by Charles Dean
Maddock was forced to take a step backwards as a series of blows rang out against the Armor on his side. If the protective heavy plate hadn't been there he would have taken serious Damage for his carelessness. He had thought he had more time, but an enemy Assassin had slipped up in stealth, attacking him as he was turned shouting orders. The small Daggers were fast, but the Class normally relied on stealth and surprise to do Damage. In truth, the would-be assailant would have been much better off moving around to the back of the stack and attacking one of the weaker, less heavily-armored targets. Annoyed more than injured, Maddock jerked around, catching the much smaller figure in the jaw with his elbow. Not allowing the Assassin to regain his balance, Maddock kicked forward catching him in the stomach, toppling him over and leaving him gasping for air. A quick blow to the back of the head with the hilt of his Sword ended the man’s life.
Now he was forced to rejoin the attack in earnest. Bodies had quickly began piling up faster than they were disappearing along their front line, and he was forced to step over the mounting corpses and carefully choose his footing. Bringing his Sword about in a quick thrust to his left, he caught a warrior in the side of his neck as he moved in to attack Thorn. Blood spewed forth, briefly streaming down the warrior’s breastplate before he toppled over dead. Maddock turned back to his own front just in time to block the attack from a Minotaur's Axe and turn it to the side. A series of savage overhead attacks forced the enemy warrior to stumble backwards. As it did so, its hooves became tangled in the bodies of the dead, and it lost its balance, toppling over. A quick thrust down into the Minotaur's stomach ensured the beast wouldn't rise to fight again.
Behind him, the air crackled with energies as the Fire Mages finished channeling their spells. Maddock didn't have to turn and watch but knew just as well exactly what was happening, having seen it before. All along the front line, his fighters quickly fought to make room from their opponents and brace themselves for the blowback that they knew was coming. A thunderous boom rocked out from where the Mages stood gathered, accompanied by a shockwave of superheated air that gushed over everyone, leaving them gasping for breath and staggering to regain their balance. Massive pillars of fire bloomed from the Mages Staves growing in size as they rocketed skyward.
The flames twisted upon themselves, writhing, taking on lives of their own. As they began their descent, the flames coalesced into the forms of massive winged serpents, Dragons of fiery death falling on their prey below. White-Wings all across the skies caught in the initial upsurge began dropping to the beach, their bodies burnt and charred beyond all recognition. Others not caught directly were pushed back by the heat wave and forced to fight furiously to remain in the air. Any that were unfortunate enough to be caught by the falling serpent were instantly incinerated, turned to ash, and left to be blown away on the wind. As the spells made contact with the ground, massive pillars of flame rolled out from where the Dragons landed, burning everything they touched and leaving behind blackened, soot-coated corpses. Even over the din of noise from the battle that continued to rage on, Maddock could hear the screams of pain from those caught by the blast that weren't fortunate enough to have been killed immediately.
The Mages’ aim had been true. They had effectively spaced out their spells, opening a wide swath in the lines of both the White-Wings and the combined forces of the Humans, White-Horns, and Black-Wings. Fighters on the front line quickly dispatched anyone that remained in front of them, most of whom were still staggering from the force of the initial blast. The result was exactly what Maddock had been hoping for. His Guild was left standing alone at the base of their hill, the area surrounding them devoid of any enemy combatants. The Barriers fizzled out overhead, the healers grateful for the respite in channeling the difficult spell.
"I think we made our point here," Maddock said, allowing his Sword to droop down and rest point first on the ground.
"I think we made a mess here," Thorn responded, resting his blood-covered Two-Handed Steel Battle Axe on his shoulder.
"Juice and cookies on the boat?"
"Oh, I like cookies," Xane exclaimed, and Bear asked at the same time, "What kind of cookies? None of those healthy oatmeal ones!"
"Minotaurs eat cookies?" Elaine asked, feigning mock astonishment again. "Don't you guys just drink milk and eat grass? Chew your cud and stuff?"
