Chapter 71 – The Edge of the World

“Well now we know what dark forces lurk out here in the unknown,” Petra said after the group had walked for no less than an hour without seeing anything other than dry, dead, arid, cracked ground. Not a single leaf, branch, twig, or sign of life as far as the eye could see.

“Look, I didn’t make this place and I’ve never been here before, so don’t blame me if you don’t get to see waterfalls and rainbows,” Jordan said. He was clearly upset at the fact that there was nothing to see as well, but being out in front of the group for the majority of their journey, he felt like this was all somehow his fault.

“Maybe not waterfalls and rainbows,” Petra said. “But maybe even just one tree or a bird or a rabbit or something would be nice. I’d even take another group of hobgoblins just to have something to do, or something to watch,” she shot a sideways glance at Titus.

And then, as though the God of Balance had answered her himself, the ground beneath the group began to shake. It was clearly coming from in front of them somewhere, though none of the group could see anything different than what they had already been seeing for the last hours.

“You can feel that, right?” Jordan asked, turning to Titus and Petra, who both silently nodded. “Oh good,” he continued. “I thought I was going mad for a minute there.”

“You are going mad if you don’t think that’s a problem,” Petra hissed.

Titus tried to block out another argument between his two friends as he peered into the nothingness in front of them. But then as he searched, his eyes fell upon something that he had somehow missed over and over as he looked out into the expanse before them. In fact, it wasn’t vast swaths of nothingness before them; it just looked like that because of the way the landscape dipped into some large crater not far from where they stood. Titus wouldn’t have seen the phenomenon had he not been implicitly searching the landscape for something that was out of place, but now it was obvious that just a few hundred meters ahead of the group, the dry arid ground disappeared completely out of sight. As he squinted, he could also see the edges of the crater as it covered an area of a good kilometre in diameter.

“Stop,” Titus commanded flatly.

“He started it,” Petra responded almost automatically, thinking that Titus was giving her a hard time about fighting with Jordan.

“Me?” Jordan responded, staring daggers at Petra. “All you ever do is give me a hard time. It’s about time I stood up for myself, isn’t it?”

“Ah, shut up, you great lummox,” Petra replied.

“Shut up the both of you,” Titus snapped, finally losing his cool. “Petra stop sniping at him, and Jordan, if you wanted to finally fight back, now isn’t the time. Just have a look in front of you.”

The rumbling had stopped, and it gave the three friends a chance to look at what Titus had seen. It took Jordan and Petra a moment to focus their eyes where Titus had indicated, but it was obvious when they had seen what he had seen. There was something there, and that was exactly where the rumbling was coming from.

The rumbling came again and stopped again, and Titus knew it meant only one thing: they needed to investigate, to see what monstrosity it was that could make such a tremor. He just hoped it wasn’t more of those Ironjaw Behemoths. He knew that no matter how strong his fireball spell had got, it wasn’t going to be enough to make so much as a dent in those things.

Titus looked at his two friends, and they clearly shared his view.

“After you then,” Petra said to Jordan. “You’re the Defender, aren’t you?”

”Yeah, yeah,” Jordan said and he took his position at the front of the group, and as one, they walked as slowly and as quietly as they could across the short distance between them and the giant crater.

The group hadn’t even reached the edge of the thing when they realised what it was that they were looking at. The ground did indeed break away into a deep crater that had sheer walls on two sides, but right there in the centre sat a very obvious, very traditional stone castle.

The construction was huge, and as another rumble caused the ground to shake, Titus saw where the sound and vibrations were coming from: the castle had a drawbridge to allow egress and ingress, and that drawbridge was being manned by three large ogres.

The drawbridge usually sat upright in its raised position, and when a small group of something that Titus couldn’t quite discern from this distance wanted to pass, the three ogres turned a large wheel that lowered the heavy wooden structure to the ground. The rumbling was caused by the three beasts apparently getting bored at how slow the bridge fell, and letting it drop the last half of the way. Then after the smaller creatures had passed over the bridge, the ogres would turn the wheel in the opposite direction, and the bridge would raise up once again.

