Unforeseen path, p.31
Unforeseen Path, page 31
As hot tears of frustration began running down my cheeks, I saw the mini-boss suddenly launch itself into the air through my tear-filled eyes. The sight of the massive monster bouncing off the ceiling to come crashing down at us filled me with a gibbering fear as thoughts of Neristhana permanently dying flooded my mind with dread. Feeling my anguish washing over our link, I heard Neysa let out a wailing howl as she leaped on top of me with all four paws to use the weight of her entire body.
TWANG!
The vibrations of the burst cord shot through my chest as the strand holding me to the rafters ripped me away from Neysa’s grasp like I’d been shot out of a cannon. I was barely aware of the release of tension sending the Silver Dire Wolf tumbling away in the opposite direction as I shot past the surprised face of Toxic Stalker a split second before the mini-boss came crashing down onto the spot where we’d just been standing. Not that I was paying too much attention to what was going on behind me as the wooden beams of the barn’s roof came rushing up at my face. I barely had time to turn my head to the side, before coming to a crunching stop.
For a long moment, I was unaware of anything else going on around me except for the aching pain in my head. It felt like I’d smacked into a brick wall going sixty miles an hour with only my face. My HUD pulsed with a red warning that I was afflicted by a five-second stun, of which I was barely aware of the system message popping open before my bleary eyes as I limply dropped back towards the ground at the end of my tether.
At that moment, I’d have sworn that I had a real-life concussion as I bounced, spun, and swayed on the end of the strand holding me to the rafters like a broken piñata. I felt odd, almost like the agony had been so realistic that my mind had a psychosomatic response to protect itself. As I struggled to take in the chaos going on around me, I caught sporadic, nauseating flashes of Neysa trying to kite the mini-boss as my friends alarmed and anxious shouts beat at my ears.
“Star, are you alright?” Phoenix’s muffled shout rang in my ears as I caught a glimpse of Neysa scrabbling away on bloody paws.
“Look at your HUD, he’s stunned,” Töten’s gruff voice barked as I was sent spinning from Toxic Stalker’s bulbous hindquarters smashing into me.
The monstrous mini-boss’s flailing spiked legs whipped past my face in a blur as it launched itself after the Silver Dire Wolf. Snapshots of the barn and the hanging players zoomed past my eyes as I puked in the back of my throat. By the time I’d spun back around towards the fight, Neysa was flinging herself to the side as Toxic Stalker flew past her in a mass of flailing limbs and mouth tentacles.
“No shit, I’m surprised he’s not-,” Byrnwulf bellowed as the strand I was hanging from spun me back around.
“Don’t run towards me you stupid beast!” Igtra’s fearful shriek blasted out in group chat, cutting Byrnwulf off as I pivoted back around in time to see Toxic Stalker’s monstrous bulk barreling into the Red Draconian-Human female and Phoenix.
“Holy shit,” Töten’s exclamation in consternation as Neysa painfully rolled back onto her bloody paws, “Are you guys alright?”
“I think,” Phoenix managed to gasp out as she spun uncontrollably away from the mini-boss, “I’m going to be sick!”
“Don’t you dare puke-” Igtra screamed in a panic as the mini-boss regained its footing in time to see the Silver Dire Wolf sprinting away.
“Hhhuuurrrlll!” Phoenix chokingly gagged, before her body doubled over violently as stomach bile projectile vomited from her mouth like a firehose.
My head cleared from the effects of the stun just in time to clearly see the horrified expression that crossed Igtra’s face a split second before she was drenched in puke from head to toe. There was so much of the caustic goop that she almost looked like she’d been slimed on Nickelodeon. While that was nasty, the worst part, I suddenly realized as Phoenix’s body spun away, was that the Red Draconian-Human female still had her mouth wide open.
I spun away from the pair in time to catch a glimpse of Neysa dodging another leaping attack from Toxic Stalker as the sounds of Igtra uncontrollably heaving the contents of her stomach up came to my ears. Not that looking away helped much since a still-puking Phoenix was spinning around on the end of her tether like a decorative fountain at the Bellagio. As I fitfully gulped in a lungful of air to stop myself from joining in on the fun, a pair of bound feet slammed into me from behind.
