Crystalfire Keep

by J. A. Cipriano

  No one complained as we flattened out against the side of the hall or ducked into an open archway. Nahma disappeared into the gloom with a Shadowstep as Merina snapped her fans open, arms spread wide as her right foot started to tap out a furious rhythm. As the collected clump of undead monstrosities caught sight of us and began to rush forward, the Dancer smiled as she began her high-tempo steps, springing and dancing away from the horde.

  “Come and get me, you brainless husks,” she taunted. “I’ll show you what my build can really do!”

  Merina gives the Order to activate Dancer’s Cadence! All group members gain +15% (no reduction) Block, Dodge, Attack Rate, and Movement Speed!

  The burst of threat from the group Boon caught the attention of the Fleshes while the boost in speed put more space between them and their prey. Merina truly garnered their hate as she followed her first dance step with the Waltz of the Diamond Princess, the crystalline shields forming around all of us pissing the zombie’s AI off to the maximum.

  As Merina disappeared around a corner with Nahma sprinting in the shadows behind her, I let out a breath as I stepped away from the wall, resolving to make the most of the time Merina and Nahma were buying for us. “Let’s not waste the chance Merina gave us!” I pointed my banner forward. “Let’s go!”

  21

  “Go right,” Vindril called from the back as we kept sprinting, going into the ‘anime-run’ mode as most players called it.

  We hadn’t been charging headlong for more than a few minutes, and I was pleasantly surprised that Merina, Nahma, and Loi still had the largest part of the zombie horde still stuck to them. When I thought about it after the fact, though, it made sense. The maze-like corridors, plentiful turns, and a plethora of doors meant it was an ideal place for a speedy champion to carry on this wild goose chase strategy. Still, that wasn’t all of the undead, as we discovered, but what we encountered now were occasional speed bumps, one to three lost Fleshes that we could overrun in short order. All the same, each clash used up resources and more importantly time. It didn’t help that everything was still as hopelessly identical as when we first entered the upper level.

  At least we hadn’t run a full circle. I think I would have screamed if we found ourselves in front of the staircase down again.

  “How do you know, grandpa?” Dunya snarked over her shoulder. “Everything looks the same!”

  A pair of Fleshes dove out of the darkness to our left, trying to take a bite out of Crysta, but Vanni and Burndall were on them in a moment. It did give our Vanguard a chance to respond, though.

  “While the developers have taken a lot of liberties, they still tried to give the nod to a logical, military layout to this place. Trust me, young ‘un, I’ve been paying attention to how far we’ve gone and how many times we’ve turned. If there’s any logic at all here, right is towards the heart of the Keep!”

  One zombie fell back with a crushed head as the other burst into flames from exploding runes.

  “That makes sense to me,” I nodded and looked immediately to our right. There was a door there, into which I drove my shoulder, leading with my shield. There was a satisfying cracking of wood as the simple latch broke, the door flying open under my weight. “Keep shouting directions, Vindril. You’re our guide now.”

  “Yessir, sarge.” The Knights fell into step behind me as we pushed on. “You can count on me.”

  After a few more minutes of pushing through doors, making hairpin turns, and several jumpscares worth of festering animated corpses, I was beginning to doubt Vindril’s sense of direction. I was certainly completely lost, and I certainly wasn’t the only one. Still, I had to grant this much to everyone, even Dunya; they didn’t complain. No more snide remarks and casting doubt now.

  Maybe it was what we had already been through together, the road to Crystalfire Keep and the baptism of fire we made it through in the courtyard below. Maybe the little Bladesaint was getting out of breath from all the running with those little legs, despite the fact that NSAF running usually didn’t get you tired. It was more likely the first, I imagined.

  Funnily, it was as those errant thoughts about baptisms of fire flew through my head that I swore I caught the whiff of smoke and the crackle of burning wood.

  “Straight ahead, sarge,” Vindril shouted over our heads. “There’s light and smoke from under the door!”

  I snapped my gaze ahead, following Vindril’s call to confirm what my nose and ears had already sensed. Yep, there was a door ahead, double doors to be accurate. Even if there weren't the dull red glow of a fire or wisps of smoke curling through the crack between the doors or under them, that fact alone would have made them worth investigating.

