Alpha Company (Alpha World Book 3)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Quest: Kill Twenty Trappers

  Reward: 50 Gold and increased rep with Stormguard guards

  Quest: Kill Twenty Widows

  Reward: 50 Gold and increased rep with Stormguard guards

  Quest: Kill Ten Mutated

  Reward: 50 Gold and increased rep with Stormguard guards

  Quest: The Spider Queen

  Reward: 100 Gold and an item from the Quartermaster.

  “We shall endeavor to accomplish it all sir, but some will take longer than others.”

  “Are you Two-souled finally coming back? Will there be more of you?” the Lunari asked.

  “The rest are a bit behind us, sir, but more will be coming.”

  “Very well. If I am not on duty when you bring your quests back, let the officer on duty know to send for me. I’m curious to see how you fare out there. I’m Sergeant Shadow.”

  “Yes, sir,” Alburet said, snapping another salute. “We shall do so upon our return.”

  “Dismissed then, Alpha Company,” the sergeant told them, returning the salute.

  As they exited the keep Gerald spoke up, “His voice was vibrating my chest.”

  “I know, right? Can you imagine what he could do if he…” Karen began to say, then cut off as a small squeak escaped Fluff.

  Fluff was almost frantically grooming an ear as she blushed scarlet. Alburet shook his head, “Way to go, Karen.”

  “Sorry, Fluff,” Karen said. “You’d been doing so good over the last two days I didn’t even consider.”

  “It’s fine,” Fluff said quickly.

  The woods began half a mile away from the fort. When they neared the tree line, Alburet summoned Tiny, “Tiny, we are going spider hunting.”

  “As master wishes,” Tiny rumbled.

  Alburet grinned as he summoned Bob, using his new spell Summon Lesser Imp. Bob appeared in a puff of smoke and everyone looked on to see how he’d changed. Bob was now redder then the red-orange he had been. His size had grown as well, to a two and a half foot tall Imp now. His wings had grown, they looked like he might be able to actually use them to glide with now. His claws and teeth were larger and sharper looking.

  “Wow, Bob. Looking bigger and badder,” Alburet said in greeting.

  Bob blinked, then looked at himself and laughed, “Finally, more power! It feels so good to become useful again. Now it’ll be just like the first days, with me saving your life again and again.”

  Laughing, Alburet nodded, “Your stats all improved as well. Looks like they’ve all more than doubled, and you’re at level 31 now. You’re going to be a little beast for a while.”

  Bob flexed his fingers. “My spell does more damage now, too.” He turned to Karen, “So, Karen, what do you think? Ready for the bigger, sexier version?”

  Karen laughed, “Nope, not yet.”

  “Damn,” Bob snapped his fingers. “Okay, fine. Level 41 for master will improve me again, then you won’t be able to resist. Just you wait and see.”

  “Amusing as this is, can we head out? We only have a few hours before sundown,” Gerald reminded them all.

  “I’ll start without a copy until we know if Stacia can daze or control the spiders,” Alburet informed them as they headed into the woods.

  “Works,” Gerald said as he and Tiny took the lead.

  A few yards into the woods the canopy closed in over the top of them and the undergrowth got thicker, restricting movement. As they slowed down to pick their way through the mass of plants, they started seeing masses of webs in the branches above them, sheets of spider web stretching from tree to tree.

  “Yeah, this doesn’t have a horror movie vibe or anything,” Alburet said as his back began to itch.

  “Can you hear the soundtrack that should be playing?” Karen whispered from behind him, having stealthed and stepped off to the side.

  “Gah!” Alburet yelped as he spun to face her.

  Karen started laughing, Fluff giggled and Gerald looked back while shaking his head. “So not funny, Karen. You just took two years off my life,” Alburet grumped at her.

  “Pranks in hostile territory, where we’re under leveled?” Gerald sighed.

  Karen chuckled, “Sorry. He was all but begging for it. I couldn’t resist.”

  Without warning, three spiders about a foot in diameter each dropped halfway down from the webs above them. Hanging from strands of webs, they shot secondary webs at the group. Stacia was able to sidestep the one aimed at her. Marysue and Bob were not so lucky, and each was hit by the sticky webbing. The spiders starting hauling upwards, dragging their victims into the air.

  “Save Mary,” Gerald called out as he tried to rush to her. The thick underbrush tangled around his legs, slowing him down.

  Alburet clenched his left hand and opened it slowly, “Die in a fire!” The ball of flame blazed into existence as he tossed his Fire Blast at the web that had caught Marysue. The strand flared briefly and she dropped the few feet to the ground.

  A second later Bob was also free, having cast his own spell. Instead of falling, his wings snapped open and he floated down. “Oh it’s on, you pathetic little bugs,” Bob yelled.

  Gerald got to Marysue as she got back to her feet. “Mary, you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She frowned up at the spiders dangling above them. “How do we deal with them like that?”

  “Bob, delivery time,” Alburet called back as he prepared another Fire Blast.

  “On it,” Bob called back as Tiny went to stand under the spiders. “Tiny, you ready to try on a new hat?”

