Nova Terra: Guardian - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 4)

by Seth Ring

  “Alright, we’re good to go. We added some frost traps across the front to hopefully slow them down if you need to retreat. There are explosive and poison smoke traps on the sides to prevent them from flanking. Aien had a few arrow traps so he set them up in the center to try and get them to scatter into the other traps.”

  “We’ve only got five or so minutes until they get here, so we need to leave.” Baxby joined them, tapping his wrist as if it had a watch. “But remember not to rely on the traps too much. They probably have some sort of magical tracking so it would be safe to assume that they will be able to spot the traps before they hit them. If you can figure out a way to distract them that would be for the best.”

  Nodding that he understood, Thorn gave Baxby a thumbs up.

  *You go. I good.*

  “Good luck.” OneArrowKiller patted his friends on the shoulder and led the group with the princess into the mist, leaving Thorn, Akira, SmilingBandit, and Boon to wait for the chasing players.

  Boon and SmilingBandit drew their weapons and concealed themselves behind some logs while Thorn hid on the other side of the hollow. Unable to find anything large enough to conceal his body, he got out a grey cloak and crouched down, covering his body, hoping that with the mist that covered the Barrow Hills he would look like a rock from a distance. Akira hid under the cloak with him, her bushy tails rubbing against Thorn’s face.

  [Hey, that tickles.] Thorn pushed the three waving tails down. Running his hand down Akira’s soft fur, he scratched her back.

  [Master, how many people do you think will be attacking us?]

  [Dunno. I’d guess that there will be enough of them that they will be a serious problem. But hopefully we can wipe enough of them out to give everyone else the time they need to get the Princess home.]

  [Master is the strongest. I bet we’ll be able to kill all of them!] Akira wiggled her body with excitement as she licked Thorn’s face, making him laugh at the incongruity between Akira’s words and actions. Scratching under her chin, Thorn held her tight.

  [Alright, hush now.]

  Holding themselves still, the minutes slipped quietly by. Peering out of a space in the cloak, Thorn looked down into the hollow. Soon the figures of the chasing players appeared from the mist, rushing along the path that Thorn and his team had taken. At the front of the group was a tattoo-covered man wrapped in a variety of fur and leather who was advancing with his face stooped low to the ground.

  The fur-wearing man swung his head back and forth as he ran, sniffing out the scents of the slaves. Just before he got to the hollow he pulled up short causing the group behind him to bunch up. Standing at the edge of the hollow, his eyes flickered back and forth as he examined the ground.

  “What’s the matter? Why did we stop?” A purple-robed mage with a haughty expression complained from the back of the group.

  “Hush, let Dirge do his work. He hasn’t led us wrong yet.” The warrior next to the purple-robed mage glared at him.

  From where he crouched on the side of the hill, Thorn could see a leather-armored ranger walk up next to the fur wearing player. Moving as slowly as he could, Thorn adjusted his stance and withdrew his arbalest from his inventory, holding it flat against the ground. SmilingBandit and Boon were still in hiding behind some logs on the hill across the hollow, directly opposite him.

  “What’s the matter?” Dezil walked up next to Dirge, carefully scanning the hollow in front of them. He could pick up traces of their quarry in the hollow. It appeared that they had stopped here for a few moments before continuing up the hill. He would have led his group to continue the chase if it were him, but he trusted his friend’s tracking ability.

  “There is danger ahead. Traps probably.” Dirge spoke in a raspy tone, his words clipped.

  “Can you mark them out?” Heuron asked as he joined the two scouts at the front of the group.

  “I can, but it will take a while. The person who laid them out probably has a higher class than me as I can’t spot them. The only way to mark them out is by feel.”

  “Hmph. That is going to take too long. Who knows, they may have changed directions again. We barely caught their trail the first time, we could miss them this time.” Pushing his way to the front, the purple-robed mage sneered at Dirge. “Let’s just blast straight through. We have enough defensive abilities.”

