Resurgence: The Rise of Resurgence Book 1 (26 page)

Turns out I was wrong.

The guy in front of us went from 40 percent health to 100 percent health in one second.

“Shit! They’ve got a healer! Dan, do you see him?” Wayne asked.

“Yeah man, looks like he is just inside the wood line. This could mean trouble,” Dan replied.

Taking my usual leader role and dishing out assignments, I told Dan, “Disengage TC, put some arrows in that guy, and hit him with a snare. Once it lands let us know and Wayne will chase him down. I don’t want to waste time trying to catch him.”

Dan did as he was instructed and quickly yelled out that the Snare had landed. Wayne ran over by Dan and started beating on the healer. There was no way we could have known which one was him if the other two hadn’t run out simultaneously to engage Wayne. Just like the others, the healer was a Woodland Bandit, nothing more was given about his Class.

Wayne had to keep switching targets to make sure he kept the aggro. But now our focus was on the healer. Once we got him down to around 50 percent, he turned and started attacking me, as my proc had landed a number of times. I wasn’t taking much damage so I told Wayne to focus on the other two and Dan and I would take the healer out. Between my fast weapon and Dan’s steady barrage of arrows, the healer didn’t get off another cast.

Once he was dead, we made short work of the other two. We got back to the wagons and found Rendu appraising us as we approached. “Damn fine work boys! I was going to jump in when you said there was a third out there, but it seems ya didn’t have any need of my blade. Let’s get set up quickly so we can keep going and see what be over that hill.”

“If you don’t mind sir, my companions could use a few minutes to rest up and get us healthy and hearty,” Jason said to Rendu.

“No problems, but we don’t want to waste too much time. Could give away our surprise.”

We nodded our heads in agreement and took what time we needed to heal myself and Wayne. Jason was at 70 percent mana and wanted to get to 80 percent before our adventure began over the crest. I was inclined to agree, but with Jason’s huge mana pool, it could take a while before we got Jason that 10 percent.

We waited as long as I felt was safe, and then told the guys to get ready. We would be walking along the sides of the wagons this time, not riding in the back. We wanted to all see what was over that ridge at the same time.

And like I thought, there was indeed a tree laying across the road. There were five men standing around the tree, talking amongst themselves, but not looking nefarious in nature. Their names all said Woodland Resident, and all were Blue to us. Perhaps these were NPCs and not mobs that planned to attack us. I wasn’t going to take any chances though, so I told Rendu to speak to them, but just to get their attention. I would handle everything after that.

“Pardon me fine sirs,” Rendu said with hat in hand, “that tree been there long?”

“Don’t rightly know now, do I? Just came upon it ourselves while we was out looking for a good place for our next hunting party,” one of them said.

The same man paused for a moment, then turned to us and said, “But you know, I would think it would be the right and proper thing for us to help you get your wagons on their way. Suppose we could get this tree here out the way for a small compensation.” He smiled when he said it, but it was all teeth, like when Wayne got ready for a fight. Only he didn’t have that fire in his eyes like Wayne always had. Might have been because he didn’t expect four adventurers traveling with the wagons.

“I don’t think that will be necessary. I’m sure my companions and I could move it with no problems,” I responded. Hell, the tree wasn’t all that big and I thought Wayne could probably smack it out of the road with his hammer.

“Well now, see, that there is going to be a problem,” he said while looking at me. And just like that, his name turned from Woodland Resident to Woodland Bandit.

“Ok, that was awesome. I didn’t realize they could shield and then shed their identities like that!” Dan said.

“What the blazes you talkin’ bout boy? Only thing we gonna be sheddin’ is your blood on the ground.”

The man took a quick sideways glance toward the woods, but I wasn’t ready to give away our hand just yet.

Rendu growled from atop his perch and said, “That one is mine, you boys handle the other four.” And with that he jumped from the wagon, raised his sword and dashed at the bandit who had been speaking. I didn’t have much faith in his ability to take the bandit, but I wasn’t going to have time to worry about that. As Wayne engaged the bandit next to the talker, he yelled out, “Feel my steel!”

