Chapter Thirty
ANGEL SINCLAIR
Bright and early, we dressed in our white T-shirts and camouflage pants and headed for breakfast. We were all present and accounted for except for Jax, who arrived late, looking remarkably rested and in good spirits, despite his late-night adventure. He gave me a wink as he grabbed a bagel and coffee and sat at a table by himself. Frankie chatted happily with everyone, seemingly oblivious to the extreme nervousness of the rest of us. I envied her ability to be so relaxed about everything.
At exactly 7:40, we met in Room 101 for the briefing on our new trial. To our surprise, we hadn’t sat for more than a minute when Mr. Donovan instructed us to move upstairs to the gaming room for our briefing.
As we headed up the stairs, Wally grabbed my arm. “Finally,” he whispered. “Gaming! Something I’m going to be good at.”
“Don’t get cocky,” I said. “Wait until you see the challenge.”
“If it’s virtual, I don’t care what the challenge is. I’m all over it.”
My spirits were also rising, despite my warning to Wally. Gaming was my domain—my strength. From what I’d seen of the others while gaming them or watching them game, this was going to be mine or Wally’s to lose. I’d had enough failing in the last trials, so there was no way I was going down on this one.
We filed into the gaming room and sat. Mr. Donovan stood in front of us, arms clasped behind his back.
“Today’s trial is a role-playing game of management and strategy,” he said. “Your avatar will have characteristics like strength, intelligence, and charisma, as well as feelings of happiness, fear, and hunger. You can die if you don’t eat, get sick, or fall prey to crime or battle. When you die, all your points die with you. You’ll also have to maintain your reputation and confidence level by acting honorably, or not, depending on the situation. Those numbers are given to you based on your actions and interaction with your kingdom population.” He spread out a hand at the large screen behind us. “You’ll need to build and manage a kingdom, including overseeing activities like farming, construction, protection, economic management, and spiritual and entertainment resources.”
My spirits soared. So far, so good. I’d played dozens of games like this and had kicked butt in most of them. I glanced at Wally and saw the smile on his face as well.
Ours to lose.
“The strategy aspect of the game involves the ending,” Mr. Donovan continued. “The ending happens when your kingdom conquers your opponents. So, how do you get to the top? Strategy, teamwork, diplomacy, cunning, ruthlessness, money, and/or force are all on the table. Just remember that hits to your health, reputation, as well as discontent from the masses and the economic health of your kingdom, play an important role.” He fell silent for a moment, looking at each one of us. “Typically, role-playing games can take weeks, even years, to play out. Obviously, we will be acting on an accelerated timeline. You have eight hours to win the game. Lunch and snacks will be provided in the back of the room.”
“Yes.” Wally raised a fist. “Let’s get this going.”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, Mr. Harris.” Mr. Donovan smiled at Wally. “Now, I’m aware that some of you may not have participated in a role-playing game before. No worries. You’ll not be playing the game individually. Not exactly.”
“What?” Wally’s bliss turned to dismay. “Why not?”
“You’ll be playing in teams. Men against women.”
My mouth dropped open. “Four on a team?” I uttered. “But…role-playing should be individual.”
“Oh, no worries, Ms. Sinclair. Each of you will have your own avatar. But the four of you will have a collective, not a singular, goal and accumulated points. Gentlemen, you have an identical setup in the room next to this one. Both teams will be linked to each other virtually. However, strategy and information can be called out and discussed aloud, and in real time, without fear of your opponent overhearing. Please keep in mind that everyone’s scores, movements, and mistakes are factored into your overall team score. The game can be played to its conclusion, which is the acquisition and control of both kingdoms. If that hasn’t happened by the end of the game—which is eight hours—the team with the highest combined score will be declared the winner.”
Wally exchanged a worried glance with me. I understood everything he feared in one look. Dread swelled in my stomach. It was hard enough to manage your own score, actions, and movements in a role-playing game. Directing and coordinating others in a fast-moving scenario, with a ton of different aspects, all while keeping a focus on your own actions and the end goal, would be a nightmare. And that was if the others would even agree to direction. Arguing, unforeseen mistakes, and refusing to follow directions could be a real problem. I suddenly had to face the real possibility that I could tank this trial, too. If that happened, I would be a washout for sure.
Before I had time to fully consider the consequences, Mr. Donovan ushered the guys out of the room. Wally gave me a last worried glance over his shoulder. I managed to give him an encouraging thumbs-up even though I didn’t feel confident in the slightest.
Right after the guys left, we got another visitor. John showed us the controls, gave us an overview of the rules, and left. We watched a seven-minute introduction video to the game before a digital timer on the wall started the countdown and it was game on.
For a moment, the four of us just stared at each other.
