by Jason Cheek
Altogether, it was an impressive force, especially in the darkness with the rotting corpses snapping and snarling with their voracious appetite for the living. In total, there were a hundred and thirty zombies and sixty-eight players, since the rest of us had put our zombies on follow with the Uten Syn guild’s zombies. Watching their unnatural movement as they raced over the flat terrain was enough to make your skin crawl. As they came to a sudden stop at the outer edge of the Russian’s camp, Dmitry threw his head back with a great bellow.
“Khorosho sygrano!” The Russian guild leader exclaimed, clapping me on the shoulder as Tengsly fluttered back to his place in my hood. Seeing the incomprehension in my eyes, he translated the words into English for me. “Well played, my American friend. You deserve reputation of player that takes no shit!”
“Come, we must share drink to our friendship!” Dmitry called out, as he turned around and headed for the bonfire with an unconcerned swagger. “And you must tell me how your female wolf dominate Fenrir and rest of pack so easily.”
I had to give the Russians credit. None of the guild scrambled for weapons or seemed overtly concerned when our people came charging out of the woods or appeared out of Stealth behind them. If anything, I’d say that the Russian players just looked as if they expected nothing less of a player of my caliber.
“Stand-down everyone,” I called out to the raid. Seeing everyone’s concerned looks, I waved them away with a smile and invited them to join us as I headed after the Russian guild leader. Before this dance had started, I could tell that Dmitry wasn’t going to go back on his word and betray us. It just wasn’t the type of man he was. Dmitry’s goal was to impress upon me the strength of his guild and proudly show off his forces, which I couldn’t blame him for doing since I’d basically done the same thing.
At the same time, it was more than that. Even this was a test. Seeing that Neysa hadn’t followed after me, I mentally ordered her to let the Russian wolves up and to come with me. Instead of responding to me directly, her only response was an annoyed chuff, but it was enough to allow Fenrir and the rest of the wolf pack to climb back to their feet. By the time I’d introduced the rest of my friends, companions, and the Uten Syn officers who had joined me by the bonfire, the Russians were finishing up handing out wooden mugs to everyone.
“This is Russian tradition,” Dmitry announced, raising his glass to me and then at everyone around us. “New friends must share drink together before talking business.”
The aroma coming from the glass reminded me somewhat of opening a can of turpentine in a closed room as my nose hairs curled. Looking around at my friends, I could see the hesitant faces nervously eyeing the clear substance within their own cups. The only person who didn’t seem concerned was Fylreh, which made me nervous for a whole different reason. Hopefully, one shot wouldn’t get her plastered again. Nonetheless, all of us held up the wooden cups to Dmitry.
“Na Zdorovie!” The Russian guild leader called out and gulped down the fluid in one go.
“Nostrovia!” I called out, holding my breath as I gulped down the strong alcohol. It burned the entire way down my throat until it settled in my stomach like a burning chunk of coal. Gagging uncontrollably, I couldn’t help gasping for breath as Dmitry happily pounded me on the back. Looking around, I saw that my friends weren’t doing any better with the foul-tasting liquid than I was.
“Is Na Zdorovie,” Dmitry said, correcting my Russian politely. “Nostrovia means let’s get drunk in English. Na Zdorovie is cheers in Russian.”
“Na Zdorovie,” I hoarsely wheezed, still gasping for breath as the Russian guild leader gave a friendly laugh.
“Sorry about the quality of the vodka,” Dmitry said, somewhat conciliatory as he sniffed at his now empty glass in disdain.
“That was supposed to be vodka?” I asked, worriedly checking over my stats. Instead of being hit with an additional Intelligence debuff, I was surprised to see that my Spirit had increased by three points with a thirty minute buff.
“Da, Boris is doing best to perfect recipe,” Dmitry explained. “But, needs much work compared to good Russian vodka. Increased Spirit is good, da?”
