Everlyn had told him excitedly they were celebrating, but he didn’t need that clue or even the smell of alcohol on her breath. It was obvious from the state of the camp. Soft music was playing. Tom studied the intense man strumming a harp of all instruments. He was not someone Tom knew and had appeared somewhere around number fifty. “Music?”
“Yes, Marvin.” Everlyn poked him. “He’s a bard, and he finally ponied up the credits to buy an instrument.”
“Why finally?
She bit her lip and smiled at him. “You’re a smart boy.”
Tom considered the wording and then understanding flowed through him. They must have bought the rest of the teleporter pad. The harp was large and bulky, so the savings would be material so Marvin had waited.
“He knows what he’s doing.” Everlyn linked arms with him. “And,” she leaned into him. “You’re going to dance with me tonight.”
Tom hated dancing and was tempted to argue against the idea, but she sounded so hopeful that he didn’t want to disappoint her. “Of course. But not straight away.”
The entire concept of a drunken celebration bothered him. Not only might the music attract attention from monsters there was also the serial killer lurking in the background. Suspiciously, Tom looked out to the nearby foothills. It was probably okay. The light would carry but not the noise and with a kilometre of hives between them and alternative monster types they were probably safe.
The threat of the murderer was another matter entirely. They were already embedded amongst them. “Michael.” Tom yelled, having spotted the healer. He untangled from Everlyn and stalked over. “What’s this?” he hissed when he got close enough not to be overheard.
“You might be a bit young to have experienced it, but this is called a party.”
“But the murd–.”
“We have a roster.” Michael interrupted hastily. “Twenty guards, none of whom are drinking or eating any of the communal stuff. They’ll watch over us.” Michael lowered his voice. “As much as I hate the wasps this is as safe as we’re going to be for a while. A known threat that doesn’t threaten us if we take precautions. Once we’re away from them, we will not be as safe again. This might be the last chance for people to blow off steam for a long time.”
“Am I a?”
“A guard?” Michael looked surprised at the question. “No. Are you drinking? Definitely.” Michael straightened to project his voice. “Someone get Tom a drink.” No one responded. “Hey, Tom needs…” Michael stopped talking and glared at Everlyn having realised that the sound of his voice was being suppressed.
She shrugged cutely. “I thought you two would appreciate privacy.”
“Kids.” Michael grumbled.
There was a slight pop as Everlyn released her sound cancelling skills.
“Can we get Tom a drink?” Michael yelled. “It’s his first party.” He stage whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
There was laughter all round and multiple people came up offering him a cup.
“Getting drunk for a night won’t kill you.” Everlyn said quietly beside him.
The bard was singing, and he recognised the tune but details were hazy. He tapped his foot to the beat and then sniffed the drink.
It was potent and fruity. He was hardly a teetotaller but when every day had been a fight for survival for forty years; he was cautious about letting his guard down. It was not like he ever really got a chance to drink even if the DEUS’s trial equivalent of an experience shop had sold alcohol cheaply. He imagined that was a trap that many potential heroes had fallen into and he guessed there had been a reason for that ridiculous pricing. She had wanted to weed out people who could be distracted that easily.
He took a cautious sip.
Burning, not as sweet as he expected and tasted like mulberries. “It’s good.”
“From the human auction house,” Everlyn told him. “They had even written on the barrels. Five hundred in the group. Twenty deaths since the first day. Average rank ten. They raided a brewery but couldn’t transport everything, so they put the surplus out cheap on the auction house. Their price basically only covered the seller’s cost of teleporting in the objects.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Twenty deaths? Rank ten?” Tom knew their entire group didn’t have anyone that high now that Tiny was dead at that level. “They’re doing a lot better than us.”
Michael slapped him on the back. “Obviously, three quarters of our team have been sitting on their bums for weeks.”
“Plus, they’re probably exaggerating.” Everlyn stated.
Tom wrinkled in confusion. “Bubs, why would they do that?”
“It’s what people do.” She shrugged. “Might not even be deliberate. Everyone just enjoys exaggerating. If they say rank ten, I’m thinking nine and a half to nine average. Still better than us, but not very much.”
“Everlyn,” Michael said, taking a sip of his cup. “Psychologically, I agree, but we don’t know. Not that it matters anyway. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Tom took another cautious sip. Everlyn leaned into him. “Drink faster. I want to do some dancing before Malvin finishes.”
Tom nodded and tried to drink quicker, but whatever the alcohol was it was strong. It went down wrong somehow, and he broke out into a coughing fit, which pushed it into his nostrils, which made it worse. Michael slapped him heartedly on the back.
