Thankfully nothing hit me, but one of the missiles clanged against the crate I had been sitting on before. It rattled the crate and sent it rolling. They were throwing stones? It had been about half the size of a fist.
A chorus of random screams howled up and down the camp.
Vector and Drool were getting up, making adjustments on their invisible player menus. With a few adjustments, they were armed.
Treetop wasn’t. We let him be.
The downpour of rocks had woken the majority of the camp for us. Some players were happier than others. There was no doubt the stones could break bone. Possibly kill if they hit you just right in the head.
“Can you see them?” I asked Victoria, pointing to the forest.
“No.”
“Not good.”
Another volley of stones flew our way. It was an impressive throw. There was no way a little goblin was throwing them, right? No. It was more likely they had slings. That was only slightly less frightening than if they had grown strong enough to throw this far. Slings took skill. Far more skill than even a bow to be accurate. If they were just lobbing them then we might not be in too bad of a position, but if they had marksmen…
One thing was clear. Our enemy wasn’t staying the same. How many different kinds of goblins were there? Things were getting dangerous.
“Do you see the rocks coming?” I pointed to another volley.
“No,” Victoria replied, looking back and forth between me and the night’s sky wildly.
“Get down.” With my bronze shield unleashed, I held it above us, a bronze umbrella to the stone hail. There was no need to shield the others. Drool and Vector ducked behind the cart. They grabbed Treetop and dragged him to a better position. He was still passed out. Since they had yet to reach level 10 they didn’t have any night vision either.
A single rock dinged off my shield and skipped back hitting someone behind us in the thigh. I heard the thud and yelled my apologies, but he didn’t even seem to feel the impact through his armor.
What a relief.
After the initial volley, the cries from impact nearly ceased altogether. The stones still came. I was sure the rocks were doing some damage, but against shields and even old tarnished helmets, the attack was mostly blunted. What were they playing at? And why weren’t they carrying torches?
A battle cry from players north of the barricade sounded as the first group of players charged. Nearly fifty of them sprinted toward the dark forest.
There were three possibilities. They were softening us up for an all-out attack. That seemed unlikely since all their attacks had been with far fewer numbers. Not that their stupidity hadn’t been proven time and again, but this felt different. They showed signs of having an actual strategy.
The second possibility was this was a hit and run to test our resolve, maybe kill or injure a few while they were here. It wasn’t the worst scenario, but still possible.
Third was filled with stomach churning promise. There had been assassins at today’s attack. Now slings. The worst possible scenario for us was if they decided to bring the biggest army yet, throw some stones at us, then wait in ambush for us to come to them.
“It could be a trap,” I said.
“I think you’re right,” Vector replied, still kneeling next to Drool. “This is the perfect time to draw us in.”
He hadn’t been in many fights so far since entering Freedom, but I had seen him in his element. He was methodical, with twice the experience I had and at a much higher level of player versus player competition. If he was thinking the same thing…
I gulped, leading Victoria who was hunched under my shield to the turned over cart. We knelt down in a huddle so the four of us could converse.
“They must have found a commander,” Drool said. “This isn’t like them. Or their real soldiers have only just arrived.”
She held tightly to Vector’s hand. In that moment she didn’t look like the famous, man-eating career killer. She was a very talented young competitor, who was completely out of her element. Finding someone to help you survive wasn’t foolish. Vector was in the same situation, but had also suffered a broken leg and was still out here. He could be counted on.
“They are trying to draw us out?” Victoria asked.
“I’m afraid so. And it’s working,” I replied.
Another group, then another growled as they ran into the jaws of the goblin-infested forest.
My first thought was to run up and down the player line like a crazy man screaming that it was a trap. Even if it did work there wasn’t the time to reach everyone. Like missiles fired from the wings of a village-sized mothership, more player groups, large and small, shot toward the forest.
“What should we do?” Victoria asked.
With my shield raised, I stood, taking a moment to examine the field. At least a third of the players had raced into the woods. Most had stayed, either still too tired or drunk to join them. Maybe some had reasoned the same as us. At least five hundred players had left the line. Perhaps it would be enough to overwhelm any ambush.
I reported what I saw to my friends who couldn’t see in the dark.
More importantly, I hoped the players racing toward the dark canopy had night vision. There was hardly a torch or lamp among them. Their lack of experience with their pets could likely be their downfall. Ours as well.
“We wait and get ready,” I replied.
“You think they will attack?” Victoria replied.
“I think some of the players will come running back with their tails between their legs. They may need some help to get here in one piece.”
“It’s worth preparing for,” Vector said.
“Then I have an idea,” Victoria added.
“Yeah?”
“Harry. He’s here tonight with his men.”
Leaning close to her ear, I whispered. “What about him telling Peter?”
“That won’t happen. I remind him of his daughter,” she said, not bothering to whisper.
“That sounds like a good reason for him to want to keep you safe.”
“Lucius, trust me in this. You don’t have a daughter.”
It made no sense to me, but I didn’t push it.
“We will gather some of the gamers,” Vector said. “It’s time for us to make a statement.”
Drool squeezed his hand. With shields drawn and a slow nod our way, they hurried south together.
“What are they up to?” Victoria asked.
“They have something to prove.”
“They forgot Treetop.”
I looked at her with a blank expression as I processed what she said, then howled at the absurdity of it all.
Victoria smacked my leather covered chest. “That’s not funny.”
“No, you’re right. It’s hilarious!”
Chapter 15 – Finally Some Action
The position of Vector and Drool’s cart was near the front of the barricade. I couldn’t in good conscience leave Treetop there.
I didn’t blame the gamers for a second for leaving him. Every other game in existence gave nowhere near the torturous pain you experienced here as a death penalty. Their minds were elsewhere. After two days everyone had still not fully conformed to this new world’s rules.
Grabbing him from under the arms, he was surprisingly light. I dragged him toward the gate, Victoria following with her shield up to protect us.
When a rock almost crashed into her hip, I shifted into as close to a backward sprint as I could manage.
Close to the gate, a number of abandoned camps lay empty after the players had rushed off to man the defense. We left him lying behind a stack of piled up crates that made up his own personal barricade.
I tucked Victoria under my arm. She held her shield about shoulder height. My shield I overlapped with hers high to guard our heads. She was the one I was worried about since she was still running around helmless.
We found Harrison surprisingly close to where we had been hanging out with Vector. He had over 20 men in his group manning the very tip of the barricade. They were all well-armed with leather-wrapped shields.