You were hit! Vampiric Stirge hit you for 2 points of blunt damage.

The prompt flashed unnoticed by Ben as he plummeted down toward certain death. He had less than two seconds until impact, but the scout’s instincts were already tuned to these emergency situations and it took him a split of a second to activate his Pause The Game! Power.

Freezing time while screaming and free-falling in mid-air was a peculiar sensation, one that Ben might have stopped to appreciate if he had more than five precious seconds to think how to save himself from being impaled on the spikes below. As it was, he forced himself to suppress his rising panic and look around him.

The situation looked dire. Other than the creature that attacked him - and was now frozen while falling downwards not far from where Ben was - there were five other flying monsters that he could see. They were horrid creatures, looking like a crossover between a giant mosquito, a bat and a vampire. A status screen appeared above each of them, but Ben didn’t intend to waste his time reading their descriptions. His gaze swept around, taking in the whole scene as he tried to decide on what he should do.

One of the stirges was on its way to hit Shiraz, with its sharp claws outstretched mere two feet from her face. The shadow mage’s hands were raised defensively and her mouth was open in either a shout or an incantation. Two others of the flying creatures were closing in on Milenna from two different directions. Ben could see the tip of the sorceress’s Enforcer Staff glowing white and the aura seemed to be spreading outwards in a growing circle - he must have paused the game in the middle of her spell being cast. Two more monsters were attacking Red - in fact, one was already in contact with the warrior: one claw was on the man’s shoulder, whereas the other was in the process of being sliced by Red’s glowing sword. Droplets of dark blood were spattering around, frozen in time, and the creature’s ugly mouth was open in a screech. Ben could see sharp teeth beneath the mosquito-like beak.

Ben saw all of that in the space of two seconds - which left him three more to devise a life-saving tactic. Looking down, he saw that the trajectory of his fall would bring him close to Red and his two opponents. Ben had been thrown off the path with his back down, so he would have to turn mid-air and try and grab something - but the question was what would it be? The way he saw it, he had three options. The first would be to try and grab the path itself; it was no more than a foot in width, so Ben should be able to partially hug it and hope that he’d be able to hold tight enough to stop falling. Then again, the path was a bit slippery and Ben wasn’t sure he’d even be able to turn his body enough and in time to make such a maneuver.

The second option was to grab the rope that was tied around Red’s waist and went up to where they began their descent. Red’s original intention was just that, after all - that the rope would help them keep from falling. There was one major problem with that option, though: Red was busy fighting a monster, so he wouldn’t be able to pull Ben to safety. In fact, if Ben grabbed the rope then in all likelihood he would pull Red down with him to their possible deaths.

That left him with a third and very insane option - which, by the calculations of his analytical mind (or according to his improved tactics skill score, depending on who you ask), was still the least insane of the three. So when the timer on his power clicked zero and time resumed in a rush of wind, Ben did his best to half-turn in mid-air - and used both of his flailing arms to grab the second vampiric stirge that was about to attack Red.

Success! Wrapping his entire body around the monster’s leathery wings in a desperate bear-hug, Ben’s freefall came to an abrupt stop. The stirge underneath him screeched in anger and fell a few yards under the weight before it managed to release its thin wings and spread them again, bringing the both of them just a foot or so under the section of the path where Red was fighting the other stirge.

The creature that Ben fell upon turned its head around, trying to poke Ben with its long and sharp beak. Ben snapped his head back to escape the attack, which resulted in his body nearly slipping off the back of the monster. The movement caused the stirge to turn sharply in the air and Ben had to hold on for dear life. He was about the same size as the monster, maybe a foot taller, and he realized that the creature wasn’t coping well with the added weight - they were starting to fall again!

Just then, Ben saw the body of the stirge that first attacked him - the one he’d managed to put a bolt in - falling down next to them at full speed toward the spikes below. It seemed to be a dead weight and Ben realized - after reading a flashing prompt - that the thing was, indeed, dead. He had killed it! The realization gave the scout’s confidence a serious boost and Ben’s previous fear was gone, replaced by sheer adrenaline. He could hear his friends shouting and Red cursing and felt hot droplets of blood on his cheek. It was time to rejoin the fight.

The scout could see the narrow path was going to pass less than two feet from where he was death-hugging the stirge. Following up on his sudden boost of courage, the scout leaned sideways sharply, turning the monster he was riding with him as if he was hang-gliding. The stirge, who was busy trying to both stay in the air and shake Ben off it, had no choice but to comply. A second after, the monster crashed heavily into the stone path - and Ben rolled away from it, grabbing the stone and trying desperately to straighten himself.

