Sally looked at the demon. “What do you mean?”
Unable to wait for an explanation, the Party stood to their feet and made to move outside. The first rainfall they’d seen in weeks could go without some explanation. With how hot it had been, it was a miracle that any rain could fall at all, considering they had not been the cloud in the sky for several days.
As soon as Sally stepped out into the lizardman street, the rain was instantly cooling and she paused to close her eyes and looked up towards the downpour. Only slightly concerning was the fact that there was only one enormous cloud in the sky which seemed to be only hanging over the village itself.
“This is going to be a bad thing, right?” She turned with a grimace to Humphrey. He was also looking at the sky as he came up.
“Yes.”
Edward shielded his eyes from the rain as his light blue eyes glared around. His head snapped back to Lucius, who was standing idly within the building still, looking sorry for himself. “It’s her? Really?”
The tax collector looked tense and clearly knew was about to happen. Sally looked around the village, wondering if she had time to loot before they had to evacuate from whatever was to arrive. Most likely not. This is what she got for being so lazy about it. Gripping her dagger tightly, she turned to Edward.
“Who is it? Should we be worried?”
He turned to her with clenched teeth and narrowed his eyes. “Make me a bodyguard now. Quickly.”
Sally sent him over the request immediately, and he accepted. If he was willing to make such an important choice on a whim like that, then it didn’t spell too well for them. She wondered really what the rain could bring to cause him to be so worried.
“Okay, I got a few new skills, but will discuss that later. If we still live.” He gave her a sour grin, clearly still not 100% on board with the decision.
She withdrew another skull from her inventory and clipped onto the side of her belt, ready for when needed. Actually, she had enough room to put three – and she did so – which not only made things convenient but also looked pretty fitting for her blossoming role as a proper Necromancer.
“Any heads up, then?” Humphrey withdrew his sword and rolling out his shoulders.
“Champion –“ Edward began before being immediately interrupted as a darkened shape fell down from the cloud in a flash of lightning
The large figure, shadowed in dark blue, crashed down onto the stone ahead of them as tidal waves of water washed across the road and sunk into the dry floor. Stretching out to be revealed from this crash of falling liquid was a tall woman in a slick looking dark blue dress. With pale blue skin and curved ivory horns, her black eyes regarded them over a wide smile. Lightning crackled along her arms as a trident of bright gold filtered into her hand.
“Maeve,” Edwards seethed.
Sally felt tense. Although they were no longer able to see the levels of other Players and Monsters there was still an aura about this champion where she could tell that the woman’s power was way above her own. It stood to reason that the Dragon would have Level Twenty champions or bodyguards given that it was the maximum for this area. If the Theo was here and at his full potential, she might be a bit more confident about the stand-off against such a powerful foe.
As the small wave of water was absorbed into the thirsty surroundings, a second figure slammed down into the damp ground just ahead of the new demon. A rounded shape of obsidian metal that was familiar to Sally and Humphrey — the golem from before. It unraveled from its ball-like shape and withdrew the long double pointed spear. It stood to attention, awaiting commands from its controller.
“Well then, it looks like I’m the one who will pick up your mess, Edward.” She hissed her words softly, a coy smile rising at the side of her mouth. “It looks like you’ve forgotten where your loyalties lie as well.” She tutted and shook her head slowly.
“How about you leave the Dragon and join us too?” Sally grinned. “Wouldn’t you rather a free area than be under the control of Ruben forever?”
The Demons smiled even wider as her dark eyes met the zombie, exposing far more teeth than what was necessary. “Your little tricks won't work on me, small girl. Ruben offers far more than you could ever hope to.”
Sally shrugged. She tried. They were going to have to eat the Champion's brains somehow as well, if that’s how it was going to be. She couldn’t win them all, but she could at least eat half of them.
“And you all have Lucius here to thank,” she continued, “for keeping track of you and being good bait to draw you to the dungeon. Good thing we weren't just relying on you, Edward.”
Lucius had remained staring at the floor, partly to dissociate from what was happening but also not feeling ready to accept his place at the event. Archie sat beside him, looking mildly interested in the new demon, but mostly annoyed at the rainfall.
The tax collector didn’t say anything, but looked furious. Whether this was because he was regretting his choice to abandon the dragon, or he was now coming to terms with what he would have to face, Sally wasn’t sure. He intended to fight and survive with them, hence his acceptance of being her bodyguard.
Meave must have a lot of self-confidence to arrive here with just a golem and herself. She must know what the party was capable of if Lucius had been keeping an eye on them. Just Sally alone had an instant forty zombies that she could pop into existence and buff up. She didn’t do the battle planning thing as well as Theo, but it was a safe bet that the Champion either had some area attacks, something against the undead, or just was defensible enough to not worry about the zombies.
