by Aleron Kong
Richter kept reading for the next few hours until the sprites woke up. As per usual, the sprites seemed to have no interest in the loot. He did give Yoshi half of the higher quality lock picks, but they wanted nothing else. Richter really appreciated being with The Land’s version of a socialist hippie. It definitely made his pockets fatter, but he did find it creepy to be with people who didn’t want money. How could you ever trust someone who didn’t want to cheat you?
Richter donned the Bracelet of Health and put the rest of the items back into his inventory. He showed the sprites the contents of the first chest, and all agreed it was obvious the handle was meant to open the bone door. No one had a better idea of how to use the key than Richter, but agreed it would most likely come in handy down the road. They all broke camp and started walking back towards the central chamber.
Yoshi and Richter led their other two party members along the path of disabled traps, and soon they were standing in front of the bone door again. Richter inserted the long part of the handle into the door’s recessed cavity, lining up the metal square at the end with the recessed square imprint he had seen earlier. Right after the handle touched the metal indentation, four triangular blades of bone slammed into the handle. They converged on the groove in the bone. The tips of each had a smaller circular indentation still allowing the handle to turn. Any one that had stuck a hand inside the door, though would have lost that part of their appendage. Richter turned to Yoshi with a smug expression on his face, the sword adept just stared back stone-faced.
“Everybody ready,” Richter asked, gripping the handle. He was about to turn it to open the door when Yoshi stopped him.
“Wait, remember the inscription. ‘remove the distractions of the past or suffer the error of youth. Death comes on swift wings, causing a terrible storm,’ Yoshi recited from memory. Richter stared at him impressed. The adept just stared back and said, “I’m nice like that.”
“So what does it mean,” Daniella asked.
“I’m not completely sure, but think about the phrase ‘distractions of the past.’ Look what is behind us. A floor still full of traps. If we need to retreat when we open that door, we will be in an extremely bad position.”
Richter’s stomach fell, “You’re not saying-”
“We need to disarm the rest of the traps,” Yoshi said.
Richter looked at the seemingly countless circles left to disarm on the floor and groaned. It took three more days to disable all of the traps. Except for Alma driving them all to distraction the days passed without incident. Thankfully, Richter figured out that if ordered it, Futen would let himself be chased by the psi dragonling, which kept her occupied. It was actually kind of fun watching her zip through the air after the glowing orb.
Richter’s Pierce the Veil, Trap and Trap Disarm skill reached level 20 and went beyond. He took a Potion of Clarity each day, so he got the bonus 25%. The 12,500 experience points brought over the top, and he reached level 15! Also, even though the experience from each disarmed trap was modest, it added up over time. A final cherry on top was that he gained five more traps.
You have found: Razor Wire Trap. Does 11-14 damage. Durability 8/8. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Average. Weight 0.1 kg. Once triggered, three razor sharp wires crisscross at ankle level. Possibly will cause Hobble status.
You have found: Dart trap. Damage 5-7. Durability 10/10. Item class: Common. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 0.1 kg. Once triggered, will fire a dart. x 2
You have found: Sticky Trap. Durability 7/7. Item class: Rare. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.1 kg. Once triggered, will trigger explosion of sticky threads that have a chance to immobilize anyone within ten feet of the trap.
You have found: Shrink Trap. Durability 15/15. Item class: Rare. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.3 kg. Will cast Shrink on the creature that triggered it. Creature’s size is halved. Spell lasts twenty minutes.
When they were finally done, something unexpected happened. The center of the room had been the only part of the room devoid of random shapes. It was instead a golden eight-pointed star about two feet across.
When Richter deactivated the final trap, the star rose into the air. It turned out the star was only the top of an entire column of gold colored metal. When it stopped rising, it filled the room with light the color of honey. When Richter examined it, two prompts came up.
Pillar of Life. Lvl 3. Stationary object that emits the Light of Life.
