by Jason Cheek
Turning to Councilor Fulrin, I put an arm around his shoulder to lead him aside so we could talk privately. I promised him to secrecy, before explaining the exit strategy I was using for the Prince. His brown face winkled appreciatively at the plan. I explained that I’d do my best to get him and his team out the same way. The earnest grin that he gave me brought a smile to my lips. I could see by the twinkle in his eyes that he now understood the method to my madness. There was always a plan within a plan. He thanked me, promising that they’d be there if at all possible.
We both gave each other a salute, me with my fist to chest and his being a star of light. As he headed off with the other councilors, Sarka, Yun, Tinyr, Unalia, Phoenix, and Thomas gathered around me anxiously. I saw a couple unhappy glances at my in real-life friends as Thomas spoke up.
“You really want to do this alone?”
“There’s no way you’re walking away from this.” Phoenix added, as she tugged at a lock of her red hair. “Hell, I doubt the local graveyards will survive the hit.”
“Why aren’t the rest of your friends even concerned about this?” Sarka groused as Unalia harrumphed behind her in agreement, not that Yun and Tinyr weren’t of the same mind.
“Don’t judge my friends too harshly.” I said, giving Sarka and Unalia a one-armed hug. Sarka laughed and hugged me back at my cocky attitude, while Unalia smiled and playfully shoved me away. “After all these years playing together, they know me too well.” Seeing the confusion on everyone’s faces, I explained what I meant.
“It’s like playing in an Unreal Tournament match with a nuke in play.” I said, thinking back to our games. “My job is to piss off my ex enough to get her to nuke herself to take me out.”
“That should be easy enough to do.” Phoenix commented with a knowing shake of her head. “God knows my ex-wives would nuke me in a heartbeat if they had the option.”
“Ex-wives?” I asked in surprise. “I guess you’re a slow learner, huh?”
“Fuck you, Star,” Phoenix groused giving me dual birds.
“Exactly,” I agreed with a grin, before turning serious once again. “Look, I’ll gladly take the hit for the team if it keeps the rest of you safe.” Seeing the less than happy looks on everyone’s faces, I lowered my voice and waved them closer. “Don’t forget my “get out of jail free” card.” I said, flashing my trump card to them.
“Freaking-A, man!” Thomas said, looking at me in shock as he read the stats. “Where the hell did you get that from?” Phoenix and the rest of my friends had the same reaction.
“Eh, this little thing?” I asked innocently, slipping the talisman back in my inventory. “I’ll tell the story about how I got this later tonight, once this is all over.” I promised, clapping Thomas and Phoenix around the shoulders. “Now let’s get this party started. I have an ex-girlfriend to piss the fuck off.”
“You sound a little too happy about that.” Kenzie muttered, grinning in spite of herself as we headed for the door.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Thomas shot back at her, as the rest of the Devil Dogs groaned at the argument they knew was coming. As we filed out the door, the Devil Dog guild leader leaned in close to my ear. “Can we trust Hefe not to blow our plans?”
“Yeah, he should be good.” I said, as Thomas did a double-take.
“Should?” Thomas questionably hissed back at me in consternation.
“He wants to be forgiven.” I said with a shrug. “For the first time in his life, he’s afraid of losing all of his friends.”
“Are your people going to kick him to the curve or not?” Thomas asked, glancing back at the little Gnome, before turning back to me.
“That’s still up in the air.” I admitted.
“And if they decide to let him stay?” Thomas pushed.
“There’s no sense in closing the barn doors after the horses run away.” I said, sighing heavily. “Kicking Hefe out now won’t help anything, but, I’ll never completely trust him again. I’ll always hold a little somethin' somethin' back from now on, if you know what I mean.”
“Makes sense,” Thomas said, as we took off down the street at a fast jog. “It’s what I would do in your place.” With a thought, our undead pets fell in around us like a protective guard detail.
