by R J Triveri
“Last chance to back out,” Dante said absently as they took a moment to bask in the pure light.
River shook her head. “We’ve got a shadow lord to kill.”
Settled into their decision once more, the pair looked at it for a few moments before they continued on. Together, they passed the stench-riddled market and city square and continued towards the ever-growing rupture in the wall.
As they closed the distance, the damage only got worse as buildings fell into complete rubble, and River couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “What do you think happened here?”
“In the entry, the rumor is that Ella corrupted a machine and had it drill into a restricted boss’s chamber,” Dante said as he slowed his movement to examine a strange marking. “The dungeon saw Tenebrae as an extension of itself, invaded, and overwhelmed the forces that tried to hold and reclaim it. The rest is history.”
The explanation was a bit simple to River, but who was she to judge the authority on dungeon lore?
The conversation died between the pair as the looming wall grew. As the pair got closer, something tugged at Dante and brought him to a halt in front of the yawning maw of a cave battered into the city wall. Much to their surprise, the side of the city wall didn’t look cleanly cut. The wall looked more like it had been beaten in. Individual bricks were cracked from the center out. Some were left hanging by a few ounces of mortar. These precarious stalactites of Incipere waited for just the right moment to fall while others were nearly arranged in careful piles on the ground covered in the dust of ages.
Beyond the damaged wall was more of what the pair expected: a smooth, clean tunnel. The path was clear of anything that looked remotely dangerous and led further and further into the darkness. At the end of the tunnel, a soft red glow flickered to mark the end of the road.
“What sort of machine was it?” River asked as Dante charged Arc-Fulgoris to create another makeshift torch.
“No one really knows,” he admitted as she took a cautious half-step past the brick and into the compacted soil of the tunnel. “Well, no one agrees on what it was anyways. There’s still a lot of debate on the SIFS about it since no one’s come back from the final encounter.”
“I thought you didn’t know that much about Tenebrae,” River teased.
“I don’t,” he agreed. “Just been stealing glances at the Wiki as we go.”
As soon as her other foot landed beyond the wall, a booming voice crashed down the hallways and collided with the pair. “Who dares invade my home!”
Stopping in their tracks, the pair looked at each other. There was only a moment’s hesitation as a smile crept across River’s face. Game time. She turned from her partner and looked back down the hallway as her hands cupped around her mouth. “We’ve come to end you, you little bitch!”
The red light grew brighter as the voice grew more defiant at her words. “You know nothing of which you speak! None have been able to fell the Lord of Shadows!”
Dante grinned. He wasn’t going to be left out of the fun this time. They had never got to banter with a villain before. “That ends today!”
A pause permeated the air for just a moment as the voice seethed its way into their ears despite the volume it held. The anger, the hate, the arrogance of its power was almost palpable in its voice. “Then by all means, heroes. Come and do what hundreds before you could not.” Softly burning dark flames ignited down the hallway, throwing purple light across the passage leading into the chambers. In the distance, a hateful crimson light lingered like a single star in the purple, shadowed night. “I am waiting.”
As if the two needed more of an invitation, their pace quickened anew. River’s sword gleamed in the flickering light as the pair ran towards the end of the hallway. Fear was far from the front of River’s mind, and Dante kept pace as he tried to scratch an itch in his mind that he couldn’t quite reach. Over halfway through the tunnel, the pair became more cautious.
This was the end of the line.
The red light beckoned them forward with the promise of glory and combat, and neither were one to give up on the promise of battle.
An ethereal laughter seemed to echo around the pair as they reached the end of the hallway and saw into the boss’s chambers. It was like nothing they’d ever seen before. Not only was the room as large as a stadium, fire spurted from machines built into the walls across the floor and up from grates in the floor. Towering flames every few seconds cast shadows all around the room behind the remains of what looked like the bodies of some massive beasts and broken metal. The smell of soot and burning meat clung to everything and assaulted the pair’s sense of smell almost as badly as the market had. Normally, the two could have overlooked all of that, but one thing was worse than the rest. Hundreds of bodies were pitched on walls and hanging from the ceiling like macabre trophies. Bodies still contorted in pain, squirming in agony.
Bodies that were still alive and, once their eyes landed on the pair, screaming.
“What the Hell?” Dante muttered as a crash from behind them broke his focus. His head whipped back to see that another machine had risen where their entrance had been just a moment ago. “River, we’re sealed in!”
River was not who answered.
“Your heart speaks more to the matter than your head does, little lights.”
From all her experience in combat, River quickly switched the channels for the group to avoid giving away anything else.
(Party) River Hexi: Dante, what the Hell is going on! Bosses don’t seal themselves in?
(Party) Dante Rior: They don’t keep trophies either. Those people are still alive!
The fear in his voice came with a realization made too late. There was a reason why hundreds hadn’t conquered the problems that had caused the fall of a city.
Raid Event Started: The Restoration of Tenebrae
Objective One: Kill Omnida, Lord of Shadows
Warning: Incomplete raid parties take four times base damage.
Tenebrae wasn’t just a dungeon.
Tenebrae was one of only a handful of now-confirmed raids in all of Incipere.
