Perla Online, Book One: Toris (A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure)

by Shawn Wyatt

  They nodded and did as he instructed. When their spells struck the orb, it shrank, but not enough. Azelbub flung the orb into the center of the group. When it exploded, it dealt 20% of a player's HP to anyone affected by it. Not too powerful, but if had been at full strength, it could have killed someone.

  I looked at Evey. "That was close," I said. The memory of that attack was not one I wanted to revisit.

  The attacks against Azelbub had not halted during his attack, and he had dropped another 15% in the time it took the spell to charge. He drifted forward again and swung the blade forward.

  I did not expect him to release it. The sword spun through the air and missed me by a hair. Other players dove to the side. Azelbub charged through the path it had cleared and retrieved the blade, then pivoted to strike at LeeRoy once more.

  I cursed. "I didn't catch the trigger," I said. "A frontal line AOE."

  "I didn't see it either," Evey said. "Watch out. He's almost to 50%."

  Azelbub took damage at a rate that surprised me. It felt too easy. It should be more difficult than this.

  At 50%, the demon teleported once more to the edge and started to channel the ball of energy. The healers assaulted it with holy magic, and it dealt less than 2% damage to the raid when Azelbub threw it. The demon began to charge another orb after the first. Bastion threw a spell at it, but the magic fizzled in the air.

  "It didn't work," he said. "Something's different."

  I shouted for defensive spells to go up as we watched the orb grow larger. When the demon flung it, the orb flew into the air and burst. Dark smoke swirled around the airship landing. It burned my eyes, and I could taste the acrid flavor of ozone on my tongue.

  I realized I could only see those nearest me. The smoke had destroyed visibility.

  Someone screamed in the darkness. I looked at the HP gauge. Pronstar had dropped to 7% of her HP.

  Another scream. Rogue had dropped to 14%.

  "What is out there?" Bastion asked. He and Evey had drawn close to me, and Boris sniffed the air, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow.

  "Azelbub," I said. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Pronstar and Rogue's HP begin to rise. "We can see him. And he reset the aggro meter on his last attack."

  A roar shook the darkness and echoed off the airship landing. Cathbad charged through the shadows and drew Azelbub into the center of the landing. I couldn't see the other members of the raid, but they could see Azelbub. Spells and arrows flew into the monster.

  I loaded a shell into my pistol and activated Bombardment. The bullet punched a hole through the smoke and fragment in the sky above, each piece landing with a small explosion. It did minimal damage to Azelbub, but it served to clear the smoke enough that he could be seen. The demon had 42% HP.

  As the fight wore on, the smoke cleared. It still hung heavy over the landing and cast a gloom over the battle, but I could at last see the other players.

  Pronstar missed a leg from the knee down. Rogue had a gaping wound in his side that LastRites poured healing magic into. The rest of the raid saw it too, and I heard gasps of horror.

  I fired another shot. "Kill this thing," I shouted. "He's low."

  31%.

  30%.

  Azelbub teleported away and stared at the group. "You have been wounded. Leave now, and I will let you live as long as you vow to never return here again."

  I loaded another Caster Shell into a pistol. "You're weak," I said. "You'll die soon, and then this realm will be free of your influence. You have nothing to offer any of us."

  Azlebub laughed once more and stepped off his cloud. The skeletal legs unfolded, hoofs where feet should be. He pulled his other arm from inside the robes.

  He threw the shadow sword to the ground and unfolded an axe, its handle covered in arcane runes, its blade the color of fresh obsidian. "You were offered," he said.

  The monster blurred. I blinked as he seemed to move through space, straight toward me. I barely blocked the swing of the axe with my pistol.

  LastRites shouted. He parried another axe swing with his staff.

  Bastion parried with his sword, his grip more confident and secure than that of other casters. He grit his teeth. "Ren. There are five of him."

  I glanced around the battlefield. Azelbub had split into five copies of himself. The only players that had taken any action after his last teleport were the healers. They maxed the threat table.

  "Cathbad, LeeRoy, taunt him off!"

