— CHAPTER FIFTEEN —
The Execution
|Ace>
"Here they come folks, walking up the motte now: the heroes of the hour, the slayers of Oxtongue! Fourteen brave souls, marching fearlessly into the beast's lair!"
The raid trooped up North Boulevard, past the last of the buildings and up the side of the Citadel's motte, where the bricks faded to a dirt path as it led into the Citadel's courtyard.
The courtyard almost felt like it was inside - the walls closed the space in on three sides, stretching so high up that I had to lean backward to see the top. They blotted out the early morning light, putting us in murky shadows. Balconies, galleries, and murder holes dotted the cyclopean, dark-red bricks of the curtain wall. The back wall was dominated by a colossal wooden gate - double doors at least a hundred feet tall made of... I'd say the entire redwood tree. I'd hate to be the guy that had to open it. That's probably what the minotaur was for.
Oxtongue the Grassinator. It's name hovered above it its head, red letters burning against the dark. The thing was a hulking brute, ten feet tall with the upper body of Atlas and the lower body of Atlas covered in coarse brown fur. A wild mane coated its brawny shoulders and ran up its thick neck to the head of a bull. Two wickedly sharp horns, each as long as a sword, stuck forward in front of its face. When its eyes snapped open, they blazed like twin suns, pulsing with a malevolent yellow light and an angry fire. Steam jetted from its flaring nostrils as it pawed the ground, gouging deep furrows in the dirt.
The raid lined up across from it, at the crook where the motte leveled out and entered the courtyard.
Cherry and I hurried over to them. I started up the cassette recorder and asked, "Alright, how's everyone feeling today?!"
Cherry ran out in front of them, opening her menu to snap a photo of the group.
Razzmatazz, one of the group's archers, cheered, "I'm feelin' good!"
I held out the microphone and offered it to any of them. "Any comments for the paper?"
Siegfried, one of the group's stalwart leaders, stepped up, his armor shining in the morning light as he took the microphone and paced in front of the assembled adventurers.
"The players - no, the people - are afraid of the game. We are here to show them that victory is possible. This is not a complicated fight. This game is not a death sentence. Freedom, victory, whatever goal you're after - it's right in front of us. We need only to seize it. Stick to the plan, stay calm, and this will go smooth."
"Hooah!" Razz shouted.
The group fell silent, every eye fixed on the boss glaring them down.
"C'mon guys, all together now! Hooah!"
"Yeah!" Cherry pumped her fist. "Hooah!"
At the end of the line, a nervous girl - Davi - lifted a trembling fist. "Hoo- hooah."
"On three!" Siegfried called. "One, two, three-"
"HOOAH!" The unified cheer shattered the hush. Nervous energy transmuted into eager shouts and laughter.
Schumacher, one of the Guard's own, brandished his lance, the steel tip flashing. "Let us take the fight to the enemy!"
The Grassinator loosed a rumbling snort, pawing the earth, its yellow eyes aflame. Killing intent saturated the air, pressing against us like a physical force. But no one wavered.
Rose strode forward, entering the looming shade. Her boots crunched on the gravel running between the rows of hedges and stone pillars that lined the road. "Everyone, to positions! Adds start west side! Filius, pull it to the west door, then work east. Hold your attacks until it's in position! Healers, one of you keep an eye on the ranged group once adds spawn!"
The team scattered into formation, fanning out across the west side of the yard.
"We've got tomorrow's headline all lined up!" I shouted, "Grassinator: Grassinated!"
"That cow's ass is grass!" Cherry whooped.
"This is humanity's declaration of war against those glorified calculators!"
We backed off the field, out on the slope of the motte - well out of the arena's perimeter. Cherry took the cassette recorder. We were the only ones up there watching them. The Guard didn't advertise when the kill attempts would happen - they didn't want people to see the failures, if they happened, but they wanted the success to be publicized as widely as possible. So naturally, Reggie sent his best reporters.
Cherry checked the timer. "30 minutes of tape left."
"They said this wouldn't take more than 15, so we're gravy." I opened my menu, getting ready to take pictures. "You want to try that sub place afterward?"
"Ugh, pass. I'm not taking a recommendation from Courtney."
"It's not like she gets a commission on their sales or anything. Oh, here we go: the first blow!"
Oxtongue snorted and stamped, seemingly oblivious to the players readying themselves beside it. Filius crept up from behind, tower shield in one hand, longsword in the other. He drove his blade into the back of the beast's leg.
The minotaur spun around with shocking speed, its bellow reverberating off the walls, distorting into a pained, monstrous screech. It smashed a giant fist into Filius' shield, staggering him back. Filius dropped into a defensive stance, putting his back to the gate and edging along it.
