Battleborne

by Dave Willmarth

  His mana partially recharged, Max tried casting Rot, then firing another arrow five seconds later. The spell seemed to weaken whatever protective magic the king was using, and the arrow pushed through to bounce off his chest plate, leaving a small dent and scratch. The king roared in rage and scanned the battle, looking for the enemy who’d manage to sting him.

  Max wasn’t hard to find, standing nearly twice as tall as everyone else in the room, firing arrows from behind the Darkholm lines.

  Agnor shouted a command, pointing at Max with a snarl, and the two remaining elites at his side charged forward. Max immediately cast Blind, then Confuse, and both spells failed. Once again his mana was drained too low to cast another spell, so he fired two quick arrows, both into the chest of the right-hand guard. He didn’t go down, but he staggered and slowed to a walk.

  “Rockbreaker!” Max roared, his deep voice carrying over the heads of the dwarves. When the captain turned, he pointed toward the charging elites, dropped his bow, and produced his two-handed axe. The captain got the hint, and shouted a command.

  Max charged forward as the rear ranks of the Darkholm troops parted. Rather than having the front two rows of tanks separate, he simply leaped over top of them, crashing down upon half a dozen hapless greys. Not stopping to deal with them, he smashed through the few that were still in front of him, and charged across the remaining twenty feet or so between him and the lead guard. Though it was taller and bulkier than most dwarves, Max still outweighed the grey by at least a hundred pounds. He lowered his shoulder as if the guard were a tackling dummy, and snarled at it, his axe held back over his right shoulder.

  Then, much to the surprise of the grey, two paces away Max dropped into a baseball slide even as the dwarf tried to grab him and squeeze him against its spiked armor. Max was too large to slide all the way through between the dwarf’s legs, so he slid to one side, swinging his heavy axe forward with both momentum and muscle. The blade bit deep into the dwarf’s thigh, cutting through armor, flesh, and at least part of the bone. The weapon snagged there, and Max simply let it go as he pushed up to his feet. Producing his halberd next, he stabbed directly at the slower-moving guard, the grey’s own forward momentum causing the spike at the end of the shaft to push into its chest. Ripping the spike free, he spun around and struck the back of the first guard’s injured leg with the halberd’s axe blade. The weapon didn’t penetrate deeply, but it slashed flesh and muscle enough to render the leg useless. The dwarf dropped to one knee, growling in pain.

  Max continued his spin, dragging the heavy weapon along behind as he came around a full three hundred and sixty degrees, this time nearly removing the grey’s head. The axe bit deep, far enough to cut into its spine, at which point the dwarf fell limp to the floor.

  Turning quickly to check on the other guard, he found him struggling to crawl toward Max on his belly. A six-foot long trail of blood marked his starting point, and Max didn’t feel the need to finish the grey quickly. Instead he raised his gaze to where the king was just beginning to swing his hammer at the shield wall of the Darkholm dwarves.

  His friends had their shields locked together, two rows, one on top of the other at a slight backward angle. The upper row took the blunt of the first swing, the clang of metal on metal sending a vibration through the room. Max noted that only half a dozen of the grey dwarves remained, and he charged toward them, his position now slightly behind and to the left of the king. Max winced as another blow of the hammer rang out, and he heard grunts of pain from the dwarven tanks. He was about to stab one of the remaining greys through its back when a crossbow bolt whizzed past him and struck the very same enemy. Max halted abruptly, thinking the shot had been meant for him, and spun around to look behind.

  What he saw made his heart sink. Dozens of grey dwarves carrying crossbows and axes charging through the door. There was no way Rockbreaker’s company could withstand assaults from both the king and these reinforcements. And Max suddenly found himself trapped between them! A moment later he blinked, then blinked again, then began to laugh.

  There were kobolds inside that grey dwarf armor. And more of them were pouring into the room. The ones in front were firing at the grey dwarves and the king, while others were aiming Max’s direction, trying to decide if he was an enemy.

