“Look, I love my husband, and that’s why I won’t go around with another man, no matter how normal it is, or how lonely I get. Alright, so stop bothering me.”
-Statement from an anonymous hunter
*=====*
Caleb knew something was happening. Thinking about it, he knew for a long while —at least beyond the obvious— that something was happening. The news about a terrorist attack in the city was the catalyst, the spark, and the terror and fear and anxiety in the city was the reactant, the gunpowder. Things were moving much faster than people anticipated, as evinced by their lich teacher’s impromptu move order.
Caleb, along with his friends Mark, a large man with a full beard, and Eva, an equally large woman who could probably crush his head in her fist, followed along with the group as they made their way down the streets of Green Oasis, all of them wearing grim expressions. Eva, finally sick of the silence, sighed, “Do you think we’ll be safe on that ship? I mean, it’s like Davy Jones’ locker up there and it’s weird!” she cried out, “I don’t want to join the Bone Zone!”
Mark snorted at her words, “The ‘Bone Zone’? Can’t you come up with something better? Like the Cursed Crew? Or the… I can’t think of anything else…” he trailed off.
“What we call them doesn’t matter! I’m just worried that I’ll get turned into a skeleton and be forced to dance along to spooky scary skeletons!” she continued, “What’s so wrong with that?”
“For one,” Caleb began, turning to the two towering figures, “I don’t even know if she knows that song. Second of all, why the hell would she do that? She’s got those other people on her ship. Besides, that other girl seemed to like her well enough.” He hoped his assumptions were right, but he could just as easily be wrong and be in for a world of hurt later on; either way, he was sticking to his guns.
Eva pouted, slapping him on the back with enough force to break his spine —proverbially— and shook her head, “No! What if that other girl’s not alive either? What if she’s a vampire? Oh! Maybe she’s a princess! One that’ll be all nice and stuff when you get to know her…” she giggled, spacing out as they rushed through the streets.
Caleb sighed, “Before you start daydreaming about cute princesses to save, pay a bit more attention to your boyfriend; I certainly won’t,” he said, pointing to a miffed Mark.
Eva pouted at him again, “You couldn’t do anything about it anyway,” she said.
“Just because I don’t like romance or any of that stuff doesn’t mean I’m not sympathetic to other people; stop saying otherwise.” Caleb did not like romance, but he was just as capable of being sympathetic to others as anyone else was.
“Why do I get the feeling you two would make a great couple?” Mark asked flatly. They rounded a corner and Caleb realized that they were close to the headquarters. A building here or a street there would stick out in his mind as being familiar.
Eva smiled brightly, “Mark, don’t worry! I love you both equally!” Caleb knew she meant it, which would have been a nightmare for most others in his position.
“I still refuse to join your harem, Eva. Find another guy to fill my place, alright?” Caleb replied; Eva was weird, he reiterated in his mind for the thousandth time. “Besides, why aren’t you satisfied with Mark? He’s good to you.”
Mark waved a hand as he ran, “Don’t try to stop her; I tried for years, but she still wants her harem.”
“And I’ve been asking for just as long why you don’t care that she wants one. I mean, what the hell? Is she really that wild in bed?” he asked. He may not have found anyone attractive in the sense that other guys did, he was still somewhat knowledgeable on the subject, all at the fault of Eva and her endless rants about the topic of sex.
Mark rolled his eyes, “What if I just want to support her?” he asked, “She has a dream and I’ll help her achieve it.”
“Markie, I know you just want to have fun with any cute girls I find on my quest,” Eva laughed, “What about that princess? Did you think she was cute?”
“First of all,” Mark replied, “I don’t think she’s a princess. Secondly, I doubt she’d be interested in either of us; I mean, she followed the lich around like a puppy. She’s got to be in bed with the skeleton.”
“Is that even physically possible?” Eva asked, wearing a confused expression that matched how Caleb felt.
In lieu of response, Mark shrugged and pointed forward to the now-approaching headquarters. They rushed through the front doors, only to find the whole building in chaos. From the far side of the room, their host Eaner stood, giving orders to various skiffers around him. With a glance at them, he beckoned them over. Once they were close, he began to look a bit awkward, “I… understand that you may be… angry with me. I-”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Most shook their heads, though those like Caleb did not feel the need to with so many doing the same. The man may have misled them, but that was hardly bad. He had such confidence in their abilities that he believed they would do great things during the war. And, he did not force them to fight, which was the most important thing.
“It’s fine, Eaner,” their spokesman, Philip said, “We get it. Besides, the vote of confidence is appreciated.” The man smiled, but it was not the happy smile he wore before. It was a grateful smile laced with melancholy and stinging sadness.
