The harpy priest threw himself facedown, shouting something in his unintelligible foreign language, and the Phoenix flapped twice in quick succession until it hovered near the ceiling.

In that same moment, Maya’s interface forcibly adjusted her view. While throughout most of the game her interface hovered just out of sight in a mostly-transparent cloud of countless windows which would pop individually into focus in response to her thoughts, now she had a list of her fellow players down the left side of her vision and the two enemies at the right, complete with health bars.

This was the first time she’d seen health bars anywhere outside the arena, and she’d begun to assume they only existed there. It was something, though she wished there were a bit more detailed feedback.

It also listed the other players’ names, which was something she’d previously had to rely on her memory for. So, Rane was actually Ranon. At least she’d been close.

Tahpa Daworld - Elf - Level 30

Health 46%

Fridget - Elf - Level 30

Health 77%

Nalana - Felinis - Level 25

Health 66%

Ranon the Steadfast - Elf - Level 22

Health 89%

Veyanto Daring - Lizardine - Level 17

Health 93%

Eleona - Elf - Level 15

Health 81%

Maya Starborn - Harpy - Level 6

Health 100%

She couldn’t help noting that everyone was already a bit battered, and they had no way of healing apart from waiting out the health regen which would be no help in the coming fight. Most of the players’ health bars were at least twice the height of Maya’s. Nalana’s was by far the largest, followed by Fridget. Maya's was by far the lowest, even Eleona had a noticeably thicker HP bar. Though she had a high percentage of her health left, like Maya’s own untouched status, that was due to the enemies focusing on the higher-leveled players.

On the other side of her view, with health bars so much thicker than the players’ that they took up nearly the same space, were the two remaining enemies:

The Risen Phoenix

Health 100%

Rising Flame Ritual Leader

Health 100%

But Maya had no more time to examine the interface. The Phoenix turned slowly, taking in the entire surroundings, then its fiery red-gold eyes fixed on the seven intruders.

It opened its beak with a roar like the crackling fires of a thousand furnaces, and dove with wings folded behind it into a streamlined missile of fiery death.

"Move!"

Someone shoved Maya, jostling her into action. She’d been so transfixed she hardly noticed the Phoenix was flying straight at her.

She ran to the side as fast as she could, putting one of the eight massive pillars between herself and the diving firebird.

The Phoenix crashed into the wall behind where she'd been standing. Cracks of golden light appeared in the stone where it collided, its fiery presence melting the very rock.

"How are we supposed to fight that?!" Maya couldn’t stop herself, the question just burst out before she could think about it.

"Same way you fight anything,” Nalana called back. “Remember our target!" She spun away from the Phoenix and began casting in the direction of the Ritual Leader.

The others didn't hesitate to take advantage of the Phoenix’s distraction. Spells flew across the vast chamber.

The Phoenix flew upward, circling the vast chamber, then chose another target and dove with a screech. This time, Maya was able to watch from behind as the Phoenix targeted one of the lower level players - she didn’t know if it was Veyanto or Eleona on sight, but she did see Eleona’s health bar dropping as the Phoenix pinned her to the wall. Eleona’s spell faltered as she froze in the Phoenix's grip. Her health bar dropped, then again, then again in quick succession as the Phoenix slashed her with its claws, then released her. She fell to the ground, health down to barely a quarter remaining.

“Leave her alone!” Fridget shouted, firing off a massive blast of sustained flame, just in time to distract the Phoenix before it could finish Eleona off. It turned to face Fridget, who dropped the spell and took off running. “I’ve got his attention, you guys take out the priest!” She paused and turned back, firing another blast of flame every few seconds to ensure she held the Phoenix’s aggro.

“Maya, come on!” Nalana called from nearby.

Maya tore her attention away from watching the fight and began casting Wind Whisper, then Spark, then Wind Whisper again, as fast as she could, at the midnight-black harpy high priest/Ritual Leader.

Her attacks didn’t even dent his massive health bar, but she continued firing until she ran out of energy. Which, casting at full speed, took about half a minute.

She should’ve done about 50 damage, but she couldn’t tell if her contribution had been any use. The Ritual Leader’s health bar was dropping by fits and starts, but so were her fellow players'.

