by Baron Sord
I was about to cheer it on when a hot blade of fear pierced my heart.
KingFarthurT:> Jay! Don’t let your Mountainaut kill Emily! She might be in one of those trees!
SigurdDärksvärd:> Already thought of that. It’s scanning every Tyrannoak and only attacking the ones that don’t contain any PCs. Okay, I need to go.
KingFarthurT:> Good luck.
SigurdDärksvärd:> You too, Low.
Although the Mountainaut was busily knocking aside any Tyrannoaks that approached us, it wasn’t stopping the horde of Possessed making their way directly toward us.
“Are we ready?” I said to Layna and Dad the green grizzly.
They both nodded.
“Oh, wait. Layna, do you know what Emily looks like?”
“Yes. I saw her body at Jason’s Stronghold several times.”
“And you’re sure you remember what she looks like? You won’t accidentally kill her?”
“I do and I won’t.”
“Just be careful.”
She squeezed my wrist. “I will.”
Despite the sickening feeling needling my guts, I was counting on her. I took a deep breath and said, “Okay, people. This is up to us. We have to find Emily. Now. This may be the last chance we get.”
Walter_Simon_Byrne_1978:> We’ll find her or we’ll die trying…
“Yeah,” I said nervously, not liking the sound of “die trying”. I turned to Layna one last time, “Are you sure you want to be here? I can’t ask you to risk your life for someone you don’t know.”
“I’m not,” she smiled. “I’m risking it for you.”
I grabbed her by the shoulder, pulled her hard against my side, and kissed her cheek. Now was not the time for a make-out session, so it would have to do. “I love you, Layna.” It didn’t matter I’d only known her for 8 or 9 days. We’d been to hell and back more than once.
“I love you too, Logan.” She tip-toed up and kissed me on the lips.
Although it only lasted two seconds, it was easily the best kiss of my entire life. I’d remember those lips forever. I shook my head to clear it.
To her and Dad I said, “Let’s do this thing.”
We all charged headlong to meet the horde.
—: Chapter 27 :—
“Gaaaaaaashz!”
The army of pale white Possessed swarmed all over the three of us.
They tried to claw our faces off and pry our eyes out.
“Shit!” I shouted as 6 of them charged me from the front and 3 more from the side. They were all low level and would be easy to kill, but there were too many to check carefully for Emily. I couldn’t start hacking them up haphazardly, so I dodged to the side. My only chance to do this right was using Snake Strike.
I prayed I had enough Stamina.
“Gaaaaaaaaaask!”
Before I could activate it, I was knocked to the ground from behind by several Possessed that piled on top of me. Something slammed into my groin and nausea erupted in my guts.
Health dropped another 10%.
You’ve been Stunned! You cannot move for 7 seconds!
Stubby fingers hooked into the corner of my mouth and pulled hard on my cheek. I saw stars. Something crunched down on my arm through my leather Fencing Jacket. Another 3% Health gone. One Possessed was biting my bicep. Another pulled back my leather gauntlet and bit my wrist. Several more minor attacks gouged away at my Health as the remaining seconds of the stun ticked down. In total, I lost a total of 29% of my Health and the battle had barely started. But my stun came to an end.
I immediately activated Snake Strike.
Time slowed.
The ability to move faster than everybody else didn’t make their bodies weigh any less. It took almost 20 precious seconds to climb out from under the pile of Possessed, all of them reacting in slow motion, trying to stop me. As soon as I was on my knees, I started stabbing at necks and eyes, trying to take out as many of them as possible. Luckily, none of them wore armor. It was easy to cut them down.
You killed a Possessed Elf! You earned 100 XP!
You killed a Possessed Human! You earned 175 XP!
You killed a Possessed Dwarf! You earned 120 XP!
You killed a Possessed Leoparn! You earned 160 XP!
You killed a Possessed Human! You earned 105 XP!
Every time one died, it fizzled slowly into stardust and started fading away.
