Zoey’s Story

 

“Seeing the slow decay of the Conservative psyche has gone from being hilarious to frankly sad. Back in the day, we laughed ourselves stupid over them foaming at the mouth about ‘pronouns’ and ‘forced diversity’ and the old favorite thought-terminating cliche: ‘woke’. But did we ever consider what kind of hell they’ve let themselves sink into? As the rage machine of their media feeds continues to exponentially increase in fervor and provides an endless stream of things for the Right to be angry about, they’ve honestly forgotten how to be happy. The only thing that gives them any kind of sensation at all is the fury. And as with any drug, they have to keep upping the dose to get the same result.

I sometimes worry that the advent of the REMbox and the REMnet has basically taken away the brief escape of sleep that the previous generation of Conservatives used to have. Now, either through games, REMstreams or REMchats, they get to achieve the 24-hour experience of unbroken fury and hate. A sort of anti-Nirvana. As much as they claim to believe that us ‘liberals’ are destined to an unending hell of separation and suffering, we’re not the ones that willingly submerged ourselves into it.”

-Dr. Yasmin Parker, from her book “All Right: How I Escaped a Hate Group and Found Myself”, published November 2034

________________________________________________________

It was haunting to see the jail cells all around me so empty. 

I knew the reason why, of course. Either the prisoners had broken out during the griefer attack or they had simply stopped playing the game entirely.

Or, as I spotted some disquieting, dark stains on the stone floors, they might have taken another way out of their situation. Dying and respawning. Even if it was a game, I couldn’t imagine anyone doing something like that to themselves.

Finally, at the end of the torchlit corridor, I saw one cell was still occupied.

He didn’t seem that different from when I saw him last. In game or out of it, he basically looked like the scared, jittery mess that he always was. The quiet misery on his face was something I recognized all too well. I knew what it was like to be trapped in a cage of fear and faith.

He was facing away from the bars, visibly sketching out something on a bundle of paper, muttering to himself. I cleared my throat and he jumped as he looked over his shoulder.

“Holy shit,” Devon murmured, unsteadily rising to his feet as he set aside his notepad and charcoal stick on a nearby cot. “It’s you… Zoey, right?”

It felt strange for my name to come out of his lips so casually. As I watched him, I saw no trace of recognition in his expression. He really didn’t have any idea who I was. He didn’t recognize me from church or even from providing us a food order at the drive-thru. As far as he was concerned, I was the fierce warrior who had deigned to spare his life and nothing more.

“So… I guess I owe you,” Devon sighed, scratching at his head as he didn’t quite meet my gaze. “For the whole… not-killing-me-thing. Uh… thanks. So… I’m assuming Harlow sort of filled you in about me?”

“I know who you are, Devon,” I said, watching him closely. “I know who you were working for, what you’ve done and why you did it.”

The last four words made him wince. “Uh… ‘why I did it’?” he asked warily. 

“Jacob’s blackmailing you,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Forcing you to play along with his Chosen of Sword and Flame bullshit. I don’t blame you.” I added, holding up my hands as he winced with guilt. “I know how fear can make you do some fucked up things.”

He snorted. “No offense… but I can’t imagine you’re afraid of much of anything.” He quirked his head to the side. “So… who are you to Harlow anyway? Friend? Guildie? ”

I took in a deep breath and slowly let it slip through my teeth. “I am Harlow, Devon,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

He nodded. “Oh, same last name, so you’re like a relative?” he said, nodding, “You do look a little like him. A cousin or something?”

“Devon, it’s me,” I insisted, stepping closer, “We talked after Bible study. You told me what happened to you. I told you I’d help you. It’s me. It’s been me this entire time.”

Devon’s face contorted into a knot of confusion as he raked my face with his eyes for a few moments. His mouth moved for a moment without making any kind of noise as he tried to process my words. It was only after what felt like an eternity that his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull as he stumbled back to the cell wall.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” he shouted, covering his mouth in a gasp. “Seriously?! How in the fuck…” He fell silent for another moment, a realization slowly dawning in his eyes as he stepped forward. “Oh… oh shit. You’re… trans, aren’t you?”

I nodded, not quite trusting myself to speak as I felt that suddenly I was the one trapped in a cell. 

Devon shook his head. “Woah… holy shit… I… I never would have guessed. I mean, I met some trans people at conversion camp, so I know about how that works… but you?! You’re a… transgender?”

“A transgender girl, actually,” I said, with a strained smile. “Yeah.”

“Shit…” he breathed, shaking his head. “So you were the one who took out our whole party at that farm. And you’re working with the Guardians?”

I nodded. “Yeah… this world lets me be my true self…I can’t let the griefers tear it apart. This was a safe place for me. It was home. I have to protect it.”

He heaved out a sigh, pressing his lips together. “I kind of wish I had something like that. I never really cared about this game all that much. It was just another place for Jacob to bully me.” He buried his head into his hands, groaning. “Fuck… it’s all so goddamned fucked up. I told myself that if I just kept my head down and went along with everything for another few years, I could get out… But it never seems to fucking end.”

I reached through the bars to grab his shoulder. 

He jerked in surprise at the contact, but didn’t step away. “How… how are you doing all this? You handled Jacob like a pro and you… you really look… confidant, I guess. And when you’re like this, you look… happy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you really smile before.”

I snorted a little, shaking my head. “I’m a mess, Devon. In the real world, I broke my arm, screwed up my ankle, ran away from home and am living out of a friend’s house. I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow, or how I’m going to face the future… but I have the right people around me. I know that whatever I need, I can look to them for support.” I squeezed his shoulder, “And I want to do that for you.”

