AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND

by Titus Nettles

  Kel’Van began casting his Flame spell at the monsters, slowing some down. While stopping to only slash down on ones that got within range of his sword. He quickly cast Stone-skin on himself, raising his defensive stats by 30 while the creatures he had held off began to close within distance. Suddenly, two streams of dark shadow shot out above his shoulder, striking two of the lesser elementals that he had attacked earlier. They shuddered for two seconds as a red mist traveled inside the black cloud and back into Lan’kar. Kel’Van used the momentary stun to slice upward into one creature's jaw, knocking it off its feet. Then used the momentum to swing his whole body and lop off the head of the one next to it. He quickly looked over his shoulder to see the young Holmgren shooting a red glow into Belar as one of the claws of the lesser elemental raked across her shoulder. The slight mark on her body glowed red and then disappeared. Then the youth shot two more strips of shadow at creatures she had just hit, stunning them both.

  “It seems the training that Olgan had given his nephew was paying off,” Kel’Van noticed. The boy only attacked after someone else had. Making sure he didn’t bring attention to himself or aggro, as the gamers call it. Plus, his two-second stun attacks caused made him actually supplement everyone's attacks well.

  “The boy is definitely not a hindrance so far.”

  Then Kel’Van resumed his concentration on the task at hand in front of him. He blasted another Flame spell, its conal effect hitting multiple targets, before finishing off the closes one with a stab in the gut. He kicked the moaning creature off his sword as he looked for the next creature to attack. By the time he checked back in on Lan’kar, the two groups of Lesser elementals were reduced to rubble around their feet.

  Fer’shad laid his shield down at his feet. “ That was rather-“

  Before he could finish his sentence, yellow eyes began to brighten in the dark behind the columns. The moaning of the creatures began anew as they started to walk in their direction.

  “You gotta be kidding me,” was all that Kel’van could say as they crept closer. “Alright, everyone head to the end of the hall, but stay in formation! NOW!”

  Fer’shad hoisted his shield in front of himself and charged forward. Voresh flanked the right side, while Belar manned the left. Kel’Van grabbed Lan’kar by the scruff of the neck and dragged him into the center. He then turned quickly around, ready to engage anyone attacking their rear.

  The party set a brisk pace through the center of the hallway, with Fer’shad just passing the moaning elementals. The monsters however, were were able to pincer the group from both sides of the columns. Voresh swung his double-bladed bone sword once, severing stone hands from bodies. Then a second time activating his blade's enchantment. An explosion of fire from his sword blew several of them back into the darkness. Belar's taloned hand raked across the face of one enemy. Then spinning her body, she back-handed another. She followed it up with another punch to her first target, then she used Titans’ Punch, demolishing the body of the monster in front of her. As the smattering of rocks and pebbles scattered from Belar’s attack, Kel’Van washed the monsters behind her target with flame.

  “Don’t stop! Keep moving!”

  They quickly reached the door with Fer’shad holding the shield in his left hand and then pushing his right hand into the ideogram marked on the door. A rumble occurred, with flecks of dust and pebbles falling from the ceiling as the door slowly turned counterclockwise. The shiel-bearer quickly moved to rear, nudging his leader to the side as he braced his shield against the elementals. Kel’Van peeked over his shoulder to see the Lan’kar shooting tendrils of shadow at Belar’s attackers.

  The group backed up against the door in the same manner they were earlier with the young Holmgren to the rear, close to the opening door.

  “As soon as the door opens Lan’kar, get through!”

  “Yes, captain!” the young Holmgren yelled back.

  The separate set of Lesser elementals combined into one group that surrounded the party, pinning them toward the slowly opening porticulous. Voresh used his cleave ability to push back the monsters closes to him. Then used his swords length and swings to keep them at bay. Fer’shad used his aegis-pull power to aggro one of the rock-dirt elementals to him. There were now three lesser-elementals pounding and raking their claws and fists across his shield. Kel’Van had ducked under a claw aimed at his face and swiped his sword at the monster's knee. It fell sideways as he stabbed another in its chest, sending dirt and pebbles across his brow. The Elemental fell on its side, right before it threw a claw at Kel’Van’s shin, cutting leather and skin.

