Ajax P.O.V

For once everyone had gotten a good night’s sleep and I felt refreshed as I got up and started getting ready. Since we knew which direction the salamanders were going to be coming from we formed a small moat in that direction and covered it with some rocks, inside the moat we had placed all of the poison sacks we had collected from the scorpions. Ideally we would have tossed the poison sacks at the salamanders but that presented too much of a risk as having one rupture during the toss could fling the poison everywhere. What we hoped now was that they would misstep in the moat and cover their legs in poison removing some of their mobility.

Even with all that preparation everyone was nervous, some quiet mutters about whether or not we should even be doing this were going around and I knew very well why. Furnace salamanders were in the top three most dangerous monsters that had been documented at this level bracket of the dungeon. This extreme single focus tactic fell off a cliff in terms of efficiency at around level eighty but for now it marked the single biggest threat.

The only two monsters that were more dangerous could be found in a cold or strom floor respectively. The shivering python, took second place when it came to the deadliest creatures around the early sixties. The animal was small, fragile and extremely fast. Once it got close to you however it would syphon away heat and could leave someone with frostbite in under a minute.

Number one was the thunder pigeon. This one didn’t have any remarkable attributes besides its immunity to lightning damage. That and the ability to attract lightning bolts. One moment of carelessness and you could find yourself fried. Once our levels became higher we wouldn’t be so vulnerable to elemental damage and I wanted to reach that point more than ever.

“Everyone get ready.” Trevor shouted after he activated the obelisk before running back into his position.

What followed next was the calm before the storm. I had suddenly gotten a much better idea of what the people manning the walls of Helm’s Deep would have felt in the second Lord of the Rings movie. Simply having made preparations in a defensible position waiting for the calamity to strike.

“I see them.” the scout shouted and not more than a few seconds after I caught sight of the dozen or so wadling little balls of scales making their way towards us. It was also at that point that we all realized we had overlooked something. Yes we knew that the salamanders were in the magma pond, but what if they weren’t alone. A half dozen of the flaming hippo-rhino mix were also barrely towards our defensive position already blazing with magma covering them.

Mages were the first to open fire. While both archers and mages of similar level usually had the same range, mages had much more leeway here in terms of precision, archers needed to be almost pinpoint accurate to get past the durable scales.

I was in somewhat of a middle ground with my enchanted arrows I could let loose before the others. My opening shot was a lightning arrow, fire was useless same with magma and wind didn’t have the necessary penetration power. A well placed void shot may have killed them but I wasn’t accurate enough for that and ice wouldn’t do more than slow them down a little, at least before they expelled all that magma.

Four of the salamanders fell before they got to the moat, sadly the rhino hippo hybrids were the first to barrel through it. The poison was a lot more effective on them than it was on the salamanders but after the first three tripped and collapsed as the poison was eating through their feet their bodies formed small bridges for the rest of the monsters to barrel over.

The remaining three hippo hybrids were enraged by the loss of their comrades so they broke into an all out sprint charging towards our frontline. The scale covered shield did their job turning the already manageable monsters into easily dispatched nuisances. My only problem was that their mad charge had broken down all of the barriers we had set up through sheer momentum.

By the time the salamanders got into effective range there were only six of them left, that didn’t make me feel confident however as I could easily pick out the two level sixty-fives still coming towards us.

“Defelect with the shields.” Trevor shouted as the first few lava sprays were sent out. “Watch the splash.”

I wasn’t sure how much the call helped but five out of the six streams were properly redirected off to the side, the last one however hit the shield face head on sending blobs of magma in all directions.

That's when the screaming began from the archers and the mages that were hidden behind that particular shield. Chucks of magma had gotten into contact with the flesh and the sick sizzle that came made a shiver run up my spine.

Then the screams began. It wasn't the two archers that had been splattered that were screaming, I was assuming that they had the physical stats as well as the [Pain Resistance] to hold it in. The mage however was another story, he was yelling his lungs out as a massive blob of magma had landed on his left shoulder and was now dripping down the side of his chest.

The horrible stench of burnt meat soon filled the air as everyone tried to stay focused on the fight. With some of the magma expelled however the salamanders had started to regain some of their speed. Their bellies weren’t as round and their weight had dropped making everyone miss their initial attack.

In seconds the salamanders were on top of our frontline following the path the hippy hybrids had opened for them and from there the battle changed completely. We had hoped there would be three left alive at most by the time they got to this point, not six so everyone had to adapt on the fly.

I swapped from the bow to my hammer and shield and went forward to help the shield wall. From there an odd game of peek-a-boo began as the salamanders tried to get past the shield to spay the fighters in the back but the fighters also tried to go around the other side to hit the salamanders in the ass.

Seeing how none of the strikes landed by the other melee warriors did much to them, the salamanders initially ignored me as I charged in with my shield up. Unlike the rest of the shield wall I didn’t have a wide tower shield so I had to be careful in case any of them decided to aim for my legs.

Their attitude towards me changed completely following my first blow. I landed a powerful hit directly on top of the viper head of one of the two level sixty-five. The result was exactly as expected, a slight chipping of the rocky scales followed by the monster dropping dead, blood flowing out of its outballs and nose as the brain had to have been completely squashed under the power of the blow.

The next moment I poured out eight hundred mana into forming a small earthen wall in front of my legs and infusing my shield with ice as three magma jets got sent towards me. Two of them made contact with my shield and while I had deflected them properly to a harmless position the momentum behind the flying lava was more than I had expected as it sent flying backwards right off my feet.

The rest of the team was thankful on the ball and had taken advantage of the change in target and quickly lowered the number of salamanders from five to one. Seeing it was left alone the second level sixty-five charged right at the shield in front of it, instead of ramming it however it latched on to it and pulled to expose the frontliner holding it.

The rash move had given all of the other units a clear and exposed target that they quickly fired upon. The monster had barely more than a two seconds before it got riddled by both spells and arrows yet that was enough time to empty most of the lava it had stored right on the plated frontliner.

The healer was quick to leave the side of the wounded mage and rushed over to the frontier that was now getting cooked alive inside of his plate armor. The rest of the frontliners were also quick to dash towards their fallen companion and did their best to strip his armor from him without getting any of the lava on his skin.

By the time the breastplate had been removed the man had gotten a nasty third degree burn that covered his abdomen and the healer was chugging a mana potion while trying to heal any of the lethal damage.

“I’ve done all I could for him. Quickly take him out and have another healer take a look at him.” The healer coughed out after his mana ran dry.

Two of the rangers along with their two mountain lion bonds were quick to set up a makeshift stretcher and were quickly rushing towards the entrance arch. The silence of victory stretched out slowly from their departure yet nobody was in a celebratory mood just yet. All of us were too tired following the battle that ended up being much harder than we expected. A few people slowly dragged themselves to the grounded hippo hybrids and put them out of their misery before everyone simply took a seat on the rocky landscape to rest.