Ben had to admit, learning to ride wasn't so bad; not when you were told to get this close to the teacher - one arm around her waist, the other holding her hand on the reins. Harmony was putting the roan through his paces and making Ben mimic her every move. He was picking up how to shift his weight and keep a light hand on the reins. The horse obeyed the body motion far more than the direction from the harness. Horse and rider were a coordinated team as they raced down the dark road.

[Congratulations! Having an excellent teacher has accelerated your learning. Your deficiency as a Courier has been partially negated by instruction from a fully trained Courier.

You have gained Horseback Riding at level 0. This skill uses AGI as its governing stat. I'm sure that leaving this off your list of skills was an oversight by your employee. Unless it was Marvin. Marvin is a jerk.]

Ben immediately felt the difference. He was more comfortable and relaxed, matching the horse’s movements without conscious thought. Harmony pulled the horse into a slow walk and then stopped. "Excellent, you have taken the first step to becoming a true courier, Benjamin. Let's give this poor boy a bit of water and some oats and a good rub down. He's tiring, but we only have a little left to go on this journey."

Ben noticed Harmony was favoring her left arm. "Were you hurt in the fight?" She waved off his concerns. "The wolf that attacked my arm managed to chew through my coat and give me a light wound. It's just stiff and sore. The damned dogs have a lot of crushing power in their jaws, and these aren't normal wolves."

After seeing to Mudhead's needs, the two couriers ate some jerky and let the roan crop grass for a few minutes while they leaned back against a tree. "I must be honest with you, Benjamin, I am still upset with you."

Ben's heart sank, "Oh, well we can't have that. What have I done and how can I rectify my error?"

The girl turned and gave him a serious look, then glanced up. "I am happy to hear you will mend your error. How dare you have a better hat than me?" Her serious look evaporated in a grin as she reached to snatch Ben's hat. He evaded her and moved to the other side of the tree. "Oh, no. I would give many things to make you happy, but hats are serious business, woman."

She pouted. "Then at least let me have a look. Is that truly a Phoenix feather?"

Ben handed her his hat, which started off a round of discussion of each other's gear. Harmony was intrigued by his armored coat and made him promise to learn from Ozzy where he'd acquired the feather. Ben was in awe of her wrist-mounted cross-bow. It was nearly a match for what he had owned and used many times before; although he'd never used bolts of Blessed Silver. Harmony explained that not everything could be stopped with iron, and if you only had one chance for a shot with the short-range weapon, it had to count.

Ben agreed. After shooting all four bolts, the weapon was just added weight until you had a few minutes to both reload and crank the individual springs that launched each bolt. Not something you'd be able to do in a fight.

The break may have turned into more than an appreciation of each other's gear, if Mudhead hadn't walked over and snorted loudly, jerking his head in the direction of the road. He wanted this long ride over and a proper feedbag. Harmony took the lead again, this time urging the roan to its fastest pace.

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Inquisitor Diego stared into the darkness, wondering when the next attack would come. Who would have thought that a dozen and a half paladins could be so humbled by one servant of darkness? The wolf had grown considerably.

In his youth a hundred years past, he and his two older brothers had hunted 'The Chicken Stealer' in the Hollywood. Chartok had been just a nuisance back then; the terror of barnyard fowl and the bane of smokehouses. He killed chickens, stole bacon, and was vanquished time and again - usually by some farm boy with a cheap sword. The order always made sure to recruit those lads.

The ancient wolf spirit was a joke no longer. Fire and Necromancy made a potent combination. So did dozens of minions and a cunning leader. In a head-on clash, the Paladins would easily win. Chartok knew this and had defeated them with storms and broken wagon wheels. They hadn't even known they were under attack at first.

Then he struck at their horses, robbing them of both their mobility and the power a warhorse brings to a fight. And he had used their own hubris against them when they went to gather up their scattered mounts. No one had suspected just how many undead wolves he had recruited to his pack. Over and over they harried the small groups of trainees, driving them into ambushes. All seven had died, as had Senior Brothers Morton and Croft. None of the warhorses had been recovered, and only four of the draft horses.

