“Not looking for us, were you?” Chloe grinned.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  “Your friend was right,” Chloe continued. “We know everything, so how about you just hand over our friend and we’ll let you all go quietly?”

  A palpable silence filled the room. For a few moments, no one moved or replied.

  It was Dunc who spoke first. “You realize that you’ve put yourself in the line of fire, right? Although you may have surprised us, we’ve still got the upper hand. You think it’s just us lot down here who want to see your kind exterminated once and for all? You’re wrong.”

  “Once and for all?” Tag repeated. “He realizes that we never truly die, right? That we can resurrect and come back whenever we want?”

  Dunc considered this. “As long as you never darken our corner of the world again when you do, that’s all I require. Rustfields is a blessed-free zone, and you guys are violating our rules.”

  Chloe weighed Dunc’s words. “To be honest, we were just passing through your little crap hovel. I’ve honestly got better things to do than argue with a bigot who hates others who aren’t the same as him. But now that you’ve kidnapped our friend, you forced us to stay longer than we wanted to. What kind of backward logic is that, huh? Was that what you wanted? To keep us around even longer?”

  The smug look on Dunc’s face slipped as he realized that what she was saying was true. He fumbled, “Well, you shouldn’t have taken our resources in the first place. How did you even find us, anyway!”

  Dunc’s blazing eyes turned to the man now asleep in his chair, head tilted back, mouth wide open as a series of small snores escaped.

  “Goddammit,” Dunc growled.

  “So how about it? Give us our friend, and we’ll let you off lightly,” Chloe said.

  Dunc’s face turned dark. “The thing is, I would, but my friends wouldn’t take too kindly to us letting you all go.”

  Footsteps came from behind. Chloe turned and saw several thuggish orcs with clubs pocked with spikes. She sighed, placing her sword back into its sheath. Her ball of flame went out. She nodded for the others to lower their weapons, finishing with a quick thumb mime of texting on a phone.

  Tag and Leonie’s eyes went glassy.

  FROM: Chloe

  Just follow my lead, okay. I’ve got a plan.

  Tag and Leonie did so.

  Chuckling darkly, Dunc instructed the orcs to bind the trio’s wrists and take them out of their sight. Ingrid giggled maniacally, part-standing on her chair and hopping about.

  The first thing that Chloe noticed was that the orcs absolutely stank. Their yellow-green skin looked sickly in color, and odor poured off of them. Wherever Dunc had found these guys, it wasn’t anywhere where hygiene was a priority.

  “So, are you guys new around here?” Chloe said, trying to start a conversation. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen too many of your type in Obsidian. Don’t orcs mostly keep to filthy caves where they belong?”

  The orc closest to Chloe had one tusk protruding from slightly off-center in its lower jaw. It half-turned its head, growled something inaudible, then turned back.

  “Oh, come on,” Chloe insisted. “Who doesn’t like a bit of polite conversation? Who cares if you’re going to kill us soon? We’ll come back and get you in your sleep on our return.”

  The orc growled something else. The orc at the head of the party growled something even louder, though still inaudible, and shoved the one-tusked orc.

  “Uh-oh. Did we get you in twubble?” Tag asked, pouting his lip.

  The lead orc, who had now reached the front door, spun on his heel. His eyes blazed. From the angle they viewed him, he was a sinister sort, and even Chloe’s heart momentarily stopped. Muscles bulged and flexed on either side of him as two words came through the grumbles, crystal clear to the trio.

  “Shut. Up.”

  Chloe, Tag, and Leonie obliged. They were led across the street toward the small shack they had seen Ol’ Jim confused about earlier. One by one, they threw the trio into the shack.

  They found themselves in a small room strewn with clumps of straw. There was a reeking smell of urine around them which, Tag noted, actually smelled better than the orcs.

  With a dark laugh, the orcs shut the door, and they heard a bolt slide.

  Although there were holes in the ceiling, they were too high to climb. They heard the orcs discuss something in their own tongue before one was left behind, if the silhouettes under the gap in the front door were anything to go by.

