Adam Drake - Blackout

Before I could take solace in the fact the real Thorm was prancing around a field chasing pigs with a wooden sword, this Mutant-Thorm vomited a geyser of black fluid at me.

I scrambled out of the way as the horrid liquid splashed where I had stood.

Keeping back, and circling to his side, I assessed the situation. There was no way I could take him on my own. Not even close. This mutant version of Thorm was far more powerful than the real Thorm had ever been.

I needed to stay out of its way and destroy the pylons, of which there was so many. It would take awhile. And the entire time I needed to keep Mutant-Thorm from bashing me or vomiting me into an acidic puddle.

Mutant-Thorm raised his huge sword-fist and charged.

I Shadowed and dodged to the side. The mutant swung wildly, and looked about in confusion, unable to see me.

I ran through the pylon orchard to the other side, then took aim with my bow and fired into one of them. It shattered and its blue light beam winked off.

There was a roar, and I turned to spot Mutant-Thorm lumbering toward me. He knocked over two pylons in his haste and their beams went off.

Hey, I thought. I may be on to something.

Back into Shadow and instead of dodging I ran right past him. When he reached the spot where I had stood he swung the sword-fist against another pylon which collapsed. Another beam died out.

Okay, this might be fun.

For several long minutes I played this suicidal game of peek-a-boo with the lumbering monstrosity. Each time I fired at a pylon, he’d come running over like a bull in a china shop, knocking pylons over, and then swinging at the spot I had vacated.

He was doing a better job at destroying them than me.

Soon, over two thirds of the pylons were blue rubble on the ground. The light feeding into the portal had dimmed significantly.

But once I shot at the next pylon, the ground shook violently. Mutant-Thorm fell over, crashing into more pylons.

The shaking continued.

When I hit the next pylon, the shaking intensified so much I had to keep my sure-footed ability continuously active.

A chat request popped up on my screen.

Annoyed, I opened it as I dodged another charge from the Mutant-Thorm.

Mudhoof was on the screen. “Vee! You’re alive!” He looked to be running.

I rolled out of the way of a sword-fist swing and went into Shadow as I scrambled around a pylon.

“Where are you?” I whispered. Mutant-Thorm thumped by, one huge eye scanning around for me.

“Coming to you now!” Mudhoof said.

I looked around and spotted him in the distance at the very far edge of the cavern. Feign ran along beside him, robes billowing about.

I was about to offer a grateful response when I spotted two other figures appear from a side tunnel behind Mudhoof. They ran at top speed to catch up to the minotaur and mage.

It was the centaur-samurai and the stone mage.

“Look out! Behind you!” I shouted. On the screen, Mudhoof spun about, but I didn’t see more because Mutant-Thorm had heard me.

The contorted monster blindly slammed his sword down at the spot my voice came from.

I jumped but not before the huge knuckles of his fist glanced heavily off my back. The contact sent me sprawling in a heap along the ground where I crashed against a pylon.

As I tried to get me senses back, the ground heaved and shattered before me. I scrambled back grasping at the ore pylon for balance, my sure-footed ability switching off having used it too many times that day.

A chasm gaped before me and the pylon I hung on to suddenly crumbled. Shouting in surprise, I slipped over the edge.

With both my hands I clung to the chasm edge. Behind me came a roar. Mutant-Thorm, having regained his balance spotted me and charged.

This would not end well, I thought morbidly. I pulled myself up, but I wasn’t fast enough.

When Mutant-Thorm reached the chasm edge he raised his meaty sword-fist to smite me for the last time.

The ground he was on suddenly shifted and with a mighty crack, broke off. It dropped straight down, taking the monstrosity with it. Even as he fell, the thing took a swing at me.

I had to heave my body up and curl my legs under me as the sword clanged mere inches from my butt.

Then I saw the Mutant-Thorm vanish into the dusty darkness of the chasm, roaring all the way down.

I finally got myself up over the ledge and crawled a safe distance away. But what was really safe anymore?

A glance toward my friends told me they were joined in full battle. Mudhoof, armed with his uber ax, traded blows with the centaur who wielded a long handled halberd. Feign was back pedaling away from the stone mage who cast boulders at him. As the boulders shot forward, Feign summoned a large wedge of ice in front of it, deflecting the rolling projectile enough to miss crushing him. But I did not know how long either one of them had.

The portal swirled like an angry black whirlpool. The blue beams of light were now a handful, and it seemed that dashing the last of them would close the portal for good.

As the ground continued to heave and shift, I managed to stand. The last of the pylons needed to be destroyed. This was it. Only a few more to go.

A loud voice echoed throughout the huge cavern. “You dare defy the One?” It said.

I looked. There, in large entryway stood a huge figure I’d hoped to never encounter again. Death personified and the giver of re-rolls.

The Demon King.

For a moment I could only stare at the massive figure of the Demon King.

He was a god. I’d never heard of anyone killing a god before, let alone taking one on in battle.

I was a fair distance from him, but the others were much closer.

Feign had frozen the stone mage who was encased in a block of ice. The ice mage turned to face the approaching Demon King. He, too, stood paralyzed with fear.

The centaur-samurai appeared to have the upper hand dueling with Mudhoof, but when the Demon King appeared he looked in the god’s direction. This was the opening Mudhoof needed. The minotaur struck, and the centaur was cut in two; human half tumbling one way, the horse half the other. The centaur-samurai’s inventory items all spilled into a neat pile on the ground, ready to be claimed.

Mudhoof waved his arms in the air in victory. His chat window was still open at the corner of my vision. “I get your stuff! I get your stuff!” The gleeful minotaur sing-songed.

“Mudhoof! Look out!” I cried into the chat screen.

The bull warrior whirled around and looked up.

The Demon King glided into the huge chamber and glared down at my friends. He raised his wooden staff up and smashed its end to the floor.

The ground heaved and buckled. I fell over and conked my head on a pile of ore. Above, the Demon Spine cracked and huge chunks fell. Large rents opened up revealing the blue sky above. I did not know how long this place would remain standing.

Feign had turned to run, but the impact of the staff was too great. The floor cracked open next to him, and both he and the frozen stone mage fell from view.

Mudhoof had lost his balance and lay on his side. He gave the Demon King a venomous glare.

I regained my senses and stood. This time I did not hesitate and fired into the nearest pylon; its light winked out and the portal gate rumbled. The clouds within sped up, swirling faster and faster.

The Demon King turned to look at me. “Stop that, worm,” he said, his voice louder than the cracking stone around me. “Or I will have my minions feed upon your flesh for an eternity.”

My response to his goofy dialog was to shoot another pylon.

The Demon King roared, and glided in my direction, raising his staff.