Necromancers, Demons & Kings Read online

  Willy whined and tucked his tail.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,” he muttered, and he accepted the summons in his turn.

  When his feet touched down on hard ground again, he shook his head to clear the fuzziness and stared at their group assembled outside a set of large, obsidian doors, the walls crumbling around them. Willy appeared beside him, a low growl rumbling in his chest. An old metal sign designated the place as the Harbor of Weston. Bishop ran his hands over the damaged stones, figuring it must have fallen to ruin after Godfrey spread the rumors about disease killing everyone in old Weston. The Harbor was abandoned, if not for the Demon Lord who had taken up residence inside its walls.

  “Those are ship masts,” Jimmy said, and Bishop turned to see him pointing over the wall. “Guess it makes sense for the Demon Lord of sirens to take up a place like this, so close to the sea.”

  “Wonder if we’re going to wind up on those ships,” Giles whispered and gulped.

  “You don’t like ships?” Bishop asked.

  Giles’ face turned a shade of green as he shook his head. “Nope, nope I do not.”

  Bishop patted him on the back with an encouraging laugh. “If nothing else has made you physically ill in this game, I’m sure you’d survive a few minutes on a ship.”

  “I think there’s a temple inside, too,” Maverick said, tapping her spear against the ground. She moved her hand over her menus and prompts appeared for Bishop to accept the shared quests for the dungeon.

  There were five altogether.

  Accepted Quest: Death to the Siren Queen.

  Accepted Quest: Cleansing the Harbor.

  Accepted Quest: Culling Their Numbers.

  The main one was to defeat Helenex, but the others were about stopping rituals being performed by priests and necromancers, killing the thirteen necromancers inside, collecting their staves, killing at least thirty priests, and finding the lost tomes within the walls of the old temple to the sea god, Marion. Once secured, they were to take those volumes to the uppermost tower of the old temple and complete the ritual to summon the god and cleanse the harbor, before they took on Helenex.

  “This dungeon just got slightly more complicated,” Trajan said, tugging at his long beard. “I bet there’s a few minor bosses in there, too. Those thirteen necromancers might be them. We’ll have to watch out for them.”

  “Split up or stick together?” Bishop asked.

  “Why don’t we vote on it? We have twenty, total. We could make two even groups and have one focus on the cleansing ritual,” Trajan suggested, tilting his head back and forth. “It’s not a bad idea.”

  Bishop turned around to address the group. “Who thinks we should stay together as a group?”

  Every hand rose up in the air and he burst out laughing.

  “I guess after the last time we split up, we’re safer sticking together.” Bishop moved towards the obsidian doors leading into the dungeon. “We’ll be sure to steer clear of Helenex until all the other quests are completed. Then it’s in we go. Trajan, would you like to do the honors?”

  Trajan swung his heavy axe up onto his shoulder, grinning as he bowed his head. “I don’t mind if I do. At least this time, your guild isn’t hell bent on watching you die first,” he added with a chuckle.

  Bishop rolled his eyes and fell in behind Trajan as the tanks lined up beside him. The LongBeards’ leader pushed the doors open and they swung inwards to a swirling mist for the portal entrance. They all stepped through and came out on the other side of the large doors, staring into the Harbor. Bishop glanced around and found they stood up on an old rickety wooden platform with a set of stairs leading off to the right and to the left. Ships rocked in the distance, the rustling of sails and creaking of rigging resounding across the mostly deserted docks.

  “They’re grouped together,” Trajan whispered, crouching low as he observed the area. “Looks like five or six together.”

  “The temple, we should move in that direction first,” Maverick said.

  Bishop cast his new Demon Sight and moved to the edge of the platform. His eyes glossed over to everyone else; yet, for him, he soared out over the docks, taking in every little detail he could. Some of the groups surrounded large smoking cauldrons and symbols were etched into the stones at their feet. Those would have the rituals they needed to disrupt, and all appeared to be on the right side of the temple. He directed his gaze towards the left, flying over the very center of the docks and what looked like a big hole right in the center. A towering peak came into view and he spied carvings of a large manly figure thrusting a trident into the air with shells and waves surrounding him.

