“We will,” Benedict said. “Sidewinder, take your set in and head for the gate around the back.”
“Sure, fine,” Sidewinder sighed. “We keep getting the shaft, anyway.”
“Blaze, can you hold the door for us?” Benedict asked.
“You mean stand outside the building?” Blaze asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes.”
“We’ll be in if you need us,” Blaze said.
“Gerald, I want your forces to check the grounds,” Benedict went on. “There’s a lot of ground and I would hate to have more things like those Golems pop up and not be ready to deal with them.”
“That would be bad,” Gerald agreed. “I’m going to ask for some air support if that’s okay, Ladies?” he went on, addressing the Angel and Infernal commanders.
“We will be glad to assist,” Andrea said, with Parsnew nodding in agreement.
“I shall send equal numbers, of course,” Yuna smiled.
“I will be joinin’ the Delvers,” Werrick said, “since me friend has been with ya,” he nodded to Gaston.
“We’ll welcome you happily,” Blaze said.
“We’ll send the volunteers to you, then follow you into this area as you move on,” Roberto said. “Dismissed.”
Waiting with the rest of Alpha Company, Alburet smiled but felt a wave of worry as he saw Stewart, Grimgar, and Almira heading toward them. “Good to see you,” he said, his face giving away the lie.
“It be our choice, lad,” Grimgar said, clapping Alburet on the back. “Ye can either support us or we will be havin’ to join another group.”
“He’s just worried,” Fluff said, giving Almira a hug.
“We all are,” Stewart said. “We still won’t back down.”
“We would nay ask ya to,” Stacia hastened to add. “Ya will be with Alpha Company.”
“Ferrin,” Alburet called out, seeing the Angelic Summoner standing off to the side.
“Can I help?” Ferrin asked, coming over.
“Our friends here can use your help,” Alburet said. “Stewart, this is—”
“Ferrin Giovin,” Stewart said stiffly. “I know him. His mother used to be a regular at the inn when I was younger.”
“She always hoped to see the divide erased,” Ferrin replied with a furrowed brow.
“Ye have to forgive him,” Grimgar said. “Stew had a bit of a hero crush on her before she went to the church.”
Everyone looked to Stewart, who looked away, “Fine. I’m sorry I was snippy.”
“She spoke of you,” Ferrin spoke softly. “The little boy who always seemed so happy until one day, you stopped being happy. She found out about your day out of the inn, and it saddened her that your smile went away after that.”
Jaw dropping, Stewart blinked, “She... what?”
“Why don’t you all get acquainted?” Gerald said. “You’ll be in the rear groups to start with.”
“I’ll lead them,” Almira said. “We will be there when called.”
“Al?”
Kim was walking toward them with a pensive look on her face.
“Kim? What are you doing here? You’re pregnant.”
“I came to give you a gift from us that might help you,” Kim said.
Alburet took the offered item from her, looking at the two bracelets in his hand. “The Heartstone?”
“Yes,” Kim said softly. “I’m sure you can find a way to use them that will help you succeed. We do still ask that you help the King, too.”
“Kim,” Karen snapped, “our family rides on that quest.”
Kim nodded with soft eyes, “I know, Karen. I don’t ask lightly. We’ve been friends for a while now. You should know how I feel about family.”
Grimacing, Karen looked away, “Yea...”
“It’s his choice, but we have to ask. This is still our world and we need Justiceson.”
Stacia took Alburet’s arm and put the bracelet on him, then the other on herself. “Ya can give the ring to the King, Asthore.” Karen looked at her with betrayal, but Stacia continued, “I will go to Mother and ask her to keep me healed.”
Fluff gasped, “If you get continuous healing, then he will, too.”
“Aye. His life will be greater than with a single chance to avoid death once,” Stacia nodded. “It also lets him do as our friend suggested and save the King.”
Alburet looked deep into Stacia’s eyes and could see her hope and fear. “You sure? I won’t have you here with me.”
“I be knowin’ tha’. This be better.”
“I agree,” Fluff said. “The ring was a stopgap, and a bad one, at that.”
Karen seemed torn, “The ring and the bracelet, though…”
“Karen,” Kim said softly, touching her shoulder. “I know your happiness is at stake, but so is our world.”
Bowing her head, Karen sighed, “Dad would agree.” Letting out a deep breath, she nodded. “Fine.” Going to Stacia, she hugged the Succubus tightly, “Please, please… make sure this works. I don’t want to lose you both.”
“Aye. I need to be goin’ to make sure I be ready to help.”
“Thank you,” Kim said, giving them each a hug. “Please come visit once this is over.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Alburet said. When he released Kim, he grabbed Stacia and hugged her tightly. “Be safe.”
Yuna landed next to them. “Lord Darkhand, Mother is waiting at your manor. I was told to deliver the message.”
