Chapter 129 – Whither shall I follow? - New [[20% OFF]] Earth

by Moxvallix (no credit to Wulfian)

Azrael jumped up, wide awake. There was an ambush on the camp! “Grrr. Stupid skeletons!”, he grumbled to himself. He went to summon his [Stone Dagger (+2)]. A small spark fizzled in his hand. After a second attempt, resulting in yet another fizzle, he let out an exhausted sigh. “Oh well, guess mana is on the fritz today. Hot dang!” James had dealt with the closest skeletons, and now had come over to check on Azrael. “What’s wrong, Sugar Plum?” he queried, following it up with a hefty slap on Azrael’s back. Azrael spluttered. “My powers are on the fritz, James! I cannot even summon my trustworthy [Stone Dagger (+2)]!” “Never mind that, Pop Tart! I got a spare weapon for ya!”. James rummaged around in his hefty rucksack, and pulled out an absurdly large [Broadsword (+1) *Fire Aspect II* *Sharpness V* ]. “Mate, I got ya covered!”

“Good golly, wherever did you aquire that hulking blade?” asked Azrael, with a mix of amusement and confusion in his voice. “Never mind that now boy! We got skellys to grind!”. Somehow, amazingly, the rest of the camp had slept through the din; Azrael could see the calm resting faces of Nolan, Kaira, Rudy and the others, dimly lit by the soft glow of the coals, from last nights used-to-be blazing hot and roaring campfire. Azrael and James ventured out further from the campsite, in anticipation of the approaching skeletons. “Let us see if we could possibly be able to tackle the challenge of these here skeletons without awakening yonder camp!” suggested Azrael to James, whom he knew to be a rowdy type. “Challenge accepted!” James roared, awakening the whole camp in the process, and failing the challenge.

The second-wave skeletons were close now, and Azrael was ready. He lifted his [Broadsword (+1) *Fire Aspect II* *Sharpness 5* ] high above his head, and rushed towards the closest skeleton. It crumpled beneath him like a sandcastle ‘neath a bully. A few more swings, a few more skeletons perished. James had made quick work of his lot, boasting his ability with each swing. There were times where Azrael wondered to himself why he kept James around, and now was one of those times. James, however, only really wondered when, and what, would be his next meal.

The wave was over, but the duo could see a third wave in the distance. Azrael was more tired than usual, this new [Broadsword (+1) *Fire Aspect II* *Sharpness 5* ] was significantly harder to wield than his usual [Stone Dagger (+2)], and sweat was running down his brow. James was always sweaty, so little was different with him. “You aight dude?” asked James. “You seem a little hot there, and you are literally always cold.” “Yeah, just not used to having a [Broadsword (+1) *Fire Aspect II* *Sharpness 5* ] to fight with”. “It is a bit of a mouthful to say, that one, isn’t it? It’s ultimately why I stopped using [Broadsword (+1) *Fire Aspect II* *Sharpness 5* ], it’s a great sword, but it’s heavy and hard to say.”

The duo had spent so much time describing the sword, that a new wave had approached. However, this wave was a little different. Sure, there were the usual skeleton warriors; easy to defeat and loot. However, there was also a larger Skeleton King [Royal Necromancer] accompanying them, and he did not look like he would be messing around! “I say, James, looks like we got quite the dilly of a pickle on our hands good chap!” “Ye, he’s a biggun, but I reckon we can take ‘im!” They got to work slaying the skeleton hoard, all the while {Epic Anime Boss Music – 10 Hours – HD} was playing in the background (James had suggested a Nightcore playlist, but Azrael had heard them all.) The pair had racked up a sizable amount of XP, and were now ready to face the Skeleton King [Royal Necromancer] head on.

