by Ryan Rimmel
“That looks like a landing spot for a helicopter,” I said.
“Helicopter? That’s a stupid word,” stated Badgelor. “It's the teleportarium for the site. It has to be within the magical interference zone of the Dungeon Core.”
“Seems closer than the one under Windfall Castle,” I mentioned, as we kept moving. There was a second cluster of buildings on the roof that was much smaller. Given what I could see of the rest of the rooftop, the summoning circle had to be in one of those.
As we stepped out onto the short path connecting the structures, I spotted Phillip and Su-Kar moving at a fair pace. Hardragon stepped out from behind them. I gripped my sword tighter, as Hardragon began gasping out orders.
“Hip and aye hill hard the war,” he mumbled. I glanced over to Badgelor.
“Phillip and I will guard the Core,” whispered Badgelor.
“How the hell can you tell what he's saying?” I asked.
“You all have nearly incomprehensible accents,” replied the badger. “I’ve had plenty of centuries to learn how to decipher most of them.”
Sigh.
Su-Kar turned and headed off toward the smaller cluster of buildings, while Phillip and Hardragon ran past me into the Core room. After they passed, I crept on, following Su-Kar. She walked in a dignified strut until she glanced over her shoulder, making sure the two men were elsewhere. As Phillip and Hardragon vanished into the Dungeon Core room, Su-Kar lifted her robe's hem and ran at top speed toward the summoning circle.
“Why is there so much magic coming from the summoning room?” Su-Kar hissed.
With no one watching, I was able to move quickly. I found Su-Kar standing just outside the summoning room. It was about the size of a football arena and was currently radiating with Demonic Energy. She was staring, wide-eyed, at the massive, twelve-foot-tall demonic creature in the very center of the room. My Lore skill helpfully identified it.
●
● Alias: Shart
It was the small things that made everything worthwhile. I stood next to Su-Kar, who’s expression had shifted from puzzlement to concern. That concern quickly turned to outright horror, as she watched Shart bob around inside the center of the circle. Dropping my Stealth, I patted her on the shoulder. She looked over at me, her eyes getting impossibly wider. I smiled.
● Basstown Headbutt: You have caused 31 Damage. The target is flung 10 Logs.
I could apply Powerful Blows to Basstown Headbutts, using my Weapon Master talent. Neat. Su-Kar went flying into the nearby wall, slamming into it with bone-crushing force. She slumped down and was quite still.
Julia was screaming out, “I will never make you cry. I will never say goodbye!”
“Excellent,” stated Shart smugly. “I think we might need to go over that last bit again, though. I think your inflection was off. When you said desert, I thought you meant dessert and were going to steal my snacks.”
“What?” screamed Julia. “That’s the third time! I’ve given you my oath.”
“It’s just that, maybe, you could sing the oath?” began Shart. “It just always felt like the kind of thing someone should sing unexpectedly.”
“Julia,” I yelled, stepping into the room.
She spun to look at me in astonishment. “O’Really, you’re alive?”
“It takes more than a shout capable of shattering stones and an entire temple falling on me to finish me off,” I said with confidence.
Suddenly, an arrow slammed into my foot, driving through my boot and into the stone below. I was pinned in place. A moment later, two magical chains erupted from the ground, attaching themselves to my wrists and pulling me to the floor. Hardragon stepped out, Phillip and Su-Kar in tow. He was clapping gently.
As Hardragon walked past me and toward Julia, he waved his hand. I realized something and asked, “Is he talking?”
Phillip, realizing the issue, ran past me and over to Hardragon. After a moment, Hardragon’s head bowed, and he aimed his helmet at Phillip's head.
“You think you’ve got the best of me,” stated Phillip, standing in for Hardragon, “But I, Hardragon, saw through your plan instantly!”
Hardragon became more animated, so Phillip continued. “I realized that Jim here was secretly going to sneak through the dungeon below. I sent the crafty Su-Kar, who was using the False Life spell, on ahead. When Jim ‘killed’ her, she was, in reality, protected by a spell. The magic minimized Damage but left her seemingly unconscious. Then, I had my helpful associate watch her back, like Phillip always does.” Phillip turned to speak to Julia. “That meant that the instant your bodyguard, Jim, went to your aid, I knew right where he was,” finished Phillip. By this point, Hardragon was shaking his head and had knelt next to me.
