by Pdmac
Ignoring him, the sorcerer introduced himself. “I’m Greg.” Not as tall as Karl nor physically impressive, he was nevertheless a handsome man in crimson cape and tailored leather vest and leggings, calf-high boots, and he held a staff topped with a low-glowing orb.
Likewise surprised at Greg’s sudden change, Karl activated his screen, discovering the sorcerer was a Level 5. He ran a quick check on Kevin who was a Level 6 and the other Ranger at Level 5.
Using Annabeth as impetus, Raquel walked over to the Ranger. “I’m Raquel.”
“Name’s Ron,” he cautiously replied, casting a sideward glance at Kevin whose stunned glare was still focused on Greg and Annabeth in animated conversation. Seeing Kevin distracted, he scooted his chair back and stood up, which caused Kevin to shift his attention.
“And what the hell are you doing?”
“I’m talking to Raquel here,” Ron explained.
“Sit down,” Kevin ordered.
Ron’s lips pursed in irritation yet he waffled as he stood there.
“I’d think twice about trusting him,” Karl admonished. “Been there, done that, got friends killed. All he cares about is himself. When he feels you’re expendable, he’ll jettison you like he did all his friends, those who trusted him.”
Ron turned to Kevin. “Were you really court-martialed?”
Kevin’s nostrils flared as he retorted, “It was all lies. They needed a scapegoat for their crimes.”
“So you were court-martialed,” Ron said with a resigned sigh. He moved away from Kevin who quickly realized he had been deserted by his team.
Curling a lip, he glared at Karl. “You son-of-a-bitch. Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did to me. You better watch your back.” Snapping his head to take in the other two, he barked, “Are you coming with me?”
“I don’t think so,” Ron replied.
Greg, whose fascination with Annabeth had caused him to miss the exchange between Ron and Kevin, looked up and frowned. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not with him anymore,” Ron explained, ticking his head at Kevin. “Do what you want, but I’m no longer part of the team.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” Raquel said.
“Thanks,” he smiled. “Lemme give it some thought.”
“Don’t take too long,” Raquel warned. “We’re leaving in the morning.”
“You bastard,” Kevin snapped.
“Now you see what he’s really like,” Karl said.
“Why don’t you join us too?” Annabeth said to Greg.
Greg looked back at the fuming Kevin, and with a nonchalant shrug, said, “Yeah sure. Why not?”
Kevin’s eyes flared and his jaw clenched. “Don’t think you’re gonna get away with this,” he threatened Karl. Spinning on his heels, he bolted out the door.
“Where’s he think he’s going?” the taverner mused aloud. “It’s gonna be mist time pretty soon and if he wanders too far, he ain’t ever gonna find his way back here. And him with a room all paid for.” He shook his head and wiped his hands on his apron. Looking back at the newcomers, he grinned. “Now. What can I get you?”
The show over, babble in the tavern resumed to normal levels. Karl and the team scooted two tables together and sat down with their newest team members. A number of patrons wanted to know more of what happened in Westhaven and Karl obliged, the others filling in the parts he forgot or left out. By the time their food and ale were served, the tavern was half-full as many folks left to return home before the mist descended. Those who remained either lived next door or had rooms in the upstairs.
“What did he mean,” Ron asked, “when he said he wouldn’t forget what you did to him?”
Karl swallowed a bit of meat, followed by a sip of ale. “An ops team is more than a family. You not only depend on one each other, you also know each other’s secrets, quirks, and dreams. If one member does less than his or her best, it affects the team. Now multiply that by an entire group made up of numerous teams. The unit is like Easy Company of the 506th after Currahee and on into Europe.” He looked at their blank faces and realized they hadn’t a clue what he was talking about.
Taking another sip of ale, he said, “Sometimes a man is court-martialed even though his intent was noble. I can’t think of an example at the moment, but when that happens, though some will shun him, others understand and offer him solace. When Kevin was court-martialed, it was for the most egregious acts against us. He was worse than a traitor. He let his family get killed. Once word spread of his crimes, not only was he shunned, a bounty was put on his head. He needed to pay for what he did.”
