“Hang on Lan’kar, we’re almost there!” yelled Fer’shad above the buffeting of the rushing winds.
Though slowed, the two continued to advance upwards toward the dais. The banging of rocks on the tower shield began to taper off as the torrent of wind subsided. A familiar thrum in the stairs began to rumble beneath their feet. Fer’shad released the young Holmgren from his grip and steadied his shield in front of him.
“Follow as fast as you can in my wake Lan’kar!”
Ora’El started glowing as she raised her hands higher and the rumbling beneath his feet got louder. He was only 5 steps away when he noticed that she had gotten taller and more statuesque than he remembered.
“No matter,” he whispered to himself.
He activated Auger Rush and charged up the last of the steps, crashing into the Orakai woman shield first. He was unable to stun the Boss level monster., but it did knock her back a few steps and stopped the spell he suspected was responsible for the wave attack that had battered the team twice already. Ora’El recovered quickly and brought the staff she won with them earlier from behind her back to bear.
“You will pay for that Ulgo,” she snarled in rage.
“We shall see,” Fer’shad answered. He then roared his taunt ability, and the familiar red eyes of his opponents wore brung a smile to his face as he raised his shield. Ora’El began pounding her staff upon his shield and blasting balls of fire from her weapon. Fer’shad merely cast Aegis Bulwark as he stabbed back behind the protection of his shield. Lan’kar had just arrived behind him, strategically attacking with his staff when able. The tank was hoping that the others could dispatch the guards quickly to help him with the earth witch.
The rumbling under his feet had stopped, so Kel’Van could only assume that Fer’shad and Lan’kar had engaged Ora’El. Without her manipulating the environment, they now could fight on an even playing field. Voresh was close to him, so he veered to his left.
Belar had stopped the stone guards' overhand chop by stepping inside his space and raising her forearm to block his own. He tried following up with a swing from his right, but the almost telegraphed strike was also blocked by a forward kick to that limb's forearm as well. She quickly delivered a right slash of claws to its face, followed by a left hook, and then another front-kick to his chest, which pushed the Holmgren back. All of her blows were sending broken bits of rock into the air. She closed the distance quickly as he swiped at her haphazardly with his ax, but she ducked and performed a sweep, catching one of his legs back peddling. The beleaguered Holmgren tripped over, landing on his back, kicking up dust around him.
The stone guard rolled on its side quickly, but Belar, already feeling the ball of energy by her combos well up in her abdomen and ready for release, charged that energy through her arm and mounted it through her fist. She leaned low to the ground, her fist a slight emanating glow, crashing into the Holmgren's face in the form of an uppercut, also triggering the stun effect of Titan’s Punch. The force of the blow snapped the head back while flipping the stone guard on its side.
The staggered stone guard dropped one of its weapons as it tried to steady itself unsuccessfully to stand up. While the Holmgren looked confused on its hands and knees, Belar kicked its weapon behind her with the bone heel of her boots. She then planted the same foot in front of her while swinging her right foot forward into the enemy's shoulder, flopping him on his back once more.
His one remaining weapon laid loosely in his left hand. He tried to grip it to swing at his opponent, but Belar stepped on the wrist, pinning the arm to the ground with her left foot as she stood over him.
“Find your way to your god, Holmgren.”
She then began stomping the heel of her boot squarely in the face of the stone guard repeatedly. At first, only chips of pebbles could be seen flying from the face of the guard. But as the cracks started to deepen across its stone face, flakes started to fly off its exterior like a large hammer against a marble wall. The blows kept coming faster and more deliberate as the frown on Belar’s face deepened. His feet kicked out behind him while the onslaught continued, but as its countenance began to resemble the insides of a marbled pillar, grainy and pulverized, the legs began to lay still.
Out of breath, she looked down on the crushed face of her foe. Its appearance was marred on its left side and all but crushed on its right. She once overheard her captain say how incredibly satisfying it felt, beating his opponent in a fair fight with his fist before coming to this world. Looking down on her opponent, with its face in ruins, she felt she now understood his point. Satisfied with her the stone guards' destruction, she scampered to join her comrades.
