As his paranoia knew no bounds, it started to signal him urgently that this was part of a greater plan. This was only a small part.
This type of attack wouldn’t need a divine block of this magnitude. It would only need that if it was a multi-staged attack.
Runner flipped open his raid window and thumbed to the pages for his personal circle.
The quick little program in his head summed it up at a glance and actually provided him with a window. A window that he had actually wished for but hadn’t actually tried to create.
Faye Norwood: Wounded, orange health
Hannah Anelie: Green health
Isabelle Norwood: Lightly wounded, green health
Katarina Saden: Severely wounded, hungry, thirsty, red health
Milicent Ritter: Wounded, green health
Satomi: Wounded, red health
Sophia Norwood: green health
Srit Norwood: Lightly wounded, green health
Thana Damalis: Critically wounded, hungry, thirsty, red health
Even as he watched the names, two boxes flared red. Then Thana and Katarina dropped from the raid window entirely. They vanished.
Exactly in the same way Nadine had when she died.
Shocked, and feeling like his feet had gone numb, Runner fell on his ass.
“Whoever did this attacked everywhere. Everyone but us is injured. Lady Death and Kitten, they… they’re not in the raid. That only happens if a Natural dies or they leave the raid. They’d never leave the raid.”
“Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me! This can’t be happening. Can it? We need to get back. You could fix all of this, Runner! You’re a god. You could wipe them out and invoke the wrath of the other gods if Rike responded. That’s why they’re doing this, to keep you from the field,” Hannah surmised, her voice rising in volume.
“Are they dead? I… I can’t…,” Runner mumbled, his tongue too big for his mouth.
“Runner Norwood!” Sophia admonished. She stared down at him, standing over him with her hands on her hips. Her wings had flared out and were nearly fully extended behind her.
“My lord husband, you are the god-emperor of Bastion. I expect you to behave as such. Even if they’ve perished, what would they tell you? To carry on. To run on, Runner.”
Sophia softened her tone and gave him a sad smile.
“Time to be the god-emperor everyone expects you to be, my love. Hannah is right, they don’t want you on the field. Which means our answer is simple. You get to the field, and I continue on with the tanks according to the original plan.”
Sophia’s gaze swung over to the Thief.
“Hannah, please get our god-emperor to the battlefield. I’ll do what I can here. I’ll send three of Norwood’s Own with you as well. They’ll be outfitted for Stealth so they can leave with you while it’s dark out.”
“Errr, yeah. That’s a great frickin’ plan, actually. Such a clever little noble lady. If you’re so damned smart, why’d you marry this fucking tool?” Hannah pointed at Runner.
“For the same reason you didn’t. I’m off. I’ll send the three to meet you here, leave the tent for me. I’ll keep the illusion going that you’re here as long as I can.” Sophia stood still as her clothes changed into her normal attire.
Bending down, she kissed Runner once and patted his cheek. “Be safe out there, my silly lord husband. Hard to make children unless there’s a father.” Without another word Sophia left the tent.
Runner shook his head and let out a rattling breath.
“She’s absolutely right.”
“What, about children? Obviously. You think she can get pregnant without you? No fucking wonder Katarina and Thana didn’t get knocked up. Some gigolo you are.”
Laughing, Runner felt his mood lighten a touch. Then he remembered that those in question both had simply left the group.
He had to believe Thana and Katarina were fine. That they’d quit the raid for a reason.
“Thanks, Hanners. We should get prepped. I figure we Stealth exit, bushwack through the wildlands, pop up in whatever small country bumpkin shithole we find, buy mounts or whatever we can, head towards Dover.”
Hannah grunted and looked away from him. Her hand went up to a window only she could see.
4:51 pm Sovereign Earth time
5/24/44
Runner looked his map with only dread in his chest.
They’d traveled nonstop with no breaks and little time to talk. Their progress was minimal.
Trying to slog through the wilds and backwoods of uninhabited video game country was slow going. Out here there was little more than mobs and blocking volumes.
