by Troy Osgood
The pain seemed to last an eternity but it was over quickly.
The lightning faded, and Hall dropped to the ground. He was panting, having a hard time catching his breath as his heart raced a mile a minute. Groaning, he looked up from where he was on his hands and knees. Roxhard writhed in pain on the ground. Angus was unmoving. Pike lay on the ground, his wings jerking as the dragonhawk tried to move. Sabine was unmoving, smoke drifting up from her body. Leigh was down, trying to get up. Smoke rose across Hall’s vision, and it took him a second to realize it was coming from his body.
In the corner of his vision, he saw his health meter blinking rapidly. There was barely any of the bar left.
And standing in the middle of the clearing, slowly rising to his full height, was Vertoyi. Laughing.
Hall tried to get up, the pain intense, every part of his body screaming in protest.
He gasped, grunting in pain, as a booted foot slammed into his side. He fell against the mountainside, small pebbles still falling. Though small, the impacts still felt like boulders five times their size. He tried to push away from the mountain, but the kick caught him again. Blackness creeped in on the edges of his vision. Hall fought to stay conscious, watching his Health drop even more, the bar still blinking red.
The Custodian didn’t kick hard, it was the accumulation of everything. The lightning, the hits he had taken, the rocks and now the kicks. Hall could feel his Health bar dropping, each single point of life disappearing, ticking down to when it would be zero, and he would die.
He tried to cough, harsh sounds escaping and spitting up blood. He thought his lung was punctured, ribs fractured. Sabine still had not moved, Roxhard had stopped rolling on the ground. The Dwarf was trying to sit up. Vertoyi glanced that way and casually swiped his hand in front of him. Hall felt the wind tear down across the face of the mountain and slam into Roxhard, sending the Dwarf rolling across the ground. He came to a stop and didn’t move.
“No,” Hall tried to yell, the words coming out ragged and around coughs.
Vertoyi turned back toward him, sneering.
“You shall be first,” he said, walking toward Hall.
The Custodian pointed the broken end of the staff at Hall, smiling.
Hall closed his eyes, not wanting to see, but knowing he would feel each one of the dozens of splinters that were going to be shot at him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
He waited for the pain.
Hall wanted to fight, to get up. He wanted to buy time for the others to get away. Hoping they would run when he was killed, knowing it would not happen. He cursed himself for bringing them into this unprepared. He had still been treating it all like a game, like he would have if still playing. Death was no big deal. It was part of the game and part of how all Boss fights went.
This was different.
The pain was too real. It was too much. There had always been pain in the game, just light taps when struck. Just enough to know it had happened. But safety measures had been put in place. Those were gone.
It was just him and the pain. Worse than anything he had ever experienced.
But he still fought, still tried to get out of the way.
“Goodbye, fool,” Vertoyi said, laughing.
“NO!”
The word was followed by Vertoyi yelling in pain and anger.
Hall opened his eyes, painfully shifting to look past the Custodian.
Leigh was up on one knee, leaning to the side with one arm supporting her. Small splinters were sticking out of Vertoyi’s back, a dozen or so, most stuck in the folds of his heavy robe.
“Child,” Vertoyi said calmly. “Why do you insist on fighting for them? The Elders care nothing for you. Nothing for me. They just care about themselves. They are liars. Using us for their own amusement.”
“You are the liar,” Leigh growled, standing up.
She was hunched over, clearly still in pain. Hall didn’t need to see her Health bar to know she was near the end.
Run, he thought. Get away.
“It is you,” Leigh screamed. “You are the liar. Look what you have done to this Grove!”
Hall watched Vertoyi pause, look around the clearing at the rot and the corruption. He shook himself, as if clearing his head and removing an image.
“I have made it stronger. Nothing can destroy this place now. From here I will spread my teachings to the world. I will make it stronger.”
“You will bring it death,” Leigh said and collapsed to a knee again. She was breathing heavy, weakening.
