Tim only hoped to avoid becoming a new color mashed into the sands.
Cassie was taunting the boss, but it wasn’t doing anything. This was one of those unavoidable moments. He had to man up, and maybe he could soften the blow a little. He cast Who Needs a Shield on himself and a Healing Orb for good measure. Tim cast Snare as the boss rolled forward, but it had zero effect.
This was going to fucking hurt!
Watching death charging at you wasn’t exactly a new experience for him, but now he fully understood what the term Juggernaut meant. Even at full health he probably couldn’t survive a direct hit, but he had one spell left in his arsenal for just this occasion. He activated Quick Feet and sprinted to the side.
The Juggernaut’s horn clipped him on the hip as he tried to dive clear of the attack.
Tim hit the ground hard and was relieved to see his leg was still attached. He was so focused on healing himself that he didn’t see the boss crash into the invisible barrier around their fight and fall stunned. The sound was what made him look up, and from there it was easy enough to piece together what happened.
The boss had no way to block their damage while unconscious and his health fell faster than a wrestler’s weight on Ex-Lax.
After climbing back to his feet with a grunt, Tim fired off Divine Light every chance he could. The boss was down to five percent health now and clawing his way back toward the group. The minotaur's burning red eyes inside the metal skull lost their shine, and the Juggernaut fell to the sands defeated.
Cheering erupted from the resistance members watching the battle.
The city was theirs. Now they had to take the palace.
Chapter Forty-Three
Golden motes rose into the air like rain in reverse.
Tim loved seeing the beautiful golden lights for two reasons. One, it meant that they won the fight. No matter how much he downplayed it, winning was something he loved immensely. He loved it almost as much as he hated losing. There was no rush like that of pulling out a victory from the jaws of defeat. The second reason he loved winning these big fights was the phat gobs of shiny new loot. Every gamer in the world loved the sweet, sweet digital glorification of new gear.
He’d seen players fight over stat increases so small they made Chihuahuas look like Great Danes.
The Etheric Coast solved the problem by creating individual loot pools. Tim was sure they’d see some crafting materials and other things that needed distribution and that they’d drop with frequency at some point. When the materials came, Tim would dump them in the guild bank until someone needed them. There were only five of them, and they all had full access to add and remove items whenever they wanted. He might have to rethink the policy if their numbers ever swelled, but he knew he’d never have to worry about waking up to an empty guild bank with who had access now.
After taking a moment to top off everyone’s health, Tim scanned the battlefield. The fighting had resumed around them, but Jabari’s men were being pushed back inside the city. Neema’s forces overwhelmed the right side of Jabari’s army as the warriors fled toward the palace and their last sanctuary.
Khalid rallied the troops in the middle of the battlefield and the day was theirs. Their next stop was the palace, where they would finally get their shot at Jabari. This would end today. Nar’ha would be in safer hands by sundown.
Cassie cleared her throat. “If you've finished staring off in the distance, we can get started.” Her hand hovered over the chest.
“Don’t wait on me.” Tim wasn’t shocked that Cassie’s hand touched the chest before he finished speaking.
When she turned to look at the group, Cassie was grinning like there was one slice of pizza left and she called dibs. “I won’t bore you with the awesome piece of loot I received, but I will guide your eyes to this shiny new pin.”
Tim followed Cassie’s pointing finger to a tiny pin of the Juggernaut on her leather vest. “It’s our very first piece of flair.”
“The thing with flair is that you can’t ever have enough.” JaKobi grinned as he walked toward the chest and laid his hand on it.
The fire mage triumphantly held up his pin as he wrapped an arm around Cassie's shoulders. “Hopefully, we all get one. Plus, I nabbed this wicked cool Ring of Sulfurous Intent. Adds a flat one percent bonus to my base fire damage.”
“He gets the best loot because he’s always getting hurt.” Cassie punched JaKobi lightly in the side. “Just making sure he’s ready for his next epic drop.”
Tim tossed a Healing Orb at JaKobi and returned his attention to Cassie. “You know, I was the one the Juggernaut almost crushed. Let’s not forget how the Daughters double-dipped me. I don’t think numbers have anything to do with it. Loot is random.”
“There will be no double-dipping while I’m around, mister.” ShadowLily punched Tim’s shoulder as she strutted past him on her way to the chest.
“Boots of the Silent Mouse. They give a bonus to my stealth and sneak ratings out of combat, and in combat increase my dodge-slash-parry chance by one percent.” She equipped the boots. “On top of everything else, they don’t look half bad.”
Lorelei moved forward as ShadowLily put her new pin in place. “Waistguard of the Raven. Increases my precision and crit chance by one percent.”
“Plus, this pin looks legit on my bow.” She held out her bow to show everyone.
The little Juggernaut pin was affixed by the arrow rest so it looked like he was throwing the arrows. Tim thought it was pretty cool they could use the pin in a bunch of different ways. He’d been so busy thinking about the battle and what was next he completely missed that ShadowLily had gone before him, and the group was waiting for him to pick up his loot so they could continue.
“That looks awesome.” Tim wondered if he could put the little Juggie on his staff with a similar effect.
