“Why do they call you Warchief, and where does that saying come from?” She asked, then pointing her mic at me.

  “It came from Gar-Kosh. The Orc. He took it from a computer game called World of Warcraft, or WoW. Orcs are on one side, part of the Horde. They call their leader the Warchief, and Lok-tar ogar is Orcish for ‘Victory or death.’ Orcs are very warlike.”

  “He and his wife were human this morning,” I continued. “They both played WoW and found they could choose to be the race they usually played. We rescued them from their neighbors, who didn’t recognize them and were afraid of them. I hope they won’t be afraid them and others like them anymore.”

  “Thank you. You look more like a swordsman than a mage. Something out of The Three Musketeers. Why is that?”

  “These clothes are from what I’ve done for fun for years. I know how to use swords. I’ve even taught others. In games, I usually play a magic user. So, if anyone ever gets close enough…or I run out of MANA…I can use the sword."

  "I’m wearing this doublet because the Game uses intent. This is cloth armor for rapier fencing, so it treats it as cloth armor in the Game. That makes me harder to hit…or hurt. It wouldn’t treat what you’re wearing as armor, because you don’t see it that way.”

  “Why did you set your troops up the way you did? It looked like something medieval. Not like modern soldiers,” Vanessa asked me.

  “It was. It’s how I’ve fought in real life, and I thought it’d be the best choice given our forces. The police shields are mostly bulletproof, and the other side had a lot of guns. This way our people had both physical and magical protection. Also, the Game is more medieval fantasy than modern military combat.”

  Stopping, I realized something. “It may take a few months or years, but I think a magic user will eventually be able to take on a modern tank by themselves and win. If they can get within range.”

  “That…that is just…I was about to say unbelievable, but after today, I might believe it. What are your plans now, Mr. Warchief?”

  “Just Warchief. And I don’t like the title. I won’t use it unless we have to do something like this again…or worse. I’m just a man doing his best to help his neighbors, and myself, survive.”

  “How are you going to do that?” Vanessa asked into her mic, then pointing it back at me.

  “I’d already guessed it, but while we were getting ready, one of the archers…don’t know her name…told me the Game Rules now mention Game monsters spawning. We need to get everyone ready to deal with them. Once we have mages at Level 10 who can cast WARD spells, we can cover the spawning sites and stop them. I believe the Game is doing things this so average people can level up, become more powerful.”

  Pausing for breath again, I let the weight of that settle in. Around us, volunteers and police tended to the prisoners, while others carefully covered the bodies of the dead. The groups of watchers with their phones had broken up as well. The late afternoon light stretched long shadows across the grass and parking lots.

  “Most people aren’t the adventuring type,” I said. “They don’t want to go around killing things. They just want to stay home, keep their family safe like always, until the world figures out what’s going on.”

  Stopping again, I looked up at the sky, thinking, gazing at a more clouds drifting eastward in the pale blue sky.

  Turning back to her, I continued. “Those of us who can…we’re the ones who have to. We’ll put our lives on the line again like we did today. If that doesn’t make us the average person, then I guess we aren’t. I think it’s the same thing that makes police and firemen go to work every day. It’s their way of helping everyone.”

  Vanessa nodded.

  “Can you tell us something about the others who were here today? The station’s had hundreds of messages asking about them. The internet’s full of questions.”

  “I bet it is,” I said, grinning. “I know people online want to know everything about everyone as soon as this happened. That’s part of why I’m here and most of the rest aren’t. I met many of them for the first time today. Some not until this afternoon. I still don’t know most of their names.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Those are the most common questions.”

  “There are exceptions when you’ve lived somewhere long enough. Like the Chief of Police, the County Sheriff…Father Stoddard, the local parish priest. I’m not Catholic, but I’ve supported his church and school over the years. He’s a good man. Devout. His BLESSING helped all our defenses. He also helped heal. The Bard, Nimblefingers, helped with our attack and defense power through his singing. I didn’t know him before today.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “I see. Thank you. I met the others of your party, as you called it, before the battle. Some of them were very…” She paused, searching for the word. “…intense. I understand one is an FBI agent?”

  “Her jacket gives it away,” I said with a quick laugh. “That’s Blaze. A Fire Mage. And yes, she can be intense. I think it goes with her job. I met her for the first time today, during the Council Chambers incident. She immediately offered to help, and then joined us afterwards on a few calls for help. One of them was where we met Gar-Kosh…and the guy who was on the roof with you.”

  “I know who you mean. He was interesting, to say the least. Agent Po...”

