Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (2 page)

Scout was the ranged version of the same class and was built around a critical damage attacker philosophy that used short bows and ambush positions.

Thief was a rogue class built around a high rate of successful critical attacks and crippling debilitating attacks.

Doctor happened to be a straight-up physical healer that could use a few of the baseline restorative magics, but did far better with preventative and post-combat magics.

Finally, he’d also gained Elementalist, a primordial casting class specializing in skill shots.

“Tree line, perhaps twenty. Ten seconds out. Caught the flash of metal.”

“Right, then. Lady Death, Nadine, wagon top. Defensive position work. Kitten, on me for primary contact. Hanners, sheep dog as able, out of sight until possible. ROE is reactionary, body bag ’em if they go.”

Almost before he finished speaking they were already on the move. They’d practiced quite a bit in the arena back in Faren with situations like this.

Thana blinked to the indicated position and reached down to assist Nadine up. Hannah gave no indication of hearing one way or the other, though he swore he heard her cursing, and slunk a few steps backwards from the roadbed.

Crackling, sputtering, fiery lightning circled in his left hand, waiting for a target. Runner hadn’t tried combining spells, but there was never a time like the present to improvise.

Question is, do they burn, get stunned, or both? Fried pork comin’ right up either way…now I want some bacon. Love me some bacon.

You have developed the ability Spell Weaving

Congratu—

Snapping the dialogue box off in mid prompt, Runner growled. Waiting wasn’t easy for him. Waiting made his teeth itch.

He began pouring more mana into the little ball o’fun at his side. The hiss of flames and hollow roar of contained lightning grew louder by the second.

Riders broke free of the shadows, riding towards his group in a wedge formation. It was a discouraging sight for Runner. As he let his eyes move from one to another, he began recalculating their chances of winning a direct confrontation.

Coated in plate mail, they were listed as “Knights.” A secondary promotion that had a baseline of level fifty.

Between that and the fact that the knights were high enough in level that he couldn’t actually determine their strength, he only got a series of question marks instead of their stats
.

Each held a lance in one hand, the butt resting in the stirrup, and their other hand held a type of kite shield. No doubt lingered in his mind that each knight would pull a sword free once they closed the distance to a point that their lance would be ineffective. Runner and company were now very outclassed and in a whole of a lot of trouble.

Ah, fuck me with a kazoo.

He considered firing off the Retreat/Rendezvous command, but he was not sure their horses could outrun a full party of battle chargers. They were made for hauling cargo and little else. Gym rat horses.

Katarina sheathed her sword and hung her head, as if she’d given in to defeat before they even engaged. It was so very unlike the brave woman that he felt his heart lurch in his chest. Thana blinked into existence beside Katarina, the butt of her staff planted in the ground.

In the few seconds it took for him to register the scene, not only had his spell faded into nothing, but the riders had come to a halt before them. Lances pointed to the sky, they seemed hesitant. The one at the head of the formation lifted their visor after a few heavy seconds.

Sunless, male, middle-aged. His gaze was locked on Thana, as if he recognized her. Almost as an afterthought, the Natural—he couldn’t view them as NPCs anymore—let his eyes slide over each of them. Assessing, cataloging, calculating.

“Your pardon, Your Highness,” said the Knight respectfully. “It is a wonder you’ve been found. Many feared you lost. We’ll assemble an honor guard once the Barbarian infantry arrives.”

Runner felt nothing but confusion and then looked to Thana again. Early on he’d assumed her eloquent speech, intellectual debate, and manners made her a noble in the peerage. He’d just not thought of a high enough position it would seem.

Thana made no response that Runner could determine. Instead, silence held sway over them as they waited. Taking a moment, he cleared the congratulatory message in regards to
Spell
Weaving
and a pending level up offer. Opening the ship’s system window, he found Srit still listed as “Active.” Perhaps Srit had realized he would be unable to respond at this time and was merely waiting.

Going over the starship’s systems one at a time, he found nothing wrong or in error. In checking the lockouts on all of the ship’s systems, he found nothing out of the ordinary. He’d enacted them to prevent the crew from possibly discovering that they’d been adrift for forty-four thousand years.

Selecting the accounts for his party, he gave them access to all the systems in case they needed them. Who knew where this latest development would take them.

Looking up to Nadine, he found her finger still resting on the guard but she seemed unsure. Getting her attention with a wave of his hand, he motioned to her crossbow. Making eye contact with Hannah, he tried to subtly indicate for her to get in the wagon. It would be one thing to explain they had a compatriot in the wagon, another that she had been lurking around in ambush.

As if noticing for the first time she’d remained armed, Nadine unloaded the bolt and disengaged the locked string. Hooking it to her belt, she looked around to see how she could make her way down.

Moving to stand below her, Runner held up his hands.

“Come along then, my fierce little merchant. Hop down, I’ll catch you.”

She wrinkled her nose at him, her green eyes promising pain.

“If you drop m-m-m-me, Runner…” she said menacingly
.

“Yep, got it. Hop to and hop. Else we’ll begin calling you Rabbit. Actually, that’s not a terrible nickname, is it? Rabbit?”

Scowling, she pointed at him with her left hand.

“You’ll address m-me appropriately.”

“Then hurry the hell up, Rabbit. Quick quick like a bunny.”

Sighing, Nadine jumped down without another word. Runner caught her easily and set her down before she could even complain. Using her as a distraction had given Hannah enough time to clamber into the wagon without being noticed one way or the other.

Turning, he faced the lead Knight once more and threw a thumb backwards, in the direction of the wagon.

