AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND

by Titus Nettles

  “My arm…” thought Kel’Van.

  He tried to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to see. The first time when he woke up in a hospital to see the cloth-covered stump of his left hand, it nearly broke him. It took years to get used to the prosthetic they implanted him with. In his mind, he had never accepted it. Now he had to go through the ordeal once more. Resigning himself to whatever horrid show was there, he raised his arm to his face and opened his eyes. His breath caught in his throat as he looked on with almost fascination of the limb before him.

  “What…is this?”

  From his elbow to his wrist, the arm was solid black stone which had a glassy look to it, so much so that he could see the reflection of his face in it. From the wrist up was…something else. The palm of his hand was of the same color as his forearm. The deep black of obsidian. The fingertips were sharpened claws of the same make. Clear and precise as if they were naturally grown that way. But the joints connecting the segments between the fingers, and even the fingers to the palms...was fire. A deep maroon blaze that rolled in tiny waves as if five sets of flames were sitting on the palm itself.

  “My god,” whispered Kel’Van.

  “Yes, that is an honorific I can live with,” said Robahn. “ Though the time for labels is later.” The dark god was staring off into space as if a movie was playing in front of him. Then he quickly turned toward Kel’Van. “Are you hale of mind now?”

  “What ?” asked the aberrant knight, looking at the god who had done this to him.

  “Are you well enough in mind to finish the task at hand?”

  Kel’Van’s anger at the torment he had just gone through receded to bearable levels. That could wait, the enemy at the gates could not. He came here for a purpose, and it was time to finish what he started…no matter how it turned out.

  “Lets’s go,” he breathed.

  Lord Robahn raised his arms, and the shield encompassing the two of them spread out towards his teammates, pulling them within the dark-colored smoke emanating from the god's partial form. The smoke began to spin in a typhoon around them, the whirling winds sounding like the approach of a thunderstorm. It lasted only 5 seconds or more till the colored tinted haze began to dissipate. Once it was gone, the scenery around them was changed.

  “Where in the name of Gaea are we?” questioned Voresh.

  They were atop a piece of land overlooking a crevice. Fer’shad, who was near the edge, looked below them and his eyes grew wide.

  Kel’Van come quickly!” he shouted. The others followed behind their leader as they looked down upon the turmoil below them. The others looked on the spectacle in awe, Fer’shad and Bela’s mouth was open. They had never seen what was taking place before them. Kel’Van himself had done it about three times in Avarice…but no more than that.

  “Captain, what is this…happening down there?” asked an astonished Belar.

  Kel’Van just squinted his eyes smaller as he took in everything.

  “It’s a raid.”

  There were monsters upon monsters down in the crevice. There were flying lizards in the air with long tails and clawed hands resembling eagle talons with the head of a tiger without fur or colors. They flew around in a circle above, raining lightning down below them. On the ground, there were two types of monsters. One was reminiscent of the boss they defeated in the later parts of the dungeon, Orko the black. Only these behemoths levels were close to 30 as far as he could scan. The other type were thinner, hooded versions of the same elemental. Most of them had staffs, and were not rushing in as their counterparts. These creatures were using both fire and earth-based attacks between the on rushing horde of the melee fighters in front of them.

  “They are not our forces, Kel’Van,”

  Kel’Van did a swift turn behind him and grabbed his weapon. The others reacted to Kel’Van’s moves by drawing their own weaponry.

  “I am not physically here, herald,” whispered the dark god. “You are hearing me through the connection we share through your hand and our pact.”

  “Lord Robahn, I did not know the pact included reading my mind,” the knight said as he returned to the scene playing out below him. He was finally able to see past the monsters surrounding the raid making their way towards them. The others gave a questioning stare. Voresh openly looked around for the god. Kel’van raised his hand to still their questions and pointed at his new appendage.

  “Still your wagging tongue,” Robahn said sharply. “You are not a slave, but I will brook no disrespect from you…watch your tone with me mortal.”