  Chloe took a seat against the wall across from the door and stared at it as she started working on the sloppy knots around her wrists.

  “So, what’s this great plan of yours?” Tag asked, following suit with his ropes. “We’ve been imprisoned by degenerates and thrown into a stinking shack. Hardly seems a good start to a solid plan.”

  Even Leonie glanced uncertainly at Chloe, although she also started trying to untie herself.

  “Oh, Tag, Tag, Tag.” Chloe clicked her tongue. “I’m surprised you don’t know me better. Would I lead you into a situation we couldn’t handle? Would I lead you down a dark path from which there was no escape?”

  Tag shrugged. “I guess not.”

  “We need to find Huk,” Leonie said. “This seems oddly counterproductive.”

  “Or does it?” Chloe replied smugly. She stood up and waved her arms at the straw around them. “Maybe it’s just my Dark Vision that gives me the edge over you two, but even without the skill, did you not see what we passed on the way into here?”

  “No?” Tag replied.

  “Nope.”

  “Oh,” Chloe replied, looking crestfallen. “I thought wittle Tag was a smartie, not a dumb-dumb.” She bent and placed her now-untied hands on her knees as if addressing a puppy. “Is Taggy a wittle dumb-dumb? Yes, he is. Yes, he is.”

  Tag’s face grew red. Even though he had fallen for Jessie, that didn’t mean he liked being demeaned in front of another attractive woman. His eyes darted awkwardly to Leonie. “Stop it.”

  “Aw, why? Is wittle Taggy getting upset? You wouldn’t want to throw your toys out of the stroller, would you?” Chloe smiled, balling her fists and rubbing her eyes.

  The next thing she knew, Tag had taken off his boot and thrown it at her.

  Which was exactly what Chloe wanted.

  She ducked her head, side-stepping its trajectory. The boot arced across the shack, landing with a thump on a clump of hay behind her.

  “Ow!” a small voice cried out from the lump.

  “Y’see?” Chloe said. “It’s a 2 out of 10 quest. It was not going to be difficult, was it?”

  Tag and Leonie laughed, unable to believe it. Huk rose drunkenly, rubbing his head. There was a lump where it looked like he’d been hit. “Who’s theere?” he managed.

  Chloe and the others laughed. She helped him out of the hay and guided him over to the others, where Leonie checked his wounds. Chloe flicked open her inbox and sent a message to the gang.

  FROM: Chloe

  We found Huk, guys! Bashed and stuck in a shack. We’re currently being guarded by an orc, but we’ll make quick work of it. Just to be sure, meet us down the street. I’ve got another idea about how we’re going to complete the second part of the quest.

  Chloe left a series of directions for the rest of the group so they could make their way from the inn. She then checked that Huk was okay, offered him a Healing Hands spell—which brought him back to character—and listened to his story.

  According to Huk, he had been awake and gone downstairs to enjoy breakfast ahead of the others. He wanted to sit and focus on his skills and attributes before the others awoke.

  Ol’ Jim had enticed him over with an offer of peace and a beverage, and after a gentle drink of something that tasted a bit off, he went outside for a stretch.

  There he was spotted and waved over by a group of locals who looked to be decent sorts. Before he knew it, he had been bashed over the head, thrown into a sack, and brought here.

  “People of a decent sort? That’s not how I’d describe who we’ve just met,” Leonie said.

  Chloe shook her head. “Me neither.”

  “Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Huk said. “That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.” He paused. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any booze on you? I’m thirsty.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes and chuckled. “None for you, I’m afraid. I think we’re all ready to drain some more food and drink resources from these bigoted inbreeds, so let’s escape first and see what we stumble across.”

  She took a stand in the middle of the room and focused on the door. She could still see the two shadows of legs from the orc standing guard.

  Good, she thought.

  Take it away, Chloe, KieraFreya encouraged.

  Chloe focused, taking a deep breath and falling into the space between reality and the etheric. She felt the magic flowing through her and saw the rabbit as it hopped around wildly.

