Wallace hadn’t heard the venator make a sound before, but it keened into the darkening sky now, leaped off its perch, and raced over the rocks and stumps toward Thursa. “No!” the paladin cried, delivering a powerful strike to the wolf she fought before moving around it and running toward the grizzly bear. The transformed druid wrestled with his wolf, keeping its snapping jaws away from his face while trying to rip its front legs out of their sockets.
The bout ended abruptly when the venator jumped at the tangled animals, blasting them apart and slashing one of its claws at Thursa. The wolf tumbled toward Wallace, and she took advantage of its Prone condition to stab down with her new sword. She got three criticals, sent them all to damage, and the wolf didn’t rise.
Wallace meant to keep charging toward the venator, but she stopped short in awe. It was like watching King Kong versus Godzilla—fur and muscle versus scales, claws, and teeth. The demon was relentless, but Thursa was too strong. Each time it got within range, the bear caught its arm, body, or tail, shook it, and then slammed it into a rock or threw it into a tree.
“Nothing is that strong,” Wallace muttered.
{Look at his health,} Brodie said.
She did and understood. Thursa only had a third of his HP left. His Rage ability was activated, turning what must have been close to 24 Strength into something much greater. She shuttered. “It’s Cocaine Bear in real life.”
{This isn’t real life,} Brodie advised.
“Whatever, you know what I mean.”
As Wallace looked at Thursa’s low health, she noticed something else: it was still going down. With each of the venator’s attacks, it managed to get a claw swipe or bite on the bear before Thursa sent it crashing into the landscape. And while the druid’s health went down, the demon was still full. Thursa’s attacks looked violent, but multiple criticals were needed to overcome its defenses, and the bear wasn’t getting them. Wallace had to help but didn’t know how to get close to the frantic action without becoming a victim. She also wasn’t confident that Thursa could tell friend from foe in his excited state.
Eventually, the grizzly slammed the demon onto a rock next to the paladin, and she stepped forward to stab down at it. She felt she must have gotten a critical, as the blade slipped between the scales on its back and sunk deep into the flesh beneath, but she didn’t get a notification to activate the vorpal ability. Still, she did considerable damage.
Thursa saw the attack and came to his senses somewhat, stumbling back and leaning against a tree to catch his breath. The venator popped off the ground, intently focused on the paladin. That attack had hurt it more than anything it had felt since being summoned. The bear could wait.
Wallace backpedaled with her shield raised, collecting bites and slashes around and under her guard. She had enough Armor Class to prevent a critical strike but not enough to avoid damage. “A little help,” she said, seeing her health drop dramatically. She still hadn’t healed from the kobold ambush.
“Aren’t you the needy one,” Tristan said. He had killed one of the wolves but was still battling fiercely with the other. He broke off and ran toward the paladin. The venator picked up the scent of a Hamley and debated between targets for a moment, giving the younger brother a chance to get behind the monster and Flank it. His magic wouldn’t hurt the creature, but he hoped his blades still could and hacked down at it.
Wallace heard heavy breathing behind her and turned to see an injured wolf snarling at her. She shoved her sword in its face, splitting its head and dropping the animal. Behind it, she saw Vithium fighting against only three kobolds. The stupid creatures kept falling for all his tricks, and he was finally using his chi to deal significant damage.
Returning to the primary fight, she saw Tristan overmatched against the venator. He appeared to be getting through the demon’s scales with each thrust, but he wasn’t doing any damage. On top of that, his combat boons were wearing out. The paladin jumped in to help, taking advantage of the Flanking position and demanding the beast's attention as her strikes dealt more damage.
Tristan appreciated the break and stumbled away, reaching into his cloak for a healing potion. Wallace should have drunk one too, but there wasn’t time between rounds. The demon was relentless against her, overcoming her defense with each attack, slowly whittling her health to less than 20%.
The ferocious roar of a bear filled the air as Thursa came crashing back into the fight after a short break. He had healed a bit but remained below half. Wallace guessed he was running out of mana. As the demon leaped forward, biting hard on Wallace’s leg, Thursa fell on top of it, crushing it to the ground. The paladin stepped back to watch the wrestling match, already knowing who would come out on top.
The druid struggled to a knee and then finally stood, holding the squirming creature in a . . . well . . . a bear hug. The venator’s jaws clamped down on one of the animal’s arms, and Thursa howled into the night, shaking the trees around them. Instead of letting go, he adjusted his grip, latching on to each front leg and wrenching them apart until the demon was in a crucifix pose, its back against the bear's massive chest and its vulnerable belly facing Wallace. A shudder passed through the creature, and it went still for a moment.
