A Mage Prepared

by Thomas Whipple

  Turning around I start to search the rooms in this suite. All the other rooms didn't have anything worth taking but there was a chest in the bedroom here. I call the others and all of us are there to open it. I lift the lid and we all lean forward to see what is in there. Gold, and a lot of it. There is also some silver and copper there. "I am going to take all the money into my storage because it will be easier than counting it." When I do, it comes out to 213 gold, 342 silver, and 586 copper from in the large chest. I tell Azzaria and ask her if she wants me to take all the copper we have been getting from the possessed and lighten her load with the higher value coins. She agrees so I take 1657 copper from her and give her 109 gold to round her up. Now that all the money is gone I look into the chest to see if anything else is in there. I don't see anything but something feels off about it. Looking closer I can see the faint lines that indicate an enchantment is present around the bottom edge.

  "There is an enchantment at the bottom of this chest. I think it's hiding something." Before I can reach in though, Azzaria grabs my arm to stop me. "Let me check for traps before you go sticking your hand into acid or something." I can feel the blood drain from my face as I think about the flesh sloughing off my hand and leaving useless bones behind. I shake off the images as I watch my elf companion poke around in the chest for a couple of minutes before saying "No traps." She then lifts the bottom out of the chest and sets it to the side. Here is the real treasure to be found. Three books and a few pieces of jewelry line the hidden compartment.

  Skill Book: Rebuff: Use any weapon to violently block an attack. The force of the block may unbalance the enemy. Class: Any. Level Any.

  Skill Book: Shield Projection: Project an image of your shield that bashes the enemy from a distance, stunning them for 2 seconds. Class: Fighter only. Level 10+.

  Spell Book: Lightning: Fires a bolt of lightning into the enemy, possibly causing a 2 second paralysis. Air type magic level 5+.

  Iron Ring of Intellect: Simple ring made of iron enchanted to improve INT. Item class: Uncommon. Durability: 15/15. +1 INT.

  Iron Ring of Wisdom: Simple ring made of iron enchanted to improve WIS. Item class: Uncommon. Durability: 15/15. +1 WIS.

  Iron Ring of Agility: Simple ring made of iron enchanted to improve AGI. Item class: Uncommon. Durability: 15/15. +1 AGI.

  Stout Steel Chain: A necklace made of steel that is enchanted to make a person tougher. Item class: Uncommon. Durability: 15/15. +1 STR, +1 VIT.

  Azzaria wanted Rebuff, especially when I told her it said "weapon" and not sword or any specific one. She said that it would work for her sword but also her bow or almost anything. She learned it on the spot before I gave her the agility ring, which she put on. I took the ring with the INT and WIS, then stored the spell book for now. I can't wait to use it, but at this point I have nothing that I can use to train air magic. Who knows how long till I can use it. I store the shield skill book and look at the necklace. Both me and Azzaria have ones better suited to us, but I wish that Timbre could wear it. It might fit like a collar.

  "Azzaria?"

  "Yeah Vol?"

  "If I put this chain on Timbre, will she get the benefits of it?"

  "If it fits it will work, unless there is another item in the same place. Then they cancel each other out and you get the benefit of neither."

  "Good to know." I call Timbre over and slip the chain over her neck. With her thick neck and fur, what would have dangled loosely around me fits like a perfect collar for her. The simple chain links make her look pretty bad ass too. "Looks good on you Timbre. How do you like it?" To my question I get a little woof, almost as if she is shy, then she licks me right in the face. Chuckling I say "I will take that as a positive. You're welcome girl. I just wish I could equip you with more." I give her a hug and then we all leave the large suite. Back to the main hall we move to the raised back portion with the three doors. Since the double doors in the middle are locked or otherwise secured I go to the one on the left. It opens into a room that looks like another craft room with a table in the middle, but this one has heavy looking metal doors inside. One is in the back and the other on the left wall. There were a couple more of the warriors with shields that we killed here, but other than that there isn't really anything interesting. Both doors are sealed up tight and nothing seems to even scratch them, so we move on.