“We have another member in the wagon. May she exit so she might join us? I ask because I’d rather not surprise you later.”

Nodding his head once, the Knight said nothing, content in his Natural protocol to await input and do nothing.

Runner patted the fabric of the wagon twice, and Hannah clambered out and joined them on the ground.

Eventually there was movement in the tree line. Slithering out of the tree line came three parties of Barbarian warriors, men and women both. They all hesitated when they saw the Sunless Knights drawn up as they were, until they noticed Runner and his party.

Picking up the pace to a trot, they hurried over. Thana shifted uneasily as they came, her pale fingers tightening on the shaft of her staff.

Almost in unison, every Barbarian went down to one knee in front of Katarina, each hand slamming home to their chest as their heads bowed. Runner looked from the Barbarians to the Knight once more. He’d assumed the Knights had been addressing Thana…

“Princess Katarina, please allow me to lead your honor guard. His Majesty would be honored to hold a reception in your honor. Then I imagine your father would wish to have you returned as swiftly as possible.”

“As you will,” replied a listless Katarina. She’d raised her head and addressed the man directly. From where Runner stood he could only see her profile, but even then she looked defeated.

Runaway princess perhaps?

It wasn’t completely unbelievable. Katarina had a directness that brooked no arguments, an intelligent mind despite speaking in clipped phrases, and conducted herself expertly. She cared little for niceties and seemingly approached everything head-on. What did that make Thana, then?

“Please provide me five of your men for an escort for the princess and her lady-in-waiting,” the Knight said, addressing the woman at the front of the Barbarians. He rotated to address another Knight beside him. “Sergeant, put the others under guard and escort them to the stockade,” the Knight commanded.

“No, you will not.”

“Princess, I apologize, but it is the will of the king that all found in or near Crivel should be confined.”

“Allow them to travel with me, or I draw steel. We’ll see who supports who.”

Sensing her mood, the platoon of large muscled Barbarians faced the Knights and fingered their weapons. The Knights in turn began easing their mounts backwards, weapon tips starting to dip downwards.

Runner quickly interjected before this got out of hand. The Knights and Barbarians would only perform the functions allowed to them by their original coding.

“Pardon, Sir Knight, I was in the process of escorting the princess back to friendly territory. I freed her and the Lady Thana from captivity. I only wished to complete my quest.”

Runner emphasized the word quest, hoping that somewhere in that programmed brain it would pick up on a radiant quest indicator and roll with it. Deeply embroiled in his internal thoughts, the Knight stared at Runner. To him it was clear the Knight’s AI was running roughshod over its databases to determine if there might be relevant information.

A Quest has been generated

“Escort Princess Katarina Home”

Experience Reward: 25% of current level

Reputation: 15

Money: 5 Platinum

Do you Accept?

Yes/No

WARNING! Experience Reward is adjusted based on current level at turn in.

Letting out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, Runner smiled and mentally accepted the quest.

Quest Accepted

“As you will, Your Highness. I meant no disrespect, but I must obey my king. They will travel with you, though in the wagon and under guard. They are considered suspect until otherwise cleared,” the Knight grudgingly allowed. Turning his mount, he spun from the group and pointed at two other knights. A handful of Barbarians broke off from the group to fall in with the Knights.

It would seem their brief freedom of choice and destination had been taken from them. There would be no fighting free from them without casualties. Better to play along for now.

This’ll give me a chance to talk with Srit anyways.

He moved to Katarina and patted her on the shoulder, catching her eyes with his own. Smiling, he tried to reassure her.

“Don’t worry about it, Kitten. If anything, I needed time to plan and talk to Srit. Do what you can for us, but don’t start a second war this continent doesn’t need.”

Katarina blinked at him and then slowly smiled, her black eyes lighting up. Her defeated posture straightened out a bit, and it looked as if she was awakening for a second time.

“Yes, Runner.”

“Good. Thank you, Princess Kitten,” he said teasingly. He grinned wide at her, enjoying the look of mild embarrassment that colored her cheeks.

After nodding to Thana, he left their company and mounted the driver’s box and clambered inside the wagon. Hannah and Nadine had already taken up their own seats. Hannah looked extremely vexed.

“Hanners, it would have been infinitely harder to explain why we had a stealthed companion they didn’t know of. I’m sorry. I truly believe it’s better for us to lay our cards on the table, as it were. At least for the time being.”

“Fuck you,” she grumped, her arms folding across her chest.

Runner caught himself before he replied. Before yesterday, he had treated them without care for how they took his actions or words. Today was a different day. They were alive to him, not bits of code strung together with an AI to facilitate human mimicry. Hannah, Nadine, Katarina, and Thana were all alive and very much women. Women he’d been shamelessly flirting with and been far too forward with previously.

They’d been together for months on their journey here, and a strong bond had formed between them all. He could continue treating them as he had, as he had resolved to the night before, or become exactly who he was in reality. Outside of the game, back in the Sovereignty. A coward.

“I’m flattered by the offer, but it’s not the time or place. I mean, damn, that’s pretty kinky, but no. Not to mention I don’t think Nadine would want to watch,” he said, gesturing at Nadine.

“Runner!” Nadine hissed at him, her face coloring a deep red.

Hannah laughed, shaking her head, sending her black hair to and fro.

“Good! I’m glad that ice on your balls from yesterday melted. Asshat. I was afraid you’d gotten boring.”

“Working on it. Yesterday changed a lot of things.”

Runner dropped his eyes to the floor of the wagon. Ted’s death lingered on him though not as badly as he had feared. He wouldn’t be the same, but he still valued Hannah’s life more than Ted’s.