Chapter 70 – A Chance Meeting

[Dragon’s Hope - Forward Operating Base]

[Sarah]

Sarah sat on a stump on the outskirts of camp, staring across the flames to the plumes of smoke that arose on the horizon, fading salutes to towns that had been looted, ransacked, and burnt to the ground. She couldn’t quite decide if she was shell-shocked, or battle hardened.

Maybe a little of both. She thought to herself, a little glumly.

Her hope to come here to assist with refugees and help with peaceful negotiations was crushed when she found out the true reason the U.F.E. was waging war. We were just a small piece of a much larger puzzle, cut off from the rest of the world, she thought, trying to keep the resentment from creeping in.

Why’d I have to get sent here of all places? Why couldn’t the Tower send me to one of the more peaceful continents? Sarah grimaced.

In the recent weeks, several more envoys of adventurers from distant continents showed up, all braving the dangerous seas to explore the hidden mysteries of what they deemed the “Dark Continent” supposedly rife with demons.

What they got was pain and war.

When it had been discovered that the Crowen Kingdom had cut the inhabitants of the “Dark Continent” off from the rest of humanity, there had been a unanimous vote to join the war effort, enlisting with UFE to fight against the Crowen Kingdom. These new recruits coalesced into a disenfranchised mob of humans hopped up on health potions, stat upgrades, and a growing addiction to fantastical heroism. A despotic government that lies, cheats, and sends adventurers off to their death had been the final lethal ingredient in a recipe for revolution.

Many of the adventurers on this continent still had missing loved ones, which fueled their ire and thirst for victory. The idea that those missing might not be dead, but merely relegated elsewhere, was a thread of hope. A thin thread, but it was something to cling to in this strange and unforgiving existence.

In this new world, Sarah was a valuable asset. She hated it.

Her AOE healing ability was unrivaled on the floor and in whatever battle she participated, they were sure to win. The issue was, despite the influx from other continents, the Crowen Kingdom currently outnumbered them roughly five to one. The numbers didn’t really make sense to her, spys and scouting parties were never able to report those kinds of forces, but Gideon offered that the Tower was likely “repopulating” their losses, making sure every battle fought was a bloody one.

Growth through strife.

Her chief advisor was its own enigma. Gideon had been acting as her personal protector in every battle, and he was a true terror to behold on the battlefield. Every time she thought she knew what he was capable of, the man exceeded her expectations. Every fight was like watching someone born to battle, who had perfected the art of killing after lifetimes of training. It was incredible. It was terrifying.

He wasn’t invincible, though.

The Crowen Kingdom had a monster of their own that left nothing but death and destruction in his wake.

The Butcher, Sarah thought with a grimace.

That monster had become public enemy number one to Dragon’s Hope and Gideon had made it a personal mission to hunt him down. The last excursion found Gideon and a small advance party in a devious trap, even for the Tower. The Butcher had laced a small village with some type of makeshift explosives and chemical bombs. Without electronics, Sarah wasn’t even sure how he was able to detonate such a device, but the Butcher appeared to lack any sense of morality, which made him dangerously cunning. Gideon would have been fine, but he insisted on using himself as a shield to protect what few he could from the blast.

Sarah felt her heart sink all over again at the thought of an injured Gideon. He was opposed to joining the war, but once she decided to join, he fell in line without a word of protest.

She smiled at the thought of the golden haired man. He had a goodness to him, a nobility even, which he insisted came from his noble draconian blood. At times she found herself imagining what it might be like to be with this mysterious protector. There was just one hang up.

He was lying.

He was lying about who he really was. Lying about why he was here. Lying about why he was helping a race of people he wasn’t born to.

When Sarah had caught him in the lie it had almost severed their relationship. She had promised herself she would no longer tolerate men who lied and hide themselves from her. Hat in hand, Gideon gave her a long winded story about why he had lied and his fears in the Tower, but he wouldn’t tell Sarah what he was keeping from her. She wanted to walk away. She was tired of being disappointed, but her gut said that while he was keeping secrets, Gideon was trying to help - and he might be the only one who could help them.

Since then, Sarah had made a habit of confronting him about his real motivations. He never outright denied it anymore, instead letting her know he wasn’t ready to share the entire truth and asking her to give him some more time. She didn’t like it, but she had resolved to be wary and tolerate it for now. We all have things from our past we would rather not discuss with just anyone, and besides, it was more than Jack ever did.

She stopped at the thought. That was the first time I’ve thought about him in weeks. She mused to herself; I really am getting over him.

As if on cue, she saw the telltale sign of Gideon walking up over a nearby hill in her direction. His long golden hair pulled back into a tail, his radiant golden eyes spotting her instantly, as though he already knew where she would be. His pointy elf ears that still made her giggle every time she looked at them.

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Despite his stat enhanced physique, his good looks, and the way he carried himself, he looked weak. Or maybe he just gave the impression of someone who you knew was incomplete, a shell of what he used to be. He had told Sarah descending the tower took a lot out of a person, and his form would be very different when he returned to the upper floors. To hear him tell it, he could even turn into a dragon once the magic became strong enough. Sarah couldn’t wait to see that.

She watched as he approached. She wanted to trust him. Despite the secrets he chose to keep, she thought he was a good man who she was thankful to have in her life. Gideon had a huge smile on his face and had his arm wrapped around someone who he seemed to be reluctantly dragging along.

“Ho Sarah! Look who I found! It’s Sammy!” He said in a cheery tone.

Sarah had to do a double take as she stared at the new recruit. When she first met Sam, he had been on the shorter side and more than a little scrawny. Now, though, he was nearing six feet and filling out all over with lean muscle.

“Samuel,” she started to say, still taking him all in. “I see you’ve been putting points into strength?”

