World At War

by Dave Willmarth

  The ancient drow cast a heal on himself, replacing the miniscule amount of HP that Jules’ attack had taken from him, and the more significant loss from Fitz’s attack. Then with a shout, he flung both hands forward. A shield bubble appeared around him, stopping a second blast from Fitz and several attacks from the other raiders. Alexander took a good look at him as the raid group advanced toward the throne.

  Veldizar

  Drow Wizard

  Level 140

  Health: 180,000/180,000

  Fitz took a few steps forward, switching to Magic Bolts and firing them using his staff as a focus. The shield rang with each impact, as if a wooden mallet was being used to strike a large bell. The bolts didn’t dissipate on contact, but rather ricocheted upward or off to the sides.

  The drow completed a long casting of his own and a wall of flame shot forth, running along the walkway and expanding as it traveled. Alexander quickly threw up a shield on the front line of tanks, now six wide. “Get behind the tanks!” he shouted, needlessly. Everyone could see for themselves where to be.

  The wave hit his shield and parted, the flames pushing off to either side. The barrier created a sort of cone of safety behind it. But the damage from the flames reduced the shield’s strength by eighty percent.

  Sasha shouted, “This isn’t going to be a melee fight! Take cover behind the columns! Tanks and melee watch for adds! Everybody else, kill this asshole!”

  Fibble, standing right next to Sasha as usual, squeaked out his version of a battle ‘rawr!’ and shot forward. His fuzzy slippers were a blur as he used the speed gifted to him by Hermes. Running straight at the drow, he fired with his stick. “Pew! Pew!”

  The drow smirked at the little goblin as the light attacks were deflected by his shield. He returned fire, casting a dark bolt that missed the speedy goblin by inches as he dodged to one side. Just as he’d done with the demon when they’d first adopted him, Fibble began to harass the drow, running here and there and firing again and again, shouting, “Pew!” with each shot.

  The raiders roared their approval, redoubling their attacks as they cheered their little buddy. Alexander drew his sword and focused his Ray of Light spell through the weapon. The beam’s heat caused the air around it to waver as it burned through the room and into the shield. The light spread out in ripples across the shield’s surface as Alexander tried to bore a hole in it or destroy the shield altogether.

  The drow shouted again and a door to one side of the room burst open. Two enormous trolls in full plate armor stepped into the room. These were nearly identical to those who’d stood at the gate above, only much larger. Each carried a shield and a spiked flail.

  Sasha shouted, “Tanks! Do your thing! Melee, back them up! Martin, Lyra, Benny, you’re on that group. Shout if you need help.”

  The tanks left the cover of the columns and rushed toward the trolls with the orcs and minotaurs, as well as Warren, Helga, Pollock and his guys right behind them.

  Alexander broke off his attack for a moment and cast Levitate on one of the trolls. Lifting the massive thing with the heavy armor was nearly too much for him. He had flashbacks of lifting the stone that had wrenched his magic from him not so long ago.

  Barely lifting the thing off the ground, he shoved it sideways into its ally, knocking them both to the ground. Breathing hard and feeling drained, he left it to his people to take advantage of the opportunity.

  Turning back to the drow, he cast Wizard’s Fire on the shield. The flame quickly spread to engulf the top half of the bubble, obscuring the view of the drow inside. Reverting back to his Ray of Light, he resumed his efforts to break through.

  Fifteen seconds later, he glanced to the side, checking up on the group fighting the trolls. He saw one of the beasts was still on its back, Lugs stomping on its chest every time it tried to rise. The other one was back on its feet and Alexander watched as it whipped the flail around. The spikes of the ball embedded themselves into Warren’s back as he tried to dodge. The ball was nearly as large as the warrior himself and two of the longer spikes erupted from his chest as he was flung forward, stuck to the weapon. His health dropped to zero and he dropped his weapon. The troll swung the weapon back, then slammed it to the ground, trying to dislodge Warren’s corpse. Molgo and the others took advantage and rushed in, pounding with axe and sword at joints in the beast’s armor.

