“In the name of Shining Father and all Good and Holy Powers, I ask you to save this town and its citizens. I ask you not to rest until Orom is free again! Do you say ‘Aye’?”
“Aye!” all thirty said.
Quest: Free Orom
Town Prefect Felix is now the servant of Domort the Necromancer. He must be overthrown by either slaying him or seizing the Town Core and removing him as its Steward.
Rewards: 800 XP. 2 Gold, One Random Enchanted Quality Item, +100 Reputation with all citizens of Orom.
Penalties for Failure: -200 Reputation with citizens of Orom, -20 Global Reputation.
Accept? Y/N
One of these days I’m going to click on ‘No’ on a Quest, just to see what happens, Hawke thought as he accepted the quest.
Nobody said I was smart. Including you.
Patros blessed everyone with Shining Father’s favor, granting them +3 to damage and a +5% bonus to resist magical or morale debuffs. Weapons were handed to those who didn’t have any. Hawke ended up lending out all the Murk Archanoid weapons he had looted after his first fight. Watching a Shoddy Trident in the hands of a stable boy, who looked torn between fear and excitement, brought back memories of those brutal seconds in the dark, with the stench of dead gamers filling his nostrils as he desperately fended off the spider-people’s attacks and killed them one by one.
I hope your first time is nicer than mine, dude.
“Okay,” he told the Company, speaking mostly to the noobs. “Whatever happens, listen to your sergeants and follow their orders. Don’t try to be a hero. One on one, the zombies are way too dangerous for most of you. Try to gang up on them, to hit whoever your sergeant is hitting. If you are hurt, fall back and call out ‘Heals!” and Patros will take care of you.”
People nodded. Hawke had made selected Kinto, Dorrham, and Marko as sergeants, in charge of the normies. Patros would stay with them, acting as the reserves’ healer. The Dwarves would be under Korgam’s leadership, and the Eternals, Tava, Gosto and Alba would be with him. Two Parties were formed; unfortunately, the low-level and zero-level townsfolk couldn’t join them. Hawke wished he could summon a pet to bolster their ranks, but until he Analyzed some critter, that power was closed to him.
“The Call to Arms will expire soon,” he went on. “We will start moving momentarily. Priest Egg, if you could explain?”
The Dwarf stepped forward. “The sewer tunnel that most townsfolk are using as a refuge is blocked by a cave-in, but it is not far from the rest of the old sewer network. As a follower of Gaon, God of the Earth, I am attuned to such things. That network leads right to the Prefect’s Keep. Taggan and I can unblock the tunnel with our magic and gods-given powers, and guide us there.”
“That’s the plan. We will use the tunnel to attack the Keep. I will lead the vanguard, followed by the Dwarves, with the Reserve bringing up the rear.”
The Reserve consisted of all the normies, Patros, and the three sergeants. His plan was to only use it as the last resort. He’d purposely put Kinto and Dorrham there, because with their age-weakened stats they really shouldn’t be up front. There was no way he’d allow his future father-in-law to get killed. When he had the money, he would figure out how to restore his youth. Nadia wanted to become an Alchemist, so maybe she could help.
Hawke and Korgam formed their Parties. A new notification appeared in front of him:
You have formed an Adventurers’ Party: all members gain a 10% bonus to all tasks, ability or spell effects, damage, and morale.
As a Level Ten Party Leader, you can choose to devote a percentage of the Party’s XP towards developing Leadership Abilities.
Assign XP? Y/N
Hawke chose ‘No.’ He wanted everyone, including himself, to level up as much as possible in the coming fight. Developing leadership abilities could wait until an entire town and thousands of lives weren’t on the line.
“We leave in ten minutes. If you need to say a prayer, or speak to a loved one, do it now.”
Hawke didn’t have to say any goodbyes. Everyone he cared about was coming along with him.
