by Galen Wolf
’Sshh!’ She says. ‘Don’t say his name. He might hear you.’
Looking at this warped eruption of hell into our world, I vow to myself that we must drive the Enemy back and eradicate this blasphemy. I need to ensure the Jabberwock eggs get safely back and arm King Arthur’s soldiers.
We’re coming up to the black buildings when three skull helmeted soldiers step towards us. Two have spears but the third is clearly an officer. The officer bows to Elizabeth.
I hear her laugh. ‘Faroz, how lovely to see you.’
‘Elizabeth. What are you doing in the Hellsmouth?’ He glances at me.
Elizabeth gestures back without looking. ‘A prisoner. I’m taking him to Maligon.’
Faroz laughs. ‘Maligon — how is the old bastard?’
‘Still a bastard. This one killed him and he wants revenge.’
‘And you captured him? How clever of you. Where was he hiding?’
‘I got him at the Siege of Lindisfarne. He was hiding with the saint who owned the place.’
‘I heard there’d been an action there. We took it?’
‘Of course. Burned it to the ground.’
‘What are we calling it now?’
Elizabeth scratches her head. ‘You know, I don’t recall. You need to ask Lazarus. He’ll have thought of something.’
Faroz laughs. ‘He always does.’ Then he looks behind him. ‘That’s our tower there — the Tower of the Eye. You’ve never visited me since I got promoted here. Do you want to come and see it? You could log off there; it’s perfectly safe.’
There’s a pause. My hand inches towards my sword. There are two things Faroz should have noticed — one that I’m still armed, and two that Elizabeth is no longer wearing the insignia of the Fangs of Koth. If he’s picked up either, he doesn’t say anything.
He’s waiting for Elizabeth to respond to his request. The last thing I want to do is go into the Tower of the Eye, but I can’t say anything. If it all kicks off, I’ll fight and try to get out, but if that looks hopeless then I must jump into the Hellsmouth. I can’t risk the eggs being found and if it’s true that the Hellsmouth has no bottom and that Satanus just floats in space there, then they won’t be. I stroke Spirit. I don’t want it to come to that.
‘Well…’ she says.
‘Come on. Maligon won’t miss you that much, surely. He can’t want this do-gooder that much.’
‘It’s the Green Knight. He gave him some sleepless nights.’
‘Come on Elizabeth, I haven’t seen you for ages. Just come into the tower.’
She nods and smiles. ‘How could I resist such an offer? Of course.’
The suspicion that this had been planned grows in me. If they’d attacked us in the open there was a chance I’d get away with the eggs. If they have me in an enclosed space, then they can just bring irresistible numbers against me and be sure that when I die, the eggs will drop just where I was.
We move towards the huge black door of the Tower of the Eye. The two skull guards are joined by two more and Faroz leads the way, chatting to Elizabeth like they’re the best of pals.
We’re close to the door. There’s four guards and Faroz against me. In a minute, we’ll go inside.
I could be wrong here. She might be on our side. This could work out. If it does, she’ll have her little chat and then we’ll be on our way, but I hang back as much as I can.
We get close to the door and three of the guards drop back behind Henry, like they’re getting ready for me to run. I could just be paranoid. At the door, Elizabeth dismounts from Bessie. They’re expecting me to get down from my horse.
‘Dismount, dolt,’ Faroz orders. I can’t see his eyes behind his skull helmet.
I suck my teeth. My hand is ready. Maybe I just need to be smart and play along and then I observe the slightest glance between Elizabeth and Faroz. A look that is checking that the plan is working.
I don’t get off my horse, instead I reach for my sword. I draw it with a scraping of steel and whirl round striking one of the guards.
The second guard thrusts his spear into me.
He doesn’t get a second chance. I strike down.
Then a black blast of necrotic energy smacks me in the chest.
I glug a Health 200 potion and concentrate on Jebbers. I Doublestrike.
