The maze suddenly opens into a large room where several corridors stand empty. The sky is dark overhead. Lightning strikes and I feel my hair stand on end. Merlin softly hoots on my shoulder. Several large gargoyles are mounted on the walls. They are intricately carved, the torches that burn beneath them making the stone guardians almost look alive.
Merlin flies across the room, thankful for the extra space, and lands on one’s head.
Ordin and I try to decide which route to take when I hear a flutter and then the chomp of teeth. Merlin’s body falls to the floor, coated in blood. His soft, downy feathers dance through the air, slowly coming to rest beside him.
I don’t understand what just happened. Merlin lays unmoving on the floor. My senses seem to be failing me. It’s harder to hear and see as I rush to Merlin and pick up his small frame in my hands. He doesn’t move. Flecks of stone fall on my head.
I look up and see the gargoyle’s eyes are no longer stone, but a dull yellow. Its arms and legs crack and crunch as it breaks free from the wall and jumps down.
I want to curl up and cry. Merlin is dead. I hold him tight against my chest, hoping against hope that he might open his eyes and hoot. I hear Ordin’s muffled voice behind me as a powerful stone hand connects with my face.
Chapter 31
Merlin is dead.
I slam into the wall, losing a third of my health from the gargoyle’s punch, but the only thing I can think about is Merlin falling to the ground covered in blood. In Pangea, when a pet dies, that’s it, they’re gone. Merlin is a big part of the reason why I am here in the first place.
I slowly stand up. Merlin would want me to fight. My sight and hearing have returned, but after the enhancements Merlin provided, everything seems muted.
Ordin stands in the middle of the open room while gargoyles leave their perches and land with a crash all around.
Gargoyle. Level 57. Winged stone creatures able to blend in with their surroundings, gargoyles are pure magic and turn to permanent stone in technology-only worlds.
Three gargoyles surround Ordin and one stands only feet from me. I can’t think about Merlin now. I have to fight to survive.
Lunging Strike stuns the gargoyle nearest me and I run to join Ordin.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“Gargoyles have really high magic resistances. We’ll need to use our melee attacks.”
Great. Four high-level monsters and I have to rely on my strength. I take a health potion and my HP slowly recovers.
“Okay, I’ll stun or snare them when I can. If you can hit them into the wall, that’s a bonus stun. Only attack if they can’t move. Otherwise, just stay out of their way.”
Ordin nods and lifts his warhammer, ready to fight.
Rain continues to pour down on us. Merlin’s tiny body has disappeared. I’m sorry I never got to say good-bye to my friend. Anger rises in me again and this time, I can’t control it.
Haunted Earth roots two of the gargoyles in place. I equip my Elvish Spear and battleaxe. I don’t care about defending myself. In this moment, I want to make them pay for what they did to Merlin. I cast Resilience on myself and activate Ring of Power’s ability, doubling its attack bonus for thirty seconds. Ordin lets out a battle cry to my right as we charge the stone monsters.
I attack in a flurry, stabbing and slashing with both arms. Ordin hits one of the gargoyles with a powerful strike, knocking it into the wall and stunning it. I switch targets and attack the frozen monster.
A powerful blast knocks me off my feet and drains my health by another twenty percent. I’m down to almost half health. Two of the gargoyles still have full HP. One is down to a third and the other has seventy-five percent health.
“Take out the lowest one first,” I order.
The gargoyles shoot out magical orbs that explode upon impact. They move slow, but pack a powerful punch. One of them hits Ordin in the back, but only takes a tenth of his health. He must have great armor or defensive spells.
I run for the weakest gargoyle and use Lunging Strike. Ordin and I attack his stone hide. The bonus from Ring of Power wears off, but a glowing strike of Ordin’s warhammer finishes him.
Three to go.
Stone claws rip into my shoulder and my vision goes red. The gargoyle lifts me into the air and all I can hear are the flaps of its powerful stone wings. It tosses me against the wall and my health drops like my body, down to forty percent.
