by Tyler R Lee
At the back stood Lysander, Tony, and two other mages, slinging spells the boss's way when an opening presented itself, and casting helpful incantations upon other players when needed. Clearly the most seasoned of the bunch, Tony and Lysander lets storms of fire and lightning, respectively, rain down on the Guardian of the Vessel as it contended with the onslaught in front of it.
"We're peeling away his life," Gunner called out as he began charging up his cannon for more powerful blasts. The group had already destroyed two of the creatures several life bars, and had started on the third.
"Don't get cocky," Lysander called out as he released a trail of lightning from his staff that struck several places on the Guardian, causing it to violently wave its arms in front of its face trying to fend off the magic. This was followed quickly by a blast of fire, and then magic missiles from the other mages.
"Get him while he's on the ropes!" Peter called out as he formed a ball of energy in his hand, then let it fly at the beast, creating a line of burning light from his hand to his opponent. Unexpectedly, the Guardian retaliated with an old trick.
"Its tail!" Ariel called out as she grabbed Peter by the shoulder, who saw the creature's once greatsword appendage glow a dark red. "Everyone get back!" the swordswoman called as she made to dive with Peter, but they weren't fast enough.
Before it had fully recovered from the onslaught of magic, the Guardian thrust its tail into the ground, just as it had its sword when it was more humanoid during their battle in the forest. However, this produced far more than a shockwave. Dozens of red swords erupted from the ground, striking almost everyone in close range. Only ValCary, thanks to her wings, and NoScope and Glitch, thanks to their speed, escaped. Everyone else was struck and thrown into the air by the massive retaliatory attack. Even Streak had been too close at the time.
Everyone hit the ground hard after losing a fair amount of HP, and more than a couple of players who had already taken a significant amount of damage never got up.
However, before the swords had completely sank into the ground, the creature stepped forward, took a deep breath while the red and blue flames around its head began to glow violently. It then directed its maw at the cluster of mages and exhaled a massive and powerful storm of flame wrapped in lightning.
"Dive!" Tony cried as he realized what was about to happen. He grabbed Lysander on his left and one of the other mages on his right and dove out of the way. Another mage on Lysander's left, thinking quickly, used a spell to send out a wave of force in the other mages direction, propelling them out of the way of the fire and electricity. He, however, was not so lucky as the storm hit him dead on and quickly ate away the entirety of his HP. When the storm cleared, his charred and crackling avatar smoked several feet back from where he had been standing.
"No, dammit!" Lysander growled as he looked to the body of his fallen comrade, one who sacrificed his life to save theirs.
"Look out!" Tony shouted as he threw up a powerful burst of flame at the Guardian, now feet from the mages. The attack staggered the oncoming opponent, which gave the magic users enough time to get to their feet.
Taking this opportunity, the healers moved to the downed players to administer healing spells and abilities, while the ranged fighters let loose their attacks. Just like with the mages, the beast took offense to this. It turned its head and breathed out a torrent of cold as the white flame glowed almost too bright to view.
"Shields if ya got 'em! If not, get behind us!" Gunner called out as he produced an energy shield with his non-gun arm, slammed it into the ground, and ducked behind it. A couple of other cyborg characters did the same, and the archers and gunmen ducked behind them. When the cone of cold hit, it tore through their HP despite the shields. A few players froze solid, while a couple others were riddled with ice shards.
"Dammit, not good," Gunner groaned as he dismissed his shield but stayed on one knee. He looked around to see that only he and two other ranged fighters had survived the attack.
"The breath attacks have to be dodged!" Ariel called out. "It's too risky, otherwise."
Lysander turned to see a large claw coming his way. He flinched, but then saw that the mage assisting Tony and himself had intercepted the attack with a spell that produced spinning, glowing, purple blades on his wrists. "Got your six," the player said with a grin.
"And your twelve," Tony called out as he lashed the face of the creature with a whip of flame that he quickly drew back.
The beast roared in pain and anger as it shoved the other mage away and made to claw him. It was Lysander this time that twirled his staff and intercepted the blow, issuing sparks from his magical staff. "What's your name?" he asked.
"GrimLord," the mage replied. "All the good names really are taken," he smiled as he jumped in and parried the creatures oncoming attacks.
Lysander chuckled as he moved in as well, intercepting attacks and throwing his own close range blows with his electrified staff.
"Good thing you both took some battle mage classes," Tony commented as he lashed the creature a couple more times with a flame whip, making sure to keep his distance as the other two mages attacked and countered the dungeon boss. "Because it looks like everyone is just now getting to their feet. We may have to hold it off for a bit."
It was true. The majority of the group had been hit with the erupting swords from a few moments ago, and the survivors where just now making it to their feet or being healed, while the ones that escaped stood by making sure the boss could not get in any easy and deadly hits on their downed companions. "Just a few more seconds," Val called out.
With time needed, Lysander, GrimLord, and Tony battled the monster up close, while the remaining ranged fighters assaulted it from afar. GrimLord's purple wrist blades glowed bright with every block and attack, and Lysander's staff sparked and reached out with its lightning tendrils in kind. Tony's fire whip burned the creature with each attack as flames licked up from the flailing weapon. They were all very skilled with their magic, and Lysander and GrimLord further more with their battle mage prowess. But, they were not fighters, and every attack they failed to fully block or dodge cost them more HP than they could spare.
