Last Horizon: Beta

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “One moment, gotta drink another potion,” Kittish cried out as her aether dropped too low to cast another heal. Just as she grabbed another potion and downed it, two more guards roared and rushed toward the battle.

  “This is getting a little fucking ridiculous,” Dumadin cursed.

  The group let out nervous laughter as Dumadin picked up the two new arrivals with Anger Howl, which had just come off cooldown again. “Well this is one way to kill all the pats,” Felton laughed.

  “Not my preferred way, chaos and me are not friends,” Dumadin barked.

  “There are only two more sets that can add in and they seem to be doing so every twenty seconds,” Terets added with a grin at his beleaguered friend.

  The group finally dropped the last four guards and looked up just in time for two more guards to charge them. “Gods damn it, really?!” Dumadin cried and set himself, picking them both up. A few moments later the two new orcs had been slain and the group quickly drank some juice out of combat.

  “Three... two... one...” Terets counted, then stealthed. The group groaned as they heard the last set of pats howl in rage and charge at them.

  “When did you get time to count out their timing while we were fighting?” Dumadin yelled as he picked them up with Anger howl.

  Laughing, Terets reappeared behind one and stabbed at it, “Multi-talented man, it's one of the reasons the ladies love me.”

  Blushing, Amythyst stuttered her cast of Icebolt which canceled the spell. The group laughed as they mopped up the last two patrollers. As the group moved back to the wall they looked at each other with grins, besides Dumadin who sat there muttering.

  “Oh come on man. Yes, it was hectic and stupid, but we did it.” Felton said with a grin, “You're just mad because you felt like a piñata and we were having all the fun. Admit it. We did that perfectly, or as close to as we could.”

  Dumadin grumbled and nodded his head, “Of course we did, because my friends are rockstars. Doesn't make me feel any better about being the punching bag at times, though. If you were anybody else I wouldn't be tanking.”

  The group laughed and started to move around the corpses, looting them. “Yeah and without a redheaded stepchild like you we wouldn't be here. Oh and level twelve for me and Em,” Felton said with a grin.

  “Let's get the loot and tusks for you two and move on down to the next set of huts. At least without the patrolling guards it should be way easier,” Dumadin said and stood.

  After they collected what they could and the tusks from each orc they moved on. The next half hour went smoothly as they pulled and demolished each set of huts with practiced ease.

  “Okay, that was kind of sad without the extra guards to make it hell,” Dumadin said as the last of the huts were dealt with.

  “Yeah, fairly straight forward. Let's see what the big hut has in store for us.” Terets stealthed away as he finished with Amythyst trailing behind him.

  Felton caught Dumadin's eye and nodded after the two stealthers whispering, “So is he courting her, or is she courting him?”

  “Yes,” Dumadin whispered back with a grin, “Both are real shy so it’s like a dance as they position and move to music only they can hear. I figure another month or so and one of them will actually make a serious move like try for a kiss.” Seeing the wavering of light coming back Dumadin cut off and waited.

  “Okay,” Amythyst began, “there are six guards outside the doors. Each of them has a horn on their waist. I can only assume that once we begin they blow their own horn and that brings the hut alive. We have no idea what is inside. Figure at least the chief and some healers and casters.”

  “Fun times doing instances with no guides,” Emelia grinned, “this hasn't been available since what, vanilla WoW?”

  “Pretty much,” Kittish agreed, “the internet being what it is beta always ruins the surprise for live. Which means we shouldn't let the secrets out, maybe just a brief over view and let them learn as they roll.”

  The group chuckled at the idea of the dungeons still being unspoiled come live. “You can imagine the whining they'll get, outside of there not being a pre-made group finder,” Felton added.

  Terets nodded, “Yeah and having to travel and find them yourself with no summoning stone. They aren't marked on the map for fast travel, after all.”

  The group laughed a little louder and eyed the guards standing near the big hut. “Well,” Kittish started with a grin, “who wants to live forever> Lets kick some tires and light some fires, shall we?”

  Amythyst's head jerked up,” Oh wait... that is perfect.”

  The group looked at her, “My necklace lets me cast a second spell right away without cost once every five minutes. I haven't used it since the first group so I can use it here. What if we have Dumadin rush in at the start and grab them? He can then be right by the door ready for whatever comes out. Once they all pile out he taunts and then I Fireball twice. We then focus down healers, then casters, the guards, and finally the chief.”

  Eyes gleaming, the group agreed to this plan, and laughed when Dumadin let out a groan. “Orc food that is all I am to you..,” playing off his new running gag.

  “Better than orc shit,” Terets quipped back in unison with Amythyst and Kittish.

  Amythyst took a second to explain the joke to Felton and Emelia, who also laughed. “Okay, fine you bullies and brutes, let me go get my redhead on.” Dumadin said making sure his shield was firmly attached.

  As they got set Dumadin grinned at his friends and then rushed at the six orc guards, “For the Bananas!”

  Felton broke up laughing as he, Em, and Terets charged in a few steps behind him. “For the Bananas!” Came the echo from them and the two casters who stood waiting.

