by Jason Cheek
Ashley had to admit that Pherala was doing an excellent job with scouting the way ahead. Whereas before they’d been fighting regularly nearly every fifteen minutes to half hour, they didn’t run across any wandering monsters during the entire hour-long trek as they climbed up the ridge to reach their campsite from the night before. It was the only partially defensible location that was on this side of the Sulfuric Springs.
Entering the large circle of rocks at the top of the ridge, many of the Devil Dogs let out a sigh of relief to see that the camp was still intact and their gear was where they’d last left it. Though, like the rest of her guildmates, Ashley wouldn’t feel right until she was able to recover her body and her primary gear. This was the first time playing in an MMO that she’d ever been forced to dawn backup gear to hunt down her body. While it was annoying as hell on one level, it also introduced a level of difficulty that made The World feel so much more realistic than any other MMO she’d ever played before. When you completed a quest or mission in-game, it made you truly feel like you’d truly accomplished something worthy and important. Shaking her head at the odd train of her thoughts, Ashley came to a stop in the center of the bedrolls and cooking pots feeling like there was something amiss that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“Where in the hell did Orion make his way off to,” Blu3buck asked in confusion as he kicked at his friend’s tangled sleeping hides.
Ignoring the automatic frown that came to her lips whenever she was forced to converse with Buck, Ashley strode over to the three sleeping hides spaced around a small cooking fire. Coming to a stop next to the firepit, she noticed Buck physically flinch when Killtet stepped up behind her. As her eyes swept the sleeping hides for any clues to their missing people’s whereabouts, her husband sifted through the ashes of the firepit and looked into the covered iron pot that was left sitting in the still smoldering ashes.
“The ashes are still somewhat hot and there’s still food left in the pot,” Killtet said as he stood back up from his cursory inspection. Though, his face took on a curious expression as he eyed the one set of sleeping hides that had been left strewn about. “Why does the Gnome’s sleeping hides look unused?”
“The better question,” Ashley said, her frown deepening as the rest of the raid gathered around, “is why Orion’s hides are the only ones that were used?”
“I told you he was hitting that,” Santaz jokingly said, holding his fist up to Austin.
“Yes, you did,” Austin agreed as they knocked fists together and busted out laughing, “It doesn’t get much more mmosexual than that.”
“I don’t know what you two are going on about,” Marina said, giving the duo a meaningful look, “at least he’s getting laid.”
“Really,” Ashley asked, giving her husband a pointed look as both Santaz and Austin’s mouths snapped closed, “you stole their mmosexual joke?”
“What,” Killtet asked, giving her one of his easygoing smiles, “I’m a Rogue.”
“Whatever, at least we know they survived the encounter,” Ashley said, shaking her head as she squatted down next to the rumpled hides and took a deep whiff. Standing back up, her face hardened as the smell of sex suddenly permeated the air. While there was no reason for her to be pissed about the two of them slapping uglies, the whole idea of Orion having sex with an NPC just put her on edge for some reason.
“Don’t be so hard on the two of them,” Killtet said, sidling up behind his wife so that only she could hear, “You know we’re nearly eight hours late getting back here.” Holding his hands up as Ashley gave him the “You’re being an asshole.” look, he tried to crack a joke. “I mean, come on. You can only play hide the sausage for so long before you need something else to occupy your time with.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Ashley said under her breath while trying to keep a straight face, “three minutes goes by a lot faster than you’d think.”
“Not funny,” Killtet grumbled at being reminded of THAT night, “that happened just once between us.”
“And that was one time too many, Whisky Dick,” Ashley chortled back, before realizing that she’d pushed him a little too hard. Seeing the hurt look on his face, she let out a deep sigh. “Stop acting like a big baby, you know I’m just messing with you.” She glanced back towards Buck. “Otherwise, I’d have said it loud enough for Loserboy to hear.”
“Heh, Loserboy,” Killtet repeated, shaking his head, “I fear that boy will never learn.”
