You're Going Down (The World Book 3)

by Jason Cheek

  Coming to a stop at the treeline, I gazed out at the invading force assaulting my people feeling ill. Torches lit up the night as a mass of what looked to be at least five hundred Goblins battering at the town’s defenses. With their numbers, the green bastards could have just hacked through the logs to get through to my people, but instead, the Goblins sought to overwhelm the defenders atop the barricades as the remaining survivors of House of Kayden fought for their lives. Fire and ice flares lit up the darkness like tracer rounds shooting from every side of the village. Each flash momentarily highlighting my peoples’ struggle to drive back the waves of invaders with their spears. The effect made the battle look like some old-time, stop-motion movie from the turn of the 19th century.

  In the middle of the fiercest fighting, I caught sight of Ulia and Theric fighting alongside Sarka, Dazed and Jorgen Valkyrie with Rayne Nessima and her girlfriend Brenna Talathiel giving them support. Just looking at the defenders fighting shoulder-to-shoulder for their lives, you couldn’t automatically tell the difference between those that were players and those that were NPCs. As the stray thought percolated through my mind, I came to a stop realizing there was no way for us to coordinate our counterattack.

  The one good thing going for us at least was that the Goblins didn’t know we were here. I could only guess as to why there were no scouts deployed. My bet was that slaughtering their leaders had something to do with it. Grimly I nodded at Thomas and Kenzie to deploy their forces as we’d planned. Within minutes the Devil Dogs had spread out in a wide half-circle readying their weapons with their undead pets out in front. All of us knew this was going to be a tough battle. Outside of the walls, we were easily outnumbered five to one. Even if you added every single fighter inside Requiem to our battle line, we’d still be outnumbered two to one. Holding up my arm to signal ready, I waited for everyone in the raid to copy the sign. Either way you sliced it, they’d all learn we were here soon enough. As the last player raised their hand, I nodded to Thomas and Kenzie before dropping my arm.

  The silent rush was spectacular. As one the Zombies shot forward at super speed across the twenty yards separating us like brain-seeking, offensive linemen, while the rest of us followed behind as quickly as we could in a silent, ragtag line. This time the undead didn’t just drag down single targets when they crashed into the back of the Goblins. No, at the last instant the Zombies launched themselves into their air like flying battering rams knocking whole groups of the enemy down with the force of their impacts. The rest of us attacked second later. Either striking at the downed foes or throwing ourselves blade first at the packed mass of bodies in front of us.

  Within a minute a good two-fifths of the attacking forces were left dead or dying on the ground as the invaders finally brought our charge to a halt. These Goblins were smarter and heavier armed than the Worg Riders we fought earlier. Focusing their attacks on the undead ripping their comrades apart, they began hacking the Zombies down in groups one at a time. While that didn’t save the victim, it allowed the Goblins to take out our most potent weapons while they were still on the ground finishing off their kill. The rest of us tried to defend our vulnerable pets as they shredded their prey, but it was nearly impossible since the Zombies’ attacks brought them deep into the enemy’s formation.

  I nearly lost my Zombies from that same strategy. As Neysa and I finished off the Goblins that were struggling to rise to their feet from the initial charge, I sent my undead pets back into the scrum. As they dragged their new victims to the ground, I saw the Goblin warriors surge forward and begin hacking them apart. Separating the head from the wounded mob I was finishing off, I drove the Goblins back with broad sweeps of my Greatsword of Corruption as Neysa ripped out the throat of another Goblin behind me.

