The True Enemy Revealed

by Jason Cheek

  Helgath and Neysa were waiting for me as I walked up greeting everyone. There was nothing that particularly needed to be said. I could feel the warmth of their emotions through my connection as the Silver Dire Wolf stood up to lean against my shoulder as Helgath’s fingers held me tightly. It was then that I noticed Mugorlorth was missing. Coming to a stop, I caught Helgath’s yellow cat-eyes.

  “I thought he’d be chomping to prove himself to his War Leader?” I said, looking around in surprise.

  “He was,” Helgath said, her voice quieter than normal. “I told him that he would need to stay onboard to protect the ship.” Seeing the look of surprise on my face, my soulmate explained her reasoning. “The reasoning you gave Tavon, Alanah, and Zinn showed much wisdom. I knew you’d say the same to him, since he is even lower level than Zinn.”

  What she said was true and talking to the young Half-Orc warrior had been on my list of things to do. Even though I hated leaving the proud male behind, I wasn’t willing to bring him into a high-level PVP battle. It was too easy to be targeted and taken out at that level.

  Still, I didn’t want him to think I didn’t take his oath to me seriously. Looking around, I saw the Half-Orc warrior standing alone away from everyone else. With a silent sigh, I changed direction towards Mugorlorth, while waving to my friends that I’d be over in a minute.

  “War Leader?” Mugorlorth hesitantly asked as soon as I came to a stop in front of him.

  “Hey Mugorlorth, I wanted to personally thank you for staying behind to watch over the ship and wanted to ask if you might do me a personal favor. It is a matter of honor.” I said, suppressing the smile that came to my lips at seeing the Half-Orc stand up straighter at my words.

  “My companion Alanah who will be doing much of the healing while I am away has Tavon to look after her, but my other companion, Zinn, doesn’t and I worry about leaving her alone without a warrior I trust to guard her back.” I paused for a moment to hold the Half-Orc’s yellow cat-eyes. “I wondered if you would be willing to be her guardian while I am away fighting for our people?”

  “It would be my honor, War Leader!” Mugorlorth exclaimed as he dropped to a knee and gave me a fist salute.

  “Rise Mugorlorth, your duty starts now.” I said, helping the warrior to his feet. Bobbing his head, the Half-Orc took off at a run towards my other young companion. He never looked back, but raced to Zinn and gave her a fist salute. Within seconds, they were all talking as I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Thank you, Star.” Helgath said, tears running down her cheek as she clutched at my arm. “You have given him honor, even though he is being left behind.”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, patting her small hand as I headed for my friends and vassals gearing up at the ship’s railing. Glancing back at the excited youngsters, I wondered if I’d just made a mistake and had formed my very own brat pack. Shaking the thought away, I finally reached my friends and vassals who were heading into Darom with me. There was a lot of joking and smack talking as we loosened up to get rid of our pre-battle jitters.

  Everyone was looking sharp in their new armor and gear. Obviously, the black Cuttle leather was a hit and looked especially wicked with the mixed pieces of iron Orc armor that the crew had strapped on top. Some sported new breastplates, while others had spiked shoulder pads. I even saw a few oversized heavy gauntlets on Thomas and the Cobra Kai Twins, along with matching iron shields that looked heavy as hell. Phoenix, though, was looking the best out of the bunch.

  Princess Enania, or should I say Queen Naeris, since she was now the de facto ruler of the Sea Elves, had given the barbarian a Red Coral breastplate with pauldrons. The chest piece was especially designed to fit around her curvaceous chest. The look was distracting to say the least since there was a lot of cleavage showing, which I’m sure was exactly what Phoenix had wanted.

  The knee-high Cuttle leather boots, and leg wraps were a nice touch and left just enough upper-thigh skin to tantalize the eye, especially with the Roman gladiator style war-skirt she wore, which had more in common with a loin cloth than a skirt. Cuttle leather wraps protected her forearms like gauntlets and the whole outfit was finished off by a leather cloak that wrapped around her neck like a scarf and hung to her mid-calf. Taking in the design, I shook my head in mock envy. And here, I thought I’d be the best dressed amongst my friends.