“Probably not,” Ashley agreed, before trying to explain why she was feeling so touchy with the whole situation. “Look, I’m sorry about the Whisky Dick comment. It’s just this whole NPC sex thing is really wigging me out.”
“Eh, don’t think so much about it,” Killtet said, dismissing the entire situation with a shrug, “guys will stick their dick into anything when they’re young and single.” Seeing his wife roll her eyes at his words, he turned suddenly serious. “Besides, you know as well as I do, Orion’s been through the ringer with that ex-wife of his. If humping on NPCs makes him feel better, then, I say, let the man have his fun.”
“Touché,” Ashley said, feeling the tension leaving her chest even if the images of Orion and Minny going at it like rabbits wouldn’t. Sometimes, she hated how she visualized everything.
While Ashley might not understand why Orion had felt the need to bonk an NPC, she had to admit the poor guy had it as rough as all get-out with Rachael. Cheating on your husband while he was deployed was about as cliché as you could get in the military. Being dumb enough to get pregnant by his best friend and then demanding child support after he divorced her dumb ass was about as low as a woman could get. Ashley was a little surprised at her own vehemence, but she really didn’t like seeing a good man treated like shit and, in her book, Orion was a good man.
“Besides,” Ashley continued in an amused tone, "Orion’s still going have to explain all of that to Startum.”
“There is that,” Killtet admitted, giving her a shit-eating grin, “I’m going to have to make sure I’m around for that encounter.”
“You and me both,” Ashley agreed, before raising her voice so the entire raid could hear her. “Alright people, let’s form up and get buffed before moving out.”
Getting outside of the circle of stones, Ashley came to a stop at the outer edge of the area with the rest of the raid trailing behind her. As everyone began to get into their assigned groups, those classes that had buffs that they could share with others started casting. Not that there were much. Besides the Gift of the Wolf and the Eagle that some Rangers could give out, the main portion of the buffs came from the Priests of the raid casting Holy Shield and Light’s Blessing.
Once again, Ashley reminded the Valkyrie Guild about the toxic poison DOT that would be affecting all of them once they got further inside the Sulfuric Springs. While it wouldn’t kill them outright, the drain on an individual’s health built up over time. Though, it could quickly turn into a serious issue if any of their health got low. Ashley also reminded everyone that even though the Dread Herd hadn’t attacked them this far out, they should still keep their eyes peeled for any possible ambushes. The last thing any of them needed for the Hobgoblin invasion was a surprise attack that put them yet another day behind.
As soon as they were finished buffing up, Ashley and Kyarina began leading their various groups deeper into the rocky terrain. Ashley was in the first group while Kyarina was in the second. The formation they were using was something that the two guilds had come up with together after a long discussion on the Devil Dog’s last two battles with these monsters. Instead of having the melee classes spreading out, they had the Warriors and Rogues group up close together for mutual support with the Priests being protected by the raid’s Rangers. Like her, the rest of the Priests in the raid had their Minor Dispel ready to cast at the first signs of the Dread Herd’s shadowy magic.
They’d barely gotten very far into the Sulfuric Springs when the sound of metal hitting stone
came to their ears. Using hand signals to the Warriors and Rogues around her, Ashley led the melee group towards the source of the ringing sound. Passing between the large boulders and irregular ground, the Rogues would rush ahead between the natural bottlenecks and form a defensive ring for the Warriors to join them. A few even climbed up onto the larger rocks to scout the way ahead while also getting into position to spring at any unwary enemies.
Finding the source of the noise ended up taking longer than Ashley would’ve thought due to the nature of the area and the ability of the high-pitched sound to travel through the rocky terrain. That, and the Gnome wasn’t exactly easy to see as she hammered away at one of the smaller nodes in the area. To all of their annoyance, the little woman turned around to face them at their approach as if she’d known they were there the entire time.
