by Jason Cheek
“You want us to do what?” Theric and Brenna both asked in shock as a roaring howl came from below. A split-second later, Worg Riders came shooting out of the pass as I shoved Theric away yelling. “Use your cloaks like a sled. Now go … go … go!”
Spinning around, I knelt down and began blasting Flurry blasts out from both hands as Brenna’s began sending streaking multi-shot arrows into the Goblins lead ranks. Within seconds twenty worgs had cleared the pass as I tagged each and every one of them with my freeze effect, but that didn’t stop the flood of Worgs behind them from pushing out onto the peak. My Mana bar shrank at an alarming rate as I continued blasting away nonstop as the top of the mountain filled with the dark shapes of worgs.
Brenna gave me a panicked look just as my time-out for Frost Nova popped. As the worg riders charged us, I winked at Brenna as an icy wave suddenly blasted out from my body. The effect was instantaneous as Worgs and riders were frozen in place within a ten-foot radius around us just as Brenna thew her arms up with a shriek of fear. The near depletion of my Mana in such a short amount of time nearly drove me to my knees, but somehow I managed to scoop the Huntress up into my arms and leap down the slope feet first.
The snow on his side of the mountain was covered with a crunchy coating of ice that was several inches thick from where the wet snow from the blizzard had nearly frozen solid. Between that and the forty-five-degree angle of the slope, it was nearly perfect conditions for sledding. As soon as my backside hit the ice, we began plunging down the slope. The extra weight from Brenna threw me off at first, but within moments I recovered my balance by lifting my arms and legs up to lessen the resistance. Keeping only my backside in contact with the icy slope, our speed noticeably increasing until we were flying down the side of the mountain at an alarming rate.
Looking back towards the peak, I saw Neysa racing through the enemy’s ranks. Dodging and leaping between the Worgs, she snapped at her racial enemies with a ferocity that had to be seen to be believed. She didn’t focus her attacks on a single target but instead spread them throughout the forces that sought to surround her. Hamstringing a leg here, crushing a knee there. With her recent levels, she was actually larger than the Worgs she fought, but there was no way she’d survive against the overwhelming numbers that were pouring out onto the top of the mountain. I did my best to call her back mentally, but she disappeared into the scrum without any outward sign that she’d ever received my command.
Unfortunately, her distraction wasn’t enough. Within moments the main troop of Worg Riders had cleared the peak and had started racing after us down the side of the mountain. Hurriedly I gulped down the last of my Mana potions as I tried to come up with some way to help my animal companion as her health began dropping alarmingly fast in my HUD, but as the trailing Worgs spread out across the fifty-yard wide slope in a ragged line, nothing came to mind.
Brenna’s panicked shriek jerked my attention back to our plummeting descent as I felt the huntress’ tight, abdominal muscles urgently flex under my arms. The sudden shift instantly sent us lurching precariously to the side as we barely missed a massive, gray stone rising out of the snow. Her arm windmilled out to keep us from wiping out as we whipped past another mini-boulder before our descent straightened out once again. I probably would’ve enjoyed having the sexy Half-Elf in my arms if not for the harrowing drop, but, balanced on my back; I couldn’t see shit as Brenna steered us through the various obstacles in our path.
It probably would have been better if we’d been navigating the slide on our own, but from the howls of pursuit, there was no time to switch up. We caught air off of several small ridges that nearly knocked the wind out my lungs before we began slowing down. Hearing the familiar shouts of my NPCs calling for everyone to head for the treeline, I breathed a sigh of relief as we slid to a stop at the base of the slope. With the adrenaline rush finally being over, my muscles just seemed to give out as I sprawled out flat on my back. With a groan, Brenna flopped onto the snow-covered ground next to me looking into my eyes incredulously.
“I thought you said we were going to run?”
“Run, slide, it’s all basically the same, right?” I couldn’t help the grin that came to my face at the incredulous look on her face. Before Brenna could reply, strong hands pulled me to my feet.
“By the Dark, don’t just lay there! We’ve got to move now!” Theric’s voice thundered in my ear as he dragged me to my feet, while Ulia hurriedly yanked the Huntress up off the snow. Stumbling forward on wobbly legs, we staggered in the direction of the woods as the angry howls rose up behind us. Catching the man’s green eyes, I spat hoarsely.
