Fayroll [04] Gong and Chalice Read online

  “Mammoths definitely have their charms. The food at museums is better, too—they sell sodas and eclairs. I still remember that from school field trips.”

  “Um, so the most important thing at museums is the food? That I did not know.”

  “The food is always most important,” I noted instructively. “At museums, at the theater—especially if they’re showing a tragedy—and even at the circus. Not to mention the ballet and opera, since the food is the only thing that gets you through them.”

  Elmira was silent for a second. I figured she probably wasn’t musing to herself about the finer points of food within the context of modern art; she was more likely working through what had just happened. She’d probably been expecting a different reaction and was trying to decide if she was wrong or if I was just stupid.

  I thought to myself, as well, Really, the whole thing is funny; I’m sleeping with my clan leader’s sister. Though if I’d tried to explain the situation to a normal person who didn’t really know anything about life online, the only answer I probably would have gotten would have been, so what?

  That was a pretty reasonable response, too. However, the fact that my clan leader had been going off the deep end meant that I had no idea what to expect, up to and including a pair of cuticle scissors in my neck…from the back seat.

  “We’re here.” I rolled to a stop next to Elmira’s apartment building. “Vika told me how to get here.”

  Her two hands snaked their way onto my shoulders. “You know what’s going on, Hagen,” she hissed in my ear. “You know who I am. Why, why do you need that kid? What does she have that I don’t? What do you want that I can’t give you? You’re lucky, you have the paper, and you have your connections—oh, I know you have connections. That idiot told me plenty without even realizing it. And I have my clan, my persistence… Just imagine what we could do together!”

  “Elmira, you’re way too involved in the game.” I tried to pull her hands off me. “Look out the window. There’s a life out there, a real one, even if it is dark and gray right now. It’s not made out of code; people build it themselves. What do you want to do? And where?”

  “This is life,” she continued, her hands reaching toward my throat and her lips touching my ear. She smelled like cherries. “You and me. We’ll be together in both worlds—forever. Do you really think all I’m good for is teaching nonsense to kids who don’t need it? No, I can do more, but I need someone to give me the strength for the leap, someone I can do it all for.”

  “So what’s the problem?” I was starting to get worried. She wasn’t hysterical, but there was a fanaticism in her hiss. “Look at all the nice guys walking around out there. Pick any one of them.”

  “Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand?” A power suddenly filled her arms. “What did you see in that idiot Vika? Why her? Sure, she’s my sister, and I probably even loved her at some point. But she’s trash. You just don’t know that yet or haven’t noticed. Maybe you don’t even want to see that she’s trash. All she has is her ambition and that pretty little face. But you’re not stupid—that I know for sure.”

  I was finally able to wrench myself away from her, so I turned around in my seat. Elmira jumped back to the other side of the back seat, where she looked at me narrowly.

  She really was beautiful in the twilight. Her eyes were blue and flashing with emotion, her face was delicate and pale, and her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked at me and waited for a response.

  “We’re here,” I smiled. “I don’t think I’ll walk you up to your apartment. I wouldn’t want to give the neighbors a reason to gossip.”

  It was quiet in the car. She was waiting for me to say something else, and I’d already decided that there was nothing else to talk about.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come up with me? Positive? I’m offering myself. You’re welcome to come up right now,” she said calmly a minute later. “But I’ll never open the door to you again no matter what you say—that much I’ll tell you right now.”

  “I’m sure that I have someone waiting for me at home,” I explained gently. “My girlfriend.”

  The car door closed, and Elmira’s heels clicked away toward the building.

  ***

  “Did you get her there all right?” Vika smiled, though it was a nervous smile.

  “Of course, I dropped her off at the door. She asked me not to walk her up. Hey, I don’t know what you were going on about with her—she’s great.”

  Vika’s lower lip trembled. “Honestly, she was completely unlike herself today, really fun. I didn’t recognize her. But all’s well that ends well. Don’t forget that we’re going to meet your parents next week.”

  I sighed, already exhausted by the obstacle course. My parents were great people, though Vika had no idea what was waiting for her…

  ***

  It was a normal, sunny morning in Fayroll. The breeze blew clouds across the sky, and the sun shone, as it always did in the North, somewhat weakly—almost as if it was forcing its way through some kind of fabric.

  Rourk was smoking a pipe on the recruitment center porch. He waved when he saw me. “So you decided to go for it?” he bellowed grandly.

  “Looks like it,” I replied. “But only if you guarantee me that I’ll be sent south.”

  “A sergeant is only as good as his word,” the half-orc replied proudly. “You’ll be heading south all right. A few people will be coming over from the Seventh Company, actually, so let’s go sign that contract.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I replied firmly. “For a year.”

  He pulled a scroll out of the wardrobe and slid it toward me. “Just stick your finger here.” He pointed to a spot on the paper.

  “Yeah, right,” I laughed. “Not without reading it first.”

  The half-orc sniffed indignantly, though I ignored him and leisurely read through the document to make sure I would definitely be heading south. My old man always told me to read everything before I signed it to make sure I wasn’t signing a death warrant or a marriage certificate. And my old man wouldn’t lead me wrong.

