Warlord

Author's Note:No sex in this chapter.



“Wow,” Jeram looked up. “What a giant sonofabitch.”



The giant Thungir grinned as he saw Jeram. Somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty mercenaries accompanied the monster, trudging on foot behind their commander.



“You!” Thungir pointed dramatically with two of his arms. “Are you a man from Morton Town?”



“I’m an elf from close to it,” Jeram offered helpfully. “I’m in the pelt trade. You interested?”



Thungir bellowed laughter. “This land and everything in it belong to my master! Nothing here is yours!”



Jeram blinked. “Well, crap. Guess I’ll move along, then.”



“No,” Thungir rumbled. “Unless you can be of use to Master Nekajo, we kill you here.”



The mercenaries aimed rifles, and Jeram threw his hands in the air.



“Whoa! Hold on!” Jeram yelped. “Hey, I can be of help!”



Thungir stepped forward, looming over Jeram.



“Right here!” Jeram took a solid white medallion from around his neck. “I picked this up from a rift! Worth a fortune!”



With surprising agility for a creature of his size, Thungir snatched the medallion. “What does it do?”



“You open it,” Jeram said, “look through it, and you can read minds!”



The giant looked impressed. It twisted the medallion, popping it open to reveal a clear prism.



“Look through it,” Thungir grumbled to himself, then peered through the crystal.



The giant looked through a panorama of scenes, feeling the medallion reach into his mind, erasing him and leaving nothing behind.



“The bad news,” Jeram said as the giant stared into space, now a mindless vegetable, “is that your boss is too stupid to avoid falling for the old ‘mind-stealing crystal’, bit.”



Jeram looked at the medallion, now crumbling to dust in its mindless possessor’s hands.



“The good news,” he continued, “is now somebody gets to explain what the hell you’re all...”



One of the mercenaries tried to take a shot, and Jeram blew his head off before he could pull the trigger.



“...doing here.” Jeram finished. “Also, don’t try to shoot me.”



Jeram pointed his antique bolt-action rifle at one of the men.



“Explain?” Jeram suggested. “I don’t have normal rounds in this thing.”



“It’s a raid!” the soldier blurted. “We’re going to Morton Town!”



“Okay, what for?”



“Women.”



Jeram raised his elven eyebrows. “That sounds kind of...I don’t know...barbaric. Okay, everybody drop your e-clips and get out of here.”



As the soldiers were complying, Jeram asked. “How many of you are there?”



“Hundreds.”







“Kaila!” Jeram shouted as he burst through the door. “Where’s Althea?!”



His wife looked up from her book. “You gave her the hovercycle to go into town,” she reminded him.



“SHIT!” Jeram ran upstairs to the bedroom.



“What?” Kaila ran after him. “What’s happening?!”



“Mercenary attack,” Jeram growled, digging the chest out from under the bed which had gone untouched for ten years.



“Oh, God!” Kaila’s hand went to her mouth.







“Oh, God,” Althea rolled her eyes.



“Seriously!” Hailey said. “He said I was too tall!”



“Damn, what the hell would he say about me?” Althea laughed.



“He’d say you were, like, a freak of nature,” Hailey teased.



“I am! I’m not human!” Althea tapped her ears.



“Well, but you’re not a freak, you’re cool.”



“Seriously.” Althea frowned. “Who are those guys?”



Both girls looked down main street. Soldiers with armor and rifles were marching along, shoulder to shoulder in formation.



“Mercenary company on the march?” Hailey guessed. “Must be passing through.”



Both girls watched. The mercenaries started posting themselves in groups along the street.



“Shit!” Althea grabbed Hailey and started running. “They’re here for something!”



“Where are the city’s defenses?!” Hailey yelped.



“Don’t know!” Althea vaulted from a dumpster onto a rooftop, then turned and pulled her friend up. “My dad says lots of mercenaries make deals with armies, so maybe they bribed them or something.”



Both girls lay flat, peeking over the roof edge every so often.



“I bet they take my hovercycle,” Althea said.



“Are they going to kill people?” Hailey asked.



Althea was quiet.







Each building was cleared of occupants, the mercenaries dragging people into the streets. Those who resisted were killed.



The massive, eight-armed cyborg passed through the streets, pointing to the more attractive women as he went. They were taken forcibly to a large armored personnel carrier.



