by Matthew Kent
We rushed through the tunnels, blasting through any monster we found in our way until we got to the spot that Mikail wanted. There we set up behind some rocks. Apparently this was the only entrance to the boss chamber.
“I finally get to try it,” I heard Barbie say, and I looked over toward her. She was standing there waving her hands, and then the gestures moved into circular motions. She looked at me and gave me an evil smile. “My all new Bouncing Betty Fireball.”
In her hands was a glowing orb the size of a pumpkin seed. She cast it out near the entrance then did three more, casting them beside the doors. Then she cackled and dove behind the rock, where we all joined her.
X - X - X
A horn blared in the night, the warbling call signified danger. Kelthis darted to the window and opened the shutters to peer out into the darkness. He could see fires burning in the northeastern section of the town. Their hellish glare shone against the backdrop of the cities walls.
“Frank?” Kelthis heard his wife ask in fear.
“Hush, baby, it’s all right. It’s all part of the game,” he lied.
A sleepy voice spoke out from near the bed. “What is it, Papa?”
He worked his tongue in his mouth to get moisture back. He had accepted a short-term game contract in the town as a guard, and part of the compensation included a week in- game for his wife and daughter.
“It looks like I have to go to work, hon. Why don’t you and Marylee log out and sleep in a real bed?” he said as calmly as he could.
“Frank, you said you wouldn’t have to work for a few days.” The fear strained his wife’s voice. He had that look about his eyes when he was worried. She found it funny that even here she could read him like a book.
“It's okay, there are just fires out there. None of the undead they were talking about. But they will need everyone to help contain them even in-game.” He looked at her pleadingly before putting on his working clothes. Iron scale armor, a steel helm. He belted on his sword.
“Papa, what's going on?” Marylee asked.
“It looks like a fire,” he said, smiling at his baby girl. “I’m just going to go make sure everything’s okay. Then I’ll come get you and your mom.”
He turned to his wife, pressed his forehead to hers, and kissed her. She didn’t see his eyes close or the momentary worry he had on his face. All she knew was how much he loved her.
Kelthis ignored his wife's desperate look. She saw him pull on his mask of absolute confidence, but she knew it for what it was. He had put that mask on every day he went to work as a deputy, and she knew it. But here in Arabella, she knew he would come home to her. She knew he was afraid of something that had been happening in-game, but no one died in Arabella forever. She looked on as Frank donned his armor and prepared to leave.
Before he left, he bent down and kissed the sleepy little girl. with the blonde pixie cut hair.
“Daddy loves you,” he said as he leaned down, hugged her, and gave her a quick peck on the top of her head. All too soon, the door was closing behind him. She snuggled into her mama.
“Daddy will be back soon, baby. Soon,” the woman who’s character was called Liandren said. “We can wait here for him and give him a big surprise.”
Outside, they could hear screams rising on the night winds and smell wafting smoke. Before Liandren could truly regret her decision, she heard a clatter outside the window on the roof. Looking out, she saw a leering red-eyed monster. She drew back in horror.
“Marylee, log out, baby,” she screamed even as she looked around the room for any weapon to fight the monster before her. The little pixie-haired girl huddled in the corner, too afraid to remember how to log out. Liandren remembered how to start the parents’ logout, and she roared when she realized it would take thirty seconds.
Liandren had come into the game without a class, but in the fear for her child, she transformed. She roared and grew—within seconds the monster at the window faced a huge golden bear, and as it reached in through the window, with a roar Liandren the golden bear struck with all her might.
Liandren uses Shapeshift: Golden Bear.
Liandren uses Cleave. Gragnax the Undead takes 141 damage.
Soon Marylee was safe, but the great bear growled as it flung pieces of the undead creature around the room, and she battered down the door to get at the foul creatures that would seek to harm her child.
Chapter 13
The waiting had been intolerable as we crouched down behind the rocks, not knowing if we would miss Team Undead’s entrance. I should have known better than that—they announced themselves with a bang. A roar from the cave's entrance and the hard over pressure of the displaced air and intolerable heat that washed over us let us know the first ranks of them had arrived. I waited for everyone else to go. When the third explosion went off, we moved.
I came up and found their tank. Kysa was an undead warrior dressed in plate armor. I cast the heat metal spell on her and found a mage and sent Silence towards him.
You cast Heat Metal on Kysa. Kysa fails to resist. Kysa takes 34 damage.
You cast silence on Tringad. Tringad is silenced.
It was not going all our way, however; Synon was sniping as fast as she could, but her fusil was nearly useless in the melee that was developing. While we had more mages, they had more melee fighters. Mages tend to be squishy. I cast spells, trying to help take down Kysa. But most of my spells were useless and while my Song of Healing could aid, it wasn’t very strong compared to the healing Samael could dish out.
