War Aeternus 2: Sacrifices

by Charles Dean

  Thanks to the golems’ scouting, he knew exactly where the would-be aggressors were coming from, so he led his own little group in the opposite direction, dodging them at every turn so that they didn’t bump into any of the men that were now being ‘alerted’ to the problem within the Hunter’s Guild.

  “Lee, what’s going on?” Ling asked, following closely behind. “I don’t understand why you’re in such a rush.”

  Miller shook his head. “Because he wants to drink the beer sooner, of course. Simple concept, woman, simple concept.”

  Lee couldn’t help but chuckle at that response as they made their way out of the Hunter’s Guild and into the back alley across the road.

  “Should we keep going?” Ling asked as Lee came to a stop.

  “No. The main street isn’t visible from here. Only a few houses,” he answered, checking to make sure there were no potential witnesses to what was about to happen. “This place should be perfect.” Their back was against the wall, and he somehow knew that they were going to either have to win this fight or wind up dead. Those men weren’t coming to question Lee and his group, and they weren’t coming to follow up on any investigation: they were coming for vengeance, plain and simple. He could see in the way they stalked around and how they kept a hand on their weapons at all times.

  “Perfect for what? I don’t see a table or chairs. I don’t see anything here that would make drinking perfect,” Ling said, looking around.

  “Who says he planned on drinking?” a voice asked in greeting. Lee had already known that they were there because of his connection to Ethan, but now he was finally able to see the four Firbolgs and two Leprechauns with his own eyes. “He didn’t come to drink. He came to die.”

  “Yeah, he knew what was coming, the cledor rat,” a feminine voice added. “You people always have a sixth sense for knowing when you’re about to die, don't you? Just like rodents.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Little Ethan. She didn’t mean rodent as an insult,” Lee said aloud to his tiny mouse compatriots and then quietly turned and nearly whispered, “Into the forest, against the mountain” to Ling, only turning his attention back to the menacing group in front of him once he saw Ling acknowledge his statement with a nod.

  The Firbolg in front cackled snidely, his laugh bouncing off the walls in the most grating fashion possible, and asked, “Who you talking to, boy? Although you’re right: ‘rodent,’ for your kind, isn’t an insult. It’s an apt description for the type of gutter-trash you are.”

  Lee had the pair of Ethans silently slip along either side of the alley, each carrying a thin wire between their teeth as they ran forward. They wrapped the wires around the first fixtures that they could find that was below knee height, gutter pipes ran down the wall from the third floor and into the sewers beneath the street.

  Trap set. Lee smiled, not actually realizing it’d go off so smoothly until he noticed that all six of them were staring at him and that not a single one had looked down to see the mice.

  “You keep saying ‘trash’ and ‘my kind,’ but I have to ask you a question.” Lee took out his sword and a shield while trying not to appear rushed. He had been so busy trying to orchestrate things that he ended up being the last in his group to arm himself.

  “What’s that, boy?” the man asked, revealing the pair of daggers he used for his own weapons.

  “Well, I just want to know . . .” Lee spoke slowly, dragging out both his words and his question as he waited for the man to edge closer to the tripwire. “How is it going to feel if you end up getting gutted like a stray cat in some nowhere alleyway by stupid, filthy trash?”

  “Oh, boy, stop talking about things that’ll never happen,” the man scoffed, leaning back and letting out another laugh. He was joined by most of his friends, but then a spear flew through the air and pierced straight into his kneecap.

  “Ha ha ha!” Miller let out his own boisterous, mocking laugh this time as he pulled another spear out of his inventory. “If you keep talking with such a disrespectful attitude to the leader of our church, I’m going to kill you myself before our Herald has a chance to!” he declared proudly, smiling to himself as he watched the man grab his knee while screaming in pain.

  “You son of the town tart!” the man bellowed. “And you people?! What are you doing?! GET THEM!”

  Miller threw his second spear before anyone even so much as moved, this one landing directly in the man’s throat and pushing him back into the Leprechaun behind him. “I told you I’d kill you myself if you kept running your mouth, you blasphemous bastard!”

