I Am Gamer III

by Gabriel Rathweg

  The next ten hours were some of the most arduous and trying of my young life. We were a hairs breath from dying at any second and I had never felt so alive. I reveled in the death and danger. Something had changed in me since my father’s death and it made me crave and love these constant life or death situations. Not only me, but the sentiment was echoed in my fellow Riders. I could tell by the snarl, that was more a smile, and the cry of victory when downing a monster, that was more a gleeful shout. This worked in our favor though and helped taunt and goad the monsters on in a continuous frenzied mindless attacking stance.

  On we went until we reached about halfway to the trap spot judging by the mini map.

  “Chieftess, they are all yours!” I called.

  “Leave it to me Moon Flower!” Shining Eagle replied, her and Fuzzy taking over the tip of the Flying V as I spurred Winston on and split from the group.

  “It’s your turn now Winston, run like the wind!” I said to my mount, patting him on the neck and holding on for dear life as he rocketed forward beneath me.

  I suppressed a laugh as we sped along the ground a blur below us as we left the Riders and monsters behind and made an arcing loop back to the Cheyenne village. It took us a little while, but we made it in record time as Winston was fast as fuck, as Law would say. I reigned the massive horse in and slowed to a trot as we approached the village palisade, Winston picking his way gingerly around the dead bodies of Nirumbee, Wendigo, and Cheyenne alike. I was within twenty feet of the gate before an exhausted Cheyenne warrior spotted me.

  “Halt!” A scared young male voice called.

  “Calm yourself boy, I am a friend, I am First Rider Moon Flower of The Riders of the Earth and Sky, the one who saved your village. Who is in charge here?” I called back.

  “Oh, thank you First Rider Moon Flower! You saved us! Bull Bear the late Chief’s son is in charge.” The voice squeaked back.

  “Open the gate and bring me to him now, time is of the essence.” I commanded, Winston rearing and whinnying loudly to help emphasis my point.

  “Yes, First Rider!” The boy squeaked.

  A moment later the ramshackle wooden gate was opened, and I followed the boy through the village. The exhausted and battered defenders were slumped wherever they had been when the monsters had left and followed my group of Riders. I gazed around me from my perch on Winston and looked about cold and imperious like Law said I should be, a veritable warrior queen above these commoners. Normally, I wouldn’t act like this, but first impressions are important when dealing with a broken or almost broken people. Law had been that way with my tribe, and it worked well. Although, having the help of Coyote was a little unfair. Still, I had a legendary creature underneath me and had just saved their whole village, so that was a double whammy.

  I patted Winston on the neck as we walked, that should be good enough to impress these bumpkins. I chuckled softly, thinking of these people as bumpkins because now after having met Law and becoming his fiancé I had access to such vast knowledge. We arrived at the Chief’s tepee and I halted Winston and slid off his back.

  “Don’t touch him or he’ll bite your hand off.” I tossed over my shoulder as I strode into the tepee.

  Inside, a fire was going in the center and Bull Bear and his two friends sat around it. The three looked at me as I entered but didn’t move. I could see they were exhausted, all three were wounded in some way, and covered with dirt, blood, and effluvia of dubious nature. The Chief’s son’s lackeys slowly started to get to their feet, but he waved them back down, then sighed loudly and gestured me to a position by the fire.

  “Please, sit and join us by the fire First Rider.” Bull Bear said, bowing his slightly.

  I nodded back and sat down next to him and the two others.

  “I am told it was you that we have to thank for the monsters leaving.” He said, when I was seated.

  “Yes, my Riders are currently leading them into a trap, which is why I am here now, I need you and your warriors to come with me and help us finish them off.” I said.

  All three of their shoulders slumped even further and I could tell exhaustion had come long ago. Well, they’d have to suck it up, the human body was capable of amazing things and they had to atone for their crimes. I was about to relay all this to them when Bull Bear took a deep breath then nodded to his two fellows and looked me in the eyes.

