“Carl? Where is Carl?” the tall, blonde elf screeched.
“Calm down, Kattie,” the gnome beside her said. “This has to be what happened to all the missing people.”
“They get transported into a game and changed into the characters they played? Really, Carl?” Tom questioned. “That’s how you’re going to explain this?”
“Like George Bell said,” Carl replied, “quantum flux. It must have shifted us in time and space… maybe dimensionally?”
“John?” Marie grabbed at the brightly dressed man beside her. “What are we going to do?”
John took her hands in his, “The kids are all grown, hon. We’ll try to find a way back, but maybe there isn’t one. Look at us... we’re twenty again. We have more time to be with each other. Do you even have gout anymore?”
“Now that you mention it,” Dick said as he rolled his shoulders, “I don’t feel any pain. I forgot what it was like to not be in pain.”
“You’re right... I can flex my hands and knees without them yelling at me,” Harry agreed.
“I just started seeing someone,” Kevin said. “We need to find a way back. Come the fuck on, guys, I finally have a girlfriend.”
“Fuck that,” Tom said. “I was over four hundred pounds, out of work, and an asthmatic with bad eyesight. Now look at me! Two-eighty of solid muscle, I feel great, and my eyesight is perfect.”
“I’m with him,” Dick agreed. “I’m in my prime. Well, not my prime, since this body is missing half my old muscle mass, but it doesn’t hurt and that’s the important part.”
“I’m torn on that,” Harry said.
“Well, you’re half the man you used to be,” Dick laughed.
“Will you three shut the fuck up?!” Kattie yelled at them. “We need to find a way back, and that is that.”
“You know what,” Dick said, looking at her with cold eyes. “I’ve been waiting to say this for so long—”
A high-pitched female scream cut him off. They all looked at the stand of fruit trees off the right side of the road. Between them and those trees, the wheat waved gently in the light breeze. A column of smoke rose from the far side of the trees, the smoke becoming darker and thicker as they watched it.
Kevin, reacting as he always did when someone needed his help, took off running for the trees.
“Damn it, idiot. Wait!” Harry yelled, chasing after his brother.
“Someone needs help,” Kevin yelled back, not slowing.
Dick and Tom chased after Harry, but they all had a bad feeling about the fire. Kattie, Carl, Marie, and John stayed on the road for a few more seconds before they started after the others, not running, but moving at a fast pace.
Dick caught Harry and passed him, while Tom— with his short broad body— wasn’t gaining on Harry at all. “We’re not armed,” Tom shouted, “be careful.”
Kevin didn’t hear him, focused on dodging between the trees and heading for the cabin that he could make out beyond them. The thatched roof of the cabin was burning, and a dozen small people were waiting outside the front, crude spears gripped in their hands. Kevin didn’t let the warty green skin of the creatures deter him, another feminine scream from inside the burning building spurring him on.
Dick, falling behind Kevin, angled off to the side. He had seen what looked like the handle of an axe and wanted a weapon. The detour put him further behind Kevin, allowing Tom and Harry to gain some ground.
The slobbering, large mouthed humanoids outside the cabin never noticed Kevin when he came barreling out of the orchard. It gave Kevin the advantage, letting him snatch up one of the three-foot-tall creatures with one hand. With his other hand, he took the spear from it before hurling the thing into a few of its friends.
The scream of the creature, along with it crashing into three of its friends, drew the attention of the attacking band. Turning on Kevin, they chittered to themselves, their large mouths opening into wide grins and showing off their small, sharp teeth.
Kevin didn’t stop. He went after the next closest creature, not bothering to stab at it, but instead, used the short, crude spear as a two-handed club. The creature raised its own spear to block the attack, but Kevin was stronger than it was expecting. It snapped both spears, and the jagged end of Kevin’s weapon dug into the warty green face of his opponent. Screaming as it floundered backward, it dropped its broken weapon to grab at its bleeding face.
The other seven attackers rushed at Kevin. Backpedaling, he did his best to use the remnant of his club to knock some of the flint tipped spears away from him while he tried to dodge the rest. Two of them hit him, making him yell in pain.
Dick was suddenly there, the wood axe flashing as it came crashing down into the head of creature that had hit Kevin. He split the thing’s head open, sending blood, brain, and skull fragments flying.
Tom didn’t slow down. He had understood the creatures when they had been talking among themselves. “We ain’t food, assholes!” he bellowed as he clotheslined two of them, sending the little creatures spinning before they crashed to the ground.
Harry darted in after Dick, snatching one of the dropped spears— which were the right size for him— and stabbed through the throat of one of the two monsters that Tom had dropped. Hot bile hit the back of his throat when spurting blood splashed both him and Tom. Choking back the aborted attempt at vomiting, he tried to focus on helping his brother.
The four that had been knocked down by Kevin’s initial attack got to their feet and charged into the fray, chattering in their twisted tongue.
