by Scott Seier
He grunted to himself and hid his annoyance as a runner entered the clearing. "Sir, Siren's ability worked perfectly, but..." Grim tensed. He hated when people didn't finish their god damn sentences... "Spit it out. Now." Grim took a step towards the scared looking player. A painter. Who selects painter as their class? He wasn't even an artist painter. That would mark him as an artist first. This guy was just a painter... the guy flinched and coughed. "Sir, the enemy commander, he moved his entire raid with the charmed people. Our first line is holding them at bay for now, but they are being pushed back, deeper into the forest."
Grim was actually impressed. Putting the whole raid on the line in hopes that the trap that was waiting for them wasn't designed for that many people. In this case their leader had been correct. Grim had only planned for about a hundred players to get pulled into Siren's trap. Anything more than that would completely overwhelm his forces there. He snapped at his remaining group and waved them over, then turned back to the runner. "Have Siren hold them as long as possible. The dynamic has changed, they are forcing us into a direct conflict, so we will just have to crush them all at once instead of our war of attrition that I had hoped for. Go now, repeat to her what I just told you." He turned away from the runner, forgetting about him in an instant.
"Okay, boys. Now's the time." Grim took the time to meet each of their eyes. "Each of you have your teams. You each know what to do. Yeti, Manticore, you guys go low. Blitz, you go high. Grab Siren when you can, she'll need your help to retreat." He got solemn nods all around and then they were gone. He stood in the clearing, alone, or nearly alone...
"Bale." Grim called as he took a seat on his stump again. A tan and well muscled man stopped in front of him and dipped his head in mock respect. "You rang?" he said sarcastically.
A moment before then Grim had certainly been the only one in the clearing, except he always kept Bale nearby. The lucky son of bitch had stumbled upon an extremely advanced form of stealth, and happened to be drawn to powerful people. At the moment, Grim was happy to play that role. He opened a trade with the man and selected every copper that he had on him, transferring everything to the Illusionist. "You're going into combat yourself? Is it really all that bad?" Bale asked with raised eyebrows, surprised at the sum that he had just been handed.
Bale had been acting as the bank for the entire raid for weeks now, but the amount that Grim just gave him nearly doubled the already large sum he had stored in his inventory. "Not that bad yet, but I have a feeling that it will get there soon enough. Plus I haven't had a good fight in too long." Grim cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "If I go down, you know what to do with the gold. Make sure the crest ends up in my possession. That's all that matters. I can reimburse anyone after that." Bale bobbed his head in understanding, but smiled mischievously. "Surely you don't think they have someone that can counter the infinite? Your abilities would put anyone under level fifty at risk, let alone a bunch of losers under twenty." Bale chuckled, but Grim didn't join in. He had no idea what the defenders had up their sleeves. If he could find five exceptional cascaders, then he had no doubt that someone on the other side could do the same. It was just a matter of whose team was better...
"Shields!" the call went out with seconds to spare. Large domes of energy popped up all around us as the top halves of several trees crashed down onto our heads. The domes stopped them dead, but the casters of the defenses were sent to their knees with their noses bleeding. "Push forward! Hunters, take out their casters!" Hael screamed himself nearly hoarse as he tried to maintain control of almost five hundred players fighting for their lives in a forest. I watched as several more of those cutting spells swept over our heads, and caused another volley of branches and logs to rain down on us.
More types of spells than I had ever thought possible sizzled through the air from both sides. Arrows, knives, axes, anything that could be sent careening at someones head with the intent to kill was airborne. Bark and splinters fell like snow, occasionally a tree would give out from the onslaught and crumble, killing any player that was caught in its path.
It was anarchy, but I could tell that we were winning. The singing had finally stopped when Gleer sent a very complicated sounding spell up and over the heads of our raid. She said something about it being a sentient silencing spell, but I didn't ask any more questions after the song came to an end. Without a chunk of our people existing in a semi-conscious state, the tide swung heavily in our favor.
"Heavy damage, about thirty people." Laz said in his computer like voice. "I got it. Strong damage over time. Eight damage every ten seconds, nature affinity. Thirty players is accurate." Demetistics confirmed. Joe cleared his throat and pointed to the left flank. "That way, about one hundred yards from our position. Left flank" He said, with a worried expression on his face. Hael didn't waste time. "Agatha! I need supports and healers shifted to that side, get at least two specialized dispellers, they have less than a minute!" Agatha was on it, whispering to the wind frantically.
I dodged a falling branch and checked in with Vigil.
Luckily Hael didn't ask questions. He looked into my eyes and just believed when I finally worked up the courage to mention it. He instantly began shifting people around, sending melee fighters to the back and pushing some of our weaker players towards the front to act as a temporary shield. When the full attack finally came we were certainly better prepared than we would have been if Vigil hadn't been right about the stealth unit, but we were still soundly surprised by the completeness and ferociousness of the outlaw's counter attack.
