"You were supposed to save me, not join me," Tiana said.
"My mistake," she said.
It was all Asha could do to keep the Dread Ones at bay with the Power Sword. There were too many of them, and they demanded her full attention. She had no time to consider which spell to use, much less cast it. It wasn't long before her arms began to tire.
"I seriously need a couple of Healing potions to combat my fatigue," Tiana gasped out.
Asha worried they were about to be overwhelmed and dragged down into undeath. Then an arrow transfixed the ork's head right in front of her. Then another arrow through another head, and another, and another.
"Die zombies!" Rand shouted. "Red ruin to you all!"
Zombies turned around to meet the new threat. Tiana cried out in joy, and Asha felt a rush of adrenaline. They redoubled their efforts, and a few minutes later all of the zombies were dead.
"Wow, that was… Not fun," Tiana said, bent over huffing and puffing. "I don't think I've ever been this tired in real life."
"True," Asha whispered. She downed a Healing potion between pants. "This is brutal. Everyone, be quick about it and drink a Healing potion or two. We have to be at full strength before going inside."
They all turned as one to stare at the dark, open door into the main keep. Somewhere in there waited Lord Kathro. But first they'd have to fight their way through his horde of goblins, orks, and other undead minions.
Chapter 40
"Let's kick Lord Kathro's ass before Killum returns," Rand said. "That'll teach him to never get killed again. Ha-ha!"
Asha looked at Fergus. "You're right. He's quite mad."
Rand grinned at the sorceress, and then he looked at Tiana. He never felt so alive. The more realistic the Game became, the more he loved it. This is Realm of Battle on steroids! The blood and guts of battle called to him. It excited him to the core, and he saw something in the others' eyes, too.
"If I reach Lord Kathro first, I get to pick which one of you ladies has to sleep with me tonight," he said. Their eyes widened. He continued before they could protest. "And when I kill him, I get to claim you both! Ménage à trois glory will be mine!"
"You can't handle the two of us," Tiana said.
He caught and held her eyes. "We'll see."
"Wait, what do we get if we reach him first?" Asha asked.
A thrill rippled through the dwarf warrior. Neither had refused. Even better, Fergus noticed and scowled.
"Then you can choose between me, Fergus, or Killum as your playmate."
A prompt popped up before him, even as Asha and Tiana looked up at theirs.
A wager is offered! Reach and kill Lord Kathro first. Winner gets his or her pick of lovers! Your victory will be all the sweeter! Do you accept this wager? Yes or No?
"Yes, I accept," Rand cried, wondering if the game would compel the women to pay up.
Congratulations! You've accepted the Wager to Reach and Kill Lord Kathro first. Fight to the death! No quarter given or received! Let the glory be yours in victory with two eager to please women!
Both Tiana and Asha gasped. They turned shocked eyes on him, and he returned a wicked grin. Neither one had agreed, nor did they refuse. It was on!
Rand felt a tingle surge through him as he turned to the yawning double doors. The sounds of movement and rattle of armor reached him. The bad guys were preparing. As far as he was concerned, they'd already had too much time to get ready. So he shook his battle-axe at the keep, feeling his battle-fury rise.
"Castle, you are mine!"
The dwarf warrior charged in with a battle cry. He heard the others follow. Asha sent a fireball over him to burst against a line of drow warriors, scattering them. With a savage stroke of his axe, Rand burst through their crumbling line and entered the keep.
For a second, he was blinded by going from bright sunlight to interior darkness. But dwarves were creatures of the underground. He could see better in the dark than any of his friends, and only the drow had night vision as good as his.
"Ladies, watch me smite my enemies," he cried.
Fergus and Tiana sent arrows all about, feathering the undead fiends. Only the arrows that pierced the heart or brain killed zombies, so most of their shots were wasted. Not so his strokes. Every swing of his battle-axe severed arms, legs, or heads. Soon the stone floor was slick with the slimy blood of his enemies.
"I am a god of battle!"
The vast entry chamber was lit by torches on the walls. Rand fought his way to the middle, and paused to look around while his comrades kept the horde busy. His smile was huge as he spied two staircases, one on either side of the chamber, with a third between them leading deep beneath the castle. Thoughts of the castle's dungeons intrigued him.
Rand knew a moment of uncertainty. The castle's treasure was surely down below, and he judged it would be a vast treasure to rival Gyevikxus' back in the lair. But then his eyes fell upon Tiana's lithe form, fighting with sensuous grace. And Asha, with the body of a bikini model, so fast and just as graceful as the thief.
I'm going for the glory, not the treasure, he thought. Hell, the women AND the treasure will be mine when I claim this castle by killing Lord Kathro.
A detachment of dwarf warriors, led by a dwarf wizard, came up out of the dungeons. Rand's eyes flashed. How dare Lord Kathro kill and zombify dwarves! Rand saw red and attacked those vile corruptions of his magnificent race.
"I will free you, my brothers, from Lord Kathro!"
He charged them. The wizard dropped back behind the warriors, who all formed a line and lowered their spears. Rand reached them a second later, swinging at their spears. He ducked and spun under the line of presented spears, getting inside their guard. They didn't break rank, making his dwarven heart soar. No dwarf, living or undead, feared death in battle. He barked a laugh and cut down one, two, three warriors.
Thunderbolts struck the line to his left, while Fergus put arrows into the eyeholes of dwarven helmets. The wizard pointed his wand at Rand. It began to glow, but Tiana zipped past Rand and snatched the wand out of the dwarf wizard's hand. Rand took the top half of the wizard's head off a second later.
"Teamwork!" Rand cried. "We're the best team ever."
He spotted a dozen goblins coming down the stairs to his left. With a mighty battle cry, Rand launched himself at them. They were armed with those weirdly curved bronze khopesh swords of ancient times. The goblins had no armor, and just wore undyed homespun trousers. Their complexion was the grayish-green of undead goblins.
"I grant you the death of heroes," Rand shouted as he plowed into them.
Bronze swords bounced off his enchanted helmet and armor as he slashed left and right, splattering goblin blood everywhere. The stench of it was awful. Worse than human blood by far.
"Aaiiee," he cried, slipping on the blood-slick marble stairs. He looked up to see a goblin poised for a death stroke. Rand was already starting to curse his rotten luck when a sword from behind passed overhead to kill the goblin. "Thanks, Asha!"