Viridian Gate Online

by J D Astra

  Otto stole forward, his body rotating with every step in his crouched position. I followed, keeping my gaze above and around as I watched for any other threat that might try to creep in on us. Otto stopped at the corner of the cave opening where we saw the shadow, taking each I step more carefully than I’d ever seen. I stopped ten feet back, watching the corkscrew spiral exit as well as the dark corners of the lava pit for signs of movement.

  “Tsst.” The sound was hardly audible over the ambient groaning of hot air moving up through the tunnel. I glanced back, and Otto waved his hand for me to come nearer. I moved within range. He held my shoulder as he pushed me slowly, carefully, around the gold, luminous corner.

  Damn Naitee straight to a ball-blistering freezer. There were the golden eggs, four of them, right at the center of a massive nest patrolled by a red, SUV-sized [Hoardling Drake].

  Golden Egg

  “WHAT THE HELL DO WE do now?” I whispered to Otto, my voice holding an edge of frantic fury. His eyes roved back and forth over the floor, then he poked his head around the corner again. I did the same, just below him.

  The creature turned away from the opening, pacing about its den. The four golden eggs shimmered in the glow of a lava pit and something else. I strained my neck and squinted to get a better look at the pool beside the nest. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like a bubbling hot tub of liquid gold.

  The Hoardling Drake’s outcropping was high ceilinged, but apparently untouched by whatever damage befell the main shaft down into the mountain. Massive, glittering stalactites dripped water into another pool of unknown depth next to the nest. There was a twenty-foot-tall mound at the far end of the cave, with what looked like another passage right behind it.

  Otto pulled me back around the corner and returned to a crouch. “Here’s the plan. I’ll get it to chase me, you grab an egg and hightail it out. The drake will not fit in the passage. I’ll be right behind you.”

  The image of Otto trouncing around, getting the drake to follow him while I ran away from such a potentially awesome fight, filled my head. We’d seen absolutely no loot this whole trip, and a Hoardling Drake was sure to have some goodies hidden away.

  I shook my head. “That drake is bound to have some drops, and the XP alone would be worth it, we should take it down.”

  Otto’s face scrunched up in worry. “Does the quest say you need to kill it?”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “That’s not the point.”

  “We don’t need unnecessary risk.” He planted his hands on his hips.

  I scoffed. “Unnecessary risk is letting you run around with a fifteen-foot drake chomping at your heels while I sneak out.”

  We were at odds.

  I wanted to take this beast on. We’d gotten really good with the bats and the salamanders, and true they were small fries, level 6-10 mobs, but we could do this, I was sure of it.

  “I’ll grab the egg, and we’ll try to take it down. If it’s not going well, we’ll bail.” I gave him a pleading smile, and I could tell by the growing frown on his face he wanted to take out the drake, too, but was fighting himself.

  “Get your points in, we’ll need everything we can get. I’m still going to kite the drake—you take shots at the stalactites and pin it down. Once it’s pinned, it’ll be easy pickings.”

  I grinned and opened my character sheet. I’d leveled twice more from the brutal trek down and wanted to slap some of the hard-earned points in where they could make a difference. 5 for Spirit, putting me at 50, and 5 more for Intelligence, kicking me up to 41.

  Even with my spell strength improved by a little over 60 points from all the stat points I’d been dropping into Intelligence, the drake would have 25% resistance to my fire spells. I’d be hamstrung against it if the stalactite idea didn’t work and we had to go blow for blow, but I knew we could do it.

  Smokescreen had been a huge win for us, but if Otto was going to kite the beast, that would be next to useless. I could try to get in range and cast Flame of Holding. I hadn’t used it yet, the brutal cast time and distance restrictions were holding me back, but maybe it would work long enough to shake a few stalactites free and get it pinned without putting Otto at risk.

  Without putting Otto at risk... I closed out of the menus and looked back to him. He wanted to do this, but if he died, I surely would too. Firebrand would be lost to me forever, and I’d be down my only friend and eight hours behind Osmark.

  “How many potions do you have?” I asked in a hushed voice as the Hoardling Drake cried out. Its floor-shaking stomps shook the loose stones on the floor as it turned to patrol farther in.

