by Andrew Novak
“The Fire Heart is indeed a curious thing,” the Khan said thoughtfully, “I’ve already tried it and now I’m eager to use this artifact in real combat. We will not be late. Take this horse as a gift, my friend, and into the saddle with you! Let’s hasten to Ironfist’s castle.”
“Here, thank you,” said Jack.
He didn’t have any pets yet, and he only knew how to use them theoretically. But when he took the reins from the hands of the Lahitte, a new icon appeared in the menu — a horse’s head.
Attention! You receive a pet as a gift. Instructions for its use are in your inventory.
A line with a flashing cursor appeared next to the icon.
He could change the name of his pet.
Jack thought that half the horses in Tevis Khan’s herd were called Hawk, Eagle and Falcon. A good name, but hardly original. No, he should choose something different. After all, he had a one-of-a-kind adventure. A quest that no one else in all of Alterra would get. Remembered the beginning of this road. A pickup truck stuck in the Wasteland, the dead driver Andrew Vigo, who’d smoked his last cigar before his death… And what? Why shouldn’t Jack drive a pickup, like Andrew Vigo in the old days? Get your name, horse, and you can rest assured that no other had such a name, even if you searched the whole continent.
He typed on the line: Pickup.
Well, now everything was in order. Jack climbed into the saddle. From his point of view, it went rather smoothly, at least for the first time.
“And how…” he began, turning to the khan.
He smiled.
“It’s simple, you’ll learn quickly. A light tap of the heels in the flanks, and the horse moves where the rider’s gaze is at that moment. To turn, give him a command with one foot. Try it on the way. This horse is experienced and well-trained. My grooms know their business, and when Odon Castle is defeated, I’ll drive my herds to sell in Havian without interference.”
“It will be so,” Jack said, looking around in the saddle and getting used to the new sensations.
Tevis nodded and continued his briefing.
“The horse will use Hoof Strike itself. But Sprint… well, for Sprint you need spurs, and you can take care of that yourself. Well, in general, you’ll get the hang of it gradually. The most important thing…” the Lahitte paused for effect.
“Yes, Your Grace?” Jack asked. “What’s the most important?”
“I hope the relics from Gaerthon will be offered to me first?”
Everyone needs something from me, Jack thought. Which is good. Because everything they need from me has a price.
“With my greatest respects, glorious khan.”
“Excellent, then on to Odon Castle!”
Shrouded in the glimmering defensive spell, the Khan rode at the head of his horde. Jack estimated two hundred riders galloping after him, and if he looked at any warrior, stats of different colors flashed. Both NPCs and players. Along the way, he grew accustomed to riding horseback. Jack wasn’t too worried about his abilities as a horseman, because even Sartorius had managed with a horse, so he knew he could. As it turned out, after a couple of attempts, he’d figured out how to control the pet. Nothing complicated. In addition, the black horse was truly very well-trained. It had been leveled to twenty and the horse obeyed commands without errors.
Meanwhile, Odon castle, which had been a gray patch on the level steppe horizon during his meeting with the khan, was now defined by the sharp lines of it’s walls and towers. Wow! Looking at it from level ground, and not from high above in the flying carriage, his assault suddenly seemed more difficult. The walls were high, and helmets glittered between them at equal intervals, as the bowmen lined up. NPCs attached to the castle. Brandt received them when he bought Odon. In hand-to-hand, these bowmen weren’t up to much, but their crossbows were very effective.
The Lahittes, galloping next to Jack, prepared their bows. Good, but the NPCs on the wall would have an advantage. Shooting from a horse on the gallop, decreased accuracy and the game reduced that stat. Jack began to hold Pickup back, so as not to be in the front, where the castle crossbowmen would aim. Now, he was galloping in a cloud of dust, and that suited him perfectly.
Without reducing their speed, the horde rushed at the walls. Here, the first bolts flew, then a few dozen horsemen spread their wings and broke away from the ground. Turned out that part of Tevis’ soldiers rode on pegasi. The winged pets raised the Lahittes over the crest of the wall. One was hit by a crossbow arrow, and the warrior couldn’t keep himself in the saddle. Jack led his black mount out of the way to avoid approaching the walls from the side the crossbow bolts were raining down from, and he watched the figure of the falling rider. The wounded Pegasus slowly fell to one side. NPCs, guarding the castle, found it a convenient target and peppered it so densely that the mount began to melt into textures, not yet touching the ground.
