by Ryan Rimmel
“Ladies first,” I replied, watching the mass of undead shift around.
“I think you should go first,” said Bashara.
Badgelor adjusted his position on my shoulder, turning and growling at her. I glanced over as Bashara began losing the color in her face. After a moment, I said, “I don’t exactly trust you to follow me over. You know I’ll follow you.”
“That’s. . .” began Bashara, while continuing to look at me and Badgelor. Finally sighing, “That’s fair.”
Bashara quickly wove her Feather Fall spell and leapt over the chasm. Given the speed she was traveling, she would never have come close to making it with the effects of normal gravity. With her spell, she would make it over safely, physics be damned. Then, quite unexpectedly, the chanting stopped.
The low reverberation of chanting had filled the hall since before we entered it. When Bashara was more than halfway across the chasm, the room became deathly silent. The only sound quickly became the clinking of Sir Dalton’s armor.
“Intruders!” shrieked the Shadow Priest. His hands became surrounded by a web of darkness.
Then, everything happened at once. The Shadow Priest let fly with a Shadow Lance toward Bashara. I threw out a blast of BioLightning, while I leapt over the chasm. SueLeeta fired off her Explosive Multi Shot into the base of the pillar, and the world shook. The nearby undead around the altar all turned to where the pillar would most likely land, instead of rushing toward Bashara and myself. I didn’t know if that boded well or poorly.
Bashara threw up a Fire barrier, which took the Priest’s hit well enough. However, it also caused her to slow as she crossed the chasm. The Shadow Priest deflected my spell with his off-hand, his two red, malevolent eyes glaring at me. The pillar took SueLeeta’s shots like a champ, swaying ever so slightly from the impacts.
“Did that do any damage to the pillar?” I asked Shart, as I flew through the air.
“Of course it did! See, it says so right. . .“ began Shart, before cutting himself off. “Wow, that is one well-built pillar.”
“I was expecting more,” I said.
“Your plans are always terrible,” thought Shart, as I landed on the other side. I immediately rushed straight toward the Shadow Priest. He was nearly thirty feet from the ledge, at the altar. Two massive, armored skeletons stood between us, armed with maces and wickedly sharp shields. At his motion, both skeletons charged toward me.
I was acting in my Mage capacity. As the skeletons closed, I threw Mana into a Biological Aeromancy barrier. I successfully deflected the strike of one, while parrying the other. The combined might of the creatures was enough to force me back a pace, before I got my legs under me. It didn’t matter. I was simply the distraction.
Badgelor leapt off my shoulder and past both the Priest’s bodyguards. As he flew through the air, he expanded to his massive Ultimate form. One of the skeletons attempted to turn around, but I executed a Hack and Slash, keeping their attention on me. Badgelor headed straight toward the caster.
Suddenly, one of the armored skeletons swung at me, knocking my barrier aside in a feat of superhuman speed. I didn’t have any more time to spend on my companion.
● Death Knight - Level 24 Undead Guardian
● Sword and Board: This abomination was constructed to battle with a weapon and a shield
● HP: 320/320
● Stamina: 400/400
● Mana: 20/20
● Shadow Aura: Residual Shadow Energies surround the Death Knight, sapping the life force of nearby living creatures.
This doesn’t bode well. I weighed my options as both Death Knights began attacking me in tandem. It was worse than I initially feared, as they seemed to be overwhelmingly aware of how the other one fought. Even with all my potions and recent skill upgrades, I was hard pressed to keep them at bay. Both struck with a tidal wave of force that I was challenged to defend myself against. I winced as a slash hammered into my side, the blade moving faster than I could track.
● You have suffered 47 points of Damage from various sword strikes. You have resisted all Shadow Damage from Death Knights.
I had several shallow cuts on my body from other successful strikes, but I had given almost as good as they gave. Well, sort of. I’d hit them a few times. Seriously, anyone who underestimates the utility of a shield is an asshole. The only parts one managed to attack me with were his very heavily-armored arms. Those attacks were brief, as the other one attempted to push me back with his shield.
Then, one skeleton screwed up. As he lunged forward, he exposed his shoulder. I activated my Riposte talent. That talent allowed me to make a perfectly executed counterattack.
