by Konrad Ryan
Fenrir roared into the night sky and thrust his chained hands into the air overhead once more. His palms outstretched, facing the sky. A small sphere of pure red energy burst to life above them. At once it grew, dwarfing both Tad and Fenrir until the red sphere swelled like a balloon, its surface blazed with heat that chased the chill from Tad’s bones. It reminded Tad of the dangerous spheres of energy above the dungeons, except this one was red. Black tendrils reached from Fenrir’s wrist, mixing with the red sphere of pure death.
Tad watched in rapt attention, the heat kissing his chilled skin. The black tendrils looked the same as when Tad had crushed Cain’s wrist unexpectedly. They swarmed throughout the orb, reinforcing it, surely making it more deadly than before.
At least he would die warm. Tad chuckled weakly at the thought.
Fenrir roared in anger, and the red sphere swelled once more. It was massive. Tad could no longer see the pitch black sky above. He felt like a termite, waiting for the flaming meteor to land. The sphere was impossibly big. How could Fenrir have so much energy? That golden chain bound him, but he still had this much power.
Tad shivered once more. How powerful had this monster been when he battled with the Defector? When he battled without those chains? He made both Cain and Gerald seem like feeble old men, barely able to take a doddering step. Tad was mesmerised with the giant sun-like orb just overhead.
Fenrir’s lips curled even further around his fangs as he spoke. “Summon the Fang, boy! We have unfinished business.”
Tad obeyed. It was only fair, Raekast within the dagger already had her fun, Tad would tie its destiny to his own. Both would be obliterated in the attack.
“Move over, Raekast, I’ll need more room than that.” The words were sharp and guttural. “Boy! I find you worthy, I’ll tie my fate to yours!”
Move over? Tie his fate? What was he talking-
Fenrir’s arms dropped. The giant red orb swallowed the distance in an instant. Black tendrils swarmed across Raekast’s Fang, it glowed white with heat; the obsidian transformed to ivory. Both Tad and Fenrir were swallowed in the fiery attack.
Tad screamed as the flames licked his body, then engulfed him completely. The black tendrils attacked the fang, leaving Tad alone. His flesh charred, his bones disintegrated. The pain was all-consuming. It dwarfed everything.
The fire consumed.
Dark mist swirled across Tad’s vision, an alert blared just before he lost consciousness.
*Warning! Zero health.*
It was over.
* * *
“Tad, get up… no time…” A feminine voice spoke with urgency.
There were other words that had been spoken, but Tad didn’t grasp them. He was too tired. Five minutes?
“Not now mom, I’m too tired to go to school.”
“…Fat Jack… can’t leave…” The voice sounded even more urgent.
The wind felt nice as it rushed through his hair. Tad’s dream had been hot. Fiery. The wind was cool on his skin, refreshing even. His thoughts were thick and slow. It was hard to keep anyone in his mind long enough to consider it; it dripped away like a fistful of honey. The wind stopped. Once more something placed him on his back.
“Tad, we are here, wake up! I gave him a resurrection vial, but it didn’t seem to work.”
“Give em’ a kiss that’ll do it, a big sloppy wet one. That always wakes me up.”
A kiss? Who was kissing who? Who was that other voice?
“Shut up, Jack! We’re doing this to save you.” The voice belonged to Liz. The name drifted to the forefront of Tad’s mind before retreating once again. Instead of Liz’s usual pleasant tone, her voice was worried, filled with urgency.
Liz? Who was Liz? Tad tried to recall who that had been. It sounded so familiar.
Faces flashed across Tad’s mind in a rush. A pretty blonde with long golden hair and blue eyes like clear water, a man so fat even his fat rolls had fat rolls, and a fierce wolf holding the sun.
*Warning! Four minutes until dungeon closure. Warning!*
Tad’s eyes snapped open. Fenrir! Why was Tad still alive? He shouldn’t have survived that attack.
“He’s awake! Tad hurry! We can’t lift Fat Jack and the dungeon is closing any minute now. Can you stand?”
Tad tried to shake his head. “Wait. What happened? Where is the wolf?” He tried to sit up, but he found he couldn’t move.
