by JK Galioto
They turned slowly, then dropped their pickaxes upon seeing Jack standing over the dead guard’s headless corpse.
Chapter 30
“It’s closing time, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” Jack sang, triggering his Inspire Ally Bardic perk. It should provide the miners with bonuses to attack and damage, but all he really wanted was to spark some signs of life into these exhausted laborers. The song had an immediate effect, an almost visible gain to their vigor as they stood taller with their eyes focused. Three of the prisoners all started talking at once, in a variation of the Undercommon language he had heard the goblins speaking. The words were less guttural, with syllables and phrases flowing together smoothly. While some words were the same, many were not, and it took Jack nearly a minute of listening to them before he understood what they were saying.
“. . . this idiot is gonna get us all killed. I say we continue working and let the hobs take out their anger on this husky half-elf,” a black-haired halfling with a long scar running from his right eye to the corner of his mouth and black beard declared loudly while staring daggers at Jack.
Husky? Why was it always about his weight? He had thirty-seven charisma; would it kill him to say handsome half-elf?
“We donna even know why he’s here; maybe he be with a large group that already killed the other guards?” the female halfling said, speaking up for the first time, gritting through pain from the numerous whip slashes on her back. Like the other halflings, she was just over three feet tall. Her dirt-covered hair and face made it hard to tell much more than that.
“That’s precisely me point,” another halfling replied before Jack cut him off abruptly.
“Listen,” he barked. “We don’t have time for this. My name is Jack. My friend and I are trying to save you unfortunate fools, but we need your help. No time for this bickering! We have a distraction set up for the guards in the pit, but if we don’t get up there to use the diversion, we might as well slit our own throats.”
Immediately, the halflings began talking over each other with outcries of protests. Jack ignored them and moved over to the female halfling, reaching tentatively for her bloody back and casting his Minor Heal spell. The slashes closed, leaving only light, silvery scars. She stared at him with undisguised joy on her face, the healing restoring her spirit as much as her body. The other halflings quieted, staring at Jack as if seeing him for the first time.
The female halfling introduced herself first. “Me name is Maebh. You can count on me pickaxe, Jack!” she said boldly, putting it on her shoulder. “And,” she said, turning toward the other halflings, “ya betta all be behind me or we’re coming for you after we finish off the guards.” Seeing the three-foot-tall woman hoisting a pickaxe in a threatening pose would have been comical if she didn’t have the look of death about her. Woah, feisty one here. He was glad she was on his side.
The other halflings snuck quick glances at each other before an older male, who had been quiet the entire time, stepped up. “Aye, we’re with ya, Maebh. And you, Jack, although I am not sure how much help we can be.” The Inspire Ally buff chose that time to end, and the halflings deflated like balloons.
Quest Offered: “Free the Prisoners.” Overthrow the prison guards to free the prisoners. Reward: 500 experience, increased reputation with prisoners, and a special boon. Accept? Yes or No.
Special boon? Jack accepted, feeling glad this world would reward him for something he planned to do anyway. He wondered if Gooch had also received the quest since they were in the same party.
“Thank you,” Jack replied, meeting the gaze of each halfling in turn. “I wish I had time to wait for you all to rest and heal, but we need to move if we want a chance of escape. Can you use your pickaxes to break the chains that tether your ankles together? No time for me to pick all the locks.” The prisoners took up the challenge, and within moments had shattered the chains binding their legs. I guess it pays to develop a high mining skill.
“Okay, let’s go. I will be able to give you another boost of energy when we get up to the pit, but until then, lean on each other for support.” Jack started back up the tunnel. It took the exhausted group more than a minute to reach the entrance to the main pit. He saw that his plan was definitely in motion. The hut he had set on fire was spewing thick, black smoke, and guards and miners were rushing from one of the tunnels, water sloshing from the buckets they carried as they tried to douse the hut.
He tried a bird whistle, their agreed-upon signal. Gooch, who was staring at the fire like he was Carrie burning her high school down, did not hear him. Jack then tried a louder “ca-caw” raven sound, but still nothing. Finally, he gave up and yelled, “Whippoorwill, whippoorwill!” Luckily, Gooch finally heard the cry above the noise created by the fire and associated activity. Jack saw the large warrior run down the path from the cliff ledge, sounding like a box of metal marbles being tossed down the stairs.
