But Death is Not Forbidden

by Kip Terrington

Joe decided to speak in Russian since he knew that the UI would translate the speech for all the players.

  “342 of 1077, I don't know why you've decided to play as a vampire, but we're going to kill your superior and the other halfling vampires. If you fight with them, you will not make it through this unscathed. I've heard a fangless vampire is a pitiful sight to see.” 342 of 1077's eyes opened wide. She had only recently become a player, and though she had received messages, she did not understand what was happening. She had not told her superior, because she did not want to be killed out of hand. The vampire society was extremely structured. If one did not fit where they were supposed to, they were removed.

  “What tongue is that? Are you speaking to one of my guards? How dare you, I will not suffer any more of these insults,” Devigo said, but instead of mounting his snow lizard, he began to lead it away. The human vampire gave a signal to his four guards, and they quickly put themselves between their leader and Joe's party. As the halfling vampires moved to protect Devigo, he began to run beside his beast, quickly leaving the halfling vampires behind. It appeared he wasn't as confident in their victory as he had proclaimed.

  “I'll leave the halflings to the rest of you. Try not to kill the player. That human vampire is fast, but he doesn't appear to be a Portal Mage,” Joe said, as he cast L1 Ley Line Feel. In this instance, Joe's luck was working out for him. The human vampire was following a ley line. Selecting an exit point ahead of Devigo, Joe cast L3 Small Portal and dived through the moment the portal was large enough for him. Exiting the portal, Joe spun around and saw the surprised look on Devigo’s face. The surprise did not last long enough for Devigo to make an error, however.

  “Mortigi!” shouted Devigo, and his snow lizard focused on Joe, charging directly at him. Joe couldn't help but smile, the vampire had sicced his pet on him. It was time to play the matador. Instead of holding his MIL Bar to the side, Joe held it high above his head. Carefully, Joe waited. He wanted to time it just right. As the speeding snow lizard lowered its head to ram into Joe, he leapt. Jumping in the air and activating his MIL Bar, Joe pulled himself over the top of the charging snow lizard. Or rather, he pulled most of himself over the top of the snow lizard. Reaching down with his left hand, he extended his Penetrating Steel Silver Claw. As the snow lizard charged under Joe, the blade cut the animal open from teeth to tail. His twenty-sided eye showed a 20 and the snow lizard died.

  Ding

  “They do smell worse on the inside,” Joe said as he lowered himself down winking at the now mountless vampire.

  Devigo snarled, but did not move forward, obviously wary of the bloody blade Joe had just revealed. He understood that he could not outpace Joe, so he began to fight in earnest. Devigo began to chant and his hands turned as black as the void. Almost falling to the ground, the vampire punched his hands deep into the snowy soil. A tearing and screeching sound came from all around Joe. Joe lowered his stance and noticed that the ground around him seemed almost alive. Unfortunately, he could not have been more wrong. Four skeletal figures crawled out of the ground. They were the bones of yetis, but in death, they were no one's friends. If Joe had been standing at the center of a compass, the skeletons would have been at each cardinal point.

  With his hands still in the ground, Devigo controlled all four yeti skeletons. As one, they stepped forward toward Joe, extending their own claws. Joe began to feel that he had fallen into an ambush, but fortunately for him, because of long ingrained training, he knew how to respond. Raising his left hand, he sent a purple wave of force at the skeleton in front of him instinctively yelling, “Frag out!” Before the spell could hit the skeleton, Joe charged at it. Most of the wave of force passed through the skeleton, but just enough was imparted to cause it to lose a step, falling down to a knee. The skeleton was a full two feet taller than Joe, but its flesh had rotted away and it did not have as much mass. Instead of stopping in front of the skeleton to fight, Joe lowered the boom. At a full sprint, Joe dropped one shoulder and wrapped his arms around the middle of the skeleton in a textbook tackle. The speed and force was nearly enough to separate the spine of the skeleton-tackling-dummy. The skeleton was now lying on its back with Joe on top of it. Realizing he had to be quick, Joe gripped the bottom ribs of the skeleton and then stood on its spine. Like an Olympic power lifter, Joe attempted to pull the ribs up over his head. Joe's twenty-sided eye spun quickly, landing on 14.

