The rowboat the players used to get from one island to the next bumped into the rocky shore. Calista and Trajan jumped out first, crouching low, and waited to see if anything would attack them. After a few seconds, they waved the others on and dragged the boat higher up the shore so it wouldn’t float away on the tide.
After completing all the quests on the first island, the few there were, they’d moved up two levels, but it was the quest on this island Calista was curious to see where it would lead. This Bringer of Winds character was their ticket to the end game, the last hurdle before they reached their goal of finally being able to take the fight to Valenastrious. This island lacked any trees; instead, sharp boulders jutted up towards the sky. No birds sang out and, from what the islanders had said before they left, this place had once been inhabited, but it had been weeks since they had heard anything from this now desolate place.
“What do you think is here?” Maverick asked.
“Either a great clue,” Trajan suggested as the group moved stealthily along, “or a bunch of pissed off Demons ready to kill us all.”
Either option was entirely possible and Calista ensured she had a solid grip on her weapons before pressing onwards. Her boots sank into the layers of rock, making it hard to walk, and when they reached the first set of boulders, they had to veer to the right.
“This can’t be natural,” Jimmy said, running his hands over the stones.
“You think someone came here and erected them like this? Why?” Maverick asked. “What’s the point?”
“No…no this was from something natural, look how smooth the surfaces are.” Calista ran her fingers over them, amazed at the softness to the hard surface. “As if they were worn down and shaped by…by the winds.”
Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Way to get us all freaking out early.”
“Just saying,” Calista mumbled. “Be on your guard, just in case.”
“Yeah, just in case what? The next Demon Lord is on the other side of these stones?”
Calista eyed Jimmy with a funny look. “You were part of the epic battle we just had in the woods, right? Where we killed a Demon Lord, not in his dungeon? For all we know, Valen unleashed him out here to try and kill us off early.”
She was not ready to face down another Demon Lord, none of them were. The two losses were too fresh in everyone’s minds, but whatever was on the other side of those stones, they’d face it head on. They slowed as they reached what appeared to be a gap in the stones. Maverick shifted as she, Arthur, Trajan, and Calista took point. Trajan counted down three on his fingers and, together, they leapt around the edge of the stone barrier to find, well, nothing.
Or at least not what Calista expected to see.
“Clear,” she said and stepped into the carved-out center that had once been the island. “What could do this?”
The damage was like nothing she’d ever seen before in real life or in a game. It was like someone had taken a giant ice cream scoop and dug out the center of the island, taking everything with it. There were remnants of boards and dead trees, but no sign of anything living. The inside of the erected stones was smoother than the outside and, when Calista stepped back to the edge again to peer at the center, she blinked in amazement.
A perfect swirl formed starting from the stones and ran inwards until it hit its center.
“Bringer of Winds,” Maverick whispered after she shifted back. “I’m going to guess he was here and he destroyed the tiny bit of civilization that was here.”
Calista stopped moving when a prompt appeared before her.
Quest Updated: Bringer of the Winds: First sighting found.
Quest Accepted: Kill Remnants
“Remnants?” she said. “What the hell is a remnant?”
A strange gust of wind picked up her hair and she angrily shoved it out of her face. The wind gusted again, harder this time, and the players yelled in alarm as it pushed around them, shoving them towards the center of the island. Calista managed to hang onto her weapons, but the wind’s persistent tugging made it near impossible to do that and stay on her feet. Then, as quickly as the wind came up, it stopped.
“What was that for?” Maverick held her spear longways before her, watching for an attack.
Calista had her eyes wide, searching for the attack she sensed was coming. At first, she thought there was something in her eye and blinked, trying to clear it away. Then she remembered, in game she couldn’t just get something in her eye. The blurriness she saw increased and began to swirl into a twister-like shape.
“Do you see that?” She pointed it out with her mace as a second appeared and a third and a fourth. “Think we found the remnants.”
“Wind elementals,” Sorgon said. “That’s what these are.”
The wind howled fiercely as the fully formed remnants blocked the heroes’ way out. Without warning, they shot across the open space and engaged them in combat.
But fighting a wind elemental was harder than it looked. Every hit Calista threw at it seemed to go straight through. She used her Blazing Fury and managed a single hit out of the four it charged, but the elemental zipped around her and hit her from behind. They were almost playful in nature and it ticked her off more than anything.
“Just stand still so I can hit you!” she ranted, and she attacked again and again with hardly any effect. “Can anyone get off any hits here?”
Maverick was in beast form and swatted madly at one of the remnants, but it zoomed around her paws, missing the driving slam she attempted to use. It slammed into her side dealing a hefty hit that left her dazed.
Calista had a moment to catch her breath as the elemental was pulled in by Trajan’s Battle Cry. Something glimmered a few yards away and she leaned back, unsure of what she saw. But when she leaned forward again, she realized there was something on the ground over there. Ignoring if it was part of the quest or not, she dodged around another swirling elemental and slid to the ground to snatch the item up.
She tapped the item and a message appeared.
Crystal of the Lost Tribe. Use to ground Wind Elementals.