  “Dude,” Burndall exclaimed, “great work. We should be calling you sarge, not the other way around.”

  Vanni picked up the pace as I did. “We’re not done yet. Stay focused!”

  As we hit the doors, one shield per slab of wood, I threw out a missive over raid chat. Merina, Nahma, we’re at the center. Ditch your stalkers and get your butts here as fast as you can manage. Loi should still follow you.

  Merina: About time! I was about out of tricks!

  Nahma: Never fear, Ms. Merina. I still have a bag full. We’ll be with you soon, Mr. Shale.

  As with the other doors Vanni or I had plowed through (we had taken turns; I wasn’t going to hog all the fun), these two flew open as we charged into the chamber beyond. Unlike the occasional smaller bedroom or storage chamber we had run through or past, this was a good bit large, maybe thirty paces on a side, though the ceiling was as low as every other place outside of the courtyard. Another set of double doors faced us on the opposite side and through the fiery haze that was building in the center of the room, I swore I could see a wrought iron spiral staircase going both up and down through the floor.

  That whole fire thing was what got my attention, though. Most of the furniture in the room, a bed, a desk, some bookcases, had all been pulled into the center of the chamber and set ablaze. The entire pile of wood, cloth, books, and scrolls hadn’t completely gone up in flames yet, but it would soon. The source of said burning had to be the twisted monstrosity that stood triumphantly in front of the soon-to-be-bonfire.

  In life, that horrible figure had been Knight-Commander Elaine Rubyeyes, the commander of the Border Knights station at Crystalfire Keep. I wouldn’t have known that or been able to recognize the Craggar woman if not for the nameplate that informed me of such because she was not what she had been in life. Her powerfully built frame, still outfitted in the finest of Border Knight plate mail, was bisected from head to crotch, the left side sallow and rotting, dripping black ichor from the eye and the now-claw-like fingertips, and the right side engulfed black-cored, sickly flames, the corrupted Flames of Wrath.

  The moment we took this in, the Knight-Commander spun on her heels, turning away from her arson to roar at us, a guttural, incomprehensible battle cry that sent both guttering flames and splatters of black goo out from her mouth.

  “The books,” Crysta called out, “she’s totally wrecking the lore!”

  I was already calling out a Defiant Display, the burst of red flaring out from my banner, as the Ranger pointed that out. I quirked my head behind me, even as Vanni’s sword hurtled through the air in a Champion’s Throw. “Kayla, can you …?”

  The Sorceress was smiling as she raised her orb, the magical instrument swirling around her fingers before settling into her palm. “Done and done!”

  As her spell began to weave together, I could see the former commander charge forward, barely noticing the winged sword pierced her undead flesh. Fires were collecting around her left arm and instinct took over as I raised my shield. “Wait for after this and then – “

  I brought the Walking Wall up just in time. Rubyeyes’ burning arm shot forward and a stream of guttering flames accompanied by roiling black smoke erupted outward. In the tight quarters, it would have raked through the entire raid. Instead, the fire blasted
into my shield, split into a diffuse cone of heat around me. Though blunted and partly absorbed by the alien metal of the shield, my arm grew uncomfortably hot backed by the soul-chilling creep of the Primal Darkness, forcing me to bite back at the pain.

  Knight-Commander Rubyeyes’s Wrathful Flames incinerates the area!

  You are hit (blocked)! You take 8% (+1% vulnerability, -8% blocked) Fire Damage and 2% (-2% resistance, -4% blocked) Darkness Damage! HP 3636/4040

  The burning ghoul didn’t relent on her charge, even as the fires abated, but that was according to plan. Everyone else was shielded from the flames and drawing her away from the burning furniture and books would give Kayla the chance she needed to finish calling down the Tears of Heaven.

  A silvery glow shone from the ceiling as rain began to cascade over the room. Heavy drops of shining silver, each splash of rain came down like a burst of pure, holy water, starting to douse the flames even it melted the undead flesh it fell upon. Even the Flames of Wrath seemed to recoil and twist away from the silvery rain as if it was in utter fear of what was happening. Those same purifying waters soothed the worst of my injuries at the same time.

