Watcher's Question: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 2)

by Sean Oswald

The Nelsons’ reunion was warm and heartfelt. Tears and laughs were shared in equal measure. The only moment of melancholy came when Mira mentioned that it was too bad Jackson wasn’t here to share this moment with all of them.

  For Dave, it was an affirmation of his protector role. Seeing Sara run up to Emily and watching their hug was a joy for him. Since Sara had been taken, there had been an awful tension between him and his wife. He hated it. Coming to Eloria, may not have been a choice that any of them would have made ahead of time, but for better or worse it was their home now, and it had brought them closer together. Emily smiled at him as she was holding Sara close, and it was payment enough for Dave to go through all of his recent struggles again if need be.

  After the initial impromptu reunion in the streets of Eris’ Rise, the Nelsons walked hand in hand towards Talvenicus’s home, but much to Emily’s surprise, they continued on past the home. Dave had been back in town for a little over a week, and his primary task during that time had been the construction of a home for his family. The tabernacle that Emily could create with her artifact was amazing, and he was sure they would spend many a night inside it, but they needed to have a stable place that didn’t rely upon Emily using magic to maintain it.

  When Emily saw what had been built, she almost cried. It wasn’t complete yet, but the walls and roof were in place, and it was clearly designed to be like a little cottage.

  “We can add another story later, but for now it is faster to build a single story building with a larger footprint, especially since our family has gotten bigger.”

  Emily looked at Dave, confused about what he meant about the family getting bigger. He just grinned and said, “Just come inside. There are some more people you need to meet.”

  Upon walking through the front door, they saw numerous men of the town and some others which Emily didn’t recognize all working on the inside of the home. Wooden flooring was being laid in some parts of the home while in others painting was happening. First one and then another of the worker’s saw Dave enter and stopped working to bow, “Baron Murkwood,” they would all say.

  “How many times do I have to tell you all this? There is no need to stop working just because I come into the room. And this incessant bowing has got to stop.”

  Mira chuckled at her father’s frustrated tone causing Emily to think this must have been an ongoing problem over the past week. Either way, she was amazed at how fast the home had gone up. Sure there was no paint, but from what she could see in the entryway and down the halls, this was going to be a very livable home with lots of space for her family and guests.

  Dave interrupted her thoughts, “Can everyone take an hour break? Don’t worry, it won’t be deducted from your pay. I just need the house for some family business.”

  Again Dave was greeted with repeated, “Yes, My Lords.” He shook his head, but in the end, all of the work crew poured out of the house, and with those who must have been working deeper in the structure, there must have been at least twenty men.

  One of the last to come out was Talvenicus, “You have to excuse the men, Baron. Most of them were serfs or lowborn freemen and had little to no interaction with nobility. If they did have contact with a nobleman or even a knight, it was usually very unpleasant for them.”

  “I get that, but …” Dave began before Emily cut him off.

  “Having a title doesn’t make a person better than anyone else. I can’t stand that mindset.” Her passion came through in her words.

  It was probably a sign that Talvenicus had gotten more comfortable with the Nelsons because he chuckled at that point, “Says the woman with two titles from two entirely different nations.” As comfortable as he might have been at making the joke, the dark expression which crossed Emily’s face put him on edge a bit, but not so much as to not continue turning the screw, “I’m sorry, I meant to say Baroness Nelson or do you prefer Lady Emiri?”

  Emily’s mouth hung up for a second mid rebuke and she shifted gears, “Wait, how do you know about that?”

  “Mom, there was a zone wide announcement when it happened, just like when dad was made a baron.” A wide grin now split Mira’s face as she continued, “We even got to learn Dad’s new title.” Her statement degenerated into a snickering laugh.

  Now it was Dave’s turn to get a dark expression as he looked at Emily and said, “Consort? C’mon really. What am I your arm candy?”

  Emily let go of Sara’s hand and crossed over to Dave, her had sliding across his forearm, making him shudder at the touch he had missed so much of late. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Maybe later I can show you what a consort’s duties entail.” Then oblivious to the people around them, the two locked lips and kissed with a passion not felt in recent days.