Frankie finally broke the silence. “So, Angel, what’s the plan?”
“Me?” I said. “Why are you asking me?”
“I’ve never participated in a game like this.” She glanced at Kira. “What about you?”
Kira shook her head. “Me, neither.”
I looked hopefully at Hala, who shook her head. “I’m a novice. I’ve played a few games with my brothers, but they killed me. Looks like you’re in charge by default.”
I leaned back, pressing my hands to my head and blowing out a breath. This was far from ideal. I was stuck with essentially three newbies. At least Wally had Jax and Mike, both of whom I’d seen in action. They were experienced and decent players. I had no idea how much Bo gamed, but at this point, it didn’t matter.
We were totally screwed.
I inhaled a deep breath. It wasn’t in my nature to go down without a fight, so I had to tackle this logically, just like I did any other problem. I stood and walked over to a table that had loose pieces of paper and a few pencils. I brought them back to the group and placed them on the coffee table, smoothing down the paper.
“Okay, I’ve never played this specific game,” I said. “That’s because this is likely a scenario custom-made for us. But I’ve played plenty of online role-playing games similar to this. Usually, you make alliances and form strategies to get ahead. Alliances don’t last, because someone you helped at one time will likely have to betray you down the line so they can win. However, since we’re bundled together, we must form one strategy, and all of us need to stick to it to work toward the goal of defeating the guys in their kingdom of—” I had to glance at my notes “—Ironhaven. Apparently our kingdom is called Alygarth. Are you clear so far?”
Everyone nodded.
“Okay, then before we start, we have to consider our opponent. I know Wally, and I also know his style of gaming. I’ve also gamed once with Mike and Jax, so I have a decent feeling of their level of expertise, too. Mike is good, but I’m fairly confident he would relinquish executive control to Wally. Bo is the dark horse. I have no idea whether he plays well or not. But my feeling is that he won’t be anywhere near the same level as Wally.”
“So, Wally will be the leader?” Frankie asked.
“I think, given the knowledge we have, we should assume that.”
“But what if Mike turns out to be the leader?” Kira protested. “Would it change our strategy?”
“It might.” I lifted my shoulders. “But this point, we have to act on certainties. Anything else could lead us down a rabbit hole.”
“I agree,” Hala said firmly. “We should assume Wally is the leader. So, what’s our plan, Angel?”
I studied the giant screen where our avatars stood waiting to be assigned. “My gut tells me Wally will pursue a military strategy. It’s his go-to scenario, and he’s very good at it. He’ll build an army and fancy weapons, using them to crush us into submission. However, it also means he’ll have to force a lot of his people into conscription, which will cause damage to his reputation, charisma, and the happiness levels of the people. He’ll look for ways to offset that, but I bet he’s willing to take that risk. Whether he’ll be successful is up to us.”
“Can we do the same?” Frankie asked.
“We could, but I think that’s what he thinks I’ll do. So, in that case, their strategy will involve preparing to meet us one on one in a military face-off. Because of that, I think we should do exactly the opposite.”
“Like what?” Kira exclaimed.
“Like form diplomatic alliances with other nations. We get them to help us, lend us their armies, meaning we don’t have to take on the guys on our own. Two or three armies against one are better odds in our favor. Especially if we’re scoring points elsewhere.”
“Wait. There are other kingdoms?” Frankie asked.
“I’d be surprised if there aren’t. Wally will certainly check them out to see what they would be willing to offer, but I doubt he’d put a lot of resources into it. So, we’d have to do better and have more to offer our potential allies.”
“But…if we fail to secure allies, we’re dead,” Kira said. “They’d crush us.”
“They’d probably crush us anyway. I’m sure we could build an army with equitable strength and weapons and fight it out. But in this case, the odds favor the guys, as Wally is better in tactics than I am. Given that he’s also got Mike and Jax to assist, I’d rather go with the diplomatic solution.”
“How do we get other kingdoms to fight for us?” Hala asked.
“We’d have to give them stuff, I assume,” Frankie said.
“Yes,” I agreed. “A lot of stuff. That means everything is on the table. The only thing that is nonnegotiable is the leadership of the kingdoms. That’s our endgame.”
“Okay,” said Hala. “I think I see where you’re going with this.”
“We’ll all have a job,” I continued. “But first, we combine our funds to get started. Frankie, you’ll be our farmer, but also our church pastor. Our first purchase will be seeds to start growing crops. I’m also going to allocate funds for fertilizer so we can have food early. Spread the crops out to benefit the entire kingdom, but also so that we don’t have everything in one place in case of attack or fire. I also want you to start a coffer in the church. I’ll give you an allotment to help the kingdom’s poor and to raise our point count in terms of reputation and confidence.”
“Okay. Got it.”
