Shepherd's Wolf

by M. Andrew Reid

“Sir?” the officer sputtered. “That will put us further away from the cliff.”

  “We’ll come back up the other side and connect with our group on the west bank. Do it, soldier.”

  “Yes sir.”

  …

  Myrmidon raised an eyebrow when he heard the engines rumble to life. “Are they leaving?”

  Nevaeh poked her head around the lichen-covered boulder, “Yes. They are dropping into the gorge.”

  “Does that mean we won? What do we do now?”

  Nevaeh turned to the cliff, “We’ll meet in the tunnel and stick with the plan.”

  …

  “This has to be the entrance.” Athena sniffed the air around the tunnel mouth, “This should take us to the gorge without being seen. The others will be behind us, we should get ahead of them and create a distraction.

  Wisp craned his neck, straining to see the top of the monumental cliff before them, “If you fell from up there, you might never hit the ground.”

  “Let’s go,” Athena whispered. “Keep quiet.”

  Silently, they padded into the tunnel. Athena kept to the right side, and Wisp the left. It was not a complete tunnel; a thin opening ran across the roof, letting in a small amount of dawnlight and bathing the stone walls and floor in a dim purple.

  Athena’s ears twitched, and she held up a paw. Wisp nodded and stepped into the shadows. Athena faded into the rocks.

  Soon, even Wisp could hear the clatter of boots. There were several men, heavily armored, coming toward them and moving quickly.

  Grave appeared first. His yellow eyes burned in the darkness. Six Conqueror Warriors in black armor followed close behind him, their clatter and stench were enough to mask Athena and Wisp from Grave’s keen senses.

  When the enemy had passed, not a word was needed to set Athena and Wisp in motion. Fluidly they emerged from their hiding places, Wisp with his sinister black dagger, and Athena with an arrow drawn tight to Arc Flash.

  The six Warriors fell quickly – four to arrows and two to Ramar’s Fang. Grave yowled and tumbled into the shadows, with Wisp in pursuit.

  Wisp cornered Grave against a large boulder and drew the Spark Katana in a blaze of light, “Remember this sword? I’m sure it remembers killing you.” He wagged Ramar’s Fang, which he held in his off hand, “I heard you have one of these. We can be Fang buddies!”

  Grave collapsed into a black mist and reappeared at Wisp’s back, sliding an oily knife through space. The blade found only air as Wisp turned away.

  A trio of yellow arrows whizzed through Grave as if he were made of smoke. He drew his copy of Ramar’s Fang. “I’ve always wanted another Fang. Y’all done bit off more than y’all can chew.”

  With a deadly hiss, Grave launched at Wisp, and the two exchanged a rapid storm of blade strikes. Athena scampered from rock to rock, firing shots at Grave but missing every time. Grave was too nimble, and wriggled around the arrows without effort or turned the fight so that Wisp was in Athena’s path.

  Wisp twirled his katana and raised it high, and Grave darted in, burying Ramar’s Fang into Wisp’s abdomen. Wisp swung his Fang into Grave’s back up to the hilt.

  Nothing happened. The two stepped apart and felt the places where wounds should be. There were no holes, no blood. Grave snarled, “Well add that to Limerick’s book of useless crap about Verdia. I guess we can’t kill each other if we’re both holdin’ Fangs. I suppose we’ll have to just…”

  Grave exploded in a flash of white light. Pieces of his armor and singed fur scattered throughout the tunnel. Ash drifted gently through the air.

  Athena lowered her bow, her heart pounding.

  Wisp nodded thoughtfully, “It appears I’m safe for another week. You must like me if you keep wasting that on other targets.”

  Athena wrinkled her nose, “Fang buddies? I was embarrassed for you.”

  “I was right,” Wisp replied, “if you think about it. It’s like being in a club, and you can’t kill the other members. That’s basically what buddies are.”

  “We must have a different meaning for “buddies” where I come from.”

  Footsteps thundered behind them.

  “Don’t turn around. Hands up!” a voice hissed.

  “That’s my bow,” another voice, indignant, growled. “It’s Arc Flash. What’s that smell? Did someone burn an old couch in here?”

  “That smell is freshly cooked Grave,” Wisp replied, his hands were raised to the tunnel roof. Athena chuckled.