  At the main hall again we only have one more door to choose. I walk over to the right hand door in the back of the room and peek in, then open it wide for the others to see. It's a spiral staircase leading up. Taking the stairs up we come to another door on the same side as the one we used to enter the stairway. Peeking through the door I can see a long hallway that ends at an ornate door. There are two more possessed kobold standing guard there. Both are level 13 and have good looking gear. One is a swordsman and the other a warrior. After explaining what is there we open the door and step in. Timbre takes the front guard position with Thia on her head while Azzaria and I take either side in the wide hallway. The guards start rushing us but with the long hallway and no cover we bombard them until they die. A few seconds of magic and arrows flying is all it takes and it's over. The last one to die didn't even get within 10 feet of us. After killing the beetles that emerge (level 5) we collect their gear. It's nothing that we want but it should fetch a decent price if we sell it. We walk down the hall and inspect the door. It is also carved with bugs like the door below, but this one has a kobold head at the top spewing beetles down on the rest of the door.

  "If this isn't a boss fight I don't know what is."

  "What is that?" Azzaria asks.

  "Just a reference to the games I used to play back on Earth. It just means that this is probably the leader's room and it will be a harder fight."

  "Oh, that is probably accurate."

  Reaching out to open the door so that I can peek in I touch the handle. As soon as I make contact the door starts to open on it's own. I stand back and the doors continue opening until they are fully open. Obviously stealth is not an option at this point, so, with nothing else to do about it I say "Looks like we are expected" and walk in with my three companions following behind.

  Chapter 13

  The room that we enter is the living room in the master suite of the structure. At least that is what I assume. It's the biggest one we have come across and its position of importance on the top floor. Straight across the room is a large set of doors that are open onto a balcony. Standing in between the open doors is what I think is the boss, or queen, of the beetles. She, at least I think it is a she, is a tall kobold that looks older than the others. It's hard to tell but the scales look a little dull and she is hunched over slightly. She is wearing a robe that is more of a shawl and its clawed feet are bare. On her head is a headdress with feathers, small animal bones and skulls woven together with beaded leather. The staff she carries though is very familiar. The reason is that it looks just like mine. Quickly I use Identify to get an idea of what is to happen.

  Possessed Kobold Corpse, lvl 15, Witch Doctor. HP: 100%.

  After I tell everyone what we are dealing with, I turn back to the witch and am about to cast when it talks. I delay my mana bolt and keep charging while I listen to what she has to say. "Zzztupid zzzkinbagzz. What bringzz you to my nezzzt?" When it talks it makes a weird insect buzzing sound for the "s" and sends a shiver down my spine. I am taken back by the fact that this one can actually talk. It will only be more difficult to kill if it is this smart. I answer despite my worry and surprise. "You have brought us here. Your scouts were found near our village." She makes a hissing/buzzing sound that I take for displeasure. "It materzz not. My hivve will expand, and your vvvillage will be added to the hivve."

  "You see, that is the attitude that brought us here. All you do is take. You are a parasite on the land." I decide to talk a little longer while I try something. The overcharged Mana Bolt is waiting to be released out of the tip of my staff and she knows it. I catch her eyes flick to it every now and then.
What she doesn't know is that I am trying to charge an Earth Spike into my left hand which is behind my back. I didn't charge the Mana Bolt to its max because holding it and another spell like that would definitely be beyond me.

  "You call uzz perizzitezz? When you humanzzz zzpread like a plague?"

  "You bet, and that has got to tell you something if even humans think of you like that." I am being glib to her now because it is kind of fun and it will keep her more distracted the angrier she gets. Though, I am regretting my use of parasites after the chainsaw like rendition I heard from her. I even checked my health to see if it caused actual damage. It didn't. Charging the Earth Spike in my other hand was shaky but it worked. Feeling a slight headache start to build behind my eyes I think I am about at my limit. I need to end the discussion soon, but I want to piss her off as much as possible so she focuses on me and my Mana Barrier while my friends get in close. So I continue taunting her with "I tell you what. If you can keep your population under 100 and don't go east of here then we will leave."