The demon would be more powerful than the dungeon boss. She could definitely assume that. Even with her higher stats than normal, she took quite a beating in that fight—so she wasn’t too keen on having an encore.
“Ruben is impressed with your ability to overcome all the challenges in this Wasteland, and thus, has granted me the allowance of giving you one last chance to surrender and join under his banner. You have proven yourselves so much that he is willing to promote you straight to Silver Rank immediately.” The Demon bobbed up and down on feet that seemed to be constantly riding an unseen wave.
Sally looked over at the rest of the party. Although she was the leader, it didn’t seem right to always be making life or death decisions for all of them. She raised their eyebrows and gestured for them to let her know their thoughts. Although Humphrey's face didn’t change much, she could read it perfectly. He'd be on her side. Edward looked pensive but had made his choice to follow her long as a bodyguard. Archie did nothing but yawn.
She waited for Lucius to answer. Despite his betrayal, he had not left the Party. If there was any time where he could make his move and leave them in safety, then this was it. Instead, he seemed reluctant and guilty. Still, she needed to know. He needed to say it.
“Make a choice.” She asked him quietly as the rain continued to lightly fall down on them.
“How could you trust him, after–“ Edward began, before Sally held her hand up.
“The same way which we trust you.”
Lucius clearly did not like to be put on the spot, and was having a troubling time making any sort of decision. Sally could understand, to some degree. He was not a strong fighter and without their help, he’d be easy to pick off. Joining up with the dragon was probably something he had to do for his own well-being and was acting as a spy for the Champion to pick up on new Players in the area.
She had coerced goblins into making dangerous decisions back when they intended to take over Sanctuary, and although it had worked out in that instance, she couldn't guarantee that it always would work out in their favor. In fact, as the disparity in levels got higher, it was even more likely that they would bite off more trouble than they could chew, eventually.
Archie pawed at the legs of the demon, and Lucius kneeled down so that Archie could murmur something to him–she couldn’t hear over the constant rainfall. A question mark emotion bubble beside his head, before a sad-face, and then exclamation mark one.
The demon stood back up and turned to the expectant Party.
“If you will still have me, I wish to ally myself with the Outsiders," he said, still some shakiness in his voice.
Lucius lifted his hand up and pulled back his hood.
Sally looked at the demon. “What do you mean?”
Unable to wait for an explanation, the Party stood to their feet and made to move outside. The first rainfall they’d seen in weeks could go without some explanation. With how hot it had been, it was a miracle that any rain could fall at all, considering they had not been the cloud in the sky for several days.
As soon as Sally stepped out into the lizardman street, the rain was instantly cooling and she paused to close her eyes and looked up towards the downpour. Only slightly concerning was the fact that there was only one enormous cloud in the sky which seemed to be only hanging over the village itself.
“This is going to be a bad thing, right?” She turned with a grimace to Humphrey. He was also looking at the sky as he came up.
“Yes.”
Edward shielded his eyes from the rain as his light blue eyes glared around. His head snapped back to Lucius, who was standing idly within the building still, looking sorry for himself. “It’s her? Really?”
The tax collector looked tense and clearly knew was about to happen. Sally looked around the village, wondering if she had time to loot before they had to evacuate from whatever was to arrive. Most likely not. This is what she got for being so lazy about it. Gripping her dagger tightly, she turned to Edward.
“Who is it? Should we be worried?”
He turned to her with clenched teeth and narrowed his eyes. “Make me a bodyguard now. Quickly.”
Sally sent him over the request immediately, and he accepted. If he was willing to make such an important choice on a whim like that, then it didn’t spell too well for them. She wondered really what the rain could bring to cause him to be so worried.
“Okay, I got a few new skills, but will discuss that later. If we still live.” He gave her a sour grin, clearly still not 100% on board with the decision.
She withdrew another skull from her inventory and clipped onto the side of her belt, ready for when needed. Actually, she had enough room to put three – and she did so – which not only made things convenient but also looked pretty fitting for her blossoming role as a proper Necromancer.
“Any heads up, then?” Humphrey withdrew his sword and rolling out his shoulders.
“Champion –“ Edward began before being immediately interrupted as a darkened shape fell down from the cloud in a flash of lightning
The large figure, shadowed in dark blue, crashed down onto the stone ahead of them as tidal waves of water washed across the road and sunk into the dry floor. Stretching out to be revealed from this crash of falling liquid was a tall woman in a slick looking dark blue dress. With pale blue skin and curved ivory horns, her black eyes regarded them over a wide smile. Lightning crackled along her arms as a trident of bright gold filtered into her hand.
