The Dragon's Revenge Read online

  Thud! With a ground-shaking landing, Mikarkathat swatted at Raitha with her front claws and drove her open maw onto Raitha’s figure. Dizzy with the lightning - that caused blobs of dark afterimages to swirl over my vision - and also with the shaking terrain, for a few seconds all I could see was an impression of fang and claw. I could, however, view the translucent raid screen I had pulled up by rolling both my eyes rightwards and it showed me that Raitha was nearly dead.

  Suddenly, her health bar was back on full. The paladin behind her had used Holy Intervention, the once-a-day full heal that high-level paladins obtained. That was why they were there, generously sacrificing themselves, because there was no way either of them could stand this close to the action for long.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Go, go, go! All in. Heal rotation go.’

  Now an extraordinary welter of confused sound competed with the angry roars of the dragon. Accompanied by dramatic rushes of noise, like a succession of waves hitting the shore, dozens of spells were being cast and streams of colour were flowing from the fingers of the spell casters towards the dragon. Many of the spells wouldn’t take hold, but those that did would slow her, DoT her (damage over time) and remove some of her buffs.

  It was crucial to slow Mikarkathat. Otherwise, even with Restore landing perfectly on her every second, Raitha could still be taken out by a flurry of attacks from the raging dragon. A surge of elation shot through me when it was apparent that some slow spells of ours had worked. We were off to a great start. Although Raitha’s hit points dropped alarmingly, by as much as three-quarters in a second, they were back up to maximum before the next hit.

  [Channel Tyro/Raitha] ‘I believe we have a chance of victory,’ said Raitha, with intense excitement in her voice.

  [Channel Tyro/Raitha] ‘Maybe.’

  [Channel Tyro/Raitha] ‘Thou art going down, dragon!’ Raitha sounded as enthusiastic as I’d ever heard her, despite the alarming drops in her hit points.

  And what she had said rang true, the dragon’s hit points were noticeably declining. Still over 90 per cent though.

  Because my actions were all pretty much automated (Taunt and Attack were on macros; I only needed to concentrate in order to trigger some gear effects manually and watch for ability opportunities), I had the mental space to study the raid screen that overlaid my vision as a near-invisible translucent veil whose constituent boxes brightened as I turned my eyes to them and faded as I looked away.

  In front of me, filling the whole sky with its presence, was a slathering, bellowing, ferocious dragon. The fiercest in the game. Despite its furious roars, its beating wings and the constant battering I was taking, I was barely giving the dragon any attention.

  Mikarkathat radiated some kind of electrical field that drained you of hit points and spirit. Judging by the raid screen, a lot of us, much more than half, were on less than a quarter hit points. I knew this would happen and had assigned the druids, once they had tried to DoT the dragon, to heal the non-tanks. As for spirit, I’d made it a condition of participation by caster classes that they each bring a Major Potion of Spirit Restoration. Plus, I had all my section leaders carry spares.

  [Channel Tyro/Braja] ‘Restore please.’

  [Channel Tyro/Braja] ‘Yep,’ replied Braja. During downtime, Braja could be a non-stop talker. On a raid though he was focused, clinical, all economy of word and deed.

  And eight seconds later, I was back to full hit points.

  Clerics were in high demand in Epic, it was kind of a boring class and hard to level solo. In groups, however, well, you were everyone’s friend. About three years ago, Raitha and I had called for a cleric to join us in the Halls of the Amber Palace and Braja had come over. First thing he’d said was, ‘You better be good because I’m high-grade awesome.’ Then he’d given us his terms: loot was randomly distributed unless a cleric item dropped; if it represented an upgrade, he got it, no arguments. Secondly, we had to listen to heavy metal from Finland while we battled.

  ‘Bring it on!’ Raitha had laughed and soon we were rocking the zone. The three of us had been a team ever since. Braja had the same dedication to the game as Raitha and me, playing it even more than me, somehow fitting in the time around a job as a postal worker. You could tell from his conversation that Braja had read a lot. Whatever he had studied in the past, it was Epic that he had mastered.