He stared at me in awe. “You… you’d do that?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. You’re… part of the family.”

Devon stared at me wordlessly for a moment, looking down at his feet. “I… I never really thought of the whole LGBTQ community thing as being real. It was just letters to describe a bunch of different people. I never felt like I was part of something bigger. I always thought that my problems were my own… and that I’d have to face them on my own.” He blinked, wiping at his eyes, “At the camp, they kept us separated… we weren’t allowed to make friends. We didn’t even know each other’s first names. The only thing we really did together was…” he sniffed. “Crying. Every night one person would break first… and everyone else would follow.” He looked up at me with a wet smile. “I… I’m sorry Z-Zoey. I’m not as brave as you are… but I think I want to be. I think I want to follow you and see if any of it rubs off.”

“You’re not alone anymore, Devon,” I said seriously, looking deep into his bloodshot eyes. “You. Are. Not. Alone. We’ll get you the help you need out there… and you can help us here.”

He frowned, raising an eyebrow. “How?”

I broke into a wide grin and told him my plan.

______________________________________________________

“This is fucking insane…” sighed Devon, blinking into the sunlight as me and Gavin followed him out of the prison. “You know that, right, Zoey?”

“I told her the exact same thing,” snorted Gavin, shaking his head. “But I’ve learned pretty quickly that my girl is gonna do what she’s gonna do. I just need to be ready to pick up the pieces afterwards.”

I flushed in embarrassment. “Oh come on… I’m not that bad.” I frowned. “Right?”

“Zoey… you led us into battle, you became chosen by the gods, you ran away from home and you literally talked down someone who had a sword pointed at you,” sighed Gavin, shaking his head. “You’re a hero, sweetheart. Sorry.”

“You really ran away from home?” said Devon, eyes wide. “Like your sister?”

“Yeah… we’re staying with friends together,” I said, nodding, “Still trying to figure out how to get to safety, but we’re finally away from Dad.”

Devon thought for a minute, looking down at his feet. “Could… could you help me escape, too?”

I stopped and turned to face him, seeing him wilt under the attention. I didn’t think about the how or the consequences. Those weren’t important. I simply said. “Yes.”

“I… I can’t keep doing this,” groaned Devon. “The work hours, the Bible studies, the-” he cringed, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. “I’ve… I’ve been thinking about… doing something bad. I don’t want to go to Hell, but it feels like I’m already there, sometimes.”

I wrapped him in a hug. He flinched and squirmed under the contact, but accepted it. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered into his ear. “Of course we’ll help you.”

“We will?” asked Gavin skeptically. “Uh, babe… we don’t even have a way to help ourselves right now.”

“We’ll work it out,” I said, nodding as I stepped back from Devon. I held up the back of my hand. “I’ve got the protection of a goddess, remember?”

“One divine intervention and it all goes to your head,” snorted Gavin. Devon peered at my hand.

“Holy shit… you really got powers?!” breathed Devon in awe. “I heard about people getting magic and shit, but I thought it was just bullshit.” He looked at me warily. “Like… what can you do?”

“Uh… start glowing, healing myself and kicking some griefer ass, I think,” I said, frowning at the brand. “I mean… it didn’t come with a tutorial or any kind of instructions.”

“Zoey!” called out Leon, with the others following behind. While Frieda still didn’t look particularly thrilled by Devon being released from prison, she didn’t comment. I drew the others closer with a wave and began to speak.

“So… after talking with Devon, I think I know how we can beat these assholes,” I said, looking at all of the other Guardians. I was amazed to see how they all readily paid attention. “The first thing you all need to know is that the Grief Eaters aren’t a unified group. They’re a bunch of different groups, each with their own leaders.”

“The Steel Crusade is run by ‘God Emperor’ Voll,” said Devon, rolling his eyes at the title. “He runs some stupid knockoff imageboard that exists to make people’s lives hell. They act like medieval crusaders, shouting memes and basically being bad roleplayers. They were the ones who attacked the city here.”

“We’re familiar,” said Leon, wincing.

“Next, you got the Skeptical Squad. They’re made up of SkepticalSchroeder and his UVid cult,” Devon continued. “They’re a bunch of… ‘rationalist’ know-it-alls who play themselves off as chessmaster, expert strategists. Their leader, Schroeder himself, has a channel where he posts his videos owning the libs with ‘facts and reason’ or whatever.”  

“Isn’t that the rich asshole who lost his shit when a girl broke up with him and turned his whining into a fucking grift?” asked Gavin. 

“Yup,” sighed Devon. “Uh… There’s the Goon Troop. They’re… sort of weird. Corrin Reede calls himself their leader, but most of them don’t really listen to him. He just hosts the site they all post on while they all dunk on him.”

“Didn’t he get arrested for tax evasion or something?” said Gavin, frowning faintly.

“House arrest… which doesn’t apply to RoEM, I guess,” said Devon, shrugging. “The Groopers themselves are mostly focused on destroying shit just because it’s there. They do crazy stunts because they want to break the game and find exploits or whatever. They wanna leave their mark on the game, even if that mark is a smoking crater.”

“Mmm,” I grunted, wincing at the vivid image of Whiteoak Falls reduced to a crater. Marianne put a comforting hand on my shoulder, squeezing it.

