It was another mile when they rounded a curve in the road and the forest gave way to an urban business area. On the right were box-like buildings housing various businesses like the Santa Cruz Metro admin offices and various equipment suppliers. On the left were a few houses and then a massive bus transportation depot. There were cars in parking lots and along the street. Most of the vehicles in the street had crashed or had been sitting idle for a month. The flora from the forest was slowly encroaching but had not managed to invade too far into the asphalt and concrete byways. It was eerily quiet with only the occasional birdsong interrupting the silence. The dwarves and Mirabella were all on edge as the urban landscape gave enemies much more choice hiding places. Joe was just glad to see a remnant of home looking mostly normal.
The party came abreast of a large car wash meant for buses when they heard the screams. Bixby immediately oriented on the sound ahead of them. He turned his head to look back at Joe and gave a soft woof. “Children?” Bixby nodded.
“OK, listen up. Bixby and I encountered a spider horde that screamed like babies. But given that the integration is done, I’m going to assume these are actual children until I see otherwise. Bixby, lead the way.” Joe summoned his swords and swapped his dragon armor for his new Umbral Armor. The transformation was startling to those around him as he became wreathed in smoke-like tendrils of shadow making it difficult to see him clearly even in the light of the overcast afternoon. The black leather armor felt like a second skin to him and his grip on his swords felt more confident. The armor had a trench coat-like aspect to it with a hood that hid his face but did not hamper his peripheral vision. Overall, he felt not only more alive, but stronger and like the armor was meant to be on him.
Kier, all business added, “Mirabella, flank Bixby. Two scouts’re better’n one. Iona and Rory in front, Joe and I will bring up the rear. Stay close and stay alert. Shout out your contacts if you see ‘em.”
Joe opened his mouth to say something but a single look from Kier shut him down. Better to allow the proven tacticians to make the battle plans, Joe. Stay in your lane. Joe nodded to Kier, cast his Mantle spell and stayed alert for threats. Ahead of him Iona had her shield and axe out, the axe giving off waves of steam. Rory’s hammer was solidly gripped, and he adjusted his helmet.
Ahead of them, roughly five hundred feet, was a group of buildings on the left that were painted a matching pale reddish color. Joe knew it to be the old tannery which had been converted into a leather shop and local artist center. He’d never been in but had driven past it countless times. Out front was a ten-foot-tall sign shaped like a cow standing on its hind legs holding a coffee cup and a few feet beyond that, Joe could make out a large gathering of people. They were crowded around a fenced and gated entrance to the tannery buildings. Using Bixby’ senses, Joe could make out that the people were not human. They looked like bipedal lizards. They were armored in various types of leathers and carried a variety of weapons, much like the Gnolls the day before. They were communicating in odd chirps and whistles.
Bixby appeared next to Joe, startling him for a moment as the party stopped, Bixby used body language that Joe translated in a whisper as the group hunkered down behind an SUV on the side of the road. “Bix says they’re Saurians, mostly level twenty with a level thirty-four champion in the mix. More importantly, they have a small group of children trapped in one of the buildings.”
Mirabella joined the group out of thin air, making them all jump. Without apology she said, “I count forty. The bulk of them are tearing down the gate, some have moved around to the side and are trying to force their way into the building. Someone inside has some sort of protective spell going so the Saurians are having a hard time.”
Kier nodded and looked to Iona. Behind the faceplate of her helmet, Joe could see her eyes narrow in thought. “Alright, here’s what. Rory and I take the front lot and cause some mayhem. Kier stand you back with your crossbow and spells.” She pointed at Mirabella, “Get inside that building and help those wee bairns as best you can.” She looked over at Joe, “You two, take out the scunners what’re looking to get at the wee ones. When you’re done, come help with the rest. We hook back up with Bella when the lot are done for.” Mirabella raised an eyebrow at the shortening of her name but nodded and disappeared. The rest stood and made for the street. No more stealth. It was time to fight.
Once they had reached the middle of the street, Iona slammed her axe against her shield and yelled out her challenge spell. The entirety of the group of saurians spun as one and charged. Iona stood her ground and set her feet while Rory stepped a few feet off to her right and began yelling obscenities at them in Dwarvish. Behind them, Kier had his crossbow out and was already firing into the mass of oncoming enemies.
