by Rick Scott
Rembrandt claps me on the shoulder. “We’ll head west and wait for you at the barrier, if we don’t meet up with you before then.”
“Be safe, Reece,” Val Helena says as she hugs me.
Gilly hugs me again as well, and then whispers tearfully in my ear. “I love you.”
My heart jumps again, but with a different emotion this time. Something warm and pure. I could feel the love growing between Gilly and I, but this is the first time either of us has said it out loud.
“I love you, too,” I say, and feel tears building in my eyes. I fight them back with a laugh. “Geez, you guys. It’s not my funeral yet!”
That gives us all a nerve-breaking laugh.
“You guys get going,” I say as I cast Shadow Wall and make us all vanish from sight. “Aiko and I will be with you before you know it.”
Chapter 24: Judge and Jury
Under the cover of invisibility, the whole situation becomes less tense, and I find I’m able to think a little easier. I pray the rest of the guys make it to the gate before my spell wears off. Even now, I can hear the call of voices in the night, the hurried footsteps of guards running to and fro. I need to move fast before Xavier wakes up to find his ring broken and all heck breaks loose.
I leave the palace through the front entrance and use Sneak to get past the four guards posted on duty there. As I creep by them, I catch their conversation. They’re questioning why they were summoned to replace the normal guard detail on duty. I’m thinking Ziegfried and Thomas must have grabbed the original guards while making their way outside to check on Braxus, and called these guys in as backup.
That means I’ll have to be prepared to find more than just the two knights when I get to where Braxus and Aiko are, which I presume is right below where they went flying out the window earlier. I reach the well-manicured lawn of the palace and look up at the building to orientate myself. I stop behind a fir tree to refresh Shadow Cloak, and then edge around the side of the stone walls until I reach the rear of the palace, where I estimate the dining room to be.
Soon, I hear voices and see a huge crater in the ground. I suspect that’s where the buffalo must have impacted the ground, and then disappeared. I was half expecting to find a mound of dead buffalo corpses, and am thankful to be spared such a gruesome sight. Guess they were some kind of special effect, after all.
I spot King Braxus right away, seated on a dining room chair that somehow survived the carnage. He’s at the far edge of the thirty-foot-wide crater, opposite me. Blood stains his forehead, and he’s holding his right arm by the elbow. Surrounding him are four guards, in addition to Ziegfried and Thomas. And right beside him is Aiko. She looks none the worse for wear, and her HP bar is around 80%, where Braxus is sitting on less than a third. She still has the emerald-and-gold dress on, though, and Braxus still has his ring. I almost wish I could have used the one Xavier was wearing to just “command” Aiko to flee with me.
This is going to be a little bit harder to pull off.
Somehow, I have to get the ring off Braxus’s hand and destroy it. A full-on attack is out of the question. The guards plus knights would be way too many to take on at once, and honestly, I don’t really want to fight them. I need to handle this one with finesse. As I creep toward Braxus, I hear sobbing and notice that he’s not just holding his arm, he’s crying as well.
His mewling gets louder as I circle around the guards and approach him from behind. I suspect his arm must be broken, and by the way his right leg keeps bouncing up and down, he must be in a ton of pain.
“Where are the healers?” he shouts at the guards savagely. “Where are they?”
“They’ve been sent for, my lord,” Ziegfried says nervously. “They shall be here soon.”
“Useless puppets! You’re all useless!”
His screams of rage turn quickly to cries of agony as he winces and cradles his arm. He turns to Aiko with a venomous glare. “Even you . . .”
He kicks her in the legs, making them buckle, and Aiko falls to the ground.
My stomach tightens, but I resist the urge to reach out to help her. I can’t make my move yet.
“Worthless,” Braxus curses at her. “Couldn’t even save me properly. Next time, I’ll know better than to try to keep humans as pets.” He rocks back and forth with the pain and starts weeping again. “Damn it! All I wanted was a real person to like me for once. To like me for me! And all I get is more puppets and backstabbers!” His shoulders shake with a reverberating sob. “Why do people hate me so much? It’s just like back home!”
