by Rae Nantes
She turned at us with a shrug and walked in, easing the door closed until it clicked shut.
We stood outside, a little confused and apprehensive from the walk in. Everybody seemed to stare at us with the same blank expression, almost with accusatory glances that we had been slacking off from the fight.
Their voices were muffled behind the door. Voices of irritation, words that carried venom and spite, shouting, allegations, explanations, and desperate yelling. Simone ripped open the door, a glimpse of Smith's enraged expression slipping through, before slamming it shut.
Simone's eyes were filled with worry and hate. She shot me a half-second stare, as if she had resolved to tell me something then lost it the half-second after. She stomped away.
My friends and I looked at each other. We all needed answers from someone, and since everybody else was pointing our questions to these two, we had to decide. I walked up to the door and knocked. The others followed Simone.
"Smith?" I said with the gentlest tone I could muster. "Can-can I come in?"
A long pause. "Enter," he said. His voice was cold and distant.
I couldn't look him in the eye, and he didn't even try to. "I, uh, don't know what's going on." I spoke as if I were ashamed of my presence.
He took a deep breath. "We are having disagreements with the local government."
"I thought those were players outside?" I asked.
The irritation in his voice was rising. "They were."
I waited for him to explain.
"They are contractors. Other player guilds, solo adventurers, only some were nipsies. Vellen-occupied Nisa is handing out quests to... attack us."
"Why? What did we do?"
He gave me a short laugh - almost surprised by the absurdity of my question. "Don't worry about it, Alex. Just go to your room and be ready to fight."
I nodded, but he didn't see. He only maintained his gaze at the map and at the dozens of tiny blocks that surrounded our miniature flag. I was sad. Not that I'd have to fight, or that Smith didn't tell me why, but that he was far from me. He was far from the charming guy with the sultry voice and the confident smile. He sat now looking like a man who gambled too much and realized too late. But the dice hadn't even been thrown yet.
I went back into the courtyard to marvel at our home. The keep had been built around the old cabin, and surrounding it were buildings for storage and housing. The grass was starting to wear away from the traffic in and out. Banners were flapping against a passing wind - the colors of Vellen, black and grey. One of the nipsy riflemen were walking around to collect them from the battlements.
I supposed with the fall of Nisa, our legality and taxes went to Vellen - the occupiers of the city. But now that we were against them, who were we with? The rifleman had no other banners to put in its place. I started to feel scared again. It was as if we were all alone now, outcast and targeted and vulnerable. But then I looked around.
Sturdy walls and dozens of riflemen to man the towers. Mages and knights and other classes walking in and out of the buildings, some players and some nipsies. A party of a dozen walked in from a patrol, and another dozen took their place. We weren't alone at all. Somehow between here and there, Smith created an army for himself. There were likely hundreds of us.
I resolved to fight. Perhaps this disagreement could be settled through strength. Maybe it's what Smith intended. It had to be. This was certain to be another masterstroke to get at the other player guilds, and the bait had just been taken.
My stomach growled. I set off to find Leila, both to find what answers she had learned and to have company for lunch.
***
"I think it was a lover's quarrel," Leila said. "She had vanished before we could ask."
"Is that so?" I was on my side, my head resting on her lap. My new bedroom had been built, the bed put in, but the walls and shelves were bare. It still smelled like fresh cut lumber. Leila was combing her hands through my hair, and the feeling of her smooth skin on my face put me in heaven. "I guess she just logged out, then."
"Is that what they call it? Logging out?"
"Yeah." I rested my eyes shut and was already beginning to slip away. Her hands brushed my cheek.
"Relce said it's looking bad. They're digging in for a siege."
At first, I wanted to scoff at the idea. Running away from a fight? I never ran when the bandits attacked us, or when Tae and I got jumped in town, or even when the city got invaded. Well, we did try to run from that, but that was different. Wasn't it? Maybe Leila could've been right. Maybe this wasn't just running from a common threat, but instead a force of nature. Maybe this was a hurricane on its way, and this moment of peace was the calm before the storm.