  “Ewwww ...” Sara said.

  Only to be echoed by her older sister, “Yeah really, you know we can still hear you? Moon elf hearing is pretty good even in us half-bloods.” Her disgust was more feigned though as she was old enough to know the importance of certain things in a good relationship, even if she didn’t want to see her parents swapping spit. “I would tell you two to get a room, but then you might just kick us all out of the house so you could have a private room.”

  Across the room, there was the sound of a throat being intentionally cleared, and all of the playtime came to an end. The family looked up to see Hiroto Niuchi, the very stern enchanter and Mira’s new teacher. Next to him was his always dutiful wife, Akira. “Please forgive the intrusion upon your family’s reunion, but I must pay my respects to Lady Emiri.” With that, he dropped to both knees while keeping his head lowered. “Lady Emiri, I have been cast out from my home, I find myself adrift without a place to call my own. You previously offered to provide me shelter in your town, but that offer was made as a baroness, wife to the man who controls this town. Your husband has been most kind and has honored your offer and done all in his power to make us welcome. But the truth is, this is a human town. Now it may become something new, something more than either a human town or an elven community, and I must know if the elven ruler of this town will still extend to me the opportunity to make a home of my own here.”

  Hiroto remained upon the floor with his head lowered, but Akira’s eyes seemed to bore into Emily. At first, she was lost for words, but once again, the downloaded moon elf cultural knowledge came to the rescue. “I, Lady Emiri of the Murkwood, vassal to the Throne do offer you shelter under my trees, a place to grow, in exchange for your pledge of loyalty and service to myself, my family, the district, and the circle as a whole.”

  Akira knelt down next to her husband and as one they intoned, “We pledge loyalty for so long as you shall have us. Our strengths shall become your strengths.”

  While the interaction between the three elves was going on, Dave couldn’t help but notice that three other figures had come into the house behind them. He immediately recognized Jaselm and the elf, Eisuke, but another elf came in with them. He had a distinguished bearing and walked with the customary grace Dave had come to associate with moon elves, but there was more. He carried himself with that aura of veiled violence just waiting to erupt. Dave had seen it in world class fighters before and some of the force recon guys he had met in the corps. Unless he missed his guess, this was one deadly elf, and that wasn’t all that set him apart. The subtle lines in his face and gray in his hair were the first signs of age that Dave had yet seen in an elf.

  As soon as Hiroto and Akira had stood up, they were embraced by Emily, and the three exchanged a quick hug. Eisuke spoke up, “I don’t mean to interrupt your family reunion, but we must make preparations for hunting down the tree sappers.”

  Dave actually felt anger swell up within him. It was something new. He had felt fear, duty, loss, love, sorrow, joy, and so much more, but other than a bit of inwardly directed anger at his perceived faults, he really had not felt anger in Eloria. Dammit. He finally had his wife back with him, and all he wanted to do was spend a bit of time getting comfortable w
ith her, maybe even showing off the progress he had made with their home in the past week. Then Eisuke has to open his mouth. Based more on Mira’s reporting than on the limited amount of time that he had spent with the elf, Dave guessed that the forest warden was a man worthy of respect and likely with a world view very similar to Dave’s own. Dave just didn't want to be interrupted now. Most of all he didn’t want to be interrupted by something that would trigger his own sense of duty. In the time that it took for all of those thoughts to go through his head, Emily was able to respond and cut off his angry words before they could be spoken.

  “Shinrin-Hogo-Sha Myoji, I assure you that both myself and Baron Murkwood place great urgency on hunting down the bane of the forest. The hunt may begin first thing in the morning, but today is a day of restoration and reunion. Surely you can understand that?” Emily’s tone and demeanor brooked no disagreement. She was positively a force of nature, and Dave couldn’t help but feel his admiration for her swell. Honestly, when that tone was directed at him, it was kind of a turn on reminding him of just how long it had been.