"It's the Manticore thing. It's leading the stealth unit, our guys are holding, but it's taking a three to one ratio to do it." Laz said, stress clearly standing out in his voice as he struggled to keep track of hundreds of data points. "The Sasquatch has just moved in as well. Southern edge, he is leading a team of heavily armored juggernauts." Joe said all of this while he kept his eyes screwed shut. Hael was absorbing everything as it was told to him. Slowly directing the proper counters to where they needed to be.
Trees cracked, dirt rained down, the battle was writhing all around us. Runners were flooding in from all sides as Hael struggled to keep a hold on everything. Vigil would occasionally move my arm for me to block a particular piece of falling debris or a stray arrow. "We can't stay here! They have a ranged unit pinning down our right side!" A player with two massive axes hanging off his back roared at Hael. "We have to move that wing, e
ither that, or give me ten good guys and I'll break their archers over my knee." Hael blinked at the warrior. "Well damn, I wish half these people were as confident or crazy as you are. You're on. Take your guys, get it done." Hael dismissed him with a wave, but turned to Lazeron when he was out of sight. "Mark that guys name down." Laz nodded.
Twice, enemies got close to our little command unit. The first time was a caster who teleported three assassins in right on top of us. Apparently being level 18 and trying to transport that many people was enough to kill you, because the wizard fell flat on his face the second they appeared. The assassins followed quickly thereafter, Gleer swiftly trapping them up to their waists in solid ice, and Billy smiling savagely as she easily sniped them. The second time had been a bit more hectic. A player of an unusual class was able to dodge his way through our entire rear guard. He made it within twenty yards of Hael before we even knew he was coming, and then it wasn't until he landed a flashy spinning kick on our raid leader's cheek that we were able to pin him down and take him out. The attack had taken over half of Hael's health in one go, and it taught us a lesson. One player could definitely make a difference in a conflict like this. We tightened up around our rogue and our paranoia ratcheted up to eleven.
That was partly why, we all didn't just die immediately when the outlaws began to really let loose. Will frowned to himself and tilted his head left and right. "Do you guys hear that?". I strained to catch what he was talking about, but I could only hear loud concussive explosions, the sound of rending steel, and a constant echoing of trees falling. There was no hope of me picking anything out of that insanity. At least that's what I thought. A tiny, high pitched whistle. I could barely hear it. Billy's eyes widened fractionally when she picked it up next. "What is that?" She said, straining hard. It was getting louder. It was like the opposite of a cartoon anvil being dropped off a cliff. Where that sound effect went from high pitched to low, this one was going from low to high, and growing higher and louder by the second. It was Agatha that finally put it together. "Air strike! Get down!" She dove and tackled Joe to the ground, Demetistics and Laz joining them in a little huddle. I only had a split second to act, but luckily I'd been working on bending spells for the last thirty hours or so. Three falling gates slammed into the ground around us. Will snagged Gleer and tucked her to his now furry chest. He snarled as the gates all tipped inward and met over top of us. It isn't forming a pyramid at all...you should call it the falling hut. then the world was torn apart around us.
Immediately one side of my three sided defense bent inward from the force of the nearby blast. Will dropped Gleer and slammed his back against the gate, grunting, but keeping it from falling on us as another flash turned the world white. The whistle of the second attack hadn't been audible due to the severe hearing damage the first one had gifted us. That was probably a blessing, because the third and fourth would have been really loud if we would have been able to hear them. By the time the the assault stopped my poor gate was a dented mess and Will's health was in the orange. Luckily his abilities gave him freakish regeneration, because that would have probably killed anyone else... I froze.
Ducking out from under our makeshift bomb shelter I gasped at the devastation. A massive crater, eighty yards from one side to the other. My gates were about ten feet from the nearest edge. If they had been a little better aimed we would have been completely wiped out... I stared around. All visible players were down. Defender or outlaw, it didn't matter. Some were unconscious, most were deaf, and all of them were battered. Trees had been flattened for a long while in every direction. A hand grasped my shoulder and turned me towards its owner. Billy was talking, but I still couldn't hear anything. Even Vigil was silent. I couldn't hear anything. I helplessly tapped on my ear and shook my head, shrugging slightly. This got Billy to grab Will, who was bent over Laz nearby, and point at me. He came over and grimaced, cupping a hand over my left ear.
I felt a strong pressure against what was left of my eardrum, then there was a pop, and I was bombarded with the sounds of the world again, at least on the left side. Billy waved at the crater. "I was saying that we need to account for the dead." When I followed her outstretched arm I could see the crater was littered with dozens, maybe hundreds, of grave markers. The strike had hit right where the fiercest fighting had been taking place. The initial strike had been so powerful that the bottom, the center, of the crater was filling slowly with water.
