Since he was already arrowed, I could examine his properties. I clicked through and was surprised to see the man was a powerful, level 44 fire mage. His name was Pritford. It sounded familiar.
I walked up to the bar to stand next to the man. “Hey,” I said, talking softly. I’d learned over the years this was the best way to talk to drunk men. Make them think of their mothers. “Why didn’t you answer the call to go to the city? You’re needed there.”
“This is for you,” the man said, tossing me a book, ignoring the question.
I grabbed it, looking at it, surprised. It was a hardback book, bound in leather. It had been soaked in wine. Etched on the cover was the dragon helmet logo for the game. I opened it up. Dominion of Blades.
This was Jonah’s book. He had just finished it, what? Three days ago? The messengers were supposedly bringing copies to all the pubs in the world. I guessed they moved quickly.
“Where did you get this?” I asked.
“Yesterday. A royal messenger came in, dropped it off, told me to give it to anybody I see who is new in town.” He held his shot glass of wine and sipped it this time, his pinky out. “So I give it to you, pretty lady. You are my only friend in this world. Do you think we should be married?”
I slipped the book into my bag. “Pritford, do you know where the others are? Can you show me?”
“There are monsters out there,” he said.
“Not for the moment. But some will come back soon, so we must hurry.”
“That little bitch fired me, just like that. She didn’t even give me a chance to show her what I could do. Nobody ever believes I am strong. Not my father, not any of the others at the guild. They all laughed at me when I was fired. They pushed me out the door. Kortiss didn’t even stop them. Then the hobgoblins came, and I held them back, but nobody saw what I did. Hundreds died, but not me. I burned them by the hundreds.”
I realized this was the mage Popper had dealt with earlier. I’d forgotten to ask him what the story was there, but I could tell why he’d rubbed Popper the wrong way. Even as a drunken mess, the man had an air of haughtiness about him, one I knew the little barbarian would not abide.
I grabbed Pritford by the back of the cloak, forcefully pulling him off the chair. He swayed on his feet.
“Come on,” I said. “Take a deep breath. We’re going outside, and you’re going to show me where they are.”
“I suppose we’ll need witnesses for the wedding ceremony,” he muttered, stumbling out of my grip and toward the door. He reached it before I could, pausing to behold the five gorcupines and bear waiting outside.
“You, porter!” he cried out to Bingo. “Make certain my fiancée’s items are in order!” He turned back to me, whispering loudly, “What’s your name again?”
“Gretchen,” I said.
“Miss Gretchen and I are to be married as soon as possible. Make certain nothing goes wrong, or I’ll have your head!” He stumbled toward Bingo, raising his fists. “Insolence? Is that a look of insolence? My wife shall not have insolent servants, you filthy ape! Now stand still while I teach you a lesson.”
I rushed forward, stopping Pritford before he was murdered. I made him get up on Bruce Bruce’s back, who complained loudly until I told him to hush up.
“Which way?” I said. Pritford grunted, pointing toward the empty market.
As we traveled, notifications started scrolling by. Jonah was in the process of springing his trap on the tormented. I leveled up, hitting level 27 because the AI believed I had assisted with the creation of the trap.
I thought of Jonah, and of all he suffered. Every time something awful happened, like when my legs had been ripped off, or when I’d survived being burned alive by the chinchillas, or that horrific Insanity effect, I thought of what Jonah had to suffer through. No matter what happened to me, he had it worse.
Besides, I deserved it. I deserved every second of it.
We came to a lavish, stone building that had survived the assault. The mage’s union hall. It was the first in a long line of specialty union halls.
“They’re in there,” Pritford said, waving.
I looked at the building dubiously. “We’re looking for a group of over seventeen hundred fighters. I don’t think they’re all in here.”