  Successful strength check.

  The rib cage was lifted up and over Joe's head, and because he was standing on the spine bones, Joe effectively despined the undead yeti.

  Devigo felt a sharp feedback as the undead creature ceased its animation. The human vampire looked up and realized Joe was heading right for him, and his three remaining skeletons would not catch the large man in time.

  Devigo pulled his hands out of the snowy ground and prepared to meet Joe head on. Immediately, the three remaining skeletons fell to the ground, unanimated. The human vampire reached behind his back and pulled out a sickle and a short sword. Both glowed with a pale yellow color. Seeing the weapons, Joe halted before the vampire, extending his own blade. Something about the sickly yellow color in Devigo’s weapons caused Joe to hesitate. “You will die in agony, you abomination,” Devigo hissed. With vampire speed, Devigo stepped forward and swung his short-sword in a diagonal ark missing Joe by inches. If Joe hadn't used his MIL bar to once again pull himself to the side, he would have felt the cut of Devigo’s blades. As the blade slid by him, he turned his head and his twenty-sided eye finally responded. Hovering around each of the yellow sickly blades were mini versions of sick and dying people. Each and every mini-person was covered in disfiguring sores and blisters. Joe quickly back stepped away from the weapons of pestilence and disease.

  “You are quick for such a rotund individual. My kind love big-boned blooders like you. It's a shame I'm going to have to ruin your blood with these blades,” Devigo said. Over the vampire’s shoulder, Joe noticed that one of his yeti guards had fallen.

  ***

  “I'll leave the halflings to the rest of you. Try not to kill the player. That human vampire is fast, but he doesn't appear to be a Portal Mage,” Joe said as he cast a couple spells and dove into a magical portal.

  Moes watched as all four halfling vampires spread out. It appeared that none of them gave a thought about going to help their leader, Devigo. All four of the yeti guards had their claws fully extended and were bending low, hoping to be able to spear one of the little vampires. The line of yetis and the line of halfling vampires faced each other and stared. Grork stepped in front of Moes and continued forward right through the middle of the line of yetis. This action surprised both the yeti guards and the four halfling vampires.

  For a moment, all of them froze and looked at the goblin who appeared unafraid of both parties. Grork had been frustrated by how ineffectual he had been during the dungeon raids. It had been a new experience, but killing vampires was something he understood. In reality, he'd only killed two, but he would bet his right eye that that was two more than any of these yetis. Since Joe had left to take care of the largest vampire, Grork decided it was time for him to take charge. Luckily, all the yetis were players, so Grork was confident that the UI would translate for him.

  “Use your blades to keep them at a distance. Be patient, chip away at them. They’re small, but if they get a grip on you, they’re almost impossible to dislodge. Once they sink their fangs in you, it’s only a matter of time before their venom causes you to be combat ineffective, a.k.a., dead,” Grork said.

  “You speak wisdom, goblin. It is a true rarity among your kind. I'll have to cut out your tongue and put it in a nice shadow box. Such a thing could be worth something one day,” Player 342 of 1077 said.

  “Defang and subdue her, the rest must have their hearts destroyed,” Grork said.

  Player 342 of 1077, who was on the far right of the line of vampires, rushed forward to attack the yeti directly in front of her. The yeti, San, had a
much greater reach than the little halfling vampire. She swung her claw and clipped 342 on the shoulder. The vampire cried out, as if in terrible pain, fell on her back, and begin to crawl away whimpering. San felt a rush of excitement. She had truly injured the little evil thing. Wanting to finish the job, San rushed forward to plunge her claws into the vampire. The simple little trick had caused San to forget the words Grork had just given them. As she rushed to give the final blow to the little vampire, 342 laughed with glee as she changed the direction she had been crawling. Like a spider bent on murder, she scurried under the defenses of the yeti. San tried to adjust her thrust, but the vampire’s change in direction had caught her off guard. 342 quickly leapt onto San’s belly, gripped tight, and stuck her fangs in. Shocked, one of the other yeti guards started to run over and help, but Grork put a stop to it.

