“We’ll go for min to max levels for targeting. Focus on the lower levels and take them out before moving on to the higher level attackers.
“Dwarves and Elves will provide support. If the cultists start hitting us like hell in certain areas, they will bolster our lines. If the choice is to heal the People of Emerilia or Players, get the People of Emerilia.
“Clerics and those with holy blessings, I want blanketing spells on everyone. These things are as dark as Hades’ balls—I don’t want to think what would happen if we don’t have some holy protection. Tanks, if you hit ten percent, I want you to switch off with reinforcements.
“Mages will work in teams of three to keep two active and one meditating to rebuild your Mana pool. As soon as your debuff time for potions and provisions runs out, I want people snacking and drinking potions like it’s your damn day job. Make sure that you are on all the right command channels and pay attention to the cultists’ weaknesses. If you find one, no matter your rank, post it in the weakness channel. Same if you see any patterns created,” Josh finished.
The preparations were complicated, much more than what Deia had dealt with but she’d seen game videos of Stone Raiders taking down various raids and dungeons. They used everything that could possibly give them an edge on the battlefield.
“Don’t you think that we’re over-prepping this?” the guild leader of Opheir’s Knights asked. He and his entire order were level 70; they didn’t accept anyone less than level 60 and they had to have some pretty good gear. They were flashy as hell and they were powerful, but they were Action Players, not Evolvers.
They had imagined themselves as knights, Players who did right by the People of Emerilia. They were self-proclaimed and a number of people thought that they’d made it this far on gold rather than actual skill.
“It is best if we plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Cassie said.
Being from the Golden Sabres, with her looks and gear, it seemed that even the stubborn Opheir’s Knights listened.
“Questions?” Koda asked.
There weren’t any—they had been over the plan plenty of times.
“Wender, move up all but the guarding warbands to the citadel.”
“It will be done.” Wender saluted the image. A mage cut the communication spell.
“Sound the war drums. We march in an hour.”
People started to stream out of the room.
“We’ll see you down there.” Lox patted Dave on the shoulder and nodded to Deia.
“Damn slow buggers. Be waiting all week for them to just show up!” Joko grinned.
“Just need to give you short buggers a head start,” Deia shot back.
“Damn knife-ears!” Joko said. They braced arms in a warrior’s salute, separating from each other.
“Well, it looks like we’re stuck with one another,” Dave said to Malsour and Induca. Deia moved to face them as well.
“It would seem so. We should go and meet with the rest of our squad.” Malsour turned. The inside of his cloak was black as night while Induca’s was red with what looked like moving flames.
For a moment, she thought that she saw their eyes turn into slits like a lizard’s might. She shook her head and shook the image away. In her nerves, she was seeing things.
***
Jules watched as the other four of their group approached.
The Dracul brother and sister, and then Dave and Deia.
“Well, things have certainly changed,” she said as they met up on the road, turning and heading toward the southern gates.
Mikal, Esa, and Jules all wore a simple rock symbol on their shoulders, an R emblazoned on it, showing their allegiance to the Stone Raiders.
“How so?” Dave asked as they walked along.
“Well, we’ve got a lot stronger. I don’t think we would’ve been this powerful in a year of playing Emerilia. We got taken on by the Stone Raiders and well, the Dwarves and Elves don’t totally hate us,” Jules said.
“I’m scared that the makers of Emerilia will see how many people got interested by this raid that they’ll start doing more events like this,” Esa said.
“Certainly teach people to think before accepting quests,” Dave said, without the anger that he’d shown when they’d initially opened the citadel’s prison.
“This might be the wrong time to say this, but fuck if this doesn’t look awesome. I know that the Stone Raiders have a lot of people paying out the ass for our streams. There hasn’t been an event like this yet so they’re all excited to see what’s going to happen. Plus, that is one hell of a sight.” Mikal waved to the southern road, which had warbands moving down it in synchronous step.
Guilds followed, walking or traveling on their beasts.
Jules thought that she heard Dave muttering something. She turned around to see a hood around his head and shadows covering all but his eyes. “That is freaky,” she said.
“Where did you get that from?” Mikal asked.
“Maybe if you beat me in a game of tag, I’ll show you, Apprentice.” Deia smiled and pulled up her hood. Her eyes still showed but mist seemed to form from the sides of the hood, covering her other features.
“Okay, so Dave and Esa are our shield bearers. Mikal will be behind them, ready with his blades. Deia will be going caster and archery. I’ll be doing healing. What are your strengths?” Jules looked to Malsour and Induca.
“I am good with constructs of the Dark. I will do counter buffs across us and other squads,” Malsour said.
“I am primarily a Fire mage. I can work with close range but my strengths make it best if I am to the rear in order to drop bigger spells.” Induca didn’t sound as though she was bragging, just telling a simple fact.
Before a battle, bragging was a way to mess you and your party up. Few Players did it and none of the Stone Raiders did it. They needed to know one another’s strengths and weaknesses before they ever went up against the creatures that could be two or three times their own levels.
