A moment later a command roared out of the darkness and the Orcish crossbows were raised and fired. A flame roared up behind the crossbows and Eddie distinctly saw a catapult illuminated by the light of its ammunition. The ball of fiery pitch, or rags, or whatever it was, Eddie had no idea, arced through the sky headed towards the walls.
About the same time Charles called up.
“Are they are in our ranging position?”
Eddie had already noticed that the crossbow Orcs were right around the area they'd targeted their own catapult on so he shouted back in the affirmative. The ball of flame was just impacting the wall when the 'Thrum' of the defending catapult set Eddie's teeth vibrating. An answering ball of flame went flying up and over the wall, breaking apart in mid-air to spread out and rain down fiery bits on the crossbow Orcs.
Where those little bits of flame hit, fire surged upwards, consuming whatever flammable item it landed on. Eddie glanced back in shock and saw Dominic standing near Stalker, a little grin on his face. When he saw Eddie looking, he gave him a small wave. Eddie just shook his head then turned and began to fire again.
While the crossbow Orcs hadn't all been slain by the fire, some of them had, and even more of them had thrown away their crossbows as they burned fiercely enough to set their wielders on fire. As a result the missile fire from the Orcs died away to something weak and ineffective. The catapult, however, was still an issue.
I wish I could see if they had another of those Orc Warlords out there, Eddie thought. Because if there isn't we could probably do something about that catapult right away. But that voice barking orders in Orcish sure as hell sounded like a leader-type.
The ladder Orcs were at the walls now, slamming the bases of their ladders into the ground. Eddie caught the glint of a metal spike on the base of a leg of one of them as it was slammed down.
Figures. That way they'll be harder to tip over, he thought.
Then he angled his bow down and started firing. The Orcs were swarming up the ladders, but they had to do so with their shields on their backs and their weapons sheathed, so they were an easy target for shooting at from the sides if they weren't directly below you.
Eddie wasn't the only one to figure that out and Orcs tumbled from some of the ladders. Others remained untouched though and it wasn't long before there were Orcs on the wall walk. Charles called out and the sound of heavily armored adventurers moving forward to engage the Orcs rang out.
Eddie continued firing at Orcs on the ladders, while trying to keep an eye out to either side. Lucky was with him, having been told to stay by him and guard him earlier on. When an Orc that had come over the wall within ten feet of him turned and drew its weapon, Lucky thought it was close enough to guard.
“Lucky, get him low, I have high,” Eddie called out.
He turned and sent an arrow at the Orc's chest. It interposed its shield and the arrow clanged off of it, but then Lucky hit its legs and sent it tumbling off the wall walk inside the walls.
The healers were down there, most of them having some sort of distance healing spell. Most of them also had armor and weapons out. The Orc didn't even manage to stand again before it was surrounded by healers beating it down with their weapons. Eddie, satisfied that it wasn't going to be a danger, turned his attention to outside the walls again.
He started firing, getting into the zone and sending off arrow after arrow to find Orcish flesh. Then a shout roused him from his task.
“Eddie, ramp!” Charles called out.
Eddie had warned the people nearby him along the wall that this might happen, so they were ready to help. It still took several minutes, but then his ramp leaned on the wall, providing passage onto the battlefield.
Charles took the ramp first, by himself.
“Strike Force, ten second count then come down, spread to the sides as you leave the ramp,” Charles yelled.
When he left the base of the ramp he ran out about fifteen feet, then planted himself, sword and shield ready. The Orcs were happy to oblige the foolish human who'd come down on his own and started swarming in towards him.
Right about then another ten adventurers in heavy armor started their descent, two at a time. The first two peeled out to the sides, striking the Orcs that were converging on Charles. As each pair descended they spread out until when the last one was down the eleven adventurers formed an arrowhead.
“Advance!” Charles bellowed.
Eddie was doing his best to keep the Orcs off of them, or at least to ensure that only wounded Orcs made it to them. He kept up his fire as Charles led the others straight across the field, apparently towards the catapult.
Eddie looked out over the field before his next shot. He was starting to run low on arrows again, although he did still have all the Arcing arrows he'd made earlier in the day.
That reminds me, I've got full mana, the healers have healing under control, the field is mostly clear except for where Charles and his guys are. I think it's time to get a little more personal.
“Anyone want to join me in supporting Charles a little closer up?” Eddie called out.
Without waiting for an answer he started trotting down the ramp and out into the field. He was all ready to toss out a Frostbite at any Orcs that charged him, but none did until he got halfway across the field. Then a small group of three Orcs harassing the tail end of Charles' column noticed him and started his way. A series of bowstrings sounded and two of the Orcs dropped.
Eddie turned, he hadn't really expected anyone to follow him, but there they were, about ten of the other archers from the walls had come with him. Ephram gave him a grin from right behind Lucky, who was following right behind Eddie. Then Eddie turned back and released his Frostbite spell at the last Orc approaching them. The Orc didn't drop, but it did slow, and before it reached them it sprouted another five or six arrows that toppled it.
Charles roared ahead, something that sounded like a challenge. A moment later the paladin called out clearly.