“Jealous,” Vertoyi said and stalked toward her, angry. “You are as jealous as the Elders. They sent me here, alone, to this empty place because they were jealous. And afraid.” He stopped a couple feet from her, pointing at her, almost jabbing at her with a bony finger. “They were afraid of what I could do. They were afraid of my power.”
Hall felt himself breathing a little easier. Each breath still hurt, bad, but he could see his Health slowly regenerating naturally. His Vitality was gone. He was not regaining any, but at least he still had some Energy and slowly more Health. There might still be something he could do if Leigh could stall Vertoyi longer.
“Power you got from the Corruptor’s servant,” Leigh spat. “What did the Dark Man promise you in exchange for your soul and the destruction of the Grove?”
“More lies told you by the Elders,” Vertoyi said, calmer, speaking like a teacher to a student. “The Feardagh and his master, Balor, do not want to destroy. They want to build. To improve on our beautiful world. To take the wonder of nature and make it better.”
Leigh stared up at Vertoyi, anger and accusation in her eyes. Her face was etched in pain, her breathing ragged, but the anger was there. The only thing keeping her going. Her gaze seared the Custodian, the force of it making him step back.
“You are blinded by your false power,” she said, not screaming, resolute, her words having great weight.
“My power is real,” Vertoyi said. “I will…”
“LIAR!” Leigh shouted, interrupting him and standing up to her full height. Somehow, she made herself get up. Still more than a foot shorter than the Elf, her presence was more than his, stronger than his. “For years I tried not to follow the teachings, to not become a Druid. I didn’t think it was what I wanted. But now, seeing what you have done, it is all I want. I hope the Elders can forgive me for my failures. I have let them down. I have let the Grove down. I have let myself down.” She took a step forward, stumbling but standing. Vertoyi backed up a step. “But no longer. I will not let you destroy this Grove.”
“I have not destroyed-”
“STOP IT,” Leigh screamed, the words echoing in the clearing.
Hall managed to sit up, leaning against the cliff. He could see shadows gathering in the trees. The Corrupted Moss Shamblers approaching. Not at Vertoyi’s call but at the commotion and the unleashed magic.
“Stop lying to yourself,” she said, hearing the noises of the Shamblers
She turned, seeing the dark purple forms lumber out of the trees, two of them. They stopped at the edge, waiting for a command.
“Is that your idea of helping the Grove?” she asked, pointing at the Shamblers.
Vertoyi stared at them, his head tilted, as if seeing them for the first time.
“Why are they rotting?” he asked quietly.
He looked around the clearing again, the same look as before when it seemed he was viewing the reality. This time, he didn’t lose focus on what was in front of him. This time, he remained seeing the corruption.
“The seed,” Leigh said, stumbling and falling to the ground again. She looked at Hall, pleading. “Show him the seed.”
It took Hall a couple seconds to understand what she meant. A Shambler shifted, and Hall remembered the object in his pouch. Vertoyi looked back at him, not with anger or fear, but curiosity.
“What seed?” the Custodian asked.
Hall reached into the pouch and pulled out the seed. He
held it in his palm, arm stretched out toward Vertoyi.
The Custodian stared at the seed, stepping close and leaning down. Hall’s eyes darted around for his short sword. If he could grab it and stab the Druid, land a critical strike, he could end this. Hopefully. But the sword was nowhere near and Hall thought himself still too weak to move fast enough. He watched Vertoyi’s eyes change. A new color appeared in the white, the irises’ taking on a green tone as the Druid looked at the seed.
“What is that?” he asked.
“A seed from one of those,” Hall answered weakly and pointed at the Shamblers.
Vertoyi looked back at the creatures and then again at the seed. The white started to fade from his eyes. There was blue there now, starting to reappear.
“But it should be golden,” the Druid said quietly. “Not cracked. Why is it cracked?”
The Druid looked back at the motionless Shamblers.
