Pantheon Online

298  May Misfortune Befall You

Skalla growled when she saw one of the giants fall over in pain and collapse onto the ground in a heap. The other was trying desperately not to follow suit. He would have fallen if not for several dwarves who used their bodies to protect him from Vurfin's barbed tusks.

'It's only going to get harder,' Skalla mused as she studied the remaining mountain giant. It had reached out with its arms but hadn't been able to grasp Vurfin as she flew past its head! 'Still, this is their fifth wave of giants. Bargrux's dwarves are holding out, but Harik's Skardians are showing signs of fatigue. If we don't kill them soon, they won't be of any use.'

A spear slammed into her back, throwing her into a nearby wall. She glared at her attacker before sending an attack toward her assailant. She laughed viciously as a bolt of fire struck the dwarf between the shoulder blades and threw him against a stone pillar. The stone cracked and crumbled around him, allowing the Skalla the leeway to follow up with another attack. 'Damn it!'

Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around her and held her down with enough strength that she couldn't move. As she tried to struggle free, something smashed across her face with incredible force!

The world spun about her as she fell unconscious…

Clay shook his head slowly from side to side as he stared blankly ahead. His gaze settled on Midas, who was currently laughing his ass off. Clay was too exhausted to even stand, let alone speak coherently.

"What happened?" Midas asked with a smirk on his lips. "Did you finally realise how difficult being a god can be?" He burst out laughing once more before shaking his head again. "You know what? Forget it. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation." He leaned over and placed a hand on Clay's shoulder. "But don't worry, old man! You did your best. Just promise me that if you ever get too tired, you'll find yourself some helpers!"

Midas gave him an encouraging slap on the back, causing Clay's knees to shake violently, before walking away in search of other players for him to fight with. The giant boar known as Vurfin turned her massive body to regard the departing god with confusion. A sharp whistle sounded above her before she looked up into the air in response.

The wind blowing through the mountain's chasm shifted slightly as several arrows sailed through the air towards them. They all struck Vurfin hard enough to knock her flat onto the ground, where she rolled over and got up without a mark on her. 'My master is using a mortal avatar. I have to make sure these pathetic weapons don't harm him!'

Vurfin caught sight of a red streak as a bolt whistled past her ear, narrowly missing a tusk. The bolt found its target, though, as it buried itself deep within the chest of Claymore!

Clay's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the bolt protruding from his chest. His hands came together to grip the projectile between two fingers while he coughed blood onto the ground between his boots. His breathing was fast but shallow as his lips trembled like he was struggling to maintain consciousness.

'Damn, there are all sorts of problems with using this kind of Avatar spell!' Clay grunted as Vurfin positioned herself in front of him to prevent their enemies from landing another attack. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Don't worry," He muttered with a shaky voice. "I'm not going anywhere."

The wind began to howl fiercely around the pair. Their enemies had launched a new wave of attacks, which seemed aimed at forcing Clay's divine beast to run away. Yet it appeared that Midas hadn't forgotten about Clay. He looked over his shoulder in time to see the next wave of projectiles descending on Vurfin.

Suddenly, a green glow filled the air above Midas! The light became so bright that it caused everyone present to shield their eyes! 'Great Fortune!' Midas declared in his mind as his divine spell took hold. The wind that carried the arrows suddenly forced them to the ground before vanishing! Midas chuckled at the shocked expressions of the enemy dwarves, who, without the wind, couldn't reach Clay and Vurfin with their arrows. Midas pointed his palm toward the ground, and created an enormous arcane symbol of yellow lines that raced across the stone and disappeared into a deep hole beneath the mountain's surface. 'Misfortune Array!' Cracks spread throughout the mountain to its surface, where they connected with several large lakes! Within moments, water gushed forth from several holes near the top of the walls surrounding the cavernous room they were in.

