Tales from the Dead Man Inn

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Stewart nodded and summoned Tabitha, “Darkstar, come illuminate the night and aid me.” Tabitha appeared in a puff of smoke when he finished speaking.

  “Greetings, master. I am to help you fight the Experiment?” Tabitha asked.

  “Yes. Your sole task will be healing Waltrim and using Essence Drain to steal back your health. It is important that that be your focus. The only other person you are to heal is Flora if she is busy healing others.”

  Tabitha glanced at Flora with a smirk, “So she will have to endure my touch today? Perfect.”

  Flora growled softly at the Succubus trying to bait her into an argument. She turned instead to Stewart. “Tomorrow, we are going to fix this.”

  Stewart smiled, “As you wish, Flower.”

  “Iffin ya be done, we need to get movin’ to the far side,” Alistern interrupted, pointing to the right.

  They began to move, following the others who had to set up on the same flank. They nodded to those who greeted them as they finally got to the spot they were to wait at.

  “May the Dark Lord bless us in this coming conflict,” Almira uttered softly as they now waited for Experiment 9 to show.

  ~*~*~

  About two hours later, two dun colored men came jogging toward the line from the desert, heading for the commander’s position. Another few minutes passed before the raid chat informed them that Experiment 9 was coming. A little less than an hour after that, the beast came into view as it crested the nearby dunes. It paused, looking down on them and letting out a hideous laugh. As it laughed, Stewart and Alistern buffed their Destroyers.

  “I’ve slaughtered countless mortals over the years. Do you really believe that this paltry few of you will be enough?” it asked in a dry, rasping voice that was still clear and loud enough to be heard by everyone.

  Commander Solomon took a step forward, “We are here to lay you to rest. Will you go quietly demon, or do you intend to resist the might of Stormguard?”

  “Stormguard? Is that what the remnant of the Empire is now called? I was created by Franklin Stein himself, mortal, during the uprising. I have patrolled these lands since they fell to the blight that my creator unleashed on them. Do you really think your handful can take me?”

  “Prepare men, the beast will not go quietly,” the commander said, drawing his sword. “We will put you down today, Experiment 9, even if it costs us our lives.”

  Experiment 9 laughed again as it flexed its wings, “I will take your lives, and then I will turn your fort to rubble to remind your pathetic king who rules these lands.” It leapt upward, its wings snapping hard to propel it further into the air as it came forward. “Today, you die!” it roared and tried to land on the commander. He dodged out of the way just in time.

  “ATTACK!” the commander yelled, slashing at the tail that whipped at him.

  Experiment 9 faced the first two groups directly in front of it, breathing out a cloud of insects that encompassed the groups. The other squads followed the plan and swung around to encircle it, staying thirty feet back just outside of its Aura of Decay. The first two groups tried to get out of the cloud, but Experiment 9 let out a Savage Roar before they could, stunning all those in earshot for five seconds. It spun and slapped the commander with one clawed hand, launching the old man back toward Alistern’s group.

  “Foolish mortals, feel the wrath of Stein’s masterwork!” Experiment 9 bellowed as it went to follow the commander.

  Group three stepped forward, their designated tank taunting the beast. Experiment 9 turned quickly— despite its size— and lunged at the heavily armored warrior. Claws dug gouges into his plate as the rest of his unit surged in to attack.

  Flora threw a heal on the commander as Alistern helped the old man to his feet. Brushing sand out of his hair, the commander grunted, “Tougher and stronger than I thought.” His face drained of color when he realized the ten men who had been caught in the swarm were all dead. “Fucking hells, that is much too powerful,” he grated out. Touching the gem on his left breast, the commander spoke, his voice coming from each shard that had been handed out earlier, “Groups one and two are down, so spread out to cut down the gap. That swarm will kill you if you don’t get out of it.”

  “Use us next,” Alistern suggested when the commander paused.

