Deadline

by Domino Finn

  DEADLINE

  AFTERLIFE ONLINE

  BOOK FOUR

  Domino Finn

  Copyright © 2019 by Domino Finn. All rights reserved.

  Published by Blood & Treasure, Los Angeles

  First Edition

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to reality is coincidental. This book represents the hard work of the author; please reproduce responsibly.

  Cover Typography by James T. Egan of Bookfly Design LLC.

  Print ISBN: 978-1-946-00884-8

  DominoFinn.com

  Also by Domino Finn

  AFTERLIFE ONLINE

  Reboot

  Black Hat

  Trojan

  Deadline

  BLACK MAGIC OUTLAW

  Dead Man

  Shadow Play

  Heart Strings

  Powder Trade

  Fire Water

  Death March

  SHADE CITY

  SYCAMORE MOON

  The Seventh Sons

  The Blood of Brothers

  The Green Children

  1540 Flight Simulator

  Alabaster feathers shivered against the blustering morning fog. Aside from a few rocky peaks, the dove was the only break in the murky sky. The contrail formed in its wake wasn't a slow, wandering tear, but a clean slice—the most efficient path over the ragged mountain range. Some distance below, obscured from sight, a waterfall raged.

  The wild river might as well have been a guide. As it sloped toward ground level, so did the bird, keeping pace with the tumbling current. The descent escaped the cloud cover and bypassed forgotten crags, giving way to a vast valley of wild grass. A beacon of light dominated the horizon. The water roared. But the shine and the bustle paled before the sight of a large army.

  The errant folk—mostly outcast goblins, but scraps of ogres, imps, and trolls—scowled at the skyborne intruder. The rabid leader of the horde was General Azzyrk, snaking through the ranks atop a terrifying Jurassic lizard. His dirty fist rose to the sky and he shouted a throaty command.

  The dove spread its wings and caught the current, lasering across the skyscape. A harbinger of peace nevertheless equipped with claws, this dove was more than symbol or beast. Tied to its leg was a scroll, mottled paper a darker shade of ivory than its feathered carrier. This was the bird's strategic significance.

  The messenger zipped toward the distant tower of light, speeding high above the ravenous army. Taut wings strained against the jet streams, power and grace wrapped in a delicate package. The dove's sharp eyes marked the route. It banked into a majestic descent, a vision of natural wonder right up until a jagged arrow punched through its chest. Blood exploded on pristine feathers, and the messenger plummeted toward the ground like a missile.

  <<>>

  "They shot down my bird."

  My grip tightened, crushing the olive into pulp. I tossed it over the parapet's ancient stone. The view atop Dragonperch was the highest in the city, towering above Stronghold's ninety-foot walls. I could survey it all up here: the tended land, the remnants of the goblin horde, and the downfall of my incoming messenger dove. A sharp call whistled through my lips, but the mountain bongo was already on the roof at my side. Before I could grab Bandit's horn and mount up, a purple pixie rushed up the steps.

  "Slow your roll, Talon."

  I gritted my teeth. "They shot down my bird."

  "So?" returned Izzy. A host of other players swarmed up behind her and suddenly this was a rooftop party.

  My blood was boiling but my anger wasn't directed at her. I enjoyed our sparring. She was as feisty in the war room as she was in the bedroom, and I welcomed every challenging bout. But the days spent staying my hand, waiting out the goblin army, hearing nothing from friend or foe alike... It was wearing down my patience.

  I stared at the faction menu.

  Black Hats

  Faction Level: 2

  Members: 73 / 100

  War

  Catechists

  Brothers in Black

  Armistice

  Pagans

  I forced out a breath. "The plan was to enlist outside support. The plan was for Brugo and the wildkins—"

  "No plan survives first contact," instructed Izzy. Caduceus and Kyle nodded behind her. Stigg and Trafford crowded the impromptu conversation as well, though they were hesitant to show support either way.

  "First contact?" I made sure to layer an appropriate amount of incredulity into my voice. "We're practically in the middle of all-out war."

