As we made our way north, I discussed my out of body experience with Hilda and Helena. Though neither of them had experienced anything like that, they both did confess that their dreams were often plagued with visions of their lives before the Aether gate… a life that was getting harder to remember by the day.
Under Keldon’s advice, we traveled along the base of the mountains, careful to avoid some of the more powerful beasts that lurked closer to the peaks. According to his instructions, a passage was carved directly into the mountain that and was even guarded by the iron wolves, one of Aetheria’s four great guilds. Finding that passage would cut days off of our travel time… all the more time for me to sort things out.
“Hold on.” Helena said, raising a hand as she rounded one of the small foothills. Despite being the most vulnerable member of the group, she’d decided to take point. Neither Hilda nor I had the will to argue with her, so we let it be. After all, we’d already been walking a few hours and should have been nearing the passage by now.
“Do you see it?” I asked, the slightest bit of excitement growing in my voice.
She turned and gave me a quick nod. “Yeah… Something’s not right though. The guards appear to be… dead.”
Hilda shook her head in disgust. “Some of the people playing this game have lost all respect for life.”
I sighed. “Or they never had it. They just feel like they can act on all their dark fantasies now that nobody’s here to stop them.”
“Hilda clenched a gauntlet-enclosed fist. “Bastards.”
I cocked my head to the left, meeting eyes with Razyr who was perched firmly on my shoulder. “See anything out of the ordinary?”
The drake shook his head. “Besides dead bodies… no.”
I nodded. “Lets move out then.”
We carefully made our way towards the entrance of the mountain tunnel where the two dead guards rested. The tunnel was massive, carved directly from the stone and stretching deep enough that we couldn’t see the other end. Multiple sets of tracks, mostly human, were visible heading into the pass. It was pretty clear that trouble awaited us somewhere inside.
I walked up to one of the bodies… a young man dressed in iron chainmail with a wolf insignia painted on his chest. He had a large open wound in his neck, likely caused from a sword with a wide blade. That poor guy… that hadn’t even bothered looting most of his things. Was he killed for fun?
As I made my inspection I noticed there was something else as well. I leaned down, inspecting a small shimmer that had caught my eye… something foreign in the dirt beside the body. I wiped some of the dirt away, revealing a small marking carved into the ground, carefully drawn and with a faint red glow.
My eyes went wide as I heard the words uttered in the distance.
“Activate rune: Destruction!”
The marking brightened before exploding into a plume of destructive red magic that slammed into my chest and sent me skidding across the dirt. Thankfully, my new field plate absorbed most of the damage from the blow. Still, it still felt like I’d been hit by a charging minotaur!
Hilda raised her shield and raced towards my location, unaware of the arrow that soared out of the brush nearby. I tried to warn her, but I couldn’t form the words. The runespell had knocked the wind out of me. Helpless, I watched as the arrow slammed into her leg mid-stride, sliding into the space between her greave and leg-plate as she let out a howl of pain. She dropped to the ground, clutching at the arrow shaft that had left her immobile.
“Burn!” Helena yelled, sending a wave of hellfire into the bushes. A man leapt from the brush, dashing towards a small grouping of large stones to his left for cover. Helena followed the man’s movement with her hand, then unleashed a shadowblast that slammed into her foe’s chest. The man staggered backwards, crashing into one of the large stones nearby. He steadied himself and tried to raise his bow, but a pair of ethereal chains spawned from Helena’s outstretched hand and wrapped the man tight.
Chains of Corruption
Warlock spell
Entrap your foe in otherworldly chains that drain their life and replenish your own
Helena smiled at her handiwork, then began to walk towards the entrapped archer. Something shimmered near her feet. “Helena, no!” I yelled, but it was too late. The rune of binding activated, holding her in place and protecting the bowman from further damage.
I rose to a crouch and scanned the area, desperately searching for our second assailant. There! On the hill stood a man in weathered traveler’s gear partially covered by a fashionable robe of red and blue. His gloved hands were outstretched as he formed another rune. His spectacled eyes met mine as I charged towards his location.
Brenton
Lvl 9 Runecaster
His brown hair flew back as he yelled “Activate rune: Conflagration!” and a torrent of flame came spiraling in my direction.
I reached out with my offhand as Razyr leapt in my direction, forming into the broad drake sword that I then used to stave off the flame. I continued my charge but the runecaster appeared unfazed. He adjusted his spectacles then activated a second rune… a rune that had been placed prior to the encounter.
The ground beneath me lit up as another rune of binding activated. Instincts kicked in as I rolled away, though my left leg was still partially caught in the runespell. I awkwardly rose to my feet, though my bound leg remained stiff like stone and prevented me from moving very quickly.
The runecaster began preparing another rune… another conflagration spell by the looks of it. I reached for my bandolier of throwing knives… Damnit! They’d been lost in my encounter with the undead!
The runecaster remained poised as he neared the completion of his rune. That bastard had planned this battle out ahead of time. Still, I wasn’t ready to just lie down and die. I scrolled through my inventory, searching for something, anything that I could use as a projectile. There!
Potion- ???
