by Ryan DeBruyn
Timer to Wendigo
● You and your opponent’s inaction has triggered the countdown on the Wendigo release. Attack your opponent or finish the match in 5 minutes, or the Arena Bosses will go on a rampage.
Time remaining: 4 minutes, 58 seconds.
That was a subtly different message than the last time. First was obvious, as the timer would trigger the Wendigos’ release. The other was that he could cancel the timer with an attack against his opponent. He shrugged and shot off another single Soul Strike at Craterface. Something with that high of health wouldn’t be able to sustain the skill for much longer. His blades dinged as they bounced away from the Whirlwind and careened over the sands.
The timer didn’t reset. Did ranged attacks not count? He analyzed his opponent and noticed something – Craterface’s health was down about three hundred points. Azrael knew he hadn’t gotten through the armor.
The timer ticked as he considered what was going on. If damaging the armor hurt the individual, that would mean the armor was, in essence, the body of the individual. That explanation fit, but only partly. The other option was that this was, in fact, a construct made of the armor, and his actual opponent hid somewhere in the arena. He scanned around himself. His eyes locked onto the jumbotron, and he read the matchup: Azrael Sovereign versus Nathaniel Sprockethand.
He hadn’t attacked his opponent at all, just his opponent’s construct. Azrael sprinted to his opponents’ entrance and found no tracks in the sand other than the Knight’s. The Knight stopped spinning and dropped the tower shield. This increased the speed of the construct, but not enough to keep up with Azrael in his Ether-Tech gear.
He combed over the sand. The timer counted down as he played hide-and-seek with a stealthed Nathaniel.
When the timer reached two minutes, Azrael made a split-second decision and ran into the center of the arena. Craterface followed closely, and Azrael waited until the creature closed in before leaping straight up in the air. Once he reached the peak of his ascent and began to descend, he allowed himself to enter into a face-first dive.
He reached out both hands in front of himself and said, “Release ten!” His skill blasted out of his hand. His nearness to the ground created a reverse action that stopped his descent and spun him back up in the air. Craterface was directly below his skills, and Soul Strike crashed into it with the screech of a starship’s collision.
Two thunderous drum beats reverberated over the entirety of the arena before a massive boom. Then, just as in Azrael’s fight with the rhino, sand flew up in a gigantic cloud. The center of the arena was so thick with it that Azrael couldn’t see. Still, he could study the outside edges of the arena. Azrael saw what he had been hoping to find. A humanoid shape was clinging to one of the walls directly above his opponents’ entrance.
The falling sand highlighted its position, and Azrael charged in Nathaniel’s direction as soon as he landed. Azrael saw the outlined humanoid fall from its location and begin fleeing, but Nathaniel didn’t have the speed to outpace Azrael.
Azrael slashed his sword across the area Nathaniel’s sand-coated form resided. A loud yelp echoed over the sand. The body of a small gnome came out of stealth and fell to the ground. Nathaniel turned over onto his back, and held up both hands, “No, please. Don’t kill me! I didn’t even want to fight against you. They forced me!”
Azrael checked the timer, which was no longer counting down and sighed in relief before responding. “That isn’t my decision, unfortunately. That is the decision of the crowd – now admit defeat and submit to their judgment!”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Azrael flicked his sword, sending blood droplets into the sands of the arena. He also looted the now-collapsed suit of armor in the middle of the arena. He summoned what he could into the ring and then carried the tower shield, ax, and chest piece to the gate. He didn’t bother examining the set yet because he assumed that it would get taken away from him. It seemed looting gear that the dungeon made for the tournament was not allowed. However, he had looted it from the middle of the arena, and not the dead gnome, which had somehow forced the dungeon to enable him to do it.
As soon as the gate closed and the five-minute timer began, Jophi pulled open his inner gate door, smiling. She put her finger to her mouth and whispered, “Think we can set up that new armor of yours to look like a person?”