  Kel’Van remained silent. He didn’t have to answer the god the way he did, neither was it a smart thing to do. When he couldn’t immediately pinpoint why he mouthed off, he just chalked it up to being pissed at how the arm-thing went down. Seeing your hand mutilated and the pain associated with receiving a new one, will have anybody feeling some type of way about the being who did it to you.

  “I did not read your mind, nor was it part of our pact. I simply looked in the direction you were staring and made an observation…nothing more.”

  “ My apologies Lord Robahn. So…they are not ours?” the knight asked, changing the subject.

  “No. they are the denizens outside of our home and continent. They belong to no god, but brook no entry into their territory of beings who do not belong.”

  That revelation broke Kel’Van’s concentration from the battle below, and he stared at his arm in confusion.

  “We’re on a different continent…as in another country?”

  “Hmph, did you believe Avarice to be just an island?” Lord Robahn asked. “No, It is an entire world mortal. Valkar is a vast continent which you Ulgo’s share a tiny part of. Both above and below it.”

  It was a startling discovery to say the least, but in no way possible would it help him with the situation at hand now. Specifically, since most of those monsters were about to go down by what he was seeing below.

  “Pay attention everyone, this battle is about to turn. This is what a successful team does to overwhelming odds.” Kel’Van directed.

  The tanks upfront with their shield towering over them clang together. Each one forming a phalanx in their area, blocking the oncoming horde of monsters attacking their front. Chainmail wearing warriors behind them sent spells into the air, putting glowing yellow barriers above the raid, leaving small gaps between the shielding.

  Arcs of thick lightning and huge gouts of fire began spewing forth from the gaps. The flying beasts struck by the lightning spells were almost frozen in place as electricity wracked their bodies. The spell jumped from one monster to the next, snapping some of their backs as they shook from the effects. Others were bathed in fire; they tried to fly away from the onslaught, only to fall to the earth in cinders and ash.

  The front tanks had opened a narrow passage, and arcane blasts of torrent blue pummeled into the throng of earth elementals. The thinner ones in the monster camp started hoisting their staffs into the air. Bubbles of energy formed until the bubble encased the sorcerers, creating a shield. It lasted less than 10 seconds before the array of magical might the raid pounded them with, blowing it and the sorcerers away in a cascade of colors and rubble.

  “Gaea’s bones,” whispered Belar in a hushed tone.

  The horde of monsters both in the air and on the ground took less than 2 minutes to destroy. All that was left was literally scorched earth and ashes in the sky. The tanks lowered their shields, and the raid continued their march up the crevice.

  “Captain, how are we to fight this…raid marching toward us?” Belar asked. “ I have faith in our capabilities, but this seems beyond us.”

  “Attacking them the way those monsters did would be suicide Belar,” Kel’Van commented while still looking at the raid coming towards them. They had exactly 15 minutes before the shutdown down started, and these guys were almost upon them.

  “That is because you are not expected to,” the god said through Kel’Van’s new limb. “Your
pact allows me to take a physical form outside of the temple.”

  “So why aren’t you standing with us right now?” then hastily added, “My lord?”

  “I need to construct a form to do this…the attack is imminent, so I will use one of the newly remade guardsmen at my disposal and meet them at the gate.”

  Kel’Van thought back to when the dark god first appeared in a physical form staring down at his prone figure earlier. The initial scan of his level just showed the infinity symbol above his head. But if he needed to form a body in order to face the intruders, would his new body be the same?

  “Lord Robahn, what level will the host's body be when you… inhabit it?” the initial word he was thinking was “possess,” but he didn’t want to put his foot in his mouth again when addressing the god.

  “Level 40 Kel’Van. I shall lay waste to these interlopers and fulfill my end of the pact. Do not fear, herald,” consoled Lord Robahn. “I leave to prepare. We will speak more on this when the task is done.”

