The Dead Fortress

by LitRPG Freaks

  Fire swarmed around him and he winced when his health started taking hits, but he had to keep going. The commanders had to be close-by.

  Bishop groaned when a wooden club hit him in the gut and sent him flying backwards through what remained of the barn wall. He gasped as he rolled over, the air knocked out of his lungs and his bow skittering away through the dirt. His health dropped to half and a slowing buff appeared in his field of vision.

  “You pathetic hero!” a growl came from behind him and he turned around to see both commanders stalking towards him. The blast barely did any damage to them and now they were both pissed and focused only on Bishop.

  “Kevork will have dominion over these lands,” the second boomed in his guttural voice that made Bishop’s skin crawl. “You and your worthless friends can do nothing to stop him.”

  Bishop dragged himself forward, towards his bow and away from them. The ground trembled as they stomped closer and Bishop braced for the hit that would end him. His fingers touched his bow, but he couldn’t pick it up before one of them grabbed him by the ankle and threw him as if he was nothing more than a doll. He landed hard and watched more of his HP drop. He was finished, dead, but at least they had saved all the villagers.

  “Stop lazing around,” Trajan muttered and yanked Bishop to his feet. “We have enemy to kill.”

  He swallowed down a life potion and thanked Benji when he gave him a quick heal that got him over half health at least. “My bow, it’s over there still. All I have is a dagger.”

  “We’ll just have to get it on our way. Let’s kill them all!” Trajan thrust his arm over his head and bellowed his battle cry, bolstering their morale as they charged at the two commanders.

  Trajan and Maverick took point, pulling aggro from both of them while the DPS focused on their AOE attacks. Bishop Slashed and Sliced at the commanders as he bounced from one to the other, searching for his bow all the while. It had to be close by, but he couldn’t see it amongst the dust stirred up by the fighting.

  “Bishop!” Calista yelled and he saw her hoist his bow in the air.

  He sprinted through the melee, sliding across the ground on his knees to dodge an attack from one of the commanders, and came up on his feet with ease. How he had managed the move he would never know, but he swung right around again and launched his Rain of Thorns attack. He blasted them with Fiery Arrow, moving away from the fighting as far as his range would allow him. The blast had done more damage than he first assumed. Their armor was badly damaged. He drew back for a Penetrate Armor Shot and watched the dark iron breastplate shatter on impact.

  “Hit him!” Trajan yelled, and everyone swarmed the commander, driving him to his knees and finally finishing him off.

  XP points floated around Bishop, but he ignored them. The second commander barreled down on the group, madly swinging his sword at the group. Bishop tried a Stunning Blow, which barely halted his progress. He switched to Penetrating Shot, but this one’s armor held strong.

  Maverick let out a mighty roar, bolstering her fury, and charged right at the commander, tackling him to the ground. She swiped her massive paws over his body and the guild moved in, attacking the commander with everything they had while he was pinned. However, one bellow from him threw them backwards. The damage was bad and Bishop yelled for everyone to take a potion if they had one. His HP hung on by a thread before he swallowed the potion and his body glowed green for a second.

  Trajan and Calista charged right back in, tag teaming the commander before he even found his feet again. Bishop forgot about everything else around him, the raging fire, the screaming villagers, and focused on killing the final commander. He fired Instant Shot in a rotation with Fiery Arrow and Increased Swift Bow before finally, the commander collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, until Trajan delivered a killing blow.

  Immediately, the sky overhead lightened and the storm cleared away. Now it only remained over Chesterville and the ominous mountain in the center of the region.

  Bishop slung his bow over his back as he dinged, along with everyone else.

  You have reached level 37.

  You have received: 12 Demon Shards, 5 Scraps of iron armor, 1 shattered axe.

  He cleared the messages away. He’d have to sell whenever they got out of this region. His bags were close to full. “Three levels to go!” he announced happily as the group gathered around. “Everyone good on the quests here before we turn in?”

