Defenders of the Realm

by Dave Willmarth

  Alexander squeezed her hands again and said “Look at me, Nancy. You are not to blame. Nobody is firing you, that’s not happening. You’re one of our best, and we would be fools to let you go. And yes, you were responsible for Dayle. And you did everything you could. I promise.”

  She didn’t speak, only nodded her head slightly and let go of his hands to wipe tears from her eyes. Her makeup was running and the wiping just made it worse. Alexander raised her chin. “Your makeup is a mess. Go fix it, and you can ride with me to the lake.”

  She did as he suggested and disappeared into the ladies room. Five minutes later she was back and looking more composed. Alexander held out an arm and they walked together to the nearest exterior door. His ever-present security detail had radioed ahead, and there were two ATV’s waiting for them. One for Alexander, Nancy, and a guard, the other for the remaining three guards.

  They made their way across the compound and down the paved trail that led to the lake. There was a wide swathe of green grass that surrounded the lake for about a hundred yards. Beyond that there was forest on three sides. The fourth side was a wide open lawn that led up to the main building. Richard and Michael had long ago installed a dock that stretched out into the lake and purchased a few small boats for employees to paddle around in. There were kayaks and canoes on the shore, and rowboats and even a small sailboat tied to the dock. Alexander and Sasha had taken a canoe out several times as kids. He had fond memories of the place.

  As they drew closer Alexander could see a large tent set up, along with hundreds of chairs facing a dais. People were already gathered within the tent, and others were drifting in as they strolled down from the buildings. He also noted dozens of armed security guards posted around the tent and walking the nearby grounds. He even caught sight of a few just beyond the tree line in the forest. There was even a pair of guards at the end of the dock, watching the water.

  Alexander sighed as he exited the ATV and his escort surrounded him yet again. This was worse than Taylor or Jenkins babysitting him all the time. But he understood the need, and didn’t complain. Nancy stuck by his side as they walked slowly toward the seating area. Alexander liked to mingle with the staff at Olympus, but for years now his legs couldn’t handle standing for prolonged periods. So his normal procedure had become well known. He would find a seat, and folks would swing by to say hello.

  Though he felt better today, he didn’t want to push it. So he took a seat in the front row and made sure Nancy knew she was free to mingle. He promised to save her a seat. It wasn’t long before old friends began to show up and say hello. Some brought new people along and introduced them. Each visitor had to pause for a moment before being cleared to approach by his security detail, but nobody seemed to mind. They were all accustomed to the increased security by this time, and the fact that they were attending this memorial emphasized the need.

  An hour or more passed in this manner. Eventually Sasha came to sit with him, and she was greeted just as warmly as he was. She had practically grown up at Olympus beside Alexander. Brick and Max showed up next. Max discretely pointed at a camera mounted on a tripod to one side of the tent. Alexander took the hint and waved “Hi Jules”. Sasha copied him while Brick made smoochy faces at the camera.

  Of significant interest to Alexander, Lainey showed up late alongside Richard. The two were in deep conversation as they walked. Sasha whispered to him to stop staring, and he self-consciously stared at his shoes for a while. The two of them took seats in the front row next to Sasha, who had scooted over to leave a seat for Nancy at Alexander’s request. When Nancy returned to take her seat, Richard caught Alexander’s eye and nodded his approval. It was fitting for the young woman to be front and center, as she was the last to be with Dayle before he died.

  An older black woman who looked to be in her sixties approached and reached out a hand. “Alexander. We haven’t met in person.” Alexander recognized her voice and ignored her hand, getting to his feet to hug her. “Beatrix! So glad to meet you.”

  “Uhm… it’s Sarah, actually. Beatrix is just my character’s name.” she corrected him, slightly embarrassed.

  “Of course! I’m an idiot. Sarah, this is Sasha. And that is her real name.” Sasha grinned and hugged the woman. As soon as they parted, she was scooped up by Brick. He squeezed her gently and put her back down.

  Max said “That big brute is Brick, and I’m Max. Lainey’s over there canoodling with Alexander’s dad.” He smirked at her as he shook her hand.