  Eisuke offered a shallow bow and said, “Of course Lady Emiri, please forgive me for speaking out of turn. I have no excuse.” The two elves stood there staring at one another for just a moment, and then Emily nodded her head and a look of mutual respect born of a shared mission passed between them. “Then if it is okay with Lady Emiri, I will go and see to the druids and wardens who will accompany us on the hunt tomorrow.”

  A simple hand gesture from Emily served to dismiss him, and he turned sharply walking out of their new house. Dave couldn’t help but wonder just what changes came with being Lady Emiri for her to act so imperious.

  Right after that, Dave and Emily exchanged a glance and smiled at one another before he seized her hand again. She continued speaking though, “I’m sorry honey, in all the excitement of seeing everyone safe and this new home, I forgot to introduce an important person.”

  Dave angled his body slightly to look at the older elf, assuming that this was who she was speaking about. “This is Master Daichi, he is what you might call the head of my personal guard.” She paused for a moment to allow the two men to size each other up like two strange dogs meeting one another for the first time. Then knowing Dave oh so well, she added things that she knew would break the ice. “Not only is he a master martial artist responsible for creating his own style, but he has already saved my life once.”

  “You do me great honor, but you likely had the situation well in hand, Lady Emiri,” the old elf said with a smile and slight bow.

  “What did we say about when we were alone?”

  “Yes, yes, I have had much longer to form these habits than you have, you will have to grant me some latitude, Emiri.”

  Dave noted that there seemed to be a genuine friendly exchange between the two, and it made him happy to think that there were others who would work hard to keep his family safe. “So what kind of situation did you find yourself in that you needed to be rescued?” His question was directed at Emily even as he squeezed her hand. Mira and Sara likewise were looking very attentively at their mother.

  “It was nothing or rather it was something but not something to talk about now, honey. There are things I will have to fill you in as I am sure that there are things you will need to tell me about.” Dave looked at her and knew better than to try to push. She had just made it perfectly clear that there was something private that she wanted to talk to him about. One thing he knew about his wife was that she did not like for the two of them to argue in public so for once he refrained from pushing her. Whether his uncommon wisdom was a result of life in Eloria or simple joy at seeing his wife restored to him was anyone’s guess.

  “Besides, I think you dropped a bombshell about our family getting bigger, so unless you have decided to take a second wife, I’m very curious to learn how our family has grown in my absence.”

  This time Sara came to her father’s rescue. “Oh momma, he means Balayria and my Krinnk.”

  “Who and who?” Emily’s look of confusion was shared equally with her husband and her youngest child.

  “Well, Balayria is the woman who helped to rescue Sara and kept her safe and fed until I was able to find her. At the time Sara thought that we were all dead, and Balayria essentially determined to adopt Sara. She still feels very close to her even though she knows that Sara still has you as a mother.” Dave noted the angry look crossing his wife’s face. He added, “I’m probably not explaining this the right way. But know that she wants nothing but good things for Sara and has been dying to meet you. I have already offered her shelter, and you can think of her as a part time nanny for Sara, although she has some serious crafting skills of her own.”

  “Um, okay.” Emily’s uncertainty still strongly evident, “and what about, what did you call him, Crikey?”

  Sara giggled, “No his name is Krinnk and he is my best friend.”

  Mira added in, “Good luck explaining this one, dad.”

  “All I can say is that his appearance may be a bit shocking and the story is long, something for me to share with you later when we are discussing other situations. I have tested him though and am satisfied that he is genuinely loyal to Sara, so I ask that none of you draw weapons or take any hostile actions when I call him out here.”

  Dave’s words were ominous and mysterious enough to put Emily on edge. “I promise to reserve judgment.” Knowing that he wouldn’t get any better commitment from her, Dave called out, “Balayria can you please bring out Krinnk.”

  The room around him got quiet. Then a soft gasp of surprise escaped from Emily as she saw the half orc stride out clasping the hand of the much smaller goblin. Krinnk seemed to be terrified of meeting new people, but as soon as he saw Sara, he calmed down considerably.

