Then, Texas

Cooper Church. Dread Paladin. Cooper Church. Dread Paladin. Cooper Ch—

The Dread Paladin climb to his feet. Ribs shifted. The pain dulled. There was only dread.

He felt them fleeing in the distance.

They gave him strength.

A larger group was in one direction, but they weren’t his target.

The smaller group running away behind the store was a beacon in his thoughts.

“Summon Steed,” he rasped.

The shadows cast in the harsh light of the Walmart sign roiled.

A massive head emerged. Darker than shadows, equine with a mouth that split much wider, filled with jagged teeth. Front hooves emerged climbing up onto the asphalt, pulling the rest of its thick, muscular body. Eyes that glowed with the same light in his helmet regarded the Dread Paladin for a moment.

The demonic horse blew hot steam into the cool night air. It sounded like bellows blowing into a massive furnace.

“They are fleeing. Lend me your aid.”

A deep neigh followed by a dip of the head to rub against an armored chest. The gesture was almost fond.

He grabbed the reins and leapt onto the saddle in one smooth motion.

Darkness roiled around the pair as the demonic horse suddenly jump up to the side of the building. Its hooves thundered up as if connected to the shadows.

He purposefully let the fleeing group gain some distance as he shadowed them on a parallel street. He knew they could hear the thunder of his steed’s hooves as they cracked the asphalt. Their growing terror was a palpable force that he could perceive with all his senses.

He hounded them for what felt like hours. Never in sight, but always on the edges of their perceptions. Always the rhythmic pounding of hooves just behind them.

Until, finally, it was time.

He urged his steed to a burst of speed that far outstripped mortal horses and cut them off at a broad intersection.

A thought and a pull on the reins had his steed rear on her hind legs with a harsh neigh that he knew knifed through them.

Slowly, he guided his steed toward the group. One step at a time. Let them fully realize what was to come. The inevitability of their fate. Let the terror swell before it broke them.

He fed and in turn so did another.

Shield and lance formed in either hand.

Eyes bore down on the four people.

“You guys, run!” the big warrior boomed. “I’ll keep him busy as long as I can.”

“No. We do this together,” the sole remaining woman, the leader, said. She raised a hand. “Spell Orb: Magic Missile.”

A bright, blue ball of magical energy coalesced and shot toward the Dread Paladin.

He raised his shield to block the streaking bolts of blue magic that shot out of the orb as it spun through the air. It suddenly curved around him, all the while firing magic missiles that impacted his armor and burned small holes into the surface.

Powerful enough to damage the cursed plate, but not enough to reach his body within.

“Charge,” he rasped to his steed.

Over a hundred yards in less than two seconds.

Barely enough time for the four to react.

Three dived out of the way, while the big warrior held firm behind his shield.

“Bastion.”

The impact was like the crack of thunder.

His lance splintered even as it turned the warriors shield into a spray of wood shards.

He felt his steed slow, but only for a second.

The demonic horse’s broad chest bowled the warrior over, hooves trampled him as they passed over.

He wheeled his horse around.

The big warrior was a crumpled mound of broken bones and blood. No longer a source of dread to feed on.

He found the other two quickly.

The other warrior, one with the heavy chopper stared at him with wide eyes from behind the rusted remnants of a car on the right side of the street, cradling a shattered arm.

The mage woman, the leader, was on the left side of the street with a hand outstretched toward him.

It was only then that the Dread Paladin realized that her orb was still circling him, firing those ineffectual magic missiles.

The third— was missing.

Gone from his senses.

How?

He spun his steed in a circle, searching.

“Hamstring!”

His steed screamed and stumbled.

He leapt from the saddle and landed with a thud.

“Fuck you!” the third man, a rogue, spat. The dagger and short sword in either hand were coated in thick, black blood.

“You can have that one,” he rasped.

The rogue narrowed his eyes. “Vanish,” he sucked in a deep breath.

