"Just up here! I saw them run this way!" DarkRiser shouted. TankGod had met him briefly on the boat. He was unknown to the group of Australians, but he was the only one who saw Neon get taken. I'm coming for you brother, just wait.
The dense thicket of trees swallowed the area of Bower Island in a sea of darkened green. Overhead the moon casted down a feint glow on the path ahead, just enough for TankGod to be able to follow DarkRisers movements. Wish he wasn't wearing damn black clothes. His eyes struggled to follow the other players form. Even a flashlight would be good.
"Are you sure you got the right guy?" Lightweight asked. The added fat of his avatar sank him to the back of the group like an anchor.
"Positive!" DarkRiser shouted in between breaths, keeping his head forward.
"Just listen to him Paul!" Tank shouted, picking up his pace.
Dark cut a hard right, nearly throwing the others off their feet. Tank felt his ankles click as he turned at a moment's notice. Yet his pace picked up once he saw the clearing in the forest ahead. And when he saw a bright glowing nametag, he broke into a full sprint.
"Jared!" Jason shouted at his brother.
For each of the players in his group, Tank guessed there were five or six Hobbes to match. Each one of the monsters surrounded the center of the field in a large circle. At its center were the largest Hobbes, large and reddish in color, their height approached Tankgods own. The only thing louder then their taunts was the scream. The scream of Neontiger. DarkRiser stopped. Tank ran past him.
"You bastards!" He shouted, arcing his blade up at the first Hobbe to get within his reach. The beast split into two halves upon contact. It's pixels shattered instantaneously, revealing Tanks presence to the sea of Hobbes behind it. Moments later, their grunts and taunts amplified by an order of magnitude. Tankgod mustered a roar to match theirs. "Watch out!"
From TankGods left Cheesus stepped in with the heavy barrel of his rifle unslung from his back. In a swift motion he drove it upwards into the Hobbes mouth, pulling the trigger at the back of the beasts throat. With the Hobbes shattered pixels surrounding him, Cheesus look at Tank.
"There's a fucking lot mate, don't be so reckless!"
Tank nodded. Just then Lightweight, Trix RICH joined into the fight as well. They formed a ring at Tanks side. The Hobbes stood for a moment, transfixed. If only for a moment, Tankgod saw it. They're hesitating. He reached to the bottom of his lungs, preparing another battle cry.
A shadow passed over his face. He looked up.
With a shadowy aura coating his body, DarkRiser caved a hole in the mass of Hobbes, theirs skulls crushing under the weight of his landing. Tankgod instinctively covered his face as several-shattered Hobbe crystals spread towards him like shrapnel. Dark rose slowly. He looked at Tank and sighed.
"If one charges, I guess we all have to…." From the grip of his left hand the beacon of shadow glowed a mix of violet and black. Haven't seen that type of magic yet. Tank thought. DarkRiser turned back around to face the Hobbes.
TankGod smiled.
The numbers of the Hobbes thinned rapidly. With the quick dispersal of their smaller, greyish counterparts, the red Hobbes took to the forest. Tankgod picked his feet up to give them chase when he suddenly noticed the body at the center of the field. He ran and fell to his knees.
"Jared!" He yelled, shaking his little brothers body. Jared groaned.
"Ugh…What happened…?" NeonTigers health flashed orange, just a hair above the red zone.
"Hobbes." TankGod said plainly.
"Like the Fable III character?"
"Is he alright?" Cheesus asked, TankGod smiled.
"Close enough." The player stood up. "But now it looks like we got another problem on our hands."
RICH folded his arms. "The whole being lost thing?"
"Yep. This might not be the best thing for the raid." TankGod looked at DarkRiser. "Though it looks like we got another Apollo on our hands."
Before Dark could answer a man came running out the forest, his form sloppy and his expression frantic. He looked to be a warrior, dressed in plain clothing and with a name TankGod couldn't recognize. He stopped just in front of the group.
"Herahell!"
Everyone stared.
"What?" Lightweight finally asked.
The man stopped and cleared his throat. "Hero Hill. Kungen sent a bunch of us into the forest to tell everyone to meet at Hero Hill."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Apollo burped, swallowing the last traces of water in his mouth. The hole had fell through to water, for which he was thankful, the rush of hitting sent shivers through the players spine. Water shouldn't be that cold, ever. His clothing had dried quickly, almost completely gone by the time he reached another one of the passages in the cave, and the first enemies.
