“Getting to the very middle of the camp without raising alarms will be difficult.” The man still kept his eyes on Marlok as he spoke. The wind blowing over the ridge picked up. “Seems more so than actually killing the necromancer. There can be no more than three of us. A fourth would give us more strength but might make us easier to detect.”
“Not if we divide ourselves,” Daniel said.
“It wouldn’t make sense to divide ourselves if the major reason for going as a larger group would be to fend off attacks.”
“That’s why we’re going to decrease the chances of having any interactions by creating decoys. If we have several events going on at different points in the camp, they won’t be able to tell that we’re really there for.”
The man and Marlok exchanged glances as if they were thinking. It seemed they were exchanging thoughts about the idea or playing it out in their head. Whichever it was, it wasn’t for long.
“We’ll have three groups of threes that will enter the camp from different points. I’ll take some warriors from the patrol line to make up our forces. The decoys will enter from the right flank. Once the forces are gathered there, the main group will enter from the left and head straight for the center.” Marlok’s eyes shifted between Daniel and Cole, they both nodded in accord with the plan. “We leave at dark.”
There wasn’t much to do until dark. Daniel studied the lay of the land with both his eyes and the control panel. At one point he murmured something about a pop-up event coming up soon. He didn’t seem quite interested. A few seconds later Cole got the same notification. It had been sent to him before, but he never opened it. He won’t again this time; he was more focused on the quest.
Cole doubted he would’ve gotten this far if the quest wasn’t a co-op. That party feature saved him from struggling for weeks on a single quest. He was cruising through these quests only because Daniel was tagging along. Cole felt a faint weakness in his legs. He decided that once this quest was over, he would be doing the rest solo.
Night fell quickly. Between the time the plans were made and the moon shining in the sky, Cole decided to read up on Zuna while replenishing his health. It wasn’t much different from what Marlok was talking about. But before Cole could research more into his character, Marlok announced that it was time. Marlok, Cole, and Daniel were the main groups that would attack the center.
The man who met Marlok, and two others who were with him, were in the first decoy group. The second one was comprised of three random NPCs Cole had never seen before. At Marlok’s signal, the groups moved into position.
Cole followed Daniel and Marlok as they scaled down the left side of the ridge. The rock formations kept them hidden from the moonlight, but Cole still felt as if someone was watching him. He kept an eye on the enemy warriors droning about below. They moved as if controlled by invisible tendrils. It was only when Cole reached the ridge’s base did he confirm that the warriors were flesh and blood as himself. Well, as much as ones and zeroes could mimic. As the group waited, Cole could see Marlok silently studying the movements of the enemy patrol.
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Bright flames rose on the opposite end. The commotion started, and bodies sped through the camp in the fire’s direction. Marlok disabled the few remaining guards with poison darts. Cole stepped past their crumpled bodies as the group entered the camp. The journey to the center was easier than they expected it to be. They had to stop and hide for a few warriors to speed past them but besides that, there were no other issues until they came to the Necromancer’s tent.
Four men stood guard. Marlok poisoned two, and Daniel slit one’s throat, but when Cole attempted the same, he spun before Cole got close enough. Reactively, Cole swung at the man’s core. The man stopped the ax with his blade, pulled a knife with his other hand, and then stabbed at Cole’s neck.
The man’s hand and the knife fell to the ground. The man was about to scream, but a hand covered his mouth, and a knife twisted in his neck. When Cole’s brain caught up with what was going on, he realized that Marlok had severed the man’s hand and Daniel stabbed him in the neck. Daniel gently brought the man’s body to the ground, looked around, and then signaled for them to enter the tent while hinting that Cole shouldn’t get too close.
Daniel silently slipped into the hut and Cole followed behind Marlok. A lone figure stood in the corner, shifting around containers on a table. Daniel crept up behind him, but the man spun wildly when he saw Daniel’s shadow on the wall. Daniel intended to get the upper hand and pounced ready to plunge his sword into the necromancer’s belly.
“Wait!” The man had a girly shriek. “I’m not the necromancer. Spare me, and I’ll give you valuable information.”
The man’s title card popped up.
Name: Coward
Title: Shunned Warrior
He was telling the truth, he is no Necromancer. The group looked between themselves and then Marlok grabbed Coward by the collar.
“Where is the necromancer, Coward?” he asked. “What’s happening here?”
“I’m just a decoy. They planned for you to kill me and think your mission was fulfilled.”
“So where is he?”
“If I tell you, you must promise to let me go.”
Another prompt popped up for Cole. Daniel waited for Cole’s choice, and once Cole confirmed, he confirmed too.
“The necromancer is too powerful for you to kill with bare hands. However, there is a way.” Coward’s eyes shifted between all three of them “The Temple of Ba lies in ruins to the southwest of this camp. It’s fabled that within its dungeons is the brightest light no darkness can withstand. If used against the necromancer it will surely cripple his powers and make him more vulnerable to any attack. Get the item, and you can destroy the necromancer for good.”
“Why would you tell us this?” Marlok asked.
“Zuna doesn’t see it now, but the necromancer’s intentions do none of us any good. Not Arrad nor Sonner. Neither those of Bas nor those of Wey.”
There was a sharp crack from their left, and an ax poked through the wall. A second later, that small hole turned into a long slit as the ax slid down to the base of the hut. More holes popped up all around the hut with swords, heads, and hands poking through them. One of those hands grabbed Coward and pulled him back through the hole. Before he even made it to the other side, he had five stab wounds in his torso.
“Get out!” Daniel yelled, but it was already too late.
The hut was merely shreds now, and they were surrounded by the necromancer’s hybrid warriors. There was no hesitation in their movements, no signal to charge. They just attacked. Not one by one but all at once. Possessed by mad darkness in their eyes.