Beyond the Boss Read online

  His muscles burned after a couple of minutes, and he wished one of the others was there to help, but they were all busy trying to bring down the beast attacking their boat.

  He glanced at the team icons. Stanoran’s health was flashing red, then went back to green as his mana dropped a bit. Tufkakes was down over half way, but still had enough to survive the trip to the surface.

  The boat shook violently, and wood splintered.

  Horc scrambled to keep his footing as the wet rope slipped through his fingers, burning as it went. He caught himself on the rail again. It slammed hard into his stomach leaving him gasping hard as he pitched toward the water. The rope snapped tight against the pin, pinching Horc’s arm between it and the rail. “Damn it.” His health dropped again.

  It took all his strength to free his arm and get the rope moving again. As he worked, he watched his team’s icons. Titanya’s health started flashing orange, then shot back up into the green. Rambull’s mana was down, but his health was strong, Baladara was in the same state. Tufkakes’ health dropped into the red, then returned to full. Stanoran’s mana was under half. He was obviously casting healing on both himself and Tufkakes to give Horc a chance to get them to the surface.

  Horc worked hand over hand, hoping the team was taking down the monster faster than it was taking them down. He wanted to get everyone on deck so he could make sure they were safe, and so he could lend his arrows to the fight. His own health started dropping faster as his muscles screamed at the effort to get Tufkakes and Stanoran out of the water. Even as his stomach complained about the abuse, he leaned on the rail to give him something solid to pull against. The deck was so wet from the constant pitching and splashing it was nearly impossible for him to balance properly and be able to pull.

  The Seamonsaur roared again and thrashed against the boat. Horc scrambled to keep his feet as his side of the boat dipped toward the ocean, then it suddenly rocked the other way, tossing him into the sky. His shoulder screamed in agony as he reached the end of the rope and the weight of his teammates, and the ocean jerked him to a stop. He was down to nealy half health.

  Something snapped at him. Horc dangled from the rope, just inches from the Seamonsaur’s jaws. Wolf was there, with his teeth still buried in the monster’s flesh and kicking and clawing for all he was worth. Horc spun on the rope, dangling from the railing, and managed to swing out and behind the Seamonsaur’s neck. Below him Titanya and Theodore were hacking away at it. Horc got the rope around the monster’s neck and let momentum carry him around for another time. He was just below where Wolf was working on savaging the thing.

  When the boat splashed back down into the water, the Seamonsaur did the work of pulling Tufkakes and Stanoran back into the air. Stanoran dropped to the deck, landing in a heap and not moving as Tufkakes dangled from the rope that was still tied around his waist.

  Horc pulled out his dagger and sliced into the monster’s neck, sliding down toward its back as he let go of the rope. When he landed on the thing’s shoulder, just a few feet from Titanya, his health dropped to under a quarter from the impact. The monster was down into the orange, but Horc worried they might not have enough in them left to finish it.

  Tufkakes kicked off the thing’s neck and swung around, even as it bent to try to catch him in its jaws. Pulling out his own dagger, Tufkakes arched up and caught the thing in the back of the head. The blow must’ve been at such an angle to give the Rogue a Backstab bonus as it knocked the monster into the red. Then concentrated attacks from the casters finished it off.

  One second, Horc was standing on the thing’s back, the next, the Seamonsaur pixelated, vanished and he was dropping into the water. Wolf and Titanya were right there with him as Theodore and Rambull immediately started swimming toward the side of the boat.

  Ignoring the protest of his arms, Horc grabbed hold of Titanya and hauled her toward the boat. In her chainmail, she was as apt to sink as swim. He’d already seen what platemail would do in the ocean and had no doubts that chainmail could be just as bad.

  There was a splash next to him, and Tufkakes surfaced, dragging the rope behind him. “Okay. I don’t want to do that ever again.”

  “Yeah.” Was all Horc could force out between gasps for air. His own health was dropping quickly from the abuse he was dealing out to his body. He wanted to get back to the boat and sit and rest for a little while.