“You got the Faceless, and holy shit you gotta watch out for them,” said Devon, shuddering. “They wear masks and do whatever the fuck they want for shits and giggles. Not even the other factions trust them, because they’ll stab you in the back if they think it's funny. They don’t have a leader and do their own thing. They probably have a lot of members in the other factions, because all it takes to become one of the Faceless is to throw on a mask and do something fucked up.”

“Wait… weren’t they the ones who leaked all those… nude photos last year?” said Leon, frowning, “I remember the video of that guy on the news with the mask and the voice changer.”

“All you gotta do to join the Faceless is say that you’re one of them and wear a mask,” said Gavin, shaking his head. “So they get credit for some fucked up shit.”

 “And last but not least, we have the Chosen of Sword and Flame, run by Grand Knight Jacob,” Devon said, trying not to let the scale of our enemies tear me apart. “Me and Zoey both know him in person and he’s a fucking psychopath. The Chosen kill women, anyone who isn’t white and anyone who looks queer. NPC or PC, they just slaughter them and leave burning crosses behind.”

“But they want to recruit me,” I insisted, stepping forward. “Devon is supposed to take me to Jacob so I can join them. And if I can get into his group, then we can work against them. Lead them into a trap.”

“Not to rain on your parade,” said Leon, raising an eyebrow. “But I don’t think he’ll be very interested in recruiting you if he sees… well… you.” He gestured to me vaguely.

“I’m kind of surprised that he asked you to join in the first place,” Milo chimed in, wrinkling his nose as he adjusted the oversized sword on his shoulder. “Aren’t they all like, ‘women belong in the kitchen’ or that kind of shit?” 

“The Chosen are really bad guys,” said Steven, eyes wide in terror. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near them, Miss Zoey!”

“Right,” said Milo, nodding. “So why did they recruit you?”

There was a deep discomfort hanging in the air as I realized that Milo and Steven didn’t know I was transgender. The NPCs around us looked mildly perplexed by what we were talking about, but none of them commented on any of it.

“Because they think I’m a guy,” I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest uncomfortably.

“What?! How?!” said Milo, looking me up and down. “I mean… not to be rude, but I don’t think anyone could think you were a guy, Zoey.”

Steven frowned for a second before something seemed to click. His eyes widened as he nodded slowly. “Oh! Oh… well… you are a girl, right?” said Steven, watching me carefully.

“Yes…” I said firmly. “In all the ways that matter.”

“We have someone at school who changed,” said Steven earnestly. “I don’t know why they’re so mean to him when he acts like any other boy.”

“Wait, what? I… still don’t get it…” said Milo warily, looking down at Steven.

The twelve-year-old gave a long-suffering sigh as he nodded to me and took Milo’s hand. “I’ll explain it to him. Keep going, Zoey.”

“Thanks,” I said, relieved to see Steven and Milo step away for a moment. “Okay, so if I can get into the Chosen I can trick them into a trap. Pull them away from Golddell into an ambush.”

“Our best estimates put us at being outnumbered by the Chosen thirty-to-one, Zoey,” said Leon, shaking his head. “And that’s assuming the other factions don’t join in. Even with an ideal ambush, they’re going to rally and crush us no matter how many casualties we can put on them. We don’t have enough troops, plain and simple.”

“You have the entire guard of Whiteoak at your call,” said Frieda sternly. “We will gladly lay down our lives to end this threat.”

“And us as well,” called out a familiar voice from the cave. Forgemaster Alexander stepped out alongside a number of dwarves, smiths and miners by the hammers and pickaxes they carried. “Goodness, ladies, did you think that you were the only smiths willing to turn these invaders to slag?”

Me and Marianne stared at him in shock as Alexander chuckled. He hefted up a massive hammer over his shoulders like it was a toy. “We had to hide deep in the caves and rally ourselves, but we’re ready to give them a little payback, eh?”

“Sir,” I said, wiping at my eyes. “You don’t-”

“Nonsense,” barked Alexander, shaking his head. “This is our home, Zoey. Gods forbid that we don’t do everything we can to protect it.”

“We’ll follow your lead, Zoey,” said Marianne, putting an arm around my shoulder. “We believe in you. Hells, the gods themselves seem to believe in you. I know we can trust you.”

Leon frowned for a moment. “We’ll need more fighters. But I think I know where we can find them,” he nodded to himself and pointed to the north. “We’ll need to move north. There’s an outpost… or the remains of an outpost on the northern edge of the Sylvan Woods. We can use that as a base of operations to gather our forces.” He looked out among the group, his face drawn. “I can’t guarantee that the woods are completely clear, but if we travel in force, we should be able to take down any scouting parties.”

“Who could we possibly find to help us?” asked one of the guardsmen I didn’t recognize.

Leon chuckled as he shot me a glance. “We’re going to find the Valkyries.”

My eyes widened. There was an uproar of awe and surprise among the others and I realized that even the NPCs knew of their exploits. It was strange to think that right now I was sleeping in the same apartment as two of their members, Jade and Anika. 

“Do you think they’ll really help us?” asked Frieda warily, “While I’ve heard they only target true villains, can they really be trusted? They aren’t called the Scourge of the Plains for nothing.”

“I admit,” sighed Leon, shaking his head, “That I prefer to reason with my enemies rather than kill them… but I can’t deny that they have been effective in keeping the Kingdom safer than it would be otherwise.”

“I heard that they can fly through the air!” called out one of the miners.

“My brother says he saw one of them ride a beast of steel and fire!” declared one of the guardsmen.

I raised my eyebrows, exchanging a glance with Leon. 

