by Domino Finn
I scanned the clouds and blue sky above, thinking right now was a damn good time for salvation.
Arrows and stone peppered the kraken's back. Townsfolk from Hillside were attacking the invading beast. A rock narrowly missed Hadrian's head. The shadow armor swirled to the side, exposing itself. Caduceus jumped forward to take advantage of the distraction.
A tentacle plucked her from the ground. I slammed the arm with a deadshot, but it only loosened its grip. A silver arrow hardly did more. Caduceus tried to break away but the suckers had her. The cross on her helmet flared. The kraken roared and dropped her, singed tentacle still smoking.
Before Caduceus could retreat, another appendage swept into her head. It knocked Tannen's helmet off and snapped her neck in one blow. Our last medic bounced to the ground, dead.
"Do you feel it?" taunted Hadrian. "The creeping doom? The final death knell to your pitiful assault?"
A deafening screech tore through the air, not from the kraken but from high in the sky.
"That's funny," I said, a smile overtaking my face. "I was about to ask you the same question."
The Whisperer's head snapped to the sky. The hairs on my arms and neck stood on end as a black dragon streamed overhead. A deluge of acid cascaded over the titan. Dune salvaged his teammate's gear and jumped away. Izzy pulled Lash clear. Hadrian caught a splash of the dragon breath and recoiled. He slipped, head bouncing on brick as he splashed into the Albula river.
With the group free from immediate danger, I sprinted to Bandit and fed her a healing potion. "Heh, this reminds me of the day I found you." The pain in her eyes washed away and the bongo licked me mercilessly. "You're welcome, girl. Now do me a favor and stay away from the giant sea creature." She hopped to her feet and tried to follow me back. "No. BAD girl. NO sea creatures!"
The bongo snorted.
Jixa stopped at my side, panting. "Tentacleses. Lots and lots of big tentacleses."
I winked at the goblin girl. "I promised you an honest day's work, didn't I?"
A pair of skeletons with purple wigs slogged behind, the last of the two armies.
As I turned to engage the titan, a slip of shadow appeared on the riverbank and Hadrian solidified, miffed. "What is this?" he demanded.
I couldn't help but laugh.
His face reddened in anger and he approached. "What did you do?"
I kept my distance because of the shadowguard he wore around his shoulders, but I taunted him nonetheless. "Don't you see? Your faction is decimated. Your goblin army stuck outside the walls."
"I am far from defeated," he spat. "I ransacked your headquarters. There's a titan in your city. Why are you laughing?"
As if the dragon swooping overhead wasn't enough explanation, I spelled it out for the cocky son of a bitch. "I'm laughing because Hadrian the Whisperer, the machinist, the great puppeteer, fell for my plan hook, line, and sinker."
His eyes narrowed.
"That's right," I said, "my plan."
He scowled.
"You stand here thinking you've snuck a Trojan into Stronghold, believing every step of your grand conspiracy has come together for this single moment. Well, I admit, Lucifer and I didn't know who the interloper was. We chatted long and hard about the identity of Haven's usurper. I'll be honest: you didn't even make the short list. It was a masterful deception you worked. But you never considered mine."
Hadrian visibly shook. "Preposterous."
"How do you figure? I've drawn you out into the open. Obliterated your forces and backed you into a corner."
"A titan is never backed into anything."
The kraken pressed forward with renewed tenacity. It lashed out at Izzy and Dune while slithering toward the white knight. It took everyone on at once because it could.
But it shied away when the dragon swooped past. My faction mates were paper cuts. The claws of a dragon were a threat, even to a god. Nightwing raked bloody grooves into defending appendages and both beasts roared with elemental fury.
Tornado spin was my only skill disabled from its last overloaded use, so I was cautiously optimistic about my chances against the shadowguard. Especially since I now had the clearest shot at Hadrian since this whole mess started. The dragonspear rocketed to its target. The shadow bent the glancing blow away.
You dealt 27 damage to [Shadowguard] (358/600)
Graze!
