Dumadin blinked and shook his head as twin blades entered his back. “Fucking gods. I really hate it when you do that.”
Terets laughed and danced back, “Rogues do it from behind, man. Why aren't they doing anything?”
Dumadin shook his head and faced his friend, “No idea. Some kind of organized sit out it seems.”
They both blinked as they each got hit with health debuffs and turned to stare at the women. “Really?” They said it unison and looked at each other.
“I do believe they didn't like our banter,” Dumadin muttered and faced Terets again. “Let’s do this one on one, with them speeding things up it seems.”
Shrugging, Terets Vanished and circled Dumadin who tried to guess where he was going to be and guessing wrong. Both blades hit him in the back again, dropping him to 60% health, with the debuff ticking away. “God damn it, fucking rogues.”
Terets laughed and started to attack him with his Mirror up. Dumadin used his mirror and applied Seeping Wound to Terets. The fight was pretty straight forward with Terets finally dropping Dumadin with 3% of his life left before Shock hit him and killed him.
The ladies stood up, and to the cheers of the crowd bowed to each other and began a duel with just staves. The fight went on for a few minutes before Amythyst scored a critical which was enough to knock Kittish out of it. Paval named Terets and Amythyst the winners, but his voice was less than warm.
The winners bowed to Paval and the crowd before hugging their friends who had gotten back to their feet. They vanished from the floor and made their way back to the stands were they were greeted and celebrated by all those nearby. Taking their seats, Terets and Dumadin asked the ladies what the hell that had been about which caused Amythyst to giggle.
“Kittish had said if you two began to posture and strut before the fight, we should just sit it out then finish it between the two of us using staves only. I agreed and when you two started to taunt each other, we did so.” Amythyst finished with a huge smile and giggled joined by Kittish, along with Emelia and Felton.
“I do believe they outwitted us,” Dumadin mumbled.
Terets rubbed his head, “Yup, crafty and devious they are.”
They watched the archery finals in wonder as the trick shot competition got pretty inventive. The events wound down one by one until the last competition was about to start. The group stood and accepted the words of encouragement from the fans around them. They group Vengeance was announced first with their heavy metal music.
Then the group was ported to the floor of the arena and announced with their song being played. Dumadin and Terets began the dance steps from the old music video, laughing as the crowd chimed in with the lyrics this time. Once the music was over they bowed to the crowds and Paval. They did not bow to Vengeance like they had every other group. Vengeance flipped the Bananas off and started shouting obscenities.
Dumadin smirked and turned his back on them as he looked at his friends, “Okay, let's do this. We can beat these Tweedles, like we planned out last night. On three, ready...”
He counted to three and they shouted in unison, “For the BANANAS!”
The clock ticked down to ten seconds and Kittish started Healing Pulses going on the stealthers. Amythyst and Terets stealthed and started moving right, according to the plan they had discussed. Dumadin used a charge from his necklace right way, so the first attack on him would be blocked, and Em did the same with her parry necklace. As the clock hit zero Dumadin, Emelia, and Kittish both used Mirror to gain the copies. Frost Storm hit Vengeance just as the clock ticked to zero as Felton had timed the cast timer perfectly. Blade Master and Executioner were in the air when their legs became frozen, meaning the three seconds of immobility would happen when they landed.
They each had chosen an image of Kittish and Executioner hit her, taking 25% of her life away. The healer and tank for Vengeance were frozen in place and the two rogues were not to be seen. Dumadin activated Anger Howl pulling their attacks to him and applied Seeping Wound to each of them before the Freeze from Frost Storm wore off and they could turn to face him.
Em applied Dark Wound to each of them, cutting their incoming healing in half, as Kittish backed away and got a Poison Cloud on them. The tank stayed by the healer, as Dumadin had thought would happen to stop Terets from killing him.
Felton started attacking Blade Master and Emelia joined in as Talia and the other rogue appeared and Backstabbed Dumadin. His health dropped to 50% from four attacks coming in, which prompted Amythyst to drop her stealth at the far side of the arena and start chain casting Healing Light on Dumadin.
Kittish used Chain Lightning and her necklace and ring to make it three in rapid succession, which stunned the four for three seconds and took a chunk of all of their hit points. The couple of seconds allowed her to get another Healing Pulse off on Dumadin as Amythyst kept the heals rolling in.
Dumadin stepped back behind the rogues before the stuns wore off and applied Seeping Wound to each of them as well. Emelia and Felton took Blade master to 20% life during the stun. The tank, seeing all the damage going in and no one coming for the healer Charged in, hitting Dumadin and dropping him back to 50% again.
That was all Terets was waiting for, allowing him to appear and Backstab the healer and interrupt his spell. “All tanks are prone to doing that,” He taunted as his blades did critical damage on the first strike. The healer cried out and turned on him swinging his staff, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get a spell cast while in melee, and started cursing his tank that had left him to die.
