“Heals, Curafin!” I shouted.
“I know!” he snapped, casting a heal spell as Sabotenda fought to get out of the way of the Cleric’s follow up attack with his staff.
The blow just barely missed him and the heal spell got him back above half. He was alive, but for how long? How were any of us going to survive this? Not only was this boss way too high level for the rest of my party, but he was filled with surprises and was obviously not one to be taken lightly.
I dodged to the side as the Cleric swung out at me, and my foot slipped on something wet and I tumbled onto my back. Glancing at the ground beside me, I saw the toppled bowl that had been lying on the altar. I reached out and touched the liquid that had spilled onto the church floor. It was thick and slimy between my fingers.
Oil!
“Curafin!” I roared as he switched back to his sword for an attack. “Here!”
I pointed to the oil spill that led straight down the steps of the altar to the feet of the Cleric. He instantly understood and rushed towards me. But before he could reach me, the Cleric slammed a fist into him, encasing him in ice, freezing him in place. Kodiak drove his dagger into the Cleric’s back, causing him to spin around and bash him in the head with his staff.
The blow knocked Kodiak stupid, staggering him and causing him to almost lose his footing as his health began to drop. I scrambled to my feet and raced in to help, but before I could even begin my attack, the Cleric raised his staff and fired.
An enormous shard of ice shot forth with such speed that I almost didn’t see it. It drove itself into Kodiak’s chest like a chisel, and I watched with horror as every single bit of Kodiak’s remaining health vanished.
“No!” I shouted as the life vanished from his eyes and he toppled over dead.
48
The Cathedral of Fire
Kodiak’s body hit the ground as I threw myself at the Cleric, unleashing on him with everything I had. Behind me, Curafin unfroze and raced towards the altar. The Cleric’s debuff was flashing in the corner of my vision, almost gone, but until then, I was extremely vulnerable. But I only had to survive for a little longer.
“Do it, Curafin!” I roared, dodging the Cleric’s massive staff as it swooped down at me. The stone chipped and sprayed into the air as Sabotenda struck out with his halberd, tearing into the Cleric’s robe.
“Look out!” Curafin roared. I spun around just in time to see him touch the tip of his flaming sword to the pool of oil at the foot of the altar.
Flames leapt into existence like twisting fiery snakes, coiled beneath the ground and raising up to strike. They cascaded across the floor towards the Cleric—towards us.
I threw myself out of the way as the blaze rippled forth and engulfed the Cleric. Panicked, he cast some kind of Frost Arc spell that spun out in every direction. Shards of ice tore through my legs, dealing massive damage that was made only worse by my debuff. My health was barely above critical as I fumbled around and tried to get a heal from my Health Kit.
The Cleric roared with anger, swinging his staff aimlessly, blinded by the curtain of flames that enveloped him like a blanket, clinging to his robe and searing away his health, which was plummeting quickly.
Sabotenda drove his halberd into the Cleric’s chest but was forced to leap back as the Cleric spun around and attacked. Flames spilled off of him as he moved, catching the rest of the church on fire.
Pews began to burn. The altar was a pool of flames and the tapestries clinging to the pillars began to burn. I stepped back and swapped to my bow as the Cleric’s health fell beyond 25%. Taking aim, I drew back with my full force and fired into the shroud that hid his face from us.
This time, the damage was substantial. The flames were the Cleric’s debuff, and I took full advantage of it, following up with another arrow and another, watching as his health raced towards zero. With a final horrific cry of despair, the Cleric of the Dark Moon died and vanished into the flames.
Sabotenda and Kodiak leveled up, but I was too distracted to inspect them.
Around us, the church continued to burn as we caught our breath. In the corner of my vision, a Pilgrim staggered between the shattered pews, his entire body covered in flames. I watched as his health vanished.
Everything felt slow and unreal as the flames roared around us. The fire had spread up the tapestries to the ceiling of the nave and the paint had begun to melt, dripping down and sizzling where it hit the floor. Collecting myself, I stepped over to Kodiak’s fallen corpse.