When the shadows and light cast by the center pillar of shadow-consumed flames flickered and died, a towering behemoth of a man appeared in its wake, standing heads above them at least twelve feet tall and draped, not in armor, but layers of rags so dark that they devoured any light that dared to approach them. The creature was a scion of darkness, a gaping maw of void in the light, a shadow even among shadows. The pair couldn’t will themselves to move, but the ragged man saved them the trouble and took three steps towards them before raising his hand. Within a matter of a step, burning shadows engulfed the outstretched limb When the flames of shadow receded, Omnida was brandishing his weapon as if it had always been there. In his hands was now a double-ended scythe with blades on each end as wide as the crescent moon in the night sky and nearly as large as the man himself. As he flourished the gleaming weapon of night with an air-tearing twist, a ribbon of shadow trailed behind the glowing blade in its wake, only adding to the illusion of a moon traveling through the night sky.
A moment later, the lights began to fade further, and the voice of the dungeon’s leader spoke again.
“Welcome to my lair, little lights. It will be the last place you ever see.” In a flourish, the blade swung forward and split the carcass of the burned beast in half before it shattered into pixelated shards, leaving the pair fully exposed. “I am Omnida, Lord of Shadows and Seventh Guardian of the World Seal.” His words held little meaning to the pair, and the impression of a sinister smile rained down upon the pair as River stared him down. “I cannot let you leave here, my flickering lights. You shall join the rest in my purgatory!”
“You’re just a little bitch!” River yelled as a taunt to grab his attention, oblivious to the fear Dante shot towards her as he pulled out a jump disk.
As the power of the raid lord exerted itself, the travel item shattered in his hand before he could even activate t
he trigger.
(Party) Dante Rior: We need to get out of here! Shut up and run!
Turning for just a moment to face him, River shrugged before retaking her stance against Omnida.
(Party) River Hexi: Why? So, we take some extra damage. We’ve dealt with worse.
A swipe of his scythe followed before Dante could coherently put his fear into words, and River’s scream hit her friend’s ears along with the ripping of her shirt before her status message even updated in the party window.
Critical hit!
River Hexi: Damage Received - 18% Integrity Remaining
Warning: Your clothing [Comfortable Shirt ++] has been heavily damaged. Please remove the article and rest, so it can recover.
Warning: You have been affected by the condition - Bleeding. (Conditional)
Warning: Due to excessive damage, you have been affected by the condition - Unconscious. (2:00)
Her body hit the floor not a moment later with a sickening thud of flesh and bone as a large, leaking wound opened her body to the world.
***
“River!”
His mind raced; they shouldn’t be able to drop below twenty percent. The pieces fell into place too late for Dante as a chill ran through his spine. The horrible truth set in not a moment later as he froze, eyes fixed on River’s downed form. They had collected bytes. Bytes were disabled in a Pits run.
The rules of the event didn’t apply anymore.
“Yes, yes!” With an echoing laugh, the scythe rose into the air. Omnida’s dark laugh ended like a knife through an eye socket as crimson orbs flashed from within the void and locked onto Dante’s confused, pained expression as he ran for his partner. “Despair!”
And the scythe rose again…
Chapter Seventeen: Ending Shadows
Fear welled in Dante’s heart as the weight of the situation sunk like a stone into the ocean of his mind. His actions became almost automatic as things came into a sharp focus. River’s weight didn’t even register for him as he pulled her from where she landed and into a corner shielded by a sudden eruption of flames. As soon as they were in cover, he took out a vial of Sanando Donum, uncorked it, and dumped it over the gaping wound that was hemorrhaging data in the center of his friend’s torso through armor, cloth, and flesh.
River Hexi - Damage Recovered: 48% Integrity Remaining
He watched as thirty percent of her integrity returned to her, but her recovery did nothing for her status.
River Hexi - Unconscious (1:30)
Giving her a shake, Dante spoke quickly and unsteadied to the unconscious woman, cursing her as much as he cursed his empty supply of status medicine. “Come on, River! Wake the hell up!”
“You cannot hide from me, little lights!” the voice of the shadow lord boomed though out the arena. “There is only one thing I will allow of you.” As if to make his point, the midnight blade of Omnida’s scythe screamed through the air, ripping sound from silence as it landed only inches from River’s feet before banishing the flames back into the silence of darkness. The eyes of the raid lord cut through Dante as it stared down at him. The flowing shadows rippled in the still-heated air as his ghastly voice rang out with a single word. “Run.”
Dante nearly froze in place. If only he could, but if he got up, if he even tried to get away, River would be dead. Unconscious, she’d be no better than a sleeping baby sheep against a dire wolf. No, he wouldn’t be seen running away from this. Pulling his focus in front of him, Dante prepared his next move.
“Obscurus Maxima!”
Skill cost extracted: Dante Rior - 58% Integrity Remaining - Skill Channel confirmed.
As the gaseous ink spread across the field of battle, he gave himself a wry smile. This way, no one would see him running. From his focus, the airborne ink obscured the vision of anything that wasn’t in his party at a cost he was more than willing to pay for a few more moments to think.
