The dwarf, Lennox, shook his head. “No way man, I know who you are. We’re behind you. I’ll go grab everyone I can.”
“Good. Meet back here.”
Bishop checked his potions, hating how few he had left, but there was no time to resupply. He switched his stance to Endurance, and noticed the stash of demon oils in his bags. He had picked them up a while back, on the off chance he managed to get his hands on another weapon that used them. He brought up the stats on his bow and grinned.
“Demon oils it is,” he murmured, and he applied them to his bow. The tip glowed green with fire when he pulled back on the string to test it out. “Hell yes.”
“Bishop!” Maverick yelled as she came running up. “What’s going on? We left you alone for like five minutes.”
“Wasn’t me. Demon players destroyed the wards around the town.”
“Bastards,” she growled. “What’s coming?”
“They said they were working for Helenex.”
Jimmy gulped beside Maverick and everyone shot him a look. “What? It was one time, I’m sure I won’t fall for it again. I don’t think. Maybe you should lock me in a room, just to be safe,” he added sheepishly as Maverick rolled her eyes.
“No, we’re going to need everyone for this fight,” Bishop said. “We’ll get the gates closed and archers to the walls. Healers, you need to take up safe positions around the town square. We’ll try to contain the fighting there.” Unlike the monastery fight, this time he and the others had the defensive position. Hillside wasn’t as fortified as Weston but, if they did it right, they could potentially hold off the attack. “Tanks and heavy hitters to the front lines. Everyone else, flank the attack once they breach the gate, because they will.”
Those gathered around him took the plan and spread it through the growing ranks of heroes. His eyes widened to see how many they actually had in the town and his hopes lifted. This fight might not end so badly after all.
Trajan called for the other tanks to follow him to the gate. They shut the great wooden doors and lowered the heavy crossbar as Bishop took point with the hunters, leading them up to the top of the walls. Willy stayed by his side, but he shifted on his feet.
“Stay with Jimmy,” Bishop told him. “Keep him safe for me, alright?”
Willy nudged his leg and sprinted back down to the ground, circling around Jimmy before taking a place at his side near the edge of the square. Jimmy would eventually be switching to DPS but, right now, he had more healing abilities than anything else and they were going to need every single heal they could get.
Bishop and Giles were joined by the hunter from the LongBeards, Zoe, and around thirteen more who spread out along the walls. They switched their stances and a few others had demon oils to coat their arrows with. Bishop’s gear was still trashed, but it would have to hold. There was no time to rush back down and find a vendor to repair everything.
“Who here is BowMaster?” Bishop asked. Most raised their hands. “Follow my lead. BeastMaster?” Zoe and a few more nodded. “You will follow Zoe’s lead. And Trapper?” Giles raised his hand this time with all who were left. “Stay with Giles, he’ll help guide you. Spread out along the wall so they can’t hit us all at once!”
“What about healing?”
“I have faith that the healers will keep those of us alive who need to be kept alive.” Bishop walked to the edge of the wall overlooking the town square. He licked his lips nervously at all the expectant faces turning to catch his eye. In that moment, he was no longer a man playing a game. He was Bishop, leader of the Bishop’s Guard, and the hero who would not let this town fall. “They come to destroy this town!” he called out, and silence fell, making the thunder sound even more deafening than before. “They think they can win, that they will get a foothold in our world and destroy Samar! Well, they are dead wrong!”
Cheers and cries met his words, pumping him up for the fight head.
“We have killed two of their Demon Lords and we will not back down from whatever this Helenex sends our way. We will fight until our very last breath! Who’s with me!”
Bishop thrust his bow into the air over his head as the cheering grew louder. Battle cries erupted as everyone made ready for the fight. Bishop nodded to those he knew and those he had yet to meet, before he turned to face the fields and trees beyond.
He steadied his breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth, as his fingers gently pulled back on the string. His feet shifted, trying to find a comfortable stance. Each crash of thunder ignited the fire deep within his soul and he narrowed his eyes, watching those shadows in the clouds sink lower until they crashed into the fields outside the town. The bodies unfurled into grotesque beings, but the sounds that slipped from their mouths were high pitched and tore at Bishop’s ears. He nearly dropped his bow to cover them, but held fast.
“Stay strong!” he yelled as a few of the hunters gave in, sinking to their knees at the piercing wailing. “We have to stand strong! Prepare to fire!”
Bishop bit the inside of his cheeks. He glanced up to see his health unaffected, but there was the icon for being feared under it. His attacks would be lessened now unless they could get rid of it. He hung over the other side of the wall, into the town square, and searched for the healers. “Cast Hope! They’re giving us fear! We won’t be able to fight back!”
The healers moved closer together and Bishop watched as a brilliant, blue light was shot up into the sky and rained down on the players. He could still hear the high-pitched shrieking, but the fear icon was no longer there. He took his stance and drew back his string.
“Alright, you bastards,” he grunted, “time to die.”