  To relieve their suspicions, he stepped back over to the crawling elite and used the halberd’s axe blade to chop off his forearm. Another swing, and it went silent, its spine severed.

  Max turned and began to run toward the king with the halberd’s point aimed at his back. A quick check of his mana bar, and he cast the one spell that seemed to be effective against the king.

  He cast Rot.

  Running as fast as he could over the short distance, he rammed the dwarven steel tip into the king’s back, which was covered by the same ornate plate as his chest. The point didn’t penetrate, but the weight behind a running chimera impacted the king enough to throw him off balance, causing him to step forward, his hammer swing faltering.

  A moment later the kobolds rushed past Max and dog-piled Agnor. They leapt on his back, stabbing and biting, clawing for joints in his armor. Others grabbed hold of his legs and did the same. A dozen, then a score, they buried the king in kobold bodies, teeth, and claws.

  The Darkholm dwarves let out a resounding battle cry, and both front lines shoved with all they had. The unbalanced and overburdened king fell backward, impaling several of the kobolds with his spiked armor. He roared again, but this time there was pain mixed in with his rage. A red glow began to shine through between the kobold bodies, and several of them screamed in pain, falling away from the king. He’d activated some kind of boss ability!

  Dropping his halberd, Max equipped his two-handed hammer. Using everything he had, he leapt toward the still-prone king, swinging the hammer over his head and slamming it down onto his glowing red face. The hammer crushed his nose and teeth, the head pushing deep into the king’s mouth and cutting off his roar. Not done yet, Max raised the hammer and slammed it down again, and again, and again. The king might have been a higher level than Max, but a fifty-pound hammer with the muscle of a seven-foot chimera behind it, striking a head that was already laying against the stone floor with nowhere to go… didn’t leave much doubt.

  Max heard the roar of another battlecry, but ignored it, continuing to pound the king’s head, crumpling the fancy helm and spraying blood and brain matter. He felt a strong arm wrap around his waist and begin to pull him away, and a moment later registered Rockbreaker’s voice shouting at him. “Ye got him, Max! He be plenty dead!”

  Chapter 15

  Max stood over the body of Agnor, king of the grey dwarves, breathing hard from his exertions. All around him, dwarves and kobolds cheered and congratulated each other. But none other than Rockbreaker got within reach of Max and his hammer, both of which were thoroughly splattered with Agnor bits and the blood of other greys.

  Taking a few deep breaths, Max surveyed the hall, making sure no greys were still standing. He could hear Rockbreaker’s voice speaking to him in a calming manner, but he was still feeling the adrenaline rush of the battle rage and blood pounded through his veins so quickly that he could hear his own heartbeat.

  Eventually, Max calmed himself. Whatever natural rage his monster half had sent him into began to fade, and he could hear the captain’s words.

  “-moppin’ up the last o’ the greys inside the walls.” Max felt the tingle of a healing spell, and quickly looked at his health bar, which was rising above the halfway mark. He didn’t recall taking any injuries, but clearly he had. “Ye nearly give’d yer own life, standin’ so close to the king when he used that skill. It killed all the kobolds around the two of ye.”

  Max looked down at his feet, and indeed there were a dozen or more kobold bodies spread out in a sort of blast pattern with the king as its epicenter. He noticed that his own armor was slightly scorched on the front, his greaves hanging loose because the fasteners had partially melted.


  “Troll regeneration.” Dalia winked at him, stepping close and laying a hand on his back, where he was mostly splatter-free. He felt another heal wash through him, and he relaxed a bit more.

  “I wasn’t really thinking. I just wanted him dead.” Max mumbled. He heard a scream from somewhere outside the hall, and his head snapped up. Looking toward the door, he asked, “Are we still fighting?”

  Rockbreaker shook his head. “I just telled ye. Our warriors broke through the front gate, and are workin’ with the kobolds to seek out and finish any greys that might be hidin’ about.”

  “Sorry, I was… distracted.”

  “Ye had yer blood lust up. Ye were growlin like a mama cave bear waked from her winter’s nap. Damned intimidating, lad.”

