by Terra Snover
“Yeah, you did,” came an uneasy voice from behind Helter. I peeked to see a little Lamorea clinging to his back, her fur fluffed up and her eyes wide. As always I glanced to catch her name, ‘P-2,998,184, Fluff Garden’. “Helter, behind you!” Fluff shouted as another Alliance player got untangled and was heading to strike the two of them. A few things happened all at the same time: Helter spun on his heels, blocking the attack with an enormous shield. Fluff reached over Helter’s shoulder and shouted, “Titan Bolt!” and blasted the attacking player into dust. They did this like a well-oiled machine, like they had been fighting like this for a long time. I used this opportunity to send a firestorm to blast a few of the still entangled players. The three of us cleaned up the rest of the guild without a word. Once we stopped the duo looked at me and at the same time their eyes went wide. “Wait, we’re raiding with the Red Queen?!” Fluff shouted, pulling herself over Helter’s head, her long fur obscuring his vision.
“Wow, the Red Queen, that’s so badass!” Helter added, not even trying to move the fur from his face.
“It’s an honor, my Queen.” Fluff gave a huge toothy smile and leaned back, allowing Helter to see again.
“No, thank you two, that was something.” I put my hands on my hips as I watched Helter down a bunch of healing potions. “Did you two jump out of one of the airships?”
“Yep, I knew I could take the hit.” Helter wiped his mouth free of the red potion. “I wanted to get into combat as soon as possible!” There was a roar and Tundra went darting by a few blocks away, blasting the streets.
“Wait, I remember you two.” I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to retrieve the memory. “You two were the ones that protected me in the battle above Void City.”
“Wow, she remembered!” Fluff hit Helter on the back of his head in excitement.
“I told you she would.” Helter gave Fluff a wink.
“Well, you two have proven yourselves useful once again; if you two woulden’t mind accompanying me as I head to the castle, I wouldn't mind the help.” I started to walk down the street again and the two were right behind me, Fluff still on Helter’s back.
“We’re with you!” Fluff shouted. I started to walk around the corner, and there was a huge explosion just ahead of us as a barrage of cannonballs struck a large building that soon after collapsed from the damage. Ns were running everywhere, either trying to get to safety or battling the warriors from the Red Empire. “Damn, I knew this was going to be epic but you don’t realize how much so until you see it in person,” Fluff muttered, a mix of shock and excitement on her little face. I pondered saying something but decided better to just let the duo revel in the chaos that I created.
A number of Alliance players and Ns darted over to us, weapons ready to strike. Helter raised his shield, blocking the onslaught of attacks and Fluff shot spell after spell towards the enemy. I darted to the side, avoiding the attacks all together. I quickly jumped over the enemy, using my wings to give myself a boost, and landed effortlessly behind the group attacking me. “My turn,” I whispered to them as I shoved my claw through the sternum of one of the lightly-armored players. The others turned to attack me and I used their impaled friend as a shield, making him take all the damage that was meant for me. It didn’t take long for the mid-level player to succumb to the attacks and vanish, only leaving a death icon where he died. As his body vanished, I swept my leg under two of the other attackers and both went tumbling to the ground. I used the crouch I ended my sweep in to launch off the ground and pounce on one of the two. I ripped into the players neck with my sharp and powerful bite and pulled a huge chunk out. Even though we weren't in an 18 plus area, there was still a good amount of blood, neck wounds did that. I then dug my claws into the bleeding player's chest and tossed her at an incoming group of city guard Ns and watched as they went down in a clatter of clashing armor.
The other player who I had knocked down with my sweep was now managing to get to his feet and looking at me with pure hatred. If looks could kill, I would have fallen where I stood. “What the actual hell is this?! I was just hanging out with my guild and-” I didn’t really care about what he was going to say so I just dashed to him, both claws outstretched and hit him hard. One claw penetrated him right in the face, my claws sinking into both his eyes and forehead. The other tore at his neck, pulling so hard there wasn't much left of it when I was done. He fell to the ground, his health dropping to zero and vanishing.
