Heralds- The Proving Grounds, page 20
Tobin turned from the wall and headed for the nearest ladder.
Tim turned to follow him. “Whoa, what’s the play here?”
“We need a minute. I can do that.”
“Eh…” The rogue rubbed at his chin. “You’re sort of a lose condition, though. You should stay hidden.”
Tobin shook his head. “Think they’re done talking to you, maybe they’ll chat with me.”
“I don’t like this…”
“Just be ready to get me out of harms way, yeah?”
The rogue sighed. “I don’t want to get fired.”
Fired? Jen tilted her head. They were moving out of earshot. There was some stomping on the walkway above.
The arrows stopped.
“I am Tobin Ironblood.” The young man’s voice sounded lower even as it rose in volume. “Is there a reason you’ve interrupted my day?”
Jen sighed. Bulorn had responded so well to bravado in the past…
Fortunately Bulorn sounded… amused. “Come outside, we’ll talk about it.”
“Hmm.” Tobin’s voice was above and to Jen’s left as she tried to look out into the yard. “You have an unsavory look about you. If you seek employment, I’d have to dispatch you elsewhere. Have to keep up appearances, and all.”
The mirth in Bulorn’s voice faded. “I’m not a patient man. I’m only here for your head.”
“A bold claim. You are hardly the first.”
“No. But I hope to be the last.”
Tobin let out a laugh. “Hope. Only fools hold to hope. Strength and a good sword are all a man has ever needed.”
Oh these guys were perfectly matched in their egos. Jen wasn’t quite sure who to bet on. Though Tobin had seemed much more reserved when he wasn’t facing down a warlord. Maybe this was just an act for him.
Bulorn didn’t sound the least bit amused anymore. “Then come out and show us your strength.”
“Us? That is the claim of a leader? A conquerer? Face me alone. Show me your strength. Anything less is the work of a coward.”
Jen blinked a few times. Had Tobin read Bulorn so well in so short a time? He would agree. He had already agreed to fight Sam when his ego was assaulted. It hadn’t gone well for him. Seemed to be an easy button to push.
Besides, if he didn’t agree it would make him look weak in front of the Freeport people that were following him here. Blood in the water. Bulorn wouldn’t be in charge for long. He would agree to the challenge. He didn’t have a choice.
“I accept. Back it up. This is my fight.”
Jen could see Bulorn’s people move away a bit, even as his fingers played across the open air. He was relaying something hidden. She doubted he was speaking to the Heralds. The Seven Eyes guild members weren’t beyond the distance of ranged combat.
Tobin was down behind the walls a few moments later. His team was all around, healing him up and giving him buffs. It seemed fair enough given she had no idea what Bulorn had done to prepare or what he was planning. None of his gear was familiar to her. It begged the question of just how much more he was hiding from the other Heralds, how much he was confiding in the Seven Eyes, and perhaps how much he was hiding from both.
Sam being a tad stab happy didn’t seem so bad in comparison.
They made way for Tobin to leave and he waltzed out like he owned the place and was going to check the mail.
Jen was kind of surprised no one shot him. Bulorn had only insisted he get the killing blow on Tobin, not all of the damage. It was a surprising amount of restraint for the Seven Eyes. Bulorn must have something on them. Respect didn’t seem like something they cared much about.
Tobin stood before Bulorn, who towered over him. The smaller man had his black sword up on his shoulder. Not a care in the world.
A few words were exchanged but Jen was to far away to hear any of it. She shifted her position along the wall to get closer to Tobin’s group.
At this point she was ready to help if they acted against Bulorn. All of this seemed rather underhanded and not what Hank and the other developers had intended. This would make for a lousy story.
Tobin’s people might not be able to take him down… but she could.
The sudden clash of steel caught her ear. She stopped beside a small hole in the metal wall.
Bulorn’s axe clearly had some form of special ability. She could barely see him swing. If he had used that against Sam things would have ended very differently. It must be new. Then again, all his stuff was new. He hadn’t confided in her in the least.
