Certain spells that level with the mage can be charged, allowing the mage to conserve mana by casting a lower level version of that spell. — Annwyn Online Player’s Guide.
West of the Spiderlings’ Website, Godsfall Mountains. Day 05.
“Were there ever this many peryton out here in the game?” Saiph asked as he caught one of the twin sets of antlers from one of the charging moose-like beasts with his shield. They jutted past his shield and Saiph grunted, shoving the monster off as its scorpion-like tail whipped around to stab him.
Orbnus swooped down and opened a rend in reality, pulling liquid white fire from the hole, splashing it on the peryton Saiph had knocked back. The spell’s area of effect caught fire to two more of the beasts beside it. All three bellowed in pain as the flames consumed them.
“This and more!” Spidarren shouted with battlelust as he thrust his lance into the side of another peryton. The dragoon laughed as he added, “Whole herds of ‘em!”
Saiph raised his hammer and slammed the head into the ground, electrocuting and knocking down a herd of peryton ahead of him. More Spiderlings in their spider forms leapt out to deliver venomous bites that drained the mana and stamina of the stunned peryton.
It had taken the better part of the day to fight from the Spiderlings’ website at the first safe zone to the second and third. Once they’d found that second safe zone, they’d realized a logic to their new positions. They’d shifted in roughly the same ratio as the new distance between Castera and Araedi, which Orbnus and Jack O’Lantern had confirmed.
Not everyone in the Spiderling group had flying mounts and so their combined party had had to battle their way through scores of monsters hiding beneath the floating Godsfall Mountains. Saiph was beginning to feel like someone out there was intentionally throwing everything on the continent at them to slow them down.
Saiph removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow in the brief respite. Looking due west, he could just make out the faint dot that was Pallas’ Watch, which floated like a grey buoy in a sea of earthen greens and browns. Hundreds of little black dots flew between the flying mountains, though Saiph knew those were no birds.
Long, slender-necked with a head the cross between a chicken and the long extinct terror birds Saiph had seen in history documentaries, cockatrices were also very large. Upwards of the size of a bus, with long, feather-covered wings.
The cockatrices the Spiderlings had seen had chosen the cliffs surrounding Pallas’ Watch as their roosting grounds before heading south for the winter. The truck-sized, fire-breathing, bird-like monsters patrolled the sky with vicious aggression, hunting and killing whatever other flying wildlife had the misfortune of wandering into their airspace. None that Saiph could see were below level eighty-seven.
Saiph swore as he looked through his telescope. “So many.”
Nix clapped Saiph on the shoulder. “You knew it couldn’t be that easy. Giant spiders, moose with scorpion tails? Of course something in the sky had to be just as fucked up.”
“Yeah, but I hadn’t really expected that every cockatrice, their mother, and grandmother on the whole continent would be here. I’m not sure how we’re gonna get through all of them. As soon as anything gets closer than about three-quarters of a mile to them, they rush it.”
As if to give example to his statement, a lone eagle-like bird, larger than any Saiph had heard of on earth, was torn to shreds by a pair of cockatrices before it had the chance to alter its course away from the cabal. The bloody pieces of its corpse were fought over furiously, sending meaty chunks falling groundward.
Nix looked through his own telescope, speaking as he scanned the horizon. “You think we might be able to use that aggression? They'll make for easy lures. Kill a few, rinse, and repeat. Might take a while, but luring's the easiest option.”
Luring was the staple strategy in MMORPGs for dealing with a high number of mobs. It relied on a knowledge of the aggro rules common to most enemies, in that they needed line of sight before they would actually target you. You would pull, or lure, a few away without attracting the attention of the rest. That made clearing the horde easier by breaking it down into smaller skirmishes.
But their fighting from safe zone to safe zone had drawn the attention of nearly everything around them, greatly drawing out the fights as new monsters were attracted by the sounds of battle. It would be their luck if they lured a few cockatrices and then roused the whole cabal with the sounds of their fighting.