After that, he switched the strategy to frequent small sips. When he had finished, another cup was passed to him, but Tom shook his head.
His head was buzzing and before he knew it. Everlyn was leading him onto the hard packed earth in the middle of the group.
She was not wearing her armour, and he wrapped up her slight body. As they danced the ever-present wasps he had grown to ignore, swept down to attack him, and died in a flash of red as the fire wisp went to work. Occasionally the red would not kill it instantly and for those electricity would spark out as the two wisps he currently had summoned worked in tandem.
He knew as they swayed to the music that they were putting on quite a show because of the light display the basic defence inadvertently generated.
There were four other couples dancing in the centre of the earth magic created floor along with a single’s dance group dominated by women. With the exception of a few external sentries, everyone else crowded around the outside of the dancing circle. It was like he was back at a school dance.
Tom put them out of his mind and focused on the girl in his arms. He pulled her closer for a moment, appreciating the fact that she had taken off her armour.
He stroked her back and enjoyed the ability to touch her directly rather than his fingers running into hard leather.
She leant in close to him. “You need to lose your armour, too.”
With a shrug, they left the dance floor and quickly released the thick heavy armour that he always wore and stripped down to shorts. Feeling a bit embarrassed by his near nakedness with a thought, he replaced it with the skivvy that he had got from the GODS trial.
He could see Everlyn actively biting off a comment, but when he led her back onto the dance floor, she just sighed, leant in close to him, and rested her cheek against his chest. He could smell her hair. It smelt of flowers and the type of smell that went with actual shampoo.
“How high is your clean spell?”
“I have raised it to eleven.”
Tom did the maths quickly. “Wait. How high did you grind it in the DEUS trial?”
She looked up at him going on tiptoes her chin on his. “Eighty-two.” She kissed him lightly. “I’m hesitant to ask. I don’t know what is worse if you tell me you got it up to 150 or 30.”
“Closer to the second.”
She rested her head against his chest as they happily swayed could feel the amusement radiating through her.
“That’s okay. What happened in the DEUS trial stays in the DEUS trials.”
Suddenly, she was looking at him. Then got close to his ear. “I wish we had some privacy. Unfortunately for you, I’m not one for public displays of affection.”
“I think I can keep you safe. If you want to sneak away.”
Indecision warred in her eyes. Then she nodded. Trying hard not to look suspicious. They exited the dance floor and then drift it to their outside of the group, getting with flames between them and the others.
They stood frozen for a moment. “No reason to feel embarrassed.” She whispered. “We walk away sneak between some hives and get some space.”
“The lights display I create means everyone’s going to know.”
“I don’t care.”
“Nor do I.” Tom admitted. “Plus, we’re just going for a romantic walk. Admittedly, in a hell hole filled with insects that will try to kill you every step of the way.”
“But my knight in a blue skivvy will protect me.”
“That he certainly will.”
They walked away.
“Tom.”
A little annoyed, he turned to face Michael.
“Can you give us two minutes? To get everyone under shelter.”
“Sure.”
Next to him Everlyn was vibrating with laughter. “I think I’m drunk. There was no way you could leave the party unnoticed. They need your enmity.”
“Yeah, I didn’t even think about it cos a beautiful minx was seducing me. I just thought. “
She squeezed him and everyone that had been dancing in the open air retreated to shelters apart from the guards who were still patrolling around dressed in armour that would protect them from the wasps.
Satisfied that he was no longer needed they walked off his arm around her shoulder and hers around his waist. Heading deeper into the plains. He guided her past one hive and then another. The frequency of getting zapped increased when he checked his elementals. “We could go further, but I’m worried about the mutations.”
Everlyn’s helmet suddenly appeared, and she was looking around. “Looks like we’re currently safe but you’re right.” She glanced towards where the rest of the humans were. They, of course, could be snuck up on in that direction. “Do you think you could get a wisp to watch for a human threat?”
Tom nodded and then used his lightning spell to summon an ordinary wisp. Half his mana vanished and then he spent another minute giving instructions before it zipped away. It would ignore the wasps and make sure they were safe from anything else.
“Done.”
He sat and pulled her down on top of him. Her expression looked disgruntled.
“What?”
She lent in right next to his ear. Her lips kissed him first. “Dirt.” She whispered.
They kissed twice, and then he pulled away and then waved his hands. Tom’s bed roll dropped out of his storage and was on the ground.
“You’re amazing.” She rolled onto the bedroll and wiggled on it. “Luxurious.” Grinning she tugged him on top of her. “And tell me, Mister, how exactly you want to get rewarded for your foresight?”