***
Still feeling like a heel, Hefe stomped after his friends shaking his head in disgust. It’s not like this was all his fault. Julie had been his friend too, he thought sourly. Now, it’s true he’d always had the hots for her but, then again, who didn’t? All the single guys in their group had wanted a shot at winning over their own gaming girlfriend. It was even more so with Julie. She’d kicked all their asses so many times that winning her over had become a competition. Besides, it was like getting one over on Jay for a change.
Hefe kicked a chunk of bread across the floor. It’s not like he hadn’t known he been playing with fire, but getting a shot at Julie when she was single had been too much of a chance for him to pass-up. Besides, once she’d gotten a load of his muscles, there’d be no way for her to say no to the Hef-meister. The cocky smile that momentarily came to his lips disappeared a second later as he silently pouted.
At least, that’s what he’d thought would happen for the longest time. When they’d finally met up outside of the LAN party for coffee, Julie had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in anything more from him than being friends. Still, a part of him had thought he could change her mind if she’d only look at him as a man and not as one of the guys she tromped regularly.
That was the most annoying part of the whole thing. Honestly, Hefe didn’t think Julie would date anyone that couldn’t beat her in-game. It sounded dumb as hell to non-gamers, but that was just the way it was with her and most of the other gamer girls. The only person Julie couldn’t beat had been Jay, and that was the one man she’d decided to date in their group. Though, half the reason he privately thought she’d screwed around on him so much behind his back was because she could never beat him in-game. Maybe, that was the only way she felt like she could get back at him. After losing to Jay for over eight years straight, Hefe could understand that level of frustration.
Even so, he’d never given out any information on the rest of his friends during those first few years. Yeah, sometimes they’d talk about what everyone was up to and stuff, but she never pushed for more information. At least, that’s what he’d thought initially, but even he could see that she’d been slowly working him for more and more information. It was just that nothing bad had come from it until now.
“Fucking Jay!” Hefe raged under his breath at being told what to do. Besides, he knew this time that he could keep Julie in check. He’d just explain to her his line on talking about his friends and everything would be okay. They’d all see that he was able to keep her in check, he thought smugly. No one had to know he was still talking to her. That was the last thought on his mind as he went to head through the doorway, when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and hauled him to the side.
“We need to talk.” Bonnie Smash said, towering over him with her arms cross over her massive chest. “Why do you still talk to this woman that has wronged your friends? It’s not right.”
“Listen, Honey, Bear,” Hefe whined, holding his hands up to cut her off. “It’s not as simple as that. Julie was my friend too before Jay broke up with her.”
“Were you friends with her before she started dating, Star?” Bonnie Smith asked pointedly.
“No, I met her after she started dating Jay-” Hefe began to say, only to be cut off by Bonnie’s next question.
“Did she screw around on him when they were dating?”
“Umm, yeah, it was an ugly break-up.” Hefe admitted, running a nervous hand through his long-blond hair. “Jay made it into such a big deal at the time.”
“How did he make it into a big deal?” Bonnie asked, as her face grew more severe.
“Oh you know how that goes,” Hefe said with an uncomfortable shrug, completely missing Bonnie�
��s stringent tone. “She always hit him and treated him like dirt, until he’d finally had enough. It was pretty bad.” He admitted.
“If she was such a nasty whore to one of your best friends,” Bonnie said, meaningfully poking him in the chest. “Then why did you decide to stay friends with her? Did you hope you could get into her pants or something?”
“No, it’s nothing like that, Shnukums!” Hefe protested, dragging out the “o” in no as he suddenly realized the trap he’d fallen into. “I was just trying to give her the benefit of the doubt …” His voice petered out weakly as he realized just how lame that sounded.
For a long second, the two of them stared at each other uncomfortably, before Hefe hung his head in defeat. He knew Bonnie was right. All that he’d been thinking with was his dick. Well, THAT, and getting one over on Jay for once. It really had been an asshole thing to do, he silently admitted. Whatever Bonnie had been looking for in his face, she’d obviously found it when he looked back up at her miserably.
