Welcome readers! This chapter is a little shorter, but good nonetheless.
Here's Chapter 8.
"All and Nothing? What does that have to do… wait… I remember the bards called that ancient plague-"
"No, Colonel, it was no plague. If you come with us I will explain," Herinion said quickly.
The Colonel sighed and grabbed a soldier walking by.
"Soldier, I must leave the field for a bit. Go find Major Karsenev and tell him to report here. And also find our horses and lead them back here, ready to travel."
I froze at the name of the major. The soldier stiffened and gave a brisk salute.
"Scharn vai scharn!" He replied in the rough Immortal tongue before running off. Turning to the priests, Colonel Fuzz asked,
"Do you need any soldiers?"
"Our fighting monks are holding off the noobs, but some relief would be nice. But Colonel, we really must hurry."
The Colonel nodded, and turned to see our horses being led to us. On the left was a tall, large built man with graying hair, wearing the Kandarin insignia for a major on his shoulders, a white cape, and having the trims of an officer on his armour. He walked up to the Colonel and saluted, which the Colonel returned.
"Nark une met orfein scharn?"
"No need for our language, Major. There are no enemies to overhear us. Now, I need to go to the monastery to help reinforce it. By the time I get back I want an entire quarantine line around Falador castle and the Taverley gate. Start ferrying all the civilians into the gate and into the refugee camps the Burthorpe military are setting up. No one gets in without a complete examination. Understood?"
The major answered with an accent similar to my own.
"Yes, sir. If the noobs begin breaking through, I'll pull back the men into the gate and hold them there."
"Good. Get a battalion of mounted troops to accompany me to the monastery.
"Right away, sir."
He turned to walk to the back lines. I averted my gaze, but he saw me and stopped.
"Ivan? Ivan… is that you?"
I sighed and said,
"Hello father."
Somewhere in the Wilderness
Xander poked his head out from behind the rock… there were no noobs nearby. Launching himself from the outcropping, he sprinted across the field, each hand carrying a bucket. He ran into the dragon field, dodging the dragons until he got to the middle where a large rock jutted out. He set down the two buckets and scrambled for the hidden door. He found the hatch and pulled it open, grabbed the buckets, and ran inside, slamming the door behind him.
"Not so loudly!"
Xander set the buckets down and leaned against the wall.
"Sorry, sorry."
"Whatever… let's see what you have…"
The figure sitting in the cave got up and stalked over, looking at the buckets. The figure had white hair, wore full Runite and had a dragon scimitar on his back. Strapped on his leg was a dragon dagger. He peered inside the buckets. One was half-filled with muddy water, while the other was various had about a third of it filled with various plants.
"That's it!? That's all you got!?" He exploded. Xander backed up, hands held up in defense.
"It's not my fault! A couple noobs saw me so I ran…"
"A couple? Even a dog could kill a couple noobs! Why didn't you just-"
"Orion, will you shut up?" came a voice from the back of the cave, "I'm trying to sleep!"
"Xander just came back with some food," Orion shouted into the cave. A rustling sound was heard, and another figure walked up. This one was rather tall, and of a strong build. He crept over to the bucket and withdrew a cup from his pocket. He dipped it in the water, grabbed three plants, and retreated to the back of the cave.
"Don't gorge yourself on them Prof… although I can barely stomach them," Orion said as he took his share and seated himself. Xander was left looking at a mouthful of water left and the stem of some woody plant. He grimaced and swallowed the stem, washing down the bitter taste with the water. Sighing, he slumped down on the wall by the door, sitting cross legged and thinking. It had been this way for the past few weeks, ever since he was run out of his home by noobs, ever since he found Orion and Professor Kirk wandering in the wilderness, ever since they took to hiding in this wretched hole surrounded by dragons. It was quite ingenious, their hideout. With the dragons around, the noobs couldn't get in without getting fried. And ever since they discovered the fungus growing around could be smeared on their armour, and the dragons absolutely hated the smell, getting in and out was easier than ever.
"Ok, I'm checking it out," said Orion, getting up and drawing his dragon scimitar. He grabbed some fungus growing on the wall, crushed it and smeared it on his chest. He pushed open the door a crack, and peered out.
"We have a couple!"
Xander got up, adamant longsword in hand, and looked out. Sure enough, there was a group of a dozen or so noobs rambling around in the distance. Every now and then, to give them something to do, Xander and the two others would go out and have some fun killing groups of noobs that wandered by, although Xander though it was frightfully dangerous. Xander stood back as Prof got up from the back of the cave, smeared some fungus on him, and left the cave after Orion. With a sigh, Xander followed suit. They walked by the dragons who, after looking ready to attack, recoiled and went about walking around like normal. Soon the noobs spotted them and started running towards them.
