The king and queen were there, at the head of the table, but they weren’t dressed in banquet clothing, but plate mail. The court's royal wizard was to one side and flanking the couple opposite the wizard was the official champion of the kingdom, Razer Winstead.

Crap.

All the times I played the game, he had never shown up—not once! The hall was packed with other undead generals, commanders, and priests. This was no feast.

It was a war council.

“Nick,” Alissa hissed.

At her words, the entire hall turned to us as one.

“Intruders!” Razer shouted.

“I knew we couldn’t trust you,” Briana swore.

How could I explain to them this was a one in a thousand encounter? I had known max-level players who camped the Halls, hoping to get Razer to spawn.

Keep your eyes on the prize, Nick, don’t let them panic.

“We’ve got this. Ali, stay in front. Daisy, switch to heals, keep Ali up. Briana, pick off their healers... and Lexi, keep anyone who tries to come around the side, blind. We can still agro them one at a time.”

The hall was fifty feet long. A massive wooden table dominated the center. Three-foot-long bench seats lined either side. At the far end were the two thrones. Behind them was a stairwell leading up and down. On the opposite side of us was the kitchen. Which meant we were in the only defensible position. If we stayed in the entryway, we could fight them in small groups, as long as we didn’t pull the whole room—

“I’ve had enough of this,” Briana said. She pulled her bow back and—

“Wait, no!” I was too late.

She let loose a trio of arrows at the king, probably thinking that if she killed him, the rest would vanish just like when the guard captain had died. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

In life, and in games, things went bad when teams stopped working together. I’d lost tracks of the times something exactly like this had happened in the game. And only once in real life, since those consequences were slightly more permanent.

Regardless, it was about to get real.

The arrows struck home an inch apart in the king's chest. Had he a heart in his breast he would’ve immediately died. Since he was undead, held together by the fade energy that permeated this place, he didn’t die. Instead, he became enraged and charged right at Briana, along with the entire room.

“Crap,” I muttered.

We wouldn’t make it if we ran. Maybe Briana and Lexi would make it. But Alissa, Daisy, and I would die before we ran ten feet. The only option was to stand and fight.

I told them so. A quick evaluation told me that Daisy and Alissa were seconds from breaking. It’s one thing to fight, another to be charged by such a force.

“Hold!” I yelled, pointing at the enemy with my sword. “Alissa, brace! Daisy, keep her alive, no matter what!”

Alissa braced herself and, like a major league hitter, held her sword above her shoulder until the first undead was in range. Then she hit a home run. Her massive blade cut through the first royal guard to reach her. Severing his top half from his lower.

Daisy’s voice cut through the noise of the attack as she began to sing. Her melodic tune rising above the grunts and roars of battle to touch us all in a way. A glow appeared around her hands and she placed them on Alissa’s back.

The glow enveloped the half-orc, wrapping around her like a shield. A sword cut low and slashed through Alissa’s leg. She made no sound, but I saw blood splash against the floor, but the wound was gone by the time I could find where she was slashed.

“Briana,” I said as I turned to face her. She wore a look of horror as the entire room rushed us. I stepped up to her, shouting her name. She looked at me, then the mass of undead trying to get past Alissa’s massive sword.

“I didn’t... I thought...” she stuttered.

We didn’t have time for her to freeze or freak out. She could worry about what she did later.

...if there was a later.

“Briana!” I shouted in her face, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a sharp shake. The fear and shock in her eyes turned to anger as they slowly swiveled to lock on to me. “Good, hate me later. Right now,” I said, turning and pointing at the mobs queuing up in front of Alissa. “Shoot them!”

I stepped aside, and she didn’t hesitate. Whipping out arrow after arrow to fly a hair's breadth past Alissa as they slammed home, taking some with them outright, and weakening others.

Daisy continued to work her magic, her voice carrying over the battle as she focused her healing spell on Alissa.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The big half-orc sprouted dozens of cuts. A sheen of sweat soaked her whole body. Daisy’s spell healed her, but only of the minor wounds. It wasn’t powerful enough to outright heal the larger ones, of which there were plenty.

Alissa grunted as a spear pierced her side, tearing a chunk of flesh and revealing a white rib under the flap of torn skin.

The foot soldiers fell in droves under Alissa’s sword, lopping off heads and arms, but there were more, and the King and Queen were about to enter the battle.

Queen Madella climbed onto the table, unfolding a bow from her back that was impossibly large and knocking an arrow that was the size of a small spear.

“Lexi, blind her!” I yelled, pointing at the queen.

“On it,” she said. Blue light flared as she flew at top speed through the melee, cutting ninety-degree turns one after the other to avoid being hit. Just as the queen pulled the arrow back, Lexi struck, blasting away with her dazzle hitting the queen in the face.

The once beautiful woman stumbled backward, firing the arrow high. It screamed through the air, hitting the ceiling above us and exploding in a wave of fire and debris.

The blast knocked Daisy back into me, and we tumbled to the floor in a mass of arms and legs. Her head hit my chin, and I tasted blood where I bit my lip.

We rolled to a stop, and I ended on top of her, my face pressed against her neck. Even in that moment, I could smell the vanilla she used. I had a momentary smile before my brain snapped back to reality.