“Shit,” was all I could say as I looked down at him.
“There goes our guide,” Sabotenda said grimly.
“That’s callous,” Curafin said softly.
“Relax,” he replied. “He’s not dead. He’s back in Cara with Gehman and the rest of them while we’re out here getting our asses kicked.”
“On his way to being Sunken,” I said, staring at his lifeless eyes.
“Yeah, well if he doesn’t die anymore he’ll be fine until we get back,” Sabotenda said as he knelt down and started sifting through the Cleric’s loot pile.
“Anything good?” Curafin asked.
“Well, do you consider this good?” Sabotenda grinned, lifting the Cleric’s fallen staff and spinning it around in his hand.
“He dropped it!?” Curafin exclaimed, almost jumping out of his robes. “Lemme see, lemme see!”
Sabotenda handed Curafin the Cleric’s staff, and when he inspected it, I thought he was about to fall over.
“Holy Hell!”
“What?” I asked him.
“Staff of the Dark Moon,” he replied, reading the item’s description. “Ten percent increase to all Protection Magic.”
“Wow, nice!”
“And,” he continued, “it has a built in buff called The Night’s Toughness that increases my Strength by 10! It’s like the game knew I was a sword mage!”
“I can’t believe Kodiak didn’t make it,” I said with a sigh as the church continued to burn around us.
“We’ll have to continue on without him,” Sabotenda replied.
“Without knowing which way to go?” I asked angrily. “Do either of you know the route?”
Neither of them responded. Of course they didn’t. Kodiak had been our guide, the only one who had been to the places we were headed, and now he was back in Cara, hours, if not more, behind.
“Let’s go turn in this quest,” Curafin suggested timidly. “Then we can figure out what we’re going to do.”
“Did you two level up?” I asked.
“Yup,” Sabotenda smiled. “83.”
“88,” Curafin added. “You hit 127 yet?”
I checked my character sheet and saw that I was actually getting close. The Cleric must have been worth a lot of experience.
“Getting there,” I replied, heading for the door of the church.
It was a relief to step out into the night and leave the roaring fires behind us. I wondered if the church would continue to burn and collapse or if the quest would reset when we left the area, leaving itself open for the next group of players to venture into the area—maybe Anwi?
We crossed the plaza in silence and made our way back into the door at the base of the tower. I pulled the lever and the rickety lift began to ascend. I took the moment to contemplate our options.
The first option was to head back to Cara, meet up with Kodiak, restore him, regroup and retrace our steps. It was a huge time sink, and we’d have to fight our way back to Cara in order to reach him, but he was the only one who knew exactly how to get us to where we were going.
The other option was to just press on, leave Kodiak in Cara and make our own way to Neydeesa and find Vayde. Once there, maybe someone in Fallen God’s guild had a portal tie to somewhere near Cara and could summon us there.
Maybe this quest will help somehow, I thought, but I knew I was kidding myself. Gragorn’s gift wasn’t going to be some special portal device that led us right to Neydeesa, and it wasn’t going t
o be a flying mount that we could all hop on either. In fact, it might be some garbage axe that no one in the group could even use. Despite our victory over the Cleric, my mood was not great.
The lift stopped at the top of the tower and I quickly stepped off and made my way outside, around the corner and over to Gragorn, who was resting his chin on his knee. He raised his head as we approached.
“Jane back,” he said, shifting his enormous frame in my direction.
“We killed the Cleric,” I told him.
“Gragorn thanks Jane and her friends,” he said, a new strength emerging from his deep voice. “Did Cleric drop staff?”
“He did,” Curafin replied happily, producing his new item.
“Touch chain,” Gragorn said.
I leaned down and pressed my hand against the chain leading to Gragorn’s shackles, but nothing happened. I looked up at him and he pointed to Curafin with a finger the size of my body.
“Touch chain.” I realized what he was getting at and turned to Curafin.