“I don’t want some looser sellout for a man who’s just looking for a piece of ass and screws his friends over the first chance he gets. I want a man that loves me and is someone I can trust.” Bonnie Smash stated in no uncertain terms. “What kind of man are you, Jeff?”
“I’m your Pookey Bear,” Hefe replied miserably. “I love you, Bonnie Jean.”
“Listen, Shnukums,” Hefe said, sighing heavily. “At the time, I did it because Star always beat me in everything. I know Julie was an ass and I kept talking to her anyways, but I swear nothing ever happened. She never asked me about everyone, we were just friends.”
“No, you just told her everything she wanted to know without her ever having to ask.” She said, already knowing how he was with people.
“But, I didn’t do it on purpose, Honey Bear!” Hefe exclaimed.
“No, I don’t believe you did,” Bonnie agreed. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be talking this out. I’d have left you for not being worth my time, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t take the situation as seriously as you should have.”
“I do believe you truly care for me.” She said, squatting down to look him in the eyes. “But, you treat everyone else around you like a big joke. You’ve got to treat your friends better than that, or I can’t be with you.”
Tears ran freely down Hefe’s cheeks as he took Bonnie’s words to heart. He’d really fucked up. There was no question in his mind. While that was awful enough, he couldn’t even imagine loosing Bonnie Jean on top of that. She was the first woman he’d ever met that understood him and accepted him for who he was. Even though this whole conversation sucked, he had to admit, it made her all that much more attractive to him. Wiping his tears away with the palm of his hands, he looked into her soulful, green eyes.
“What can I do if they kick me out of the group?” Hefe asked dejectedly.
“Then we’ll do our best to help you make amends,” Bonnie said, as her shoulders somewhat loosened up. “But, you can’t fuck up like this again. Or, you won’t only be losing your friends.”
“I won’t, Shnukums,” Hefe promised in a whisper. “I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“Oh, Pookey Bear!” Bonnie exclaimed, holding her arms out to him. Without a second thought, Hefe leaped into her arms and wrapped his legs around her waist as they held each other and kissed passionately, murmuring sweet nothings to one another.
***
We made good time through the city. From what Assault Leader Dell’s scout teams had reported, the Chaos Storm alliance members were holed up in the main keep. It made sense due to the message I’d read earlier from Zedic of Midnight Sun. He’d written that their raids last night had been a complete success. With my Kayden Troopers and the Priests of Light, they’d managed to clear out all of the work camps around the city.
He joked, saying I must have brought a small army, since it seems like every time he met my troopers they were a different group of soldiers. From what he was saying about their fights, there’d been a lot of Regular and Advance players watching the graveyards and guarding the camps. They’d had a few rough bits of action when they had to rescue one of their people from being spawn camped, but they’d managed to grab their teammate and clear out, before the quick response force could intervene.
Zedic had taken my advice and cleared out of the city with his guild, once they’d finished doing their runs for the night. He said that he’d meet up with me later, once they made it over to the Kingdom of Larethien. I added him and his group to the allow list on my Land Management tab and warned him about the defenses, while explaining his guild’s special status. I’d just finished the email, when we came to the massive tunnel that had been built under the wall.
“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, coming to a stop. “The zombies did all of this?”
“Fylreh directed them,” Jill said nodding towards the centauride who looked over at hearing her name.
“Excellent work on the tunnel.” I called out, receiving a curt nod from the filly. Without looking back, she headed under the wall as the rest of us followed.
The tunnel really was impressive. It was wide enough for five men to walk abreast and high enough that even Fylreh could traverse its length without ducking. Crossing under the width of the fortified wall, I just hoped that it was sturdy enough not to collapse on top of us. As we cleared the far side of the tunnel, Thomas asked if I had any upgraded spells for the Devil Dogs to hand out. I noticed my guild mates looking over at the question. Quickly, I assured everyone that I’d get them caught up on their training before I headed back into Telrain.