And boy were those blocking volumes gut wrenching when encountered. Invisible walls that were meant to form boundaries to prevent people from getting into an area that wasn’t programmed or designed to be in.
They’d been forced to turn back and try again several times when they found themselves boxed into a canyon surrounded by nothing but blocking volumes.
They’d spent the day running nonstop.
And we achieved nothing.
Runner closed the map with a grunt. Looking around at his people, he felt like he should have a better answer for them. They were making better time than Sophia would, that was a certainty. Still, they weren’t going to exactly be swift.
“My neck itches. Itches like we’ve got someone riding our ass. Do you think those sons of bitches actually realized we left?” Hannah asked, looking over her shoulder.
Runner thought about that. They’d slipped out under the cover of pre-dawn darkness. They’d remained in Stealth until they were positive they’d long since passed through whatever perimeter the enemy had set up.
“Possible. If they have tracking classes they could have swept all along the ditch to see if anyone crossed,” Runner guessed. Groaning, he looked around their current area.
“Find somewhere to hole up for the night. Preferably defensible but I’d rather not set us up somewhere that we can’t get out of.”
His sergeant nodded to the other two, who set off at a trot to do as instructed.
The three Sophia had sent with him were two melee classes and a caster. Respectively, a Barbarian, a Half-Goblin, and an Elf.
The Elf was the caster and the sergeant. The three of them seemed nervous around him, and only the sergeant had managed to actually speak with him.
“Sergeant, anything to add?” Runner asked, catching the Elf maiden unprepared.
“No, God-Emperor. Ready to serve,” she rattled off.
“Not quite what I was asking. The situation. Do you have anything to add to it? We were talking about the possibility we were being followed.”
“I’m not qualified—”
“Shut up or I swear to me I’ll carry you off to my bedroom when we get back. And not for my own personal use, mind you, but I’ll let Minxy play with you to her heart’s content. Answer the question”—Runner looked up at her name—“Annette.”
The blue-eyed Elf reached up and tucked a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind a long tipped ear.
“Ah, uhm, that is… Lady Sophia would tell us that to act under the belief that the enemy is incompetent is the quickest way to ensure defeat,” she finally said.
“Well put. When”—Runner’s eyes flitted out to where the other two had gone to check their nameplates—“Signe and Ada get back, relay to them we’re now operating under the belief that we—”
The Half-Goblin scampered over to Annette. She was covered in chain mail and a solid breastplate but couldn’t be anything other than a damage class. Green skinned and diminutive, she was a long throw from her human parentage.
“Chasers behind us, west. Working this way. They have… not a tank. But a tank,” hissed Ada.
Runner closed his eyes and leaned his head back, putting his hands on his hips.
“Right, then. So, the arms race is happening. I’ve been underestimating Rike since the start. She didn’t land one army, she landed multi
ple armies, units, and supplies. This is a foothold invasion, not an attack.”
Runner’s mind careened off into the distance as it started working through any and all possibilities.
Heavy footfalls came up to them. Since no one reacted it could only be Signe.
“Saw Ada came back early. There a problem? Found a cave, if it helps at all,” she grumbled.
As if struck by a bolt of lightning, Runner had his answer. And he hated it.
Closing his eyes tightly, he scrambled madly for any other answer.
Annette’s voice cut through the fog of his thoughts. “How far back were they, Ada?”
“Five, maybe ten. I saw them at a distance, I did. Movin’ fast. Color red kinda fast,” the half-breed replied.
“Cave can fit us all. It’s huge. Deep. Can we hide and wait for them to pass?”
“No, they have a tracker,” Annette said with a grunt. “We think.”
Runner’s options were limited. The best he could do was to get everyone onto a separate plane. That wouldn’t solve the problem, though, and would in effect trap them there until they could return reasonably sure that the enemy had moved on.
And there was no timer on that.
