by Galen Wolf
And then we came to a blocked stone entrance. This was the exit from the sally port. I hadn't expected it to be locked this side too. Ajora shuffled forward and spoke the password. Nothing happened.
I muttered. "It wouldn't be good to be stuck here." I could see that Ajora was becoming frustrated she muttered the password time and time again. She shook her head. "This shouldn't be – I am certain that it's the same password."
And then I had a brainwave. "Try saying it backwards – I've come across this in other games that I played. Forwards to enter, backwards to leave."
"Damn", Ajora muttered. "The boy's right. That's what it is." She whispered the password backwards and the stone block grated sideways. Looking forward I could see that we were in a backstreet just inside the huge city walls of Horrabia. The cobbles of the street were damp from recent rain (not that we'd had any) and gleamed in the flickering torchlight.
Ajora put a message on our HUD: there are NPC guards patrolling, and you can't rule out the possibility that there will be player characters around too.
We paused just by the entrance to the sally port and looked around. I heard the approaching guards before I saw them - the crunching of their boots on the cobbles and their mindless AI chatter about taverns and wenches. They were programmed to make small talk as they walked around. They both held burning brands high and I could see they were in full armor and wearing the insignia of the bat – the symbol of the city of Horrabia.
Ahn signaled via the HUD that he and Achilles would deal with the guards. I didn't see them go forward other than to notice the flickering of shadows on the walls as the two stealthed characters got behind the guards and cut their throats. The NPCs fell with a gurgle and the flaming brands clattered onto the stone floor.
"Good", I said it out loud and Ajora turned and placed a finger on my lips. Via the HUD, she said: shut your fucking mouth.
I nearly died inside. I so much wanted the approval of my guild mates and I had felt such a big tough guy being allowed to come with them on this – even though it was really my adventure. Now I just wanted the ground to swallow me up.
This way. Ajora pointed to the left. We ran silently through the maze of streets. I tried to memorize where I was going. The Greenwood had deliberately decided not to have a mapping function because that made things too easy for players.
I guessed that I was going to be the one who was sent back for Elfhair and Griffin. We emerged from the alleys into the huge central square of Horrabia. The middle was dominated by black statues to their evil gods. There were stalls around the edges of the square but they were packed away for the night. Two guards crossed the square quite a way from us and we waited until they turned and then made our way north following Ajora.
There was a road leading out from the north of the square. It was flanked by marble statues of the famous and significant characters that had played in Horrabia. I didn't know their names but they were sorcerers and wizards and cavaliers as well as thieves of course.
Ajora pointed. This is the Royal Road and leads to the Royal Palace. If you can go back now, Barcud and bring Elfhair and Griffin. I don't want you to engage with any guards, but if it becomes necessary leave it to Griffin.
I nodded. Okay.
Ahn messaged: There will be guards on the Royal Road, and maybe traps but we will clear all of that. We will come back after we've cleared the road and then will go forward as one group to the Royal Palace.
Okay, understood.
Ajora messaged: You'll need to know what the password to the sally port is just in case it's closed.
That made sense.
Ajora flashed the password up on my HUD: pretty boy.
Also by HUD, I said: pretty boy? For a city of the most evil people in the Greenwood, they chose pretty boy?
Ajora shrugged. I guess some of them have a sense of humor.
I waved and turned round. I hurried fully stealthed across the square then down through the maze of streets I'd memorized, until I came to the road that ran behind the city walls where we had dispatched the guards. Their bodies had disappeared, but I could hear more coming. I glanced at the entrance to the sally port, which was still open. I ran across the street.
I stooped through the cramped tunnel past the disarmed traps with no problems but I hesitated before emerging from the sally port just in case there were any more guards, but there was no one around. I went through the rose bower entrance to the park and ran across it as fast as I could. I heard the thud of my feet on the wood of the jetties and cursed. Someone to the right of me way down was auto fishing, but I saw him turn his head in my direction. Unless he had an excellent spot skill he wasn't going to see me, but I didn't want to alert anyone, so I stood stone still until he looked away.