  “You must be Wisp,” the first voice said, “and I’m assuming that’s Athena. This is Limerick; you can turn around.”

  Athena lowered her arms and nodded at the rifles, “Someone is throwing a party, it seems. We’ve come to help distract. Our friends aren’t too far behind.”

  “In that case, the best thing we can do is bring them here. You two rest up and we’ll guide everyone into the tunnel. Did you really kill Grave? How?”

  “An arrow.”

  “One arrow?” Limerick took off his top hat and scratched his bald head, “One?”

  “Yup.” Athena grinned.

  Limerick sighed.

  …

  Cold wind tugged at the feathers on Venom’s saddle, bending them in violent gusts each time she crested a ridge. The black horse, dark in the pale light even in her glittering armor, would slide down the side of each hill in a small avalanche of gravel. Gabe was close behind her, his belly stained a dull gray by the dirty stones and dust.

  “How do you know where we are supposed to go?” Laura asked, gripping Viper’s armor tightly.

  “Are you serious?” Viper sputtered. “It’s an enormous cliff. We go to the cliff and turn left.”

  “You don’t have to be mean about it.”

  Constant gunfire, blasts of light, and other signs of battle rolled over the hills. Echoes rattled off the cliff walls, surrounding them in the music of catastrophe. Greasy smoke scattered thin by the wind drifted through the air.

  “This place is awful,” Laura remarked, grimacing. “I hope the plateau is nicer.”

  “It is,” Viper said. “It’s peaceful. People only go there for ultimate quests.”

  “What’s an ultimate quest?”

  “Something I don’t feel like describing right now. Only a few people have done them.”

  “Did you do one?”

  Viper hesitated, “I remember telling you a while ago to stop asking questions.”

  Gabe’s ears perked up and he growled loud enough for the others to hear. Venom halted and quietly crept forward. Viper stood in his stirrups, straining to see what had disturbed Gabe.

  Far off, at the base of the cliff, the rising sun glinted off metal. Two tiny figures were waving - one of which was wearing a top hat.

  “It’s Limerick,” Viper said. “They must have spotted us. I think they want to help.”

  “Can we trust them?” Laura asked.

  Viper pointed to the flashes and explosions of the battle near the gorge, “We don’t have much of a choice. And it’s Limerick. Everybody trusts him.”

  “I wouldn’t trust his advice. His advice on the Agilar was pretty bad.”

  “Yeah it stank,” Ben agreed.

  “He hates the Conquerors too much to betray us, and his advice has always been bad. Have you seen his website? It’s terrible. I didn’t say he was smart,” Viper spurred Venom into a gallop, “I said he was trustworthy.”

  …

  Kogan stalked forward on heavy legs; tired boots pounded the earth. His armor was blackened and dented from countless bullet strikes. His white cloak was singed and tattered, more a ragged scarf now than the cascading carpet it had once been. Sentinel drooped slightly in his grip.

  But his mane was still brilliant white, and his golden eyes blazed with the rising sun. He left smoke and fire in his wake, and the wreckage of four Strykers. The vehicles were barely recognizable, smashed into pieces that littered the cold earth or hung from the scruffy branches of the few trees courageous eno
ugh to grow in this desolate place. Armor and weapons, the remnants of soldiers that had dismounted to fight him on foot, dotted the ground in strange little piles.

  A rueful grin crept across his face; Strykers began rolling out of the gorge, and were headed directly toward him. His shield came up, slower than it had earlier, but still fast enough to deflect the first barrage of cannon fire. His arm and shoulder were sore; repeated blows to his left side had created constant pain that made it hard to move. A player was not supposed to feel pain in Verdia, but the system had run out of ways to communicate the sheer amount of damage he had absorbed. He should have died four or five times over, but every time a shell or grenade had knocked him down, he had staggered to his feet.

  Kogan charged, not bothering to count how many Strykers were boiling up from the gorge. Knowledge would only depress him. The lead vehicle’s driver tried to turn away, but too late.

  A ferocious roar - half Kogan, half crunching metal - split the air, and the Stryker lifted its nose to the sky. Kogan dug in, pressing his shield against the spinning tires, and flipped the vehicle on its back like a helpless turtle.

