I started walking west from the house and turned right, headed north, on the first street I came to. As I walked along the sidewalk, I noticed more people were out doing various things in their houses or yards. Some of them looked at me wearily. I was wearing my tac vest and weapons including my bow, sword, hammer and knives, and my firearm in its holster on my right side. Not to mention I had a very large dog walking with me.
What I noticed the most however, was a large number of people that wouldn’t look me in the eye upon seeing me going down the street. They gave off a vibe of “I don’t see him, he doesn't see me.” Whatever it was, there was definitely fear coming from these people. Not that I blame any of them at all.
I was a block and a half along the street, nearing my destination, when Dog slowed and let out a deep growl. Three men stepped away from a vehicle on the opposite side of the street and moved towards the middle of the roadway. “Hold," I said quietly, looking down at Dog. Dog stopped where he was on the sidewalk, no longer growling, but never let his attention fall from the three men.
The man in the lead was of average height and build comparable to mine. He was wearing tan tactical cargo pants with black knee pads and a long sleeved black polo shirt and elbow pads. He also wore a ballistic plate carrier equipped with a firearm holster and two spare mag pouches. However, what caught my eye was the fact the man was wearing a black metal Spartan helmet. From under the helmet hung a long black beard that reached the top of his plate carrier. In his left hand, held down to the side, was a large Viking style round shield clad in what looked like sheet metal. In the center of the shield was the image of a Spartan helmet. His right hand rested on what looked like a large, one handed bearded axe, in a thong on his belt. I fired off a couple of Inspects: Human, level 7, warrior.
The other two men standing behind him just to the left and the right, were similarly dressed, except the shorter man to my left: Human, level 6, Paladin, wore a police issued tac vest similar to my own. He was armed with a long boar spear that held a vicious looking blade. The other man to my right: Human, level 7, blacksmith, carried a smaller kite shield and an even more vicious looking morning star. Both men were likewise armed with handguns in holsters on their right hips.
With my bow in my left hand, I slowly rested my right hand on my firearm. “So what's it going to be, boys and girls? Shootout at a little past noon,” I taunted. “I mean technically we’re already past noon by my watch.”
“I was thinking something a little more “Medieval,” the lead man stated as he pulled out his bearded axe. In readiness, he raised his shield and slammed the bearded axe twice on the front.
“Seems like a losing proposition for me," I responded. Three against one and all.”
“Three against two," the man responded. Your pup there looks like he wants to eat us alive.” At that, Dog let out another short low growl.
“I’ll tell you what," I replied. "I’ll tell my dog to sit, as long as you instruct your dogs to do the same." With a chuckle, the lead man turned his head to the side and nodded once. The two men backed up out of the roadway and onto the sidewalk. I turned to Dog and said in a firm voice “Mine,” and sent my willpower with the intention for Dog to stay out of the fight. Dog, still looking at the man, chuffed and sat down.
I turned back to the man, slowly drew an arrow and nocked it. In a southern style country drawl, I said “I’m your huckle-bearer.”
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Mimicking the country accent, the man responded with, “Say When.”
At that moment, I drew up my bow and let the arrow fly, then quickly reached for another one. The man caught the arrow on his shield and started moving forward rapidly, but I was able to let another arrow fly. Once again, the man caught the arrow on his shield. I tossed my bow quickly behind me into the grass in a nearby front yard. I was just in time to see the bearded axe blade coming for my head. I ducked forward and rolled to the left, coming up to my feet in the middle of the street. I turned to face the man, pulled out my sword and started towards him.
The man never relented, swinging his axe for another blow from my left. This time I parried the strike and turned the axe down and away. I let the block momentum carry my blade around and performed a slashing attack down towards the man’s right shoulder and neck area. The man stepped aside, raising his shield blocking the attack. With my momentum stopped, I took one step back and reengaged my target with another slashing strike to the man’s left side. Again the man’s shield was there in time to counter the attack.
I could feel that even though the man was a slightly higher level than I was, I was still slightly faster. But I also felt the man’s shield mastery was more than on par with my middling sword mastery. I needed to find a way to negate his shield and keep the man on his back foot. If I could accomplish that, I could win. I glanced at my stamina bar and saw that it was down by at least a third. Being low level, I knew I couldn’t keep this pace up for very long. I just hoped the man couldn’t either.
We exchanged more blows but neither of us could gain the upper hand. I tried stepping offline and avoiding the attacks to spin around my target and strike him in his open back. However, no matter what happened, the man’s shield and sometimes his axe was there in time to stop my sword from striking him. I decided to reach behind my back with my left hand and stretch it as far as I could to reach my hammer while still dodging or parrying incoming strikes. I was finally able to pull my hammer free from my belt thong. Checking my stamina bar again, I had just a little less than a quarter remaining. I needed to do something, and do it now.
Two more strikes came back to back in left and right downward strikes. On the second strike, I saw an opening. The momentum pulled the axe away from the man's body as he finished his second strike. I reached out with the claw portion of my hammer and hooked the man’s shield, pulling him off balance. I struck the man on the left side of his helmet with the flat of my blade sending the man stumbling to the side. As I turned to take advantage, the man turned and launched his shield up and away in what could only be described as a shield bash, right into my face.
I stumbled back a couple of paces but still got my sword up to ward off any incoming blows. I heard a deep growl from my side. I glanced over to see Dog on his feet with his head lowered looking like he was about to rush the man. "HOLD," I told Dog and the man. Dog reluctantly held his place.
I could feel the tiredness setting in and looked at my stamina bar which was blinking dangerously low. I turned to the man and stared at him intently, still holding my blade at the ready. The man stared back with equal intent. Gradually, a smile started to turn up the corners of the man’s mouth. I likewise began to smile.
Just then, both of us burst out laughing uncontrollably. We approached each other, put our weapons away, clasped hands and leaned in for a big bro hug, complete with hard buddy pats on the back. “Damn it’s good to see you Joe, I said.
“It’s good to see you too brotha," Joe replied. I knew you’d be around sooner or later.”
Letting go of Joe, I looked over at the shorter man standing on the sidewalk, who had an aggrieved look on his face. “What’s wrong Johnny? Someone piss in your Cheerios?” I said laughing.
“You two could have killed each other, then what?" Johnny asked.
“I thought Paladins could heal grievous wounds,” I replied.
“We can... Wait what? Johnny choked out. How do you know I’m a paladin?”
“The same way I know Joe here is a level 7 warrior, I said, and Pete over there is a level 7 blacksmith." I got skills bro.