  “Found the temple,” he whispered and pointed. “East of the town center.”

  “What else?” Jimmy asked.

  The sight was ending, but Bishop tried to quickly count how many rituals he saw taking place on this side as well. “Five rituals, all on the right side of the temple. I think we have to disrupt those before we can get to the temple and summon Marion,” he said, and he blinked as his vision returned to normal. Unsteady for a moment, he nearly fell off the platform. Thankfully, Willy was keeping watch, and he bit the back of his jerkin and yanked him backwards. “Thanks, boy.”

  “Anything else that might help us out?” Maverick asked, rolling her shoulders as she made ready to shift.

  “There’s a large hole that leads down to the water, I think. I have a feeling that’s where Helenex and her sirens will be. I didn’t see any that looked like what came after Jimmy and me.”

  “Alright. We head westward first, down the right set of stairs. Activate your wards now everyone, just in case,” Trajan commanded.

  Bishop removed the ward from his bag and pressed his thumb in the center of the rune crafted by the priests back in Hillside. The stone glowed a deep red and broke apart to float over his body, leaving impressions of the rune designs on his sleeves, his pants, and his gloves. “Sweet,” he whispered as the warmth of the magic seeped into his body and the light faded away.

  Trajan and Maverick took the lead, moving quietly down the right side of the platform and on towards the temple. Bishop kept his fingers taut on his bowstring as Willy stayed pressed close to his side. He motioned for Trajan to move around the old shack ahead of them to find the first group of priests and a necromancer performing the ritual.

  The latter’s health was significantly higher than the priests; the dwarf was right about them being mini bosses. Bishop gritted his teeth, wondering how hard to kill they were going to be. Trajan, Maverick, and Arthur moved forward as a line of solid tanking strength. As Maverick roared and charged into the group, Trajan and Arthur used their aggro AOEs to bunch the necromancers together for the ranged DPS to hit with their attacks. Bishop let Willy loose as he drew back on the string and unleashed Rain of Thorns. He searched the targets, wondering if these groups were going to function the same as those at Old Weston. A shockwave rippled across them all, and the necromancer slammed his staff into the ground.

  “Undead!” Jimmy bellowed, but he wasn’t pointing ahead of them.

  “Damn.” Bishop whirled around to see a horde of undead ambling towards them. He fired Fiery Arrow and watched as one of the undead ran into another, spreading the fire through them all. Too bad it did little to slow them down. “Find the one controlling them! Kill the necromancer first, just like at Old Weston!” he called out, and he refocused his shots on the necromancer robed in the darkest red cloak and holding a staff taller than he was. “There! Jimmy, dot him!”

  A glowing white orb appeared over the target’s head. Bishop whistled to Willy to aim for him as he fired several Instant Shots to build back up his mana. Once his bar was nearly full, he changed it up with an Increased Swift Bow. He was getting ready to fire his Silent Arrow to interrupt another cast of undead, when he was thrown to the ground and assailed by an army of limbs. The undead piled atop him, biting, scratching and hitting until Bishop could barely move. His life now drained at an a
larming rate. He drew his dagger to Slash and Slice his way out. But eventually, they caught that arm and pinned it down. He called for back-up. Unfortunately, before anyone could answer, a very large undead hovered over him and brought its jagged sword down on his throat.

  Bishop yelled and closed his eyes, opening them again in the dark room. He clutched at his chest and sucked in a breath, still feeling those wretched hands all over him. The images streaming before him were not encouraging, and that sinking feeling in his gut that they were going to fail roared back to life. Willy snarled and snapped, but the pet was quickly killed off and Bishop grimaced. One by one, the party appeared beside him, cursing and yelling in anger.

  “How did we take so much damage?” Sorgon yelled. “They’re all our level, right? This is insane.”

  “I don’t know, we survived the attacks at Old Weston,” Bishop murmured, shaking his head as a few more players died and joined them. “Maybe it’s not about our levels.”