So focused were the guards and miners on putting out the fire, that no one heard or saw Gooch until he rammed into a goblin guard that made the unfortunate mistake of being in his way. He hit the guard with the force of a runaway semi hitting a barrel of water, sending the creature flying. Other guards perked up at this, recognizing the threat for the first time. They began pulling out shields and weapons and bellowing their own war cries.
That was Jack’s cue—time to help his friend. He quickly pulled his lute out and used his Inspire Ally perk. He began playing an inspiring version of “The Safety Dance” in the halfling language.
“We can riot if we want to,
We can riot all the time.
Cause the guards don’t like it,
And if they don’t like it,
Well, they’re no friends of mine.
You can leave if you want to,
But don’t leave those picks behind.
Will you smash those picks?
In the heads of those dicks,
And get the heck out of this mine?”
The melody invigorated the exhausted halflings, bolstering their strength and quickening their movements. As the guards began to engage and overwhelm the large man, the halflings moved to intercept with loud barbarian yaups. Jack really wanted to sneak around so he could backstab one of the larger guards, but couldn’t leave the ragtag group of unarmored miners to fight alone. He ran with them, stowing his guitar in his backpack, the song still on his lips as he pulled out his shortsword and dagger and began the fight in earnest.
Chapter 31
Jack assessed the situation. Roughly ten goblins were in the middle of putting out fires, with more goblins pouring out of the tunnels. The four hobs Jack had seen earlier were beginning to converge on Gooch, who, after scoring a severing blow on one of the hob’s arms, was in full turtle mode. His blocking and parrying skills, enhanced by Jack’s Party Leader specialization, along with his hardened skin and poor-quality chain mail, allowed him to take minimal damage against the formidable creatures, although Jack wasn’t sure how long that would last. They were starting to surround him, and weapons were finding their way through Gooch’s guard. It was at that moment that the first of the halfling prisoners arrived on the scene, which quickly dissolved into utter chaos.
Jack’s steps faltered a bit as he watched the tenacious halflings slam into a hobgoblin, barely coming up to the creature’s thigh. It didn’t matter. Catching the poor creature completely by surprise, they began swinging pickaxes like they were trying to dig their way to China, finding that breaking bones was much easier than breaking rock. The hob turned, attempting to swat at the creatures, but suddenly found that it couldn’t stand, its legs completely destroyed by six halflings and their sturdy pickaxes.
Two of the hobs turned to face the tiny halflings. Both carried a large shield and studded mace, and before Jack could intervene, two of the halflings were sent flying, unconscious or dead. Finally arriving, he used his momentum to slide under the splayed legs of the nearest hob, thrusting his daggers straigh
t into its bits and pieces, cutting deeply into the creature. Hot blood drenched him. So gross! Jack wondered how he kept getting into these situations. The hob howled in rage and brought its mace down on Jack, who was just barely able to roll out of the way. “Thank you, dodge skill,” Jack muttered, feeling his stamina tick lower, before quickly standing up.
Gooch was holding his own against a solo hob opponent, and Jack was sure that the other halflings and himself could finish off the other hob. He felt better about their chances and was optimistic they could bring a quick close to this fight. And of course, that’s when things went south—like “drunkenly knocking over a long line of parked motorcycles belonging to a local gang in Tijuana” type of south.
Gooch, who had banged his shield against his opponent’s head, was about to finish the ferocious creature when a trio of light blue magic darts struck him in the back, penetrating his armor and causing him to stumble, allowing his opponent the time and means to land a wicked blow with his jagged sword directly onto Gooch’s shoulder with stomach-churning results. The arrows disappeared in a puff of blue smoke a moment later, the damage done.