He managed to circle one arm and both his legs around the stone and for a moment he was sure he was going to make it - but he forgot about the stirge. The monster had been stunned for a short moment after the impact and began to drop down, but it was far from finished. As the scout started to steady himself on the path, the creature spread its wings and was quickly back at the same height level as him. Screeching in anger, it attacked with its claws.

Ben felt hot pain as the sharp claws dug deeply into his forearm - the one that was encircling the path.

You were hit! Vampiric Stirge hit you for 3 points of slashing damage.

The pain was intense, but Ben’s improved constitution had increased his health to a decent 24 points - exactly twice the amount he had when he’d entered Raxlon’s world for the first time. That meant that, while he suffered 5 points of damage since the fight began, he still had nearly four-fifths of his maximum health and was definitely still in fighting shape.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Ben found a resolve he didn’t know he possessed. He somehow managed to keep his injured left arm around the stone path while he drew his common dagger with his right arm. The stirge was not finished with its attack: even as Ben raised his arm to strike, the creature’s beak was closing in, inches away from the blood pouring from the deep gashes on his arm. Up close, Ben could see that the beak ended in what looked like a small circular mouth and suddenly the scout knew exactly what would happen if this disgusting thing would touch his open wound.

Fortunately, Ben was quicker. With a roar of pain and fear and anger, Ben slashed down toward the creature that seemed intent on sucking his blood. Somewhere in the virtual workspace of DM Raxlon, an attack roll was being made for him and several factors were being taken into account - Ben’s low skill level with daggers; his dexterity score; his precarious position on the slippery path; the stirge’s defense score; and Ben’s newfound resolve. Ben didn’t know, but his attack roll managed to pass the monster’s defense by a mere 1 point. That was enough. The dagger’s sharp edge sliced through the creature’s beak a split-second before the thing made contact with the scout’s body. The sharp yet delicate organ was sliced neatly in half, and a spray of blood and other dark liquid splattered everywhere. A few drops of it hit Ben’s skin and he felt a burning pain, but it was negligible. The stirge had it much worse:

You hit Vampiric Stirge for 4 points of slashing damage.

While the damage was not life-threatening for the stirge, it still caused intense pain as it mutilated its most sensitive organ. The creature screeched and frantically flapped its wings, drawing away from the scout as quickly as it could. Its sliced beak kept spraying blood and poison as it got further away.

Ben growled. He was not about to let the thing escape. Immediately after the successful hit, Ben managed to get himself to his feet, finally standing again on the stone path. Still holding the dagger, he drew Throndrefeen’s wand with his other hand. By this time the stirge was nearly 20 feet away, disappearing into the darkness. But it was not fast enough. Take this, asshole, thought Ben even as he gathered the necessary energy from the Sphere of Undead Power. He fired. A small purple ball shot forward at tremendous velocity, speeding toward the retreating monster. After ten feet it grew in size. After twenty it met the body of the stirge and exploded.

The resulting boom was music to Ben’s ears, as was the following prompt:

You hit Vampiric Stirge for 20 points of necrotic fire damage. You have killed Vampiric Stirge.

Snarling in victory, Ben finally looked up to see how the others were faring. The first thing he saw was another stirge falling down from where Red had managed to dispatch it. He was about to give a cheer, but when he kept looking up the praise died on his lips and turned into a curse: there were more stirges than he thought! His companions were surrounded by a dozen or so of the flying monsters and the only thing that kept the creatures at bay was Milenna’s light spell and Shiraz’s shadows.

The light from Milenna’s staff seemed to physically hurt the Underdark creatures the moment they got too close. Shiraz’s version of a shield spell, however, worked differently: the shadows seemed to move around her in a confusing manner, making her form look blurry. The stirges that tried to move through the vortex of shadows were thrown back. They weren’t hurt, but they were disoriented and kept flying toward the wrong directions after that.

Both of the spells were effective, but they also took every bit of concentration the women had, which meant they weren’t able to do much more. That also meant that the stirges - at least the smart ones - decided to choose the next available target: The Red Mercenary. Ben was horrified to see that one stirge had already attached itself to the warrior’s back and that its beak was attached to his companion’s neck. By the light of Milenna’s spells, Ben could even see the reddening color of the creature’s beak - not unlike how a straw would look like when sucking on a strawberry milkshake. The thing was having a feast! Red, however, was unable to fight it off - he was busy slashing madly at three other of the flying monsters, though how he was able to withstand all of that and still not fall from the narrow path was beyond Ben.