“Hyu poot up a hood fight,” he hissed. Now that I was closer and had more time to analyze his voice's tatters, I could pick out some words. Hardragon drew his sword and gathered energy for a strike, so I didn’t have any more time to play.
“You forgot one thing,” I said, straining at my chains.
“Enlighten me,” stated Hardragon, bringing his face in close.
“No one fucks with the mayor of Noobtown,” I growled into his ear.
The sound of a metal circlet bouncing off of teeth rang through the room. I yanked hard on the magical chains. Now that Su-Kar was distracted, using my Counterspell skill broke them easily. I managed to get my sword in place just in time for a Powerful Block that knocked Hardragon off balance.
“Feck you,” stated Badgelor, opening his mouth and finishing his meal by dropping the key into it. You could almost hear the plunk as it landed in his stomach. A furious Julia rubbed the spot on her neck where the collar constraining her powers used to sit. She smiled wickedly, the lich’s staff in her hands already glowing a wicked green color.
“Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational Zealot,” she yelled, holding up the staff in both hands and mouthing a prayer. The space at the staff’s tip began to distort as she prayed.
Hardragon took one look at her and noped right out, diving to the left. It didn’t matter; I realized her intended target was not him but Su-Kar. Then again, she did look pissed, so I dove away to the right. Su-Kar, being a bit quicker on the draw, already had a spell of her own ready. In an instant, both women exchanged blasts. The energy met in the middle in an intense shower of magical sparks.
I flipped over the blast, landing next to Hardragon with my sword drawn. “Miss me?”
Not wasting any time, Hardragon came in swinging. I used my shield to block the first two blows before attempting a counter slash. He was wielding his sword two-handed, but it was just a hand longer than my own. My shield should have given me an advantage.
He got under the strike and slashed up under my guard. I could dodge away to avoid the worst of it, but he still managed to shave 17 Hit Points off my Health bar. He wasn’t an Expert Swordsman. He was at the Advanced rank, which was one rank higher than my Expert.
Hardragon tried to follow up, but I blocked the next strike with my shield and then ran the whole mess into him, forcing him backward. My ability to see through the shield paid off instantly, as he attempted to go for my leg. I could see him, so as he began to move. I leaped over the strike and landed a glancing blow on his shoulder, before I landed behind him.
He had already turned to face me as I landed, and I executed a Hack and Slash, adding in Quick Strikes for good measure. I landed 8 shots, for all the good it did me. Hack and Slash was a multi-attack. It allowed me to hit a target very well, assuming no one else was nearby. It didn’t do attacks versus armor very well, and Hardragon was so heavily armored that my repeated lighter strikes didn’t do much of anything against his magical steel. If I squinted, I thought I could see places where it wasn’t as shiny anymore, though.
That was something they didn’t show on TV very much. Usually, the guy wearing plate mail goes running up to the hero, who swings his blade at the guy's chest, ins
tantly killing him. In reality, that weak-ass slash will glance right off the armor, leaving the guy with a bruise, if you are lucky.
I hit much more powerfully than anyone on a TV show, but Hardragon didn’t seem to mind even those blows. He executed a Felling Strike, and I leapt backward to avoid it. He followed it with a second strike, called a Badger Felling Strike.
Hardragon had perfectly timed his attack. I could sense each defense method I had would fail. I was off-balance, my sword was out of position, and my shield simply wouldn’t absorb that much Damage.
I had one more option. Using one of my two remaining Force Points, I activated my Perfect Dodge and sidestepped the attack. I had not realized how difficult it was to replenish Force Points before. Now, spending one hurt me in a spiritual sense. In the physical sense, it got me away from Hardragon’s lethal attack.
Instead, I danced to the side and smacked into something red and scaly.
Hardragon had forced me into the summoning ring with Shart. The demon looked at me with one eyeball and said, “Ah-ha, mortal, invading the summoning circle where I can get at you. Now, you are …doomed?”
