Watcher's Test

by Sean Oswald

  Even as Dave was busy staying alive, Max was moving. He unlimbered the shield from his back and moved to attack. Both men spoke at the same time as they realized that they were going to need better teamwork if they were going to survive this battle.

  “Drop your party and join mine,” Max ordered.

  “I need two minutes, then I have a spell that will even things up.”

  Neither man seemed to care what the other had said as Max was used to having tactical command and just wanted to get Dave on his team so he could track his health better while for his part Dave, simply wasn’t accustomed to this sort of combat. A couple weeks in Eloria hadn’t prepared him for it.

  The death knight, however, didn’t wait for either man. As soon as his first blow was deflected, he immediately turned his sword into a cleaving strike against Max who was stepping in for his own attack. A quick flurry of blows were traded with it being clear that the dark warrior was much stronger, but that Max’s skill with a blade was greater. A small grin crept onto Max’s otherwise well-schooled expression. “This might be fun after all.” he thought.

  Even though he was more skilled and his sword was moving faster, Max couldn’t risk putting too much into any one blow. So each hit was scoring was at best a glancing blow off the black plate mail. He couldn’t focus enough to check notifications but doubted that he was doing much damage. Max’s shield, however, was starting to look worse for the wear as even trying to take the blows at an angle each one still was putting at least a small dent in the unenchanted shield. He wasn’t sure that it could even stand up to single direct blow.

  Then it happened. Dave hadn’t been waiting idly by but rather had tried to position himself for a sneak attack. He spent a point of Teamwork and triggered his Flanking skill. It almost guaranteed him a sneak attack which landed as he was able to slash with his sword against a joint in the armor where the greaves met the knee joint.

  You have scored a critical hit and sneak attack. Target immune to both. No extra damage caused. Blow causes 52 damage - 21 damage resistance = 31.

  Even as Dave’s blow was landing and his disheartening notification was read, Max landed a blow against the other leg (101) and for the first time, Draznei’kai managed to land a solid blow against Max’s shield. The flaming sword rent a six-inch gap into the shield and made a shallow cut into the arm beneath (12). It likely would have been much worse if the simultaneous blows to both legs hadn’t resulted in the heavy death knight losing his footing and stumbling backward.

  Max immediately triggered a bull rush attack and drove his shoulder into the chest of his foe. This push was enough to topple the death knight onto his back. While the enchanted black platemail was hard to get through, it turned the powerful death knight into little more than a turtle flipped over onto its shell.

  Max and Dave both sought to press their advantage and strove to land heavy slashing blows down on the immobilized death knight. Yet both missed as Draznei’kai activated the magic stored in his belt, and his material form faded into a dense gray smoke which moved startlingly quickly only to materialize twenty feet away. His hand lifted up, he pointed at Max and fired off a quickened spell before beginning to cast a second spell. The first spell sent a foot-long bolt of cracking purple and black energy straight into the Captain’s chest. His impressive armor providing him no protection from the deadly necrotic energies as he took (90) damage and was briefly staggered back.

  Dave felt somewhat helpless. He was too far away to physically engage the death knight and didn’t want to use any mana until he had enough to Enlarge. That feeling combined with an aura of terror which was still in effect caused him to hesitate long enough for the second spell to be completed. As the last syllable was pronounced, even the faint early morning light from the moon was cut off and absolute Stygian darkness descended upon them. Dave literally couldn’t see the hand in front of his face. This had to be some form of the globe of darkness spell he had seen used in different games. Or at least he hoped he hadn’t been blinded. Then he heard the rustling of bones and armor and a split second later he was knocked backward and felt a tremendous pain across his chest.

  You have been struck for 60 physical damage - 20 resistance from conjured armor + 20 fire damage + 40 necrotic damage = 120 damage. 15 of the damage has been restored to your attacker as health. Critical Strike. You have sustained a broken rib. Movement and attack speed slowed by 20%.

  Dave silently cursed only because all the air had been driven out of his lungs by that attack. Half his health was gone in one blow and a debuff. He could feel the health regeneration potion he had taken still in effect, but it would take more time than the potion had left to restore all of that health at 10 per minute. Worse, he had been counting on speed and agility to stay ahead of this monster since he had no chance in a slugfest. Just then he felt a warm human hand touch his. He almost reacted with his sword but stopped himself just as Max said, “Run for the consecration circle!”

  Some magical effect came over him as Max triggered his Forced March ability, and Dave would have thought he could run fast and forever like the spirit of the wolf. Not needing to be told twice, he ran in the direction he had heard Max’s voice coming from. After a dozen terrifying steps in absolute darkness where he was afraid any misstep at the pace he was moving would result in him falling and breaking his neck, he finally broke out of the globe of darkness. Max was just a couple of strides ahead of him. Free of the darkness, he was able to correct their course and the short distance to the warded area blurred past in less than a dozen seconds.

  As they came to rest in the center of the consecrated area as best they could determine, Dave asked, “So, any good ideas for how to deal with that thing?”

  “Honestly, I’m hoping for a moment to catch my breath and asking every god I ever heard of for a plan.”

