Greenfire: (Sky Realms Online Book 4): A LitRPG Series, page 28
Hall felt the heated air before he saw the flames. The temperature rose, followed by a stream of fire that blasted past. He could feel the heat and see the flickering orange and reds.
A Bargha yelped, crying out, as the flames washed over it. Hall smelt burning hair and flesh. He didn’t stop running. Hall felt the earth tremble beneath his feet, felt a surge flow down the corridor. Ahead he saw Jackoby and Roxhard step out from behind pillars, Sharra and Seo already in the middle of the corridor, both casters with arms raised. The two Wardens activated Battle Rush, becoming blurs to Hall as they rushed toward and then past him. He felt the wind of their passing, heard the surprised grunts of the Desmari.
He stopped and turned, seeing Pike fly past.
Beyond the Desmari was a barrier of stone, the floor and walls cracked around it. Only a couple of feet high, running from sidewall to sidewall, made of stone and hard-packed dirt taken from beneath the floor. There was nowhere for the Desmari to go.
They didn’t waste long with the wall, just charging ahead, the Bargha leading the way. Or trying to. Jackoby and Roxhard slammed into the demons. The speed and force pushed the two demons off the ground, slamming them into the handlers. All fell together, the two Wardens jumping back and attacking with their weapons. The Bargha snarled and snapped, slashing in defense, doing more damage to the Desmari handlers.
The other two Desmari couldn’t advance, trapped behind the handlers and demons. They pushed, cursing.
Hall ran forward, Caryn now beside him, but stopped just behind the Wardens. They were a wall of swinging weapons and shield, catching the snapping jaws and flailing claws of the Bargha. Like the other two Desmari, the combatants were jamming the corridor, preventing any other attacks. From Caryn at least, Hall had a longer reach.
He shifted to the side, closer to the wall, and stabbed with the spear. The sharp ironwood tip pierced the tough hide of the Bargha, causing the creature to yelp and jump back, exposing it to an attack from Roxhard’s battle-axe.
Pike had flown over the heads of the Desmari, down to the end of the corridor and swooping back. He screeched, the sound loud in the confines of stone. Opening his sharp beak, Pike let out a blue-white crackling bolt of lightning. It slammed into the back of the Desmari Ragemaster, sparks and bolts erupting on impact. Bolts of lightning sparked around the Ragemaster. He roared in pain, trying to turn to attack, but Pike’s sharp talons slashed across his face.
“Excuse me.” Hall heard a voice behind him, polite but loud.
Glancing back, he saw Seo, the young Druid, motioning for Hall to move. He did and let Seo come close to Roxhard’s back. Reaching out, Seo laid his hands on the Dwarf, lines of green energy swirling down his arms and across Roxhard, the healing power of Nature’s Touch spreading through the Dwarf.
Hall stabbed with the spear, reaching past the Bargha, slamming it into the handler’s side where there was a gap in the strange metal armor. The handler growled with pain, trying to grab the spear, but Hall pulled it out of the way quickly. Holding the spear in his left, Hall pulled a throwing knife from the bracer. The one he had thrown had magically returned, giving him two again.
Holding his arm up, waiting for the right angle, he threw the small weapon. It struck the Desmari Ragestalker in the face, a grazing blow, leaving sparks of electricity around the line of blood it cut. Shifting his grip on the long shaft of his spear, Hall pivoted, driving the tip into the unprotected side of a Bargha. He pushed the weapon in deep, driving the demon to the ground. It turned, trying to snap at the weapon, leaving it open to Roxhard.
The battle-axe fell, cutting nearly through the demon’s head. The creature convulsed, giving one last spasm before falling dead. Its death was helped by the Desmari handler. Seeing that the creature would die, the Desmari raised a leg, slamming its booted foot down on the demon. There was a crack of bone, the Desmari pushing off from the dying Bargha.
Neither Hall nor Roxhard saw the attack.
The bulky Desmari slammed into Roxhard, knocking the Dwarf back. They landed in a tangle of limbs, both punching and kicking, weapons clattering to the stone floor.