Pritford shook his head, then yawned. “No. They’re in there. The mage hall, the clerics, the rogues, our buildings look separate, but they’re not. An enclosed system of tunnels connects them all. This whole area was once the dwarfish Kingdom of Blaine, and he dug out many nooks and crannies before the wark-ee tore him apart. My father helped set up the union halls. Deep spells protect the space inside. It keeps them all safe. No magic, no magic items, no weapons otherwise. Everyone behaves themselves in the halls. Though the grapple magic, the one that won’t let you carry a weapon. That one doesn’t work on dwarves. Nobody knows why.” Pritford shrugged. “Oh, and there are a lot more than 1,700 people in there. I’d guess closer to 6,000. Those are deep caves.”
“They are trapped within?” Bingo asked.
“Not trapped,” Pritford said, sounding offended. “They’re pro-tect-ted. I initiated the emergency protocols. My father had made sure we all knew them. He put me in charge when he left. It’s my responsibility, the ungrateful bastards. I should’ve just let them all die.” He looked up at Bingo, who regarded the human with unbridled disgust. Pritford poked a finger at the massive gorilla as if he was lecturing him. “If an invasion comes, and it looks as if the tide is turning against you, rush to one of the halls. They’ll take anyone in. And once inside, I will cast my Fire Bound spell, and poof!” He slapped his hands together. “The doors seal. It’d take a primordial one to break that seal. You will be safe. It’s a guarantee.”
“And how do they get out?” I asked.
“Why would they want to get out? It’s dangerous out here!”
I exchanged a look with Bingo, who looked uncharacteristically alarmed. “Pritford. How do you let them out?”
“I cast the counterspell. It’s the only way.”
“Okay,” I said, relieved. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to cast that counterspell right now.”
“And why would I do that, miss Gwendolyn?”
“It’s Gretchen. And if you don’t, then Bingo here is going to grab your head in his hand, and he’s going to squeeze it until it pops.”
“Oh yeah?” he said. “You can’t threaten me. I’m to be your husband. That’s not how to start a loving and fulfilling relationship. Besides, if I die, the spell breaks anyway. So there. My father told me to never tell anyone that. Wait, that didn’t come out right…”
“Stop,” I called to Bingo, who had reached forward to grab the mage. “Let’s give him a chance. He’s a powerful mage, and we can use him when he sobers up.”
I heard it before I saw it. Distant buzzing, like an army of bugs descending on us. I held up my hand, and we all stopped, looking around. Bruce Bruce started to growl.
“Something comes,” Bingo said.
“And you want to let them out?” Pritford said, scoffing. “When we’re married, you just let me do the thinking, and you can just be pretty.”
“Pritford,” I said. “We don’t have time for this. Cast the spell. Cast it now.”
“Oh all right,” he said. “There’s a short cooldown before it’ll open, just so you know. It takes time for the seals to break.”
Crap. Dark shadows filled the sky. They flew overhead, buzzing in the air.
Flying monsters. I couldn’t tell what they were, but a sea of dots appeared on my minimap. We weren’t prepared to deal with that. We’d have to make sure all the towers were armed and as leveled up as possible.
“Okay,” I said to Pritford. “Do it anyway. Do it now.”
A loud snore rose from Bruce Bruce’s back. Floating over Pritford’s head was a notification. Unconscious. A 6-hour timer started ticking down.
“Mother…!” I cried, trying not to swear. Ladies d
on’t swear, Lin. It’s a sign of crudeness.
I sighed. Bingo looked at me questioningly. I nodded.
An NPC member of your party has committed murder!
Crack! Steam rose from five sets of doors down the line of buildings. The sound was like that of a thunderclap. The door closest to me, the entrance of the mage’s union, glowed red hot. I could feel the heat pulsing off it. Arcane symbols suddenly appeared, etched in the door. These glowed blue and started to throb.
Above, multiple bug mounts hovered in the air, looking down at us. I could see shadows of humanoid shapes riding on the backs of the mounts, shapes with four arms, wielding bows and spears.
Emo-tong. But their dots were red, indicating them as hostile.
The Hive was finally making their move.
I looked around for cover, but there was nothing. The Thirsty Intellect was too far away. Few other ramshackle buildings stood between here and there, but most didn’t appear to even have roofs.
An arrow flew from one of the bugs, striking Bingo in the shoulder. He roared in rage.
