"Rand, I'm winning," Asha called. "And when I reach Lord Kathro first, I'm going to chose… Tiana."
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 three eager to please men and/or one woman!
Oops, she thought. What did I do? How do I undo it?
"What?" he cried.
The look on his face was priceless. Asha couldn't help it. She laughed. Her face flushed red, knowing Rand would tell the others what she said. Tiana would take it well. She had a good sense of humor. Rand and Fergus though, might tease her about it for a while to come.
"Give up the ghost, gryphon. We are going to win this challenge," Asha cried, redoubling her efforts. Since she, accidently or not, had officially accepted Rand's wager, now she absolutely had to win. "This castle is conquered already. We're just doing clean up."
The gryphon lunged at her, eagle-beak snapping loudly inches from her face. The elfmaid whipped the enchanted blade to parry his attack. Only, cold steel didn't parry flesh and blood. It slices. She took the gryphon's head off without thinking about it, and blinked down at it for a second.
Turning, she helped Rand by attacking the rear of the kobolds and hobgoblins. They quickly fell beneath the pair's blood-gory blades. She paused to grin down at Rand's bloody face. He looked exultant. Then his eyes dropped to her chest. She stepped back, a hand rising to cover out of instinct. The dwarf took her moment of distraction to dart past the elfmaid and up to the next level.
"I win!" Rand cried. "I reached him first."
On, woe is you! Rand has won the wager! Pay up. No welchers allowed!
Does that mean Tiana never accepted the wager? I have to sleep with him? Asha gasped, shocked to her core. The bastard tricked her and won. I should've never helped him.
She quickly joined Rand. That level was one vast room, at least two stories high. It was a throne room with ancient war banners on the walls and hanging from the rafters. One man stood between them and victory.
Lord Kathro calmly sat upon an ornate silver throne encrusted with diamonds and rubies. The sight of him took Asha's breath away. Despite being so evil, the drow necromancer was a sight to behold. Why does evil always look so damned beautiful?
He looked upon them with contempt.
"I'm going to enjoy wiping that sneer off your ugly face," Rand said.
The necromancer smiled cruelly. "I'm going to kill you both, and then reanimate you to start rebuilding my undead host." He looked at Asha, and then waved his hand. Invisible bonds wrapped around them both, squeezing with sudden power to force the air out of their lungs. "You, sorceress, will make a beautiful Dread One."
Chapter 46
Warlord's Castle looked dark and ominous. There were no Dread Ones to be seen. Well, there were hundreds of dead bodies strewn about, most burned to blackened husks. From above like that, Killum's eyes were drawn to the far side of the castle. There was a walled ghost town there. The town walls looked intact, but the gates were open and streets empty.
He shook his head. "The people who once lived there must be dead or scattered across the lands."
It was sad because for the mobs, this was real life. As far as he could tell, the NPCs had the same dreams and desires as real people. Snuffing out their lives was the true end of them, since he couldn't imagine them having souls. They were AI-driven computer graphics.
Or were they?
It was getting harder and harder to tell the difference. If it weren't for things like his HUD, the need to level up, and potions that healed or gave mana, Killum wouldn't be able to tell it was a game.
It's as good as real life, since we can't escape this world, he thought. The wind in my face feels real. Gye feels real and alive beneath me.
"I see flashes in the upper windows," Gye said. "I can sense great power radiating from the top floor of the castle keep."
That ended Killum's reverie. His friends were down there. They could be prisoners or worse. Hopefully they were still battling away, working their way closer and closer to Lord Kathro.
"Can you sense our friends inside?"
"No. Just Lord Kathro," Gye said, altering course. "Do you want to surprise him through a window?"
"Can you hover close to the castle?"
"Does Rand fart in his sleep?"
That was a yes. It was also why no one wanted to sleep next to him on the trail. Staying with him in the same room or a cave at night was ill-advised as well.
Killum prepared himself for a fight. It would be the first time he fought with his new Dragon Knight gear. He had to remember the left bracer was a magic shield, while the right shot out bolts of energy. Gye had him test it on the way up. The battle-mage expected a lightning bolt to shoot out, but an intense ball of white hot energy came out instead.
As the castle loomed before them, Gye heading for a thin arrow slit on the south side, Killum studied the castle's sprawling bailey below. No sign of his friends. They had to be inside.
"They will be so pissed when I reach Lord Kathro first and kill him," Killum said.
Gye got a peek inside first, before shifting to the side and moving Killum as close as possible. He grunted when he saw Asha and Rand standing perfectly still, heads back, and arms locked down to their sides. His magical sight spotted glowing red tendrils of magic wrapped around his friends, holding them perfectly still.
Lord Kathro was striding toward them, a great burning sword in his hands. He was within steps of killing the battle-mage's friends. Killum pointed his right fist at the Dark Lord.
"No! Not today," Killum cried, and sent a cannon ball sized shot into Lord Kathro's chest. "Not ever!"
Chaos ensued. The magic holding Rand and Asha evaporated. They shouted angrily and charged the evil warlord. By doing so, they blocked Killum's next shot. The first didn't kill the Dark Lord, but he was sure the follow up would. If he'd gotten it out in time.
"Gye, I need to get inside."
The dragon turned away from the castle and flew in circles around the keep as he gained altitude. Killum fidgeted in the saddle, eager to join the fight before either Rand or Asha was killed. The fact Tiana and Fergus weren't up there was worrisome, too, but he didn't want to think about that yet.
After they'd killed Lord Kathro he'd go find his other two friends. So he called out, urging Gye to greater speed. The dragon growled, but beat his wings harder and faster. Once they were a good fifty feet above the keep's battlements, Gye turned inward and spread his wings wide.