The Siege

by Jakob Tanner

  “No,” said Serena. “It wants to intimidate us so we’re easier to kill.”

  Kari lifted her staff and threw out a bright light of protect magic into Serena.

  “We won’t let that happen will we guys,” said the fox-girl.

  “No way,” I said, “Let’s—“

  The snake’s head dived in towards us like a sprung rat trap, flinging with high velocity speed. I flame dodged away, rolling backwards, leaving a trail of fire. The others jumped to the side.

  The giant snake slithered towards us, riding over Shade in the shallow water.

  “Agghhhh,” screamed the thief, as the snake crushed his lower body breaking his bones. I electric blinked over towards him and pulled his body out from underneath the snake. Kari threw out a powerful heal spell, bringing his legs back to health.

  Serena ran and jumped in the air, swinging her blade above her head. She came crashing down into the snake’s tail with a crushing blow attack.

  The snake hardly blinked and slithered away.

  Jackson punched his fists together, the blue dragon flames appearing around his fists. The brawler skipped across the puddles of the cove and jumped in the air, delivering an uppercut jab to the giant snake. He twirled, going for a second left hook, when the snake swiped its head to the right, swatting Jackson across the cove. The brawler smashed into the ground. His HP fell into the red zone. Kari threw out a healing spell, getting him back into the green.

  The snake hissed once more. It closed its mouth, only to open it again seconds later, its teeth glowing with bright green venom. It hissed, flinging the poison saliva towards us. It was a triangular AoE spell with a wide range.

  “Everyone get back,” I said, electric blinking out of the AoE circle.

  I reemerged in a burst of electricity and saw the green poison burning through Serena’s flesh. I took in the rest of the party. Everyone had been hit by it except for me.

  Serena and Jackson were still fighting the snake head on, even as the shock of pain every few seconds was screwing up their ability to fight competently.

  I cast status cure and then fired it projectile-style with air blast towards Kari. With the healer cured, Kari started curing the deadly poison from the party. First Serena and Jackson, then the rest.

  Will sent out a huge red blast of demonic energy at the snake’s head. The creature shut its mouth and turned to the side. The blast hit into the armored scales, dealing barely any damage.

  “Serena,” I yelled. “Remember our classic formation?”

  Serena nodded and ran towards the snake creature. She shouted, “Protect Thy Allies.” All of the snake’s aggro was now drawn onto her. The snake rushed towards her, diving its clawed face in her direction. Serena jumped straight into the attack. The snake opened its jaws wide. Serena landed on the snake’s large forked tongue and threw her sword right up into the roof of the creature’s mouth. The snake wailed in pain and Serena held the sword where it was, blocking the snake from closing its jaws on her.

  “Um, Clay,” said Serena, squirming in the jaws of the beast. “Can you please hurry?”

  I electric blinked high into the air and mana jumped in the direction of the open jaws of the giant serpent. I placed both my hands together. A bright ball of heat formed between my palms. The ball shot forward in a beam of powerful solar energy, ripping through the creature’s insides. The flesh burned and went from pink to brown to dark black. Serena ripped out her sword and jumped out of the squirming snake’s mouth.

  The critical hit made the snake writhe in pain and it retreated further into the shadows away from the fight. The contours of the snake glowed with a bright green energy. The creature began to morph. The snake shrunk in size (though was still terrifyingly large) and grew arms in the side. When the glowing stopped, the snake creature looked more like a much larger sized version of the serpras we’d been fighting before.

  “My video game knowledge tells me when a monster transforms into another monster—it’s usually a lot more powerful and that shit is about to get real,” I said. “Right?”

  The giant serpra spellcaster disappeared in front of us.

  “Oh man,” said Serena. “I think you’re right, Clay.”

  “Behind us,” shouted Jackson.

  But it was too late. The water in the cave had risen and blasted into us with the energy and destruction of a tidal wave. Our bodies swirled in the rushing torrent of water. I didn’t have a chance to blink or breath. My back smashed into the cave wall. The water crashed back to the cave floor along with my body. I got up, dazed, and spit the dirty cave water out of my mouth. My whole body ached. My HUD informed me as to why.