He shrugged as he spoke. “I can’t confirm or deny all of the rumors about them, but they are… well… uniquely skilled, to say the very least.”

“And you’re sure you can trust them? Even if you manage to find them at all?” insisted Frieda, concerned.

“They’re good people,” I said, nodding firmly. “They’ll help us, for sure.”

Frieda sighed as she looked over her shoulder to the other members of the guard. She turned back to us, frowning. “Well… we can’t just wait for them to finish us off. If the Capital of Golddell falls, the rest of the Kingdom will swiftly follow.” She drew her sword and all of us flinched at the motion.

“Leon,” she said, kneeling before him, planting her sword into the ground. “I pledge to you, your Guardians and your cause, the City Guard of Whiteoak Falls. Even into death, we shall follow you.”

Nodding to himself, Forgemaster Alexander followed suit, kneeling with his hands put upon his hammer. “The Smiths of Whiteoak Falls as well.” He gave me and Marianne a wink. “We’re not about to let our best smiths get away from us that easily.”

Marianne nudged me with an elbow and nodded in agreement. “It would be kind of inconvenient to lose my apprentice.”

“Or my favorite customers,” rumbled Gresh, planting his fist in his palm. “Can’t let you have all the fun.”

“We’ve been hiding in the mines long enough,” called out what I assumed to be the miner’s forewoman, a short, squat dwarf with a number of badges on her coveralls. “You need us to swing a pick or a hammer, you’ve got it.”

“T-thank you everyone,” I said, blinking back tears as I looked around me. I was terrified of losing them. I desperately wanted them to live through what was to come. And I knew that I would have to fight just as hard as the others to keep them alive.

“Alright, we leave in an hour,” called out Leon, “Gather everything you can find and get it ready to move! Supplies! Weapons! Rations! Any who remain here need to hide themselves. I can’t guarantee that other Griefers won’t spaw- er… arrive here in our absence. Let’s move!”

Everyone went into motion. Gavin and Syd turned to one another in a conversation I couldn’t follow over the noise. Leon and Frieda went into a discussion over a map to discuss the best path to the outpost. Marianne, Odric and Alexander went to talk about bringing tools to keep their weapons sharp and make new ones.

And lastly, Milo and Steven approached me, with Milo looking mildly embarrassed. 

“Uh… sorry about that Zoey,” he mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes. “I… um… I’m not super… uh… with that… that kind of thing. Hope I didn’t say or do anything stupid.”

I shook my head. “Milo… you’re fine. Just treat me the same way you treated me when we first met on launch day.”

“God, that feels like a million years ago,” he sighed, looking around us. “We stood right here, right?”

“Yeah,” I said, realizing that we had gathered beside the falls, in front of the guardhouse on that day. “I don’t know why it’s just us, though. There were a ton of players back then. Where is everyone else?”

“They’re waiting for this to blow over,” grunted Milo, with a frown. “Finding another game to play while we do all the work to kick the griefers out. Fuck… RoEM should be paying us for this shit… we’re cleaning up their mess.”

“I don’t know why they don’t just ban them,” said Steven, scratching at his head. “I’ve only heard of a few people in the Crusade who actually got banned for anything.”

“Uh…” I gritted my teeth, uncertain if I was allowed to talk about the AIs or not. “I think… they’re too overwhelmed. Too many players and not enough mods.”

“I guess,” sighed Milo, looking around himself distantly. “I gotta say though… this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. I… I’m a fucking janitor in the real world. I scrub toilets and pick up shit. I dropped out of high school last year and just sort of… stopped caring. I’d duck into games just so I could feel like I had actually accomplished something. But… this game… it almost makes me feel like I actually could do something in the real world. Like, maybe I’m not a colossal fuck-up.”

“You guys… are my friends,” sniffed Steven, smiling up at us. “This game is scary right now… but you actually care about me and are fighting to make it better. You make me feel brave enough that I might be able to fight, too. Fight to help people, this time.” He stepped forward and hugged us, awkwardly smooshing me and Milo together.

Milo flushed slightly in embarrassment and I, too, felt a little awkward in being suddenly close to him like this, but Steven quickly released us and allowed us to step back to a more reasonable distance.

“Uh… s-sorry,” Milo mumbled, blushing a little brighter as he looked away from me. “That… that black guy is your boyfriend, right?”

“Yeah, his name is Gavin,” I said with a smile, another flash of happiness from being reminded of that.

“Gotcha,” sighed Milo, nodding to himself. “Yeah… I kinda figured… you two… look… happy together.”

“It’s okay Milo,” said Steven, patting him on the back. “You’ll find the right girl.”

“Uh… right…” said Milo, looking down at Steven, clearing his throat. “G-girl.”

“Or boy,” I added, suddenly realizing. “Or both. Or neither.”

Milo laughed awkwardly, turning an even brighter shade of red. “Bleugh… um… yeah… I’m… still sort of… working that out.” He leaned on his ludicrously oversized blade (seriously, it looked like he had taken a slab of steel and attached it to a handle… how did he lift it?) and hunched inward, almost defensively. “Uh… considering I wasn’t much for socializing and talking to anyone, regardless of gender, I got some… thinking to do for that kind of thing.”

“Take your time,” I said, smiling warmly at him. 

“Alright everyone ready?” called out Leon, snapping us back to attention. “We need to get moving if we’re going to reach the outpost by nightfall! Let’s move!”

