Atlas saw a blanket of white power settle on him and Rag, and he felt instantly better.
PiousOne healed you for 10 health.
With a nod of thanks, he returned to the fight. They continued hammering the boss with attacks, but the fight was one of endurance. Its health pool was enormous as they watched their attacks slowly chip away at Goreclaw.
Rag took a solid hit to the chest, and the bear turned his full attention to Atlas.
Mommy, he thought before a giant paw came crashing down. Rolling to the side, he activated his combos again. Another 45 damage rolled out for his three attacks as the bear tried to get out of the way. When the creature finally neared the 25% health mark, something strange happened.
Its eyes glazed over a purple color and its claws and muscles bulged and grew bigger. Atlas met his gaze and stared into its alien looking eyes.
You challenge me, little druid? I’ll devour you.
Probably, but I’ve always been a sucker for loot and I hate to fail quests. Let’s finish this.
Their battle of minds went unnoticed to the others in the group, but the physical changes didn’t.
“Atlas, get away from it. That thing is liable to kill you in one hit!” Quelin yelled over the noise of the battle.
While Atlas wanted to disagree, he knew the mage was right and disengaged. He felt something peculiar for a moment, and then Pretty charged in with a large two-handed sword. She worked as a tank, but she didn’t use the shield method. Her two-handed sword served as both her shield and her weapon. Jammin appeared nearby and grabbed him by the arm.
“Get back. I redirected your threat. Keep them alive until we can drop the last of its health,” she told him with a rough shove.
Atlas focused on the fight and cast his Barkskin spell on both Pretty and Rag. The bear continued its relentless assault, but they both did a fine job of blocking and dodging while returning them with Counters. They were only the standard one-hit counter, but it was better than nothing.
Gemma decided it was time to bring out the big guns and had her large ballista bolt ready to fire. Atlas also spotted Quelin running toward it, hands glowing like molten lava. He must be repeating his spell from earlier.
The rest of the damage dealers in the group all appeared to be activating special abilities. Jammin’s weapons took on the sheen of poison. One dripped a purple liquid while the other a green. CalvinBoy launched a special ability as well, but instead of the large ballista that Gemmalin used, his looked to be a rapid fire ability. Moving with unnatural speed, the archer loosed eight arrows in a tight swirling pattern in less than two seconds. These ultimate attacks hit home and buried into the bear.
Its health bar plummeted until only a sliver was visible. The creature stumbled for a moment before its eyes flashed red. A gigantic roar issued from its maw. Waves of force radiated through the clearing and pummeled the party with its power. Atlas braced himself as the energy and sound battered at him. Pretty dropped her sword and covered her ears in pain. Her proximity causing her to take the worst of the onslaught. Seeing its opening, Goreclaw slammed into the small warrior. The creature pinned her to the ground with a massive paw and then descended on the lithe woman with his mouth open. Her shriek filled the clearing as Atlas tried to cast a Nourish her way. The spell completed and immediately fizzled. As he looked toward the bear, he saw the broken remains of her body. Blood leaked from large punctures on her chest and neck. Her metal armor looked like Swiss cheese.
Furious at the turn of events, the entire group roared in rage and all charged the bear for one final showdown. Atlas triggered Triple Threat and swung his staff with all of his might. The heavy thumps echoing through the clearing as he connected with each blow.
Multiple arrows sprouted from Goreclaw’s side and blood trickled down from the wounds. A ball of fire hit its hind leg and flames erupted from the impact, charring flesh and cooking hair.
Atlas’ attacks felt inconsequential until his last hit smashed into the skull directly between its eyes. The purple light faded from the animal and for a moment, clarity returned to its mind.
Thank you for setting my spirit free, young druid.
It sunk to the ground and finally heaved one last breath before its body stilled.
The group looked around in stunned silence.
“We won!” They all hollered in joy.
Chapter 13
Nature’s Transformation
The group cheered in exultation as they surveyed the scene. They beamed at their accomplishment and all walked to each other. Some members hugged each other while others high-fived. Atlas watched the celebration with an enormous grin of his own. They won the contest and now were going to loot the boss.
His grin quickly turned to a frown as his vision caught the gravestone. The others saw his expression and looked around as though preparing for an attack.
“What’s wrong, Atlas?” Quelin asked.
He nodded toward the stone, “We won, but we lost Pretty during that last attack.”
The group went silent as everyone turned to look at the gravestone.
“Does anyone know her personally?” Atlas asked.
They all shook their heads no.
“How about in game friends?”
The same shake answered his question.
“One of us needs to save her gear for her. She should respawn in the city. She’ll be able to turn in the quest since we won, but it would suck if she had to waste her winnings on new gear immediately,” Atlas said.
“I agree. Without her help, this group wouldn’t have been successful. We all played our parts and worked well as a team. I think you should take it Atlas,” Gemma said with a soft smile.
“You’ve been honorable this entire time and even made us some stuff asking nothing extra. I agree with Gemma. You should
