Shadow Gambit (9 page)

We did and tipped the cart over so the ore spilled out into the hopper. Dust and bits of rock kicked up everywhere.

The remaining two members of the other group had done the same thing. It was down to gravity now.

When the cart was empty, the voice spoke again.

'Task Complete.'

I looked across the chasm. They'd finished at about the same time, too.

“A photo finish?” Feign said, looking worried.

“If you want to see me blow a gasket, give the win to those twits,” Mudhoof said with a scowl.

The voice then said, “One group may continue. The other group must find another way.”

Suddenly, on the other side, the rock above their metal door collapsed. Within seconds it was buried.

The door next to us then opened, revealing the tunnel continuing on.

“I'd cheer but I'm too tired,” I said.

“Let's get through the door before were expected to do another dumb task,” Mudhoof said.

I gave a parting wave to the two remaining players on the other side. They shook their fists again.

Then we passed through into darkness and the door closed behind us.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The rocky tunnel changed to set blocks of stone within a few paces after we walked through the door. Instead of torches, odd rocks glowed along the walls which brightly lit our way.

“This is no longer the mine,” I said. We had moved into a new area.

Soon, we heard a low rumbling sound from further up the passageway. As we moved closer, it became much louder.

“I don't like the sound of that,” said Mudhoof. “Better not have anything do with ore carts.”

It became hotter and the air thick with the heat. My vision wavered, occasionally.

When we reached the end of the passageway, it terminated at a ledge. A short distance below was a wide river of lava that churned past. On the opposite side of the river was another ledge leading to a passageway. The distance was too far to jump.

“Anyone up for a swim?” I asked. The heat was incredible, and I turned my simulation suit's settings to its lowest level.

“Perhaps we missed a side tunnel, or a secret door?” Feign said. The ice mage was sweating profusely.

“Can you float across on your magic carpet of ice?” I asked.

Feign shook his head. “Too hot in here. It will evaporate to nothing the moment I create it. I'm afraid none of my magic will be effective with this heat.”

“Maybe we can...” I said and stopped when someone stepped out of the passageway behind us.

A tall, humanoid being now stood blocking the tunnel, and we turned to confront it.

The being was almost taller than Mudhoof, and its frame was wiry. It did not appear to wear any clothes or armor. Its skin looked like a black crust of cracked rock. A prominent brow beetled over a set of yellow, glowing eyes. Since I'd encountered this type of being before the game identified it for me. A Rock Golem.

“Well, you wanted a fight,” I said to Mudhoof as I held up my bow.

“This one will be easy,” the minotaur grinned. “It's just a bunch of rocks, and I like crushing rocks.”

Mudhoof hollered a war cry, lowered his steel tipped horns and charged.

The Rock Golem did nothing to get out Mudhoof's way, seeming to watch him with curiosity.

Mudhoof slammed into the Golem. But instead of a shock-wave with the impact, his long horns sunk straight into the Golem's chest. With his horns buried up to their full length, Mudhoof's head now rested against the Golem. The creature barely flinched from the attack.

“I'm stuck!” Mudhoof shouted. The Golem raised a long, rocky arm and struck downward.

I moved, bow held up and summoned regular arrows. As I changed my angle, I fired rapidly at the thing's pitted yellow eyes.

The first few arrows bounced off the creature's rocky skin with no effect. It reached up again, this time with both arms and struck down on the exposed back of Mudhoof. The Minotaur was pushing against the Golem's stomach, desperate to dislodge his horns.

“I'm at half health! What the FILTERED?” Mudhoof said.

I fired again, and this time the arrow found its mark and lodged in one of the Golem's eyes. Instead of reacting in pain, the thing seemed to be curious about the arrow sticking out of its head. It grabbed and pulled the arrow out.

Feign moved quickly behind it. His dagger glistened with a magical glow in his hand and he stabbed forward with all his might.

The blade sunk into a crack in its skin and the monster bellowed with pain. Its arm snapped back and struck the mage, sending him flying hard against the rock wall to crumple in a heap.

