by Jason Cheek
“Not at all, my Moon Elf friend,” Warf said, letting out a bark of laughter, “they’ll shortly cut in towards the base of the wall and catch up with us while dragging a few thousand more of the gray-skin bastards to their deaths.” Catching Scout Leader Tanner’s nod, he announced in a loud voice.
“Overlord Ironwolf, it’s time we moved out.” With that said, he wheeled his horse around and fell in beside his subordinate at the head of five hundred royal scouts as I fell in behind him, while the Druids hurriedly transformed back into their Umbra Hunter forms and raced after us with their riders still blasting at the enemy.
Scout Leader Tanner actually ended up stopping at the halfway point of wall to offer the retreating cavalry some defensive fire. Between the Scouts and the defenders on the wall, we were able do enough damage for the Heavy Cavalry to easily finish off the Orcs that made it to them. The timing was a lot tighter than I realized it would be as Scout Leader Tanner, Lance Sub-Leader Brewster, and Lance Leader Warf tagged teamed the enemy like a well-tuned team, which left me even more impressed with Scout Leader Tanner’s skills since she was the new kid to the team.
Somehow, the three of them worked out the timing to keep us ahead of the Orcs and the Heavy Cavalry charges. Towards the end, I finally figured out that Lance Sub-Leader Brewster was looping back for an additional charge every time our lines shifted back to a new defensive position. Though, it wasn’t until we were nearing the end of the wall that I truly appreciated the complex strategy that they’d woven while on the move. As we came to the final fallback line, I saw that all fifteen hundred Scouts were already in position and busy sending volleys of arrows at the Orc forces that were closing in from the north.
Fighting along with the royal cavalry, I saw the familiar faces of my friends. They were easy to find in the crush of bodies due to the purplish-black Enhanced Shadow bolts flaring from their lines. Well, that and the snarling line of fifty-two zombies standing in front of them, I drolly thought, shaking my head in silent amusement. The zombies were a definite giveaway as to where my people were. The only problem was that they could only push out that level of damage until their mana ran out, and that had to be getting close with how much they were blasting out at the Orcs’ ranks.
“I know you and your people want to assist as much as possible before withdrawing from the field of battle,” Lance Leader Warf said following my gaze, “but you do know the Orcs are not going to let you escape no matter where you run.”
“They would’ve chased after us either way,” I said, giving him a meaningful look, “At least, this way, we have a better chance to hurt them while making sure more of our people survive.”
“And my troopers and I thank you for that,” Warf said, giving me a crooked smile before turning serious. “If I might offer some advice, you’ll want to seriously consider where you’re going to hold up for the night ahead of time.” Seeing the questioning look on my face, he explained what he meant in detail.
“Even with your Bard’s magic, there’s no way Humanoid troopers are going to be able to outrun the Orcs that will be chasing after you. Even if they did manage to keep ahead, they’d be useless for the battle that followed once they stop for the night. My suggestion would be to plan on using some of the smaller valleys and natural barriers as choke points to weather the night. By that, I mean stopping earlier in the evening in a location where you can hold the Orcs back with a smaller force so the rest of your troopers can rotate out to get some rest for the next day. The Valley of Stones and the Crevices of Shadows would be the two locations I’d suggest.” Warf gave me a knowing look. “No disrespect intended, but I’d suggest not exploring the Crevices of Shadows at your current level.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I mockingly said, before turning serious as I tried to picture how that would work in my mind. “Won’t the Orcs just backtrack and circle around us?”
“They will,” Warf agreed, “but both locations are nearly impassable without going miles out of their way to get around. Not only that, it’ll take time for the Orcs to realize they can’t easily push their way through your defenses and then they’ll have to find a way around the natural obstructions to get to your camp. By then, you should be on your way.” He nodded to the mass of undead pets keeping pace with us. “If you use your zombies to hold the pass, I bet you could manage a decent head start for the next day. And, by the dark,” he swore without malice, “if you hurt them bad enough, they might be forced to wait for reinforcements before taking up their pursuit again.”