  Focusing on my wrecked pets, I mentally commanded them to attack the mobs I’d been unable to finish off behind me as I strove to hold the invaders back. Two of the Zombies scrambled back to their feet with their supernatural speed. Ignoring the gaping, bloodless wounds covering their bodies, they each pounced on top a Goblin warrior with a wordless shriek. Unfortunately, my last pet was moving much slower. Climbing ungainly to its clawed feet using its flailing arm stumps, the Zombie tottered over to another Goblin struggling to rise. Coming to a stop just above the mob, the Zombie bellyflopped on top of the warrior. Pressing the mob down with the weight of its dead body, the Zombie locked its fang-like teeth around the Goblin’s neck as the mob shrieked in terror.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Neysa takedown the last wounded mob as I met the Goblin warriors’ counterattack head-on. Within seconds the green bastards had me nearly surrounded as I held the mass of mobs back with whirlwind-like attacks holding my ground. While the massive blade was excellent for attacking, it was nearly worthless for defense. Within the first thirty seconds, I’d been struck nearly as many times as the warriors’ lighter swords repeatedly scored against my ragged armored sides. Releasing a quick Frost Nova burst, I sheathed my blade across my back and drew my Dark Blade of Lord Kayden as I began blasting the frozen mobs as fast as I could.

  To either side of me, the Devil Dogs were being pushed back as more and more Goblins broke off from their siege against Requiem and surged towards our spread out scrimmage line. I heard Thomas shouting out commands from the far left as he sought to hold back the enemy troops trying to come around behind us as Matt, and Terry Cobra fought side by side with their undead pets to hold the right while I tried to rally our center. Behind us, Sara and her mages kept watch over the battle, doing their best to fortify the raids’ defenses with their Frost Novas as the icy blasts could be seen stopping the enemy’ advances up and down the lines to keep us from being overwhelmed.

  Still, being outnumbered nearly three to one was nothing to laugh about. The raid had blown its load of special attacks and Mana at the beginning of the engagement. While those special attacks allowed us to cut down twice our number quickly, afterward, it left us with nothing but our melee skills for the remainder of the fight. Well, unless the individual had a high Spirit attribute like I did and could keep a few spells in the pipe. Still, we were hurting. The entire raid had fallen back into smaller groups to support each other as the Goblins slowly began pushing the edges of the raid back until I was left alone in the center. Alone, if you didn’t count Neysa and the two surviving Zombie twins, since Gimpy, my third undead pet, had been finally hacked apart to the point my necromancy couldn’t hold its damaged body together.

  The only good news was that I was getting better at controlling my pets. Instead of charging at the enemy in a headlong rush like wild berserkers, they now waited crouched next to me ready to latch on to anything that came into the range of their clawed hands while Neysa guarded my back. It made for some interesting fights. Every thirty seconds when my Frost Nova became available, I’d lock down the enemy and drag them to their deaths. In-between my cooldown, the Goblin warriors would rush forward trying to overwhelm me by their numbers.

  As the fighting wore on, the Goblins strategy was starting to take its toll. In my HUD, I could see that we’d lost most of the Zombies and a handful of rogues with only taking out another hundred or so mobs. The loss of so many of our undead pets had changed the flow of battle, and we were nearly outnumbered four to one again. Sara and her mages were trying to replace the Zombies that they’d lost, but it was looking like we’d be overrun before they could raise enough bodies to make a difference.

  My contemplation was suddenly cut off as help came in the form of an icy blast that turned the whole line of Goblins in front of me into frozen popsicles. Before I could figure out what was going on, the Goblins’ icy prisons began to pop one by one up and down the line as numerous spears began skewering them to death. For a second I just stopped and stared. Most of these spear wielding warriors were my people. As the last handful of Goblins were taken down in front of me, I saw several familiar faces covered in dirt and blood step forward.

  “Sarka? Vardrid? Yun?” I shout
ed in surprise as Yun stepped up in-between the two warriors to give me a quick heal. “What the fuck?”

  “Eh, we figured since you were kill stealing all of our mobs, we might as well come out here and get in on the action,” Yun said with a laugh as Sarka rolled her eyes.

  “Really Chris? You’re a freaking healer, not a warrior.” Sarka said, giving me a grin where her husband couldn’t see it as he went off.

  “Really? Are you going to act like I can’t fight? I’m a freaking sword-wielding priest that can also shoot Frost Blasts like a mage.” Yun said getting worked up by the second as he threw his arms in the air in frustration. “And how many times do I have to tell you, it’s Yun when we’re playing?”

  “Well, if you’re such a tough priest, why weren’t you using any of those awesome skills from on top of the wall?” Vardrid cut in with a laugh before Yun could get going again.

