Heralds- The Proving Grounds, page 35
Well, she and Sam had done their best. They’d certainly done their part. They knew going in that they might fall in the effort. She had signed on just the same.
Her only regret was Soulshine. She didn’t want it to end up in the hands of these people. It deserved better.
“Hold!” Jakon’s voice rose above the din. He sounded downright giddy. “Let me through, let me through!”
The red names made way for him, though their weapons were still held ready to strike.
Jeneve Lightheart the paladin wasn’t moving as quickly as Jen would want. The red tinge still hung around the edges of her screen.
Jakon was grinning ear to ear. “Well, looky here. All that bravado and what did it get you? Beat nearly to death. Of course, anyone could have seen that coming. Did you really think your fancy sword would make that much of a difference? I think your rogue friend bailed on you, too.”
If Sam was gone it was because she had fallen. She wouldn’t run from this. Not when Jen’s fate was on the line.
Jen kept her shield in front of her. She could see through a few large cracks in it. There wasn’t much beyond hope and good intentions keeping the thing together at this point.
“You realize you’re just a distraction, right?” Jen shifted her stance a bit. If she tried to cast a heal the glow would give her away and weapons wouldn’t be far behind. “I mean, you know you’re just a pawn in this, right?”
“Aren’t we all?” Jakon drew a skinny sword with an intricate golden hilt from his side. “I don’t know about you, but I judge my actions on what I get out of them. And this one?” He held up the strange lantern in his left hand. “Worth it. Oh so very worth it. I could have lost all of these people in the effort. Still worth it. They know what this means for us. This world will never be the same.” His voice caught as his eyes went wide.
Sam was standing beside him surrounded by black smoke that was just beginning to clear. She had one of her daggers buried deep in his side and the lantern grasped firmly in her empty hand. “We can’t have that.”
It took a brief moment for the PK crew to figure out what had happened. They swung at Sam but she disappeared again in a blink leaving nothing but a fresh cloud of black smoke to be torn asunder by their weapons.
Jen smiled behind her shield. At least Sam was a pain in the ass to everyone and not just her.
She caught two more arrows against her shield before she heard a loud creaking sound. Then the shield fell apart, leaving her bare arm high in the air.
It was a weird sound for a shield to make.
The red names arrayed before her slowed their charge as she swapped Soulshine to both hands. She could still bash, but the charge required a shield. It would limit her mobility but she could make do. There had been few opportunities to charge anyway. She casually tossed a heal at no one, indicating she meant it for herself.
No one attacked her. A few of the red names in the back broke and ran.
What, did the think the shield had somehow been limiting her? That was silly. Maybe they hadn’t realized Sam was still about and had apparently found time to move some points into shadow stepping. That could be scary. Jakon was still doing his best statue impression.
The first blue name to run by Jen brandishing a sword was a bit of a surprise. Where had that guy come from? The next appeared from her other side. It was one of the town guards. She knew the helmet and armor well. She might have talked to that one before. Well, at them. They had never been a chatty bunch.
A quick glance over her shoulder showed the doors to the church were open and blue names were pouring out brandishing all manner of weapons. Some of them were clearly in newbie gear while others were rocking the black PVP armor sets, and everything in between.
They crossed swords, and various other things, with the red names still arrayed out there. Jen just stared for a few seconds. She hadn’t expected any backup.
“Ma’am.”
Jen whipped her head back around.
Gorin Stoneshield was standing beside her. He held up a metal shield, round at the top and pointy at the bottom. A white bird with its wings spread was painted on the front. He held the shield out to her, but the look on his face was that of someone waiting to be yelled at. Or slapped. “I might have misjudged you, ma’am.”
“You think?” Jen raised an eyebrow. “Eh, forget it. No harm, no foul.”
He held the shield a bit higher. “Please, you might need this if we’re to win this thing.”
Hmm. She didn’t really want to be indebted to this guy. He could be kind of a jerk. But this seemed more like he was trying to make amends.
She took the shield from him with a nod. “Are your people up to this?”
He laughed softly as he drew his own weapons. “No. But we don’t have much choice, do we?”
The shield had much better stats than the rusty bits of metal on the ground that used to be a shield. Hell, it was a level forty five item instead of… five or so. She swung her arm a bit and gave Gorin a nod. “Thanks.”
He saluted and strode ahead toward the fighting.
Jen raised her new shield and followed.
Well this changed things. The red names might be stronger but their numbers were limited. And if the ones lying on the ground were any indication, she and Sam had already made a pretty good dent. Probably mostly Sam.
The blue names weren’t exactly fighting with finesse, either. They had noticed they had better numbers and seemed to be willing to hazard it.
“I’m not sure if I’m happy…” Sam was walking beside Jen. She hadn’t been, and then she was. The teleporting was going to get annoying. “I mean, did we inspire them or just swing the numbers enough they think they can win now?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.” Sam nodded. “One is warm and fuzzy, the other is exploitation.”
Jen rolled her eyes. She was close enough now. She threw her arm forward and ended up bashing into a group of reds.
