Acrion- Cascade

by Scott Seier

I focused for a moment, yes, there was the connection I was looking for. The Yeti took a step forward. Landing a massive foot on Will's body with a sickening crunch as he was further pressed into the ground. No grave marker though... tough bastard. The yeti took another few steps before he noticed that the cuts on his back hadn't healed over. For a confused moment the giant reached backwards and brushed himself off, as if there were still weapons in him or something. "No such luck big guy." He took another step at me, anger clouding his face again, but that was quickly replaced with confusion. He hadn't traveled as far as he thought he would. His stride had shortened. His eyes shot to my sly smile. "What.." The word was slurred and dumb sounding coming from his warped mouth, but the sentiment behind it was still there.

  I grinned. "Simple enough big guy. If there's one thing I've learned playing this game, it's that players only stack the attributes they think they will need. A big strong man like you probably never bothered putting anything into intellect or spirit, am I right?" Mr. Yeti was staring at his huge hands as they shrunk before his eyes. "All it takes is a very weak mana drain and suddenly your tank is empty. Bet you didn't know that when you use too much mana it wrecks your stamina."

  A huge gout of steam blasted out of the small crater that Will had been left in. A very bloody and bruised Lycan was pulling himself out of the dirt with what I was sure were less than positive intentions on his mind. I smiled again at the Yeti as he spun around with wide eyes, watching Will shake off enough damage that it would have killed twenty normal players at our level. "One cool thing I picked up from watching my friend there, you shifters rely on your stamina like a caster relies on mana. I don't know how to drain stam directly, yet. But I sure know how to eat mana, and in the end it gets me similar results."

  Will was suddenly behind the Yeti. He was towering over him now. My Lycandruid friend positively boiling with raw power, while the Yeti was being drained by the second. The outlaw yelled in anger and sent a wild strike at the side of Will's head. Surprisingly the Lycan just took it, spinning him and sliding him back several yards. Even smaller, that Yeti packed a punch. The enemy wasn't done though. He planted his feet and brought his arms up like he was lifting a massive weight. He crouched slightly and then his hair began to stand on end. Interesting... Vigil said conversationally. I agreed. The Yeti exploded with steam, just like Will had done a moment before. A single massive burst of healing. The wounds on his back finally closed and his height increased again. He spun on me and charged, a huge dumb grin on his face. "That's not going to work."

  The Yeti was suddenly gone. An average man was sliding on his face over the grass in his place. He wore the basic modesty cloths that the game generated so that everyone couldn't go around naked all the time. Otherwise he was unarmed and ungeared. He pushed himself up, completely baffled. "I burned away ever debuff that was on me. How are you still draining my mana?" he gasped, trying to catch his breath as his stamina punished him for hitting zero. In response, I waved at Vigil who had been maintaining a spherical shape recently. Vigil reformed into a bowl shape and revealed six Epsilons in his possession. "It's called Astral Touch. I get you once and they stay tuned into your station from that point forward. Until you die that is."

  Will was behind him again. His huge form now completely eclipsing the mans frame. It was over fast. Will snatched the guys head off his shoulders as easily as someone would pick an apple from a tree. The guy's body was gone in a blink and replaced with a marker.

  The Lycan took one savage step in my direction. I remembered Will saying that his instincts treated me like they did the Yeti and Manticore. The Lycan saw me as a threat. Instead of wetting myself, I just pointed behind Will at the red archer that was now completely surrounded with droplets of his own blood. The Lycan turned to look at the same moment Billy made a slight misstep as she dodged one of the archer's shots. Her shoulder brushed up against one of the droplets and it detonated violently in response. She was sent to the ground, hard, and she was slow getting back up. "Maybe you should help her out?" I suggested to the insane psycho killer that lived in my friends head. The Lycan snorted and rubbed his nose, clearly annoyed at the archer's continued existence. He growled, a deep tone that I could feel in my feet through the ground and in my bones at the same time. Then he stalked off in the direction of the dueling marksmen.