  “Damnit,” he said as he raised the injured foot up and stomped it heel first into the elementals face. He recast Stone skin on himself while back-peddling towards the exit. The grinding sounds behind came to a halt as the dust and pebbles decreased from the ceiling. The young Holmgren turned and dash through the new opening.

  “I’m through captain!” screamed Lan’kar.

  “Good! Me and Fer’shad will hold them off! Everyone else through the gate! NOW!”

  Belar and Voresh turned around and dashed through the round portcullis. As they passed through the gate, she paused at the ideogram on the side of it. Without hesitation, she laid her palm across it and pushed. The familiar red glow pulsed in the semi-darkness and slow rumbling, and debris began to fall from the ceiling once more.

  “What are you doing?!” growled Voresh

  “Closing off our pursuit!”

  “With them still on the other side?”

  “They will make it Voresh!” she hissed.

  Lan’kar turned from them and watched both Fers’shad and the captain fighting off the creeping elementals. Looking through the gate and hoping the female surface orc was correct.

  Fer’shad wasn’t even trying to attack them anymore. Just holding his shield steady while Kel’van blasted flames at the monstrosities. He briefly turned his head as the grumbling began anew behind him. The door was now turning clockwise and closing behind them.

  “Captain!”

  “I know Fer’shad, I can hear it!” said Kel’Van. “When I say go, run through that gate!”

  ‘Understood captain!”

  Kel’Van sent another wave of flame before him. Aiming from side to side as if he was holding a hose to spray a fire out.

  “Now!”

  They both turned and made a break for the creaking door. It was already turned to the seven ‘o’clock position by the time Fer’shad jumped through. Kel’Van was on his heels behind him when a stone claw tore through his shoulder, trying to grab him.

  “Shit!” he cried as he reflexively grabbed his injured shoulder. The stone skin buff took some of the sting from the attack, but it still hurt. As the bottom of the door started to turn in the 8’oclock position, he leaped in a superman like pose as he passed through the turning portcullis. He landed in a clump on the ground while the door turned upward, blocking the elementals behind them. They all looked tiredly at the Lesser elementals as they hopelessly tried to reach over the door closing. Finally, the rumbling and dust settled as the door completed its turn.

  Kel’Van laid completely on his back, breathing profusely. His vision was disturbed only by a smiling Voresh leaning down to look at him.

  “Glad you were able to make it through, captain. Belar here had her doubts, but I was confident about your prowess and knew there was nothing to fear,” he shamelessly stated.

  He could only smile at the orc’s demented humor as he righted himself on the ground. “ I take it Belar closed the door?”

  “Yes, captain. But I only-“

  “Good job,” he hurriedly said. The last thing we needed was to be fighting those things in the hall where there could be reinforcements. Excellent thinking on your feet.”

  “Thank you captain,” she said smugly while eyeing Voresh. He simply waved it off as he squatted eye to eye Kel’Van on the floor.

  “So what now, captain?”

  “What no
w, Voresh? “ We wait a bit while we regain our stamina and refill our mana. Then we find our way through the mini-bosses till we reach the main boss.”

  He then looked at Lan’kar. He knew that the elementals bound themselves to orcs, giving them large mana reserves in taking spirit from them. He used a lot and would probably need the mana pots he had more than him since he actually replaced his mana over time. He reached into his inventory and pulled out all 4 of the remaining pots of mana that he had left.

  “Lan’kar, these are for you. Attack sparingly. We are going to need you mostly for the big fights. You can’t replenish your mana unless it’s artificially or by mana potions. Are you close to your next level?” he asked.

  “ I am close, captain.” Lan’kar replied. “ I believe another battle will push me to 8.”

  “I am surprised we haven’t leveled already, but I think the rest of us will make 13 with whatever we face next. We'll wait here and rest, then we will get a better look at our surroundings and find our way to those mini-bosses”.

