by Troy Osgood
Skill Gain!
Tracking Rank One +1.2
The notification surprised him. It had been so long since he’d gotten a Tracking skill gain. In some games there was a strategy to raise as many skills as you could to a certain point where the gains slowed down. This maximized the amount of attributes that could be gained. In those games, there was a limit to the number of skills that could be gained, like in Sky Realms Online, but the unused ones could be lowered. The attribute gains didn’t work that way in Sky Realms, so the strategy hadn’t been adopted by the min-max players. Hall had only gotten the Tracking skill through use early on.
It wasn’t high enough for him to make out details from what he saw. He knew someone had passed over the trail already, pushing aside some of the loose debris, but not what or how many.
The path wound around the hill.
Hall paused as it neared the top, his head just below the edge. He inched forward a couple more steps, turning to look over the flat top. Just as it had looked from Pike’s vision, the top of the hill was flat. A couple of small bushes, some boulders, but that was it. Hall had a clear view of the two Desmarik and single Norn standing in the middle. He thought they were the Warscourge, Runespeaker and Firemage. The three that his Identify skill had tagged as orange.
They stood around the pedestal, which had been placed on the ground. The black iron nail seemed to glow in the dark, catching the light of the moon. The Warscourge pointed at the Norn, who took a step back. The Runespeaker stood near his fellow Desmarik. The Norn looked like one who knew he was outnumbered.
Hall couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were preoccupied.
Ducking down, he motioned to the others, holding up three fingers. He pointed at Jackoby, then himself and finally Roxhard. The order of who to attack set, Hall stood up, pulling his spear from the harness, and ran the last couple of feet up the path.
Stepping onto the top of the hill, Hall saw the heads of the two Desmarik and the Norn turning his way. He ran a couple of steps, starting to activate Leap, hearing Jackoby’s heavy steps on the stone top, Roxhard’s right behind.
The Runespeaker reacted quickly, raising his staff high, shouting a word Hall couldn’t hear.
But he saw the effects.
Something on the end of the staff flared bright, a white light that erupted outward. It struck with force, knocking Hall back a step, preventing him from triggering Leap. Neither of the two Wardens took off running, their Battle Rush ability also canceled.
The glow faded, but the Runespeaker had pulled something from inside his robes. Hall couldn’t see what it was, but he had an idea.
If the Runespeaker said a word, Hall never heard it.
Whatever the Desmarik held glowed a bright red. A small dot at first, rapidly expanding into a large oval that towered over Hall and the others. The edges flared, bolts of energy snapping as it fought to hold its shape. Inside the wild border was chaos, the red glow looking like liquid, swirling faster and faster. It started to bulge out, the thick liquid-like substance stretching as something pushed at it from the other side.
More of it bulged, larger at the top, multiple small protrusions, then one large at the bottom.
The liquid seemed to snap, a scaly green hide appearing.
Hall watched, the whole thing only taking seconds. The rest of his allies had made the top of the hill, spread out around him, all watching in shock. Except for Sharra. The Shaman knew what they were seeing.
“We need to run,” she said.
It was too late.
The liquid erupted, not splashing but fading away. With a final snapping sound, the chaotic oval disappeared. It left behind a silence on the hill, all eyes on the monstrosity that had appeared.
Chapter 41
It stood about twelve, fifteen feet tall. Its basic shape reminded Hall of a Tyrannosaurus rex. The head was longer, like an alligator but not as thin, the mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. Yellowed bone horns curled out from both sides of the mouth, large on top and two smaller sets on the bottom. Bright yellow eyes set in its wide head stared down at them. Small arms ended in three-clawed hands; two thick legs kept the body low to the ground. Four-clawed toes spread wide on large flat feet. A short and wide tail ended almost like a beaver’s, but with spikes on the sides.
The beast roared, the sound loud in the night, having an almost physical force.
