Allistor didn’t feel any less guilty, but he saw everyone else watching the exchange. Not wanting to wallow in front of his people, he reached out and pulled Dawn into a hug. “You’re right, Dawn. I’m sorry. I just hate losing anyone, for any reason. It’ll be okay.” He patted her on the back, and looked around. His raiders quickly resumed their looting.
When he let go of Dawn, she took a step back, wiping her eyes with a tissue she pulled from her ring. She looked down at herself, then made a disgusted face. “Ugh. I’m covered in goblin filth.” She looked at him. “And now you are, too. Sorry, boss.”
“Don’t sweat it. Go loot what you can. We have a few hundred more to loot upstairs. We’ll get Rhonda’s people to help.” Thinking about Rhonda’s people waiting in the safety of the ship, he added, “Oh, shit.”
He quickly pulled up his interface and his notifications. There were a few more level-ups, tons of xp, Fame and Infamy Points, his loot notifications… and there! Finally the one he was looking for.
Congratulations! You have captured an enemy Stronghold!
Would you like to claim this Stronghold? Yes/No
Allistor mentally selected Yes, figuring he could always turn the Stronghold back over to Rhonda if she and her people wanted to continue to live there. The main thing was there were no more goblins to kill, and there would be no chance for anything new to spawn. He instructed Nigel to use Invictus system points to make repairs, figuring Rhonda wouldn’t be able to afford it.
As he and his raiders looted, Allistor getting back all the titan-bone arrows he’d expended, he said, “Nigel, please ask Rhonda and her people to start looting the mobs upstairs.”
Chapter 16
An hour later the many hundreds of goblin corpses had been looted and were fading away. Rhonda and her people had each gained between five and ten levels from the battle, while Allistor and his more experienced fighters had gained just a few. The goblins hadn’t had much of interest as far as weapons, but they dropped decent amounts of klax, and there were a few scrolls looted.
Interestingly, there were several skill books looted. They were just basic level books for things like blacksmithing, skinning, tailoring, woodworking, and mining. Still, they’d be useful for granting skills for those people who wanted to learn. What surprised Allistor was that there were any books at all. He’d assumed goblins couldn’t read. At least, the horde version of the mobs.
Rhonda found Allistor sitting off to one side of the courtyard where there were fewer body parts and bloodstains on the walls. As soon as she got close enough to hear him, he said, “I’m prepared to turn the Stronghold back over to you, if you’d like.”
She looked at him with suspicion. “And what will that cost me?”
“Not a thing. I promised to help you get it back, and I have. Though, I’d like you and your people to consider becoming citizens of Invictus. I think you’ve seen the advantages of being one of us.”
“So you’re holding the Stronghold hostage? We can have it back, but we have to swear to you?” Rhonda’s arms crossed in front of her chest and she assumed a confrontational expression.
Allistor stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “I’ve already told you it’s yours, with no strings. I only claimed it while I was downstairs so that it didn’t sit unclaimed and leave the door open for monster spawns. Where’s this hostility coming from? I just risked the lives of my people to reclaim your home for you. Three of them died. I’m tired, and frankly I’m getting a little fed up with your attitude. Spit it out.”
“Right. Monster spawns. In the few minutes that it would have taken you to come up here, or for me to go down there.”
“We had a lot of mobs to loot down there, and… you know what?” Allistor opened his interface and pulled up the Stronghold menu, then the tab for the one he stood in. He found the option to transfer ownership, then selected Rhonda from his raid party icon. He pushed the button confirming the transfer, then closed out all the tabs.
“There. It’s yours again. My people and I are leaving. Have a nice life.” He got up and brushed past her. When he got close enough to the ship, he shouted, “Nigel! Loudspeaker!”
After a few seconds, he continued. “All citizens of Invictus, get on the ship. Drop any weapons or items you looted from the mobs except scrolls and such. You have two minutes. It seems we’re not welcome here.”