Almost out of Snake Strike, I spun, leading with my saber, ready to stab whichever Possessed was about to backstab me. I gasped and stopped myself short, my saber point an inch from the eye of a young woman.
“Emily?”
She moved in slow motion, her blank white eyes staring at me as her blackened mouth opened slowly.
It wasn’t her.
I stabbed her in the throat and drove my blade out the back of her neck.
Critical Hit! You killed a Possessed Human!
You earned 220 XP!
By the time my saber was free and I’d hurried away from the pile of not dead Possessed who’d almost killed me, my Snake Strike ran out.
Out of nowhere, a random Tyrannoak charged me.
Even without Snake Strike, I was fast enough to dodge out of harm’s way, but the Tyrannoak kept after me like it had my number.
It swung frantically, trying to bash me to bits.
I couldn’t blast it with lightning. I couldn’t mind control it. I couldn’t disembowel it. All I could do was keep dodging and search for Emily.
Ka-BASH! Ka-BASH! Ka-BASH!
It slammed branch after branch into the ground, trying to flatten me.
Now I was on the run, heading straight for a tight group of Possessed. I was cornered. I’d have to cut my way through the Possessed and hope none of them were Emily.
A white-black blur blasted into the Tyrannoak. One of Jason’s soldiers swung his huge sword in a blinding arc.
Ka-CRACK!!
The soldier’s big blade hacked clean through the entire trunk like it was made of balsa wood.
KingFarthurT:> Craig? that you?
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Now that’s what I call OP.
Craig slammed his shield into the top half of the Tyrannoak and it toppled into the mud.
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Fucking timber, bitch. Now we’re even, Kill Stealer.
KingFarthurT:> Nice work, Paul Bunyan.
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Damn right. You can thank me with a beer back at Skyland when this is all over.
He gave me a quick nod before batting aside numerous Possessed with his shield. They all bowled and rolled into the mud. Craig ignored them and made his way to the next live Tyrannoak heading in my direction and started chopping up a frenzy.
The battle raged on.
Dad was tearing apart Possessed left and right.
Layna swung her golden sword with surgical precision, lopping off Possessed heads one after the other.
Every time a Possessed died, their bodies sparkled into pure energy and wafted quickly away, unlike all the Dark Orken, Dark Skeleton, and Toadax corpses still scattered across the battlefield. It was further proof the Possessed were all mind-locked players. We were setting them free.
The rest of Jason’s soldiers were all engaged with the Tyrannoaks like Craig was. At least 7 of them still stood.
Farther away, the Mountainaut was busy bashing Tyrannoaks into the mud with black stone cube fists. That thing was kicking ass.
“Skaaaaaaaaack!” A Possessed man charged me and I danced out of his reach, slicing his arm off easily. Before it had time to turn around, I stabbed him through the back. My blade slid right between his ribs in the gap between his shoulder blade and spine.
Backstab! Your opponent didn’t see you coming!
Critical Hit! You punctured your opponent’s heart!
You killed a Possessed Human!
You earned 145 XP!
I yanked my saber out and looked around, wondering how Jason was doing.
On the far side of the
plateau, he was engaged in a one-on-three battle with his black dragon, the Wyrm Wraith, and the Mind Wraith.
GRA-GOOOOOOOONG!!!!
A black shockwave from the Mind Wraith’s rusty sword blasted across him, short-circuiting his white-black force field. It flickered briefly before fizzling out entirely.
Justice of the Law
Level: 99
Health | Stamina: 12,739 | 4,184
Mana | Mind: 24,210 | 27,261
Size: Medium++
Armor: 3102
===============
Fame | Infamy: 777 | -
Good | Evil: 1111 | -
Law | Chaos: 1111 | -
===============
What happened?
Jason had dropped 12 levels. That was bad.
The Mind Wraith must’ve been draining them.
Worse, Jason’s Health was down by 75%, his Stamina down by 80%, his Mana down by 90%, and his Mind by almost 95%.