  "Bro," cut in Kyle, taking a swig of beer.

  I stopped arguing and settled my gaze on him with crossed arms. I was so willing to hear him out it startled him. He pulled the bottle away and had trouble swallowing the suds.

  "Broooo..." he drawled, struggling to come up with a good reason I shouldn't go out there. Apparently his objection had preceded his reasoning.

  I narrowed my eyes. "I need to recover that message."

  A harrumph came from Izzy. "And when the goblins try to stop you? Are you prepared to throw away the pagan armistice for a letter?"

  Caduceus nodded emphatically. "You can't solve all your problems by fighting."

  "A medic would say that." I targeted a finger at the physicker and her Viking friend. "Is that how you two brought Cleric Vagram to justice?" I opened the quest menu and spun my screen around for the audience.

  Bring Vagram to Justice

  Quest Type: Bounty (public)

  Reward: Crusader Alliance

  Cleric Vagram leads the rogue catechist faction in guerrilla warfare. Find and return him to Oakengard.

  "Weird," I continued. "This quest doesn't appear complete. Oh, maybe that's because they slaughtered you."

  Stigg lowered his head. He took fierce pride in his unabashed bravery. He also moped over his losses. Caduceus? She was too proud to back down from a disagreement.

  "We need to think about what we're doing," she pressed. "We need to think about every move from here on out." Now it was Izzy's turn to nod.

  I opened my mouth to respond but Errol's voice echoed up the stairway. "Don't even think about it, brother."

  We all turned and waited as the leather-clad pirate took his time ambling up the steps. He emerged bedraggled, freshly awake no doubt, holding a dagger with two plump olives speared on the end. He plucked one with his teeth.

  "Those are supposed to feed the doves," I snapped.

  "Aye, but I don't see 'em linin' up fer snacks." He ignored my grumbling, chewed loudly, and grabbed the beer from Kyle's hand. "Thank you kindly."

  "Hey!" The brewmaster raised a hand to snatch it back but aborted as soon as the pirate's chapped lips wrapped around the bottle. "That one was getting warm anyway." He produced a frosty new bottle and uncapped it.

  Errol pointed the knife at Caduceus. "An' don't try changin' this one's mind, neither. She's a tough lass an' stays her ground. Unless...?" He ran his eyes over her and offered her an olive.

  "No means no," she said.

  "See what I mean!" He stomped to the parapet and grumpily settled onto a perch.

  "You've waited this long," reasoned Izzy. "You yourself stressed the importance of getting as many allies as possible. The wildkins are standoffish. Brugo's MIA. The pagans are the only faction we have any positive relations with, and it's a tenuous armistice. If you go out there with Bandit, you might as well sound the horns, shout a battle cry, and kiss any future relations goodbye."

  I huffed. "Our alliance with the wild king is waiting for us in that field of goblins." I grabbed Bandit's horn and prepared to activate my legendary ability. "I'm sorry, but I haven't heard a single good reason to keep waiting."

  "Wait!" shouted Caduceus.

  My eyes fluttered in annoyance
. "That's not a reason, it's—" The sum of her argument was an outstretched finger. I followed her signal to the ragged field of besiegers and saw it. Boots on the ground.

  Green robes flashed unseen through the ranks of distracted goblins. Dune, the last surviving member of the cleric hunt. He darted between wagons and barrels of supplies as he cut through the tended land on his return to Stronghold.

  I released Bandit's horn. "Okay. That's a good reason."

  "I can't believe it," said Stigg with a scoff. "That crazy bastard is cutting right through the enemy camp!"

  "Shit," said Kyle.

  "He's retrieving the dove," said Caduceus pointedly.

  "Double shit," added the brewmaster.

  We all watched as the green ranger did indeed seem to be heading to the downed bird.

  Izzy studied the tended land. "You think he's gonna make it? The goblin front lines are pretty dense, but Dune's a slick one."

  "Asshole has no chance," said Kyle.

  "Sorry if I don't take the word of a grown man who can't go three sentences without cursing."

