Ch 78

The militia was all in place, Jordan at the head as usual. He found true joy in the slaughter. Tom was still unsure how he was supposed to complete his task.

Both Jordan and Tom were over level 25 and had learned about evolved classes. There were several others in the militia who would probably earn the levels in this raid. He knew Nick was also evolved but that wasn’t what concerned him, he knew a surprise sword through the chest would still be more than enough. 

What scared him was how the hell was he going to get away with it? Even in a pitched battle someone was bound to see the assassination. This just wouldn’t work. The problem was Tom knew he really didn’t have a choice. 

If he didn’t do what Jordan wanted, it would be him that would be the target of the next accident. But if he did kill the boy he at least had a chance even if it was just a small chance. 

The raids appeared where Tom and Jordan had first faced the trial so many days ago. The spot was right on the fringe of the woods just north of the town about 200 yards into the trees. The terrain was mostly level, but the kill zone had become a mess.

Trees lay strewn about every which way cut at strange angles, stumps stick haphazardly from the ground ranging in height. After five raids defended in this area it was a mess. 

Tom had asked Jordan why they didn’t clear the mess. His answer was short and simple. If it’s a disadvantage for us it's a disadvantage for them. At first it made sense to Tom, but upon further reflection he realized that there was so much that could be done here. If they knew the raids were coming here they could easily build defenses and prepare.

A lot of Jordan’s answers were like that. In the moment they feel so solid–only to unravel upon closer scrutiny. 

The air buzzed and Tom looked up as the time wound to a close and the gate opened. Ellison, Nick, and Layton all stood together calmly watching the gate open.

Tom thought it was strange that Layton didn’t seem to use any staff or anything as a healer. He just stood slightly behind the line of ranged fighters eyes skimming the lines. Ellison carried a simple longsword. He opted out of engaging in this fight–instead choosing to remain near Layton, likely acting as his bodyguard. 

His target, Nick stood on Laytons left bow held at his side watching the raiders pour through the gate. Tom didn’t even glance toward the gate, he only had eyes for Nick. 

He had been racking his brain on how he was going to pull this off without getting himself either killed or caught in the process. No doubt if he was caught he would end up dead, likely being thrown under the bus by Jordan. 

The battlefield erupted into motion as the last of the raiders crossed through the portal. This would be his best chance. He allowed the other members of the faction to flow by him as he casually began to approach his prey. 

They were too close together. They would see the second Tom made his move, he wielded a sword, which meant–he had to get close. Step by step he moved closer. He was only thirty feet away now. His heart pounded in his chest. He didn’t want to do this. 

He didn’t want to do any of what he’d already done. He took another step. How did it come to this? He was about to commit murder in broad daylight where he would almost certainly be caught. He didn’t have to…maybe he could face Jordan? He scoffed. No, this would be his only hope. 

Twenty feet away now. All three were watching the battle, Nick had his bow out taking shots with strange dark arrows that seemed to bleed smoke. He was so close now. All he had to do was rush forward and it would all be over. He could say he tripped, that it was an accident. The thought was absurd. His feet wouldn’t move anymore. 

So close…he could feel the sweat on his palms, his heart was beating in his ears. He had to do this. Then why wouldn’t his body listen?

Ten feet away. Layton the young faction leader leaned over and whispered something Tom couldn’t quite hear. Nick nodded at the words, and then without warning Nick disappeared.

Tom froze. One second Nick had been standing there, the next he had simply disappeared. Where had he gone? Frantic, Tom began scanning the battlefield. Shouts of battle range out, he wasn’t even aware what they were fighting. All he cared about was finding Nick. 

But no matter where he looked Nick was nowhere to be seen. Confused, he looked back to where Layton and Ellison still stood watching the battle. From where they stood it would be easy to see what was happening–but if you were an archer attempting to participate the vantage was poor. 

That was it. Nick had likely used some skill to move to a better location where he could help in the fight without risk of hitting his allies. Tom spun and peered into the trees. He was about to lose hope when finally he caught sight of his prey. Nick had moved to a small rise that gave him a vantage to oversee the fight without being on the front lines. 