  The party took 10 minutes to rest. Kel’Van thought it was a distinct possibility that the Lesser elementals would open the door and attack them, but nothing of the sort occurred. With that worry out of the way, he began to survey his surroundings. He first looked at the ceiling and spotted dimly lit lights above. There was no way to tell what they were, so he hadn’t bothered to try. They did however, make it a bit easier to spot what was around them. They didn’t seem to be in another room; it looked more like an inner circular hallway. If he were to look at it from where the lights shone above him, the hallway would resemble a doughnut with a hole in the middle. As he glanced back and forth around the circumference, he got a better picture. The floors were made of a black substance so smooth that he could almost see his reflection in them. In the center of this hallway or hole, was a deep chasm from which he could see some movement but couldn’t see exactly what it was. The only thing that he could be visibly sure of down there, was that there were stairs that led up to the floor they were occupying.

  “Alright, rest over,” declared Kel’Van. “Voresh you know the drill, go scout the floor and see what’s here and report back. Do not engage.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  Voresh crouched in his familiar stance before he went stalking in the darkness.

  It was only ten minutes that had passed before Voresh returned. But in the darkness, that time seemed like an eternity. Crouching towards Kel’Van, he gave his report.

  “There are no other rooms on this level, just the door we came out of. There is a set of stairs that leads to a lower level, but there are warriors walking back and forth, two groups of four. I saw some just on the floor below us as well, but I cannot say how many from where I was captain.”

  Kel’Van thought on the information given. “Two patrols?” he asked as he raised a hand to his chin. “How far apart were they?”

  Voresh stood up and looked around the area. Then he pointed north from their direction. “I would say about the length from here to the other side.”

  “Hmph. So they are approximately on the other side of this round hall. That doesn’t give us much time for an attack, surprise or otherwise.” He sighed while he tried to think of a way around the problem. “Come, let’s see if we can get a better idea from a different angle.”

  Voresh led the way as the party crept along behind him. As they arrived 8 feet away from the stairs, Voresh raised his hand for them to stop. In the dim light, they were able to make out one of the patrols. They were almost the same as the lesser elementals they fought earlier, only bigger. Black rock covered the surface of the shoulders, arms, legs, and chest, while the rest of it had a packed earthy look to it. These creatures were also armed with swords. No moaning could be heard from this bunch as they silently marched near the stairs. They stayed for a while until almost diagonally opposite of them, a crease in the opaque black wall opened up. A light from within the room shone out, then four more walked into the corridor. The four waiting by the stairs began their patrol anew while the new group walked silently to their position on the opposite side.

  “We are going to wait a bit to make sure what I’m seeing is correct. But it looks like both patrols walk the area, then one goes inside the room or whatever is behind that door and secures it. If that pattern holds up, then as soon as one group goes in that room, we attack then ones out here,” Kel’Van told his troops. “Understood?”

  As one, they nodded.

  “Good”

  “Now what?” asked Voresh.

  “Now, we wait.”

  They watched the patrols perform their routine twice before Kel’van gave Fer’shad the go-ahead to attack. Two seconds after the door closed, The party silently made their way down the obsidian colored steps. Then Fer’shad ran at full speed, igniting his Auger Rush skill. The Lesser Elemtal turned, hearing the thunderous footsteps, and got his sword up just as the orc came piling through the unsuspecting patrol. In an instant, the warrior Fer’shad seemed to blur as he stepped forward and swung his shield in a sweeping motion catching an Elemental in the face. Then he swung his short sword at one of the dark stone creatures' head as it tried to stand up from his initial attack. The other three were now holding their weapons in front of them, eyes shining with a bright red and orange glow. Their mouths lacking teeth but the same color mirroring their eyes.