He followed that up with a relatively slow swing of his clawed fist, allowing me to leap out of the circle, straight back at Hardragon. While he was confused as to why the demon hadn’t gutted me, he was still ready to kill me where I landed.
Next, I executed a Falling Star Strike, as Hardragon raised his sword to perform something called a Rising Dragon Slash.
I remember there being an explosion. I know I hit the ceiling of the room, but that would have been obvious from the Jim-sized dent where my helmet resided. Shaking my head, I picked up my shield and sword from the ground. For a moment, I wondered where everyone was. Someone should still be trying to kill me.
“Hurry up,” hissed Shart, while trying to appear omnipotent. “I don’t have much time.”
“Can’t I just do the bond now?” I asked.
“No, it takes nearly a minute. You’d be a sitting duck. Kill him fast,” stated Shart.
Julia was busy trying to kill Su-Kar, and I recognized her problem right away. Julia was a Zealot, and her build was mostly healing and support. Su-Kar was a Sorcerer. They were mainly a Damage-dealing class.
It was like watching a boxer going up against a street fighter that fought very dirty. Julia could win if she managed to grind Su-Kar down. Su-Kar was doing everything in her power to prevent such an outcome.
That’s when I heard an ear-splitting scream, as Badgelor and Hardragon clashed in the middle of the room. The sight of mighty Badgelor squaring off against Hardragon, his long hair flowing behind him, was burned into my memory, as was the sound of Badgelor’s scream.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked Shart.
“Badgers and dragons are natural enemies,” stated Shart. “Hardragon is a Dragonsworn. He’s probably trained his whole life to kill War Badgers.”
“Badgelor fights dragons?” I asked.
“Duh, lots of times,” replied Shart. “Though, it does not appear he will for much longer.”
I couldn’t get over there in time. Searching the field, I saw my only opportunity. “Julia, protect Badgelor! I have Su-Kar.”
Julia nearly protested. However, watching Badgelor being dominated by Hardragon broke her out of her rage. She nodded to me. Instantly, a radiant golden barrier surrounded Badgelor’s neck, denying Hardragon a killing blow.
I charged Su-Kar, who grinned and started casting spells. The ruined ground beneath my feet suddenly turned to ice, and jagged stones tore themselves out of the badly damaged wall to shoot toward me, like bullets. I deflected some of the projectiles with my sword and shield, but I could do little against having the floor turn to ice. I slipped and slid, trying to close, but it became apparent she was delaying me for some reason.
Then my Parry Anything perk activated, and I brought my sword around to block a hatchet blow from Phillip. Unfortunately, the rest of Phillip came crashing down on me, and he brought down a knee into my face with crushing force. I felt teeth break free, as the force of the blow knocked me back onto the ice.
I completely lost my footing, slamming to the ground face-first. Phillip was on my back in an instant. He brought his hatchet down, as I struggled to stand.
● Basstown Headbutt: You have caused 27 Damage. The target is flung 11 Logs.
● You have suffered 57 points of Damage from multiple hatchet wounds. Effects: You are suffering from multiple bleeding wounds. You suffer 32 Hit Points of Damage per second for 9 seconds.
Phillip had an armor-piercing strike that bypassed at least part of my armor. I could feel hot, sticky blood streaming down my back. I tried to execute Flash Steps to get away, but Su-Kar had a spell ready for that. I ran into an invisible band of Force that sent me crashing back to the ground.
I managed to roll away and kick to my feet. Phillip came back around, his paired hatchets swinging in bloody abandon. Whenever I seemed to get an advantage on Phillip, Su-Kar intervened. Any time I tried to break for Su-Kar, Phillip came for me. I still had a good reserve of Hit Points, but I was getting worn down by their practiced routine.
They must have considered my attacks at great length, I realized. I needed to do something they hadn’t seen before.
Grabbing my whip, I executed a Cleave with it. The results were mixed. When the whip struck Su-Kar at the end of its range, it knocked her sideways. Phillip was standing closer to me, though. He flung a hatchet at me and grabbed the whip.