  Otto’s eyes went vacant for a second, and then he looked to me. “Six.”

  I pulled two healing potions from my inventory and handed them over. “Take these, too. You’re going to need them.”

  He accepted the potions without a word, and they disappeared from his hand as he stuffed them in his inventory.

  “Kite it in a clockwise circle, and do one loop at the nest.” I recalled there was a particularly nasty looking stalactite above the pit of liquid gold. “I’ll stand on the raised mound and shoot at the spikes just ahead of you. If it’s not going well, we bail out.

  “Hold up,” I whispered, recalling the spell Magnus Armor. I didn’t know what that drake was capable of, but it might be able to cast spells. I hit Otto and myself with the buff and waited a moment as my Spirit refreshed. Once the bar filled, I conjured a fireball. “Are you ready?”

  Otto gave me a cocky smile. “I was born ready.”

  “Go get your two hits, then.” I grinned back, but worry tugged at my navel. I didn’t want to lose Otto, he was too important.

  My NPC stood and poked his head around the corner. A second later, he disappeared around it. I crept to the edge and watched as the Risi I thought was huge shrank in the presence of the Hoardling Drake. The closer he got, the more my anxiety peaked.

  “It’s okay, it’ll be okay,” I mumbled to myself and ran through what I would do. Otto would get in two hits, he would start the clockwise run for the left wall, and I would dash in for the egg. Put that sucker in my inventory, and then drop fire on the ceiling. Easy. It’d be easy.

  I watched with trepidation as Otto inched closer and closer to the spiked tail of the drake. He raised the sword over his head, and I dug my nails into the fire in my palm. The sword came down, followed by a harsh sound of steel on plated scales, and the drake bellowed in fury.

  The Health bar on the miniature dragon flashed, 1% down. The red, scaly beast bent at the center, twisting its snakelike body in half to get a good look at who just smacked its butt. It shrieked, raising its back leg and kicking straight at Otto’s chest.

  Otto rolled left and slashed at the lifted leg as he moved, landing the second hit and earning an even louder, more pissed-off shout from the drake. Damn, he was pretty good! He hopped up to his feet and ran faster than I could’ve imagined someone that big with that much plate mail could run.

  The drake took off after him, the thumping of its massive feet drumming in the deep as it charged. With it well out of the way, I ran toward the nest. My heart battered my rib cage as I watched the chase. Otto was staying well out of range, good.

  I reached the nest and leaned down to grab an egg.

  <<<>>>

  Unable to inventory item: Golden Egg! This item, [Golden Egg], is too large to fit in your inventory. You may carry it by hand, reducing your movement speed by 20% and evade chance by 50%, and inhibiting you from casting spells requiring both hands or engaging in melee combat with a two-handed weapon.

  <<<>>>

  No. Freaking. Way.

  “Otto, we have a problem!” I screamed, pulling the egg under my right arm and clipping my staff to the back of my bandolier.

  “What?” he screamed back as they rounded the far right corner, heading back toward me. The drake’s gaze locked on the nest, then the egg under my arm, then me. Its eyes narrowed to slits, and it turned, wings lifting
in a powerful pump to pivot.

  Oh shit. I loosed the fireball in my left hand directly at its face, but it kept coming. I brought up the Smokescreen spell and got a nasty beep blaring through my ears.

  <<<>>>

  Unable to cast spell: Smokescreen! You are currently carrying an item that prevents the casting of spells requiring two hands. Put the item down, or free up your second hand to cast two-handed spells.

  <<<>>>

  Double shit!

  “Abby, run!” Otto screamed as he charged the backside of the drake.

  It pumped its wings again, lifting its front legs into the air with sickening speed. The drake narrowed on me as it came down with a hard swipe. I dove forward on the strip of stone between the nest and the gold pit and came up into a run. My Stamina bar hit midway depleted as I charged up to the mound at the back of the room. I could still cast Fireball and activate Fire Inside and Shell of Molten Ash.

