Mind's Journey 2: Of Monsters and Men (A Gamelit Fantasy Adventure - Book 2)

by William H. Dewayne

  The staff bounces off the snout of the creature. This attack causes a little damage, but not as much as I could landing a direct hit against it. Its tongue flicks out in amusement, paying little attention to it. Such a blow would heal in a second. I expected both the lowering of my stats and the feebleness of the attack, but I hoped that everything would turn out better than this. At the base of the tree, the Serpopard’s body stands against the truck, allowing the neck a farther reach. With this new distance, I knew that it could stretch out and reach me with one strike. Glancing above, I sigh, realizing that the spear is so close, but not enough where I can avoid what is about to happen. All I need is a few more seconds, I realize.

  As if some divine being wanted to help, a yell echoes through the canopy. It’s a familiar voice, one that I have heard every day ever since I passed through Verdeville. There are days when I grow tired of this voice, but not today. I have not heard a better noise in my life. Queen used Falling Hammer, the Voice announces. Bursting from above, a short, light-skinned woman propels out of a nearby tree. In both hands, she holds a bronze chisel, with the sharpened point glistening in the sparse sunlight. A battle cry roars from her lips. The Serpopard looks just in time to catch both chisels across its face. “All right,” she yells in triumph. The impact of the blow sends the creature’s head to the ground. “Oh no,” she cries as she no doubt realizes that the ground is much further than she expected. Twisting about, she drives her chisels into the side of a nearby tree. High-pitched crunching resounds from the bark as she grinds to a halt.

  Her fall brought her less than five feet off the ground. I smirk as she drops and strikes a pose, clanging her chisels above her brown hair. “How do you like that?” she laughs, as the Serpopard shakes off the impact as the bar depletes further than Harva and my attacks together. She runs away, joining Harva, who greets her with a warm smile. “Reminds you of the Orthrus, right?” she calls up to me.

  “Too much,” I admit. “What took you so long?”

  “Hey, it ain’t easy to climb in this,” she replies, tapping her silver-ringed armor with a chisel. How right she is. “So, what’s the plan?” I gulp as what I am about to do sets in. While climbing up the tree, I could ignore it, but now, I have to face the situation for what it is. Scrambling a little higher, I grab the spear with both hands and brace my feet on the branches below me. Taking a deep breath, I pull as hard as I can. To my surprise, the long weapon rips out of the tree, and I almost fall out of the tree, but, with shaky legs, I maintain my balance somehow. As I adjust myself, I see more words appear in front of me. Stats Boost: Courage +6, Brawn +4, Agility +2, Perception +1. Perfect.

  There is no way that I could wield this weapon. It feels wrong in my grasp, and it’s far too heavy. This feels worse than when I picked up Harva’s shield. Perhaps there’s a way to make this work, but I don’t have the time. If I planned to fight the beast, I wouldn’t stand a chance against him with this. As I climbed the tree, an idea formed in my head. If I was a strategist, I might’ve thought of something better. Beneath me, the creature turns its attention back up to me. Queen’s attack did some damage. It will not want to fight her, but I am a different story. This underestimation will work to our good. I have one chance at this. What I am about to do next is insane, but what other choice do I have? My goal is to set G. free; nothing can impede that. The Serpopard takes its place against the tree again and begins stretching its neck up to me.

  Fear grips at my heart. This time, it’s hard to ignore it. This is crazy. I’ve never pulled off such a feat before. To do this, I have to force myself far from my comfort zone. G.’s words come to mind. Something he’s told me time and time again, “A warrior must ignore fear and take whatever chance is available.” This is my only chance. I have to do all I can to win. A light breeze passes. It’s now or never.

  Standing in a tree, close to forty plus feet in the air, I turn the spear around, pointing it toward the ground. Taking a deep breath, I send up a little prayer, hoping that everything will be okay. I don’t know who I’m praying to or if that being will answer. All I can do is hope. Daring to believe, I jump into thin air. For a moment, I feel weightless, as if I could take off into the sky. That feeling did not last long. I plummet toward the ground, my stomach floating somewhere above my head. Nausea tries to take over my attention, but I focus. This is a chance I will not get again. My aim is clear, and I direct my body where it needs to go. As I fall closer, I shut my eyes, hoping that I will reach my target.