“Either way, that should give us enough time to make it to Darom and load up everyone on the ships before the Orcs reach the city,” I enthusiastically agreed, giving the Lance Leader an appreciative look. It was a well-thought-out plan.
“Excellent,” Warf said, doing something in the air with his hand, “Here, I’ll update your map with both locations.” Before I could ask him what he meant, a system window popped open before my eyes with two rows of text.
Do you want to accept the map location update for the Valley of Stones from Jasper Warf?
Accept: Yes / No
Do you want to accept the map location update for the Crevices of Shadows from Jasper Warf?
Accept: Yes / No
Without hesitation, I chose “Yes” to both messages. That was something new I didn’t realize that people of The World could do, I thought, as I received confirmation for the map updates.
Congratulations! Your map has been updated with the location for the Valley of Stones.
Congratulations! Your map has been updated with the location for the Crevices of Shadows.
“Thank you, Lance Leader Warf,” I respectfully said, leaning over and offering him my hand.
“For what,” Warf mockingly said as he gave me a small sly grin, “not being a prejudice-fuck towards Halflings?” Seeing the surprised look on my face, he apologetically waved his harsh words away, before leaning over to clasp my wrist. “It’s been an honor to fight by your side, Overlord Ironwolf,” his voice lowered conspiratorially, “even if you have some odd choices in female companionship.” Seeing the amused look that flashed across my face, he let out a hearty bark of laughter as Fylreh’s long ears twitched in our direction. “The next time we see each other, I hope you’ll let me buy the drinks for the evening.”
“It’s a plan,” I said, ignoring the filly’s suspicious look as we released each other’s wrists and sat back in our saddles.
I understood the true complement that Warf was offering me as we went over the fallback plan in detail to work out the specifics needed by each of our groups. Like most Humans, he’d been raised to hate anyone that was of a different race, but serving under me had changed his perspective on this. At least, it did to a point. Offering to buy the drinks for the evening was his way of saying that he respected me as an individual and not solely because my rank required it of him which, for me, was a step in the right direction for the kingdom I was building. We were just finishing up our plans when a system window popped open before my eyes as we rode up with the Heavy Cavalry nearly at our backs.
Chapter Eight
(Star and friends meet-up with the rest of the mounted raid outside Palnisdale’s Western Gate.)
You have been killed by Dicky Wankerson! Do you wish to resurrect at your corpse or release your spirit to the nearest graveyard?
As soon as I selected “Yes,” there was a chorus of “Morning Star!” from everyone as our raid chat expanded to include both groups.
“Morning ladies and gentlemen,” I began to say as Thomas made me the Raid Leader, only to have a familiar voice cut me off as Neysa trotted to a stop.
“Seriously Jay, where in the hell have you been,” Jill demanded in the tone she reserved for when she was pissed off about something that had nothing to do with me, “it’s nearly nine-the-fuck-o’clock!”
“… and Jill,” I finished, giving her a nonchalant wink as several Devil Dogs choked back a laugh while even Kenzie rolled her eyes a
t the drama.
“Fuck-you-very-much, Jay,” she snarled back, flipping me off as I raised an eyebrow at AJ. With that said, she went back to blasting the enemy with a purpose as AJ raised his hands up to say he wasn’t getting in the middle of this.
Great, I thought, knowing this wasn’t going to be pretty. I’d learned the hard way from Julie that you couldn’t let people disrespect you. While joking was okay amongst friends even if it got hard at times, if it ever turned serious, you had to nip that shit in the bud real quick. It didn’t matter if it was from your friend or lover. Though personally, I’d say it counted double when it came to your lover. Once you lost respect with someone, it made any future relationship with them untenable, which was way it was rule number five in the manly-man’s handbook when it came to the women in your life.
“Well, then I hope you put that time to use learning how to ride something other than AJ,” I casually said, as mouths dropped open across the raid, “because the shit’s about to get real.”
