by Kevin Murphy
When it became apparent to Geh`hen that many of its fleeing prey would escape, the wolf spirit exhaled a dense, shin-deep mist which covered all escape routes in an instant. Those who ran into the new mist, terrified of the great predator behind them, found their feet stuck to the ground by a sturdy, magical frost.
The wolf spirit appeared pleased by its own effectiveness. Dakkon and the others who were unaffected by the fear attacked the beast ferociously, but to little effect. The rare attack which managed to connect with the spirit’s one, invisible and constantly moving, vulnerable point amounted to a very small amount of damage. Dakkon had yet to land a blow and no one seemed to have a clue what exactly they were supposed to aim for.
“I hit it in the foot!” yelled a warrior.
“I struck it in the throat!” exclaimed an archer.
“It’s shifting around too rapidly for us to call out,” remarked Saden.
“Bind its weak point with your barriers, then tell us where it is!” yelled Damak.
“We’ll give it a shot,” said Saden with a firm nod.
The exorcists focused on the spirit’s moving weak point. The beast hopped away defensively and let out another icy exhalation at the still-mobile expeditionary force members. Despite their attempts to dodge the snare, only a few who were at the edges of its area of effect managed to avoid having their feet frozen to the ground.
The wolf spirit let out an other-worldly noise akin to sniggering, then expectantly looked to the bodies of the slain. The mangled, fallen corpses of the spirit’s victims—and the three killed because of the scheme in the rear—snapped bolt upright and began to sway and twist smoothly, as if to a melody which no living thing could hear.
The corpses floated above the ground and frosty mist, moving fluidly but in inhuman sweeps as if they were marionettes serving an aspiring puppeteer. The lively dead surrounded a member of the expeditionary force on four sides, twirled and struck out at her simultaneously. The force member’s body sagged then shot bolt upright into the air, joining in on the phantasmal waltz.
Dakkon warmed the area around his feet and shins with thermomancy until the ice no-longer claimed his feet. Others were wildly chipping away at the frost with whatever they had, to little effect. A fire wizard who had fled earlier regained his senses thanks to a new cast of Zelle’s ‘Daring’ spell and began to thaw the frost in great swaths.
The ancient spirit took offense to the meddling of the pyromancer and shot forward to claim the wizard’s life, but was repelled by another barrier of white light. The wolf shook itself after its unexpected collision and growled as it looked from side to side. The animated corpses began to move and dance at double their previous speed.
The wolf spirit exhaled more frost toward the pyromancer, but Saden’s barrier held back the spiritual magic. A small barrier of white encircled something within the great, translucent, crimson wolf for an instant—just enough time for Cline’s arrow to pierce the orb directly in its center.
The boss howled in anguish as a large chunk of its hit points fell away. The wolf’s puppet corpses moved faster still, striking at any still-stuck force members and resurrecting each as their own. By the time the force members had fully escaped the ice, there were as many corpses fighting them as there were living allies—including the bodies of Sift’s opponents.
The monk cut through the hovering corpses that darted around him as he moved. Each of their coordinated assaults was met with a dodge and counterattack. While the expeditionary force attempted to regroup and hold off the bodies which threatened to surround them, Sift had returned eight back to the earth.
Exorcists worked quickly to consecrate Sift’s struck-down dead, but their numbers were spread too thin and half of the lifeless marionettes returned to their dance as the wolf spirit let out more of its inhuman sniggering.
“All right,” said Saden. “We’re gonna bind this bastard’s weak point again. If you have any sort of ranged attack, use it when you see the bubble.”
The wolf spirit lunged towards Sift. Each corpse under thrall of the wolf broke away and assaulted the remainder of the expeditionary force. Saden and his fellow exorcists managed to form a barrier around the wolf’s weak point right as the boss landed a powerful swipe to Sift’s shoulder—throwing the monk back across the room and tumbling into a still-lingering cloud of mist. The expeditionary force’s ranged attack was far from concerted, as the boss’s corpse puppets threatened and harassed indiscriminately. Only a few attacks, including another dead-center arrow from Cline, found their way into the boss’s weak point. Still, the damage was great and accumulating.