  It was actually hard now to figure out who were the stealthers and who weren’t with everyone wearing black. Well, it would have been if Kenzie, Zhou and Darkhorse hadn’t split their stealthers up into separate groups. Neristhana gave me a silent wave in greeting from where she stood at the railing with Kenzie, Tinyr and Unalia. The little Gnomeling was my only companion I had yet to greet this morning. I’d have to catch up with her later once this was over, I thought as my eyes went back to the three Devil Dog rogues leading the scout teams.

  Honestly, I was lucky to have them on my team. Between the in real world training, that they’d received as marines, for special operations combined with their in-game rogue skills, they were a force to be reckoned with. Currently, they had their people in position to sprint down the docks as soon as the Wind Dancer pulled up alongside the pier. Normally, I’d have preferred to head out with them, but I had to ride roughshod over the princess and her knights. Stepping up to the railing, I came to a stop in-between Thomas and Phoenix.

  “You guys ready for this?” I asked as Phoenix and Thomas gave me barely suppressed looks of excitement. Hefting the massive two-handed battle-axe from her back, the barbarian licked her thumb and ran it along the razor sharp edge.

  “Time to collect some heads,” Phoenix said as her ruby red lips curved into a hungry grin.

  “This is what we came for,” Thomas agreed as we both shook our heads at the fiery redhead.

  Phoenix and I were old school gamers and experienced PVPers. We knew what we were getting into, especially if a large guild had taken control over the city. It wouldn’t be the first time Phoenix and I had to deal with a group of PKers who’d slaughtered a town full of people to wreck other people’s gaming enjoyment or just to be brutal assholes. Murderhobos were a common phenomenon in the gaming community. Only this time around, we were dealing with actual digital people who could feel pain and had true emotions. Once again, my stomach flip-flopped as I did my best to keep my rage in check.

  Thomas and the rest of the Devil Dogs were a whole different story. They’d seen horrors in real life that the rest of us couldn’t imagine, and had the physical and mental scars to prove it. Most of the time, you forgot they’d seen and smelt true brutality that most of us had only seen in Hollywood movies. Sometimes, you’d catch a glimpse of that thousand-mile stare in their eyes when something particularly nasty popped up. It was enough to send a cold shiver down your spine. Seeing their guild members doing last minute checks on their weapons and armor, I had a feeling they were going to be essential for helping me extract Dom from this mess.

  A large group of Royal Army regulars from the Darom city contingent started making their way down the pier as Princess Isolde and her Royal Knights began to disembark. Even from this distance, I could tell they were being led by an obvious player as the Wind Dancer came to a stop. In the blink of an eye, our stealthers went over the side and covertly faded away into stealth. While they sprinted down the docks, the rest of us got the gangplank setup and made our way at a more regular pace.

  Even from this distance, I could hear the rogue-looking player angrily cursing about “dumb NPCs” as he stomped down the pier. The shit he was saying nearly made my vision turn red as he threatened to behead more of them if they didn’t stand down for the Sea Orcs. The remaining Devil Dogs and the rest of my companions took up positions behind me as Thomas, Phoenix, and I made our way down the docks. We’d nearly reached the stern of the Command Ship, when the newfar noticed the princess’s group waiting for him around the foot of the gangplank to the Sea Orc’s trireme.

  “What the fuck are these losers doing h
ere?” The newfar raged to no one in particular as he began waving his arms around in frustration. “Goddammit, arrest this rabble and take their ship into custody.”

  A silent ripple went through the soldiers’ ranks as the player kept spouting his obnoxious orders. The idiot completely missed the expressions of shock and hope on his soldiers’ faces as he came to a stop in front of the princess. Up and down the pier, you could see the sailors on the docked biremes crowding to the sterns of their ships as they anxiously watched the scene unfold. Honestly, I would have felt sorry for the man if he wasn’t being such a complete dick. He was totally oblivious to the Royal Knights surrounding him as the princess watched the fool’s antics with Sir Hemmet and Sir Degarre at her sides.