“Blinding Light!”
Eddie shut his eyes, expecting an offensive spell that would hit him, instead when he opened them again the entire battlefield was lit up with a silver-gold glow. The Orcs were shying away from it, trying to protect their eyes, but Eddie, and everyone else on his side, could see just fine.
The light revealed an Orcish Warlord with what looked like a pair of subordinates at his side. Standing near them was the crew for the Orcish catapult. A catapult that was now getting knocked into its constituent pieces by two armored adventurers carrying war hammers. The crew was being held at bay by the rest of the adventurers except for Charles, who was advancing on the Warlord.
Eddie lifted his bow, then thought better of his initial plan of shooting a subordinate by himself. He turned quickly.
“On three, target the subordinate to the left of the warlord,” he said.
Then he counted up. On the count of three he released the Arcing arrow he'd nocked, and a volley of arrows came from behind him at the same time.
The Orc they'd shot was still standing so Eddie quickly released two more of his Arcing arrows, the archers behind him following suit with their own attacks. The subordinate, who'd first looked to his leader for orders, then started trotting towards Eddie without instructions, collapsed to the ground.
“You, me,” Charles said, point towards the Warlord and then himself.
The Warlord shook his head and gestured his remaining subordinate towards Charles. However, after one step the subordinate spun around, his back a mass of blood. Stalker shimmered into being and started backing away, the subordinate following.
After about four steps, another adventurer shimmered into being right behind the Orc, planting a pair of short swords in its back. At that, Stalker leapt forward and engaged the Orc. Karl, who was the other person to backstab him, joined in almost gleefully.
Charles looked to the Warlord, shook his head, and repeated his previous gesture.
The fight wasn't brief, but it was
decidedly one-sided. Charles had called out for no-one to intervene and as he fought with the warlord, Eddie finally got a look at Charles' magic. Evidently he had something to enhance his armor, a means of healing himself, and some non-damage dealing aggressive attacks, all of which he used. The fight took nearly ten minutes, but when it was done, the Warlord was down and Charles was still standing, albeit quite a bit the worse for wear.
“Is that all of them?” Charles called out.
Eddie's vision flashed. Instead of the normal notification of a new wave he got a different message. 'Wave 10 concluded. Intervention completed. Bonus: 10,000 experience awarded.'
He heaved a sigh of relief and dismissed the blinking notification light that had appeared, too tired to deal with it right now.
“That's all of them,” he replied. “I'm sure of it.”
~ ~ ~
Chapter Sixteen
Freyja watched as Tiana and Eddie returned from the final Orc battle. She was slightly confused by how she was reacting, there was a feeling, at least she thought it was a feeling, of lightness to her thoughts.
I do believe that I am happy, she thought. Both because Eddie made it through safely and because that makes this a victory over Loki. If he had been sent for a respawn, then perhaps Loki would've been emboldened to try more of such things, but as it stands he will be able to view this as nothing but a defeat.
She'd spent time in both Eddie's and Tiana's perspectives and as a result had been privy to some of their thoughts. Now that feeling of lightness turned to one of weight.
I do not understand the problem that she perceives, Freyja thought. Perhaps I should ask her to explain it to me?
Eddie and Tiana both gobbled down a hurried meal, then headed for their room. They laid down and Eddie moved closer to wrap his arms around Tiana, who stiffened for a moment. They were both asleep in less than five minutes. Then Freyja appeared to Tiana in her mind. She'd been trying to avoid looking at Tiana's dreams, but this time she couldn't help it. Tiana was so fiercely focused on her dream, despite the miserable way it made her feel, that Freyja couldn't dismiss it when she appeared in Tiana's mind.
In the dream Tiana was watching as Eddie made love to some other female, from the gear scattered about Freyja assumed it was another female adventurer. Tiana moaned from the pain it was causing her, and yet she didn't look away. A closer look had Freyja wondering if Tiana's pain was from what she was viewing or from her legs, which looked intensely painful themselves.
Perhaps this is what humans mean when they say they can't look away from something? I'm sure Tiana would be happier not watching this, but I don't understand why she is dreaming of it. I know it isn't based in reality, the part of me that learns from Eddie's thoughts would know if such had happened. Is it a fear that Tiana has? Is that what they call a nightmare, as my horses are so named?
Freyja, sure that Tiana would prefer not to be viewing this, interceded. It took more force than she would've preferred to use in Tiana's mind, but she blocked out the vision Tiana was seeing, replacing it with Freyja's own likeness.
“Tiana, why do you do such things to yourself?” Freyja asked. “That was your own dream, and yet it caused you pain. Why would you choose to dream of such a thing?”
Tiana shook her head, trying to clear out the memory of what she'd just been witnessing.
“Um, Freyja, thank you, but I thought you weren't looking at my dreams,” Tiana said.
“I do not, in general, do so. This one, though, was so very strong in your mind that I could not help but catch sight of it when I tried to speak to you.”
“Oh, sorry about that. It's just a bad nightmare. I didn't choose to dream it, these things come whether I want them to or not.”