"You're good," Val said to Streak as she finished healing him.
"Great, thanks," he said as quickly as he sped off towards the creature. When he entered the fray, he began landing a flurry of blows as quickly as he could before retreating and coming back.
"'Bout time," Tony teased.
"You know me. I like to take my time," Streak responded with a smile in between attacks.
After a few more moments of battle, Lysander stated, "We can't take much more of this. Time to stagger him or something." He raised his staff into the air and slammed it to the ground. From it erupted a storm of lightning that lashed out in all directions, then shot towards the Guardian. It ran all over his body like hundreds of blue, glowing snakes. It did, indeed, stagger the beast, and, while staggered, its white flame began to glow.
Not seeing this, GrimLord moved in to attack while the monster was open, as did Streak.
"No! Get back!" Lysander cried as he made to dive out of the way. The monster turned right towards the oncoming mage and unleashed a veritable avalanche of ice at GrimLord. Streak only just avoided most of the ice, but still took enough damage to send him to the ground with several thuds that led to an abrupt stop. Before anyone could react, the Guardian whipped its tail around and shattered the now frozen avatar of GrimLord into dozens of pieces.
Wasting little time, the beast turned to the downed Streak and lifted a foot to crush the speedster. To Streak's surprise, the beast stumbled to the side as two glowing green blades dove inside its abdomen and held it at bay, giving him enough time to get to his feet before they were pulled free. When he looked to the source of the blades, he saw the green and black cyborg armor of Gunner, ponytail waving out from the back of his helmet, a glowing blade of energy protruding forward from each of his forearms.
"Gunner
?" Streak asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yep," the cyborg replied.
"What the hell are you doing?" Streak yelled, only now realizing the danger the ranged fighter had put himself in.
"I have no idea," Gunner replied, his answer all too clear in his tone.
"Look out!" Lysander cried as the Guardian whipped its tail at Gunner. Thinking quickly, Gunner turned both blades into a single shield right before the deadly tail made contact. The shield shattered and the cyborg flew backwards, crashing into both Streak and Lysander, sending all three skidding across the floor and into the wall.
"Alright," Gunner groaned as his HP dropped to single digits. "Alright...I think...I think I'm done for tonight."
"I'd say we all might be," Streak whispered as he tried to stand.
"Our turn!" Peter cried as he, Ariel, and the rest of the fighters all charged forward, healed and ready to fight. In response, the green flame on the Guardian began to glow.
"Poison!" Ariel warned as everyone took evasive maneuvers. Then, the monster spewed a green and purple mist across the field of battle. It rose up to twenty feet high, and created a miasmic, partially transparent wall of poison around the beast, successfully keeping most of the players away, except for Tony, Lysander, Streak, and Gunner, his intended prey. However, Ariel and Peter had managed to dodge the wall of smog and were moving in for combat with their foe.
"He's pretty low on health," Peter said, looking to Ariel at his side. "Let's finish him off."
"Don’t mind if I do," she responded with a grin.
Peter was their first as he dashed in and planted several aerial kicks directly into his opponent's face. As he landed, the beast made to swipe at him, but Ariel was there to block with her great sword. "Get him!" she cried as she gave the creature a couple of fast slashes. Taking his cue, Peter moved in and delivered even more blows, each one echoing off the walls with its impact. Again, the boss made to claw Peter with its massive hand, but, again, Ariel was there to defend him, getting in a couple of blows herself.
"Jesus, they're good together," Lysander whispered as he looked on with wide eyes at their assault.
Ariel and Peter continued their team attack on the Guardian of the Vessel. Peter continued to move in and devastate the creature's body with punches and kicks on both the ground and in the air. Every time the beast tried to retaliate, Ariel was there to stop it. The dark elf warrior even managed to stop the deadly tail more than once. Those trapped by the poison watched as the boss's health gauge fell lower and lower as Peter, with every battle cry and every strike, and Ariel, with every swing of her massive sword and swift movement, pushed the beast closer and closer to death.
Sensing its own plummeting health, the boss went to a faithful technique as its tail began to glow red. Ready this time, Peter grabbed Ariel around the waist. "Hope you don't mind," he called out as he pulled her close and leapt away, pushing his legs as hard as he could to avoid the attack.
"Not at all," Ariel replied, and Peter was sure he blushed a bit.
They landed and fell to the ground in a heap next to Lysander, Streak, and Gunner as the swords burst from the ground, stopping just short of them. "Too close," Streak said, eyes wide as he tried to scoot back through the wall.
"We gotta get back in there," Peter groaned as he made to get up. However, he wouldn't get his chance.
"Our turn," came a voice from high above. As everyone looked up, they saw ValCary, who had used her wings to get above the poison. And they saw the source of the voice, Glitch, hanging onto Val's foot as they both dodged the wall of smog.
The Guardian, not concerned or unable to hear them, turned his attention to the closest person, which was Tony, who immediately noticed and readied a spell he hoped would buy him some time. However, as the creature approached, it was assailed by a falling Glitch, smile on her face and wrist blades tearing into the creature's scalp.
