Whispering could be heard all across the arrayed Red Player’s Society members as the guild prepared to march for the government sector. Everyone in the guild reached level fifty or higher, which was a small blessing. Their remaining members made for a small force. None of the other guilds were able to add their forces to help.
Every other guild remained trapped inside their own forts, waiting for someone to break free and help. The Demon players involved in these attacks hadn’t brought magical charges to break through the walls. Instead, they seemed content to use shields, recovery items, and bodies to trap the Elvish guilds.
Jay and Taylor Lynn discussed other options, but nothing seemed as pertinent as heading for the government sector. Someone needed to contact the Elvish Alliance because they were fighting for their lives. Helping free up other guilds by busting their blockades would take ages. Even that assumed the small ragtag band of surviving Red Player’s Society members could make a difference. The Demons and their allies infested the entire city.
Taylor Lynn had finished deciding to gather the newly created gear, redistribute consumables, and begin marching to the government sector. Ken chose that moment to appear and whine.
“This is getting boring. Let’s go before they decide to take over undisputed. The Demons could be holding the Mayor hostage as we speak.”
“I’m certain we’d get a game message about that,” Taylor Lynn said, waving him off. “If you want to get going, make yourself useful and wrangle the crafters. Pack up tables, hand out the potions, and we’ll go.”
Ken looked as excited for the prospect as he would for appendectomy. “You can take your time. I’m going to go see what Sarah’s up to.”
He hustled away to find my sister before Taylor Lynn could try and pawn other work on him. Somehow, some way, he managed to get the crafters moving during his trip to pester Sarah.
The crafters, including Sarah, started packing up their tables. The mobile crafting units took a while to pack away as an element of game balance. The automated process displayed a timer ticking down from five minutes on each table. During the teardown, crafting buzzed through the rally point like worker bees to distribute the items they’d created. The pittance of objects wouldn’t last long.
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Jay watched Sarah and Ken flirting with each other, which he realized they were doing. She was clearly having fun, though when it came to Sarah, that involved throwing dirt in his face. At least the Scoundrel player moved swiftly enough to dodge—most of it.
Throughout the minor logistical miracle, Jay noticed something about the enemy groups that attacked the point every few minutes. At first, they weren’t getting bigger but were increasing in frequency. Shortly after, the parties grew in size, but never by more than one or two at a time.
The suspicious activity made him narrow his eyes. Climbing buildings wasn’t his strongest suit, but he found a ladder to borrow and quickly took to the tallest building bordering the rally point. Nothing flanked them, which set his mind somewhat at ease, but he continued scanning the city for further threats.
Jay noticed several battlefronts where the enemy forces seemed content to stalemate. It satisfied the Demons if they remained trapped in forts, but he didn’t understand why the enemy didn’t finish the job. Even at a glance, he could tell their numbers far exceeded the Elves in the city. That was especially true when considering the missing Elvish Alliance. Their guild would be dealing with a force thrice their size to be held up from even acknowledging communications.
His eyes landed on the point of interest he sought, though it caused his heart to fall. Jay saw a staging area where hundreds of Demons laughed and interacted with each other. As he watched, a new raiding group slowly formed up and made their way to attack the Red Player’s Society defenses.
Jay’s guild was being toyed with, but the worst would yet come. In the Demon’s rally area, a siege tower, pulled by evil purple elephants with warped green tusks, slowly filled with enemy forces. The siege tower stood as tall as any Elvish building. Anyone could have seen its construction if they’d bothered to look instead of raking in slow experience.
He could deal with the tower. It could easily be outrun, and there was no way they’d beat the party to the next battle phase within the government sector. The Demon strategy didn’t make any sense, though. Their numbers would quickly overwhelm the pitiful, temporary defensive line that the Red Player’s Society held.
But it didn’t have to make sense. The idea, indeed, was to play with his guild. To play with Jay. He recognized four players riding on the front of the siege tower, leaning over the banister to grin at him.
The Demon player in front, clad in gunmetal armor bathed in green flames, waved at him.