  A moment later they were joined by a very short man with wild red hair that stuck out in every direction. He stuck out a hand, and Alexander shook it. “I’m Bob! But you’d know me as Lugs!” his voice was surprisingly deep for someone his size.

  Alexander couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re certainly not what I had pictured, Bob.” He introduced everyone, and Brick and Bob got a big laugh over the juxtaposition of their respective real-world bodies vs game bodies.

  While those two chatted, a woman who looked exactly how Alexander had pictured Helga approach. Sarah hugged her, then said “Alexander, this is Helga.” Alexander hugged the woman who was nearly six feet tall and built like a longshoreman. Her real-world muscles nearly rivaled her barbarian’s.

  As she was being introduced to the others, Brick was clearly smitten. But when Helga turned away and Sarah whispered to him, he blushed furiously. Seeing the look on Alexander’s face, Sasha whispered “He’s not her type. No guy is.”

  Alexander chuckled. “Poor Brick. Looks like he’s doomed to date dwarven women.”

  “Or Princess Kimberly” Sasha reminded him.

  The last to make himself known was a fit looking old man who Alexander pegged as a retired career military member. Hair cut short, back ramrod straight, he looked like he could chew nails and spit out bullets. He approached and stuck out a hand. “Good to meet you, Alexander.” Grumpy’s voice said.

  Alexander shook the calloused hand. “Grumpy! Er… Lang! Good to meet you too.”

  A priest stepped onto the dais, and held up his hands. Everyone took seats or moved to stand quietly on either side and in the back. When things had quieted, he began to speak.

  “Thank you all for coming here today to honor the passing of one of our own.”

  Alexander recognized the voice. He whispered to Sasha “That’s Martin. From Antalia.”

  Sasha had of course arrived at the same conclusion and elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. Martin continued to speak, recounting what they’d been able to gather about Dayle’s life. Which sadly wasn’t much. Then he invited folks to step forward and share memories of the man.

  Warren was first. The normally quiet man stood up and began. “Dayle was my friend. Though we only met in real life a few months ago, he always took time to ask me how I was doing. To listen whenever I wanted to talk something out. He usually had a funny story or a joke that applied to my particular problem. And his jokes were just horrible. So bad, you couldn’t help but laugh.” Warren’s voice cracked as tears fell from his cheeks. “I’m gonna miss you, my friend.”

  Misty, Lyra, and Benny all took turns sharing memories of Dayle. Then Richard stood and took his turn. “I too considered Dayle a friend. I personally selected him as an Alpha, and we spent a good bit of time talking. He would get as excited as any ten-year old when we discussed the game. Sharing his enthusiasm was usually the best part of that day for me. I… I’m sorry, Dayle. That I didn’t protect you better. That your final hours were so… well. I’m sorry.” Richard wiped his eyes as he hurriedly returned to his seat. There was a long silence before Martin took the dais again.

  “One of the few things I know about Dayle is that he was a soldier. He served his nation with honor, and I believe we should end this memorial in a manner befitting one who served.”

  He raised a hand, and one of the security team stepped forward. The ex-military members of the security force came to attention. He raised a trumpet to his lips and played taps. It was a lon
g, soft, mournful version of the song, and everyone stood quietly. Few managed to keep tears from their eyes, and as the final note drifted into silence crying could be heard. The soldiers all saluted.

  Outside, seven rifles fired in unison, three times.

  When the echoes faded, Martin said “Thank you all for sharing this tribute with us.” He motioned toward the tent, where there were tables of food and drink. As people started to drift that direction, Alexander rose to speak to the trumpeter.

  “Thank you, that was beautiful. I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”

  The man smiled and shook his hand. “I’m Leroy. And it’s the least I can do for a fallen brother.” Leroy excused himself and took up his position on the perimeter.

  Alexander gave a small wave and a smile at the camera. Approaching his dad, he said “If you don’t mind, I’d kind of like to get back into the game. Make my apologies to everyone?”

  “Of course, son. Give Jules my love. I’ll take care of everything here.”