  Twin spells went up, Bob’s noticeably brighter. Each burned through the webs holding a spider aloft. The two spiders dropped toward Tiny, who caught one with his shield and the other with his axe as they fell.

  “Stacia?” Alburet called out.

  “I can nay Daze them nor make them me Ally,” she told him.

  Nodding, Alburet watched as Karen, Fluff and Gerald all went in for melee on the two spiders. He summoned a copy of Bob and grinned, “Double Imp.”

  Both Bobs grinned as they launched dual Fire Blasts at the sole remaining spider above them. One blast hit the web, burning through it and the other hit the spider. “Suck that, you eight legged freaks!” Bob began to laugh as the spider dropped to the ground.

  Once the spiders were on the ground, they were not hard to deal with. They had a poison debuff that took 20 agility away from the one afflicted with it, and they tried to web anyone who got behind them.

  Soon, the trio of spiders was dead and the group was smiling. “Okay, we can do this,” Marysue grinned.

  “How long does that poison last?” Alburet asked.

  “Five minutes,” Karen grumped, having been hit with it. “Marysue’s Cleanse Sickness doesn’t pull it off, either.”

  “At twenty-five I can get an ability that removes poisons,” Marysue told them. “We’re just going to have to put up with it until then.”

  “I wonder if it stacks?” Fluff mumbled.

  “Ah, fuck, I hope not. An assassin without agility, that’s as useless as tits on a boar, right?” Karen said.

  “We should find out,” Alburet added, “if it does stack, then we might very well need to switch hunting areas.”

  Gerald nodded, “Good point. Let’s go on and see what we find next.”

  About three minutes later as they moved through the woods using a small trail, they were taken by surprise by three spiders, slightly larger than the last trio, that seemed to rise up out of the ground around them.

  Bob Jr., the washed out Copy, let out a squeak as one of them clamped down on him. Fluff let out a yowl as she was also bitten, and the last one tried to bite Gerald, but he was just able to deflect it with his shield. “To Fluff,” Karen called out as she whipped both of her blades free and went to attack the spider on Fluff.

  Bob Jr. let out a ragged yell, “Help!”

  Tiny dove at the Trapper that was backing away with Bob in its mandibles. Fluff let out a leonine roar, ca
using the spider attacking her to freeze and huddle in place. Gerald glanced back at the commotion before returning his attention to the spider attacking him, just in time to block another bite.

  “Tiny, tank the one on Fluff,” Gerald called out. He began slowly backing toward the rest of the group, careful of his footing, as he led the mob back to the others.

  “I have to help Bob,” Tiny roared as he slammed his axe down.

  “Dismiss me,” Bob Jr. called out. His arms were pinned by the spider’s mandibles, keeping him from casting.

  Alburet willed the Copy to vanish, which left the spider without a tasty snack. “Tiny, fall back and taunt the other one.”

  Karen plunged her blades into the Trapper spider that was cowering before Fluff, doing impressive damage, but also removing Fluff’s fear effect. It spun around, hissing, to attack her.

  Tiny’s roar caught the spider, the taunt sending it scurrying through the undergrowth to him. The spider seemed to flow through the vegetation as if unaffected by it.

  “Strength debuff from this spider,” Marysue called out as she looked over the effect on Fluff.

  “Fuck,” Gerald said as the spider he was leading back was able to bite his foot, applying the poison to him.

  The one in front of Tiny sank its fangs into him while his attention was on the other spider. “I’ll kill you all,” Tiny raged in his deep voice, his axe leaving deep wounds each time it connected.

  “Bob, focus the one that Karen hit first,” Alburet called out as he closed in on the melee along with the others, even as he Copied Bob again.

  The battle was not pretty, but in the end they were victorious. They did discover that while the poison didn’t stack, each new bite reset the timer. They stayed put and waited for the debuff to fall off.

  “I don’t think I like this area,” Gerald said. “Maybe we should go after the Langistors instead.”

  “We should at least try to do our quests, besides the boss of course,” Alburet sighed.

  “That would be nice, but we aren’t going to manage it before sundown at this rate,” Karen added.

  “We grit it out, come back tomorrow do it again. Once we have those done, we can jump zones but I don’t want it said that we ran from spiders.” Alburet told them as he glanced down at Bob. “Good thing that was your copy, Bob.”

  “No shit,” Bob said. “I had nightmares of it getting away with me and you forgetting to dismiss me.”

  “He would nay forget ya, Bob,” Stacia said, kneeling next to him and giving him a hug. “Ya are doin’ so much better now than before. I be happy to see ya improve.”

  Bob swelled up a little at her praise, “Yeah, well, okay.”

  “Alright. Let’s do this, then,” Gerald sighed.

  Over the next two hours, they managed to kill the twenty Trappers and Widows but didn’t find a single Mutated. Alburet called a halt as the sun began to dip close to the horizon.

  “Okay, we are calling it here,” he sighed. “We can turn in the two quests at some point tomorrow and we can skip the other two for now. Tomorrow, after Gerald’s meeting, we can go hit the Lobster-folk.”

  “Langistors,” Stacia said. “Ya mayhap get chunks of meat from them that makes a tasty stew.”