He continued toward the ship, emptying his ring of stone tipped spears, primitive steel swords, and other items he’d picked up from the goblins, leaving a trail on the ground behind him. He walked up the ramp into the cargo hold and turned to watch his people do the same. Rhonda’s people stared at them, confused looks on their faces.
Juanita walked up to stand next to him. “What’s going on, boss?”
“No idea. Got up here, and Rhonda went full bitch mode on me. Started throwing insults and accusations. So screw it. They’re on their own.”
“They’ll starve, Allistor. The goblins took everything they had. And then we bombed the hell out of whatever might have been left. You’re just gonna leave them in these ruins to die?”
“I spent my own system points to repair this place. The auto-repairs are already underway, and it’ll be back to normal in a couple days. I’m leaving them the weapons we gave them, which I’m sure are better than they had before. And this wasn’t my choice. I was offering them citizenship, and she was just throwing insults. She made her choice.” Allistor glanced in Rhonda’s direction, seeing her still scowling at him. “Look at her.”
Juanita followed his gaze, and saw the look on Rhonda’s face. “I see. Give me five minutes to go speak with her? This has to be some kind of misunderstanding.”
“You can have your five minutes. But it’s pretty clear what happened. She used us to bail her and her people out of a bad situation, and now she’s blowing us off.” Allistor turned away and headed for the bridge. “Takeoff in five minutes. No more. Be on the ship, or walk home.”
Juanita took off at a jog, waving for Rhonda as she went. Allistor disappeared into the ship, catching sight of Sam as he carried Meg onto the ship. The missing half of her leg was yet another reminder of Allistor’s failure.
*****
Juanita tried to organize her thoughts as Rhonda approached. She could see all of the folks standing around wondering what happened. Her fellow Invictus raiders were already boarding the ship, looking curious themselves. There was much muttering and whispering.
“What’s going on, Rhonda? Allistor is pissed.”
Rhonda shook her head. “I have no idea.” Her eyes never rose to meet Juanita’s, and from her body language it was clear she was lying.
“Allistor doesn’t get angry for no reason. He said you were accusing him of something. And that you just used him, used all of us, to deal with your goblin problem.”
“Screw him then. That wasn’t my intention. But then while I was stuck up here on the ship, he claimed the Stronghold as soon as the fight was done. Then gave me some bullshit excuse for why he did it.”
Juanita’s jaw dropped as she looked at the other woman.
“Let’s review the last 24 hours. You and your people attacked a Stronghold owned by Allistor’s friend and advisor. He not only let you live when he could have wiped you out in seconds, but he saved your butts when the goblins, who had already stolen your Stronghold, came after you. Then he took you in, fed you, made sure your people were healed up and got a good night’s sleep. In the morning, he fed you again, gave you better weapons than you’ve ever had. He brought you along with us so that you could level up, even though we didn’t need you to fight. He took his friends and family into that hole, where three of us were killed, and two people that he loves were so badly injured they almost died. He eliminated the goblins, and gave you back your Stronghold.”
She stopped to glare at Rhonda. “Did I leave anything out?”
Rhonda stared at the ground. “When you put it that way…” She kicked a piece of rubble. “It’s just,
when I saw that he’d claimed our home without checking with me first, I thought he had betrayed us. I had to sit there in the ship and stew over it. So by the time I saw him…”
“You decided to jump on his ass, rather than simply ask him what was going on.” Juanita finished for her. Behind her, the ship’s engines were powering up.
“I gotta go. He’s not gonna wait for me. You really stepped in it, Rhonda. You need to seriously reconsider your attitude here today. We’re leaving, you and your people are going to starve, and it’s all because you couldn’t take your head out of your ass.” Juanita turned and sprinted back toward the ship, several people standing at the top of the ramp waving her on. She ran up and stood with them in the cargo bay, the ship lifting off and the ramp rising the moment she was clear.
The last thing she saw before the ramp closed was Rhonda’s people gathering around her amid scattered corpses and the rubble of their Stronghold.
