Brick led the way down the ramp. There were bones scattered about, and more than one recent kobold corpse. Demons ruled through fear and intimidation. They thought nothing of killing a minion or two in order to keep the others cowed. As they approached the pit, an impressive winged demon rose up from the center and hovered above them.
Demon Overlord Drug’thol
Level 70
Health 47,000/47,000
“How DARE you enter my realm, mortals?” He pointed an eboney-clawed finger at the group. “You will die slowly before I feed you to my guards!” He bellowed. Drug’thol was maybe twelve feet tall and well-muscled, with horns that curled out of his forehead and extended up another three feet above his head. His wingspan was easily twenty feet. The demon’s tail twitched as he glared at them with burning red eyes.
Alexander shouted up at him “This is OUR realm, demon! You are not welcome here. Leave now, and live. Otherwise, we’ll feed you AND your guards to the kobolds!”
“Ahhh, yes. The boy King. The wizards have spoken of you. Your head will bring me great rewards when I toss it at their feet!” Drug’thol reached over his shoulder and produced a massive two-bladed axe from a harness on his back. He spun it a few times for effect, the heavy weapon looking as light as a feather in his hand.
“Wizards? Your masters are the mage’s guild?” Alexander led the demon, feigning ignorance.
“The DROW wizards, fool! They have risen once more, and will wipe the light races from Io for all time! Beginning with you!”
He extended his off-hand and shot a bolt of dark magic at Sasha. It was the shame shit-weasel spell so many of the Dark One’s minions had used. The magic struck Sasha’s shoulder as she tried to dodge, and immediately began worming its way toward her heart. She fell screaming to the floor as Brick hit the demon with Holy Smite and shouted to get its attention. Max and Lainey began firing arrows as Grimble formed up beside Brick, shield high and steady. Jules drew her daggers and disappeared from sight.
Alexander rushed to Sasha. The divine magic so recently gifted to him by the pantheon surged into his hand as he placed it over Sasha’s wound. The shit-weasel worm that was burrowing through her chest let out an agonized shriek before turning to dust. Sasha gasped as the pain suddenly subsided. Her health bar had dropped below 20% and she still had a gaping wound in her chest. Alexander was a bit surprised the divine spell hadn’t healed her as well as killing the dark magic construct, but he quickly cast a heal on her, then she took over. Two big heals of her own, and she was back in shape.
The demon had focused on Brick and was blasting him with some kind of dark magic fireballs. The entire groups gear had been blessed at the alters., so Brick’s shield was mitigating the dark magic damage considerably. But unlike normal fire, he wasn’t receiving any healing through the shield. Grimble, who was gamely holding his position next to Brick, was taking slightly more damage. Even as Sasha got back to her feet, Brick hit his fellow dwarf with a Healing Light spell to bring his health bar back up to 90%.
Max and Lainey were furiously firing arrow after arrow into the beast. Max was focused on its face, which now sported several shafts protruding from cheek and nose. Lainey was trying her best to damage its wings and bring it down to ground level, so the melee fighters could do some damage. Not to be outdone, Brick hit Drug’thol with a Holy Smite, making him roar in pain and anger.
Alexander dashed forward and produced his Healing Light wand. Handing it to Grimble, he said “Use this on the demon, it’ll make him mad. If you get below half health, use it on yourself. It has about a hundred charges!”
The dwarf took the wand and nodded his understanding. He hooked his hammer on his belt and immediately started blasting away at the demon overlord with the wand. The light damage wasn’t significant, but it infuriated the boss enough to draw aggro away from Brick. The fireballs came fast and furious into Grimble’s shield. Though he held his ground, the impacts and the damage combined drove him to one knee.
Max, seeing Grimble’s distress, attempted to use a silence arrow to give the dwarf a moment to recover. When the arrow impacted the demon’s forehead, it did indeed silence his roaring voice. But the demon didn’t need to speak to cast, so the onslaught of black fire continued. Ball after ball of dark magic burst across Grimble’s light-blessed shield. Lainey tried a Stun arrow, and it was only slightly more effective. The demon shuddered and stopped casting for about five seconds. Sasha used the time to heal Grimble back above 60%.