Joe and Bixby blinked away past the side of one of the outer buildings, looking to skirt around them to take the other group of saurians by surprise. The duo followed along the building until they came to a throughway in the back. There were no saurians here, but it looked like a battle had been fought. There were several dead saurians but more importantly to Joe, there were a lot of dead humans. It looked like they had put up one hell of a fight. After all this time, it was jarring to Joe to see human bodies. These people should all have been starting out their day looking forward to work and artistic endeavors instead of fighting fantasy monsters and dying. As they crept forward, they could hear the cries of the children and a lot of banging coming from the other side of the building they were following. Bixby began growling low in his throat and Joe was not at all surprised to find that he answered with a growl of his own. They followed the carnage to another corner and peered around. Directly ahead, a hundred feet or so, they could see the gate that the saurians from the street were trying to batter down. There was a building on the left of Joe and Bixby that was made up of offices or at least workplaces, and further down, the dance center sat a little inset from the corridor between the two structures. That was where the sounds were coming from. A few feet into their sneaking down the corridor they saw a group of about fifteen saurians pounding on the doors of the dance center. Every pound was punctuated by cries from the children within. As they watched, the front line of about five saurians abruptly stopped, sat down, and placed their hands in their laps as if paying attention to someone. The saurians behind hissed and chirped and smacked their brethren until they stood back up, shaking their heads.
Joe held back Bixby as the sound of the street battle carried to them. He knew he needed to finish these things off quickly, but also make sure he did not accidentally damage whatever protections the children had in place. He bent down and whispered, “No attack spells. Physical attacks only. Don’t want to hurt the kids. Hit and run like usual. Make sure that when you put one down, it stays down.” Bixby nodded and blinked away. Joe followed half a second behind.
Joe kind of thought the fight was unfair. With his new armor came the Shadow Merge ability which made him incorporeal at will. Wearing the armor and wielding the swords gave him a mastery of fighting utilizing the ability that he did not think he’d have on his own. If felt natural and easy. He became a ghost, flickering between opponents. He and Bixby slew the entire group in seconds and then headed out to the street.
The battle in the street was brutal. Rory and Iona had been forced apart and both were surrounded. Joe counted far more than forty saurians both living and dead. His friends were on the defensive with more enemies seen charging from behind the Public Storage building across the street. Without delay he and Bixby waded into the fray taking many saurians from behind and by surprise. Joe passed by Iona who was locked in battle with the champion. She and it both bloody, but the champion was on the losing end of the fight with ice formed on several limbs and crusted into a chest wound. Its movements became sluggish as Iona raised Winter’s Bite and an enormous glowing axe formed above the saurian. Iona swept her arm down and the giant magical axe bisected the champion. Without missing a beat, she turned towards her next opponent.
Joe gave a soft whistle. Girl’s got skills! He blinked into the midst of the oncoming saurians in a bid to ease the pressure from Rory who was in full berserker mode. Out of the corner of his eye, Joe watched as three saurians all landed strikes on Rory with their swords, but then ghostly swords made of the same red mist that surrounded the Battlerager formed and attacked the saurians. Joe realized then that his friends had abilities and spells that he had no idea about. He made a mental note to have a round table discussion so no one had any hidden surprises, and everyone knew what could be brought into play in a fight.
His momentary distraction caused a few hits to land, but he took no damage. The lizard folk were simply not strong enough to pierce the combination of his armor and his Tough as Nails ability. A howl somewhere behind him indicated that Bixby had called his Void Wolves and in a matter of minutes the last of the saurians lay bleeding out on the blood-soaked asphalt. A wave of healing energy went out from Kier and Joe watched Rory begin looting the dead.
Kier again took command, “Rory an’ Bixby, you stay out here. Loot what you can and take a peek for trouble. Joe, Iona and I’ll go check on the wee ones.” Without waiting for any confirmation, he headed for the tannery building.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Joe glanced at Bixby who woofed at him, and Joe noticed that the Void Wolves did not disperse this time and instead took up vantage points in various places creating a circle of protection and surveillance. Joe blinked over to Kier who was striding along with Iona. Silently Joe handed his cloak to Iona who was caked in blood. “Don’t want to scare the kids.” The trio stopped for a few minutes as they all took turns using the cleansing spell inherent in the cloak before continuing on to the dance center.
The gate that the saurians had been trying to break down was still in place. Kier stared at it intently for a moment and said, “Spelled. Probably a Lock spell or some’at. The saurians were nae strong enough to break it, but Joe most likely can.”
Joe grasped the padlock firmly and began to pull. The metal hasp made a tiny squeaking noise as the metal deformed and then there was a popping noise and the entire gate and fence structure lit up for a brief second as the lock gave. Joe shook his head in amazement. Just like a superhero. Joe swung the door open and gestured for the other two to precede him into the corridor between buildings.