Tobin landed two hits early on.
Bulorn seemed annoyed… but still there. Hank’s uncertainty about the black sword harming them was gone. It hurt him, but nothing special.
Tobin didn’t get away unscathed. Bulorn landed a number of hits on him as the smaller man tried to block and retaliate. It didn’t take long before Bulorn had figured him out. Tobin’s attacks were blocked or avoided. Bulorn’s landed.
It was a rather spectacular light show from where Jen stood. Tobin’s attacks used red, Bulorn’s a burnt orange.
Maybe she didn’t want to be out there… she clearly wasn’t the combatant either of them was.
It looked a lot like Bulorn had this in the bag. Jen was waiting for Sam to pop up and knife him to get the kill herself when the momentum shifted. A lot.
Tobin was standing back a few steps, outside Bulorn’s reach. His swings sent our white and red waves in front of him, battering Bulorn.
The large man landed on the dirt, his axe lost in the fall.
Jen blinked a few times.
Well, good for Tobin.
20
Her friends interface showed Bulorn wasn’t dead. He was still listed as being here, not back on the island. She did recall Hank saying Tobin’s sword might lock them out if they died to it, but it seemed unlikely given it had taken so many blows to win the fight.
Bulorn wasn’t offline. Poe clearly was. It didn’t look the same at all.
He was still alive. Playing possum.
Claire the cleric let out a sigh of relief.
Jesse raised an eyebrow. “What, you didn’t think that guy was going to win, did you?”
“I thought the rest of them were going to attack, or the warrior was going to cheat.”
Paul was still staring at the scene playing out. “He may yet. He isn’t dead.”
“What?” The cleric pressed against the wall, leaning to see out. “He’s down, though.”
“He’s playing on Toby’s inexperience. Guy goes down, he’s not been around long enough to question why the corpse has a name plate. He doesn’t know anything about PVP.”
“We have to tell-”
Bulorn’s voice let out a loud laugh beyond the wall.
Jen turned her eyes back to the field.
The great axe’s blade was buried in the dirt beneath Tobin’s feet… and Bulorn looked very confused.
Tobin didn’t give him time to figure things out. He laid into the larger man and drove him back, away from his trapped axe.
Bulorn scrambled back, but the blows raining down on him were relentless. In the end Tobin held his black sword high and said something to Bulorn. Whatever it was, Bulorn answered poorly. The black blade descended in a flash, standing out of Bulorn’s chest.
A soft blip let Jen know someone had come online. She pulled up the list.
No… it was letting her know Bulorn had gone offline.
Maybe the sword was a hazard after all…
Tobin wretched the sword free and stood tall over Bulorn’s still form as he faced the massed Seven Eyes beyond. “Your leader is dead. My people have had time to heal and prepare.” He held the black sword high, red still dripping from it. “I don’t see any benefit to this fighting. I’m feeling merciful, so what happens next is up to you. Will you join him in the dirt?”
Claire broke the line with Jesse only a step behind, heading out the breach and making a bee line for Tobin. Paul cursed a followed them. The white hooded rogue only shrugged as he kept pace with the paladin.
Jen followed them. It wasn’t terribly likely any of the Seven Eyes cared enough about who she was to remember her, but this thing was done. Bulorn had failed. They didn’t deserve to win. Besides, they were kinda jerks.
“That’s far enough. You can reach him with spells.” Paul managed to get the casters to stop only a few paces from the wall. He stood in front of them with his shield high. “We can still get back to the walls from here…”
Jen drew her sword but kept it low, standing off to the side and behind them a bit. She was only there just in case something went really wrong…
The cleric and druid set about healing Tobin. It took some doing. He must have had a lot of health.
So much that it wasn’t yet full when bursts of black smoke appeared around him.
Paul gritted his teeth. “Damn it.”
Three rogues were swinging at Tobin. He managed to avoid them, but was shoved further from the group in the effort.
Claire took a step but Paul’s shield appeared in front of her.
