by Taj McCoy El
Mayah extended her hand and Rabe looked at her for a moment before grasping it and smiling.
“Well, in that case good luck to you, Fluff.”
“Good luck to you as well, Rabe,” she smiled back at her sincerely.
Mayah made her way over to Grax and Margaret. They were talking in hushed tones but she overheard Grax say, “Just wait; you’re gonna love it.”
“What are you two on about?”
“He says he has a surprise,” Margaret huffed.
“You won’t have to wait much longer; we’re about to get called.”
He motioned to the door to the stage. Grind Guild was coming through, laughing and cheering their win. Punkinyousoftly was carried through a few minutes later on a stretcher. It was just one guy.
I guess his bark was worse than his bite. Wish I could’ve seen the fight though. Now Grind Guild is in my blind spot.
A few minutes later, a mage walked in. “Children of Earth, you’re up next. Follow me.” Everyone in the room rose except Grax. Mayah looked at him crossly and urged him to come on. He just looked at her and smiled. When she turned back, Rabe and her crew were following the mage out of the door.
“So, you’re telling me we’re the Royal Death Claws?” she glared at Grax.
“Yep. SURPRISE,” he said, with jazz hands. The smugness rolled off of him like syrup.
“Why Royal Death Claws?” Margaret asked.
“Well, she’s a princess, and you’ve got necromancy, and I’m a cat.”
Margaret thought it over for a second, “I see what you did there. Very smart, I kind of like it.”
Grax looked hopeful as his head spun to Mayah.
“After this, we’re gonna have our rematch.” Mayah said darkly.
The smile instantly fell from Grax’s face. “Aww… Fluff…”
“Everybody armor up! Time to make an entrance.”
Another mage entered and asked for them to follow him. They walked up a short walkway that turned into the stage, and were announced as the Royal Death Claws. Mayah registered some confusion from the crowd.
“Remember, Margaret, dolls.”
“Got it.”
Then she overheard someone in the crowd, “How can she still be a Fluffy with a PK mark?”
Another voice said, “I know, right?”
The applause that greeted them was turning into a mangle of polite applause, some jeers and insults, along with muffled conversations. By the crowd’s reaction, it seemed she had been judged and deemed unworthy.
“Okay guys, raider marks in 3-2-1…” Their raider marks came into view and the crowd hushed for a split second before giving a helping of respectful, but muted applause.
I love a good retrial.
They made their way to the end of the field and stood ready. Grax was still completely unarmed and Margaret stood with her bow in hand, her right arm was over her shoulder poised to pull her first arrow. The horns sounded and the battle begun.
Margaret fired three arrows, one at the feet of each of the Children of earth as they ran towards them. They ignored them, obviously thinking they were regular arrows. Until they exploded at their feet throwing them to the sides. Three silver imps magically appeared and started hitting the downed Children. The crowd went wild with their displeasure. They were definitely on the Children of Earth’s side.
The tiger beastman got up and began attacking the imp, finishing it in short order. As soon as he did, however, another arrow landed at his feet, pushing him back as another imp began to attack him. Rabe cast a shield spell, and her imp was thrown back a few feet. The mummy guy was phasing in and out of view, serving his imp a ton of slashes. They were speedy hits with less damage dealt per blow, but he was landing a lot of them. He then phased behind the imp for a massive backstab. Before the imp fell, there was another one exploding in front of the mummy man and pushing him back.
“Margaret! Three more down field.”
“On it.” She shot another three silver imps into the fray, their explosions rocking the Children of Earth and then, with a smile on her lips, she shot an arrow up into the air. It exploded and a large spider fell out of the sky and attacked Mr. Mummy. The initial hit stumbled him and the spider shot webs to trip him up. When he fell on the ground, it wrapped him up in its silk. The imps never stopped attacking. The beastman finally ran around his imps and charged for them.
“Cat on cat violence!” Grax called out as he ran towards Mr. Fwuffy.
“Margaret, get your dolls on that shield when they finish with Mr. Mummy.”