  “We will do as you ask. You were right when I first met you, yet I treated you like trash. Still, you came and saved the remaining members of my tribe. You have our bows and tomahawks.” Bull Bear said, standing up and reaching a hand to me. I grabbed it and rose along with his two friends then grinned.

  “Good, I was worried you’d be a little bitch. Gather your warriors and meet me by the gate, we have an army of legendary monsters to destroy.” I said, with a predatory smile on my face.

  “As you say First Rider. Curly Hog, you as well Bruising Badger, gather the warriors and prepare to leave. Anything else we need?” Bull Bear asked me.

  “Just prepare for another fight, oh and I have some bows and arrows to handout at the gate.” I said.

  A half hour later I was standing by Winston and brushing him when the last of the Cheyenne had finished gathering.

  “We are ready First Rider.” Bull Bear said, coming up and stopping just a few feet from and Winston and me, a respectful distance I’d say.

  “Good, started handing these out.” I said, then proceeded to pull bow after bow after bow, out of Winston’s saddlebags.

  This was another part of the plan, the Jicarilla Builders had brought more weapons and ammunition when they had arrived, I had brought fifty bows and over five hundred arrows with me. I handed the last bow and arrow to Bull Bear.

  “These are amazing. I can’t believe you are giving these to us.” He said, reverence in his voice.

  The bow and arrows were amazing, but they would give us the edge we needed to win and defeat the army.

  “Yes, they are, now it is time for you and the Cheyenne to earn them and restore your honor.” I said, as I leaped up into the saddle. “Let us go.”

  I started Winston off at a trot and the Cheyenne warriors shouldered their new weapons and followed along at a slow jog. I just hoped things were going well for Dancing Lion and my sisters, not to mention Chieftess Shining Eagle and the fort builders. There were so many moving parts to this plan that if one failed… I shook my head and focused on my task. I would just have to trust the others.

  TRACK 23 – RIDE WIT ME – NELLY, CITY SPUD

  The whole rest of the day was spent training and learning on the zeppelin. After Dusk, Dawn, and their two friends, Sky Frogson a pretty little redhead girl and Boulder Balderson a dark-haired brooding boy, tried the floodgates opened. Everyone wanted to go and fly in the airship. Unfortunately, the airship could only hold so much weight and the four teenagers were about the combined weight of two grown men, or me and Freak. So, other than them only two people could go at a time. This limited the access, so I sent everyone back to their work and continued supervising. There was still an incoming army of legendary monsters heading our way in less than a day and we had a ton of stuff to do.

  A couple hours later it was apparent that the teens were the best choice to pilot the zeppelin during the coming battle. They not only piloted it better, they could have four bodies in it not just two. There was a bonus that all four were great shots with the Long Rifles, so it was really a no brainer. They had acted like teens when I told them, squealing and hugging each other like kids.

  “Alright you four, go get ready and meet me back here in a half hour, you have your first mission.” I commanded, the four gave me their best attempt at a fist to chest salute and took off, speaking animatedly to one another.

  “Was I that carefree when I was a kid?” I asked, rhetorically.

  “Rawr.” Freak growled, sarcasm was evident in his voice, suggesting I was still that way.

  “Thanks buddy, don’t you have scouting to do?
” I asked my familiar.

  He stood up from his nap and stretched a long languid giant war tiger stretch then yawned and padded off without a backward glance.

  “We all have to work!” I called, with a grin to my cats retreating backside then turned back to my own tasks.

  I grabbed two things I had made for the airship, the first was an eyeglass and the second was two sets of different armor for the airship crew, as it was colder up there. Basically, I just made thick fur hide armor but styled like the pioneer army air force uniforms, kind of like a set of way more primitive bomber jacket, pants, and boots, that kind of looked like Uggs. Eat your heart out Tom Brady. I examined the information on both things when I was finished.

