by Jason Cheek
“Now where would the fun be in that?” Zeppy shot back, as he hauled ass towards them.
Jodi just shook her head at the couple’s back and forth. Glancing back at Bialaer, she was relieved to see him nod that they were ready to go. While ahead of them, Ara and her Warriors moved to the front of the defensive line as the rest of the Assault Leaders, except for Bialaer, joined them. Their formation more or less matched what they’d used earlier to take out the five Elite Barbed Rippers when this had first all went down. At least, that’s what Jodi figured it was since she couldn’t see any of the Rogues.
Witnessing eight Elite Barbed Rippers heading directly for you in a staggered charge was truly a terrifying sight, Jodi silently thought, as she felt the thunderous sound through the soles of her boots. The closer the monsters came, the more all other sounds were drowned out. A glance at the grim-faced Zeppy’s Heroes players to either side of her, she could almost feel the palpable fear radiating off of them. Not that she could blame them since they’d been repeatedly slaughtered by the beasts while she’d been battling the Pwnguins.
“All House of Kayden troopers,” Elandorr voice suddenly cracked through raid chat as the boars closed to within twenty yards, “prepare to cast your Enhanced Shadow Bolts targeting the nearest Elite Barbed Ripper on my command!”
While the confidence in Elandorr’s voice helped ease her fears somewhat, Jodi had to admit that it was worrisome to be standing at the front of an impending train wreck. A low muttering began to build from the players around her as they argued if the boys were going to be trampled to death. Though, it mostly seemed to be centered around taking bets if this was going to actually work or if they were going to end up back at the graveyard. As the lead boar closed to within ten yards, Elandorr’s voice snapped in raid chat, “Cast!”
Jodi momentarily covered her eyes as the purplish-black flares shot out at the massive sow. Uncovering her eyes a second afterward, she saw a double formation of twenty Rogues had appeared ten yards out to either side of the main approach and the lead boar was already plowing a trench through the ground behind Zeppy. Jodi squeezed her eyes closed as Elandorr’s voice snapped again “Cast!” and a wave of Enhanced Shadow Bolts slammed into the next boar.
That went on for another three consecutive times while Jodi waited, knowing that she’d be blinded if she didn’t wait. It wasn’t until Elandorr’s command changed to “House of Kayden melee line, close with the enemy!” that her eyes snapped open. Though, it was the Rogue’s next order that caught her and the other players by surprise. “All Rangers volley Piercing Shot!”
As the crunch of Iron-Reinforced Shields slamming against the monster’s natural armor rang out, there was a horrendous bellow from the other side of the clearing as the Lead Boars and their surviving herds all turned as one towards the battleline. Even so, there was no pause in the action as a slew of arrows hammered into the attacking Elite Barbed Rippers. Not that the attack did much in the way of any damage, but it did trigger the boar’s range attack. As the barbs flared out and began vibrating in preparation for the monsters’ Barbed Storm Strikes, Jodi and the rest of the players were shocked when, instead of hearing the command to drop, Nalaea’s voice cried out in raid chat just as the Warriors took a step back, “Sanctuary!”
Immediately, a golden glowing wall formed across the front of the melee line in the blink of an eye just as the Elite Barbed Rippers let loose with their Barbed Storm Strike. There was an earsplitting crackling sound like a long chain of M-80 fireworks going off as Jodi dropped to the ground with the rest of the players. As the horrendous cacophony came to an end, she looked up stunned to see that the barbs had shattered against the glowing wall of light upon impact as Elandorr’s voice rang out in raid chat.
“Raid attack!”
Jumping to her feet, Jodi paused as she drew her bowstring back, impressed in spite of herself as Elandorr and his people struck the monsters down in a matter of seconds. Nalaea must have dismissed the wall of light as soon as the Barbed Storm Strikes were finished, because Ava and her people dove forward into the boars with Shield Bashes and blades. At the same time, the Rogues attacked the monsters from behind with multiple Backstabs while the Rangers sent in volley after volley of Multi-Shots.
“Okay,” Tumms said, standing up next to her as the immense beasts keeled over dead in seconds, “that’s fucking impressive as hell.”
