"Right now? With our Viking style blades, perfect for cleaving through thick chunks of muscle and bone, we’ve got just the tools needed to take out those abominations. But in a few short years, Agneta will have dozens of soldiers armed better than us under her command. And in case you think our levels mean we can automatically outclass her and her men..."
Agneta unsheathed her saber in the blink of an eye, slicing through the gigantic gourd placed in front of her so fast that John could barely keep track of the blade, perhaps striking it a dozen times in a few short seconds. She paused just long enough to wipe her weapon down and sheathe it as the gourd collapsed into a finely chopped pile of mush, her piercing gaze never leaving Mason’s own.
The man lurched back, almost toppling over when Agneta suddenly gave a short, powerful bark, unsheathing her war hammer and smashing the carefully positioned helmet to devastating effect, the spike end actually punching through the metal with what would have been a fatal blow.
"I'd say she's at least Adept Rank with 1796 cavalry saber and war hammer. Do you see what I'm getting at, Mason? Even now, Agneta could wreak havoc amongst those zombies. In a few years, with the right equipment like our cleaving blades, cutting those fuckers down will be child's play for her and her men. But right now, we're useful. Right now, we're just where and when we need to be to play the heroes. Right now, we have the perfect opportunity to earn something more precious than gold. A fresh fucking start with honest people who will honor you for helping to save their children, for showing that, yes, you actually do have a bit of the paladin in you. You would prove yourself to be someone worthy of their respect because you were there for them in the brief window of time that they actually needed us, even if a couple of years from now they won't need us for shit."
John grinned. "But that's okay. Because by then, we'll have earned a place for ourselves in a town that appreciates us. In short, Mason, if you ever wanted a chance to do your life over..."
John looked all around. "Here's your chance."
Mason glared. "I still expect 300 credits for every kid we bring back. I was promised that!"
John grabbed the heavy felt purse Agneta had slipped him minutes before, tossing it onto the table. "My share for the undead we took out. Every last coin. Yours. No skin off Goldenwheat's back, just an arrangement between partners. As far as the town is concerned, you volunteered to rescue those kids pro-bono. Exactly what a hero would do. The kind of hero that soldiers like Captain Greenfield here could use for missions in the future." Agneta scowled but dipped her head in assent. "And in a few years? Being in the captain's good graces when Dominion forces are decked out in steel might be the smartest way to make a solid living as a Terran on Jordia."
Mason stared at John, Elowin, and the captain for long moments before abruptly lurching up. "Alright, boy scout. Let's get this fucking show on the road." He snagged John's purse and turned to Elowin. "I want your town records to show I was a fucking saint, and I want first dibs on land plots."
Elowin's partner flashed a grateful smile. "Done, friend Mason."
Mason smirked, turning to the captain. "Daylight's burning, girl. If we're going to save your niece, we need to get." Without another word, he sped for the exit, John's eyes widening in surprise at the fierce hug Sophia gave him, her soft brown eyes smiling into his own.
"Thank you," she whispered, kissing his cheek before hurrying off.
John was grinning from ear to ear.
Agneta’s gaze was one of exasperated fondness. "I hope you’re not falling for your partner's girl. You three have enough drama going on as it is."
John laughed. "Nope, it's not that. My Persuasion and Mercantile skills just hit Rank 2!"
Agneta chuckled. "You Terrans certainly are an odd lot." She rubbed his locks with one gauntleted hand. "Cute, though. Come on, boy scout. Time is of the essence."
"Does that mean you're falling for my irrepressible charm?" John teased as they headed to the courtyard.
Agneta arched her brow. "You just went to all that trouble recovering from your earlier fumble. I’m surprised to find you so anxious to repeat the maneuver.”
John winced. “Ouch.”
Agneta laughed. “Wait for me by the horses. I have to change back into gear that might actually save my sorry hide from a plague-storm."