  Alexander told everyone else he was logging back in, and asked Sasha to watch over Nancy for the rest of the day. Then he got back into his ATV and was escorted back to his pod.

  Chapter 15

  Kill or Be Killed

  Jules was waiting for him in the sitting room when he returned to the game. She hugged him tightly, “that was very nice. Melanie and I couldn’t stop crying.”

  Alexander squeezed her back. He didn’t really have a good response, so he asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Of course, silly, I have something to show you. Follow me.” She took his hand and led him to the balcony. When they stepped out, she pointed toward the druid’s grove. There was a large crowd of citizens surrounding the memorial. One of the dwarven smiths had a hand on the monument as the others watched in silence.

  Jules put an arm around Alexander. “They’re adding Dayle’s name to the stone.”

  Alexander felt a little tug at his heart. This honor seemed to him to be more poignant than the service they’d just given Dayle in the real world. He continued to watch quietly, not wishing to draw any attention to himself as the dwarves took up a deeply resonant song of mourning that touched Alexander to his soul. When the song was over, they saluted the monument, and the citizens went about their day.

  Going back inside to sit, Jules curled up in Alexander’s lap. She put her hands on his cheeks and turned his face to hers. “Now… who was that pretty girl you walked into the service with, hmmm?”

  Alexander snorted. He could tell by her tone she already knew the answer. Probably Melanie had filled her in. But he answered anyway. “Nancy? She was the tech who was with Dayle when he, uhm, ended his life. She was crushed by it. And my dad scared her when he first arrived demanding answers. She needed a little moral support. So we had a quickie before the service, then I escorted her in.”

  He leaned back but failed to avoid the smack to the side of the head from his dexterous rogue. “You did NOT! Big oaf. You did a very nice thing and helped her through a bad time.” She gave him a dangerous look, and all of a sudden there was a dagger in her hand. “If I thought there were any quickies going on, you’d get this instead of a kiss.” She leaned in and kissed him softly, taking her time. Alexander kept one eye on the dagger, just in case. One could never be too careful.

  The two of them spent a little alone time together before Alexander extricated himself from the sofa saying he needed to prepare for the demons. He went to visit Silverbeard and outlined a plan he’d been forming in his mind. The dwarf considered it for some time, asking several questions and pointing out potential issues. After an hour, they thought they had a solid plan that played to the strengths of the Elysians and countered the likely strengths of the demons.

  A good part of their discussion had been location. They’d decided to stack the deck against the demons. Alexander’s first stop after he left was Father Alric’s temple. He found the priest in his office, writing in a large tome of some kind.

  “Sorry to bother you father, but could I have a few moments?”

  “Of course, maj… Alexander. This is after all your kingdom. I am here to serve.”

  Alexander took a seat across the desk and began “We’re going to have to fight the demon army very soon. And we’ve gotten lucky in that we have a way to choose our field of battle. I want to make sure that field is as uncomfortable as possible. To that end, I’d like to create another altar, and would ask that you help us bless it? I’m hoping the gods of light will favor us again.”

  “Certainly, Alexander. One thing I’ve learned in my time as a priest is that the gods rarely refuse another temple in their honor!” He grinned at his king.

  Alexander stood, saying “Wonderful. Please come with me? We need to pick up a few others on the way.”

  Their next stop was the dragon forge, where Alexander coaxed one of the dwarves with the shaping ability to leave the smithy for a short while. As they walked, Alexander said “Jeeves, could you ask that one of the duergar elders meet us at the drawbridge?”

  “Of course, Alexander. And my condolences on the loss of Dayle.” Jeeves surprised Alexander. Their kingdom’s AI was indeed becoming more intuitive. Alexander stopped as an idea occurred to him.

  “Jeeves, loudspeaker please.” He waited a moment then announced. “Citizens of Elysia and our honored guests from Broken Mountain. I am about to prepare a nasty little surprise for the demons, and I could use some assistance. Any of you with the shaping skill, please meet me at the drawbridge. Also, anyone with smithing abilities that isn’t a shaper, please report to the forge. I have a quest for you.”