  Nodding, Solomon turned to look at group three, wincing at the sheer damage that Experiment 9 was dealing to them. “Get ready, then,” he said before moving off toward Braxton’s group.

  Alistern looked at his friends, who all wore expressions of determination as the Imps started up their Fire Bolts. The rest of the groups with casters began to start their spells. “Group ten, switch out,” Solomon’s voice came over the shard.

  Almira let out a yell as she stepped forward a few feet, joined by Waltrim and Theoliphius. She used her Righteous Anger to pull the aggro from group three’s tank, making Experiment 9 spin to face her. Group three pulled back and the healer focused on getting them healthy again. Waltrim took a step forward to take the first attack, pushing him back behind Almira again.

  “You seek to whittle me down?” Experiment 9 growled as it lashed out at Almira. “I am immortal! None can defeat me.”

  Almira grunted as she blocked the first attack, trying not to puke from the rank smell that emanated from the creature. Theoliphius took her right side, using his shield to help block one of the beast’s claws. Waltrim moved up to her left to do his best to keep that flank secure for her. “We have the blessing of the Dark Lord. We shall vanquish you today,” she spat back at it, her blade becoming edged with black flame. She lashed out, getting a minor strike on its side and bringing her shield back around to block any counter attack.

  Experiment 9 laughed and grabbed both Destroyers, throwing them behind it. Almira was able to land two strikes, but its health was barely going down. “Without your shield guards, I shall feast on your flesh, Elf.” It swiped with both claws, one of which bounced off her shield while the other punctured her breastplate, drawing blood. “Metal and flesh are so weak.”

  Alistern cast his next Fire Bolt, checking the health of the monster. He winced at how little damage they were managing to inflict on it, considering how much damage was being thrown at it by the casters all around it. Experiment 9, level ???, 975,637/1,000,000. “Its resistances are too high,” Alistern told the commander through the raid stone. “It be negatin’ at least half of everythin’ we do.”

  Flora got a heal onto Almira, who had lost close to a fifth of her life from that one attack. “Al, I can’t keep up with this. My spells are more over time healing than direct.”

  Experiment 9 laughed, “That’s right Druid, give in to despair.”

  Flora began to shake, her breathing becoming fast and thready, “We can’t… do this…”

  Illos threw his cleanse on her, taking one percent of her health, but removing the fear effect. When Illos had cleansed her debuff, Tabitha slid forward and touched Almira on the back, healing her to full life. Tabitha’s life dropped correspondingly. She then lunged forward, slapping Experiment 9 on the side, claiming one percent of Experiment 9’s life to replenish her own life and mana.

  Experiment 9 roared in anger as it lost ten-thousand life from that single attack. “Succubus, I will flay you alive while I eat your master’s heart!”

  “Ha, over here, ugly,” Stewart laughed and threw a Fire Bolt right into its face.

  Almira growled as she slammed her shield into the partially distracted monster, pushing it back a few steps. Waltrim and Theoliphius ran past it when it staggered back, letting their axes slice into it and retaking their places to either side of Almira.

  When Experiment 9 had steadied itself, it glowered at them and breathed out a swarm of insects. “Now let my swarm feed upon your flesh, mortals,” it hissed with laughter.

  Flora, Alistern, and Stewart stumbled back, all three at the edge of the cloud of insects. Flora cast two of her heal-over-time spells on Almira. Grimgar joined the fray once he�
�d circled around behind the monster, both of his blades sinking into the back of the undead Demon Lord. It screamed out in pain and whirled, catching Grimgar with one claw and flinging him back a good twenty feet before using its stun Ability again, locking them all in place.

  “Group four, your turn,” came the commander’s voice over the raid stone.

  One of the units stepped close enough for the tank to taunt Experiment 9 to them. Alistern, Stewart, and Flora waited as the swarm finally cleared, leaving Waltrim, Theoliphius, and Almira swaying on their feet, barely holding onto life. Flora quickly cast her heals on Almira again, and Lilith and Tabitha rushed forward to heal the two Destroyers. Alistern looked over at the group that had taken the mob from them, wincing as he watched the tank lose a third of his life to two quick attacks.