“Dick, look out!” Tom shouted, grabbing the haft of the spear from the next monster that turned on him. Yanking it to him, he shattered some of the creature’s teeth with a right hook. “They think you’re the biggest threat.”
Dick had killed a second one when it turned to stab at him. Looking up and seeing the four rushing at him, he stepped to the side and pulled the axe well back, looking like a batter waiting for a pitch. “Come closer, you fucking mooks.”
The two that had stayed on Kevin stabbed him again. This time, one of the spears pushed deep into his gut while he batted the other away. Gasping at the pain, he brought the jagged end of his club around, tearing out the throat of the creature that had impaled him, his longer reach just allowing him to manage it.
Harry, seeing Kevin fall to the ground with the spear buried in his stomach, let out a scream of rage. Darting forward, his stolen spear sank into the chest of the creature that had stabbed his brother. Letting go of the spear, he grabbed Kevin, “Bro, hang on! We can help you.”
“Holy hell,” John yelled when they finally got through the trees and could see the fight.
Dick swiped his axe back and forth, making the four coming for him back off. “Come closer, I’ll end you quick,” he spat at them.
Tom smashed his booted foot down onto the monster he had knocked down, then jabbed at the one he had punched earlier. “Dick, magic! Use your fucking magic, already!”
“Magic,” Marie said, seeing Kevin down. “Maybe I can help him.” She rushed forward to help, with John running after her.
“Marie, wait! It isn’t safe!” John yelled.
“I want to go home,” Kattie whispered in horror as she watched the fight.
“An attack on the farmer’s cabin,” Carl said, watching the fight. “Just like the module... but it’s out of order. This was supposed to happen after you get to the village,” he murmured, absently trying to push glasses he no longer wore up his nose.
Dick heard Tom yell at him and wondered why he was telling him to use magic. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as the knowledge of magic filled his mind. He staggered back, overwhelmed by the information that was now wedged in his mind. The four creatures facing him surged forward, seizing the opportunity.
“Stop!” John yelled at them.
One of them paused mid-thrust, puzzled, before finishing the attack lamely, but the other three ignored John entirely. Dick brushed one’s spear aside wi
th his axe. The other two stabbed, but their spears stopped an inch from his body as a blue shimmering barrier appeared for a second.
“Fucking shit, I have magic!” Dick yelled, a wide, feral grin growing on his face.
Lowering his brother to the ground gently, Harry grabbed the spear laying near him and rushed at the remaining creatures. Tom was beside him, after managing to snap the neck of the one he had been punching.
The two of them attacked the creatures facing Dick from behind. Harry’s spear punched clean through one’s chest, pieces of its still-beating heart covering the flint spearhead. Tom’s heavy fist hit another at the base of the skull, breaking its spine.
The remaining two looked around in a panic and turned to flee. One of them pitched over as three rainbow-colored orbs hit it in quick succession. The last one sprinted for the road, only to be tripped up by the spear Harry threw at it, crashing face-first into the road and rolling through the dirt.
It scrambled back to its feet, but never made it a single step; three more orbs of energy slammed into it. Falling limply to the ground, the last creature died. Harry went back to Kevin while Tom looked around for any sign of more attackers. Dick headed for the burning cabin. The screams had stopped.
Marie was kneeling by Kevin, rocking back and forth, tears trailing from her eyes as she cried over the dead body. John stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders and trying to comfort his wife.
Carl and Kattie moved out from the tree line slowly. Kattie looked to be in shock, while Carl was grim faced. “Kevin?” Carl asked when they reached Marie, John, and Harry.
“Dead,” Harry said, wiping at his own eyes. “What the fuck were those things?”
“Goblins,” Carl said. “The module I was running for you guys started with a goblin attack at a cabin, but that was supposed to be after you reached the village.”
“I could understand them,” Tom said as he rejoined the group.
“Tom, I need your muscle,” Dick yelled. “The door is stuck and the person inside isn’t responding.”
“I’ll be back,” Tom said, taking off at a jog toward the cabin.
“Goblins? Those aren’t real,” Kattie whispered.
“Neither are elves, but your ears are pointy and, unless I’m mistaken, Carl is a gnome?” John said.
“I want to go home,” Kattie said, looking down at Carl.
“There is no home,” Harry said, getting to his feet. “I’m not leaving until I get Kevin back.”
“He’s dead,” Marie cried. “He was so young... only thirty-three.”
“This world doesn’t have healing magic,” Carl added hesitantly.
“There is the ability to bring the dead back,” Harry said. “I looked for that. It’s end-game shit, but it’s available. I’ll find a way to make it happen.”
The noise of splintering wood made them all look back at the cabin. Dick stood outside the doorway, coughing as smoke billowed out of it. A moment later, Tom came stumbling out, pulling a body behind him. He rushed right back into the smoke-filled cabin, leaving the body with Dick. The fire on the roof had picked up in intensity when the door was kicked open; the cabin wouldn’t survive the night now.
