Gregor, King of the Broken Rock Clan

Gregor stood in his forge examining the glowing hot metal that he was carefully mixing. His people had recently begun their extraction project inside the caldera of the local landmark, the Meteor Crater. In the bottom of which they were recovering copious amounts of Tungsten. Iron was plentiful from other locations and they used it to create their standard weaponry. What Gregor worked on now was a special piece for the oversized human that had granted his people Sanctuary, Karl Brunette. While Gregor would be forever thankful for the large human’s benevolence, he had also facilitated his vengeance on the arrogant bastard that had betrayed his trust and abused one of the first friends he’d made on this planet.

As such, he was currently crafting a pair of bearded axes to replace the cheap System bought weapons that Karl had been using for some time now. The weapons were only barely on the high end of Basic ranked. What Gregor planned to make would be approaching Master ranked. Not quite, but close. The tungsten would be the key to adding the proper edge to the weapon. While normally quite a brittle metal, Gregor knew of a special mixture that would increase its durability. With that and the effects of Mana on all materials, he could grind down a much finer edge than he could get with simple steel weapons. He wouldn’t do this with a proper long sword, but Karl used axes, and those weapons had a thicker single edged blade meant to cut and crush in equal measure.

Gregor worked through the night on the weapons, pouring the alloy into molds, allowing them to cool and then further shaping them. He preferred working at night. Arizona heat was oppressive during the day, and since the landscape had been forcibly adjusted to allow more water to flow from the underground aquifers, it was now ridiculously humid as well. He finished his work as the sun began to rise, heat shimmering on the horizon promising another sweltering day.

Hannah, his wife, walked up behind him and nuzzled her face in the crook of his sweaty neck, her hands wrapping around his equally sweaty bare midsection. She looked over his shoulder as he held the weapons up to the rising sunlight to appraise the pair of blades. “Are they complete, my love?”

He pressed his thumb against the edge of the blade and carefully followed it from the bottom of the hook to the top of the axe. The metal took on the blue hue of the tungsten and glimmered faintly. The blade curved down into a simple pointed hook that wasn’t particularly unique. Its key benefit was the ability to rend flesh and penetrate armor with each swing.

The blade was heavy, again due to the weight of the tungsten, though it was counter-balanced by a heavy cone shaped spike with several spiraling grooves cut into the chunk of metal. The haft was a locally sourced hard wood wrapped around a core of steel. Strips of leather cut from the hide of a recently butchered eight horned antelope the size of a bus padded the grip.

“Aye, for the most part. Need to find an enchanter. Or engraver.” Gregor commented and pulled away from his golden haired wife to give the weapons a testing swing. The weight felt good to him, but each warrior was different, and he left room to fine tune the weapons once he presented them to Karl. Then he gently placed the weapons on his workbench and reached out for his wife, who embraced him in return. “I honestly thought we were fucked until we met him. I thought we would lose it all. I thought I would lose you.”

“As did I, though, he’s on quite the warpath, doncha’ think?” She smiled and kissed him on his nose after asking her question.

“They say he’s got the Sight. He knows what’s coming, and we know the Verse is ruthless. Don’t we?”

“Aye, we do. And he’s a Reaper, so he might just be a bit insane. Time will tell, but he’s done right by us.” She commented thoughtfully as she stared into his large green eyes.

“True that! But I won’t be the ungrateful cur that throws away my honor because I don’t fully agree with his methods.” Gregor spat to the side, memories of the bastard Grants betrayal still plaguing his conscience.

Hannah recognized the look on his face, as it was one he’d made since April ran off after she’d been rescued. She knew her husband blamed himself for not recognizing the duplicitous teens intentions beforehand. She also knew he felt responsible for the poor girl he’d teamed with to overthrow the insufferable Flagstaff Mayor. He had taken her abuse personally, and if she knew her husband well enough, she knew he would continue to beat himself up over it.

He had even returned to Flagstaff alongside their new Lord to make good on the Oath he muttered when they fled the city. He sought out the young man named Grant that had betrayed them to the mayor, in turn exiling them from the city. And when he found him, he issued a Challenge recognized by the System and defeated the bastard in one-on-one combat.

Recognizing the funk he’d be in, Hannah leaned in and kissed him hard on the mouth and tugged him behind here, “Come, husband, give me those kids you keep promising me.”

Gregor smiled as he followed behind his wife, knowing she had recognized his quickly fouling mood. How’d I get so lucky?

Alyssa Nightraven, The First Challenger

Alyssa and her team charged across the desert in chase of a massive dust cloud that was quickly outpacing them. She was confident that if Eli sent an entire regiment of coyote cavalry they could run down Tracy and his fool raiders easily enough. Unfortunately for Alyssa’s group, not everyone rode a coyote like Lulu. Choox’il was fast on her spider legs, but not nearly as fast as she was on Lulu. The two Valkyr brothers, Feodr and Brondwyn, could fly, though not forever and not nearly as fast as the coyotes, let alone the horses. And Dany, the crazy lightning mage, had no mode of transport other than her own two feet.

