Esther dropped the last of the orcs and landed lightly on her feet as the huge body hit the stone lifeless. The three mining guards had been using whips, which had provided a considerable attack bonus, but didn’t do much damage, and it was slashing damage, so her ring took most of it. Without shields, Esther had been able to use her rapiers to get multiple crits on each attack and constantly made them drop their weapons or did extra damage.
With three of them working in coordination, she couldn’t easily grapple any of them since the other two could hit her and got bonuses since she was considered flat-footed and flanked. So, she had to fight old school, hasting herself, dodging, and getting three attacks per round. She had managed to maneuver one of the oafs off the ledge during the middle of the fight. He had been healthy enough that the damage from the fall hadn’t killed him, but it did give her a chance against only two of the monsters. She killed one when the injured one made it back up to the ledge, and then she killed him shortly after.
By that time, her ring was depleted, and she was down to about half health. The whips only did 15 damage, and without her armor, she only had a Damage Reduction of 4, so it was 11 damage piled on her time and again. It was death by a thousand cuts, which was kind of the point of the weapon. But, with only one orc left, she successfully grappled onto his back and sucked him dry. She healed herself first and then replenished her mana with the rest. It was more than enough to bring her back to full, and she used the excess to refill her ring.
When it was over, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked over at Topper. The gnome was in shock. First, he had watched her play the control game on the initial four orcs when they were still locked in the cell. Then she had been a whirling image of steel and black gossamer as her skirt flared and fell with each pirouette and strike, dancing between the three orcs and their whips. Now, in the end, she had sucked the life out of an almost full-health orc as casually as if she were drinking a cup of tea.
“Ready to go?” she asked, her blood pumping. She had asked him to keep his controlled orc out of combat. No sense in having the bodyguard injured in a fight Esther could easily handle herself.
Topper eventually nodded and had to wipe his own mouth as drool began forming.
“Good, take your pet and let’s go. I think I hear Snowy coming.”
“Snowy?” he said, managing to find his voice.
She didn’t answer, and the gnome saw a massive wolf barrel down the long tunnel and stop just before careening over the ledge. The animal turned, saw Esther, and leaped toward her. Topper screamed out in fright, but Snowy didn’t attack the woman, only snuggled into her, growling in satisfaction. “Good girl,” Esther said. “This is Topper,” she pointed at the gnome who wasn’t dealing with these ongoing shocking events well. “Don’t eat him.” Snowy barked an affirmative. “Good, now let’s kill some orcs.”
She turned to Topper. “On second thought, you stay here. Make sure nothing gets past you and into the mine. Your people should be safe. No reason to drop the tunnels.”
Topper nodded and gripped his bracelet tightly as he looked at the placid orc standing by his side. He had generated a few mana since activating the bracelet, and he dumped it all in, unsure of how long the spell lasted and not wanting to be near the bodyguard when it expired. In reality, if he stayed out of combat, the spell should last over an hour.
Esther and Snowy marched up the tunnel and saw the first two orcs waiting for them 50 feet ahead. Esther hit one with a charm spell, and Snowy tackled the other with a leaping charge. The wolf took a hit first, which made Esther wince, but before the charmed orc could pile onto the injured animal, the woman was on his back, subduing him. She managed to press him up against the wall to pin him and then cast her enthrall spell again. After that, three very different attackers pummeled the orc on the floor, ending him quickly. They continued up the tunnel.
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Jace dispatched two more pairs of orcs before meeting with Esther and Snowy. The vampire had used her thrall to take the initial shots with the last group they had met, and he was down to half health but still well under Esther’s control.
“Are you okay?” Jace asked. He could see she was at full HP, but he was still worried the orcs had mistreated her in other ways. After all, they were going to cast a spell to make her forget everything.
“I’m fine, you?”
Jace nodded. He hadn’t been hit yet.
“How do you like Etcher?” she asked, referring to the sword.
“I love it, thanks. Hopefully, it can take out Carrak; he is supposed to be a demon.”
“So you know what is going to happen?” Esther asked, seeing if she could pry out some of the secretive precognition her leader seemed to have.
“I know the only sure way to kill him is to lead him below and drop the tunnels, but then all the gnomes are killed too. Are they safe?”