I quickly realized I could overpower him, but Su-Kar was counting on that. I could already see her casting a powerful spell in preparation for our contest. I didn’t see any good options, so I yanked the whip hard. Phillip had to brace himself to hold it, but, as he did, I released my leathery friend. Phillip stumbled backward, and I raced toward Su-Kar.
Too late. Su-Kar had finished the spell. With Phillip conveniently out of the line of fire, she blasted me with a Lightning Bolt. What she did not count on was me still having options. I was a cleric of Logan with magic of my own. I leveled my most potent spell and cast it at her, Bub.
The contest of a high-level sorcerer casting a Lightning Bolt and my weak magical machine gun of Holy Blasts didn’t last long. The first few blasts hit her wavefront of destruction and bounced off harmlessly. Next, I used my shield, the Block skill allowing me to divert some of her spell's energy away, until the shield blasted from my hand. Finally, I used my Parry Anything perk on the spell, slashing it in half and diverting yet more of its power away.
In all, it didn’t help me much. I still took the blast right in the crotch. I looked down at the smoldering spot in my armor and then back up at her. “Really?”
“Yes, O’Really. I do hate you, after all,” she smiled back, her voice sultry. “I’m surprised you are still capable of talking.”
“Not my first catastrophic groin injury,” I replied. She took a step toward me, preparing another spell. I held up my closed fist and pointed the Ring of the Ram at her. “Bye.”
● Ring of the Ram: You have caused 39 Damage. The target is flung 8 Logs.
I intended to bounce her off the wall, but this was a ruined temple. The whole thing was in terrible shape. When Su-Kar hit the wall with all the force my magical ring could exert, she smashed clean through it. The last image I saw of Su-Kar was her senseless form vanishing off into nothingness.
“My Su-Kar!” screamed a voice.
It had to be Phillip, but, as I turned to deal with the second threat, I realized that Phillip had never sounded that raw. There was something primal and terrible in that scream, and a hurricane of blades slammed into me.
Su-Kar’s lightning had injured my legs, so I couldn’t Dodge out of the way. The vortex of death slammed into me. Phillip was using a hatchet and a knife now. It was not an improvement. The hatchet dug into me half a dozen times, as I tried to gain some space between the berserk Woodsman and myself. He used the knife to stab deep wounds into my arms and shoulder.
My head bounced off Phillip, not moving him in the least. The impact had thrown me slightly back, gaining me a small amount of distance. Coming back into sword range seemed suicidal. Spotting my whip nearby, I rolled over to it. Grabbing it, I whipped at Phillip. He trapped the weapon with his hatchet, cutting the non-magical leather apart with his knife. Then, he surged toward me again.
My blood flowed from a dozen different wounds that Mitigate couldn’t manage. I needed time to recover, and Phillip wasn’t going to give it to me. He was in a full rage of blood lust. Phillip didn’t even try to defend himself, going purely on the offensive. He was so aggressive, I couldn’t effectively retaliate. I had only one option.
● Force Felling Strike: You have caused 226 Damage. Target Effect: Gaping chest wound, Mortal wound.
Throwing a Force Point behind a strike made it impossible to miss, unless that target also had Force Points. Phillip tried to counter with his Durability of Oak, but it was on cooldown. My sword tore through his shoulder and stopped many inches below that. I yanked the blade free, causing further Damage. A geyser of blood erupted from his wound, striking me in the face.
Phillip sagged, dropping to his knees. His weapons clattered to the ground. The Woodsman reached to his side, causing several small blades to fall from a pouch. Finally, he found what he was looking for. Phillip pulled out a healing potion and quickly uncorked it. As he brought it to his lips, I batted it away with my sword, shattering it.
He still had Hit Points, but he had suffered a Mortal wound. He would be dead in moments without that potion. Phillip looked up to me and moaned, “I hate you.”
Then, he died.
Chapter 56 - Final Battle
Stumbling away, I cast Regenerate on myself. That started the process of healing my bloody injuries. I was using Heal Injury and Heal Damage liberally, as I sought out Badgelor and Julia. Their battle had all but destroyed the room. I could see a patch where Destructive Gaze had scored the wall with an ugly black scar.
