A leonine roar came from the other side of the gate and Fluff suddenly landed beside the Shaman, her claws digging into him. “He is mine,” Fluff growled as she attacked.
“Help,” the Shaman yelled as he tried to get away.
Fluff used Hamstring and stopped the Shaman moving while continuing her attack. “They wait for you,” Fluff growled.
Alburet dismissed Tiny and resummoned the Greater Destroyer inside the gate. “Open it for Gerald,” he said needlessly, applying Copy to the Destroyer.
TJ charged at the Trapsmith and Elementalist who had turned to deal with Fluff. His shield slammed into the Trapsmith and stunned him. He turned and used Thunderous Stomp on the Elementalist, who looked panicked when the spell he was about to cast vanished. “Attacking the master calls for your death,” TJ rumbled.
“Xav, help,” the Elementalist and Shaman both yelled at the Defender who was still attacking Alburet.
“If we kill him, the Infernals vanish,” Xav snapped, frowning that Alburet’s life wasn’t dropping as fast as it should.
Reapplying Demonic Vitality, Alburet snarled at Xav, “I can go toe-to-toe with you.”
“No,” the Defender snapped. “It’s not possible for a Summoner to do that.”
“Then I will,” Gerald said, Bounce Charging between the Shaman, Elementalist, and Defender and stunning all three.
“I got you,” Marysue said. The gate shut behind her, and her Halo filled the area.
“Fuck, they got inside! Get them,” a voice shouted.
Karen, stealthed, was the first to see the other four visible players heading for them, along with the two stealthed players. She snuck up on the stealthers, Sapped them and turned back to help with the other four.
“They’re attacking Gerald,” another voice called out. “Rally to the leader!”
Gerald grinned when he heard the second voice. “Alpha Company! For Guild and Crown!”
Ten voices shouted back, “Alpha Company!”
The remaining Bloody Moon Guild players slowed their advance on Gerald, while Langistors started coming over the walls. One of them shook his head, “We need the Keep to fall for the quest. Come on guys, the mobs are on our side.”
The chaotic fight went on for almost thirty minutes, but when the last mob finally fell, Alpha Company stood victorious. Gerald slumped against the wall, Marysue beside him. Alburet hugged Karen, Fluff, and Stacia, while the two lower level members who had made it through looked around with stunned eyes.
“We did it?” one of the two survivors asked.
“Looks like, but where are the others? They should have respawned,” Gerald said.
“We were wondering about that... no one’s respawned since the Langistors attacked.”
“Gerald, we need to warn the others,” Marysue said, pulling out her Guildstone. “That Guild was in with the cultists.”
“Right,” Gerald said, pulling out his Mindstone to warn Blaze and Benedict.
“Who were they?” Karen asked.
“Bloody Moon. They’re a new Guild,” one of the survivors said. “We picked up two groups of them after hearing about the numbers of mobs that were appearing at the other Keeps.”
“I’m thinking they’re Bloodmoon’s Guild,” Alburet said. “I remember the emblem on her armor, but it didn’t register at the time... I just wanted to rip her throat out.”
“There were attacks at all the Keeps we’re in charge of. Bloody Moon was involved in all of them,” Marysue said, getting to her feet.
“They’re attacking all the Keeps they have people in,” Gerald said, putting his Mindstone away. “We need to stay here until the dead respawn.”
The sound of combat outside the gate drew their attention. Rushing up the stairs to look over the walls, they saw Bloody Moon fighting the other players that had started respawning.
“Let’s kill them again,” Alburet said, jumping over the wall, his wings flaring out to slow his fall.
“Sounds good,” Karen said and vanished.
Chapter Sixteen
Called again before the King, the group was led into the library. Alburet was surprised to see that they were the only group there, and he took his seat with the others.
“Thank you for warning us about Bloody Moon,” Tyr said. The King’s face was drawn, and he obviously looked like he was not getting much sleep. “It seems they registered in Wildwood weeks ago, which is why we didn’t know their leader was Bloodmoon. The Lunari’s’ habit of procrastination is normally only a minor inconvenience, but in this instance, it was worse than that.”
“How bad was it?” Gerald asked.
“Not as bad as it could have been,” Tyr admitted. “We’ve tried rounding up those still inside the city, but all of them used Homestones to get away. There is now an order for their arrest on sight.”
“How many other Keeps got attacked?” Fluff asked.
“A dozen. It seems Bloodmoon garnered all of those who felt resentful of the bigger Guilds, or who just love chaos,” Tyr said. “Luckily, your warning was timely and most of them were dealt with. Even the Keeps that were being attacked survived the betrayals.”
“That’s good,” Marysue said.
“Rolland should have the first step of the plan ready tomorrow,” Tyr said. “I’m asking you to keep that secret.”