The mystery potion I’d acquired from my duel with Rhylor! I equipped the item into my main hand, took aim, and threw it at the runecaster with everything I had. Oh please, oh please don’t be a potion of giant growth.
The glass shattered as it connected with the runecaster’s chest… a direct hit! Smoke billowed around him as the strange liquid reacted to the air. It surrounded him for several seconds, causing the man to grunt in discomfort. As the smoke cleared, the runecaster toppled over, face-first into the dirt, wrapped in a massive suit of shimmering plate mail.
Armor in a Bottle
(Greater potion)
10 minute usage
“Damn you.” The runecaster grunted, as he struggled to a knee in the cumbersome plate. In a seasoned warrior’s hands, that armor would be a godsend, but for spellcaster used to wearing robes…
The man nearly got to his feet before toppling over onto his back and echoing another grunt of discomfort. I felt the binding on my leg begin to fade, so I summoned nevermore into my hand and waltzed over to the downed runecaster.
I kicked up his faceplate and placed the point of my blade into his cheek. “Well fought.” I said, assuming the battle won, though the man wore that composed look on his face still. What did he know…
“Zander!” Helena screeched, forcing me to do a quick one-eighty. I turned to find her standing just a few feet away, the blade of a third enemy pressed tightly to her throat. From his appearance, he appeared to be a rogue… likely the reason I hadn’t spotted him earlier. Hilda laid slumped over on the ground behind them, unconscious and with a small dart stuck firmly in her neck.
“Well fought indeed.” The runecaster said, propping himself up on two armored elbows. “Now if you’ll kindly relent, we won’t have to harm your companions any further.
I nodded, then slowly knelt to the ground as if I planned to relinquish my blades. Then in a flash, I marked the rogue with my slayer’s mark and shadowshifted behind him.
I materialized a bit closer than I planned and was forced to strike th
e rogue with the pommel of my blade. Still, the attack landed true and the startled rogue went crashing to the ground. Helena nodded to me, then wrapped the rogue in a second chain of corruption spell, leaving me to deal with the encumbered runecaster.
The man’s composure finally cracked as I made my approach. That single shadowshift had drained the entirety of my mana, but thankfully it was as a gambit that had paid off. We had won.
“Damn you.” The man cursed as I rested nevermore against his exposed temple. His eyes met mine in a stare that was cold enough to make a dragon shudder. “Just do it, then. Kill us like you did those guards.”
I gave him an incredulous stare. “The guards? We didn’t kill them, you did! You’re the ones who set up the ambush!”
The runecaster scoffed. “We were waiting to see if the killers returned before we made our way through the mountain. Why else would they leave the gear on them untouched?”
“And you think we did this?”
“If you look at the bodies, one of them has a large gash in his neck of similar size to that broad sword of yours, and the other has irregular burns… burns typical of a warlock’s hellfire.”
“I didn’t do a damn thing to those men!” Helena shot back as she gave the runecaster a glare.
The man sighed. “Well, it seems we’re at an impasse then.” He glanced over at nevermore, which still rested near his face. “Do you plan on killing us and taking our things?”
I shrugged, then leaned down to meet the man eye to eye. “If I release you, what’s to say you won’t try to harm us again.”
The man’s composure slowly returned. “In a world filled with senseless killers, the only thing that I can offer you is my word.”
I pursed my lips, thinking back to Reynaldo and the trickery he had played on us. Still, that had ended up working out in our favor, hadn’t it? These men were organized and quite capable though. If they decided to resume their assault…
Suddenly, my drake sword de-materialized as Razyr took his normal form. He plopped down on the armored chest of the runecaster, studying him with his small yellow eyes. “This one… he is good, Zander.”
I dismissed my other blade and gave the drake an awkward look. “And how do you know that?”
“He possesses qualities…. Like you. Honor… courage… and other things.”
I gave the drake a long, hard stare. I was bonded to this creature. Surely, if I could trust anyone’s judgement, it was his… wasn’t it?
My eyes shifted from the drake to the runecaster, who once again laid on his back in the heavy plate. “So, you and your group are headed through the tunnel?”
“We are.” The man replied calmly.
“Well, whoever went in before us took out a pair of level fifteen guards. What say we party up, at least until we make it through safely.” Forming a party would likely be the safest option. That way, if one of the men chose to turn on us, we would receive a notification as warning.
The man’s gaze shifted from me to Helena, then finally to Hilda who slowly began to stir. “I believe that would be in everyone’s best interest. Suddenly, the man’s plate mail dissipated into a large cloud of smoke as the potion’s timer ran out. Methodically, he rose back to his feet and extended a gloved hand out to me. “Brenton, Runecaster and battle strategist.”
I grasped his hand firmly. “Zander, Slayer and… well, I guess that’s it for now.” The man smiled for the first time since our encounter. Suddenly, a notification popped up in my field of vision.
Brenton would like to join your party.
Accept
Deny
I turned to the others, giving them a nod of affirmation. They returned my gaze, a sign that they were ready if trouble did in fact go down. Then, I turned back to Brenton and with caution, hit accept.
