by Galen Wolf
Taking up by Bow of Stone, I used my Focused Arrow skill to enhance the Bow's critical hit range and fired. The acid arrow hissed and spluttered as it flew across the short distance between us. It struck Elrick with a heavy thump and he staggered back. As I'd hoped the Encased in Stone effect triggered and covered Elrick with a skin of granite. Immediately his ability to choke Achilles with the invisible hand stopped. I turned from that fight to see via the eyes of my owl where Loki crept up on the unwitting Birog.
Birog was focused on the fight between Harald and Attila, ready to heal her beloved runesmith.
Harald swung his runesword but Attila dodged again and fired black energy into Harald's chest, causing gaping holes to appear in his musculature. Harald stumbled and attempted to fire a web at Attila but Attila cast a counter spell – I don't know what it was – and the web fell helplessly to the floor as white goose down.
Harald gasped in pain from his wound, and Attila began to dance the warlock rituals that would turn this enclosed place into a death trap for us.
To my right, the dryad sensed Loki's approach and turned to defend her mistress. Loki saw the dryad lunge at him with her Ivy dagger and stabbed the green skinned forest spirit twice in its chest. Loki had his electrical dagger back, and the dryad sparked like a fuse blowing. It fell backwards in a blue blaze and caught fire.
But the attack broke Loki's stealth. I sent Wolf and Tiger after him. They were half his level, but there were two of them. The beasts leapt at him sending him tumbling backwards. Loki's attack on Birog's dryad had broken her focus on Harald and now seeing his plight, she sent a healing spell to him knitting up the wounds in his chest, then she glanced round horrified to see how close Loki had been to killing her.
I fitted another arrow to my bow. Focus Arrow was on cool down so I used Rapid Shot. Loki had a high dodge save and only one arrow hit him. Then I remembered my new Level 12 skills.
I tried the Doppelganger skill. A shadowy replica of myself, looking uncannily lifelike at first glance, appeared inches to the right of where I stood. I dropped into stealth and left the Doppelganger to catch the attention of my enemies. Still hidden, I put an arrow to my bow and tried the Slow Arrow skill, hitting Loki in the chest, causing 24 damage and slowing his movement by half.
In slow motion, Loki stabbed at Wolf, seriously injuring him. The slow effect would only last for a few seconds and I got another arrow ready. Tiger savaged him with its predator's teeth.
A sting of acid coated my face as Attila conjured up Acid Mist. I noticed my health bar tick down every second I was in the mist – and in this enclosed torture chamber there was nowhere to hide from it.
Birog was also suffering from the acid and she slapped at her face in a futile attempt to get rid of it.
Behind her I saw Loki recover from the slow effect, slaughter my Wolf, and attack the Tiger. Birog whimpered in pain. Harald was recovering, but he wasn't quick enough to stop Attila dancing the Blackheart Ritual. The black mist came into existence making vision difficult. Even with my Goggles of the Darkest Night—they only offered vision in the absence of light—but a thick black fog now clogged the room and I couldn't see through it. I guessed that for Elrick Attila and Loki—the mist would be invisible because they were on Attila's team.
I saw the shining runes of Harald's runesword flash by me through the fog only inches away. An explosion rocked the room as the Warlocks’ Guild defensive runes fired up triggered when Harald blundered into them.
They were of course, targeted against all the enemies of Horrabia – and that included everyone in my party.
I heard the last growl of my Tiger as Loki killed him. The dryad was dead too, burned out in a corner. Birog shrieked and backed away as Loki attacked. Luckily Achilles had killed Elrick, and I heard the sorcerer's ghost uttering the words of resurrection. He was certainly bound only minutes away from here. No doubt he would summon his demons and re-enter. Except their own Anchor rune held him. Which was good because the torture chamber with its warlock rituals and offensive runes was a hostile enough environment for us without a horde of enemy demons entering. We needed to get Astral Bob and get the hell out of Dodge. But to be able to free Astral Bob's ghost and allow him to leave the room—we needed to get Harald to unpick the anchor room on the floor.