“Touch it with the staff!” I told him. Curafin raised the Cleric’s staff and pressed the decorated end against the chain at our feet. Instantly, tiny grey sprites began to emerge from the metal and I watched as it dissolved, eventually vanishing completely. The shackle on Gragorn’s ankle disappeared and the giant slowly got to his feet—free.
49
A Great Reward
I took a step back as Gragorn stood up, his enormous frame taking up all the space on the circular balcony that wrapped the spire of the tower. He looked down at the plaza and I saw the church was still burning.
“Gragorn is free,” he said, as though announcing it to the city. Again, I couldn’t help but feel for the big fellow. I was proud of what we’d done and even though I knew he wasn’t real, that didn’t stop me from smiling. “Gragorn owe Jane and friends.”
Before I could speak, he turned to me and opened his massive fist. In his palm lay a shining silver stone that glowed with a soft energy. I plucked it from his hand and inspected it.
Superior Silver Soulstone—Imbue a weapon, or weapon set, with incredible power.
“What’s this?” I asked, looking for further explanation, but Gragorn’s attention was already elsewhere. He turned and faced away from us, staring out across the city of Jahannan as the ash slowly fell around us.
“Gragorn go,” he said stoically. “Be back at time.”
And before I could speak, Gragorn leapt forward with such incredible force and speed that I almost couldn’t believe it. His massive body arced away from the tower, illuminated gently by the silver glow of the city. I watched as he plummeted down, landing amidst a cluster of houses that shattered beneath his enormous weight. Without hesitation, he hurled himself forward and quickly disappeared out of sight, although every few seconds the sound of him landing somewhere was heard ringing out through the city.
“Well…that was interesting.” Sabotenda smirked.
“I like that guy.” I smiled as another enormous crash resounded from far off in the distance.
“What did he give you?” Curafin asked. I opened my hand and showed them the stone.
“Never seen anything like it,” I told them. “Upgrades your weapons or something.”
“Do you need a blacksmith?”
“I don’t think so.” I shrugged. “Doesn’t say it’s used in smithing. I think you just use it on your weapons.”
“Are you gonna!?” Curafin asked excitedly.
“Yeah…but what should I use it on? My bow or my daggers?” The question was really meant for me more than them, but that didn’t stop them from chiming in.
“Bow, definitely,” Sabotenda said firmly. “That thing’s already a beast. You could one-shot the Lord of the Flame if you used that stone on it.”
“I don’t know about that,” I laughed. “But yeah, I mean—I am an archer.”
I selected the stone in my inventory, clicked it with two fingers, causing them to glow gently with yellow light, then raised them over my bow to upgrade it. But when I pressed, the game engine beeped angrily in error.
“Uhm…” I grumbled, trying again. The game beeped again. “I guess it doesn’t work on bows.”
“What!?” Curafin exclaimed. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled, hovering my fingers over Gehman’s daggers. “I guess my daggers are getting beefed up.”
I clicked on them and a satisfying swelling sound rang out and the Soulstone disappeared from my inventory. I inspected the daggers.
“Whoa…”
Originally, my Pristine Double Daggers had a damage range of 415-480, but Gragorn’s Soulstone had raised that considerably to 480-540 with an added 5% buff to my quickness.
“Good stuff?” Curafin asked.
“I’d say.” I smiled, gazing out at the city where Gragorn had disappeared. “5% bonus to quickness and a huge damage boost. That’s one kickass giant.”
“And friendly too,” Sabotenda chuckled. “You might even say he’s big and friendly—”
“Okay, enough of that,” I laughed, looking out over the city. I could see the shadows of more Villagers trudging about the dark alleys and streets, but I knew those weren’t the only foes we’d be facing if we continued on our journey. Kodiak hadn’t explained our route through the city either. All I knew was we were headed southeast to the coast, but that didn’t help when it came to navigating the city.
