by Jakob Tanner
“I think we both know what I’m getting at,” said Shade, nodding his head enthusiastically with a mischievous grin stretched across his face.
“No, I don’t,” I said.
“Everyone knows spellcasters carry the best loot,” said Shade. “They have the rarest stuff in their inventories!”
“You’re ridiculous,” I said. “Get into stealth and shut the heck up about loot for one second.”
Shade nodded and snuck over to the shadows of the cavern. As he moved forward, crouching down, his body faded into the background, the invisibility of stealth camouflaging his skin. I followed behind. I triggered moonskin—not sure whether it would work underground—and in seconds, to my relief, I was invisible like Shade.
The spellcasters were perched on an upper ridge.
“It’s going to take me a moment to get up there,” said Shade, materializing a grapple hook in his arms.
“I’ll meet you there then,” I said. “And I’ll take all the loot if you’re slow.”
I electric blinked onto the upper ridge. I was on the opposite end from the serpra spellcasters. The three were focused on the battle below, whipping fireballs and heal spells into the fray.
My moonskin kept them from noticing my presence.
I pulled out my bow and arrows. I dipped an arrow in the poison vial and then nocked it. I imbued the poison bow with the silvery glow of mana. Next I pulled back the string and triggered sniper’s eye. The arrow shot across the cavern like a bullet. It slid through the thick neck of the middle spellcaster, flinging him against the wall. Yellow serpra blood sprayed everywhere. His scales and skin glowed with patches of bright green from my poison infesting his veins. He was a percentage point away from permanent death.
The other two spellcasters turned to their dying party member with shock, then to me no longer invisible from moonskin. One whipped a fireball at me while the other formed a healing orb in its palm. I quickly dematerialized my bow and arrows and formed a fireball in my own palm and whipped it at the healing orb, cancelling the spell midair. The frustrated healer turned and hissed at his partner.
I stretched out my hands and pulled at the air. I clenched my fingers and twisted my wrists. The ground beneath their feet rumbled, then cracked. Jagged stones emerged from the ground, stabbing them. All three of them collapsed. I whipped fireballs at the earthquake spell, adding burning embers to the sharp shards of stone stabbing the serpra spellcasters. A rush of experience points burst across my HUD as the one I’d hit with my sniper’s eye died from my AoE spell. The other two now looked extremely pissed off. They slithered out of the AoE spell and rushed towards me.
They threw more fireballs. I triggered flame dodge, rolling backwards, leaving a fiery trail. They stopped at the foot of my flames. These snakes were smarter than your average trash mob.
They conjured fireballs in each of their hands and whipped them in my direction. I triggered flame dodge. The serpra spellcasters’ magical projectiles missed. There was just one problem: I’d shot myself off the ledge into the middle of open air. I scrambled in panic, waving my hands and feet as if I were underwater propelling myself upwards. I closed my eyes and focused on imbuing mana to my feet. I then electric blinked right as another wave of fireballs came at me. I reappeared right behind the serpa mages. I threw out my palm, fingers crackling with lightning, and placed it right on the backside of one of the spellcaster’s heads. The skull shock ability completely took over the creature’s body. He took on a purple hue of electricity as he vibrated and shook in front of me. His HP bar diminished smoothly from more than 50% down to 30%. It then shot back up again as his partner healed him.
Two on one was proving to be a real pain in the butt.
I flame dodged away from them and triggered earthquake again. They jumped back and threw out more fireballs at me. It was like fighting in a frustrating mirror mode.
Then one of them screamed in pain.
Shade pulled his kunai free from the serpra’s shoulders. “Backstabbing is a bitch, ain’t it?”
I took the opportunity to electric blink right in front of the dying spellcaster and whipped out another skull shock. I clutched the serpra’s snout shut as lightning coursed out of my fingers and into its head.
“Distract the other one as I finish this,” I yelled at Shade.
Shade threw out a shadow kunai at the final spellcaster. He then slipped forward and did a rapid attack of kunai swipes at the serpra’s ribs. The attack was deadly until it was cancelled by the serpra’s tail wrapping around Shade and binding him.
