She didn't appear behind the monsters. Instead she appeared to Karl's left, sitting in lotus position, looking utterly exhausted and breathtakingly beautiful. “H--” she began to speak, grabbing Karl's total attention. Then she stopped, coughed, and began again.

“Hello, Karl.” She sounded as tired as she looked.

Karl forced himself to brevity given the circumstances. “Hello, Letisha. Glad you're alive. Seen Jim?”

“Yes, fortunately. I rescued him. He should be guarding Michael around now.”

“Yup,” came Jim's voice. Karl glanced up and saw only Michael descending the last few feet to join them, knives drawn.

“Out of arrows. Thanks though,” Michael answered.

Karl blinked. We really, really need to work on better communications. “I take it you were fine?” he asked Letisha.

“I have been luring these things away from the group one at a time. I managed to get eight.”

“You killed eight of them?”

“Near enough, tell you later. For now tell me which way I should lure these things; north, west, or south? I'm not sure I can get all of them but I can lead some of them on a chase for at least a few minutes. Long enough for you to get away. Oh, if you have any magic to boost mana or stamina I could desperately use it right now. Or even some water.”

“Here.” Karl handed her his canteen, which she immediately started draining in big gulps. “I don't know about mana but I'll try. Give me your hand.” She barely lifted a hand so Karl took a knee beside her to grasp it gently. God in Heaven, please guide and inspire my questions to the System. He took a breath. Give mana. Transfer mana. Paladin transfer mana. System, tell me how I can give her mana or stamina. Karl tried everything he could think of quickly.

System Notification:

Bestow Mana transfers mana from the paladin to the recipient. Transfer requires physical contact, directly or through use of Spellsword. Effect: Can transfer up to 8 Mana per level of Paladin.

Bestow Spirit is a paladin spell for levels ten and above. Unavailable at current level.

Cost: 30 Mana plus amount transferred

Karl sighed. “Sorry. Not until level ten apparently. I can give you guardian aura--”

Her eyes snapped open. “No—don't!” Karl released her hand instantly, glad he had taken time to ask.

Letisha sighed in relief. “Thank you, but I have to be vulnerable to lure them. The more vulnerable I truly am, the better it works. Now, pick which way, quick. I need to do it before they engage you.”

“Can you get away after?”

“Probably,” Letisha lied.

Karl knew she was lying. That must be Sense Deceit in action. She expected to die doing this. He considered the options quickly. “What if you try Terry's trick? Lure them north to Post Road, then East along it towards the hobgoblins. You might get them to fight each other and have a chance to slip away.”

“That will work,” she lied. She looked at him sadly as she unfolded and stood. “Thank you.” She looked at the rest of the humans, nodding to each in turn. “All of you. You saved a lot of lives today. Do try to save your own too. Good luck.”

“Wait!” Everyone turned in surprise as Tabitha scrambled to her feet, ran up to Letisha, and then gestured.

Jake's bike appeared beside her.

“It's Systemized!” Jo recalled.

Letisha gasped. Then she seized the bike, and it vanished into her inventory. “Thank you.”

“Get to the road,” Karl urged her.

“This might work,” she murmured honestly. Then she seized Tabitha in a hug. “Thank you, Fire Heart. Live long and burn bright.”

“Thus it is written,” Tabitha replied, smiling.

The chanting of the kythars seemed to be approaching a crescendo. “That's my cue.” She took a few deep breaths, then ran past the group, heading north. She stopped, looked at the humans, the kythars, and adjusted her position to be facing the monsters and not the humans. Then she began to sing.

It was inhumanly beautiful.

She's a Siren, Karl realized. But I thought that was a kind of creature, not a class or skill. Just the indirect sound of her voice was breathtaking, and Karl nearly wept at the thought of her dying. Please survive, he begged her silently through his misty eyes. But the song was not meant for him.

