“They will pick no more than two items a person.”
Olivia’s jaw muscle twitched just as Jerrek’s had.
“The rest of the items, other than food, will be dispersed to the other groups that fought today. The food will be gathered for tonight.”
What was she getting at?
“The enemy has proven that it can attack at any time. It's plain we are at war! Yet we are still strolling around like this is a game! This food and April’s cart will be the first building blocks to create a real fortification outside of our gate!
“Spread the word! We need bodies and supplies! Night and day we will need people to defend this city, its merchants, and players, from hundreds, if not thousands of creatures that want to destroy us!”
“You need to see this!” called a voice from the back of the crowd. It came from the direction of the gate.
Two players, still in newbie brown with leather shirts over the top, were hauling one of the guards that had been in the tower. One carried him under the arms and the other by the feet.
The crowd made way as they waddled up to Victoria. They gently set the body down. The guard had worn a long green coat and thick leather belt, with a matching green and black cap.
“What happened?” Peter asked, kneeling down to examine the body.
“Brett saw it.”
The player that had been carrying the feet held up his hand, indicating that was him.
“When the goblins first attacked, I was shopping at one of the merchants closest to the gate. The guard in the tower yelled that we were under attack and started firing. Somehow they made it through the gate before anyone could get it closed. There were about twenty goblins that attacked at random. It wasn’t long before the firing stopped. I noticed it because only one goblin had run at me and Ted here helped me kill it. Anyways I got suspicious and saw a taller, skinny goblin trying to sneak down the stairs after that. It was called a Goblin Sneak Thief. I killed it when it made it to the ground and it dropped this.”
He held out a long thin blade, almost as long as a short sword.
Peter reached for it and received the blade. Turning to Oliver he handed him the blade after examining it.
“Assassin.” He said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Victoria waited a few seconds before she began again. “They have assassins among them! If you don’t want to have to worry about getting stabbed in your sleep, we need a 24/7 watch! Spread the word! We begin construction immediately!”
Miraculously everyone did as she said. I wasn’t sure what she meant by construction exactly.
Though they weren’t happy, Olivia and Jerrek took their two items. There was nothing they could say after the news about the assassin. Everyone had fallen behind Victoria and they had been forgotten.
“Olivia,” Victoria called out.
The girl made no pretense of friendship.
“You can have my two items from the merchant’s goods. I mean it. Thank you.”
The two girls spent a long moment looking at one another.
Olivia finally sighed, a grin parting her lips. “You’re welcome.”
Suffice to say, they didn’t stay to help any further.
Another three merchants had died. The same distribution of items was agreed upon except for one of the merchants, a man that had a wife and two children.
Even more depressing, over fifteen players had died in the attack. There were hardly more than 100 to 150 goblins in the raiding party altogether, but they had caught us by surprise.
It was sobering for all of us, but Victoria scurried around to each of the wounded players, making sure they were taken care of.
Kline and I set to work collecting the scattered foodstuffs and setting them on the cart. It was easily righted between the two of us.
Soon the merchant girl who had spoken up for April was leading a mule with April's cart behind it. We exited the gate, and stopped about 100 meters out, unstrapping the cart from the animal.
Afterward, a merchant lent us a wagon to pull behind the mule and we loaded up everything from broken down tables and chairs, to logs and barrels of scrap. There was plenty of it behind the more industrious shops and after hearing what happened all but a few were happy to donate their junk. Everything ended up out front of the gate to help build the barrier.
The word spread. Hundreds of hands were helping within an hour. Oliver and Peter worked together to lead the workers. A familiar face, Harrison, the bearded group leader from last night, joined them. He soon took over the construction.
Vector and Treetop didn’t flee at the sign of work. Actually, they customized their own cart near the front of the defensive barricade. I saw them testing spears through custom-made holes in the wood.
Drool did run off, but only after a conversation with Victoria. They exchanged something. I didn’t exactly like the fact Victoria had so easily befriended Drool, but because of the seriousness of the situation, I didn’t think we had anything to worry about for now.
Nearly three hours after the attack, Victoria found me loading packing crates of scraps into the bellies of carts and wagons to weigh them down. The barricade had become a large semicircle of these broken down carts, wagons, and barrels.
“Ready to continue our shopping trip?” she said, wiping sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
Kline pushed me toward her before I could ask if he needed me. He threw a rock at me when I turned to respond. It bounced off my leather vest. He heaved hilarity all the while.
“I suppose I am.”
“He can no longer stand your lack of fashion sense,” she teased, shaking her head.
Chapter 11 – Gearing Up
We went at a slow pace. The work hadn’t been light for either of us.
Entering the village, the area of attack had already been repopulated with merchants happy to trade their wares. There was more traffic here than earlier with the construction going on.
Victoria’s hair was a frizz, statically sticking to her leather armor, a few strands in the air. Her face had splotches of dirt under one eye, on the opposite cheek, and on her chin. She stuck to her leather, as all of us did, with sweat drenched cloth underneath it. But her look was not what had me worried. I had seen how frantic she got when I got hurt. Her worry turned to action, even if there was nothing to do. She had just responded to the death of April, the merchants, and players the same way. The only difference is this time there was work to do. She was quite impressive.
Destiny always diverted my attention when I was overly worried. I’d try to do the same for her.
“So I thought you said you were just here for fun. Political charity case and all.”
“You don’t think I’m having fun?” she said, with a glint of mischief.
“Oh, I’m sure you are. Your guild is coming together nicely.”
“You caught that, huh? That’s just the beginning really.”
“Oh, you have plans?”
Her mouth was a fine line, stretched out in a grin. Her eyes turned down, villainous as a gaming real-estate agent.
“When we form the guild, we will charge everyone a fee to join. With the money, we will rent a guild hall and create a bank.”
“Isn’t there already a bank?”
“There is, but it costs to deposit money. We will only charge for item storage and actually pay interest to anyone that deposits money with us. That should draw our members. Once the money starts to flow we will use it to invest.”
“You want to be a banker?”
“I want to help direct the economy. There are no guarantees, but with good investments, we should be rich.”
“Oh, is that all?”
“Well, if things go as planned we will be the richest guild in the game. By a lot.” She pranced from one foot to another, then dipped her head to the side.
Her movements were controlled and precise. Such grace must have taken years of practice.
“What was that?”