  Halfway to the hut the orc guards all picked up their horns and blew on them, then engaged with the group. After a few moments nothing came from the hut and Dumadin's life started to dip, causing Kittish to focus on healing him. After another heal some of them turned towards Kittish, prompting Dumadin to Anger Howl and trigger Iron blood.

  “What the hell?” Dumadin grumbled as no one come from the hut.

  A few minutes later the six guards were dead and being looted. “Do you think the horns were for the six groups of earlier huts? If we hadn't slaughtered them all then they would have added in here.” Emelia asked as they finished looting.

  Dumadin shuddered, “Yes probably, and that is just evil if people want to try and skip parts.”

  Felton nodded with sagacity, “Yup. Teaches people to slow down and not rush. Good on the devs for doing that, teaches people to do the dungeon correctly and not just try to rush though them.”

  They stood there eyeing the closed door to the hut, “Should we knock?” Dumadin laughed and moved towards the door. The group shrugged and motioned him on and waited. “One thing bothers me though,” he paused, “there haven't been any bosses yet.”

  Dumadin knocked politely on the door and stepped back waiting with his shield ready. The door opened with a creak and out stepped an old orc shaman who closed the door behind him. The group blinked as their abilities grayed out on the UI.

  The shaman stopped just outside the door and looked at them, “So you come to challenge the Skullcrusher clan do you?” Croaking laughter sounded, “You will need to prove your worth to fight the chieftain. His champions will be out in a moment to deal with you rabble. If you somehow survive I will verify it and then let his mightiness know you have challenged him.” The orc went back inside and the door shut firmly behind him.

  “Did we seriously just get a role-play moment in this dungeon?” Dumadin said looking back at his friends.

  They shrugged and they all agreed they couldn't use abilities on the shaman. “Oh well, might as well wait for the champions to get off their duffs and come on out.” Felton grinned and checked his gear.

  Dumadin stepped back to the group and faced the door, “How long do you think?”

  “A minute or two I would th
ink, doubt we will get a chance to prepare once they exit though,” Terets guessed.

  A minute later the door crashed open and six Orc Champions filed out of the door. They stood taller and broader then the orc from before. They were level fifteen, and covered in steel armor. Three orc priests, also level fifteen, filed out after the Champions. The Orcs took up stances just short of the door and looked at the group.

  “Guess we now know what it is we face,” Dumadin said as a countdown timer appeared on his UI. “We have ten seconds before combat. Let's do this.”

  The countdown ended and the six champions moved forward to attack, to be met by Dumadin who had gotten just into range for Anger Howl. As the timer hit zero he cast Iron blood then anger Howl as fast as he could, taunting all the mobs to him. The six champions charged and hit him and his life bar dropped to half. He was notified that his Sturdy Steel Breastplate stopped the knock back effect of the charges.

  His friends started opening up with every trick they had on the priests. Amythyst's Fireballs hit all nine orcs, twice in rapid succession thanks to her necklace. Terets and Emelia jumped one of the priests together trying to kill it as fast as they could. Felton used Crippling Shout on the six champions and then went to help with the priests.

  Kittish cursed, trying her best to keep Dumadin up as his life bar was taking a savage beating. “Stoneskin potion,” she yelled to Dumadin as his life was dropping faster than she could keep up with.

  Dumadin grabbed and downed a potion and got a timely block from his shield. With the shout and the potion his life bar had a chance to stabilize for a second.

  The group killed one priest as quickly as they could. However the other two had healed themselves from the fireballs in the meantime. Amythyst noted that the group would be able to handle the priests but that it would take too long to help Dumadin and switched from the priests to the champions.

  “Incoming Fireballs Dumadin get ready for another taunt,” Amythyst yelled and started to chain Fireball onto the champions.

  Terets, Emelia and Felton did their best to combat the priests keeping their target healed. Felton noticed that the free one was able to keep casting without issue and jumped onto it. “I'll try to disrupt his casts,” he shouted to the other two.

  A minute ticked by as Felton's plan worked and the second priest collapsed. They all mobbed the third priest, who didn't stand a chance. As they did what they could things went badly for Amythyst and Dumadin.

  Amythyst's chain Fireballs pulled the six champions off Dumadin and they charged her, picking her up and tossing her back towards the huts. Her life bar emptied as she landed, dead on impact. Dumadin cried out and Anger Howled as it came off cooldown finally, making sure they didn't turn on Kittish.

  Kittish was starting to panic as her aether was draining rapidly with the number of heals she was casting, and still not keeping up with the incoming damage to Dumadin. She quickly drank a potion and kept healing Dumadin, hoping the others would be able to help soon.

  Dumadin cursed and grunted as the champions hacked into him with their two-handed axes. A Block would trigger at times, helping Kittish try and fight the losing battle for his life. He took a second from a successful block to drink a healing potion, buoying him back up for a short moment.