* * *
During its glory days, Orom had been the home of five times as many people, which led to the construction of a sewer system. As the town shrunk, the funds and know-how to support the tunnel network were no longer available. The sewers were abandoned. People now threw their waste into canals dug out in the street and used water from one of the aqueducts or waited for rain to flush them out every once in a while. Hawke had gotten used to the town’s continual stink, but it had taken a while.
The tunnels were still there, more or less. The section under the Temple of Shining Father was about twenty feet wide and ran for a hundred feet before cave-ins at both ends sealed it off. The hundreds of townspeople who had taken refuge there looked fearfully at the grim-looking and armed men and women standing before one of the collapsed sections as they waited for Egg to produce a miracle.
The Dwarven Priest adjusted the tiara on top of his bald head before he started chanting his spell. After several seconds, he shouted the final word and the wall of dirt and loose stones disappeared, replaced by a smooth tunnel made of solid earth. At the other end, Hawke could see another section of the sewers.
“Bless the power of Gaon,” Egg said.
“Bless him and you,” Hawke said. “Team One, let’s go in.”
Some people in the rear carried torches and lamps, but his Light auras provided enough illumination for the first group. His map app now included a detailed schematic of the sewers. The Keep was two hundred yards away in a straight line and about double that when you added the twists and turns they would need to take. Egg or Taggan could have magically created more tunnels to shorten the distance, but the more magic they used, the more likely the enemy could detect them. As Ruler of the town, Felix had access to a lot of magical abilities. Best not to risk detection.
Hawke kept an eye on his team as they entered the sewer tunnels. Alba was in Stealth mode; her outline was barely visible when she walked at a normal pace, and completely disappeared if she slowed down a little. Desmond was wearing an open-faced helmet that Crommen had given him; he held his greatsword at the ready, standing next to Hawke. Gosto, Nadia and Tava were behind them as their ranged contingent. Nobody was visibly frightened, which was great. If you pretended to not be afraid for long enough, you could stop fear from controlling you.
The place had a musty stench but actually smelled better than the streets above. These tunnels hadn’t carried human waste for some time, although there were still a few drains that reached the surface, and they probably got flooded when it rained. There were no signs of monsters, alligators, or other dangerous critters, although rats and some spider-like bug bigger than a rat scattered when the team got near. Behind them, Team Two followed. The reserve was further back.
Hawke lifted his left hand, his fist clenched in the agreed-upon gesture to stop. They did, and Tava in the rear let Team Two know. Faint growls grew closer at a rapid pace. They were about to have company. The only good news was that they were in a long stretch of tunnel and the enemy could only come from one direction.
“Team Two, move up! Fighters to the front, rest in the rear.”
After issuing his orders, Hawke cast two Consecrated Grounds as fast as the cooldown allowed, spreading them out so they covered the entire width of the tunnel. Any Undead trying to push past the fighters and get at the casters behind them would have to step on the Life-infused area and burn for as many as seventy-eight points of damage per second. Taggan and Egg cast their buffs on both teams.
Just as he finished his second casting, dozens of rushing figures came into view. Zombies and Abominations, plus a new kind of critter:
Flesh-Ripper (Elite Undead)
Level 8 Ghoul
Health 240 Mana 160 Endurance 200
&
nbsp; The Ghouls still wore the armor and insignia of the Town Guard, but their faces had become distorted beyond recognition: their skulls were deformed, with thick ridges above their eyes, and their jaws were hideously oversized, with bigger and more numerous teeth than a vampire. Even worse, they were wielding weapons. Two of them moved to the sides as the rushing zombies charge in and leveled crossbows at them.
Hawke hit one with a Hammer of Light for a cool hundred and seventy points, but that didn’t stop the monster from shooting. The bolt flew between Hawke and Desmond and hit someone behind them. He didn’t look back but finished the crossbowman off with a Hammer of Twilight. His Party interface showed Tava had lost twenty-one Health but was being healed.
You okay? Hawke asked Tava through Saturnyx.
I will live, she said. Tend to your fighting, my love.