Raj: New monsters come! I do not know where Gretchen is!
Gretchen: Guys. I could use a hand here.
An alleyway stood between the Mage and the Cleric union hall. It was covered, but only with what appeared to be a wide cloth. It sloped sharply down toward to a residential street behind the market. From here, I couldn’t see the state of that neighborhood, but I suspected it was just as bad as the rest of the town. I pushed the lifeless body of Pritford off Bruce Bruce’s back—Bingo had literally twisted his head off—and I jumped on, directing my mount toward the side street.
I could really have used Pritford’s Raining Blood spell right about now. Drunken bastard.
I called for Bingo and company to follow, but he waved me off. “You. Get undercover. These are emo-tong. I have crushed many of these before. I know the trick to crush many more. There are too many for you to fight at once.”
Bingo roared as Bruce Bruce and I fled. He’d cast Fear with his roar, but I knew that would not be effective. The emo-tong had no emotions as far as I could tell. They had a high natural armor, and they were great spellcasters. They were immune to spells like Fear and anything else that would control them, including Stun Enemy and the like. Even the dead emo-tong couldn’t be controlled. I’d played a harbinger before, and I’d learned that the hard way. They could also fly, sort of. It was more like glorified jumping. Killing them in the spiral with traps was going to be difficult.
But emo-tong were physically weak, and one-on-one they could be taken out easily. We had a few Muzzle towers on the path. We’d have to focus our defenses around those. Maybe after tonight Spritz would be a high enough level to build a few more. If we could keep them from casting their spells, we could rip them to shreds.
I exited the alleyway. The tall, dark backs to the union halls rose like monoliths in the early night. From this side, I could see they were all built upon a rocky bluff. Red light erupted from several places on these back walls, indicating hidden exits.
As expected, this neighborhood was crushed to smithereens, even more so than the previous ones. It looked as if the fighting with the hobgoblins had been especially fierce here.
An oddly-familiar sounding explosion rocked the night. It came from behind, from back where Bingo was fighting off the mounted emo-tong. The ground shook.
What was that? No, it couldn’t be.
With a rising dread, I realized I knew what it was. That was a hackbut blast. The emo-tong had guns.
We’d sold them the gnomish technology. We’d given them the tools to make the guns, and they were using them on us now.
I suddenly felt like a coward. Why was I running? Why had I separated from Bingo? He’d been saving me, I realized. But why was I letting him?
He’s an NPC. You’re not. You’re more important than him.
Yet, yet… If I died, I’d come right back. I’d wake up in that chamber outside of the defense cockpit. If any of the gorcupines died, they’d be done until this event was over. And even then, they’d wake up somewhere far from here.
I’d lose Bruce Bruce, but that was it. He’d regenerate in Harmony. There were other mounts here. I liked Bruce Bruce, and I wanted to make him my pet, but still. In this situation, right now, right here, the gorcupines were actually more important than I was.
I pulled Bruce Bruce to a stop. “Come on,” I said. “We’re going back.”
“But... but there was a big sound. You know I fear big sounds.”
Thankfully, I noted, there’d only been one sound so far.
“I know, Brucie. I do too. You’re my big, brave boy. Remember?”
Bruce Bruce grunted. He liked it when I talked to him like this, but only when we were alone. “I remember,” he said.
Gretchen: Bingo. Where are you?
Bingo: We are running. The flying mounts cannot turn around in the air quickly, so we run past them. We are uninjured so far save for a few arrows. The explosive blast did not hit us.
Gretchen: Okay, good. I’m going to try to find a place where I can start hitting them with my bow. Raj, are you there? I want you to take your friends and get off the roof. Go to the top floor and hide there, but not on the roof. Okay?
Raj: Raj has done this already! I have seen the flying bugs. They are emo-tong! Raj is scared of emo-tong! Raj knew all along they were nasty.
Poppy: Oh fuck. We’re fighting emo-tong next?
We scrambled out of the alley and back into the warrior arcade. It was empty. It appeared most of the bugs had moved to the staging area while a handful hunted Bingo and crew another street down, approaching the northwestern edge of town, the opposite direction of Castellane.
