5:30pm, The Twenty-Seventh Day

I could only send up a quick prayer of thanks as I made it behind the snow drift without the white tree stirring. The plan had taken some time to iron out, and we had just finished climbing up the spiral climb again.

Peaking over the pile I watched as Pao carefully approached the middle of the room by herself. This was going to be one of the more dangerous parts, relying entirely on Pao’s high speed and agility.

Once she was about halfway across the room it began to shake and heave, as if the great tree itself was dislodging itself from the earth, sending Pao and I to our hands and knees.

The pale trunk shifted itself, pulling itself from the ground as limbs began to separate from the main body. Needles seemed to melt and coalesce sporadically, and before long the boss had finalized its form into something more like a spider, though unsymmetrical and shining. Its needles pointed towards its rear like a porcupine, and as it caught sight of Pao they stuck up like the fur of a cat. Its face was that of an eagle, with pine leaves instead of feathers. It reared up on its spidery legs and let loose a horrendous screech, and I instantly covered my ears.

Holy christ. That’s much more terrifying than I thought it would be. Glancing over at Pao, I found that she had started to backpedal in fright before catching herself. Putting on an aggressive stance as she stared back at the boss, she began to strafe to buy time. Nodding to myself, I quickly snuck away from my position at the snowbank as the monster put its back towards me.

I kept to the edges, only a meter or so from the sharp fall. Still, I went as fast as I dared while Pao distracted the beast. She attempted to keep some distance between herself and the boss, trying to delay close combat as long as she could. The boss didn’t do much to close the distance at first, content to slowly creep forward with eyes locked.

Eventually it grew tired of the stalling however, and it flicked it’s abdomen over its head at Pao, shooting off a multitude of razor sharp quills at her position. Hearing her yelp as she dived behind a snowbank, I flinched as the snow around her shot into the air as if hit by a spray of bullets.

I can’t be worrying about her, I have my own job. I forced myself to look away, fixing my sight on the cages in front of me. After another minute or so I slid next to them and pulled out my dagger. Inside I could see three forms slumped against the narrow wooden bars, their faces blue with chill despite their coats. One seemed older, a boy almost my age, while the other boy and girl didn’t look to be much older than twelve. All of them had the same messy brown hair and freckled white skin. Their faces were somewhat rounded though none of them were chubby.

I bashed on the top of one of the bars with the butt of my knife until it loosened, and then pulled it out. Doing the same to three of the other bars, I made a hole large enough for me to squeeze in. Taking the last of my health potions out of my side bag, I poured one into each of their mouths, hoping that we weren’t too late. After a few long seconds their green eyes began to flicker open, and confusion came over their faces. The eldest was the first to say something.

“Where are…”

“No time to explain, get ready to run.” I cut him off as another screech rang out over the platform.

Remarkably quick to adjust, the eldest got the other two up and together we squeezed out of the cage. The sound of my menu opening drowned out by the wind, I maneuvered over to the party tab. Looking up, I asked for their usernames, typing them in as fast as my fingers could fly. Being close enough to see their health bars as they appeared, I was happy to see that all of them were above half, with only a few debuffs the only reminder of their prior imprisonment.

Surprisingly, it seemed like they hadn’t starved at all while imprisoned, making them appear to have frozen in time while they were trapped. It made me wonder: did the game just freeze them so they wouldn’t have to actually experience the boredom of being trapped for days? It was a game after all, so measures such as that would almost be expected.

Signalling them to follow me, I led them around the edge of the path far from the fighting. As we passed by the snowbank where I had started, I directed them towards the door and stepped out into the field to find Pao, but when I looked over towards the buffeted snow I caught a glimpse that froze me to the core.

The battle had apparently been more catastrophically one sided than even I had originally imagined. Pao stood on one knee on a white hill, multiple pixely red gashes covering her, and dozens of pine needles were embedded in her coat. Not even her sword was raised in defiance, instead she rested on it, a look of total defeat surrounding her. The boss in front of her looked perfectly fine in comparison, its eagle head nipping at the air in anticipation of the final blow.

Not again.

Instantly my mind went blank with purpose, and I found myself barreling towards the monster before I could think of a plan, my feet carrying my over the twisted roots deftly without my direct input. Ahead the boss closed in for the kill, and Pao shakedly got to her feet. Even horribly wounded and shaking from damage induced exhaustion she forced herself to get up one more time, even if it was only to take the final blow.