“It’s faint, but I can see your terror. Your dread. And she’s a lot better than me at that,” he rasped.

His steed gave a triumphant neigh and galloped down the street.

Mouth opened wide and chomped down on air.

She threw her head back.

A headless body suddenly appeared before toppling.

“Don’t eat that. I need it.”

“What are you?” the mage woman said through grit teeth.

“I—”

“Power Strike!”

He pitched forward at the heavy blow to the back of his neck. He spun and blocked the man’s second strike on his shield. A dagger formed in his right hand and he plunged it deep into the man’s gut, lifting him up and turning so that the leader could watch the man’s last moments of life, desperately flopping like a fish on a spear.

“Run!” the man managed to gasp through the blood bubbling out of his mouth.

“Too late.”

“Spell Orb: Flame Thrower.”

The orb went from blue to swirling reds, oranges, and yellows.

He suddenly found himself bathed in fire as the orb orbited around him like a satellite.

Slowly, deliberately, he stalked toward the mage.

Her face was pale in the fire light. Sweat-sheened and grim.

Her terror actually faded.

Acceptance.

It seemed that he had gained the most from this encounter that he could. It happened occasionally. Some people accepted their deaths with a mixture of resignation and bravery. While others clung to life, dying with hope. It was this latter that he had found to be the more bountiful sources.

The mage turned.

He closed the distance and punched her in the back.

She crashed through the large front windows of a store.

The orb winked out.

Dying flames lingered on the surface of his armor as he continued to stalk toward the mage.

“My legs—” she pushed herself up and rolled over with herculean effort. Legs remained limp. “Fireball.”

He staggered back a few steps at the explosive impact.

The pain was there, but distant. All he could truly feel was the lingering dread in the air.

“Why?” the mage’s face was a bloody ruin. Glass shards had been embedded in her cheeks and one ruined eye.

“I do what I have to,” he rasped.

“How can killing my friends be something you have to do?”

“It could’ve been anyone. Your mistake was turning to thievery.”

“How can we steal something that doesn’t belong to anyone else? The spires don’t count,” the mage barked a bitter and wet laugh. “People will go hungry because of what you’ve done tonight. They’ll get sick and won’t have medicine. They’ll trade dignity for a few hours of warmth this winter.”

“We all do what we have to.”

The same laughter. “You’re not a monster. You’re worse. You sound like any piece of shit trying to justify evil, selfishness.”

“I… made a Vow…”

“Whatever. I’m already dead. Just get it over with,” she spat a bloody glob that struck his helmet’s cheek.

He held his right hand out as a black sword appeared. A long, double-edged blade and a simple cross guard. It would have appeared plain if not for the way shadows seemed to undulate in its presence.

“Are you going to take my soul?”

The mage’s fear spiked.

He considered a lie to harvest more from her.

“No. Your soul, if it exists, remains yours.”

“That doesn’t change you being an evil bastard. Remember, countless lives are going to suffer because of what you’ve done here.”

“Yes.”

He plunged the blade into her heart.

“They will be afraid in the days to come. They will know terror. They will know dread.”

The next morning Cooper returned to claim the bounty and spread word of what he had done.

The young woman behind the table at the adventurer’s guild screamed as he opened the blood-stained bag of severed heads.

Guilt and shame filled him briefly, but was replaced by the satisfying surge of fear and terror in the half dozen people in the room.

“Kath-” the wide-eyed young woman whispered. “What did you do?”

“I’m collecting the bounty,” he placed the crumpled paper on the table next to the bag. “The thieves.”

“Murderer! You killed the Hearts!” she screeched as she got out from behind the table and ran out the door.

He regarded the others in the room.

Weapons and open hands were leveled at him.

“I will defend myself,” he said mildly.

One adventurer edged toward the table, blade pointed at Cooper. He upended the bag and cursed as five severed spilled out on the table, some fell to the floor.

“It is the Hearts! What the fuck, man!”