Though he was now penniless and about to face off against a genetically engineered foe in her own lair, John was actually in high spirits. Agneta's soldiers had decades of experience and were now armed and armored as well as they could be against their foe and still have some protection against possible plague spores. Half the men looked downright knightly with boar spears braced against their right stirrup, and everyone was armed with shields and 1796 sabers, perfect for a hack and slash melee in close quarters with revenants. Or at least as perfect as could be, given their skill set and the weapons immediately available.
The spears could certainly be used in the charge, but would also be useful in the crush of melee, wide spearheads more than sufficient to crack open chests, with pairs of lugs behind the wide blades to make sure that no boar or other creature could charge its way up the shaft and thus kill the wielder even as they themselves were run through.
With boar spears pushing the revenants back, it was hoped that the curved sabers they now all wore would make short work of their foes, leading to a victory with minimal casualties at their end. To further increase the odds in their favor, Elowin's husband Marcus had elected to join them despite their protestations, assuring that his town wards would hold just fine in his absence, and that the needs of the soldiers fighting for his daughter's return came first.
Agneta, not surprisingly, was looking as excited as John felt, though she did her best to hide it. She chuckled when he showed her mental images of charging knights, though the secret smile tugging the corner of her lip made it clear she found those idealized Terran warriors glorious in their sheer badassery. John had no doubt that if blasters continued to work as well as water pistols here in the South, her men would soon be trotting across the countryside looking every inch the futuristic 15th century knight.
"I think charging into insane danger agrees with you, Captain. After we whip their asses, you're more than welcome to take up the adventuring life with me, if you’d like."
She chuckled throatily. "Tempting, Johnny, but I think I'll pass. Doing my part to protect the world I love is all the glory or excitement I need." Her gaze grew wistful. "It's been almost fifty years since I first embraced the soldier's life, keeping my homeland safe. But you do remind me that there is more to life than cold honor and duty.”
John nodded. “And the gratitude of villagers, though profoundly touching, doesn’t quite warm the heart like spending an evening laughing with your closest friends, filled with excitement for the days to come. Everyone hungry to explore Jordia’s deepest secrets, awed by her wonder and majesty.”
“True.” She tapped her captain’s insignia. “I fought long and hard to achieve this dream, and I can hold my head up high whenever I look in the mirror. But there are times, Johnathan, when I wonder what other paths through life I might have taken."
"Like when we're all preparing to take on a nest of revenants and whatever mastermind is pulling their strings?"
“Pretty much,” she agreed with a smile.
John gazed thoughtfully at the captain. “Like you said, it’s been almost half a century that you’ve served your people honorably and well. Maybe it’s time for a fresh start. And if you're in the market for a handsome, highly evolved Terran who might or might not be the victim of horrid genetic experimentation to join you on the next leg of your journey..." he flashed a cheeky grin. "You just let me know."
Her mouth twisted in a wry smirk. "Setting me up with a handsome bachelor? Now you sound like my mother," she teased, before impulsively grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. "Thank you, by the way."
"For what?"
"You mean besides coming to the rescue in the
nick of time?" She shrugged. "Just for being yourself, I guess. For reminding me that not everyone will have my hang-ups, or my former husband’s. For reminding me that there's a big universe out there filled with countless opportunities." She sighed. "Even if I will miss my connection to these woodlands, to the electromana flow that resonates through my very soul, here on Jordia, I might gain something just as precious if I dare to leave my birth planet behind."
John nodded, heart hammering as beautiful golden eyes captured his own. "It's not like you have to leave Jordia to find that," his treacherous lips said aloud, captivated by the fierce, beautiful woman before him. She looked a vibrant 25 at most, and if they were on Earth? The idea of a college freshman hooking up with a postgraduate student wouldn't be so strange at all.
Her eyes widened, John belatedly realizing that his mental walls were down, his soul bare before her gaze.
