by A F Kay
That lie worked on the Elders, but any god viewing their subjects’ memories will know the truth of it. I don’t think you should use it.
Ruwen frowned, hesitant to run, as the vibrations seemed to give his location away to the Stone Carver. He didn’t have many options, so he bought himself and his group more time with a trick. Taking three seconds to cast, the level sixteen Collector spell Minion dropped his Mana by one hundred.
The Minion formed from whatever material was closest, which in this case was stone, dirt, and water. It had six arms and stood eight feet tall. Ruwen knew it could only obey simple commands, so he pointed toward the center of the cavern.
“Run!” Ruwen hissed.
The enemy group paused on Ruwen’s map, and the Minion only made it ten feet before another sphere began to form around it. But the Minion oozed around the stone before it could become a sphere and continued running. He smiled and cast his next spell.
Two hundred fifty Mana and two seconds later the level twenty Gatherer spell Worker Wagon completed. Ruwen had used over half his Mana on the two spells, but he hoped the wagon would fool the Stone Carver.
The Worker Wagon rested on a cushion of air and needed very little effort to move. It measured six feet wide, fifteen feet long, and five feet high, with a capacity of four hundred fifty cubic feet. Meant to help the Gatherer move resources, Ruwen planned to use it for something a little different.
The enemy group had pursued the Minion, and Ruwen jumped onto the wagon, his Fallen Hero mirroring his action. Ruwen laid on his stomach and hung his arms off the back. Opening his Void Band, he angled it toward the ground. He pulled the mist into the top side of the band, and forced it out the bottom, against the ground, slowly adding Energy until the wagon moved.
Ruwen grinned. Even Sift would have to admit this was a good idea. He angled his Void Band like a rudder, turning his air ship toward the exit his friends had taken. The enemy group closed on his Minion, who it turned out was not a very fast runner, and moments later the Minion disappeared from the map. The Stone Carver had finally destroyed it.
It didn’t matter now, as the enemy stood three hundred feet away, and he was gliding to safety. A row of stone spikes erupted from the ground, passing him like a wave. It had happened so quickly he almost thought he’d imagined it, when another wave passed in front of the wagon, just missing it.
In the twenty-five feet that Ruwen could see, sharp stone pillars continued to rise five feet into the air, before immediately returning to the ground. The mist made it hard to know how fast he traveled but he only had another seventy-five feet to reach the exit.
A loud clicking noise echoed in the cavern, and after two seconds it quickly grew closer. A ball of blue liquid approached Ruwen and then suddenly stopped making noise. Instead, it floated above him, strobing a blinding white light. This orb spell had used sound to find him and probably originated from one of the Haffa followers around the Stone Carver.
Stone spikes erupted under the wagon, flipping it. Ruwen rolled to his feet as the wagon dissolved and sprinted toward the exit, his Fallen Hero next to him. A wraith made of water appeared ten feet in front of him, and he moved at an angle to avoid it.
The mist collapsed around Ruwen like a thick blanket and running became difficult. He pushed through, using his Strength to overcome the resistance. The wraith flew toward him, and wrapped itself around his head, trying to drown him. But his Fresh Air spell kept the water from his lungs.
The enemy group moved quickly, but Ruwen could see the exit now. He was only twenty feet from the exit tunnel when a slab of stone exploded upward, slammed into the ceiling, and cut off his retreat. He didn’t slow, hoping to Melt his way through it.
One of the dots next to the central Stone Carver on Ruwen’s map disappeared and reappeared fifteen feet in front of him. A shield of water surrounded the guard and his Perception provided him details.
Name: Wave Crasher
Deity: Haffa
Class Type: Mage
Level: 31
Health: 411
Mana: 933
Energy: 429
Spirit: 0
Armor Class: 196
Ruwen had closed to within ten feet of the Mage when the Wave Crasher’s Mana dropped by one hundred. Ice shards fell around Ruwen, forcing him to stop. The ones that struck him shattered and cooled the air, creating ice. The ground froze and his footing became difficult.
The debuff Hypothermia flashed at the top of his vision but disappeared almost immediately as his Elemental Resistance and the Bracer of Freedom counteracted the spell’s effects.