“Not bad,” I replied, silently casting a Minor Cure Disease. Instantly feeling better, I stood up straight and handed the wooden mug back to Boris who seemed to be collecting the empties. Around me, I could see my friends and companions were more relaxed as they talked politely to the Russian players around them. “So, you ready to get down to business? All of my people and the Aussies should be in the middle of the pass and waiting to move out in about twenty-five minutes.”
“Is no problem,” Dmitry said, as he looked over his people. “We have been waiting to move out for two days.”
“Krasnyy Volki, five minutes to move out!” Dmitry called out to his guild. Immediately, his people began packing away their equipment, donning armor, and preparing to march. I swear the entire guild moved like a militant of Russian Cossacks but without the beards and horses. Turning back to me, Dmitry leaned in close to speak. “Your combat pet is special, da?”
“To me she is,” I whispered back, giving him a grin. “Though, she’s not just a combat pet. She’s a combat mount.” Seeing the surprised look on Dmitry’s face, I continued in the same tone. “But, I have no idea why your wolves acted the way they did to her, albeit she’s a Silver Dire Wolf. Maybe that has something to do with it.” Not that I was going to explain to him about her Nightmare stats that showed up with this morning’s Emergency Hot Fix.
“Humph, must be more than that,” Dmitry exhaled unhappily, thinking over my words as he eyed Neysa who was standing next to me. “Explains why she is so large.”
“Hope you have good plan for Chaos Storm Alliance,” Dmitry said, as he gave Fenrir and the rest of their pack a disgusted look, before turning back to me. “They have many players attacking your friend. Too many to fight even with your NPCs.”
“We don’t have to beat them,” I said, getting a far off look in my eyes. The plan that had been bouncing around in my head was starting to get a rough shape, especially after meeting Dmitry and Dangas. “I have an idea that just might work.” Before I could explain more, a strong voice interrupted our discussion.
“Everyone is ready to move out, Dmitry,” the older man named Mikhail reported, as he came to a stop next to me. Although he didn’t salute, the man’s stance and demeanor made me think of a soldier reporting to an officer. Glancing around the camp, I was surprised to see that even the bonfire had been put out.
Getting into formation, we moved out as one group with the Uten Syn guild taking up the rear. My friends, companions, along with the Russian and Uten Syn officers joined me at the head of the column, while Neysa took off to scout ahead as usual. As I warned them both to keep their distance from the higher level packs wandering the pass, Dmitry ordered his pack of Great Saber-Fang Wolves to keep an eye on our flanks, while our zombies formed a close defensive ring around us.
It was a solid formation with multiple layers of warning and defense. As we ran, I did my best to keep the grin from my lips at the whispered comments coming from the Russian players as they eyed the undead pets with interest. There was something about their unnatural movements that drew the eyes and made your skin crawl, until you got used to having them around. At the same time, they gave a certain sense of security too.
As we made our way back across the plain in front of the pass in an arc that brought us back towards the Aussie side of the mountain, I was surprised that we didn’t see any of the packs of mobs that we’d seen earlier on our way in. A quick query to Neysa confirmed the odd phenomenon as I ignored Dmitry’s questions about the plan I was working on. After ten minutes, I finally asked him again to wait until we’d met up with everyone else since there was no sense in going over everything twice. Grumpily, he relented as I listened to the Russians talking about the PVP fights they’d been through earlier with the reinforcements that had been rushing through the pass to join the C
haos Storm Alliance forces on the far side.
Like the Aussies, they’d been offered a reward for capturing me and my friends. Natasha joked about how she’d told them that it made more sense to slaughter them whenever they could for the bounty on their heads within the Kingdom of Kader. None of their threats about retribution and being put on the Chaos Storm Alliance’s kill list caused them any concern to the PKers frustration. As we were passing by the edge of the Aussie’s forest, I received an urgent message from Neysa.
‘There’s a major fight going on in the center of the pass!’ Neysa’s thoughts urgently came to me as Helgath added. ‘We’ll get closer to see what’s going on.’
Chapter One.Twenty-Seven
(Thursday, May 8th / Day 18 of The World.)
“Our people are under attack in the center of the pass!” I immediately announced in raid chat as my eyes searched the darkness ahead. “No one has reported in that they’re under attack, so be prepared for anything.”