Hall turned, watching the Desmari tackle his friend. He took a quick step toward the fight before he remembered the Desmari Ragemaster. He got the spear up just in time to catch the attacking sword. The heavy weapon slammed into the ironwood spear, Hall managing to deflect most of the attack down the shaft. Somehow the ironwood held, taking the blow, bending with the force. The Desmari was quick to adjust, pulling the heavy sword back and coming in with a low swing. Hall jumped back, barely avoiding the tip of the blade.
Holding onto the end of his spear, he swung it, connecting with the large spikes on the Desmari’s pauldrons. Cursing, he pulled the weapon back, hoping to get in another attack. He couldn’t. The Ragemaster was too fast. The Desmari grabbed Hall’s spear, holding it tight. Hall pulled; the Desmari pulled harder.
Yanked forward, Hall twisted, letting go of the spear. The Desmari’s sword struck Hall a glancing blow, not cutting through Hall’s chest armor, but the impact was hard, sending Hall down to the ground, awkwardly landing on the dead Bargha. Whatever the blade was made of, it was strong and heavy. Just the weight from the impact cracked a couple of ribs.
It was hard to breathe, but Hall rolled, putting space between him and the Ragemaster.
Pike swooped in, another blast of lightning striking the Desmari, who managed to get an arm up. Bolts of energy crawled across the arm, smoke rising from the impact site. Hall caught the scent of burning flesh.
Distracted by the dragonhawk, the Desmari gave Hall time to get away. Pulling a knife from his bracer, he threw it, striking the Desmari in the neck, cutting a line of blood. Growling in rage, the Desmari turned to Hall, barely avoiding the attack from Hall’s smaller and thinner short sword. The large Desmari stepped back, arms raised to protect from Pike’s diving attack, giving Hall an opening. Jumping in, Hall stabbed up with the sword. The tip pierced the Desmari’s thick skin below the jaw, frost spreading out from the wound. Hall lifted the sword up, pushing harder and deeper into the Desmari’s head. The Ragemaster tried to speak, blood dripping from his open mouth. He stared at Hall in hatred, the eyes glazing over in death. Falling backward, taking Hall’s sword from his hands, the body slammed against the ground.
Weaponless, Hall turned, trying to see where the next attack would come from.
There was none.
The Desmari lay dead in the tunnel corridor, one on top of the other Bargha. The demon was twitching, trying to push the heavy Desmari off. Caryn stood in front, twin swords angled down. A quick slash and the Bargha didn’t move anymore. Seo stood by Jackoby, waves of green energy flowing from the shorter Druid to the taller Warden. Hall watched as large cuts across Jackoby’s arms and chest started to stitch themselves together. Roxhard sat against the corridor wall, the smoking remains of a Desmari in front of him. He kicked at the body, snuffing out some sparks. Sharra stood over the body, angrily staring down at it. The last Desmari lay against the opposite wall, his arms a bloody mess and his throat cut.
SLAIN: Blackgrowl Caste Ragestalker
+25 Experience (Dungeon Bonus +25 Experience)
SLAIN: Blackgrowl Caste Ragestalker
+25 Experience (Dungeon Bonus +25 Experience)
SLAIN: Blackgrowl Caste Ragemaster
+50 Experience (Dungeon Bonus +50 Experience)
SLAIN: Chained Amber Bargha
+25 Experience (Dungeon Bonus +25 Experience)
Skill Gain!
Light Armor Rank Two +.2
Skill Gain!
Polearms Rank Two +.2
Skill Gain!
Small Blades Rank Two +.2
Skill Gain!
Thrown Rank Two +.3
THE DESMARI’S FODDER
Kill ten Desmari Warriors 6/10
Free twenty Desmari Prisoners 5/20
“These shared kills are really messing with my calculations,” Seo said, drawing Hall’s attention.
The Druid had his small notebook out, writing rapidly with the charcoal pencil.
“Huh,” Roxhard muttered, half listening.
“Ever since we got that message from Electronic Storm, I’ve been trying to figure out how they shifted the experience gain,” Seo said. Hall glanced at Sharra, seeing that she had the same blank expression that all NPCs got when the Players talked game mechanics. “The dungeon bonus isn’t helping either. It’s nice but makes it more difficult. I don’t know the exact amount, but the experience has indeed increased.”
