by Adam Drake
“Coming to you now!” Mudhoof said.
I looked around and spotted him in the distance at the very far edge of the cavern. Feign ran along beside him, robes billowing about.
I was about to offer a grateful response when I spotted two other figures appear from a side tunnel behind Mudhoof. They ran at top speed to catch up to the minotaur and mage.
It was the centaur-samurai and the stone mage.
“Look out! Behind you!” I shouted. On the screen, Mudhoof spun about, but I didn't see more because Mutant-Thorm had heard me.
The contorted monster blindly slammed his sword down at the spot my voice came from.
I jumped but not before the huge knuckles of his fist glanced heavily off my back. The contact sent me sprawling in a heap along the ground where I crashed against a pylon.
As I tried to get me senses back, the ground heaved and shattered before me. I scrambled back grasping at the ore pylon for balance, my sure-footed ability switching off having used it too many times that day.
A chasm gaped before me and the pylon I hung on to suddenly crumbled. Shouting in surprise, I slipped over the edge.
With both my hands I clung to the chasm edge. Behind me came a roar. Mutant-Thorm, having regained his balance spotted me and charged.
This would not end well, I thought morbidly. I pulled myself up, but I wasn't fast enough.
When Mutant-Thorm reached the chasm edge he raised his meaty sword-fist to smite me for the last time.
The ground he was on suddenly shifted and with a mighty crack, broke off. It dropped straight down, taking the monstrosity with it. Even as he fell, the thing took a swing at me.
I had to heave my body up and curl my legs under me as the sword clanged mere inches from my butt.
Then I saw the Mutant-Thorm vanish into the dusty darkness of the chasm, roaring all the way down.
I finally got myself up over the ledge and crawled a safe distance away. But what was really safe anymore?
A glance toward my friends told me they were joined in full battle. Mudhoof, armed with his uber ax, traded blows with the centaur who wielded a long handled halberd. Feign was back pedaling away from the stone mage who cast boulders at him. As the boulders shot forward, Feign summoned a large wedge of ice in front of it, deflecting the rolling projectile enough to miss crushing him. But I did not know how long either one of them had.
The portal swirled like an angry black whirlpool. The blue beams of light were now a handful, and it seemed that dashing the last of them would close the portal for good.
As the ground continued to heave and shift, I managed to stand. The last of the pylons needed to be destroyed. This was it. Only a few more to go.
A loud voice echoed throughout the huge cavern. “You dare defy the One?” It said.
I looked. There, in large entryway stood a huge figure I'd hoped to never encounter again. Death personified and the giver of re-rolls.
The Demon King.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
For a moment I could only stare at the massive figure of the Demon King.
He was a god. I'd never heard of anyone killing a god before, let alone taking one on in battle.
I was a fair distance from him, but the others were much closer.
Feign had frozen the stone mage who was encased in a block of ice. The ice mage turned to face the approaching Demon King. He, too, stood paralyzed with fear.
The centaur-samurai appeared to have the upper hand dueling with Mudhoof, but when the Demon King appeared he looked in the god's direction. This was the opening Mudhoof needed. The minotaur struck, and the centaur was cut in two; human half tumbling one way, the horse half the other. The centaur-samurai's inventory items all spilled into a neat pile on the ground, ready to be claimed.
Mudhoof waved his arms in the air in victory. His chat window was still open at the corner of my vision. “I get your stuff! I get your stuff!” The gleeful minotaur sing-songed.
“Mudhoof! Look out!” I cried into the chat screen.
The bull warrior whirled around and looked up.
The Demon King glided into the huge chamber and glared down at my friends. He raised his wooden staff up and smashed its end to the floor.
The ground heaved and buckled. I fell over and conked my head on a pile of ore. Above, the Demon Spine cracked and huge chunks fell. Large rents opened up revealing the blue sky above. I did not know how long this place would remain standing.
Feign had turned to run, but the impact of the staff was too great. The floor cracked open next to him, and both he and the frozen stone mage fell from view.
Mudhoof had lost his balance and lay on his side. He gave the Demon King a venomous glare.
I regained my senses and stood. This time I did not hesitate and fired into the nearest pylon; its light winked out and the portal gate rumbled. The clouds within sped up, swirling faster and faster.
The Demon King turned to look at me. “Stop that, worm,” he said, his voice louder than the cracking stone around me. “Or I will have my minions feed upon your flesh for an eternity.”
My response to his goofy dialog was to shoot another pylon.
The Demon King roared, and glided in my direction, raising his staff.
“Hey, Demon Twit!” Mudhoof shouted from the chat window. “Catch this!”
