World At War

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World At War Page 32

by Dave Willmarth


  The other drow took offense and began to attack the troll. Chaos ensued as the brutes turned on the mages. The two trolls were dying quickly, but taking several drow with them.

  Leaving them to it, Alexander turned to confront the remaining two on his left. He was about to cast Wizard’s Fire on the nearest of them when it sprouted an arrow from its eye and began to convulse. Looking around, Alexander saw Lainey grinning at him. “I channeled the Shock spell into it for like, six seconds. Wasn’t sure it would work!”

  “Ha! It worked!” He gave her a little salute before turning back to the fight. The stunned troll was being pummeled with bolts and arrows from the ranged players. Its second eye exploded in a spray of blood and brain matter. The dying troll flailed about with its club as it fell to the side, taking out four drow who had been working together on some kind of combined spell.

  The final mob, after it sunk in that its companions on the march across the cavern were all dead or disabled, turned and ran.

  Helga, Pollock, and his men dashed out from the shelter and set upon the trapped trolls. Unable to turn, they were vulnerable from behind. So, the raiders hacked and slashed at the stone-skinned monsters, getting critical hits one after another because the trolls were incapacitated and they were attacking from behind. It took less than a minute to finish them off. The melee players took some damage, exposing themselves to get the kills. Sasha and healers struggled to keep them alive until they returned to the shield wall and protection.

  “That was stupid!” Sasha snarled at Helga. The barbarian woman looked down at her boots. “Sorry, I saw the easy kills and… well, half the bad guys are dead. I figured we could use the trolls for cover as we killed them and we’d make it okay.”

  “Don’t ever do it again.” Sasha’s tone allowed for no argument. The melee group moved back behind the tanks and sat down.

  Alexander estimated the enemy force was down to just over thirty drow. The ones who had been on the flanks had realized they no longer had the numbers to penetrate the walls, so they moved around toward the front to pound on the tanks. The ranged raiders were punishing them, as only a few had put up magic shields and the only physical cover was the bodies of the trolls. As he scanned the battlefield, Alexander didn’t see a single drow with more than fifty percent health. The assault on the walls slackened as some of the smarter drow decided to save their mana for a clear shot at something.

  He cupped his hands on either side of his mouth and shouted, “Surrender now! We don’t need your lives! Surrender and we’ll send you to safety!”

  The only result of that offer was a renewed assault on the shelter. A fireball lobbed over top of the tanks actually managed to splash down inside the walls, burning and knocking back several of the raiders. Molgo took the blast full force and suffered hideous burns. His health bar down to fifteen percent, he clamped his jaw shut against the pain and didn’t utter a sound as the healers converged and brought him back to a safe level. Though his skin healed, the hair that had burned off did not regrow. He was left looking splotchy and rough.

  Alexander looked to Beatrix and Misty again. The two of them had been picking off individual drow one after another. They worked well together. He decided to try something stupid, with their help.

  The first thing he did was cut four large blocks of stone from the floor behind the casters. He raised them up and set them to either side and in back of the hole. Then he softened the stone at the bottom of the hole. This gave him a pit about ten yards wide and three yards deep behind the largest concentration of drow.

  With that done, he called Beatrix and Misty to him. A quick explanation of what he wanted had them laughing and nodding. Beatrix went first.

  Climbing back atop the wall and standing behind Brick’s shield, she waved a hand in a circular motion as she gathered water from the stream. It spun in a sort of whirlpool disc behind her as she gathered more and more. Finally, when it was nearly too large for her to control, she sent it surging in a wave over top of the tanks’ heads and out toward the enemy. The wave was only maybe four feet high, but it had the speed and power of magic behind it. Most of the enemy were knocked off their feet and pushed back. A few were washed into Alexander’s pit.

  Beatrix immediately started gathering more water as Misty stepped up and cast her Cone of Frost spell as widely as she could. The wet floor and wet drow became encrusted in ice. The ranged attackers hit the drow with everything they had, knocking some of them back. Beatrix held her next wave while the other raiders whittled away at their targets. When nearly all of the drow had broken loose of the ice on the floor, she launched her next wave.