While Maya had focused on casting, Tahpa had cast his fire-veined spell and now threw handfuls of fiery molten rock at the chanting priest, one after another every second in a steady rhythm. The priest retaliated with a black spear of energy which lanced straight through Tahpa’s chest and stayed there, binding the two together, pulsing with energy. Tahpa didn’t seem to care, continuing his steady barrage of fiery missiles.

That meant, between Tahpa and Fridget, both bosses’ attention was diverted. Fridget’s health dropped once, then again, as she failed to completely evade the Phoenix. Then she was running past Maya, the Phoenix in close pursuit.

“Clear the center! Clear the center!” Nalana shouted, motioning to Tahpa. He didn’t move, continuing his steady attack.

The Phoenix bellowed its crackling roar, then broke off its pursuit of Fridget to hover in the center of the chamber.

The priest dropped the black spear spell that had connected him and Tahpa, raising his hands and chanting something instead.

Maya ducked behind a pillar, as did most of the others. She didn’t dare peek around, but she heard the steady sound of Tahpa continuing to cast.

“I SAID CLEAR—”

Then the Phoenix’s roar dooubled in volume, and a wave of flame swept past Maya on either side of the pillar. She felt its heat even protected where she stood, dropping her health by 5. She could only imagine how much damage it would have done if she’d been out in the open.

She leaned out around the pillar, just in time to catch the second wave of flame right in the face. She stumbled back into the shelter of the pillar. That one hit dealt 35 damage.

Eleona's health bar went grey.

Tahpa’s health dropped to just over a third of its capacity, but he wasn’t dead and continued the steady casting of his spell.

“I’ve got him! You take out the priest!” Nalana shouted, then roared at the Phoenix. Her voice made a visible cone of force, which struck the Phoenix in its side. It didn’t hesitate, whirling around and diving at the felinis. Nalana took off running, the Phoenix in hot pursuit.

“Thanks!” Fridget’s health was below half, while Nalana still had two thirds of hers. Fridget joined Tahpa in the center, standing with fists clenched at her sides for two seconds, then slowly raising them to her chest. As she did so, matching veins of magma raced across her entire body, visibly glowing. She smiled and joined Tahpa, throwing her own fireballs in a syncopated rhythm.

Maya watched in awe as the priest’s health bar crept downward. 66%. It cast that black spear spell again, this time skewering Fridget, but neither of the two magma-throwing mages seemed concerned by this. 50%.

Maya had to get that magma spell.

Speaking of her own spells, though, enough time had passed that she could cast another Wind Whisper. Very helpful, that extra 4-5 damage. She sighed, cast the spell, then returned to hiding and watching the battle.

Nalana was not faring nearly as well as the two spellcasters. While Fridget had been fast enough to dodge nearly every attack the Phoenix made, Nalana kept taking hits.

Maya edged around the chamber, keeping to the shadows behind the pillars as much as possible. She hadn’t seen what Ranon or the other low-level player were doing. She checked her interface. Veyanto's health had dropped during the Phoenix's area attack, but otherwise he'd remained unharmed. She couldn’t see him anywhere and wasn't sure what his role in this fight was supposed to be. She found Ranon, standing in the shadows behind where the priest had been leading the ritual, but not actually doing anything.

She moved a bit closer, puzzled. He stood, hands out toward the priest, but unmoving. Then she saw the faintest crackle of electricity in the air, and recognized the spell Tahpa had used earlier on the cultists.

“Voice of Thunder,” Ranon said, when he saw Maya watching. “Holds the target in place, and deals lightning damage every second.”

“Handy,” Maya said. “My energy is gone.”

“You are only level six. Don’t feel bad about it.”

The Phoenix swept past in hot pursuit of Nalana, roaring once again.

“Is that my cue to hide?” Maya asked. She felt strangely calm. Somehow the fight had turned from absolute chaos into a sort of calculated order. Nalana ran the Phoenix around the room, weaving in and out of the pillars to evade its attacks. She couldn't escape all of them; her health dropped in fits and starts, but she evaded more than she was hit by.

The two high-levels pumped magma balls into the priest while Ranon held it in place.

