EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 33: Negotiations

"Who's arrived?" Katzy asked curiously, lowering her wand slightly.

"Focus Kat. We're here for revenge, don't let him distract you," Tamira warned.

"Goblins. This man is a scout with important news for militia Captain Alistair. He needs to get to Tonbura village as soon as possible, you have to let us through," Eric implored, pointing to Owin's tattered uniform.

Tamira shook her head, "Not until you apologize and give us back our stuff."

Growing angry Eric shook his head, "I already told you. I didn't kill you, someone else did. You were hit from behind while looking at me. Isn't it obvious I wasn't the killer?"

"They were your accomplice. Otherwise how'd you get away? You didn't show up at the ressurection point."

"They weren't that strong, they got you with a sneak attack. I just defeated them and moved on," said Eric, only half lying. Seryllia had been strong, but there was no point telling Tamira that.

"How do we know you're telling the truth? The only people who were there were the player killer and yourself, and we don't even know who the other person was," Alexnir spoke up.

"You're just going to have to believe me. Now please, move out of the way, we need to get back to the village as soon as possible."

"Give us back our stuff."

"Even if I did have it, to the victor goes the spoils. Move. Before I force you to."

"Not a chance," Tamira responded, readying her spear.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," Eric growled.

As Tamira watched, a magic circle appeared under Eric's fingers. "Kat now!" She screamed, charging towards Eric with her spear at the ready, prepared to impale the half-elf. As she did so, Alexnir moved closer to protect Katzy who raised her wand to cast the spell she had readied. Unfortunately Eric reacted first, firing an arcane strike towards her, forcing her to cancel the spell as she dodged aside.

"Need help?" Owin asked as more howls resounded through the woods.

"I'm good. This won't take long," responded Eric.

Unsheathing his sword, he mirrored Tamira's charge, das.h.i.+ng across the gra.s.s towards the furious spearwoman. As she stabbed her spear towards him he dropped to his knees in a controlled slide, batting her spear aside with his sword and slamming into her, taking her out at the knees. As Tamira collapsed into an unruly heap behind him he rolled to his feet, his right leg lancing out like a piston to catch the approaching Alexnir unawares. As Alexnir raised his blade in an overhead strike Eric's foot smashed into his stomach, the fighter's wool overs.h.i.+rt doing nothing to protect him from the blow. With a coughing sound, Alexnir was sent flying backwards, tracing a beautiful arc through the air before cras.h.i.+ng into the ground, the wind literally knocked out of him.

Turning towards Katzy, Eric dashed towards the mage as she attempted to prepare a spell with a frightened expression. Bringing up his left hand, Eric fired the second arcane strike he'd prepared, hitting the terrified mage in the shoulder. Wincing, Katzy's spell fizzled for the second time in as many minutes as Eric approached.

Panicking, Katzy attempted to pull out her dagger. With a contemptuous look on his face, Eric slashed heavily at her wrist, forcing her to drop the dagger as she retreated. With another stride, he caught up with her, spinning her around and forcing his blade against her throat.

"Stop fighting if you want her to live," he snarled at the approaching Tamira.

With that the fight was over, Alexnir was still attempting to relearn how to breathe and struggling to his feet while Tamira was even angrier than she'd been before the fight. Her humiliation at how easily she'd been taken out causing her skin to flush an even deeper shade of red than her hair.

"Now then, I think it's about time you listened to reason. I am not the one who killed your party. But don't think that means I won't become that person if you continue to be unreasonable," said Eric, bringing the blade he held a bit closer to Katzy's neck for emphasis. Seeing that there were no interruptions he continued.

"This man is a scout with valuable information for Captain Alistair. If it wasn't for your distraction we would have been able to get this information safely to Tonbura village. Instead you have delayed us long enough for our pursuers, a band of goblins, to catch up. They should arrive soon. Now you have a choice, either I can slaughter the three of you and you will be deemed traitors to the Nova.n.a.lba Militia should Owin here survive," Owin nodded at this with a dangerous glint in his eye as Eric continued, "Or you can aid us in killing these goblins. Now which will it be?"

