MAZE - The Endless Quest

‘Did you two notice that this kind of thing keeps happening to us?’ Nimbus jumped back, parrying a strike that came from one of the three humans the trio was facing. He was now a few steps away, getting a moment to breathe.

‘Do you mean the fact that even with all these people fighting we somehow, get the undivided attention of three of the strongest guards in the camp?’ Lurize pushed a man back after blocking his sword. To follow up, he went for an upward slash with his Zweihänder, but the human jumped back, doing a backflip to escape.

‘Yeah. I think I attract that kind of thing. Sorry you have to be stuck with me,’ Hera stepped to the side and tried to swing at the man that just attacked her twice with her hand axes. One of them managed to hit him, but it was blocked by a barrier, while the second attack just missed. Still, she added a kick to push him away.

The humans were trying to circle the three, but Hera and her blades wouldn’t let that happen. Sun, Shadow, and Pyro blocked their attempts to move, while the Empress herself was constantly aware of everyone’s position.

‘I blame the Silver Lining. That skill is always trouble,’ Nimbus huffed as he dashed forward, attempting to go past the man in front of him. Among the three humans they were fighting, this was the weakest. The problem was the fourth member of this group. A healer that was buffing and protecting the front line.

However, the humans noticed the attempt and moved to intercept the Sentinel. All three jumping towards him brandishing their weapons. Without even seeing that moment, Hera was already ready to follow along. She blocked the woman Nimbus was facing before with a spinning kick, followed up by a tail slash. Pyro was attached to the appendage and assisted with the aim to reach the hand holding the human’s spear. Taking advantage of the momentum, the Empress added a slash with one of her hand axes, but this one aimed at the same man that she kicked a few moments ago. Yet again, the strike was stopped by the barrier cast by the one in the back. Making Hera hiss in anger, her jaw unhinging, showing the face of a snake about to strike.

That move was enough to spook the humans, who became frazzled but continued the strike. Seeing that, the Ophidianite decided to lean on the idea. Activating [Toxic Mist] she also quickly sent an idea to Daskka, who moved right away. The herald turned into her purple mist form and shot out of Hera’s mouth like a cloud of venom, which only made the humans even more spooked by the situation.

Even with that interruption, it wasn’t enough to clear a path for Nimbus, who had to use [Mana Shield] to block the attacks from the third man, and the awkward blow the second man still attempted to connect with his war hammer. The woman with a spear was able to follow up, but Shadow moved to block the attack while Sun aimed at the man with the sword to stop him from doing anything. That became a jumbled mess with all three humans entangled with Hera, Nimbus, and the members of the Alabaster Dukedom. And that was exactly their plan.

Forcing them to be in this close proximity made all the humans suffer the effect of the Ophidianite’s [Toxic Mist] boosted not just by [Ophidianite Poison] but also [Poison Mastery], and a certain beetle’s [Venom Edict]. In addition, Hera felt another skill being attached to the mist, [Mana Vessel]. That was the skill she was able to create while trying to replicate the effects of what had happened in the vision when dealing with Alex’s curse. The effects of she used the Pool of Styx to gain an absurd amount of attributes. But she could also tell that only [Ophidianite Poison] was being affected. This turned the venom in the air considerably more deadly, almost to the point of corroding their armor.

Seeing the state of his partners, the human in the back started to cast cleaning spells to get rid of the toxic mist. He could do so, but since Hera was continuously letting that airborne poison seep out of her, he had to cast the spell continuously. Which became his downfall. The man was unable to notice a large metal armor turning golden and rushing at him. Lurize slammed on the healer like a train going at full speed. He sent the man flying, but before he could get away from the Royal Tutor, a large gloved metal hand grabbed the human’s leg and slammed him into the ground.

As a testament to his prowess. The barrier surrounding the healer blocked all the damage caused by the attack. But that was all it could do. Spells like that stopped someone from being hurt, but the action of being violently tossed around still could mess with someone’s body. In this case, the man got a concussion due to the whiplash he suffered in just a few seconds.

With the caster unconscious, the barrier that was hindering the fight vanished. In addition, the mist that surrounded the Empress pushed back against the humans once more. Not wanting to give them a chance to escape, Hera swung her hand axe at the clumsy man’s chest using [Grasshopper Slash]. The attack broke his wooden armor, cut open his skin, and shattered part of his ribcage. As soon as she pulled back the blade, it became obvious that the wound was already festering. Courtesy of the combo of Venom and Strength buffs on her weapons.

Nimbus didn’t wait around and send a few frozen feathers towards the woman by using a spell. The move forced her to protect her face from the assault, and gave enough of an opening for the Sentinel to slam both bladed tonfas on her stomach, essentially gutting her. Proving the human’s resilience, she still tried to attack him even as the blood flowed from the gash in her torso. But having a spear for such a close range fight wasn’t helpful. She could only struggle for a few moments before Nimbus delivered a final blow, cutting open her neck and letting her bleed out on the ground.

