“What do you want?” she asked.
“My throne,” he said with a sneer.
“You think that I would simply give it to you?” she asked dubiously.
“That is exactly what you will do. And if you do not, then your pet human’s parents will be mine, forever, and your children will die.”
“What have you done to them?” she demanded, and took three steps toward him, staring up at him with rage-filled eyes.
“It is a simple, yet powerful curse. Hand over the throne to me, save your people from a needless war which they will surely lose anyway, and I shall reverse the curse.”
I looked to Megulla, thinking that it sounded like a hell of a deal. What did I care who ruled the Underworld anyway? I just wanted my parents back safe and sound.
But Megulla didn’t seem to feel the same way.
“You would dare threaten my children?” she said, and as she spoke, she grew until she was as tall as the hovering demon.
He grinned, clearly unafraid. “You have one surface day to decide.”
She screamed and thrust her hands forward, unleashing a spell that sounded like a missile firing right in front of me, but Baal suddenly disappeared, and the spell sailed over the city. It hit a two-hundred-foot-tall stalagmite, and the explosion snapped it in half, sending it crashing to the ground with a rumble.
“You’ve got to do what he says,” I told her.
She turned to me with eyes that burned with hellfire. “Never!” she screamed.
“What? You would sacrifice your children? My parents?”
“You can give me more children,” she said. “But you cannot give me back the throne. The time of Baal has passed. If he wants war, then it is war that he shall have.”
“And what about my parents?”
“I am sorry, Samson. But sacrifices must be made,” she said solemnly.
“Fuck that noise. Ten minutes ago, you were begging me to help your children, and now they mean nothing to you?”
“You can still help them,” said Megulla. “I believe now that Baal’s curse can be reversed by the sunlight. The children are like you, Samson. They need to walk in the light. But if they leave this place, I will be left defenseless against Baal’s army.”
“Just give him what he wants, then we can heal the children, free my parents, and retake the throne,” I suggested.
“Once it is lost, it will be nearly impossible to take it back.”
“Fine,” I said. “I will summon the children to the surface world, but first you need to find my parents and free them. Deal?”
“Deal,” she said with a nod. “I will contact you once my agents have located them.”
She waved a hand, and the surroundings began to fade. A moment later I was standing in the dark room beneath the coliseum.
Chapter 12
There had still been no word from Megulla by the next morning, so I contacted Doctor Marks to ensure that my parents had logged off. But to my surprise, he informed me that they were still logged into the game. He couldn’t tell me their location, but he said their vitals were well, and all indications were that they were being treated well by their captors.
I had no idea why they would want to remain in game while being held captive by Baal, Lord of Darkness, and all I could guess was that they thought it was all just part of the fun.
“Still no word from Megulla?” Anna asked as she joined me in the kitchen.
“Nope, nada. And Doctor Marks said that my parents are still logged into the game.”
“Really? That’s weird.”
“I know,” I said. “I just keep trying to remind myself that they aren’t in any real danger. But if there’s one thing this game has taught me, is that it’s not always just quite a game.”
The rest of the guild joined us in the kitchen, and Tweak set to whipping up some breakfast. He could have just conjured the food, but he liked to cook, and besides, for some reason his food was better than what the computer conjured, as much sense as that made.
After breakfast we went to the coliseum for another day of competition. I had done everything I could do to get my parents back, and now I had to be patient. Of course, knowing it and acting on it are two different things altogether, and I still had the problem with my dying demon kids. If Megulla went good on her end of the deal and freed my parents, I was going to have to summon a thousand gilded demons to the surface world, and I had a pretty good feeling that wasn’t going to end well.
We took our place at our booth and watched the opening ceremonies, but my mind kept wandering back to my parents and my digital kids. I still hadn’t heard anything from Megulla, and it was driving me nuts.
I focused on one of the four giant looking glasses hanging over the sand at the center of the stadium and occupied my mind with the list of guilds remaining.
Heavy Metal Thunder
The Warlords
Dragons of Fury
The Gilded Shield
The Purrrrsian Empire
Brothers of Ruin
The Elves of Starlight
The Crimson Dragons
Doom Lords
Donkey Punch Posse
The One True Guild
Pirate's Booty
Norsemen
Harbingers of Ale
Vishnu Lives
Hiro Quest
“Today, sixteen guilds will do battle, but only 8 shall be victorious,” said the wizard, and I noticed that Doctor Marks wasn’t with him at the announcer’s booth. Instead, a female elf that I had never seen sat in his place.
“That’s right,” she said in a silky-smooth voice. “And here’s our first look at the winner’s prize. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, Ozara.”
The looking glasses showed us fields of golden wheat, tall forests thick with life, clean rivers and streams teaming with fish, and meadows waiting for a farmer’s touch. The guild that won the tournament would become some of the richest players in Rebirth Online, and the potential for more wealth was everywhere. With so much land would come serfs, lords, ladies, and of course, armies.
I nearly drooled as I watched the images of the magnificent new land. When the view panned out to reveal a tall hill surrounded by proud oaks, I imagined the castle that I would build there. I saw a town grow around the castle, and then a city. I saw the banners of Heavy Metal Thunder blowing in the wind, and dragons flying in the clear blue sky.