  Both tanks used their taunts to draw the monsters toward them. Boris added his own taunt to the mix. The bear pulled one version of Azelbub while both tanks pulled two.

  I looked at the HP gauges. The healers had taken heavy blows. Of them all, Bastion had the most HP and mana. The others had dropped to just 20% of their mana.

  "Indiana, Finn, can we get an Aura Song?" I called out.

  "Sorry, Ren," Finn said. "I'm out of mana.

  "Me too."

  I looked at their gauges. They did not have enough to even start the spell. How had they gotten so low? Had we burned through so much mana? I had lost track of it.

  Fear crept into the eyes of many of the players, even as the tanks fought to hold their own against the monsters with minimal healing. "Think," I said. "Think. There has to be a way."

  Jenkins dove out of the way of a strike and thrust his blade into one of the copies. He channeled the healing into LeeRoy, but all of his healing was based on the damage he dealt.

  He could double-dip. "Jenkins, channel your healing spell into Azelbub!" I called.

  "Are you insane?"

  "Just trust me," I said. "Just do it."

  He blocked a strike of the axe with his shield and thrust his blade into the monster, his magic burning away the darkness that surrounding Azelbub. The more damage he inflicted, the more damage he dealt.

  The copy vanished in seconds as his DPS rose exponentially.

  Azelbub's overall HP dropped to 26%.

  "Each clone is worth 4% of its HP," I shouted. "Burn them. Burn them now! This is the final push. We survive this, then we survive the fight."

  The defeat of a single clone galvanized the party. They resumed their attacks. Each clone had significantly less health than the boss as a whole. I focused my attacks on the clone that Boris pulled, as did Evey. Bastion cast Prayer of Healing and damaged all of the copies, and the slight uptick of HP reassured many of the fighters.

  All of the copies fell to the attacks, one after another, until only one remained. It turned and gazed at the party as a whole. "You will never escape this place," it said.

  Wish lobbed a stone at Azelbub's feet. The monster stared at the rock in confusion.

  The Night Raven emerged with a howl of fury and rage. Azelbub stared at the creature in shock, as did many of the members of the raid. "Kill him," Wish said. "Slay your former master."

  Her voice held no warmth at all. The Night Raven attacked, its claws and razor-tipped feathers a blur of movement that tore away Azelbub's remaining HP.

  Evey shouted, and a guttural roar emerged from her throat. Her eyes turned red. A moment later, so did Boris'. They launched a combined attack against Azelbub.

  The monster disappeared behind a cloud of smoke and fire as a final volley of spells slammed into it. When the smoke cleared, it slumped to its knees.

  Its HP had reached zero. The demon opened its mouth to speak, but no sound emerged. It slumped to the ground in a cloud of smoke, and left only its axe behind.

  Ebon Moon

  The obsidian edge of this axe drinks sunlight. Each swing has the chance to create copies of the wielder with equal HP for 10 seconds.

  P!xel all but drooled at the sight of it. "Does anyone want that?"

  "I've got no use for it. Decide between yourself and the other Beserkers." I looked around. "Everyone okay?"

  "Over here!" LastRites shouted for help. I turned, and Rogue had collapsed, the wound on his side still present. Though it did not grow or bleed, his HP still drop
ped. LastRites poured all of his mana into healing Rogue, but for each point of HP he restored, two more fell away. The damage taken increased over time.

  The same happened to Pronstar. Her missing leg did not reappear, no matter how much Apoc healed her. The man looked up in tears. "It's not working," he said. "I've tried everything. She won't wake up, and I can't stop the damage."

  Rogue looked over at the fallen player and gave a weak smile, then put a hand on LastRites' shoulder. "Stop," he said. "Enough. We knew the risks going in. We knew this was a possibility. You can't expect to heal a mortal wound from a raid-boss weapon." He coughed and winced in pain. "Just let us go."

  "Not a chance," LastRites said. "I can't just give up." He channeled more mana into his spell, but his breath came in ragged gasps as his mana faded. He was running out of energy.