"Release Katzy and we'll talk," Alexnir panted, leaning upon his s.h.i.+eld.

"Not a chance, this is no longer a negotiation," said Eric, eyes narrowing. "I won't make you do it for free if that's what you're worried about. Agree to help us and you'll all receive the quest rewards with me once we finish escorting Owin to Tonbura village." Seeing them hesitate, Eric sweetened the deal.

"Tell you what, I'll teach your mage here a new spell if you co-operate. Surely a brand new skill and increased reputation with the militia are okay rewards for being allowed to live and getting to experience fighting new monsters before other players?"

As Eric spoke, more howls could be heard coming from the woods. Closer than before.

"I agree," a timid voice said. Looking between Tamira and Alexnir, Eric suddenly realized that it was the mage he still held captive in his arms who had spoken up.

"Katzy! He's a murderer!" Tamira yelled.

"If he was a murderer, he'd have killed us already Tammy! He's offering me a new spell. This will make our entire party stronger. Plus you're not the one with a G.o.dd.a.m.ned sword to your neck here!" Katzy yelled back, her timidness forgotten as she admonished her friend.

"She's right Tam. This isn't a bad deal for us," said Alexnir. Looking at Eric, he sheathed his sword, "I'm willing to help you. Release Kat."

Eric looked at Tamira, "And your fearless leader over there?"

"Fine. But don't expect me to believe you didn't do it just because you didn't kill us this time," she spat. Eric rolled his eyes. This one would probably never like him he thought with a small sigh as he lowered his blade and allowed Katzy to rejoin her companions.

Seeing that the fight was over, Owin moved to his side, "Alright we don't have long before they arrive. I suggest we take shelter at that rock formation over there. We can use it to limit their mounts mobility and prevent them from swarming us," he explained, pointing as he did to a small rocky hill nearby.

Nodding, the party began to make their way towards the hill as Owin watched the trees nervously. Dropping to the back of the party, Eric glanced at Owin with an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Sorry about this, didn't think my personal problems would put your mission at risk," he apologized with an embarra.s.sed expression.

"This might turn out in our favour. I'm not sure if we could have made it all the way to Tonbura village before they caught up to us," Owin responded. Pausing briefly he looked at Eric strangely, "What was with those moves there? I thought you sucked at fighting in close quarters."

Scratching his head sheepishly, Eric explained, "That's against beasts and monsters such as wolves. Or when I've got to use weapons I'm unfamiliar with like the sword. I've trained in martial arts for almost a decade now, plus I'm pretty good at PvP games."

"PvP games?"

Eric waved dismissively, "People I can read, beasts not so much. Against untrained fighters like these who are more used to stabbing rabbits and wolves, I can read them like a book. Against you it wouldn't have been so easy."

Owin grinned at this, "Good, that makes things easier. Goblins fight like humans. So hopefully I won't have to worry about you in this fight."

Eric grinned, playfully punching Owin in the shoulder, "Just focus on staying alive yourself. I don't want to have done all this work for nothing." Owin laughed at this and said nothing.

As they arrived at the rocky hill, Owin began to put them into a rudimentary formation, with himself and the two fighters from Tamira's party taking up defensive positions halfway up the hill, while Eric and Katzy were stationed at the top where they could rain magic down upon their opponents.

Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Eric began to teach Katzy the rune for Wind Strike. The Blade rune he would keep as his personal trump card for now, but allowing Katzy to use elemental spells without setting the forest on fire would definitely help to increase the party's firepower.

Katzy proved to be a quick learner, as long as no one was attacking her directly she was actually pretty talented at magic. But she fell apart under pressure as Eric had discovered earlier. As long as their line of melee fighters could hold strong she should be able to cast spells unrestricted.

Further down the hill, Owin was giving quick pointers to Alexnir and Tamira. Trying to ensure that their fight against the goblin scouting party wouldn't be as embarra.s.sing as the display they'd shown against Eric. As the sun rose above the trees, slowly driving away the watery dew of morning, the first worg dashed out from the trees, an ugly green goblin seated atop of the wolf steering it towards the hill.