100 of 135 HP remaining.
“Okay team, I’m outta heals now,” said the Dwarf. “It’ll be up to you now, Cleric!”
Sally look down at the ground uncomfortably. “Everyone gather around, I’ll do a group heal.”
She waved her hands in circles while everyone grouped up. Light encircled David,
125 of 150 HP remaining.
Gilnar,
125 of 135 HP remaining.
And finally herself.
95 of 120 HP remaining.
“Great, thank you,” smiled David. “Could you do it one more time to max us all out?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t,” said Sally while continuing to look down. “The two Smites used up most of my remaining mana. I won’t be able to do much in this boss fight.”
They all looked at each other.
“No healing left, eh?” mumbled Gilnar. “It’s no problem! We’ll bash in this final boss’ face, and then we’ll make it back to Inganno for a quick rest up!”
Lorcan nodded. “It’ll be fine, we’re all pretty close to max anyway. Ready to get this over with?”
The group moved through the door to the fifth room and made their way across the tunnel. The final room was the simplest looking of them all. There were no obvious traps or opening, and not even a final door. The room seemed to be completely empty.
The group walked into the middle of the room. The familiar sound of bars shot up behind them, blocking the exit. Lorcan looked around. Where was the boss?
“Where is it?” whispered Gilnar. “Maybe we need to step on something to trigger the encounter?”
They split up and spread out, taking deliberate steps as they went. This went on for several minutes, with nothing happening.
“Is it possible this is a glitch?” asked Lorcan, continuing to stomp around.
“Yeah,” responded the stomping Warrior. “It’s possible, but unlikely. This would mean bad news for us, as it could take weeks before game admins realize we are trapped in here. We’d also probably have to go through the whole thing again.”
Another several minutes passed without any action happening. Lorcan sighed and laid down. They were now trapped in this room with nothing they could do to escape. The Kobold thief was going to get further away, and Kurt would be left in that second room, wondering what happened to the rest of them. Lorcan looked up at the cavern ceiling. Huh, that was interesting. The rest of the rooms had all been opened up. This was the first room to have a ceiling. It was a brown just like all the walls and the floor, except for a strange gray spot.
“Hey, what’s that?” asked Lorcan, pointing up at the gray above David.
Before they could all look up, the gray spot broke away from the ceiling and, changing into a humanoid form, landed on the Warrior.
75 of 150 HP remaining.
“David!” screamed Sandy.
The creature picked up David and threw him across the room, where he hit the wall behind Sandy and collapsed.
60 of 150 HP remaining.
The gray creature stood tall. It had the general outline of a human when it stood upright, and was about 12 feet tall. Its head was a stone helmet with a visor for eyes.
“You. Finally. Found. Me,” it said in a halting growl.
“A golem,” said Gilnar to the others. “These are creatures of stone. Very hard to kill. Luckily they are slow though, so just be careful of your range.”
Lorcan took that as his cue, and summoned fire to his hands. He chucked two firebolts at the golem, who took a breath taking zero damage from them.
“A. Mage? Never. Seen. One. Before.”
The golem began walking towards the Mage at a snail’s pace, true to what Gilnar said.
“Dang it, am I gonne be worthless this fight too?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll end this quick,” said David, finally making it to his feet. He drew his sword and shield and rushed up to the golem.
“Oi, I don’t think that’s a good idea!” warned the Dwarf.
The Warrior slammed his shield against the golem and brought his sword underneath it, jabbing at the golem. Keeping his shield up, he rotated his body backwards and smacked the hilt of his sword into the side of the stone monster.
298 of 300 HP remaining.
“Wha… how is that possible?” asked the bewildered Warrior.
The arms of the golem surrounded him and locked him in a bear hug. David struggled to break free, but was not having any success.
“I. Apologize. But. This. Is. Your. End,” said the monster as he began crushing the Warrior.
30 of 150 HP remaining.
“NOOOOOOOO!” screamed Sandy, running at the golem with her mace raised.
The golem gave one more crunch, and dropped the Warrior’s lifeless body.
0 of 150 HP remaining.
The Cleric swung her mace down with all of her might onto the head of the golem, while Lorcan ran toward the golem as well.
“Stay back, you fools!” shouted Gilnar to no avail.
295 of 300 HP remaining.
The golem backhanded the Cleric, sending her back several feet.
50 of 120 HP remaining.
Lorcan landed on the golem’s back as his Electric Blade sprang to his hand.
“Do. You. Honestly. Think. That. Will. Work?” asked the golem with a hint of boredom.
The Mage cut down at the golem’s neck with the blade. The lightning bounced off of the golem and struck the ground. Once again, Lorcan’s attack did nothing. The golem reached back and grabbed hold of the Mage. With a brutal squeeze, he tossed Lorcan over next to Sandy.
20 of 80 HP remaining.
