by Pavel Kornev
I threw my hands in front of me and thrust my thumbs into the narrow eye slit of the visor. My claws hit something soft. The purple glow faded as the orc roared and jerked his sword free, dropping me to the ground.
The sky flashed before my eyes. Black steel rose and fell. I rolled aside in an incredible somersault which saved me from the lethal weapon that had very nearly cleft me in two.
The orc raised his two-handed sword once more. He spun on the spot, brandishing it randomly around himself.
One glance at the logs gave me hope.. The damage caused by my claws hadn’t been much. But my specialization had.
I’d blinded the orc. I’d managed to poke his fiery eyes out.
The black knight turned to me again. This time I slid silently aside, grabbed my flamberge and approached my enemy from behind. The combination of two blows — one Accurate, the other Powerful -had very nearly broken every sinew and ligament in my body. The blade whooshed through the air as it dropped onto the orc’s knee. It sliced through the steel knee joint of his armor and crushed the bone. The orc collapsed in a heap but I deftly rolled away. He swung his sword through the air in a sweeping motion, trying to cut my legs.
I jumped over the black blade and lowered my flamberge onto the helmet of my now defeated enemy. The blow hadn’t been too accurate. The blade had only brushed the armor. Also, at that very moment I’d glimpsed some torchlight amid the trees. I had to grab the crystal and get the hell out of there. Still, I lingered.
I dodged another blind swing, changed my position and raised my flamberge over the Orc Knight’s head. Straining my every muscle, I lowered it, hitting him between his neck and his pauldron. I heard a clank and a crunching noise, then he stopped moving and lay motionless on the ground. But he wasn’t dead yet. I had to climb on top of him and drive the sharp bone hook into the slot in his armor.
I’d rather have used a Misericorde stiletto to finish him off. Still, I’d had to do without one.
The orc drew his last breath. I picked up the terrible black sword that had fallen from his hand.
That was the extent of the loot he’d dropped. The killing of the guard had garnered me his fearsome sword and two thousand XP. Plus some serious trouble. Guttural voices shouted something behind the trees; the torchlight flickered ever closer. An arrow whizzed overhead and splashed into the lake.
I decided against confronting the orcs. I slung both of my two-handed swords — my own as well as my freshly-acquired trophy — behind my back, picked up the magic crystal and stealthed up.
Becoming target practice for orc archers wasn’t part of my plans.
STAGGERING, I reached the gates of the temple by dawn on my last 100 pt. Endurance. The rock climb had cost me too dearly. The orcs had been close behind me; I’d also had to carry the crossbow I’d picked up on the steps. As far as I could see, the blow from the scimitar hadn’t done it much damage.
“Uncle John!” Neo rushed toward me. “You’ve found it!”
I lay the spherical crystal on the ground and rolled it toward the boy. Then I discarded my swords and began to string the crossbow. It didn’t have a pulley. I had to place my foot in the stirrup and pull hard at the bow string.
Something seemed to have snapped inside my back but I managed.
The drowned orc had had only five bolts on him, one of which I now loaded. The bolt was absolutely covered in runic carvings. I just hoped it wouldn’t hinder its accuracy.
I set the crossbow aside and inspected my chain mail. Luckily, the hole in my chest had already closed. I picked up the Orc Knight’s sword. Its blade was long and as black as darkness itself. All my attempts to equip it failed, though. My fingers kept sliding off the handle.
Longsword of the Autumnal Equinox
Restriction: can only be used by those in whose veins flows orc blood.
The remaining characteristics of the weapon remained hidden. In any case, I had more important things to do. My pursuers had just appeared on the top of the cliff.
A quick scout ran along the pine trunk, then promptly retreated the moment I raised my Flamberge. I hadn’t shot at him. I needed to save the few bolts I had for more advantageous targets.
God was I right.
When a dozen fanged bandits rushed to the attack, assaulting the area with their blood-curdling war cries, I waited until two of them had climbed the trunk, then buried a bolt in the first one. He collapsed, knocking his comrade into the precipitous abyss with him. The others retreated and took cover behind the rocks.