The crowd marveled as the images flashed on the screen, and my guild mates looked at me with hope in their eyes. I realized then how much they were depending on me, and I saw in their eyes a nervous apprehension. They thought, and for good reason, that I was distracted, that I was going to go into this fight with half assed motivation, that I was going to blow it.
“You guys ready to kick the shit out of the Warlords?” I asked.
“Hell yeah Big Daddy,” Kit answered with an excited squeal.
“Ready and willing Loverboy,” said Trinity.
The computer randomly chose the first two guilds to do battle, and I prayed to the gods of Rebirth Online that it was us. I was ready and I was focused. Kit squeezed my hand as the names flashed on the screen and began to slow.
“Fuck yeah!” I yelled when the first matchup flashed on the screen.
HEAVY METAL THUNDER vs THE WARLORDS
My guild mates leapt out of their seats, and we all did a triumphant dance in our booth. The crowd laughed and cheered as we pumped our fists. The image on the looking glass changed from us to the Warlords, and they seemed a little hesitant in the wake of our excitement.
We ran out of our booth, down into the tunnel, and out onto the sand to the applause of thousands. The warlords had found their gusto, and they strode out onto the sand to an applause of their own. The guild looked like a biker gang from hell. They were a mix of humans, drow elves, minotaurs, ogres, trolls, goblins, and even a few gnomes. We had watched all their fights, but they were so unpredictable that it was hard to really prepare.
&nbs
p; “And now, let the battleground be revealed!” said the wizard.
The arena began to shimmer and morph, and I eagerly waited to see what the terrain would be. To my surprise, a massive hill began to grow out of the center of the arena. Grass sprang from the ground, and thick, crooked trees emerged, growing straight out from the sides of the hill. By the time it stopped growing, the hill was over one-hundred feet high, with steep sides and outcroppings of stone.
“Looks like it’s a game of King of the Hill,” I said to my guild mates. “Guardian, I want you to go straight for the top of the hill, and don’t let the other guild get to the top. Nanaya and I will hang back and be alternates, once we see how the battle is playing out, we’ll jump in where we we’re needed. I want the rest of you to move around the hill and make sure their guardian doesn’t get to the top before ours.”
“Got it, Big Daddy,” said Kit. She put her hand in the middle of the group and looked at us all expectantly. “Bring it in, bitches.”
We all gathered around and stacked our hands.
“Heavy Metal Thunder on three,” I said. “One, Two, Three.”
“Heavy Metal Thunder!” we yelled in unison.
The crowd took up our chant, and the wizard had to yell over the crowd to ask us if we were ready. I nodded, and we all buffed up and prepared for the signal.
“Let the battle begin!” the wizard announced, and I watched with growing excitement as our guild split into groups and started around the hill.
Our blue guardian stormed up it with ease, but I could see that the Warlords had instructed theirs to do the same. Kit was the first to the top, having used her vines to pull her to the highest tree. She rained down spells on the other guild as they climbed up the steep incline, but then one of the Warlords swooped down on wings of silver and slammed into Kit, sending her tumbling down the side of the hill. She managed to cast her vines again, however, and they wrapped around the flying Warlord’s ankles as he circled the top of the hill. Kit was pulled up by her vines as they receded back into her palms, and she collided with the winged Warlord and impaled him with her enchanted sword. She must have landed a soul shatter strike, because the Warlord suddenly exploded.
Kit landed back on the top of the hill and was soon joined by Tweak and his purple monkeys.
We now had the upper hand, and our guardian was closer to the top than theirs, due to the rest of my guild’s onslaught. Anna, Cecilia, and Trinity had gone around the far side of the hill, while Ember and Stormy hustled around the near side.
Nanaya and I cheered our guild mates on, and the crowd roared at our backs as the announcers called out the action. Our guardian finally crested the hill and slapped his chest like King Kong, and a barrage of spells slammed into him from below. Our guild fired back, and soon the battle was in full force. Tweak fell to a warrior’s blade a few minutes into the fight, and Ember soon joined him, having been overwhelmed by three of the warlords at once.
“That’s our cue,” I told Nanaya.
She took dragon form, and I leapt up onto her back. We shot into the air and passed through the veil, quickly gaining altitude. Nanaya flew wide of the hill until she rose above it, then she banked hard right and swooped down toward the advancing Warlords. She unleashed dragon fire as I cast Arcane Lightning, and soon the Warlord’s red guardian was completely engulfed in flames.
But we weren’t the only ones with wings.
A huge demon suddenly appeared above us, and I barely had time to warn Nanaya as it swooped down on black wings, with its green glowing sword cocked back for the strike.
Nanaya did a barrel roll and barely avoided being impaled by the massive sword. But the demon was fast in the air and pursued us with a growl down and around the side of the hill. I turned in the saddle and cast Arcane Lightning. The spell slowed the demon down, but it barely registered on his damage meter.
“Find the warlock who summoned the demon!” Nanaya yelled as we shot around the hill at breakneck speeds.