  Dave tried to make formal introductions before anyone could get upset. Using his hand gestures along with words he said, “Emily this is Balayria who helped save Sara, and Balayria this is Emily, Sara’s mother.”

  For just a moment, Dave thought that Balayria’s appearance with her midriff top, greenish hue skin, and short protruding tusks was going to freak out Emily, but then as she moved into action, he realized that wasn’t who his wife was at all. Emily dropped his hand and strode across the gap that separated the two groups in a few purposeful strides. Her arms flew open and she embraced the half-orc. “Thank you ... Thank you … soo much … for saving my little girl.” Her words were punctuated by sobs and everyone behind her could see her shoulders were heaving.

  Balayria seemed taken back at first. Orcs and dwarves are mortal enemies, but orcs are equally hostile towards elves, so it was almost unthinkable in her mind that an elf would accept her, let alone embrace her. Yet, she recognized the genuineness of tears and soon had dropped Krinnk’s hand to share in the embrace, wrapping her long muscular arms around Emily. “It’s okay, Sara is a gem, and tis I who was lucky to find her.”

  For a couple of minutes, the two women spoke in whispers to one another, as Dave thought how that introduction was probably the easy part. Eventually, Emily released Balayria and they both stood there smiling. Emily looked down at Krinnk and then back at Balayria, a look of confusion on her face again. “How do you know this goblin?”

  Now it was Balayria’s turn to be confused. Whatever she was going to say was cut off by Sara running across the room and sharing her own hug with the goblin.

  Alarmed and driven by memories of her terror, Emily couldn’t from saying, “Get away from that little monster, Sara,” even as she moved to pull them apart. Dave surged across the room and intervened between Emily and Krinnk who was mumbling, “Sara’s momma no like Krinnk?”

  “Remember, I told you that he is Sara’s friend. And remember that I told you that I have checked him out.” Dave spoke softly but firmly as he held Emily. She struggled to pull away from his arms, but his already significant Strength was multiplied by his personal bonus as the Baron, and she might as well have been trying to bend
iron bars.

  Finally she calmed down and said, “How can you let her play with a goblin. It's just like the little monster that took her.”

  Maintaining his position separating them Dave replied, “He isn’t just like the goblin that took her, he is the goblin that took her. But something amazing has happened.” He paused, waiting for Emily to say anything, but she simply stared at him eyes and mouth agape.

  “Sara was lost and scared after being taken by Krinnk, who apparently developed some sort of interest in her while watching our family in the woods before we even arrived in Eris’ Rise. She called out to God for help and was granted a miracle. Somehow she was given a class.”

  Dave paused again, but this time to make sure that the weight of his words were sinking in. He made sure to speak in a way that would resonate with Emily. “I’ve checked all around, not only with Talvenicus and Max, but also with the new arrivals from the capital. They all agree, it is impossible for a child under ten years of age to get a class. Yet, somehow, Sara got a class.”

  “What does that have to do with this … this thing … being in our home?”

  “Well if you will let me finish I will explain it all. She didn’t get just any class. She got an epic class. Again remember that there are very few epic classes. Yet somehow she got one.”

  Daichi spoke up now, “I can confirm this, Emiri. Within the entire circle there are only two epic classed individuals that I am aware of and one of them died many years ago. Only the Archdruid is an epic class now.”

  Emily turned from Daichi to Balayria and back again toward Dave before letting Dave continue, “The only explanation I can think of is that Shanelle or whatever we are calling God must have heard her and given her a miracle.”

  Emily felt torn. She of course believed in miracles. At least in a distant, they could happen in stories sort of way. Well, that was how she had felt on Earth. Here, in Eloria, things were different. Here, she actually heard the voice of God. Here, Shanelle spoke to her and answered her. Here, miracles of healing came from her own hands. “Well if Shanelle was going to perform a miracle for her then why wouldn’t She just bring Sara home?”