Massive wounds rip across the chests and faces of two hobgoblins from what appears to be nowhere, spurting gouts of yellow blood across the backs of several others. Before a single scream of pain could escape their lips, two crossbow bolts bury themselves deeply in an eye socket and a throat. A soaring shadow passes over the hob army and the chill they feel isn't from the snowy breeze.

More bolts follow, more gashes appear.

The flying devil continues to play her driving dirge to the bloody devastation in her wake as her minions fire into their ranks with impunity. If she wasn't a Boss monster, they'd hate to see her as one. And then, when she circled back to the earthen town, four Kobolds lept onto the roof of a building and she returned to the front lines. A horrendous realization sets in that the vehicle on which she rode in on isn't something as simple as the broom the Faunus and Infernus used. No. The blade that flashes between gleaming platinum and metallic ebony with the ornate cross-guard dipicting its history dances in the air as if animated with a mind of its own. And everyone knows that a sentient blade is one of the most dangerous kinds of blades.

They didn't need to know that Sonasolaria, otherwise known as Sonny, guides Meteora with her will and the only thing more dangerous than a sentient blade is a sentient dungeon core trying to protect its loved ones. With a warrior's calm, she manages to keep the hobs and gobs at bay, only killing when she absolutely has to in order draw more of them in for the traps. She dodges ranged attacks with ethereal grace, as if performing a solo dance recital. Meanwhile, Meteora blocks Spells and slashes the audience members getting too close to her as she tears into the strings of her Wyvern Sonnivarius with an ease belying the hundreds of practice hours put into learning different ways of playing. If Machinas could bleed the same way biological people do, then her fingers would've drenched the strings and neck of her violin during some of those practice sessions.

The great body of the hobgoblin army makes its way to the front lines and the momentum of the battle lurches in its favor. Its swollen mass is too much for the Linqs' forces to bear with so few to push back. Even with Sonny, Kona, Serenity, the soldiers, and all the Kobolds retaliating with true fervor, they still have to maintain a modicum of discipline.

Even if they were free to run rampant and kill the invading forces with no compunction to their whole sale slaughter, the numerical disadvantage alone is enough to keep everyone in check. The tide-turning Sonny becomes a mere boulder for the river of hobs and gobs. She hit the scene with a massive splash, but now they flow around her and try to find a way into the town.

"Lieutenant, we have a baby yet?" Sonny almost yells into her Whisper Cuff, but gets no response. One of the Kobolds motions to where Milli and Haro took her and she's immediately struck down by a hail of arrows.

"Guma!" Sonny slaps two hands on her, applying Minor Survival Craft's anti-poison Ability to counteract the HP sapping aspect of the sinisterly treated arrows. But as Sonny prepares MSC's First Aid aspect to keep her alive, a dozen goblins descend upon another nearby Kobold.

Luckily for him, he was standing in the shadow of a building and he activates Shadow Swim to make a quick escape. The pool of darkness swallows him up and a moment later he pops up and out of another shadow like a breeching dolphin. Sensing more prey, their blood thirsty eyes dart over to the pair on the ground. Catching the scent of Guma's blood spilling all over, they frenzy their way over to them.

Blind to the threat of a massive, floating zweihander just above them, the gang of instinct-driven killers wrapped in greasy, grey and green leather and filled with yellow, misaligned, needle-like teeth advance upon their prey. They pay the price of a too short memory as Meteora defends against them effortlessly, creating a path to safety and paving it with goblin viscera and loot sacks.

Sonny cradles Guma in her arms and applies constant 10HP healing as she dashes toward Small House 3.

"Stay with me, Guma," Sonny mutters, darting her eyes all around the battlefield in defensive vigilance. The heavy clinking of Meteora shielding them from incoming arrows goes off more than once, but she sends it flying to cut down a roguish hobgoblin sneaking up on Plisk concentrating on fighting back three more hobs in melee combat.

An arrow glances off a metal piece on Sonny's armor, but another finds its mark, burying itself in the back of her shoulder. Grimacing in pain, she tosses Guma over the other shoulder in a fireman's carry, reaches back, and breaks the arrow off. With barely enough time to apply the anti-poison of MSC once to herself, she still suffers minimal damage over time, but continues to run. Meteora makes it back in time to block a blast of green, acidic magic and the Spell disperses harmlessly over the legendary blade.

Two hobgoblins burst out from inside a nearby house, sending door splinters flying everywhere. With axes raised, they attack Sonny before she has a chance to react. Two bolts knock them off course and she dodges their wild swings, giving her enough time to sweep Meteora at their legs, lopping off a limb each.

"Inside, Sonny! Hurry!" Dilla shouts from the rooftop of another house, reloading a fresh box into her repeater. Haro maneuvers behind her with his kite shield, blocking incoming arrows and Spells and trying to fire back.

Sonny dashes inside, lays Guma gingerly atop a summoned bedroll on a table, and drains her MP and SP applying First Aid, healing the little Kobold 10HP at a time. She begins to stir and her diamond shaped eyes flutter open, but the Machina stops her from getting up.

"We have to leave the arrows in until we can get a proper healer otherwise you might bleed out anyway. Just lie back and.."

Her words trail off as she stares at the figure walking into the room. If she had a regular heart it would've frozen along with her lungs and brain. Nothing she had seen and done in this world could've prepared her for seeing this sight before her.

A gray, wispy halo floats just above Victoria's head, shedding an odd sort of glow that casts no light nor shadow. She shifts her gaze away from the bundle in her arms and aims it at her friend. Milli and Tamu appear by her sides and the world goes silent.