I looked to Mudhoof in the distance. He heaved his ax over his head with both hands, then using all his strength threw it. The uber ax was like a silver buzzsaw as it whipped through the air.
Amazingly, the ax buried itself into the shin of the Demon King.
The god roared, again, this time in pain. He stopped and pointed his staff at Mudhoof.
“Watch it, Muddie!” I cried, but it was too late.
Black lightening arced from the tip of the huge wooden staff and struck Mudhoof. The minotaur staggered back, black magical light exploding against his chest.
But nothing happened. Mudhoof stood against the magical barrage but did not mutate or transform like Thorm had.
The Demon King stopped the assault, no doubt perplexed.
In the chat window, Mudhoof held up the little white crystal. “It worked, Vee! Go figure!”
A roar from the Demon King brought more debris down from the ceiling. He glided toward Mudhoof. The minotaur had managed to tick off a god.
“Get out of there, Muddie! Head back to the tunnels!” It was the only real option he had.
Mudhoof shook his head. “Can't. This is it. It's up to you. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing. I'll try to slow him down a little.” He glanced directly into screen. “It has been an honor questing with you, Vee.”
“No, Muddie!” I yelled. “Don't!” But it didn't matter.
Mudhoof lowered his horns, snorting steam from his huge nostrils. Then he charged straight at the approaching Demon King.
“RE-ROLL!!!!!” He shouted.
The Demon King stopped, pulled his staff back and swung it down like a colossal golf club. It hit the maniacal minotaur with incredible force.
The powerful impact sent Mudhoof straight into the air, then up through a rent in the high ceiling and he vanished from view.
The chat window closed.
Mudhoof was gone.
I stared at the point that my friend had been sent to his death, more than a little overwhelmed. Now I was all that was left of our group, and against a god. My heart beat hard in my chest.
Keep doing what you're doing.
The Demon King then resumed his approach toward me, but I focused on the task at hand. Destroying the remaining pylons.
I fired rapidly, faster than I ever had before. Over and over.
Each pylon that collapsed sent more shock-waves through the ground. The lights feeding the portal lessened to just a handful.
“Stop!” The Demon King commanded. I looked up to see him towering above me. He pointed his staff and black lightening arced out. I tensed.
Like with Mudhoof, the evil magic was absorbed by t
he white crystal. But I did not spare a moment to admire my good fortune because it was only temporary. I fired and destroyed two more pylons.
There was only one left.
The Demon King stopped his magical assault and raised his huge staff to strike me. There was nothing I could do to avoid it. I used my last second of life to fire at the final pylon.
I missed.
The staff swung down. Desperate, I Shadowed and dived forward using my leap ability.
The swinging staff missed me and the wind it kicked up pushed me toward the ground. The moment before I crashed I fired again.
I hit the pylon.
As the ore shattered the remaining light went out, and the Demon King screamed. Not in rage but in pain.
He raised his hands in the air and shook his fists. “No!” He cried out.
Black light shot out from the swirling portal and enveloped the Demon King. He reacted with surprise.
“This cannot be!” He rumbled. His yellow eyes locked on to me. “You! You did this!”
The god was being dragged away, back toward the portal. He flailed, desperate to stop but nothing slowed him down. Soon he was teetering at the edge of the portal, the black light pulling at him with incredible force.
“You will pay! I will remember you! You will pay!” He screamed.
Then he slipped over the edge, his body swirling along with the clouds and was sucked into the portal.
The gate went dark. Its surface now a black plain of stone. The earth stopped rumbling, and the ceiling did not crack apart any more.
I sagged to the ground, my ears ringing from all the noise and screaming. My avatar's body ached.
Did I do it? Is it over?
Then, beside me, a Legendary Treasure Chest appeared.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Despite my exhaustion the appearance of the treasure chest got my full attention.
Finally. The Legendary Item.
I reached forward and touched the lid which opened on its own. The interior glowed with a soft yellow light.
The chest was packed with gold. I'd never seen so much in one place before. When I ran my hand through the coins, the gold vanished.
But before disappointed set in, I received a message on the bottom of my screen. 'Bank Deposit of 1,000,000 gold pieces received.'
“Oh, that's nice,” I said with a grin. Add that to the deposit money, even after splitting it with the others, and this made for a good haul.
An object then formed within the chest. It looked to be dark clothing of some kind, folded neatly into a square. A piece of parchment covered in writing was pinned to one corner. I unpinned it and read the writing with anticipation.
'Adventurer,
With this item you will become one of seven great champions. Each champion will be tasked with protecting the Realm from the coming Darkness, a blight which seeks to annihilate all. You are now responsible for the incredible power it will give you. Use this wisely.'
