Touch of Fate

Mike dragged the young beastman to his feet. Something about Brenden's eyes bothered him. The cold, emotionless stare reminded him a bit of the vargul with its fearsome gaze.

Not wanting to wait any further under such a baleful glare, he hoped that getting out of the room would snap Brenden out of his funk and return him to his usual goofy self.

"Can you walk? Your injuries should be more or less healed."

A slightly dazed voice answered. "...Yes.....I...am fine." Brenden returned with a half-hearted smile.

"Great, we should get moving. Hopefully the others won't be too far away."

Brenden merely nodded in return, his cold eyes never leaving him.

[Alright, that's starting to get a little creepy. I'm just going to start walking and hope he doesn't do anything strange.]

There were three doorways leading out of the room. Since both him and Brenden each used one enter, Mike decided to take the third. At the very least it should take them into area they hadn't explored before.

The pair traveled through the dungeon and encountered several monsters. The majority of this floor's enemies seemed to be composed of the red lizards, with the occasional group of the draconic lizardmen popping up.

Mike was able to handle the majority of these situations encounters without too much difficulty. In the case of multiple enemies, Brenden would help by taking on at least one.

The brutal and efficient combat style of the beastman impressed Mike. Even though it was obvious that his skills weren't particularly developed, Brenden seemed to have a great deal of experience in combat.

They eventually worked their way into a large chamber, built like a castle throne room. At the far end stood a massive pair of ornate double doors.

"That must be the way to the boss room for the floor. It doesn't look like its guarded."

Mike made to step into the room, but Brenden caught his sleeve. Mike turned to look at his compatriot questioningly.

"Something's not right. I smell an enemy, but I don't see one." The beastman answered coldly. The disturbing calm had yet to leave him completely, but Mike had been seeing signs of his old personality returning.

"What do you mean exactly?"

"I think there is a monster hiding somewhere in this room."

Mike turned to regard the chamber a second time. "Are you sure? I'm not really...."

He stopped himself after catching a glimpse of motion from another corridor. Focusing on it, Mike saw Tal's bound spirit, Mal (Mike couldn't remember the spirit's name) leading a small group composed of Tal herself, Lloyd, and Rita. As he watched, they cautiously entered the room, the battered looking spirit-bound armor leading the way.

As quietly as he could, Mike tried to get their attention. Tal quickly noticed his antics and sent a questioning gaze his direction. Or at least Mike figured it was questioning, her expression really didn't change.

Mike slowly mouthed his message, "WATCH.....OUT....THERE.....IS....A...MONSTER....IN...THE....ROOM."

By this point Lloyd and Rita had caught sight of him. The brother looked confused and answered with a simple. "What?"

Mike grimaced and started mouthing his message again, when a powerful impact struck the center of the room, raising a cloud of dust. As the cloud settled, the adventurers began to see a large, malevolent shape.

A massive 3m tall armored hulk stood. Judging from the red tail and shape of the helmet, Mike thought that this monster was similar to the lizardmen he had fought earlier, simply on a much larger scale.

It wielded a giant, silver halberd in two gauntleted hands, launching a horizontal sweep at the leading members of Tal's group.

Tal grabbed the twins and hauled them back, while her bound spirit stepped forward to meet the blow. It summoned a large shield of stone, and hunkered down.

The shield held for a second, before the halberd punched through, flinging the bound armor against the far wall. Mal collapsed into a heap, seeming to literally fall apart.

By this point, Mike was already moving. He summoned a trio of minor fireballs and launched them at the creatures head, careful to control the force. They exploded on contact with the giant lizardman's head, doing little more than slightly scorching its helmet, but Mike managed to grab its attention.

He had to fall into a sliding dive to avoid another sweep of the halberd, and neatly skidded between the creature's legs. Before the lizardman had a chance to turn, Mike rose and sliced into the back of its left knee, where the plate's of the creature's armor joined.

Although the creature grunted in pain, Mike could tell that the wound wasn't deep. He leapt back several paces to create some distance while considering his options.

[I'm need to get through that armor if I want a chance of delivering a fatal blow.]

While he was debating about unsealing his dangerous, laser sword technique he heard a melodic voice.

Tal, wrapped inside the misty wings of an almost ethereal bird of prey, chanted a solemn verse.