  TRI-ELEMENT SPYGLASS

  ITEM TYPE – Eyeglass

  DURABILITY – 25/25

  CLASS – Rare

  UPGRADES – Flame, Earth Strength, Water Resistance, Fire Resistance,

  WEIGHT – 1lbs

  DIMENSIONS – 1” BY 1” Full Length Extended 12”

  This telescoping eyeglass uses three different forms of magic. It helps the user see over four times the distance able to be seen with the naked eye.

  THREE ELEMENTS AIRMANS HIDE LEATHERS

  ARMOR TYPE – Hide Banded Mail Steel Enforced Armor

  DURABILITY – 125/125

  CLASS – Rare

  UPGRADES – Earth Strength, Water Resistance, Fire Resistance

  WEIGHT – 10lbs

  These articles of clothing are for warmth, defense, and looks. They will keep the wearer warm in extreme cold with the assistance of Fire Magic. They are also resistant to some fire damage. They will keep the wearer dry due to infused Water Magic up to a certain point. They are extremely durable due to imbued Earth Magic.

  I closed the window then heated the forge up. When it was ready, I quickly made another eyeglass and two more sets of airman leathers for the other two zeppelin crewmembers. When I was done, I walked back over to the airship and gave it a once over. It looked good, if anything the others were more careful with it then I was to the point of almost reverence, I think the kids would do well with it. It had been almost a half hour and the four teens came traipsing back in Dawn and Boulder side by side, Dusk and Sky the same.

  “Hurry up you four, what do you think this is playtime? Did I get the wrong warriors for this job?” I asked, my tone serious and they jumped and hurried over to me, all seriousness.

  “Good, that’s better, now here these are for you.” I said, handing each of them a set of Airman’s Leathers.

  They all gasped in unison and proceeded to thank me profusely for the new armor. I waved them away and told them to hurry up and get dressed. When they were ready the four of them stood in a line before me. They looked smart and dapper in their new Airmen Leathers and I smiled at the Long Rifles and packs at their sides.

  “Ok, your job is going to be to scout out the incoming enemy army. We think they are less than a day away. I want you to confirm and then return as soon as you know. Next, whoever is not piloting and not handling the boiler you are the lookouts. Who is that?” I asked.

  Dawn and Sky raised their hands, so I handed each of them an eyeglass and explained their use. They started to thank me again and I stopped it before it could get started and sent them on their way.

  “Good luck and don’t do anything stupid.” I said, glaring at the boys more than the girls. Hey, I know its sexist but young men are the epitome of stupid, I speak from experience.

  The four newly minted Airmen quickly got the boiler up to speed and soon the airship was airborne. I waved goodbye and then looked around the forge area. It was just me now, I was alone. That was nice, but there was no rest for the weary, so I took a breath and got started on my next project. I was going to build a boat. I was hoping I’d be able to finish it before the enemy came. It would be close because even though my Airship was a prodigious project, I really missed my Enterprise and we needed a new river boat.

  My plans were for something even more grand then before. I was going to build an ironclad. It would use a larger more advanced form of boiler system then the airship used. It would also be a dual armored paddle design with a low draw armored screw for propulsion. I wanted it to be low draw so it could go up and down the entirety of the North, South, and Central American river and lake systems. It would also need a false keel that could be lowered so it could do short jaunts in the Caribbean or Atlantic eventually.

  Ironclads lasted for a relatively short time in the history of warfare. They were bad ass though. I loved them and found them fascinating. They were the precursor to the modern warship, the beginning of metal clad fighting ships and the end of wood ones. The first ironclads were an amalgamation of wood and metal. That’s what I was going to be doing. One of the best examples would be the CSS Virginia a screw propeller example, the one that battled the USS Monitor. I was going to combine this with the USS Merrimac which was a paddlewheel example. My plans were also a lot more modified as I was scaling the size of the vessel down and changing things with my magical abilities.