  Not one to let an opening slip, our attackers folded around me, acting as the jaws of the pincer with me at the hinge. I had meant to tell them to come at different sides based on their elemental specialties, but that proved unnecessary. Before, I thought we looked like professionals. Now, I knew we were professionals. I didn’t have to call the play; we knew the play.

  Vindril and Vanni charged in from the left, into the fiery side, while Dunya and Burndall plunged into the darkness. Wazif pulled a vial of Liquid Ice from his satchel to hurl while Crysta pulled back three arrows, each one’s head giving off a pure, white light. Safe behind me, Kayla kept her focus on the Tears of Heaven, continuing to channel the twin elements of Water and Light. Determined to keep her safe, I met the Knight-Commander head-on, activating our Fused Gems to rip a chunk of the floor up and infused it with Earth energy.

  What happened was unexpected, perhaps the most unexpected part of this entire encounter in my eyes. We struck as one living, breathing whole.

  Burnie’s slash tore into Rubyeyes’s shoulder, the Elementium blade slicing cleanly through the stony hide of the Craggar as his Explosive Runes slithered off to do their damage. As they began to detonate, each burst blowing a chunk out of the ichor-slathered flesh, Dunya darted in low. The diamond set in the cross guard of her scimitar glowed hot along with the entire blade. Her Exorcist’s Cut sliced clean through undead flesh, the holy fires burning away the corrupted bile, as her huge sword tore out the front of the monster’s belly, spraying gore across the room.

  On the opposite side, as they did fighting the Right Hand of War, Vanni and Vindril whipped forward in what most would have taken for a choreographed dance of violence.

  Vindril struck first, bringing both of his maces, wreathed in pure Light, down on the head of the commander, slamming into her still-intact helmet. The Twin Heavenly Blow let out a peal of thunder, driving a massive dent into the left side of the steel and staggering the monstrosity, leaving her open. Vanni slipped past next, crouching low as she stepped in with her shield. The wings on the Aegis flared as she sprang upward, a distinctly wolf-shaped aura bursting to life around her as she threw an uppercut into the staggering creature, a Howling Wolf Strike that must have been the Gem she earned in the Vale of the Three Wolves.

  From the front, my elementally-infused boulder was possibly the weakest of the barrage, but it still hit with a satisfying impact, exploding into quartz chunks even as the emerald magic within began to turn dead tissue into solid stone. The impact sent the already mangled Knight-Commander staggering back, deeper into the celestial rain storm. Chunks of flesh sloughed off as the Fires of Wrath sputtered with the burning books behind her.

  To conclude our wild barrage, a volley of projectiles whistled through the air over my head. The frosted-over ceramic jar of Liquid Ice was first, and for a moment, I thought that Wazif had missed. No, it hit precisely the point he intended, in the space between the corrupted knight and the still-smoldering, splattering the alchemical concoction everywhere. The crackle of ice and frost beat the crackle of flames, putting out the last of the burning furniture and scrolls handily while freezing Rubyeyes to the floor in the perfect position for the final blow.

  Crysta’s three arrows rocketed past us all, spiraling and spinning, the glow on their tips exploding into the spitting image of the One, the three-headed wolf god of harmony. Where the life-sized aura passed through us, wounds healed, and when those blazing arrows struck home in the Knight-Commander’s exploding with cyclonic wind and terrible, purifying light.

  Crysta’s Three-Fanged Spirit Arrow hits Knight-Commander Rubyeyes! She takes 4% (-2% resisted) Air Damage and 18% (+6% vulnerability) Light Damage! She is destroyed!

  The flames were spent, and the ichor washed away. The mangled corpse, nearly cut in twain from one side and crushed from multiple sides and angles, swayed on her decaying legs before falling heavily to her knees. It might have been my imagination, but I swear that for a split-second before she fell inert, a last flash of light came into the knight’s eyes, as if her soul had been rested free from its torment.

  The moment Knight-Commander Elaine Rubyeyes hit the floor, Nahma came over the raid chat. What happened? All our pursuers collapsed!

