The Siege

by Jakob Tanner

I’d wobbled on my mana puddle, falling a step or two, but I regained focus sending mana to the bottom of my feet.

  “Did you see something?” I asked.

  “Are you messing around with me, Clay? Everyone else would’ve been over by now.”

  “I know,” I said, the mana puddle kept us teetering in one spot above the open chasm. “It’s just, something weird happened over—”

  A black blob fell from the ceiling. A loose rock? Then the black shadow burst into seven tentacles and pink gums and a circle mouth full of sharp pincer teeth appeared in the center of the mass. The monster smashed into Will, biting into his shoulder. My brother screamed out in pain. He jerked his elbow into it. I grabbed onto his other arm to make sure he didn’t lose his grip on me. I jumped away.

  “It won’t let go,” shouted Will.

  “Hang onto me,” I said.

  Will blasted the strange multi-tentacled creature with bright red warlock energy. The monster flew back, squirming in the air.

  I didn’t waste any time. I jumped and made mana puddles and landed on the other side of the bridge.

  The rest of the party had their weapons in hand.

  “What the heck are we fighting?” I said.

  “Mate—weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Shade.

  “I’ve read about these in a book once in the Land’s Shield library,” said Serena. “They’re called black stalactites, subterranean octopus-esque creatures. They have an ability to blend in with the rocks and shadows. They also usually nest in groups of three.”

  “So you’re saying,” said Will, shooting out another red energy blast at the incoming black stalactite, “There’s more than one?”

  Above us in the ceiling were countless dripping rocks, shadows, and actual stalactites. What if they were all monsters like the one attacking us now?

  Shade whipped out his dual flintlock revolvers. Bright blasts of smoke and fire burst from the front holes of the pistols as bullets fired into the black stalactite. The bullets punctured the octopus creature, stretching out its black skin like rubber. Then, like an elastic band, the creature pushed its skin outward and shot the bullets right back at us. We all pivoted away from the blast.

  The black stalactite pushed its way towards us. It floated in the air—so it was flying—but the way it interacted with the environment reminded me of a fish underwater.

  “Blood magic pushes it away,” said Will. “But doesn’t do much damage. Meanwhile actual bullets can’t even penetrate its flesh. How do we beat this thing?”

  “I think you mean things,” said Serena, leaping in the air with her sword and unleashing whirlwind blade. Two more black stalactites fell towards her and met her blade’s wrath.

  I threw out a fireball at the one Will was fighting. The blast flew across the cavern and hit the walls, puttering out with no effect. Where had the first stalactite gone?

  “It’s camouflaging,” said Will.

  “Focus on the other two,” said Jackson, who leapt into the air and did an upper cut dragon punch. The attack sent the black stalactite swirling back into the shadows. They didn’t return.

  Now there was one remaining. I had a thought.

  I leapt in the air to meet the swirling cave tentacle head on. Right as its slimy arm wrapped around my own, I burst into a cloud of electricity. I appeared right behind it, with the crackling lightning of a skull shock in my right arm and planted it into the center of the tentacled creature. It buzzed with purple lightning, draining its HP down to zero. It was like an underwater creature then. Weak against lightning spells.

  +167 EXP!

  I landed back on the platform. “You see? Boom. We know how to crush these guys now.”

  I materialized a dagger and looted the creature, gaining slabs of black stalactite meat to eat later. I stood up and everyone’s face was pale with terror.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Uh Clay,” said Will. “Look behind you.”

  At least ten or twenty—but most likely a lot more—black stalactites appeared on the cavern’s ceiling.

  “That’s too many to take on,” said Serena. “Especially when half of our attacks are ineffective against these things.”

  “Well, you know what I would do in these situations,” shrugged Shade, before yelling on the top of his lungs, “RUN!”

  We all dashed across the bridge platform towards a nearby cavern passage. I threw out bursts of agility-boosting lightning into Serena’s feet. I boosted Will next. Kari and Jackson buffed themselves as we ran across the cavern ledge. We entered a tunnel, full of blue and pink shards of glowing crystal mana. The shift from the bright orange glow of the lava was startling.