"It's party time!" Orion shouted as he jumped into the fray, stabbing his sword through a noob's chest. Prof followed, his whip lashing out. He turned and shouted,
"Xander! Get in here! Have some fun!"
Xander started to walked forward, before he looked behind him. He barely had enough time to lift his kiteshield before a noob jumped on him. He frantically stabbed his foe, and the noob fell off limply. He got up, and saw hundreds of noobs running at them from the other side. The noobs had set a perfect trap.
"Orion! Prof!" He shouted. They turned, the last noob being dispatched. Orion saw the hundreds running at them.
"Holy shit! Get back! Let the dragons take care of them!"
They all backpedaled, standing by their cave and watching. The dragons reared, spraying billowing fire at the noobs, roasting dozens. Then a dragon reached forward and grabbed a struggling noob with its massive jaws and crunched him in half, swallowing the legs.
"Oh crap."
The dragon reared back to spray more fire, but stopped. It started twitching, then fell over. The body twitched, then went still.
"Maybe we should get out of here…"
The dragon lifted its legs and slowly stood back up. It looked at them with white eyes, then turned and bit another dragon on its neck. Horrified, they watched as the remainder of the dragons were killed and reanimated. Once the slaughter was over, one turned towards them and shot a fireball out of its flaming maw. Xander jumped to the side, rolling to avoid the fireball. Orion and Prof didn't see it until it hit. It exploded, sending jagged rocks flying and sending Prof into the air. Orion managed to lift his shield, protecting him from most of the shrapnel, and he was blown backwards about ten yards from the noobs. They started running at him. Orion slowly got up, wincing, and started slashing at noobs that got close. Prof was lying farther away, his foot pinned under a fallen pillar. He groaned and saw Orion fighting off the noobs, then looked at Xander.
"Go help him," he shouted, pointing his finger, "Go!"
Xander stood at his spot, stunned. His adamant longsword fell from his grasp. Prof pushed at the rock, but to no avail. Still heaving, he looked at Xander again.
"What the hell are you doing!? Help him!"
Xander just watched in horror as Orion slashed a noob's head off, leaving his stomach open. A noob took the opening and thrust an iron longsword through Orion's belly. He doubled over, and a noob jumped on his back, plunging a bronze dagger into his neck. Orion fell as more noobs struck him in more and more areas.
"No! No!" Prof screamed as he watched. With one massive heave, he managed to move the rock enough to wrench his foot out. He ran lashing his whip at the noobs on Orion. There were only about a dozen left, so in his fury, Prof killed the rest of them. One had only one leg and was trying to crawl around, using one arm to slash with a knife. Xander snapped out of his shock and slowly walked to the carnage after picking up his sword. Prof was furiously beating on the surviving noob with his boot, smashing the head into a brainy, lumpy pulp. Prof turned and looked at Orion. He had multiple stab wounds and was bitten and mangled, and an eye was missing. Miraculously, he was still alive. Extremely slowly, he lifted one trembling gloved hand into the air. Prof gripped it as it fell still and cold. Prof fell on his knees and looked at Xander.
"You!" he sobbed, pointing an accusing finger at him, "It's your fault! Because of you, Orion's dead! You damn coward… You could have helped him but you…" he broke down into sobs. A minute later, he picked himself up, took Orion's scimitar, and cut off the corpse's head before it reanimated. He rummaged through his pack, pulled out a spade, and began digging a grave. Xander began to help, but Prof stopped him. "No, don't. Just don't… Just get back to the cave."
---
The night was very quiet; Prof laid still at the back of the cave, and Xander sat with his back against the wall. He pondered the previous day's doings, and why he had acted as he did.
I know I've been cowardly before, but that was just…
Xander hung his head in his hands and wept from exhaustion, fear, and grief. It was all too much… all just too much. With one hand, he grabbed his adamant dagger and held it up to his neck, but before he could move, he heard the door shudder. Turning, he saw the door just in time to see it shatter. A noob jumped in, carrying a huge axe. Judging by the muscles and axe, Xander assumed it was a barbarian turned noob. Xander jumped up and chucked his dagger at the brute, catching it in the shoulder. He picked up his longsword and drove it through the noob's neck. The doorway continued to fill with more noobs.
"Prof! We need to get out of here!"
Xander held up his shield and used it to hold back the noobs. He swung with his sword again, only to find out it was bronze. Yelping in surprise, he dropped it and backed up, bumping into a body. He turned to see Orion standing there, half decomposed and with several bronze weapons stuck in him, wailing, "Xander! Help me! Help me!"