It all seemed like extreme overkill. Out here in the wilderness these creatures didn’t seem to have anything to hide from, or a need to keep their castle walls closed off from anyone and anything; it wasn’t like an army from the City was marching its way right here to enact their revenge.

Though thinking about it, Titus didn’t know if the creatures of Chaos all got along. Perhaps they did need to protect the castle if warring factions were constantly at each other's throats.

“You ready to go and have a closer…” Petra started, but stopped at the same time that Titus saw a notification practically fill his vision.

You have been cursed by The Deadlands Blight

To remove this curse, pray to the God of Chaos at an altar of Chaos.

The Deadlands Blight:

All stats reduced by 10%

All damage sustained by creatures of Chaos increased by 10%

This curse will reset once per 3 days.

If this curse is not lifted within 3 days, you will die.

“That’s not good,” Titus stated the obvious. “So if we don’t find an altar and pray to the God of Chaos, we die in three days?” He checked his stats quickly to see that everything had indeed reduced by a clean ten percent, rounded up. He felt weak. Weak and sick.

“Looks like that,” Petra said. “And it just so happens that I’m in the mood for praying. Any ideas where we might find an altar of Chaos?” she said, inclining her head to the castle in the centre of the crater.

“I bet there’s one in that castle,” Jordan said, missing the sarcasm. Petra just face-palmed and sighed loudly.

“You’re probably right,” Titus said reassuringly. “All we need to do is figure out how to get in there.”

“Looks like the only way in is through the front door, and that’s controlled by those ogres. I can’t see what level they are from here,” Titus said, “But I doubt we’re going to be able to fight our way in.”

Petra and Jordan both looked thoughtful, though neither of them came up with an alternative solution. The problem was that if they tried to walk down the crater to where the bridge was rising and falling, they’d be seen before they even took ten steps.

“Maybe wait until it’s dark?” Jordan said after a short while.

“And take some clothes from some hobgoblins so from a distance they think we’re creatures of Chaos and let us right in?” Petra added.

“That could work,” Titus nodded enthusiastically. “And if it’s dark when we get inside, we can just sneak around until we find an altar.”

“All we need to do is find some unsuspecting group of hobs and lure them over here somehow,” Petra said. “Or maybe we could go back to the forest and find some of the ones… no, that won’t work because they’ve been burnt to a crisp,” she was almost talking to herself at this point, and Jordan had taken the opportunity to stuff a handful of juicy berries into his mouth.

“Maybe we could wait until some come out of the castle,” he said through a mouthful of chewed fruit. But what he hadn’t paid any attention to was the fact that he still held more berries in his hand and as he pointed to the castle below, he inadvertently launched his handful of uneaten berries into the air and down into the crater.

Jordan stared at Titus and Petra for a long moment, before all three threw themselves onto the ground.

“You colossal idiot,” Petra hissed. “You complete and utter bumbling moron! Couldn’t you just have waited five God damned minutes before stuffing your damn face?”

Jordan looked like he wanted to apologise, but he also looked seriously embarrassed. Titus wanted to come to his rescue again, but couldn’t help but agree with Petra.

Silence followed as the three friends remained flat on the ground, and then they slowly shifted themselves so they could look down at the castle.

Eventually, when nothing happened – signifying nobody had seen the berries fly down towards the castle from above – Titus let out his breath.

And then the ground shook.

“I hate you sometimes,” Petra hissed again in Jordan’s direction. “Well more than sometimes. I just wanted you to know that. If we die, remember that I hate you.”

The drawbridge fell, and Titus squinted to try to see what was happening. Eventually, he saw five distinctly hob-like creatures cross the bridge and walk in their general direction, weapons ready.

“They’re coming this way,” he whispered. “I can’t see what level they are… I think we should try to move away.”

“To where?” Petra asked. “They’ll see us as soon as they get up here.”

“They will, but as long as the castle doesn’t see us this can work. We just need to take them down and steal their clothes. Stick to the original plan, OK?”

Petra bit her lip but nodded, and Jordan had already started crawling away from the crater, not wanting to cause another incident.

Titus and Petra both followed suit, and after a short distance they all stood up again, out of the sight of the castle.

“So just wait?” Petra asked.

“I guess,” Titus said.

“Try not to completely burn them away this time.”

“No promises.”