The scout knew they had to find an edge over the monsters. Utilizing the fact that for the moment none of the striges took notice of him, he accessed the status screen he previously dismissed and read everything his identify skill could teach him about the creatures:

Vampiric Stirge, Level 3 This monster is the big cousin of the common stirge, created by the magical experiments of death mages. It has the same blood-drain attack ability of its smaller kin, but also possesses vampiric powers and abilities, such as life-drain, poisonous bites and high resistance to magic. Higher levels of this type of stirge may also have the ability to summon smaller creatures. Much like common striges, Vampiric Stirges prefer to attack in groups, relying on their speed of flight and their numbers. A word of caution: a full attack by a vampiric stirge may result in both blood-drain, life-drain and poisoned status. The combination of the three effects has a strong chance to stun most low-level characters. HP: 16 Damage: Claws (1-4), Bite (1-4 poison damage) Special attack: blood-drain (effect: unknown) Special attack: life-drain (effect: unknown) Weakness: While Vampiric Stirges strive in polluted, poisonous or necrotic water, they hate freshwater.

That easy, ah? Ben didn’t waste time. He cocked his head and shouted: “They hate water! What do you have!” His shout reverberated in the large cavern, adding to the pandemonium of screeches and battle cries.

Several things happened after his shout. The first was that everyone - stirges included - slightly turned their heads downwards to look at the scout. His friends seemed surprised to see him alive and standing after they witnessed his fall at the beginning of the fight. The second was that Milenna’s eyes widened in understanding. “I have a rain spell!” she shouted back, “but it’s not memorized! I need a minute!” Even as she shouted she drew her spellbook. Shiraz, seeing that the sorceress was about to be distracted, quickly jumped from her position on the path toward Milenna. Ben gasped, thinking she would fall, but the shadow mage’s shadows accompanied her and provided an extra surface for the briefest of moments. It was enough for Shiraz, who stepped lightly onto the path below to stand next to Milenna, ready to protect her.

Ben didn’t know what else happened with the two women, because the third thing that happened after his shout was that two of the stirges that waited for their turn to attack Red screeched in anger and instead turned their attention to Ben.

“Shit,” said the scout. He raised his wand again but hesitated; the monsters were too close and an explosion might result in either Red or himself - or both of them - losing their balance and flying off the path. But what other option did he have? He had lost his crossbow, and his dagger throwing skill was so low that he was just as likely to hurt his companion. Ben cursed and was about to fire a ball of necrotic fire despite the risk, but then something happened that changed everything: Red fell.

The mighty warrior finally succumbed to the joint effort of the stirges. Suffering from major blood loss and having his life drained was not helping and up until now the only thing that kept him on the narrow path was his incredible strength and his high resistance to pain. But then one of the stirges managed to sink its teeth into the mercenary’s skin and poison found its way into the man’s blood system. Red’s constitution and fortitude were not high enough to withstand the special effect that triggered after he suffered three of the stirges’ attacks at once. The warrior became stunned - and promptly fell from the path, with the blood-sucking stirge still clinging to his back.

Ben’s eyes widened as he watched his friend falling off the path. Red’s sword fell from his limp hand, to join the discarded crossbow on the floor. His spiked shield was still attached to his forearm, but that didn’t help him - not until the stunned debuff ended. Fortunately for the big warrior, he had a rope tied around his waist. The man fell down and would have been impaled on the spikes, but the rope tightened and his fall was halted at the last possible moment, with his head inches above the tip of the highest spike. The stirge on his back wasn’t so fortunate - the spike penetrated the creature’s body and, when Red moved away - the rope was swinging madly - the monster remained skewered as if waiting to be served in some kind of a nightmarish demonic version of a shish-kebab restaurant.

It was a scene to remember: Red swinging unconscious on a rope with stirges flying around him like annoying huge flies, while beneath them blood was gushing upward like a fountain from where the spike had skewered the now dead monster. But, once again, Ben didn’t have time to appreciate what he saw. The two stirges that marked him as a target were almost upon him. With a shout, Ben fired his wand again. This time, remembering what happened when he used the wand in such a close distance against the spiderlings, the scout wasn’t waiting around for the explosion to hit him. Even as the ball of energy exploded against one of the striges, the scout jumped away into the air. His goal: the rope on which Red was swinging.