I stand and one of their magical orbs hits me in the side, knocking me down. Twenty percent HP.
Ordin fights hard on the other side of the room. He still has seventy percent health. One of the gargoyles he fights is down to half.
“Equip your shield, Esil!” he yells at me. “You can be angry, but you need to live for Merlin’s death to mean anything.”
He’s right. I need to be smart. I equip my shield in one hand and my spear in the other. As much as I love my axe, my spear has slightly better stats and I need every advantage I can get.
I cast Haunted Earth and catch the weakest gargoyle in its roots. It roars defiantly as Ordin’s warhammer crashes against it in a bright flash of light. I get in one good hit before it comes unrooted and I retreat. With twenty percent health, I need to stay out of the fight.
Ordin rushes at a gargoyle and takes an orb to the face. It drops his health fifteen percent, but he is able to land a blow that knocks the gargoyle into the wall, stunning it. I cast Resilience on him, boosting his attack speed. I’m too far away to get there in time, so I toss my spear like a javelin and equip my axe.
The gargoyle’s stone body crumbles to the floor.
Two left.
A gargoyle hovers in the air to the left of me. I turn to fight and with a powerful flap of its wing, a gust of wind slams into me, turning everything red and dropping my health to five percent. The gargoyle charges.
This is where I die. I came so close, too.
An electrically charged arrow cuts through the rain and hits the gargoyle in the chest. Dozens of tendrils erupt from the arrow, covering the gargoyle and stunning it mid-flight. It falls to the ground unable to move.
“Stay out of the way,” orders Aleesia.
I retreat to a corner, not that I have much choice. I use my last five health potions all at once and wait for my health to restore. The princess stands in front of me, firing volley after volley at the stone creatures. Flaming arrows, electric, ice. A rainbow of arrows fly across the room, some I have never seen before. The gargoyles never have a chance once she shows up. Her arrows keep the gargoyles distracted while Ordin attacks them from behind.
When the last gargoyle crumbles, the princess faces me and extends her hand to help me up. I return the gesture and she pulls me to my feet.
“Esil, I’m so—”
“You don’t owe me an apology,” I cut her off. “If anyone should be apologizing, it’s me. I shouldn’t have been so secretive about everything and not expected you to ask questions. It’s not your fault your dad is a developer.” I realize I’m still holding on to her arm and let go. “Thanks for saving me.”
“Don’t mention it. Quite the maze though, huh?” she asks.
“Yeah, we best be getting a move on then. Want to join me and Ordin?”
A smile creeps across her face.
“I’d love to.” The smile disappears as quickly as it came and she looks around the room. “Where’s Merlin?”
My words catch in my throat. I’m not ready to say the words out loud.
“He didn’t make it,” Ordin answers for me.
“Oh, no. Esil, I’m so sorry.” Her words are genuine, matching the hurt on her face.
Maybe that’s why pets aren’t as common in Pangea. At least in the PvP worlds. They aren’t just items that can be equipped and replaced. They have personality. They bond with their owners and just like that, they can disappear forever.
We decide on a door and exit back into the maze. The rain stops for a moment and a brilliant moon shows between
the clouds. Something howls nearby, making me long for Fenrir.
We wind through the maze, narrowly missing a tripwire for who knows what kind of trap. We defeat a pair of owlbears, bears with the head and wings of an owl. They rough me up a bit, but with a few good snares, we take them down. Two of our competitors are unlucky enough to try and attack us and meet the same fate.
It feels like we’ve been in the maze for hours at this point, with no way of knowing if we’re going in the right direction or who is closest to finding the center. We could’ve passed by it a dozen times without realizing how close we are for all I know.
Around the next corner, a battle rages. Three werewolves stand battling a warrior in black armor. He wears a helm with the metal horns of a ram that I’d recognize anywhere. Ryken. The three werewolves are all around half health. They take damage, then gain a little back with each hit. Their lifesteal is incredible. Ryken still has two-thirds of his health.
Something glows on the other side of their battle.
“The portal!” I say. “We can’t let him get to it.”