Oxtongue pawed the ground, priming to charge, but held back. Instead it took a thunderous step forward, rearing up and hammering down with both fists. Filius sidestepped, the blow pulverizing the earth where he'd stood. He kept inching toward where the rest of the group was waiting with their weapons ready.
"Ooh, nice moves!" Cherry hollered.
A blaze of lightning seared the walls, striking a balcony high above us. As the afterimages faded, a figure was standing there, midnight armor staining the darkness with a deeper void. The Black Knight had arrived. I quickly zoomed in and got a picture of him.
"Archers, to the walls!" its hollow, clanging voice called out. "Defend the gate!"
About two stories above the ground on the west side, a quartet of bowmen ran out into a gallery, nocking arrows tipped with ceramic bulbs with fuses burning on them. They drew back, aiming high. But before they could loose, a bolt struck one of the bulbs. The firebomb shattered, detonating on the archer's bow in a blossom of flames and tar. The fire washed over the mob, dripping to the ground and pooling around their feet. It took a steady and heavy stream of damage, but it let itself burn and drew another arrow to take aim again.
The ranged specialists were spread across the field below them, three with bows drawn and one mad lad with a freshly-fired crossbow.
Cherry said, "Ooh, remind me to ask where we can get one of those!"
"Don't just react; commentate! We're recording!"
|A> In the first volley, one of our heroes has hit the flammable vial out of the enemy archer's hands! The enemy is now taking constant damage from its own attack! An excellent shot from... Percival is the shooter! He's throwing fireballs now. A hybrid weapon user? Ask for his commentary on that one later.
|A> Looks like he's taking aim again. Hold your applause... and no visible effect! |A> That wraps up the first wave of adds - a clean showing; looks like they've only taken a few steps along the gate. |A> The archers are repositioning to the other side of the field with a quick volley on the boss. *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> And no time to rest! |A> We'll check later. What in the-. Woah! Percival took a shot with the crossbow, tossed it to another of the archers - Razzmatazz that is - and they immediately fired a second shot! No hits on the arrows, but that's some teamwork! |A> Looks like they're repositioning for the next add wave. How's the - oh, that's not good. Some bad fire volleys on the melee there; they're losing ground on the wall. The boss is coming up on the 80% health mark. How's the healers' mana looking, Cher? |A> Do you have the binoculars? *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> There's Percival's shot! |A> To Razzmatazz! |A> And Lucia! |A> Oh, a beat too late passing it to Sebastopol! Two for four, and that makes three of the add spawns locations on the west side doused in flame. That'll make their work easier. |A> Projectile speed, maybe? They're aiming with a much flatter trajectory with it. |A> The ranged group's got a bit of time for the boss! |A> If you're going to say something that will jinx this, don't. *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> Oh no! They're not in position yet! Taking some time to hit the boss slowed them down! That's the side that doesn't have any fire on it yet, either. |A> There, happy? Now, how's the melee side doing? |A> You're absolutely right. Slightly behind schedule on the adds, but if they can get some fire down on the east side, they'll kill all future waves faster. The ranged are clustering up to pass the crossbow - all eyes on that empty spot on the west side. Hold your applause...! *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> There's the callout from the Knight! And they hit it! I don't know whose shot that was, but that's the entire west-side gallery in flames! |A> While the archers were bunched up, one of the other firebombers landed a shot on all four of them! They're running for the healers, but that's time they aren't shooting the adds! This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. |A> Alright, I have found the binoculars, and I'm getting a read on the healers' mana. Flora is looking great, Davi just a little lower than her. Leonard is struggling, I'd say 40% earth mana left - that's the main type for the healing spells we've got so far. |A> Well, not counting for the soft enrage. |A> One sec; next wave coming up. They're in position - ready to handle it. *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> ... That's a fine result - they got one of the archer positions in flames. The rest are going down quick. So, enrages. A hard enrage is an instant game over - you're done. A soft enrage is a manageable difficulty increase - a way to tighten the screws to weed out the weak. These fire pools could be considered a soft enrage - they shrink the usable field and make it harder to navigate. But what the prep documents are calling a soft enrage is a flat damage increase starting on 35% health. That'll put more pressure on the healers, so Leonard will be running through his mana faster. |A> Let's see - that's 36%, and... here we go! *Ox* [Furious roar] |A> Healers are repositioning - it looks