into the mines?” Thorm suggested. He pulsed his magical barrier and two people bounced off it. The knight quickly took them out.
He could be right. This was a game after all. If we were supposed to gain entrance to the mine, perhaps the method was nearby.
Thorm glanced at me. “Go!” he said. “Take a quick look. I'll hold them back.”
There was no time to debate this, but it pained me to leave him here alone against such great odds. Still, I nodded once and moved backwards a few steps, firing several volleys into the approaching mass.
The horde was now streaming from the trees and charging at Thorm in a full run.
“Go!” Thorm shouted. He swung his broadsword, doing his best to keep from being surrounded.
I turned and ran. The second I crossed into the shadows of the looming rock face I switched on my Shadow ability. Hopefully, this would give me several seconds before the crowd noticed me.
The shack door was chained and fastened with a padlock. I barked a laugh, swung my sword at the wood of the door and shattered it. Inside was an array of mining tools; pickaxes, shovels, a wheel-barrel. Nothing obvious that would unseal a magically closed door.
“Oh,” said Phlixx from my shoulder. “Look, candy!” He pointed a stack of crates, one of which was open. In it was an even row of red sticks.
Dynamite.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I scooped up a handful of dynamite and put them in my inventory. When I tried to grab more I stopped. The rest looked rotted through and probably unstable.
“These will have to do,” I said. Outside I looked to Thorm.
The Holy Knight had been forced back several steps and was swinging wildly. He was no longer using his magical barrier. No doubt, he had exhausted its limit and was waiting for it to recharge.
Then the surge overtook him, dozens of people clamoring over him. He was instantly smothered and couldn't swing his sword.
“Thorm!” I shouted and began in his direction to help.
But before I could take more than a couple of running steps, a bright light exploded from under the mass of people. It grew in intensity, like a sun, and I had to look away and close my eyes. People shrieked, not in rage, but in agony.
After a few moments, the light faded, and I looked.
Thorm stood with his armor glowing brightly. At his feet and all around him were mounds of white ash which were picked up by the wind. The people that attacked him and those within several dozen paces had been completely incinerated.
He had cast a Nova spell.
The town folk beyond the spell's radius had actually stopped to cover their faces. They now recovered and surged forward at Thorm, raging and screaming.
Thorm saw me and I held up a stick of dynamite. He shouted, “Get it to the door! Now!”
Before I could protest, the people were on him again. The knight swung his sword, fighting with a rabid energy.
I forced down the instinct to join him. He was right, I needed to get the dynamite to the door, so I ran.
The metal of the door was badly mauled by Mudhoof and Feign's efforts. “I think we got this,” Mudhoof said. Feign tossed another snowball, and the minotaur swung his ax.
The door shattered. Pieces of frozen metal caved inward and fell in a pile on the ground.
I looked at the dynamite in my hand with disappointment. “What do I do with this then?”
There was a commotion behind us. As I turned, I froze in shock.
The trees of the forest were parting and the gigantic form of the Demon King emerged. He did not walk, but floated along the ground. The townsfolk whooped and hollered at his arrival and stopped running. They parted like a living sea for their God to pass through.
Thorm still fought, but once the Demon King appeared he knew the jig was up. With one final swing which cast his attackers aside like rag-dolls, he turned toward us and ran.
But he was too
He could be right. This was a game after all. If we were supposed to gain entrance to the mine, perhaps the method was nearby.
Thorm glanced at me. “Go!” he said. “Take a quick look. I'll hold them back.”
There was no time to debate this, but it pained me to leave him here alone against such great odds. Still, I nodded once and moved backwards a few steps, firing several volleys into the approaching mass.
The horde was now streaming from the trees and charging at Thorm in a full run.
“Go!” Thorm shouted. He swung his broadsword, doing his best to keep from being surrounded.
I turned and ran. The second I crossed into the shadows of the looming rock face I switched on my Shadow ability. Hopefully, this would give me several seconds before the crowd noticed me.
The shack door was chained and fastened with a padlock. I barked a laugh, swung my sword at the wood of the door and shattered it. Inside was an array of mining tools; pickaxes, shovels, a wheel-barrel. Nothing obvious that would unseal a magically closed door.
“Oh,” said Phlixx from my shoulder. “Look, candy!” He pointed a stack of crates, one of which was open. In it was an even row of red sticks.
Dynamite.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I scooped up a handful of dynamite and put them in my inventory. When I tried to grab more I stopped. The rest looked rotted through and probably unstable.
“These will have to do,” I said. Outside I looked to Thorm.
The Holy Knight had been forced back several steps and was swinging wildly. He was no longer using his magical barrier. No doubt, he had exhausted its limit and was waiting for it to recharge.
Then the surge overtook him, dozens of people clamoring over him. He was instantly smothered and couldn't swing his sword.
“Thorm!” I shouted and began in his direction to help.
But before I could take more than a couple of running steps, a bright light exploded from under the mass of people. It grew in intensity, like a sun, and I had to look away and close my eyes. People shrieked, not in rage, but in agony.
After a few moments, the light faded, and I looked.
Thorm stood with his armor glowing brightly. At his feet and all around him were mounds of white ash which were picked up by the wind. The people that attacked him and those within several dozen paces had been completely incinerated.
He had cast a Nova spell.
The town folk beyond the spell's radius had actually stopped to cover their faces. They now recovered and surged forward at Thorm, raging and screaming.
Thorm saw me and I held up a stick of dynamite. He shouted, “Get it to the door! Now!”
Before I could protest, the people were on him again. The knight swung his sword, fighting with a rabid energy.
I forced down the instinct to join him. He was right, I needed to get the dynamite to the door, so I ran.
The metal of the door was badly mauled by Mudhoof and Feign's efforts. “I think we got this,” Mudhoof said. Feign tossed another snowball, and the minotaur swung his ax.
The door shattered. Pieces of frozen metal caved inward and fell in a pile on the ground.
I looked at the dynamite in my hand with disappointment. “What do I do with this then?”
There was a commotion behind us. As I turned, I froze in shock.
The trees of the forest were parting and the gigantic form of the Demon King emerged. He did not walk, but floated along the ground. The townsfolk whooped and hollered at his arrival and stopped running. They parted like a living sea for their God to pass through.
Thorm still fought, but once the Demon King appeared he knew the jig was up. With one final swing which cast his attackers aside like rag-dolls, he turned toward us and ran.
But he was too
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