You're Going Down (The World Book 3)

by Jason Cheek

  “Neysa, find Ulia and Keela and keep them safe.” I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw Neysa race ahead. “Because this next part is for me alone,” I softly muttered as I changed course heading towards the entrance of the Great Hall. At the base of the steps, I missed Neysa’s sudden stop as she looked back at me in confusion.

  This part of the plan had been the easy part. I’d come up with it almost immediately upon seeing the horde of feral zombies and the opening to the Keep from the tunnels below. Basic strategy 101. Even getting the children free at this point wasn’t the problem. I figured it would be a cakewalk with the feral zombies attacking everyone. Sliding to a stop in a crouch in the mouth of the entrance, I whipped the bow off my back. Before any of the mobs realized I was even there, I began shooting arrows as fast as I could draw and release into the Goblins nearest to the doors. Throughout the room, my arrows found their mark as ten Goblins fell to the ground shrieking in pain, in the blink of an eye, as chaos erupted throughout the Great Hall. All the while I kept shooting non-stop targeting mobs further back.

  My attacks caused no deaths, and even after I’d released over twenty arrows, it wasn’t even a drop in the bucket for the number of mobs filling the room. But that was okay; it was all part of the crazy plan I’d come up with. Everywhere I looked groups of Goblins were at each other’s throats. The only thing I could figure was inter-clan rivals were causing the different groups to blame each other for the attack. I was about to pat myself on the back when an inhuman shriek rang out behind me. At once the lone cry was joined by dozens of others as feral zombies began pouring into the foyer behind me in an unending stream of rotting bodies.

  “Rrraaawww!” The shout of savage fury whipped my head around as Grutgrak Skullcrusher surged to his feet roaring in the center of the room. His burning, hate-filled eyes were fixed on me as he drew both massive hand-axes from his back. Pointing over the heads of all the other mobs, his voice rang out throughout the Great Hall clear as a bell.

  “Bring the Half-Elf to me!”

  I heard the zombies’ clawed feet getting closer behind me as the nearest Goblins turned to face me drawing their weapons. Springing to my feet, I swapped out my bow for my shield and sword as I took-off running full tilt into the room. As the front line raised their weapons to meet my blows, I dropped into a feet-first slide while lashing out with my sword and shield to either side. All around me mobs dropped as I slid through the Goblins’ line like a baseball player sliding into home plate. My momentum drove me underneath the long, wooden table and through the second line of unsuspecting Goblins.

  The enraged mobs shouted out in fury as I jumped to my feet within their midst and dove over the next table. Behind me, Goblins began tossing tables out of their way to get at me as I kept moving deeper into the Great Hall. With every jump, my sword and shield lashed out at knee level causing crippling wounds and confusion in the Goblin ranks around me as I ducked and dove deeper into the throng of mobs.

  My charge felt more like a mini-assault in a Quake Deathmatch, except I was missing the railgun. Everywhere I looked there was a target-rich environment as I leaped into the air with my shield held before me like a battering ram to slam into another cluster of Goblins. Chaos erupted as the entire group was blasted off their clawed feet. My velocity gave me the initiative as I hit the ground rolling and slashing. Everywhere I looked, Goblins were swinging and slashing wildly in confusion as I rolled under another table. Springing to my feet on the opposite side, I surprised another group of the foul creatures and plowed into them without a second thought, doing my best to keep moving as fast and far as possible from the entrance.

  I was taking a crazy amount of damage. No matter how quick I weaved and wove, I was getting slashed and stabbed repeatedly. There were just too many mobs. In the first few seconds of my solo assault, my blood was flowing freely as my health dipped into the orange, but still, I pushed my suicidal charge deeper into the mass of Goblins. I’d only reached a third of the way in when the shrieking wave of zombies crashed into the chamber behind me in a rotting wave of death.

  That’s what I’d been waiting for. Immediately my Frost Nova blasted out in an icy wave freezing every Goblin within a ten-foot radius around me in a layer of ice as I quickly guzzled down a handful of Minor Healing Potions. Bloodcurdling screams filled the air as all hell broke loose inside the Great Hall. Everywhere feral zombies were feeding on the living as I became old news in the blink of an eye. Frantic cries rang out as the Goblins tried to form up into some semblance of a defensive line to hold back the horde of undead.