“I know!” Gideon said, shaking Sam with excitement. “I didn’t recognize him at first. I was watching this lone fighter charge down a small group of Crowen soldiers all by himself! I said to myself, wow, that one is a few stones shy of a load. But then I realized it was Sammy and immediately changed my position to; wow, that man is heroic!”

“His fighting prowess! His battle sense! He could even teleport around the battlefield with ease!” Gideon continued, rambling in excitement while turning to Sam. “You really must tell me how that works! Spare no details.”

Sarah held back a small smile. Gideon was like a… golden retriever when he got excited over something.

“Hey Sarah, glad to see you're still doing ok.” He said in an awkward half smile.

“He’s been extremely awkward this entire time, Sarah. I can’t get him to look me in the eye. What do you think that’s about? People usually find me quite charming and conversational.” Gideon asked, pouting a little.

“What are you doing here, Samuel? Did I hear Gideon correctly? That you are charging into groups of soldiers by yourself? You were a mage last I checked?”

“You did, in fact, hear me correctly. It was heroic! They will write songs about this man! Legends will be told of his exploits!” Gideon said, still color commentating.

“Eh, I’ve just been trying out something new ya know? Trying to find the style that fits me best.” He said, scratching the back of his head, blushing slightly.

“And that’s what it’s all about, my boy! Nothing like throwing yourselves into the jaws of certain death to find out who you really are.” Gideon said, taking a melodramatic tone of danger.

“Well, I’m glad to have you here with us.” Sarah said, still fixing him with a considering gaze.

She thought back to her first days in the Tower. Sam and Hannah had both been a bit of a riddle, but one she accepted as part of this new world. They both seemed to know Jack from before the world was sucked into the Tower. From what she could gather, they were his teammates, or his crew, or whatever it was you called people in that line of work. A hitman maybe? Sarah had discovered their connection when she had overheard Hannah interrogating one of the NPC’s in the tutorial village about Jack’s location. At first, she had wanted to scream at them both for being associated with that lying jerk, but they had only been kind and helpful and despite her feelings about Jack, they had been so helpful in their own way.

They never directly interfered with Sarah, so to speak, leaving her to her own devices. But anytime Sarah found herself in even a remotely dangerous situation, those two inevitably showed up. Hannah would blow up everything in sight and Sam, the kind soul he was, would make sure she was ok. It was endearing in its own way.

They had mysteriously decided to part ways when Gideon showed up. Sarah didn’t trust either of them, but she had appreciated them and regularly missed their presence in Dragon’s Hope.

For a long time, she had been angry and wanted nothing to do with Jack. She was fine to bury that part of her past, along with Jack. Now, though, seeing Sam here, she realized she needed closure. She was different now. Stronger… and she wanted answers.

“I see Hannah isn’t with you? I hope she’s alright?” Sarah tested.

“She’s stuck in a dungeon with Ja-“ Sam started to say. He slammed his mouth shut so hard he almost bit off his own tongue. He stared pointedly at his feet. “Hannah’s fine. She’ll probably be here soon.” He finished.

“Now he’s not making eye contact with you either! Sam, tell me, did you have a run in with a powerful mentalist? Or perhaps a gruesome exchange with an ocular specialist. I assure you no one here has those sorts of treacherous powers.” Gideon said, his face now in mock distress.

“Sam. Repeat what you just said.”

“Hannah’s fine, she’ll probably be here soon.” he said again, still avoiding eye contact.

Sarah just tapped her foot, arms crossed, waiting.

Sam let out a long sigh. “I’m really sorry… We didn’t mean to lie to you, but you seemed like you didn’t want to do anything with Jack anymore, and Jack would have murdered us both if we let anything happen to you.” Sam said, spilling the beans.

“Murder? Was Jack threatening the two of you as well?” Sarah quickly asked.

“No, murder? No. I don’t mean it like that. He wouldn’t have actually murdered us. Well, ok he might have, but he would have murdered us in like… a caring way? You know what I mean?” Sam said, stumbling over his words.

“I’m confused.” Gideon added.

“Look at me Samuel.” Sarah said. Sam clenched his jaw and stared at her; Sarah felt a small piece of her heart break off. His eyes were much harder than last she remembered. The Tower was molding this young man into something else and it broke her heart.

“Is Jack still alive?” She asked, strengthening her resolve.

“He is.”

“Where is he?”

“Like I said, stuck in a dungeon.”

“Stuck. In a dungeon?” Gideon asked, “That’s a story I would be very curious to hear.”

There was another long, awkward pause. Gideon looked at Sarah, his face the perfect picture of caring concern. He put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m going to take Sammy and find us a drink. All hero's need a toast to victory. Take your time, I’ll make sure he’s all liquored up and ready to share his secrets by the time you're ready to talk.” Gideon winked.

“I don’t drink.” Sam said matter of fact.

“We’ll see about that.”

Sarah choked out a small laugh.

“Before all of that, we’re going to have a staring contest first. I’m tired of this avoiding eye contact thing you seem to be doing,” she heard Gideon saying to Sam as he wheeled him off towards the cantina.

Sarah dropped back down onto the stump she had been sitting, heart hammering in her chest and mind a whirl.

He’s alive…

She honestly didn’t know how to feel. It wasn’t that they had been in a relationship for a very long time, but it had been a strong and passionate one. He had come into her life and completely changed her. She had really loved Jack. Then she hated Jack. Then she mourned Jack. And then finally she had moved on from Jack. At least, that’s what she had thought.

Jacks alive, and he’s back.

Her confused thoughts quickly organized themselves, turning to anger in an instant.

That lying jerk is alive. He’s alive, and he’s been avoiding me. I’m going to kill him damnit.