“What are you doing? Trying to kill yourself?”
“No, but I can do this.” He said, looking past her at the swirling winds. “There is a pattern, but it’s slight. Just let me do this one thing, please.”
He saw the hesitation in her eyes, but then her need to kill this Demon Lord and be finished with them for good won out. She let him go and Jimmy watched the swirling winds as the tanks continued to attack at the frontline and the DPS dodged in every few moments for a heavier attack before ducking out of the way again. Jimmy waited for the wind to turn to a whistle and… there it was, another gust. He tucked his staff away so he could run faster, struck it with Holy Light, and let it come after him. This one caught his leg as it slammed into the ground and he winced, watching a quarter of his health drop, but the crystal was revealed. Nell rushed over to help clear it off and healed him quickly.
But then everything changed. The swirling vortex crackled with lightning and it struck out in all directions, hitting the ground and exploding it as the players tried to dodge the attack. Boulders broke off from the wall and tumbled down, threatening to squish them. Jimmy took a rock to the shoulder and winced, waiting for the lightning to dissipate. When the last bolt disappeared, he waited for another gust to break out and target it. Only two crystals left to go, and after he dragged this gust to the next crack, there was only one remaining. His narrowed eyes focused on the swirling winds, waiting, feeling the power of the crystals coming to life.
“One more, you bastard,” he whispered. “One more. Come on.”
And there it was. Jimmy grinned and charged at the gust. It moved faster than the last ones and he barely beat its attack to the crack in the ground. It slammed down, broke it open and exposed the final crystal. The bright green light flooded the cavern and the Bringer of Winds screeched in pain as it solidified before their eyes.
“Now!” Trajan moved in, attacking with everything he had, as the others followed his lead.
The green light trapped the Bringer of Winds, but this was not like facing the remnants. Something was wrong. The air was heavy, very heavy, and weighed down on Jimmy’s shoulders making it difficult to move. They were doing damage, one of three health bars was already gone, but the fight wasn’t going to end pretty. Jimmy sensed it deep in his bones that this Demon Lord wasn’t finished with them just yet.
The crystals pulsed brighter with each drop in health the Demon Lord suffered. Another lightning attack exploded outward, but this time they were ready for it and everyone dropped to the ground, rolling to dodge the random strikes around them. Then they were back on their feet and attacking with the entire force of those who remained in their guild.
When the Bringer of Winds had a half bar of life remaining, everything changed.
The heaviness increased and Jimmy watched in horror as the Demon Lord, who mimicked a cyclone, turned into a full-blown tornado. He’d never been in one, but a friend of his had. Said it was the most terrifying thing he had experienced in his life. The wind was deafening, as it was now, and the winds so strong, it sucked everything around it up into the vortex and he said it was so dark, he hadn’t been able to see his hand in front of his face. It was a miracle his friend had survived.
Jimmy felt the exact same, if any of them survived what came at them.
The Bringer of Winds suddenly expanded, catching the players within the winds. A sound like a train barreling down on them filled his ears, drowning out the panicked screams of his guild as they were lifted off their feet and swung into the air. Jimmy kept his arms in and tried to tuck his head against his chest as all light was blocked out completely. All he could do was wait for it to be over.
When the howling started to lessen, Jimmy felt his body start to plummet and braced for impact. He hit the ground hard and it destroyed almost all his health. He heard grunts and curses around him as the darkness was pierced by the bright green light of the crystals. The cavern was empty.
The Bringer of the Winds was gone.
“No,” Trajan whispered and Jimmy pushed himself up to see him crawling towards two players, not moving. Barry and Mack lay perfectly still on the ground, their health bars gone. “Damn it!”
Jimmy’s heart sank as Nell rested her hand on Trajan’s shoulder while Calista and the rest of Bishop’s guard took a moment to mourn the loss of Sorgon as well. Barry and Mack’s health must have been too low when they were sucked up into the vortex to survive it. There was no celebration for the death of the final Demon Lord. Maverick looted the chest that appeared in the center of the cavern and triggered the portal that would lead them back to the first island. It was a bitter victory today and an even harsher reality that they were down three more players.
