AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND

by Titus Nettles

  At least before Lord Robahn decided he was better suited for the role.

  But the Healers needed to die for it to work. That was the final part of the plan. So as they were dragging their captured prey, Belar continued to claw into the healer's body. Each blow knocking off more and more of their health, while the priest's cries and pleas got worse to hear.

  "FUCK! FUCK!...Get off me!" the one called Daylight screamed as he tried to wiggle out of Belar’s grip. That was only making things worse for him, as the orc gripping his arm had him in a chicken wing type hold. While the other was clawing his face. Belar grabbed the man by one of his legs as they pulled Daylight further into the darkness. Every time he moved, the bones in his arm would grind in his shoulder. The hands gripping his face would dig deeper into his nose and eye, causing more pain and health points to disappear. He pawed at the biceps holding his body, dragging him to god knows where, with the terror mounting with each step the further they went.

  "This is far enough, end this quickly," Belar whispered.

  She quickly dropped one of the legs she was carrying, straightened the remaining limb, then brought her elbow down Daylight's knee with a sickening crunch.

  "SHHHIIIITTTT!!" the priest hollered.

  The leg dangled at an awkward angle, then he was unceremonially dropped on his back. Lan’kar immediately pulled the blade from his side belt before slicing across the side of the healer's neck. The wound immediately started ticking off points in increments from Daylight’s health bar, even after the priest tried to staunch it with his hand. Belar slashed with her claws, first raking across the healer’s chest, then another ripping open flesh on his face, then a right punch to the chest. The three-part attack triggered Titan Punch as she landed a right cross bashing the left side of his jaw. Spittle and blood flew out its mouth as Daylight turned on his side from the blow. The young Holmgren raised the Terran’s arm to repeat Belar’s move of breaking limbs as he looked down upon the bloody mess that was Daylight. He was lying there bleeding out profusely, with a missing eye, scarred face, broken knee, and multiple wounds on his chest. The mewling thing reached out towards Lan’kar, desperately pleading.

  "Stop...Please...it hurts."

  Daylight looked up with a question on his face as Lan’kar buried his knife to the hilt into the side of his body. The healer's hand grasped the forearm of Lan’kar as the orc twisted the weapon, then quickly pulled it out of the man's ribcage.

  The twisting of his blade created both a critical hit and bleed damage that resulted in a constant drain on the healer's HP. Lan’kar pulled his sword to the healer’s cheek while Belar gripped Daylight's throat in her hands and began throttling him, holding his face still. Lan’kar then used the knife’s tip and pushed it through the ruined socket of the healers missing eye. Daylight's body stiffened as the weapon went further and further in.

  Daylight's back arched from the ground, then the body went limp with the head lulling to the side. Lan’kar snatched his sword from his eye and tentatively raised it above the Terran’s chest when Belar waved her hand in front of the young Holmgren's face.

  "There is no need Lan’kar, the last of health points are leaving now.”

  The body evaporated into the now-familiar black miasma cloud, almost masked by the darkness hiding them from their would-be attackers. The experience gained from killing the level 30 player had raised the Lan’kar's own by 1. His health and Magic bars quickly renewed themselves, increasing his strength and magic ability.

  Belar raised herself from the ground and turned to her left, where she could still hear the wailing of the other healer. With a sigh , she tapped Lan’kar on the shoulder and pointed in the direction the cries were coming from.

  "Let's finish this and be done with it," she said grimly.

  A light not far from Lan’kar was now shining behind him, floating in the darkness towards them. He motioned with his chin in the direction of the light, reinforcing their need to hurry.

  "Daylights gone!" shouted Bronze. He and Steele had found their way to Ellis by seeing him and BlueBallz blaze the sky with their spells against the boss monster.

  "I saw his HP go out on the D.S. just like you did Bronze," Ellis replied. As he watched the left corner of his screen with the party's hp bars, he could see Heal4Me wasn't far behind from exiting the game either.

  "Why aren't they healing themselves?" He frantically thought.

