“That was my last one,” the ice mage declared, and pulled a dagger out from the folds of his cloak. He was prepared for a hand to hand fight.
“Back up!” Mudhoof said, holding his ax at the ready. We withdrew inside the mine entrance and peered outward.
Thorm’s body began to rapidly contort and bulge. We’d seen this horrifying transformation before.
“There’s nothing we can do for him,” Mudhoof said. “But we can’t hold them back and deal with that Demon twit, too.”
I pulled my eyes off of the thing that had been Thorm as he continued to morph into something unspeakable and looked at the dynamite in my hand.
“I need a light. Some fire!” I looked at Feign.
The ice mage shrugged and snowflakes cascaded from his robe. “Not my expertise,” he said.
“I shall warm your heart, my sweet!” Phlixx said. He held his little crossbow up, and the bolt was aflame.
“That will do,” I said and held the wick of three sticks to it. They sparked and burned down.
“Run!” I said and tossed the dynamite at the inner edge of the mine entrance where people were scrambling in.
As I turned to run into the darkness with the others, I caught one final glance of Thorm. He was huge, and bloated and nothing like he was before.
Then the world exploded.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Darkness enveloped me.
For several long moments my avatar would not respond. My view screen showed all the normal icons along the edges, but black was all I saw.
Then I heard Feign invoke a spell. A blue light appeared, and I blinked at its source.
A icy glowing orb floated over the shoulder of Feign, who was sitting in a heap on the ground. Dust choked the air, and the mage waved a hand at it.
“Is everyone okay?” He asked.
Mudhoof had been knocked flat onto the ground, his ax buried in the rock wall beside him. He shook his head and stood. “I’m fine,” he grumbled. “Never better. You, Vee?”
I had been tossed up against the mine wall but my health indicator showed I’d only taken a few percentage points of damage. Other than that, I was none the worse for wear.
The mine entrance was completely demolished, and the cave-in of rock and rubble looked deep.
“I don’t think they’ll be getting through that anytime soon,” I said and stood. I dusted myself off, then realized something was missing. “Phlixx?” I said and looked around.
Feign pointed at the collapsed entrance. “I believe he is under there.”
I looked but did not see the little ferret’s body. Then I calmed down. His companion icon on my view screen had switched to a timer. He had been killed but could be summoned once the timer expired.
Mudhoof wrenched his ax from the wall. “Have I mentioned how I think this quest sucks?” He looked at us. “Does it bear repeating?”
I shook my head. “I’m in agreement. This quest is a little crazy.”
Mudhoof snorted. “We’ve been overwhelmed from the get-go. I like a challenge and all, and yeah, obtaining a Legendary Item should be tough, but that out there -,” he pointed a thumb in the direction of the former entrance. “That is just plain FILTERED.”
I offered a rueful grin. “You will get no argument from me.”
Feign said, “Any idea what happened to Thorm? Is he now a part of the Demon King’s army? How would that work? He’s a player.”
“I dunno,” I said. “Let’s see if I kind send him a chat request.”
To my surprise, Thorm answered. As the chat window opened, I angled it for the others to view.
I looked at the window in surprise. It was Thorm, but he wasn’t wearing his shiny armor, or his huge helmet. Instead, he had on a simple white jerkin. In his hand he held a wooden training sword.
The first words Thorm said was, “Did you get my stuff?”
Despite myself, I laughed. “No, Thorm, sorry. We were kind of busy as you noticed.”
Mudhoof said, “Dude. What happened? Last we saw you were being turned into a pretzel by the Demon twit.”
Thorm shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. As soon as he zapped me I lost control of my avatar. I could see what was happening but was helpless. None of my icons would work. Then I found myself here.” He turned to look behind him.
Other very blond men and women were running around a grassy field chasing pigs and trying to hit them with wooden swords. The Holy Knight newbie zone.
“You died,” I said, aghast. “Oh, Thorm, I am so sorry about that. We tried to help.”
Thorm shrugged and smiled. “Not my first re-roll and won’t be my last either. Just have to start the grind again. Unfortunately, this means you guys are a man down.”
“You were our main healer, too,” Mudhoof said. “Things got a whole lot more difficult. And it’s bad enough already.”
“Maybe my death was fortuitous,” Thorm said.
“Why is that?” I asked.
Thorm smiled. “Because now I can go log in some hours at work. Help pay for my rent.”
Mudhoof looked confused. “Work? Rent? What are those?” He laughed.
“Sorry, guys,” said Thorm. “Good luck with the quest and don’t forget me if you finish it.” He grinned.
“You’re still an equal partner,” I said. Mentioning the split deposit didn’t feel like it would lift anyone’s mood at the moment. I’d save that for later because we’d probably need some good news after we all re-rolled.
“I’m not worried,” Thorm said.
Mudhoof said, “I’ll send you a care package of good gear to help you level and gold, too. Once I get to a town with a mailbox. And based on how things are going, you might not have to wait too long.”
Thorm held up his tiny wooden sword. “Well, if you’ll excuse me. I have a butcher who has asked for ten dead pigs. Then he’ll want ten more after that. And ten after that. Etcetera, etcetera.”
As he turned to join his fellow pig chasing newbie-knights the chat screen closed.
“Bummer,” said Mudhoof, shaking his head.
Feign peered down the pitch black mine tunnel. “I always hated dungeons. Enclosed spaces and I do not get along.”
“Well, you’re in luck,” said Mudhoof.
“Why?”
“Because this not a dungeon. It’s a mine.” The minotaur grinned.
Feign frowned.
I tried to push the guilt I felt for Thorm’s demise out of my mind and called up the quest log.
’After surviving the encounter with the Demon King, your only choice now is to delve deeper into the mine and maybe find out how he gained entrance into this realm.’
“Delve deeper,” I said. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Our only one, apparently,” Feign said.
“Hey, Snowball,” said Mudhoof. “Think you can make us a couple of those glow orbs.”
“Of course,” said Feign. Two more orbs paired off from his and floated over to hover above Mudhoof and I. “And please don’t call me Snowball.”
Mudhoof insisted on taking point and we began our walk down the mine tunnel. At first the slope downward was gradual, then it became more pronounced. There were bits of a rail line along the ground but it looked unfinished.
Occasionally, there would be a vein of blue ore marbled in the rock. But when I queried the game as to what it could be it offered no answer.
“Something ahead,” Mudhoof said after a while of walking. “Looks like a side tunnel.”
The new tunnel branched off to our left, but its darkness offered no clue where it led.
“Stick to the main tunnel, or take this new one?” Mudhoof asked. Both Mudhoof and Feign looked to me.
I sighed. “The quest log says delve deeper. And this new one looks to be angling down more than ours.” I shrugged. “Let’s follow it for a while. We can always come back.”