“I thought I told everyone to wait for us at the woodline?”
Theric shrugged unconcernedly. “It looked like the two of you could use a hand, so we decided to wait.”
“What made you think that?” Brenna grumped next to me as she held onto Ulia’s shoulder for support.
“Hurry up; they’re almost on top of us!” Ulia urgently snapped, looking over her shoulder.
I met Theric’s grin with one of my own as I shook the wobbly feeling from my limbs and began moving out at a decent clip. While the slide down the mountain had been physically brutal, it had been worth the pain since we’d dropped nearly two miles in the blink of an eye. Still, the edge of the forest was a good fifty yards away.
Once again we’d escaped the trailing army by the skin of our teeth. My HUD showed that my Mana was nearly full once again as I looked up at the wall of Worgs headed towards us. The entire slope was black from their numbers as the Goblin invaders drove their mounts hard down the slope in an all-out run. While that made for an impressive charge, it also made for a perilous descent. I bared my teeth as a plan formed in my head. Without slowing down, I began blasting Flurry blasts out behind me.
The first strike caused instant confusion as the Worgs around the impact seemed to collapse into a churning pile of arms and legs. The troops behind them didn’t fare any better. Within moments, the entire column seemed to collapse as Worgs slammed into their slowed comrades ahead of them as riders were thrown from their mounts. My preceding blasts were just as effective. Everywhere my Flurry blasts hit the front ranks crumpled in on themselves as Worgs and riders were wiped out in groups as they plunged uncontrollably down the slope. The Raiders did their best to adapt as the edges of the charge spread out as much as they could on the slope to lessen the impacts of my attacks. Giving Theric a wink, I turned back around sprinting for the treeline after my NPCs.
So far, whether it was my magic or Brenna’s arrows, none of our attacks had directly killed any of the invaders. A quick glance at my logs showed that I’d received some experience since the fight had begun, but only because the Goblins that died had been either trampled or slaughtered by their own people in their enraged charge to reach us. While those deaths accounted for almost fifty Goblins, it was nothing in comparison to the total force we faced.
Once again, I had reminded myself that we weren’t trying to take on the invasion force by ourselves but to break contact and escape to Requiem. There we could combine our forces with the rest of the NPCs and my friends behind static defenses to hold off the invaders overwhelming numbers. To be honest, even then I knew we didn’t have much of a chance of winning. Not unless I could draw a portion of the army to Delonshire. Only then would we have a chance to survive this invasion.
Reaching the treeline, the rest of the NPCs fell in around us as we ran deeper into the forest. We’d barely made it a hundred yards before the Raiders were on us. Echoing howls sounded throughout the forest as the first pack of Worgs leaped out of the trees snarling in rage while the guttural battle cries of Goblins rang out around us. Yellow gnashing teeth seemed to come from every direction as the Worg Riders’ jagged axes, and blades slashed out in frenzied swings. I saw two of my NPCs fall back in a spray of blood as my Ice Nova spell washed over our attackers. Urgent hands dragged the wounded behind us as we charged the Worgs and riders blocking ou
r escape as one.
Weapons flashed as my NPCs leaped at their hated enemies hacking and stabbing like berserkers. Ulia’s two-handed blade flash before my eyes in a sweeping arc as the nearest Worg was suddenly beheaded in a fountain of blood. Next to me, Brenna’s arrow took the farthest rider in the throat ahead of two spear thrusts as Theric, and another Half-Elf drove the Goblin’s Worg to the ground, while others piled on top of the rider with their daggers and axes.
Leaping through the spray of blood, I plunged my Dark Blade into the first rider’s heart as I rode the screeching Goblin’s corpse to the ground. Coming to a stop, I tossed Minor Healing Potions to the wounded as I waved the NPCs on ahead. Eight seconds wasn’t enough time to break contact, but it was all we had to break free of this trap. Quickly peppering the remaining Worgs with Flurry blasts, I raced after my people as soon as the last spell flashed from my hand.
