Escape from Darom, page 42
The massive fangs barely missed us as my girls began shaking off the stun’s effect. As Neysa rolled back to her paws, I shoved her towards the stairs leading up higher into the defensive structure. Keeping Helgath held tightly to my chest, I hurriedly followed after while the Wyrm-Ghast let out another one of its terrible Intimidating Roars.
You have resisted Intimidating Roar’s Stun Effect due to being nine levels higher than the special ability and your high Spirit.
“Fuck!” I swore, hearing the sudden cessation of all incoming attacks against the massive Flying Serpent.
Luckily, Neysa had nearly made it to the top of the stairs, before collapsing again from the mental attack. Crouching low to get underneath her massive furry bulk, I heaved her out onto the roof of the Bastian as I heard the sudden intake of a massive breath.
‘Fine, don’t come out to face me, worm,’ Hitlohtla gleefully taunted, ‘I’ll fry you where you cower in your little hole!’
I barely managed to drag Neysa away from the mouth of the stairwell when another actinic blast of lightning lit up the night as the Wyrm-Ghast blasted the inside of the Bastion with its breath attack. Even though we weren’t in line with the opening, the area effect of the spell still burned away our magic shields as I screamed in agony.
Ignoring the pain of my burnt body, I began dragging Neysa and Helgath further away from the opening as I looked over my shoulder towards the pier. Why hadn’t the Wind Dancer sailed away yet? I furiously wondered as a Regeneration started healing my burned body. With a snarl, I switched back to command chat.
“Why the fuck haven’t you sailed away yet?” I demanded as another actinic blast shot out of the stairwell.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Jill’s sarcastic voice sounded in my ears, “because you told Captain Lightouch to wait until you died or returned to the ship!”
“Good job with that, Jay,” Krystal angrily added in a tight voice.
“Yeah,” AJ grunted, “because your damn Dragoons are ready to slaughter us if we try setting sail again without the captain’s permission.”
“Fuck, I’ve got this,” I swore, thinking fast as Helgath and Neysa began recovering from the effects of the stun again. With a snarl, I began stripping off my gear, “Let General Dell know as soon as I die!”
“What the hell do you mean, Star?” Sarka urgently demanded.
“You can’t remain in Darom?” Krishna protested, “The horde is already entering the upper city!”
‘I’m almost impressed that you still live, worm!’
Hitlohtla’s taunt drowned out my friends’ voices in raid chat as my wide-eyed Half-Orc climbed to her hands and knees.
‘You can’t let an undead monster like that kill you, War Leader,’ Helgath anxiously sent, immediately understanding what I planned to do. Before she could stop me, we both saw the Wyrm-Ghast raise above the ramparts of the Bastion as it threw its head back and let out another Intimidating Roar.
‘Guard my gear until I can return,’ I sent, standing naked with the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden clutched in my hand as the Wyrm-Ghast’s red-glowing orbs caught sight of me standing on the roof.
“Keep watch over BrokenFang Hold until I can rejoin you,” I shouted, sprinting for the Wyrm-Ghast’s massive head. Before the undead monster could choke back its roar, I dove off the edge of the ramparts screaming “Suck this!” as I slammed the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden deep into the base of its meaty neck.
“Rrraaahhh!” the Wyrm-Ghast bellowed in pain as it whipped its head back too late.
Holding to the hilt of my sword, I managed to rip the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden out and thrust it back into the undead monster’s neck, before it started jerking its head back and forth. I heard excited shouts coming from around the plaza as magic blasts once again began pummeling the Wyrm-Ghast. Ignoring the agony of my searing skin, I hung on for dear life as the Flying Serpent used its coils to spring into the air to hover over the plaza.
“I’ll make you choke on my corpse!” I shrieked like a madman, sawing the blade back and forth. Hitlohtla’s nearest red-glowing orb eyed me in terror as the monster tried to shake me loose. There was no doubt in my mind that the Wyrm-Ghast still had our last fight fresh in its rotten memory. This was similar to how I’d ended its existence the first time around. As I struggled to wedge the blade deeper into its undead flesh, the monster urgently flung its serpentine neck back and forth trying to dislodge me.
