Deserts Of Naroosh

by Bradford Bates

  So instead of asking for help like a civilized man, he ran.

  Cassie looked surprised as Tim sprinted past her. Yep, that’s right. I’m breaking all the rules today. He launched himself up, barely grabbing the edge and pulling himself onto the smooth surface before it clicked into place.

  Success!

  He turned and looked down on the others as they made their leaps. It was no surprise when ShadowLily and Lorelei flew through the air and landed gracefully on the platform. At least the viewers on his stream got to watch someone leap with style. His running belly flop probably wasn’t the thing people tuned in for.

  Thankfully healers weren’t traditionally judged on their jumping prowess.

  JaKobi skidded to a halt right before he needed to jump. He looked up at the platform. “It’s not going to happen.”

  Cassie came up behind the fire mage and grabbed him by the robes. She pulled him roughly backward before chucking her boyfriend into the air like a farmer tossed a bale of hay onto the back of a truck.

  “I’m flying,” the fire mage squealed with glee before hitting the deck.

  Cassie made sure JaKobi wasn’t going to topple off the edge before taking a few steps back and preparing for her jump. Their tank took three bounding steps forward and leapt into the air without much grace but a ton of power. She landed in the superhero pose in the center of the platform and slowly rose to her feet.

  The tank faced the rest of the party. “Can you tell me why we’re up here in the open instead of down there using the grass and the walls for protection?”

  Tim looked around the room and thought of the creatures moving in and out of hidden openings. Then he made himself draw a deep breath and scanned the room again, looking for anything else that might have changed since they entered. Several smaller platforms had descended from the ceiling and were scattered around the room. They wouldn’t be much help to him unless he learned how to fly, but it might give their enemies a space to rest or gather before attacking them.

  This wasn’t going to be a traditional boss fight. The cats weren't big enough to pose much of a problem alone, but coming from different directions in large enough numbers, they wouldn’t be easy to deal with. If enough of them came at once, they might overwhelm the group. He didn’t know about the others, but Tim felt painfully short on area of effect attacks. Most of his spells were geared toward damaging a single target.

  “Get ready for anything, but my guess is we’ll face some kind of wave attacks. Enough of those cats come at us, and it’s going to be a problem.” Tim wished he had a better handle on what was going to happen, but there was no way to be sure.

  JaKobi ran to each edge of the platform checking to see if it would shift and how slippery the surface was. “Kind of reminds me of Gauntlet. This is going to be awesome.”

  “Without the maze, it’s just another fight.” ShadowLily pointed out.

  Lorelei looked at all of their faces. “I have no idea what you're talking about. Gauntlet must have been before my time.”

  “Just get ready for a lot of cats.” Tim looked around but didn’t see a timer or a countdown clock anywhere. “My guess is a small number will come first, then more of them. That or they’ll keep sending waves of the same number hoping we eventually make a mistake and die.”

  Cassie grunted. “So be ready for anything? Not super helpful.”

  “Shoot anything that moves, seems like a simple enough plan.” Lorelei pulled her bow free and nocked an arrow.

  Tim adjusted his stance into Way of the River. He’d switch back if Cassie started taking a shit ton of damage, but it felt like the entire party might need healing during this fight. The key for them would be finding a way to work together and ensuring that they weren’t attacking the same targets.

  Instead of asking them to keep clear lines of fire, Tim positioned each party member on one edge of the platform. He ensured that the two ranged specialists were on opposite ends and could help clear targets off from the broadest range possible. When everyone was in place, he stepped into the middle and tried to prepare himself for whatever came next.

  “I’ll try and make calls and help out where I can, but I’m counting on you guys for the DPS.” Tim looked around the room trying to spot some kind of signal or a button to start the fight, but he didn’t see anything.

  One of the leopards yowled from somewhere inside the walls. A handful of others answered the call. There was no way to tell if the leopards also had increased intelligence or only human hands for feet. The fact that they were signaling each other to coordinate an attack had him a little worried, but the team had undoubtedly faced tougher monsters.

