by Dean Henegar
A pair of arrows struck Quimby in the back, the archers in the towers focusing on the weakest target as the party tried to make it out of range. Kathala’s AOE heal ticked the halfling’s health from fifteen percent to thirty when another pair of arrows slammed into him, dropping her friend and sending him to respawn.
“Sorry, his health pool was too small, and I couldn’t get another heal off in time,” Kathala said as they finally left the range of the archers. Nobody in the party—Quimby included—would fault Kathala for not keeping him alive; she had known that he would be at high risk due to his low level. Yendys hoped he had at least scooped up some XP from the guards they’d fought so far.
They were almost to the forest, and once there, they could lose their pursuers in the foliage until they broke aggro. The ground heaved beneath her, tripping up Crunchy and causing Yendys to fly off her mount. Thanks to the hard magic shell encasing her, she avoided any damage from the fall, but the tremors continued, making it difficult to gain her feet.
Good old Crunchy moved up next to her, providing a stable base to pull herself to her feet. With a final massive heave, the earth shifted and threw the pair of them down again. The ground under Kathala and Nitor erupted, and an open mouth lined with teeth gathered her friends up. The giant worm-like creature was the stuff of nightmares; its tooth-filled maw closed upon her friends, and rows of clawed feet propelled it out of the earth as the beast searched for its next victim.
Tunnel Wurm, Level 20 Elite.
The ground beneath her and Crunchy erupted as a second wurm shot up, this time with her and poor Crunchy in its grasp. Yendys tried to summon another swarm of beetles, but her spell failed as the mouth closed upon them and the wurm swallowed them down. No, Yendys figured that swallowing was not an apt description; it was grinding them to bits as muscular contractions forced her and Crunchy up against the thing’s gullet. The rows of hooked teeth began to shred the pair, forcing them down and farther into the beast. Her shell cracked and flaked off. Then her enchanted leather armor failed against the powerful grinding force of the teeth.
Damaged mounted as Crunchy squealed in pain and tried to gore the wall of teeth with his horn. Yendys watched in horror as his health dropped to zero and he burst into a swarm of the small, even cuter versions of himself. The little guys nibbled away at the side of the wurm, but to no avail; the teeth quickly ground her and her little friends up into easily digestible bits.
You have died. Respawn will occur in your set spawn point—currently the Hayden’s Knoll town graveyard—in 5 minutes. You have lost 2 gold, 3 silver, and 22 copper. No items were dropped. Subsequent deaths in a 24-hour period will result in longer respawn times, more coin lost, and the chance for non-soulbound items to drop.
***
Ty looked on in horror as the second tunnel wurm ate Yendys and Crunchy. Most of their party was down, and the mission had just started. Ty, along with Jacoby and Smashem, ran for the trees, knowing that fighting the pair of elite wurms was not an option—not to mention, they still had an entire army hot on their heels. A quick look at his interface told him that Yendys, Crunchy, Kathala, Nitor, and Quimby were all dead.
“Follow me,” Ty told the others as he led them deeper into the forest. In just a couple of minutes, they heard the pursuing army fade into the distance.
“They’re resetting, heading back to their camps, I think,” Jacoby said as they crouched behind a fallen tree.
“We need to sneak back to the edge of the tree line so I can get a count of what’s coming,” Ty replied. “We’ll head back at an angle so we’re not walking the same way we came. They’re sure to have left someone behind to watch for us. Once we get a count of the army here, we’ll make our way toward the main town and see what forces might be mustering there.”
Jacoby and Smashem nodded, seemingly impressed by the old Marine’s ability to stay on mission despite losses and setbacks. The three moved back toward the danger, Ty doing his best to conceal their approach when Smashem grabbed his shoulder and pointed to their left. A small clearing just large enough to fit a ramshackle cabin had been hacked out of the forest. Ty stopped them and watched for several minutes, carefully scanning the surrounding terrain with his Detect Movement class ability.
“Nothing’s moving. I don’t think anyone’s home,” Ty said.