“Okay, Dave, Deia—do you have the provisions and potions for tomorrow?” Jules asked.
“Yeah, Deia and I spent the last couple of days getting them ready. We’ll be good for a while.” Dave opened up a trade window with the rest of the party. He traded goods directly into their packs. He had been in charge of making food.
“And once more,” Deia said, trading them potions she’d created with her skills in herb lore and alchemy.
They were well and truly prepared.
The Stone Raiders moved out, following the warbands. Their Elven rangers were already moving through the tree lines and looking for anything that might threaten the last group of fighters headed to Boran-al’s Citadel.
Chapter 32: Darkest Night
Boran-al moved through the shadows around the large camp set up at the entrance of the caves that had held his citadel for so long.
The area had been cleared and flattened by the combined Dwarven and Elven mages. Elven rangers moved through the forest, even at night, to make sure that nothing would sneak up on the camp.
Magical wards and tripwires covered the area as well. Boran-al disregarded them all as he lived in the shadows, looking at the creatures who dared to contest his power.
He looked at them all: the Player guilds in their mismatched lodgings and the combined army from Kufo’tel and Mithsia in orderly tents.
He sent a message to the creature who led the Earth Lord’s forces. The forest seemed to come alive with creatures letting loose their angry cries. Some of them would fight one another, but the noise was what Boran-al was using them for.
The People of the camp came alive in minutes, moving to the battlements that had been created from the earth.
Boran-al’s smile grew as he watched the feeble beings rush from their sleep to action. He would see that they would get little sleep in the coming days.
They might slaughter the Earth Lord’s minions if they came close but having them wandering around and making as much noise as possible woul
d leave those who dared to defy Boran-al and his lord tired.
When someone was tired, then they weren’t working at their best.
With a thought, Boran-al disappeared, leaving behind the howling and cries of the forest.
He appeared in his immaterial form. The power it took was large; he was actively breaking through the Magical Circuits that were slowly breaking as his cultists systematically destroyed them.
“Massssterr.” A mummified-looking creature wearing a black robe knelt. Nine others followed its actions.
“Are all the preparations made?” Boran-al asked.
“We…are…read-y.” The creature talked with simple words, finding it hard to talk in complex sentences.
“On the death of the next day, we will once again show these creatures the power of the Dark and the devout. We will color this world black and raise armies of those who dared to think their magic capable of defeating the Dark.” Boran-al could sense the hunger in those around him. It mattered little what had got them to this point. Their power had turned into their cause, twisting nature and death into a tool of further destruction. Their darkness had pervaded their bodies and souls completely, turning them into dark creations.
There were no Players who could match their levels or power. Once he had raised the citadel, he would send his necromancers and their armies to tear the Kufo’tel Elves and Mithsia Dwarves from their homes to strengthen his undead legions and spread across Opheir and then Emerilia.
Other necromancers, even those who had once been Players, would flock to his cause. Power corrupts and they would use his twisted power for destruction and death.
“It is time that you started the ritual to call forth Damocles’ Darkness.”
“Yesss, Massterr,” the speaker said.
Boran-al laughed, cold and dark, the kind of laughter a serial killer might have as they moved through their victims one by one.
He sent a message to his spies.
Group Message
Darkness comes, Darkness stays, Darkness eternal. Kill those who would threaten us.
***
Dave woke with the sounds of predators around the camp.
The entire camp did.
Within moments, Dave and Deia were out of their tent, wearing their armor.
“We’re moving to the northern wall,” Jules said as they passed.
Dave checked the message boards. A flood of information came in from all kinds of sources. Orders were passed down other boards. Many of the Players had logged out for the night to prepare for the next day. There was about one for every five Players active and online. None of the Dwarves or Elves had that luxury, so they were all moving for the walls.
The majority of Stone Raiders were E-heads, so they made up the largest group manning the walls.
They’d scrambled up to the walls and were looking for possible attackers when the first tent went up in fire. There were quickly others. Mages were dispersed to stop the fires.
Then the first casualties started to come in, people—Dwarves, Elves, Players—dying.
Message Board: Information
>Sighted sprites near western wall, too far to hit
>Fire with supply train. Mages reacting.
>Just got revived in Omal; a Player shanked me in the back. Said something about the Dark Lord sending his regards. Someone kill that prick!
Dave sensed someone moving behind Deia to plant a blade in her back. She turned and sent a concentrated blast of fire through their stomach.
Deia took a picture of the man and sent it into the Information message board.
Some of the Players who had made personal alliances with the Dark were now being requested by Boran-al to fulfill their vows, to create chaos and confusion within the camp.
Dave was scared to see how it would affect the battle tomorrow.
***
It had been said before, but Dave was decidedly not a morning person. Add in the fact that he had been kept awake all night by a bunch of damned forest creatures that wanted to be nothing but a bunch of loud fucking grasshoppers, he was currently trying to drown in coffee substitute, muttering dark things about lords of Dark and Earth.
