If the ogres hit their defensive line, it would be over. They could smash through their ranks with a single swing.
Rain braced herself, ready to break through the goblin lines to create a distraction. She could not defeat three ogres, but maybe she could slow them down.
Then she heard Elmer’s pained scream next to her. She looked over and saw a massive goblin standing even taller than Elmer, its spear impaled through Elmer’s shoulder. His axe had fallen to the ground, and Elmer gripped the goblin’s spear with his hands, staring the goblin in the eyes as he bled.
“I’ll take you down with me, mother fucker!” Elmer shouted, spitting into the goblin’s eye. The goblin gave a wide, angry grin, and leaned forward to bite through Elmer’s neck. Elmer smirked. “I hope you choke on me.”
“Elmer!” Rain shouted desperately, trying to fight her way to him through the two goblins that stood between them. She was not going to make it.
The Spear of Pinga flew from behind their ranks, striking the massive goblin through its eye and out the other side, its skull exploding as the momentum took it off its feet. The driftwood spear carried forward, impaling another two goblins on its shaft before coming to a halt.
Elmer cried out in pain as the spear was wrenched from his shoulder and he began to fall, only to be caught by Calista.
Rain’s heart leapt. Calista’s chest was covered in blood and she was unsteady on her feet, but she had a vengeful fire in her eyes.
“Don’t tell me you are done already, Elmer,” Calista poked. “I know you are tougher than that.”
“Tougher than you,” Elmer grunted through the pain. “You can’t even take a tiny little arrow. It took a whole spear to slow me down. Where is the witch?”
A line of dark red flame erupted between goblin and Freelancers along their line, weak heat that licked bare goblin feet and distract them long enough for the swords and spears of the Freelancers to carve through them and cause the next goblin line to hesitate. Rain took the chance to slice through the necks of both goblins she was facing.
Milly stood behind Calista, her dress caked in Calista’s blood, her eyes set with deep exhaustion.
She wanted to run over and hug her friends. She wanted to cry in their arms. But they had no time.
“Calista! Milly! The ogres!” she called, pointing with her dagger to the three approaching monstrosities. Calista started to move forward, but Milly reached up and grabbed her shoulder.
“Don’t you dare get hurt again,” Milly whispered in Calista’s ear. “I’ll never forgive you.”
Calista looked into her concerned eyes, then nodded. “You too, Milly. Let’s make it quick. One each?”
Milly and Rain nodded, and the trio sprang into action, Milly’s flames carving a path through the goblins between their line and the ogres. “Elmer, hold the line,” shouted Rain as they broke through and dashed towards the ogres.
“Right,” whispered Elmer, reaching over and grabbing a small goblin club on the ground with his uninjured arm. He slowly got to his feet, grateful he had decided to increase his toughness so much. Elmer shouted to the Freelancers as the flames died, “Freelancers! Let’s do this!”
When the last flame went out, the goblins crashed forward once again, their final line of forces meeting the stubborn Freelancers.
***
Rain carved through three more goblins as she dashed towards the ogre in the middle. It gave her a broad and stupid smile as she approached, eager to begin. It dragged its giant club lazily in the sand beside it, leaving a trail back to the darkness.
As she ran forward, Rain withdrew the final bottle from her satchel, a wide-brimmed narrow flask with a sickly green liquid and a black cork, marked with an X in red. She wiped her dagger clean on her apron before very carefully removing the cork and dipping her dagger inside. She held it there for a few footsteps until the imbedded pearl at the end of its hilt changed from milky white to sicky green. She gently replaced the cork on the bottle, now half empty, and stashed it back in her satchel.
She did not need the potion for the goblins. It would have been overkill. It was meant for something bigger.
She ran straight for the ogre but adjusted her speed, suddenly sprinting forward and catching the ogre off guard. It lifted its giant club to swing, but Rain was already sliding between its legs before its club left the ground, dagger slicing through thick skin and into tendons. She rose back to her feet behind the ogre, dagger jabbing forward quickly into its lower back. With each jab, the sickly green pearl slowly faded back to milky white.
It would be a monumental task to take down a massive ogre with a simple dagger.
But the Dagger of Lugh Samildànach was no simple dagger.
And Rain Desjarlais was no simple alchemist.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The ogre did not stand a chance.
Rain’s poison spread quickly through the ogre’s body, sickly green veins spreading with every prick of the dagger. Its blood vessels shattered. Pustules formed beneath its skin and ruptured. It tried to roar in pain, but only succeeded in expelling copious amounts of black fluid from its mouth onto the sand below.
Rain kept dancing behind its back, dagger stabbing until every last speck of sickly green had disappeared from the pearl. The ogre spun around, trying to reach her, but Rain was too fast. She stayed behind it, until the poison reached the monster’s heart and tore it apart from the inside. The ogre collapsed face first into the sand, shaking the ground as it landed, the poison still ripping its way through organ after organ.
“I may have made this first batch a little too strong,” concluded Rain, making a mental note to dilute down the next batch, and to find herself a thick pair of gloves.
