And then I walked toward the spiders, a twisted grin on my face. My axes felt light in my hands, and I was pleased to be headed into a hopelessly glorious battle. The spiders were just a few feet away, and another volley of arrows was about to slam into me when I triggered Palisade of Flame.
The ball of fire surrounded me, burning up the arrows that touched it.
The Unfey Nightmares recoiled from its heat, but their momentum was too great. I walked forward, counting the seconds aloud as I used my axes to cut them down.
“One!” My first axe split the bulbous abdomen of the nearest spider, a shower of slime spilling across my protective dome.
“Two!” I used Whirlwind, the six strikes of my axes taking down two more spiders with ease.
“Three!” I kicked a trow in the gut, sending him to the ground, then used Sunder to split his chest open. More of the spiders barreled into me, scorching their limbs as they touched the fire sphere.
“Four!” Several of the spiders lashed out in hopes of penetrating my magical armor, but their limbs were reduced to ash for trying. I leapt toward them, releasing Rampage, then following up with a series of wild attacks. I brought down several more of the creatures in a handful of seconds.
The utter lack of needing to defend myself had turned me into a force of nature. Some of the trow began to retreat a few feet, and the Unfey Nightmares had stopped their pursuit of our forces. I just had to hold out a little longer and the retreat would be successful.
“Ten!” Without a cooldown time, I relied on Whirlwind, triggering the ability four times in a row. My axes were blurs of carnage, the speed at which they struck the spiders making them explode around me. Each of my attacks sapped my stamina and I watched it plunge dangerously.
Fifteen, I said to myself, stopping for a second to look around. A good portion of the spiders were dead and the trow had backed away. I stole a glance behind me, saw my troops a few hundred feet away already. The thought of standing here and slaying until my bubble fell and the enemy overwhelmed me was romantic and incredibly glorious, but also stupid.
Sending a final Quake Stomp into the closest enemies, making several of them fall to the ground, I turned my pretty brown butt around and ran down the hill.
The several Dexterity and Stamina buffs I had, combined with the still-active Rampage, made me run faster than a deer. I was an axe-wielding train as I barreled down the hill.
Twenty seconds came and went, then twenty-five, then finally thirty. My Palisade of Flame guttered out, and I felt naked. Spider kin and trow scrambled behind, and a few stray arrows landed around me, one even pinging off my pauldron, but I had a good lead.
Rampage had already reduced my HP to half, though, so I deactivated it. My speed immediately dropped off, and though I was still faster than normal, I was no longer quicker than my enemies.
The chase was terrifying. Knowing that you can resurrect in a handful of hours does little to alleviate the fear of being eaten alive by massive spiders. I ran as hard as I could, but the sounds of pursuit were getting louder. Looking behind me, I saw trow and spiders roiling just fifty feet away. My own troops were safe ahead, but Bridgerun was at least another half mile away.
I groaned to myself, preparing to turn around and fight again, refusing to go down running, when a red streak caught my eye. Xiao Pang darted out of some bushes at the side of the road, his rider Akira nowhere in sight.
Not needing any encouragement, I pulled myself atop the huge cat, gripped onto its fiery mane, and held on for dear life.
We streaked away from the enemies, then turned toward the city of Bridgerun, howls of pursuit following us as we went.
By the time we had made it back to the first bridge, our band of players had formed up again and were awaiting orders. I slid off of Xiao Pang’s back and gave a look of gratitude to Akira.
I gasped and tried to call on the healers to make sure everyone was topped off when a frigid blast of magic rippled through me.
A Cleric nearby gave me a wink. “You’re the only one still hurt. We’re good now, boss.”
I laughed, words still hard to find through my wheezing. My Stamina had been nearly depleted when Xiao Pang picked me up.
Oliver saw my difficulty and cried out, “Casters and ranged, get up in those towers to either side. The rest of us form up to fight out in front of the gates rather than get pinned inside. We still need to get to Taelman’s Pond before nightfall, so we can’t afford a siege.”
One of the city guards came up to me and gave me the best news I’d heard all day. “We have twenty archers above, and another twenty are on their way. Should be here in five or ten minutes. Our best soldiers can fight beside you as well, though there are only twelve of us. Another squad should arrive with the archers.”
I thanked the man and took a minute to catch my breath, setting down my axes and bending over to stretch my back. A din of pursuing enemies droned in the back of my mind. This battle would not wait a second longer, but at least it would finish on our terms.
Oliver nudged me with the handle of his halberd, saying, “Any sweet and epic pump-up speech?”
I laughed, standing back up again and looking around at my comrades. They looked tired but alive with the thrill of impending battle. This is what the players had signed up for, and even the NPC guards, whose lives were on the