  “And then what will we do when we run into them? I can guarantee that we will not be able to take them without our bubbles.” Lady Ruby said scornfully from where she stood behind Heuron.

  “No one was asking you.”

  “Enough. We are not helped by this bickering. I don’t want to hear any more of it, alright? If it will take too long than we’ll go around. Dirge, can you identify where the edge of the traps fall? We can skirt around the traps on the hill and then pick the track up again.” Heuron’s even tone caused everyone to fall silent.

  “Yeah, give me a second.”

  Dirge carefully began to make his way to the right, pausing every now and again to sniff at the ground. His eyes swept the area systematically, looking for any clues that would indicate that traps had been set. After a few minutes the purple-robed mage started to get antsy, but before he could say anything he was stilled by Heuron’s glare. Giving a sniff, he kept his mouth shut, looking away.

  “I think this should be safe. Make sure you stay behind me.” Dirge waved to his companions from the edge of the hill. “If we stay on the hill up here we should be able to bypass the traps.”

  Watching the players make their way up the hill that Thorn was on, Boon blanched, gripping his mace tightly.

  “What do we do? We won’t be able to attack if they go around the traps.”

  “We’ll have to charge them.” SmilingBandit’s normal grin was nowhere to be seen as he watched the players moving away from his position. “And we’ll have to do it before they spot Thorn.

  “But they have ranged attacks. There is no way we’ll be able to close in on them before they shoot us full of holes!”

  “Then hopefully we’ll die being enough of a distraction that Thorn can get some of them.” Taking a deep breath, SmilingBandit’s gritted teeth relaxed into a smile. “You ready?”

  “Haha, yeah, let’s do it.”

  Nodding to each other, Boon and SmilingBandit jumped up and charged down the hill toward the hollow. The sudden motion caught Heuron’s team off guard, drawing all their attention. Seeing that the attackers were only two melee fighters, the purple-robed mage sneered and flicked his fingers, drawing a symbol in the air. Muttering to himself, he thrust his finger forward and spoke in a commanding tone.

  “[Air Blade]!”

  Air rushed into the center of the symbol that he had drawn, compressing until it was visible, a shimmering blade hanging in front of the mage. As he gave the command it shot out toward Boon who dove to the side, barely avoiding it. The Raging Barbarian rolled on some loose rocks but sprang back up to his feet and continued to charge.

  “Hahaha, nice dodge. But how about you try this?” Laughing scornfully, the purple robed mage raised his hands to cast another [Air Blade].

  *TWANG*

  Heuron’s team heard the sound of a snapping string, and before they could react the purple robed mage exploded into shimmering lights, his now tattered robe the only thing left. They were so shocked that they forgot to continue attacking Boon and SmilingBandit who had made it all the way down the hill. The attack had come too suddenly, and even Dirge, probably the most sensitive to danger in the group, had not been able to anticipate the shot.

  Behind them, Thorn rose from under his draped cloak, throwing it off and reloading his arbalest. The straining whine of the string and the click of the bolt dropping into the slot alerted the group that there was an enemy behind them, causing them to spin around. Lady Ruby, standing next to Heuron, had a terrible premonition and threw herself flat on the ground.

  *TWANG*

  The player next to her was not able to react as quickly as sh
e and caught the full force of Thron’s siege bolt to the chest, disappearing as quickly as the purple-robed mage had.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  “Ambush!” Heuron’s voice was soon swallowed by the surrounding mist, but it was enough to shock his team out of their frozen state. Compared to the two players charging from across the hill, Thorn’s massive form and the huge crossbow he carried was a much more significant threat.

  Smoothly loading another bolt into his arbalest, Thorn’s eyes swept the hillside. Lady Ruby was getting to her feet and Heuron had drawn both of his curved axes, holding them in front of him. Now short two players, the group that Heuron had brought to chase Thorn and his party was left with eight people. Apart from Heuron and Lady Ruby, there were Dirge and Dezil who scouted ahead, three heavily armored players with greatswords and shields, and a player with a white robe and tall hat that Thorn assumed was a healer of some kind.