like they're putting Flora on dedicated tank duty, and Leonard is moving out to top-up the ranged. They're quick on their feet, so that'll be an easier job for him. But that leaves the entire rest of the group to Davi alone. *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> And the ranged group holds it down! We are under 30% health left! |A> Don't jinx this, Cherry! Leo's mana is ticking down; it's going to get worse before it gets better! |A> I don't think you can anti-jinx something, Cher. Here's 25%! Adds coming up on the east side! *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> Looks like the archers are shooting faster. They're almost out of gate space, so they'll have to maneuver around the bump of the doorframe and start kiting along the wall. Plenty of room left, though; it's not going to be a space issue. |A> Adds are down and Oxtongue's health has reached the teens. It is lower than our ages! |A> We just have to live with the knowledge that, for most people, the actual amount of our lives that's over is greater than that number. |A> Another west-side add wave down and the ranged are repositioning. We're coming in on the single digits! Here's the countdown! |A> They're switching around the frame of the gate! *BK* Archers to the walls! Defend the gate! |A> Another clean hit on the firebombs! Ei- woah! What just happened there?! Oxtongue has moved away from the gate! I see blue dust - who's missing?! |A> We have a casualty! I see both tanks - who was that?! -Fritz- It was me. Or- or at least it felt that way. While we were angling Oxtongue around the lip of the gate's frame, we got tangled up. Coupled with the excitement of the home stretch, we - all the melee - didn't pull back fast enough when the next wave of adds spawned. Everyone got one last parting shot in before scattering across the yard to dodge the firebombs. With the threat reset, that was enough to pull aggro onto us. But it couldn't have been me - at least, not at the top of the threat table. Because Oxtongue swiveled to face us, scraped its hoof through the dirt, and leaned forward, almost dropping to all fours as it charged straight at - James! Guy didn't even see it coming; he was too busy checking if the archers had him targeted. Oxtongue plowed right through him, exploding him into a swirling cloud of glowing dust. The minotaur skidded to a stop in the center of the courtyard, then spun around and prepared another charge. Geez; where's the cooldown?! It barreled toward the gate again, smashing into Filius. It's horns punched clear through his shield and gored his chest. But he was alive - for a second. A firebomb landed at his feet, setting him on fire at already critical health. Schumacher grabbed Filius and tossed him onto the grass, shouting, "Pray, get behind me, friend! This uncouth beast's underhanded tricks will avail it no further!" "Leo!" Rose shouted, "Heal Filius!" "I'm fresh out and my potion's got 10 more seconds on cooldown!" Leo yelled back. Flora called, "Davi, get Filius!" Davi's head was swiveling rapidly as she rapid launched spells, struggling to keep track of everyone in the haze of dust and embers. "What about everyone else?!" "Just until the DoT's gone; I can barely handle Schumacher!" Tears streamed down Flora's face as she grit her teeth, visibly struggling to contain her rising panic. Both Filius and Schumacher's health bars staggered lower, barely bobbing above water. The adds continued pelting the melee with firebombs, but they had yet to come back in to finish the boss. And Rose... stood there, transfixed watching Filius' health bar. It was Siegfried that shouted, "Retreat! Every-!" Mid-sentence, a firebomb nailed him square in the face. Flora let out a shrill, choked squeal. Oxtongue charged into the field, putting distance between itself and Schumacher, who was now slumped against the wall with a gaping hole in his gut, his body starting to glow. Another whirlwind of dust scattered as the boss trampled someone else. I couldn't tell who. The air was thick with motes of fairy dust mingling with the smoke and haze of the heat. Rose snapped out of her stupor and grabbed Filius, dragging him toward the open end of the yard. "Everyone get out! It won't go past the boundary!" It's health was at 6%. Six! We can't fail at six! A crossbow bolt whizzed across the battlefield and sank into the minotaur's eye with a meaty thunk. Percival stepped onto the road, aiming down sights with an orb of fire hovering over his shoulder. "Hell no! Kill that fleabag!" The fireball flew forward and hit the boss, followed by a hail of arrows from the side yard. Make that 5%. Tightening my grip on my spear, I charged straight at it. But before I could close the gap, it dropped to all fours and barreled toward Percival like a freight train. The kid shoved the crossbow in his belt and pulled a greataxe out of another pouch. Holding it behind himself, he primed a leap, then jumped clear over Oxtongue. He landed beside me, spraying dirt and pebbles. I couldn't help but grin. "Clean move!" He had a broad smile and that cold look in his eyes as he shove the axe into his belt. "Then you're gonna hate how dirty this next one is!" Oxtongue skidded to a halt, spun around, and came charging right back at