“Should we check it out? A little cabin in the middle of nowhere usually means loot, doesn’t it?” Jacoby said.
“Yeah, let’s check for loot,” Smashem replied.
“Okay, but let’s do our job first, then sweep the cabin as we head toward Bharga,” Ty replied, giving in to his own desire for loot, but not until the mission was complete.
At the forest’s edge, they spotted a strong force of the reaver soldiers puttering around the area where they had escaped. From here, he could make out two ripples in the ground: the wurms moving away. Ty guessed they were resetting their ambush for any other intruders as well as digesting their meal. He began to estimate the forces arrayed here at the transition point. As he scanned the assembled forces, numbers began to appear on a scroll that had materialized in his hands. It was the AI’s way of handling the information, he figured.
Reavers, Level 20: 800.
Executioners, Level 20: 125.
Guardsmen, Level 20: 23.
Tunnel Wurms, Level 20 Elite: 2.
“I’ve got them all written down, but I don’t think this is the whole force. We’ll have to check the main town to see what’s being mustered there. The fact that they have so much staged at the transition point means things are going down soon. No way they would be parked here for no reason,” Ty advised as they pulled back and headed farther into the cover of the trees.
“So . . . treasure-filled cabin time?” Smashem asked.
“Sure. We should split anything we find with the others once we get back to town,” Jacoby replied.
“You guys realize there was probably a reason someone abandoned that place,” Ty added, wondering if checking the cabin was a bad idea but wanting his friends to have some fun as well.
“Uh, guys, did you remember seeing those bodies earlier?” Smashem said as they neared the cabin. A dozen bodies in various states of decomposition were now strewn about the small area. One was even lying half-in and half-out of the cabin, the door swaying in the breeze and making a soft thumping sound each time it hit the body. Before the others could respond, the door to the cabin opened all the way, and a figure emerged. The three recognized him before the name even appeared on their interfaces.
Darkfallow, Necromancer, Level 15.
“Welcome back to Bharga’s Crossing, noobs,” Darkfallow taunted as the bodies stood up. Two large ghouls emerged from the cabin and flanked their master.
Flesh-Woven Ghoul, Level 15.
“Are those mouths in their hands?” Smashem asked as he pulled up his hammer. Ty looked at the clicking claws of the ghouls, realizing the clicking was not from claws but from mouths set inside the creatures’ palms. The mouths snapped their teeth as if they sensed prey nearby.
“It’s just him and a few undead. We can take a single level 15 necromancer no problem. Cut through the mobs and focus Darkfallow down,” Ty ordered.
“I didn’t come alone, noobs. I’ve got help this time. You’re not going to get some cheap kill by ganging up on me like you usually do,” Darkfallow said as he began casting.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ty caught movement just as Jacoby and Smashem charged the necromancer. Coming toward them from the forest was a horde of pure ugly. Giant, hairless werewolf-looking creatures with warty yellow skin ran toward them, cutting off any escape. Ty pulled out one of his smaller throwing axes and hurled it at the first of the new creatures before turning and running to join his companions in their fight against Darkfallow.
Lurker, Level 20.
The thing put on a burst of speed as the throwing axe hit it, heading straight toward Ty. With a howl, the monster pulled the axe from its body and dropped it
to the ground, then stood upright and swung its claws at him. Ty was hard-pressed to keep the thing away, his greataxe whirling around to block the claws. After taking a few slashes and losing fifteen percent of his health, Ty realized that the lurker was both strong and fast, but not very skilled in its attacks. It was all slash and bite with no thought given to its defense. Ty activated his Riposte ability. The skill gave him a fifty percent chance of automatically counterattacking whenever an enemy struck at him. The skill lasted fifteen seconds and was only available once per day.