Shit. He could feel his cheeks blaze, and he realized he had nothing to lose. So he said what was in his heart. "I don't care if you’re doomed to get gray hairs in twenty years, just the same as anyone in their twenties would be on Earth. Why the hell do you think that means a guy couldn’t fall in love with you? Where I'm from, we don't even have rejuvenation vats. Lowered fertility or no, you'll have an extra 600 or so years of youth and beauty that no Terran girl can enjoy. And it doesn't stop us from claiming and marrying the girl or boy we love, till death do us part."
Agneta's jaw dropped. She looked both stunned and speechless, and John was suddenly hit by the roiling storm of emotions welling through her, defenses just as down as his were. Even when she shook her head and picked up her pace, John was shaken by the intensity of her emotions, awed by the depth of her fierce love and devotion to the children she had raised almost a century ago, to the men under her care, to the land she loved. But what stunned him most of all was seeing, for just a heartbeat before she had shut him off, that he wasn't alone in wishing things could be different.
That's when John realized how utterly silent the woods they now trotted through were. Besides the rustling leaves and the murmurs of the men, the birdsong that had become background music in these beautiful woodlands was missing. Crickets and other more exotic insects he had heard over the last couple days were suspiciously absent as well.
"Boy scout!" Mason hissed, loosening his blade in its sheath.
But John had already sensed it.
It was like the whole forest was holding its breath, explosive violence just a heartbeat away.
11
"John, look out!" Agneta's voice rang with more than a commander's concern, but John was already in motion, cleaving blade whipping out a deadly arc, exploding through the skull of the closest of the horde of howling revenants suddenly rushing forward.
The air was suddenly filled with a crimson mist and the coppery tang of rotting blood.
He blocked a savage barrage of claws and fangs, shoved back by the weight of howling ghouls, hungry for his flesh.
Then the closest of the three that had rushed John toppled back when Mason's sword crumpled its skull, John roaring and tearing through the neighboring pair before they could organize themselves against the two-man front, his blade chopping with such force that first one, then a second collapsed in a spray of blood and brain, John severing skulls and spines, the only parts that mattered. He and Mason shield-rammed another in unison, blades whipping out to dismember it as it collapsed upon the ground.
"Thanks, Mason," John said as he spun about in a half-circle, instantly lining up his next target.
He heard his companion’s snort. "Just keep fighting, boy scout. These fuckers are swarming!"
With a roar, Mason charged into a swarm of predators surrounding a quartet of desperately fighting soldiers, their lighter sabers, though deadly enough against mortal foes, not quite able to cleave through toughened skulls and limbs the way the adventurer's chopping blades could.
John raced for another cluster of men being swarmed, his casting blows whipping out to cleave through the skulls of revenants focused only on the soldiers before them, the undead horrors utterly caught off guard as John and his Terran companion dashed from cluster to cluster, cleaving through their foes, always on the move so their enemies couldn't ambush them in turn.
Duck!
John abruptly dropped and rolled, having sensed for just a moment the predator launching through the air, right where John's back had been a heartbeat before. How had he sensed that fucker?
Before his enemy could do more than hiss, John's blade whipped out and blasted through his foe's face in an explosion of blood and brain. A pair of surprised, blinking eyes rolled back as the top half of the shattered skull pirouetted through the air.
Congratulations, Sword & Shield is now Rank 3! Curved sabers, straight cut and thrust blades, and all other one-handed variants will now fall under Sword & Shield skill, so long as buckler, shield, arming gauntlet, or similar artifact is used in off-hand.
John’s heart was pounding in his chest. He took ragged gasps of air smelling of pine sap and blood as he spun about, desperately looking for yet more enemies lurking in the underbrush. But all he saw were the wide-eyed stares of soldier gazing his way, more than a few bowing their heads as if paying him respect.
Mason gave him a cold nod of approval. "Good fighting, boy scout."
Agneta's brilliant smile seemed to light up the small clearing, as far as John was concerned. "Well done, John. You and Mason have more than impressed me. Again." Other words were said as she approached him, taking off her cracked helm, a trickle of blood an odd contrast of crimson upon rich blonde curls she was happy to shake free, perhaps not even realizing her injury. But John was already racing forward as time seemed to slow.