● Riposte: You have stuck with a Riposte causing 67 points of Damage to the Death Knight.
I felt a tremendous impact on my chest. I was unexpectedly lifted into the air and sent flying toward the chasm. The second Death Knight had timed his move brilliantly. When I was counter attacking his friend, he was in position to crush my guts.
● Airborne Control activated. You can adjust your position by up to 4 logs in any direction. Cost 32 Stamina
The push was enough that I had to perform a superhero landing, just shy of the edge of the chasm. Glancing around, I could see SueLeeta fire a second volley of exploding arrows into the pillar, causing it to wobble even more. Despite the Damage, it still remained upright. I groaned. It would take her even longer to prepare a third volley, due to the Stamina potion cooldown.
Strangely, Sir Dalton was sitting at the edge of the chasm, calmly eating eggs.
Badgelor had the Shadow Priest pinned to the ground and was ripping off chunks of the undead monster. My War Badger’s talents and perks were lined up almost perfectly, making him the ultimate magical tank. However, against that abomination, even he was being sorely tested.
Suddenly, one of the Death Knights grabbed Badgelor by the scruff of his neck and threw him off the Shadow Priest. That feat of strength was impressive, considering Badgelor, in his current size, weighed nearly as much as a horse. The badger flipped through the air, landing on all four paws. Snarling with drool, he yelled, “Jim, you fecker, get over here!”
Bashara nodded as I rushed forward, her arms glowing in a nimbus of fire. I activated Thrust against one of the Death Knights, just as the Wizard launched a massive Fireball at the Shadow Priest.
The explosion shattered the ground, as my sword slammed into the Death Knight’s armor. The creature was knocked back a pace. Now that it wasn’t two-on-one, I managed to strike several more times in quick succession. The skeleton recovered its footing and launched a counterattack, smashing through my guard and into my shoulder.
I executed Hack and Slash, crashing into the creature four times. His hand snapped into place around my wrist, as he released his mace. The Shadow magic flowing into my wrist caused my barrier to wink out. Grunting, he flung me around to the side, trying to pull me into the air.
● Mitigate Activated: You have used Mitigate to prevent 4 logs of movement to your person. Cost 16 Stamina.
I stayed put. The glowing red eyes of the undead seemed to consider me for a moment. He relented and tried to tear my rapidly numbing arm free. At the same time, he tried to hack the limb off with the sharp edge of his shield. As he swung the bladed shield down, I struck it with my sword. It knocked into his arm with a mighty crunch.
It did not sever his limb, only broke it. I found it beyond odd to see a broken, skinless bone. Meanwhile, numbness continued flowing into my arm, creating a hot, pins-and-needles sensation. My muscles were rapidly failing.
“What are you doing, Dum Dum?” questioned Shart, as he peered from behind my eyeballs.
“Losing. Any suggestions?” I asked, striking away the monster’s blade twice more in rapid succession.
“Well, you are being filled full of Shadow energy. It’s a shame you don’t have any Life energy to counteract that,” replied the demon.
“The gizmo?” I asked, remembering the nearly broken mag
ical gizmo we’d found in the Fecking Puma Forest.
“No, you nimrod! Your Biological Aeromancy,” shouted the demon.
I struck away the Death Knight’s sword again. “He just broke through my barrier!”
“Did you put Stamina into it?” asked Shart. Dear God, I am a Dum Dum.
My barrier snapped back into existence, now powered by Mana and Stamina. It cut into the skeletal hand grabbing my wrist, severing the tendril of Shadow that was flowing into me. My arm, nearly useless moments before, suddenly felt hale again. I started pressing on the Death Knight.
A few moments before, I’d seen one of those things throw Badgelor aside like a bag of cement. My arm pressed forward, and the Death Knight struggled for an instant. Then, slowly and against his will, I forced him back, pace by pace.
Suddenly, his hand shattered, causing him to stumble backward. I advanced, swinging. He blocked my sword strike, but his own chest was exposed. I folded my barrier over my fist and punched the Death Knight.