  The Aberrant knight vision remained glued to the raid marching forward toward the gate. 40 was a huge number but still within the margin for this raid to succeed. Observing the battle, he was able to see the makeup of the group. There were two tank classes in front, 2 priests for healing, 2 Paladins for ward shields. There were also 3 mages of Arcane, Lightning, and Fire, respectively, and one swordsman for pure melee combat to round the group out.

  It was a very good group make-up, and he was not surprised that a high tier guild such as Onyx Blade had chosen such an adaptable set-up for their mission. At their level, the two tanks could taunt multiple targets and keep them in front while taking damage with their heavy armor and shields. The three mages were there for heavy damage and for hitting targets at a distance. The priests were closer to the other cloth wearers and more to the center, so they could mainly heal the tanks and everyone else secondary via line of sight or LOS for short. The one he took to be a warrior was actually a paladin. Instead of a shield on her back, it brandished a sword in its hands. Paladins were not heavily armored warriors in Avarice. What they excelled at were wards and melee combat, depending on their discipline. So they had two paladins who could possibly tank when needed, and a swordsman rounded out the back of the raid. All three he assumed were capable of wards, such as large heals, large magic shields, and enhancing attributes.

  Very well-rounded and positioned to tackle multiple types of engagement, be it a single target boss or multiple enemies. Kel’Van did not think the god was ignorant of war, but he doubted if lord Robahn was an expert on how players attack. He could not wager the lives of his men on that.

  “Lord Robahn if I may,” he said hurriedly to garner the god’s attention. “I’m sure you have experience with fighting monsters and men. But this raid is made up of players, not mere Terrans. They operate differently.”

  “How so, herald?”

  “They wear you down, Lord Robahn,” said Kel’Van. Then the Aberrant knight proceeded to explain to the god and his teammates how raids perform when engaging a single raid boss, including tactics and positioning.

  “That isn’t too different than how we perform most of our battles captain,” remarked Fer’shad.

  “They just have more people to work with and are stronger…leagues stronger,” added Belar.

  “I witnessed your battle with Orko, you do fight in a similar fashion, is this standard for what you call players?”

  “Yes, lord Robahn.”

  There was a moment of silence as all involved thought over the implications of what Kel’Van had just told them.

  “I take it you have a plan of attack that will turn the tide in our favor, herald?”

  “Yes, lord Robahn, but it depends on a couple of things. Are you able to teleport people through their shield wards, the way you teleported us here?” he asked.

  “Hphm,” the dark god snorted. “They may be able to mitigate some of my attacks, but teleporting inside their wards will pose no challenge herald.”

  “Good, the plan I have is risky, and I rather not even do it, but the stakes are too high for us not to try the only viable plan I have.”

  Voresh nudged his way to where Kel’Van watched the raid funnel into the city gates.

  “What is your plan captain?” the warrior asked.

  Kel’Van only smiled and replied with a question. “What is the first thing I taught you to do when encountering an enemy group?”

  Voresh left eyebrow shot up as he pondered the question. Then a crude smile played upon the roguish orc’s face. “You kill the healer, captain.”

  “That’s right, kill the healer first.”

  CHAPTER 43

  “This place…is dark,” said Daylight. He was walking just a couple of steps in front of the three paladins.

  “Well, we are underground sooo…,” Healbot7 sarcastically replied next to him. “It’s not exactly a walk through Pismo beach out here.” The two priests continued to stare around them and banter as the rest of the raid they were with quietly walked through.

  The group had just walked through the front gate of an almost abandoned medieval city. The road they were on was almost like cobblestone. The houses were of something akin to brick mortar, but they couldn’t tell from how dark the place was. What was viewable was covered with deep red earth and grime.

  “He is not wrong, though,” whispered one of the paladins behind them. She was garbed in shiny chainmail and leather armor underneath. Staunch leather boots that reached just past her knee and thighs. Leather shoulder pads with the figure of a lion’s head on each shoulder adorned her upper frame. The low dim light of high enchantments hummed blue off her body. Short hair that looked like a mop of curls adorned her head as she slowly twisted it side to side warily with her sword in hand. “ This is something out of a barbaric horror film.”