  As I watched him go, I noticed Hael roll out of stealth and stumble, obviously bleeding heavily. I cursed and scanned the area for the Manticore while I ran towards him. I thought he was going to kill you just now. Just a statement of fact. I slid to a stop and fell to my knees next to Hael, who was now on his back and looked to be in more pain than the game should allow. "That guy ain't half bad." The rogue mumbled, blood dripping from his lips while he spoke. "Did you get him? Where is he?" I barely let myself look at Hael, so sure that the Manticore was about to de-stealth behind me and rip me to shreds. Hael laughed. "I didn't kill him, but my specialization finally came in handy." I raised one of my eyebrows questioningly at him. I didn't remember him ever talking about his specialty.

  He laughed again. "Trickster rogue. That's my class. Gives me a new resource called mischief to call on. I didn't quite understand how to work it until recently though." He grinned happily. "I found out I couldn't beat him straight up pretty quick. So I fiddled with his mind a little and sent him after a clone that I was able to create. He's halfway back to the battle back that way." He pointed vaguely to the east. "Our raid will rip him apart when he runs into the middle of them. He won't even know where he is at that point. Feel kind of bad for him to be honest." Hael chuckled again, but I was more taken aback. Players could manipulate other players minds? I would have to table this one for another time...

  Hael coughed and grimaced. "He stung me. Scorpion tail was real fast, some kind of agility bonus. The poison is going to kill me if the bleed effects don't so no reason to bother with me. That Grim guy is in the town, I sensed him sneak right by us when the fighting started, but I couldn't get to him. You're up. Let Billy and Will handle the last guy. Get into town and kill Grim. We did damn good today so far. Let's keep it up, eh?" he smiled once more and then went limp. His body fading and being replaced with a grave marker within a couple seconds.

  "Well shit..." I glanced at the walls and then to the south. Over the trees I could see the top of a mountain slowly rising and falling as smoke and dust billowed around it. Still scared to be between the turtle and the town? Why not use the southern gate? you know that we are going into the town right? So if the turtle blows it up, it won't really matter where you're standing...

  I climbed to my feet and set off at a jog, careful to dodge all of the stray blood droplets floating everywhere. As I went I saw Will get sent back into the woods, a massive explosion rocking the foundations of the nearby walls. Vigil scoffed. Most likely not, but if one of their team was to do it, it would be the archer. Massive damage dealt all at once, no chance for the Lycans regeneration to kick in. I nodded, agreeing with his assessment, as I casually leaned down and brushed my hand against the gravestone that Vigil had pointed out earlier as I passed. How much? I smiled mischievously.

  Walking through the town was eerie. I'd only ever seen it bustling with players and npcs, now there was no one. I passed by "Relics to Relics" Looking through the window, half expecting to see Broxly inspecting something on one of his shelves. The store was dark though, dark and empty. I kept going, passing the multiple temples that lined one street, then passed the Blue Banner on another, as I criss-crossed a rough search pattern. Vigil was flying overhead, getting a literal birds eye view of the town. There is some movement at the large building just off the town square. O
ddly enough, there are guards there. Vigil took a moment to answer, flying closer to the place of interest while I jogged down the street I was on and turned onto another that would lead to the large open square at the center of town. Hmm. It would seem the question is not, would Grim go to where guards are, it is why would the guards be in this place at all. I believe the answers may be the same.

  I rounded the last corner and skidded to a halt, quickly scurrying back behind the nearest building. No, it would seem they are substantially more powerful than any guard we have come across to this point. That is correct. So we could assume that the reason for Grims infiltration could also be related to this royal.

  Grim was walking in a crouch on the roof of one of the buildings across the square from me. When he got to the edge he looked around casually. Taking note of the guards and nodding to himself. Then he stood up straight and...waited. Doing absolutely nothing interesting.

  Vigil flew down and wrapped around my arm. Not concealing himself seems to only have one obvious result. just as I said it, one of the Royal guards pointed up at him and raised the alarm. A smile formed on his lips and a chill ran down my spine.

