“We’ll take the carriage home, Lord,” Knitoc said.
“Thank you. Be careful getting home, the streets are busy,” Alburet said.
“Master, I see Gerald off to the left,” Tiny rumbled, his height allowing him to look over the heads of the mob.
“It looks like the whole Guild plus all the newcomers are there,” Bob called down from above.
“Okay, let’s head that way,” Alburet said. Looking at the crowd, he came to a decision. Copying Bob, Alburet looked at the two Imps. “Take Karen,” he told the Imps. “Fluff, hang onto me,” he said before scooping her into a princess carry. “Tiny, I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”
“Understood,” Tiny rumbled before he vanished.
“Wait, what?” Karen asked as Alburet summoned his wings and took to the air.
Fluff let out a startled squeak, clinging to him tightly for a moment. “I wasn’t expecting to fly today.”
Stacia laughed from beside them, “He be doin’ things differently today.”
“We got her,” Bob said as he and BJ held Karen’s hands, flying with her behind the others.
A number of players looked up and started commenting before they landed beside Gerald. Gerald shook his head, “That was new.”
“Trying to walk through that crowd would have taken too long,” Alburet chuckled and set Fluff on her feet again.
“Death from above!” Karen shouted as both Imps let her go.
Looking up, Alburet had almost no warning before her legs wrapped around his neck. Staggering under the impact, he managed to keep his balance, and Karen quickly slid down him to the ground.
“Surprised you didn’t go down,” she said.
“Thank Darkness for inflated stats,” Alburet coughed.
“She does like her public displays of affection,” Stacia giggled.
“If you’re done distracting me from organizing the Guild?” Gerald sighed.
“Sorry,” Alburet chuckled. “We’ll stand off to the side.”
“What the fuck? How did he get to play something like that?” a voice asked from the mass of people.
“He put together one of the old armor sets,” Ironhand said.
“Okay folks, give me your attention for just a little longer, please,” Gerald said, raising his voice so it could carry over the noise of conversations. “As I was saying, each Keep will be under the direction of the Delvers, Heart’s Light, or us. If they are the lead group, follow the rules they set in place. If there’s a problem, bring it to the officers. You came at the right time to join in on the pre-raid kickoff event. Marysue will be taking over from here.”
A cheer went up from the crowd of new members. “Okay, those who are level ten to level fifteen, where are you?” A dozen hands went up, and she nodded. “You’ll be joining Delvers’ group in defense of the Goblin Keep. Head on inside and meet up with them.”
Once the players had gone into the Portal Guild, she turned back to the crowd. “Levels fifteen to twenty?”
It took most of an hour to get people separated and sent on their way. At the end, all that was left were Gerald’s, Ironhand’s, and Violet’s groups.
“Looks like we’re the last ones,” Alburet said.
Guards began to appear near the street, making everyone turn to watch. “They must be the guards being replaced,” Ironhand said.
“What are we doing?” Alburet asked Gerald.
“I was given a missive to gather fifteen of the best members I could,” Gerald said. “We are to wait here for the King’s messenger.”
“Them, too?” Karen asked, seeing two other groups of fifteen people, one set with the Delvers symbol on their shirts, and the other with Heart’s Light insignia.
“Likely,” Gerald nodded. “Blaze? You waiting for the King’s messenger?”
“Yeah. You, too?”
“We are, as well,” Benedict said.
Moving toward each other, the three Guilds sized each other up. “I see we’re all level eighty-five and above,” Blaze said. “I wonder what they have in mind?”
Alburet looked around with a frown, “Gerald, where’s Rolland?”
“He messaged me this morning saying he had an important meeting,” Gerald replied.
“I wonder...” Alburet murmured, then caught sight of a coach coming toward the building. “I think we’re about to get our answer. That’s Ioaniss’ carriage.”
Everyone turned to stare at the carriage, which came to a stop as it reached them. The door opened and Sala got out, followed by Kim, Rolland, Ioaniss, and lastly, the High Priest of Peace. Seeing the three Guilds together, Ioaniss led his group to them.
“I see you all understand that we’ll be forming a special raid party today,” Ioaniss greeted them. “We’re going to undertake an audacious plan, but first, if I might speak with you three privately?” he pointed to Gerald, Blaze, and Benedict.
“Stay here, but be ready to move,” Benedict told his Guild.
“Same, guys,” Blaze said.
“I’ll be back shortly,” Gerald said.
“They’ll have a private room for us inside,” Ioaniss said, leading the three men away, followed by the other people from his carriage.
“What do you think?” Sato asked Alburet.
“Raid. Question is what the target might be,” Alburet replied, shrugging.
“Do you think the High Priest might have been the clue?” the healer from Benedict’s group asked.
“We’ve already been to Peace,” Karen said. “I don’t know why we’d go back there.”
Everyone started coming up with ideas, but Alburet thought about Rolland and his quest to speak with the King. Maybe he’s found a way to teleport without the portals? If so, what does that mean? Where would we go that we need fifty people again?