Not again!

Raising its spindly front legs high in the air, it shrieked once more at its prey. As I ran I drew the smoke glyph and held the final stroke, keeping the dagger held in the same position in front of me. Pao feebly raised her sword in the path of the coming attack in defiance. Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I leapt into the air as soon as I got close enough.

“AAHHHHHH”

I screamed as I flew into the air, making contact with its head just as it began to bring its legs down upon Pao. The [Smoke Ward] activated as we tumbled down the snowy hill, my vision filled with black and my nostrils with smoke and ash. The pine needles of its face pricked me as we fell, and I felt a sharp pain as the beast’s beak struck me in it’s panicked thrashing. Slamming to a stop at the bottom of the hill, I immediately scrambled up to shout at Pao.

“Get out! I’ll meet you at the entrance!”

She looked as if she was about to argue, but after a quick glance at the top of her vision she simply turned and ran towards the doors. A wave of relief flooded over me as I watched her go, replacing the sudden fear that had propelled me. Good. Pao couldn’t help in this fight anymore. I just had to hope I could distract the beast for long enough for her to escape, and then to somehow escape myself. A slight change from the plan, but only one of us was needed for the next part if he followed out the door.

Turning myself to the boss, I backed up as the monster struggled to its feet, the panic rapidly fading from its actions, instead replaced by a cold aggression. It quickly skittered towards me, closing the gap in only a matter of a couple seconds. As it got close it swung its head to the side and brought it back to slam into my torso.

Unable to react in time as its huge form shot towards me, I was smashed into the air by the force of the charging headbutt. Spinning uncontrollably in the air, I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I landed backfirst onto the uneven ground. Not daring to look at my health bar as I gasped for breath, I scrambled back up just in time to hurriedly dodge away from the boss’s continued assault.

I hurriedly drew an air ward as I got to my feet to safeguard against another charge, but instead of another charge I found a barrage of needles slamming into my chest to push me again to the ground. Not able to resist anymore, I glanced up at my health and my face blanched. Over half of my life had drained away from only two attacks. If I continued like this I wouldn’t even be able to make it to the door alive. Hell, I wouldn’t even make it a meter!

I can’t keep dodging, it’s too fast. If I was stuck on the defensive for this entire fight I knew I would end up missing a cue or two more than the ones I already had. I would need to either attack it or run, and if I was honest I didn’t think attacking would work out too well in my current state. Looking around I found a wall of snow behind me parallel to the wall, while in front of me the beast looked to be about to flick his tail yet again.

Instantly I dove behind the snowbank behind me as pine needles showered the snow and air around me like the fury of a gatling gun. I kept my head down as I ran along the wall to dodge most of them, the hail lasting a good five or six seconds. It reminded me a little of my father’s stories of his time in British Columbia, though each needle had a fraction of the lethality of a bullet.

Seconds after the hail stopped the snow bank behind me exploded into the air as the boss charged through, only moments later locking its sights on me. It charged straight down the path I ran upon, gaining on me as swiftly as if I wasn’t moving. Throwing up a [Smoke Ward] behind me as I ran, I was a little surprised when I saw that the boss actually tried to dodge the blast of smoke instead of taking it like a normal monster. So he defends himself.

The snowbank got higher and higher as I ran along it, and by the time the boss had smashed after me it was so high I couldn’t climb it normally. Panicking for only half a second, I instantly started drawing and [Air Ward] at chest height, unleashing it ahead of me so I could jump off of it. I flew up to grab the snowbank and hurdle over it, the whole process taking only a moment.

Ah shit. The other side of the snowbank was every bit as steep as the side I had just climbed, and with the hurdle I flew over the top into the air. Flailing through the air as I came towards the ground, I bounced across the ice ground for a bit before friction brought me to a halt. Raising my head I found that only a small hill stood between me and the door. Almost there.

A mighty roar soon sounded behind me, and I stopped struggling to get up to throw my hands to my ears in an attempt to block out the noise. Right after the beast flew over me to land on the hill slope between me and the door.

I jumped to my feet as soon as I caught sight of him again, but it was too late. A shadow flicked over me as the beast brought its tail down on top of me, slamming me back into the ground with a sharp crack only slightly softened by the dagger I threw up.

