The Mountain Valley War
Page 22
Olaf turned south as soon as we entered the mess hall, heading for the first stairwell that led up to the battlements.
“Soldiers, reload and aim those cannons,” Captain Grandmite’s orders called out over the din of soldiers bustling to-and-fro along the wall.
A moment later I heard a loud knocking sound.
“I want oil on that battering ram now,” the Captain barked, her sword pointing toward the main gate.
I could see now at the main gate there were several soldiers running with covered pots. One of the pots would be set on a slide where it would vanish from sight a moment later. My guess was sliding down onto the battering ram that was currently trying to break into Hammerton.
“Stay back,” the Captain barked, looking at my group and me. “If you get in my soldiers’ way, I will have you removed from this city and not even the General will protest.”
“We can help,” Olaf insisted.
“Help by staying out of the way,” Captain Grandmite reiterated, turning back to the defense of the city.
“Patience, love,” Micaela counseled her husband. “Pick your moment, then strike. Just like I taught you.”
The furrowing of Olaf’s brow suggested he was less than pleased with being patient at the moment, but he abided Micaela’s suggestion.
Not a moment later, the first series of thunderclaps from the cannon’s first round of fire exploded in a unified chorus. I could only hear the impacts on the other side of the walls. We were too far away to see what the attack looked like. I couldn’t see how many were attacking us, what kind of armaments they had arrayed against us or how many players were with them.
“Reload!” another Dwarf bellowed only to be muffled by a different Dwarf shouting over him. “Incoming!”
“Cover!” the Captain shouted, not moving from her perch. But all along the wall the cannoneers tucked in against the wall until the volley of cannon fire came to an end.
“Do not just stand there, take cover,” a Dwarf near us warned loudly.
We moved quickly, taking cover along the wall while explosions sounded closer to the gate.
“They are still ranging, keep working,” ordered the Captain, unmoved.
I stood again, not moving away from the wall though, I was trying to see what was going on. From my new position, I was able to see down into the stone courtyard, it was pockmarked now with holes I guessed were created by the explosion of cannonballs. I supposed it was a good thing the courtyard was vacant. It made me wonder what would happen if the Anvilton forces managed to break through. Were Hammerton soldiers amassing on the other side of the inner gates, ready to rush out at a moment’s notice?
I looked around the battlements again, all the soldiers rushing around, the cannons preparing for another volley. I saw all the soldiers concentrated around the main gate, Archers firing down on the battering ram.
I knew it was a risk, but I needed to see more. I needed to know what was happening outside of the city. I risked it. I ran toward the main gate, not knowing if my friends would follow me. I rushed ahead, dodging around or flipping over the Dwarf soldiers as they came and went, some of them being carried away on a stretcher toward a healing tent.
When I reached the edge of the forward wall, I looked out on the dark battlefield. The setting sun made it difficult to see much. I saw cannons setup at a distance, manned by half a dozen shale Dwarves. What I didn’t see was a giant army, nothing on the scale of what Gras had warned us about. I looked down the wall toward the gates, there were less than a hundred shale Dwarves turtling around the battering-ram, their shields held high or low as they guarded it.
I looked out at the field again, I didn’t see any Dwarves behind the natural stone formations and even if there were, there wouldn’t be enough shale Dwarves to really pose a danger to the city.
The cannons fired again behind me, the explosive balls detonating in the battlefield but hitting no one, not even in range of the Anvilton cannons. I looked along the battlements for any spotters but saw none, no one was helping the cannons to target. Why was Hammerton so disorganized? Was Hammerton’s command structure really that bad? I was no military genius but even I understood the concept of using spotters to call out targets and coordinates.
Instead, I watched the Dwarves manning the wall running around as little better than chickens with their head’s cutoff, trying desperately to stop the battering ram while the Captain just kept the cannons firing into troops that weren’t there, as if someone was giving her bad information.
I looked at the Anvilton cannons again, how did they get so close to the city unseen? I watched as another round of shots fired from the Anvilton cannons, the sound of explosions behind me as the shots impacted into the courtyard again. Why the courtyard? Wouldn’t one of the Anvilton soldiers have reported the courtyard as empty by now?
I turned sharply and ran to the inner edge of the wall. The potholes were all to the right side, the left was completely clear of damage. The cannons weren’t ranging, they were keeping the courtyard clear. All this screamed one thing in my head, distraction.
“It’s a trap,” I said softly. “It’s a trap!” I repeated, yelling this time. I turned swiftly, looking for my friends. Thankfully, they were right there with me.
“Olaf, it’s a trap, look at the courtyard, all the shots are concentrated on one side, the western side,” I said, explaining my reasoning. “I would bet someone, a player most likely, is in place to open the eastern gate here and inside the city.”
“Baby, fly to Heath and Gras, warn them,” Rose said urgently, Baby already flying before her statement finished.
“Rose, Micaela, you’re with me,” Olaf said. “We’re going to that gate now. Bye-bye, warn the Captain before it’s too late.”