  Within seconds, she had summoned the fluffy creature toward her, feeling the smooth communication channel open between her and the etheric, the rabbit obeying every command.

  Chloe smirked, then commanded the bolt to slide open.

  There was an audible click of metal on metal, followed by a questioning grunt from the orc guard. He closed the latch and stepped back.

  Chloe focused, opening the latch again a second later.

  The orc growled, its language throaty and vile. Again, the latch clicked shut.

  Tag scoffed behind his hand.

  Skill increased: Etheric Manipulation (Lv 3)

  You’ve grown an extra rank in Etheric Manipulation. Now your familiar will heed your calls faster, and your spells will perform with more clarity than you could have imagined. You may also find that bonus spells happen to fall into your Spell-dex without you realizing.

  Bonuses: +9 etheric potential, spell cast cost dramatically reduced

  (NOTE: Increases in spells override any previous bonuses gained from the spell).

  Chloe grinned, this time doubling her intent. The orc’s shoulder now braced against the door. She focused first on the latch, hearing the lock click, as well as a painful yelp from the orc as his hand presumably got caught.

  She then shoved with her mind, her Telekinesis power driving the door open so fast that the orc was sandwiched between the door and the wall of the shack, the force slamming into him so hard that he passed out there and then.

  “Right,” Chloe said, patting the dust and straw off her armor. “Let’s go teach these guys a lesson.”

  As they strode across the street and back toward the house, Leonie said, “Remember, the quest says bonus points for not killing anyone.”

  “Ah, man,” Tag said, batting his hammer against his palm. “Where’s the fun in that?”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  To say the degenerates in the house were surprised to see their prisoners escape so fast would be an understatement.

  Huk led the procession, gliding straight through the orcs’ legs and appearing in the kitchen. Dunc’s eyes grew wide as he scraped his chair back, stood, and pointed at the goblin. “What is he doing here?”

  Huk waved cheekily. “Hey, buddy. We meet again. Where have your friends gone? Out to go kidnap more helpless goblins?”

  “Get him!” Dunc cried, directing his attention to the orcs. Only now, where the orcs should have been, Chloe, Leonie, and Tag stood, the orcs unconscious at their feet.

  Chloe tucked her hair behind her ears. “I know people have said that I’m drop-dead gorgeous, but I never thought it would actually be true.”

  Dunc had turned a violent shade of red. He barked at Ingrid, the garnet man, and Ol’ Jim to get them as he pulled out his studded club. He raised it high and drove it straight down into the table, splitting the wood in half as cups and plates flew everywhere.

  “Maybe a little bit dramatic…” Chloe grinned. “Come on,” she instructed the others.

  Huk, Leonie, and Tag followed her toward the front door. When they swung it open, several citizens were standing on the stoop, one of them with their fists raised, ready to knock.

  “Hello?” they said.

  “Oh, hi,” Chloe replied, unsure how to address this. She looked over her shoulder. “You here for Dunc?”

  The group nodded as one.

  “He’s on his way,” Chloe said, gingerly weaving her way past them.

  The others slid through the stunned group as well, stopping when they stood in the middle of the street to face the house.

  Dunc came to a halt on the stoop, the grin returning to his face once more. “Perfect timing, gang,” he crooned. “These four here are blessed.”

  Chloe hated the way he said that word. It was worse than the way Veronica had called her a battle mage—as though they were of a lesser breed than the others.

  “…and they think they’re going to escape…”

  The group of visitors, who wouldn’t have looked out of place knocking on doors with combed hair, pristinely pressed white shirts and a book of religion in their hands, suddenly lost all of their composure.

  In seconds, they had all drawn their weapons (a mixture of daggers, knives, and hatchets), and were now advancing on the group.

  “Why must it always come down to violence?” Chloe sighed, drew her sword, and used Purple Blaze to wrap the blade in fire.

  There was a flicker of doubt in some of the group’s eyes, but they advanced anyway, one of them breaking free of the others with a cry and swinging her hatchet at Chloe.