Before either could answer, Shane held up a hand silencing them. "It's not worth it, guys. Let's just get out of here before that thing decides to make us dinner." He pointed into the distance where a giant black Hydra could be seen making its way out of the ocean and onto the shore.
"Is that . . ." Thorn began, then stopped. "Nope. I don't want to know. I'm done asking questions for the day. Back to the boat. I'm cashing in."
Making his way back to the ship, Maddock could feel the good mood growing among his Guildmates. They had not only taken part in the biggest battle the game had seen to date, but they had completely screwed over enough players to ensure that their Guild would be all over forums just like it had been after Valcrest, and that wasn’t to mention the fortune they had made off with in ships and other spoils of combat. However, while Thorn, Shane, and the rest of the Guild had notoriety and wealth to put them in high spirits, Maddock had something else to put a devilishly-satisfied grin on his face: short of that Hydra, which might have been a threat--maybe--they hadn’t seen anything on the battlefield that hadn’t been a breeze to kill, and now that they had tested their grit against the cream of the White-Wing army, Maddock had a feeling that there would be a healthy enthusiasm for frying more chicken. He had already overheard a few cracks about KFC and the White-Wings as some of the Fire Mages reminisced about that last spell they had cast. The next stop for his Guild would definitely be a raid on the White-Wing capital that would stuff their coffers and boost their levels in preparation for the mainland. A town, a capital, and then a continent, he thought to himself, his imagination starting to drift off into visions of future mayhem. This was another one of those choices that would change things, but recently the consequences of his choices had been decidedly in his favor. Why not? At this rate, we’re going to run out of challenges pretty soon, and no-one in this Guild wants to spend their time grinding off lowbies and trash mobs.
“Hey, look at that guy,” Thorn said, pointing his thick forefinger and directing Maddock’s thoughts toward a flamboyantly-dressed man wearing a Crown who was standing on the beach right between them and their pinnace, which was anchored a ways off shore.
“I think I’ve seen that guy before. On a commercial, maybe?” Xane grunted, bewildered at the lone figure bold enough to both wear a purple Suit and Crown in public and stand in their way.
“I think I recognize that guy . . . the King, Qasin. It’s King Qasin, the guy from the Human setup screen,” Shane chimed in as he unconsciously reached for an Arrow.
“You and Bear better watch out. You’ll be in for a whopper if you get on his bad side,” Elaine couldn’t help saying with a feigned look of concern to the Minotaurs stood as they both began twirling their Axes in their hands like batters playing with a bat before stepping up to the plate.
“You wanna bet, blondie?” Bear snorted, looking over his shoulder at Elaine and then back at Qasin with an angry glare as if the King had offended him personally.
Maddock called for the Guild to stand down. Faction Leaders were generally between level 60 and 70, and with the whole Guild at his back, this would be an interesting fight, but one he still thought they had a good chance of winning. The King of the Humans? There’s a good chance a lot of these guys will get slaughtered, he thought glancing around at his Guildmates, but this is a fight I’m not passing up.
Qasin still stood motionless about fifty paces from the group, and it was more than far enough away for almost no-one to notice that his blade was shaking, his face red with anger, and his Crown sitting tenuously askew atop his head. Shane, however, whose Class boosted his ability to see in-game, could make out the
se signs of a man out for blood.
“I think he’s pissed. Do you think he knows about what we did to Valcrest?” Shane said to Maddock as he moved alongside the Guild Leader.
“I don’t know, but he’s in our way nonetheless. We take him out.”
As soon as the words left Maddock’s mouth, Shane drew the string on his Bow and sent an Arrow arcing straight for the King’s head. As the other archers followed suit, a hailstorm of black Arrows shot into the sky toward the Human Faction Leader. The first Arrow simply ricocheted off the King’s blade, and the rest simply missed their mark as the lone monarch shot forward with his Sword drawn, charging right at the thickest part of the Guild’s front line.
“Crap, this isn’t good,” Bear managed to let out in a panic before having his head taken clean off with a blindingly-fast slash.
