We entered the forest, and immediately the disconnects started. I snapped a twig off a tree to check, and it was exactly as expected. Dead and dry. There should be something on the ground, snapping as we moved. Instead it was smooth. No cracks, no snaps, nobody even stumbling over a stray root. We inadvertently spread out as we moved forward, walking two abreast between the trees.

“What do you think howled at us? Gotta be a wolf or something, right?”

“Probably at least a Dire wolf, though where was the pack?”

“Lone wolf? Those happen.”

“Aren’t they supposed to be tougher than regular wolves? I mean, they can live alone.”

“Quiet!” I hissed. “You’re going to let it know exactly where we are.”

Settling back into a slow advance, all of our nerves were on edge. Well, mine were. The healers were acting nonchalant, while I noticed the druids were all incredibly nervous. “Lucy, what’s the deal?” I asked as quietly as I could.

“This forest is wrong.” She replied.

“Wrong?”

“Yes. It’s only trees. No animals, no other plants. Not even grass. And it’s all dead.”

*CRACK*

Everyone spun to the right, looking for the source of the noise. Nothing. No movement, no shadows, we didn’t even see a fallen limb. “Should we split up?” Dave asked from the front.

“No. Something’s different here. Stay close, and keep your eyes and ears peeled.” I ordered, and we kept moving forward. The next five minutes were absolutely nerve wracking. We found nothing at all. Not even a trail through the woods. No sign of any enemy. No strange attacks, and no traps.

“[Icebolt]!” Ice Queen shouted suddenly, firing a small spear of ice off to the raid’s left. “Damn, must have been my imagination.”

“What did you see?” Dave asked.

“Thought I saw movement in the trees. Could have sworn I did.”

“It’s fine, just a false alarm. Cinderfy, there’s a lot of dead wood around here so limit the fires, ok?”

“You’re no fun.” He grumped, but he did give me a nod. At least he wasn’t about to burn the forest down around us. We got started again, heading straight north through the forest.

“Hey Shield, think we could head down to the next level without fighting whatever is in here with us?” HitMe asked from his rearguard position. “Shield? What? Hey guys, Shieldwall’s gone!” He panicked, and we all turned to stare. Sure enough, we were missing a guardian.

“Scouts, unstealth and return immediately!” I shouted, wanting to get everyone back in. Only Shocker and King returned. “So Death is gone as well. Everyone keep an eye out, we have no idea what this enemy even looks like. King, Shocker, stay in the middle of the formation and try and spot them.”

*CRACK*

I couldn’t help it, I instinctively spun to the right with the rest of the raid to see what the sound was, before spinning back only to see Blackthumb’s body being carried away over a black striped body. “[Marked for death].” I managed to activate a tracking skill, only for it to fail.

“You get ‘em?” Lucy asked hopefully.

“Skill failed. Never had that happen before.”

“Was Blackthumb alive?”

“No.” I answered, shaking my head.

“Blood trail.” King pointed out. “Follow?”

“Yes. At the least we can get his body back.” I nodded, and King took the lead while we followed. “Citadel, Hitme, keep an eye out behind and to the sides. Don’t turn even if you hear a distraction.” I ordered, trying to help them out and keep an eye behind us.

Warning!

Raid leader, one of your members has been dead for ten minutes and will respawn at the beginning of the dungeon. You have twenty minutes to get there and revive them before additional penalties are incurred.

Current penalties: -6.5% defense

Current boosts: +25% defense

Effective result: +18.5% defense

“Shit. Everyone, we’re going to have to abandon Blackthumb. Looks like the first death was ten minutes ago. We’re heading back to the stairs and sending Jess back to the beginning to rez whoever falls here. Citadel will go with her as a guard.”

We abandoned the pursuit, and double timed it through the forest. We didn’t hear any more distracting noises, but we did hear a few howls from different directions. “Are they herding us?” Someone asked, fear easily discernable through their voice. “It feels like we’re being herded. How many of them are out there?”