One by one, the kythar stopped chanting to listen to the siren's song. A few began to slowly walk towards her, then all of them were, even the chief. But after a few steps, the chief stopped, shook its head, and bellowed right in the ears of its minions. Two of them shook off the song's effects. For a moment it looked as if Letisha was going to ensnare them all again, even the chief, but her tired voice cracked on a note, and now the chief and three of its minions were fighting the effect. The siren was also backing away, trying to keep distance while still luring the creatures in. It was a delicate balancing act, and eventually Letisha was running, with seven of the kythar in hot pursuit, her voice getting slowly fainter from the camp.

The kythar chief roared its rage and frustration, and then it and the three remaining kythar charged towards the humans.

“Stand or run?” Jim's voice sounded strained.

Karl judged the distances and speeds. “Stand.” Wordlessly Jo pointed behind her and glared. Tabitha sighed, nodded, and got well behind her.

Karl checked his mana. Not great, but he had four or five spells' worth left. Healing would likely be more important than a slight improvement in battle probabilities, so he didn't bother with refreshing guardian auras. He checked his armament, then reached out and grabbed some hot rocks from the extinguished campfire in his gloved hands and dropped them quickly into inventory, wondering if they would cool off more, less, or the same rate in there.

It was Karl, then Michael, then Jo in a line, with Jim hopefully somewhere advantageous. The three kythar were slightly faster than the chief, and each attacked a visible human. Those odds worked well for the humans, but before Karl could dispatch his opponent, the chief arrived, opening with a swipe that Karl took on his shield, almost knocking him into Michael. This left him vulnerable to a side swipe of a claw from the smaller one, causing a wildfire of pain across his belly. An instant later the chief's other claw came slamming down towards his head while his shield was still busy with the first attack.

Karl managed to push forward against the kythar before him just enough that the claw slammed into his back and not his head or neck. He wanted to save his healing but had to spend a healing hands on his gut at least. He was glad the big one was concentrating on him. For all that it hurt, Karl was best armored to withstand those attacks thanks to his shield. He focused his attacks on the little one, trying to take it down so that he could concentrate on fighting the chief. Abruptly it was no longer his fight alone as Michael finished off his own attacker and started in on Karl's.

The next claw attack from the kythar chief attempted to hook under his shield and rip it off his arm (or his arm off his body, which Karl supposed would also suffice in the monster's opinion.) Karl quickly rotated the shield until the claw was forced to slide free. He got stabbed in the leg by his regular kythar opponent. Then the chief appeared to have run out of patience, because it reached out with both claws at once and succeeded in grasping both the left and right edges of his shield. Giving a heave, the chief lifted Karl bodily, his left arm still secured to the shield.

Not wanting to waste the chance, Karl materialized a dagger and attempted to stab the chief in the claw, which wasn't easy, but it was the only part of it he could get at. He managed to do a little damage before the monster began shaking Karl violently. He was likely to snap his neck if he hung on, so reluctantly he released the grip on the shield and let himself be thrown clear. Roaring, the kythar chief flung the shield away behind it. In a field it might have sailed far, but in the woods it hit a tree nearby instead.

Michael finished off Karl's regular kythar just as Jo finished with hers. Apparently that one had repeatedly tried to go around Jo to get at Tabitha, and that played right into Jo's strengths.

While ten kythars had been a serious threat, three kythars didn't take all that long to dispatch. Now it was just the chief. The chief's response to this was to step on its own minion's corpse and sweep its huge claw across all three of them. Karl parried ineffectually with his sword and was knocked hard into Michael, who slammed into Jo. The other claw came sweeping in the other direction and clanged hard against Jo's shield, slamming her into Michael again.

This creature was much harder to kill. Clearly it was an uncommon spawn at least. It had the strength to bat them around like tennis balls.

Karl had had enough of that, so he ran around to the left, taking up station on the creature's right side so at least it couldn't hit them all with a single swipe. Jo started to do the same on the other side.

Then Jim appeared on its back riding a dagger. The chief bucked like a prize bull, causing Jim to fly off backwards and hit the ground hard. He lay there stunned, as the chief picked up a taloned foot and made to stab it down through the rogue. Karl was closest. He had a split-second to decide: hit the creature to throw its aim off, try to yank Jim out of the way, or do something crazy.

