Frontier Online

Rumble in the Night Part 53

Rydr accepted Syrna's trade request instantly, still scanning the battlefield. In quick succession, fice pieces, the complete Ether-Guard set, filled the trade menu. Syrna's side lit up, showing that she'd already accepted the trade, with Rydr following suit.

The Titan "seized" the armor set with his mind, equipping it from the trade menu rather than waste more time menuing. Misty light coalesced around the giant, flowing under his pelt until it dissipated to reveal Rydr's enormous figure in the sleek, black armor.

An invisible weight seemed to lift from Rydr's shoulders as he glanced down at his new armor. Although the Titan would prefer that it was his product, he was grateful to have actual clothing.

The armor's padding effectively replaced his need for a shirt and pants, and the giant couldn't be happier. The extra stats are great, but I've been waiting so long for another pair of pants.

Across the pit, Lord Garzer began to scream at his forces. The hobgoblins started to shift as the smaller shaman raised his arms in the air, chanting something in goblinoid.

Hermes called out to Syrna, "Any idea what he's saying?"

Syrna paused, listening for a moment, before she asked, "Do you really want to know?"

"That bad, huh?' Urginok stepped up to the archer's side, hefting his warhammer as the tank's resource bars slowly filled themselves. 

"All I'll say is that I regret learning their language. Just a smidge." The archer winced as she heard the shaman describe the taste of the party's entrails, promising blood and glory to his warriors.

Niko tugged Hermes closer to the team's impromptu huddle before she asked, "Do you think you could keep him talking? We need a little more time, and all our resources will regenerate."

Syrna bit her lip, nodded, and stepped ahead of the group. The next second, the archer lifted her head and shouted at the shaman, using the growling, screeching goblin-tongue.

Across the clearing, Lord Garzer's speech came to an abrupt end as he listened to a string of expletives spew out of the blonde human's mouth. When the shaman tried to interrupt the archer's sudden diatribe, Syrna increased her volume, shouting the hobgoblin down.

As the shaman somehow managed to turn red, Syrna continued to roast the monstrous dwarf, insulting everything about him that she could translate.

"Your mother was wort-stool, and your father sucks bears! I can't tell what's weaker, you or your seed. No, it's your stupid brain. What kind of leader lets half their clan die while they're snogging bog?"

Syrna honestly had no idea what she was insulting, but it was effective. Her best guess was that she'd just humiliated his parents as useless waste's of space, his weak body, inability to reproduce, and finally that he had to get in a warm bog to feel something close to sex.

As Rydr watched, the mighty shaman was reduced to a temper tantrum, waving his fists and stamping his feet while screaming hysterically at his hobgoblins. 

In the meantime, the Titan's team used the chat interface to talk "over" Syrna's screaming and growling. 

[Urginok: Should we retreat? Grotto is half a kilometer behind us. I can run interference and let you guys escape.]

[Niko: Against twenty-five hobs, and the shaman? Plus the six or so goblins? I don't think your taunt can catch that many. It would be you and Syrna dying, at best, if we run.]

[Hermes: It wouldn't look good to leave you guys high and dry. First night on the job, and all.]

[Urginok: It's got over 16,000 HP! Magic is still a substantial unknown too. He might just wipe us. Some of us should get back to town, at least. Rydr has to play babysitter in less than five hours.]