  The other three got there as his life dipped to 30% and attacked one of the champions. As his life dipped to 25% they killed the first champion. Slicing and hacking at the next one the friends started to panic slightly as Dumadin's life dropped to 20%. His life was at 15% when they dropped the second one.

  “Out of aether,” Kittish yelled and rushed in to help with her staff.

  Dumadin's life hit 10% as the group killed a third one. Doing what they could, they killed a fourth orc as Dumadin fell dead. The last two champions turned on the friends and quickly killed Kittish, who had the most aggro next on the list.

  Emelia grabbed one and flung Dirty Tricks at it as she tried to avoid as much as she could. Terets grabbed the other one and also used Dirty Tricks. Felton used Crippling Shout as it had finally came back off cooldown. Terets's life hit zero as he and Felton killed the fifth champion.

  Turning to help his wife Felton yelled as he noticed her life at 25%. He laid into the orc with no real abilities to help her as she did her best. Her life hit 1% and the orc was at 3% when it swung to be met by a lucky parry. Em immediately riposted and watched it fall in front of her.

  Felton grabbed her as she fell to the ground exhausted and groaning. He quickly poured a healing potion into her and held her tight as she lay there.

  They exchanged words of love for each other as the adrenaline was wearing off and they were just so happy to be alive. A moment later they looked towards the hut, but the only bodies there were those of orcs. It slowly dawned on them that it was a game and they sighed in relief.

  “God damn, this game gets a little too intense at times,” Felton mumbled, wiping the tears from his face.

  “Yes,” was all Emelia added as she stood and grabbed Felton, pulling him away from the hut. “We need to move away in case the boss decides to come see what's going on.”

  They moved back and waited. After a several minutes, nothing had happened so they sat and waited for their friends. Thirty minutes later the four others logged back into the game. They found themselves just inside the portal and sighed in relief as they hadn't known where they might respawn. They hurried over to where the other two were waiting.

  Felton looked up as they came over, “Glad you guys didn't have far to travel. This game gets a bit intense at times doesn't it?”

  Dumadin nodded, “Yeah. We had one of those moments before, but without the dying. You two okay?”

  “We are now,” Emelia stated, “twenty eight minutes ago not so much. Had to remind ourselves about it being a game. Oh, and I'm sorry you take that kind of punishment all the time for us, ick.”

  Dumadin let out a belly laugh, “Yeah, fun isn't it? And you only had one of them, not six.”

  Kittish spoke up, “We really need to farm some spiders for the venom glands they drop. That fight would have been so much easier if the healers had run out of aether faster.”

  Terets agreed, “Yeah, we should get a few for the next dungeon and definitely farm the bastards when live kicks off.”

  The group quickly started to move towards the central hut to loot the champions. Emelia, Felton, and Dumadin quickly strapped on some of the steel armor as they could use it to good effect. They all had steel breastplates, helms, and greaves now.

  “The coin and loot is a nice bonus for our deaths,” Dumadin grinned. “If we had this extra protection before I might not have croaked.”

  Kittish had taken a moment to make more aether potions as the rest looted. “If you haven't noticed, we leveled when we logged back in.”

  Blinking, the other three looked at their UI. Sure enough, it informed them they had reached level eleven, even Amythyst.

  Grinning slightly, the group got ready as Dumadin knocked on the door and stepped back. The same old orc shaman exited, shutting the door behind him.

  “So you have slain the champions and proven yourselves strong enough to face Gormek the Cleaver. Even if you kill this chief eventually another will rise in his place to lead the Skullcrushers. I give you one chance to flee with your ill-gotten loot before I go.”

  “We wish to fight the chief,” Dumadin said as the shaman had remained standing there for a minute.

  “Very well, young fools. I shall tell him. But you will not face him alone,” the shaman went back inside, shutting the door with a thump.

  “I wonder what they'll do this time?” Dumadin muttered to his friends.

  “What would you expect at this point? Probably a few healers, casters, etc. Not very imaginative but probably what we'll see,” Emelia added.

  A minute went by and nothing happened. The group started getting restless. Another minute went by with nothing happening and Dumadin went and banged on the door.

&nbs
p; As his fist connected, the wall next to the door exploded outwards showering him with wooden chunks. Standing where the door and wall had been was a giant boar with the Orc Chieftain Gormek astride it.

  The entrance of the orc chieftain shocked and stunned the group for a moment, until the boar let out a squeal and charged at Felton. The group reacted, Dumadin hacked at the pig, just missing as it charged past. Terets appeared and slashed at the pig's legs as it went by only to be knocked flat by it. Amythyst cast Icebolt at the chieftain, and was puzzled to see the bolt vanish just before it impacted on the chieftain. Emelia used Dirty Tricks on the boar and dove aside. Kittish cast Weaken on the boar just as it hit Felton and launched him away with 25% of his health bar gone.

  Dumadin charged at the boar as it wheeled around and started a charge at Amythyst. Amythyst noticed the chieftain had a buff on according to her UI. Faithful Steed, while atop of his steed Petunia the chieftain Gormek can't be harmed.