She didn’t know what Veyanto was doing, but he was low enough level perhaps he’d run out of energy as well and decided he would be best served hiding.

The priest’s health slowed in its decrease, and Ranon cursed quietly.

“Shouldn’t he be down by now?” Fridget shouted. The lines of flame faded from her body, her energy fully expended.

Tahpa fired three more balls of flame, then shrugged as his own magma veins disappeared as well. “Yeah, he really should.”

The priest cackled, then turned and stabbed out with his hands, sending that black spell into Ranon.

“Gah!” Ranon jerked back, breaking both his spell and the priest’s as he ducked behind a pillar to block the attack. “What now? I can’t handle that kind of drain!”

The priest raised his hands toward the Phoenix, chanting something in another language.

“Guys, help?” Nalana called. Her health was barely over 10%.

Fridget and Tahpa looked at each other. “I’m out. You?”

“Same.”

Tahpa shrugged. “I’ll take it. Go punch that guy or something.” He waved his hands through the air, pulling a sling and pouch from his inventory, then began hurling rocks at the Phoenix.

Nalana dodged out of Maya’s sight, but the Phoenix didn’t let up so easily. With a last screech, it dived. Maya watched Nalana’s last sliver of health vanish, her name going dull.

Tahpa shouted, “Take out that priest!” as he charged the Phoenix.

Before Tahpa could fire again, Veyanto appeared beside him and tapped his shoulder. At least Maya assumed it must be Veyanto. She hadn’t paid the small, low-level lizardine much attention, even when he was visible. Which wasn’t often, as far as she could recall. She’d only seen him a few times since they’d entered the dungeon.

They had a quick conversation, of which Maya heard nothing clearly.

Tahpa nodded, then raised his voice. “Fridge! Out!”

Fridget frowned, but nodded and ran after Tahpa.

Maya followed as well, curious, as Veyanto took up the task of attracting the Phoenix’s attention.

Tahpa and Fridget exited the boss room into the antechamber. Tahpa down at the bottom of the stairs, while Fridget began pacing just in front of him. They didn't say anything, so they hadn't come to have a conference or anything.

Maya looked between them and the fight still going on, frowning uncertainly.

“We’re out of energy,” Fridget explained. “That drain spell of his should have brought us close, but we must’ve been off in our timing or something. Usually he'd be down.”

“Killing him releases whatever energy he stole,” Tahpa added, “but he’s still got hundreds of health left and none of us can deal that kind of damage without magic.”

"Maybe Nalana, but we can't count on that."

Maya glanced at her interface. The health bars were gone, vanished the moment she stepped out of the combat chamber, but her energy regen had returned to its out-of-combat speed, ticking up every second. Even that, which usually felt so quick, seemed interminably slow to her now.

“Will they be alright without us?”

Tahpa shook his head. “Not for long. The priest is mostly support, only starts attacking if you close to melee range. But the Phoenix has that area attack. If we don’t have enough people to divide its attention, it’ll be able to position itself properly and take out everyone at once.”

Fridget stood abruptly. “I’m going back in. I can’t take this.”

She charged through the entry back into the fray.

Maya understood her attitude, but wasn’t sure she herself would be any use.

“Should I wait here, or go back in?” she asked. Her energy had reached 60.

“Go in. The more people, the better chance we can all dodge. Once I have enough energy, I’ll come finish off the priest. Then the hard part begins.”

Watching the various fighters from her position as mostly-useless obligatory party member hiding in the shadows provided Maya with an awesome overview of the kind of spell power and variety that Shardlord's faction had access to. For the first time in a while Maya truly began to believe that magic was not as limited as she'd been at first told.

Tahpa and Fridget had, from what she’d seen, stuck to mostly default spells. Heart of Magma, the most expensive default fire spell, turned them into one-person siege engines. With how quickly they’d dropped that priest’s health, Maya would love to see what the spell could do for her in the arena.

Nalana had mostly used the same overpowered burst of flame that Fridget had utilized so effectively against the swarms of birds in the entryway, something like what Maya imagined Wind Whisper would be if it were made of pure fire and overcharged to the maximum. Maya assumed it must be a created spell, as none of the default names seemed to fit it.