This is it. I can’t run from this. My health bar drained into the red as the monster studied his handiwork, seemingly waiting for me to get up before he finished me off. A strange sort of chivalry, but I didn’t oblige in my fatigue. What was the point of getting up anyway? This boss was monstrously strong and fast, and I had no hope of getting away. How did I ever think we could fight a boss by myself, even for a while? Was the episode with Steelshoe just a sham?

I slapped myself. What am I doing? I can’t die here. Artel would kill me! The thought of Artel sitting back in Paelgard never for me to return, without her other half, came to mind. I can’t do that to her. If I had had to navigate Finkar’s release in that dungeon by myself I think I would’ve gone crazy. I owed her at least my survival. Shaking off my fatigue and fear, I slowly stood up to face the monster.

What was more, I actually did have a chance at getting out of here, even though I hadn’t seen it earlier. The monster defends himself. Normal monsters didn’t do that, and just took it to release more attacks of their own. That would normally make the boss harder, but as far as I knew he couldn’t attack and defend at the same time. If I could change the momentum of the fight I might be able to find an opening to slip out the door.

My foe bristled, seemingly sensing the change that came over me. He launched himself towards me and unleashed an assault of such anger and malice that I almost expected it to melt the snow around it.

I threw myself at him, dodging and attacking as fast as I could. I committed his attack patterns to memory, swinging myself under tails swipes and claw mauls, but I didn’t stop there. After every dodge I tried to step closer and draw a [Smoke Ward] or to stab him in the side with my dagger. I never let him get far away enough to use his needle throw attacks nor to provoke a charge. Every chance I got my dagger slashed against him, even recklessly so.

It seemed to work. The boss began to fall into what looked like a panic as it tried to dodge or deflect my blows to the more rigid needle mane. He mostly succeeded as well, almost every one of my attacks failing to hit or damage him, but that wasn’t really the point of me doing it. As it went on the boss grew more visibly irritated until his mane was almost bristling. Then he leaped backwards to make space, and I made my move.

I instantly drew up smoke as he jumped, triggering it with my hand as soon as it was done. The smoke shot out across the field, covering my retreat as I dashed up and over the hill behind me. Instead of running towards the door however, I then crouched behind the crest of the hill and waited for an opportune moment to finish the glyphs I began making. I wouldn’t be able to outrun him as he was.

The beast charged up and over the hill, not expecting me to be at the top. An [Air Ward] stopped its dash in its tracks, suddenly jerking him to what looked like a painful halt. I rose up from my position with my dagger and went straight for its stunned face, slashing around its eye area. Then I kicked with all my might to propel him back down the hill with a confused scramble, sending a cheeky [Smoke Ward] after him as he fell.

I didn’t stop to watch his recovery as he fell into smoke, instead breaking into a dead sprint towards the doorway, fueled entirely by adrenaline. As I ran I glanced at my health bar and broke into a mad fit of tired giggles at the absurdity of the sight. Less than five percent of my bar was remaining. I’m practically dead!

The boss didn’t waste any time recovering from its fall, and very quickly was chasing after me, gaining ground rapidly. By the time I dove through the door I could very nearly feel its breath on my nape, and so I continued to sprint towards the hole leading to the bottom of the tree in fear of my life. As I started to come up on it I took a quick glance behind me to find that the door hadn’t really held it back at all, and it was again almost upon me.

This guy doesn’t quit does he? Despite my dire condition and overwhelming fatigue threatening to head over me I continued to run, though my pace and form dropped in quality rapidly. Every footstep was like lifting a truck, every second with my eyes open like holding up the sky. My eyes kept fluttering closed as I approached the hole, until soon enough I felt my foot snag on a gnarled root, and my head suddenly shot towards the ground straight through the hole.

The fall shocked me awake again, and I cursed as I fell towards the floor far below. The image of the squirrel immediately popped into my head, and I angled myself towards the shallow pond. Game physics please.

I nonetheless closed my eyes in expectation of splattering against the water, so I was surprised when a cold jolt crashed over me and I found myself surrounded by water. Floundering to the surface, I was suddenly and roughly pulled to shore by someone else, causing me to yelp and gulp in a quart of water. After finding myself on dry land and gasping for breath I looked up to find Pao and the three I had just saved staring down at me.

“Hi.” I choked out.

