Karl set up his hammock between the wagon axles and stretched out for the evening. In his armour, he would be plenty warm enough, so there was no need for a blanket that would hinder his response time if they were attacked.
He had thought that they would have plenty of warning before anything reached them, but just before dawn, when a Portal suddenly opened in the camp, he only had a few seconds warning to roll out of bed and get his bearings before the first attackers were coming through, twenty metres away and creeping through the dark.
They must have thought that the Naga couldn’t see them, even though Naga could see exceptionally well in the dark.
The reason why they were so confident became obvious when they Shadow Stepped behind the Naga warriors and tried to slit their throats silently.
If the Naga had been Ascended, or even regular Commanders, they would have died instantly. But they were Royal Rank, with Eternal Lightning barriers on them, and they were fast to respond.
Karl’s whistle to bring everyone awake was followed by the sound of blades meeting blades, and the shouts of the rest of the fighters coming through the portal.
Ophelia was up within a second as she activated [Berserk Terror], her upgraded Rage skill, and charged at the pair of Minotaur that had just come through the portal.
While complex thought might escape the rampaging Dire Bear, battle tactics did not, and that was all she needed as she transitioned from slumber to war mode.
Karl took out his maul and swatted a wounded Rogue back through the portal with five stacks of [Bone Crusher]. If that wasn’t enough to convince them that they had picked the wrong target, he wasn’t certain that they were going to learn at all.
He wasn’t certain what species was under that hood, but going by the sound the maul made, it wasn’t one that could take that hit.
A small monster with long claws and neon green skin jumped at Karl, who caught it by the face and retaliated with [Chain Lightning], killing it instantly.
The corpse was unceremoniously tossed through the portal after the shattered Rogue, and Karl heard cursing from the other side.
That was Rae’s cue, and her golems mutilated two targets instead of killing them, then threw them through the portal.
[Garbage disposal hole. Brilliant.] Cara laughed.
Her skills weren’t well suited to leaving intact bodies, but she was happily helping Ophelia beat up Minotaurs.
Cara jumped on their backs and pinned their arms wide, disintegrating the back of their heads, while Ophelia tore them into little bite sized chunks, perfect for Hawk to roast.
[I like the bear lady, she’s got that anger in her.]
The attackers still hadn’t gotten to the wagon, at least not as far as Karl could tell, and the ones closest to him were in full retreat.
“You have five seconds to retreat before I put a Royal Rank Blizzard on the other side of that Portal and follow it up with a Meteor barrage.” Karl shouted toward the portal, hoping that there was someone intelligent on the other side.
In response, a massive Monarch Rank Troll in plate armour under a long coat with a red sash crawled through the portal that was far too small for him to walk through.
“Who are you to threaten innocents?” He demanded.
“There are no innocents in a bandit camp. You made a mistake attacking my team. If you want any of your people to see tomorrow, I suggest you take the loss and go home.”
The troll laughed and flexed his prodigious muscles.
At four metres tall with skin like tree bark and a massive physique that said he didn’t miss many meals, the leader of this group was an impressive specimen. But he was rapidly running out of teammates.
“Go back. I am going to teach this human a lesson about the pecking order.” The troll demanded.
Karl smiled. “Everyone stand back. I think our new Trollish friend needs a little sense beat into him.”
Karl stacked [Flaming Body] on his maul, set to explode on contact.
Trolls didn’t do well with fire, and this one was about to have a very bad morning.
[Use Disintegrate. You should be able to do that.] Cara suggested.
It was the only Monarch Rank skill that they had at the moment, but Karl hadn’t tried it yet.
The troll snorted in amusement as Karl switched out the fire for disintegration, and stacked it.
“You think that you can take me on without even using fire? Humans are more foolish than expected.” He chortled, sending a deep rumbling laughter echoing through the area around the other side of the portal.
“I don’t want to kill you. If you die too fast, you won’t learn anything.”
The troll stepped to the side, giving them room to fight, away from the portal.
But when he did, three more Monarchs came through, all dressed as Pirates, and all walking with the characteristic gait of someone who spent too much time at sea.
Karl had seen it on the TV before.
They nodded to Karl, showing that they were here to watch, and weren’t going to interfere.
At least not yet.
Karl had the maul slung over his shoulder, but didn’t even make it to his opponent’s waist.
Plus, the Troll was using what looked like an entire tree as a club.
The monster made a “Come and get it” gesture, and Karl launched himself forward.
The Troll must not have been expecting his speed because he was past its hand before the massive club had come around. His maul smashed into the Troll’s chest, disintegrating a large chunk of the Troll’s torso and dropping it to the ground, paralyzed.
But Karl didn’t follow up, he just stepped back and recharged his maul as he waited.
The clearing was silent for a whole minute as the Troll regenerated, then got to its feet, letting the tattered remains of its clothes fall to the ground.
“Now, did you learn anything, or do I need to explain it to you one more time?” Karl asked.
The Pirates chuckled grimly as the club came crashing down on Karl.
He threw a punch up to block it, and the club shattered, along with Eternal Lightning. But Limited Invulnerability absorbed the rest of the damage, and Karl gave the maul a one-handed swing, taking one leg and most of the troll’s pelvis off.
“Oi, old boy just Kraken Smacked a Forest Troll.” One of the Pirates drawled with a mixture of shock and amusement.
Karl couldn’t tell whether that was intended as a personal insult about his age or not, but the Troll didn’t think that they were funny.
The troll was panting when he finished regenerating his obliterated leg, and Karl waited for him to say something.
The healing was clearly taking a toll on his stamina, and the monster was in no fit shape to continue the fight.
“Look, you can give up and bugger off, or I can start using fire. What do you say?” Karl asked.
The troll glared at him for a few more seconds, then stomped off through the portal, leaving the group of Monarch Rank captains behind.
“Well done Boyo. Here, keep this with you, and the slavers won’t touch you. Every Captain carries one, and I think that you’ve earned one, even if you didn’t kill Trevor.”
The Pirate Captain was some sort of Demon with a long braided beard and three eyes on his head. Karl had no idea what that should be called, but the others all respected his opinion and didn’t raise any arguments.
“Thank you. I do despise dealing with troublesome sorts before it is properly morning.”
The Pirate laughed. “I don’t know who hired you to escort the lovely ladies across the country, but they made a good call. Next time you’re close to Lutonade Port, stop in and visit, we run supplies every few weeks. I’ll set you up with something that pays better than dried fish.”
Karl smiled. “Now we’re talking. Nothing wrong with a bit of high-paying cargo now and then.”
“And a Captain’s word is his life.” The demon agreed, then turned and walked through the portal with the others.
It closed quickly once they were through, but not before Karl smelled the scent of terrified trolls and demons as the wind shifted. His threat to send them a Blizzard must have gotten through loud and clear.
Ophelia changed back into a Werebear and gave Karl a raised eyebrow look.
“And what exactly was your plan there? To just get in good with the Pirate Captains and let a murderous slaver leave?” She asked.
“We have things to do. It’s almost morning now, and if I’d offed the boss, the rest of his team would have come through. Then we’d be stuck fighting them all morning, and we’d be late for our next stop.”
“You’re too soft.” She insisted.
Karl turned to Cara and Rae for confirmation.
[He didn’t look like he tasted good. Minotaurs taste good, but Trolls probably don’t.] Rae replied.
Not exactly a helpful answer this time.