  Dave realized that the healing power of his regeneration potion had taken a dramatic uptick as he felt the broken bone starting to knit together. He pulled out his last two healing potions and handed one to the Captain and downed the other so as to not have it wear off in the middle of combat.

  “I had been hoping that the rest of my squad would be here by now, but who knows what other trouble they ran into. I know there were still a few of those lesser skeletons that had to be dealt with. I can see in the party interface where they have taken some damage but are still well above 80% health.

  Now within the circle created by Emily’s spell, Dave felt like he could breathe. The lingering effects of the Aura of Terror possessed by the death knight was gone. His thoughts were coming more clearly, and he realized a clear error in his thinking. He and Max started to discuss the best way to deal with their foe as they knew that they couldn’t stay put on the consecrated ground forever, and even if they could, it would leave everyone else vulnerable. Dave was impressed by Max’s apparent earnestness when it came to protecting the people of Eris’ Rise. He was very serious about his duty, something which Dave could relate all too well with, but it was deeper than that. Dave was pretty sure that he actually cared.

  As they were talking, Draznei’kai walked slowly toward their location. He was moving deliberately slower than he could have, as he processed the first clash with these two fleshbags. The red armored one was fairly strong from what he could sense and the other wasn’t a slouch. None of the intel he had received either from the goblins scouts or his other sources had given him any reason to believe that anyone like the second man would be here. Seimion might be an arrogant mageling, but even if the goblins were wrong, Seimion’s information never was. He had somehow found out about the squad of Purple and Gold that was being sent. The red armored man could be none other than Captain Maxwell Smart the leader of that squad. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated that the camouflage drakes had failed to kill the entire squad, but if all that was left was this one man, he still considered that a good use of resources. Draznei’kai still wasn’t worried. These two were no match for him, but he needed to think thi
s through. He hadn’t made it to this point, overcome so many obstacles to be undone by a couple of humans. And there was still the fact that they had somehow eliminated a large number of his skeletons all in one instant. That was the kind of thing that would bear watching.

  As the death knight considered the best way to attack them, he reached the circle of consecrated ground and could pass no further. Suddenly it made sense. Somewhere in this little flea speck of a village, there was a divine spell caster. He probed out at the area with his esoteric senses and determined that it was true divine magic, but not of a significant tier. Given enough time, he could probably find a way to break down this spell, but for now, it was keeping him out. Next, he used his senses to determine the size of it and found that while it would keep the two little flesh bags safe from him that he would have no problem going around it.

  From the south he saw yet another peculiarity as a young elven, no perhaps half-elven woman came running up. He wasn’t sure but didn’t believe that either elves or half-elves were very common in Albia and certainly not in rural villages. This was another question mark, which again made him uneasy. Yet there was nothing to do for it. Well, one thing. He would just go and kill her before she reached the protected circle. Oh wait, there were two more, apparently an elf and a young half-elf running up behind her. Three for one was fine with him.

  Dave and Max were finishing their planning. They had both been relieved when the death knight seemed unable to pass onto the consecrated ground. Just then though, Dave heard someone calling to him. He turned to look and saw Mira followed by Emily and Jackson a short distance away. He was happy to see them, but worried that they were here so near this monstrosity, and where was Sara? His questions would have to wait though as he saw the death knight charging around the perimeter of the consecrated ground. At this pace, he would reach the family long before they reached safety. That was not going to happen, not if Dave had anything to say about it.

  By way of explanation to Max, Dave shouted out, “I have to save my family.” Even as he spoke, he surged forward running and yelling for Emily and the kids to hurry. They must have realized the danger because as soon as he started shouting, they doubled their pace. Still, it was clear that Draznei’kai would reach them before they could escape, or Dave could reach them. Mira slowed for a second and let her mom and brother catch up to her before holding out her hand. Dave continued to surge forward, sword drawn. It was all he could do not to close his eyes for fear that he was about to see that flaming sword cleave his precious daughter in two. Then she surprised Dave again as she had done time and time again since they had arrived in Eloria. At the last second as Draznei’kai’s charge came to an end and his blade slid horizontally in a wide slash, Mira dropped low in a display of speed and grace beyond human ability. Simultaneously, she tried to sweep the leg and launch a quickened web spell directly upward into the death knight’s helmeted face. Dave’s fear was lightened for a moment by seeing his daughter attempt the leg sweep despite the fact that it was ultimately unsuccessful. The webbing, on the other hand, was much more effective. The force pushed the death knight’s head backward and despite legs as strong as trees, he still stumbled back using his free hand to pull at the webbing which covered his face, helm, and shoulders. The viscous substance had shot out with so much force that it had even pushed its way into his empty eye sockets and nasal cavity, making the attempt to remove it almost futile.

  After the failed leg sweep, which resulted in Mira bruising her leg badly, she had to perform another set of acrobatic dodges in order to avoid the blind slashes directed at her. She sprang with grace from her good foot to a hand and back again tucking and cartwheeling away from each attack until she was finally able to get past him. All this happened so quickly that Dave had no choice but to pause, unsure if any action of his would put Mira in more danger when she seemed to be so capable of evading the attacks on her own.