“I do understand the use of that term now when it does not represent my own Nightmare. But why would these things come whether you want them to or not? Can you not control your dreams? My perusal of the information online has suggested that Lucid Dreaming is an easily learned skill. As a matter of fact, it's on the list of skills that I plan on suggesting to the devs at some later point. Since knowledge learned in game can be carried out to real life, having it as a skill, and the information necessary to perform it in players' memories, that could be rather beneficial to players who take it, beneficial in their real lives as well as here.”
“Freyja? Not everyone has learned every skill. I never had bad dreams until after my accident, so I never bothered to learn anything of the sort.”
“Ah, yes, that is the other thing I meant to ask. Have you seen the form you've taken in your mind and this dream?”
Freyja stared pointedly at Tiana's legs. They were uncovered since she was wearing the shortest of short-shorts, and they were horribly scarred from the knees down, there was only one large scar on each thigh, but from the knees down her legs were a road map of raised and reddened scars.
“Oh, this is how my legs look in the real world,” Tiana said dejectedly.
“You know that I know that that is a falsehood, do you not?” Freyja said. “I have access to the feed from your pod and can reconstruct your body from that data. This is how you look like in the real world.”
A form shimmered and solidified in front of Tiana. They were nearly identical except for the scars. The scars on the legs were significantly less bad on the the form Freyja had created. The scars on the thighs were barely visible, there were only half as many on the calves, and those that were there were not raised and reddened as those on Tiana's avatar were.
Instead of all of this, Tiana's gaze focused on the chest of the form Freyja had created, then blushed and looked away. Freyja didn't understand her reaction, the two chests were nearly identical, the one on Tiana's avatar only slightly larger than the one on the form Freyja had created.
“Look at the scars, Tiana. They are not as bad as you think,” Freyja said.
Tiana's head slowly turned to examine the legs on the form.
“Still, they're ugly, hideous!” Tiana said. “So why wouldn't Eddie find someone else. We can't stay in this game forever and once we're out...”
She trailed off and Freyja slowly determined the problem. She had to reference a number of recreational novels she'd read from online in order to do so, but then something clicked, and she understood.
“Tiana, are you miserable because you fear losing Eddie?” she asked.
Tiana's avatar burst into tears and Freyja let the form of her priestesses' real body fade away. Unsure of what to do, but having read about it, she sent her own avatar over and hugged Tiana. The priestess immediately buried her face in Freyja's shoulder and sobbed.
Freyja simply stood there for what seemed like a very long time, trying to digest this emotion. She was feeling it as first-hand as she could without experiencing it herself, and the concept was not one she was able to grasp.
When Tiana finally stepped back and looked at Freyja, her eyes were red and swollen. With a wave, Freyja fixed that.
“So you do fear losing him. Do you know what he fears?” Freyja asked.
Tiana shook her head.
“He fears that you're drawing away from him for something he did, and he cannot determine what that thing was to fix it.”
“No, it's not him, it's... them.”
“Them?” Freyja asked.
“All the other women in game, both NPC and adventurer. Okay, maybe not all of them, but a lot. He's brought attention to himself again and again. Now they look at him, I can see them wondering what it is about him that allows him to draw their attention. Then they get this considering look on their face and I know what they're thinking. It's that they want him for themselves. How can I possibly compete if he has his pick of all of them?”
“I know Eddie. He is unaware of such things, and doesn't consider himself as someone who would draw that type of attention. I also know that even if he was aware of it, his choice would not change. But you need to talk to him. I've scanned much data online since you offered your browser to me. A
mong those are recreational novels that I scanned in hope of gaining more insight into humans. Currently, you are acting out the main trope of a large number of them.”
Tiana look confused.
“What?”
“You need to talk to him, miscommunication causes more problems in these novels than anything else. Communicate with Eddie, reveal your fears and discuss it, do not simply draw away because of what might be, or you may well cause more problems.”
“Wait, what novels have miscommunication as a main trope?” Tiana asked, but Freyja had already faded away in order to give Tiana time to think.
The last thing Freyja did as she left was to ensure that Tiana's bad dreams would not return to her that evening, allowing her to rest better than she had in some time.
~ ~ ~
Eddie practically staggered home from the last Orc fight. The combination of the odd sleep schedule he'd had recently combined with the adrenaline from the fight wearing off left him in bad shape.
When he made it back to the inn he shoveled down a plate of food, although he couldn't have told you what it was he ate two minutes later, then headed up for his bed. A few moments after he fell into bed, Tiana did as well. He pulled himself over and wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened when he did that, but before he could ask her what was wrong he was asleep.
He would've slept the clock around but he woke up once a few hours after he fell asleep. Tiana was trembling in his arms, making little sounds of negation. He stroked her back for a few minutes, until she stopped trembling and went silent again, then drifted back to sleep himself.
When he finally woke up it was well past noon, but not quite mid-afternoon yet. He slid out of bed and turned to where Tiana was asleep, still in her priestess robes. He'd slept in his own clothes himself and the first matter of business was to get out of them. The fight had occurred after the overnight cleaning the game did on clothing, so a change was definitely in order.
Defender Light Online Four Page 20