“Maeve,” Edwards seethed.
Sally felt tense. Although they were no longer able to see the levels of other Players and Monsters there was still an aura about this champion where she could tell that the woman’s power was way above her own. It stood to reason that the Dragon would have Level Twenty champions or bodyguards given that it was the maximum for this area. If the Theo was here and at his full potential, she might be a bit more confident about the stand-off against such a powerful foe.
As the small wave of water was absorbed into the thirsty surroundings, a second figure slammed down into the damp ground just ahead of the new demon. A rounded shape of obsidian metal that was familiar to Sally and Humphrey — the golem from before. It unraveled from its ball-like shape and withdrew the long double pointed spear. It stood to attention, awaiting commands from its controller.
“Well then, it looks like I’m the one who will pick up your mess, Edward.” She hissed her words softly, a coy smile rising at the side of her mouth. “It looks like you’ve forgotten where your loyalties lie as well.” She tutted and shook her head slowly.
“How about you leave the Dragon and join us too?” Sally grinned. “Wouldn’t you rather a free area than be under the control of Ruben forever?”
The Demons smiled even wider as her dark eyes met the zombie, exposing far more teeth than what was necessary. “Your little tricks won't work on me, small girl. Ruben offers far more than you could ever hope to.”
Sally shrugged. She tried. They were going to have to eat the Champion's brains somehow as well, if that’s how it was going to be. She couldn’t win them all, but she could at least eat half of them.
“And you all have Lucius here to thank,” she continued, “for keeping track of you and being good bait to draw you to the dungeon. Good thing we weren't just relying on you, Edward.”
Lucius had remained staring at the floor, partly to dissociate from what was happening but also not feeling ready to accept his place at the event. Archie sat beside him, looking mildly interested in the new demon, but mostly annoyed at the rainfall.
The tax collector didn’t say anything, but looked furious. Whether this was because he was regretting his choice to abandon the dragon, or he was now coming to terms with what he would have to face, Sally wasn’t sure. He intended to fight and survive with them, hence his acceptance of being her bodyguard.
Meave must have a lot of self-confidence to arrive here with just a golem and herself. She must know what the party was capable of if Lucius had been keeping an eye on them. Just Sally alone had an instant forty zombies that she could pop into existence and buff up. She didn’t do the battle planning thing as well as Theo, but it was a safe bet that the Champion either had some area attacks, something against the undead, or just was defensible enough to not worry about the zombies.
The demon would be more powerful than the dungeon boss. She could definitely assume that. Even with her higher stats than normal, she took quite a beating in that fight—so she wasn’t too keen on having an encore.
“Ruben is impressed with your ability to overcome all the challenges in this Wasteland, and thus, has granted me the allowance of giving you one last chance to surrender and join under his banner. You have proven yourselves so much that he is willing to promote you straight to Silver Rank immediately.” The Demon bobbed up and down on feet that seemed to be constantly riding an unseen wave.
Sally looked over at the rest of the party. Although she was the leader, it didn’t seem right to always be making life or death decisions for all of them. She raised their eyebrows and gestured for them to let her know their thoughts. Although Humphrey's face didn’t change much, she could read it perfectly. He'd be on her side. Edward looked pensive but had made his choice to follow her long as a bodyguard. Archie did nothing but yawn.
She waited for Lucius to answer. Despite his betrayal, he had not left the Party. If there was any time where he could make his move and leave them in safety, then this was it. Instead, he seemed reluctant and guilty. Still, she needed to know. He needed to say it.
“Make a choice.” She asked him quietly as the rain continued to lightly fall down on them.
“How could you trust him, after–“ Edward began, before Sally held her hand up.
“The same way which we trust you.”
Lucius clearly did not like to be put on the spot, and was having a troubling time making any sort of decision. Sally could understand, to some degree. He was not a strong fighter and without their help, he’d be easy to pick off. Joining up with the dragon was probably something he had to do for his own well-being and was acting as a spy for the Champion to pick up on new Players in the area.
She had coerced goblins into making dangerous decisions back when they intended to take over Sanctuary, and although it had worked out in that instance, she couldn't guarantee that it always would work out in their favor. In fact, as the disparity in levels got higher, it was even more likely that they would bite off more trouble than they could chew, eventually.
Archie pawed at the legs of the demon, and Lucius kneeled down so that Archie could murmur something to him–she couldn’t hear over the constant rainfall. A question mark emotion bubble beside his head, before a sad-face, and then exclamation mark one.
The demon stood back up and turned to the expectant Party.
“If you will still have me, I wish to ally myself with the Outsiders," he said, still some shakiness in his voice.
Lucius lifted his hand up and pulled back his hood.