“It seems they’re waiting for us,” Alburet murmured as he released Stacia so Fluff and Karen could hug her. “I need to deliver a ring. I’ll be right back.”
Heading over to where Tyr and Roberto stood, Alburet waited for them to finish speaking. “Majesty, I have a gift from Alpha Company for you.”
Roberto tensed for a moment, then shook his head, “I feared for a moment that this was like the gifts the others received, but I know that wouldn’t happen from you.”
“No, but it is a ring the King should be wearing for this raid,” Alburet handed Roberto the ring.
Roberto looked and whistled before handing it to Tyr. “You have my thanks, Alburet.”
“It is from Alpha Company,” Alburet said.
“Of course it is,” Tyr nodded as he exchanged it for another ring. “You received this as your reward from Keeper. I know everything that was given out, Lord Darkhand. I’m surprised you’re giving it to me, considering what I know of your own quest.”
“A friend of mine told me that I should do what I’ve done in the past. I once saved the world by saving a king, and I think I should do it again.”
Tyr stared at Alburet for a long moment, then laughed softly. “I shall accept the gift, and reward you in kind.”
Your reputation with all Stormguard factions is now maxed and can never fall from this standing. You are now deemed a personal friend to the Crown of Stormguard.
Alburet looked shocked and bowed. “I’m honored, Sire.”
“As am I to know that some of the Two-souled think that saving me is worth their own happiness,” Tyr said. “Best of luck with your quest, Alburet.”
Alburet bowed his head again before heading back to the group. Stacia was gone and Karen a roiling mess of emotions. Putting his arms around Karen, he held her tightly. “Calm down, Karen, this will work. Stacia believes in it, Fluff believes in it, and so do I.”
“I know, but… it’s a big leap of faith.”
“Yeah, it is,” Alburet admitted. “We’ll make it work. Mother was even ready for it, which means that we have a god on our side.”
“True, and he is a pretty good guy,” Karen sniffled, stepping back. “Fine, let’s do this. I’m going to get you to myself tonight, though. The others already agreed.”
Alburet felt his lips pull up into a smile. “Two out of three falls?”
“Damned right.”
Chapter Forty-seven
Following the other Guilds into the minor security wing, Alburet felt ten
sion building in the air as they all waited for the shoe to drop. As the last of the Two-souled marched into the wing, the gates slammed shut behind them, cutting them off from the natives and the graveyard. The people that had been selected to hold the graveyard tried to break through the second gate, but realized they had another, more pressing concern when a creature rose up from that same graveyard behind them.
Gerald spun when the gates slammed shut, in the middle of giving an order. The ground throughout the wing erupted upward, showering anyone nearby in dirt, stone, and— in some cases— blood.
Gerald changed direction instantly, ordering Alpha Company into units to combat the creatures closest to them, with Blaze and Benedict following his lead and doing the same.
“Ironhand, hold the one to the right. Violet, take the groups closest to you and hold the left. Fredton, Hilda, Manuel, your groups are with me on this… Dragon?” Gerald ordered and Charged forward, slamming his shield off the skeletal maw of the beast that was just finishing pulling itself from the ground.
“Experiment 68?” Alburet asked, flapping hard to gain altitude as Imps, Succubi, Cherubim, and Seraphim came over the walls.
“I’ll owe you one?” Fluff asked.
Blinking in surprise at the comment as combat was starting, Alburet was the last one to start damaging the mob they had taken. “Fluff, your lessons with Karen are showing.”
“Keep the chatter down,” Gerald said, cutting off the conversation. “We need to find out what tricks this beast has and be ready to help the others if they need it.”
“Sorry,” Alburet replied. “Um, Gerald... there are dozens of Experiments in this courtyard.” Flying higher, he got a quick count. “Over fifty of them, in fact.”
“I don’t think any of us saw this coming,” Marysue said. “The one to our right looks like a mutated undead Troll, and the one to the left looks like an undead Lunine-Vermin crossbreed.”
“They look kind of fresh,” Brightlight mentioned. “I don’t think these are like that Sandworm from before.”
“Definitely not in the health category,” Jaxton added. “These almost look tailored for groups of five-ish people to handle each one.”
“Can’t get behind it or beside it easily,” Karen shouted. “The tail and wings are making life hell. And, as undead, they’re basically immune to poisons. I would kill for some Light damage poisons right now.”
“Or a Light damage trap,” Ironhand added.
“It’s rearing back! Everyone, take cover,” Gerald ordered as he tried to stun the beast again, but the Dragon ignored it.
Roiling miasma covered everyone near Gerald, causing them to choke and vomit. The vomit turned out to be clouds of small insects that swarmed around those who had spat them out, biting and stinging.