“Why the hell did you jump?” Pao leared over me, rummaging through her pack.

“Potion first.” I said tiredly, nodding up towards the bar.

“Can he leave the room?” She produced a potion

I simply pointed up as I guzzled down the sour liquid, and they all looked up and started. Climbing down along the platform path was the boss, quickly and angrily. It had wasted no time running after us, skipping huge cliffs as it dashed down. At this rate I expected it to reach us in mere minutes, much faster than it had probably taken Pao and friends. I did notice however that he didn’t seem to be too inclined to fall straight such as I had.

My health and stamina steadily recovering, Pao and I led the others out the door and had them start climbing down the passage, and Pao followed after. I however lingered near the top waiting to see if the trap we had laid would work out.

I watched closely as it drew itself along the mushrooms, until it eventually came to a certain ledge. As it crept over the burnt platform it seemed to trip on something unexpectedly, and then…

An echoing roar tore through the room as four fire bombs fell into a trap glyph and exploded simultaneously a few seconds after it, the massive blast sending the monster over the side with a fiery shriek. It’s flaming form fell to the ground with a sickening crack, and even I winced subconsciously. After a few seconds it began to twitch and move again, righting itself on the bark floor. The damage was significant however, and even after getting up I saw that he was swaying and walking unsteadily. It wasn’t enough to kill it as we had hoped however. Was worth being down a glyph in the fight I guess.

“Plan B it is a go!” We rappelled down the cliff faces at a speed calmer folk would call free fall with only a little urging by the shrieks behind us. Leaving the rope and pitons we had used earlier, we dashed to the flower pasture almost confident that we had gained ground and time.

Of this we were completely wrong, and we were only halfway across the field when the boss stormed out of the passageway, his needles flying right after us.Tackling Pao to the ground just in time, the needle flew harmlessly over us to impact with the trees at the edge. Impossibly he had somehow gained energy in the chase, becoming even more enraged as we fled. Pao and I locked eyes and she nodded in understanding, and she handed me her last firebomb.

“Don’t miss.”

Mumbling a quick affirmative I turned to flee as Pao confronted the boss again. I had to stop myself from looking backwards as the sound of furious fighting started up again in earnest. The ball was back in Pao’s court for this.

As I tore across the last of the flowers I saw ahead that the trio were watching from the passageway looking on in horror over at Pao. I didn’t stop there however, only ceasing when i spotted the launch tube we had carried over here earlier in preparation. Quickly drawing the glyph over the end, I flipped it over my shoulder and aimed it towards the boss, who was busy beating up Pao. I waited until it charged her and she simply braced instead of dodging, letting it hit her so that she flew into the air towards us. Lighting and dropping the bomb into the front I yelled a quick warning towards the trio before setting my sights on the galloping boss.

Everyone besides Pao and I cringed at the sound as the bomb shot across the field. Barely missing the monster, it exploded on impact with the ground harmlessly past the boss in a small explosion, and I heard small gasps of despair and surprise behind me. Locking its eyes in my direction, the boss shrieked almost mockingly in defiance at my poor aim, though I smiled all the same.

Fire shot across the ground as the oil in the flowers caught fire, spreading like wildfire across the field to consume the hundreds of flowers. Noticing this the boss quickened its pace in an attempt to escape, but not enough to out run it. Fire leaped around him and his limbs went ablaze like a burning newspaper.

The monster shrieked in panic as his legs crackled and split, green liquid leaking and sizzled as the monster burned. Its cries of panic turned to horrible screechs of pain as it collapsed, its burnt legs no longer able to support it. Even I felt a little sorry for it as it screamed.

Pao didn’t waste any time upon recovering, simply breaking into a dead sprint upon hitting the ground. Even with her massively overleveled dex stat she wasn’t quite fast enough, her coat tails catching fire as the embers nipped at her heels, but she didn’t stop to put it out. Upon reaching us and the last of the oil she threw herself into a snowbank and started to furiously roll to put it out. I walked up behind her and offered my hand up.

She considered my offer for a few seconds before taking it, almost appearing to reject it. After a second however she smiled and clapped her hand into mine, and I hauled her to her feet. In the exit, the trio stood shell shocked, their mouths gaping at the firestorm behind us, while behind us the monstrosity continued to scream horrifically as it died.

“Ready to go?” I asked.