That Wasn't the Plan

by Jason Cheek

  “We’ve got incoming people!” I shouted out in my Raid Leader voice as I saw Krishna, Angie, and the other Uten Syn officers hurriedly making their way over to me. Ignoring the worried looks on their faces, I took charge of the situation. “Neristhana, how is the rear of the raid looking?”

  “All enemies have been taken out,” the Gnomeling’s voice reported sharply. “Though, we have no watchers on the ridge.”

  “Alrighty then,” I continued, as I gazed out at the Uten Syn players meeting everyone’s eyes. “Krishna! Angie! I need your people formed up in four rows. I want twenty-six of the highest level Werewolf and Werebear Druids on the lower side of the slope and the last twelve on the ridge side. Same with the Guardians, but I want them in the center. Once that has happened, I want everyone but the first row on the lower side of the slope to cast Raise Zombie with the soul stone I gave you earlier. Neristhana, Ulia, and Rayne, I want you in position by me. Keela and Brenna, keep an eye on the top of the slope for adds. Otherwise, help where you can.”

  For a split-second, everyone but my friends and companions just stared at me and the approaching wall of monsters rushing up the slope at us. The only sounds I could hear was Sarka’s low muttering of “fuck … fuck … fuck” over team chat as she raced back up the slope with her Intercept ability. Although, she was noticeably moving much slower now that she had an armful of Elite Fanged Tarpan Strider the size of a colt clutched to her chest. In a tone that would have made a Marine Drill Instructor proud, I bellowed in raid chat.

  “Move your asses now, people!” I swear, the entire Uten Syn guild jumped as I began pacing up and down the front line while badgering the newbie players to move even faster. “This ain’t no ice cream social, people! Now move … move … move!”

  Krishna, Lyeneru, Angie, Gaelin, Monica, and Julissa had snapped out of their shock and were now shouting out orders to help get their people into position. Within thirty seconds, I saw the back row of players begin casting their Raise Zombie spells as I continued passing out buffs to everyone on the front line that I could. Although, now it was only Holy Shield and Enhanced Mage Armor, since Light’s Blessing had a hundred and twenty second cast cooldown. Seeing what I was doing, Yun joined me in hitting everyone he could with the same buffs, since both spells were only three second casts. Yeah, the Uten Syn players should have been doing the Enhanced Mage Armor on their own, but they were doing the best they could with the changing situation.

  “Werebears! Space yourself out on the edges of the formation!” I shouted, as I came to a stop a quarter of the way to the end of the battle line with Neysa and Helgath by my side. Yun matched me in a similar position on the other side, while I kept the center of the formation open for Sarka. At my request, Ulia and Rayne took up a position next to the Priest, while Neristhana sidled up next to me. The hard look on her face told me she wouldn’t be willing to look after anyone else as Tinyr took up a position in the center to back up Sarka with Unalia at his back.

  There were no zombie pets to call upon. They’d all been wiped out in the first attack, nor was there time for the rest of us to replace them before we came under attack again. For now, our hope lay with the Uten Syn players who were busy raising our ace in the hole. Until they could back us up, we had to do this the hard way, I thought, glancing at the determined faces around me with pride. In my heart of hearts, I knew we could do this.

  I went over the tactical situation in my head. Once Sarka joined our line, we’d have a front thirty-five players long facing the oncoming horde of wild animals. While that might not seem like much in the face of the higher-level force arrayed against us, we had a solid formation backed up by our group healers that could switch to range attacks as needed. I paused for a moment frowning. Okay, solid might not be the right word, but they were blooded and definitely motivated. I’d bet on that over a disorganized horde any day of the week.

  To either side of me, Unalia and Fylreh began hammering the outliers that had nearly caught up to Sarka with their arrows. The main packs were hot on Sarka’s heals, but there was no way they could close the gap within the eight seconds left for the warrior to reach our lines. Working together, the archers took two of the beasts down and were working on a third, but couldn’t do anything to stop the remaining eight that were preparing to leap on Sarka’s back. Grumbling at being forced to waste one of my aces in the hole, I cast Light Word of Censor.

