“That bottle of salve was all I had left of value, other than my personal weapons and armor, Paladin. I had saved it in case I needed funds in a hurry; in Akila I could have sold it for six hundred silver denars, eight hundred if I haggled. No, I do not have another one.”
“Then we’re screwed.”
Without the salve, there was no way they were going to survive fighting those monsters. His new spell, Dazzling Light, would stun them for a few seconds, but that wasn’t enough time to kill them all. He would get flamed at least once or twice, and he might not make it past the first time. Even worse, one of his mortal friends might get burned to a crisp as well. Maybe they could go back, see if they could buy some more of the fireproof unguent somewhere in town. They could sell some of the loot and try to come up with six hundred silver – sixty gold denars. That was a lot, but it was better than certain death.
Saturnyx was quick to dash even those faint hopes.
“We’re really screwed!” Hawke growled. Grinding dungeons time after time had been okay when it was a game, but doing the whole thing all over again in real life sounded like being in Hell.
“If we could pull one of those critters at a time, maybe we’d stand a chance,” he went on, thinking out loud. “Problem is, monsters aren’t mindless bits of software. If one sees us, they’ll all come after us.”
“Perhaps not, Hawke,” Kinto said, and this time he was clearly smiling. The grin took years off of his face.
“I have attained a new level, as you may have noticed,” the Hunter went on. “I have gained a new Ability. It is called Lure Prey.”
“Okay, maybe we aren’t screwed. Tell me more.”
* * *
‘Pulling’ was an old gaming trick that took advantage of the fact ‘mobs’ (short for ‘mobile object’) didn’t have brains but just pre-programmed instructions, not to mention limited senses and attention spans. If you faced too many mobs to handle at once, you could use a ranged attack or spell to bring one of them closer without alerting the rest. That way you could kill them one at a time. Of course, sometimes pulls went wrong and all the mobs would come down on you. At which point you respawned and went back to try again.
Kinto’s new ability would entice away a single beast, even an Elite one, and the fire lizards, despite being distantly related to dragons, weren’t smart enough to resist the Hunter ‘spell.’ It was a spell, Hawke decided; all the Abilities from even non-casting Classes cost Mana, so they were magical in nature. All Adventurers or Arcane Professionals in the Realms were magic-users; something to keep in mind moving forward.
The Hunter stealthily crept into range to cast Lure Prey on one of the fire lizards and bring it to the room, where the rest of the team waited. This sort of situation was nerve-wracking in a game, let alone in a real life or death situation.
They had formed an Adventurers’ Party. The process had been simple enough: the three members who qualified held hands in a circle, and a prompt appeared asking everyone if they agreed to join the team. A second prompt asked Hawke if he accepted leadership of the Party. He did, and gained access to a mini-map that showed the three members’ position at all times, with him in the center. Hawke could also see Kinto and Tava’s current Health, Mana, and Endurance. Since Gosto wasn’t high enough to join, he didn’t show up in the map. Finally, all members of the Party gained a five-percent bonus to combat maneuvers, spells and their effects, damage, and morale. That seemed negligible, but Hawke supposed that would improve at higher levels.
Thanks to the Party interface, Hawke could tell how far away Kinto was, but didn’t know where the fire lizards were. He would know the plan worked if Kinto returned with only one lizard in tow. If the Hunter came running, being chased by all three monsters, they would have to run away and try after the monsters gave up; Lair monsters usually didn’t stray too far from the areas they guarded. And if everything went really badly, Hawke would know the plan had failed when he heard the woosh sound of a jet of flame and saw Kinto’s stats drop to zero. He desperately prayed that would not happen. He even put in a word with the ‘goddesses’ of Light and Life. Maybe someone was listening, because the map showed Kinto was moving back at a slow, steady pace. A short while later, his shadowy form entered the room; the heavy steps of a single lizard followed him. The Hunter kept moving past Hawke, sticking to the plan.
