BANG!
CJ dropped another desiccated and melting Lykin as it crawled out of the chemical spill below and up the stairs. It was visually coughing out its own innards. Inwardly, he hoped Jenn didn’t memorize the substances nor the quantities she used to produce that horrible slow death.
New Message from Rubio: They are climbing the tower. I’m going to need a hand up here.
“Do we abandon this position?” asked Jenn.
“Monty and I will go. If things get hairy, you two start a slow retreat up toward us.”
“Gotcha.”
With that CJ and Monty started sprinting up the stairs. Elena messaged back to her father that they were on their way. Before CJ could reach the hidden door all the torches just winked out. It was abruptly followed by a deep bone rattling howl from outside.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: No windows in this section. Can anyone see what’s happening?
New Message from Psycho: Nothing on the wall and we haven’t seen another Lykin in a while.
New Message from Rubio: I can see it. I think it’s their leader. Madre de Dios.
Between shots fired straight down the side of the tower, Rubio witnessed the arrival of a different kind of Lykin. Outside the main gate to the courtyard stood Lykin half again as big as the others. It was covered in black and red fur, heavily muscled, and had four arms. Two normal arms and two semi-transparent red arms that arced over its shoulders from behind. It approached the bent and warped main gate sending it crashing a quarter of the way into the courtyard with one lunging kick. Clearly showing it hadn’t skipped leg day. As it stepped through the now meaningless entryway, each of the red arms passed over the stone and ice. The ice melted at the slightest touch and scorch marks were left behind. Then it picked up speed as it howled again.
There was an avalanche of dead Lykin bodies that led up to the wall section with the broken door to the tower. It ran full speed in that direction. The foot or more of snow that began accumulating with the return of snowfall barely slowed the ten foot tall creature. As it got closer, Rubio could see it wore padded leg armor and multiple chains crisscrossed its torso. Once it reached the base of the freezing corpses of its pack, it tilted its head up toward the tower. That was when Rubio got a good look at its head. It had two sets of eyes. One pair of normal lupine eyes. Just behind and a little further up the skull were two glowing red eyes. He messaged all this detail to everyone else before lining up his shot.
CJ made it to the top of the stairs and moved to climb through the hatch but was interrupted by Monty bounding off his back and sailing through the hole. Blood poured down over CJ as he reached up to get a hand hold. The ice coupled with the gore granted him on purchase. Then a Lykin arm shot down through the whole and hauled CJ up. In a split second he took in the state of the tower. Monty had cleaved a Lykin in half with the Half a Bitch spell. The body had split down the middle and fallen to either side of Rubio as he concentrated on aiming at the boss monster. Now Monty was struggling with another in a cloud of smoke on the opposite side of the tower. The one that grabbed CJ stood above the hatch growling its frustration and pointing at the plinth in the center of the space with its other arm. A plinth that just held a large tome with a golden strip of satin lolling out from between its pages.
CJ looked at the book then looked back at Lykin before tilting his head slightly to the side and throwing his hands up in the universal sign of, no clue, palms open. The Lykin was wearing a leather jerkin, so CJ knew it was one of the less feral version. It wasn’t getting the answers it was looking for, so the wolf man made to throw CJ from the tower. Then it lost its head as CJ pulled the looped mana filament wire taught. While it was growling and gesturing, he’d whipped the barely visible wire around its head and looped it once. Powered it with mana and pulled it through fur, then skin, muscle tissue, and finally the bone of its cervical column with one sharp tug. The force of the creatures own pumping blood forced the head to fly off in a spray of gore.
Shots rang out from Rubio’s rifle a millisecond later. Brass flew out of the chamber and rolled along the ground as he reloaded to shoot again. Then he stopped firing all together. He slung his rifle over his shoulder before unclipping the holster for his side arm making the quick draw handgun more easily accessible.
“We have a problem,” He said turning from the view down to the wall, “My shots registered no effect, and that creature has a name. It’s called Red Fang.”
“A little help” came Monty’s voice frantically.
Two more Lykin had climbed the tower only to enter Monty’s smoke cloud. He’d managed to drop kick the original one back out into the blizzard but was now diving and dodging blind swipes from two more.
“Drop the smoke,” Rubio said calmly.
