Mark of the fated 3 a li.., p.25
Mark of the Fated 3: A LitRPG Adventure, page 25
He leaned over and stared at me with the putrid green eyes. “A brave effort, warrior of light, but the darkness will always prevail.” Opening his mouth fully, he belched up a torrent of his rotting organs. They covered my face and filled my mouth and nose. Plague flashed on my character tab, and I could feel the poison spreading through my body. My skin came alive with a sensation of burning and tightness as the pustules formed, stretching my face until it was ready to burst. I raised my weakening hand, and Victor grabbed it before I could hit him with the hammer. That was never my intention. I cast Lay On Hands and let my arm slump as the plague lord staggered back.
“What is this?” he demanded, clenching his fist as it started to decay.
“I healed you,” I croaked, my throat clogging with mucus from the affliction.
“Healed? I don’t understand.” He started to shake his hand, feeling a fire of his own. My magic coursed through his undead body, battling with his plague and causing extensive damage in the process. His health was almost gone, and I looked around the chamber. Cody was shaking his head as if trying to dislodge something. Cris had Isolde contained with weakening pulses of her nova. Sun peered out from her stone prison, blinking rapidly, fighting her own fight.
His control is… failing, said Cody, fighting Victor’s mind with everything he had.
He nocked another arrow and drew the string. My vision was blurring, and I didn’t see his target as my head thumped back to the stone. I waited for the final piercing shock that would finish me off, praying that Cris could end the fight alone. The whistling-thud came, but it hadn’t struck me. I cracked a pus-weeping eye. Victor had been hit straight in his forehead. Arcs of electricity danced around his head, stealing the last sliver of life. Collapsing to the floor, his infected body went through a rapid decomposition. Within seconds, his armour sat in a pool of brown-green soup.
“No!” screamed Isolde, flowing past Cris who was rapt on the demise.
Her wraith form settled to the stone as if she was kneeling. In spite of her nature, the spectral horror began to sob. I called Sun’s axes back, and they vanished from the stacked armour. It took a great will, but I climbed to my feet. I moved behind Isolde, crossed my arms, and swiped them open. The chaos infusion severed her ghostly head. It dropped amidst the armour, still screaming. A wind sprung up from nowhere, and her incorporeal body was blown away like black cobwebs in a gale.
I was so exhausted, I let myself fall back to the ground. The Cursed and Plague debuffs vanished from our character tabs, but the effects lingered on. I took another health potion to begin the healing process.
Cris was on her knees at my side in an instant, slipping off the ear muffs. “Lay still. You’re going to be ok.”
“How do you like plagued Mark?” I croaked. “Still hot?”
She choked back a sob and laughed instead. “Nothing a bit of cream wouldn’t cure.”
“That was a tough one, huh?”
“Pus-face and ghost-bitch? Maybe, but they’re still dead,” she replied, then quickly added, “again. Hopefully for good this time.”
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep for a few minutes,” I said, my eyelids feeling impossibly heavy.
“Rest. I’ll watch over you.”
I closed my eyes and passed out.
Chapter 31
I came around and found myself snugly tucked up on the floor of the throne room. Cris had used our stash of pillows and covers to make a bed of sorts. Cody snored quietly next to me. Sun was sitting on the throne, sipping a mug of coffee. Her eyes were grainy and half-shuttered from her short slumber, but the caffeine was helping. I was relieved to see everyone was fully healed. No more festering sores and pulsing boils.
I sat up as gently as I could so as to not disturb Cody and whispered, “How long was I out?”
“An hour, give or take,” said Cris, quietly, returning from her vigil at the room’s entrance with Abby in tow. Our pets remained at the doors, keeping watch in her stead.
I stood up and stretched out my kinks. “I really need to stop passing out after boss fights,” I said. “Has anything bothered us?”
“Nothing. It’s all silent out there,” she replied, giving me a hug.
Abby joined us in the embrace, and we took a few moments to savour life and a battle well fought. I ignored the stench of liquid-Victor. It wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever experienced in the worlds.
“Cris told me how hard you all fought,” said Abby, breaking away to look up at me. “You’re so brave!”
“So were you,” I replied. “Waiting outside alone.”
“I just swung my sword a lot like Sun showed me, and hid when the noises got too bad.”
“It was still very brave. And now that the sources of this evil are gone, we can see about getting Gregor and the other dwarves back home.”
“After we’ve cleared the holds of the remaining plagued,” added Sun, climbing from the throne.
“And the ghosts,” added Cody, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. “That was fucking awful. Can I quit yet?”
“We’ve got a bit more fighting to do before you can check out, mate.”
He slumped back to the ground dramatically and covered his face with a pillow. I walked over, nudged his leg with my boot, and offered my hand when he peered out from his comforter. He tossed the pillow, grasped my hand and pulled himself up. “I might stay outside with Abby on the next one. Keep her company. Just in case.”
“Me too,” I agreed.
“Me three,” said Cris.
“I guess I’ll fight them all alone then,” grunted Sun, shaking her empty thermos miserably.