  A little nervousness was okay, as long as a person pulled it together. There wasn’t a gamer in the world that didn’t know the feeling of slaying a raid boss for the first time on the last pull of the night. So while Tim knew he couldn’t get complacent, he also had enough faith in his group that he could draw a few deep breaths and relax.

  Maybe not.

  “Get ready!” Tim called as he spun in a slow circle looking for the first of the cats.

  It didn’t take long for the first of the monsters to dart into view. The thing was fucking fast considering it had human hands for feet. It didn’t look like the leopards had any weapons or even the smarts to use them at this point. Granted, when a monster had a mouth full of four-inch-long teeth and razor-sharp nails on their hands, they didn’t need any extra help being dangerous.

  Lorelei’s bow twanged. “Shit, I lost it in the grass. Didn’t expect them to be that fast.”

  Two more cats appeared at the far end of the room and flew across the bars welded onto the ceiling. They moved to opposite sides of the room so fast it was hard for Tim to follow their bobbing progress. It was as if his eyes couldn’t register the fact he was watching giant cats move like monkeys.

  The three leopards coordinated their attack almost perfectly. One came in from the top right, another from the top left, and a rustle of grass from below indicated where the third would attack from. Tim heard the noise behind him and knew exactly where the third leopard was. He didn’t turn to see if JaKobi could handle it. Instead, he fixated on Lorelei and Cassie.

  Lorelei’s bowstring twanged, and she cursed again. The cats were hard to pin down because they could change directions instantly by using their front hands instead of their back ones. It almost felt like their every movement was created to make it harder to shoot the creatures from range.

  On his right side, Cassie watched another leopard as it swayed back and forth between a few bars. The monster was clearly sizing her up and trying to figure out the best way to attack. It didn’t take long. With a hiss like an alley cat, the leopard sprang from the bars like a furry ball of death.

  The resounding crack that came from Cassie’s bō staff as it slammed into the leopard reminded him of the sound of someone hitting a home run with a wooden bat. Unlike a pro slugger, things didn’t work out so well for the leopard. It turned out taking a staff to the head while doing a death from above maneuver was hazardous for a kitty’s health.

  Lorelei let out a triumphant cry so Tim turned to see how JaKobi and ShadowLily were doing. He might as well have not worried about them at all. The ashes falling gently to the floor told him all he needed to know about what happened to the last leopard. Now they had to get ready for more.

  “Prepare for the next wave. Call out how many you see and if you need help.” Tim made sure everyone’s health was full and got back into position on the platform's center.

  A solitary yowl was the only indication the group received that the fight was on.

  ShadowLily spun her daggers in her hands. “I see three.”

  “We also have three,” JaKobi replied as he clapped to send a burning phoenix flying at the leopards.

  The flashy spell didn’t hit any of the creatures, but it did force them to split apart. Tim cast Curse of Giving on one of them before pivoting and doing the same thing on Lorelei's sid
e of the battlefield. A little passive damage and healing would only increase their chances of success.

  Thankfully healing wasn’t an issue yet.

  Two of the leopards fell to Lorelei’s arrows before getting close enough to jump for the platform. She was figuring out how they moved. It was great for their group and not good for the monsters they faced. Tim wasn’t worried about the two of them taking out the last one so he turned to watch the other side of the battlefield.

  JaKobi had ashed one of the cats, but the other two worked together in a new way. One of the leopards grabbed the other and used the bars to throw the first cat at the group like a cannonball while leaping in behind it. Tim hadn’t expected the kamikaze move, but the fire mage took out the first cat, and ShadowLily used her throwing knives to get the last one before it reached the platform.

  Last time, the number of leopards doubled.

  Tim checked, and no one had taken any significant damage yet, or if they had his curse was enough to boost them back up. Healing might become a bigger part of this fight if they were about to face twelve of the cats. Maybe there was more he could do to help. His root spell was kind of weak, but it only needed to stagger one of the leopards. If they could keep the cats coming in smaller numbers, they had this fight in the bag.