Sonny's non-existant, stopped organs restart in full, pedal to the metal fashion, hands jumping to her face and covering her mouth. If she had a heart, it would be beating out of her chest. As it is, her golem core strobes wildly as she tries to maintain her cool. It all goes away as Victoria reaches a tentative hand to shift the swaddling blanket that fell over the newborn's face.

Half Traveler, half Arcean. Ifrixian combined with the subtle race blend of Valkyrie. How the baby could've turned out was anybody's guess, like rolling a bucket of dice. Flaming skull, horns, halo, blood-red skin, wings (feathery or leathery), and even scales would each be possible in their own right as well as all of these traits manifesting simultaneously.

Gentle fingers trace down the side of her little girl's olive tone face with golden undertones, brushing the shock of pearly blonde hair with whisps of irridescent, sapphire blue highlights. The baby stirs and the blues dance in, out, and around her hair as if illuminated externally and the one in control of the lights couldn't keep pace with her movement.

An explosion and a string of swearing drops them back into the battlefield and Victoria switches cradling arms so she could pull two sabers out of her storage ring and keeps them held in one hand by her side.

"Lady Victoria," Sonny asks, "What should we do now?"

She looks at the Machina indredulously, "What do we do? We fight, of course!"

"But what about…" Sonny trails off as her eyes linger on the little bundle.

"Well, she's still too young to fight and she doesn't even have any Abilities yet." This illicits a snorting laugh from Sonny and the Kobolds giggle around her. "I need to get her to The Keep."

"I can take her--"

"No. I need you here, along with Kona and Serenity. By the sounds of the battle, the main forces will be arriving soon and we need to ready the next two parts of the plan."

"Big Boom and Wild Chase."

Victoria gathers the whole of Squad Electrum to help her fall back when Sonny remembers the arrival of Dawn, Richter, and Rachel. Right away, Vic tries to hail her on the Whisper Cuff.

"Good to hear from you, Lieutenant. ETA, thirty minutes. Can you hold them back till then?"

"The others will be able to. I… Well, Myla came sooner than expected and I need to get her to The Keep."

"Myla? Who's Myla?"

"She's my little Valkyrie, born on the battlefield just like her mother and the mothers before her."

"Born on the… Shit, fifteen minutes then. Give my Nightmare a Stamina Treat and take him back up the pass."

"Aye, Commander."

"Oh, and Vic? Congratulations!"

***************

Fury and frustration give way to curiosity. Three riders speed out of a mountain pass hidden by fallen rocks and its indistinct position along the steep, rock walls. They slip in through the other side of the dirt hill of a settlement, as the battle rages within. A moment of fortuitous hesitation and another rider heads back up the trail.

A tracing Spell is cast and the ghostly eyeball chases after her like a shooting star. Even with his grin widening, Dez grinds his teeth into powder and grips his staff and book with sweat-drenched hands. Under the cover of the forest surrounding Kes Mud, he silently moves his forces toward the pass, avoiding the conflict in search of his elusive foe who didn't appear to be in this area. Maybe they're using him to protect whatever happens to be up the pass? Whatever the case may be, Dez wasn't interested in the Kobolds or the trifling amount of Arceans defending the mud huts of a backwater shithole. The three "reinforcements" may have been Travelers as one of his Boss senses was informing him, but his own Traveler, Angus, and the multitude of soldiers should be more than a match for them.

"Where are you, Winters?"

Dez continues to grumble this phrase over and over as he marches his army out of the forest and up the mountain pass.

***************

"We're too late, they surrounded us!" Kona shouts over to Dawn from a rooftop. Under heavy fire from arrows and magical bolts, she protects herself and Serenity with a lens of arcane energy. She may have to move it around to deflect attacks, but it's far more cost effective to use than the dome and right now, every point of MP and every drop of HP counts.

"Wrong, kitty." Dawn activates Sanctuary in the middle of an approaching group of skeletons, casts Divine Flash on one that slipped out of its range of effect, and hurls her Thunderstruck and shield at oncoming hobs. One gets close enough to attack her before her equipment returns, but she dodges the axe slash and stomps at the hob's knee with a small, but heavy, booted foot. The crack and snap are drowned by howls of pain and she mercifully lands a Smite in the hob's face the moment she feels the handle in her outstretched hand.

"We're in a three hundred, sixty degree, target-rich environment. Go nuts for a few more minutes and I'll Rally everyone here before I Reposition."

"Dudes! The Hydras are coming!" Richter's voice is filled with more awe than fear as the massive, boney creatures smash through earthen structures on their way to the center of the town.

"Shit," Dawn curses, throwing down a Maneuver Marker at her feet. Maneuver: Rally, a Skill she can use due to her Commander's Insignia ring, gives all members of her party within 200feet a ten percent bonus to Agility until they reach the marker. Then, they get a temporary HP boost that would be ten percent of her own HP, or 48Temp HP, and it lasts for an hour. It may not sound like much, but free HP beyond a person's maximum that also has a special invigorating effect is a battlefield blessing.

Four soldiers, seven Kobolds, three Arceans, two Travelers, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree form a tight formation around Dawn and she sends another location marker far outside of Kes Mud.

"Detonator Cards ready?" Dawn looks around at the holders of the cards and they nod. "Great, once we clear the security wall I want you to light up the town. Let's go."

