Stealthcaster Read online

  Woody spun, yanking the blade free, ripping a chunk of the creature’s side open at the same time, and the Sharak-Ku lost over a quarter of his health with that single strike. The Harefolk warrior had been hoping that perhaps his new necrotic blade would have executed Instant Death on the enemy, but apparently it had failed, and the creature, though injured, renewed its vicious assault.

  Looking over his shoulder, Woody saw Solomon laying on the ground vulnerable, the bladed staff hovering above him getting ready to plunge downward. He tensed for a moment, preparing to break away and charge to Sol’s rescue, but his moment of hesitation cost him. The dark-colored snake warrior swept in, his sword biting into Woody’s collarbone with a vicious strike, sending him to one knee.

  “No!” Sol cried out, seeing Woody go down and he braced himself to leap out and toward his partner as well, knowing that the bladed staff would be plunging down into him at a moment’s notice. Just beyond the yellow Sharak-Ku, poised for the kill, he could see the brown warrior behind him, both swords spinning as he advanced, moving along the ground, his tail slinking as he was propelled toward them.

  “Time to die!” the yellow creature screamed and the spear began its descent.

  Chapter 26 - End of the Line

  * * *

  Solomon could picture it in his head already. The huge, curved blade at the end of the polearm racing down, slicing clean through the air, slamming between his shoulder blades and through his chest, burying into the ground beneath him, pinning him there to bleed out like a stuck pig, slowly draining his HP until he was thrown back to respawn, ready to start over, most likely in no shape to help with the Sharak-Ku conflict. Megyn and Ella would be on their own, while Woody and Lionel would likely die with him.

  Worst of all, the Harefolk spectators would be executed, all of their bodies thrown in the river, never to be found.

  It was a particularly vivid image, a sequence of events burned into the gray matter of his brain an eternal dream from which he would never awaken.

  “Solomon! Wake up!”

  His eyes sprang open at the shouting voice and he looked over, seeing Lionel scrambling toward his axe.

  “You’re alive?” he asked in a quiet, hushed voice just as the paladin wrapped his fingers around the axe, then lunged forward, throwing it with all of his strength. Solomon could see him pressing his own palm to his chest as the weapon arced through the air, the yellow Sharak-Ku diverting his attention for a brief moment while the weapon flew.

  Solomon reached a desperate hand out as the warrior realized what was happening and thrust the spear down even faster and harder. Sol’s fingers wrapped tight around the axe and he swung it desperately in front of him, not even looking to see where he was swinging.

  Closing his eyes, the searing CLANG of metal striking metal was like a cool glass of water and his eyes sprung open again just as the sparks from colliding weapons danced down across his face. Rolling left, he stopped, then swung the axe back the other direction, slamming it agains the staff again, jarring it from the Sharak-Ku’s grip and knocking the snake creature off balance.

  As his enemy fell, Solomon continued rolling, gathering himself back up onto his feet and spinning to face the snake beast. It was amazing how much difference a weapon made, merely holding the axe made him feel infinitely more confident, stronger, and more capable in battle.

  A shadow appeared over the yellow snake and Solomon looked up just as the third Sharak-Ku, the brown one with dual short swords, leaped over the shoulder of the fallen one, somehow propelling himself into the air on the tight coil of his muscular tail. Solomon’s mind told him to withdraw, to pull back and get some space, but he pushed that thought aside in a series of split-seconds and charged forward instead, leaping to intercept the jumping warrior. Axe Blow triggered, he wrapped both hands around the axe and swung in a tight, horizontal arc, slamming the creature in the chest with a massive, bladed strike. There was a burst of power and blood with the strike, and the brown creature thrust backwards, striking the ground shoulders-first, the tail whip-snapping up over his head as he flipped. Sol hit the ground in a coiled crouch, seeing a hundred hit points scatter from the Sharak-Ku, a nice solid hit, but not quite solid enough.

