Chapter 64 – Tempting Fate

  “Big one coming in,” Savgar called, pulling Thurg from the body of a smashed spider.

  They stood their ground in a small phalanx formation. The best three people could make. A large spider charged into them, trying to break their formation and separate them. Savgar took the impact of the crash, stopping the spider’s charge with a powerful swing of Thurg. Victor and Teresa dodged to the side of the spider and took it down by the legs.

  The Spider buckled as its foundation broke. Victor took advantage of the situation by bringing his Morningstar down on the Spider’s head, smashing it into a gooey paste on the ground. Savgar pushed the body aside, not wanting it to get in their way. They reformed their phalanx and prepared for the next fight. Arrows continued to land around them accompanied by the occasional fireball or sonic blast, picking off the small spiders and keeping the Wenduags busy trying to dodge.

  “Not bad,” Savgar grunted. “At this rate we might not need the others help.”

  Teresa groaned. “Why would you say that?”

  “What?” Savgar asked.

  “You aren’t supposed to say things like that,” Victor explained. “It’s like tempting fate.”

  “You can’t tempt Fate,” Savgar said. “Why would Fate care?”

  In the distance, a howl echoed throughout the camp. Every Wenduag and spider that heard the howl let out their own as a chorus of hollering and screeching filled the air. They watched as all the nearby beasts began to undergo a change. Their muscles and bodies grew as red veins appeared glowing across their skin. They roared with rage as they rushed the three.

  “You were saying?” Teresa said as she parried a spider lunging for her face.

  “Bah,” Savgar grunted, as he batted aside a rock thrown by one of the Wenduags. “Would have happened either way.”

  “Guess we’ll never know,” Victor sighed. He slammed his Morningstar down on another of the large spiders.

  “We are going to need to stay on the move,” Teresa said, changing her weapon into a shield. “If we stay in one spot, we are just asking them to overwhelm us.”

  “Break formation then,” Savgar said. “But don’t let anyone get to far away.”

  “Blitz strategy?” Victor asked.

  “Works for me,” Teresa said.

  They moved through the camp, Teresa taking point with her shield. She used it to block the rocks the Wenduags threw at them and knock aside anything that they ran into. Savgar and Victor ran behind her taking swings at anything that came close. Beast, structure, it didn’t matter. Their goal was to cause as much chaos and destruction as they could. They needed to pull all the attention to them.

  *~*

  Daniel watched the assault team run through the camp with little thought as to where they were going. They were only focused on not staying in one place. The ranged team tried to support them the best they could by focusing on keeping most of the camp struggling to organize, but anytime something appeared that might be a threat, they would switch their focus to that.

  The archers specialized in focusing targets like that. Most of the time, they would shoot the spiders, trying to scatter them around. On the larger targets, Sia and Sylvian would focus on the eyes. They quickly found that anywhere else was a waste of an arrow. Even with the Wenduags, they would often only do minor damage to it.

  Elizabeth held the fan they had received in the recent battle. She used it to send sonic blast throughout the camp. She appeared to have a decent capability with the weapon but was struggling with aiming the blast. For now, she focused on the large groups.

  The ranged team had to stay on the move as well, as the Wenduags were quick to start throwing anything they could grab back at them, including some of the spiders. They almost preferred throwing them than the rocks. Elizabeth and Rayne had to constantly switch to dealing with these and other spiders that found their way up to them.

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  Daniel on the other hand, couldn’t help much with singling out targets. His role was to focus the large groups. Every time he saw a group start to form, he would lob a fireball into their formation. He was the only one specialized in large area-effect spells, and he had the greatest impact on sowing chaos throughout the fight. It was the best he could do to keep the camp from organizing.

  All the while, Daniel continued to look out for Clayton. He was around somewhere, and they needed to be the ones to find him first. He summoned another fireball, sending it careening to the other side of the camp. It was becoming harder to find targets worth spending the Mana on now, and he was quickly running out of Mana.

  “How much time do we need to buy them?” Reuf asked from nearby.

  “Not sure,” Daniel said. “How is everyone doing?”

  “They are handling it for now,” Reuf said. “We can keep up with the spiders. None of the large ones have made it up here yet. The biggest worry we have right now are those rocks, but we can usually get out of the way in time. I am more worried about your position. You can’t move while you cast.”