“What exactly did he do?” Ron asked.
Karl studied him for only a moment, knowing the man was genuinely interested, but he didn’t want to resurrect the pain of reliving the memory. He had managed to push it into the far corners of his mind. Now seeing Kevin again made him remember seeing the body parts of what had once been his best friend. The man had been dismembered and roasted alive. The charred flesh was still smoking when he arrived on the scene.
“Let’s just say that he sold out his family. He exchanged the lives of his brothers and sisters for money. Then he sold out his country for more money.” He leaned back, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe that they put him into this game. Who cares if he had some incurable disease? They should’ve let nature finish the job.”
“Why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?” Greg asked.
“He disappeared and after a while we forgot about him, assuming someone had done the job for us.” Looking at the two newcomers, he asked, “How’d you guys link up and how long you been here?”
“Been here about a year,” Ron replied.
“A year?” Lana exclaimed.
“Yeah, I know,” Ron sheepishly replied.
“What about you?” Raquel asked Greg.
“About the same,” he lamely shrugged. “Ron and I were some of the first ones put into the game.”
“And you’re still on this island?” Annabeth said.
“We were in Marbeck about a month when Kevin showed up,” Greg explained. “Spent some time taking out some gnolls –”
“And respawned a bunch of times,” Ron added, “before we decided to head down to Abeloft. They wanted us to take out some orcs, but even with the three of us, we figured we didn’t stand a chance, so we hightailed it out of there and headed down to Westhaven.”
“Spiders?” Lana asked. “Did you see any spiders, big huge things?”
“Naw, didn’t see any spiders,” Ron replied.
“In a house on the way to Abeloft and another one on the way to Westhaven?”
“We stayed in a house on the way to Abeloft and to Westhaven. Both had maps and everything. Kevin felt the places were creepy so we locked the doors and cranked up a fire. Man it felt like I was in a sauna.”
“Goblins? Did you encounter any goblins at the second house?” Lana asked.
“None that I remember,” Greg answered.
“That’s weird,” Lana said to the others. “I figured everyone had to go through the same things in the game, same quests, that sort of thing.”
“I don’t think it works like that,” Greg said. “From what I can figure out, there’s lots of quests and ways to level up.”
“So you came to Westhaven,” Raquel interrupted, redirecting the conversation back to their presence here.
“Yeah,” Greg said. “And talk about weird. The lady in charge of the place, I think her name was Gwen or Gwendolyn of something like that. Anyway, she gets the hots for Ron here. He starts acting like a teenager in heat around her.”
Raquel and Annabeth slowly turned their heads to give Karl a ‘sound-familiar’ look.
“Anyway, I can see that she must be doing something to him, so when we finally get him away from her for a minute, we beat feet out of town and ended up here.”
“You’ve been here for almost a year?” Raquel said, her mouth gaping open. “What
have you been doing?”
“Mostly keeping out of sight,” Ron sighed, “especially when Cyril’s army came through. We figured if he found out we were here, he would have sucked us into his army.”
“How have you managed to survive all this time?”
“We go out hunting for food and bring it back here. There’s plenty of deer and boar and stuff like that around here.”
“Ron and I wanted to move on, try some quests, but Kevin said to hold still and wait for more folks to show up, figuring we had the greater chance of success with more players.”
“Yeah,” Greg agreed, rubbing his neck. “Respawning sucks. I don’t want to have to do it again. Hurts like hell.”
Raquel narrowed her gaze at Ron. “So you staying here or coming with us?”
“Think I’ll come with you guys,” he said with a smile.
“We have some rules,” she said. “The first is that Karl is the undisputed leader. What he says goes. If you don’t agree with that then you stay here.”
“I’m OK with that,” he nodded.