  The monster’s shrill roar pierced the air, deafening me. Fear pounded through my neck and up to my temples, but I turned on my heel and brought up my shield. It was there one second, then immediately gone. The air around me shuddered, and ashes poofed in a gout of liquid fire that splattered against the drake’s eye.

  It reared, crying out as its Health dropped by 7%. Otto swung at the drake’s back leg, scoring a critical hit and slicing through the tendon. The drake thrashed and turned to face Otto again. With the aggro back on my tank, I scurried up the mound and readied another Fireball.

  Otto had to change directions, running counterclockwise with the drake in tow, but it was in tow. Otto swung his arms like a relay racer, pushing himself forwards as he just barely stayed out of range of the drake. I had to get some of those stalactites down on it.

  I aimed a few seconds ahead of Otto and laid into the base of a smaller rock. It fell away with a single hit and crashed to the stone floor just behind Otto, kicking shrapnel up into the drake’s face. It staggered and shook its head as smoke billowed from its snout, then charged on with renewed strength. The drake’s Health was just below 92%, but it looked as though it was about to unleash the first wave of boss-mob-bullshit on Otto.

  I called up Smokescreen again, and the same negative sound blared in my mind as the spell couldn’t be cast. This freaking egg! I set it down and pulled up my inventory. There! An old set of level 1 cloth pantaloons. I scooped the egg up into the waistband and wrapped the legs over my right shoulder and around my left hip, then tied them at my chest. It was heavy, but bearable. I triggered the Smokescreen spell and was surprised to find there was no angry, negative sound and my hands moved in the wrist-flicking, finger-twitching motions to cast the spell.

  The gray cloud puffed into existence just at Otto’s backside. The drake wheezed, stumbled, and plowed into the wall. Down to 83%! I pumped my fist and gave a “Woo-hoo!” but Otto was too busy running for his life to notice.

  I triggered Fireball and took aim at a large stalactite at the other end of the cavern. The cast took long enough that I could watch for two seconds and aim at the last possible moment. Otto rounded the nest, skirted past the gold pit, and sprinted toward the wall farthest from the entrance.

  I looked back to my target and unleashed the spell. Immediately, I started the cast for another. The first fireball hit with a sizzling crack, but the spear of rock held tight to the ceiling. The second fireball was away when the drake gave a new kind of roar. I turned my head just as the drake opened its mouth wide and forced a column of flame out toward Otto.

  The fire licked his back, and Otto’s Health dropped by 10%, leaving him at 60%. Otto ripped a red potion from his bandolier, popped the cork, and sucked it dry, all while keeping the same pace.

  I dropped one more fireball on the stalactite just ahead of him, but it seemed unfazed. This wasn’t working... at least not on the chunks that would make a difference. I found a smaller rocksicle and tossed another spell at it, loosing it from the ceiling and dropping it on the drake’s head. Another 2% of its Health, but that didn’t slow it down.

  Otto’s Stamina had to be running low by now, and my Spirit was nearly depleted. I drained one of the blue vials on my belt and sighed as my spell currency refreshed to 450. The vial hit the ground, and I was halfway through another Fireball cast, aiming at the larger rock I’d already hit.

  “Guh!” Otto grunted, and I whirled. Smokescreen was still on a thirty-second cooldown, and Otto was on his back, crawling away from the drake toward the far end of the mound.

  The monster padded forward with a limp, its back leg still rended from the Achilles attack. It wasn’t human, but I could see the leer in its cheeks, the glee in its eyes. It wanted Otto’s blood in its mouth, on its claws, and spread across the den floor. The drake was poised to kill.

  Ice Lance! My mind thought of the spell, and my hand glowed blue.

  I gasped. I cut off the spellcast just before the Ice Lance launched from my outstretched palm. If I used that spell, I would fail. Firebrand would be locked forever.

  We could do this, I just needed to get aggro.

  I started the cast for Fireball and popped off Fire Inside. The invigorating rush of heat filled my chest and spread down my arms. The fireball growing in my hand glowed a bright orange, pulsing with the buff of the semi-passive ability. I lobbed the boosted shot toward the drake’s head. The bolt landed with a puff, and the drake’s jaw jerked, taking its Health from 81% to 78%, but its eyes stayed locked on its prey. Otto was going to die.