us, churning up the ground. I slammed the butt of my spear against the ground to ready the pierce ability. If I could time it right, I could pin it to the ground before it hit him! I stepped forward to intercept- "No!" Percy shouted. "On my mark!" I didn't have any time to hesitate, so I trusted him. I stepped aside. Another volley of arrows pincushioned Oxtongue's side as it closed in - 30 feet, 20, 10! At the last possible second, Percy dove aside, barely falling out of the way of the boss' hooves. It thundered between us, so close I felt the wind in its wake. Percy rolled into a crouch. "Now!" Just as it slowed down, I lunged forward and drove my spear clean through Oxtongue's leg and into the ground. Percy dashed in, leapt up, and grabbed fistfuls of the shaggy hair on its neck. He pulled himself up to grab it in a choke hold. Reaching back to his belt, he whipped out the silver dagger and jammed it into the beast's throat, wiggling it madly. Oxtongue bucked and spun, trying to shake him off, but with its leg pinned, it could barely move. Our archers unloaded into the boss, aiming low to avoid Percival as he waved around like a flag. Its health steadily chunked down under the barrage. 3% left! But Percy wasn't wearing white - it wasn't going down that easy! With an angry, bellowing roar that echoed off the walls to shake the courtyard, it reared up and wrenched its leg forward. My spear snapped like a toothpick. Percy went flying across the battlefield and crashed down in the middle of the inferno of fire near the gate. I stumbled back, tossing aside the broken shaft of my spear and thinking through my belt pouches. I couldn't respawn the lance for about a minute. If only I kept as many weapons ready as Percy. Looks like it was time to go old school. Balling my hands into fists, I charged at Oxtongue, swinging a haymaker straight into its chest. A crack of pain shot up my arm as my knuckles collided with rock-hard muscle. The thing's abs were as hard as iron! Oxtongue snorted disdainfully. With an almost casual swipe, it backhanded me. The blow sent me flying into one of the pillars lining the road. The column exploded into little bits, and I collapsed to the ground, stars flashing across my vision. Through the daze, I saw Oxtongue turn toward the archers and charge - at Razz in the middle of them. Sebas and Lucy stepped calmly to either side, continuing to fire as Razz stood his ground. He threw his bow down and planted his feet in a wide stance. "Toro, ya animal!" Oxtongue crashed into Razz with the force of a wrecking ball. His health plummeted, and a twelve-foot long rut was cut in the dirt as he skidded backward, but he held on. He had grabbed the minotaur by the horns, straining with all his effort to hold them back from impaling him. Unfortunately, that wasn't Oxtongue's only attack. Still driving forward, it brought one boulder-sized fist up in a devastating uppercut that caught Razz under the chin. His head snapped back and his health winked out. Razz scattered into dust as Oxtongue trampled through his remains. The boss stood up to its full height as its yellow eyes found its next target - Lucy. Her eyes narrowed as she fired another arrow, then bent her knees to dive to the side. Oxtongue pawed at the ground. *THWACK!* A crossbow bolt sprouted from the monster's eye. "I'm not done with you, you oversized cow! I'm gonna use your hide as a bathmat!" Percy limped out of the flames, half his face singed into wireframe and his clothes smoldering. Oxtongue roared furiously and dropped to all fours, galloping at Percival, hooves churning up divots in the blood-soaked earth. Staring it down with murderous glee, Percy tossed my crossbow aside and drew his axe, using it to jump straight up. He landed right on top of the beast as it passed under him, blade buried deep in its shoulder. All four of my limbs felt like they'd been pulled out of their sockets - which I didn't even know was possible in the game! Sucking in a breath, I shoved what bones I could back into place, then pushed through the rest. Gritting my teeth, I crawled toward the fallen crossbow. Percy anchored his legs on Oxtongue's back and used the embedded axe blade as a fulcrum to lever its body backward. It was forced to lean back, its spine arching until its horns were pointing straight up. My fingers closed around the crossbow stock. As I touched it, the weapon momentarily lost its texture while it reset into my possession. When it came back, a fresh bolt was already nocked and ready to fire. That's what they'd been whooping about while shooting the adds - the shot cooldown was linked to the player, not the weapon. Still lying on the ground, I raised the crossbow and joined in on Lucy and Sebas' volley of arrow fire. Oxtongue's health was a sliver of red - just a fraction of a percent from oblivion. This was it! The minotaur roared in fury and strained, trying to charge forward. But with its body locked into an awkward angle, its arms scrabbled frantically at empty air. Arms windmilling, it staggered drunkenly backward in a graceless half-hop, half-run. It would've been comical if it wasn't about to-! Crunch! It crashed spine-first into the courtyard gate, the impact splintering the wood and smashing Percy between