She’d never had a chance to see what Eleona the other now-dead player's specialty was, apart from the making-everyone-glow spell she'd demonstrated during the ambush on the stair.

That left the two high levels, Ranon, Maya herself, and the little sneaky one whose name she could never remember. She checked the names on the side of her vision health bars. Veyanto, that was it. He was currently on distract-the-Phoenix duty, and doing a stunningly good job.

So far, he hadn’t been caught once. Darting into shadow, fading from view, then firing off a faint white spell Maya didn’t recognize. Just enough to keep the Phoenix focused on him, but never getting caught.

Of course, everything else was going very badly indeed. Fridget had begun casting her magma spell again, but before she’d even completed the charge-up sequence the priest slammed her with that black draining spell of his.

Maya couldn’t think of any other way to help, so she decided to charge the priest and stab him with her knives. They were tiny knives, which dealt a tiny amount of damage, but she assumed it would be better than nothing.

And it probably was. The problem was, the wily black harpy had that evil staff thing of his, and was very good at deflecting her attacks. Deflecting them so adeptly that she ended up stabbing herself instead of him half the time.

And then, to add injury to insult, after deflecting her attacks, he swung the staff around himself in ever-faster circles, knocking Maya back away and dropping her health way too fast.

All the way to zero.

You've been killed by the Crimson Flame Ritual Leader.

Character Maya Starborn has been locked for two minutes.

Maya remembered Tahpa mentioning the priest would attack if you got close, but she hadn’t expected it to be an instakill. She only hoped her distraction had bought Fridget enough time for her magma spell.

Maya growled and wished she had fists so that she could slam them into something. How useless could she possibly be? She needed to finish some quests, and soon. Being low-level really sucked.

She wished she could pace, impotent to do so in the non-existent nothingness where she had neither body nor surroundings. Still, Maya calmed somewhat by the time the counter reached zero and she could finally log back in. In addition to her usual respawn locations, she had two new ones:

[Active instance] Crimson Flame Dungeon Entrance

[Active instance] Crimson Flame Dungeon Antechamber

She selected the antechamber, impatient to return to her team. She reappeared at the base of the stairs, in the alcove right outside the ritual chamber.

The fight was still ongoing. The Phoenix screeched and dove at Tahpa, whose dodge evaded its beak but not its claw.

Maya couldn't see anyone else from where she stood. The constant movement of the Phoenix, the brightest source of light in the room, threw shadows in every direction and made it difficult to see anything clearly from outside the chamber.

Maya inched forward into the room, stopping the moment she entered the combat area. Health bars for her allies and enemies reappeared on either side of her view.

Or, rather, ally. Fridget's bar flickered down to nothing and went grey before Maya could even locate her, and then only Tahpa remained.

The priest’s health bar was grey and empty, while the Phoenix’s had changed from the standard red to a brilliant gold. And it still sat at nearly completely full.

Tahpa had no chance to attack, his full attention on dodging the Phoenix’s attacks and evading its flame bursts. The massive fire bird attacked twice as fiercely and Tahpa was clearly fighting a losing battle.

The Phoenix raised its wings and Maya scurried out of the cone radius of its attack, hiding behind a pillar. She was not getting caught by that again. It flapped once, sending out the wave of fire, then a second time.

“How can I help?” Maya shouted, once the roar of flame died away.

“I’m not sure if you can. This thing is hitting harder than usual, I can’t keep up. It’ll be another six minutes before Fridget can spawn back in. I don’t think I can survive that long.”

“What about the others?”

A burst of flame from the Phoenix rushed past on either side of Maya’s pillar, dropping her health by another 3 points.

“You’re the first. Eleona should be in next, but I don’t know what use either of you will be. Unless you're great at dodging, that won’t buy us more than a few seconds even if you can hold aggro.”

Then the Phoenix swept around the pillar, casting brilliant light right in Maya’s face, and she had to concentrate on surviving rather than talking. She tried to emulate Nalana, weaving between pillars and ducking behind them erratically. It hit her once, a claw swipe that only dealt fifteen damage - an eighth of her total health.

“Can you use that Storm Grasp spell to hold it?” Maya asked desperately.

“No, the Phoenix is immune to paralysis or hold effects.”