The battle raged on the other side of the hill, but our guardian was still defending the top. I scoured the hillside for the warlock who had summoned the demon still hot on our trail and found him hunkered down beneath a natural stone shelf. He was focusing intently on something, and when I saw a portal begin to open in front of him, I let out a string of curses.
“He’s summoning more demons!” I told Nanaya. “There, under that shelf.”
“I see him,” she said with determination in her voice, but before she could act, a spell hit us from behind. Pain surged through my body, and I found myself momentarily paralyzed.
Demonic Sickness
Duration – 5 Seconds.
“Oh shit!” I yelled. It felt like my guts were on fire, and I tried to fight the pain and launched a Fireball at the hunkered down Warlock. The sickness made me shaky, however, and my spell missed him by a longshot.
Nanaya changed course and veered toward the warlock, urging me to hold on as we sailed into the smoke and fire rising from the side of the hill. I cast Arcane Lightning, hoping to at least stun the Warlock, while Nanaya bathed him in dragon flame.
A howling spell erupted from the smoke and slammed into Nanaya. She let out a cry and crashed into the hillside, sending me flying right into the base of one of the twisted trees.
You have died.
I spawned inside the ghost veil and found Nanaya already waiting beside Trinity and Tweak, who must have died about the same time we did.
“No more dragon,” said Nanaya. “I won’t be able to shift for fifteen minutes due to the cooldown.”
“It’s all good,” I said as Trinity and Tweak’s countdowns reached zero. “You two go around the hill and attack the Warlords from below.”
They nodded and raced off, and Nanaya and I waited to replace the next two who fell in battle. We watched the footage on the looking glasses all around the stadium, and I cursed when the red guardian reached the top of the hill. The Warlords were beginning to crest the lip as well, and soon my guild mates were overwhelmed by the opposition. The two guardians continued to battle like arch enemies, each trying to cast the other one down off the top. Their health bars both looked to be at about 50%, and I knew that whoever claimed the top of the hill would inevitably win, given that they had the higher ground.
The ghosts of Anna and Stormy appeared behind the veil, and Nanaya and I raced from our base to join the fray. The warlords had two assassins waiting near our base, however, and one landed a blow to my chest that knocked my armor down to 75% and scared the shit out of me. His guild mate appeared behind Nanaya, but I was able to warn her in time. She spun around and thrust out a hand, and a writhing black spell wrapped around the assassin’s wrists and bound them together. I conjured my Fire shield instinctively and blocked the next blow from the assassin that had appeared beside me, and soon the four of us were locked in a heated battle.
In the midst of the streaking spells and singing blades, I took a dagger strike to the side that tore through my remaining armor and sunk deep.
Infliction – Soul Sap
1,000 Mana Drain per Second
Duration – 10 seconds
Fatigue washed over me as I tried to parry the blows, but the assassin was ridiculously fast. He moved in a blur of motion, stabbing me in the stomach, neck, and chest in rapid succession.
Warning!
Health 18%
I growled against the pain and managed to bring my shield in front of me to parry the next blow. Luckily, Stormy suddenly came flying out of nowhere and slammed into the assassin. She drove him to the ground with a well-placed boot and came down with her huge axe, which sunk deep in the assassin’s chest.
Healing energy washed over me as the Soul Sap wore off, and I saw Anna running toward us.
“Come on!” she urged Stormy, Nanaya, and I.
We charged up the hill as the guardians battled for supremacy. The Warlocks were focusing on pushing our guardian back, and they were getting close. I glanced at the looking
glass and smiled to myself when I saw that our guardian had about 10% more health than the red. Our opponents had five players, all casters, firing spell after spell at our guardian as the two behemoths battled.
We joined Tweak, Trinity, and Ember on the top of the hill, and I instructed my guild mates to turn their attention to the Warlocks rather than their guardian.
I cast Fire Storm, Scorched Earth, and hit the closest Warlord caster with Hellfire. Ember finished him off and began weaving through the Warlords, hitting them with health sapping strikes and others that slowed down their movement speed. An ice mage on the Warlord’s side cast a spell over the entire hill, leaving it covered in ice. I cast Scorched Earth again and easily melted the ice, but I paid for it when three icicles as hard as steel slammed into me. My armor absorbed most of the damage, but it still felt like I had been shot by about a dozen rubber bullets.
I retaliated with a Fireball, and the mage shot a massive snowball at me at the same time. The spells collided with an angry hiss of steam, and I charged through it with a Magic Bolt in one hand and my enchanted sword in the other.
The top of the hill soon turned into an all-out brawl. The Warlords never managed to gain control, and it was our guardian who dealt the final blow, lifting the dying red over his head and throwing him down the side of the mountain.
When the red guardian burst into a million pieces, the crowd went berserk.
“Winner!” Donovan cried. “Heavy Metal Thunder!”
Chapter 13
The Purrrrsian Empire fought the Brothers of Ruin after our battle with the Warlords, and they too managed to secure victory. After the last two guilds fought, Donovan and the elf went over the highlights of all the matches, including the moment when our guardian tossed the red from the top of the hill.
Rebirth Online 3 Page 11
