by K. T. Hanna
“Just make sure we grab them when that patrol is on the downward path and not looking up toward him. Line of sight them as far as you can to behind this rock, Mellow. We’ll all squash here in the corner.” Merlin directed the witch to pull.
Everyone squished into the corner and waited for Mellow and Merlin to do their magic.
A hoarse and primal scream echoed throughout the cave system, practically deafening in its intensity. Murmur clutched at her head, unable to block her thought sensing net off in time. The sheer malevolence behind that agony, the pain and suffering it wanted to inflict on others, on anyone who dared to try and kill it, to take what they didn’t deserve. The things it could do, would do...
She swayed on her feet and had to crouch down, reeling in her net and extending her shield, tightening it.
Then the named was there. Telvar Mikrum smiled as he took in the group before him. And then he jumped, fast as lightning, launching the round house from hell.
All three mobs were in camp, faster than they’d anticipated. Murmur missed her initial Mesmerize window which meant all three were active instead of two of them being under control. Her area effect stun hit all of their enemies and Murmur got one Mez’d with another to follow a split second after the stun wore off.
The other lacerta was a caster, still on the opposite side of the rock. Murmur yanked Mellow back into the crush of bodies behind the rock, and before the caster lacerta could come all the way around, Mur caught it in a Mez as well.
Standing back, she surveyed the damage and clamped down tighter on her shield, wondering if next time she’d be able to extend it over the whole group. Hopefully that was something she’d be able to do when she got stronger, because that cavern-wide scream was debilitating.
Overall, the damage was less than she’d expected. Beast and Jinna were low on health, but the healers were already working overtime to make that up. After setting her pet to assist Devlish, weakening Telvar, and re-Mezing the additional mobs, Murmur got into a rhythm.
Telvar dodged like a ninja. He seemed untouchable, but when he was hit, he took a major pounding. Rash had been right. For all his dodging, it didn’t leave him much time to attack.
“Brace yourselves.” Devlish ground out as he managed to counter a rare attack with his shield. “He’s close to seventy-five percent.”
Murmur could feel the nervous tension emanating off everyone, only it wasn’t anxiety—it was excitement. But nothing came at the seventy-five mark, which drew out the tension.
“No special moves?” Rashlyn sighed as she ducked a swing and punched into the soft flesh of Telvar’s underarm, causing the named to stagger back. “This guy is lame.”
Telvar’s health really did move a chunk every time someone managed to land a hit. But even Havoc and Mellow were having difficulties landing their spells on him.
“I thought he wasn’t supposed to have any magic resistance.” Havoc almost growled the words.
“She said low magic resistance, not none,” Merlin chimed in, his arrows hitting their target half of the time.
Beastial shrugged, sending his tiger in again. “Still, this is rather anticlimactic.”
A second later the ground began to rumble like someone had started up a V8 engine and they were standing on the hood. Sinister fell unceremoniously on her butt, and Murmur dropped to one knee, unused to the locus height and balance.
Telvar stood in a shaft of red and golden light, his scaled head raised up so high all they could see was his chin and throat. His arms curled around his chest, and his breath came in rapid gasps as he heaved them in and out. Leather melted into his skin, bringing a reddish tinge to the bronzed brown scales which grew in size as he rasped out each breath. His body began to expand, giving the enlarging scales somewhere to rest.
The group fanned out as they backed away and watched in wonder as Telvar grew in front of them. The transformation was intricate, unique, and personal. They heard the crack of his bones as his chest expanded, the stretching of the flesh as it accommodated the shift, the clinking of scales that gleamed like molten metal.
His eyes grew wider, transforming into yellow globes at the top of a long snout. The arms cracked as they twisted, forming tighter muscles and larger scales as Telvar finally dropped to all fours.
That’s when the red and gold wings began to sprout from his back.
Sinister turned to Beastial. “If you ever say something is anticlimactic again, I’m going to kill you.”
Storm Entertainment
Somnia Online Division
Mental Scan Data Extrapolation Team
Launch Day
James ducked his head into the room just after nine in the morning. “Coffee?”
Brandon Phillips, the lead of the mental scan data extrapolation team since Dr. Jeffries hospitalization, broke eye contact with the information in front of him long enough to give James a pleading look. “Bring us an entire pot. Each. Please?”
James waved and left the room, leaving Brandon to his devices as he returned to the mind-numbingly complex set of data in front of him.
James didn’t have to be a coffee gopher—it wasn’t technically one of his duties, but it made people take time for him, made people more likely to talk to him.
Brewing a pot of coffee didn’t take long these days, so technically it wasn’t as nice as it seemed. Brandon and Silke would be eternally grateful considering how much work they had to get through. Balancing the carafe and cups, James walked back and let himself in.
Brandon was scouring reports from the way his eyes flickered back and forth, biting his lip at the left corner, while the rest of his expression fell into a frown.
“Do you see it?” Silke asked him, her voice low as she paced next to him.
Brandon nodded, still worrying at his lip. “I can see, but I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at. Technically nothing is wrong.”
Silke sighed. “I’m probably just being paranoid because everything seems to be running just that bit too smoothly. I just expected a lot more mistakes.”