Dumadin's life dropped fast as the other team’s healer died thanks to Terets. Emelia and Felton were able to kill off Blade Master as they focused on killing Dumadin. The tank then Anger Howled, pulling Emelia and Felton to him as Executioner and the two rogues went for Kittish, who hit them again with Poison Cloud.
The tank and Emelia got into a duel, with him blocking and her parrying while Felton added in his small damage. As the taunt wore off Felton cast Frost Storm on the three who were attacking Kittish, allowing her to run with 5% life left. Terets came up behind the tank and backstabbed him, taking off more of his health. Kittish ran the opposite way from Amythyst hoping to buy them more time.
A few seconds later the two rogues ran her down and then Vanished, while Executioner ran for Terets. The trio attacking the tank killed him just as Executioner got there. They started in on him when the rogues appeared, both backstabbing Terets taking his health under 50% quickly. Emelia used Taunt to make Talia focus on her and used the last two charges from her necklace to get two ripostes in from the free parries.
Felton kept attacking Executioner as he could only Frost Storm with his one non-combat ability. Terets used Mirror and ignored the other rogue, as the mirror bought him another second. Executioner hit 10% life as Terets fell and he Crushing Leaped at Amythyst. He hit her, then she Vanished and ran for a few seconds, buying time. Emelia was having a bad time with Talia and Felton started attacking the other rogue.
The fight between Emelia and Talia was amazing. With her two-handed blade, Emelia parried the dual blades and riposted when she could. The attacks were mounting up though, and Emelia was losing, until Amythyst reappeared on the far side of the arena and started landing heals on the two fighters.
The fight was tipping back into the Banana’s favor, when Emelia dropped Talia and grinned as Executioner cut her down from behind. Amythyst got another Dark Night on the two remaining enemies as they closed in on Felton. He got Frost Storm off and ran for it, it gaining a three second lead as he ran away from Amythyst to extend the time it would take them to close on her. The debuff finally claimed Executioner's life as he ran after Felton. The last rogue cut down Felton and turned towards Amythyst as she pulled her bow and began to pepper him with arrows as he ran at her. His life hit 10% when his Vanish came off cooldown and he disappeared.
Amythyst triggered Mirror and put her back to the wall. She was at full health and the rogue was at 10%.
As long as he didn't land to many criticals, she could do this. She waited, poking her staff into the air hoping to find him at random. The minutes ticked by and the crowd started to chant for the Bananas. The rogue suddenly appeared and slammed his twin blades into her chest. They began to exchange blows, but her health was slipping away too fast.
However as he had taken his time to attack her, her Vanish had reset as well and she used it and slid away from him, his blades just missing her stealthed form. He began to hack wildly trying to find her as her life had dropped to 15% while his was at 5%. She ran for a few seconds and then came out of stealth hitting him with Dark Night and an arrow in quick succession.
He ran at her, throwing knives as she shot him with her bow. Her life dipped to 10% as his hit 1% just as he reached her and attacked. His last attack dropped her to 7% health as Dark Night claimed him.
The crowd erupted into cheers and celebration as the body hit the ground. The crowd started chanting the group’s name as they stood back up as combat ended. They gathered and celebrated before bowing to Paval and the crowd in turn.
Vengeance stood there scattered around the arena and starting yelling about cheats and hacks and were loudly jeered by the crowd. Paval stood and motioned for silence as the crowd settled down and Vengeance was ported out of the center of the arena. “Congratulations Bananas, you are the first winner of our Carnival. When you log into Live for the first time your group leader will have ability to summon one of the three Legendary architects to build your castle for you.” With that he saluted them and they were ported back to their seats, which made them blink as they normally had to walk in.
Paval was joined by Jazzy and Larry. Jazzy stepped forward and began to speak. “We would like to thank you all for testing the beta and coming to our events. One last thing before beta closes at midnight tonight. Each City as of right now has an obelisk in the main square, upon this are the names of the one hundred avatars who gave us the best feedback during beta. These people were the driving force to allow us to release the game on schedule. Also on line we offered these people to have their real names posted, with or without their avatar name next to it.”
The crowd cheered and whistled, she held up a hand and waited until she could be heard again. “Among these there is one person who went above and beyond to aid us. He is in the last few months of his terminal cancer. He spent as much time as he could checking for game breaking bugs and attempting to break the game in various ways. He brought a few game breaking bugs to our attention. When his story came to our ears we felt the need to make sure his name is remembered and honored.”
The crowd cheered again and she waited until they quieted back down, “He is one of our champions here today. Dumadin Shieldbreaker,” when she said his name he was ported to the middle of the arena. “He has given his all in the end to help this game come out on time. Dumadin, you have the thanks of all of us.” When she finished the three Devs bowed to him for a count of three.