The forest was crawling with Worg Riders hunting for our blood as echoing howls followed our hurried flight. There was little we could do but run for our lives. Sometimes we were ambushed by riders that got out ahead of us, while other times we waylaid our attackers if we saw them ahead of time. Either way, the battles were short and brutal as we fought to escape the tightening net that was slowly choking off our escape while the Goblin war horns rang throughout the forest. As the hours slowly ticked by, my armor became more and more mangled from the constant brutal fighting as my numerous, unhealed wounds slowly began to mount. Not that my situation was unique. Each and every one of us was covered in open wounds with most of the NPCs being on their last dregs. There were no potions left or time to stop and heal. All the available Mana I had left was solely used for either slowing down our pursuers or bashing through traps. The only good news was that the dense forest allowed us to stay ahead of the main host.
It was late morning when we stumbled across a familiar looking creek. As the NPCs collapsed on the banks to suck down the ice-cold water, I called up my map trying to confirm how far we’d come. Studying the terrain, I quickly realized we couldn’t be more than a mile or two downstream from Requiem. Excitedly I waded out into the knee-deep water as the men and women drinking began cursing up a storm.
“Theric! Ulia! To me!” I urgently called out, coming to a stop in the middle of the stream. “Everyone on your feet!”
“Milord?” I heard the questioning tone in Theric’s voice as he pushed his way through to the bank, while Ulia jumped into the water without question as she made her way to my side.
“Hurry the fuck up!” I snapped, waving for everyone to jump in as I directed Ulia to head further upstream. “Keep to the water. Requiem is just a mile or two further up the stream.” Catching Theric’s eye, I pulled him close speaking under my breath. “I’ll lead the Goblins towards Delonshire and circle back around when I can. Do what you can to keep everyone safe.”
“Milord, you may as well come with us. There’s no way we’ll be able to sneak through their lines.” Theric tiredly said, gripping my upper arm firmly. “We’ll have a better chance if we stay together.”
“Yea and we’ll lead their entire host to Requiem. Even with everyone fighting behind the defenses, there’s no way we’ll survive that.” I replied back. Gripping his wrist and shoulder, I turned the swordsman to me looking him in the eyes.
“Their plan was always to invade the southern lands starting with Delonshire,” I said, holding up a Goblins warhorn I’d looted from earlier. “It shouldn’t take much to get them to follow me south.”
“The honorless bastards!” Theric swore running a blood-covered hand through his dirty hair. “The death toll will be horrendous, milord. King Larethien will be forced to pull the army out of Nren Unarith to save his people which means the entire southland will fall.”
“Maybe not, my friend,” I said confidently. “If everything works out the way I planned, we’ll stop them at Delonshire.”
“Milord?” Theric looked at me questioningly. “There’s no way Delonshire can stand against a force this large. They’ll be overrun before they even know they’re under attack.”
“As I said, I have a plan.” I let the swordsman go, pushing him upstream. “Delonshire is already fortifying their defenses and preparing for the coming attack as we speak.”
“What … what magic could do that, milord? How could they know of the coming invaders?”
“I used a little bit of newfar magic called email to get the message to them earlier this morning,” I said, waggling my eyebrows at man’s confused face. “Now get moving. I’ll catch up with everyone as soon as I can.”
“Yes, milord.” Giving me a quick bow, Theric began sloshing upstream after our people as I climbed out onto the bank on the far side. Rising the warhorn to my lips, I blew a long call as I began jogging in the direction of Delonshire. The response to my call was nearly instantaneous. Within seconds the entire forest was ringing with answering calls as Worg Riders from every direction began making their way towards me. With one last look at my NPCs slogging up the stream, I turned around and took off running.
I was able to drive back the first few riders that caught up to me with Flurry blasts as I rushed headlong through bushes and branches running all out. A quick glance at my map ensured that I was headed in the right direction. I mentally flicked the screen away just as a squad of Worg Riders bursts out of the brush right on top of me. Sliding under the lead Worg in a straight-leg slide, I blasted out a Frost Nova locking the five Worg Riders down in a blanket of ice. Popping back up at the spell’s edge, I saw another two Worgs lunging at my face.
