Sally could only give him a wordless shrug. She hoped he wasn’t going to try to pry into their background again. In a moment of inspiration, she turned the questioning round on him. “Do you get along with your dad and brothers?”
“Dad?” He quirked an eyebrow.
Dammit, she misspoke again. “Father, I mean.”
“Ah, I’m not sure how to answer that question,” Tom said, furrowing his brow. “To get along with him would mean we are like commoner families. I’m the third born son, so there wasn’t much use for me at the castle. My eldest brother, Cedric, is the crown prince: being the heir to the throne, his favor is the most coveted in the royal court so most of his time is spent on official business for my father across the kingdom. My second brother, Daniver, is a warrior born; if he isn’t sparring in the training grounds, he’s off leading soldiers in skirmishes against Saige.”
“Then he must not be happy about you seeking peace with them,” Sally said. She wondered if Daniver and Cedric had character profiles from the game and if what Tom was telling her matched what was in their wiki pages.
Tom released a tired sigh. “He was quite vocal against what he perceived as letting the enemy believe we’re spineless cowards. Cedric wasn’t as angry as Daniver, but he too voiced his objections. Thankfully, my father supported peace, and I volunteered to go.”
Sally walked over to the fence, and, after testing her weight on it, she climbed up and perched on the top railing. In her real body, she wouldn’t dare sit on the fence, much less lean on it. It was almost liberating, like she had one less worry in the world. Well, actually more so. It seemed that diabetes and heart disease didn’t feature as a grim future for her anymore. It felt nice not to be so self-conscious about her body or weight, but it was an otherworldly feeling that kept reminding her that this body was not hers.
“Your father must be a nice man if he wants to make peace with Saige,” she said. She peered down the path to see if Darcy was on her way back with the others. The path remained empty, with only the wind stirring the grass on either side.
“One would think,” Tom said with reluctance. “My father is not a cruel man, but he is pragmatic. He sees that a continued war with Saige would not serve our kingdom well, and losing a third-born son will not harm his lineage.”
“I wouldn’t think he’d want anything to happen to you,” Sally said gently. “I can’t imagine a parent being happy about losing a child. And if he’s a king, then he would have plenty of diplomats and officials he could have sent, but he decided to have you go instead. So that must mean that he has confidence in you. Maybe he’s worried since he hasn’t heard from you yet.”
Tom raised his eyebrows and broke into a smile. “My Lady, I do believe this is the most you have ever said to me without a scowl.”
Sally looked down at her knees, feeling awkward. Now was as good a time as any to apologize.
“Tom, I want to say…”
“Sir! Miss!”
A young girl was running towards them. Her gray, homespun dress flapped around her knees, and hair—tied back in a long dark braid—flew behind her like a flag. Sally scooted off the fence and landed on her feet, knowing something was wrong from how panic was etched in the girl’s face.
The girl stopped, almost bent double to catch her breath. She couldn’t be any older than twelve or thirteen. Tom lowered onto one knee to look up into the girl’s face. “What’s wrong, child? Is it the wolves?”
“My brother!” she gasped, her eyes wide and fearful. “Mother and I told him it was too dangerous to go into the forest to check his snares. But we can’t find him, and we’re afraid he went anyway. The mayor said you could help!”
“Oh no,” Sally moaned and looked down the path. Surely Darcy would be back by now and not leave her alone with this mess.
“How long ago did he disappear?” Tom asked, taking on a severe look.
“An hour ago, we think.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Sally groaned, dropping her face into her hands. She knew where this was going, and she wondered if it was possible to hold onto the fence to prevent it from happening.
“Where are his snares?” Tom rose to his feet, looking into the forest.
“Two miles west, sir,” the girl said tearfully. “He’s only six years old! Please, you have to bring him home before the wolves get him.”
“God help me, I don’t wanna go into those woods,” Sally prayed. From Tom’s offended look, she said quickly, “not without the others.”
