"Benefits?" The female Dwarf asked suspiciously. "As in certain rights and privileges?"
"No," Mervin said. "Tax breaks."
There was a collective "Ohhh" of understanding.
"Okay, so the tithe creates a sort of essence Pool for necessary quests?"
Marvin nodded and the Fallen started speculating excitedly.
“This is a much better system than pay and pray." Vicious said, "They're magically enforced too.”
I agreed that it was a much better system and pulled out a few contracts, reading through them carefully.
Each page was a white, six inch wide square rather than a rectangle. The words were in a flowing spiraling script so stylized I could barely read it.
In the middle there was a two inch space where Talis said the participants were supposed to invest their magic into.
We set off down the road again, many followed my lead and started reading through their own premade contracts.
They all seemed to be basic party contracts that would let them communicate mind to mind and share experience gains.
Aeria and Taren were the first to make contact with each other. They each sliced a finger on the Dwarfs axe, pressed them onto the middle of the contract, stated their full names and that they accepted the contract.
The drifting blood smoke was sucked into the paper and a second later the paper began to burn. It charred into smoke that was an alternating mix of purest white and deepest black before settling into the skin around their right wrists and forearms.
For a second the words of the contract glowed on their skin before fading, though they were still noticeable if you looked close.
Aeria and Taren's faces went through several expressions. Obviously communicating with each other as they smiled, frowned, shook their heads and eventually settled on sappy lovey dovey smiles.
Those smiles stayed in place for several long moments before I lost my patience.
"Well?!" I yelled. "What's it like?"
They both jumped, startled, then blushed when they realized everyone was staring at them, waiting.
"It is…" Aeria spoke thoughtfully, "a little like magic."
We waited for more but they were silent on the subject.
"Right. Sure. Uh huh. That is so helpful! And if my voice starts dripping with anymore sarcasm, I'm going to bottle it and make sarcastic molotov cocktails I can fling around! Until I get a decent answer!"
Everyone stared at me.
"Why do people always stare at me when I say things? It's always staring or running or screaming? Why is that? I mean, I'm just saying aloud what you're all thinking."
Taren spoke up. "I can guarantee, that nobody was thinking that."
"What. I. Mean. Is." Aeria bit off each word and glared about her. "That his thoughts are like a Mage spell. It is a sensation. A feeling. His mind is…"
She paused, and I knew how difficult it would be to put the shape, the sensation and presence of a Mage spell into words.
"Like stone warmed by the sun or, sometimes, the cold air of a dark cave. Alternating smooth and rough… I… " she shrugged and said, "You'll just have to experience it for yourself. It's like describing chocolate or sex, words just aren't enough to explain it properly."
I grinned. "Okay then! Who wants to contract with me! Multiple contracts are acceptable! As long as they're not dudes! Well okay, maybe one or two dudes. I can be open minded! Hey! Why is everyone backing away from me? Come on!"
Aeria did her patented Aegis Elf eye roll and said, "They're probably afraid of what goes on inside your head. I know the very idea of it makes me shudder."
"I think you mean shiver, don't worry. I have that effect on most women."
Taren glared at me but before he could issue any threats, or skip straight to the face axing, my head jerked in the direction we were traveling.
I put a hand up, told him to wait and inhaled deeply. I smelled the forest, the animals in it, the various scents of the others walking along side me.
And the burnt, magic rot smell of Whatsits. Lots of them.
“Wait.” I called out, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Somethings coming. A lot of somethings or… a really big something.”
Whatever they heard in my voice must have made an impression because everyone stopped and looked at me.
"He's right," Savage said. "I smell it too."
Suddenly, down the road and on the left side there was a rustling of bushes. I tensed and those who had weapons readied them.
There was the snapping of twigs and the pounding of feet before a figure burst out of the forest, stumbling drunkenly. I didn't smell alcohol however, I smelled sweat, blood and the recognisable oder of a female Neon Elf.
I was already moving toward her as I yelled to Aeria, “She's hurt!”
The Elf quickly followed me, as did the others.
The girl stumbled, fell and I burned magic to rush over to her. Just managing to slide under her to cushion her fall.
She had that gawky, stretched look some Subadults got stuck in for a while, made all the more distinct by her race. All Elves from Neon looked a little like stretched out humans with stretched out ears.
“Anybody got any water?” Before I had even finished the sentence one of the Centaurs, Mervin, handed me a leather water bottle thing.
The Elf was gasping, struggling to draw in breath as she tried to speak.
I spoke first. "I’m 24601-01. Don't speak. Drink a little and just nod yes or no. Is something chasing you?”
She sipped water between gasps and nodded.
Aeria went to heal her but shook her head after a few seconds. "She had a few scratches but she's not really hurt, just exhausted."
Elfs eyes were glazed and watering from fatigue.
At least, that's what I thought until I recognized the smell of fear sweat on her skin. I'm not sure how I knew what fear smelled like, but I did. This close I couldn't help but notice it.
“One big thing?” I asked her and got a head shake.
"Lots of small black, jumping around like giant fleas from hell, things?”
A nod.