  Hoping the commotion would be enough to keep the mobs distracted, I cast a quick Restore and dived out of the frozen circle. Keeping my head tucked behind my shield, I powered my way through the confused crowd of mobs making a B-line for the children. My increased strength allowed me to successfully go against the tide as the Goblins flowed around me in their rush to battle the wave of feral undead.

  The only thing I could figure that was keeping me safe was that my Goblins disguise was throwing off the Goblins’ ability to recognize me in the confusion. A few the nearer named Goblins tried to attack me as I passed by, but the press of bodies going in the opposite direction carried them past before we could do more than trade a handful of blows.

  By the time I reached the children, the battle was going full tilt. The zombie horde had forced their way deep into the room before the Goblins had a chance to react. Even now, the only thing stopping the entire room from being overrun was the zombies’ penchant for consuming their enemies before moving on to the next. The piles of undead feeding on their prey were the only thing holding the mass of Zombies back as the agonizing shrieks of Goblins being eaten alive filled the chamber. Even though I thought the cruel, green bastards deserved what they got, the sickening sounds of crunching bones and tearing skin made my blood run cold.

  Whipping out my Pickaxe of Earth, I got to work busting through the chains holding the children. Every couple of strikes, I’d look over my shoulder to see if I’d been discovered. Grutgrak Skullcrusher was near the center of the line bellowing out orders as the surviving Goblins began flipping over the trestle tables around the Halls to use as temporary blockades against the frenzied mass of undead. The muscular Orc was only about 15 yards away from where I worked which was way too close for my comfort. Still, there was little I could do about it as I focused on breaking chains.

  The pickaxe broke through the chain on my fifth hit as I quickly helped the young boy to his feet. Tears were streaming down the young boy’s face as I spoke reassuringly. “Everything’s going to be okay. As soon as I get your friends free, we’ll all get out of here together.” I wiped the boy’s tears away looking into his eyes. “What’s your name, son?”

  “Elidyr … Elidyr Leodove.” He said, sniffling back his tears as the broken chain dangled from his neck collar clanked between us. “I want … I want my Mommy.”

  “I know, Elidyr. We’ll go to her in a sec, but first I need your help. Can you let me know when that Orc”, I pointed to Grutgrak Skullcrusher near the front of the Hall, “starts coming towards us? It’s very important. I won’t be able to help your friends or bring you to your Mommy if he stops us, so I need your help. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yes, I can do that,” Elidyr said, wiping his nose on his bare shoulder. It broke my heart to lie to the child after everything he’d had been through. I just hoped at least one of his parents still lived. Giving the boy a reassuring pat, I got back to work. Most of the children were too shocked to do little more than stand numbly and follow orders. I didn’t even want to think about the horrors they’d endured during their time in captivity. I was releasing the eighth child when a small hand urgently gripped my shoulder.

  “Milord, he’s coming! He’s coming!” My head whipped around at Elidyr’s urgent shriek to see Grutgrak Skullcrusher charging directly for me from across the room. I had a split second to get my shield and pickaxe up before the massive Orc barreled i
nto me with his war axes swinging. The shrieking children scattered as Grutgrak bodily blasted me off my feet and through several rows of trestle tables and chairs with his first strike. Before I’d even slid to a stop, the boss was tromping after me bellowing in rage.

  “You dare attack me at the center of my power?” A table flew across the room in a splintering mess from Grutgrak’s enraged backhand as his clawed foot stomped a chair into the ground. “I will strip the flesh off your bones until you beg for death!”

  Climbing to my feet, I spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground as I faced the overpowering Level 40 Orc. Tucking the pickaxe away in with my shield, I began blasting the Orc with the most powerful spell I had, Flurry. The trio of ice shards shot from my hand and closed the distance between us in the blink of an eye, but instead of seeing a large chunk of health drop from the boss’ Hit Points, the icy blast barely seemed to penetrate the Orc’s leathery skin. Instead of 720 points of damage, the spell only hit for 180 and didn’t even manage to slow down the boss at all with its freeze effect.

