Chapter 83: Hostages and Negotiations (Patreon)

I pushed Yanis out onto the street, where he stumbled and fell. In the cold light of day, he seemed even smaller and more cowardly. A small, thin man with beady eyes that he shielded from the harsh glare of the sun.

The others heard him yell from his fall and came out to see what the commotion was. I glanced at their faces, but none seemed to recognize him. There was, however, some concern when they saw that his hands were tied.

“Are we taking hostages now?” asked Elise.

“He’s given me the location of Martin’s camp in the forest, but he could be lying. That’s why he’s coming with us.”

“Won’t he just yell and warn the others?” asked Hemi.

“Nah, I said I’d kill him if he tried to do that,” I replied.

“So we are taking hostages?” asked Elise.

“Well I can’t just leave him here. If he’s lying, then he’ll run off to the real location to warn them.”

“You could gag him, tie up his legs, and put him back in that cupboard,” suggested Hugo.

Yanis looked at the bird in horror. “Please don’t. I swear I’m telling the truth.”

Elise pursed her lips but didn’t argue further. Yanis was added to the party and some of them were relieved when they saw his low level and realized that he wasn’t a direct threat.

“He’s not joining us permanently, is he?” Miller asked.

“Worried about dead weight?” asked Damian.

“No, I’m worried that I’ll get knifed in my sleep on the residential floor.”

Yanis’s eyes lit up. “You guys have residential access? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Let’s go into the forest and take care of business right now.”

“No, we still have to check the church out first.”

Yanis dismissed the idea. “I’ve been that way already. It’s empty. We can go now.”

My eyes narrowed. “I thought you hid in a cupboard the whole time?”

Yanis shrugged and looked away. “Just for most of it.”

Okay, not suspicious at all. Definitely cutting this guy loose once he’s served his purpose. I decided not to pry further and went to the church. Not that I expected to find anything there, but I wanted to be thorough.

When we got there, I saw that the church doors had been torn off and half the roof was missing. There was no fire damage, so it might have been a magic attack of some kind. Human and zombie bodies lay dead in front of the entrance.

It was even worse on the inside. Zombie corpses were piled up six feet high. I hadn’t seen such killing since my own and instinctively, I drew one of my knifes. Whoever did this was very skilled and could still be alive.

I peered over the zombie wall and spotted a blonde, muscular woman. She was sat on the floor, ripping through a t-shirt with her teeth in order to make a bandage for her bleeding leg. A twin set of hatchets were by her side. I couldn’t see her face with her hair over it, but I was pretty sure I knew who it was.

“We have health potions that can help with that,” I said.

Anders’s sister, Carina, looked up. She seemed to recognize me too. Her face changed from surprise to anger. With a snarl, she grabbed her hatchets and exploded towards me.

Shocked by her speed, I threw myself back just before the wall of zombie corpses exploded.

“Everybody out!” I shouted while not daring to show my back. I heard footsteps running away, and that would have to suffice.

Carina was on me a split second later.

*Player Identified* [Carina Johansson, Class: Battleborn, Level: 29]

Good. I still out leveled her. But if something happened to me, then I wasn’t sure that the others would be able to handle it.

She spun her hatchets before slashing down. Her movements were fast and savage. But so was I.

I dodged to the side and drew a shallow cut with my viper fang across her side as I passed by.

[Error! Poison resisted]

Damn, guess I’m going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.

I pulled out my other knife, ready for her next hatchet attack. Instead, she suddenly dropped them and sprinted at me. We collided and were both sent flying through the church wall and landed out into what was left of the cemetery.

It’s not dexterity that she’s using, it’s raw strength.

She got on top and started wailing on me with her fists. Her strength was surprising and even though I out leveled her, the punches were making an impact. I had to get her off me, but I’d lost my knives somewhere in the fall. I tried to push her back, but she was too strong.

Out of other options, I went into my inventory and pulled out my Zenyx orb.

Fear washed over her in paralyzing waves and she froze with a look of terror.

I got her off of me and stood up before putting the orb away. I needed her coherent if we were going to have a conversation. Hopefully, now she’ll listen to reason.

Carina blinked and looked around in confusion before locking eyes with me again. The rage returned, and she leapt at me.

This time, I was ready. As I side-stepped her, I targeted her wounded leg and snapped out a savage low kick. She screamed and fell to one knee before her anger returned to numb the pain.

“Can we talk about this?” I asked her.

She growled and reached for her belt where her hatchets used to be before remembering that she’d left them in the church. Undeterred, she clenched her fists and threw a series of jabs at me. I dodged and deflected each of them.

“I understand why Martin and Anders want me dead, but why do you?” I asked her.

“As if you don’t know!” she spat.

The conversation seemed to only make her madder.

I could have reached for my sword and ended things here. Despite her strength, it wouldn’t have been enough to stop my blade and, at her level, killing her might actually be worth the points. She was also Martin’s other lieutenant, one of his most faithful followers. She’d been there to assist on the day of the hanging. Killing her would be quite the blow to Martin’s group.

But there was something odd about her demeanor. The way she was attacking me seemed more personal somehow than the cold, detached way that Martin fought or the wounded ego Anders sported from our encounter at the bar.