“You know how the guy’s feeling, right?” Eva whispered to him, “Come on, spill the beans! Put that experience as a bartender to good use!”
Caleb rolled his eyes and held up a finger, their signal to wait for later, and focused back on the exchange between Eaner and Philip. The captain, for his part, had a grateful expression, “Thank you for understanding. What are you doing back here? Wait, are you leaving so soon?”
Philip nodded, “We are. This shrewish orc came aboard and talked to the lich for a bit, then she sent us off to grab our stuff,” he explained before an odd expression appeared on his face, “Are you sure she’s trustworthy? She’s… just…”
“Not what you are used to,” Eaner finished, “I understand that you may think I dislike her due to our exchange, but that is not the case; few have challenged me to my face like she has and I respect her for it. I also suspect she respects me as well, though in a different way than I do her. If you want my opinion on whether she is trustworthy or not, then I will say this: the Creators trust her, so I do as well. Now, go get yourselves ready and packed, say goodbye to your friends, and be ready in five minutes; I will give each of you something important.”
Philip nodded, turning back to them and gesturing to their wing of the manor. After another walk, they were in their barracks. Most of them did not have too much to their names, either personal effects or clothing. Luckily, most of their phones made it through the crash and they were able to bring them. Unfortunately, most of the phones were low on battery and the ones that were not had lost power entirely. As Caleb finished his packing, he gestured to the waiting Eva and Mark, “Come on, let’s go meet the others while we wait for the rest of them.”
As they walked through the building, Eva tapped his shoulder, “So, what’s up with Phil? Why’s he seem a bit different?”
Caleb shrugged, “My guess is it has to do with the lich. Other than that it’s anyone’s guess.” Eva nodded. They soon came upon another door. He knocked twice, then a third time. The door parted and two familiar faces met them, “Hey guys,” he said, walking into the room.
“H-Hey…” the shy girl to his left greeted.
“Yo,” the guy beside her, rubbing her head like a dog’s, followed up, “You guys going now?”
“Yeah, we are. We wanted to say bye to you.”
“And we wanted to make sure you two are close enough to each other before we leave,” Eva added.
Caleb shook his head, “That’s what she wants to do.”
“Agreed. I am not one to meddle in my friends’ love lives,” Mark agreed.
Eva pouted to them, “Oh come on! You guys need to have more fun! I mean, just imagine it! All five of us, a candle-lit room, a wide bed…”
The man laughed, “Eva, I’m not doing that.”
Caleb nodded, “Neither am I. No offense, Josh, Ursula.”
“None taken,” Josh replied.
“S-Same,” Ursula agreed.
“Are you two going to be alright?” Mark asked, “I mean, you’re going to be alone here with a bunch of strangers, with nothing to do but stay put.”
Josh shook his head, “We’ll be fine. Eaner gave us some stuff to take care of while they’re gone and we get a big chunk of change to handle between all of us. Besides that, there are a few who aren’t going with you guys like the chefs and paper pushers; they never wanted a part in the Aekan business, just like us.”
The five of them smiled and said their farewells before the three left the room. Caleb knew exactly why the two had commandeered a small meeting room, but he let it remain unsaid. Another walk later, and they were back in the front hall with their luggage slung over their backs. Most of their comrades had joined them by the time they arrived, but there were a few faces missing from the crowd, notably Kevin and Natalia.
Before long, though, the last ones returned, some in a state of sadness and others determined. Kevin and Natalia were both acting awkwardly around each other, which came as a surprise to Caleb —he thought a meteor falling from the sky and crushing them all was a more believable scenario than the two hawks of their group acting like school children in love.
Before he could make more assumptions, Eaner came from a side hallway with a box held under his shoulder. He laid the box on the ground with a grunt and opened it. In the box was a pile of holsters, all filled by revolvers. He turned to them, “This, my friends, is a symbol of being one of us. It’s a little piece of runework that lets you shoot without any recoil. At all. Come and get one, then get going; you shouldn’t keep your host waiting.” They all lined up and took a holster, a box of bullets coming free with the gun, and put it on their belts.
Before they could admire the finely-made gun, they were rushed out of the building by Eaner, restating his earlier statement. Following his advice, they made haste to the lich’s skiff, weaving through familiar streets as they did. After many more minutes of running, they made it to the warehouse. The floor, unlike before, was clear of any boxes or parts, and the large doors that led to the sandways were open. The front ‘wall’, though, was open and revealed an impatient-seeming lich standing in front of a pair of levers, “There you are! Get up here, we’re leaving!” she shouted.
Caleb thought of a quote from earth:
‘No rest for the wicked.’