  Turning to face the two, they converged on him, the brown one clamoring to its tail amazingly fast. To his left, Lionel was charging toward the tattooed beast, intercepting his strike against Woody, his body basking in a pale glow of healing light. Sol had almost forgotten the paladin had the Lay on Hands skill, and he’d apparently used it to heal himself, though that initial strike had looked like a killshot.

  The paladin exchanged a few swift strikes, though Lionel was quickly put back on his heels, Woody moving to his right to recover his Elven sword.

  “They’re too strong!” shouted Lionel as he drew back into a half knee, the dark scimitar slamming down on his broadsword time and time and time again, sparks flashing and dancing, forcing him backwards.

  “Worry about yourself, fleshbag!” shouted the yellow Sharak-Ku as he and his injured friend moved toward Solomon, swinging the polearm and the twin short swords. Sol dodged the staff strike and swatted away the first short sword, but the second swipe struck him in the right side, searing a wide gouge of pain in his ribs and forcing him sideways. Twisting and swinging his axe, he tried to knock away the creature’s sword, but his grip was too tight and the weapons merely pounded together.

  Lionel went to the ground and the tattooed Sharak-Ku lifted his curved blade high above his head to prepare for the death strike. Woody lunged from the back, the stone sword in hand and swung hard, connecting with the snake creature’s forearm. The dark-skinned hand and wrist spun away, chased by a fountain of dark gore, the sword spinning away from the severed limb. The Sharak-Ku howled and drew back, clasping his hand around the stump, which was gushing a thick liquid, draining HP by the second. Lionel picked himself up and joined Woody, both of them charging the Sharak-Ku to prepare the killing blow.

  Solomon felt another sword strike, this one hitting his shoulder and throwing him to the ground, his head whacking off the grass, sending stars dancing through his eyes. Out of the corner of his streaked and blurred vision he could see the Sharak-Ku still somehow holding his own against both Woody and Lionel, and knew he was in trouble as the two creatures leaped at him, weapons elevated, coming down toward him.

  He clasped his axe in both hands, his eyes wide and gaping, watching as the two reptiles hurtled at him, weapons flashing, moments away from skewering his helpless form. Options flooded through his mind like a slideshow on five times speed, as he desperately tried to think of an appropriate defense, everything around him slowing to a slow motion crawl of arcing weapons through mud, coming down at him slowly, but certainly, tasting his blood.

  It all fell into place at once. Both hands clamped around the axe, he could feel the low throb of heat baking from the metal, the pure, raw power of energy building within the weapon, and then he remembered it. The crystal.

  Throwing himself back, he focused all of his energy on the enchanted crystal embedded in the pummel of his axe, he drew out every last ounce of mana energy in his reserved, focused every inch of stamina, dexterity, strength, every last attirbute point he had, he took every single stat and funneled them down to a narrow point, focused purely on the glimmering crystal there.

  You have learned the skill:

  Sonic Shockwave

  (Harness the power of sound into a piercing blast of magic)

  (+15% to Damage)

  (+10% Chance to Concussion)

  (+10% Chance to Deafen)

  Everything around him swirled into silence. All of the noise, the hissing Sharak-Ku, the clanging weapons, the shouts and screams of the Harefolk, it all swept into a vortex of nothingness, a complete absence of sound, and he could feel that sound drawing into him, filling him with uncontrolled, unbridled energy. With a thought he took that energy and poured it into the crystal, which tightened into an even narrower focused
power, filling the axe, setting it aglow with purple power. The Sharak-Ku drew closer, coming at a downward arc, their eyes widening, their pallid flesh awash with a gentle purple hue.

  Sol released his breath and released the energy, forcing the power to explode from the axe, a sudden, shattering punch of invisible power. It exploded from his weapon, erupting outward from the blade in a narrow, cutting beam, striking the yellow Sharak-Ku and cleaving the warrior neatly in half, splitting him lengthwise, the concussive energy knocking back the other brown warrior as well, as he shielded his eyes from the shower of yellow and green fluid from the ruined corpse of his fellow warrior.

