Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (52 page)

“Let’s give her a minute or two.”

“You don’t care at all, do you?”

“About her race? Heavens no. Never made a difference to me.”

“I’m done, my lord.”

Runner felt his curiosity surge to the front of his mind and looked back to find a very Human Isabelle behind him. That’d been very quick of her. Stefan had taken his time. Hours even.

Nearly everything about her looked exactly the same. Most of her more alien features were toned down and she had the normal Human beauty that he’d come to expect. Her figure had filled out more with the change. As a rule, the Human race ran a bit thicker.

On some level Runner felt like it was a loss overall. She’d been very…unique as an Elf. The curves didn’t hurt though.

“Fantastic. Let’s away then. Hanners, I’m sorry, I would give you more time but we’ll be heading in. If you want, you can catch up to us later.”

“Change me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Fucking change me.”

“I… okay, Hanners. Okay. We’ll see you in town.”

Targeting Hannah, he used
RaceReset.

As Hannah exploded into blue dust, Runner shook his head. Not wanting to see what she would become, he led Isabelle and Nadine towards Faren.

“You’re disappoin-nted.”

“Only a little. She’s stronger than that. As long as she’s happy, though, I guess.”

They lapsed into silence.

Isabelle and Runner fell in behind Nadine as they approached the front gate, letting her take the lead with their cover story.

“State your business.”

“Merchant. Here to sell and b—”

“Move along.”

Nadine blinked as the guard hurried them along into the city. Apparently merchants weren’t questioned. That or security didn’t matter anymore.

Runner’s paranoia went from nothing to full in a heartbeat. Letting his eyes roll along the alleys and rooftops, he felt the hair on his neck prickle.

“No guards.”

“What?” Isabelle asked, leaning in close to him.

“There’s no guards. None. Just the two at the gate,” Runner explained, gesturing at the streets.

Isabelle’s head swiveled to and fro. Looking back to him, she pressed her lips together and nodded.

“Rabbit, change of plans. Place to lay our heads immediately. Cover will be blown if we stay out in the streets. If it hasn’t already. You’ll lay low while we go about our sneaky business.”

“Un-nderstood.”

Leading them down the main boulevard, Nadine took them into the first inn they found. Closest to the gate and on the main street. A lack of guards made it the best place to keep out of sight.

“Get a room, hunker down. I’ll get in touch with you. Belle? Scout. Find me something.”

Isabelle nodded and then vanished out the open door.

“If Hanners shows up, get her working. See you soon, Rabbit.” Runner grinned and stepped out the door after using
Stealth.

Dodging to the side, Runner made his way into an alley and deeper into the side streets. Deciding to use an advantage he knew of, he looked for a quick way to the rooftops.

As he looked for a low hanging awning, he realized his own idiocy.

Targeting the corner of a low building’s roof, he blinked to the location.

As the cooldown cycled to use the spell again, he pulled out a series of cheap rings he kept on his person for quick enchants.

Loading up two rings with
Blink,
he slipped them onto his fingers. Pulling out a pair of gloves he’d bought for the same purpose, he enchanted them with
Blink
as well. Pulling them on, he then targeted another nearby building that stood higher than the one he was on.

Activating one of the rings, he blinked. Aiming for the warehouse district of town, he began actively blinking his way there, covering large distances as he cycled from one
Blink
to another.

Setting down on what he believed to be the guild house, Runner checked his surroundings.

Nothing and no one of course. It would be unlikely to have anyone up here. At least yet. All bets were off when the Awakening happened.

Taking a seat, he called up his console and flipped through the game wiki pages. The guild “throne room” rested in a third level under the ground floor. Everything else at best was horribly outdated and at worst was completely worthless.

Fantastic.

Groaning, Runner pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Out of nowhere an errant thought shot through him.

How many more have died as you sit here? How many are now dead? In the end, will the server kill everyone?

Yelling unintelligibly, he smacked his palms against his forehead.

“Head on track, Runner. Run on, Runner. Run on, run on, run on,” he whispered to himself.

“Okay, okay. We’re good. Not going crazy. Ah, yes. Minxy? A hand?”

“Both hands if you want. Or anything else you’d like,” teased the lewd goddess. She stood in front of him, her arms crossed behind her back.

“Minxy? Please. Kinda having an existential crisis on top of everything else. If you really want to support me, be my friend for the moment,” Runner complained.

“Of course, lovey. I’ll always be your friend, but I’m afraid I can’t be anything else but me. Not an act, remember?” the goddess asked, walking around him slowly. She paused behind him.

Runner sighed, nodding his head. “Yeah, I remember. I figure I’m going to have to get in to see the current guild leader. I also imagine he’ll not follow me willingly if he can avoid it.”

“Accurate on both counts,” Amelia said, her hands pressing into his shoulders. Her fingers began to press firmly, kneading at his flesh.

“Uuun. That’s lovely,” Runner admitted, closing his eyes and rolling his neck into her hands.

“I imagine. Do you have a plan then?”

“Yeah. Eventually I’ll call on you. You’ll need to ham it up and play the goddess shtick hard. Roll with whatever I throw at you. It’ll be the first step to securing the city, let alone the country.”

“Okie dokie, lovey,” Amelia agreed, her thumbs pressing into the base of his skull.

“Minxy, if it isn’t an act, then why?”

Chuckling, she flicked him in the back of the head before continuing her ministrations.

