by Edward Brody
As I was falling, the flying monster yanked out its claws and flew back, seemingly wanting no part of the fresh air and sunlight that was outside.
I pushed myself up with my elbows and rolled Jax off me. Rina raised her staff for a heal.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
“Argh,” I groaned and grabbed my neck.
“I’ll take care of that,” Rina said as she strolled over to me. She pulled a bandage out of her bag and started the process of dressing my wound.
“They’re back?” Jeremy asked.
“It’s like we thought. They attack after a certain time.”
Jeremy nodded.
“And I’m going to need one of you to help get Ozzy,” I said. “Jax was heavy, but Oz is nearly twice his size.”
Donovan sighed. “I’ll go. I’m much…” He paused, looked at Jeremy, and swallowed a bit. “No offense, but I am stronger than you.”
Jeremy scratched the side of his head and grinned. “None taken.”
I stood up after my health was full and my wounds were bandaged and motioned for Donovan to follow me inside.
The beasts were back on the ceiling when we entered, and the statue still hadn’t moved. We snuck quietly and quickly across the ground over to Ozzy’s body, and when we bent down to lift him, I was a little repulsed. His face and neck were covered in lacerations. Whether they were stabs, cuts or bites from the beasts was hard to tell, because his whole face was bloody and mutilated. It was almost difficult to recognize him.
We heaved the big man’s body up, and each threw an arm over our shoulders. Maybe it was his armor, but he felt much heavier than Jax, even with two of us.
Ozzy’s head flopped aimlessly as we began dragging him across the room, and halfway to the door, I started looking up and getting nervous. We were moving slower than I had before, and the creatures on the ceiling seemed to be stirring a little more quickly than last time.
“Faster…” I said quietly, as I struggled to put one foot in front of the other.
“I’m moving as fast as I can,” Donovan said.
The sound of wings flapping against the air filled the room as a wave of the creatures on the ceiling suddenly flew down in attack. Hearing and seeing the attackers incoming seemed to give both Donovan and me a little extra strength and speed, as we pushed as hard as we could towards the door.
“Duck!” Donovan yelled as the first of the birds came in, and I looked down when talons pierced my back.
We both cried out as the creatures swarmed onto us, but neither of us stopped moving. Instinctively, we put our heads down as far as we could, using Ozzy’s shoulders and head as somewhat of a shield.
“Push!” I yelled out as we continued. I couldn’t see where we were going, but I knew we were heading in the same general direction.
My shoulder bumped into the corner of the entryway, and the creatures attacking Donovan retreated as he slipped through. I shoved Ozzy’s body past the leather, adjusted my trajectory, and jumped outside, feeling the talons pull out of my skin as the monsters flew away.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
“You’re both bleeding,” Rina said as she rushed over to us, rummaging in her bag. “I have only one bandage left.”
“I’m out,” Donovan said.
“Me too,” I added. “Check Ozzy’s things.”
When we flipped Ozzy’s body over, Rina took a step back and placed her hand over her mouth at the sight of his mangled face. Luckily, when I stuck my hand in his bag, the first thing I felt was a bandage.
Rina quickly bandaged Donovan and me. As soon as her cooldown had passed and over the next hour, she went about resurrecting the other four fallen soldiers.
Ozzy’s face returned to normal after he was resurrected and restored to full health, and everyone else came back to life without any major issues—other than the general shock and remembrance of the pain of death.
Everyone was sitting on the ground trying to regroup after the near wipeout.
I apologized again. “I’m sorry guys… I guess I was overconfident.”
“It’s okay,” Keysia said. “We all knew what we were getting into when we came here with you. No one thought that Dragon’s Crest would be a cakewalk. Perhaps I can do more damage once I’m able to utilize my new lightning spell. I’m getting close…”
Donovan chuckled. “We didn’t even make it to the dragons. I can only imagine what lies further up the crest.”
“For our levels, I think we did quite well.” Keysia said before letting out a sigh. “But it is a shame that we didn’t find any sort of ancient weapon like we were looking for. We’ll need to leave it to the Queen to save Adeelee.”
“Yeah…” I groaned low as my stomach turned. I had first failed to protect Adeelee, and now I had failed to do what I needed to do to rescue her. And on top of that, I had risked the lives of my friends.
Adeelee…
As everyone sat around prepping for the trip back down the mountain, I wondered if there was some other way that I could get an ancient weapon. There was the Fellblade, somewhere in the Wastelands—which would probably be another impossible mission. I could also consider asking Eanos if he knew something about ancient weapons. The old man seemed wise and probably knew some other place where I could get one.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized he’d probably just laugh in my face.
Even if I could get Eanos to let me use his runebook to travel to the Eternal Ravine, I’d have to pass by all the screaming monsters and faceless atrocities. I had barely made it past that the last time and only because I actually happened to be carrying an ancient weapon. And there was little to no chance of the old elf giving me her eye. I wouldn’t put it past her to kill me if she thought I was there to steal it.
We had come so far up Dragon’s Crest, and it was such a disappointment to be defeated by the statue mage and the weird flying creatures. What if the Tymrial’s Blade—or any ancient weapon for that matter—was just one more level up?