I reloaded the crossbow and called the boy who was hiding in the guard tower:
“Neo!”
“Yes, Uncle John?”
“Run to the temple and check the locks. I need to know if they’re still okay.”
The massive doors stood intact. If we managed to barricade ourselves inside, the orcs would have their work cut out for them trying to get to us.
At that moment, the shaman jumped out into the open space, whirling in a ritual dance. A dustdevil rose next to him. I had to spend another bolt on him. Even though I failed to hit him, he promptly made himself scarce. The tornado fell apart.
Archers started firing at me non-stop. Their arrows thudded against the stone wall, ricocheting off it in every direction.
“Uncle John!” Neo shouted from a distance. “The locks are okay!”
I picked up the crossbow, stealthed up and hurried to the temple. I leaned against one door half and forced it shut, then grabbed at the other one’s handle and pulled it toward myself. At first I couldn’t even move it until finally I could step back as the gate halves closed with a soft thud.
The glow from the magic crystal flooded everything around. I reached for the Templar’s robes I’d saved for a rainy day and threw them to the boy. “I want you to wrap this around it.”
“Why?”
“The shadows, remember?”
Neo began wrapping the cloth around the crystal. I barred the gate and picked up the crossbow I’d left on the floor.
“Follow me! Don’t stray away,” I ordered when the shine of the artifact had expired, concealed by the thick fabric. The temple plunged into darkness. Neo grabbed at the sleeve of my cape and followed me, staggering under the weight of the magic ball.
“I can’t see anything,” he complained.
“You don’t need to,” I muttered. When we entered the inner hall, I lay the crossbow by a column and took the wrapped crystal from him. “This thing needs to be returned to the pedestal, right? Does it matter who does it?”
“No. Anyone can return the relic,” Neo replied confidently.
“Wait for me here,” I said as I headed toward the pedestal. I absolutely hated having to step over the pentacle painted on the floor but nothing had happened. If indeed there’d once been a demon living inside it, he must have returned to his underworld a long time ago.
I elbowed the orc idol from the pedestal, then watched as the elaborately carved tree stump rolled over to the wall.
“Well ...” I gasped. “Let’s do it!”
I ripped the Templar’s robes from the crystal and set it onto the pedestal. The crystal lit up, flooding the temple with its soft glow and illuminating the dead bodies on the floor and the brown-red of the pentacle. The columns cast a great multitude of shadows — but none of them turned into an attacking ghost.
Strangely enough, the return of the crystal to its original place hadn’t closed the quest. Frankly, I didn’t know what to think.
“So, what now? — I asked the boy, who stared open-mouthed at the picture of a demon painted on a stone dome. “Neo? Hello!”
He didn’t seem to hear me.
“This shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“So what do you suggest?” I suddenly got angry. “Should we give it a lick of paint?”
“No,” Neo said, pointing up. “Look, Uncle John!”
I raised my head and saw what must have been a hole at the center of the dome and which was now closed with a diaphragm shutter.
He had a point. It was his quest, after all. I started looking around in search of an opening mechanism. Still, the boy was first to see a huge brass helm the kind they use on sailing boats. With a scream of joy, he ran toward it and set all his meager weight against it.
A series of deafening screeching sounds came from above as slowly the diaphragm began to open.
We saw that the hole in the dome was covered with a crystal lens which now focused the rays of the sun rising above the horizon. A pillar of blinding light hit the altar, filling the magic crystal.
The artifact began emitting a light much more powerful than before until it flooded the entire temple. The withered bodies on the floor crumbled to ashes. In a silver flash, the figure painted on the dome started to flesh out, gaining depth and size until it floated in the air like a weightless hologram. Moments later, the materialized demon crashed to the ground.
He was huge, horrible and enveloped by black infernal flames.