As we all began to slowly make our way to the outskirts of Whiteoak Falls, I couldn’t help but take one more look over my shoulder to the town that I had spent my entire time in RoEM within. The Falls had seen better days, but I had to believe that we could help this place heal. The great waterwheel would turn again beneath the torrent of water and the grand tree would once more teem with life. The fields would be full again and the people would, finally, be safe.

But in order to do that… we would have to leave. I would have to take the first step into the world beyond and be willing to fight with everything I had to drive the Griefers out of this game.

Gavin reached out and squeezed my hand as he saw my hesitation. I turned to face him, and while we didn’t say anything, he nodded to acknowledge my obvious struggle. I forced out a sigh, leaned my head against his for a moment, gathering strength, and followed him and everyone else into the deep woods beyond.

Marianne, Gresh and some hunters took point to scout ahead of us, ensuring that we weren’t going to be walking into an ambush. The trees weren’t exactly dense, given that we were traveling along the main road. They were carved into the woods to allow large caravans such as our own, even if we weren’t interested in the usual trade or commerce. All the same, each random noise in the woods surrounding us sounded like danger. I constantly turned my head to each possible threat and felt my heart jolt in my chest in a raw panic every time.

The others around me weren’t any less paranoid. I saw Syd sniffing at the air as his head swiveled around us. Leon held up the caravan a few times to ensure that it was safe to proceed. And Steven actually hid behind me a few times when he thought he saw something.

I was surprised to see Devon wasn’t particularly phased by all this. I looked at him curiously as we made our way into the woods. “You’re remarkably calm…”

“Sure,” he said with a shrug, “I mean… yeah it’s kinda tense… but once you’ve died, it really doesn’t worry you as much. Respawn and try again.”

“Is… that what it’s like being a Griefer?” I asked, blinking at him, “You just… stop caring?”

“It’s inconvenient, obviously,” he sighed, “Like… you saw that Jacob was pissed when I got killed before the big raid and had to team up with the Crusaders here instead of him and the Chosen back at Duneport. But it’s not like it’s permadeath or anything.”

I shook my head. “I don’t get it… I’d be terrified of never seeing all my friends… Ending up on the other side of the world. The players and NPCs, they’re important to me… I would miss the connections.”

Devon nodded. “I… I sort of get that now… but the problem is that the other Griefers aren’t going to give a shit.” He gave me a serious look. “It’s going to make you weaker if you’re afraid of dying.”

“Or… maybe I can be stronger if I have something worth fighting for,” I replied with a faint grin.

Devon shrugged in reply, and while I wasn’t going to fight him on this, I had to admit that I felt a little… saddened by the fact that he had become so resigned. Like the griefing had taken something important from him.

Each step through the woods felt like it was through a minefield, and while I tried not to speak or make too much noise, I did keep close to Gavin and exchange reassurances with him as I held his hand for dear life. I knew that, in theory, I had the literal protection of a goddess, but my brain didn’t seem to treat that fact as particularly important. It didn’t matter that I had hit my Dad and escaped his clutches. It didn’t matter that I was leading a literal army. As far as that ugly little corner of my mind was concerned, I was still a weak and helpless little boy.

There was a brief moment of confusion as I collided into Milo, who had been walking in front of me, talking with Devon. The rest of our little band likewise compressed slightly as they suddenly stopped, and as I saw Marianne and the other scouts ahead, having returned and reported to Leon, I had a sick tightening develop in my stomach as I realized what it meant.

Leon nodded and gestured for us to gather around. Squeezing Gavin’s hand even tighter, I followed them and stood beside Leon to listen to what was happening.

“Our scouts have spotted a Griefer warband occupying the outpost,” said Leon, his voice low and quiet. “They’re most likely a scouting party or a token force, but as long as they’re holding the outpost, we’re going to be at a disadvantage. We need to flush them out.”

“Uh…we could set the place on fire,” offered Gavin, frowning. “I mean… it’s a little mean, but I lost patience with these fuckers one genocide ago.”

Marianne shook her head. “No… we can’t risk setting the forest ablaze if the flames get out of control.”

“We could dig beneath the foundations,” offered the miner’s forewoman, whose name I still hadn’t learned. “Collapse it.”

“Digging would take too long, I think, Vyria,” said Leon, shaking his head. 

“Uh… what if we aggro them, pull them and kite them as we move?” asked Milo, raising a hand.

“Oh…” I said, eyes wide, “That… might actually work.”

“I… feel like I’ve missed something,” said Marianne, raising her eyebrows.

“Not just you,” said Odric, quirking his head to the side. “What are you saying, boy?”

“He’s suggesting that we bait them into chasing us and abandoning their position,” said Leon, chewing his lip. “But I can’t imagine that they’d leave the outpost just to chase after us.”

“The Griefer’s aren’t that smart, Leon,” I said, smirking. “They see enemies, they’re going to chase after them. They’re like dogs chasing cars that way.”

“I mean… even if they don’t all leave, if enough of them do, it gives us a better chance of taking the outpost,” said Frieda, tapping her lips thoughtfully. “And we know these woods better than the Grief Eaters do. We would easily be able to keep our distance.”

“Right,” said Milo, nodding. “Pull them and kite them. GGs.”

“We’d need to split up,” said Leon, still not looking as confident as I would have hoped. “But it’s as good a plan as any. Okay… Marianne, Frieda, Gresh… gather up whoever you can find that best knows these woods and can shoot a bow. We’re going to have to rely on hit and run tactics.” He turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Zoey… I need you to lead the remaining forces.”