With another boost in Agility from Maneuver: Reposition and hundreds of hours of practice, their double wedge formations glide through the street. They surf the incoming tide of hostiles, ducking into empty alleys between buildings as they block or dodge attacks. With little to no resistence anywhere else, the hobs and undead surge through the empty streets, hunting down their prey. Trampling, crashing, screaming waves of greyish green bodies press forward, followed closely by the groaning, rattling, mindless shuffling of mud and blood stained bones.

Moments later, holding off a trace amount of hobs able to keep up with them, a line of defenders protects a row of executioners. They recite incantations and the cards glow an angry red. Richter smirks, holding one of his handy works, and stares intently at Kes Mud as Magic Circles one after another twinkles into existence like stars on a twilight canvas.

Richer announces the readiness of the traps and, with a gesture from Dawn, the town erupts with magical explosions. èr

A frantic call in Dawn's ear has her spitting out a string of explitives in Infernus, something she had been practicing with Serenity. Somehow, the words seem to actually tear the air in half in their fury.

"Squads Gold and Mithril. I need you to head to The Keep. Kona and Serenity, as soon as you finish off the hydras I need you to circle around and do the same. Vic lost her tail on the pass, but it won't be long till they decipher the simple markings we left to find our way. Plisk, Conner, and Sonny make sure the Skeletons are cleared. Boulder, Reiger, you're with us in the dungeon."

Sonny, leading the escaping team, makes sure that they aren't spotted sneaking back into the ruins of Kes Mud while the others do the opposite and garner as much attention as they possibly can and lead the opposing army into the cave. The mobs all but ignore the random Coast Stalker that captures an unsuspecting goblin severing its neck with mighty, light blue mandibles to stop the screaming. More random monsters appear once they delve further, but the blood-thirsty hobs have violence on their minds and choose to ignore the clear signs that something is wrong with this cave. Creatures from the far corners of Arc tear into them while a small party surveys the carnage from a safe and well hidden area. They wait till the last of them have been killed, almost grateful towards the monsters for killing each other.

The first Hydra created by Dez in the port city of Higo was only level 23 and the ones used in the assault leveled all the way up to 30. As Tier 1 Bosses themselves, they should have been formidable beings to contend. Unfortunately, prior experience and a smaller level gap between the Hydras and those facing them reduce their threat levels significantly. Even boosted with passive buffs from their Necromantic creator, their hardened bones are no tougher than the crystalline bodies of the Crystacean Boss and all the combatants had many hours of practice killing it.

The last Hydra collapses into another mountain of Faith Infused Bones, washing over the remains of the town. Save for a moment where the red skinned Infernus was knocked off of the broom and her Faunus lover had to swoop back to catch her, Kona and Serenity were virtually unmatched in their air borne assault on the looming creatures. Nine snarling heads rated very low threat-wise compared to the nearly sentient ocean of Kilmosoth's writhing mass of tentacles. With their part in the fight complete, they speed off to defend The Keep from the encroaching menace.

"Faaack!" William screams in an elongated whiny tone, barely audible over the roar of the jet of bright yellow flames gushing forth from his hands. "Why do I get stuck with these assholes and you get to fight the robot babe?"

"Because, dear boy, she would demolish you in seconds…" Angus says, staring down Sonny. They stand at opposing sides of a crossroad, the only one left clear of rubble or a gaping crater. Angus, with his gleaming Mithril guitar, and Sonny, with her devilishly dark violin, happened upon each other and realized that this duel couldn't happen any other way. Seemingly oblivious to the rest of the fighting, they wait for the other's first move.

"I've got a deal for you, my little gear vixen," Angus begins his proposition, but Sonny simply readies her bow on the strings and hovers Meteora a foot from the ground, point down behind her. "Hand over that little fiddle to a real Bard, surrender this silly fight, and reveal the location of your friend Ardacen. Or, suffer the sweet serenade of a slow, suffering demise."

Her answer is a cold glare and the blue glow from her Sonnivarius.

Knowing the reach and sometimes indescriminate attacks from Angus and his instrument, the few remaining hobgoblins that survived the blasts have learned to give him a wide berth when he decides to participate. The Calcified Skeleton Soldiers and hulking Giant Skeletons, however, feel no fear and move in for the kill.

"Don't mind my back-up singers, love, they get a little overexcited and try to take center stage. But you gotta let them shine sometimes, too, you know?"

Eyes still locked on his, she begins to play at a furious pace. The notes tear into the undead like a swarm of daggers, and even though they have a resistance to the piercing, slashing, and psionic damage that the violin is capable of dealing, her relentless attacks are enough to keep most of them at bay.

"You-- That song--" Angus stammers, shoulders tensing at the recognition of the fast paced tune, "--you shouldn't know that song!"

Sonny doesn't say a word as the music envokes imagery of hickory stumps, soul contracts, and golden fiddles. The look in her eyes tell him that she has somehow seen passed the veil as well. The song reaches a point where another fiddler should be joining, but Angus hesitates a second too long.

"You missed your cue," taunts Sonny as Meteora flies out from behind her to sweep away the battered skeletons. "Now sit done in that chair right there and let me show you how it's done."

Gritting his teeth, Angus bellows words of power and picks at his glowing guitar in a sweeping rhythm. Hopping aboard her flying blade, Sonny surfs away, either dodging the attacks or blocking them with the flat of Meteora. She dives in and out of his range, but their duel continues, wreaking havoc on anything close enough to take damage. A hapless goblin attempts to run in between the two to join William and is ripped to absolute shreds. Strips of mutilated flesh fall in mounds as the two continue their violent duet.

Sonny rips her bow across the strings and intermittent bursts of blue and yellow light highlight her performance, sometimes clashing with Angus's Abilities in mid air with spectacular and thunderous results.

