Nodding Kristof replied, “Yeah, I get it, outside I’m a programmer. I work stupid hours at times and my social life is non-existent. I’ve never been good at talking to others, much less getting to know women. Yet the night of the feast I met a wonderful person and was able to talk and dance the night away with her. Then my work caught up to me and I haven’t been around since. I had promised her I was different than others and that I would be back again to see her. I am now afraid I may have burned that bridge and am fearful of even trying.” Kristof stopped talking but the raw emotion of what he felt had shown in every word.
Hearing the emotion behind the words Dumadin came to a snap decision, “Come with me, Runeblade.” He started walking through town glancing back once only to make sure Kristof was following him. As he wove through the people he sent a message to Amythyst who was over at Pony Express. He asked her to corral Camelia and distract her for a few minutes. As the men rounded the corner and started towards Pony Express, Kristof started to slow. “Keep moving Kristof, if you never try you can never find happiness, even if it brings pain.”
Kristof looked from the dwarf who moved with purpose towards the stables and tried to quell the unease inside him. He had been turned down by woman after woman in real life and this was just a game. He tried to convince himself that this one wouldn’t hurt as much and would be over with quickly. His stomach however was filled with butterflies that made him anxious.
Stepping into the stable yard, Dumadin found it almost completely empty of horses. There was only a single wagon with a team of horses standing in the yard. Two stable hands and Camelia stood with their backs to the gates speaking with Amythyst. Amythyst glanced up and stopped talking as she saw the two men stop at the gates. Camelia turned around and her face froze as she saw Kristof standing there next to Dumadin.
Dumadin walked over to Camelia, noting Kristof standing frozen by the gates. “Camelia, I know you are busy this morning but I have brought a man who wishes to speak with you about forgiveness.” Camelia’s eyes blazed and she went to move to the gates when Dumadin put up a hand and stopped her, “Wait. You need to hear my next words before you take any rash action.”
Camelia stopped and her eyes turned to Dumadin, hurt and anger in them, “Speak quickly then, Hero.”
A deep sigh escaped Dumadin before he continued, “He didn’t want to come to see you. He was afraid that since he was delayed from returning to see you as he said he would, that you would hate him. If you look you will see the fear and uncertainty in him as he looks at you. I tricked him into following me here and when he figured out where we were going he hesitated. He still mustered the courage to press on though, and will accept what you say.”
Her eyes took in Kristof as he stood at the gate, his whole body showing his feelings. His slumped shoulder and bowed head showed without a doubt the fear and uncertainty that coursed through him. His head came up just enough to sneak glances at Camelia before bowing again. Camelia glanced at Dumadin’s face, seeing the pain etched there and she paused, taken aback.
Seeing Camelia shaken by what she had seen, Dumadin continued, “Camelia, I can honestly say I do not know you or Kristof well at all. I do recall the joy on both of your faces not long ago when you danced. Maybe you two can find a bit of happiness and maybe not. If you speak harsh words of anger today though, then tomorrow might never come. As a man who has lost happiness once in his life I would implore you to consider that maybe he truly is sorry. Give him a chance to speak and give him a chance to make amends. The choice is yours, of course.”
Done speaking, Dumadin motioned to Amythyst and the duo went to leave the yard. Dumadin paused briefly next to Kristof, “Do not argue and take her words as they are. If she lets you, then speak with your heart and may the light guide you forward.” He met Kristof’s eyes to see a faint spark of hope before nodding and walking away with Amythyst.
As they walked away Amythyst smiled down at her friend, “Playing match maker?”
Sighing Dumadin shrugged, “Giving away hope and dreams. If you had heard the emotion in his voice earlier you would understand. As always, the ball is in her court as women always hold the final word on relationships.”
Amythyst chuckled and shook her head, “You really are a hopeless romantic. No wonder Kittish loves you as much as she does.”
“Here I thought it was my sense of humor that was the reason,” Dumadin replied with a grin.
“Gods no, no one would love that,” Amythyst laughed and darted off into the crowd.
Dumadin paused as she darted away and laughed shaking his head muttering. “She is really starting to fit in.”
As he made it back to the inn Dumadin found the others there with Bjorn. “There he is. Where have you been, lover?” Kittish asked as he strolled up.
“Playing match maker, I’ll fill you in later.” He replied before turning to Bjorn, “How much longer before everything is ready, Bjorn?”
Looking around Bjorn smiled, “Camelia is the last to join us. Once she is here we will be ready to go. We will be taking the roads, which means a slightly longer trip but makes it more convenient for the adventurers who want to help us.”
“Sounds fine to me,” Dumadin said. “We’ll be breaking into two groups of four once we head out so some of the Bananas are with you all the way.” The others nodded, having discussed the plan via phone this morning.
Bjorn’s head jerked up and a smile came to him, “Looks like Camelia is here and with a stranger on her wagon.”