  Looks like we’ve got to do this the hard way, KieraFreya thought inside Chloe’s mind.

  Chloe blocked the attack easily, smiling as she remembered how far she had come in her journey. Weeks ago, she had been unable to defend herself against basic goblins with a knife. Now she shone with the light of a goddess and could parry and deflect like it was second nature.

  The woman with the hatchet yelped, watching it fly down the street, spinning several times in the air before finding itself stuck in the ground.

  The group paused when they saw several other people standing several feet behind where the hatchet had landed—a mixture of mages, dwarves, rangers, and what appeared to be a large blue bear.

  “Ah.” Chloe smiled. “Backup.”

  Ben stepped to the front of the group, bow taut and arrow ready to release. “Drop your weapons before we make you drop them.”

  The group shifted uneasily, unsure of their next moves. They looked awkwardly at each other, then back at Dunc who was now a violent shade of red and had a deep V on his forehead. He marched through the crowd and went straight to the KieraSlayers.

  He stopped by the hatchet, ripped it out of the ground by the handle, and weighed it in his hands.

  “It’s just like you blessed,” he spat on the ground, “to come out of nowhere and multiply like weeds. Like an infection spreading from balls to ears.”

  “Hey, I told you about that in confidence,” Ol’ Jim said, standing in the doorway of the house. He swigged his bottle of booze and laughed.

  “Like all pests, it’s best to stamp them out before they spread too far,” Dunc continued as if nothing else had been said.

  “Dude, you get that if you kill us, we’ll come back, right?” Ben asked, frowning.

  “Don’t even bother,” Chloe called. “We’ve tried. They just don’t get it.”

  “Die, blessed scum!” Dunc roared, raising the hatchet and launching it at the group. Therese stepped into the line of fire and raised her shield, and the hatchet bounced limply off with little effort.

  “Is he okay in the head?” she asked.

  That seemed to be the last straw for Dunc. He pivoted toward the others, shouted “Attack!” and then launched himself at Ben and his group.

  Blueballs stepped in the way. He grabbed his collar in one powerful arm and held Dunc a few inches from his face.

  Dunc punched wildly, but not one of his efforts found their target. Chloe shouted a reminder to not kill anyone unless absolutely necessary and they fell into a rapid scuffle. Blueballs tossed Dunc aside and his head hit the side of a building, knocking him out cold.

  Chloe used her sword to deflect, encouraging the others to do the same—to find an opening to take away their enemies’ weapons and leave them impotent. At first, this went well, until Chloe heard the sound of bone breaking and looked over to see Tag clutching his hammer and a mean-looking woman with a heavy brow clutching her arm.

  “I couldn’t help it,” Tag argued. “She came at me, and I had no other way to defend myself.”

  Chloe looked at the poor woman, a simple local citizen who just happened to have some messed up views on the world and the blessed. Chloe could understand it, of course, feeling suddenly obsolete. To question your own mortality as a series of immortal warriors came into your land and used what had been rightfully yours for centuries.

  There has to be a way we can work together. To make them see the good within the intrusion, Chloe thought.

  I’d just attack them. An eye for an eye, KieraFreya replied.

  Chloe parried the blow of a man with a short sword, head-butting him and sending him to the ground. That’s not very retribution-y.

  KieraFreya snorted. Actions speak louder than words, Sugar Tits. If you choose to do evil deeds, chances are there’s a sprout of evil inside you that needs pulling. If everyone knew the evil shit they did would get them in trouble, would anyone voluntarily do evil shit?

  Chloe considered that a moment. Judging by the people she knew and the state of the news around the world, she doubted a perfect world could be reached.

  Still, it didn’t mean that anyone who did evil deserved to die, right? Wasn’t evil subjective? A man who steals bread might not be doing it for evil purposes, but to feed his family. Who decides if that is right or wrong?

  I do, KieraFreya replied, listening in on Chloe’s thoughts. The purpose of the gods is to oversee and keep balance. The decisions are hard, but they are just. Where you can’t see within the hearts of the people you fight, I can. These people would be evil with or without you guys here.