  The first thing I did was pull up all the old information I had about ironclads with my Total Recall Skill, then I watched those videos in a partition and began the task of building the shipyard for the vessel. We had wood up the wazoo and I was glad that my forge area was in the center of Thrudheim, and therefore easily accessible and a great place to store our resources. I grabbed long pieces of roughhewn logs and carried them down to the small harbor on the forges far side. Here I built the wooden frame where the boat would be launched into the water.

  The original ironclads were all over a hundred fifty or even more than two hundred plus feet long, and fifty plus feet wide. This riverboat was only going to be Sixty-five feet long and eighteen feet wide, twenty where the paddles were going to go. I finished up cutting, hammering, and placing the frame then returned to the wood pile and grabbed piece after piece for the hull. I was excited here, I would be making a catamaran hull, which would give the boat a very low draw and make it faster than any ironclad should have a right to be. It was based on the US Navy’s HSV 2 Swift Catamaran Transport. I just hoped the idea panned out.

  “What in the gods name are you building now?” Lightning Fist exclaimed.

  I stood up and stretched my back, it cracked loudly in all the right places. Standing next to the big man was his brother and Smoking Bluejay.

  “Great, you guys are just in time to help.” I said, with a cat eating a mouse type grin.

  The three looked at each other and sighed loudly, slumping their shoulders already resigned to their fate. I started ordering them around and they began the task of smelting metal ore while infusing the Magic Power into their work. I helped shape the metal and created a thin coating that we pounded out and wrapped then fused to the wooden hull and its catamaran sides.

  “Well, what in the shite type of boat is that Patty?” Billy asked his brother.

  “Fuck if I know Billy, but hell if it’ll float.” Patty joked back.

  I turned to the brothers, the same grin from earlier plastered on my face.

  “Is the training and setting up all the Asgardians done? Are the forts manned and the scouts out?” I asked.

  The brothers nodded at me in the affirmative.

  “Good, you two can help as well, get over here.” I said.

  “Oh, no thank you, we just came to tell you dinner is ready and…” Billy began.

  “Nope, you’re here let’s get to work boys.” I said, walking over and grabbing them both around the shoulders and putting them to work.

  That’s what we did for the next half dozen hours. Hammered thin plate of magical infused metal and placed it, then fused it to the boat. Next, I built the wooden paddle wheels and we placed those and built the armored canopies. They were set so they were halfway below and above the top deck. My catamaran hull design would give the riverboat a draw of only three and a half feet but would be extremely stable due to the way the dual edges
of the catamaran worked.

  When that was done, we moved on to the lower deck, which would be just above water level and was where the cannon would go. I had staggered the ports so the cannon on either side wouldn’t fire and backlash into each other. There were places for two cannon each, on the bow just past the paddlewheels on the port and starboards sides. Behind the paddlewheels held space for three cannons per port and starboard side. We finished that up and then made the stairs, or ladder as they’re called on ships, and moved on to upper deck.

  This deck was made completely with the magic infused wood, while the imbued metal armored plating went only along the sides. I had crafted a large hole that a few of the plates combined into forming the boiler exit. When that was finished, we went back to the lower deck and put the boiler together. I had positioned it in between the two paddlewheels in the rear section of the boat. It was three times the size of the one I had built on the airship but should be three hundred times more powerful, as volume increased it should also increase the energy power ratio. The boiler was completed without issue and I began the building of the crankshafts that would power the paddlewheels and screw propeller.

  This was a bit complicated as I was creating this so that each form of propulsion could be used separately or together for added speed. I pulled up some old videos of all wheel drive tricycles, the motorized kind not the kid’s toy, and it gave me a great idea. I based my design off it and then created an attaching and detaching lever that would put the two shafts into a combined position when attached. When the lever was detached, or in the off position you could use either form of propulsion separately or in unison. This created the need for a second lever system that would engage the screw or paddlewheels. The next few hours were spent on this but eventually we did it and I was extremely satisfied with the result.

  “Ok, Billy and Patty, you guys can go, we knocked out the tough stuff. All that’s left are casting the new cannon, placing the mortars, and then some finishing touches.” I said.