The body then grabbed Xander by the neck, lifting him off the ground… he gasped for air…
Xander awoke to Prof shaking his shoulder. He gasped for air, and found his amulet had wrapped around his neck. Shaking, Xander stood up and straightened out his amulet. Prof stood up too and looked at him.
"Are you alright? You were-"
"I'm fine, fine…"
Prof looked behind him, then back forward.
"I think we should leave in a few days. That… fiasco yesterday attracted too much attention."
Xander nodded and went back to sleep. For the next few days, Xander was haunted by dreams of death and Orion, of dragons and being burnt alive. Even in the day, Xander would think he would see a ravaged Orion walking by. It was starting to drive him insane, so it was a great relief when they left.
Xander picked up his pack and opened the door. They left the bloodstained clearing and headed northward, hoping to find refuge in the ruins near there. They walked in silence, Prof not caring to look at Xander, and Xander not wanting to look at Prof. He still wondered why he did what he did, the last look on Orion's face before dying, the dream, and what he was about to do in the dream.
Maybe it isn't such a bad thought. I can't even live with myself…
This is what he thought for the hour or so they walked, in absolute silence. Every now and then they would pass groups of noobs, but they avoided them and kept going. While he was walking, Xander's kiteshield slipped, he paused a second to fix it, and kept walking up the hill. He froze at the top as he saw a hundred or so noobs shuffling around. Prof slowly began backing up.
"Just back up slowly…" Prof whispered. Xander nodded and backed slowly down, but slipped. With a loud thud, he landed heavily on his back. The noobs, whipped their heads towards them and ran. "Run! Go!" Prof yelled.
Prof and Xander ran, noobs trailing them. They ran past the ruins, and seeing no place to hide, continued on. Xander's lungs burned, and he ran onward, hoping desperately for a miracle.
"Xander! Get your head down!"
Xander bent his head down, and two Gnome gliders rocketed past just above his head. They slowed, then turned back, and veered so that they were flying about ten feet above their heads. The pilot of one signaled to the back, and two drag flaps opened. The gilder slowed to their speed, and the goggled head of a copilot popped up and shouted,
"We can't land here! Keep heading north, there's a bridge!" He pointed northward. "We can land on the other side and pick you up! Hurry!"
With that the glider's drag flaps closed and sped up, heading into the distance. Xander saw the edge of the bridge in the distance. The distance was long, Xander couldn't keep it up.
"Catch!"
Xander looked up to see Prof tossing a strange purple fruit through the air. Xander instantly recognized it and he filled with relief. Catching the fruit, he bit into it. His limbs surged with energy and his muscles ceased to ache. With the newfound energy, he and Prof raced the distance to the bridge. It was an ancient, rickety bridge, probably several decades old. It seemed ready break with the slightest provocation. Xander looked behind him to see that they had gained little distance with the noobs, and they were barreling down on them. Xander realized something. Breathing heavily, he turned to Prof.
"We won't be able to get across… that bridge will never hold more than three people. The noobs will follow us." Xander turned and looked at the noobs. "Go!" He shouted, practically pushing Prof onto the bridge before he could say anything. Prof turned and held onto the swaying bridge and looked at Xander as he unsheathed his adamant sword.
"No! You are not going to-"
"Just go!" Xander shouted as the first noob jumped at him. He lifted his shield, sending the noob over him and into the chasm behind him. He turned, seeing Prof scowl and turn to get across the bridge. Xander swung his sword at another noob, decapitating it.
"Xander! Let's go!" Xander heard Prof yell. He whipped his head around, seeing Prof safely on the other side. Behind him were the two gliders, waving him on. Xander then looked at the horde of noobs behind him, knowing what he had to do. There was no way to get across without the noobs following him, and if the noobs followed, the gliders couldn't get off the ground fast enough. He smiled sadly, waving at his friend.
"What the hell are you do- no!"
Xander swept his sword on the ropes holding the bridge, neatly severing them. The bridge fell into the chasm. Turning to his foes, Xander shouted and jumped into the mass of noobs, slashing, stabbing, crushing with his shield, and killing all he could. He felt an arrow hit his thigh, but kept fighting. In a momentary respite, he arched his head up. He saw two gliders flying away, Prof on one of them. Then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Looking down, Xander saw a noob holding onto a bronze shortsword embedded in his belly. Xander brought up his sword, and found his arm to be a stump. Looking, he saw a large noob holding an iron battleaxe, fresh blood on its blade. Xander fell to his knees.
This is it. I've done it. Prof is safe, Orion is avenged. I've done it.
Xander smiled as more blades cut into him. He had proven himself to Prof, but more importantly he had proven himself to himself. He would be haunted no more.
And there she is.
Oh, and the next chapter will get you off that cliff you're hanging onto. Check regularly for it.