The group looked over and Dumadin chuckled, a large smile crossing his face. “Not a stranger at all. Kristof Runeblade has the makings of a good man to him. Glad to see they made up after all. Alright, let’s get the show on the road.”
Nodding Bjorn cupped his hands and spoke loudly, “Citizens of Stoutbank! Today we will be rising up and showing the oppressive lords that we still have rights! We are moving with the Heroes to the north where they have offered to harbor us and give us land to build anew! Today we are no longer part of Stoutbank, but part of Stonetalon, the name we have agreed upon when we settle down with our new lords!”
ATTENTION! Stoutbank no longer exists!
All reputation with Stoutbank is now reputation with Stonetalon.
All the players blinked before joining the townsfolk in the cheering. “Alright, we depart!” Bjorn called out as he climbed into his wagon next to Tabitha and cracked the reins lightly. The wagon train began to move slowly towards the keep of Vengeance, which was right next to the main road going north east.
As the first wagon exited town a flurry of movement could be seen atop the ramparts of the keep. A moment later the gates opened and a mass of players marched out of the keep and blocked the road. As the wagons drew closer the group could clearly see Blade Master, Executioner and Talia standing in the front of the blocking mass of players. Executioner held up a hand to stop the wagons and took a step forward.
“Stop where you are, where do you think you are all going?” Executioner asked, his voice filled with disdain.
“We are leaving these lands due to your oppression,” Bjorn replied.
Dumadin looked at the group blocking the road and then up at the waving flag above the keep and stifled a laugh. The others looked at him and he pointed to the banner above the keep. The banner was a white background upon which an axe and sword were planted into the head of a dead dwarf. The dwarf of the banner had eerily similar features to Dumadin. “I think they still hold a grudge,” he said softly.
“Do you think we will just let you leave here?” Blade Master yelled from where he stood.
“I think they have help to leave,” Kristof said as he advanced to the front of the wagons his blade in his hand. “These folk are not slaves and have the right to go as they will.”
Talia laughed and moved up next to Executioner, “Oh how cute, the little level five is going to stop us.”
“Actually, they have more friends,” Dumadin said as he moved out from around Bjo
rn’s wagon followed by his friends. “Fancy meeting you here.”
The trio of Vengeance went rigid at seeing them. Executioner’s face went a deep red and his face contorted into anger, “You little fuck. We will have our vengeance for what you did before.” Blade Master and Talia agreed with him, also looking at the group with hatred.
Rolling his eyes Terets spoke up, “Oh no, the two wannabe rapists and the woman who takes rejection badly are still upset. Whatever will we do?”
Executioner pulled his axe from his back, “I’ll show you, you little fuckwad.”
As the words left Executioner’s mouth, the fifty players who made up Vengeance the guild surged forward. As they did, the other players who had accepted the quest to defend the townsfolk, all one hundred strong of them, came rushing forward to defend the caravan. The melee was over a minute later, all of Vengeance had been defeated and close to forty defenders had fallen, while not a single NPC had been injured during the attack.
The survivors regrouped and got the wagons moving forward quickly. Dumadin let out a deep breath and shook his head next to Bjorn on the wagon, “They will be back to try again and again. It is just the way they are, after all. Make sure the guards are all up on watch during the nights. I have a feeling they’ll try to sneak in and kill people when we stop for the nights. We might also get more adventurers over the next few days once word gets out.”
Shaking his head, Bjorn replied, “So even adventurers are prone to rash actions when your blood gets pumping. I will pass the word to the others as well so they are all on guard.”
Felton, Emilia, Garthur and Gwennie walked up next to Bjorn’s wagon, which was in the lead. “We got the day watch. Go and get some rest,” Felton said as he walked along next to the wagon.
Dumadin nodded and looked into the back where the other three waited for him. “We’ll be logging out in here,” he hiked a thumb over his shoulder before slipping into the covered wagon and sitting next to Kittish. “Today was exciting. I wonder what tonight will be like?” His friends chuckled as he spoke, “Anyone up for lunch before we get a nap for later?” Terets and Amythyst agreed and said they would see him for pizza at the local pizza parlor. The four logged out a moment later, each wondering what they would miss in the next few hours.
Gaming News Network
David and Miriam walked into the pizzeria and greeted the owner before heading over to Will and Lavender. “Sorry for the delay,” David said as they sat down, grateful to be off his injured foot. “Hopefully you haven't been waiting long.”
Will chuckled, “Naw, we’re good. I had Angelo put the main TV on the GNN webcast. When Gamer News Network started up I never thought it would grow like it did.”
Miriam glanced at the TV, which was currently showing an advert. “Still with the ads, but I guess they need the revenue. Oh, it's a commercial for Last Horizon.”
David ordered soda for him and Miriam when Angelo came over as Will had already ordered a large pizza for them. “So anything interesting on the channel, or just wanted background noise?” David asked idly.