Ryken uses familiar spells against the werewolves. He calls undead hands from the ground, holding them in place. A swarm of black moths smother them. His own lifesteal heals back a portion of the damage the werewolves deal.
Then he uses a spell I’ve never seen before. Ryken raises both arms in the air and a black cloud forms overhead. It grows and rumbles and then two bolts of lightning jolt from the cloud, hitting both Ryken and a werewolf. Ryken loses half his health, but the werewolf dies.
“He just sacrificed his own health to kill the wolf,” mumbles Ordin.
“We need to attack him while he’s low,” says Aleesia.
She shoots a flaming arrow that does very little damage. Ryken is both a tank and a heavy magic dealer. He turns, finally noticing us.
“Sister,” he rumbles. “How nice of you to join us.”
He attacks with lifesteal and a red jet streaks across the hallway, colliding with the princess and taking twenty percent of her health and restoring it to Ryken.
The werewolves attack, their razor-sharp claws grating against the death knight’s shield. He raises one hand, and a moment later, the fallen werewolf rises and attacks its brethren. Each attack raises Ryken’s health bit by bit.
“Take out the wolf,” yells the princess. She fires arrows at the undead wolf, dropping its health by a tenth.
Ordin runs for the werewolf, his warhammer glowing a bright yellow. Ryken tries to root the dwarf, but Ordin dodges it, his warhammer connecting with the undead creature in an explosion of light. The werewolf loses half of its health from the attack, but is on Ordin swiftly, clawing and biting.
I switch to Staff of the Ancients and cast Haunted Earth, rooting Ryken in place, and follow it up with Waterfall. His orange eyes bore into me. He loses a small amount of health, much less than I would have liked. I use my last mana potion.
Ordin does battle with the undead werewolf while the princess and I attack from a distance. The two living werewolves attack Ryken from the other side, but his health replenishes as soon as he is attacked. We’re in a stalemate until someone runs out of mana.
Ordin is losing health fast. I need to help him with the werewolf.
“I’m going in to help Ordin, it’s our only way,” I tell Aleesia.
I switch back to my spear and move in closer. If we can take out the werewolf while Ryken’s attention is away, I can run back to safety without taking any damage.
Ordin smashes his warhammer into the werewolf, slamming it against the wall and stunning it. I stab with my spear and cast Resilience on Ordin. Aleesia casts the same spell on me. All of a sudden, I can’t move my feet. Undead hands hold both of us in place.
“It’s over,” Ryken bellows. The words reverberate in my chest.
Red tendrils of magic escape his hand and come right for me. They bypass me and crash into Ordin. He has more HP than me. It makes sense Ryken would target him. I hear a buzz and then everything goes black.
When the moths disappear, Ordin’s tombstone sprouts from the ground beside me. I have almost no health, so I retreat to the princess.
“We’re screwed,” I say.
“Just stand behind me.”
With Ordin gone, Ryken slays another werewolf.
The princess carefully approaches him from behind. She switches out her bow for her elvish sword. It’s short and thin, made for fast attacks.
“Call off your dogs, Ryken. Let’s settle this the old-fashioned way.”
Ryken laughs. It’s a deep, heartless laugh that chills me to the bone.
“Have it your way, sister. First, I’ll kill you. Then I’ll kill your little boy toy.”
He tosses his shield aside and pulls out his broadsword. The weapon is as long as me and must weigh several hundred pounds.
Sparks fly when their blades touch. For a blade so small, Aleesia’s parries Ryken’s attack with ease. The way they move, it’s easy to see they might be related. They’re two sides of the same coin.
The princess lets her guard down for a second and that’s all it takes for Ryken to seize his opportunity and strike. His blade catches the princess in the thigh, taking a tenth of her health.
The two undead werewolves keep the living one at bay while Ryken battles his sister. With my five percent health, there is not much I can do to help. I watch, a spectator in the great match that will determine my own fate.