  Calista moved to stand beside him as everyone checked their quest logs. A few missed some of the supplies they were supposed to gather so they went back through the village, missing the fire now at least, and collected what they needed. A few others had to patch up the injured, but then they were ready to head back to the Red Witch.

  Walking back through the other villages already saved was heartwarming and Bishop sighed, content with how far they’d come today.

  “One village left and the dungeon. Think we’ll hit forty before we face Kevork?” Calista asked.

  “If not, it looks like there’s a few other quests popping up,” he said as they reached a previously saved village. “Think we’ll collect what we can find so we hit forty before the dungeon.”

  He passed the word along and they picked up some quests about helping repair damaged homes and gathering food and blankets, getting medicines, and even sending word to Weston about what occurred here.

  By the time they reached the Red Witch, they had another seven quests to complete on top of saving Chesterville. Together, they turned in the quests for Frieson to the woman waiting for them by her large cauldron. Willy was there, too. The wolf had remained behind on this one. The Witch said she had need of him and Bishop was in too good of a mood to argue. Willy rushed over to him and nudged his leg.

  “You missed one hell of a fight, boy,” Bishop murmured, petting his head.

  He strolled to the Red Witch and she held out her hand for his.

  Quest Completed: Taking the Fight to Them: Save Freison from Kevork’s hold and kill his commanders.

  You have received: 500 Reputation with Red Witch.

  You have received: Cloak of the Defiant, Armor 700, +50 Agility, +200 Morale.

  “Nice, very nice,” Bishop murmured and made a note to equip the cloak before he forgot about it. The Red Witch shook the hands of all in the guild so they could finish their quests before she turned around to face Bishop again.

  “You have but one more task ahead of you,” she said. “And you have proven your worth to me. I will aid you in the coming battle against Kevork, in Chesterville and in Vorgan. Call on me when you are in direst need and I will appear.” She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. When she opened her eyes again, Bishop stepped back in surprise to see them glowing red. “As for the other matter of my son, Godfrey, once we have defeated Kevork, I will pay him a visit.”

  Bishop grinned. “Thank you. I’m afraid I’ve done very little in stopping him.”

  “If Valenastrious has her claws in him, words will not stop him.”

  Bishop took the hand she offered and several prompts appeared for quests.

  Accepted Quest: The Final Stage: Free Chesterville from Kevork’s hold.

  Accepted Quest: Confronting the King: Meet with Winston and Tavin to discuss strategy for stopping the mad King’s plans.

  Bishop removed his hand and bobbed his head in thanks.

  “Good timing, boys and girls,” Jimmy announced. “That appears to be all for today. Guess we’ll finish this party tomorrow.”

  Bishop frowned, but there was no strange pull in his gut to remain in this world. If it was time to go, then it was time to go. That meant spending an evening with his friends and Calista, and not hearing voices in his head trying to drag him back here. He opened the menu to log out when he caught the Red Witch’s eye. Her strange gaze held his for a long few minutes before she blinked and turned back to her cauldron. Willy sat beside her, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Bishop s
hook the worry growing in his mind and logged out.

  A quick trip to his room for a sip of whiskey and he’d be good to go.

  Chapter 10

  Bishop was pumped for attaining the final village and hopefully completing all the other side quests so he could reach level 40 before the dungeon. He wasn’t even sure if they could enter it before hitting that level. Either way, he was raring to go once he opened his eyes to see the camp of the Red Witch.

  “Alright people,” Trajan announced when everyone was loaded and came into view. “Who’s ready to take back Chesterville?”

  Bishop grinned and found Willy near the fire. “What do you say today? You coming or staying behind again?”

  Willy hopped up to rest his massive paws on Bishop’s shoulders and licked his face.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

  “Do you think we’re just going to be able to walk into Chesterville like we did the first time?” Jimmy asked Bishop as everyone set out from the camp.

  “Doubt it. We’ve been killing their army and took back the other villages.”

  “Great, so no warm welcome from the possessed people there.”