  It was apparent from how quickly they reacted to Heuron’s voice that they had played together quite a bit as they fell into a loose formation. Lady Ruby and one of the heavy armor players grouped up with the healer while Dirge and Dezil grouped up with Heuron. Dirge was armed with a set of short javelins covered with barbaric looking symbols and he stayed low to the ground, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible. His partner, Dezil, did the opposite, standing tall with a flashy longbow beside Heuron.

  The last two heavily armored players lifted their shields and charged up the hill toward Thorn. By the time they made it in front of him, he had finished loading his arbalest and he leveled it at the warrior on the left, causing her to blanch and stumble slightly in her steps. Even though she was fully armored and was carrying a shield, the prospect of taking a siege bolt to the face was not an exciting one. Sensing a chance to attack while Thorn’s attention was on his companion, the other charging player drew his sword back behind his body, his shield held up to hide it until the last moment.

  Grinning to himself, the warrior was about to hack into Thorn’s leg when his forward momentum suddenly stopped and a tremendous jolt ran through him. The world began to spin lazily and the whoosh of air by his ear grew quite loud. Confused, he peeked around his shield, only to see the figures of his companions below him, getting further and further away. The transition was so abrupt that it took him a moment to realize that he was completely airborne, flying over the heads of his companions and into the hollow.

  The other charging warrior watched as her teammate was kicked away, drawing a neat arc over the heads of their group and falling down into the hollow. All the while, the tip of the large siege bolt that was pointing at her never wavered. A glance at the massive figure on the hill confirmed her fears. She could see that Thorn’s head was turned toward the team’s healer and she knew that if she did not attract his attention Thorn would wipe out her teammates one by one. Gritting her teeth, she let out a low roar and pushed forward, hoping that her abilities were enough to keep the bolt from killing her instantly.

  [Burning Like A Flame]

  The kite shield she held flashed with a flickering red light and she burst forward like a leaping flame, speeding up as she charged at Thorn.

  [Master, kick her! Make her fly too!]

  A small smile crept onto Thorn’s face at Akira’s words, but he could not find anything wrong with them so he drew back his foot again and snapped out another kick at the base of the incoming shield, fully intending to send the charging warrior on the same journey as her companion. To his surprise his opponent reacted too quickly, canceling her skill mid-charge and planting her shield in the side of the hill.

  [One With The Mountain]

  The tip of the shield landed on the dirt of the hillside and, shrouded by a yellow glow, instantly fused to it, absorbing the force of Thorn’s kick and dispersing it through the hill. Feeling the hill shake beneath her feet as the impact landed on her shield, the warrior gulped. The yellow glow that covered her shield cracked, breaking into a million little pieces.

  Thorn had been pushed back by the rebound of his kick, staggering slightly. Despite his instability, the arbalest that he had leveled at her chest never wavered and seeing her starting to stand up as the yellow glow crumbled away, Thorn pulled the trigger.

  “[Dancing Through The Clouds]!”

  Practically screaming the name of her ability, the warrior’s feet shimmered with a white light and she drifted sideways a few feet as the bolt ripped through the air where she had just stood. Without the time to warn her companions behind her, she did not take her eyes off of Thorn who had recovered his balance and swapped his arbalest for his tetsubo.

  The bolt continued down the mountain, flying straight at Lady Ruby’s group of three. Cursing furiously in her mind, she threw her whip out, wrapping it around the waist of the healer and jerking him sideways, causing the spell he was about to cast to misfire. At the same time she threw herself to the ground again. The heavily armored warrior with them was not so lucky. He had been getting ready to charge SmilingBandit and Boon who were still on their way up the hill when he saw his teammates falling to the ground.