The Lahittes, circling near the gate, answered in kind and fired arrows off at the crest of the wall and the gate. Some of the arrows left behind a smoky trail, that is, the tips were equipped with a fiery spell. Tevis Khan was well prepared for the assault, even for fighting magic. But the gate was protected by magic. Jack noticed that when they were hit by a burning arrow, it wouldn’t touch the steel-bound boards. It looked as if the gate was covered with thick glass. The protective spell was not visible until it touched the bolt, but when it hit, a faint flash followed, and the arrow bounced.
The horses whinnied when the arrows hit them, the horsemen shouted in the dust clouds, while the NPCs in the castle fought in silence. Pegasi in the sky created a formation of sorts, their arrows felled the castle guards. Here and there a brilliant helmet was lost which meant the crossbowman had been taken down by a bolt. But the Lahittes also suffered losses. Where’s Tevis? Jack looked up at the clouds of dust emitting a golden glow. The Khan was approaching the wall. He emerged from a dust cloud, jumped off the saddle right before the very gates, raised his left hand… the fiery heart was breathing hot between the fingers of scarlet light. The Lahittes cheered when the Khan clenched his fist and disappeared in a flash of dazzlingly bright light. The radiance swelled in a red bubble, pressed against the gate, the magic defense burst with a fine ring, and the gates shattered into splinters. The cloud of red flame into which the Tevis Khan turned, gradually changing, forming into a beaming four-legged creature, slid into the arch, and the Lahittes, yelling non-stop, rode their horses after the khan.
Jack rode along with the others. When his black Pickup broke through the gate, a familiar burning silhouette flew up over the castle yard — the War Hound in all its glory. Jack, just like Tevis’ soldiers, involuntarily lifted his head, watching the flight. Its wings flapped, two sheets of flame, and raised the Hound over the square castle courtyard, the flaming creature threw open its mouth… Jack even shivered, remembering the fight with this monster. A stream of fire streaked from the sky. Tevis, in the guise of the War Hound, slowly turned his head, sweeping the flame over the NPC crossbowmen on the parapet.
The doors of the four towers were opened at the corners of Odon Castle, a stream of warriors filing out from each. They ran out into the yard and quickly formed a battle formation, with shields layered together, angled to protect from arrows, which the Lahittes instantly rained on them. Jack quickly glanced at the timer in the corner of his field of vision: 03:17. Everything going to plan.
These warriors were the players of the Battle Seekers clan. Brandt Ironfist had summoned them when the assault began. They arrived at Odon Castle through portals and gathered in the towers to counterattack. No doubt, Brandt called everyone he could, including those who were now sitting in the Presbyterian Church. Romeo surely had the intelligence not to show up at the church before it was time, not to raise suspicion. At half-past four, he would break into the church building, and there everyone would be occupied by Alterra. The whole job should go smoothly.
Jack, holding Pickup back, looked around at the detachments of castle defenders. He was lookin
g for Brandt, but he couldn’t spot him behind the wall of shields. Most likely, Brandt wasn’t even in the yard. Surely, he was sitting in the tower. In which of the four? Oh, clearly, in the biggest.
The War Hound completed his exhalation, darted off the crossbowmen’s wall, and, slowly flapping his flaming wings, sank. Probably, Tevis was watching the timer and it was up.
The dog, breathing fire, disappeared curled up, and in its place appeared Tevis Khan, wrapped in defensive magic. Only now, after the bright heat of the War Hound, the golden glow of his spells seemed pale and dull.
The horn blew on the tower — a signal for the NPCs. Ironfist’s players were probably notified in chat. He waited until the most dangerous enemy disappeared, and now gave the signal to attack. The roar of the Seekers of the Battle was drowned out by the discordant exclamations of the Lahittes. The walls of shields in the corners of the yard, bristling with spear tips, moved toward the enemy. The space between the walls was too tight for the cavalry to use its advantage of speed. Above, arrows flew — riders on pegasi beat down on the detachments of Seekers, but their space was also cramped. From the slits on the towers, the surviving crossbowmen fired down on them. Several Seekers broke through the archers’ formation, but the rest immediately closed the shields, filling the rift in the ranks.