“It’s about time you guys showed up,” Minny said, leaving her pickaxe stuck in the node she was working on to place her hands on her hips, “at the rate you guys were moving, I figured you wouldn’t make it here until dinner.” The shrill laugh she let out at that announcement brought a frown to more than just Ashley’s face.
“Why the hell didn’t you guys wait at the camp for our return,” Ashley grumpily asked the Gnome as she looked around for her guildmate, “And where the hell is Orion at?”
“Why by the dark would we just sit around on our asses while you guys were having all the fun?” Minny asked in a huff as she pointedly turned around to yank her pickaxe free.
“It looks like the two of you were doing more than sitting around on your asses,” Blu3buck muttered a little too loud, drawing the little woman’s ire.
“Don’t you and your little tool worry about what real men and women do in their free time,” Minny retorted with a straight face to Buck as several “Oh snaps!” and “Ah burns!” came from the rest of the raid. “No matter how much fun Or-re is in the sack,” the little woman continued nonplussed, “there’s work that needs to be done.” That answer to the status of their physical relationship seemed to shut everyone down as the Gnome casually turned back to Ashley. “Besides, Or-re isn’t here.”
“What do you mean Orion isn’t here?” Ashley asked after taking a moment to process what was said, “He’s supposed to be keeping you safe.”
“Oh, that’s no problem at all,” Minny said as she let loose with another of her shrill laughs, “look around you, there’s no monsters here to worry about.” The Gnome paused for a moment to look around thoughtfully. “You know, the Dread Herd really does do a right good job at keeping any wandering monsters out of their territory.”
Those words seemed to put the raid on alert as all of them began looking around nervously at the rocky terrain. While the Gnome woman made a good point, Ashley didn’t see how any of those monsters could easily sneak up on them in this area of the Sulfuric Springs. To her surprise, before she could reply to the small woman, Killtet spoke up from behind her.
“No matter your relationship with Orion,” Killtet said, smothering the grin that tried to come to his lips, “I don’t see him leaving you alone to mine.”
“Oh, he’d be mad as hell if he knew that,” Minny agreed as she let out another of her shrill laughs, “but then again,” she pointed the head of her pickaxe at Killtet, “that’s not really his decision to make.”
“So where is our amorous friend,” Ashley asked, jumping back into the conversation as her husband’s mouth silently opened and closed as he failed to come up with a snappy reply.
“Yeah, that’s kind of the problem,” Minny said, idly using the head of her pickaxe to scratch at a spot on her back. Taking a moment to think over what she wanted to say, the little woman completely ignored the odd looks everyone was giving her as she let out a heavy sigh. “You see, Or-re is working a unique quest and since he hasn’t died yet, it probably means things are working out the way he’d hoped.”
“What quest is that?” Killtet asked, trading a confused look with Ashley.
“Oh, he’s gone to chat with the Dreadmare Matriarch about making an alliance together,” Minny said as if that were obvious, before continuing bluntly, “It’s probably for the best since we need the minerals here and I don’t see you guys taking that high-level monster down any time soon.”
“What in the hell are we doing standing around talking to this dumb NPC for,” Blu3buck angrily demanded, as he stepped past Ashley and her husband to push his way past the cocky Gnome, “when we could be rescuing Orion before those fucking monsters eat his face off?”
“Gggaaahhh!” there was a meaty thunk followed by a high-pitched scream as Buck collapsed to the rocky ground like a sack of potatoes, “What the fuck was that for?” Buck whimpered.
“Or-re doesn’t really want the whole lot of you traipsing in and starting a fight in the middle of his negotiations,” Minny said in a no-nonsense tone, as she casually swung her pickaxe back up to her shoulder while the rest of the raid looked at her in utter shock, “that could really screw everything up, so he wanted me to make sure everyone stayed back until he’s either dead or finished talking to the Matriarch.”