  Alexander sent Alric ahead to the drawbridge while he waited for all the blacksmiths to arrive. It only took about five minutes for the area around the forge to become quite crowded. Alexander held up his hands for quiet, and said “We are going to massacre as many of these demons as we can!” He waited for the cheering to die down. “And to do that, I’m going to need a lot of crossbow bolts. Bolts blessed by the magic of this dragon forge. So here’s the deal. I want all of you to work together in a series of production lines. I’ll let you work out the details. There will be experience and gold bonuses. The more you manage to make, the higher the bonus’!”

  The citizens all froze as his quest prompt popped up in his UI. Alexander called the quest “Bolt Action” and set the reward levels at 1,000 bolts, 1,500 bolts, 2,000 bolts, and 2,500. He didn’t imagine they could make more in the short time available. He set the reward for each level at 5,000 experience and 50 gold. When he hit the [approve] button, the NPCs all unfroze and read through the quest. They cheered again and immediately began to organize. They nominated a runner to go to the mine, but Alexander stopped them. Just tell Jeeves what you need, and he’ll pass it on to Grimble at the mine. We’ve only got two days, so every second counts!”

  His mission accomplished at the forge, he teleported himself to the top of the gatehouse above the drawbridge. He saw fifteen dwarves including Silverbeard gathered below and used his Levitate spell to lower himself down to join them. Several of the dwarves golf-clapped at the grand entrance. Gelag the duergar elder whom he’d not spoken to for more than a week, bowed “Greetings, Majesty.”

  “Please, just... Alexander. And thank you all for volunteering. I have an interesting quest for all of you. Once we’re done here, any of you who would like to join the blacksmiths can complete that quest as well. While I prepare your quest, Silverbeard will explain our plan.”

  This was an experiment. He opened his UI quest prompt again. This one was a shorter and simpler quest, but the entire battle would depend upon them doing it well. He set the experience reward at 25,000 and the gold reward at 250. He named the quest “Build a Better Mousetrap” and wrote a short description, then approved it.

  His experiment had been successful. Since all eyes were on Silverbeard, the citizens had not frozen while he generated the quest. Good to know.

  They all took a moment to read the quest, then
thanked Alexander and cheered. He could get used to this!

  They walked to the location he and Silverbeard had chosen. It was across the moat, just to the side of the road. It was still inside the border of light posts that marked the edge of the area blessed by the gods. Alexander wanted every step the demons took to sting. The first thing he did was hollow out a long depression in the earth. It was ten paces wide and eighty paces long. Then he pulled up thick stone walls on all four sides that rose ten feet from the floor. He held off putting a roof on the structure, and left a door in one end. Stepping inside, he reached down into the stone below and grabbed a block of obsidian. Pulling it upward, he set it down at the far end of the room. The dwarves immediately went to work. Three of them put hands on the obsidian to shape it into an altar. The rest went to work on the side walls, creating long horizontal slots near the top of it, that ran nearly its entire length. While they worked, Alexander spoke quietly to Gelag.

  “Please pardon my asking, but, do you and your people worship a particular god?”

  Gelag looked thoughtful. “Duergar race worship dark god. We reject him when we flee our world. Live on surface world now. We choose surface god. Good god to give us good fortune. Crops. Trade. Healthy children. When we come to surface, sun hurts our eyes during the day. But moon is soft. Plenty of light, but no pain. We choose Máni.”

  Alexander nodded his head. Máni was an obscure god. Norse god of the moon. Said to actually be the moon. He didn’t recall any mention of Máni leaning toward the light or the dark. But many of the Norse gods had no leanings either way. He thought Máni might help his people. It was worth a shot.

  Alexander said “Gelag, would you and your people be willing to pray to Máni and ask his blessing on this altar? A blessing that will help us defeat the demons who seek to destroy us?”

  Gelag didn’t hesitate. “We will pray. Every duergar. You have been kind to us. Given us a home, food. When it would’ve been easy to kill us all. We will pray with all our hearts that Máni bless this place.” He touched Alexander’s arm briefly, then quickly made his way back into the keep to gather his people.