  The two paladins Steel and Bronze facial expressions echoed her sentiment. The two were twins in real life and here apparently, only separated by the colors they wore. Steel had an almost silver tint to his cloth armor that matched the color of his chainmail. The leather helmet he wore was the same tint of his gauntlets now weighing down his left arm. He eyed the back of their trail, making sure there was no one trying to surprise them. Bronze also wore chainmail though the leather armor underneath didn’t match the tint. The reddish color from the enchants giving off a metallic glow of its own. His shield was still on his back, but both his arms was raised in front of his chest in case a magic shield was quickly needed. Even their stats and powers were only slightly different. Steel’s wards were more tankish, while Bronze healing abilities were stronger. They both, however, were very unnerved at their current surroundings without saying a word aloud.

  “Keep it low back there,” Ellis hissed. “We don’t know exactly what we need to face to claim this place, only that it’s hardly anyone here. The last thing we need right now is to give our position away, so keep the volume down.”

  Ellis shook his head as he made his way to the front. He was a Fire mage since almost the beginning of Avarice Online. A Founding member of Onyxblade and one of the best-ranked offensive mages, period. Garbed in yellow and red robes with a hood covering most of his face, sent an imposing visage to anyone. Being over 6 feet didn’t hurt the intimidating figure he wished to cast at all neither.

  “Seeing anything farther up?” he asked the two warrior tanks.

  Bedrock and Mr. Fort have been with Ellis since the guild's beginnings. He trusted their judgment above all others when making decisions be it the guild or any dungeon runs they took on. There wasn’t a dungeon he hadn’t personally beaten that didn’t include these two tanks in his group. Bedrock was the older of the two and usually commanded the team if Ellis was not part of the raid. The warrior tank had his standard grey tower shield with a griffin surrounded by fire blazed upon it. He wore heavy grey and black armor with a griffon's head for a helmet. His face shone openly through the mouth head as he tried to pierce the darkness with his n
ight vision. Mr. Fort was Ellis’s younger brother. Clad also in yellow and red gear, though only his shoulder pads and helmet were heavy armor items. The rest of his armor was leather, and he carried a shield that only reached his chest on his left arm. Ellis smiled as he watched his brother march. The man actually introduced him to playing Avarice but was not at all enamored with being any type of leader. He was just fine as being regarded as one of the best tanks skilled in the game. Instead of the hulking monster that Bedrock was, relying on mostly Health and strength, Mr. Fort had gained notoriety depending on agility, strength, and timed blocks to tank. That expertise had paid dividends in the weeks-long run they were in now. He could pick up the mobs that Bedrock missed and was adaptable to switch roles as a melee DPS when needed.

  Bedrock shook his head slowly. “ Nah, nothing so far, Ellis,” he took a quick look at Mr. Fort. “How about you son?”

  “Not a damn thing on my end,” quipped Mr. Fort... “And I’m not afraid to say that it’s kinda creeping me out some.”

  Bedrock actually laughed at that. “Good, glad to know it ain't just the wonder twins behind us and me,” he said, smiling at the two priests behind him, who only smiled back with Daylight playfully giving him the finger. “Yeah, I know I’m number one baby.”

  Ellis clasped two fingers to his nose in feigned irritation.

  “What part of keeping it low do you people not understand,” at the same time smirking to himself. It was great that they still kept a sense of humor after being immersed in Avarice for over a week. The levity they brought to the current circumstance was refreshing and needed. The truth was he was just as unnerved by where they were as the rest of them. The area had the feel of an ancient castle keep surrounded by a village swallowed up by the earth. The buildings and nearby houses were not destroyed or anything; they just looked empty and worn. But the presence here was anything but. He still needed to keep them focused. Especially since they were so close to the end now. No matter how much this place gave him the creeps.