The four of them had barely a second to react.
Joe tried to lock onto the stairs with his teleportation step but he didn’t have enough time. He dropped like a rock. A beam, which hung for a second, followed Joe down, crushing and pinning his legs into the old wine racks. Azbekt and the beast tumbled down in a heap of fists and claws. They too were buried by timbers. Count Randeau turned his fall into a semi-acrobatic tumble, landing on his side but not impaled or trapped by any of the broken flooring.
Hah’roo stood in the air, with her rope wrapped around one of her feet. The other end of the line was looped around one of the ceiling beams. She flashed a hand sign to Joe asking how badly he was hurt. Joe was about to reply that he was trapped when the pile of beams shifted. Sougath burst out of the rubble and fixed his eyes on the blue-maned ranger. Hah’roo flipped her foot free but the were-beast swung a powerful blow at her before she could scrabble out of reach. Its fist caught her straight in the gut and sent her hurling into the tower’s stone wall. Her head struck first with a sickening crack. For the first time since he had seen her, the dancer fell without grace, landing in a boneless jumble amidst the heap of broken wood.
Sougath tore himself the rest of the way free and dove for the great doors.
Joe let Hah’roo’s fallen body fill his vision and he jumped through space, on his likely broken legs, to arrive by her side.
The werewolf rebounded off the sealed doors, baying with rage.
Joe gathered Hah’roo’s head in his hands and unleashed his [Healing Touch]
You have restored 31.4% of Hah’roo’s lost health. Her current health is at 32.4%. She has severe underlying structural damage.
You have restored 31.4% of Hah’roo’s lost health. Her current health is at 63.8%. She has severe underlying structural damage.
You have restored 8.2% of Hah’roo’s lost health. Her current health is at 72%. She has severe underlying structural damage. The underlying cause of damage is preventing any additional healing of this type.
Joe assessed Hah’roo and saw she had major head trauma. She was stable but he knew he would not be able to wake her without first addressing the fractures in her skull. He wanted to get her out of there but the doors were sealed and the stairs were now occupied. The Count and Sougath were dueling their way upward. Joe could tell the monster hunter was trying to keep the werewolf back but the Night Skinner’s strength and reach were causing the nobleman hunter to steadily lose ground. Already they had reached the missing second floor.
Valloc was injuring the beast with the argent dagger. He was forcing the brute to take wounds for every few steps it gained. The silver wrought slashes didn’t heal instantaneously, like blows Azbekt’s axe had delivered to its legs had. Joe could see damage building up on the beast, but, at the rate they were going, Joe was pretty sure they would reach the roof long before Sougath ran low on health.
Joe tried to land [Deaden Flesh] a couple more times but he still could not get around the creature's magical resistance. The only impact his failed spellcasting was accomplishing was it was slightly distracting to the monstrosity. Valloc managed to get in a deep wound the next time Joe cast his witch spell on the werewolf.
As the pair climbed up the second-floor stair to the roof, Count Randeau made a mistake. So far he had successfully stayed clear of the brutal talons. Sougath swayed backward halfway up the curving flight and the swordsman over-reached. A long-furred arm swatted him into the wall, fouling his footwork. The other clawed hand lashed out and grabbed the arm holding the silver blade. Sougath’s jaws gaped massively as they opened wide around the trapped limb. With a shearing bite, the demon wolf snapped the arm off and dropped the man and limb at his feet.
With a dark twisted laugh at the sky, Sougath crowed to his victory, before spinning about to face Joe.
“Time is almost up,” the beast snarled. “Surely the city guard has been informed and they are on their way. Not that they are likely to have the means to harm me. Still, I am too close to ascension to make the chance worthwhile. But,” the beast let that last word out in a long drawl, “I may have just enough time to start over with you, little healer. We may not need to waste this night after all. Let’s hear how your soul dies.”
Sougath stepped over the fallen noble and began to descend the stairs. Terror poured down the stairway, trying to crush Joe under its weight of dread. Joe knew he was doomed but his [Iron Will] allowed him to keep his mind intact.
You have restored 63.2% of your lost health. Your current health is at 93.5%. You have underlying structural damage. The underlying cause of damage is preventing any additional healing of this type.
“I don’t think so,” Joe tried to bluster back at the monster but his voice sounded hollow even in his own ears. He couldn’t leave Hah’roo, so the best thing he could think to do was to take her with him. He looked up and found the biggest section of floor remaining and prayed it was still somewhat solid. His focus locked in and he and the dancer vanished from in front of the werebeast. Joe rolled her off him and immediately cast his newest spell.
A hostile entity has failed to detect you. You are hidden.
Your skill [Sanctuary] has increased to rank 2.
He could feel the fractures remaining in his legs. He still had most of his medallion’s jump pool but he doubted it would last too much longer. He used it one more time to shoot over to another stable-looking spot away from Hah’roo. Since he did not affect anyone but himself the sanctuary held. He only had seconds before he would have to cast it again.
He needed his legs back.