  Broken Arm (debuff): You’ve broken your arm! Your ATKP, MTKP, and TGH decreases by 50%.

  Bleeding (heavy) (debuff): You have an open wound. You will lose 3 HP every ten seconds. You cannot regenerate health until you stop bleeding.

  The debuffs flickered away. A bright yellow light glowed over me.

  Shade stood up, covering a wound in his ribs, looking up at the golden light with awe.

  Kari held her staff tightly between all of us. The fur on her back flew upwards from the force of her AoE healing spell. Bright golden light surrounded the area and all our HP pushed forward back into the green.

  “A shape shifting snake,” said Will. “This is a real pain in the butt, huh?”

  The Serpra Overlord lifted its arms, casting a spell on itself. A light holographic green shield appeared in front of him.

  “What the heck?” I asked.

  “Defensive buff,” Kari suggested.

  “Only one way to find out,” shouted Serena, rushing back across the water towards the giant serpent spellcaster. Serena charge striked—turning into a burst of bright flames, rushing forward at top speed. She ran and leapt, swinging her blade for a crushing blow right between the serpra’s forehead. The monster didn’t blink. It didn’t lift up its hands to block. Serena’s sword crashed into the creature’s forehead with an anticlimactic thud. Then Serena collapsed through the air, falling to the ground. A bloody crevice formed between her head, exposing her sliced brain. She smacked on the ground, falling down to 1% HP with enough debuffs to kill her in seconds. Kari flung a cure spell at her. The spell bounced off Serena’s dead body with zero effect.

  A Party Member Has Fallen!

  26

  “Distract and kite the monster until the green shield disappears,” I said. “It’s clearly a mirroring move. I’ll handle Serena.”

  I electric blinked to right beneath the Serpra Overlord. I picked up Serena in my arms and dashed away. Giant energy orbs flew towards me. I dodged them by jumping out from where their looming shadows told me they were going to make impact.

  Shade fired weak bullets at it, taking the small damage to his person, to draw the overlord’s aggro. Once further away from the monster, I laid Serena on the ground.

  It was time to use my new druid move. Nature’s revival. Intuitively I knew I needed to place my hands on her. Gold light poured from my palms and glowed across Serena’s cold pale lifeless corpse. She stayed frozen beneath the golden light. First her cracked skull was repaired as good as new and then blood rushed into her cheeks and she coughed back to life. She gasped as if she’d been drowning. I materialized an HP potion and brought it gently to her lips. Her HP rose to above fifty percent. She reached for the potion and took it out of my hands. She held the jar and pulled away, sighing. “I guess I can now say I know what it feels like to have my giant sword crash down into my forehead. I know what it’s like to be a slime, or a harpy, or any of the countless things I’ve slain. I’ve now slain myself. I’m a self-slayer. Is that a thing?”

  “Um,” I said. The grunts and groans of the rest of the team still taking on the Serpra Overlord echoed behind me.

  “Guys—we need you,” shouted Will.

  The rest of the party were giving the overlord everything they had. Shade was throwing shadow kunai. Will was whipping out orbs of demonic m
agic. Kari was shooting offensive holy spells. Jackson was attacking different points of the overlord’s ribs, each attack culminating in more damage to the creature’s HP pool.

  “The Overlord’s mirror move is super powerful, but it’s a bit of a risky gambit. The cool down between the move has left the overlord incredibly vulnerable. It’s now or never to kill it!”

  I turned to Serena. “You heard the man.”

  I pulled her up. I snapped my fingers, unleashing a burst of agility-boosting lightning into her boots. She ran ahead of me, while I launched fireballs at the creature’s head. Serena dashed towards the Serpra Overlord, leaping in the air once again. The Serpra Overlord retreated. It glowed and morphed back into the giant serpent we’d been fighting when we’d first entered the cave.

  “Alright guys,” said Shade, grinning mischievously. “I have a million gold coin idea!”

