by C. M. Carney
A wave of weakness spread through him, like the simultaneous onset of the flu, mono and Lyme disease. Bile rose in his throat and his muscles seized. The mother of all migraines stabbed blazing ice picks into his temples and eye sockets. Sweat spewed from every pore.
We are here Menaaire, let us take some of your burden.
Gryph barely heard Raathiel’s voice as he writhed like a heroin addict in withdrawals. Every inch of him started to burn, as if a colony of fire ants were burrowing their way to the surface of his skin. Then, just as his mind was about to fracture, the pain ended, and a prompt filled his vision.
You have been stripped of your Prime Godhead powers.
Your Prime Godhead has been deactivated and will remain offline for the duration of your stay in The Realm of Perpetual Twilight. All Stat, Attribute or Skill bonuses along with all Perks, Boons or other powers granted you by your Prime Godhead are stripped for the duration of your visit.
There are no gods here save the Great God Cerrunos. The Great Hunt has begun.
“Well shit,” Gryph said. Several pairs of hands helped him to his feet. Raathiel was there ready to cast her healing magics, but Gryph waved her away. “There is nothing you can do for this, Raath.” He did a quick examination and shock filled him. He’d grown so accustomed to the power of the Prime Godhead he'd forgotten just how much he'd come to rely upon the artifact.
Gryph turned his gaze inwards to assess the damage. Every single bonus he’d earned by evolving his Godhead disappeared. In one fell swoop he had 200 less Health, Stamina, Mana and Spirit. He lost another slew when each of his Attributes dropped by 15 points each. He was weaker, slower and less focused than he had been. Worse yet was the loss of skill levels. Nearly every one of his skills had earned a boost each time his Godhead reached another tier, resulting in six bonus levels. The loss of these levels dropped several of his skills from Apprentice level to Base, taking with them a slew of Tier Abilities.
The most obvious loss was his Adventure Group slipping down to an Adventure Party. With that, Gryph lost contact with Agarathon, the newest member of the group. He no longer heard the crystal arachnid in his mind, and the spider would no longer have the benefit of Gryph’s Boons.
The other’s eyes widened as Gryph finished explaining the devastation wrought upon him by the Godhead’s deactivation. Lex, ever protective, wanted to head back, but a well-aimed smack to the head by Vonn ended the idea.
“We don’t know how to get back,” the Templar said.
“Oh yeah. That. Looks like our only option is the Trail of Obvious Doom then,” Lex muttered. He hefted his hammer and took a moment to look around. “At least this place is nice.”
A jabbering insane cackle tore through the woods behind them, as if whatever creature had vocalized the inhuman sound had been waiting for Lex’s comment. The sound of breaking branches moved towards them and as one Agarathon and the Adventure Party fled in the other direction, down the Trail of Obvious Doom.
“It’s like this shit follows you, just waiting for you to say something stupid,” Vonn said, his voice steady despite the pace of their sprint.
“Why is everything always my fault?” Lex sputtered, his face red from exertion and embarrassment.
“This is the Great Hunt,” Gryph yelled over the sound. “We need to find a spot to make a stand. Raathiel, fly, find us some high ground.” The coatl spun and beat her wings. She surged up and through the canopy.
*****
The branches whipped at Gryph’s face raising welts and dredging scratches. They had been running for the better part of fifteen minutes, but the gibbering, howling madness had grown ever closer. Gryph knew that soon they’d need to turn and engage whatever monstrosity hunted them.
As soon as she had taken flight Gryph had directed Raathiel to spin and look for what was following them. Do not let it spot you, and do not let it get close, he sent with the force of a commanding officer’s order. She acknowledged him and cast her gaze down towards the goliath pursuing them.
They already knew the beast was massive, for it tore through the forest with no more resistance than a man running through cornstalks. Only the twisting nature of the trees and the truly incredible number of vines had prevented the beast from catching up with them long ago, but that same foliage also shielded it from Raathiel’s sight.
