Otherlife Dreams: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (9 page)

Waiting as patiently as he could, Runner merely held her hand and looked at the crown of her head. Watching the light play across her black hair his mind began to spin random thoughts off.

One such thought landed in right smack dab in the middle of his vast curiosity.
Do NPCs have a scent?

Leaning forward on that impulse he smelled her hair quietly. Surprisingly enough, she did indeed have a scent. She smelled of the road, woods, sweat, dirt, leather, and under all that there was just a hint of something else.

Runner was broken from his woolgathering when her hand shot forward, punching the invisible button neither of them could see.

In that moment, the world spun crazily. Vertigo assailed him as he felt his equilibrium stretched to the limit. Trying to blank his mind Runner attempted to steady himself, his left hand clutching into the fabric of Hannah’s clothes.

It was as if his mind was pulled open, turned upside, and shaken violently. Conscious thought stretched out until he could barely hold a thought together. He became nothing more than a shrieking fear flying through the void. Then it ended as quickly as it had come.

“The fuck is wrong with you. Let go of me, damn it,” Hannah declared angrily. Spinning around she broke his grip on her clothes and shoved at him.

“Please tell me that whatever the fuck you wanted to do, worked. Because I swear if that was some strange need of yours to get close…” Hannah said dangerously.

Blinking a few times he focused on her face. While the vertigo was gone he was left with a vague feeling of deja vu.

Looking to the game console he read over the log. Nothing suspicious lurked in the log and everything there was benign. There was no massive update patch, the world hadn’t gone gray, and the only person who felt it was him.

Focus Runner, focus. Check your medical log later. It’s probably stress.

Closing his system windows he shook off the vestiges of the strange feeling. Pulling open the party window he was elated to see it’d worked. Looking to Hannah he gave her a bright smile.

“It worked, though I must say I’m surprised it says your name rather than Thief in the Party window. Whatever. Ok, tell me if you can see me when I Stealth.”

Without waiting for her to respond, he activated Stealth and moved to the left. Sure enough her eyes tracked him even as he moved, though she seemed at a loss for words.

“Oh? Seems you don’t even need to respond if you just watch me like that. Fantastic. Outside of a really awesome game of Marco Polo, I think not being able to see each other would not have worked out very well,” Runner said happily.

“Kind of? You, you’re there, yes. I can see you. Which I shouldn’t be able to do, but I can. Bu, but it’s like I can see…well, that I can see through you. Like you’re made out of fog, or a ghost. A misty version of you.”

“Mist? Oh. I’m opaque? Kinda see through? Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. Though, not sure what you expected to see, do you just notice people as they come out of Stealth? As if they were standing there the whole time? Like they walked up to you but didn’t? That seems even more weird.”

Runner worked his way through the new party options as he spoke. Casually he turned the group loot options on and changed the item rolls to uncommon or higher.

“It sounds strange when you put it like that, but yes. In fact, everything is a little strange right now. Really fucking strange actually. My head feels heavy,” Hannah complained, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Pushing his Analyze ability into an active state, he confirmed quickly that there were no status ailments troubling her. Then he cast Cleanse on her anyways on the off chance it was a hidden status effect. Runner cocked his head to the side with a smile as the soft azure light faded from around her.

“Better? Head a bit more clear, hopefully? I didn’t see any status ailments, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any, only that I couldn’t see any.”

“A little? Maybe? Thank you. I’m fine,” she replied quietly. It was clear she was still in duress, but Runner wouldn’t press. “I’m fine” usually translated to “I don’t want to talk about it” when it came to women. Not being anything to her afforded him the luxury to take it at face value.

“Alright then, the battle plan, ready for it?” Runner asked, looking directly at Hannah. Nodding her head to signal she was indeed ready he continued. “There’s only two of them, at opposite ends of the stables. They’re fairly alert, so we’ll need to be swift. I’ll attack the first one after I hit him with a Distract. It’s extremely unlikely I’ll drop him in one, but I figure you should be able to drop him with your own Backstab attack. Now that I think about it-”

Runner stopped and came in close to Hannah and dropped Stealth. Resting his hands on the pommels of her short swords he called up his Enchant functions. She leaned back from him, but didn’t move further back as he began casting.