I looked up at the others and said, "We need to get moving. Now."
The Elf's breath slowed, her eyes drooped and I was afraid she was about to pass out.
“Hey!” I shook her a little. "How many? How many did you pull?”
She took a deep breath and with her voice still shaking said, “I think…it was… all of them.”
Chapter Eight: When Being Chased By A Scary Thing. You Don't Have To Outrun The Scary Thing. Just The Person Next To You. Unless…
Zerg attack! Was my first thought. My second thought was, RUN! RUN LIKE SLENDERMAN IS BEHIND YOU AND LICKING HIS LIPS! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE THINKING THINGS?! RUN!
My third thought was, I wish Five was here.
“Whatsits are zerging!” I called out, hauling the Elf girl to her feet and pushing her toward Aeria. "How long until we reach the city?”
“What does zerging mean?” David demanded. "Is it like swarming?”
“Yes. Exactly. It's exactly like swarming. They'll be here any second, I can smell them. A lot of them."
I glanced at Savage and she took in a long breath through the nose, coughed and nodded with a grimace.
“You mean like the last time they swarmed us?” Aeria asked.
“More.” I wrinkled my nose. “A lot more.”
David glanced between us and started shouting commands that boiled down to everybody run until he told you to turn and fight.
"Can't we keep running?" Someone asked.
Mervin answered, "If it was just us, then yes. But you two leggers would be overrun before you could make it.”
If this had been a normal game world I wouldn't of been so concerned. But instinct sucker punched my higher thought functions and now it was in charge.
It must of had the right idea though, because the Centaurs were acting as if a Nilum swarm was serious business.
We
ran, well jogged. The sense of urgency we felt was tempered by the Centaurs calm demeanor and we couldn't fight while exhausted anyway.
Mervin, the muscley Centaur, casually picked up our newest traveling partner and sat her on his back.
This seemed to shock her out of her fatigue and she said, “I'm sitting on a Centaur…”
“An alien Centaur.” I corrected.
As Mervin started moving at a canter she scrambled for a hand hold.
“Yes, you are,” he said and looked over his shoulder. "Now. Hands.”
The girl blinked at him.
"Your. Hands.”
“Um…”
The other Centaurs chuckled while they trotted.
“Hold onto my waist. Not my chest.”
Which is when everyone, including the girl, saw that her hands were grabbing his pecks rather firmly.
She let out a "Eeek!" sound as she immediately lowered her hands.
The other Centaurs chuckled louder. Mervin joined in as well, a bit ruefully and asked, “Why do first time riders always go for the chest?”
“It has to be a biped thing, because male and females both do it,” Talis said. "It hasn't happened to me once since I started telling them beforehand where to put their hands.“
"I have so, so many inappropriate remarks," I said in a strained voice. "But I will restrain myself."
"Thank you," Aeria said dryly.
“They're coming!” Cashus, who was panting and lagging being said.
I looked back and…
“Wow. We are doomed.”
Aeria looked back and her eyes widened. She sped up, pushed past me and yelled, “Outta my way! I'm too pretty to die!”
“Me too!” Tahaniria yelled, passing me on the other side.
“Me three!” I shouted after them and seeing them glance at each other, I added, “And you shouldn't roll your eyes while you're running! You might trip and fall and then where would your pretty faces be!”
“We are not doomed.” David called out.
“A massive wave of unrelenting Whatsits are rabbiting towards us like magically engineered fleas from the depths of Hell, bent on feasting upon our souls and taking our teeth as trophies while we scream ‘Nooo! I'm too pretty to die!’, how are we not doomed?!”
David didn't answer but started issuing orders about preparing to fight. The Centaurs slowed and Mervin let his passenger down.
They spread out in a line, ensuring they had enough room to swing their polearms. Which they did, slowly at first, warming themselves up as they walked steadily backward.
“Who has combat skills and offensive magic?” David asked as he and the other guards faced the oncoming mass.
"Heck, I'm almost magically offensive," I muttered before stepping up and saying, "I have Force Spike and can back you up."
Taren stepped forward as well and said, "I'm going for Warrior, not a tank but I've got some experience."
"There's not much difference when you're level one with a single weapon." Mervin said, not unkindly.
“I'm Mage healer!” Aeria called out. "Touch heals only!”
“Mage Debuffer.” Tahaniria’s voice shook but she walked up beside Aeria and didn't run. "Shadow Bind. Single target only.”
“Every little bit helps,” Tails said. "Anyone else?”
“My health transfer ability is unlocked,” Vicious said. "But I have to personally hurt something to heal others. I also have a limited range fire spell but not much magic, yet. I had a knife but it was… misplaced.”
Talis pulled a sheathed dagger from her belt and tossed it. “Its good quality with a minor bleed enchantment. Don't lose it.”
Vicious caught it with one hand and from the easy way he held it, I could tell he had some experience with blades. He stood with Dash while Savage stayed with the other ranged Classes.
The rest of the group called out their Class and abilities. Two were female Shadow Elf Wizards who didn't look at all confident. Two were Neon Elves and had psionic abilities but only Casus had a Telekinetic skill while the other was telepathic.