You have been exposed to the Light of Life. All Healing 30% more effective. Special abilities of Death creatures negated. Extra damage to creatures of Death.
That effects from the column were remarkably like the Life Aura spell. It seemed Yoshi was right about needing to clear the traps before opening the skeleton door. Coupled with the fact that he had found the Life dagger in the chest behind the waterfall, Richter had no doubt that the Life Magic was going to important for whatever they were about to face.
Richter called Alma down from her fun with Futen. She landed on his shoulders, tail wrapping around his arm. Everyone had taken a Potion of Clarity, and he had given another to Alma. Sion cast Haste on himself and Daniella. Richter did the same for Yoshi and himself. He then cast Barkskin and Minor Life Aura. The last two spells made Richter’s skin feel thicker and surrounded his entire figure in a golden glow, respectively. He wished he could have taught the aura spell to Yoshi and Daniella, both of whom said they could use Life magic. As he lacked Mastery in Life magic, though, it wasn’t possible. He considered replacing his sword for his bow but decided having two melee fighters was a better idea. Sion and Daniella would provide the ranged backup.
Richter had Futen hover in front of him again. Even though the remnant wasn’t needed for light anymore, Richter still intended for him to lead the way. Yoshi stood next to Richter, with Sion and Daniella behind, bows nocked. With his sword in his right hand, Richter turned the handle with his left.
A gale of wind exploded from the door as soon as the handle was turned. The door slammed against the nearby wall, the bones falling apart from the impact. The force of the gust took the entire party off of its feet. They flew back several yards before landing in a heap. Richter threw his sword to the side before he landed, afraid of inadvertently hurting himself or his comrades. Luckily Alma launched into the air and wasn’t crushed beneath them.
The wind continued to blow for a solid minute. Even though they landed a good way away from the doorway, the force of the air coming at them was still strong enough to keep them from standing upright or opening their eyes. The all huddled on their knees with their arms held in front of their faces until the miniature hurricane subsided.
Once the wind stopped, they got back to their feet. All that was left of the skeleton door was a pile of bones strewn across the floor. A wailing could be hear coming from the tunnel, and it was getting louder. They all gathered their weapons and prepared to meet whatever was coming. By silent agreement, they positioned themselves as far from the skeleton door as possible. The wailing grew more shrill as, whatever they were, came into the room!
The light from the golden column only extended about fifteen yards, and it left the end of the room shrouded in shadow. There was enough light to see their dark forms if only barely. They looked like nothing so much as floating black cloaks with hoods raised. No legs or feet protruded from the bottom of the cloaks, but they did have hands. Two black arms extended from each cloak. They didn’t hold any weapons. Their hands were oversized and were tipped with black talons. The insides of their cloaks were pure blackness, and nothing could be seen of their bodies. The wailing grew in pitch now that they were in the room.
Both Daniella and Sion fired imbued arrows immediately. The creatures they shot at disappeared right before impact, the arrows flying past and impacting against the wall. The monsters reappeared a moment later and kept flowing forward at the speed of a brisk walk. The others didn’t pause and still moved forward undaunted. Richter used Analzye.
&
nbsp; Fade. Level 14. Health 310. Mana 150. Stamina 180. Disposition: Hatred. Fades are the tortured souls of the once living. They have a hatred for all life and rend it with their hardened talons at every opportunity. It is said that those killed by a Fade are destined to become Fades themselves.
The fades continued forward, and several more arrows were shot with no better result. Richter had no idea how they were going to kill close to twenty of the spectral creatures, but he would go down swinging if it came to it. He and Yoshi readied themselves to attack an enemy that could disappear at will when the first fades crossed within fifteen yards of the golden column. The light made them appear more substantial than before, then two things happened. One, the fades raised their hands against the light and slowed, hissing in pain. Two, Sion and Daniella’s imbued arrows struck the chest of a fade, and it didn’t disappear! The thing wailed even louder, and the blackness on the inside of its cloak and cowl lessened somewhat showing the faint outline of a skeleton.
