Unfortunately, he was also trapped in the U-shaped box, and he wouldn’t survive trying to dodge past the ravager. Helpless, he recast his buff spells, knowing he would need them at their peak for what he was about to do, throwing another acid dart with little effect.
They couldn’t keep this up much longer, fatigue and numbers were against them. Drew needed to change the game.
He pulled up his star map, and with a thought, he inserted Major Blink Step into the available white node and clicked accept, and immediately his head seemed to explode. The xatherite instantly formed billions of new connections as he dropped to his knees with a groan, struggling to stay conscious through the pain. Wave after wave of agony seemed to eat away at his mental resistance, but he clawed his way through it, knowing that if he passed out now, he likely wouldn’t live long enough to wake up.
The pain diminished enough that he could see again. Katie was shouting at him, but any attempt to comprehend what she was saying sent lightning bolts of pain through his skull and he just shook his head. Immediately the warm feeling of Sarah’s cure spell filled his extremities.
The pain in his head subsided to the point that he could think again, and he put a hand to the conjured wall next to him, pushing himself up. How long had he been out? The last thing he remembered was that Sarah had just cast heal, but apparently the cooldown was already up? He could feel liquid trickling from his nose, but he forced himself to ignore it and take stock of the situation.
Mitch and Katie had managed to drop the Ravager while he blacked out; it looked like the Knight had jumped onto it and restricted it enough for the axe to cleave a gaping hole in its skull. The knight’s form was still trapped under the Ravager’s body. The two Go’rai had moved in, clubs out, since their javelins and atlatls were useless in the narrow approach path that was available to them. Chakri wasn’t visible, but it was only a matter of time before he arrived.
Drew didn’t think Mitch had much of a chance against the battleaxe he possessed. He needed to pull Chakri and as many of the orcs away from the group as possible. The direction he needed to pull them was easy enough; the orcs seemed to be able to see in the dark, an ability Drew did not share. If he could make it to the entrance, there would be light. Assuming it was daytime, but it was a better than wandering deeper into the darkness.
He shifted, moving closer to Sarah who had re-joined the fight on Mitch’s right side. He needed to be able to see as far out of the box as he could. “I’m going to try and draw them off.” His shout reverberated painfully in his head before he blink stepped past the melee.
Out of the box, he turned around to survey the battlefield. Five Go’rai were visible, the three from before, standing in a loose cluster and aiming javelins at the wall, waiting for Katie to dissolve it, Drew assumed. Taking advantage of their split attention, Drew sent a frostfire ball exploding against the middle one, sending all three to the ground, hopefully dead. The sound drew the attention of the other two Go’rai that had been fighting Mitch and the closest one shouted, “Deathweaver!” before turning back to his fight with Mitch.
From behind him, he heard a rush of air as someone swung a weapon. The blade barrier blocked the attack and yellow light shown from around him as his mana guard blocked a secondary effect he couldn’t see. Drew immediately cast a shock bolt, the blue energy shooting from his shoulder to whatever had attacked him from behind. Meanwhile, he turned and began running away from the group, another hand casting Cone of Frost behind him to slow down whoever had swung at him.
Drew didn’t risk a glance backward, but he could hear the grunt of pain as the Go’rai was hit by his spells.
Turning a corner, he barreled into two Go’rai that were moving to join the fight. He pushed one down, elbowing past the other. They both carried atlatls; he needed to get around the next corner before they could recover and target his back.
Ahead, he could just make out the next turn, some light ahead illuminating it. He might be able to launch another couple of spells at his attackers as they came around the bend, if he could get to it first. He pushed himself, seven or eight more steps and he turned around, his hands held high. Chakri was charging towards him, angry burn marks on his left side, and Drew launched the fireball he had been preparing at him.
With surprising agility, the Go’rai stopped his forward motion and dove away. The fireball exploded, throwing the orc into a cabinet, his leg hitting with a loud crashing sound. Drew turned and began running again. It was a mere forty feet to the last bend and the exit. He wanted to shout a taunt, but his breathing was already ragged, and his head felt like it was on fire.
He heard a whistling behind him and dove to the left, trying to avoid the javelins he knew were coming. His shoulder hit hard against the floor, and for a second his vision greyed out from the pain. He managed to force himself into a roll, pushing up off the ground with a moan. Only twenty feet to the corner. He clenched down on the pain, running harder than he had ever run, his heavy boots making him feel clumsy and slower than normal.
Ten feet left, then another telltale whistling. This time he tried to pivot off his left foot, sending him into the wall with a loud grunt, but the javelin passed him. He pushed against the wall, every part of his body feeling like it was on fire, but he couldn’t give up now.
Then he was around the corner. Ahead, for the first time in days, he saw the bright beam of natural light. It illuminated the thing he should have been expecting but hadn’t: a barricade. Cube farm walls and desks had been piled six feet high, forming a wall that would take several seconds to climb, several seconds where he would be completely exposed to the javelins behind him, not to mention the three Go’rai who were sitting around a small table, their weapons close at hand. He charged forward, hoping to get close enough to cone of frostfire them before they could get their weapons out.
Chapter Fourteen — Chakri
The look on the three Go’rai faces was one of surprise. They were all holding cups and dice, Drew assumed it was some form of gambling. He made it halfway to them before they understood the situation well enough to respond. Unfortunately for them, Drew only needed a couple more steps by then. His cone of frostfire engulfed them and froze two in place, but the third was partially shielded by the closest orc’s body and went down clutching his face and screaming in pain.
Drew swerved slightly to avoid the treacherous terrain created by his most recent cone. He launched a shocking bolt at the screaming Go’rai, and then for good measure cast acid dart, the glob of acid landing on its forehead above the unburned eye. Drew hoped that was enough to keep it out of the fight as he pivoted, facing the hallway he had just come from.
Using the break to take a quick mental inventory. He was down at least one block from blade barrier and some of the strength of mana guard from that unexpected attack after he blink stepped. He thought frostfire ball was available again, but the feedback he experienced last time he had cast a spell before its cooldown was up scared him away from trying it. All his storm spells but frostfire were available, and he’d love to cast refresh, but he didn’t dare take the time to cast it. Dancing blade fell into the same category. Blink Step was probably halfway off cooldown at this point, while both cones were still recovering.
The pursuit still hadn’t rounded the corner, but he could hear them coming. Drew made a quick decision to begin the cast for firestorm, hoping to catch all three of his pursuers within it as soon as they came around the bend. He elongated the last few hand seals, delaying the five-second cast by a precious second and a half. He finished the cast right as the first of the three orcs rounded the bend, the dry heat of the firestorm blowing past him as it raged into existence.