As the smoke dissipated, Rubio pulled his side arm putting two shots into the chest of the first Lykin and blowing the head clean off the second. Monty just looked pleased as he kicked the headless body back out of the tower.
“Now I’m not so sure if your plan worked the way you wanted it too. They definitely weren’t interested in me even when I promised them a good story,” said Liber in an attempt to break the silence.
Earlier in the wave CJ had swapped out the tablet with sapient book just in case they pulled the old climbing the tower bit from the story. He wouldn’t have been able to do it at all if it weren’t for the extra wide sleeves of the Examiners Robe. The end of those cuffs yawned a good foot and half.
“You need to see this thing. Monty and I will keep watch for more climbers,” said Rubio.
CJ looked over the edge of the tower from one of the old window’s archways. There was nothing there.
New Message from Elena: It just smashed its way through the wall. Bullets do nothing to it.
New Message from Psycho: I’m going to try—
Jenn’s message cut off abruptly and sounds of screaming could be heard coming from deep below the hatch. Then the only thing they could hear up in the tower was the blowing winds of the storm outside. Rubio sprinted to the hatch screaming.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Elena! Niña! Papi is coming!”
“No wait! It would be better to fight it out here rather than in the confines of the and he’s gone.”
CJ checked on his party through the slate interface. Psycho’s details were greyed out. Elena’s were too. Rubio’s were fine although his stamina bar was flashing. Monty began pacing back and forth before deciding to jump down the hatch. It was like a starter pistol went off in CJ’s mind at that point. He hadn’t released the demon from the painting according to the hidden quest notification. This thing was just a supped up monster. They’d been killing monsters all day. He began to jog toward the exit before baseball sliding into the hatch and down.
“Hello. If I hadn’t said it earlier, I can’t move of my own accord. Anyone? Well at least this room has a view.”
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Slow down, you’ll need your stamina to fight.
CJ didn’t believe for a second that Rubio would bother to read the message. This time he was being careful on his mad rush down. He avoided the frozen step he’d fallen on before. Turning the bend, he saw Rubio pulling his sidearm, firing, and placing it back in the holster. He was attempting to use the quick draw enchantment to fight the wolf, and it was working. While it wasn’t penetrating its hide, it did stagger the beast preventing it from moving forward. CJ immediately began casting half-a-bitch only to see the red arms tear the blades of unaspected mana apart in midair. The fifty mana barely fled CJ’s body before the spell became useless. Monty was nowhere to be found.
“Do something!” yelled Rubio.
CJ fell back into his old patterns. A deck of cards popped into his hands and he began investing them with mana. He shuffled then cut the deck putting more than half it back in his pocket. All the while Rubio continued backing up the stairs. Then CJ crushed his Examiners Star token while focusing on Red Fang.
Red Fang- Last of the Demon Wolf pack bloodline. His strength exceeds all others making him pack alpha by default. At a young age Red Fang’s demon blood was very apparent. The red arms that signified his connection to his ancestry claimed the lives of all challengers adding to his bulk and cunning. Most enemies see his size and assume the threat is physical, unfortunately for them it’s his intellect that wins him the day. His demon arms are often the downfall of those that come in contact with them. They burn on a spiritual level using Tier 3 Infernal power. That link allows Red Fang’s flesh to ignore mundane weaponry. 200/200 HP, 100/100 Mana, 200/200 Stamina.
That was it. The arms were using a higher tier of arcanum than his unaspected mana spell. That must be how he ripped it apart. That was when smoke billowed up around the monster, it swiped in all directions trying to clear out the smoke while Monty sprinted free of the morass.
“Run you idiots! We need a better plan than this.”
A red clawed arm slammed down in the spot Monty had just occupied. The claws dug ragged furrows in the stone steps before pulling half a foot of stone free and dragging it back into the obscuring smoke. Monty sped past the others, up the stairs and around the corner. Rubio gritted his teeth before he spun around taking steps two at a time.
