Chapter 55 - A Hero's Return

(Someone gets lucky! - Low-key descriptions only.)

“It’s done!” Morlekai said, his words instantly drawing the attention of the panicked hundreds near the town entrance, before echoing through the entire town, for all that Morlekai hardly had to raise his voice at all. “The quest has been completed. The portal to the lich has been severed! Norvolth the Destroyer, and most of the undead swarming by his side, are now no more.”

As exhausted and drained as Eric felt, he couldn’t deny the warmth in his chest when countless awe-struck townfolk gazed at him and Morlekai both in stupefied awe for endless moments, before Hobbs formally bent one knee and lowered his head, turning to glare at the crowd. “Pay your fuckin’ respects to the champions of Junk Town! Long live the champions!”

“Long live the champions!” Roared what must have been close to a thousand voices, countless scores holding everything from swords and the smith’s own masterwork bardiches to fire axes, crowbars, clubs, and sharpened sticks. The one thing in common were the looks of resolute determination mixed with desperate fear, soon lightening to exuberant excitement as Morlekai gave them all the news.

The relief and wonder radiating from the faces of people who had been readying themselves for a final last stand was physically palpable, especially for the hundreds who had been armed with nothing at all.

And the reprieve granted just minutes before death’s blade would have claimed all their heads resulted in such a burst of celebratory cheering that Eric couldn’t help laughing. Laughing for joy, laughing till he cried, swept up in the adulation of the crowd.

Only this time, for the first time in his life…

He felt like he had actually earned it.

And when he found himself recounting his exploits with Morlekai standing by his side and smiling with the mien of a don taking pride in his strongest soldier, he happily rolled with it, hamming up his role in ways that invited laughter instead of unapproachable alienation or envy, even going so far as to share a good portion of his ale stash with the revelers closest to his age accompanying them the whole way back to their house, Eric pleased as punch to see Louie, Drake, even a wan-looking but still beautiful Alice laughing and cheering along with everyone else.

To say it was a party with Drake pulling out not one but four kegs like magic was an understatement. Especially when Eric's earlier wish of live music turned true when a handful of normies with acoustic guitars started belting out sprightly riffs and countless classics, with none other than Alice and the girls who so often came by now belting out the lyrics to songs Eric had thought forever lost, all of which brought tears to his eyes.

And Susie’s wink and grin actually made him laugh before he saluted the party-goers now filling the thankfully reinforced house to the rafters before calling it a night.

“So, how does it feel to be a hero?" A rosy-cheeked Susie asked with a teasing smile.

Eric smirked. “A rush like you wouldn’t believe. Mostly because I know just how damn close I came to choking on my own blood and dying in those cold dark corridors just beyond the warmth, light, and wonder that is our little community here.”

Her teasing gaze turned solemn. Eric swallowed, caught up in the beautiful green eyes of the girl before him.

“I can believe it,” She said, giving his hand a sympathetic squeeze. “It’s been a pretty fucking crazy day, hasn’t it?”

"You can say that again." His gaze grew haunted, for all that he kept his smile firmly in place. "It's a rush, thinking about all the crazy close calls that almost got Morlekai and I killed right now, with the warmth and the crowd all around us. But later? Yeah… I think I’ll be spending a lot of hours staring up at my ceiling, brooding over every crazy stupid decision I made, forced to accept just how close I came to not even being here, trying not to scream." He flashed a cheeky grin. "Good thing I brought a few dozen books from home before I came here.”

Susie smirked at that. “Hero and bookworm, all rolled up into one. You’re every girl’s dream catch, you know that?”

Eric winked. “Damn right I do.”

Susie laughed and mock-punched his arm, before suddenly growing quiet, and Eric realized she had never quite let go of his other hand. “I get why it won’t be easy to go to wind down, after everything you’ve been through, today,” she said softly.