Ruwen’s Mana dropped by twenty-five as he cast Jump and leaped at the Wave Crasher. Not wanting to give the Mage a chance to cast any more spells, Ruwen attacked, hitting the Mage four times in the chest and once in the face. The Mage’s water shield absorbed the blows, the translucent leeches from Ruwen’s amulet hanging from the shield and doing more damage.
The Fallen Hero swung the Walking Stick, striking the Mage in the back and causing him to stumble forward. The shield stopped Ruwen from grabbing the Mage’s clothes, so he kneeled, and flipped the Wave Crasher over his shoulder.
With a quick twist of his body, Ruwen slammed an elbow into the Mage’s face. The shield absorbed the blow and faded, its maximum protection reached. Ruwen wrapped his arm around the Mage’s neck. The Wave Crasher’s eyes grew large, and before Ruwen could snap the Mage’s neck, the world twisted and Ruwen gagged as his stomach turned.
Panicked, the Wave Crasher had teleported back to safety, and Ruwen no longer lay on the ground next to the exit.
Ruwen looked up at the Stone Carver, and her entire group of guards.
The Fallen Hero sprinted toward Ruwen from the exit, but it would never make it here in time. The Stone Carver looked just as surprised as Ruwen that he’d arrived in their midst.
This close to the dual wielding Mage, Ruwen had no chance of dodging anything she launched from her Void Bands. If he had any chance of surviving, he needed to level the field. And he had an idea.
Ruwen triggered the active effect, Holy Ground, on his Overseer’s Pants of Obedience. A thirty-minute cooldown timer started and everyone within ten feet fell to their knees.
The Stone Carver leaned away from Ruwen, and laying on his back, he couldn’t strike her head or neck. If he shot a boulder at her body, it might just throw her backward and out of reach. He might never get a chance to be this close again, and he wanted to take full advantage of it.
Channeling two Energy per second into the level three Worker spell Kindling, a blade of air formed around Ruwen’s right hand, but he still couldn’t reach her neck or head.
Stabbing the Mage in the heart or some other vital organ would critically injure her, but probably not fatally, especially if there were Healers nearby. So instead, Ruwen jammed the air blade into the armpit of the kneeling Stone Carver, violently forcing his hand upward.
The blade sliced through the cloth armor of the Stone Carver and then her shoulder. As her arm fell off her body, Ruwen opened his Void Band and captured it, scared a healer might reattach it.
Blood sprayed Ruwen’s armor, disappearing immediately as the armor absorbed it like a dry cloth. The hole in the armor caused by the Stone Carver’s earlier attack repaired itself, as well as the damage from the fight at the cave entrance.
Flipping himself to his feet, Ruwen channeled two Energy per second into Dash and sprinted toward the tunnel they’d arrived in. As the enemy group recovered from the Holy Ground spell, he channeled fifty Energy into Dig and scraped it across the ceiling behind him, creating an avalanche of stone and dirt.
With a thought, Ruwen directed the Fallen Hero toward the enemy group. Shouting echoed from behind him as the enemy engaged his double. In the confusion and mist, they hadn’t realized it wasn’t him.
As Ruwen entered the tunnel and raced toward the surface, he heard a woman scream. Not in pain, but in rage.
Ruwen had escaped.
<
br /> Chapter 60
Ruwen ran out of the cave and into the bright sunlight. He headed toward his group, concerned because their tunnel had exited further south. Stone Echo and Survey didn’t show any pursuit from down below yet, but that would likely change.
Lir, we’ve reached the surface again. The Temple Guardian sent to help me should immediately go to Hamma’s location and protect that group.
As you wish, Architect Starfield.
Whiskers appeared and Ruwen changed the cat into the travel form. Leaping into the saddle, he smiled at the cat’s speed. Unfortunately, Whiskers didn’t have enough saddles for the entire group which would have made getting back to New Eiru vastly quicker.
A minute later Ruwen had caught up with his friends. Sift still supported Lylan, and Hamma had her arm around Xavier. Jealousy flared inside Ruwen and he pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time to be irrational. Jumping off Whiskers, he joined his group. A shadow crossed in front of him and he flinched in surprise, but his map displayed the arrival of the Temple Guardian.
