by Adam Drake
“Correct,” Nigel said. “I've seen it from outside, at the mountain, er, volcano. She coils herself outside its entrance and never leaves it unguarded.”
“Coils?” Holpa said. “What do you mean by coils?”
“As in a snake, my bullheaded friend. Sisoria is a serpent of great size and power.”
“Snake,” Holpa said, his voice trailing off in disbelief.
“Wait,” I said, “so the natives blew the horn and accidentally summoned her here. But we just blew the horn, too.”
“And?”
“And bad things happened,” Witt said, with a frown.
“A leviathan appeared and destroyed our ship,” I said.
Nigel looked aghast. “Really? Why that's most incredible. I would have thought the horn was only meant to call Sisoria, but it appears that theory is no longer valid. Perhaps it calls whatever leviathan is nearby, and Sisoria happened to be closest when the natives used the horn.”
Shwenn asked, “What about this tomb? Is there treasure inside?”
The explorer shrugged. “I could only guess as I didn't have the nerve to sneak around Sisoria to look. It is certainly a possibility as there are several legends that indicate so. Some say she brought the treasures up from her lair at the bottom of the sea in her stomach and regurgitated them into the tomb. Another legend says the treasure was already there when she arrived and claimed it as her own. But whatever is in there, you can be certain it would be important.”
Like a Legendary blade, perhaps? I thought to myself. “Where is this tomb?”
Nigel pointed northward, “Not too far from here. The island isn't that big so you really don't have to go far to get anywhere. Especially if you are looking to die.”
“Why do you say that?” Bozar said.
“Because Sisoria has hundreds of natives at her disposal. They guard every inch of this island. And, I'm not sure if you're aware, they are very tough to kill.”
“Hundreds of them?” Holpa said, mortified.
“Yes,” Nigel said. “Like a little army. Perhaps she someday plans to leave this place and conquer one of the larger nearby islands. Who's to know.”
“I don't like this,” Holpa suddenly blurted. “This isn't what I signed up for.”
“What the heck are you talking about?” Witt said, rounding on the minotaur.
Holpa shook his head. “I'm all for a tough adventure, but now we have to face a giant serpent-leviathan thing as well as hundreds of those little FILTEREDs? We barely survived a dozen, how are we going to take on hundreds?”
“It's all part of the game, Holpa,” Shwenn said. “The challenge is half the fun.”
Holpa laughed. “Half of your fun, maybe, but not mine.” He marched back into a dark corner of the ruins. Finding a little alcove he crouched inside.
“What are you doing?” Shwenn said, alarmed.
“I'm logging out,” Holpa said. “And, yes, I've paid for location transfers before and I'm going to do it this time as well. This place is a guaranteed RR, so why not? It's not like I'm going to miss out on anything.”
Witt roared and suddenly ran at Holpa, swords drawn. But Shwenn stood in his way.
“Don't!” She said. “If this is what he wants, then fine.”
Holpa's eyes glazed over and his body went still. A clock appeared above his head, counting down from five minutes. Once the five minutes was up, his avatar would be removed from the game.
“That son of a FILTERED!” Witt said. “I knew he was going to pull something like this.”
Shwenn tried to calm the warrior down. “It's okay. We'll be okay. We don't need him. Whatever this game throws at us, we'll handle it without him.”
Somewhere in the distance the drums started up again, this time louder and more frenetic.
“Incoming!” Bozar said, standing next to the entrance. He looked outside with worry.
Through the windows I could see dozens and dozens of natives suddenly pouring into the ruined courtyard. In moments, several hundred assembled themselves outside. Each one was facing the chamber we were in.
“Oh, dear,” Nigel said, staring at the army outside. “This is most unfortunate.”
Looking at the mass of tough mobs, I had only one thought.
Guess it was time for a reroll.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I moved up to one of the windows, bow in hand.
The sight of all the reptilian natives was both shocking and awe-inspiring. This time, there were more varieties of weapons being wielded by them; spears, nets, tridents and the jaw-bones from large, toothy creatures.
But one native stood out above the rest. He wore a large plumage headdress and held a snake-shaped scepter which had a head of a cobra.
“A witchdoctor,” Nigel said from beside me. His eyes were wide with terror. “He'll have Dark magic spells.”
“Form up!” Shwenn shouted. “Bozar, block the main door, Witt take the window opening on the other side.” Bozar was already in place and Witt quickly moved over to his position. Shwenn stood behind Bozar with a view out all the openings.
I said to Nigel, “You might want to fall back a bit in case they start firing arrows.”
Nigel nodded and retreated to the darkened gap at the back of the chamber.
“Hey, does that go anywhere?” I said to him, pointing at the gap.
