Joe could not believe he had won. He let out a huge sigh. A bubble of laughter rose through him but he was so battered and exhausted it gurgled out before it escaped him. He pulled himself to his feet to see a pair of floating orbs glowing beside where he stood. It seemed like it had been quite a while since he had last seen reward orbs. Besides the promise of loot, Joe felt a sense of relief. Their appearance meant the battle was truly over.
Joe opened the first one.
For having defeated an epic-level creature, Sougath the Night Skinner, you have received the following:
1,425 gold pieces.
Item [Lavalier of Talons] (Neck - Epic): When activated, a storm of slashing spectral claws surrounds you. All creatures in close range from you take damage based on your Spirit for 5 seconds. The effect can be dismissed at will. Cost: Moderate Mana
Item [Dreadstalker Leggings] (Legs - Rare): Moderate defense. +2 to Strength. +10 to [Stealth] skills. +10% to non-aquatic movement speeds.
Item [Feral Armor Kit] (Rare - Consumable): Apply this Armor Kit to a piece of armor, causing it to permanently gain a Moderate boost to Defense and Moderate Damage Resistance against one damage category of your choice: Physical, Elemental, or Spiritual. One use.
The items flew to Joe. The necklace of claws and the armor kit went into his satchel, the pants draped over his arm. He turned to the next orb.
You have successfully completed [Moonlit Massacres]
You have gained 6,000 experience points.
4,500 gold pieces.
Item [Writ of Innocence] (Epic: Soulbound): By your actions, you have proven yourself to be innocent of the charges of being incompatible with societal order. Your previous actions are absolved of any further censures.
Item [Hide of the Hunter] (Rare): You have received the hide of the lycanthropic Night Skinner. This trophy has the following properties: Soulbound, Self-Repair (Major), Damage Resistance (Major), Vulnerability to Silver (Major), Morphic (Can grow and shrink in size from 1x1 to 15x15 feet. Can alter its shape into forms ranging from a simple wall-hanging to complex clothing.) Predators Instincts (The hide retains its original hunger. Anything placed within its jaws will cause them to bite down. If the object fits entirely within the mouth, it will be consumed, temporarily animating the hide. The duration, power, and control over the animation are determined by the value of the item consumed.)
You have reached level 14. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point as well as a trait and skill. The trait and skill are determined by the class you are advancing. Please select either your Primary class (Healer) or your Secondary class (Fell Bane Hunter).
Joe was too horrified by the mass of fur and flesh to even think about his level choice. He gingerly touched the shaggy bundle and willed it to shrink as small as it could get, before stuffing it into his bag. A shiver ran across his skin. He had seen plenty of animal trophies before but to have the skin of a creature he had just been talking to, even one as evil as Sougath, was seriously creepy. The thing still had the head attached to it too.
He’d deal with the hide and his level choices later. Right now he had to get himself, Hah’roo, and the Count to the healers.
Conditions: Corruption {Greater Lycanthropy, incubation 37 minutes}, Impaired {55%}, Structural damage {Torso, R.Soulder, R.Leg, L.Leg}
Joe looked at the pants he was carrying. They would be worth taking a few seconds to put on. Increased movement and strength were exactly what he needed.
He sat down on the bench and removed a boot only to be greeted by black claws sticking out of his socks. He pulled off the tattered garment, revealing a foot hairy enough to make a hobbit happy, tipped by five long sharp taloned toes.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Joe held up the shaggy foot and looked at it in the moonlight, twisting it back and forth. His disbelieving revelry was interrupted by a furiously deep bellow.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Azbekt roared.
Joe spun about, to see the paladin standing a couple dozen yards away, staring at him with disgust and hatred. Clearly, the champion had paid dearly in his solo battle with Sougath. There were torn rends in his armor that were letting small streams of blood run down the outside of the plates. His face has been slashed to the point one eye was either glued closed or worse missing. His beard was caked in blood as well. He must have been going to retrieve his axe which was lying a few feet away from where the dwarf swayed on unsteady feet.