“Thungir isn’t here,” Irene materialized, floating behind Overdose.



“He must have gotten lost,” the humorless man-machine answered. “He’s a cretin.”



Irene nodded. “I guess,” she said. “I’m going to find him. You handle this.”



“Go,” Overdose answered, continuing his work. Irene vanished.



The cyborg’s sensors detected movement.



“Two on that roof,” he motioned to his soldiers.







“They see us!” Althea winced. “Shit! Shit! Do you have a gun?”



“No!” Hailey whimpered. “This is my hometown! I didn’t need one!”



“We’re in trouble,” Althea looked at her friend with tears stinging her eyes.



There was a clamor as a couple of soldiers tried to climb the roof from the dumpster below. Their armor was restrictive, and they weren’t able to make the leap.



“Come down from there!” One of the mercenaries shouted. “We’ll fucking shoot you if we have to!”



The girls looked at each other, frightened.



One mercenary boosted another, and he managed to lift his head and arms over the roof edge. He struggled his way over, panting as he drew his sidearm.



“OFF THE ROOF!” He barked. The girls started to stand.



“Hey, buddy,” Jeram Longbow was on the roof, having arrived undetected.



The mercenary whirled, trying to aim at the tall elf. Instead, he got a vibro-knife under his helmet. His body dropped silently.



“Stay here,” Jeram motioned to the girls. He drew his runesword and dropped over the side of the roof, tearing a small group of men to pieces before they could call for help.







“OVERDOSE!” Jeram roared, walking into the center of main street with his sword in hand. His rifle was at home.



The cyborg zoomed in with his telescopic eyes.



“It couldn’t be...” He murmured.



“I’ll cut your arms off again!” Jeram pointed his sword at the ‘Borg. “I’ll chop your body into scrap metal!”



“Kill him!” Overdose bellowed.



The army opened up, the street filling with metal slugs and energy blasts. Jeram’s body transformed, and many of the soldiers ran screaming.



The armor was terrifying, transforming the tall, thin elf into a massive, black-skinned winged dragon beast. The hail of gunfire was only enough to distract the man.



“Give it up!” Overdose snatched a child up from the captives. “Give up the sword, give up the...”



With a slash of the runeblade, Overdose’s arm was severed. The child thudded to the ground and Jeram swept it aside roughly with one of his massive wings. The other wing circled the cyborg, keeping him from reaching into the crowd again.



When the wings spread again, Overdose was in pieces.



“I’ll kill you!” The mechanical severed head still shouted. “I’ll kill you yet, Jeram Longbow!”



Jeram kicked the head like a football, sending it sailing into the midst of the scattering mercenaries. A few of the soldiers shot at Jeram as they ran, barely scratching his magical armor.



“Hope they pay you by the bullet!” Jeram shouted after the soldiers.



“The cars!” A man shouted from the crowd, and it took Jeram a moment to realize that the man was speaking to him. “The women! They’re in the cars!”



“Oh, right.” Jeram flapped his wings, landing in front of the personnel carrier. “Open up.”



The driver thought that the Devil himself had landed in front of him. He shrieked like a terrified woman, trying to run Jeram over with the heavy vehicle.



“God damn!” Jeram clung to the front of the vehicle, unintentionally blocking the windows with his wings. He hammered at the armored windows with his runesword, shattering them after two strikes. “Hit the brakes, asshole!”



The driver kept screaming. Jeram sliced him in two.



The APC ground to a halt. Jeram briefly looked around before sending his armor away with a thought. He climbed into the cab and tried to figure out the controls, succeeding after several tries in opening the prisoner compartment.



“Althea!” Jeram hopped out of the APC and walked away from it without looking back. Small battles had started springing up throughout the city as the fleeing mercenaries took rounds from city defenders and armed citizens.



“DAD!” Althea waved from down the street, smiling but tearful. Hailey was hugging her.



“I thought that guy was dead,” Jeram grumbled as he hugged his daughter and her friend.



“You...” Althea sniffed. “Oh my God, Dad...you scared them off!”



Jeram shrugged.



Hailey looked at him. “Did...did they kill my...” she couldn’t finish. “Could you have saved them?”



Jeram looked at her. “Maybe,” he said.



“Dad...” Althea held her friend.



“I don’t know,” Jeram said. “I don’t.”







Irene watched from afar, looking at the handsome elf.



“Mmmm,” she smiled.