“Damn it!” yelled Saden, breaking his usual cool after his friend’s fall. “We’ve got to get him out of that frost!”
Dakkon had felt mostly useless in the battle. Sift had come to his aid early on and it was everyone with ranged attacks or binding magic at their disposal who were carrying the team forward. Melting the frost which claimed the monk was something Dakkon knew he could do. He dashed off into the obscuring low-hanging mists where Sift had been swatted to.
Damak stepped to the forefront of the expeditionary force, attempting to draw the wolf’s attention. The wolf spirit hopped backwards, wary of any surprises now that it had been properly struck a few times. Damak pressed forward to intimidate the spirit boss while the other members of the force took down and consecrated corpses as they fell.
Dakkon used his thermal sight to quickly locate the monk and thawed him from the coffin of ice which had temporarily entombed him. Dakkon could see that Sift was in bad shape. The spirit’s claws had completely mangled the monk’s right arm and the top of his leg—a glaringly obvious downside to wearing no real armor in a fight. When Dakkon looked back at the spirit beast—he could see it. The spirit’s orb-like tether to the other world appeared as a dark ball which darted around the inside of its body erratically.
“Sift,” said Dakkon. “I can see it’s weak point.” Dakkon looked down at the mangled monk. Sift replied with a smile.
After the remaining corpse puppets were laid to their rest once again, the other two surviving warriors joined Damak as bait. If the wolf attacked one of them, perhaps the spirit would be close enough for the exorcists to bind its weak point for another strike or two. Including the enshrouded Dakkon and Sift, the force was down to 14 remaining members, only one of whom could still heal—Zelle. There were three tanks, three exorcists, and enough ranged firepower to potentially get the job done if everything lined up just right.
The ancient wolf ran and leapt around the body of the expeditionary force, exhaling freezing mist from every angle in a way where blocking the outpour of phantom snare with spiritual barriers was impossible for the few remaining exorcists. Half of the force found itself frozen, including the three tanks who were stuck away from the squishier casters which they aimed to protect. The boss tore through the ranks of the expeditionary force, striking at the exorcists first—killing Saden and his two classmates in a single swipe each.
The fire mage raised a thick cloud of mist which enveloped everyone, from his application of flame magic to the dense, magical frost on the floor which bound them. Amongst the mist prowled the ancient predator—appearing again and again before a member of the force drew its final breath. Zelle, the fire mage, and two more mages were hunted through the mists and eviscerated. The cries of each force member’s end could be heard nearby, though the others could not see it.
The fire mage had managed to free everyone, save for the three warriors at the front, and the wolf left them for last.
The wolf spirit stalked a desperately fleeing Cline and came to a stop when it spotted a figure standing stoic in its way. Sift, though gravely injured, took up a ready stance. Predator and prey circled each other slowly. The cruel wolf knew the man before him would pose no threat. When Sift attacked, the wolf slammed its front paw down, pinning the monk.
Appearing from the mists, Dakkon poured the remaining mana he had into a tiny hotspot at the tip of his dagge
r and, unsure of its effect, plunged it into the wolf spirit’s tether to the other world—located defensively in its hind leg, away from any strike the monk could have made.
The dagger pierced into the center of the orb and, with his thermal sight, Dakkon could see the small hotspot erupt outwards and fill the cold orb with heat.
[Critical hit! You have stabbed Geh`hen for 866 damage. You have dealt an additional 432 damage as the result of an elemental advantage. Geh`hen has been slain.]
[You have gained 5,000 experience! EXP until next level 3,366/6,660]
[You have gained a level! You have 65 free stat points to distribute!]
[Your mettle has been tested. Your resolve unwavering. You have gained a rank in Steadfast!]
[Fortune favors the bold. You have gained a rank in Heroic!]
[You have received a title: Alpha Spirit]
The orb swirled radiant reds and muted blues like mismatched paints until it reached a solid, neutral color. Then the orb and wolf surrounding it disappeared.