  Shade dashed ahead of all of us, practically galloping down the tunnel. He turned around and his eyes widened. “Hey everyone, quick recommend: don’t look behind you.”

  I looked over my shoulder.

  I should’ve listened to Shade.

  Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve—it didn’t matter now. The sight was etched into my memory.

  The tentacle beasts swarmed like one massive hungry shadow monster, crawling across the walls of the tunnel towards us—multiple mouths drooling with hunger. Eyes craving our flesh.

  I turned forward and ran faster than ever. Note to self: fear was better than all my agility spells combined.

  Shade stopped. “Uhh, guys.”

  Oh no. What was up ahead? The same thought raced through my head: don’t be a dead end, don’t be a dead end, don’t be a dead end.

  “It’s a dead end,” said Shade.

  The tunnel stopped and a huge hole opened up with a black river of water running underneath.

  The octopus monsters were seconds away from devouring us.

  “I think we only got one option here guys,” I said.

  “That’s right,” yelled Shade, “JUMP!”

  The cat-man cannonballed into the rushing river.

  This was not the route we’d planned from the map.

  This was off the grid.

  This was insane.

  My heart was beating like a five-year old with a drum kit: erratic and out of control.

  I jumped into the air, hurling myself into the river below.

  22

  My body plunged into the cold black water. I blinked. I scrambled. I gasped for air. Then the pressure of the water current sent me swirling further down the black tunnel. My head darted in every direction, taking panicked breaths, not sure which gasp would be my last. I had no sight of the others.

  “Seren—”

  Water filled my lungs, clogging up my breaths. The swirling black river shot me further along. I slammed into a rock. A throbbing pain coursed through my forehead and made the rest of my body shiver. I tasted blood in my teeth. The river was no longer dark. A glimpse of a cavern opening up, rays of light pouring through from way above. An arm grabbed me and pulled me out of the river.

  I gasped, then vomited up water.

  I felt a slap in my face. An HP potion was lifted up to my lips. The soothing liquid flowed into me, seeping through my skin and flesh, closing my wounds, and bringing my health bar back to full.

  Shade loomed over. “I need your help getting the others, Clay. I know you want your ‘I almost died moment’ but it’s gonna have to wait.”

  He yanked me up to my feet and ran back towards the riverbank. We were in a new portion of the mountain. A clearing. I didn’t see too many monsters around. The river we’d jumped into still had a forceful current but it was more gentle here.

  “What the heck are you doing?” shouted Shade, pulling Kari out of the water.

  I shook my head. He was right. I was still dazed from the rapid swirl of the river. I ran to the water. Serena was far up ahead, close to leaving the chamber of the cavern and going who knows where in the mountain. I electric blinked. I was ahead of Serena now. I stretched out my arms and cast frozen ground at the end of the riverbank. The water at the end froze and crackled onto the side of the caver
n ground. Serena’s floating body knocked into the ice. I grabbed her arm. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Crap. She had gone unconscious from smacking into a rock. Her HP was still high at 80%, but I hugged her and cast healing mist. I dragged her onto the side where she was safe and turned to rescue the others.

  Shade was pulling Jackson out of the water, so the only person left was Will. I scanned the river. Where the heck was he? A floating blob flowed down the river. It was Will, face down, cloak covering him. I jumped towards where he was.

  “Shade, help me,” I yelled.

  Shade came over and we both crouched by the river and reached for his arms. We caught hold of him and pulled him out. His HP had fallen dramatically. His hair was wet and tousled, dirt caked between the strands. His skin was pale. I materialized an HP potion and poured it down his mouth. His HP rose and his body spasmed. He coughed back into consciousness.

  I sighed with relief. Kari and Jackson were tending to each other. Serena was drying off her clothes. We’d made it.

  I turned to where the river was flowing in from. Were the black stalactites not following us through?