“Are you ready to do this?” Zeven shouted as a cacophony of angry curses came from the far side of the barn where Neysa and the mini-boss had gone.
“Yeah,” I chokingly gasped out as another powerful kick stopped my spinning. Swallowing the bile that had risen in the back of my throat, I angrily snarled at the Badger kin’s rough handling, “Dude! Why the fuck do you keep kicking me?”
“I’m not kicking you,” Zeven growled in a huff, “I’m trying to synchronize our swings so that you can grab my belt buckle!”
“By slamming your legs into me as hard as you can,” I exclaimed, letting out a wordless grunt as he kicked me again, “I don’t know about you, but that sounds an awful lot like kicking to me.”
The last kick sent me swinging high up into the air as Zeven shot off in the opposite direction behind me. I was just wondering what the fuck he was trying to do, when we came swinging back at each other like a pair of desktop Newton’s Cradle balls. As we slammed together with a loud “Umph,” I was reminded of Newton’s Laws of Conservation of Momentum and Energy as we both bounced away in opposite directions.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Zeven demanded in an annoyed tone as we slammed back into each other again, “Why aren’t you grabbing ahold of my belt?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I groused back in the same tone, “How about a heads-up first next time?”
“How about a heads-up?” Zeven repeated my words in exasperation as Toxic Stalker’s enraged chittering shriek echoed out, “This was your fucking plan in the first place!”
“Dude, I don’t have eyes in the back of my head!” I roared in frustration while catching fleeting snapshots of a scrambling Neysa fleeing from the mini-boss as the monster tried to box her into a corner, “I still need to know when you’re starting!”
“So, are you ready now?” Zeven sarcastically asked as our pendulum-like swings began slowing down.
“Yeah, go ahead,” I snapped, doing my best to ignore the attitude. As the Badger kin’s bound legs slammed hard against my back, I grunted from the impact as we shot away from each other again.
“Try reaching back behind you as far as you can,” Zeven shouted over the cacophony going on around us as we began to swing back towards each other, “and I’ll try thrusting my groin out.”
Neysa and Helgath’s idea for loosening our bindings had somewhat worked. While I was still bound by the spittle strands around my chest, head, and ankles, I now had about a foot that I could spread my wrists apart and the same if I tried reaching back behind me. It wasn’t much but it was much better than what I could do before. As we swung back together, I rotated my palms out and spread my hands out like a large catcher’s mitt feeling like a complete idiot.
“Now!” Zeven shouted as we slammed together with a crunching clank. I tried grabbing anything that I could but my fingers slid off the large, scale plates that hung below his waist like a short-armored skirt.
“Fuck!” I grunted as we swung away from each other again.
“You’re gonna have to stick your ass out as much as you can while I try going higher,” Zeven said, realizing the problem.
“Higher?” I asked in confusion as Neysa yowled in agony. As I reached out over our shared link, I felt nothing but agony as Zeven began explaining what he meant.
“If this is going to work, I’ve gotta be swinging a little faster than you-”
“Dude, Neysa’s hurt bad,” I urgently snapped, cutting him off, “so whatever it is you need to do, fucking do it!”
“Got it!” Zeven acknowledged as his bound feet slammed hard into my back again. As we swung back together again, he began shouting out directions, “Stick your ass out while I line up-”
“Oof!” We slammed together hard as my tailbone smacked into something hard. Ignoring the agony shooting through my ass, I scrabbled for a handhold. Still, I was too low on his legs to get ahold of the tightly drawn material before we were pulled apart by gravity.
“That was my fault,” Zeven apologized as we swung away from each other, “I was too high on that one.”
“Dude, we’re running out of time!” I exclaimed, feeling Neysa’s anguish over our link as I caught flashes of her limping away from the mini-boss’s latest attack with a hole through her chest.
“I’m going … I’m going,” Zeven said in a reassuring tone as he kicked me again in the ass. This was starting to get old really quick, I silently grunted, trying to ignore the pain still shooting through my tailbone. As we began swinging back together, the Badger kin began a running commentary, “That’s it, keep your ass where it is, you’re right on target.”