It took him a second to find the Guardian, completely silent because of its stealth settings, floating above them. He felt foolish for jumping, but the guardian made him feel safer. It wouldn’t be enough if they got surrounded by the enemy, though. They needed a way to travel fast.
Thanks, Lylan said in Chat.
Sift wanted to leave you, but I talked him into a rescue, Ruwen replied.
Lylan smiled at Ruwen and then turned to Sift, kissing his cheek. I’ll make him pay for that.
Sift gave a small smile, his face still concerned.
What’s wrong, Xavier? Ruwen asked.
The water interfered with my energy shells, Xavier said. I just need to dry.
Ruwen held up his hand, opened his Void Band three feet, and channeled twenty Energy into forcing air at the Celestial Remnant. Xavier’s robe pressed against him and Hamma turned her face away as she held the remnant steady.
That helped, Xavier said, and then after a three second pause added. Thank you.
Stone Echo and Survey displayed a mass of red dots climbing out of the cavern below. The reinforcements had arrived, and their group didn’t appear in the shape for running. Ruwen bit his lip and considered what to do.
If they placed Lylan and Xavier on Whiskers, the rest of the party could run. They should be able to keep ahead of the Fighters, but the Scouts worried Ruwen. They would have fast travel abilities, and he hated to split the group. Another idea occurred to him.
Ruwen cast the level twenty Gatherer spell Worker Wagon for two hundred fifty Mana. As soon as it appeared, he spoke to everyone using Chat. Get on.
Next Ruwen channeled one Energy per second into the level eight Worker spell Climb, and a hundred feet of rope appeared. He could use more Energy to move things along the rope, but he didn’t need anything that fancy right now.
For the first time, Ruwen triggered his level two Worker ability Knots, and he immediately knew the best method to attach the rope to the sled for pulling. The knots came naturally to him, as if he’d spent a lifetime on the docks. Plus, the spell decreased movement by ten percent. For good measure, he cast Mend Tool for twenty-five Mana on each knot, securing them to the sled.
Ruwen jumped up onto Whiskers and tied the other end of the rope to the rear saddle. Hamma, you ride in the first saddle and direct Whiskers.
The Temple Guardian fired its Energy beam, and Ruwen glanced at his map. Ten red dots closed on them. These hadn’t come from the cavern and must have been nearby enemy called into action.
Wouldn’t you be a better choice? Hamma asked.
Every winter, Ruwen had seen children being dragged on sleds by various Mage apparitions and elementals in the nearby park. He had seen the chaos of what a little speed and rope could produce.
I’m the rudder, Ruwen said. Go!
Hamma leaped up to the saddle and Ruwen jumped into the sled. A crossbow bolt narrowly missed him, and the Temple Guardian fired its weapon again. Xavier knelt in the middle of the wagon and a blue-white energy shield surrounded the sled.
Whiskers dashed forward, the sled moving easily on its cushion of air. The wagon immediately drifted to the left and Ruwen opened his Void Band, quickly increasing the amount of air until the wagon stopped moving to the side.
The wagon slammed into a small pine tree, shattering it, and Ruwen tensed, worried his contraption would fall apart. But Xavier’s shield took most of the damage and the wagon held together. He refocused on keeping them directly behind Whiskers.
Good job, Hamma. Pick the path with the fewest trees, even if it forces us east a little.
Another crossbow bolt flew over their heads and Ruwen briefly considered casting Shed on top of the wagon, but he didn’t know how the extra weight would affect his setup and didn’t want to chance it unless things became dire. They benefited from Xavier’s shield, but Hamma had no protection.
To fix that, Ruwen channeled ten Energy per second into the level ten Commander spell Gust, creating erratic winds for fifty feet around them. At his current level, the spell would reduce the accuracy of anything shot at them by fifty percent and the damage by twenty-five percent. He hoped it would be enough.
Whiskers ran, and within thirty seconds it became clear the enemy couldn’t keep up. The Temple Guardian hadn’t needed to fire for the last twenty seconds as all its targets were now out of range. Ruwen was thankful he’d brought it here. Without it keeping the enemy at bay, getting this setup would have been close.