A minute later, the heads of the hobs bobbed up out of the crater and as soon as the creatures laid their eyes on the three humans, they all broke into a run.

Titus analysed them quickly to see that all five of the hobs were level six, clearly having been sent out to investigate the berries without much thought that it might’ve been a danger.

“Shields up Defender,” Petra ordered and didn’t wait for the hobs to engage before she Blink-Stepped away and behind the advancing hobs. In a well-practised routine, she then cut into each of them before they even knew what was happening and leapt away like it was the easiest thing in the world.

The hobs weren’t only poisoned, but they were confused too, stopping in their charge.

Titus and Jordan both took their opportunity to charge down their foes, with Jordan hammering on his wooden shield as he ran to taunt the hobs. Titus readied himself to cast his fireballs, though put a lot of effort into figuring out the best way to keep the hobs’ equipment undamaged. He had to aim for their heads and use smaller spells.

Titus had fifty-three Mana without calling on his friends at this point, though he was under the curse that reduced his total pool by ten percent. So he figured sending a nine-point fireball at each of the hobs was probably enough to get most of the job done, especially as they were only level six themselves.

As his fireballs crashed into each of the hobs’ heads, he saw that he’d done enough damage to leave them with only a few seconds of life left thanks to Petra’s poison.

Titus felt very pleased with himself and his scheming as he watched all five of the hobgoblins collapse to the ground before they’d even had a chance to raise their weapons.

“There’s no way any of that is fitting you,” Petra said to Jordan as she jerked a hand to the hobs. “Maybe we should go for the three ogres and get something more in your size?”

“Uh, guys?” Titus said. “Did you see the bridge raise up again after those five?”

“No of course I didn’t, why…” Petra said, and then froze as she heard the snarl of more enemies breaching the edge of the crater.

“Because I think they sent more,” Titus said. Then he quickly added: “Give me your Mana, both of you,”

His order met no resistance, and immediately he pulled the Mana from his friends. Pleasantly surprised, Titus noticed that his friends had given him a total of twenty-four Mana this time, so somebody had invested in their Wisdom. Petra gave him a wink to let him know just where the extra points had come from.

The next wave of creatures to come at them were still weak: six level three goblins that were probably just following their hob masters and when they saw the dead bodies of the hobs, they immediately moved into a combat formation.

“Try not to hug any of them,” Petra said to Jordan as she began stalking out wide. “I know they’re only level three and are probably scared like little bunnies, but remember what happened last time.”

“Shut up!” Jordan said and suddenly swung his axe, catching one of the creatures off guard and ending its life immediately.

Where Titus had watched Jordan face a goblin before and saw that he had been found wanting in the speed department, this time the battle was different. With Jordan’s advancing levels and Petra to back him up, the goblins were easily bested without Titus even raising a hand to help.

But then the real fight arrived. One of the Ogres had apparently decided that it was time to investigate all the noise and screaming, and it appeared over the edge of the crater to Titus’s dismay. Dismay because this thing was level twelve.

Gatekeeper Ogre:

Level 12

HP: 850/850

To be called a ‘Gatekeeper’ meant that either this ogre had selected a tremendously ironic career, or this was simply what they were bred to do. Either way, Titus looked at it with dismay. Twice the size of even Jordan and carrying a wide tree branch, the ogre looked as stupid as it did strong. With over eight hundred health too, the thing was resilient to say the least.

“Jordan,” Titus called. “Ideas?”

“Don’t get hit by the tree it’s holding?” Jordan offered back.

“Kind of meant tactics, big guy,” Titus corrected.

“Still though,” Jordan said.

Titus nodded, understanding that Jordan didn’t have any ideas either and asking him again wasn’t going to get a different response.

There was only one thing Titus could do, and checking on his status quickly before he raised his hands, he threw everything he had into another fireball. With his friends’ addition, he had a total of thirty points to spend. He only hoped that it was going to be enough.

The fireball flew through the air before the ogre had a chance to engage in combat with Jordan, Petra and Titus having moved behind the Defender so that he could do his job properly. The target was so big that Titus didn’t need to wait to cast the spell, as he was most likely unable to miss the ogre anyway.