Well, so much for that idea. She could use the rest of her knives with Windborne Blade, but a hundred or so damage would hardly scratch the Phoenix. If everyone else together had only reduced its health by less than 10%, she didn’t see what hope she had.

And, however silly it may be, she was reluctant to use non-regenable resources on a fight that seemed doomed to failure. The blades may only cost a handful of copper each, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to waste them. Also, without the arena equipment Shadow lent her, she wouldn't have enough energy to use that attack more than once. It wasn't an efficient use of energy.

The Phoenix stopped following and roared, its crackling voice making Maya shiver with fear. She cowered behind the nearest pillar, but wasn’t positioned well. The Phoenix was too close, and the spillover heat hit her more strongly this time. Not fully, that would probably kill her again, but still an uncomfortable amount. -12 health.

“Do you have any energy left?” Maya asked.

“Yes.”

“What spells do you have?”

“Nothing strong enough that I can cast fast enough.”

The Phoenix flared its wings again, and Maya sprinted to another pillar farther away. Flame rushed out once, then a second time, but she’d cleared the area in time and took no damage this time.

“Can we keep hiding until the others get back?” Maya called.

“Maybe. I can take one hit, two if I’m very lucky.”

Lucky? “I’m lucky!” She wasn’t sure what to do with that knowledge, her brief excitement deflating.

Tahpa seemed equally speechless for a moment before he continued, “You have Wind Whisper?”

“Yes,” Maya said, uncertainly. “And?”

“Overcharge it. When I give the signal, fire it at me.”

“Wait, at you? Not the Phoenix?”

“No. Me. But set it to force, not damage, please.”

“Umm…”

“And you’ll need to flag yourself for PVP.”

“What?”

“Otherwise, it won’t hit as hard.”

A burst of flame radiated out from the Phoenix, where it hovered between them, and Maya quickly ducked back around the pillar. Another 5 damage. At this rate, they’d be dead within minutes just from the spillover heat even if the Phoenix never got in a solid hit.

She willed her PVP toggle into focus and flipped it. Immediately, Tahpa began glowing faintly red, at least the little of him she could see from across the room.

The Phoenix hovered in the center of the chamber, slowly flapping to maintain its height, but not attacking or moving.

“What’s it waiting for?”

“Without the priest to recharge it, it needs to rest every ten attacks to regen its stamina and energy. It won’t last long. Charge that spell!”

Right. Maya sucked in a breath and brought her hands up to charge, and overcharge, her Wind Whisper. Seconds passed. She held it at full charge, waiting, wondering.

Then the Phoenix roared, and Tahpa ran straight at Maya. She waited, heart racing, wondering what in the world his plan was.

“NOW!” Tahpa shouted, and jumped into the air. Maya fired the spell, pushing him back and up in a massive gust of wind. He soared through the air, landing squarely on the Phoenix’s massive back.

“I can hold out here,” he said, grinning. “None of its attacks reach this particular position.”

“What about me?”

“Don't die. We need at least three people here to distract its attention if we’re to do anything.”

Maya couldn’t help but notice that, despite his claims, Tahpa’s health bar was steadily decreasing. Slowly, but undeniably.

“Your health is dropping.”

“Yep. Physical contact with a being of angry flame will do that.” He put his hands in front of himself, drawing them quickly apart, and was covered in a sheen of golden light. The health drain stopped for a few seconds, then resumed as the glow flickered out.

The Phoenix roared, and Maya ducked out of sight while the waves of flame surged past.

“How long can you hold out?”

“Longer up here than down there. My shield absorbs fire damage, but I can’t keep it up constantly.”

“I can’t do anything.” She’d spent all her energy on that overcharged Wind Whisper.

Tahpa brought the Phoenix’s health down by another sliver. “That’s fine. Just try to eva--woah.”

The Phoenix dove at her, apparently done trying to attack the mage clinging to its back, and Maya ran.

With the Phoenix’s undivided attention, she didn’t last long.

You've been killed by the Risen Phoenix.

“Yeah, yeah,” Maya said. Or didn’t say. Whatever. This in-between logged-out place was weird.

She still couldn’t pace, counting the seconds with fidgety impatience.