  I hopped over to the river’s entrance to the cavern. I crouched on my knees. The shadowy tentacles of the black stalactites were waiting at the edge of the river, but they didn’t swarm into the open. Had their thirst for our destruction abated?

  My shadow loomed across the rocky ground. A ray of light poked through the cavern. We were deep in the mountains now, so the light was poking through from very far above. It was miraculous really. It must have been the reason the black stalactites weren’t swarming the chamber to kill us. They must have been allergic to sunlight. So they’d swarm our hideout as soon as night hit.

  “Everyone,” I said. “Stay away from the river. I’m about to try something.”

  I held up my arm and let crackling lightning swirl around it. My whole arm went purple with powerful electric energy. I then planted my hand onto the river, triggering the spell skull shock. The lightning rippled across the water, deep into the cavern. Screeches and wails echoed forth. I held the spell as long as possible. Then triggered it again. A splash occurred and a whole bunch of dead black stalactite corpses fell into the river and poured into the cavern. The experience points stacked in my HUD.

  I grinned. “Anyone with lightning spells, get over here now! We got easy levels to earn.”

  I roasted a whole bunch of tentacles of black stalactite meat over a fire around our base camp. We’d gained about two levels apiece from killing the swarm of cave octopi.

  “Gotta love those easy levels,” said Shade.

  “Would you really call them easy levels though?” said Serena, watching the roasting tentacles. “Yeah we trapped them and killed a bunch with ease, but only by accident after they almost killed us?”

  “It’s a potentially good farming area,” said Will. “But I’m not sure how fast those stalactites respawn and of course, because the Storm Mountains function under dungeon rules, there’s no easy escape from here. So you’re right, we were lucky more than anything else.”

  “Alright, sorry for saving the day and cooking us dinner,” I joked.

  A new message appeared in my HUD.

  Congratulations! You have cooked a black stalactite skewer! (x10)

  I pulled a roasted cave octopi skewer and handed it to Serena, while everyone rushed in to help themselves.

  Shade ate an entire tentacle in one bite. “They were awful to fight, but mmmm, they’re yummy,” said Shade, talking with his mouth full.

  “This is very delicious,” said Jackson, admiring the skewer. “Thank you, Clay.”

  “I’m impressed bro,” said Will. “You were such a picky eater growing up.”

  “Well that’s cause neither mom nor dad knew how to cook,” I laughed.

  Will laughed. “Yeah good point,” he said. “I guess I was better at faking it.”

  “Yeah or your appetite sorely outpaced your taste buds,” I grinned.

  Will chuckled and then the conversation died off. Everyone had gone quiet. They must have all been thinking wistfully of their loved ones, lost to the world outside. Their fates unknown, though any betting man would say they were dead or a flesh-eater. Even my little repartee with Will was nice, but it was couched in sadness. Mom and dad were gone. Their food was bad and yet I was sad I’d never get to taste it again. Sad they would never be able to see how much I’d learned. There was so much I still wanted to show them. Tell them. Share with them. But they were gone.

  Jackson was the first to speak. “I’m going to take a snooze. Let’s rest. When we wake up tomorrow, we’ll figure out a way through this haunted mountain and get to Iron Citadel.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement. We drew straws and I got first watch. The fire crackled in the dark cavern of the mountains and I opened up my HUD.

  I brought the druid skill tree into focus.

  I had plenty of class skill points to spend, carrying over from levels earned in my other classes. I peered over the new available skills at level 28.

  Solar Bomb: Massive AoE blast of Solar Energy. 1200 MTKP + Solar Damage. Cost: 150 MP.

  Star Storm: Massive AoE blast of Lunar Energy. 1400 MTKP + Lunar Damage. Cost: 150 MP.

  Steelbark (upgrade of Barkskin): Increase toughness by 20%.

  Nature’s Revival: Revive a fallen ally. Cost: 300 MP.

  Regrowth: Heals HP over time. 6 HP per second. Duration: 2 minutes. Cost: 60 Shred (Only available in Feral Mode): Increase ATKP, muscles, strength, and size of hand in powerful slash attack.