Hawke stepped into sight; he had cast all his buffing spells, and he was glowing like a Christmas tree.
“Come get some!”
The lizard inhaled. Hawke waited until the monster was about to breathe fire and jumped off to one side. Against one lizard, dodging worked, more or less. The edge of the jet of flames brushed against him, inflicting about a third of its normal damage and burning off a chunk of his Bulwark of Light. The fire lizard roared and charged forward. The sound would probably alert its buddies, but they wouldn’t get there for a while.
The monster rushed into the room. Hawke stabbed it in the neck as Tava and Gosto cut loose with their ranged attacks. Tava’s fifth-level spell, Killing Shaft, let her do a quadruple-damage critical hit; added to her other arrow buffs, the layered attack inflicted a nice 172 points of damage on the wannabe dragon after accounting for its armor and damage reductions. By the time Kinto doubled back and backstabbed the critter, the lizard was on its last legs. The Hunter’s Killing Blow took it down, and not a moment too soon, because Hawke heard the growls of the other two beasts getting close. He stepped into view again, waving his bloody sword.
Timing was everything when it came to comedy and fighting fire-breathing monsters.
The two lizards paused and drew their breaths. Just as they were about to exhale, Hawke released Dazzling Light. He had been hoping the monsters would choke on their flames or maybe just miss him as they were blinded and stunned. As it turned out, the plan worked both better and worse than he’d expected.
The fire lizard in the rear recoiled from the sudden flash of light just as it fired its breath attack. It not only missed Hawke, but hit its companion instead. The monsters were resistant to flames, but not immune to them. The friendly fire burned off over fifty Health from the leading lizard. Unfortunately, the other’s attack hit Hawke squarely.
The pain was hideous, and watching his Health bar drop by over a third was no fun either, but he survived. Hawke cast Consecrate Ground and Bulwark of Light in the time it took the pair of raging lizards to reach the room’s entrance. Then everyone focused on the wounded monster and killed it before either creature’s flame breath had recharged. And when the last lizard began to inhale, Hawke threw his shield away, leaped on its back, holding his sword in both hands, and drove Saturnyx into the base of its skull. The blow didn’t kill the creature, but he used the sword as a lever and forced its head to aim away from his companions when it vomited flames, which hit nothing but a wall. After that, killing it wasn’t much of a thing.
For slaying your foes, you have earned 750 XP.
Congratulations! For enduring terrible agonies and fighting on, your Willpower has increased by 1.
Your Dodge Skill has been raised to 7.
Current XP/Next Level: 750/4,500
Hawke got another twenty-nine silvers and one Minor Healing Potion for his troubles; he felt a little cheated, but didn’t complain. Everyone had survived, and he had discovered the benefits of torturing yourself half to death: you could gain an Attribute point! He gave the potion to Kinto and decided it was time for a break. They had won again.
All that was left was beating the Lair Master and his minions.
Thirty-Three
The room the fire lizards had been guarding had another hallway leading further in. According to Saturnyx, the last five undead were in the next and last room.
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“I do not like this plan,” Kinto said after Hawke outlined his idea. “You will die if you go in by yourself.”
“Worst case, I go down and you guys make a run for it. I’m laying down a patch of Consecrated Ground before I go in. Any Undead who walks over it will take a hefty amount of damage, so I figure they won’t be eager to step on it. That should buy you enough time to get out.”
“I should go with you,” the Hunter said.
Hawke shook his head. “We don’t know how good the Boss is. He might be able to spot you. And if one of them gets past me, you need to keep them off Tava and Gosto. They need a secondary tank to keep them safe. That’s your job. Let them and me do most of the killing. If and when it’s down to the Boss, I’ll lay down another Consecrated Ground wherever I’m fighting him; you can join in the fun then.”
“As you wish,” Kinto relented. “We will meet you at the entrance, should you fall.”
Which will drop my Identity to sixteen. Wonder what the effects will be like.