“The fuck, Jay!” Jill screamed as she whirled around blushing three different shades of red. For a second, I thought for sure I’d pushed her too hard and she was going to have a major meltdown, but instead, she let out a hard bark of laugher. Shaking her head, she looked me in the eyes, “Could you be any more of an asshole?”
“Probably not,” I laughingly said, returning her snarky smile, “I DID learn from the best.”
“Yes … you … did,” Jill agreed, giving me a hug as I slipped from Neysa’s back. “This game totally sucks,” she sniffed, pushing me away to look me in the face. “Why can’t it be like every other MMO where you learn the skill and simply know how to ride? I can barely stay in the saddle. If I try to do anything else, I get dumped on my ass.”
“Damn, and I missed out on that?” I joked, meaningfully wagging my eyebrows.
“You’re such a dumbass,” Jill said, playfully slapping me in the chest.
“Look, it’s the same with me?” I said, turning suddenly serious. From my own experience, I could definitely appreciate where she was coming from. “I can hardly stay in the saddle even now.”
“Bullshit,” Jill half-snarled, as she started to get angry again, “you never have problems like that. Hell, you’re already riding double with your in-game hussy!”
“Don’t call her a hussy,” I quietly said, giving her a warning look as she sucked in a breath of air. Seeing I was serious, Jill let it go all at once as I tried to calm her down. “Look, demi-humans have different abilities than humanoids. In Helgath’s case, she can be astride Neysa without causing me any negative effects while I’m riding. Though, that doesn’t mean I don’t constantly almost bust my ass even now from simple shit.”
“It’s true,” Angie said, as she walked up with her girlfriends in Moon Elf form. “He tried to be all cool when he met up earlier with us and nearly busted his ass.”
“All cool how?” Jill critically asked, her eyes narrowing at the thought of getting something juicy to make fun of me about in the future.
“He tried to wave from his saddle when he met up with us,” Monica giggled as their girlfriend Julissa chimed in.
“Sup, guys,” the female Druid said, mockingly lowering her voice to try and make it sound more like me, “I’m Overlord Ironwolf. Did you hear about how I led a Naked Raid last night?”
““Naked Raid?”” Jill and Kenzie both exclaimed, as the Devil Dog suddenly hurried over to join the conversation.
“Whatever, Miss Braille Porn,” I said rolling my eyes, as Julissa blushed down to her neck.
““Braille porn?”” all of the guys in the raid chorused together as all fighting came to a sudden halt in the raid.
“Hush, Jay,” Jill said, holding a hand up to my face. Looping an arm in Julissa’s, she pulled the other woman away talking animatedly as the Druids, Krystal, Kenzie, and a good portion of the females in the raid followed after them. “Now tell us about this Naked Raid …”
“I don’t know how you always manage to pull off saying shit like that without getting your ass kicked,” AJ said in a low voice as he walked up behind me.
“That was pretty impressive,” Thomas agreed, walking up on my other side.
“Oh, that’s simple,” I said, giving AJ a meaningful look as the rest of the raid walked up, “I’m not the one that stuck my dick in her.” There was a chorus of “Oh burn!” from the guys as even Zhou and Terry laughed at the verbal slam. Giving AJ a wink, I continued in a more normal tone. “That, and she knows I’m just messing around.” Before I could say anything else, Sarka gave me a smack from behind.
“What’s this about a Naked Raid,” Sarka asked, giving me a “what the fuck” look as Yun came to a stop behind her and crossed his arms with Tinyr and Unalia standing next to him. “Are we not good enough to hang out with all of a sudden?”
“Nope,” I said, arching an eyebrow at them, “you just chose the wrong time to go shopping.” Ignoring Sarka’s annoyed frown, I gave her as shit-eating grin. “Don’t worry, we’ll have lots of time to talk about all the crazy shit that went down once we mount up.”
“I even got a new sword out of the whole deal!” Phoenix excitedly said, holding her prize up for everyone to see.
“This is so unfair,” Hefe forlornly muttered as Bonnie and AJ busted out laughing.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole concept of Braille porn,” Matt said, looking to his wife for confirmation, “Is that even a thing?”