I stood by the jetties and signaled via HUD to Elfhair and Griffin that they should make their way across to me.
Via HUD Griffin signaled: okay.
I waited what seemed an age. Above my head, the sentinel bats fluttered, reminding me I couldn't drop my stealth for an instant. The bats moved on in their aerial patrol and I saw the canoe emerge from the darkness in front of me and, as they got close, I helped them tie up. Elfhair gleamed in her unhelpful heavy armor. I pointed and frowned and she raised her eyebrows but she smiled when I gave her a hand to help her from the canoe.
Griffin stepped up after her. Via the HUD, he indicated I should lead the way. I took them across the park and we waited in the rose bower while two NPC guards passed by. Then we sprinted across the cobbled alley and found the entrance to the sally port. It was closed but I mouthed: pretty boy and the stone grated open.
In here? Queried Elfhair.
I nodded.
Don't worry. The traps have all been disarmed.
Griffin nodded grimly.
We entered the sally port crouching until we got to the end. I opened the stone block that side, which had closed, and we stepped out onto the cobbles.
A strange whooshing, sloshing noise came from the right. I didn't recognize it. Griffin did. He shoved Elfhair back into the sally port entrance, then grabbed at me to pull me back. Pressing myself against the wall, I hit Trueblend. If that didn't work, I had Vanish to give me complete invisibility for eight seconds. I glanced to the right. Coming down the street was a man dressed in scarlet and gold robes with a bald head and a long pointed black beard. Flying at his shoulder was some kind of smoky being, and slithering at his feet an enormous reptilian thing. He was levitating a foot off the ground and flashes of golden lightning sparked around his head.
I ducked back into the sally port.
Via HUD, I signaled: Who is that?
The letters appeared on the HUD and I wondered whether I would have heard fear in his voice had he spoken the words. Griffin wrote, that is Elrick, the worst and the cruelest of Horrabia's sorcerers.
But we got away from him, right?
Griffin's face was white as he sheltered Elfhair behind him.
Then the seeker demon entered the sally port
#
I fell back as the Seeker Demon poured in. Elfhair and Griffin stumbled further back behind me.
"What the hell...?" Griffin exclaimed as I pushed him into the confined space. He was about to ask what the problem was then he saw the slithering demon. "Seeker Demon." Griffin said. "Elrick will know all our stats and our identities from this demon."
Other demons entered the sally port behind the Seeker; one was a red pulsating mist, another had the face of a dead child.
"What the hell!" I fell back further pulling out my daggers.
"One of those is a mana sucker," Griffin shouted. "Don't let it touch you."
We reeled backwards down the sally port passage before the demons' advance. I glanced over my shoulder and said, "I don't need mana for anything much. It's not going to do me any harm if it sucks it all."
Griffin shook his head. "Sorcerers have a skill that when they reduce you to zero mana, they can insta-kill you."
I t
ook the Tiger out of my inventory and threw the figurine on the ground. Instantly, it grew into a huge cat that filled the sally port tunnel in front of me. Without waiting to be tasked, it recognized my enemies and launched itself at the child-faced demon.
"Good Tiger!" Griffin yelled. "He's going for the Burner Demon."
I saw the child faced demon raise its hand and the surge of flame hit my tiger. I had no view of my tiger's health, because it wasn't a direct summon, however I could see it had taken some damage. Not enough to stop its onslaught. It raked the Burner Demon and ripped the thing to shreds.
"They're evil and powerful," Griffin said, "But they don't have much health - glass cannons, if NPCs can be glass cannons."
Then the mist demon attempted to suck out the mana from the Tiger in a blue wave. I didn't think that would hurt the Tiger much. I looked at my own paltry mana score – and was wary in using it because of what Griffin had said about the specific sorcerer insta-kill skill, but I needed some to call my wolf companion. I mentally made the command to summon the wolf, and it materialized in front of me. The wolf was tall and rangy, grey fur and pointed fangs. One of these days I was going to remember to name him something other than "wolf".
