by Charles Dean
Without thinking about it, he threw the buff on Brigid right away. He then scanned around, looking for the next move to make to try and save her. He hated that her recklessness had caused her to leave an easily-defensible position, but he still didn’t want to leave her to fight alone.
Dave casually propped his flail over his shoulder and looked like he was about to jump down and help when Lee stopped him. “No! Dave, stay where you are! They need you there. If you go down, no one will be left to defend the people on the rampart.”
“Yeah, but I kinda promised I’d make her into a rug,” Dave complained. “Kinda feel like, you know, I should. With Pelham dead and all.”
“Dave, just hold the damn line,” Lee shouted back over the noise of the battle.
“I’m telling you: it’s damn sexist how you’re always so strict with me and not the girls,” Dave grumbled.
But Lee wasn’t paying attention. He had already jumped down off his own rampart, trusting that Ling and Jade would be able to hold against anything that came up. He wasn’t given the space that Meadhbh had promised, and the second his feet hit the ground, a giant humanoid version of a bull came charging in.
The creature was roughly ten feet tall, and its sword rocketed forward with remarkable speed as it came down swinging right at him. Lee braced himself, threw his new shield up in front of him, and deflected the bull’s blade before returning a slash of his own. His weapon cut through the minotaur-looking beast with ease, slicing through its rough hide and into its side. Unphased, however, the bull thrust forward with a second attack. This time, Lee stepped to the left to avoid the blade and slammed his shield forward, burying the metal spike he had affixed to it into the Phouka. The bull-man threw his head back and bellowed out in pain, leaving himself exposed. Lee took advantage of the opportunity and thrust his sword into the Phouka’s thick, undefended legs twice. The bull’s eyes turned white as it died, and it topped over backward.
He didn’t get a chance to breathe before another Taurus with a two-handed axe attacked him. He jumped back at the last moment and just barely deflected the blow with his shield. If he had been harboring any doubts about the strength of his new equipment, they were fully dispelled after absorbing the staggering blow. He stumbled back several steps until he recovered and then lunged forward, aiming a blow at bull’s side. Unfortunately, his blade was turned away by a horse-like, humanoid Phouka that had approached on his side. The equine creature smashed its mace against Lee’s sword as it turned away the blow, and before Lee could even prepare a defense against those two, a third and fourth Phouka started toward him. Lee cursed under his breath when he saw the two new attackers. He didn’t even know how he was going to handle this, and he desperately needed to make it to Brigid in time to save her.
The one with the axe swung again, and the Phouka beside him also came at him with a sword. Lee thought he might be done for as he could only dodge one, but then a series of arrows riddled the two Phouka, and Lee was able to get out of the way of the axe.
There’s no way that I’ll make it to her if I stay here fighting these one at a time! Rather than retaliating, Lee lunged forward and slammed into the horse-like humanoid with his shield. He careened off the animal, twisted around with his momentum and took off running. He weaved between several seemingly-confused Phoukas, who didn’t seem to understand why he wasn’t fighting back, and pushed his way toward the Leprechaun general. Several of the creatures took swipes at him as he ran past, and he ended up being cut numerous times by a combination of weapons and claws. He used up 7% of his total mana healing himself before he reached the small space where Brigid and Meadhbh were fighting--or, rather, where Brigid was being toyed with by Meadhbh.
The buff, Defend the Homeland, was just starting to fade as Lee approached, and he was able to see what it did as he ran up to her: the effect seemed to create a wave of force that radiated outward from Brigid in all directions and slowed Meadhbh’s attacks. At first glance, it was arguably the only reason that Brigid was still alive.
“So, you’ve come,” Meadhbh growled. She turned away from Brigid, seemingly happy to abandon her plaything, and faced Lee instead.
“Well, damsel in distress and all that. Kind of my job to come and rescue her, beat you up and save the day,” Lee explained as casually as he could. Despite doing his best to sound confident, he was still terrified. His body remembered the ferocity of her attacks very well, and the places she had struck him tingled for a moment when he saw her up close.