“That’s good,” Roxhard said, pushing himself up. “Doesn’t really matter the amount.”
“I know,” Seo muttered, putting the notebook away. “But it bothers me not knowing.”
Hall ignored them, ignored the sounds of Jacoby and Caryn going through the bodies of the Desmari, throwing weapons and armor aside. He focused on the end of the corridor where it opened onto the large cavern. There was no movement, no shadows that would indicate someone hiding beyond the opening.
It seemed they were undetected.
For now.
“We need to get moving,” he told the others.
“Nothing special on ’em anyways,” Roxhard grumbled, looking at the pile of weapons and armor, the same as they had already collected.
Hall hoped the treasure still remained. So far they had nothing to show for the expedition.
Chapter 28
Hall stood with his back to the corridor wall. Taking a breath, he turned quickly, looking into the cavern. He saw no movement, no shouts of discovery. It was as quiet as it had been before. They had killed only six Desmari so far. That left fourteen plus whatever demons the leader, Borsark, could summon.
And it appeared as if he could summon a lot. They had encountered a handful of the Skiterks, the Mosic and the two Bargha. Sharra didn’t seem to know the extent or limits of the Runespeaker’s ability to summon. It was all tied into the artifact he carried. With it, the Desmari commander was much more powerful.
Hall wondered if Borsark could feel, or know, when a summoned demon was killed. He didn’t think so. There was no indication. If Borsark had felt the first Skiterk dying, the corridors would have been filled with the Desmari. There would have at least been more patrols.
Waving to the others, he stepped out from the corridor and into the cavern. Not waiting, he dashed across the open space, heading for the closest bridge over the river. Staying low, he held his sword’s scabbard tight to his side, not wanting it to bang and clank as he ran. There was no stealth, just the run.
The sound of his steps against stone changed, not as solid, as he stepped onto the stone bridge. No longer was there tons of solid earth beneath his feet; now it was just inches of worked stone.
Closer, the building carved out of the cavern was even more impressive. Age had eroded most of the carvings that covered the walls. It looked as if every inch had been carved into a picture or words. A quick glance showed scenes of battle, crafting. Long lines of script ran from the top of each level to the bottom. Neat and orderly rows. There was too much to study and process. For now they had to get into the building and remain undetected.
There were over a dozen openings, doors and glassless windows on the first level alone. The same number as the others. Stairs led from level to level, no railing, sized for Dwarven feet. They had no idea what the internal layout of the building was. Were there more stairs inside, connecting to the higher levels? More rooms off corridors? Or was each block self-contained?
Only one way to find out.
Hall led them into the first opening directly across from the bridge.
He grimaced at the noise the group made as they entered the room, crowding into the space, trying to avoid standing in front of the two windows and door openings. The room was dark, barely any light from the glowing stones in the cavern penetrating into the space. Hall could see that it was a large room, just one giant open space, with a single opening on the far wall. In the corner was a niche a couple of feet deep. A low stone wall stood in front of it, an opening near the door. He quickly motioned them through the other opening.
It was a long corridor, only a couple of feet wide and barely over Jackoby’s head, heading deep into the mountain. More openings were in the walls, the first few at the beginning further apart, the ones at the far end closer together.
“This was an inn,” Caryn said, her voice a whisper.
Hall agreed, wondering why there was an inn in the middle of the mountain. The large round room at the entrance had been an audience chamber, meant to meet with visitors from the airship landing pad. Why have more accommodations for visitors so deep into the mountain? Nothing about the mountain outpost made much sense, in Hall’s opinion. It was a classic MMORPG dungeon. Long hallways, lots of room, space between mobs to rest and restore Health and Energy. But as a real outpost, there was a lot wrong with it. He had found a lot of circumstances where the developers of Sky Realms Online had chosen game mechanics over immersion and true functionality. This was one of the times they should have gone in the other direction.
A quick search of the rooms showed them empty. Just square stone boxes of roughly equal size. No furniture or decorations. At the end of the corridor was a set of stairs, sized for Dwarven legs, going to the next level.