The horses neighed as crossbow bolts struck them, the sky was traced by smoke tails left by incendiary arrows. Occasionally such an arrow hit the closed shields of the Seekers and exploded in a crimson flash. The answer being the screams of wounded infantrymen. Mounted Lahittes fired bows at point-blank range and spun in front of slowly advancing enemies, but at last they had to join in hand-to-hand. Jack jumped from his mount — he didn’t dare to fight in the saddle until he finally got accustomed to horse riding. The icon depicting the horse’s head flashed, he jabbed it, and the Pickup melted. Many players from Tevis’ horde did the same, and as the horses disappeared, it became a little freer in the yard. Jack chose that detachment of Seekers, who were approaching from the side of the donjon. He had to break through the infantry, and into Brandt’s tower. The meeting with him in Alterra was part of Jack’s plan. Then, it would be simple.
In the hand-to-hand, the heavily armed Battle Seekers proved to be stronger than Tevis’ Lahittes. Despite the nomads’ numerical advantage, the castle defenders were advancing, and the Lahittes retreated. Jack pushed through the first row. If you want something done, do it yourself. He even somehow forgot about his illness, retreated, crawled somewhere into the depths of the body and hid there. Jack felt invincible.
Just then, Tevis ordered the riders on the pegasi to descend. Arrows fell more often from the sky, and the advancing Seekers hesitated. It was then that Jack launched the black sword. He chose the moment when a Pegasus with its archer dived into the infantry detachment, and the Seekers raised their shields, shielding themselves from the arrows. Jack, using both Sprint and Berserk, rushed to the wall of shields, cut into the enemy formation and with several blows destroyed the line the enemies had so diligently held. The Lahittes rushed into the gap between the Seekers’ shields, and Jack twisted among the spear points. He cut both weapons and armor with one blow, red splashes flew in his face, blocking his vision. It was unusual for him to fight in a blind helmet, and the red textures filled the slits of the visor. The bar of life plummeted when Jack missed the blows, alarming messages crammed one into another:
You receive damage!
You lose 4 hit points!
You receive damage!
You lose 3 hit points!..
You receive damage!
You lose 4 hit points!
But, thanks to Berserker, he still hadn’t felt the damage, and his speed and force of impact didn’t decrease. Somewhere off to the side Tevis was yelling orders, but Jack ignored them. Before him flashed faces and helmets, enemy blades flew… a blow, and they were on the way. The Seekers disappeared, having flown to the sides or settled on the ground. Noticing that the order of this detachment was broken, several archers hovering over the fight on winged mounts rushed to this corner of the courtyard, seeing excellent targets no longer covered by the shield wall.
Before Jack’s abilities ran out, the attacking Lahittes had caught up. They made their way through the collapsed ranks of the castle defenders, and got into their formation. Now, getting close to the enemy, the nomads, with their lighter weapons and short crooked blades, had much more success. However, the battle at the door of the dungeon has not yet been won. The Battle Seekers retreated, but fought back with all their strength, the heavy armor protecting them. Every step taken was given to the Lahittes at the cost of notable losses. If it were not for Jack and the arrows flying from above, they wouldn’t have succeeded in pressing the enemy.
Berserk’s ended, and Jack immediately sensed the change. He was not moving so briskly, and the blows of the black sword, though still irresistible, became noticeably slower. And at this moment, when the outcome of the bout was still in the air, several Seekers immediately disappeared before his eyes. They simply vanished, dissolved into dust-filled air. Yeah, Jack thought, these are the ones playing in the Presbyterian Church. Romeo’s people pulled them out of virt. That’s right, right on time. 03:32. Romeo had just led his gang on the assault.
Everything was still going according to his plan. When several Seekers, blocking the way to the door of the dungeon, left the game, Jack ran to the tower. Behind him, the fighting men screamed, the weapons gnashed, but he was no longer up to the fight. He needed Brandt.
The door looked very solid — thick oak boards, bound with steel strips. Almost as powerful as the gate of the castle itself, but here there was no protective magic. With several blows, the Shadow of the King disintegrated the boards in the place where the lock was supposed to be.