“We cannot wait for them,” Tom said firmly, “The lad has been gone for too long. The longer we wait, the more peril he could be in.”
“Please, miss, please help my brother.” The girl had her hands clasped together in a desperate plea.
“Goddammit,” Sally hissed and looked down the path. Nope, no Darcy. Nor Naomi or Mina. “Shit. Okay, kid, stay here and tell my friends we went ahead to find your brother. Tom, let’s go before I change my mind.”
Tom gave her a look of immense gratitude and took her hand. “Yes.”
Sally didn’t see sense in him leading her by the hand. She had already said she would go against her better judgment. Yet, feeling his hand pushed back some of her fear. With one last glance over her shoulder at the empty path, she followed Tom into the scary forest to save some stupid little kid from the crazed wolves.
***
“Gol-lee! I gotta pee!” Naomi said, dancing in an indication of her dilemma.
“You should have gone at the inn,” Mina muttered, shooting the Monk annoyed glare. “Stop doing that. What are you? Four?”
“No!” Naomi snapped. “Are there any bushes?”
“Oh. My. God. You can’t use the bathroom outside! You’re a girl!” Mina said in a hiss, frantically looking around to make sure no one heard. The villagers kept a wide berth from the Barbarian and the bizarre girl in white clothing so no one was around to hear or witness them.
“Girls can go potty outside. We just have to do it differently from guys. Think I can go over there?” She pointed at bushes at the edge of a garden.
“That’s next to someone’s house!”
“It looks like it needs watering.”
“Go back to the inn and pee.” Mina threw a thumb back the way they had come.
“That will take too long! All I need is a couple of minutes.”
Mina looked around, and there was no one around. The paths were empty, and no one was watching from the windows. With a groan, she said, “Hurry before someone sees.”
Mina turned her back to Naomi and the bush and waited. The bush rustled, and Naomi complained about the leaves being scratchy.
“If you don’t hurry up, a wolf is going to bite you in the ass…again.” Mina retorted nastily.
“I’m not worried,” Naomi declared amid more rustling. “I know you’ll pull it off me and throw it like a Nerf ball.”
Mina made a face at the thought of a repeat of last night, but there was no use in trying to explain that to Naomi, though. They were wasting time hunting wolves when they should be figuring out how to get home or finding other players who might know the way back.
She never thought she’d miss her cramp old dorm room so much or her own body for that matter. This one was just too big to be real and she had to handle everything with care for fear of breaking what she held into several pieces. If she had to come to this world, then why couldn’t she have gotten a gorgeous figure like Sally’s? Sally drew stares wherever she went but had no idea of what to do with it. Mina drew stares too, but more cautious looks than of those of admiration.
“Are you done yet?” Mina barked over her shoulder.
“I’m trying to figure out how to do this without getting pee on my pants. Should I take them off?”
“No, just squat with your feet apart and lean forward, so your ass sticks out away from your pants. It helps to pull your pants forward if you can, to be sure it’s out of the way. It might be better to lean against something like a
tree.”
“Really?” Naomi said, and there was more rustling. “Did you pee outside a lot?”
“No,” Mina sighed. “It’s this stupid Survival skill. It just told me how to pee in the woods.”
“Have it tell you what leaves are good to wipe with.”
“Gross,” Mina shuddered when the knowledge came to her. “The leaves on that bush are okay to use.”
“Thanks!” This was followed by telltale plucking noise.
Within minutes, a sated Naomi was strutting alongside Mina as they continued their patrol, waving at every person they passed. Some people waved back, and others just stared nonplussed. Mina wanted to tell Naomi to quit acting like some cartoon but didn’t believe she would understand what she meant by acting normal. Nothing that Naomi had done since they had met was normal. Mina was almost happy to see Darcy when she appeared so that she wasn’t alone with the hyperactive girl.
“Please, tell me that you have already taken care of the wolves, and we can go back to the inn.”