He shook his head before whispering back, “No, it fell to the ground as soon as Nathaniel died. Probably best to just leave it in some sort of pile to cover that hole in the wall.” As Azrael spoke, he had noticed the gaping hole in the corner of the room. It was just big enough for Ogma to crawl through, but the Firbolg was double the size of any of them.
Jophi pursed her lips and then walked to the exit and crawled inside. Azrael followed her move and dumped the armor from his ring into a pile in front of the space. He took a few seconds to stack it to cover the blackness at a first glance. Then he crawled after Jophi on the rough stone floors.
Azrael caught up to her a few moments later and asked, “Where is everyone else?”
Jophi made an exaggerated point at the floor and turned a corner. Azrael followed closely, but when he turned the corner, she was gone. His heart stuttered, and he wondered if she had tricked him. He reached out his hand to crawl forward and found no stone surface to place it on. Luckily, he was still in the Ether-Tech gear, and it helped him rebalance himself. Had she jumped down this chute, then?
He turned around in the confined space and went into the chute feet first. A feeling of weightlessness came over him before his feet collided with something. The technology in the suit absorbed the impact and automatically bent his knees for him. The suit had some minor form of night vision, but the change from the tunnel to wherever he was now was drastic. All around him was dar—no, wait. There was some light.
Azrael followed the distant flicker and walked down a hallway until it opened up into a massive cavern. As soon as he stepped inside, he heard Bat call, “You made it! We didn’t leave until we were sure you were going to win. The escape became much easier with Ogma here; there was no way I could have disenchanted those bars. It took everything out of Ogma to do it.”
Azrael felt his heart almost stop. Ogma wasn’t at his best? He looked around and noticed that Bat wore the second set of Ether-Tech gear, Dara had a bow, and Jophi had a staff. However, Ogma was leaning heavily on Verimy. Azrael tilted his head. Tactically, Bat wearing the gear was poor. Yet, the creature would need increased protection if he was going to make it out of here.
He isn’t a pawn, and I think we are going to need him if we have any chance of escape.
The room they stood in was lit by a burning trough that ran around the entire perimeter of the cavernous construct. In the center was a huge staircase that spiraled up and further down. From his current position, Azrael could see mechanisms with gears and pulleys in various areas of the gigantic chamber, but he had no idea what any of them did.
Azrael asked, “Are we in the hypogeum?”
Ogma croaked from Verimy’s shoulder, “No, this is the staging floor, which is directly below the arena. Come, we have to get down those stairs, so I can recover below. Can you still see the timer, Azrael?”
Azrael nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s counting down from one minute and fifty-four seconds.”
The group moved towards the stairs but were only a few steps in when Bat stopped. Azrael and the rest took a few more steps forward before realizing. Bat whispered, “There is an ambush just up ahead!”
Azrael felt his heart speed up, and he glanced around at his friends. Everyone looked shocked by this revelation, except for—Verimy? Dara was the first to catch his mood change, and she hissed, “What have you done, V?”
He looked at her and looked away, then looked at Azrael, eyes watering. He cried, “Azrael, Oberan had Dara. He threatened to feed her to Musth. I didn’t want to tell him anything, but since the beginning, he has been threatening me with her life. I can make
this right—we just need to make it to those stairs!”
Ogma pushed himself off of Verimy and nearly fell over from whatever Ether exhaustion he faced. Azrael caught the Firbolg and looked at Verimy sadly. It was already too late. Verimy’s shout and their hesitation had alerted the ambushers to his group’s knowledge of the impending attack. Guards began pouring down the stairs as a group of ten came out from behind the back of the circular staircase. One of the guards sneered at them. “Gyr and Yonel are on their way with Oberan. You all might as well give up now.”
The guards formed up at the bottom of the stairs and Verimy fell in beside Azrael and quietly commanded, “Give me the armor, Azrael. Promise me you will get Dara out of here!”
Azrael nearly began removing the armor immediately. Verimy’s tone was that of his instructor. The man who had saved his life on the day of the invasion. The man who had taken care of him for the trip to Tech Duinn and ensured his survival in its wilderness. He did manage to hesitate, though. One hand twitched at his side, as he held Ogma with the other, and he studied Verimy’s face. In his trainer’s eyes, he could see a deep hurt, but he also saw the man who had never led him astray. That same man who would protect him at all costs—unless it risked the only thing more precious to him, Dara.