Movement behind us caught my eyes as I glanced back to see Hefe and Bonnie Smash come running up behind everyone. They both looked flushed from whatever they’d been doing. Not that it took a rocket scientist to know that they’d been messing around. Their flushed cheeks and swollen lips were a dead giveaway. I gave them a raised eyebrow that made them both blush, before turning back around to focus on where we were headed.
As Assault Leader Dell led us past the garbage heap of death, I noticed there was barely any depression left. The piles of bodies had been either resurrected or given a proper burial. By proper burial, I meant they weren’t left piled where they’d been thrown from the top of the wall, but laid out in a mass grave that was then covered in earth. While that might not sound much better, it was more respect then they’d been given upon their death and it was the most humane thing we could do in our current crisis.
Our path led us a little ways into the forest where the remaining ninety-four Royal Knights and six Guardian Knights were waiting for me. As our group came to a stop, Sir Hemmet stepped forward and dropped to his knee as the knights behind him followed-suit. In a loud voice, he addressed me respectfully.
“Lord Ironwolf, you upheld your honor even when we failed in ours by following Princess Reeva to the near destruction of the kingdom. We beg your forgiveness and ask that you take our pledge. The Guardian and Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Kader ask to be allowed to swear fealty directly to you and the House of Kayden.”
My in real-life friends stared at me in shock as I stepped up to Sir Hemmet. Looking out across the gathered knights, I gave my consent as we traded oaths. The pledging of one’s life shouldn’t be rushed, but unfortunately, there was no time to do it right. I was thankful that the men seemed to understand that.
As we stood back up, the knights backed away to let the troopers that been resurrected from the garbage heap of death approach me. Having three thousand troopers approach was somewhat disconcerting. Although, I relaxed once I saw they were being led by the familiar face of Assault Leader Raventhorn. The swordswoman I’d met that was helping Krystal organize the corpses to be resurrected the day before.
A quick Identify brought me up to speed quickly enough as I saw that Misty was actually Misty Raventhorn, a level 45 Swordswoman and the Assault Leader of the Royal Forces of Telrain. Coming to a stop in front of me, Misty looked past me to address Assault Leader Dell w
ho’d just walked up beside me.
“General Dell,” Misty said, coming to attention. “I’ve been given to understand you’ve sworn allegiance to this, Lord Ironwolf?” The tone in which she asked the question in made me shift uncomfortably as Neysa stalked up to my other side to look down at Assault Leader Raventhorn warningly.
“That’s Assault Leader now,” Dell chided, giving the swordswoman a gentle smile. “The answer you’re looking for is, yes. Lord Ironwolf of the House of Kayden holds my allegiance now. I believe he is our best choice of leaders to face the coming storm that’s headed our way.”
Assault Leader Raventhorn’s face took on a thoughtful look as she looked me up and down. Her face impassively studied my companions until her eyes returned to meet Helgath’s, who was mounted on the Silver Dire Wolf’s back. Slowly, her face seemed to thaw out as she looked me in the eyes for the first time since walking up. She was a very different person than the swordswoman who I’d met helping Krystal the day before. I saw the change in her eyes as she came to a decision, when she dropped to a knee, the three thousand troopers she led followed-suit.
Once again, we traded oaths. I had a feeling that Assault Leader Dell had done a lot of persuading the night before, since this all seemed planned. Not that I was complaining, but once we were finished, the same scene was repeated with Randel Tericius and his two thousand troopers and guardsmen that had survived the Chaos Storm purge of Telrain’s Royal Forces.
“I don’t know why all of these NPCs are pledging their allegiance to Jay,” I heard Krystal unhappily comment under her breath to Jill. “I’m the one that did most of the actual resurrecting.”
“Probably because he arranged for all of the Priests of Light to finish up the job of resurrecting and organized the evacuation of the city.” Sarka said, unabashedly intruding into their conversation.
I didn’t hear what else was said amongst my friends as I helped Randel to his feet after giving him my own oath. With that finished, Assault Leader Dell took the lead. He escorted me to a meadow further in the forest where thousands of townsfolk awaited us.