CJ waited for the beast to emerge from the smoke. It grasped out at the walls, finding purchase before launching itself forward. He knew there was no out running this monstrosity. Card after card flew from his hand in rapid succession. The monster was so big CJ could take sprinkler system approach to how he was dealing the cards. Diamond suits one through ten, all invested with mana struck true doing a total of fifty five points of damage. That dropped its health down to 145. All that damage added up on a creature that large. Five points of damage done from a card most creatures could shrug off. The cumulative effect of multiple cards enraged the monster. Glowing red blood seeped from the wounds where the cards sliced into its flesh. It tried to wipe the cards off its chest with the swipe of one of its normal arms only to have the mana infused cards give it more superficial cuts.
That gave CJ a new idea. He turned and burned hoping to draw the boss monster further up the tower. Unfortunately, it had other plans. It reached out grabbing CJ’s right foot with a red arm. The already beat to shit shoe practically burst into flames and disintegrated around CJ’s foot. He screamed as his thread bare sock began melting into his cooking flesh. The health bar in his slate vision began dropping as the monster lifted him in the air with his burning foot. Then two more hands grabbed him around the waist, digging its claws into his abdomen. His health was now at sixty of one ten. If CJ didn’t do something fast, he was goner. Then he was spun right side up and pressed into the nearby wall. Right where the hidden door was. The dungeon boss couldn’t know that could he? That’s when the next surprise came. It spoke.
“Open it, or I tear you limb from limb,” it growled just behind CJ’s head.
It knew. CJ didn’t know how, but it knew about the door. There was no torch light in here. The door was only revealed by black light. The room itself existed in a different space time. Could he not just smash through the wall like it did downstairs? It must have noticed CJ’s hesitation because it pushed his face into the wall harder for emphasis.
“Okay, okay. I need to be able to cast the flame spell to get the door open. I can’t concentrate while your claws are digging out my guts. Put me down.”
“No sudden moves. If I don’t see a door in the next few seconds, I’ll paint the wall with your blood and go hunting rabbits.”
New Message from Monty: I’m coming back. Your hp is almost gone.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: he’s trying to get me to open the hidden door. I have a plan but I’m going need you to be really sneaky. I just need him distracted for one moment. Get down here and get ready to make some black light.
CJ was unceremoniously dropped on his ass. He sucked in a full breath for the first time in minutes. CJ didn’t even realize how much pressure his torso was under. Once again making a mental note that grab attacks ignore his kinetic barrier. All four of the things’ arms were hovering around him, poised to strike for the smallest infraction. Lifting his right hand slowly, he began concentrating on the Polychrome Flame spell. Knowing full well that the door takes a few minutes to draw itself into existence once the black light permeates the area, he only had one chance to use his now full loaded joker card.
New Message from Monty: I’m here.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Cast the black light on my right hand.
New Message from Monty: Got it.
“I smell dinner nearby. Are you planning some form of trickery? I’ll end your life before you do anything but make light.”
Fire sprung to life along CJ’s outstretched right hand. Even as his regeneration began fixing the wounds in his torso. First it started as regular orange-red flame. Then it moved to white-blue. Finally, it landed on the purple of black light. The magic door began its etching process. White lines creating the outline of the door ever so slowly.
“Yes. I’m coming father.”
Then Monty slammed into the back of the creature’s right knee like a spinning furry cannonball. Forcing it to fall forward into the wall. It attempted to brace itself against the fall with all four arms. Instinctively, CJ rolled backward between the beast’s legs, coming up to his feet and wincing at the pain of his right foot.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Cut the spell.
The light went out, but the monster’s face was too close to the wall. The lines that were drawing the door winked out leaving his eyes to adjust to the darkness again. That was all CJ needed. His left hand that had been palming the joker flicked out tossing the card a short distance. It flipped end over end in what felt like a never ending moment for him. All Red Fang had to do was spin around and smush CJ into the opposite wall. It would be a quick and bloody death. The face of the card slapped flat against Red Fang’s back and a chuckle came from the monster as it slowly turned to face CJ and Monty who was now revealed from the spell for interacting.
Of course, that’s when the jingling of small bells rang through the mind of the great beast. It got louder and louder until Red Fang had his hands pressed against his ears. Maw snarling and drool coating his upper chest as blood began running from every orifice.
CJ had backed up flat to the wall at this point watching the monstrous wolf man freak out. He looked down at Monty who looked back up at him confused. Then Red Fangs entire body exploded with the reverberating ringing of bells and cackling laughter.