  That would not seem to be the most urgent matter at the moment... Vigil was right. Royal guards were pouring out of the large stone building, their captain calling for the Baron to be protected at all costs. From where I was, I could see the smile on Grim's face widen slightly. "Crap." I bolted into the square. "No! Go back, stay close to the baron, don't come out here!" The captain looked at me around the same time that Grim did. Grim's smile twitched slightly, annoyance flickering across his face. Then he raised his hand above his head.

  Please do not get hit by that... Then why are you still running towards it? I didn't respond. A huge ball of twitching and pulsating energy was growing above Grim's palm. I ran, waving the guards off, but they seemed completely unfazed by Grim's demonstration of power, and completely ignored me. Grim hefted the ball of energy that must have been four feet across, at least. His smile was still in place but he was watching my progress nervously. Damn right you should worry about me. The attack was thrown, but moved slowly. The energy immediately began wavering, differentiating from its previously spherical shape. It bulged and bent as it moved in ways that suggested that it was alive somehow. As it got closer to the guards, who had organized uselessly into a defensive formation, it began to reach out towards them.

  As I ran I wracked my brains for what to do. I regretted leaving my imp behind, but I had been afraid he would have gotten me caught if at any point I had to rely on stealth. The little guy would have at least been fast enough to intercept Grims hideous attack, even if there was little chance he could have stopped it. Instead I stretched my left hand out towards the ball of living energy. Trial by fire... I focused hard on the 'consume' Seal and targeted the attack. "Hope this works" I grunted as I activated the seal.

  I was nearly dragged off my feet as a connection was formed between the seal and the energy. Nothing happened for a second, but then a strange screaming noise sounded over the buzzing of the energy. The screaming increased in pitch and volume until it was all that could be heard. Then, a powerful implosion, as my seal compressed the energy into a tiny point in space, then sealed it into the metal cuff on my wrist. The steel was instantly hot, but not burning me, thank god. I sent a small thank you to Kara for annoying me into completion of that particular variation of my Fade Seal spell.

  I slid to a stop next to the Guards as they stared around, confused about how they had not been hit with that last spell. Grim was still standing on the roof of a building nearby, but now his attention was completely trained on me. Even as I stood there, more guards exited the house and joined up with the formation that already existed. Good job making the best target possible boys. Real good work.

  "That was unexpected." Grim spoke with the same rich and confident voice he had used when addressing our entire raid before. His words carried effortlessly across the empty square. "I don't have much information about you, but from what I do have, I was sure you would summon a wall to try and protect them. I imbued that attack with enough energy to overcome any defense you could muster of course, so it would have been useless for you to have tried. The plan was to show you the futility of attempting stop me, but here you are. Pulling a brand new ability out of your back pocket and reversing the point I was trying to make quite nicely. A shame."

  He waved his hand and all of the guards present were immediately engulfed with the same energy that the ball had been made of. The energy consumed them within moments, leaving nothing behind. For a second I wished Demetistics was nearby. I would have been very interesting in how much damage Grim had just done, killing a dozen level 30s in under five seconds. Had to be impressive numbers.

  An arrow flew through the air, shot from one of the upper windows of what I was beginning to understand was a keep of some sort, or at least Acrions small town version of a keep. The arrow flew with perfect precision, and would have pierced Grim straight through the heart, but it was disintegrated inches from his chest. A ripple of that same insane energy slowly spreading from the point the arrow had been destroyed at. The ripple stopped when it was about a foot in diameter, then began moving in reverse. The ring of energy constricted back into a point, then blasted off, straight through the same window that the arrow had come from. The explosion sent me to my knees, raining glass and stone fragments down of me. Royal guard with a bow? Presumed really dead.

