We found ourselves in a clearing and flocked to Argentum. Not far from us, the enemy infantry was assembled under their red and black banner, waiting for their mounted warriors to join them. The troops of the Eyre Nation—the Errats’ posse and chainmail-clad footsoldiers—pressed onto them. Just fifty steps away from them, a V-shaped formation of Eyrian knights under a huge “old barley” standard charged, the earth shaking under the stomping of heavy spear-carrying stallions bearing the grandees, carrying them into battle.
“They’re done for!” Argentum exclaimed. “We need to cover the Err, everybody, to the Err!” Right before our eyes, on command, a group of birdies separated from the bulk of the enemy forces, half-surrounded by the army of Eyre. Before, they were circling the NPC host, trying to mix with them, so that our raid couldn’t pick them off, one by one, following Balian’s assist. There were at least fifty of them, I estimated, watching their vertical lift-off in a tight squadron as they soared into the sky.
Komtur: Group two, group six, attack! Press in on them...
Balian the Raccoon: Komtur, what are they doing? That’s... We’ll shoot them down like quails!
Komtur: Fleeing? A gesture of desperation? It’s suicide, as long as they’re not...
Komtur: RAID, STOP! Everybody, disengage!
Abel: Too late! A pentagram!
Komtur: But how? You can’t light it in the air.
Komtur: It’s an Astral Portal!
A group of airborne PROJECT riders, actively maneuvering, was evading our attacks, flying straight up. Arrows, lightning bolts, and fireballs were raining down on them. One rider after another broke away from the group and fell to the ground, shot dead by the Watchers. When they reached the highest point, already beyond the reach of our attackers, something weird shone at the center of their squad, growing brighter with every second.
It looked like a pentagram, but pentagrams glowed blood red, whereas this light was clear blue in color. The sky around it burst, exploding in a ripple of twisted space, and something came out of it, surrounded by a host of special effects—lightning, thunder, blazing fire.
Most of all, it resembled an incredible, terrifying astral ship. I had never seen a vessel of that size before. It was a genuine flying dreadnought. In a fit of fear, I imagined it to be the size of a New Tokyo skyscraper lying on its side, a monstrous ship with sharp edges and scaly plating covered with spikes and fishbone-looking blades. An enormous horned demon head bared its fangs on the bow, while spectral sails fluttered above the deck, strewn with bluish St. Elmo fires. Multiple floodgates were opening at the sides of the ships, hissing. A few seconds later, a swarm of birds encircled the ship, like a disturbed beehive. Their numbers were growing by the second, but even at first glance, there were at least several hundred of them.
Balian the Raccoon: Holy cow! An astral Juggernaut!
Abel: Pandorum? Crap...
Everybody knew about the Pandorum alliance. Open the window of Sphere kill rates, click the Alliance tab, then sort the table by three factors: kill number, kill efficiency, and total loot value. You will see, that all three rankings are headed by one alliance: Pandorum.
They take first place by a large margin, even if they are not as numerous as monsters like Swarm, Hird, and Shiva. Pandorum is an elite association, an alliance of the best mercenaries in Sphere. And I don’t mean mercenaries like the Brotherhood of the Whip, already familiar to me. You call Pandas when you want to, say, conquer the world, or take the top clan’s territory, or destroy an enemy alliance. And the price of their services is hugely steep.
It was thought that Pandas were tough as hell. It was thought, that joining them was a top achievement for any pro PvPer. It was thought, that Pandas lived in the Astral Plane, but in actuality, they were masters of several worlds. It was thought, that nobody in Sphere could oppose their might.
Pandorum consists of more than a score of clans. The core of the alliance was German and English-speaking players, but they also had a Russian-speaking branch, a clan called Steel Guard. It was this clan’s birdies that were now rapidly closing in to our rear. The strange ship kept expelling packs of birdies and flying beasts, like a disturbed hive. Suddenly, it lit up with purple fire, and a huge flash blinded everything around it. A thin purple ray bound the ship to the ground, and ten icons in our raid flickered and went out.
Reborn: Reborn down. One shot.
Hermione: I’m down.
Olaf: I’m down.
I’m down... I’m down... I’m down...