It wasn’t until we’d climbed the slope that led to the pass that I could see the purple flashes in the distance. When I switched to my regular vision, it looked like a major battle was going on. Between the moonlight and the intense purple waves of Shadow Bolts blasting out as one, I could only make out my people fighting off waves of shadowy enemies at this distance. My voice turned cold as my guild leader persona took over.
“All zombie pets to the front of the formation. We’ll organize in the same formation we used to prank the Russians.” I ordered as the Uten Syn guild caught up with the Russians. Immediately, their formation began to shift. Druids to the front and Guardians to the back. As the Druids began to transform into their fighting forms, Dmitry’s voice cracked out like a whip in raid chat.
“Krasnyy Volki, form up for battle! Ivan, have your people’s pets guard left flank. Mikhail, your people’s wolves will guard right flank. Olga, your people will take rear.”
I gave the Russian guild leader a thankful nod. It was a good call. The last thing we wanted to do was get into a situation where we were ambushed from the rear. Still, I couldn’t figure out who would have known we were here to set up an ambush. My confusion was resolved a moment later, when a dark-brown squirrel came to a hover before my eyes. It was Blink, Dell’s messenger squirrel.
‘My lord, we have reached the entrance to the pass as you ordered and met up with the Aussie newfar. In the interim, the Devil Dogs have decided to clear the entrance of mobs. We await your arrival’
‘We are entering the pass now. We should reach your lines in about ten minutes.’ I sent back to Blink for him to carry to his master. As soon as the flying squirrel disappeared, I saw Dmitry and his officers eyeing me with interest. Before they could ask me about the messenger squirrel, a midnight-black named Blackhawk came to a hover before my eyes.
‘Where in the hell are you guys at? Kenzie and Jill are both already bitching up a storm. We’re at the mouth of the pass, so hurry it up already. Also, don’t be too upset, but you’re not the only one with a combat pet anymore. We found some cool baby mobs while you were hobnobbing it up with the guild leaders. We’ll show your slow asses when you get here.’
‘We’ll be there in ten minutes. Tell Kenzie and Jill to calm the fuck down. Maybe they should pick up some crafting skills or something for the times they need to wait.’ Rolling my eyes at Thomas’ message, I sent Blackhawk away. As soon as the flying squirrel disappeared into the night, Dmitry slid up next to me with hungry eyes.
“You must tell me,” the Russian guild leader said in a tense voice. “How many of these flying squirrels does your guild have?”
“As many as we need,” I said with a grin, as the Russians glanced at each other meaningfully. “But, let’s hold off on the discussion about how everyone can get one of their own, until we meet up with the rest of our group. I imagine the Aussies are just as interested in acquiring their own flying squirrels too.”
As we neared the main raid, the experience points began to roll in. It wasn’t high numbers, something like a hundred here or two hundred there, but there were a lot of those coming in. Besides, every little bit helped when I hadn’t been expecting to get any XP on this trip. Bodies of monsters were piled up all around the edges of the raid at the thirty yard mark which was impressive to say the least. They were all in the level 65 range. That might sound odd since most of the raid was in their mid to high thirties, but when you could assign a hundred troopers to one higher-level mob, it made a certain kind of sense.
Even so, the mass of higher level mobs were pushing the raid hard. In the raid interface, I saw many of the Kayden Troopers health dropping like rocks even with Ayda’s Song of Rallying Spirit healing everyone around her. The creatures must have had some nasty magic attacks to be doing such high damage to so many of my people at once while not one-shotting any of them. There was no question in my mind that if we didn’t do something quick, this was going to start getting real ugly.
“Guardians, Healing Breeze!” I yelled out, as I immediately began casting my own spell. As a green glow of shimmering stars covered the raid, I continued shouting orders. “Everyone, send your zombie pets in! Ranged fighters, target the enemy if you can get a clear shot without hitting our own people. Melee fighters, form up and prepare to hold the enemy!”