Sift lay crushed on the floor. The red skull on his cheek vanished and a few of the monk’s valueless possessions dropped to the ground—dirtied hand wraps, a torn tan tunic, and just short of 12 gold in coin. Dakkon scooped up the dropped items reverently, to be returned to the monk who had saved him, Cline, and likely the entire quest.
Chapter 26: To the Victors
All remnants of the wolf’s mist dissipated in seconds after the battle’s end. Those left standing numbered five. Cline, Dakkon, Damak, and two NPC warriors were all that remained of the large expeditionary force. The ice around the warriors’ feet melted, freeing them. Seconds later, an oversized chest made of some wispy, purple and black, spectral material appeared near the center of the cave, not far from where the boss and Sift fell.
Damak was the first to approach the ectoplasmic chest, and he opened it eagerly. When the lid swung open, a prompt appeared for each of the five remaining members of the expeditionary force, NPCs included. The prompt gave the names and a description for each boss-dropped reward.
|Coolstone: Sister stone to the Warmstone. The wearer of a Coolstone will feel comfortable in hot environments which would normally be intolerable. The effects of fire damage are reduced substantially.
|Thunderclap Greaves: When worn, all force from a fall is directed outwards and around the wearer, creating a proportional shockwave.
|Puppet Cuffs: A pair of bracelets. When invoked, motions made by the master bracelet are mimicked by the wearer of the slave bracelet.
|Draught of the Ageless: For 20 years, the imbiber of this draught will forgo aging.
|Aren’s Bulwark: When Aren’s Bulwark is slammed to the ground, a magical stone fortification will be erected for as long as the shield remains touching the ground. A wall will naturally last 20 minutes or until the shield is lifted. After a wall is formed, eight hours must pass before another can be created. The wielder of Aren’s Bulwark may customize the size of the wall.
|Dousebinders: At the wearer’s whim, these sapphire-encrusted wraps will spray fourth water. The amount of water can be customized; however, overuse may incur a recharge period of up to four hours.
|Quiver of Plenty: This quiver replenishes with basic arrows granting an endless supply. The arrows disappear a minute after they are removed from the quiver.
“You can focus on an item to get more specifics on it,” explained Damak, noticing Dakkon’s wide-eyed expression. “You can also rearrange the items by dragging them around. After we all hit ‘submit’ at the bottom of the window, the game will distribute items based on who wanted each one the most. The higher up you put the item in the list, the more you want it.”
Dakkon looked over the list in more detail. He also noticed a button toward the bottom that said ‘forfeit,’ which he guessed would pass up any claim he wanted to lay on the loot.
The Coolstone was an interesting item, but somewhat redundant given Dakkon’s class. The Draught of the Ageless was worthless to him, as a player—though it could be worth a hefty amount to a noble seeking an extra 20 youthful years. The quiver and shield were probably going to be the first priorities of Cline and Damak respectively, and they didn’t really fit Dakkon’s current playstyle. The Puppet Cuffs were probably wholly impractical outside of pranks or some extremely sinister jobs—so he’d pass on those as well.
That left the more interesting items:
|Name: Dousebinders
|Item Type: Armor – Cloth
|Durability: 30/30
|Armor Rating: 5
|Ability: Waterfount
|Description: Each of these sapphire-studded wraps can produce its own fountain of water. When the pair of wraps are worn and touching, a more powerful stream can be created. Water created by the wraps will disappear after an hour unless it has been consumed by some other process.