  “Everything looks good,” I told Rourk.

  He snorted. What did you expect?

  I imprinted my finger on the document.

  Congratulations! You signed a contract with the Wild Brigade.

  From this moment on, you serve in the Seventh Free Company of the Wild Brigade.

  Your service will last one game year.

  Service in the Free Companies can be terminated before the end of your service without penalties if you pay the Wild Brigade 50,000 gold coins.

  If you desert (are absent from your company without good reason for more than seven calendar days in the game), you will be added to the brigade’s death list, with trackers sent to find and kill you throughout the rest of your term of service.

  You must:

  Participate in combat operations fought by the Free Companies

  Submit to the commanders of the Free Companies and Wild Brigade

  Take good care of the uniform and equipment given to you

  Quickly and unquestioningly follow orders

  You have the right to:

  A portion of all trophies collected

  Timely payment of the amount listed in your agreement

  One day off per week

  To be buried at the expense of the Wild Brigade if you die on the battlefield

  When you log into the game, you will find yourself with your company or with its commander and the majority of its troops.

  Joining the Wild Brigade earns you the following bonuses:

  +3% experience earned

  +7% ability to use edged weapons

  +7% ability to use ranged weapons

  +2% protection from cold

  +2% protection from fire

  +3% ability development speed

  Title: Free Company Warrior

  Successful service may result in additional bonuses being granted.
>
  Growing prestige in the eyes of your comrades and commanders, as well as successful service, gives you a good chance of getting both usual and hidden quests. Strong prestige in the Free Companies also lets you call on comrades for help completing quests unrelated to the Wild Brigade.

  So I was back in the army.

  “What are you just standing there for, soldier?” Rourk yelled at me. “Get out there on the porch; your fellow soldiers are already waiting!”

  The expression I saw in the sergeant’s eyes was one I hadn’t missed in all my years away from the Army, and it made me want to log out of the game—forever. But…

  “Yes, sir, Sergeant,” I answered before hurrying out of the recruitment center.

  Chapter Two

  In which the hero remembers that all coins have two sides.

  There were six of my future comrades tramping around the porch. Five of them were NPCs, though the sixth was just as much a player as I was. He was a Level 64 elf archer named Fattah, and I was surprised to see that he wasn’t in any of the clans.

  “Hi, everyone!” I waved. “My name’s Hagen.”

  The group answered discordantly as we greeted each other, sizing up the people we’d be slaughtering enemies with at the orders of our commanders.

  “What brings you here?” Fattah walked over.

  “Oh, just curious,” I replied nonchalantly. “I read on the forums about how you can get some nice hidden quests if you do the work.”

  “It’s true,” he nodded. “There’s that, though I’m here for the abilities.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If you serve for a year using your profile weapon, follow the rules, don’t get marked down, and fight well, the Wild Brigade commanders give you a class ability. You can’t learn it anywhere else, no matter how much you’re willing to pay—it’s completely unique. And if you serve two years, they give you another one.”

  “But a year, that’s a long time.” I shook my head.

  “How long is your contract for?”

  “A year.”

  “So what’s the problem? You can’t jump ship before then anyway—well, as long as you don’t get kicked out. Almost everyone does since a year really is a long time. Very few people make it all the way to the ability, but I will; I’m stubborn like that.”

  “Respect,” I replied without a hint of a joke. “I’m just going to see what it’s like, and if I don’t like it, I’ll get out.”

  Fattah looked at me in surprise. “What do you mean, get out? How? Are you some kind of underground millionaire or a politician’s kid? You have an extra 50,000 lying around?”

  “If I have to, I can find it,” I assured him. “Or maybe I’ll just run off, so I don’t have to pay anything.”

  “You can, but get used to dying,” Fattah said seriously. “The Wild Brigade doesn’t send rookie trackers after deserters; you’ll get professionals at Level 100 or higher. They’ll chase you down wherever you are, and you won’t get a warning before they finish you off. That’s it. They do that until you can buy them off, but that costs even more money.”

  Sounds tricky, but what else is new? I decided to wait until I got to the South and go from there.

  Soon, Rourk walked out onto the porch with an intense look on his face and looked us over.

  “Everyone here? The list says there should be seven of you.”

  We glanced around and confirmed that yes, naturally, there were seven of us.

  “Then fall into line and jump into the portal I’m about to open one by one. And look at me—if you’re going to fight honorably, you can’t be hiding behind someone else’s back like a coward.”

  The portal flashed, and we trooped our way through it. The North was behind me.

  Wow, this is muggy, was my first thought when I walked out of the portal. After the crisp, cool northern air, the oppressive humidity and smell of decaying plants in the Southern atmosphere sent my mood spiraling downward in a hurry.

  “Damn, it’s like a sauna,” muttered one of my companions, a big guy named Silv.

  “What were you expecting?” Fattah noted philosophically. “This is the South, the subtropics.”

  Silv didn’t look like he knew what the subtropics were, though he nodded his head in agreement.

  “There are probably a ton of snakes around here,” a halfling named Moldo said warily. I wasn’t sure what could have brought him to the North, not to mention the recruitment center.

