Party Hard

by David Petrie

  "Okay, you two, off my statue." Max waved his hands in a shooing motion, like they were a couple of unwanted pigeons. They obeyed begrudgingly, and Max snapped a quick picture of the scene with his inspector, getting a sideways look from Ginger. He shrugged back at her. "What? When am I gonna be back here again?"

  Not wanting to waste any more time, he began his ascent. A wave of tension coursed through his spine as soon as he set foot on the stairs. It seemed to travel down through the others, replacing the levity with a more serious vibe. If it wasn't obvious enough that he was almost to the boss, the massive stone skeleton on the ceiling made it clear as he passed it. Its bony arms stretched out past him, the fingers of one hand gripping the side of the stairs, so he had to step over its joints.

  "This isn't unnerving at all." Kira tiptoed close to its jaws as if she was trying to sneak by.

  Surprisingly, after the spectacle below, the top of the stairs ended in a small room with an even smaller door. The others piled into the space like clowns going on a road trip, making Max feel cramped with them pressed up against his back.

  "What's going on up there?" Kegan shouted from behind.

  Max took position next to the narrow door. Farn took the other side without needing to be told. He nodded to her. She nodded back. Then he pushed the door open, and the two dashed in to secure the area.

  Fresh air filled his lungs as he found himself outside again. Max scanned his surroundings, finding decorative gravestones and statuary scattered about. High walls towered on all sides with no doors or windows to be seen, the faces of gargoyles staring down at them from above. The only way in or out was the small door of a mausoleum that they came from.

  Max motioned to the doorway, telling the mages that it was safe, or at least, it was for the time being.

  Kira and Corvin emerged followed by Ginger, her dagger at the ready. Kegan brought up the rear, arrows in hand, his arm twitching. They weren't about to be taken by surprise again.

  Snow fell softly across the graveyard. Silence fell equally so. Max broke it, looking up at the moon. "The sky is open. Do we have Flight?"

  Kira swiped open her spell-craft menu and shook her head. "Nope, just me again."

  Suddenly, the door they came from slammed shut on its own, the implication being clear. They had to survive to escape.

  At the center of the cemetery stood one grave larger than the rest. On top, a robed statue perched, casting a long shadow in the light of the full moon. The air was still, without a trace of wind. If Max wasn't so adept at sensing movement, he might have missed it. The figure at the center turned.

  He sprang to action without bothering to tell his team of the target, not because he didn't think of it but because he didn't need to. They were already falling into formation before he got a shot off. He fired at where he thought the hooded figure's head would be and his guns barked, tearing through the silence and echoing off the high walls. A metallic clang followed as the bullets impacted against a blade, now held in a skeletal hand in front of the figure.

  It had moved almost too fast to see, effortlessly blocking his shots. The figure paused a moment, then stepped down from the ornate grave marker that it had spent the last two and a half years waiting for them on.

  Max grinned. It would be rude to disappoint it.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Max's heart skipped a beat as the skeletal figure's robe fanned out, its tattered edges floating in the still air with each movement like it was underwater. The white bone of its skull peeked out from under its hood. Then, from underneath the gray cloak, it drew a long, unmistakable weapon. The sight of it somehow filled Max with satisfaction as if he wouldn't have felt right about the fight if Death didn't have his traditional scythe.

  In its other hand, it held a short sword with which it had blocked Max's last attack. Well, short wasn't really the right word for it. It was actually larger than most swords, but due to the fact that the intimidating figure stood almost twice as tall as a normal person, the blade looked small in comparison.

  The group, clearly still feeling confident, prepared to rush the boss. Then it revealed two more arms, each with a different sword. Then two more, bringing the total to six.

  Kegan let out a short, "The hell?"

  "It's certainly well-armed," Kira remarked, getting a grin from Farn.

  Max rolled his eyes.

  In the next few seconds, shots rang out, arrows flew, and spells were cast, but after it all, Death stood unaffected, its six arms blocking everything with an impenetrable defense.