JaKobi had his pin attached to his big floppy wizard’s hat, and Cassie’s was still on her chest. ShadowLily’s kept disappearing and reappearing in different places as she tried to figure out where it looked best on her gear. Tim was kind of excited to get a fun piece of flair. It was a nice little display that let everyone know they were badass enough to down the Juggernaut.
Not wanting to keep the group waiting any longer he moved forward and placed his hand against the chest.
Item Received: Ring of Luminosity
While this ring won’t make you shine as bright as a star, it will enhance your wisdom and intelligence quite nicely. +3 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence, +1 Endurance.
Sometimes an item didn’t look like a significant upgrade on the surface. Some of his recent drops had much larger numbers attached to them, but this ring was the perfect upgrade. Tim’s new Ring of Luminosity would replace his old ring, which only had a bonus of +2 to Wisdom. Every little stat increase helped, and now he was only one point away from hitting his next stat threshold for endurance.
One nice thing about the gaming in early MMO’s was a player didn’t have to worry too much about stats while leveling. Any increase was a good increase. Once players made it into the endgame, they had to deal with diminishing returns and balancing flat-out healing or DPS with items that offered special affixes.
For now, keeping their stats moving up was a bonus. If the item had a special power, it was like when the contestant guessed within two hundred and fifty dollars of the showcase on the Price is Right. It was a hell of a bonus but totally unexpected. So far the guild had a couple of fantastic items fall into their laps, and having better gear certainly made their progress in the game easier.
“What’s the plan now, boss?” JaKobi asked as the sunlight reflected off his Juggernaut pin, drawing everyone’s eyes to it.
The only instructions they’d received from Khalid for after the battle was to get to the staging area. Tim knew exactly where to go on the map and headed in that direction. If he could pick up some extra credit on his item quest for healing the wounded on the way, he’d do what he could to help.
; After they defeated Jabari, they could bring down the Pharaoh and secure the deserts of Naroosh for the Goddess Eternia.
The city of Nar’ha was beautiful.
It was hard to judge the scope of its size as they ran from the gates toward the center. Tim wouldn’t have been surprised to find it was easily the size of Promethia, maybe even larger. The streets around them were empty. The fighting in this part of town seemed to have ended almost as soon as the city fell. Now and then, they passed a courtyard or a wider thoroughfare full of fighters who surrendered and men making sure they didn’t pick up arms and rejoin the fight.
It looked like the coin Jabari paid these men only carried their loyalty so far. Most of them weren’t willing to die on the losing side for a few extra coppers. Once Jabari’s grip on the city and his power waned, most of his mercenaries tossed their weapons aside. Khalid’s men worked their way through the ranks of prisoners, sending some home and others back to fight for the right side this time.
None of the destruction Khalid’s army did to the outer walls extended into the city. Since almost all of the resistance fighters were from Naroosh itself, they weren’t interested in pillaging. It was probably the most peaceful sacking of a city in the history of The Etheric Coast, but it wasn’t their city yet. The Blue Dagger Society still needed to make it to the command tent, then take the fight inside the palace grounds.
Tim’s higher endurance made all the running they were doing now slightly more bearable than it had been before. There was a part of him that knew he’d never enjoy running and that was okay. At least he wasn’t lagging as far behind the group as JaKobi was.
The fire mage had faded from a jog to a walk behind Tim about a minute ago and didn’t show any interest in picking the pace back up. It was kind of funny to see the three women looking back at the two men and urging them forward.
His ego had taken worse beatings.
Slowing to a walk, Tim waited for JaKobi to catch up. “Is it me, or was this a lot easier when all you had to do was hold down ‘W?’”
“Tell me about it.” JaKobi's breath came in heaves. “I haven’t run this much since high school gym class.”
Lorelei ran back to them. “Hurry up, guys. We’re almost there.”
“Go ahead and find out how Neema is doing.” Tim motioned for her to skedaddle. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Cassie passed the ranger on the way back to the boys. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t pass out and die on the way.”
“I’ll come with you.” ShadowLily joined Lorelei. “In case there happens to be trouble.”
The ranger gave her a quick nod of acceptance and took off at a run. “Thanks for the company.”
The three of them walked the remaining way to their destination. It gave Tim a little time to admire the craftsmanship and color that ran through Nar’ha’s byways. Everywhere he looked, the stones on the buildings, even some of the paved streets, were dyed different colors. There was art painted on the walls. Pools of bright blue water flowed through carved channels leading from the river in the distance. The birds and fish were happy calling this city home. If it weren’t for the armed soldiers, it would have been beautiful.
Peace would look good on Nar’ha.
When Khalid spoke of a command tent, Tim hadn’t expected the very same one from the oasis to be present. It probably shouldn’t have shaken him. Tents were made to be moved from one place to another. It was also kind of nice to enter a familiar setting in a very unfamiliar place.
The three of them stepped inside to join the others.
Tim let out a little squawk of surprise when Khalid mashed the three of them into a giant bear hug. The desert warrior released them a moment later and held them at arm's length as he beamed at them. He had a new cut on his leg but otherwise didn’t look any worse for wear.