  Solomon stood there, his breath coming in hard, harsh gasps, the yellow beast cut in two, his comrade seriously injured, wrapping an arm around himself, laying in the grass. Not far away, Woody cut down the third Sharak-Ku, the Evish Necrotic blade finally taking hold, the creature’s flesh graying as he toppled over dead with a dull thud.

  Nobody said anything. Solomon glared at the axe in his own hands, as the surrounding noise slowly came back, forest sounds and mumbling voices rising above the dull, persistent quiet of a post-battle atmosphere.

  “How… how did you do that?” Lionel asked, looking at Solomon with wide open eyes.

  “I don’t really know,” Solomon replied. He felt dizzy. Light headed, his entire mana reserves depleted as well as the majority of his HP from the previous conflict. Whatever he’d done, whatever power he’d brought forth, it was an expensive spell and not something he wanted to do very often.

  But he’d be damned if it wasn’t bad ass.

  His eyes settled on the split corpse of the Sharak-Ku warrior, and his stomach lurched for a moment, the vision enough to sicken him, even though he knew it was just computer code and pixels. A soft groan uttered from the brown-skinned Sharak-Ku, the only survivor of the three and Lionel strode over to him, his broadsword out.

  “You survived?” It was Solomon’s turn to ask the questions now.

  Lionel nodded and patted the new clasp on his armor. “The Clasp of Redemption,” he said with a smile. “Already paying off. It kept me alive, barely, but alive enough to use all my MP to heal myself. Not something I want to do very often, but it was pretty useful.”

  Woody pushed past them, walking toward the Harefolk, extending his hands.

  “My clan brothers and clan sisters,” he said quietly. “I am sorry you had to experience that, but we have come for you.” Smiles crossed their faces and slowly Solomon could see them relaxing, their shoulders settling. Woody looked at them all, slowly counting heads. “A dozen,” he said quietly. “I had hoped for more, but at this point, we take what we can get.”

  “We are here in your service, Woodland,” one of them said, bowing low. “We may not be the fighters you are, but we are ready to give ourselves and give our lives to the war.”

  Solomon nodded slowly. In the grand scheme of things, a dozen Sharak-Ku wasn’t going to mean much, but there was something to be said for a group so willing to sacrifice. So eager to give their lives to defend peace and freedom. He could take a lesson from them, that much was certain.

  “The Sharak-Ku are moving quicker than we anticipated,” Solomon said softly. “We must move accordingly. This part of the quest is done, we must return to Thorathon and begin preparation for the final battles.”

  Everyone agreed, and Lionel ran his sword through the final Sharak-Ku, then turned and joined the rest as they walked off into the jungle.

  Chapter 27 - The Woods Thicken

  * * *

  It was amazing to Ella that they could travel to so many different parts of Gallowind and still find places they hadn’t been and wonders they hadn’t seen. She held the reins of her horse in tightly clenched fingers, the creature bobbing slowly as it trotted down the worn dirt path carved through the thick part of the forest, southeast of Thorathon Village. Down in this area, the leaves seemed greener and more vibrant, the wood of the trees richer, sharper in browns and nearly glowing underneath the soft burn of the mid-morning sun. As she rode, she thought back to her talk with Narween early this morning, the all-too-quick training session she’d received on the power of natural healing magic. Narween had worked hard to try and explain the differences between harnessing the natural mana of this planet into a destructive force, and harnessing it into a curative force, and even now, a few hours later, turning it over again and again in her head, Ella wasn’t sure she understood.

  In her naivete, she thought that maybe she’d spend an hour with the Amazon, earn herself a useful new skill and move on, but she hadn’t learned the skill and in fact, even after an hour of rigorous attempts, hadn’t even figured out how to start to gather the appropriate energy to make it work. Every time she felt like she was making progress, something seemed to occur to bring her crashing back down to reality. A stark reminder that she truly was still an entry level player, even if it had felt like she’d already had a lifetime of adventures.