He unleashed his AOE Rain of Thorns, pinning several of the grotesque demons to the ground. The other hunters beside him shot Fiery Arrows and Increased Swift Bow shot, finishing off those trapped before they pushed through the attack and moved on. More of them released Rain of Thorns and Bishop let loose with his own Increased Swift Bow with the demon oils. It caught several of the nearby demons on fire. The monsters screeched in pain as the fire consumed their bodies and they turned to nothing more than piles of ash.
“Damn,” he whispered with glee. “I definitely need more oils.”
He drew back again and fired Increased Swift Bow until his mana ran low, then switched to his Instant Shot while his mana recharged. The demons were falling fast, but a vast number landed just behind them and moved swifter towards the front gate. These were larger. Instead of shrieking, their yells boomed as loud as the thunder rumbling as they sprinted straight for the gate, looking to bust through.
“The gate! Brace the gate!” Bishop hollered.
He heard Trajan repeat the order and the clash of iron armor against wood as the tanks moved into position to hold the gate from falling. Wood splintered and groaned beneath the weight of the attack. It would not hold long.
“Keep firing!” Bishop called out, spying more demons moving closer. They however were not just demons; they were players. “Everyone beware, we have Demon players!”
He tried to draw back his bow, but the string wouldn’t go. He was out of power, and the fear icon had resurfaced making it harder for him to recharge. He was out of potions to use and cursed as the other hunters ran into the same issue. He could still use Assassin’s Tear though. If he fired it outside the wall, it shouldn’t do any damage to those inside. He hoped.
“Who else has Assassin’s Tear?” he called out, up and down the wall.
Those who had chosen BowMaster raised their hands. “But we’re lacking fire power,” one of them told him. “That hit takes everything to use as it is!”
“We’re going to have to time it. Hunters who do not have it, keep firing, just use Instant Shot. If you have demon oils and a bow that can use them, pass them around!” Bishop moved to the hunter beside him and shared the few oils he had left. They passed them down the line as the wall trembled and threatened to buckle with each new hit from the demons relentl
essly pounding against it. “Fire once the oils are on! Fire!”
He stayed ducked down as did the other Bow Masters while Zoe led the attack on the wall. She called out shots, timing them perfectly. Bishop admired her leadership and wondered why she hadn’t started a guild of her own. He would have to ask her later. He gripped the stones behind him as the wall gave a tremendous shake.
“Bishop,” Giles muttered, “that gate can’t take much more.” He poked his head up to see and sat back down, cursing as his mana recharged and the archer beside him covered, swapping in and out with the others so their shots had time to lose their cooldowns. “And those players are moving in. If they reach the gate, we’re finished.”
Bishop was biding his time, watching his power slowly go back up. Suddenly, that blue light from before rained down on the players again. The healers had managed to cast another Hope spell.
“Now! Make it ready now!”
He should have thought about what would happen if that many people cast Assassin’s Tear at the same time, but the army bearing down on Hillside was too large to try to pick off. Sometimes, drastic measures were called for.
Bishop drew back, the arrow vibrating with power against the string. He yelled, pulling back even harder, and waited for the other hunters to be ready.
“Fire!” He unleashed Assassin’s Tear and watched as his shot was joined by six other arrows, all whistling as they flew through the air, rockets of white light that struck the ground at the Demon players’ feet.
They froze for a long moment as nothing happened. Had they failed the shots? All of a sudden, a giant white ball of light exploded, obliterating those closest to it and sending a shockwave across the fields and into the wall of Hillside. Bishop and a few others were thrown off the wall in the blast wave. He hit the town square hard with a grunt as the ground beneath him shook. Yelling surrounded him, but he couldn’t hear who said what, or even what was being yelled. Two hands hauled him to his feet and he shook his head, trying to clear out the ringing in his ears from the attack.
“Bishop! Can you hear me? You freaking idiot,” Maverick said. “Bishop!”
“Yeah, I heard you,” he replied, smacking his hand into the side of his head. “Well, that was certainly interesting.”
“Not sure that’s the word I would use,” Maverick said, her face scrunched.
“Did they retreat?”
“No, but I think you wiped out half their numbers,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. “Your health is low, really low.”
“How low is really low?” He blinked, trying to focus. Maverick yelled a warning as the demons roared at the front gate, just before it blew up inward.
Debris struck Bishop in the back like as many daggers. Instantly, he felt the agony of death detonating in his chest, and he knew now how low his HP really had been. He stopped breathing for a second as the pain swallowed him whole, and he sank to his knees before falling to the ground, dead.
When he opened his eyes, he stood in the dark room with the large screen.
“That low,” he groaned to himself with a grimace. “Damn it.”
He paced back and forth, watching the battle take place, and hating he couldn’t be a part of it. Maverick dragged his body back towards the healers; however, he begged them not to use a res on him, not when they needed their abilities to fend off the attack. The burly demons pushed through the front gate and were immediately met by Trajan and his line of tanks. Maverick was joined by four other shifters and charged as one massive wall of fur. They attacked ferociously, yet the healers couldn’t keep up. Soon, a few more players appeared in the room with Bishop.
“That attack you did was awesome,” the dwarf from earlier said, clapping Bishop on the back. “I hate dying this early in a fight.”
“Tell me about it,” Bishop agreed.