  For a split second, I didn’t know what to do. The lack of being able to damage the Orc significantly was either due to our level difference, the spell’s level difference or both. Hell, maybe the ugly bastard had some sort of natural or magical resistance on top of that. The only reason I did any damage at all was probably due to my boosted stats from the P&M exam.

  I should have been happy that I could do any damage against a mob that was essentially 14 levels higher than my own, but, seeing the cowering children huddled together behind the Boss and knowing what was at stake, that knowledge brought little comfort if I couldn’t find a way to save these NPCs. I had to play smarter if I wanted to have any chance of saving these kids. As my eyes focused on the last three children chained to the ground, I had the sudden inkling of a plan. I didn’t need to kill the Boss; I just needed to slow him down long enough to save the children.

  Backing up, I switched out my spell and began blasting the Orc with my Ice Lance. Immediately, a long shaft of solid ice struck Boss with a blow that knocked the mob back on its heels for a half-second. This time the damage was notably less, only 120 points of damage. Although the first strike had been unimpressive, the second Ice Lance doubled the damage and covered the Orc in a sheet of white as the 15-second slowdown part of the spell took effect.

  With a guttural roar Grutgrak triggered his charge, but this time instead of crossing the distance between us in the blink of an eye, the Orc barely moved faster than a normal run. Waiting until the last instant, I dodge to the side as the boss blasted past me like an unstoppable freight train. Rolling back to my feet, I spun around and hit the Orc with another Ice Lance before taking off in the direction of the children as the Boss kept running on another 10 yards before coming to a stop. Almost like the Orc had triggered a special ability that forced a charge until either he hit his target or covered a certain amount of distance. Sliding to a stop, I began hammering at the next chain with my pickaxe as I called out to Elidyr.

  “Elidyr, let me know when he’s getting close again.”

  “Yes … yes, milord.” The boy stuttered, nervously looking behind me at the massive Orc.

  “Good. Only this time when the Orc comes, I want you all to run to that side of the room.”

  “What about Liluth and Ava? We can’t leave them!” Elidyr urgently shouted, obviously worried about leaving his friends behind.

  “I give you my word, Elidyr. On my life, I won’t leave anyone behind.” I promised the young boy as I kept hammering away at the chain.

  “He’s coming!” Elidyr cried out as an enraged roar rang out from the other side of the room.

  I glanced up to see Grutgrak running towards me in slow motion. Either the Orc had decided to forgo his special attack, or its cooldown was still active. Bringing the pickaxe down as hard as I could with two hands, the chain finally snapped in two. Dragging Liluth to her feet, I urgently shoved her at Elidyr shouting.

  “Go … go … go!” Roughly I began pushing the children towards the far side of the room as I shoved my pickaxe back into my inventory and drew my Brutal Skullsplitter Blade.

  “Stupid Half-Elf!” Grutgrak roared after me as the children ran away. “There’s nowhere for you to run.” The Orc raged as it threw its head back with a guttural laugh.

  “Maybe I’ll let you live long enough to watch me rip the younglings apart before ending your life.” As the boss confidently strode forward, I stepped away from Ava, who was the last child still chained to the ground. Thankfully the Orc followed after me, without using the small girl as a hostage. Not that I would have laid down my arms if he did. Stepping within 5 yards, the Orc sneered at me. “What, out of Mana already punny mage?”

  Before the last word had even left his mouth, Grutgrak blurred across the distance between us as he triggered his charge. As fast as thought, I threw up a Shield Bash blocking the double attack from the mob’s war axes as I was blasted back five feet. Not giving me a moment to recover, the boss began hammering at my defenses. Strike and combos flew at me in a blur as I tried my best to keep up with the overwhelming flurry of blows. Within seconds my health had dropped to half, and blood was streaming down my sides as I realized the only reason I was still alive was that the ugly bastard was playing with me. I chastised myself for playing to his strengths as an idea came to me. ‘Play smarter not harder, Jason.’ Grinning, I faced Grutgrak spitting out a mouth full of blood at his clawed feet.

