We finally reach the encampment at the foot of the Goblin Queen’s mines after a two day marathon from the snowy north. I didn’t think it was even possible at first, but Gilly organized the mages into a casting rotation that kept the entire army buffed with Haste and Second Wind spells as we literally ran the entire way.

We stopped for only a handful of hours each day for food and a quick rest before pressing on again. After a slightly longer stop in Brookrun just to ensure everyone was attuned to the node, we pushed on to the encampment at the Goblin Queen’s lair, arriving just before nightfall.

We get a huge welcome from the battle-weary troops and General Lyons, who has managed to fortify our position with makeshift siege weapons crafted from the timbers of a small forest to the south. The battle has been fierce as far as I can tell and even glancing over the tents of the encampment I notice close to a third of our troops look to be gone. The battlefield itself looks even worse. The hillside is pocked with the smoldering fires of battle, shedding a sinister glow over the Goblin Queen’s fortified lair. Thankfully there seems to be no conflict at the moment and the night air is strangely calm with only the occasional cry from some unknown beast echoing across the darkness.

“It been a tough few days,” General Lyons says to me as we leave the edge of the battlefield and make our way to the main command tent at the center of the encampment.

The copper smell of blood and death wafts through the air as we pass by a medical tent where over a dozen battle-bloodied soldiers are being treated by mages. To my amazement, even in their conditions, they straighten when they see me and perform quick bows of respect, or as much as they can manage in their wounded states. I return the gesture awkwardly, not really knowing what a king is supposed to do.

“The attacks grow stronger each night,” General Lyons continues, noticing my attention on the wounded. “But I’m glad to see you’ve brought a healthy amount of reserves for the final assault. They will be well needed.”

By the looks of things I couldn’t agree with him more. Every soldier I pass looks like they hadn’t slept in days, some wobbling on their feet as they try to solute me. As I look out into the darkness towards the mines again, I can only just make out the looming hillside where the Goblin Queen has built her fortress. Trying to assault such a fortified structure each day, its no wonder so many are wounded. But we’ve brought something that can help with that too.

“I’ve brought more than just troops,” I say, glancing back at Gilly and Blacktop who are trailing behind us. “The cannons Blacktop crafted should give us a huge advantage over the trolls since they’re weak to fire. It should give as a huge siege advantage against her fortifications as well.”

“Let’s hope so,” General Lyons says as he ushers us all into the tent. “Because this may be the last opportunity to strike. We also have another problem.”

I arch an eyebrow as he says that. It’s not like this entire thing isn’t a huge problem in and of itself. As we gather around a central table where a map of the area is unrolled, General Lyons runs us through where exactly we are with the battle plans. As he speaks my HUD fills with information on the number of troops we have, their condition and estimations of the Goblin Queen’s forces. Right now the battle is looking two to one in terms of raw numbers favoring the Queen.

“Even with the reinforcements you’ve brought, we’re probably only going to have one shot at a full assault,” General Lyons says. “That dark magic the Goblin Queen uses gives her an advantage like nothing I’ve fought against before. The more of them we kill the stronger she becomes. So much so, that we’ve actually begun collecting the bodies of their dead and burning them each night just so their forces don’t multiply.”

I recall seeing those smoldering fires just outside the encampment now. I didn’t know what they were, but now that I do, I realize they must have killed literally thousands of those goblins.

“So despite us getting more troops,” I say. “Her army has increased as well?”

Lyons nods. “That’s about the size of it.”

Aiko sighs and folds her arms across her chest while shaking her head. “This Goblin Queen is becoming more and more invincible by the minute. How do we stop this?”

“We need to strike now,” General Lyons says. “It’s our only chance to turn the tide. I know you’ve just arrived and the troops that were here are battle wary, but in terms of numbers, the scales are as balanced as they’ll ever be. If we wait even one day more, the numbers will slip in her favor.”

I step back from the map with a sigh. “So we have no choice but to push now with no time to prepare, yeah? I guess that is a problem.”

“It is,” General Lyons says. “But that’s not the problem I was speaking of.”

All of us grow quiet and focus on the general as he pauses, his face now grave with a look of concern.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Come with me,” he says. “It’s perhaps easier to show you than to explain.”

A sense of dread fills me as we all leave the tent and General Lyons leads us through the darkened encampment to the base of one of the siege towers.

“Send a flare!” he yells and a soldier atop the tower fires a huge ballista with a flaming bolt that lights up the night sky. As we trace where it flies, about thousand yards away, I see the towering silhouette of the Goblin Queen herself take form. She looks even bigger than I remember, massive, tall like a tree. She still wears her grisly chain loincloth armor that’s strewn with even more blackened corpses than I recall. More victims from those miners that have no doubt been used to fortify her army with even more nether trolls.