I rolled off of her into a crouch and looked for Alissa. Daisy held her head, trying to get to her feet, but the explosion had stunned her.

If the explosion blew me back, then it would have tossed Alissa forward into the fray. The air was filled with smoke from the exploding arrow. I shuddered to think what would have happened if it had hit her directly.

“Alissa!” I shouted.

A large form moved through the smoke and debris toward us. I smiled, thankful that the half-orc was okay—

Except it wasn’t Alissa, it was Razer. He carried a pair of black swords with saw teeth on the spine. His plate mail armor was made from a form of metal that absorbed light, letting him move in the shadows and not be seen.

None of that really mattered, since he was about to kill me. I raised my sword, holding it with both hands and keeping it pointed toward his chest. Daisy needed a second to recover, and I would not let him just kill her.

Fade energy, the power that created these monsters, crackled in his eyes and mouth as he rushed forward, crossing his arms and bringing both swords down on me from either side.

I did the only thing I could think of. I leaped forward as fast as I could, aiming the sword at his chest. My dream of killing him in a single blow vanished as the highly skilled fighter darted back, slapping my sword aside, sending me spinning off balance. He brought his other blade down on my back in a long slash that cut through my cuirass like it wasn’t even there.

I screamed from the sudden line of fire that trailed down my back. The pain dropped me like a bad habit. I hit the cobblestone on my knees with a grunt. It took all my strength to push myself away from him, and I did it just in time. Both his menacing looking swords came down on the cobble and blasted a big hole where I had fallen.

I rolled over onto my back, grunting from the pain and coming up on my knees. I was proud that I managed to hold on to my sword.

He charged forward, slashing his blades back and forth like a batter warming up on his way to the mound.

“Lexi!” I yelled. If I could have her blind him, then maybe we could get the upper hand. But, with all the smoke and dust in the air from the exploding arrow I couldn’t see her. “Lexi, I need you!” I said as I stumbled to my feet. The blade was heavy in my hands, but I did my best to keep it pointed at Razer. At least this way he was focused on me and not Daisy, who was still overcoming the stunning effect of the explosion.

I backed up and hit something warm and hard. Briana swiveled around me, her swords flashing out to either side as she darted at Razer. Her sudden appearance surprised the champion. He slashed at her, but she dropped to her knees, her forward momentum enough to allow her to slide along the floor as she arched her back and missed the crossing blades by less than a hand-span.

Then she was up, plunging both her swords into his side at the same time. Black ichor splashed across her face and she screamed as the blood’s acidic properties blinded her.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I ran right at him, plunging my sword into his chest with all my strength. The magic gem flashed with amber light as it hit, and it sunk right through his armor all the way to the hilt.

I wasn’t certain if that would be enough, so I jerked out the blade and did it again, mimicking what I had seen Briana do earlier.

The second thrust did the trick.

LEVEL UP!

There was no time to enjoy the ding and trumpets. Dismissing the notification, I ran past Briana, who writhed on the ground in agony, and then past Daisy who was finally getting her senses back. “Daisy, heal Brie,” I yelled, pointing behind me. I was terrified that Alissa was hurt too much and there were still two bosses in the room.

I charged through the cloud and found Alissa; she was pinned to the wall, a spear jammed through her thigh hobbled her and kept her from moving.

The king had his own two-handed sword and was attempting to disarm her. Lexi had the queen properly cc’d. The undead woman stumbled around the table and every time she tried to use her bow, the little faerie-dragon would hit her again, blinding her.

Like us, the rest of the room had caught the brunt of her explosive arrow, killing the remaining non-boss mobs.

Despite the pain in my back, I charged in, screaming, as I lifted my blade above my head. I doubted I could actually do anything, but I needed to distract him long enough for Alissa to recover.

It worked, sort of. He turned on me, swinging his heavy blade into mine and knocking the sword from my grip to clatter under the table.

“Alissa, rage!” I said. She had already done it once, but the cooldown was long since up. I imagined, though, the barbarian didn’t like to do it often.

She took a deep breath and let her heritage roll over her like a train. She roared, sending out a wave of berserk energy that forced all eyes on her. The king swiveled in a one-eighty and came right back at her. But now she was enraged.

The spear tore out of her flesh as she charged forward, and if she felt it, she didn’t show it. The two mighty swords clanged together with deafening force. She pushed him back with a grunt, using her solid arms and berserk strength to overwhelm him.

He spun, going with the push and bringing his sword around to the side. The blade bit deep into her taught stomach, wedging itself in her abdomen.

Alissa hardly notice.

She batted the weapon from his hand and brought her own massive sword down on his head, ending him with a blow that finished with her blade striking the floor between his now severed feet.

She didn’t stop there, though. She charged right at the queen. The poor woman turned to the sound of her impending death and fired a normal arrow, which struck the orc in the shoulder, but it wasn’t enough. Alissa swung her blade with all her might, severing the woman's head and sending her fade energy back to the nether.

Then it was over.

Alissa stumbled forward, searching for more enemies to kill. When none presented themselves, her muscles went slack as the anger of her ancestors fled her body and she dropped to her knees. Her sword clanged against the ground as she fell backward.