“Shut it!” Someone shouted. “We’ll find out, and we’ll kill them all.”

I thought it highly unlikely, but wasn’t about to say so. “Yeah right. They got three of us before we managed to get a lucky sighting.” Fucking HolyDungeonDiver! “You really think we’re going to outsmart them? Pack tactics man, we are so toast.”

“Everyone quiet!” I growled out. “We won’t be able to hear them coming.”

“As if we could over the sound of clanking.”

“Diver, I swear to Moradin if you keep being a Debbie Downer, I’m going to hamstring you and leave you behind so they can chew on you instead of the raid!” GoldGuard yelled.

“Just saying.”

“I don’t give a shit! If one of our healers is already giving up we are doomed, and I am not going to raid wipe against some sort of sasquaAAAAACH!” As he was distracted, a furred arm reached out from behind a tree and clotheslined the tank.

“Nnnnnot Sssasssssssquaaaaatttch.” The horror said as it stepped out and planted a foot on the tank’s chest.

“Keep moving! Guardians stay with the healers! Tanks and scouts, let’s see what damage we can do!” I shouted. “Lucy, you’re in charge of the second group!” As I was giving orders, the beast casually reached down and speared its claws into GoldGuard’s face. A lucky jerk to the side saved him, though it didn’t cause a total miss.

“Gaaaah! MY EYE!!!!!” He screamed, as Dave rushed forward in a shield bash.

“Notttt todayyyyyy, little mannnnn.” The beast smiled as it punched the middle of his shield, stopping his charge cold. It followed with an overhand blast from the other hand, sending the tank flying.

“[Magelight].” Grandelf created a light above the creature so we could get a good look, and I almost wished he hadn’t. Over eight feet tall, its limbs were thick with corded muscle. Black and grey colored stripes wove through its hair, helping to hide it in the beams of moonlight. Long, black claws matched a set of oversized fangs, but the most disconcerting were the burning red eyes. Rage coursed through them. At what, I didn’t really know, but it was directed at us for the moment.

“Ttttooooo sssshhhhrrrrrrrreeeeeddddsssssss.” It growled out. Faster than I could react, it lifted its foot and pierced through Gold’s chest plate with a single shot. His eyes widened in pain just before he died. Pulling its hand back out, it smiled as it licked the blood dripping from its claws. “Heartssssblooood. Sssssoooo sweeeeet.”

“Take him!” I shouted, starting forward. It darted past me, my blades barely nicking its hide in passing as it went after the mages left in the group. “[Hamstring]!” I activated the skill, spinning to attack only to come up empty. The beast had passed me, slashing four gaping wounds into Grandelf’s chest before backhanding him away. Its left hand had grabbed SpiceMix by the head, and was swinging his body around to prevent anyone from getting closer. Judging by the flailing limbs, SpiceMix had died to a broken neck in the initial assault.

“[Stunning blow]!” Eric attacked from the back, smashing one of his axes towards the creature’s head only to have it deflected by a shoulder. The creature reached back and pierced his shoulders with his claws, holding one finger up in his face and shaking it in a “no” gesture. It then slit his throat with the same finger and threw the body at Dave.

“[Rainbow barrage: elemental spread].” King attacked, firing a mix of elemental bolts at the creature.

“Hit it with light attacks!” I called out, having noticed the wince of pain when the light bolt struck. As we closed in on it, the creature leaned back and howled.

“aaWHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!” The howl forced us all to freeze, that one second was a costly opening. Dave and Smiter got their heads bashed together, before being thrown into myself and Brosef. As I tried to shove a groaning Dave off of myself, I felt a pain in my chest as the creature’s smiling face appeared above me. “I seeeee youuuuuu.” It growled, before its other hand decended.

You have died.

If you are not revived within ten minutes, you will be transported to the beginning of the dungeon.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

JohhnyBGood’s POV

I sedately paced the panicked raid, easily sliding along the trees as they stumbled toward the start of the level. Phoebe must have scared them to the core.