One by one, the players stepped through the portal. Jimmy was the last to leave, wondering how many more they would lose before they had their time against Valen.
***
Back at the house, Calista wanted to empty her bags and log out. The fight had been hard and she was mentally exhausted. They needed to figure out their next move and send two more spies to check on Hillside, get a feel for Valen’s plans. She opened the door and jumped to see a figure standing before the hearth. Trajan ran up beside her, ready to attack, but when the figure stepped out of the shadow, Calista relaxed.
“What are you doing here?” she asked the Red Witch as the guild crowded inside and shut the door. “Thought you were in hiding.”
“I was, but I can hide no longer. The time has come for me to speak with my son,” she explained. She shifted her gaze to focus on every hero in turn as she said, “The time has come to free the King from the Demon’s control. Will you aid me, heroes?”
Calista sagged and closed her eyes. They had no time to waste, but were they mentally prepared to do this right now? As she decided what to do, a message appeared before her eyes. Not from the guild, but from Dennis. She opened it and her decision was made for her.
“Looks like we’re not logging out just yet,” she told the guild. “Harrison’s vitals are off the charts and his brain activity is beyond anything Dr. Sanchez has seen.” She deleted the message and turned back to Rosalyn. “Let’s go save the King.”
Rosalyn bowed her head. “The tide is turning in this war,” she said firmly. “And that tide is you. No more hiding for any of us. No more running.”
Chapter 13
Calista wasn’t sure about this. Dennis had told them it was part of the game, but every plan they had had so far had only served to make their situation worse. Winston was gone, five of their guild were dead in the game, and Bishop was more unstable than ever. That and his vitals were fluctuating even worse than two days ago. Dennis might say everything was fine, but Calista knew he was lying.
Harrison’s time was running out fast.
After finding Rosalyn waiting for them at their guild house, she’d logged out for a few minutes to talk to Dennis and ensure they were doing the right thing by pushing forward. She wanted more information on this instance, but Dennis said it was pretty straight forward. Rosalyn would free Godfrey from Valen’s hold, end of story. If it went right, they wouldn’t even have to do any fighting.
Now, back in game, she checked her weapons one final time and left the guild house. Rosalyn was speaking with Trajan about their plan to finally go and speak with King Godfrey. Once he accepted the quest, it would transport all of them up to the castle and, hopefully, in an instance that Valen and Bishop couldn’t get into. They had to keep Rosalyn safe. But in order to move forward with the storyline, they needed her to take care of Godfrey and get him back on their side.
The quest prompt appeared before her and she hesitated, her hand hovering over the option that would have them traveling to join Rosalyn at the castle.
“Calista? You ready?”
Jimmy sounded as unsure as she felt, but she accepted the quest.
Quest Accepted: Freeing the King.
“Alright, we’re down three more players,”
Trajan said while they gathered around Rosalyn. “Eyes open, ears open, any sign of trouble, we get the hell out of there. And remember, Rosalyn has to come back with us. We can’t let anything happen to her.”
Calista rested her hands on the head of her ax and mace, and Rosalyn opened a portal in the center of the lawn. Calista ducked her head and jumped through first. Her gut twisted and she was dizzy from the traveling when she landed down outside the main doors…and found a spear aimed at her face. Guards surrounded her and the guild as they appeared one by one before the portal closed behind them. She held her hands up as the guards moved in and rounded them up, grabbed them by the arms, and lead them into the castle without a word.
“Is this part of it you think?” she whispered to Trajan as they were dragged on.
“God I hope so, otherwise we’re already screwed.”
“Move along and keep quiet,” the guard holding Calista’s arm snapped, giving her a shake for good measure. Calista considered decking him for good measure. She could take the guard. After their last push to level, she was hitting 85 and this guard was only 65. She could take all of them if she wanted.