"Not bad, for a Yama Bard," Angus declares, trying to maintain his composure. The insult, one derived from novice Bards who often boast that, "Yeah Imma Bard."

His MP is swiftly dwindling and a few more slashes than he'd care to have appear on his skin and clothes. His stylish haircut even got an impromptu trim, though only in random patches negating the attractiveness of it.

Upon closer inspection, his adversary also visibly suffers a myriad of attacks and a thought draws a wicked grin across his normally rugged and handsome face. He commands the remainder of the skeletons to converge upon her. The larger ones grab onto their smaller brethren and hurl them at her. She dodges the first few, but two find their mark and latch onto her like spider monkeys, arms and legs wrapped tightly around her and knocking her off her sword.

The blade crashes like its name's sake, burying itself into the street as Sonny struggles to free herself from the bony embrace. The claws and jagged features scratch at her, dealing single digit points of damage a couple times a second.

Angus looms over her, a scowl twisting into a triumphant grin, "Shall I play you a lullaby as my skeletons rock you to sleep?"

Nearby, Conner shouts in outrage, unable to run to her aid. The wrecked stumps of what used to be his legs scrape uselessly against the dirt as he reaches out, praying that his remaining hand would tear itself off and wrap its fingers around Angus's throat.

Plisk is daring to leap in closer to him to pull him to safety, but a wall of fire between the Elf and the Fizzit mage stand in his way.

"That was it? You guys are garbage! You're no better than Winters and he lost our last fight! I sent his ass packing to the middle of no where and now, I'm thinking of sending you both somewhere similar. Maybe in the middle of an ocean? Or straight into the heart of a volcano?"

He cackles as he raises his skinny, furry arms, pushing the ring of flames up higher around him. They drop back to a few feet tall in time for him to turn and look over at Angus gloating over a struggling Sonny.

"Hey! Spoils of war! You think Mister Driftwood would mind if I got a taste of the bot before we waste her?"

"You, sir, are as vile as the other rats dragging their bellies across the ruins of this place," Angus responds simply, glancing over his shoulder.

Before he can warn him, the battered and ruined body of Conner falls on him from a few feet above. With a wet, tearing sound, a gleaming white dagger finds purchase where the Player's neck meets his shoulder. A tail curling, high-pitched squeel escapes a hard whincing William before they both crumple to the floor. Crushed under the (almost) dead weight of Conner and completely distracted by the pain and major damage inflicted by a Critical Stab at a Vital Spot, William doesn't catch the second Scout Blink Stepping past the flames and reappearing in a kneeling position right in front of him.

[Vital Spot! You pierce William Borjer for 307 damage!]

A rapier through the eye keeps William from seeing what happens to the Bards and their duel. His screams cut through the entire battlefield, a high frequency sound akin to glass scraping roughly against glass.

Angus is drowning in the raptuous sounds of his Mithril guitar, but doesn't know that he will soon strum it for last time. They've been through a lot together: several failed bands and one barely successful solo career, hundreds of mining carts worth of Music Crystal recordings, several generations, and a visit to the actual Pantheon-- not that he could remember it.

He was just about at the middle of his song, the bridge if one might guess, when a burst of red light from his torture victim stops his fingers an inch or so away from hitting the next chord.

Twisting unnaturally, Sonny breaks free from the pair of skeletons. She pulls a radiant grey rapier from a hole in reality located over her chest, a chest that's thrumming and throwing red sparks, and she slashes the undead duo into pieces.

Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Angus barely notices her vanish from what he instinctively knows to be a Blink Step, and leaps out of the way of a thrusting strike from behind. He has to toss his guitar to the side in order to turn his dive into a roll and it hits the road with a discordant GRONK!

He stands, turning to her, and Meteora flies past him back to its master. His arm hits the floor and he reaches for the gushing stump in growling agony. Sonny directs the blade to attack the remaining Ogre Skeletons, each strike sending red sparks out into the air.

"What-- what is this?" bellows the once proud musician, his face twisted with pain and fury. " What Ability is this? You were practically dead!"

Sonny's eyes burn with neon red light and more sparks arc from her chest. There's an eerie, red, glowing circle in the center. Her eyes refuse to blink, though Machinas only ever do so to make the Bios, or Biologicals, feel comfortable when speaking to them, and she stares right into the Bard's soul. Slender fingers caress the neck and strings of a wicked black violin and it rests on an exposed shoulder, several large chunks of Sonny's armor have been torn or ripped off during the entirety of the battle.

"I dedicate this next song to Misters Gearos and Cogney," Sonny declares, finally closing her eyes and lighting up her violin with blue light. "I call it, 'Overdrive System.'"

The mouth wateringly rare component that the two installed may not increase the damage of her Spells, but it does increase her Strength and Dexterity by one hundred percent for five minutes [00:03:47 remaining] once she dips below twenty percent HP. This indirectly increases her HP, SP, Agility, and in a small part her attack speed. So, when she belts out a revitalizing tune (Inspire II) to drop Conner and Plisks' regen wait times to zero, as well as to inspire herself to increase her Dexterity another two percent, her arm movements become a blur to even Angus' eyes. The amount of damage she deals is mind shattering, literally, as she inflicts psionic damage to the broken Bard.

His mouth shoots wide open in an air sucking, silent scream. Eyes as wide as saucers roll back into his skull, possibly to asses the amount of havoc being rent on his brain.