“Agh,” yelled Shade. “I’ve been paralyzed by the snake wizard!”
I whipped out lightning cage at the serpra. A rope of lightning spiraled around it, paralyzing the creature. Shade slipped free and scrambled to his feet. He delivered another devastating round of rapid kunai swipes, this time dealing the full damage against the serpra’s paralyzed body. The creature’s HP fell to 0 and the experience points rushed across my HUD.
“Well done,” I said. “Let’s check on the others.”
“But Clay,” whimpered Shade. “The loot?”
“Chill on the goddamn loot,” I said. “You can have it all, but let’s go help our friends first, yeah?”
Shade shrugged. “Reasonable enough mate. Reasonable enough.”
Below us was a pile of serpra corpses—one melee fighter and two rangers. Since we were occupying the spellcasters, none of the other bandits were able to get healed.
Will appeared from the shadows, his right arm raised above his head, his fingers clawing down. His robes were soaked in blood and his HP was below 50%. Bright neon red lightning emerged from each of his fingertips, raining down on the last serpra ranger. The creature squirmed at the attack. It shivered, then shriveled, its HP draining rapidly, while in turn, Will’s HP grew. He was sucking the life out of the serpra. Holy crap—so my brother was a) still alive, b) a freaking badass, and c) a life-sucking fighter too! The serpra ranger fell to the ground in a shriveled dead husk.
“You know I’ve never asked,” said Shade, turning to me. “What’s it been like having your big bro back in your life?”
“Shut up,” I said and jumped off the ledge, creating mana puddles at my feet.
Serena and Jackson did the finishing touches on the last melee serpra fighter. Serena ripped her sword free from the dead serpra on the floor. Yellow blood sprayed out and splashed into a small puddle at their feet.
A burst of experience points and messages flashed across my HUD.
Congratulations! Your primary class (Druid) has leveled up (Level 26). You have gained (1) class skill point for your primary class.
I smiled. Damn right, I deserved leveling up after a battle like this one.
Serena wiped her forehead with the backside of her hand. “Oh my.”
Jackson stood still in a fighter’s stance, his ears alert. His muscles and shoulders relaxed and he stood up straight. “That was the last of them.” He then added. “For now.”
Kari rushed towards us. “I’m glad everyone’s okay,” she said. “Who the heck are these serpra people? I thought the Storm Mountains were inhabited by the Rorn?”
Jackson kicked one of the dead serpra at his feet. “The Storm Mountains are a landmass of their own. No one knows how deep these labyrinthine tunnels go and who or what else exists within this mountain matrix. So, deadly creatures in here is no surprise. However, serpra warriors at the very entrance built by the Rorn themselves? That’s not right. Something’s gone wrong in these mountains, but I’m not sure what yet.”
Shade hollered from the bottom of the cavern. “You guys gotta come check this out!”
We hurried towards where the cat-thief was calling us from and we found a small bandit hideout, which must have been the serpra’s. There was a fireplace, a weapon rack, and a large wooden chest at the back.
Shade’s eyes widened with glee. “Clay, help me open this treasure chest!”
He scurried over to it, his
tail wagging behind him. He put both his hands on the grip and lifted it, yet it wouldn’t budge. He pulled again, still no dice. He peered at the lock and pulled out a lock pick. He twisted and turned and said triumphantly, “There you go.” He lifted again. “Ugh, it’s still too heavy. Clay—what are you doing over there? It’s as if you’re not excited about the treasure chest. I wonder what’s inside? Maybe new kunai or revolvers. Or boots to make me super fast. Or a magic keg full of unlimited ale!”
I went over to Shade. We lifted it together and discovered a chest full of—drum roll please—nothing Shade wanted.
