Otherlife Dreams: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (16 page)

“I admit as much fun as that was, it wasn’t my only goal. I wanted to talk to you about the battle the other day.”

Grunting Katarina waited, chewing quietly.

“You did wonderfully. Such a performance made me wonder how I could function without you leading the way. You’re a sight to behold Katarina,” Runner confided. Still admiring the scenery he as he started he let his eyes gravitate to Katarina as he finished with her name. She’d frozen up as he spoke and now stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “I’m afraid I have to ask more of you though. Thana almost died because she made a mistake. She attacked an Elemental you didn’t have control over yet. It ended up separating from the group and attacking her alone. Damn near killed her.”

Katarina nodded at his words.

“I need you to search your abilities. You’ll need to be looking for any skill that has the word ‘Taunt’ in it’s description or name. Anything that’ll let you hit multiple enemies would be good too. A cleave, an intimidating shout, anything. You did nothing wrong, so don’t blame yourself. I guess I just have to ask more of you. I’m sorry for that.”

“I will not fail you Runner. I won’t,” Katarina declared. Runner blinked at the strength of her words. Her hand was clenched on the hilt of her sword as if she were swearing an oath.

“You never have Kitten. I truly doubt you could fail me.”

With that said Runner let the subject drop and enjoyed her company as they stood there in the road making small talk. Eventually Runner could just barely see the outlines of the rest of his group trailing behind. Letting his feet start carrying him down the road again he walked side by side with Katarina. Her eyes scanned the road bed for anything suspicious while Runner did the same. Runner eventually felt like he could dismiss himself to move on to his next planned conversation.

“Alright, time for me to fall back. Think on what we talked about. I’m going to wait here for them. Oh, and Kitten? Thank you.”

Runner watched her as she slowly, reluctantly, continued walking down the road. As she left he could see her left hand sorting through unseen windows. Hopefully she was already looking through her abilities. Though it would detract from her role of being on point. Details, details.

Deciding to have a bit of fun, Runner stealthed himself and slipped sneakily from the road bed to a small scrub brush nearby. Pick pocketing them and giving them each others inventory sounded like a riot. Camouflaging himself he lingered there, watching the rest of his group near.

“……appeared? Like just out of thi-n-n-n-n air?” Nadine questioned, her voice carrying just enough for him to hear her.

“Quite right. Started opening the cages without a thought or care. A priest and one of his flock tried to convince him to leave myself and Katarina there. Contrary to that it seemed only to infuriate him. Ultimately he freed everyone. And then the abhorrent man insulted him and called me filth. To which he disagreed with by punching him in the throat and cast him out,” Thana explained.

“I see. M-m-m-my initial im-mpression of him was right then. Is Han-n-n-nah his wife or…?”

Runner frowned as they passed his position.
My wife? Now that’s a strange thought.

“Not in the least. As far as I can tell he’s uninvolved with anyone. Hannah said he caught her robbing murderers, that’s how they met. Hired her directly on as a companion after that. She swears he’s never even made a hint of desiring her to warm his bed.”

“That soun-n-n-nds right for Hannah, I guess. Maybe he’s…”

Nadine’s voice trailed off as they got further down the road.

Stepping out from his position he unstealthed himself in the middle of the road. Eavesdropping wasn’t what he had in mind yet he couldn’t have revealed himself without admitting he’d heard their conversation.

Hannah was coming up the road towards him, still holding the rear guard. Falling in lockstep with her he shared the road with her, his eyes roving, lost in his thoughts.

“Going to fucking say something or keep walking along like a stupid jackass,” Hannah snapped irritably. Now that he thought about it, she’d been annoyed with him since they invaded the stables. Guessing at what the cause was he held up an apologetic hand, as if asking for mercy.

“Thank you, Hanners. I’d be lost without you and value you dearly. I ask your pardon for not consulting you before I added to our group. I realized they’d be beneficial but didn’t consider your own personal thoughts on the matter.”

Hannah said nothing at first but her head dipped down once. “Accepted. I’m sorry for being snippy with you. I don’t do terribly well with rapid change. It feels like since I’ve met you, there’s been nothing but change. I’m not good at that. I plan, I prepare, work the angles.”

“That’s why I need you all the more. I can plan when I need to and I can do it fairly well, to be sure. But I’m more of a consultant type of thinker. Bring me a problem and I’ll figure out how to crack it. I guess what I’m saying is, I need you Hanners. I need you and thank you.”

“Sure. Don’t mention it,” Hannah responded, her voice quiet.

“Since you’re being civil and I don’t think I heard a swear word in there, Nadine asked Thana if we were married. Can you believe that? I didn’t realize we had the old bickering couple act down,” Runner shared with a chuckle.

Hannah failed to counter while tucking her chin closer to her chest. Her bangs fell forward to block parts of her face from view like a black curtain. Leaving it at that for a while the conversation lapsed to talking about the siege of the Orc fort. Once more Runner could no longer postpone the next leg of this little train-stop tour.

“If you don’t mind Hanners, could you trade places with Thana? Send her back here to rear guard that is. Might do well to send Nadine up to relieve Kitten as well. Time for you two to get a break.”

Hannah inclined her head and moved forward at a trot. Runner could only keep watch and contemplate what to tell Thana. In the light of hindsight, Thana erred and almost got herself killed. Pretty clean cut and dry, really. Now to tell her that without alienating her completely.

Up ahead the Sunless Sorceress in question awaited him. Her face was turned to him, watching his approach. Runner did his best to prevent his eyes from roaming over her as he neared. Reality or virtual, she could certainly draw his attention without trying. Finding inspiration in the moment Runner smiled and offered his arm to her.

After a flicker of surprise crossed her face Thana returned the smile and linked her arm into his.