  Your party has killed Campbell. Your party has been awarded 19 silver, 40 copper, a low-quality steel helmet and 742 Experience. Your share of this is 4 silver, 85 copper, and 186 Experience.

  The others charged forward. The first in the line of attackers snagged his foot on the tripwire, slamming into the ground face first, and Ling planted an arrow straight into his arm. She shot another one at the same arm, and the man dodged to the left to avoid it. Ling followed with yet a third arrow at the same part of his body, and the man strafed even further to the left. When his left shoulder was almost touching the wall, Lee pounced. He used his large shield to slam the man directly into the wall. Having caught him there, Lee used every ounce of strength he had to hold him in place, pinning the man’s chest and arms between himself and the building behind him. Ling immediately followed up Lee’s maneuver by firing off a series of arrows aimed directly at the man’s head, loosing five in the span of only a few seconds. The first tore through his scalp above his ear, shaving off a line of hair and causing him to scream out in pain, but a second shot right into his open mouth and shut him up for good. One last arrow sank into his face below his left eye, and Lee held him there and watched the lifeblood pour out of his skull.

  You have killed Paul. Your party has been awarded 19 silver, 61 copper, a full plate iron chest piece and 810 Experience. Your share of this is 4 silver, 90 copper, and 202 Experience.

  The moment Lee’s shield had become occupied with holding the would-be pincushion against the wall, the Firbolg that had been behind him a moment ago stepped forward and struck out with a whip. It lashed into Lee’s back and dealt 28 points of damage as the thorny, spiked chain slashed into Lee’s armor. Lee had been expecting to be on the receiving end of an attack. The entire alleyway was far too narrow for multiple people to fight at once, so he knew that he’d be the center of attention the moment he had stepped in front of Miller and the others with his large shield--but he hadn’t expected it to hurt so bad.

  “Can’t you just wait your turn to die?!” Lee howled as a second attack struck him again on the back, peeling off another 19 hit points. Thankfully, Lee’s now-dead victim was out of the way, and he was able to lean into the blow and take the hit across his shoulder rather than his back. If he hadn’t, the blow likely would have done as much if not more than the last hit. He backed up and maneuvered his shield in front of him, turning to face the enemy,

  “I can’t get around you, Lee!” Miller complained. “Lee, let me at ‘em. Let me kill that bastard!”

  The only way the massive Firbolg was going to get around Lee and his shield in the narrow alley was if at least one of them turned sideways, and that would have left the one who turned vulnerable and unable to dodge any incoming attacks for a couple seconds. Lee likely wouldn’t be able to maneuver around a wounded Miller with his shield to effectively cover him if his friend were critically hurt while shimmying past either, meaning that the spearman would be open to every other attack that came after as well.

  “No, I have him,” Lee replied without ever taking his eyes off of his opponent. He held his shield up in front of him, constantly vigilant and ready to intercept the next blow from the whip. He also noticed that the man was holding a dagger in his opposite hand and made a mental note that he was going to have to watch out for that as well.

  Only a second passed, but then Ethan knocked over a stack of metal trash cans j
ust behind the man. The clinking and clanking as the fell to the ground set off the man’s hair-trigger nerves, and he lashed out with his whip once again. Lee tried to block it with his shield, but he was too slow bringing the clunky shield around in time, and the tail-end of the whip snapped around his sword arm. It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the blows that had landed on his back, only dealing 4 damage as it wrapped around his bracer, but it left him vulnerable.

  The Firbolg yanked back on the entangled whip with all his might, and Lee lost the battle of strength flat out, almost instantly losing his stance as he was pulled forward. He tried to throw his shield out in front of him in order to block any incoming damage, but the man’s left arm snaked around the shield just as Lee came within reach. The dagger he held there stabbed cleanly into Lee’s side.