Joe placed his hand over the breaks and pictured his [Deaden Flesh] spell. Up until now, every time he had used this skill, he had released it like a punch. This time he tried to let it flow out of his hands slowly. He gently trickled the magic into the area around the cracked bones. He could see his femurs were not fully broken, but there were several angry red lines crisscrossing both bones. As soon as the pain faded enough to be bearable, Joe let the rest of the spell dissipate.
As the cloaking spell disolved, Joe levered himself to his feet and reached out with [Helping Hand]. He appeared, yanking his blue quarterstaff from a pile of broken planks, slapping it into his hands to steady himself.
“Looking for me,” he goaded the werewolf, beginning to target his next jump spot, even as he spoke.
“You think to mock ME!” Sougath snarled as it stalked back up the stairs. “I will …”
“MIGHT OF THE RIGHTEOUS!” Azbekt’s voice bellowed from somewhere under the heaped pile of timbers and furnishings.
For the first time since meeting the spiteful bully, Joe was overjoyed to hear the dwarf’s pugnacious deep growl. The paladin surged out of the debris as a mighty giant. He stood almost as tall as the werewolf but he was so broad he took up half the room. He was holding Hah’roo’s cable and he swung it at the Night Skinner. The move lacked all of the dancer's grace, but the strength behind it caused the weighted rope to whip around the wolf-beast’s neck several times. Azbekt yanked and Sougath flew off the stairs, crashing into the ground in front of the enlarged champion. As Azbekt hammered blows into the prone beast, Joe focused and jumped to Valloc’s side.
The site was awash in blood. In Joe’s wound-sight he could see the Count’s life pouring away. He placed his hand on the man’s chest, right over his heart, and started pushing healing as quickly as he could, trying to replace the lifeblood the nobleman was losing.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 46.
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He tossed out his [Helpful Hand] and dragged the severed arm to where he and the Count lay. It was such a mangled mess, he did not know if he could attach it. Having a third hand turned out to be incredibly helpful. He drew the tattered shirt out of the wound and started pinching bits of muscle together with all fifteen fingers. As he worked, his eyes started to automatically tell him what scraps of flesh belonged together.
Your skill [Assess Wounds] has increased to rank 25.
Skill Evolution: The expert use of your assessment skill to examine and diagnose injuries, as well as advancing your [Assess Wounds] to rank 25 has resulted in the opportunity to evolve the skill. You may evolve your [Assess Wounds] skill to [Eye of the Healer].
Joe did not have the time or focus to read exactly what the upgraded spell did. He accepted the evolution and kept working on the man's arm. Suddenly it was easier to know what to do. He found that, in conjunction with [Healing Touch], he could target specific sections of severed skin and muscle, welding them back together much more easily than before. It was as if he was using more healing to fix smaller areas but heals were targeted. He knew this was by no means completely restoring the Count's arm, but he managed to restore sufficient blood flow to get parts of the limb to pink up. He also fused some of the bone so that, if the man was moved carefully, it should all stay together. The whole effort was a patch job, but it was looking like he might be able to repair enough so that the nobleman's arm would stay alive long enough for an experienced healer to complete what Joe started.
Blocking out the dwarven war cries and inhuman howls, Joe kept operating as quickly as he could. Soon he discovered a different problem. As he bound the arm back to the Count’s shoulder, he began to see clinging red corruption wriggling away from the jagged wound. He was pretty sure he had been unable to notice this phenomenon a few seconds ago as well as understand what it meant. He did now. It was the werewolf’s curse of lycanthropy.
Joe fired off [Purge] but it had no effect. [Purge] was for status conditions. This was something physically wrong. Targeting one of the scarlet tendrils, he hit it with [Dispel Rot]. The red taint recoiled from the spell so violently it spurted from the wound like a popped pustule, splatting carmine goop onto Joe’s chest. The thick droplets looked less like blood and more like crimson cottage cheese. Joe was pretty immune to gross bodily fluids but the wriggling wet splat revolted even him.
It took him several more uses of the spell to drive away the last of the saliva-infected blood. By then he had the arm attached as well. It was far from healed but at least it now had a chance that it would heal over time. The Count also had a number of conditions besides his arm, the most debilitating was [Shock]. [Purge] was good for little things but it was not strong enough to clear the major conditions that Count possessed.
“Ware, outlander!” Azbekt shouted from below. “Do not let the fiend escape! Stop him!”
Joe looked up to see Sougath bounding up the stairs at him. He grabbed his staff and stood up on his semi-asleep legs. As he settled into the pose the Count had taught him, he realized what ridiculous impediment he made.
“With what!” Joe shouted back at the dwarf, waggling his staff. “This?”
The Night Skinner tore right through him. Talons ripped into Joe’s stomach, slicing through the padded armor, flesh, and intestines. He was lifted into the air as the beast’s fangs descended. The teeth sheared into his flesh. Joe felt bones break and the burning sear of the creature’s drool filling the jagged wound. Worse the mark on his arm erupted in an almost caustic agony. It was as if Sougath’s Mark of the Moon was attacking the Mark of Death he bore.
The werewolf tossed Joe away. As he fell, Joe saw tattered threads wafting away from his wrist. Hah’roo’s charm had saved him. That left him with a single point of health as he plummeted towards the jagged ruins of the floor two tall stories below.