Her cheeks flushed brightly as she boldly met his gaze . “Believe me. I’ve been there. Most of us you see here tonight, even if half the town’s college age or just past, in the prime of our lives… well, we were all a single bad break from never getting here at all.” She swallowed, the hand gripping his own trembling with remembered terror, Eric somehow knew. “If it weren’t for Morlekai’s crew, rescuing so many of us...” She shook her head. “Anyway, the nights can get really bad, when it hits you. That’s why most of us, well, it helps when you can be with someone you trust, someone you really, really like… when you need it the most.”

Eric’s heart skipped a beat. He locked gazes with the beautiful girl peering so intently at him, biting her lip, squeezing his hand so tightly… before something shifted in her gaze. A look of hurt quickly suppressed by a rueful smile as she gave his hand one last squeeze. “Well, it’s been a long day, hero. How about I let you--”

"Do you want to come up to my room and share a beer?" Eric felt his cheeks blaze as he finally got the words out, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, quickly looking all around the very busy manor that had somehow become the equivalent of a frat house throwing a retro kegger. "It would be quieter. Give us a chance to… talk."

And maybe he did feel a bit better, seeing the way her shy smile and rosy cheeks matched his own, when she gave a quick nod. "Yeah. A beer would be great," she said, squeezing his hand so tightly, for all that she was suddenly unable to meet his gaze.

Until he found himself wrapped in a former med student’s desperate embrace as his door clicked shut and Susie’s soft, warm lips, both smoky and sweet, met his own. A playful chuckle. An exploratory kiss that elicited a gasp that soon became so much more.

And this time, when she made it absolutely clear with her hauntingly beautiful green eyes and melancholy smile that she wanted so much more than just to share a laugh and a beer with him as she shyly pulled off her sweatshirt, revealing a body both beautiful and scarred… Eric didn’t say no.

Instead he cherished the simple joy of passionate kisses tasting of home-brewed ale and desire, before losing himself in sweetest bliss. And after the most glorious hour he had experienced since first waking up to this brave new world, he was content to savor the delicious feel of a girl who felt so right in his arms when he held her close, skin against skin, smiling at her soft sleepy murmurs as he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, allowing tears long suppressed to silently trickle down his cheeks before sleep claimed him at last, the boisterous sound of revelry below like the waves of a rocking ship, sending him drifting off to the peaceful shores of nod.

When he abruptly woke up several hours later to find Susie shivering and sobbing, he just held her close, sensing so clearly what she needed. What she was yearned for. A soul to hold her tight as the storms of grief, regret, and fear raged within her. A safe port in the violent storms their lives had become.

Life as they know it had been destroyed. Countless millions had been slaughtered by inhuman savages. And the rest of humanity had been surviving by the skin of their teeth, ever since.

So he stroked her hair and held her close, this girl he had made such passionate love to and hardly knew at all, both of them ships swept up in the stormy seas of fate, both hanging on as best they could.

He was surprised to find that he had drifted off yet again when he jolted back awake to an empty room sometime later, Susie long gone, save for the lingering scents of perfume, desire, and a tiny scrap of paper that just said, Thank You.

He smiled at that, filled with fond memories for a cute girl in desperate need of an anchor in a world gone mad, glad he could give her solace for at least a single night.

As to what would happen now? He sighed and shook his head, looking at the state of his quarters, still in utter chaos after that revenant had tried so hard to kill him. He didn’t blame Sue a bit for taking a rain check on any reminder of the craziness that had nearly killed them all, his plans for the day crystallizing a moment later.

Training and improving his gear was definitely on the agenda for later. And a decent spear, the best spear Smith had in his stock, to train up his Piercing Strike perk with, as well. Hopefully it would be selling for cheap, considering that they were all but worthless against the undead.

But all that was for later.

For now? Clean up and repairs would make a great start.

Then he frowned, pausing in his fruitless efforts to make something of his room when he heard a pair of voices his perception immediately pinged, realizing his bedroom was right under Morlekai’s study.

“We took out the threat, Stibbs. Not only did we risk our lives rescuing the town, not only did we take out that titan, we even closed that rift. A rift leading right to a lich’s layer. You owe us, Stibbs. You damn well know you do!”