As the first group of dwarves ran for cover, one stepped back to try and shoot at Clay again. His bravery didn't last long as his foot slipped forward as he tried to get closer to Clay's position, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto his ass, where he sat staring up with wide eyes at what happened as he did so. Water gushed over the stone bridge, sweeping the poor dwarf over its edge in its vengeful torrent!

'Midas is powerful, but not as powerful as my master.' Vurfin whispered with pride. She felt a rush of strength within her body, that allowed her to grow even larger! Her tusks grew to twenty feet in length, making her twice as tall as she was only seconds ago! "Hurry!" She roared at Clay. "We can take care of ourselves now!"

"Not yet," Clay rasped as he gripped the bolt embedded in his chest and pulled it out. "There are still too many enemies left."

He shook his head before falling to the ground. He fell on his face with the sound of bone breaking beneath his weight. A gasp escaped his lips, followed by blood that bubbled from his mouth with each breath. Vurfin began to panic until he gave another weak cough, and some of the blood cleared away as he sat up. However, that revealed a tiny red line on his chest that was quickly overflowing with more blood!

Vurfin moved over to where Midas stood, watching Clay die right in front of him. The god reached down and patted Clay on the shoulder. "I can take care of things here. You should cancel that Avatar and return with your normal one."

Clay nodded silently as pain wracked his mortal body, fueled by his divine power. "I'll see if we can get some reinforcements down here. I know Exile ordered more troops to be deployed, but we need more players, and we need them now."

"Ain't that the truth." Midas sighed wistfully as Clay vanished. 'Now, what to do here? The misfortune Array will hold for quite a while. Any enemies that enter its area of effect are pretty much done for.'

Midas chuckled as he watched another group of enemy dwarves get washed away. At the same time, another dwarf's crossbow malfunctioned and shot his comrade between the tiniest gap in his armour.

'Well, there's no way these idiots will find a way through it without help. That should buy Harik's and Bargrux's forces some respite.' He looked around for something else that might draw the enemy's attention long enough to allow everyone to fall back to another defensible location. "There is one other thing…" He glanced at Vurfin, who was grunting impatiently at him, before continuing with an amused chuckle, "Actually, two things."

Vurfin stared at the dwarves before them with annoyance for making her master retreat. She stamped her hooves as symbols appeared on them, glowing with a muddy brown light! She smiled before stamping them on the bridge again. They glowed brightly and burned like hot iron as they pressed against the stone! With a loud groan, the bridge beneath the dwarven feet started moving slowly downward. Until it cracked and fell into the massive chasm beneath the mountain! Meanwhile, Skalla frowned as she came to and studied the fallen giant beside her. A look of disbelief crossed her face as she realised what had brought it down! 'It appears that he was extremely unfortunate.' Skalla growled as she got to her feet. Her eyes went to the giant piece of rock that had fallen from up high and crushed the giant's head. 'Hm, why didn't it finish me off?'

It wasn't that she was complaining about it. Quite the opposite. But it was unusual behaviour in the middle of a war. The only reason she could think of was if the giant had been ordered to capture her. 'Maybe they're targeting Skovi and Vurfin too.' Skall growled as she heard the sounds of battle echoing down from somewhere above her. 'How far did this brute take me away from the battlefield?'

Her nose suddenly picked up the scent of dwarves nearby, and that could only mean one thing! 'Enemies!' She snarled as she ran toward the scent. However, when she rounded a corner in the chasm, she discovered the dwarves were fighting amongst themselves for control over a large boulder that dominated their side of the cavern. The dwarves roared as she neared them, allowing them to catch sight of her. Several bolts whistled through the air, narrowly missing her, while another bolt slammed into one dwarf who raised his hands to defend himself against her attack!

Skalla spun around as fast as she could and avoided any bolts fired by the remaining dwarves! However, they weren't alone… She snarled wickedly as the darkness around her seemed alive with malice! Suddenly, a dark form leapt out at her with a howl before it wrapped itself around her neck! She gasped as its jaws snapped shut on her flesh!