There were few shields among the red names. There was almost nothing defensive about any of them aside from wearing the best armor they could get and maybe stacking stamina. They built their characters to do damage because in PVP the last one standing was the one that hit harder faster. Heals could be interrupted. DoTs and bleeds could be removed and took time. It was all about hitting hard and fast as reliably as possible.
Kind of made them pretty easy to roll over in the end. Ironic.
It was a few minutes of solid fighting but the reds never recovered. Their strategy had been to overwhelm. Once they faced even numbers, or maybe even greater, they faltered. Jen hadn’t seen any blues go down in the exchange, and with any luck it wouldn’t matter for long. She had been throwing heals for the last few minutes. No one had been in mortal danger or anything, she was just being cautious. Besides, the red names had stopped getting anywhere near her awhile ago.
The last of the red names standing was no surprise. Jakon hadn’t moved much. Sam had been returning periodically to stun him again. It didn’t do much damage, but it did involve a dagger. His health was getting rather low.
And he was surrounded by blue names. Gorin had been keeping everyone away from him for awhile now.
Jen stepped in close. Sam was already hovering, her daggers spinning. Each time she stunned him it didn’t last quite as long as the previous one. It wouldn’t be long before it did nothing. Though he might be dead by then just from the stabs.
Jen drew Soulshine from her side. The blade sang its song for her. It seemed pleased with fighting red names. None of them had held a candle to Bulorn in the end, but he had been turned into Hank’s pet.
She lay the point of the blade against Jakon’s chest and raised her voice. “This man stands accused of murder. How do you find him?”
“Guilty!” Was the most common response, though there were a few “Kill him!”s thrown in. Not exactly the vibe she was going for.
Jen nodded. “We’ve no jail, and I believe in these parts murder, especially multiple murders, would get you an execution date anyway. As an appointed servant of justice, I will carry it out.” Only appointed by Jesse… but meh. Good enough.
A soft laugh escaped Jakon’s lips. By the end of it he could move again.
Sam spun a dagger around her fingers, but Jen held up a hand to tell her to stop.
“And how do you plead?” Jen kept the sword close to his chest. He didn’t have health enough to take a hit. A scratch might do him in.
“There is no justice in this world. It’s all about taking what you can. What you want. I’m not going to play your silly game. I know what I am. I’m strong. You’re weak. You won today because you had more people, but they’re weak too. They had the numbers before you showed up. Didn’t stop them from running away.”
Sam tilted her head. “I think he said he was guilty.”
Gorin nodded. “That was the impression I got.”
Jen watched Jakon sweep his eyes back and forth. He just shook his head. He hadn’t learned anything here. He was what he was.
But that didn’t change anything.
“Justice be done.”
Soulshine pierced his chest without the slightest protest. The last of his health disappeared and he fell limp to the ground.
Cheers rose around them as Jen put her sword away.
It wasn’t for him. It was for them. They wanted an end to it. To see him punished. He’d be back when everyone else was but here he had met his end. Hardly his first loss but maybe his first public one. Hopefully his name would suffer a bit.
And some day Bulorn would catch up with him. That was worse than anything Jen could do.
“Congratulations, citizens of the Proving Grounds!” A voice echoed across the sky. “The Early Release event has drawn to a close with the victory of Tobin Ironblood and his Kingsmen!”
Sam scoffed.
“They couldn’t have done it without help from many of you. We’ll be taking the servers down in fifteen minutes and setting things up for normal play. This will take a few hours, but we’ll be sure to let you know when things are ready to go. Absolute worst case, tomorrow morning. Thanks again to everyone for participating, we hope you enjoyed this once in a lifetime event!”
Sever down in 00:15:00
The text flashed in the air before her.
Gorin let out a sigh. “Well, I’m glad that’s over.”
Jen nodded. “Agreed.”
Sam shrugged. “I dunno, I kinda liked it.”
“You’re crazy.”
The blue names started disappearing one by one. Gorin gave a salute before her vanished as well.
Poe walked towards them from behind one of the buildings. “So that’s it? It’s over?”
Jen nodded. “And we won. Sort of.”
Sam narrowed her eyes at him. “Where were you?”
“I didn’t think the friendlies would take kindly to my… help. But I was waiting in case you needed it. And the red guys that ran didn’t get very far.”
“Eh, probably smart.”
Jen opened her menu. She didn’t want to log out here. “Island?”
“Island.” Sam nodded.
It was quiet as ever. The sun was setting behind the water.
“See you guys in the morning?” Poe had wandered a few steps toward the buildings but stopped to look back at them.
Jen nodded. “I guess so. We should let Anna know. Don’t think we have contact information for Kail.”
“Anna might.” Sam shrugged. “I’ll ask her.”
No one asked the question. Maybe no one else was thinking it… but Jen certainly was.
Hank had made them. If the event was really over then the developers had taken care of him. Banned him forever or whatnot.
What did that mean for the Heralds?
35
Sam spun in Jen’s computer chair. The Proving Grounds launcher was up on the monitor. So far the “play” button was grayed out.
It was 9:03 a.m.
Jen sat on the edge of her bed. She was wearing the vest and gloves with the headset resting on her lap. She’d already had it on a few times. It read green across the board. Everything was hunky dory… just waiting on the server.