“Alright people, that’s our cue to move out,” Elandorr's voice called out in raid chat, “let’s go … go … go!”
“Newfar to me if you want to live!” Bialaer cried out, as he dropped to the ground behind Jodi and her friends.
“Come on guys,” Jodi shouted as she took after the Ranger.
““Go … go … go!”” Multiple voices cried out as Zeppy, Grody, ChopU Ginsu, and Warduke began pushing their friends to follow after the Ranger disappearing into the Dark Woods. In a surprisingly short amount of time, the clearing had completely disappeared behind them along with most of the House of Kayden troopers. Not that they couldn’t hear the thunderous galloping echoing through the trees behind them.
Bialaer was leading them in a flat-out run between trunks and through bushes that forced each player to give it their all to keep up. This wasn’t the careful methodical approach where scouts moved out ahead and cleared the path before them or led them through the least monster-infested areas. No, this was purely an all-out sprint for their lives.
What happened when they burst into an area with a bunch of Fluffy Deaths? They ran right through the middle of the pack with everyone helping each other out to kill the furry little shits and sucked down Healing Potions afterward because stopping to heal wasn’t an option. Other smaller predators like the Elite Dire Shadow Stalkers just turned tail and ran from them, while the Elite Pyro Spitters surprisingly enough didn’t aggro on them.
The growing feeling of impending death just grew worse and worse as the snapping sounds of splintering trees filled the air behind them which signified that the Elite Barbed Rippers had entered the Dark Woods after them. It was a terrifying cacophony of destruction that was made worse by the enraged bellows of the boars as they brutally smashed through whatever was in their path. The only positive thing was that the obstructions seemed to force the monsters to slow down in their pursuit somewhat.
Though, who knows, it simply could’ve been because they were choosing to go around the larger trees instead of through them, Jodi thought, as she ran with what felt like her heart beating in her throat. The other question she had was how far was the monster’s aggro range? Before she could consider the question further, there was a cry of warning in raid chat as the sounds of combat rang out ahead of her.
Blasting through the bushes, Jodi saw a group of beaten-up PKers going after Bialaer. At least, that's how it looked to her since the first three players she Identified popped up with the names PunkuGood Syndicate, Blitzkill Syndicate, and Shankolots Syndicate over their heads. If they weren’t PKers and just a group of surprised players, they’d nevertheless made a grave miscalculation attacking the Level 48 Ranger Assault Leader. Three of the twenty players were already splayed out on the frozen ground as the Half-Elf continued running past the group without slowing down.
“Get that fucking asshole,” Jodi heard as her first Multi-Shot took Shankolots in the back of the head. The hit registered as a Backstab attack and dropped the player's hit points down nearly three-quarters of his total health. As the Syndicate player screamed out in surprise, Fiona pounced on PunkuGood from behind with a pop of displaced air as Jodi’s next Multi-Shot took the Rogue in the chest. Without slowing down, Jodi slammed one of her daggers to the hilt in Shankolots’ chest as she ran through the surprised group. Yanking the blade free, she slashed another player across the chest as she slid the blade back into its sheath on her back and drew another arrow.
It was a smooth series of attacks that Jodi had perfected during her first week of gameplay in Nren Unarith. As the last Syndicate player tried
to block her way, Fiona blinked behind the Light Elf. As her fangs dug into the PKer’s neck, Jodi shot him point-blank in the face just as Tumms and the rest of Zeppy’s Heroes blasted out of the bushes behind her. Running past her would-be attacker, she caught the man with a Multi-Shot in the back just as Fiona blinked away to appear at her side.
None of them slowed down to attack the group properly, but by the time the last Zeppy’s Heroes member ran past, there wasn’t a Syndicate player left standing. Interestingly enough, they hit the graveyard the group must have used to respawn a minute or so later. Not that there were any Syndicate players there. Though, it made Jodi think that this was one of the groups that Bialaer had said they’d hunted down during the Elite Barbed Rippers training fun.