My next arrow found its mark again, then the next. Two arrows were buried in its eyes and, with the pain of the dagger wound, the thing flailed.

This was enough to help Mudhoof dislodge himself from the Golem and stagger back. Angered, and maybe a little embarrassed, the minotaur unhooked his ax from his back. With a leap up in the air he swung downward with all his might.

The ax hit the Golem in the head and cleaved down its middle. The creature had been cut right in half with one great blow of the uber ax. The two halves of the Golem split apart and collapsed to the ground with an arrow still protruding from each eye.

“Okay, now that was a first,” said Mudhoof with a surprised chuckle.

I went to Feign's side who was still slumped against the wall. “Are you okay?”

The ice mage blinked. “Yes, I think so. Knocked the wind out of me.” He paused and I could tell he was looking at the icons on his view screen. “Seems I took a good whack of damage there. Down to two-thirds health. I cast an enhanced damage spell on my dagger which it didn't take kindly to.”

“Here take this,” I said as I removed a healing-salve from my inventory. “Won't make much of a difference but every little bit helps.”

I gave one to Mudhoof as well who grunted this thanks.

“We still need to cross this nonsense,” I said as I stood at the ledge and looked down. The lava bubbled and heaved. Occasionally, a large clump of rock would float by. Some were big enough to sit or stand on. But what would be the use in that if you were going to eventually sink?

I gaged the distance to the other ledge and had an idea. “Okay, I may have a way but you guys aren't going to like it.”

“Better perform this miracle quick,” Mudhoof said. “Looks like he had friends.”

From the tunnel behind us could be made out several figures. As they past the wall lights it was obvious we were about to get into even more trouble. Rock Golems. Lots of them. They trundled toward us.

“Oh, dear,” said Feign, backing up to the ledge.

Again, I summoned a special arrow. When I pulled it out and set it in my bow a thick rope was attached to it. The rope coiled back into the quiver.

“Oh, no,” Mudhoof said. “You expecting us to go all cat-burglar now?”

“Got a better idea?” I said, and fired. The arrow arched across the lava river and lodge deeply into the rock over the ledge on the other side. The rope extended the entire way.

I turned and fired another similar arrow into the rock wall next to me, at a slightly higher angle. The rope magically fused together and now formed a single strand rope bridge that spanned the river.

The Rock Golems moved through the tunnel at a plodding pace, but they were much closer now. We had no time left.

To Feign, I said, “Start shuffling across! Now!”

With a fearful glance down the ice mage grabbed onto the rope and pulled himself up, wrapping his ankles around it. “I am very glad none of this is real!” he said, then shuffled hand over hand down the rope.

Mudhoof swung his ax, and a long crack shot out along the ground. It met the first Golem coming out of the tunnel and the knock-back sent it staggering into the others. But this would only serve to slow them down.

I fired normal arrows rapid-fire at the clustered horde, but none managed to hit an eye. They all bounced off their rocky skin.

“You're next, Vee!” Mudhoof said. He stood with his legs braced apart and the ax poised over a shoulder waiting for his knock-back ability to recharge.

I looked to see Feign reach the other ledge and ease off the rope. He waved.

“No can do, big guy,” I said, still firing arrows. “The rope will disappear the moment I cross over. You gotta use it before me.”

“FILTERED!” Mudhoof said. “Sometimes this game really FILTEREDes me off!” And with that he struck down again. This time several Golems were cast backwards with the impact.

The minotaur spun around and placed the ax on his back. “You be right behind me!” He said, and I nodded. This was going to be close.

Mudhoof grasped the rope and wrapped his hooves around it. Then he pulled himself hand over hand down the length with great speed.

I kept up a perpetual volley of arrows but since it had almost no effect on the approaching enemy, it was mostly to make myself feel better.

Once Mudhoof was past the half-way mark, the creatures had gotten even closer. I fired one last shot, dispelled my bow and jumped onto the rope.

Quickly, I pulled myself hand over hand, but I had a sense of impending dread.