Despite it all, her features are that of a goddess and as she stands there motionless, she could easily pass for a beautiful statue that’s been defaced by someone who has decided to clad her in that horrid armor of torture and pain. And as I sense that otherworldly presence looming over her, perhaps its not that far from the truth.

Her head sudden swivels towards the approaching bolt and with lightning speed she swats it out of the air with a swing of her massive staff. She then lowers her staff and touches the tip to a large globe at her feet. When she does, it glows with a dark green aura and instantly I feel sick to my stomach.

Everyone in the camp reacts the same. Some of the soldier, including the one who fired the flare above us cries out in pain like someone had stabbed him through. Gilly doubles over and even the mighty Val Helena clenches her teeth in discomfort.

“What is this?” my brother grunts balling his fists.

Then I see a debuff appear on my HUD.

Aura: Dark Fear

Unable to use abilities

Duration:10 minutes

What the heck…? An ability that removes abilities? This can’t be real.

I check my HUD and true enough all of my abilities are now grayed out. Including the one I need to count on most.

Zenkai (Unavailable)

“This is really bad,” Gilly says, stepping back a bit. “We can’t fight her without abilities.”

“Where did that thing come from?” Maxis says.

“It appeared a few days ago,” General Lyons says. “The odds would be bad enough with just the numbers. But with that Orb, I’m not sure we can do this at all.”

“No way I can argue with that,” I say. “We still have our basic attacks I suppose, but without our abilities… there is no way we can face her.”

“Wait,” Gilly says. “It’s an aura, right? Auras are persistent AOEs with no target specification. So her army should be affected by it as well, right?”

“I believe they are,” Lyons says. “But her nether trolls and goblins don’t rely on abilities. Just brute strength and numbers. In a way, what that thing really is nullified, is all of you.”

I give him an odd look at that one. “What do you mean, all of us?”

“As Shard Warriors it’s your supernatural abilities that I was counting on to even the odds. Without them, you’re not much better than our normal troops. No offense.”

Wow, I’d never quite thought of it like that, but I suppose he’s right. Compared to the NPCs like General Lyons and Lady Diana who are all native to the realm, we are like superheroes or something. Able to do feats of wonder they couldn’t dream of from our leveling ability and our access to higher tier skills.

But without them…we aren’t much different.

“This can’t be right,” Val Helena says. “How can there be something as powerful as this in the game?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “But I don’t think we’re dealing with just the Goblin Queen or the game construct anymore. This could be the influence of the Others. But you’re right too. From speaking with both Lennux and Karlis, the game rules still apply, even to the Others. Something this powerful has to have limitations. Being stationary looks like one of them. Affecting everyone equally is another. The Goblin Queen is just smart enough to know that the effects limit her way less than it does us. Or her army anyway.”

“True,” Gilly says. “Maybe by activating that thing she’ll be limited to just normal attacks as well.”

“So you think maybe that levels the playing field on both sides?” Aiko huffs out a laugh. “Somehow I doubt it. She’s a freaking giant LM. No way she wouldn’t be immune to her own spell.”

“Forget all that,” Maxis says slamming his fists together. “Whether she’s affected or not, there’s only one solution to this. We need our abilities and that means taking out that orb.”

“If only it were that simple,” Lyons says. “Not only does that beastly queen guard that thing day and night, take another look at where it’s positioned.”

The general calls for another salvo from the ballista to light up the night sky and right before the Goblin Queen deflects the bolt again, I see what he means. The orb is positioned on a fortified balcony that’s build right out of the hill itself, several stories above the mine entrance.

“We’d have to build a siege tower to get up there,” Lyons says. “And that would be after fighting through her entire army first.”

“If we had our ninja abilities, scaling the balcony to get to that thing would be a snap,” Aiko says looking at me. “What if just the two of us made a pre-emptive attack. At night like now, before she activates it.”

Before I even have chance to contemplate it, Gilly begins shaking her head vigorously.

“No way!” she says. “That’s way too dangerous. Even if you managed to destroy it and we don’t even know if that’s even possible yet, you two would be trapped up there with her. With no backup. And that would be a best-case scenario. More than likely she’ll see you two and activate that thing before you even get a chance to destroy it. Then you’d be stuck up there with her and have no abilities as well. It’d be suicide.”

I release a sigh as I weigh up the odds. She’s probably right. As usual. “We’d need some way to lure her down from there first.”

“That’s easy enough,” Maxis says clapping me on my shoulder with a cheesy grin. “Challenge her to a duel, bro!”