“The second rule is that we take care of each other. We have each other’s backs… no matter what. That said, you fail to be a part of the team, we get rid of you. There’s no place for those who care more for themselves than the team.”
“I think we get your point,” Greg interrupted. He then glanced at each of the others. “I can tell what character everyone is, except for you.” He looked pointedly at Elena.
“She’s an NPC,” Dieter said with a tone that brooked no objection. “She was a serving girl in Abeloft and she’s with me now, and a part of the team.”
“An NPC?” Ron cocked an eyebrow as his jaw dropped as he turned to Greg. “Why didn’t we think of that?”
“I didn’t think it was allowed,” Greg answered. “What happens when you get to the bridge?”
“Who knows?” Dieter shrugged. “Some thought she wouldn’t be allowed to leave the tavern, but here she is.”
“Damn.” Ron shook his head. “All this time…”
“OK folks,” Karl interrupted. “We’re leaving first thing in the morning, before the mist is totally gone, so get some sleep. While I think about it, change your bind spots to here so that were not stuck back in Westhaven. Meet here in the morning.” He pushed his chair away from the table and stood, Annabeth and Raquel likewise stood, sharing a knowing smile.
“I lost track of whose turn it is,” Annabeth said.
“Me too,” Raquel replied.
“Whose turn it is to what?” Ron frowned.
“Not your concern.” With a maternal smile, Annabeth patted his shoulder. “But you can help. Pick a number between one and one hundred, but don’t tell us yet.” She looked back at Raquel. “The closest one gets him for the night.”
“Agreed,” Raquel smirked, looking at a confused Ron then a long suffering Karl who simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“You have a number?” Annabeth inquired.
“Yes,” Ron replied.
“36,” Annabeth said.
“75,” Raquel announced.
“57,” Ron answered. “Raquel is the closest.”
“Oh well,” Annabeth shrugged with a light hearted smile then patted Karl’s cheek. “I get you tomorrow night.”
“C’mon lover boy,” Raquel said, grabbing Karl’s hand. “Let’s find ourselves a room. A girl has needs.”
“I’m available,” Greg piped up, giving Annabeth a hopeful look.
“Not tonight, Sweetheart,” she amiably replied. “Besides, I hardly know you and I’m not that kind of girl… at least not yet,” she winked.
“You never told me that Kevin had been court-martialed from the Army,” Marc said, his arms folded as he stood before Annika’s cubicle, which was decorated with super hero bobble-heads and stickers.
“You never asked,” she replied.
“Why would I have to ask for information about an individual in our program?”
“I’m just messin’ with ya,” Annika grinned. She was a petite woman in her early twenties, with curly blond hair. “It was one of those need-to-know things at the time. We figured we needed an additional player that would further Karl’s development.”
“We?”
“Jackson and me,” she answered, leaning back to look around Marc and gaze into now empty cubicle still filled with Jackson’s personal trivia. “Miss that crazy man. Not sure I’d want to spent a life time in a harem game, though a reverse harem sounds appealing.” She winked at Marc. “Anyway, after him taking out Ross, looks like Kevin was unnecessary.”
“How do you mean?”
“We knew Karl could kill folks under orders. We needed him to be able to kill on his own, without remorse. We tracked down Kevin and threw him in the game, projecting that the two would eventually meet.”
“Yeah, but Karl already hates his guts, so where’s the character development in that?” Marc pointed out.
“Yeah, I know. I said the same thing, but the higher ups said go with it. Thought it was a good idea at the time. Though if you think about it, Kevin is now primed to assassinate Karl. So it all works out in the end.”
Marc thought for a moment. “Say… what if we connected Ross and Kevin? That would make it more interesting.”
“We’re working on it,” she replied with a grin.
Marc started to turn away then turned back with a frown. “How did Kevin know it was Karl? It’s not like he looks the same as he did in real life. And Kevin was in the game before Karl.”
