The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame (38 page)

Diving forward and rolling to the ground, the axe-wielder slipped and fell as we began to wrestle in the snow-covered mud. Kicking up clumps of soggy soil and dead grass as the melting snow and mud caused us to slide without much control, I let go of my axe and punched the man directly in the center of his throat. Instantly gagging and coughing from the impact as his eyes began to water, the spear of his friend nearly pierced my side as I turned and shielded myself with the body of the warrior.

Unable to scream in pain the man’s eyes grew wide as the allied spear was pulled out and the gaping hole began to bleed profusely. Stuck in the mud with little leverage left, I yanked a knife out of a sheath on my leg and quickly stabbed the man in the gut as I twisted and pulled the blade. Retracting my knife as I rolled around, my eyes then grew wide at the sight of a sword being slashed down towards my face.

Unable to dodge I threw my arms up as my thick leather vambraces partially absorbed the blow. Blood pouring out of my forearms as it dripped onto my face, the sword was pulled back as the spear was thrust again only to miss wildly as he was hit from behind by a random axe.

As he stumbled forward from the blow, I reached out and grabbed him and used his body to help pull myself up. Jumping up above him with knife in hand, I stabbed him once in the throat and turned back to the swordsman who had resumed his attacks.

Pulling a second knife from a sheath on my opposite thigh, I parried weakly with both knives crossed as I held his blade steady. Overpowering him, I shoved him back as he tripped over a headless body and fell to a knee. One arm in the muddy snow as another held the sword up, I lunged to his weak side and slipped a knife under his armpit with ease, slicing and stabbing up until my knuckles contacted flesh and blood.

With my left knife still lodged in his axillary artery, I dropped to a knee and thrusted the second knife in my right hand up into his stomach. Switching the grip and pulling all the way across, he immediately fell to the floor woozy and dazed.

Leaving the man to die, I grabbed my axe and headed over to Barik who had been successfully holding off five men by himself. Coming from behind his attackers, I readied a swing and released with practiced precision as two spines were severed at the neck, with two bodies collapsing in unison. Immediate surprise flashing on the other three attacker’s faces, Barik lunged and stabbed one in the groin as he pulled and sliced at his femoral artery along the inner thigh and across his hamstring.

As that man collapsed to the floor a cripple, the other two turned to attack me as I deflected and parried with relative ease. Distracted by my presence, Barik stabbed another from behind as his sword tip flashed through a throat and then the last man found the edge of my axe a cold way to go.

Nodding at Barik to retreat, I then turned and saw Emily delivering an elbow to another man’s skull as the man’s forehead caved in from the blow, censored brain matter splashing up and onto her face. Another corpse fell to the floor as she moved with precision and agility that was hard to match.

Slipping in and out of the crowds only to find another unsuspecting man. Elbows and knees followed as that man fell to the ground with shattered femur and knee, then a broken neck before he could react to the pain.

Rushing up to her as she was about to engage another, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back as her bloodlust was taking over. Cutting through the crowd I dropped her off next to Barik as I made my way back in for Ethan, only to find him laughing maniacally as he let a flame wave out as if it were a flamethrower.

Watching as people burned in front of him, he was enjoying it all a little too much as I tapped his shoulder and nodded for him to follow. The last one was Valerie but I had yet to spot her amongst the massive crowd. Then as the four of us grouped up, out of the corner of my peripheral vision there was a strange sight that caught my eye. As I turned and focused on a girl sitting in the middle of the battle, calmly watching everyone fight without lifting a finger herself, I could only shake my head in confusion.

As if the players knew she was harmless, they fought around her and ran past without batting an eye. She remained silent and still. Unafraid of the battle surrounding her, she simply watched it all unfold. Shaking my head, I signaled at the crew to fall back to the northern forest as I ran over and grabbed Valerie. Picking her up and tossing her over my shoulder, I began to push my way through the crowd as she kicked and hit me.

Setting her down only after she managed to pull one of my knives and stabbed me in the thigh with it, I turned my hands and arms out with palms to the sky and bowed slightly for her to continue on her own. Furious with me for carrying her over two-hundred yards, she blew off steam as she slashed my arm and tossed my knife on the floor.

Picking up the knife and following after her, we were a couple hundred yards from the edge of the forest where the fighting had been sparse. The intent was to catch a breather and relax while the rest of the players continued to fight. Stragglers would be caught here while we watched the battle unfold. To fight until one hit exhaustion would only lead to death and here in this battle we couldn’t afford to die.

Healing myself as Valerie healed the others, I quickly checked the Leaderboard to see how people were faring. Valerie had zeros across her name as Barik had two kills and three assists. Ethan had one kill, eight assists, and thirty participations. Emily had fourteen kills with no assists and no participations. I had managed ten kills and two assists, with no participations. Twenty-seven people killed by our hands within fifteen minutes of the battle actually starting.

There were only thousands left to go and a few hours left to do it but we would wait. This wouldn’t be decided in one battle, there were far too many players for it to end all at once. Concealing myself against a tree as enemies approached, the only tell was the yellow band around their arms. Our blue bands were the colors of the House of Harmont, while yellow was of Woodfall and purple was of Blacktomb… it made it all too easy.

As everyone hid behind a tree of their choosing, the enemy players were fifty yards out and concealed by the trees and shrubs. My keen sight the only reason we were aware of their presence, it was unlikely that they had seen us. Casually walking through the forest without a care, their voices could be heard in the distance as they slowly inched closer.

“Those guys are stupid, fighting like that.”

“Won’t catch me at the front, I’m not some trash mob.”

“We’ll wait here, when they try to escape we’ll cut them down, surprise motherfuckers! Hahaha!”