We couldn’t help it, we all started giggling. Wayne had already engaged and didn’t realize until two seconds later that we were laughing. “Damn it! Fuck you guys! Help me out here.”

Jason cast a heal on Wayne while Dan snared one of the bandits and started running him around. I was waiting to engage since I didn’t want to steal aggro. It also gave me a moment to address Wayne’s battle cries.

“We really need to work on your word choice there Wayne. Perhaps something that doesn’t immediately make someone think about your penis.”

“Dan said it sounded fierce!” Wayne yelled.

“You listened to Dan?!?” Jason yelled back.

Wayne gripped his war hammer so tight I could see his knuckles turn white as he growled, “I’m so going to put this shaft up his ass,” Wayne growled.

Jason started laughing again, uncontrollably. “That one is on you Wayne, we are still over here thinking about your steel after all,” I responded while engaging the mob Wayne was attacking.

“I was talking about my hammer Alex!”

“See, that needs to be clarified. Hence why we are going to work on your word choice.”

Wayne was definitely angry. If I didn’t know any better, I would say his anger was effecting the game and his hits were even harder than normal. But he never lost his focus on his role. It was amazing to watch him go from one mob to the other and keep them on him. He would hit the primary mob, then when his Bash was active, he would attack the second mob with it, only to switch to the third to use his Taunt. It kept aggro on him almost the whole time. However, with my dagger, I pulled aggro eventually.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ve got the armor and hit points for this. Just keep doing what you are doing.”

And shortly thereafter we took down the first mob and started on the second. I knew I wouldn’t be pulling aggro on either of these as Wayne had been building it up while we killed the first mob. I looked around for Dan, and saw he was still kiting his mob, shooting arrows at him the whole time. I also spared a glance over to Rendu who was still engaged with the other bandit. They both looked bloody and ragged, but were still going at it, although they had just separated to catch their breaths and gauge their opponent. The bandit took that opportunity to yell out, “Lester, you idiot, heal me already!”

I didn’t need to tell him what had happened, but I knew it would make me feel good to do so. “No help coming from ol’ Lester. He and the other two are already dead in a ditch a ways back.”

The bandit got a look of real worry on his face. Where he thought he had eight against five, in reality it was a straight up fight. He then noticed one of his was already down and his eyes got bigger again. Then realizing he may not be long for this world if he didn’t finish off Rendu, he reengaged with more fury.

We finished our mobs, none having any good loot, and then helped Dan finish off his. Dan’s mob was already at 70 percent when we got to him, thanks to Dan’s steady supply of arrows. Although I worried that if we faced too much more resistance on our way to the outpost, Dan could run out of arrows.

Turning to finish off the last mob, the bandit fighting Rendu, we ran toward his position. However, at the last moment, the bandit and Rendu put their blades through each other’s stomachs at the same time. Blood leaked from their abdomens, and as one they fell over. Both were dead.

I ran over and grabbed for Rendu, hoping I could help him. Touching him opened up his inventory for looting. Definitely dead.

He had only two items. A bastard sword that would get us a few silver at a merchant, and a letter for the outpost declaring the goods he was transporting. I took both items and stood up.

I looked at the others from the wagon train and said “Well shit. Anyone know how to drive these things?”

* * *

Dan said he did. Know how to drive them. Said he read it in a book. Once. But then pointed at his head and reminded us what he could do. All with a very large dose of arrogance.

It took us three hours more to get to the outpost. Should have taken half that. Not because there were more bandits, but because Dan lacked even the tiniest bit of skill with the wagons. I know, I know. Big surprise.

Now normally, if we saw Dan had no skill at such a thing, we would have just gotten him off the damn wagon. But after only five minutes of trying to get the wagons going in a straight line, Dan suddenly pulled the reins hard one way and the horses reacted, and the wagon went sideways and then tipped over. It took us a half hour to get all the supplies back in the wagon, after the hour it took for us to get it righted with the others from the wagon train, and then calm the horses down.

“What the hell was that Dan?” Jason asked, referring to the sudden yank on the reins.

“Thought I saw a bee bro. I’m allergic. I don’t have my eppy pen,” Dan said dead panned.

