by Konrad Ryan
*Maximum health reached, regrowth required to restore maximum health.*
Regrowth? Like the hair thing? Tad didn’t have any spells like that. But the man was alive. For now. Tad turned to find the banshee, spells from almost twenty different slayers exploded where she stood. Her violin picked up the pace.
There was only one monster.
“‘Thunderstorm!” Tad pointed with his empty hand before he repeated the cast. “Thunderstorm!”
Twin clouds filled the sky above. Every second, two lightning strikes zapped the Banshee, followed by a peal of thunder. Immediately, the banshee’s violin changed, it used each crash of thunder like the percussion of drums. Screams from slayers mixed with her haunting melody as it raced and crashed. Tad doubted that better boss music had ever been composed for a graveyard fight.
Tad’s spells didn’t do much damage, but would be effective the longer the battle went on. The lightning was so fast that her spectral shield couldn’t form in time to block it. It was better than unloading forty firebolts into her face, only to be useless afterward. At least now, he could focus his efforts on the hands and protecting others.
Because the hands were now flesh, no longer immune to physical damage.
Tad dashed into the fray after the banshee. Her eyes locked with his, before she stepped through the silvery mist on the opposite end of the boss arena. Tad dashed, desperate to catch up, shoulders low to the ground, squeezing every ounce of speed out that he could. Suddenly he regretted using his second cast of ‘brilliant burst’ to escape the swarm of toothblenders in the first dungeon. He felt pathetically slow without it, especially since he lacked Brian’s speed buff.
The banshee now had three flesh hands of different colors and texture tugging at the metal plate. The nails of the plate wriggled and shook as they fought to remain embedded. It was close to coming loose. Tad gripped Raekast’s Fang, but silver mist appeared right before Tad could close the distance enough to strike a hand. With a flick of his wrist, he flung the dagger, and before she could step away, it slashed through the appendage in an explosion of blood. Her violin played her scream of pain. Tad stomped on the severed, yet still wriggling hand, until it was a mush of unrecognizable flesh on the ground before he retrieved Raekast’s Fang and charged her again.
Anger flared in her eyes. Without missing a note, she handed the violin to her spectral hair, which formed both hand and violin bow and continued playing seamlessly. The music intensified once more, increasing in tempo and volume. The banshee locked eyes with Tad, brandishing her sharp golden violin bow like a rapier.
Her intentions were clear. She was going to protect the flesh hands at all costs.
Chapter 14
Of the three bosses Tad had fought in the last day-and-a-half, the banshee was the fastest. Faster than any boss Tad had seen since his dexterity had become so high. She darted, twisted, stabbed and feinted with deadly precision. Tad blocked her aggressive assault with Raekast’s Fang, but her bladed violin bow had a much larger reach. The two hands still pulled at the iron plate on her face desperately. In between her aggressive swordplay, her eyes scanned vulnerable slayers in search of her next target.
He had caught her ghostly limbs twice with Raekast’s Fang, but to no avail. She wasn’t made from essence like the demented void in the dagger had been, and his attacks passed through her harmlessly. Her defense and speed increased drastically any time Tad targeted the flesh hands.
Suddenly she stepped, and the violin bow sprang from Tad’s chest, *-142 health,* piercing entirely through his back. He flung himself forward, off the weapon, just out of reach of the tendrils who hungrily grabbed at his organs. The banshee flew forward, thrust after slash. And then she stepped. Violin bow pierced Tad’s thigh, *-24 health.*
Forget protecting others, he could barely protect himself. That step, stab attack was a dangerous combination.
The only clue he had, after the teleportation, was her music. The violin played wild and full of rigour, even through her steps. But the attacks came so instantaneously that Tad still didn’t have time to parry or evade properly. New tendrils had formed, some tapped the body of the violin, in between his thunderstorm’s attack, with furious percussion. Tad’s own thunderstorms annoyed him with each strike of lightning. His own spell betrayed him with every peal of thunder, becoming part of her beautiful and haunting boss music. The violin itself sounded twisted and warped. Almost like an electric instrument mixed with the haunting screams of the damned. The wild music pulled Tad in as he pressed another furious assault.
