“Bellaxragor Stormreaper,” Daraxandriel whispered and the demon’s baleful eye latched onto her.
“Daraxandriel,” he said, his voice rumbling through my bones like an avalanche. “I am come for thee.”
30
Death is a fact of life in MMOs. There are a thousand different ways to die in Lorecraft, from freezing to death in the mountains to being poisoned by giant spiders to getting stabbed in the back by that guy standing outside the dungeon exit. The reasons you die, though, generally fall into four categories.
First, you were caught by surprise by some unexpected event or random encounter. This usually occurs when you’re not paying attention to your surroundings, especially in dark or cramped locations with lots of hiding places, like forests and caves. Most of the time you’re able to make a run for it or fight your way out of it, but every now and then you’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Second, you weren’t as prepared for the encounter as you thought you were. This happens a lot with newer players, who are prone to grossly overestimating their own skills while blithely ignoring the dangers in front of them. Jumping into a fight without knowing what the enemy you’re facing is capable of is generally not a recipe for success. Game wikis, user forums, and player guides are your friends.
Third, you were just plain unlucky. The combat system in Lorecraft makes extensive use of random number generators to determine the likelihood of your attack succeeding and the extent of the damage you cause when it does. You can have the best weapons and armor money can buy but if your dice roll keeps coming up 1, you’re pretty much toast.
Finally, you just weren’t good enough. No matter how well you prepare and how lucky you are, the boss in front of you might be so overwhelmingly powerful that nothing you do makes the slightest difference to the outcome of the battle. You might as well just stand there and await your inevitable demise and save your potions and spell scrolls for some other time.
Fortunately, death is merely an inconvenience in Lorecraft. You can be resurrected by a cleric or a compassionate soul with a revive spell, or you can choose to respawn in a nearby temple. You may end up losing a lot of your equipment or loot, but at least you can learn from the experience, regroup, and try to do better the next time.
Real life is the same, except that there’s no next time. You’ve got exactly one chance to get it right. If you screw it up, well, it’s game over.
“Creare circulus!” Mrs. Kendricks shouted, sweeping her wands in an arc to either side. A pentagram appeared under our feet, much larger and more ornate than the one she made in the storeroom. Five small circles – gold, green, blue, white, and red – marked the points of the star and the entire pattern was bound within another silver circle. She moved to the green circle. “Ryan, water!” she snapped. “Susie, air!”
Prescott hesitated and then ran towards us, stopping on the blue circle. Susie eyed the white circle distastefully. “I should be fire,” she insisted.
“Just do it!” Susie let out her breath in a huff but complied.
Daraxandriel and I stood in the center of the pentagram and I looked at the two remaining circles. “Where do we go?” I asked uneasily.
“Just stay where you are and don’t leave the circle.” Mrs. Kendricks’ attention was focused on the demon, who watched us as if he couldn’t understand why we bothered trying to protect ourselves.
“We’re unbalanced,” Prescott protested.
“They’re not witches, they can’t help us. Defendat.” The wind and rain suddenly ceased within the circle as a shimmering dome sprang up around us. A sneer twisted Bellaxragor’s lips.
“Our Dread Lord summons thee before Him, Daraxandriel,” he told her. “Dost thou truly believe that feeble shell will keep thee from my hand?”
“I will not submit to His will!” she called defiantly, although her voice shook badly and her fingers crushed mine. “I forsake Him!”
“All who defy Him suffer in His fires for eternity,” said the demon with grim finality. “Thou shalt join them an thou dost delay me further, as shall these humans who would defend thee.” His gaze swept over us and I shuddered at the cold malice in his uncovered eye.
A rapid tap-tap-tap sounded behind us, growing quickly louder, and I looked around to see what new danger we were about to face. My breath caught in my throat as I recognized Melissa sprinting towards us with a wand clutched in her fist, her outfit already drenched by the rain and her hair snapping in the wind.
“Mrs. Kendricks!” she called. “I felt something –” She skittered to a halt and almost lost her balance as she caught sight of Bellaxragor looming in front of us. “Oh my God!” she squeaked. “What the hell is that?”