“What?!” I sputtered, “M-me?”

“You’re a paladin, you’re battle hardened and you’re a natural leader, Zoey,” Leon said, smiling down at me. “You can do this.”

I was inclined to disagree, but the hand on my shoulder from Gavin reaffirmed Leon’s faith in me. “Come on Zoey… you were our guild tank, remember? If anyone knows how to lead a raid, it’s you.”

“It’s… a little different now, Gav,” I said warily. “If we wipe, we don’t get another shot at this.” I forced out a sigh.”...okay, fine… we can wait until you lead some of them away and try to take the fort.”

“Attagirl,” Leon said with a grin. “We’ll make all the noise… as soon as you can’t hear anything, head north and hit the stronghold. It’s a little stone fort… you can’t miss it.”

Leon nodded and gathered a party that consisted of himself, Frieda, Marianne, Gresh, Syd and others who were comfortable navigating the woods. Marianne gave me a quick hug followed by Gresh providing a nearly-bone-breaking embrace before the two of them left together.

Hand-in-hand, I noticed. I smirked at their departure.

Syd, by contrast, gave Gavin a small nod which he matched. Without any other preamble, he followed the others into the woods. 

Me, Gavin, Milo, Odric and Steven plus the remaining (mostly dwarf) members of our little army remained with me, watching me for direction. A quick glance around us allowed me to spot a dense cluster of trees and underbrush that would serve to hide us while the distraction party did their work.

It was uncomfortable, of course… twigs, branches and leaves closed in on me as I huddled down, and what little light I could make out through the greenery made it difficult to understand what they were doing. But with a chorus of shouts and whoops, I instantly realized that the distraction had begun. My heart jumped into my chest as I heard the distant clanging of alarm bells and shouting of more voices in surprise and fury.

There were the sounds of metal on metal and the screams of pain and fury. I reached out for Gavin’s hand and squeezed tightly, shaking in fear for those that I cared about. I felt Steven, his small frame shivering, slide up next to me for comfort as I put an arm over his shoulder. And after what felt like an eternity… the sounds began to fade. Growing quieter and quieter until only a faint roar was audible in the distance.

Me and Gavin exchanged glances, nodded, and began to disentangle ourselves from the foliage.

I took the lead, holding up my shield for what little protection it offered me and weaved my way through the dense tangle of tree trunks and branches. A few moments later, I was able to make out a break in the treeline and something that clearly didn’t fit at the center of a clearing.

It was a building made of heavy stone blocks and thick wooden logs. Arrow slits dotted the upper levels of the outer wall and a massive wooden door, banded by iron, looked to be the only entrance into the building. It was clearly an old outpost, as its stone was weathered by age and had thick growths of vines and ivy snaking up to the upper walls. The iron of the door looked rusted enough that it might have blended in with the wood of the door itself.

The clearing revealed that there were two larger paths which led southwest and north. One was likely the road from Whiteoak Falls while the northern road probably led towards the larger city of Golddell. We had obviously avoided the main roads, and had been right to do so as both of the paths were blocked off by heavy wooden barricades. If we had come up the main path, it would have been a shooting gallery for our enemies.

Even now, in the dirt clearing surrounding the fortress, I could see arrows embedded in the dirt. I was grateful to see that no bodies remained, but some of the dark stains on the ground made it clear that blood had been spilled. I swallowed and tried to think about how we could take the outpost from here.

I peered as closely as I could, and while it was difficult to make out, I could see figures patrolling the upper walls, dressed in dark cloaks.

“We might be able to climb those vines,” whispered Gavin, pointing them out.

“No… they’d stick you full of arrows the moment you were in the open,” said Odric, shaking his head.

“We’d… need to…” I said, thinking. “Hold their attention while one of you sneaks up the walls.”

“How?” asked Gavin, raising an eyebrow.

I frowned, thinking. I eyed Devon for a moment, motioning for him to draw closer.

“Do you recognize any of them?” I whispered to him.

He squinted for a moment, pursing his lips. “No, I don’t… wait…” he groaned, “Okay, yeah… see those feathers pinned to their cloaks?”

I strained my eyes and could barely make out the white-fluff of what could have been a feather pinned to the cloak of one of the guards. “Yeah?”

“That’s the Skeptical Squad,” said Devon, gritting his teeth. “Shit… they’re not as dumb as the other crews. They definitely know that was a diversion. They’re going to expect us to try something.”

“Ugh... are we seriously getting outsmarted by a fortress of debate-bros?” mumbled Milo, scratching his head.

I blinked at that. While I wasn’t quite as “terminally online” as the others might have been, I knew enough about these kinds of people. They were people who were dedicated to bludgeoning you over the head with big words and talking over you until you agreed that they were right regardless of what you actually thought. I’d seen some of those types of UVids at church and at home and knew the kind of people who made them. Dad was like that sometimes, smugly plucking out scripture and using it as if it were a full argument in its own right.

I reached over to a nearby tree and snapped off a branch. “Okay… I think I have an idea,” I said, looking around at our army. “Does anyone have something… white? Like a shirt or a jacket or something?”

The others shook their heads, but Gavin warily tugged at his white shirt. “Uh… are you planning to surrender? That seems like a bad plan, Zoey.”

“Nope,” I said, nodding at his shirt. “I’m going to keep their eyes on me, while you climb up the walls and open the gate.”

“It’s… going to take a while for me to get up there, take out guards and open the door… can you really keep their attention the whole time?” asked Gavin, pulling his shirt up over his head.