  “Here!” Bigdaddybear lean over the rail and reached a huge paw-like hand down.

  Rambull reached him first and was pulled out, then Theodore. Horc helped Titanya out as Tufkakes scrambled up the side of the boat without help. Then he paused and looked at Wolf paddling desperately next to him.

  “This isn’t going to be the most dignified thing.” Horc lifted the wolf up. His arms felt like lead and complained at the action. It was all he could do to heft Wolf far enough that Bigdaddybear could grab him by the scruff and get him out.

  Horc’s health was flashing red. His leg and arms were trying their best to not respond to what he needed them to do. He was so tired he wanted nothing more than to stop struggling and sink into the waves, but if he did that, then who would stop the AI and rescue the hostages?

  Two huge hairy paw-hands grabbed him.

  “We got him!” Theodore shouted.

  Then they hauled Horc onto the deck, and he collapsed. His health was flashing red and he closed his eyes, hoping one of the healers noticed his situation.

  13

  Horc came to with a start. He was wet, soaked to the skin, and lying on a sopping deck. Something nearby was hissing horribly, and the deck was lurching like mad.

  “What happened?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

  Bigdaddybear stared down at him. “You nearly died is what happened. I don’t think it was programmed into the game originally, but apparently one of the upgrades the AI has given us is that if we push our physical bodies too hard, we start taking damage. Combined with the hits the sea monster gave you, we almost didn’t get you healed in time. You can thank Stanoran for the healing. I was too busy hauling your soggy butt out of the water.”

  “Can we not worry about that right now, we’re about to sink,” Miranda complained.

  Horc shot to his feet. “About to sink?” His head spun slightly from the sudden movement. He squared his shoulders and did his best to not show weakness to the others.

  Miranda rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you didn’t think we could take all the fighting with that thing and not sustain damage to the boat, did you?”

  “What can we do?” Horc ran through everyone’s skills. Their magics were battle or healing based, since that was how the game was set up. “Bigdaddybear, do you have any Druid spells that could help? Entangling roots that might bind the boat together for a little while? How about our shamans, anything there?”

  Bigdaddybear got a thoughtful look on his face. “You know, that might actually work. It’s an area of effect spell at this level, so I don’t need a target per’se. Let’s see if I can hit the deck of the boat with it and then get the vines to wrap around the railings to pull things together.”

  “See what happens.” Horc glanced at Theodore and Rambull.

  The two of them shook their heads.

  “We’re more spiritual,” Theodore explained, then a thoughtful look crossed his face. “Wait a minute. I’ve got a Summon Water Spirit spell. Maybe I can get it to keep the boat afloat as we try to get to land.”

  Rambull sighed. “I took Summon Earth Spirit, I don’t think that will…” his voice trailed off. “I might be able to provide us with a stable spot for a few minutes.”

  Horc pointed at Theodore. “Do your spell; get the water spirit to hold us up while Bigdaddybear tries to hold us together.”

  At that point, thorny vines erupted on the deck of the boat and spread out from their center point. Bigdaddybear’s face was set in concentration, and the patch of vines slowly narrowed and reached for the railings, then over them. The boat creaked, then shifted slightly
.

  Theodore’s hands glowed light blue, then watery fingers appeared on either side of the boat. “Okay, we got this, but only for a few minutes.”

  “Can we get the rowers moving?” Horc asked, then realized that the whistling and puffing he’d been hearing was coming from the mini Vikings. Several of them were belching steam and missing strokes as they went through their clockwork motions.

  “They’re trying,” Miranda retorted. “They took some damage too.”

  “Beach ho!” Baladara shouted from the front of the boat.

  Horc let out a long huff. “Hang together a few more minutes.” He stood in the middle of the boat and watched the shore come closer and closer as the cliff fell away.

  A small village was a short distance down the shore.