“You have it wrong,” Meadhbh countered. “I am here, saving my ‘damsel’ from the prison that binds him!” She let out a tremendous roar and then turned to swipe at Brigid. The force wave from Defend the Homeland was still active, and it slowed down Meadhbh’s attack long enough for the Leprechaun woman to dodge out of the way--but only just barely. The tiger’s claws drew four solid streaks of blood as they grazed past.
Lee rushed forward and finally reached Brigid. The next buff option had just appeared: Sports Event City Spending, and it was denoted with two pink circles and a red circle. What in the hell do these circles mean? Lee was curious, but the mystery didn’t stop him from immediately sending the buff to Brigid as he reached out and grabbed her hand, transferring his healing in the form of 16% of his mana into her as fast as he could. Color returned to her pallid face, and the wounds she had sustained from her battle with Meadhbh instantly faded.
“So, this is what it feels like . . .” Brigid gasped as the healing washed through her, and she readied her sword once again. “I feel more alive now than ever. I feel even better than I did when we first fought, you fiend. Now, I shall slay you for what you did to my men.”
“Careful,” Lee said, reaching out and grabbing her arm so that he could hold her back. He had a feeling that she hadn’t noticed the buff that he had given her, and he very much doubted that she understood how dead she would have already been without that random bit of help. He was also worried that she was overestimating herself at the moment and that she might get herself killed faster than he could heal her.
“There is no need to be careful,” Meadhbh laughed. “Her death is assured! Let her rush to meet it.” The sound of a cackling tiger was something that Lee never thought he’d have to hear, but it was unnerving.
“Just come and fight me!” Lee insisted, but Meadhbh ignored him and lunged at Brigid once more.
The Leprechaun stepped forward swinging, but Lee stepped forward and intercepted the blow instead. He slammed his shield into the tiger’s side before it could reach Brigid. The spiked tip didn’t penetrate into Meadhbh’s skin like it had with the bull, but it redirected her attack instead and sent her sprawling to the side. Brigid’s sword had too much force behind it for her to arrest its momentum completely, but she managed to shift its trajectory just a bit. Rather than biting deep into Lee’s triceps, it skimmed his right shoulder instead, dealing 61 damage.
“Hah! It seems the damsel doesn’t want saving!” Meadhbh rumbled a laugh at the bungle and then rolled back onto her feet.
The moment she had all four paws on the ground again, she ran straight for Lee. He threw his shield up in front of him and adjusted his feet so that his body was turned at an angle and so that he didn’t have to take the impact head on. This was the actual moment of truth after spending so much time and care crafting his shield. The aegis hadn’t done much damage when he had rammed Meadhbh with it, but he had faith in its durability. Meadhbh barreled in with a sweeping, claw-first strike, and Lee felt his heart skip a beat when her massive paw struck against his shield. The blow dealt 20 damage due to the blunt force of the impact, but his newly-crafted defensive armament held up. The pointed tip sank into Meadhbh’s paw as she made contact, and the feline Phouka roared in shock at the unexpected pain and resistance.
Brigid stepped in and quickly followed up with a swing of her own, slicing into the tiger’s rear thigh with an upward slash.
“Your toys are stronger,” Maedhbh roared, “but not s
trong enough.” She rocked back onto her two rear legs and lifted the front half of her body into the air. She teetered in the air for a brief second and then unleashed a series of furious swipes at Lee. He did everything he could to hold onto his shield and not miss a block as thirteen quick attacks, each dealing between 20 and 22 damage, battered his shield. The combination was so fast that he acted entirely on instinct, and as soon as the series was finished, his Bloody Shield skill took over and caused him to push forward, slamming his shield directly into the tiger’s maw. Meadhbh twisted her head to the side and tried to avoid the blow, but she wasn’t fast enough. The metal spike jabbed deep into her exposed neck, eliciting another loud roar of rage as it dug into vulnerable flesh.