I’m not sure what he’s talking about. Maybe that same stuff he was talking about at dinner. It’s kind of pathetic and disturbing to watch, but it makes me feel a little sorry for him, too. I look at Aiko, sitting there on the ground, smiling up at Braxus like he’s some god.
I’m sure if our positions were reversed, Aiko would have no problem removing the rest of his HP with a clean Backstab. A small part of me wishes I could do the same, but the thought of actually doing something like that turns my stomach. Plus, looking at him, Braxus is a kid, just like me. As despicable as I find him, I couldn’t imagine killing another human being, let alone a kid. Even if it would mean an easy fix to both saving Aiko and helping Diana.
That thought gives me pause, and I consider it for a half second more.
But no . . . I’m not a murderer.
There’s got to be a way to make this happen without resorting to something like that. As hard as it may be, I’ve got to find it. I get closer and focus on the ring again. If I can get it off him, get him in a choke hold maybe, I’m sure I could force him to relinquish his throne.
The ring’s on the hand of his injured arm, the one he’s holding upright. It wouldn’t take too much to grab it, if I’m quick enough. Assuming I can pull it off his finger without a problem, of course. That thought causes more anxiety to build.
I Sneak up next to Braxus, my heart thundering in my ears so loudly I fear he might hear it. I reach out slowly with my invisible hand, about to grab his arm and pull the ring off his finger, when Aiko’s eyes suddenly flash in my direction.
Oh crap!
She leaps to her feet and blows a puff of purple smoke in my direction.
Aiko uses Shadow Mist
You are poisoned!
You are slowed!
You are paralyzed!
No!
Braxus cries out in alarm, but he’s caught in the mist as well.
I use Retreat, phasing into existence as I perform a backflip and narrowly avoid the Charge Strike that comes from Aiko. I take advantage of the scant few seconds it takes her to remove her heel from the ground and buff myself with Shadow Haste, canceling out the slow effect. But the poison still remains, and I feel its subtle sting as a hit point disappears.
“You!” Braxus shouts, still unable to move—as are Ziegfried and Thomas, who were also caught in the mist. His eyes flash to Aiko. “Kill him!”
Guess he doesn’t have the same qualms I do.
Aiko’s vacant eyes take on a predatory glare as twin kunai blades materialize in her hands. My heart leaps into my throat as my stomach falls through the floor. Holy crap . . .
I’m about to PvP for the first time in the real world.
Against Aiko.
And my name ain’t Maxis.
Chapter 25: Shinobi Shodown
I raise my blades to defend myself as Aiko swoops in like an angel of death. She slashes wildly with her kunai, and I pop Active Dodge from pure fright. My body shifts in a puff of nano-dust as her blades slice the air where I stood a millisecond ago.
I feel totally unprepared for this fight, and the fear-tinged adrenaline coursing through my veins only reminds me further of that fact. How the heck can I beat Aiko? I back away from her, gaining some distance. Her lifeless eyes are like a shark’s, filled only with hate as she closes in on me and prepares to attack again.
Wake up, Reece! I yell at myself. React!
I snap to my senses and focus
on survival. I may be lower level, but I at least have my gear. She doesn’t. At high levels, gear can account for a large majority of stats, although I’m certain for someone like Aiko, she must easily have 99s in three or more stats even without the added bonuses.
I bob and weave on the balls of my feet as her blades come lightning fast. I manage to avoid them, just barely, but the mental stress of predicting and keeping track of her strikes has my neck straining so bad it feels like my head’s about to pop off. I slash back at her in kind, but she easily dodges my attacks.
To the knights watching us, it must be a spectacular show—two high-level Ninjas going all out—but for me, it’s a battle of nerves and attrition that I’m ultimately bound to lose in the end. Aiko has senseless mind control on her side. She’s not thinking, only reacting, and probably from muscle memory. I, on the other hand, am bound to slip up at some point.
