* * * * *
The moment the Peacekeepers shifted more knights over to reinforce their attackers, Callistra knew any chance they had of escaping was gone. Kastle, Tariq and she had proved to be a formidable trio. It was just like in the game. Kastle took on the role of main tank, drawing and keeping their attention while Tariq slipped into the shadows, only to strike from the flanks or the rear wherever the Peacekeepers weren’t watching while she used her magic and martial arts skills to add to the damage the small group was putting out. If the Peacekeepers hadn’t shifted any of the knights over to reinforce their attackers, they would’ve been in a position to escape in a matter of seconds. Now, the odds were against them unless something unexpected happened.
That’s when she saw the flickering shadow of a circling wyvern. Glancing up, she spied the red armored samurai on the grey serpent and recognized the rider as the avatar of her husband. Not having any other choice, she raised her wand and cast an immobilization spell on the wyvern.
* * * * *
Tao tried his best to keep his wyvern’s head up but it was a losing battle. The great serpent was frozen in mid-flap. Luckily, his wings were pretty much parallel to the ground and Tao glided in instead of falling like a rock. Of course, the wyvern had the approximate glide ratio of commercial jet, one to one; which meant that he fell one yard for every yard he moved forward. Unfortunately for the knights in white, that meant he was going to crash right in the middle of them. A few of the knights saw him inbound and opened fire with their crossbows. The arrows did nothing more than bounce off the scaly hide of Shadow.
At the last moment, Tao leapt off and tucked into a roll to bleed off the majority of his forward motion. The stiffened body of his mount gouged out a large groove in the ground and took out five knights in the process. Coming out of his roll, Tao’s helmet was left behind as he drew both swords and attacked. The knights in white swarmed him only to die when they entered the range of his blades. Neither their armor nor shields could withstand the enchantment of his frostbrand katana or mastercrafted wakizashi. In a matter of seconds, the tide of battle had turned against the knights.
Callistra felt her heart quicken at the sight of the scarlet samurai. Leaping over two knights, she pressed forward to fight at her husband’s side.
Kastle didn’t know who the samurai was but given their location and the way Calli acted, he guessed that this was the infamous Taote Ching. Seeing the skill at which he dispatched the Peacekeepers, he was happy that they weren’t on opposite sides of the conflict.
Tariq paled when he recognized Tao. The samurai’s warning still echoed in his memory but unfortunately, he was too busy with the knights to do more than make a mental note of the situation before he locked blades with another Peacekeeper. Wounded in the shoulder and lower back, Tariq realized that if Tao wanted to kill him, he knew that he was in no position to argue the point; provided that they survived this encounter.
* * * * *
Grand Marshal Jericho watched his Peacekeepers with pride.
They were mostly new recruits to the Order that were untried and un-blooded in battle. However, they had executed his trap with sublime precision. Even though the resistance by the brigands was more vigorous than reports suggested, his men had adapted to the battle well. Only one trio of outlaws was putting up a unified defense but his Peacekeepers had them contained. When this battle was over, he would be able to move on the brigand camp at Crooked Creek without any sort of resistance. Jericho knew it was only a matter of time before he had this region cleansed, ahead of schedule and that would please his master.
With the arrival of the red armored warrior, Jericho saw his plans fall apart. The wyvern riders weren’t part of his current plan and he had specific instructions to avoid confrontation with them if at all possible. At first, Jericho didn’t believe that one lone wyvern rider would be enough to disrupt his plans. That was until he saw the scarlet warrior slice through his men. He attacked with such controlled ferocity that he didn’t seem human. Nothing could stand in his way.
Knowing that his survival was paramount to his master’s plan, he prepared to depart. In truth, it wasn’t a total loss. He had lost approximately a quarter of his men but the brigands, his target for this mission, were decimated. Signaling the retreat, Jericho turned his horse to the south but paused when the dark haired witch moved away from the security of her companions. Seeing a chance to gain favor with his master, Jericho pulled forth his wand and spoke a word of command. A ball of energy flew unerringly to strike the witch center mass. Within seconds, she was entwined in a cocoon of grey webs and lay helpless before him. Jericho’s squires rushed forward to fetch his prisoner and soon followed him as he cantered south. Secure in the knowledge that despite their losses, his mission had been a success.
* * * * *
Tariq was in a sticky situation. He really didn’t want to confront the samurai in his current condition. Although, the part of him that was the Brandon mind-set believed Tao would listen to reason. Of course, the Tariq mind-set didn’t want to take that chance. When the scarlet samurai crashed into the Peacekeepers and began his attack, the knights completely lost interest in him which gave him ample time to step into the shadows and slip away.
Minutes later, he was further upstream and out of danger when a heavily armored knight rode into view accompanied by three squires. This knight was dressed in full plate armor with a black tabard emblazed with the red crossed key and sword. It was obvious that this was the field commander of the Peacekeepers.
Unsure of what to do, Tariq waited and watched.
His dilemma increased with the field commander’s capture of Callistra. He didn’t really owe the vampyress anything. From what he had seen, he could just slip away, find a big city and live off the profits gained by his skills. It could be a good life. But leaving Calli to the ministrations of the black knight just didn’t sit well with him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it felt wrong to let her be taken prisoner.