Size and ferocity were bad enough, but it was the rest of the demon that worried Hall. Six tentacles grew out of its back, ending in wide tooth-filled mouths, each one snapping at the air as they twisted and flailed wildly. And the stomach, the sickening stomach. The entire creature was covered in a thick scaly green hide, like an alligator’s, except for the stomach. Tan hide, almost smooth, surrounded a bulbous glowing yellow sac. Small red dots could be seen floating within.
“What is that?” Roxhard said, voice cracking a little in fear.
“We needed to run,” Sharra said. “But now it is too late.” Her voice was resigned. Not afraid, just acceptance.
“What is it?” Hall asked. “Sharra?”
Skill Gain!
Identify Rank Two +.4
Major Celadon Alikash (purple)
He wished he hadn’t used the skill. The demon was a boss. Add that to the three others on top of the hill, and they were in trouble.
No wonder Sharra had wanted to run.
He looked back at her, seeing her face lacking any emotion. She wasn’t scared, staring at the Alikash; she wasn’t anything. Resigned, he had thought, hearing her. That was how she looked. Resigned to dying facing this beast.
“What do you know of this thing?” he asked her.
He could hear the others moving behind him, shuffling around. The Rangers would be going to the sides, where they could attack with their bows. Leigh and Sharra would be in the rear. Hall wished the other two Druids had come. They were primarily healers and caretakers, but in this fight, anything would have helped. Tello and Surri had been too drained to come. They were down in the tunnels with Angus, making their way to the entrance.
Caryn moved up closer behind him, Roxhard and Jackoby to either side.
“Nothing that can help us,” Sharra said. “Only that it is one of the most feared. It has only been seen in the Jaden Empire a handful of times, and each of those times entire villages were destroyed. Our armies are taught if they see an Alikash, run.”
Hall thought it was good advice. But they had nowhere to run to. Trying to escape down the thin stone path would just leave them exposed to the demon and others. They’d be killed before making it to the tunnel. And even if they did? Where would they run to that this thing couldn’t follow?
It had no wings, but Hall didn’t think that would stop it from meeting them on the ground.
“Nowhere to go,” he said, trying to push fear out of his voice, fill it with confidence and steel.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Roxhard asked.
The demon hadn’t moved, watching them, slime dripping from its mouth. The liquid hit the rocks, small wafts of smoke drifting off in the wind.
The last time they had fought something this tough had been Vertoyi. He had been an epic-level boss like the Alikash, and he had come close to destroying them. It had not been a fight they’d won. Vertoyi being snapped out of his madness had been why they still lived.
And Hall had believed he’d respawn.
Now he knew he wouldn’t.
“Hall?” Leigh asked, her voice prodding.
What could they do? All pile on the demon? That would leave them open to the Desmarik and Norn, whom Hall could see past the green-scaled monstrosity. The three watched, waiting, confident in the demon. None did anything but watch. Aside from the Runespeaker’s quick spell and amulet, they didn’t appear ready to fight.
Which gave Hall his plan.
“Nobody argue,” he said, focusing on the demon. “This is the only way.”
He could already hear the protests from behind. T
hey knew what he was going to say.
“Jackoby, the Warscourge. Roxhard, the Firemage. Ganner and Lissie, concentrate fire on the Runespeaker. Sharra, spread your spells around. Caryn, hit all three. Leigh, keep them alive. Dain and Avril, fill that monster full of holes.”
“Hall,” Leigh said, not prodding now but worried, fearful.
“What of you?” Jackoby asked.
Hall looked over and up at the large Firbolg, meeting his eyes. He expected Jackoby to protest and argue, speak of the life debt, but instead the Warden just nodded. Hall turned back to the demon, tightening his grip on the spear, ready to activate Leap.
“I have a demon to kill.”
The Wardens rushed past. Metal-plated boots slammed against the ground as Roxhard was a blur, running past the demon. On the other side, Jackoby’s large feet carried him across the hill. Both narrowly passed the demon, the Alikash twisting in both directions, mouths on the end of tentacles snapping at the speeding Wardens.