“I don’t think that’ll work. At least, we’d have to figure out a way to do it without getting the attention of the whole cabal. And as aggressive as those things are, I’m pretty sure they’d all come flying the moment we pulled a few.” Saiph sat down on the ground and played with his dreadlocks as he thought. He watched the Spiderlings pull thick cocoons up from the ground to the top of the asweyr island they had set up camp on. Watching the Spiderlings stack their bounty on the island below made the beginnings of a plan take root in Saiph’s head. “Or… We only need to get one person to the castle. That way the rest of us could just fast travel there.”
Saiph jumped down to the lower island, calling for Nix to follow him. They found WickedWeaver in his spider form, pulling a long strand of webbing up the side of the cliff. He hauled the cocoon up and over, set it on the ground, then turned to Saiph and Nix.
The fact that the Spiderlings were trapping and eating the still-living monsters they fought was a little gross, goblins especially. They might not be human, but they were still humanoid. Saiph forced aside his discomfort by intentionally not looking at the cocoons.
“How long did it take you all to put up those webs around the first safe zone?” Saiph asked.
WickedWeaver’s front-most right leg scratched the top of his head, just above his eight eyes in an unnervingly human gesture. “Took us about a day, why?”
Saiph let a grin form on his face. “How long would it take you to put up some nets to catch us some cockatrices?”
***
“A little more to the left!” Spidarren shouted as Saiph and a group of Spiderlings heaved a floating asweyr boulder aside.
They adjusted the direction they were pulling from and suddenly two Spiderlings dropped from the sky, landing on the asweyr boulder with a long trail of spider silk behind them. They quickly got to work spinning the final football field-sized net while everyone else checked over their gear and readied themselves.
Saiph, Will-I-Am, Kamila, Quark, Orbnus, and Jack O’Lantern each had the Dragon Warrior variant of their respective classes, which meant each of them could turn into a dragon. One of the Spiderlings, a Rogue named Spyder, also had the Dragon Rogue class. Though he was needed at one of the five nets.
Each net was arranged in a wide semicircle about a kilometer apart so they wouldn’t crowd each other out.
All except Kamila would act as lures to drive the cabal of cockatrices into the nets, the idea being to clear enough of them from the skies to give Kamila a window to break for Pallas’ Watch. Additionally, she would scout from high above, giving important callouts as their operation progressed.
Everyone else who wasn’t on a net or flying would work to distract any stragglers as well as provide support as needed.
“Are we ready?” Saiph asked over the raid party chat, which included all the dragons, one person from each net, and assorted others placed around the zone.
A chorus of “yeses” answered him back and Saiph gave a thumbs up to the other Dragon Warriors.
Saiph activated his Dragon Form and immediately felt the magic take hold. A third set of limbs burst from his shoulders, shifting bone and muscle around as they grew to form wings to accommodate his now gigantic body. Skin hardened into black scales and the nails on his fingers elongated into ice-blue talons.
Saiph let out a roar that was answered by his fellow dragons. All watched as Kamila, small and slender with black and purple markings, slipped into the sky, the beat of her wings making no sound. After a good head start, all were lifting into the sky themselves.
Saiph worked powerful wing muscles in fluid movements that felt as natural to him as swimming. He rode the updrafts in the air currents, climbing higher into the sky.
“First island on the right, I count six hanging out near a small cave. Who wants them?” Kamila called out.
“I’ve got them.” Saiph was already in a dive, wings close against his body as he let gravity pull him groundward.
Opening wings to their full extension, Saiph caught the wind, slowing before he slammed into the side of the cliff.
Two cockatrices plummeted to the ground, unable to catch themselves from the sudden surprise. Saiph ignored them and blew crystal fire into the cave, sealing it off before taking flight again. Three of the extraordinarily territorial monsters immediately gave chase.
Saiph’s target web was just ahead of him. He tucked his wings in close against his body and passed through the hole slightly off center that was just large enough for him to pass through.
The three cockatrices that had been following him slammed into the nearly invisible web. It bowed and stretched, but held as the cockatrices tried to rip themselves free. They were quickly descended upon by two Spiderlings from their hiding place above, cocooned, and the trap reset.
Quark’s regal red and gold markings stood out against the darkening sky as he led six cockatrices towards his own trap. Saiph acknowledged him with a wave before heading for his next target, called out by Kamila.