  “Ignore San, she's dead. She just doesn’t know it yet. We will see her again in a few days. Focus on what's in front of you. Have patience. Don't be dumb, or you’ll be dead. Don't die,” Grork said.

  San looked down at the vampire, she knew she could not dislodge from her midsection. The venom was already taking affect. San had made a mistake, but she didn’t want it to get the rest of her team killed as well. Knowing her claws could not penetrate the vampire’s skin, she decided to protect her team the only way she had left. Immediately, she fell flat to the ground, digging her claws through the frozen soil. As she began to lose consciousness, she smiled, knowing that 342 would not easily be able to crawl out from her bulk.

  The vampires were shocked that the yetis had not fallen into chaos when one of their own had fallen. The stupid goblin was ruining their plan of attack. As one, they stepped forward, trying to find their way past the defenses of the yeti. Grork moved forward and to the left, swinging his pickaxe wide, causing one of the vampires to step back and be clipped by one of the yeti blades. Once again, the vampire screamed out in pain and fell back whimpering. Fortunately, this time, the yeti that it was facing did not fall for the trap. Seeing that the ruse had failed the second time, the vampire hopped back up and began to circle around to the right near to where San lay still on the ground. This put the vampire in the line of sight of both Moes and Bork, who were ready to start their participation.

  Moes’ hands were already fully charged with the Mind Magic spell he had been preparing. Releasing the pent-up power, it struck the little halfling vampire right in the chest, freezing it. He had cast L7 Callosum Concussion. The spell caused the left and right hemispheres of the brain to begin sending contradictory signals to each other, leading the body to freeze up. The moment the vampire stopped moving, Bork threw the Blood Mist potion he had been making. The glass vial burst against the chest of the vampire. The horrible burning from the potion, coupled with the pain from the spell, debilitated the vampire. Grork, who loved this part of the routine, shoved the acid in the vampire’s mouth and then ripped its fangs out. Before he could use his pick to finish the job, he noticed one of the other vampires rushing him. Getting into a defensive posture, he swung his pick back and forth keeping the newly attacking vampire at bay.

  But this left the yeti guard, Vaeloff, with no enemy before her. Seeing that Grork was now occupied, she finished off the fangless screaming vampire. Her thrust was a bit overkill. It went through the fangless vampire’s heart and then penetrated the ground a full two feet.

  The two vampires that witnessed the death of their comrade now understood they were not facing unprepared enemies. Both of them turned their eyes to the mage and the alchemist behind the three still-combat-capable yetis and the goblin. The odds had shifted in favor of the living. The two vampires looked at each other and nodded. As one, they turned tail and ran. Only there was nowhere to go. Ten angels, wearing black military fatigues, had just flown over the top of the vampires, spreading their wings wide and each carrying nets. As the nets fell, the vampires hurried to rip their way out, but they lacked the most important resource for combat. Time.

  Before either of them could free themselves from the nets, they felt a fire in their mind. Moes had cast L5 Mindstorm, making it much more difficult for them to even focus on moving, let alone freeing themselves from the nets.

  Apuk and Cof moved to stand over the thrashing, trapped vampires. With yeti fury, they extended their claws and began to punch at the trapped little vampires. Their blades began chipping rock-like pieces off of the vampires. These little vampires still had their fangs intact, so the yetis’ attack was a bit like using a butter knife to chip away at an ice block. The block would resist, but eventually it would become just a pile of ice chips.

  Witnessing this, Grork opened his eyes wide. He didn't realize you could kill a vampire without taking its fangs away first.

  Three halfling vampires down. The only one left was underneath the chest of their fallen yeti.

  ***

  One of his yetis was dead or going to die. If he could get to it, maybe he could save it. Then Joe saw the nets descend on the two fleeing vampires. Unfortunately, Joe did not have time to play spectator. Devigo sprung forward and Joe lifted his clawed left hand to stop the vampire’s progress, but the vampire had only been feigning. With a quick step to the left, the vampire swung his short sword across Joe's chest, but the angle was wrong and did not cut through Joe’s tough uniform. Unfortunately, the point of the yellow sickle had the right angle and nicked Joe's right forearm. The vampire went into an athletic backflip, expertly moving out of Joe's reach. Once he had some distance, Devigo popped his hip out, looking like he was at his leisure. The vampire smiled, excited to watch the show. “That is good cloth armor, but not good enough.”