  This time, the drow were pushed back as a group. The slick ice at their feet left them no purchase as the force of the water sent them sliding into the pit. Only six of the drow mages managed to stay at surface level, still casting spells at the raiders. Six of the tanks each chose a target and charged forward, knocking the drow off their feet. The melee group were right behind the tanks, quickly finishing off the stragglers. Misty jogged forward and cast down into the pit, freezing the waist-deep water down there. With the drow trapped, Lugs and the dragons shoved the stone blocks back into the pit, crushing the drow and ending the fight.

  Once again, several of the NPCs and lower-level players leveled up. Fibble sat down and rubbed his tummy, smiling down at it like a pregnant mother admiring her child. Max and Beatrix immediately began looting the bodies as the others sat down to rest.

  Alexander, not wanting Max to complain about lost loot, liquefied the stone above the crushed corpses in the pit and raised them up. There were several sounds of disgust from the raiders when what was effectively drow paste broke the surface.

  A distant roar caught everyone’s attention. Alexander scanned the cavern and his eyes found the last remaining troll. The beast was waving its arms and plodding directly toward them. At the same time, Sasha called out, “Jules is hurt, but I can’t heal her. She’s out of range.”

  Alexander’s eyes immediately went to the raid UI and Jules’ icon. Her health was down to eighty percent, but not dropping. Some chuckles from the raiders made him focus back on the cavern. He saw Molgo first, smiling as he watched the troll approach. Alexander followed his gaze.

  The troll had turned slightly, revealing Jules perched on its back. She was hanging from her daggers, each one plunged into a shoulder just behind the troll’s collarbone. The troll was frantically trying to reach back and remove her, but its arms just didn’t bend that way. As they watched, Jules shifted her weight, causing the troll to turn back in their direction. She shouted at the monster and it roared back in anger.

  Sasha shouted, “Shoot it! But make sure you don’t hit Jules.”

  Max, Lainey, and the other ranged obliged, sending arrows at the thing as it walked closer. Every time it tried to turn away, they quit firing and waited for Jules to turn it again.

  Finally, Lugs moved forward and slammed into the thing with his shield. Jules took advantage of the two-second stun to remove her daggers and plunge them both into the troll’s kidneys for critical hits before dropping off and stepping back. The melee group moved in to assist, but Jules didn’t appear to need it. She activated an ability of hers and leapt back up at the troll’s head. The beautiful rogue became a whirlwind of blades, black leather, and blood as her daggers stabbed and sliced several times per second. She stabbed her victim in the face, the neck, under its chin. A slash across its belly opened it like an overstuffed sausage.

  The troll tried to defend itself but moved too slowly to catch the elf. When the six seconds of speed her ability granted her expired, she planted her feet on the troll’s chest and pushed off, executing a flip as she passed over Lugs’ head and landing gracefully on her feet. A few of the raiders, including Alexander, applauded. The blood-covered elf gave a little curtsy, daggers spinning in each hand.

  Lugs smashed his shield into the troll’s face again to get its attention, but it wasn’t necessary. The big monster wo
bbled a bit, then fell backwards. It struggled briefly as it bled out from the multiple wounds Jules had inflicted. A moment later, it was dead.

  Fibble ran over and shot Jules directly in the face, “Pew! Pew!” healing her back to full. She bent down to hug the little goblin but he made a face and backed up a step. “Lady Jules smell like troll doody.”

  As Jules looked down at her blood-and-guts-soaked gear and smiled, the others had a good laugh. Lainey came over and whispered, “First time I’ve heard Fibble accuse somebody else of being the stinky one.” Jules sought out Beatrix and gave her a pleading look. The little gnome sent a spray of water into the rogue, effectively hosing her down. As soon as she was clean, Fibble took a running leap and wrapped himself around Jules neck.

  “Lady Jules kill big troll all alone! Now you are protector like Fibble!” he beamed at her. She gave him a squeeze before setting him down.

