I said.

Ezzie said, as the mortars flashed in the distance.

I glanced up at the projectiles, then leaned down and peered through the ramp; the Blademaster was almost to the top level. I said, as the creature reached the fourth floor.

Ezzie said.

I leapt backward off the tower just as the mages turned the top level into an inferno. The mortars hit a split second later, shattering straight through the structure and sending it tilting sideways into the ground.

The hard, frozen ground. The ground that I was now plummeting toward. I tried to gather myself for the impact, remembering how deftly the Dragonkin had rolled when it made contact, but I…didn’t do that.

I just kind of flopped into a particularly tall snowdrift, shattering the ankle that got trapped beneath me.

By the time I finished screaming, my ankle had already healed up, so I kicked my way through the snowdrift—ignoring the shocking amount of blood I’d left behind—and sprinting for the ruin of the northern wall.

Fires had broken out all along its length, and the snow was peppered with bodies that been dropped out of the sky.

A heavy shape landed to my left as I ran, displacing a huge cloud of snow; the last of the large Skydragons, with a half-dozen arrows embedded in its leathery wings.

Ezzie said.

I said, as I sprinted through a wide channel that had been carved into the moat and reached the first of the bear-like creatures. I hit it with a pair Refraction Strikes before getting its attention, then turned and ran to the second, which was being harried by a group of four soldiers, Faye’s husband among them.

A second pair of Refraction Strikes made it change its focus, which only left the third. Something struck me hard from behind—a paw, probably—and this time I managed a roll, quickly regaining my feet.

I activated Mirror Bomb just as I reached the third Siegebeast, and though the attack only dealt a small amount of damage, it was enough to cause the creature to abandon its former targets and charge.

With all three creatures in tow, I bolted back out over the ruined wall, leading the Siegebeasts into the range of the mortars. Skydragons swooped at me as I gained distance, and I had to burn a Mirror Block to stop one of them from colliding with me dead-on.

not stop running!> Ezzie said. She launched the mortars and I kept moving, but the snow deepened, slowing my progress while the larger Siegebeasts had no issue blowing through the drifts.

Ezzie said, just as the projectiles began to whistle overhead.

I leapt forward and spun at the same time, bringing up my shield and crouching behind it just as the first projectile tore into the ground and detonated with concussive force.

I was sent flying backward, my health spiking to under ten percent as the snow around me was vaporized by the heat of the blast. I crashed into a distant drift, ears ringing, black tar blanketing my armor, then staggered back to my feet.

The world tilted dangerously, and it was all I could do to steady myself by using my sword as a cane. It seemed a small miracle that I hadn’t already lost it.

Ezzie hit me with a wave of refreshes, and the lack of balance quickly cleared. she said, still obviously distracted.

I said, grunting the word as I trudged through the snow. I caught a bit of a breather as Ezzie swung the mages’ attention toward the sky, lighting it up with a series of small explosions that sent dark bodies hurtling for the ground.

Ezzie said.

I said. Repairing seemed like a good idea, so I ran in, paid the same merchant, and sprinted back out just as the last Skydragon dropped out of the sky.

The damage from those last two waves was pretty catastrophic: the wall itself was a gaping ruin, and we’d lost almost half of the soldiers, though they hadn’t pulled as much weight as their ranged counterparts.

The mages, too, had suffered some losses, with a good chunk of them being eradicated, though the guard towers seemed to have kept the archers somewhat safe, and the clerics had been studiously ignored.

Regional Quest Update: The Creeping Ice

Spawning wave 10/11

Ezzie said.

I stared at the space where the prompt had appeared, expecting a second announcement at any moment. But thankfully, none came.

A bulky shape flew out of the clouds and landed in the center of the northern field, the walls shuddering beneath the impact. A thickly muscled, two-headed dragon, electricity crackling through its entire length.

{Horax and Litz} (Level 11 Dragonkin) (Raid Boss)

HP: 25000/25000

I said.

Ezzie said.

Ezzie said, shrugging.

The dragon roared, and the snow melted away beneath it. The ground split and parted, and a black disk rose up out of the depths.

It stood maybe fifteen feet above the snow that remained, and about sixty feet across, its weight supported by an obelisk of stone that seemed far too thin to support such a massive structure.

The two-headed dragon flared its great wings and flew into the air, thundering into the center of the platform, which wobbled beneath its weight.