Maybe she should make a new character on another world, just so she could log into the tutorial area and pace there in future. But she didn’t want to take the time to do it now, refused to risk getting drawn in by the character creation screen and losing track of time.

Finally Maya Starborn, World 9352 reappeared as a login option, and she clicked it without a moment’s hesitation.

Character Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 6 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Path of Life Total Base Items Modifiers Sturdiness: 8 8 0 0 Momentum: 17 12 2 3 Agility: 11 8 2 1 Control: 27 8 19 0 Attunement: 16 15 0 1 Focus: 9 8 0 1 Intelligence: 14 12 0 2 Flexibility: 9 8 0 1 Luck: 59 89 - -30 Unassigned: 0 Health: 121 of 121 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 78 of 78 Energy: 79 of 79 Speed: 105% Switch penalty: -33%, 8.3 secs Stealth: 84% Chain bonus: +5% Awareness: 84% Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 3 Abilities Abilities: [5 of 3] Wind Whisper

[5 energy] Blow into cupped hands, then push the air toward the target.

Creates a light breeze, a quick gust, or a damaging slash.

[Overcharge: +5 energy, +0.2 sec cast time, +50% force/duration/dmg] 1.9 sec

5 dmg

(wind) Throw Knife

[5 stamina] Throw a knife at a target with high accuracy. Requires a knife. 0.8 sec

3 dmg

(physical) Spark

[5 energy] Draw magic into palm and snap fingers to ignite into a spark of fire.

Can be used as a light or thrown at a target. 1.1 sec

3 dmg

(fire) Windborne Blade

[45 energy, 5 stamina] Cast Wind Whisper in a loop up and behind, aligning with throwing arm.

Throw knife straight at target with wind as augment. 4.3 sec

33 dmg

(physical) Sense Balance Discern if an area is lacking in or has an excess of any materials, creatures, etc. Equipment & Inventory Item Name Slot Stu Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Ordinary Gloves of Control Hands 13 Minor Chestpiece of the Dancer Body 1 1 Minor Waistwrap of the Dancer Legs 1 1 Acrobat's Footwraps Feet 2 Lesser Bracelet of Control Arm 1 4 Trickster's Mask (Mage) Special Money: 70 Gold 3 Silver 262 Copper Quality Item name Details Soulbound Trickster's Dice Soulbound Trickster's Orb 2/5 uses remaining Flimsy Shary's Orchard Brochure Normal Apple x2 Consumable Special White and Blue Orb 3/3 uses remaining Special Key - Arrival Plaza Apartment Expires in 29 days Normal Basic Throwing Knife x11 3 damage (physical) Special Key - Room 6, Sapphire Hall Flimsy Newcomer's Tunic Flimsy Newcomer's Leggings Special Arena Equipment Token Registered to Maya Starborn Missions Mission Description

Time Reward [Crimson Flame Dungeon] Defeat the Crimson Flame Cult and prevent the Risen Phoenix from returning. Variable

+50 Western Wilds reputation A Private Grudge Claim Standalone's house in Conquest and hold it for at least 10 hours. Personal House Trickster Day 4 Claim in Conquest the home of the next player you see.

Once claimed, hold it for 24 hours. 6d 6h 42m Trickster's Reward

??? Arena (Shadow) Spend at least one day every week fighting in the Arena. Ongoing Variable Trickster Day 3 Lose a fight to another player in the arena. DONE Ordinary Gloves of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Gazebo Construction Construct a new gazebo for Maylon the Poet.

[Optional] Also varnish the entire structure once built. DONE 3 silver 50 copper

+5 reputation with Maylon the Poet Trickster Day 2 Lose a fight to another player in PVP. DONE Lesser Bracelet of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Windy Creek Reconstruction Locate the missing workers' tools.

Construct a new dam to redirect Windy Creek to the mill run.

Clear the wreckage of the old Windy Creek Dam.

Complete construction of the new Windy Creek bridge. DONE 5 silver, 80 copper

25 reputation with Windy Creek village Trickster Day 1 Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement. FAILED -5 reputation with The Trickster Missing Delivery Find the overdue delivery boy. Ensure his safety and the successful delivery of apples to Shary's Produce Stand. DONE 5 copper

3 apples

+10 reputation with Shary and Elaph