I need to debuff her. Slow her down to buy me more time to think between each slash. I launch at her with a Charge Strike. I bounce into her with the stunning attack, and she immediately performs a Retreat to remove the Stun effect.
It was exactly the move I was counting on. I’m using her muscle memory against her now, predicting her actions by setting up a chess move in advance. I use her moment of retreat to cast Shadow Mist and engulf her with my own purple cloud of Ninja magic.
You cast Shadow Mist!
Aiko is slowed!
Aiko resists the poison!
Aiko resists the paralyze!
Darn! Only one out of three! But at least the debuff I needed the most landed. My Charge Strike earlier did about 2% damage to Aiko and I’m happy it didn’t do much more than that. I’m not trying to hurt her; unfortunately, the feeling isn’t mutual.
How the heck is this going to end?
“Get him! All of you!” Braxus screams, and the four guards—plus Ziegfried and Thomas—all come charging at me. The reaction from Braxus seems incredibly delayed to me, but then I realize that Aiko and I have been fighting for barely a few seconds, though it feels like an eternity to me already. My Stamina is down to 70%, and my hit points are sitting at 90%; I lose a hit point every second or so as Aiko’s poison courses through my veins.
I prepare myself as the mob of plate mail and steel comes rushing toward me, casting Decoy Shadow and Shadow Copy. That’s at least one free hit, and one for half damage. And by the looks of the vitriol in their eyes, I’m going to need both.
I back up to keep them from circling behind me. If that happens, it’ll be over. I duck under sword swipes from the guards and narrowly avoid a stab from Sir Thomas’s ornate blade. Then Aiko joins the fray. Her attacks, while slowed, are equal to three of the knights’ own.
I lose my shadow and gasp as Aiko’s kunai cuts me in my side. Blood spills with a spark of pain. Argh!
Aiko hits you for 57(112) damage.
Decoy Shadow kicks in and my body crumbles to nano-dust as I turn invisible. I have a few seconds of reprieve as the knights and guards come to a halt, perplexed by my apparently quick demise. I can’t survive another assault like that. A few more hits, and I would have been overwhelmed. One thing’s for sure: whatever I decide to do next will determine my fate forever.
“He’s still here!” Ziegfried shouts, slashing at the air with his sword. “Surround him. Don’t let him at our back.”
Crap!
The guards and knights push forward in a semi-circle, hacking at the air. I’m backed toward the wall of the palace until I find myself trapped. Not good. I have nowhere to run. There are just too many of them and Aiko, even without her gear, is the strongest, most aggressive opponent I’ve ever fought. It gives me a whole new level of respect for my brother, for what he was able to do to her back in that PvP arena. But this is no arena match. My only hope is to get her on my side. I’ve retreated so far from Braxus now that he’s at least thirty feet away from me, and standing between me and him is a wall of armor-plated guards.
I check my timers for the abilities I have available.
Active Dodge is just about to come off of cool-down.
It’s my only hope, and I pray that it works. I’ve got to break through that line and get to Braxus. I can’t kill him, but I can disarm him of that ring.
I hope.
I release a cry and charge into the slashing blades as I pop Active Dodge. My body blurs and shifts as it phases through the hits, but a couple of them get through when the scant few seconds of invincibility wears off.
The Palace Guard hits you for 104 damage.
The Palace Guard hits you for 107 damage.
Sir Ziegfried hits you for 221 damage.
I cry out in agony as I lose 30% of my HP.
Another round like that, and I’ll be dead!
I slam into the guards, but lack the strength and mass to break through. Hands quickly reach to snatch me now that I’m visible again. I made a small gap in the human wall, but it’s far too tight for me to squeeze through now. And once they grab me, it’ll be over.
I do the only thing I can think to do next.
Taking aim, I toss my weapon toward Braxus and pray my Dexterity holds true.
The kunai leaves my hand like an arrow, and then spins like a fan blade. It strikes Braxus’s hand and he shrieks as both his hand and the ring explode in a puff of green mist and blood. His HP drops into the red at 15%, and screams of agony fill the air.