She realized she was pulling away from her own group and reigned in Lulu with a mental nudge that the great dark coyote acknowledged with a bit of disappointment. “I know girl, but the pack can’t keep this pace.”

The coyote huffed reluctantly, but never took her eyes off her prey as the cloud of dust generated by the hundred or so horsemen slowly receded into the warm afternoon air. Everyone on her team slowed next to her, huffing and puffing from exhaustion, even the stoic spider woman that had come to care for her more than her mother ever did.

“We can’t keep chasing them across the desert.” Feodr wheezed, hands on knees, next to her.

“No, we cannot, but that seems to be all we’ve done for the last week.” The normally stoic Choox’il commented through strained breaths, frustration slipping through her strained expression.

Dany finally arrived and collapsed on a rock, “Fuck! Fuck me! I’m not built for this!”

Brondwyn eyed the dark-skinned young woman and shrugged, “Well, if you insist!” He joked as he strutted her way in show, she smiled with a hand over head while huffing and puffing to absorb more oxygen.

“I’m just going to lay here, so have at it!” The pair laughed and Brondwyn sat next to her offering a canteen of water that she slurped down greedily.

“I don’t think these fuckers have any base at all, I think they just move about at random.” Alyssa said out loud, sharing her thoughts with her group.

“They just set up camp where they think they’re safe and if we catch them with their pants down, they abandon everything and bolt. They know they can’t take our group so they just stay on the move. Killing monsters and leveling as they go, hoping that one day they close the gap in quality.” Choox’il lamented.

“We need more teams out here.”

“They’re busy preparing for the expedition south, even our own people are involved.” Feodr shrugged an apology from a rock he’d taken up post on.

“As are my own. Lord Shubin won’t be left out of Master Karl’s next campaign.” the stoic spider woman added her own explanation to the conversation.

Alyssa watched the last of the dust from the hundred strong formation of Raiders filter into the air and disappear as if it were never there. She was about to suggest they turn back towards the settlement when a message came in from Eli.

Alyssa,

I need your team to return. Tracy attempted to raid the beastmen again. Several dozen were captured and dragged away. I suspect the force that you are chasing was a decoy so he could take more slaves. I’m calling in help from Flagstaff adventurers. Clarissa is already posting lucrative contracts on the boards there and Sheriff Zurmillion is detaching about ten deputies to help us find them. We have a few days before Karl’s expectant return, then, as you know, we will be heading south.

Eli

She read the message twice then grimaced. Realization dawned on her face as she considered the timing of the attack on Winslow and the constant retreat of the force they had been chasing. “Fuck, we’ve been played.”

“What is it, Challenger?” Feodr asked.

“The group we’ve been exhausting ourselves on has been a decoy, hasn’t it?” Choox’il asked the question, already assuming the answer to be the one she expected.

“Yeah, they’re main force just hit Winslow, snuck off with a couple dozen of the beastmen.”

“Bastards! You know I ain’t about this slavery shit. What are we going to do about it?” Dani exclaimed, taking her attention off her current beau.

“Eli wants us to return to Winslow.”

Choox’il eyed her carefully, “What do you wish to do, Challenger?”

Alyssa looked at each one of her party critically, noticing the dusty but determined faces and slowly came to a decision. “I think we will head back, but we’re going to pay another visit to Dilkon on the way.”

“What for, they refuse to even acknowledge us at this point.” Dani countered.

“I’m not going to ask questions; I’m going to send a message. It’s the only place in the desert that can provide support to Tracy and his band of raiders. So, I’m going to burn it to the ground.”

Everyone looked at her in shock. They had seen her ruthlessness in battle many times over, but this was new, even for her. No one knew what to say to her sudden proclamation. Choox’il was the first to address her objections.

“Challenger, are you certain this is the wisest course of action?”

Alyssa already had an answer prepared, “They refuse to offer us information on Tracy’s whereabouts. Yet they claim to not be associated with him. But have you noticed that they really don’t have any fighters in their city? Even though they have no walls, no defenses, their city still stands as if nothing has changed. No. They are definitely in league with Tracy and his Raiders.”

“She makes solid points, Matron Choox’il. I admit, I’ve wondered many of the same things myself, though I chose to follow the Challenger, not lead her.” Brondwyn spoke up for the first time in the greater conversation. His last statement was curious, but she didn’t dwell on it.

“Let’s go give the Elder of Dilkon one last chance to cooperate.” Alyssa turned Lulu with a mental nudge and charged off in the direction of the largest Navajo city on the former reservation. Her team quickly fell into place behind her.

Carly, Ice Queen of the Burning Sands

Carly stared in awe as the three fighters unleashed phenomenal amounts of energy in a frantic bid to kill each other. Keeg’s comforting Holy light spread out and brushed up against Karl’s malignant dark Reaper energy. Both men’s powers were clashing directly against the hellfire that the greater demon Furcas summoned around them. Carly struggled to maintain the [Ice Barrier] she had erected between them and the rest of the party when it became clear the fight was no longer one the ranged fighters could partake in.

