by Adam Drake
Ding! Gratz! You have successfully progressed to the next level. You have been granted 2 main attribute points and 5 skill points to distribute as you see fit.
Rob cheered, but ended in a sputtering cough from all the dust hanging in the air.
Jace nodded. “You did it. Well done, my Lord.”
Recovering from his coughing fit, he pointed in the direction of the tomb. “Come on. We have to get back while there's still time.”
As they ran through the forest Rob applied the points he'd been awarded. He figured there was no sense in waiting later to do it as every point would be needed in his fight with Perrin.
He bumped his Strength up to 12, since he wanted to do as much damage as possible with his sword.
His new level had increased his Hit Points to 85, so he put his other attribute point into Constitution which boosted that number to 100.
Three digits, Rob thought. He hoped it would be enough.
He tried to focus on his skill list as he navigated through the trees with Jace in front of him.
His fight with the lizards barely had an effect on their progression. Only Basic Swordsmanship and Basic Shield had increased to 16% and 12%, respectively.
His new skill, Shield Bash, sat at 5%.
How to apply his 5 skill points?
Suddenly, they emerged from the forest at the graveyard, breaking his concentration. No skeletons were around, but they still cautiously moved up the path to the tomb entrance.
Once there, Rob asked Jace to stop and wait.
On a whim, Rob put a point in Shield Bash which took it to 8%. Then two points into Block, bringing it to 14%.
He stared at dodge. It still sat at an annoying 2%. Adding a point actually moved it up to 3% which, despite the tiny number, made him feel happy.
Hey, every percentage point counts. Or so he hoped.
The final point went into Basic Combat Attunement, taking it to 10%.
Finished, he nodded at Jace and they carefully descended the tomb stairs like before, with Rob at the front with his shield raised.
At the end of the hallway, the red barrier was gone.
Rob sighed with relief and they moved forward. At the point where the barrier had been, another set of stone stairs descended into darkness. There didn't appear to be any of those crystals to light the way.
He looked to Jace. “Looks like we need one of those torches.”
Jace shook his head. “No need for that, my Lord,” he said, then mumbled a word.
The immediate area around them brightened. The source of light coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Rob blinked at him in confusion.
Jace stared at him, then said, “Torches are just for backup. Light is my second spell.” He smiled.
Rob grinned and shook his head. “You are a handy guy to have around, do you know that?”
The woodcutter shrugged. “I have other uses beside splitting heads.”
“But you could have cast a heal on yourself.”
“Costs far less to cast Light than Heal. I still have to wait.”
Rob turned to look into the depths below.
Here goes nothing, he thought.
They both descended the stairs.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
They cautiously climbed down the stairs.
Rob kept his shield up and close to his body, looking over its top edge. He held the sword pointed ahead. Upon entering the stairwell he realized there wasn't enough room to swing, so he was prepared to thrust forward with it.
The lizard bite on his shin still hurt, but he ignored it as best he could.
The stairs seemed to go on forever. Thankfully, Jace's spell fully lit their way with the darkness below playing at the edges of light.
Several minutes past. All they could hear was their heavy breathing and the occasion scrape of Rob's shield against the stone wall.
Rob stopped. Just beyond the limits of the light he could see the bottom of the stairs. The walls on both sides ended. A room?
For several seconds Rob stood, his body unwilling to move. As a kid, he'd always been afraid of dark places. Heck, even as an adult, too. Now here he was at the bottom of a tomb.
He shivered. Don't freak out, idiot, he thought to himself. You can do this. You have to do this.
After a moment, he took the next step down, then the next. He didn't want to rush to the bottom. Instead, after each step he paused to peer into the darkness beyond.
It soon became apparent that the stairs opened up into a large room or chamber. A stone floor covered in dust and dirt spread out before them, but revealed no other details.
On the last step Rob looked around, desperate for any sign of something other than darkness and empty space.
Nothing.
The walls to either side stretched off into the black, seemingly going on forever.
Well, here goes nothing, he thought as he walked off the final step and onto the floor.
Nothing happened. No click of a trap or a hissing horde of trench lizards running out of the darkness.
Not even a crab.
Another step forward and Jace entered, too.
They looked around in every direction.
The stone ceiling hung low above their heads, almost close enough to touch.
“Can you make that spell brighter?” Rob said hopefully. He knew the answer, but he had to ask. They couldn't see anything.
“No,” Jace said, his eyes darting everywhere.
Rob glanced at their options. Follow either wall or head out straight ahead. The prudent thing would to have a wall behind them in case of an attack. Better than being out in the open, exposed.
