Heralds- The Proving Grounds, page 27
Sam turned away, but she didn’t argue.
Jen took a few steps toward Bulorn, but stopped well outside his reach. Just in case. “Believe me, we know. And strange as it may sound, it seems like we’re all on the same side again.”
He scoffed. “So you’re somehow just as disillusioned as I am? Why? On second thought I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.”
Anna had moved a few paces behind Jen. “That’s a defeatist attitude.”
“Maybe because I was defeated.” Bulorn grinned slightly as he stared out at nothing. “I’m entitled.” He leaned his head back against the tree and shut his eyes. “For what little it may be worth, I’m sorry I didn’t trust any of you with the mission. You just didn’t seem the types that could get it done.”
Sam bit off a curt laugh. “Says the guy that didn’t get it done.”
He shrugged. “I’m not arguing that.”
Jen glared at Sam. “Well as far as I’m concerned, hatchet buried. We’re all friends again.”
Sam twisted up her face. “Jen, he ditched us for those PK pricks.”
She turned up the glare she had leveled at Sam to ten. “Hatchet buried. All friends.”
Sam muttered. “Bury a hatchet in his back…”
He gave Sam a weak smile. “Part of me thought I should have trusted you with the mission, if not the others.”
“Damn straight.” Sam nodded, her face still turned away.
“But I figured you’d try to take the kill from me.”
“Eh…” Sam shrugged. “Also true. I totally would have.” She turned back with a nod. “Fine, we both suck. Fair enough.”
Anna leaned closer to Jen, her voice soft. “Did they just bond over their shared love of murder?”
Jen shook her head. “Probably. Nut jobs the lot of them.”
Sam narrowed her eyes at Jen. “I heard that, sheep.”
Bulorn turned his eyes back to the water. “Is she wrong? We have… some less than noble priorities if you stop and think about it.”
“Pfft. What did being noble ever get anyone other than killed?”
Jen sighed. “Okay, so what now?”
Anna shrugged. “Alea iacta est.”
Sam tilted her head. “Say what?”
“Hmph.” Bulron didn’t look away from the water. “It’s latin. ‘The die is cast.’ It’s what Julius Caesar said as he lead his army across the Rubicon.”
“Right…” Sam turned her eyes to Jen, still clearly confused.
“Into Rome in defiance of the senate and starting a civil war. The move which resulted in him taking over and being crowned dictator for life.” Bulorn shook his head a bit, as if everyone should know that. And everyone really should. Shakespeare and all.
“Oh, cool.”
Jen rolled her eyes. “And like what we have done, there were some objections to his actions.”
Anna nodded. “Pointy objections. But context-wise it means we’ve passed the point of no return. We’re on the other side.”
Sam rubbed at her chin. “Well not all of us…”
“Four out of six isn’t bad.”
Jen opened her friends list. “I don’t see Poe being a problem. He’s pretty much done with us.”
Sam nodded. “He punked right the hell out. But that still leaves monk boy.”
“Ugh.” Bulorn shook his head. “The lapdog. I doubt he’ll care for your turncoat antics.”
Anna raised an eyebrow at the large man. “ ‘Your?’ As in, you are not with us?”
“It doesn’t much matter, does it? Hank made us what we are and he can take it away again with a few clicks of a mouse or the flick of his wrist.”
Sam shrugged and gave a dismissive wave. “Yeah, but it’s too late for him to find replacements. So he’s already beaten. His side will lose the event.”
Bulorn smiled but it was… disturbing. There was no joy in it. “Unless Tobin dies. That is all that matters and he hardly needs us for that if he really wants to make it happen. But why do you even care?”
Sam’s eyes shifted back and forth as she lifted her chin, pondering. “Out of spite mostly, I guess. Reason enough for me.”
Bulorn scoffed. “Not for me.”
“Well how about getting something out of this, then? We help them, there’s a title in it for you. It’s not ‘Kingslayer,’ but better than nothing.”
He just shook his head.