Surprisingly, the trainees had returned with the dawn, shaken and hurting from their quick walk back from the Realm of Hades. Brother Sundiver had gathered their souls in the land of the dead and they had made the long journey far faster than Diego had ever heard of. He suspected it had something to do with them being 'players.' If they could walk from another world to Genesis, perhaps the walk back from death was quicker for them. Few Paladins could accomplish it in less than a year, and many never did, opting for rebirth and a new cycle.

There had been some rejoicing and much back-slapping as they marched in, their haggard faces showing their ordeal. Reeves had insisted on knighting them all on the spot and bringing them into the order. Now THAT had brought smiles to their faces.

There were no smiles now. They'd barely made ten miles that day walking in their armor with two overloaded wagons. Time and again they had to stop when wolves rushed from the forests - but often they broke off without attacking. At nightfall, they fortified their camp the best they could, and the real attacks began.

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Ben heard the wolves long before he saw them - long howls in the night. Most came from far off down the road, but at least two were near them. The horse picked up the pace on its own, not liking the idea of being dinner for a pack of wolves any more than Ben did. They could see a couple of fires ahead of them on the road, less than a mile off.

The two wolves were easy to spot when they attacked - they had a sort of glowing haze around them and Ben realized he must be seeing the magic that was surrounding them, glowing in the dark. He yelled to Harmony and pointed. That was when the Hellfire hit them. Sulfurous flames enveloped the two couriers and their horse. It hurt, and Ben took some damage, but the fire mitigation from his hat negated most of it. Harmony and Mudhead weren't so lucky. Ben saw blisters on her hands and face and her hair was smoldering.

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Before they could do much else, Mudhead spooked and reared. Ben rolled off the back of the horse and came to his feet drawing his whip. He moved to engage the two wolves coming towards him, the heavy leather snapping out and across one wolf’s face, taking an eye.

Harmony stayed in her seat and moved the horse into combat. As Mudhead reared again, his front hooves came down on the unwounded wolf, snapping its spine. The other ran off into the night. As Harmony reached to pull Ben back in the saddle, a huge wolf knocked her from the horse, pinning her beneath him.

Chartok bit deeply into her shoulder, his claws tearing into her midsection. Ben attacked over and over with his whip, but the wolf ignored him, deeming him no threat. In despair, Ben grabbed the wolf by the fur and pulled it partially off of her.

Harmony used the last of her strength to bring up her arm and send all four bolts of blessed silver into the wolf’s face. The bolts burst into white flames as they hit. Chartok howled in pain. Panic forced the wolf to bolt into the forest, and Harmony collapsed unconscious, bleeding heavily.

Mudhead hadn't moved far. Ben picked up the girl, and ran at the horse, leaping into the saddle with her. He reached into his saddle bags, coming up with the minor healing potion Suzette had given him, and poured it onto the bleeding wound in her stomach. It would have to do. Paladins would have healing spells, he just needed to get to them. Mudhead raced down the road in a fast gallop, twice brushing aside wolves that challenged him.

Diego heard the horse coming, and judging that its pace wasn't slowing, yelled at people to move. It was a sight he would remember - an Imperial Courier urging his horse to leap entirely over the first wagon and into the middle of their camp, his long coat flowing behind him and the feather in his hat glowing like it was on fire.

When he saw the bleeding woman, he yelled for two paladins to take her from the rider. The injured Courier was quickly cared for, but it didn't look good.

Diego wasn't one to mince words. "I am sorry. The wolves have attacked constantly and we have no healing magics left. Perhaps if she can make it until the dawn, but I'm not sure any of us will."

The howl of wolves came from close by. Another attack was starting.

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It was a rare day off for Timmy and his band of merry mercenaries. They had raided three days in a row down into the dungeon below the tavern. The overall score was now Sir Timothy 0, Under Rodent 4. They were learning, but the rat was a tough one.

They routinely cleared the top of the dungeon, taking out six to eight smaller bosses and making sure every last rat-kin was dead. Failure to do that brought ambushes from the rear which shaved down their numbers.

Yesterday's fight had been their best so far. They had 22 people going into the fight on the second floor. They set up just past the stairway and let the mobs come to them, the large rodent eating cheese and ignoring them as usual. The hordes of rat-kin had moved in, but this time they had plenty of mages to toss mass destruction their way and thin their ranks. Two assassins had dropped from the ceiling, but waiting rangers dropped them before they could do any damage.

