back who drew bows.
They both fired at Mace, who activated his Liquid Armor just before the arrows struck. The arrows bounced off of him and splatted into the mud at his feet.
Shari immediately began firing arrow after arrow into the archers, hitting them in torso, arm and face. Lila scooted up behind Mace, using him as cover while she slipped into stealth mode and moved around behind the archers.
While Mace was deflecting blows from the half-orc, Layne began to play a tune that slowed and fatigued their foes. Shari got a critical hit and one of the archers dropped dead. The other was too wounded to draw his bow, and began to lean against the nearby wall. She left him for later and turned her attention to the three melee fighters who were advancing on Mace.
As she put an arrow into a human with a short sword, Lila appeared behind the rearmost fighter. She leapt onto the woman’s back and stabbed one dagger into her shoulder where it connected to her collarbone. Using that dagger as leverage, she drew the other one across the woman’s neck, opening it from ear to ear. There was nothing more than a faint gurgle as the little halfling removed her dagger and dropped to the ground. By the time the corpse hit the ground, Lila was back in stealth mode and moving toward her next victim.
The remaining two melee reached Mace and joined their leader in trying to stab him. Mace danced and dodged, avoiding or parrying every strike. When Lila appeared underneath the half-orc and jammed a dagger into his nether regions, he dropped both weapons and screamed. Grabbing at his crotch with both hands, he vomited on one of his companions.
Lila used her second dagger to slice the artery in his inner thigh, then rolled backwards as he fell. She casually walked back to the injured archer, who held up a hand and began to plead. She ignored him and jammed a dagger up into his heart.
That left only two of the original six fighters. One was bleeding badly, Shari’s arrow embedded in
his chest. She put another one in his throat, and he fell with a gurgle and a look of surprise.
Mace grabbed the remaining fighter’s collar with his left hand and pulled him forward. The surprised man made a feeble attempt at stabbing the drow, but his aim faltered as he saw the smoking enchanted dagger coming for him. Mace calmly inserted the soul dagger under the man’s chin and into his brain. The fighter’s dagger actually scraped Mace’s cheek as he fell backward. There was a burning sensation, and an icon appeared on his UI indicating that he had a ‘poisoned’ debuff.
Shari tossed a HoT on him, and the ticks of poison damage were more than offset by her healing ticks. Lila was already looting the bodies, and it wasn’t long before they moved on toward the warehouse. The whole fight had taken less than a minute.
Two blocks from the warehouse, they found Callahan and a dozen others waiting for them. Mace hadn’t expected such a turnout. He shook hands with the smith, and was quickly introduced to the group. Several were merchants, and one was a boat captain who’d seen two others have their boats commandeered in recent days, and didn’t want the same for himself.
Mace said, “Tell me about the warehouse. How many exits are there?”
A young dwarf stepped forward.
“I worked in there before they killed my master. There be the front door, a back door, and a wide double door on the side for wagons and such. And there be a trap door in the floor of the office that opens to the water below.”
Mace thought it over for a moment. He looked at the dwarf. Then he pointed to the three members of Callahan’s group who held bows or crossbow. “I need you to take these three to a spot where you can see anyone who drops from that trap door. Kill them as soon as they pop up out of the water.” The four of them nodded grimly and set off with the dwarf in the lead.
Mace pointed to Callahan. The massive smith was fully armored, a shield on one arm and a two-handed sword held easily in his right. “I want you to come inside with us. We could use a shield. I’m going to seal the double doors on the side so they can’t escape that way. The rest of you, I want you to cover the back. Kill anything that passes through that door without hesitation. There shouldn’t be too many.” He looked them over. The nine of them had an assortment of weapons. Two carried shields with one-handed weapons. One a sword, the other an axe. Two carried longer swords and wore chain armor. A rogueish looking merchant held a dagger in each hand. Two half-elves behind him looked like twins, and each carried a pair of katanas. Others carried spears and short swords. One held a staff and a wand.
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