Anna crossed her arms and raised her chin. “Hell with you then. Hank may have picked us, but he hasn’t done much to support us since. We’ve made friends like he asked. We’ve made attempts on Tobin, like he asked. All we’ve gotten for our work is yelled at. I’m not for Tobin so much as I’m against Hank.”
Bulorn tilted his head slightly at that.
Jen shrugged. “I’m not against anyone really, but that’s part of the problem. I’ve got friends on both sides and no one seems to see the sense of this event. Not even some of the devs running it. I’d like it to be done so people don’t have to deal with the harsh rules anymore so they can, you know, play the game for fun.”
Bulorn chuckled softly. “Never send someone so weak willed to do under cover work. Yes, I see the guild tag. It’s hard to ignore. And yet you are perhaps the least of the turncoats.” He settled in a bit beside the tree. “Even if I cared to help you, I wouldn’t know where to begin. How does one hurt a GM? Mock his shoes? I’ve got nothing for that.”
He lifted an axe that was sitting on the sand beside him. It wasn’t the one he had used against Tobin. He’d lost that one when he died. Part of being a red name was risking your items, but with the rules as they were it wasn’t much of a risk. Red names seemed to drop everything they had if they died, without fail. Sam’s gear had been changed out a few times now as well.
“Things will heat up though.” Bulorn drew a finger across the axe to check its edge. “There will inevitably be some sort of confrontation close to the end of the timer they set up for this event. There has to be. They won’t let it end quietly. I plan to use the distraction to hit the Seven Eyes and teach them some respect. Put fear into them, Jakon especially, moving forward into the real release. Other than that…” He shrugged one shoulder a bit. “I’ll be right here.”
Jen frowned and Sam turned away again. “Tch. Fine. Whatever. Doing nothing is tantamount to helping us anyway.”
Anna nodded a few times. “We already made our play, now we just ride it out. Refuse to do anything more. Maybe we should just log out and stay out.”
That sounded reasonable. It denied Hank his pawns anyway. It seemed to be Poe’s favored approach even if he was unaware of most of this.
But it didn’t sit right with Jen. She shook her head. “No… I’ll stay. I have the guild tag. I’ll use it and help if I can without getting too close. I doubt I’d have time to explain if they figured out we were from Team B.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy, but I don’t want to bail either. I want to watch Hank lose. Besides, I’m not sure what will flag me as getting the title on offer from the Kingsmen. Want to make sure I get in on that. Follow Tobin around and knife mobs like the others if needs be.”
Bulorn set his axe back down. “That might get you Hank’s ire more than anything else. He’s sure to see that and to take offense.”
Jen nodded. “Probably. Especially given how close he is to them right now.”
Bulorn tilted his head slightly. “What?”
“He’s impersonating the leader of the Kingsmen Reserve Corps guild, staying close to Tobin. Sam knifed the real guy.”
Sam raised her chin slightly, a bit of pride showing. “I’d do it again, too.”
Bulorn rubbed at his chin. “Strange.”
Anna shook her head slightly. “Not really, that’s how Sam always is.”
“No. Hank. Why is he so obsessed with winning?”
“Uh…” Anna shrugged. “Office pool?”
Jen frowned a bit. “He said he was watching the chat between Tobin and the Reserve Corps leader. I don’t think that’s normally okay without some sort of warrant, or at least probable cause.”
Bulorn raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t think so, no. An event shouldn’t be reason enough.”
Anna scoffed. “All the more reason to tell him to shove it.”
Bulorn grabbed his axe and stood up now. “Agreed.”
Sam glanced back over her shoulder at the large man with a raised eyebrow. “What, you going to go axe him something?”
“To finish leveling.”
Sam shrugged a bit. “Forty two here. What’s it matter at this point?”
“Whatever is going to happen, whatever Hank might try to do, it’s going to be at the level cap. I already have poor gear, I’m not going to be worth much at level thirty eight.”
“Well, at least you care now.”
“Hmm. I’d like to see the end, at least. My name won’t be remembered for this but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t here.”