  Quickly cutting her off, I said, “No real names, please. Unless someone uses them or they’re public figures. Use Game Names if you know them. I know you saw her badge and ID. She is an FBI agent who happened to be in town. I know with the internet today, they’ll find people. If it’s Game-related, best to keep it that way for now.”

  Vanessa looked surprised, but nodded. “Thank you. I hadn’t thought about that. We rarely mention people’s names unless we have permission or they’re central to the story. What about the man on the roof? He said to call him PokerRun.”

  “Thank you,” I said with a smile. “His class is Hunter, with Marksman as a subclass. I think he was a competitive shooter before all this…and clearly a hunter.”

  “He said he shot Mz Blaze three times and didn’t hit her. She dared him to do it. Is that true? How could he miss?”

  “He didn’t miss. Every shot was right on target. Blaze said she was looking down the rifling of the barrel. He was maybe ten feet away.”

  “Then how?”

  “SHIELDs. Same reason very few bullets landed on us during the fight. In that case, her FIRE SHIELD and my MANA SHIELD stopped the bullets.”

  “I understand what a FIRE SHIELD is. I saw them today. What’s a MANA SHIELD?”

  “My specialty is MANA. MANA powers all magic in the Game. I manipulate it directly. My shield’s strength depends on how much MANA I use to power it. FIRE SHIELDs have fixed strength and cost. Between the two of ours, we stopped his shots.”

  “Her shield dropped on the second bullet, but she cast it again before the third shot. That’s when he stopped. He might be a good ol’ boy hunter from deep in the woods…but he’s not stupid. Far from it.”

  Vanessa nodded. “I listened while they were talking about guns and hunting. Don’t hear that much in my line of work. But I had a question about someone else in your group… someone I met under interesting circumstances today.”

  Laughing, I added, “I wondered how long it’d take you to get to her. Yeah…that was interesting. Educational, too. I doubt you want to talk about it on the air.”

  “Thank you, Will. You’re right. It’s not important. But we’ve had many inquiries about the Ninja and the others who got behind enemy lines like they weren’t being seen. I couldn’t see them, but the camera did. Why did you send them? Why couldn’t I see them?”

  “Their leader’s Shadow. A Ninja…Thief subclass. I formed the Sneak and Peek squad to find out what the other side was doing, and whether they had more reinforcements. And also, to do what they did…attack from behind.”

  “That’s what Ninjas and Thieves are good at. For those who couldn’t tell…Shadow’s a woman, and from what I’ve seen, deadly. She moves silently, even without using her STEALTH ability. That’s the ability that makes them invisible to people.”

  “I didn’t know cameras could see them.” I added, after a short pause for thought.

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Just found out cameras can see through STEALTH. You were visible on TV during the fight.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [Shit! Thnx. jus got here lookin 4 kids]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Thank you. Let me know when you find them.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [roger that]

  “Will? What happened? Your face looked blank, like you went somewhere for a second,” Vanessa asked.

  “Game chat does that. I just told Shadow about being on camera. Her comment was…and I quote, ‘Shit!’ She’ll pass it on to her squad.”

  “You trusted her to do that? You just met her today.”

  “Mz Tarcheski…I trusted her before I ever spoke to her. Don’t ask me why. She had full Ninja gear before the Game even started. She speaks Japanese. Trained in multiple martial arts. And she moves like it. I wish we had a dozen of her. Male, female, whatever, I don’t care.”

  “We’ve had people trying to reach her. How can they contact her?”

  “They can’t. She doesn’t give out her real name. I’ve never seen her full face and don’t know where she lives…and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. She doesn’t want fame. She’s a Ninja.”

  We both laughed, and so did a few people standing near us.

  “You can tell them she’s a creature of the shadows,” I added. “So…ask a shadow if she’s there. Want to find out what happens if you do find her? I don’t. I can reach her when she’s needed. She doesn’t do interviews or bios.”

  “I understand. I don’t want her angry with me,” she replied, half-laughing.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get things organized for what’s next.”

  Pointing off to the side. “Bhaarrt and Ingrid are over there. You should interview them. You’ll be the first reporter in history to interview a real live Ogre. And Orcs too.”

  “Thank you for that thought. And thank you for your time, William of Brinsford, Warchief of Eddington.”

  She hurried off, Keven and his camera in tow.

  [Blaze:] [William of Brinsford] [Will! I’m with Shadow. We got the kids. They’re alright. Let people know. See you later.]

  Leaving her, I waited. Luis Bucchino…our mayor…approached. He'd been waiting for the interview to be over. Surprisingly he looked like he wanted to talk to me. Most of the people following him…didn’t. They looked more like they’d just tasted vinegar.

  DISCORD if you want to ask questions, make suggestions, or just talk about the story.