  “I vote no,” grumbled Serena.

  “Too late,” shouted Shade, running ahead and leaping towards the basilisk.

  “What the hell is he doing?” said Jackson.

  “Killing it from the inside babyyyyy,” said Shade, diving head first into the giant basilisk monster, unleashing a twirling twin blade move with his kunai.

  “Oh boy,” said Serena, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand, annoyed. “He’s the only person who won’t naturally respawn,” said Kari. “Maybe he’s counting on raise.”

  “I think he’s counting on the gazillion points he has in his luck stat,” I said.

  “Okay, new plan,” said Serena. “Kill this overlord, and save Shade.”

  I threw out my arms, casting a new spell. A wall of flames appeared right in front of the snake’s mouth. Serena darted ahead and triggered blade tornado right before she met the flames. Her attack and mine merged into a spinning swirl of flame and metal, ripping into the gums of the serpent.

  The creature’s HP fell from 20% to 15%. A message appeared in party chat.

  Shade: Guys, I screwed up! The skin is as tough as it is on the outside! Get me out of here!

  “C’mon gang,” I said. “We’re so close!”

  I pulled at the air and twisted my arm, triggering earthquake. Beneath the giant snake the ground rumbled and shook and shards of broken rock burst from the puddled water stabbing the sides of the serpent. I threw out a fireball at the move next. The shard burned with extra fiery ember. A burning debuff flickered beneath the serpent’s status bars.

  Serena jumped into the creature’s mouth and held it open with her blade. “C’mon you guys, throw everything you got down its throat.”

  “What about Shade?”

  Serena gritted her teeth. “We’ll bloody revive him if we have to.”

  We all leapt in the air. I put my hands together for a massive fireball. Jackson landed on the creature’s tongue, smashing his fist into it. Will unleashed life drain right inside the snake’s jaws.

  The serpent shook its neck, throwing us off balance. I fell out and back to the ground. Two thumps happened beside me. Jackson and Will. Kari threw out healing spells to all three of us.

  The serpent was down to 4% HP now. Serena pulled her sword out from the roof of the serpent’s mouth and then jabbed it back again.

  “Argghh,” she said, jabbing the sword back and forth.

  The serpent’s head wailed, until it collapsed to the ground, hammering into the puddle-filled area.

  Congratulations! Your primary class (Druid) has leveled up (Level 30). You have gained (1) class skill point for your primary class.

  Right then, two kunai stuck out the side of the snake and Shade pushed himself out. He shook his head and whiskers from all the stomach liquid coating his clothes and body.

  “Woohoo!” shouted Shade. “Look who saved the day!”

  27

  Serena collapsed into the water, exhausted. “Let him have the win if he wants it,” she said.

  “Huh?” said Shade.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said, looking around. I approached the fallen Serpra Overlord and scanned it to see what lootable items it had. The list was larger than I was expecting:

  New Items Alert!

  -Serpent Fangs (x4)

  -Serpent Scales (x400)

  -Serpent Heart

  -Treasure Chest (x5)

  -Golden Bracers of Hul’Za’Leh

  -Greatsword of Rorgroth the Brave

  -Magic Staff of the Serpent

  -Eldron’s Cloak

  -Holy Staff of Orgon the Healer

  -Steel Staff of Mornburg the Majestic

  -37, 800 Gold Coins

  “Holy smokes guys,” I said. “There’s some epic loot inside this thing.”

  “Tell me about it,” said Shade, pointing to the hole he’d ripped through the snake’s flesh. “There were at least three full-sized treasure chests in the snake’s stomach. The snake must’ve been really desperately hungry if it was swallowing whole treasure chests.”

  We gathered as much items as our inventories allowed for. The treasure chests were full of gold coins, roughly half a million’s worth. The gold coins filled the chests until, in a snap of fingers, the glittering currency dematerialized into our inventories, leaving the chests hollowed out.