Within seconds, the raids’ lines began to solidify once again as people’s health began to go back up. That, and the aggro instantly changed due to the mass healing going on. Some of the monsters tried to fight their way through the raid to get at us, while others raced around the obstruction of players to get at us. Though, there was nothing stopping the packs directly in front of us from whipping around to charge us.
While it was an overwhelming sight on one level. My people weren’t being slackers either. With the worst of the pressure relieved, they went back to blasting into the high-level monsters’ ranks with their Shadow Blasts. Even though the damage of the base level spell was quite low, most creatures didn’t have a natural resistance to Dark magic and the number of magic bolts hammering into their flanks were impressive to say the least. Nonetheless, it was going to be close as our mini raid became the focus of the monstrous packs ire.
“Guardians, switch to ranged attacks!” My voice cracked like a whip in raid chat to be heard over the cacophony of howls and vicious growls that pierced the night as the zombies slammed into the monstrous mass without a thought for their own survival. Fangs and claws ripped at the undead and the living alike as the sounds of combat drowned out all other sounds. Although our pets were in the near forties, they were being shredded by the immense strength of the higher-level mobs.
With a thought, I dropped a Light Word of Censor into the center of the writhing mass going head-to-head, before switching to my Enhanced Shadow Blasts. As the purple bolts began eating the flesh of the stone-skinned monsters struggling to reach us, Angie and Dmitry hurried to get their people in position. Growling deep in their chests in bestial fury, the Werebears and Werewolves came to a stop and began forming up in a defensive line, while Dmitry’s guildmates took up positions on the front lines next to them. At the same time, he directed the Russians’ Great Saber-Fang wolves to bunch up on either side of our impromptu formation.
“Krasnyy Volki,” Dmitry’s commanding bellow came to my ears, “fire at will!” The heavy barrage of multi-shot arrows that hammered the monsters’ front ranks caught me completely by surprise as the creatures howled in agony. I mentally chastised myself for forgetting that the Russians were all Ranger combos. Seeing the dropping hit point bars before us, I started to feel like we just might have a chance to survive this cluster fuck.
“What did they do?” I angrily snarled, as I watched the writhing mass lessen before us as the monsters drove towards our lines. “Aggro the entire plain?”
‘Looks that way,’ Neysa sourly agreed as I noticed Helgath using Shadow Blasts instead of her signature Water Shaman magic to hammer at the enemy from where she rode. It stood out in my mind, because th
at was the first time I could remember seeing her using Dark magic. It made me wonder why she hadn’t been raising her own zombies. Making a mental reminder to talk to her about that later, I turned my focus back to the approaching mobs.
No matter what we did, I could tell from the flow of battle that some of the high-level mobs were going to break. My friends were already moving towards the front lines to lend their support. Sarka had her shield and sword held at the ready, while Yun sought to get into range for his Frost Nova to help break up the monsters’ initial charge. Tinyr, who was there to back Sarka up, was already switching out his bow for his blades, while Unalia’s hands’ glowed as they sent arrows out in a blur.
Targeting the severely damaged mobs, I did my best to burn their health down with my Enhanced Shadow Blasts as I began making my way towards the front line. In a game like this a nearly dead enemy was just as deadly as one that was at full health. To either side of me were Neristhana, Ulia, Rayne, and Fylreh. Behind us, Keela and Brenna were blasting the mass of mobs with everything they had.
I’d nearly reached the front row where the Russians and Druids awaited the enemy, when an Earth Shock blasted me and everyone nearby off our feet. Urgently looking around me, I saw gaping holes in our defensive line from the Elite Earth Shock Wolves special attacks. Before any of us could regain our feet, a massive wolf the size of a Clydesdale suddenly towered above us.
Letting out an ear-piercing howl, the stone-skinned monster’s massive claws sent players flying as it snatched up a Werebear in its fang-filled maw. A silver blur slammed into the monster’s head as Neysa launched herself at the terrible creature, while Helgath squatted over me blasting the monster in its enraged face at point blank range. Rolling onto my back, I began blasting the nightmarish creature with both fists.