  “Group nine, be ready,” the commander called out, seeing the same thing Alistern had.

  Braxton and his group got into position and waited for the go-ahead. It didn’t take long before Braxton was told to taunt Experiment 9 to his group. Braxton let out a thunderous roar and threw a hand axe at the monster’s back. “Over here, ye yello’ bellied, light lovin’, angel kissin’ sissy,” Braxton taunted as the axe hit Experiment 9 in the back of the head.

  Grimgar smirked, “Oh, in approved Dwarven fashion.”

  “Not now, Grim,” Alistern said simply, watching the fight as he regained some mana. Chewing his lip, Alistern wondered how long this could last with the beast still at 925,361/1,000,000 life. “This is goin’ to take most of what’s left of the day.”

  Almira nodded, “Yes. I worry, though. Remember the last raid boss? It got new abilities every quarter life lost. I fear what this one will do.”

  Stewart nodded, watching the Dwarf hold his ground under the beast’s assault, “He is doing better than the soldiers are, but yes, I worry as well.”

  Braxton staggered back a step, having been hit by one of the claws. Wincing, he shook his head, “Aich, tha’ hurts. Elin will right me soon enough, beastie. Then we’ll get to see who lasts the longest, eh?”

  Elin finished her spell just after Braxton had finished talking, healing him back up, “I won’t be able to do that for long with it taking such a toll.”

  Grimgar watched as the brother and sister of the group appeared to either side of the demon, planting blades into it. He shook his head, noting the poison on the blades. As soon as they struck its wings, Experiment 9 came in hard, knocking them to the ground. The demon kicked each of them away with its hooved legs.

  “Idiot children, poison does not work on me,” it cackled as it watched them get to their feet slowly.

  “Group five, pull it to you,” Commander Solomon said over the raid stone.

  The next group of soldiers stepped forward, their tank taunting Experiment 9 to him. Braxton stepped back as the demon turned, his shield deflecting its tail when it swept at him. “Ha, ya dead red bastard, ye tail will nay catch me unaware.” Braxton said. Once the demon had moved far enough away, he took a knee while Elin healed him up.

  Braxton grinned over at Alistern, “So you lot about ready for your next go ‘round?”

  Alistern chuckled, “Not yet. Need to get Lilith and Tabitha healed. That means usin’ the meager heal we have, or else they have to get close enough to Drain that thin’.”

  Braxton shook his head, “Oh tha’ does put a damper on thin’s. Well, good luck with tha’. I do nay think these guys will be holdin’ that beastie long.”

  “Team eight, take it,” Solomon’s voice came over the raid stone.

  “Seems ya are right,” Alistern replied as he reapplied his Demonic Vitality to Lilith, Stewart doing the same to Tabitha. “We should be ready, but I worry about what will happen when it gets to 750,000 health.”

  Tugging his beard, Braxton nodded, “Aye, me too, lad. But it’s goin’ to take a bit o’ doin’ to get there.”

  Mana almost completely refilled, Alistern and Stewart began to cast Fire Blast again with their Imps joining in. Flora started to regain her mana now that Grimgar and Almira were finally healed back up. Almira frowned as she watched the soldiers try to deal with Experiment 9. “They really aren’t doing well. It takes two tanks to tone down its damage since it uses both claws.”

  Grimgar frowned, “Aye, but iffin we group up again, it means two teams getting enveloped in that insect swarm that damn near killed everyone. Surprised ye lived through it, actually.”

  “Flora’s heal-over-time is the only reason I did. I got stunned again, which meant I couldn’t use my Lay on Hands Ability or my lesser heals.” Almira sighed, “You’re right though, if we group up, it’ll just take out two groups in one go.”