  The weaponry was incredible. It must have been a famous party of adventurers who’d gone and fought the Serpra Overlord and lost. Based on their weaponry they were an incredibly powerful party. Maybe they’d each led different expeditions. Perhaps it was why they had lost to the deadly creature.

  I took in the stats of Eldron’s Cloak and equipped it straightaway.

  Eldron’s Cloak (DEF: 150, +450 MTKP +25% Bonus Lightning Damage, +40% Lightning Resistance)

  I equipped the new gear straightaway.

  Jackson looked incredibly pleased with his findings. “These bracers are truly fantastic. They add +100 swiftness, +700 ATKP, and add emerald element attunements to all my attacks. Who the heck is Hul’Za’Leh though?”

  “You don’t know,” said Shade, eyebrows raised. “He was one of the greatest Lirana brawlers of all time. A legend. Half of the tales about him are myths. No one knew how he died. Or there’s different legends of his final battle. Never knew he had died fighting the Serpra Overlord though.”

  “Bro,” said Will, standing at the far end of the cave. “You want to come see this.”

  I walked over with trepidation.

  “Look,” said Will.

  The glowing fish were filling the further end of the cove since now there was no longer a predator to scare them away. Lighting the furthest corners of the lair, revealed large orange bubbles floating in the back.

  “They’re eggs,” said Will.

  But there were more than eggs. There were golden magitech devices floating like buoys amongst the orange orbs. They were powered down devices. They had the obvious markings of Rorn invention.

  “I don’t get it,” I said. “I thought the overlord spawned the serpra.”

  “I did too,” sighed Will. “But—”

  He didn't finish his sentence. There wasn’t enough to paint a full picture, but it was enough to show us the battle between the serpra and Rorn was more complex than we’d ever understood it to be. Had the Rorn created the serpra? Or had they genetically altered them? Or used the overlord to mass produce them? Had this been an attempt create their own mutant army, their own defense against Arethkar’s enslaved shadow wraiths.

  “What do you think we should do?”

  “You know what we have to do,” he said.

  “It wasn’t part of the quest requirements,” I said.

  “You saw the city. It’s barely surviving the waves of the serpra being thrown on it. I don’t think they’d be able to survive many more, even if it were the last of them.”

  “But don’t you think—seeing those devices there—maybe they deserve it,” I said.

  “Maybe King Galmund does. Maybe his scientists too, but do the poor families deserve to be slaughtered at the hands of these mutant trash mobs
?” said Will. “It takes one AoE spell. Say the word and I’ll flick my fingers.”

  I sighed, looking at the floating serpra eggs. I turned away and muttered to Will, “Do it.”

  As I walked back to the party, I heard the small bursts and splashes in the water as Will cleared the room of any remaining future threats.

  “What’s happening over there?” asked Serena.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  There was no cheering crowds when we returned to the tunnel entrance. The guard was leaning against the wall, half asleep.

  “We’re back,” I said.

  The guard snored, drool falling out of his mouth.

  “Hello? We’re back?”

  The guard awoke and snapped back to attention. “Whoah! You’re back! I mean, you’re back?” He rubbed his eyes. “I see, you decided to not face the overlord. Rather die to the executioner’s axe? Rather spend eternity in the palace dungeons?”

  “Um, no,” I said. “We defeated it. We won.”

  I felt kind of like a jerk bragging to the guard, but I didn’t really know what to do. His response to our feat was so underwhelming.

  “Alright,” he said.

  “Do you not care we saved your city?” Shade asked.

  “So you saved the city. Would you have, had the king not made it part of the deal for your safe passage? If there’s anyone I want to thank, it’s the king.”

  I was about to argue back, but then I stopped myself. He had a weird point. The entire party kept expecting celebrations and adulation for our questing. It was what we were used to, but were we really so heroic in this case? Would we have risen to the occasion had they shown us the way out of here straightaway?

  My head hurt thinking about it. We were on the clock to conquer Iron Citadel. We weren’t solely focused on the fate of a crumbling Rorn city, but potentially all of Illyria. We had to stay focused. Still, the guard’s words had me questioning the idealism of our cause.