He exchanged blows with the lurker, Riposte allowing him to land as many blows as the monster did. Fortunately for Ty, his blows were much more powerful than the lurker’s claw and bite attacks. The creature fell to his onslaught. Still, Ty had lost half his health by the time he brought it down. Unfortunately, a dozen more of the things were headed toward them. A quick look at his friends revealed Smashem lying on the ground and showing a paralyze icon as one of Darkfallow’s ghouls began to feast on his still-living body. The clawed hands grasped his friend, the mouths inside digging into his flesh as the ghoul dipped its head down for another bite. Smashem lost the last of his health and was sent to respawn.
Before Smashem had fallen, the pair had finished off the first ghoul and most of the weak zombies nearby. Jacoby was still in the fight and only down a third of his health. Darkfallow’s health pool was nearly depleted when he disappeared in a puff of black smoke. A zombie at the edge of the clearing burst into meaty chunks as Darkfallow emerged from its body. An ability called Corpse Hop showed in Ty’s interface, a gruesome but effective way for a necromancer to escape a losing fight.
“Sorry, Jerk-Coby, I’m not caught that easily anymore,” Darkfallow taunted.
Jacoby was hard-pressed to defend himself against the second flesh-woven ghoul and a handful of remaining zombies.
Ty swung his axe at the first lurker to close in, activating his rage ability. It wasn’t as powerful as the one Smashem had, but it boosted strength and health for thirty seconds. Ty was surrounded by the creatures, and every time he moved to attack one, another slashed or bit into him. His health was fading quickly, but he wanted to take at least one more foe with him. Focusing on the most injured lurker, he ignored the pain from the blows of the others and skillfully took apart the injured lurker with his axe. His foe died just as Ty’s own health hit zero. As he faded toward respawn, he saw Jacoby being buried under a pile of foes. They had failed, and the system prompt let him know that Raytak wouldn’t hear of his failure until it was too late.
*Note: Your party was on a scouting mission searching for a hostile military force. The mission has failed, and any attempt to reveal the results of your observations will be blocked by the system until that information is no longer relevant to the coming conflict.
Chapter 7
“Nice work, Dorkyfellow. You finally won a fight. Of course, you had to have the help of my creatures to do it,” Zipp told a smiling Darkfallow.
“Leave him be, Zipp. We need to get things moving on the invasion and not stand around goofing off,” Narbos told the pair. Darkfallow could be an idiot at times, but the imp really had it in for him. At least Darkfallow wasn’t arguing back; he was too busy scouring the battlefield for loot dropped by the players.
Narbos had been leading the main army from Bharga and toward the transition point when word reached him of the party of players entering the zone. Zipp and Darkfallow immediately led troops into the woods to cut them off and were, thankfully, successful. With the defeat of the scouting party, Hayden’s Knoll would have no warning about the size and composition of their force.
“Yeah, it’s no challenge picking on Darkfallow. Let’s head back to the army,” Zipp said before hopping up on Snuggles and charging through the woods on his way to the transition point. Narbos had given him control of the army but was still nervous about the imp’s impulsive nature. Another thing bugging him was that the imp kept taking away his pet dire rat to use as his mount. To his surprise, Narbos was attached to the giant rodent.
Once they were clear of the trees, his army was revealed. Rows of tents lined both sides of the road, and warriors and monsters kept watch all around. With the troops that Narbos had brought with them, nearly the entire invasion force was now gathered here. Nobody was going to get through the transition point to spy on his forces again and live to tell the tale.
The last of the army was even now arriving. Mobs of conscripts and the various hordes of troops marching from across Bharga had gathered as one. Narbos walked toward the transition point as forces there began to pack away their tents in preparation for moving out.
Zipp, perched comfortably atop Snuggles, waved Narbos toward the glowing transition portal. Narbos had no time for worrying about the imp general, the theft of his pet Snuggles, or what would happen to the zone while he was gone. He was focused; he was going to win the fight for Hayden’s Knoll and his bet with Delling. The bet was a small thing, but Narbos hated to lose. He was a winner, and winners were decisive. Arriving at the transition point, he took one last look at the immense army he had gathered, confident in his coming victory.
“It is time. Launch your invasion, general,” Narbos said to Zipp.