Being in a battle is a lousy time to let your mind wander, but for a few brief seconds I thought there must be something more i could do with my songs. The mages were getting hammered, so I fell back and brought out my lute once more and played the Song of Healing. I was thinking how I wished I could heal the entire party when suddenly the song changed from what I had played before. Instead of the rich, peaceful melody this was almost like a hymn. I tried paying attention to what I was doing, but the notes had subtly changed.
You play Song of Mass Healing. You learn Song of Mass Healing. Effects: you can cast healing on your entire party. Party regains 10% of base health and 5 HP per second for 30 seconds.
Congratulations, you have learned the song: Song of Mass Healing.
You gain 2000 XP.
Good job! Soon you might even feel like a real bard.
What the hell? I thought. The system was mocking me. I remembered how it had felt to play that new tune, how it had somehow just come. Trying to reconstruct what you had just done to create a new song or, well, learn a new song while in battle is probably a terrible idea. But I couldn’t help but wonder how I had done it. I thought that somehow my magic was tied into my intent. I had intended to heal Barbie, who had been getting hammered pretty badly, but I had wanted to heal the entire party. What if I wanted to protect the entire party? Song of Courage was a good buff, and it affected one person at a time, but could I do better?
Without thinking about it, I tried something. Let’s be honest—it's difficult to rock out on a lute, but I gave it a try with a heavy down beat and launched into a rendition of Iron Man aimed at my party. I thought about what the song meant to me, strength, vitality, and defense. I tried to channel that intent to the rest of my party. Mikail glowed; the rest of the party kind of shimmered.
You play Song of Iron Skin. Party’s defense increased by 10%. Strength increased by 5% for 5 minutes.
Congratulations. You have learned the song: Song of Iron Skin.
You Gain 2000 XP.
The songs had nearly wiped out my endurance, but then the enemies rushed us, and I dropped my lute into my bag and drew out my Ashandarei and met Chago as he charged at us. I don’t know what happened, but his feet went out from under him, and he fell back. I stabbed him in the chest while he was down. While ‘all is fair in love and war’ is a trite but true saying, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
With Chago’s death, I flanked Kysa.
She was a few levels higher than I was, but I menaced her, trying to draw her attention and force her to make a mistake. Unfortunately, I let myself become too focused, and their mage sent a spell my way.
You are hit by Gervasic with Magic Missiles. You take 21 damage.
You take 27 damage.
You take 23 damage.
It was only fair that the entirety of the fight, my Heat Metal spell had been eating into Kysa as a damage over time spell. But then she pivoted to bat at my blade, and Tekadan’s blades found her vital points. The kukris bit in just below the armor segments on her back and her spine was severed. She dropped like a sack of wheat.
The ranger they had was still up, as was their mage. I cast Magic Missiles at him. Barbie was back up, and she was flinging fire spells. It turns out fire based spells are effective against undead. Barbie was firing these mini fireballs in groups of five or six. They impacted him, and he turned to ash. The ranger was the last one up, but not for long as Appolyon and Harut’s spells hammered him down.
“Good job, people,” Mikail said as he sat to rest. “Drink up and get your mana back. Lorcan, whatever that spell was, do it again."
I blushed.
“They were new songs,” I said in a small voice as I sat and drank water. The fight had taken it out of me.
“Why hadn’t you used them before?” Harut inquired as he cleaned blood off his robes.
“Because I just learned them,” I said with a sheepish expression.
Looking up, I saw I had everyone’s eyes on me.
“What?” I asked defensively.
“You just learned them? As in today?” BarbieQ asked.
“Uh, sort of,” I said, and I could feel the heat in my pointy ears. How did they make it so I could do that? “I learned them in the fight.”
I saw a hard look come across BarbieQ’s face.
“The first one was an accident. Song of Iron Skin was sort of intentional,” I said. “I was experimenting.”
“Like I said, he’s a Harry Sue,” Synon chimed in.
Mikail gave her a grimace before he spoke. “Lorcan, it’s just unusual for someone to learn an ability in the middle of combat. But it's hardly unprecedented, just unlikely. Much less two abilities. You keep this up, and I’m going to start thinking you are sacrificing to Bal.”
I heard Tekadan mutter. “I’d have said Lucifer, myself.” But I let it drop.
Mikail shook his head before he continued. “On the easy modes, this boss is a tough fight. On hard mode, I expect trouble.”
Mikail started giving orders and assigning roles. Synon in ranged damage and healing. Me in support and to pick up any adds while Samael was strictly healing. Apollyon, Harut, and BarbieQ were strictly ranged DPS, and Tekadan was assigned close in DPS.
Chapter 14
The entrance to the boss was tight, and it kept reminding me of Afghanistan. Most people don’t know where a trauma comes from in their life. I on the other hand, can tell you the day and the hour that mine first developed. December sixteenth, twenty ninety-three. I closed my eyes and centered myself. Perhaps my greatest fear, isn’t of dieing, but of being buried alive in a tomb that knows no sound,
My heart beat faster as we made our way through the arch into the boss chamber resembled a fanged maw. My mouth had gone dry thinking of the cave swallowing me up, and i felt sweet break out on my forehead. “Lorcan what's wrong?” I heard Samael ask.