I licked my blood-covered fingers as I watched Fluff and Helter finishing off the group they were working on. There was another blast as more cannonballs flew across the sky and impacted one of the stone buildings on the burning street where I stood. I turned away from Fluff and Helter, pointed my hand at some city guards and vanquished them with a Firestorm spell. I moved onto a burning pile of rubble, it was nice being immune to fire damage, and looked to the castle that lay beyond. It was the most classically medieval design, all stone with gray and massive structures. It wasn’t pretty or elegant, but if you were to think of a castle this would be the image that came to mind for most people. As I was looking at the castle, something caught my eye, a white figure standing on the tallest tower. I squinted and tried to see what it was. It took me a second to realize it was a Puer Sole, the angel-like race that was added in the expansion. No, not just any Puer Sole, it was Pronoia Hester, Lady of the Sun. The N0 that was made to be my opposite.
Without warning, a blinding light burst from Pronoia. It was so bright I had to shield my eyes. Then the sound came, it was like someone was playing a million violins randomly. And then there was an explosion in the sky above me as the light collided with one of my airships, blasting it into oblivion. “Well, that’s just not fair,” I whispered to myself in disbelief as I watched what was left of the ship fall to the city below. “Oh gods, Ral!” I exclaimed as I realized what ship had fallen. “Ral was on that ship!” I jumped down to the ground, half running, half flying to the wreckage. If that blast killed her she would be dead, for real dead. Pronoia was a N0, thus making any N1s or N0s that she killed in a story event permanently dead.
“My Queen, wait up!” I heard Fluff call from behind me, but I didn’t slow down. I had to get to that wreckage and find Ral! I managed to avoid most of the fights happening among the burning buildings and rubble falling from the sky. There was another blinding light and screeching of violins as another of my airships exploded above me. How did she cast that again so quickly? An attack like that should take forever to cool down. I shook my head; no time to worry about that right now, I had to find Ral. My eyes darted around the rubble and mass of Ns and players that managed to survive the blast. “Ral!” I cried as loudly as I could. I tore through wreckage, hoping to discover her cold armor among the flames and embers. “RAL!”
“Yes?” I heard her somewhere to my side. I spun to find Ral beaten and on the brink of death, limping over to me. “Ral!” I shouted again, this time in excitement that my friend had survived. I ran to her and wrapped my arms and wings around her cold white and blue armor. “Yep, that hug also hurts.” She grumbled, “Mind not hugging right now?”
“Oh, sorry.” I pulled away from her and there was a flash from one of my barriers as something hit me from behind. “Son of a-” I started, but I took another hit from something. I turned to see Roe Warner, the High King’s fist coming right at my face. My barrier shattered on impact and I went flying into a pile of broken temple and airship bits. “Hello, Red Queen, I didn’t expect to see you here this evening!” he called.
I coughed as I got the wind back in my lungs. “Didn’t expect to see you out of your castle,” I managed to get out.
“You think I would miss this kind of a fight when it came to my doorstep?” His extremely white teeth shone even brighter against his ebony skin as he beamed at me.
“I guess not.” I shook my head and frowned. “Ral, you take the forces to the castle, I'll take this fool out.” Ral gave me a contemplative look, like if she wasn’t sur
e she should go or not. “RAL, NOW!” I shouted and waved my hand at her. I didn’t want Ral anywhere close to a N0 when she was this badly damaged.
“Yes, my Queen!” she finally responded, waving her arm to the remaining Red Empire on the ground. Soon after it was just Roe and I standing on top of the rubble of the city. Our eyes locked and we stood there waiting for the other to make the first move. There was another flash of light and the sound of a million discordant violins, followed by another explosion. Roe shouted and ran at me, his fist clenched, ready to strike. I spread my wings and flapped with all my might, claws outstretched, ready to meet Roe in combat. This battle was just getting started.
Chapter 19
The Royal Dance
I’m always amazed at how fast Roe can move, being huge, all muscles and overall a bulky dude. When he hit me in the jaw, I didn’t even have time to register that he had moved his arm. All I saw was another one of my barriers shatter and my momentum from my dash towards him come to an abrupt stop. Well, most of my momentum anyway, the lower half of me wanted to keep moving backwards. The world spun around as I careened head over toe over the rubble of the airship and temple.