“Is he okay?” Dwayne asked as he checked on the squad.
“Not the best man after not sleeping for a bit. Give him a project—he’ll forget to breathe if you don’t tell him. Take away his sleep on purpose…” Lox let the rest trail off as Dwayne shivered.
Lox and his warband had paired up with Jules’s squad. Dwayne had seen Deia and Induca’s power before and he’d already slotted them as one of the most powerful squads.
In the week since camping out next to the citadel, they’d got closer together and Malsour had also deemed to teach others about spells that could fight off some of the general dark debuffs that Boran-al’s cultists might use.
Even now, there was a wolf making noise. Deia strung her bow and fired an arrow. A fiery trail lit up the afternoon sky, hitting the errant creature.
“That’s my girl.” Dave grinned happily.
“Stopped me from cuddling with my baby,” she said, an angry expression on her face as she sat down.
It pulled Dave out of his funk as they talked relationship-y things.
Dwayne shook his head. They were certainly one different kind of couple.
A shake spread through the ground. Every head snapped toward the gully and the defensive walls that faced the gully.
“Got about four hours; it should rise with the lowering of the sun.” Dave’s voice was serious as he looked directly at where the prison was.
“Bit ominous,” Gurren said, continuing to sharpen his blade.
“Well, they’re necromancers—they’ve always got a bit of a flair of the dramatic,” Max said, looking as if he was trying to take a nap.
Another creature started to make noise.
“Oh piss off, will you, goddamn Earth Lord’s minions!” Esa threw a rock in the direction of the outward facing wall.
Lightning silenced whatever was beyond the wall. Obviously the Players were getting a little pissed with the lack of sleep and Players who had worked their way into their guilds betraying them in the night.
The Stone Raiders didn’t have any for the simple fact that it was hard to devote your time to the guild and have the time to do anything else. Other guilds had been filled with assassins who had moved in to tear them apart from the inside on a contract but had instead followed Boran-al’s instructions.
Four guilds had been decimated, most of them being revived and heading back to the guild headquarters in order to stop the traitors from taking anything else from the guild. Entire buildings were stolen, personal belongings and vaults raided, and so on. Overnight, guilds were being torn apart.
The guilds all watched one another with little trust, and the Dwarves and Elves were watching them all with close eyes. Fourteen People of the land had been attacked: eight were dead, and the others had been healed up.
Dwayne and the other guild leaders were scared that there were more assassins left within the Players, biding their time until a critical moment.
They had no choice but to move forward; however, Josh was looking at doing raids in the future with just the People of the Stone Raiders.
***
Malsour stood, staring at the gully.
Dave stood as well. Both of them felt what was moving now. Their ability to see through the physical allowed them to see the now rising citadel.
Dave checked his axes. “It’s time.” His voice was low but the others started to stand as the ground rumbled.
War drums hammered away as Dave checked his armor. Deia’s hands moved to his straps, making sure it was secure. Dave checked her armor as the rest did their final checks.
The ground beyond the gully seemed to crack and then let go as massive black pillars shot into the sky. Stairs broke through where the gully had been, ending just feet from the walls that had been erected to face the dungeon. Rocks and earth that had buried
the citadel were thrown away.
The first warbands moved up the steps. Everyone else was moving into position.
Dave couldn’t see all the details of the citadel but it looked like the rough sketch of pillars on the corners and in the center was correct.
They were covered in blood-red runes. Dave didn’t doubt that they had been created with blood at some point.
“Move up! You all know what to do. Malsour, start buffing—everyone else, food and potions!” Jules moved, getting them to follow.
Dave jogged behind her, looking to his grim friends. The Dwarves pulled on their helms, moving with a speed that belied the weight they carried.
Malsour and Induca moved with an otherworldly grace as Esa thumped on ahead, right on Jules’s heels. Mikal and Deia stayed back.
“Well, let’s see just what the hell these necromancers have.” Dave pulled up his hood, feeling the comfortable weight of his armor. A cold smile spread across his face, an expression hidden beneath his hood.
He saw arcing power already being thrown around at the top of the stairs. Battle had been joined.
There were dozens of necromancers. None of them were below level 100; ten of them seemed to be chanting away around the central spike monument. It was as they had thought: four pillars on each corner, with four spikes in the center with an altar in the middle of it. The pillars on each corner had cages built into them to hold the cultists’ victims.
A chain of pure black snaked out, grabbing someone and hauling them toward the center. They had multiple buffs on but these creatures were all mini bosses. Their magic was too powerful. The chain held them to the altar. They fought and writhed in order to try to get free.
A blade came out of the altar, piercing them. Their cries of anger turned into painful choking noises.
Dark magic crashed into shields and cut through the forces rushing up the stairs.
The Trapped Mind Project (Emerilia Book 1) Page 45