The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame

by Brent Roth

  The battle was lost before it even began. Completely surrounded, our small force of fifty had fallen to nearly thirty as hundreds began to close in around us. Looking at the small gap behind us that led to the southern forest, I began to cast my last lightning strike towards our rear to create room.

  “RETREAT!” I shouted as soon as the cast was finished.

  Turning to run with the crowd as confused faces were cut down in their moment of hesitation, I saw Barik attempting to retreat as he was hit from behind by a frost bolt and tumbled to the floor. Cutting back over to him as I tried to help him up, Ethan was hit by an arrow in the leg as he tripped and stumbled. Yelling at him to make his way to me, the second the words left my mouth a fireball exploded as it contacted him and covered him entirely in flames. Burning in place, he was still alive as he stumbled forward.

  Then as I reached out to him still nearly ten feet away, a spear was thrust through his chest as he collapsed to the floor without a sound. Shaking my head as I saw Barik and Valerie running ahead of me, I sprinted towards them as Barik took another frost bolt and fell to the ground yet again. His slow speed and large body were too easy to hit as he was slowly pelted over and over, movements slowing to the point where I was forced to drag him.

  Then as more spells hit the both of us he pushed me away and rolled onto the snow with face staring up at the sky, no longer able to continue as his health had depleted to critical levels. Turning my back on him as I increased my pace and ran past sluggish allies and into the forest, spells and arrows whizzed past me as the majority of them missed or hit the person next to me.

  Unable to stop with the enemy on my heels, I kept running through the forest until I could no longer hear the sounds of battle. Separated from the rest, I was now alone and left behind enemy lines as I ducked behind a tree.

  Catching my breath as my chest heaved with every deep gasp, sounds of footsteps in the distance caught my attention as I risked a peek and saw a group of enemy players approaching. Trailing me the entire way, they knew I was near and were searching for me as they wanted to eliminate every remaining soul. Five on one with surprise on my side, I was willing to fight.

  Drawing my bow, I waited patiently until the enemies crossed over and walked past me, oblivious to my presence behind a thick tree. Failing to check their sides as they walked by, I released an arrow into the head of a man and rotated around the tree.

  Shielded by the tree as one man fell and the surprised faces of the four turned to look for me. I popped out and dropped another with a quick release of the bow. The solid thwack giving me away as one spotted me and raised his glowing hands. Purple-shades of blackish energy coalescing into one mass as he prepared to use a spell I was unfamiliar with, I jumped back behind the tree and sprinted in the opposite direction.

  An impact hit the tree a moment later as I turned and watched as the chaotic energy sucked in the snow and shrubbery around the tree and slammed them all together at the point of origin.

  Doubling back as I drew my bow again, a sudden snap of a twig alerted me to the man to my left as his axe landed where my face was a moment before. Jumping back and drawing my bow as he struggled to yank his axe out of the tree, I let my fingers slip off as my chest rose from the inhale.

  Arrow flying true, the third target was down as I circled around the maze of trees and looked for the other two that had disappeared in the thick forest. Footsteps going in every direction, I had no clue as to their whereabouts as I moved around as silently as possible.

  And then the pop of a shadow flare was heard as I dove forward and tumbled in the snow, only for it explode behind me in a shower of bark and splinters. Rolling and jumping back to my feet as my bow had been dropped behind me, I spotted the swordsman as I ran over to him and caught him by surprise, cleaving through his neck and down into the collarbone with my axe as he collapsed from the blow.

  Jumping behind another tree as a second shadow flare exploded against a tree a few feet away, I placed my axe back on its sling and pulled out one of my knives. Waiting with patience as it was now a one versus one situation, I took my time to catch my breath and observe my surroundings.

  Peeking my head out as a shadow flare exploded against the tree I was hiding behind, I immediately sprinted in the casters direction as he began to chain cast, landing one by my foot as I stumbled forward in the snow and fell to my face. A sixth flare then exploded against my shoulder as it blew a portion of flesh clean off and left a lingering burn that felt as unnatural as it looked. Ignoring the pain, I continued forward as he landed one in the center of my chest that staggered me but the distance had been closed.

  Lunging forward as he attempted to backpedal, I caught his foot as I dove for a tackle. Wrestling him to the ground, I stabbed him behind the eyebrow and near the temple as the knife barely broke through his skull. The resulting sensation of bone fracturing left a weird sensation as I rolled over and stood up, letting out a sigh of relief as I looked for my bow.

  Five dead players off in the distance, the real battle was nearly four or five-hundred yards away. Now in relatively safety, I could watch the end of our fight come to a close as the remaining players were cut down without much issue. Our forces had been decimated as our pincer attack that counted on the strength of Accipe Hoc never came to pass. They retreated and we lost.

  It was as simple as that.

  The next battle would find us defending the walls of Wesstown with numbers that wouldn’t and couldn’t hold. One glance at the Leaderboard showed me the truth. This war was lost.

  Looking down at my pocket that contained the purple and now yellow armband that had been looted mid-fight, I knew what needed to be done. There was only way in my mind to slow and stop the enemies advance. Only one tactic that could be used to cause enough internal destruction to give us even the slightest hope of ending things in a stalemate.