My mind briefly short-circuited as I saw the bare chest of my boyfriend and other thoughts threatened to distract me from the whole war thing we were in the middle of. I shook my head, remembering that I could make out with my boyfriend when I woke up. Right now, I had to keep my head on straight. “I think so…”

“How?” asked Devon, frowning at me as he likewise had to keep his eyes off of Gavin.

I broke into a faint grin as I fashioned a white flag from the stick and Gavin’s shirt. “I’m going to ask them to debate me.”

“You can’t be serious!” hissed Odric, grabbing my arm as I made to leave. “They’ll kill you as soon as you step out there.”

I shook my head, gently removing Odric’s grip. “It’s okay… for one thing, I have the goddess’ protection, remember?” I held up my hand and showed her brand for emphasis. “And you have to remember that these kinds of people love to hear themselves talk. If they kill me, then they’ll never get the chance to tell me how wrong I am about everything.”

Odric looked at me like I was insane, but nodded as he stepped back.

Steven squeezed me around the middle for a moment, before letting go. “Please be careful, Miss Zoey,” he whispered.

I smiled at him as I rustled his hair. I leaned over to kiss Gavin for good luck. My heart slowed a little from the quiet joy of his touch and, steeling myself, I put out the white flag in front of me and began to walk out of the forest into the main clearing.

Each step came with its own panic attack. Like second by second, I was in danger of being killed. I waved the white flag carefully as I stepped closer to the fortress, as if a sudden movement would unleash their fury. I shuddered, and struggled to breathe as I drew closer, uncertain if I had any chance of making this work. I wasn’t sure how close or far I was. I wasn’t even sure if anyone had spotted me. I just forced myself to keep moving until-

“STOP!”

I flinched as my feet followed the shouted command before my brain could approve. Nervously, I looked up at the upper wall and saw a figure leaning over it. I could clearly see there had been drawn bows which were pointed directly at me beside the figure.

“Uh… hello!” I called up, “Who’s in charge here?”

There was a brief conversation above me, which ended with a shout down at me. “Who are you?!”

“It’s rude to answer a question with a question,” I called back, “But I’m Lady Zoey of Whiteoak Falls, Guardian justicar of the Scalekeeper. I’m here to…” I frowned, trying to remember the word, before nodding. “Uh… parley with your leader!”

“Parley?!” squawked the man above me. “Why should I give a shit what you have to say?”

“Well, are you in charge?” I asked, quirking my head slightly.

“Yes!” he shouted back. But another conversation seemed to erupt as soon as he said this. “I’m in charge enough for you, anyway!” he amended after another moment, “What the fuck do you want?”

“I want to discuss terms of surrender,” I said, blinking up at him slowly. “Me and the rest of our band would like to avoid further bloodshed.”

“Fuck you!” he shouted down at me. There was a motion which looked like they were readying a volley and it took all my self-control not to let myself run.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is there someone else I need to be talking to? I need someone who can actually negotiate here!” I called back, trying to keep my tone a few shades shy of openly hostile as my heart ratcheted into high gear and threatened to vibrate out of my chest. 

There was another pause and, thankfully, no arrows flew. “No!” the man called back, his voice tinged with annoyance. “I’m in charge! I’m just saying that we are in a strategically superior place right now! There is nothing to be gained from negotiation!”

“How is your position superior?” I asked, as if it weren’t obvious. “You’re surrounded and trapped!”

“Are you fucking stupid? We’re in a fortress! We have the high ground! Even if you outnumbered us, which I sincerely doubt, we’d be able to hold this place forever!” he shouted back at me indignantly.

“Forever? Do you have food up there?” I asked, smiling.

There was another pause. “O-of course we have food!"

"How much?" I asked, and noticed that there was another pregnant pause.

"We have plenty of resources to hold out against a siege!” he shouted, less-than-convincingly. “And we have our vanguard force returning for us as soon as they finish dealing with your friends! You couldn’t possibly hold a siege!”

“What’s a siege?” I asked, playing dumb.

“SERIOUSLY!?’ the man above me barked, “JESUS CHRIST! God… this is why women have no place in warfare! Is there someone smarter I can talk to? I don’t have the patience to deal with a smoothbrain like you!”

“So you can’t explain what a siege is?” I asked, trying to keep a grin off my face. Holy shit, this was too easy.

“A siege is when a fortress is surrounded by a force and held through attrition until they run out of resources and are forced to surrender,” snapped the man, pointing a finger down at me.

“So… exactly what we’re doing?” I asked, nodding up at him.

“No!” shouted back the man, “Because in order to hold a siege, you have to have to be able to go the distance! You need supply lines! We’ll have reinforcements to break your siege as soon as they’re done with your friends!”

“Are you sure?” I asked, curiously.  “Our guys might beat yours… and then you'll be stuck and trapped!”

“Yes! Of course I’m sure! God… okay that’s it… I’m done… guys, just kill this bitch already,” the man above groaned.

There was a staccato of thwips of bowstrings. The whooshing of arrows which all grew louder as they flew closer.

I winced, readying myself for the hail of sharp arrowheads to embed themselves into me with nothing but my white flag to defend me. 

Only for them not to come. Instead, a shimmering dome of golden light burst into existence around me a fraction of a second before they could hit me. The arrows impacted against the golden energy, bringing in small ripples over its surface before falling harmlessly to the ground. The light faded but I still felt the warmth of power surging through me. The promise of my goddess and her power ready for more.