Yeah, that sounds right, Rob told himself. He really had no idea, but it sounded like a plan.
He nodded at Jace and followed the right wall. This allowed his shield to face both ahead of him and toward the middle space.
They followed the wall until a glance behind told him the stairwell was out of the lights range. He kept going.
His ears strained to hear any noises. But he heard only their breathing and their boots on the floor.
The air was dry and cold creating plumes of breath before their faces.
It did not take long before another wall appeared ahead. It angled off to the left. A corner.
So should they follow it? Rob thought. Maybe make an entire circuit of this room if that's what it was?
“I hear something,” Jace said, turning to look behind them.
Rob heard it, too. A faint grinding sound, like stone passing over stone.
Then he realized what it was.
“Damn!” he said and hurried back along the wall, Jace close behind.
As the stairwell entrance came back into view, his fears were confirmed.
A stone slab now covered the stairwell entrance, making the wall uniform in appearance.
Rob hit at the slab with the pommel of his sword. It was completely solid.
They were trapped.
“Not good,” Rob said. Jace was impassive.
Okay, fine, Rob thought. This is how it is. Deal with it.
He opted to follow the left wall and within the same amount of time it took to follow the other, it ended at a corner.
“Big room,” he whispered looking off into the darkness.
For lack of any other options they turned right and followed the new wall.
Maybe thirty seconds had passed when they heard a shout.
“She marked me! She marked us all!”
It came from their right, somewhere in the darkness.
They froze with Rob turning his body away from the wall and facing the shield in the direction of the shout.
“She marked me!” the voice said louder. “She's marked you, too!”
The hairs on the back of Rob's neck and arms stood on end.
Fear threatened to consume him. Here he was trapped at the bottom of a tomb in the dark and something was in here with him.
Fight
ing to keep his fright under control he impulsively blurted out, “Stop whining!”
He sensed Jace tensing beside him.
False bravado is better than none at all, he thought. Then said, “We don't want to hear about it!”
Was he nuts? What was he doing?
Only quiet answered him. But he could feel it, whatever it was out there. Watching them.
Rob noticed his sword arm was shaking. Fear and anger swirled inside him.
What was he doing here? He wanted to be back home. Back to his old job. Back with Anika. Hell, cleaning vomit was better than being right here at this very moment.
“You...” the voice finally said. “It's you, isn't it?”
From just beyond the range of Jace's light there was movement. Something was coming.
“Yeah, it's me.” Rob heard himself say, his voice almost cracking. “I've been sent to tell you something.”
Silence. Then, “Sent? By her?” The voice was male, deep and gravely.
“Yeah, her. She said-,” Rob had trouble choking out the words, but he had to. If he was putting on a show, he may as well go all the way. “She said stop being a whiny little bitch!”
If he wanted to get a reaction, it worked.
A figure moved into the light. A man.
Rob squinted at him, then realized it wasn't a real man, not anymore.
He was about Rob's height, but with a thinner build. His clothes were burnt and tattered, hanging from his body in shreds.
His face was gaunt, and marred with countless wrinkles or scars, it was hard to tell in the light. Sunken eyes stared at Rob with a haunted gaze, the remnants of a thick beard clung to his chin.
The sleeves of his shirt had rotted or torn away at the elbows exposing blackened skin, and Rob realized they were burnt.
Rob knew this was who he'd been looking for. Who he had to destroy.
Perrin.
Name: Perrin (Undead), Boss
Hit Points: 300, Mana: 200
Armor 15, Speed: 15
Main Attack: Fiery Touch, Death Bolt.
Boss? Rob thought looking at the word. This guy's a boss? Again, listening to Todd's complaints paid off. Rob knew what a boss in a Role Playing Game was. Usually a creature of high hit points and power. Killing them was intended to be a challenge.
Oh, boy.
“Perrin,” Jace said from beside Rob.
If Perrin heard him he didn't show it. His gray, dead eyes were locked onto Rob.
“Marks,” Perrin said, his dry voice like sandpaper on stone. “She marks us all.”
Okay, now what? Rob thought. This guy had spells, he didn't. This guy had a heck of a lot more hit points than him, too.
But this was what he was here for, to fight him. As much as he didn't want it to be that way, there was only one action to be taken.
Slowly, Rob sheathed his sword.
“I'm curious,” Jace said with the tiniest hint of confusion. “Why disarm yourself at a time like this?”
Rob didn't want to mention the stones out loud for Perrin to hear. “Trust me,” he said as he fumbled to open the pouch.