Liz looked worried. “Jack sent Snorky, fed me a resurrection vial up on that post. A giant red sphere of fire burned. It burned for so long. When it finally disappeared, you were there, the boss’s corpse next to yours. No treasure.”
Ethan stepped forward. “What an attack, I’ve never seen anything like it. Use that on Cain next time we see him.” The man flashed a grin, but he glanced to the dungeon door with worry.
They thought Fenrir’s attack was his own, that it had defeated the boss. Tad’s thoughts slipped through his mind.
“Can you lift Jack?” Liz crouched over him. Her hair tickled his nose, but he couldn’t move his hand to scratch at the tickle.
“I can’t move a muscle.”
“Oh well, I’m dead. You three go ahead, go die to Cain, I’ll just stay here. It’s nice here anyway, think I can eat all that grain? Betcha I can!” Fat Jack was smiling, but sweat on his brow betrayed his jovial facade.
“Tad, can’t you heal yourself? You’re a healer right?” Even with desperation across her face, Liz was beautiful. Man, how could someone be that beautiful?
Tad nodded painfully. “Yeah, but I need mana.” Tad opened his stats. How long had he been out.
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Warrior
Class: Fighter/Void Minotaur
Level: 57
Health: 1/2550
Mana: 199/300
Str: 180
Dex: 120
Con: 195
Mag: 100
Cou: 80
Cha: 20
Debuffs: Silverfang Virus Incubation (30 Days Remaining)*
199 mana? How long had he been out? Almost two-thirds of an hour! Why hadn’t the dungeon closed yet? Had the orb of fire really been burning that long? Tad cast ‘heal’ and his wounds knit together. Pain shot through his entire body at the spell, but his nerves and tissue regrew. Blood forced itself into his blood vessels. His body was both on fire and being stuck with pins and needles. He had failed to make it a pleasant healing, though he hadn’t tried that hard. But after the pain, Tad climbed to his feet. His body was stiff, but he could move.
“Praise the creators, now I get to die at Cain’s hand too! A few more minutes of life!” Despite his words, a look of relief swept across Fat Jack’s face.
Ethan rested an arm across Tad’s back.
“I don’t know how you did it, boy.” Ethan’s eyes surveyed the innumerable wolf corpses littered around the soft soil of the earthquake rent. “Keeping Jack alive against this many wolves is one thing, but that wolfman up there was a veritable monster, I don’t think we even hurt him. You’ll have to tell me about it after we get out of here.” He pointed at a blue door floating fifty feet away. “Think you can get Jack into there? We don’t have much time.”
“What about the treasure? Or the boss essence, at least?” Tad’s mouth was dry, and his voice sounded strange, even to his own ears.
Ethan’s face turned to concern. “I was hoping you had gotten them. If not… well, a mystery for another time.”
Tad looked back to where Fat Jack sat. The earthen dome that Tad had erected to protect Fat Jack had been completely demolished with dirt and clumps of earth strewn about his vicinity. The gleaming gaseous breastplate shone in the silvery light, yet the man no longer made obscene noises. How was he doing that? Deep footprints surrounded Fat Jack, apparently from the attempts of Liz and Ethan to lift the large man.
Tad strode toward Fat Jack and slipped his arms into the dark-colored straps of Jack’s harness. Tad strained, his feet pushed hard against the dry ground but they san
k inch by inch, still Fat Jack wouldn’t budge. Why? What was different? Tad scoured his stats once more to check for the inconsistency. After a moment, it hit him like a bag of bricks. He had been unconscious for too long. His clone buff had worn off, and he wouldn’t be able to recast it until the next day.
And he had just used all of his mana to heal. Tad pulled on the straps, but Fat Jack didn’t even budge.
“Liz, give me a hand, We’re going to roll him.”
Liz and Tad pushed together, but their arms just sank deep into his flesh, unable to find a solid place to push. The two were utterly unable to even move the large man.
*Warning! Two minutes until dungeon closure. Warning!*
“You two go on ahead, I’ll be right behind with Fat Jack.” Tad said, impressed with how certain he sounded.
Fat Jack waved his little arms. “Hang on, Let me do this real quick. Untrace! Bend vision!”
Ethan and Liz disappeared completely. Even Tad’s perception tendrils couldn’t sense them.