“It’s a game you doofus. Nothing would have happened!”

“This shit is too real bro, how do I know the sensors wouldn’t take my real feelings and just make me go into seizures!”

I didn’t think this would happen, but Dan’s worry seemed genuine. Needless to say, we didn’t let him anywhere near the reins again.

As I was walking toward the front of the horses to see if their tack was secure, not that I really knew what I was doing, I heard Dan whisper to Wayne, “Did you see that Naug! I had it on two wheels bro. That shit was epic!” Wayne just shook his head, but I could see there was a small smile at the corners of his mouth.

There was a guard at the outpost when we arrived. When he saw the wagons, and no wagon master, he started to take out the sword from his belt. Outpost Guard was Red to all of us. I didn’t want to mess with this guy at all and quickly put my hands up so he could see I didn’t have a weapon. Then I told him, “sir, we are the guards sent with Rendu. We were attacked by bandits a ways back. They killed Rendu, but we knew the King needs these supplies. So we decided to continue on instead of turning back for Port Town and Sir Kenyon.”

Dropping the name of Sir Kenyon had the desired effect and the guard calmed down a bit, but didn’t remove his hand from the pommel of his sword. “How many were there?”

“Eight.”

“And how many did ya kill?”

“Seven.”

“So there is still one of them bastards out there? Probably their dang healer, he seems to always get away from us.”

“Oh Lester? No, he won’t be healing anyone again. I say seven because that’s how many we killed. Rendu killed the leader.”

The guard smiled at that and removed his hand from the sword. “Damn, old git had some fight left in him huh? Well good on him, means he died a warrior’s death, something he would have preferred. You got his list?”

I nodded that I did and handed it to him. He looked to be reviewing it. After a few moments he nodded his head and told us to take the wagons into the outpost and see the Captain of the Guard.

The Captain was a large man, with a grizzly beard and some of the largest shoulders I had ever seen. He carried himself with the authority of a man who knew he was in charge. Which is why it surprised me that he had an open smile and a friendly demeanor with all of the other guards. I was guessing the Captain was held in high regard here and seemed to treat all of his people with respect.

“Guard at the gate sent a runner to me. Damn shame about Rendu. He and I fought in a campaign or two back in the day. Glad to hear he died on a blade and not under a wheel.”

“He fought valiantly sir. If it weren’t for Rendu’s aid, I don’t know that we could have held off five bandits at once. We will speak of his bravery upon our return to Port Town,” Jason said to the Captain. Damn if Jason couldn’t talk it up. Aristocracy, thy name is Allister.

“See that you lads do. And now that you have completed your task, here is a letter for you to bring to Sir Kenyon. He will be able to provide payment for your services upon your return, as we don’t have much in the way of excess here, and no extra funds we could spare with.” Then with that big smile I saw earlier, he said, “However, please feel free to remain at the outpost for as long as you like. You did a good thing bringing those supplies here. I know it would have been easier to just abandon the wagon train, or return to Port Town. But you didn’t, and the King’s men here will remember your bravery. You will always have a hot meal here any time you need it.”

We thanked the Captain for his hospitality and told him we would stay the night if he was agreeable. He had no objection and we went off to explore more of the outpost. We didn’t have to explore long.

There was really nothing there. It was a bare bones operation used for the transport of goods to the front. There was a barracks, a chow hall, stables, and a warehouse for the supplies. There wasn’t so much as a tavern, although the chow hall did serve passable mead. We decided to log out there and head back to Port Town the next day. I hoped there would be another wagon train we could hop on with, seeing as walking was going to take us forever.

CHAPTER 16

September 4th, 2043

We logged on just outside the barracks where we had logged out the day before. The outpost didn’t look any different, and unfortunately it didn’t look like there were any wagons heading back toward Port Town. Damn this was going to be a long walk.

Resigned to our fate, my group headed toward the outpost gate, and our very long walk back to Port Town. We were intercepted by the Captain of the Guard just before we reached the gate.

“Would any of you fine gentlemen know how to ride a horse?” the Captain asked as he approached. None of us did, and we indicated as much. Although Dan did say that he read about it in a book. Once.