“What do we do? That thing’s gonna kill us all!” One of the healer’s whined. A priest of Pelor, judging by the sun on his robes.

“Shut it! We head back to the beginning of the level.” A druid ordered, keeping calm despite the shaking of her hands. “If it attacks again, druids and mages will hold it off. Guardians will escort the healers back to the entrance of the dungeon and wait for everyone to respawn.”

“Seriously? That’s a massive debuff we will get slapped with!” The healer cried.

“Better a small debuff than a total wipe!” The druid snarled, rounding on the healer and poking him in the chest. “You need to remember, you aren’t in charge Diver. Now shut up and follow directions.”

I watched in silence as the grouchy healer isolated himself. Not only was he off to the side, but he was at the back of the formation as well! Phoebe would surely forgive me for this, so long as I wasn’t seen. I let the group pass, before dropping down behind the healer and covering his mouth so he couldn’t scream. My left arm held his up, allowing my tail to stab a dagger repeatedly into his armpit. With a powerful leap, I made my escape back into the trees with the body, moving away so that he wouldn’t be found immediately.

I made my way back as quickly as I could, smiling as I heard the complaints. “Don’t care! How in the Hell are you going to hold it off when you couldn’t even stop it from taking Diver right out from under our noses!”

“Just keep moving then you idiot! If we make it back, it won’t follow us up to the previous level.”

“Oh and you can guarantee that? In this dungeon?”

Checking my surroundings, I saw we were near the edge of the forest. If I was lucky, I might be able to catch one more. But who? The druid and a guardian were arguing, but they weren’t the best targets. Angus wanted us to target healers, to force the use of scrolls. Unfortunate. The three remaining healers were clustered together with two armored guards and a handful of mages.

“ahWHOOOO!” I heard Phoebe’s howl, and took my chance as everyone turned to look back in her direction. Pouncing down from above, I slammed into the red robed mage and plunged my daggers into his neck, savagely twisting them on the way out before leaping back into the trees. Silent casting was such a wonderful thing. Being able to hit someone with an amplify damage curse and then get the stealth attack bonus was impossible to defend.

“Cinderfy!” Someone shouted, adding to their panic. “How? He was right behind me!”

“And that howl was so far away.”

“Screw this, I’m outta here!” One of the mages freaked, sprinting off into the forest in a random direction.

“Wrong way! Ice Queen! YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!” The druid called after her, but to no avail. “Fuck! Follow me, we’re outta here.”

“What about-?”

“Too late. She ran off, her death is on her head. If we follow her, the group will fall.” The druid cut off the guardian. Leading the way, the group headed towards the entrance. With nothing else I could do, I followed the mage who ran off.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Darkmoon Lucy’s POV

Finally! We made it back to the floor entrance, though the raid was in a sad state. “Ok, healers and guardians, head back all the way to the dungeon entrance. You have less than fifteen minutes to get there and start resurrecting people before we start getting hit with major penalties. The rest of us will wait here for survivors for five minutes before following. Citadel is in charge, use skills to rez people and save on scrolls.”

“What are we waiting for?” Peppermint asked. “We should go with them too!”

“This isn’t a democracy! Go! We’ll be along in five minutes! We have to make sure that the boss isn’t going to follow them up the stairs.” I shouted, and the group split further. Six went up the stairs towards the dungeon entrance, while a paltry three remained with me. “Brock, how fast can you raise walls?”

“That’s one of the slower spells. As fast as that creature moves, I would be useless.”

“Damn. What if we make a tunnel? Could you close that off any faster?”

“I think it’s a little too late for that.” He answered, pointing over my shoulder.

“Get your spells ready, but don’t attack just yet.” I ordered quietly, but the chuckling from across the clearing let me know the beast had heard me clearly. Wondering why it was standing there, I tried to identify it.

Chimera Lord

Demigod level 130

Chimera lords are able to mix and match parts from different beasts. Resistant to magic and possessing a tough hide, dealing damage to them is incredibly difficult. Little is known about their origins. Though capable of speech, most who attempt to talk with these creatures end up dead.