He wouldn’t be able to put up a fight much longer.
I checked the Mind Wraith. Doing so cost me another 5% of my Health, but it was important.
Mind Wraith
Level: 150
Health | Stamina: ? | ?
Mana | Mind: ? | ?
Size: Medium+
Armor: ?
===============
Good | Evil: - | 1666
Law | Chaos: - | 1666
===============
That was a waste. Did he have infinite Health, or was I just not able to find out? No way to know.
The Wyrm Wraith and black dragon had taken major damage, but both had nearly 50% of their stats intact. Things did not look good for Jason. I wanted to help, but I’d get swatted like a fly if I tried. He was on his own. Hopefully the Mountainaut could step in if Jason needed help. That thing was going strong, but it was busy with the Tyrannoaks.
As if reading my mind, the Mountainaut suddenly turned and swung both blocky arms in a downward arc, clubbing the black dragon into the ground and crushing it underfist.
CHOOM!
“SCREEE-AAAAAGH!”
The black dragon’s tail, which stuck out from under both cubic fists, whipped and spasmed and then flopped into the mud.
I winced. That had to hurt.
SigurdDärksvärd:> Low, any sign of Emily?
KingFarthurT:> Still looking.
SigurdDärksvärd:> Make it quick. I don’t know how much longer I can last. Nothing I throw at this Mind Wraith is doing shit.
KingFarthurT:> Try the Mountainaut.
SigurdDärksvärd:> I did a minute ago. You must’ve missed it. Mountainaut couldn’t hit the Mind Wraith. He kept teleporting away just in time.
KingFarthurT:> How many times can he keep teleporting?
SigurdDärksvärd:> As many as he has Mana for.
Now I was worried. I didn’t want to ask how much Mana the Mind Wraith had, but hopefully, it would run out eventually. Everything in Reternity had limits, right? Even godlike bad guys like a Mind Wraith could be killed, right? I had no idea. But I knew one thing. If Jason didn’t kill him, we were all dead.
KingFarthurT:> Just keep him busy. I’ll focus on finding Emily.
SigurdDärksvärd:> Good luck.
A fresh wave of dizziness hit me.
The demonic plague.
My flashing purple stat bars all dropped another notch.
My Stamina was hovering around 29%. I’d drained a bunch on that last Snake Strike. I couldn’t afford another one unless my Stamina climbed above 35%, which didn’t seem likely any time soon. At the rate I was burning Stamina, sooner or later I wouldn’t have enough to move.
I slashed at another Possessed, scoring a Backstab and another 115 XP. Although more XP might get me to Level 11, which meant the effects of the plague would be delayed a bit longer, I wasn’t earning XP fast enough to get there. Worse, we were less than 10 minutes away from the Force of Law spell wearing off. I’d be a blithering idiot long before we found Emily.
I needed to find her now.
I jogged from one Possessed to the next, not bothering to stab them unless they attacked me first. I came dangerously close to being killed by a Tyrannoak that spotted me and charged, trying to smash me with all 8 arms. Right as it was about to swing again, Dad came barreling out of nowhere and climbed up its trunk, wrestling with the arms.
FWIZZ!
FWIZZ!
Layna fired arrows into the trunk and the Tyrannoak started flailing as the golden arrows burnt it from the inside out.
I kept searching for Emily.
She had to be around here somewhere.
Or was she still trapped in one of the dead trees?
Hundreds of them still stood immobile in the mud.
“Emily! Where are you! Emileeeeeeeeee! Fuck!”
I ran to the next Possessed and spun it around.
“Graaaaaaack!”
Not her.
Tried another.
Had to cut it open when it tried to bite my arm. Black blood sprayed from its neck.
For the next two minutes, I ran frantically from one Possessed to another. None of them were Emily.
I wasn’t going to find her.
My Stamina was down to 17%.
This wasn’t going to work.
