Tunnel Rat

Chapter 235: Return of the Righteously Vengeful Empress

A well-armored figure moved down the streets of Shadowport, waving to a few people and making her way across the city. Belinda was easily recognized by her sky-blue robe, grey plate armor, and shining crystalline shield. A flanged copper mace was tucked into a belt loop. As a known healer, she had fewer problems walking through Shadowport but kept to the main roads. It seemed to her that it was more dangerous and chaotic today. She'd seen fights between players start for no reason three times as she walked along the main boulevard. She'd been out of the game for over a month after a bad reaction to one of her drugs. The doctors were always nervous about her using her pod, endlessly fussing with it, and Daddy always sided with them. And no one seemed to think she was old enough to understand what was happening to her own body. She put up with it for now, she had no choice, but it was one of the things she would change as soon as she turned eighteen. A commotion in a nearby alley brought her out of her musings—another fight. One player had dived off a rooftop to stab another. She stepped nearer to a man selling battered sausages on a stick from a cart. She pointed at the fight, "Any idea what's going on?"

He shrugged. "All I know is the sausages are plump and juicy. My wife worked hard to make the batter and bake them in an oven. She works hard every day. I work hard too!"

Belinda smiled and handed him a silver coin, far too much money for cheap food. "I'm hungry; two of your fine sausages, please."

The vendor smiled, showing missing teeth, and bobbed his head. He put two of the sausage-on-a-stick on a plate, put those on a small table, and invited Belinda to sit. He lowered his voice and spoke. "The gangs are at war; it is a bad time to wander alone. Outsiders have come to the city and challenge Lord Squint for control of the Shadowport. At first, they just fought with each other, yelling 'Surprise' and ambushing rival gang members. Squint played them off against each other, but then some of them formed an alliance, and the fighting became worse as they challenged the Kulags. Other gangs have joined in to nip at their heels. Stay out of the alleys if you can. Light's End, too."

Mumbling around the meal and thinking about her route, she asked, "Is the main road clear? I need to meet a friend at the guild hall. What happens if the gangs win? Doesn't Squint do a lot to control the chaos?"

"Bad things, I think, unless one gang can control the rest. That will be hard. The alliance will break when they kill Squint or chase him from the city, and the gangs will fight again. But, on the bright side, business is good. My brother owns a weapons shop and is selling daggers and truncheons as fast as he can make them, and I sell sausages to the hungry players who have walked back from death and need food."

Belinda sat, talked, and enjoyed a baked apple from the cart beside the sausage vendor. The food just tasted better in the game. Soon several people were gathered around, discussing the latest events in town. A child showed her a scraped knee, and she healed him, bringing several other people over to politely ask for healing for sprained ankles, a burned hand from grasping a hot pot, and a badly set broken arm. She waived any payment but encouraged people to fill her in on recent events.

As soon as word of the gang war started, players from all over teleported to nearby ports where they could book passage and take part in the citywide PVP event. Gangs recruited new rogues and fighters at the docks, escorting them to their 'hidden' lairs which always seemed to be in the basements of taverns. The delay for respawning was set to one-quarter of normal if a person was in the city and died due to PVP. The chance of dropping a piece of equipment was also increased. Some players weren't even bothering with their best gear, preferring to rely on skill and a pair of rusty poisoned daggers.

In contrast, the docks and residential areas were relatively calm. The Sea Captains wanted no part of the chaos, and the docks were declared neutral ground. One large gang had tried to claim it for themselves despite that and found out the hard way how far an angry ogre could throw an enchanted harpoon. A fight had disturbed Captain Pike while he was having lunch. Such an insult had resulted in two gangs being wiped out to a man. Three players were further traumatized by seeing Pike rip off their limbs, add salt, and eat the tasty treat in from of them. The docks were off-limit after that. Squint had likewise declared the areas where the fishing families and traders had their homes to be off limits. The gang lord generally stayed out of the small fights, but he patrolled the streets daily and dealt with any gangs who trespassed. The Kulags had remained quiet during the early part of the gang war, holding onto control of Light's End and the key bridges in the city.