The walls shuddered from the impact. Bits of stone and marble flew everywhere from under the creature’s claws. The demon fell on all four legs and immediately jumped to his feet. He was the height of two humans, his back and shoulders covered in tall spikes, his slimy skin oozing black fire, his broad wide jaws lined with two rows of sharp fangs. Darkness swirled in his glare.
Then his glare alighted on me, so small and defenseless.
Nest Hunter, his name flashed in my view.
Then he went for me.
I parried his attack with my trusty Flamberge.
Ugh! My sword’s curved blade bounced off without causing any harm to the infernal creature. A blow from his clawed paw sent me flying through the entire hall until my back hit one of the columns.
Damage received: 437 [457/1104]
The demon’s claws had slid off my chainmail, but even so his powerful blow had stripped me of half of the remaining health. Devil!
No, this wasn’t a devil. This was a Nest Hunter.
With a powerful roar, the infernal abomination went for me again. This time I thought better of it and just rolled out of his reach. My Dodge skill was just a tad too low for him: the devil’s long claw ripped my ankle open.
You bastard!
I stealthed up, or rather, I tried. The glow of the magic crystal illuminated me, not allowing me to hide in the shadows. The demon himself didn’t seem to mind the bright light. On the contrary, he seemed to bathe in it, becoming stronger and stronger.
The Nest Hunter threw himself at me again. I dashed aside. He resumed his attack.
This game of cat and mouse couldn’t last long. Still, I didn’t intend to compete with the monster. Instead I ducked behind a column and stepped into the shadow cast by it. Gone!
The demon dashed after me but I’d already stepped into the next shadow, not letting him find me.
Then the Nest Hunter saw the boy.
“Oh, a neophyte!” the creature whispered. “Fresh meat!”
Damn it! If I escaped now, I’d leave Neo behind to a certain death. And if I joined the uneven fight, my participation would forever bind me to the temple, to be killed by the demon every time I respawned!
What could I do?
I hesitated only a moment, then hurried to the exit. I grabbed the crossbow I’d left there and buried the enchanted bolt in the demon’s back.
The infernal monster hadn’t even flinched. The stone floor crumbled under his claws while the boy stood frozen in place, not even thinking of fleeing.
“He’s only part of the program code,” I said to myself, pulling the bone hook from behind my belt. “Just a piece of code ...”
Neo crossed his arms on his chest. His figure flashed with an unbearable silver light which spread rapidly through the temple and threw the demon away. I stood further away but I too felt its effects . A wall of fierce heat came over me and threw me against the wall, knocking me down.
Exile: Immunity.
Immunity was good, but the left side of my body which had taken the brunt of the attack was now smoldering. My left cheek had in fact burned partially away, exposing the cheekbone which was smoking, and the cheek was completely charred, exposing the cheekbone. A movie-perfect cyborg, if you disregarded my still-intact eye.
I struggled to my feet and tore off my burning cape. My health had plummeted deep into the red. Endurance wasn’t much better.
A piece of fried dead meat, that’s what I was.
But the demon was in a much worse way. The light wave had dragged him across the stone floor, broken off his thorns and ripped his skin to shreds, then hurled him against the wall and fused him into the masonry. The Nest Hunter’s black flames had expired in a most unnatural way, condensing into thick slime and sizzling to the ground, eating through everything in its path.
Neo stood with his eyes closed. The radiance he’d emitted had faded and didn’t assault my eyes anymore, as if the strength of the young neophyte had come to an end. He wasn’t strong enough to exorcise the demon and send him back to the underworld. Sooner or later the creature was going to come round, struggle himself free and rip our heads off for us.
Should we escape? And how far would we be able to get before the Destroyer broke free and chased after us?
Neo’s knees gave under him. He dropped to the floor in a heap. The demon startled, then emitted a weak whimpering sound. Limping on my burned left leg, I hobbled toward him and grabbed at one of his thorns to keep my unstable balance.