  Something brings me to a jolting halt. Accompanying this is a sickening noise, the sound of tearing flesh. Opening my eyes, I see that my bar dropped a little, but I pay no attention to it. I did it. The spear rests deep in the Serpopard’s chest. It standing against the tree gave me the perfect spot to aim for. The green blood gushes out of the wound. The bar depletes faster than it had before. I grin. Still, it is not enough to kill it, but that is not the goal. All I needed to do was inflict pain.

  The Serpopard’s mouth opens, and a loud, hissing shriek bursts out. My ears ache from the high-pitched noise. Then it becomes violent. I didn’t think this through, I realize, tightening my grip on the spear. Struggling is pointless because the next thing I know, I’m flying. I hit the ground and roll to a stop. My health bar loses a little bit of its overall length, but it’s fine. The tradeoff was worth it. Stats Decrease: Courage -6, Brawn -4, Agility -2, Perception -1. I am a little disappointed to see my new stats leave so fast. The spear remains in the beast’s chest, moving about as the monster writhes in pain.

  As it thrashes about, the neck moves in various directions. I keep my attention on the loop. It opens, and G. collapses to the ground. “Great plan,” he calls breathless, his skin having a paleness to it. Before limping away, he pushes himself up and turns toward the beast. With no hesitation, he springs toward the spear. In one clean motion, he rips it out of the beast. “I’ll take this back.”

  The snake’s head screams again as fresh blood gushes, but its cries are far from over. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you something in return,” he says as he levels his spear at the monster. G. used Light Spears, the Voice announces. A bright light outlines the weapon, as if the light was from inside it. His fist tightens around the glowing spear, as his arm rears back. He swings, but his hand doesn’t throw his weapon. It remains in his firm grasp while a spear of light bursts out of the metal, making the spear lose its glow. This new light-filled weapon flies forward, striking the monster just above its fresh wound.

  The light spear vanishes as soon as it reaches its target. Where it struck, a new wound opens, green liquid pouring from it. G. grins with satisfaction as he draws his arm back again. The light surrounds the spear again, ready for the next attack. In total, four spears of light strike our enemy. Each create a new wound, draining its health further. Excitement wells up inside me as it drops closer to disappearing. As the last light spear strikes it, the Serpopard lets out one last cry as the bar turns red and blinks out of existence. The next second, the monster’s body disappears in a flash of ashen decay.

  “Yes,” I shout, jumping in the air. Behind me, I can hear Queen and Harva cheering. Another monster down. It’s hard to believe that we did it, but it’s too early to celebrate just yet. We still have one more monster to defeat.

  His part of the mission completed, my large companion places his hands on his knees, breathing hard. “Sorry,” he pants, wiping his dark brow. “But I’m sitting the rest out. Think staying in that monster’s hold has taken too much outta me.” That may be true, but it is only half of it. When someone uses a big attack, they aren’t worth too much until they recover their strength. For now, G. won’t be able to help.

  Turning around, I ask my two companions, “Are you two ready to take down the other beast?”

  “Of course,” Queen replies, blowing a strand of hair from her face. “I’m kinda disappointed that I didn’t get to kill that one.” Harva nods, though I don’t know if she’s agreeing to go or wishes she sl
ayed the monster. “C’mon,” Queen adds, ruffling Harva’s hair. “Show a little more enthusiasm.” Harva smiles a little more, and that’s about it. Either way, we redirect our attention to the barrier. A loud cracking resounds.

  “Get back,” David yells. Looking up, we see a large tree, ripped from the roots, aiming straight for the barrier. We spring back, sure that the branches wouldn’t hold. The tree strikes, sending a shock wave through the branches. The noise is terrible; to my surprise, the tree doesn’t break the intertwining barrier. As soon as it hits, the large trunk freezes in place, remaining attached to the barricade. The connecting branches twist about, growing around the tree, breaking it down until it becomes part of the wooden blockade. Only now do I remember Aurora saying that her barrier absorbed any plant life that tried to break through. It was almost impenetrable. Funny how easy it is to forget that in a fight.

  “That didn’t work,” Aurora coughs, leaning against her scythe. “What now?”