“You. Are. Squishier. Than. Imagined.”
The golem slowly looked around him.
“You. Will. All. Die. Here.”
Lorcan glanced over with some effort to David’s body. Was the golem right? What could they possibly do?
“Get up, Lorcan,” Sandy said next to him.
Lorcan turned his head, and saw the tears flowing down her face.
“Please, we need you. Do it for David. Please…”
“Yaaaaaaa!” yelled Gilnar, diving between the golem’s arms and striking at him with his own mace.
285 of 300 HP remaining.
Maybe Gilnar could pull it off, thought Lorcan. He just had to do that like 30 more times without getting hit.
The Mage shook his head. There was nothing left he could do but watch. A coughing fit came to him, and he clutched his chest. What was this? He reached into his pocket and… the two potions!
He quickly uncorked the green one and downed it.
50 of 80 HP remaining.
He felt a bit strange, but couldn’t quite place it.
“Yaaaa!” came the call of the Dwarf once again as he clashed with the golem.
275 of 300 HP remaining.
Lorcan glanced at the remaining blue potion and shrugged. Might as well, he thought as he chugged the remaining potion.
80 of 80 HP remaining.
Lorcan got to his feet. Nothing seemed to change again, besides getting his health back.
He looked over at Gilnar, who did not seem to be doing well catching his breath.
“How many times… have I told ya… me lil legs… weren’t meant for this…”
On the plus side, he was still significantly faster than the golem, who was trying poorly to catch him. Lorcan figured he might as well distract the golem and summoned fire once again to his hand. Only… it wasn’t fire. Floating in his hand was a circling blue ball. It was ice? He glanced back up at the golem, took aim, and let loose.
The ice hit the golem in the arm, and coated the spot it landed.
250 of 300 HP remaining.
That was the most damage they had done so far, thought Lorcan, filling with a small bit of hope.
The golem stopped and turned towards the Mage.
“What. Have. You. Done?”
Lorcan had an idea. “Gilnar, strike the point that has ice on it!�
��
The Dwarf nodded and made a dash for the golem. The beast swatted at him with his other arm, but Gilnar simply jumped over it with his mace raised.
“Graaa!” grunted the Dwarf as he smashed his mac into the ice on the golem’s arm.
150 of 300 HP remaining.
“Now we’re talkin, boy! Keep it up!”
Lorcan started chucking balls of ice as fast as he could, striking the golem on two of his four attempts.
100 of 300 HP remaining.
Ice covered the top of the golem’s head, as well as over its right shoulder. All Gilnar had to do now was hit the creature one more time, and it would all be over. The Paladin rushed forward with glee, taking aim at the golem’s head. The excited Dwarf was too focused on the spot he was aiming for, and didn’t see the golem’s leg kick up right as he got within range. Gilnar flew back a few feet and spun in the air.
60 of 135 HP remaining.
One more hit like that and Gilnar would be toast. Lorcan’s hopes began to deflate. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.
“You. Can. Not. Defeat. Me. This. Room. Shall. Be. Your. Coffi-”
“This is for David, you BASTARD!” boomed Sandy’s voice.
The golem was cut off as his head caved in from the Cleric’s mace. Sandy had scurried up behind the golem in all of the chaos unnoticed, even by her allies.
0 of 300 HP remaining.
The room started to spin as the golem crumbled. Sandy and Gilnar started to phase out of existence. Lorcan looked down and saw the same was happening to him.
Pop.
Chapter 12
Pop.
Lorcan opened his eyes and found himself laying down outside of the portal they had gone into a few hours earlier. Sandy laid to his left and Gilnar to his right.
“What happened to your hair, kid?” asked a familiar voice.
Lorcan looked up and saw Kurt, staring down at him with a bemused expression. The Mage hopped to his feet and hurried over to Kurt.
“I knew you’d make it! You look surprisingly good for being in a battle with that monster one on one.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t an easy fight. I had to pull out my secret weapon in order to take him out before he shot me with that beam again,” said Kurt. “Check your stats, you look fine as well.”
Lorcan glanced at his info, and sure enough his health and mana were back to full. He also noticed that the Amulet of Inganno was in his inventory, which must have been placed there on completion.
“When you make it through a dungeon, it will refresh you when you get kicked out.”
“Perfect, then we won’t have to rest while we chase down that Kobold!” exclaimed Lorcan. “What secret weapon do you have, by the way?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a secret, now would it? You still haven’t answered my question, anyway. What happened to your hair?”
“What do you mean?”
Kurt walked him over to a small stream nearby and had him look down at his reflection.
“My hair is green?!”
“Hahah, you didn’t notice?”
“No! When could that have happened?” Lorcan couldn’t stop running his hand through his hair and checking his palm. It wasn’t coming off.
“I bet I know. Did you drink that green potion you got from that weird Gnome?”