“Go, go! That only lasts for twenty seconds! Get out before Cain catches you.” Fat Jack urged. The portal flickered twice with blue light in answer.
Liz and Ethan were gone.
“I’m screwed, aren’t I?” Fat Jack seemed resigned to his fate.
“Yep. Unless you have any magic, that could make me stronger or you lighter.” Tad examined the gleaming breastplate. “How are you doing that? You’re not… gassy.”
Fat Jack roared with raucous laughter. “What, you didn’t think I would figure out the trick? They don’t call me the fat genius for nothin’.” Jack smiled, then his eyes widened slightly at Tad’s confusion. “Oh, you didn’t know!” His eyes danced with glee. “It’s only… noisy when you’re healing, once you finish it gets blessedly quiet. And if I could make myself lighter, we wouldn’t need you now, would we?”
Tad smiled back at Jack. Despite his constant mockery, the large man was growing on him. Hopefully, he didn’t grow any more, Tad couldn’t handle any more weight. An audible laugh escaped from his throat. “You’re alright Jack. When I get a bit stronger, I think I might become your handler for real.”
Fat Jack’s face shone with surprise and delight. “Really? Well then, what are you waiting for? Get us out of here! I’m going to give Cain a big hug after we get out.”
Tad chuckled once more before he steeled himself. All jokes aside, they were out of options. Tad fit himself in the harness once more and pressed with all his might. It was useless. He didn’t have much time. There had to be a solution, some way to get Fat Jack out of this dungeon before it closed. If only he hadn’t used all his mana, surely he could have used quake to move the large man. At this rate, he would have to abandon him, even though Fat Jack wouldn’t make much of a dungeon boss.
“That’s alright, boy. I’ve always wanted to see what would happen if I got trapped inside of a dungeon. There are worse ways to go. Being a plaything for Salvation would certainly be one of them. But looks like I’m going to have to sprout some hair and fangs and set up shop as a dungeon boss.”
*Warning! One minute until dungeon closure. Warning!*
Tad laughed at Fat Jack’s joke that mirrored Tad’s own thoughts. It was a pure laugh filled with understanding. Jack was just like Tad. His jokes and jabs weren’t aimed with malice, but like Tad, most were self deprecating, a way to deal with the stress. A way to deal with being so different from others that you could only rely on yourself for company. They were two peas in a pod.
“Sorry Jack, I was wrong about you. I’m glad I got to know you.” A question floated in Tad’s mind. “Why’d you pick me, anyway?”
Jack let out a small laugh. “I only wanted to volunteer someone as insane as me. When everyone else let that bald butthole do as he pleased, only you stepped in. I needed someone with balls, someone willing to throw their life away. And boom, you literally did! Quite a trick, by the way. Imagine my surprise at seeing you next to Bunta-boy a moment later.” Jack looked at the door frame, then back to Tad, his face more serious than Tad had ever seen it.
“Go. Don’t worry, I won’t starve to death. Not for a long time, at least. Go. Go and be with your girl. Win her over for me, so I can pretend that it was my jokes that brought you together. It will be a marvellous story to tell myself here. Sorry lad, I can’t cast any more spells to make you invisible, but maybe Cain will let you off the hook when I don’t show up.”
Unlikely.
But…
Cain. The answer hit him like a bolt of lightning. Cain would be strong enough to take Fat Jack out of the dungeon. He’d probably kill him, too, but at least he could get him out. Jack could figure out some way to stay alive.
“You really are a fat genius, I’ll be right back!”
“Of course I am- Wait, I don’t like the sound of this!”
Tad turned and dashed through the dungeon door, still smiling at having found hope. He tumbled through space as he warped back to the dungeon entrance. An impossibly strong hand grabbed his throat the instant he landed. Tad filled his hand with a single point of mana and yanked at the wrist, trying to be free from Cain’s impossibly strong clutches. It was no use.
“Where are they? Where is he! Where is that fat behemoth?” Cain’s eyes smoldered, but Tad saw no sign of Liz or Ethan. A corpse on the ground sent Tad into a panic. But no, it wasn’t Liz or Ethan. It was the healer that Cain had brought back with him. The two had gotten away.
“The girl and man died in the fight. But Fat Jack is stuck inside. If you want him, you need to go in there and get him yourself. I couldn’t lift him.”
