Sidewinder blinked, nodding slowly. “Yeah, okay. But we want part of the loot.”
“We can make arrangements,” Tyr said flatly. “If reward is the deciding factor in the Two-souled helping, then by my Crown, I shall make sure you are all compensated.”
“Cool, that’s what we wanted.”
“Now that the delegate chosen to represent the less well-known Guilds has spoken, I shall continue,” Roberto said. “When we reach the next gate, His Majesty will be able to erase the mist that clouds this valley. Once that’s done, we will be sending scouts over the prison itself to see what we’re facing. This is going to impose a high toll on any who go.”
“We understand. All of the Imps have volunteered,” Yuna said.
“We have hundreds of Cherubim that wish to go,” Parsnew said.
“Very well. I shall want at least three hundred; speak to each other and bring me a list,” Roberto said.
“What aboot these gifts?” the surly Dwarf asked.
Roberto fixed a glare on him, and the Dwarf shifted after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I will get to them, if you can wait just a little longer, Werrick Cleanhome.”
“Cleanhome?” came a stifled snicker from an unknown person.
“Aye. It be me family name, handed down to us from Hearth herself,” Werrick bristled. “Just cuz ye do nay have me lineage does nay mean ye should be laughin’.”
“Easy, Werrick, easy,” the other Dwarf smiled. “They were just surprised that one of your famous lineage was here.”
“Ye talk like an Elf, Gaston, but ye fight like a true Dwarf, so I will accept ye words.”
“If you don’t mind,” Roberto said forcibly, stopping further conversation. “Thank you. The gifts are coins bestowed by each god that will invoke their favor for a single fight. Only their Champion may invoke them, so you will be given the coin, and when you use them is up to you. I would suggest that the Champions coordinate so you do not overlap more than necessary. With no idea of what we will be facing yet, we can’t come up with a truly solid plan of attack.”
“We will be accepting a limited number of volunteers to go with the Two-souled into the prison proper,” Roberto said, then was drowned out by the hubbub of people trying to volunteer. He whistled shrilly to quiet them so he could continue. “We will only accept those who aren’t leading any nation’s contingent, so collect up to a hundred of your members who know that death is extremely likely and still wish to go.”
“Sir, I request—” Wilbur began.
“Denied, Lord Theron,” Tyr said firmly but gently. “I’ve already agreed to let Jones and Dracon go. I can’t let all of my loyal retainers go.”
“Brother,” Alburet said, “Please don’t. We’ve already lost Deirdre and Chris to this raid.”
Wilbur stiffened. “Damn it... I withdraw my request, Sire. My wife has lost enough loved ones already.”
“Thank you. I will be counting on you in the coming days,” Tyr said. “Continue, Commander.”
“As I was saying, get me a list of your volunteers—”
“Sir, I request,” Captain Mantoya said. “They have killed my father, and I will kill them.”
“Denied, Captain,” Roberto said. “Everyone who has served under your father looked up to him. It would be a blow to the Crown if your legacy was lost here. You will fight when I do.”
Mantoya froze in anger before snapping off a salute and stepping back stiffly. “As you command, sir.”
“Sire, I have a quest from Mother. I must accompany Alpha Company,” Vladimir said.
“Granted,” Tyr nodded.
“I have turned my command over to my second,” Wildmane said. “As Leo’s Champion, I must go.”
“Understood, Lord Wildmane,” Roberto said. “Champions, come collect your coins and be prepared to meet again once we have more intel. We move out in twenty minutes. Each of you, take a Raidstone with you. These will be for the command staff. Collect the other Raidstones for your subordinates, one per group under your command.”
Chapter Forty
The valley they were marching down was filled with white mist that limited vision to a dozen feet and dampened the sound of all the boots marching. Alburet examined the mountain walls as best he could, noting that they had been smoothed in the distant past, but now had a number of spots where someone could climb them. The vague sounds of voices ahead of them shouting or screaming was the only indication that something was happening. The raid came to a halt as they realized something was going on.
“Report,” Roberto commanded, holding a Raidstone. “Have the Shamans from the Pride assist, they’ll be the best ones to handle them. Have the others restrain the possessed, but don’t hurt them. It will only take longer for the Shamans to clear the Spirits out otherwise.”
“Spirits?” Tyr asked when Roberto stopped talking.
“Twisted Spirits is what I’ve been told, a few hundred from the sound of it. They attacked in unison. It’s making things problematic, but the guards are responding. We’ll be slowed for a bit.”
“The next gate is miles inside the first gate, but we have no idea how far we’ve traveled with this damnable mist,” Tyr sighed. “No word from the contingent we left behind?”
“None, but the Two-souled we left there were quite happy with the quest, so everything should be fine,” Roberto replied. “They are only supposed to use the Raidstone if they come under attack. We’ll hold here while the spirits are dealt with.”