“Of course, Sire,” Gerald agreed.
“For your warning, I’m rewarding you with a completed quest,” Tyr went on. “I suggest you push as hard as you can to level more in the meantime.”
“We will,” Gerald said.
Quest Completed: Warn the Crown of treachery.
Reward: Reputation with all Stormguard factions.
“Thank you, Majesty,” Marysue said when she noticed they leveled again.
“You’re dismissed, but be ready for a summons tomorrow,” Tyr said.
Leaving the King, the group was escorted out of the castle. “He really is trying to push us to max level, isn’t he?” Karen asked while they waited for the carriages to be brought around.
“Makes sense,” Alburet said.
“We still going for the last few zones?” Fluff asked.
“Yes. It should get us another level and let us train again,” Gerald said as they started to get into their carriage.
“See you at the Portal Guild,” Alburet said, following the ladies into the ambassadorial carriage.
~*~*~
Turning in the last set of quests to the Gunso, he thanked them. “We’ve been a little worried that we haven’t seen many Two-souled,” the Elf said.
“There’s a lot going on over in Stormguard,” Gerald told him.
“Yes... the rumors are that Stein has made a reappearance,” the Gunso said. “There is a call for volunteers, but nothing besides it being a cooperative effort has been officially announced.”
“Unofficially, it’s true,” Karen said.
The Gunso stared at her, then nodded, “Very well. You wished maximum experience with no coin, correct?”
“Yes,” Gerald said.
“Did you wish to remove the reputation gains, as well?”
The group exchanged looks for a moment before Alburet spoke up, “We would.”
The Elf stared at him, “I’d think you’d want the reputation more than they would.”
“Normally, yes,” Alburet admitted. “But we need as much power as possible for what’s coming.”
“I understand,” the Gunso said. “If you were with anyone other than Alpha Company or Delvers, I’d be a lot more wary of you, Demon Lord. Considering the company you keep, I’m inclined to believe you will be opposed to Stein.”
“The Dark Lord will field every Infernal he can to oppose Stein,” Alburet replied. “He is looking forward to wiping long-held misunderstandings away.”
“I see,” the Gunso murmured. “I can report this?”
“Yes,” Alburet said.
“Very well. Here is your reward for completing the quests,” he said.
>
“Thank you, Gunso,” Gerald said.
Saluting the Gunso, the group turned and left. “We managed it and got two levels,” Karen said as they walked out of the building. “Training first?”
“Considering the King is going to summon us at some point tomorrow, that would be the best bet. We might want to look into some new armor and weapons. I’m not sure if Stormguard shops will have better gear, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”
“Train, then meet up at Progress?” Alburet asked.
“That’s the best idea,” Gerald nodded. “See you there.”
“Knitoc be waitin’ with the carriage to take us to our trainers,” Stacia said.
“Let’s go,” Alburet said, pulling out his Homestone.
Knowing they were going to Progress anyway, Alburet and Stacia rode with Karen and Fluff to their trainers. As they left Fluff’s trainer behind, she told them about her new Ability.
“I chose Tornado. It lets me keep Whirlwind going as long as I want, but once I stop, it goes on cooldown for three minutes,” Fluff said. “I’ll be able to help even more with larger groups now.”
“I wish I could,” Karen grumbled.
“I also peeked at my next choices. There’s Rampaging Fury, which multiplies Strength by five when I Rage, or Badger’s Ferocity, which will restore my life back to half if it reaches zero, but only once an hour,” Fluff said.
“Damn, that’s a tough choice,” Alburet said.
“Which are ya thinkin’ of takin’?”
“Probably Badger’s Ferocity, since it’ll keep me fighting longer,” Fluff said.
“Not sure I could pass up the multiplier,” Karen said.
“You can check yours in a moment,” Alburet said as he felt the carriage slow. “You’re up.”
Karen came back out a few minutes later, a pensive look on her face. “They don’t make things easy, do they?” she muttered as she got into the vehicle.
“What did you take?” Alburet prompted her.
“For this level, I picked up Dirtier Tricks. It turns my Dirty Tricks from a one second Blind into a ten second Blind.”
“What about for level one hundred?” Fluff asked.
“Serpent’s Grace, which multiplies my Agility like your Strength one, or I could take Dagger Cloud. That hits everyone within a thirty-foot radius of me with my daggers, with a one minute cooldown.”
“There’s your area damage Ability,” Alburet said. “That’s a tough trade-off, though.”
“Yeah... I can pick up some area help or push my single target up a bunch,” Karen sighed. “Fuckers.”
“I’m curious about mine now. I’ve never looked past the Ability I was training at that point,” Alburet mused.
“We’ll find out soon,” Karen said.
“True enough. Hmm, maybe we should let the others know we’re coming to try and upgrade our stuff,” Alburet said.