“Damn it! Shit, they spotted me!” Will cursed over the group chat. He had nearly made it to his next lure when a rather large island floated by, lazily turning to reveal almost twenty sleeping cockatrices that immediately began waking up one by one. Almost immediately, they were in the air and giving chase.
“Come this way, we got you!” Lueur Rose called out.
Rose was a machine gun. Bright oranges and yellows lit up the sky as her high attack speed build let her send a rapid-fire salvo of flame-enchanted arrows. They intersected the path of the cockatrices like tracers, sending some reeling while critical strikes outright killed others.
A ball of fire erupted in the middle of the cabal chasing Will, flames engulfing and knocking the monsters out of the sky like burning twigs. As effective as Lunette’s pyromantic attack was, it also drew the attention of even more cockatrices from further away.
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Suddenly hundreds of them filled the sky, pouring out of the caves and forests along the asweyr mountains. They turned the dark blue sky black with their sea of shifting bodies. And some of them began turning towards where Kamila was flying overhead.
So much for the element of stealth. “Alright, I guess this is now an escort quest. Let’s get Kami to the castle!”
Saiph caught an updraft, climbing up to Kamila’s altitude. He grabbed one cockatrice by the neck with his powerful jaws and crushed bone and spinal cord, the taste of blood filling his mouth. He maintained his bite until the cockatrice's health bar was completely empty and the animal was dead.
Tossing the limp form aside, Saiph channeled his mana into a taunt spell that pulled the cockatrices away from Kamila as Orbnus and Jack O’Lantern came to relieve Saiph.
He dropped into a dive, the manic monsters hot on his tail. He spared only a moment to look back and breathe his blue crystal fire, which somehow missed all but two cockatrices, whose wings froze solid, encased in crystal.
That brief moment of looking back had allowed the other cockatrices to catch up to and latch onto Saiph. They tore at the plates along his back, tearing them free and sending pain lancing up and down Saiph’s spine.
More clamped their jaws onto him and tore at his flesh. Saiph roared with anger and defiance as his health bar plummeted as quickly as he and the cockatrices did.
Saiph’s wounds ceased their near instantaneous healing as his health bar dropped below a quarter.
Saiph flared his wings as wide as they would go. The air catching them sent pain through his joints, but it had the effect he’d wanted. All of the monsters clinging to him were thrown free by his sudden air braking.
Though he was still coming in hot and slammed onto an asweyr boulder just large enough to hold him.
Breathing heavily, Saiph looked skyward to rest and take in the scene above him.
Orbnus and Jack were nowhere to be seen. A look at his HUD confirmed they were dead, waiting to respawn at Caer Siddi.
Quark was flying point for Kamila now, flames from his draconic mouth leading to split apart the cockatrices rushing them. The two were little more than flying dots high above Saiph, but they were making a dash for Pallas’ Watch.
A loud boom jolted Saiph and a flash of white light blinded him. When his vision returned, Saiph saw dozens of cockatrices falling from the sky.
Ba-doom. A streak of light, followed by a bright explosion. Ba-doom. And another. Their airbursts swatted cockatrices out of the sky around the two dragons.
“Someone from your guild castle giving us help?” Will asked.
Saiph followed the direction of the streaks of light and sure enough, they originated from his guild castle.
Riley, is that you? Why won’t you answer me, then? “We should make the best of it! Everyone who can, make for the castle!”
Seeing as none of the cockatrices were bothering him, Saiph leapt off his boulder and took off.
Quark and Kamila went down. Overwhelmed, they were torn apart when they were forced to circle around an asweyr island that floated into their path.
“Saiph, stay low! They haven't seen either of us yet!” Will called over the voice chat.
They were getting close. Saiph could see the purple glow of the Caer Fragment in the castle’s courtyard. But the green of his stamina bar was shrinking quickly.
Will cursed. He belted out flame, but it did nothing. He was overrun, too.
Saiph’s stamina fell to nearly nothing, but he pushed himself forward. The ground was coming fast, each beat of his wings was like swimming through molasses as he fought to stay airborne.