That changed when several gangs started working together to take the Kulags and depose Squint from his position at the top of the gangs. The raid had started successfully, with half the Kulags killed before they knew what was happening. Squint and most of the gang defended their Bordello-Fortress of Light's End, but that end of the city was slipping from his grasp. That was when someone screwed up and tried to raid the Adventurers Guildhall. Bernard had grabbed his spear and magic helmet and offered very generous quests to anyone nearby. The rogues and assassins suddenly found themselves facing all the other players who swept through Light's End, killing every gang member they could find. Squint laughed and watched the chaos from his balcony. Strangely, the Kulags who had been killed while on patrol or guarding the bridges had mostly been players. Only two NPC Kulags died, and they arrived back to the city, stepping off of a small black boat with wild tales to tell of the strange seas of the underworld. The gang war continued, but Bernard sent letters to every gang, reminding them that the guildhall was neutral ground and threatening terrible vengeance if they crossed him again.

Feeling like she had a better feel for what was happening, Belinda waved to her new friends and went on her way. At the main bridge across the ravine, four heavily armored Kulags waved her through and warned her about trouble up ahead. "The Poisoned Talons are roaming around the market. Five of them jumped a Kulag in an alley."

Belinda frowned. "That hardly seems fair."

The two guards she was talking to shrugged and smiled. "It wasn't. All five of them have a new headstone in that alley. I hear that Milo is back in town, and they didn't recognize him."

"Oh! Really? He's supposed to meet with me for lunch, and he's out killing bandits. I knew I should have come earlier." With a small wave, she walked on, quickening her pace. Things became darker the further she went from the docks with their natural light and into the hollow city. As she walked, she cast a small spell called Foxfire that created a small area of light around her in a twenty-foot radius. It was enough to help her navigate the streets as things got darker. Many streetlights were broken or missing, casualties of the gang war.

The downside of the spell was that it attracted attention. Four cloaked and hooded figures stepped out into the main street, surrounding her. "What do we have here? That's a lot of shiny loot you're carrying. Be a shame to drop something." The other's nodded and did their best to look menacing.

Belinda didn't even draw her weapon. "Very shiny and very much mine. I'm a healer, and I'm not playing your stupid games. Move."

The one who had spoken did so again. "Really? That's strange. See, Vinny got his guts ripped out recently, and while he was waiting for the Death Penalty to wear off, he went to get a sausage. He distinctly heard you say you were on your way to meet Milo. And the only Milo we know works for Squint. And we don't like Squint."

"And we don't like Milo."

"And that means we don't like you. So hand over some shinies or head to respawn, and we'll loot your stuff."

Belinda drew her mace, cast Armor of Virtue, and started walking forward. "I'm leaving. Stay out of my way, please." The rogues before her moved to cut her off, flanking to either side, while a thief and assassin moved up from behind. She blocked a stab by the rogue on her left with her Crystalline Shield and fended off the other with a thrust of her mace. The rogue's sword shattered on her shield. He was quite angry about it.

"That's bullshit! What is that shield?"

Belinda rolled her eyes, but if they talked, they might return and leave. "World Boss loot. We were allowed to pick a crystal weapon as tough as the boss. This is mine."

"Uh, it's a shield."

She nodded. "And if you have shield bash, then shield counts as a weapon. I took a shield. It sucks to be you or your sword. Now leave me be."

The assassin appeared behind her, the thief a step behind. The thief went for her belt pouch but found it securely locked and riveted to her belt. The assassin put a thin blade deep into her side, just below her armor, scoring a critical hit and injecting a Tier 2 poison into her that he saved for higher-level players. Belinda staggered and went to one knee. "Damn, a backstab, poison, and a critical. You must have done over 1500 points of damage with that."

The assassin was happy someone appreciated his skill. "1532, to be exact. Plus, 100 poison a round for ten rounds. I'm surprised you're still up. The paralysis on that is a bitch to deal with."

Belinda took a breath. "Yeah, this will hurt; remember, I offered to let you go. Vengeful Healing of the Empress." The ring on her finger glowed brightly, her wounds healed before their eyes, and she straightened up and smiled, even flipping her hair back and winking. All her four attackers dropped to the ground the next instant, screaming. Each had taken a terrible wound in their sides, and the poison burned in their veins.

"Now you all know how it feels. I love the added paralysis. Makes it easy to gather a few items from you." She went from one to the next, taking their belt pouches, shoes, belts, and weapons. Three of the near-naked players died, and headstones appeared. One had a little more health than the others. She walked over to him and beat his skull to a pulp with her mace. She took their meager amount of money and left everything else in the street for whoever noticed it.

A minute later, she passed the last building and walked through the Night Market. She waved to a few players she knew and headed to the Adventurers Guild. It took some time to descend to the mines, but half an hour later, she approached where Uthneragrubban had been destroyed. A nervous Milo was waiting for her.