“Of course, it is,” Terry said, rolling her eyes, “it’s basically like a textured pop-up book, but not for children.”
“You mean, it’s for big children,” Sara corrected her fellow Devil Dog as she meaningfully elbowed Matt in the ribs.
“Really,” I asked, giving both women a sarcastic look, “because it was Julissa who brought it up.”
“Now that brings up a whole bunch of questions that I never thought I’d ever be asking,” AJ said in a strained tone as Thomas buried his face in his hand.
Obviously, the two of them must have visual thought processes like me, I amusedly thought, gesturing towards the approaching horde, “Can we save that discussion for later too?” I asked out loud as the charging Orc horde passed the hundred-yard mark, “because we’re seriously out of time.” As my friends turned back to the ongoing battle in surprise, Lance Leader Warf's bellow rang out from behind us.
“Signal the wall to initiate the barrage!”
“That’s our cue people,” I announced in raid chat, “everyone mount up and prepare to move out.”
The serious looks that suddenly came over the Uten Syn players’ faces caught the rest of the raid by surprise. It was especially noticeable with Jill, Krystal, and Kenzie as their conversation came to an abrupt stop as the Druids began wordlessly transforming into their Umbra Hunter forms. The grim no-nonsense attitude that had come over the group had more than one of my friends shooting questioning looks my way.
Whistles started blowing around us as my friends called their individual mounts to them. Within moments, a herd of Horses of Palnisdale had surrounded us as everyone began mounting up. One of the more noticeable and humorous matchups was AJ. I could barely hold back my laughter at seeing his legs sticking nearly straight out instead of wrapping around the horse’s flanks. Seriously, was it even possible to fight that way with his axes?
Hefe was even more ridiculous. Not that it was much of a surprise. However, having Bonnie Smash haul him up in front of her did catch me by surprise. No matter how much I wanted to keep a straight face so that Jill didn’t get upset, I couldn’t stop the gut-wrenching guffaws that ripped out of my throat at seeing the pair. There was just something about seeing the Gnome Barbarian sitting as if he were on the ground at a picnic and Bonnie’s armored arm covering most of his upper torso that left me nearly rolling on the ground. How was he going to stay on the horse's back during a trot or fight with his Punch Daggers? As amusing visuals like that were going through my mind, I was surp
rised to see the pair easing up next to me.
“So, Star,” Hefe asked as we watched Jill struggling to jump up high enough to swing her leg over her mount’s broad back. Obviously, she’d skimped a little too much on either her Strength or Agility stats. Though, if I were guessing, I’d have to say it was both. Not that I was going to offer any suggestions on fixing her build with how sensitive she seemed to be on the topic. I learned long ago not to try to fix my female friends’ problems, I silently thought, as my friend casually continued. “What are we waiting around here for?”
“You mean, besides being bait for the Orc’s vanguard?” I asked, as Hefe’s face turned white as a sheet. The stunned look on Bonnie Smash’s face wasn’t much better.
“Bait?” he nervously squeaked out as a series of loud thumps rang out from the wall behind us.
“And that,” I said with a shrug as a mass of flaming shots were suddenly launched into the air behind us. Seeing the rest of my friends turning around to watch the fireworks, I raised my voice to be heard over the growing roar as my hands began to glow with a purplish-black light. “Send your zombies in and ride like the wind or we’re not going to escape the encirclement!”
As a wall of ninety-five zombies raced out from our ranks towards the approaching enemy, Thomas and the Devil Dogs swung their whickering mounts around to take off, only to stop short as they suddenly realized no one else was following. That was simply because AJ, Jill, and Krystal were smart enough to know I was up to something tricky as I activated my Extended magic skill and began altering my Amplify Damage spell as wide and deep as possible to cover the entire area under bombardment. Not that I had enough mana for such a feat, but I was doing my best to use up nearly every point I had.
“Go ahead and move on out,” Krishna urged, as the Uten Syn players took up a defensive position around me. To my surprise, I felt Phoenix's presence at my back as I prepared to release the spell I was crafting, “we’ve got him.”