***
Calista stumbled forward in the sand, yanking the Spear of Pinga out of the two goblin corpses as she passed. She was not well, though she was trying to hide it. Milly had been able to heal the worst of her injury. The arrow had pierced lung, and Calista had damaged her heart when she wrenched the arrow out of her chest. That she was still alive was a testament to the magical prowess that grew more powerful within Milly every day.
Two near-death experiences in two days, and Milly was her savior for each. It put her life in perspective. Milly was special to her, and Calista found herself smiling when she was simply in her presence.
“Rain is right. I cannot keep denying this. I cannot keep denying myself. When this is all over, I need to tell her,” Calista promised herself. “I need to tell her how I feel.”
The ogre roared, saliva flying out of its mouth in a torrent of foul-smelling droplets. It lifted its club, pounding its chest to challenge Calista.
“But first, there is this asshole to deal with,” Calista said. “I am not strong enough yet to fight it head on. Time to see what Pinga’s spear can really do.”
The ogre charged forward, massive footsteps shaking the ground. Calista lifted the spear up to her shoulder and took a deep breath. “Let’s see what a twenty strength can do.” She hurled the driftwood spear forward with all her strength, wincing in the pain with the effort.
The spear connected with the ogre in the same place Calista had been struck by the arrow. Only her spear pierced straight through the ogre’s thick hide, erupting out the other side and carrying forward until it impaled itself into the middle of a palm tree twenty paces away with a resounding crack.
“Holy shit!” Calista exclaimed as the ogre halted in its tracks, staring down in disbelief at the hole the spear had carved through its chest.
“Now, for its talent,” Calista said, raising her palm to the sky and focusing on the spear. “Let’s see if this works.”
She felt the talent granted by the spear activate, an invisible silver thread connecting her palm to the Spear of Pinga. It felt as if she could reach out and touch it.
“Spear Recall.”
The driftwood spear began to move, jarring itself out of the tree. Coconuts rained down on the ground below as the tree shook with its effort. Once it was free, the spear turned its point towards its owner and shot back in a straight line, traveling at the same speed it was thrown.
The ogre stood between the spear and Calista. The spear did not slow down, and it pierced through the ogre’s stomach as it traveled towards Calista.
The spear finished its flight and rested gently into Calista’s outstretched palm as the ogre’s vile insides spilled onto the sand. The spear was covered in ogre blood and bile, and Calista struggled to focus as she dodged the droplets of ogre insides that fell around her.
“Oh, that is so gross,” complained Calista. She shook the spear off in the sand to get rid of the worst of it, then hoisted it back up. “One last time,” she said, throwing hard.
The Spear of Pinga struck the creature in the eye, imbedding itself deep into its skull. The ogre collapsed backwards with the impact, dead in the sand.
“I really wish we had showers here,” Calista sighed.
***
Milly steadily approached her ogre, exhaustion threatening to overcome her. Salem’s Fury was still active, and she could feel the wellspring of power still flowing within her, but each time she tapped into it she grew more exhausted. And more angry. She was borrowing power from an unknown source, and she did not know what would happen if she drew too much.
But her anger drowned out any worry within her. She had been forced to listen to the sounds of dying Freelancers as she had kept Calista alive, unable to help them for fear Calista would be the cost of doing so. A sacrifice Milly would never make.
“Damn those goblins,” spat Milly, marching towards the ogre, her anger growing. “Damn the Gods. Damn Jacob Stone. Damn Judy Brass. Damn every single, fucking one of them.”
Flames erupted from her palms, stretching high above her. Her eyes glowed with violet fire as anger consumed her. Her gaze burrowed into the ogre’s eyes, a mirror clone of the one that had nearly killed her and Calista on that first day. And her flames grew hotter.
“You attack my friends? The people I care about? I will not let you have them. I will not let them be sacrificed to your fucking game.”
She felt no fear. Her anger had consumed her fear. But the ogre could not say the same. The woman clouded in flames and with piercing violet eyes frightened it to its core.
The ogre turned and ran.
“Oh no, you fucking don’t!” Milly shouted, reaching out with her earth magic and causing the sand around its feet to solidify. It fell forward as its feet were planted in place, but Milly used her telekinesis to keep it on its feet.
She closed the distance as it struggled to rip its feet from the earth. It looked backed at Milly, utter fear in its eyes.
Milly unleased her flames, and the ogre’s dying screams struck fear into the heart of every remaining goblin.
***
Elmer watched The Huntress, The Alchemist, and The Witch of the Castle of Glass take down the three ogres, utterly awestruck at their power. A sentiment shared by every one of the remaining Freelancers.
“Come on!” he shouted, bashing a goblin over the head with its own club. “They have cleared us the path. Let’s end this!”
The Freelancers surged forward as the ogre’s dying screams filled the air. And one by one, the remaining goblins were struck down, until at least the final one took its last breath, lying on the sands of Tower Beach.
A victory cheer rose into the air from the survivors. A cheer that every person cowering in the Tower, watching from on high from behind glass walls, could hear.
A victory that had come at a heavy price.
Congratulations Players!
Event Complete
Win condition: Defeat All Enemies
Rewards: Participating players receive
* Experience based on kills
* +1 bonus level
* 500 gold each
* 1 special custom item
Event timer reset to 168 hours