  “What do you mean? If it’s not about our levels, then what the hell is it?” Jimmy paced angrily around the room as he watched the two remaining healers do their best against the onslaught, desperately trying to keep the tanks alive.

  After another few minutes, they were down, too.

  “Just wipe it, Trajan,” Bishop muttered, wishing the other guild leader could hear him. “We did this wrong. We did everything wrong.”

  “Clearly,” Zoe grumbled, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. “How are we supposed to fight that many? They turned into a damn mob! Is our raid supposed to be bigger?”

  “I don’t think so. It says anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five, but I honestly don’t think five more players could help stand against this attack.” Bishop’s gaze locked onto Trajan and Maverick, the last two remaining, as they fought back to back in the ever-tightening circle of undead. The necromancer controlling the zombies slammed his staff down again, and even more appeared, howling as they clambered out of nearby buildings and up from beneath the docks. “Damn it!”

  Trajan and Maverick fell one right after the other. The undead vanished, and the necromancer and the others performing the ritual returned to their original location. The enemy they had managed to kill respawned as if nothing had ever happened.

  “Alright, what did we mess up?” Trajan stormed. “What did we miss?”

  “We have to take out the necromancer with the staff first, in all the groups,” Bishop pointed out. “If we get rid of him, there won’t be a horde of undead coming after us.”

  “But that damage, we were taking way too much,” Maverick pointed out, wincing as she pressed her hand against her sternum. “They might be level twenty monsters, but there’s something else going on here we’re not seeing.”

  Bishop pulled up his gear, checking how badly it was damaged from that attack. One more death like that and he would need massive repairs, if he didn’t lose the pieces altogether. “We up for a second try?”

  “Yeah, why not,” Trajan muttered, and the others nodded in agreement. “Aim for the one with the staff first. If we can knock out a few of the mobs that way, we might get a chance to actually see what this ritual with the sea god is going to be about. I’d like more information before we give up.”

  “Who said anything about giving up?” Jimmy asked. “Never give up, never surrender!”

  “Keep telling yourself that,” Maverick laughed. “We might not have a choice.”

  Bishop loathed the idea that they—the first group to defeat the very first dungeon on one run, and beat the second one with only the minimal loss of players—would have to retreat from the third because they couldn’t figure out the correct mechanics. He and everyone else opted to res back at the beginning of the dungeon. They stood on the platform, their wards thankfully still intact, and stared out over the Harbor.

  “Right, Bishop, Giles, Zoe, I need you three to find that bastard and keep your focus on him and only on him,” Trajan commanded and the three hunters nodded in ascent. “We need to keep those undead hordes to a minimum, preferably none at all. But if we brace for it, we might be able to hold back one wave. Healers, you are to stay as far back as you can.”

  Benji and the three LongBeards bowed their heads in understanding and buffed themselves.

  “Myself and the other tanks, we’ll pull aggro on everything in that small group. If the undead horde comes, Maverick, you take them first. Your pull is the strongest and you have the most health. We’ll switch off if we need to.”

  Bishop focused on making their way to the temple, but the nagging in his gut only grew worse. He whistled for Willy and gave the wolf a few good scratches, promising a nice big raw hunk of meat when they made it back to Hillside for him dying like that. Trajan ensured everyone was ready, had activated the wards again, and knew their job before he set off down the right set of stairs for a second time. Bishop’s fingers tensed on the bowstring as they crept closer to the first ritual sight again.

  “Willy, protect the healers this time, Benji and the others, alright?”

  Willy yipped and rushed back to circle the healers and hopefully keep them safe since everyone else’s focus would be on the necromancers and his minions. Bishop ensured to apply demon oil this time; if the undead horde did attack, the fire would spread much faster than it had from a simple Fiery Arrow and do a hell of a lot more damage at the same time.

  Trajan held up his hand to halt the group and Bishop steadied his breathing the best he could, his pulse the only sound he could hear in his ears. The pain from his first death still lingered in his chest. They would do it this time; they would not repeat the same mistake they did before.