Fortunately, healing was becoming instinctual.
You have restored 65.4% of your lost health. Your current health is at 66%. You have underlying conditions. The underlying conditions are preventing any additional healing of this type.
Joe’s [Healing Touch] should have healed him over a hundred health but the fractures and the corruption were eating away a third of his lifeforce. Azbekt, whose size had returned to normal, deflected Joe away from the shards of broken wood and onto a safer patch of ground.
The fall has injured you. [Healer's Ward] has reduced this damage by 25%. You have lost 23% of your health.
Your skill [Healer's Ward] has increased to rank 2.
“Pathetic!” spat the paladin, staring at Joe with disgust.
“Fine,” Joe wheezed. “Let’s see you do better.”
Reaching out with his free hand, having somehow retained his grip on his staff, Joe grabbed Azbekt by the ankle and locked his sight onto the top of the steps. In a flash, they were there.
Joe saw Sougath leap off the top of the tower. A second later the dwarf bounded over the edge after him as well.
Joe lay there with his entire body in torment. He had status conditions in his abdomen. His collarbone was broken. He still had leg fractures. By far the worse was the sickening taint in his shoulder and the scorching burn from his mark. He lay a hand on the flesh of his shoulder and cast [Dispel Rot]. Unfortunately, unlike with the Count, Joe’s prior heals had sealed the flesh of his bite wound. The taint was driven away from the magic but unlike Sarsa’s infection, it did not break up. The goopy red tendrils lanced deeper into his body. Joe realized he would have to cut openings in his skin to drive out the corruption. That was an operation that could not take place here in a ruined tower, while Azbekt was out there about to get himself killed.
He and the dwarf were far, far, far from friends but Joe could not let the Night Skinner kill him without trying to help.
Realistically, Joe had no idea what he could do to help. He had at least one good jump left in the [Talisman of the Medic], his health was a disaster, and he had used up his safety-net charm. The [Slow Stone] would last a second or two at best. He doubted his beguilement would fare any better than his [Deaden Flesh] against the werewolf’s resistance to magic. The only thing going for him was Hah’roo’s other charm was replenishing his low mana at an accelerated rate. He had resources but he had no way to hurt Sougath. The only thing that had worked on the creature had been the Count’s dagger.
Joe looked down the stairs and saw the blade laying by the Count’s side. A couple of inches from the hilt of the long silver knife was the monster hunter’s waist covered in belts, blades, and small bags. One bag in particular caught Joe’s eye, the Regent’s Glue.
An idea hit Joe in a flash. It was a terrible idea but he could think of no other way to stop the Night Skinner. Any second now the beast would kill the paladin or escape to continue its terrible quest to become some sort of ascendant god-wolf.
[Helping Hand] grabbed the blade and glue pouch and flew them up the stairs into Joe’s hands. He rubbed a line of glue down the length of the dagger’s handle and held that tightly against the end of his staff. A moment later Joe had a silver-tipped spear. He stood on aching legs and hobbled to the edge of the tower.
On the paths below, the dwarf was battling the beast. At the moment it looked like the demon wolf wanted Azbekt dead but Joe was sure if any guards showed up, the Night Skinner would vanish into the night and they would have lost their chance to stop him.
He knew he did not have the strength or skill to kill the werewolf in battle. He would have one chance; one surprise attack. He noted where the two were and limped back to the center of the tower. Flaring [Efferous Endurance] and [Healing Touch], he pushed back the pain and filled his legs with energy. Joe sprinted for the tower’s lip and leapt out into the night.
He saw the creature take note of his leap into the moonlit sky but, since Joe would land at least a dozen yards away, the brute dismissed him and focused on killing the paladin. Joe pointed the spear downward and hooked his feet on the dagger’s guard for good measure. Sougath would have been right. Joe’s dive was nowhere close to being a danger to him.
Until Joe focused on the spot right over the werewolf’s head just before he hit the ground. Draining the talisman almost completely dry, Joe popped into existence and drove the point of the pole-dagger straight into the Night Skinner’s skull. He had no finesse but he did have the weight of his fit new body and the close to terminal velocity from his fall behind the strike.
The silver weapon ripped through flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter. It tore the beast’s head in two, scattering brains, teeth, and mats of fur in a ten-foot range. The rest of the body was likewise driven to the ground.
You have critically wounded Sougath the Night Skinner.
You have slain Sougath the Night Skinner.
Joe slammed into the earth and bolts of excruciating pain shot through his already damaged legs. He had prepared for this and had been spamming his heals as he fell. At the moment of impact, a pair of [Healing Touches] overlapped. One he cast. The other was thanks to his [Punching-Bag] trait.
You have restored 45% of your lost health. Your current health is at 45%. You have underlying conditions. The underlying conditions are preventing any additional healing of this type.
Joe flopped onto his back on the red-soaked gravel, trying to draw in a decent breath. “Ow!” was all the triumphant hero managed to groan.
A second later his mind exploded in a storm of memories, hungers, and fury.