“That’s the spirit!” I gave her a thumbs up and she gave me the finger. “Ouch. Someone needs more coffee.”
She chuckled at that and joined us in gathering up the bedding. I’d already looted the bodies, and the clean-up could wait for the rightful proprietors of the throne. Standing at the entrance, we looked back one last time before heading down the steps.
The first item I checked caused me to jump straight into our party chat because I didn’t want Abby to hear the gory details. Look what dropped from the bosses. Two of them.
Item – A Piece of Hamon’s Heart (Unique)
Type – Quest Item
Description – A desiccated chunk of the necromancer’s dead heart.
Requirements – None
Effect – Unknown
Miscellaneous – Unknown
Ok, that’s awful, said Cody.
Any opinions on why they’re here? I asked.
The logical thing to assume is that he used the pieces to raise the creatures we just fought. Two pieces, for two powerful bosses, said Cris.
That certainly sounds plausible. I need to try something quickly. Just bear with me.
We all stopped near one of the long tables and I moved over to it, clearing the empty mugs with my forearm. “Abby, can I get you to do something for me? If you’re feeling up to it, that is.”
“Of course,” she replied.
I pulled out the map and laid it flat on the top, using the cutlery to pin the corners. “Can you try and sense the same evil you did before.”
There was no hesitation this time. Her courage had grown during our escapades in the holds. She walked over and held out a flattened hand. “You want me to see if the mountain is now clean?”
“Something like that,” I replied.
She closed her eyes and let her hand wander over the area. Her face scrunched into a frown. “I… I don’t think it is. The evil is still here.”
“Can you try and find exactly where,” I said, trying to contain my fear.
Abby’s hand roamed further, leaving the table entirely. It rose, settling on me and she opened her eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, staggering back in shock. Her rump bumped into the heavy table, rattling the tankards.
“Don’t be.” I hesitated, but the promise I’d made of being truthful trumped my nervous instinct. “Listen, Abby, we received something from the fight. Something a bit… macabre.”
“What’s macabre?” she asked.
I wondered how to even begin describing what I meant. “Something a bit… grim. Disgusting even. It’s…”
Cris took her hand and met her eyes. “It’s something of your father, sweetheart. We think it might be what he used to raise the two beings we had to fight. I think Mark wants to ask if you’d check it for him, to see if it’s the source of the power you can feel on the map.”
The teenager’s bravery faltered a little. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and nodded. “Show me. I’ll try my best.”
I moved closer and held out my palm. The two dried lumps appeared from my stash. There were no neat lines from a knife cut on the dried meat. It looked ragged, as if it had been torn to pieces.
Abby bared her teeth and shied away. “That’s it! That’s the evil!” She tried to push back, but the table blocked her escape.
“Put them away!” barked Sun, seeing the discomfort on the teenager’s face.
I quickly stashed them. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She calmed down slightly, still staring at my hand. “It’s not that it upset me. Not really. When I saw them…”
Cris and Sun were both at her side, offering comfort. “What is it, sweetheart? You can tell us.”
“I felt their evil, but I…” she looked around at us, forlorn. “I wanted to touch them. To hold them. Whatever they are. Does that make me evil? Like my father?”
Cris shook her head firmly. “Not at all. It just means you’re sensitive to his magic.”
“You’re related by blood, not by action,” Sun agreed.
Cris jumped into our private chat. I’m not one to believe in all the old horror movies, but this is the time when we say hell-to-the-no. This is like reading the scribbled out words from the Necronomicon. Especially when her aura is in a state of constant flux. We don’t want to risk tipping it into the dark side.
I agree. I’ll keep them away from her. They’ve got some purpose, though, otherwise they wouldn’t be ‘quest’ items.
It will reveal itself in time. It always does, added Sun.
I shut the chat down and smiled at Abby. “Don’t worry about that right now. We’ve got some other bits to hand out from the fight first.” I cranked open the loot box and pulled out the gear. Checking the drops, I turned to Cody. “Looks like some good stuff for you, mate. This will help us all out.”
Item – Ludrud’s PP-1 Turret (Legendary)
Type – Weapon (Independent)
Description – The finest weapons from the finest interstellar merchant of death. Ludrud the goblin was famous for his incredible war machines that conquered entire civilisations. In his later years, he began to work on minimising the scale of his killing devices, adding a more personal touch. The Personal Protection turrets were the culmination of his life’s work. Fully automated, they can be upgraded with different weapon loadouts and functionality (provided you have the parts)
Requirements – Class - Ranger
Effect – The basic model turret fires standard steel projectiles at any threat in the vicinity, or any the owner designates (2 hour cooldown upon destruction)
Miscellaneous – Collect parts to upgrade.
“And a set piece too, mate,” I said, giving him the next item.
Item – Kevidian Leg Guards (Epic)
Type – Armour (Light)
Description – Leather trousers provided to the Rangers of Kevidian.
Requirements – Strength 12 Dexterity 16
Effect – Increase to ranged damage
Miscellaneous – Each set piece allows the use of one extra trap of basic variety
Set – Unknown
“That’s pretty cool,” he said, equipping the leggings. “Shall I try the turret? It sounds badass.”