For all we knew, Jahannan was filled with mini-bosses or quest events like the one with Gragorn, and all those would do was hold us up. We had to get to Neydeesa. I had to find Vayde and make sense of everything. And after my last futile encounter with Wintermute, and losing Kodiak to the Cleric, I felt completely lost. And to make things worse, when I turned around, I saw Curafin and Sabotenda looking at me expectantly.
“What’s next, boss?” Curafin asked.
“Ugh,” I groaned. I tilted my head back to the clouds but the ash falling from the sky landed in my eyes, forcing me to look down at my feet. It was then that I realized what Jack must have felt like being our leader back in Carrethen. I’d always been a solo player, only grouping with Jack and never swearing allegiance to any guild. My decisions were mine alone, but now I had the fate of countless others in my hands and I wasn’t sure how to handle that.
“We’re with you,” Sabotenda told me. “Whatever you decide.”
“Thanks, Sab,” I replied, still staring at my feet. “But Kodiak was the only one who knew how to get through Jahannan. None of us have ever even been here.”
“So…you want to go back?” he asked. I shook my head angrily.
“No. No, that doesn’t get any of us anywhere. We have to push forward.”
“We could just try sprinting across the city,” Curafin joked. I forced a smile but my mind was racing as I turned and looked out at the cramped buildings and towers, trying to pick out some kind of landmark or path of least resistance. But the whole thing was like a maze with no obvious end. I looked down at the church, flames sprouting from the windows, and saw a figure moving in the plaza.
“Follow me,” I said with a smile. “I’ve got an idea.”
50
A Brief Alliance
“Anwi,” I said as we emerged from the base of the tower. Anwi turned as we crossed the plaza and nodded stoically.
“You’re doing?” she asked, gesturing to the Church of the Dark Moon, still engulfed in flames.
“Yes.” I smiled. “Freed Gragorn too.”
“Gragorn?” she asked.
“The giant?” I replied, pointing to the tower we’d just descended.
“Ah,” she nodded, “I had yet to meet the monster. Where is your third companion, Jane?”
“Kodiak was killed in the church,” I told her.
“Then the sinking has begun,” she replied sadly. “I hope you do not lose him like I lost Hectar.”
“Listen, Anwi…we’re headed to Neydeesa where my friend Vayde is,” I explained. “He has been given�
��a blessing from Fallen God that allows him to cleanse the Sunken. Maybe he can bestow that blessing on you.”
Anwi thought a moment, then shook her head. “Even if what you say is true, I must find Hectar in order to save him. That means searching this city.”
“Then come with us for a time,” I pleaded with her. “And leave us when you will. But help us find our way.”
Anwi’s determination was admirable and reminded me of me, and I couldn’t help but feel that if we’d met under different circumstances, we would have been friends. But her experience with Hectar had driven her into a dark place. Would I have been the same if not for Wintermute giving me some kind of hope? Just toying with the idea that Jack would be lost forever was too much for me to even think about, but for Anwi, it was her reality.
She looked at me through her helm, and I could feel her thinking, weighing her options. Finally, she nodded.
“Yes. I will escort you through the city.”
“Gah, thank you!” I exclaimed, breathing an enormous sigh of relief.
“But we must not linger,” she said, hoisting her sword over her shoulder. “Jahannan is full of surprises.”
“You can say that again,” Sabotenda said softly.
“This way,” she said, taking the lead. “To Central Jahannan.”
We followed Anwi away from the Church of the Dark Moon, past a pile of fallen rubble from one of the towers, and down a side street barely wide enough for us to pass in a single file line. I kept looking up in case of some unknown danger looming above us on the roofs. But none came.
Obscured by shadows, we pressed on until the alley opened up into a wider street lined with once great stately homes that were now dilapidated and crumbling. The doors were boarded up from the outside, and the windows were barred, but light still flickered from within. It was as though the entire section of the city had been invaded and the citizens had had no choice but to batten down the hatches and try to ride it out.
Lord of the Flame: A LitRPG novel (Call of Carrethen Book 2) Page 22