Omnida seemed surprised at the turn of events as his scythe rose again into the air. “Darkness is my ally, little light. It won’t save you from me!” Pointing his scythe like a staff, the raid boss gave his voice wings and commanded, “Recede.”
For a tense, heart-stopping moment, Dante held his breath and continued to focus on maintaining the channel. If his darkness had given any ground, it thankfully wasn’t obvious. Feeling safe enough to move, Dante grabbed River under her arms and dragged her away from the center of the expanding bank of shadows.
An annoyed expression painted the raid lord’s face as Omnida stared into the darkness. Pulled back, he swept the giant scythe though the shadow, slicing air and spell, but to no avail. Nearly howling, Omnida made a simple request as his scythe pulled back for another attack. “Give up and face me, coward!”
Like hell I will, Dante thought to himself as he crept with River in tow through the shadows of the ink. The sounds of the boss’s footfall echoed all around him. The swish of the scythe cutting air, swishing harmlessly away from him was welcomed, but it was still more than enough to keep an edge to his mind. He was running out of options and integrity fast.
Skill cost extracted: Dante Rior - 54% Integrity Remaining
Excessive activity will increase the strain of the channel. Please reduce your activity.
River Hexi - Unconscious (1:00)
So little was known about the raid scenarios in Incipere that Dante was at a loss. He had heard rumors and seen the data from the survivors on the raid lords, of their massive dungeons, their complex mechanics, and of their complete and utter disdain for Inciperians. So many variables that he didn’t have time for played at the edges of his mind, but one tried to make its way to the front. To defeat a raid lord… to have a chance at that kind of glory…
A scythe swing coming within inches of his hands and just above River’s chest shook the thought from his mind, violently.
Come on, Dante! Focus on the task at hand! is what River would have told him. Looking at the timer, it wouldn’t be long before she came to. It wouldn’t be long before the Lord of Shadows figured out he was still at the center of the expanding darkness, so he had to act fast. Opening his window, Dante scrolled through the plethora of spells he had at his disposal. Unfortunately for him, the cost of his spell continued to update his integrity.
Skill cost extracted: Dante Rior - 50% Integrity Remaining
Warning! Continued use of [Obscurus Maxima] will impede your ability to perform other actions. Would you like to cancel the channeling of this spell?
No, he mentally confirmed as the shadows continued to hide his frantic search for an out in his abilities. A moment later, the second status message followed.
River Hexi - Unconscious (:25)
Two minutes never felt so long as his eyes finally landed on something useful, a spell he had picked up after the last dungeon boss by the name of Gateway. With a sigh, he checked its requirements but the information made his heart drop. At a cost of thirty percent of his integrity, Dante could open a gate between his current location and the nearest safe-haven for his entire party. No wonder he hadn’t thought about it. Thirty percent was ridiculous!
Skill cost extracted: Dante Rior - 46% Integrity Remaining
River Hexi - Unconscious (:18)
Come on, Dante! he screamed inside his head. You can’t let it end like this! Think! What are your options?
The swish of the scythe through his ink clouds only drove home just how many options were left.
Can’t fight or use a jump disk in a boss chamber. Can’t rely on River to kill him when she wakes up. You really don’t have anything else you can do. Omnida is a fucking raid lord. I can’t hide us forever in here!
That final thought sealed the deal as River groaned behind him. Dante knew the risk he was about to take, but it was his only play left. Popping his last Sanando Donum and downing it in a single swig, Dante felt his body recover as quickly as his mind raced.
Dante Rior - Damage Recovered: 76% Integrity Remaining
Skill cost
extracted: Dante Rior - 73% Integrity Remaining
Easy enough, Dante thought as the plan started to come together, but the entire plan rode on the rails of what happened next. As planned, River was starting to stir as the status neared its end, but he couldn’t wait any longer. With another thought, Dante canceled the channel of his spell and braced for the results.
River Hexi – Status Cleared!
***
With the message, River’s eyes flew open. Her vision darted back and forth, from one side to the other as she tried to make some sense of what had happened. She knew where she was. It was hard to forget where she had nearly been fragmented, so she knew what was beyond the outline of the ink cloud. Despite that, her bearings were still off. “Dante?”
Her words were lost on him for the moment as the black fog finished dissipating and revealed the pair to the prying eyes of Omnida. Weapon raised, his response was immediate and infinitely satisfied. “There you are, little lights!”
Finally getting back to her feet, River drew her sword and rushed to her partner’s side. Pulling her mind back from the fog of war and into a battle mindset, the rest of her concerns were brushed away and replaced by a directed, pinpoint anger. “That fucking hurt!”
Blade clenched in her hands for a full-body strike, River was more than ready to go another round with the shadow lord. She was ready, but she wasn’t stupid.
(Party) River Hexi: What do you want me to do?
Dante didn’t hesitate as each step brought the reaper of light and life closer.
(Party) Dante Rior: Get ready to run, River. I’m getting us the hell outta here.
Disappointment filled her expression, but her muscles refused to follow suit as she kept herself ready for combat. She knew better than to question him as he faced down the running shadow lord. Scythe pulled, Dante only returned a grim grin as he stood his ground.