“Did this make those?” he asked.
He stood up, taking the seed with him. Holding it in one hand, the broken staff in the other, he walked over to the Shamblers. They did not move, just rocked back and forth. Hall used the cliff face behind him to help stand up, to help keep him up. Vertoyi studied a Shambler, looking from the seed to the creature.
Without warning, quickly, Vertoyi reached into the Moss Shambler’s chest. The roots and vines did not stop him, there was no magic called or summoned. The Custodian just reached into the creature and pulled his arm back out. In his hand he now held two seeds. The new matched the other, cracked and corrupted.
The Moss Shambler shook, its great body shifting and writhing. It fell apart, just collapsed into a pile of roots, moss and vines.
Vertoyi paid no attention to it. He just studied the two seeds.
“I did this?” he asked.
“Yes,” Hall answered, loudly and clearly.
He watched as Leigh pulled herself toward the motionless body of Angus. She reached out toward the animal, trying to touch him.
Vertoyi dropped both seeds, stepping back like they were hot, as they rolled around on the ground. His eyes followed them, turning to the last Shambler, passing over the creature and stopping on the forest and the trees.
“What have I done?” he said, walking past the Shambler and into the forest, leaving them behind.
Hall braced himself, searching the ground for a weapon, expecting the remaining Shambler to attack. It did not. It did not move, just shifted, the body in motion even if it did not take a step.
Skill Gain!
Polearms Rank 2 +.2
Skill Gain!
Small Blades Rank 2 +.2
Skill Gain!
Thrown Rank 2 +.1
Skill Gain!
Light Armor Rank 2 +.2
He pushed himself off the cliff, taking a hesitant step. First one, then another. Slowly, a single small movement at a time. Put his foot down, steady himself, move the other. Leigh had made it to Angus, and a glow was coming from her hand where it touched the cow.
Angus’ breath had been ragged, the chest moving up and down in a stuttering rhythm. Now it changed to somewhat normal, slow and deep, but the cow was breathing regularly at least. Hall stopped next to them, looking down at the motionless form of Pike laying nearby. He could not see any movement to the dragonhawk’s chest, no flutter or twitch of a wing or feather.
Hall wanted to crouch down next to his companion, to hold the small dragonhawk but he was afraid to. He did not think he would be able to get up. Leigh crawled over to Pike, laying a hand on the bird. She looked up at Hall and smiled, small and weak, but it was a smile. Hall took that as a good sign.
She waited a minute, a long minute, as her Energy recharged enough before casting the spell. Hall watched the glow spread from the Druid's hands and over Pike. He held his breath, waiting. There, a small movement. A feather twitching and then breathing. The bird still did not move, but Pike was breathing.
“Thank you,” Hall said.
Leigh smiled, looking weak and tired.
“Your turn,” she said.
Hall shook his head.
“The others first.”
He reached down, bracing himself, and helped Leigh to stand up. Steadying herself, she moved toward Roxhard and Sabine, slowly but steady, and gaining strength with each step.
Hall looked toward where Vertoyi had gone. There was no sign of the Druid, the Shambler still motionless. It made Hall uneasy. Vertoyi seemed to have come out from whatever spell the Feardagh had put on him. Not a spell, Hall amended, but the Druid’s own choice. Even though he seemed sane now, there was no counting on it. The same with the Shambler. It could move at any time.
They had to take advantage of this opportunity before they lost it.
He hurt still. Every nerve in his body was tingling, on fire. Every muscle was tight, contracted. Every bone was bruised. His right arm was numb, shoulder bruised from the rocks. Every breath was painful through the punctured lung and fractured ribs. He knew he needed healing badly and bandages would not work. Not for these wounds.
Reaching down to the potion pouch on his belt, he felt around until he recognized the cork and pulled out a Light Healing Potion. Good for only Twenty Health over a period of ten seconds, it would be better than nothing. Pulling the cork out with his teeth, spitting it on the ground, he tipped the small vial of green liquid into his mouth.