Tom wasted no time. In a stroke of incredible luck Nick had separated himself from everyone. He was alone and unguarded. Tom jogged away from the rest of the people in combat and circled behind Nick into the trees. 

Nick was still thoroughly engaged in the fight as Tom crept up slowly from behind. He still couldn’t believe his incredible luck as he quietly navigated the forest floor closing in. His heart still tugged at him. He ignored it, going to that place where he felt nothing. 

Nearly there–just a few more steps–Tom lifted his sword prepared to spring forward. He was about to make his move–

Nick turned smoothly and Tom locked eyes with those cold dark orbs. Nick smirked. Then vanished. 

A second later he felt a cold sharp pressure at his throat. A voice whispered in his ear. 

“Don’t move, don’t even breathe. You and I are going on a little walk.”

-

The raid unfolded pretty much how I had expected it, albeit the size was larger than anything we’d seen in our faction. Even that was expected though, I assumed the system would probably compensate. Over 500 goblin-like raiders poured through the portal, scrambling across the forest with crude wooden clubs.

Jordan really was pretty impressive. He had obviously evolved his class and deployed several higher level skills during the battle. One skill he used was summoning a hoop blade that he would slap with his sword, sending it rolling through the enemy ranks causing impressive area of effect damage. 

The other skill seemed to be passive, but I got the feeling that each attack that landed seemed to cause immense pain for the goblins. When Jordan scored hits the goblins wouldn’t scream, instead their backs would arch unnaturally and they would fall, eyes wide frothing at the mouth. 

The first time that it happened it seemed like a toxin of some kind but the creatures Jordan left alive didn’t die. They rolled around seething scraping the ground, but what really convinced me was how Jordan would watch and take pleasure in their torment. 

I knew the goblins weren’t evil, they didn’t deserve this treatment. It was one thing to kill, it was a whole other to torture. My case against Jordan was nearing its end. He was the worst kind of man. 

Mischief had waited near his home and with his incredible senses listened to his plans to kill my friend Nick. That alone was nearly enough to force my hand and confront the snake. It was Mischief who reigned me in, although not out of benevolence. He was having fun toying with Tom’s mind. 

We still didn’t know for sure what was happening with the disappearances, we wanted that piece before we made our move. Mischief was sure Tom was our way to do it. 

So we baited our trap. I didn’t love the idea of using Nick as bait–but Nick did. 

“Oh hell yeah! I love it! You want me to waggle my sweet booty his way and then pull the old switcharoo?”

“How bout no booty wagging? Just do your thing and it sounds like he will come to you.” I felt for Ellison who had to put up with all our shenanigans. 

When the raid started and the portal opened–just like Mischief had promised–Tom had begun making his way towards Nick. 

I wanted to turn and slap the fool in the face. Had he seriously intended to attack Nick right here? His brazen disregard for simple common sense spoke to how far this man had fallen. 

I leaned over to Nick and whispered in his ear. “You’ll need to go somewhere more discreet now, if we want to take him alive.”

Without a word he shot away using his Shadowborn skill. I wasn’t concerned. As I watched this faction fight there were only a handful of fighters who posed any semblance of threat. If I had to guess, this raid wasn’t above level 20. 

That told me that Jordan and his most trusted militia had hoarded most of the experience points so far. The whole set up reminded me of the stories Ellison had told me about Devorah. It all seemed so worthless to me. 

Personally I would rather have a thriving and well rounded faction. Built on the back of unity and cooperation. Watching my faction grow and gain strength brought me so much satisfaction. 

As I watched Jordan and his elites dispatching the last of the goblins I could feel my class working inside me. It was like a timer or like being caught in a strong current. 

I noticed that I could resist the urge to make a judgement–if I felt like I needed more information–but it was getting harder and harder to ignore the push. Pretty soon I knew I would be forced to make a judgement on Jordan and to a lesser extent the faction. 

Hopefully Nick and Mischief could wrap up their end of the plan before it got to that point.