  “I’m not just a mage, asshole!”

  The ugly sneer disappeared from the Orc’s lips as I shouldered my shield and drew my Leeching Dagger of Piercing in my offhand. Spinning around to the line of Goblins battling the undead, I lunged forward triggering Backstab as my blades sunk to the hilt in two separate targets. As both Goblins collapsed, I push deeper into the thin line of mobs triggering my Backstab again and again. Each strike returned 5% of my health as my Hit Point bar began to rise slowly. Before Grutgrak could stop me, the entire middle part of the defensive line collapsed as feral undead began rushing into the hole I’d just opened in the Goblins ranks. Within seconds, chaos reigned as the whole Goblin line fell apart.

  Blasting out my Frost Nova, I broke away from the fighting and ran for Ava who was still chained in the center of the Great Hall as I swapped out my blades for my pickaxe. Before I’d even cleared half of the distance, I saw she was already in trouble. A zombie that had been hacked in half was crawling after her on its arms with its desiccated guts trailing behind.

  Ava did her best to put as much distance as possible in-between her and the slavering creature coming after her as she screamed in terror. With a grisly leer, the undead mob’s clawed hands were reaching for Ava’s chain when my pickaxe slammed through its rotting skull. Holding the zombie’s head down with my boot, I ripped the sharp steel out and slammed the pickaxe down again and again until the zombie’s head was a ruined mess. Kicking the gory remains away, I began working on Ava’s chain as the undead mobs surged around us chasing down the remaining Goblins fighting for their lives. Ignoring the horror going on around us, I focused on hammering at the chain using both hands. As soon as the chain snapped, I scooped Ava up in my arms and ran for the rest of the children at the far end of the room.

  Reaching the wall, I could see Ulia and Theric had been hard at work. Four of the children had already been pulled up and another halfway up the wall on a makeshift rope made from the extra clothing we’d gathered earlier. Thankfully the slats were wide enough for the children to pass-through. Turning Ava around, I gripped her sides and shouted in raid chat.

  “Theric! I have a plan if you can lean out over the wall?”

  “Give me a moment.” I heard the sergeant calling out orders amongst a bunch of swearing as movement 25 feet above caught my eye. The comment, “Dammit, then just hold my freaking boots!” was the only thing that came through clearly as I worriedly watched the approaching wave of undead. Everywhere I looked groups of zombies were dog-piling single Gob
lins and tearing them apart. I was about to yell out for them to hurry up when I saw Theric’s dark-brown hair spill out over the battlement above.

  Holding Ava out like I was going to throw her up, his green eyes immediately lit up in understanding as he leaned out far enough to reach down with both hands. At his nod, I threw Ava up just as her eyes bulged out in sudden understanding. Her shriek of fear was lost in the sounds of battle around us as Theric snatched her out of the air with ease. Grabbing one of the boys standing nearby, I waited for Theric’s nod before tossing the next child up.

  Ulia finished pulling up the child on the rope just as I reached for the last child when I realized it was Elidyr. “Milord, I did my best to make sure the rest of the children were safe.” The young boy said, clutching his little fist to his chest like a salute. Something I’d seen from the other NPCs from House of Kayden. Returning the boy’s salute, I hefted him up in my arms speaking quickly. “You did good, Elidyr. Now, what do you say about us getting the hell out of here?” Before the kid could reply, a familiar voice bellowed out in rage behind me.

  “You did this! This is all your fault, Halfling!” Grutgrak Skullcrusher spat at his feet in disgust as he faced me about 12 yards away. The Orc was covered in black blood. Jagged wounds marred his muscular arms and legs where there were gaps ripped through his armor. Even his face was a battered and bleeding mess. But, worst of all, was his rage-filled, wild eyes that bore into me like the promise of death. Even with everything he’d been through, the bastard still had half of his health left, which still left him a Hit Point bar that was at least double that of my own.

  “I will shatter your bones! I will shred your innards! I swear you will die by my hands if it’s the last thing I do!” Grutgrak roared out throwing his head back with his battle-axes held over his head in each hand.