“Don’t do it,” Cooper’s hooded gaze fell across the people. “I’ve simply fulfilled the bounty.”

“The Hearts are one of the best. They wouldn’t steal. They wouldn’t need to,” a woman with a glowing ball in the palm of her hand said.

Cooper remained silent.

The tense standoff continued for several minutes before the young woman returned with a dozen of the mayor’s fighters. “He’s the one! He’s the murderer!” she screamed.

Cooper held his hands up as the men and women surround him with drawn weapons.

“I have proof of their guilt,” he said.

It was then that some of the people finally noticed that the shadows Cooper cast were wrong. They were too big.

People scattered as packs filled with groceries began to rise out of Cooper’s shadow, followed by five headless bodies.

Screams filled the space.

Cooper drank in the pure satisfaction of his Vow’s continued fulfillment.

“The fuck is all this?” the lead fighter said.

“Proof.”

“Yeah, I heard you,” the lead fighter swallowed, “but I don’t think you understand what you mean. I just see bodies and backpacks with groceries. For all I know, you could’ve filled them up yourself. You’ll have to come with us to get this all settled.”

“No.”

“Look, man,” the lead fighter’s spear wavered, “just come along peacefully. I don’t want to hurt you if you’re telling the truth.”

“I can cast a lie detection spell,” the adventurer with the glowing ball in her hand said.

“Does it matter? He killed the Hearts. Are we letting him walk away from that?” the blade-wielding adventurer said.

“Do it,” the lead fighter said. He regarded Cooper with badly-disguised fear. “You may have handled the Hearts, but we’ve got you twenty to one. Don’t try anything or you’re dead.”

The mage adventurer took out a clear water bottle and place it on the long table next to one of the heads in front of Cooper. “You won’t trust my word, so I’ll have to cast it on this so everyone can see the effect. If you tell the truth then the water remains clear. A lie and it’ll light up. The bigger the lie the brighter the light,” she explained.

“Sure,” Cooper shrugged. The fear he was getting from the entire room outweighed any other concerns he had. If they attacked then he would defend himself. More deaths would only add to the dread centered around him as word of his deeds continued to spread.

The mage adventurer cast her spell with whispered words. “Did you murder the Hearts?” she said immediately.

“No.”

The water in the plastic bottle lit up with a faint white light, barely perceivable. It could’ve easily been a reflection from the ceiling lights.

“What the fuck? You already admitted killing them,” the blade-wielding adventurer said.

“Yes. I did kill them.”

The water remained clear, dull.

“Everyone, shut up,” the lead fighter said. He eyed Cooper warily. “Describe what happened.”

Cooper did. Quickly and simply.

The water bottle didn’t change.

“You were the knight in dark gray plate? You scattered one of our patrols.”

“Not a knight. A paladin. Dread Paladin, but yes. I didn’t touch them. I was only after the bounty… this time.”

Multiple eyes darted to the water bottle only to see it remain as it should.

“I’ll take my reward now.”

“It’ll take some time to gather the cash. Meanwhile the mayor will want to have a word with you,” the lead fighter said.

“That won’t be happening. The money, nothing more, nothing less. If you do otherwise then you can join them,” Cooper gestured to the heads.

Tellingly, the water bottle stayed clear.

“Okay, but the money will take time to gather,” the lead fighter pointed at the water bottle, “see… no light. I’m not lying about that.”

“Hmm… that’s a problem I need to buy food and drink, maybe a place to stay.”

“Give him some vouchers. A hundred should be good enough for a few days,” the lead fighter glanced at the young woman.

“What? Aren’t you going to arrest him? He killed the Hearts! He admitted it! You saw the truth water!” she snapped.

“That’s what they get for stealing from us,” the lead fighter said. “Now, do your fucking job!” he snapped back.

“Fuck you too then!” the young woman went to the table and pulled a few slips of paper out of box before throwing them into Cooper’s face.

She blanched when his hands blurred to catch them all.

“Thank you,” he said blandly.