Annika flashed him a wicked grin. “A little birdie told him that Karl was in the game and on the way.”
“Huh?” Marc stared at her. “Is that kosher?”
“Kosher or not, it’s gonna add some fireworks.”
Karl and the team stood outside the tavern, waiting as the mist dissolved in the morning sun.
“Kevin came back last night,” Ron said. “Came in when I was getting in bed.”
“How do you know?” Annabeth asked.
“His room is next to mine and when he’s really tired, he snores.”
“We’re going to have to watch our backs,” Karl mused out loud. “That means we all need to be aware of our surroundings at all times.
Nodding agreement, Greg asked, “What’s the plan.”
“We head through Cyril’s domain as quickly as we can,” Karl replied. “At the same time, we need to get you two leveled up higher before we cross the bridge.”
“Yeah. I noticed you all are level 9’s,” Ron said, impressed. “How’d you manage that?”
“By killing orcs and trolls and waging a war with Cyril,” Dieter answered, still unimpressed with the two newest additions to the team.
“Yeah, well,” Greg said with an embarrassed grin, “our leader felt it better to lay low than work on improving our skills.”
“Should have chosen a better leader,” Dieter muttered.
“Let’s move out,” Karl ordered. “Raquel at point, Ron rear security. Keep an eye out. Stay close.”
The mist, though still thick, had dissipated enough to see about ten meters ahead as they slowly followed the road out of town, carefully making their way. Since the two new members had lived in the area a while, they reassured the team that the road was safe for a good distance and when the mist finally lifted, they would be able to make good time by staying on the road.
An hour later, the mist had dissolved enough that Karl decided to check on team members only to discover that Ron was missing.
Grim-faced, he called a halt. “I see only two reasons for Ron’s absence. The first is that he decided to go back.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Greg objected.
“I agree, which means that Kevin, who is an assassin after all, is following us and took out Ron.”
“Damn him,” Greg spat. “That means he’s got it out for me too.”
“And the rest of us,” Karl reminded him. “Remember, not only is he an assassin, but he was trained i
n special ops.” He turned to Sakura. “My thought is that it’ll take an assassin to find another assassin.”
Sakura gave him a quick nod of understanding.
“Do what you have to do,” Karl advised, “but be careful.”
“Take him out?”
“If you can. If not, find out where he is. Perhaps we can set a trap.”
“Got it.” A moment later she was gone.
“Man,” Greg acknowledged, “she’s good.”
“Let’s hope she’s good enough to find him,” Karl said. “Let’s move out. Greg, you take rear security.”
“Me?” he squeaked. “What about Kevin?”
“What about him?” Karl challenged. “Now that you know he’s tracking us, you’ll be more aware.”
“But…but…” When he saw them waiting on him, he closed his mouth and moved to the rear.
The road dipped back along the coast then swung away towards the mountains, farm fields stretching on both sides. By midday, they had passed several small hamlets when Karl called a halt. Calling up his screen, he pressed the map button to check on progress.
“Looks like we’re almost to Cyril’s borders. Don’t know who’s running the place in his absence, but pay attention. We have to get through there if we’re gonna make it to the bridge, so no unusual comments or distractions that call attention to us.”
An hour later, the road, overgrown from disuse, led into a forest. Raquel signaled a halt at the edge and Karl came up.
“I’d like to try something,” she said. “Now that we’re entering a forest, there’s a greater likelihood of birds and animals. I’d like to see if I can talk some into scouting for us.”
“Go for it,” Karl readily agreed. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “I wonder how Sakura’s doing.”
“She’s fine,” Raquel reassured him.
Karl circled his finger in the air indicating the entire group then curled his fingers, signaling to follow.
As they proceeded, Raquel took to scouting the sky, finally spotting a hawk and casting a Charm Animal spell. The hawk descended, landing on her outstretched arm. She then cast two spells in quick succession, Talk to Animal and Compel Animal.