“My bow is still in that room,” Jax said.
“I dropped my swords as well,” Donovan said.
“And my hammer and shield,” Ozzy added.
“You should be able to sneak back inside and get them,” I said. “Just grab them and get out as fast as you can before the things from up top attack.”
“Alright,” Ozzy said as he stood back up to his feet and brushed himself off.
Just get out as fast as you can, I whispered to myself.
I suddenly wonder if we had addressed that room where everyone died in the wrong way. The monsters on the ceiling didn’t attack for several seconds after entering. Heck, it must have been almost minute before they attacked the first time we entered. I wasn’t sure what had triggered the statue, but it hadn’t turned into the mage until sometime after as well. Neither the mage or the ceiling monsters followed us outside.
Maybe we should’ve just run past the entire encounter?
That was probably the best way we could have handled it, but there was no way we could’ve known and no way to go back in time. Now, we were running low on bandages and supplies. And if the monsters on this level were as hard as they were, there was little chance that our group could get past whatever lurked above.
Donovan peaked behind the leather curtain. “Well, let’s go get our stuff, so we can get out of here.”
“Wait,” I said as I stood up.
Everyone turned towards me.
“I’m going up.”
“Going up?” Keysia asked. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going to the next level,” I explained. “There’s a slope leading up and outside in there just like the other levels. I’m pretty sure I can run past this before the monsters on the ceiling kill me.”
“Don’t do it, man,” Sung warned. “Even if you get by this, there’s no way you’ll survive whateve
r’s above it.”
“There’s a chance,” I said. “All I need to do is survive. If I can peek inside the next room, and I’m sure I can’t proceed any further, I’ll just run back down.”
“If the peek doesn’t kill you,” Jax said. “And if there isn’t something on the path above this. You have no idea what’s up there.”
“Don’t go, Gunnar,” Keysia whined. “We can figure out another way to get Adeelee back.”
I shook my head, remembering my encounter with the Magi. “I can’t risk walking away knowing that what we need to save her could be just one more level up.”
“Fine,” Keysia said stepping towards me. “I’ll go with you.”
I held up my palm and shook my head. “No… I’m a Reborn. You’re not. I don’t want any of you to come with me.”
“We’ll wait for you then,” Sung said.
I rubbed my chin, and after a moment of thought, I nodded. “Okay. But only wait for me for fifteen minutes. If I’m not back by then, you know whatever is up there killed me. Just…” I rotated my head slowly. “Just meet me back in Edgewood if I don’t come back soon. I’ll respawn near our mine.”
“You’re crazy, bro,” Jeremy said.
Sung nodded. “Maybe it’s because I just died, so the memory of death is very ripe in my brain. I wouldn’t go if I were you. The pain is no joke.”
“I know,” I muttered. “But there’s a chance I won’t die.”
“Do you have potions?” Sung asked.
I nodded. “I have one health potion left. A bandage would be nice, though.”
“Here,” he said fumbling in his bag. “Take both of these.”
You’ve received: Minor Healing Potion. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. Drink to recover 50 HP over 5 seconds.
You’ve received: a small bandage. Durability: 5/5. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. Useful for healing light wounds.
Ozzy walked over to me and patted me on the shoulder. “The things we do for love, right?”
I felt my loins tighten, and tingles of embarrassment crept over my skin. Why did he think I loved Adeelee? And worse, why did he have to say that in front of Keysia?
I wanted to laugh at the statement or make some motion to blow it off, but I did indeed love Adeelee. I would’ve been lying if I said I didn’t. But I didn’t think I loved her the way he was trying to convey it. I lusted after Adeelee, sure; she was fun and beautiful. But I loved her the same way I loved him.
Would I climb further up the dangerous mountain of dragons if it meant there was a chance I could save Ozzy from death? Hmmm… Maybe not, since he was a Reborn. But if Ozzy weren’t a Reborn, I’d like to think I would.
Yeah, I’d certainly risk my life for Ozzy.
It was hard to comprehend that I’d put my life on the line for my friends, when just a couple months ago, I didn’t have any, and Rachel had been nagging me to get some. Now, my friends were everything to me.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
2/12/0001
Ozzy grabbed his gear and started bolting for the exit, right behind Donovan and Jax.
I sprinted for the inner, sloping path, and as I ran, I glanced up to the monsters on the top of the ceiling, wondering if our rapid movements might cause them to fly down quicker than they had before. I saw a few specs of white, and a little bit of movement.
“Be careful, Gunnar!” Ozzy yelled before passing through the door.
Even after the others made it outside, they all stood by the door and watched as I climbed the inner path as fast as I could. When I was halfway up, I glanced to the ceiling again and could see the wave of white monster eyes opening and knew they were coming down at any moment. I could see the exit a little further up and was only seconds away from getting there, but there was a good chance the monsters could get to me first.
Boom!
I turned my head to the familiar noise and felt the hairs on the back of my head stand on end. The outer stone shell of the statue crumbled to the ground and dissolved. The mage standing in the center of the room shook his head as if waking from a long nap and turned to me like he already knew I was there.