“You gotta be shitting me, we got our asses handed to us by a level 130 creature?” Peppermint muttered.

“Come play.” The creature beckoned, stepping forward a little.

“I’ll show you play! [Earth cof-“

“Brock, STOP!” I yelled, interrupting his spell. “Look, it can’t come any closer.” I said, pointing. Sure enough, it was walking along the edge of the glyph that appeared when we arrived, trying to entice us into attacking.

“Prrrrrrreeettttiiieeessss.”

“Let’s head on back. I’m sure that if it is here then the rest of the party is already done for.” Turning around, I started to head up the stairs only to hear Peppermint promise to be back and take them down.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ice Queen’s POV

Where am I? Where’s the damn raid? I’ve been running through these woods, but I haven’t seen hide nor hair of anyone. The trees all look the same! There’s no path! Every so often I hear things, but there’s nothing alive in the forest. The wood creaks in an unseen breeze. Branches snap while nothing moves. And this fucking fog! I can’t see my feet, and no matter what spells I try nothing works to dispel it.

“Queeeeeeeeen.” A voice groans from my right.

“He, he, helloo?” I stutter, only nothing answers. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise, as if something is right behind me. “[Ice lotus]!” I screech, centering the spell around myself. Shards of razor sharp ice explode outward, shredding the nearest trees but getting nothing else. Panting, I see my breath escape in bursts of fog.

“Who’s there?” I scream, but hear nothing. Dismissing the ice, I keep moving on, though I change direction on occasion. The sounds seem to be herding me, driving me to the left more than the right. I try and move towards them, but they get stranger and more persistant. Occasional moans of some strange creature call out, chasing me.

How long have I been running? Ten minutes? Twenty? It’s hard telling. This thing following me isn’t howling, but it is definitely out there. I don’t hear any howls, but what are the chances of two beasts being down here? It was happy enough taking out members of the raid, why hasn’t it killed me?

“ENOUGH YOU BASTARD!” I scream as loud as I can. “COME OUT AND FACE ME!”

“Sssssoooooon.” I hear a deep voice growl from behind me, as a black claw gently brushes through my hair.

Run. Run. RUUUNNNNNNNN! I bolt, desperation and terror giving me a boost that I’ve never felt before. I’m practically flying through the forest, until my shoulder glances off a tree. As I stumble, I cry in fear. Using pure ice manipulation, I catch myself and start shooting through the forest on a block of ice, creating more beneath me to move forward. Hyperventilating, I dodge trees with no sense of direction. All my concentration is on moving forward, I hear nothing and only see a tunnel ahead of me filled with trees to dodge.

An open clearing breaks me from my mental state. Skidding to a stop, I try and catch my breath as I stare into the black maw of a cave. Crushed bones litter the entrance, long since picked clean of any meat and marrow. I frantically destroy the ice behind me, though it is of little use as my mana is depleted. Half my health as well, I must have been burning life to fuel my flight. With no option to remove the obvious trail that is leading the boss to me, I headed toward the cave. Might as well see what this boss has in its cave.

“Nnnnnaaauuugggghhttyyyyy.” A growl sounded from behind me just as I reached the entrance to the cave. It was far too dark for my eyes to pierce the gloom, so I reluctantly turned to see a towering beast stalking through the clearing. It stopped, and sniffed a few times at the end of my ice trail. “Nnnnno mana, llllittttllle maggggeeee?” It swiped a claw along the ground, showing me a bit of red. Brushing my nose, I saw a small trail of blood. “The preeeyyyyy isssssss wwwwwweeeeaakkkkk.” It growled, lowering itself to the ground. Digging its massive claws into the ground, it gave me a manic grin as drool spilled from its jaws. Dirt flew as it launched itself towards me, far faster than I could hope to respond. I saw a flash of black claws, and then a popup.

You have died.

If you are not revived within ten minutes, you will be transported to the beginning of the dungeon.