Esther nodded. “I left one of them down there with a charmed orc to stand guard in case something gets past us, but I don’t see that happening. What did you leave up top?”
“Four fighting orcs and two females. The shaman and archer shouldn’t be much of a problem, but we should take them down quickly if we don’t want their spells and arrows pestering us while we deal with the other two.”
“And the females?” Esther asked curiously. She had never seen a female orc before.
“I don’t know,” Jace replied.
{They are good with knives,} Gracie chimed in. {At least, that is what they use to attack you if you sneak in or out through Carrak’s quarters.}
Jace relayed the information to Esther.
“And what were they doing when you left them?” she asked.
“I’d rather not say,” Jace replied.
Esther grinned, knowing full well what her boss found distasteful. “So, if we hurry, we can catch them with their pants down?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Literally speaking,” Jace confirmed.
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When Jace and Esther returned to the main hall, they were prepared for anything. Jace had picked up his armor totem along the way and recast it inside the tunnel entrance to cover the entire 100-foot area. He also refreshed his Athletic boon, which had expired. Together, both spells cost 250 of his 260 available mana, and he still wanted to cast his Damage Sink totem but would have to wait for a few more rounds until he generated more. Esther was full on everything, her two weapons were loaded with Heavy Weapon, and her slashing protection ring was charged. She went with her damage belt for this encounter, hoping she wouldn’t need the grappling or death protection the other one provided.
The orcs weren't in the dining hall anymore. Things had escalated to such a degree on the table that the four orcs involved thought it best to move to a more comfortable environment. Carrak and Grint did not have their pants down, as it was hard to walk that way, but they had to hastily re-buckle them when they saw the diverse group enter the hall. They had been halfway across toward Carrak’s room but realized something was wrong. The females were laughing and running ahead but stopped when they sensed the mood in the cavern shift.
“What is this?” Carrack asked angrily. Not only was Esther not shackled, but she held her weapons. One of his orcs stood with this group, armed and looking warily at his old master.
“This is the end,” Jace informed. “All your orcs are dead. The gnomes are safe, and you have lost.”
“Kreeynk and Worcht!” Carrak cried. “Get out here.”
The shaman and archer exited the dining hall where they had been stuffing their faces. At first, they thought they might be receiving “dessert” invitations but quickly saw that wasn’t the case. Worcht went into his inventory to get his bow and arrows.
Jace was too far away to take advantage of the move, and when he turned back to Carrak, he saw that Grink was now wearing full plate armor and held a shield and mace, while the two females were dual-wielding long knives. Jace hadn’t seen a level or HP above them before, but now he saw they were level 12 with 288 HP. They were probably rogues. Grink was level 15 with 450 HP. But Carrak was who Jace was really worried about. He was level 20 with 860 HP. As he stood there, black demon scales appeared over his body, and a long sword grew in his hand like a steel lightsaber, only it glowed black in the magical light of the hall. A shield also formed on his arm, made of the same black scales as his armor.
“Not all my orcs are dead,” he replied. “And I am certainly not. However, all of you soon will be.” His angry face turned slowly into a grin. “Attack!”
Everything happened at once.
Esther and Snowy ran around the lead orc, the woman casting haste on herself. The room was still magically illuminated, so she couldn’t hide or shadow-step, but she was fast enough. Grink stood behind his master, and Snowy leaped at the orc, taking a vicious hit from the mace but toppling the fighter backward. Esther wanted nothing to do with the mace, as her ring would offer her no protection, and she still felt naked without her armor. Instead, she continued past the tumbling pair and engaged the women. Her thrall went toward the dining hall, collecting a couple of arrows from Worcht but eventually getting close enough to engage him in melee, which gave the injured creature a considerable advantage over the archer.
Jace kept his eyes on Carrak, but he felt a magical surge in the room and watched as a totem rose in the center of the circular hall. {That is a boon to give all the orcs a +5 while attacking,} Gracie informed him.
“Keep me updated on the numbers,” he said as he strode toward Carrak. The level 20 orc had the clear initiative and struck first in a powerful overhand chop. Jace got his sword up to block, but his arms buckled, barely able to deflect the weapon to the side. He didn’t expect much of a counterstrike and wasn’t surprised when his attack bounced harmlessly off the raised shield. Carrak’s second attack was weaker, and Jace deflected it low before coming up with his own that ricocheted off the guard again.
