AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND

by Titus Nettles

  “I seek a boon from you…aid against an encroachment from outside of our land,” answered Kel’Van as he licked his lips. He walked forward in front of his team. He tried to orientate his plea to where the voice was emanating but could not place the source.

  “A boon mortal? You are not of my flock. Though you bear the mark of my being.This what I offer. I will allow you the pleasure of leaving my temple with your life and what you have already earned by your own efforts. If you wish for me to hear your request, you must defeat who I place in front of you. If you fail, you will become wardens of my temple…forever.”

  There was an audible hum beginning to rise in the darkroom. The oval-shaped object hovering atop of the dais thrummed out a semi-circle wave of light that spread out to everything in the room, including the party. Two seconds after another wave crashed into them, followed by a third, then the humming sound ceased. A cracking of…something could be heard in the room. The party looked around, trying to ascertain where the source was coming from, when one of the statues stood up from its crouched position. It turned and faced them, pulling a large sword from its scabbard behind it. While still maintaining a statue's look, it was fully clothed in standard Holmgren gear as it turned to face them. So did the other 3 stone warriors that slowly stood and turned in their direction. The statue farthest from them but close to the raised dais finally rose and peeked over her shoulder.

  “Well, of course it is,” growled Kel’Van.

  He already had a clue what he was facing, but the voice and words that followed only made it more c ertain.

  “Why, hello adventurers. It nice to see you again,” replied the creature…

  As it turned around, the party was confronted by statues in the form of Ora’El and her guard.

  “Kill them and offer their bodies to our god.”

  Those uttered words no more left Ora’El’s mouth when the four stone guards rushed the party.

  Fer’shad lead the charge into the fray, with the others following behind. The giant orc was almost in range to use his gap-closing ability when a rock wall sprung up from the ground only mere steps away from him. The tank stumbled before crashing into the slab of stone shoulder first, then falling backward from the impact. One of the guards used the distraction to walk around the wall and swung its sword downward towards Fer’shads face. As the blade came down, it met with a clang from a dark blade wielded by Voresh. Knocking the weapon back, he quickly jabbed his sword at the center of the stone skinned Holmgren. But the living statue stepped backward while swinging its sword downwards across his body, deflecting the attack. As Voresh pursued the Holmgren as it backed away, Fer’shad had stood up and raised his shield just in time to deflect another stone Holmgren swinging its weapon in his direction.

  Kel’van had enough experience in combat to recognize a pincer move. The wall was there for a distraction while the others closed in around them. While Voresh and Fer’shad were engaged in battle with the first two stone warriors, the other two tried to surround the group. He immediately moved to attack the one on his right and pointed the other to Belar.

  “Take that one Belar, don’t let them surround us!” he ordered.

  The Holmgren was too close for her gap closer, so Belar ran at full speed toward her target. She twisted her body at the last minute to swing a powerful low kick to its knee, staggering it briefly. She was about fire off a jab to its face when one of its axes came in from her left. She blocked the attack with the brace of her gauntlet on her left hand. Then the statue-like Holmgren swung his the other weapon towards the right side of her face. Belar raised her arm to block that as well. She swiftly front-kicked the monster, pushing it back on its heels and creating space between them. As she began to rush the now off-balanced monster, she tripped, almost landing on her face. She stood up on one knee and looked down to see a stone shaped hand gripping her ankle and leg.

  “Damn witch!” barked Belar, knowing full well who performed the spell.

  The Holmgren quickly moved in and starting swinging both his axes. Belar was able to block the one coming from her left, but not the ax swinging at an arc to her right. It swung past her blocking arm and landed with a meaty thud into her thigh.

  “AAARGH!” the brawler screamed into the dark.

  Kel’Van was not liking the direction this battle was going. He had heard Belar’s scream from where he was at, though he could not break off from his opponent to help her. That in itself was the crux of the problem. They were all scattered out away from each other and not able to act as a team. His opponent had a two-handed hammer-like weapon that had a sharp pike on its opposite end. He was keeping Kel’Van just out of his reach while at the same time enabling the stone being to control the flow of the fight.