Suddenly, Perrin shoved a blackened hand toward them and a blue bolt of fire exploded from his palm.
The bolt raced at them causing Rob and Jace to jump out of its way.
As the bolt whizzed by, Rob could actually see a grinning black skull within, shrieking. The magical projectile struck the wall behind them and vanished.
Oh, crap, Rob thought as he looked to Perrin. That was the Death Bolt spell.
The dishonored king was already running at him, his hands enveloped in the blue flames of Fiery Touch.
Perrin moved so quickly, Rob didn't have time to pull out a stone or his sword.
The undead king grabbed at him, screaming, “You! It's you!”
Rob held up his shield just as Perrin grabbed it. Blue flame enveloped it instantly and covered Rob's arm.
Rob shouted in pain. His arm was being cooked! He tried to pull it out of the straps, but it was held fast by magic, burning.
Mind racing, Rob punched Perrin in the face with his fist, but it was like hitting stone.
The blue flames moved up his arm to his shoulder and Rob started to panic.
Perrin screamed at him, “She marked us all! She marked us all!”
Jace appeared beside Perrin, his axe already descending. The blade struck the undead king on his left shoulder, cutting deep.
Despite the strength of the hit, Perrin barely flinched, but he did release Rob's shield and whirl on the woodcutter.
Rob staggered back, simply relieved to no longer be on fire. He looked at his shield arm to see his shirt sleeve had fused with its flesh. The pain was excruciating.
Perrin leapt onto Jace, who valiantly tried to raise his axe again. But Perrin struck out with his hand and another fiery blue Death Bolt shot out, slamming into Jace who didn't have time to react.
The woodcutter was sent flying back onto the floor, screaming in pain. Blue flame danced across his body.
Fighting past the searing agony, Rob managed to reach into his pouch and pull out a stone of Holy Might.
Perrin fell upon Jace, the flames of his hands intensifying the fire already burning the woodcutter's body.
Stone in hand, Rob drew back his arm and threw it.
In the blink of an eye Perrin turned to look, then leapt away as the stone passed through the space he had been. It clattered out into the darkness.
Oh, crap, Rob thought as he tried to locate Perrin. Again, he reached into his pouch and withdrew another stone. He risked a glance at Jace who still lay on the ground. The blue fire burned across his body, but had subsided.
“It's you, isn't it?” Perrin's voice said from the darkness beyond the light. “You said it was, so it must be true.”
Rob was no longer in the mood for false bravado. He held the stone up, ready to throw it. “You betrayed your kingdom!” he shouted. He needed Perrin in the light. “Saif had to kill you!”
There was silence for a few moments. Then Perrin said, “Saif?” Rob couldn't locate where he was.
“Saif didn't kill me!” Perrin shrieked and suddenly appeared to Rob's left vaulting through the air. “He made me!”
Rob turned to throw the stone, but Perrin slammed into him. The impact carried them both through the air for several feet before Rob landed on his back.
Rob must have been knocked out for a second because when he came to he found Perrin on top of him, pressed against the shield, face inches from his own.
“He made me!” Perrin shouted and more Fiery Touch sparked from his hands.
Rob struggled to push Perrin off of him, but he couldn't. The undead king's strength was incredible.
Rob looked to his free hand and was horrified to realize that the stone he held was gone, knocked away.
Desperate, Rob shoved at the shield with all his might, barely lifting it away from his chest. Perrin grabbed at it and blue flame danced across its surface. This time the flames went further. They raced up Rob's arm and across his chest.
Then it was on his face.
Rob screamed. He had never experienced an agony such as this. Intense and unyielding. He no longer wanted to fight. He just wanted the pain to end.
He turned his head to Jace, in a desperate hope he could still help, but the woodcutter lay still. The light around him was dimming quickly, his spell fading. Jace was dying.
“No!” Rob shouted and struggled to free himself from Perrin, but couldn't. Flames ate away at his skin.
Jace's light finally winked out. But the room wasn't plunged fully into blackness. Instead, the blue flames that consumed Rob's body allowed him to see Perrin looming over him.
“Now it's you!” Perrin shouted. “It's always been you!”
The flames intensified, and the pain became so agonizing Rob realized it was driving him mad. He found his hand in his pouch, wedged beneath the shield. His fingers suddenly held the last stone. But he couldn't take it o
ut. He couldn't move.
Perrin's dead eyes were locked on Rob's, searching for something. Then the undead king gasped, and he eased back enough that Rob could remove his arm.