The Pandas swooped in, engaging us in the air, and attacking those on the ground. I had never seen such terror before. Most of the enemies were riding dragons and protodragons and had a posse of gargoyles, phoenixes, and cloud wyrms with them. We were outmatched. They struck from behind, pouring waves of fire and steel all around them. At least ten huge fires blazed among the ranks of the Eyrian troops, the Steel Guard hitting them with Grand Fire spells. PROJECT HELL, their players depleted, but encouraged, pushed forward, once again, Tao’s white cloak waving at the fore.
Komtur was thinking hard and fast. Seeing that we were surrounded, losing players with catastrophic speed, he gave his command.
Komtur: Don’t panic! Let’s regroup! Birdies, fly up! Everybody else, retreat!
Flame: Komtur, they’ll kill the NPCs!
Komtur: Whatever. Radio silence! I repeat, retreat! Everyone, retreat!
Komtur: We’ll all die here. It’s pointless, these are Pandas. Contact Condor, is everything all right there?
But they did not let us retreat. The Watchers’ birdies, actively maneuvering, surged to the sun to hinder the enemy from targeting and marking. They were followed by Steel Guard airborne troops, and it was obvious that their epic and legendary mounts were much faster than our birdies. Still, we had a chance—unlike those who were fighting the enemy, close range.
My heart faltered and sank. An almost-victory turned into a crushing defeat. One after another, the players reported their deaths in the raid chat. It was too late to fall back. The ring was closed. Argentum was breathing hard, watching the diving protodragons burn the army of Eyre. Their riders shot down Great Lightning and Fire Arrows from their saddles, dealing enormous damage to everybody around them.
“There!” he said, finally deciding on a direction and pointing his poleaxe toward a large group of Eyrian knights fighting their way to the forest. “Follow them!”
Too late. A mix of Daigorians and players had already rushed to block them, shouting and swinging their weapons.
The battle was brief, but fierce. We killed five clanless players who had joined the Daigorian faction and fifteen NPCs, losing Jelaladin and Shaga in the process. I also lost my shield and half of hit points, my poor Snowflake barely standing on her legs. Svenn’s mount got shot, and he disappeared somewhere. Behind us, Daigorians and Eyrians kept killing each other, and even further, the riders of Dyre and Daigor, now free to attack, poured over the Eyrian infantry, scattering under the Pandas’ fire.
“Fall back! Fast!” Argentum snapped. A clear field unfolded before us, right up to the forest edge. I pulled the reins...
Valkyria: Air!
A black protodragon dived down right at us, stunning us with his deafening roar and soaking us in a fiery wave.
You are under the effect of Protodragon’s Roar. You are stunned for 3 seconds! Dread: 3/10. All attributes decreased by 30%.
The Steel Guard’s flying beast descended in the very midst of our squad, making the earth tremble, scattering us, crushing us into the ground, and ripping Lannister apart, instantly one-shotting him. The protodragon was huge and terrifying: it had curved claws inside the creases of its wings, a flat fanged maw, and flaming breath. After killing Jimmy, the beast breathed out fire once more, setting us ablaze.
Hermione: A Pandas squad is watching the resp point. We can’t leave it.
Komtur: Got it, wait for the others. Regroup at resp! Let’s break through all together...
Swept in
fire and panicking, we were jumping aside, trying to get away. Very few of us managed to keep our wits about us. A few arrows broke against the monster’s armored head. Valkyria was shooting at mad speed, standing on one knee, protected from the fire with Flame’s tower shield, which the dwarf was holding, despite being on fire himself. The protodragon roared as one of the arrows hit the soft area around its eye, unprotected by scales. Another one followed suit, striking into the open maw and piercing its palate. The monstrous creature jerked, waved its wings, puffed out another cloud of fire and smoke, and abruptly collapsed, slumping to the side.
Flame: For that, I’ll...wash the dishes today!
Valkyria: Your dragon venom’s pretty good stuff.
I remembered that, before the battle, all the archers had received dragon venom, a rare potion that could kill flying mounts. It cost a tidy sum at auction, one hundred gold per vial, but the Watchers spared no expense when it came to supplies.
Argentum: Great job! Nico, Lionel, take the first one!