There was a definite timer on Dover and the fact that Thana and Katarina might be alive. Or dead. Or that Faye was more than likely next.
The possibility of Rike unloading scores upon scores of troops by the day made him sick.
It was time to make a decision he’d regret and didn’t want to make.
“Annette, Ada, Signe,” Runner said softly. Letting his chin fall back to his chest, he opened his eyes and looked to the three of them. “Would you die for me?”
“Yes, my god-emperor.”
“Yeah. Course. You took in me family, gave ’em all jobs, no questions, easy like. Mum was a bit of a loose woman before Pa. Lots o’ gobo kids and you snapped ’em all up like they was gold.”
Signe grunted her response in the affirmative.
“Then I must ask you to die for me,” Runner said with a small sad smile. “We’re going to hole up in that cave. Then we wait and let them come to us. We tear them apart or die trying.”
“Forgive me, God-Emperor. Isn’t the point for you to get to the battlefield? What if we held the cave while you retreated?” Annette asked.
“Valid plan, but honestly, I’m confident that I can survive whatever they throw at us if we all fight together. The problem is I can’t… I can’t guarantee you will.” Runner held up his hands in apology.
“The fact of the matter is, if it was me against, how many did you say it was, Ada? Sixty?”
“Give or take. Plus or minus. Fingers or toes.”
“Sixty by myself, with two whatever they have on wheels, would probably end up with me dead or fleeing. They’d just overwhelm me. It almost happened when I was on the front line back in Tristan’s Field.
“But if half were busy dealing with you four, though… I think that’d work. I think.”
Annette, Signe, and Ada were deep in thought. Hannah on the other hand looked annoyed.
“We’ve drastically underestimated our foe. If we can’t shut this down now, she’s going to shatter whatever is left of… whatever is left of Katarina and Thana’s forces. Then she’ll start landing more troops,” Runner admitted
Signe squared her shoulders and merely nodded her head. Barbarians were like that. You could count on them to die honorably in a heroic last stand to save their lord.
Annette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I understand.”
Ada frowned and peered at him with her black eyes. Eyes that dominated her face, black pools that had very little white around them.
She watched him from under her shaggy brown hair. She wasn’t a looker. She was interesting. Unique.
She reminded him of Milicent. Or Hannah. Unique in their status.
“Asking me to die for ya. Stand at your side in the face of unreasonable odds. Expect me to blind the enemy with my charm and make them come for me,” Ada said, cocking her head to the side, evaluating him.
She spoke in a strange way but Runner had no doubt she was intelligent. Not one of Norwood’s Own lacked in mental acuity.
“This is what you signed up for. Norwood’s Own is made up of volunteers. Here’s the ultimate end result of that choice. I value you each for who you are, but this is the job.”
Ada growled but then nodded her head.
“Good. God-Emperors need to be firm. Be sure you tell everyone about me, then. The Half-Goblin who saved the god-emperor. Good story, that. Make it a rousing one. Move the people.
“If you can stomach the idea, maybe even throw in the hint of a romance between us? Really spice it up a level, eh? All those big boobed cows strutting around and you bedded the little green monster.” Ada punctuated her cow comment by pointing at Signe.
Runner laughed and set his hand on top of Ada’s head.
“Actually, I have a preference for the unique and interesting. I’m afraid I’m a married man, and very, very tied up, but you’re beautiful in your own way, Ada.”
Ada scowled at him and then took a few steps away to stand closer to Signe.
Runner took that moment to snap a screenshot of the three of them. Standing together, proud.
Alive.
“Oi, you’re not allowed to steal a maiden’s heart like that right before she dies. Now I’m regretting not making a move on you earlier. Maybe I wouldn’t be dying a maiden. Steal you away from your pretty little cow harem,” Ada groused at him. “Iffn the time comes… you’ll be there for us? Take us to your plane? Yourself?”
“I will. I ask that if you fall, remain at the cave. I will escort you personally.”