I see him drink health potion and I lunge. This time he drops his weapon as the Dropsy effect on my sword triggers. My Bleed rune fires too. He staggers backwards and Elizabeth fires another necrotic bolt into me.
There’s one more skull guard and Faroz and I see Faroz run into the tower and hear him calling out for help. Then there’s Elizabeth, she fires again and I smell the stink of my rotting flesh where her necrotic bolt strikes home. My potion’s still on cool-down so I lunge at her with my sword.
She’s much less armoured than the guards. Her class is one that likes to stand back and fire, but she’s made the mistake of being too close. She heals herself with dark energy while I swing left and hack at her for another 760. She’s panicking now and she turns and runs into the tower, pushing past Faroz. Help might be coming but it’s just him and me now as he steps out, sword out, shield up. My blood is up and I want to fight, but my sense tells me to run. The rules of chivalry say never turn your back on an enemy, but I’m carrying the Jabberwock eggs. I pull Spirit round and yell to Henry and Bessie to follow.
‘Go boy!’ I say, as I knock back another dose of healing potion taking me up to 600. I’ve got no saints here now to heal me up.
We barge our way through the crowds of evil NPCs. Skull guards are running out of the tower, but we’re pushing through the line of travellers knocking them down like bowling pins. Henry snaps at them with his big mule teeth and they get out the way.
The Hellsmouth pulses behind us. The demons in the air have noticed the commotion below. I can’t worry about that now. I’ve just got to ignore them as I urge Spirit on. The far gate is about a hundred yards away through a narrow street crowded with pedestrians. We have to get through. Spirit shoves his way through them and Henry follows with Bessie, snapping at NPCs to clear them away. We’re making progress and the crowd is blocking the skull guards following us.
Then the first pit-fiend dives.
I bend low and urge Spirit onwards to the gate. The pit-fiend climbs ready to swoop down and attack again and a nightgaunt comes in laterally, almost knocking me out of my saddle.
The pit-fiend comes at me from the front. Spirit rears and I slash at it, hurting it for 300.
I sip health potion and I’m up to 425. I won’t take many hits to die and I can’t afford to die. Spirit rears smashing down with his hooves and the NPCs flee from us screaming.
The way is now clear to the gate. I urge Spirit into a gallop as the nightgaunt hits me for 175. I slash wildly at it and my Demonslayer enhancement finally triggers slaying it instantly. There’s still one pit-fiend and probably more coming. At least the skull guards and Faroz can’t get to me.
We’re going hell for leather, me on Spirit and Henry and Bessie behind.
Then four guards emerge from the gate in front. Stupidly, they haven’t pulled down the portcullis; they must trust themselves to stop us.
We burst through them like a bowling ball, knocking them down and we’re through their line. Within a half a minute we’re under the ga
te and out the other side of the Hellsmouth wall. Skull guards are running after us but they can’t catch us. Maybe if they had cavalry, they could catch us but they don’t. However, I glance over my shoulder picks out four pit-fiends and maybe three or four nightgaunts peeling down from the red light of the Hellsmouth like dive bombers.
We’re riding over the burned and diseased plains but I can see far away on the horizon the low hills that indicate the start of the Long Mountains and home.
Then the pit-fiends strike.
Running for Home
Three pit fiends scream out of the sky. I sip a health potion and I’m up to 625/950, but I notice the crystal bottle is now only half full, and I’ve got no Bernard here to fill it. I turn Spirit round to face the enemy. Henry and Bessie stop in confusion and I yell, ‘Fly you fools!’
I’ve always wanted to say that and I get some satisfaction as Henry and Bessie hare off down the muddy road that leads west to the Long Mountains.
Then I’m facing the enemy alone, and there’s worse news. I see a troop of cavalry exiting the gate of Hellsmouth coming my way and among them are Elizabeth Bathory and Faroz, but I don’t have time to think much as the first pit-fiend strikes. I raise my shield and block its talons as it swings in its legs in an attempt to disembowel me. I smell the sulphur and rot stink that comes off them as it flies over my shoulder. They’re flocking round me like seagulls round a dropped sandwich but that gives me a chance to hit out.