Dousebinders: These seemed mediocre at first glance. Making water was probably not extremely useful save for not needing to carry around a canteen. Still, you’d probably need a cup or a lot of control to avoid looking like a fool to everyone when sucking upon your wrist wraps for hydration. However, for the right class, water on-demand seemed incredibly useful. Dakkon knew that some ice mages sub-classed into water mages so that they could produce far more powerful ice shards and walls than their primary class alone would allow for. Maybe, as a thermomancer, he could shoot his own ice shards or boiling water like a bombardier beetle.
|Name: Thunderclap Greaves
|Item Type: Armor – Steel
|Durability: 250/250
|Armor Rating: 20
|Ability: Force Dispersion
|Description: These reinforced boots have been crafted by a master of both metalworking and enchantment. Created to mitigate the damage of any fall, at the user’s whim, force that would impact the bottom of these boots is instead dispersed outward in a 360-degree ring. The shockwave produced will grow in strength proportionally to the impact that is redirected. These boots may require additional strength to wear comfortably.
“Holy shit,” thought Dakkon. The ability to ignore fall damage was huge—but these boots seemed to also allow someone to wait in ambush from a cliff top then drop like a human bomb and suffer no repercussions. For something this strong, Dakkon wouldn’t mind dumping some extra points into strength. Dakkon thought about what it would be like to kick someone while wearing the boots when Sift came to mind.
Sift had saved him, Cline, and probably the whole quest. The monk was a force to be reckoned with all on his own. If he had these boots… “Wow,” thought Dakkon.
“Say,” asked Dakkon to no one in particular as the others were each examining the list on their own. “Can monks… wear heavy steel boots in this game?”
“Sure,” said Damak. “Why not?”
Cline looked at Dakkon and gave an approving smile. Dakkon, however—though it may seem greedy, had not made up his mind on the matter.
The five submitted their lists and waited for their rewards. The boss’s chest disappeared, and three small, white orbs appeared on the ground in front of Dakkon. The orbs spun around, chasing each other as if tied by strings to a center pole. As they sped up, they moved higher until something appeared: an intricate pair of metal boots with little holes around a thick pad at the bottom. Similar light shows began to appear and spin one after the other for each of the others.
Dakkon equipped the boots by sliding his feet into them where they lay. Certainly, he could at least get a feel for the item before deciding whether or not he wanted to make a gift of it. Once equipped from his menu, he was noticeably taller. Dakkon went to take a step forward before falling flat on his face.
The other four burst out laughing at the unexpected face plant.
“Dakkon, you’re a danger to yourself,” chided Damak.
“What the hell?” asked Dakkon, confused. Though he was pleased to see he hadn’t gained another rank in the embarrassing trait ‘Thick,’ he could not move the boots aside from sliding, tilt
ing, or rolling them. They were insanely heavy. “These are probably heavier than blocks of steel the same size!”
“Enchanted steel, maybe?” ventured Cline with a smirk.
“Who enchants armor to make it heavier?” griped Dakkon.
“I don’t know but I’m inclined to buy you a drink for scooping those boots up before me,” Damak said, patting his brand-new shield.
Before Dakkon could remove the boots, another three balls of light formed in front of Dakkon and one of the two warrior NPCs. Simultaneously they revealed the last two items. In front of the NPC was the Quiver of Plenty, and in front of Dakkon, the Dousebinders.
“What?” Dakkon said as he looked over to Cline. “You didn’t choose the quiver?”
“Nah. What I got is way more valuable,” Cline said as he shook a small vile.
“Right. 20 years of youthful life or a bag filled with arrows?” thought Dakkon. It wasn’t a very difficult choice and was probably a valuable item. If anyone asked Cline why he chose it, he can always claim that he acted on greed and drink it in private at a later time.
“Wedge, what the hell are you going to do with those weird bracelets?” barked Damak at the NPC warrior who had apparently chosen to take the bizarre cuffs which allowed one wielder to control the bearer of the other.
“Nothing sir,” said the warrior with a somewhat shaken voice. “I just don’t think these are the sort of thing that should be out in public is all…”
“So, you won’t be keeping them?” Damak asked.
“Not a chance,” said Wedge. “I’ve had them in my hands for seconds and they already give me the heebie-jeebies.”
“I’m sure that the guard can offer you a sizable reward for… keeping something of such a dubious nature from circulating in the public,” said Damak, hinting that he’d vouch for the warrior to get a proper reward from the quest.
