The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame (46 page)

Health now back to one-hundred percent with roughly a fifth of my mana recovered, I decided to head back into the fight to aide my temporary allies. Getting back to my feet, I increased my pace as I timed out the movements of the battle and began to weave through traffic with the intent to capitalize on the mistakes of both temporary friend and foe.

“I thought you were dead!” shouted a woman next to me as she followed me a few steps behind. With a quick glance out of the corner of my eye, I didn’t recognize her and shouted a reply as I took off in the other direction.

“Was out of mana!” I yelled.

As the sounds of battle had made it hard to hear with the clanging metal reverberating throughout the field, I didn’t know if she had responded but it made little difference either way. Picking up my pace even more as I began to push through the crowds, an opportunity presented itself as I watched an ally get stabbed through the stomach by a sword.

Sword tip piercing straight through and out the man’s back, the swordswoman attempted to pull her sword free as I stepped forward and around the dying ally and took a low swipe at her knees.

Cleaving through her left knee as the axe-head embedded itself into her right, the severing of a leg and the impact of the blow sent her to the ground as she was forced to release her sword. As she fumbled around in the mud while trying to reach her sword, I quickly rushed up and placed a foot on her stomach. Yanking my axe free and raising it far above my head, the disarmed woman instinctively attempted to shield herself as she failed to retrieve her weapon and couldn’t move under my weight.

Dropping the axe down through both of her arms and splitting her face in two, all that remained was a blurred mess of blood and pixelated brain matter as the blonde hair began to turn brownish-red. With foe finished, I looked at my ally that was slowly dying a few feet away. Staring at me for help, pleading for a holy light to save him, I ignored him and freed my weapon while tilting my head to the side and letting out a small noise.

“
Huh
,” I voiced as if a thought had occurred to me.

Turning my back to the man, I scanned the field for my next opportunity with the only thought on my mind that of increasing my kill count. Then as a temporary ally managed to disarm and drop a foe to the ground in quick succession, successfully winning his one-on-one duel directly in front of me, I swooped in and swung my axe across the foe’s head and executed him without a hitch. Blood splashing everywhere as the angered ally cursed at me for stealing what was his, I hopped and skipped away without much care.

Coming across another ally that was losing ground as he looked to me for help, I circled around the enemy and waited for their duel to finish. Ignoring his plight as he succumbed to a spear through the chest, I finished the spearman that stabbed him from behind with ease as both bodies collapsed on top of one another.

Piling up the kills while not truly helping either side, if anyone had been watching the Leaderboards they would have noticed that my name was the only one currently going up in kills on the Harmont’s side. Oblivious to the score that was being kept, they continued to fight without a clue to my involvement as I wandered the battlefield in relative safety.

Avoiding all of the dangerous clusters of fighting, I hovered around the edges and only entered when a kill was certain. Retreating as soon as danger appeared imminent, there was little reason for me to risk myself during this stage of the battle. They were both my enemies and they all needed to die.

After thirty minutes of fighting had passed, the numbers on both sides had diminished from the thirteen-hundreds to nearly four-hundred players remaining. As both sides started to realize that they no longer had the numbers to take Wesstown, shouts were heard to cease fighting as I made my way through the crowds and zeroed in on the voices.

Finding one man in the back firing arrows into the sky indiscriminately, I rushed over to him first and hacked his extended arm off as both his left hand and bow fell to the ground. His right hand still holding an arrow as he failed to realize what had happened, I knocked him over with a quick shoulder check to his chest and grabbed the arrow out of his hand. Shoving the arrow through his eye, I pulled another arrow out of his quiver and shoved it through his throat as he began to bleed out on the snowy floor.

Then as I turned to look towards the sounds of voices, a sword flashed by my face as I tucked and rolled. Pain flashing on the left side of my face, I grabbed my ear only to find it gone as a hole remained and blood leaked out.

The already confusing sounds of battle became even more so in an instant as my directional hearing was severely impaired. Unable to tell where anything was coming from on the left, I retreated back into the safety of my purple-banded allies as I tried to buy time.

Finding an empty spot clear of fighting but filled with corpses, I dove behind a large dead body and began to cast another holy light. With the golden beam shining down on me as I listened and watched the battle continue on, the wound was sealed but the ear remained missing. Still maimed and impaired, I decided to call for assistance.

“Emily, Claire, please attack the yellow-banded players now,” I said to both of them, while scanning for an opening that could take me to the other side. The battle raging all around me, the NPCs were engaged in combat as well, as hundreds remained fighting on my left and hundreds remained on the right. The NPC army that had numbered over a thousand was being whittled away… it wouldn’t be long before victory was at hand.

“We’ll come from the forest,” replied Claire.

Emily didn’t bother to reply.

“I’ll try to meet you there then,” I stated as I reentered the fight.

While I was busy cutting a path, not more than a few minutes had passed me by when I witnessed the entire force of the Harmont faction appear out of the forest and begin their charge. The entire eight-hundred strong force of NPCs and the remaining hundred and eighty-seven players charged into the backside of the Woodfalls and the
Triumvirate
and immediately began laying waste to them.

Caught between a thousand-strong army on the rear and a nearly thousand-strong combined army at the front, they buckled and collapsed in only a moment. Their defeat certain, I ignored them and ran at full speed through the
Triumvirate
’s troops and joined the ranks of the Harmont only to find them attacking me as I deflected and kicked them away. Continuing to run, they began to ignore me as if I had lost my mind.

Entering the forest behind them after quite a struggle and a very long sprint, I quickly hid behind a tree and tore off my purple armband and burnt it on the spot. Taking off my newly purchased cloak, I tossed it on the ground with the intention of discarding it.