Hawke shrugged. People always forgot things. Besides, he didn’t intend to die. He started casting all his buffs. When he was done, Gosto stepped forward.
“Hey, uh, Hawke,” the Druid said, handing him a small wooden flask. “This contains water from a spring sanctified to Cerunnos. It was given to me when I entered the Path of the Druid. Drink it. It will infuse you with Life magic and make you more resistant to the Undead.”
Hawke began to ask why Gosto hadn’t used it earlier but realized the Druid must have been saving it for the big boss battle. And had probably planned to use it on himself, not to give it to the weird Paladin he’d already seen die and come back. He thought about refusing the gift, but Gosto had a stubborn expression in his face; he looked a lot like his father just then, as a matter of fact. It made Hawke realize it wouldn’t do any good.
“Thank you,” he said instead. “This means a lot, Gosto.”
“My sister would kill me if I let you die again,” the Druid said with a smile.
“Shut up, you,” Tava told her brother while Hawke popped the cork and gulped down the slightly mineral-tasting water.
Do you accept the blessing of Cerunnos, God of Nature Y/N
He did, hoping he wasn’t inadvertently angering one of the other deities he was involved with. The message didn’t include any warnings, so he thought he was safe.
Temporary Buff: You have gained 20 extra Health. This is a temporary increase that will be gone once you take enough damage to reduce you below your normal Health.
Temporary Resistance: The infusion of Life magic has given you +10% resistance to Undead effects and spells.
Temporary Bonus: Your spells and attacks are 10% more effective, 20% against Beyonders, Demons, or Undead.
All bonuses last for 1 hour.
“Thank you,” Hawke repeated before walking towards the final chamber of the Lair.
* * *
The final corridor wasn’t a rough tunnel carved through rock, but it was lined with walls much like the rooms they’d passed on the way there. These walls were different, however. They were decorated by intricate paintings, although their colors were faded to near nothingness. Hawke didn’t mind that; the images he could see depicted humans being tortured in graphic detail. The whole hallway needed to be painted over, or better yet, destroyed altogether.
At the end of the tunnel, all he could see was darkness. He was close enough that his auras should have dispelled those shadows, but he couldn’t see into the room even with his Dark Vision. The murk was not natural. As he got closer, his auras seemed to shrink and the pool of light around him got smaller. He could barely see more than a couple of feet in front of him.
Let’s light them up! Hawke thought and released the Dazzling Light spell he’d been holding in his mind.
The bright flash washed off the darkness like a strong wind hitting a fog bank. Hawke could see who and what had been hiding in it. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Barely a few feet from him were three figures in black chain mail and full helmets, each wielding a heavy two-headed axe. Their weapons had been held high, ready to strike, but the trio of Undead recoiled at the sudden brightness.
Vampire Servant (Undead)
Level 6 Warrior (Elite)
Health 350 Mana 180 Endurance 240
Behind them stood a ghostly humanoid wrapped in a gray shroud, floating a good foot over the ground. Its hair was long and wild, framing a withered face; its skeletal fingers were poised in the middle of casting a spell, but like the three Vampire Servants, the Dazzling Light had stunned it.
Wraith Servitor (Undead)
Level 7 Ghost (Elite)
Health 210 Mana 350 Endurance 280
And finally, a tall human in a full suit of articulated plate armor waited near the end of the room. The armor was of some sort of black metal, with inlays that glowed with a pale bluish light that made Hawke think of radioactive cobalt. The Lair Boss held a pair of short swords of the same black and blue material, and unlike the other Undead, it didn’t seem affected by the flash of light.
Risen Lord (Undead)
Level 8 Master Vampire (Elite)
Health 560 Mana 800 Endurance 400
Hawke processed all this in a fraction of a second; his enhanced Intelligence made him absorb information faster than a normal human. He was on the move before the effect of the spell had dissipated. The Boss could wait; he needed to lower the odds some. Kill the mobs, then turn to the leader.
