"Rise and shine" Anne whispered.
Eric snapped awake and immediately tried to scrambled backwards hitting his head on the tree he had been sleeping against.
Anne was crouched on top of him, her hair tousled from sleep.
Eric rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. "What happened last night?" He wondered aloud.
"Oh!" Anne grinned maniacally. "Did you forget?"
Eric was suddenly very nervous. "Anne..." He said cautiously. "What exactly did you do to me."
Anne stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Well, let's see, I rested my head on your shoulder, but you fell asleep."
Eric nodded. "Good, and what happened after that?"
Anne smiled. "You slept with me!"
"d-dont say it like that!" Eric stammered.
Anne was thouroughly enjoying this. "Well, technically next to each other."
Eric relaxed a bit. "However..." Anne continued. "There's no need for me to elaborate on the difference when I tell Abby."
Eric had a brief vision of Abby mocking him for all eternity.
Eric's eyes widened in fear. "Please don't do that."
"Aww, you're so cute when your face gets all red." Anne remarked.
"It's too early for this. I'm going back to sleep." Eric grumbled.
"I'll join you!" Anne cheered as she tackled him.
Reagan suddenly walked into the clearing.
"Hey, I was sent to tell you that it's time to..." her voice trailed off as her face turned red with embarrassment. "I'll just come back later." She squeaked.
"No! Please!" Eric shouted desperately. "It's not what it looks like!"
Reagan started to leave. Eric fought desperately to free himself but to no avail.
"Please!" He called "Don't leave me with this madwoman!"
Anne covered her mouth to contain her laughter. "Good luck explaining this one!"
She got up and donned her armour. After slinging her sword across her back and smoothing out her hair she looked like a stunning, if admittedly a bit sleepy, warrior princess.
Eric sighed with resignation. "Why me?" He asked the sky. The sky ignored him.
Eric put on his armour and buckled on his sword.
After wiping the last traces of sleep from his face and double checking his gear he rejoined the rest of the party.
They set off after a short breakfast. And by midday they reached the base of the mountains.
"We have reached the base of the Aurelian mountains." Jorvik announced. "Make sure teh keep yer eyes peeled for bandits and whatnot. They'll ambush anyone they think they can catch."
Eric was currently sitting with another member of the BA.
"That should mean we're safe, right?" He asked.
The Axe stroked his beard pensively. "Normally yes, but if they're desperate Bandits will even attack well armed groups like ours. And then there's Wyverns. Run into one of those and all bets are off."
Eric shivered. Even if they were well armed and experienced veterans, there were no guarantees out here.
They climbed farther into the mountains, the horses plodding along steadily despite the difficult terrain.
The pass took them straight between two large cliffs and Eric glanced upwards every few minutes to check for attacks from above.
The day passed quietly, and the caravan came to a halt at a large plateau. They pitched tents with the wagons stationed next to the cliffs, and the tents in the center of the area.
Eric sat on the edge of the plateau his legs dangling into the void as he admired the sunset.
"Mind if I join ye?" Jorvik dumped his considerable bulk next to Erik, sending a small shower of pebbles down the mountainside."Ye know, they say there's nothing in the world more beautiful than a mountain sunset."
"Yeah." Eric agreed. And really, he hadn't ever seen anything quite like it. The sun's last rays and the jagged peaks cast complete multilayered shadows over the valleys below.
"Yer a good soldier, stick with it boy."
"How can you tell?" Eric asked.
"It's the way you carry yerself. The confidence and determination you show are those of a man who has seen combat so many times he's almost forgotten what it's like to be at peace."
The old mercenary wasn't wrong. When he thought about it Eric had spent most of his life in and out of this game looking over his shoulder tensed for his next fight.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Eric said.
Jorvik chuckled. "This world has more in store for you than simple escort missions. Ye may be a common man now, but ye won't be able teh live a quiet life so long as ye have something left teh protect."
Eric frowned. "What do ye... I mean you mean protect? The wagons?" Eric asked.
Jorvik roared with laughter. "No boy, not the wagons. Yer friends! The people ye travel with are what yer really fighting for. Any other reason is empty."
Eric nodded. "I think I get it."
Jorvik stared into the distance sagely. "If ye go into a fight with no reason, ye'll git yerself killed."
Erik thought about that. What was he fighting for? He had entered this game for fun. No, that wasn't it. He had come here for an escape. In a way he was still running from the monsters in the real world by fighting the monsters in his dreams.
In the real world all he had were an endless string of problems. School, fights, the stress of daily life. The real world wasn't fun. But here in his dreams he was free to do whatever he chose.
Sure he had jobs, quests, to complete, but as an adventurer he could pick and choose work as he saw fit and had way more freedom than he ever could in the real world.
And if it came down to it Jorvik was right. He had made friends here, even if they were bits and pieces of code, to him they were real, and if he had to die a few times to protect them, he would.
"Thanks Jorvik, you're right." Eric thanked the man. Jorvik clapped him on the back. The force nearly knocked Eric over the edge of the plateau.
"We'll make a fine man of ye Eric. A fine man indeed." Eric tried to grin but it came out as more of a grimace. Jorvik laughed and got up. "On yer feet!" He bellowed.
"First watch, to yer posts." Three of Jorvik's men snapped to attention and rushed to take up positions around the camp.
Dinner was made up of travel rations as there had been no way to obtain fresh meat. Despite this everyone was in high spirits, and were looking forward to continuing their journey.
Eric situated himself with his back to the cliff and tried to catch some sleep. He had been assigned second watch.
After a few hours of rough sleep he was shaken awake, and he got up to take his post.
He walked a short but steep path to the top of the cliff overlooking the plataeu. He found a spot between two larger rocks where he could observe the area without being seen.
He kept his eyes peeled, but keeping watch basically entailed spending a few hours doing nothing when you would really rather just sleep.
Finally something happened. A flicker of movement. Just out of the corner of his eye. It was so small that if he hadn't been so intent on spotting something, anything, he might have missed it.
Eric carefully approached the area, taking care to move stealthily. He carefully circled behind where the movement had been and silently approached it.
He saw a figure in a dark cloak lying facedown on the cliff edge, surveying the plateau.
"Well this is just great." The figure muttered. "We come all this way to find these monks and they've hired guards." The boss isn't gonna like this one bit. I'd better head back and report this new development. I should have a few hours before the assault."
The scout never got the chance. Before he could even turn around Eric had opened a clean line across his throat, silencing his screams.
Eric rushed down the trail to the plateau and roused Jarvik. "Wake up, we're going to fall under attack sometime soon." Jorvik snapped awake at the word attack, and was on his feet axe in hand.
"Who? Where? How many?" He roared.
"Calm down!" Eric yelled over Jorvik's bellows.
Together, they woke up the rest of the guards and formed a loose defensive plan.
The Bearded Axes would split their forces and defend the plataeu from attacks via the pass. Meanwhile Eric, Anne, Reagan and Abby would defend the cliff above to prevent the enemy from flanking their position.
The defenders took up arms and manned their posts. Once everyone was in position they waited anxiously for the upcoming attack.
Anne found a cluster of boulders that made for the perfect cover, the only problem was that it was getting a bit cramped.
"Ow! Your leg is digging into my back!" Abby whispered
"Quit whining, this is the best cover available." Anne whisper-shouted back.
"Those bandits better show up soon!" Abby pouted.
How did I go from Anne waking up on top of me to having her elbow digging into my back? Eric wondered silently.