  “Oh, make sure to take the fucking blonde back to my quarters for questioning,” the man continued as he gave the Sea Orc trireme a disgusted look with his hands on his hips. “I need to find out what the hell happened to the dumb Orcs on these ships. Fucking NPCs.”

  “Arrest this thug and have someone bring the commander of the watch to me immediately,” the princess’s voice cracked like a whip as she looked down at the arrogant man in disgust. Immediately, two of the Royal Knights apprehended the newfar by grabbing his arms, while the other two drew their blades. The player’s response was instantaneous as he began struggling trying to overpower the men holding him while screaming.

  “What are you waiting for morons? Arrest these fucking idiots!” The rogue demanded as two more Royal Knights latched onto his arms before he could draw his weapons.

  “I command you to get these assholes off of me!” The player continued to shriek in outrage as he tried to throw off the men holding him down. “I’ll have you all flogged to death for this insubordination. I’ll send all of your families to work in the camps!”

  All of this happened in the blink of an eye as I approached the commotion at a quick step. A glance back at my friends and companions enraged faces made me realize just how much this guy’s appalling threat had pissed everyone off. As soon as I was within twenty yards of the newfar, the player’s name and guild popped over his head, Amron Bungholio of the Dread Pack, level 34. I frowned, instantly seeing that the man’s health stats were almost on par with my own. Obviously, this was another Nightmare player. I gave my people a whispered warning in raid chat about the situation.

  “On your knees knave!” The princess’ proud voice commanded as her Royal Knights tried their best to force the man to the ground. They quickly discovered that the small rogue was much stronger than his level would have typically warranted as he stayed on his feet cursing up a storm.

  “Do you know who the fuck I am? I’ll use your big mouth as a chamber pot you stupid bitch,” Amron bellowed as he fought against the hands holding him in place. “Unhand me now you self-righteous pieces of digital code!”

  “Slit his throat,” Princess Isolde demanded coldly as I came to a stop holding my hands up to Sir Degarre who was just drawing his sword to strike the man down.

  “Belay that order,” I commanded as everyone looked over at me in surprise. Before Princess Isolde could explode in outrage, I hurriedly continued. “Listen, when we kill him, we’ll kill him right,” I said eyeing the player severely as my new vassals hesitated at my words. “Remember what I told you about newfar.”

  “Are you the leader of these NPCs?” The enraged punk demanded to know as his eyes focused hatefully on me. “Release me now and I won’t add you to the Dread Pack’s Kill List.”

  “Work camps, huh,” I muttered to myself thoughtfully while ignoring the asshat’s growing demands as I let my gaze sweep over the dead city. There were so many questions that needed to be answered and I severely doubted we’d have the time we needed to find out the answers before the shit hit the fan. An ugly thought turned my stomach as my eyes focused back on the rogue struggling against the Royal Knights that held him fast, before looking over my shoulder to catch the Cobra Kai twins.

  “Can I borrow your maul for a moment?” I asked as Terry wordlessly handed the massive two-handed wooden-hammer over as I turned back to the rogue whose face suddenly took on a worried look.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The Dread Pack member nervously asked as his voice went up a notch. His struggles only increased in their intensity as I stepped up to him taking a two-handed grip on the shaft of the mighty weapon. “You can’t do this to me, I’m a freaking player!”

  Coming to a stop before the wide-eyed rogue, my eyes turned hard as I spoke in a calm and even voice. “What happened to the people of this city?”

  It should have been a simple question with a straightforward answer. Instead, the rogue broke out in a sweat as he began fighting even harder against the arms holding him in place. For a moment, it almost looked like he might even break free as I waited for his struggling to stop. Finally, he gave up as he spat at me in contempt.

  “You mean these ones and zeros?” Amron asked, sneering at the angry faces around him. “Them? It doesn’t matter what we did to them,” he crowed in superiority to my face. “Startum,” he spat my name out like a curse meeting my eyes. Obviously, the asshole recognized me from my Twitch Stream.

  “You keep acting like these pieces of digital code are real people, but you know as well as I do that they’re only here for our amusement.” An ugly laugh came from the rogue’s lips as he leered at the princess standing before him evilly. “We can do whatever the fuck we want to them too. I’ll show you what I mean, babe, once this is all over.”