Voresh slashed his ebony-colored sword across the chest of the stone guard in front of him. Kel’Van had just blinded the Holmgren with flames to its face when he ambushed it out of nowhere from its right side. The stone guard lashed out blindly to its right in an attempt to attack where the flames were coming from. Voresh raked his weapon across the chest, used the momentum of the swing into a spin, and stabbed him in the center of his body. The attack pushed the guard back and left a spider-web crack on its stone skin. Kel’Van had switched his position to the opposite side and began spraying flames once again into its face.
While the guard was distracted, Voresh charged the monster and unleashed his Rising Star ability, cleaving across the monster's chest. The impact sent pieces of stone and dust in the air, as guard the guard became airborne, crashing down on its back. The captain scrambled towards the downed Holmgren, with a two-hand grip on his short-sword. He leaped in the air, pointing his sword down as if he was about to stake a vampire. The stone Holmgren raised his sword its face, just as Kel’Van landed on top of him.
The Holmgren did not so much as whisper as the green-skinned orc sat on its chest. The Holmgren's blade was barely blocking the point of Kel’Van’s sword from its eye. The Ulgo was slowly pushing the blade towards its face until the stone guard slipped his free hand around the broadside of his sword.
Both combatant's arms began to shake as Kel’Van fervently pushed down his weapon. His eyes closed into slits, his teeth bared as a low growl escaped his lips.
“Die, damn it…”
Rapid footsteps could be heard from behind him as he pressed his sword closer to its face. He hadn’t even bothered to look behind him as Voresh’s shadow loomed over them both, sword in hand.
“Aim for the neck and the face!”
Not a word was spoken as Voresh walked to the side of Holmgren's head. He took his sword and brought it close to the space between the stone guard's neck and shoulder. After measuring his aim, Voresh pulled his weapon past his own shoulder, then slammed it home in the manner of a man digging past hard dirt with a shovel.
The stone Holmgren's mouth opened in a silent screamed as the stone guard arched its back to buck off Kel’Van seated on top of him. This only led to Kel’Van getting on one knee to further press his weight down on the prone adversary. All while Voresh’s strikes became faster and harder in intensity. The Holmgren let go of his sword with his right hand and turned over on his side to try to avoid Voresh’s assault. Which left Kel’Van’s sword raking across the back of the stone guard's head as it came down instead of stabbing fully into its face.
The Holmgren swung his sword with one hand haphazardly against Kel’Van, but the knight brushed the arm away, stabbing down with his sword repeatedly against its cheek and ear. Voresh carefully chipped downward at its neck between Kel’Van’s strikes until the guard's body stopped moving. Its eyes turned to black as its struggles beneath Kel’Van ceased.
The Aberrant knight was mentally tired, but as Belar ran up behind him and Voresh, he stood up and eyed the two remaining of his group. Then switched his attention to the battle raging near the top of the dais on his right.
“Loot the bodies, then join me at the top with Fer’shad and Lan’kar,” said Kel’Van. He looked at the lower corner of his D.S. and noted he only had 14 minutes till shut down. Th
at had to mean only 20 or twenty five minutes till the guild breaks into Gladys Mountains zone. “ Be quick about it,” he added. “ There isn’t much time left.”
Kel’Van ran with a purpose as he climbed the stairs toward the dais. He could see and hear the spells and strikes reverberating off of Fer’shad’s shield. What he wasn’t prepared for was just how much Ora’El had changed. The guards who had accompanied her into the dungeon had become living statues, but that didn’t change their size and abilities. The being attacking Fer’shad not only resembled her rock skinned minions but was now twice the height with Hit Points to match. They had already experienced her more powerful spells, and when scanned, the familiar “Boss” moniker was added to her name.
