“With us?” I asked.
“I’m with you,” he replied firmly.
“Good,” I smiled. “Now let’s get the Hell out of this bug pit!”
44
Loss
The Ilizak hissed beneath us as we raced along the ledge towards the other end of the room. The entire swarm tracked with us as we ran. It was like an ocean of purple and red swarming beneath us, ready to swallow us up with any misstep.
I could see the door at the end of the enormous room. That was the way out. The ledge we were on stopped a few feet from it. D didn’t hesitate. He leapt forward, hit the ground and rolled through the opening and disappeared into the shadows.
I followed behind, kicked hard off the ledge and jumped as far as I could. The sickly air was like a poison in my chest and I could hear the roar from the Ilizak beneath me as I flew towards the door. I hit the ground and stumbled, but managed to keep my momentum as I raced after D.
Baltos, Vayde and Xavier were right behind me, and I looked back as Shorros hit the ground and sprinted after us.
“I made it!” he screamed victoriously, his voice barely audible over the screeching of the monsters as they spilled into the tunnel behind us like a torrent of sludge.
But then, something happened—something I could barely process until seconds after.
An enormous Ilizak, obviously much higher level than the rest, pushed its head forward and sprayed something out of its mouth. It was like a dragon breathing some kind of acidic, putrid, purple fire.
It engulfed Shorros instantly, I watched as his eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could even get a word out, his health bar vanished.
No!
His body collapsed like a rag doll, flimsy, like his soul had been removed.
It had.
“Shorros!” I screamed. I wanted to turn back, but there was nothing I could do. The Ilizak horde was only feet behind me, and it didn’t matter anyway.
Shorros was dead.
No… please no…
My heart sank, but there was no time to grieve. I had no time to think. The Ilizak charged after me. Their hard bodies slacked together as they frantically scrambled over each other as they chased after us. It was a frenzied mob on our heels.
We had reached “the freeway” as D had called it. It really was an apt description. In contrast to the tight, winding, mazelike tunnels we’d been navigating on our way down, the freeway was open and wide with a high vaulted ceiling. There wasn’t a single twist or turn or place to escape to.
And then I saw it—the exploit wall.
About halfway down the freeway, on the left, was a small group of Ilizak swinging fruitlessly at the wall, their pincers clinking harmlessly off the rock.
And then, every couple of seconds, an arrow emerged from the rock and chipped off a bit of their health.
Sinful! I thought, picturing Chaucey back there, sending arrows through the wall at the Ilizak that were unable to reach him. That’s how they did it. They just lured Ilizak to the wall and then farmed them all day long. I couldn’t even imagine how much experience and loot they could accumulate in an hour.
Hug the wall, I told myself as I sprinted after D. He was running as fast as he could, but so was I. I saw the turn at the end of the enormous hall—the corner D had told us about.
Doubts plagued my mind as we ran. What if D was wrong? What if the Ilizak didn’t stop, followed us around the corner, and swarmed us all down? How would we ever be able to fight them off? Even if Sinful joined in, in order to save themselves, it wouldn’t be enough.
None of it mattered though.
All I could do was run—and hope. Run as fast as the game would let me and pray that D was right about everything.
He reached the small pack of Ilizak that were swinging against the wall, and swung around them, just wide enough to avoid them. They didn’t even see him. Their attention was completely on the other side of the wall on whoever was dealing damage to them.
Please, let us make it…
I glanced behind me and saw the rest of my party running as fast as they could, the Ilizak horde closing in on them.
Please, we’ve come too far!
D reached the end of the freeway and slid around the corner. I was right behind him.
Planting my foot, I cut hard to the left and snatched a piece of rock beside me and used my momentum to swing myself around the corner into a U-turn.
“Look out!” D shouted. I barely had time to duck before an arrow streaked through the air and struck the wall behind me. I looked up to see three players in front of us. I recognized them instantly.
Psycho, Osiris, and Kewtypie.
The Mercenaries.
