The three of them crept up the stairs. Glancing into the first two rooms, they saw they were as the Hellions described them. The russet-colored chamber of autumn was spattered with foul-smelling goop, and all the frescoes and the central statue had been hammered into ruin. Summer was equally ravaged.
Your skill [Stealth] has increased to rank 11.
The three furtive prowlers slipped into the wintery chamber. In the dead middle of the floor, the statue of Morrigu was both regal and foreboding, standing taller than Margen. All around the austere lady in black were items of gold, gems, and rare woods. There were musical instruments, goblets, crowns, jewelry, as well as the items Myllo had mentioned. It was one heck of a trove.
The trio silently moved to the back side of the effigy, being extremely careful not to touch any of the bounty lying on the floor at her feet.
“OK. We are in place. What are you going to pick?” Yuk asked.
“No idea yet,” Joe answered, eyeing the unbelievable profusion of wealth lying on the ground before him. “You didn’t use too much of yourself this time,” he asked, referring to the plan Yuk had set in motion. Joe would be the trigger for it.
“Nope. This will be a much more controlled blast. We kinda panicked last time.”
“It saved our asses, so no worries. What do you think of that axe there?” Joe pointed to an odd-looking one-handed axe. The short shaft had a gentle curve at the base of the handle to assist with throwing. The blade edge was ‘S’ shaped with much more on top than on the bottom. It was covered in golden fey etchings, including the image of three connected wolfhound heads. The design looked a bit like a bust of Cerberus, but these canines were more regal than ferocious. The golden hounds were what really caught Joe’s eye.
“Sure looks impressive. Very Feyland looking. Go for it, or pick something else. Quick.”
“I like it. Here goes.”
Joe ported two volcanic nuggets from his bullet bag into his hands and started dual-casting [Grit Razors]. Just as the spell was reaching max damage, he willed his gauntlet to grab the dog-marked hatchet. The moment the blade moved, screaming, rage-filled howls exploded from just outside the room. Clearly, the number of Mournful Thrall had not been too diminished. Dozens of the ponderous, oily monsters charged into the room. They were accompanied by the werejackal ambushers and the carrion-bird canters. Of course, there were plenty of malformed wolf marauders as well.
He popped the weapon into his ring and let the shards fly, spraying the front of the line with obsidian missiles. The empowered stone slivers shredded over half a dozen of the enemies.
A second later, Yuk set off the [Bug Bomb] they had placed just outside the doorway. Even though the explosion was considerably smaller than the one they had used to save Joe in the cavern, it was still deafeningly loud and utterly devastating. A vast swath of the charging, undead horde was blown apart.
Unfortunately, many more of the bearish oozing mummies lumbered over the tattered remains of their brethren. As a group, they turned their hate-filled gazes onto Joe. A score of warnings appeared at the edge of Joe’s vision.
You have resisted the Mournful Thrall’s [Doleful Dominance]. You are not enthralled.
You have resisted the Mournful Thrall’s [Gruesome Terror]. You are not horrified.
You have resisted the Mournful Thrall’s [Cryptic Sedition]. You are not confounded.
You have failed to resist the Mournful Thrall’s [Hope Hammer]. You are stupefied.
Joe staggered from what felt like he had just received multiple punches right in the brain. He slipped to one knee, trying not to fall all the way over. He knew he had to get a [Heart Fire] around Margen, but he couldn’t make his thoughts work clearly enough to do so.
He looked blearily towards the founder standing over him and saw the man had one hand clamped over his right eye, his fingers white as they squeezed into his skull. Joe tried to get his mind to [Exorcise] the stunning effect, but his thoughts seemed to shudder and slip away from his attempts to corral them.
A roar, not one of the feral howls but a human scream of fury, grabbed Joe’s wobbly attention. Margen charged the dead. The living tsunami had returned.
“Get!” the warrior bellowed as DoomHerald bisected a clawed marauder and one of the dripping ursine thralls in a single swing. The undead pair fell into roughly four equal pieces, even as the warlord blew past the falling forms.
“Out!” His huge foot slammed forward, hurling a vulturine mage into a knot of its ghoulish allies who had been trying to make it in through the crowded doorway.
“OF!” Whirling the long blade like a Jedi, the swordsman hacked arms and legs off anything unable to get far enough away from the raging maelstrom of fury.
“MY HEAD!” The curved blade sung through the air, looping and slashing. The seemingly relentless stream of undead enemies might as well have been a line of ants beneath the boot of a mighty colossus.