Joe wanted to explain that the hairy hands and feet were not as bad as they looked. Also that Sougath was dead and so was his ghost. But one look at the paladin’s face told him it wasn't worth the effort. There would be no support or compromise or mercy coming from the fanatic. Joe was now visibility corrupted, proof that the Phealtian had been right all along.
Azbekt, keeping his eyes locked on Joe, stepped back. He reached down to retrieve his axe.
Normally Joe would have tried to reason his way through a misunderstanding like this, but after everything he had been through that night, he was just too mentally exhausted.
Also, this was Azbekt. Writ or not writ, Joe did not trust the zealot to restrain himself.
Joe took the moment of the dwarf’s preoccupation and turned and ran for the tower. It was a little awkward with one boot on and one off but he let [Morphic Form] help him find a good balance.
Behind him, he heard the paladin scream at him to stop.
‘Yeah, right.’
That was one thing Joe had no intention of doing so. While he had gained a fair number of new strengths and abilities, he knew that he still was nowhere near Azbekt’s weight class in a fight, even considering the shape the dwarf was in.
He also unexpectedly found a complete and utter joy in running. His legs dashed across the paths effortlessly. Joe had never moved this quickly or surely in his life before.
Your skill [Hunter’s Pursuit] has increased to rank 6.
When he reached the tower, he jumped up onto the wall. His claws easily found cracks between the stones. He wished he had unbooted the other food as his toe claws were a huge help as well. In seconds, he had reached an upper vine-covered window. With a small swipe of his talons, Joe slashed a hole allowing him to look to where Hah’roo lay. His run to the tower had filled his talisman enough for the short jump. He vanished from the side of the tower and landed by the ranger’s side.
Hah’roo was still unconscious. As he checked her vitals, he could hear Azbekt hacking away at the big double doors.
Looking at her conditions, Joe saw the worrying indicators of head trauma. Her injuries might just be within his ability to heal now thanks to [Eyes of the Healer] but this was a head injury. Joe was nervous about working on her skull and brain. He could make it worse because he did not really know what he was doing.
He spun his arm to look at the mark on his arm. It had changed his skills already tonight. Maybe it could do so again. Maybe it could turn his simple [Healing Touch] into some greater curative enchantment. Joe drove his Spirit into the Thirteen Mark, trying to activate it but nothing happened. It felt completely inert.
As Joe thought about it he realized something was missing. The whole time he had been facing Sougath, he had been aware of the mark on his arm. It had given off sensations. Now it just felt like a mundane tattoo again. There was no sense of weight or warmth or chill emanating from it. He had chosen the path of Transformation which allowed him to retain the mark, but it seemed fairly obvious that he was not going to be able to call on it at will.
Joe’s attention was yanked off the mark as the blade of Azbekt’s heavy axe smashed into the door again, causing one of the boards to crack. He did not have much time left. His choices seemed to be between trying to reason with the zealot or leaving Hah’roo and Count Randeau behind. He had not had a chance to fully check on Valloc but with his wound-sight told him the man was still alive. The aura was faint, meaning he too was in dire need of a strong healing. Joe felt more confident about the Count's arm than Hah’roo’s head but both would take time and that was one thing he had very little of. Between the insane axe-man hacking through the door and the curse boiling in his veins, Joe was racing the clock.
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Joe gently laid Hah’roo’s head back on the ground and moved to the center of the room. He would just have to get Azbekt to listen long enough to explain the plight of their fallen allies. ‘He had to allow him to help Valloc and Hah’roo, right? Honor and all that.’
“You really cannot be that naive, my good man. He will cut you down before you finish the word ‘Wait’.”
Joe spun towards the familiar voice, trying to wrap his mind around its presence.
“Jink? What are you doing here? You followed us? You could have ruined everything,” Joe gawped.
The stylish rogue was sitting on the second-floor landing, dangling his feet over the open area where the floor had once been.
“So many questions and statements to respond to all at once.” He flicked his gaze to the door. “Hmm. We will have to be quick about them. The Phealtian will be through that door in a few more minutes. I am here because I am supposed to be here. Go ahead, check your party slate.”