You dealt 9 damage to [Hadrian] (136/175)
I activated crossblock before the shadow swiped back. As before, it was able to break through the parry.
22 damage
Health: 253/300
"Dune!" I called.
An arrow sailed our way. The shadow batted the silver down with minor damage. It gave me an opening to strike again. I hit Hadrian with a deadshot.
You dealt 42 damage to [Hadrian] (94/175)
Aside from the shadow armor, the Whisperer was running pretty good defense. It was impressive seeing a level 7 like him compete. 125 fewer health points than I had. He hadn't avoided wipes in the past and was thus lower level than many of us. Then again, Hadrian had never been one for attention. Subservience had been his camouflage. Even now that his treachery was out in the open, he had shadowguards and titans protecting him.
Dune nocked another arrow but somersaulted away from the pursuing kraken. Hadrian phased out and reappeared several yards away. "What do you think you've accomplished?" he snarled.
"You can't teleport anymore," I realized. "It's not just an attack, it's how you phased through the Arena wall. It took both shadowguards to create those wormholes. You can dart around a bit but, in the end, you're stuck here."
"And so what? I'm here. The devil's dragon has no chance against a titan."
I chuckled. "I'm two-and-oh against citywide threats. You'd better hedge those odds."
Nightwing circled down to a clear spot on the ground. He wasn't huge—about the size of a school bus built like a snake—but he was just about the most menacing thing I'd ever seen up close. Everything about him was sharp and twisted, from his teeth, claws, and wing tips, to the jagged horns over his face.
Even Hadrian acknowledged the dragon fear.
"You're obviously not thinking this through," he hurried, slight anxiety in his voice. "Even if you somehow prevailed over insurmountable odds, what will you have accomplished? This is only a final battle if I destroy your headquarters. Uproot you from Stronghold. If you kill me, well, then what? I'll live to fight another day."
"Not if you get deleted by an angel," I said. "That's about as permanent as it gets."
"I haven't warranted their activation," he said smugly. "I abide by the rules of the Golden Seven."
A calm voice cut through the battlefield—crisp and decisive and ever present. "There is more than one kind of angel, dear Whisperer."
The air beside me crackled and pixelated. Lucifer leaned on his witchwood staff, its quiet blue glow sparkling against the runes on his cloak.
"Wh... what?" he stuttered. "You can't be here. Not inside Stronghold."
"It gets better," replied Lucifer.
Two angels drifted down from the heavens, perfectly modeled images of man, chests puffed, garnished with flowing black cloth. The angels fixed on Hadrian as they lowered, solid black eyes unnerving even from a distance.
"The Fallen," he whispered.
"You had us going," I told him. "We really had no idea it was you. We weren't even sure if the usurper was part of Shorehome. One thing I did know is I couldn't let Oakengard continue the arms race. With them compromised, something had to be done that would attract the notice of every single resident of Haven. Get the usurper's attention. Force him into a premature reveal."
He shook his head. "You can't be in Stronghold."
A message flashed across my view.
Global Haven Alert:
The player Luc1f3r has broken the terms of service and negatively impacted the play experience for all residents. His contract is terminated effective immediately. Decimus has been di
spatched to carry out the judgment.
The devil cocked his head. "Took them long enough."
The Fallen descended on Hadrian. "To me!" he cried.
The kraken bowled over my teammates and rushed to its master. Hadrian's shadowguard zipped him to the safety of the tentacles. The dark angels slowed their pursuit.
"Keep at him!" snapped Lucifer.
The angels attempted to obey, but kept hesitating. Something in their core programming was overriding their hacked directives. I remembered using a similar exploit to my advantage.
"They can't interfere with the titan," I told Lucifer. "He's too important a game object. Angels were created to restore balance to Haven, not to supersede it."
Lucifer growled. "Nightwing!"
The dragon kicked up clumps of turf as it charged forward. Nightwing stretched his neck toward reaching tentacles and belched a black spray of stomach acid. The titan's many appendages recoiled as both they and the shadow struggled to shield their master. The beast was so large it took the entire attack stream.