Joe slapped himself hard across the face, jogging free a brief moment of clarity, enough to purge the daze he was trapped in.
“Fuck!” he swore with a blessedly cleared mind. Joe really hated that word, but there was nothing else that fit this moment. He could see Margen burning himself out. In a few more seconds, he would not be able to bring the man back from the rot that was consuming him.
A voice in Joe’s head had been shouting at him, but the stupid stun condition had turned it into the sound Charlie Brown’s teacher made. Clear-headed, he could understand Yuk once again.
“Joe! We made the mark! CALL THE OTHERS!”
Joe was mostly sure he articulated intelligible words for Myllo, but even if not, the idea must have been conveyed clearly enough. A red line of energy appeared in the air over the ‘M’ Yuk had scratched into the floor. The streak split open, allowing them to see through the gap in space, spotting figures standing under an open sky.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
To Joe’s astonishment, the first entity to emerge from the crimson tear was not a Hellion or Myllo but a colossal bone creature brandishing a weapon in each of its four arms. This fearless titan charged the horde of ghouls, mercilessly hacking into their necrotic flesh with a whirlwind of brutal strikes.
Right behind the bone brawler came Zaebos. The bison-sized hyena had a strange bit of ornamentation. A long white ribbony scarf was tied around his mottled head, flapping down his back. The beast giggled madly as it plowed through a pack of marauders to pounce on a bearish mummy.
Graymuck was right behind his companion. The troll’s [Cannon Shot] blasted more of the dead foes backward. It was clear these forerunners were tasked with opening space for those behind to follow.
Joe swiftly averted his gaze from the gate, his focus locking on the rapidly deteriorating founder. Without a moment's hesitation, a [Healing Wave] and a [Heart Fire] enveloped the man. Joe launched himself across the space between them using his [Talisman of the Medic], appearing at Margen’s back. Not caring what spattered onto him, Joe wrapped his arms as far as he could reach around the massive waist, rapidly cycling through [Exorcise], [Dispel Rot], [Effereous Endurance], and [Healing Touch], desperately trying to stabilize the failing warrior.
The drag of Joe’s body and a flood of energy flowing through the great warrior finally must have broken through his battle-fury. The giant stepped back, allowing a burning, axe-wielding Reven to take his place. Without the rage, the man’s nearly empty stamina caught up with him. Margen managed something between a slump and a fall against the wall before sliding down it.
Joe kept working as buzzing filled the air around him. Yuk’s [Biting Vortex] provided him with both defense and some cover. He tuned out the increasing sounds of battle and kept pouring magic through the dying warrior, but it was a battle he was rapidly losing. The decay ravaged everything it could reach and with the giant almost completely sapped of stamina, that was everywhere.
Joe was only snapped out of his desperate task by a pair of hefty hands clapping loudly in his face. Joe turned to see a shocked Mortalius looking down on them both. The fomori’s mouth was hanging open, and his eyes were practically bugging out of his head.
“Yeah! I know it’s Margen. Help me! I stupidly burned through my mana without activating my recharge ability. I’m almost out.”
The giant nodded, still bearing a goofy look of bewilderment. As the templar laid his huge hands on the man’s chest, the sound of ravens filled the room. Like steam off a pot, ebon whisps began floating out of Margen’s body. The smoke-like tendrils initially clustered around the priest’s fingers but quickly radiated outward. The smell coming off those dark vapors wasn’t quite as bad as the tainted fluids Joe’s [Dispel Rot] produced, but they were pretty foul, all the same.
“Would you get him out of here as soon as you can?” Joe asked, placing his taloned hand on the fomori’s broad shoulder. Mostly, it was in gratitude, but it was also to steady himself. Joe had blown through a ridiculously large chunk of mana very quickly, leaving his head swimming from mana depletion. Without looking up, Mortalius nodded, leaving Joe free to find Myllo, if he was here.
He was.
The guild fighters had swept this room clean and had driven through to the next chamber. Joe followed, entering a jarringly incongruous space dedicated to spring. Light blue walls with pastel highlights seemed utterly inappropriate when the room was filled with a throng of rotting, feral monsters.
Myllo was holding a thick bronze wand that was creating an opaque box around what must be the stairway going upward. Tiny Taylyn was at his feet, fretfully trying to set up a tripod. Joe could see her diminutive fingers trembling so severely she couldn’t get the structure unfolded. The arrival of a [Glorious Gauntlet] caused the little mousling to squeak in surprise, but the force digit held the main bar steady long enough for her to finish tightening everything up. As soon as the stand was erected, Joe winked out the spell, regretting even that small extra mana usage. The guild leader locked the wand in place on the tripod before he practically danced over to Joe and the diminished crawling comrade coating him.
