Lazemus was smiling as he asked us about our run in with Lord Edward. It was a cold smile.
“Well, Lucas met them,” I replied while chewing on a piece of unknown meat. I couldn’t get any nutrients from it, but I could taste it. Not only that, surprisingly the food gave me stat bonuses, which I was not expecting.
Lazemus looked towards Lucas and I could see his reaction as he studied the bruising around Lucas’s chin and eyes. Lazemus couldn’t see the bruising around the ribs though, which was where Lucas took most of his beating. “I’ve already had my people find out who did this,” he said, “I can have the man, if you want him.”
“Have the man?” It seemed Maria didn’t realize what Lazemus meant.
“That guard acted on his own accord, and Edward didn’t know about it at the time,” Lazemus continued. “Not only is that extremely disrespectful to Edward… he’s proven he can’t control himself.” He looked hard at Lucas, “If you want the guard, Edward won’t fight me for him. Do you?”
It almost felt like a test. As if Lazemus wanted to see how tough we were, how easy to push over we were. Lucas was the only one who could answer this question, and none of us spoke while we waited.
“It’s okay. I assume Edward and all his men will be taken care of once you win the crown?” Lucas responded. Even Lazemus wasn’t expecting such a response, and his gaze lingered on Lucas as though seeing him properly for the first time.
“Interesting!” Lazemus laughed. “It seems there’s not much point in beating around the bush then. How much do you know? We can save ourselves some time.” It was weird to see Lazemus like this. He was completely different from the helpless man that chased us into an ally and left with his tail between his legs. Something must have changed that gave him a sense of firm ground beneath his feet, but what?
“We know you support the Red Prince, and are in direct confrontation with Edward and the prince he supports for the throne.”
“Go on.”
“We also know the princess has been killed or at least imprisoned.”
“Right,” Lazemus looked downcast, “she is indeed deceased.” There was some sorrow in his words. “I suppose you’ve heard the rumors about that as well then?”
I gave a nod in response. “Only rumors, though.”
“Do you believe the rumors?” he asked, showing no care or caution in finding out what side we stood on.
“Like I said, only rumors. Look, don’t worry. We are with you. We don’t exactly have another side to join regardless of what people say about you.” While that wasn’t strictly true, because we could decide to become neutral, it wasn’t like we could just go join Edward’s side. Well, we could probably make a pitch to him, but Edward had already shown hostility to us through his men, intentional or not. My own pride wouldn’t allow me to just swap sides.
“Well said,” Lazemus nodded. “I wasn’t wrong in thinking you all have good heads on your shoulders. The princess is indeed dead, and she was killed by Edward himself.”
“How can you know?” Lucas asked.
“The princesses’ aid was an honorable man and a good friend of mine,” Lazemus began, “he was there that night on the balcony outside, and witnessed the killing.” He sighed, “However, almost immediately after, as if Edward knew he was there, guards were tipped off and swarmed the room. The aid was caught near to her body: and with no explanation he was blamed immediately.”
“Was he executed?” I asked.
“Actually, in a stroke of genius on Edward’s behalf, the aid escaped.”
“So, he was kidnapped?” Jessica asked.
“Right. He was kidnapped and removed. This served two things: to further his guilt in ‘running’ and to disallow the man to ever even bring up the claim Edward was the murderer. Fortunately, he wasn’t a stupid man, and left a note for me.”
“What did it say?”
“In the most frantic handwriting I’d ever seen from the man. ‘Edward did it.’”
“Just that? And you believe it?”
“The man had been with the princess her entire life, and was like a father, in some ways even more so than the king,” Lazemus replied, “he wouldn’t have the heart, and if he did, he would accept death alongside her, never run.”
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“Is he dead? Surely Edward would have killed him?” Glenn said.
“I believed so, but apparently my friend had secrets he kept from even me. I have found from one of my spies he is alive, and his life is safe as long as he does not reveal this secret to Edward.”
Suddenly there was a terrifying gong from the distance, and bells began to ring.
“What is that?” both Alan and Richard asked.
“Gnolls. You must go, my men will take you back in haste,” Lazemus replied, “I will continue this story another time; until then stay alive. I will make sure you are safe to move through the city.” He turned to focus on Lucas. “That man you didn’t want will still die. It is the price for harming a trusted ally.” Lazemus left no room for negotiation and swiftly walked away, to make his way deeper into his estate.
The white-robed man escorted us out to a carriage as quickly as possible and rushed us to our barracks. The drums of battle had been sounded, and we were finally going to see what we were up against.