The dead saurians were still where he and Bixby had left them. After a quick thought, he collected all of the bodies into his inventory. When the dwarves gave him an inquiring look, he said, “I don’t want the kids to have to walk through them.” At that, they both nodded and Kier knocked on the door.
They could hear movement inside and children sniffling and crying. Joe called out, “It’s ok. They’re gone. Can you please open the door? We’re here to help.” Two adult voices could be heard arguing then a yelp and the children began crying in earnest. Joe looked back and forth at Iona and Kier, “I could probably tear the door off its hinges.” And just as he spoke, they heard the sound of a lock being turned and the door was pushed open. Mirabella stood there looking perturbed. Joe asked, “Everything okay in there?”
Mirabella turned on her heel, “He tried to attack me, so I put him to sleep.”
The party entered the dance studio which turned out to be a large open room much like a gymnasium. Sitting in the center of the room were half a dozen children. Joe thought they must all be between five and ten years old. Standing in front of them, looking scared but resolute was a woman in her early twenties with pale blond hair tied in a ponytail. She had on a white long-sleeved blouse and a pale blue skirt. Both looked well-worn and dirty. She also had blood stains spattered on her. The children were all wearing a mix of blue jeans, t-shirts and medieval tunics. They were sitting on the floor in two rows of three each, hands in their laps. All of them had been crying or were still crying and sniffling. On the ground next to the woman was a young black man, maybe a teenager laying on his side with a serene look on his face. At first Joe thought he was dead, but then he saw the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Kier pushed Joe forward, “Your people, you do the talking.”
“Um, hey.” Joe struggled for the words. It had been so long without another human to converse with that he was temporarily tongue tied. He coughed to cover up his nerves and continued, “I’m Joe and this is Kier and Iona.” He gestured to Mirabella standing off to one side looking slightly perturbed, “And you’ve met Mirabella.”
The young woman quickly composed herself and stepped protectively in front of the children. As she looked at Joe, he could see the wild fear in her eyes. Some of that he felt was fear of him. “I’m Kelly. Thank you for…” She glanced behind her at the strangely docile kids, “Well, thank you.” She looked down at her companion, sleeping on the floor then at Mirabella, “I’m sorry Gabe attacked you. We’ve been on edge for the last few hours ever since we were brought back. Is he okay?”
“Just asleep.” Mirabella answered. “Although you may want to be the one to wake him up and make sure he does not awaken… combative.”
Kelly nodded and looked to Joe. She seemed scared but resolute in her care of the children. “Did you see anyone else outside from our group? There were a bunch who fought off the monsters so we could get inside.”
Joe’s shoulders slumped as he recalled all the bodies outside. “I’m sorry.” Was all he could manage.
Kelly shook her head, her eyes misted up, but she took a deep breath and addressed Joe with obvious courage, “Will you help us? Gabe and I can’t protect these children on our own.”
Joe looked at his friends then back at Kelly, “Yeah. We’ll help you get someplace safe. If we can get enough people together, we can start a Sanctuary Zone.” Joe noticed his friend’s reaction as they all seemed to get a notification. Oh, shit. Now what? He looked to Iona.
“Quest.” Was all she said.
Joe nodded in understanding and spoke up, “Kelly, we need to get moving. Can you wake up your friend and get the kids ready to travel? There are others in our group outside watching for trouble. The quicker we get moving the better.”
Kelly breathed deep and visibly shook, “Thank you.” She eyed the group but bent down and gently woke the young man, Gabe.
He came to as if he had been in a deep sleep but scrambled to his feet in alarm when he saw Joe and his group. “Who the fuck are you!” His brown eyes flashed with fear and anger.
“Gabe!” Kelly admonished. “Language! These people are here to help.” Kelly held Gabe’s arm and whispered to him, and he visibly calmed down while keeping an eye on the group as best as he could, especially Joe. Joe could see now that he was young. Definitely under twenty.
After a few moments, he stuck out his hand to Joe, “I’m sorry.”
Joe shook his hand, “It’s okay. I understand. The world is crazy now.”
“It’s just that you look scary as hell.”
That caught Joe off guard as he shook the man’s hand. “I do?” He looked for support from his party members.
“Well, yeah. I mean, you look like a shadow monster or something. And your friends aren’t human, are they?” Gabe gestured to the others, then suddenly looked embarrassed, “Oh crap. Was that rude? I’m sorry, that was rude. We were told there would be other races when we returned. I’m really sorry.”
