Umbra Online- Halgor's Horde

by K D Brand

  Though he’d known this time would come, prepared for it, planned for it, Ty found it hard to imagine willfully standing in the way of the great beast lumbering straight toward him.

  His first encounter had been a mistake, a fluke of bad luck where he’d been forced to react on instinct, and he’d barely survived that. Now, Halgor was coming straight for him, and Ty had provoked exactly that.

  What the heck was I thinking?

  Worse still, the king was in battle-mode. At his flanks were Tweedle-Doom and Tweedle-Death, his troll bodyguards. The three of them strode across the battlefield without fear, sweeping through the carnage on the raze Altunn down around them.

  The orcs and remaining goblins hit the gates then, tearing and clawing and hammering at them. It would only be a matter of time before they broke through.

  Ty swallowed hard as the arrows petered out, and the horde pressed forward in the lull, slamming into the gates, and setting the walls to trembling. Halgor roared and stomped across the smoldering field, straight toward them.

  He turned to Master Bol. “Keep the archers firing as long as possible and take out as many of the orcs and goblins as you can.”

  The master raised an eyebrow. “And what are you going to do?”

  Ty sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a sputtering gasp as he contemplated his options. If there was a chance that things would work out, he had to stick to the plan.

  “I’m going to go play bait,” he answered.

  Bol grunted. “Better you than me,” he mumbled.

  Ty chuckled under his breath and glanced over at Char and the others. “You guys know what to do?”

  They nodded, and Ty offered up a quick wave and darted down the boxes and into the open entryway, where Cord and the town’s guards waited pensively.

  “If you’re wanting out,” Cord told him, “you’ve only got to wait a minute before they tear the gate down. I won’t stop you this time.”

  Ty grinned. “How generous of you.”

  “Well, you know,” Cord went on, “facing your own mortality makes a man magnanimous.”

  “As long as you stick to the plan, you and your men should be fine,” Ty assured him.

  Char had gone and talked with all the guards and convinced them to do more than throw themselves at the enemy as they broke through the gate, which was not so surprisingly easy. None of them wanted to be cannon fodder, so they listened to Char and agreed to do as she asked.

  “Now might be a good time to get into position,” Ty said, nudging Cord to go join his fellow guardsmen.

  They’d congregated at both sides of the gate, all of them clutching to lengths of chains that were attached to pullies mounted to the wall.

  Cord nodded, patted Ty on his shoulder roughly, then shot off, joining the others. He offered a thumbs up once he was in position.

  Char, Amon, and Deven clambered down from the walls just them, wide-eyed and in a panic.

  “Halgor’s here!” Amon shrieked, and Ty waved them on.

  With obvious reluctance, the NPCs raced into the depths of Altunn. Ty watched them go, stomach churning, until they disappeared.

  Halgor didn’t give him time to miss them.

  There was a great, monstrous thump as the troll king hit it, and the gate collapsed, splintering into jagged pieces that bounced into the foyer. Orcs and goblins spilled in through the opening on the heels of one of Halgor’s troll enforcers.

  Cord cried out, and the guards pulled hard on their chains. A wall of twisted wire with ragged burrs attached to it jerked upward in front of the invaders. The troll growled as the tiny barbs bit into his flesh, not bothering to stop. He pressed on.

  It was only after he’d fully entered Altunn that he realized his mistake.

  The wall of thorns had become a net, and his determined forward motion had entangled him in it.

  He stumbled, orcs and goblins trapped about his feet, and tripped, falling to the ground with a thunderous crash. Cord and his men cheered as the troll enforcer thrashed about, entangling himself worse and worse with every squirming movement.

  “To the walls!” Ty shouted at them as more and more of the horde spilled through the now open gate.

  Halgor stomped forward, his footsteps shaking the earth. He reached down grabbed the barbed mesh and tossed it aside, troll buddy and all, clearing the entryway.

  The captive troll howled and flailed, hitting the ground with a spine-shattering thud, then went still.