  Quickly, Joe pulled up his sleeve. The little nick on his arm looked inconsequential, but immediately it had started to sting. Looking down at the little wound, Joe could see that it was barely bleeding at all. Once again, Joe’s twenty-sided eye responded. Joe saw a vision through his twenty-sided eye and it was not a pleasant one. He saw his arm rotting off and killing the rest of his body. Then, quick as a channel being changed, the vision shifted to Joe using the claw on his left hand to completely cut away his entire forearm muscle. This was enough of a clue for Joe, who had played games like this before. Quickly, he held his right arm out before him and then, using precision and strength, he cut his forearm muscle completely off. It was difficult, as his skin was tough, but he leaned in, scraping down to the bone. The muscle and skin fell to the ground. Joe watched as the fallen flesh began to turn green and then bubble with a yellow liquid. If he had been any slower, he would have been sent back to respawn.

  “Who are you?” Devigo asked.

  “No one of consequence,” Joe said through a painful smirk, as he raised his uninjured arm and fired a force spell at the vampire. The force hit the solid vampire, causing him to fly back several meters. Unfortunately, the vampire’s sheer athleticism helped him keep his balance. He turned his back to Joe, hoping to regroup with his guards, but unfortunately for him, he was just in time to see the yetis chipping away at the two vampires caught in the nets.

  Devigo felt a spell hit him in the back. His still heart beat one single beat.

  Viscous necrotic blood was pushed through his dead veins. Pain and anger fought for dominance. Devigo spun around to face Joe once more.

  “Force Magic and Life Magic. Aren't you the talented fatty?” Devigo said.

  “Oh, I'm versatile. Also, I'm glad to see that the Life Magic has such an effect on you. Yes, there has been a bit of name-calling, but I won't deny you healing,” Joe said.

  “We'll see how well you can heal me or yourself when I scratch something you can't cut off,” Devigo said as he waved his yellow weapons of pestilence. But the moment the vampire started to move toward Joe, another wave of force hit Devigo. Each time the vampire attempted to approach Joe, Joe shot of a wave of force at him.

  “Sorry, I won't be letting you any closer to me,” Joe said, then looked above the vampire's head and nodded. In perfect synchronization, six nets cam
e down on Devigo. Frantically, he began using his blades to cut his way out. Though the blades were sharp, they were not made to cut through multi-threaded industrial weave rope. Joe stepped closer and began to fire concussive waves of force against the grounded vampire. Scurrying across the snow-covered ground, Bork made his way to Joe, holding up a blood-red glass vial. Joe stopped his concussive waves of force to take the vial and throw it at Devigo. The blood red mist caused the human vampire just as much pain as it had the halfling vampire. Devigo dropped his yellow bladed weapons in an attempt to wipe off the mist from his exposed skin. Joe held his hand out to Bork, and Bork handed him the acid vial. Joe shoved it in the vampire’s mouth and then kneed the mouth closed. Joe didn't have pliers or two good hands to use them, so he stood above the vampire, raised his boot, and broke the teeth out that way. Not wasting a moment, he extended his claw and pierced the vampire's heart.

  Ding

  Joe smiled. He hadn't grouped up. That XP was all his. In the distance, he saw the three remaining yetis surrounding their fallen comrade who, for some reason, was also covered in nets. Grork was standing beside the yeti corpse and holding his weapon ready.

  “There's one more vampire left. San trapped it underneath her before she died,” Bork said, then turned and started running back toward the rest of the group. Joe quickly retrieved his MIL Bar, then followed. His useless right arm hung by his side.

  “Did you just say underneath of San?” Joe asked.

  “Yes, you'll see,” Bork said.

  When Joe got there, he saw what looked like an oversized mole hill beside the fallen yeti. Joe crinkled his nose in confusion, not understanding what was happening. Suddenly, it became clear, as the halfling vampire began to pop her head out of the hole. Grork’s pickaxe came down hard and chipped off a piece of the halfling vampire.