Azrael glanced over at Bat, but he wore the new undamaged armor. If Verimy failed here, they could lose the set of armor given to him. Azrael lowered Ogma to the ground and began removing the armor. He handed Verimy the helmet first and asked, “What are you going to do?”
Verimy looked to Dara, who sidled up right beside him. She had tears in her eyes as she asked, “Are we going to use it?”
Verimy smiled back, kissed her, and then struck her with a Shuto Uchi chop at the base of her skull. Her body ragdolled into his arms, and he held her lovingly for a moment, whispering, “I love you, Daramelia, with all of my heart.”
Another guard crowed, “Perfect! Just remove your armor and surrender. If you don’t fight back, no one will get hurt.” One of the other guards tilted its head, seeming to grow suspicious, and trying to find the true motive behind his group’s strange actions. Not a single guard moved towards them, yet. A few narrowed eyes stared at the seated form of Ogma, which told the actual reason the guards hesitated. They hadn’t expected him to be here! But they didn’t know how terribly weak the Firbolg was.
Once Azrael had removed his armor, Verimy handed Dara to Jophi before stepping into the pile, which began affixing itself in place. The clicks and whirs of the resizing armor alerted even the densest guards of a problem.
The same guard from before shouted, “If you don’t stand down right now—”
Verimy nocked two arrows to his bow and crowed, “Demon Hunter!”
Azrael thought he was blind for a split second. He had been looking right at Verimy when his friend had uttered those words. Now he saw nothing and blinked his eyes. The blink didn’t even register as a change. He looked around, and his eyes picked up on the light from the wall track fires. His other friends were looking at Verimy, each one making a different face. Bat seemed to be the only one who wasn’t affected when he said, “Why are you all looking at Verimy like that? Did something happen?”
Black patches began firing out of the darkness. They were so fast that Azrael missed the first few, but when Jophi tapped him on the shoulder and he moved away, they were easily noticeable. Like black streaks of death that began burying themselves into guards. Each guard struck cried out in horror. Darkness began spreading from the wounds of the injured, and Azrael watched in awe. Verimy was only targeting the guards who were between them and the stairwell. Each dark black—arrow?—perfectly aimed regardless of cover.
The guards began using anything they could find as cover, even each other.
A voice in the blackness intoned, “Go now! Keep Dara safe!” The sound was so deep and menacing that Azrael would never have said it was Verimy.
Jophi began carrying Dara towards the stairs. Azrael grabbed Ogma and started following. Without the Ether-Tech armor, the Firbolg was insanely heavy. As he moved, he shouted, “Verimy, you have done enough. Come with us!”
A disturbing laugh was the only answer he got, and then the darkness flew forward into the injured guards, scattering them like a boulder tossed into a puddle. Bat charged into the gap Verimy made. Jophi followed, Dara held over her shoulder. Azrael struggled with Ogma’s weight and fell in behind the line of friends. The dark form of Verimy allowed him to make it to the stairs. He and Ogma began to descend.
Azrael approached the stopped form of Jophi holding Dara midway down the stairs—should he put Ogma down and go back up for Verimy?
He looked back and felt a hand on his shoulder. “He isn’t coming, Azrael. That skill… it was a Last Stand,” Ogma croaked.
Azrael blinked and looked around at the group, which had stopped as well. Only Bat looked shocked by the revelation. Verimy’s strike against Dara made a lot more sense in hindsight. He felt something knot up in his stomach and try to climb up his throat. He didn’t understand the feeling and was more confused when Jophi gave Dara to Bat and wrapped Azrael in a huge hug. She cried, “I’m sorry,” into his ear.
Was he supposed to cry as well?
You have failed a quest.
Arena Chain Quest
Single Elimination Tournament
Win the Round of 8
● You have failed to appear for the contest during the round of 8.