  Merina: Yeah, they’re dead. Well, deader? You know what I mean.

  It took a moment for it to sink in, even to the cocky ones. This was a raid boss, right? How did we cut her down so easily?

  Kayla figured it out first. “Rubyeyes wasn’t the true challenge, was she?” She moved past me towards the pile of soggy and partly charred furniture. “It was the entire layout of the place, the difficulty of fending off a constant onslaught of weak MOBs to get here before this was all burnt to ash.”

  Crysta was right behind her, starting to poke at some of the smoking bits with her bow. “You’re totally right! I mean, the timer’s still going, right? And no loot orbs!”

  I nodded slowly as I sent a message to our missing friends. We took down a big undead baddie. She must have been animating the others, but we’re not entirely done. Keep coming.

  “As for us,” I said aloud, “Burnie, Crysta, you’re the big lore hounds here. Start going through what we saved to look for answers.”

  Vanni sheathed her sword as she caught her breath. “Can I help? It might be good to have a tank here to stand guard anyway.”

  “Sure thing,” I replied. There was more to it than that, but how could I blame Vanni for not wanting to be far from her Promised after all this time apart? “Everybody else, let’s check out that staircase. I’m thinking up.”

  Vindril shot me a salute while he, Wazif, and Kayla followed me. “Right, sarge. We all know what’s down, I believe.”

  Dunya, though, was still staring at both her sword and the shattered remains of the knight on the floor. “I know I talk a lot of trash but … wow. I didn’t think I’d ever see that. Talk about amazing!”

  “If you haven’t figured it out by now, Dunya,” Kayla smiled, “amazing happens a lot around Max here.” She beckoned the little Ember over. “Now, come on! The timer’s ticking.”

  The Bladesaint shook her cowled head once and let out a little laugh of joy as she sheathed her blade and ran over to us, around where Vanni, Burndall, and Crysta were sorting the burnt items. I gave Dunya a nod then turned towards the black metal steps.

  While we didn’t want to go down, we couldn’t have anyway as there was a cover that reminded me of a sewer lid from the One-and-Twenty to prevent any descent. Looking up, the steps wound through an open hole in the quartz ceiling, a weak, indistinct light filtering down below.

  “Bingo,” I muttered and began to ascend. Though the stairs seemed a little unsafe at first look, they were amazingly stable like most Craggar architecture. Our little part of the raid ascended up and after a few moments, found ourselves in a chamber about
the same size as the Knight-Commander’s quarters below.

  There were multiple closed doors along the walls of what looked to be a storage room, but what dominated the room was a relatively small Life Crystal, reaching from the floor to scrape the low ceiling, set in the center of the room. Like the one that we found in the courtyard, tendrils of corrupting Darkness wound around the stone, dampening its internal light. As we stepped towards the Crystal, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that one of the storage racks had the glimmer of an interactable item.

  “What kind of room is this?” I asked. It was a rhetorical question, but Vindril was quick to answer me.

  “I believe this is a rally chamber.” He pointed to the racks and to the doors, which I now saw were barred from this side. “If attackers overran the courtyard, defenders could reincarnate at this Life Crystal instead, rearm and reequip if needed, and continue the fight from a more secure position.”

  Dunya followed his gestures wide-eyed. “And then the Darkness got into the stone, right? So, when they came back ...”

  “They came back as the zombies and monsters we fought below,” Kayla said with a solemn nod. “So, let’s cleanse this Crystal and see what we can salvage from the supplies, eh?”

  I nodded, jaw set, and raised a hand to the Life Crystal. One by one, Vindril, Wazif, Dunya, and Kayla joined me, spiritual energy building up in our palms before lancing out into the Crystal. For a moment, I could feel our combined spirits pushing back and forth against the resisting corruption before a final wrench inside my chest led to a burst of strength, causing the tendrils to wither and fall away into dust.

  Victory! You gain 15% Experience! Experience 2,513,000/3,100,000

  Raid quest ‘Corridors of the Dead’ completed!

  Your raid group has successfully secured the Life Crystal in the upper levels of Crystalfire Keep!