Kier smiled, “Nae offense taken lad. Iona and me are dwarves.” He pointed to Mirabella, “And the young lass there tis Halfkin.” He looked up at Joe, smiling, “And Joe tis nae a shadow demon, although, I can see why you thought so.” He eyed Joe wearing his Umbral Armor and the shadows that seemed to be alive and smoking off of him.
Iona spoke, “Well met an’ all, but tis about time we left, aye?”
Joe addressed the room, “Okay, so here’s the deal, I’m looking for my sister and my nephew, Holly and Matthew as well as any other survivors. As far as I can tell, the only way we’re going to survive any of this is to find more people and get a Sanctuary Zone established as quickly as possible. Do you know of any others we might be able to find on our way to the downtown area?”
Kelly brightened up a bit, “Some of the others in the tutorial that were from here said that we should all try to meet at the Costco. They said there would be sturdy walls and food and stuff we could use.”
Joe scratched his beard and nodded as he thought. “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea and we’re only a few blocks from there.” He turned to Kier and Iona, “Can you guys figure out the best way to get us mobilized so we can protect the kids the best? I’m worried about archers and spell casters mostly. Any front-line fighters we meet we can handle. My mantle can help if I stay within thirty feet of them, but if I have to range around, they need the best protection we can give them.” He turned to Kelly and Gabe, “So here’s the deal, Kier and Iona are going to come up with a plan to move out, what kind of abilities or spells do you guys have to help? What are your classes?”
Kelly looked at her kids and at Gabe before centering once more on Joe, “My class is School Marm. I’m just a teacher. Everything I can do is geared towards helping kids learn. I don’t have any fighting powers.” She looked to Gabe.
“Um, I’m an Evoker.” Seeing the confusion on Joe’s face he added, “Um, a kind of wizard. I can cast Mana Bolts and Fireballs. And I can create Mana Barriers. That’s how I blocked the doors.”
Kier asked, “Can ye fight lad? You have any weapon skills?”
“I have a staff skill, but I lost my staff when we were running.”
Joe intruded on the conversation, “Hold up, I have something that you can use.” He pulled the Staff of the Forest Guardian out of his inventory and focused on it for a moment, then handed it to Gabe. “I’ve infused the four hundred Mana it needs so you can cast the spells stored in it. Use this only if you have to.” As an afterthought he Inspected both Gabe and Kelly.
Kelly Sullivan
Level: (B) 16
Race: Human
Class: School Marm
H: 380
S: 430
M: 880
Gabriel Carter
Level: (B) 18
Race: Human
Class: Evoker
H: 340
S: 390
M: 1160
Damn! The kid has almost as much Mana as I do. Joe watched as Gabe Inspected the staff.
“For real?” Gabe’s eyes lit up as he stared at the staff. The sturdy gnarled wooden staff did not look like much, but Joe was certain that it would work as a Mana channel as well as a blunt instrument. Gabe looked at Joe with a new expression, admiration. “Dude. This is amazing. Thank you.”
Joe, got self-conscious and said, “You’re welcome.” He then turned to Kelly, “How about you?”
“I have a knife skill, but it’s pretty basic.” She admitted.
Mirabella pulled a sheathed knife from her inventory and handed it to Kelly, “This should be good for you. Be careful with it. It is very sharp.”
It took a few more minutes as thanks were said and the group gathered the children. Joe and his group were introduced to them, but Joe was sure he’d forget their names within minutes. His priority was protecting them more than it was getting to know them. That’s not gonna come bite me in the ass later. He thought sarcastically. Freaking System not making me care for kids? That’s severely screwed up.
The newly enlarged party made their way to the street where Rory and Bixby waited. The newcomers were frightened by Bixby and his Void Wolves at first, but the children took to them easily once he sat and lolled his tongue at them. There was even an argument between the children as to who would get to ride him first. Kelly squashed that idea, but it made Joe reflect on just how much Bixby had physically changed. Seeing his friend next to the kids was a reminder that Bixby was a large animal now.
Iona took charge and had the wolves range out in all directions via Bixby. Mirabella was still on scout duty after Joe told her where they were going and the route he wanted to take. It was only a few blocks away, but there were a lot of buildings and they had to pass by the storage facility that the saurians had come from. Rory to the right side and Kier the left. Kelly was in the middle with the children and Gabe was making sure none of them straggled behind. Joe took the rear as he would be able to quickly get to wherever he may be needed the most.