As the last laugh echoed in the distance, an arrow found its mark as a fireball impacted the third man. Jumping through the brush with bow discarded and axe raised high, Emily cut me off as she swiped the legs of my target and forced me to correct my swing so as not to hit her. Axe swinging wide and twisting awkwardly as I tripped over myself, I stumbled forward and tried to regain my balance.

At the same time Ethan pelted the third man until he died as Valerie and Barik watched from a distance. The now lone man on the floor attempted to get up as Emily brutally smashed his face in, leaving him a complete mess on the forest floor.

A clean kill through the temple with a single arrow, the first corpse was as fresh as could be while the second to die was nothing more than the burnt skeleton of a man a step slow. The last man standing was the only man with his brain splattered on the white snow floor, exposed and censored for all to see. It was a gruesome way to go.

Dragging the corpses into a bush while covering the stained snow with fresh, cleaner snow and mud, the bodies were now hidden as we returned to our hiding spots and waited in ambush. These bodies wouldn’t disappear for twenty-four hours… so we couldn’t risk them giving our position away.

Killing the stragglers that found their way into the forests, we kept our position behind the trees as the victims continued to funnel in. Small groups one after the other, there seemed to be no end to them as players sought shelter from the battle. Believing in the safety of the forests where one could hardly be seen, we racked up another twenty-two kills with ease, bringing our total to fifty-two right before the clock struck 2:00 AM.

Watching the battle from a distance in our downtime, it became obvious that both sides had yet to fully engage themselves in the turmoil as roughly eighty-percent of either force stayed clumped together a fair distance from the actual fighting. From the side it was a rather odd display of two solid bodies separated by maybe two-hundred yards of space, with little dots representing people spread between.

At first I believed they were keeping their distance for ranged attacks but that was dispelled after only ten minutes of non-action from either side. They literally stood there and did nothing… they might as well have brought out picnic baskets and umbrellas.

If that remained the case for too long, this war would fall into a stalemate as the eager would revive and return. Something needed to be done… we needed to hit their flanks and send the mass of bodies moving one way or the other in reaction. Anything to spur one side or the other into movement. If necessary, a lightning strike could do it.

But I didn’t want to use any lightning magic if possible.

Alerted to the movement of more players heading our way, the glimmers in the distance were small but were enough. Signaling to the crew to prepare, the glimmers suddenly froze in place as if they had also been alerted to something. After thirty seconds had passed, the enemy players retreated out of sight as it occurred to me that they must have had an archer as well.

“They’ve retreated,” I said with a light laugh escaping me. “Duel of the Keen Sights… out in the forest.”

“Oi, then I’m having a snack,” said Ethan as he plopped down and pulled out some dried meat to chew on. “Can’t believe we’re already halfway through this, what with the late start. And look at them, they aren’t even fighting!”

“Yeh, this ain’t much fun,” said Barik with a sigh as he sat down as well.

“I was having fun…” replied Emily with a frown as she looked at the battlefield with longing eyes, clearly wishing to return to the field.

Turning to Valerie, she had her arms crossed and was giving me a dirty look nearly an hour and a half after the fact. She was still upset with me for picking her up and carrying her out of the battle. Maybe it was inappropriate but her actions had caused me to worry. It wasn’t exactly a typical response, to sit down and watch a battle unfold all around you as weapons clanged and bodies fell inches away from you.

“Do you wish to stab me again?” I asked while looking at Valerie.

“Perhaps,” she replied curtly.

“You were in danger, I’m sorry if I didn’t ask for permission beforehand,” I stated with a shrug while I turned my hands up in a way that indicated that I didn’t know what else to do. “You’re free to stab me if it will make you feel better, though I would worry more if that were to happen… not a good thing really… to stab people when angry.”

“I have no particular desire for such things,” she said while turning to look the other way. “It’s more so that you seem to respond well to pain.”

“You know him well hah!” said Ethan with a quick laugh.

“Yeah… something like that,” I mumbled.

Sitting down with nothing to eat, Valerie then handed me a piece of bread and cheese from her bag as everyone else was busy munching on their snacks. Most of our items had been stored with the quartermaster provided by the House of Harmont at the staging camp, safe from thievery thanks to the game’s design. I didn’t trust it at first but Emily assured me it was safe.

Between us all, the only one with a mass collection of weapons was me. Everyone else brought small bags and pouches with random items inside. We all left our money behind though, everyone did. If money was dropped on the field it was due to player ignorance. The temporary
bank
of the quartermaster kept our money and items safe for now.

Wanting to remain light on my feet while burdened with an excess of weapons, all of my other items had been left behind. There was a sheath with a knife attached to each outer thigh, with two more along the small of my back with handles facing out, then one straight up centered on my left pectoral, and a sixth with the handle on the bottom on the right pectoral. Also on my waist was a quiver which had been tied shut for now so as not to lose any arrows while the bow hung from a sling off my back. The bearded axe had a sling fashioned as well but I kept it over my shoulder for now.

If I still had my hand axe, it would have dangled from its loop on the left-side of my waist… but it was no more. My shield though… that had been left behind, as I felt it too cumbersome on my back in the heavy fighting and in such tight spaces. There really wasn’t a lot of room to move in the thick of it.

“Thanks,” I said as I nodded in appreciation towards Valerie for the food.

As we watched the remainder of the battle fizzle out with both sides eventually pulling back largely unharmed, I was disappointed that so little action had actually taken place. Glancing at the Leaderboards, of the four-thousand, five-hundred and thirty-seven players that we started with, six-hundred and eighty-five died.

A little over fifteen percent of the force, meaning three out of every four players that had joined the fight in the center didn’t make it out alive. One out of five fought, three out of four of those that did died.