  Halgor jabbed a finger Ty’s way. “You!” he roared, his voice drowning every other sound in its wake. “I promised to flay the skin from your bones, and I will.” A crooked grin broke out across his face, great mountains of sharp teeth gleaming.

  “Uh…that’s not good,” Ty muttered to himself as Halgor started forward, his troll enforcer and the horde behind him.

  That Halgor remembered him was both terrifying and revealing all at the same time. It meant the system changes he’d witnessed in the NPCs was more widespread than he’d suspected.

  His stomach dropped as realization settled in.

  Halgor was becoming self-aware.

  The troll king grinned at him, coming directly for Ty rather than tearing his way through town like he was supposed to. No, he’d decided—a horrible word to Ty right then—that he wanted Ty dead before he went about his programmed duties.

  Ty swallowed hard at the knot growing in his throat, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Halgor had made this personal.

  “This part of the scenario,” a quiet voice asked beside him.

  Ty started and glanced at a blurry shape he slowly recognized as Theolin in full-stealth mode.

  Ty shook his head. “We seem to be experiencing a…uh, couple of bugs,” he admitted.

  Theolin laughed. “That’s why you guys beta test, remember? You just gotta work them out.”

  Ty groaned. “This is we make plans,” he muttered. “Speaking of…” Ty sucked in a deep breath and shouted, “Now would be a good time, Nikky!”

  Was waiting on you, she said through the chat link.

  Right then, Nikky launched herself off the wall, having clambered up the rope ladder into Altunn, and stabbed the troll enforcer in the back. The beast shrieked and stumbled, caught off guard by the powerful attack.

  Really didn’t think it’d be so easy to get back into town, she admitted.

  Chat later, kill now, he fired back. “Masters!”

  A movement off to his right let Ty know the trainers had heard him, the group moving into position.

  Without so much as a word, they unleashed their fury on the troll enforcer and the horde at its back. Fireballs hurtled through the night courtesy of Master Ree, and righteous bolts of lightning rained down upon the creatures thanks to Master Ula, burning and scorching the creatures’ flesh as the priest and wizard trainers worked together.

  The warrior trainer, Zonder, charged into the fray, sword slashing left and right, cutting down orcs and goblins with nearly every blow. Master Morit darted between the ranks, stabbing and slashing and never stopping, leaving bodies in his wake.

  Tah, the monk trainer, came at the horde from the other side, kicking and punching, tossing stunned and wounded orcs aside as though they weighed nothing. Meanwhile, Efeer, the trainer of druids cast her spells, great, clinging tentacles of thorns breaking free of the ground and wrapping about the ankles and legs of the horde, pulling them helplessly to the ground.

  Ty was about to let out a whoop of joy as he watched the second troll enforcer fall to its knees, but Nikky’s voice cut him short.

  The horde’s spilling into Altunn, she warned. I’m getting bogged down.

  Ty glanced over to see her battling a half-dozen orcs and goblins, which had surrounded her while she went after the other troll. More spilled through the gate toward her.

  Then Ty realized the masters were in trouble, too. Zonder was being driven back by the sheer numbers in front of him, and the rouge and monk trainers were being made to circle the
edges of the horde, having been pushed out of the center. They were far less effective from their current positions.

  The only real effective efforts on their part were the spellcasters, those using area of effect spells to rain down fire on top of the horde’s head or tearing them up from below, but it wasn’t enough. The horde just kept coming. The masters would soon be made to retreat or they’d be killed.

  Halgor let loose a monstrous chuckle at seeing Ty’s disappointment, raising his hands to the sky. “You cannot defeat me!” he rumbled. “I will have your flesh and will bring this tomb of a city down around your dead ears.”

  Halgor stomped forward, teeth bared, reaching for Ty, ready to snatch him up and peel him open like a pop-top.

  “You got a plan for him?” Theolin asked.

  “Yup.” Ty nodded. “I saved the best for last.”

  “What is it?”

  “Ruuuuuuuuun!”