  "Her leg isn't coming back," Rogue said. "My wound isn't closing. You could sit beside the two of us and empty fifty players' worth of healing into us and it wouldn't do any good."

  "Shut up." LastRites looked to me. "What should we do?"

  Bell's words echoed in my head. "Life and death is the natural progression of all things," he said. I shook my head. "I don't know. It's not my call to make. Rogue has to decide for himself."

  The player nodded. "Yeah. Just let me go. I did my part."

  "That doesn't seem right," LastRites said. "To just let them die."

  "Shut up, I said," Rogue muttered. "It hurts to talk. You can't waste mana. You killed the raid boss. What if something else happens? What about the rest of the raid?"

  The raid group gathered around as both players’ hit points dropped lower and lower.

  Rogue grinned. "Hey, maybe I'll find out what's on the other side. Or who knows? Maybe this will be a way out."

  LastRites clenched his teeth. "You idiot," he said. "Your class is built around Dexterity. Why couldn't you have dodged this?"

  "Bad luck," Rogue said. He closed his eyes, and the last point of his HP fell away.

  His HP bar vanished.

  In the raid group, both Pronstar and Rogue's names remained, but neither had stats. No levels. No HP. No mana.

  "Damn it," I said. "Damn it!" I stood and walked away. My chest felt like a vice had closed around it. Two players--two people--had died under my watch. They had put their trust in me. And I failed them.

  Evey walked to where I stood. "Ren."

  "What?" I snapped.

  "It's not your fault."

  "They looked to me to lead them through this place," I said. "It was my idea to clear it. And now people are dead because of me."

  "And how many did you save by clearing it?" she asked. "The Waldgeist is dead. Toris is safer now that it has been, and the other players can keep it that way. They will only grow in strength. They will always be that far ahead of the enemy." Evey took my hand in hers and gave it a soft squeeze. "Neither of them two lost their lives in vain, Ren. They gave them willingly."

  I sighed and slumped to the ground. "We didn't need sacrifices," I said. "We didn't need heroes."

  "You don't become a hero by choice. You become a hero by serving the greater good."

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Evey was right, I knew. But I couldn't shake the guilt that hung over me. It might never fade, but I would deal with that later. "Thank you," I said. "We have to keep moving forward. That's the only way I can think of right now to honor them."

  I stood and walked back to the raid group. The victorious mood had been short-lived, and now everyone stood together and stared at the two fallen players.

  "You all put your lives on the line today. Pronstar and Rogue gave theirs." I paused to clear my throat, and to push down the lump that had formed. "I don't know what to say to you all except thank you."

  No one answered, and I looked around the group. Duneyrr had spoken of this. I had to maintain my composure. "I don't care about big, heartfelt speeches," I said. "Two of us are dead. But their loss doesn't invalidate the fact that we won. We protected all of those other players that didn't have the strength to fight. And we will continue to fight until we find a way out of this world."

  The landing rumbled underneath, and my hand dropped to my weapon.

  "Not more enemies," I said.

  The platform felt as though the tree had shaken itself. A moment later, a voice echoed in the air around us, slow and ancient. "Is someone on my head?"

  I stepped to the edge and looked down. The platform shook again and I struggled to maintain my footing. Bastion walked up and stood beside me, then muttered under his breath. "You've got to be kidding me."

  "Ah, there is someone on my head! Many someones. It has been a long time since someone stood on my head. Have you come for a ride?"

  "Just what is happening?" Evey asked.

  "I don't know how to say this, " I said. "But the airship landing is a treant."

  ***

  In the hours that followed, we rested. The fight had worn everyone out. Even though our HP and mana had regenerated to full, the fight had taken a heavy mental and emotional toll.

  We gathered supplies and made our way back to the ground. The second raid group raised their weapons when we emerged, but dropped them and greeted us with a cheer. They had fought multiple waves on their own, but the assaults died down after the enemies made no headway.