“Margen? You two lunatics found Margen?! Of all the crazy-ass happenstances I’ve seen over the years, this one might just take the cake. I’d keep pattin’ ya on the back if we had time, but we don’t. Are you two ready for Part Two of the plan?”
“I’m low on mana, but I have some potions. Let me down a couple, and I’ll be good to go.”
“Don’t bother with those little things. Here, take this,” the artificer ordered, reaching towards an alchemical baldric far more elaborate than Joe's common [Alchemy Belt]. An ornate bottle filled with glowing blue liquid appeared in his small hand.
Myllo lobbed the high-grade mana elixir to Joe. Even just holding the flask eased his mana-headache. When he tipped the contents down his throat, the fluid crackled through his body, saturating every part of him with a roar of power. It was like starting a muscle car and actually being the mighty revving engine.
“Woah!” Joe blurted as his mana pool shot back to full.
“Yeah. That’s the good stuff,” the strategist chuckled. “Alright, next. Take this and tie it around your forehead.”
Myllo was holding the long white silken scarf Zaebos had been wearing. Joe looked at it, but he did not have his [Assess Item] ring on. He only had four ring slots, which were taken up by his mending and cleaning ring, his spatial [Band of the Wary Traveler], his [Ring of Range], and the [Quick-Change Band].
Myllo, seeing the confusion on Joe’s face, made a small gesture, causing a window to open for him.
Item [Sash of Sacred Sanctuary] (Back/Head/Torso/Waist - Epic): This item improves your resistance levels by one category. The type of resistances that are enhanced depends on which body slot the item is placed in. If the item is worn draped down your back, your Magical Resistances are enhanced. If the item is worn around your head, your Mental Resistances are enhanced. On your torso, your Physical Damage Resistances are enhanced. Around your waist, your Physical Condition Resistances are enhanced.
This item cannot be worn by beings with any of the following natures: Baleful, Desecrated, Fiendish, or Unhallowed.
“With that on your noggin, you will have superior resistance to charm, fear, and confusion effects. That’s one step shy of immunity. Your stun resist jumps to moderate, which ain’t bad but not stellar. So, these are for you, Yuk.” In the short man’s hand was a cluster of pearls. A pile of Yuk gathered together on Joe’e arm, accepting the small globes. “Those are [Beads of Dispelling]. If Joe gets stunned or some other control spell gets in his way. Get rid of it.”
“Gooooottttttt iiiiiiitttttt,” the chorus of bugs articulated with their wobbling voice.
“Last and by no means least, this goes around your neck.” The item looked like a crystalline collar. Joe took it and realized he could see through it. It was fabricated entirely from force magic.
Seeing Myllo’s impatient expression, he clipped the choker around his throat. As he did so, he noticed the fight around them was winding down. The troll was trotting toward them, bearing the [Hide of Hunter] in his three-fingered grip. There was no sign of Mortalius and Margen. They must have been evacuated already. Broon was leading his bony giant out through the portal with Reven right behind them.
“You know you still haven’t explained what the heck it is we are doing, Myllo,” Joe stated, giving the archer a thankful nod as he donned the pelt.
“I’m getting there.”
“T’was my idear,” twanged the smug-sounding hunter. “Can’t wait ta see yer face.”
“Don’t help, Muck,” Myllo huffed. “OK. The plan is simple. In a few seconds, I’m going to allow you and two passengers to pass through that barricade. You are to charge across the room above. Vexor is sure that there is a spatial field, meaning it’s going to be much bigger than the actual top of the ziggurat. When you get close enough, you unload and smack that collar,” Myllo stated, miming a punch to his throat. “Vex hung a teleportation spell in there, just waiting for you to trigger it.”
“Why are you being so cagey?” Joe asked, scowling at the short team-leader. “Two passengers? Yuk and … ?”
“Me.” piped a tiny voice. Joe looked down to see the trembling little mousling by his foot. Joe's heart immediately went out to the minuscule murine guilder. Taylyn’s all-black eyes were wide with fear, and her two-foot frame was quivering continuously.
Joe looked up to ask why they wanted him to further traumatize this terrified little lady, but his words were lost when his gaze fell on the huge, tusky grin plastered over the trollkin’s face.
“Dis is gonna be EPIC!” the archer hooted.