  Twenty-Four

  Explosive Trollarrhea

  TY AND THEOLIN separated, Ty bolting north along the line of the wall, Theolin to the west, likely shooting through town to get to the Shadow Walk with the most amount of cover between. He clearly didn’t want a part of Halgor.

  To be fair, neither did Ty.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a choice. Halgor followed, grinning and picking at his teeth with a jagged claw. He chuckled as he loped along, keeping some distance between them but making it clear he could close that precarious space without much effort on his part, each of his steps twenty of Ty’s.

  Ty cast furtive glances over his shoulder at the troll king and forced himself to focus, to settle his nerves.

  This is what you trained for.

  A gentle warmth washed through him as he summoned his magic and cast the spell that he and Master Ree had worked on. He felt it take hold as he weaved his way past the array of carts splayed out in the dark market.

  There, he bolted, putting every ounce of energy he had in his feet to gain some precious space on the troll king, just so he had some room to maneuver.

  It worked…kinda.

  “Just where do you think you’re going, huh, punk?”

  Ty stumbled a halt, recognizing the voice instantly.

  There, behind the blade of his ax, wearing a crooked grin, stood Defiler of Souls! At his back were his goons: Zurber, Primmus and, of course, Vile One. Each stood with their weapons ready, the sharp, pointy ends facing Ty.

  Defiler glanced over Ty and grinned at seeing Halgor. “Seems you’ve got yourself a bit of a problem. Old boy’s coming right at ya, looks like.”

  Ty snarled.

  “We should just leave you to the troll king, punk,” Defiler went on. “He’ll peel you apart nicely.”

  “Screw that!” Vile One shouted and leapt forward, sword flashing. “I want my collar!”

  The blade cleaved the air just a few inches left of Ty as he sidestepped, grinning all the while.

  It works!

  “You’re going to have to do better than that, buddy,” Ty barked at Vile One who, of course, tried to do just that.

  He lashed out again, a backhanded swing coming back around, but it missed Ty easily, slicing emptiness in front of him.

  “Get him!” Vile One whined.

  Defiler growled, eyeballing Halgor still approaching, and despite his obvious hesitance, he joined in.

  His ax rose and flew at Ty’s head, but Ty wasn’t there when it came down. The blade crashed into the ground, burying the head in the dirt.

  “I’m gonna kill you!” Vile One shrieked.

  His blade cut air again as Ty stepped back just out of range, still grinning.

  “Why are you smiling?” Zurber shouted, stomping forward, and trying to stab Ty, missing despite him being right there in front of Zurber. “Somebody shank this punk!”

  Ty cast a quick glance over his shoulder and spied Halgor closing on him in his leisurely gait. The red moonlight made his teeth gleam as though they were coated with blood, and a cold shiver ran down Ty’s spine.

  Unfortunately, he noticed the troll king wasn’t alone.

  Dozens of PCs lurked in the shadows behind Defiler and his goons, creeping closer with every second. Ty saw greed in their eyes as they angled toward him, and he knew it was only a matter of time until they broke from cover and came after him, hoping to collect on that fifty gold.

  Defiler got there first, though.

  He darted forward, catching Ty off guard, and cleaved straight through Ty’s shoulder, the blade sinking in and going all the way through him until it broke free of his guts and slammed into the ground.

  Defiler froze when Ty chuckled and shrugged, standing there unhurt, arms raised in provocation. “Missed me, jacktard.”

  Then he flickered, his body wavering in the light.

  He vanished right after.

  Ty felt a sickening warmth wash over him as his spell points ran out. He stumbled a step, bumping into the wall where he actually stood. All eyes snapped about at the sound, glaring at him.

  “Uh…hey,” he said, biting back a curse at his spell’s failure.

  “It was damn illusion the whole time!” Vile One screamed, stomping his foot. “Get the real one!”

  “Now would be a good time to join in,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the cloaked figure lurking in the darkness behind him.

  “I suppose it would be,” the gravel-voiced figure replied, a hint of a shrug moving the shoulders of its cloak.

  “Still can’t get you to take out the troll?” Ty asked.