The remaining cockatrices, there were still hundreds or even thousands of them, turned their attention to Saiph.
They dived him. The closest was directly above, but Saiph was too tired to pull out of the way.
He was the last one alive and he was going to fail, too. They'd have to restart from the beginning, but they'd lost the element of surprise. Saiph closed his eyes, waiting for the first cockatrices to knock him down.
A green orb of light flashed out of the corner of Saiph’s eye. Strength renewed in his muscles and his energy surged.
“Wake up, sleepyhead! We aren’t doing this again!” Nix shouted as he landed on Saiph’s back.
Arrows flew from his bow, catching stragglers as another dragon, large and black with yellow scales, flew above Saiph, smacking the diving cockatrices aside like gnats.
“Spyder?” Saiph shouted, the name dragged out by his draconic speech.
“Nix said you could use some help!”
With renewed vigor, Saiph climbed higher to match Spyder's altitude.
Two cockatrices came at Saiph, talons extended. He readied to blast them when two arrowps met them, catching one in the mouth and the other in the chest.
“Focus on flying, I got you!” Nix shouted.
Pallas’ Watch’s courtyard was quickly approaching. Saiph pulled up, clearing the cliffs by mere feet before turning back into his human self. He and Nix went tumbling and rolling to a stop just in front of the Caer Fragment. Saiph touched the glowing purple crystal and accepted the message to attune his own Caer Fragment with it.
He was instantly transported to Caer Siddi, where he sat on the ground of the chamber panting, though no air entered his lungs. Kamila, Quark, Orbnus, Jack, and Will were beside him, all lying on the ground looking equally as exhausted.
Kamila flashed him a thumbs up and Quark mouthed out “well done.”
A notification of a new message from Sinnamon Roll appeared in Saiph’s heads up display. He dismissed it knowing he was far too tired to answer it just yet. Later, he told himself. Rest now.
But not too much rest. He had friends waiting for him to give them a way to his castle.
The central pillar flared to life, showing a view of the Pallas’ Watch’s courtyard. Saiph almost stepped through it before Lueur Rose and Lunette Soleil appeared inside the chamber, their health bars locked at a quarter. Saiph raised an eyebrow at the pair.
“Fastest way to leave combat. We jumped for it,” Rose answered through the voice chat, her face a large smirk.
Saiph smiled and stepped through the portal as more of their party joined them moments later.
Saiph waited for Will and the two walked towards the castle’s main doors. Will's eyes never left the castle's defenses as the cannons continued their retorts, airburst explosions making short work of the few cockatrices bold enough to try and get to the floating castle.
“I have got to get me one of those cannons,” Will said with admiration.
“Where would you even put it?” Saiph asked, watching yet another white streak head away from the castle tower.
Will shrugged. “Who cares? I’d have a giant cannon.” He glanced back up at the tower, scratching his furry chin in thought. “Though I might have a few ideas…”
The two stopped at the door and Saiph took a deep breath. Somewhere on the other side, someone was using his dead girlfriend’s account. They had ignored his messages and calls, but he could still see their location on his map due to her account being on his friends list. They hadn’t left the guild castle in the last four days.
A part of him hoped he would find Riley alive and well. That part of him still hoped this was all a dream and that he'd wake up any minute now.
But the other part of him, the part that had accepted this new reality, dreaded what he'd find beyond these doors. It wouldn't be her and he would be angry with whoever had stolen her account and been pulled here with him and the millions of other players around the continent. It was almost a desecration to know someone was walking around in her body.
“Well, are we going in or not?” Will asked, pulling Saiph from his thoughts.
Saiph nodded and pushed open the doors. The central lobby looked almost like how Saiph remembered it had looked in the game. There were a few stark differences. The roof had partially collapsed, surrounding the fountain in the center of the lobby with greystone that had been weathered to a path. Weeds and vines had overrun what had once been a garden beside the fountain.
"Is anyone here?" Saiph shouted.
No answer.
Saiph looked into Riley’s room, which was to the right of the statue. The room was dark, but a quick browse through the guild’s focus crystal’s options fixed that.
