They were literally being dragged through hell, Smash thought. His body was completely rigid and even though they had been pulled along for the last half hour the debuff that had him and his fellow guildmates frozen in place hadn’t cleared or even diminished. After Deathberry and Kantala had joined the fight with the gundam, he’d thought they’d had a reasonably good shot of winning; however, as they were dragged along by two of the fat zombies, his legs flopping along the ground through dusty Outback clay, he reassessed their situation. Most of the army hadn’t even joined the fight, he realized belatedly. Worse still, they were being taken through enemy lines. It appeared their destination was the bone fortress that they had spotted when they’d been flying above it in the Empress.

The dead milled all around them. He saw all the familiar faces from before and more ghastly ones than those previously encountered. The worst were blobs of pure flesh where once human or animal organs now resided on the outside of the body, spitting up blood and other fluids. While the horror show concerned him, Smash was most worried about what the commander intended to do with them now. He’d expected to be dead after their fight, perhaps reanimated as another unliving corpse in this ghoulish army. Instead, Commander Drak had leered over him, taunting him as their bodies were hauled towards their inevitable doom. There was something oddly familiar about those taunts and Smash started to get a sneaking suspicion that Drak had been someone they’d known. Perhaps it was someone who’d retained memories of their previous lives come back to haunt him? He couldn’t be entirely sure.

They were pulled through the gates of the mighty bone fortress. Up close, Smash could discern that what appeared to be giant’s bones provided structural support to the clay and mortar structure that loomed above them. The ramparts were lined with skeletal warriors and he even saw some of the larger looking skeletons giving orders. Far from mindless, this was an organized army that they’d attempted to fight. Finally, they were taken down stairs and everything was swallowed by darkness. Inside the walls were chill as death and there was no light. The undead could see perfectly fine in pitch black. After some time being dragged through a maze of hallways, Smash lost all track of where he was. He couldn’t see anything. They were thrown into a cell and he heard a gate close. After that was the sound of a rusty lock being turned. Presumably they were in a dungeon, but he couldn’t see anything.

Time passed but still he couldn’t move a muscle. A bright light blinded him and he blinked against the glare. The first thing he saw was the gloating face of Commander Drak, the shadows of the torch cast most of his body in darkness. Smash tried to spit at him but couldn’t even manage that small act of defiance. Maybe he could pull up a chat window at the very least, but even that small action required that he move his eyes up and to the right in order to open the screen.

As the darkness receded he also saw Linca’s body crumpled on the floor, her face pressed against the cold hard stone, no doubt paralyzed the same as he. Thag’s body was nearby, lying on the ground face up. He couldn’t see the other Misfits in the room but a moment later their presence was confirmed by Drak’s words.

“So, it’s come down to this former guildies. You have earned an unpleasant death and I shall give it to you. But first comes the torture.”

Smash didn’t even have time to react before Drak slammed his boot down on his hand, breaking his bones apart. He tried to scream but nothing would come out, not even his lungs had the power to overcome the paralysis. While he’d been hurt before in game, the pain seemed to be turned up to 11. He hadn’t been able to relax into the blow or tense any muscles and he couldn’t even hold his hand to protect further blows as Drak smashed down on it again and again.

Drak’s wicked laugh reverberated in Smash’s ears. “The best part is yet to come. Your friends back at your bunker have been wiped out,” Drak declared, sweeping his arm and bringing up an image before them. It showed Rygor’s body lying still on the ground, his guildmates dying as they tried to save him.

If Smash had been capable of reeling, he would have. He hadn’t known Rygor for very long but their group had become like brothers and sisters to the Misfits in the last few weeks: fighting the stegosaurus together trying to avenge their fallen comrades, defeating Mr. Tiel, and then finally they had come to their aid to try to defeat Drak’s army. Already, Smash missed their steadfast friend who had gone through so much only to be defeated here.