  Troll Juggernaut

  Level 90

  Health: 192,400/220,000

  “Damn, each of the trolls is a boss all on its own!” Alexander said to nobody in particular. His group was doing well, managing to separate the upright troll from the one still on the ground, not allowing their people to get trapped between them.

  Fitz shouted something Alexander couldn’t quite make out. A second later, Rufus appeared through a hole in the wizard’s hat. The adorable little squirrel-thing leapt to the floor and dashed toward the trolls. As he went, he grew and transformed. His front legs got longer and stronger. His bushy tail thinned and grew scales. His head elongated, as did his teeth and claws.

  By the time Rufus reached the closest troll, he stood eight feet tall and weighed easily eight hundred pounds. He was all teeth, claws and muscle, resembling a raptor more than the furry pet he’d been just moments before.

  Rufus darted in behind the battling troll and latched onto its armor with his foreclaws. Pulling the troll back toward him and unbalancing the monster, he clamped his jaw down on the monster’s weapon arm bicep and began to gnaw at the metal armor. The sound of bone on metal screeched through the battle.

  The drow, still safe in his bubble, cast another wave of fire while Alexander was distracted. This one impacted the melee and tanks, and Rufus, before he had time to react and throw up a shield. It blasted through the group, burning the raiders and heating up the armor of the trolls. Two minotaurs right in the center of the wave died, along with two of the players from Antalia. The group’s healers were far enough away to have been unharmed, and were working frantically to do their jobs. Alexander cast heals on those who were most badly injured, then turned back to the drow.

  As long as the evil wizard was safe in his bubble, the raiders were at his mercy. Desperate to end the fight before more citizens were killed, Alexander pulled up his nuke. He focused on the shield and cast the Divine spell gifted to him by Odin and the pantheon of Light.

  The blast of divine magic crashed down through the ceiling, nearly blinding everyone in the room. There was a resounding boom as the spell impacted the shield, then a sound like shattering glass as it failed and burst into millions of shards.

  The drow screamed as some portion of the divine spell reached him. His skin smoked and his long white hair melted on his head and shoulders.

  Fitz took immediate advantage, blasting the drow with attack after attack of blue magic as he stalked forward toward the throne. Alexander hit him with Wizard’s Fire, hoping to further interrupt any casting he attempted.

  When Fitz reached the throne, he slammed the butt of his staff into the drow’s face, breaking his jaw and several teeth. The drow spat the fragments out, along with a nasty-sounding spell that knocked Fitz back and surrounded him in a dark cloud.

  A shout from the direction of the trolls caught Alexander’s attention. The second troll had regained its feet and was wildly swinging its flail in an arc. Two minotaurs lay bleeding at its feet and Lugs was limping out of range of the attacks, his left leg mangled.

  Sasha redirected all the healers to cover the tanks and melee as Lainey and Max peppered the drow with arrow after arrow as rapidly as they could. Fitz was still within the dark cloud, and Alexander could hear him cursing.

  Pointing toward the troll that was swinging its weapon, Alexander raised the stone underneath. With no time to be precise, he flung the his hand upward. A column of stone rose under the troll’s feet, lifting it high into the air. Surprised and off balance, it stumbled. Alexander kept channeling the spell until the platform was thirty feet in the air. Which was w
hen the now-frightened troll fell off.

  Alexander liquefied the stone as the armored troll plummeted thirty feet to the floor. Its armor deformed as it impacted, a loud clang sounding through the room. It lay there stunned and partly broken as Lugs and the others closed in and began to hack at it.

  Alexander turned back to Veldizar. Channeling his Ray of Light, he built up the mana for a burst. Putting more than a thousand mana into it, he blasted the wizard in the face. The spell peeled the flesh off of half the drow’s face and knocked him backward in his chair.

  Veldizar

  Drow Wizard

  Level 140

  Health: 110,050/180,000

  Fitz shouted something that echoed through the room and the dark cloud around him exploded, shredding into wisps that floated to the floor and dissipated. His clothes and skin burned with acid, the dragon wizard looking a bit worse for wear. Ignoring his physical condition, Fitz leapt back into the fight. He began an incantation that ended with him slamming his staff into Veldizar’s chest.

