“Agreed,” said the second warrior, whose name was Uncle Fedor. “We all just happen to be going that way anyway.”
“Then it’s a deal,” said Olgerd. “But let me just say right off the bat that I’m the leader.”
I nodded. “No problem—lead away! Where are you guys thinking of going?”
“Through the forest. Where else?” asked the scout.
“We don’t have to. We could go through the marsh,” I said quietly.
“How?” Olgerd looked at me suddenly.
“Have you seen the marsh to the north? The far side ends next to a big cliff with a tunnel in it leading right to the meadow.”
“Okay,” said Uncle Fedor. “That’s one option.”
The archer was less than convinced. “But how long would we have to slosh around in the marsh?”
“We wouldn’t. My bride is there, and she’ll show us a shortcut,” I said with pride.
“A bride in the blog?” Uncle Fedor looked at me with sympathy. It may have been because I was marrying a marsh spirit, or it may have been because I had some gray matter missing.
“A vila?” Olgerd, who apparently had more experience than the rest of them, grunted.
“Yep.”
“What an idiot! Still, that’s sure nice for us,” said Olgerd happily.
“They have an archer on guard, by the way—a half-elf. And he’s good, too,” I said.
“Yes, we saw him,” said the little scout.
“Okay,” Olgerd said, “we’ll go through the swamp. There are seven pirates in the meadow: two by the fire and five more walking around. I’ll take the first two while you all get the rest focused on you. They’re all Level 34, so we should be able to take them. Farainil and Bulkins, you hang back and wait for the patrol.”
“What if there’s more than one patrol? Maybe there are more?” I asked.
“Why? There’s one patrol. Two warriors and an archer,” answered Olgerd.
So I just got lucky. If I’d gone just a little left or a little right, I’d have missed them. But no, I had to march my butt right into their sights.
Olgerd continued with his battle plan. “When the patrol gets there, we’ll take the warriors.”
“What if we still haven’t finished with the first group?” asked Reger.
“We’ll have two, two and a half minutes, so we should be fine.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“You need to read the guides,” he answered pointedly. “Smart people write everything up. Anyway, we should have time. If we don’t, you’ll get the warriors to attack you.” That last part was said with a finger pointed in my direction. “Bulkins!”
“Yes, general?” The scout puffed out his chest.
“You look for the archer and get him to attack you. He’ll probably be able to take you out if you aren’t quick enough. But by that time Farainil will have a shot at him, and then it’s just a matter of hitting him. Far, you’ll have about thirty seconds, since I think that’s about all Bulkins can give you. He’ll refocus his attack after every second arrow, too. Oh, and we need to get a look at their camp.”
“No worries there,” I said. “The tunnel opens onto the meadow right above the cave where their leader is. It’s perfect.”
“Definitely. And the distance?”
“About three hundred meters to the forest.” I looked at the archer.
He nodded. “No problem, I can do it.”
“Won’t the leader come out when he hears the noise?” I asked.
“Of course.” Olgerd looked at me. “But he won’t come out until we’re done with the last of his fighters. Then he and his lieutenant will come out. At that point, we’ll have to see who’s still standing. Farainil, make sure you kill the leader. Questions?”
“How are we distributing trophies?” asked Uncle Fedor.
“By need. Other questions?”
“Respawn?” That was the scout.
“They’re part of the quest, so they won’t climb back out of hell until we kill their leader. And we’ll have another ten minutes after that, too.”
“Guys, there’s one thing,” I said. “I have a quest from the vilas for the leader. I need to get a ring from him.”
“Not a problem,” said Olgerd. “Nobody else cares about it. Okay, ready? Let’s go!”
“Hold on,” I said. “Send me the group.”
“Oh, right,” answered Olgerd. “Good? Roll out.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Press the Button
Elmilora was sitting right where I left her: on the edge of the marsh. She saw me, jumped up happily, and hovered in the air, wings flapping.
“You’re back!” She clapped her hands. “I missed you.”