I didn’t even acknowledge the order, I was already sprinting as fast as my legs would carry me, ‘Body Control’ activated to help push me along even faster.
“Captain, it’s a trap,” I shouted again as I got closer to her perch.
“I said, stay out of the way,” Captain Grandmite snapped at me.
If ever there was a time for ‘Perception’ to kick in, it was now. It was only for that reason I spotted the dagger swinging toward the Captain’s neck. I leaped, my spear driving through the wrist of the would-be Assassin, causing the dagger to miss, dropped from the hand of the killer, her ‘Stealth’ also broken revealing a player
“Assassin,” I hissed out as my HP hit zero.
Captain Grandmite Lvl 14 does 2,747-damage to you with a critical blow from ‘Pierce Heart’ skill.
Captain Grandmite Lvl 14 has murdered you. You will be automatically transported and revived at the nearest graveyard.
I sat up abruptly, my hand clenching at my chest where the Captain had just stabbed me, just one-shot me. I wanted to yell every profanity I could think of, but I didn’t have time for that. I could still hear the echoing explosions from the city, it meant the battle hadn’t ended. It meant I needed to hurry.
I started running, I needed to get to the eastern gate. I didn’t yet know what I would be able to do when I got there but I needed to get there. My ‘Body Control’ subskill ‘Sprint’ helping to get me there faster. It was less helpful with the rock maze. I relied on my hearing to tell me if I was getting closer or going the wrong way. I would have thought with the number of times I’ve navigated this field already I would have some inkling of where I was going.
“Run!” I heard the yell, my head turning sharply toward the source. I had finally found the ramp that led down to the eastern gates. I could see a light at the other end of the tunnel, it meant that the gate was opened, either Olaf and my friends
didn’t get there in time or they did and failed. Either way, there were now more than 20 players streaming into the courtyard. I just hoped Heath and Baby had been able to secure the other gate.
I activated ‘Stealth’ and followed behind, waiting until they were in the open courtyard before I attacked. I might not kill any of them, but I was sure as hell going to balance the playing field. My eyes scanned the players, looking for the biggest threat of the them all. It was a level 18 player in robes with an ornate jeweled staff. Not one ‘Judgment’ among them, not that it mattered, I was still going to force a fair fight.
“Why isn’t the gate open?” one of the players,
“Just be patient, it will open,”
“Did we arrive at a bad time?” another player asked,
I looked up to the walls, why weren’t the soldiers attacking the players? Did they not see them? Then I saw it, the Captain and a dozen more soldiers were fighting
When Myst’s arm was separated from his body and the young boy fell to the ground in shocked surprise, I looked for the source to see a bloody but alive Olaf standing above the gates, but no sign of Rose or Micaela.
That was my queue. I leapt into the fray once more, targeting Caster Caster and spearing him through the chest, using my ‘Final Judgment’ and completely depleting my MP and SP in one shot. At least Caster Caster died.
Final Judgment
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Skill Effect: Deliver the Final Judgment of Issara upon an enemy of the World Tree dealing -1-HP damage per point of MP and SP used plus weapon damage. Ignores armor, cannot be blocked or dodged.
Skill Stamina Cost: All Spell Mana Cost: All
Seeing I was exposed, I grinned and saluted up at Olaf cheekily. I was fully expecting to die quickly. I should have cast ‘Justice Bringer’ first. And yet the players around me weren’t attacking me. They all looked simply shocked, I suppose seeing the highest leveled player among them die in a one-shot kill would surprise a group, but these guys were downright green. Like they didn’t know we were enemies.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I swallowed down a mana potion. If they were going to be stupid enough to give me that much time.
“Justice Bringer,” I crowed as I unleashed my spell.
Justice Bringer
Level: 13
Experience: 13.24%
Spell Duration: 1 hour
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Spell Charges: 1/1
Spell Mana Cost: 100
Recharge: 00:00:01
Spell Effect (Active): All Adventurers and Citizens within 33 yards have their effective level lowered or raised to match your own. Does not work on enemy Citizens, Beasts or Monsters.
The spell recharge counter ticked down, giving me another use if I needed it as well as restarting the timer at 24 hours.
Again, instead of attacking me, the players just looked confused.
“Um, this is usually the part where you try to kill me,” I said.
“Are you with Anvilton?” a player,
“No, I’m with Hammerton, now, are you going to attack me or what?” I asked, looking up at Olaf who looked just as confused as I was.
“But we signed on with Hammerton,” the bunny girl protested. “Was it a giant trick? Was this all one big trap to kill us?”
Now I really was confused. Were these players here to fight for Hammerton? Why would they come like that in the middle of a battle? Common sense would tell you that Hammerton wouldn’t let you in to the city in the middle of a battle? Or were they told this was some kind of event?
A cackling laughter from the gate preventing me from replying. “Yes, it was girlie, it was my trap. I must say, you did splendidly. Thank you for being such an unwitting dupe,” the cackling player said, it was Pwn Star69, his voice becoming somewhat familiar to me now. “And now that Bye-bye Jack-hole has wasted his infamous ‘Justice Bringer’ spell, we’re going to kill you all then sack this city.”
