“She would have been fine,” Geoff snorted. “We’ve all died at least once before.”
“I don’t care,” George said flatly. “I won’t put her at risk.”
“Whatever,” Geoff shrugged. “It was your potion.”
Barbara eyed Geoff with pursed lips, but didn’t say anything. When she was ready, she stood up, the others following her lead. “We’ll go slow when we go in. We don’t want to get caught by more than one group if possible.”
Approaching the door to the Keep, they were all surprised to see the doors undamaged from Gatkic’s earlier exit. The interior was lit by sickly green globes that seemed stuck to the ceiling.
“This place doesn’t look healthy,” George commented.
“Disease or poison is likely,” Kim added as she shimmered and began to enter the hallway cautiously.
Pausing a short way into the hall, Kim disarmed the first trap she found. She placed the thin vial of greenish gas to the side for George to examine before creeping further in to find more traps.
George picked up the vial and gave it a hard stare. “I can’t get a read on this. It’s obviously poison, but that’s all I can get.”
“Pocket it and move on,” Geoff shrugged. “We can get an alchemist in Stormguard to identify it later.”
Not having any other options, George did as suggested and slipped the vial into his bag. As the group slowly followed after Kim, the air became colder, and a sickly sweet scent permeated the area.
“Keep your eyes open,” Barbara said softly. They had paused where the hall came to a junction and split off to the left and right. There was a recent chalk mark on the left-hand side that stood out to her. “Kim marked that she went left, which means that we might have enemies come up behind us.”
Rolland, who was trailing them, nodded. “I’ll keep checking.”
They found Kim at the next corner, peering around it. “I saw a couple of the Orcs go into the room just ahead. There aren’t any traps between here and there.”
“This might alert those inside the Keep, so be ready for a long fight,” Barbara said as she looked at the group. “Rolland, when we go in, close the door behind us. Maybe that will help muffle the sounds enough so we don’t get…”
Trailing off, Barbara frowned at the dim sound of fighting. “Are they fighting each other?” George asked, having heard the same noise.
“Maybe we won’t have to be as cautious, then,” Geoff snickered.
“Let’s go before they stop and heal,” Barbara said, wanting to seize the moment.
Leading them to the door, they all rushed in to see eight Orcs in the middle of a fight. Rolland shut the door behind him, just in case things got really loud. The two groups of four Orcs were wearing different types of armor that separated them from each other.
Before either set of Orcs realized that the party had entered the room, Barbara crashed into the back of the closest Orc. The Orc was cut down before the remaining ones turned to fight them.
“Gruttic calls truce to kill them,” Gruttic said.
“Skalim agrees,” the leader of the other Orcs agreed. “Get them, boys!”
A black cloud engulfed the Orcs briefly, causing them all to choke before it vanished. “They’re weaker now,” Geoff said as he focused on the ranged Orc.
“Rolland, you and Geoff take out the archer,” Barbara called out as she took up a defensive stance, ready to use her area of effect Taunt. “I’ll hold the rest of them until he can start peeling them off.”
The fight was brutal and dirty, but the group managed to kill the Orcs without too much difficulty. Resting as their health and mana regenerated, Barbara smiled, “Good work. I was a bit worried about the number, but with Geoff’s debuffs and Rolland’s ability to lock them in place, it really made a difference.”
“Of course,” Geoff rolled his eyes. “You’d all would have serious trouble without my help.”
“There are times I think that if you had minions, it would be easier,” Rolland said. “But I can’t deny that the Abilities you took to not use them and getting the better debuffs have been a big help in a lot of our fights.”
Geoff smirked, “You are finally going to admit that I’m better than you?”
Eyebrow raising, Rolland sighed, “Sure, let’s go with that.” Kim started to say something, but Rolland squeezed her hand and cut her off. “You have been a bigger part of our success than me,” Rolland continued on with a faint smile. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Nice that you finally realized it,” Geoff said, all but preening.
“If you two are done,” Barbara sighed as she got to her feet, “let’s loot and move.”
The rest of the ground floor was cleared with them coming across only two more Orc groups and disarming another dozen traps. When they had reached the stairs leading to the second floor, Kim went up ahead of them to search for traps.
A puff of green and a stifled scream announced that Kim had found the trap the wrong way. She came tumbling down the stairs, the acid eating into her. George began to heal her as soon as she had appeared.
Rolland started to go to her, but Barbara held him back. “It’s acid. You’ll just get inflicted with it too,” she told him.
Gnashing his teeth, Rolland stopped. “You’re right,” he hissed, watching Kim’s flesh get dissolved, then healed, then dissolved again.
The acid finally ran out, and George got Kim healed fully before he leaned against the banister. “That did a lot of damage… you okay, Kim?”
“The trap had a secondary trigger on it,” Kim said as she slowly got to her feet. “I haven’t seen a double trigger in a while... it caught me by surprise.”