“Yep, I’m back,” I said, out of breath. We’d been moving fast, and I’d even broken a light sweat. The day was drawing to a close, but the sun was still burning in the sky. “These are my friends.”
“Hi! I’m Elmilora, Hagen’s bride,” she said with a wave.
Part of the group grunted while the other part waved in reply.
“You’re kidding,” Uncle Fedor said to me.
“Nothing wrong with that,” I replied.
“I like her! She’s cute,” squeaked the scout.
“That’s not the half of it,” I said. “Dear, we need to get to that mountain again. The guys and I are going to have a talk with the group over there.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? They’re so evil. You know how they killed Horala,” Elmilora said with a sob.
“Just look at us,” I answered soothingly. “Look how strong we are. What are they going to do to us? Anyway, dear, it’s going to get dark soon, so let’s go. The marsh at night…”
“Oh, that’s no problem. I’d just light some fires,” said the vila. “But if you’re in a hurry, let’s go.”
Everyone was giving me a hard time about marrying a vila, but there was certainly an upside. Who knows how long it would have taken us to plod through the marsh on our way to the cliff. We may not have even gotten there. This way it took us all of twenty minutes—and we got there mostly clean and dry.
“Thank you,” Olgerd said to the vila with a smile. “And good luck in your marriage.”
“Thanks. Haggy, dear, we’re going to invite your friends to the wedding, right?” So I was already “Haggy.”
“Do we have a choice?” I said. “They’ll be there whether we invite them or not.”
“True,” said Uncle Fedor, laughing. “No getting out of it!”
“Okay, you had your laughs,” Olgerd said. “The tunnel is up there?” He pointed at the bush.
“Yes,” I answered. “Short and sweet.”
“And on the other side?”
“The same thing. There’s cover for everyone.”
“Then let’s go.”
Olgerd disappeared into the underbrush, followed by Uncle Fedor and everyone else.
“Fly home, don’t wait for me here,” I told my vila. “There’s going to be a lot of yelling and screaming over there, and you shouldn’t have to hear it.”
“I’m worried sick about you,” said the vila. “I don’t think it will be very safe over there.”
“But I’m a warrior—danger is my life. And now it’s yours,” I said to her with a smile.
“You’re right. Will you come to the island soon?”
“As soon as I’m finished, I’ll come right there. Okay, fly home. Drawing this out won’t make it any easier.”
I kissed her on the cheek, waved, and crawled into the bushes. Without looking back. Real men don’t look back.
The group was situated comfortably on the other side. The elf was looking around, obviously trying to find the best spot to shoot from, while the scout was shuffling his feet and looking around timidly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“There are probably snakes around here,” he answered with embarrassment.
“What are you talking about?” I had al
ready forgotten my own recent fears on that account.
“Cobras…or copperheads.”
“Shush!” Olgerd, who was surveying our position, abruptly broke in. “Who cares about snakes? If that’s all we had to deal with, we’d be home free. Look at all of them down there. On the bright side, they’re all in the same place, so we won’t have to split up.”
I looked to see what he was talking about and noticed that they were indeed all in one spot. They were sitting around the fire eating the boar they had apparently finished roasting. Judging by the pile of bones, their feast had been going on for some time.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Olgerd pulled his sword out from behind his back.
“Let’s do this,” agreed Uncle Fedor.
Before we moved out, Olgerd had some last words for Bulkins and Farainil. “Remember, you two, wait for the archer. Don’t move a muscle until you see him. If anyone else sees you and comes after you before them, we may not be able to help, and the half-elf will kill us all. If only we had a healer…ah, well. Okay, let’s move!”
He leaped down from the cliff, glanced quickly into the cave, and sprinted toward the unsuspecting pirates. The three of us were right behind him.
I checked the cave as well once I jumped down. There was an opening that appeared to lead to the cave where the entire group’s leader was holed up.
I hope you’re right, Olgerd, about him not coming out until we kill everyone else. If you aren’t, we’re all goners, I thought as I dashed toward the fire.