  Right now, Braja was somewhere to my right minding the clerics in the rotation, the extra cleric who kept topping their hit points up as the dragon’s AE (area of effect) caused their health to sink. But he also kept his eye on me.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Stand by to rebuff Protection from Electricity.’ This alert was especially for the druids and sorcerers.

  Last time, when Mikarkathat was reduced to 75 per cent hit points, she cast a really strong debuff and stripped our front row of protection, then she did her second lightning breath attack and that had blown Raitha to pieces: think smouldering boots and nothing else. Everyone nearby had taken a massive hit too. It was a cruel trick from the game and, at the time, one we’d all complained about in the subsequent forum discussions about the fight. How was anyone supposed to survive that combination of debuff and nuke? After analysing the recording of the fight, however, I could see there was just time to restore the crucial protection buff.

  Exactly the same happened now. With a surge that raised her head high, Mikarkathat screamed and all my buffs disappeared.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Now!’

  Triumphant, vengeful, fearsome, the dragon drew itself up again, judging where best to blast its lightning breath. A moment before a shocking pulse shot through all of us grouped at the front of the dragon, a small square appeared on my translucent buff list. The icon was a picture of a purple ball, with lightning all around it on the outside. While I could feel the spine-tingling rush of electricity all around me, my hit points only dropped by a quarter. Our two paladins were wiped out by the attack, but Raitha was going strong, already back on full.

  [Channel Tyro/Raitha] ‘Oh, my goodness!’ shouted Raitha. ‘I rode it out this time.’

  I was too busy checking out the status of the other players to reply. This was going well. Over a hundred of the team were still battling hard and the dragon, slowly but surely, was being taken down from 75 towards 50 per cent, which was my next worry. Last time, we managed to get to 50 per cent, only to see the dragon do a trick with its wings, beating them hard, increasing our hit point drain and slowing us. At that point, the raid had become a wipe. This time, I had a plan, but I was still sweating over it.

  Hack, hack, hack. Taunt, Taunt, Taunt. My avatar was chopping away at the dragon (with a Longsword of the Moon). Whenever the dragon shifted - which it did a lot, jumping up to claw Raitha or give a mighty cry - I could see dozens of my comrades crowded around it, all chipping away with weapons that in any other circumstance would have been impressive-looking but which here looked small and ineffective.

  55, 54, 53, 52…I watched the bar representing the dragon’s hit points drop.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Hunters!’ I called out.

  And over the rise came ten hunters, all fully buffed, full hit points, held in reserve for this moment. The hunter class, when it reached level sixty and did the appropriate quest, could trigger an Undeviating Flight ability that allowed them ninety seconds of double damage with a bow. Now the arrows rained in hard upon the dragon’s flank. Even though Mikarkathat leapt backwards at 50 and the effect of her beating wings kicked in (my blows felt as though I was hitting her through a wall of glue and I could see from the raid UI [user interface] we were all losing health) the dragon’s own hit points were rushing downwards.

  At 40 per cent, the dragon dropped back to the ground and we were restored to normal speed.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Well done the archers!’

  I was speaking largely to dead characters, who would be waiting for news from their respawn point. If the strength of the hunter class was its ability to
do massive amounts of damage quickly, its weakness was poor armour and hit points. Most of them had not lasted much longer than the ninety seconds of their ability. One was still going strong, I made a note of her name: Roisina.

  The raid UI showed at least half of the participants were still alive, their names were still written in green. Crucially, the Restore rotation was working with only one gap (cleric number three was down). Now we were into uncharted territory, but if the previous surprises had come on Mikarkathat’s being reduced to 75 per cent and 50 per cent, there had to be a new challenge at 25.

  28, 27, 26…

  Boom! The skies opened and twenty demons looking like whirlwinds (wide, dark open mouths, angry eyes, bodies of fast spinning mist) poured down on the raid.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Air elementals!’ someone shouted in the raid channel but I forgave this at once. This was an emergency.