“Go for it,” I replied.
He picked a spot between the rows of tables and activated the item. The turret appeared and it was a high-tech piece of kit. When I’d read goblin, I was expecting something driven by steam or a complex arrangement of rubber bands. This belonged in a sci-fi movie. The single turret had a laser sight that glowed red, scanning the room. Without any threat to fire at, it just rotated on the heavy base, waiting.
“I wonder…” said Cody, and the machine came to life. The barrel rose rapidly with a subtle whine and fired at one of the hanging crystals, high above our head. The steel darts ricocheted from the light, sparking from the rocky roof. He ordered it to stop firing and it returned to its idle mode. “That’s so cool. I wonder what else I can do with it?”
“We’ll see when we get more drops to upgrade it,” I said. “Until then, we go and find the king to tell him the good news.”
Abby was overjoyed. “He will be so pleased! They all will! Don’t you think?”
“I’m sure of it. They might even make a statue of you in thanks.”
She gasped. “Do you think so? Of me?”
“When I tell the king how you were the one who led us here, you bet he will.”
Any thought of touching pieces of heart were lost as she imagined herself on a pedestal, cast in solid gold. We left the mead hall and found ourselves back out in the empty, dwarven city.
Sun held an arm out to stop us. “Listen. Can you hear it?”
I tried my best, but all I could pick up was silence. “It’s quiet.”
“Exactly. The wails of the ghosts have ceased. I haven’t heard a single cry since we walked out of the throne room.”
“I wonder if Isolde was the power keeping them alive? Now that she’s gone, could they finally pass into the afterlife?” asked Cris.
I sighed with relief at the prospect. “Let’s bloody hope so. They were a pain in the arse to fight.”
“Until we learned their weakness,” argued Sun.
“Good point. But if they are gone, then I won’t be sorry to never see one again. On my world, ghosts just go woo woo, walk around in bedsheets, rattle some chains, and they’re content. None of this life sucking bullshit.”
We continued walking through the abandoned marketplace. There were so many goods and gold laying around I had to keep my distance or the auto-loot function acted like a hoover, sucking the tables and lockboxes dry. It normally only acted on items carried on bodies, whether they be friend or foe.
The new glitch was taking everything within reach. There was no need to ask Bart what the issue was. She was walking beside me, staring in teenage wonder at the dwarven craftsmanship laid out on tables or behind store windows. When it came to the weapon stalls, I allowed myself to take the guns and powder as payment for our fight.
Our journey took us out of the merchant district and into what I classed as the residential areas. Small homes, expertly built, lacking anyone to occupy them. It was still a mindfuck to be this deep underground and have a sprawling city without a real sky to look up to.
Cris joined me at my side. I noticed you didn’t check out the other items.
I’ve just been infected by the first thing. Fuck making it and using it on other people.
I opened the tab anyway, just to confirm my feelings.
Item – Plague Vial Template (Epic)
Type – Crafting Recipe
Description – This concoction causes anyone exposed to suffer from Plague, a horrific, debilitating outbreak of lesions and bodily rot.
Requirements – Intelligence 18 (Crafting 18)
Effect – Causes damage over time and reduces target’s speed.
Miscellaneous – None
Yeah, that’s going in the bin. As for the other thing, what the heck am I supposed to do with it?
Let me have a look, said Cris, opening the tab for me.
Item – Wraith Essence (Legendary)
Type – Craftable (Combination)
Description – The soul essence of a defeated wraith. This magical material is extremely powerful, and supremely evil.
Requirements – Intelligence 22 (Crafting 16)
Effect – Unknown
Miscellaneous – Unknown
We can combine it with something. What that something is, I have no idea. It’s like the golem shards, I guess. We just need to find out what it goes with.
I’d rather send both to our stash’s recycle bin. I had enough evil drops in Kherrash.
True, but they were also great items that have helped to get us where we are right now. How does it go? It’s not evil if you use it for good?
I nodded. That sounds about right.
“Someone’s coming,” said Sun as we neared the city’s eastern exit a short while later.
“Here we go again,” I groaned.
I picked up the pace and started to jog, reaching the defensive bridge and fortification that protected this portion of the city from incursion. The thick gates were wide open, so I slammed them shut and slotted the timber into the iron braces. Cris and Cody were already running up the steps when I followed with Abby in tow. We reached the battlements and the teenager hunkered down behind the wall as we prepared our weapons and spells. Cody activated his turret below, facing it toward the mouth of the tunnel.
I drew back the string on my crossbow and aimed at the darkness. “Whatever’s coming doesn’t get across the bridge. Let’s see how they like rushing a well-defended position.”
“How many can they have left?” asked Cris. “We’ve killed so many already.”
“It looks like they have quite a few more,” I replied at the sounds of many clattering boots.
The pitch-black archway changed by shades as their lights neared. The first wave appeared around the corner, running in neat rows. I looked closer, and their faces were furious, not blemished with sores.
Cris slapped the stone with joy. “It’s the actual dwarves!”
I wasn’t so happy. “And they’re actually showing as enemies. Why are their icons red?”