With a flick of his wrist Apollo sent a shock to the ground, momentarily illuminating the cavern. Of the six beetles that had emerged from the ground, five shattered instantly. The last, and largest, fractured into a crystals when it collided with the blue coated tip of Apollos foot. He yawned.
Am I going to have to sleep down here? He wondered as he made his way through the cavern. Maybe they'll be some ruins with a bed or something. The path had begun to change again, back to the clearly defined hallways and passages that he was familiar with up at the top level. Torches brightened each step, revealing that the path would only move ahead, not with any of the side passages he had found prior. Apollo shuttered at the thought of the sheer number of stairs he would have to climb to get back up. A magical elevator would be nice.
Apollo reached another large room within ten minutes of walking. After dispatching the beetles present, he found something new. Apollo tilted his head at the iron gate in front of him. There's no lever. He ran his hands along the edge. The sides of the doorway were clean-cut stone. From what he could feel there were no hidden buttons or switches. He scratched his head. Did I take a wrong turn? No, there was nothing along the walls. This has to be some sort of puzzle.
That's when he saw it. Glowing bright blue at the other end of the room was what looked to be a glowing orb. When he walked towards it there appeared to be a slight buzzing sound. Apollo touched it with his index finger.
Buzz.
He touched it again.
Buzz.
Huh.
The room was quiet, Apollo stuck in thought. Should I….do something to it? He touched it again. The ball responded in tune. Apollo let his hand glow blue as well, touching the ball with a shock.
Buzzzzzzzzz.
Oh alright, in that case then… Apollo took several steps back and then turned around. After a deep breath, he clamped his hands together and focused. Several strands of electricity shot out from the ball forming in his grasp. With one last exhale he aimed it towards the ball.
Bbbuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Apollo instinctively covered his eyes. Though through the cracks in his fingers he could see the light of the ball shift. He uncovered his eyes to find the ball slowly moving towards the gate. With a last buzz the ball stopped a foot short of the gate, in front of a similarly sized circular indentation in the wall. It inserted itself with a single, smooth motion. The blue light faded, and the room dimmed.
What.
A moment later the noise of several chains rattling echoed throughout the cavern, causing the floor to shake slightly. Apollo watched as the rusted iron lifted itself from the dusty floor and to the top of the doorway. The cave went quiet again.
…What do you even….call that?
The area of the cave past the gate was thick with dust in the air, creating a slight haze around the torches. As Apollo expected beetles, grouped in a dozen or more, would spring out of the dirt and launch their bodies at him. And like before, the weakest of his electric spells would cause them to shatter in a single frame. The player grew bored as he found himself walking more often than fighting. Where's all the Hobbes? You'd think they'd have some down here. He yawned again. Or at least something that would give me some experience.
Down the hall, several feet ahead, Apollo heard the noises once again. The torches were few and far in between, and the area was darkened. He sighed. Cuffing his right hand, a large ball of electricity once again took form. Maybe I'll just get them all in one go. He thought, the area beginning to lighten as he walked closer.
The noises grew louder, it sounded as if something was shuffling on the floor. Maybe a bigger one? Apollo aimed his bolt at the spot, arcing his hand back. Just then it came into view. Apollos heart skipped a beat.
Looking up to him with pleading, scared eyes. The little girl clenched her teddy bear tightly.
"Sir…please help?"
In front of Apollo appeared a 2D screen. A title marked in bold read, "Help the lost girl find her way out of the cave?" Behind it he could just barely see the yellow exclamation point floating above the girls head. Apollo grinned. Finally.
He clicked "accept".
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Ryuu watched in awe.
With a single arc of his blade, Defil3d slew through the thick bodies of the Red Hobbes as easily he would an empty section of air. The sea of shattered crystals seemed to surround the Knight, new ones being added faster than they could disappear as he cut through the horde. Ryuu heard Ellie whisper into his ear as he watched.
"…Just what level is this guy?"
Ryuu smiled, not taking his eyes off the scene as he whispered back "Don't know, but I told you he's strong."
"Yeah but this is just…." She paused. They watched as Defil3d drove the full length of his blade through three Hobbes, lining them up like a kebab on a stick. All three shattered in order. "Just….ridiculous."
"Good thing he's on our side then." Ryuu said with a laugh, lunging forward. "Come on, the other two guys are helping him so we might as well join in."