Suddenly Cain’s eyes changed. Recognition filled them as he looked closer at Tad’s face. “I already killed you once.”
Ice formed up Tad’s spine. He hadn’t counted on this. He hoped his wolf helmet would hide his face.
*Warning! Ten seconds until dungeon closure! Warning!*
“You got ten seconds to get Fat Jack out before the dungeon closes. That is, if you still want him.” Tad’s voice sounded much stronger than he felt.
Salvation Cain’s mind turned, calculating. Tad could see it in his eyes. Hand still gripping Tad’s throat, the two of them entered the portal.
They spun and twisted in the dark space, Tad hoped he would get dislodged, like Jack had from his back in the tumultuous trip, but the impossibly strong hand still gripped his neck, almost crushing it.
The pair landed and Cain’s face darkened at the sight of Fat Jack.
“Tad, what did you do?” Fat Jack’s face was pale, almost a little green even.
Cain ignored the man and pulled Tad’s face next to his. “People I kill, stay dead.” The whisper was as cold as death.
With all his might, Cain threw Tad upward in the air by his neck, almost snapping it instantly. Tad spun, climbing higher and higher as the scene played out below. Cain grabbed Fat Jack’s harness with one hand, tossed him over his back and walked out the portal to Fat Jack’s squabbles.
The countdown warnings continued in Tad’s mind. He twisted and fired two firebolts directly upward, but they didn’t touch his momentum. Tad summoned Wraithford’s axes, using their sudden surface area to slow his ascent, but they flipped away, yanked from his hand. He was going too fast. He was helpless.
This was the problem with being up in the air, no matter how strong you were, unless you could fly, you couldn’t shorten your hang time. If only he still had one of those huge boulders he had used in the harpy dungeon. Regret filled his chest as the final warning blared through his mind.
*Warning! Dungeon now closed.*
The portal below him winked out of existence.
Tad mentally equipped his frog boots. He had never tested them from this height before.
Tad fell.
Epilogue
Tad stared at the jet black sky above. Hours had passed since the boss door had closed and left him inside. Perhaps had he left the dungeon with Liz and Ethan, then maybe he could have escaped Salvation Cain’s
attention and left the dungeon unscathed. He might have been able to tell Cain that Fat Jack was waiting inside to be rescued, before escaping the dungeon himself. But Fat Jack had been out of spells, enough left only to make two people undetectable. Tad couldn’t save everyone, no matter how he tossed the problem in his mind.
His frog boots had worked remarkably well. He had flown so high that he was sure it would be fatal, but as he approached the ground, the boots grew impossibly large, into living, breathing, frogs, and absorbed the impact like it was nothing. Guess not everyone Cain killed stayed dead. Tad was still alive.
At least for now.
He sat up. With nothing else to do, he pulled the book ‘Path to Zero’ from the dungeon pouch at his side. He had meant to do this earlier, but things had gotten so frantic. First his warrior trial being cut off so abruptly, followed by the complete destruction of Kansas City. His endless hours of watching videos and recording when dungeons would explode for Gerald, who made desperate call after desperate call to locate the right people who could get slayers in dungeons. Then the Defector’s note, followed by the wolf dungeon. When had life gotten so busy? Months used to fly by without notice, now each day was jam-packed and full of adventure. But he preferred it this way. No matter how frantic the days became, he had never felt so alive.
Tad turned the book over in hand, and the letters glowed in magical waves, golden and brilliant. He opened to the page where he had left off; it was still restricted. Even after attaining the 2x stat bonus, the book realized he hadn’t beaten that trial. But the next page contained alien letters, which swirled in a gentle spiral, then increased in intensity until he stood in a golden vortex of letters. Then he was somewhere else.
He stood in the trial of the Void Minotaur. Zero no longer used his black longsword, and his physique had transformed. He was thick, but not with muscles. He almost looked like a miniature model of Fat Jack, and a thick crustacean shell protected his back from damage. A ripple of realization hit Tad. Zero had used fat crab, just like the panthervoid! Despite his girthy form, he was no slower than the other voids there, for he had earned the 2x stat aspect in his soldier trial which practically negated the drawbacks of fat crab.