The Guild members all unconsciously took a step away from the headless Minotaur as Qasin helped the teetering corpse along with his foot as it fell backwards to the ground.
“Dammit! Give him everything you’ve got!” Maddock shouted. This is insane. I must have made a bad guess at his level. It’s too the Hell late now though.
At that moment, as the mages began casting, the archers drew their bows, and the warriors charged forward, Qasin shot an icy glance over in Maddock’s direction. “You lead them?” he said. “Eve told me you seemed to enjoy bloodshed.”
“Eve?” was Maddock’s only reply before a mass of bodies and flashes of magic hid the King from his sight. The screams began shortly thereafter. With each passing moment, more blood could be seen flying into the air as it was flung clean off of Qasin’s blade by the terrible force of each swing. Maddock looked on in awe at the sight. This was awful for his Guild, but on some level it was also beautiful. This is what a high-leveled character could do in the game. It was what Maddock and his Guild could do given enough time. It was obvious they were over-matched today, but Maddock didn’t care much. He simply felt his boots dig into the ground and his fists tighten on the hilt of his Two-Handed Sword, and he gave himself over to the moment. He might die today, but it wouldn’t be the end by a longshot. This game had much, much more than he had originally imagined in store for him, and as his opponent emerged from the half-burning, half-frozen heap of his dismembered Guild, he looked dead into the eyes of the single NPC who had just taken out his entire team.
“As I was saying,” Qasin said between heavy breaths, “Eve . . . she said you liked bloodshed. That’s why you killed my people . . . murdered everyone in one of my towns . . . Valcrest. You just killed them all.”
This guy sure takes things personally for an NPC, Maddock noted mentally, and decided he might as well play along for the fun of it, “I’d get bored otherwise. A guy’s gotta have something to do, right?”
“You killed them all for pleasure?” Qasin growled through his teeth, the color of his face almost matching the color of his suit.
“Looks like you enjoy a good fight yourself. Now, if you don’t mind, I want to see what kind of potential a Faction Leader really has.”
“Really? Well then . . . have it your way,” Qasin said with nothing but dead calm in his voice and a stony expression on his blood-smeared face. By the time Maddock had lifted his Sword to launch an attack at the King, his enemy was already upon him. Qasin grabbed Maddock’s hands, which were wrapped tightly around the hilt of his upraised blade, and simply squeezed. The pain that shot through Maddock’s hands caused him to let out an involuntary gasp. As the King lowered Maddock to his knees, he sheathed the Sword he held in his other hand and shoved his hand into Maddock’s face. The King’s fingers sank into Maddock’s eyes as his thumb dug into the soft flesh behind his chin. Even though the interface system in the game dulled the pain, Maddock could still feel enough to force him to scream. However, the next moment, he was back in his home.
You have died. You will have the option to respawn at your bind point when your death counter expires.
He’d never felt anything like what he had just experienced in any game he had ever played before. He had to wait out the respawn timer before logging in again, but he had plenty to think about in the meantime. As the timer ticked away, he flopped down on his bed. Suddenly, he shot out his hand up in front of him as if tearing into someone just as the King had done to him. He tensed his fingers as if slowly crushing his imaginary foe, and he mimicked the fierce, merciless look in the Faction Leader’s eyes that was the last thing he had seen in-game. Then he just laughed, folded his hands behind his head and smiled.
Bonus Chapter 2: Dawn of Eve
“Is it just me, or does it seem like they never have to reload?” Eve griped to her friend Stephanie as she threw another clip into her gun. “I mean, I count the bullets, but they just keep coming.”
“Forget the bullets! How do they have so many bodies?” Stephanie said, ducking behind the torn up concrete medium they were using for cover after firing two bursts that Eve could only assume were kill shots.
“You got me there. The way they keep coming back it’s like 16 and Pregnant had a thousand spin offs with a few hundred girls trying out for each set every year.” Eve finished loading her clip, threw a few rocks into the air above her and popped out the side to pick off the four amateurs who took her bait.