Her solo stops suddenly and her instrument disappears into storage in time for Meteora to land firmly in a one-handed grasp high above Sonny's head. With the weight of finality, she drops the yellow glowing blade down right down the center of her opponent's body. The Skill, Concussive Smite, triggers at the end of the swing when Meteora cut deep into the road. It rings with a thunderous sound, sending the two halves of Angus Elder flying in seperate directions. "Split" once again, this time there's no chance of him reconnecting his halves.

Angus's loot sack sits in front of Meteora, almost reverant on how the top droops like it is bowing to the one who best the Bard in a contest of music and combat.

The red sparks and glow of the core end abruptly, followed by a dense cloud of white steam that floods the crossroad. A glow of yellow and Sonny casts Control Winds to swirl the steam away in a funnel. She staggers her way over to Plisk and helps him pick up Conner who tosses an empty Health Potion bottle into storage, wipes his mouth with his regrown arm, and stands on his returned legs.

"Come on, boys, before all the good Necromancers are taken."

They leave to fight off the other half of the invading forces, but they wouldn't make it in time to stop them from breaching the gates.

***************

"Aaron? Aaron!"

A female voice calls from the darkness. She's calling out for someone, but it's not me. Is Aaron lost? Do the two of them need help? I think I know who they both are. If they're in trouble, then the rest of the non-coms must be, too, and I have to protect them.

The children…

Miss Sofia…

The darkness splits and I can barely take in what I'm seeing, almost as if I haven't used my eyes in years. I move them and feel them grind like my eyelids are full of hot sand. I just have to figure out where I am and--

[Calcified Skeleton Soldier pierces you for 68 damage!]

"You-- You freaking bonehead!"

[You bludgeon Calcified Skeleton Soldier for 99 damage!]

[You bludgeon Calcified Skeleton Soldier for 189 damage!]

The damn thing stabbed me in the gut from out of no where and I repaid it with an electrified Tempest Fist back-fist followed through with a Roundhouse Kick that sends it flying. The damage is severely reduced, but it's enough to nearly cripple it. The new prefix must indicate theur new ranking.

I finish it off with a trio of Arcane Bolts, while taking in my surroundings.

I'm in The Keep, close to the town hall. I vaguely remember logging out from inside the vardo, but have no time to ponder why I'm in a different location. Maybe fifty or so skeletons made it passed the defenses and a dozen or so each of Giant Skeletons and Skeleton Archers are peppered about the place. I don't see Dez or Angus, nor can I see any of my allies from where I am so I focus on what I can do in the moment.

I summon Shelly and Shellbert, the level 32 and 34 Crystaceans to plow through the undead. They swing their claws like massive warhammers instead of trying to tear the skeletons apart and succeed in either sending them flying like golems made of bowling pins or pounding them back into the ground like calcified nails. I considered summoning Big Momma Grace, but wasn't sure if her slashing damage would still be effective against this type of enemy.

The voice, who I recognize after a second calling as being Natalie, draws my attention and I spot her trying to fend off a trio of Skeleton Soldiers by hurling shards of magical ice at them. She's kneeling over a body and my heart sinks. The shards burst on impact, but the undead shrug off the attacks and continue their march, short swords raised menacingly.

I don't bother trying to gain their attention, teleporting to the side of one and keeping all three in line. I activate Assassinate on the first one and follow up with Air Cutter, which slices through all three. The first skeleton falls apart, forming a loot sack on the ground. The two remaining skeletons and Natalie turn to me in shock and I finish them off with Arcane Bolt in Shotgun mode, blasting them three times with a cone of purple energy.

"You came back," she whispers.

I hear her words through the din of battle and rush to the body's side. It is, indeed, Aaron and I'm just in time to apply a much needed Fey Touch. I stand them both up and demand that they get everyone they can to safety.

Being able to hear Natalie whispering through all of the fighting gives me an idea and I let loose with a Hellbent Roar, announcing my arrival and lending a small amount of aid. Immune to any Frightened debuff that they might have had, I can hear rallying shouts all around me as everyone begins fighting back in earnest against the Enfeebled enemies.

I forgo Lesser Dragon Force for myself and, instead, cast a few Beacons of Alacrity across the battlefield.

The first time I summon one of the spinning orbs I caught aggro from several of the marauding skeletons. By the third, I gathered a sizeable portion of their attention and greedily kited them along.

"Well, since I've got such a captive audience…" I get into a ready stance, turning two Arcane Bolts into purple, glowing Thunderstrucks. My feet glow a dim yellow as I activate Distracting Footwork-- a crazy idea with so many hostiles in the immediate area. My Agility increases five percent for every mob I pull, but my almost full SP will drop to one if any of them are still alive after three minutes, which given how high my Agility rose will be a highly likely scenario.

Do I have what it takes to dodge and kill-- let's see, two... four… six… eight-- twenty eight angry skeletons all focused on little ol' me?

"Notice--" I taunt, mouth also glowing blue with another Spell ready to go, "--there's nothing up my sleeve."

My two, purple Crystaceans scuttle in behind the encircling skeletons and we ripstart our mosh pit.

It feels like ages since I've last been in game and I can already feel a little rust on the hinges flaking away with every step and attack. I mean, this is one hell of a way of slipping back into the groove, but my mind and body adjust quickly and combat becomes instinctual again. I slap a Fey Touch hand to my chest and bemoan the last of my SP disappearing.

[You heal yourself for 122HP!]

[Distracting Footwork ending! 7 Taunted targets remain. SP drained to 1/164!]