  Victory wasn’t plausible… I wasn’t strong enough to win a war against thousands. Maybe I wasn’t smart enough either. Turning my status to [Invisible] on my friend’s list and ignoring the messages that had been sent to me, it was time for me to take measures into my own hands.

  Drastic times called for drastic measures.

  The real shadow war would begin now.

  Chapter 115: Certain Measures

  (Friday, February 25th Game Day / Saturday, May 22nd Real Day)

  The gray walls of a town far more vested in its defenses than any other in the region blocked my path. As the large stone fortifications rose nearly twenty-feet above the surface and appeared to stretch out into the night sky, I stood at the base waiting and wondering if it could be done. Concealed by a shadow in the darkness of the night, the falling snow had aided me slightly as visibility remained poor.

  Sounds of idle chatter could also be heard above the walls as guards talked, indifferent to the situation. Voices far apart, it became obvious that there were gaps between the groups as no movement could be heard. Listening intently to words that couldn’t be discerned, I tried to count out the number of distinct voices above the walls.

  Unsure of the exact number, my count ended at six as I glanced at my surroundings once more. Staring up at the towers that stood even taller above the walls, the massive stone structures proved to be an intimidating sight. A single flash could take me all the way but the ensuing noise would give me up.

  In response, a rope and hook was purchased from the quartermaster before setting out with the intention of scaling the wall undetected. If my climb failed me, only then would my lightning magic serve me. That is, to serve me primarily in my escape.

  Steadying my mind and heartbeat, I began to spin the grappling hook around in a circular motion as I had practiced before, building momentum as the whooshing sounds of rope and metal cutting through the air could be faintly heard.

  Nearly ready to release, I turned my head to the side and decided on a second location that could serve as a distraction. With a rock held in my free hand, I threw it over the wall in the
opposite direction as I looked back and faced my target. Releasing my tight grip on the rope as the iron hook sailed up and through the air, the leather-wrapped hook landed quietly on the corner-edge of the wall, finding itself snugly in place against the tower as the rock landed and created a slight noise nearly thirty yards away.

  Voices were interrupted for a second as faces undoubtedly turned to look but the conversations soon resumed completely unaware of the presence of my hook. Tugging once to check, I quickly pulled myself up primarily through the use of my latissimus dorsi as I extended one arm up at a time. One hand outstretched as the other began to pull from fully-extended down towards and past my chest while keeping the hand as close to the body as possible, each pull moved me over three feet.

  Seven pulls and five seconds later, I was at the top of the wall hanging on with hands over the edge. Waiting as I listened to footsteps passing by on the interior side of the tower, twenty seconds went by before it was clear. Contorting my body slightly as I engaged my core and lifted a leg over the edge, I hooked my leg and brought myself over in relative silence.

  Grabbing the leather-wrapped hook and pulling up the rope as I watched the guards talking fifteen feet away, I disappeared into a shadow as footsteps passed by once more. Back tightly against the wall as breath was held, I listened. The sounds of footsteps going up towards the top of the tower gave me a brief moment to move.

  After the noise grew distant and faint, I stepped out of the shadow and into the tower and made my way down the circular stairs and out the base. Stopping only for a second to check the position of the guards, none had been facing my way as I plotted out a path in my head. Glancing at the nearest building and the next one after that, I slowly and quietly began to cover the distance while crouched low to the ground.

  Sneaking from shadow to shadow as I made my way through the sparse selection of buildings, a minute of travel brought me to an area where inhabitants and adventurers were freely walking about. Sliding my rope and hook back into my small bag, I nonchalantly resumed my walking pace and entered the crowd with my yellow armband of the House of Woodfall proudly displayed for all to see.

  Making my way through the crowd with my focus now on the large building that belonged to the House of Blacktomb, the four-story structure was one of stone at the base and wood for the walls and roof. Glancing around as inconspicuously as possible, all of the buildings within sight were of similar design, with cobblestone walls forming the first floor and regular wooden walls for the rest.

  The town itself was large with thousands of players easily in the vicinity, all of which were extremely hostile to me. My saving grace so far was that they didn’t know I was an enemy. Disappearing into the thick of the crowd, I continued to make my way towards the four-story structure that was my destination.

  A small moat with a short perimeter wall made of stone kept trespassers out as guards walked the premises in rotation. Taking my time to survey the entire perimeter in search of a way in, it became obvious that a few sentries would have to be killed and disposed of in short order if I chose that route. Realizing the inherent danger and risk of such a bold operation, I decided to enter a two-story pub from across the way. Settling with a balcony view, I set myself up with a drink in hand as I pretended to observe the night sky.

  Murmurs of the war could be heard through the crowd as thirty or so other players crowded around me, discussing the events of the day. One table in particular, only an arm’s length away, had been talking about how they wanted to collect the bonus bounty of the Exceptional Threat, Alliance Zero. Others mentioned that it would be easier to kill his friends, Alliance One and Alliance Two as Three and Four had already been disposed of. The talks carried on for a little while as I continued to observe the manor.