● Punch, Unarmed strike using Biological Aeromancy Barrier: Strong vs Shadows, Strong vs Undead: Total Damage (22, Base Damage 40 points) , Knockback based on Strength 2 logs (7 logs -2 size -3 mitigate)
As the creature fell backward, I leapt into the air. He landed as I hit the apex of my jump. I began crashing down on him in a Falling Star Strike. The Death Knight’s glowing, red eyes flared for an instant. I slammed into him with enough force to cause the pillar to further crack.
“See, you should have picked this one,” said Shart. “It's already falling apart.”
Snarling, I looked up to see Badgelor handling his own Death Knight. They were slightly obscured by a stream of Shadow energy flowing from the Shadow Priest to Bashara. She was encased in a bright blue barrier, that the Shadow was slowly eating through. I could sense her counterspelling the attack, but she was losing the battle.
Another string of explosions lit up the pillar. I heard SueLeeta swearing loudly as fragments scattered over the field.
“That old pillar was really well-constructed,” stated Shart.
The two dozen undead that the Shadow Priest had left standing by the altar were now moving toward me. Bashara’s magical movements grew more frantic as part of her barrier was compromised.
I reached out with my own Counterspell skill and struck at the middle of the Shadow stream. Suddenly, there was a popping sound at the end, and the stream evaporated. Bashara dropped to her knees and fell forward into the dirt, her Hit Points nearly depleted.
The Shadow Priest reared back, laughing. “You fools! You cannot challenge the power of Darkness himself!”
“Well, you’re fucked,” stated Shart. “Jump to the other side, and leave Badgelor to his death. He’s a jerk anyway.”
I inhaled once sharply as the Shadow Priest looked first at me then Badgelor as if to determine who he should kill next. I didn’t give him the choice, focusing my mana into three symbols per hand I formed the most powerful BioLightning bolt I could manage. As the spell completed, I brought my hands together, and I was holding onto a glowing green orb of flickering lightning.
“Why, he’s already got his barrier up,” said Shart, gesturing toward the Shadow Priest. “It's well over the maximum limit of what you can manage with this.”
“I’m not aiming at him,” I declared, pivoting to the side and unleashing the energy at the weak spot in the pillar. The BioLightning tore into the column, knocking away large hunks of stone and further weakening the column. Pieces of debris rained down, nearly hitting several skeletons.
“Well fuck,” I said, as the pillar stayed upright.
“Wow, they could really build pillars back in the old days,” said Shart. “I think it was the materials. That’s Prime Marble.”
“Focus, you little shit!” I yelled, as I stared as the pillar, willing it to fall.
The Shadow Priest began to laugh, “Is that it?”
Yanking a Thingamabob out of my pouch, I flung the small explosive toward the pillar. As it left my hand, a tendril of Shadow wrapped around it, halting the projectile. It floated in midair for a brief moment before exploding.
Suddenly, tendrils of Shadow shot out from the ground, wrapping around my legs. I focused, trying to Counterspell them, but the Shadow Priest’s Will was like iron. He seemed almost amused, as my mind struggled with his. I unsuccessfully tried to bring up my barrier. The much weaker Shadow tendril from the Death Knight had been a trickle compared to the amount of Shadow flowing into me now.
Watching my Hit Points slowly tick down, I growled and lifted my foot off the ground. More Shadow wrapped around me, but my Resistance perk, combined with the potion Jarra had given me, reduced the Damage tremendously. More strands of Shadow wrapped around my waist, but I kept heading toward the Shadow Priest.
His eyes, still a dull red in color, began to grow. They grew and grew until merging together, becoming a massive glowing sphere, as he struggled to slow me down. “Enough playing around,” he yelled, as he began chanting more words of power. Two large spikes of Shadow began to form over his head.
A series of explosions lit up the pillar again. This time they were louder and far more impressive. The flashes of light seemed to weaken the Shadows holding me. My deliberate walk turned into a run, as I started closing with the Shadow Priest. There had been at least ten explosions on the weak side of the pillar, and, despite the quality of its construction, it still needed a base. Thankfully, such a base no longer seemed to exist.
“Finally,” I groaned.
As the pillar began to fall over the chasm, the Shadow Priest screamed. “Block them, fools!” The skeletons that had nearly reached me all turned and started marching back toward the pillar.