“You’re a monster,” she replied.

“Yes.”

The water was clear.

“You won’t get away with this. Everyone loved the Hearts. You’ll pay!” she snarled.

There was a personal connection there. Cooper could tell. A part of him understood the young woman’s feelings. However, the Vow didn’t need nor want empathy. It wanted one thing. So, he did what was required to feed it. “They fought bravely, if ineffectively. You and others may come after me. I welcome it, but I promise that all will suffer the same fate as your Hearts. And oh, did they suffer.”

The other adventurers and some of the mayor’s fighters bristled at that.

Cooper took their dread.

He regarded the lead fighter. “You’ll know where to find me. I expect my payment within 24 hours. One minute over and I’ll go to the mayor to collect,” he walked out the door.

The sun shined down on Cooper. It was an unpleasant feeling. Still, he needed to eat.

When he had first entered the settlement he had marked a handful of streets on the outer edges of the suburb, closest to the walls that surrounded the handful of large tracts of cookie-cutter homes. The homes on these streets had been converted to serve as restaurants and stores. All the kinds that one could’ve found in the days before the spires.

The adventurer’s guild was close to one such street, so it was a short walk.

People were walking the streets going about their business, which was apparently working jobs. It was strange to Cooper. It seemed pointless. The Hearts did have a point after all. What need was there to earn money for things that no one could claim responsibility for producing?

Supplies taken freely from stores in the city only to be resold for pieces of paper in converted homes. It was a farce.

No matter. Not his concern.

Eyes watched him fearfully.

It’d take time for word of what he had done to spread amongst the populace, but he’d prime them by making his presence known. His aura generated fear that even hardened fighters couldn’t fully ignore.

There was a lot of people in the suburb settlements under the mayor’s control.

A great amount of dread to be gained for his Vow.

Cooper found a place to eat that looked sufficient.

He’d eat several meals then find a place to stay.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

Mayor Sammy Levy was an attractive woman even accounting for her age. The scars on her face didn’t detract from her natural beauty. Leon struggled to keep his gaze from straying below her neck. He reminded himself that she was a shrewd and dangerous person that could and would take everything from him if it suited her purposes.

He ran a hand through his graying hair while he mentally composed his response. He didn’t want to appear weak, but at the same time he didn’t want to offend. His company was the strongest martial force on a levels basis, but the mayor’s fighters far outnumbered them. It was an even fight, but it’d ruin the communities they’d built out of the suburbs on the outer edges of San Antonio.

The Golden Eagles needed a stable base to conduct their operations from.

“Sure, ask away,” he said mildly.

“There’s a man causing problems. I’d like him removed from my city.”

“Could you elaborate?”

“Let’s cut the bullshit today. I know you’ve got your people watching him. Same as me.”

“Right,” he cleared his throat, “the self-named Dread Paladin.”

“And what’ve you found out about him? I’m honest enough to admit that your people are higher leveled than most of mine.”

“He killed the Hearts… by himself,” he shrugged.

“That was a waste,” the mayor spat.

“I’m sorry, but didn’t you put that bounty on them?”

The mayor snorted. “My mistake was putting a dead or alive option. The Hearts were a valuable part of this community. Their future contributions would’ve outweighed their thievery. I’m sure I could’ve given them something to get them to stop. As it is, we’ve lost one of our best adventuring teams in what might be a difficult time.”

Leon nodded. He had access to much of the same information that the mayor did thanks to an extensive network of informants as well as his own scouts. The potential of the Meat Parade coming back was bad enough. There was also the matter of the preaching missionaries that had come from somewhere up north.

“He hasn’t broken any laws that’d justify kicking him out,” he said.

“True. He merely hurts businesses and kills worker productivity wherever he goes. It could be tolerable for a time if he confined himself to one area, but he walks everywhere.”

“The solution seems simple on the surface.”

The mayor was already shaking her head, luscious blonde hair waved almost hypnotically. “Provoke violence,” she raised a brow.

