Adam Drake - Blackout

I smacked my forehead. “I’m a dolt. I should have known it was there.”

Thorm shrugged. “Don’t kill yourself over it. That makes one mystery solved. But we got an even bigger one on our hands now. So let’s just concentrate on that.”

We continued along the trail which followed along the edge of the lake. I was feeling pretty stupid at this point but resolved not to let it get me down.

I watched Phlixx as he skipped along by my side. To say I was grateful for having him was an understatement. He was a quest reward item and one which had been tough to finish. But worth it, in the end. Even if he could get annoying at times.

Thorm, who was in the lead, held up a hand. We stopped. “There’s someone up ahead,” he said.

Just off the trail sat a well dressed man on a fallen log. His face was in his hands and he was crying.

Ready for trouble, we approached.

“Hello,” I said. “Is everything all right?”

The man continued crying but didn’t respond.

This was obviously part of the quest so I engaged him further. “Sir, is something wrong?” I took a step closer but Feign waved at me to stop.

“Don’t get too close,” Feign said. “Look at his skin.”

The man’s hands were marbled with thick, black veins. His neck was covered in them as well. Was it a disease?

“What do we do?” Mudhoof said. “Kill him?”

I shook my head and looked to Thorm. “Think a cure spell of some kind would do the trick?”

Thorm peered at the man’s flesh, but shook his head. “No. That’s not a disease.”

Before I could ask what he meant, the man looked up at us. His face was worse than the rest of him, almost blackened with the strange veins.

“He’s here,” the man said, tears streaming down his face. “He’s here and there will be no sending him back now!”

“Who is here?” I asked. Mudhoof and the others had tensed for a fight, watching our surroundings.

“The one who is all!” The little man said, working himself up into a frenzy. “The one who will rule!” He began to shake.

“This guy’s a nut,” said Mudhoof. “Let’s just kill him and loot his corpse.”

I ignored my bloodthirsty friend and tried to calm the little man down by trying a different approach. “I’m Vivian, these are my friends. What’s your name?”

The little man’s eyes locked onto me, as if noticing my existence for the first time. “Why, I’m the mayor of Ashbrook. The place he has chosen to begin his empire!”

The mayor of Ashbrook then stood and shook his fists in front of him. “Death to the despoilers! Death to the craven worms who do not worship the One!”

Thorm stepped forward gripping his great broadsword with both hands. He mumbled a quick chant and the mayor abruptly stopped shaking, but his eyes were still wide with whatever mania afflicted him.

“I don’t believe this soothing enchantment will hold for very long,” Thorm said, eying the mayor warily. “But you may get a more coherent answer from him, now.”

“He’s not diseased?”

Thorm shook his head. “No, he’s cursed, and in a bad way.”

I said to the mayor, “We would like to help. Where can we find this ‘One’ you are talking about? Did he hurt you?”

At the mention of the ‘One’ the mayor’s fists resumed shaking, and he took a step closer to me. “Do not think you can defile him with your blather!” He screamed. “He shall grant you the gift of death for your insolence!”

“What a charming conversationalist,” said Feign, and a large snowball appeared in his hand. “Best get ready, I think this one is going to blow up at any moment.”

The mage was right. The little mayor suddenly grunted and his body twisted about. We all eased back, weapons at the ready.

The black veins in his flesh now ballooned outward, expanding against his skin. The mayor let out a blood-curdling cry as his torso and arms tore open his shirt and jacket. His shoes popped and his feet extended out.

In moments, his entire body had mutated into a blacked, bulbous contortion.

His eyes, one now freakishly larger than the other, looked to us. When he spoke, it was not with his own voice.

“Fools,” the mayor rumbled down at us. He was getting taller now. “To think I allowed you to infect this realm in my absence. Such a mistake will not happen again.” The trees near him shook with the power of his voice and leaves cascaded down like rain. “I will smite you and all others into the Demon Void were your carcasses will fuel the fiery pits of agony.”

Mudhoof laughed. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you, buddy?” He hefted his uber ax over his shoulder. “I’m not into role-playing, just killing.”

The mutant mayor roared at Mudhoof, “You bovine scum! I shall make steaks from your seared flesh and…”

“That’s it!” Mudhoof said and swung his ax straight down into the ground before him. The ground cracked open at the impact and the crack grew out toward the mayor.

In an instant, the crack reached the mayor but not before he punched downward with a huge misshaped fist. A loud boom rumbled, and the world shook. The crevice had stopped expanding and the mutant mayor sneered at Mudhoof.

Mudhoof blinked in surprise. “Oh, wow. That should have knocked him over.”

Feign threw his snowball which struck the mayor and ice quickly formed around his feet. It grew up his legs, crackling loudly, and in a few moments the mutant was encased in ice up to his waist.

The mayor twisted his torso and opened his mouth wide. A thick geyser of blackened vomit shot out like water from a fire hose, straight at Feign.

The ice mage gasped and raised his arms in surprise.

Then, Thorm was standing before the mage a magical barrier forming around them both. The black fluid splashed off the barrier and hissed and bubbled as it slid off.

I stood wide eyed in shock. Things had escalated quickly, and I needed to join the fray. To Mudhoof, I shouted, “Get his attention! Distract him!”

Mudhoof gave me a fearful look. “What? And have him barf all over me with that stuff?” But he was already moving away from me and shouting. “Hey, over here, you puss-bag!”

The mayor reared around, the ice on his legs shattering. He roared at Mudhoof.

Certain it was not looking at me, I stepped back under the shade of the trees and activated my Shadow ability. I shimmered into invisibility.

Quickly, I skirted the edge of the clearing to get behind the mutant mayor.

“I shall pick my teeth with your bones, cow-man,” the mayor shouted, then he inhaled his breath.

Mudhoof stopped moving, finding the air around him being pulled toward the mutant. “What the FILTERED?” He said in alarm. He dug his hooves into the ground, but he continued to be pulled back, forming little trenches beneath him.

The mayor inhaled faster and Mudhoof struggled to not lose his ground.

A glance at Feign and Thorm showed the barrier shielding them was still covered in the black acid. Thorm couldn’t deactivate it without getting seriously injured or killed.

As I moved into position, I saw Phlixx race around firing tiny bolts with his little crossbow at the mayor. The mutant didn’t even notice as the projectiles bounced harmlessly off him.

Mudhoof was now in full panic mode. The inhaling winds nearly tipping him backward. In desperation, he swung his great ax into the ground again, but this time without invoking its knock-back ability. Instead, it stuck deep into the earth.

Suddenly, Mudhoof lost his footing and his legs shot out from under him. He grasped at the ax’s handle in desperation. The minotaur flailed about, the only thing keeping him from being sucked back was his grip on the ax.