by Edward Brody
“Would you rather just fight these things?” I asked. “If you can’t get by, then we none of us can.”
Jeremy looked over to the Hexapodras, and after a few seconds, he pooched his lips. “Alright… I’ll go first.”
Jeremy creeped down into sneak mode and scurried across the barren ground. Jax had his bow and arrow drawn just in case of an attack, and the rest of us had our weapons at the ready.
Thankfully, the Hexapodras didn’t even seem to notice Jeremy as he passed and entered the mouth of the mountain. After a few seconds, Jeremy peeked his head out and waved a hand for us to follow.
I cringed as we all crouched down and moved past the Hexapodras the same way Jeremy had. We weren’t all as skilled in Sneak as Jeremy was, and I could even hear the metal of Ozzy’s armor rub together as he moved. I was certain that any moment the Hexapodras would hear us and attack.
Thankfully, they didn’t.
The cave at the base of the mountain was dark, but there was enough light shining in that I could make out a small room lined with vases. Half of the vases were broken, as if the room had once been raided, and there were several humanoid bones scattered randomly throughout.
No monsters that I could see.
I raised my hand and cast Divine Sight on us all. After eight casts, I took a moment to meditate and regain my mana. I knew there would be little room for error as we continued.
“Nada,” Jeremy said as he peeked into one of the vases, his voice suddenly sounding a lot louder than it had outside.
“Might be time for our quiet voices,” I suggested as I stood up from my meditation. We don’t want to alert anything. “Remember, we’re not here to kill anything we don’t have to. Just look for anything that looks like a powerful weapon. We find it, and we’re out.”
Everyone nodded.
Inside the room was a sloping path that led up and around to an exit higher up on the mountain. We all trudged up the path, exited the cave, and found ourselves on another sloping path that curled up and around to the other side of the crest. The outer path was wide enough that four of us could stand side by side, but we walked in pairs, as no one wanted to fall over the unguarded edge.
The path ended at another entrance into the side of Dragon’s Crest, and it was clear as soon as we looked inside that we weren’t going to be able to pass the next set of baddies so easily.
Five creatures that bore some vague resemblance to the skinners I had once fought in the Vale were wandering around aimlessly in the barren cave. Like the skinners, they were short, leathery creatures with no arms, but this time, their faces were shaped like a small t-rex’s and when the creatures opened their mouths, it revealed several rows of tiny sharp teeth and a long, wet tongue. Two bony appendages rose from their back and had sharp horns at the end, pointing to the front.
Bones of animals that had to be at least two or three times the size of the monsters were scattered about, and the room smelled like something had recently died inside.
Name: fleshripper
Race: monster
Level: 29
Health/Mana/Stamina: 200/0/500
Status: aggressive
I cringed at the name “fleshripper” and could conclude that death by one of them would not be pretty.
“This may be tough,” Rina said.
“And we’re only on our first fight,” Jeremy concurred.
“There’s no easy way around this,” Jax said. “We’ve just got to do our best. I’ll snipe shot to get us started. As soon as it hits, go!”
“Wait a minute,” I said. I gripped my staff hard, tapped it lightly on the ground, and focused on casting my newest spell. What started as a small flame on the ground quickly rose into a fire elemental.
“Whoa. That’ll help,” Sung cooed.
“I hope so,” I said.
Jax kneeled and leaned around the corner. He pulled back his arrow and aimed intently for one of the two-legged fleshrippers that were ambling around.
The arrow zoomed through the air and slammed into the body of one of the fleshrippers, causing it to fall and slide across the ground. It screeched loudly as it tried to get back to its feet.
The other fleshrippers looked at their downed friend and started snapping their jaws together rapidly. It only took a second before they turned their heads and realized where the attack was coming from.
Ozzy rushed inside, stomped his foot, and immediately let out his Intimidating Shout.
Focusing on controlling my summons, I urged it to rush in and attack the closest fleshripper.
