Dark Omega: Emergence, page 5
“This is it,” Orvin said. “I’ll target the hobgoblins. Wait for my attack, then see if you can thin out the main group.”
“The leader is level 15. Can you take him?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
Carn watched Orvin use some skill that allowed him to blend into the leaves, and then he was gone. Carn scanned one of the goblins.
Goblin warrior
Level 3
HP: 80/80
He counted over a hundred of the green nasties. There was no way he could take out that many, but he could farm them for experience, back off when they got closer, and then repeat. He’d take as many down as he could. It would be hard for them to target him in the trees so he could snipe away.
At level 4, Carn was already a glass cannon. He had 290 mana and he gained 14.5 mana per second, but only had 50 health and 0 armor. His best spell for groups like this was the gravity bubble. He prepared his spell as he waited for the attack to begin.
An arrow streaked towards the leader from somewhere to Carn’s left. Mogtar snatched an arrow from midair without even looking around for his attacker as if he deemed the attack worthless.
Carn targeted the closest group of goblins. He created a bubble on one side of a large tree, slamming eight goblins into it and tangling them all up. He repeated the process on the other side of the tree. There were now almost twenty goblins struggling to pull themselves out of the pile. He could see that some of them had been injured by their own weapons in the process.
He allowed them to get a few feet away from the tree while he cast the spell on a different group. He then created a bubble around the original group again. There were more injuries and a few goblins did not get back up. He used attraction to down a few that were the lowest on health.
Orvin would fire a few arrows and then disappear to fire more from a different direction. It was a good practice and Carn took note of it. His only disadvantage was his lack of stealth.
Carn cast bubble a few more times until his mana dropped to a quarter. As his mana slowly refilled, he climbed back to the trunk of the tree and jumped to a neighboring branch. He worked his way over to a new vantage point and sent a few stones into the nearest wounded goblin as a storm of arrows filled the surrounding air. A dozen buried themselves in the thick branch. Carn was shaken, but unhurt.
Maybe moving wasn’t the best idea after all, he thought.
He chanced a glance down at the archers but quickly pulled back behind the branch as an arrow zipped past his head. That was too close. He wondered what death would be like. Would he respawn back where he first started the game?
Sparky answered the unspoken query. You can bind your respawn point anywhere you choose. Your current respawn point is where you started.
Carn considered setting a new bind point, but he didn’t want to respawn back in the middle of battle. He left it unchanged. Maybe he would respawn behind the goblin lines.
He felt light vibrations in the branch and there was the sound of impacts on the tree. He wondered if they were chopping the tree down, but it would take quite a while to fell its massive trunk. Suddenly he realized what was happening. He had seen the goblin tree climbers wearing spiked boots. They ascended the trees by looping a rope around the trunk, which they held in their hands. This they would use to brace themselves. They then stepped up using the spiked boots and repositioned the rope. He was feeling the climbers. It wouldn’t take long for them to reach him, so he needed a distraction to escape.
Carn cast a gravity bubble on the branches below him, ripping thousands of leaves from the canopy. He quickly released the bubble, and the leaves were scattered through the air. In three bounds, he was airborne again. The goblins shot blindly through the leaves as Carn ascended to another perch higher in the canopy.
Carn’s chest was damp with sweat as he crouched behind a thick covering of green. He peeked out and sighed in relief when no arrows were launched at him. The goblins were anxiously searching the trees for movement.
Carn’s mana was still refilling slowly so he took some time for his heart to calm down. He searched for Orvin, but couldn’t see him or his arrows. Anxiety welled up in him as he pictured Orvin’s body full of arrows; his blood flowing from myriad puncture wounds.
A few moments later, Carn’s dark ponderings were proven false as Orvin appeared beside Mogtar in a flash stabbing at him with his dagger. Mogtar easily blocked the strike with his bracer and Orvin dashed away before he could retaliate. Carn watched them exchange blows. It was clear that Mogtar was more capable. The other hobgoblins didn’t assist so Carn figured they made the same assumption.
Carn debated whether to interfere. He might be able to turn the fight in Orvin’s favor, but that might convince the other hobgoblins to join up against Orvin. On the other hand, if he did nothing, Orvin might be killed.
His decision made, Carn launched some fallen weapons at Mogtar. He hoped that pulling from the ground would not reveal his position. The weapons were heavier than the stones he had used before and they were far away from him so it took quite a bit more mana than he expected. Two spears and three swords launched toward Mogtar. Carn watched their approach with eager anticipation.
Before they could hit, the weapons were blocked by two hobgoblin shields. The attack failed, but the brutes made no move to interfere with their leader’s fight. Both scanned the trees and Carn scooted back on the branch to better cover himself. His leg brushed against some leaves, causing them to shake. By the time his mind realized his mistake, an arrow was already lodged in his arm. Untrained as he was, he pulled back to cradle the arm, but this exposed more of his body to the goblins and another arrow stuck him in the abdomen. Worse, these arrows were barbed. He could feel it tearing his insides as he moved.
He closed his eyes tightly in agony.
Get up, he commanded himself. You have to get moving. The pain is not real. It is only in your head.