  “They’re coming,” Lorelei called as she let an arrow fly.

  This time there hadn’t been a warning so the cats were pretty damn smart. It was getting to the point where if all the leopards attacked at once they might be in real trouble. Tim hoped this was the last round, but he had a feeling there was at least one more. It didn’t feel challenging enough yet, and deep down he knew the developers would never make things this easy.

  “Ah, fuck.” JaKobi grimaced as he watched what was about to happen.

  All six of the cats on their side of the platform were about to do their kamikaze tactic again. Tim wasn’t sure if the same thing was happening on the other side and didn’t want to look. He could deal with whatever happened as long as they stopped one of the attacks.

  ShadowLily pulled her daggers free. “Do what you can to their shield cats, and I’ll handle the rest.”

  The leopards launched their shields at the platform and charged in behind them as before, only this time three of them came all at once from different angles. Tim decided JaKobi could handle two of the cannonballs by himself so he focused on the one farthest away.

  Divine Light slammed into the leopard, throwing off its trajectory to the platform. Instead of landing on it and tearing them apart, it smashed into the side with a thump. The human hands clawed at the top of the platform, three-inch-long nails digging into the surface. It wouldn’t be long before the other three were on them. He had to make sure they didn’t have a fourth helper.

  ShadowLily moved in to meet the charge of the three remaining leopards, and Tim screamed, “Jump!”

  The assassin leapt into the air, and Tim’s Flame Burst spell roared to life under her feet and knocked the last of the initial attackers loose. JaKobi dealt with one of the follow-up cats alone leaving two for ShadowLily to handle. If anyone could kill two of them without breaking a sweat, it was her.

  Tim turned away from the fight on their side of the platform to see what he had to deal with on the opposite end. Lorelei had killed two of the leopards and Cassie a third, but now one of them had grabbed hold of the tank's staff and was making life difficult for both of them. At least the leopard wasn’t doing much damage to her. Cassie was shaking her weapon back and forth so ferociously the cat was mostly hanging on for dear life.

  The other two leopards were still a good distance away but were throwing some kind of ranged attack at Lorelei. Tim couldn’t tell what the projectiles were, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t shit. Maybe they had rocks, or it could be magic. There was no way to tell for sure right now.

  Despite not being able to make any offensive progress, Lorelei didn’t seem in danger of taking any major hits, so Tim was going to get the cat off his tank. His best single target spell that didn’t take forever to activate was Divine Light, but he didn’t want to risk hitting Cassie with a bolt of energy.

  They couldn’t afford to waste time if these were timed rounds since the next set of leopards could be coming soon. Tim dropped his staff to the platform and pulled his dagger free. He lunged forward and stabbed the leopard with five quick thrusts, and Cassie tossed it back into the grass below.

  Tim made sure to retrieve his staff and tuck away his dagger before turning to help whoever needed it. JaKobi and ShadowLily had ended their fight, and Lorelei just finished off one of the cats from a distance. The last leopard was still focused on Cassie. She dodged one of the thrown projectiles and sent her hook and chain winging out at the leopard.

  One quick yank was all it took, and the giant cat flew directly toward them. Cassie dropped the chain and pulled her staff free. The leopard never stood a chance. The bō staff cracked off the cat's skull, and it fell into the grass below.

  “That had to be it right?” Cassie turned, looking rather triumphant.

  Tim didn’t see a golden chest anywhere, and the platform hadn’t lowered. “I’d get ready for the next wave.”

  “This is going to be a real shit storm isn’t it?” JaKobi replied as the top of his staff burst into brilliant purple flames.

  There might have been a way to sugarcoat it, but the final wave of any battle was supposed to be hard. With potentially twenty-four of the cats coming at them, this would get crazy interesting real fast.

  “Just try and stay calm.” Tim drew a deep breath and prepared for what was coming next.