They must have been warring with Sinful over such a prime leveling spot, and that was how they were so high level too. I didn’t have time to inspect them, but from their gear alone, I could see they’d done some serious leveling since the last time we’d seen them.
Clutching my sword, I felt the rage and shock of Shorros’ death boiling up inside me and readied myself for the fight of my life.
45
The Mercenaries
I barely had time to raise my sword as another arrow flew at my head. It dinged harmlessly off the steel of my blade and ricocheted into the wall. Someone crashed into me and I looked behind to see Vayde and Baltos round the corner.
“Sho—Shorros!” Baltos stammered.
“I know.” I grimaced as D aimed an arrow at the Mercenaries. He fired at Kewtypie. The arrow hit its mark but barely did any damage. Kewtypie actually laughed as he drew back his bow, which was the biggest thing I’d ever seen.
“Look at these newbs, Psycho.” He cackled. “Are they kidding me?”
His bowstring twanged like a menacing bell as he loosed his arrow. It streaked past me like a missile and slammed into Baltos’ chest, knocking him back a few feet and peeling off at least a third of his health. D fired back, but Kewtypie simply let the arrow hit him. He didn’t even bother trying to dodge. The damage was so minimal it didn’t even warrant his concern.
Psycho raised his wand in our direction, but I wasn’t about to wait for him to make his move before I made mine.
I dropped my sword, pulled out my wand and aimed it at Osiris who was racing towards me, bladed claws on each of his fists. He was an Unarmed Combat character, just like Baltos, but his Quickness would be much higher. If he reached me, I’d be in trouble.
“Menace,” I said as I began to cast.
The black cage began to form around him, and I started to smile. But before I could finish casting, Osiris struck me.
His claw swiped across my chest and while the damage wasn’t huge, he followed up so quickly with a flurry of strikes that steadily began chipping away at my health.
His right hand chirped and pulsed red as he swung up and across, slamming into my hand and knocking my wand away from me.
A disarm skill!
He pulled back for a heavy blow, and I tried to do something to block with my arms, but it was pointless. His fist slammed into me and sent me sprawling with at least a quarter of my health missing.
“Jack!” Vayde shouted as I rolled back to my feet. He aimed his wand at Osiris, who was already charging me, and slapped him back with a Shockwave spell as I quickly used my Health Kit to restore my health.
My sword lay in front of me, and I couldn’t even see where my wand had fallen. I needed it to cast Menace. It was the only way we were going to have a chance, but Osiris was recovered and running towards me. I had to do something.
I rolled out of the way as he swung at me and snatched my sword off the ground, twisting around and raising it to block his next blow. I swung out to strike him, but he was fast and easily dodged my attack. His claws snaked through the air and struck my chest and helm.
I leapt forward and activated Broad Strike. This time, my blade cut through the air and struck him. The damage was decent. I brought my sword down and up again at an an
gle across his chest. Kattenschind’s upgrades had obviously been worth it, as the attacks were actually doing something.
Xavier was right beside me, stabbing out with his halberd. The first attack hit, but Osiris leapt back and ducked out of the way of one of D’s arrows as it sliced through the air and struck Kewtypie. Vayde fired a fireball that hit, but Osiris merely shrugged it off and leapt back at me. He wasn’t the least bit fazed by a two on one fight.
“Yaaaah!” Baltos screamed as he slammed into his side, knocking him away. He spun and tumbled against the wall as Baltos jumped onto him, swinging his cestus as fast as he could.
He wasn’t doing a whole lot of damage, but he had Osiris busy for the moment. Xavier swung his halberd in a sweeping arc and narrowly missed him, striking the wall beside him. Psycho fired a frost bolt that slammed into him, taking a large chunk of his health with it. He quickly retreated and pulled out a Health Kit.
“Get him, Jack!” Baltos shouted.
His attacks had left Osiris open for an attack. I activated Warrior’s Charge and slammed into him with the serrated edge of my blade. My sword chirped as Bleeding Wound was applied to him and I smiled as more of his health vanished and began ticking down as the debuff worked its magic.