Riders were jumping off the dead dragon. One of them was too late, getting tangled in the complicated harness, and Argentum threw his poleaxe at him with a furious yell. The spinning metal disk hit the Steel Guard player right in his head, one-shotting him.
The second one managed to get out of the saddle. Still, he didn’t fare any better—everywhere was filled with Eyrian grandees rushing at full speed, and he got stomped under the hoofs of their heavy stallions, who galloped over his body. Lionel, the fastest of us, leapt over to the Pandorum warrior, who was tumbling on the road, stunned, and finished him off with two hits of his blade.
“They aren’t so immortal up close,” Argentum grumbled, quickly looting both members of Steel Guard. “They’re ordinary sons of bitches.”
A minority of Eyrian knights rode out toward the forest, while the majority stopped next to us. Their horses, flushed, stamped their hoofs and wheezed, foaming and chomping at the bit. I suddenly recognized one of the knights, a blond armored giant of a man, as Lord General Laort, the very one, who had crowned the new Err back in the square.
“Players!” Laort growled, his voice broken, as he looked us over with his clouded gaze. “We’re covering our Err’s retreat! Eyre needs him. He must survive! We need your help!”
You are offered a quest: Save the Err!
Caution: this quest is classified as faction, epic! Refusing it will significantly decrease your reputation with the faction!
General Laort asks you to save Endved Elyon, Err of the Eyre Nation.
Success conditions: Endved Elyon must return to Dan-na-Eyre alive.
Reward: reputation, information, (varies).
Note: number of quest participants unlimited.
* * *
They met halfway across the battlefield.
“Jerkhan.”
“Tao.”
Tao clasped the wrist of the Steel Guard leader, who was giving him a Roman handshake, squeezing a forearm instead of a palm. The fingers of the PROJECT HELL leader were not long enough to wrap around his ally’s armored forearm, as it was too large. Jerkhan was an ogre—a race only available to “golden” account subscribers. He was eight feet tall, huge, muscular, and blue-skinned, encased in menacing black armor decorated with lots of bone fragments. The stylized skull of some infernal creature was sneering from his breastplate, its sharp curved horns serving as the helmet’s side plates.
“Hahaha!” Jerkhan growled, sticking a Tao-sized axe into the ground. “Well done, Tao! The Old Gods love you! One hot drop versus another, mwahaha!”
“I wonder how we’ll pay them,” said Tentacle softly, approaching Tao and hugging him from behind. She waved her hand, shaking off blood from her silver claws.
“With your body!” Jerkhan said, giving her a predatory grin, looking over the girl’s alluring figure. “Or we’ll woo Tao away from you. We’ve been calling him for ages. How about it, have you made up your mind?”
“You’ll never get Tao!” Tentacle replied fearlessly, hiding behind the PROJECT leader’s back, just in case. Jerkhan laughed. He was clearly in a great mood, in his element, in the heat of battle.
“Thanks for your help, Jerry!” Tao said. “But the fight’s not over yet. We need to finish off the Watchers! Can your guys hold them at the resp point?”
Tao: Attention, group leaders. Pick your targets.
Tao: Tentacle, take Davna, Lord Sirionis. Illith, Erda’s yours. Svoy, find Revern, the Errat of Vista. Peacemaker, defeat Lord Ardat.
Tentacle: What about you, boss?
Tao: I’ll deal with the Err.
CHAPTER 21 THE QUEST
“How about that,” Argentum mumbled in confusion. “An epic quest!”
Argentum: Komtur, here’s the thing. We got an epic quest to save the Err!
Komtur was clearly too busy rescuing the remains of the raid to respond. In all chats, it was total chaos—on top of lots of “I’m down” messages, the dying Watchers were cursing, asking for help, and trying to reorganize themselves.
The Eyrian knights around us formed a defensive formation. The squad covering the young Err reached the forest and there disappeared. General Laort silently raised his hand, pointing at the lonely birdie that was rapidly approaching. I focused, trying to discern who it was.
“Tao!” Valkyria said, through clenched teeth. She drew an arrow from her quiver and pulled the bowstring back to her tattooed cheek, aiming at the PROJECT leader. Blue drops of dragon venom glistened on the tip of her arrow. Meanwhile, Komtur burst into our channel.