Confused, Joe did just that.
Joseph (Joe) Morris, Quest Holder, Health 45%
Count Valloc Randeau, Champion of Glauri, Health 64%
Azbekt VanderAxe, Champion of Pheatli, Health 18%
Hahroo, Champion of Ohur, Health 67%
Then suddenly another line appeared.
Ginnkellaselos (Jink) es’Rueothilalliean, Champion of Jurris, Health 96%
“Ta-da!” the elf said, popping to his feet and executing a sweeping, outlandish bow. “Now, how about we finish this conversation elsewhere? He is most assuredly going kill you on sight,” Jink stated nodding his head at the cracking door. “Such was the vow he made.”
“Wait? What?”
Jink’s voice dropped into a perfect impression of Azbekt’s deep growl. “I swear to the Lord of Order, I will rend you and your whole sickening line from this land.” His voice flipped back to his normal lilting tones. “That means you, my now savage-looking friend. You have obviously picked up something from the late and unlamented Night Skinner but it also means that Azbekt will consider you an even greater abomination than he already did. His oath to destroy you to Phealti himself is just the final nail in the coffin. It is not something you can argue with. We really should go now.”
“Who are you talking to, demon?” Another chunk of the door gave way beneath Azbekt’s weapon. “Neither the Count nor the tracker can save you anymore, fiend.”
Jink gave Joe a knowing look of ‘I told you so’ and pointed up the stairs, mouthing the word ‘Go’.
Joe shook his head and yanked off his other boot and sock before dropping his trousers.
“I’m not sure what you have in mind but I doubt your near nudity is going to stay his blade.”
“Zip it Jink. I need these buffs.” Hopping, Joe pulled on the heavy leather leggings. As soon as he had them clasped he carefully bent down and picked up Hah’roo. She felt like she weighed almost nothing thanks to his increase in Strength. With a newfound surefootedness, Joe dashed up the stairs. His bare feet somehow felt more natural to him than his boots had.
“And what do you plan to do with your patients?” Jink whispered as Joe reached him. “Would they not better be left for now? We can send help for them once we have escaped the furious rampage of the Golden Edict.”
“I can’t leave them. They are both barely stable. We need to get them to a real doctor.”
“Oh for goodness sake. You really do not do anything the easy way,” Jink scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Still, I must admit, the hard way is often a great deal more fun. Very well. I will keep the burly bruiser busy. You get them out of here. I will meet you by the southern edge of the temple grounds.”
Jink pulled a wand from his coat pocket and pointed around the upper half of the second-floor walls. Colors gathered at the tip of the wand. A second later, the swirl of hues leapt into the air. The effect spread quickly, seeming to fold open in the air.
Joe was looking up the stairs and saw Count Valloc vanish from sight. Unsure what was happening, he kept walking. Two steps further, his head passed through the magic Jink had cast. Joe could now see the Count again but he could not see below his own waist. Jink had spread an illusion of the room so that anyone above or below could not see what was happening on the other side of the field. Joe quickly finished crossing through the screen before Azbekt saw his disappearing feet.
He thought it was not a moment too soon. He could hear the door cracking open down below.
“Where are you, monster!” the dwarf shouted. “I can feel your twisted evil in the air. You cannot hide yourself from the righteous purity of Phealti’s might.”
Joe heard his own voice coming from under the screen. “Here I am.” His voice had a strange sort of echoing sound to it. “Over here, Azbekt.”
“Stop playing games, wretch. Face me!”
“No.” the not-Joe answered. “Over here.”
“It will not matter what trap you intend to pull, scum. Your kind cannot best one steeped in Order’s holy virtue.”
Joe could hear crashing coming through the screen. Azbekt must be smashing apart any hiding spot Jink was projecting his voice from. Jink himself must be hidden somewhere as well. Joe realized that he would have to be careful how far he went from the tower. The trip up the stairs might have given him enough distance to jump down with one of the wounded, but then he would need to run to refill the Talisman before he could do it again. He would have to stay close to the tower so Azbekt did not sense that he had left.