Carn blinked tears from his eyes and slowly reached for the arrow in his side. He tried to move as little as possible to avoid exposing himself to more shots. He held his side tightly so the arrow wouldn’t move and then flew up through the trees. He planned to duck back down in a different place to avoid their notice, but he was immediately hit by another arrow. Four balloons floated above the trees, each one carrying several goblins. They must have been keeping pace with the goblins below.
Carn zigzagged through the air while using his free hand to retrieve a few rocks from his pouch. He flew to the far side of it, putting one balloon in between him and the other and himself towards the top of the balloon so that the archers within couldn’t get a good shot at him. He peeked over the top and targeted the second balloon. The rocks punched small holes in it but had little impact otherwise. He pulled his knife and cut a long gash in the top of the balloon. The air gushed out, pushing him further from the balloon and opening him up to attack.
He narrowly dodged an arrow and tried to aim towards his attacker. He guessed from his attacks on the forest creatures that it would take sixteen rocks to kill a goblin with 80 hit points. He would only have enough ammo for a few tries. He launched the projectiles, but the goblin was able to dodge most of them. Still, Carn was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the hits did more damage than expected and the goblin fell screaming from the balloon.
Sparky decided to educate him. One of the rocks went through his eye, giving you a critical hit.
Thanks. If only I could aim better, I’d save a lot of mana and ammo.
Just then, an arrow tore through his wing and he tumbled out of control into the tree canopy. He hit several large branches and the barbed arrow continued to tear at his insides as he fell. Luckily, fairies don’t weigh much and a soft cluster of branches caught him before he fell too far.
Carn’s health was at less than a quarter and he could hardly think through the pain. Assessing his injuries, he realized that he was going to need to get the barbed arrow out, or he would continue to lose hit points. It appeared that the goblins below did not know his location, so he was safe for the moment.
He decided to try something new. So far, he had only used gravity bubble at its largest size of twenty feet. He figured he could create tiny bubbles too. Carn formed a bubble around the barb inside his body and moaned as the barbs collapsed into a ball, tearing more of his intestines. He was then able to pull the arrow out with minor damage due to the rounded tip.
Carn watched his health continue to drop. He was at less than ten percent when it finally leveled out. He let his health fill a bit and then did the same with the arrow in his arm. He looked down on the goblins while his health slowly refilled.
The two hobgoblin lieutenants were no longer with the leader and there was no sign of Orvin. The lieutenants had each gone to restore order to the rest of the goblin force. It was clear from the number of bodies that Carn’s earlier efforts had paid off, but it was too little to change the battle's outcome. He counted twelve dead goblins leaving almost ninety to pillage the forest. The group had already reached the small house, where they were busy trying to break down the door.
Carn saw Orvin come in for another attack, this time against Mogtar’s mount. Orvin slid underneath the raptor, piercing its chest with his blade. The raptor collapsed, but Mogtar caught Orvin by the throat and easily dismounted his dying raptor. Mogtar’s meaty hand surrounded Orvin’s tiny neck, like a human holding a chicken for slaughter. Mogtar stood next to his dead lizard and looked Orvin in the eye as he dangled from his fist.
Carn was desperate to save Orvin. He used all of his remaining mana to throw rocks at Mogtar, but most of them bounced off his armor. The few that made it through made almost no impact on his 350 HP. Mogtar gave a vicious squeeze, separating Orvin’s head from his body. With a satisfied look, he speared the head with a hook and attached it to his belt.
Carn looked away. He hadn’t known Orvin for very long, but he had shown him kindness. His thoughts went to Tam and Kayla. They were still in the house and it looked like the goblins were about to set it on fire.
Chapter 4 – Burning Down the House
Tam was already moving to his room when Kayla barricaded the door. He removed linens from the closet at the back of the room and then took out two of the shelves. These, he stacked near the closet door. As he returned to the main room, Kayla handed him a bundle. He quickly walked back to the closet and spoke a command word.
“Quiesst”
The back of the closet that had appeared to be hard-packed dirt revealed itself as a small tunnel instead. He dashed down the tunnel, returning a few moments later to get another bundle from Kayla. They had planned for this. Most things would need to stay in the house, but some of their most valuable possessions would be taken with them. They had to make it look like Orvin was the only resident. The last thing Tam did was set the traps Orvin prepared.
After handing off her bundle, Kayla pulled the linens back into the closet and then reset the shelves. She then arranged the linens neatly and reset the packed dirt with another command. The entrance to their emergency room was no illusion. It had been enchanted with an earth-moving spell and would seal off this space from the rest of the house.
Kalya could see that Tam had lit a lamp at the end of the tunnel, which went for about ten feet at a slightly downward angle. The room was about eight feet wide with two cots and a shelf. They had stocked the room with travel rations and other non-perishable food, as well as a large jug of water that had a small portion of spirits mixed with it to ensure it would not spoil. A small hollow tube connected the room to the surface to allow for air exchange.
Kayla settled onto her cot and took several long deep breaths to try and still her rapidly beating heart. Just then, the goblins started banging on the door. Tam extinguished the lamp, and the two were left in darkness. The lack of light gave free rein to their imaginations, making the goblin’s murderous cries terrifying.