Almost an hour later, they all came back outside and each Guild leader went to his group. “Don’t ask, we’ll explain once we get there,” Gerald said before anyone could even open their mouths. “Operational security.”
Following their leaders into the Portal Guild, they went to the very top of the building. They came to a large, empty room that had no runes inscribed on the floor. Ioaniss was speaking softly to Rolland, who was holding two potions.
Ioaniss looked at the Two-souled with grave eyes. “I’ll explain as soon as the portal is made, but the fastest way to answer what you want to ask is that we are making a strike at Stein’s power.” The players all started talking excitedly to each other and Ioaniss turned to Rolland. “You’re up, Magiblood.”
Kim joined Alburet’s group when everyone was called to gather around Rolland. Rolland appeared to be frozen in place, but a blue glow suddenly sprang up around the raid. Drinking the first potion, Rolland let out a gasp of pain, and a second ring appeared around the raid group. With a grimace, Rolland slugged the second potion, and a complex pattern appeared between the two rings. “Peace!” Rolland shouted. The blue light surrounding them flared to blinding proportions.
Blinking rapidly to regain his vision, Alburet felt the sun beating down on him before he could see. When sight returned to him, he could see that they had been teleported to the Dead Lands, the ancient walls of Peace rising up beside them.
“This is the city of Peace,” Ioaniss informed the raid group. “Sala, pass around the Raidstones, please. We are here for one reason: to reach the Portal Guild building so Rolland can copy the glyphs inscribed inside it. If we can do this, it will get us much closer to Alctriuz without us having to cross the sands.”
“Why fifty of us?” Booth asked.
“We’re diversion groups,” Blaze said.
“Our tasks have already been decided upon, but our primary goals are drawing the undead and cultists inside the walls away from Ioaniss’ target,” Benedict said. “Whatever we can carry out is ours.”
“What are the targets?” Hamlin asked.
“We’ll be heading for the castle,” Benedict said.
“Hell yeah,” Hamlin smirke
d.
“We’re heading for the bank,” Blaze told his people, getting smiles in return.
“We’re going to burn an inn down,” Gerald told Alpha Company.
“What?” Violet asked. “How did we get the shitty one?”
“I’ll explain as we go,” Gerald said.
“We’ll give you an hour to get into position and start your tasks,” Ioaniss said while Rolland leaned against the wall, drinking mana potions. “Benedict, the north gate is your best entry point. Blaze, the west gate is yours. Gerald already knows that the south gate will be his.”
“Let’s go, guys. We have the most ground to cover,” Blaze said.
“Let us know when you start,” Ioaniss told them. “The Raidstones are so we can coordinate the groups, which is why only the leaders have them.”
“Got it,” Blaze said, leading his people away at a jog.
“Time to shine,” Benedict told his Guild. “Let’s go prove where we stand.”
Gerald watched both groups leave before he turned to Alpha Company. “The inn leads into the tunnels that go to the vaults under the city. Our job is to get into and shut down the control room that we left open when we were here last. We need to burn the inn behind us, and once we’re inside the complex, we have to shut the doors to the control room. If we can check on the prisoners that were there last, we’ve been asked to ascertain their status, too.”
“But they get the castle and bank,” Violet said.
“We’ll be getting three items from the King if we can do this correctly,” Gerald said. “You’ve seen and heard about them. Is that not enough?”
“Oh... yeah, that’ll work,” Violet said.
“Okay, follow me,” Gerald said. “Bring every minion you can. We want to cause maximum havoc. If you die and aren’t resurrected, use your Homestones. We won’t be able to meet back up.”
Jogging after Gerald, they headed away from Ioaniss’ group. The High Priest watched them go with worried eyes. “Do you think they can provide us with the distractions needed, Sir Jones?”
“I think Alpha Company could by itself,” Ioaniss replied. “The other two Guilds are likely to be useful as well, but if word about Alpha Company gets out to the cultists, they’ll have the hardest time.”
“They made that big of an impression on our enemies?”
“On some of them, oh yes,” Ioaniss said. “Besides the nobles, they’ve met Ophelia twice and survived. If she is here, I would expect her to go after them.”
“Interesting,” the Priest murmured.
Chapter Twelve
It took them awhile to get around the wall and close to the gates they would be using. Slowing as they approached, Gerald spoke softly so his words wouldn’t carry in the still air, “There were two gate guards when we were here last, one in either building to the sides of the gate. Be ready to lay into them. Ironhand, lock down the one farther away with a trap, please.”
“Got it,” Ironhand said, pulling a trap from his belt.
“I don’t remember you having a utility belt before,” Alburet said.
“It was one of my Abilities. It doubles up to five traps I have prepared, but they have to go into specific slots. It means I have to remember which slot holds which traps and have to grab them from there.”
“Doesn’t sound bad,” Fluff said.
“It’s only a problem if my arms get immobilized,” Ironhand replied, “which has happened once or twice.”