“Now that you’re fine and George has his mana back,” Barbara said, “are you’re ready to take the lead again?”
Rolland— having been released by Barbara— grabbed Kim and gave her a hug. “No more dissolving.”
Kim hugged him back, “I thought you liked the sloggy look.” Giving him a quick kiss, she engaged her stealth, “But I will be more cautious now.” Separating from him with a last squeeze of his hand, Kim went back up the stairs.
The second floor seemed deserted as she disabled the first few traps. The walls of the second floor had dried blood smeared on them at irregular intervals and heights. Kim kept an eye on them while she kept looking for traps.
The group trailed along behind her, George pausing at the first blood smear. “These stains are only a week old or so,” he said before they started moving again. “There are also small fragments of flesh in a few of them,” he added as he looked at the second smear.
“Maybe these came from the Orcs becoming mutated?” Rolland suggested.
“You think that something in here mutated them?” Barbara asked.
“No,” George said. “Their armor fit just fine, which means they were mutated before they got here.”
“Does it matter?” Geoff sneered. “They are going to die anyway. The blood is likely just from them fighting each other.”
Barbara glanced at Geoff but shrugged, “He has a point.”
Kim came to a stop ahead of them next to a set of double doors. The others stopped and waited for her. When she motioned them forward, they crept as silently as they could to her position.
“I can hear voices inside the room,” she whispered. “No idea what might be in there, but it sounds like the other Orcs we already faced.”
“We’ll have to go in,” Barbara said. “Everyone ready?”
Once they all agreed they were, Kim checked the door and discovered it was locked. She deftly picked it open and fell to the back of the group. Once Kim was out of the way, Barbara kicked the door open and rushed inside.
Four Orcs all dressed in soft leathers and sporting staves turned to face them when the door burst open. “Stupid brutes can’t even keep trash from the halls,” one of them sneered.
The group entered and spread out to make area spells less effective. Barbara Charg
ed the speaker, her shield slamming into him as the fight started. “Focus fire! Lock down the other casters,” Barbara called out.
Rolland focused on one of the casters and encased him in ice. Kim targeted another to hit with a trap, encasing them in amber. Two of the four were locked into harmlessness for a couple of minutes, leaving Barbara to deal with the two who weren’t. One Orc was already shaking off the stun she had hit it with.
Geoff finished a spell that blinded the Orc Barbara wasn’t directly fighting. “That is the best I have for stopping him,” Geoff said as he started to cast Death Bolt.
Kim appeared beside the Orc that was shaking off Barbara’s stun, attacking him from behind. “Rolland, can you slow them?”
An icy wind blew through the room, leaving particles of frost on the two who weren’t trapped. “On it,” Rolland said as he transitioned into Ice Bolts.
“I’ll one up that,” Geoff said, the first Death Bolt leaving his hands.
“Stop trying to one up him and focus,” George snapped. “Just kill them!”
Geoff snarled but went back to Death Bolts. The fight ended after a couple of minutes; Kim had been able to reapply her trap on the Orc she had trapped earlier, stopping them from being overwhelmed.
Recovering after the fight, Barbara took a deep breath. “Elementalists and Shamans? Not the best combo for us to deal with. Glad we have enough control spells to make it easier.”
“Probably another few parties of them on this level,” Kim said as she got to her feet. “I’ll start down the hallway.”
“We’ll follow in a few minutes,” George said, his mana still regenerating.
Kim was right: the floor had three more groups of casters. The last set had surprised them as they were about to leave a room. That fight turned out to be harder than the others, but they won in the end.
“One more floor,” George panted as he leaned against the wall. “I have a bad feeling about what the boss is going to be like.”
“Considering the mini-boss was buffed by the boss and this floor held casters…” Barbara nodded. “Yeah, he’s going to be a caster type.”
“I think he’ll be a breaker,” Rolland added.
“You think so?” Kim asked.
“It’s very likely considering what we’ve seen so far,” Rolland replied. “With everything being bigger and mutated, it almost guarantees it.”
“We’ll kill him, so who cares?” Geoff snorted.
Everyone chuckled at his certainty. Barbara got to her feet, helping George up after her. “Well, let’s go see about taking this Keep from him.”
Kim went before them up to the third floor, checking for traps as she went. The stairwell was littered with traps, as was the short hallway to a set of double doors. Over an hour later, she had cleared them a path and gotten the doors untrapped and unlocked.
“Well, that would have been bad for anyone without a Trapsmith,” Kim said. “As it was, a few of those were right on the edge of my ability to deal with.”
“But you managed,” Rolland said, giving her a hug. “We’ll take a nice vacation after this, get married, and see what life has in store for us after that.”
“I second this plan,” George grinned.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to finish this Keep today. If you’re all going to take time off afterwards, I might need to find another party,” Geoff said, his lip curling up in distaste.