  Dave was able to breathe easier once all three of them were safely onto the consecrated ground. Now he and Max had to figure out how best to capitalize on the fact that the death knight was still at least partially impaired by Mira’s spell. His planning came to a halt as he saw the empty look in Emily’s eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Jackson stared at his feet studiously avoiding looking at anyone else while Mira seemed intent in looking anywhere but at her parents. For her part, Emily began to cry softly.

  “What is it?” Dave asked again as a feeling of dread settled over him, “Where is Sara?” He reached out with a hand on each side of Emily’s shoulders trying to turn her toward him, seeking eye contact with her.

  Finally, after what was in reality only a single second but had felt like an hour, Emily said, “They took her.” That simple statement infused with a tone of utter defeat.

  “What do you mean? Who took Sara?” Dave felt desperation clawing at him in his need to understand. Seeing that she was unable to answer, Dave pulled Emily close to him in an embrace meant to comfort her.

  In a broken voice, Jackson answered what his mother was unable to say, “I couldn’t stop him. Some little green creature took Sara. I’m sorry, Dad. Please forgive me. I tried…”

  The pain in Jackson’s voice hurt Dave every bit as much as the meaning behind his words, but Max cut in, “I’m sorry for whatever happened to your daughter. You are just gonna have to trust me, more than anyone in the world, I understand that kind of loss, but if you want to protect the rest of your family you need to focus on the fight right now. Use your pain and make him pay for it, because I guarantee you, no matter who hurt you, it was because of this guy in front of us.”

  Dave shook his head, “I don’t know about them, but I will fight.”

  “I need you for the plan we discussed, but we need the priestess even more. With her here, we might actually survive this.” Max spoke rapidly in a no-nonsense manner. “Priestess, I feel your pain, but the truth is that only the living can grieve or do anything about your daughter. Can you help us save everyone else?”

  Emily pulled away from Dave, the streaks of tears evident upon her cheeks, “If he is responsible for this, then I will help you take him down, but then we have to go after Sara.” She wore the kind of grim determination on her face that spoke of the will to push through the pain if only for the moment.

  A quick invite was sent by Max to Mira and Emily for them to join the party. They didn’t have to drop out of the previous party as it appears that in Eloria once a group leader leaves a party, the party automatically ends. As soon as they both accepted the invites, they were designated as healer and ranged damager respectively while Dave was assigned as a melee damager and Max took on the designation of tank. The other Nelsons couldn’t help but take a moment to look at the information of the other two absent party members in the interface. They showed up as Ronald, a level 10 archer who was designated as a ranged damager, and Engel, a level 13 defender marked as a debuffer.

  Dave gave a quick whispered explanation of the plan while admonishing Emily, Mira, and especially Jackson to stand back. He reached out his hand to grab Emily’s arm trying to pull her close, but she seemed distant. There was great hurt on her face, and Dave could see the tracks of tears down each cheek, but he had to push it aside. It was like any battlefield trauma. You couldn’t allow yourself to feel anything too deeply on the battlefield or you ended up dead as did those around you. “Time to end this.”

  As Max and Dave stepped off the consecrated ground to engage with Draznei’kai, Max gave the final admonishment, “Keep healing us as best you can and deal damage anytime you get a free shot.” Then Max triggered his Bull Rush skill and plowed shield first into the death knight who had managed to use the delay to pull most of the webbing out of his empty eye sockets despite the fact that it still covered his head and shoulders. Max wondered how he saw without eyeballs, but as he got close, he saw red flames dancing inside of what he had thought were empty sockets. The impact of shield against the armored monster was
jarring to both. The death knight staggered but didn’t fall. Max knew that he had to somehow get the death knight on its back. If he could, he thought they might just be able to survive this.

  Unfortunately, the impact had been the final straw in ruining his shield, the arm straps tore loose and the previous tear in the metal now extended the full height of the shield. With disgust, Max threw it as an oversized discus at the death knight who effortlessly batted it out of the air.

  Meanwhile, Dave watched the exchange, half expecting some maniacal laughing and taunting retort from the dark warrior. It never came. The skeletal monstrosity was all business and didn’t seem to feel the need to engage in conversation with any of them as he had before. The flaming sword now wreathed in a subtle black energy which pulsed with a sinister life came in blow after blow while Captain Smart evaded or parried every slash and thrust. Once again, the superior skill and speed of his ally was clear to Dave, but the strength of the monster was such that it was too great a risk to go on the offensive. No, it was Dave’s job to deal damage while Max kept him busy. That was part of the plan they had discussed.

  Now thanks to the buff from being a melee damager, Dave should have been able to benefit from the teamwork bonus on his Flanking skill, but this opponent was immune to sneak and critical strikes, so he was left with using Offensive Stance for its straight damage boost. He could only maintain it for two ticks, so he had to make the most of it. Stepping in from the back, he attacked landing his first hit and luckily triggering his double strike ability for a combined total of (222) after the death knights damage resistance. With those notifications, Dave let himself feel some hope, at least as far as this battle went. If only he had been Enlarged for those strikes, they would have been truly devastating, but they had a plan and he had to stick to it. Max seemed to be holding up his defense and was keeping this monster busy enough that Dave was able to attack him with impunity.