It took longer than I hoped to stop tumbling, but eventually I came to a stop. “Dick…” I got to my feet as quickly as I could, or I tried to anyway. Because something, more than likely Roe, slammed unto my back, forcing me to go cascading through the rubble. I splashed into water. What in the hell? I looked around me to find I was in a cavern surrounded by water and small pillars made of Human bones. “Okay,” I managed to say. I heard a crashing sound erupt from above me. I rolled to the side and managed to avoid Roe slamming into the water beside me. I used the momentum from the roll to get to my feet. Now that I wasn’t facing the ground, I got a better look at my surroundings. I was in a massive catacomb, it must have been a dungeon that was for players under the destroyed temple above. There were bones and coffins everywhere, with a mass of bones piled in the center of the cavern.
Roe lunged at me, but this time I was ready for him. I deflected his swing and managed to send him over my shoulder, splashing into the mucky water. “Titan Bolt!” I shouted as I jumped onto a pile of bones and cast my lightning spell into the water, sending arcs of energy pulsating through the waters and Roe. He screamed in pain as the energy tore at him. I then flew over him and swiped my claws, cutting into his exposed back. He let out a yelp as I left a long, bloody wound across his back. I coasted over to another pile of bones as the energy dissipated.
“Ow, that hurt,” Roe said between strained breaths. “And shocking.”
“That was the point.” I arched my back, trying to stretch out the punch Roe hit me with. “Well, more to the point, I was trying to stun you into unconsciousness, but it seems you are too stubborn to go down like you need to.”
Roe stood up slowly, his muscles still slightly contracting from the lightning I hit him with. “I won't go down, I need to defend my kingdom from your evil horde.”
“Roe, this would go a lot smoother if you just surrendered, my forces are going to overcome your pitiful army.” There was another shriek from the beam above and the corresponding explosion from one of my airships afterwards.
“Are you sure about that?” Roe jumped out of the water, both his arms over his head, ready to pound me deeper into the catacombs. I did a flip out of the way, kicking up shards of bones as I did so. He let out a grunt as some of the shards embedded into his chest. Soon after there was an explosion of bones and muck from where I was only moments before. I lifted my hand and pointed it at the blast Roe had made. “Unholy Lance!” I cast my spell, both lances of dark energy struck Roe who was currently rebounding from his slam; again faster than I expected, shouting, “Iron Fist!” as he came towards me. There was no avoiding this. All I could do was make it so it wouldn't hurt as badly as it could. So right before he hit me in my center, I flapped myself away from the strike, taking away some of the force from his hit.
There was a crack as the last of my barriers shattered. I managed to keep myself upright, firstly flapping my wings and whipping my tail around. I slammed into the huge pile of bones in the center of the room. Dust and bone fragments burst out from behind me. “Damn it, Roe, I needed those barriers!” I pushed myself away from the bone pile, or tried to anyway. Some of the larger bones were wrapping around me like a giant hand. No, not like a hand, exactly like one. I found the bone hand pulling away from the mass and realized that this thing wasn’t just a pile of bones; it was, in fact, a massive Bone Golem. “Well, isn't that just what I needed?” I groaned as the thing wound up his arm and tossed me across the room into one of the bone pillars. The pillar split in half as I went flying through it. Right after I found myself on the other side, I found Roe in mid-air, a punch all wound up for me. He slammed me down, adjusting my trajectory so I bounced off the wall at a downward angle and then splashed into the muck below me. I glanced at my health bar. Wow, that just took a third of my total HP, but that was to be expected, that Bone Golem was probably a boss meant for a huge party to fight, and then Roe was on the same level as me. “To hell with this!” I’ll let Roe deal with the Golem and I’ll fly the hell out of here. But it seemed like Roe had other ideas. He jumped off what was left of the pillar and shot at me like a cannonball. Instinctively, I raised my hand and pointed it at him “Firestorm!” The balls of fire lashed out at him, pummeling him as he came flying at me, but all they did was slow him down.
