Chapter 31

All In!

We’d started off the battle by taking unnecessary damage. It cost us precious time to correct our formation, but at least everyone was listening. Except for Robern. He was dodging in and out of battle to try and distract the grappler while getting off as many crossbow shots as he could. No matter what I’d say, he wouldn't listen. All I could do was focus on the rest of the party.

The ancienne’s insects helped tremendously when it came to distracting the boss. Filo’s Sphinx Wasp lasted minutes more in battle than Arris’s Orb Weaver. The wasp was able to dodge and irritate the boss while the frontline dealt damage.

Both ancienne’s were ensconced in the green light of Oak Beard. Filo was astride her Steed of Elwohire and was running circles around the boss. Her steed slammed its back hooves into the boss as often as the opportunity presented.

Lep used Hand of Flames to cover the boss’s head and blind it. In between healing Vynk and Arris, I cast Silver Light Kite Shield and Burning Flare. Pelle and I alternated healing and conjuring shields for the party.

Whenever the boss took a step forward, it sounded as though rocks were sliding down slopes. The boss grunted and roared, swiping desperately at the closest combatant. Each step the boss took forward started to add up.

“There’s not going to be much room to back up soon!” Pelle said, looking over her shoulder.

We had to move. We had to get behind the boss.

Vynk can do that with his power technique, but what about Arris, Pelle, and I. We need to use Pelle’s Star Armor shields.

I relayed my plan to the group and didn’t wait for confirmation. We needed to act fast.

“Power Technique!” I said.

Vynk threw his sword over the head of the boss. Star Armor encased him. The grappler gripped Vynk around the middle. The armor broke just before Vynk disappeared, switching places with his greatsword. Metal clashed with stone when the boss crushed his grip. A stone finger fell off and a stream of magma began to run from the stump of the missing finger and pool on the ground.

Between the legs of the boss, I saw Vynk’s cheeky smile. I swore I even saw him giggle with glee. I only saw him briefly since we had to move.

“Tosin!” Pelle said. “Come on!”

Star Armor encased me as well, and I noticed Arris and Pelle were also shielded. We had to move before the boss lunged at us. Arris slipped around its left, and Pelle slipped around its right. I ran after Pelle and saw the boss coming for me out of the corner of my eye. A stone fist slammed into me, shattering my Star Armor shield. The shield fell apart as though motes of light were turning to dust.

The force of the impact threw me against the wall and I heard my companions yell my name. Another stone hand came lying toward me, dripping magma. It grasped for me but I used my flagstaff to block it. A string of magma flew out in an arch and landed on my hand. The pain was unbearable and I let go of my flagstaff. The boss tossed it behind and I was left with only my inventory pouch.

Before the boss could lunge at me once more, it was forced to finish turnign around and defend itself from our frontline. I found Pelle and she healed me straight away.

“That was close,” she said.

“Yea, thanks for the healing. You focus on the frontline and I’ll…”

“You don’t have your flagstaff.”

“I have my Spectres.”

I cast one Spectre behind the boss, where my flagstaff lay. Then I commanded the Spectre to strike the flagstaff every few seconds. Wisps of my mana traveled far to power the flagstaff. It took a few moments until I saw the flagstaff strike, and every article was cast in tandem. I cast another Spectre beside me to hold the crystal encrusted spellbook while I cast Burning Flare, and Silver Kite Shield from it.

The boss’s health lowered by a third when it suddenly received one of Robern’s crossbow bolts to the eye. It bellowed in anger. It flexed and roared again. Magma veins pulse and throbbed. Veins began bursting, and rivulets of magma began streaming from the boss like a slow waterfall. Arcs of magma were flung from its arms as it swiped at Vynk and Arris.

“Second phase!’ I yelled. “Don’t focus on healing, Pelle. Save your mana for armor spells. I’ll provide healing.”

“You got it,” she said.”

Over the course of the second phase, I was impressed with Pelle’s decision making. She focused her armor only on the frontline and waited until the last possible moment to cast Star Armor. I knew why. She was conserving what little mana she had left.

In the meantime, I cast Burning Flare and Silver Kite shield as often as I could. Vynk, Arris, and Filo kept up their strategy, and the intervals between Lep’s spells were getting larger.

When the boss had a quarter of its health left, it evolved into the third stage. Acrid smoke rose from between its joints, made from slowly melting stone, and filled the chamber ceiling. As the smoke continued to build, it sunk lower and lower until several of us began coughing and choking.

We have to abandon our strategy for a new one! Any time we spend on defense, is time lost against the encroaching smoke!

“Tosin,” Filo said as she rode by on her steed. She and her steed had their heads hung low, just enough below the smoke to still navigate around the boss. “I’m going to have to dismount soon! What’s the plan?”

If we forfeit our defenses, we’re going to endure a ton of damage. We’ll also be dealing damage at more than twice the speed as we have been.

“All in!” I said. “No more strategy! Everyone fight!”

“What about us?’ Pelle said.

“We have to focus on healing. I’ll throw in as many Burning Flares as I can.”

The third phase of the boss was hellish. The agonizing, pain filled screams of my comrades shook my bones. Pelle and I were almost able to keep up with the damage. Arris, Vynk, and Filo each suffered a burn affliction and there was nothing I could do for it. As long as we kept their health bars full, we would be fine.

“I’m out of mana!” Pelle said.

“Check my bag for healing potions,” I said. “I should have a bunch in there.”

“It’s hard to see.” Pelle coughed as she fumbled through my bag and retrieved as many potions as she could carry. She ducked beneath the smoke and a moment later, I heard potion bottles crashing.

We’re almost there, I thought as the boss’s health bar neared empty.

I heard Vynk use his power technique once more. An X of bones appeared over the boss’s health bar just before it tumbled to the ground with a wheeze and a crunch of stone.

The streams and pools of magma cooled to cracked obsidian. The smoke dissipated. When all our health bars were full once more, I had my flagstaff wielding Spectre stop.

“We did it,” Arris said, throwing himself down against the wall near the entrance. “Whew. That was brutal.”

He sucked teeth and flinched when the burn affliction activated. His health took a point of damage, along with Vynk’s and Filo’s who reacted the same way.

A moment later, the cube of stone on the far side of the chamber began to crack. We warily watched as huge slabs of stone came loose and crashed to the floor. The stone had been encasing a gargantuan chest, twice as tall as any one of us, and at least four times as wide.

“Holy Felke,” Robern said.

“Holy Felke is right,” Vynk said, approaching the massive chest and running a hand along the wood planks.