  "There are ovver a hundred out on patrol and zzzcouting already."

  "Then you will have to cull them yourself." I was expecting something like that but I was also fishing for information. She may be able to talk but she isn't that smart.

  "I'll never kill my children, and YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE." With that she made a gesture with her staff and there was a loud boom behind us. I don't look because I know the drill. Fight or die time. "There are many of uzzz and your flezzzh suit will be added to my hive." Apparently that is the end of our conversation because she starts to raise her staff.

  Pointing my own staff and my left hand at her I release both spells. They are a little off the mark, which I assume is from firing two different spells, but they both still hit. The Mana Bolt catches her in the left arm when I was aiming for the right, and the Earth Spike hits her in the right hip. The spell didn't skewer her but it did penetrate a few inches. Both attacks only took about 10% of her HP, and they were both overcharged surprises. Thia takes off and starts raining down electricity and metal feathers while Azzaria fires arrows from range. The first couple lodged in the witch but she recovered from my surprises and casts her own barrier. It forms a bubble around her that is green and when Azzaria's arrows hit it they fizz. Disintegrating before they can get to the witch. "Acid. The arrows won't work." Understanding my meaning she slings the bow and draws her sword before advancing. The bubble is still pretty close to the witch so Azzaria should be able to use her sword.

  My barrier is off cooldown and Timbre is trying to get close to the witch to bite but the barrier is keeping her back. I cast Mana Barrier on Timbre and she immediately starts nipping at the back of the queen. The witch is swinging the staff back at Timbre so she can only do minor damage at a time. Now she is even more pissed but she only seems to hate me for now. Probably that comment about culling her children. Whatever, that was the plan anyway, but now she hit me with a dark purple bolt. I swear there was an image of a skull in there. Thankfully my barrier held, but I still got knocked on my ass. Trying to help out my friends, I cast Fog when she turns toward Timbre. I know it's working when she fires another of those purple bolt things but completely misses.

  Maybe this will be easier than I thought. I cast another Earth Spike to stab into her a couple of inches, but then she turns and fires right at me. Caught off guard from her sudden accuracy I am unable to dodge that one and take the hit. Got me right in the chest, shattered my barrier and knocked me on my ass again. That actually worked out best for me because I got a good view of three more shooting over top of me before I rolled away and got up. By this time Azzaria is there swinging her sword at the witch. She goes for the arm with the first couple of strikes, but every time they get blocked. After that Azzaria does like Timbre and hops close to make a cut on the other arm, or a leg, or in the back before changing positions. No barrier and it still has a couple seconds before its cooldown is up. Already she is catching on to the attacks and starting to anticipate. Thia fires another Zapp and the witch retaliates accurately again. Thia is lucky she was moving fast because of her little dive or she would have taken the hit otherwise. The witch must be feeling the release of mana when we cast a spell.

  Telepathically I tell Thia to stick to her feathers and to remain hidden. Now I need to draw attention again. The cooldown on my haste spell comes up and since Timbre is already buffed with it I give this one to myself. The next bolt coming my way was expected and with the speed boost I am able to side step it and the follow up. The witch is down to 76% so I turn to her and use another Earth Spike before diving out of the way and casting my barrier from the ground. I dove for no reason because as soon as she was down to three quarters of her HP she tilted her head back and made the most god awful (Gwydia awful?) sound I have ever heard. It was like a chainsaw had a kid with some hell spawn. It was like a chorus of hate assaulting our ears. A couple of level 10 warriors came to defend their queen from the rooms on either side, but the fog was still active and they couldn't find her. I cast two Earth Spikes, one for each and aim carefully for the hearts. They don't die but they are mostly incapacitated. I yell for Timbre to finish them off while everyone focuses on the main threat.