I'd barely made it a quarter down the rope length when one of the Golems reached the ledge.

“Hurry!” I heard Mudhoof shout. I glanced to see he had just stepped onto the ledge and he and Feign watched me anxiously.

But then the rope shook violently, and I nearly lost my grip.

Looking back I saw the Golem striking at the rope, and another walked up to do the same.

Uh-oh, I thought.

Regaining my hand hold I pulled myself along as fast as I could.

But it wasn't fast enough.

The rope snapped under the attack of the Golems and I swung downward toward the lava.

I heard Mudhoof shout, and the rope swung me at full speed into the rock wall. For a moment my view screen went completely black. When I could see again, I was tumbling downwards.

The last thing I saw was a large floating rock pass beneath me. Then all went dark again.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I waited impatiently for my view screen to respond, but the blackness persisted.

My health indicated was dropping. Bit by bit my avatar was steadily taking damage. If I didn't regain consciousness soon, I would die.

If that happened, it would be up to Mudhoof and Feign try to finish the quest. But despite all we had been through, the odds would not be in their favor.

Mudhoof sent me a chat request. “Vee!” He said, once I pulled up the screen. “Are you dead?”

“No,” I said, frustrated. “Not, yet. I got a black screen at the moment. Did you see what happened to me?”

“Yeah, you landed on a big floating rock thing and vanished from sight. I couldn't do anything to help. Sorry, Vee.”

“Don't worry. I'll wake up next to the Legendary Item and we can forget about this quest.”

Mudhoof laughed. “Okay, we're going to continue on,” he said, looking off screen. “Looks like the tunnel leads further down. Maybe with these lucky charms we'll be able to hook up later.”

“Do that,” I said, “Oh, and you were right about one thing.”

“What's that?”

“This quest sucks!”

Mudhoof laughed and canceled the chat.

At that moment my screen brightened as my avatar opened her eyes.

I was still on the floating rock, bobbing along with the river current. Lava was lapping over the edge and splashed my leg causing the damage.

Pulling my leg back I moved to the center of the rock. My health indicator stopped dropping.

The lava river cut its way through the bottom of a high gorge, the rocky ceiling far overhead. There didn't seem to be anywhere I could go.

I heard a loud rumbling and looked ahead. In the distance the lava vaulted up a little and flowed downward. A sense of dread clutched at my chest.

A lava fall.

I had little time as I'd soon be pitched over the edge of the fall and to my final re-roll doom. The rocky walls of the gorge moved past at a rapid speed, but with little choice in the direction I had to take.

Standing up, I tried to maintain my balance as the floating rock bobbed and tipped with the movement. Lava splashed close to me.

The moment my rocky boat hit the lava surge of the fall's edge, I jumped away. I cursed the lack of points in my leap ability as I vaulted through the air, the lava roiling below me.

But it was enough. As I hit the wall of the gorge I activated my sure-footed ability. My feet locked into place on rocky perches. For a few moments I hung on for dear life. The sound of the lava falls roaring down into the abyss was deafening.

An indicator on my view screen told me that my avatar was close to passing out from the heat exposure. I needed to move, and fast.

Upwards I climbed, taking care to have good hand grips as my feet would be doing most of the work. As I pulled my way up my avatar's health status improved a little. Soon, I reached a ledge. But before I hoisted myself over I switched on my Shadow ability. Now would be a bad time to be spotted.

I peeked over. The ledge extended back several paces exposing a path that followed the edge of the gorge. A wide tunnel entrance opened wide to my right.

My avatar started to shake. The strain of the fall, the heat, and subsequent climb had finally gotten to her.

I pulled myself over and lay flat on my back for a few moments. It was enough for my avatar to recover and for me to stand.

Suddenly, a pair of Rock Golems emerged from the tunnel. I froze and double checked to see that my Shadow was still active.

The two large creatures sauntered by and followed the path up the ledge. They hadn't seen me.

After a few minutes they followed the path around a turn and vanished from sight. I sighed in relief.