Another flash of odd insight.
Sensing the predator in the dark, launching itself for the kill.
Psi-Sense Rank 1 Successfully Quantized! (Instability penalty in effect. You have no access to Shadowmind. You have not yet embraced Hunter's Sense)
"Duck!" John roared, as a twisting mass of undulating flesh and darkness with sapphire eyes, countless limbs, and a homicidal grin launched itself for Agneta's suddenly vulnerable throat.
"No!" John screamed, as much with his soul as his throat, just heartbeats away, projecting his hate with his roar. A tight bolt of fury smashed into the horror he was charging into, as surprised as the abomination itself was when it rocked back, a wounded Agneta having time only to stumble black before obsidian sharp claws tore through the air, slicing free locks of the captain's hair.
A blow that should have cleaved off her skull.
And John was already charging forward, howling like a madman as he shield-slammed the horror before blasting through the writhing mass of tentacles and vicious claws with a powerful swing of his blade. He payed no heed to the savage pummeling blows that shattered Dominion polymer armor as toothy limbs ground against the steel links of his far sturdier mail shirt. Fierce, savage glee fueled his blows as he tore massive ichor-spurting gouges into the monstrosity he faced, not stopping even as hooking tendrils pulled him closer. John lost himself in frenzy, cleaving off limbs with slicing draw cuts before his shield was finally torn from his grip.
Quickness check made!
Barely dodging a fatal chomp as he shifted his grip to short-spear style, savagely ramming the point under the jaw of the tendril-faced horror shrieking and hissing in broken English as it sought to bite John's skull.
Ego Crush successfully embraced in the heat of combat! Your foe has no Psionic Defense! Double Psion Cost for embracing an attack never experienced before, save in your father's dreams! Your foe suffers 100 damage to Health and Stamina! Foe saves versus death! Foe is stunned!
You have embraced your wrath! Your blade pierces Abomination's lower jaw! Upper Jaw punctured! Jaw is crippled! Enemy brainpan suffers Critical Wound!
And John roared his furious hate, hands yanking his blade back and forth, skewering his foe’s brain, not letting up for a second even as it
shrieked and howled in panicked desperation that became death spasms only heartbeats later.
Abomination has perished! Experience earned!
John crashed to the ground as hideous wails scoured his soul.
The desperate cry of a Plague Queen for the death of her drone.
A girl, once human, now gazed up at John, blinking in a dying stupor. John shook, somehow sensing her through the saw-toothed tendrils and twisted flesh. He saw the beauty that could have been, had she been spared the horrific experiments that had turned her into a favored tool of the abomination now promising John hideous death and retribution, howling in the back of his mind.
"Come then, Queen-Killer! Tool of our enemies! Find me in Deadman's grotto, and let's finish this, once and for all! And if you don't come, I will do to each and every one of those bastard children what you did to my sister!"
John gasped and lurched back, stunned by the brilliant bittersweet flashes of tormented souls and horrific agony that had momentarily infected his mind. It shook him so badly that he found no joy in the shimmering blue of his experience meter, now more than halfway to level 4.
Sophia, pale-faced and shaken, was in Mason's arms. "I'm sorry, babe. I'm sorry I didn't do more," she whispered.
Mason held her close. "You're in my party. You share in all my kills. All you have to do is stay alive, babe. Next time we get ambushed, promise me you'll 'chute out!"
Sophia swallowed, jerking a nod. "But you're coming with me, Mason Hendrix. I'm not losing you, not for anything!"
John turned away, allowing his companions a semblance of privacy, startled when powerful arms embraced him, Agneta's golden eyes filled with such concern. Surprisingly gentle hands wasted no time, touching a brow he only now realized was bleeding, having no idea where his helmet had gone. Her smile of relief was a hell of a lot more than professional courtesy, he couldn't help thinking, and that's when she kissed him.
Queen Killer Page 17