Alexander shouted “Brick! Get in front of him! He can’t take a lot more!”
Brick didn’t comply, exactly. He knew that two shields were better than one when it came to splash damage like they were taking from this black fire. Instead, he scraped his hammer across his legendary shield, activating its Serpent’s Screech ability. The demon instantly switched targets, hammering at Brick’s shield with the magic instead of Grimble’s.
Alexander stood behind the two dwarves and cast Ray of Light at the demon as quickly as he could. The spell had a ten second cooldown. In between, he cast magic bolts. On his third rotation he slid in a wizard’s fire. The spell reminded him of something. “Sasha! Can you cast Thorn Trap on him in the air? Squeeze his wings so he can’t fly?”
Sasha’s mouth twisted into a thoughtful grimace as she considered it. With a shrug, she gave it try. To everyone’s surprise, rather than vines shooting up from the ground as usual to entrap their target, they actually dropped down from chamber’s ceiling!
The thorny vines quickly enwrapped the demon and constricted. As he was still burning with Wizard’s Fire, the vines caught fire too. Drug’thol was no longer flying, his wings’ movement restricted by the vines.
But he wasn’t falling, either. The vines effectively hung him in a cocoon over the pit, out of reach for Brick and Grimble. The demon managed to keep a steady barrage of dark magic, despite the DoT ticks of the Wizard’s Fire, arrow strikes, and light magic hits from Grimble.
Alexander shouted “Sasha! Move the vines! Twist them?! Make them shred the wings!?”
Their druid screwed up her face in concentration and held a hand up toward the demon overlord. Alexander’s Mage Sight showed him the mana circulating within her, converting from the normal blue to a dark green before focusing through her hand and out toward the demon. The vines began to move. Not the twisting Alexander was hoping for, but a tightening squeeze. After a moment, one of the demon’s wings snapped, and it screamed in pain.
Alexander called out “Awesome job Sasha! Now cancel the vines. Let him drop! Brick! He’s coming your way!”
Sasha did as requested and canceled her Thorn Trap spell. The vines disintegrated into ash as the magic faded, and the demon overlord’s left wing immediately unfurled, trying to keep him aloft. But the right wing refused to extend, as the main support along the top of the wing was clearly broken. They could see cartilage protruding from the leathery skin and black blood streaming from the wound.
Drug’thol spiraled quickly to the ground, where both dwarves were waiting with shields and hammers. The archers continued to pepper the demon as he fell, Max finally scoring a critical hit and bursting the demon’s left eye.
Demon Overlord Drug’thol
Level 70
Health 33,000/47,000
The dwarves alternated shield bashes and hammer strikes, keeping the demon busy. He pounded at them with his axe, the sound of the blows striking Brick’s shield resounding through the chamber. Brick began to chant his love poetry, insulting the demon’s heritage, making fun of the size of his axe, suggesting the large weapon was an overcompensation for something. Between that and his occasional Holy Smite, he managed to keep the aggro on himself.
Alexander moved up behind them and took the wand from Grimble, who was now using his light-blessed hammer to decent effect. Stepping back out of the demon’s weapon range, he cast a few light-magic heals on the overlord. Enough to do damage without stealing the demon’s attention away from Brick.
&nb
sp; Sasha called out “Too slow! Pick up the dps or I’ll be out of mana before the fight’s over!”
Alexander cast another Wizard’s Fire on the demon, and Sasha added her Thorn Trap back into the equation. In addition to boosting the dps on the boss, the vines restricted his arms somewhat, lessening the damage his axe was inflicting on the tanks.
Drug’thol took it personally, turning once again toward Sasha and hitting her in the knee with a second dark worm spell. She went down screaming as the thing ate into her. At the same time the demon spun clockwise, his tail whipping around with tremendous speed. The pointed tip sliced Grimble’s arm nearly to the bone, then hooked his shield and yanked it away even as the light gods’ blessing made it smoke and sizzle. Grimble fell forward, having been pulled off balance. The demon used it’s spinning momentum to bring the massive axe around low to the ground, intending to finish off the defenseless dwarf.