Through the pain, Smash wondered what else he had taken for granted as guild leader. There were so many people relying on him but also that had supported him without question. And his foolish pride had led them into their current situation. He knew he would likely die here by Drak’s hand but what would happen to his remaining guildmates? If he had any illusions as to Drak’s intentions, they were quickly made manifest.

“Let’s cut to the grand finale,” Drak’s voice dripped with menace. Leaning over Thag’s still body he forced his disgusting face towards her, a black tongue emerging from his dead visage. “Gimme a kiss for old time’s sake, baby,” he leered. Smash couldn’t look away as he forced himself upon her. He hated himself for being so foolish to think that banishing their old guildmate, Kevin, would solve things.

How could he have been so stupid? Whatever had happened to their old friend out here in the desert had transformed him? While he had been arrogant before and held a grudge against Smash, it hadn’t extended to the rest of the group. Yes, Shelly had died from his mistake but he knew it wasn’t their old friend’s intention. However, this was beyond depravity. Smash strained at his constraints, mentally screaming at his body to move, to do something, anything, about what was happening here.

Suddenly, Drak tried to pull away and Thag slapped him. “You bitch. I was going to entertain you but now I won’t hold back.” He smacked her in retaliation and Smash could see a welt starting to form on her face.

“You were always eyeing the other men in the guild, weren’t you?” Drak’s voice ended in a yell, his fists clenched in anger. Thag shook her head, tears falling from her eyes, although whether it indicated denial of his accusations or simply fear was unclear.

“First there was Miles,” Drak’s words came rapidfire. He went over and kicked Cheezus and Smash could see Thag’s eyes get even bigger. He could only imagine what Drak was doing to their friend. “But that wasn’t good enough for you, was it?”

Drak pointed at Smash, his other hand forcing Thag to look at him. “And now you’re on to another one, just like the slut you are,” Drak raged. “Don’t tell me you aren’t. I see him looking at you.” The old Kevin would have known that Smash and Thag weren’t an item, but the creature that he’d become was consumed with jealousy and even if Smash been able to say a word in his defense, it would have fallen on deaf ears.

The only good news was that Smash was starting to feel his body again and could move ever so slightly. Unfortunately, that meant his broken hand hurt even worse. However, he could open a chat channel now with little difficulty.

***You’ve Entered Raid Chat***

Smashit: Kevin has lost his shit. Suggestions?

Cheezusstabs: When did you find time to get with my GF?

Smashit: Seriously!?

Cheezustabs: JK, JK. On a serious note, I say we stab this bastard and run. Also, my balls are probably in my stomach now.

Thag: Are you two boys done measuring dicks? Creep master 9000 over here is still fondling my face with his creepy bony fingers.

Deathberry: I’ve already messaged the elves. Hopefully, they can send reinforcements quickly enough. Also, the dwarves and Kantala are still fighting to keep us safe. Let’s wrap this up and get back ASAP.

Cheezustabs: On it.

That was as far as their little chat went until Drak looked over at Smash. “Seems like my paralysis spell is wearing off. Can’t have you escaping, now can we?” he said, bemused. He waved his hand again and instantly, Smash was cut off from moving any further. He presumed the rest of the raid was frozen as well since no more messages came through in chat.

“Now, where was I before I was rudely interrupted by someone trying to escape?” Drak said, clearly enjoying every minute of this. He went over and stomped on Smash’s hand. For several minutes Smash couldn’t concentrate on anything after that. He saw images of Drak taunting Thag but nothing really registered.

As the pain faded to a dull throb, he heard Drak’s voice again. “Right. I think I’m going to take your new boyfriend here and flay him alive in my new torture chamber.” His face was inches from Thag’s. Her eyes were wide but with the paralysis spell newly refreshed, she couldn’t move so much as a muscle. He stood up and laughed, his whole body shaking. Smash had a feeling this next bit wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Two skeletal warriors stepped out of the darkness and grabbed Smash. Waving for them to bring along the paralyzed warrior. “I’ll bring you back some pieces to remember him by,” he said with a laugh.