“Kay, that’ll help. Gear next. Hold still. Stop squirming,” Runner admonished her, his hands pressed to her shoulders as he cast Strengthen on her leather guards and chest piece. Hannah continued to fidget as her worked his way down her equipment.

Kneeling at her feet Runner rested his hands on her ankles. He started to go through the motions to cast Strengthen but stopped. In the last moment he decided it’d be a good idea to enchant them with Regeneration instead. No sense in putting all this work into her if she couldn’t get back into a fight. With a light pat on the toes of her boots, he stood up and brushed himself off.

“Anyways, come on, slaves to free, Orcs to kill, blood to spill, loot to take, stuff to do. Skulls for the skull throne, blood for the blood god. Onwards and all that.”

Stealth flashing into an active state, he started making his way back to the stables and the Orcs who were waiting for him. He could feel his heart speeding up and the cogs of his mind spin up to a high revolution as the distance shrank. Closing in on the sentry he wondered at those feelings. This was no game, it was life and death. Beyond the joking, teasing, and irreverence this was a deadly sojourn.

His gear was woefully below his level, his stats were just barely adequate. It would come down to an appropriate application of tactics.

Runner skulked along the side of the building. He slowed down as he approached the entryway. Slowly, carefully, he took a quick peek inside to confirm locations. Standing at the outside of his patrol route, the Orc was still. There’d be no time for confirmation or extensive setup, about enough time to cast Distract and stab before it turned to walk back.

Slipping into the stable Runner threw out his hand and activated Distract. There was a noise followed by a glint of light at the base of one of the stalls. It pulled at the Orc’s attention and it’s body turned to inspect the area.

No sooner then it took for the Orc to be absorbed in his scrutiny of the bait, Runner was on the move. Stabbing deep into the beasts spine he felt the blade twist in his hand. Withdrawing the sword the Global timer began.

Facing him the Orc raised its lip in a snarl, his weapon coming up to strike out at Runner. Then it promptly fell forward, straight into Runner. Roughly knocking him to the side, the Orc crumpled to the floor and laid unmoving.

Letting his eyes travel up to where the corpse had been standing he found only Hannah. She stood at ease, blade held loosely in her hand, positioned perfectly to have delivered her Backstab. There was no discernible change in her countenance at having killed the Orc.

“Good work Hanners. We have to move to the other side and catch the other guard before he turns.”

Runner immediately stealthed as he finished talking. Ghosting along, he crossed the stable as quickly as he could. Glancing to the side as he went by it was clear the prisoners were in dire straits and many seemed unkempt. Most of them had noticed what had happened though acted as normal as possible so as not to alert the other guard. A few began praying, while others watched quietly.

Refocusing himself on the task at hand Runner targeted the Orc at the end of the stable. To his surprise, Hannah was out distancing him and now a good bit closer than he was.

She had a natural ability he wouldn’t be able to compete with regardless of what he did. Nothing could change that fact, at best he’d be the quintessential jack of all trades.

Whipping her hand out Hannah used Distract and moved past the Orc as it turned to the side. Runner came within range as she rammed her blades home. Dancing backwards she pulled the short swords clear of the Orc’s lower back.

Runner couldn’t deny she had a certain feline grace to her. Banishing the thought, he thrust out at the guard. The green skinned monster collapsed while a tinkling noise indicated the attack inflicted critical damage.

Sheathing his weapon he indicated the corpse, “Loot it quickly, I’ll get the other one. You’re looking for a key.”

Hannah’s brows came down and her head tilted to the side. Realizing she didn’t truly understand he elaborated.

“Focus on the body, in your head picture the words ‘Loot All’, and put your hand forward over the corpse. Should move everything to your pack that can be taken.”

Ending the conversation Runner made his way back to the first Orc in a light jog. Halfway there he thought of a second problem and groaned.