Immediately he felt the magic of the liquid coursing through his body. Some of the pain went away, bit by bit as it healed over time. The majority of it was still there, still painful to breath and walk, but his Health bar was no longer blinking red. He hadn’t bothered to use the potion during the fight because it would not have mattered. Light Healing wasn’t going to help them in this fight.
He made a mental note to find out where to get the more powerful potions from, or figure out how to make them. If this was an example of the fights they would be encountering, they would need the potions badly.
Roxhard was sitting up, holding his head in his hands. Leigh was next to Sabine, her hands on the Witch.
“What happened?” Roxhard asked.
“We got our asses handed to us,” Hall replied.
“Why are we still alive?”
“Leigh talked him down,” Hall said, moving back toward Pike, who was struggling to stand up.
He reached down and gently picked the dragonhawk up, cradling the bird tight against his chest. Angus mooed quietly from where he lay on the ground. Hall reached out and scratched the cow behind the ears. Angus gave him an odd look, wondering what Hall was doing, but tilted his head so Hall could get at the spot better.
“Glad you’re both still with us,” he said to the animals. “You three,” he added to Roxhard, who nodded. “And you four,” he said as Leigh helped Sabine to stand up.
The Witch was wobbly, burn marks across her exposed skin. She was angry.
“Where is that bloody Druid?”
Hall pointed into the woods.
“Let’s not go that way,” Sabine muttered, eyeing the motionless Shambler.
“No other choice,” Hall said. “It’s the only way out.”
They waited until Leigh had regained enough Energy to cast Nature’s Touch healing on all of them again, including Angus and Pike. They had all gathered their weapons that had been dropped, adjusted loose armor, and drank what few Light Healing potions remained while waiting for Leigh to recharge between castings.
Hall set them moving before they were all at full strength. He wanted out of the clearing incase the Shambler started moving or Vertoyi came back, as mad as ever. They moved slowly, eyes constantly looking for more Shamblers. There were some, unmoving like the one in the clearing and easily avoided.
Pike rode on top of Angus, crouched down, trying to smooth his feathers. Some of the green tips were still blackened. They all still bore marks from the lightning attack and Vertoyi’s beatings. Vitality had been extremely slow in coming back and even Leigh’s healings could only do so much.
“What is it?” Sabine asked, impatient to get out of the forest.
“Something's changed,” Leigh said, unsure of what she was seeing. “I don’t know what but there has been a shift.”
“Good or bad?” Hall asked, looking toward where the Grove was. He had an idea of what had caused the shift, and it could have gone either way.
Leigh removed her hand, looking at her fingers, brushing the tips against her leather skirt.
“Good, I think,” she replied but paused. “I think. It’s hard to tell because the corruption runs so deep.”
Minutes later, they reached the edge of the forest and looked out across the meadow. The standing stones were there, the Branch peeking out above the edges. They saw nothing else.
Hall exchanged a glance with Leigh. She nodded.
“You two head back to town,” he said to Roxhard and Sabine. “Gather our gear, and if we’re not there in an hour-” he paused, looking toward the Grove. “If we’re not there thirty minutes after you, then run. Get as far from here as you can.”
Roxhard looked like he was going to protest but Sabine pulled at him. She didn’t hesitate. Reluctantly, the Dwarf followed, casting looks back.
Hall ignored him, waiting with Leigh until she was ready. Standing straighter, she started walking toward the pond. Hall followed with Angus and Pike, tightening his weary grip on the spear.
Stepping through the stones, they reached the edge of the pond. They still saw nothing, no movements or shadows. Hall led them across the stepping stones and onto the small island. The Branch dominated, and Hall could see a change in the tree. It was still dull, pitted, and cracked, but there seemed to be some life it now. He couldn’t tell what it was, a feeling more than visual, but the tree was different.