He stabbed Raekast’s Fang at a hand at her mouth, then twisted from the gleaming bow’s counterattack in a spin, closing the distance. He had never experienced a battle like this. He couldn’t attack her core or even her arms, only the small amalgamations of flesh that were barely recognizable as hands were vulnerable. Syphon’s spells landed with furious precision, and between Syphon’s spells and Tad’s thunderstorm, they had whittled her health down to just under eighty percent. Kali cast a huge gash of fire, but the banshee slipped away from the powerful spell. Other slayers had the same problem. The banshee dodged the powerful, slower spells, but blocked the weak ones. The damage was slow. Other spells came and splashed across the banshee’s backside, but were less effective. Her magic resistance was incredibly high for a monster immune to physical damage.
Two quick stabs pierced Tad’s shoulders, *-47 health. -36 health,* causing twin rivers of blood to stain his brand new leather armor. She was so quick! But not only that, her motions didn’t seem limited to her body. Unlike a body of flesh, whose joints moved predictably, her limbs twisted backward in ways that would break any human arm if they tried similar attacks. Her hair tendrils reached for his organs from Tad’s blind spots, forcing him to dance away into her sword thrusts, where he could no longer defend or evade properly. His own health had dropped below fifty percent from her constant step-attacks and lightning fast broken-arm attacks. He pressed once more, inside the range of her violin bow. His fang drove deep into one of her remaining flesh hands, but simultaneously two spectral hands burst forward into his abdomen. Tad screamed in fear and horror. He felt her spectral hair rummaging through his abdominal cavity for the organ she wanted. Quick as a flash, Tad brought Raekast’s Dagger to full effect. The last flesh hand on her face exploded in a mess of gore.
Rage filled her eyes. The banshee threw her head backward to scream. The wail of death. Tad knew it to be so, but with the steel plate so securely attached, her motion was harmless. In the furious fray, only two mana had recovered. It had to be enough. Tad focused the surge of anger into his fists as both glowed red. Raekast’s Fang was banished into black mist, and Tad cast firebolt with one hand. The tendril in his chest evaporated in a puff of blue mist. The banshee’s eyes turned sharp, and she drove the bow toward Tad’s neck. He bent backward to evade, the golden bow sliced open a cut on his forehead, *-12 health,* blood splashed into his eyes. Instinctively, he grabbed at the remaining tendrils pulling at his chest, to stop himself from falling flat on his back. His right hand slipped right through it, but unexpectedly, his left hand found purchase and yanked the banshee to the ground with him.
A look of bewildered surprise washed across her face. Tad had no idea why that worked, but he firmly gripped the tendril in his hand and threw it with all his might.
The banshee flipped through the air, her music paused for the first time since the battle began. Her hair tendrils splayed behind her like a parachute, slowing her trip through the air. With no physical body, she had very little air resistance, and seemed to have trouble bringing herself to a full stop.
Finally, as she began to descend, the music played once more, hesitantly at first, then ramped up as her anger and confidence swelled.
Tad looked at his hand in wonderment. His left hand still glowed with the mana of his uncast spell.
It was the mana. The mana in his hand let him interact with the banshee!
*Health:432/700
&
nbsp; Mana:1/42*
A thought crossed Tad’s mind. If he could use a wand as an extension for mana, why couldn’t he do the same thing with his dagger?
He focused his last mana and pushed it into Raekast’s Fang. The edge glowed orange with fire, in preparation to cast another firebolt. Tad doubted it would add much damage to a regular monster, as it didn’t even feel hot in his hand, but if it let him attack a monster immune to physical attacks…
Tad’s left fist glowed red with intent and flame, yet it was the dagger in his right hand that shone with danger and death. His weapons might not be useless. Tad dashed past her thrusted violin bow but wasn’t able to evade it clean. The razor sharp golden weapon tore into Tad’s shoulder, *-48 health.* He didn’t care. With all his might, he flexed his fist and smashed it into her face. He channeled all his annoyance and frustration from not being able to attack her properly and turned it into violence. His fist smashed into her delicate features, shattering her cheekbone in a huge punch. *-105 health.* Before she could step away, or fly away from the force of the blow, Tad drove his dagger straight into her neck. *-141 health.* Her misted blue neck exploded in a cloud of spectral blood, the life bar over her head dropped fifteen percent, from the two savage blows.