Ora’El was wailing upon Fer’shad’s shield with the staff she won from Ter’Abran. He was unsure if the tank already had her in a taunt, but he didn’t really have time to guess. It was 12 minutes before shutdown, and all that stood before them was her. Kel’Van leaped over the remaining steps separating himself from Ora’El, charged his sword with the Seared Flesh spell, and jabbed the point of his sword into the back of the stone witch.
“ Ahhh!” cried Ora’El. “Insolent whelps, I will paint these halls with your entrails!”
She swung her staff behind her like a mace, but Kel’Van had already rolled to her left and thrust his sword against her thigh. A rush of experience points flashed across his vision, and he miniaturized the prompts to the lower right side of his D.S. Which meant the others have looted the bodies and are on their way to join the fight. With that in mind, he veered away even further from the steps so that she could not see them coming.
Ora’El aimed her staff at Kel’Van as he retreated closer to the dais. The staff head glowed bright orange, then two balls of fire fired off in quick succession at the knight. He dodged the first fireball by jumping to his right side, then he sprinted forward in her direction low to the ground, while the second flew over him, almost singing his shoulder. He gripped his short sword tightly as he recast Stone Skin, closing the distance and preparing to strike again at the lower half of her body.
Too close to fire another fireball, she awkwardly swung her staff that Kel’Van was easily able to dip under. He then, in an uppercut motion, raked his sword along the midsection of Ora’El. She gnashed her teeth as one of her hands reflexively reached for her stomach. The knight quickly followed the strike with a spin, gouging his sword against her thigh as she retreated backward.
In desperation, Ora’El lifted her free hand above her head and hurriedly raised a wall of rock between herself and her attacker. As she backed away to regain her bearings, Fer’shad’s shield crashed into her back. The impact sending the earth mage colliding into the very wall of rock she had just created face first, then crumbling onto the ground on her knees. Ora’El braced her free hand against the wall while Lan’kar pelted her with fire blasts from his staff. The impact leaving scorch marks across her back.
“Grawww!!!”
The roar and a shadow blocking the light from above her made Ora’El look skyward. Voresh had leaped from his position on the stairs and gotten airborne, and was now descending upon the stone-skinned mage. His sword gripped in both hands, already slashing down to strike. She raised her staff in both hands in front of her in an attempt to block the incoming blow. The sword smashed down upon the staff, the impact slamming the weapon back into Ora’El’s face. She collapsed on her back and blindly kicked her feet out, pushing the offending warrior a few feet away from her.
The Earth mage tried to get on her feet once more, but a heavy shield slammed down upon her hand. An audible crack could be heard as she snatched her hand in recoil from under Fer’shad’s shield. Hurried footsteps behind her made Ora’El turn her head, just in time to see Kel’Van’s grim visage and now enflamed sword poised for a strike. Suddenly finding herself surrounded, she quickly dispersed the stone wall spell. Ora’El rolled her body through the dust of it crumbling apart and quickly stood up. As she burst through the dirt cloud, a black boot thudded against her body, pushing her backward a couple of steps.
“Going somewhere witch?” asked Belar as she sifted through the dust cloud after Ora’El.
The stone-skinned mage gritted her teeth and stretched forth her hand when a roar sounded off behind her. Her eyes turned red, then she turned around in a rage as she pounded the floor with her staff in hand. She raised her weapon above her head, intending to bash it against Fer’shad and his raised shield when Voresh swung his sword mightily against her mid-section. Kel’Van jabbed his flaming weapon into her back only moments after. She stumbled to her knees only for a second before rising up again, banging her staff with both hands repeatedly onto the bone barrier Fer’shad had placed between them.
The party fell into a rhythm as they continued their attack on the Cathedral boss. Kel’Van maintained his close attacks with his sword from Ora’El’s north side. The same from Belar from the east, while Voresh used his range to attack on the south. Fer’shad held his shield and stabbed forward with his short sword when an opportunity presented itself. They only left enough space for Lan’kar to use his shadow powers to attack and spot heal when necessary. Surrounded as she was, her end was inevitable. For every strike landed, she took three back in return. At some point, Fer’shad even stopped using his taunt skill and began to recklessly bash away at the enemy in front of him. When her HP hit below 5%, she collapsed on one knee. The only thing keeping her from falling on the ground was the staff she was leaning on. At this point, with her skin pitted and cracked, she raised her hand in Kel’Van’s direction.