Donovan ran in to intercept one of the fleshrippers that was racing for Ozzy and landed a hard blow with his sword against the creature’s head, but while the creature jerked back and screamed, it immediately leaped forward and started nipping its toothy jaws at the elf, causing him to go on the defensive.
Jeremy and Sung both looked scared and hesitant, but as soon as the first fleshripper jumped onto Ozzy, doing its best to rip into his armor, they rushed towards him, thrusting their daggers into the backs of any creatures they could attack from behind.
Jax released arrow after arrow into the monsters, and I threw out on-cast abilities from my staff along with Fireblasts.
Rina stood back and did nothing but chain heal Ozzy, whilst throwing the occasional heal at anyone who looked like they had gotten hurt.
My fire elemental was more than I could have asked for. The fleshrippers seemed drawn towards it, and every time it was in their range, they attacked, but found themselves burning their tongues and jaws just as much as they were causing damage to it.
The fire elemental swung its fists, punching one fleshripper, then turning and swinging again at another.
Along with our combined magic attacks, we quickly put one of the fleshrippers down.
Donovan seemed to dance as he whirled his swords and did his usual dazzling moves but took a hard bite from one of the fleshrippers to the arm. The monster got such a grip that when it pulled back, it literally yanked the elf’s gauntlet off his arm.
My summon switched its attention to the fleshripper on the elf, and after a few attacks, the monster was fending off my summon rather than trying to hurt Donovan.
Ozzy was getting bitten hard by several of the creatures, but his thick armor and Rina’s healing was keeping him alive. At one point, the big guy rushed forward into a charge and slammed the beasts that were clamped to him into the wall. He then performed a jumping uppercut, which dislodged all of them from his body.
After a few minutes of fighting, we emerged victorious, with only Donovan and Ozzy taking damage.
You have gained 6100 XP!
Donovan had some bleeding scrapes on his arm, and the armor that had been yanked off him had some minor tears in it, but Ozzy had been hurt pretty badly. His armor was covered in teeth holes, and the fleshrippers had managed to draw blood from a few places.
“Good work,” Jeremy said as he slapped hands with Sung then performed a shoulder bump together.
“You too,” Sung said.
“Good work everyone,” I added.
Rina threw out more heals onto Ozzy and she moved in to help him bandage his wounds.
“You okay?” I asked him.
Ozzy nodded as he pulled a bandage from his bag. “I’m alright, but I don’t know how much more of that my armor can take. They really did a number on it.”
Donovan slid his battered gauntlet back on and stuck his finger in the tear. “First creature I’ve encountered that could pierce armor so easily.”
I let my elemental fade away and joined Keysia and Rina in meditation. When my mana was full, I opened my eyes to see Ozzy cutting into one of the fleshrippers’ skin with a small knife. He cut around the neck, then pulled the skin back, separating the leathery hide from the rest of the carcass.
“Skinning?” I asked.
Ozzy nodded. “I told you I’d get Jax to teach me someday. I don’t know if this hide is any good, but I figure I might as well grab
one on our way down.”
He rolled the hide up and sat it near the entrance to pick up on the way back. It was too much of a burden to carry around as we continued up.
When the other casters were finished meditating, and everyone else was prepared, we began our climb up the inner slope, then continued onto the path outside.
Chapter Thirty-Two
2/12/0001
Moving up the sloping path etched into the side of Dragon’s Crest became more frightening the higher we went. It was clear we still had a lengthy way to go, but it already looked like there was a long way down as we circled around towards the next entrance.
Below, we could see even more Hexapodras scattered throughout the barren valley, and there were other creatures a little further out that looked almost humanoid but were too difficult to make out from where we were standing.
When we reached the next cave entrance, I was at the front of the pack and carefully walked forward to have a look inside.
Three humanoid creatures were sitting in a circle at the very center of the room. They were thin, hairless, unclothed, and their skin appeared as if it were dry and stretched too tightly across their bony frames.