  Damnit! Lee cursed in his head and gritted his teeth. This time the man had landed a vital strike, and 141 hit points had been knocked off in a single blow. The pain of such a massive critical was enough that he knew he would have passed out if his body wasn’t full of what he felt was enough adrenaline to bring a dead horse back to life for a few last kicks.

  You have suffered internal organ damage. You will take 3 points of damage every 3 seconds until healed.

  A little bit of terror clamped his heart as his eyes saw an 89 floating there with his health bar, and his mind raced and tried to figure out what to do next. The bleeding effect placed a timer on his life. No matter what, the battle had to end in less than four and a half minutes or he was a dead man. To make matters worse, this whip-wielding Firbolg was no joke. Even when Lee had slammed into him with all his weight, the man barely moved. Lee had no idea what to do to handle this.

  Lee pushed off with his shield, trying to back away and create some space between them, but he couldn’t budge so much as an inch. The whip was still wrapped around his arm, holding him firmly in place, and the dagger was already on a return trip.

  I’m going to die!

  Seeing no other alternative, Lee abandoned his attempts at getting to a safer distance. He slammed his shield forward into the man rather than trying to pull away and simultaneously twisted his weight to the side. The maneuver gave him enough room to sidestep around his opponent while turning him around at the same time. The whip-wielder’s back was exposed to Miller, Ling, and Amber, but Lee was likewise exposed to those behind his opponent as well.

  Both parties took advantage of the play, each rushing forward, but the duo was closer to Miller than they were to the man’s friends. Lee’s attempts to back away from the man had been fruitless, but they had succeeded in slowly shuffling the man away from his own group one small bit at a time. Miller had been eager to get into the fight, and he didn’t waste time when the opportunity came up.

  You have killed Bjurstrom. Your party has been awarded 18 silver, 42 copper, a steel sword and 922 Experience. Your share of this is 2 silver, 80 copper, and 231 Experience.

  Lee was already turning back around before Miller even finished his work. Another sword swing struck him across the back for 31 more damage, leaving him with 57 health left after the bleeding effect ticked off another point. Thankfully, he was able to get his shield up and block the next attack. The impact from the swipe still knocked a single point of damage off his bar, but that wasn’t high enough to bring Lee into the panic zone yet.

  A new challenger approaches, Lee thought ruefully, taking a deep breath and studying his opponent. Like Lee, this one was using a sword and a shield. Her shield wasn’t as large--she had opted for a buckler--but its worn appearance, riddled with dents and scratches, let Lee know she had used it before. A lot. Her blue eyes were trained on him as she gave him a wicked-looking grin as if to say, ‘I’m going to kill you,’ while she twirled her sword around in her hand. He wasn’t sure if she was doing that to show her talent with a blade and intimidate him or to invite him into attacking her while her guard was down and her sword wasn’t being held properly, but if the effect was to cause him to freeze, it did, and another point of health ticked off his life bar, leaving him with only 55.

  While he was trying to figure out how to defeat her, Ling came in with a suggestion from behind him. “Forest into the mountain?” Ling offered, letting Lee know she had a clear shot to do it. Lee readied himself, signaling by only the slightest nod that he would risk repeating the tactic.

  At that moment, an arrow flew past Lee’s right side and struck her buckler. She was able to deflect it safely, but the small movement forced her just a little to the right. The next arrow came whizzing by and forced her back and a little to the right again. Things seemed to be looking like they would go smoothly.

  It’s going to work again, Lee thought confidently.

  But then the girl took the initiative. She pushed herself away from the wall the moment she came in contact with it, using her momentum and the added force to barrel right into Lee. He was able to absorb most of the impact on his shield, so it didn’t do much damage, but it was just enough to stop Lee from slamming into her like he had planned. Ling’s last shot, which had been neatly aimed at where the woman was supposed to end up, pierced directly through Lee’s shoulder blade and pulled his health down another 28 points.