“Melissa, hurry!” Mrs. Kendricks beckoned her over urgently and Melissa ran for the pentagram. The dome flickered out just long enough to let her pass through and Prescott had to catch her to keep her upright. “Take fire!” Mrs. Kendricks ordered.
“What?” Melissa asked blankly. Mrs. Kendricks pointed and she shifted over, kicking off her heels and planting her stockinged feet on the red circle. “What do I do?”
“This.” Mrs. Kendricks’ finger plunged into her forehead and Melissa blinked at her. “Get ready.”
“Okay,” she breathed, raising her wand in an unsteady hand. Then she noticed me and Daraxandriel standing there hand in hand and her dark eyes narrowed in anger. “Peter,” she snarled.
“I can explain –” I started to say but Mrs. Kendricks cut me off.
“Deal with it later, you two,” she told us firmly. “We have bigger problems.”
“We’re still short one,” Prescott said tersely. “Can Lilith help?”
“No,” she stated flatly.
“But –” He looked back to where she’d been standing but she wasn’t there. “Where is she?”
Daraxandriel spotted her first, walking straight towards Bellaxragor. “Lilith!” she called. “Flee for thy safety!”
Lilith just sneered at her and continued towards the demon, holding her hands out to her sides. Her dress was a sodden rag and her hair was matted to her skull but she still exuded poise and confidence.
“My lord Bellaxragor!” she hailed him. “I have a proposal for you.”
“What is she doing?” Prescott gasped as Bellaxragor looked her over with an expression of distaste. “Is she insane?”
“Thou wouldst bargain with me, human?” Bellaxragor growled. “The price is steep, thy soul for mine aid.”
“Not a bargain, my lord,” she countered. She stopped just a few feet in front of him, looking like a child next to his bulk. “A trade.”
“No human has aught of any worth to me save its soul,” he said dismissively. “Step aside lest thee be trampled into the mud.” He hefted his hammer threateningly to emphasize his point but Lilith just laughed.
“Don’t you recognize me, my lord? I am Lilixandriel, a true and faithful servant of our Dread Lord.”
“What?” Prescott gaped. “She really is Lily Cantrell? But she was helping me!” He stared down at the palm of his right hand.
“Thou art as human as these other vermin,” Bellaxragor growled, heedless of our exchange. “I am done with thee.” He raised his hammer over his head and I cringed, certain that Lilith was about to be flattened.
“You’re wrong, my lord,” she declared and Bellaxragor paused with a perplexed frown, as if no one had ever dared to contradict him before. “I carry our Dread Lord’s curse, the one He used to punish Daraxandriel. Remove it from me and you’ll see.”
Bellaxragor slowly lowered his arm and perused Lilith with his glowing eye for a long, tense moment. “Thou dost speak truly,” he said finally. “Yet even I cannot break our Dread Lord’s curse.”
“But you can set it aside,” Lilith argued. “Free me and I’ll give you a reward in thanks.”
“Reward?” I echoed uneasily. “What does she have that he could possibly want?”
“She lies,” Daraxandriel in
sisted. “She seeks only to unfetter herself from her curse.”
Bellaxragor glowered suspiciously at Lilith, as if he shared the same thought, but then he raised his other hand and made a sweeping motion to the side. Lilith cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground in a shivering heap as something ripped itself out of her body, reforming a short distance away.
“Oh my God,” Melissa breathed, looking pale. “What is that?”
It looked like a human body woven from black, gnarled vines and wreathed in smoke. Wicked blood-red thorns dotted every tendril and it writhed and twitched as if it yearned to latch on to something and never let go.
“That’s the curse?” I asked Daraxandriel and she nodded, looking strained. “That was inside you?”
“Our Dread Lord does not punish lightly, Peter Simon Collins,” she said tightly. “To remove His curse without His leave is to court death.”
“Yet it can be done,” Lilith chuckled. She raised her head from the ground and her eyes glowed brightly in the darkness. Her hair was silver once again and two horns curled back from her forehead. “An one has a willing host to take on the burden or the strength and will to survive its withdrawal.” She held her hand up, turning it back and forth to admire her ruddy skin, and her grin revealed her fangs. “Beautiful,” she declared with great satisfaction.