  “Thanks. I think.” Max wiped at the blood on his face, but his hand was just as bloody, so all it did was smear things around. He felt chunks of flesh in the mix, and nearly gagged when he pulled his hand away and saw brain matter. Dalia started to hand him a clean rag, saw the blood on his hands, and changed her mind.

  “Bend down here, ya big pile o’ nasty.” When Max complied, she quickly wiped the worst of the mess from his face, then his hands, as if he were an infant. “Men. Can plan whole invasions, leap into battle against impossible odds without a thought, but can’t remember to carry a clean rag.”

  Max pulled his canteen from his storage and poured some of the water onto his face, resisting the urge to shake his head and spray his friends with gore. Putting the canteen away, he looked around once again. Immediately he noticed a number of dwarven bodies laying in an arc near the tunnel door.

  “How many?” He asked Rockbreaker, who followed Max’s gaze, then lowered his eyes. “Too many. Lost forty two here, don’t know how many out by the gate or in the rest o’ the keep. May still lose more before we’re done here.” He looked at a small group of broken bodies near the center of what had been the shield wall. “The king took down more’n a dozen with that damned hammer. If ye hadn’t distracted him, and the kobolds had not joined in…” the captain just shook his head.

  Red appeared on his shoulder, causing Max to tense up a bit. “Yeah, brilliant move, taking on the king and his guards like that. If you want to commit suicide, there’s a nice deep crevasse you can jump into not far from here…”

  Max ignored her, not wanting to respond while the dwarves were watching. Knowing this, Red smirked and continued. “And what in the name of all the gods did you do to get so nasty? Did you roll around in the corpses for a while? I’m just glad I can’t smell you!” She held her nose and made a disgusted face. Max glared at her, trying to promise retribution with his eyes without the dwarves noticing.

  Red just giggled.

  “I’m off to see about healin’ those that need it.” Dalia gave a small wave and departed, several other healers joining her as she headed for the door. A dozen or so fighters took up positions surrounding them, just in case. Rockbreaker drifted away without a word, going to see to his remaining troops.

  Max bent down and looted the king. The moment he did, Red gasped in surprise. Max didn’t see anything, since she had altered his notifications so that they no longer blocked his vision en masse. “What?” he asked with a growl, trying to figure out a way to get payback.

  “You… the loot…” She stopped trying to speak and just flashed a few notifications for him to read.

  Quest Completed: Make Them Pay!

  You have successfully captured the grey dwarf city Nogroz, and killed Agnor, king of the Nogroz clan. You played a key role in the taking of the city, and dealt the killing blow to the king! Reward: 110,000 exp; 100gold; Share of the loot recovered from grey dwarf corpses. Reputation increase with Darkholm dwarves. Reputation increase with all dwarven clans. Reputation loss with all grey dwarven clans. See King Ironhand for additional rewards.

  Title Earned: Kingslayer!

  Though you had plenty of help, you willingly challenged the king single-handedly, risked your own mortal existence, and dealt the killing blow to King Agnor. Several killing blows, actually. You sort of overdid it there. Still, your actions have earned you the title of Kingslayer! 150,000 xp awarded. Reputation with grey dwarf race is now Hated.

  You have received the Crown of the King!

  Hidden Quest Received: One Chimera To Rule Them All!

  Upon delivering the killing blow, and looting what’s left of King Agnor, you have received his hammer and crown, the symbols of his office. Should you choose to do so, you may assume his throne and take control of the city known as Nogroz. Do you wish to claim the throne at this time, Kingslayer? Yes/No

  Max’s mouth hung open as he read through the notifications. When he got to the part about claiming the throne, he felt a rush of excitement. Every instinct he had, his limited experience with VR games, his lifetime of experience as a soldier, all of it screamed YES! Without a second thought he mentally clicked on the word, and another flood of notifications filled his vision.