I saw the white glow through the fog as Birog conjured up a Fey Cocoon. The magic barrier prevented Loki from stabbing her. Because the fey cocoon was intended to protect pacifists – there were no effortless ways to take it down. The only way it would vanish would be if Birog cast a hostile spell. She was safe within the cocoon if she didn't attack anyone — or attempt to heal us.
Achilles: This is going tits up. We need to get those runes unpicked and get gone.
Me: Yep. I wish we could.
I couldn't see what was going on, but I heard Harald's grunts and saw the flashes of his runefist as he fired at Attila.
Then the Gravity Ritual kicked in. Attila's gravity pulled us rolling across the floor into a pit of spikes he'd conjured under his feet. Gravity drew me into the pit; beside me were Achilles and Birog. Birog was safe still within her cocoon but the minute she acted, it would vanish and she'd take damage.
In the middle of the Blackheart fog that blinded us and drained our mana, the acid mist that attacked our health the sharp spikes also chiseled away at our health. We couldn't because the gravity pulled us straight back in. We looked to be finished.
Harald rolled in, landing on the spikes with a grunt. Attila stood hovering above us. Even through the mist, his black eyes were demonic. "So, Harald – you boasted how you beat me in a fight. Looks like now I've beaten you and your little friends." He mocked us. "Seems you're not the man you used to be."
Harald screamed in rage from his wounded pride. He was bleeding badly – possibly in a worse way than any of us. I saw the scars of dark energy wounds on his chest. By instinct Birog sent him a healing charm – that helped him, but it doomed her.
Since her cocoon dissipated, she took damage like the rest of us. To combat that, she cast the spell Beacon of Healing – which is a heal over time effect. But the math was against us and we took constant damage from the DoTs. The Beacon of Healing put some of the health back but not enough. Worse, the Blackheart ritual sapped Birog's mana now she wasn't protected by the fey cocoon.
Through gritted teeth I muttered, "If any of you have a teleport pill – I suggest you take it now and get the hell out of here."
Achilles muttered, "You're forgetting something."
"What?"
"The fucking Anchor rune. It won't let us leave."
He was right. The same rune that kept Astral Bob's ghost uselessly hanging around nearby, also enforced a teleport lock.
Harald spluttered indignantly. "Supercilious fuckwit. He thinks he's beaten me – Harald Runestorm. No way."
Just then the enemy runes blasted off again – I guess they were on a twenty second cycle and each time they triggered, we took 20hp damage each. I was down to around a quarter. I guessed everyone else was too. Harald sipped one of his own healing potions and healed himself up to around 70%.
Above us Elrick's eyes closed and he was muttering.
Achilles said, "He's invoking the Detonation Ritual – it's a high-level warlock ritual and it'll blow us all to smithereens. The only good thing is that it takes a long time to invoke. Maybe thirty seconds."
Harald passed me his blue healing potion. He said, "They're mine – so they're the best. When you've taken a sip, give some to Birog, and that diamond toothed bastard you call a friend."
I sipped the blue healing potion. It was one of the strongest I'd ever tasted. The warm thick liquid ran down my throat like a particularly scrummy blueberry milkshake. I passed the phial to Achilles who took a gulp and handed it to Birog. We were all stuck — pinned by the Gravity ritual onto the spikes while the acid ate into us and the Blackheart ritual sapped our mana. As if that wasn't bad enough Attila was getting close to detonating us to holy
hell.
I could see Astral Bob shimmering is a ghost nearby. He still could not leave. He looked pretty sad. Once we were dead Horrabians could torture us to their hearts content.
I felt sick to my stomach. Not only did they have Astral Bob – but now they had another three of us.
Harald reached into his inventory and pulled out a rune I didn't recognize. It was shaped like a six-pointed star. I saw him struggle but finally attach it to his runesword. With great effort, the sinews straining in his jaw, he stabbed upwards with the runesword.
The sword pierced Attila just as he was coming to the crescendo of his invocation. The warlock imploded with a horrible sickening pop. He instantly turned into a ghost and a large Soul Gem appeared from nowhere full of glistening essence. As the warlock died, his rituals vanished. No more pit, no more acid, no more fog.