“Forget someone?” I yelled, as I swung my Blazing Sword toward the distracted Priest’s head. I followed up with a Hack and Slash for good measure, striking him on both arms and knees. The ancient undead was knocked forcefully to the ground.
Suddenly, my Fancy Footwork skill activated as the Undead’s staff flashed past me. It spun so quickly that it appeared to be a solid disk. As I landed, both the Shadow Priest’s hands were encased in Shadow.
I slammed a Biological Aeromancy barrier between the two of us, as the spell surged toward me. It blasted into my barrier like a missile. The magic seemed to taint my very lifeforce. I felt cold, while my Stamina was tainted and sucked away from my body in a torrent. After a long moment, I shook off the taint from the barrier, a movement that only served to reveal the Shadow Priest’s glowing orb eyes.
“Enough,” He bellowed. Shadow flowed around him, causing the very air to thicken with its evil pollution. A wave of power shot off him, saturating all the nearby skeletons. The Shadow Priest and I were equally startled by the appearance of Sir Dalton. He leapt off a pillar, dashing a skeleton to bits underneath his steel boots.
If anything, the Shadow Priest’s spell seemed to have taken the edge off the Shadow Priest, whose own malevolent form appeared to have diminished. The obvious damage caused by Badgelor and myself was clearly visible.
● Parry activated. You have executed a successful parry!
My head spun around to see the formerly destroyed Death Knight looking quite a bit more mobile and angry than the last time I saw him. Oh, shit, they’re regenerating.
“They look angrier than last time, Dum Dum,” stated Shart. “You have the best plans.”
“Nuts,” I exclaimed, as the reborn Death Knight began swinging his sword down in a crashing series of blows that I was ill-prepared to defend against. By the third swing, he had driven me to one knee. As I attempted to roll away, the creature kicked me in the gut hard enough to send me flying. As I hurtled through the air like a football, I passed right over Badgelor’s head.
● Airborne Mobility activated. You may alter your direction now.
Never one to miss an opportunity, I used my perk to send myself hard to the ground. I landed right in the second Death Knight’s blind spot. He was currently swinging his sw
ord so quickly that Badgelor was pressed to get an attack in edgewise.
● Quick Striking Hack and Slash: You may execute 4 + 2 attacks. Cost 20 Stamina.
It wasn’t quite Omnislash, but it would do. I aimed low, much easier on these large skeletons, and tried for as many strikes to the knees as I could manage. The skeletons’ knee armor was made of brass and sat neatly against the joint. I slashed at the part where the metal met the bone and hoped for the best.
● You have done 162 points of Damage to Death Knight’s knee. Mitigation failure, Knee has been seriously damaged. Effect ignored.
I was almost in a fugue state, when a flicker of movement flashed toward me. Even as I brought my blade up to parry the Death Knight’s counterattack, I wasn’t sure how I had seen it coming. The full power of his slash was tremendous, and I caught it too late. The strike caused me to slide backward several paces.
The Death Knight turned, racing toward me. His sprint was short-lived. Badgelor barreled into him and gripped his damaged leg, causing the skeleton to fall forward. “This one is mine! Get your own!” the furry psycho yelled. I stepped back, as an audible crack sounded, and the bony leg went sailing behind the badger. The skeleton was still striking at Badgelor for all he was worth, but, without the leverage of being on his feet, he was unable to overcome Badgelor’s natural defenses.
Sir Dalton was being pressed backward by the skeletons, even as Glorious Robert landed and attempted to push them back. The empowered skeletons were too fast and struck too hard, putting both the men on the defense. I checked my party menu. Both men were suffering a variety of minor hits but nothing critical. SueLeeta was in Stamina Crash from her last attack, the one that had finally brought down the pillar. I watched Cat Thirty-Six leap into the fray for all of three seconds, before it met its grisly end. “For Windfall,” screamed Fenris, as he leapt from the fallen pillar. Lurching forward, he used his shield charge straight into the mass of skeletons. That degree of blunt force was too much for the undead. Fenris knocked them back far enough for Dalton and Glorious Robert to form up behind him. Zorlando managed to get over the pillar last. He got into position to prevent flankers from behind and basically hoped not to die. The fast moving skeletons attempted to crush his hopes and dreams.