“I don't know,” Nigel said. “I've only gone in so far to, uh, relieve myself. I don't have any light orbs. It might.”
I looked to Shwenn. “That's our fall-back position.” We would need it.
The throng of natives hadn't made any move toward the chamber. Instead, they simply stood outside and waited patiently. The drums continued, getting faster and faster.
“Should I start shooting?” I asked, uncertain. “They're going to hit us soon, anyway.”
As if in answer, the drums stopped. The natives outside all raised their hands and together chanted, “Sisoria! Sisoria! Sisoria!”
“Oh, how interesting,” said Nigel, curious despite himself.
I glanced back at Holpa's avatar where it still stood in the shadows, timer ticking down. Part of me wanted to run him through, just for kicks. He'd left us at the worst time, but the selfish part of me understood him to a degree.
A cheer from the mass outside pulled me back into the situation.
Dozens of native archers fired their bows in unison.
“Duck!” Shwenn said.
I didn't need encouragement and dropped below the window ledge just as a torrent of arrows blew through it and into the chamber. I glanced over at the others.
Bozar hide behind his massive kite shield, its edge flush with the stone floor. Arrows ricocheted off of its hard surface, the thunking of the impacts sounding like rain.
Both Shwenn and Witt moved to the sides of the other window, waiting for the assault to peter out.
Witt caught my eye and shouted, “We having fun yet?”
The arrows stopped, and I dipped into Shadow to peek outside. My eyes barely made it over the window's edge when my view was blocked by natives running toward me.
“Here they come!” I shouted and popped out. I immediately used my Multi-shot in an arc, hitting four at the same time. It didn't even slow them down as they reached the window in a run. Taking a quick step back I headshot the first one with my Sure-Shot, and he stumbled backward.
As the three front-runners reached the window, I switched to my sword and attacked like a madwoman. I knew my attacks could only whittle away their health, not kill them outright.
Bozar braced his kite shield from the attacks by leaning his body against it. From over its top he swung his axe, trying for exposed heads.
Witt was slashing wildly, hacking away at the natives trying to climb through. Shwenn was at his shoulder, zapping away with her wand while Charm snapped its pincers onto anything that crossed the threshold of the sill.
I knew in that moment that we weren't going to make it. Not even close. The natives were to
o strong and in such great numbers holding them back, let alone defeating them, was impossible.
But I fought on regardless. Hacking at limbs that over extended, or jabbing at reptilian faces which hissed at me.
Suddenly, something brushed past my leg and Charm motored up to the window to clamp onto an axe wielding arm.
“Thought you could use a little reinforcement!” Shwenn said with a grin as she turned back to her window.
And I did. The natives were pushing harder to get in, but the small openings of the windows worked in our favor. Bozar's shield nearly blocked the entire entry way like a reinforced door, but the natives were pounding on it with incredible power.
A Sisorian Native has been killed. You have gained 600 shared experience points.
“The first of many!” Witt shouted, pushing the limp body of a native back out the window. The fact that it had taken so long just to kill one was depressing, but I'd take it for now.
A heavily injured native at my window was trying desperately to squeeze past the others to get inside. With all my strength, I lunged forward and plunged my sword through his hissing face until it came out the back of his skull.
You have killed a Sisorian Native. You have gained 600 shared experience points.
Swords Skill Increased! Level 9, 74%.
“See, first time wasn't a fluke!” Witt shouted, hacking and slashing.
I shouted to Shwenn, “Fireball time?”
“Saving it for if we fall back!” She said.
If we fall back? I thought. It was guaranteed to happen.
One of Bozar's axe swings finally cleaved a head.
A Sisorian Native has been killed. You have gained 600 shared experience points.
Then, another message followed.
You have increased a level! You are now 47! Congratulations! Earned: 3 Attribute points, 5 Skill points, and 3 Ability points.
Great, I thought. Now if I could just live long enough to distribute them, I'd be happy.
We all knew that this was a no win situation, but none of us would say it. Doing so would mean admitting that Holpa was right on some level. Yes, it was hopeless, but no, we weren't going to be cowards about it.
As Charm bit down on an arm, the native it belonged to fell back, pulling the large insect along with him. In an instant the diamond beetle vanished into the throng and was set upon by dozens of weapons.
Shwenn gasped as Charm's health bar was pummeled to zero. Her pet was dead.
This shifted the tide. The natives at my window pushed harder to get in, and despite my best efforts, I could barely keep them out. A glance toward the others told me the same situation was happening to the whole group.
“Prepare to fall back!” Shwenn shouted, reaching into her robes. She pulled out a handful of small orbs which she then tossed into the air. They flew along the low ceiling until one hung above each person's head, then light up. Light orbs.