I blinked in surprise, looking at my brand, now glowing with the light of the goddess. I smirked as I looked up at them again. “Trying to kill an unarmed person with a white flag?” I asked, shaking my head as I made a little tsk of disappointment. “Yeah, I don’t think my goddess likes that very much.”

“WHAT THE FUCK!” blurted out the “leader” of the fort. “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT!”

One of the other figures leaned over to him. While I couldn’t make out what he said, the “leader” shouted back loudly enough for me to hear.

“What the fuck?! Magic?! What kind of hax bullshit is this?! So those fucking dumbasses get magic and we don’t!?”

“To be fair,” I called out, raising my voice over him. “You could have gotten these powers too if you just played the game the way you were supposed to! The gods are coded to give gifts to people worthy of being their champions!”

“Fuck you!” the man shouted back at me, “How the fuck are we not worthy? We’re going to take the whole goddamn game down! We outsmarted you! We’re worthy as fuck.”

“It doesn’t take much brainpower to kick over a sandcastle,” I replied, shaking my head. “Building one is the hard part. You basically suckerpunched us and now you’re calling yourselves tactical geniuses? When we didn’t even want a fight in the first place?”

“We’re winning!” the man replied hotly. “We win and you lose! All’s fair in war, bi-” He broke off, suddenly turning around. There was a sound of shouts and a clash of fighting, followed by the sudden appearance of the cloaked man pushed up against the wall and tumbling over it.

He shouted in terror before his body collided with the ground in front of me in a loud and heavy thump of impact. I was surprised the fall didn’t kill him, as he remained moaning in agony.

There was a continued chorus of weapons before they finally went silent and a familiar face peered over the wall. 

“Hey babe!” Gavin called down. “Nice job! I think these guys were the last of them! They didn’t have a lot of people left! I’m going to get the door!”

“You did good too, Gav!” I called back. “Come back down here so I can give you a quest reward!” I blew him a kiss and felt myself giggle as he caught it.

As he disappeared and the other members of our army tentatively stepped out of the woods, I knelt down next to the man I had been arguing with, still groaning and insensate as he lay in the small crater created by his impact.

As I pulled back the hood of his cloak, I saw a guy with an insubstantial beard and a long, narrow face. His shaggy, greasy hair and acne made him look like he was in his late teens or early twenties.  He was oozing blood from his nose and his eyes were unfocused as he stared past me. His breaths were shuddering and clearly made with difficulty. 

He deserved this, I thought to myself. He deserved to die slowly and painfully and to go away and never return here. I had nothing to prove to him.

But… as I felt myself sink to my knees, I knew that I wasn’t going to do nothing. I couldn’t sit back and watch if I had the capability to help. Even if he was an asshole, people can change…

Sighing, I placed my hands on his shoulder, feeling the warmth of the goddess surge in reply. She knew what I wanted to do and as I focused upon my adversary, I saw the golden light surge into his body, suffusing him with a glow.

“I’m sure you think this is weakness,” I said softly, staring down at this man as he gaped at me in shock. “It doesn’t make any sense for me to be helping an enemy. I’m sure you think that the rest of us… the ones just doing our jobs and making friends and trying to enjoy ourselves instead of getting gear and killing everything… that we are the biggest idiots on the planet.” I chuckled. “I get it… I played RoR before this. I’ve lost count of how many mobs and bosses I’ve ground out. That’s what these kinds of games are supposed to be about. What kind of healer rezzes her opponents?”

I shook my head, “I don’t expect you to understand why I’m doing this, because it’s not a ‘rational’ choice. It’s not tactically sound. It’s stupid…”

His blinked at me as his breath steadied. A frown creased his features, as his mouth began opening and closing yet no words came out in reply.

“I’m doing this because this is who I am,” I continued, “This is who I chose to be. I believe that people can change. That the same steel that can be used to form a sword can also be used to form a plowshare. That a weak, scared little child can become a strong paladin of justice and peace. And a griefer can become a better person”

The light at my fingertips faded, its work clearly done. I nodded as I stood up. “You can change too, if you want to… I’ll give you that chance…” I frowned at him and he actually winced at me as he looked up at my face. I was scaring him, even after healing his wounds. Maybe kindness was an alien and terrifying experience for him. 

“But we are not an argument to be debated… we are not some abstract concept to be batted back and forth like a ping-pong ball. We are people. And so are you… don’t forget that,” I turned over my shoulder. “Tie him up, take him prisoner, but don’t hurt him,” I called back to my allies. “We aren’t like them. They need to know that. And so do we.”

Warily, Milo and Devon went to work in tying up the griefer, who didn’t move or struggle against their work. The heavy door into the fort creaked open and Gavin rushed out to meet me, embracing me as he did so.

It was a good moment. I’d done something incredible… something right.

It was the sudden tenseness of Gavin’s body that alerted me that things were going wrong again. I turned to follow his gaze and heard the sounds of motion in the woods. Leon burst through the treeline, with others following. His eyes wide in terror, he called out.

“Get in the fort! GET IN THE FORT! THEY’RE COMING BACK!”

Others followed. Gresh carried a motionless Marianne over his shoulders. Syd was leaning against Frieda as both of them limped behind. Fewer returned than had gone out… and they looked to be wounded, and unable to fight any further.

It was then that I heard the shouts of unfamiliar and angry voices behind them. Obviously, they had been distracted long enough. And now we were facing the possibility of a siege. And I knew all too well that regardless of the mercy I had shown to one of their own… we wouldn’t be shown the same in return.