The Way of the Clan 8

by Dem Mikhaylov

  Approaching me, the barefoot bald elf demanded the heavy knife hanging from my belt. I silently gave him what was required, adding the ten-liter bottle with canned peaches, which I had brazenly picked up from the table on the other corner of the bridge.

  “You are going to be erased from the game board,“ added Orbit, happily embracing the wide-mouthed bottle. “They begin to attack you on all fronts at once. Politics, trade, reputation, finance, clan lands, citadel, navy, allies. Fu-u-u-un ... are all the pp-peaches for me?”

  “To your health,“ I waved a hand.

  A loud resonating blow informed us that a hit had reached its goal. Ahead of us, the black darkness of the thunderclouds exploded in flashes. The roar was repeated many times-there was something exploding, scattering into pieces. A glow of fierce fire flared up in the sky. Immediately there was another — the next round of shooting did not keep itself waiting. Again there was a rainbow, carrying death in its merry, multicolored arc.

  "It is true," I snorted in amazement as I watched the bald elf busily descend the wide staircase towards the deck, carefully holding the bottle of precious contents. "It is like in a book. The light forces unite and give a decisive battle to the dark lord and his foul army. Soon the black citadel will be destroyed, and the blazing eye will fall, so that it will never rise again ... it sounds about right...”

  “Barad-Gadur was never taken!” The ringing voice of the Baroness echoed through the battle bridge. “Never! Baron, Al-Dra-Das. You have a few hours left. Take the aborted detachments, dragons, pteras and phoenixes – take whatever you want! And head to the island! Destroy the enemy warships! The island must survive!”

  "Got it." A second later, the huge half-orc raced down the deck, rounding up the fighters.

  “Klest! Call the God! But do not send him here — to Al Dra Das! I am not going to lose an island-prison! You pass the divine mouthpiece to the Baron – he will say where to send the hand of God. And make sure he smashes them! But not in the fortress! Let him blow the perimeter and everything in it to hell, but remembering to evacuate the surviving locals. Tell Baron another thing — it is time to pull the red lever. Pull it without hesitation. Since such dances have started, I will not stand by the wall stumbling. Since the threat has been announced – I will let them know that I have heard it.”

  “Accepted.”

  "What kind of lever is that?" I could not resist.

  Klest silently shrugged his shoulders, hastily moving his fingers in the sparkling air, filling the orders of the angry mistress.

  "Nothing special," the Baroness hissed angrily, stamping her foot. "It will only flood one lower prison cell with red-hot lava and burn everything down there.”

  “The Sage Cthulhu answered the challenge!” One of the assistants jumped, handing Baroness the unfolded scroll covered with slim, hand-written lines.

  “It is high time! Get out!” The head of the Sleepless nodded, peering at the scroll.

  A clear image of a fair-haired elf player appeared in the air above the bridge, and I could hardly restrain an inappropriate laugh-there was indeed a red cloak adorned with gold and silver embroidery on the elf's shoulders, so ridiculous that it literally cut the eyes.

  "Baroness," Cthulhu said ceremoniously.

  "You have bitten the hand feeding you," the head of the Sleepless smiled broadly and dangerously, standing relaxed, lowering her eyes to the document.

  “As they say — nothing personal, sister,“ the elf smiled in response. “It is just a business. At one time, you did the same, right? I carefully read the files of the old Messengers.”

  “We are we. And you are you, smaller creatures,“ said the Baroness. “I give you a chance, Cthulhu. One single chance. Clear the sky above us, hang it over those who lured you, and strike.”

  “Lured? Or maybe I'm on my own? Maybe we, the Eternals, decided that we had taken enough shit from those who think we are garbage. Maybe we are tired of working according to the scheme: Bring this, give this, go to hell, do not bother. Have you thought about this, all-powerful Baroness? Hm? I did not set up a clan to serve The Sleepless!”

  "He talks too much,” flashed through my mind. And I saw that this thought had not only occurred to me. The Baroness, Klest, and two or even three more players at the tables behind the screen all tensed, and thoughtfully began to glance around.