"I don't think I can," I said. "I know the others won't. Smith and Simone and Relce. Would Trell?"
"It was his idea," she said.
I rolled on my back to look up at her. She didn't stop running her hands through my hair. "Does he know something I don't?"
"Does it matter?" she asked. "Come with us. We'll run away together."
I brought my hand over my mouth to mask my chuckle. My face started to heat up, not in embarrassment, but just how endearing I saw this girl. "You're asking me to elope with you!"
She narrowed her eyes and smiled as she poked at my exposed belly. I twitched and jolted in laughter. "I didn't mean it like that, Alex."
"Right," I wiped the laughter from my eyes.
For a timeless moment, we sat in silence. Bits of dust were still floating around, suspended in the beams of sun that pierced through the windows. I wanted to go with her, but I couldn't abandon the others. I didn't want to run away while my player friends were having a hard time. They had been there for me, so I should be there for them. I didn't have a family to take care of like Trell did, and I didn't even have dreams and aspirations like Leila.
At the very least, I could use that skill Willow gave me to haul ass if things got too bad. That or my wits, and that's never failed me. After all, Smith and Simone would never forgive me if I ran.
"I'm sorry, Leila."
She sighed. "It was worth a shot."
Hearing the sadness in her voice tugged at my heart. “Come on,” I said. “Just ride it out with us. If it goes bad, we’ll just surrender or something. It’s all just a game to the players anyway.”
She shook her head. “That’s why it worries me.”
Chapter 22
The Siege
The night was cold, damp, foggy. The snow was still here in patches and on roofs. Torches and glowgems lit the passageways, but most of the castle was asleep. The players were all gone for the night, likely the besieging players as well.
I went up to the walls to walk around the battlements and to let the wind run through my hair. It pulled at the furs on my jacket as I blew into my hands. From this vantage point, I could see far into the forest, past it and down the roads. The small town in the far distance, both sides, and straight across from us, the siege camp.
Flames from the distant torches danced in the breeze, throwing shadows of camp guards to blink around the tents. They were far from us, beyond cannon shot I figured. Beside me, on the far end of the wall, I noticed a group of people hunched over, throwing a rope ladder down the side. At first, I thought they might've been bad guys sneaking in, but I recognized the faces.
"What are you guys up to?" I asked them.
"Oh," a girl said. She was wearing low-level swordsman gear. "We're about to, uh, check the outside wall for damage." The others around her looked away with guilt.
"I won't stop you," I said.
They sighed in relief. "Thanks," the girl said, then one-by-one they each climbed down the ladder to the other side and ran off into the darkness of the forest.
I really was in no position to stop anyone from deserting. I likely wasn't even the standing authority with the players gone. This might've actually been convenient. I could just tell Smith that some other nobodies took the ship when they fled.
Maybe Trell and Leila ran away to elope. Would he even believe that? It wouldn't matter. Morale was so low among the nipsies that the players might just log back in to find an empty castle.
But I'll be here.
Hooves pounded at the path from the road. It was coming from the enemy’s direction.
“Halt!” the castle guard said.
A horse and its rider threw off the veil of darkness and stopped in the light at the castle gates. It was a soldier, unarmed. A messenger? “White lions,” the man said with a boyish voice. “I wish to speak to your commander.”
The castle guards looked at one another, look at me, down at the castle keep, and back to the messenger before them. “You’ve come at a bad time.”
The messenger hit us with a smile. An innocent one, as if he knew that between us all was nothing but chance and bad circumstance. He looked like he knew the truth of what was happening, that all of us nipsies were just nobodies swept up in a bullshit war with little to gain and everything to lose. “Surrender.” He spoke as if addressing an old friend.
The gate guards shook their heads. “A job’s a job, mate.”