“We’ll figure it out later,” Barbara said evenly. “We need to focus and be ready for anything. Is everyone ready?”
Once they all gave her the go-ahead, Barbara pushed the doors open and stepped into the large room. Dark green lights pulsed from the walls and ceiling from globules, illuminating the room in an even sicklier green than the rest of the Keep had been.
As the door opened, a large Orc wearing bone-looking armor turned to face them. His face was covered by a black hood that gave no hint of his features. “I’ve been waiting for you all,” the voice was strong, but choked with phlegm. With a snort, the Orc spat a thick glob of green onto the nearest light, where it seemed to be absorbed. “You’ve cost me my peons, but that’s fine. It was about time to get rid of them, anyway. I do want to know how you found my Keep.”
“I led them here,” Geoff said, standing fully upright and sneering. “You have the helm I’ve been seeking. My quest says if you die, I can recover it.”
“Wait, so you knew we were going to find him here?” Barbara said, turning on Geoff. “You said that you heard about this Keep from your trainer.”
“I did. The hood the beast wears is an artifact of my class,” Geoff snickered. “I’ll still be taking my share of the Keep as well as the hood.”
“Should have known,” Rolland said, his knuckles cracking. “You’ve always been a bit of a prick, Geoff. If you had told us, we still would have come.”
“You would have wanted to know more, Rolland,” Geoff sneered at the Elementalist.
A wet cough brought all of their attentions back to Zimoc, “While I don’t mind a little in-fighting, you are stopping me from the final step of my own quest. These lovely lights are soon to mature, and then I will be rewarded by Him. One of the things he requires for his long plan to come to fruition.”
Kim focused on the boss to pull up his stats, her face paling as she read the information. “Justice, no…”
Zimoc Diseasemaker (Level 85)
Aberrant Necromancer
200,000/200,000 Health
“He’s an Aberrant Necromancer,” Kim managed to finally say, the horror thick in her voice.
“Ah, I knew one of you would get around to checking,” Zimoc laughed as the doors slammed shut behind them. “Would you like to see what all my time has been spent doing?”
Barbara Charged, her Ability carrying her to Zimoc. Her shield stopped an inch away from him as a green barrier sprang into existence before his grinning face. “What!?” Barbara cursed as she lashed out, striking the barrier with her weapon.
Gifted Protection
299,545/300,000 Health
“Good luck,” Zimoc laughed before he began to chant in an ear twisting language.
“Bring it down! We have to stop him from finishing that spell,” Geoff yelled as he cast his first Death Bolt at the barrier.
Rolland launched Ice Bolt after Ice Bolt. Kim dropped all of her traps next to the barrier, before attacking it. George, not having a target to heal, rushed up next to Barbara to help attack the barrier as well.
The five of them did as much damage as they could, all while Zimoc smiled at them as the ear curdling words continued to roll off his tongue. Minutes ticked by as they raced to bring down the barrier. Rolland and Geoff both downed at least one mana potion each.
Zimoc’s voice grew louder as they whittled the barrier down. The pain the group felt climbed with his voice. As the last few thousand health of the barrier began to fall away, Zimoc’s smile grew wider.
With a bright flash of black-green energy just as the barrier fell, Zimoc let out a wild laugh. “Too late, fools! Know death eternal!”
Blinking away the spots from her eyes, Barbara used Charge, slamming her shield into Zimoc and stunning him. “We have him now. Come on, team.”
“The blobs,” Kim called back to them, looking on in horror as the ten blobs that had illuminated the room began to move. “They’re alive.”
“They’re slow,” Rolland said as he watched the blobs all creep along the walls and ceiling. “One of us should be able to kite them.”
“Kim,” George called out, “it better be you. Your damage is the lowest and you have traps to slow them further.”
“Right,” Kim hissed, snagging her three traps on the floor and tossing them around the room. Throwing knives came to her hand and she aimed for each blob.
Rolland and Geoff both hit Zimoc with their debuffs before switching back to doing damage. Barbara had already used Shin Kick and Wrist Slash, applying her own debuffs on the Orc.
Zimoc blin
ked, shaking his head as he started to come out of the stun. “You will pay for that,” he hissed at Barbara, his left arm batting away the next attack effortlessly. “I have been blessed by Him. You shall know true terror before you die.” Mouth puckering, the same twisted language began to spill from Zimoc as he started another spell.
“Not today, ugly,” Barbara said as she used Throat Punch to interrupt his spell and stop him casting for five seconds. Zimoc hacked noisily, trying to regain his ability to breathe.
George stepped just behind Barbara, reapplying his stamina buff to the group as he waited for the first of them to become damaged. George hadn’t expected the blob above him and Barbara to fall from the ceiling. With a startled scream as the blob hit them, its exterior oozed between them and burned them both with its acidic body. George backpedaled quickly, casting a heal onto himself first.
Tales from the Dead Man Inn Page 30