The hobgoblin lieutenant efficiently organized the destruction of the house. “Back up and do this properly. You two set a fire here and here,” he ordered as he pointed out the locations on the house. “Give yourself some space from the fire, but be ready to kill the fairies when they come out.”
The goblins pushed and shoved to be closest to the door. When they finally settled who would get to be in the front, the winners readied their spears while the losers cradled light wounds.
It didn’t take long for the fire to grow and it soon was blazing over the entire structure. The goblins near the house were jumping and cackling with joy. Mogtar and one of the hobgoblin lieutenants talked for a moment and then the lieutenant resumed their methodical push through the forest. Goblins continued chopping down foliage as they worked their way further into the forest, making a rough corridor through the thick forest growth.
Carn didn’t know how to evaluate his feelings. Orvin had been kind to him, and he was sad that he died, but it was more of the sadness of a missed quest opportunity than truly the death of someone. After all, Orvin was an NPC. He wasn’t really alive. He was just a game mechanic used to maintain the storyline. Still, a person can feel like so much more in a virtual game.
He’s dead, Sparky, and I don’t really know how I should be feeling. Will the game really kill off the entire fairy race if we don’t figure something out? I know players can always join as fairies, but it would make it more difficult as a race choice without fairy NPCs. That seems like a bad move for a game company or whatever AI they have running this.
Anything can happen in Dark Omega. If the fairies die out, the game will move on with that storyline and you will have to do your best in whatever situation arises. Some races may be more challenging to play than others and may become less popular. You have been placed here and it is clear that there is much you can do here, but your success is not guaranteed. There will be no second chances.
It is scary but also good to hear you say that. I don’t think I truly accepted the situation until this moment. I am used to games putting you in a place where you must save the world. Everyone else gets the same rote dialog, but there is no pressure. Try as many times as you want. Follow the formula. You get the idea. This is up to me. I need to figure it out. Well, the two of us. We need to figure it out.
Thanks for including me, boss.
You know you don’t have to call me boss.
I know, but I kind of like the sound of it. It seems that it can be used rather loosely, am I correct?
Yea. It’s not all that formal. I get it. Have fun with it then.
The fire had consumed the house's exterior boards, and Carn could see parts of the frame still standing within the blaze. He searched for signs of Tam or Kayla’s bodies, but the details were hard to make out through the fire and smoke.
Carn wanted to do something. He was still at half health, but his mana was mostly recovered. What could he do? He would have to think of something that didn’t call attention to himself again. He knew he wouldn’t survive another flight of arrows, and there were even more goblins around him now than before in the battle. That ruled out all direct attacks. No gravity bubbles or shooting objects at goblins.
Maybe I can play off the combativeness they showed earlier, he thought. These goblins appeared to fight more as a coerced group than a team. He watched the goblins for a while to get a feel for their movements. When an opportunity presented itself, he cast attraction on the spear tip of one of the goblins in the middle of the cluster and linked it with the goblin next to him.
The goblin’s spear jerked to the side, stabbing his neighbor in the gut. Several goblins nearby began eagerly slashing and hitting each other until the hobgoblin asserted his leadership by bashing the offending goblin’s head in with a single swing of his giant maul.
That was a nice trick, boss.
It might have worked better if the hobgoblin wasn’t there.
Carn analyzed the hobgoblin.
Hobgoblin Lieutenant
Level 10
HP: 225/225
Carn used attraction again, this time linking one of the goblin spears with the hobgoblins’ unarmored shin. The spear moved to strike but hit the armored plates of the hobgoblin’s thighs instead.
Carn attempted it again with a different goblin as the hobgoblin pulped the first goblin with his maul. This goblin let go of the spear as soon as it moved and the spear stuck firmly into the hobgoblin’s shin. Seeing this, the unarmed goblin turned and ran for his life.
Carn repeated the spell once more and then watched the brawl. It didn’t take long for the hobgoblin to finish off those goblins nearest him while Carn focused on stirring up trouble with the other groups.
The hobgoblin looked over his kills and looted the bodies without a care for the continuing violence around him. He looked unpleased with the few coppers. “Quit your fighting and get over here, you lazy scum, or I’ll open you up and serve your intestines for dinner while you’re still alive.”
There were curses and growls, but the goblins obeyed in their jaded style and arranged themselves in a motley formation around the hobgoblin.
Carn knew he wouldn’t get a better opportunity than this, so he risked forming a gravity bubble around the lieutenant and the blazing remnants of the house.
The hobgoblin gasped as he was suddenly jerked off his feet and thrown into the burning rubble along with a few other goblins standing close by. Carn held the gravity bubble around the structure as burning logs and planks piled on top of his targets. He held the spell until he could feel the dirt start to shift. He didn’t want to put out the fire that was so kindly killing his target. It was already starting to smother from his spell, but he held it as long as he could.
When he finally released it, the timbers relaxed and the fire swelled back up. The roof abruptly collapsed in a cloud of smoke and embers, shooting flaming debris on the gathered goblins. If any of the goblins inside were still alive, they were unlikely to be so for much longer now that they were buried in a pile of burning timbers.