  Spinning around, he scanned for the threat, only to find himself face to face with a crossbow bolt the size of his arm. Ever vigilant, his shield was already in position, so he dropped his head behind it and raised his shield. The bolt caught the upper lip of his shield, ripping a massive gash in it and sending him tumbling backward down the hill. Seeing him fall, Boon was about to rush over and finish the job when he saw SmilingBandit shake his head.

  “The traps will clean him up.” SmilingBandit looked over the battlefield, his mind working furiously. He saw Heuron heading up the hill toward Thorn, leaving the two scouts by themselves. “Heuron will be tied up trying to support the other tank against Thorn, so I’ll take the rangers. You get Lady Ruby and Spaz.”

  “You got it! [Soaring Rage]!” Roaring out his response, Boon lifted his club above his head and gave a great leap that carried him up the hill to where Lady Ruby and her team’s healer, SpaztasticHealz were trying to get back up.

  [Flowing Charge]

  Activating his own charging ability, SmilingBandit’s form shimmered and flowed up the side of the hill like a stream of water, depositing him right next to Dirge. Stabbing out with his thin sword, he managed to catch the tracker off guard, cutting a gouge in his exposed thigh. Stepping back smoothly to avoid the short spear that jabbed at his chest in return, SmilingBandit grinned and abruptly switched targets, his sword slashing toward Dezil’s arm, forcing the ranger to drop the arrow that he was stringing and block with his longbow.

  “SmilingBandit! What are you doing here?” Recognizing the broad smile on his opponent’s face, Dezil’s face fell.

  “Fighting, of course.”

  Chuckling, SmilingBandit ducked to the side to avoid a sweeping blow from Dirge who was pushing forward from the side. His smooth footsteps carried him around Dezil, using his opponent’s body to obstruct Dirge’s two short spears. Sending out a flurry of flashing stabs, he grinned widely.

  “The real question is, what are you doing here?”

  While SmilingBandit was tying up the scouts with delicate footwork and a storm of precision strikes, Lady Ruby and SpaztasticHealz were facing an entirely different sort of fight. Boon had nearly landed on top of SpaztasticHealz, forcing him to throw himself to the side to avoid getting completely crushed. The poor cleric’s robe, normally impeccably white, was covered in dirt after rolling on the ground twice.

  Once he landed, Boon began smashing at Lady Ruby and the cleric with abandon, his club whirling back and forth. Furious, Lady Ruby scrambled to her feet during one of the moments when Boon was beating on the bubble her companion had summoned to keep himself from being pulverized by Boon’s club and snapped out her whip.

  [Flaming Whip]

  Twirling the whip above her head, she was just about to activate her most powerful ability, [Tornado of Flames] when a loud roar sounded from the Raging Barbarian’s mouth, shaking the hil
lside and causing her to stumble.

  [Earthshaking Roar]

  Boon immediately followed up his roar by activating his [Rage] ability, drastically increasing his speed and attacking power. Stomping his foot down, he forced the cleric to roll toward Lady Ruby and then launched a barrage of attacks at both of them. Spinning her flaming whip in front of her, Lady Ruby did her best to defend, despite the fact that her whip was totally unsuitable for dealing with Boon’s powerful attacks.

  *hissssss*

  Down in the hollow the two warriors who had been knocked down the hill had begun to make their way back up toward the fights when one of them stepped on a hidden trap, releasing poisonous mist into the air. The faintly green air was almost invisible as it mixed with the mist, and both of the warriors were soon affected. Their eyes began to blur and they began to cough as they breathed in the cloud of poison. Stumbling forward, one of them tripped over a rock.

  With his quick reflexes, he caught himself before he fell, dropping his flail as he reached out to stabilize himself. His sword clattered over the ground, its pommel hitting a small, unobtrusive stick at the side. With a *TWING* the stick pulled a cord as it moved and a gout of flame rushed out of the ground.