Darcy shook her head. “Nope. We just got a bead on where they’re coming from. Did you find anything?”
“Other than a good bush to piss behind, nope,” Mina replied.
“That’s useful,” Darcy said, rolling her eyes and waving them along. “C’mon, we might as well check out the lead we found.”
The Cleric led them in a westerly direction. Mina groaned at her Survival skill that would not stop feeding information into her head. If she wanted to know which way was north, then she should look at a compass and not at the sun or shadows. Naomi cartwheel forward and then rolled to her feet like a professional acrobat, much to the delight of some small children watching from a yard. They waved back in response to Naomi’s eager greetings but cringed when Mina looked in their direction. God, she hated this body so much, she thought as she quickened her pace to walk beside Darcy. It was simple enough with her long legs.
“Maybe we should give them some time alone,” Mina said as casually as possible to Darcy. “Tom does like Sally…”
“I know,” Darcy replied, almost miserably. “Much to his misfortune. Sally doesn’t date, and unless they have role playing dialogue options, she doesn’t know what to say.”
It was galling that the wallflower got the supermodel body and attracted a prince while Mina, who had dieted, exercised, and spent hundreds on beauty products, was the one who got the behemoth body for trying to impress a guy who didn’t even rank with Tom. God, the unfairness of it all rankled. The skin between her eyebrows was beginning to knit when she forced herself to relax.
No, no, no, don’t get angry. Do not get mad, do not Rage.
“Admit it,” Darcy said, cutting into her concentration. “You’re hoping we don’t find any wolves.”
Mina made an indistinguishable noise through her nose. “I just don’t see why this problem has to be our problem.”
“For reasons I don’t want to get into in public, trust me when I say that we have to do this.”
Trust you? How? You’re leading us into danger, and you’re acting like it’s a detour on some road trip. How can you be so calm about this? Mina said none of this, keeping it bottled away. She wanted to pick up Darcy and give her a good shaking until she made sense, but no, she would not do that because she wasn’t that sort of person.
A loud crash halted them in their tracks. It sounded like hundreds planks of wood being broken at once and a cloud of dust rose over the roofs like a plume of smoke. Then the screams started ringing out across the village, both frighten and mournful.
“Is it the wolves?” Darcy looked around with her mace in hand.
“I don’t hear any howling,” Naomi said for once, not fidgeting in place.
“Oh no,” Mina moaned, her bronze countenance turning several shades paler. “No, no, no, no!”
Darcy and Naomi looked at the Barbarian and before either one could ask what she was talking about, Mina sprinted down the path. Her legs pumped as she ran faster than she ever could have managed in her old body. She was barely winded when she arrived at her destination and looked on in horror at the disaster.
The rickety building had collapsed into a pile of broken wood. Dust filled the air causing the people around the pile to move like shadows in a brown fog. A woman was on her knees, wailing while men struggled to dig through the wreckage. There were high-pitched screams and crying coming from beneath the mound of broken wood.
“Oh, God.” Mina scanned the growing crowd and saw the builder staring at what his poor carpentry had wrought with a white face.
First Naomi appeared at her side, barely panting and then Darcy, who gasped and bent over to catch her breath. When she was able to breathe, she said, “What…happened?”
“It fell,” Mina said. “I told the carpenter it could fall and he didn’t listen. He was letting the kids play in that death trap and now…”
More screams of fear and pain came from the pile of rubble, and Darcy’s face went white. “Oh God! There’s kids under there?”
In a blur of white, Naomi ran past the men struggling to lift the wood and seized one of the larger pieces and red-faced with exertion, tried to move it. When it didn’t budge, she tried again, digging her feet into the grass and tried again to lift a pillar of wood that was many times her weight.
“She’s going to end up hurting herself,” Darcy said, taking a few steps towards Naomi and stopping. “We…we should help too…but I…I don’t know how.”