Brick dove over his downed companion and drove the bottom edge of his shield into the stone between Grimble and the oncoming axe. The impact of axe on shield sent the tank sliding backward a foot and caused him to stumble over Grimble.
Seeing both dwarves now sprawled on the floor and all but defenseless, Alexander tried a desperate move. He cast Levitate on the demon, lifting it into the air out of axe-swinging range of the dwarves. Then he twisted his hand and spun Drug’thol so that he was facing away from the party, making it that much harder for demon to cast the dark bolts at his friends.
“Feeble elf! You think your simple tricks will stop me? I am a creature of the air!” Drug’thol roared at him. Well, at the wall. “I will crush you and shit on your remains! I’ll-”
Alexander grinned and flipped his hand upward, slamming the demon overlord into the ceiling and interrupting his rant. The sound of his horns cracking against the stone was quite satisfying.
Seeing that both dwarves were back on their feet and mostly healed, he canceled his levitation spell. The demon dropped back to the ground with a growl, spinning as he fell. His attempt to bypass the dwarves’ shields with his tail again failed. Grimble had switched from hammer to axe, and his weapon sliced deeply into the tail, using its momentum against it. Black blood pumped from the nearly severed appendage as the demon roared in pain.
Demon Overlord Drug’thol
Level 70
Health 24,000/47,000
Sasha grunted through her pain “Fifty percent incoming!” letting everyone know that the boss’s health was nearly down to fifty percent. That normally triggered some kind of special attack.
Grimble let out a battle-cry and leapt forward, slamming the blade of his light-blessed axe deeply into the demon’s thigh. Its health dropped below 50% from the blow as yet more black ichor fountained from a severed artery. Grimble tried to lever his weapon free of the demon’s flesh, but couldn’t manage it before taking a backhanded blow from Drug’thol’s oversized fist. The poor dwarf’s health dropped instantly to about 10% as he flew backward across the floor, tumbling to a stop near Lainey. She quickly threw a small heal on him. He didn’t linger, but hopped back up on short but sturdy legs and moved back to join Brick.
Drug’thol, screaming now at the blessed axe burning away at his flesh, extended his own axe and spun so rapidly it was nearly impossible to see the weapon as it whirled around toward the dwarves. Both tanks were thrown from their feet, a large dent in Grimble’s shield testifying to the strength of the blow.
Unencumbered by the tanks, the overlord recovered from its special attack and charged limping toward the archers. As it ran, it cast more black fireballs at the tanks, who were still in disarray after having been knocked backward. Several of the dark magic spells struck Brick and Grimble, severely depleting their health.
Sasha was straining to keep them both alive. “Out of mana in about thirty!” she called out. The worm had worked its way up to her thigh and she was clearly in pain. Alexander moved to lay hands on her and once again used the divine magic to kill the thing.
The demon had focused his charge on Lainey. And while she’d dodged the rush, he managed to extend the swing of his axe far enough that it took her in the hip before clipping off part of her wing. The force of the blow spun her around as her blood splashed the wall behind her in an arc. Fortunately, as she fell to the floor the demon’s second blow, intended to remove her head, simply passed over her.
Drug’thol stepped forward, slamming his cloven hoof into the Valkyrie’s chest and pinning her to the floor. With a deep and satisfied laugh, he shouted “You cannot save the pretty one, feeble elf!” Raising his axe high, he prepared to remove her head with a downward blow.
Alexander, reacting on instinct, used his Earth magic to instantly liquify the stone beneath the demon’s back foot. The hoof sank into the floor, throwing him off balanced and interrupting the killing blow. He began to fall backward, and Alexander solidified the stone around the leg, now nearly knee-deep in the floor. Drug’thol’s body slammed onto the floor, his good wing caught beneath him and splintering under his weight.
Sasha quickly cast another Thorn Trap to pin the overlord down, and the dwarves rushed in to hack and bash at the demon’s undefended head. Their blessed weapons combined with natural dwarven strength made for devastating blows.
