Chapter 24: Because I know things

Chapter 24: Because I know things

The campfire players fought briefly. They fought valiantly. And then they died. Most fell to arrows and the flaming orbs. But two others left the trees with swords and soon butchered the last, wounded stragglers. Blake kept entirely still.

“Mikkel, I gotta tell ya, those fireballs are getting badass.”

The attackers were laughing now, joking amongst themselves. Blake listened carefully for names, classes, personality details, any information he could use for Mental Influence.Follow the latest novels at novelhall.com

“It was mostly my arrows that did the actual killing,” said another of the murderers, sounding vaguely offended. Blake noted the voice, pleased to hear the tone because it sounded like a genuine chip on the man’s shoulder. “Not my fault it’s not as flashy,” he added.

“Ha. Whatever, B-dog, I’m just glad you boys did most of the work. Dead is dead is dead, am I right?”

“Shut up and check the bodies,” said another, and Blake focused on him. The leader, he expected, official or otherwise. “Hey, you civilians!” shouted the same voice. “Get your asses over here or we’ll march you to a wolf den.”

“Gotta go, kid,” Hank whispered, and Blake gave him a nod. “Good luck.”

“Ohh we’ve got another woman.” Apparently they’d found Big Nose. “Shit look at that face. Well, she’s got a nice body.”

“Paper bag for sure,” said another voice, and the group all laughed.

“Sebastian will take her anyway.”

“Yeah but the more he’s got the more leftovers for us. It’ll work out. Now keep it down.”

The civilians came back from their scattered positions around the campfire, eyes cast down and faces pale.

“I’m Paul. You’re coming with us to our settlement,” said the now confirmed leader of the group. “You’ll get work and housing, food and safety. We’ll protect you. You’re part of Nassau now.”

Blake practically snorted at the name. Nassau was a famous pirate port in the Bahamas. Apparently these idiots thought rather highly of themselves.

The killers were checking the corpses now, and Blake had run out of time. He put his hands in the air and stood.

A young, silent man who stood next to ‘Paul’ leaned over and whispered in the man’s ear. His eyes instantly turned to Blake, and he raised his sword.

“You’re not a civilian. Get on your knees. Now. You idiots, are there any more of them?”

Blake focused on Paul, and sent a giant blast of mental energy with a single purpose: greed.

“I have information. And I’ll be useful to your leader,” he put a little shake in his voice to sound afraid. “He’ll want to see me.”

Paul snorted, and his men laughed. “That so? So go ahead and tell me. I’ll decide.”

Blake shook his head. “He’ll want to hear it alone. But you’ll be rewarded. I can guarantee it.”

Paul laughed but there was curiosity in his eyes. “Guarantee, is it? You don’t know my chief. Check him for weapons.”

The other sword-wielding player grabbed Blake roughly and soon found Rajesh’s sword lying at his feet. He picked it up and gave an approving nod before tying it to his waist. They all stared at Blake, and at their leader, in a moment Blake supposed was rather tense. But he knew how it would go.

“Alright. Bring the pretty boy, too.”

Blake closed his eyes and pretended to sag in relief. It wasn’t too difficult. He knew he wasn’t going to die here, not like this, but it had certainly got his heart going. He said a silent prayer for Mona and the others, then accepted the players tying his hands together and marching him along with the civilians.

“I’m a Mentalist class,” he said. “I can...influence how people think.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “Anyone?”

“Only those weaker than me,” Blake added quickly, silently cursing himself.

The chief shot a stream of saliva through a gap in the front of his teeth. “By the looks of you, that’s basically no one.”

“As you say,” Blake bowed his head, then smiled. “But civilians are weaker than me. And my powers work quite well on them.”

He had no idea if that was true, of course, but Sebastian instantly perked up and Blake knew he’d found his leverage.

“Allow me to serve you here as these others do,” Blake gestured towards the door. “And I’ll help get you what you want.”

“Bonded contracts,” Sebastian said instantly. “Especially the women.”

Blake almost sighed at the obvious nature of the request. The big ‘chief’ wanted his own harem of sex slaves, though Blake expected just slaves in general would make him happy. He was beginning to understand the man.

“It will take time,” Blake said. “My mana recharges only so fast.”

Sebastian snorted as it to say ‘of course it will’. “I’m not a patient man. And I’d bet you’re a liar. Maybe I should just beat you to death instead.”

“I can get you service contracts first,” Blake said soothingly, now flooding the chief with a wave of trust using Mental Influence. “I’ll get you all the men, first, as a demonstration. All of them. Just leave me in their cage for two days. What does it cost you?”

He could see Sebastian had already agreed, but his pride was a problem. “You have one,” he snapped.

Frankly Blake probably only needed a few hours, but he wanted as much time as possible to influence the raiders. He scoffed and appeared flustered. “My powers take considerable mana. It only recharges so fast, which is why I need more time, and...”

“One day, or I cut off your pretty head and leave it on a spike.”

Blake licked his lips. “I’m sure I can make do.”

“Get him out of here,” Sebastian called through the door, which opened instantly. “Throw him in the cage. I’ll see to him when I feel like it.”

A different, slightly older man with a spear lifted Blake and took him out, but not aggressively. As they left the hall Blake met the man’s eyes, and the spearman shrugged. “He’s not as bad as he seems. Well, not quite. Don’t piss him off, do something useful, and you’ll be alright.” He took Blake down to the cage and opened the door.

“Appreciate it.” Blake smiled. “What’s your name?”

“Garet.”

Blake nodded and instantly gave the fellow a blast of friendly Mental Influence. He’d be the first target. The first soldier in Blake’s revolution.

“Hello,” Blake grinned at the cluster of staring civilians as he trudged inside. The gate closed behind him, and he nodded at Hank and Billy and the few other civilians he’d met at the camp. Then he sat next to Hank and pretended to be just as dejected and miserable as everyone else. It was time to get to work.

Author's Note:

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