“I know exactly what I said, Morlekai!” The mayor snapped. “I promised you the city’s eternal gratitude, and you have it! You damn well know you do. Whereas before you were seen as ne’er-do-wells and mercenaries, just a couple weekly patrols away from being extortionist thugs, now you’re seen as the heroes you truly are. The heroes you were always meant to be! And how much slack, how much leniency have we as a town given you this past month, Morlekai? How many bodies of how many contenders might one find buried under your lover’s tomato plants, or carted off to be devoured by the denizens of the deep, I wonder?”

“I’d be very careful what I say next, if I were you, Stibbs.”

Morlekai’s voice had gone ice-cold, garnering a placating chuckle from the mayor.

“But that’s just it, my dear Morlekai. I certainly don’t care about the garbage you took out. No one does. Why? Because you are all righteous heroes who helped save the city in her hour of greatest need! The people love you for it. We all do! And you can't buy that kind of love, Morlekai. Not for all the gold in the world."

“You still owe me the codes, Stibbs.”

“And I will give them to you! You damn well know I will! The minute the local dungeon has been contained, preferably destroyed, if you can get that option, and the town interface will accept my administerial claim over this territory!” Stibbs snapped. “You can think I’m being unreasonable all you want. But we need to claim and secure this territory if we’re going to have any hope of surviving as a town. And we need you to achieve that! Besides, I know for a fact that you’re a silent share-holder of the tavern, now a proper goddamned inn, the tailor, the smithy, and the bloody farm co-op! I’m not blind, either. How many houses did Drake and Louie help you put together? You guys practically built two neighborhoods you’re deferring rent on, out of the goodness of your hearts, ha ha, until the people get back on their feet. When really what you’ve done is have over a hundred families acknowledge you as their generous landlord, instead of telling you to fuck off, they’ll build their own houses, and they aren’t paying you squat!”

Mayor Stibbs snorted. "If anything, you and your compatriots should be eager to take on this dungeon, just for the chance to power up, no other bribes necessary! Because you know damn well that when this town blossoms under my care as a system-sanctioned administrator, you will prosper as well, Morlekai, regardless of whether you can even survive that orc-infested reserve bank or not! After all, I can only sign off on the paperwork fully legitimizing your property claims here in Junk Town when this territory is properly acknowledged by the system! When you think of it that way, I’m the one doing you a favor, Morlekai!”

Eric shook his head, impressed by the level of mind-fuck the Mayor was employing. Trying to make Morlekai feel like he was the one doing them a favor, after they had risked their lives saving this town.

Stibbs would do any one of his mother’s agents proud.

If the world hadn’t gone completely haywire, he had no doubt she’d hire him in a snap.

Long seconds passed, before Morlekai finally spoke.

“I will have your personal life-bound oath that upon handling whatever incursion we find, you will surrender the codes fully and in good faith, without leaving out any key passwords or details that would hinder us from accessing the vault, or making use of the information available to us. Furthermore, I would have your oath as well that you will tell no third party about our arrangement, or the surrender of those codes.”

“You will have that when next we meet in town, after you close that gate, Morlekai!” Stibbs shouted. “Close it, or clear the dungeon and reset it, for whatever the weakest setting is for that damned thing! You will have it when the System interface makes it clear that I can either claim, or have been awarded, that territory!" The mayor took a shuddering breath. "Should you succeed in that mission, then yes. You will have the keys and those codes, full and complete, and whatever additional information I can find that will aid you in your… heist. And I will reveal to no one what passed between us in that regard. I give you my life-bound oath that will take effect the moment we meet again in town, after your mission is a success! Are we agreed?”

“We are,” Morlekai said.

Eric closed his eyes, so clearly sensing the pair now shaking hands in his mind’s eye, the mayor with a bitter grimace, Morlekai with a hard but satisfied smile. And that was the last he could recall hearing, before exhaustion that should have left him after his first hour’s rest claimed him once more.