Olgerd got there first and brought his sword crashing down on the neck of the pirate closest to him. The pirate’s health immediately turned yellow, though the advantage of surprise was over. The group jumped up, cleavers and long knives in their hands. I didn’t see a single sword among them.
“Get them,” a red-bristled pirate shouted. “Brandishing their swords around here.”
He took a swing at Olgerd with his knife. Olgerd ducked gracefully behind the pirate he’d already wounded and landed a powerful blow to his head.
His voice rang out a second later. “One down!”
Two pirates rushed at me at once, and I no longer had time to keep track of everyone else in the group. They grunted in concentration as they slashed away at me with their butcher knives, getting in each other’s way as they did.
I was able to catch their knives with my shield, though I couldn’t find an opening for a strike of my own. They were both going at me hard, by accident or on purpose, and I knew that taking a swing at one of them would mean taking a hit from the other.
“Two down!” That was Uncle Fedor.
Reger chimed in. “Three down!”
And here I am retreating, I thought. Nice. But that’s when I caught a lucky break. The pirate on my left stumbled, and, as he tried to regain his balance, I grabbed my chance. A quick slide to my right put me in a position to catch yet another knife slash with my shield before swinging my sword left to right into the second pirate’s side and stomach. As I did, I shouted, “Bloodletting!” He staggered back two steps and clutched the gaping wound in his abdomen.
Without losing another second, I jumped back to the first pirate. He had his feet back under him and his knife at the ready, though he was obviously not expecting such a whirlwind attack. I knocked his knife to the side, buried my sword in his chest, and called out another ability.
“Sword of Retribution!”
“Four down!” Olgerd again.
“Hagen, I’ve got this one,” I heard Uncle Fedor shout from behind me. His sword whistled and thudded, followed by another cry: “Five down!”
The pirate in front of me wobbled, my next blow landed true, and I seized the moment to slice downward through his chest. He croaked and collapsed.
“Six down!” It was finally my turn to chime in, and I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“Seven down!” Reger and Olgerd shouted together.
“Bunch of children,” added Uncle Fedor.
Olgerd quickly took charge. “Watch the forest—two more are on their way. Bulkins, you’re up. Find the archer, go, go!”
The little scout jumped down from the cliff and sprinted off into the woods.
We formed up into a semicircle and started scanning the trees for our next wave of opponents.
“They should be here any second,” said Olgerd quietly. “It’s been more than two and a half minutes.”
An arrow whistled through the air and smacked into his shoulder.
“Damn it,” bellowed Olgerd. “Find him, Bulkins!”
Two hulking beasts lumbered out of the woods. They had swords in their hands and were wearing leather armor, in contrast to the group we’d just finished off.
Olgerd began barking out orders. “Hagen, come with me to the left; the rest go right.” Another arrow hit his shoulder, but he had just started moving, and this one only grazed him.
“There he is!” Bulkins yelled at us as he pointed at a tree. “He’s on that branch. Far! Bring him down!”
“Hagen, wake up!” Olgerd shouted at me.
I looked over to one of the two tanks rushing me, sword at the ready. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, I thought and threw myself at his legs. He tripped and fell headlong on the grass. Judging by the prolonged “a-a-ah” that followed, Olgerd had read the situation correctly and plunged his sword into the pirate’s back. I jumped up quickly, saw that my opponent was still on the ground, and, without further ado, followed Olgerd’s lead. Another few strokes and the poor guy gave up the ghost. His sword clattered to the ground unused.
A branch cracked at the edge of the meadow and Olgerd and I turned to see the half-elf falling from the tree. Two arrows were already sticking out of him—Far was hard at work. He had, however, overestimated his abilities, as several arrows were sticking out of the ground far short of their target. And the two arrows he had landed weren’t enough to finish the half-elf, who was firing away at Bulkins. The latter was ducking in and out of shadows, though a few shots found their mark and left his health well into the red.
“Look at him,” I said, “picking on the little guy.”
I charged the half-elf, brandishing my sword.
“I’ll help the others,” Olgerd shouted as he ran toward Reger and Uncle Fedor. They were off trying to bring down the second burly pirate.