The first charging monsters were almost on top of them. Hawke welcomed the Undead with one of his new spells: Healing Wave.
A spreading wall of cleansing Life Energy erupted around him and traveled for a hundred feet in every direction, healing friends by twenty-six Health – and burning undead for up to three times that amount. Eight Shamblers were burned out of existence; the rest were down to a handful of Health and all but exploded when they reached the Consecrated Ground. The Abominations and Flesh-Rippers were tougher, however, and lived long enough to attack the front line.
A Ghoul with a halberd chopped at Hawke, who sidestepped its swing and beheaded the monster in one swift motion. He was in a killing mood, and another Flesh-Ripper and two Abominations paid for it as he drove his sword through eyes or open mouths and hacked off limbs or heads. By the time he had calmed down, not a single enemy was still standing.
Alba briefly became visible as she took a sword from a dead Ghoul. “This will serve me better than my trusty dagger, I think.”
She had backstabbed a few choice targets while staying away from the main melee. Smart of her. Hawke figured she was going to make a great Shadow Assassin. What better partner could a Paladin Ninja have? Maybe having a third or fourth wife wouldn’t be so bad, either.
Desmond braced his foot against an Abomination’s body and yanked his two-handed sword free. “Nasty sons of bitches,” he said.
“Yeah,” Hawke agreed. “And the nastiest thing about them is that they are here. Which means that the Prefect knows we’re coming.”
Sixty-Three
For slaying your foes, you have gained 143 Experience.
Current XP/Next Level: 10,973/12,000
You Have Found: 12 silver
“I have reached my second level,” Alba announced proudly, turning visible while she added her new Attributes. She was the only one who sounded happy, now that they knew that their surprise attack was no longer a surprise.
“Congratulations,” Hawke told her, earning a smile from her that was far more sincere than anything he’d seen on her face before.
“What now?” Korgam asked.
“We push on. This is better than being out in the streets. They can only come at us from a couple of directions, and the narrow front reduces their numerical advantage. We’ll just have to plow through them; if the advance stalls, we’ll go to Plan B. Unless anyone has a better idea?”
Nobody did. After healing their injured, Team One and Two advanced together, with the reserve following. As they went past the bodies of the fallen Undead, Hawke counted six Ghouls. Eleven guards had followed Felix into damnation and one had died earlier, so that left four. The Prefect was probably saving the best for last, however.
Taggan used his Tunnel spell to cut corners, now that surprise had been lost; the groups advanced at a quickening pace. They got another third of the way there – sixty yards from the Keep – when reinforcements arrived.
“Here we go again,” Hawke announced. Buffs were refreshed, spells were prepared, and the two teams set themselves to receive the Undead.
A horde of Shamblers rounded the corner, all levels one to four. Weak cannon fodder, but there were at least a hundred of them. Arrows and magic dropped several of them before they covered half the distance to the front line – and Egg fired off his Mass Blast Undead and destroyed all the rest. Unfortunately, a second horde had been waiting just out of sight and spell range, and they came running before the last Undead in the first wave hit the ground.
There were hundreds of them, and about half of them were Abominations. Many fell, but not enough. The charging monsters crashed into the front line like a wave breaking on a reef. Hawke kept casting Healing Wave on cooldown, sending pulses of Life every five seconds. The Undead fell in droves, but more kept coming. It looked like the Necromancer had lent an entire army to Prefect Felix. And not just Abominations.
Wraith Servitors joined the fray, floating over the charging zombies but staying out of Healing Wave range. They started hitting the defenders with spells of their own, Death and Undeath curses that hurt the living and mended the unliving. Hawke saw some of the Abominations that been taken out were rising to their feet again. He saw that Desmond was knocked down to a handful of Health when an Abomination grabbed him by the neck and nearly snapped it. He healed the Warrior, realized they were going to be overwhelmed.