  The stone Holmgren jabbed his weapon forward while Kel’Van pivoted to his right. He had dashed an extra inch because of his past experience with this type of weapon earlier during his first days as an orc. True to form, the Holmgren flicked the weapon on its intending victim to catch Kel’Van with its sharpened end. Instead, the weapon just missed him as the Holmgren pulled the weapon back towards himself. The Aberrant knight chose to close the distance with a jump, bringing his sword in a chopping arc at its shoulder. The Holmgren quickly raised his weapon with the bar shielding his face. The sword came down on the bar with a loud ringing clang. The stone guard followed up with a shove against him with the bar of his weapon, making room for him to use it more effectively. Kel’Van loosed his cone of flame in the guard's face as he was pushed backward, temporarily blinding it. As the Holmgren put a hand to its face, Kel’Van sped to quickly strike him, when a wall burst its way up from the ground between the two combatants.

  “What the hell?”

  Just as he was remembering who the 5th person of their group was, the wall crumbled. Through the rubble and dust, the hammer came crashing through, striking him on his right arm. The impact knocking him off balance and sending waves of pain shooting throughout his body. Stumbling to his right, he righted himself with his sword arm up and gritted his teeth as the statue-like Holmgren advanced toward him.

  Fer’shad had shield bashed the Holmgren in front of him before it could fully recover from its last strike against him. The sword-wielding enemy backed up a few steps from his blow, but then he swung low, using the reach of his sword to make up for the lost ground. The Aegis-bearer slammed his shield down, blocking the attack meant for his legs. He then pressed forward with his shield just high enough that he could peek over it to close the distance. He looked peripherally to his left and spotted Lan’kar blasting one of the Holmgren statues with darkness. While it froze for 2 seconds, Belar kicked it in the face with a roundhouse and used the momentum to follow up with a low sweep, sending the enemy on its back. A tendril eeked out of the monster into Belar, healing her from what looked to be wound she suffered to her thigh. Inside, he felt gratitude for Lan’kars’ attention to her injuries and frustration that her attacker was not in range for his taunt.

  Fer’shad quickly returned his attention back to the enemy in front of him as a strike from his right banged on the side of his shield. The blow rattled his arm a bit, but the huge orc continued his march forward. He was about to use his ramming ability to knock him down when he felt a rumbling underneath him. He momentarily looked down and saw the very earth rolling like waves a rock makes striking a pool of water. A wave that was coming straight at him.

  He stopped in his tracks, angling his tower shield against the ground as a barrier. His attacker raising his sword for another blow and seemed oblivious to the oncoming onslaught behind him.

  “His ignorance is to my benefit,” mumbled Fer’shad.

  As the wave touched the stone skinned Holmgren, it merely traveled around him and reformed, like a stick stuck in a puddle of water.

  “What?” murmured Fer’shad.

  As soon as the wave came in contact with Fer’shad’s shield, jagged spikes of rock shot out of the ground, stabbing up at his shield and hi
s legs.

  “Gaea’s teeth!”

  He stumbled backward after the wave’s assault, seeing it resume its original form then dissipate as it struck the end of the room. He barely had time to review his wounds before he spied the statue-like Holmgren raising his sword for an over-head strike. He hastily raised his shield as the blow came crashing down upon him.

  Voresh barely had time to duck under the blow intending to cleave his neck from his shoulders. The earth spell that he had tried to avoid by jumping over it had just nicked his sword hand as he was landing behind it. The last thing he expected was sharp shards of the earth to punch out of the ground when he saw the wave coming in from behind his assailant. In fact, it didn’t even seem to have slowed the stone Holmgren down at all since he was already trying to take his head off right afterward. After ducking under the strike, Voresh stabbed directly out in front of him, trying to quickly end the standoff. The blow pushed the Holmgren back, causing him to stumble. Voresh turned himself into a spin, swinging mightily from his right, crunching into the guard's side. The impact sent the statue-like creature stumbling to his right. Voresh followed up with an overhand blow to its head, but the stone Holmgren raised his sword just in time to block his assault. All of Voresh’s special move cooldowns was complete, but he wanted to make the most of them at an opportunistic time. Not like how the human player tried with him, which led to the Terrans defeat at his hands. The two circled each other, looking for any breach in the other's defense that could be taken advantage of. Voresh looked over the scars that their battle had on his opponent. A thin hole made by his sword, one deep gash which he just made with his latest attack. No sign of blood or ruin besides those marks.