We just might do this! I thought as I swung out again. It was a slightly awkward attack, as I had to make sure not to hit Baltos, but it hit. Arrows and spells cut through the air around me as I raised my sword again, but just as I was about to bring my blade down, something struck me in the chest and knocked me into the air like a ragdoll.
I flipped backwards through the air and hit the ground hard and watched as my health plummeted to just above half.
What the Hell was that!?
I looked up to see Psycho with his wand aimed at me, and then I remembered the Shockwave spell I’d seen back in Stoneburg. I barely had time to roll out of the way before he cast again. Chunks of crimson stone spattered across my armor as the spell hit the ground beside me.
Shit!
More arrows whizzed through the air. D was firing as fast as he could. Most of his shots were hitting their mark, they just weren’t doing enough damage. Not nearly enough.
“Xavier!” he shouted. “Help me out here!”
Kewtypie fired back and D took one to the shoulder, draining a chunk of his health. Vayde cast a healing spell as fast as he could, trying to move out of the way to avoid fire. Xavier was healed and leapt back into action, charging Kewtypie with the tip of his halberd.
Baltos was swinging with everything he had, trying to take down Osiris who had gotten back to his feet. Now, he was fighting back, and I watched as he unleashed another special attack that dealt a lot of damage.
“Psycho! Get this idiot off me!” Osiris roared.
Psycho turned and aimed his wand at Baltos, who was approaching half health. One blast from his Shockwave would certainly kill him. I had to act quickly.
“Aaaahhhh!” I roared like a crazed Viking as I attacked, bringing my sword up with both hands and all my strength straight towards Psycho’s arms.
But my blade never found its mark.
Psycho turned his attention to me and fired his spell.
The Shockwave again took me off my feet and sent me sprawling. I skidded over the stone like a rock being skipped across a pond. More of my health was gone. I was approaching less than 25 percent.
I felt a heal spell rush through my body and looked up to see Vayde with his wand aimed at me. My health bar rapidly began to refill, but I was still in danger. Psycho had his wand aimed at me, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to withstand another attack.
But then I saw it.
My wand, lying just a few feet away from me.
46
God’s Return
My fingers clutched around my wand as a Shockwave spell exploded beside me. I felt another of Vayde’s healing spells envelope me and knew I’d be back to full within a matter of seconds.
Osiris was pummeling Baltos, who was staggering backwards as he tried his best to not only fend off the blows, but counter with some of his own. But he was simply outleveled and outmatched. Osiris was too fast and too strong.
“Menace,” I said triumphantly as I aimed and cast.
The spell went off this time without a hitch. The black cage emerged in the air and surrounded him. It collapsed into his chest and he yelped with surprise and threw himself out of the way as the debuff hit him. Clearly, he understood what it was. Grinning, I turned to cast on Psycho, but it was too late.
He hit me hard with a Shockwave, disrupting my cast and pinning me back against the exploit wall. I could hear the sound of thrashing Ilizak on the other side, just as intent on killing us as The Mercenaries were.
“Get him, Baltos!” I shouted.
“Ya!” he replied, throwing himself at Osiris, who was now debuffed by 20 percent.
I snatched up my sword and joined in as Baltos pummeled him. His health was dropping rapidly, and as one of D’s acid arrows hissed into him, I realized that for the first time in the battle, we were actually winning.
Osiris fought furiously, swinging a clawed hand in my direction. But the tide of the battle had shifted, and so had my resolve. I slapped his hand away with my Executioner’s Blade and slashed back at him with a Broad Strike.
“Look out, Xavier!” I roared as I leapt into the air, raising my sword high above my head. Xavier knew what was coming and threw himself out of the way just in time. I slammed my sword into the ground and sent a Flame Strike cascading across the ground that enveloped him as well as his two comrades.
Kewtypie and Psycho’s health dropped a good amount, but the damage on Osiris was catastrophic. He was approaching critical.