That happened right about the time Karl climbed onto Furcas’ shoulders and broke his left horn free. That caused a shift in the momentum of the battle that wouldn’t be halted until one side or the other was eradicated. Every time the trio clashed, waves of dark, light, and fiery energy lashed out with sound barrier shattering force. And each time she had to strengthen and reinforce the barrier that kept the trio of ranged fighters from being tossed through those thick walls of hellfire behind them.

Occasionally Albert would take an expertly placed shot against the demon that would momentarily distract the beast but never seemed to manage significant damage against him. On the off chance the trio of fighters was forced apart by their uncomplimentary explosive release of energy, her own trio would launch whatever spells they had available and help keep him on the back foot. Which would garner the occasional bolt or stream of fire thrown in their direction, only to be quickly intercepted by Keeg. Karl’s focus was clearly on taking Furcas’ other horn.

Karl’s attacks were relentless, ferocious, and unwavering. Even on the occasion he was knocked back by the great demon he’d be leaning forward to charge the attack before his feet gained purchase on the broken and cracked asphalt beneath him. As soon as he gained traction he would shoot forward, wildly swinging his axes, forcing the demon into an aggressive defense.

In the instances that Karl couldn’t gain an appropriate attack angle on the fel monster, Keeg would be there to fill the gaps, forcing Furcas to face the infuriatingly persistent dark elf paladin directly. Furcas really didn’t appreciate the Holy energies that radiated from Keeg. Almost any contact with said energy caused the demon’s skin to boil or crack, blisters formed while blood flowed from wounds that would no longer heal as they had to fight off the Holy infection his attacks caused.

The melee descended further into chaos as the tempo proportionately increased. Their fight was moving so fast the pair of mages could no longer track their movement. Suddenly, Carly felt so small in the face of the trio of titans that laid waste to the road where they fought. She tried to fling out various chunks of ice to no avail. She would release an attack that would fly wide causing her to clench her fists in frustration.

She blinked. That’s all it took for the fight to shift in their favor. An involuntary biological function forced her to lose sight of her target for barely a nanosecond and the demon stumbled. Its massive wings unfurled, driving back Keeg, only to be wrenched back by a snarling Karl. Furcas looked over his shoulder in shock then Karl drove the blade of his axe down into the fragile bones that gave structure to his wings. He roared and thrashed as Karl slammed a knee into his spine and pulled hard on the shredded wing. It broke free with a wet tear, black blood spraying across Karl as he leered with a manic grin.

Furcas spun free and kicked out behind him to shove Karl back, who half stepped backwards to gain distance, the demons webbed wing still in his hands. He looked at it carefully, then tossed it to the side, then stalked forward to face the demon directly. With his attention on Karl, he didn’t notice Keeg slide in and slice through the thin membrane holding his other wing in place. He reached back with his other hand and collided noisily against Keeg’s upraised shield.

Before he could turn to face his other attacker, Karl caught the demon in the chin with a brutal rising knee strike. Furcas’ head snapped back. His hand came up in defense and Keeg drew his holy power infused sword through the back of his knee. He collapsed to his knee and swung his sword wide in a desperate bid to wound his attackers.

Karl had already danced back and flicked his hand to his hip, drawing his hand cannon and began emptying rounds into Furcas’ remaining horn. Each shot that landed tore shards of the obsidian like material that made up the remaining horn on his head. Keeg kept up his distracting flurry of sword strikes forcing the demon to defend from the unrelenting onslaught while Karl did his work.

Soon a fracture appeared where Karl’s 20mm rounds skipped off his bloodied skull. He bared his teeth like a lion that had finished running down a gazelle. “NOW! STRIKE THE HORN!” Before Furcas could react, he caught the full weight of the dark elf’s shield across his savaged back. The shield bash was quickly followed by a horizontal swipe of his longsword that crashed cleanly through the fracture in Furcas’ remaining horn.

The demon’s yellowed eyes rolled up in shock, watching the object tumble through the air to land in Karl’s outstretched hand. He yanked the other horn from its place on his tac vest and rushed forward fighting his way inside of the demon's guard. His foot came up in a lightning-fast snap kick that forced the demon to double over. The breath didn’t manage to leave his lungs to pass his teeth before one of his own horns was shoved through the bottom of his chin to slide through the top of his skull.

The motion was so fast Carly was unable to track it. One moment Karl was parrying the demon’s massive sword to the side, the next moment he was holding him by his chin. Astonishingly the obsidian horn shoved through his prefrontal cortex didn’t kill him. The tension in Furcas’ body eased as he dropped his massive sword to clatter noisily to the asphalt. Karl leaned in and whispered something that Carly was unable to perceive, then he lifted the demon by his chin and shoved his other horn in one ear and out the other. Furcas’ eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body slumped in Karl’s hands. Then Karl swiftly wrenched the horns back out and appraised them with a macabre smile.

“Huh, they leveled up.”