  Makes sense. He is just a simple player, the same as me, except a higher rank and status. It was like a version of "The Godfather.” Long, formidable conversation and the promise of great bloodshed.

  The Baroness decided to clarify this point faster, than all of us. With a sharp wave of her hand, interrupting the talker, she said:

  "You're wasting time. For what? We already know about your CLOUD, and you know what we know and that we are prepared to counteract the blow. So what are you waiting for?”

  “What?” Uttered Cthulhu in a false voice, widely spreading his arms and raising his eyebrows in bewilderment. “What are you talking about? You yourself called for a talk, asked about my motives. I explained. I am not a berserker. I want to put dots and commas. Listen, sister— as I say, for too long we have shared the road. Maybe it is time for you to step aside. Hm? At one time, you had also been…”

  “Shut up, insignificant swine,“ the BB cut him off. “Rubbish. You are an empty place with zero achievements both, in the real world and here. An unemployed schmuck dismissed a year ago because of his incompetence. A lover of ginger, red-haired, cheap whores, whom you prefer to talk to, and not fuck. Crying to them about how important and intelligent, you are, but how nobody appreciates you. And you think your enemies envious. Windbag! Liar! You squeeze a drop of income from your unfortunate clan created by our help and at the same time act as if you are earning millions. Listen to me, Jagli Nivlis, I do not forgive such things! Either your CLOUD will go out now, or ...” The short cutting gesture of the Baroness was understood correctly, and the connection was abruptly cut off from our side. The assistant simply covered the luminous crystal with a dense veil.

  Cthulhu was now probably reflecting on what exactly the BB wanted to say after the last "or." He had realized that the head of the Sleepless was telling him about his own real, not virtual, failures, and his face had become pathetic and frightened. Where did the majestic elf in the red cloak go? ... or rather the cloak had stayed, but the imperial majesty disappeared without a trace. When the Baroness said "Jagli", he had literally shaken...

  Hmmm...

  Raising my face, I peered into the sky. The CLOUD of the Creatures continued to glow and gain momentum.

  "Why did he waste his time?" Snapped the BB. “Well?! What did he want? To win in a few extra minutes? Can they strike now?”

  “No. Their CLOUD is not ready yet,” the assistant answered, distraught. “Damn ... But he is definitely wasting time ...”

  “Check below! Scan and check the scouts of the deep in all directions. Is there a ravine ahead of us, where can something dangerous can be hidden? Search! Dig as deep as you can — and find something!”

  A brisk and businesslike chaos reigned briefly over the bridge. Everyone yelled, ran, waved flags, wrote messages and trumpeted into copper pipes. Several ships rushed toward the sides of the flagship and, breaking the general formation, went directly into the cloud walls approaching us. Deep under the water, green lights flashed — new fireflies mercilessly destroyed the underwater shadows and lit up the bottom.

  "Dig deeper," I repeated, and caught the Baroness by the elbow. “Baroness, my father used to say, "dive deeper and find something at the bottom." He likes such statements.”

  “And?” I stared at the look of her attentive brown eyes.

  “But the bottom is not there now,“ I pointed my eyes down. “But there.“ I lifted a finger.

  “Above us? There, right, the CLOUD of the Creatures, we already found it, Ros.”

  “The clouds are above us,“ I corrected the girl. “Over the clouds, the CLOUD of the Creatures. And over the CLOUD,
what?”

  “Meaning? What could be over it? Air. Sky. Wait... Klest!”

  “Yes?!”

  “Scouts up! Make them go higher! A dragon, a phoenix and five pteras! Right now!”

  “I'm sending them!” Klest wrote several messages, and only then asked: “And why?”

  “Ros had an amazing insight. And this was not the first time, apparently… according to Malice…”

  "Right! He predicted the death of the Scarlet Cross from the apocalypse drawing...”

  "I did not predict it! I just read the bloody wall comics! Anyone could have. And about the sky — it is my father, he always says such nonsense, and the BB made me remember. So I thought ...”

  “The analysts agree,” said Klest. “They check the sky higher. And they say that if we look at the picture transmitted from the head ship of the Union Fleet that is coming towards us, everything looks like a smoky gigantic pyramid hanging right above the flagship.”