  "Steele, Rose is already back there trying to reach them. Judging by what happened to Daylight, she needs help putting down whatever is attacking us from the rear. Get back there and assist!" he ordered.

  Blueballz was already sending another round of magical spheres at the Raid Boss pounding on Bedrock's shield. Meanwhile, Ellis continued unloading on the Herald with fire spells against his shoulder to bring down its HP faster.

  "What?" exclaimed Bronze, his long brown hair. swishing across his face as he turned to Ellis. "Steel’s shield wards are twice as strong as mine!"

  "He doesn't have direct heals now, does he," Ellis snarled. You're what's keeping the tanks up right now till we get the healers up here!" Ellis looked at the hesitant paladin Bronze, who seemed loath to leave. "Get this done, Bronze!"

  The quick patter of boots pounding the ground let Ellis know that Steele was gone. His team was never this bad at following his directions, but this was a nerve-wracking situation they were in right now. The pain algorithm had to be beyond max setting. Judging from the screams behind them and the way Brighteyes bit the bullet, nothing else explained it. Hell, he was still feeling the effects from the rock wave earlier. His arms began to blaze as he raised them toward the dark monster and cast Heart of the sun again and again. Bedrock’s taunt is almost over, and the Raid boss would be upon the casters once more. Bronze's raised hands towards Bedrock and cast Holy Exuberance, a heal capable of restoring half a player's health points. Great heals that will help the team, but he wasn't a healer specced fighter, and his heals cost vast amounts of mana each time he used them. They needed those healers now, or they weren't gonna last another 2 minutes...

  Belar and Lan’kar reached the two other members of her team through the screams coming from their victim.

  The scene was a gruesome mess.

  Heal4me was lying on the ground covered in blood, his eyes bulging out of his sockets, his leg almost severed from his body. Fer'shad was slamming the bottom half of his shield upon his mid-section. Voresh had his sword raised over his head, seemingly preparing to complete the separation of the priest's leg from the body.

  The picture was grim, but their captain was out there taking the mission to task; they could at least do the same. She then grabbed Terran's remaining leg, preparing to quicken the player's demise when she heard voices yelling behind him.

  "Hurry, I see shapes in this direction around somebody on the ground!"

  Before Belar could react, balls of fire began exploding only meters away from her location. Through the blaze of fire, he could see two figures cover their faces while the barrage continued from her right from Lan’kar, making a direct line separating the two groups from one another.

  She cursed under her breath. The wall of fire from an under 20 elite mob couldn't slow these level 30 players for long, but they didn't know that and she wasn't about to enlighten them on it either. But it did mean they only had a few seconds to get rid of the other healer if a taunt wasn't still on Kel’Van. She pulled the limb in her hand tight against her body as she raised her elbow, then brung it crashing down on his knee. Heal4Me was shaking his head and screaming as if in a terrible nightmare as Belar’s fist came speeding toward its face. Then the black and red-tinged smoke around them circled Belar's party in an embrace...then they were gone.

  "Oh my god," was all Steele could say when they first saw the macabre mess that was Heal4Me.

  Rose raised a fist to her mouth and bit the mailed glove in frustration and disgust. The blood and damage to their priest was nothing she had ever seen before outside of a hor
ror flick. She looked at her teammate, who only stared at her in return before he scampered to the priest laying there in what had to be absolute torment. They both kneeled on either side of him as he mumbled incoherently to himself.

  "I can't wake up...I can't wake up," trembled Heal4Me.

  "Listen to me," said Rose as she grabbed his face in the palm of her hands and directed it towards hers.

  "Rose?" he asked, finally taking notice of her. His face crumpled into a visage of utter despair in her hands as tears continued to run down his cheeks. " I can't wake up Rose...I can't wake up!"

  "Heals, listen to me," she coaxed. The nickname everyone called him suddenly grabbing more of his attention. "You are not dreaming Healz, you're in Avarice...but just like a dream, it isn't real...the pain isn't real...and unlike a dream, you can do something about it."