Staring at the cloak on the ground, I decided to burn it as well so there would be no evidence of a discarded item in the forest. Lighting it on fire and watching it burn as a small cloud of smoke rose up into the air, I let the remaining pieces fall to the snow.

No longer with an armband on, I pulled the blue one out from a pocket and slipped it on only to turn and find myself in a precarious situation. Standing in front of me were thirty or so NPCs of the Blacktombs with their purple armbands clearly displayed as they all wore the exact same equipment. Iron-studded leather armor with sword and shield, it was easy to tell that they were inhabitants and not adventurers.

Noticing the fire and smoke, they had bee-lined directly to my position and came to a stop only a few tens of yards away. Debating what to do next as the thought of fleeing towards my allies crossed my mind, something… someone caught my eye. Safety was only eighty or so yards away as my allies were engaged in battle nearby but the one in front of me intrigued me.

Stepping out from behind the tree as I had been caught, I decided to test my luck. In the center of the pack was a relatively tall, young, and gray-colored short-haired female with a broadsword and a full ensemble of iron armor with leather armor underneath. By far the most geared-out individual I had seen on the battlefield, my thoughts jumped to that of the person leading the enemies Leaderboards, the Sword Instructor that had been steadily climbing the ranks since the first battle.

She stood there surrounded by swordsmen and swordswomen with her slightly oversized claymore leaning over her shoulder, as calm as could be in a situation where she should have either been fleeing or rushing into the fight. Confused as to why she was hiding in the forest and why she had yet to attack me, I was convinced she was the Sword Instructor from the boards as her gear was of exceptional quality for this stage of the game.

If her skills matched her gear, it was within reason that she would lead the boards when dealing with underequipped and unskilled players. She also had a personal army guarding her so it seemed likely to me. With more questions than answers though, I wanted to engage in dialogue before risking a fight with an Exceptional Threat plus her mini-legion of bodyguards that accompanied her. They would prove to be a challenge if it came to a fight.

“Strange seeing you here,” I said nonchalantly as I stood my ground.

“What will you do, adventurer?” asked the female while ignoring my comment, clearly not interested in having a normal conversation.

“Have a talk?” I replied with a shrug.

“You do not wish to flee?” she asked with a tilt of her head, again ignoring me as she crossed her arms and stared me down.

“Your side is losing, do you not intend to run as well?” I countered, having decided to play to her tune rather than try and force her to play to mine.

“And yet you stand there, as if you do not stare death in the face,” she said clearly while taking a few steps forward and simultaneously bringing her heavy claymore down to the ground, setting it between her legs with palms resting on the pommel.

"In this world, I stare death in the face every time I see my reflection,” I curtly replied with a straight face, while keeping my unthreatening stance. “One gets used to it after a while."

“So you wish to challenge me, adventurer,” she said calmly while maintaining her position. “You aren’t the first to do so… and you certainly won’t be the last.”

“Well technically you would be challenging me,” I retorted with a grin while lowering my axe to my feet and copying her stance, with my palms resting on the knob. “You are the Sword Instructor are you not? You’ve amassed quite the tally, the most kills on your side… one-hundred and thirty-eight according to the accounts.”

“Surely you jest adventurer,” she said with a laugh as the men and women behind her did the same, chuckling and grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Has word reached your ears of the
Alliance All-Star
,” I said with feigned interest, as I leaned forward and cupped my hand against my one remaining ear. Tilting my head towards her and whispering the rest out, I played the entire scene out. “According to sources that man is sitting on over three-hundred kills. Simple mathematics tells us that three is greater than one. Thus you are indeed the challenger young one.”

Her smile quickly vanishing at the words as her entourage gripped their weapons and tightened their hold on their shields, she in turn picked up her weapon and stared back at me as she thought over the small threat. Taking her time and without any sudden movements from her side, she appeared to be judging my potential ability.

“Those words have reached my ears,” she said sternly. “Though that man surely has two ears… while you only have one. He does not strike me as one to be caught off-guard.”

Beginning to pace in a small circle while maintaining the same distance, I kept my axe over my shoulder as I tried to think of a way out of the current situation. She was worth a lot of money but I had plenty of it coming. As an extremely powerful NPC, I wanted her on my side. My goal was to recruit her as a Companion, no matter the cost or struggle.

“I have a question for you,” I asked as I accumulated lightning in my palm and let it dissipate to show her that I was indeed the same man. Eyes now burning a dull red, I stared at them as I continued to pace back and forth.

“So you are him,” she mumbled as she waved to her troops, causing them to spread out behind her. “What is it that you wish to know, adventurer?”

Taking my time to pace while watching them fan out, I snuck a glance at the battlefield and saw that the entire force of the Woodfalls and the
Triumvirate
had fallen. With only the Blacktombs and the guild members of
aRIOT
left, the battle would soon be over. The random pugs had already begun to rout. It was only a matter of time before we won.

“Are you a convict?” I asked without reservation.

“How dare you insult my honor,” she angrily shot back as she lifted her sword, only to hold her position as I instantly brought a bolt of lightning to my palm as a counter.

“I only ask because I find it strange,” I said kindly, in direct contrast to my hostile appearance. “Why were you on the front lines from the very start then? You don’t strike me as one needing to improve her rank.”

With no reply coming from her, I decided to push the topic.

“You were banished by the bastard son of the Blacktombs,” I mumbled as I looked away and put a finger to my lips, pretending to understand more than I did. “He sent you to the frontlines to redeem yourself but it was only a formality. He actually sent you to your death.”