  This felt like one of those moments where it all might come down to how long he could keep them alive.

  “Five coming on our left,” Lorelei called.

  “Oh fuck, I have ten of them.” JaKobi took a hesitant step back.

  Tim reached out and gently shoved the fire mage back to the edge. “Then light the pussies on fire.”

  “We don’t need no water…” The flames atop JaKobi’s staff turned from purple to bright ruby red. “Let the motherfuckers burn.”

  Tim almost finished the lyrics with him, but if the fire mage had work to do so did he. He targeted a couple of the leopards farthest away with Curse of Giving to get some healing rolling in. They weren’t taking a ton of damage yet, but it would come soon.

  Sitting back in the center of the platform gave Tim a chance to see what the leopards were throwing. They appeared to be some kind of hardened leather balls, which is why he probably thought they were chunks of poop earlier. It was the kind of thing they'd call a non-lethal round back in the real world, but he’d refer to them as poop pellets.

  No one wanted to get hit by poo, even if it was fake.

  If enough of the hard pellets hit a player, they could easily fall off the platform, and it would be all teeth and claws until they died. Cassie wasn’t even trying to play offense anymore. The tank used her staff like a stickball bat to keep the projectiles at bay, while Lorelei shot as many arrows into the cats as possible.

  The group was taking some serious damage now, and Tim sent out a round of Healing Orb to add to the small amount of healing coming in from his curse. This part of healing he enjoyed most. It almost felt like his own mini-game. While the others worked hard to defeat the threat, he worked twice as hard to keep them alive.

  Tim’s view of the world around him shrank to the health bars of his companions. He didn’t have to worry about too much in the middle of the platform unless the leopards upgraded their weapons of choice. All he had to do was move now and then so they couldn't lock in on his location. After that, it was one healing spell after another.

  He didn’t look up. He didn’t even have time to breathe. Everyone was taking damage now. Sometimes it was one hit at a time. Other times his friends were getting hit two or three times in rapid succession. Tim wasn’t sure if his Curse of Giving would do enough damage to kill any of the leopards but having a few up sure helped his
healing.

  Did everyone else feel as stressed as he did?

  Spell after spell had his mana redlining. Tim fell to his knees, his fingers twitching through the motions of Healing Rain, and everything went fuzzy for a moment. He heard ShadowLily scream a warning, then one of the leopards sank its teeth into his arm.

  It was easy to forget how much getting injured hurt in this game when it hadn’t happened to him in a while. Being bitten by a leopard kind of felt like being stabbed ten times and having your arm crushed in a hydraulic press. The cat’s eyes rolled back as someone severed its head from its body.

  “That was the last of them.” Cassie knelt and pried its jaws open, then tossed the head off the platform.

  “Let’s hope there isn’t a mega knockout round.” JaKobi grimaced as he looked around the room.

  Tim climbed back up onto unsteady feet. He had to wait for a full minute before he could cast a Healing Orb on himself to stop the bleeding. Now he knew what LadyCat’s group had felt like after their battle in the recruitment video. The fights were fun, but the aftermath took a moment to get over.

  The platform lowered to the ground, and Tim thanked Eternia for the break. As the platform clicked back into place, a golden chest appeared by the door. He focused on topping off each person's health as they moved across the room. When everything was in order, Tim quickly unequipped and equipped his clothes. He had to admit it felt good to have fresh clothes on even if his skin was still a little grimy.

  Cassie stopped in front of the chest. “Maybe I’m not a cat person after all.”

  Lorelei cut in front of her and laid a hand on the golden chest before the tank could. “I am.”

  “Armguards of the Leopard. Improved accuracy with ranged weapons, and plus four to dexterity and strength.” The ranger’s grin grew as she equipped the item.

  “Not being a cat person and not wanting to go first are two different things.” Cassie winked to let them all know it was a joke before reaching out and touching the chest. “No Pity for the Kitty. Add this adornment to any piece of armor to reduce damage by felines up to thirty percent.”