“We need to go.” She glared at the paladin.
He shook his head. “We’re already overextended. Besides, he was expecting something like this. We’ll only be in the way.”
The cleric frowned and crossed her arms, her eyes hanging on Tobin.
The young man raised his voice back toward them. “Everyone stay on the other side of that damned wall!”
Paul inclined his head toward Tobin. “See? We should pull back.”
Tobin’s voice erupted in a wordless cry of anger.
Claire’s face took on a concerned look.
Jesse just blinked a few times. “Oh, right. Barbarian.”
Arrows and spells flew as the Seven Eyes line advanced. Quite a few of their members had been spirited away by stealth or magic, only now revealing themselves. Some were closer to the walls of the camp than they were.
Had Bulorn been a willing participant in distracting the Kingsmen, sacrificing himself for the Seven Eye’s cause? Or had they been using him from the start? It didn’t seem like the kind of thing he would do. There was no personal glory in it.
Paul held his shield high and looked back over his shoulder. “Rain hell on anyone you can reach, but don’t leave the wall! If they’re near Tobin Ironblood and you can hit them, take them down!”
Arrows and spells rained from the walls once more. The melee types were fighting those trying to get in through gaps. Tim glanced back at the wall. “Back in a minute.” He vanished and joined the fighting, black bursts of smoke appearing here and there on the wall.
Claire glared at Paul. “We can help more, let us.”
The paladin shook his head. “Toby can’t see you right now. You’d just be another blip on the radar. Soulbreaker will lock you out as easily as it locks out any of them. Heal him if you can, but we’re not engaging until he can tell friend from foe again.”
Jen tilted her head. That… didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. So Tobin’s relic was Soulbreaker, not so different from her Soulshine, and yet it was capable of hurting friends? Killing them? Maybe it was a barbarian issue. If Rage made him capable of hurting friendly characters a barbarian was a lousy choice of character to lead this event. She didn’t know the class well, but she knew Rage was a large part of it.
Tobin charged through the ranks swinging his black sword all the while. Fire burned before his eyes. Literally. A very clear indication that Rage was active.
Soulbreaker definitely hit harder than her sword but part of that might be the class choice. Paladins were primarily meant to defend while barbarians were nothing but offense. Most of those hit went down in two hits. Except the casters, of course. They went down in one.
He was wandering back and forth along the line, slashing indiscriminately. Paul and Claire threw heals when Tobin moved into range. Jen cast a few heals herself when she was close enough for it to work. She didn’t want to look suspicious by standing out here and not helping.
Tim appeared out in front of the wall now and then, the clouds of smoke giving away his position as he moved to strike the stealthy targets pressing in. He ended up back on top of the wall.
Jesse was using her mana and position to rain lightning into the ranks anywhere they grouped up. She was wearing a wide grin all the while. Little joyful cackles escaped from her now and then.
Tobin paused, his head sweeping back and forth. He waved a hand in front of him, like he was having trouble seeing.
A dark shape appeared beside him, green coated weapons shining.
“Shit.” Paul leveled his sword, but he didn’t move.
Tim vanished from the top of the wall and appeared beside them for a brief instant before vanishing again and appearing beside the attacker swinging on Tobin. His daggers moved faster than Jen could see.
Paul ground his teeth. “God damn it.”
The attacker didn’t have a Seven Eyes guild tag. Or any guild tag at all. The name plate was too far to read clearly. Jen focused on the rogue, trying to target them…
Samara Redblade.
Jen’s breath caught.
In Tobin’s moment of confusion, when he was acting like something was wrong with his eyes, Sam had moved in for the kill.
She had waited for Bulorn to lose and for the enemy to weaken Tobin as much as they could. She’d dropped her guild tag to avoid notice. Surely no one was watching the chat fly by when so much was going on. She had carefully picked her moment to pounce. Maybe she did know what she was doing.
The white hooded rogue wasn’t having any of it though. Daggers clashed as Tim fought with Sam.