Glancing at Kastle and Tao, he knew that neither was in any position to aid the witch. As the squires moved forward to collect their prize, Tariq knew he had to make a decision. It was now or never. Tariq realized that this was his moment of destiny. His fate balanced on the edge of a knife, depending on the choice he made.
Taking a deep breath, he made his decision and acted.
* * * * *
As the last knight fell to his blades, Tao paused to study his handiwork. His Special Forces training kicked in and he instinctively reduced the dismembered body parts and dying combatants to simple numbers and statistics. He calculated that he had actually locked blades with twenty-four of the knights. Of those, he could account for seventeen kills while the other seven went into the injured or maimed category.
Looking at the battlefield, the hammer-wielding warrior and friends had accounted for at least thirteen dead while the other bandits had killed ten knights before they fell. Glancing at the retreating knights, he quickly counted fifty-seven more warriors before they were lost to the forest. They had survived because the knights retreated, not because they won the battle. That could be an interesting tidbit of knowledge if he ever had to face them again.
Sheathing his weapons, Tao stepped over the dead and dying with little regard to the difference and approached the hammer-wielding warrior who had his head lowered in prayer. Tao took a moment to study the warrior.
He had a square jaw and kind eyes. He was dressed in blue-tinted scale mail with a red cloak and a silver winged helmet. Considering his current actions, Tao changed his mind. He probably wasn’t a true warrior, possibly a warrior-priest or a cleric. Stopping several feet away, Tao waited.
Kastle finished his prayer and looked up to find the scarlet samurai watching him. After seeing him in action, the priest had no wish to meet this man in battle and kept his movements slow and deliberate as he stood up. “Many thanks for your timely intervention.”
Tao glanced back at the broken body of his wyver
n with sadness. “I didn’t really have an option.”
Kastle nodded. “Be that as it may, your arrival saved my life. You must be Taote Ching.”
Tao cocked his head to the side. “Aye, that is the name I currently use. How is it that you have heard of me? I am a newcomer to these lands.”
Kastle looked around. “Calli speaks very highly of you and Tariq has shared some stories of your recent adventures. Although, I believe they both understated your skills.”
Tao pulled off his right gauntlet and rubbed his chin as he thought about that name. “Tariq? Tariq al’Nasir of the Hashāshīn Order?”
Kastle nodded. “The same. He told me of the dreadful actions he took against your companion and the courageous actions you took in sparing his life. You have my condolences for your loss.”
Tao dropped his hand to the hilt of his sword and squinted in concentration as he studied the surrounding forest. If Tariq was hiding, it was beyond his skills to locate. Keeping part of his attention on the adjacent battlefield, he turned back to the cleric. “I’m afraid you have me at a loss. Who are you and where is the assassin?”
“Kastle Rook, a humble priest of Thor at your service.”
Tao knew that Thor was the Thunder God from Norse mythology. Nothing that he’d seen in this region indicated a Viking influence especially considering the armor and weapons of the knights he’d just fought so Tao made the next logical conclusion. “You’re from the other side?”
Kastle nodded. “Texas, born and raised in Dallas.”
Tao felt a few of the puzzle pieces fall into place. “I’m sure there is more to this story but back to my second question, where’s the assassin? I don’t fully trust him.”
For the first time Kastle looked around the battlefield, seeking his companions. “For that matter where is Calli?”
“That’s twice you’ve mentioned that name.”
Kastle nodded. “Aye. She should be around here somewhere. Reddish black hair, black leather outfit, stunning body and a beautiful smile. She’s kind of hard to miss.”
“The witch? I think the knight in black captured her.” Tao feared that the cleric was going to pass out considering the way his face paled at his remark.
Wide-eyed, Kastle looked around franticly. “We have to find her.”
Tao calmly placed a hand on the priest’s shoulder. “If they captured her, they did it for a reason and we have time. Not a lot but I counted almost sixty warriors with the black knight and I do not relish those odds.”
Kastle was taken aback at the unruffled mannerism of the samurai. “How can you be so calm?”
“Facts are facts. What we cannot change, we must endure.”
Kastle wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him but reined in his impulse. “But we’re talking about Calli!”
Tao cocked his head to the side. “And?”
“Calli said that she was once a member of your guild.”
Tao thought back over all the people who had been in the Keepers over the years and couldn’t remember a single person by the name of Calli. Suddenly, the cold grip of fear squeezed his heart. “Calli? As in short for Callistra?”
Kastle nodded.
“Oh my god! Cassie alive?”
Kastle cocked his head to the side. “Cassie? No, Calli.”
Tao shook his head. “Cassandra, my wife. She disappeared four months ago in a fire that consumed our house.”
“Your wife?”
Tao nodded. “Aye. She had been power leveling a new avatar from the Shadowlands campaign, a vampyress, to aid us in completing the Tomb of Immortality.”
Kastle nodded. “That sounds like her.”
Tao resisted the urge to chase off after the black knight. However, the facts hadn’t changed with the discovery of Cassie’s survival, just the urgency. Taking a calming breath he said, “Okay. We need four things to rescue her.”