  "I can fucking too!"

  She glared at him.

  "Oh, I get it," he moped. "This is about that stupid clean-and-sober challenge of yours. You don't think I can do it."

  Izzy smirked. "Not curse or drink for three days? You're more likely to get laid, and believe me, that isn't happening."

  "Not with you bagging on me all the time."

  "Tell you what," conceded the pixie. "You successfully complete the challenge and I'll be your personal wingwoman until you get some."

  "Deal!" he said excitedly. He upturned his fresh beer but Izzy snatched it before it reached his lips.

  "Sorry," she said. "The clean-and-sober challenge has officially begun."

  "But I'm totally sober."

  She shook her head and tossed the bottle off the tower.

  Critical Hit!

  [Izzy] dealt 73 damage to [Karen]

  [Karen] is dead!

  Her face went white. We all drew away from the parapets.

  Kyle burst out laughing. "Sh—" He clamped his mouth shut. "That was fu—" He frowned.

  I laughed. "Don't give yourself an aneurysm, Kyle."

  He leaned close and whispered, "Bro, this is gonna be harder than I thought."

  "No way. You got this."

  "Guys!" chided Caduceus. "Dune's still down there with the goblins."

  "Right," resumed the brewmaster. "That a-hole's totally gonna die."

  Izzy rolled her eyes and muttered, "Real original."

  "I think Dune has a chance," insisted Caduceus. We returned to the parapet and leaned toward the action.

  The ranger made impressive progress through the waiting army, but a raucous group of wrestling goblins inadvertently rolled into his path. They were fighting between him and the message. Worse, a few imps in the distance sniffed the ground as they picked up his scent.

  Caduceus nodded encouragingly. "He can make this."

  "You sure?" asked Kyle. "I've never seen anyone so outnumbered."

  "Hey!" I snapped, slightly wounded. "I went outside the gates during the last goblin invasion, when the horde was ten times the size. With a cyclops. And an angel!"

  "Whatever, bro. Don't make everything about you."

  "It's true," said Izzy. "You do that a lot."

  Errol nodded. "Wouldn't shut up 'bout not havin' a pirate ditty."

  Even Caduceus loudly snickered along. With everyone so happily having fun at my expense, I sighed and turned to Stigg, waiting for him to pile on.

  "What?" he asked, caught off guard. "I actually think you're pretty cool." Bandit snorted and Trafford joined them with a shrug.

  I splayed my hands to my only three friends on the roof, considering the argument settled. When I returned my attention to the field, Dune was sneaking past the wrestling goblins by sidling around a nearby wagon.

  "He's awfully close to them," I mentioned.

  "He's gonna die," agreed Kyle.

  Caduceus hissed. "He's not gonna die."

  The goblins spun around in a grapple. Dune ducked behind the wagon just as the smaller goblin tripped the larger, who tumbled to his back. Head upside down, his orange eyes widened at the pair of boots behind the wagon wheel. He pointed. "Humanses!" Twenty heads spun his way.

  "Okay," relented Caduceus. "He's gonna die."

  Cover blown and no longer able to make it to the dove, the ranger released a bird of his own. A red-headed falcon launched from his forearm, closing on its target and scooping up my scroll with powerful talons. Dune scanned the mobilizing troops and fixed on a goblin archer about to take down his second bird of the day. The pagan released a well-aimed shot. Dune's longbow flashed and his silver arrow intercepted the missile mid flight. The falcon spun clear and swooped toward the wall.

  The amateur wrestlers converged on both sides of the wagon. Dune ripped away his green cloak, draped it over his notched bow, and released the string. A mass of green zipped out from cover. The hungry goblins pounced after it, giving Dune an opening. He hopped out from underneath the wagon and hightailed it to the west gate.

  He was out in the open now. No more stealth, no more tricks. The errant folk spied him and pursued. He fired silver arrows to cover his escape but the enemy numbers grew. Dune was fast enough to outpace the more terrifying beasties, but a score of monkey-sized imps loped to his position on all fours, quickly gaining ground.