The plan was to kill the hordes, then move up to the boss hiding behind nests and traps. The boss didn't like this plan and charged them. One second it was playing hide and seek in the trash heaps, and the next it was moving at them at sixty miles an hour. In hindsight, a retreat to the stairs would have worked better. Instead, he and the three tanks had braced to stop its charge and pin it down.

When it came down to it, special abilities could be trumped by physics. Abilities gave a player an edge but only went so far. They just didn't have the mass to stop a three-ton rat. Shields and armor mitigated a lot of the damage, but couldn't stop the behemoth from knocking them backwards as it plowed into the raid. That's when it all went to shit.

The tanks were all prone and stunned for a couple of rounds from the Devastating Charge ability the boss had used on them; so were five of the mages and two of the clerics. Luckily, Joseph had managed to identify it before he was eaten whole. He'd saved up the Enhancement Points to buy the second level of the Identify Skill.

[Hefty, THE BIG RAT Level 6 Monstrous Raid Boss, Dungeon Sub-Boss

Strong, Tough, Regenerating, Devastating Charge, Cunning Strategist, Hordemaster.]

After that, the numbers just weren't in their favor. There weren't many rat-kin still coming, but they were the more powerful and effective foes who had been held back. Two shamans started buffing and healing the boss. A plague priest poured out the contents of his horrid cauldron and sapped the strength of the fighters. A pair of assassins wove among the raid looking for soft targets.

They made a valiant effort - nearly got the boss down to a quarter of its health, but in the end, they failed again. But it was worth it! They'd learned a hell of a lot. They'd do better next time. And then there was more! If this was still another mini-boss, how tough was the Under Rodent? This dungeon got better and better. Each person in the raid was slowly getting better gear and some enhancements to up their stats or buy some new ability. It was just a matter of time until they took down The BIG Rat and moved further into the dungeon.

But not for a couple of weeks. Dungeon raiding was going to take a back seat to other activities. They'd have to take a break for a bit. Brandon had his forces in place and things were about to get very interesting. Which is why he and Brandon were having nightly meetings at the inn.

There was no small talk as they sat and waited for the third member of their little group to arrive. Timmy didn't like Brandon much. He'd never trust him enough to group up or take on a raid. But if you had to do something dirty, he was the guy for the job. He delighted in messing up someone's day. Or month. Or life.

Brandon knew Timmy didn't like him, and didn't care. His chain of command didn't go through Timmy, and while he might need Timmy and his crew for this next operation, he had some ideas of how to send the brat packing.

The door opened and a hooded and masked person came in and sat down. Brandon was cordial as usual. "About damn time. What took you? Stop to pat one of your little workers on the head?"

"It's not easy getting away when you have a position like mine. I'm close to Billy and that makes it difficult to sneak away. So please be polite or I'll scratch out your eyes. Is everything ready on your end?"

Brandon nodded slowly. "Yep. But you don't need to know the details. In fact, all you need to do is confirm whether you've done your job for us or not. Pull it off, and welcome to your first bonus as Famco's newest corporate leader. The money is all set to be transferred."

"It's done. The majority of ACME's manpower is nearly at the southern end of the Empire on my "special covert mission." They check in regularly and confirm. ACME thinks they are camped 2-5 miles away in the wilds. Billy is nervous, but way too trusting of some people. When does the trigger get pulled?"

Brandon leaned back in his chair. "What do you think? Mr. Shiny Paladin?"

Timmy ignored the barb, "Let's get it started. I'm tired of paying that fee every time we go in, and tired of rules I have to follow."

Brandon smiled. "Glad you agree. Because I already have the declaration in motion. There was a small meeting of some of the corporate heads last night. More wrangling with the computer and complaining about things. It was the perfect chance for your Grandmother to casually mention the high-quality ore we are mining in Thunderhead, and brag about the ancient treasure we're looting from the tombs. He was foaming at the mouth with jealousy. He's primed to accept our challenge. At midnight tonight, ACME gets the official notice."