21
It didn’t take long to patch everyone up in preparation for the trek through the mountain. Hilda was the only one of us to suffer any sort of serious wound… the classic arrow to the knee. Thankfully, Brenton was familiar with a healing rune that proved to be somewhat potent. It wasn’t enough to remove her ailment; grievous wound, though it did make the leg usable for the time being.
It was strange how the physics of the game were changing. Healing her to full health should have removed any ailments, yet all it did was patch her up like a band-aid applied to a cut… The damage to her ligaments remained. It likely meant that we would need a cleric to completely heal her. I offered to take her back to Keldon to receive the proper healing, but she insisted that we didn’t have time, so into the mountain we went.
Being the highest-level member of the group, I was given temporary leadership of the party. Though looking at us, I thought we complimented each other quite nicely.
Adventure Party: 6/6
Zander (L)
Slayer Lvl: 11
Brenton
Runecaster Lvl: 9
Hilda
Guardian Lvl: 10
Helena
Warlock Lvl: 9
Longshot
Ranger Lvl: 8
Taryn
Rogue Lvl: 9
Although we didn’t have a consistent healer, we did have everything else we needed to make a formidable squad. Hopefully it would be enough for whatever lied ahead.
With torch in hand, I took the lead through the dark stone tunnel. Hilda guarded the rear of the party, while longshot and our casters remained safely at the center of the group. Taryn stayed back, clinging to the shadows in case we were attacked, and an ambush became necessary.
Oddly enough, the first leg of our journey was rather quiet. We scoured the tunnel as we progressed, but it appeared undisturbed, save for the multitude of footprints that littered the floor. That quickly changed about a mile in.
“What the hell is that?” Helena said, peering over my shoulder at the grizzly sight ahead. The path ahead was blocked, destroyed by some sort of cave-in. and on the broken stone laid something else… a body, beaten, mangled and quite dead.
“It is… another body.” Razyr said frankly, drawing an odd look from Brenton. I leaned down and inspected the poor fool. Deep gashes covered his body, and it looked as though one of his eyes had been removed.
“Another Iron Wolf?” Brenton asked, adjusting his spectacles as they began to slide off his nose.
“No, this looks like someone else…. Maybe one of the men who killed the guards.”
Breton nodded. “Well, it looks like something else caught up to him before we did. Is there any way by this?” He asked, pointing to the massive heap of broken stone. It appeared air tight, and most of the chunks of rock were far too heavy to move, even together.
“Here!” Hilda said, waiving us over to the right side of the tunnel. Near the bottom of the wall she had spotted a large crack in the stone, perhaps large enough for a person to squeeze through. I brought my torch over and held it near the crack. My eyes went wide.
The crack in the stone lead down into another passage that stretched in either direction. The walls in this passage were far more refined and displayed some strange markings that I couldn’t comprehend. “Ruins.” I muttered.
Helena stepped up and gave me a tap on the shoulder. She pointed down, motioning to the puddle of blood that I was crouching in… I hadn’t even noticed. My eyes followed the blood as it trailed into the passage before disappearing into the darkness below.
I turned, noticing that some of the others wore grim expressions on their faces. Breton, however, remained quite composed. “It looks like something dangerous has already claimed our potential foes. However, judging by the poor shape their gear is in, it’s likely that they didn’t possess a group as formidable as ours. Furthermore, backtracking would cost us precious time and a trip over the mountain could prove equally dangerous.”
“They did take out some iron wolves.” Mentioning that fact seem to bring pause to Brenton’s logic.
“We can handle this.” Taryn said, defiance in his voice as he emerged fr
om the shadows.
I looked to the Hilda and Helena, who both returned my gaze with a firm nod. Continuing on did make the most since. “Fine… but everyone stay sharp.” Longshot gave me a nod of reassurance. Brenton adjusted his spectacles.
><><
As we made our way through the second tunnel, we stumbled across another body of a fallen warrior. This man had both of his eyes, though his body was covered in those same nasty gashes. Still, we trekked on. The tunnel was leading us in the right direction, but it soon became apparent that it was gradually sloping downwards, bringing us deeper and deeper below the world’s surface. Eventually the path forked in either direction, leaving us with an important decision to make.
“No. No way are we splitting up.” Hilda protested, leaning on her mace to support her torn knee.
Brenton pursed his lips, the slightest bit of irritation showing through in his typically composed demeanor. “Perhaps splitting up may not be the best choice, though not exploring both outlets could certainly leave us stuck down here quite a bit longer than we’d like.”
Damnit all, he was right, and the last thing we needed was to be stuck underground for days. I was about to open my mouth when Taryn stepped forward, raising a hand into the air. The man was small, likely no larger than five feet tall, though his size made him nimble and easy to hide.
“I’ll go.” He said, pulling a hood over his head to match his black leather armor.
“By yourself?” I asked, skeptical.
He nodded. “I can remain hidden for as long as I need. Ill search out the passage to the right, and if I find something ill double back and find you and Brenton.”
I looked over to the runecaster, who idly nodded. “Stay safe, Taryn.” He said, before turning to head down the left passage. The way he spoke was so systematic, so calculating… It was slightly irritating to be honest, but so far, his team had proven themselves quite efficient.
The Slayer Page 13