I most definitely was going to make sure this part of our escape was deleted from everyone’s stream, I cringingly thought, visualizing the hip-thrusting Badger kin lining up behind me while I was thrusting my ass out. Alternative lifestyles were all well and good, but for me personally, these were the last words that I ever wanted to hear coming from another man.
Reminding myself this was all for Neristhana, I gritted my teeth and bore the embarrassment as we swung against each other once again. Spreading my fingers out wide, my hands swept along the insides of his scaled armor-covered legs when the Badger kin excitedly shouted, “Go ahead and grab on now!”
Realizing that Neysa wasn’t going to last much longer, I decided to not take any chances this time around. Instead of going for the large belt buckle like last time and risking being blocked by the scaled armored skirt hanging over his groin, I decided not to fuck around and grabbed the first thing that I could get my hands on. As my palms ran up to the baggy scaled Jodhpur pants the Badger kin was wearing, I clenched my fists closed.
“Gotcha!” I shouted in triumph as we slammed together hard and stuck in place.
“Yyyaaahhh,” Zeven’s high-pitched cry rang in my ears as gravity tried to drag us apart.
“Star, Neysa’s in trouble,” Phoenix gasped in group chat, “So, whatever it is you guys are doing, you need to hurry the fuck up!”
“We’re going as fast as we can here!” I snapped in group chat as the Badger kin’s body froze in place.
“Th-that’s not my belt!” Zeven gasped in agony.
“Go faster,” Töten growled as Toxic Stalker let out a chittering cry of triumph.
“Fuck!” I swore, knowing this shit was heading south fast. Doing my best not to think of what my hands were currently holding, I blindly began reaching up with a hand to find the Badger kin’s belt buckle as he whimpered like a wounded animal in my ear, “Sorry dude, but you’re just going to have to suck it up for a few more seconds.”
“D-do … you … ha-have to … squeeze so … ti-tightly?” Zeven painfully mewed as I found the first tab.
“Got it,” I excitedly said, releasing my death grip on his crotch.
“Ohmygod that hurt,” Zeven moaned as I began searching for the other tab.
“I’ll give you a heal once we’re done,” I promised the Badger kin as he let out another soulful whimper.
“Not funny,” Zeven groaned as I gripped the other tab.
“What do I do now?” I snapped, ignoring his distress.
While I knew it sucked to have your beans and franks smashed, it wasn’t like there had been another choice. At least, not another choice I was willing to wait on. Besides, it was just as disturbing for me, I thought, hearing Neysa’s death howl ring in my ears from the far side of the barn.
“Pull the … tabs out … as far as you can,” Zeven managed to get out as I nodded in understanding.
‘War Leader!’ Helgath warningly exclaimed as Neysa’s icon disappeared from my HUD.
Warning! Your Combat Mount has been slain by Toxic Stalker the Noxious!
All the experience points that your Combat Mount has earned towards its next level have been lost. You will be able to resummon your Combat Mount in an hour.
‘I know!’ I sent back as rage filled me at Neysa’s death.
“Now, to deal with the two of you!” I heard Toxic Stalker excitedly chitter as I strained with all my might to stretch my arms out as far as I possibly could inside my spittle prison.
“I knew these imbeciles’ foolish plan was never going to work,” I heard Igtra snarl over the rest of the chatter.
“Igtra!” Byrnwulf warningly snapped.
“Startum,” Zeven nervously said as the mini-boss began hurrying over to us, “you’ve gotta pull the tabs out now!”
“Gah!” I screamed, choking up on the handles and trying again. This time, I felt the click through my fingertips as the magic belt activated.
“That’s it!” Zeven shouted triumphantly as the tabs pulled back into the buckle. As I hurriedly shifted my fingers into the top of his belt, the Badger kin began muttering under his breath as he began casting battle buffs, “Spirit Armor, Might of a Bear, Agility of a Squirrel, Stamina of a Wolf, Bark Skin, Speed of a Hare, Strike of an Adder, Nature’s Protection, Cunning of the Fox, Spirit Armor, and Soul Biter!”