Jack took a step back from his opponent, allowing the halflings to keep it busy while he cast a Minor Heal on Gooch and scanned the battlefield for the caster. Jack saw three things of immediate concern. First, the orc overseer had left the burning hut and was marching toward Jack’s group with steady, lethal intent. Second, there were a couple dozen goblins that had made their way out of tunnels and were slowly heading toward them. Finally, he identified the caster, a goblin in a black robe, long white hair flowing between its pointed ears, and eyebrows furrowed in concentration as it began casting another spell. Jack finished his spell, feeling the healing magic flow out of his body and into Gooch, partially healing the warrior.
“Gooch, we got company, buddy,” Jack cried, wracking his brains for a way out of this. “You gotta tank the big guy, I will go for the caster.” Gooch gave a grunt in acknowledgment, slamming his sword down into the foot of the hob in front of him and twisting violently, causing the hob to curse and stumble to the ground. A nearby halfling slammed his pick into the monster’s lowered head, ending the creature’s suffering.
The halflings, tougher than they looked, were nearly finished with the hob they were fighting, although they were down to three. “Maebh,” Jack said over the din of battle to his new ally, “more goblins incoming. Can you stall?”
Sweat poured from Maebh, streaking the dirt permanently plastered on her face. “Try stoppin’ me,” she growled, turning to meet the oncoming horde of goblins.
“Gooch, Burning Hands at six o’clock!” he screamed before taking off toward the caster, hoping Gooch could burn some of the goblins to give Maebh and her fellow halflings a chance. As Jack ran, he noticed prisoners were starting to emerge from the tunnels with frightened expressions on their faces. The other prisoners in the pit had the same expression as they watched Jack and group fight their oppressors. Jack couldn’t take it anymore and roared, “We are fighting for your freedom. We are dying for your freedom! Will you do nothing?” At that moment, a trio of magic arrows slammed into Jack, who had taken his eyes off the caster for a moment. Jack stumbled, falling to the ground, still at least fifty feet from the caster. He was hurt and unsure whether he could take another set of those arrows. He glanced at his combat notification.
You were hit by Spirit Arrow x 3. You received 8, 7, and 8 damage.
Nope, he couldn’t take another volley; he had to get to that mage.
Chapter 32
Forgetting about the prisoners, he sprinted toward the magic user standing atop the scaffold, who was already in the middle of casting another spell, a wicked grin splitting its face as it watched Jack run toward it, knowing he would be too late. Jack was almost to the scaffolding when the mage, pointing at Jack, began to release its spell. The wicked grin vanished along with the spell it began casting when the point of a pickaxe poked out of its chest. Blood began bubbling from its lips as it looked at the halfling prisoner standing behind it, and Jack’s sharp hearing could just barely hear the mage’s last word, “Why . . . ?”
Jack looked at the prisoner and gave him a quick nod of gratitude before turning and running back toward Gooch, Maebh, and the other prisoners. Maebh and her fellows were doing well; Gooch must have hit the charging line of goblins with a doozy of a Burning Hands spell. At least a quarter of the two dozen goblins were on fire and in various stages of dying or trying to extinguish the flames. Many of the prisoners from around the pit and the tunnels were rushing forward to help, slamming the remaining goblins from behind. We might just pull this off!
Immediately after having the thought, Jack watched Gooch take a stab to his gut from Umak the Cruel, the orc overseer. Larger than the hobgoblins, he was nearly seven feet tall with coal black skin, darkened scale mail, and a large two-handed sword. The sword penetrated Gooch, who stared blankly at the muscled orc. His longsword was plunged deep into the orc’s leg, buckling it and causing the orc to back up a step and pull his enormous blade out of Gooch. Gooch did not move as Umak swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting a nearby prisoner in two before moving on to another.
“Maebh,” Jack screamed over the din of battle, “behind you!” Maebh looked back, immediately seeing the danger. For the first time since she had joined Jack, she hesitated as she stared up at the massive orc. The malicious creature snarled at her, his mouth a jumble of broken and jagged teeth, and lined up his sword for a killing blow. He stumbled as a sword from behind bit deep into his hip, blade scraping bone.
Gooch, whose Last Stand perk had brought him back to one hit point, looked up at the orc, red liquid from a restorative potion still on his lips. “People keep asking me if I’m back, and I haven’t really had an answer,” Gooch said in his best breathy Keanu Reeves voice. “But now, yeah, I’m thinking I’m back.”