Realizing that she would not get a better view without putting her at risk, Gryph turned her focus to finding defensible high ground. The coatl shared her telemetry from above the tree canopy and the true extent of Cerrunos’ realm became clear. It was at least the size of the valleys of their home, a wondrous fantasy land of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers. Ahead of them, a waterfall poured from atop the mountains at the far edge of the valley. Beyond that, high walls of mist rose from the twilight shrouded clouds. Whether the realm continued beyond those walls, Gryph did not know, for not even Raathiel’s hawk-like vision could pierce its veils.
At the opposite end of the valley, in the direction the jabbering creature was chasing them, stood a tall tower. The twinning edifice looked to be a hybrid of plant and stone that grew upwards. Circling around the edifice were large winged beasts that looked none too friendly. Gryph would bet his Godhead, that Cerrunos cowered within its walls.
To me, Raathiel sent, drawing Gryph’s attention to her shared sight as she dove towards a small hillock surrounded by a few jutting stones. It was not perfect, but it would at least provide some measure of protection, and it gave them the high ground.
Perhaps sensing their intentions, the creature howled and increased its pace, forcing Gryph and his team to do the same. Everyone, down a Stamina potion the moment we reach that cover. For starting a battle already exhausted was a clear path to mistakes and mistakes would mean death.
They burst through the trees and into the small clearing. Vonn and Ovrym were first, followed by Gryph and Errat and Agarathon, the crystal arachnid. Lex, and his often-vilified stumpy legs, came last and to add insult to injury, the panting NPC tripped on a rock and face planted the ground.
Before Lex’s pained ‘oof’ was past his lips the glass spider spun and rushed to Lex. He grabbed the downed NPC and tossed him onto his back. Surprised, Lex struggled to find purchase on the spider’s smooth carapace but gripped a pair of prong-like spikes protruding from the spider’s thorax. Agarathon’s legs thundered and soon he and Lex where behind the stones and atop the hillock.
“Woohoo, Lex the Spider Rider!” the NPC yelled and thrust his hammer high.
“Lex get off the spider,” Gryph said in a calm, battle hardened tone. “He isn’t your toy.” The NPC obeyed, without even a hint of his customary pout and powered his maul with spirit energy. “Agarathon, thank you and please string as much silk as you can to slow whatever the hell this damned thing is down.”
The spider lowered its head in acknowledgment and got to work. The others buffed themselves up, while Gryph tried to activate his Leadership Perk, Inspire, grimacing when he remembered the Apprentice level perk was no longer available to him.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. If we survive this, I need to learn how to rely on myself and not some fancy magical gadget, even one as potent as a Prime Godhead. He downed a Stamina potion and some of his fatigue disappeared but losing 200 points to all four Stats still made him far weaker than he’d been in some time.
He cast Auriel’s Perk Share, a Life Magic spell that allowed Gryph to share one of his Perks with his Adventure Party. He shared his Lore Perk Skill Progression, which increased the speed his Adventure Party advanced skills by 50%. He wished he had a defensive power to share, but at least this was something. He then buffed himself up with Demon Scales and Stone Skin, increasing his resistance to damage.
Just as Gryph finished, the beast exploded through the trees amidst a shower of branches and leaves. It stood twelve feet high at the shoulders. A snake-like neck supported a bulbous reptilian head with a pair of massive, protruding bug eyes and a mouth with an ove
rcrowding of sharp buck toothed incisors. It saw them and cackled, sounding like a car full of insane clowns. A several foot-long tongue lolled out of its mouth, drooling copious amounts of saliva.
Four long, gangly arms, each tipped with a trio of long, claw tipped fingers protruded from its side. Its legs were triple jointed, with its knees bent backwards. Extending back was a long, sinuous tail tipped with a jagged spear-like tip. The tail whipped back and forth as if it were not under the conscious control of its owner. A pair of far too small wings sprouted from its back. They flapped randomly as if the beast was desperate to take flight, whilst knowing it would never happen.
“This damn thing looks like a dragon drawn by an artistically challenged seven-year-old hopped up on too much Dimetapp,” Lex said and shared his Analyze window.