  She is down to 65% because the time it took her to scream gave my companions free shots that did real damage. I am down to about half of my Mana pool and I need it to count. Casting Mana Bolt I start running for the boss at an angle to avoid the retaliation. "Azzaria! I'll need you to use the new ability you have on it." Then I tell Thia through the bond to have her screech ready. When I am getting close Azzaria purposefully steps in enough for the witch to see her. Too close for it to try and cast a spell in time, so the monster swings its staff at her instead. As the swing starts I see the green barrier dissipate around the queen. Good thing hers is only a minute too or my next move would have been very painful. I cast Burning Palm on my left hand and grab the boss by the neck from behind. The spell starts ticking away the damage while Timbre comes back and everyone is laying into her.

  At 50% HP left she starts emitting a neon green mist. Thia uses Screech to stop her from clawing me up or casting since Azzaria's stun wore off. Then I see a little icon of a green tear drop next to all our health bars. Still holding the burning kobold I focus on it for a moment and get that it is a poison aura. As long as we are near her she refreshes our poison status. It isn't a lot, only 5 HP per 10 seconds but if this takes too long it could be bad. Burning Palm wears off and I fall off the burning enemy to roll away. I got a couple claw marks on my arm that did a little damage but nothing serious since everyone else was keeping her busy. Down to 38% it is time to try and burn her down before the poison takes too big a toll on us. I lift my staff to point at her, charge Earth Spike to the max and release. From the angle I am at the large spike slams into the witch on the staff arm and shoulder. It pierces through the arm and goes into the chest. The force of it also flings the still burning kobold over to the wall by the balcony doors.

  Now at 24% health she stands up and releases that sound again and her skin bulges once, twice, before she explodes and flaming chunks of lizard go flying around the room. The explosion of flesh cleared away the fog and made it so everyone can see the horror before us in absolute definition. Now standing where the kobold witch doctor was is a creature that reminds me of one that haunted my dreams as a kid. A person sized bug had emerged from the explosion, freed from its host. It has human face-like coverings that are composed of two parts and attached to mandibles below the head. They part and all that is underneath is teeth and insect appendages. At least the poison debuff is no longer renewing, but it still has 10 seconds to go before it stops all together. I have burned through most of my mana so I take advantage of the slight lull and down a mana potion. I will need to get better potions when we get back to town, but for now this should be enough.

  The nightmare cockroach charges me again. I guess I really pissed it off earlier. My barrier's cooldown is over again and so I do somethi
ng stupid, charge right back. I focus on the barrier and in strengthening the front by taking energy from elsewhere. I don't know if it works but I think it got a little brighter in front. Just as it opens its legs and arms for an embrace that would scare a porcupine I lower my shoulder and lunge forward. My aim was good and the sudden increase in speed threw off the bugs timing. This thing is almost as tall as me but not as thick, so I weigh more and the force of my hit flings the creature onto is back right between Azzaria and Timbre. I quickly use Identify before I start casting Earth Spike.

  Corpse Driver Beetle Queen, lvl 15. HP: 7%.

  Almost dead It starts to thrash around making it hard for Azzaria and Timbre to hit it, though Thia is still going to town from her position circling the 20 foot tall ceiling. The others did get to hack off a couple legs though and it is having trouble flipping over. Done with my overcharged Earth Spike I release it right through the back in the stomach area. "Now" I shout. At my signal Timbre lunges and bites into the back of its neck, while Azzaria stabs her sword though an opening in the carapace under one of the armpits going all the way through to the other side. Defeated, the queen goes still and we all stop. I think we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, but after a minute we come to and get to work.

  First thing we do is down a health potion and give one to Timbre as well. After the Earth spike that impaled it crumbled, I grab the queen's body, drag it to the balcony which overlooks the village and ignite another Burning Palm. Holding the body for 5 seconds to maximize the stacks of burn on it I tossed it over the side. Done with that I put out my burning hand and say "Time to loot and get a better look at this place." We look around the room for anything of value and don't find anything. Even the staff that the boss was carrying is ruined after the fire and explosion. It was snapped in two and has burn marks on the pieces. I plan to stay here for the night before we head back so I throw the other two bodies over the balcony before we move onto the other rooms of the suite. There is nothing. Not even any furniture to take.