“Marysue, area heal,” Alburet ordered, diving into the middle of the group and Fire Bursting as the miasma vanished. Fire flashed out from around him, killing the bugs but also hurting his allies.
“We got it,” Marysue said, stacking a few heals on the area and bringing the players back up.
“Thank you,” Gerald said as Manuel took the Experiment from him. “I’m very glad you can still hurt allies with that spell. They had just started to get into my armor.”
“No problem. Let’s find out what the cooldown on that Ability is,” Alburet said.
“Our fire doesn’t do a lot,” Bob said, coming over to float beside Alburet. “The Cherubim are doing more at the moment, but even then, it’s a little thin up here.”
“Cal,” Alburet called out to the Demon Lord leading the Infernal air support.
“What do you need, Lord?”
“It’ll cost some lives, but fire isn’t working well. Get volunteers to go after the ones with eyes. If we can cause them any distress at all, it’ll help swing the battles more in our favor.”
Cal grimaced, but nodded, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Alburet looked over the entire yard, “All of them are being hurt at roughly the same speed. Why does that make me very leery?” Shaking his head, Alburet called down to Gerald, “Gerald, get the different groups to vary their damage up. We want them to hit the milestone health points at different times.”
“You see something?” Gerald asked.
“No, but my gut says we don’t want them all transitioning at once.”
“Okay.” Gerald passed the word along to the rest of Alpha Company, telling each small cluster to slow down at intervals to space them out. Once he had, he used the Command Raidstone to inform the other leaders of what they were doing.
Blaze quickly accepted the idea. Benedict took a moment to agree, but did as well. The smaller Guilds near the far gate ignored the suggestion, going all out instead.
“Parsnew,” Alburet called the handmaiden over. “Stack your help more to that side,” he told her, indicating the far gate. “When all of those Experiments hit seventy-five or sixty-six percent, it’s going to get nasty as fuck.”
“I shall shift the Cherubim and Seraphim,” Parsnew nodded. “Can you feel the air?” she asked hesitantly.
Alburet nodded slowly, the itch he was feeling at the back of his mind solidifying. “They have a buff that isn’t showing. See if anyone can find the source.”
“I’ll have some of the Seraphim look for anything out of the ordinary,” Parsnew said.
“Getting close,” Ironhand said over the Raidstone. “Let’s see what they do?”
The Troll let out an enraged scream, slamming its massive hands into the ground when it hit seventy-five percent health. Everyone fighting it and a few in Gerald’s group were too close and got stunned. Experiment 70 shuddered as its flesh fell off it, releasing the giant beetles inside of it to attack Jaxton and the other tanks on it, stacking debuffs with each bite.
“That’s not good,” Alburet said. “Bob, if the healers can’t get those debuffs off, try cleansing them.”
“Got it,” Bob said as BJ and BB shifted closer to the other fight.
“Ours is about to go,” Violet said.
When Experiment 68 hit the seventy-five percent mark, nothing happened, making the groups nearby pause some, surprised over the lack of transition. Alburet stifled his curse, “Gerald, they’re either twenty-five or thirty-three percent transitions. Just have each group slow when approaching those points to make sure we don’t overlap them.”
“Ours is up next,” Gerald said as the Dragon’s life dropped. “Everyone, get ready.”
When Experiment 68’s life hit sixty-six percent, it flapped its skeletal wings and began to lift off from the ground, knocking everyone close to it back.
“Every minion nearby, dogpile this thing! Drive it back to the ground,” Alburet said as he rushed the beast.
Unfortunately for Alburet, he was the first one close to it. Experiment 68 snapped at him, catching Alburet before he could pull back. He grunted in pain, losing sixteen percent of his life in a single bite. Imps, Succubi, Cherubim, and Seraphim nearby were there a moment later, all hitting the Dragon and forcing it back to the ground.
Alburet’s lost health was restored before Marysue or the healers that could reach him had finished a single spell. “Thank you, beloved,” Alburet murmured, following the others down to the ground.
The fights involving Alpha Company groups started to go more smoothly once everyone understood the transition phases and could prepare properly for them. Delvers and Heart’s Light also adapted and were soon coming out on top of their fights. The smaller Guilds still didn’t listen to the warning, and— not used to working with others— all transitioned their mobs without thought for their nearby allies. The groups on the far side of the courtyard were getting decimated as multiple Experiments transitioned at the same time.
The Angels and Infernals did their best to help, but one-by-one, the Experiments fighting on the far side killed the Two-souled facing them. With the groups on them dead, they turned to help the other Experiments, speeding up the disaster in the making.
That was the turning point for the minor security wing, as the bosses started dying. When each one died, the group that had been fighting it went to the next closest mob, snowballing the damage like the Experiments had almost done to them.
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 41