The other two were trying to get out of the flames which had engulfed most of the tunnel, and I took the opportunity to switch to my wand and cast again.
“Menace,” I growled, aiming the spell at Psycho.
Again, the black cage appeared, engulfed, swirled, and collapsed into his chest. D instantly hit him with an arrow and I could see the huge increase in damage already.
“Ah!” Psycho shouted as he tried to duck D’s next shot. But D was raining down acid arrows as fast as he possibly could, and each one of them was doing a dangerous amount of damage.
We’re winning! I thought as his health ticked down.
Baltos was beating Osiris down. His health was approaching critical. D’s arrows were belting into Psycho who was fumbling with a Health Kit as he tried to get out of the way.
We’re winning!
But as I looked up at Kewtypie, something unexpected happened.
His bow glowed as he drew back the string, emitting a sound like a blade being sharpened. When he fired, it wasn’t just one arrow that came out. It was a wall of arrows. A volley. D ducked as the streak of arrows cut the air towards him. They missed, struck Vayde and pelted him in succession like a machine gun. His health drained until only a sliver remained.
What the Hell was that?!
“Vayde!”
I dashed forward and slammed into Kewtypie, immediately activating Broad Strike and following up with a series of quick strikes that did a good deal of damage but were mostly meant to distract him from Vayde and give him time to heal.
But to my surprise, I was actually dealing fantastic damage. Maybe Kewtypie wasn’t as high level as the others. Or maybe his armor just wasn’t as good. Either way, I wasn’t stopping, and it wasn’t long before he was below half.
He tossed his bow aside and pulled two double short swords. I twisted my blade in my hand and lashed out with the serrated edge, chewing across his chest and applying the Bleeding Wound debuff.
Psycho fired a shockwave at me, but I saw it coming and ducked out of the way. It narrowly missed my shoulder and hummed through the air behind me.
“Missed me!” I cackled, unable to help myself.
We were winning!
I turned to glance back at Vayde to make sure he was healed, but he wa
sn’t. In fact, he wasn’t doing anything. He was just standing there, his back against the wall, staring at me.
No. He wasn’t staring at me.
He wasn’t staring at anything.
His eyes…
And then I saw his health. Or rather, his lack of health.
No!
“Noooo!” I screamed as his body collapsed to the ground. The shockwave aimed for me had missed and hit him before he’d had a chance to heal.
Vayde was dead.
“Vayde!” D shouted.
I leapt at Psycho and began to unleash on him with everything I had. The game couldn’t keep up with me, and I felt the artificial restraints on my strength and speed as I hacked away at Psycho’s remaining HP.
Half.
35 percent.
20 percent.
Critical.
Hatred roared in my heart like the flames of Gehman’s forge.
Psycho had no defense at such close range. He tried to cast something, but I hit him with a Warrior’s Charge instantly and disrupted his cast.
“Yah!” I bellowed as I swung again and again and again. Each hit was a critical hit, and my skill, Execute, was blinking in the corner of my vision.
If you use that, he’s dead, I thought as our eyes met. I could see the fear there, but I was in a rage. We’d lost two members of our group in the Catacombs. One to the Ilizak and one to The Mercenaries,
You have to do it! They would kill you!
I knew it was my only option, and it was what I had come to the Catacombs to do. But I hesitated.
Then—suddenly.
I froze.
No. Everything froze. It was like time had stopped, or someone had pressed the pause button on the entire world. I could see, but I couldn’t move my eyes. I couldn’t move. Nothing was responding.
Then I heard a sound behind me that I’d never heard before, but it gave me the impression of something… coming apart… deconstructing, like a Star Trek teleporter.
Then, I could move again.
I tumbled forward and spun around to see everyone else looking as stunned as much as me to what had just happened.
“What the—” Baltos said softly. Then, a voice boomed.
Call of Carrethen: A LitRPG and GameLit novel (Wellspring Book 1) Page 20