“Lady Death, I’m afraid I must make you aware of some details. Details that will be unpleasant, I’m afraid. I wish to let you know upfront that I respect you greatly and wish no harm either to your self or ego. If I critique you, it is only because I do so out of care for your well being.”

“As we’re being formal, Master Runner, I’m well aware I acted rashly. And that I nearly paid with my life. After reading through the abilities it would appear my Ice spear has the secondary effect to spray damage out in a cone behind the target. Area of effect, I believe it was labeled. From what you told me of aggro, and based on your instructions, I can infer that because the ice struck the creature before Katarina had a chance to engage it, it attacked me. Is that accurate?”

“Yes. Yes it is. I’m glad to hear you putting the situation forth as such, Lady Death. Part of me was concerned that might have been more than you were willing to tolerate. Not everyone is cut out for a life of mercenary work. A refined, intelligent, and warm hearted, young lady like yourself probably shouldn’t be running around with us ruffians.”

Thana started to snicker but that turned into full laughter a heartbeat later. “Oh, you couldn’t be closer to the truth, and further, at the same time if you tried. That’s not my story to tell though. As for me, you’re right, I probably shouldn’t be amongst you. Though it is my life and my choice to squander it as I see fit. Besides, I already feel you’re working to make sure everyone is healthy, both mentally and physically. Its not as if I wasn’t there when you went to talk to Katarina, then Hannah comes up to ask me to fall back, and there you are. I’m guessing one of them, or both, is now looking into ways to make sure they can react to a similar situation in the future.”

“Ah, yes. This is true,” Runner admitted, embarrassed. It really was rather obvious when put together as she said.

“You see? I have no cause for concern. I must simply own my mistakes and build off them. I’m sure you have a plan to speak with our dear merchant in due time. Oh, and don’t mince words with her, or even begin to pity her. It’ll just infuriate the dear woman.”

Runner nodded to her point but said nothing, nor released her arm. His eyes traveled the terrain looking for threats, feeling the warmth of Thana’s arm against his own. Virtual world it may be but it certainly was pulling out every stop to make it closer to life every time he checked.

There were vague memories in the back of his head, that the game attempted to be as close to life as possible. If given the resources for it the programming could do wonders. He couldn’t pin it down to a similar memory though he wanted to say it was designed as a therapeutic tool originally. It had programming built in to allow memories to be repressed and dealt with in a safe environment. It also strove for realism for those who were locked in their own bodies or suffering great mental torment. An environment people could identify with and heal in.

Thana rested her free hand on top of his arm and patted it lightly, reminding him that a response would be appreciated. Her hand rested there comfortably while Runner worked through his own thoughts.

Finding that her answer was certainly acceptable he could only take it for what it was.

“You’re a wise counselor and a beautiful temptress Lady Death. Be sure to steer me accordingly in the future. I need someone to tell me when I’m being an incompetent jackass.”

“Such a full time job on top of the one I have already. I should try to get my pay increased. That or better benefits.”

Chapter 8 - Man Puppet -

07:31am Sovereign Earth time

09/07/43

Morning found Runner on the point position by himself. Occasionally he caught a glimpse of the town ahead as the road wound its way through gently rolling hills. From the distance he originally spotted it, it had been little more than a discernible change in the landscape.

An outer wall secured it to the coastline and provided it safety. Everything inside the wall had the appearance of a jumbled up mess of buildings that ran into each other the closer you got the water line. Keeping an eye on the minimap HUD he continued to close on the outer wall.

It had taken longer than they had originally planned. They’d been cautious and moved off the road several times when spotting others traveling the road. You could charitably call it being overly suspicious instead of paranoid but it resulted in the same end. Runner wasn’t willing to risk anything at this juncture if he didn’t have to.

Finally stopping as he passed the border of the town line his combat icon flashed to a solid yellow from red. The swap in color indicated it was a punishable-player vs player zone. The guards would immediately attack anyone who attacked another player inside of this boundary if they witnessed it. That or they had an orange or red name tag which indicated they were complicit in an attack on another player.

Inspecting the town walls and the guards Runner passed the time in silence while taking mental notes. All the NPCs he could spot were named “Guard” and seemed to average sixteen in level. It was glaringly evident as they traveled that the zone difficulty was decreasing with each mile. This of course meant they were heading in the right direction.

They’d have to journey all the way to the starting town to start building his reputation. Killing level one wolves for a copper didn’t sound enjoyable, but it would be necessary. It would also be where he could get his starter class.

Fighting both sides of an internal debate and losing Runner called up the Graveyard query.
Seven thousand three and hundred fifty-two lives.

Blue dots appeared on his map at the edge of the compass as his group neared his location. Orienting himself to face the road Runner forced his attention off the graveyard. Finding his eyes drawn to the luxurious blue sky, Runner watched absolutely nothing in the sky.

“Runner? How the hell did you get all the way out here? Whoa, how’d you get level twenty-one so fast? I’m just barely thirteen and I thought I was the highest level. Did you find a great place to grind?” a young man rattled off questions, one coming right after another. Pulling his gaze down from the blue morning sky, Runner looked at the speaker.

Runner recognized him from a fuzzy memory deep in his head. Floating above the newcomers head was the name Ramsey Bell.
Doesn’t ring a bell. Hah, yeah…that was terrible
. Figuring he could use the memory problem to his advantage he put on a frown and turned fully towards him.

“Sorry Ramsey, I’m afraid I can’t recall you. Were you in IT with me or…?” Runner asked the man. Receiving no response Runner looked at the man closer. Ramsey was preoccupied with whatever was behind Runner.

Looking back over his shoulder he found Thana and Katarina approaching him. Falling in behind Runner they looked from him to Ramsey then back. Ramsey’s eyes lingered in all the wrong places and Runner could feel a spark of anger come to life in his chest.