“Well, Michael might have been a dick, but he was a very clever dick.” Brandon’s expression finally spread into a smile and Silke laughed.
“Touché.” She smiled, her shoulders losing some of their tension as her gaze also distanced itself, lost in her own calculations.
James cleared his throat and placed the carafe and cups on the table. “Sorry, Bran. Only one carafe per office today.”
Brandon laughed, a good-natured twinkle in his eyes. “That’s okay. I’ll forgive you just this once.”
Behind them, the servers blinked and whirred, calculating their loads perfectly, handing out quests spurred by human interaction, and analyzing the brain waves of those who began to trigger the hidden features of the game. These systems intrigued James, and he’d studied up on them as much as he could, especially after Ava’s death. He’d never expected to work his way up the ladder so fast, and not researching everything wasn’t an option.
“Everything going well, then?” He tried to keep his tone slightly disinterested.
Brandon blinked, and smiled softly when he made eye contact with James. “Excellent, actually. Far better than we’d hoped.” His eyes unfocused again as he went back to his work.
“Excellent.” James let himself out, knowing he’d already been forgotten.
Real World Day 2: Somnia Online
Shining wings unfurled, completing Telvar’s transformation. The wind would have knocked them off the edge of the path if they hadn’t already learned that lesson. Murmur struggled to form the runes with her hands and keep the three extras Mesmerized. She wasn’t liking their chances with the dragon, let alone if those three added to the fight.
Finally it landed, somehow gently, barely making a sound. It cocked its head to one side, focusing intently on Devlish at the center of the group. And then it opened its mouth, and Murmur knew instinctively what was going to happen.
She shut down her sensors and
tried to broaden her shield. It hurt her head to do so, hurt so badly she thought hearing that sound again would likely be worth it, and she only managed to cover Sin and Havoc who were close to her before the sound let loose again.
That high-pitched screeching penetrated even through her mind shield, like it was trying to shoot them all with mind bullets.
When the dragon’s claw swiped at Devlish, his shield barely blocked it. Deep scratches ran along the surface, marring the otherwise perfect shield. He gulped, but Murmur watched as he squared his shoulders and jaw, readying himself for the next strike.
“See if we can stun him,” he grunted out as another swipe rolled off his shield.
“We can stun him.” Jinna sighed with relief, because it was the only good bit of news they had.
“I have a twelve second single target stun, let me know when you’re all done, and I’ll cast mine. If we can keep him mostly stun locked, this might even be doable.” Murmur re-Mez’d her targets, trying to balance her mana pool.
She wanted to mention that at least Telvar’s health had stayed at fifty percent, but given what happened when Beast spoke, she wasn’t about to tempt fate.
Murmur made sure to keep her DoT on him as well as Weaken, Nullify, and Languidity, because his health was barely budging, and while the dragon couldn’t dodge for shit, its scales were almost impenetrable, and it hit back. Hard. Staying out of his reach wasn’t too difficult for ranged classes, but she did notice that depending on where his forelegs were positioned down the ramp, she had to shuffle back and forth a bit. His melee range was ridiculous, but considering he was a dragon, spot on.
Devlish swapped out his shield for a new one, the other having been clawed through in one place. Murmur paled, she knew how it felt to get stabbed in the game, but didn’t even want to imagine how it might feel if something were to slash at her with a pair of claws like that.
“I have every curse on him I can manage.” Mellow sounded out of breath. “And he’s still hitting Dev like a ton of bricks.”
The strain was obvious on Dev’s face. Even through the scales they could all see the veins popping.
“Let me tank for a bit, Dev.” Rash urged quietly.
But he shook his head. “If he manages to get around one of your dodges, he’s going to shred you on the spot. I have several more crappy shields in my bag, let’s go through them first.”
Finally the dragon was at thirty-nine percent; it took an age for his health to go down. The whole fight became a long and excruciating process of repeated actions. Murmur thought this is what the creators of grueling had in mind when they thought up that word.
Her mana was getting low, under half, but they needed her stun, and her Mez, and her debuffs. There was so much more to keep in her head than simply healing.
Enchanters had to utilize their minds to the fullest, and she thought she was just beginning to understand exactly what that meant. The possibilities were endless.
And Telvar the dragon-shapeshifter-lizard thing was taking damage so slowly, they’d be out of mana and shields before they could ever kill him.
Murmur swallowed her frustration and the positivity that they were going to die and lose all their gear, and focused on her tasks, tentatively extending her thought sensor net yet again. In the presence where the dragon was, she saw a sort of question mark. It didn’t make sense to her other than it being a type of question aimed and formed at whoever’s net it was. She frowned and retracted the net hurriedly, worried that if she didn’t that siren type noise would infiltrate her skull again.
Dev went through another shield, and not too long after, he went through another. Murmur made sure to even her breathing so she didn’t give way to panic, but the whole group was running low on mana, not to mention health and motivation. Approaching twenty-five percent, it wasn’t likely they’d make it through another screech attack, and she clenched her fists, angry that she couldn’t figure out how to extend her mental protections more than she already could. She needed more power, more practice.