That get’s a small round of chuckles from my friends which thankfully breaks the tension a bit. But what he said does have some merit to it. I remember the way the Goblin Queen was staring at me the last time I was here just before we teleported away to Stormwall. Even now I can sense those eyes of hers seeking me out in the darkness. Perhaps just me showing up on the battlefield might be enough for her to try and challenge me directly. But still there would be no guarantee she would do that.

“Have you ever seen her leave there?” I ask.

Lyons shakes his head. “Not often. But she did clamber into the fray once when we got close to the entrance. Perhaps under a full assault she might do the same.”

“Did she use any of her powers?” Gilly asks.

General Lyons frowns. “Honestly I couldn’t say. She wiped the platoon so quickly I’m not certain what she did. All we had time to do was retreat.”

“You all are thinking like idiots,” Blacktop suddenly says. “Our cannons can still work with or without that aura. I’ll just shoot the blasted thing from here. End of story.”

I get hopeful at that, until Lyons shakes his head. “Don’t you think we’ve tried that already. She can deflect a cannon ball as easily as those bolts.”

Blacktop grins smugly. “But how about 20 cannon balls?”

Gilly shrugs. “Worth a shot. No pun intended.”

“There’s an easier way,” someone says.

We all turn towards the unfamiliar voice and I see a middle aged man with bald head and full beard standing behind us. I wonder who he is at first, but then the recognition hits me. It’s the mining leader…Kevin or Kyle, I think it was?

“Ah, Mr. Keith,” General Lyons says turning to him before then giving me a glance. “His team performed miracles for us fortifying this encampment. We wouldn’t be anywhere near as prepared as we are without Mr. Keith’s help.”

Keith, that was it! I kind of feel bad about forgetting his name now and also that I didn’t even think to look for him when we had stopped in Brookrun.

“My apologies for intruding into the conversation, general,” he says to Lyons before then turning to me “And you as well…King Reece now, is it?”

I shift a bit uncomfortably, still not used to the title. “That it is. It’s good to see you again, Mr. Keith.” I think back to my last conversation with him and can’t help but feel a bit guilty about not telling him what fate awaited his son at the hands of the Goblin Queen. Or perhaps, already has…after all this time. I think back to those black corpses entangled in the Goblin Queen’s chainmail and my stomach sours at the thought that one of them could be his son. I force a smile to not let the guilt show on my face.

“Don’t worry,” I say with as much confidence as I can muster. “We’re ready now. We have what we need for the final assault.”

“Yes,” he says. “Everything except a good plan. Those cannons might work, but you’ll only get one shot at it and it will take more than one shot to hone in on a target that small from this distance.”

I look to Blacktop for confirmation “That true?”

The gnome shrugs. “That’s why I said 20. Shotgun effect and all that. A good chance we’ll get lucky and hit it.”

Aiko lets out one of her cackles. “I don’t like your chances when it comes to getting lucky.”

“Oy, what’s that supposed to mean!”

“Focus guys!” Gilly chides. “You have a better idea, Mr. Keith?”

“I do,” he says. “If General Lyons and the main battle group attacks, the Queen will be distracted. Once that happens, I can get you inside that fortress unseen.”

“How?” Gilly asks.

“Before the Goblin Queen reemerged, we expanded into a new section of the mines, build some new ventilation shafts to go along with it. I don’t think the Queen knows about them. They’re behind the front lines but still a good distance from the entrance, about halfway. If we can get past the main horde’s front line, I can get you in there.”

“Wait,” Gilly says. “Theres a hidden entrance halfway up the hill?”

“I wouldn’t say hidden,” he says. “It was covered over with rocks for safety until we needed them. With the likes of you Shard Warriors, it probably won’t take much to clear the slabs and get you inside under the cover of the battle. Once inside I can then lead you through the mines and right up to that orb no problem.”

“What?” Maxis says. “How we going to get through a mine full of zombie goblins?”

“That’s why the full assault is a must,” Keith says looking to General Lyons. “With the new reinforcements you have, the Queen will need to throw all her forces to defend, no?”

“She’ll know the odds the same as us if we perform a blitz,” Lyons says nodding. “She’ll have to hold nothing back if we go for a full frontal.”

“Yes, but wont you be weakened with no mages to support the troops?” Gilly says.

“Don’t worry,” Blacktop says. “Our cannons will make up for it, Gilly. We may not be able to shatter that orb but we sure as heck can rain fire on those trolls and protect our troops while Mr. Keith leads you all through the back door. You just need to be quick about it.”

“Yes,” Val Helena says. “But there’s still the issue of us destroying that orb while she’s there guarding it.”

“We’ll take care of that,” General Lyons says. “When you’re in position, we’ll make a push for the front gates and draw her down, just like before. You’ll have your chance then.”

I look at Lyons a bit shocked, remembering what happened to the platoon that had tried it before. “They’ll get slaughtered.”

