Chapter 105 - Lessons in Leadership

  The cheering picked up as we approached, and I grinned in spite of the circumstances. What can I say? It was nice to be appreciated! And they were cheering really loud. Sue was the belle of the ball around these parts, and least for today.

  The gates were already opening as we approached them, which was nice. I had worried they might be iffy about allowing such a large force to enter, but I guess we’d won serious goodwill with our timely arrival, because they didn’t hesitate to let us in.

  Farnsworth showed up a few moments after I rode Sue through the gates. He strode over to me as I jumped off Sue’s back, my Flight allowing me to glide gently to the ground.

  “Nice timing,” he drawled.

  “We aim to please. Your boss around?”

  “He’s dealing with a lot of crap right now. I’m sure he’s been informed of your arrival already, but give him a few minutes? He’ll be over to see you soon.”

  “No worries. You all okay here? That looked like a serious attack,” I said.

  Farnsworth nodded. “We will be, but I’m glad you showed when you did. I know for a fact we had at least ten fatalities, and a lot more than that injured. It could have been much worse. With the avians’ ability to fly right over our walls, they can attack our rear areas. Guarding the walls isn’t enough to stop them when they can just fly over.”

  “All the more reason to train up your entire population,” I said. “It’s suicide for anyone to be without crystals at this point, and it’s only going to get worse from here.”

  “Preaching to the choir,” Farnsworth replied. “I’ll go see about getting the colonel over here to meet with you. Keep the ratkin and the undead right near the gate, okay? I don’t want anyone thinking they’re more attackers, and there’s some very frightened civilians out there right now.”

  “Will do.”

  “Oh!” Farnsworth turned, before he left, and ushered someone else over toward me. “Got a friend of yours who wants to see you.”

  It was Kara, and judging from the look on her face she wasn’t especially thrilled with me at the moment. She stalked my way, glaring, as Farnsworth headed off to find Turner.

  Kara looked good. She was fully recovered from her injuries. There wasn’t even a splint on her leg, and I knew for certain both of her lower leg bones had been broken. In the old world, she’d have been in a cast for months. There was something to be said for all this magic stuff.

  Her scowl broke, and she smiled. That moment made my heart skip a beat. I’d been so scared when she got hurt, then more trying to get her to safety. I knew I’d left her to go fight solo, but I figured it was for the best. We were on a time limit, right?

  When I saw her looking angry, though, for a moment I thought I’d crossed a line, leaving with her. The smile told me everything was going to be all right.

  “You had me worried sick,” Kara said. We stepped away from the crowd to speak semi-privately.

  “Well, ditto. Don’t go diving into holes in the ground, maybe?”

  She laughed. “It wasn’t intentional! I take it you went back, got the stones from the undead we killed?”

  “Yeah. And more, besides,” I said. I filled her in on everything that had passed while she was unconscious. How I’d gotten her and Sue out of the ant hill, fighting our way to freedom, and then raced to get her here for medical care. Then further, about how I’d returned and gathered up the stones, then launched a full-scale assault on the ant nest itself.

  “By the time I was done with the ants, it was close enough to dawn that I didn’t want to miss the meeting with Patches. He kicked ass gathering more ratkin, by the way. There’s about sixty of them, and they made him their war leader!”

  “Good pick,” Kara replied. “So what tier are you now?”

  “Seven,” I replied. “Only for Animate Dead. But I have a lot of fives and sixes, and I’ve installed every stat crystal now. Well, all of them except…you know.”

  “Charisma?” Kara asked. When I nodded, she shrugged. “Selena, it’s just another power. If you wanted, you could use Animate Dead to hurt people. Or Drain Life to kill them. Charisma might encourage people to follow your ideas, but it’s not mind control. Trust me, I’ve had like six chats with Turner now, so I’ve had enough experience to feel pretty confident about this.”

  “Eh. It’s just… The whole concept feels weird,” I muttered.

  “You ever play RPGs?” Kara asked.

  “Not much, but I get the concept.”

  “Well, in RPGs there’s like, memes about some things. One of them is about high-charisma characters being able to seduce everything in sight, right?” Kara said. I rolled my eyes, and she went on. “Players have been using a stat to seduce monsters and stuff since RPGs were invented. I’m not saying you should do that! But this is a power, like all the other powers. I’m wondering if maybe it’s one you shouldn’t be avoiding, especially if you already have all the other stats embedded.”

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  I looked at my stone layout. Was she right? I had a space available for slotting something, but it had to be a clear stone. That could be Charisma, or something else.

  “For all we know, Charisma might boost your ability to control things,” Kara went on.

  “You think so?” If it boosted my Control Undead skill, it could be worth having on that basis alone. I still hesitated, because the idea of forcing others to do my bidding felt flat out wrong. But if I declined power that could help save all of us, then what did that make me?

  “I don’t know,” Kara replied. “It’s not something we’ve tested. But Selena, if you try it and it’s shitty, you can always take the stone back out.”

  She had a good point. I already had a tier four and tier three Charisma stone, plus a stack of singles. More than enough to get me to tier five, so I would still have an open spot to add some other stone. “Maybe we should try.”

  I pulled out the stones in question and quickly merged them together in my hand. By the time I was done, I’d created a tier five Charisma stone. I could only imagine what Turner would give for this, but I still didn’t want to hand it over to him. He was doing good work, but I didn’t fully trust the man. Giving him more power over the minds of others wasn’t in my game plan.