It was definitely her room. On the desk against the window were several books whose titles referenced potion crafting and other alchemical topics. If whoever was using Riley’s account wasn’t here, then where could they be? It was a large castle, he could spend days searching every inch.
Saiph left the room and went to WickedWeaver. “There are extra rooms on the upper floors, feel free to take as many as you need. Let me know if you guys find anything up there. I’m going to have a look around in our guildmates’ old rooms.”
Will called over to Saiph, “I wish I could help you look around more, but I have to get back to Ven Istera to finish that project I started. Let me know if you find anything, whatever it turns out to be.”
“You got it, Will.” Saiph flashed his friend a thumbs up before he stepped through a portal back to the floating city.
Nix sent Saiph a message that said he needed to speak with him privately. Quark and Kamila, both in their owl and bat forms, offered to search one the castle’s four towers. Jack and Orbnus took another, and the spiderlings split themselves among the remaining two and the castle’s upper floors.
“I think I’ve gotten a lead on my new subclass,” Nix said when the two of them were alone.
“Oh?”
Nix had unlocked a new subclass, Soul Forger, in the middle of a dungeon fight against what they’d thought was a monster, but turned out to be another player. There hadn’t been any information in the subclass description and the only two leads they’d had was that apparently one of Nix’s summons, Captain Raine von Alder, had been a soul forger and an item Saiph spawned with, a Token of the Vanguard, was said to have been soul forged from a piece of his own soul.
“Yeah...” Nix answered, hands buried in his bag.
“Are you going to tell me or just drag this out?” Saiph rolled his eyes at Nix.
Nix rolled his back. “I was getting there. Give me a second.”
Nix held up an arrow and passed it to Saiph. “Notice anything about it?”
“No, it looks like a normal arrow, but it says it's soul forged,” Saiph answered.
“Exactly. Notice my subclass level?”
Saiph opened Nix’s character info. He had reached level four in his subclass.
“How’d you manage that?”
“I used my soul forged weapons while we were fighting those cockatrices. Turns out the subclass behaves the same way other class-altering subclasses work. Every weapon I create counts towards one of my four summoning slots. I haven’t had the chance to figure it out before because I’ve almost always had all my slots used by something else.”
Nix had told Saiph about Raine being a Soul Forger and the new spell she'd given him when the pair had been left alone for dinner the night before. That spell required him to be both a level one hundred summoner and a level five Soul Forger. At the time, he hadn't known how to level his subclass.
Saiph handed the arrow back to Nix. “So another level and you’ll be able to summon Raine using the spell she gave you, right?”
“I was hoping I’d get the last bit of XP in that fight, but I’m still a kill or two short. The amount of XP needed to level is way higher than any other subclass I’ve used.”
“Well, we are in a much more defensible position here at the castle than out there in the cliffs. It shouldn’t be too hard to get you that last bit.” Saiph stopped outside the first door in the hallway to the guildmates’ quarters. “This one’s my room. We can talk here.”
The room was vaguely how he remembered it. Dressers, cabinets, and shelving ringed the large, circular room and in the center, at the bottom a set of stairs, a circular bed large enough for a party of six to lay on made the centerpiece. Taking cues from his Draconic subclass, Saiph had designed it to resemble more of a nest than an actual bed.
He took in the sight of familiar trophies he'd collected from some of the quests he'd gone on with newbies, each one bringing back a memory of a joke, conversation, or funny moment that happened on the journey to getting the item. Though it was what was sitting in the middle of the bed that had Saiph running across the room, forgetting that Nix had even been with him.
He picked up the small, wooden jewelry box and opened the lid. It had its familiar soft creak of the hinges and inside he found a small perfume bottle with an earthy green liquid inside, an envelope stuffed with an assortment of dollar bills and change from earth, and a necklace with an amethyst pendant and an engagement ring with an amethyst halo stone flanked by two diamonds on either side.
Saiph gasped as he picked up the necklace he had always worn since the accident. It had changed. The amethyst pendant had a soft glow to it which pulsed in the rhythm of a slow heartbeat.
As Saiph pulled the necklace closer to examine it, the air around him grew very cold. And when he looked up, Nix was gone and Isaac wasn't in Pallas’ Watch any longer.
