“Yoshimori, Falstaff, we still have things to do today, and I’ve got people coming over before spawn time tonight. I want you ready by half past six.” I gave the garage a quick visual sweep, light from the windows slanting across the boxes, tubs, and other stuff. Some of it hadn’t moved since before my accident.

  “That means all of you who can come. Tell your Guild Masters or Ryan if you can’t. We’ll have two extras tonight, and I want one of them in a party if we can.”

  I paused, thinking. “If any of you want to hunt spawns outside of this one, contact the police non-emergency number and see if they can tell you where you’re needed. Or who can do it. People were going out earlier today with a police or sheriff’s driver and one or two experienced people. You’ve got experience now.”

  “Yoshi. Your sword needs to be sharper. I’ll see if I can find someone to help you more than I can. Being a samurai and all…you don’t mind if that help is from a ninja, do you?” I grinned as the word ‘ninja’ sank in, and the shock hit his face.

  “Ya, you…you don’t mean Shadow, do you?” he stuttered.

  Laughing, I nodded, “Yes, I do. Let me see if she’ll help.”

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Got a moment? I have someone who needs help.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [watcha got?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [If you’re willing, I got a samurai who could use your help. He needs to learn proper blade care and whatever else you can teach. He tanked a Goblin today. Did good for first time out.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [yall know i might corrupt him]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Don’t do too much. He’s 17. Convert him to the dark side. Next-door neighbor bakes REAL good cookies.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [you are a nerd. ‘nuther reason i likes ya. I’ll do what i can]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Can I have him contact you directly?]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [ya. roger that. do it.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Thanks muchly. Later.]

  I set up a party chat with Shadow and myself.

  “Yoshi. Chat incoming.” I said, after losing my blank expression.

  [William of Brinsford:] [Yoshimori Takeda] [Shadow said yes. Work it out with her. Join the chat. Do NOT give that name out without her permission. Got it? Work out details with her now while we take care of other things.]

  [Yoshimori Takeda:] [William of Brinsford] [Got it. Shadow. Wow! Thank you!!!]

  Sending him the Party Chat request, I dropped out after he joined.

  “Okay. Yoshi has help, and he’s talking to her now. You can tell by the blank look on his face… well, blank except for that shit-eating grin.” I glanced at Megan. “Megan, we might need a batch of cookies for bribes.”

  “Bribes for what?” she asked, worried.

  “They’re the traditional bribe for converting someone to the dark side of the Force.”

  It took her a second, then she smiled, getting the joke. “Any type you want?”

  “Well…my t-shirt has what looks like chocolate chip cookies on it. I’ll show you later.”

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I think I know. Our kids watched all the Star Wars movies, so we watched them too. I can help.”

  “Thank you.” I gave her a big grin. “If you can have them ready by spawning time tonight, I’d appreciate it.” She nodded, still smiling.

  I’d been watching Mr. Flanagan while we talked. He looked ready to explode.

  “He didn’t take that joke well. Need to calm him down…don’t want to use magic on him. With her crucifix necklace, they’re probably Catholic. Irish Catholic’s a good bet.”

  “Mr. Flanagan,” I said gently. “That was a Star Wars fan joke. An old one. Nothing to do with real religions. At the Battle of Eddington, Father Stoddard supported us and blessed us before the fight. He was there, healing people behind the line. If you’re worried about your sons, please talk with him. If you don’t believe what you’ve seen here, ask him.”

  His wife whispered something to him, and I gave them a moment. He calmed a little.

  After she stopped, I asked, “Where do we go from here, Mr. Flanagan?”

  “My wife saw the video. She says Father Stoddard was there. It was on TV.” He took a long breath, letting it out slow. “I don’t know how you made my son’s sword glow like that… I know, I know, you’re going to say magic. And I saw you stop bleeding. There was blood on my son’s sword.” His shoulders slumped, deflating.

  We all gave him room. Even his family stayed quiet.