Long minutes slowly ticked by before the screams from ahead died away, and after waiting a little longer, Roberto finally nodded. “The Twisted Spirits have been put down. We’ll be moving again.”
The Spirits attacked twice more, making the raid grind to a halt until they were dealt with each time. Hours had passed from the time they left the first gate before they reached the second. Heart’s Light was the first to pass through the open gateway, taking up a defensive posture as they waited for the King to dispel the mist.
Finally reaching the second gate, Tyr’s group— surrounded by Alpha Company— advanced to the front. Stepping past the gates, Tyr summoned his sword and held it above his head. A pulse of golden light emanated from the blade, pushing the mist back by a dozen feet. More pulses of golden light came from the blade as Tyr kept it aloft and the mist was pushed further back. He stood there unmoving for several minutes before the sword vanished.
“It’s done,” Tyr said.
“Scouts, head out,” Roberto said.
Hundreds of Imps and Cherubim flew overhead, dispersing as they went to cover a wider area. Beams of oily-black energy shot up from ahead, forcing them to evade as they tried to scout.
“It looks like they’re waiting for us,” Ioaniss said.
“Indeed, we have been,” a sneering voice echoed off the walls. “Welcome to your final resting place, Tyr. Once we have ripped the crown from your head, we’ll be helping our new Emperor expand his domain to the other continents.”
“Skippy,” Alburet muttered as his hands clenched.
“Come out and fight if you think you can take what Justice himself has given me,” Tyr replied.
“You are not our monarch anymore. You and your false gods hold no sway here,” Skippy scoffed. “If you can manage to reach us, we will kill you, but it amuses us to see you lose your men to the undead.”
“All the scouts are down, Sire,” Roberto said softly.
“Did you really think that any of them would make it through?” Skippy laughed, a murmur of other laughter sounding behind him.
Roberto handed Tyr the map that Fluff had made based on reports from BJ and BB along with the Copies of the other Summoner’s minions.
“We’ll be fine. Make your peace as we will be coming for you,” Tyr said. He took out a stone and addressed it much more quietly “Raid, we will be using Raidstones for communication from this point forward. Look to your leaders for orders.”
Skippy’s mocking laughter echoed around them as Rob
erto called the various leaders toward the tent being set up. Stacia grabbed Alburet and kissed him hard. When she let him go, his anger had calmed somewhat. Giving her a thankful smile, he headed for the tent along with Fluff.
Inside, Roberto spread the drawing out on the table. “This is what we know of the area closest to us. We didn’t get anyone further into the complex, so we only have the first two wings. Alburet, is this one the intake area you found?”
Alburet looked at the map, “Yeah, looks right to me. There was nothing of note in that building when I went through it before. It likely holds a number of their forces now, though. Here’s the map of the interior I had Fluff sketch for me last night.”
“Lord Lightfist, you will be leading the raid into the area. The Imps were able to see a number of undead in the courtyard, and that a number of those damnable beams came from the building itself.”
“We’ll clear the building before we go for the gate,” Benedict said. “Can’t leave anything behind us. The building doesn’t look complicated, so it shouldn’t take long to clear.”
“What plan are we going to use?” Blaze asked.
“For this stuff early, I’m going to let the small Guilds spearhead the push,” Benedict said. “Early is the best time to let them help. For the bosses at the end, we’ll need serious, disciplined raiders.”
“We can be serious raiders,” Sidewinder huffed.
“Yes, you can be, but you’re not part of a large Guild that has focused on this moment. I would suggest either pushing to make one or joining one after this so you can be a full part of the next raids.”
“Whatever, dude,” Sidewinder growled. “We’ll show you what we can do.”
“I look forward to it,” Benedict replied. “Delvers will be your back up.”
Blaze eyed Benedict for a long moment. “Sure.”
“Alpha Company will be guarding the gate to the next wing, and we will hold in the middle to assist either way as needed.”
“Got it,” Gerald said.
“Unless we find a boss, we will not be deploying any of the favors,” Benedict continued. “We don’t know how many we will be facing, so I want to keep them in reserve for as long as possible.”
“Should tha’ nay be our discretion?” Werrick asked.
“Probably,” Benedict conceded. “However, I’m thinking about what it might take to beat the bigger threats we know exist. The Dragon Eater, Ophelia, the Prophet, and Stein: those four will all require at least one favor.”
“I have a suggestion,” Alburet said. “For a few of them, I’m fairly certain we know which favors to call in.”
“Go on,” Benedict said.
“Peace has a grudge against the Prophet for what he did to Andrea. The Dark Lord wishes to erase his mistake of favoring the Dragon Eater before the Stein rebellion started. Justice will want Stein’s head. The others are up in the air, but those three I think are fairly straight forward.”