Jabberwock (Aetherial Aberrant) - Level: 66
Health
Stamina
Mana
Spirit
2,125 / 2,125
3,476 / 3,476
0
0
A Jabberwock is a vision of insanity made flesh. This aetherial creature is born from the cast-off emotions of a powerful being. It is wild, unpredictable and devastating when hunting the perceived enemies of its master. It is a peerless tracker, hunter and killer.
A Jabberwock can attack with its bite, any of its four clawed hands and its spiked tail, but its most unnerving attack might be its constant nonsensical jabbering that has driven the weak of mind insane.
Strengths
Immunities
Weaknesses
Regeneration, Jabber of Insanity.
Resistant to all Spheres of magic.
Vorpal Blades.
Before Gryph could finish assimilating the information, the beast began to jabber. What had sounded like random mutterings took on the semblance of language with no hint of proper punctuation.
“gyre and gimble and mome raths outgrabe. brillig and the slithy toves Callooh Callay”
“Um, what?” Lex asked, his mind trying to find meaning amidst the insanity.
Do not listen to it, Raathiel sent, and once again shared her mental strength through the link. It took a few seconds for her aid to stabilize the group, but all, including Lex, kept their minds whole. Gryph shook his head and regained his focus. Then he returned his attention to the Jabberwock’s description and saw the creature’s weakness.
We need to make an avenue of attack for Vonn, Gryph sent. The party nodded their understanding, for the wiry rogue bore a vorpal blade, a magical weapon that increased the chance of delivering a Critical Hit, and the only Weakness the Jabberwock possessed. Raathiel, use Empower Ally on Vonn. He’ll need every advantage he can get.
The Jabberwock, either realizing that its nonsense was no longer effective, or somehow sensing their plan, chortled and screamed and then somersaulted towards them. The first to feel its inane wrath was Agarathon who fell victim to a break-dance style kick that sent him flying into the woods. Gryph hoped the arachnid was still alive but could not spare the attention to check.
The Jabberwock spun again, kicking out with another leg, while twisting sideways like it was competing in the world’s worst interpretive dance competition. The bottom of its foot hit Errat’s hastily erected Aether Shield. The shield absorbed most of the assault before collapsing, sending Errat tumbling to the ground.
This thing is a master of Jackie Chan style drunken kung-fu, Lex sent through the link. Expect the unexpected.
Thanks for that obvious bit of useless advice, Ovrym sent as he ducked under one of the Jabberwock’s swinging arms. The agile, one-armed xydai jumped onto the creature’s backwards facing knee, pushed off and brought his Bleed Metal Saber down onto one of the Jabberwock’s shoulders.
The blade severed the arm, and the Jabberwock howled in pain and rage, pausing its inane jabbering. Ovrym flipped off its leg just as its spear-tipped tail lashed through the spot he’d occupied. The adjudicator looked to be out of harm’s way, when another of the Jabberwock’s arms punched outwards at an impossible angle and hit the xydai in the stomach. Ovrym landed hard, but through a grunt of pain, said he was fine.
The Jabberwock paused, looked down at its severed stump and hissed at it, as if it was angry that the arm had the gall to detach from its body. It bought the team a small breather, and they formed another defensive wedge. Then, with a squelch like a ruptured sack of rotting meat splattering to the floor, another arm exploded from the Jabberwock’s stump, as healthy and deadly as the original.
“Shitty McWhatTheFuck?” Lex yelled. “I hate this thing.”
31
Learning that Vonn’s vorpal blade was the only weapon they possessed capable of harming the Jabberwock was a gut blow, especially since the beast had over 2,000 Health and was 50% resistant to every sphere of magic. Perhaps seeking to punctuate this point the Jabberwock held its regrown arm before it and wriggled all three long fingers while screaming again.
“Pretty sure it just told us to eff off,” Lex sputtered.
A part of Gryph’s mind chuckled at Lex’s unexpected self-censorship, noting that the NPC only went full vulgar when stressed or surprised. The Jabberwock bleated more nonsense and then curled its body into an Ouroboros and rolled at them using a pair of arms to push it forward.