  Crap. Lee used the last bit of energy he had to push back at the girl with everything he could. She might have been stronger than him, but with only twenty-four seconds of life left now thanks to the bleeding effect, Lee had all the incentive he needed to summon up every bit of strength he could muster. He closed his eyes against his better judgment and pushed forward. He didn’t stop until he heard the clink of her chainmail shirt on the wall behind her, closely followed by the sounds of a very, very short-lived scream. Then he opened his eyes to see she was dead.

  Your party has killed Sarah. Your party has been awarded 2711 silver, 1420 copper, a gold wedding band and 790 Experience. Your share of this is a gold wedding band, 6 silver, 78 copper, and 197 Experience.

  He immediately looked down the alleyway in expectation of an attack on his unprotected side from the two remaining enemies, but he was greeted by the surprising but ultimately-welcome sight of a massive barrel of beer hurtling through the air toward his assailants. The projectile cask smashed into the two remaining enemies just before they could reach Lee. The weight of the barrel of beer combined with Miller’s throwing strength was enough to crush the first one and send both to the ground in a heap.

  “Get down!” Miller shouted.

  Lee heard the heavy steps of his friend behind him as the Firbolg took a brief running start. Guessing what was coming next, Lee quickly did as Miller had instructed and dropped to a kneeling position, ducking his head for good measure. The hulking warrior leapt over Lee the next moment and landed on top of the stunned attackers with a spear in hand and went to work.

  Part of Lee really wanted to watch what was happening, but he knew that he didn’t have much health left. He currently had 9 seconds before he was all bled out.

  “The purple water!” Lee shouted. Amber, who hadn’t been able to help at all during the fight, seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. She pulled out the water Lee had imbued with special properties earlier and tossed it to him.

  Six seconds left. Lee cringed as he chugged the entire contents of the waterskin. Sure enough, while it didn’t fully heal him, it immediately closed the bleeding wounds and restored roughly 75 hit points, putting him back up to a much more comfortable 81 health. It wasn’t exactly down to the one-second wire, but it sure as hell felt like it to Lee.

  Your party has killed Paladino. Your party has been awarded 17 silver, 42 copper, superior-quality leather pants and 850 Experience. Your share of this is 4 silver, 35 copper, and 212 Experience.

  Your party has killed Danielle. Your party has been awarded 15 silver, 93 copper, a box of knitting supplies and 844 Experience. Your share of this is a box of knitting supplies, 3 silver, 98 copper, and 211 Experience.

  Divinity Power: Life in Death activated.

  “I
don’t ever want to come that close to dying again,” Lee said aloud, holding the now-closed-up wound on his side.

  “How close was it?” Miller asked.

  “Six seconds,” Lee answered honestly.

  “Well,” Miller said, turning to Ling. “It wouldn’t have been that much if you had just watched where you shot those--”

  “Miller, it wasn’t her fault. We got played. Not just her, both of us. I was just as much to blame, so please don’t--”

  “But she almost killed you! You were fighting for the righteous cause of justice, delivering swift death to those who would oppress her, and she shot you in the back!” Miller’s anger was palpable. “AND THE BEER!”

  And there’s the real source of your frustration. Lee suddenly realized why Miller was lashing out as he looked over and saw that the barrel that had smashed into the two men had broken and was leaking out horribly all over the alleyway.

  “Well, then don’t just watch it! SAVE WHAT WE CAN!” Lee ordered, pointing to the beverage.

  Miller didn’t even stop to answer as he rushed over to the broken wooden container and began working on it.

  Lee turned to Ling and gave her a half-hearted smile as the Firbolg scrambled to come up with a way to store the remaining beer before it all poured out of the cask. He could see in her face that, even without Miller chiding her, she was pretty torn up by what had happened. She just stared at him, lip quivering, and didn’t say a thing for a few minutes.

  “He knows you didn’t mean to,” Amber said, putting an arm around Ling’s shoulder. “It’s okay. These things happen. It was a tight space, and you were incredibly helpful. Without you, he might not have made it that long in the fight, so don’t beat yourself up.” Amber poured on one reassuring phrase after the other, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.