Hael stepped out from my temporary shelter and whistled. A few of us flinched and looked up. "Sorry, I just mean, wow... do you think a higher level player decided to intervene? No way someone our level could do something like this. No way..." Joe was the next to pop his head out from behind the steel barriers. "Unfortunately, it was indeed someone near our own level. I "found" him when he was fleeing. He was the only one to survive the blast. I tracked him for as long as I could, but he retreated back in the direction that we believe the outlaw commanders are, and he traveled on foot. Took two breaks too. If it was someone stronger they would probably have a faster escape plan, or wouldn't be taxed by running like that. At least that's my assessment." Hael stared at the old man, clearly impressed. "Well done. We'll function under the belief that they have a heavy hitter that can dish out something like this from now on." He dipped his head in Joe's direction and the old man returned the move.
Unfortunately for us, the huge explosions weren't the only thing that they had ready for us. The singing started up again. Gleer huffed and glared into the woods on the other side of the crater. "Can't believe she got out of that silence." She muttered and started digging in her bags. She didn't work fast enough. Players were walking out into the crater like moths to the flame. They shuffled, ears still bleeding, towards the source of the pretty song. I had no idea how any of them actually heard anything, but whatever. Didn't stop the songstress from working her magic. "They have the 'Charmed' debuff, but most also have 'deaf' and 'dazed' as well." Laz said robotically. "That tells us that her magic isn't working via sound. It's something else." Gleer stopped her rummaging for a second. "Maybe scent?" She sniffed the air experimentally. "If it's scent, then she has to be way closer than I originally thought. Sound can be projected all kinds of ways in Acrion. Scent is much harder to control." She quirked an eyebrow at Will. "Think you can sniff her out?"
Will looked at the mage girl blankly for a few seconds, then slumped slightly. "Yeah, sure. I just got the wolf back in his cage, but sure, let's let him out again. Not like it's hard or anything..." He ended his little rant with a kind smile to show that he was joking. Mostly joking, at least. His edges blurred and he grew several inches instantly. It would appear that he is gaining a greater control over his abilities. Very impressive. I nodded absently, forgetting that if anyone was watching me I would look like a mad man. Will pointed his nose in the air and sniffed twice. Then snorted. "Urgh. Definitely a scent.." He growled deeply. I shivered as I remembered when he had lost himself in the woods a few days ago. Crazy how far we'd come...
Will pointed out across the crater, slightly off to the left. "She's here, for sure, and there's something else. Another scent, growing stronger by the second. It smells like... burnt sugar? I knows that sounds odd, but its what I'm getting." Agatha exchanged glances with Billy and lifted her shoulders ever so slightly. Billy nodded. "Nitroglycerin?" They both said at the same time. I was done being surprised anymore. Of course they both knew what that smelled like. Why wouldn't they...
Hael frowned. "Any chance that means our explosion guy is heading back into the area?" He directed this question at Joe, but the old timer was already lowering himself to the ground and closing his eyes. It took a second but then a single nod was all the confirmation we needed. "Same path he took going out. Moving slower now, making a beeline for us." Will snorted again as if his nose was burning. "Yeah, and the girl's scent is getting stronger the closer he gets. Is that weird?" Everyone looked at each other cluelessly. The only thin
g we were all sure of was that it didn't bode well for us.
"Siren! Did it work?" Blitz was breathing heavy as he climbed the tree, his stamina trying to regenerate through the several debuffs that plagued it. Siren glanced at her sweating associate and held up a single finger, indicating he should wait. She breathed deeply and continued her song for another couple of lines, then let it fade softly into echoing oblivion when she was sure her influence would hold for a few minutes without further input. "Their leaders are still alive, but your attack took out almost a third of them. And the fact that our powers compliment each other is letting me influence even more of them than normal, but I'm keeping about half of my thralls in place. I'll activate them when the time is right. We can still salvage this." Blitz let his head hang low when he heard that he'd missed the leaders. He could have ended this whole thing in one go, but he screwed up.
It had taken an entire day of bleeding himself dry to accumulate enough explosive force to set up those four strikes. Grim wouldn't be happy. "Okay, so what's the plan? Grim wants me to pull you out, regroup with Yeti." Siren snickered and sneered condescendingly. "Well, if dear old dad wants us to run away then who am I to disagree?" Blitz's heart sank into his gut. He knew Siren and Grim were often at odds, but he didn't want to get pulled into things... a soft hand reached out and caressed his face. "You can do this for me, right?" Siren wasn't sneering anymore. She was smiling sweetly. "I want to crush these scrubs into the dirt where they belong. Your little ability helps me. Don't you want to help me?" Blitz knew she was manipulating him, but his heart wanted nothing more than to make her happy. He cursed under his breath. "Yeah, fine. We cut off the head of the snake, then we fall back. No matter what. Let Yeti and Manticore deal with the fall out." Siren sat back on the branch she was perched on and slowly ran her finger over her chest. "Cross my heart." Blitz gulped and a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. This girl was going to be the death of him...