The bugs—they were katydid mounts, I now saw—circled above the neighborhood like vultures, seeking out their prey.
How were we going to get back to the city? We’d have to sneak down to the river, skirt the edge, and cut back to the gate.
His Royal Majesty Jonah: I’ll be there in a second. Where are you?
I was equally horrified and relieved that Jonah had answered my call for help. Of course he answered. That’s what he does.
Gretchen: If you enter town down the main road, you’ll run right into them.
His Royal Majesty Jonah: I know the city. I studied the map, so now I can pull one up. Where are you?
Gretchen: Really? Let me try something. Tell me if this works.
This hadn’t worked before, but we hadn’t had an expert-level cartographer in the party before, either. I mentally pulled up his profile and sent a Send Location waypoint ping to him.
His Royal Majesty Jonah: I see you. I now have a purple waypoint on my map leading to you.
At the edge of the market stood the crumbled remains of the wall where the mercenary archers placed their targets. I jumped off Bruce Bruce and climbed up the side, rising a good ten feet in the air. I pulled my bow from my pack and searched for a target. In the distance, I saw Bingo and his crew crash through the streets, moving away from me, a pair of buzzing beetle things swooping down on them. One emo-tong held twin spears in its four arms. I wasn’t worried about that one. The other, with its flaming fists worried me. That was a fire mage, and it hurled missile after missile at the gorcupines, scoring hits every now and then, eliciting howls of rage from the beasts.
I was too far away. I cried with frustration and rushed back down the rocks as Jonah came running up, his sword out. He bent over, breathing hard. “I ran the whole way,” he said between gulps of air. “It’s farther than it looks.”
I quickly filled him in. He looked over his shoulder at the glowing red doors. The glowing had noticeably dimmed. One of the doors, the rogue’s union at the end of the line, vibrated, as if the trapped mercenaries within were pounding on the door, trying to escape.
His Royal Majesty Jonah: Bingo. Lead them back this way toward us. I think the doors here are about to burst. We’ll have a lot of backup in a minute.
&n
bsp; Bingo: Your majesty! I didn’t know you were here. We are coming this instant.
Jonah and I rushed across the street to this last guild. The sign read, “The Rogue’s Gallery.” This door was just as large and as ornate as the one to the mage’s guild. The door had to stand 15 feet high.
I aimed my bow, focusing on the fire mage emo-tong on the back of the katydid. I released. The arrow flew true, knocking the emo-tong off the back of the bug. It hissed as it fell to its death.
System Message> The Hive has declared war on the Dominion!
System Message> The Hive has declared war on the city-state of Castellane!
“Did you do that?” Jonah asked, looking between me and the now-dead emo-tong.
“Huh,” I said. “I think I did.”
Behind us, the door to the rogue’s union pulsed and bent. The sound of a heavy pounding came from the other side.
Jonah hesitantly reached forward to touch the door. He jerked his hand back. “It’s hot,” he said.
I sighed. Sometimes I did feel like I was working with a bunch of children. “When that door opens,” I said. “They’re probably going to rush out. Pritford said there’s a lot more people in there than we thought. I think that’s because only the mercenaries were pre-arrowed for us. We’ll have to start arrowing everybody we see. There’ll be panic, and we’ll need to contain it as much as we can. We can’t let anyone run toward the staging area, or they’ll set off the army that’s gathering there.”
Jonah grit his teeth and nodded.
Across the street, Bingo and his four gorillas rushed toward our position. They’d been grappling with the spear-wielding emo-tong who ineffectively jabbed at them, hovering just out of reach. The other katydid, now without a rider, circled higher above. Behind us, the door splintered.
A few doors down at the clerics union, the door burst open. A few half-ogres and aurics burst out. I looked at them across the way. These were already-arrowed mercenaries, and they stumbled out into the night, weapons clutched in their hands.
“Don’t run,” I called. “Stay there for now. Keep the people from panicking. There is still danger in town.”
The Hobgoblin Riot: Dominion of Blades Book 2: A LitRPG Adventure Page 29