  Marysue shuddered, “Eat other humanoids?”

  “They be nay humanoid,” Stacia told her. “Ya will see tomorrow. It be like the silk glands and poison sacks we got today. If ya nay want to keep them for ya own use, sell them to the right merchant and ya will make good coin.”

  “Everyone good with the plan?” Alburet asked to get them back on track.

  “Langistors tomorrow,” Fluff agreed.

  “I’ll bring the butter,” Karen smirked at Marysue, who shuddered again.

  “Tomorrow,” Gerald added with a frown at Karen before he and Marysue vanished.

  “Heh, that was funny,” Karen snickered. “She’ll unbend after she sees them tomorrow.”

  “Lobster like?” Alburet asked.

  “Too many legs, and they have these wicked claws instead of hands. They don’t look the least bit humanoid. Their shells are really hard, and they’ve got a stacking bleed.” Fluffball told him, bringing out her Homestone. “Goodnight, see you tomorrow. See you after my talk with Lilith, Karen.”

  “You know it. Massages for us both,” Karen smiled broadly.

  After Fluff vanished, Karen turned to Alburet, “She seems to be improving.”

  “Good,” Alburet replied with a smile. “I’m glad she’s starting to be able to make some progress.”

  “Anyway, I’ll catch you tomorrow. Going to see if I can talk her into dinner after the massage.” Karen pulled out her Homestone and winked at Stacia, “Give him a rough night.” She vanished before anyone could respond.

  “We are done then master?” Tiny rumbled.

  “Yes, good work today. Bob, you’re turning into a powerhouse, well done.” Alburet told them, “Go get some rest. Tomorrow, we have seafood.”

  “Rather hang around and see what you and Stacia have planned, but fine,” Bob said before he vanished.

  “Tomorrow,” Tiny said as he vanished as well.

  “Dinner with Lady Theron,” Stacia said softly. “Ya think ya idea will work, master?”

  “We shall see. I can’t see the future until it’s behind me. Let’s go home and get cleaned up.” He kissed her, then they both returned to the house to get ready.

  Chapter Twelve

  Stacia mostly behaved herself while they showered and got dressed. Alburet only had to chastise her once for her bit of grab ass in the shower. He was buttoning up his jacket when a knock came at the door. He slipped past Stacia, who was doing her hair, and went out to answer it. Kim was there, “Evening, Kim. What can I do for you?”

  “Your carriage is here, and Erin and Wilbur are waiting in the guild hall. I just thought I would check to see how much longer you were likely to be.”

  “I be ready,” Stacia put in as she came gliding into the front room. It was the same dress she had worn to the castle, so she was sure it would be fine for this dinner as well.

  “It looks like we’re ready,” Alburet said, taking Stacia’s arm and kissing her cheek. “Kim, if you will let Wilbur and Erin know, please?”

  Kim nodded and went back to the guild hall as Alburet handed Stacia into the carriage. As she settled into her seat Alburet stepped aside so Wilbur could hand Erin into the carriage. Her dress was not as fancy as Stacia’s but still tasteful and quite well made. Alburet smiled at her as she entered the carriage. Once she was settled, Wilbur and Alburet climbed in and the driver got them moving.

  “So where is dinner this evening?” Wilbur asked with a raised brow.

  “An acquaintance of mine has asked me for help with an issue. After mulling it over, I think you will be able to help me solve that issue, to everyone’s satisfaction.” Alburet grinned as he watched Erin’s eyes widen a little. “I would like to keep the details secret for just a bit longer, if you don’t mind.”

  Wilbur eyed Alburet for a moment, then nodded, “Okay. Erin will not be in any danger, will she?”

  “I would not put family in harm’s way if I could help it,” Alburet replied.

  “Very well,” Wilbur said relaxing a fraction.

  The carriage ride continued in silence, but turned out to be quite short. As the carriage came to a halt, Alburet looked out the window to see ornate gates swinging open. A minute later the carriage stopped again, this time in front of a large manor house. A man dressed in livery opened the carriage door and greeted them.

  “Welcome to House Theron,” the man told them. “If you would please come this way, Lady Theron is expecting you.”

  “House Theron?” Wilbur asked, his shock clear.

  Alburet smiled as he got out and turned to help Stacia down. “That is what he said.”

  Wilbur followed suit once Stacia and Alburet were out of the way, helping Erin down and taking her arm. The two couples followed the liveried s
ervant up the wide stairs of the covered front entry. The man knocked once smartly on the door, which was opened by a man in a butler’s uniform.

  “Gentlemen and ladies, welcome to House Theron, I am Jarvis. The Lady is expecting you. Please, follow me.” The butler turned on his heel and led them down a wide hall showing hints of extensive wealth, but was far more subdued than what Alburet had seen at Carradine House. Erin looked around with wide eyes, awed at the display of wealth, even subdued as it was.

  The butler guided them to a dining room which held a twelve person table. At the head of the table sat Lady Theron, her conservative black dress highlighting the jewelry she wore. Alburet was impressed. She smiled at them as they entered, “Welcome. Alburet, I hope you have something to report since you asked for this meeting?”