Telvar’s health dropped to twenty-five percent.
Everyone cringed, waiting for the screech. Telvar rose up on his hind legs, wings thrashing a gale around them again, and his front legs kicked the air like a rearing white stallion. Smoke billowed out of his nostrils and Rashlyn swore out loud.
“Fuck. Does he breathe fire too?” She backed up a few steps, running into Murmur’s right side as she did.
The whole world slowed, with Telvar front and center. A golden glow surrounded him again, rendering him immune from all of their spells.
Murmur truly wished their guild was larger and they’d been able to scale a full-fledged raid on this dude. As it was, it was going to be majorly embarrassing to have to replace everything they had at this level.
What she wasn’t expecting was for him to land down back on all fours, furl his wings back together, and to clear his throat before addressing them in a very civil, if booming, tone.
“Thank you, brave adventurers.” Telvar Mikrum spoke, his words exuding a gust of hot air, tinged with sulfuric undertones. “For your hardy defeat of the Brute who tormented my servants for eons and the Goricklins that aided him, I grant you my boon, and my protection in exchange for your own.”
By defeating the Brute and showing Telvar Mikrum that you have both the skills and temperament to defeat some of his better servants, you have gained the rights to the Isle of Mikrum, also known as Himmel Island. In order to maintain this property, you must fulfill your end of the bargain. In your guild’s possession lies a silver box. Open it, and the rest will be revealed.
“Well,” said Beastial, scratching the top of his tiger’s head. “That happened.”
Murmur tugged out the box and frowned. Was this a trap? She glanced around, noting that most of them had backed up a few steps. Probably wise.
The box was large and heavy, but she knelt down to the ground and opened it carefully, wondering at the last second if she should have asked Havoc to have his pet do so instead. A bright cascade of light shot from it circling them all in a dance that made it look like fireflies. Finally, with the fireworks show over, Murmur leant over to look in the box.
There, on a black velvet pillow lay a stone-carved rune. It was brilliant deep green, smooth and flawless. Even though she knew she shouldn’t be able to, Murmur understood the word meant home, but could also mean fortress to protect—depending on the context.
She stood and looked up at Telvar in all his glory, not entirely sure if she’d interpreted this correctly. “This island could become our guild keep?”
Telvar nodded, and his voice reverberated through the huge cavern when he spoke. “Millennia ago, the Brute trapped me and mine here, having found me in a moment of weakness. When I hibernate, my reaction time is slowed. He slaughtered the family who protected us through the castle above and had made it his stronghold by the time I was able to react. Trapped down here, he massacred any of my servants who attempted to venture out and procure what I needed to regain and maintain strength. I’ve managed to subsist down here on the energy I receive from my portion of the lacerta species as a whole.”
“Lacerta species? Why would my species give you benefits?” Devlish asked, but from the look on his face, hadn’t quite intended to say it out loud.
Telvar smiled with a huge toothy dragon grin. It might have been endearing if one of those teeth hadn’t almost eclipsed Murmur in size. “Lacerta. The race of the dragons.”
Murmur still couldn’t quite grasp that the dragon was currently weak. Considering how close they’d come to dying. “Why us?”
Telvar cocked his head to one side, a definite look of confusion on his face. “Because you defeated our enemy, and fought me bravely, with concern for all of your fighting partners. We find this very noble, protective, and exactly what we require.”
It was a lot to take in, but it was so damn cool. Murmur glanced around at all the faces in her guild, a smile tugging at her lips. Every single
one of them had an expression of stupefied amazement.
“So if we accept, this castle becomes our guild quarters, for us to defend, and for us to help you regain your strength.” She hoped she’d got it right. His speech seemed a little stilted here and there, occasionally stiff and formal.
“That is correct.”
“The castle is derelict and collapsing. It needs to be rebuilt in order to set up defenses that will hold, should anyone consider attacking.” She pushed it a little bit, unsure just what this amazing creature would do with the information. Surely he had to know they couldn’t live there with the castle in its current state.
Telvar closed his eyes, and she could feel the aura pulsing from him, outside of the cavern. He frowned. “I see. For this I apologize. I shall gift you with compensation, and a dozen of my servants whom I will task with rebuilding the castle.”
He closed his eyes again, this time his aura scanned the group. “I see I did destroy your best shields, young dread knight. I will grant you the choice of two from my hoard, and the retrieval of the goods the young archer lost when he fell to his death.”
Murmur barely managed to keep her mouth closed and had to consciously attempt to stop it gaping like a fish. “Thank you.”
Telvar’s voice was deep and serious when he spoke again, extending a foot out to Murmur, who walked out to meet it. “You have a powerful mind, young one. There is something in there, sleeping, potent. You are different here than the others. Your mind and thoughts are different in this world. If you accept this offer, I may be able to provide you with a deeper understanding in the future.”
Murmur ran his words over in her mind, tempted to ask how she was different but realized he was waiting on an answer. “We accept.”
A huge gong sounded throughout the cavern, and probably from the way the regional chatter flared up, throughout the whole world. It shook everything for just a few moments, but that was enough.
Savior of the Lair has been completed by the guild Fable.