“You failed in your first attempt, Ralph Kraus. And now you are drunk on essence. Unlike your pitiful mortal form, I can consume as much as I like, with no side-effects. I can see the madness in your eyes, and I don’t doubt you will give your life just for a taste of what lies within my core.”
“I am no lunatic, nor am I driven mad by a desire for essence,” Ralph protested, but it was clear he didn't believe his own words. “I seek revenge for Alaxon!”
“Say what you wish. Console yourself with lies. I don’t care. Your friends will fall. I will drink of their blood and dissolve their bones to dust. Their bones will be displayed on my walls as trophies, their weapons forged anew to reward future adventurers wise enough to flee where you did not.”
Ralph stepped forward, more quickly now. Bertha and Abby tensed, ready to snap forward and overpower him before he could get in range. I raised a hand, and they relaxed a little, but remained on the front foot.
“Pirates of the Black Sands!” Ralph roared. “Charge!”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ralph rushed forward with incredible speed, closing the distance between us in a second. I jumped back, out of the range of his twin swords as Abby and Bertha blurred toward the pirates. While I twisted and dodged Ralph’s attacks, lightning lanced from my Storm champion’s fingertips and blasted a pirate before he could gut her with spear.
“You’re losing focus, Elf,” Ralph said as he slashed both weapons.
I darted behind a pillar, and the blades crashed against the stone with a screech like nails on a chalkboard. Bertha rushed past me and kicked Ralph in the side. He dropped to the ground, but the War Troll’s killing blow was prevented when a scimitar-wielding pirate charged into her. His shoulder pounded into her side, and she tumbled as Ralph leaped to his feet.
Ralph was upon me, his swords lancing toward my elf’s bare chest. I bent over almost double to avoid the whirring blades, and my opponent was keeping me at bay so I couldn’t attack with my dagger. A spear would have come in handy right about now, but I preferred a drawn-out duel to a swift execution anyway. I’d experienced the power of feeding upon a corpse before, so I darted away from Ralph with my Swiftness sigil pumping speed through my body.
“You run, Elf?” Ralph cackled as he chased me, and I weaved around the pillars until I lost him.
Then I found my prey—a spearman harassing Abby. He jumped behind a stone column when my elemental launched a lightning bolt, and then he leaped back out and jabbed his spear. Before he could complete the move, I sprang forward, and my dagger found his shoulder. The blade ripped through leather and penetrated his arm-joint. He screamed and released his spear, but then a gloved fist flew toward me. I twisted aside, and the fist grazed my neck. I wrapped my arm around him in a chokehold while the dagger in my other hand slashed his throat. I gripped his bleeding form and drained every drop of his blood from the open wound.
The enchantments that had empowered his attacks now ran through my bloodstream, but I knew from experience that the magic would wear off in a short time. I scanned the chamber for any sign of Ralph and saw Abby blur to my right. She jolted another pirate before he could pounce on me, ozone filling the air. The bastard fell back, but Ralph suddenly cut him in two as he charged toward me.
“You don’t seem to mind killing your own,” I said as I weaved under and around the Chosen One’s sword strikes.
“They stand between me and victory. There will be more to add to their ranks. This is destiny!” Ralph sliced at me yet again from my left, his blades streaming the blood of his fellow Pirate while his tattoo drank the essence of his fallen brother.
I raised my dagger and parried his swipe just as his second sword twisted inward, racing toward my bared chest. Remembering Bertha’s move, I ripped my elbow down as the weapon peeled my skin and sliced it open. But I’d still prevented it from sawing into my ribs. Then I leaped into a flying knee shot, catching Ralph under the chin. Even all that strength and speed wasn’t enough for him to shrug it off, and I felt his teeth crunch together before he fell back.
“Essence . . . is ours!” Ralph managed to yell through broken teeth as he took refuge behind the pillars.
My prime target was probably giving himself a good dose of healing potions, and while I didn’t exactly want to give him time to heal, my champions were in desperate need of help. Pirates surrounded Bertha as she struggled to deflect their blows, and her poleaxe could barely swing because they were so close. The half-troll was bleeding, dark blood coursing down over her glowing purple tattoos. I sprinted toward her attackers just as Abby came to assist, and she erupted with lightning that chained from one pirate to another. They managed to shrug off the stun, but it had given Bertha enough time to slip free of their circle.
With renewed strength, Ralph joined the fray, but he’d worked his pirates into such a frenzy that he could barely get past them to swing his swords. He screamed with rage as Bertha twisted her poleaxe breaking the guard of a scimitar-wielding pirate before slicing through his ruined armor and slashing deep into his chest.
Another raced forward, looking to take advantage of that opening, but I hit him from behind like a football frontliner, taking him clean off his feet and driving him into a pillar. The air shot out of his lungs like a cannon, and then my dagger plunged under his arm.