  “I’m glad you approve, Minister Fibble. Did I maybe earn a cookie as a reward?”

  Fibble nodded his head vigorously, producing a cookie from his bag and handing it over. He watched a bit jealously as she thanked him and took a big bite. Seeing the look on his face, she said, “This is a big cookie. I’m all full. Would you eat the rest for me?”

  Again the nodding and the flapping ears as Fibble reclaimed the prize and quickly made it disappear.

  Beatrix looted the troll as Sasha gathered the group back together. They looked across the cavern to the stronghold that sat beyond the elevator platform.

  The walls were thirty feet high and seamless, with blocky-yet-smooth-and-perfect construction that gave it the appearance of having been built by dwarves. Surrounding the gates was a massive structure that rose fifty feet and must have contained the mechanisms for moving the heavy doors. Alexander’s elven sight showed him dozens of enemies with crossbows manning the top of the wall. Beyond the wall, he could see several rooftops and narrow windows. A single tower rose up in the center.

  Brick spoke up. “That gate be a death trap. Much like our own keep. There’ll be beasties waitin’ ta murder us as we try ‘n pass through. Arrows, fire, mebbe hot oil or acid.”

  The doors stood open, as if inviting them in. Alexander looked to Sasha. “How do you want to handle this?”

  “We can’t hang around outside all day waiting for more of them to come out. For all we know, they have a portal in there and can just summon a never-ending supply of reinforcements,” she thought out loud. “Rushing the gate will get some of us killed. We’ve already lost too many orcs and minotaurs.” She looked over at the two diminished groups. They had weapons in hand and appeared eager to fight.

  She looked again at the open gate and the courtyard beyond. “You know there’s going to be some kind of inner portcullis or something. As soon as we step through the doors, they’ll drop it and trap us. Then wipe us out.”

  Alexander looked to Fitz, who was already smiling back at him. “Fitz and I can get us through the gate. The question is, where do you want to start? In the courtyard? Up on the wall?”

  Sasha looked at Fitz. “Tell me, you old goat. If you were a drow wizard, where in there would you be? Top of the tower? Lowest level of the dungeon? Great hall somewhere in the middle?”

  Fitz thought about it for a moment. “Well, right now I’d be in the tower, watching you.” They all looked up at the tower. It was wider than the gatehouse and comparatively squat, only rising two stories above the level of the wall. The roof was flat and probably had a short wall around it. There were windows dotting it here and there, narrow slots too small for a humanoid to squeeze through.

  Sasha nodded once as she made her decision. “Right. We’ll start with the tower. Work our way down from the roof.”

  Brick was stroking his beard. “That be grand if we catch the dark wizard in his tower. But if he ain’t there and we have ta search through that place, we’ll be leavin’ lots o’ baddies behind us.” He pointed to the figures on the wall.

  Del spoke up. “Please, allow us to take care of that. Nothing we see there is any real threat to us. Likely the strongest of the wizard’s casters and fighters will be inside with him. We can attack the gate, distract the enemy while you insert yourselves into the tower. We’ll join you inside.”

  Alexander’s stomach clenched. He wanted to say no. He wanted to offer to send healers with them. But he knew the dragons were in fact more powerful than anyone he could send and were perfectly capable of healing themselves or each other.

  Jules gave him a discreet nudge with her elbow. “Get out of your head.”

  “Thank you, Del.” He turned to address all the dragons. “Thank all of you. A distraction would be much appreciated.” A vision of six angry dragons tearing down the walls came to him and he grinned. “And who could make a more spectacular distraction than dragons?” The group returned wicked smiles as he added, “But please, try to stay safe.”

  Without a word, Del and the rest of his wing turned and trotted toward the gate. As soon as they began their approach, the activity on the wall increased. Drow filled in the spaces between orcs and hobgoblins along the wall. Two more trolls appeared just inside the courtyard. These two were heavily armored, their bodies covered in spiked plates. Each wore a helmet with wicked-looking horns. One carried a two-bladed battle axe that must have weighed two hundred pounds. The other wielded a flail. The ball at the end of the chain was the size of a beach ball and covered in sharp spikes.