When they stood back up he dropped to one knee on the sand. “I thank you three. I will say one thing to those who come after me.” He stood back up and turned in a slow circle looking at the filled arena. “Friends, and people I have never even met. I will only tell you what I have told others. Live, Laugh, Love. In the end it is equally what you have done as well as how your family and friends remember you that is important. I am humbled to have helped this game and wish you all to find happiness here and in life.” He bowed to each section of the stands as they cheered him.
The three Devs appeared next to him and shook his hand, giving him words of thanks. The three Devs beat their wings and took to the sky. “Enjoy the next six hours until Beta ends,” Paval called out as all three vanished in bursts of light.
Dumadin nodded to his friends and fast traveled to the entrance of the city, meeting them there. “I want to go back to Stoutbank but I think we should spend at least an hour here thanking our fans.” Dumadin said.
Kittish hugged him and took his arm, “Well then, let us go to the tavern have our toast, then exit gracefully.”
Terets slapped him on the back, “That will work we’ll cover for you.”
The group walked through the street and shook hands and traded words with what seemed like half of the players still logged on. When they got to the tavern they had adopted over the last few weeks they were cheered and celebrated.
After the toast and talk, Dumadin and Kittish fast traveled to Stoutbank. They greeted Dado as they walked quickly towards Tanned Hides. “Forty minutes to say goodbye,” Dumadin mumbled as they knocked on the door, which was locked.
Alvira opened it and grabbed them both in a hug and quickly brought them inside and upstairs. They spent the next thirty five minutes in passion. With the clock ticking towards the mandatory log out time, they both hugged Alvira and said their goodbyes.
Alvira laughed, “You two make it sound like I won't be seeing you again. I have heard rumors that no adventurer will be around for two days. However, I know you will be back after that and we will have time to get together again then.”
Dumadin and Kittish exchanged pained glances and kissed Alvira goodbye as the clock ticked and kicked them from the game. They exited their pods and hugged each other, sharing a sense of loss. They went through the motions of getting ready for bed and when they finally got into bed clung to each other with tears being shed. Saddened over the loss of someone who seemed to understand them so well, even if she was an NPC.
THE WAKE
The next day David and Miriam woke up and got the house in order as people should start arriving for the wake. When they planned it they hadn't taken into account a month long event in game, so the house was clean but not perfect. They got the food prepared and ready when his sisters and their kids and grandchildren showed up.
David greeted them at the door and showed them in, getting them drinks and making sure they were okay. His younger sister tried talking to him about other drugs or procedures that might extend his time. He hadn't told her what the doctor had said at his last meeting. He had three months or less of life at this point, and he wasn't going to tell her. As it was, they had worn regular clothes and not the black he had asked them to wear as if they refused to let him go.
The sound of cars entering the driveway prompted him to answer the door, he greeted Lavender and Will, along with Will's brother Han. They got the ramp in place for Lavender and they left it there for the duration of the party. David had made sure he was turned out in a black suit as if ready for a funeral. His friends all showed up similarly dressed at his request.
He brought them in and got them settled when he heard the next vehicle and went to the door to welcome Amy and Mike, who also had Bill along with his wife. He greeted them all with hugs and got them settled inside with beverages.
A few minutes later the next people arrived, Gabriel with his wife and Frank, from New York. He smiled at them and welcomed them to the desert, bringing them inside and getting them settled. That was all he had expected to make it as the others had either passed away or been too busy to make it.
Since they were all there Miriam brought out the food to be enjoyed. David spent a little time speaking to each person, thanking them for coming to his wake. The drinks and food were well received and eventually David stood up in the living room and waited as they all looked at him.
“Family and friends I want to thank you for coming to my wake. I won't be here much longer and selfishly wanted to see you all one last time. I am sad that our friends in Michigan and the brothers from Texas couldn't make it but well, things happen. To you here I am humbled that you made it and thankful. We have spent years talking, laughing and gaming for the most part. From the old days of WoW and onwards, we few have thrown ourselves at things time and time again.” He paused and took a drink before continuing with his speech.
“I have not been a great person in my life time. I have been a horrible friend at times and am sorry for those times. The times I have been a
ble to help and assist have been rewarding. I will not be making it through the year according to my doctor. I have opted out of trying to extend my time,” he paused as his younger sister began to cry.
“It has affected those that I love, but seeing you watch me fade away and the anguish that would cause me is worse to me. I am being selfish in that regard and I know it. Please forgive me this as it is one of my last requests in life.” He cleared his throat and looked at them with a smile that wavered.
“On a different note, my name is kept alive due to Last Horizon. My avatar name is in every city in the game and my real name is locked in the beta tester thanks list. I leave behind a small thing but it makes me happy to know I was able to help the hundred plus thousand who will play. Gabriel, I believe you and the wife will be joining us soon when the game goes live?”
Gabriel nodded and smiled, “Yup. The pods got set up last week and we’ll be there on day one. We are going to take some time looking around, but will be out your way awhile. We won't be keeping the same hours as you I’m sure, but we will be around. I look forward to the castle Mike mentioned.”
Last Horizon: Beta Page 47