“Those are all good suggestions,” Benedict agreed. “We’ll hold off on using those as long as we can. The other six gods will hopefully let their intentions be known, but unless they do, we should think about holding off on using them.”
“Fair,” Werrick nodded. “Hearth be a bit upset with Ophelia; she was nay faithful to her first husband, so me coin will likely be called in then.”
“Very well,” Benedict said. “The other five favors should be held back unless your god tells you otherwise.” Turning to Roberto, he continued, “Commander, I would suggest the rest of you hold at this gate. As soon as we find the next graveyard, we will inform you so you can move in to hold it. Please send along any other Two-souled who are strong enough to use from the portal.”
“Of course. I have Captain Klein holding that front with the Two-souled,” Roberto nodded.
“That’s our plan for now,” Benedict said. “Once we’ve cleared the intake wing, we’ll reconvene and plot the next attack. I ask Summoners to have their Copies or second Copies poke their heads over the gate into the next wing, so we might get a better idea of what’s there.”
“Any questions?” Roberto asked. When no one responded, he nodded, “May Justice’s Light protect you as you go to battle.”
“Grab your people and get ready to move,” Benedict said. “Sidewinder, you’re the lead.”
“Right,” Sidewinder said, leaving the tent first.
~*~*~
Following after everyone else as they entered the intake wing, Alpha Company skirted the edge of the fights against the undead that littered the courtyard. Arriving at the gate that led further into the prison, Gerald had them set up a defensive stance with the tanks forming a half circle facing the gate.
“Summoners, have your Imp Copies play peek-a-boo over the gate and walls, then have them report to Fluff. She’ll be drawing out a better map of the area for the next phase.”
“BJ, BB, be safe guys. Do what you can, but don’t be crazy,” Alburet told the two Copies.
“Crazier,” Karen amended for him.
“I’ll behave,” Bob said as his doubles headed off with the other Imps.
“Why are we sending just the Imps?” Marysue asked.
“She be havin’ a point. Iffin we just be lookin’ over the walls, Succubi can help,” Stacia said.
Alburet’s lips twisted for a moment before he nodded, “Copies only.”
“Aye,” Stacia said as Kitten and KJ took to the air.
“Gerald,” Marysue called out, going over to explain they had other resources to use.
A few minutes later, the wall facing the next wing of the prison had a number of Imps and Succubi popping their heads over when they could. All of the original Infernals were gathered around Fluff, relaying one at a time what they were seeing. Alburet watched the oily-black beams of energy that would flash over the wall; most of them missed the Infernals, but a few landed, causing the Infernals to cry out in pain before vanishing.
“They’re going in,” Gerald said as he watched the other Two-souled finally push into the intake building.
Alburet glanced over when he heard some yelling. Some of the Two-souled were arguing over who should go inside first. “Idiots,” Alburet muttered.
“That is why they won’t be used later,” Gerald agreed.
“They are proving Benedict’s point for him,” Marysue said, nodding.
“Gerald, we have movement inside the courtyard,” Bob said. “It looks like undead and cultists are getting ready for an attack.”
“Which is why I didn’t argue about guarding the gate,” Gerald chuckled. “I thought they might try for a pincer attack. Benedict is wanting to see just how good we are.” Tapping his Raidstone, Gerald broadcast to the Alpha Company, “We’re about to face an assault force from the next wing. Everyone, get ready: we will crush these attackers and prove that Alpha Company was the right choice to be the shield on this flank.”
Every member of the Guild turned to face the closed gate. Fire, ice, and other magics were called up and held, waiting to be unleashed, while the stealth classes all vanished from view and broke to the sides, ready to flank. The melee damage dealers closed up behind the tanks, ready to add in their damage, while the Angels and Infernals who could fly all took to the sky just above their heads.
“Master,” Bob whispered, dropping down next to him, “I saw Skippy. He’s at the back of the attacking force.”
Alburet’s lips twitched and a feral smile came to him. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
Chapter Forty-one
“I need to let Gerald know,” Alburet grumbled after a heartbeat.
The sound of the gates opening brought the eyes of everyone in the courtyard to the gap. Undead rushed forward, only to be met by set shields from the tanks. The Imps and Cherubim of Alpha Company started attacking the mobs from their elevated position near the thirty-foot walls. Spells that had been held were finally released, splashing over the front line of undead. The melee had a hard time getting damage added in behind the t
anks, crowded as they were, but many of them found a way. The healers were able to overlap area healing effects to keep the tanks healthy.
As the battle began at the gate, Heart’s Light shifted to help, but found Alpha Company holding the front easily. The spell casters of Heart’s Light threw some spells into the battle to help out with damage, as they were the only ones who were able to.
Blaze looked back, ready to go help, but seeing the gate held and Benedict ready with his Guild, he sighed. “I guess they get all the fun this time.”
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 36