Your failure to produce a combatant for the second round has initiated a forfeiture of the match. Upon further review, the contest was forfeited, as your team seems to have no intention of fighting.
Consequences:
All gear will be forfeited
Demotion of Combat Ranks
Gruel for all meals until further notice
The notification shocked him out of his confusion. It was rather ironic. The only thing he was slightly sad about was the Etherience they would have gained.
The consequences didn’t mean anything if they could get out of the Pit.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The bottom of the stairs had come out into a wide stone hallway. The oil wall trough continued down here but wasn’t lit. Ogma managed to get his feet under him and he limped over to touch his finger into the oil, commanding, “Flame.” With a whoosh, fire sprang out from his finger and raced away down the hallway. With a jerky motion, Ogma removed his finger, which burned like a torch, and flicked the flaming oil that coated it into the trough on the other side. The spark caught, and fire raced down the hallway, lighting up a rough stone corridor in a subdued intake of air.
Ogma sat down heavily after this act, almost looking like a man who had just run miles. Sweat dripped down his face and his breathing was labored.
Azrael was preoccupied with trying to console Jophi, as she seemed upset. He patted her arm, and she came in to squeeze him tight. Strangely, his heart clenched more with that action. Soon she let him go with a whispered, “I am so sorry.”
What was there to be sorry about? She hadn’t forced Verimy’s hand or killed him personally.
Azrael nodded and looked over at Bat, who was placing Dara on the ground. If Verimy had used a Last Stand skill, he would be near death when it elapsed. Unfortunately, without a healer, that meant he would undoubtedly die. Still, Azrael recalled Dara’s words before he had knocked her out. She had known and had been ready to join him. If someone was going to be upset, it would be her.
Azrael looked up the stairs and heard muted sounds of combat, then asked, “Should we not move a little farther away from the stairwell? Just because smart people don’t want to come down here because it’s so dangerous doesn’t mean they won’t peek in to see if we are just standing around.”
The group nodded, and moved away until they turned the first corner they came to, Bat placing Dara back onto the ground. Ogma surprised Azrael by managing to make the walk around the corner without assistance. It seemed that the Firbolg would recover on his own
in time. Ogma smiled tiredly at him, “That was rather clever. I didn’t expect you to maneuver the guards into taking me with you. Those enchantments took nearly my entire Ether pool to remove. Now I wish I could have kept more strength to handle the guards. Still, with Verimy’s Last Stand, here we are.”
Ogma leaned against the wall and looked at each of them. “Not like we can get out of the hypogeum, but at least we aren’t under the control of Oberan anymore.”
Azrael squinted at Ogma and then Jophi, who was glaring at the Firbolg. She spoke first. “What do you mean we can’t get out of here now? You are a Master rank, with high levels to boot! Are you planning on not fighting again?”
Ogma wheezed a laugh and shook his head. “Oh, I will fight with you all certainly, but Musth was my brother’s pet. I have known him since we were children, and I also know that we will not be able to defeat that elephant. Even if Oberan and I tried to take it on together, we would probably lose!”
Azrael felt his mouth fall open. How had Ogma not mentioned this before? Oberan using the Wendigo as a prod made a lot more sense now. He was ensuring they had no chance to escape, even if they did manage to get this far. Musth was just too strong!
Other people would likely get extremely mad with Ogma for not telling them all of this earlier. Azrael just got cold, and began to look at all the options.
Obviously, they could just go back up the stairs and turn themselves in. That wasn’t a great option, but would keep him alive for a few more days. They could continue through this floor and fight Musth, but by the sounds of it, that was a sure death as well.
Azrael shrugged and chose the final option. Continue forward and wait for some other opportunity to present itself. It wasn’t like going forward closed the doors on the other options they had. As Verimy had told him in the forest, ‘Improvise!’
Bat, still wearing the other set of Ether-Tech gear, stepped forward. “Do one of you want this set of armor? I am sure it will be more effective with someone else. I can only tell you what is around each corner as we go forward. Will Musth be walking the hallways down here, or does he have an area?”