It was a few minutes after that when Jodi heard an interesting commotion behind them in the forest. From the enraged bellows and screams of fear, she had the feeling that the Syndicate players had ran smack dab into the Elite Barbed Rippers that had been chasing after them. Mostly, that was because the sounds of snapping trees and stomping hooves all but disappeared after that. Well, that, and Bialaer seemed to relax somewhat as his mad flight slowed to that of a more regular run.
As they ran, Jodi caught glimpses of the other groups of House Kayden troopers shadowing them. It was fleeting and she figured that they only showed up because they were in the same raid. Otherwise, Jodi would’ve bet even money that they would’ve been invisible shadows passing by with their Stealth and Natural Camouflage.
Interestingly enough, they were running across a number of Pyro Spitter groups. Their silver-grey forms were busy hunting for nuts and didn’t seem to take much notice of the Humanoids passing by them. Curiously though, there seemed to be almost no groups of Fluffy Deaths in the area. Not that she was complaining, those little fuckers were no joke and swarmed if anyone came too close to them.
“We’re almost to the base of the mountain that leads up to Fang Pass,” Bialaer called out in raid chat, as Jodi caught up to him. It was a neat trick since it didn’t actually have him making any sounds that the wildlife could pick up.
“Does that mean we’re in the clear?” Jodi asked, still keeping a watchful eye on the Dark Forest around them.
“Hardly,” Bialaer said as his face turned deadly serious, “while most of the normal predators are towards the center of the region and are tough to fight. The more dangerous hunters like to stalk these barren areas between the regions. Though, with all of that commotion going on, I wouldn’t be surprised if-”
It all happened so fast, Jodi numbly thought, as Bialaer’s words were suddenly cut off by a massive beast pounced on top of them. The crunching noise of breaking bones was the only warning she had as a pair of crystalline horns speared through her chest and yanked her into the air. Jodi was vaguely aware of Fiona blinking away and the alarmed cries from her friends as she was blasted away from the monster’s head by a massive spike of ice and everything faded to black.
Chapter Eighteen
(Jodi Tempest respawning at the nearest graveyard.)
In the blink of an eye, Jodi found herself standing in the middle of a graveyard with the blood-red letters of a system message hanging before her eyes.
You have been killed by Dreadmere of the Icy Wrath! Do you wish to resurrect at your corpse or release your spirit to the nearest graveyard?
“What the fuck was that?” Jodi swore out loud. Ignoring the timer that appeared before her eyes, she took off at a run heading in the direction of her body. The ghostly world whipped past as she sped through the thick trees and bushes. Unlike all the other times that she’d died, this time her body seemed to be on the very edge of what was possible to reach in the spirit realm.
Thinking over the message that she’d received from the monster that had killed them, Jodi realized that they had to be dealing with a Mini-Boss. At least, as far as she knew from her time playing, there weren’t any normal named mobs. With that in mind, she figured this monster had to be bigger and badder than the normal monsters in the region, meaning she was looking at something that was probably in the Level 65 range … maybe even 70. That was probably why she’d died so quickly.
Jodi’s stomach churned at the thought of the stoic but friendly Ranger being slaughtered under her watch. He would’ve been fine if the House of Kayden troopers had simply gone off on their own and left them to deal with the PKers and the train on their own. Hell, she wouldn’t have even blamed them for not wanting any part of their newfar PVP games … especially after all of the nasty things that they’d been saying about them in raid chat.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Jodi realized that she had to make sure Bialaer somehow lived through this bullshit. The other House of Kayden troopers would probably be fine if any of them in their group survived an ambush since they’d know to go back and to recover their people. Bialaer on the other hand didn’t have that. He was the only non-player in their group that had accepted the responsibility for leading them through the Dark Woods. If they didn’t look out for the Ranger, who else would know where to search for his corpse? Jodi’s eyes narrowed in determination as she silently promised that she would make sure, one way or another, that his body was recovered ... and that no one looted him.