  Experiment 9 continued to follow the same pattern, breathing out every two minutes and immediately stunning the group that got enveloped. While it got close a few times as they whittled it down to 750,000 health, no one else died. As soon as it hit 749,927 health, it launched itself into the air, flapping hard to stay above them.

  “Now you shall see the first great gift Stein gave me,” it laughed, plummeting straight down into the dune below and vanishing into the sand.

  “Everyone, stay calm. If it pops up on you, pick it up like normal,” Solomon shouted over the raid stone as they all waited tensely.

  A few seconds ticked by before the ground in the middle erupted. When the dust cleared, a group of forty Skeletons stood in the middle of their circle. “Each group, take five,” Solomon shouted.

  Almira rushed forward a few steps, mirrored by the other tanks. Each of them taunted as close to five enemies as they could. Some got four, others six, and Almira picked up eight, though Waltrim and Theoliphius each grabbed two from her. Alistern got his group focused on the mobs Almira had first. They took all four down quickly, and not a moment too soon, because Experiment 9 suddenly erupted from the sand. Almira taunted it before anyone could say anything, pulling it to her group.

  “Groups nine and seven, take the extra Skeletons off their group,” the commander called out quickly. “Groups flanking unit four, take their Skeletons off them so they are ready to take the mob from group ten.”

  “A warnin’ next time, iffin ye can,” Grimgar shouted, diving out of the way of Experiment 9 when Almira taunted it. He ducked off to the side, waiting for an opening to get behind it, remembering the tail.

  “Busy. Critique later,” Almira grunted, taking a hit before the two Destroyers could get to her.

  “I got you, Almira,” Flora said, stacking her heals on Almira as rapidly as she could.

  No sooner had all the heal-over-time spells landed than Experiment 9 breathed its swarm of insects onto the group. Everyone but Almira and the Destroyers got out of the way, just catching a small piece of the spell. Half a beat later, Experiment 9 stunned them, locking the tanks inside the swarm again.

  Group four stepped forward enough for their tank to taunt the mob away from them. The group waited for the swarm to fall away, watching Almira’s life bar yo-yo up and down as the heals tried to keep her up during the attack. When the spell ended, Almira wobbled a bit, at ten percent of her life. “I am really beginning to hate that Ability,” Almira said as Flora rushed forward to heal her.

  Lilith and Tabitha stepped forward too, helping both Destroyers. Neither Succubus could top them off, because their life hadn’t fully replenished since the last round. Alistern grunted, “Lilith, time it so when it switches over to Braxton’s group, ya can Essence Drain it.”

  “Of course, master,” Lilith said, wobbling a bit herself.

  “You as well, Tabitha,” Stewart added, getting a nod in return. Tabitha looked the worse of the two Succubi. Stewart placed Demonic Vitality on her to get her a bit of health back until she could use Essence Drain.

  Braxton waited as his group finished off the Skeletons and Elin healed him up. “Lass, regen ye mana as best ye can,” he told her. “We be next. After that, we’ll get a good break again.”

  “Group nine, you’re up,” Solomon said a few se
conds later, causing Elin to groan as her mana had still not fully recovered.

  Braxton taunted Experiment 9 over to them. As soon as he had it in place, both Succubi darted over and touched it. Experiment 9 let out a monstrous roar as it lost twenty-thousand life from those two attacks. They both ran back to their group as soon as they had healed themselves.

  “Done, master,” Lilith and Tabitha said in unison when they got back, prompting Lilith to grin.

  “Good,” Alistern said, patting Lilith on the ass. “Now be ready to heal again.”

  Alistern and Stewart cast their small heals on the Destroyers to top them up as they waited for their turn again. While they waited, the commander asked why they hadn’t been using the Essence Drain attack more. Alistern responded, “It’s a two-minute cooldown. We’re usin’ it as often as we can when it’s close by. Also, they need to time it to heal themselves after they heal our Destroyers. Our minions take damage from regular healin’ spells, so Flora can’t help there.”