  Max called to Corvin, "Any chance of your basilisk eye slowing this thing down?"

  "Sorry, it only works on things that actually have eyes. Empty sockets won't cut it."

  Max frowned before returning his gaze to the hooded skull of their foe. It looked calm, almost tranquil. Then it was on him.

  It closed the gap in an instant, blades swinging with precision. He dodged twice but took a hit from one of the swords. It hit hard, cutting away around twenty percent of his health. He took another. It was fast. The familiar tingle of Kira's magic touched his skin as a healing spell swirled around him. A fraction of a second later, two arrows flew at the boss from where Kegan stood behind him. They didn't land, but they forced it to block, saving Max from being hit by the scythe and buying him a couple seconds to put in some distance. Try as he might, he just couldn't get away. Again, it wound up its scythe. He was out of options.

  Without warning, the world around him vanished, and Max fell into the same gloom as before when fighting the spiders in the last dungeon. Everything came back just as fast, and he stumbled backward landing on his rear again, the frozen ground crunching underneath him.

  Farn stood in his place, bracing against her shield to take a hit that was meant for him. He glanced at the shift beads that encircled his wrist as another bead faded from black to red. He grinned and pushed himself up from the snow. He had to pay her back for saving him.

  A look at his forearm showed her health drop by at least a third from the attack even with her shield's damage reduction. Max did the math in his head. Her shield absorbed around ninety percent of the damage, meaning that the hit would have done well over three times her total hit points if she hadn't blocked it. The scythe must have been different than the boss’s other weapons. If any of them were to be hit by it, they would be killed outright. Judging by the look on Farn's face, she’d realized it too. She kept its focus on her anyway. There wasn't an option not to. She didn't bother attacking; there wasn't enough time. It was going to have to be up to him.

  Max fired, his bullets causing little more than a few sparks as they ricocheted off the thing's blades. Kegan's arrows had the same effect. It's defense still seemed impenetrable. They had to find a way to slow it down. If not, all the time Farn was buying for them would just go to waste.

  A steady glow of light circled the Shield in repetition as Kira cast heal after heal to keep her health high enough to continue the struggle. She couldn't keep it up forever; Max was sure of that. Eventually, Kira's constant healing would draw too much attention.

  As soon as he thought it, the hollow eyes of the skull turned toward the fairy, her mouth silently forming the words ‘Oh crap’ as she saw it, too. Then it was in front of her. Farn yelled from behind it in an attempt to draw it off, but it shrugged off the taunt and drew back a sword. The blade hit the ground just as Kira escaped into the air, her wings shining through the dark sky.

  Max let out a breath that he hadn't realized he‘d been holding. He just hoped it couldn't follow her. It didn't. Instead, it opened its mouth and screamed, a red glow gathering in its jaws. Energy swam toward it, like lightning in its teeth, brighter and faster than Max thought possible. It fired.

  A beam of deep crimson cut through the air with pinpoint accuracy. All the maneuverability in the world couldn't save the fairy; there wasn't time to react. It hit her square in the chest, throwing her back against the wall before sweeping up across one of the cas
tle's towers.

  Kira's most recent bone charm was obliterated, her singular protection gone. She fell almost forty feet, far enough to kill her, or it would have been, if Farn hadn't caught her out of the air, the two of them rolling as the Shield used her body to take the impact. She was getting good at catching the fairy.

  Max fired again, trying to buy them time, but it wasn't enough. Then a rumble from above drew his attention as a tower crumbled to pieces, having been hit by the blast as well. It fell as if cleaved clean through by the beam. Rubble crashed to the floor of the graveyard, sending him running for cover. Max hoped he was lucky enough for Death to be caught in its own destruction. He wasn't.

  He dove a few feet from Farn as she released the fairy, who was somehow unharmed after everything. Clouds of dust filled the graveyard, making it hard to see.

  "I guess he doesn't like it when people get out of range." Kira coughed. Her jaw dropped as she tried to speak again, a silver blade glinting through the dust as it began to settle.