  Twenty yards away, the golden seal glowed in a five yard radius around Sarka, instantly stunning the Elite Large Rock Wolves hot on her ass. As the mobs collapsed into an out of control, flopping stop, I hit Sarka with an Enhanced Mage Armor and a Regeneration as Yun buffed her with Light’s Blessing and Holy Shield. Seeing the annoyed look on my face, Sarka came to a stop and hurriedly set her baby combat pet down.

  “Now, you be a good girl and keep safe behind Momma.” She cooed to the little lizard, before turning around to face the horde in a huff. “Not one word!” Sarka grunted in team chat as share glared out at the approaching enemy while readying her shield and drawing her sword.

  “How about not aggro’ing the whole valley next-“ Tinyr began to bitch unhappily as Sarka cut him off.

  “I said not a word!” Sarka roared back.

  Ignoring their back and forth, I focused on the charging monsters only ten yards away since I hadn’t really studied them before. The Elite Large Rock Wolves reminded me of four hundred pound Mastiffs combined with Zuul the Gatekeeper from Ghostbusters with rock-like skin and were as ugly as hell. No wonder my friends had been taken out by these things, I thought, as I readied the Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty in my hand.

  “RAID…” I bellowed, dragging out the word as the distance ticked down, “ATTACK!”

  Immediately, a wave of ice washed out from the outer edges of our lines as Yun and I cast Frost Nova together. Similar to the last fight, the wolves behind the lead attackers slammed into their frozen brethren creating a pile of flailing, injured bodies. This encouraged the proceeding Elite Large Rock Wolf packs to head down the center to plow into the middle of our battle line as Sarka did her Defensive Tank thing.

  The plan of attack was somewhat different then what I was used to, since we didn’t have a wall of shield wielding Defensive Tanks this time around. So, when I sprang forward to hammer the frozen and stunned wolves at my feet, the entire line surged forward with me. Fylreh began slicing into the wolves springing over their fallen brethren with her dual scimitars as she used her mass to stop the creatures in mid-air.

  On my other side, Neysa and Helgath protected my flank with Neristhana’s help. The Silver Dire Wolf deftly snatched any Elite Large Rock Wolves trying to spring over her head out of the air as Helgath jumped atop of the snapping monsters to bury her blades into their backs. Leaping into the air with spinning attacks, Neristhana was able to hammer the remaining wolves down that Neysa missed with her Leeching Hand-Axe of Severing.

  Rushing forward, the Uten Syn officers in Werebear form stopped three to four wolves at a time like a linebacker stopping a blitz. Blood flew as the Elite Large Rock Wolves ripped into the players thick hides, but before they could do too much damage, the Werewolf players swarmed all over them. Blood and fur flew as both sides fought tooth and nail to take down their enemies.

  I was able to get a quick six kills within the first eight seconds of the fight. My hand axe’s Execution proc’d and proc’d as I moved through the frozen and stunned wolves like a reaper of death, while my companions kept the monsters away from me. It wasn’t until my last freebie kill that I was forced to use my Shield Bash to keep the wave of wolves back.

  Standing shoulder to shoulder with me, Fylreh caught the leaping wolves on her blades and threw them back while spreading her arms causing massive damage. Monsters that came in low were met with flashing hooves that crushed in heads and snapped legs. At level 42, she was nearly unstoppable as she struggled to hold the right side of the battle line on her own.

  On my other side, Neysa and Neri
sthana worked well as a team. Once the Silver Dire Wolf caught a lunging enemy in her jaws, the gnomeling would fuck them up with critical hits. Even though they didn’t get a chance to take many of their enemies out before the next wolf was upon them, the critical wounds made the monsters easy targets for the Werewolves to finish off.

  Slipping behind me, Helgath managed to climb onto my back as she borrowed mana to create a new Water Shaman spell combined with Dark magic. Within seconds, black corruption began eating at the monsters’ bodies from the inside out as the elite monsters faltered before us. Not passing up easy targets, I thrashed the creatures with my shield and axe, waiting for my spell cool downs to expire.