After their encounter on the ship Ryuu had continued his conversation with the Black Knight onto the decks below. Being one of the first ones off the vessel they were closest to the forest when the Hobbes attacked. Near them were three other players. ShadeO'Light, Polomaine9 and a short, young boy, MichaelMyersG.
Ryuu exhaled as he shoved the barrels of each of his pistols into two separate Hobbes, the creatures heads exploding in unison. He steadied himself as another two soon took their place.
The Hobbes had taken Michael swifter than even Defil3d could have noticed, Ryuu recalled. The boy out of sight even before the first screams had echoed from the group. Though Defil3d had taken notice even before Polomaine and Shade had, dashing into the forest without a moments hesitation. By the time Ryuu and the others had found him, Defil3d had already slain his first set of Hobbes. His armor already changed to the dark plate that Ryuu remembered. Damn it he's so cool.
With the explosion that followed his special ability, Hells Dynamite, Ryuu blew away the two Hobbes and the several ones in queue behind them. Ellie had similarly dispatched a group, as did Polomaine and Shade. All four players looked up to see Defil3d decapitate the final Hobbe with a last, wide arc of his blade.
"W-what….?"
Even with the lack of light Ryuu could see the visible expression of fear on Michaels face. He watched as the players companions approached him.
"It's alright man, we got you." Shade assured him.
The boy laid on his back on the grass, his health bar cut down to almost half. After cutting through several large groups of Hobbes they had found what Ryuu heard Defil3d called the "nest". Ryuu watched as a smile slowly crept back to Michaels face as Polomaine kneeled beside him as well. But still... Ryuu thought, looking over at the Black Knight. The mans armor glimmered in the moonlight. …if he wasn't here…
"Thank you." Shade said, looking up to Defil3d. His words mirrored Ryuus own thoughts. "If it weren't for you catching them so early, things might have gone a lot different."
Ryuu looked at the knight with the rest of the others. Defil3ds expression was hidden under the thick plate of his black armor. But even with that, Ryuu could tell that he was not looking at the players.
"No need to thank me. Just doing what anyone else would in my position."
"Nah you're a hero man." Polomaine pressured, standing up and offering a hand to him. Defil3d shook it slowly.
"I don't like to say things like this much, but I'm really glad you're with us."
Defil3d shook his head, But bolomaine continued.
"I mean shit man, what level are you anyways? You're looking as good as even that Kungen guy."
Defil3d didn't respond. Ryuu wondered what the man was thinking. His expression was static and quiet, much different from what Ryuu had seen on the boat.
"Relax Polo." Shade said, raising a hand. "He saved us, let's just that be enough for now."
Out of the forest, two figures stumbled him. Only when he saw the greenlight that signified they were in the party did Ryuu remove his hand from the pistol. In the moonlight he had trouble telling their gender, let alone their class.
The first one spoke he hurried, quick tone.
"Kungen told us to tell everyone to meet at Hero Hill! We're supposed to find everyone in a hurry, so are you guys good to go?" Ryuu looked at Ellie and shrugged. Neither Shade, Polo nor Michael spoke.
It was Defil3d who asked the question.
"Is that where the boss trigger is?"
"Boss trigger?" Ryuu asked, Ellie shrugged when he looked at her.
"It's the switch that triggers the main boss event. Most of the bigger quests have them." Michael said, slowly rising to a seated position. He looked at the Black Knight. "You aren't thinking of…?"
"No." Defil3d assured him. "I'm just curious if the other man was thinking of starting this fighting early."
Michael looked confused. "The other man? Are you talking about Kungen?"
One of the men from the forest interrupted. "Look it doesn't matter. We've got to get moving to tell everyone else, just be there alright?"
They nodded, the men left. Michael was on his feet then, dusting off his pants with Polomaine and Shade next to him. Ryuu and Ellie approached them as well, with Defil3d still standing in the same spot as before.
"Guess we should get moving then?" Ellie asked.
Shade nodded. "Yeah we definitely need to regroup with everyone else."
They all started to move of out of the clearing and back into the forest. Overhead the high figure of Hero Hill loomed in the distance. Ryuu knew getting there wouldn't be the problem. But that boss fight… He looked back at Defil3d, the man still hadn't moved from his spot.
"You alright?"
The Knight was quiet.
"…Ryuu." He began slowly. Overhead the moonlight casted a blueish tint on his armor.
The Knight took a step closer to him. Ryuu felt something in his chest. Somethings wrong. His gut told him immediately. He looked up at Defil3d. The man glared down at Ryuu.
"There's something I need to tell you."