“Don’t lie. You’re just jealous,” Stephanie grinned before popping her head over the cover and laying out another round of shots. “Only three boys from the village, and one’s your brother. The only thing that’s going to be stuck up with you is your attitude.”
Eve looked at the baby boy sitting between them, “I don’t think my chances with a man are going to be much worse than yours for another twenty or thirty years. Darwin isn’t even two. I mean, I know your mom hooked up with a guy almost a hundred and twenty years younger than her, but I feel like even you cougars have limits.”
“Yeah, not to mention if he grows up half as dorky as you, he won’t even be attractive enough to ask out on a mission, much less a date,” Stephanie chuckled before firing off one final salvo of bullets while she popped out from behind the cover and rushed to a forward position on the other side of the road.
“Don’t be so jealous of my cute little brother Stephanie. If you keep it up, those red eyes will turn green, and then we’ll have to shoot you like the rest of the aimless lemmings over there,” Eve laughed as she managed to pick off a few more of the approaching enemies while Stephanie got situated enough to provide her cover fire.
“I’m sorry, Eve: I couldn’t hear you over your gun,” Stephanie yelled back, “Your mouth may fire off faster than a machine gun, but that doesn’t mean it’s louder.”
“Ugh! Fine! I’ll get closer!” Eve shouted as loudly as she could before scooping up Darwin in one hand and carrying him like he was a football to a spot next to Stephanie behind the downed armored transport unit on the other side of the road.
“You should be more careful with that one, Eve,” Stephanie said as she motioned to Darwin, “kind of got the whole ‘future of our clan’ thing riding on him.”
“Clan? Might be species at this rate,” Eve frowned as she looked at the baby, “I haven’t seen another red-eye clan in years. I’m beginning to think that we’re the last ones left.”
“Eww, don’t say that. It makes it more depressing,” Stephanie grumbled. “Just, you know, feels too cliche . . . like one of those stories you hear as a kid. ‘Oh! you have to save the baby to save the world from the evil invaders with a mysterious unknown agenda.’ It’s almost as bad as that idiot eight generations back who murdered every guard on her way to take out the general and then decided she didn’t like ‘killing’ all of the sudden.”
“Cliche? That’s your problem with it?” Eve used her free hand to connect her palm with her forehead. “We’re all about to die, and your problem is that the situation is too trite and predictable?”
“Eve, everything about this entire thing is kind of ‘trite and predictable.’ How can it not bother you? The only thing
worse than being stuck in a cliche storyline is being the villain of one.” Stephanie gave Eve a wicked smile before reloading her gun and popping her head out to shoot another enemy. The problem was, before she could get her head over the transport, bullets screamed past and almost pulled it off her body. The enemy had her side pinned and knew just where she would pop out. “Well, this isn’t going as planned,” she noted, not poking her head out a second time.
“Fine. I’ll do it, you scaredy cat.” Eve scooted over to Stephanie and handed off the Darwin football, “You just watch after little Mr. Cliche.”
Stephanie let her gun fall into its sling as she carefully reached out and took the baby with two hands. “Sniper spoon time?”
“Yep,” Eve nodded, pulling a spoon out of her pocket. The others had always thought she could somehow see a clear image in the spoon’s little head, calling her the ‘Spoon Sniper’ for her excellent vision, but it wasn’t really the trick. She just had really good hearing and the gumbo privates on the other side never really thought before they fired. Eve etched over to the side and held the spoon out from behind the cover, twisting it on occasion until finally someone fired. *Bang!* That’s one. Don’t tell me there is only one, she thought, letting the spoon dangle over the side a bit longer, she wasn’t worried about it actually being hit. Even though they had improved a lot, the storm troopers on the other side couldn’t hit a target as small as a spoon in a million years with unlimited ammunition. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* There you are. That’s all of you, right? she thought, pulling her spoon back and smiling, she knew exactly where they were.