Jen caught herself yawning. “Well, I doubt Hank will do anything tonight, and I didn’t get much sleep last night so I’m going to call it. I’ll level in the morning.”
Sam scrunched up her face at Jen. It wasn’t a happy look. “Fine, I guess. Dinner?”
27
Jen had trouble staying awake. Sam showed up a few minutes later. She didn’t stop knocking until Jen opened the door.
“I hate you.” Jen muttered as she fell back onto her bed.
“Pizza should be here in ten minutes or so. Pretty short estimate. Must be a slow night.”
“There’s nobody here but us. Well us and somebody making pizza, I guess.”
“Also delivering it.” The office chair creaked a bit. Sam had a tendency to jump into it rather than sitting like a normal person.
Time was fuzzy for a bit.
A soft beep interrupted the pleasant silence.
“Yello? Cool. Be right down.” The door opened. “Hey, be conscious for a few more minutes. Not locking this since I don’t have a key.”
Jen groaned as she sat up. “Whatever.” She stared at the door for a long time. An hour or two at least.
Or it was five minutes. It felt like a long time.
The door opened again without so much as a knock. Sam was holding a pizza box with one hand as she shut the door again. “Look at you, all upright and stuff.”
“Hnn.” Jen shook her head a few times trying to knock some of the cobwebs off her brain. “Didn’t we have pizza like… yesterday?”
“No.” Sam sat back down and opened the box. “Technically, we did not. We did a few days ago though. Unfortunately there’s sort of a lack of options nearby and I didn’t think either of us was up for cooking.”
“Or capable.”
“Rude, though not inaccurate.”
It smelled good regardless of how recently pizza had been dinner. That either said something for the pizza, or about how hungry Jen was.
Sam was spinning in the chair. “So tomorrow is day five of this thing. We will easily hit the level cap. We’ve been kind of… doing other crap lately. And with monk boy doubtlessly out there being all ‘Go Team’ I’m sure there’s a pile of experience waiting.”
“His name is Kail.”
“His name is I-don’t-care.” Sam shrugged. “He’s always struck me as odd. Just never seemed… right.”
“He and I agreed on a lot of things.”
“I know. That’s what bugs me. You’re… weird. And that makes you special and all that, but you’re not normal.”
Jen found it difficult to glare at Sam. She was just too tired at this point. “I’m choosing to be the adult here and ignoring your childish antics.”
“See? That’s not normal. A normal person would be throwing things. Rise to the occasion.”
Jen rolled her eyes. Easy enough to do that. She tossed the crust of her pizza at Sam and instantly regretted the crumbs she would have to clean up… later. Probably tomorrow.
Sam raised an eyebrow. “You don’t eat your pizza bones? Man, you are so weird.”
“I like how nothing I do is right to you.”
“It’s nothing personal.”
Jen glanced at the clock. It had somehow snuck all the way to 10 p.m. without her noticing. Very late dinner, yeesh. “If it’s all the same to you, I am more than ready to call it a night.”
“What? It’s still early.” Sam picked up the remote laying on the computer desk. The TV was typically left to languish on some network or another for the sake of weather reports. The summer didn’t have much in the way on inclement weather, though, and she’d never heard of a sunshine alert, so it had been off since she finished her coffee that morning. Sam brought it to life and flicked through the channels.
Jen wasn’t terribly interested. She fell over on her side, laying on the bed in her clothes. She wanted to at least take her shoes off but… meh. Her feet were hanging over the side anyway.
The world was a warm, quiet, and fuzzy place where nothing mattered so much as closing her eyes…
“Why haven’t you talked about Kevin?”
Jen’s eyes popped open again. She didn’t move, still lying on her side. “What?”
Sam’s eyes were on the TV but they didn’t seem focused. “Exactly. My stupid big brother goes walkabout and it’s driving me insane, yet you don’t seem to care. But you should care as much as me. Maybe more. Probably more.”
Jen sat up slowly. Kevin… hadn’t crossed her mind for a day or two. Huh. “I guess I’ve just been distracted.” Though she had been trying to think about anything else when all of this started. It seemed like it had worked.