They were heading upwards whereas I needed to keep going down. Or so I hoped. I moved to the other side of the ledge and sat up against the wall, blending more into the shadows there. While I had a quick rest, I called up my quest log.

'
The source for the Demon King's ability to enter this realm is near. Find and destroy it
.'

Okay, I thought. Had to be a door, or rift? And if I found it, how the heck was I expected to destroy it? And wouldn't the Demon King have something to say on the subject?

I shrugged. Got to do as the quest log says, even if I'm still clueless.

Another Rock Golem appeared from the tunnel. I went still, but felt confident the shadows I crouched in added to my invisibility.

The Rock Golem walked by, but when it reached the spot in front of me it paused. My heart froze in my chest.

The Golem turned its head, and I found smoldering yellow eyes looking at me.

Uh-oh. I can't fight one of these things on my own.

I glanced to my left and right. No room to escape. When this thing attacked I would be in deep trouble.

For a few moments it stared at me. Or so I thought that was what it was doing. Then, it reached forward.

Fight time! I thought, tensing up. My sword was now in my grip. The moment I raised to swing it I would be visible, but I'd wait until the last moment to strike.

The Golem reached toward me, then over my shoulder. I froze. From the rock wall behind me it grabbed at something. It wrenched away a piece of blue ore and held it up to its face, staring at it.

Then its lower face cracked open to form a mouth, and it stuffed the ore into it. It bit down, and the ore cracked.

The Golem then continued walking, chewing on its snack.

I sagged with relief. Once the creature had turned out of view I darted into the tunnel it had emerged from.

I was really tired. Logging off and getting some sleep felt like a wonderful idea, but real world priorities needed to wait.

Keeping to the walls I edged my way down the tunnel. I did not encounter any more Rock Golems or anything else, but I kept up my guard.

The tunnel ended at a huge opening, and beyond I could see a massive cavern of some kind.

Cautiously, I entered.

The place was gigantic. Easily larger than any chamber or cavern I'd ever seen before.

It was circular in shape with a high vaulted space above that vanished from view. Although it was brightly lit, I saw no torches or glowing stones. It had to be magically powered.

On one side of the vast cavern were different piles of blue ore shaped into a kind of pylon. There were hundreds of them arranged like a bizarre rocky orchard. Each blue ore pylon emitted a blue ray of light that shot out to the far side of the cavern.

These beams of light struck what I thought was a huge round lake in the floor. But the dark waters that sucked up the lights were something else entirely. They were clouds. I was looking down into another realm. Red lightening flashed deep within these clouds.

It wasn't a lake at all, but a portal. The blue ore must have been feeding it somehow. Maybe, even keeping the portal open?

The other section of the massive cavern was empty. Just flat featureless ground that stretched out to meet the walls. A huge archway led to a sloping tunnel, and from my vantage point I could make out the far entrance. It looked to lead outside.

Then it hit me. I was inside the Demon Spine that loomed over Ashbrook. The Demon King's domain.

What to do? I checked my quest log, but the message had not changed. I looked over at the strange forest of glowing blue pylons. Those must be keeping the portal open. If I could stop them, would the portal close and cast the Demon King back to the Demon Void where he came from?

There was one way to find out.

I ran across the chamber until I reached the closest pylon. It towered above me. The entire thing emanated a low hum and pulsed a blue light up toward its top. From there the light shot straight out to vanish into the large portal in the ground.

Not certain of what would happen if I touched it, I backed up a few paces and summoned a full quiver of arrows. Then I aimed and fired.

The arrow struck the pylon at its thickest point and instantly the ore cracked and shattered. Its light winked off and the beam which fed the portal stopped.

Huh, I thought. This is going to be easy.

Something at the corner of my eye snagged my attention. At the last moment, I dodged and rolled along the ground.

Someone charged over the spot I had been in and then crashed heavily into another pylon, which in turn crumbled and its light winked off.

I shook my head and looked at the person who just tried to kill me.

My jaw dropped in shock.

It was Thorm.