Hall had just a second to glimpse the surprise on the faces of the Desmarik and Norn before he jumped into the air, the body of the demon filling his vision. It was looking to the side, trying to twist to either chase after the Wardens or attack with one of the tentacles, the spiked ball on the end of its short tail whipping to the side.
It never saw Hall.
Using Leaping Stab, he slammed the tip of his spear into the demon’s neck. The ironwood tip skipped across hard scales, doing minimal damage. He landed to the side, slicing the spear across the Alikash’s leg. The scales were tough, the tip of the spear skidding across, doing no damage.
Hall cursed, crouching down as two of the tentacled heads whipped his way. He heard the clacking of jaws shutting just over his head. Thrusting the spear up, he tried to catch one of the tentacles. He missed.
Arrows cracked against the demon, causing it to turn with a roar. Pieces of broken shaft fell around Hall. To the side he could see the flashes of spells going off, hear the sounds of fighting. But he couldn’t pay attention, not now.
He barely rolled away as the large foot kicked out. He felt the ground shake as the clawed leg slammed down. Pushing himself up, Hall felt something heavy and hard slam into his back. Stumbling forward, he raised his shield, the buckler deflecting the attack of a tentacle, smashing the snapping jaws out of the way. He fell forward, twisting out of the way of more tentacles and the hungry mouths. Bashing at them with the buckler, pushing them away with the spear.
His back felt bruised, but thankfully nothing felt broken. The ball at the end of the Alikash’s tail had barely connected, giving him a glancing blow. He didn’t want to think about what a fully connected and solid hit would do to him.
He shifted to where he could see the leg, not wanting to worry about that or the body hitting him. It was all he could do to keep the three mouths away from him. Fighting in close wasn’t doing him any good. Skirmishers were meant to fight from a distance, jumping around the battlefield, not going toe-to-toe with the monsters.
Hall had to remind himself that he wasn’t here to kill the Alikash. His job was to distract it, keep it busy while the rest burned down the Desmarik and the Norn. He was the off-tank, a poor excuse for one, but that was his role.
It was a solid plan and had worked in a lot of games and dozens of boss encounters before. Whenever coming up against a boss and henchmen, the main tank would occupy the boss, keep it focused, while the rest of the raid did what they could to the henchmen to kill them as quickly as possible. It was a basic strategy and one that worked. Hall had revised the strategy. With only one healer instead of one dedicated to each tank, they couldn’t put Jackoby on the demon. Leigh wouldn’t be able to heal him and any others at the same time. Even now she’d be maxed out, barely able to keep up with them all.
Roxhard and Jackoby needed to keep the focus of the Desmarik and Norn on them, allowing the others to do the majority of the damage. Caryn would be dancing, moving from one target to the other, dealing wounds as she went. Small but adding up.
It came down to Hall to occupy the demon.
And somehow not die.
He jumped backwards, getting some breathing room.
Which was a mistake.
The Alikash, as large as it was, moved fast. It spun around, facing Hall, all six of the tentacles snapping forward. The strange sac on the stomach pulsed, trying to distract Hall. It was hard not to focus on the eerie glow. Hall knew if he did, he would die. Instead he looked up at the demon, batting snapping jaws away with his spear.
“Come on, ugly,” he muttered.
The demon listened.
It stomped one foot, the yellow sac flaring, eyes glowing, and opened its long mouth. Hall could see the energy inside the open mouth. He dove to the side as a bright yellow liquid shot out, splashing against the ground. Drops hit Hall’s arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
Burns erupted across his skin wherever a drop landed. Smoke rose from his leather armor, dark little burn marks appearing. More smoke rose from the ground, an acrid smell on the breeze. Looking to see where the acid spray landed, Hall saw a wide and deep hole in the top of the hill. The acid had burned it all away, small craters surrounding it where overspray had landed.
Shaking his arm, trying to get rid of the burning sensation, Hall noticed the demon’s stomach sac wasn’t as bright. The red dots, whatever they were, still floated but now near the bottom of the sac, not throughout. Already Hall could see them rising as the sac somehow refilled.