  I opened my dev menu.

  DEVELOPER CONSOLE

  >> _

  The west gate was barricaded and manned by a full contingent of legionnaires, of course, but it was a simple thing to go to the perimeter controls and flip the switch myself. The huge double doors securing the massive wall groaned open a sliver and provided the escape Dune needed. Centurions stepped outside, bearing shields against the fastest imps.

  "You see?" proclaimed Caduceus with a hard slap on Kyle's back. "I told you he could do it."

  The brewmaster conceded with a nod. "Can't argue with success. That was fu—"

  Izzy glared at him in warning.

  "—fuepic."

  We all frowned. "What now?" asked Izzy.

  Kyle cleared his throat uncertainly. "I said that was fepic."

  The pixie arched an eyebrow. "What exactly is fepic?"

  "You know, F'n epic."

  "Riiight."

  "It's a word." He turned to me. "Back me up, bro."

  "Good enough for me," I said. "You were the one that wanted this, Iz."

  The goblin horde went through the motions of pursuit, but the show was already over, roll credits. The Eye of Orik, Stronghold's soulstone, would prevent any proper pagans from entering the city. And best of all, Dune wasn't a Black Hat, so the armistice remained intact. The centurions pulled inside and the west gate closed.

  I smiled and turned to the downed stone giant in the middle of Oldtown. Half the height of Dragonperch, Orik kneeled before it as if in subjugation. With the saints in possession of the soulstone, a true incursion into the city was impossible. That still didn't prevent the emotional imps from beating on the sealed gate, furious at the defeat and subjugation of their one-eyed god.

  1550 Descent

  Our contingent stomped down the spiral staircase that was the backbone of Dragonperch. Now that the immediate drama was over, everybody had a different idea for where to turn my attention next.

  Kyle held up a glassy black orb adorned with a jewelry fitting. "Wanted to give you the bad news in person, bro. The void pearl doesn't fit into any socket configurations."

  "It doesn't modify any of our current pearls?"

  "I tried every combination and got zilch. Nada. Maybe it's meant for another sanctum. I bet it'll command a hefty price on the resale market."

  I shook my head. "The void pearl's too valuable to barter away."

  "Agreed," said Izzy, keeping pace with us. "I've been in the secret library leveling up my lore skill. As far as I can tell, the void pearl relates to
something called the under realm. It's how Hadrian's shadowguards were able to teleport around and phase through walls."

  I whistled as we descended past the living quarters. "If we could find a way to harness that tech for ourselves..."

  "Tell me about it, but it's hard to glean more. I've fared even worse researching the goblin horde."

  Kyle snorted. "I keep telling you, books will only get you so far."

  The pixie ignored him. "There's no definitive organization that makes up the pagan faction. The only references to General Azzyrk liken him to a rabid dog, but I can't separate crusader propaganda from the truth." She frowned. "That's the problem with the ancient sources. They were transcribed before AIs assumed free will. There's no programmed story line anymore."

  Kyle puffed his cheeks in thought. "I distrust zealots as much as the next man, but you've traded face-to-face blows with Azzyrk. I have to side with the crusaders on this one."

  I cocked my head. "Rabid, I agree with. Dog might be selling him short. It can't be easy corralling that rowdy army, and they've been disciplined enough to shoot down my birds."

  Dragonperch was a large tower, and a significant portion of it was still unexplored. After scooting past a couple of locked levels, we made it to the den and the kitchen and finally to ground level. The magical door swung open and Bandit rushed to be the first outside. The mountain bongo was still a wild animal at heart, enjoying the sun on her fur as her daunting horns stretched for the sky. The highest perch in the city was a good facsimile of a mountain, but some things couldn't be faked. Bandit hoofed across the ground in search of tasty greenery.

  Caduceus and Stigg bounded past and hurried for the gate, eager to congratulate their fearless leader after the show he put on. Knowing Dune, he'd congratulate himself once or twice as well. I just wanted the letter.