  Fer’shad began to slowly turn clockwise with his shield and sword in front of him. As the creatures tried to surround him, Voresh and the others rushed down the black stone stairs. Kel’Van had raised his hands, casting Heat Wave on the Lesser Elementals facing Fer’shad. As fire engulfed the elementals, Voresh used his Dawning Star ability to leap from the group, crashing his sword on top of one of the dark stone creature’s shoulder. The already enflamed enemy fell, falling down on one knee. The elemental next to him turned in Voresh’s direction, swinging his blade with both hands. But the Slayer raised his weapon in time to block the attack as the metal clanged against his sword.

  Fer’shad roared, forcing the elemental attacking Voresh to once again attack him instead. Belar then came soaring through the air using her Auger kick ability smashing into the taunted elemental. She then followed up with a right slash of her claws, digging burrows into it’s back, then a left punch to the back of its head. Another front kick to it’s back, made it a three-hit combo, which enabled Titan’s Punch. With the radiating power bursting from her gut to her hand, Belar threw a right-hand blow, knocking the elemental into the others in a heap. Kel’Van ran up behind them with Lan’kar shooting shadow tendrils into two of the creatures and himself blazing a cone of fire over them all. Once Kel’Van and Lan’kar reached the felled enemy, they all began hacking and pounding upon them till they were smoking rubble.

  “Quick! Loot them and back up the stairs!” Kel’Van ordered.

  The familiar black miasma of smoke accompanied the bodies being looted. They didn’t even bother to view what they received to quickly return to the top of the stairs. They barely made it in time as the room suddenly showed a slit in the wall, and four more of those accursed elementals began walking out.

  “Same as before people, get ready.”

  His four teammates' feral looks and hunger showed they were more than eager to continue what they started.

  Black smoke rose off the last of the patrol guards. While the rest of the party was looking over their newfound loot, Kel’Van was eyeing the wall in front of him. He looked to his lower right-hand side and noticed the now-familiar ideogram.

  “Well, now we know how to open it, huh?” he murmured.

  “ Open what captain?” asked Fer’shad. He was pocketing a sword into his inventory that they could sell later.

  “This door. Fer’shad, you’re about to find out what a tank really is, “ Kel’Van said openly. “ You’re going to be the first one in when I open this thing. Same procedure as always, except Lan’kar is going to be in the back. Remember, your main goal is to keep the attentio
n of whatever is the strongest enemy on you. Turn it around so that we can attack its back and not have it attack us.”

  He turned to face the others. “Voresh and Belar are going to provide the most damage. Unless there are adds or multiple targets, concentrate on single powerful hits and regular attacks while on cooldown. Lan’kar, your most important job is to keep healing to a minimum and mostly on Fer’shad. If the tank goes, so does the rest of us, got it?”

  “Yes, captain,” said Lan’kar.

  “All right, as soon as I open this door, get in formation and start in slowly.”

  Kel’Van lowered his hand on the ideogram, then a straight white line appeared in the middle of the wall in front of him. Then the white line shone like a beacon as the wall began to separate. The party, led by Fer’shad, started to file into the room. Kel’Van waited until everyone passed through before he walked in. The wall shut behind them with the finality of a tomb.

  The party reflectively turned towards the sound of the wall closing behind them.

  “Eyes forward people.”

  The room itself was lit brightly, but not from any source above them. Two spheres the size of doors were floating 7 feet in the air. A strange red and brown mist permeated the floor, reaching them from the area around those spheres. What caught their immediate attention however, was what laid between the floating orbs. A creature of a dark brownish tint lay postrate on one knee. His head bowed down as if in supplication with his arms to its sides. The floating orbs on either side of it all of sudden, began to whirl.

  “What is happening?” questioned Fer’shad.

  Before anyone could answer, the spheres began to whirl faster. While their rotation speed increased, the red and brown mist on the floor began to coalesce into the floating orbs. Turning them into two massive balls of black covered in a reddish haze. Then the spheres froze in place. The eyes of the kneeling figure opened, revealing glowing red sockets, empty of irises. The squatting monster then rose, standing tall and naked. The mist emptied out of the orbs at a manic pace, swirling around the body of the lumbering elemental. Coating its limbs in black rock across its chest and top of his head, leaving only the eyes and mouth free of its newly formed armor.