  Death seemed to appear from nothing, scythe held aloft. Farn reacted, throwing Kira to the side so that she rolled in Max's direction. He caught her as the massive blade came down, burying itself deep into the ground, mere inches from Farn's head.

  Despite the depth with which the weapon had penetrated the frozen earth, the skeleton didn't even struggle to pull it back out.

  They got back to their feet, Farn again putting herself between the Nightmare and the squishy fairy behind her. It was the right move, even if it brought them right back where they started. If they lost their healer now, it was over.

  Max glanced to Kira who was dropping heals into her queue with one hand while absentmindedly twisting the ring on her finger that tied her life to Farn's in a one-way bond. It was clear what she was thinking. Max didn't want to have to use the rings either. Fortunately, Farn seemed to have the thing back under control for the moment as she deflected with her sword and blocked with her shield, holding Death's attention on her.

  Max took the brief opportunity to retrieve an item from his pocket. They were out of options, and if there was ever a time to use a bullet that could kill anything, this was it. He ejected a magazine and snapped the tiny item in on top before jamming it back in and racking the slide.

  Power surged through him as soon as he the round slid into position, his arm feeling like he'd shoved a fork into an electrical socket in the best way possible. Something inside of him clicked into place, and he took a deep relaxing breath. He could do anything with that bullet, like he had become the hero of all the movies that he had ever quoted. His doubts fell away. Even if Kira was a hostage, it didn't matter. He could save her and the world at the same time. All he had to do was land a critical. He wondered what his willpower stat was in that moment. It must have been high. After all, he was Max-freaking-Damage, and he was about to shoot Death in the face.

  The others continued their assault from all sides, but the large health bar at the edge of Max’s sleeve had only dropped a hair, each of them doing little more than chip damage to its limbs. He watched for his opening. He only needed one.

  Looking desperate, Ginger tried something outside the box, firing her grappling hook at the boss. It caught one arm, and her eyes lit up. The skeleton must not have registered it as something to block since it wasn't an actual attack. She yanked the line, and for a second, the Nightmare faltered. Its arms swung wildly, still blocking attacks from Kegan, but for Farn, who was right in front of it, the millisecond of unbalance gave the Shield an opening. She slipped through its almost unbreakable defense and thrust her sword between its ribs. Bones cracked as she twisted the blade.

  It cried out and dropped to one knee, stabbing one of its swords into the ground for support. Then it pulled back on the arm that Ginger held with her line. The tension yanked the Coin off the ground, tossing her across the cemetery where she impacted hard with one of the statues, shattering it to pieces.

  Farn attempted to pull her sword out and escape, but Death grabbed her hand, leaving one of his swords stuck in the ground. It whipped her around like a rag doll and pulled her off the ground, holding her tight against its chest like a child clutching a favorite stuffed animal. She struggled to get free, but it had her in a literal death grip. The humor was lost on her as her face flooded with panic. Then Death reached his scythe arm around her, keeping her close in the rough embrace, its bony arm across her chest.

  Death paused, like it was savoring the moment, its four free limbs still keeping up its defense as it lowered the blade of its scythe to Farn's throat. She screamed as it became obvious what was about to happen. The cold edge of the weapon snatched her breath away as it touched her skin, freezing her scream in an awful sounding croak.

  Then she was falling, the attack interrupted as Max rammed the skeleton with everything he had, taking a few hits in the process. He couldn't stand off to the side anymore. Hell, he wouldn't have been much of a hero if he'd let things go on like that much longer. He smiled as Farn dropped to the ground safely, even as his health fell below ten percent.

  He got back to his feet, ignoring his dwindling hit points. It was okay; he didn't need them. He had his bullet. He dodged a blade, distracting the boss with a few rounds from his other gun. He had to wait until he had the shot. He ducked another strike then sidestepped to avoid another. Finally, he let out a wild laugh and thrust his pistol up, a few feet from the thing’s skull. He added one word as he squeezed the trigger, "Smile."