“I did not see that coming,” I said, feeling somewhat impressed with Pwn’s planning on this one. He set me up and almost perfectly so. He must have also set up the players surrounding me. Lured them into thinking there was some kind of event or maybe promised them safe passage to the city once the group was large enough. Then he sent them in first in the middle of a battle, making it look like they were part of the attack on the city. All with the intent of drawing me out, forcing me to use ‘Justice Bringer’ so that it wouldn’t be a fair fight.
“You weren’t supposed to, Justice Freak,” Pwn said, cackling again. “Now, attack! Just remember, Bye-bye Jacko is mine!” he cried out, dozens of players rushing out of the tunnel behind him, some of them with the all too familiar red aura of a player killer with outstanding judgments against them.
“You made one miscalculation,” I said, grinning, ignoring the players that surged past me. This time I was confident I was going to die again, but it would be worth it when I killed Pwn first. Pwn’s eyes widened as he connected the dots.
“No! You are only supposed to have one cast per day, that’s what the forums said,” Pwn said, shaking his head, refusing to believe it.
“Is that what they say? Well, let me assure you, the forums are wrong, ‘Justice Bringer’,” I shouted, a burst of white energy passing through the courtyard and leveling the playing field. I looked back at the bunny girl, “Fight, protect Hammerton,” I shouted, before looking back to Pwn, hoping the girl wasn’t as timid as the bunny would indicate.
I had almost no SP left to speak of. My MP wasn’t much better after casting ‘Justice Bringer’ twice. But I would definitely be paying Pwn back for this.
When I saw Pwn starting to cast a spell, I rushed him, stabbing him in the shoulder to try to interrupt him before he could finish his spell. Apparently, he learned a new trick because it didn’t interrupt the spell casting. He didn’t frown or react much except to smirk at me.
“Dark Inferno!” Pwn cast at me, black flames spewed from his open hand, washing over me and burning away a good amount of my HP. It wasn’t as strong as his normal fire spells but the burning debuff ‘Void Burns’ wasn’t helping as it ate at my HP.
Void Burns – Recipient suffers void-fire damage every second. Recipient takes additional void-fire damage from all sources.
I stabbed him again, this time hitting him with ‘Ligament Rip’ followed with a second stab ‘Impale’, my SP nearly depleted again. I cast ‘Lesser Holy Fire’ adding another damage over time effect, one good burn deserves another.
Through this, he ignored the damage, casting another spell, this time a ring of black fire burst out around him, spreading through the crowd, burning friend and foe alike, leaving behind another stack of ‘Void Burns’.
I stabbed him with my spear, no skill this time, I just didn’t have the SP to waste.
“I’m going to kill you this time. I don’t care how even you think you are with me,” Pwn spewed forth. “And when I’m done with you. I’ll burn this whole place to the ground.”
I didn’t have time to banter with this guy. I needed him to die and I needed to move on to the next target. I stabbed again, a lucky critical hit dealing -527-HP and t
aking 32% of his remaining health, my damage effects continuing to tick down. I added another stack of ‘Lesser Holy Fire’, dropping my MP to 3/2,010. It was worth it to see his HP dropping faster.
“Die already!” Pwn screamed at me, another torrent of black flames bursting forth from his hand, burning me and bringing my HP even lower, the third stack of ‘Void Burns’ was really eating at my HP quickly.
“You might kill me, but I’m taking you with me,” I said. I had just enough SP recovered for a ‘Power Thrust’, I hoped it would be enough to kill him. I struck, a perfect shot through his chest, his eyes widened as his HP plummeted to just 11% left, the damage over time effect I had in place would be more than able to eat through. Then the sicko grinned.
“You’re not taking me, I’m taking you . . . ‘Black Void’,” Pwn said coldly, his body glowing for a second before a small black dot appeared near his stomach, his body quickly being sucked into it, ending his life before my damage effects could. I realized too late it was a miniature blackhole and there was no way I was escaping as close to the source as I was. The ‘Black Void’ tore me apart much more easily than I would have preferred, my HP hitting zero rapidly.
Pwn Star69 Lvl 14 does -172-damage to you with a damage over time effect from ‘Black Void’ spell.
Pwn Star69 Lvl 14 has murdered you. You will be automatically transported and revived at the nearest graveyard.
Chapter 13 – Olaf
“Do you even know where the gatehouse is?” Rose asked, coming alongside Olaf as they ran across the battlements toward the eastern gate.
“You see that door,” said Olaf, pointing at a door that was just coming into view. There was a square structure situated over the top of the gate. There were two sets of stairs parallel an open doorway on the side of the structure facing the battlement.
“Does the open door mean they are already inside?” Rose asked.
“Vision, check it out,” Micaela said.
Olaf could only hope the wolf pup was still around and didn’t decide to follow Bye-bye. He made a note to ask his wife if she always knew where Vision was.