If I could just get a free hand inside the oozing wound, I urgently thought, doing my best to grasp the first stab wound. I might be able to hang on! My gore-covered fingers missed by a fingertip as the Wyrm-Ghast whipped its massive coils back around, ripping the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden from my grip. I suddenly found myself left hanging in midair nearly thirty-yards over the plaza with nothing to hold onto as triumph flashed in the Wyrm-Ghast’s hate-filled glare. As its maw whipped around to chomp me, a purple-black bolt of Dark magic suddenly blasted me in the back of the head as everything turned black.
In the blink of an eye, I suddenly found myself standing in the middle of a graveyard with the blood-red letters of a system message directly before my eyes.
You have been killed by Helgath Ironwolf! Do you wish to resurrect at your corpse or release your spirit to the nearest graveyard?
For a second, I stood stunned in front of the ghostly figure panting for breath as the adrenaline coursed through my veins. That was one of the craziest things I’d yet done in game. I was thankful that Helgath had managed to kill me before the Wyrm-Ghast had been able to chomp me. Being eaten alive would’ve royally sucked, I thought with a derisive snort. Not that slamming into the ground would’ve been any better. Either option was pretty much a horrifying way to go.
My eyes went to the timer that had instantly appeared before my eyes and was counting down from five minutes. Now, I just had to make it back to my corpse and wait to respawn until the last second. That was my only chance to not be instantly killed as soon as I spawned back in from the Wyrm-Ghast.
Letting out a shaky breath, I quickly exited the graveyard and began making my way through the ghostly burnt cityscape towards the harbor. From the looks of things, I’d respawned at the middle graveyard.
Moving through the ghostly world of shadows, I began getting the odd impression that something dangerous was lurking out there as otherworldly shrieks like something from a Halloween record began caterwauling further away in the ghostly city. Feeling my heartbeat quicken, I increased my speed, remembering the Shadow Wraiths that had begun to appear during our fight for Domenic’s fortress.
Entering the plaza, I still had thirty or so seconds left to my ghostly existence as I made my way over to the glowing gravestone. There really weren’t any places close by for me to use as cover so I simply crouched down at my gravestone and waited. All that I needed to do was loot whatever was there and run, I thought, preparing myself for action as the last seconds ticked down. With a thought, I selected Resurrect as my body appeared back in-game.
‘I’m back!’ I urgently sent to Neysa and Helgath as I popped my gravestone’s inventory open.
All it contained were coins and the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden. I was just grabbing them, when my eyes were drawn to the battle being waged in the plaza. Even though the plan was for me to get the fuck out of dodge, I froze in stunned amazement at the strange series of events that were unfolding high over the city.
From the look of things, it looked like Hitlohtla Doombreath the Devour had been trying to flee the plaza due to the intensity of the barrages coming from the Chaos Storm Alliance. It was obvious from even fifty-yards away that the Wyrm-Ghast was in trouble. Deep wounds scarred its body and many of its snow-white scales were blackened and burnt to the point that portions of its skeleton were even showing.
While all of that was impressive in its own right, what had caught nearly everyone’s eyes across the plaza was that the Wyrm-Ghast seemed to have crashed into something in midair. I don’t know if crashed was the right word, but it was obvious the undead monster had come to a complete stop. Even odder was that the entire upper-half of its body was completely gone while its lower-half along with the tips of its wings that had stopped flapping were still visible.
That didn’t stop the PKers from blasting the fuck out of whatever was overhead. In return, an immense distortion started taking shape over the plaza. It sort of looked something like the Predator’s camouflage armor whenever the Predator would move too quickly. As the PKers continued blasting with everything they had, the distortion began to grow and grow until it looked to be as large as the entire plaza.
As I watched, a sinking feeling began growing in my stomach as to what this might be. Those suspicions were confirmed a handful of seconds later when Hitlohtla Doombreath the Devouring’s head momentarily became visible as it drew its serpentine head back. There was a familiar actinic blast of lightning that oddly lit-up the night’s sky a second before the distortion camouflage’s bubble suddenly seemed to pop.