  Unfortunately, the elite monsters and their seven or eight level differences were nearly too much for most of the Uten Syn guild to handle. The Werewolves natural weapons did only limited damage to the Elite Large Rock Wolves’ stone-like skin. If not for their Nightmare stats, they would have been immediately overwhelmed by the wave of ferocious monsters hammering at their thin battle line.

  Even so, the Uten Syn guild were holding their own until the Frost Nova’d wolves got back into the fight. With hate-filled eyes, the enraged Elite Large Rock Wolves closed in for the kill. Instead of lunging at the players with fangs and claws, they stopped in a rough line five yards away and released their special breath attack, Stone Blast.

  The high-pitched blast of sound from the spell made my ears ring as half of the battle line was pelted with cones of high-velocity gravel. The explosive attacks hit the Druids’ furry bodies like a blast of rock salt from a shotgun shell. Instantly, the defenders’ blood and skin were shredded from their arms and chests in a matter of seconds. Within a split-second, the Uten Syn guild went from holding back the mass of monsters to being rocked back on their heels from the ferocity of the attack.

  Swearing up a storm, I watched in horror as half of the Druids next to me were brutally dragged from their feet by the wolves’ snapping maws. Screaming and howling, the lower-level players fought for their lives as more stone-skinned monsters piled on top of them to rip them to shreds. Although there were only seconds left for the zombies to come into play, if the Elite Large Rock Wolves made it to the Guardians before they finished their one minute cast, the entire raid would wipe for sure.

  Stepping back, I shouted for Helgath to target as many wolves as possible as I began spamming Healing Breeze. In my HUD, I could see the entire battle line’s plummeting health slow down as the constant heals fought to combat the overwhelming damage being inflicted. I could only hope that it would be enough to keep everyone alive for a few seconds longer, when a strong draw on my mana reserves drove me to my knees.

  Gasping for breath, I somehow kept the heals going while Helgath’s slim arms wrapped around my chest to hold me up. For a second, I didn’t understand why my mana was dropping like a rock, until I felt the complex spell the Half-Orc was forming. Dark magic combined with the power of Water Shamanism began taking shape in a complex blend of destruction. As the cast came to an end, Helgath’s hand shot out releasing a cone of corruption.

  In the blink of an eye, Helgath’s new spell reached out to encompass the mass of wolves tearing everyone apart in a five yard long path that reached to Sarka. Even though the cast only lasted for a second and a half, the destructive power released instantly began consuming the monsters in its path from the inside out. Black goo ran from the wolves’ eyes and maws as they howled in agony and withered on the ground.

  Unfortunately, the spell wasn’t strong enough to reach the entire line of attackers as the sound of battle and the screams of the dying continued around us. I could only hope that our combined magic would be enough to hold the line for a few seconds longer as the next wave of wolves aggro’d on the two of us. Before they could tear us apart, Neysa, Neristhana, and Fylreh went into overdrive to keep the attacking monsters at bay.

  Chestnut coat and silver furred legs pressed on us from either side as Neysa and Fylreh sandwiched us between them to keep us safe. At the same time, Neristhana did her best to protect both women’s flanks as the mass of wolves strove to rip us apart. Through it all, I somehow kept my focus enough to continue casting group heals while the defensive line fell apart. It was in this time of desperation, when the guttural roars of hope I’d been waiting for came to my ears.

  One second, we were being overwhelmed by the massive bodies of Elite Large Rock Wolves and in the next, waves of undead were tackling the monsters to the ground in packs of twos and threes. At the same time, the air nearly turned green with glowing sparkles as thirty Guardians simultaneously cast Healing Breeze. Glancing at my HUD, I breathed a sigh of relief as everyone’s health was immediately topped off.

  Neristhana and Helgath helped me to my feet as I shouldered my shield and slipped my hand axe into my belt. Still reeling from mana fatigue, I scanned the Uten Syn players for severe damage as they watched their undead pets rip through the remaining wolves like they were nothing. Telling my ladies that they’d done an excellent job, I began making my way down the line of Druids to cast Minor Mend Bones as needed. By the time I made it to the middle of the battle line, my friends and companions were sitting in a circle talking about the battle, while Sarka cuddled with her new pet.