Stumbling out of the cabin again while holding a child in his arms, Tom dropped to his knees. Coughing hard, he dropped the kid next to the woman he had dragged out. “No one else... I could see,” he rasped between ragged coughs.
Dick knelt next to the woman, checking her pulse. “She’s alive.” Moving to the child, he checked again. “So is he.”
“We saved them,” Tom gasped, his throat raw from the smoke he had inhaled.
“Where is the dad?” Carl asked. “There’s supposed to be a mother, father, and child.”
“Barn over there.” Moving toward the other building, Harry tried to put the image of Kevin dying in his arms out of his head.
“Carl? What do we do? How do we get back home? What about Sugar?”
“The dog will hopefully be taken care of by whoever comes to see why the rest of them never made it home,” Carl said gently to her. “Kattie, I don’t think we’re ever going home.”
Shaking her head, Kattie refused to accept what she was being told. “Fix it. Fix it, damn it! That’s why I stay with you. You make shit work for me.”
“He can’t,” John snapped at her. “Learn to accept what it is. We are stuck here for who knows how long. Kevin is dead, and all you want is to go home? Could you be any more self-involved?”
“That’s just who she is,” Carl said softly as he patted Kattie’s waist. “The village is a half day that way,” he pointed down the road, before glancing at the sun. “We either hole up here or we’ll be traveling at night. We can’t make it before dark.”
“We’re staying,” Harry said, coming back from the barn. “I want to bury Kevin. The barn is clear, but the dad was killed behind it. He’s been stabbed to death. Two goblins are dead beside him, killed by his pitchfork.”
“I want to go to the village,” Kattie told Carl. “I don’t want to be out here where those things are.”
Carl grimaced, but he nodded, “We’ll head to the village and let them know about the farm.”
Harry’s teeth ground together. “Fine.”
“Maybe Marie and John should go, too,” Tom rasped out. “Safety in numbers. We’ll take care of things here.”
“No,” Marie said softly. “I can at least look after them.” Moving over to the unconscious woman and child, she looked back to John. “Help me move them to the barn, please.”
“I’ll help, and find a shovel,” Tom said as he picked the woman up in a princess carry.
“I’ll pick out the spot and get him ready,” Harry said, looking down at his brother.
“I’ll see if these things had anything worth a fuck,” Dick said, “and drag them out of the way.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Carl said. “Please, stay safe.”
“Come on, Carl,” Kattie said, already moving toward the road.
~*~*~
By the time the guys dug the hole and got Kevin into it, the sun was a distant memory. One edge of the sky glowed deep orange with sunset, the other dark with the oncoming night. Thin threads of smoke rose from the cabin, but the flames had died down. The smell of scorched wood permeated the air.
“Kevin, I don’t know how we got here, but this world should have the means to bring you back. I’ll get there, bro. Just give me time... it’s going to take a lot to reach that kind of power.”
“We’ve got you,” Dick said. “I’ve known you two too long not to help you.”
“I’m in,” Tom said. “You’ll need me to hold the line for you. The system is based on front line and back line. There are no healers here, so no trinity. You’re a stabby fuck, and he’s our boomer, which leaves me getting in their faces to make sure you two can do your shit. Kevin had his faults, but he was always there for others.”
Harry took a deep breath, “Thanks, guys. I know we can’t count on Carl and Kattie, and I don’t know about John and Marie, but if you two got my back, I know we’ll get this done.”
“Any last words for him?” Tom asked, grabbing the shovel.
“Normally, we’d do the ashes to ashes speech, but I plan on bringing him back,” Harry said. “Let’s go with something different. Get your sleep, bro. I’ll wake you up in time.”
“Okay,” Dick said, grabbing the iron rake they had found in the barn and starting to fill the hole.
Tom joined in, working at a faster yet more relaxed pace than Dick. Harry knelt down next to the grave and pushed dirt in by hand, as they were out of useful tools. Once the grave was covered, Harry took one of the flint spearheads and carved Kevin’s name into the tree they had buried him next to.
Kevin Gallaher
We’ll be back, brother
“We have night vision,” Tom mentioned as he shouldered the tools.
“You’re right,” Dick said, rubbing his aching shoulders.
> “Night vision, magic, goblins...” Harry whispered. “This world would be a great place to be if not for Kevin beneath us.”
“We’ll manage, man,” Tom said. “We just need to be smart about it. No fight is winnable just because we fight harder. We’ll have to learn to bug out when we need to. We have a mission that needs to be fulfilled, after all.”
“Running away,” Dick snorted, “that will be new. We’ve never run from fights when it was a game.”
“Kevin proved it’s not, though,” Harry replied with a hint of anger. “No healing magic, either, so we have to play it safe.”
“Wait... I remember something,” Tom said as they walked toward the barn. “When the first rays of sun cross over the land, everyone is refreshed and reenergized.”
Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1) Page 2