The princess presses the attack, forcing Ryken to defend with blazing speed for a sword so large. She attacks and then takes a step back. When Ryken moves to defend, she attacks from the opposite side and strikes between the plates of his armor. His health drops to forty percent. Ryken’s eyes glow brighter with anger from deep in his helm.
He counters, but the princess is prepared this time. She blocks each blow in turn. Ryken moves just a fraction slower this time. The princess uses it to her advantage and grazes him with her sword. He’s down to thirty-five percent health. He roars and slashes at Aleesia’s feet. She jumps and the blade passes underneath. With Ryken off-balance, she cuts him again, bringing him to a quarter of health.
“Enough of this!” Furious, Ryken casts a spell, rooting the princess in place. The two werewolves bear down on her, covering the stone floor in a splatter of blood. There is an explosion of light and both werewolves are tossed aside. The princess crawls across the floor to me at five percent health.
“Stand up,” I say.
“It’s over,” she responds meekly.
“Stand up and attack me.”
“What?” Confusion paints her face.
“Attack me! I have a plan.”
She nods. I equip my shield and activate its special ability.
She brings down her blade on my shield and the blow is blocked. Five percent health returns to both of us. It’s not a lot, but maybe it will keep us alive.
“I have an ability. It’s strong, but once I use it, I’ll be out of mana. So it’s really our only shot. It’s been too big of a risk to use, but now I don’t think there is any other way.”
“We’re going all in?” she asks.
“All in.”
“Then I’ve got something I’ve been saving too.”
We both stand and face Ryken. He’s killed the final werewolf and now has three of the undead creatures at his back.
“Ready to say your good-byes, sister?” he goads.
His werewolves march towards us.
I equip Staff of the Ancients and cast Firestorm. A small flame forms in the middle of the hallway.
Is this some kind of joke? Did my dad pull another prank on me with this spell?
Slowly, the fire begins to grow. Wind whips around it, forming a funnel that brings the fire into the air until the storm engulfs the width of the hall. It rises above the ceiling in a monstrous tornado.
The princess casts her spell and the tornado goes dark. Lightning flares from inside it. Then bolts begin darting out in every direction.
Red, then blue, then a black bolt that tears through the wall of the maze.
I look over to the princess and lose all focus on the storm. Her beautiful ivory skin has changed to a charcoal. Her blue eyes are now red. Her blonde hair, black.
“What did you cast?” I ask.
“Storm of darkness. It was the spell you gave me when we beat the lich in the dungeon. It’s powerful, but in order to use it, I had to change my allegiance to the dark elves.”
“Permanently?” I can’t believe she would do that for a chance at victory. Or did she do it for me?
She nods.
The storm dies away. The walls of the corridor are destroyed in places. A gravestone sits amongst the charred rubble.
Ryken is dead.
The portal awaits us at the end of the hall, but how do we decide who goes through?
I feel the warmth of the princess’s hand as she takes hold of mine. Together, we walk forward.
“I can’t believe we did it,” I say. Never in a million years would I have thought I could actually win this tournament. And I couldn’t. Not by myself. It was my friends who helped me reach this moment.
“Go ahead,” says Aleesia. “You earned this.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you. Ryken would have destroyed me.” It’s only fair we do this together. Hopefully, half of the prize money will be enough to get treatment started for Buzz’s mom and I can earn the rest in time.
“Same time?” she asks.
“Same time.”
We hold hands and prepare to jump into the portal, but then Aleesia grabs me by the neck and pulls me towards her. She presses her lips to mine. I don’t care that it’s virtual reality, it feels like the real thing. I close my eyes and feel her lips against mine. Then I feel a hard push against my chest and the last thing I see is Aleesia’s face before I go tumbling into the portal.
Chapter 32
Trumpets blare as I fall out of the portal. My hands reach at empty air, grasping for the Aleesia’s hand. I can’t believe she pushed me through. She should be here with me. We should be accepting the prize together. Hell, she probably deserves to win it more than me. I would have died twice over if not for her.
Pangea Online Book One: Death and Axes: A LitRPG Novel Page 23