Richter turned to Yoshi, “They are vulnerable while they are near the light. We can’t let them get to the other side!”
The two melee fighters waited within the light for the fades to come within reach. The light slowed the monsters enough for Sion and Daniella to be able to whittle down their number. Sion struck the already injured fade again, and it collapsed into ash. It took twenty seconds for the fades to cross the range of the light. In that time, five more fades were destroyed. Richter was surprised that creatures with such high health were dispatched so easily. He checked the combat log from one of Sion’s strikes though, and saw that the light from the column gave a 300% damage bonus against Death creatures! There was no more time for further investigation. The battle was joined!
Yoshi had both swords out. He slashed down and to the left with both blades. The fade he struck wailed piteously as the blue blades slashed across it. He ducked under the swipe of its claws and then spun to the right, bringing one blade straight up in a vertical line. The creature crumpled to ash.
Richter was at his side and attacked with the Life dagger. While the sprite’s arrows were more than effective, and Yoshi’s ice swords made short work of his enemy, the dagger when coupled with Richter’s Minor Life Aura was cataclysmic!
He cast Soul Trap right before he began his attack. He lunged toward the first fade with the dagger leading in his right hand, and his glass dagger held in a high cross guard. He caught the fade’s overhand swipe on the dagger. The blade bit deep into the monster’s wrist. It bent the same hand forward and scraped the back of his arm with its talons. Richter’s bracer and gauntlet stopped the damage almost completely. He only suffered a small gouge at the break between the two pieces of armor. Immediately after blocking with the glass dagger, he drove his Life dagger into the center of the fade. It punched straight through and out of the back of monster. The part of Richter’s arm that was inside the fade felt intensely cold, like he was plunging his arm into a lake that had frosted over. With a strong twist of his left wrist, the glass dagger separated the fade’s hand from its body. The falling hand was ash before it struck the ground. At the same time, he yanked the Life dagger up and to the side. The frozen feeling vanished as the fade dissipated. Richter was left covered in the specter’s remains. The rainbow torrent of light from its captured soul swirled around him for a spilt-second before disappearing into his Bag.
Sion and Daniella had spilt to stand in opposite corners so they could keep firing with minimal risk to the melee fighters. While Richter and Yoshi had destroyed their first enemies, they had continued shooting imbued arrows. Sion was supporting Yoshi’s side and was focusing on one enemy at a time, destroying each with three to five shots. Daniella was instead spreading her shots out among the enemies. Each arrow staggered the fade it impacted and kept Richter from being swarmed. It was definitely the right strategy. While Richter’s Life dagger was deadly to the fades, he was still not as dangerous as the sword adept wielding his ice swords.
Yoshi spun between two fades. He ducked his head to avoid the swipe of one their claws and extended his blades straight out swiping through the monsters. Both shrieked and fell away from the stinging blows before coming towards him again with a vengeance. He wove one blade in a flourished figure eight, keeping the monster on his left at bay. The fade on his right however, scored a hit on Yoshi’s back. He rolled with the blow and flung himself forward towards a third fade. He plunged both blades into the front of the fade’s cloak. At least two feet each blade sank into the creature, but nothing protruded from its back. No matter where the blades went though, they clearly caused a great amount of pain and damage. The creatures wail became a shriek. He yanked both blades opposite to one another, first diagonally and then horizontally. The fade collapsed into particles of soot.
The sword adept bent one arm over his head, placing a blade behind his back vertically. The sword arrived just in time to block the attack of one of his first opponents. Once he had stopped the blow, Yoshi drew his arm up and forward scoring deeply against the inside of the fade’s palm. It withdrew its hand, and he turned quickly lowering his body to stab low in the monster’s cloak. As he stood he brought his hands together, fist to fist. His blades spun in a pinwheel striking the fade twice and sending it off to whichever hell it had come from.