Her health dropped below fifty percent.
A shock wave burst from the banshee as she floated above the cemetery, bathing in the light of the blue moon. It was coming. Her special health percentage attack, every boss he had fought so far, had at least one. Some came earlier, some when they were near death, but they were always dangerous. Could he stop it? Like he had the harpy’s? He leapt toward’s the floating banshee, his frog boots propelled him to new heights.
*Luthuani the Banshee Bride has cast ‘Dance of the Specters!’*
Tad was too late. She already got the spell off. Tad slammed his left fist into her gut, *-84 health,* she flipped backward, away from the impact, but Tad would not let her fly away, not this time. Tad grabbed the ivory white hem of her wedding dress, with a mana filled hand, and pulled hard, slamming her torso onto the red edge of Raekast’s Fang. *-162 health* Her health dropped another fifteen percent. Tad stabbed and stabbed.
Then her violin bow struck. Quick as a viper, it sliced through Tad’s biceps and wrists, *-116 health.* Both his arms dropped slack at his side, releasing her wedding gown. She stepped, gone, even from midair. A second alarm blared through Tad’s head.
*Luthuani the Banshee Bride has cast ‘Summon, Hands of the Dead!’*
Spiders of ice crawled down Tad’s sweaty back in dismay. She had two spells! His biceps severed, his arms hung down at his sides, useless. Raekast’s Fang would have dropped, if not for its ice frozen to his hand. Tad twisted as he fell back toward the ground, inspecting the chaos her spells had caused. Spectral couples in various states of decay and death danced and spun enthusiastically to the music, which had become more frantic, almost climactic. Each held a weapon. The men in tuxedos and formalwear had rapiers, longswords, maces, axes, falchions and more. The women each had a miniature crossbow that rested on the men’s shoulders as they danced. The dancers moved in great sweeps of sophisticated steps, covering more ground than they should have. They attacked slayers without pause or mercy. All in perfect unison to the music. Twin crossbow bolts stuck into Tad’s thigh and arm simultaneously, *-24 health,* even before he hit the ground. But the bigger worry came from the graves themselves. Beneath the gravestones, the dirt rippled and swelled. From each grave, bony hands clawed themselves free from the earth and quicker than any spider Tad had seen, they skittered across the ground toward the banshee.
His blood froze at the sight.
They were going to remove her mouth plate.
Tad landed, his body moved before his thoughts caught up, and he sped toward the banshee, stomping skeletal hand after skeletal hand.
“Kill the hands!” Tad shouted, more desperate than he had ever felt before. Slayer’s spells targeted the bony hands in answer.
But there were fewer spells than before.
Cries of pain and death rang out from all sides. The spectral dancers sliced slayers to ribbons, smashing bone and armor alike. Less armored slayers found themselves the targets of the crossbow bolts, there were several who already looked like pincushions.
Syphon spun in a mad vortex of magic. He released bolt after bolt, his smug smile nowhere to be seen, instead, pure desperation shone on his face. How could the man value his life so highly, when crushing others so carelessly?
Tad’s arms were useless. The banshee spun, her spectral hair reaching out toward bony, crawling hands to form a bridge. Two already tugged at the plate on her face, the health bar above her head now down below twenty percent.
Kicking off his frog boot, he stomped another bony hand, barefoot. He didn’t know if Raekast’s Fang would consider a foot for its disarming ice, but he had to try. Tad banished the weapon in his limp hand back to his void slot, then summoned it again between his biggest toe and the second. With the rotting wooden hilt of the weapon gone, the handle of the blade fit surprisingly well between his toes. Immediately the weapon froze, pointing outward, like a boot knife. Tad eyed his mana, it was still zero, his last bit had been infused into his dagger, but he had lost it when he had banished it back into his void.
Tad kicked the weapon wildly at bone hand after bone hand, each disintegrated into dust at contact with the weapon.