  “Now we will check the result of your next insight,“ the Baroness said to me, only now gently releasing her elbow from my fingers. “Bring out the scouts — let them report constantly.”

  “Uno momento, senorita ... ok…. ready!”

  "... the cloud is too thick! I cannot see anything!” A slightly angry female voice sounded distinctly. "There's nothing here!"

  “Higher!” Ordered Klest.

  "How much higher? The CLOUD is two hundred meters above. Phoenixes are smoking, coming down! There is too much moisture, no visibility. The dragon is still on, the pteras are barely holding.”

  “Higher! Higher!”

  “We rise. Blackness, dregs, dregs ... black dregs... pteras going down! We are still climbing, but there is so much water here that the dragon does not fly, it floats!”

  “Higher!”

  "Dark clouds… darkness… oh, they made their way through the clouds! Um, the sky ... oh ... Alarm! Alarm! A CLOUD above us! The enemy CLOUD!”

  "Have you fallen down? It is under you! The CLOUD of the Creatures is under you!”

  "Another CLOUD! Another one! Another one!” The voice of the scout girl was trembling with nervous excitement. “Blue with green fireballs! Thirty or more meters across! And it continues to grow! Something inside! Like electric snakes inside a ball of lightning! A whole fucking tangle of electric snakes! I send a screenshot!”

  “Check on our data! A huge green-blue fireball with a bunch of snakes inside!”

  “More screenshots! And a video! Transmission to Barad-Gadur and the flagship bridge! Streaming!”

  “Accepted! Attention! We see five of the white dragons in the distance! On their backs, riders in blue and gold armor with green cloaks! They fly straight toward us! We see a lot of auras covering them, ... they have not noticed us yet – we are behind some clouds.”

  "Leave now! Fly! Do not be spotted!”

  “Loud and clear! We leave. Screenshots, and ten-second video transfer ...”

  “A god cannot withstand two CLOUDs,“ squeezed out Malice. “Although ... maybe the blows are not very powerful? Hell ... maybe the flagship can stand it.”

  "We will give it everything we have got. And do not forget about the creatures about to fall on our heads. Each of them is a tough soldier. They will penetrate into every corner of the flagship. Destroy all of them!”

  “Fresh info from the analysts! The second CLOUD is not yet defined, but they say that there is a reason for each of them to have reptiles – a similar type of opponents allows them to strengthen themselves. For example, strengthen some kind of blessing can act of such creatures. Some special magic.”

  “I know! I know!” A gnome in steel armor said, hurrying past us onto the bridge. “About the ball of lightning! This is the clan strike of Emerald Genies! They used it during battle two years ago! And there are no snakes inside! They are some kind of stone worms! The Emerald Genies struck using their CLOUD on the monsters who came from the Plateau of Relics! After the attack, most of the enemies were incinerated, and those that survived were eaten by the worms. And the worms made a real sieve from the mountain. Then the mountain collapsed!”

  "They will turn the flagship into a piece of gigantic cheese,“ Malice said, somehow too casually. “And leave it to be eaten by hungry rats."

  “Are you sure?” Several voices at once asked the gnome.

  “I bet on my favorite pickax,” the gnome said solidly. “This is the CLOUD of the Emerald Genies. Saw the screenshot. If it slams us ... well, I do not know what will become of us. Smithereens.”

  “Smithereens,“ quietly repeated Klest.

  Having expounded the shocking news, the gnome left as quickly as he had appeared.

  “As soon as the Baron and his team defeat the attack on Al Dra Das, make sure that they return back here in full force. Malice, take position in the main artifact room. As soon as you hear the order, you will use everything from the bottom row.”

  “What?!”

  “Did you mishear?”

  “No,” the war mage said. Still shaking from Decay, he threw the empty coffee mug overboard, and ran awkwardly down the stairs, heading towards the corridor leading to the bowels of the giant flagship.

  "Avriil, grab the megaphone and order all the submariners to assemble under the flagship. And to avoid being our bottom by a hundred meters. Let them go near the bottom. Then activate three dozen "fish call" scrolls. Let them feed the dynos. As soon as you give the orders, bring me the latest report on the Krabbers. The whole day has already passed.”