Joe started with Hah’roo as she was lighter. Gathering her into his arms, he crept up to the edge of the tower.
Your skill [Stealth] has increased to rank 4.
Looking down he tried to lock on to the ground below but his eye just would not focus. He leaned out and dragged his gaze up the wall. About seven feet up from the ground his eye fixed on a block in the side of the tower. Joe debated walking around on the roof to get the extra fourteen feet he needed carrying Hah’roo, but he did not want to chance Azbekt hearing him. His stealth still was not very good yet.
Maybe with his new class and attributes he could make the wall jump, he thought. He focused on the block and willed himself to move. As soon as he appeared, his feet angled against the vertical stone, he pushed off the wall and landed on the grass below. Hah’roo overbalanced him a bit and Joe took several skipping sideways steps. Just before his foot would have crunched onto the gravel, he recovered his balance. With a relieved sigh, Joe placed the rope-dancer on the ground.
Looking up he guessed the tower was about forty feet tall and roughly the same distance wide. Since a circumference is 3.14 times the diameter, one trip around the structure would allow him to jump up by himself, then with the count, jump back down. Quickly and quietly Joe loped twice around the tower for good measure before teleporting himself to the top.
The sounds from below were becoming more and more furious. Jink must have been seriously tormenting Azbekt. Joe had to admit, he did not feel even the slightest bit bad about it. Azbekt was an unreasonable bully. It was rather enjoyable to hear him losing his shit below the illusion. Joe started to pick up Count Randeau when he heard Azbekt scream in unrelenting fury.
“ENOUGH GAMES, YOU VILE FILTH! REMAIN HIDDEN! IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU! I CALL ON THE [SPEAR OF HEAVEN]!”
Joe looked up to see a crack form in the night sky directly over the tower. Out of the fissure, a beam of burning bright radiance rocketed downward. Joe had no idea what that dreadful bright ray was going to do, but he knew he did not want to be there to find out. Even before he had a very good hold on the Count, Joe locked his eyes on the ground next to Hah’roo. Typically, it took him a second to make contact but his improved Perception seemed to shave that time in half. Joe vanished in the same instant the radiant torrent slammed through the tower.
Joe ended up tripping over Randeu’s limp form as he landed. Luckily they were on the grass between the paths, so neither of them took any real damage.
Joe could hear Azbekt howl of maniacal laughter from within the tower. The blinding beam sent pulse after pulse downward, filling the old structure with searing brilliance. Clearly, the spell was not harming the paladin, given the dwarfs' cries of ardent exultation.
He hoped that Jink was not still in there with the zealous lunatic.
While the paladin was unscathed by the effects of the powerful prayer, the tower did not have the same protection. Cracks opened in the walls. The building swayed and the vines, which had likely been supporting the old walls, burned away. The whole structure started to tremble momentarily before it split and tumbled inward. Huge sections of rock crushed down onto those left inside.
Joe stood stunned as the deafening sound of falling stones filled the air, along with a cloud of grit and dust. He watched horrified as the entire structure collapsed in on itself.
Joe ran to the rubble. He could just make out the paladin’s form under a large slab of stone topped by a dozen or more other heavy blocks. If it were not for his [Night Eyes], he never would have been able to spot the dwarf in the grit and shadows. Joe could not get close enough, but thankfully he did not have to anymore.
Your spell [Healing Wave] has been resisted.
Joe stopped, stunned. He couldn't believe even Azbekt could be that spitefully fervent.
“Do not touch me with your filthy corruption,” the champion growled in a trembling strained voice. “Phealti will see to me and He shall see me pure.”
“Azbekt, don’t be an idiot. Let me help…”
Another stack of rocks tumbled down, half of it landing on the pile the dwarf was struggling beneath. The paladin roared defiantly but the mass of stone was too much for him. With a sickening sound, the rocks crushed downward.
A single window caught the corner of Joe's eye.
Your party member Azbekt VanderAxe has died.
He would have been happy to never see the vicious bigot again but he certainly did not want to see him killed. Precious seconds slipped away as Joe tried to make sense of the paladin’s pointless death.