  “We need to tuck in as tight to the cliff as possible.” Horc said. “If we can avoid conflict with the village, that would be awesome.” He’d been through enough fighting for a few hours, even if the fight with the Seamonsaur hadn’t lasted too long, and hoped they could avoid more. Since a village normally meant NPCs, and the last few NPCs they’d encountered hadn’t been friendly, he wanted to give them as wide a berth as possible.

  “Steering’s not great,” Miranda said. “Between the damage and the water spirit pushing us along."

  “I’ll get us in,” Theodore said. He glanced toward the shore and frowned. “Yeah this might be tight. Everyone better be ready to run.”

  Horc nodded. “Alright, everyone to the front of the boat. Get ready to disembark.”

  The shore approached quickly, and Horc was sure they were going to hit harder and faster than was probably safe. This beach looked like gray sand instead of the pebbles that had been on the beach they’d launched from. The water spirit let go of the boat and the craft slowly eased up on its velocity as it approached shore, but more water was rising up through the lower parts of the boat. It looked like things were going to be close.

  “Can’t hold it any longer,” Bigdaddybear said as the boat hit a sandbar and began disintegrating.

  “Everyone make a run for it.” Horc suddenly found himself knee-deep in ocean water. Around him the rest of the party ran for the shore. He followed close behind with Wolf at his side.

  As Horc staggered onto shore, once again more tired than he wanted to admit, the sounds of drums rolled across the beach.

  “We need to keep running,” Horc urged. It was enough that they had attracted the attention of the locals, he hoped they could outdistance them, and barring that, at least have the NPCs be a sufficiently low level to be easily defeated.

  “Right behind you, boss,” Tufkakes replied. “Although I’d really like to have time to get my fur dry.”

  “Lots of luck with that right now,” Baladara sniped as the two splashed onto shore. “This whole day is one big soaking mess.”

  Horc kept his mouth shut as the rest of the party made it to dry land. “Head up the hillside as fast as possible. Bigdaddybear, you’re in lead, I’ll bring up the rear.” He knew there was danger behind them, he just hoped Bigdaddybear would be keen enough to catch any trouble they might stumble across in their mad rush to avoid the villagers as the drums became louder and more demanding.

  Several NPC’s emerged from crude gray dwellings. He was fairly sure the red text above their heads said Ice Trolls. As much as he wracked his brain, Horc couldn’t recall is Ice Trolls were fast or slow, or how persistent they would be while chasing them. With the AI in control of NPCs, it was nearly impossible to tell how long the villagers would chase them.

  14

  Horc frowned as they stopped on at the base of a hill in the rolling tundra that lay between them and the AI dragon. Tufkakes rubbed his hands together and blew on them before he continued recounting the scouting run he and Jamiaca had just returned from.

  “We can’t find any way to get around them, without going back the way we came,” Tufkakes explained. “I’m willing to bet the AI moved these NPCs into the valley specifically to block our way.”

  “But we can’t go back without hitting those Ice Trolls who’ve been following us since we left the beach,” Horc said. He was already nervous about pausing long enough to make a plan. That was probably how the AI had everything worked out. Keep pressure on them from behind, and get them caught between two groups of powerful opponents.

  “None of this looks very good.” Bigdaddybear squatted down in the rough brown lichens that covered the rocky ground.

  “What about going over those hills over there?” Baladara pointed to the southeast. “I know it’ll take us out of our way, but isn’t that better than getting caught in a scissor movement?”

  “I think you mean pincer maneuver,” Stanoran muttered.

  Baladara glared at him. “Whatever.”

  Horc nodded. “You’ve got a point there. Unfortunately, we don’t know what lies that way. It might be another group of NPCs and then where would we be?”

  “Same place we are now,” Bigdaddybear said. “If the group in the valley is just waiting for us to come through there, then we aren’t going to have to worry about them coming after us like the ones from the beach are.” He nodded thoughtfully. “Let’s go that way. Worst thing that happens is we find a larger force than the one they spotted in the valley.”

  Tufkakes took a long breath, blowing hard on his hands, then looked at Jamica. “You ready to run again? Man it would’ve been nice if we still had the lizards.”