{It just failed a throw,} Brodie said. {It’s Helpless for a round. Now or never.}
Wallace was already moving, jumping forward, and skewering the beast with her weapon.
[2 Criticals. 3X Damage? Activate Vorpal?]
She hovered over the second option in her mind's eye but hesitated. She looked up beyond the still face of the pinned demon into that of the bear. A grimace of severe pain looked back at her, his teeth clenching so hard he could have bit through steel. She looked down again at her sword, buried to its hilt in the narrow body of the venator. The tip had to have burst through its back and entered the bear’s chest. Thursa followed a demon too. If she activated the weapon, would it kill them both?
{Wally, now!} Brodie screamed in her head.
She had no choice and made her selection, activating the vorpal ability.
A burst of energy flashed before her, and she flew back, colliding hard with a tree stump and losing a few HP. Before her, she watched Thursa release the demon, which fell to the ground. The sword pulled out of his chest and remained in the venator. The creature spasmed and writhed like a bug on a pin as the blade inside it grew in brightness, flooding the hillside in light. All the humans had to look away for a few seconds as the spell climaxed.
It all ended in a flash, and Wallace heard the clatter of her sword on the rocks before she opened her eyes to look. The sword lay still, with no sign of the demon. The paladin didn’t give the weapon a second thought and raced toward the bear lying still on the rocky ground. His health wasn’t at zero, and she hoped that meant he had survived. The venator had still been well above half health when it had vanished.
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She knelt beside the massive animal, its chest eerily still. Not knowing what to do, she cast her Lay-On-Hands ability but got a prompt saying Thursa was linked with a demon, and she couldn’t heal him. If he had been undead, the spell would have dropped his health below zero. Instead, she pulled a healing potion and dumped it down his open maw. That worked. His health increased considerably, and the bear’s body shuddered as breathing resumed. She placed her hand on his furry chest to feel the reassuring swell.
{You almost killed him,} Brodie advised, scrolling through the game data from the end of the fight. {He was Raging, so he made the Death Save, but only barely. The venator was Helpless, so it didn’t. Plus, since the weapon was infused with the divine enemy of the venator’s master, it got a huge penalty that wasn’t applied to Thursa.}
“Did he make it?” a voice in the game pulled Wallace from her brother’s updates.
Wallace turned and looked up to see Vithium standing over her. He was injured but had the least damage of everyone. Tristan kept his distance, eyeing the unconscious bear, fearful that he might rise and rage against him at any moment. He didn’t, and as the last of the dying kobolds that Vithium had left behind expired, they dropped out of combat mode, and Thursa started a slow transformation back into a human, taking a full six seconds. In addition, Wallace felt herself level up.
Soon, Wallace realized she had her hand on Thursa’s naked torso and pulled back in surprise, hoping her avatar didn’t blush. As he stirred, she backed away and stood. Thursa didn’t rise completely and only sat up, propping his body on one arm while the other hand went to his head. “That sword packs a punch,” he said, his eyes searching out the blade.
Wallace turned to look at it too. “Yes,” she agreed. “But it is only a one-time thing. I might need my axe back.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, his eyes focused on the gleaming sword ten feet away.
The paladin stepped away from the handsome man and reached down to pick up the weapon. She caught her breath. It was still a level 10, +5 weapon with an additional +5 to demons. It no longer had the vorpal ability, and she didn’t sense a specific divine presence in it, but it was still a blessed weapon. “When it is charged with a mortal life,” Wallace said, reasoning out this miracle, “the charge expires after its first use. But when charged with an eternal divine being, it might never expire.”
{Something like that,} Brodie agreed. Nothing on any Wiki page or walkthrough said anything about this, so he was clueless.
Wallace smiled at the unexpected boon and sheathed the weapon on her hip. She walked back toward Thursa and offered the man a hand. He took it, and she hoisted him off the ground till he towered over her. “Thank you,” he said. “My family is foolish, and it takes heroes like you to set things right.” Behind him, Tristan scoffed at the comment. Thursa paid him no mind. “If there is anything I can do to repay you, please let me know.”
“There are many foolish families in the realms that have made far worse decisions and put entire villages in danger,” Wallace said. “I could use your help to set them right.”
The big man nodded. “Then you shall have it.” He extended his hand toward the paladin and rested it on her armored shoulder.
[Thursa Hamley has joined your party.]
{Good job, sis} Brodie said.
Wallace noted that the druid’s level stayed at 16. She shrugged, not sure how she felt about that. On the one hand, she knew druids got massive bonuses every five levels, and dropping him below 15 would make him considerably weaker. However, now he was stuck at 16 and would never go higher. She could worry about that later.