[Nightwing] dealt 425 damage to [Kraken] (14,112/20,000)
Decimus appeared on the cloudy horizon, arms extended, each wielding a silver sword. Unlike the Fallen, his loose robes were white, including the strip across his eyes that made up his blindfold.
"There's no time," muttered Lucifer. "Move in before it's too late."
The devil charged ahead. Nightwing lunged, snapping a wiggling tentacle in his jaws while using claws to push away two others.
[Nightwing] dealt 117 damage to [Kraken]
[Nightwing] dealt 73 damage to [Kraken]
[Nightwing] dealt 78 damage to [Kraken] (13,844/20,000)
The shadow attempted to counterstrike. Dune's arrows forced him to keep on guard duty. Izzy summoned missiles at will, but it was clear from her measured attacks that she was low on spirit. Lash's cleaver was nearly as massive as the lone tentacle she took on.
Lucifer entered the melee ahead of me. From a full run, he skidded black boots into a slide, ducking under a defending arm. He brought his dark staff up and into the titan's gaping maw. An explosion issued from the blue crystal.
[Luc1f3r] cast Azure Ruin
[Luc1f3r] dealt 1,001 damage to [Kraken] (12,589/20,000)
The mind-numbing shock wave threw my friends to the ground. The shadowguard flinched at the unholy light but shielded Hadrian from the shock. The Whisperer palmed the assassin needle and lunged for the kill.
Lucifer twisted his staff and deftly parried the backstab.
[Luc1f3r] cast Cerulean Sword
A blue saber of energy extended two feet from the bottom tip of his staff. Before he could land a counter, a stray appendage forced him to defend himself. The sensitive suckers burned against his magic.
Nightwing chomped harder, but couldn't stifle a yelp. Three tentacles latched onto the black dragon's hind legs and body. His head thrashed and tore like an alligator with a fresh catch, but from where I was standing, Nightwing might've just become the prey. I focused a deadshot on the nearest appendage. Lucifer slipped out to safety and hacked at the kraken's grip too. Izzy and Lash focused on another arm. Against all the attacks and Nightwing's vicious thrashing, the titan was forced into a ravenous frenzy. Damage and pain were so plentiful they became meaningless.
"Let... go... of my dragon!" growled Lucifer. He focused his energy blade in what must've been some form of overload and cleanly sliced through a tentacle like day-old butter.
Critical Hit!
[Luc1f3r] dealt 749 damage to [Kraken] (9,200/20,000)
I didn't know what to do. If Nightwing went down this early in the fight, it was all for nothing. The failure of the Fallen, the urgency of the Golden Seven... It was something we hadn't anticipated.
I charged the kraken, planted the dragonspear in the dirt and vaulted up and over its numerous defenses. I swapped out my weapon for my upgraded climbing claws mid air and landed hard on the behemoth. Instead of simply hanging on, I swiped at the sea monster's rubbery skin, tiger claws gashing deeper and deeper.
Skill Evolution!
You learned Claw Handling
I wasn't sure if I'd just pioneered a new weapon type, and I didn't care. My goal was much more than the meager damage I was inflicting. I was going for enraging the distracted titan even more.
Baz and the other ogre joined in, each attempting and barely succeeding in wrapping up a whole arm to themselves. It was a temporary measure, and it was all we needed. Nightwing was down to one-third health, but with a final agonizing push, he ripped free.
Powerful hind legs flexed. Leathery wings unfurled. The dragon released a deafening screech as he triumphantly surged upward, daggerlike claws using the titan as a launching point.
Aided by a cloak of shadow, Hadrian sprang faster than a mousetrap. He lunged up, arm reaching skyward, and met Nightwing like a missile. The assassin needle slid into the dragon's underbelly.
Critical Hit!