I shielded my face, bracing his punch but it didn’t come. I moved my arms away from my face and found the Golem had Roe in his massive hand. Well, it was his turn to be tossed by the thing. The Golem swung Roe like a mallet, right at me… “Oh, for fuc-” I managed to get out before Roe’s torso collided with my side, sending me flying into another pillar, again snapping the thing. The Golem kept the momentum of its swing going and let Roe go as he slammed into a wall, making a huge crack up the side of it. My HP was just above half, not good.
Both Roe and I were falling to the ground, but luckily for me I could fly where Roe could not. I flapped my wings with everything I had and righted myself into a smooth glide. I had one other thing Roe did not: range. “Titan Bolt!” I shot another lightning bolt at him. There was nothing he could do but take the blast. He shot off to the side, slamming into another pillar. The pillar didn’t snap like the other two, but the entire catacomb shook and creaked. Seconds later, it seemed like the ceiling of the place decided it had had enough and the debris of the airship and temple came crashing down right on top of us. “Oh, come on!” I lamented, as if I wanted more problems literally cascading down upon me. I darted around one massive beam of iron and a flaming bit of balloon, but couldn't avoid the hunk of temple wall that came right after it. I was falling to the ground and would be crushed under the massive stone. But instead, something strange happened. The wall exploded into much smaller chunks. I felt a concussive blast from whatever destroyed the stone doing some damage, but not nearly as much as what would have happened when I got pancaked underneath that thing.
I took this opportunity to correct myself and avoid more falling objects. I took a few hits but nothing too bad. I reached the surface and flew into the sky above me. This was a mistake because I saw Pronoia pointing her hand at me from the top of the castle. “Oh, shit!” And then there was a blinding light and the shriek of the blast coming right at me. “BLACK HOLE!” I shot the spell right at the incoming beam of light. The black, swirling mass collided with the blinding beam and the beam was sucked into my spell. For a moment it was quiet, but seconds later my black hole sucked into itself and exploded in a deafening shockwave that you could feel in every iota of your being. I was instantly tossed back into a tall building. My HP now at one third. An airship was pushed into another and they started to sink to the city below. The tower where Pronoia stood shook and started to crumble. I didn’t see where Pronoia ended up because I soon found myself inside the building I had hit. “Ow…” I whimpered, wiping blood from my ears. The
ringing from them was profoundly unpleasant.
After a moment, I noticed that the roof above me was cracking. I then felt the ground from under me shift to one side and I was once again in a collapsing structure. I stood and started running on the uneven and collapsing ground. I reached the hole I had made and jumped out of it. I opened my wings and flew away from the collapsing structure. Something slammed into me from the side and wrapped around me, pulling my wings so I couldn't control where I was going. My head snapped to the side and I saw Roe in a tight grapple with me. “By the Void, Roe, let go!”
“You would like that wouldn't you?!” he shouted as we started to grow closer to the ground.
“Yes, very much so!” I struggled one wing free from his grip and managed to put his body between the quickly approaching ground and myself. We slammed into the ground, both taking some damage. I managed to break free on the impact and slide to one side, shoving my claw into the ground, slowing my speed.
I had to do something; Roe was a powerhouse, and in a one on one fight he would win, but what Roe had in brawns I had brains. If I could think of some way to outmaneuver him, I had a chance. My eyes darted around the battlefield, looking for something I could use to my advantage. That’s when I spotted it. I smiled, turned away from Roe and half ran and half flew to a downed airship. “No, you don’t!” Roe shouted at me and began pursuit.
“Run, run as fast as I can, you can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread, un, lass?” I taunted him in a singsong voice. It was probably not okay for me to reference a folktale from the real world, but at the moment I don’t think anyone would notice I broke character. I bounced through the flaming wreckage, I could go into fire without taking damage, but Roe couldn't. We made it to the large engine on the side of the airship. The tips of Roe’s dreadlocks were singed, and his normally pristinely clean body was covered in dirt and ash. “I think this is the first time I have ever seen you where you were not shiny.” I gave him a small smile.