Oh, that must have been the weird feeling he had after he drank it. If his hair was still green, he wondered…
Lorcan attempted to summon fire to his hands, but ice appeared once again.
“When did you learn icebolt?” asked Kurt, impressed by the new ability. “Did you learn it when you hit level 15?”
“No, after I drank that blu- wait. I’m level 15?” Lorcan checked his stats and once again the Tracker was right. He needed to keep track of his character info better, this was becoming embarrassing.
“Aye, lad,” said Gilnar, who finally came to. “We got experience for beating the golem, and again for beating the dungeon.”
“Now that everyone is waking up, are you guys ready to get after that Kobold?” asked Kurt.
“This is where we will have to part ways…” said Sandy, quietly from behind Gilnar. She was hugging David’s sword. She must have picked it up before they were kicked out of Death’s Chasm.
“Where’s David?” asked Kurt, looking around. “Is he already making his way back to town?”
“He didn’t make it…” mumbled Lorcan.
The Tracker looked down. “I’m sorry to hear that, Sandy. Your husband was a good man.”
Everyone stood quietly for a few minutes, not knowing what to say.
“I’m going to head back to Drax,” said Sandy, breaking the silence, “and work on getting that guild together. It will be in David’s honor.”
“Of course. When we make it back, I’d be happy to assist,” said Kurt. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his share of the gold from the dungeon, which had automatically been distributed when they left. “Please, take this gold to help with your guild fund.”
Gilnar and Lorcan also handed the gold from the dungeon over. Lorcan had already promised his share, but felt like it was the thought that mattered here.
“Thank you three. You helped us get away from that immoral Tracker, and it was truly an honor getting to know you all.”
She strapped David’s sheath to her back and started to walk away.
“The next time you are in Drax, come look for me. You will all be welcome in our guild.”
The remaining three remained silent as they watched her go. When her silhouette finally disappeared, Kurt turned to the other two.
“Not to be insensitive, but I think it’s best if the three of us started moving on. We’re only a couple of hours behind the Kobold now, and if we hurry, we can catch up to him by the end of the day.”
*****
They had been walking for several hours and had still not caught up to the thief.
“Come on, Dwarf!” complained the Tracker. “We can’t keep stopping every five minutes.”
“You know me legs be lil!” grumbled Gilnar.
“Wouldn’t hurt to cut back on the carbs as well,” muttered Kurt, glancing around.
“What was that!?”
“I said we’re close. His scent is really strong here.”
They had arrived at a peak that overlooked a cave in the middle of nowhere. Lorcan had noticed it when they stopped to rest, and was eager to go explore it. Maybe the Kobold had was resting there!
“Hurry up, Gilnar,” said the Mage, trying to contain his excitement. “This might be our chance to spring up on the thief without him knowing!”
“Alright, alright already!” Gilnar got back to his feet and dusted off his pants. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Let me check for traps first, and then you charge in. I’ll stay by the cave’s entrance to make sure he can’t escape, while you and Lorcan get the orb back.”
With that, the group moved in. Kurt checked for traps, and didn’t find any. He nodded to Gilnar.
“Alrighty, lad, here we go,” whispered Gilnar to Lorcan.
“Yaaaaaaaa!” charged in Gilnar, with Lorcan close behind him, summoning ice to his hands. They were finally going to capture the thief!
Lorcan bumped into Gilnar, who stood in the middle of the cave with his mace by his side.
“Hey, Gilnar, what’re you doin? Is he not here or…” Lorcan raised his eyebrow and dissipated the ice when he saw the scene before him. The Kobold was tied up and unconscious, with the Orb of Agner sitting in his lap. Next to him scratched into the ground was a small message.
Lorcan, this is Jacob. I’m still alive. Going to Benelica.
“Jacob… he is still alive! I knew it!” cheered Lorcan, unable to control himself.
Kurt ran in when he heard the yelling. “You guys okay… woah, looks like someone got to the Kobold before we could.”
“It was the boy’s friend!” smiled Gilnar, pointing at the
writing on the ground.
Kurt read it over. “Ah, Benelica. That’s only a couple of day’s journey from here.”
The Tracker nodded to Lorcan. “We’ve got the orb back. Now it’s time to get your friend back.” k12
The next book in The Accidental Mage Serial will be released in early March 2017. If you enjoy reading, we’d love for you to leave a review on Amazon!
For updates and sneak peeks, feel free to subscribe to my email list at http://eepurl.com/cwEJbf
The Accidental Mage Serial: The Orb of Agner (Episode 1)
January 2017
The Accidental Mage Serial: The Kobold Thief (Episode 2)
January 2017
The Accidental Mage Serial: Death’s Chasm (Episode 3)
January 2017
The Accidental Mage Serial Episode 4k12
Coming March 2017
Death's Chasm Page 5
