• Umbral Shadow - Level 9
“So, what’s our plan? How are we going to make sure we win?” Asked one member of the group. She was a tall and lithe wood elf with a longbow strapped over one shoulder. Her chestnut hair propped up in a ponytail and she wore supple leather.
“We just need to race out and be the first ones out of the gate. Looking at my map, I see vague outlines where each of the creatures should be. They are sizeable areas to cover, though.” The large warrior said.
“There must be a better way,” Atlas said, “They specifically told us they tried to balance our groups. If that’s true, it seems like our best option is to split into two groups and each hunt down specific targets. We can all meet up for the last boss. They never said we had to kill all the targets as a single group. Only that we have to kill them all.”
“I like that idea,” the vulpine man said, “We can split into two groups of four and each take specific animals. We can coordinate over party chat if we get in any trouble. What’s everyone’s main role here?”
Everyone answered, and they got a solid count. There was one more healer along with Atlas. Two rangers. Two warriors. An assassin and the vulpine Wizard. After some discussion, they split into two groups of four. Atlas’ group was the warrior from earlier and the vulpine caster. The tall wood elf ranger rounded them out as their fourth member.
A quick inspection of everyone brought up their names. The warrior’s name was Ragnarok. The tall wood elf was Gemmaline, and the vulpine was Quelin.
They didn’t have to wait very long. The last two groups quickly shuffled through the registrar’s office before the High Marshall reappeared.
“With that out of the way, let the event commence!”
No one even bothered to see what the marshal did after that because all of them raced for the gate. The targets were all on the southeast side of the city. When they split into groups, they decided the best way to do it was to have his group hunt the group farthest east and head southwest, while the other group would start on the southern side and move northeast until they met in the middle.
This meant their first target was the level 7 Lamia. Atlas wasn’t fond of snakes by any means. If this creature was what he suspected, he didn’t think he’d like a half snake, half woman, monster any better. They fought through a plethora of animals as they wandered around the highlighted area. The fights were quick and easy. The loot rotated from person to person. Atlas could only take items from every fourth monster.
They finally found where they thought their quarry lived. A tall cave sat on a small cliff side. The dirt around the entrance showed a pattern that looked like scales slithering. With a feeling of dread, they all entered. Ragnarok took the lead with his shield out and ready. Gemmalin, who Atlas quickly discovered preferred to go by Gemma, walked beside him with an arrow nocked on her bow. Quelin walked on his other side. Fire danced around one of his hands as he watched their progress advance.
They crept into the cave until light shone around a corner. A peek around the corner showed their quarry. A beautiful woman lay on a solid wood bed. Her bright red hair shone in the firelight. It flowed along her body in curls until it rested near her waist. That’s where the beauty ended and the horror began. Thick scales of dark green lined her lower body. No legs were present. From the waist down, she had the body and tail of an oversized snake. It was hard to tell from their position, but her lower half looked to be around ten feet long.
Before they could formulate any kind of plan, Ragnarok went full Leeroy Jenkins and rushed into the cavern, bellowing a challenge. The lamia rose on her lower half and her hair cascaded down to reveal her totally bare chest. The warrior froze in his charge as he stared at the goods on display, and Atlas watched the creature smile. Her tail lashed forward in a quick strike and smashed into Ragnarok’s chest. He flew backward and slammed into the wall. His health took a major hit and almost a quarter of his total HP was now missing.
An arrow whizzed by his face and the woman twisted to the side as her tail half slithered in a tight circle. The arrow grazed her shoulder but didn’t strike a solid hit. The movement broke him out of his trance and he focused on Ragnarok. Activating his Nourish spell, he followed the movements. A flash of red lit up the corner of his vision, but he focused on his casting and ignored it. The spell completed, and the magic blanketed the warrior.
The man rose back to his feet with a grumble and picked up his weapons.
“Keep your guard up! Don’t let her distract you.” Quelin called and Atlas saw another flare of red. He turned in time to see a small arrow of flame dart across the expanse and sizzle into the creature’s shoulder. She hissed and turned to focus on the vulpine. Her body slithered toward the caster, but Ragnarok was back in the fight. Charging across the room, he intercepted her advance and rammed her with his shield. He dropped to a knee and thrust the bottom of his shield into the ground. When her tail came around, it reverberated off the shield, and she hissed in pain.
An arrow flew across the room and caught her in the shoulder. With nothing else to do, Atlas fetched his wand from his belt pouch and held it in his off-hand. He didn’t want to get into close combat with the monster. They needed him to heal if things went badly. He activated Barkskin