Ezzie said.

that deathtrap? You seriously want me to go fight that thing on its spinning murder top?>

I approached the raised platform and a staircase rose before me, a wave of black stone that uncurled from within the earth and latched on to the edge of the platform. I noticed the runes that lined the platform just as I took my second step onto it.

Which proved to be a tiny bit too late. The runes began to glow and hum, giving off a crackling sort of energy that had every hair on my head reaching for the sky. The runes brightened in an inward swirl until the entire platform was aglow, then the crackling increased to an electrical whine.

A dome of electricity formed around the outer edges of the platform, cutting off all hopes of escape. I dropped to one knee and scooped up a loose rock, then tossed it into the barrier.

The dome sparked and the rock shattered into glowing red pieces. I said.

Ezzie had one of the archers release an arrow, but the projectile met the same fate as it reached the dome, the shaft bursting into flames as the head of the arrow shattered into glowing pieces.

I lit up with golden light as one of the clerics tossed their larger heal at me. I sighed. That was a relief, at least.

Ezzie said.

I groaned as I stared up at my enormous foe.

Ezzie said.

I said, then charged across the platform. The Dragon swept out a claw, and I slid beneath it, expertly regaining my feet.

Then caught a backhand that sent me flying into the electrified barrier. The pain was incredible, every muscle I had jerking and contorting at the same moment. I hit the ground hard, my armor smoking, and pushed myself to my feet.

The dragon’s left mouth opened wide and took a deep breath.

Ezzie said, way too late.

A blast of arctic air washed over me, the air sparkling with hoarfrost. I tried to take a step, but my feet were locked in place, encased in an inch-thick layer of ice.

Ezzie said.

The right head took a deep breath of its own, firelight gathering in the back of its throat.

I dove to the side as the root cleared, and just before a fireball wider than I was tall seethed through the air and flew clear out of the dome.

I watched, horrified as the fireball crashed into one of the guard towers and sent the entire structure tilting to the ground, huge chunks of stone flying in every direction. And the bodies, so many bodies.

Judging from the stream of renown penalties, none of the NPCs that had been occupying the tower had survived the impact.

The dragon spun, its thick tail flicking out low. I leapt over the attack and squared my feet as I landed, readying myself for a follow up.

Ezzie said.

and lightning?> I said, as I raced to the edge of the platform, trying to get around the huge dragon without drawing too close.

The creature had barely moved, so I held my ground and ate the frozen breath attack, though this time I resisted it entirely.

I said.

The dragon’s fiery head whipped back and sent another huge fireball straight at me.

“Magic Reflect!” I raised my shield just as the enormous fireball made contact. The heat was incredible—I had to squinted and looked away, and I could smell my hair burning—but then the heat dissipated as the oversized missile began to rebound.

I shifted my shield a little just as the fireball zoomed off and was shocked to see it curve in the direction I’d tried to influence it.

Right into the face of the ice-based head.

The left head recoiled, a yellow twenty-one hundred floating up above it, and a few lower numbers ticking in the aftermath. Apparently the fireball had a DoT component.

Ezzie said, as the mages joined the fight. I made it about a quarter of the way around the platform before the runes began to brighten beneath me. And that did not seem a promising sign.

The electrical dome dimmed as the runes grew even brighter, and the ground began to spark.

I dove sideways away from the edge of the platform just as the ground lit up, a single bolt leaping onto my right boot. I lost all feeling in my right leg, and I tried to hobble upright but an enormous claw pinned me the ground.

Ezzie said.

I tried to squirm away but the dragon held firm, its weight crushing my armor onto my skin. My left gauntlet popped as the end of one of the creature’s talons slipped into my forearm and shattered the bone beneath.

Both heads loomed down over me, their teeth bared. Then both of them inhaled at the same exact time. I activated Mirror Block, but Magic Reflect was still had two seconds left on its cooldown.

A roaring filled my ears as the dragon launched its elemental attack. The frost rippled over me, freezing me to the floor, and the fireball followed at near point-blank range.

“Magic Reflect!” I said, just as I managed to get the very edge of my shield into position. The fireball rebounded right into the underbelly of the dragon and detonated with concussive force, blasting me clear across the platform and into the electrified dome beyond yet again.