Three of the four hands now tugged at the iron plate on her face.
Tad leapt off his back foot. Even if he couldn’t attack the banshee, he could still slice the hands from her face.
Her violin bow flashed in response. A deep slice to his thigh, *-78 health,* but suddenly, Syphon was there. His own hands glowed in imitation to Tad’s. He punched her face, barely knocking back her head with his measly strength. Then he blasted six of his special tri-element bolts right into her face. The skeletal hands disintegrated under the great force of his spells. Her face and hair singed, even her violin playing halted for a moment.
Tad kicked with all his might, aiming right for her temple, but it was no use. It soared through her head, completely ineffective. Syphon gripped the metal violin bow between bleeding hands, and looked to Tad imploringly. His face seemed to scream ‘you have to kill her now!’
Like a dew from heaven above, Tad felt the single drop of mana splash into the empty pool inside his head. It was the first drop of rain on droughted desert sands, the first drop of water on the throat of a parched man, dying of thirst. Tad directed the mana down his torso, down his leg in a clumsy and unpracticed motion, and pushed it into the blade of Raekast’s Fang. The banshee had less than 10% health left, and Tad kicked with all his might. He thrust off his back leg, stabbing his dagger straight ahead, legs extended in full splits, the dagger pierced through the banshee’s face. Blue otherworldly blood exploded from the wound. *-113 health.*
Her blue hair tendrils tried to block the second kick, but it also landed, slicing through tendril and skull alike. *-104 health.*
Her health dropped to below one percent. She should be dead, but just a glimmer of red rested on her health bar.
She turned, a silvery portal appeared, her once beautiful face destroyed with broken bones and blood.
Tad couldn’t let her escape! He kicked once more, Raekast’s Fang whistled through the air.
Suddenly the music stopped.
Blue tendrils pushed the violin into the path of the attack, exploding the instrument with tremendous violence. Luthuani had sacrificed her music for her life. And then the banshee was gone.
Tad fell to the ground, legs extended in full splits. He rolled to the side, onto his back, using the momentum to leap to his feet. The banshee stood, a hundred feet away, with four skeletal hands pulling at the plate.
She had no health left.
Yet, they were going to be the ones who were going to die.
Tad’s thunderclouds both struck, but it wasn’t enough. He pointed Raekast’s Fang at the banshee wit
h his toes and cast his last firebolt. Syphon threw a flurry of spells, but it was too late. The plate had fallen from her mouth; her perfect lips opened to scream.
Suddenly a gash of fire exploded in the banshee’s face. Kali was sprawled on the ground directly under the banshee, bleeding profusely, stuck with at least two-dozen crossbow bolts, but she was still alive. The spell had come from her.
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*Congratulations! The dungeon boss has been slain!*
*Warning! Boss defeated. Dungeon destabilized. Ten minutes until dungeon collapse.*
Powerful regenerative energy washed Tad’s wounds clean. His bicep muscles linked together and reformed. Bone dust that had been crushed into his bare feet was expelled. His shoulders and numerous puncture wounds healed. Without the music, the graveyard felt suddenly eerie. Gone was the hauntingly intense boss music. Gone was the clap of thunder between attacks, punctuating her own percussive beats. Gone was the slice and whoosh of weapons. Gone were the screams and rhythm, but most of all, gone was the banshee who played her own boss music.
Five slayers remained alive. Tad hurried to help Kali. By sheer luck, the banshee had stepped next to her in her panic to get away. Kali had saved the rest of their lives. Ironfang’s words played in Tad’s mind. If you send away the weak, the strong die. Had Syphon killed Kali, instead of the other three, they could all be dead right now. Tad cast heal other, and Kali’s wounds knit up, expelling arrows like a shedding porcupine. Suddenly, Tad’s perception below him tingled. A tiny snake of mana found its way directly beneath Kali.
Tad’s rage exploded. But he controlled his eyes, not giving away that he knew Syphon’s plot. He stretched his perception tendril down toward the pool of mana, monitoring it. He had a few moments before it would explode. Tad walked away, under the guise of helping another wounded, this one closer to Syphon.