Calista grinned and squeezed the dark green crystal in her hand. Immediately, it burst to light and she swung around, shining the light over the remnants. Their howling increased in their anger, but they could no longer move, and the longer she held the light on them, the more solid they appeared.
“What did you do?” Jimmy asked, but Calista yelled at them to attack, not wanting to waste time since the crystal gave no indication of how long it would last.
One by one, the remnants fell and the crystal ceased glowing as the last one was obliterated.
“Huh, where did you find that?” Trajan asked as they gathered around Calista.
“In the dirt. Think we’re going to have to find more of these,” she said and sighed when it crumbled to dust in her hand. “A lot more of them if the Demon Lord is what I think he is.”
“Another elemental?” Jimmy suggested and spun in a circle, taking in the destruction left behind. “A very, very large elemental.”
Calista checked her quest log, happy to see it updated again with the next part of this quest leading them to another island in the chain. This one brought them to the southern reaches of Dead Man’s Bay, not too far off the shore of Harborage. They spent a few more minutes searching for more clues or crystals, but found nothing of use. The march back to the boats was more hopeful than the march around the stones.
So close, they were so close now to finishing this. Calista helped push their boat back into the water and they rowed to the first island where the captain would sail them around the southwest tip of Samar and into Dead Man’s Bay. The salty air whipped her hair back and stung her eyes, but Calista didn’t mind. Today when they logged in, she was numb to her emotions and the world around them. Now, she was alive and felt strength filling her limbs. There was no time for worries or doubts. This was it, the end game was coming and she had to be read
y.
They all had to.
Chapter 12
Jimmy whooped as he and the rest of the guild dinged.
You have reached level 84. See your Trainer to select your next level Talent.
“Why couldn’t we have had these all along! Those XP boosts are insane,” he announced, bouncing with excitement. They’d been level 79 when they completed the final quest on the islands and returned to the Black Sea Fort to turn in. Those seven quests gave them a push past level 80, where they hoped to be before facing the final Demon Lord. “This is going to be a cake walk.”
“Yeah, a cake walk against a Demon Lord made of wind,” Trajan said dryly. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jimmy didn’t care for Trajan’s dour mood. They were well above the level they needed to be at to face this final challenge and, after grinding the last day and a half, he was ready to get these Demon Lords finished with. One more remained, just one, and then they’d be going after Valen. Bishop’s salvation was so close, Jimmy could already hear his friend’s laugh as they woke him up and sat back with beers, joking about the crazy times they had spent in this game saving his butt.
“Jimmy! Did you hear me?” Maverick said and smacked his arm to get his attention. “We’re heading to Weston to select our Talents before we hit the Demon Lord. You good?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” He followed the others as they gathered around, ready to take the trip back to Weston. “Is anyone else worried we don’t have any of those crystals and we’re about to go up against the biggest tornado we’ll all ever see?”
“No, the others we didn’t find unless we needed them,” Calista pointed out. “I’m sure they’ll be there when we need them.”
“You need to get some purifying oils.”
“What, why? I’ve hardly had a chance to use my Shadow Summon,” he protested, but she was probably right. It’d be a bad idea to walk into a dungeon and not have his soul cleansed. He spent so much concertation lately on his Life Absorb and using the exorcist ability against the hordes of Demons that he forgot about his Shadow Summon.
That’s a lie and you know it, he told himself as he made ready to use his milestone and head back to Weston. If he wanted to be honest with himself, he was scared to use that ability in case it did taint his soul.
They had enough issues to deal with. If his soul became too clouded with shadow and darkness, how did he know Valen wouldn’t use that against him somehow? Turn another of their guild against them and use him to some horrible ends? No, Jimmy left that ability alone and would continue to do so until they cleared this game.
Once back in Weston, the players headed straight for the Training Hall and branched off to their separate Trainers. Jimmy stepped into the dark room and watched as his Talent Tree and Skills Tree lit up before him. Level 80. He couldn’t believe he was here, but knew in rushing through the game, they’d missed a ton of content. He’d wanted to enjoy every aspect of this game, but that option went out the window over thirty levels ago.
“Alright then,” he mused as he stepped up to the wall. “What are we going to choose today?”
His options weren’t as great as he had hoped, but he had to decide at some point. His first choice would increase his armor by 20% which wasn’t all bad considering they were getting ready to enter their last dungeon. His second would enhance his Holy Light Attack, dealing out an extra 15% damage in bursts that would last over fifteen seconds, but it took up 10% more power to use. And the last option gave him the passive ability to use a sword as well as his staff.
“Dual wielding, that could be interesting,” he murmured, but the more he thought through it, he wasn’t one to use two weapons. The sword would probably get in the way at some point. He passed on that and debated between his first two options.
Unsure which one would be better, he let his hand reach out and chose the one it landed on.
“Well, that solves that problem. Holy Light boost it is.” He accepted the new Talent and checked over his Skills to see if he could upgrade anything while he was there. He had enough Shards for one upgrade and focused on his Holy Light attack. The Tier three abilities would either make it so it reduced the cool down by 30 seconds, or it would regenerate his health for each successful enemy killed with this ability. “Damn, talk about OP Holy Light.”