“Worms! The lot of you!” bellowed the Skeleton King [Royal Necromancer], in a cartoon-villain-esque voice. “Tremble before me, Fred, the mighty Skeleton King [Royal Necromancer]!” “Mate, haven’t you seen what we did to ya buddies back there? Who’s got the bigger sword in this scenario?” “I say, this fellow seems to think he stands a chance against us! Why, James, old bean, let us show him a thing or two!” James had a moment of realisation, and whispered to Azrael. “Did that old bugger call himself Fred?” “Why, I think he just might of. How ridiculous of him!” The two giggled to themselves.

“What is so funny?” boomed Fred. The two continued to giggle, all the time whilst taking on this less-than-deadly

threat. “You know, I thought this guy was gonna pose us a real challenge! Man’s was a piece of cake!”

Fred fell to the ground, defeated. He dropped a single piece of loot, a withered looking, manky old map. It was too dark to read here, and no more skeletons could be seen on the horizon, so the two decided to head back to camp. The camp had fallen back to sleep; they had heard James’ roar, but had thought it little more than his normal 3am trip to use the facilities (also known to be quite noisy).

In the dim light of the dying fire, they could just make out the contents of the map. Conveniently, it detailed a pathway directly from their encampment, towards what looked to be a castle, or fortress. But to the two boys, late at night, with adrenaline running high, it looked like an adventure.

***

James and Azrael headed out into darkness, each carrying a burning torch. Mana was still on the fritz, so unfortunately they had to rely on more mundane lighting. It was nice to be alone, just the two of them, without other characters around to confuse the writer, or distract them on their journey. They walked in silence, through the dark woods, revelling in the brisk, cold nightime air. A storm was

brewing, and the excitement that comes before it could be heard in the rustling leaves, and felt in the mild breeze. The two continued their nighttime journey for another hour, before, off in the distance, a castle loomed above the treeline, illuminated by the moon peeping out from the cloud cover.

When they arrived at the castle gates, they were surprised to find them wide open. The guard station

besides the large gate was empty. They walked in to the castle walls, cautiously approaching the large, wooden, banquet hall doors that lay beyond. Lights were on in the castle, and they could hear noises of merriment from beyond the great doors. It seemed a good feast lay beyond, and, right on queue, James’s belly growled. “These guys better have some good grub! I could go a midnight snack!”

“Gracious James! We do not even know if these here castle inhabitants would be even so inclined as to share with us their banquet!” “They will be so inclined after they see my sword!”

Azrael reached up to the grand door-knocker on the great banquet hall door, and gave it a knock. He waited, but no-one seemed to have noticed. He tried again, this time knocking with a considerable force. Yet again no answer. “You clearly aren’t knocking it hard enough!” exclaimed James, pushing Azrael aside. “Let the big guy have a knock!” Still, after such a hefty knock, no-one answered the door. Impatient, James kicked in the door, hungry for a potential feast. However, what lay before them was far from a an appetising banquet. The room was silent, and dark. Sprawling, empty halls, rolling out into the darkness. A great table lay in the hall before them, and a large staircase lay beyond that. On the great table lay what remained of a once large and delicious banquet, now rotting food for the rodents. Around this great table lay the guests of this feast, or at least what remained of their lifeless, rotting

corpses.

“What the hell happened here?” James was taken aback. Where were the lights? Where were the sounds of joy and merriment? “Well, goodness me! This would explain why no-one would answer our knocks upon this here door! They were dead, I say!” Azrael walked around, inspecting the husks of the once guests. James was inspecting the table, looking to see if any of the food was still in date. He spotted a still-rosy apple, and reached out for it. “JAMES! What are you doing? DO NOT TOUCH THE FOOD!” “But... the apple...” “NO! BAD JAMES! DROP IT!” James whimpered, and dropped the apple. It hit the marble table with a metallic clink, which rang out through the lifeless halls. Suddenly, a blue light radiated down from the top of the staircase, flickering, glowing brighter. A dark figure was descending, a blue flame rested in his dark, bony hand. “WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE

GREAT WITHER KING [ROYAL NECROMANCER (+14)]?”

Never to be continued...