  “Probably not, and we can’t exactly charge in killing anything that moves. Those people are possessed, but they’re still people and we’re going to have to do some sort of mass exorcism.”

  “Don’t look at me like that. Pretty sure I can’t pull it off.”

  Bishop frowned. Jimmy didn’t have that much power. There were hundreds of people in Chesterville. He pulled up his inventory and glanced at the summoning token she gave them before. “If she’s traveling with us,” he said, motioning toward the Red Witch leading the way, “why did she give us this token? I thought it would summon her, but she’s already here.”

  “You think it summons someone else? Like who?”

  “You know, her clothes kinda look like a reflection of the robes worn in High Ridge,” he whispered, peering at the woman ahead of their group. “She could’ve been part of their sanctuary at one point and broke away when everything went to hell.”

  Jimmy and he stared at the token in his hand and then back at the woman. “How many could it summon you think? All of them?”

  “I guess we’ll find out.” He tucked the token away and trudged along.

  When they neared Chesterville, the Witch held up her hand to stop them. “Guards are posted at the entrance to the town,” she whispered. “We can’t get in that way without being seen.”

  “Don’t we want to be seen?” Bishop asked. “Draw them all out at once?”

  “I don’t think we want to be mobbed by hundreds of possessed townsfolk,” Jimmy argued.

  “Not mobbed. They might not attack first if they’re trying to keep the rouse going.”

  “Or they mob us and we all die,” Jimmy whispered.

  “Fine, I’ll go in alone and draw them all out. How about that?”

  “I don’t like that plan,” Calista stepped in. “Bishop, you’re a bit squishy. You might get yourself killed before we have a chance to rush in and pull you out.”

  Bishop shrugged. “Maybe, but then at least we’d know what their game plan is.”

  “And you’ll be dead.”

  “Eh, I’ll take that chance.”

  She glared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Fine. You know what? Fine, if you want to stroll in there and get your ass handed to you, then fine. Go for it, but don’t come crying to me after Benji resurrects you and your gear’s damaged.”

  “So nice to know you care,” he teased and, keeping his bow slung over his body, he walked towards the main road leading into Chesterville. “I’ll give a signal if I’m able to draw them all out.”

  “Oh yeah, and what’ll it be? Your scream as you die?” Trajan cackled.

  “Nah, something better.”

  What that might be, he had no idea yet, but he walked on, whistling as he did. That morning when he had a pick-me-up, he might’ve had a bit too much. The rational part of his mind that said this was a horrible idea was quiet today, too quiet, while the rest of him said to go for it and be the crazy person. Get himself killed, who cared, it was only a game. He’d deal with the excruciatingly annoying chest pain that came with dying. The whiskey would probably numb that, too. A giggle slipped free at that and he quickly covered his mouth trying to keep his head on straight enough to get this shindig underway.

  The second he crossed the invisible barrier into town, the two guards near the road whipped their heads around to stare at him. He whistled at them in greeting and forced his feet to move forward. The sky darkened overhead and green lighting flashed across the sky. A chill fell over his skin, but there was no turning back now.

  An idea came to mind the farther into town he moved, noticing how every townsperson stopped what they were doing to follow him. At least, that part of his idea was working, but he couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or not. He was going to have the entire town in the streets by the time he reached the square outside the Governor’s manor. He met eyes with a man who came awfully close and Bishop watched his morale take a tiny hit from the darkness wafting off the man from being possessed. If this mob swarmed him, they’d kill him without even having to touch him.

  At the town square, where the light failed completely and he was only able to see by the grace of a few torches surrounding him, he stopped and threw his head back to yell. “I’m here to speak with Governor Bartholomew!”

  He waited for Timothy to rush out and greet him, hopefully giving him a chance to get safely inside and figure out a signal for the others. But when the doors opened, it wasn’t just Timothy who stepped out.