I screamed as the electricity rippled through me, then dropped to the ground. My skin felt as if it’d been seared off, and I couldn’t bring myself to reach up and touch my face to check.

Ezzie rained healing spells over me, and the familiar buzzing of nanobots filled my ears, made me vibrate from within.

Ezzie said.

The dragon finally mastered itself—the force of the exploding fireball had sent it skidding backward—and it slammed its claws back down onto the platform.

The electrified dome vanished, and the dragon beat its enormous wings, rising effortlessly into the air. Three-quarters of the platform began to glow as the dragon flew off then banked hard, coming in for a strafing run.

I tried to run straight off the platform, but the entire structure tilted backward, sending me tumbling across it and right into a field of glowing runes that would about to turn electric. The platform leveled out as I stood and ran off, and the dragon was only a hundred yards away, coming in low and fast.

I ran for the dim part of the platform, diving for it as I had before but making an effort to get my legs up. I hit the ground just as lightning covered the rest of the platform.

The dragon blasted an icy cloud over the area I stood in as it passed, binding me to the ground. Then runes began to glow all around me; the next safe area was directly across the platform.

I bolted for the safe zone as the dragon banked another one-eighty, easily reaching it in time. I raised my shield and readied a reflect for the fireball that I assumed was coming, but instead the dragon raked the center of the platform with its icy breath and left a glimmering sheet of ice behind.

And the next safe zone was right in the center of the area the dragon had iced over.

The runes brightened more quickly than they had before, before the dragon even had a chance to bank.

Ezzie said.

I nodded and forced myself to slow down, then dove onto the ice belly-first as the electrical surge built to a whine. I slid into the safe zone as lighting erupted all around me, then winked out.

The dragon flew overhead, covering yet another section of the platform in ice. The pattern repeated for three more passes, forcing me to plan further and further ahead as the ice spread and the safe zones shrank.

Finally, the dragon flew back and landed in the center of the platform, the ice splintering beneath it, revealing the stone below.

The mages redoubled their attacks and I ran in, activating Mirror Block as the dragon swiped out at me and sending the huge paw glancing away with a shower of sparks.

I ran beneath the dragon’s scaly belly and flashed out a few quick Refraction Strikes, the attacks biting deep, splashing blue blood across the snowy stone.

The creature whirled and I had to throw myself sideways to avoid being stomped, but I succeeded in getting it to face away from the city, which was all I’d really been aiming for.

Ezzie said, just as the creature wound up another of its dual element attacks. I sent the fireball roaring back at the icy head and scored another massive hit, chunking the creature down to twenty percent.

Then every rune on the surface of the platform began to shift, pouring across the stone as if they were made of water and streaming up the dragon’s legs and onto its chest, around its two necks.

Ezzie said,

And I’d just used my Magic Reflect. I readied Mirror Block—thinking of the passive reflect—stood my ground, unwilling to risk the creature blasting the city with whatever it was about to do.

Things did not seem promising. All four of the Dragon’s huge eyes were glowing with quicksilver light, and electricity was arcing off its scales, little bolts of lightning lashing out from between its many scales.

I checked my Mirrorburn, which wasn’t ticking very high.

I raised my shield. “Mirror Block!”

The heads whipped forward, mouths opening and blasting a river of lightning across me. My armor became superheated almost at once, scorching the flesh beneath.

Mirrorburn skyrocketed, and the creature’s health was still dropping, currently at about six percent. But mine was falling so, so much faster, healers and all. I waited until the pain became too much to bear—and until my health was redlining—then activated Mirror Bomb.

The dome of light rippled outward, shunting the torrent of lightning aside. The dragon’s twin mouths snapped shut as the explosion reached them, and the creature reared high, swaying, then collapsed onto its side, sending the whole platform listing sideways beneath its weight.

Ezzie said.

A wave of golden light rippled out from me, the ecstasy a pale shadow of what it had offered at level ten.

Congratulations, you reached level 11!

Your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma have increased!

Your 4 bonus points have been allocated!

In addition, you have 2 stat points to allocate!

You have 1 Skill Point to allocate (progress to Grade E to allocate this Skill Point).

Ezzie said.

I dumped the two extra points into Constitution right away.

Regional Quest Update: The Creeping Ice

Spawning wave 11/11

I cut off as a massive, sinuous shape twisted down out of the clouds. The Wyrmking.