The Chaos Storm Alliance players stopped their attacks as one when the sixty-five-foot-long flying sloop suddenly appeared above the city. It was an incredible sight on its own. Massive sails were set up on its sides and top that were obviously used to catch the wind as it flew. The sight of it all was even more amazing to look at since the thirty-foot-long Wyrm-Ghast was caught in its rigging.
A new battle seemed to be unfolding in the air between the ship and the monster. The ship hung in the air canting to one side from the weight of the monster. We could see people fighting on the slanted deck. They were blasting the monster with everything they had as the Wyrm-Ghast’s maw snapped forward like a striking snake.
In a handful of seconds, I saw several defenders get outright eaten while others were knocked back off their feet. Most of the crew were able to catch themselves on the rigging or railing to stop themselves from going overboard. All except one. That one player … err admin, I corrected myself knowing whose ship this had to be, had the misfortune of being knocked completely clear of the flying sloop. As they dropped to the ground screaming and flailing about, I immediately recognized the fear-etched nondescript face, brown leather armor, and charcoal-gray cloak of my good friend, Rani Lamkin.
Fuck me, I thought, letting out an explosive sigh as Tengsly came to settle on my shoulder chittering excitedly. How much do you want to bet that I’m gonna get blamed for that?
Glancing back at the harbor, I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the Wind Dancer heading for the harbor’s breakwater. It was nice to know that I hadn’t died for nothing, I thought as Tengsly delivered General Dell’s message, ‘I’ve carried your message to Captain Lightouch and the Wind Dancer is leaving as per your order. I will make sure the troopers know of your sacrifice to get them to safety. You have my word that we will do everything within our power to keep BrokenFang Hold safe for your return, milord Ironwolf.’
Thomas’s voice started up next in my head, ‘I knew you had a backup plan you weren’t telling the rest of us about. Obviously, Phoenix and Neristhana must have been in on it too, because Fylreh is already bitching that they’ve left the ship. Thanks for leaving us an emotionally pissed-off Centauride to deal with on top of everything else. Seriously though, that was a damn good backup plan. It just sucks that V-MMORG has decided to fuck you over for using the Flying Serpent as a distraction.’
‘I guess we have a Wyrm-Ghast hunt coming in the near future.’ A chuckle echoed in my head before the Devil Dog guild leader continued. ‘Don’t worry about the Hobgoblin invasion. We’ll hold BrokenFang Hold through hell or high-water. You have my word. If anything, you’d better worry about making it back in time to be a part of the siege.’ Thomas’s voice turned suddenly serious. ‘Be safe my friend and don’t let those losers kick your ass too much.’
‘Yes, I know you almost died by being blasted by the Flying Serpent,’ I cooed to Tengsly as I suddenly realized that neither Neysa or Helgath had answered my telepathic message, ‘Nonetheless, I need your help.’ Picturing Töten Feinde, I hurriedly composed a new message. ‘Hey man, if you’d like a hand getting your stronghold back, I’d be willing to assist if you could help me with an exit strategy that stops me from being ass-raped by the Chaos Storm Alliance.’ As Tengsly took off into the air, my eyes widened in alarm as Neysa’s mental link suddenly disappeared from my awareness.
‘Helgath, talk to me,’ I demanded, automatically reaching through our link to “feel” which direction she was in as I took off running. Glancing at my HUD, I could see she was nearly dead. Whatever was going down was bad as fuck.
‘You’ll only die too, War Leader,’ Helgath’s painfilled voice sounded in my head a moment later, ‘there’s just too many of them. Use my death for your own escape!’
‘Yeah, that’s not fucking happening,’ I snarled, seeing a group of players twenty-yards ahead that weren’t watching the show going on overhead.
Luckily, no one seemed to be paying the naked man running through their midst with a sword any attention. Probably, that was an all too familiar scene within their ranks since the start of the attack, I savagely thought, casting Regeneration, Enhanced Mage Armor, Holy Shield, Arcane Speed, Bone Shield, Bone Fangs, and Light’s Blessing as my eyes quickly took in the situation.
It was obvious as to what had gone down here. A group of two-hundred or so level twenties must have caught my girls as they were leaving the Bastion. The PKers probably thought we’d died from the Wyrm-Ghast’s lightning attacks and were looking for high-level loot. What they found instead was an ass-whooping when the girls had come shooting out of the destroyed gates.