  Trajan and Maverick charged forward, the other tanks right behind them, and Bishop immediately scanned for the necromancer with the staff and the dark red robes.

  “Got him!” he hollered, and Jimmy instantly put a dot over his head. “Kill him!”

  Giles and Zoe ran up beside him, and the three hunters attacked the necromancer. Bishop fired Increased Swift Bow, followed by Fiery Arrow. When he charged up an attack, he switched it up and sent Silent Arrow flying. It struck the necromancer hard in the chest, interrupting his attack, the charge bar nearly full emptied completely. Giles fired a trap that pulled thorny vines from the ground and sent them twisting and turning around the necromancer’s body, pinning him, while Zoe summoned her pet, a bear nearly the size of Maverick. It lumbered forward to attack as Bishop kept up the aerial attack. He used Penetrating Shot, hoping to weaken the necromancer more, but the evil man moved his staff, ready to charge up another one of the attacks that would summon the undead horde.

  “My interrupt’s on cool down!” he yelled. “Stop him!”

  “On it!” Jimmy called out, and a beam of black shadows flew at the necromancer. “Five seconds!”

  Bishop hit the target with another Increased Swift Bow and waited. Once the necromancer’s life was low enough, he waited for his Execute to charge up and struck. The necromancer sank to his knees with a look of disbelief before dropping dead. The rest of the DPS made quick work of the rest of the baddies there and Shamus rushed over to disrupt the ritual. The cauldron stopped smoking and the fire beneath it went out. The glowing embers in the ground at their feet died away too, and a tally went up for the quest to stop the rituals.

  “Ah guys? My gear is shot,” Maverick muttered as she shifted back to human form. “Like badly shot. Damn, I actually don’t have gloves anymore, or shoulders.” She frowned, holding up her hands and glancing angrily at her bare shoulders.

  “Same,” Trajan said, setting his axe on his back and pulling up his gear menu. Bishop realized he was missing his chest piece and was down to wearing only a shirt. “Those guys hit like trucks, even without the horde of undead.”

  “How far do you think we can make it?” Bishop asked.

  “Not far, not doing it that way, but I’m not sure how else to take out these groups.”

  Trajan sounded as annoyed as Bishop felt. If their tanks
were taking that much damage to their gear, then they would not survive through this entire raid. He’d hate to watch Trajan take hits not even having a chest piece to negate some of the damage. “It costs me to say this, but maybe pulling back is our best course of action.”

  “We’ve only killed one mob!” Jimmy argued.

  “We got by easy with the first two dungeons,” Bishop said, becoming aware of the mistake he had made, that they all had made really. “Guys, our gear is crap. I don’t think this is going to be like other games where your equipment doesn’t matter until the later dungeons. We need better stuff now or we’re not going to make it through this dungeon, at least not without dying, a lot. And I for one do not feel like experiencing that kind of pain over and over again.”

  Jimmy hung his head, kicking at the dirt. The look on his face, however, told Bishop he knew he was right. “We don’t have anyone in our guild who can make gear that good,” he pointed out.

  Bishop was about to agree, but stopped as a smile crawled across his face. “Not yet, you mean.”

  “I hope you’re a damn good flirt if you’re going to get her to make all of us gear,” Jimmy told him as he laughed. “Well then, in the spirit of all great gamers before us when facing unbeatable odds… for Leroy!”

  Jimmy took off yelling through the Harbor and aggroing every last baddie he passed. Maverick shifted with a roar and chased after him. Bishop and Trajan stared at each other, then burst out laughing and joined in.

  If they were going to die, might as well go out with a bang. Bishop fired his Instant Shots and Fiery Arrows as hordes of undead were summoned by the necromancers Jimmy pulled from three different ritual locations. If anyone pulled this hooey back when Bishop was in his serious gaming days, he would have rage quit and ripped them a new one. But even as they were fighting all out, and losing numbers quickly, Bishop found himself battling as hard as he had so far in this game and laughing. When their numbers were low and he was on his last bit of health, he called out a warning and drew back Assassin’s Tear.