“Distracted.” Sam looked down at the remote in her hand. “Right.”
Sam’s face was a blank slate. Jen didn’t know if forgetting about Kevin and his antics was a good or bad thing. She tilted her head a bit, pondering it. “I suppose my mind has just been preoccupied with all of this. And I’m honestly grateful for that. I… was having a bit of a hard time before. The distraction has been welcome. Helpful even.” She nodded a few times. It cleared her head a bit. “Thanks, by the way.”
Sam turned her eyes to Jen, one eyebrow raised. “Eh?”
“You pushed me into this. I wasn’t sure about it. Thought maybe it was a bad idea. I have a bag all packed. Kept thinking of hopping in a cab but… I’m glad I didn’t.”
Sam smiled a bit. “Cool. I was kinda afraid you were just balling up rage like me. I can get away with hitting him when he shows back up. You probably can’t.”
Jen shook her head, but she was smiling. “Hadn’t occurred to me. And I like that it hadn’t.”
“Well for what it’s worth, right now I like you a lot better than him. In case you were wondering. He’s a jerk, and really he always has been. Don’t know what you saw in him.” She frowned a bit. “I’m sorry I snapped by the way.”
“What? Which time?”
“Shut up. I’m trying to be sincere here, jerk face.”
Jen held up her hands. “Sorry. Continue.”
“Thank you.” Sam nodded a few times. “When Anna showed up and said we bicker like sisters, and I said we were not. I didn’t… I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. Like I was disgusted by the idea. I’m not. Potentially getting a cool sister-in-law was the best thing Kevin had done for me in… ever. And then that was gone. Guess it just hit a nerve.” Sam glanced away. “Oh my god I’m turning into a soap opera over here.”
“Sometimes it’s good to share. To have feelings.” Jen was suddenly regretting all the things she had thought about Sam… her appearance, her demeanor… she was glad she had never given voice to the ideas, but that didn’t make her feel better.
“Blech.” Sam stuck her tongue out like she tasted something awful. “Okay, rapid fire then so it’s done. I’m glad we’re friends. I suck at friends in general. I’ve only ever had one sibling and I hated him as far back as I can recall. Always wanted a sister instead, since how could it be worse? So that’s where that came from. Sorry for… being all girly on you.”
Jen laughed softly. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“Says you.”
“Aww.” Jen stood up and stepped across the room to hug Sam. It only took the normal two steps. Small room.
Sam wrinkled up her nose. “You just had to go and make it weird, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Yes I did.” Jen ruffled Sam’s purple hair. “Hey, your roots are starting to show a bit. What color are you thinking next?”
“Red. Like, super red. Wait…” Sam looked up at Jen with narrowed eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Nope. Want a hand with it?”
“Well, it’s kind of a pain in the butt to do so… yes.”
“Cool.” Jen sat back on the edge of her bed. She was more awake now.
“What color should we make yours?” Sam spun in the chair again.
“I’m good with brown.”
“Boring. Maybe we can get you a piercing.” Sam pointed at her nose. “This only hurt like hell for a few minutes.”
Jen shivered. “Ugh. No. I don’t know how you stand that thing. Drives me crazy.”
Sam grinned. “I know. I got it to bug my mom but she just showed me pictures of her back in the day with one in her lower lip. And another one in her belly button. I was going to take it out when I noticed it made your skin crawl. So I kept it.”
Jen rolled her eyes. “Wow. I feel so honored.”
Sam shrugged a bit. “Oooo.” She leaned forward in the chair, her eyes locked on the TV. “Krull.”
Jen tilted her head to the side. “Say what?”
Sam stared at her with wide eyes. “Krull?” She pointed at the TV. “Krull.”
The movie playing looked… odd. Clearly some older sword and sorcery deal. The sides of the screen were blocked off. Talk about low res. “Wait… is that guy related to Liam Neeson?”
“That is Liam Neeson.”
“My god. He’s like… ten years old.”