  The problem was, the new arrivals weren’t tied down, so they rampaged wildly, killing with glee. As fast as I could, I targeted those nearby and as well as tossing axes at them to get their attention, did my best to Taunt them. At the same time, I spoke to the raid channel, hoping I sounded calm and confident, rather than as rattled as I actually felt.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Root and kite classes, try to take the adds away.’

  Damnation. My eyes held tears and a cold sweat rushed over my body. Most of the clerics were dead and the raid was near wipe. Only now that I could taste failure did I realise how much this victory meant to me. We were so close. Focus. It wasn’t over yet.

  There were four elementals attacking me. No, three, Grythiss was on my left and had taken one.

  While I smashed into the elementals, triggering my Slash ability so that I could hit all three simultaneously with great sweeping blows of my longsword, I anxiously studied Raitha’s hit points. They dropped by a quarter every second, came up a bit, but then dropped still further. At least the surviving healers were doing the smart thing and casting quick heals, there was no time for a Restore, Raitha would be dead before it landed.

  [Channel Tyro/Grythiss] ‘Can you get these elementals off me? I’m going to be up against Mikarkathat soon.’ Again, I strove to keep my voice calm.

  [Channel Tyro/Grythiss] ‘Certainly, oh mighty leader. Thsssss.’

  There was a time for role playing, I thought, but this wasn’t it. Ignoring the elementals, I targeted Mikarkathat once more. And all of a sudden, she was on me.

  Raitha was gone.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘I’m now the main tank. All healers on Tyro!’

  Even as I shouted, and this time everyone would have heard the panicked screech in my voice, I triggered all my defensive abilities: Wall of Stone, Diamond Shield, Unbowed Heroism and even a dozen minor ones that I’d hardly used after level fifty. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t hitting the dragon much. Someone had to keep the aggro while the raid re-organised and that someone was me.

  Bring it on then, dragon.

  I stood right up to her: toe to claw; face to maw.

  Mikarkathat was on 17 per cent. My hit points, having fallen instantly to 32 per cent were now rising slowly as some of the heals landed. It was impossible to see what was happening elsewhere, what with a dragon the size of a house in my face, but I could tell the air elementals I’d drawn towards me were gone. Whether Grythiss had killed them or was running around with them chasing after him, at least I wasn’t flanked.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘What’s going on? Was it a wipe? Is someone going to resurrect us? Or do we set off for the nearest portal stones?’ Some idiot thought it was finished.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Still going,’ I replied. ‘Dragon on fifteen. Eleven of us standing. Stay off the channel, this is tight.’

  [Channel Tyro/Raitha] ‘Go! Tyro, go my friend! Win it for us.’ Raitha was in my ear.

  It was heartening to be cheered on by my fallen comrade, but I didn’t reply, I was too busy dividing my attention between fighting and the raid screen.

  Among the living were: Braja, who I knew had my back for healing so long as he had spirit left; Sapentia, seeing her alive gave me hope; Grythiss; and that hunter, Roisina. We also had a druid, a shaman, a rogue and three other warriors.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Spirit check.’

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Sapentia here. I’m on zero. I’ve four elementals parked with Root on staggered timer. If I med, I just get enough to cast Root again in time to keep them off me.’

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Braja. Twenty-three.’

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Roisina here, hunter. Thirty-nine. One elemental snared.’

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Grythiss. Zero, two elementals in train.’

  The druid answered with eleven and the shaman six. I hadn’t asked for a report on the elemental situation but they had been right to raise it. That was a big consideration.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Any spirit restoration potions left?’ I asked.

  No answer.

  Both Wall of Stone and Diamond Shield were in their last thirty seconds, I could see the timers running down at what seemed an incredible speed. When they were gone, I was going to see my hit points slide fast. The decision I had to make was this: all in on the dragon, who was on 13, ignoring the elementals? Or would we fall short if we did that? My intuition said it was too soon for a do or die call.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Grythiss, circle to Sapentia and take her mobs as they break the Root. Sapentia, med up for a nuke. Healers, stay on me. Either when I’m killed or else when the dragon is on six, go all in. Stop healing, ignore the elementals. To repeat: everyone in when she’s on six, with whatever you have left.’