  The dragons began casting as they jogged. Balls of blue fire shot upward in arcs before falling atop the defenders on the wall. The screams could be heard echoing across the cavern.

  Alexander looked to Fitz. The wizard nodded and disappeared, along with all of the orcs and minotaurs. Alexander quickly grouped the players closer together and looked to see where Fitz had landed. Choosing a clear spot atop the roof, he teleported himself and the players up to join the others.

  The screams and sounds of battle were suddenly much louder. Alexander looked around the roof and found three drow corpses with sword and axe wounds. Molgo looked at him and shrugged. “There were guards. They were not very alert.”

  A short stair led down to a door that gave access to the tower. Brick led the way. Lugs took up the rear this time, as he was going to have to duck through and might even have to crouch in the stairs and corridors below. Dwarven-built structures were not often ogre-friendly.

  The dragons outside roared and the whole keep shuddered as something impacted the wall. Alexander mentally chided himself for worrying about the ancient dragons as he stepped through the door into the top room of the keep, where another battle had started.

  It was a single round room, large enough to hold a concert for a hundred people or more, with room left over for a bar and dance floor. Six drow were hiding behind furniture in one corner, casting spells at Brick and the tanks. There was only one door that Alexander could see, and Brick had wisely moved between that door and their enemy, cutting off their escape route. The tanks and melee were advancing on the drow, while ranged DPS were keeping them pinned down. The fight didn’t take long.

  Max and Fitz quickly searched the room for anything interesting. They found some ancient-looking tomes on a table on one side of the room. But no secret caches. Brick cleaned out a weapons rack near the door that held crossbows, spears, and thin curved swords that resembled katanas with jet-black blades. He gave the spears to Lugs.

  Once again, Brick led the way through the door and down the stairs. They moved as quietly as possible, not wishing to alert their enemies of their presence. The battle noise outside helped mask any creaking of leather or scraping metal.

  Jules volunteered to scout ahead and faded from view. The group kept moving as she hurried ahead. Alexander resisted an itch to remind her that drow were experts in stealth, and to be careful not to expose herself.

  A minute later, she reported in. “Next floor is offices and labs. Haven’t seen anyone. Heading farther down.”

  The group quickly reached t
he next level and entered a hallway. There were three rooms on either side. Sasha quietly broke them into small groups with a tank and healer in each. They moved to their assigned rooms and opened the doors on the count of three. As Jules had reported, the rooms were empty. They grabbed anything that looked interesting and moved on.

  In this manner they worked their way down the five floors of the tower to the main level. Jules had assassinated the only two drow she’d encountered as she scouted. Alexander assumed the rest of the normal inhabitants had either joined the battle outside or been called to defend the wizard.

  Upon reaching the ground level, they found they had a choice. There were two doors, and a stairwell that continued down to underground levels. One door led out to the courtyard, where dark soldiers were rushing about. The other led into the main part of the keep.

  Fitz quickly sealed the courtyard door. “No need to go out there, or let them in here.”

  Sasha looked around at the gathered raiders. “Let’s have a vote. Down, or in? Raise your hand for down.”

  Nearly every hand in the group went up. Grumpy commented, “If I had half a dozen angry dragons tryin’ to eat my face, I’d hide in small spaces underground. Make them stay in human form. Set a bunch of traps and ambushes on my way down.”

  Fitz nodded in agreement. With a wave of his hand, he sealed the second doorway. That was good enough for Sasha. “Down we go! Brick, sweetie… try not to set off any traps, K?” The dwarf just snorted and raised his shield, stepping down gingerly onto the first step.

  They proceeded downward for more than a minute. The long, straight stair had no landings or curves. Brick gradually moved faster as step after step failed to trigger any traps. He reached the bottom without incident and approached an open archway. There was no light of any kind inside the chamber beyond. Not even the dull red glow that had been prevalent since they entered the raid zone.

 

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