Jack kicked the door in with a blow of his boot and, ducking low, flew into the darkness. A sword whistled over his head. That’s right, the entrance to the dungeon was guarded. An NPC, not allowed to leave the dungeon, so he didn’t take part in the fight in the yard. He could die here. Jack, retreating, turned to the enemy. He squinted at his health bar. It was fine. Still a little more than half. But to take blows from an NPC now didn’t make sense. He’d need a full reserve for when he found Brandt. So, Jack went cautiously. The next blow he didn’t parry, just backed away.
The guard of the tower fought in the standard way: lunge, defensive stance, step forward and a new blow. When the rhythm of these movements became clear, Jack met the guard’s approach with a counterattack. The first blow was short, he cut through the guard’s sword, and while the man realized that his blade was half as short, Jack brought the Shadow down on his enemy’s helmet. The guard collapsed, dripping streams of red textures, and Jack turned and ran up the stairs.
Walls, masonry, oak panels… everything looked solid and expensive. Odon Castle had cost Brandt Ironfist a tidy sum, and the developers tried to ensure that the player who’d laid out the money for it got a pretty product. If circumstances had allowed, Jack would probably have stayed to look at the tower properly. But now such thoughts didn’t arise. His plan required action without delay.
On the second floor, he found another guard, it was a crossbowman, who was evenly releasing bolts through the arrow slit. His script was quite primitive. The crossbowman didn’t even turn around as Jack approached him…
Third floor was more interesting. These were the personal apartments of the castle owner. And another door, which was unlocked. Jack pushed it and entered cautiously. Brandt Ironfist pressed his face to the arrow slit and watched the battle in the courtyard. Surely, he was now typing violently in the chat and completely immersed.
Once Brandt looked into the yard, and didn’t prepare for battle, it meant that the Lahittes hadn’t managed to break through to the entrance to the dungeon behind Jack. But Jack didn’t care. Brandt was in front of him, and it was time for another important scene in the play he had created.
“Hey, Brandt, how’s it going?” J
ack called out. “Why are you so distracted?”
Brandt turned abruptly. A couple of seconds was enough for him to grasp the situation. The sword in the newcomer’s hand and the lack of stats.
“Who are you?” he muttered, slowly retreating along the wall, there were not many places to go. He could only take a couple of steps. A shield appeared on his left hand, large and broad, almost as tall as Brandt himself. It was a rectangle in red and a yellow cage, and emitted a subtle warm glow, like the armor of Tevis Khan.
Well, of course, because Brandt couldn’t fully work with a missing hand, that’s why he’d adapted the large shield, strengthened by magic. In Brandt’s right hand was an axe, also hefty, with two blades. Jack watched his movements.
“Who are you?” repeated Brandt, taking a step forward. “What, you turned on the “wipe” and thought, I wouldn’t find you?”
“Why look if I’m already here?” Jack smiled, but Brandt couldn’t see it under his helmet. “I’m here to bring you to justice. Justice doesn’t need names.”
“Justice, my ass. Now I’ll crush you. And then in real life I’ll find you, got it?”
Brandt, keeping the shield in front of him, rushed at Jack. He held the axe to the side. Jack had already calculated his move. The shield of his enemy was strengthened by a spell, and Brandt relies on his magic. He is sure that he is securely protected. First, he’ll press with the shield, forcing Jack to retreat, open his defense, and then use the axe. Well, here’s your first surprise. Jack waved the Shadow of the King, from which a cloud of darkness blurred the already dark room. And when the black blade crashed into the red and yellow cages, first hissing sounded, and then a deafening crack — the spell on the shield was dispelled, the shield collapsed into two parts, cut down by the weapon of Necta the Dark.
By the way Brandt shuddered and staggered, Jack realized that he had more than a shield. The enemy was wounded and sensitive. Brandt growled and threw a fragment of the shield at him. Jack easily evaded it, not looking down from the axe, and for good reason. Following the piece of wood painted with cages, a wide blade was already running toward him. Jack took a short step and took a swing with the sword. The axe cracked lightly, flying at the black steel. The Shadow of the King chopped it through its forged shaft, and the twin-fluted steel butterfly, spinning, flew into a corner. The disarmed Brandt hesitated for a second, and Jack struck a new blow. He went for his opponent’s forearm. One swing, and the severed hand fell to the floor. Brandt staggered, a red stream gushed out of the stump. The Alterra devs never skimped such visual effects. There was always a lot of blood.