The first fade Yoshi had attacked rushed towards him and struck. It hit him in the chest, wrapping its arms around his chest and lifting the half-human up in the air. Yoshi was crushed against the frigid netherspace in the center of the cloak. He screamed in pain, straining his neck to keep his face free of the fade’s cold center. One of his arms was trapped against his side by the fade’s embrace, but his other blade was free. Yoshi reversed his grip on sword, and drove it through the monster’s neck and down into its body. The fade shrieked, and released its grip. He released his sword, leaving it stuck in the fades ephemeral body. With his remaining weapon, he slashed. Once, twice, thrice! Both of its arms fell to dust and then the adept drove his sword into the monster’s chest. As it completely turned to ash, Yoshi caught his falling blade before it could strike the ground.
Meanwhile, Richter was busy fighting for his life on the other side of the column. He swiped a fade his Life dagger and missed. His followup swipe missed as well. The fade struck at his leg gouging three furrows into the back of his thigh. Luckily they were shallow, and he wasn’t hamstrung. As he fell to the ground, blood flowed freely down his calf and into his boot though. When he hit the ground, the fade was looming over him. He threw his glass dagger at the fade and it struck his cloaked foes shoulder. The thing hissed and reared back. He scrambled to his feet.
Another fade surged forward, arms extended. Richter grabbed one by the wrist and hacked at its arm with the Life dagger. He got to sever his second monster hand in the fight. The monster reared back, but Richter didn’t let it get away. He drove his golden weapon into its face, killing it. Unfortunately, the distraction of dispatching the second fade, let his first opponent strike his leg again. It tore deep into the same thigh, and the limb collapsed under him. It followed him to the floor and took another swing with its talons outstretched. Richter swung his knife across his body, causing himself even more searing agony as he wrenched his leg. The blade sank easily into the fade’s dinner plate sized hand. It predictably wailed in pain and tried to retreat from the pain of the Life dagger. Richter saw the glass dagger still sticking from its shoulder, though. He reached out and grabbed the hilt with his free hand. As it stood, he maintained his grip and it pulled him upright. The strength of the monster was the only reason he could stand on his ruined leg. He yanked the Life dagger out of its hand and drove it into fade three times in quick succession. As he listened to its death shriek, he shouted, “How you like me now?!”
It disintegrated in front of him, and he collapsed back to the ground. He caught himself with his arms before he collapsed completely, but another fade reached for him barely a foot away. Its claws were so close that he knew there would be
no chance to avoid its attack. He braced for the pain of black talons ripping out his throat, but then two imbued arrows struck it. The backlash of the impact knocked him flat and robbed him of some health, but he was still rewarded with the sight of the monster being knocked into the air. A dark blue streak crossed Richter’s vision, and it transformed into one of Yoshi’s swords. The sword adept’s blade struck the fade in the chest, and with a last wail it collapsed into dust.
Richter invoked the healing power of his ring, trying to look everywhere at once. All the fades had been vanquished and everything was silent. Richter cast Slow Heal and drank a healing potion, laying his head back onto the ground. It was eerily quiet after the specters’ wails, but only for a moment. He started to laugh and threw his fist into the air.
The motion reminded him of one of his first fights in The Land. He had killed a wolf that had been inches from ripping his throat out. After he had stabbed it to death, he been left lying on his back. Richter had thrown a fist into the air in celebration, just like he was doing now. Immediately afterwards however, he had been torn apart by two more wolves that he hadn’t seen. Sion might have been able to save him, but the sprite had just stood by let him be killed. Even though the sprite was physically nearby, Richter had died horribly and alone. That wasn’t the way of things anymore, though.
Looking at the three sprites who had just saved his life, he knew he wasn’t alone, and as long as Sion lived, he would never be alone again. He locked eyes with his Companion and nodded. The sprite nodded back, a sure smile on his face. Richter looked back at the ceiling and laughed again, “My name is Richter you buttheads! You mess with me; you mess with my boys!”