“Caves, I always hated caves.” I said and gave him a half-hearted smile. “Don’t worry I have a job to do.”
He gave me an appraising look. “Ok then.” He said. I think he knew I was having problems but that he would let me deal with them, right now wasn’t the time to curl up into a gibbering ball. We had a bridge piece to win, people to save and my ass to keep out of prison.
We went in at the ready Tekadan was stealthed, then Mikail shield at the ready. Followed by Samael, Hurat, Appolyon and BarbieQ respectively Synon and myself were last. The angels had worked together for a long time, they didn’t need two noobs interfering with their team work. We brandished our weapons and were ready for the fight of our lives, what we found was an empty room. I looked around the cavern it reached a height of about thirty feet in the room's center, the arch to the roof was shallow it looked almost as if they had made it using a corbeling technique. Corbeling was stacking stones atop one another where the top overlaps the lower than then carving a room out. It was most often seen in Greece but thousands of years ago.
“See anything?” I heard from beside me in Tekadans voice.
“Not yet.” I say as I took a good look around the room.
The floor was a shallow basin I presumed that in the center was where the boss should have been, but Instead of a mad monster there are what appears to be two jars of different sizes next to a pool of water. “You might check around the pool” I say and turn around to guard the entrance.
“Look alive people we’re on the clock.” Mikail said. I glanced over at him then saw his nod as I turned back to the entrance.
I could hear the muttered whispers between Mikail and Tekadan. They sent Tekadan in to scout out the jars. After a few moments I could hear him. “It's a 2 jar puzzle.” Tekadan yelled.
That should be easy. I thought to myself. Then i heard a whooshing sound behind me. Turning I saw a Huge monster rising from the basin of water just behind Tekadan. “Water elemental.” BarbieQ cried out with glee in her voice. I was her flex herself and set her feet as a look of joy came over her face, her hands looked like claws and then they filled with a burning light. The pyromancer was home, and she was happy to be here.
Tekadan went flying as the beast slammed into him, sending his splayed form through the air to smack down at the party’s feet. Hurriedly I used my Song of Healing and raised his hit points.
Even as her fireballs streaked out, I realized I had few spells that would affect the monster. Instead I focused on guarding the entrance and trying to help keep the party healed. My new buff Iron Skin I place on Tekadan and Mikail since they are the main damage dealers. The water elemental slapped at Mikail hitting him but the buff seemed to negate the strike. My new songs were energy intensive but effective
Harut and Appolyon were adding their weight of fire to BarbieQ’s and Tekadan’s blades were whittling the monsters hit points down but I was afraid it won’t be quick enough. I wondered if there is something I could do to help beyond healing and buffing. I’ve somehow created 2 new songs for myself, maybe i should try for a third. The magic seems to work by intent and a combination of the spells.
I don’t know what it was, but I flinched back just in time as an arrow went whistling past my head. I peered into the dark tunnel and could see three of team undead advancing. I dropped my weapon and hunched down splaying my fingers out before me then triggered by spell Burning hands. The flames shot out of my hands and enveloped the figures before me but behind them I could see others, their undeath ravaged faces blending with the shadows. I yelled for help, but the others had their hands full with the water elemental.
“Its team undead. How did they get back so soon?” I watched as they tried to run at me through the fire. A fan of fire forty feet long down the tunnel met them at waist height. The front rank blocked the rear ranks from casting magic at me. Synon was suddenly beside me as I tried shifting left and right to throw off their aim. Her fusil went off, and the round struck Kysa, their warrior, in the face and she went down and her body was soon gone. The dark ranger fell next but my mana bar was dangerously depleted. As soon as I stopped channeling the spell, there was a flash down the tunnel and a shimmering wall appeared.
“Help the others I can hold this.” Synon said. I looked at the wall then at her and finally back to the angels. Mikail was looking the worse for wear as was Tekadan. BarbieQ was sputtering with sparks as she threw fire ball after fireball. Seemingly they had little to no effect against the giant puddle of water. I wondered what Synon expected me to do, I had already used up my mana on t
he Burning Hands. I had no songs that would damage the elemental
If fire wasn’t enough maybe if I used ice? I thought and then I thought about my chill metal spell and I had it, I sang an attack at it.
“Born of cold and winter air
And mountain rain combining…”
I watched the monster carefully, did it slow a little I wondered? Its skin grew translucent.
“Cut through the heart, cold and clear
Strike for love and strike for fear…”
There was a wave of pressure that roared out of me and it used up the rest of my Energy. The song was pure magic as it struck the creature and it crystallized. It screeched and screamed as the spell set watery skin in ice. “Holy Jesus preserve.” Herut cried out. The others spells slowed briefly, then they picked up. Soon my song expired but the water elementals hit points had dropped by another thirty percent.