Khalid stepped back to give them some room and motioned for them to join him by his desk. “Your victory against the Juggernaut is what carried the day. I hate to rush you into another fight so soon, but are you ready to hear the next steps of the plan?”
Tim looked around, making sure everyone was ready to go. This was one of those key moments where it paid to check his gear and all his little knick-knacks to make sure he was ready for battle. He didn’t have any health or mana potions to worry about for the time being, and his armor and weapons were fine after a quick cycle through his inventory. He quickly recast his buffs and returned his attention to the warrior.
A Healing Orb took care of Khalid’s leg, and a last nod from Cassie confirmed they were all ready to go. “Tell us what’s next.”
Before Khalid could speak, Lorelei jabbed Neema in the ribs with a finger. “I told you he’d heal his leg.”
“I never should have doubted you.” Neema grinned in a disarming way. It was a smile that said I was wrong, but I’m so cute you have to forgive me. “How was I supposed to know he was the only healer in the world who works for free?”
Tim coughed. “That’s a healer who doesn’t charge, sometimes.”
“Whatever, we all know you’re a big softie.” ShadowLily patted him on the back. “That’s why we like you.”
Khalid flexed the leg. “Good as new. Thank you, my friend.”
Moving to the map, Khalid stretched the leg as if he couldn’t believe how good it felt. He stopped by the desk and pointed to a spot on the map. “There isn’t a lot left to say. Jabari has barricaded himself inside the palace. Either in the throne room or the theater. Most of his guards have abandoned their posts, but his most loyal sycophants will fight to the death to protect him.”
It made sense to Tim. The men closest to Jabari would be extremely devout and wouldn’t want to see their power and wealth stripped away when the resistance broke their ruler’s grip over the city. Those closest to Jabari would fight to the death not to lose everything they had. Tim wasn’t sure how the five of them would fare against waves of organized troops.
“Neema and I will neutralize the guards inside the palace with the help of the resistance. Then we’ll head to the throne room.” Khalid paced back and forth. “I need you to head to the theater.”
The desert warrior stopped and spun, locking his eyes onto Tim’s with fierce intensity. “I do have to warn you, whichever of us doesn’t face Jabari will probably run into his last protector. The Goliath.”
Tim smiled as he reached out to grasp Khalid’s extended hand. “We have a saying where we come from. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“Then today you will truly put that to the test.” The old warrior broke their shake. “With the Goliath and Jabari out of the way, Nar’ha will be free, and we can turn our eyes to the capital.”
“Just so you know.” Neema stared at Khalid with righteous fury. “You aren’t killing that bastard without me by your side. After what he did to my family, I deserve the right to put an arrow in him myself.”
Khalid pulled her into a hug. “As you say it, so shall it be. We’ll fight him together.” He released Neema from his grasp and looked at Tim. “Will you help us?”
Quest Received: Take her to the Theater
Have you taken ShadowLily out on a date since you’ve been in the game? No? Then now is a good time to start. Who doesn’t love a night out at the theater when it includes a boss fight or two? Oh, you wanted to know what you have to do to complete this quest. Get to the theater and handle whichever of the bosses waits for you there. Who will be behind curtain number one, Jabari or the Goliath? Either way, you’ll need to be ready for one hell of a fight.
Reward: Ten gold coins
Tim hoped everyone’s quest text didn’t look the same as his. That would be rather awkward. He accepted the quest and tried not to blush.
“When we finish with the theater, we’ll look for you in the throne room.” Tim shook the warrior’s hand one last time.
Khalid was beaming from ear to ear as he clapped Tim on the back. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.
I can hardly believe it is upon us. Fight well.” He laughed as he thought about the glorious battle to come and turned to face the Desert Wolf. “Come, Neema. We have work to do.”
Neema watched Khalid leave and gave Lorelei a quick kiss. “I’ll see you when all this is over.”
“No one is looking forward to that more than me.” Lorelei watched her go with a hungry expression.
Tim pulled everyone’s attention back to the moment. The biggest fight of their lives was coming up, and they had to be locked in. “Everyone buffed up and ready to go?”
“Does Hungry Jack’s do a dollar off slices on Monday?” Cassie quipped.
Tim couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
“Damn straight it’s a yes.” Cassie looked around the room as though she couldn’t wait to get out of there and kick some ass. “Let’s go break this big fucker.”
JaKobi nudged Tim. “Holding ‘W’ was nice, but what I really miss is being able to hit one button while I was playing and having my favorite pizza order show up thirty minutes later. Was it dangerous? Yes, but it was also amazing.”
ShadowLily looked like she was going to snap. “Don’t even get him started on pizza. It’s all he talks about. I have Joe working on it. So get your head in the game, or no one is ever going to get pizza again.”
“No pizza?” JaKobi cried.
“Ever again?” Tim wailed.
“Men.” ShadowLily threw her hands up in disgust. “They’re such drama queens.”
Cassie pulled her close and pretended to whisper, “I know what you have to do. Make it easier for them to understand.”
Holding up a finger as though an idea just came to her, ShadowLily turned and made sure the guys’ attention was fixed on her before speaking. “I’ll make it simple. You kill boss, get pizza. No boss, no pizza.”
Deserts Of Naroosh Page 43