“I already did,” Stacia said. “They be pullin’ through all their stock to find anythin’ they can for us.”
“That will make things faster,” Fluff said. “Should we have dinner with them?”
“I’ll let Loralee know,” Stacia said, pulling out her Mindstone.
“We should reserve the private dining room at the inn,” Alburet said.
“Aye.”
“I’ll ask Marysue if they want to join us,” Karen said.
“That will round out the night,” Alburet chuckled.
All the arrangements had been made by the time the carriage pulled up outside the Guild Hall. They walked in, only to surprise Vanessa and Kauree in an embrace. The two receptionists pulled away from each other, Kauree looking blank faced while Vanessa’s cheeks flushed.
“Just passing through,” Alburet grinned. “Don’t mind us.”
“We weren’t—” Vanessa began.
“They nay be fooled, Vanessa,” Kauree said with a sad resolve in her tone.
“But...” Vanessa said, pausing as she tried to find the words.
“It’s fine,” Alburet said. “If you two want to be a couple, we don’t mind at all. I might point out that the Guild Hall might not be the place for a make out session, though.”
Relief flooded both of them. “Ye do nay think Gerald would mind his staff datin’ each other?” Kauree asked.
“As long as it doesn’t impact your jobs, I doubt he’ll care,” Karen said. “Since you’re hunting with Violet, he might ask you to step down as a receptionist, though.”
“Aye, tha’ was what I was tryin’ to tell her,” Kauree agreed. “Tha’ and tryin’ to think of who could do the job.”
“Ya should be askin’ me sis. She be right next door and needin’ a job,” Stacia said.
“I can do that,” Vanessa said. “I should ask Kim, first.”
“Good idea,” Karen chuckled.
“Well, we have places to be, so you two have a good night,” Alburet said, opening the door to the back room.
“Goodnight,” the couple said as they moved past them.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Fluff mused. “They are definitely a cute couple.”
“We helped Vanessa last time we came through here. She was upset that Kauree was going to be hunting again,” Alburet said. “Seems like they’ve worked past that.”
“Aye,” Stacia murmured. “It always be nice when love is accepted.”
“Next stop, training for me,” Alburet said, opening the door to the portal.
“I doubt we’ll ever really get you trained,” Karen deadpanned and went through the portal.
“Aye, she be havin’ a point,” Stacia giggled, following Karen.
Alburet just sighed and looked at Fluff, “How about you?”
“They were being mean, but it was kind of funny,” Fluff smiled. “Besides, I think you’re training just fine.” Eyes sparkling, she vanished.
Rubbing at his face, Alburet sighed, “Et tu, Fluff?”
He was greeted by his wives’ laughter when he joined them. He offered his arms to them, half bowing, “Well done, ladies. Shall we go?”
The guards watched them with curious eyes as the family moved off. “What do you think that was all about?” one of them asked another.
“Who knows? He’s a good man from what I remember before his change to Demon Lord. Now they’ve got an Infernal husband, it wouldn’t be too odd if their sense of humor shifted,” the other replied.
Fluff bit her lip when she heard the guards as they left, but her attention was brought back by the sound of a slap and Stacia’s happy sigh. “What?”
“Our husband just be remindin’ me of me place,” Stacia murmured.
“Rewarding us, are you?” Karen asked from the far side of Fluff. “I’ll take my reward later.”
“Me, too,” Fluff was quick to add.
“Even Fluff is being corrupted,” Alburet mock sighed. “The sweet and innocent one has fallen into the diabolic clutches of the fiends.”
All of them laughed at his theatrical words and tone. “Aye. After all, it be in me nature,” Stacia said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“Frankly, she asked to be corrupted,” Karen snickered. “Something about wanting to be a good wife.”
“There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a good wife,” Fluff sniffed with an exaggeratedly offended air.
“Darkness,” Alburet laughed. “At least we’re all crazy.”
The inn was busy when they arrived. Alburet waved to Stewart and looked around the room. “Training,” he said when they met.
“Already?” Stewart asked with wide eyes. “I didn’t expect that, even with the request to use the private room.”
“It’s been a busy couple of days,” Alburet said tiredly.
“I’m sure you’ll be telling that story later,” Stewart said, leading Alburet to the back room. Settling in behind the desk, Stewart pulled the book out and laid it on the table. “I’m interested in what you’ll decide on.”
“Me too,” Alburet chuckled as he opened t
he tome and flipped to the back few pages. “Let’s see what the options are.”
His choices were either Infernal Upgrade again, which would give him either Curse of Tongues for Bob or Warp Minds for Stacia, neither of which he was very interested in. The other option at level ninety-five was Winged Terror, which would give him wings for five minutes, with an hour-long cooldown.
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 15