“Been following you since the beginning, remember? You’re cunning, ingenious, devious, dark, and on top of all that you strive to be good. You sicken and entice me. You’re a cut on my lip that I keep running my tongue over. You’re that scab on my elbow I pick at constantly. That coppery taste in my mouth when I know I need to leave it alone, but I can’t.”

Leaning into her hands, she pressed her palms into the blades of his shoulders.

Runner didn’t respond, and instead simply let her to do what she wanted.

Such a very broken goddess.

Maybe twenty minutes later Runner was peering into the guild house windows. Seeing no one inside, he blinked into the room and immediately activated his
Stealth.

Moving swiftly, he exited the room and crossed into a hallway. Looking down the stairs, he stepped into the stairwell and began taking them down quickly. Reaching the next floor, he slithered around the corner and continued on downwards
.

Peeking down at the ground floor, he caught sight of the stairs that would lead him down further into the viper’s nest.

Throwing a distract at the far wall for stealthed guards, he slid into the open stairwell and dropped a few feet to land on the steps.

Runner lifted his leg up, stepped over the railing, and dropped to the floor proper. Moving slowly in case he bumped into a stealthed guard, he explored the first sub level. Everything had a similar look and feel and nothing stood out to him.

Eventually he found the stairwell to the next level down. Coming up close to it, he was preparing his distract when suddenly a guard appeared out of stealth.

Hitting the man with a
Banishing Blade,
Runner tried to immediately
Stealth
and step back out of the room. Both the blade and the man vanished as Runner moved.

No sooner had he cleared the room than he heard the quiet tread of footsteps as the guard searched his last known area.

Taking a chance since it would break his current invisibility, he visualized the stairwell he had been attempting to close on, then used
Blink
.

Casting the next
Blink
as soon as he caught sight of the bottom of the stairs, he felt reality shift crazily. Not waiting for more problems, Runner spun on his heel and opened the door to the room that he bet the next stairwell would be in. Looking inside towards the spot he expected it to be based on the previous floors’ layout, he smiled.

There it was. Getting a good look at it, he blinked once more and then used the last
Blink
he had to reach the third floor proper.

Slugging down a potion of
Stealth,
Runner scurried out of the way and into a corner to wait.

Footsteps went back and forth above him, and he was sure they searched for the intruder they were sure had been there a minute ago.

Minutes ticked by before Runner felt safe enough to move again. He crept down the hallway, popped open a large set of wooden double doors, and stepped into a dreary imitation of a throne room.

Standing before the throne was an adult man Runner would place in his twenties. Runner’s eyes scanned the corners as he approached the man.

“I know someone’s there. Guards wouldn’t be bumping into walls for no reason.”

Standing twenty feet from the man named “Justinian Wallis,” Runner let his
Stealth
drop.

“Fair deduction. Name’s Runner. I’m here to murder Jacob and desecrate his corpse. Skull fucking him is a very valid option. Totally open to ideas if you’ve got ’em.”

The fair haired man raised his eyebrows at that, his brown eyes studying Runner.

“Or you know, make a soup bowl out of his skull. The trick is you have to cut the lip of the bowl at the point where the eyebrow is. Otherwise it’ll just spill everywhere,” Runner said, tapping the indicated spot on his own head.

“Are you insane?”

“Only on the third Tuesday of every month and it’s three am in the morning. That or when Scott or Linda takes over. They argue about food more often than not when they’re around. Why?”

Justinian looked perplexed at that, his face screwing up in confusion.

“Long story short. I want to bury Jacob. I need help. I figure you can get me it. Willing to cut a deal.”

“Alright. What are you offering?”

“I’ll not waste your time. I am owed a favor by a certain goddess of thieves and assassins. I believe I could get you a champion title in her service.”

“Truly? That’s quite a favor you must be owed.”

“Pretty significant.”

“Why me?”

“Who else? First in line for the throne, lord of the underground, able to keep things running despite a psycho as the king. Place seems free of rats, though you seriously need an interior designer. Bad.”

“Hm. I could never be king after…” He paused, looking around, and then gestured at his surroundings. “This.”

“Agreed. Hence, champion and king of the underworld. And the interior designer of course.”

“And what is the deal exactly then? Say it aloud one more time for me.”

“Fine. I support you in becoming Amelia’s champion in exchange for your assistance in getting rid of Jacob. Do we have an accord?” Runner asked, holding out his hand to the young guild master.

Justinian looked to the ground as he considered the offer and its ramifications. Without raising his eyes from the stone floor, he raised a single finger.

“I would be champion before I agree to this,” he countered.

“That’s acceptable. Though I would have you make your allegiance to your goddess and swear the oath immediately afterwards by her own witnessing. Agreed?”

Nodding his head, the guild master folded his arms atop each other and shifted his weight to the other foot.

Dropping his hand, Runner placed his hands together as if earnestly praying.

“Lady Amelia, I seek your assistance in freeing this land. I beg you for your time,” Runner intoned seriously.

Amelia stepped free from the shadows in the corner. The mask that normally hung to one side of her tunic was pulled up to cover the lower portion of her face. She’d shifted her entire personality to suit his request earlier. Her clothes were fully buttoned up and not a scrap of color could be seen on her.

That or this happened to be who she actually was.

“I will listen, though I will have a price for my time,” she hissed. She stayed near the edges of the room, part of her form dissolving into the shadows around her and reforming as they crawled over her.