From the look of things, Neysa and Helgath had slaughtered a good quarter of them, before being blasted to death. Well, mostly being blasted to death, I corrected myself upon seeing a horribly burnt and bleeding Half-Orc on her hands and knees before the remaining survivors. They were all from the Dread Pack and laughing at what they’d done to my soul mate and Neysa. The Silver Dire Wolf’s smoldering remains were clearly visible behind the Half-Orc as they excitedly talked about the large rucksack full of gear on her back.
(Darom General Chat) Fellblade Panzerfaust: What else can we do to get female Igor here to give up her treasure?
(Darom General Chat) Amron Bungholio: How about breaking her twig arms and legs like her ass-boy Starfairy did to me on the docks.
(Darom General Chat) Cadwell Jake: I don’t know man, she’s pretty close to death. That would probably kill her.
(Darom General Chat) Khul Kusmar: So, what, then she’d be dead. I don’t really see why all of you are making such a big deal about this anyway.
(Darom General Chat) Kit Kat: Are you a dumbass or what, Kusmar? That might lock out our access to the loot!
Sucking a ragged breath in my lungs, I began moving with a purpose towards the group trying not to draw too much attention as a rage began building deep in my chest. It rattled the bars of my soul demanding to be let out.
(Darom General Chat) PokeU Pettman: I got something right here that will force her to give it up. Right, Adam?
(Darom General Chat) Shuuk D’Poke: You know it, Dave. Come on, I’ll hold her down while you work her over.
(Darom General Chat) Lurge Mario: Right, because there’s nothing scarier than seeing the two of you with your pants down.
(Darom General Chat) PokeU Pettman: Shut your mouth, Mario! I’ve had plenty of dates.
Calling up my HUD, I began trying to get an idea of what I had to work with. My hit points should be topped off in about ten seconds. My mana was nearly back to two thousand points. Also, I had a new pair of course wool short shorts for my junk. As I came up behind the group, I noticed a few odd glances following me in my peripheral vision. I guess that meant the show between the Admin Sky-Ship and Wyrm-Ghast must be close to running its course.
I’d always known where this was going if I was forced to stay behind in Darom. There was no way I was getting out of this without paying the price. Whatever, that was alright with me, that was PVP plain and simple.
(Darom General Chat) Lurge Mario: Sure, you have. How can your dates not love your apartment in your mommy’s basement?
(Darom General Chat) PokeU Pettman: Fuck you, man. It’s not like you’re getting laid either.
(Darom General Chat) Shuuk D’Poke: Yeah, Mario, that was pretty uncool.
(Darom General Chat) Lurge Mario: Says momma’s boy number two.
(Darom General Chat) Amron Bungholio: Would you guys just stop your fucking bitching! Pettman, grab her arms. Shuuk, get her legs. Jfire, make sure you keep the little bitch alive while I get her to give up the goods before anyone finds out who we’ve nabbed.
That Bungholio guy truly fit his namesake, I thought, cracking my neck as I began expanding my Corpse Explosion spell. My lips pulled back from my teeth as I walked up behind the group, hitting Helgath with a Regeneration and an Enhanced Mage Armor spell. He truly was the greatest asshole.
(Darom General Chat) Amron Bungholio: What the fuck are you doing Jfire?
KA-KA-KABOOM! The PKers screamed as every corpse of their guildmates scattered amongst their ranks suddenly exploded all at once. Gore, viscera, and bone shards exploded like a chain of fragmentation grenades had been set off, doing nearly two-hundred points of damage to anything within a three-yard radius around each corpse. It was amazingly beautiful and severely damaging to the entire group if not killing many of them outright. Relishing in the destruction, I lunged forward to bury the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden into a shocked Jfire’s back.
“Here’s Starfairy!” I shouted in Darom General Chat as I pulled the gasping Priest’s face up next to my own, trying to mimic Jack Nicholson in The Shinning. Not that anyone seemed to catch the reference. With a shrug, I let Jfire’s corpse collapse at my bare feet as I taunted, “Tough audience tonight.”