The fireball was large, but next to the ogre as it approached it actually looked much smaller than the ones Titus had thrown before. But that didn’t matter; he knew just how powerful the spell was and he trusted in his power and skill.

There was a reason these creatures were used as guards though. The fireball smashed into the ogre’s chest with a ferocity that betrayed its power but as Titus watched, the thing paused for a moment as it had clearly been shocked by the strength of the attack. Its health pool dropped by only five hundred and eighty-five points.

Well saying: "only five hundred and eighty-five points" may have been a little misleading because as far as Titus knew, that was the most damage he’d ever managed to cause in a single attack in his entire life.

But suddenly it wasn’t enough.

The ogre didn’t even look like it was that hurt, and as the circumstances of the battle changed, Jordan fell back onto their usual tactics.

The Defender bellowed out a Taunt, and the ogre began walking towards him slowly.

Petra darted in and out to poison the creature before it reached the Defender, but she quickly relayed that the ogre was resistant to poison – something that was becoming more common as levels increased. What was worse was that her stabbing did virtually no damage either, and it was clear after the thing made it into range with Jordan, and the Defender got in a swipe with his axe, that the ogre was resistant to physical attacks too.

And Titus was completely out of Mana.

Jordan stared up at the ogre and did everything he could to put his entire weight behind his shield, ready for the beast. The ogre then slowly, almost casually cocked the branch it carried to its side and swung it at Jordan.

Jordan’s shield exploded at the first touch of contact, and the boy was thrown ten feet away from the ogre. He was hurt but not dead, and Titus could only watch as the ogre, still taunted, bore down on his friend.

Petra Blink-stepped behind the ogre and leapt onto its back, stabbing down over and over into the creature’s neck, which did actually look like it was more effective than general hits to its limbs or body, but still, it wasn’t enough.

A lumbering moment later, the ogre readied its branch again, and Titus had no choice but to act.

Titus cast his upgraded ability for the first time: Sacrifice 2.

The skill had been changed since the last time he’d used it and now, in return for giving up his entire Stamina regen rate, he was linked to Jordan, taking half of all of the damage he was about to receive. Titus grit his teeth, ready to accept the pain he was about to experience.

But Petra hadn’t finished what she was doing either. Seeing that she was doing some actual damage now by striking critical areas, she reached around the ogre’s surprisingly spherical head and began stabbing at its face and eyes.

The creature was still taunted for a few more seconds so it did little to defend itself, though it didn’t seem too concerned as it, now blinded, swung its branch again at Jordan, who had just about managed to regain his senses.

The branch missed Jordan’s face by inches and instead hit him in the shoulder, sending him into a spin, and at that moment Titus howled in pain. He had forgotten that the damage came hand in hand with half the pain that the blow caused, and he wondered how exactly Jordan had managed to take a full blow from the ogre already without fainting; just half the damage and pain was maddening.

Titus was almost blinded by the pain. He could think of nothing other than to cup his shoulder and try his best not to scream, hoping that the sudden impact hadn’t caused him any long-term damage.

Spinning on the spot didn’t take Jordan away from the ogre this time so the huge creature didn’t have to stalk its prey again, and it readied a final strike.

Jordan though, to his credit, had one last trick up his sleeve. As soon as he’d spun a full three-sixty, he slapped the tiny wooden splinters attached to his forearm where his shield used to be and cast his Shield Bash. It looked almost comical, but the skill fired.

The ogre stumbled back two feet as the shockwave smashed into it, and Petra managed to clamber around to the creature’s front before it fell to the ground, momentarily stunned for what they all knew would be just half a second.

Taking her opportunity, Petra let out a primal scream as she began stabbing her Stiletto into the ogre’s face, eyes, and neck over and over until before the thing could right itself, its health bar winked away to nothing.

The three friends had beaten the ogre, but it had been close, and they had nothing left to give.

But the Gods were not about to smile upon the group, because just as they thought that this had been the hardest fight of their lives, the other two ogres appeared from the crater, and there was no way that they could win this fight. They had to run.

Then, as if to answer that realisation, ten Hobgoblins riding devastatingly large Dire Wolves appeared from behind the ogres and rode into a wide circle around Titus, Petra, and Jordan, trapping them in place.