They sensed my presence the moment I saw them, turned their heads, and immediately stood, giving us no time to plan.
“Shit!” I shouted to my team. “Go! Go! Go! They know we’re here!”
Ozzy pushed past me, ran inside, and after taking two steps, he froze a moment in fear.
When the three creatures stood up all the way, they were twice as tall as us, and their arms were so long that they almost touched the ground. Their mouths seemed stuck in a permanently open position, showing toothless voids as they groaned. With their long, pointy ears, they looked like some combination of Slenderman, an alien, and a zombie elf.
Name: Bone Dancer
Race: monster
Level: 32
Health/Mana/Stamina: 500/100/200
Status: aggressive
Ozzy shouted, and ran towards the side of the room, drawing the creatures away from the entrance where the rest of us were filing in.
One of the Bone Dancers thrust its long arm towards Ozzy, and Ozzy held up his shield in defense. The slow attack looked like it had little power behind it, but remarkably, the blow sent Ozzy flying back and tumbling across the ground.
“Oz!” I yelled.
The same creature stepped forward, lifted its arm, and was about to slam it down onto Ozzy, when one of Jax’s arrows slammed into the monster’s ear.
The monster flinched, stopped, and focused on dislodging the arrow versus continuing its onslaught on Ozzy.
Keysia and I were both lobbing on-cast effects from our staves into the other Bone Dancers, but other than slight flinches, the monsters showed little concern for our attacks.
Jeremy and Sung became their main focus of attention, as the two ran around the Bone Dancers feet, stabbing their legs and dodging their swinging arms. The monsters looked down, following the two rogues’ movements, but they had trouble landing any attacks.
Donovan slashed the back legs of the creature attacking Ozzy, rolled to its flank, lifted his gauntlet and shot a tiny arrow at its other ear. Again, the creature stopped what it was doing and put all its focus into clearing its ear.
I cast Fireblast, Arcane Missile, and Clumsy. Keysia also stepped forward and attempted to cast her spidering lightning effect, but they seemed only mildly annoyed each time they were hit.
I took a step forward, tapped my staff on the ground, and focused on casting my summoning spell. With my eyes closed, it should’ve took only a second to activate the spell, but I heard a loud boom, and when I opened my eyes, a thin, bony hand was swinging in my direction. It hit me hard and in the chest, knocking back and against the wall.
“Gunnar!” someone yelled. It sounded like Keysia.
The creatures had seemed too slow to reach me in such short time, but apparently, they could move pretty damn fast when they really wanted to.
My vision was blurry, and I felt disoriented on the ground. When I lifted my head, I coughed, and blood rocketed out of my mouth and on to the ground. I didn’t feel like I had any external wounds, but the hit must have hurt something inside.
I glanced up and saw that the single blow had brought my health all the way down to around 25%.
My health bar jumped, and a cool energy surrounded me as I felt Rina’s quick heal.
Thankfully, no bandages were required for internal wounds, so I almost immediately felt better. I wasn’t 100%, but as I picked myself up, I was good enough to continue fighting.
Jax reached into his bag and pulled out a purplish black potion. He held it awkwardly in his hand as he shot another arrow at one of the beasts, landing directly in its ear, and when the monster paused to dislodge the arrow, Jax threw the potion, connecting at the top of its knee.
The potion exploded on impact, and the monster groaned as the bottom half of its leg fell away. It lost its balance and began topping over, falling hard on its side. While the monster had obviously been harmed, it showed no further indication of pain and continued swinging its arms towards us even in its immobile state.
“Hell yeah!” I yelled to Jax.
Ozzy let out another Intimidating Shout, grabbing the attention of one of the monsters. Sung and Jeremy simultaneously stabbed their daggers into the feet of the same beast, then Donovan moved behind it and slashed the back of its ankles with his sword, carving out large chunks of bone and flesh.
The monster moaned and kneeled as if it had suddenly lost balance, but after a few seconds, it managed to push its way back up and to its feet.