The Jabberwock death wheel bowled over Lex and Errat, crushing them into the wet ground. Using one arm it changed direction and barreled towards Vonn. The templar held his ground until the last moment and then used his Dodge tier ability Shift and he disappeared, only to reappear a few feet from his original position. Argent’s Talon, his vorpal short sword, lashed out, its thin white blade sliced into the arm controlling the Jabberwock’s steering and speed.
The blade passed through the spindly arm easier than it would a wet noodle. The Jabberwock, now off balance and without half of its motive power, wobbled out of control and smashed into a tree. It took a mere moment to recover, and it cackled at the stump of its second amputated arm, eyes wide in anger. It hefted the severed arm and pointed it at Vonn, the wrist limply dangling down.
“manxome foe snicker-snackmome raths outgrabe.”
It then pulled back and threw the arm at Vonn, like a centurion tossing a spear. The half-elf dove to the side as the arm-spear soared past and smacked with a wet thwack into a tree. The Jabberwock jabbered in a rage and rushed towards Vonn.
Gryph was the closest but realized the Jabberwock would reach Vonn before he could render aid. He pulled a pair of throwing knives free, but a chill hit his heart. It won’t be enough. Then a calming mental voice filled his mind.
I have this Menaaire. Raathiel swooped down from above and activated her power Increase Size 2. Before Gryph’s eyes his companion grew to triple her previous size. Where she had once been the size of a large bird of prey, she was now nearly the size of a small airplane. She dove at the Jabberwock’s head and unleashed Flame Breath. A jet of searing gold flame exploded from Raathiel’s mouth and enveloped the beast’s head.
The creature’s resistance to all forms of magic reduced the damage by half, but Raathiel’s holy fire did blind the creature for a moment as its head burst into flames. The Jabberwock screamed and swung its remaining arms in wide fans trying to land a blow on Raathiel.
But Gryph’s girl was too smart and agile and had spun up and around coming in behind the Jabberwock’s head. She coiled her now considerable length around the beast’s serpentine neck and struck down with reptilian speed, sinking her fangs into its neck.
Her venom rushed into the aberration’s bloodstream and she released her bite. The Jabberwock flashed its barbed tail towards Raathiel, but the venom had stricken the creature with a Slow debuff and the coatl evaded the attack.
Gryph reached Vonn and got him to his feet. The rogue nodded his thanks. Gryph pulled him back towards their defensive wedge. Before they reached safety, the Jabberwock lurched forward. Despite the debuff Gryph knew it would reach them before they reached the others.
&nbs
p; “Friends Gryph and Vonn, duck!” Errat yelled.
A howl of incoherent rage filled the small valley and Gryph watched the warborn toss Lex over them. The madness in Lex’s eyes told Gryph he’d activated his racial gift Ordonian Bloodlust, buffing up his offensive prowess. Lex raised his shining Maul of Holy Might over his head and brought it down like a madman trying to win a game of Whack-A-Mole with a sledgehammer.
The weapon landed atop the slowed Jabberwock’s head with a sickening crunch and sunk deep into the skull. Lex’s momentum took him past the serpentine beast, and he face planted hard onto the forest floor.
The Jabberwock collapsed to one knee, its head resembled a crushed watermelon dangling from a limp neck. For a moment Gryph thought it was over, but then the creature’s neck snapped back up and its skull expanded back into its normal shape. The entire time the Jabberwock continued blathering. It opened its mouth wide and hissed, scattering gobbets of spittle in a wide fan. A moment later, almost casually, it reached back and grabbed Lex by the ankle.
Gryph and the others rushed forwards with little heed for their own safety. Whatever the thing had planned for Lex, it would not be good. Ovrym was closest and the first to feel the brunt of the Jabberwock’s Lex club.
With a sideways swing, the Jabberwock smashed the burly Ordonian into Ovrym, sending the xydai flying into the woods. The next swing took out Errat, and a third knocked Gryph back a dozen paces, his body exploding in pain. Lex was blessedly knocked unconscious, but he would not survive much longer.