You use Weapon Throw!
Critical Hit!
You hit Braxus for 235 damage!
“Arrgh!” he cries, staring horrified at the bloodied stump where his hand used to be.
“My hand! My freaking hand!!”
His shrill cries are enough to make my flesh crawl, but I thank the heavens and my DEX for having made the shot. The guards turn their attention away from me for a moment, looking toward their wounded king.
“My lord!” Ziegfried shouts and rushes back to aid him.
I look to Aiko. Her violet-tinted eyes refocus and slowly become her own once more. I’m not sure if she can remember anything from her time under the king’s spell, but by the venom that soon fills her gaze, I’m sure she remembers enough.
“Aiko!” I cry and send her a quick party request. “We need to get out of here!”
I’m thankful she has the presence of mind to accept the request. But a second later, she loses her composure completely. Releasing a banshee scream, Aiko launches into Thomas and the four remaining guards. Her attacks are wild and unfocused, but they force the soldiers into defensive postures, making them cower under her rapid assault.
I don’t feel good about attacking these dudes, but it’s do or die time now. I join Aiko and face off against two of the guards, pulling them off her with a War Cry.
“Face me!” I yell.
They turn from Aiko and swing at me with their longswords, but with only two of them attacking, I’m easily able to avoid their hits. I slice back at the two guards with my remaining kunai, but with only one blade, I’m barely nicking down their HP, especially in their heavy armor.
Aiko, however, is still screaming like a madwoman. I’d always taken her subtle demeanor to be cool and collected, but today, it’s shattered with a fury. She’s still dodging hits, but not nearly as much as she could. She appears to be taking damage just to finish them off quickly. One of them soon hits the ground.
Aiko defeats the Palace Guard!
You gain 12000 experience points.
The XP feels dirty, but I can’t think about that now. I sense something approaching from our flank.
Your Awareness increases by 0.3!
Looking to my left, I see a platoon of soldiers marching onto the palace grounds about a hundred yards away. We’re out of time!
“Aiko, we need to run!” I shout to her.
“No!” she cries, still slashing away. “Not until I kill that sick freak!”
She whips both arms across her chest in an X pattern, and then throws them down to her sides with a flash of blue light, activa
ting an ability I don’t recognize.
Aiko uses Perfect Dodge!
Evade all attacks with unlimited Stamina and TP for the next 30 seconds.
Holy crap. That must be her 24-hour ability!
She flies into Sir Thomas without reservation, becoming a blur as he vainly tries to fend her off with his longsword. His Health bar depletes like there’s a hole in it, and when it hits 15%, Aiko spins with a double slash, decapitating Thomas at the neck.
Holy heck!
Aiko uses Assassinate!
Aiko successfully assassinates Sir Thomas!
You defeated Sir Thomas!
You gain 21000 experience points.
My stomach lurches as his headless body hits the ground. The sight must be equally shocking to his comrades, because they stop attacking me altogether. I use the distraction to search for Braxus, knowing that he will be Aiko’s next target. I spot him being hauled away by Ziegfried in a fireman’s carry, his limp body bouncing over the knight’s large shoulder pauldrons, clearly unconscious—overcome by shock, perhaps.
As the knight carries his master to safety, Aiko catches sight of him and releases another cry of rage. She charges forward, but I sense something above us and glance up just in time to see a flash of white light.
“Aiko, wait!”
Your Awareness increases by 0.4!
Skill Up! Your Awareness in now 41!
I quickly cast Shadow Copy, but Aiko’s still charging ahead.
“Aiko!”
A shower of crystal rods falls from the sky, impaling the ground in a circular pattern that encompasses me, Aiko, and the three remaining guards. I lose my shadow as the rods puncture through me and the guards, killing them instantly in their already weakened states.
A rod finds Aiko, too, and she cries out as the eight-foot-long piece of crystal punches through her shoulder and pins her to the ground, taking away half of her HP.