Thinking back to the fight as she ran, Jodi tried to remember every detail that she could about the Mini-Boss that had slaughtered her so easily. Though it was mostly a blur of pain, she had plenty of time to replay her death over and over again in her mind as she tried to understand what it was that had killed her. First off, she realized the creature was three times the size of a full-grown Buffalo Bull, Jodi thought, as she mentally compared the Mini-Boss to something she could identify from in-real-life. In this case, it was the Buffalo’s that she’d seen on her South Dakota Buffalo Safari Jeep Tour.
Jodi mentally paused trying to understand why she’d chosen such an odd comparison, that's when she remembered the monster’s thick-white fur. Concentrating back to when she’d been lifted into the air, she was able to mentally picture the Mini-Boss’s furry body. It was kind of like one of the Abominable Snow Yeti's from The Mummy movie had a love-child with an African Lion, Jodi momentarily smirked at her odd visualization process, only with crystal bull-horns and, her hand unconsciously cupped her abdomen, that could shoot out magic spikes from its mouth.
Jodi didn’t know what other special attacks the Mini-Boss might have, but from what she’d seen so far, it was a killing machine unlike anything else that she’d ever seen up until now. While the ambush aspect of the creature’s attack might mean it wasn’t a tank, she couldn’t really say one way or another. With it being such a high-level, it really didn’t matter to someone low-level like her. The only strategy that made any sense was keeping as far away from the monster as possible. As Jodi’s tombstone came into view, all that she could do was hope that the Mini-Boss wasn’t camping all of their corpses. Tucking herself down into as small of a ball as she could in-between a bush at the base of a large tree in range of her body, Jodi took a deep breath and selected Resurrect.
“Rrraaahhh … rrraaahhh … rrraaahhh!”
Jodi’s eyes widen in surprise as she froze upon hearing the resounding sound of horns ringing throughout the Dark Woods. The echoing calls almost had a melancholy tone to them as they gradually grew more distant. “Rrraaahhh … rrraaahhh … rrraaahhh!” There was something about the sound that filled her veins with adrenaline and made her want to drop everything she was doing and rush towards the sound, Jodi silently thought, forcibly making herself stay where she was as her eyes scanned the trees around her body for the Mini-Boss.
For some reason, the resonating calls brought to mind the scene of Boromir’s death from the Lord of the Ring movie, and how Aragorn and Legolas instantly responded to the calls for help from the Horn of Gondor during the Orc attack. It was one of her favorite parts of the entire movie. Unable to sit still a second longer, Jodi popped open her gravestone and began hurriedly gearing up as the anxious feeling continued
growing inside of her.
Shaking away the uneasy feeling of raised goose-pimples on her bare skin, Jodi began strapping on her gear while studying the ground around her body. She was stunned to see the line of black gravestones along the trail that they’d been traveling. It looked like Tumms and Zeppy’s Heroes had all died wherever they’d been standing. Not one of the gravestones was farther out from the trail meaning its victims didn't manage to even attempt to evade the predator. It was one of the weirdest things that she’d ever seen in the death of a raid, making her think the Mini-Boss must have some sort of devastating AOE attack to pull off something like this.
She’d just squeezed into her damaged leather pants when the rest of the raid started spawning in all around her. Like her, the players had chosen hidden spots around the trail to make sure that there was no Mini-Boss waiting in ambush to attack them. Seeing Tumms and Zeppy appear nearby, Jodi stepped out of the bush she’d been hiding in and began casting her personal buffs.
“Whatever the fuck that Mini-Boss was, I think it moved on,” Jodi said, cocking her head in the direction of the pealing horns, “and the House of Kayden troopers are fighting it from wherever those horns are being blown.”
‘It did, and they are,’ Fiona said, as the Blink Lynx’s voice suddenly reverberated in her head nearly making her jump in surprise.
‘Where’s it at?’ Jodi asked, as the guys continued talking around her.
“I wonder if those high-level NPCs can even handle that thing,” Tumms said, with a disturbed shake of his head, “that was one nasty monster.”
‘About a mile away from your respawn point,’ Fiona sent, as Jodi frowned at the information.
‘We can’t talk with you that far out?’
“Took us all down with one roar,” Zeppy grumbled, as he stepped out of his hiding spot still getting dressed.
