Chapter Forty-Eight: Intermission

Rudy Donahue had never been a bright man. He could throw out insults, sure, but he never had a head for planning, numbers, or creative thinking. What Rudy was good at was inflicting violence.

Rudy could be considered a journeyman. Capable of producing good work.

Ambrose Severen was a master. He elevated violence to an art form. Rudy had always thought so, and maintained a healthy, rational fear of the man, even if he didn't show it.

When Rudy had arrived to at the cavern, the supposed to be fucking secret cavern, he thought, everything was going smoothly. The arrangement was working out well.

Rudy brought useless people, wanderers or survivors, to Annie and her merchant, and collected an agreed upon fee and supplies. Rudy then brought it all back to Eric.

It was a good relationship. It benefited all involved.

Until Ambrose fucking Severen had appeared in the cavern out of seemingly nowhere. Rudy had earned his class, fighting these weird crocodile monsters that had appeared. He was a pyromancer. Which didn't exactly fit his thuggish style of fighting, but he didn't care. I was just tired of getting my fucking nose broken.

So he had done the natural thing and flung a fireball at the back-from-the-dead bastard. Which was instantly countered by nightmare chains from the depths of hell.

Rudy hadn't been confident after that.

He of course ended up unable to do anything while those chains and fire sent waves and waves of utter agony through him. Rudy had nothing to compare it to, but it was what he imagined being burned alive felt like. Except the nerves never died. He never blacked out from the pain. He felt all of it, all of that agony as if it came from the center of him.

Somehow, after what seemed to be an eternity later, that pain vanished and he was free. Ambrose was distracted, fighting the abomination that was Annie. She was truly grotesque, gross muscles and a distorted face, roaring. Like a beast.

Rudy’s eyes widened as Ambrose was blown backward from a powerful blow. Only to turn a motorcycle into a machine of fire and brimstone.

Rudy got out of dodge after that.

He was already impressed at Ambrose’s new armor forged out of fucking lava or something. Plus that eye-patch. He wasn't sure how an eye-patch could make you feel like it was looking into your freaking soul, but it did.

He got into the van and drove out of there like a bat outta hell. Luckily, Ambrose was focused on hacking Annie to fucking pieces.

“That's fucking hideous. Oh shit,” Rudy said, shooting furtive glances to the mirror. He halfway expected to see Ambrose driving toward him on that infernal bike.

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He was clear.

It was a three hour drive back to the town. The world had gone to shit. Buildings were outright destroyed, roads were broken and cracked, baking from the hot son above.

It looked like a true wasteland. Every so often he would find monsters roaming around. Mutated lions, large snakes, freaking acid squirrels, these hound-like beast's with no eyes. There was even this gargantuan turtle with a jagged black shell, an oval red head with glittering scales and dark red eyes glowing with carmine light.

He avoided them all. He had gotten good at it, having made the trip more than a few times. Sometimes, he would see people fighting the monsters. Lone wanderers, broken families, groups trying desperately to live.

Normally, he would capture a few. The back of the van had been repurposed for just such a thing. He didn't do that. Eric needed to hear about what he had found.

The town had been built in a clear area. A swamp was nearby, in which Eric had encouraged the growth of monsters. Level farming he called it. Surrounding the town was a large wall, not unlike what surrounded New Melbourne.

Except it was made of polished grey stone, and yellow glyphs had been carved into the stone. The glyphs were a recent addition. They had been put there by an orc shaman. Eric had recently brought in a large tribe of orcs. He had told his people that he had made an alliance with them and that Incursion was no longer a problem.

Rudy knew better. Eric had enslaved them all. Leashed them to his will. Rudy still had no clue what Eric's class was, but he had seen and heard, Eric use his skill.

Just the memory of it sent shivers down his spine.

Rudy waved at the two large black metal towers that over looked the massive gate, and the gate slid open moments later. He drove through.

There was a dedicated parking area, which Rudy utilized before hitting the path towards Eric. The town was large, if more condensed than other towns

Everyone had a decent house, and there was a market and even an entertainment district. Most of technology still worked, except for the internet. No one knew why, but the internet just stopped working altogether.

Which also meant you couldn't stream shows or anything. But DVDS, things saved to a device, all of that worked fine. Eric operated his economy on two fronts, contribution points and System Credits. You could pay for what you wanted by working, fighting in Eric's Town Guard, or performing other types of jobs.

Or you could pay your own way with System Coins you earned through your own means. Rudy was sure it was more complicated than that, but he was no expert in economics. Most of what he needed was provided simply by virtue of working directly for Eric.

Eric's mansion was on a hill that over looked everything else. It was constantly protrolled, maintained and active with people coming in an out with issues that needed resolving.

Rudy skipped the line, and made his way to Eric's massive office where he knocked.

“Come in, Rudy.”

Eric's voice always gave him a chill. He pushed it aside and walked in. The office had a large desk made of expensive wood that took up one side of the room, a small mini-golf area had been set up, and artwork lined the walls.

The carpet was expensive, and there were chairs set up around a table meant for meetings.

Eric was putting files away in a cabinet. He was dressed, as always, like a mild mannered professor. With the glasses perched on his nose, and the methodical movement.

Rudy knew it was all a mask. Underneath it all lurked a deadly, unfeeling creature. A true monster tucked into human flesh.

Rudy still remembered the utter ecstasy on the man's face when he was hurting something.

Rudy never, ever, wanted to be on the other end of that. Which is why he was always an obedient little soldier.

“What's the matter, Mr. Donahue?”

Eric's voice was always polite. Always. But there was something to it, an edge of something that Rudy couldn't identify but sent shivers pulsing through him.

He gulped.

“Ambrose Severen is alive.”

Eric paused, then a slow, insidious smile worked its way on his face. He turned to regard Rudy, eyes glittering.

“Tell me everything.”