Wallace looked at Vithium and saw him securing Tristan as a party member. It didn’t look like completing this quest was enough to level the monk up, but he couldn’t be too far from 13 now. She waited until he was done with the spellsword and walked over. “Thanks for your help,” she said, extending her hand. He took it.
“It was a pleasure. Are we finished?”
“Brodie?” Wallace asked.
{It looks like a bunch of people are telling the web that they just got kicked out of the Hamley Module. Don’t know how many of them had reached the final stage. You might be getting a few visitors.}
Wallace turned to Thursa. “Is this your stronghold now? Do you know what that means?”
The druid nodded. “Yes, I believe so. And it appears a few people would like to visit us. Should I let them in?”
The paladin shook her head. “No. Let’s keep this place private for now, at least until we find a better one.”
“What is wrong with my home?” he asked, raising his voice and arms to gesture at the rocky terrain.
It was hard to see in the increasing darkness, but Wallace had a good memory. “You mean other than the lack of walls, no furniture, and dozens of dead kobolds?”
The shapeshifter laughed deeply. “True, true. It might need some redecorating.”
“If you want a cave and lots of firewood, I’m sure we can find something nicer,” Wallace said.
They climbed back up the short rise to his cave entrance and campfire, looking about to see if they needed anything else. Besides retrieving Wallace’s axe, which he had dropped when he transformed into a bear, Thursa said he didn’t have many other things. He put his wood-chopping axe into his inventory too.
“You don’t have any other clothes?” she asked, hoping the answer was no.
“Is this not acceptable?” he flexed for her.
“I surely don’t mind,” she said. “But townspeople might stare, and the barmaids will never leave you alone.”
The druid frowned. “I hate towns, but I remember liking barmaids.”
Wallace sighed, wondering what she was getting herself into. She hadn’t been kidding about finding a better stronghold. While it had just been her, the single room in the keep had been enough. Now, she would need more. Plus, it looked like the druid was a blank slate regarding equipment. She didn’t like to spend gold to buy things, as it flew in the face of their primary objective. Instead, she would need to find modules that gave equipment the powerful man could use. She was used to focusing on equipment. The paladin shook her head, not having the time to think about it now.
Vithium and Tristan were leaving, and as the monk said goodbye, he caught himself and reached into the gem bag at his waist. “Oh,” he said. “I almost forgot.” He produced a beautiful diamond ring. The gold band had a three-carat stone with a deep blue tint, like tropical water in the noonday sun.
“Are you proposing?” she asked.
The monk laughed. “No. I believe this belonged to Tami. I found it in her room. It has a magical spell that I can’t quite discern.”
Wallace took it. The band expanded once in her hand to fit her large fingers, but she didn’t put it on. She could sense the power within it also, but neither she nor Brodie could determine what it was. “I don’t remember her wearing this,” she said.
The monk shrugged. “Maybe it isn’t hers, but I don’t know whose else it could be. I’m not going to wear it. I know you are looking for her, so I thought I would try to return it to its rightful owner.”
Wallace put the ring in her gem pouch. “Thanks again. I hope you like your new party member. If I ever see you at the Gilded Swan, I hope you won’t have him turning tricks.”
Vithium laughed. “I doubt that. I think I’ll have him run security. It’s a non-PVP zone, but the streets outside can get pretty hostile.”
They said their goodbyes, and Wallace watched the two characters head down the path toward the travel node.
{Set your spawn point here, and it is time to log off,} Brodie said. {School’s in 45 minutes.}
“Real life,” Wallace sighed.
“What’s that?” Thursa asked.
“Something you never need to worry about,” she replied. “It’s late, and I need rest.” She looked back into the cave. “You don’t happen to have more than one bed back there, do you?”
The man laughed again. “Why, you don’t want to share?”
A few minutes later, after Wallace was settled on a pile of animal skins, she logged off and woke up in Edinburgh, Scottland.
“Well,” Brodie said, moving over to his sister to unhook her from the game, “that was exciting. We’ll have to thank Jace the next time we see him. Any plans for what we do next?”
Eilidh sat still for a while, thinking. “You know all those vampire modules we’ve been avoiding?”
“You mean the ones you said were too dangerous,” he replied.
“Yes, those.” She was good against the undead, but vampires were at another level. “With my new sword and Thursa at my side, I think we can handle a few of them.” She paused as she worked through several of the more common modules out there. “We have a pretty clear path to get me up to level 14 or 15 in a week.”
“Sounds great,” he said. “Now go get dressed, and I’ll have breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen.”
Eilidh smiled and did as she was told.
The END
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