"Glitch?" Tony asked, a bit confused.
"You bet," Glitch smiled as she leapt from the monster's head before the tail could skewer her.
"Didn't think we'd leave you alone, did you, bro?" Val asked as she flew down and assaulted their adversary with both longswords as they glowed with holy energy.
Tony smiled. "Never. Not you, Val. Or you, Glitch." With that, Tony unleashed a powerful blast of fire at the beast as his sister flew clear. As the monster staggered from the flame, Glitch moved in with incredible speed and landed several deadly looking slashes before she nimbly dodged a tail swipe and retreated. Then, Val dive bombed the Guardian when it went after Glitch. When it tried to knock the aerial holy warrior from the sky, Tony would heat it up with several fire spells.
"They got it," Peter smiled.
"They're killing it," Ariel added.
"Kick its ass, you three!" Streak called out as Gunner and Lysander cheered.
Soon, as the three continued their incredible teamwork against this deadly foe, the chamber became a deafening roar of cheers and cries for victory from all of the players.
With its health dangerously low, all four flames slowing began to glow upon the boss's head. There were cries to look out, but the three fighting the beast ignored them. Tony unleashed his strongest attack. He placed his hands on the ground and pillars of fire shot up, engulfing the creature and knocking him prone. When this happened, the flames upon its head dimmed, but only for a moment as the Guardian climbed to its feet. Then, Glitch moved in, her blades glowing pink as she began to spin rapidly like a top, tearing into the beast and staggering him again. When she jumped back, ValCary came flying in, corkscrewing, her and her swords bathing the surrounding area in white light. The creature breathed a deadly breath that combined all four of its elements at the oncoming warrior, but her attack gave her a small window of invincibility, and the spinning pushed the storm of death away from her as she made contact.
It took many heartbeats for the miasma to dissipate among the cacophony of weapons clashing on bone. When it did, ValCary stood behind the creature, swords out. Then, the four flames on the beast slowly extinguished. Finally, like a falling tower, the Guardian of the Vessel fell to the ground, HP at zero.
For a few seconds, the silence was palpable. Then, it was replaced with the roar of cheers from the surviving players, all rushing towards Tony, Val, and Glitch in celebration.
Chapter 14
"That was a helluva triple team," Gunner said as he pushed through the crowd and slapped Tony on the back, causing the fire mage to stumble a bit.
"You three were incredible," Ariel said as she wrapped Val and Glitch in a hug.
"Some of the best teamwork I've ever seen," NoScope added, jumping into the hug.
"You really saved our asses," Peter added with an awkward smile. "All of us."
"No no," Val said, shaking her head. "We didn't save anything."
"Yeah, it was a team effort," Tony added. "We all played a huge part."
"Yeah," Glitch said as she slapped Peter on the shoulder. "Don't forget about mister super saiyan here saving all of our bacon in the beginning." Peter blushed and turned away to hide a smile. "Or that badass double team you and the swordswoman here pulled off before we stepped in."
"Exactly," Lysander said as he walked slowly over to the group, noticeably leaning on his staff. "We all did it. As a team. And we couldn't have done it without everyone here right now...and all those we lost in the fight today."
With that, the cheers died down and gravity of the losses sank in. However, the crowd did not have much time to mourn before they heard gears grinding from the center of the chamber. When they turned, they saw the platform the Guardian had came up into the room on shift upwards above the floor by a few inches.
"It turned into a switch, I think," Ariel commented as she eyed the platform. "One we could stand on to make something happen."
"Should we..." Streak started, but another sound captured the party's attention once again.
This time it came from the wall opposite where they had ente
red the chamber. As they looked to the stone, it began to shift and slide backwards and forwards, up and down, creating what was unclear at first, but what soon become obviously a large set of double doors. Unlike the white stone that made up the rest of the chamber, these doors seemed to be made of some kind of metal. Without warning or prodding, they slowly opened, revealing a smaller chamber within, a pedestal in the center of the room with something atop it.
"Everyone," Lysander said to the entire party. "I think that might be what we came here for."
"Why don't you three do the honors?" NoScope said, motioning to Val, Glitch, and Tony. The three of them looked at each other, then to other members of the party, who smiled and nodded to them. The three gave each other a smile, then strode into the small room and up to the pedestal.
"It's a scroll," Tony said as they saw the rolled up piece of parchment hovering slightly above the surface of the pedestal.
Val reached out and grabbed it, adding the scroll to her inventory. "'Vessel Blueprints,'" she read as she examined the item.
"Let's take it out to the others before we try figuring anything out," Tony offered, to which Glitch and ValCary agreed.
The three exited back into the chamber, scroll in inventory, and presented it to the group. Lysander looked at it and read the descriptions aloud. "It says, 'Blueprints for the ancient Vessel. Long ago, the people of this island knew they would need a way back to the mainland someday. These designs provide the vessel needed to do so.' Just like the Village Elder said."
"So," Gunner started after a few moments of silence. "If we take this to that old sea captain, he should be able to build us a ship to cross the Vast Sea? That's the plan, right?"