The sun beat down relentlessly on the crimson-hued earth.
A column of two hundred players was on the move.
Just as Ethan had estimated, only a handful had mounts. The vast majority were on foot, relying on their own two legs to eat up the miles.
At the head of the group, Leo rode a small pony, clad in half-plate armor, ambling along at a leisurely stroll. Beside him, Victor, Williams, atball, and the others were also mounted, but to keep pace with the foot-marchers behind them, they held their steeds to a walk.
"We’re getting close, right? How co the boss isn’t here yet?" Leo asked, shielding
his eyes from the sun with one hand, his massive shield strapped to his back.
"Relax, Ethan won’t be late," Victor said, his gaze constantly sweeping the surroundings. "An operation this big is bound to have drawn attention."
"Nothing but open ground for miles," Williams murmured, eyes closed as he rode. "Even if they’ve noticed us, good luck setting an ambush."
"Right... with sightlines this clear, if we run into anyone, they can get a taste of how my undead army cuts through the opposition!" atball chid in with a laugh.
Victor’s lips curled into a slight smile. He was worrying too much. This was the Renegade Alliance’s twelve-hundred-strong Elite Corps on the move. So what if they were noticed? And with a powerhouse like atball, who alone could match the combat strength of two or three hundred players... The guy could desecrate enemy corpses mid-fight, turning them into obedient skeletons under his control. As long as he stayed alive, it was a relentless push of two or three hundred bone warriors.
Just as they were bantering, a dark shadow swept across the sky, blotting out the harsh glare of the sun.
Heads snapped up instinctively.
A massive eagle was diving straight toward them.
"What the hell is that? An eagle beast out here? Battle stations!" Leo yelled, swinging his shield off his back and stowing his pony.
The giant eagle showed no sign of slowing, hurtling directly toward the center of the group.
"Fucking stop... Shield Bash!" Leo planted his feet, calculated the eagle’s speed, and swung his greatshield in a powerful arc aid at its head.
Nobody seed concerned; they watched with calm assurance, expecting Leo to easily halt the creature’s charge.
THUMP.
"ARGH!"
The sound was like a sledgehamr hitting the shield. But Leo’s shield was so large it completely blocked everyone’s view of the eagle, which seed to shrink in size just before impact. The next instant, Leo’s shield was wrenched upwards, the force lifting him clean off his feet and sending him flying onto his back, a cry of pain torn from his lips.
"How many tis do I have to tell you? Don’t just throw out a Shield Bash before you know what you’re hitting." A calm voice ca from the point of impact.
A Druid in a distinctive bear form stood there – Ethan’s signature Grey Throat’s Might manifestation. Beside him stood Lyla, looking poised and beautiful.
The group’s eyes widened. Ethan was frozen in a ridiculously cool punching pose; he was clearly the one who had sent Leo flying. The tank had landed several ters away and was still seeing stars – the classic backlash for a failed Shield Bash.
But their flickering gazes weren’t fixed on Ethan’s heroic stance. They were on Lyla.
Hadn’t it only been a short ti since they’d last seen her? Why did she seem... more radiant? She practically glowed with an indefinable light.
"What are you all staring at? You’re slower than a Sunday driver, only making it this far," Ethan grumbled, noticing their stares. Lyla blushed and shuffled half a step behind him.
He promptly shifted back to Human Form, pulling her more firmly behind his back.
"Uh... Boss, you can fly now? No wonder you’re fast!" Leo complained, his dizziness fading as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. "The rest of us are on foot! I’m the main tank, and I just got knocked on my ass by a Druid... My reputation is in tatters." He muttered the last part, clearly disgruntled.
"Mounts are a minor issue. I’m in a good mood today," Ethan declared with a booming laugh. "After we pull this job off, everyone gets a 100% speed mount on !"
The crew erupted in excitent. A 100% speed mount cost twenty gold. The boss was offering one to everyone here? That was a cool twenty-four thousand gold.
They were just about to cheer "Boss is the best!" when they saw Ethan’s expression suddenly shift. His face cycled through shades of purple and black before settling back to normal.
"Boss, you good? You get poisoned or cursed or sothing?" atball asked, his voice full of concern. He’d been staring, trying to figure out how to ask Ethan about getting one of those chs for himself.
"I’m... fine, dammit!" Ethan snapped, seeing the overly-solicitous look on atball’s face.
’Goddammit... You had to point it out, didn’t you?’ Now everyone was staring. He saw their eyes dart to his waist, where a small, delicate hand was quickly retreating. The owner of that hand could only be Lyla.
Knowing grins spread across everyone’s faces. Lyla’s new glow, Ethan’s inexplicably fantastic mood, his cocky boast, imdiately followed by that classic, discreet pinch to the side... If you couldn’t connect the dots, you were as dense as atball.
"Holy shit, I just realized sothing!" a young Archer gasped in a low voice.
"What?" the guy next to him asked.
"Guild leader and Lyla... Wait, you rember that rumor? The one that went around a while back, that the Guild Leader and Lyla were actually siblings? Because soone heard her call him ’brother’ that one ti? They... they just... Oh, man!" The Archer’s expression shifted from shock to disbelief, and he finally just covered his face with his hands.
"Dude, are you an idiot?" an older-looking Mage on his other side said with utter disdain. "You believed that? That was just guild chat gossip. Besides, people call each other all sorts of things. Even an old fart like gets it. That’s a kink, it’s roleplay... No wonder you’re single."
Several people nearby turned, gave the Archer a once-over, and let out a collective, mocking "Ooooh!"
As the group turned their attention back forward, a female player suddenly pushed her way through and fixed the flustered Archer with a long, appraising look.
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