  “Stop your bitchin; we still have stuff to kill.” Sarka snapped, smacking Yun as the rest of the battle line kept moving forward. Giving me a wink, she gave me a quick hug before advancing with the rest of the battle line leaving her husband behind. Patting the priest on the shoulder, Vardrid went to move off before coming to a sudden stop as he gave my Zombies a double take.

  “Zombies? You have freaking Zombie pets now?” Vardrid asked incredulously. “And I thought it was insane when we found out you had an NPC army, but.” He waved his hand at the crouched Zombies at my feet giving me a what-the-fuck look. “Really, mother fucking Zombies?”

  Before I could answer the Valkyrie warrior, the Goblin Zombie closest to him snapped its fanged jaws at his hand nearly taking his fingers off before he yanked his hand away. See the look of horror on his face; I held up my hands trying to calm him down. “Watch out dude; I’m still learning to control them.”

  Vardrid’s mouth hung open as if he was silently whining as he clutched his hands together. Stepping forward, Yun spoke up clapping Vardrid on the shoulder before heading off. “Hey, I’m going to give Sarka a hand while you’re playing with Ironwolf’s Zombies.”

  “Mind if I give you a hand?” I asked Yun.

  “Sure man, but we need to hurry, or there’s not going to be anything left for us to kill.”

  The battle line of NPCs and players were sweeping the field clean like a swarm of locusts hitting a corn field. The groups of Devil Dogs that were saved from being overrun just joined in on the fun making the process that much faster. By the time Yun and I caught up with Ulia and Theric who were leading the attack with Sarka, the last of the Goblin warriors were already being run down and slaughtered. Seeing me approach, Theric stepped forward as both he and Ulia snapped to attention, thumping their fists to their chests in salute as the entire line of NPCs behind them followed suit.

  “Lord Kayden!” The NPCs roaring shout brought the players on the field to a surprised stop as everyone looked around questioningly until they suddenly realized the NPCs were talking to me. The looks of shock that followed from the Devil Dogs and Valkyrie players brought a smile to my lips as I returned the salute. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sarka mouth silently to Yun that I had some explaining to do as I addressed Theric.

  “Report.”

  “My lord, the enemy forces in the area have been completely routed. Requiem’s defenses held with the help of your newfar allies. Also, there were no deaths from the attacks. All wounded were taken care of by Yun Dazed, Kyarina Valkyrie, and Lorelai Valkyrie and are expected to make full recoveries.”

  Although I liked the military bearing my people had taken-up, it still came as somewhat of a surprise to me. While Theric made his report, Ulia came to stand behind me as three other familiar faces stepped out from the line of NPCs to join her giving me an all-female honor guard. Silently I gave Rayne Nessima, Brenna Talathiel, and Keela Moréfindiel a nod as they took up positions around me. While I could understand Rayne joining me as my official companion now that she was healed up and even somewhat Ulia, why the hell was Brenna and Keela here? Neither woman was marked as my official companion in their descriptions nor had I spent any notable time alone with either one of them. Instead of trying to figure out their motives, I just did my best to focus on what still needed to be done. The rest I’d figure out once there was time.

  “Excellent job on keeping everyone safe,” I said, raising my voice enough to be heard by the NPCs. “But we’re not done fighting.” Seeing the confused looks on everyone’s faces, I continued. “I will be coming around to each and every one of you to teach Dark magic. Once you have your spells, focus on raising as many zombies as possible before we move out.”

  “My lord, might I ask where we will be fighting?” Theric asked in confusion. “I thought the rest of the force went on to attack Delonshire?”

  “That they did. Which is where we’ll be going next.”

  “Why would we help those oathbreakers, milord? They left us all to die!” Klaern Maerwen, the grizzled warrior I’d made into a sergeant earlier, shouted out angrily. As if Klaern’s words had broken a dam, a noisy growl rose up from the rest of the NPCs as everyone began shouting in anger at the thought of helping the Light Elves of Delonshire. Holding my hands up, I did my best to calm everyone down.