Then I swung round and buried the Soulkiller bone hook into his powerful neck. Its sharp point easily pierced the demon’s scorched skin causing him some petty damage. The demon’s health bar hadn’t even stirred.
I didn’t give a damn! I kept hitting him with the hook, slicing through his chest and shredding his neck.
The demon stirred. The masonry creaked. Then his black eyes snapped open, and the creature tried to grab hold of me with his free paw.
I easily evaded the clumsy swing and continued to wield the hook, faster and faster. The Nest Hunter roared and struggled, forcing dust to cascade from the ceiling.
His stone trap couldn’t keep him there for much longer. And his Health bar was still at 80%! The hook was doing a great job piercing the demon’s skin but it couldn’t cut or shred it.
And yet I didn’t give up. The theory of probability was on my side. I could only hope that luck would not turn away from me.
The demon finally managed to grab at my shoulder but his terrible claws kept sliding from the steel weave of the chainmail. A few drops of his venomous slime did fall on my skin though, hissing and eating through my dead flesh.
Enraged, the demon jerked and very nearly broke loose. The stonework around him covered with a net of cracks.
Despair gave me strength. My next blow drove the Soulkiller unexpectedly deep into his flesh. The blade sliced through his heart, turning the demon to stone.
His terrible figure broke and fell apart.
“Execution”! The destroyer of the nests is killed!
The Temple of the Silver Phoenix is restored!
Experience: +5 000 [24 178/24 600]; +5 000 [24 222/24 600]
Obtained achievement “Demon Slayer of the 4th Circle”, “Crusher”.
Undead, the level is raised! Rogue, the level is increased!
Yes! It worked!
The demon had been fused into the wall and therefore was considered an immobilized target to which my “Execution” skill was applied. And even though I’d had to deal him over twenty blows, in the end I’d smoked the monster! I’d sent him back to hell!
“Soulkiller”, I just loved it! “Execution”, nothing could be better!
I turned to Neo who suddenly shot up into the air. Electric discharges began to course his body.
At first I recoiled in fright but then realized that I’d only received half the XP. He’d gotten the other half, all 10,000 of
it, allowing him to jump from the first to the nineteenth level! How cool was that?
But I shouldn’t complain, really: not only had I earned another level, I had very little left until level 50. And I was dying to find out what my next undead title would be... Honestly, I couldn’t wait.
Neo was till hovering in mid-air so I turned to my characteristics. I improved my strength, agility and evasion, then selected the “Quick Impact” from the Executioner’s skills. The ability to befuddle the enemy with a hail of swift swings might come in handy one day, you never know.
At that point, Neo stopped hanging in the air and lowered himself back to the floor. His status had changed from a Neophyte to a Disciple.
“Uncle John, I’m so sorry!” the boy pleaded. “I didn’t mean to burn you!”
I touched my scorched cheek. “What was it exactly?”
“That was the Silver Blessing of the Phoenix.”
“Some blessing ...” I snorted. “It’s all right. I would have never smoked him on my own.”
Something clattered underfoot. I reached down and fished out a dagger with a silvery blade from the stone remains of the demon.
I handed it to the boy. “This should go well with your amulet.”
The moment Neo took the dagger, the flame engraved on the blade came alive and began to flicker.
“And what now, Neo?” I asked after I’d rummaged through the debris and become the owner of several star sapphires, a couple of hundred gold coins and a large piece of demon’s bone, black and still hot.
The question seemed to have baffled him. “What about now, Uncle John?”
“The temple has been restored. Would you like to stay here?”
Neo shook his head. “Oh no! Please don’t leave me! I’d like to go with you! To the city!”
Oh Jesus. I hadn’t been hired to babysit him!
Angry, I kicked one of the rocks. How strange. Its shape was too regular for a broken-off fragment.
Could it be the demon’s heart?
But no, it turned out to be an egg. The small egg of a phoenix.
“It’s not your birthday today, by any chance?” — I laughed, intending to give it to the boy. Strangely enough, I couldn’t do it.