  “Sorry Rick couldn’t find a way to make them part of our gear like regular mounts.” Bigdaddybear shrugged. “Maybe after they get the AI reset.”

  “So many maybes.” Jamica said as she turned in the direction they’d all be going. “Good thing we’re both excellent runners. Come on fuz, see who can get to the top of the next hill first.” And the Troll Rogue took off running as a fast jog.

  “We’ll be back.” Tufkakes grinned and followed her.

  Horc cast one last look in the direction his quest wanted him to go, then started off after the two rogues. He still felt odd letting the Rogues do the scouting. That was a Ranger’s job. But as guild leader, he also needed to be the one making decisions, and protecting his people. That meant staying with the main force in case the Ice Trolls caught up to them. They’d been lucky, and the NPCs weren’t as fast as players. He hoped that would stay the case.

  They made it to the top of the next hill, leaving a swatch of smashed lichen across the tundra. Tufkakes dashed up from the other side, huffing.

  He paused and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “We’ve got critters all over the place. Mostly bears.”

  “Bears?” Horc asked.

  “Yeah, massed at the base of the next hill over.” Tufkakes took a long breath, as if to still his breathing. “I’ve never seen that many critters gathered together in a game before. Has to be twenty or thirty of them, just standing there like robots who are waiting for the power to be turned on. Kinda creepy. I’m also getting tired of physical exertion impacting health. I lost a quarter getting back to you guys.”

  “Here.” Stanoran’s hands glowed blue, and in the party icons, Tufkakes’ health bar filled.

  “Thanks.” Tufkakes gave him a quick grin.

  “Seems like no matter which way we go, we’re going to encounter resistance,” Titanya said. “Which do we think will be easier, critters or NPCs?”

  “Critters,” several of them said at once.

  Horc wasn’t sure how he felt about beating up on a bunch of animals to get across the landscape, but then he reminded himself they were just bits in a computer program. They’d come back as they were originally meant to be. It wasn’t a huge deal.

  “Okay. Let’s take out the bears and friends.” Horc looked up to the hill. “I might even have an idea. It’s something I haven’t tried before, but I see it here on my spell list.”

  Baladara looked at him and rubbed the pommel of her short sword. “What are you thinking?”

  “Traps,” Ho
rc explained as he started walking toward the next hill. “I’ve got a couple of different trap spells I can set. Maybe if I put them in a line, we can have a couple of people go down and get the bears to charge up the hill and get caught in the traps.” He selected a Blazing Pit Trap and looked at its information. “Says in the trap description that they immobilize anything caught in them for five seconds.”

  “That’s not much time,” Rambull said from behind Horc. “But if the rest of us are ready with our attacks, it might help take an initial amount of damage off them. Does the spell impact just one mob, or is it an AOE?”

  “Area of Effect,” Horc said, then checked the two other trap spells he had but hadn’t used. They were similar, but with different results. One was ice, and the other was concussion. The Concussion Trap had a longer time than the ensnared were immobilized, ten seconds.

  “Can you cast multiple traps at one time?” Theodore asked.

  “I think,” Horc read back through the spell descriptions and it wasn’t clear if they could be active at the same time or not. They all only lasted up to five minutes, more than enough time to lure some bears into them. “Won’t know until we try.”

  “Exactly.” Baladara said. “I’ve also got a couple of delayed spells we can try. So far we haven’t had opportunity to try any.”

  “Barbarians also have trap spells,” Miranda said.

  “Let’s try this and see what happens,” Bigdaddybear agreed. “So why don’t Theodore, Rambull and I go down and draw some agro and then get to the top of the hill with bears in hot pursuit? Gee, it’ll be like a night at the bar.”

  “You go to different bars than I do,” Baladara said.

  “No doubt.” Bigdaddybear laughed.

  As they reached the backside of the hill, Bigdaddybear, Theodore, and Rambull headed around the base of it, while Horc, and the others headed toward the top to set the traps.