Stolen Lives: A LitRPG/GameLit Novel (The Underhill Chronicles Book 1) by Keith Ahrens (books for 8th graders .txt) 📗

all night, every night, and it kept us all up. And his girlfriend, Linda, over there”—he points at the girl with the spiked hair—“she’s just a nasty bitch.”

Des starts in a slow drawl, “I get the feeling they think they're entitled to our gear and whatnot.”

Off to our right, a commotion starts. A small group begins to push their way through the crowd. I recognize Olivia, the slight blonde who offered her water to us.

“Hey, this doesn't look like much of a fair fight!” she calls out in a challenging tone.

The thick crowd is reluctant to make a hole and allow the woman and her squad through. Before they can pass the last few people in their way, someone in the crowd makes a move. A lady from Olivia's squad gets grabbed from behind and pulled off balance. An arm snakes around her neck, and a knife is pressed to the delicate skin of her throat.

“You son of a…” Olivia's voice trails off as others pull swords and surround her squad. She turns back to us and sends a dejected look that says it all. Someone planned this well. Really well.

Liam laughs. “Your Berserker friends and your Gnolls are still locked in their cells. There's no one left to help you now. Why don't y'all just get down on your knees, and we'll get this over with?”

“Bring it on, you filthy coward,” Haynes says in a low, deadly voice as he glides forward in a balanced fighting stance. His hands empty and out just past shoulder width, he moves in short, smooth steps.

Liam points at one of his squadmates and commands, “Take him out!”

The goon, eager for a fight, slaps the visor of his helmet down and pulls twin fighting axes from his belt.

The Sergeant moves to meet him. I take a step to join him, but Des stops me with one hand. “Sarge don't need us for this part, he needs us to watch his back for any more sneaky crap.”

The twin axes gleam in the rain as our foe walks forward about ten feet. Haynes waits for his approach, looking bored.

Liam's hitman lets out a yell and charges the last ten feet, his left ax out in front and the right ax raised high above his head. In an eye blink, the ax swings with astonishing speed, aimed at the Sarge's head.

Haynes flicks his right forearm out and moves a little to his left as he takes a small sidestep. His motions are pure economy of movement. His forearm meets his attacker's wrist, and instead of stopping the falling ax, he slides his arm up and over it. Curling his hand around the forearm of his opponent, he yanks down as he steps past. The added momentum and a slight redirection of the ax veers the blade off its intended course by just a few degrees and into its new target. The crescent blade buries itself in its owner’s upper left thigh, knocking him from his feet and into an awkward forward roll. A spray of blood mixes with the rain in the air.

He rolls to a stop at Jesse's feet. I watch as Jesse casually kicks the man in the face, shattering his jaw and more than a few teeth.

Haynes continues moving forward without missing a beat. The rest of Liam’s squad advances in alarm and anger, blades out in front. The Sarge comes to a smooth stop, just out of range.

While that was impressive, I do have my doubts about him fighting the rest of these guys, unarmed. They seem to have come to the same conclusion as they gather their resolve and begin to move forward.

Jesse, Des, and I step quickly to back up the Sarge. I think we all know how this is gonna end, but I'll be damned if I just sit back and watch it happen. The three of us exchange glances, confirming we all would rather go down fighting together. My throat is dry, and adrenaline begins to course through my system as we march forward as one.

Liam and his squad have us outnumbered, as well as the advantage of being armed and armored. Cruel smiles and grim looks meet each other across a muddy field.

“Hey… Caleb!”

Huh? Everyone stops and looks to our left. I break out into a grin when I see who it is. Colt comes limping out of the crowd with what’s left of his squad flanking him.

“Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to return your spears from the other day! I think you forgot them after you finished plugging my bleeding leg!” He has a hard grin on his face as he tosses me a spear. Then he turns his head and adds, “I think all you guys left some blades and whatnot with us the other day as well.”

Vince walks up to Sarge and hands him a large bastard sword that he pulls from his own sheath. Des gets the other spear, and Jesse is handed a saber and a dagger. His smile is wicked as he swings the blades in lazy patterns, staring right at Linda.

The rain begins to pick up, and I'm forced to squint my eyes against the rising wind. The sky darkens as thunderhead clouds begin to roil over the courtyard. Olivia and her people fall in behind us, their attackers fading back into the crowd. We fill in around Haynes, forming up with him in the front and center of our fighting square, and Colt’s men step up to guard our flanks. We all now have weapons out and at the ready. Our ranks bolstered, the tide of morale is now with us. My boots stick in the thickening mud while our growing numbers march forward together.

Liam and his squad start to look a bit nervous. This is no longer an easy fight, and now they find themselves outnumbered. I tighten my grip on the spear and remind myself that they asked for this. This was their plan; we just flipped