“Thou art restored, Lilixandriel,” Bellaxragor said impatiently. “I await the repayment of thy debt.”
“Certes, my lord.” Lilith – no, Lilixandriel now – got slowly to her feet and then she reached under the skirt of her dress to shimmy out of her panties. She cast them aside as her tail uncoiled and then she faced the demon lord with her hands on her hips. “Tell me, my lord, what is thy most fervent desire?”
Bellaxragor snorted angrily. “Dost thou seek to seduce me, succubus? Thy frail body would be broken upon mine.”
“Nay, my lord,” she said slyly, “I am not worthy of thy attentions. I speak of thy other desires. Thou hast labored in our Dread Lord’s shadow for an age. Dost thou not seek a higher station?”
The demon regarded her closely. “All do.”
“Yet thou canst achieve it this very day,” she smiled. “All I ask is one small thing in return.”
“I have freed thee from thy curse, Lilixandriel,” he reminded her sternly. “Thou art already in my debt.”
“And I have repaid thee, by giving thee the honor of first claim to a great treasure. Grant my boon and thou shalt hold infinite power in thy hands. Power,” she smiled, “to rival our Dread Lord’s.”
“Thou dost speak of treason against Him,” Bellaxragor said, but he sounded thoughtful instead of outraged. “Many have tried afore and all have failed. Whyfor should I succeed where others have stumbled?”
“Because thou shalt have this.” My breath stuck in my throat as Lilixandriel pulled the Philosopher’s Stone over her head and horns and held it up high.
“Our Dread Lord’s soulstone!” Bellaxragor exclaimed in wonder. “Where didst thou come by this? I thought it secure within His trove.” He reached for it eagerly but Lilixandriel snatched it away, cupping it protectively in her hands.
“Nay, my lord!” she chided him. “First swear to keep my at thy side as thou ascends the Burning Throne.”
“Is that thy boon?” he scowled. “Thou wouldst become my concubine?”
“Nay,” she grinned wickedly. “I would become thy queen.”
“Thou art bold for one of such meager status,” he smirked. He either didn’t notice Lilixandriel’s eyes narrow and lips tighten at his slight or he didn’t care. “Yet thy proposal intrigues me. Cede yon soulstone to me and I shall seize our rightful place in the netherworld with thee at my left hand.” He held out that hand again and this time she placed the Philosopher’s Stone within it.
“Peter, no!” Olivia ran towards me, passing through Mrs. Kendricks’ shield like it wasn’t there. “If he takes the Stone back to Hell, I’ll go with him! Stop them! Get it back!” She grabbed my arm and desperately tried to pull me out of the circle but all I felt was a breath of chilly air on my skin.
“How?” I demanded. “Look at him! How are we going to beat him?” I watched in despair as Bellaxragor set his hammer on the ground and lifted the Stone by its chain.
“They’re all witches!” Olivia insisted. “Can’t they just wave their wands and – and do something?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Peter,” Melissa asked warily, “who are you talking to?”
“Peter!” Olivia pleaded. “Help me! You have to do something!”
“I can’t,” I said helplessly. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”
A deep, angry rumble filled the alley and we all turned to see Bellaxragor rise up to his full height. “Thou miserable spawn,” he ground between his teeth. “Thou deceitful temptress! This bauble is worthless!” He cast the Philosopher’s Stone aside angrily and I watched it jounce across the pavement, slithering to a halt under the back bumper of the Mustang. “It is already bound by blood!”
“Nay, my lord!” Lilixandriel assured him even as she slowly backed away. “It can be undone!”
“Lies!” Bellaxragor snatched up his hammer and took a step towards her, the ground cracking beneath his foot. “Thou didst but seek to draw our Dread Lord’s ire away from thee! Thou wouldst have me accused for His soulstone’s theft!” He lifted his hammer to strike.