Meadhbh staggered backward several steps while shaking her head as if trying to dispel the pain of the attack. She quickly recovered, however, and darted around Lee, circling back around and hitting Brigid with a single fast attack that was strong enough to send the redhead flying back ten feet. The lanky Leprechaun general crumpled into a limp ball when she hit the ground and lay motionless. Lee rushed toward her, hoping to heal her before the bleed damage her took life, but Meadhbh interjected herself between them.
“Now that we’ve got the pest out of the way, let us finish this!” Meadhbh sprang forward and wrapped her giant arms around Lee, throwing him off balance and pinning him to the ground underneath her.
What the hell? With his arms pinned against him, and with her weight bearing down on top of him, there was no way he could leverage either his shield or his sword against her.
He swapped his vision over to Ethan’s, desperately hoping to find another route or someone who was free to help. Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t nearly as promising as it had been before he left the ramparts and engaged with Meadhbh. Ling and Jade were doing the best they could to hold on against the endless waves of humanoids that had climbed onto the walls, but the tight space and narrow ramps didn’t leave them with much room to work. Ling was forced to shoot around Jade, and to make matters worse, it was already clear that Jade was inexperienced with using a sword. Even at a quick glance, the strain of her efforts was plainly visible on her face.
He checked on Dave, thinking perhaps that he or Miller and could help, but that situation there was even worse. Dave was functionally a one-man wrecking crew, and the bodies of dead beasts were piled up around him. Similarly, there was a stream of bloody, crushed Phoukas leading down the catwalks where Dave had slowly been forced to retreat back in order to have room to continue his deadly work. Lee also noticed that the humanoid Phoukas had started attacking the wall’s support beams.
“Dave, press forward! Get across those ramparts, or you’re all dead!” Lee twisted his head back and yelled as loudly as he could, warning Dave but not being able to do anything to help his own situation.
“Hell, give me a break!” Dave shouted back. “Working the old man to death, are you?” he complained, but he still did as he was told, taking a step forward as he began bludgeoning a path through the carnage with his flail.
Lee didn’t have any more time to think. Meadhbh rolled Lee onto his side, cranked her back legs forward until she was in an arced position, and then began kicking, trying to claw at Lee’s guts while keeping him somewhat pinned by shifting her weight onto her front legs. Lee squirmed out of the way of the first swipe, but the second swipe came closer, and the third closer still, and the fourth tore into his leg instead of his gut, dealing 150 damage as it ripped through his thigh.
Meadhbh’s head shot forward a moment later, and she snapped at his face. Lee thought he’d be done for, but right before the maw closed in on him, it was stopped by a downward-stabbing, two-handed blade that dug into her right eye. Meadhbh roared in pain, and Lee felt her hot breath as it blew across his face. The roar of agony was a concussive wave against Lee’s ears that made his muscles involuntarily stiffen as the sound blasted him.
“I told you: I have debts to settle with you,” Brigid said as she pulled the blade out and stabbed it again into Meadhbh’s throat. The tiger released its hold on Lee, scampered over his body and back up onto all fours. The beast’s claws raked through his skin and armor as she climbed over him, dealing 125 damage and leaving him nearly dead.
Lee was thankful that he had discovered his healing magic, or he’d have been dead already, a thought that he didn’t forget as he pushed himself to his feet and looked over at Brigid. She was battered but not beaten, and she was holding her sword out in front of her, challenging Meadhbh with an angry glare.
“I have tolerated you long enough,” Meadhbh snarled. “Brothers, sisters, destroy this Leprechaun wretch so that I may deal with their leader myself!” At her command, the sparsely-populated area that they were fighting in was suddenly filled with an influx of horse- and bull-shaped creatures that all charged straight toward Brigid.
Brigid’s eyes popped open in shock as she whirled around, her weapon moving rapidly as she blocked three incoming attacks.
“Miller, save the damn Leprechaun!” Lee shouted to the would-be Firbolg archer who had yet to use his spear in the battle.
“She will not die on my watch!” Miller shouted back, seemingly thrilled by the invitation to leap into battle. He jumped off the rampart and landed in a roll, springing up and chucking a spear at one of the closest Phouka. He then pulled out the steel-tipped spear Lee had given him and carved his way through the enemy to Brigid’s side.