The wolf launched itself at the Mana Sucking Demon. Behind them, another thing entered the sally port. It was red and had hundreds of legs and slithered along the ground. It scuttled at me and wrapped its sinuous body around my ankles making me fall heavily onto my face, losing five health points. Griffin lunged forward from behind and stabbed the thing. It still wasn't dead but its hold on my legs loosened.
"A tip," Griffin said. "Always get the Trip Demon first. You don't want to start the fight lying on your face."
From my position on the floor I muttered, "I'll be sure to remember that." And I would. It was no fun to be pitched straight into a stone floor. Elfhair was behind Griffin. I hoped she hadn't seen my shameful fall. She wasn't saying anything, just looking out past us. I guessed so far none of us had sufficient wounds that she needed to heal.
I cut at the Trip Demon and sliced its red jelly head from its red jelly body. The tiger and wolf were snapping at the Mana Sucker.
"We need to get out of this sally port," Griffin yelled. "I need enough room to transform into bear shape. I'm optimized to fight like that."
I glanced and saw the skeletal figure of a man in a black robe wielding a scythe enter the Sally Port.
I had never fought sorcerers before. It looked like they had endless amounts of demon pets, including this creep. I looked at Griffin. "What the hell is that?"
"It's Death, one of the Demons – and a nasty one, his scythe does wicked damage."
"We're just going to have to push our way out of here," I said through gritted teeth. I had no direct control over the AI of the wolf or the tiger, but they jumped and bit the demons and drove them back. Wolf leapt at Death but the hooded figure brought up his scythe, gashing Wolf's body. I yelled back at Elfhair, "Can you heal my pet?"
She was right behind me. "Which one?"
"The Wolf! The one with the big hole in its belly."
Elfhair hesitated. "I really want to save my mana for healing players. This looks like it could get very heavy this combat."
I was unhappy at her decision – but it was her decision, and I still had a crush on her. My wolf took another blow from Death. I guessed he wouldn't last long, but at least Death wasn't attacking me. We pushed our way out of the sally port, striking the demons as we went. The Mana Sucker was now down and Death had taken some damage from the tiger and Griffin's bow as he sniped over my shoulder.
While the Tiger and the Wolf had the demons' aggro, I took Griffin's advice and started to take down the demons. There were about six or seven of them – all with particular specialist functions, most of which I did not know. I notched an arrow to my flame bow and shot the mist demon that was facing the Tiger. We surged out into the cold air of the cobbled streets. To my right I saw the sorcerer Elrick, with his bald head and lightning sparks for a hat, muttering. It looked like whatever he was saying was aimed at me. I did a roll and lightly landed on the other side of the cobbled street, avoiding the flame bolt that seared over my head causing the air to stink of gasoline.
I heard a tremendous growl behind me as Griffin transformed into a huge brown bear. Elfhair crouched in the entrance to the sally port, very sensibly taking cover, looking for opportunities to hurt our enemies and requirements to heal us. I looked at the melee that was going on between the demons and the animals. There was a tiger, wolf and a bear – it looked like the zoo had escaped and gone on a rampage. My furry friends were definitely getting the better of the demons, although Tiger and Wolf in particular was showing injuries. Griffin launched himself at Elrick who blasted him in his belly with another fire spell. Griffin slashed him with his claws and Elrick fired again. Flames erupted from the sorcerers fingers and seared into Griffin's bear chest. Griffin howled in pain. I saw Elfhair mutter and a silver white glow enveloped the bear form.
Elrick had no one there to heal him, so as powerful as he was – it seemed that we out-numbered, out-gunned and out-healed him. Then I turned to hear the clattering of armored feet from behind me. Three of the members of the Horrabian cavaliers Guild advanced on us swords swinging. No magic for them, they would just try to hack and slash their way through us. I put an arrow to my flame bow and fired. Because of my high DEX, I hit through the lead cavalier's armor. Soon I would get the Appraise skill and be able to see how much damage I'd done and how close to death my enemy was, but for now I just had to guess. I fired again causing more damage as the three cavaliers ran at us. I sent arrows like flaming rain.