  The drow went stiff, his body rigid. Hatred boiled from his eyes as he strained against Fitz’s spell. The ranged damage-dealers once again poured on their attacks, using the fastest and strongest they had available.

  Veldizar’s health dropped to fifty percent and a wind began to howl through the room. A whirlwind formed around the throne, spinning faster and faster. A moment later, the millions of shards from the shattered shield were lifted into the air and the whirlwind became deadly. Fitz tried to retreat, but the vortex moved with him. He quickly cast a shield around himself, followed by a heal.

  Alexander frantically tried to interrupt the spell. He hit the drow with magic bolts, bursts of light, even a healing spell. Nothing broke the focus of the drow wizard, intent as he was on killing the dragon. Even at the cost of his own life.

  Alexander was about to try surrounding Fitz with stone to stop the wind when the spell just stopped. Looking to the throne, Alexander saw Jules once again standing behind the throne. Her right-hand dagger was jammed through the side of the drow’s throat and the left protruded from his chest. She yanked out both daggers, then activated the ability she’d used on the runaway troll.

  Her daggers stabbed into the drow’s chest, face, and neck over and over. She slit his throat and gouged out one of his eyes. When it was over, she stood panting in front of him, covered in his blood. It ran down her arms and dripped from her blades.

  The drow managed to cast a heal that closed his throat wounds and gasped in a ragged breath. He pointed a finger at Jules and croaked, “DIE!”

  Jules was blasted backward, her limp body sliding across the marble. A black ooze coated her front side and ate away at skin and armor alike. Her health bar dropped to zero in seconds, and she was gone.

  Alexander and Fitz shouted challenges in unison. Fitz held out both hands and blasted Veldizar with blue flame. The drow lifted his cloak to ward off the blaze, hiding behind it. Alexander charged forward, ignoring the danger. He lifted his sword in front of him and impaled the drow, the blade plunging through his chest and pinning him to the chair. He channeled a burst of light magic through the weapon, causing the drow to scream as the light illuminated its body from the inside. Gritting his teeth, he levered the sword upward, the razor sharp blade snapping ribs and slicing flesh as he poured more mana into the channeled light spell. Light began to pour from the drow’s eyes and open mouth as he continued to scream.

  Veldizar

  Drow Wizard

  Level 140

  Health: 31,900/180,000

  Veldizar’s hands shot forward, blasting out the same spell he’d killed Jules with. Alexander and Fitz both flew backward, with Alexander taking the brunt of the force. His chest was protected by his Legendary armor piece, but his left arm snapped as he impacted the floor. His brain felt like jelly as a ‘Stunned’ debuff appeared on his UI. Twenty seconds. An eternity.

  The drow was about to cast another heal on himself when a Shock arrow from Lainey interrupted him. The stun lasted less than a second, but it forced him to start again. Immediately, a burst of five arrows struck his face as Max jumped in. A second later, a Silence arrow struck the drow in the face as well.

  Fitz managed to sit up and begin casting bolts at Veldizar. Each one took about a thousand points off the drow’s health. Alexander could only sit, helpless, as the clock on his stun ticked down.

  Veldizar

  Drow Wizard

  Level 140

  Health: 2,900/180,000

  Fitz himself wasn’t looking too healthy. He’d absorbed a lot of damage from the drow wizard. Alexander saw him begin to change to dragon form even as he pounded Veldizar with magic once more.

  “I have waited millennia to take your head, Fitzbindulum! Oldest and wisest of the dragons. He who wastes his time playing among the insect humans!” Veldizar blasted Fitz again, this time with one of the shit-weasel spells. The worm impacted Fitz in the face as he transformed. Veldizar had timed the attack perfectly. With his hands on the floor and changing into forepaws, Fitz couldn’t react quickly enough. All he could do was bite down on the worm trying to dig its way down his throat.

  Alexander rushed toward Fitz and grabbed hold of the nasty thing with his one good hand, trying to pull it free.