  Looking to her right, she saw Kydel riding on a horse next to her, a huge beast, similar to hers, around the size of the old ancient Clydesdales that she had often read about in all of the animal books her father brought home for her. The animal was a gorgeous and impressive creature, with thick, dark hair, a cascading mane of off-white, and huge, thick hooves, and wore a thick harness around its massive torso, leading to a rolling, wooden cart behind it. They hoped to find plenty of trees to load the cart up with. Megyn was riding on the other side of Kydel, sitting astride her wolf Tyson as she always seemed to be. Even the huge, silver animal looked small next to the horse, though he was still plenty big enough to carry his master wherever she requested to go.

  “So, you’ll teach me more about the skill tree?” Megyn asked, looking at Kydel hopefully.

  “There is much to teach you, indeed, Megyn,” she replied. “You have the skill tree unlocked already, so the door is open, we just have to show you which rooms are there.”

  “With the coming conflict” Megyn replied, “I feel like I need to learn a lot still. Or I risk being a detriment to the war effort. Ella would tell you, I couldn’t even go toe-to-toe with a bunch of mangy little kobolds without being nearly killed.”

  “Megyn, they were a strong pack. There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Ella said.

  “One of the most important things you can learn,” Kydel interjected, “is the Side Saddle skill. If we decide to ride upon Devil’s Mouth, which I believe is our plan, getting well versed in Side Saddle will allow you to shoot your bow and arrow while astride a mount, and shoot it well. Invaluable in the heat of combat.”

  Megyn’s eyes widened. “Oh, yes. Tell me more about this.”

  Kydel chuckled and swung her legs over the horse so she was balancing along his muscular back as he moved along. She slipped her own personal bow, thankfully it hadn’t been stored with the others that had burned, and slipped an arrow from her quiver strapped to her back. As the horse trotted, she loaded the arrow and sighted it, keeping her balance, then let the arrow fly. It screamed between two branches, and thumped into a narrow, young tree several yards away, the shaft quivering slightly after impact.

  Megyn eagerly unslung her own bow and shifted her seated position on Tyson’s back, swinging her legs around. She loaded an arrow and gently pulled back the string…

  then toppled backwards from Tyson’s back, landing with a thump in the grass. The arrow released and fired up into the sky, whistling as it soared into nothingness.

  “Ow!” Megyn shouted, but her exclamation was almost inaudible among the chuckling snickers of the other two riders. Kydel brought her large horse to a gentle stop as Ella brought hers around as well, slowing them to an easy gait.

  “Are you okay?” Ella asked between laughter.

  “Oh, I’m fine,” Megyn snapped back, putting her hands on the wolf’s back and vaulting back up onto it. “You can laugh away, I’m not hurt.”

  “You had the right idea,” Kydel said, finally able to halt her laughter a
nd form words. “You just need to perfect your balance.”

  “Is it just about balance?” Megyn asked, adjusting her sitting posture again so her legs were slung over one side.

  “No, it’s also about not over-extending your firing arm,” Kydel advised. “Also keep in mind for this to be a useful skill you need to be prepared to do it at a full gallop, not just this gentle trot.”

  “Riiiiight,” Megyn replied, looking over her shoulder.

  Ella smiled softly. She couldn’t help but find a little humor in this exercise, especially considering how naturally gifted Megyn had been IRL. An expert athlete, one of the smartest kids in school, one of the prettiest. She’d had the world at her fingers and the best thing about her was she didn’t even realize it. Even now, Ella was surprised she had even fallen into their circle of friendship, though she was very happy she had.

  But unlike her and Solomon, Megyn had quite a bit going for her in the real world, a whole life ahead of her where she could do whatever she wanted. As oppressive and brutal as the new world had become for those caught in the trap of manual labor and lower class living, it was the exact opposite for those who were blessed with certain gifts or born into the right families. Megyn had both.

  Yet, here she was, stuck in Shyft like the rest of them, with no real known way to get out. Ella suspected she was less happy about the situation than she let on, though watching her practice her Side Saddle skill, one couldn’t help but think she was at least having some kind of fun.

  Megyn’s fingers snapped apart and the shaft whipped free of the string, screaming into the trees until it plunked into the trunk of a thick oak several yards away.

  You have learned the Skill