  “Listen up House of Kayden. We are doing this for us, not Delonshire!” I yelled back. Stalking in front of my people, I continued. “What happens if Delonshire falls? What happens to BrokenFang Hold if the Northern invaders overrun the whole region? Where does that leave the House of Kayden?” The outraged voices began to die down as the truth of my words began sinking in. “We have a debt to repay for our fallen. While the invaders are focused on Delonshire, we will come in behind them like a hammer hitting an anvil and slaughter them to the very last. Only then will we be able to secure our hereditary home once more.”

  Coming to a stop, I faced my people looking into every one of there eyes. “Do not think that this means we have forgotten what the Light Elves have done to our house. Trust me when I say never again will we bow our knees or swear allegiance to their King. We will stand on our own against any that would drag us down!”

  A wordless roar of vengeance rose up from the NPCs' throats in answer to my words as I finished my impromptu speech. Breaking formation, the people I’d saved rushed forward to clap me on the back and cheer at our success. As each man and woman on the field from House of Kayden embraced me, I gifted them my Dark Magic and quickly shared all of the first level spells that I had available. Once the NPCs realized what I was doing, they began lining up in front of me almost reverently, even going so far as to kneel before me when I passed on to them my knowledge. Apparently, sharing my profession to all my NPCs was something extremely significant in their culture.

  For me, it was just embarrassing. All of the players on the field were looking at me like I was some sort of pompous asshole for forcing the NPCs to grovel at my feet for the skill boost. What-the-fuck-ever! It wasn’t like I asked for this. I just needed my people as powerful as possible to fight against the invaders. Besides, my repeated requests to not kneel were simply ignored, so instead, I focused on getting through the process as quickly as possible. With so many NPCs the process took quite a bit of time to complete.

  By the time I was down to the last handful of my people, a good hour had passed. By then, Sarka and Yun were giving me the stink eye along with the whole Valkyrie guild who were standing around complaining about wasting their precious game time, while the Devil Dogs, on the other hand, were handing out their extra Soul Stones so my NPCs could raise up their own Zombies. Finishing up with Ulia, I gave her a handful of my Soul Stones to begin raising Zombies just as Kyarina Valkyrie’s voice whined loudly in annoyance.

  “I can’t believe I let Vardrid talk me into coming out here!”

  I saw Yun and Sarka’s irritated looks turn to ones of amusement as I returned to face the priestess rolling my eyes. “Really Kyarina?” I asked mockingly. “What part didn’t you like? The massive shot of XP and loot, saving a bunch of innocent N
PCs from being slaughtered or being on the winning side of a regional event?”

  I held my laugh as the woman’s mouth silently flapped like a fish out of water. I could see by the look in her eyes as she tried to come up with something snippy to say that my logic had shut her down like a heart attack. More than one Valkyrie player had to look away to hide their grins as Vardrid stepped in front of Kyarina to glare at me.

  “Really Dude? I’d thought you’d be a little more appreciative than that after everything we’ve done to save your people.”

  “I am thankful,” I snapped back in the same tone, “but that doesn’t mean you get to badger me to death the entire time I’m getting everything ready for the last part of this regional event.”

  I saw Sarka’s and Yun’s looks of anger turn to amusement as I went off on a rant. “Besides, you haven’t been standing around here doing nothing for an hour, because it took the lot of you nearly forty minutes to loot all the corpses from the battle.” I jabbed a finger at Kyarina and Vardrid. “For the last twenty minutes, you’ve been bitching up a storm instead of making up more potions or skilling up some other craft while the rest of us been getting ourselves ready.”

  “What really sucks is that Thomas and Kenzie have already told you what we’re up against, so you know exactly why we’re taking the extra time to gear up and prepare before moving out.” Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to calmly speak as I faced the players that had been defending Requiem.

  “Listen, I can’t thank you enough for protecting my people from the northern invaders. Without your help, they would have been slaughtered to the last man, woman, and child. But, while I appreciate the help, you need to remember we’re not just saving my people. The entire region will fall if we don’t finish these assholes off.”