  Clothed in a shroud of flying earth and smoke, he swung Sentinel into the next Stryker, cracking an axle and sending the vehicle skidding in a lazy arc. It wobbled away, turning to the north with only six wheels working.

  There were more Strykers, but they veered away as well. In full retreat, they rolled toward the looming cliff base without firing a parting shot.

  “Really?” Kogan panted. He dropped his mace and stooped over, resting his hands on his knees. He was not sure whether he was angry or relieved.

  …

  “Do not engage him; there’s nothing we can do here,” White growled. “Regroup at the cliff-base, and seal off the gorge.”

  “We’ll have to dismount when we get there, sir,” a platoon commander’s nervous voice buzzed in White’s ear. “There isn’t enough room for our vehicles that far up. Finding a path will slow us down. It took almost an hour for Fischer to climb up to his post in a single Stryker.”

  “If we have to walk, we’ll walk. We’re not letting a handful of freaks prevent us from completing our mission.”

  …

  Limerick felt a surge of relief when he rounded a bend in the tunnel and found Kate smiling at him. Behind Kate were Iceblade, Myrmidon, Neveah, Athena, and Wisp. The group huddled in a wide bulge of the tunnel, watching west.

  “I see you made some friends,” Limerick told Kate.

  “Where’s the wolf?” Kate asked.

  “About a quarter mile behind us,” Limerick pointed back down the tunnel. “We wanted to make sure the tunnel was clear before they came through.” He turned to Myrmidon, “Did you all come from the gorge or drop down from the roof of the tunnel?

  Myrmidon grunted and pointed upward.

  As if waiting for a signal from Myrmidon, a scrabbling sound and pebbles fell from above, along with a series of grunts. Haymaker dropped down from a gap in the roof of the tunnel. He collapsed on the floor with a clatter. “They’re down here,” he called up.

  Bishop floated down gracefully, “Don’t look up my robe.”

  Haymaker dusted himself off, “Limerick, I’ve always wanted to meet you in person. I’m a big fan. I post on your discussion board all the time. You even responded once to a thread I made about…”

  “Great,” Limerick said. “We’re in a hurry. Has anyone seen Kogan?” He was answered with blank eyes and shaking heads.

  “There’s something going down on the western side of the gorge,” Myrmidon offered. “Lots of explosions.”

  “I’m sure he’s fine,” Limerick shrugged. “Right now we need to head back to the mouth of the tunnel and watch for…”

  He cut himself short as the pounding of footsteps bounced off the rock walls. The noise was coming from the wrong direction, and there were too many feet for one horse and one wolf. Limerick cocked the hammer on his Winchester and rested a hand on his holstered revolver.

  Tungsten and six Conquerors, a band of scrappers with swords, axes, and shields, charged around the bend. They skidded to a halt, face to face with Limerick and company.

  Before anyone could react, Tungsten passed a hand over his long, withered face. His skin melted and boiled into a black mass, and a blast of violet and green light swept over the group. Silence filled the tunnel; everyone was frozen in sheer terror. The powerful spell would not fade until Tungsten willed it so.

  Tungsten’s thin lips curled into an evil sneer. He turned to his companions, “Violence is not always the answer. Where others fail with tanks and machine guns; I succeed with my winning smile.”

  The Conquerors laughed. None of them had been facing Tungsten, so the terrorizing spell had no effect.

  Tungsten pointed to Kate, “Look at the hate in her eyes! She knows who we are. She’s mad about her friend, Doc.” Tungsten pressed close to Kate, and stroked her cheek with a long gray finger, “I had nothing to do with Doc, but I’ll be happy to kill you. I never understood why Limerick was so attached to his NPCs. Looking at you now, it’s a little more understandable. But, from what I hear about our dear Limerick, he would have been more attached to Doc than you.”

  Tungsten glided over to Limerick. “You said you had a bullet for me the last time we spoke. Were you planning on using it any time soon? I’m afraid you’re running out of time for that. I know that somewhere behind those ridiculous goggles you can see what’s going on; my spell does not blind its targets. I will make sure you get a view of everything. Here is how events are about to unfold.” Tungsten pointed a gnarled claw at Kate, “I’m going to start with her.”