Side-stepping the closest Worg, my Dark Blade flashed slicing through the creature’s front leg at the elbow as I took the rider’s axe strike on my shoulder pauldron. Using the force of the impact to spin around, I threw up an armguard before my face is the second Worg’s fangs latched onto my forearm. The crushing force of the mob’s jaws hurt like hell as I dropped to my knee to slam my blade into the frozen ground. I only had one chance to get this right. As the rider’s blade flashed over my head, I threw my weight back in the direction of my anchor while used all of my 143 points of strength to yank my arm back suddenly.
The reaction was instantaneous. I cried out in pain as the Worg’s fangs tore through my chain-reinforced leather armor and into my skin, while the beast’s entire body whipsawed around like a fish caught on a line as the Goblin on its back was catapulted from the saddle. While the ripping fangs hurt like hell, it was nothing compared to the feeling of having my arm almost ripped out of my socket. Howling in pain, I was able to adjust the momentum to take some of the extreme pressure off my shoulder joint as I swung my body around in an arc. The impact of the Worg slamming into the tree next to me reverberated up my arm. While that had to have hurt the smelly bastard, it, unfortunately, didn’t break the creature’s hold. Instead, as soon as the Worg hit the ground, it sprung to its feet and began savaging my arm with its entire body.
Screaming in agony, I tore my blade out of the ground as the beast tried to drag me off my feet. With a shout, I drove my blade through the Worg’s skull and into the tree behind it. Of course, in a video game like this, the strike didn’t kill the fucker. No! Instead, it took another four crushing kicks to the face before its eyes rolled back into its head and died. By the time I tore my bleeding arm free, the Worg Riders I’d frozen at the start of the fight were about to be freed. Cursing up a storm, I lurched into a run just as the spell holding the Raiders in place collapsed in on itself.
Blaring horns followed after me as I tried to ditch my pursuit. Every minute I stayed out of direct combat was another minute that my Hit Points and Mana could recover as my forearm slowly stopped bleeding like a stuck pig. The only good thing going for me was that I didn’t have to worry about my stamina giving out due to the boost from my P&M exam. My break was short-lived as I ran into another group of Worg Riders. Again and again, I fought as more and more Raiders closed in on my position. I swore under my breath as I locked down another squad. If I didn
’t do something soon, they’d surround me with overwhelming numbers for sure.
A second later, I burst out of the treeline as the ground suddenly gave away from underneath me. At first, I thought I’d fallen off a cliff. When my legs hit the ground in a controlled landing a moment later, I breathed a sigh of relief as suddenly found myself slipping and sliding down an icy slope as the valley of the Delonshire Mine opened out before me. Loose rocks gave away underneath my feet as I plunged down the severe incline in a controlled fall. If not for my 128 points of Agility, I would’ve surely fallen flat on my face.
Reaching the bottom of the slope, the first thing I noticed was that the typical Goblin Worg Rider guards and Orc mini-bosses were still patrolling the area around the mine. The next thing I noticed in my quick scan was that the typical horde of lower level players that should have been waiting to enter the mine was nowhere to be seen which made me wonder what the fuck was going on. Honestly, I found the players absence hard to believe, because wherever there were low-level humanoids in a game, there were players to kill them. Coming off the incline, I hit the valley at a dead run as the Worg Riders chasing after me burst out of the woods above at the top of the valley. Catching sight of me, they leaped down the slope after me without hesitation.
I swore again running flat out across the open ground as I tried to understand what the fuck was going on. Something major must have happened for Miya to have pulled back her troops from the mine. Otherwise, the Delonshire guards would have been patrolling this area, that or the mines would have just been abandoned. So then, what the fuck happened to the quest Miya had to recover ownership of the mine? I cursed non-stop as I ran. Did the sexy guard captain make it safely back to Delonshire? Did she somehow die while I was away? Would I ever get a chance to get my hands on that Light Elf’s tight, little ass? I had to roll my eyes at the off-color thought. That was the last thing I needed to worry about at this point in time. Right now, all that was important was if Delonshire was ready for the invaders or not. It would be just my luck that the only contact I had with the town’s guards to have fallen in combat and now I was leading an invasion force into the heart of a town with unprepared defenses.