She nodded and shot a stun arrow at the beastman who ducked under it and noticed Grax running towards him on all fours. Grax ran faster now that he had been sighted. The beastman swung his two-hander at Grax who used teleport and vanished. The beast man looked confused and definitely off balance, his mind probably trying to make sense out of seeing a cat just disappearing into thin air. What he didn’t see was Grax reappear directly above him.
As Grax fell through the two feet of air above his opponent, he equipped his armor and weapons, driving his swords directly into the beastman’s back. The beastman stumbled to the ground from the hit and frost started to grow against his back and chest. Grax began to tap his blade around the beastman’s body without cutting him and frost started to grow out to his extremities. Grax continued this until the system wouldn’t let him be attacked anymore.
Rabe was now under attack by seven dolls and her shield was flickering. Beastman frozen to the ground: check. Mr. Mummy wrapped up tight. (pardon the pun). Check.
“Margaret, call them off.”
“Why? We’re winning.”
“Trust me!”
The dolls backed away from shield.
“Rabe,” She hollered down field. “How about we finish this between the two of us? All or nothing.”
“What are you doing, Fluff?” Grax said as he ran up to her. “This win is as good as ours.”
“She gave me a chance so I’m giving her a chance.”
Grax groaned and nodded yes.
“How do I know you won’t double cross me?” Rabe called out.
“I, Pretty Princess Cuddle Fluff swear to let the outcome of this battle hinge on our duel. If any of my team members interfere, it will be your win. May Ba'alquion take me if I break my oath.” A golden glow passed over her as the crowd “oohed” at the duel unfolding before them.
The shield around Rabe broke and she walked forward. Mayah walked forward as well and extended her hand.
Rabe looked at it for a second before taking it.
Mayah told Rabe, “I expect to see your best.”
Rabe nodded in understanding. There was a new fire in her eyes. She backed up, arming a pair of batons and began swinging them fairly quickly as she got into her stance. Grax trotted up and said, “Okay ladies, on your mark, get set, GO...!!!!!!!”
Mayah activated Whack-A-Vole and Shield (F). She swung at Rabe’s chest, but Rabe ducked the swing, slipping inside of her guard, peppering Mayah with blows to the side of her head and shoulder. Mayah pulled Happiness straight back and with the handle activated Crushing Blow, catching Rabe in the ribs. Rabe stumbled back and Mayah waited for her to reorient herself. Rabe was a bit warier this time as she went on the offensive but Mayah activated the torch on Happiness and her unnamed combo and swung in like a blur. Rabe was agile and evaded each strike. On purpose, Mayah feigned making a noob mistake that seemed to leave her off balance and her back to her opponent. Rabe took the bait, moving forward. Mayah, however, was lining up for a big swing and activated Crushing Blow which sped up her timing, and Spike (W). When the telegraphed swing came around, Rabe had backpedaled to clear the area, but Spike (W) launched off of the hammer, hitting her in the chest.
Mayah jumped on the opportunity and swung a back handed Crushing Blow at her, it connected in her side and Rabe fell to a knee. Mayah kicked her over, activated Acid (D), and swung Happiness at her face. She stopped mere inches from her nose.
“Yield!” Mayah commanded.
Rabe glanced around Happiness and met her eyes.
“I yield,” she said, the fight suddenly draining out of her. Her eyes never left Mayah’s as they both started smiling.
Mayah unequipped Happiness, offering her defeated opponent a hand up. The crowd went wild. As she stood, she raised Rabe’s hand and waved to the crowd.
“Ready to take a bow?” Mayah asked Rabe.
“Sure, why not?” Rabe responded through her smile.
The duo bowed which caused the uproar in the stadium to raise in volume. Margaret and Grax joined in which added some thundering foot stomps to the cacophony.
“You’re pretty good. Glad you’re a Fluffy,” Mayah said warmly.
“You’re not so bad yourself. Your team is amazing too.”
“Don’t tell the cat,” Mayah whispered. “His head is big enough already.”