“That is a suggestion. From what happened at the guild, he firmly stated that he’d fight without hesitation if provoked. Maybe you can physically block him from leaving his hotel. You can use any sort of physical contact on his part as the excuse and kick him out.”

“I’m not willing to risk my people just to expel him. I’ll only accept lives lost for a permanent solution to this Dread Paladin problem. What have you found out about his class, presumably it is one?”

“Presumably, the same as you. Not much,” he didn’t want to give away too much for free. “Whether it’s his class or not, the man appears to be creating a sense of fear around him. It’s noticeable enough that we’re pretty sure that it’s some kind of aura or magic effect rather than him just being a scary bastard. Might have something to do with how weird shadows get around him.”

The mayor nodded. “Yeah, that’s what we thought.”

“I’m sorry, Mayor Levy, but if you aren’t willing to fight, then I can’t in good conscience ask my people to do so. Even though I had a good relationship with the Hearts— we were planning to invite them on our expedition to Vegas— I won’t risk a fight with this man. The rewards don’t outweigh the risks.”

“Might be a solution in there…” the mayor mused.

“I’m sorry—” Leon didn’t catch on right away. When he did he uttered a silent curse in his head.

“He wanted a high paying bounty. A challenging one. Maybe, he’s one of those morons. The level crazy ones. Get strong, bla, bla, bla,” the mayor waved a hand dismissively.

“Er… yeah… our strongest people have those tendencies,” he replied flatly.

“Yes. There are like-minded individuals in your company.”

Leon didn’t like where this was going.

“My favor. A solution to my problem that will also prove beneficial to the success of your expedition. His power would be useful to you, would it not?”

“In a vacuum. However, all that power is useless if he won’t follow orders, which all indications—”

“Just point him at the worst monster. I imagine that’ll be good enough,” the mayor waved a hand.

“But—”

“We’ve had a good relationship. My city has been good for your company,” the mayor leaned forward on her desk.

Leon stared at her forehead and tried not to scowl.

“I would hope that we can continue to be beneficial to each other,” she continued.

“Sure,” he replied after several seconds of silence. “But, how are you going to get him to come with us? He doesn’t seem like a guy that’ll be forced into doing something he doesn’t want to.”

“I’ll need a few of your strongest. I’ll provide several hundred of my people. I suspect even he would have to consider the risks versus the rewards of fighting in that case. Especially, when a more lucrative bounty is offered for joining your expedition,” the mayor said.

“He already got a 100K for killing the Hearts. Do you really think he’ll be swayed by more money?” he really didn’t want to go down this path.

“I have more than enough money to throw at him,” the mayor shrugged. “Although, my read is that he’s more interested in building a rep and getting stronger.”

“You’re worried he might be after your spot.”

The mayor’s expression betrayed nothing. “I have over 2000 dedicated fighters. I can triple that number by calling on the reserves with at least a few levels in combat classes. There are a total of nearly fifty thousand people in my communities. One man can’t possibly kill them all.”

Leon raised a hand. “The Golden Eagles will be at the forefront of that fight. As our agreement certifies.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t suggest otherwise. So, are you willing to help?”

“The Hearts were well-liked. To be honest we’ve already been game planning a way to avenge them. You’re lucky that I’m more pragmatic than most of my lieutenants and fighters. I’ve no problem getting use out of this Dread Paladin, before ripping that debt out of his corpse.”

“Glad to hear that you’re on board!” the mayor’s smile was warm, until Leon noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes, which remained hard as flint. “When are your people available?”

“The expedition leaves in five days. Elliot Espinoza will be leading 1st Company. I’ll tell him to expect word from your people for the details. Basically, you can contact him at any time.”

“Thank you, sincerely,” the mayor said. “You and the Golden Eagles continue to do great service to the people of San Antonio.”

Now, Southern California Desert

Cal brought the flying RV down in the middle of the road just outside the military base.

Fort Irwin according to the road sign.