  Once they were all merged, I absorbed the stone. Instantly, I felt more confident, more sure of myself. It was like I knew that I’d always have the right words to say right on the tip of my tongue.

  “How’s it feel?” Kara asked. “Are you okay?”

  “I am, yeah. It doesn’t feel a lot different, but I think I can ace any public speaking classes from here on out.”

  She chuckled at that. “I don’t know about classes, but you’re going to almost certainly have some tests.”

  A commotion nearby got my attention. It was Turner, escorted by Farnsworth and a few other Guards, making their way through the crowd. “Selena! Nice work out there. You pulled our fat out of the fire in a big way, this time. It won’t be forgotten.”

  “That’s excellent, Colonel,” I told him, shaking his hand when he offered it. “I’ve brought my entire undead force, and a sizable army of ratkin as well. We’re ready to assault the mall. I was hoping we’d meet you here and pick up whatever forces the Guard could commit to the battle.”

  He grimaced. That wasn’t a good sign. “Walk with me?”

  I nodded, and we stepped away from the crowd. We walked far enough that we wouldn’t be overheard before Turner started talking. “I want to help. I do. But you saw what just happened out there. The avians had us on the ropes until you showed up. If I send even a large fraction of our fighting force away, then the base will be helpless. We’ll be overrun the instant they see our forces departing.”

  I’d worried he might try to pull something like this, after seeing the base under attack. “That zombie horde is only getting larger each night. If we don’t take it down soon, we’re all going to be looking for new homes.”

  “I know,” he replied, sounding serious. “I think I have a way forward that works for all of us. You have a good body of troops here, and Sue of course is a powerhouse. What I propose is you join us and together we attack the avians. Wipe them out, force them to flee—whatever works. Once they’re no longer a threat, then we can divert our entire force, yours and mine alike, to attacking the mall.”

  All through his little speech I felt his Charisma working against me, making his works sound more reasonable, more plausible. Part of me—a very small part, at this point—wanted to just agree with him.

  But I had a tier six Will to match Turner’s tier six Charisma. He’d ranked it since I met him the first time; I could sense the difference when he spoke. I also had my own tier five Charisma, which seemed to inure me to his powers somewhat, too. All of it added up to his words just not having the impact he was used to.

  When I opened my mouth, I tried to be respectful. He was working to keep his people safe—I couldn’t fault him for that. He was just wrong about how. “Colonel, I think you’re underestimating the risk the mall represents. It’s not the zombies I’m worried about, not really. I could probably take them with just my undead.”

  He raised an eyebrow at that, but I didn’t waver, so he shrugged, and I went on. “Whatever is behind that horde, though, is strong. I never saw it, but I felt its presence, and whatever it is, it’s much stronger than I am. I don’t think it’s just a tier eight. I’m thinking nine, or maybe ten. And it has to be growing stronger as its minions increase in numbers. If we don’t put a stop to it, this is going to end very badly. Hell, if I thought it would work, I’d invite the avians along, too. We could use every sword, bow, and spell caster we can bring to bear.”

  If only I could talk to the avians. Unlike the ratkin, they didn’t appear to understand English. Maybe they could be taught, and then maybe peace would be possible someday. But without communications, it’s difficult to get two groups to stop killing each other.

  “I understand your concerns,” Turner said. He paused, then shook his head. “I just don’t see how I can commit any troops to this engagement. Not when the avians are right there, ready to strike again. We lost a dozen people in the attack, and a couple more are touch and go—our healers are working to keep them alive. Selena, if I send even a token force with you, the avians will see it. They’ll attack as soon as Sue is out of sight.

  “Fight with us, though, and I can promise you the full might of the base. I’ll send enough troops with you to ensure victory. Together, we can beat the avians, then clear the mall, and after that? We’ll face whatever additional threats come our way, too.”

  Again, his words tugged at my heartstrings some. Part of it had to be the Charisma, but a good chunk was also just nature. I was barely into my twenties, and used to taking orders from older adults. Turner was acting like he was in charge, and that lent a power and weight to his words as well.

  The thing was, he was wrong. I knew that in my gut. What I’d sensed out there, it was bad, and it was coming for all of us. Each day we let that mall horde be, it was growing stronger. Eventually, we wouldn’t be able to beat it at all.

  Beyond that, of course, I didn’t actually have the right to commit the ratkin to any engagement beyond the mall battle. Patches agreed to help fight the evil living there. He’d gathered a good force of his people for that purpose. Now I was, what? Going to tell him we needed to hit another place first? How many ratkin would die fighting the avians? Would they still be willing to join the battle for the mall, after, or would they feel betrayed?

  I would feel betrayed, if I were them. I wasn’t doing that.

  “I don’t command the ratkin, Colonel. They offered to help with the mall, not with the avians.”

  “Then bring just your troops. The ratkin, you call them? They can wait here until we’ve defeated this enemy and join us for the next fight. With your undead and Sue, we can win this fight.”

  He was still trying to sway me, and I’d finally had enough. “I don’t think that battle will be as easy as you think it is, and frankly, I can’t risk it. Each day we leave the mall unattended, it’s growing as a threat. We need to deal with it, or we’re all done. Avians, humans, and ratkin alike—we’re all doomed, if that thing continues to grow unabated. If you won’t help, I accept that. But we’re going anyway.”