Mina felt the same. In their world, helping would consist of calling Nine One One or the police and standing out of the way as rescue crews went in. Or recording the disaster on your phone. In this world, there was no rescue team, cops, or ambulances coming. It was just desperate parents trying to save their children.
Naomi noticed them standing there and stopped struggling with the wood and ran back to them. Her tear-stained face was red with a fury they’d never associated with her. With her fists clenched at her sides, Naomi shouted, “Are you going to stand here and do nothing while kids are dying?”
Both of them faltered, uncertain of how to respond to Naomi’s accusation. Finally, it was Darcy who said, “We don’t know how we can help.”
Then Naomi looked as if she could fly at them in a rage worthy of a Barbarian. “What kind of heroes are you!? Darcy, you can heal people! Mina, you’re strong enough to move mountains! If you don’t help th-then I don’t want to be in your party anymore!”
Darcy flinched from the vehemence of her yell, which drew the attention of villagers from their concerns for the children. The villager’s stares made Darcy feel put on the spot, as if an interrogation light was shining on her face. Darcy looked away from Naomi’s tearful face and saw the desperation with which the men dug through the wood with bare hands. In their world, cranes and trucks would have been called in to help remove the debris. Here, though, at this rate, the men would still be clearing the mess by this time tomorrow. By then, it could be too late for the children.
Broken ribs, contusions, fractured skull, broken limbs, and internal bleeding were all possibilities from being crushed by a fallen building. The ones crying and screaming were the ones that were awake; there was no telling how many others were under there, unable to cry or beg for their parents to save them.
“Mina, c’mon.” Darcy began walking forward.
Mina sank her teeth into her lower lip, but followed Darcy as if they were going to their execution. People parted, giving them a way through. An old woman had her hands clasped before her in a prayer to Shantra, but Darcy refused to look at them. There was enough pressure to be had with saving lives without having to answer prayers.
Darcy surveyed the piles of wood: the large pieces were jumbled together like a jigsaw puzzle dumped from its boxed. Spotting what she was looking for, she motioned for all the men to get clear and took care not to trip. Waving Mina over, she pointed at a pillar that lay half-buried under the rubble.
“This pillar is at the bottom. If you
can lift it up, there should be enough space beneath it for Naomi to crawl under. She can get the kids out while you hold it up.”
The pillar was almost as big as she with a massive amount of rubble on top of it. Mina shook her head. “Jesus, Darcy, I’m strong, I get that, but I’m not that strong. I can’t lift that!”
“You have to try,” Darcy said firmly. “And I can help you. I have a cantrip that will give you a bonus to your Strength check.”
“I—I still don’t know…” Mina said, shaking her head.
“You’re the only one that can do this!” Darcy barked as she wretched Mina down to her eye level by the front of her leathers. “Stop doubting yourself and help us! Blessing will give you a plus one and bring your Strength up to plus four, that’s more than enough to lift this.”
With that said, Darcy gave her a rough pat on the cheek and spoke a word of power before turning to Naomi. “I can’t cast Blessing on you, but I think with your level you can manage on your own. If they aren’t awake, check their pulse at the neck or wrist and bring out only the ones you know are alive. Don’t waste time on the ones that we’re too late to save.”
With a white face, Naomi nodded. “I’ll get them out.”
“And I know you don’t want to hurt them, but do what you have to get them out.” Darcy laid a hand on Naomi’s shoulder and squeezed it. “If Mina fails her Strength check while you’re under there, you might get crushed too.”
If the notion of sharing the children’s fate frightened her, Naomi didn’t show it. She nodded and got down on the ground in a crouch position, ready to dive in. Darcy noticed for the first time that a small group of villagers were gathering near them. Anxious and teary eyes watched them with a hopeful gaze that made her feel all the more the pressure of what was at stake.
Darcy pointed at a man who had been trying to move the rubble, earlier. “Does this village have a healer?”
“Yes, Mistress,” the man said, standing straighter as if being addressed by a superior. He probably thought he was. “She’s tending to the ones who didn’t get trapped.”
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