The Demon Horde was in a terrible shape. With random night attacks from the disguised demons of the Devil’s Crater Army, or DCA, and their own internal attacks they pulled on one another, they hadn’t slept much in weeks. They were thin from the lack of sustenance in the area. They were more savage and dire than ever before.

Good thing that we’re not fighting them yet.

Efri used the spell Heat Vision to see through the forest and to the Demon Horde. The first Demon disappeared into a trap, screaming as they were impaled on spikes under the thin covering.

Others disregarded the screams of pain, charging forward with renewed vigor, channelling a skill that the DCA had been trying hard to overcome, berserker.

Another was hit with spikes that swung down from the tree cover, impaling them. All across the horde they were encountering traps from every direction.

The smell of blood and cries of pain only served to make them run faster screaming out their battle cries.

DCA earth mages that were with the demon horde or those that were trailing them had been adding traps all around them, enclosing the Demon Horde in traps.

Panic started setting in after an hour. Any direction they tried, there seemed to be traps.

The Demon Horde started charging forwards, as if they were near to the enemy. They screamed and bayed for blood, their hunger and lack of sleep driving them wild.

They only encountered more traps.

Efri frowned, only a few tried to run away. They were cut down, but they were so few.

“What is going on? Why aren’t they pulling back? After all of this, I know we would have started regrouping. Knowing that we were up against an enemy, we’d start making some sort of plan. Charging straight ahead? What did the Dark Lord do to them?” Efri frowned, biting his lip in thought.

We’ve only got around two miles of traps. If they just keep running in a straight line, then they’ll clear it quickly. Without terrorizing them in the nights and making them slow their pace for the traps, they'd reach Devil's Crater sooner than projected.

Efri pulled up an audio chat with Alkao.

“Efri, how goes the traps?” Alkao said, sounding cheerful.

“They’re running right through them. They’re running one behind one another seemingly out of instinct. A few go down but the rest keep going. They’re going to reach you sooner than we thought. I’m going to give the order to pull my forces back to your keep,” Efri said.

“Very well, I’ll send word to the Stone Raiders and Denar. It’s time we started using hit and run tactics on them.”

“Yes, brother,” Efri said, angry at himself for his part of the plan for failing.

“This is not your fault, brother. These Demons are twisted. We did not know how they would react, but now we do. Your traps will still weaken them. Now, take your forces to the flank opposite Denar. You will close in, then attack them from the rear. I trust in you,” Alkao said.

“Yes, brother,” Efri said, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders falling away.

Alkao cut the channel. Efri opened up his party chat and started issuing commands to his brigade.

My people did me proud; we couldn’t have seen this. But when it comes to finish off these beasts, this Demon Horde will come to fear my brigade’s steel.

***

“Dave, we’re moving! The Horde sped up!” Deia yelled as she walked out of the house.

All last night, they had been working to carry the portal up through a tunnel that Bob had made. Dave had done his work and two Stone Raiders with horses had met them up, taking the now functional cart from them.

“What’s the word?” Dave asked.

“All guild assemble,” Deia said, closing the door behind her as Dave pressed his hotkey on his armor. It seemed to form over his body.

Deia smirked, a smile growing across her face.

Damn, he looks like he means business in his armor.

She pressed her hotkey for her armor, walking to Dave. It spread across her, her blades on each hip.

“Well, let’s go hunting,” Dave said, a devilish grin on his face.

Deia nodded, a wild look in her eyes as they ran through the copse of trees and straight for the training square where the teleport pad was.

Coming down from the Stone Raider compound, there were more of the Stone Raiders in their various armors and weapons running down. Josh led them, coming in behind Dave.

After them, came carts filled with weapons and armor. Ela-Dorn and Ela-Gal were riding one.

“Dave, could you do the honors?” Josh asked.

“My pleasure,” Dave moved to the control center of the teleport pad and punched in coordinates.

Induca and Suzy joined them, a party of fifty people and ten wagons ready to go through the teleport pad.

People watched them as they moved, interested in what had got them in such a rush.

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Jules and Esa were the last to join them.

“Good for you to join our little expedition,” Josh said with a smile.

“Sorry Josh, was getting a gift from Kol; he made me something,” she said looking at her necklace.

Dave looked over the necklace.

Necklace of Protection

The first Master level piece Dwarven Master Smith Kol has crafted in twenty years. To the one that gave him back his sight and his face.