I wasn’t sure what had woken the mage. Was it the fact that many of us had entered at once, the speed of my movement, or maybe Ozzy’s loud yell? It was hard to tell. But I knew that I was in trouble.
The mage raised his hand to me, and I immediately felt my feet lifting off the ground. But before the mage could do any damage, he stumbled forward, and I fell back down, barely maintaining my equilibrium. Jax was standing inside the room near the doorway and had shot an arrow in the Mage’s back.
When the mage turned to Jax, the hunter’s eyes went wide, and he immediately jumped back outside to avoid an attack.
Fire Curtain, I thought, focusing it across the distracted mage.
The mage flung his arms at the flames attacking him, but he seemed more irritated by the flames than hurt. Still, it was enough of a distraction that I able to cover more distance and had nearly reached the exit.
As the wave of flying monsters closed in on me, I knew I needed to push as many of them back as I possibly could to avoid getting overwhelmed. And though I was getting slightly better at using my staff, an on-cast effect and a Fireblast wouldn’t cut it.
I grabbed my sword, whipped it out in front of me, and released an arcane slash in the wave’s direction.
As the wave of arcane energy spread out, it smashed into the monsters, severing the wings of many and sending them crashing to the ground. Others were merely pushed back and into a flurried tailspin. And while the attack proved effective at preventing me from getting covered in the monsters, it didn’t manage to hit them all.
Two of the strange monsters closed in on me and dug their talons into my back. I winced at the pain but could see the outside light seeping through another leather curtain of the exit right ahead of me. Before they did their usual slamming of their beaks into the back of my skull, they pulled their claws out of my skin and jerked away as I pushed my way outside.
A small win, but finally, something had gone my way.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
2/12/0001
I dropped to my knees and laughed when I was at the next outer, upward-sloping path. I had made it—barely. I wasn’t sure if I could’ve made it without Jax’s distraction, but now I knew it was possible to get by that level without having to engage in a full-fledged fight.
I used the bandage Sung gave me to stop the bleeding on my back, but I had only lost ten percent of my health. I chose not to use the health potion, just in case I took more damage from whatever might lie ahead.
This new section of path was extremely narrow—not much bigger than my body—and had my friends come with me, we would’ve had to walk in single file the rest of the way to avoid an accidental fall.
I rose to my feet, put my sword away, and grabbed my staff as I continued my trek up.
Looking down was extremely scary at that height, and the Hexapodras looked like small bugs from such a distance.
The side of the narrow mountain where I passed showed signs of wear at that level. There were visible sword slashes, craters, and thousands of scratched all along its rock face. There were the occasional dark spots as well that looked like blood splatter on both the path and the wall. I rubbed my finger across one of the splatters, but it was dry and didn’t transfer as if whatever it was had soaked into the rock a long time ago.
As I was mulling at how the splatters got there, I noticed a particularly deep crater in the wall. It was no wider than a small bowl, but it extended at least a couple feet into the rock. It was right at eye level, and dark when I looked inside. A small tuft of mossy grass was growing from both the top and bottom of the deepest section of the hole, and two hand-sized white mushrooms with reflective, gold circle patterns on its cap were growing inside. A third was growing near the larger two, but it was only a tenth of the size.
I reached ins
ide to put a finger on one of the spongy-looking growths, and I grinned when I realized what I had found.
Heaven’s Shroom. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. A reagent with various uses.
I collected both the full-grown Heaven’s Shrooms and placed them in the bag. I left the tiny one, assuming it would one day grow into another usable shroom and continued on my way.
Now, I had a very good reason—other than very much not wanting to die—to make it back alive. Heaven’s Shroom was the last reagent Aaron needed to start work on the Bloodthirsty Blade, a recipe he had been hoarding since I returned from the Sands. I wasn’t—or wasn’t supposed to be—using swords while I trained my magic, but I couldn’t wait to see how it worked. It seemed like it would be an incredibly powerful weapon and maybe something I could use once my core magic leveling was complete.
Perhaps one day I’d be a sword-wielding mage who was just as effective fighting without my blade. I wondered what sort of title existed above Arcane Blade? Or hybrid sword/Fire Mage type title? Or maybe I’d go down a more varied path and continue leveling staves even if I didn’t have to—maybe level another weapon skill as well. A duel wielding mage? Was that possible?
I shook my head to get my mind back on track. I needed to focus for now, and specifically, I needed to focus only on the challenge immediately ahead of me. Looking up, I could see I was much closer to the top of the crest than I was to the bottom.
As I rounded the path, I saw the entrance to the next level of the mountain and bent down into sneak mode as I approached. I said a silent prayer when I was upon it and leaned over to look inside.
It was huge—not as big as a dragon—but huge nonetheless.
The creature inside had a head that looked like a dragon, but its overall scale was only a third or fourth the size. At first glance, one might have thought it was a very young dragon, but its wings were pint size and folded back against the sides of its body. Its head was also a little rounder and stubbier than the few dragons I had seen.