"Spirits of Air, whose kingdom is the sky, grant upon this one the blessing of your might. Cut the wind in thy anger. Unleash thy fury upon those who would transgress. [Bladed Gale]"

The mist-like bird opened its beak and emitted a piercing cry, creating a howling cyclone of nearly invisible blades that hammered into the lizardman, cutting deep into its armor. It roared in pain and was forced back several steps, before tripping and landing on its side.

Not missing his chance, Mike sprinted towards the wounded monster. He avoided the its thrashing tail, dodged the flailing legs, and jumped up on to the creature's torso, using it as a spring board to leap high into the air.

For a moment time seemed to slow.

The armored lizardman, roaring in defiance from the ground, tried to bring its halberd to bear, but couldn't make it in time. Mike's sword flashed in the dim light of the dungeon. It fell like a thunderbolt, plunging deeply into the monster's armored chest. As he landed, the sword snapped at the hilt, leaving the blade buried inside.

The creature let out a pained gasp, one of its claws feebly grasping at it wound. Its reptilian eyes focused on Mike, and he felt a strange connection with the creature in its last moments.

With a rattling wheeze the lizardman collapsed and started to disintegrate, armor and all. In a few short minutes, all that was left behind was a fist sized ruby-colored crystal.

The misty bird-like form wrapping Tal slowly dispersed, and she staggered as if overcome by a sudden weakness. Mike jogged over to lend a hand, but she silently refused. Slowly, she made her way over to the broken form of her bound armor.

The elf kneeled, picking up a piece of the shattered metal. While her face didn't really change, Mike could detect a profound sorrow emanating from her.

He decided that she needed some time to grieve, so he checked up on the rest of the group. Brendon had taken over for Tal, protecting the twin, so the trio had remained largely unscathed.

Judging from Lloyd and Rita's fearful faces, their journey up to this point had evidently been harsh.

"You two doing alright? No injuries?" He questioned the pair. They merely shook their heads in response, too overwhelmed to even speak up.

Mike nodded, and decided to wait for Tal to discuss their next step. In the meantime, Brenden grabbed the lizardman's mana core and brought it over to Mike.

"Thanks," He murmured, a little puzzled by the beastman's behavior.

Brenden nodded before trotting over to stand next to the twins. He was starting to regain a little of his former joviality, but eyes were still sharp and cold. Nevertheless, Lloyd and Rita seemed comforted by his presence.

The whole affair reminded Mike of a solemn guard dog looking after small children.

[Does that thought count as racist?, .... or speciest, I guess?] He thought to himself with some mild amusement, before turning to face Tal, who had finished her business.

She was carefully handling a small, intricately carved rock.

"Is that...?" Mike asked.

"Yes. Mejimanethial's spirit core." She replied flatly, evidently not wanting to discuss the matter. She placed it reverently into a belt pouch before focusing her gaze on Mike.

"We're on our own."

Mike parsed her statement for a few moments before replying. "So, Philomena?"

"Don't know. She was holding back monsters. Told us to go. Haven't seen her since." Her face remained neutral, but Mike detected a sense of regret. She glanced over at Brenden before questioning, "Devin?"

"Dead."

Rita gasped, and Lloyd looked sick. Silence descended on the room for a good minute.

"Well, this is probably the boss room." Mike said absently, while looking at the large pair of double doors, lost in contemplation. The others waited patiently as he weighed his options. None of them had quite realized it consciously, but in the absence of their instructor, they had begun to treat Mike as the de-facto leader.

"The way I see it, we have three basic options. One, we could backtrack and try to locate Philomena before we challenge the boss room. A Rank 5 adventurer would be a great help, but we have no guarantee that she is still alive."

"W-We might run into other monsters while we are looking." Lloyd added hesitantly.

Mike nodded before continuing. "That's true, and we could end up wasting mana and stamina in the process. Our second option is to wait here, in the hopes that she will make her way back here."

Tal shook her head. "Not safe to wait in a dungeon."

"So, we are left with one other option, challenging the boss ourselves. While this is probably the most dangerous option in the short term, there will be no need to worry about supplies or wandering monsters. If we are successful, we can head back to the guild and see about mounting some kind of rescue mission."

He waited, but no complaint emerged from the group. "So are we in agreement? Are you all willing to challenge this boss?"

Tal simply nodded. Brenden just looked at Mike, without saying anything.

The twins seemed uncertain, but after some quiet deliberation between the two of them, Lloyd stepped forward. "Let's do it."

"Alright, its decided. Lets talk strategy."