  The never-ending snowfall had been obscuring my vision but as far as my eyes could see, there didn’t appear to be a lot of movement in or around the manor. Though a quick switch of vision revealed fifty glimmers on the outside alone. Far too many bodies were in the way, far too many for me to kill silently without risking the entire operation.

  Nearly twenty minutes passed me by as I continued to watch, having long since finished my watered down ale when a visible splash of water caught my eye. A bucket of water dumped into what appeared to be a large hole, covered by a circular wooden object of some sort as far as I could tell from a distance. A few minutes passed me by as I racked my brain with what it could be, with my first thought that it was a septic tank of sorts.

  Except a septic tank would make little sense here and as the design went, I realized it must have been a drainage system. A drain led to a sewer… and a sewer in this day and age would most likely be accessible. An underground aqueduct yet only for waste water, that would be and certainly was my ticket inside the manor.

  Leaving the pub and returning to the ground floor, I began to find similar drains spread evenly throughout the castle-town as the location on a small hill provided for an easy and simple system. Gravity doing the work, a sewer system made sense. Counting out the drains that ran parallel down the streets, it didn’t take long for me to find one slightly ahead of the manor. The manhole cover being made of wood, one only had to lift it and slide down into the contaminated water.

  The first manhole was in a location far too visible and had dozens of inhabitants and adventurers nearby. Not wanting to take the chance, I continued to walk along the path until I found the second nearest manhole cover that was concealed slightly by a shadow.

  Waiting for a break between the crowds as they seemed to come in waves, as the last player passed me by I lifted the cover and lowered myself in. Careful to replace the cover before I dropped down, stairs were provided off to the side as I made my way down and onto a pathway above and next to the filthy water.

  Examining the gray stone-sewer’s construction, it was rather plain and simple but the rounded arch of a ceiling was tall enough for me to nearly stand which provided the minimal amount of comfort down in the darkness. The water itself appeared to be at least a few feet deep with a slow but steady current that traveled down towards the west but the appearance was not an inviting one, as bits and pieces could be clearly seen.

  Luckily the stone pathway on the side that allowed one to walk was wide enough that I didn’t have worry about wading through the water as of yet, though the numerous rats irked me as the small rodents sprinted by my feet and some, up my legs. Shaking off the nervous twitch as the rats had thoroughly bothered me, I continued on.

  Staying out of the sewage as the horrendous smell made me wince, I headed in a westerly direction that would lead me to my destination. Utilizing a small flame from my fingers to light the way, thoughts of gases igniting made me laugh in the tense atmosphere. Passing under another manhole as loud noises could be heard, the approximate distance appeared to be the same as I counted my steps.

  The next manhole would be further away, one-hundred and eighty-two steps away by memory. Counting them off as I did my best to match my above-ground pace while dealing with crowds, the sewer system then forked in front of me as I came within a hundred steps. One path continued straight ahead while the other ran perpendicular to the north. Hesitating for a second as I went over the layout in my head, the manor was slightly off the street but ran roughly parallel with my current track… the detour was only that, it would lead elsewhere.

  Staying on my path, I walked the remaining hundred steps and found myself staring at a manhole entirely different from the others. An iron gate poorly-illuminated by my flame barred entry as the stone stairs waited patiently behind. The thick iron gate went down into the water and was locked from the other side.

  Shaking at the gate proved futile while attempting to pick the lock with my knife only made me look the fool. Without the tools to pick a lock and without a weapon to break through, my only option was to take the magical approach.

  “Ah shit,” I said clearly as I listened to the echo.

  These sewers were an echo chambe
r and one cast of any type of lightning would alert everyone above ground, there was no way to do it quietly.

  “Ah, maybe,” I whispered.

  Lowering myself into the waist deep water, I ignored the feces that brushed against my arms as I felt around the base of the gate. There was no room underneath to slip through as my last thought turned to magic once more. If I was caught, I was caught… there weren’t many options left.

  Shaking my head at the thought of what was in the water, I took a deep breath and dove under as soft and squishy bits bumped into my face and floated all around me. Blocking out every reaction and thought that was simultaneously occurring, I flash stepped underwater and reappeared on the other side without much issue.

  Lightning having dissipated in the water almost as instantly as I cast it, my teleport only took me a short distance across but it was enough. Stopping for a second to see if anyone had heard the sounds of the muted thunder, it appeared no one had. I didn’t understand the math but I was well aware that the water’s surface served to reflect and scatter the sound waves in a way that largely dampened any noise heard above it.

  [Flash Step] wasn’t the loudest of spells either, so I felt reassured by the lack of voices heard above. As far as I could tell, it was safe to continue on. Letting out a sigh of relief, I waded through the water and up to the stone platform that led to the stairs. Crawling out of the disgusting water completely soaked through with bits of sewage stuck inside my bag and shirt, I stripped down and burned the rags that I was wearing as all of my regular equipment had been left behind.

  Throwing the ashes into the sewer, I was now naked with only a small woven bag and the yellow-band around my arm. Opening the bag, I decided to dispose of the rope and hook as well, as I burned the rope and tossed the hook. Then as I stared at the disgusting bag, I ended up burning that in addition as I had no interest in keeping any items that had been soaked in water with decomposing fecal matter.