Moving up, they found more of the same. Rooms off the corridor and a larger room at the end. Some kind of gathering room, Hall guessed. An old hearth stood in the corner, two openings that would have been windows looking out into the cavern. No door or access to the walkway across the front of the level, but they could crawl through the windows if needed.
They ducked back into the corridor after searching the room, not wanting to be exposed through the openings. Hall led them into one of the small guest rooms.
“I really do not want to search every room in this.” He paused, struggling for the right words.
It was one large building with multiple rooms, but the rooms would be like the inn, a collection of more rooms off the main level. Homes, shops, who knew what else. He waved his hands, indicating the stone around them.
The others all understood.
“There could be dozens of rooms off the main,” Caryn said. “Could take a very long time to search them all.”
“Time we do not have,” Sharra replied.
“No,” Hall agreed. “We don’t have time. At some point we’ll be discovered.”
They talked in low whispers, glancing constantly at the corridor, listening for noises beyond.
“We must rescue my people,” Sharra said, her voice a little loud with frustration.
Hall made a calming gesture.
“And we will,” Hall told her. “But we don’t know where they are and…” He stopped, motioning for silence.
He strained to hear, having caught the whisper of stone on stone. There it was again. A light tapping of metal against stone this time. More sounds. A clinking of metal on metal, stone against stone. A grunt of struggle.
Someone was entering the gathering room through the openings. More than one.
Hall cursed silently.
The others had heard the noises, all turning to face the stone arch opening where a wooden door would have been in the past.
He did not want to get caught in the room. It was crowded with six of them plus Pike on Hall’s shoulder. Barely any room to move, let alone swing weapons. It was made worse by the fact that three of their melee fighters all had weapons that required a lot of room to use.
Hall pointed at Jackoby, Roxhard and himself then at the opening, making a curving motion to indicate running toward the room. The two Wardens nodded.
Moving his massive frame to the opening, Jackoby stepped out into the corridor. Once out with more space, he slammed his magical wooden war hammer against the wooden shield and roared, activating Battle Rush. The large Firbolg disappeared in a blur, the pounding of his feet loud against the hard stone. Roxhard followed, activating the same ability.
Hall stepped out into the corridor, Pike’s talons digging in harder to maintain his balance. He looked down the corridor, only able to see part of the larger gathering room. Jackoby was engaged against a Desmari on the right side. He had the Desmari on the defensive, having caught the warrior by surprise. Roxhard was on the left, swinging his axe wide to keep two Desmari away. Another was just stepping into the room, still half over the windowsill. Pulling a knife from the bracer, Hall threw it at the Desmari.
It struck the leg of the warrior, right above the knee. The leg spasmed, electricity circling outward from the small blade. Not able to support the Desmari’s weight, the leg buckled, dropping the warrior to the ground. Hall sprinted into the room, dropping his spear and drawing his short sword.
Hall swung at the closest Desmari, one of the two facing off against Roxhard. He swung low, slicing his sword across the warrior’s leg. The weapon’s special ability activated, frost spreading out from the wound. The Desmari grunted, stumbling back, giving Hall an opening.
Reversing the blade, ducking down, he stabbed up. The tip pierced the Desmari’s tough hide, cutting through the gap in the strange metal armor below the armpit. He twisted the sword, moving it side to side, feeling something inside the Desmari sever. Blood leaked out the wound as Hall pulled his sword out.
There was still fight in the Desmari. He turned and growled at Hall, his left arm hanging limp. Hall took a step back, letting the warrior come to him. He turned, making the Desmari turn, exposing him to Caryn’s swift attack.
The warrior fell to the ground.
Caryn ducked and rolled, coming up behind the Desmari facing Roxhard. Her swords stabbed forward on both sides of the warrior’s head, turning and slicing across the neck. She moved to the side as Roxhard kicked the Desmari’s knee, dropping the dying warrior to the ground.
Hall barely noticed, watching the Desmari he had wounded with his throwing knife struggling to get up off the ground. He was using the windowsill to help himself up. The Desmari’s eyes widened as he looked around the room, watching Jackoby’s opponent fall to the ground, dead. He turned and stared at Hall, eyes filled with hate.