*****
Up on the bridge, Allistor watched his interface’s clock tick away the five minutes. At four minutes, he said, “Kira, prepare to lift off. Take us home.”
She looked at him, not doing anything. “You’re just going to leave these people?”
“Not my choice. Rhonda got all hostile the minute I came upstairs. She’s got her Stronghold back. She made it clear we’re not welcome there. If her people starve, that’s on her.”
Kira shook her head. “If her people starve, then all of this was for nothing. Three of our people died…for nothing. I don’t know what she said to you, boss, but you need to shake it off and help these people.”
He glared at her, not saying a word. Seeing the anger and betrayal in his eyes, she sighed and began to fire up the engines. Allistor opened up his raid tab and ejected Rhonda and her people from the group. As far as he was concerned, they were more than square. He’d saved their lives, returned their home to them, helped them gain several levels, fed them, and gave them weapons. And it had cost him three precious lives. Worst of all, he had very nearly gotten Meg and Sam killed in the process.
Amanda and Helen appeared on the bridge. Amanda stepped over and took hold of his arm, pulling him toward the door. “Come with me.”
He resisted at first, not wanting to hear a third lecture in five minutes. But the look she gave him said in no uncertain terms that he was going to walk with her, or else. So he followed his girlfriend and his best friend off the bridge. They led him to the captain’s mess, where they took seats at the oblong dining table.
“What happened?” Helen asked.
Allistor quickly replayed the conversation with Rhonda for them, finishing with, “So screw her.”
Amanda thought about it for a while, then asked, “And why do you think she acted that way?”
“I have no damn clue!” Allistor exploded, his frustration getting the better of him. “And frankly I don’t care. I got more of our people killed today. For no good reason. Sam and Meg both nearly died. I should have just left her and her people outside the walls last night.”
Helen scowled at him. “We all know you don’t mean that. There were innocent kids out there. And like you always say, every human life is precious.”
Amanda took both of his hands in hers. “I know you’re angry. And you have every right to be. What she did was shitty, and petty, and wrong. But you need to look past that. Past your anger. How are you going to feel if those people die out here because you let her get to you?”
The rational part of his mind knew she was right. But he wasn’t done being angry. He sat there, a scowl on his face, looking down at his hands. He felt the slight shift that told him the ship was moving forward. Fuzzy walked in and moved next to him, shoving his big furry head under Allistor’s arm to place it in his lap, then nudging him to demand scratches. Allistor obliged without even realizing he was doing it.
“I’ll take in her people, if they want. If they swear the oath. But not her. She’s on her own.”
Both women just stared at him.
“What? She played me. Us. She used us, and I fell for it. Our people died for it. Then she comes at me like I did something to her? Hell no.”
The two women exchanged a look, then Amanda spoke. “That’s your anger talking still. But it’s a start. I’ll go tell Kira to take us back. You can make the offer to her people.”
Allistor shook his head. “I’m in no mood to be convincing. I’d scare them all away. Tell Juanita to make the offer. Or you can do it. Any of them who wants to swear the oath is welcome back in the City. She can go hump a goblin corpse.”
“Well, that’s certainly descriptive.” Helen smirked at him. “You want Juanita to phrase it exactly like that?”
Allistor stared at her, a hard look in his eyes. She actually leaned back in her chair. “Hey, I was kidding.” She held up both hands as if surrendering.
“Allistor!” Amanda slapped the back of his head, hard. “Don’t you dare take this out on her! You want to be angry, fine. But Helen has done nothing to deserve any grief from you.”
Allistor shook his head. “I’m sorry, Helen. I… need to be alone. Feel free to have Kira turn around and go back.” He got up from the table and exited the mess, crossing the hall to the captain’s cabin and taking a seat on the sofa. Fuzzy followed him inside and climbed up next to him, the oversized cub taking up more than his half of the seating. He jostled Allistor as he turned himself around and placed his head in his human’s lap, effectively pinning him down and letting out a long sympathetic sigh.