It wasn’t even a question and he picked the second choice. The Demon Shards were removed from his bag and he stepped out of the room with a bounce to his step. This was going to be a good fight, he could feel it in his bones. Nothing was going to go wrong today.
***
“I lied.” Jimmy gulped as he and the rest of the guild peered down into the crater set at the center of the final island where the Bringer of the winds resided.
“About what?” Maverick asked confused.
“To myself, I lied to myself about today going well.”
The swirling windstorm at their feet crackled with lightning and dark power, making Jimmy jump. He expected to be fighting a giant tornado of some kind, but this…this was way worse than that. And they hadn’t found any crystals since their ship had reached the shore. Not a single one.
“This is going to be impossible.”
“Stop it,” Calista muttered. “If you go in thinking we’re going to lose, then we’ve already lost.”
Jimmy waved his arms madly around. “Do you see the same thing I’m seeing? He’s not even solid and we have no crystals to use against him, so how are we supposed make him solid enough to even take him out? I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic.”
Maverick stomped on his foot all the same and gave him a look that said to just shut up before someone decked him.
“We have to get down there first,” Trajan said. “Think that’s it over there.”
Part of the rock was cut away and makeshift stairs jutted out of the far wall of the circular cavern. Jimmy fell in line with the guild and they hurried to the stairs, jumping more than stepping down closer and closer to a Demon Lord who as far as Jimmy could tell, didn’t even have a face. When they hit bottom, the swirling winds slowed and a voice boomed around them.
“You are the heroes killing my remnants,” the voice said, sounding more like howling than speaking.
“Yes, that’s us,” Calista yelled. “And now we’ve come to kill you!”
“You will try and you will fail. Then I will be free of these islands! Free to roam all Samar and carve out a new home for my remnants!”
Jimmy shook his head, whispering to himself about not having a plan, when something shiny caught his eye. It was behind a crack in a raised part of the floor. There were four more, spread out around the cavern. He tapped Calista on the shoulder.
“See those?”
She grinned instantly. “Think you just found our crystals.”
“Those are big ones,” he murmured.
The Demon Lord hadn’t attacked yet, but they couldn’t have much time until it did. Calista pointed out the cracks to the others and their plan was set. While the tanks held the Demon Lord’s attention, the DPS would rush around and break out the crystals to be used against the swirling mass of wind. Jimmy was thankful they were a few levels ahead and it would help keep them all alive a bit longer, but how hard would it be to break through the ground?
The howling winds turned deafening and Trajan lead the attack, pulling the aggro of the boss first, but it was hard to hold it. The driving winds had a mind of their own and, every few seconds, a gust lashed out randomly attacking any players within range. There was no timing it and no warning making it near impossible to dodge the hits, but that wasn’t the worst part.
“We can’t break through!” Sorgon yelled. “We need something else!”
He stood over one of the many cracked portions in the ground. After beating on it for a few minutes, nothing happened. Jimmy watched another gust of wind appear and, not sure what he was thinking, drew it to him the best he could. He attacke
d it and, the second it targeted him, he dove towards the crack in the ground. Just as it was crashing down, ready to smash him into the ground, he rolled away and it struck the crack. The ground broke open and a dark green crystal was quickly brushed free of dirt and rock. It pulsed with power, but wasn’t strong enough to attack the Demon Lord, not yet.
“We have to use the wind!” Jimmy yelled. “Be careful!”
The Demon Lord clearly knew what they were up to and turned his full attack towards Sorgon and Jimmy. They raced away as Trajan and Arthur worked at dragging his attention back, but the Demon Lord ignored them as if they weren’t there. The wind picked up speed and Jimmy felt his feet sliding backwards across the smooth ground. He dug his staff into the stone and held on for dear life. Sorgon yelled in alarm and Jimmy caught him at the last second, clutching at his hand.
“I’ve got you!” he said, waiting for the wind to die down, but it only grew worse. The staff wobbled violently and threatened to break.
Sorgon shook his head and, to Jimmy’s horror, let go. “I’ll be fine!”
“No!” Jimmy tried to grab hold tighter, but the staff bent and a few others around them had to hold on tight to stop the winds from dragging them away.
“I’m not letting it take both of us!” Sorgon wrenched his hand away and, as Calista screamed his name with Jimmy, they watched Sorgon be swept up into the storm. He swirled around and around, but then he was just gone from sight. The winds ceased and Jimmy fell to the ground.
“Sorgon!”
But it was too late. He was gone.
The wind cackled madly before it started to pick up speed again and another gust lashed out. Calista yelled a warning, but Jimmy ignored it. He sprinted towards it so it targeted him and raced to the next crack in the ground. Trajan called after him, but he tuned everything else out. He was done with this game, tired of losing people he cared about, tired of feeling powerless. He was ending it. Now.
The gust slammed against the second crack in the ground, exposing another green crystal. This one pulsed stronger than the first, but they needed all five uncovered to be successful in an attack. Calista grabbed his arm and whirled him around.
The Final Chapter Page 15