  Primal Fangs (Only available in Feral Mode): Teeth grow and sharped in strength, etc. etc.

  I liked the look of all the abilities. Solar bomb and star storm were two awesome looking AoE magic spells. They fit in with my apprentice mage skills—but thankfully were more off-kilter elements so wouldn’t ever be as ineffective as, say, fire spells against water creatures. Nature’s revival was a must. Our biggest handicap since Kari learned how to raise people was making sure she didn’t die. Now such a situation was less of a problem. Steelbark would upgrade barkskin making it surpass my similar apprentice mage skill, stone skin. Really though, I liked the ability simply as a stepping stone to regrowth. Regrowth was a healing over time spell which was nice. Then there were the two feral mode abilities: shred and primal fangs. I still wasn’t sure about feral mode. I liked the power it gave me, but I didn’t like the loss of control. What if I initiated a Prophetic Seal spell while in the mode? Such dangerous actions had the power to kill me, wipe my avatar entirely from the game. I pulled my sleeve up and looked at my arm. Faint traces of black swirled from the bold Prophetic Seal and up my arm. It was the curse of this seal’s power. Most moves barely increased its hold over me, but a few kills and last-minute revives meant the curse had spread beyond the initial swirl on my wrist. I pulled my sleeve back down. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

  Feral mode. The rest of the party hadn’t seen the sheer destruction of feral mode yet. How would they react to such a powerful yet reckless ability?

  I unlocked all the spells. Screw it, why not. We were in a deep mountain dungeon, fighting for our lives. What was the point of hoarding all these skill points?

  I closed my HUD with satisfaction. I peered around the dark cavern. The river continued to pass through. The faint flow of stars and moonlight flickered through the cracks of the mountain to the far away sky above. A shadow poked out from a nearby rock. Then disappeared.

  I stood up.

  I peered down at my sleeping party members. Should I wake them?

  It was probably a mountain monster. A trash mob. It was a good chance to practice my new druid abilities. I headed towards the shadow. I stretched out my arm and let out a moonblast. A bright silver ray of light shot forth from my hand. The spell smashed into a boulder, disintegrating into nothing but a puff.

  A pain throbbed in my neck. I winced from the sting. I was now on the ground. My eyes took in thick boots.
I rolled over and felt a punch in my gut. I scrambled to get up, but somebody kicked me down.

  These weren’t monsters.

  They grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back, locking me up. The handcuffed debuff flickered into my status bar. Crap.

  A bright light appeared in my eyes. It was an angry looking Rorn soldier. There were others behind him, locking up my party members.

  “Well,” said the angry Rorn warrior. “Look what we found here.”

  23

  We walked in a line, two by two, with the Rorn guards escorting us at the back and front. The handcuffs itched against my wrists.

  “Trapped by the Rorn,” whispered Shade, shaking his head. “Exactly why we never should’ve come down here. You think Arethkar is bad with their genetic experiments, well, let me tell you, they were inspired by the Rorn.”

  “I don’t feel so good,” said Kari.

  “Who was on watch again?” asked Serena.

  If they weren’t all physically challenged by the special Rorn magitech handcuffs, they would have burned their stares into me, but instead I was guilted through their silence.

  “My bad guys,” I said. “They came out of nowhere.”

  “Sure,” said Shade. “I bet you were looking over your skills.”

  “We were in a safe zone,” I hissed back. “Plus, I figured if we ran into any Rorn they wouldn’t be so pissed off. Aren’t they mad at the Haeren kingdoms of Arethkar?”

  “Yeah but they have a thousand year grudge against the Aeri as well,” said Jackson. “We’re generally permanently pissed off. Shouldn’t really expect benign behavior from us.”

  A guard shoved the blunt end of his spear into my back.

  “No talking,” the guard said.

  We continued marching forward into the mountain in silence. Until, a message popped up on party chat in my HUD.

  Serena: So what’s the escape plan?

  Clay: Right now, we wait. We’re in a tunnel and there’s nowhere to escape to. We need to pick our opportunity.