“Holy hell,” Blu3buck whined, while holding onto his busted knee with both hands, “do we really have to listen to this little shit?” Seeing the little woman reach up to grab the shaft of her pickaxe with both hands, he urgently held out his hands to stop her from doing whatever it was she was going to do to him and flinched away as he wailed, “Wwwaaaiiittt, I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Hey, Buck,” Killtet said, giving the other man a hard look, “you might want to hold off on mouthing off until you can put some distance between you and that Gnome.”
“He used to be an adventurer until he took a pickaxe to the knee,” Vardrid sagely said as Killtet turned around and gave him a fist bump.
“Man, that’s classic Skyrim,” Killtet said to the Valkyrie player as they both laughed.
“Fuck you guys,” Blu3buck whined under his breath, as the rest of the raid busted out laughing.
“Okay, I get that you don’t want us messing up whatever Orion is doing,” Ashley tried again with the Gnome, while still chuckling at the boys’ shenanigans, “but how long has he been gone?”
“Well, he headed in around nine this morning,” Minny said, shifting back and forth on her feet as she took a moment to consider how long it had actually been. Though, as soon as she saw the alarmed look that Ashley shared with her husband, the little woman angrily squared her shoulders in a huff, “but that doesn’t mean he’s failed at his quest. Until that happens, it would be best if you just let him do his thing.”
“Umm, Minny, maybe we should go see how he’s doing,” Ashley began to say, as Kyarina stepped up beside her only to have the Gnome warningly point the head of her pickaxe at them both. Before either of them could think of a way to persuade the little woman to settle down, a shout from further back down the trail stopped any further argument.
“Hey guys,” Orion’s voice rang out, “I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”
“Sheesh, man,” Blu3buck complained, as soon as he saw his friend walking up, “can you freaking call off your crazy girlfriend here.” Seeing the Gnome draw her pickaxe back, he held out his hands and wailed, “Whoa, I just said girlfriend!”
“You said crazy girlfriend,” Minny warningly said as Buck began crab-walking away from her.
“The fuck,” Vardrid suddenly exclaimed, as he saw what was following behind the Devil Dog player.
“It’s the Dread Herd,” Austin warningly bellowed, as he urgently yanked his blades free from their sheaths.
“Don’t attack!” Orion urgently cried out, as he raised his arms trying to put himself between his friends and the group of monsters behind him.
“Hold your fire,” Ashley roared in her Sergeant’s voice as everyone began drawing their weapons and preparing to cast spells, “I repeat, hold your fire!”
For a long second, the two groups froze as they stared at each other across the small gap in
the boulders. The Valkyrie players were the most concerned as they took in the fierce looking monsters that had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. It didn’t help calm any of them down that the Dread Herd were excitedly opening and closing their fanged mandibles at the humanoids’ threatening behavior. Not that the sight of the Dreadmare Matriarch with her oversized Manticore-like stinger towering over Orion’s head helped the situation any either. Surprisingly enough, the tension was broken by an excited, high-pitched squeal.
“Ooorrr-rrreee, it worked,” Minny excitedly called out, as she went running up to Orion without any hesitations, “They’re our allies now!”
“You know it, little mouse,” Orion giddily agreed, as he squatted down to catch the Gnome in a bear hug. Though somewhat flustered by the big kiss she planted on his lips in front of his friends, he stood up with a shit-eating grin and proudly flourishing a bow towards the Dreadmare. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce Shadowspike the Dreadmare Matriarch and her herd. She’s agreed to the terms I offered for an alliance with the House of Kayden.”
Chapter Eleven
(Orion Prakoli and the raid on the Sulfur Plateau in the Plains of Atoll.)
To say that his introduction caused some excitement would’ve been the understatement of the year. Luckily, within a short bit of time, Orion was able to get everyone up to speed. While there was some confusion from his friends at just how he’d accomplished such a feat, he decided to keep the specifics of his ability to empathetically communicate with the Matriarch close to his chest and only explained the basic terms of the agreement. What was important to everyone was that the House of Kayden had free access to the Sulfuric Springs and that the Dread Herd would be their allies.