  The figured chuckled, stepping into the light. “It’s one thing nuking a bunch of shithead PCs, it’s something entirely different to draw attention to myself by taking out a quest boss. You’re on your own with the troll, kid,” Varus told him. “I trust Eunice will honor your deal.”

  Ty sighed. It was going to cost him an arm and a leg to keep Varus in beer for the next month, but that had been the deal he’d struck with the wizard to take out Defiler and the others when they’d finally popped up. Much as he hated it, Ty would honor his commitment for the help.

  “She will,” he assured.

  “Then let’s get on with this before your troll arrives,” Varus stated, then moved out in front of the PCs charging for Ty, threatening all sorts of unkind things.

  He flung his hood back, and the whole group stuttered to a halt. Ty grinned at their reaction. They didn’t know who Varus really was, a real person from Earth drawn into the world, but they knew what he was: a level 50 pure wizard.

  “Your asshole trolling…” he glanced over his shoulder at Halgor, “pun intended, is over. See you little bastards in twelve hours.”

  He raised his hands, and energy bristled off his fingertips. Bright blue and gleaming, tendrils of electricity flew loose of his hands and blasted each and every PC in the area except for Ty smack dab in the chest. They all stiffened and, quite comedically Ty thought, danced beneath the mage’s magic, their bones visible through their flesh.

  And then they went poof, each and every one of them turning into a column of ash that rained down on the ground in great puffs of gray.

  Varus dusted his hands off and walked away without a word.

  Ty didn’t get a chance to admire the mage’s work because Halgor came stomping up, growling, and frothing at the mouth.

  Ty bolted, running as fast as he possibly could. Halgor roared and chased after, loping along without hurry.

  “I’ll drink the marrow from your bones,” he shouted at Ty’d back.

  “You need a new writer!” Ty shouted back at the troll king.

  Halgor grumbled and smashed a fist into a nearby wall, tearing through it and nearly bringing the building down with it. Dust and debris filled the air, and Ty realized then he was playing a dangerous game.

  It was a fine line, antagonizing the troll king and getting him to follow, yet keeping a safe distance at the same time.

  Determining Halgor was still too dang close, Ty sprinted, gasping for e
ach and every breath. He hadn’t planned on his burning out his spell points making him physically tired, and it was slowing him down.

  He huffed like a bellows, and the troll king closed on him with every glass-sharded breath Ty took. Stumbling, he scrambled to his feet, scraping the skin off his palms as he did. He growled, regretting his decision to take on Halgor.

  As a matter of fact, he regretted a lot of decisions right then.

  But he was committed now, and there was nothing he could do. Halgor was coming for him, like as not, and it would only end one way: with either Ty or the king dead.

  Can I have a heart attack in-game?

  Ty’s heart pounded in the well of his chest, and his vision darkened at the edges, his peripheral vision going blurry. Every breath hurt, and he suddenly wished he’d put points into fitness rather than focusing on agility and training in stealth and his illusion spell.

  But there was nothing he could do about it now.

  He struggled on, pushing himself harder and harder as the troll king closed on him.

  “I can smell your fear,” Halgor told him, letting out a great, phlegmy chuckle. “Soon, your legs will fail, and you’ll be mine.”

  Ty groaned. Halgor wasn’t wrong.

  Every step was like lugging lead weights, and Ty found his feet scraping the dirt as he ran. He was slowing, and Halgor was gaining, and it would be a matter of moments before the troll king could reached him and made good on his threats.

  Then, with his goal in sight, Ty stumbled and tripped. He went face-down in a heap, his head bouncing off the ground a couple times before he slid to a painful stop.

  “No,” he growled, his legs too weak to support his weight.

  So, he crawled instead.

  Halgor laughed at him. “Have we come to the end so soon?” the troll king asked as he came to loom over Ty. Great wafts of rancid warm breath washed over him, like a fetid wind blowing through a sewer. “Was your whole plan to run?”

  Ty gasped and rolled onto his back to glare up at the troll king. “That was most of it,” he managed to spit out, barely able to form the words.

  Halgor grinned. “And the rest?”