“HOLD!!” yelled the captain.
The others stopped their onslaught and backed away a few steps. Her breathing labored, Ora’El turned to face her would-be killer.
“It seems you have prevailed where I have not captain,” she smiled.
Kel’Van said nothing. Only the tell-tale sign that he has done what needed doing was prevalent in his eyes and demeanor. Ora’El knew that look all too well.
With a smile, she stared him in the eye and uttered her last words.
“Be done with it, adventurer…”
“Give Ora’El her wish Voresh,” he whispered.
The earth mage eyes never left Kel’Van’s. Even as Voresh walked up behind her, with his ebony-colored bone sword raised above his head. Nor when he plunged it down upon Ora’El’s back as she sat there leaning on her staff. The business end of his weapon piercing all the way through and embedding itself into the ground. Through it all, his eyes stayed glued to hers.
Ora’El of the Orakai was not his friend. She caused him to leave the caverns far faster than he wanted, but she did go into battle with him against a common foe. For that, the least he could do was stand vigil while she breathed her last. He watched as the yellow lights of her eyes began to dim then go dark.
Voresh slowly pulled his weapon from her back as the stone body slumped to the floor, still holding the staff. There was no sense of accomplishment from this victory, only a tired sense of completion.
“This fight was not as tough as the last Boss monster we faced,” remarked Voresh.
“Yet we almost lost to her just the same, didn’t we?” Belar interjected.
“Belar is right. This fight was just as hard as the last, if not harder. Only the tactics were different,” said Kel’Van. “She used her guard as her shield and distraction while she pummeled us from afar. Her attacks had no effect on them, but it did affect us. If we had gone on fighting them without attacking her, it would have been us lying on the ground instead of them.”
“Point taken,” Fer’shad said while looking in the direction of the dais.
Kel’Van also looked at the dais, but with concern. The red and black haze that had surrounded the object earlier had now grown. It’s light now ruminating the whole room. What was once merely a round ball floating above the dais was now an eye. The sclera surrounding the eye was pure black. The pupils were ringed both red and black with a
circle of light looping inside of it…and it was looking directly at Kel’Van.
“We have much to discuss you and I,” It boomed throughout the room. “Much indeed.”
CHAPTER 41
It had grown since they first entered the cathedral. Originally the orb was the size of a large basketball. Now? The eye’s magnitude was that of Kel’Van’s head plus shoulders. Though the circle of light in its eyes was a ring of fire, it still looked human with the sclera filled with darkness. Somehow its familiarity made the thing in front of them more horrifying, not less. The red and black haze now bathed the entire room in its light, like a candle flickering in a dark room. Its gaze seeming to take their measure as they looked on at the object before them.
“Come now, why are you so cautious?” it crooned, though it still was somewhat loud. “ You storm through my caverns, bludgeon you’re way into my temple, and now you’re leary to approach? I think we are far past being wary now…come forth.”
Whether the god had a point or not, there was no mistaking it gave off an ominous presence. So much that all of the party had resumed their battle stances and were crouched close to one another. They were guarded but still gave off a palatable feel of fear. Understandable considering what was in front of them, but they came here for a reason, and time was ticking.
Kel’Van began walking towards the dais when Fer’shad scooted quickly in front of him, shield at the ready. Belar, Voresh, and even Lan’kar took up their respective positions in the diamond formation, which was their default standard position in battle. A wave of pride and accomplishment resonated in his heart. Terrified as they were, soldiers ( because that’s what they have become in his mind now) understood now what the mission comes first means. Even if they have only heard it from him in passing. He was about to tell them to stand down though…approaching a god in a threatening matter would probably not go over well here.
AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND Page 42