them. The impact resounded through the courtyard, a shockwave of air washing over everything and wiping it clean. The sea of flames, the archers that we'd left in the balconies, the arrows still flying through the air - it all simply vanished as Oxtongue's health hit 0. The minotaur's eyes flickered and went dark. For a single, stretched second, the monster stood frozen. (P) It felt like I was suspended in a dark space. I was frozen in the air, my feet dangling freely as I just... floated there. Is this what it's like when you die? You get stuck at the moment of death? Then the force holding me up loosened. Instead of a wall of muscle crushing me, it was a wall of coarse fur lightly scratching at my face. Then it was nothing but a wall of sand. My vision was consumed by light as I fell through a slurry of blue dust. The ground rose up to meet me, and my jelly legs refused to catch me. I faceplanted into a mountain of corpse dust like it was a pile of fall leaves. I struggled to flip over, the wind kicking the dust into a swirling cyclone around me, a tornado that spiraled upward and away from the walls of stone, disappearing into the cloudless blue sky. Then a pair of blue eyes appeared above me. It took a long moment for me to realize there was a voice, too. "Hellooo?" Lucy asked. She looked to the side. "I think we lost him." Fritz appeared beside her with a goofy grin. He held out a hand. "Come on, matador!" I took his hand, and we dragged me up to my feet. Shaking my legs out, I brushed the flecks of monster dust out of my hair. "How're you holding up, man?" Fritz asked. I nodded absently. "I - me maybe blue." Fritz let out a bark of laughter. "No kidding! You lost half your body there; take it easy." People were limping toward us from every direction. Lucy picked my hand up and guided my finger to tap a notification that I hadn't seen floating in front of me. "Thank me later." she whispered. "Blokay." And then there were fireworks. The sky filled with light spelling out the message, 'Oglethorpe Bluegrass is a vampire!' "I gotta kill a vampire now?" "Oxtongue the Grassinator has been vanquished!" Fritz read. "Damn fine job, kid." "How'd do we?" I asked. Lucy said, "We lost four - Schumacher, Cinter, James, and Razz." "Puff one out for the bong." Fritz lowered his head solemnly. "Fritz..." Lucy gave him a look. "It's what he would have wanted." "Then Leo ran off." Lucy continued. "Everyone other than Sebas and us were watching from the outside." I was barely processing what she was saying. I didn't even notice the drool dribbling out of my mouth until a drop fell on my hand. "Alright, team!" Cherry cheered. "Let's go! Score one for humanity! The machines will rue the day they crossed us!" The reporters came over with the rest of the group, Ace leading Siegfried, whose eyes had been seared away with most of his face. Filius hobbled over, one leg twisted way too far to the side. Rose trailed behind him at a distance, almost... ashamed to come close to us. Flora tackled Fritz and me in a hug, crying and sputtering. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry I couldn't do anything!" Fritz gently pried her off, then stabilized me on my feet. "You did what you could." he told her. "There's a physical limit on how fast spells can go out. It's not a skill thing; it's just not balanced for one person to manage." A ways behind her, Davi was hyperventilating and clinging to a hedge for dear life. "Same goes for you, Davi! You did good, especially for using an off spec!" "Out of curiosity," Filius asked, "did anyone get any loot from that fight?" No one answered. Sebas, standing a little coldly apart from the rest of them, said, "If this place is the goal and the fights aren't repeatable, maybe it doesn't have any. Progress is the reward." "And what progress you've made!" Ace abandoned Siegfried to grope about blindly and strode up to me. "Those were some fine moves out there. You mind doin' a little interview?" "I maw mee-maw hagendorfite." I smiled. He nodded. "... We'll get it on another day, then." "What have you found back there?" Cherry walked past Fritz and me to Lucy, who was stood in front of the gate with a menu in front of her, brow furrowed. "Get a load of this." She showed the menu to Cherry. The other girl whistled. "Dang. I'd say that's more than I've had in my life, but everything I've seen wouldn't scratch that." Lucy read out, "5,000 oak planks, 7,000 bronze bars, 5,500 thin leather straps, 10,000 cotton swatches, 10,000 kingsmarks, and 15,000 life crystals. That's what we need to open the gate." "What's a life crystal?" Fritz asked. "It's a crafting reagent." Filius answered. "Drops from dungeon bosses. We'll have to hand that part over to the Guard and Union and Shake Spear. We've done our end of the bargain." Siegfried, trying to follow our voices, chimed in, "Yes, excellent work, everyone. I... may have been hasty calling for a retreat. Truly, excellent work." "Hell yeah it was, kid!" Fritz slapped me on the back, knocking me into the dirt. "Oop, sorry 'bout that!" He hauled me back to my feet. "Let's get you to a bed." But that impact jolted everything back into place. My mind sharpened, and I realized what that message Lucy dismissed was. "Oh no, not yet!"