  Limerick dropped his rifle, drawing the large revolver on his hip. When the rifle clacked on the stone floor, its action was released, and a shot tore into the nearest Conqueror’s throat. Limerick palmed the hammer of his Peacemaker, and five more bullets struck. Swords, axes, and shields fell to the tunnel floor. One by one, the Conquerors dropped - neat holes in their foreheads - most of them vanishing before they hit their knees. Limerick raised his revolver to Tungsten’s nose.

  Tungsten frowned, “The goggles?”

  Limerick nodded slightly. He reached underneath his duster coat, to the small of his back, and pulled out a different pistol - a modern weapon that Limerick had taken from a Marine officer’s gear.

  Tungsten stepped back, “Wait!”

  Light flashed in the dark tunnel, and Tungsten’s staff clattered on the ground.

  Nevaeh broke free of the trance first, and cast a spell that released Bishop. Together they quickly had the other group members moving.

  Haymaker and Myrmidon were the worst off. They leaned against each other as their senses slowly returned. “Mom always told me that brains beats brawn. I should have listened,” Haymaker croaked.

  “What was that?” Wisp groaned. “I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was going to hurl.”

  “That was a powerful Warlock.” Limerick tucked the pistol away, and opened the chamber on his revolver. Empty shells spilled out, and fresh bullets snaked through the air from his holster, loading themselves one at a time. “Now, he’s a Level One Crybaby.”

  “I think you just committed the first electronic murder,” Iceblade mused. “I’m jealous it wasn’t me.”

  “I have more shots,” Limerick said, grinning. “I can do you, too.”

  “I would prefer to be the murderer, not the victim.”

  More footfalls - this time from the east and of the hooved variety - echoed through the tunnel. Venom trotted around a bend, with Gabe hobbling behind her.

  Limerick nodded to Viper, wasting no time in greeting, “We’ll clear the entrance. You’re almost there.” He motioned to his team, and they sprinted through the tunnel toward the gorge.

  Kate stayed behind, her eyes shining. She stepped up to Gabe, “I was hoping I would see you. My friend Doc would be happy to know you made it this far.”

  Ben looked down. “Do you want to ride with u
s? You look like you weigh less than Laura.”

  Viper snickered, and Laura slapped the back of his helmet. Laura scowled and craned her neck to get a better look at Kate’s petite frame. She conceded defeat with a sour twist of her mouth.

  Kate choked back a sob, “I would love to. Thank you, Ben! Your name is Ben, right? I’ve heard so much about you.” Kate climbed onto Gabe’s back, her face bright with excitement.

  …

  Fischer shifted his weight anxiously. Things had become immensely quiet. He glanced at Alex, who was wearing a tight grin.

  Alex felt Fischer’s eyes on him. He smirked, “I’m not hearing a lot of gunfire, and I know from experience that humans wearing armor and carrying swords typically don’t explode in massive fireballs when they’re shot. There were an awful lot of explosions down there.”

  Fischer grunted, “Maybe our strategy is build a big pile of wreckage in the gorge so nobody can climb up.”

  “Well, you’re doing a good job.”

  A nearby soldier began gasping for air. He clutched at his throat and dropped to his knees. Black smoke poured from his mouth and nostrils, and his eyes oozed dark slime. Gray claws emerged from the soldier’s chest, and he split apart in a cloud of smoke and shadow. Grave emerged from the cloud, heaving with anger.

  “What the hell was that?” Fischer took a step back, “Did you just kill that Marine?”

  Grave sniggered, “Believe me, I’m more use to you than Private Jenkins there. I needed to get here fast, and he made the mistake of shakin’ my hand earlier.”

  Fischer turned back to Alex in horror, “Omni has a messed up imagination.”

  “You have no idea,” Alex sighed.

  “Your little army is about done for,” Grave rasped. “The wolf is coming here and he’s got a lot of muscle with him. My rifle’s in that Stryker, right? You’re gonna be glad I came back here.”

  …

  Venom galloped through the dim tunnel. At many points the ridge touched the cliff, closing them off completely from daylight. When the gap widened, the sky revealed itself dull and gray. A pale sun was climbing higher, but approaching clouds darkened the sky.