  “Are you even an orc anymore?” he asked.

  The silent being with dark red space for eyes said nothing. He only smiled as he hefted his sword over its rock-like shoulder, preparing to strike again.

  Kel’Van quickly healed himself after the wave type attack struck him. The sharp rocks had punctured through his right foot. It had almost cost him his left hand as his opponent had chosen to attack it when he fell down. Flat on his back, Kel’Van rolled the entire left side of his body to the right, with the blow missing its target by mere seconds. While the Holmgren was pulling the pointed end of his weapon out of the ground, Kel’van had quickly rolled onto his hands and feet, then stood up swinging his sword toward the monster's midsection. The stone enemy promptly raised his now free weapon high enough that Kel’Van’s intended strike clanged against the weapon's long handle.

  A part of Kel’Van was enjoying the battle. Most standard PVP players didn’t really take the time to learn even the basic skills of the weapon they choose in a fight. They just hammered away until the cooldown was done on their special attacks and then used them. This stone Holmgren was of the latter. His knowledge and experience on how to use his weapon offensively and defensively was on par with his own. The stone warrior's make up was such that weapons made to cut (which was Kel’Van’s type of weapon) only took half the hit points it would have on flesh and bone. Yes, if this was a regular match, Kel’Van would be fully enjoying himself and would congratulate his opponent afterward, win or lose.

  Except that it wasn’t.

  In the lower right-hand corner of his D.S. the time was ticking, 25 minutes before shutdown. This also meant that the team trying to make it inside the continent was only20 minutes away…at least he thought so…there was no real way he could tell anymore with the time difference between the outside world and Avarice. They needed to end this quickly for that reason alone. He had already scanned the guard's hp. Their levels were exactly 14, but they didn’t have the title Boss Monster that Orko and Ter’Abran had. Which would mean these guys were the add-ons or distractions. The only boss-level mob here was Ora’El. They had less than 20 minutes to beat her, or this will be all for naught. While his opponent was slowly inching closer into the range of his weapon, the ground rumbled, and another wave was making its way toward him. He smiled inwardly, knowing now what he had to do to win.

  Kel’Van charged at the hammer-wielding guard. The Holmgren gripped his weapon in a defensive stance with the long handle braced to block the sword's incoming blow. At the last second, he jumped to the left of the stone guard, who froze in surprise of Kel’Van’s actions. The earth wave was right below him as he jumped; the jagged rocks shooting out from the ground. The points of the rocks tore across Kel’Van’s shins, the sharp pain making him stagger as he landed on the balls of his feet.

  “Grin and bear it,” he said to himself.

  His stone skin spell still had 10 seconds left before he needed to cast it again. He then took off running in the direction of Lan’kar and his tank. The stone Holmgren snapping out of its shock, gave chase after him.

  Kicking up dust in his wake, the Aberrant knight finally reached where his tank was fighting. Fer’shad was shield bashing his foe, while Lan’kar was healing Voresh from farther away. The Holmgren attacking the Ulgo had his back turned toward Kel’Van.

  Good.

  Kel’Van then leaped in the air with a roar, with both his hands grasping his sword and red flames rising across his weapon as he cast Crimson blade.

  The stone guard battling Fer’shad turned just in time to catch all 40 inches of the fiery bone blade to the face.

  The sword wedged itself into the eye of the Holmgren. Kel’Van quickly snatched his sword away, and the guard fell on one knee, clutching its face without a sound.

  “Are these...things..even capable of talking?” Kel’Van thought to himself.