  “Hold on, let me sort through this.” Red muttered as her eyes focused on whatever interface she had, and the notifications disappeared. Max realized he was standing in the middle of the battlefield, covered in gore, with his mouth hanging open. He might have even been drooling. So while Red organized his feed, he bent to loot the nearest of the elites. Thanks to Red’s adjustments, he knew that touching the one corpse would loot all the rest. Red growled at him as he added several score loot notifications to the long list that she was organizing.

  Rockbreaker returned, a grim look on his face. When he was close enough to Max, he spoke in a whisper. “That were foolish, Max.”

  “What? What was foolish?”

  “Ye just took the city fer yerself.”

  “Yes, I … how did you know that? What’s going on? Was that wrong?” Max was confused.

  “Everybody know’d it the moment ye took control o’ the throne. Did ye not see the announcement?” Max shook his head, his gaze flicking over to Red for a second, seeing her still concentrating on her task. Rockbreaker continued. “Ye have the right to take the city, as ye killed the king. But ye did not do it alone, Max. And ye ain’t prepared to rule a city, even one as small as this. Ye can’t defend it, ye have no experience, no idea what ye’re getting yerself into.”

  Max looked down, feeling ashamed, like he’d somehow stolen from his comrades in arms. “I’m sorry, captain. I didn’t think it through. I’ll… what can I do? How do I make things right?”

  Rockbreaker’s expression lightened a bit. “I’m glad ye weren’t bein intentionally selfish. Talk to me king, and he’ll advise ye.” He patted Max on the back and left him alone.

  Max moved to one side of the hall where several benches lined the wall. He took a seat on the nearest, his legs splayed straight out from the low bench. A stray thought passed through his mind, and he mumbled, “If I keep this place, the first thing I’m going to do is have some decent sized furniture built.”

  Red cleared her throat to get his attention. “Ready? I’ll just show you the most important stuff, for now. Most of the loot notifications and such you won’t care about anyway, and the skill increases you can review later.”

  Max nodded to confirm his readiness, and several notifications popped up at once.

  Hidden Quest Completed: One Chimera To Rule Them All!

  You have chosen to assume the throne! Reward: 1,000,000 exp; 1,000 gold; Ownership of the city known as Nogroz. Details on city resources are available on your City display, which you may access by equipping the king’s crown, or sitting upon the throne.

  Title Earned: King of Nogroz!

  ***Regionwide Announcement!***

  Maximilian Storm has defeated Agnor, King of Nogroz, and assumed his throne!

  May he rule long and wisely!

  There were also four level notifications, the last indicating that he’d reached level fifteen. The massive amount of experience from the battle, and the additional quest bonuses had given him a huge boost.
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  As Max was reviewing the information, five dwarves approached him unnoticed. When one of them cleared his throat, Max snapped back to reality. Standing in front of him were Steelbender, Spellslinger, and three other dwarves, all of whom wore the ornate armor that indicated they were more important than your average dwarf. Max jumped to his feet, his soldier’s training kicking in. “Master Steelbender! I’m glad to see you’re okay. Master Spellslinger, thank you again. The spells you taught me helped a great deal in the fight.”

  Steelbender cleared his throat again as the old mage just nodded, clearly trying not to smile. Steelbender indicated the other three dwarves. “These be Redstone o’ the Red Hills Clan, Stonebinder o’ the Western Range, and Hammerfist o’ the Mirdria Dwarves, representin’ the allied clans that came to our aid. They be… curious as to how ye ended up as the new king here.” The old master gave him a significant look. Puckerface covered his mouth as he chuckled quietly, amused by Max’s predicament.

  Max sat back down on the bench, not wanting to look down on the venerable dwarves facing him. “I’m afraid I must apologize to all of you. After I finished off the king, I was flooded with notifications, including one offering me the city. In my excitement, I accepted, without thinking it through. I did not mean to rob any of you of the spoils, or think to hoard it all to myself. I didn’t really think at all.” He paused before uttering his next thought, but decided his situation was probably already known by all of those present.

  “I am a Battleborne, new to this world, and still learning how things work. Rockbreaker has admonished me for my haste, and advised me to seek the counsel of King Ironhand, which I intend to do as soon as we return to Darkholm.”