by Dean Henegar
“There it is! Kill that one, it’s the master!” I shouted and pointed my sword to the target. A raider caught up to it and landed a slashing blow with his axe before the master ripped him apart; the creature was incredibly strong even in its normal form. Two more of my soldiers injured it, but they were cut down before they could finish the job. Beremund was charging toward it but the master was too far in the lead, heading toward a small alley in order to slink away. Then, out from the alley stepped Sergeant Wrend; his devious mind must have already worked out which direction a frightened creature would run. Wrend thrust his sword home, twisting it to create a bleeding wound.
“No you don’t, freak. Old Sergeant Wrend can’t let you leave the party just yet.” Wrend taunted the creature as it battered away at him. Wrend’s own health was dropping quickly, plummeting towards zero, but he held onto his blade, keeping the master in place. With Wrend moments from death, Beremund caught up to them. The baresark of the forerunner clan swung his mighty club, pulping the master’s head and killing it for good.
Quest Complete. Elite Quest: Destruction of the Gul Dorg. You have eliminated the threat of the Gul Dorg in Hayden’s Knoll. While many drones may have escaped the slaughter, no daughters remain alive in the zone, preventing the Gul Dorg from spreading further.
Reward: 7500 experience, 250 gold.
Bonus Rewards: Garrison Recruitment Center upgraded to level 2. You may now recruit auxiliary formations to add to your forces. You may now recruit auxiliary troops from any ally in the zone. Current allies include the Forerunner Clan of Drebix and the Stonehold dwarves.
Congratulations you have reached Level 11! Open your character sheet to review changes.
The town of Holdfast is now under Imperium control. Bonus Rewards: 500 experience, 15 gold, 250 resources. This town, once restored, will begin to contribute to the economy of the zone, adding a small stream of tax and resource income to the garrison of Hayden’s Knoll.
“Well Raytak, we survived another battle against a fearsome . . . and ugly foe. How about we take a break before the next one, or at least fight something not so ugly and disgusting, eh?” Beremund joked. While we watched, a few scared townsfolk emerged from hiding places. I suspected more and more would be found as the town slowly respawned its population.
I looked on with pride as my battered legion and its allies helped the newly discovered and uninfected townsfolk. I had created a force to be proud of and they had acquitted themselves well throughout the battle. The action and accomplishment had helped me to shake off my depression and I looked forward to playing with my other friends soon. Even more exciting was the steady improvement of my mind. Soon, I would be able to see my family again, to remember them, and have another chance at life in the real world. In the meantime, I would continue to help my friend Delling build something in the zone we could all be proud of. With our allies, I was confident that we could defeat any threat that raised it head next to threaten our zone.
Epilogue
Narbos the Grimm stood on a hill and watched the remains of Haven burn. The fight had been hard, but his forces had eventually swarmed the defenders and taken the town, even cutting down a few low-level players who had tried to interfere. Now, he had only to replace the losses his forces had suffered before turning his ever-growing army west to begin his conquest of Hayden’s Knoll. He had gained two levels after completing his quest to unite the zone and had unlocked a pleasant surprise: he would receive a constant trickle of experience from the zone itself, now that it was completely under his control, a hidden feature of his overlord class.
“Hey, I finally hit level twelve after all the quest completions. I just got a cool upgrade to my class, went with improved raise undead and . . . woah, you’re level fifteen!? That’s strong, Narbos.”
Darkfallow’s comment was interrupted by the sound of murmuring voices. The volume increased, and a dark portal began to open next to Narbos. Darkfallow summoned a dozen undead, thinking they were under attack before Narbos held up his hand. The dire rat pet Narbos kept at his side whimpered as something stepped through the portal. A small red creature emerged from the portal. It had a sneering face, pointy ears and stood only two feet tall.
Zipzisilerpicazant, Imp, Level 40, Elite Npc.
“Such a pain using these things. Really, you’d think they could come up with something easier on the stomach,” the imp said as it hopped up on the rat and sat down, making itself comfortable.
“What in heck is happening? What is that thing?” Darkfallow blurted. The imp focused its gaze on Darkfallow and his undead minions.
“You are not who I’m here to see . . . so shut up,” the imp said. With a wave of his hand, Darkfallow and his minions disintegrated. “Now, where were we? Ahh, that’s right. You must be Narbos, correct?” the imp asked. Narbos nodded, not quite understanding what was going on. The imp smiled and pulled a scroll from thin air, reading it aloud without pause.
“Now, let’s see which version of the contract this is. The party of the first part, Zizisilerpicazant, enters into agreement with the party of the second part, Narbos. Zipzisilerpicazant . . . you can just call me Zipp, most of your kind can’t pronounce my name anyway. Okay, back to the contract . . . agree to grant power and access to infernal creatures . . . yadda yadda yadda . . . surrender your immortal soul . . . let’s just cut to the chase. I gave you power,” Zipp said while gesturing toward Narbos’ dire rat, “and in return you have to help your patron, that’s me, when needed. Guess what? Your help is needed now,” Zipp said, and with a force well beyond his tiny size, the imp grabbed Narbos and hurled him into the still open portal, kicking the rat in after. Zipp looked at the destroyed and burning city.
“Such a lovely view,” he commented before jumping into the portal.
Afterword
Thank you for joining Raytak on his continuing adventures in Limitless Lands.
No writer succeeds alone. Just as Raytak depends on his soldiers to achieve victory on the field of battle, this series has only reached where it is today thanks to the aid of countless others. First and foremost are my readers. You are my loyal legionnaires, and I couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for your support.
I want to thank my family for putting up with my long hours away from them as I bang away at the keyboard, spurting out lines from the book as I check if they sound right.
I would also like to thank Jacob Steponaitis for his excellent editing work. This book is so much better than it would have been without his efforts. Last but not least, to the talented artist Piero Mng (Gianpiero Mangialardi), thank you. A good cover goes a long way, and you can look forward to more of his work gracing the covers of my future books.
Work on Book 4 is well underway. Will we find out the fate of Narbos, and discover just where he was sent? How soon until Raytak can leave the medpod and reunite with his family? Will Eyeball swindle Yendys out of more money as she tries to further decorate Crunchy’s shell? What new threats will arise to challenge Raytak, Delling, Yendys, and the rest of the players in the zone of Hayden’s Knoll? Find out in Book 4: Opposition, releasing fall of 2019.