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Yessssss, oh brave human. The lizardman obeys.’

  Blood and thunder, that guy was a character. I was so tense, I could barely speak coherently, let alone play-act. A lot depended on Grythiss too. His hit points were below 20 per cent, so he wouldn’t manage for long against several elementals, but I figured that shadow knights were good at getting aggro and I knew he had a nightmare for a mount. That was fast, faster even than the elementals, so with some skill, he might be able to tag the ones that Sapentia had rooted and keep them chasing him as the roots broke. If not, we’d get six elementals rushing back to the fight and we’d wipe.

  My two best abilities dropped and immediately I saw the effect on my hit points.

  Mikarkathat on 11, Tyro on 46.

  Mikarkathat on 10, Tyro on 29.

  Mikarkathat on 9, Tyro on 32, three heals had landed during that second: cleric, druid and shaman. Was there anything else I could do?

  Mikarkathat on 8, Tyro on 17.

  Mikarkathat on 7, Tyro on 2. Damn. Damn.

  Mikarkathat on 6, Tyro on 7.

  I probably didn’t have to say it but: [Channel Dragonattack] ‘All in!’ There was an extraordinary flash of red light that left me dazzled for a moment.

  Mikarkathat is dead. You gain experience.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘We win. I’m not sure how,’ I announced; doubtless I sounded amazed. I really was, had we truly won? No more surprises? There it was. A massive dead dragon sprawled in front of me and the summoned elementals had all gone.

  I heard giddy, high-pitched laughter coming from Sapentia. [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Critical hit with Fire Strike.’

  One hundred and thirty odd voices couldn’t contain themselves. A party began in the raid channel as - with a good dose of swearing - the raiders all started to voice their sense of achievement.

  We’d just made Epic history; Mikarkathat was dead.

  Chapter 2

  Greed

  This was easily the highpoint of my playing experience. I’d led successful raids before and victory always brought a wonderful glow along with a sense of achievement that lasted for days. This, however, was against a monster that no one, not even the most powerful guilds, had managed to kill. My sense of achievement was a high no drug could have taken me to. Physically, my body
felt like it was filled with energy and this visceral delight was constantly being reinforced by all the messages I was getting. Dozens of private channel requests were flashing.

  [Channel Tyro/Sevora] ‘You are the man! Seriously, I’ve been on a lot of raids and this was the best organised I’ve ever seen.’

  [Channel Tyro/Desmoulan] ‘Inspired leadership, bro, anytime you need a rogue in your raids, I’ll be there.’

  [Channel Tyro/Sapentia] ‘Respect.’

  [Channel Tyro/Grythiss] ‘Lizardman say you good human. You brave and smart. Me your ally for life.’

  And fifty more of the same.

  I replied, modestly, to as many as I could, until the moment came to calm everyone down.

  [Channel Dragonattack] ‘Quiet in the channel please, loot time.’

  Immediately, everyone stilled. Surely there were some extraordinarily rare treasures on the dead dragon, not to mention items that would help complete the most challenging quests in the game?

  I’d been watching the raid screen turn green as, one after the other, the dead were brought back to life by Resurrection spells cast by clerics (or by rogues from a wand). You’d see almost-naked characters appear over their own corpse and quickly bend down to pick up and equip their gear, then the body would disappear. Once everyone was present, I placed my hand on the head of the dead dragon. A list of about twenty items popped up and I flicked the Link All option and dragged the resulting box into the raid channel.

  Now everyone could see all the loot and the stats on the items. At first glance, it looked very good indeed.

  In a guild raid, the guild leader would divide up the loot according to what would further the goals of the guild overall. My raids, however, were pick-ups. Myself and my friends always formed the core officers, but a lot of complete strangers were present. There was only one fair way to do this.