  Trial by Fire

  “I’VE GOT YOUR BABY, you stupid lizard!” I screamed, throwing another fireball down to the Hoardling Drake. The flame landed with a weak smack, and the creature’s gaze snapped to my body. I turned and pulled on the waistband of the pants turned knapsack to reveal the golden egg.

  “Yeah!” I taunted. “That’s right! You’re a bad mom, or dad, whatever you are!” I started another cast, and the long, slender monster stalked up the side of the mound, its head bobbing like a cobra’s as it stared me down.

  “Abby, what are you doing?” Otto’s voice was a comfort. He was okay, alive, and I knew he still had a few potions.

  “Saving your ass!” I threw the fireball.

  The drake opened its maw at the incoming spell, then swallowed it.

  The hairs on my arm stood on end. It swallowed my fireball, purposefully taking 3% of its Health in damage doing so. I may have hecked up.

  The drake stopped ten feet from me and opened its wings. It was huge, the leathery wingspan at least thirty feet wide. Lavalight shimmered off the creature’s red scales and twinkled in its murderous golden eyes.

  It puffed up its chest, delaying my agony to revel in victory. I didn’t see why it was trying to intimidate me if it was so confident it would kill me. The drake whipped back its right paw in a flash and brought it down, but I was faster. Shell of Molten Ash melted in around me, then dispelled in a brilliant flash of red as the drake ripped it apart with a single hit.

  Pain radiated from my left side, and I soared through the air. I landed on my right arm, went ass over teakettle, and rolled to a stop at the bottom of the mound. The drake roared in victory as I noticed my flashing Health bar.

  <<<>>>

  Debuff Added

  Fractured Hip: You have suffered a crushing blow that fractured your pelvic bone! You cannot walk, stand, or use your left leg. Suffer 2 points of damage per sec for every attempt to move your left leg. Duration, 1 minute.

  <<<>>>

  Oh holy shit. It went through my shield! I snapped a Health potion from my belt and sucked it dry, shooting my Health back up to 70%. The drake slithered down the mound, its red scales shimmering with the golden light of the burbling pond of liquid metal behind me. A scene from an old classic, Alien 3, flashed through my mind. If I could get the drake into that pool and then lure it into the water, the temperature change could turn the liquid gold solid.

  I pulled myself backwards, keeping my left leg still as the right dug into the dirt and pushed. The d
rake stalked toward me, a sense of victory in its swagger. It was the cat, and I, the injured mouse clinging to life. I scooted again. Beads of sweat rolled down my temples and tickled my neck.

  “Yeah, you big, ugly gecko, come get me. You’re not even a dragon. You’re a fraud.” My taunts were getting weak and my voice shaky. I imagined the pain of being bitten in half or bitten partially in half and shaken like a squirrel caught by a dog. The muscles in my stomach tightened, and I gritted my teeth, pulling myself backwards once more.

  My hand slipped at the edge of the pool, and I felt the inferno of molten gold searing my back as I jerked my arm back to my chest. Of course, I could only hope it would try to bite me in half, overcommit to the bite, and thrust its face into the hot gold. Then, get the drake to follow me into the water next to the bubbling gold pit. I hoped the water wasn’t acidic or boiling. Shit, my plan sucked.

  I sat upright and checked my debuff timer: 35 more seconds. I leaned to the side and stood up on my right leg. The drake watched, smoke rising from its nostrils as its throat glowed. It pulled itself up to its full height, straining its powerful neck and flexing its jaw. This was it. Please, Jinker, don’t fail me now.

  I blinked, and in the darkness, time slowed. My eyes eased open as everything except the drake crawled. While the rest of the world sauntered along, the drake seemed to move uninhibited. An icy fire burned in my chest, freezing my muscles in place. Then, a notification flashed in the corner of my vision.

  <<<>>>

  Debuff Added

  Paralyzing Gaze: You have locked eyes with a huntress out for blood, and you are trapped in her stare. You cannot move, speak, or cast spells until eye contact is broken!