I glanced back at Nigel who was peering back into the tunnel with the light of his orb. “How's it look, Nigel?”
Nigel jumped at my shout. “Oh, it's a long tunnel, but I can't see far. It looks to head deeper into the complex.”
That's all I needed to hear. We had an out, for however long it lasted.
Suddenly, the natives at the window stopped attacking and stepped back. In fact, all the others did the same.
In unison, the natives walked backwards, never taking their slitted eyes off us. After a dozen paces they stopped, forming a living wall. Behind them, over a hundred others waited.
I switched to my bow and nocked an arrow.
“Hold it!” Shwenn said. “Maybe they want to talk.”
Talk? I thought. This was a prelude to disaster as far as I was concerned. But I held my shot for the moment.
The drums started up again, and the natives resumed their chant.
“This can't be a good thing,” Witt said.
The natives parted and the witchdoctor stepped forward. He held the snake scepter high and glared at us. It was obvious he was going to cast something nasty.
“Shwenn!” I said.
“Got it,” she said and stepped forward. Sticking her hand outside the window she cast her Fireball.
The molten orb slammed into the witchdoctor, engulfing him in flames. He fell to the ground, dropping the scepter.
I tensed up, drawing my bow.
But no one attacked to avenge their fallen leader if that's what he was. Instead, all the natives continued to stare at us, chanting incessantly.
Then it occurred to me. “No death message,” I said.
Shwenn cursed.
The witchdoctor slowly stood, flames engulfing his headpiece and flesh. While still ablaze, he knelt down and picked up the scepter.
I'd seen enough. “Screw it,” I said and fired a Multi-shot at him.
But the arrows barely crossed over the windowsill when the witchdoctor quickly pointed the scepter in my direction. The arrows dissolved in mid-air.
From behind us, Nigel said, “Perhaps we should run now?”
Faced with an unkillable Dark magic spellcaster, Shwenn made the call. “Okay, fall back!”
Nigel backpedaled as I followed Shwenn into the gap. A glance told me it was a narrow tunnel made from the same blocks as the rest of the ruins. Where it went was anyone's guess, just as long as it got us out of there.
Witt backed up to the tunnel's entryway. Bozar still blocked the door with his shield in case they suddenly rushed. I could see over his shield at the witchdoctor, skin on fire, pointing his scepter again.
“Bozar! Run!”
The ogre started to step back toward us, still braced against his shield.
From the witchdoctor's scepter a black shadowy smoke shot forward. The smoke quickly enveloped Bozar who looked at it in confusion. The smoke solidified, turning into a large black snake. The creature became solid already coiled around the Slayer and squeezed. All of this happened in the span of a second.
Bozar gasped, dropping his axe, his shield wedged up against him within the snake's coils.
“Bozar!” Witt said moving to help him.
The witchdoctor snapped back the scepter like a fisherman pulling on his line. The next instant, Bozar was yanked out the door and vanished into the crowd where he was set upon.
Shwenn grabbed at Witt's shoulder. “No! He's gone! We have to go, now!”
As if to reinforce her statement, the natives ran forward in unison, all the while chanting.
I grabbed at Shwenn. “Go! Lead the way!”
She only hesitated a moment then rushed down the tunnel.
Witt was ready for a war having just stood by helplessly as his friend was taken. To rub salt in the wound, Bozar's health bar was beat down to zero until his profile picture was replaced by a skull and crossbones.
“FILTERED!” Witt said.
I pulled at his arm as natives spilled through the door and windows. “Back up, now!”
Despite his rage, he had the presence of mind to retreat into the tunnel staying close to my shoulder.
I, too, backed up, but didn't run. Instead, I withdrew my one and only Disorientation arrow and nocked it.
The natives were jostling and knocking each other over in their need to get to us, which worked in my favor. The more in the chamber before I fired, the more of an obstacle they would create for the others.
Waiting until the last possible moment, I fired up at the center of the low ceiling. The chamber exploded into an array of bright lights. Multi-colored strobes danced around the space, blinding everyone inside.
The effect was immediate. The clamoring throng turned into a mosh pit of blind natives blocking the entrance and windows. But it wouldn't last for long.
I turned and gave Witt a shove. He was itching to jump in and strike while they were helpless, but there were a lot more outside waiting to rush in. This was our only chance to get some distance.
The warrior cursed and turned to follow the others. Trailing behind him,
I kept firing into the chamber, every shot hitting. I did that the entire length of the tunnel until it suddenly turned.
Then I followed the others into the darkness of the temple ruins.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The tunnel continued straight after the first turn and gradually descended. The walls tapered upward forming a narrow triangle, and we passed several carved reliefs all depicting snakes devouring people.