  The sickly Governor who had been on his death bed looked in perfect health. His boots thudded heavily against the wooden porch as the guards parted for him. Timothy’s eyes were wide in fear, and his body shook so hard it was as if a constant breeze ruffled his clothes and hair.

  “And who are you good sir to call upon me?” the Governor asked in reply with a leer.

  Bishop smirked. “Why, you don’t recognize me?”

  “I’m afraid I do not,” he replied, his voice hard, and Bishop caught the flicker of power in his eyes. “But I have been ill as of late so perhaps you can remind me.”

  “Certainly,” he said with glee. “I’m one of the heroes who set out to destroy the horrible, rotting infestation of Demons from your lands.” A growl started in the surrounding crowd, but none of them moved towards him, yet. “And I’m happy to report that every village has been cleared of the threat, all but this one.”

  The Governor, who was clearly not the Governor, shifted on his feet. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean. There are no Demons here.”

  “Then why is the sky dark when it’s barely past dawn?”

  “Storm rolling in.”

  “Right, sure, but I know that’s not the truth and so do you.”

  The Governor licked his lips, but then a strange calm came over him that made Bishop curse his volunteering to come here alone. Bishop stood his ground as the possessed man came down the steps and didn’t stop until he was a foot from him.

  “You know, Bishop, you’re right. Where’s the point in hiding anymore?”

  Bishop nodded, but the smartass words he wanted to say back were stuck in his throat.

  “In fact, I think I’ll take you right now to Vorgan, to Valenastrious herself. She seems to want all you heroes brought to her alive so she can kill you herself. And you, you’ve disrupted her plans here, and my Lord Kervork’s. I can’t have that now, can I?”

  Run, you idiot! Bishop heard the warning in his mind, but his body was frozen. He couldn’t even lift his hand. “What…did you do?” he gasped.

  The Governor grinned, his teeth elongating into fangs. “I’m not about to let my prized possession run away now. Then I’d have to chase you back down and that’s no fun for anyone.” He walked around him and whispered in his ear, �
�You are going to stay right here, my own personal statue, and watch as I bring forth the armies of Kervork to take over Samar. They won’t even see us coming, and do you really believe they would attack their own kin?”

  Bishop saw the fear effect show up by his HP but, for some reason, he wasn’t scared. The laughter started, quiet at first, but then he couldn’t contain it and soon he was cackling loudly, tears slipping down his cheeks from mirth. He laughed harder and harder, not stopping when the Governor stalked back around to face him, his face drawn back in a hideous snarl.

  “You laugh in the face of Samar’s demise and your own?”

  “No, well maybe,” Bishop said and noticed the grip that had been holding him in place was waning. “But it’s funny that you think your plan is so perfect that no one can screw it up.”

  “My plan will be successful. There is no one who can stop me, certainly not you.”

  “Oh no?” He glanced around at the gathered possessed people. “And what about the Red Witch? Does she scare you, just a little?”

  His eyes darkened and he flinched as if struck. “That woman has no power, not anymore.”

  “Are you sure?” Bishop asked as if speaking to a child. “Have you seen her lately because I have and, man, let me tell you, she packs quite the punch now. She scares me sometimes and I’m not even a Demon. My wolf likes her though, can’t figure that one out—”

  “Silence, you babbling idiot! You lie, that woman has not left her forest for decades.”

  “No, no, but who do you think’s been helping us this whole time? I mean we’re good, but we’re not that good.” The Governor’s growl grated over his ears, but still Bishop laughed. “And do you really think I would come here alone?”

  Bishop’s arms shifted at his sides and he smirked wider. He could move, which meant he could send up a signal. He couldn’t hurt the possessed people, but he knew what he could do.

  Keeping himself still for a moment longer, he watched as the Governor shouted orders in some guttural tongue, taking his gaze off Bishop long enough for him to remove the summoning token from his bag and hold it in his palm. He gave it a squeeze and a prompt appeared before his eyes. He wanted to summon her now, but the rest of his guild would have to run in after her…or maybe not.