Karl dove under the creature's descending claw and summoned another weapon he had in inventory. The hardest part was making sure he didn't impale himself or Jim with this trick, getting the end of the steel pipe to rest on the forest floor.

The kythar chief stabbed itself in the foot. Though not as effective as a blade, the pipe was sturdy enough that the creature couldn't just break it and push on through, and it ended up off balance, standing awkwardly for a moment on one leg and one steel pipe before turning to make the pipe fall aside. It was enough for Karl to yank Jim clear, willing healing hands to work. Jim kipped up and breathed a quick “thanks,” then tumbled to one side, working to get behind the creature again.

Michael and Jo had not been idle while the monster was wobbling, both attacking the leg it stood on, Jo dancing back once the creature regained its balance. Michael preferred to stay in close and stab as rapidly as possible, doing more damage at greater risk to himself. Jim attempted another backstab attack but was thwarted by a flailing talon and had to back up to try again. Karl considered making the run to retrieve his shield, but a glance in that direction showed Tabitha, doing her own thing again, bending over to pick it up.

The kythar chief apparently had decided that Karl was the most annoying opponent and opted to try biting him in half. Karl was unnerved by the approaching maw, but had enough experience at this point to recognize an opportunity--if he could just manage to not actually get eaten of course. He judged the width of the mouth and summoned both of his short swords just as it attempted to close on his torso.

Unfortunately Karl has underestimated the creature's determination to kill him. The monster continued biting down despite stabbing itself in the roof of its mouth in two places, enough for the teeth to dig deep into Karl. Hands free, he summoned hot rocks and tossed them down the thing's gullet. Bring habanero sauce next time, the small part of his brain not overloaded with pain absently noted. The last hot rock was finally unappetizing enough to make the creature give up on Karl's immediate consumption. It opened wide and knocked the swords out of its mouth, and he fell to the ground, finally able to cast healing hands now that he was no longer actually impaled.

He found that he really, really didn't want to move. He wanted his insides to stay inside and he wasn't sure that was going to happen if he moved right now. He cast one more healing hands spell on himself, then checked his mana. He didn't have enough left for a single spell. He was also too exhausted and battered to move. There was a lot of noise and bother going on above him. This big talon was coming down towards him. He didn't want that, but lay there watching it come.

It hit him, and clanged against his shield, which had just landed across his chest. It hurt, a lot, but probably not as much as if it punched all the way through him. Karl turned his head to see Tabitha on her stomach right next to him, as if sliding for home plate. Her face had dirt and leaves falling off of it. She looked wide eyed and terrified, her hands on his shield.

The monster went away for the moment. Karl realized that his health was still plummeting; he was bleeding out. And then somehow he hurt even worse, a burning pain that made him try to scream only he couldn't get enough air. He hated seeing how unhappy Tabitha was. She looked terrified, as if the worst thing in the world were happening to her. She leaned over him for a few more moments, then rolled away onto her elbows and knees and vomited, holding her glowing red hands carefully off the leaves on the forest floor.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Health 4/182

Well, at least it wasn't going down any more. Wow, that takes me back, Karl thought, remembering his very first fights when his health almost hit zero. He just lay there and watched his health and mana and stamina all climb slowly towards normal levels.

“Tabitha! You okay?” Jo asked, coming over, chest heaving as she sucked oxygen. She knelt down next to her partner, whose hands had stopped glowing. Tabitha murmured something like a moan. Jo helped her up, and started leading her away. “Karl? Are you okay?”

“Is it dead? Is everyone alive?” he asked. She nodded. “Then I'm okay. I just need to...let the System...work its magic healing mojo on me.” He wheezed a bit taking a breath, then added. “Tabitha? Thank you. You just saved my life—twice. And...I'm sorry if I hurt you.”

The pyromancer didn't turn around, but paused and nodded acknowledgement before walking away, leaning against her Protector. Karl just stared at the forest canopy for a while. He could still feel his guts stitching back together and it was a creepy sensation. Beats the alternative, he reminded himself.