Hell, she had soloed a Demon Lord. Guards were nothing compared to that.
They were brought to the throne room and forced one by one down on their knees before the throne with a very pissed off King Godfrey seated there, his queen leering beside him. Once the last person was down, Rosalyn hooded and cloaked, Godfrey tapped his fingers loudly on the arms of his throne, shifting his green gaze from one to the other.
“I have told you before what would happen if you tried to come before me again,” he said, pushing to his feet. “And yet here you are, all of you. Do you have a death wish?”
“We have come to try and make you see reason,” Trajan announced. “Valenastrious’ armies mass in Hillside. We have seen them with our own eyes. If you refuse to act, if you refuse to do anything, to fight back, you will lose your Kingdom, your people. All of Samar will fall.”
Godfrey paced in front of them, turned and paced back again. “Yes, I know. But once the slate is wiped clean, we can rebuild, start over. I can finally make this world in my image.”
“As opposed to the world your brother tried to build?” Trajan challenged.
Godfrey stopped and whipped around to glare at him. “My brother refused to embrace his true nature and he failed. He was killed for his weakness. Me? I will rise and rule forever.”
“Lies.”
Calista looked down the line of faces to the hooded figure amongst their ranks.
“What did you say to me?” the King asked.
“I said you lie. Valenastrious will never let you live. She will kill you as soon as she no longer needs you.”
Godfrey marched to the figure and threw back the hood. “You!”
“Hello my son.” Rosalyn stood. The guards made to move forward and secure her, but one glare and they backed away, her eyes glowing red with power. “I told myself I would never come to this place, or see you again, not after what you did to your brother.”
“He was weak.”
“He was far stronger than you to resist the pull of the Demon Queen!” She forced him backwards with only her eyes.
Calista stood and, when the guards didn’t make a move towards her, she nudged Jimmy beside her to get up too. The situation was about to get crazy and that meant, at any second, Bishop or Valen could show up and mess with them.
“They’re all still on script, right?” Maverick whispered out of the corner of her mouth while Rosalyn and Godfrey continued their banter back and forth. Even the queen stood and got involved, but none of them paid any attention to the heroes, except Trajan. He was the one who had originally accepted the quest. “Maybe if Trajan stays where he is, we can spread out, keep a better eye on the situation.”
Trajan nodded to say he heard the plan and waved his hand for them to get moving. Calista didn’t draw her weapons. There were too many guards in here now. If they saw her as a threat, they’d come after her and the uneasy feeling in her gut had nothing to do with the current situation. The air was heavy and the hair on her arm stood up. Godfrey yelled, slamming his fist down on the arm of his throne making her jump, but no sign of Valen or Bishop, not yet.
“How dare you!” Godfrey said. “You will leave me now or you will die! All of you!”
Calista rolled her eyes. This was not what they needed, but Godfrey appeared he was no longer in the mood to listen to his mother’s words of wisdom. The air was even thicker than before and Calista coughed, feeling as if she was choking on water. The feeling worsened and suddenly she couldn’t breathe at all.
“Calista?” Jimmy rushed to her side to try and help her, but she wasn’t sure what was wrong. “Trajan!”
“No,” Calista gasped out. “Keep…going!”
Someone else gasped and Calista watched as Nell fell to her knees next, holding her throat, struggling to get air. Then another fell and another, but no one’s health was going down. Calista saw the icon by Nell’s name showing the stun factor. Just a stun. But telling herself that and forcing her body to understand she wasn’t in fear of dying were two different things. Panic started to set in and she didn’t care what happened as long as she could breathe again.
“You have let your mind be poisoned for far too long,” Rosalyn stated, raising her glowing hands towards Godfrey. He shrunk back from her power, but then his body was lifted into the air, surrounded by the red light. “Time for you to be free again, my son!”