  As he struggled, he heard a high-pitched scream. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Fibble leap up over the arm of the throne to the drow’s right side. Tiny sword in hand, the furious little goblin soared through the air. “No hurt Fitz! Die!” he screamed, driving the sword into Veldizar’s remaining eye as he landed on the wizard’s chest. With his other hand, Fibble shoved his stick into Veldizar’s open mouth and shouted, “Pew! Pew! Pew!” as he fired light bursts over and over. The combined critical hit with the light-blessed sword and the light magic delivered straight into the wizard’s mouth were enough to drain his last sliver of health.

  The worm that Fitz and Alexander struggled against went limp when Veldizar died. Fitz unclenched his jaw and allowed Alexander to yank it free as both of them fell backward. Alexander heard Max shout.

  “Holy shit! Fibble just killed the boss!!”

  Everyone in the raid except Fitz leveled up. Which was good, because the two trolls, now freed from whatever control was exerted over them by the drow, went berserk. They began tearing pieces of armor off of themselves and hurling them at nearby raiders.

  The tanks did their job, grabbing the attention of the enraged monsters and absorbing damage as the rest of the raid burned down first one troll, then the other.

  Quest Complete! The Heart of Darkness

  You and your raid party have successfully infiltrated the drow stronghold

  and killed the drow wizard Veldizar. Reward: Experience – 350,000, Gold – 650

  Bonus reward for capture: None

  Alert! You have captured a drow stronghold!

  Would you like to claim ownership of this stronghold?

  Yes/No?

  Alexander looked around at the faces of his core group. Max and Brick nodded their heads, grinning. Lainey and Sasha just shrugged. Jules was, of course, in limbo.

  Fitz stepped forward, a back-to-normal Rufus sitting atop the brim of his hat. “If you do not claim the stronghold, others might. There are many more drow out there. Do not let them regain a foothold so easily.”

  Alexander didn’t need a better reason than that. He mentally selected ‘Yes’ on his UI.

  >>>System Alert!<<<

  World Event Update

  King Alexander of Elysia and his raid party have captured the stronghold belonging to the drow wizard Veldizar! They are the first to both successfully defend against the drow invasion of their capitol and take the fight to the aggressors to destroy the enemy.

  Alexander’s UI lit up with system messages again. With a sigh, he scrolled through them.

  First Kill!

  Congratulations! You and your group are the first to defeat Veldizar’s Stronghold.

  Reward: Experience –
800,000; 1,000 gold; Reputation with all citizens of Io: +50

  World First!

  Congratulations! You and your group are the first to complete the World at War event.

  Reward: Experience: 500,000; 500 gold; Reputation with all citizens of Io: +100

  Level up! You are now level 78!

  Your Wisdom has increased by +1

  Your Intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 13 free attribute points available

  The raiders were celebrating like madmen. The massive experience boosts leveled all of them at least once. And fifteen hundred gold on top of everything else they’d earned on this raid was huge for some of the players, and all of the NPCs. Alexander noted a flashing light in the shape of a money bag along the left side of his UI and focused on it. After reading the message that popped up, he smiled and called Molgo over.

  “I just got a message. Those of your people and the orcs who have fallen in this place have each been awarded a full share of the gold. To be given to their families or designated heirs.”

  Molgo bowed his head briefly. “Thank you, Alexander. The families of the fallen will be greatly pleased. Not only have our fallen earned great glory, they have provided well for the tribe.”

  “Don’t thank me, I’m just the messenger. Thank Odin and the light gods.”

  Molgo grunted and moved away to inform the orcs and minotaurs.

  Max looted the wizard and whistled. “There’s some seriously sweet loot here, boss!” he called out.

  Alexander, tired of being underground and concerned for his people, was ready to leave. “Grab it all, we’ll go through it later. Also, get Jules, Warren’s and everyone else’s gear to take with us.”

  The moment Max looted the old wizard, a portal appeared behind the throne. The group of dragons that had been providing the distraction up top joined them, arriving through the same door the raiders had. Del reported in.

  “We left nothing alive from the gates to this room.” He looked around at the dead trolls and the drow wizard. “It seems you were quite busy yourselves.”