Adam Drake - Blackout

“Hey, Demon Twit!” Mudhoof shouted from the chat window. “Catch this!”

I looked to Mudhoof in the distance. He heaved his ax over his head with both hands, then using all his strength threw it. The uber ax was like a silver buzzsaw as it whipped through the air.

Amazingly, the ax buried itself into the shin of the Demon King.

The god roared, again, this time in pain. He stopped and pointed his staff at Mudhoof.

“Watch it, Muddie!” I cried, but it was too late.

Black lightening arced from the tip of the huge wooden staff and struck Mudhoof. The minotaur staggered back, black magical light exploding against his chest.

But nothing happened. Mudhoof stood against the magical barrage but did not mutate or transform like Thorm had.

The Demon King stopped the assault, no doubt perplexed.

In the chat window, Mudhoof held up the little white crystal. “It worked, Vee! Go figure!”

A roar from the Demon King brought more debris down from the ceiling. He glided toward Mudhoof. The minotaur had managed to tick off a god.

“Get out of there, Muddie! Head back to the tunnels!” It was the only real option he had.

Mudhoof shook his head. “Can’t. This is it. It’s up to you. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing. I’ll try to slow him down a little.” He glanced directly into screen. “It has been an honor questing with you, Vee.”

“No, Muddie!” I yelled. “Don’t!” But it didn’t matter.

Mudhoof lowered his horns, snorting steam from his huge nostrils. Then he charged straight at the approaching Demon King.

“RE-ROLL!!!!!” He shouted.

The Demon King stopped, pulled his staff back and swung it down like a colossal golf club. It hit the maniacal minotaur with incredible force.

The powerful impact sent Mudhoof straight into the air, then up through a rent in the high ceiling and he vanished from view.

The chat window closed.

Mudhoof was gone.

I stared at the point that my friend had been sent to his death, more than a little overwhelmed. Now I was all that was left of our group, and against a god. My heart beat hard in my chest.

Keep doing what you’re doing .

The Demon King then resumed his approach toward me, but I focused on the task at hand. Destroying the remaining pylons.

I fired rapidly, faster than I ever had before. Over and over.

Each pylon that collapsed sent more shock-waves through the ground. The lights feeding the portal lessened to just a handful.

“Stop!” The Demon King commanded. I looked up to see him towering above me. He pointed his staff and black lightening arced out. I tensed.

Like with Mudhoof, the evil magic was absorbed by the white crystal. But I did not spare a moment to admire my good fortune because it was only temporary. I fired and destroyed two more pylons.

There was only one left.

The Demon King stopped his magical assault and raised his huge staff to strike me. There was nothing I could do to avoid it. I used my last second of life to fire at the final pylon.

I missed.

The staff swung down. Desperate, I Shadowed and dived forward using my leap ability.

The swinging staff missed me and the wind it kicked up pushed me toward the ground. The moment before I crashed I fired again.

I hit the pylon.

As the ore shattered the remaining light went out, and the Demon King screamed. Not in rage but in pain.

He raised his hands in the air and shook his fists. “No!” He cried out.

Black light shot out from the swirling portal and enveloped the Demon King. He reacted with surprise.

“This cannot be!” He rumbled. His yellow eyes locked on to me. “You! You did this!”

The god was being dragged away, back toward the portal. He flailed, desperate to stop but nothing slowed him down. Soon he was teetering at the edge of the portal, the black light pulling at him with incredible force.

“You will pay! I will remember you! You will pay!” He screamed.

Then he slipped over the edge, his body swirling along with the clouds and was sucked into the portal.

The gate went dark. Its surface now a black plain of stone. The earth stopped rumbling, and the ceiling did not crack apart any more.

I sagged to the ground, my ears ringing from all the noise and screaming. My avatar’s body ached.

Did I do it? Is it over?

Then, beside me, a Legendary Treasure Chest appeared.

Despite my exhaustion the appearance of the treasure chest got my full attention.

Finally. The Legendary Item.

I reached forward and touched the lid which opened on its own. The interior glowed with a soft yellow light.

The chest was packed with gold. I’d never seen so much in one place before. When I ran my hand through the coins, the gold vanished.

But before disappointed set in, I received a message on the bottom of my screen. ‘Bank Deposit of 1,000,000 gold pieces received.’

“Oh, that’s nice,” I said with a grin. Add that to the deposit money, even after splitting it with the others, and this made for a good haul.

An object then formed within the chest. It looked to be dark clothing of some kind, folded neatly into a square. A piece of parchment covered in writing was pinned to one corner. I unpinned it and read the writing with anticipation.

’ Adventurer,

With this item you will become one of seven great champions. Each champion will be tasked with protecting the Realm from the coming Darkness, a blight which seeks to annihilate all. You are now responsible for the incredible power it will give you. Use this wisely .’

Seven great champions? The coming Darkness? What the heck was all that about? A new phase for the gaming universe? The prospect was equal parts exciting and terrifying.

I put the parchment into my inventory and looked at the folded cloth. Its color shifted and changed like chameleon’s skin. One second blue, the next black. I reached down and picked it up.

It felt as light as air, and with a silky texture. Carefully, I unfolded it.

A hooded cloak.

I crooked an eyebrow. It didn’t appear special. “What’s so Legendary about this?” I asked.

The game answered for me and brought up an identifying label.

’ The Cloak of Shadows .’

“Whoa,” I said. I’d never even heard of anything similar to this in the game lore.

When I brought up the cloak’s list of traits and abilities my jaw hit the ground.

The Cloak of Shadows – Traits & Abilities (Shadow Class Only)

Summon Shadow Steed (Mount).

One teleport per day to a Recall Point.

Shadow Ability Upgraded to Full Invisibility.

Phase ability unlocked.

Create Void Portal.

I was stunned. Shocked. Amazed. This was absolutely incredible!

Any one of the listed abilities would be cool, but to have all of these together on one item? I found myself drooling. This lived up to the label of Legendary.

Whoever wore this would become one of the top tier players in the game. Heck, maybe the single most powerful Shadow.

And, according to the parchment, six other Legendaries now were waiting to be found out there in the game universe. My mind boggled.

But there was a problem. I’d signed a contract to give it to Ogden Trite. He’d get to keep the Cloak or auction it away.

I was conflicted.

Suddenly, the air around me grew very cold. In an instant ice formed over my hands, covering the Cloak of Shadows, and traveled up my arms and encased my body.

I was frozen in a block of ice.

Feign appeared, walking into my frozen field of view.

“Well, well,” the ice mage said. “What do you have there?” He looked at the Cloak in my frozen grip. “Cloak of Shadows? Interesting. That will be worth quite a bit of money. Too bad you won’t be collecting it.” He grinned.