For his part, Zipp glanced back down the column, pulling a rolled-up scroll and a pencil from . . . somewhere. The imp looked like he was doing a tally, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. The leader of the elf mercenaries handed a slip of paper to Zipp. The imp read the message before plastering a big grin on his face.
“Is she ready to invade?” Zipp asked the elf.
The elf just nodded.
“What was that, Zipp?” Narbos asked suspiciously, not sure why Zipp was asking if the elf was ready in such a strange manner.
“Scouting report. No troops to oppose us other than the schmucks guarding the transition point. Let’s finally get this party started, bud,” Zipp replied.
Narbos sent out runners to make sure the column was ready to move. The assembled forces had nearly packed things up, placing the tents and other gear into large wagons pulled by mukok.
“The last of our forces are still trickling in, but we’ve got more than enough to take the transition point. By the time the point is ours, the rest of the army should have gathered,” Zipp said.
Narbos was a bit concerned that many of the formations had not arrived. The forces from the eastern part of Bharga’s Crossing took time to gather and march all the way to the west. His conscripts, reserves, and affiliated forces were also slow to arrive. Still, Narbos figured his army and the entire Hypogean force—the last of which was even now arriving—would be more than sufficient to take a small transition point garrison.
“Is the transition point going to take a while to capture? Did your scout find anything out about the defenses?” Narbos asked.
“That knucklehead Raytak has upgraded his defenses there, but they’re not nearly powerful enough to keep us out. I’ve got the initial forces ready to roll whenever you want to give the word. You’re the boss, so you have to get the invasion started,” Zipp told Narbos as he approached the transition point portal.
You are about to instigate a war against the neighboring zone of Hayden’s Knoll. Once a war is declared, many changes will occur in both zones. Wars are typically long-running conflicts and can take days, weeks, months, or even years of game time to complete. The state of war will exist and armies will clash even if the players involved are not logged in. Once you declare war, you cannot add any additional players to your force or hire any units to join your army. You must fight only with the army and allies you currently possess. Your foes will be granted a limited ability to raise forces after war is declared, but there will be a cap on how many additional allies they can muster. Do you wish to declare war on Hayden’s Knoll: y/n?
All the anticipation and preparation led to this moment. Did Delling and Raytak have some trap laid out for him? Seeing his massive force lined up down the road only made h
is confidence grow. His army was unstoppable, and there was no point in delaying any longer. He hit yes and listened as music swelled within the game and martial drums began to beat. With a final horn crescendo, a notification appeared.
War has been declared between Bharga’s Crossing and Hayden’s Knoll.
The announcement had a tag showing that it was being broadcast throughout both zones. Delling and his friend Raytak would now know that the fight had started, but Narbos had the advantage of initiative and what he assumed was a much bigger army. Zipp waved the army forward, and the horde began to march into the transition point. New notifications popped up as the invasion began, the AI sorting out and assigning rules for the conflict.
You have initiated an invasion of a neighboring zone. To allow your entire army passage into Hayden’s Knoll, you must first defeat the defensive forces assigned to guard the transition point. The attacker will only be able to bring 20% of its total strength to assault the transition point. The assaulting force will then have 48 hours to conquer the transition point. If the attackers fail to conquer the transition point in the allotted time frame, they must wait 24 hours before making another attempt. Please choose the forces you wish to use in your invasion. *Note: You have assigned a commander to your forces. The NPC Zipzisilerpicazant will select the units for this attack.
“I got this, kid. Just sit back and watch old Zipp work his magic,” Zipp said as he selected his attacking force.
Narbos could see a list of all his forces and watched as Zipp selected the different units and how many of each group he wanted to use. A bar appeared over his interface, and as each unit Zipp selected for the invasion was checked off, the bar began to fill. It looked like the AI had assigned values based on the unit’s power, not just its numerical strength. When Zipp selected a tunnel wurm, the bar moved the same amount as when he selected a thousand reavers. After a few more selections, the bar was full. His invasion force was selected and ready.