Stolen Lives: A LitRPG/GameLit Novel (The Underhill Chronicles Book 1) Keith Ahrens (best e reader for epub txt) 📖

Assuming a fighting stance sends hot wires of pain from my lower back down to my leg. I can only hope his burns are hurting him just as much. He stands, facing me with his dagger leading like a fencer, the light held behind him, casting his face into shadows.

A mere five yards separate us, just outside striking distance for him; I can cover it in a step or two and have plenty of room to swing my mace. We both stay in place, each of us waiting for the other to make a move.

Except, the water dragon makes the first move. With a bone-shaking roar and the pounding of its tremendous paws, it crashes hard into the few remaining large oaks and topples them like dominoes. Our world now consists of flying branches and hundreds of feet of old trees crashing all around us. Leaves and small branches cloud the air, and splinters fly like flechettes from a shotgun.

In the confusion, I bump into the elf while we are both dodging timbers. A lizard screech rips through the air above us, and we both turn to look. The water dragon, face mangled and burned, stands on the rise above us. A few measly smaller trees are now all that separate us from the beast.

The elf grabs my arm and says, “Run!” Then he tosses the glowing stone toward the slavering creature. It lands on a fallen bole and bounces once and then cracks. In the blink of an eye, it erupts in a geyser of white-hot flame.

The flames spray out high in the air and splash like water. Every tree and leaf it touches ignites, and the fire begins to spread through the dried leaves underfoot, and fast!

I look back and see the elf climbing up the hillside away from the fire. I don't need another hint, and I take off after him. If that fire keeps increasing at this rate, it could overwhelm us with ease. And, of course, fire climbs up faster than it travels down hills. I ignore my body's pains and protests, moving as fast as I can after the elf.

It’s already getting hotter around here.

Haynes, Olivia, And Jesse

Jesse halts his horse and dismounts a safe distance from the burning trees and foliage. The wagon clatters to a stop behind him, the team of four horses nervously dancing at the sight of the fire.

“Sergeant! The clearing should be just beyond yon fire. Then an open hundred yards to the stockade. We mustn't tarry; the moon hangs low,” Jesse points up to the moon as it makes its slow crawl toward the horizon.

“Okay, cut the horses loose; we have to blaze a trail around that fire. Everybody off the wagon! We go on foot from here. When we hit the clearing, spread out and move fast, no clumping together. Jesse, you’re on point. Grayson, take rear-guard and don't let anyone sneak up on us. Move out!” orders Haynes.

Using his saber, Jesse begins hacking away at the dense foliage to make a trail. He cuts a path that just skirts the edge of the conflagration. The live, wet plants don't burn very well, so the fires seem to be winding down on their own.

The group trudges quickly in a single file line over the rough-cut trail, each person alert and straining to hear or see any sign of trouble. A few glance up at the waning globe of the moon, an obvious reminder of how little time they have left.

Haynes holds up a closed fist at shoulder height to call a halt; they've reached the edge of the clearing. He crouches down on one knee to assess the scene. Pieces of burning rubble lay scattered across the field. Closer to the wooden stockade, bodies and parts of bodies lie among the debris. The bodies of the ogres and goblins are dwarfed by the massive corpses of six water dragons, all in various states of decay and wholeness. The stockade wall itself is still smoldering in places and is incapable of keeping a stiff breeze out, much less a determined group.

The bonfires keep burning and throwing stark shadows beyond the sundered gate. Yet, there's no movement on the field, nor on what’s left of the walls.

Haynes beckons Jesse over and says to him, “Jesse, sorry to ask this of you, but I need to send you and Olivia across to scout the wall. I don't see any remaining defenders, but that doesn't mean they're not some hiding up there.”

Jesse nods and replies, “Aye, I haven't a worry working with the lass. Tough as pig iron, that one.” He gestures to Olivia, and the ESU officer joins them, crouching down with the two men.

“Pig iron?” she asks with a sarcastic grin.

Haynes ignores her comment but says, “You and Jesse are gonna do a fast recon of the wall. Just a look, don't engage if you don't have to. Any sign of trouble, you hightail it back here in one piece. I'll have Vince cover you. Stay low and move fast.”

“Just make sure that a-hole doesn't shoot us in the back, okay?” she says with a crooked grin. She pulls a small bearded ax from her belt and gets a good grip on the three-foot haft before looking at Jesse. “Ready to go when you are.”

The Sergeant scans the field one more time and then nods to his two scouts. “All right, move out.”

Without another word, the pair step from the concealment of the trees and out into the open. They spread out about two arm's length from each other and crouch low, but move swiftly as ordered.

The pair make it about three-quarters of the way across when they encounter the first body. Jesse moves close enough to kick it and jump back, pistol leveled, waiting for a reaction. The body doesn't stir after a moment, so they move on. They 'kick-test’ a few more just to be sure, but