{Wow, this is going to be trouble,} Gracie informed him. {His demonic equipment is giving him a base AC of 42. He has enough feats that when he raises his shield, it increases to 55. Your max attack if you roll a 20 is 49. Which means you can’t mathematically hit him.}
Jace listened to these numbers as they went through another round of combat, neither of the fighters hitting the other. “There must be a way,” he said, not caring that Carrak would hear him.
“Give up,” Carrak said in reply before Gracie chimed in. “There is no way you can beat me. Join me instead, and I will show you true power.”
{You can hit him,} Gracie confirmed. {You need to get within ten and do a double critical. Since he is 10+ levels above you, he cancels one of the crits, but the other will change your miss to a hit. You won’t get any critical bonuses, but you can hit him. You can do this two ways: get a 20 in the attack or parry his strike by more than 10 and then roll an 18 or 19 back at him since your weapon does crits on those numbers too.}
Jace usually found it easy to get 20s in his attacks, but now that he had to put forth so much effort in parrying, his weapon was rarely in the correct position. Occasionally the game would tell him he got a crit, but it must have been an 18 or 19, as the game said it was canceled.
{His attack his 36,} Gracie continued, {and your base parry defense is 41, meaning he is already at a five-point disadvantage. If your parry roll beats his attack by five or more, you will get a free crit in the next exchange. So far, your parries have only been enough to deflect his attacks. You need to try and get some strong blocks.}
Jace was too used to sparring in real life, where you didn’t get any bonus for perfectly intercepting an attack; instead, you wanted to do just enough to deflect it without ruining your rhythm. As the next round started, he changed strategies and caught the orc’s attack at a perfect right angle, and the powerful strike stopped cold. The huge orc looked stunned for a moment, and Jace saw an opening away from his shield. He had to rotate his sword unnaturally from the strong parry, but the game gave him time, and he finally made contact with the orc’s side.
[Double Critical. One canceled. Miss upgraded to hit.]
Carrak winced but didn’t seem hurt much and returned an attack. Jace saw his adversary’s health drop by 13. He was so disheartened by the small amount that he nearly failed to block the next strike, but the game put him on automatic, and he got lucky enough with his roll to stop it, but his lackluster second attack that round didn’t have a chance.
{He has a Damage Reduction of 36,} Gracie said. Even as she reported this, Carrak skipped his next attack, and his health jumped back to full. {Also, because he has +18 for all his skills, he also has +18 to Heal. This means he can cast a five-mana healing spell and recover 19 health. You need to do better.}
Jace hunkered down and repeated the process. This time after his parry, he focused on the weak opening and slowed his attack down just enough to register a 20.
[Triple Critical. One Canceled. Miss upgraded to hit. Stun; 1x damage? 2x damage?]
Jace knew the Stun wouldn’t have a chance and chose the double damage and got 62 through. Carrak barely noticed and just struck back harder.
Jace peddled and was startled as he came up against a stone barrier. He felt he was still in the middle of the hall but noticed that dozens of pillars rose from the floor, creating a forest of stone trunks seven feet high. One of the pillars rose before Carrak, but it didn’t faze him, and he stepped right through it.
“What is this?” he asked as he blocked two more strikes. While stepping around the obstacles, Jace didn’t get solid blocks on either attack and didn’t bother striking back, still trying to find a clear opening in which to work.
{Swarm Field,} Gracie replied. {Your shaman friend is having fun casting boons for his friends. Each post is like a swarming enemy for your opponents. They don’t attack, but the orcs will get a +5 advantage for each pillar next to you. And everyone in the shaman’s party can move and attack through them as if they weren’t there.}
Jace stood next to two of the posts during the following exchange and now understood that he needed to beat the orc’s attack by five not to get hit, and if Carrak rolled a 16+, there was nothing he could do but get a 20 parry. The last strike that round must have been high because Jace thought he executed a good block, but the battle mage’s sword broke through and hit him for 22. Jace was beginning to realize how hopeless this was, and the tunnels below seemed like a safe choice, but he wasn’t ready to give up quite yet. He had one more trick up his sleeve.