"Why didn't you do that before?" I said, dusting myself down.
Harald stood and glanced over his shoulder. "Thought I could take him without it. Felt a bit like cheating."
Birog, picked herself from the floor, straightened her green dress and said, "Pride, Harald. It'll be the end of you."
"Nearly us too," Achilles said.
"Was that a Deus ex Machina?" I asked Harald.
"No," Harald said, "That was a Deus ex Haraldo. Better."
Attila and Elrick shimmered nearby. Loki was on his own. I always knew Loki was a coward. He started to back away – I put an arrow to my bow but Harald was already running forward and I watched as he sliced into Loki's head with one swing of his runesword. The runesword made contact and a Dazzle rune procced, blinding the thief. I heard the firing of the elemental runes and saw blood flow from him. Loki had saved against none of Harald's runes. Harald withdrew his bloody sword and jabbed the thief in his stomach. Once again Loki could not act because of the Dazzle rune, and more bleeding sprung from his body.
One more strike and the thief was dead.
"These people don't know who they're messing with", Harald said. He jabbed at himself with his thumb. "I am Harald Runestorm. Don't they get that?"
Achilles rolled his eyes. "He's a dick," he whispered.
"Yeah." I grinned. "But he's our dick."
"That's a really horrible image."
I guffawed.
The room now had four shimmering ghosts all unable to leave because of the Anchor rune engraved on the floor.
"Harald, will you unpick the runes please?" I said.
Harald nodded, and affably said, "Yes, nature boy, of course."
He leaned down ignoring the blasts of the hostile runes. Birog stood nearby healing him from any damage that the runes caused. Within seconds Harald had unpicked all the runes including the cross and the anchor and rolled them up into a ball of silver, which he put into his inventory. "Waste not want not." He smiled.
Astral Bob's ghost vanished along with the others. At least now he could log back on in Vinab now he was free from the anchor room that had prevented him from leaving. I winced to think he was now Level 1, but Astral Bob was a resourceful guy; he'd get the XP back.
The three Horrabians went to resurrect. Harald gave me a big slap on the back. "I enjoyed that, ranger boy. Feel free to invite me on further adventures."
"Let's get out of here," Achilles said. "They'll be back soon and they'll be better prepared."
Harald got out the red tin pillbox. In it were little yellow pills. He handed one round to us all. Now the Anchor rune was unpicked we were free to teleport out.
"Whither these?" I said.
"To my tower, I've got loads of them. When you come back, I'll make you a cup of tea."
Harald popped the pill into his mouth and disappeared. Birog shrugged and followed suit. Achilles turned to me and said, "Did I hear that right? He'll make us a cup of tea?"
I shrugged. "Harald Runestorm is an extremely complicated man."
Still shaking his head, Achilles repeated, "So he wants us to go back to his tower for tea? That maniac."
"I think I'll pass on the tea—I've got an army to meet."
25
Ambush in the Woods
We heard them as they marched past—the Horrabian hordes. I stood in the dark woods watching with my troops. We'd forced marched from Woodheart in a day.
As soon as the Tree Kin were raised, we marched west. After he escaped from Horrabia and got some rest, Astral Bob went back to the Astrologers Tower in Vinab. From there, with his crystal ball, he observed the Horrabian troops with the newly resurrected Attila at their head marching south-east. They were at the Jeweled Tree when we were only halfway through the Old Forest, and I thought we wouldn't catch them before they marched on smug, unsuspecting Vinab.
Ahn remained at Woodheart with the militia regiment. Griffin was north of Woodheart in the woods awaiting news of the second Horrabian army under Gandalph - for some reason it had not yet shown and Astral Bob had no sight of it.
Ajora couldn't be there right then because of real-life issues. With me, in the shadows of the Old Forest as we waited in ambush were the two young rangers Gearhart and Sinuviel. We watched from the forest eaves as the mailed lines of Horrabia spearmen, ogres, and crossbowmen marched by. The tramp of their boots was like a sinister metronome. The heavy cavalry of the Cavaliers’ Guild headed them all. I recognized Samwise as he went past me, the red feather nodding in his steel helmet. I was in full stealth by the forest eaves and the ranger troops were around two hundred yards back into the forest itself.