After maybe ten minutes of lying on his back, Karl felt solid enough to move—barely--and reluctantly got to his feet. He looked at the corpses and looted some silver, hides and talons, and a System token. He left it inventory to think about later, and looked around. “Has everyone looted? Everyone mobile? Where's Jim?”

Michael was leaning against a tree, looking like hell in shredded and bloodstained clothes. “Yes; yes; and gone to track Letisha's pets. He said he'd stealth past the fort and go back via the road.”

“Anything I'm forgetting?”

“Probably.”

Karl gave a dry laugh. “So status quo. Can anybody think of a reason not to head back to the others?” Seeing everyone shake their heads, Karl nodded. Moving carefully, he started walking east. The other three followed.

It wasn't very hard to retrace their steps. Maria's coins were a good guide for part of the way, and just as they were reaching the end of that path, they encountered Christine and Valerie coming the other way. The two groups stopped and looked at each other.

“Everyone made it back to Maria's?”

“Yes, Sir Karl. Chenelle is, um, dealing with people, and sent us to check on you in case you needed extra healing or tracking or 'air support'.” Christine looked puzzled by that last but reported it dutifully. Looking over the returning group, she asked, “Letisha? Jim?”

“Both alive last we saw of them, but they've got seven kythars to deal with wherever they end up. We'll probably hear from at least one of them within the hour.”

“How close is the pursuit?”

He shook his head. “No pursuit. We killed the chief and the ones still with him.”

Karl filled them in as best he could while they travelled east together. Jo added some details that he had missed, including the end of the fight. Michael borrowed a few arrows from Christine.

Shortly before they emerged from the woods onto the Sanchez property, Karl asked, “Did Terry show up?”

Christine hesitated. “Not by the time we left.”

Karl felt a pit of worry in his still-healing stomach. She's been gone nearly three hours. She was hell bent on getting to Danny, which should have taken her at most twenty minutes. Karl tried not to think the worst as they came out onto the back lawn.

A large group of people were milling around, some sitting, some pacing, with about eight others standing guard at intervals around the perimeter. Karl could hear the hubbub of conversation almost immediately. A ragged cheer went up when the returning group was spotted. In response Karl and the others waved, and they broke into a jog to get there in moments.

“Karl, thank God you're here.” Jake looked relieved. “I thought it was bad guarding three kids, and then half an hour ago all these people started showing up. More than half of them don't have a class and are first level. I've only had eight people to protect them, plus a couple of low level combat classers who were just rescued. Karl, we need a Safe Zone to put them in ASAP.”

“Agreed,” Karl said hastily. “We'll clear out one of the nearby houses immediately and move in. Have you scouted them?”

“Just with a couple of second level warriors peeking in through the windows when they guess it's safe. We almost lost them two houses up. All the scouts except George are busy or missing, and I've had him scouting beyond our perimeter so we get some warning if something big heads our way.”

“Sounds like you did everything right, Jake.” The young man let out a long breath at the praise. “Thanks for stepping up when I needed someone.”

“Good work, son,” Michael said. Jake looked startled. Karl sensed that father and son were about to have a private moment, so he stepped away from them.

Chenelle walked up. “Karl.” He turned to look at her and his brain started to seize up; he desperately pushed aside thoughts that he did not have time to deal with right now. She held out a densely written sheet of paper. “Here's our updated census. We've got twelve people at the second Safe House and eighty-three here.” He looked it over. Chenelle had tidy handwriting. It otherwise looked like Terry's list only without the commentary. “I listed combat classed people, then noncombat classed, and then the ones who haven't gotten a class yet.”

“Thank you,” Karl said firmly while his mind was a confused mess. Fake it 'til you make it. “This will help a lot.”

“That's the job,” she said with a small smile. Karl found himself smiling back and squashed that impulse. He forced his mind to more professional matters. Wait, when did paladin become my profession?

Sigh. Three days ago.

“Jake, which of the closest three houses is the biggest?”

“The one closest to the intersection, but--”

“I don't think we need to worry about making noise any more.” Karl glanced around at the crowd. “That ship has sailed, and we're strong enough now to hold back most forms of assault. The problem as always is a swarm, and the only defense against that is getting people behind walls—preferably stone, but we'll take what's available for the moment.” He thought for a few seconds.