“Slay that boy!” Lilixandriel shouted desperately, her finger stabbing right at me. “The Stone is bound to him! Slay him and it is thine to claim!” Bellaxragor’s head swiveled to face me and his eye narrowed dangerously.
“Peter, get behind us!” Mrs. Kendricks urged. The circle flared brighter but I couldn’t see how that would do any good. Bellaxragor was too big and too powerful.
“More lies,” growled the demon. “The soulstone will protect him. He cannot be slain.”
“He can!” Lilixandriel insisted. “Cast our Dread Lord’s curse onto him. ‘Twas crafted for demons, no mere human can withstand its touch, Stone or no. Do it and thy rise to power begins this very day!”
We all held our breaths as Bellaxragor glowered at her, no doubt wondering if this was another trick, but then he raised his empty hand and my heart stuttered in my chest as the curse turned to face me. “What do we do?” Melissa whispered.
“Hit him with everything you have!” Prescott ordered. “Don’t let up!” He raised his wand and its tip flared blindingly white. “Fulgur!”
A bolt of lightning thicker than a tree trunk slammed down on Bellaxragor through the cloud and lit up the alley like a camera flash. The demon howled in rage and agony, his skin blackened and smoking, but he lifted his hammer and slammed it on the ground. The pavement rippled like water, throwing us all to the ground, and the circle flickered ominously.
“Ventus!” Susie shouted, still on her knees as she brandished her wand, and a screaming whirlwind surrounded the demon, catching at his wings and staggering him.
“Ignis!” Melissa swept her wand around in a complicated pattern and the whirlwind ignited into blazing red-orange flames. I had to shield my face from the heat but Bellaxragor still remained on his feet.
“Insects!” he bellowed, his voice shaking the windows of the library and shattering a few. “These pinpricks shall not avail thee!” He swept his hammer in a circle over his head and the fiery tornado shredded into smoke. Another crackle of lightning struck him but he shrugged it off. “Thou shalt pay the price for thy defiance,” he said menacingly. “Thy lives are forfeit.”
“Nay, my lord!” Lilixandriel shouted. She crouched by the back wall of the alley, well out of range of our attacks. “They seek to distract thee. Kill the boy lest all be lost!”
Bellaxragor huffed his frustration but he raised his hand towards the curse, still hovering a short distance away. A burst of wind suddenly howled along the alley, picking up stones and dust and pushing him back a step as he used his arms to protect his face, but it faltered a
lmost immediately.
“Don’t just stand there, Peter,” Susie sniped at me, her wand trembling in her grip. “Do something!”
A trio of fireballs launched from the end of Melissa’s wand, arcing towards Bellaxragor from all sides. He batted one away with his hammer but the other two struck, exploding like balloons filled with gasoline and covering him with a sheet of fire. The endless rain quickly snuffed out the flames, though, and he roared wordlessly at the sky. “We can’t keep this up!” Melissa gasped. “He’s too strong!”
Bellaxragor reached for the curse again but he suddenly collapsed to the ground with a grunt, as if someone had cranked up the gravity underneath him. Mrs. Kendricks’ eyes were squeezed shut and her entire body quivered with the strain as she struggled to hold him in place but the demon lifted his head slowly, his eye blazing with fury.
“Thou art strong, witch,” he snarled ominously, “but not strong enough to restrain a lord of demons.” His fingers dug into the pavement as he started to lift himself up, his joints creaking and cracking with the effort.
“Ryan, help me!” Mrs. Kendricks gasped, blindly reaching out a hand towards him. He interlocked his fingers with hers and Bellaxragor sagged again, but only for a moment. Susie grabbed their hands and Melissa did the same and the demon shrieked his frustration, tearing up the pavement beneath him as he fought against Mrs. Kendricks’ spell.
For a fleeting instant, I almost thought we were going to win. Bellaxragor slumped to the ground, breathing raggedly like a wounded animal, his wings flailing impotently, but he was only gathering his strength. With a raging shout that echoed through the alley like a relentless rockfall, he ripped his hand from the ground. The pentagram flickered one last time and vanished as Mrs. Kendricks fell to her hands and knees, sending her wands clattering across the ground.
Soul Mates Page 39