I Doublestrike the next one and kill it. I block and block then jab. Three pit fiends still flap around clawing at my face. I strike out and the Demonslayer effect triggers, consuming the fiend in a blaze of holy light.
Two left. It hits me and I’m now 225/950, I get the old health warning flash up — I’m at 23.6% health. I raise my shield to shelter while I take a sip from my potion, but as I drink the blue liquid, the fiend slashes at me and the healing effect is negated and I’m back down to 225. A glance forward shows the enemy cavalry are closer.
The pit-fiend claws at me for 200 and I’m at 25. I almost panic as I slash at it and kill a pit fiend leaving just one and the enemy cavalry about 200 yards away. My potion is on cool-down. If I get hit, I’m dead and the eggs are theirs.
It strikes and I block and the talons clatter off my shield and I swing and hit. I see Faroz readying his sword. There are three skull guard troopers with him, probably the most they could muster in such a short time. If Elizabeth fires, I’m dead. I jab at the pit-fiend and Doublestrike. One of the strikes is a crit.
I could stay and fight, but breaking the laws of Chivalry once again I run. I nudge Spirit with my heels and he knows what to do. He explodes forward and I’m just hanging on as my horse thunders across the broken plain. I stoop low to his neck like a jockey and a blast of necrotic energy sears over my head. If that had hit…
I sip health potion and I’m up to 225 again. Then I try something I rarely do. I’ve got the skill but I’ve hardly ever used it — I pray. I close my eyes and hang on while I pray to regenerate my health. A minute goes by, then four minutes and then with my regeneration rate of two hundred points a minute, I get to full health and breathe a sigh of relief. I even risk a glance over my shoulder and see I’m pulling away from them. They’re racing to catch me, going hell for leather, but Spirit’s faster. I begin to believe we might just make this. Ahead the low line of hills is closer. These are the Long Mountains, still blackened by enemy control, but amongst all that blight is an oasis of green — the Secret Valley, and below the Secret Valley is the Silver Drift Mine.
I chuckle in relief. Thank God.
M y heart lifts, then I see Henry and Bessie are stopped still in the road ahead. Why aren’t they running? As I get closer, I see there’s a deep ravine and they’re standing looking scared at the start of the bridge. Why the heck haven’t they gone over?
Then I see why. The bridge is broken in the middle. We’re still going very fast and I know I’m going to have to slow down, but if I slow down, the enemy will catch up. A look over my shoulder tells me they’re still there. We’ve pulled away from them but they haven’t stopped pursuing.
A scan left and right shows me there is nowhere the ravine can be crossed except by this bridge. That is a bummer. The mules are still standing there staring at me. I have to pull up on Spirit and slow down slightly. Then when I see exactly the state of the bridge, I’m encouraged. There’s a ten-foot gap where the stonework has plunged into the black, algae clogged waters far below.
Ten feet — we can jump that. I squeeze my knees and Spirit redoubles his speed. We’re going to jump this. As we pass the mules, I yell, ‘Come on, jump it!’
And then we’re at the edge of the gap and Spirit bunches his muscles mid run and leaps. We sail over and land heavily on the other side. Spirit goes forward twenty yards with the impetus of his jump then we turn and look back.
Henry and Bessie are still the far side of the gap. ‘Come on!’ I shout. ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘Bessie can’t jump it,’ Henry yells back. ‘Her legs are too short.’
Even if I suggested leaving her, I know he wouldn’t. That dumb, obstinate mule. The enemy are almost on him. They’ll kill him for fun. They don’t need to kill a couple of mules, it won’t profit them anything, but they’ll do it anyway.