You hit Vampiric Stirge for 10 points of necrotic fire damage. You hit Vampiric Stirge for 5 points of necrotic fire damage.

In almost all of the best action movies, there is a moment when the hero jumps away just as a huge amount of TNT explodes behind him, and the viewers are rewarded with a beautiful slow-motion shot of leaping through flames that ends with the hero rolling away in a safe distance. That’s exactly how Ben imagined he must have looked like when he made his leap. As the ball of undead power exploded in a purple haze behind him, Ben managed to escape its AoE (area of effect) - although just barely so. The scout dropped his dagger as he grabbed the rope with one hand. Then he had to drop the wand as well so he could grab the rope with his other hand. Even so, he slipped down the rope and cried in pain: the coarse fabric cut the delicate skin of his palms, turning them bloody and costing him another health point.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Ben tightened his grip on the rope and managed to steady himself - which was just in time, as one of the stirges was recovered enough and was about to attack him. The creature was thrown several good yards away by the blow and had taken massive damage, but it somehow managed to flap its wings and slowly fly back toward Ben, claws outstretched and mouth screaming in rage. The status screen that hovered above it showed that the monster had only 4 points of health remaining, but apparently it was enough for it to come back and carry out its revenge.

Ben’s eyes widened in alarm. He was out of weapons and out of tricks. He looked down, thinking to jump, but the drop - about twenty feet - would still be deadly. What should he do? Clinging to the rope with bleeding hands he was as helpless as a moth that was caught in a spider’s web… or was he? Ben suddenly remembered that he had just acquired a new awesome skill, which came together with a new awesome spell. Thinking about it, an icon appeared in his vision, bearing the shape of a dark silhouette. Ben mentally clicked on it and his mind was immediately filled with the necessary knowledge. He mouthed an arcane word and felt familiar energy coursing through his body - the same as he had felt when he cast Blood Siphon on the bodies, only much less powerful. After two seconds the spell was nearly complete - all Ben had to do was choose a living being that would contribute its life force.

The vampiric stirge reached him just as Ben made his choice and completed his Death Aura spell. The creature, which was already suffering from ongoing health loss due to the necrotic damage, suddenly felt that more of his life was being drained. It was a completely new sensation to the monster, one that it was accustomed to feel the other way around as it drained the life of its victims through their blood. The creature’s rage was suddenly mixed with fear. It made one attempt to attack but found that its claws couldn’t penetrate the new dark aura that appeared around its victim. The human was grinning madly at him, showing a row of straight white teeth, and to the frightened stirge it looked like the picture of doom. Then the stirge felt something else - the chill touch of freshwater on its injured body. A drop hit its wing, then another one, and suddenly there was a deluge as more water came from above. The stirge had enough. Screeching in fright, the monster turned away from the hanging human and flew away, joining its few remaining brethren as they fled into the darkness.

Ben was still grinning as he watched the creature escape. The magical rain poured from above and his enemies were fleeing. He felt invincible. He felt badass. He felt - he felt his hands slipping. His hands were slipping! With growing apprehension, he realized he was simply too weak to hold himself on the rope. “No no no no no - “ Ben cried in alarm. His stamina bar was close to zero and his strength was ebbing away. The rope burned against his wounds and he slipped, he slipped, he slipped -

Ben fell, screaming in frustration and fear as the spikes rushed to meet him. Only they didn’t. Strong arms caught the scout just in time and he was pulled into the bloody and wet embrace of The Red Mercenary. The big man was still tied to the rope and swinging just over the spiked floor. He was pale and looked exhausted and in pain, but he was still strong enough to grab Ben as he fell from above. It was all Ben could do to hold onto the warrior with what little strength he had left. And so they hung there in midair, swinging slowly on the rope, locked in an embrace in a dark cavern as unnatural rain poured from above and distant screeches echoed from afar.

This was how Shiraz and Milenna found them when the two women made their way down the rest of the stone path. Shiraz whistled softly as she gazed upon the unusual scene. “You guys are so cute together,” she said. She started to chuckle. Then Milenna joined her, and even Red’s body started to shake with silent mirth. Ben was wet, weak, embarrassed and in pain, but he felt his own lips curl into a smile.

After a few moments, the cavern was filled with the sound of uncontrolled laughter.