[Hadrian] dealt 234 damage to [Nightwing]
[Shadowguard] dealt 145 damage to [Nightwing]
No longer guarding Hadrian, the kraken's tentacles were free to splay out in multiple directions. Lucifer hopped to safety, but Dune, Lash, and Izzy were all batted aside. I was thrown to the ground. Baz lay dead beside me, neck twisted so he faced backward. The other ogre was knocked into that which he feared most—not a sea creature but the sea itself. Even in the lowered river, he thrashed and panicked. Jixa hurried to help but a tentacle smashed her to oblivion, dead as a doornail.
But none of that mattered, because reaching appendages caught the flailing black dragon. Tentacle after tentacle wrapped him tight and squeezed his neck so that not even a screech, much less dragon breath, could escape.
With a bone-jarring twist of fate, the raging kraken crushed its foe for good and released a throaty cry of victory.
1480 Day of Defeat
The body of the great dragon shuddered and went still. Lucifer stared in idle shock.
"No..."
The maddened kraken heaved Nightwing down. I grabbed Lucifer and triggered dash, saving him from being crushed by the discarded body.
The last ogre was still attempting to scale the riverbank. Hadrian cruelly watched for a moment before plunging the assassin needle into the builder's neck. He turned to engage the two converging skeletons.
"This was not written," muttered Lucifer.
Izzy hopped a kraken tentacle. "Talon, Lucifer, on your feet! We can still do this!"
"No..."
I pulled the devil up. Tried to pull him away. "She's right."
"Release me."
Two sandals pattered to the dirt. Decimus pointed a sword that I knew from personal experience pretty much never missed. His voice rang out.
"Lucifer, you are in violation of the terms of service. You will be expunged from Haven."
The angel strode over and swung. The Fallen appeared out of nowhere. A golden cane caught the sword over Lucifer's face. Decimus arched an eyebrow above the blindfold and immediately swung his second sword. This blow was parried by a black scythe on the other side.
"Otho. Vitus. You should not be here."
The Fallen stared with emotionless black orbs.
"So be it," concluded the angel.
Decimus spun and struck both weapons with opposite hands. He kicked Vitus. Otho swung the scythe. Decimus ducked and flipped away. The dark angels pressed. Celestial weapons clashed against the dual wielder, each collision accompanied by a mini sonic boom.
Lucifer rested a hand on the matte-black scales of his fallen comrade. "Through your sacrifice we will survive."
Lash and Dune drew the kraken's attention as they retreated. Izzy tugged my arm. Lucifer's hand flashed and a blue glow overtook Nightwing's body. The dragon's scaly hide shrank until he was nothing more than a curled black snake. Lucifer held a blue gemstone in his hand.
The devil flushed as the Whisperer effortlessly cut down the last of the harassing skeletons. For those ke
eping score, that was the last of the Black Hat army.
Meanwhile, Decimus put on an impressive show, but against two of his own he was outmatched. As the cane butted his knee, the scythe painted a line of blood across his shoulder. The angel backed away calmly.
Global Haven Alert:
The player Luc1f3r has broken the terms of service and negatively impacted the play experience for all residents. His contract is terminated effective immediately. Longinus, Marius, Gaius, and Severus have been dispatched to carry out the judgment.
I blinked dumbly at the notification. That fleet of angels, combined with Decimus and the Fallen, counted for the sum of the Golden Seven. Never before had they all been activated at one time.
Izzy scowled. "They're rolling out the big guns."
"Then we need to hurry," said Lucifer with renewed vigor. He spun in his boots and marched toward Dragonperch.
Hadrian attempted to intercept. Lucifer whirled and deflected two blows with his staff, one from the assassin needle and the other from the shadow blade that followed. Another spin of the witchwood rapped the Whisperer in the gut.
[Luc1f3r] dealt 101 damage to [Shadowguard] (166/600)
Graze!
[Luc1f3r] dealt 16 damage to [Hadrian] (78/175)
Seeing the usurper so near death, I lunged as well. The shadow deftly knocked the dragonspear aside. Izzy hurled a javelin of ice. The living armor dragged its master back to the safety of the kraken. With the Whisperer in possession of the Squid's Tooth, the titan was a docile weapon. It stopped attacking to once again act as a personal shield.