Seven great champions? The coming Darkness? What the heck was all that about? A new phase for the gaming universe? The prospect was equal parts exciting and terrifying.
I put the parchment into my inventory and looked at the folded cloth. Its color shifted and changed like chameleon's skin. One second blue, the next black. I reached down and picked it up.
It felt as light as air, and with a silky texture. Carefully, I unfolded it.
A hooded cloak.
I crooked an eyebrow. It didn't appear special. “What's so Legendary about this?” I asked.
The game answered for me and brought up an identifying label.
'The Cloak of Shadows.'
“Whoa,” I said. I'd never even heard of anything similar to this in the game lore.
When I brought up the cloak's list of traits and abilities my jaw hit the ground.
The Cloak of Shadows – Traits & Abilities (Shadow Class Only)
Summon Shadow Steed (Mount).
One teleport per day to a Recall Point.
Shadow Ability Upgraded to Full Invisibility.
Phase ability unlocked.
Create Void Portal.
I was stunned. Shocked. Amazed. This was absolutely incredible!
Any one of the listed abilities would be cool, but to have all of these together on one item? I found myself drooling. This lived up to the label of Legendary.
Whoever wore this would become one of the top tier players in the game. Heck, maybe the single most powerful Shadow.
And, according to the parchment, six other Legendaries now were waiting to be found out there in the game universe. My mind boggled.
But there was a problem. I'd signed a contract to give it to Ogden Trite. He'd get to keep the Cloak or auction it away.
I was conflicted.
Suddenly, the air around me grew very cold. In an instant ice formed over my hands, covering the Cloak of Shadows, and traveled up my arms and encased my body.
I was frozen in a block of ice.
Feign appeared, walking into my frozen field of view.
“Well, well,” the ice mage said. “What do you have there?” He looked at the Cloak in my frozen grip. “Cloak of Shadows? Interesting. That will be worth quite a bit of money. Too bad you won't be collecting it.” He grinned.
I couldn't speak with my face frozen solid. Feign attacked me?
Feign gave a hurtful look. “Oh, you think I'm going to sell it? Now, now, I'm a man of my word. I signed a contract to take the item from you. I was offered a tidy sum, too. But you don't have to take my word for it.”
He pulled up a chat screen, then angled it so I could see who was on the other end.
The familiar gray owl visage of Ogden Trite grinned at me.
“Hello, again, Miss Valesh,” Ogden said. “Glad to see you managed to pull off the impossible. A worthy investment on my part, hmmm?”
Angry, I wanted to respond but gave up trying. This was a screw-job? Ogden betrayed me? But why?
Ogden chuckled, “Oh, I know what you are thinking, why take the item from you if that was your contractual obligation, anyway? Now, it would be foolish of me to think you'd keep your word once the item was finally in your hands. It is a Legendary, after all, so the temptation to keep it would be overwhelming.” His owl face lost its smile. “But if I took it from you first, then I wouldn't have to pay you a thin copper piece.”
Feign chuckled at my look of rage. But still I could not move.
Ogden continued. “I'd done my research and I'm aware of the seven new Legendary items which are being brought into the world. Now I have this one. Soon the rest will be mine by whatever means necessary. And, when in my control, these seven items will help put the entire realm under my reign.”
“What do you want done, boss?” Feign asked. His manner had completely changed. He'd been putting on an act the entire time.
“Send Miss Valesh to the newbie zone, then bring the item to me.” The owl grinned.
Feign withdrew his knife and smiled. Side by side, the two traitors grinned at me.
What was I to do? I was frozen. Feign would kill me, and worse, Ogden would get the Cloak of Shadows.
As Feign approached my eyes flew over the icons on my screen. Then I saw one. My only hope for salvation in this time of need. I selected it.
Phlixx winked into existence and leapt through the air. “My love! You have summoned me again! It fills my heart -,” his eyes went wide once he took in my predicament. “What is this?”
Feign whirled on the ferret. “Stupid rodent!” He cast a spell at Phlixx, but the companion bounced away before a block of ice formed where he'd stood.
“What is going on, Feign?” Ogden demanded, trying to see. “Kill that thing!”
Feign was trying to keep up with the quick movements of Phlixx, casting an ice spell at him but missing each time. “You FILTERED rat!”
The ice around my face and throat had melted a tiny bit. Enough for me to sub-vocalize the only special arrow that would be of use t
o me in my frozen state.
A magma arrow appeared in my quiver. The effect it had on the ice encasing me was immediate, and it started to quickly melt.
Meanwhile Phlixx was firing his little fiery crossbow bolts at Feign. “You dare attack the love of my life! You shall pay!”