“We’ll be getting slaughtered regardless,” he says, face stone cold and meaning every word of it. “But at least it will achieve the objective. Don’t worry lad, it’s what we’re paid to do. I’ll be leading the charge personally, same as last time. I never put my men in danger I’m not prepared to take on myself.”

“Well the same goes for me,” I say. “Which is why I can’t have you do that, general. I’ll draw the Goblin Queen’s attention myself. I’ll solo her while Blacktop lines up a cannon shot.”

“Eh?” Blacktop says surprised and everyone looks at me like I’m crazy. “Didn’t we just establish that won’t work?”

“Not a barrage,” I say. “An aimed shot. I’ll give you the time you need to make it while I solo her.”

“Reece, that aura will be in effect,” Gilly says. “You can’t dodge tank her without your abilities.”

“Not with Shadow Copy, true,” I say. “But even without it I still got close to 200 Agility to dodge the old-fashioned way. Plus I got tons of Dex and Strength from this New London gear to keep her attention real good while Blacktop lines up his shot. How many shots will you need to zero in on it, Blacktop?”

“Um…” he says still looking a bit shell shocked. “Two, three tops maybe?”

“That’s at least a minute or two,” Gilly says. “You can’t last that long, Reece. We won’t have heals remember!”

“I know,” I say. “Which is why it has to be me. I can tank without taking damage.”

“And what if she still has her powers somehow, or some other way to land AOE attacks, or heck what if there are just a bunch of nether trolls up there protecting her?”

I swallow back my fear at the thought. “I suppose it’s just a risk I’ll have to take. Besides we’ll have the element of surprise thanks to Keith, we can’t forget that.”

The grizzled miner nods with a lingering smile. “That you will. You can count on me, my king.”

“But will that be enough?” Gilly says. “Without our powers there won’t be any leeway for slipups.”

I sigh as I dig down deep for my resolve. She’s right again, of course, but I still think it’s the best shot we’ve got.

“I guess there’s no way of knowing anything until we get up there and see her for ourselves,” I say. “But either way, I’m doing it. It’s YOLO time guys.”

“Screw that!” Maxis says. “If you’re going in, we’re all going in. We’re not going to sit back and watch you try to solo her with your no-ninja trick having butt. YOLO time is right!”

“Damn straight!” Val Helena says, backing him up like his twin. “We’ll do a blitz of our own. You, me and Maxis can share tanking her while someone else runs past to shatter that orb. We can do that a lot faster than waiting a couple of minutes for Blacktop to line up his shot.”

Aiko laughs. “That’s true, I wouldn’t wait on a lucky shot coming from him anytime soon.”

“Oy!” Blacktop says. “And I bet you’re gonna take the job of skipping the skirmish to smack the orb instead, eh?”

Aiko shrugs. “Why not? I’m probably the quickest next to Reece.”

Blacktop smirks. “Yeah, that’s what she said.”

“What?” The elf looks down at him, pinching her brows together. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Oh it doesn’t, does it? Maybe you should—”

“Okay stop,” I say, not wanting whatever weird relationship-slash-rivalry thing they have going on to detract our focus. “Whatever we find up there is what we find, but the path is clear. At dawn we launch the full assault and force the Goblin Queen to commit all her forces to defending outside the base. Once that happens, we sneak into the mines with Mr. Keith as our guild and get to her from the inside and attack with the element of surprise.”

“The Queen will likely be re-tapping that orb like clockwork,” Gilly says. “So we can basically forget having any abilities until we shatter it. Let’s keep that in mind, please.”

I eye Gilly as she keeps bringing up the same point again and again, but then it hits me that having no abilities is a lot more crippling for her than for any of us. As mostly melee fighters we still have pretty good utility on the battlefield, but a mage without magic would be a sitting duck. I’m almost tempting to make her stay back with Blacktop to fire the cannons, but once we manage to shatter that orb, we’ll need her strength more than ever to face the Goblin Queen’s might. I send her a PM for reassurance.

Me: Hey, don’t worry, Gilly. I got your back. We all do.

Gilly: I’m more worried about you, silly! :/

Me: I’ll be fine. We all will be. :)

I say it with a stupid smiley face, but I really hope it’ll be true.

“I’ll use a push-pull maneuvered to draw her out,” General Lyons says. “We’ll press hard and then force them to chase us with a series of retreats. She’ll think she’ll have us on the back foot and press out of the mines to wipe us out. That’ll be your signal to get moving, Mr. Keith. From that point the entire operation will be in your hands.”

“Are you sure about this?” I ask him, feeling that tinge of guilt again. “You’ll be putting yourself in just as much risk as us.”

The man nods and stares at me with a resolve that makes mine look like putty.

“My son is still in there,” Keith says. “And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save him.”