Calista watched, unable to do anything else as she held her own throat, waiting for the air to return to normal so she could breathe. Godfrey’s body twitched and turned in on itself as Rosalyn whispered under her breath, words that grated across Calista like sandpaper. She was uncomfortable and wanted nothing more than to get out of the room, but she had nowhere to go. Rosalyn’s body floated into the air as the red beam of power from her hands to Godfrey intensified.
“You will never win!” The voice came from Godfrey, but the voice was one they all knew far too well. Valenastrious. His bones cracked as his limbs bent in awkward angles, his green eyes flaring with flames. “You will burn. All of you will burn!”
The red power of Rosalyn was thrust back into her and she was thrown across the room as Godfrey’s feet touched down. Calista sucked in a deep breath of air, the weight gone from her lungs.
Trajan yelled as he charged Godfrey, but the king easily threw him aside and Calista had no doubt left in her mind that Valenastrious, or at least the one that was originally scripted, had control of Godfrey now. The guards fell back, unsure of what do to.
“Get out of here if you want to live!” Calista yelled, taking her weapons in hand. “Go!”
The guards abandoned their spears and took off, hastening out of the throne room as fast as they could. Calista debated on her next move as Godfrey flung his arms wide, a maddening cackle slipping from his mouth as more green flames shot from his hands. His attack was random, not like a boss they could pin down. At the same time, he wasn’t focusing on the heroes, only Rosalyn. The quest required her to free him of Valen’s hold but, as Calista quickly reread through it, there were no specifics on how they would do it.
“Trajan! What’s the plan?” she yelled.
“Weaken him,” Rosalyn responded for him as she tossed her cloak aside and shook out her hands. “Weaken him and I can drive her from his body!”
“Right, sure, that sounds easy enough,” she muttered to herself. “Weaken the possessed half-breed.” She rolled her head on her neck, swallowed down one of the vials to amp up her fury right off the bat and, with a mighty roar to pull aggro off Trajan long enough to give him to heal, she threw herself into the fight.
***
The portal appeared inside the castle and Bishop emerged, Demons flanking him, to the sight of the castle guards sprinting past him and out the front doors. At the sight of Bishop, he expected them to stop and attack, bu
t they kept on running, screaming about witches and possessions.
Bishop swung the sword loosely in his hand and motioned the Demons to head towards the throne room. “Remember! Do not kill Rosalyn. We need her alive.”
“And the heroes?” one of the Demons with curling black horns asked, clutching his jagged sword in two clawed hands. “What are your orders for them?”
Don’t say it! You can’t let them be killed! You can’t!
Bishop ground his teeth and his lip lifted in a snarl as he growled, “Kill them all.”
The Demons howled and took off. Bishop let them go ahead of him, whistling as he took his time walking towards the throne room. Familiar yells reached his ears and the walls around him trembled from the use of so much power. Godfrey was possessed by Valenastrious; the Red Witch was no match for her, but the point of this quest was not to harm the woman. They needed her alive. Bishop did not fully understand why Valenastrious needed the Red Witch, nor did he care.
You should care. The second she gets her hands on the Red Witch, game over.
Bishop ignored the strange murmurings in his mind and swung his sword again, making ready to attack as he reached the doorway of the throne room.
Chaos ensued before him and he grinned seeing the heroes surrounded by them as Godfrey bared down on the Red Witch.
Help them, the voice nagged. You can’t just stand there and watch them be killed. I know you better than you know yourself because this isn’t you! Go in there and save them!
“Bishop!”
Jimmy didn’t hesitate for a second before a beam of blue light shot from his hands and aimed for Bishop, bursting with power. Bishop ducked beneath it, but Jimmy didn’t let up. He sent attack after attack towards Bishop, and who could blame him? Bishop was the cause for him and Maverick nearly being killed and he had heard of the recent three deaths of their friends when they had gone after the final Demon Lord.
Three of your family. They’re your family, too!
The Final Chapter Page 16