“What the heck is all of this junk,” he said. “A greatsword, some HP potions, a scroll. This is the most worthless treasure chest I’ve ever seen. I have to say guys, I’m very disappointed. I’ll have to drown my sorrows in drink.” His tail slumped and he fell over, materializing a bottle of ale from his inventory. He took a swig and sung into his bottle. “Oh, this is the ballad of the haunted treasure chest / full of crap nobody wanted / certainly not me.”
“Geez,” said Serena, walking over. “Your song sucks, Shade.”
She peered into the chest. “Ooh, sword!”
She pulled it out and glanced at it, reviewing the stats in her HUD. “Wow, this is actually a pretty fantastic greatsword. It’s more powerful than the one I currently have. Check it out. I sent a screenshot of the stats in party chat.”
Luthra’s Greatsword (ATKP 750-1200, +50 Gold Damage, Durability: 8)
“Damn,” I said. “Looks awesome. Gold damage diminishes an enemy’s toughness along with their HP.”
Serena held the sword in front of her and smiled. “Say no more. Equipped.”
“Nice,” said Will. “Any good warlock stuff in there?”
“There’s this scroll,” I said, pulling it out of the chest. I unrolled the paper and discovered it was a partial map of the Storm Mountains. “It’s a map.”
“Does it show the way to Iron Citadel?” asked Jackson.
“I can’t tell yet,” I said. “But it at least tells us what routes NOT to take.”
“Clever,” said Jackson. “Learn anything else?”
“Hmm,” I said, pouring over the map. “Most of these tunnels lead to drawings of shadowy illustrations with scary eyes. So I vote we don’t go those ways. How about we go this way?” I outlined with my finger a route leading deeper into the tunnel in the direction to a half-drawn hallway with an arrow labeled Iron Citadel.
“Looks good to me,” said Jackson.
I turned to everyone else.
“I’m good wherever we go,” said Shade. “But I’m mentally preparing myself for more disappointing treasure chests.”
“The bigger concern,” said Serena, turning and looking to the shadowy walls of the abandoned mine shafts. “Is what happened to the Rorn who once lived here?”
The answers—good or bad—waited for us down in the mine tunnels. I took a step forward and led the way.
21
We travelled through dark shadowy tunnels for a few hours until our passageway narrowed and opened up into a bleating hot room with a river of glowing lava at the bottom. The silver mine track continued on the tight passage until the metal bars bent down towards the molten depths below. The mine track had collapsed, leaving a gaping hole right between our pathway.
“Oof,” said Shade. “Now that’s a gap.”
I turned to Serena and Jackson. “You two are the only others in the group with fairly acrobatic jump abilities. Can you make it over the crevice?”
Serena looked down. “Maybe,” she said. “Personally I wouldn’t want to risk it.”
“Same,” said Jackson.
Gryph would be a huge help here, but the bird’s earlier grumpiness echoed in my head: I’m not your personal taxi service. I didn’t need Gryph for this.
“Alright then,” I declared. “I introduce to you a new incarnation of Clay Hopewell: human piggy-back giver.”
I turned to the group. “Who’s first?”
I was about to volunteer Serena or Jackson, because if something really went wrong, they had acrobatic moves to get them the rest of the way there. Plus, they’d be good backup for when I was shepherding everyone else over.
“I’m sick with suspense,” said Shade. “Take me first.”
Everyone shrugged.
“No, I’m taking Serena first,” I said.
Shade made a face.
“In case I drop you, she’ll be able to jump in and potentially help,” I explained.
“If he’s lucky,” chimed Serena.
“What do you mean you’re gonna drop me!?” shouted Shade.
Kari’s face was full of worry.
“I didn’t say I was going to,” I said. “If something were to happen, which I don’t think it will as I have quite a big MP pool for my double jumps, remember? Taking Serena first is an extra precaution. Maybe more cautious than I need to be.”
Shade peered below the wide chasm and the rolling river of lava below. “Yeesh,” he said. “You do what you think’s best, Clay.”
“Okay,” I said and went over to Serena. “Hop on?”
“Are you sure you can carry me?” she said, eyebrows furrowed.