“I detect no life… check that… no human life,” he said.

“There should be some remnants, like in that marine base near Palm Springs and the airbase thing way past Lancaster,” Nila said.

“Twentynine Palms and Edwards, but you’re right. I’m going to have to investigate this, so that I can let Rayna know…” he grew silent for several seconds. “Aannnddd… done.”

“What happened?”

“Monsters, probably from the north judging by the trail of blood stains, signs of fighting and remains.”

“Death Valley is to the north. It’s probably the Death Valley Encounter Challenge now,” Nila said.

“Or spawn zone,” Cal sighed as the RV lifted off the road.

“Shouldn’t we check the fort out?”

“I’m not picking up much in the way of the monster or monsters responsible. Maybe they managed to fight most of them off and the survivors left. Let’s get confirmation on Death Valley’s situation. Then I can send Rayna a spires message.”

“Too bad we don’t have any functional cell towers out this way.”

“Neither, Eron nor I have the time or inclination to fly technicians out this far. He only really worked to set up the ones connecting NorCal and SoCal so that our parents could occasionally talk to the grandkids. Maybe if someone with teleportation powers or magic exists out there they could do it.”

A short flight to the entrance of Death Valley and they found out that it was indeed a spawn zone.

They couldn’t take care of it at the moment.

Cal didn’t want to leave Nila and the baby, not to mention the fact that trying to clear it solo might’ve been dangerous even for him. It was an enormous national park. That meant that the boss monsters were probably really strong.

Instead, Cal went to the nearest spire and sent messages to Rayna and Eron.

It was just another thing to add to their lengthy lists of problems.

They resumed their trip to Las Vegas.

The RV flew through the air inside a telekinetic box.

Flying monsters got within range a few times, but Cal managed to convince their minds to go elsewhere.

Truth was that he was enjoying not fighting.

Playing guess what that cloud looks like with Nila and the baby was more fun.

The fun ended as soon as the mountains east of the city rose in the distance.

Something tugged on the edges of his mental perceptions.

“Those are mountains. Shouldn’t we be going higher, not lower,” Nila frowned.

“Uh… right,” he blinked. He split his focus yet again. While he kept the RV aloft and the monsters away, he sent another portion of his mind to follow the thread that had drawn his attention.

It led directly down into the small mountain range.

In his mind’s eye he found himself standing in front of a large hole in the side of the main mountain.

“There’s something we need to check out.”

So said, Cal brought the RV down, landing it on a flat section of dry dirt and rocks.

The trail to the hole was steep and twisting.

Not a problem when you could fly.

He brought Nila and the baby along for safety reasons.

“That’s a weird-looking cave,” he said.

“I wouldn’t count it as a cave. It’s a hole and it’s a perfect circle,” Nila said.

The yawning hole was black.

Cal couldn’t see anything beyond the entrance. Couldn’t probe inside with his thoughts, which was disconcerting.

“Well… what’s inside?” Nila said.

“I don’t know.”

“That doesn’t sound good. I’m assuming it’s an encounter challenge and you’ve been able to see inside those before.”

“This must be different,” he shrugged.

“We’re not going in there. Not with a baby,” Nila said.

“I can, but if I can’t use my telepathy to see inside then I have to assume I won’t be able to use it out here while I’m in there.”

“Which means you can’t keep the monsters away,” Nila shook her head. “I can’t protect the baby by myself.”

“I guess this thing gets bumped up the list to number 2.”

“It’s not too far from Vegas. You can come back after we claim a safe place for the baby,” Nila said.

Cal glanced at her.

“I’m not going to sit around while you explore this creepy dungeon. I can do what we’re going to Vegas for. Shop,” she grinned.

“CPS wouldn’t like you going around getting jewelry and precious metals while a baby waits in a motel room by himself.”

“I’ll only leave him when he’s sleeping and for no longer than 15 minutes at a time,” Nila said.

“Terrible,” Cal shook his head.