Why was she so focused on attacking me?

“What did I do?” I asked.

She ignored me and threw a high kick that would’ve connected with my chin if I hadn’t leant back.

“Come on, this is pointless,” I said. “Look at my level.”

“Levels aren’t everything!” she snarled before she tried and failed to tackle me.

I continued to dodge and weave her attacks. We were in a wide, open space and she was simply no match for me when it came to speed.

“Fight me!” she screamed, angry that I’d only been avoiding her blows.

I could have brought out the orb again and paralyzed her, but I needed her conscious to get answers and there was nothing I could bind her with.

But wait? That wasn’t exactly true. I’d collected those magical chains. They required a constant physical connection but they might work, provided they didn’t require a Class power to activate.

I took out the Binding Chains.

Carina was shocked to see them.

“I’ll tell you nothing. You might as well draw your sword,” she insisted.

But there was a hint of fear in her voice. She knew what the chains could do and feared capture almost more than death.

Now granted, I could have taken the orb back out and finished it now, but that seemed unfair. She had wanted a fight. So I’d give her one.

I wrapped the chains tightly around my right hand and forearm where they held to my skin through the magic.

“Coward,” she said.

I shrugged. “Easier to heal bruises than a missing head, but then again...”

I burst forward mid-sentence, catching her off-guard. She tried to raise a defense but was too slow. I launched into a series of lightning fast jabs and hooks. Carina attempted to block, but was always too slow. As soon as she protected one angle, I’d moved on to exploit another.

She was tough as well as strong, so she weathered my hits well at first. But little by little, her reactions became slower and my strikes were leaving more of an impact.

Just a little more of this and she’ll either have to admit defeat or I’ll stop her with the chains.

After taking a few more hits, she suddenly snapped her elbow out. It hit me square in the face, temporarily stunning me.

Have I gotten slower?

Without blood healing, it would happen eventually since my stamina wasn’t limitless. But no, it wasn’t that.

I moved in for a kick and she punched me hard in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of me. I backpedaled quickly before she could knock me off balance.

She’s not faster and I haven’t gotten slower. She’s predicting my movements and getting herself into position ahead of time. I may out level her but she’s definitely the more experienced fighter.

Carina tore a tombstone out of the ground and hurled it at me. I dodged it only to find another sailing towards me.

She’s keeping me at a distance, but for what purpose?

I rolled to the side to avoid the next one before unleashing my own ranged attack.

With my katana, I made a cut and activated Air Slash. A crescent white line shot out of my blade and sliced cleanly through the flying tombstone. The attack continued its trajectory towards Carina, who was forced to dive out of the way.

As she started to get up, Carina stilled as my blade touched her throat. She considered trying something anyway until she realized her legs were paralyzed. She looked down and saw that I’d wrapped the binding chains around them.

“It’s over,” I said.

She shook with rage but said nothing.

“You don’t have to die here,” I continued. “Whatever Martin has told you about me isn’t true.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked.

“Because I haven’t killed you and we’re having this discussion.”

“The only reason you’re keeping me alive is because you need soldiers to fight Martin’s army.”

Damn, she’s perceptive.

“That’s not the only reason,” I said honestly.

“It’s true,” said Miller stepping into the graveyard along with Tim and Serena.

Carina was relieved and angry at the sight of them. “It’s good that you all survived but why are you with him?”

“Because he’s telling the truth. Martin may have protected us on that first night but ever since then all he’s done is order us around and keep us on this floor instead of progressing.”

Carina snorted. “You think he’s any different?”

“Yes,” said Serena. “Lucas doesn’t order us to do anything, he asks us. If we find loot then we discuss how to distribute it so that everyone gets their fair share.”

“He also gave us this,” said Miller, holding the residency card. “He says all are welcome on the residential floors.”

Carina shook her head. “It must be a trick and even if isn’t, it doesn’t matter. Martin says the residential floors keep you weak. Besides, he’ll probably kill you and take back the card once you’ve served your purpose.”

“Well I can’t do that now that you’ve warned them, can I?” I joked.

Miller and the others ignored me and said, “yet keeping everyone in town weak was somehow acceptable.”

“It was only supposed to be temporary.”

“Right,” I said. “Gain enough levels and power ahead of the group then it doesn’t matter if they start descending the tower, if your always strong enough to control them.”

My words still weren’t getting through to her so I decided to ask a question. “Where is Martin?”

“I’ll never tell you where—”

“No, I’m not asking you to reveal his location. I mean, where is he? His people were getting slaughtered in town by the zombies and yet he disbands the party? For what purpose? Why is still hiding out in the forest?”

She said nothing, but was frowning as she pondered the question.

“It couldn’t be because of me,” I continued. “I was stuck in town fighting them too. So I guess the better question would be, do you think he’s coming back for you?”

“My brother will,” she said with defiance in her voice.

“But not Martin?”

She lowered her gaze and the energy suddenly left her.

“No,” she said finally. “He’d be here by now if that was the case.”

I put my sword away, took the chains off her, and held out my hand. She stared at me as she considered the decision in front of her. After a few seconds, Carina reluctantly took it and accepted my help.