As Sasha paused to drink mana and health potions, the demon managed to extend a hand and cast one more dark worm spell. This time he hit Lainey, who was still recovering her feet. The impact knocked her backwards as she screamed in pain. The spell had impacted the same hip that had suffered the axe blow, and the worm was burrowing its way through her innards toward her heart. Alexander rushed toward her, intending to use his divine spell to destroy the dark magic. Lainey was dead before he reached her.
“Dammit!” Alexander turned toward the demon overlord, still trapped in a prone position and taking hits from Grimble, Brick, and Max. After casting Trap Soul on the demon, he held up both hands and channeled his Ray of Light spell directly at Drug’thol’s face. A beam of light maybe four inches wide pounded into the demon’s face and stayed there, burning a hole deeper by the second. The thing screamed in pain as the light magic destroyed half of his face, then burned through the skull and into his brain. Alexander roared his rage at the boss, and didn’t stop channeling until the beam had burned all the way through and out the other side.
Level up! You are now level 64!
Your wisdom has increased by +1.
Your intelligence has increased by +1.
You have 15 free attribute points available.
Grimble kicked the demon overlord once more in the head for good measure. Then with a deep exhale, he dropped to his butt on the floor and laid back to stare at the ceiling. “Let’s not do tha’ again soon, eh?”
Sasha moved to sit next to him, casting heals on both him and Brick. “Yeah. That was close. I was totally out of mana. Couldn’t save Lainey when that thing hit her. I really, really hate that spell.”
Brick stood looking at the dead Valkyrie as Max looted the boss’s corpse. “Ye want me to rez Lainey?”
Alexander shook his head “Save it. The boss mentioned guards, so we have more fighting to do. Might need to rez Grimble. Lainey can fly up here when she respawns and join us.”
Nodding, Brick reached downward and yanked Grimble’s axe from the demon’s thigh. With two quick strikes he removed the head from its shoulders and stuck it in his bag. Sasha immediately began to berate him. “Oh no you don’t! That snake-demon’s head is ugly enough! This one’s got a giant hole through it. Brains leaking everywhere! You are NOT mounting that thing at the keep.”
Brick shook his head. “I were thinkin it should go on a stick, outside the walls. A warning ta any more o’ these beasties that might wanna come ‘n play.”
Sasha’s mouth had been open, about to continue her rant. Instead she snapped it shut, and with a short nod of her head, said. “Fine. Outside. Where I won’t have to look at it.”
Brick gave her an enthusiastic hug before looking around o
n the floor. Then at Max. “Did ye get his axe as part o’ the loot?”
Max nodded. “Got the axe, eight pieces of demon bone, 5,000 gold, his bracers, great big black gem, and a key.”
Everyone was instantly interested in that last item. Alexander asked, “Any markings on it?”
Max produced the key and held it up. Slowly turning it this way and that, he shook head. “None that I can see. It’s made of a funky metal, though.”
Now it was Grimble’s turn. He held out a hand “Lemme look.”
When Max turned over the key, he sniffed at it, then examined it closely. Finally he bit the metal. Nodding his head, he said “Simple dark-iron. Forged in the green fires o’ demon forges. Ye can scent the sulfur in it.”
Alexander took his word for it, not wanting to experience that particular smell. “Max, look around. See if there’s a door or a chest or something to use this on. Grimble, you too. Use your abilities to tell us about this place.”
The half-elf and dwarf began to search about the room. Alexander and Brick both approached the edge of the pit. It wound downward in a spiral, with a narrow ledge around its outer edge. They’d be able to descend on foot, but would have to do so single-file. Alexander couldn’t see the source of the red light, but it appeared to pulsate as if it had a heartbeat.
Max and Grimble both returned saying they’d found nothing. Alexander used his Earth Sense to search the area just in case, but discovered nothing in the area around them. He did learn that there were several levels of tunnels below them. Four in total. All connected via this spiraling pit.
When he informed the group, Brick said “This be a damn dungeon, not a mine!”
Alexander didn’t disagree. They all took a seat on the edge of the pit and ate some quick rations that gave them buffs while they waited for Lainey to return. As soon as her death timer expired, she spoke to them in guild chat. “That was unpleasant” she said in a deadpan voice. It wasn’t her first experience with those worm-things. “I’m on my way back. Be there in a few.”
Defenders of the Realm Page 19