The players who survived the Assassin’s Tear attack were all Demon Knights, but they were already at half health. Bishop and the others cheered on the heroes fighting hard to save Hillside from being taken over. As far as Bishop knew, none of the strongholds on this side of the map were held by demons, which meant the heroes still had the upper hand. He had no idea about the far side of the map, though. The Demon players’ levels were different anyway. He wondered if they played on some sort of map that existed beneath the world of Samar, but his musings were cut short when Trajan was thrown across the square, taking out a line of DPS.
He pushed to his feet, roaring his battle cry as his axe glowed red with fury. He charged forward, rushing the line and swung wide. One of the Demon Knights fell to the hit, but the other three remained standing.
“Kill them!” Bishop hollered, clutching the arm of the dwarf player next to him as the intensity of the fight increased. “Come on!”
His yells were joined by others watching as their friends held their ground, beating back the demonic forces. A few more players appeared in the room, but the heroes were slowly winning the fight. Maverick moved her line of shifters forward again, destroying the last of the demons. All that remained were a few players, struggling to hold the line of attack.
“What are they doing?” Giles, who died a few seconds ago, asked. He pointed to Jimmy and the others near him, with piles of ashes by their feet from fending off attacks.
Jimmy’s hands glowed green as did his eyes. The players beside him were the same, all in robes that suddenly turned black as the night sky. Bishop’s narrowed gaze focused on his friend and watched as they attacked. Beams of power shot from their hands, twisting in shades of green and white and black, headed right for the remaining Demon players. The beams hit each one in turn, trapping and surrounding them in the light. They screamed as the light tore at them, ripping through their bodies. A few of them collapsed and died, the blue orbs of their lives shooting off into the sky. It was as if the magic pulled apart their shadow from their body and crushed it, leaving only the player behind. Then the light faded and Jimmy and the others all sank to the ground, weakened from the attack.
“What… what did they just do?” Giles asked.
Bishop shrugged, but as he stared at the Demon players, their names were no longer red. “They performed exorcisms,” he said in disbelief. “Those players… they’re on our side now! Holy cow!”
He knew the exorcism spec could be strong, though he had no idea it could change players from Demons to Heroes. Bishop and the others watched as the healers walked around and performed mass resurrections, bringing everyone back to life. One by one, blue lights encompassed the players and Bishop joined them, closing his eyes on the dark room and opening them again, lying on his back and staring up at a clear night sky.
XP points flashed around his face and he watched his level shoot all the way up to almost level 19. A hefty amount of coins clinked into his bags, but no new items to use. One more day of questing and he would hit twenty. A hand hovered in his face and he grinned madly as Jimmy pulled him up.
“I didn’t know you could do that!” he announced and bear hugged Jimmy, shaking him and lifting him off his feet. “That was insane!”
“I know, right?” he agreed, laughing as Bishop set him back on his feet. “It popped up after we finished off that last dungeon, but I didn’t have a chance to use it yet. Guess it works a lot better with a group of us.”
“And you,” Trajan added as he walked over to join them, bringing more heroes, “did you realize how massive that explosion was going to be?”
Bishop cringed. “No, but it worked for the most part.”
Trajan’s belly laugh was loud as he clapped Bishop on the back. “You my friend are crazy. I love it! Hillside is saved!”
Everyone whooped and hollered as they jumped up and down, dancing at what they had accomplished. The two Demon players looked confused as hell and Bishop wandered over to them, offering them each a handshake.
“I guess we’re humans now,” the girl on the left said. “This is weird and cool. I love it!”
The guy beside her nodded. “I�
�m not going to lie, I was kind of bummed for a second, but now we get to see both sides. Sweet, man. Where are those exorcists? I want to thank them.”
Bishop directed them to Jimmy and the others chatting excitedly about their new ability. He was walking over to join them when a prompt appeared announcing lunch was ready. “Really? Oh come on, Dennis,” he said, wanting to see the aftermath of this fight.
He logged out, ready to eat and then log right back in so they could keep going. Willy rushed to his side and he gave the wolf a good scratch behind the ears as the countdown appeared.
“You did good today,” he told the wolf. “Be back soon, boy.”
Willy yipped and darted off out the destroyed town gate just as Bishop closed his eyes and reopened them back in the real world.
Chapter 05
Harrison was impatient to get back into the game. He and the others were all one or two quest turn-ins away from hitting level 20. Rumors floated around about the talent system that would then become available to them and he couldn’t wait to check it. He felt like a kid at Christmas time. There were also more rumors that Dennis was considering keeping more than a few players around to keep testing the game. Everyone was taking to it so well, he was speaking of extending the full beta test another two months, and that included still paying everyone for their accomplishments within the game.
That old man must have more money than he knew what to do with if he was willing to keep all the players around who wanted to stay past the first month.
“You ready for today?” Jimmy asked, joining Harrison at their usual table.
“Yeah. We’ll turn in that last quest and then it’s off to the trainers. What do you think the talents will be like?” Harrison asked him as he dug into his pancakes.
“I heard a few people speculating they might have something to do with our race as well as our chosen spec,” Jimmy told him. “But I’m not prone to listening to rumors. I’d rather see for myself.”
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