It was toward evening by the time Chuck was done working on the pickup. Raz and Maz had got them food from a street stall while he was working. Some guild members had stood around watching him work and occasionally asking questions which Chuck didn’t mind.
Finally, they said goodbye to Nox and headed home. He pulled into the garage and they all got out, only to be confronted by a group of armed strangers that appeared from behind the garage. Chuck did recognize one of them however. It was the same lizard kin that showed up at the alchemy guild.
”Otherworlder, you should have accepted the invitation. Our king will not take no for an answer.” The lizard kin sneered as the strangers spread out to keep them from escaping. Chuck’s lips twisted into a grin as he gave R2 an order. “R2, try not to kill them. I don’t care if they lose a few limbs though.”
Chuck made sure he was in front of Tess as R2 moved forward to engage the enemy. He pulled his gun out just in case but didn’t think he would need it. “Be sure to take the otherworlder alive, but you can kill the rest.” The lizard kin ordered as the strangers advanced with their swords at the ready.
They grossly underestimated R2 as all three of his arms came into play. The first two attackers had an arm and leg cut off in a shower of blood. They fell to the ground screaming and holding their bloody stumps. The next managed to score a hit on R2 but it didn’t do much besides scratch his metal body. In retaliation, another limb went flying.
The remaining attackers paused in shock at the state of their comrades. R2 didn’t pause and continued slicing and dicing. The lizard kin leader decided things weren’t going well so told his few remaining men to fall back. “Stand back, I will deal with the golem.” The air started rippling in front of him and It looked like he was going to use some kind of magic so Chuck decided to act first.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
He took careful aim and fired, blasting a hole through the hand that was pointing at R2. The spell fizzled out and the leader fell backwards screaming in pain. The remaining enemy promptly dropped their weapons and surrendered so Chuck called off R2. He was tempted to have R2 finish them off after the threat to kill Tess and the siblings but restrained himself.
Chuck went around and poured a healing potion on all the stumps so they wouldn’t bleed out. He didn’t know if it would make a difference but figured that not killing them would create less of a problem with the kingdom they were from. All the commotion had drawn attention and it didn’t take very long before the first guard appeared to investigate.
He was happy to pass the problem onto the guards and get the strangers off his property. Chuck was sure he would be hearing from the guard captain later. After explaining to the guards what happened, the strangers were taken into custody. Sure enough, as the last of the wounded was being dragged away, guard captain Nass showed up.
“Otherworlder, it looks like you had some unwelcomed guests. I’m glad you are all right. We’ll be sure to take care of them for you so they won’t bother you again.” Nass said, eyeing the bloody ground. “The governor warned me about the situation. Have you had any other guests?”
Chuck proceeded to tell Nass about the Orc visitor and the conversations he had with the visitors. He also showed Nass both invitations. After reading the invitations, Nass handed them back. “Well, I’m glad you don’t plan on leaving our humble town. It wouldn’t be nearly as exciting without you around.” Nass said, grinning at Chuck. “We’ll keep an eye out for your other visitor and be sure to let me know if any more show up.”
With that, the guard captain left and the group went inside the house. R2 started the usual patrol of the property. Chuck decided that cleaning R2 up could wait until morning. With all the excitement, he just wanted to relax. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of beady eyes watched the house from an alley across the street.