There was an eager looking Blood Kin female who said she was a Witch with an impediment curse and the rest were fighters. One Aegis Dwarf held a spear like she knew how to use it and the other two were nervous looking Light Elf males with swords who looked clueless.
We set ourselves in the most basic formation, tanks in front, DPS backing them up, casters and ranged in the middle.
The main body of the swarm was still a ways away but a few of the Nilum were already close.
The leading Whatsit met instant death as Mervin cut straight through it, slicing it in half while it was in mid jump.
The creatures black essence spilled out and followed the retreating Centaur even as another Whatsit leapt to attack.
“Sorry guys, I'm out.” An orange haired Neon Elf said. "I'm a crafter not a fighter. I'm not going to be much help here anyway.”
"Really Dollore?" Cashus said irritably. "You're really gonna leave us hanging?"
Dollore threw his hands in the air. "I'm a Telepath! What can I do?"
"Um, call for help?" I asked.
He clenched his fists."My skill is too low! I haven't even reached adequate yet! I can send a message if someone is close or I can see them."
David broke in and said, "Then go. Go as fast as you can and keep sending for help as you do. Maybe we'll get lucky."
“I'm going too.” The Elf who pulled the monster train said. “I have a lot of endurance and speed.”
We all looked at her and she blushed. "Back on the Outside I was doing college track. My estimated stats reflect that and I was a curiour back on Neon. I thought… I could just outrun their aggro. I know how to run properly. There's a good way to breath and a bad… I mean…"
She abruptly cut herself off, likely realizing she was babbling. She blushed brighter she said, “Sorry. Not supposed to talk the Outside.”
While Aeria and Taren quietly assured her that was fine, David started talking.
“Go then, tell all you see down the road of the situation and tell them to make for the gates."
The two Neon Elves took off down the road, the unnamed girl leaving Dollore in the dust.
David snorted and spoke to the rest of us. "Whether we survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive or not, the swarm must be dealt with.”
Taren jabbed a finger at me. "Don't. Start. Singing.”
I closed my mouth.
Then I opened it again. "Not a fan of Gloria Gaynor, huh.”
“I am actually. It's just that letting you sing any of her songs,” Taren paused to violently chop stray a Whatsit to death, “would be a crime against music lovers everywhere.”
“Hey! Rude!” I spiked two others that got through. "And understandable.”
The main force was almost on us and David asked the rest of us to cover them for a few seconds.
We did without asking why, the Dwarf standing in the middle while I did the DPS dance around him.
Aeria stayed behind us and not with the ranged, as her healing was limited to touch. She darted over to heal Taren when the odd attack got through and I did what I could to draw the creatures attention, making sure she could do her job.
Vicious stayed back as he wasn't needed at the moment and Tahaniria kept up her Shadow Bind spell.
The Witch spat curses. Each curse was a single word that fluttered from her mouth like a barely seen shadowy something. Flying with the erratic speed of a bat it bound whatever was hit with weakness and fatigue.
I couldn't put the word into, um, words, but it sounded rough, guttural and somehow sluggish.
The Wizards moved, their fingers flowing and flickering through the air as they hissed words under their breath.
This went on for a while until a large fireball shot from each of their outstretched hands.
I would learn later that they were actually tracing letters from the Source Language and trying to make sounds that mimicked what the symb
ols felt like.
These gestures and sounds were unnecessary for the spell but it helped them focus on the shape, texture and feel of the words. Like training wheels for Wizards.
The people with Combat Classes slashed, hacked and stabbed as they defended the flanks.
David looked approvingly around as he and the others pulled out a green potion from their pouches. After pulling the corks they put the vial in their mouths and held them in place with their teeth.
We fought at a standstill, killing the leading Nilum as they came at us in twos and threes until the main mass was on us. Right before it hit David shouted a garbled, “Fall back!” and we started backing up, letting the Centaurs stay in front.
The wave of Nilum hit and we learned just what experts could do.
It turns out, they could, and did, make the rest of us look like chumps.
“Woooow,” Taren said, drawing the word out long enough to convey all sorts of things. The decimation of his personal pride being foremost.
“I know right,” I said, then added. "It makes you want to go all Goku on your training doesn't it.”
“It's actually pretty sexy.”
We all slowly turned to look at Tahaniria.
She looked back at us and rolled her eyes. "Oh grow up.”
I was wondering if eye rolling was an ingrained racial trait of Aegis Elves before remembering that it was a Subadult trait. Just like excessive shrugging. I should probably stop doing both.
Then Vicious shouted, “Look alive boys and girls or get dead! We got incoming!”
Despite three expert level warrior Centaurs spinning polearms around like giant batons of devastating death, a few got past them.
We fought on, steadily retreating as more and more Nilum got through.
Between casting shadow bindings Tahaniria picked up what loot drops she could. Depressingly, we couldn't go for the loot the Centaurs killed but we couldn't of kept it anyway. We would learn later that all kills done by guards on duty were confiscated as property of the city, town or village.
We had only been fighting for about a few minutes when it became clear we couldn't hold the line, there were just too many of them.
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