Relieved that the two were able to handle the first wave of attacks, Lee turned his attention back to the now-one-eyed and injured Meadhbh, who was staring back at him.
“This is all for your own good, for our own good,” Meadhbh roared at him. “You who understand me . . . You who will share my burden! Let me teach you how to see past all of this.”
The tiger casually sauntered closer, moving into position, but Lee knew what she was planning. Instead of trying to back away or dodge to the side when she lifted herself up, he pushed forward as hard as he could the moment her forelegs left the ground. He slammed into her with his full weight and knocked her back just as she reached a fully-erect position, driving his sword into her exposed stomach. The blade didn’t penetrate deeply, but it left behind a long gash that twisted down the length of her stomach and onto her side as she rolled away.
Meadhbh landed on all fours, seemingly oblivious to the freshly-inflicted injury, and sprang forward. She attempted to bat his shield out of the way with one of her massive paws so that she could bite his face, but Lee was ready for her. He turned her strike away with his shield and thrust forward with his sword. It was a well-practiced maneuver that had worked for him time and again, and it had basically become second nature during his time in the arena. She twisted her head to the side at the last moment, and the tip of his blade narrowly grazed past her large eye. Lee was spared from having his face torn off, but all he managed was to buy some time.
Meadhbh recoiled and then sprang forward in a second attempt to reach him, and once again, Lee reacted on instinct. He dropped down into a semi-crouched state, flung his shield up in front of him defensively, and dug his heels into the earth as he prepared to absorb her weight. She crashed against the wooden barrier a moment later, her teeth gnashing against the shield as her attack was rebuffed. Driving up from the ground, he turned her large head to the side as he stood up, and his sword simultaneously snapped around in a low-aimed slash.
Meadhbh may have been turned away from him, but she quickly rebounded, once again raising up into the air on her hind legs. Her left paw shot forward, and Lee winced in pain and arched his back as her long claws raked across it and over his shoulder, taking off 200 more health.
Lee twisted away from her and created some distance, hoping to buy himself some time. Meadhbh had demonstrated a clear ability to do massive amounts of damage in a single attack, and she could do it multiple times. There was no way he was going to stand around and leave himself exposed if he didn’t have to, and at the moment, he needed so
me space. That was when he noticed something: the wound in the flank earlier was deep, exposed, and raw. All of his attacks prior to that one had barely penetrated her thick hide. That particular gash was rather nasty, however, which meant that she was low on hit points and no longer had the health pool to resist his attacks the way she had at the start of the fight.
Well, here we go, Lee told himself as Meadhbh swiftly closed what distance he had made between them. Lee lunged forward and jabbed his sword straight into the open wound as he maneuvered under her incoming pouncing body. Meadhbh howled out again in pain, but she didn’t counterattack or back up this time. Lee was going to go in for another stab, but before he could manage the attack, Meadhbh shifted back into her Human form. Her small, frail body, which couldn’t have weighed more than sixty pounds, lay sprawled out on top of his shield. It didn’t even look like she had the strength to keep herself from sliding off if he tilted the thing slightly.
“That’s enough,” she said meekly as he pulled his sword back and set her down gently on the ground. He didn’t know what to do. She was bleeding from her side, and her eye was still missing, causing her to look on the brink of death anyway, and he found it hard to go for the killing blow. Fighting a giant tiger to the death was easy, but killing a poor, helpless crippled girl that was already injured was entirely different, even knowing the atrocities she had committed.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she wheezed. It was obvious how hard she was struggling to take even so much as a breath as she lay there. “I knew . . . what I was getting myself . . . into . . . when I started . . . this chain of events.” Her voice trailed off every few words so she could draw another breath. “The Goddess . . . of Changing Fates . . . and I . . . We knew. This was . . . always . . . our end. This was . . . the fate . . . we saw . . . that would save you. That would save . . . our people.”
“You knew you were going to die here?” Lee felt like a pit had opened up in his gut as he stared down at the dying girl. “If you knew you were going to die, why go through all this? Why would you fight me so harshly? Why kill so many people? Why?”