  David looks at the remaining Serpopard. The creature’s eyes look on them with a sense of superiority, but judging from its current size, it is in no place to be haughty. It is weaker than before; still, with most of our team’s strength spent, victory won’t be easy. “Drop the barrier,” David orders at last.

  Aurora used Collapse, the Voice interjects as the barrier of branches unravels. The plant limbs pull away from each other, shrinking in size until they return to their normal state in the places they belonged. Queen rushes to join the fight, with myself and Harva behind. David is the only one on his team that doesn’t look exhausted. Aurora and Maris look worse off than they were a few moments ago, almost to the point of collapsing. Though my group is weaker, we have the better chance at standing against this monster. We all stand together, ready to take the beast on. Its head weaves around, deciding the best plan of attack.

  “You three distract it,” David instructs, pulling at his slingshot. “Aurora, sit this one out. We need you to help us recover from our wounds later.” At his request, she leans against the nearest tree, a sigh of relief escaping her. “Maris,” he continues. He stops short as he finds her leaning against a tree, vomiting whatever food remained in her guts. “Forget it.”

  “Anything else?” Queen asks, as she clanks her chisels together.

  “When I tell you to hit it,” he adds. “You know what to do.” A spark flashes through her eyes. I grip my staff while Harva readjusts her shield. “Get ready.” He grabs his slingshot and pulls a pellet back. David used Smoke Bomb, the Voice says. The pellet strikes it the monster’s face and a puff of dark smoke rises. “Go.”

  We race forward, weapons in hand. The beast shrieks, moving about in wild desperation to escape from the cloud that surrounded its head. The Serpopard is Confused, the Voice adds. I reach the creature first and strike its legs, the only place I think I can do any damage. My attack manages a little damage, more than if I struck it anywhere else. Queen follows up the attack with a dual chisel strike at the creature’s chest, springing up to hit her target. Her attack performs far better. Blood drips from her impact points. Last of all, Harva barrels into a leg. The force of the impact throws her staggering back. She managed more damage than I did, to my chagrin.

  My mind drifts toward G.’s spear, but I think better of it. I made that work once before. Trying a second time would only push my luck. I have to make do until David’s ready. Still, jealousy pulses through me as I watch Queen’s attacks drop the green bar bit by bit. Is it only the weapon that makes her so much stronger than me? She’s been on this journey with me the longest and has as much experience in this as I do. How did she become so strong?

  The Serpopard’s Confusion wore off, the Voice chimes in, bringing me back to the physical conflict. Looking up, I notice the monster’s head coming out of the smoke. Its eyes flare with rage as it narrows down which one of us it wanted to attack first. “Queen, move,” I shout. She looks up in time to dodge. When she’s out of danger, she releases a long sigh. Queen knows that it almost got her.

  As the head looks up, Harva’s shield strikes it with a battering attack, which makes the beast draw back. The little girl races off, with a grin on her face. “Don’t let up on it,” David yells. “I’m almost ready.”

  Looking at its health, I realize that our current attacks aren’t hurting this monster as much as I would like. Across the clearing, I hear G. yell, “You need to hit it with a harder attack.” He’s right. Through David hasn’t revealed what his plan is, I’m not sure that he’ll have enough strength to take this monster down as fast as he would like. He’s the strategist. Fighting isn’t where his true strengths lie. I believe that David has the potential to bring this fight to an end, but he will need a little extra help to make sure that happens.

  Glancing at my staff, I know that there isn’t anything I can do. The best I can be at this moment is a mere distraction…an idea comes to mind. If I had more time, I would realize that it’s a dumb idea and isn’t worth the risk, but if we had a moment to think, our situation wouldn’t be dire. I’m so tired, but now is the time for action. Besides, it’s not the craziest thing I’ve done told. “Queen,” I call. “Do you think you girls can try that one attack?”

  Queen shoots me a look, knowing what I’m referring to. “You remember what happened the last time we tried that?” she retorts. Harva’s mouth gapes at what I’m suggesting. “There’s no way we could hit a moving target with it.”