  “I’ll change location after this next one,” Daniel said. “Then change again every two to three spells until I run out of Mana, or we get the signal to retreat.”

  “That will work,” Reuf said. “But I will stay close by to help protect you.”

  “That skill you have takes a lot out of you,” Daniel said. “Are you going to be able to use it?”

  “I hope not to,” Reuf said. “But I have grown stronger since then. I can only hope it is enough.”

  Daniel sent another fireball into the camp, watching it explode in the middle of a mass of spiders killing many and scattering the rest. In the corner of his vision, Daniel spied a Wenduag focus on him.

  “Time to move,” Daniel said.

  *~*

  Teresa charged through the camp was only halted upon running into a Wenduag wearing several belts and carrying two large axes. From what she remembered, that made it one of the elites, but it was hard to tell anymore. Most of the Wenduags wear at least one belt now.

  The Wenduag hit her in her side with one of its fists and kicked Savgar away. Both were knocked away several feet from the force of the blow before the Wenduag turned its attention to Victor. It moved to engage Victor, bringing both axes straight down towards his head.

  Victor brought up his Morningstar to intercept the strike. His Morningstar clashed with the metal of the axes causing sparks to fly from the impact. He held the weight of the Wenduag’s axes above him, preventing them from reaching him. The Wenduag bore down on him, trying to overpower him as it proceeded to hit him with a series of rapid punches with its two free hands. Victor drew in Mana as his body started to harden under the barrage of the Wenduag’s attack.

  He had to focus on blocking the axes. He didn’t trust his armor’s ability to withstand those. For the fists and kicks the Wenduag hit him with, he chose to rely on the hardening ability his armor gave him and his Barrier spell to take the worst of the attacks.

  Savgar and Teresa didn’t leave Victor to deal with the elite for long. Teresa picked herself off the ground and ran to help Victor. Changing her weapon into a sword, she slashed at the Wenduag’s unprotected legs as Savgar shoulder bashed it from the side pushing it away from Victor. It swung an axe at the dwarf, who parried the strike, shattering the blade.

  “You can shine a blade all you like,” Savgar growled. “But if it’s as dull as a novice’s blade, you will always just be a shiny example of wasted potential.”

  The elite let out a roar, trying to grab the dwarf. Savgar knocked away its hands as they reached for him following up with a thrust of his Warhammer into the Wenduag’s chest. Victor, now no longer the focus of its attention, brought his own Morningstar down on the Wenduag, trying to knock it to the ground. But the Wenduag caught his weapon with one hand, lifting him into the air and throwing him aside.

  Teresa focused on sidestepping around the elite, as she took advantage of the Wenduag’s distraction. She stabbed and cut at its legs, hands, and head all the while fending off the spiders that tried to interrupt their fight.

  Arrows pelted the elite as they fought. Most bounced off the Wenduag’s hide being little more than a nuisance, but it was enough to cause the momentary distraction. It fought back with increased speed and skill as though it had to prove itself worthy of its status among the Wenduags.

  Several times, other Wenduags came down to help. Savgar or Victor would shift their position to deal with the new threat until they managed to kill the new Wenduag and could return to trying to take down the elite.

  Slowly, they were starting to whittle the elite down, taking small injuries in the process. They had to keep putting Mana into their Barrier every time the Wenduag managed to break through it. That was the biggest threat to them now. Whether their Mana would last long enough for them to get through the fight and still be able to escape.

  The fight came to an abrupt end by Savgar breaking the Wenduag’s skull with Thurg. Once they confirmed the death with the System Messages. Savgar looted the elite along with its weapons.

  “Can’t let decent metal go to waste,” Savgar said.

  Victor shrugged and downed a Mana potion.

  “How many more elites like that do you think are in this camp,” Teresa asked, drinking a Stamina potion.

  “I don’t plan on staying long enough to get a count,” Savgar said. “Get ready. No signal yet, so we got more time to buy.”

  They started to get back into formation, looking for the next creature to fight when Teresa fell to the ground screaming, and grabbing her head.

  “That is enough of that,” Clayton yelled landing nearby. A moment later he was joined by four more elite Wenduags and two large spiders landing on either side of him. “How nice of you to return.”