Komtur: What quest? Link it, fast! Oh, wow! Share it with the raid!
Komtur: STOP, DON’T SHARE! There might be spies. Accept it with your group.
Komtur: Listen carefully. I can’t help you right now. Try to save the Err at all cost! If he’s down, we’ll lose Eyre!
Argentum: Komtur, Tao’s coming after us!
Komtur: (censored) He isn’t immortal. Fight him! If you kill Tao, each Liberty recruit gets one exam credit, your choice!
Argentum: But it’s...
Komtur: Do you hear me? I’ll spell it out for you: Just Kick His Ass.
Komtur: HotCat, did you get that? The time has come.
I got it. It was time for me to use my star metal sword for the benefit of my clan, despite the risk of getting banned. This was the moment of truth. I had to choose: the clan on the one hand, myself on the other.
“Did you hear that, Cat?” Argentum asked. He realized it too. “Draw the blade.”
Flame nodded, throwing me a hard look. In the meantime, Tao’s birdie was gaining on us. Valkyria released the bowstring on an out-breath.
Tao’s mount was a black single-seat dracondor, a flying mount of epic quality, whose main advantage was speed. Thankfully, dracondors did not boast high defense, and so Maria’s arrows, first one and then another, pierced its leathery wing and did their job.
Dragon venom killed the mount in three ticks. A cross-breed between a dragon and a pterodactyl, Tao’s flying beast glided down in a low curve, dropping off sharply, and finally hit the ground, a hundred steps away from us.
Tao wasn’t there, though. Like a biblical angel, the PROJECT HELL leader was descending on us right from the sky, his white cloak spread behind him like wings. In his right hand, he wielded a straight black sword, while the other shone with a bright ball of fire.
“Spread out!” Argentum reacted. “It’s Gee-Eff!” Grand Fire overwhelmed the ground around us, covering the grandees, led by Laort, with a cloud of buzzing flame. Tao landed right in the center, and I thought I saw him laughing. Thankfully, Liberty training had included situations like this. We had been taught to run out of enemy AoEs, and finally, that knowledge was proving useful. Almost all of us managed to avoid the Grand Fire — only Maria got grazed.
I could not say the same for the NPCs. The grandees were set ablaze. Scared horses were throwing off their riders and galloping away, while the knights tried to put the fire out. Meanwhile, Tao was massacri
ng the disorientated crowd.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Hearing stories is one thing, but seeing it with one’s own eyes was something else. I cannot describe exactly what the leader of PROJECT HELL was doing. He appeared to be a force of nature, a hurricane sweeping away everything in its path. His blows pushed fully armored NPC knights several steps backward, like bowling pins knocked down in a successful strike. Fragments of shields, weapons, and armor were spluttering left and right, like rain drops. Amour, who was standing just next to me, barely had time to duck a metal knight shield that shot past him, as if fired from a catapult.
“Follow me!” Argentum said, getting his act together. “Let’s go, guys, all together!”
He leapt into a mount’s saddle, followed by Nico and Lionel. Amour, Flame, and I started to maneuver around the flanks, while Valkyria kept to the back, keeping Tao in her crosshairs.
The PROJECT leader straightened up, smiling and examining us. In his left hand, he held the head of an NPC knight that he had just severed from its body. With horror, I noticed the blond hair and realized—it was General Laort. Tao casually tossed the head aside, grinning, and giving us a mocking salute with his blade.
Argentum: All together, Liberty, all together!
Argentum charged at him astride his mount, swinging his poleaxe as he went. He was the best rider I had ever seen and could work wonders in the saddle. As always, he was preparing to use his favorite tactics: knock the enemy down with an attack of his mount, stun him, and immediately finish him off with a strike of his poleaxe. Tao had anticipated this. I did not see him dodge; a wide blow of a Black Sword cut the legs of Argentum’s horse, and the Watcher tumbled down into the grass. Then, he jumped up, quick and skillful...only to croak, impaled on Tao’s sword. Argentum’s icon flickered alarmingly, turning red before going out entirely. I looked back. The Err’s group had disappeared into the forest, hiding amidst the trees. I could no longer make them out.
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