  Grim took a step forward into empty air and fell to the cobblestone three stories below. Instead of bracing for impact, or rolling to defer the force of it, he landed straight legged. A similar ripple of manic energy bloomed from his feet and flowed outward. This time the ripple wasn't drawn back into itself, and it faded after a couple seconds. He didn't look jarred in the slightest, and the cobblestone was un-cracked or blemished in any way. It would also seem that he as a significant internal reservoir of power as well. Based on his initial attack. I could feel the stress on my face, and it pissed me off that Grim could no doubt see it too.

  Grim walked confidently towards me, inspecting the scorch marks that each guard had left behind and glancing up at the hole that used to be a window. When he got within about ten yards of me, he came to a stop and his eyes met my own. "I have to say, whoever your group leader is, he has really been a thorn in my side. Do you mind if I ask his name?" I couldn't think of a reason not to give it. As long as Grim wasn't splitting the keep behind me in half to kill the baron then I was happy. "His name is Hael, a good guy." I said, defiance and respect in my voice. It wasn't lost on Grim, but the name Hael seemed to spark something in his memory. He stared into the distance for a moment, nodding slightly and muttering to himself quietly the whole time.

  "I should have known it was him. It was rather obvious when I think back on it now." Grim chuckled and looked to the south. From the elevated position within the walls the battle raging between the turtle and the Eleventh Division was far more visible. Visible, but certainly not more audible. As we both watched a bombardment of massive proportions was being rained down on the Goliath turtle. Huge concussive shock waves were rolling all over the mountainside on its back, and its head was completely engulfed by fire and smoke, but not a single noise. "Silence field?" I asked, more to myself than to Grim, but he nodded nonetheless. "Absolutely, the beast must have some sort of sonic attack that the
y are mitigating with it. The added benefit being the consolidation of sound pollution from their battle."

  The Pinch was flying far above, the source of all the turtles current problems. The ship certainly was looking worse for wear, its sails were shredded, large glowing glyphs taking their place completely, and there were several large chucks of the lower hull missing. Grim tsked as the ship made a steep turn to avoid a concentrated burst of power that the turtle shot from its eyes. "They are squandering their main advantage, there is no hope of them killing that thing on their own now." Grim turned back to me. "I should have known that if the Division was here, then their leader would be. And if their leader was, then her brother would be as well." Grim smiled as he saw surprise flash across my face. "I feel cheated! You're only half surprised. So you knew they were siblings, but didn't know that anyone else knew. Interesting. I'm shocked Hael saw fit to tell you at all."

  I shook my head. "I figured it out for myself. They make the same face when they're stressed out. Easy to piece together after that." Grim laughed loudly, then kept laughing for a long time. "You, my friend. You have no idea how funny it is that you just said that. I very much wish that I didn't have to kill you. No chance you'll move aside?" I smiled. Honestly this guy wasn't nearly as unpleasant as I thought he would be. "I don't think so. If I let you kill the baron it will just be added to my tab. I already have the deaths of all of these guards on my hands." Vigil uncoiled himself and surrounded my shoulders in a protective veil. Grim cocked his head to one side. Then laughed again. This time in a more melancholy way.

  "Of course. Well, a much larger thorn in my side than I originally thought. It was you guys in the deep woods a few days ago? You're the ones that took out over twenty of my guys?" he snorted. "I knew that call to arms would eventually bite me in the ass. It worked out too perfectly for too long. Did the Baron put out a contract on it?" He read the answer off my face without me answer. "Well of course he did. Bribed guards giving out a quest way above their pay grades? The only option would be to lean into it. As if the baron actually gave a damn about outlaws in the forest." Grim eyed me up again. "So, you lot got the quest, came into the woods, shredded through most of my hunting parties, then escaped down into the mines. None of you ever handed in the call to arms, the ones who died probably had it preserved after respawn because they'd progressed on it already. Ha! Then the event gets triggered and all of you are suddenly extremely motivated to stop me from achieving my goals. Something stinks, but you're clearly not in on it. Just a pawn in a game you don't even know is being played." Grim shrugged and looked up into the sky, as if pleading with a higher power. "Serves me right I guess, the gold made off that little play though? Very worth it. Even if I can't get the job done here, I have a little something to fall back on."