The messenger shook his head. “Let’s be real. There’s only a couple hundred of you. There are thousands of us.”
Holy shit. There were thousands? How in the hell would Smith save us from that? I hoped in my heart that he had some daring plan that could unfold. Why else would he subject us to such a hopeless situation?
The gate guard huffed. “And what? You want us to go home as cowards who raised the white flag as soon as danger came? None of us could do that. We wouldn’t be able to find jobs anywhere – nobody would hire a traitor. Most of us would end up in prison, now that Vellen has branded us as outlaws.”
“I’ll put in a good word for you all,” the messenger said. “We all know it’s the players who have started the drama. All we do is fight and get paid.”
“And so I’ll fight,” the guard said.
“And yet dead men don’t get paid,” the messenger said.
There was a cold pause between them. The horse dug into the dirt with its hooves. The ground was crunchy. The wind shook off a line of snow from a nearby tree.
“I’ll share word,” the guard said, “about your offer.”
“And it will always stand,” said the messenger. “But forgive me for tonight. The players will be expecting a scarred castle, and that is what they’ll find.”
“Thank you.”
“You have five minutes.”
I rushed back to the dorms to find Leila and Trell to let them know what had happened. A part of me wanted to hide the truth from them, to snuff out this opportunity for fate to pull them away from me, but I knew not to be selfish. If anything, I wanted them to be happy.
Just as I reached the cramped, dark halls of captain’s dormitories, I heard it – distant drums. Thoom. Thoom. Thoom. Thoom. A faint howl, a chorus of high-pitched shrieks, a thumping crash. The ground shook, the walls rattled, glass shattered. It felt like an earthquake, but outside the door, I saw it. Flashes of red and yellow like fireworks, pulsing and glowing and erupting into flames and splinters and shards of rock. Wispy trails of smoke danced in the fog. A nearby girl screamed. I hurried back outside.
One dead, several wounded. Friends who had lost friends mourning over the bodies of the fallen. Mages and engineers working quick to patch the walls and put out the fires before they spread. Healers rushing to save those they could, blankets tossed over those they couldn’t.
Several dead. Several wounded.
A thought stabbed at me and yanked me out of my catatonic, dreamy state. The dormitory was on fire! I rushed back in, pushed through the confused and panicked people hurrying out, and made it to Leila’s room. Ripping open the door, I fell inside to find it empty.
My heart sank. Could they have been outside?
I ran further down the hall to Trell’s room, kicked open the door, and burst into laughter.
Trell was stuffing Leila’s small body into a suitcase. She stared at me with wide eyes, face glowing bright with embarrassment. “What the hell are you weirdos doing?” I guffawed. “This is no time to be practicing your suitcase fetish!”
Trell shook his head and wiped the smile from his face. “You sure you don’t wanna join?” he asked. “I have a backpack you can fit in.”
Leila stuck her head out like a gopher. “I think there’s enough room here for both of us,” she smiled.
“And I think I’m good,” I said. “We should probably get out of here. The dorm is on fire.”
“That’s the plan,” Trell said. “But we’re not coming back.
Chapter 23
The Open Warfare
"You shouldn't stay here," Trell said. "It's only been a few weeks, and things are getting out of hand. This is nothing like what we were doing before."
"I know," I said. From our spot on the pier, I looked out into the sea. In the hazy darkness, I couldn't tell where the sky met the water. Waves crashed against the shore, masking our hushed voices.
"This is your last chance, kid."
"I know."
Leila stepped forward for one last embrace. "Be safe," she said. "If the guild starts to lose, just surrender or run."
I smiled. "It's what I'm best at."
They threw their bags aboard the cogferry. Trell had gone through all the trouble to steal it, and it seemed nobody wanted to fix it up. It was still full of holes with a tattered sail, but it wouldn't matter.
"I won't stop you," Trell said. "But I'll tell you one thing. If what the old woman said was true, you shouldn't be casting your lot with players."