“Do you want Danny to check your plan over?” Chenelle asked with a grin.

“If he's available. If not, I'll have to make do with the adult minds here.”

“Danny!”

A group of six should be plenty. Greg for scout, Chenelle for healing. Michael and Doug for fighters. We have mages now...Alain? Right, short brown hair, Systemized his glasses.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“Say yes to your mother.”

“Yes, Mom?”

Karl cleared his throat. “Spawn Defender Daniel.” The boy blinked and faced him, standing up straight.

“Yes, Sir Karl?”

Great, now Danny's doing it. Where is this coming from? “I need your input. I want you to see if you can find the problem with this plan: I'm going to keep most of the people here for the moment, and send six people to clear a big house for everyone to go inside.”

“A safe zone?”

“Exactly. I was thinking of sending your parents, Greg, Michael, Alain, and one of the first level people to clear. It shouldn't take very long, then they can send Greg back to tell us they're ready, and then we'll all go there and go inside.” Karl looked at him. “Anything wrong with that idea?”

Jake piped up, “I'd like to go. I can set up the temporary Safe Zone and make sure it's clear that way before anyone comes in.”

Daniel looked at Karl with a very serious face and pointed at Jake. “That.”

Karl managed to hide his smile. “Good point. Jake, you join as the sixth member. Anything else, Daniel?”

Daniel swallowed. “If something bad comes here, you'll be too far away.”

Karl raised an eyebrow and considered that. It wasn't as if the outcome of the scouting were in doubt...he nodded. “Excellent point Daniel. Let's have Greg scout quickly. If there aren't any swarms, we'll go ahead and start moving everyone while the clearing is underway. That way we'll always be close.”

Jake gave three short piercing whistles, to signal Greg to come in. “Leaving yourself out of the party?” Chenelle asked quietly.

Karl leaned a bit closer so he could lower his voice, looking over the crowd ask they talked. “I'm responsible for a lot more people now. All of you can do quite well without me for this, but I might be needed here.”

“Don't try to shoulder it all yourself.”

“I won't. First chance, we're going to level up some healers so I can haul you in to help me with the group.”

Chenelle raised her eyebrows. “Making some presumptions, are we?”

“Just predictions. Besides, I may make a good leadership figurehead if you squint, but you're the one with the people skills.”

“Careful, Karl. Keep smiling like that and you might raise your personality from three to four.”

“Who told—? Terry...” Karl growled. Chenelle laughed at his irritation.

Greg showed up, and the plan was put in motion. The scout returned and reported only a handful of marsh folk in the backyard, no swarms. As the party of six left again, Karl called out, “Everyone, may I have your attention please!” Just about everyone turned to him, expectant.

Oh God. Public speaking. Karl had a split second of panic.

No time for that. Talk.

“My name is Karl Hausman. I'm your neighbor from 84 Sycamore Street. I am also currently combat classed a sixth level paladin. We've sent a combat team to clear a large house just up the street. While they're doing that, we're going to gather all our things and follow. That way you always have a lot of firepower nearby if it is needed for protection. It's a short walk; we're going to go wait at the top of the driveway until we get the all-clear. Then we will establish a temporary Safe Zone in that house while we start construction of a better, permanent Safe Zone nearby. When it's ready, we'll transfer everyone who wants to go, to greater safety. I understand if you have a lot of questions, but first let's get moving. Please get your things quickly so we don't fall behind. First group, first two escorts, form up right now if you're ready.”

As he'd guessed, a sizable fraction of the people were ready to go immediately, and Karl got them moving, reminding the escorts to wait at the mailbox for the all clear. The second group formed almost as quickly, which was a pleasant surprise. Then Karl thought about it and realized that most of these people had nothing but the clothes on their backs and whatever was in their inventories.

Several people thanked him as they passed by. “Thank you, Sir Karl, for organizing all of this,” one woman said.

Again Karl was taken aback. Is this a System thing? “Ah, you're welcome, Miss...”