Allistor chuckled despite his mood, scratching his bear’s ears. “You’re getting too big to be a lap dog, buddy. I’m gonna need bigger furniture.”
The two of them sat in companionable silence as Allistor tried to calm himself. He felt the slight shift when Kira turned the yacht around to head back, and the minor jolt when it landed. He pictured Juanita making his offer to Rhonda’s survivors, then shook his head and tried to put it out of his mind, focusing on ear scratches, and wondering about some kind of breath mint for his bear.
*****
Juanita agreed to make the offer on Allistor’s behalf, though she didn’t like leaving Rhonda out of it. When the ship landed outside the shattered Stronghold gates, Amanda and Helen stood behind her on the cargo ramp as they waited for people to emerge. It didn’t take long, the group filtering out, picking their way through the rubble. She noted that Rhonda was the last one out.
She was about to begin her pitch when an older gentleman stepped forward. “Juanita, we want to apologize. Rhonda has told us what she said to Prince Allistor.”
Juanita gave him her best smile. “Allistor has allowed us to come back here to make you an offer. The same offer he made before. If you’re willing to take the oath here and now, you can become citizens and join us back in Invictus City, or whichever other location you choose.” She watched as many of the people in front of her began speaking quietly amongst themselves. There were a lot of nodding heads.
Rhonda made her way through the crowd, stopping to answer questions here and there. When she got to the front, Juanita took a deep breath. Her pulse quickened, and she felt slightly sick to her stomach. Her hands unconsciously clasped together in front of her. As Rhonda was about to speak, Juanita held up and a hand and quietly said, “Rhonda, I’m afraid that offer does not extend to you.”
There were gasps of surprise among the crowd. Those who hadn’t heard Juanita’s words asked what happened, and shocked looks rippled outward through them as the word spread. Rhonda nodded, not seeming at all surprised. She stepped to the side and looked down at her feet.
The same man who’d spoken before stepped forward again. “Look, I get it. What Rhonda did was wrong, and stupid.” He shot her a look, but she continued to stare downward. “But Rhonda is our leader. She saved many of us, gave us a home. I won’t abandon her out here. If she can’t go, neither will I.” He stepped over to stand next to Rhonda, putting a hand on her shoulder.
The people behind him called o
ut various words of agreement. Almost as one, they all moved to gather around Rhonda. The old man spoke again. “Please, tell Prince Allistor that we’re all very sorry. Especially Rhonda.”
“Shit.” Juanita turned to look at Amanda and Helen. “I knew this would happen. What do we do now?”
Helen looked to Amanda, and gave a brief nod. Amanda bit her lower lip for a few seconds, clearly thinking hard. She stepped forward. “Allistor’s the best man I know. He’s put his life on the line more times than I can count to protect all of us. Including today, down in that hole. None of you were down there to see how awful it was. And he’s taking the loss of our friends hard. Every human life lost in fights like this costs him a little bit of his soul.”
She paused and looked directly at Rhonda. “What you did today was uncalled for. And frankly, I’m not inclined to forgive you for it. Had you come at me that way so soon after our friends’ sacrifice on your behalf, I might have shot you myself. But I know it would prey on Allistor’s good heart if we left you out here alone to die, whether he realizes that right now, or not. And your people are clearly loyal enough to risk their own safety to save you. So for their sake, I invite you aboard. I’ll leave it to you to make peace with Allistor.”
There were cheers from the crowd, and the old man hugged Rhonda. Helen stepped forward, her face a stony mask. “But you will take the oath here and now, or you will not be stepping aboard this ship. That applies to every one of you, and is non-negotiable. Be aware that once you’ve taken that oath, if you act against Allistor or the rest of us, the system will punish you. Up to and including death, depending on the level of violation.”
The old man was the first to take a knee, pulling Rhonda down with him under the guise of using her for support. The others all followed suit, and Helen had them repeat the oath. When the lights finished swirling, Helen called out. “Nigel, are there any in this crowd who did not take the oath?”
Shadow Sun Rebellion Page 28