I held my hand out and started channeling a Firebomb. While I wasn’t sure if it would be as effective as Jax’s explosion potion, it was the next logical thing to try.
Donovan hacked at the monster again from behind, and again, the same monster fell to one knee.
At the same time, I had gathered enough energy in my hands, ran forward, and yelled, “Stand back!”
Everyone jumped away from the fight as I lobbed the Firebomb at the Bone Dancer’s knee. The ball flew through the air, and I missed the mark when it landed at the top of its thigh, but it caused enough damage to blow a huge chunk of its bony leg away. I didn’t fall over immediately, but when it tried to take a step, what was left of its leg buckled at the area of impact. Its thigh snapped under pressure, causing it to fall over and to the ground.
It looked like we had a good thing going as I tried channeling another Firebomb. Sung and Jeremy moved to the last standing monster and were stabbing at its feet, and Donovan moved in to hack at its heels like he had before.
Just when it looked like we knew what we were doing, one of the Bone Dancers on the ground swung its arm in a wide motion, smashing Donovan and clipping Jeremy on his hip.
Donovan slid across the room, and Jeremy jerked and fell down to his side.
The standing Bone Dancer saw an opportunity and swung another hard fist, landing in Jeremy’s side. Jeremy slid several feet away into a heap, but the Bone Dancer took one huge step, and hammered its hard, bony fist down at him.
“Oh shit!” Jax yelled.
Ozzy let out another Intimidating Shout, causing the Bone Dancer to turn momentarily, and I ran forward and again threw a Firebomb. It missed the monster’s leg, landing instead into its hand.
Its hand exploded and took a good chunk of its arm with it. When the monster looked down at the wound, Donovan shot a small bolt from his gauntlet into its eye.
The creature moaned and grabbed at its eye with its one free arm while Donovan and Sung pounded at its legs, hacking and stabbing as furiously as they could.
Keysia and I both lobbed on-cast effects from our staves, and Jax lobbed arrows that each stuck into the Bone Dancer’s torso. Ozzy slammed his heavy hammer at the monster’s legs.
After a few seconds of our attacks being focused on one standing Bone Dancer, it finally made moaned and fell forward and onto i
ts face.
The disabled Bone Dancers on the ground, tried to pull their way forward with their hands and swung aimlessly as we all stayed outside their range.
Sung creeped around one of the nearly dead Bone Dancers and stabbed it in the back of the head a couple times, ending its life. Donovan took a more forward approach and dodged the monster’s swings, then leapt up and slashed the Bone Dancer hard across the neck. No blood leak from the monster’s wound, but there was a wet, black mark where it received its final cut.
You have gained 7200 XP!
I breathed a sigh of relief when the last of the Bone Dancers were dead, but then focused my attention towards my fallen guildmate. “Jeremy!”
He was still lying in the same position, and he wasn’t moving at all.
Chapter Thirty-Three
2/12/0001
“He’s dead,” Rina said, shaking her head. “I tried to heal him, but those things did so much damage, so fast.”
I lowered my eyes and took a heavy breath. While Jeremy was a Reborn, I knew how painful death was, and I didn’t wish it on anyone—Reborn or not. He was lying in a position where one of his legs was contorted, so I knew it must have hurt.
“You can rez him, right?” I asked.
Rina nodded. “Of course.”
Rina took a step forward, closed her eyes, raised her staff, and began focusing on Jeremy. His body began glowing, and his contorted leg started moving back into place. After a few seconds, his body started twitching.
Jeremy coughed and groaned as he came to, then rolled over to face us. He squinted as if his vision were just beginning to clear. “Damn, I died so fast,” he said weakly.
I nodded. “Yeah. Sorry, man.”
Jeremy flinched as he sat up. He looked down at his dirty hands then picked up his dagger that had fell dropped beside him. “Those things hit hard as hell. It hurt like a bitch.”