The streets were barren as we traveled, every shop covered up and every cart pushed out of the way. Guards patrolled every corner as they congregated towards the south east wall. That was also our position in this fight, and the barracks buzzed like a swarm of bees.
“It’s good to see you made it back.” General Rhugar waited at the front gate, ready to lead his men.
“We wouldn’t miss it,” I said. “How far away are the gnolls?”
“Our scouts give us a little under two hours. We should see them breaking the tree line by then.”
“How many?” Lucas chipped in.
“It’s impossible to say for certain, but they number in the thousands.”
“Have you fought off that many before?” Jessica asked.
“The scouts have informed me that it’s a larger army than any we’ve faced before, and by a significant margin. Your orders are to act as a special forces unit beyond the walls. I won’t tie you down, but hope you’ll put as much effort into defending Rigar as you can. You will be responsible for yourselves out there, and from what I’ve heard from guards you’re quite formidable on your own.” He grew solemn. “Even so, I think there is a high chance that some of you will not make it back alive.” The dark circles under his eyes were creased, and his voice grew tired as he spoke. “I have things to attend to before the fight, but I will bring you out of the walls before their arrival.” He didn’t wait for a farewell before hopping upon a horse and galloping away.
“Is this our fault?” Glenn asked the group. “Our arrival is most likely speeding up this world’s timeline.”
“Probably, but we can’t change it now.” I said. “No one should forget the circumstances that got us here.” We had been chased by gnolls with bows and swords and spears. The difference between life and death had been merely a dozen seconds at that point.
“Even if we have triggered a bigger attack, we’re only doing what we needed to survive by coming here. We are not evil.” Thomas said. I could tell there was a rage hidden under his calm demeanor. He said the least out of all of us, and yet I could tell he was the most emotionally invested out of all of us.
“I will do whatever it takes to ensure we survive.” I said to everyone. “No matter what that means. The people here have been good to us but our priority is to each other. If we can help them out there, good; but we are not going to sacrifice ourselves for this city. The time for softhearted indecision has long passed.” A moment of hesitation meant the difference between life and death. I had seen this at least three times already. Maria, myself, and our entire group had almost perished for that foolishness.
“Stay together.” Lucas said. “We help when we can help, but we will not stick our necks out.”
“Understood.” There were nods all around and the heartfelt solidarity in their eyes was powerful. We stood together or would fall together.
Lucas began handing out excess rations to ensure anyone who needed to eat could fill up. Rhugar hadn’t said how long these sieges could last, but I imagined they could last several days if the gnolls were persistent.
I opened my stats for the first time in what felt like forever.
Name: Mike Reynolds Class: Necromancer Level: 26 EXP: 91%
HP: 1290/1290 MP: 485/485
STR: 5 Fear Resistance: 5
AGI: 2
DEX: 5
VIT: 29 +14
WIS: 27 +26
Available: 15
Skills: [A] Summon Skeleton LV. 10 | [A] Summon Skeleton Mage LV. 4 | [A] Decay LV. 3| [A] Reanimate Dead LV. 3 | [A] Bone Armor LV. 2 | [A] Vast Shadows | [A] Temporary Grave LV. 1 | [P] Sixth Sense | [P] Bravery LV. 2 | [P] Mutated | [P] Pain Resistance LV. 2 | [P] Skeletal Mastery LV. 4| [P] Intimidate Living | [P] Inner Calm LV. 2 | [P] Necrotic Vision | [P] Blood Thirsty LV. 1 | [P] Cold Hearted LV. 1 | [P] Poison Immunity
Besides dispatching the gnolls and retrieving the singular shaman, we hadn’t done any grinding or leveling at all. I was honestly growing weary of the politics. I wanted to learn new skills, purchase new gear, and get the hell out of this place. Carving out a place for ourselves inside a dungeon wasn’t my goal. Earth was my home, regardless of the situation it was in. I would live or die there, and this dungeon would just be another stepping stone on our rise.
The sooner I could pick my next skill and determine my professions, the sooner I could put in the remainder of my stats. An idea I hadn’t shared with anyone, even Jessica, had been slowly blooming over the course of a week—strength was the only thing that mattered.
Nothing mattered more than grinding levels and getting gear. Overwhelming strength would ensure a place for ourselves on Earth. We could carve out a home—a community—with that power in the future. Power was wealth, and I had learned from experience that the rich ruled the world.