I glance back at the Long Mountains. I could be half a mile closer by now almost. The eggs would be safe. Our mission would be a success. King Arthur would have the advantage. We could turn the tide and win the war. But then there’s that mule looking at me with his big mule eyes.
I sigh. He’s not asking me to come and save him. Henry’ll take his medicine. He wouldn’t even blame me, but then there’s Chivalry: Protect the Weak. That’s one rule I can’t break. If I did it wouldn’t be worth being a Knight of the Round Table.
‘Come on, Spirit,’ I say to my stallion. He doesn’t hesitate. We run and jump and we’re on the same side as Henry and Bessie. The mule says, ‘Thanks Gorrow. Appreciate it, mate.’
The enemy pull up in front of us. Three skull guards and Faroz their officer and there’s Elizabeth Bathory, a broad grin on her face. ‘You came back to save the mule?’ She breaks into laughter. ‘You could have been far away with your precious Jabberwock eggs, but you came back to save your NPC mule! You people are so stupid, you don’t deserve to win.’
‘He’s one of the good guys!’ Henry yells. ‘Not like you, I never liked you, you damned swine.’
Faroz turns to Elizabeth. ‘Want me to kill it?’ He pulls out his sword in anticipation of her answer. Then a keen trooper hurls a lance at me.
It strikes me in the shoulder for 100. Henry outraged on my behalf rushes at the trooper and rears up, kicking at him with his hooves. The mule’s going to get killed. Time for the lance. I ready the lance, green pennant fluttering in the slight breeze. I’m still in Green Knight disguise, not that my true identity is a secret any more. Then I charge, just as the trooper slashes at Henry cutting open his flank and causing the mule to scream in pain.
I hit the trooper full on and I crit.
That’s one down. I grab my sword and cut right into Faroz. He gets first blood.
I strike him back for 350. But the other trooper attacks me on my left and hits for 100. Then Elizabeth comes round on her horse and fires a necrotic bolt at me for 300.
I take out the trooper first, fortunately I get another crit and then I hit again and he’s dead. Faroz hacks down but I raise my shield and I block while I sip health potion. Another necrotic bolt from Elizabeth and I’m down to 100/950.
Desperation fires me up.
My potion’s on cool-down and I can’t pray here and now. I swing a blizzard of attacks at Faroz driving him back and hitting him while he is so panicked by my ferocity that he doesn’t manage to get a strike in. Elizabeth’s preparing another blast as soon as her spell’s off cool-down. Another 300 hit and I’m toast, but if I turn my back on Faroz he’s going to hit me. Then I figure he’s doing less damage than she is, so I jab my sword at his face, hitting him for 350 and as he splutters and goes for his potion I turn to Elizabeth; she’s preparing her bolt. I duck but at the same time, Henry powers into her from her left, knocking her aim and the necrotic bolt fires harmlessly above my head. Henry rears and kicks out, damaging her and I rush forward on Spirit and strike her for 760. I see her wild eyes. This is what happens when you inflict sudden catastrophic damage on players: they panic. I’ve seen it so many times before, they just go to pieces. She’s got self-healing, she’s got good offense, she could pull this back, but she doesn’t, she panics and I plunge my sword into her heart.
Two hundred skill points now, as I didn’t spend the ones I got for Level 15. I know how I’m going to use them.
Faroz still lives. He’s watching me, sword in hand, fear in his eyes.
I call over, ‘You know who I am?’
His voice falters. He’s thinking about running. He clears his throat. ‘The Green Knight? Elizabeth didn’t really tell me, just that we needed to catch you.’
‘I’m Sir Gorrow of the Bloody Field, loyal to King Arthur, and not you, nor all of that —’ I gesture behind him to where Hellsmouth pumps out its vile red light against the darkening sky. ‘None of it will overcome us. The King will return and I’ll be with him.’
‘Whatever you say.’ His glance flickers to his shoulder. He’s thinking about how fast his horse is and how fast Spirit is. He knows he can’t outrun us and that I can beat him when I catch him.