  “I’ll call Father Stoddard. If he says my sons should be part of this…I’ll allow it.”

  There were quiet thank you’s from everyone crowed into my garage, including me.

  “If you’re willing, may I enchant James’ gear too? We’re expecting another spawn at seven tonight. Last two were across the street at the old Speedy Pizza. If you come, you can watch. You don’t have to fight. Just watch.”

  “How safe will it be? For our sons and ourselves?” he asked, glancing at his wife.

  “For you? Perfectly safe if you stay back. There are ten in their guild, plus me, and at least two others coming. Both are FBI agents, and I’m sure they’ll be armed and wearing tac vests.”

  “One of them is Blaze, a Fire Mage, probably level four or five now. I haven’t seen anything yet that can get through that many people.”

  “And you still want my sons to…what did you call it, tank these monsters?”

  “Unless we find a better tank, yes. They did it this afternoon. I didn’t have time to enchant their gear then. They’ll be stronger and tougher now, and they know what they’re facing.”

  I looked at James and Jack. Really, the two young men.

  “Did either of you get hit during the fight this afternoon?” Jack was back with us. His talk with Shadow must have ended.

  “Just my shield,” James said, lifting it. “Couple dents. They died too fast to get past it.”

  “Sorta,” Jack said. “I felt a hit on my arm, hurt for a moment, then went away. Nothing cut my jacket.”

  “Meg, did you heal him?” I asked.

  She was grinning. “Sure did. Saw it and got it right away. I don’t think it was more than a bruise, but I wanted to be faster for him than I was for you. I’ll be ready to heal Jack again if he needs it.”

  “And if he needs a little mendin’ on his jacket next time, I’ll help him out,” she added with a big smile.

  Jack’s father nodded. “Go ahead. I guess it won’t hurt to have him ready. If you’re right, he’ll be safer. If you’re wrong, he won’t be any worse off.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Flanagan,” I said, then turned to James. “Hold out your sword and shield. I’ll do your mail shirt after.”

  He did. I laid my hands on his shield, giving it +1 DEFENSE, then added +1 STRENGTH to his sword. Last, I placed my hand on his chest, against the chainmail, and gave his armor another +1 DEFENSE. No theatrics this time.

  “Jack now has a +2 DEFENSE and +1 STRENGTH. That’ll do for now. We can look at your sword or the shield dents later if you want.”

  Jack shook his head no. “I’ll keep the dents. They’re a reminder.”

  I nodded. “Everyone coming tonight, be ready out front by 6:45. Wear whatever armor you can. I’ll give you some protection too. Work out your parties. You’re a guild now. You choose.”

  Pausing, and looking around at them. “Be ready for people watching. Have someone to keep people and cars away from the spawn site. If you know anyone who doesn’t believe, invite them to see it.”

  Glancing at the Flanagans. “If anyone needs anything specific from me, stick around.”

  “Otherwise, I should be out helping with spawns in the county, and I’ve got other things to handle. Now that I remember it, if they’re operational, you can get help through the ESR, Eddington System Response, downtown. They might have a web page by now…not sure if they have a phone number yet.”

  A few minutes later, they were gone. The house was quiet, and I refilled my coffee in the kitchen, the midafternoon light warm through the window. With that replenishment, I headed back to my office.

  A few Amazon searches later, I’d ordered more wand and battery supplies, hoping deliveries would still run for a few days. I added crafting and armoring supplies, just in case things got worse.

  I’m not much of a maker, but I’d learned a lot of small skills over the years. My wife was the crafter, but I learned to help. Learned to make and repair some of my SCA gear too.

  Almost two hundred dollars later, I closed the window and sat back, hoping the package would arrive.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAMyh8DjCrQ

  DISCORD channel. (John.Malkin.Writer) if you want to ask questions, make suggestions, or just talk about the story, come join it. You can go directly to the channel. It should now be a never expires link. In case it doesn't work, you can always contact me for a current join request.