Rabe snorted.
“C’mon, let’s go check on your guys. Margaret, get the dolls over here to carry these guys out.”
…..
7.3 A Tree Grows In Majesta
“Nice fight, Royal Death Claws.” Jensen smiled smugly. “Earned a little extra coin off’a that last duel.”
“Is it always about the money for you, Jensen?” Mayah berated the Grand Sergeant.
“No. It’s also about the food and drinks.”
Mayah slapped his arm playfully.
“So, who are these fine folks?” Jensen inquired.
“Jensen, this is Brock,” she pointed at the beastman. “Kohli,” she pointed at Mr. Mummy, “and Rabe.”
“Hey, aren’t you the information vendor?” Brock asked Jensen.
“That I am.”
“In that case I have a lot of questions…”
“Then ye better have a bit of silver to accompany them.” Jensen cut him off before he could start asking for freebies. The smile on his face made it seem like he had found an easy mark.
“You’d be better off buying him a meal and drinks,” Grax chimed in, saving Brock from repeating Grax’s mistakes. “He’ll tell you anything you want to know after that.”
They all had a laugh at that, except for Jensen.
“Ye put up a good fight,” Jensen commended the Children of Earth. “Wish I had a chance to train ye up. Ye might’ve had a better chance. I only say that because ye didn't use your agility. Ye all look like melee fighters, so ye need to get into melee range for your skills to activate. Besides, if ye’d gotten closer, ye would've been safe from those explosions. I didn't even get a chance to see what ye could do.”
“Thank you for your words of wisdom,” Rabe chuckled.
“They’re gonna hang out with us after all of this. Do you think you could show them where to get journey books?”
“Nowhere in the village, but I’m sure I can procure three more.”
“I’ll cover the cost for them, and any others you can find. I wouldn’t mind having a few spares to go around,” Mayah told the Grand Sergeant.
“Don’t mention the cost. Ye already covered them,” he said with a sly wink. She slapped his arm again.
“Okay guys, we gotta prep for the next round. See you afterwards?”
“Sure thing.” Rabe said. They shook hands and parted ways.
“We gotta catch some more spells and I’ve got an idea for a defense for us.”
“What is this fabled idea?” Grax inquired.
“Let’s head to the park and I’ll show you.”
…..
“That duel though….”
“Yes, Ronald, it was a good fight. We all saw it,” Delilah Hobson peered at him from over the terminal. “Now if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to check the feedback sync on all ports, singularly. This signal has to be clean. No way to tell if we’ve scrubbed all of Ouroboros, so we have to make sure we contain anything—and by anything I proactively mean everything. I want no signal leakage at all. Just a few megabytes and the world could explode. Do I make myself clear Mr. Sherridan?”
“Yes ma'am!!!” He saluted her and bowed his head back to his terminal.
…..
“We’re gathering materials to make walls we can shoot from behind?”
“That sounds awesome, but why would we need instant fortifications today?”
“That is a perfect question. Because that little dwarven tinker has me worried. Frankly, so does the witch who hid her skills. They were both holding back but I’m sure he’s got more nasties than the one he’s already pulled out. That thing worked like my Acid (D) bloom grenade. Wide coverage and an extra attack.”
“So, we need some cover from the poison needles,” Grax finally understood her thinking.
“Exactly. And since there's nothing on the field, we need to bring our own and these majestic trees over here look perfect for what I’m thinking. The only issue is if I can get one into a crystal without cutting it down.”
Shazzit it Jim, I’ve got a hammer not an axe, she thought in DeForest Kelly’s voice.
She input the problem into her number cruncher and extrapolated a few possible fixes and started off with the easiest solution. They gathered six big trees in a matter of minutes after they figured out the trick of writing the storage runes on a ribbon and tying it around the tree. This left big holes in the ground, but Mayah figured the trees would respawn. She threw everything in her pack and they ran back to the field.
They caught spells and watched three unimpressive fights in the lower team division. After the last match of the qualifying rounds, brackets were posted on the magical jumbotrons with a ten-minute timer. A voice announced the fights and called all teams to the waiting room.