  Nobody had the chance to respond. “Welcome to the heroic, legendary Seventh Free Company. Attention!” came a shrill, squeaky voice.

  Two of my new comrades and I reacted instantly, our reflexes kicking in. The rest looked at each other, clearly not sure what to do.

  The order had come from a small goblin, probably of the mountain variety. That deduction was a matter of simple logic—he spoke coherently and didn’t lick his lips when he looked at us. He was dressed in a sleeveless camouflaged shirt and matching hat. His mug, needless to say, was exactly as nasty-looking as one might expect, and he was standing next to a large orc in an oversized jacket. The latter looked at us appraisingly, his hands clasped behind his back.

  “My gods, Falk,” the orc said a minute later to the goblin. “Look at the rabble joining the Free Companies these days. Sure, we had our bags of manure in the old days, but not like this.”

  “Agree wholeheartedly, Master Grokkh,” the goblin replied subserviently. “Now, look at these wineskins full of all that—soft and wet.”

  “And I have to fight with this crap. How? Do you know how I’m going to do that, Falk?”

  “No idea, Master Grokkh. I don’t know what you can do with this mob, and I’m not sure how you’ll fight with them.”

  None of us was stupid enough to open his mouth. We waited for the pair, of which the orc was clearly the commander, to make up their minds and determine our fate.

  “Well, we’ll work with what they sent us,” concluded the orc with a final glance in our direction. His voice jumped a few decibels. “Listen up, warriors. I’m Lieutenant Grokkh of the Seventh Free Company. From this day on, I’m your commander, king, god, father, mother, grandfather, and everything else. You will address me using my rank: master lieutenant. And now, listen carefully to what I’m about to say, as I won’t be repeating it.”

  The lieutenant didn’t tell us anything I didn’t already know. Everything he described over the next ten minutes I’d already heard back in my first week of service in the glorious and invincible Russian Army. The only difference was that we had a sergeant yelling at us then since our lieutenant didn’t bother with newcomers until they’d been there a couple weeks already. He was busy singing and dancing on a stage somewhere.

  Everything was exactly the same. Orders aren’t to be questioned, and I’ll have both eyes on you. If something happens, well, you know. They were different realities, but the hemorrhoids they gave you were identical. At least I don’t have to think anymore—they’ll take care of that.

  “Well, isn’t that a nice little sword.” The goblin stopped his self-important march directly in front of me. “You don’t want to give it to me, your best friend, do you?”

  “Nope,” I said, pasting an enormous smile on my face. “It was a gift, and re-gifting isn’t polite.”

  “Listen up, kid. I can make your life miserable around here,” he replied with a snarl.

  “Then I’ll kill you.” I shrugged. “You’ll die, and I’ll just switch over from the Free Companies to the Wild Brigade.”

  The orc caught a glimpse of the goblin’s narrowing eyes. “What’s going on over there, Falk?”

  “Nothing, Master Lieutenant,” the latter replied, his glance following me. “Just having a word with this warrior over here. We’re going to be friends to the end; I can already tell.”

  “You don’t have anything better to do?” The orc went back to yelling at us. “Any questions?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, taking two steps forward before yell
ing back. “Private Hagen, heroic and invincible Seventh Free Company.”

  “Well done, very good,” the orc grinned. “You haven’t served before, have you?”

  “I have indeed, Master Lieutenant. In the equally valiant and fearless royal companies of Fladridge.”

  Wait a second, he might have been to Fladridge. Although, even if he has, he still wouldn’t know for sure that there’s no such thing.

  “I haven’t heard of them, but their sergeants certainly know what they’re doing.” There was a note of approval in the master lieutenant’s bellow. “What’s your question, private?”

  “When do we find out what the schedule for training and campaigns is, Master Lieutenant?” I yelled, my eyes popping out. “Just so we make sure we’re always on time. And avoid any other problems.”

  “Good question. I’ll remember your name, son.”

  “Thank you, Master Lieutenant,” I barked, spinning on my heel and marching back to my position in line.

  “Remember, you beasts,” Grokkh said, his hands on his hips, “we launch campaigns at all hours of the day and night, and we rarely know where the next danger to civilians will appear. Your job is to remain always ready for anything.”

  “Hey, the captain is coming,” squeaked Falk.

  “Warriors, salute Captain Singkh!” snapped Grokkh, who also thrust out his barrel-like chest and came to attention.

  “Forget it, no time for that right now,” a small and older warrior wearing silver chainmail replied with a wave of his hand. “What’s going on?”

  Grokkh motioned at us with his chin, and the captain glanced in our direction.

  “Ah, fresh meat. Good timing, too. There was a breakout from the jungle near Lanook—some treewalkers. Take fifty of your men along with these kids. If they live, they live. And if they don’t, well…the good villagers will take care of their graves. Much better than what we can offer. We’ll port out in five.”

  Grokkh watched the captain walk away before going back to yelling at us. “That was Captain Singkh. He’s the only one who decides who lives and who dies around here, and his orders are God’s honest truth as far as you’re concerned. Our company got the order to prepare for battle, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Everyone to that building over there…march!”