The orc was a veteran fighter and, although surprised to see Gooch still alive, was able to take a few steps back and reset himself, squaring off against Gooch and Maebh with a vicious grin. “I eat turds bigger than you for breakfast,” he said in rough Undercommon while he feigned an attack at Gooch, who took a large step back and brought his shield up to block, not detecting the ruse. Once Gooch stepped back, Umak executed his real attack: a brutal kick that connected squarely with Maebh, sending her flying like an unattended toddler at an ass-kicking contest.
Jack bit his lip hard to avoid crying out at the sight of Maebh being kicked halfway across the pit. He managed to run toward a large pile of ore that was twenty feet or so from the battle. He decided he could best help Gooch by going for a sneak attack, the only way Jack could see doing any significant damage to the heavy-armor-wearing monster. Using stealth, he left the ore pile and began quietly making his way toward the orc, silent as a field mouse scurrying across Grandpa’s beet fields.
Gooch was a sight to see, focused mostly on defense, frustrating the raging orc. Gooch’s shield was everywhere, meeting and deflecting every strike from the orc. To Jack, it looked like the orc was trying to gain the measure of the large warrior. He knew it was only a matter of time before Gooch made a mistake and the orc capitalized on it. Fortunately for Gooch, Jack was behind the orc now, and more importantly, so were his blades. In a single precise movement, he thrust his blades toward the creature’s back. His dagger slid harmlessly off a scale, but the shortsword found its mark, slipping smoothly between scales and cutting through the leather and skin beneath, scoring a deep hit. The orc, hurt but still fighting, repositioned to face both Gooch and Jack, a wicked smile still plastered on his face.
“Is that the best you got, fat elf?” he sneered, readying his weapons for another attack. Actually, that was my best. Jack gulped and slipped behind Gooch to assess the battle. The goblins and prisoners were fairly evenly matched, as more prisoners had joined the initial halflings. Hopefully, they would be victorious, but Jack couldn’t count on them for support. “It’s you and me, Amigo. Buy me some ti
me and I will see what I can do to help you,” Jack said, stepping behind Gooch and beginning to cast Minor Heal on his friend. After that, Jack activated his last Bardic perk for the day, initiating Inspire Ally, since the previous one had expired a few seconds ago, and sang a rousing version of “Danny Boy.” He wasn’t proud of shamelessly pulling heartstrings but hoped that somehow Irish stereotypes of both worlds would align.
He saw his allies, halflings and Gooch alike, perk up a bit at his singing and swing their weapons with more vigor. “Gooch, I am going to try and make him fumble his attack; be ready to counterattack with all you got!” Jack began casting his new Savage Scorn spell, watching Gooch hastily fend off attacks from the enraged orc, using his Protector perk to defend Jack when needed. Jack knew they couldn’t hold out much longer against the wily veteran. The orc knew it too, and he grinned a little wider with each attack.
Finishing the spell, he targeted the orc. But instead of the magic releasing, it stayed in his body, a whirling mix of magical energy pulsing in his belly. Right. I need to insult this beast to make it work.
“Hey! You eat turds for breakfast?” Jack spat out hurriedly in rough Undercommon, responding to the orc’s earlier comment. It wasn’t his best work, but it was enough for the spell to trigger. He could only hope that insult quality wasn’t a factor in the spell’s success. He wasn’t sure if the orc failed his resistance save until he tried an exaggerated overhand chop straight down on Gooch. As he brought the weapon down, it slipped out of his hands and landed in the dirt a few feet away.
Gooch took full advantage of the opportunity, dropping his shield and grabbing his own weapon with both hands, then bringing it up and around before slamming it into the creature’s armored shoulder. Jack heard the snapping sound of breaking bone and saw the orc’s shoulder dislocate. Umak used his offhand to punch Gooch in the face, screaming out a loud war cry as he did, which seemed to add a slight shockwave effect to the attack. The attack slammed into Gooch, stunning him, and the orc pulled a long knife from his belt, ready to finish the warrior.