Mana barrier: 145/145

Increased Willpower +25%

Increased Stamina +25%

Charge: 12,000/12,000

“Damn those are some nice pieces. Even without my level of magical circuit, he’s really a master to be able to get those kinds of natural affinities into the metal, so that it doesn’t take a soul gem to provide them all power,” Dave shook his head.

“You admiring her necklace?” Deia asked.

“You want one?” Dave asked.

“No, my ring does just fine,” she smiled, holding up his engagement ring to her.

Dave gave her a quick kiss.

“Though if we are about to go fight some things, it’s probably a good idea for me to put some more points in some more places,” Dave opened up his interface, placing another thirty of his stat points. Fifteen into Intelligence and another fifteen into Agility. He'd learned from when he'd gained a whole whack of classes in Alephir. Falling over and hitting ceilings, sucked.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

34

Class:

Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points: 441

Health:

18,800

Regen:

6.14 /s

Mana:

4,280

Regen:

15.75 /s

Stamina:

2,480

Regen:

14.20 /s

Vitality:

188

Endurance:

307

Intelligence:

428

Willpower:

315

Strength:

248

Agility:

284

Dave rubbed his hands together.

With his stat points, he wasn’t close to being near a level thirty. He was close to three hundred and forty.

“Woah, there, stop leaking your Affinity everywhere,” Deia chided.

“Ah, whoops,” Dave said, his excitement getting the better of him.

“Looks like saving your stat points up is working out. Sent a shiver down my bloody spine, that’s for sure,” Josh said, keeping his voice low.

Dave just shrugged with a smile on his face.

He could craft things to deal with his other weaknesses and spells to shore up the rest. He had a respectable amount of hit points. With his Intelligence and Agility, most people seemed slower, especially when he actually thought about it and started using his increased Intelligence and Agility. Well, he’d started to truly challenge Deia in the limited sparring matches they’d had at Cliff-Hill.

Dave was excited to see how his skills and attributes stacked against a horde of Demons.

He fired up the teleport pad.

A gloomy room appeared on the other side.

“Move it!” Josh said, running through the teleport pad. Everyone followed behind, including the carts.

Cliff-Hill disappeared, in its place they were in the guild hall’s teleport pad control room.

“Push to the sides, we’re going right back out to Devil’s Crater!” Josh said. Stone Raiders were rushing into the teleport pad room, gearing up and falling into groups.

Automatons clunked into the room, following Ela-Dorn and Ela-Gal.

“What is your magic?” Ela-Gal asked.

“Maybe I’ll tell you later,” Dave said.

The teleport pad’s portal closed. Another one opened this one showing them Devil’s Crater and the beginnings of Unity.

“Move!” Stone Raiders that had been gathering from all over Emerilia into the guild hall now stormed out and into the city.

“Ela-dorn, Ela-Gal get your cart unloaded quick as can be; I’ll put your time limit before the cart falls apart at fifteen minutes,” Dave yelled, following the rest of the Stone Raiders.

***

Ela-Dorn and Gal tore the payload off of the cart, the driver taking it back to the guild hall. Demons gathered the supplies, hauling the weapons crates around with ease. There was a tension in the air.

Ela-dorn didn’t doubt that war was coming to Devil’s Crater.

The teleport pad’s portal closed behind them.

“Could you connect us to Alephir?” We’re going to be taking the cart now,” Ela-dorn said.

The two people that had guided the cart quickly unhooked their horses. Automatons took their place, holding the cart.

“We’re connected, have a good one,” the Aleph in the control center said, waving to them.

Ela-dorn smiled back, waving to them as they passed through the teleport pad’s event horizon.

She walked over to the group that were hurriedly assembling. The council was coming out and people looked at their councilwoman and her overly large cart with curiosity.

“Where is it?” Hamdir asked. Ela-dorn looked at the cart that the automatons were pushing.

“Right there,” she said, watching as the time on Dave’s construct’s time limit reached zero.

The cart disappeared, the portal dropping to the ground. It had been the base of the wagon’s cart. Dave had somehow formed an entire cart around it, allowing them to smuggle it out without any questions.

Excited chatter rang out as they all looked at the portal.

The Aleph’s pursuit for knowledge, the thing that had pulled them together was symbolized in this very portal.

When they were cast out as heretics, it was for questioning the gates of the gods. They had gone on to reverse engineer the teleport pads from the portals.

To them, they were looking at a holy relic.

Behemoths were dropped from their storage racks above the teleport pad. They grabbed the portal, heaving it up.

“Now it’s time to figure out its secrets, I’ll be at the College,” Ela-Dorn said, the teleport pad activating again, the behemoths walking through.

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