Sam stop spinning and brought up the web browser. The main forums had come back the night before. People were gabbing about everything under the virtual sun but none of them knew when the servers would be back. A few had already lied and said they were just to be jerks.
For Jen it was less a desire to play and more a need to know what was in store. It nagged at her. She’d spent five days doing little beyond being a Herald. In truth that might be a bad thing but even if she managed her time better in the future, that might mean five days wasted. Items lost. Crafting skills gone.
She was trying not to think about Soulshine. Her little plastic sword was tucked into the belt of the bright orange vest.
Sam had been able to reach Anna without any trouble. She had been watching her husband play and had witnessed the last stand in Morblina. She’d been yelling at him to get outside the church and help, but the doors had been blocked from within and only a handful of people had been able to see out. Gorin had been the one to finally make them open it up. He’d threatened to break the beams keeping it shut, which would open it anyway and make it impossible to close again.
Anna had an email address for Kail, but she hadn’t heard back yet.
Sam had been on the phone with Poe most of the evening. It was bordering on sickening. The flirting was certainly there but both edged away from anything too overt.
They’d figure it out.
He was actually a year older than Sam, he just didn’t sound like it. He was at college out on the east coast. That probably made him a basketball rival or something.
She smiled a bit. If nothing else they’d come out of it with some new friends. Sam could certainly use them, but Jen was glad of them too. The bad business with Kevin seemed like it had happened ages ago, not a week.
A deep drum solo played from the speakers.
Sam nearly fell out of the chair. She was out the door before she was back on her feet. There was bound to be a login queue.
Jen shut the door and locked it. She picked up the headset again and plopped it onto her head as she stepped into the center of the sensors.
Everything read green. The login queue wasn’t terrible… which meant she’d got in early.
Her character selection screen was different. The other spaces were unlocked. She could be someone else now. Eleven someone elses.
She couldn’t fathom why she would want to.
Jeneve was waiting. She looked just as she had. Jen let out a relieved sigh.
The island was beautiful in the morning. The sun was just rising. Heh. Time zones. She watched the waves play for a few moments. Their tips were painted red and yellow.
“You’re never hard to find.”
Jen smiled as she turned to find Anna standing a few feet away. “Hi.”
“Hey.” She waved.
“Well, you seem no worse for wear.”
“Fortunately Sam died a few times before me, so I figured I’d be okay.”
“I heard that.” Sam grumbled a she appeared in a burst of smoke. “Rude.”
Jen ignored her. “You hear back from Kail?”
Anna shook her head. “Not so far.”
“Poe should be along soon.” Sam shaded her eyes as she scanned the beach.
“Right, Poe.” Anna nodded. “Had nearly forgotten all about him.”
“I guess I deserve that.” The hooded young man walked down from the buildings.
Anna gave him a smile. “Kidding. Good to see you.”
“Good to be here. I’m sorry I was a no show for so long. Just… didn’t trust myself.”
“Mmm.” Kail’s voice rumbled softly. Jen turned to see him a few feet behind her near the water line. “Trusting oneself is never easy. But it is a worthy endeavor, in the end.”
Sam rolled her eyes.
Jen smiled. It was good to have them all together again. Well…
Anna was holding her sword casually… but it was in her hands. “What of Bulorn?”
Jen shrugged. “Hank said Bulorn’s respawn point was changed and he had an appearance reset waiting for him. He might not be able to come here anymore.”
“Or he might have an island just like it somewhere else.”
Sam frowned. “And he could look like anybody.”
Kail rubbed at his chin. “He would be a fool to come here. And while he is many things, I don’t believe he is a fool. If we see him it won’t be in our stronghold.”
“Speaking of which…” Sam made a show of opening her main menu. “I still have a recall button. Does the table work?” She turned and started that way.
A sixth figure appeared in the middle of the assembled group. They were dressed in nothing but black.
Weapons practically flew from their scabbards. Everyone stood ready, even Mr. calm and collected himself moved up from the water to stand with them.
The black clad head twitched around a bit before turning. Golden hair spilled out of the front of a black hood as Jesse smiled at Jen and waved. “Hi!”
Jen let out a relieved sigh. “It’s okay, guys. You can halt defcon four or whatever.”
Jesse beamed as she turned and waved at each of them. “Hello. Are you the other Heralds? I’m Jesse, perhaps better known as Amallia Puppypaws, God king of all druids. First level 50 druid in the live game. You might have heard of me. Kind of a big deal.”
Anna stared at the young woman with one eyebrow raised. Sam was practically glaring. Poe and Kail just seemed confused.
“Anywho.” Jesse shrugged. “I am an animator at Brave New World Entertainment, whom you might know from such games as this one right here.” She pointed both hands down at the sand. “Speaking of which, you can rest easy. I have no earthly idea where I am. I’m using my home station logged into my admin level account in a temporary fashion. My side of this conversation is being monitored by a third party named Jerry, who says ‘hi’ by the way, but your side is not. Incidentally, admin accounts outside the building are soon to not be a thing that can be done because of your prior boss, Henry Miller.”
