Standing up and moving aside to let Mavrich collect the last turtle, I placed the arrow I had collected back in my quiver. Pleased to have endured an encounter without the need for healing, I shuffled aside to wait for my place in our formation to arrive. I groaned inwardly as Kiaralongh paused beside me, her eyes trained on the temple.
“You did well enough. Stay in the formation, and you should also survive the miniboss. Depending on what it is, it will go down quickly to our combined might. We haven’t really unleashed yet, as there has been no need on this floor. All of us are oppressed by the heat and unintended drama we find ourselves in. Don’t give me another reason to doubt you, clear?”
“Yep, got it. Stick to the middle, do my ranger thing, don’t court danger.” She was already moving on as I finished speaking. Fergie hopped over to my shoulder as Samir passed, nestling in and wrapping his little ferret paws around my ear and hair for stability.
Taking that as my cue to continue, I followed after Samir and approached the temple at an angle. Watching party members disappear into the darkened entrance raised the hackles on my neck. Having no alternative, I kept moving forward and felt Rakshasa closing in behind me. At the last moment, Reev popped up in front of me, giving me a jump scare and nearly knocking Fergie loose. Not abashed in the least, Reev smirked at me while Fergie clambered over to his shoulder.
While appreciating the loosening of tension their antics had created, I still kept my guard up. I felt the temperature plummet as I crossed the threshold to the temple. Watching my breath curl away from my mouth I squinted to make out the space. It appeared we had arrived in a large hall with a very tall ceiling. Details such as color and materials were masked by the dark, but it looked like it had been a well-appointed feast hall at some point. Tables and chairs were strewn about in various states of decay and destruction. Platters, plates, goblets and tableware were littered about, and some bobbed near me in the stagnant water.
As quickly as I assessed that, I also noticed the party spreading out and popping off skill buffs and defensive spells. I scanned about desperately to find what had alerted them while drawing forward to stay in my area of the formation. Rakshasa firmly pushed me more quickly with her head. Apparently, I wasn’t going fast enough. Trusting the bear to have my back I picked up my pace to close the gap between myself and Samir. As I did so she gleefully started arcing swaths of roaring fire into the room.
Illuminated by Samir’s spell, I saw the miniboss for the first time. It was fifteen feet tall. And it was gross. Much grosser than the swamp we were in. Clothed in a tattered mage robe, melting flesh ran off its bone structure and dripped into the water below. It cackled and flung black spells from a putrid gnarled wooden staff towards the group. The spells and the miniboss smelled like raw sewage had a baby with spoiled milk and left it out in the sun to mature. The cackling was like fingernails slowly running down slate and made me shudder in a way I couldn’t firmly describe while remaining on this side of sanity. So this was one of Drugal’s infamous ghouls.
I watched, entranced, as the party engaged with the ghoul with well-timed attacks and counters. Engli’s defensive barrier was a dome of pure blue light that encapsulated the stationary members of the party. Kiaralongh, Scree, Reev and Rakshasa harried the ghoul in melee like a choreographed opera whose only end was death.
For the first time, I saw Reev unleash the axe normally strapped to his back with great effect as he cracked through the ghoul’s right femur. As the ghoul stumbled, Scree didn’t hesitate to blast it with a sound attack that interrupted its next casting. No slouch, Kiaralongh’s hatchets tore through the left tibia, bringing the formerly tall ghoul crashing down to a much more reasonable height.
The ghoul howled in rage as it caught itself from completely going prone. That howl was a sound attack that shattered my ear drums and left me on my knees in a stupor. Chad redoubled his efforts to pull the ghoul's attention, buying all of us time to shake off the skill effects. Samir, being higher leveled, quickly clambered back to her feet and riddled the creature with ice spikes to assist Chad’s ploy.
Staggering up, I nocked an arrow and sighted on the beastie. Hoping to prevent future sound attacks I fired for its throat and was satisfied when my arrow ripped straight in. That quickly turned to retching disgust when the arrow and the throat sloughed off and dropped into the quagmire. Two baleful eyes locked on me and it levered its staff my way. Having none of that, I pulled myself together and fired off another shot while skittering towards Engli’s barrier. I slid through the muck and into the dome as the spell splashed its greasy magic to my former position.
Mavrich hauled me up by the arm as I watched Reev descend from a jump that snapped off the ghoul's head from its neck. Adrenaline coursing through me at my near miss, I watched the skull roll to a stop in front of Chad with my arrow lodged in an eye socket.