  Everyone froze as the shot rang out and reverberated off the walls.

  Max stood, stunned, his wrist clutched by a skeletal hand. Wisps of black smoke drifting from the muzzle of his gun as it pointed just to the side of Death's head. He couldn't believe it. He was Max-freaking-Damage, and he just fucking missed.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Max froze in terror as his mind processed what had just happened.

  It was gone.

  The most powerful contract he’d ever had, wasted.

  That feeling that he could do anything. That confidence. It was all a lie. He had seen that damn statue below, showing him in all his epic glory, and it had messed with his head, stroking his ego just right.

  His eyes darted to Kira who was saying something that he couldn't hear. I'm so sorry, he thought. She trusted him with her life, and he had screwed it all up. He was an idiot, and now he was trapped. He glanced back to Death, its blade piercing his chest as a he felt the warmth of Kira's magic race to beat it.

  It wasn't enough to save him. He knew that. Magic could only do so much. So it came as a surprise when he fell backward in the snow, the form of Death towering over him before turning away.

  Max was right. Magic couldn't have saved him. At least, not anything normal. Which was probably why Kira hadn't used anything normal. Instead, she'd used a contract. Max recognized it as the one that she had been given for sacrificing herself to save an NPC during the Sengetsu fight years ago. The one that she had used earlier that night to open a door in the Famine dungeon. The one that she had promised not to use again. He glanced to his forearm. His health readout was full and accompanied by every buff icon in the game. He’d also gained a hefty regeneration effect that would last for the next five minutes. His mouth fell open. She had actually torn him from Death's embrace, but like Farn's Blood Shell ability that had cost her life earlier that night, it too came with a price. That price being that it affected the whole party except the caster, and now, after using all her remaining mana, the overpowered spell gave her the full, undivided attention of Death. It would be impossible to draw the boss off her. In short, it was suicide.

  Max looked up to Kira from his place in the cold dirt, the residual glow of the contract’s power still fading from her form.

  She gave him a slight shrug as if to say, "Oops."

  Death reacted, streaking toward the fairy, its scythe swinging back in anticipation. The glow around her simply blinked out as the curved blade struck her at near blinding speed.

>   Her body hit the wall two dozen feet away with an impact so great that Max felt it through the ground. She slid down almost in slow motion, landing on her feet for a moment.

  He looked to Farn as she glanced down at her ring. He wasn't sure how to feel. He didn't want to lose either of them, but it was too late for that. Any second, the Shield’s life would be cut down to just a few minutes in exchange for Kira’s, her sacrifice giving her the power to make a difference in the time remaining.

  Max's throat tightened as the Shield placed her hand to her chest and closed her eyes, waiting for whatever might come. Then she snapped them open again. Something was wrong.

  In the distance, Kira dropped to her knees, her limp hand opening. The recently removed ring slipped from her grip, bouncing off a stone as it fell to the frozen ground. The cold bite of the air rushed back to him as the comfort spell she had cast earlier faded away.

  Farn let out a sob as she tried to form words.

  Max looked to his party readout. The digital ink confirmed it, just a red zero out of fifty showing as Kira's name faded away. It was over. They couldn't win.

  Then things got weird.

  Kira fell to all fours, but to his surprise, she didn't disappear. He glanced again at the digits below the space where her name had been. It read zero, but it didn't disappear either. Eerie laughter echoed through the graveyard, its source difficult to determine as it bounced around the high walls. It was unnerving, and it was coming from Kira. Another glance at her health showed something else. The readout shifted and merged to form a what looked like the number eight. It rotated and stretched into a symbol he recognized, infinity.

  Max's jaw hit the ground as he realized what was happening. He squinted at the fairy, looking for the pearl hanging from her earing. It was gone. It was the first contract that either of them had gotten, the one that had dangled from her ear for years. Kira had always said that she was saving it for a rainy day, and today, it was pouring. As the items description had instructed, she must have swallowed it a moment before to save herself from Death's retaliation. Once a part of her character, it could bring her back from death.