  She’s right, and that’s why I have to do something crazy, again. “You let me worry about the target,” I yell. “Just do it when I give the signal.” Not waiting on her to argue anymore, I charge forward with my staff in hand. If I wait a second longer, I don’t know if this false bravado will last. I can feel the Serpopard’s eyes direct their attention at me. If this monster could speak, I know what it would say. How dare you challenge me? A weakling like yourself has no place here. I don’t let the doubtful voices in my head hold me back. For this to work, I have to do this.

  Gripping the staff with both hands, I rain strikes against its legs, each one with little effect. Considering what the monster can do, my attacks are nothing to it. A broken noise erupts from the beast’s throat, mimicking laughter. That’s fine. Keep your eyes on me. Enjoy being stronger. I’ll make this overconfidence your downfall. Darting around its legs, I don’t let up on my onslaught, pitiful as it may be. If the monster was not so worn down, I doubt I could survive this, with my body close to giving out. Throughout this desperate attack, I keep my eyes on the beast’s head, making sure that it stays focused on me. If it looks away, even to scoff at my weakness, it’ll be over.

  At last, it grows tired of my pecking and moves a leg up to stomp on me. I avoid its clawed paw just in time. It doesn’t allow me to get away, bringing its snapping head toward me. With a quick roll, I try to dodge, but I have reached my limit. My legs crumble beneath me just as I escape its snap, but the head slams into me. The attack hurls me into the air. I come crashing back down in a heap. My staff slips from my grip. I try to force my will over my body, but it’s too late. My health bar is dropping too low and I don’t have the strength to keep going. Knowing that I have no other option, I turn my head and scream, “Queen. Harva. Now.” It’s all up to them now. Whether or not I’m eaten is in their hands.

  Without another thought, I resign myself to whatever is about to happen. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the strangest sights in the world, and by this point, I’ve seen my fair share of strange. Harva stands with her shield raised above her head. The little girl seems close to collapsing beneath it. With how used she was to carrying the shield, it’s concerning to see her struggle at this simple task, but it is not the shield that is bringing her close to collapsing. Perched on top of it, balancing with both chisels poised for attack, is Queen.

  Her narrow eyes gleam with excitement. She twirls one chisel in anticipation. “Let’s go!” she shouts.

  Harva yells with her, running forward. Harva used Boomerang, the Voice annou
nces. She spins around, grabbing the shield’s edge with both hands. Her cry grows louder as the action becomes harder to perform. Queen stays perched on the shield, though her widening eyes proves that she is closer to falling than it might appear. Harva spins three times, building up speed. In the last spin, she released the disk, hurling it toward the monster. Everyone present witnesses the miracle of Queen spinning through the air on a flying shield. Perhaps under different circumstances, I would find this hilarious.

  The Serpopard realizes that something is happening. It turns in time to have the shield strike it across the jaw. The impact makes it stagger, but it doesn’t realize how much pain was in store. A moment before impact, Queen springs into the air. Carried by the shield’s, she soars above the beast. As it shakes off the first strike, Queen raises her chisels high. Queen used Hammer of Heaven, the Voice reports. The chisels glow with a strange, golden light as they crash down on the beast’s head. The combined attack causes the Serpopard’s bar to deplete quickly. It shrieks in pain and tries to escape, but it’s too late. The girls aren’t done yet.

  The shield lands in Harva’s hands, but she doesn’t stop to catch her breath. She spins again, the disk poised to fly. Harva used Shield Break, the Voice says. This time the shield, glowing with energy, darts through the air with a speed that amazes me. Just before it strikes, Queen lands on the ground, drawing her chisels close to her. Queen used Crouching Woman, Hidden Hammer, the Voice says. She springs into the air, her chisels radiating that same glow. She lashes out at its chest, just as Harva’s shield strikes the neck. Their weapons sing as flesh and scales rip apart.

  Queen and Harva used Second Point of Destruction, the Voice announces. I almost cry out in delight as I watch the bar deplete fast while the monster writhes about in pain. They did it. They pulled off a dual attack. Who knows how long they practiced that? Still, it isn’t enough to bring the beast down, but that’s fine. Harva drops to the ground, not bothering to chase her shield, which ricocheted off in a different direction. Queen scrambles away from the shrieking monster. None of us can go any further. All our hope lies in one.