Worse, even though she had the upper hand, the shaman seemed confident. Was she being led into a trap? What did he know? Yet, she couldn't see any other choice but to continue fighting him. Dmitry had to die before she could go find Rand.
Chapter 43
Taking the stairs down five at a time, the elven ranger called up his bow and arrows. He sent arrow after arrow into the backs, through the hearts, of undead minions. The Dread Ones in the long, dark corridor turned to face him. He heard Tiana's outraged cries beyond them, but she was out of sight.
"Tiana! Where are you?"
"Down another level below you!"
He cursed under his breath. He could see another set of smaller stairs at the end of that corridor. Why did she continue downward? Everyone else was heading up.
"They've got a friggin zoo of unholy demon creatures down here!" She screamed in pain, followed by furious cursing. "Forget me. Save yourself. I'll be back after I respawn."
Fergus grunted. The stairs behind him looked very inviting. Tiana was probably going to die whether he went down there or not. Why did he have to die with her?
Because she's my friend.
He shook his head, but there was a little thrill, too. In RL he was a bored and boring worker bee in a big chain of grocery stores. No real friends. No one ever called to see if he was doing okay, or invite him out for a beer. The closest thing to friends he had were his coworkers, and as store manager they were all his employees so off limits as real friends.
Yet, he had four really good friends. People who would sell their cyber lives for him. Friends he would die fighting for as well. There was no running away from that fight. Tiana needed him, and he was more than excited to help.
This is better than real life.
"Hold on, Tiana. I'm coming!"
The Dread Ones were all running toward him. He took out one, two, three, before they were too close for bow-work. His bow vanished. Pulling his sword, Fergus barked a laugh and charged the few zombie monsters left. The pair of half ork-ogres worried him the most. They looked like double-sized ork warriors, and each carried the largest battle-axe he'd ever seen.
Even Rand would have axe envy, he thought. "I bet you boys have little dicks."
One of them lifted up his greasy looking loincloth to reveal he was actually a she.
"Holy crap! You're both players?"
Davia. Half-ork ogre warrior (Lvl 13). -7 Dark. PK: 2.
Mauva. Half-ork ogre warrior (Lvl 15). -6 Dark. PK: 4.
They split apart before advancing on him. Fergus watched them warily, not liking the way they continuously swung their axes in a figure eight. Rand did that a lot. It meant they knew how to use those deadly battle-axes.
"I thought zombies were mindless idiots with hunger pangs for brains," he muttered.
"My sister and I are not zombies," Mauva said.
"That dull gray is your natural complexion?"
They both growled like grizzly bears. Fury spread across their faces as their jaws thrust out even more, displaying their long, sharp tusks. Their massive shoulders tightened, bulging with musculature he never expected to see on women of any mythical race.
Tiana screamed in pain and fear again. The two living Dread Ones charged him while he was distracted. He ducked Davia's attempt to decapitate, spun around and ducked behind Mauva. The ranger barely avoided Mauva's axe when she twisted around to engage him.
"You're both ugly as an ork, and even slower than an ogre," he taunted them. He paused. "Do you have dwarf blood, too?"
The sisters screamed and attacked. He laughed, wishing Rand was there to be just as outraged. He stayed just out of reach of their weapons, taunting them mercilessly. They became angrier and angrier, and he hoped frustrated, too.
Dropping his sword, Fergus summoned his bow and an arrow that he shot straight into Davia's left thigh. She stopped and wailed, while Mauva charged him. Picking up his blade, the ranger charged Mauva, only to dodge her axe and run past her. She followed fast on his heels, until he cut behind Davia.
The two sisters crashed together, before Davia shoved Mauva back. A shoving contested ensued, that quickly devolved into a fistfight. The ranger summoned his bow and shot them both through the neck. He didn't wait for them to fade away and see if they dropped anything of value. Fergus took off for the stairs down to help his friend.
The next level down was another corridor that ended in stairs on the other end going down. Instead of thick, iron-bound doors the passage was lined with barred cells full of nightmarish creatures. The three three-headed dogs attacking Tiana weren't the most frightening.
Hellhound.
That's all it said. No level. They were just big, vicious monsters. He didn't need a pop-up to tell him they were minions of the Dark. They were definitely not undead.
"What kind of trouble did you kick up, girl?"
"Shut up and help me. Fill them full of arrows or something."
Tiana was a bloody mess. Her clothes hung in tatters. There had to be two dozen bloody bites on her neck, shoulders, both arms, and both legs. She was fighting with sword and knife, and at the brink of breaking.
He'd never seen Tiana looking so terrified. He wondered if she had a fear of dogs. Hell, those hellhounds gave him the heebie-jeebies. Fergus sheathed his sword, summoned his bow, and took aim. One of the three hellhounds turned and charged him with soul-numbing snarls and growls. Three snapping pit bull-sized heads came straight at him.
"Shit," he cried, managing only one shot.
He did kill the left-most head. The other two came after him even more furiously. The ranger ducked and dodged, using his sword to keep them at bay. Filled with bloodlust or not, the beast respected cold steel. Still, the hellhound's two remaining heads managed to get past his defenses to score bites on his extremities.
A backstroke smashed through the middle head's mouth, leaving it a bloody ruin. The monster froze, both living heads looking shocked. Fergus lunged, thrusting his blade through the hellhound's heart.
"One down," he called.
The two remaining beasts ducked their rumps, and dodged to either side of Tiana, all heads turned to regard him. The thief took a chance, stepped in close to one and thrust her sword deep into its chest.
"Well met," Fergus said, veering toward the other. The hellhound pounced at him, so he dropped to his knees and slid across the floor. At the same time the ranger swung his sword overhead, from back to front, and disemboweled the hellhound as it passed overhead.
"Nice move," Tiana said. She had healing potions in both hands. He watched her drink one after the other. "Oh man, that was close. Hopefully they'll give us a moment to regroup and allow me to heal up."
A pop and squeal of a door opening on rusty hinges echoed through the corridor. They turned to see one of the cell doors swinging open. Two enormous scorpions scampered out and turned toward them.