Hannah might not even be able to loot. He’d completely forgotten that NPCs couldn’t actually loot, not really at least. NPCs had an inventory of sorts, but only what was visually on them, or could what one would expect them to have. Maybe a few coins or a random piece of junk to be sold.

Sliding to a halt he looted the body and spun towards he cages in the same motion. Flipping through his inventory windows he paged to the quest items. Sitting there was an old key. Grinning he went to the furthest cage at the end.

“No key on this fucker, but everything did appear in my pack. Much like everything else about you, this makes no gods damn sense. At all. Answers soon or I start killing your beetles while you sleep.”

“What? No, seriously, they won’t taste right if you kill them,” Runner whined. Pushing the key into the mechanisms slot he gave it a quick twist. Swinging open as it came unlocked, the door creaked on rusty hinges. Moving on to the next cage he proceeded to insert the key.

“Oi, listen up everyone. I’m freeing you all, consider yourselves saved, go do what you need to do. The End,” he said loudly. Unlocking the cage he gave the door a small pull, opening it partway, to confirm it was now open.

“Stop!” a masculine voice demanded. It came from the next cage over. Runner stopped with the key in the lock of third cage. He glanced over to identify the speaker.

“Eh? Why? You’re not the eleventh slave if I keep going in this order, are you? I’ll unlock all of the cages regardless of the number of prisoners. Scouts honor,” Runner promised.

“They’re murderers! Evil! That Barbarian clubbed a man and threw him to those beasts. The other is a Sunless. Even your little halfbreed pet over there is better than that,” the voice said. Moving to the front of the cage was a man who was gesturing towards Hannah. Blonde haired and blue eyed, he cut the appearance of prince charming. Built like an athlete and a touch under six foot.

There were subtle things that spoke of dark things lurking in his eyes. The fool gave off the impression of a bully, his eyes were those of a person who viewed others as inferior. Backed by the absolute belief that they were correct in treating other human beings as beneath them.

“She’s not a pet, and I’d appreciate you not address her as such or you can stay in your cage. As to them being murderers.”

Taking a step back he studied the occupants of the cage he stood in front of. There were only two occupants. In the back a woman was leaning against the bars, her hands clasped tightly on the cold iron. She was hung to them as if her body was unable to stay upright. A simple robe proclaimed her as a caster, since that was typically all they could wear.

When she looked up at him Runner raised his eyebrows curiously; she was the definition of different. Alien and exotic were words that could be applied accurately.

Her eyes were clear, piercing, intelligent. The color of her eyes could only be described as warm honey. They were perhaps a touch larger than normal as well. Black hair hung limply behind her, partially unbound, and shaggy in a matted braid. Her face was heart shaped, open, and her skin tone a very fair white. Her age wasn’t something he felt comfortable guessing at but he’d guess “mature” would suffice. Features that ran on the fine side, yet bordering on the delicate side. Her height could only be described as a smidgen over five foot. An hour glass shape almost overwhelmed her small figure. Without a doubt she was beautiful. Then she offered a tired smile. It was a truly amazing smile. She did not have the teeth of an herbivore at all, but a full set of sharp pointed teeth. More akin to a predator who subsided on a meat only diet.

“Charming,” Runner said, offering a wide and open smile back at her.

“Let me out, now. I’ll only give you one black eye for ignoring me this long,” stated a towering woman at the grate door. Guessing her age was a bit easier since she was much closer to a human in appearance. Tentatively, he’d put her at barely past twenty. Hunched over to glare down at him made her height a little harder to guess. Using his own height for reference she’d top out at a few inches over six foot. That kind of height was primarily the domain of the Barbarian. One could only describe her as muscular. Her smooth skin was clear in complexion and lightly tanned with days spent outdoors. There were curves to support a womanly figure but one could never mistake her as anything other than an athlete in her prime, lean and fit. Long, elegant, yet callused fingers, flexed around the bars of the cage as she pressed her forehead to a crossbar. Looking into that snarling face he immediately was struck by the fact even the smallest smile would change her appearance. Eyes as black as coal and without a hint of warmth bored into his own. Those dark eyes were dynamically offset by red hair tied back in a loose ponytail.