3WitchesB were already sitting in the room in one corner. Mayah strode towards an empty corner and found a seat. Grind Guild followed them in and went to the other side of the room.
Lion’s Roar Sect came in like a quiet shadow and took the final corner of the room. Mayah looked at her teammates. “We’re going up against the Grind Guild. We don’t know what they do, but they probably know what we do. We just stick to the plan. Mags, the three imps for defense come out on your second round of shots. If anything goes sideways, throw a tree at it.” She’d made delivery stilettos out of the trees and had given two to everyone.
“Sounds easy enough.” Margaret said.
“Just make sure you’re ready for the tree to come flying out of nowhere,” Mayah cautioned. “It might go off long ways pointed at you.”
“Fair warning,” Grax muttered.
“They look like melee fighters but don’t forget about any casting. Majesta rules and all,” She shrugged. “They’ll probably try to get close and then cast, so expect an AOE…
“An AOE?” Margaret asked.
“Area of Effect spell,” Mayah explained. “Like when I make a Spike (W) bomb and it has six Spike (W) runes on it. It becomes stronger and affects more area. High level AOEs could cover the field with poisonous gas easily.”
Grax took this turn to coach El Noobo Nuevo. “Some only affect you in the area of effect. But some, poison especially, do damage over time as well. Damage over time we call DOTs. That would be Spike (W) and Acid (D). Once they hit you, they affect you for a certain duration.”
AOEs and DOTs ...and DP and HP and MP. Now I’m starting to get the lingo,” Margaret said. “So, what do we do now?”
“Now we wait,” Mayah said. She pulled her hood up and leaned back against the wall.
In a few minutes two mages walked over to both 3WitchesB and the Lion’s Roar Sect. 3WitchesB was led outside first and Lion’s Roar soon followed. After a good five minutes passed Lion’s Roar walked into the dressing room and straight back out into the crowd. 3WitchesB were being stretchered in, porcupined with those deadly needles.
Guess they didn’t have any quick defensive moves. If they try that on us we’re prepared.
She leaned over to Grax and Margaret, “Watch out for that tinker.”
“Those needles look dreadfully painf
ul.” Margaret wrung her hands in worry after seeing the motionless paladins.
Grax shuddered. “I hate needles.”
“Well then, be on guard for that shield and bomb combo.”
A mage walked up to them as Grind Guild was being led onto the stage.
“Royal Death Claws, are you ready?” he said without much emotion.
“Yes.” Grax responded determinedly.
“Grax lets use my hood,” Mayah offered.
Grax raced over and she lifted him up to her shoulder where he climbed into her hood.
The mage turned on his heel and led them out onto the stage. They walked to the opposite side of the field from the Guild. Mayah looked over her shoulder and saw them setup three abreast on the opposite side of the field. The Grind Guild was a team of two warriors and a barbarian. They all wore studded leather vest on top of their shirts. Except for the barbarian, because of course Barbarians don’t wear shirts. One warrior had a sword and shield the other had a hand and a half scimitar. The barbarian sported twin battle axes. The warrior with the tower shield was in the middle. He was hunkered behind his shield and looked ready to pounce.
Wish I had seen them fight.
Her team found their places on their side of the field.
“Grax, we’ll take out the shield guy first.” She made eye contact with Margaret and then back downfield towards the Grind Guild. “Mags, you crash those imps into the shield guy and then bounce off to light up Mr. Left and Mr. Right from here. And get your parcels ready if they start closing in. Eyes open.” She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then all around the field. “Watch out for casting.”
“Copy that!” Margaret literally got her game face on and turned downfield awaiting the horn.
Within seconds the horns blared the start of the match. Mayah ran straight towards the Grind Guild. For a moment, it looked like David running towards three Goliaths with a hammer instead of a sling. Their shield bearer was out in front of the other two as they ran forward in a wedge. These men were twice her size. In other words, this was suicide.