  Their cheers faded when they saw the dead Rogue and Pronstar carried out on gurneys. I held up my hand to stave off any questions. "I'll explain later," I said. "For now, let us rest. We should head back to the city."

  No one argued. The other group divided among the eight wagons, and we rode through the night to reach Grenay. Few words were spoken in the main raid group.

  Bastion sat down beside me in the wagon and stared forward. He didn't speak. He didn't need to. I sat with my eyes closed and replayed the events of the battle in my head. I looked for any way the events could have played out differently, any way those two could still live.

  I found none.

  As Rogue had said, it was just bad luck.

  After we reached Grenay and took a few days to recuperate, I sat down with Rune to discuss our next step.

  "Now that travel is possible between realms, we should establish some way to stay in contact," I said.

  Rune rubbed his chin. "I've seen stations for messenger birds around the city, but none were in use. Maybe those could work?"

  I nodded. "That was my thought." Cathbad had told me that people communicated through messenger pigeons. In theory, the pigeon could carry a message to the airship landing, and the message would be carried to the proper realm and distributed by the birds there.

  "I'm going to remain here and run the guild. I'll train the next group of players, make sure they're strong. I'll make sure no one is unprepared." He paused. "I'll make sure there are no more Rogues, no more Pronstars."

  "Thank you," I said. Rune felt their loss more than most. He had recruited both of the players into his guild, had leveled with them from the start. Their deaths still clung to him. "Will you join us on Shella when you get the chance?"

  He looked up and grinned. "You better believe it. No way will I let you four have all the fun."

  I held out a hand. "Then I will try to save a few bad guys for you to take down. Try not to outlevel me."

  We shook, and I turned to leave. A carriage waited for me outside.

  ***

  The carriage took my party back to the airship landing. The sky above remained a deep, clear blue. No clouds threatened to obscure the perfect day.

  I stood in front of the airship and clasped Cathbad's hand. "I don't know how to thank you for all of your help," I said.

  "No thanks is needed. You saved Nyfed. I am forever in your debt."

  "Give them my regards when you get back, will you? I'll try to open communication once we reach the next realm."

  We had said goodbye to the other members of the raid, and remained behind for the funeral for both Rogue and Pronstar. I had arranged for statues
to be erected in the city square. Their sacrifice would not be forgotten. Now Evey, Bastion, Wish, and I waited with supplies loaded into the airship.

  "Do that," Cathbad said. "I will stay here until you are safely away, then I will report back to Nyfed and inform Bellfinidan of what happened here."

  I nodded. "Best of luck, my friend."

  "And to you as well."

  I turned to the rest of my party. "Everyone ready?"

  At their nods, I climbed over the edge and into the airship. Cathbad stood and waved goodbye from the platform.

  The treant spoke. "Are you ready to fly?" it asked. "Hold on tight."

  "What's it mean by that?" Evey asked.

  The treant answered the question for her. A long, gnarled hand plucked the airship from its moorings and pulled us through the air. The treant wound up like a pitcher preparing for the game-winning throw and lobbed the airship into the sky.

  Over the screams of terror and excitement, over the string of obscenities Bastion released about the evils of trees, I felt hope. Toris fell away behind us and the sky around turned dark as we shot between realms.

  The astral blue of the realm of Shella filled our vision as the ship rocketed toward it.

  EPILOGUE

  Half-formed textures rose from the ground around her. Jagged-smooth pixels instead of trees. A flat blue plane instead of water. Nothing seemed right.

  The world lay in an unfinished state. Shadows danced in spaces that should have been filled with color, while color filled a sky that should have been black as night.

  The creatures that existed here moaned horrible, broken sounds, a shrill digital shriek instead of the noises they should make. Skeletons approached the girl from three sides, their skulls attached to their spines in the center of the back. She raised a sword, one of the few items in this world that without glitches, and shouted a battle cry. "Bring it on! You're even uglier than you would be under normal circumstances. Maybe you're stronger than the last group of enemies I ran into."

  She brought the sword down hard on the skeleton and shattered it into an assortment of bones and dispatched the other two just as quickly.