I recognized the armor of the second one – it was the cavalier Samwise who had fought me in a duel in the Greenwood, and who'd been such a sore loser.
I looked around to see that Wolf had finished his demon and was coming to my aid. He leapt at the first cavalier sending him reeling back.
Then almighty hell broke loose as the general alarm of Horrabia was sounded. Our stealthy attempt to get into the city had failed. From now on every NPC and every player character belonging to Horrabia would be looking for us.
From behind me I had another scream as Elrick burned Griffin again, but Griffin now had the sorcerer in a bear hug and was squeezing him. If the sorcerer didn't manage to get free within 10 seconds the Bear-Hug skill would crack his spine and he would be dead. I saw Elfhair send another glowing healing spell to Griffin, and then to my great delight, she healed my Wolf too. I shouted across, "Thanks Elfhair. I really appreciate that," and looked to see if she glanced back in my direction. She didn't. She was too busy with her healing.
Air whistled over my head as Samwise sent a badly aimed swing of his long-sword. He slashed again, but I dodged and the sword went to my right.
"Still shit, I see," I taunted him.
He snarled in rage and jabbed. I guessed his blades would be poisoned. It was too close quarters now for the bow so I dragged out my daggers. I leapt and rolled, then flipped behind the cavaliers. I disappeared in a puff black smoke, leaving Samwise looking to see where I was. I'd been practicing my Ranger combat and was using all the agility and acrobatics inherent in the play style. I felt just like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
I sent a message via the HUD to Ahn: In case you're wondering – we've been attacked.
Instantly I got a response: We're coming back towards you. The general alarm has been raised. We've got to get out of the city.
I sent back: I don't really want to leave before getting into the Red Tower.
Barcud, he wrote: This is going to be very dangerous. I've already called a general alert for all the Rangers Guild to come and help. Anyone who is online at the moment will come in to aid us – they are duty bound because their Guildmaster has summoned them. And I've also called in a few favors.
A few favors. A white shape flitted overhead. Not a Horrabian raptor, but I had no time to look for what had gone by. Three cavaliers tu
rned to face me as soon as I came out of invisibility. They rushed, swords raised.
Once again I danced out of their way and managed to double stab an unknown cavalier. I heard a crack as one of his legs broke. I had also given him vomiting with Vomwort. Samwise swung at me and the tip of his sword caught me, causing 10 HP damage. My breathing grew raspy; it seemed he had given me asthma with Riddlewort. I ignored him, rolling, and focused on the stricken cavalier. I stabbed him again breaking his other leg and then making him dance. The sound of his cracked bones dancing was quite horrific, but I couldn't spare any sympathy for these people. I needed to get to the Red Tower.
I had been so focused on the dancing cavalier that I didn't manage to get out of the way of Samwise's sword. It cut me across the back making me lose 15 health points. I also saw that Samwise had used the cavalier Bleed skill, and I was bleeding another five health points every two seconds.
Where the hell were my wolf and tiger? I chanced a look and saw them battling some NPC Horrabian guards who'd turned up. This was getting very busy. The more Horrabians that appeared, the less chance we had of getting out of here alive, or of me getting to the Red Tower. And I had to get to the Red Tower.
I stabbed Samwise again, sending him reeling back to find a quiet moment to heal the poisoning I'd done to him. I couldn't actually remember what I'd put on my knives, but it would be nasty and he would need to heal. I needed a second to take stock of the situation we were in.
I looked at Elfhair, but she was helping Griffin. Another sorcerer had appeared down the end of the cobbled street, summoned by the general alert for Horrabia. I guessed that they would be sending out alarms to all players who were not online telling them to get online and defend their city as quickly as possible.
The whole alley and behind was full of demons and sorcerers. Behind them were cavaliers, and I saw a warlock.
My wolf did me the favor of finishing off the dancing cavalier and allowed me to turn to face Samwise. He'd healed and returned to the fray. He hit me because I was distracted by the sight of all their reinforcements arriving. This was no good. I needed to focus on the fight. He hit me again, with the bleeding I was down to around 50% health.