Tobin turned. His sword was held high, and his eyes still burned bright red.
He swung.
Twice.
Both forms fell to the dirt as Tobin turned away again.
Claire gasped.
Paul sighed. “Damn.”
Jesse’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, man.”
A loud horn call climbed up over the din. Jen turned to see a new line of horses and men on foot charging. They had blue names and seemed intent on the Seven Eyes.
This whole thing had turned into a giant mess. Everything had gone wrong… for everyone.
Claire ran off toward where the rogues had fallen, even as Tobin rubbed at his eyes and moved off toward the newcomers.
Jesse chased after the cleric. “Claire, wait up!”
Paul shook his head and started toward Tobin instead.
Jen frowned a bit. She followed Jesse and Claire. Sam was over there…
She caught up just after Claire stopped and knelt down.
Jesse frowned as she stopped a few paces back. “Is he…?”
Claire nodded. “It’s too late.”
The white hooded rogue lay in the dirt, his eyes shut, his hands still clutching his daggers.
Sam lay on her side. Her face was hidden by her hair. The interface confirmed she was dead.
Just another lootable corpse.
Jen shook her head. “Idiot. What the hell where you thinking?”
Claire’s eyes shifted about. “She wasn’t with the red names?”
Jen hung her head. Damn it. She hadn’t meant to say anything. “No. She was with us. Until now. At least, she came here with us.”
The cleric stood. Her eyebrows drawn low. “Did you know about this?” Anger was rising in her voice.
Jen shook her head. “I didn’t know she was planning this, no.” True enough. Sam had not hid her intentions, but she hadn’t shared details either.
Claire pointed at the field of dead Seven Eyes. “Did you know about them?”
She’d had an inkling… but she shook her head. “No. We came when we heard there was an event.”
Jesse stepped in front of Jen. “This is no time to turn on each other. Someone with bad intentions snuck in. It was bound to happen given how open we made recruitment.”
Claire kept her eyes on Jen a few moments more, but it wasn’t long before she sighed and her features softened. She nodded a few times. “Come on, they’ll need our help getting everyone patched up.” She started toward Tobin and Celan. They were talking to one of the new blue names.
The Seven Eyes seemed to be in a full rout at this point. They were scattering to the winds.
Jesse glanced back at Jen and shrugged. She followed Claire.
Jen stood there alone for a few moments.
“Idiot.” She wanted to kick Sam, but her in game feet didn’t move just because her real ones did. Besides, she’d probably kick the end table or something.
The sound of someone knocking on a door seemed really out of place in the middle of a field.
Jen slipped the headset off and set it down.
Sam was outside, her eyes wide. “Am I dead? I got booted and can’t log back in.”
“You looked pretty dead.”
“Fuck.” Sam shoved past Jen and sat in the office chair. She pulled it up close to the computer. “Get back in there, I can see what you see from here.”
Jen shut the door again. “What does it matter? Bulorn died. You died. We’re down two Heralds. Three if you count Poe.”
Sam narrowed her eyes at Jen. “We don’t know that I’m dead for good. Maybe Hank can fix it.”
“He did tell you to stay away from Tobin’s sword. You were warned about this.”
Sam waved dismissively. “I was doing what I am supposed to do. He’ll understand.” She pointed at the headset. “Go on. Things don’t stop because you aren’t paying attention.”
Sam wasn’t exactly wrong. Jen hadn’t logged out, she’d just taken the headset off. It was the equivalent of walking away from the keyboard in the olden days. There was a pressure switch in the headset that turned the gloves and room sensors to standby.
She picked the headset up.
The light inside was more dim than in her room. It took her a moment to readjust.
Blue names bearing the guild tag “Kingsmen Reserve Corps” were picking over the dead red names, gathering up their loot.
The corpses of Sam and the white hooded rogue were gone.
“Welcome back.”
Jen turned to see Gorin Stoneshield standing behind her. His sword was drawn and held out toward her. “Into the camp, if you please.”