He stepped forward, struck the ground in front of the vampire trio, and activated Elemental Burst. An explosion of Light hit the three Vampire Servants, burning them for twenty points of damage. The Undead were still stunned when Tava’s Killing Shaft and Gosto’s Nature’s Sting hit one of them. Hawke lunged at the same target. Saturnyx’s point hit the wounded vampire in the neck, at the juncture between helmet and armor, crunching into the Undead’s throat and spine. Critical hit! A savage twist with the sword sent the vampire sprawling on the ground, his head barely attached to his body. A loot bag appeared over him like a good dead vamp.
The stun was fading on the rest, but Hawke used the time to cast a Hammer of Light and hit the floating wraith just as it tried to begin working some magic. He had never gotten a critical with a spell before, but maybe Cerunnos’ blessing was at work: the energy missile exploded inside the ghostly apparition for two hundred and seventy points of damage, dispelling the entity before it could do anything. Two down.
The free shots, unfortunately, were over.
The two remaining vampires moved in, swinging their axes as if they weighted nothing. Blows slammed into Hawke’s shield, cracking the solid wood backing and cutting deeply into its metal reinforcements. He was driven back, but he didn’t mind; the Undead were focusing on him and ignoring the arrows and spells coming from his team. Gosto was using his healing magic on both Hawke and his attackers, with the latter suffering from it. Tava kept striking her targets with uncanny accuracy: every few seconds a new shaft would hit the closest armored warrior. Some arrows bounced harmlessly when they struck the metal armor at the wrong angle, but most pierced them with an almost musical clink sound.
After a few wild seconds where Hawke stayed on the defensive, one of the vampires fell to its knees, an arrow protruding from the side of its helmet. Hawke ducked under the other monster’s swing, pushed it off-balance with his shield, and chopped into the wounded minion’s head just as another arrow went clink into its chest. The vampire collapsed with a loud clatter. Three down.
The Risen Lord finished casting his spell.
A shriek that drove nails of agony through Hawke’s ears filled the room and the corridor beyond it. He was stagg
ered by the Boss’ banshee wail. The vampire servant was unaffected; its axe swing landed squarely on Hawke’s breast plate, breaking through the armor and cutting his chest open. He was knocked down, barely registering the nasty wound and the loss of over forty Health; the shriek filled his mind and made him want to die.
You have been struck by Death Cry! You are Stunned for three seconds!
You have resisted Death Cry’s Paralysis!
You have resisted Death Cry’s Instant Kill!
You have resisted Death Cry’s Arrested Breathing!
The prompts flashed past his eyes as the vampire servant walked over him and raised his axe for a final blow. On his party interface, Hawke saw that Kinto and Tava had been hit by the same debuffs. They had resisted the Instant Kill effect, but not the others. They weren’t breathing! Their Health was dropping steadily as they suffocated. He couldn’t tell if Gosto was down as well, but he must be.
The stun was still on. Hawke watched helplessly as the vampire prepared to strike. The axe began to swing towards his face.
Saturnyx said.
Hawke’s arm moved, faster than ever before. His sword cut through both the vampire’s forearms, sending them and their axe spinning away. Hawke leaped to his feet, shrieking in uncontrolled rage, and went on the offensive. The maimed vampire’s body went one way as its head flew in a different direction. The thing was, Hawke wasn’t doing any of those things. He was a passenger in his own body.
Saturnyx had taken over.
Fury like nothing Hawke had felt or even imagined he could feel flowed through him. Even from his removed state, getting a taste of Saturnyx’s wrath was almost enough to drive him insane. The sword’s soul wanted nothing more than to destroy everything and everybody. It charged the Risen Lord like a runaway train. No, like a tsunami or avalanche, a force of nature that nothing mortal could withstand.
Twilight Templar (The Eternal Journey Book 1) Page 19