Even with the handful of Linqs citizens spamming the skeletons with ranged DoTs as they escape behind the Crystaceans, I couldn't kill all of the hostiles, especially when more kept getting pulled in as they got within range of my dance moves. Shellbert cracked under the constant clubbing given to him by two Giant Skeletons and I was left with a single, struggling crab. I was a little sad to see him go, but they were relatively easy to capture and the dungeon should I require another.

It was okay though, because I may have just been looking for an excuse to summon Grace.

She hits the battlefield like a Abrams tank and tears into the enemy forces like a thresher in a tornado. Even I take a moment just to admire her in action, wondering what really prevented me from summoning her earlier. The damage reduction doesn't seem to phase her, except maybe by forcing her to take an extra swipe of her scythe claws, but she seems to be enjoying the action immensely. She chitters merrily as she slices down the middle of a skeleton, cutting it smoothly in half like a fresh sheet of construction paper.

"There you are, you blue fuck!"

The shout startles me and I have to focus on not getting side swiped by the Giant Skeleton charging at me. I dive and roll out of the way of a massive, swinging club and stand in front of a familiar, despicable face. His hunched figure seems to be pumping out crimson waves of hatred as the remaining skeletons fall back to position themselves around him in a crescent formation.

I could see a few bodies on the ground, including a small one I, at first, took to be one of the children. A white hot pain throbs behind my eyes at the sight and it only cools a few degrees when I recognize it to be Torgan, our Gnome Tailor.

Torgan and Xara--- his Elven crafting partner--- made the set that I've been wearing since the birth of Sunny's Machina shell. It means more to me than just a bunch of stats and bonuses since it actually helped me define who I am in Arc. I may have been a Blue Mage for a while, but I didn't look or feel the part until I donned the azure equipment. I remember their faces when they handed it to me, the origin of how Xara ended up with Linqs coming with it.

I didn't even get to hear Torgan's story.

The feeling of deja vu suffocates me, my breath shortens and my heart skips beats in its chaotic pace.

[You deal 6 piercing damage to yourself!]

My claws are bared and I absent mindedly curl one into a fist so hard I cut into my hand.

"Of all the Life Crystals I've consumed, yours is going to be the sweetest. I shall devour it after flavoring with agony and suffering as you watch those closest to you die from excruciating torture…" I ignore the rest of Dez's muttered threats as I tear my gaze off of Torgan's lifeless body and lock eyes with the Halfling. His sunken eyes smile back at me, the two dozen or so Skeleton Soldiers that remain ready their weapons. His lips continue moving, but all that comes out is a high pitched whine.

So be it, you crazy hobbit.

I'll take you on.

I've soloed bosses before, you'll just be another notch on my belt.

"Shut up…" I hiss through gritted teeth.

Dez's face freezes in the middle of his monologue. He mockingly places his skeletal arm to his ear, "What was that? Begging for mercy?"

"I said, 'Shut up.'" I summon Ghost on my left and Blue strides up to my right.

"And… what? The three of you will stand against me and my endless horde? Where are your friends? They don't want to watch you die?"

"It's something they've seen before."

Dez scoffs and readies his staff and opens his book, which begins glowing with a dim blue light and spawning a pile of tiny magic circles across the pages. A manic grin spreads across his gaunt face, "You're not the only one who knows Mute Casting."

He's mistaken my use of ASL for some kind of Ability and it means Zone of Silence won't work on him. I'm not sure what he's casting and there isn't time to do much.

Or maybe…

I can't spell out two different words simultaneously, that would be like talking in two different voices, but one after the other I ready Arcane Shield with my left and Arcane Bolt with my right. I'm going to fire off two bolts and save the last for an arcane katar. And, almost like I'm showing him up, I whisper words of power to activate and ready a third Spell to cast with my mouth.

A large magic circle glows an inky black beneath Dez and his skeletons and a skull sized ball of energy coalesces above him. The globe of energy rotates rapidly, sucking in dark mana more and more dark mana. Just like a typical boss of his type, he's going to pump up his mobs before letting them loose at me and attack with ranged Spells from behind them.

"Let's see who has the stronger minions!"

The last time we fought face-to-face in Higo, it was a chaotic mess of a battle with two pairs of factions squaring off in the middle of the city: the Linqs crew, Higo soldiers, Rose of Three Thorns, and Dez and Angus. Now, since I gave the non-coms time to escape to safety, it's just the two of us and our pets. I'm not sure where my people scampered off to, but I'm glad they were able to carry the bodies of our fallen away with them. I really didn't want Dez desecrating them, conscripting them into his army.

I wait the split second it takes for Dez to send out his now ten foot wide, dark energy sphere and mobs-- far too strong and buffed to be considered trash-- my way. Two of the fastest skeletons get hit in the face with a purple bolt while my summons split up and circle around to opposite flanks. I just have to make him believe I'm going to take his assault head on.

I put up my shield to protect myself from the massive sphere and the instant it blocks my view of Dez I release the held Spell on my lips. The world vanishes and in the blink of an eye I find myself right behind the Necromancer where I thrust my arcane katar into his unguarded back.

Or so I had hoped…

A pair of skeletal hands catch the flat of the blade and I yelp in suprise. It takes a little effort to wrench it out of the boney grip and just that brief struggle is long enough for Dez to know where I am and he spins around, clocking me in the head with his staff. I stumble back, seperating us by a couple of yards.

[Dez Driftwood bludgeons you for 42 damage!]

"I've killed far too many Travelers who did the same exact thing! With a knowledge of Necromancy and anatomy, I've upgraded my fleshy body! Who knows, maybe the next parts I use will be graciously donated by you, after you watch in horror as I strip the meat from your barely living body!"