“He’s nearly on top of you,” Töten warningly shouted out.
“Got it,” Zeven said in an unperturbed voice, “Just remember my protection will only last for five minutes. After that-”
“You’ll need back up and Minor Cure Disease casts,” I knowingly said, cutting him off as the ripping sounds of threads came to my ears.
“Um, guys,” Byrnwulf said with a note of concern in his voice, “you know that neither of you has gotten out of your bindings yet, right?”
“On my mark, let go and I’ll kick you away,” Zeven confidently said as I felt him begin moving behind me.
“And my bindings?” I nervously asked, hearing the chiton-spiked legs right behind us.
“I’ll free you when I push you away,” Zeven confidently said as he began wiggling even more behind me. Almost as an afterthought, the Badger kin casually added, “Oh, and I’ll try not to hurt you too much when I cut your bindings.”
“The fuck?” I exclaimed in alarm as he let out a dark bark of laughter.
“Don’t worry,” Zeven said, not sounding the least bit apologetic, “I’ll make sure to give you a heal once we’re done.”
“Dude, really?” I groused, realizing that whatever he was about to do was going to hurt like a mother fucker
“He’s gonna tag you with his tongue!” Phoenix suddenly shouted.
“Mark!” Zeven roared.
“Fuck my life!” I swore, hurriedly releasing my hold on the Badger kin’s belt.
Even knowing what was about to happen, I flinched as the tearing sounds of spittle strands bursting open came to my ears. Whatever Special Ability or Spell Zeven was using to release himself had no problems cutting through the goop holding him in place. Talk about impressive. I was still trying to figure out how he’d managed that when agony suddenly shot through my body.
“Hhhuuurrrgggle!” I wordlessly shrieked as my throat uncontrollably convulsed in pain.
The amount of agony running through my entire body in that instance was insane. I had no idea what the hell the Badger kin had hit me with, but it felt like a severe cat scratch that went the entire length of my body. That was if said scratch had been delivered by a two-hundred-pound Mountain Lion.
All that I could say with any certainty was that whatever attack Zeven had hit me with had completely passed through my armor like it wasn’t even there. The pain level was right up there with being set on fire. As I sucked in a ragged breath to let out a proper scream, I barely noticed the Badger kin violently shoving me away as the spittle prison that had been holding me in place fell away in shredded pieces.
“Aaahhh-ooohfuuucck!” My echoing Tarzan-like scream of agony switched midway into a horrifying curse a split second before belly-flopping onto the cold stone floor of the barn with a painful oomph.
The blood rushing through my ears momentarily drowned out the sounds of combat going on around me and the shouts of my friends as all of the wind was forced from my lungs. While my Health had barely dropped twenty points, the pain was way worse than that time I belly flopped off of the Lake Lytal community pool’s high-dive as a kid. As a nearly silent whimpering was forced from my open mouth, I fought to kickstart my lungs and draw in a breath of air as tears ran down my cheeks.
Normally, I’d have slapped out of the fall without a problem, but due to my arms still being partly caught behind my back and the way I had been dumped from the strands, that hadn’t been possible. That, and my heavy armor, weapons, and full backpack hadn’t helped with the force of the impact either. It was a few seconds before I’d recovered enough to become partly aware of my surroundings again.
“Star, you have to get the fuck up!” Phoenix’s voice yelled.
“What is that moron doing?” Igtra’s voice demanded, “He’s just laying there!”
“Yo, Star,” Töten bellowed, “you’ve gotta release me so I can help that walking carpet!”
“Milord, you have to rise,” Neristhana screamed.
“Dude, I know that had to have hurt like a motherfucker,” Byrnwulf shouted, “but you’ve gotta get your ass up now!”
There were a lot more voices than that. It seemed like the rest of the players present were demanding that they be released too, I realized, as I sucked in a shaky breath. Blinking my blurred vision away, I struggled to roll onto my back, when fresh strength suddenly filled my body.
‘War Leader,’ Helgath’s telepathic cry rang in my head, “use my power!”