“Which are?”
Tao held up his fingers as he counted down their needs. “Transportation.”
Kastle nodded downriver. “We have horses picketed about a mile south of here.”
“Information.”
“I can tell you what I know about the Peacekeepers.”
“Help.”
“I might know someone that can aid us. Former companions of ours, also from the other side but finding them and getting their assistance might prove troublesome.”
Tao nodded. “The rest of my companions are at a tree fort northwest of here. We’ll have their help without question.”
Kastle waited a few seconds before prompting, “And the fourth?”
“Luck. Time is not our ally on this endeavor. They might’ve captured Cassie for a reason but no kidnapper holds onto their prisoners forever.”
Kastle nodded. “What do you need me to do?”
Tao moved over to one of the Peacekeeper knights that was still alive. “Gather up the horses and meet me back here as soon as possible.”
“What are you going to do?”
Tao looked down at the face of the young man in white. Pain and fear were written all across his face. “Get some answers. It would be best if you weren’t around for this.”
Kastle hesitated but knew that the samurai was right. He didn’t have the stomach for what he guessed Tao was about to do. Nodding, the priest turned south to collect the horses. He was barely out of the clearing when the screams began.
* * * * *
Grigoris winced as he watched the samurai question the injured Peacekeeper.
Although he hated watching the torture, the imprisoned seraph did notice that Tao didn’t have any malice or hatred in his heart. It was purely a business transaction. Tao simply had questions that needed to be answered and the young Peacekeeper was the most readily available source.
It didn’t make it right but it still gave him hope for the future.
Chapter 16
Cozad spent his days wrestling with the darker side of his personality.
Already a loner in the real world, Ed had always enjoyed the quiet solitude of his job as the night manager of a metal fabrication plant. He only had ten employees to check on and they were all old timers that had been at the job longer than him. He left them alone to do their work and they made him look good to the corporate suits, a perfect pairing. It was his personal life that had always been in shambles. Divorced four times, he was currently not talking with his live-in girlfriend. They more or less tolerated each other and if not for having different schedules, they would’ve split up long ago. It was probably a combination of all these factors that influenced him to create a Dreadknight in the game.
The game. It was so simple on the other side of the screen. Lost Lands was a safe place where he could excise his inner demons without fear of breaking the law and much less expensive than seeing a psychiatrist. He could just pretend to be a minion of Chaos and work out his frustrations in the game. Rape, torture, murder, mayhem, intimidation, fear and pain were all tools of the Dreadknight. It was all harmless fun…until now.
Ed constantly struggled against the Cozad mindset which wanted to do all those dark things. Not just wanted to do them, he longed to do them. He had awakened the last two nights covered in sweat. While his dreams of torture and rape haunted his waking hours. Unsure that he could control his desires, Cozad had awakened on the second day and headed south into the woods to be alone.
* * * * *
Arieal had similar problems. The darker side of her nature called to her but nowhere nearly as strong as Cozad’s. Her problem was more of a personal nature. She felt guilty about not being at home with her family but her real anxiety was that she didn’t think she felt guilty enough. She was enjoying the freedom of self granted to her by crossing over. Not having to juggle her kids’ schedules, dinner plans, paying bills, balancing the budget and every other part of modern daily life was extremely liberating. Currently all she had to worry about was…nothing.
Besides, the late night rendezvous with Tao had been mi
nd-blowing. Annie hadn’t been with a man for nearly twenty years. She enjoyed a more alternative lifestyle and was completely satisfied with it even though society still ostracized those in the gay community. Although deep down she knew that she loved her current girlfriend, the spark had been gone from their relationship for many years. Not once had she ever given in to the temptation to have an affair. It wasn’t right. Not that it was against her beliefs or anything, she just didn’t feel it was right to cheat on her significant other.
But here…here she was someone else and that was a freedom she relished. Her only problem at the current time was wondering when Tao was going to get back so she could jump his bones once more.
* * * * *
Bjǿrn and Moira spent the days together. It didn’t matter what they did, they just spent their time together. They had been married for three decades this past December and both realized that the end of life was close for them. Back in Alaska, they were both in their seventies and Kaslene’s health was fading fast. She was on oxygen twenty-four – seven, took lots of meds daily and hadn’t been outside their home in over five months. While Earl’s health was better, he wasn’t a spring chicken either.
This trip inside the game was a wonderful diversion from reality that they both needed. The one difference they had over the rest of their companions was that neither of them were afraid to die. They had lived with the inevitable for so long, death was more of a constant companion than an adversary.
They were spending the morning on the lower platform which the companions had begun to call the ‘kitchen’ since it was where the cooking area was set up and it seemed that everyone tended to congregate on that platform, just like the kitchen back home. Moira was baking. She had cooked every meal since they arrived. Not being tied to an oxygen tank, she was able to delve into a hobby she missed on the other side. Bjǿrn was just sitting back, enjoying the quiet morning and watching his wife cook. If this wasn’t heaven, it was about as close as he could get.
Unfortunately, the morning quiet was broken by the sound of a shrill horn to the west. Moments later, another sounded to the north.
Lost Lands: The Game - Atlantis Page 13