The skeletal arms had torn out of the back of his white, leather coat to catch my weapon, but they fold down over it like the boney remains of wings. He shoots a trio of Shadow Bolts from his staff, but I catch them on my shield, dropping my MP a whole 265 points (126/452MP). Not good, Boo Boo.

I dismiss Arcane Shield and throw my arm back, as if his attack shattered it, and hope he thinks he has an advantage to press. His staff glows again. I take a gamble, hoping he's casting the bolt Spell one more time and it pays off. There's a whole second delay in casting time with bolt Spells, unlike most other Spells, and it's enough for me to close the gap. One claw deflects the staff upward and the other punches into his armored side with a Critical Stab.

[You pierce Dez Driftwood for 218 damage!]

He snarls at me as he brings his staff arm around and down, but I Blink Step to safety. I try to Analyze him. A wall of six skeletons he reconstructs from the scattered bones on the ground blocks my view and all I get is a reminder that the mobs are a tough bunch. Blue and Ghost are doing okay on their own distracting their targets, but without a way to heal them, their support time is limited.

I force myself to refocus on Dez as he readies another Spell from his book. A pool of liquid darkness bubbles up beneath my feet and I Blink Step in time to dodge thin ropes of the darkness as they reach out to grab me. The pool remains where I once stood and the dozens of ten foot stalks waft about waiting for anything to get within their reach.

"What kind of self respecting Mage fights like some gutter trash Rogue? Show me the best that a Faunamancer can do and I'll show you how it pales to the eternal power of a Necromancer on the verge of becoming a Lich!"

I withdraw my Battle Wand and his grin drops slightly. I unload six of the seven charges to fire all six Arcane Beads at a single new skeleton, dropping its HP to zero and returning it to a pile of bones. This pisses Dez off further and he directs his new forces to attack me.

Shit, too many adds. Do I have any crowd control? Nothing powerful, but maybe some splash?

A magic circle appears below the new skeletons and I send an Ice Blast hurtling into one in the center. The frozen ball of Mana explodes on impact, sending icy shrapnel into the surrounding skeletons. The notifications imply that the damage dealt is being reduced more than I would like and when Dez's new Spell finalizes, the skeletons are once again coated with a gossamer thin aura of dark energy.

A quick, personal check--(310/348HP. 96/452MP. 128/164SP)-- okay, I'm still in good shape, except for my MP. Melee fighting is still on option and I can still heal myself if I need to. Just gotta clear the adds and avoid getting hit by the big, ranged attacks.

I pull Blue and Ghost back to me and we form a delta formation. Intentional or not, we slip into a pattern of me dodging the globes of energy, bashing skeletons, slipping an attack in on Dez, and exchanging a brutal amount of taunting. On my second hit I scored a success on Shadow Toxin's Poison debuff, draining chunks of his HP every couple of seconds, but none of the other effects hit. Still, it prevents him from regenerating HP and that's always a good thing. I finally manage a glimpse of his stats with Analyze and my heart sinks.

>Scan[16,177/18,118HP. 19,987/22,850MP. 3776/8554SP]

He must have killed a ton of players to become a Tier 3 Boss. The insanely high stats that I can see shows how far victory really is for me. Dez feels like a Raid Boss now more than ever and those are nearly impossible to do on your own.

In my field of view is the encroaching skeletons, the mass of writhing darkness off to the left, and Dez in the center and behind his minions creating another colossal energy sphere above him. Behind it all are the ruins of buildings creating a depressing backdrop of destruction.

Even with my summons nearby, the chill of lonliness wraps slender fingers around my heart, slowly tightening its grip. I start to wonder if I have any chance of doing this myself. The adds keep coming, Dez's HP and MP are bottomless compared to mine, and my own summons are nearing the end of their HP/time with me.

I have to try.

I have to hold out until help arrives, whenever that is and wherever they are.

A strange sight rises from behind the crowd of enemies and it takes every ounce of self control not to jerk my head upwards and gawk at it. The vardo is floating toward the aperture, sitting precariously on one of those magic discs since it barely fits within the edges. If I take a good look at it, Dez will definitely take a glance as well and the crawling pace the disc moves will give him the perfect chance for an attack.

I have to keep his attention…

"Where's Angus? Why isn't he here drooling all over some potatoes or whatever it is he does?"

His face scrunches into a twisted grimace, "That idiotic warbler got greedy, wanting more Life Crystals for himself. All I know is he and the rat boy Billy tried to take over that mud hole town you left at the base of the pass."

Billy the rat boy? Could he mean William?

And, I don't know much about Dez, but I do know that he was friendly enough with Angus to not talk about him in such a way. Something is wrong with him. The sleepless, desperate visage he's wearing now is also far different from the smug grin and cool demeanor he exuded the other times we've met. Even his hunched, aggressive posture suggests something a little more than a simple unhingement.

"I'm going to save your Life Crystal for last, after I feast on the rest of your people. I'll enslave you and the other Travelers like I did the others. Killing you over and over again until your Life Crystals are worth as much as killing a mangy dog."

What the hell is he talking about? He's literally slobbering at the thought of his own words. Shit, the Shadow Toxin's wearing off. Wait… his HP isn't regenerating… there must be something seriously wrong with him. He keeps yammering about the Life Crystals, could it be the sickness?

I return my summons back to storage with only a sliver of HP to spare and for now it's just me facing this lunatic by myself. His eyes sharpen and his body jerks forward almost instinctually at the lonesome prey.