  "Not...a dream?" Heal4Me stuttered.

  "No, but Rose is right...you can heal yourself," added Steele as he rested a reassuring arm on his shoulder. He was trying his best not to look at the blood an offal by keeping his attention strictly on the man's face." Just try Healz."

  The priest, still trembling in fear and hurt, closed his eyes. At first, nothing happened; only creased lines on Heal4Me's forehead appeared.

  "C'mon Healz, you can do this," mouthed Rose.

  Trembling again and holding on to Steele's hand, he closed his eyes in concentration once more. Rays of light started to lift up from the bottom of the floor beneath him. A circle of appeared underneath all three of them, then the almost severed leg bathed in a quick flash of gold. As the light disappeared, the limb looked whole if not reddish.

  "Good Healz, that was really good...see, I told you would be fine, one more time now.." Rose coached.

  It only took another spell to replenish all the HP he'd lost from the attacks he suffered earlier. Steele gripped his hand in a pull, with Rose loping a hand underneath his arm to help him up.

  "There ya go Healz," Rose coaxed. "We need to just keep the others healed up so they can beat the monster up ahead, then we can all leave this place. She grabbed the troubled man's face close to hers. You can do that, right Healz?"

  Heal4Me's face got a little lighter and determined but not by much. He straightened his back and looked at the light show of the remaining mages attacking The massive monster ahead of them.

  "Heal everyone, and then we can leave," the priest breathed evenly. "Yeah, I think I can do that Rose."

  He started walking away from them at a brisk pace, while the two paladins walked only slightly slower to remain out of earshot.

  "The man looks like he's going to fall apart any minute Rose. Maybe we should have let him die so that he could get out of here," Steele quietly murmured. "That is not the look of a mentally stable person at all."

  "Are you forgetting the number of in-game credits we got paid to make this nightmare run?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Not to mention the amount we are getting after we plant that flag? I think Healz can hang on till we finish this thing. Trust me, he'll thank us later."

  Steele wasn't too sure about that. Especially since she wasn't the one who got ripped to ribbons like the way Heal4Me just did. He said nothing as he stared at Rose's naked callousness on display. She only grunted and stared at the priest's back as he prepared a healing spell.

  "Besides, what point is it for him opt out now? The only way home is to die, and he'd only be awake for 2 minutes...Did you see how much time is left for the shutdown and reboot?"

  Steele stole a glance at his lower D.S. They had about 8 minutes left game time to fight, but in real-world time everyone was already strapped into their dive machines and ready for their last uplink. She may have had a point, but it was for the wrong reasons. Definitely, nothing concerning her teammates well being. Once this was over, he would make sure that Bronze, Healz, and himself were never going to partner with Rose again. He silently nodded and moved his way forward past Rose and closer to the center where the mages were.

  "Good, you guys made it," Ellis said while laying into the smoke walking monster in front of them with fire blasts.

  Bronze quickly spread his hands from his body and closed his eyes.

  "Mana res," he said quietly.

  A crystal appeared in front of him, then shattered into a million small pieces. The debris began to encircle himself and the other magic casters in bright sun-kissed light. Then he monetarily fell on one knee.

  "That's it," the paladin huffed."My mana is now on empty."

  It's all good," said Steele laying a hand on his shoulder. " The Mana res spell will have you back up to snuff in 4 minutes instead of ten."

  The boss monster bashed his black sword against Bedrock's shield, the heavy blow sending the tank to its knees, gnashing his teeth. The all too human eyes buried in the darkness had closed into slits as it followed his initial strike with its black stone claws across Bedrocks protection. The impact almost ripping his shield from the tank's arms, and an audible pop could be heard from the shoulder as the shield hung low his hand.

  "SHHHIT!!" he hissed as he backed away a bit, wondering how he was going to block the next blow.

  Heal4Me stretched forth his hands and cast Grand heal on the lumbering tank. The spell released an oval light underneath him with rays of gold shooting up from it and bathing BedRock in light. The creature of rock and shadow suddenly lurched its faceless gaze from the tank and onto the casters in the center.