I was a few steps short of the half-elf when he, marksman that he was, caught Bulkins leaving a shadow with an arrow to the head. The scout squeaked and melted into the air, leaving behind a transparent cocoon with his belongings.
“We lost one,” I shouted back. But an arrow slammed into my chest—the devil shot better than Legolas. My health turned yellow, apparently from a critical hit.
“Oh, you monster!” A voice rang out from somewhere above me. “Stop shooting arrows at my bridegroom! You beast!”
The half-elf looked up to see Elmilora soaring above us. Her fists were at her sides, and her eyebrows were creased with righteous indignation.
“How dare you! Don’t you know who I am? I’ll let you have it!” She threw her arms forward and cut loose bolts of lightning from her fingertips that crackled into the half-elf’s chest. His health turned red. Farainil finished him off with an arrow through the eye. The half-elf dropped where he stood.
“That one was brutal!” Apparently, the rest of the group had taken care of the last pirate.
“Sweetie, are you okay?” My bride fluttered down.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I said, out of breath. “Thank you. Although I did tell you not to get involved. What if he’d killed you? What would I have done then?”
“Oh, that’s so sweet! You were worried about me?”
“What do you think? Okay, get out of here. Please meet Bulkins at the edge of the marsh—I think he’ll probably be coming there.”
“The little halfling? Okay.” Elmilora took off. “I’ll be back soon. You’re done here, right?”
“Of course. We killed e
veryone,” I said. “Right, guys?”
The group murmured in agreement. Yep, everyone was dead.
Elmilora blew me a kiss and flew off. We watched her go before turning our gaze on the mouth of the cave. Nobody had come out yet.
“Maybe we have to call him?” said Uncle Fedor uncertainly.
“Yeah, right, in chorus. Like Santa Claus,” answered Olgerd. “He’ll be out in a second. Where else is he going to go?”
“Uh-oh,” we heard from inside the cave. “What’s all that noise out there? Who’s keeping Silvio from going to sleep?”
A pair of figures walked out of the cave. One was taller and well-muscled, with a handsome face, expensive clothes, and a longsword. The other was short, squat, wild-haired, obviously dressed in whatever he could find, and holding a boarding saber in his hand.
The taller one looked at his companion. “Look, Rufus—these fine folks just cut up our crew. That wasn’t nice. What do you think we should do about that?”
“Let’s cut their throats, master. What else?” answered the shorter one.
“Agreed.” Silvio turned to look at us. “Gentlemen, this was awfully rude of you. You just came crashing through my meadow and killed my people. Quite the outrage, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Oh, please,” jumped in Olgerd. “You’re the one sinking traders, and you think you can talk down to us.”
I added my two cents. “Plus, you killed a vila. And they wouldn’t harm a fly.”
“Yes, that was a shame about the vila. We made a mistake,” agreed Silvio. “But, now that we’re talking, so you killed these good-for-nothings—forget them. Maybe we can all just walk away right now? An eye for an eye, so to speak?”
“Yeah, right,” said Uncle Fedor less than politely. “Walk away after all that?”
“What are we waiting for?” Olgerd took charge. “Hagen, Uncle, you take the hairy one. We’ll—”
He didn’t have time to finish his order. Silvio took one enormous leap that covered the distance between us and buried his blade in Reger. The strike was a good one, Reger’s health turned red, and he collapsed backward under the force of the blow. Silvio tried to follow up with a hit to Olgerd, as he was standing next to Reger, but this time, steel met steel as Olgerd blocked the attack with his sword. Reger, with complete disregard for his remaining health, dauntlessly jumped into the fight and quickly seized his opportunity to land a hefty blow to Silvio’s back. The latter obviously was not expecting an attack from that quarter, having thought he’d finished Reger in one go. He turned, broke through Reger’s defense with a powerful stroke, and Reger was done. However, Silvio paid dearly for his revenge. He quickly spun back around, but Olgerd was quicker, and his blow took out a good chunk of Silvio’s health. That was followed by two arrows from our archer, who, up until that point, had been supporting us with his fire.
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