He wondered if that was the weakness.
It was very common for bosses to have a weak spot, usually revealed after they did a special attack. There was no way to exploit it now; he was back to fending off the tentacles, trying to keep the jaws from closing on an arm or a leg. None had managed to get a hold of anything, barely missing. He’d gotten hit a couple of times by the tentacles, solid flesh slamming into him. His arms ached, legs protesting.
Every time he stepped back, the Alikash followed. If he stepped forward, closer to it, thinking the tentacles couldn’t reach, it worked for the set closest to him, but left him open for the three on the other side of the demon’s body.
All he could do was evade.
The yellow sac flared again, the red balls sloshing around. The Alikash’s mouth opened, Hall seeing the yellow glow coming from deep inside. The tentacles started flailing at him, moving fast, randomly, not trying to attack, just trying to keep him contained.
Opening its mouth, the acid shot out. Hall activated Leap, slamming into the mass of tentacles around him. He didn’t get far, falling to the side. Landing hard, Hall dropped his spear, seeing bits of acid splash against the ironwood. Small wisps of smoke curled up, the acid scorching the top layer of the ironwood. Somehow the wood resisted.
Not the stone of the hill. Grass shriveled and burned; rock melted; smoke rose along with the acrid scent.
Hall scrambled away, pulling his spear with him, trying to put distance between him and the demon. The yellow sac was drained, the red balls floating near the bottom. What are those things? Hall thought, pushing himself up. He circled back, away from the fight still happening toward the middle of the hill, not able to spare a glance, hoping his side was winning.
Arrows slammed into the Alikash, most breaking against the scaly hide, a couple finding a way through. None causing any damage. Dain and Avril had been shooting at it constantly, just bugs to the terrible demon. Hall realized that was what he was to the thing. Just a bigger bug, enough to be annoying.
Even with all of them, Hall didn’t think they could defeat the Alikash.
The arrows stopped, Hall able to see Dain and Avril shifting their aim. They started firing at the Desmarik and Norn, aiding in that fight, choosing to focus where they could do some good. Hall agreed with the decision. They were just wasting arrows against the demon.
He kept running, hoping the thing would follow him. It was fast for being so large, but he managed to stay just ahead. The edge of the hill was before him,
a desperate plan coming to mind. Opening his mind to Pike, who was down in the mountain below with the Druids and Angus, he sent a quick mental image. He didn’t know if Pike understood, had to hope and pray. He kept the demon turning, moving ever closer to the edge of the hill, waiting for a signal.
What felt like hours but wasn’t even minutes passed. Hall grew tired, almost stumbling, which would have been his death. He breathed heavily, legs burning, arms tired from batting away tentacles. The screech filled the night.
Hall ran for the edge, no longer trying to keep the Alikash turning in circles. The end of the hill got closer and closer. It had never been that far, now only steps away. Hall slowed, letting the Alikash close the last bit of distance.
He turned, his feet right at the edge. The Alikash moved closer, not slowing. It could see the edge, knew it’s foe was trapped.
Pike streaked out of the sky, beak open in a screech, a bolt of blue-white lightning streaking out. It slammed into the face of the Alikash, sparks erupting on impact, bolts of energy spreading around the demon’s head. Blinded by the attack, unable to stop its momentum, the Alikash kept coming. It lost sight of how close to the edge it had been. Pike’s screeching drew it forward. The demon didn’t stop, moving fast.
Gritting his teeth, knowing this was going to hurt, Hall fell to the ground.
The heavy toes slammed into his side. He felt a claw tear through his leather armor, cut deep into his side. Ribs cracked; one broke. He felt muscles tear. The impact rolled him over but did what he wanted it to do.
Tripping, overbalancing, legs getting tangled up with Hall, body turning to try to swat at Pike, who darted in and out, the Alikash teetered on the edge. Hall fell off the hill, rolling down the steep side, slamming to a stop on the path a dozen feet below. Luck was with him; he landed on his back, almost in the middle of the path, not the edge.