My gaze fell to my feet. He was right, wasn't he? Lord Gaia had deemed them bad enough to conquer most of the world just to keep them at bay, and now here I was about to risk my life for a few - even when they had more to spare. "Maybe it's different this time. Maybe something will change," I said.
"And maybe something won't."
A silence found us, marked only by the winter wind that I shivered against. "I'll find you again," I said. "If I find out what I need to do, I'll come get you." I looked at Leila. "I'll come take you away."
She smiled. "I'd like that."
***
"Left flank!" Smith shouted. "Delta squad, support the left flank!"
I jerked my head to see an enemy lancer squad racing to our position. They were crouched down in their saddles, their lances and spears aimed in our direction. I could feel the beat of the hooves thumping through the ground and up my legs. It might've been a freezing, windy morning, but I was already sweating. I looked for Delta squad, the nipsy spearmen, but they were nowhere to be found.
"Smith!" I yelled. "They're not hitting our flank, they're hitting us!"
From his horse, he looked over at the incoming cavalry and back at me. "Burn them."
I brought my staff close to me and looked at an open area between us - the general's guard - and the lancers. With the faintest of whispers, I invoked farstep() and blinked into existence at my target. It might've been a mistake. The enemy was less than 20 meters away now, and I had just enough time. "Flare(left, right)!" A tsunami of blue flames crashed into them, consuming the entire unit. The fires licked at their skin and slipped through the gaps of their armor. They shimmered, likely from the protection of their healers, but now the horses refused to charge. They were bucking and neighing, trying to turn against the will of their riders. In this disarray, they were vulnerable, and Relce's riflemen and archer squad started taking shots.
To my surprise, one of the lancers had some magic skills. "Javelin(ice)!" he yelled. A frosty pole snapped into existence in front of him. As his horse was bucking away, he grabbed the ice javelin and launched it at me.
"Wall(earth)!" The javelin shattered against it like glass. "Water(above)!" A waterfall fell on them, soaking them wet in the freezing temperatures - but giving them hypothermia was not my intention. "Broil!" By channeling my mana deep into the spell, I created the hottest,
flameless heat that consumed them. Before the dampness on their skin would evaporate, before their clothes could even be wrung out, the spell superheated the layer of water that had just landed - and brought it to a boil.
Seeing it work brought me on the verge of madness. The terrified, excruciating screams of players thrilled me to my core. "Broil! Broil!" I started to spam the attack. Their heals were potent, yes, but at this rate, their minds would break from the torture before their bodies would melt away. I had just started to laugh like a true lunatic, a true pyromaniac, before Smith ordered me back. I farstepped over to him and the rest of the general's guard.
"Alex," he said. "Don't put yourself in that kind of danger."
I felt a twinge of excitement in my heart. Was the old Smith returning? The Smith who cared about us, who cared about me? I shook away the thought. The battle was still young, and our frontline was struggling.
Smith had put, to my vehement disagreements, the nipsy squads at the center line. I knew morale was low among them, and I explained that our enemy had the nipsies in the back as support and reinforcement. Instead of even considering it, he only ignored me. Now that we had rallied outside of the castle to challenge the besiegers, our defensive advantage was gone.
Yet this was not a handicap. While I thought we were heavily outnumbered, what we forgot to understand was the average level difference between our guilds. The enemy's highest was only a level 25 paladin, yet we had bow mages in the 40s. I was envious when I saw them in Relce's squad. Their longbows were huge, their arrows coated in a strange black material - likely to absorb whatever spell that was cast into it. Ice, fire, smoke. The variance in their ammunition gave us an enormous tactical advantage.
Just then, a line of smoke shot out to divide the enemy's front line from its support. With our heavy swordsmen acting as shock troops, our squads on the right flank smashed them, allowing a gap for Tae's lancers to rush through. I could not see from our side of the frontline, but I heard the carnage.