  Fer’shad quickly smashed his shield behind the back of its neck, sending it crashing to the ground face first. The knight heard his prior opponent's footsteps and turned on his heels, preparing to strike him first, when a familiar black streak shot across his vision, penetrating the stone Holmgren. The attack only stunned him for 2 seconds, but it was enough for Kel’Van to change his stance and his target. Instead of his blade stabbing the stunned creatures' underside, he flipped the weapon in his hand as if it was a knife, and stabbed it into the face of the enemy Fer’shad had just floored. The blade found purchase only briefly as the guard knocked the blade away with a swing of its own weapon and quickly stood upright. The knight wasted no time in following up with his attack. He stabbed into the guard's stomach, leaving a 3-inch hole. Kel’Van ducked under a blind swing from his opponent, then circled around it before wrapping his arm around the Holmgren’s waist and pulling it back to the ground.

  Kel’Van immediately rolled to his right, stood over the stone guard trying to get up, and began driving his sword into its back repeatedly. He could hear Fer’shad slow down his blows upon the Holmgren Lan’kar had stunned, glad that he had attacked the enemy behind his back. Then his whole reason for reaching Fer’shad in the first place came back to him.

  “Fer’shad leave him! Get to Ora’El!”

  There was a slight pause before he heard Fer’shad’s thundering footsteps race away from him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lan’kar take off on the heels of the tank.

  “That one is going to make a fine healer at least mechanics-wise,” thought Kel’Van.

  The fallen stone guard tried to flip on its side but he stomped his foot down on its back, pushing the guard flat on its stomach once more. Kel’Van circled to the opposite side of the Holmgren so as not to be ambushed by the one Fer’shad had been fighting.

  He needn’t had bothered.

  The Holmgren’s head was separated from his body with a crack of rocks between them. The glowing red embers of light gone from its eyes, and only dark empty sockets remaining. Underneath his boot, the stone guard tried again to raise himself, bringing Kel’Van back to the task at hand. Taking a cue from Fer’shad, he began piercing the neck of his foe, chipping bits of rock like an icepick against blocks of ice. As he went about his grim work, the back of his mind began to take note of what worked against these monsters. When fighting against creatures of this nature, piercing an
d blunt attacks were twice as effective than slicing and chopping. It made sense, but he would have to learn blunt weapons skills to avoid this reoccurrence again.

  The Holmgren underneath him quivered as the sword made its way across the neck. The eyes went dark, and Kel’Van stepped off the carcass, leaned back, and breathed in his victory. He kept his combat log minimized since these stone guards were not boss monsters. He eyed the battles going on between both Voresh and Belar and started trotting towards them. For now, Fer’shad needed to buy them time to kill the remaining guards so that they could quickly bring this to an end. Time was running out.

  The Aegis Bearer trotted his way towards the dais. He could hear the boy Holmgren only a few feet behind as he made his way up the stairs. Ora’El, or what the earth witch had become, was staring right at him as she raised one of her hands above her head. A wall twice as tall as he began pushing its way through the steps in front of him just a few feet away. He turned his direction in order to go around it. But by the time he turned the corner and proceeded up the stairs once more, Ora’El had already stretched forth her hand towards him. Suddenly claws of stone and dirt burst forth from the ground, grabbing Fer’shad mid-stride by his ankles. He almost stumbled from the suddenness of it but immediately began hammering at the hands with his shield. Lan’kar paused for a second behind him, but Fer’shad waved him forward then returned to breaking up the manacles holding him in place.

  Lan’kar increased the speed of his run as he began hopping up the stairs. He was almost within range of his elemental shadow to strike. Climbing his way to her, he saw the statuesque Orakai slam the palm of her hands together. A gust of wind flowed from her body in a swirl, then it began to turn into a vicious twisting wind with rocks the size of his hands within it. Suddenly the winds engulfed him, the rocks pelting his body repeatedly, leaving welts and bruises of all colors upon his grey skin. The force of the storm was also pushing Lan’kar backward, when a large hand grabbed him by the waist from behind. The winds assault abruptly lessened upon him. Lan’kar looked up from covering his face and saw the underside of Fer’shad’s shield before him.