“Hala, you’ll be our blacksmith and our carpenter. You need to make the items with which we will barter. The more things you can make, the better.”
“I’m good at crafting,” she said.
“Excellent.” I looked at Kira, my voice cool. I was going to have to put aside my dislike of her for the sake of teamwork. “Kira, you’re our diplomat. You need to visit the other kingdoms and create alliances. Feel them out, see what they want, what we can give them. Coordinate with Hala to see if we can provide them with what they want in exchange for military assistance.”
“Why me?”
“Because I have a feeling you’ll be good at getting others to give you what we need.”
She seemed unsure how to take that but said nothing.
“What are you going to do, Angel?” Hala asked.
“We need a military of our own, even if it isn’t our focus. We’ll need conscripts and weapons. I’m also going to be the kingdom leader/politician, going among the people to see what they need. Keeping them happy is vital to our point count. I will also keep an eye on the overall economic health of the kingdom and see what we can leverage in terms of natural resources. Keeping the kingdom citizens in good spirits and prosperous will help us jack up our score.”
“Until we get crushed by the military,” Kira said under her breath.
“Not if you do your job,” I said shortly. I needed Kira to perform well or we were sunk. I wouldn’t put it past her to fail on purpose just to sink me. “Not if we all do our jobs. Let’s get things underway.”
I quickly took stock of our inventory, resources, and money and got to work. Frankie started seeding and watering. Kira went off to the first neighboring country, and Hala started building and crafting items. I signed up conscripts and went to the villages, listening to what the people wanted.
Not surprisingly, food was foremost on their minds.
“How much longer until that first crop is ready?” I asked Frankie.
“Another ten minutes, maybe. Don’t worry, it will give me time to plant three more crops and maybe hear a confession or two.”
I grinned. “Good girl.”
Hala secured two apprentices to help her. One set up weapons, staffs, swords, while the other worked as a blacksmith. Frankie corralled people to work in the field to harvest the crops faster. I kept the army growing slowly but surely and held numerous town meetings, giving people a voice and boosting their confidence and our points.
Hours passed. Frankie pulled me aside. “Angel, I’ve been offered a box by one of my parishioners. At this point, I can’t open it or see what’s inside. It’s supposedly programmed to open after a certain amount of time. The offerer won’t tell me what’s inside and whether it’s good or bad. If I want it, I have to pay for it. Not a lot, but my resources are stretched pretty thin right now. I’d have to borrow a little money from the kingdom coffer to accept it.”
“What do you think it is?”
“I have no idea.”
“Have you gotten other items from the parishioners?”
“Yeah. Food, livestock, and clothes. But I think this one is different, especially since I don’t know what it is. It could be something good or something bad. However, having said that, I think I should buy it anyway.”
I blew out a breath. My head was filled with the dozen of things I needed to spend money on. “I don’t know, Frankie. We’re in short supply of money. Besides, it could be bomb or a plot by Wally to infiltrate the kingdom somehow.” My irritation rose. “I don’t like the timing on this.”
“Please Angel. I really want it.”
I sighed, unable to refuse her anything. “Fine. Hope it turns out to be something worthwhile.”
“It will. If it doesn’t, I’ll take full responsibility.”
Kira returned from her diplomatic assignment abroad and reported on her alliance efforts. “There is a kingdom to the west called Draycott,” she said. “They want swords and food in exchange for military support.”
“I can spare two hundred swords, six of them gold,” Hala reported. “I can throw in a dozen cannonballs and one cannon.”
“Do it,” I told Hala.
“They also want a piece of land here.” Kira pointed to a spot right in the heartland of our farming area.
“No. That’s our most fertile land,” Frankie protested. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Angel said everything is on the table,” Kira said. “That’s their price.”
I studied the land. “Tell Draycott they can have the piece of land they want if they raise their conscript numbers by a hundred.”
Kira’s eyebrow lifted. “You want me to barter?”
“Exactly. Do what you need to. Promise what you must, but we need that army to win. Get everything you can.”
“Okay. I’ll head to Illragorn after that.”
I found Illragorn on the map I’d sketched out. “Good thinking, Kira. One army from the east and one from the west. Give the Illragons what they want, too, but Frankie is right. We have to be careful. We can’t give away all our resources, or we can’t keep our own citizens happy.”
“Understood.”
For the next few hours we worked furiously, building our kingdom, fortifying our land, keeping our inhabitants happy, and building alliances. Less than four and half hours later, Wally’s armies attacked.
I watched the large screen in shock. “He’s attacking already? What the heck?”
Hala came to stand beside me. “Element of surprise, I suppose. It’s just like you said it would be, Angel. The guys have a massive army.”
For a moment, I could only stare at the enormous rows of conscripts marching our way.