  "Oh shit, here he comes," Ellis warned. " Steele, get that shield ward up! Mages, to the right and keep firing shots, Paladins protect our healer while he goes to work!"

  Kel’Van roared his challenge and rushed into the center of the raid with sword and claw while his team viewed the carnage from a rock crevice above.

  Standing closer toward the edge of the battle, he had a more complete view of the scene raging in front of him. Kel’Van had moved at a quick clip on toward the center of the raid where the spellcasters were located. One of the paladins raised his hands to the sky, and a rune inscribing itself in the air as if a giant pin was drawing it, floated above the paladin's body. Then it exploded into a blue-tinged dome surrounding the magic users. The barrier appeared just in time to block his clawed hand. Instead of bodies, it raked across the shield's surface.

  The dome buckled and sent the paladin to its knees as the dark herald followed up his initial blow with a strike from its ebony blade. Bluballz fired off magical blasts of azure-colored arcane pulses aimed at the monster's shoulders, while Ellis fire blasts targeted its chest. Bedrock charged the monster's back with his shield, slamming into him at full force. Rose made a leap attack that launched her airborne, striking the monster's rib and stomach area as he continued assaulting the barrier protecting the mages beneath it.

  The raid boss suddenly stopped attacking, backing up away from the raid. He then thrust his clawed hand into the ground. Then the red-tinged dark smoke that made up the lower half of his body rushed forward, filling the ground and surrounding the area.

  "Brace for that earth spell!" Ellis yelled." Rose, stay close to the healer and stop any ambush!" Ellis stumbled as he got closer to Steele and Bronze.

  "Steele, aim your shield directly between all four of us and the ground."

  "Wait...what?" asked Steele, perplexed. "What difference would-"

  "The ground spikes attack on contact, right?" Ellis interrupted. "If we aren’t in contact with the ground, it can't hit us!"

  Steele bobbed his head in understanding and began pushing his ward between the casters and the ground.

  "I can't protect the tanks from here Ellis!" cried the paladin.

  "They got armor to help mitigate the damage." Ellis looked over to where Bedrock and Mr. Tower was. "Healz, get ready to heal them as soon as that earth spell hits them. No need to leave them in pain ay longer than we have to."

  Heal4Me flinched from the word and nodded his head.

  "Just five more minutes, and we can leave.." he muttered to himself.

&nbs
p; Ellis looked at his remaining priest and got the shivers. Heal4Me was shaking again with that same nervous smile upon his face. His eyes were almost bulging out of his sockets. He quickly turned to Steele with a questioning look. The paladin just shook his head with a gaze that said, "you don't want to know."

  Just then, the familiar rumbling of the earth came pounding its way towards them, building to a crescendo as it came closer. Spikes of stone shot out of the ground once the wave hit the two tanks. Bedrock had angled his shield just close to his foot. The shield caught two of the spikes, pushing him backward, though a third clipped him across his chest. It did not pierce his armor, but the blunt force was enough to punch him into the sky.

  Mr. Tower was not as fortunate.

  Ellis watched as his brother, who was not geared in heavy armor, get speared through his thigh and stomach. He tried jumping over the wave, but the stalagmites caught him at the highest point of his leap. The man tried to scream but could only gurgle loudly as his throat coughed sprays of blood into the air.

  Ellis’s mouth hung open wordlessly as he watched his brother cling to the sharp rock protruding through his body. Then it disappeared, dropping the wounded tank back into the black and maroon smoke pervading the area.

  The fire mage quickly turned to his priest, grabbing the already unsteady man by his shoulders.

  "What are you waiting for! " he screamed. "Heal the man!"

  Heal4Me's eyes started to flutter about wildly. " I...I can't heal what I can't see!"

  Ellis kicked himself mildly in his head. Of course, he couldn't heal him in this smoke-filled fog there were in. He was about to let loose some fire spells over the direction the tank fell to aid his priest. Then the Raid boss floated over to the area and made his actions pointless.