Signe chuckled and thumped a hand down on Ada’s shoulder. She looked like any Barbarian he’d seen before. “Told you. Come. It is our time to die. We must go before our place is taken.
“Both my brothers are already there, you know. When the god-emperor took over, he brought them all onto his own plane. I scrounged up a priest and he…” Signe’s voice trailed off as she started walking away from them.
Ada turned and left with Signe, listening to the big woman as she chattered on.
Annette gave him a crisp salute.
“Should I fall, please watch over my soul, God-Emperor. Though I will go ahead of my family, I know that they’ll be in safe hands.”
Runner returned the salute. Annette made a proper turn from her salute and moved off to rejoin her comrades.
Shuddering, Runner looked to Hannah and took in a slow breath.
“Ugly choice, but… a good one. What’s the plan?” Hannah asked.
“Kill them all, bleed with our people. Assuming this all goes right? Track back the way we came. Then we blink as far as possible off the track, and blink until we’re out of charges. We should be able to get pretty far, then we keep going until we find a place to buy mounts.” Runner laid out his plan quickly. As he finished, he shrugged his shoulders.
“Eh, it’s not an idiot plan, so that’s good. Fuck me if you’re not a moron at times. Doesn’t seem like it’ll be fast enough. I might have an idea. Let me think on it,” Hannah said, setting off after the trio of women.
Runner looked towards the path they’d come from rather than the direction his guards went. Out there was a small group of people specifically put together to kill him.
Hopefully they really can take up half the numbers.
The cave was indeed big on the inside. The entrance wasn’t too large, though—wide enough for ten abreast to walk through unimpeded.
They wouldn’t be able to hold the entrance for long. Really it wasn’t the goal anyways. Drawing them in and making use of regulation potions supplied to them would be their best advantage.
It only took a minute until two wagons trundled into view. They were pulled by horses but on the top of each wagon was a massive crossbow.
It’s a fucking ballista. Ada’s tank but not.
F
ollowing behind it came the infantry support one would expect for a tank. Too many to count without standing still as a target for the wagons. Runner and crew ducked deeper into the cave. Out of sight of the welcome wagon.
“Well, that’s a thing. Two things. Remind me that when this is over we quadruple the guards posted at Dover and Vix. That and beat the ever-loving snot out of Rike until she bleeds from her ears,” Runner complained, pressing up against a cave wall.
“Wouldn’t have mattered. That rat bastard fuckwit Basile let her walk in. Remember?” Hannah reminded him.
“Ah, yeah. Damn.” Runner was happy that the man was dead and yet sad he couldn’t kill him again.
Nothing happened.
There was no mad rush to get into the cave, no shouted insults, no scouts, random fire, nothing.
“Damn, I’m an idiot. They don’t want to fight us if they don’t have to. They… just want to prevent me from getting to the battle. That’s it,” Runner grumbled.
“So, we have to assault them?” Signe asked from the other side of the entrance.
“Are you batty, you big monkey?” Ada squeaked.
Hannah laughed and rested the back of her head against the rock wall.
“Damn this sucks. Runner, you’re a fucking awful date.”
“Sorry, dear. I’ll try to arrange things better next time. If there is one,” Runner admitted with a small smile. Watching Hannah’s face, he couldn’t help but feel he’d fucked up somewhere.
“Signe? You lead the charge after I Blink into the wagons. Hanners, sheepdog, drop healers, casters, anyone on the outside. Ada, support Annette. Annette, break ’em. May you all be blessed, in my name.”
Runner held up his hand as he said it, and the blessing of Norwood settled on them all.
Quickly he slipped into his “turret” equipment and then took a slow breath.
A simple thought later and he’d redirected his Taxi ability to send him to his workshop.
Stepping into the entrance area, Runner targeted the wagon.
“Runner, wait, we c—”
Runner activated the Blink ability even as the two wagons opened fire on him.
Holding out his hands to his sides, he pressed his palms to both wagons. Mentally he slammed the GMHub ability.
Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy Page 35