“Glen. Julia.” She held out her hand but not as if to shake, so Karl clasped her fingers briefly and let go.

“If you don't mind a question, Miss Glen...who told you to address me as 'Sir Karl'? I'm trying to figure out where that started.”

“Oh!” She stared off into space a moment. “You know, I don't recall. I've heard a few people refer to you that way.” She shrugged and smiled. “Well, your fame is spreading, Sir Karl. Thank you again!” She hurried off after her group.

I need to stamp that out but I'm not really sure how. Seems egotistical just to shout out about it to the group.

Next was a group of people who wanted to go back to their homes. Some were demanding escorts to take them personally. Others just wanted to leave the group. Some of those were easy to dissuade.

One couple was nearly as old as he was. He smiled at them. “I understand the desire, truly. I wanted to just stay at home after I killed the monsters that spawned inside my house, but I realized that if I didn't team up with more people I'd never survive. The monsters keep getting worse, after all.”

“We really just want to go home.”

“Well, I certainly won't stop you, Mr. Jacobs, but I'm just worried for you is all. I mean, how many of these have you fought?” Karl started counting on his fingers. “Lesser land crab, minor imp, goblin, hobgoblin, varshath, marsh folk...dire boar, that one almost killed me...kythar...I know I'm missing at least one...gremlins, I didn't have to fight them...oh and the giant mutated black bear.” He focused on them. “Some aren't too bad in small numbers, but can kill you if there are a swarm of them. Land crabs swarmed and caused our first casualty. That's why we checked for swarms before moving people; we'd never be able to save everyone if a swarm attacked this many people without combat skills. Do you have any spells or weapons?”

Mr. Jacobs shook his head faintly.

“If you're going more than a house or two over you're basically certain to get in a couple of fights before you get home. I just want to make sure you're prepared. Um...I can spare a dagger I suppose...” Karl materialized an orcish blade and held it out hilt first. Right, forgot to mention the orcs...

Mr. Jacobs looked at his wife, who seemed equally alarmed. “Erm...well...thank you...but I think we'll stick with you, at least for the moment. Will we be able to...ah...learn weapons, and leave later?”

“Oh, absolutely! Human beings are an endangered species now, Mr. Jacobs! You can do as you like. We're just trying to save as many of us as we can. I expect we'll have lessons every day for whoever is interested.”

“Well, then...thank you, Sir Karl. Sorry to have taken up your time.” Several other people had been listening, and they hurried over to join the next group as well. Karl put the dagger away, and thought back over the exchange. Come to think of it, that would have been pretty savvy of me if I'd done it on purpose. I guess I was just lucky.

System notification: Your skill in Righteous Presence has increased (1-->2).

Karl read the notification twice. Oh. I guess sincerity beats guile in this job.

Finally there were a few people who were either pleading for or demanding an escort back to their homes. With them he was a bit short—well, more so, at any rate.

“Ms. Taggert, I'm very sorry but we'd be putting all these other people in danger if we sent anyone with you. We certainly can try to arrange such a trip at some point, when people can be spared, but for now...I'm afraid the last group is leaving. You're welcome to come with us.” Karl gestured to Jo and Tabitha to get moving, and fell into step a short ways behind them.

“You can't just leave us!” Ms. Taggert screeched as the last group walked away from the holdouts.

“Well if you want to stay, I can't stop you. But please, do come with!”

Ms. Taggert proceeded to follow, protesting, complaining, insulting, and occasionally belatedly trying to switch to wheedling, which she was abysmally bad at. Karl did his best to weather it with aplomb, but his cranky personality eventually asserted itself and he rounded on her, surprising her into stopping short just before colliding with him.

“Ms. Taggert! In case you haven't noticed, there are over eighty human beings in this group. There are at best eight rooms in the house we are setting up as a Safe Zone, so we will likely be at least ten people to a room. If you don't want your roommates to get sick of you and throw you out a window, I suggest you learn a bit of decorum more suitable to your advanced years! Not everyone will be as patient or tolerant as I!” He spun on his heel and resumed marching.

I'm sorry, Lord, but I'm a paladin, not a saint.