Holy crap. They were going to crush us.
“Angel?” Frankie asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. “What are we going to do?”
I blinked until the big picture came into focus. “I’m going to mobilize our forces. We have enough to hold off the initial surge. Kira, I’m going to need those neighboring armies right now.”
“I’m on it,” she said.
I scrambled around the kingdom organizing the conscripts while Frankie fed them and Hala fit them with weapons and magic potions. At some point, Frankie pulled me aside to talk to me privately.
“You’ve got this, Angel. So, they came early. Nothing changes in terms of our strategy, right?”
I took a deep breath. “Right.” The accelerated timeline was freaking me out, but I could handle this. “Thanks, Frankie.”
She smiled and patted my arm. “Now, let’s go beat them. I’m one hundred percent certain this win is ours.”
I appreciated her optimism, even if I thought it misguided, as I returned to my post. After a complete review of what was happening and where, I called out to Kira. “Where are my armies?”
“Coming soon.”
“Soon better be now,” I said.
“They’re on the move.” She typed madly on the keyboard. “Stand by.”
Hala called out to me. “Angel, the first group of soldiers is almost at our border. Do we fire on them?”
“Not yet,” I said, maneuvering more forces into place. “We don’t have unlimited ammunition, and I need to get a division of archers to the eastern flank first. Wait for my order.”
“Okay. I’ll wait.”
Four minutes later, Wally’s forces hit. “Fire!” I shouted.
The battle raged hard. I kept up with Wally’s initial attack, but it was clear that it was only a matter of time before we would be overrun.
“We’re getting killed to the east,” Hala yelled.
“Kira, where is my Illragorn army?” I said.
“Almost there,” Kira called out.
“They aren’t going to make it in time,” Hala said. “Collapse on the eastern side is imminent.”
She was right. I was busy holding off Wally on the northern and western borders. I would never get enough conscripts there in time—not that I had them anyway.
“Collapse isn’t imminent,” Frankie said in a quiet voice. “We have a secret weapon.”
We all whirled around to face her. “We do?” I said.
“Herman.”
I looked at her, completely lost. “Herman? Who’s Herman?”
“Herman the dragon.”
My mouth fell open. “We have a dragon?”
She pointed to the large green dragon now positioned behind the church. “The box. There was a really pretty egg inside and it hatched. What do you want Herman to do? I think he’ll only respond to me.”
I didn’t have the luxury of being surprised or grateful. “Attack Wally’s east flank immediately. Tell Herman to rain fire and destruction or something like that.”
“I’m on it.”
Moments later, a giant green dragon swooped over Wally’s eastern flank, breathing fire and taking out a fourth of his force with one pass. The rest of his force scattered just as Illragorn’s army arrived, finishing off the rest of them.
We cheered. Kira and Hala exchanged a high five with Frankie, while I directed Draycott’s army, which had just arrived, to reinforce us in the west. Slowly but surely, we began pushing the boys back into a defensive position. Herman flew over the opposing forces, breathing fire and causing them to flee periodically. However, he required a lot of food in between missions, so Frankie had her hands full.
I imagined Wally was cursing me at this very moment.
The armies fought hard, the battles were bloody and tough, but we eventually beat them into submission. Exactly seven hours and four minutes from the moment the game started, we won.
Exhausted, but exhilarated, we shouted wildly and hugged each other.
Mr. Donovan walked in, bringing the boys with him. We all shook hands and showed good sportsmanship before Wally gave me a clap on the shoulder. “Dang, girl, I wouldn’t have figured you for the diplomatic solution. You took a huge risk with that, but it paid off. The dragon thing was sheer genius.”
I pointed over my shoulder. “The dragon was all Frankie.”
“Frankie?” Wally looked at me in astonishment. “She’s never played a role-playing game in her life.”
“I know, right? But she totally kicked it.”
Frankie walked over and gave Wally a hug. “You guys played a good game. What did you think of Herman?”
“Herman?” Wally threw a baffled glance at me. “Who’s Herman?”
Frankie put her hands on her hips, looking at him like he was completely dense. “My dragon, Herman.”
“Your dragon has a name?” Wally asked.
“Of course Herman has a name. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Ah, I don’t know. We were building a potion to destroy him, but we didn’t finish in time,” Wally admitted.
Frankie’s mouth opened in outrage. “What? Poison Herman? How could you?”
Wally held up his hands as if protecting himself. “Fake dragon, fake potion.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Wally Harris, don’t you ever call any of my creations fake again.” Turning on her heel, she stormed off.
I burst out laughing at his stunned expression. “I think we’ve created a gaming monster.”
He puffed up his chest with pride, grinning. “Dang, Angel, I think you’re right.”