There was no sign of Uzug, king of the goblins, but I guessed that he was back in Pennred garrisoning what was left of the village.
I had joined a party group with Elfhair, Birog and Ixion, as well as with Ahn so we could keep him up to date with our news.
Ixion: Centaurs are in place lurking in the old fields to the south of the Stone Cross.
Me: Okay. Just wait.
Ixion: But I still can't see the Horrabians.
Me: Don't worry. They're coming your way.
Ixion said he was sending the centaur archers forward. They were in skirmish formation. Their job was to pepper the oncoming Horrabians and lure them into charging. The heavily armored knights couldn't catch the lightly armored centaurs and pursuing them would merely tire the enemy troops. The more tired the better.
I guessed the Horrabian vanguard had seen the centaurs when I sensed a commotion in the Horrabian ranks as they marched past us, their heavy boots kicking up clouds of earth. There was a noise of men shouting ahead and I could almost feel the excitement of the Horrabian NPCs as they awaited their sergeants' orders.
I couldn't see what was going on and it was killing me so I sent up the Brown Owl. The bird fluttered southwards along the route of the road stopping in a treetop north-west of the old Stone Cross where she could get a view of the oncoming Horrabian horde.
My squadron of eagles - all thirty of them — perched in trees to the south of the Stone Cross just above the centaurs' position, but out of sight of the raptor cloud that overflew the Horrabian Vanguard.
With my brown owl's vision, I saw the centaur archers move below and fire off the first volley into the oncoming Horrabians. As predicted, the Horrabian heavy cavalry spurred into a charge. They were still a mile away from the old Stone Cross and the centaur horse archers retreated; when they got a lead on the oncoming knights, they turned, fired then retreated again. I saw Horrabian knights tumble from their horses – not many, but enough to chip away at their strength, and more importantly their morale. That's exactly what I wanted. I imagined Samwise's frustration that he couldn't close with his fleet-footed opponents. I would have laughed, but I was too tense.
The Horrabians sent their raptors forward to swoop down on the centaurs. As the creatures dive bombed them, the centaurs returned fire, shooting down a few the leathery winged monsters, but the raptors caused casualties amongst the centaur archers with their talons as they raked them before pulling up to dive again.
It was time to send in the eagles. I gave or
ders to the eagle unit to climb up into the sky. I wanted them with the sun behind them so they could have the advantage as they dived onto the raptors. The brown owl looked up and through her eyes I saw my squadron of eagles wheeling up ever higher.
The centaur archers were slowed because they were having to deal with the raptors, and the Horrabian heavy cavalry were gaining on them. That couldn't be allowed to happen.
When the eagles were high enough up I gave the order to attack. They dived like burning meteors onto the raptors below them. With the weight of gravity and their outstretched claws they smashed through the raptors. The raptors in a panic tried to escape, flapping their leather wings, but the eagles were among them, claws outstretched and I saw through the owl's eyes how the great birds ripped the prehistoric beasts apart. This respite allowed the centaur archers to withdraw, rapidly opening a big gap between them and the oncoming heavy cavalry. I saw them turn as they galloped to fire another volley into the oncoming Horrabians. More Horrabian knights fell from their saddles.
Attila was behind with the monstrous infantry. Ogres surrounded him. He had given command of the heavy cavalry back to Samwise—who were raised from Samwise's own Guild. But that was once again a mistake. What they should have done was make a stand and use their foot crossbows whose range was greater than that of the centaur horse archers. The centaur archers would have either had to stand-off out of range and be therefore useless, or come close and be cut down by the crossbows.
Samwise once again proved his stupidity by charging a foe, he struggled to catch. Attila wasn't much better because he didn't countermand the order. Their arrogance and their hatred of us triumphed once more above their military sense.
The last of the Horrabian columns was level with me now as I waited in the woods. I heard the excitement and nervousness in Gearhart's voice as he asked whether we should attack. I gave him the order to bring forward the ranger troops, but not to attack the Horrabians until I gave the word.