  I felt my temper trigger as the words tumbled from the man’s lips. Before he’d even finished, I was heaving the maul above my head using my entire body to power the blow. In the blink of an eye, there was a sickening crunch as I shattered the dickhead’s kneecap like a walnut on Christmas. For a long moment, everyone seemed to look at me in shock as the player’s screams echoed across the bay with his body bucking in the Royal Knights’ iron grip.

  While the strike had to have been painful, it shouldn’t have hurt that bad, I thought, watching the man writhing in agony. By now you’d have thought a Nightmare start player would have adapted to the pain settings to an extent upon reaching the level he had. My eyes narrowed as a new thought crossed my mind making my temper spike.

  “Where are all of the town’s people?” I asked, barely controlling the fury thrumming through my veins.

  “The town’s people?” Amron sputtered in outrage as his head lolled on his shoulders. “I’ll tell you where the townspeople are,“ he spat, switching his interface to guild chat. Before he could say a word, I shoved an old rag I had left over in my inventory from cleaning up Grindylow blood into his mouth.

  “Switch your chat back to local!” I roared into his face as he glared back at me in defiance. Standing up with a wordless shrug, I hefted the two-handed maul over my shoulder warningly as my voice took on a dangerous tone. “Switch your chat interface back now!”

  You know, I’ll never understand why people don’t believe me after I tell them exactly what I’m going to do to them if they don’t do what I say. Especially after I’ve already done it once before. There was another sickening crunch followed by an agonizing scream as I shattered the rogue’s remaining kneecap. Waiting for the PKer’s muffled shrieks to die down as he hung like a limp scarecrow between the four Royal Knights, I did my best to ignore the surprised looks from my friends and companions.

  By now, it wasn’t that anyone was particularly shocked at the violence after everything we’d been through over the last two weeks. PVP wise, it wasn’t anything particularly nasty in the gaming circles either, since most fights started by coming out of stealth behind another player and stabbing them in the kidney with a serrated blade. For some reason, purposeful violence where someone was physically restrained tended to be like a train wreck for most people. While it was shocking on one level, after all the hate coming from this guy’s mouth, everyone had more than an inkling of what was probably going on inside the city and wasn’t
too concerned about his treatment.

  It’s not like I didn’t give him the option to follow my commands. Besides, I didn’t dare let the rogue warn the rest of his guild that we were here in the harbor looking for answers about what was going on. At my command, Neysa came forward and bared her fangs a few inches from the rogue’s junk as the player’s face took on a whole new look of fear. This time, he switched back to local chat without being prompted. Stepping forward, I held up the man’s head by his stringy hair and pulled the rag from his mouth.

  “Tell me what I want to know!” I demanded ruthlessly. Immediately, the blubbering man began spilling his guts in a rush of words.

  “They’re our slaves!” Amron cried out in a sobbing shriek. There was a murmur around the circle of onlookers as the soldiers that we’d rescued began scanning the city’s boardwalk, stores, and empty streets to confirm his words. I heard boots scuff the stone pier behind me, before Sarka’s voice spoke in barely concealed outrage.

  “What about the women and children-” she began to say as the player cut her off abruptly with a dark laugh.

  “Don’t give me that look!” Amron spat in the warrior woman’s drawn face. “You act like they’re people … like they’re real women and children being enslaved,” the ugly sneer that came to his lips made me want to just pound the stupid out of him, but somehow I restrained myself since he was talking. Besides, all of us needed to hear the truth about what was going on to face what I knew was coming. Sarka’s face turned a dark shade of purple as the man continued rationalizing his actions. “Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter what we do to them. They’re just ones and zeros!”

  “So, you enslaved the city using the women and children as forced labor for your guild. Basically creating a medieval sweatshop,” I asked watching for the telltale signs in his eyes that I was right. “Did you just slaughter all the men …” the flinch in his eyes once again gave me a partial confirmation of my accusations. “No, you didn’t but you killed a lot of them,” I surmised as he glowered at me hatefully.