“Emily! Damn it! Where the fuck are you!!!”
“Ggggaaaak!”
I spun around.
Emily.
She wore that steel muzzle over her head.
I needed to get it off.
She clawed at my face.
I jumped back.
She lunged forward.
I dodged to the side and spun, kicking her in the ass.
She stumbled into the mud.
I dove on her back and sat my full weight on her spine.
She writhed furiously underneath, trying to buck me off.
I grabbed the muzzle, trying to pull it off.
It wouldn’t budge.
Emily bucked again.
Something blurred in my right eye and knocked me down.
Another Possessed was on top of me.
I was on my back, couldn’t get an angle with my blade. Punched the hand guard into the thing’s face, knocking it into the mud. I goosed some mana into my saber and stabbed it dead.
You killed a Possessed Elf! You earned 120 XP!
I turned back to Emily.
Covered with mud, she stumbled up to her feet.
“Emily! It’s me, Logan! Emily! Wake the fuck up!”
“Ggggaaaargck!” She ran at me.
“Sorry about this.” I kicked her square in the chest with my boot heel.
She slammed onto her back.
I jumped on top of her.
Something told me I needed to get that muzzle off.
The muzzle was bolted on in back.
I dropped my saber in the mud and managed to wrestle her over onto her stomach. I pulled my dagger out of my belt and leaned my forearm on the side of her head, pinning it in the mud. Then I jammed the dagger point between the 2 metal neck straps near the bolt, twisting the blade and trying to pop it.
“Gack! Grack! Gggag!” Emily flailed underneath me.
I leaned more weight on her head and shouted at the bolt, “Fucking pop! Pop, goddammit! Pop!” I put all my strength into twisting the dagger.
PING!
The bolt broke. I dropped my dagger and bent both metal bands back. I pulled her head out of the mud so I could peel the muzzle off.
Emily bucked, but wasn’t strong enough to throw me.
The muzzle was loose, but it was somehow jammed in her mouth. I leaned over to look.
She was biting on it.
“Let go, damn it! Let go!”
She twisted and elbowed me in the side of the head.
I shook it off and sat my knees on the backs of her arms to trap them. With one hand on the muzzle, I dug my other fingers into the back of her neck as hard as I could.
“Graaaaaaaah!” When she gasped, the muzzle po
pped out of her mouth and black blood poured out.
I threw the muzzle in the mud.
Then I shifted back a few inches, rolled her over by her shoulder, and pinned her arms with my elbows.
“Emily! Fucking wake up!”
“Gaaaaaaaath!”
“Emily, wake up! I need you to wake up!”
“Kraaaaaaag!” She writhed and bucked beneath me.
I shook her shoulders. “Waaaaake! Uuuuuup!”
“Grak! Grak! Ga-gaaaak!” Her blank white eyes stared at me and her black mouth gnashed and chomped at the air.
There was nothing I could do.
Nothing.
Completely frustrated, I leaned back and screamed. “Fuuuuuuuuuck!”
“Is this her?” Layna asked, suddenly right beside me and touching my shoulder.
“Jesus!” I barked. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were another Possessed.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, yeah, it’s her.”
Layna knelt down, her sword hand resting on my thigh. She reached into her pocket and pulled out something that glowed gold. A golden necklace with a cone-shaped gold pendant that resembled the Temple of the Light building in Skyland.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“A gift from the Oracle,” Layna said, smiling at me. “I told her about our mission when I was recovering at the Temple.”
“Oh.”
She pressed the pendant against Emily’s forehead with her palm and started muttering words, her eyes closed. Bright gold energy flowed into Emily, sparkling and swirling under her skin.
“Gak! Grak! Gaaaask!” Emily clawed at Layna.
I forced Emily’s arms down into the mud.
Layna poured her own Mana down her arm, through the pendant, and into Emily.
Off to the left, Dad was going Grizzly bear crazy, swatting Possessed aside like rag dolls before they could attack me and Layna.