“Which traps do you have doubled?” Marysue asked.
“Amber, Foam, Spikes, Bear, and Flame,” Ironhand said. The trap in his hand pulsed with an amber color.
Leggylass smiled, “He’s been our crowd control, which has helped immeasurably since it lets the rest of us focus on damage.”
“He’d normally have some help, but the Succubi won’t be able to control the undead,” Alburet said. “If you focus on the undead, Stacia and Violet’s Succubus can deal with the cultists.”
“Nay, remember wha’ they said? Stein’s followers be immune to us,” Stacia said.
“Oh, right,” Alburet sighed.
“Get ready,” Gerald said, getting his shield on.
Everyone made sure they were ready as they got within a dozen feet of the ruined gate. Gerald was the first through the gate, and the moment he went through, two figures came out of the guard towers.
“Who— Alpha Company!?” the one closest startled before he saw the shield.
Ironhand threw his trap at the other cultist faster than he could react, encasing him in amber. “One down,” Ironhand said.
Turning back toward the building, the nearer cultist took a single step before Gerald charged and stunned him in the same moment. The damage dealers all jumped on him, quickly cutting him down.
“Stun with your charge?” Alburet asked when they shifted to the cultist trapped in amber. “That’s new.”
“My new Ability, Stunning Charge. It applies a stun to anyone I charge,” Gerald said as he got ready for Ironhand’s trap to fall.
“Wha’ did ya pick up, Marysue? We did nay ask before.”
“Lasting Halo. It keeps Halo pulsing for a minute instead of the old fifteen seconds,” Marysue told Stacia. “It’ll be very useful in the big groups.”
“I thought the damaging undead and healing Infernals was supposed to be a short term buff,” Fluff said as she flexed her claws. “I remember you still having it the other day, though.”
“I’m not sure,” Marysue said slowly. “I’m a Champion of Peace, but my UI also says I’m favored by Mother. So maybe she’s still providing the bonus?”
“Tha’ sounds like her,” Stacia nodded. “It likely be approved by Peace, or I do nay think it would be allowed to affect ya.”
“It was during our last trip here, when they were having tea,” Marysue nodded.
The trap fell, and the cultist had a brief moment of realization before he was chain stunned and killed. With both gate guards dealt with, the raid formed up and started into the city.
“Be ready. We saw a lot of undead last time,” Gerald said.
His words could have very well been a summoning charm, because a trio of Zombies came out of an alley on their left and two Skeletons ambled out of a building on their right. Gerald charged the Zombies with Tiny and TJ behind him, while the other tanks and Destroyers went after the Skeletons.
Fifteen versus five wasn’t much of a challenge for them. They cut them down and looted the bodies, then started moving through the city again.
“I do nay see wha’ the difficulty is supposed to be. The undead be level ninety, but we outnumber them,” Kauree said.
“Last time we went through here, we saw swarms of undead,” Gerald said, his eyes darting left and right. “If we see even half of what we did before, it’ll be difficult.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t jinx things,” Leggylass said.
A loud, wordless, angry shout came from the next street and a Golem with metal plates fused to it appeared around the corner. Everyone paused as they took in the sight of the ten-foot tall armored undead. A small horde of thirty undead, consisting of Zombies and Skeletons, spilled out of the buildings that were near the Golem.
“Kind of like that,” Gerald sighed. “I have the Golem. Tiny, be ready to switch with me. Everyone else, divide up the mobs. Focus on the little guys first and wait for them to come to us.”
The Golem led the undead toward them, its steps ponderous but covering the ground rapidly. Once it got in range, Gerald charged, his shield slamming into the beast’s groin. The other tanks rushed forward, taunting undead and pulling them to the sides while trying to stay close enough together for the healers to be able to use their area healing spells.
Alburet took to the air with the Imps and Succubi, giving the melee more room to work with. “Stacia, Kitten, harass the Golem from the air. Bob, area burn once the tanks have aggro.” Pulling a Fire Blast into his hand, Alburet slung it at the first mob TJ had hit. Raising his voice, he called
down to the raid, “Focus fire on my target if you’re single target DPS, otherwise, area once all the mobs have been tapped.”
Ironhand used his traps to slow the mass of undead and make sure they wouldn’t get past the tanks before they could be taunted. Many of the damage dealers held back, ready to go all out once they were sure all the mobs had been taunted by a tank. Karen slipped in behind TJ’s first target and began to attack it, since she lacked area damage abilities.
Once all the tanks had their mobs under control, the rest of the damage dealers opened up. Kauree and Fluff Leaped into the middle to use Whirlwind. The Elementalists joined in, one using Blizzard and the other casting Firestorm. Leggylass fired a barrage of arrows into the air, raining down copies onto the gathered horde. Bob, BJ, and Violet’s two Imps used Fire Burst, adding in even more damage. Marysue cast Halo to keep the tanks healthy and to damage the undead, then single target healed Gerald, who was off to the side of the chaotic melee.
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 11