  "The Krabbers are silent, they have not reacted to the offer.”

  “I see. So they are against us. Use the eye. At full power. I want to know what is going on around us. Niels!”

  “Yes?!”

  "Give me the info on the depths of the ocean a couple of miles ahead of us."

  “Already looking!”

  “Give three more rounds of fire! For the same purpose! I do not want to meet the slightest resistance from those pathetic ship stubs when we pass through their cemetery!”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  “Klest! How many miles to the nodal point? The Island of Death?”

  "Two miles, no more! We are going the exact course...

  “Clear! What's up with the CLOUDS?”

  “We have five minutes. Ten, at best!”

  "Declare the evacuation of the upper decks! Five-minute readiness! Take everything you can! Weapons, animals, ammunition – into the holds! Begin!”

  “Got it!”

  “Keep twenty more scrolls of the "fish call" at the ready. Do not wait for my order — activate them in five minutes! And why do I still not hear gunshots?”

  The gun platform seemed to be frightened, at once firing a hundred shots. No one paid attention to the deadly rainbow over our heads. Everyone listened to the Baroness.

  "Everyone away from the flagship! All escort ships without exception! Now! Create an empty buffer zone around us, one hundred meters from each side! Declare the protocol of protection! A threat from the sky! Wait for opponents from the southeast and southwest!”

  "But there is only the continent..."

  “Right. The main fleets of the enemy can only approach from there. A couple more can be right on the course, but not now and not today. Avriil!”

  “Yes?”

  “You’ve done everything?”

  “Yes!”

  "Contact all our pirates. And tell them that the reward for each destroyed ship of our enemies triples. And give them an updated list of our new enemies — may they torment them mercilessly! But before that, call the five protection mages here.”

  “On it!”

  "Take the scouts out of the sky! Do not land them on the flagship! We are the forbidden zone! Let them go to other ships!”

  “Got it!”

  At this time I busily tied myself to the dock, while at the same time sending a stern warning to my team, especially Kira and Orbit. I demanded that they go under the deck. I knew the bald elf – he would easily t
hink that the attack of the enemy CLOUDs on the deck were much more interesting than life below it.

  I examined the panorama of what was happening.

  The flagship Black Queen had suddenly become like a leper.

  Everyone was moving away from us.

  Dozens of the nearest ships were moving abruptly to the side, hurrying away. Below, in the water column, the same thing happened — enormous dinosaurs ridden by achilots descended into the depths, to the bottom, from which a cloudy sand was rising. The bottom of the sea was being stirred up intentionally. Winged scouts dove from the sky, looping away from the Black Queen at a steep angle.

  A few minutes later we were left in loneliness.

  The proud revived island plowed the foamy waves of the deserted ocean alone. A new volley shook the air, the howling projectiles flying along a very short arc and literally blowing up in the clouds, completely destroying them and revealing to us the distant horizon.

  “A mile to the nodal point! We enter the garbage fields!”

  The what?

  Oh…

  The terrible volleys of the stone flagship had done their worst. Around us floated a myriad of wooden debris. Covering the water almost completely. Burning. Fragments of flags fluttering in the wind. The surviving players screaming, grabbing for masts and looking unbelievingly at the monstrous bulk of the flagship pushing past them.

  “Got it! Evacuate the gun platform! Two minutes! Mages, cover everything before us with fiery fields! Fill it with napalm!” The order of the BB made a dozen mages standing on the upper deck start into motion. “Now!”

  Down came fiery death, the hissing water beginning a deadly dance, the fire devouring the remains of wood and the still living sailors. I wonder what my father would think about this carnage?

  “Mages of protection here and on the front bridge!”

  “Got it!”

  “BB, CLOUDs are ready!”

  “I see it!”

  I saw it, too. Above us swarmed the ghostly salamanders and snakes preparing to collapse on the flagship.

  “Faster to the Island! We must get right next to it! From its western side! Where the depth is greater! Are these reports accurate? Are we sure of the map?”