The last human, the man with a sword was coughing due the mist created by Hera. Daskka also helped by making sure the poison was concentrated around him. But it was Shadow, benefiting from the debuff already applied to the human with his [Shadow Mastery] who delivered the finishing blow, decapitating the man in a swift motion.

With the battle over, Hera glanced down, taking a brief moment to process what she had just done. Killing people wasn’t something she enjoyed. Not in the slightest, and the brutal way they died… No. The brutal way in which she had killed them, didn’t make this any easier. Still, this was war. Both sides knew what they were getting themselves into. At least she just fought. She never went out of her way to make them suffer more than they had to. Hopefully, that would have given them, and the Empress some solace.

Lurize walked back to Hera, Nimbus, and the Alabasters having already finished the healer off. Amongst all the humans they fought, that man was the most annoying to deal with.

“Hera? Are you ok?” the Royal Tutor noticed her expression.

“Not really, but let’s keep going,” Hera took a couple of steps and stopped, turning to Nimbus, “By the way. Don’t talk shit about Silver Linings. That skill is likely responsible for me finding the legacy and meeting you all. It can do whatever it wants with us.”

The Sentinel groaned, but no one believed his reaction. All court members agreed with that sentiment. If that skill really brought them all together, it was worth it.

The battle continued. Each member of the Alliance having to face two or more of the humans. The camp was massive and there were easily a couple hundred troops stationed here. Which also sounded small when comparing the five hundred people who were imprisoned here. In the middle of all of that. Helena rushed through the tents.

Glancing inside each of them, she tried to find her cousin, but so far, only saw a few guards, and the families trying to protect themselves. Some even showed aggression towards her, even if she didn’t do anything. Not that the mage blamed any of them, of course. They were in a terrible situation and it was the human’s fault. Anyone in their place would be suspicious of a random human running around, looking for something.

Because of the attack, and the yells of how it was the Alliance, none of the guards seemed to pay attention to Helena as she ran through the camp. It was just one more person trying to help with the fight. The clock continued ticking, as the sounds of battle increased more and more. The families started to get involved in the combat. Some hoping to help the Alliance, others just being unlucky enough to be in a tent that was hit by a spell.

The louder the fight became, the more Helena’s anxiety grew. What if her cousin was in one of the tents hit by a nasty spell? Or if his son was hurt. He was only here because of her.

Shaking her head, the mage continued her search. Until she noticed a large group of people carrying children rushing inside a door connected to the mountain. Were the people trying to hide inside the mines? That had some potential, but it would also be very dangerous if anyone ended up using an attack that was too strong. At least this wasn’t a place where people took out coal or some sort of fuel. Even if there was a spark inside, it wouldn’t blow the entire mountain up.

Helena quickly moved through the tents and to the door. Just as she was about to open, someone came out. Blocking her from getting to the door.

“What?! No! You are not getting the children!” an elven man yelled and pointed a stick at the human in front of him.

“I’m with the Alliance. Do you know someone name Alan? He’s a human married to a beastmen.”

“I… I do. No, shut up. You are just trying to trick me!” the elf yelled.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Helena groaned and called her shadow army. The small black dots with glowing eyes and told them to pick the man up and place him to the side, “If I wanted to hurt you I would have. I’m just looking for my cousin. Have you seen Alan? He has a kid called Brian.”

Helena’s voice was louder, not enough to be a yell, but enough to be heard from inside the mines. The door suddenly opened revealing her cousin.

“Lena?! What are you doing here?” Alan opened a big smile, he was wearing what were essentially rags. There were a few wounds on his arms and face. Helena could tell that he should be covered in bruises, but it was hard to see that due his dark complexion.

“Alan!” the mage rushed to give him a hug, being careful not to squeeze too much, “Are you ok? What about Brian and Celeste?”

“Both are fine. I’ve been working on the mines and they were ok. The guards here were more careful with the members of the other species. Humans got the short end of the stick,” Alan looked around, “Come, we can talk inside. What are you doing here?”

“I’m helping break you all out,” Helena glanced back and told her shadow army to bring the elf inside.

“Breaking out to where? What is going on?” Alan asked with a confused expression.

Helena snapped her fingers, creating a shadow barrier around the two that stopped anyone from see or hear what was going on inside. Just in case, “The Alliance is taking over the room today. We came first to make sure they don’t use you all as hostages. By the end you should be able to go back to your house.”

The mage dropped the spell right away, leaving Alan with his mouth open, “Are… are you serious?” the man asked.

A loud crash came from outside as one of the guard towers collapsed during the fight, “I am. We wouldn’t be making this mess otherwise. Everything will be ok,” Helena replied. Not just to calm down Alan and everyone who was listening, but also herself.