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Samir purposefully left the barrier and headed to the rest of the remains. Unceremoniously torching them into oblivion, I hoped her doing so would alleviate some of the foul odors that were clinging to the space.
As Engli’s healing spell washed over all of us, sound returned to my awareness. The sounds of Samir’s fire and my breath reached me. I was panting like an overheated hound. Looking around, I realized that the fight was over. I mean, I had seen it end, but I was still surprised. Was that 90 seconds? This was supposed to be the big miniboss. My level disparity, compared to the others, sunk in in a different way than before. This had been no contest for them, whereas I had been on the knife’s edge.
Putting the arrow I still held in my hand away, I went to join Samir. She smiled at me as I approached while still supervising the incineration. “Good job, Shad. Most can’t actually attack on their first miniboss. You should feel great about your contributions!”
I searched her face for signs of her pranking me and didn’t find any. Mirth was definitely there but not mockery. It was so disjointed from my own assessment that I couldn’t help being surprised. “Thanks, Samir. That means a lot. Hey, on a different note, can you analyze me and lemme know what you see?”
“Come join me - I’m asking Samir to Analyze me.”
Night padded up as Samir shrugged and assessed me with her skill. A frown formed on her face, quickly replaced by her usual countenance of amusement. After indications of her interface being closed, she quickly gave some hand signals to the group. I caught some that Reev had taught me—danger, shield, stealth—but missed most of them and their meaning. Quirking an eyebrow and moving a hand discreetly towards Stabby, I pivoted so Night could protect my flank.
“Calm yourself elf. I’m calling Ki over. And who taught you our sign?”
“Reev did when we were hunting together. And why are you calling Kiaralongh over?” I shifted slightly again. I couldn’t pretend to defend myself against either of them, but I wouldn’t go down without trying either.
“Because someone has enthralled you, and she may have a skill to break it.” She placed her hand firmly on my arm as she imparted this to me. Rakshasa lumbered up and placed herself between Night and the rest of the party, squelching into a sitting position that made me squirm a little in sympathy.
Night’s low growl reverberated in my head along with her admonishment. “I told you it wasn’t normal. Ask her for more details.”
I found that I couldn’t ask. Like, I tried, but the words floated away, and I found myself looking quizically at the hand placed on my arm.
Was Samir making moves on me? Yes please. No, wait, that wasn’t it. I looked up to find Samir smiling at me sympathetically. I felt hot, uncomfortably so. Something wasn’t right. I looked away to find Night. Oh, she was right by my side. Why was my hand clenched around Stabby?
I felt disorientated and agitated. I startled when Kiaralongh grabbed my face. She was always grabbing me by the face.
“Tell me, Samir.” Her breath rolled intentionally over my face and she kept looking into my eyes like they would tell her something. I mean I guess I could project my interface at her.
“They are enthralled. It’s an expert skill casting, and has something to do with fortune and befuddlement. I can’t quite make out all of the details, but it seems quite pernicious. It doesn’t feel like something a Guide would place to protect a pathing. There are several of those entwined with this one, so it will be a fine thread to pull.”
“Wait, what?!” I tried unsuccessfully to break free of their holds. That didn’t sound good at all.
“Gently, Shad. All Guides cast skills on those they guide - protections, locators, experience gains. Valen would not harm you.”
Not overly reassured, I tried to ask more.
Kiaralongh was really close to me. “Can I call you Kiara yet?” I leaned into the hand gripping my jaw. She smelled like evergreen trees and mint.
Samir laughed next to me and shook me gently. “If this wasn’t so serious I would want to stretch this out to see what else the elf would get up to.”
Kiaralongh let me go and grunted acknowledgment to Samir. She appeared to be searching her interface and had a grimace crawling across her features. I reached out internally for Night and felt her solidly in our synergy, a calm bulwark of assurance. Why was I confused?
I looked to Samir and she winked at me lasciviously. My brain fumbled an adequate response while my brows climbed to my hairline in surprise. Was Samir flirting with me? Not saying no to that. Wait.
Feeling a creepy sense of deja vu, I turned away from Samir just in time to see Kiaralongh fling a handful of powder at me. Startled I inhaled it before I could stop myself. I saw Kiaralongh dart forward to catch me as I crumbled and my vision blurred out.