“Send in the reserve!” he ordered as he used a Healing Wave and a Burning Light to clear the front line. Most of the normal volunteers had spears and other long weapons. They stabbed the Undead over the shoulders of the front line; they didn’t do a lot of damage, but they often slowed down or briefly pushed back their targets, allowing the Adventurers to finish them off.
It wasn’t going to be enough, but Hawke didn’t need them to win; they needed to buy some time.
“I have to go,” he told Korgam after throwing every AOE he had and refreshing his Consecrated Ground. “Time for Plan B.”
“It’s a terrible plan,” the Dwarf Shield-Bearer said. They had discussed the alternate plan and nobody had liked it. “But it’s the only one we have. Go, and may the gods watch over ye!”
Hawke looked around but couldn’t see Tava in the midst of the battle. He could tell she was okay, although her Mana was dipping low, but wished he could look her in the eye.
I love you, he sent through Saturnyx. I will be back.
And I love you! But hurry!
Hawke threw another Healing Wave and then took a Shadow Step.
The darkened street where he arrived was almost obscenely quiet after being in the middle of a battle; the sounds of metal hitting metal or flesh, screams of rage or pain, the inhuman moaning zombies made and the background, and the crackling and explosive sounds of magic, they all were still echoing in his ears. Thirty feet below him, they were still going on.
The Keep stood only a few dozen yards away.
Hawke dispelled his auras and cast Twilight Shroud on himself. Invisible, with a magical suit of armor that only reduced his Stealth slightly, he cautiously crept towards the gate.
Congratulations! Your Stealth Skill has been raised to 4!
Go, go, Paladin Ninja, Hawke thought, but his heart wasn’t in it. His friends and allies were fighting for their lives.
Two Abominations were watching the open gate. Hawke stepped between them without their noticing. As he made his way towards the Prefect’s office, he heard crying and whimpering coming from the barred doors on both sides of the corridor. It sounded like dozens or even hundreds of townspeople were locked up in there. He was glad that they were still alive, but worried about what the Prefect had planned for them. As he got closer to his goal, a blood-curling scream emerged from the office; it abruptly cut off a moment later. Hawke increased his pace as much as he could without breaking his spell.
The audience hall didn’t look anything like it had the day Hawke had seen the Prefect. The furniture and the carpet on the floor had been moved away, and a circle and pentagram painted on its surface with blood. The body of a dead person, so horribly mutilated that Hawke could
n’t tell their age or even sex, was being dragged away by a Ghoul. Standing by the circle was Prefect Felix. His stats had changed quite a bit:
Felix Pontes (Human)
Level 12 Steward and Necromancer
Health 105(305) Mana 264(1,264) Endurance 105
Where did he get all that Mana?
Instead of his fancy silk robes, Felix was wearing a blood-soaked fuzzy robe made of hundreds of different color threads that Hawke realized were human hairs. He had a sacrificial dagger in one hand and a black orb on the other, one looking just like the one the Risen Lord had held. Off to one side stood Brunes, looking much the same, except his helmet now obscured his face. If he was bothered by the ritual, the Warrior-Gladiator’s body language didn’t show it.
Further back, holding each other in a mockery of a loving embrace, were a woman and a child. No, Hawke corrected himself when his True Sight identified them: they were two Undead creatures in the shape of a woman and her child. He remembered hearing Patros speak about the Prefect’s dead wife and daughter. That must have been how the Necromancer had sunk his hooks into the Arcane Officer. He’d brought them back to Felix, as long as he did what he was told.
“Let’s try this again,” Felix said. He lifted the Orb and tendrils of Death energy reached out from it and hit the map containing the Town interface. A geodesic dome behind the map glowed brightly as its white energy pushed away the darkness trying to push through.
“Damn you! You have served my family for centuries, and you will serve me now!” the Prefect shouted at the Core. He concentrated, and the Core’s glow became weaker. Whatever he was doing, it triggered a message for Hawke:
You are eligible to choose the Profession: Arcane Officer
Twilight Templar (The Eternal Journey Book 1) Page 38