My eye twitched. This was not a question I wanted to answer. It felt like a lose-lose. I gulped and bent over. “Sure I can! I’ve carried Kari and Shade before.”
“I’m more than four times Kari’s size and Shade is light as a feather. I know, because I’ve thrown him into walls enough times to realize I had to tone down my strength.”
“Yeah, geez can you stop doing that please, Ms. Serena?” said Shade.
Serena continued. “I’m pure muscle, Clay. Are you sure you can handle it?”
Worse came to worse, I would imbue mana into my arms.
Serena hopped onto my arms and I made a point to hold back any grunts. I seeped mana into my arms to boost their hold on Serena. I then ran to the tip of the broken mine shaft and jumped into the open air. My stomach lurched as gravity pulled me downward. I focused and imbued mana at my feet. We were halfway to the other side now. Death awaited below us. I pushed off the mana puddle and made another one at my feet.
“Do you see the problem?” I said.
Serena, whose arms were squeezed around my chest said, “Yeah. You’re too weak to get us across.”
“Nooo,” I said, making sure the mana puddle below us was firm. “I didn’t get a high enough jump from the ledge. We’re under the ledge now. You can get up there, can’t you?”
On my next jump I had to concentrate less on the length of the area and more in terms of the height.
“Uh, I’ll try,” said Serena. “Stay where you are. You may need to catch me.”
Serena climbed on top of me, the weight of her pushed me down so I was crouching right into my mana puddle. She kicked off my back and grabbed hold of the ledge. She pulled herself up by the one arm and climbed onto the edge. Safe.
Phew.
I hopped back to the other side where the rest of the party was.
“That did not look safe,” said Kari.
“No,” I said. “It totally was. I didn’t get a good enough jump at the start.”
“Are you calling Ms. Serena a—what did you say the word was, Will—“fat-ass”?” mused Shade.
I smiled back at Serena. If you took off the bloodied armor and weaponry, the beautiful slender blonde woman would be the cover model on a fashion magazine.
“I’m not saying anything,” I said, materializing an MP potion and replenishing my mana supply back to full. “She’s over there safe. Who’s next?”
No one volunteered.
The team needed a morale boost for this whole endeavor, so I approached Kari and said, “C’mon now.”
“Are you going to drop me?” Her little fox tail was frozen and her eyes were wide.
“No,” I said. “I promise, I won’t.”
I bent over and she climbed onto my back. Her claws pinched my shoulders.
I took a deep breath. I let a burst of lightning blast out of my fingers and into my feet. Shocking speed of electricity coursed through my boots. With increased agility, I ran to the edge of the stone bridge and leaped. I created another pool of mana at my feet and jumped even higher.
Kari was so light and I had leapt with the right altitude, it was easy getting her across. I bent over to let her off and she said, “That went easier than I thought.”
“You doubted me?”
The little fox-girl shrugged.
Serena smirked. “Didn’t have trouble getting her across?”
“You’re joking?”
She stuck out a playful tongue at me.
I grinned and hopped back to the other side, creating mana puddles at my feet the entire time. Three more party members to go.
I took Shade next. He was light so he was easy. When I got back, Will bowed and said to Jackson, “After you.”
“If you insist,” said the gruff Rorn. I bent over and I jumped over the large chasm and got him with the rest of the party.
“Go Clay,” shouted Kari and Serena, cheering me on.
“Saved the best for last, huh?” said Will, when I landed back on the original platform. I materialized another MP potion and chugged it down. I wasn’t expending much on the jumps there and back, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
I bent over and Will hopped on, clutching his arms around me. “It’s nice to be saving you for once,” I said.
“Ha, get me across this chasm first, bud.”
I cast shocking speed again and then ran to the edge before leaping off. Pebbles were pushed into the air when I kicked off, falling through the open air towards the river of molten lava. The leap had got me high above. I leapt again to gain more height. Then a bit more.
“Halfway there bro,” I said.
We were so high we almost touched the drooping stalactites of the cave. They were pointy rocks, nothing more. One of them flickered. That wasn’t right.
“Clay!”