“This is your first good idea,” Sift said as he patted the wagon.
Ruwen still lay on his stomach, arm outstretched behind the wagon, blasting air to keep them centered behind Whiskers. He turned his head enough to look at Sift. “First, really? I’ve never had a bad one. Your ideas are the terrible ones.”
Xavier lowered his shield and sat across from Sift and Lylan.
“Name one bad idea,” Sift said.
Ruwen focused on keeping them aligned, but spoke loud enough for Lylan to hear. “Peeing in the Octorse lake.”
“That’s gross,” Lylan said.
“They do it,” Sift said defensively. “And I needed to distract them so Ruwen could get the gem. It really—”
Ruwen grinned as Sift tried to convince Lylan why peeing in the lake was okay. Ruwen’s map showed no nearby enemies, and the terrain ahead looked fairly level, so he opened his minimized notifications, surprised that he only had one.
A Silent Spotter had caused the first notification by throwing a vial at Ruwen, which he’d caught with his Void Band.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Blackout Vial
Quality: Uncommon
Weight: 0.2 lbs.
Effect: Severe Vertigo.
Description: A small opaque container. Vial’s liquid reacts violently with air to produce gas that causes dizziness and unconsciousness.
That sounded like a useful liquid. Naktos really had some great Alchemists. He would give this to Fractal when he saw the dungeon again. But why didn’t he have any notifications from the Stone Carver’s arm? He’d only gotten a glimpse, but he’d seen rings for sure.
Ruwen opened his log and glanced at the combat details. His group, including Lylan, had been close enough to the combat to get experience from the fight in front of the cave. Xavier and Ruwen had killed a level thirty Silent Spotter, and the three Stone Piercers at the cave had also all been thirty. The Scout Sift and Hamma had killed and the three Ruwen had killed on his own were all in their twenties.
Xavier, level twenty-six, took the most experience, while Ruwen’s level twenty-three took twenty-two percent of the total. He’d gained thirty-four thousand eight hundred nineteen experience. Opening his Profile, he looked at his new Experience total.
Experience: 156,524/276,000
Ruwen closed his log, satisfied he’d already made it over halfway to level twenty-four. But why hadn’t he seen anything about the Stone Carver’s arm?
Now that the immediate danger had passed, pulling the wagon at this speed posed an unnecessary risk.
Ruwen spoke to everyone in Chat. I’m slowing Whiskers down a bit so the wagon remains stable without me. Everyone stay alert.
Whiskers slowed and after Ruwen confirmed the wagon remained steady, he pushed himself back from the rear and sat next to Xavier. Opening his Void Band, he removed the severed arm of the Stone Carver.
Blood dripped from the arm onto Ruwen’s armor, which immediately absorbed it. Xavier moved away, and Ruwen looked up to find everyone staring at him.
“What is wrong with you?” Sift asked.
“What?” Ruwen asked.
Lylan glanced toward the front. “You better not let Hamma see you with that.”
“Are you some kind of sicko?” Sift asked. “Who carries bloody arms around?”
“This is very disturbing,” Xavier said.
Ruwen waved the arm in the air. “No, it’s not what you think.”
Sift and Lylan leaned back, avoiding the arm.
Ruwen’s curiosity about the arm’s loot had caused him to overlook what the others might think of the bloody appendage. He lowered it in case Hamma turned around.
“I thought Hamma had a problem,” Sift said. “But you sailed right past her.”
Ever since becoming the High Priestess of the Black Pyramid’s chapel, Hamma had collected everything she could. She gave these items to the church as offerings in exchange for Prayer Points, which she also earned by doing things like the wedding and last rites for the goblins.
“I’m not as bad as Hamma,” Ruwen said.
Lylan looked doubtful.
“At least she didn’t stick bodies in her bag,” Sift said.
“Is this common here?” Xavier asked.
“Will everyone stop,” Ruwen said, slapping the dead hand against the wagon. “It’s not like I carry bloody arms around all the time.”
Sift looked at Xavier. “He sucked an entire person in there.”
“Alive?” Xavier asked, his voice concerned.