Will's grin grew and he pointed to the TV, “Oh, it's mildly entertaining at the moment.”
David looked over to see the reporter talking about Last Horizon with a screen shot of Stoutbank up behind her. “If you haven't heard yet, Last Horizon has an event currently going on as we speak. It seems the game is indeed living up to the developer’s claims of being an ever changing world. The starting town of Stoutbank is on the move. Reports are trickling in slowly at the moment, but it seems the NPCs of the town are leaving due to a player taking the land and putting up a steep tax.”
Lavender shook her head, “I’m sure sis is going to want to talk when we get back in game. Oh well, it's not like we started it.”
Chuckling, Miriam shook her head, “Too bad there isn't an option to show off live gaming feeds. Can you imagine what that would do for these events?”
Lavender blinked before pulling out her phone and starting to text. “The Devs do have the ability to do that, which is why the news has that still image. We players can't but they can, it's even in the EULA that they can use gaming footage as you agreed to it there.”
Will laughed, “Oh, so she might be able to show the clip of Vengeance attacking. This will be interesting.”
Laughing, David shook his head, “Oh man, this might be the biggest gaming blip for the next few months then.” he stopped laughing and grimaced, “Fuck. This is going to draw a whole lot of people in. Just so they can say they were there. The next two weeks just got chaotic.”
The others nodded as they took in the implications. “Like the opening of the gates to the bug city in WoW back in the day. People all wanted to get in on that, but it was really only the big guilds that got to really do anything with it.” Will mumbled while looking at the TV where the anchor was bubbling on about the ongoing events.
Angelo came over and set the pizza down, wishing them a good meal before walking away. The group thanked him and ate in silence for a time, each lost in their own thoughts. Once the pizza was demolished they looked at each other, each coming to similar conclusions on what they should do.
“Well, we’re going to be splitting the days with the other four. We should toss them an email so they know they might get a massive influx of people.” Lavender spoke up and the others agreed to the idea.
David pulled out his phone and sent the brief message to Gabriel and Mike. “Hopefully it hasn't gotten too horrible yet. I wonder if Vengeance already attacked a second time?”
Standing up Will shrugged, “Who knows? We won't unless they tell us. Let's split and get our naps in, we’re going to have a long twelve hours of gaming to do.”
Miriam frowned, then chuckled, “Ha, if anyone wants to speak to the mastermind of the rescue of the town, we get to dump them on David.”
Groaning, David clutched his head, “Oh gods, not the media. I would rather face zombie clowns with rabies than the media.”
The others laughed as they dropped money onto the table and left the pizzeria. After their goodbyes, they went home to try and get some rest. During the drive David got a reply from his email from Mike, which caused David to groan.
Looking over briefly from the driver’s seat, Miriam waited for him to tell her what it was. As the silence stretched on she spoke up, “What?”
“The media already had one of their reps contact Mike. He told them he would let me know and sent me their contact number. They want our story on the event,” shaking his head, David sighed.
Laughing, Miriam smiled, “It will be okay. Just strap your shield on and deflect the questions.”
David chuckled, “If only it were that easy. I might as well get this over with when we get home, once I talk to them maybe they’ll leave us alone.”
Miriam rolled her eyes, “You call me the optimist.”
Upon arriving back at the house David went to his computer and brought up the program for calls. He entered the number and was asked his name and reason for calling. Once he told them his reason they asked him to hold. A minute later a man came on the video end of the call.
“Hello David, I am Thomas Newsley. I just wanted to run down a few things before we get you over with the reporter. We need your approval for this call to be aired as the most important thing.” The man looked like a weasel and David grimaced.
“Can I just give you the info without the actual call being used?”
Thomas smiled nodding slightly, “Well yes we can do that. However you should think of the angles. If we have the footage of the call as well it gives a much better base to the story. If we do the anonymous source thing it loses some of the credibility.”
Thinking for a minute David paused then shook his head, “No. I do not give permission to use the audio or video of this call. I will give approval to use my words in your report though, as an anonymous source.”
Sighing, Thomas nodded, “Fine. The other issues are moot then, please stay on this call.
We will have a reporter with you shortly.”
A minute or two later a bubbly blonde came onto the video feed. “I'm Ashley Mason, one of the reporters for GNN. You are David right, your in game avatar is Dumadin Shieldbreaker?”
David blinked and eyed the reporter, “Before I answer any questions, we are clear about the audio and video not being used right?”
Ashley's eyes twinkled, “Yes. Thomas must have been talking with you beforehand. You have my word that I will only use your words and nothing more. Can we begin?”
Drawing a deep breath David nodded, “Sure, let's get this over with. I am Dumadin Shieldbreaker in Last Horizon.”
“You are a terminal cancer patient who helped push beta, is that right?”
Last Horizon: Live Page 13