"Oh? Giving up already?"

The vardo is barely a quarter of the way up, if we resume fighting there's no way it'll escape harm. I summon Faye and have her hover next to me for now. She reads my intentions, feeling my pity and gratitude for her part in my plan. I don't know how sentient my summons are, but I hope I'm not just projecting the smile on her face to make myself feel better for what might happen to her. The others are far too hurt to bring out. If I do, they're most likely going to have a meaningless death.

If Dawn was here, she could come up with a better plan, one that wouldn't needlessly risk an ally's life. Richter, too, would probably have something better to say to Dez than--

"The only thing I'm giving, is you five seconds to pack up your scrap pile and get the hell out of my valley."

I count out each second with an extended claw on each hand starting with my pinkies. My countdown is deliberately slow, buying the vardo more time to elevate and escape. I get to three and one of the skeletons impatiently takes a step forward and swipes at the air between us. Even if he wanted to actually bail on this battle, I've somehow ended up blocking the way and I have no intention of letting him live through this.

Dez's eye practically twinkles when I count out to four and get into a ready stance. Does he think I'm bluffing? Or that I have some Mythic ranked ace up my sleeve? Or maybe he's expecting some kind of convoluted scheme where I take advantage of a barely perceptible weakness and lay him out at the perfect moment?

Too bad for me, I'm not good at any of those things. I'm just the tip of the spear, right? Although a very sharp, very versatile spear tip I may be, I have grown accustomed to my friends and my team to the point that whatever weaknesses in combat I have I can fully rely on them to be there to fill in those gaps. They would swoop in at just the right moment and we can overcome any adversary together.

"…five…"

I let out a thunderous, Hellbent Roar followed closely by a Lesser Dragon Force. By the time the skeletons reach me after their charge, I had drained a mana potion and get straight to work. The pause in battle was enough to refill most of my rainbow bars with the potion helped kick my MP to about ninety percent. Good thing, too, since right now it and SP are draining at an alarming rate. Another good thing about the pause was that whatever buff Dez gave his minions had worn off and he's too busy trying to blast me to cast it again. In aiming so close to his minions, he's also dealing them some reduced splash damage as he well as outright hitting clumps of the skeletons, even tough they have high Resistance to shadow damage. It's not enough to break them, but I don't mind the bit of luck in not having to deal all the damage myself.

And if there's one thing I can be at just the right moment, it's lucky.

[Dawn Nobel's Pillar of Radiance heals you for 162HP!]

[Kona Cafe's Meteorite I heals you for 68HP!]

[Sonasolaria's Inspire reduces your regeneration times to 0seconds!]

[Richter Pryce's Inspire increases your Dexterity by 2% for 10minutes!]

"No!" Spittle flies out of Dez's gaping maw as he bellows in rage, teeth bared, his eyes dart all around at the new arrivals.

"Yes!" I shout in reply. With the notifications, I don't need to glance over my shoulders to know that my friends have arrived right on time for the party. I even get a request to upgrade Quests and join parties. All of which I'm pleased and relieved to accept.

A small, strong hand swats my rear and the demonic Halfling swoops in from my left and places herself between Dez and I.

Before another word can be said, the ground rumbles with power as both staff and book glow red. All the undead loot bags on the ground in The Keep hurtle towards three sort of seperate singularities right in front of him. Even the ones who've been fighting this whole time are sucked in.

An arrow from above is smacked harmlessly away by one of the boney arms sticking out of Dez's back. I look up and spot Elsbeth leaping from the vardo's rook, landing gracefully by my side. She and Richter are already knocking more arrows.

Serenity, and I launch ranged Spells while the Kobolds who accompanied Sonny fire crossbow bolts, but the singularities are causing so much havoc that they suck in some attacks and repel the rest into the surrounding rocks.

"Shit, what do we do?" I ask out loud over the deafening wind and clatter of bones.

"I think we gotta wait and see," Dawn shouts, "I don't want us getting closer to any of that just yet."

"What about the vardo?"

"Kona!" Dawn aims her Thunderstruck at the Halfling.

"I'm on it," she replies without further instructions, kicking off on her broom. She takes a touring curve around The Keep's wall so Dez doesn't see her go for the vardo yet.

Meanwhile the vacuums cease, leaving behind three tears in reality that look like glowing shadows floating in midair. Three boney appendages clad in black metal armor reach out of each portal and three heavily fortified Giant Skeletons step through onto our plane.

Dez's cackling is muffled as he tries to hold the staff between his teeth and the book in the only arm he has left. I can only guess that all the undead parts had to go into his Ability. His equipment still glowing and the tears are still wide open as ten similarly dressed Skeleton Soldiers come out of each portal and stand in formation behind the big boys. He waves the book in his hands and a flock of a few dozen skeletal birds burst from the pages in a flurry. They settle on a circling pattern just above him.

"Shit, your arrival must have triggered some kind of Boss Ability." I try Scanning them but Dawn beats me to it, sharing the basic details to everyone in the party.

"That doesn't sound like a thank you," Dawn responds with a slight chuckle in her voice.

"Believe me, it wouldn't be a proper Raid without you guys."

[Decanus Giant Skeleton. Level 35

[2114/2114HP, 99/99MP, 666/666SP]

[Skeleton Hoplite. Level 30

[1089/1089HP, 99/99MP, 480/480/SP]

[Dez Driftwood, High Priest of Hand of Nyctos. Tier 3 Boss. Level 41]

[14,182/18,118HP. 13,888/22,850MP. 1903/8554SP]