  “Isn’t she adorable?” Sarka asked, as soon as I sat down.

  “Her fur’s so soft,” Unalia said, as she gently ran her fingers through the white main of fur around the lizard’s neck.

  “Not bad,” I replied, studying the colt-sized lizard curled up in Sarka’s lap as it glared back at me. After nearly dying from the creature’s parents, I had some respect for what the little gal could turn into once she got some levels.

  “Mind if I pet her?” I asked, reaching out for the baby lizard. Before Sarka could reply, the little bitch nearly took my fingers off with her mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that,” Sarka said, trying not to laugh. “She doesn’t particularly like you after you blasted her with that Enhanced Shadow Bolt trying to kill her.” I harrumphed unhappily as the charcoal colored lizard hissed at me warningly, before curling her head back into Sarka’s lap as Tinyr unhappily cut into the conversation.

  “I still don’t understand why you froze out there and aggro’d the rest of the packs.” Seeing Sarka’s uncomfortable blush, I nodded at Tinyr to catch his eye.

  “It’s the imprinting process,” I said, in the way of an explanation. “Everything else around you kind of disappears in the moment when the baby first makes mental contact.” I smiled, patting Neysa on the back as she laid down beside me. “It kind of overwhelms you at first.”

  ‘Good work on that spell,’ I mentally said to Helgath as she quietly laid atop Neysa to join the conversation. Before Neysa could get jealous, I hugged her head to my chest and told her she was a good girl as Neristhana and Fylreh joined the circle. I gave the gnomeling a friendly pat on the shoulder, but was ignored when I tried to thank the filly.

  With a mental sigh, I silently listened to the conversation going on around us as Krishna and others joined the discussion. Mainly, everyone was healing up after the fight, raising zombies, and preparing to move out. As I stood up to raise my own pets, I gave Ulia and Keela a nod while Brenna and Rayne greeted each other with a hug and a kiss, before sitting down. Between raising new zombies, Angie and Gaelin joined us.

  “I don’t know if I should be pissed or grateful for the extra levels,” Angie said with an unhappy groan, as she sat down to eye Sarka unhappily. Taking a long pull on her waterskin, she continued with a frown. “Can someone explain what the hell happened?”

  That started the whole conversation about imprinting once again as I silently pulled up my character sheet and checked my stats. Only half way to a new level, I glumly thought, as I concentrated back on the conversation at hand. When the conversation turned to the beginning of the fight, I explained about the Stone Assassin that had caught Neysa and Helgath in an ambush.

  After that, the tal
k turned to finding more combat pets. The general consensus being that it was worth the risk of aggro’ing another whole valley full of mobs if we could get a few more pets on our trek. No one seemed worried about the outcome of the fights now that everyone had their own zombie pets. It was a good point. As I began raising up my twelfth pet, Krishna and Angie got their people ready to move out.

  Chapter One.Twenty-Three

  (Wednesday, May 7th / Day 17 of The World.)

  It was interesting to see the difference in the Uten Syn players’ reactions to the zombies after having been saved by the undead creatures. Instead of complaining about the smell of rotting flesh or being disgusted with how they looked, the players proudly marched along with their pets as we took off once again to find the Aussies. Fortunately or unfortunately, we didn’t get far. As soon as we hit the lowest part of the valley, we ran into three nearly hidden dens of Elite Large Rock Wolf pups.

  There was no problem gathering them up since the packs had all been slaughtered. Yeah, that sounds pretty cruel, but we were playing a game and it was better than leaving them on their own to starve to death. Besides, all three dens had five pups each, which gave a total of fifteen pets for everyone to roll on. You’d think that the Uten Syn guild would have been a little easier going since they had their manifest pets from nature magic, but that wasn’t the case as the tiny little wolf pups created a mini riot.

  Rolling on loot was a concept that was new to everyone but Tinyr and me, since we were both gamers. Although some of the Uten Syn players had heard of the concept, none of them had ever actually used the mechanic in practice. Rolling for loot started in the good old Dungeons and Dragons days and were automatically added to the first MMOs. It was usually triggered by typing a slash roll and the number of players in the group or raid in the command line.