Unconquered Tower

FORTY-THREE

Roan was moving before Taoya landed. He slid down the slope of the crater, cursing himself seven types the fool. With his newfound gains he found it easy to maneuver and hit the ground running. Taoya had landed and immediately was engaged by the two hobs.

They had him on the ropes, pushing him backward. The hobs normal grace was nowhere to be seen though. They stumbled, lunged and tripped, their bodies falling apart even as they fought. Roan wondered how the other hobs were doing or if Tyler had managed to kill more of them with her attack.

Whatever the answer was, it was apparent it was a battle for time. Taoya was tired, but as the fight went on his mana core generated energy for him to convert. The hobs just continued to smoke and burn. Roan ignored them and focused on the creature holding Tyler.

It stared at him with one eye, its free hand clenching and unclenching as Roan got closer. It dropped Tyler and staggered forward, its left leg dragging. There were gaping wounds all over its body, but its left side had taken the worst of the attack.

“Focus on the left side. Push it away from Tyler and Taoya.” Roan made his plan just before he entered the range of the beast. He angled to the creature’s left side and it staggered as it tried to keep Roan in front of it. Roan attacked, stabbing at its chest with the speartip.

The beast moved back, using its right leg to push away from him. The tip of his spear scraped a few loose scales off it. A trickle of heat warmed his hands as the life stealing enchantment came to life. So far he hadn’t fought anything that had survived long enough for the enchantment to be useful.

“This has to be the general. And if the enchantment is stealing life from it, then it has to have some type of regeneration to it.” Roan attacked faster. If the creature was healing, he didn’t want to see how strong it would be.

Another pass of his speartip dug a gouge out of its right shoulder, but it still kept out of range. The only good thing was that Roan had pushed it further away from Tyler’s still body. He didn’t know if the woman was alive, but if she was, a few healing potions would see her on her feet.

Roan just had to kill the General.

The creature was fast, if it wasn’t so injured it would easily eclipse a hob’s speed. More than anything, Roan felt nervous facing the injured creature. Something seemed off with it, something that told him he was being tricked.

“You smell of the progenitor.” Roan froze, his head cocking as he stared at the general. It lunged forward, talons slashing for Roan’s neck. He threw himself backward as the general’s hand cut through the air his jugular had just occupied. Roan slashed at its belly with the axe-head and was rewarded with a new line of blood pouring off the creature’s body.

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Heat crisped his fingertips, the enchantments glowing along the length of the halberd. The surprise of it speaking wore off, the two of them slowly circling each other. Roan was trying to get to its weak side, but the general was cagey in refusing Roan, hopping in quick bursts to protect its side.

“The dragon? Yeah, we killed that fucker and I ate its core,” Roan said, hoping to anger it. Instead the general’s lip peeled back to show off a long canine.

“Dragon? A poor imitation of the progenitor. But it was our sire. I had looked forward to killing it and consuming its core for my own growth,” the general hissed. It jerked forward and slashed at Roan, but he batted it away with the axe-head and was rewarded when a talon hit the ground, severed from its hand. If the general noticed the loss, it didn’t react.

“Who is the progenitor?” Roan asked. He risked a glance behind him. Taoya had killed one of the hobs and was brutalizing the second. In a few seconds Roan would have reinforcements and they’d kill the general and leave this level. He just needed to buy a bit of time.

“The First of our line. It is he who sent us forth to gather these lesser creatures and to take these lands. When he awakes he shall rule over these lands and consume all who stand against him,” the general hissed.

“That’s definitely plot related. Wonder what the third level will involve?” Roan hated the time crunch they were under. With a few more days he was sure he would have unraveled all of the secrets that could have been found.

“Yeah, this is about over,” Roan said. Taoya had killed the second hob, ripping its head from it neck with a savage twist. Roan lunged toward the general’s weakside, stabbing at it, trusting that Taoya would arrive to finish it.

The general’s weakened left leg didn’t collapse as it spun toward Roan without a sign of injury. Clawed hands came for him again, a black blur that he could barely keep track of. He blocked the attack with the haft of the polearm, spinning it and kicking the general as it got close to him.

It was like kicking a wall. The general grunted but it was Roan’s knee that gave out. An elbow came flying around his defense and clipped his chin with enough force to send Roan sprawling backward. The general came toward him, hands extended and ready to claw him apart. Roan was out of position and he knew in his gut he was screwed.

Taoya arrived the next moment, landing next to the general and punching it in one of its gaping wounds. Blood blasted out in a spray as the general’s feet left the ground, Taoya transferring stored momentum into the attack.

Roan found his balance and darted forward, polearm lowered with the spear extended. The general backhanded Taoya, snapping the man’s head to the side in a spray of blood and teeth. Roan was there the next moment, the spear tip finding the general’s exposed chest.

It sank all the way to where the axe-head was. The general coughed and a spray of black ichor coated Roan’s face. Its hand found the rapidly heating shaft of the halberd and started to try to pull it away. Roan gritted his teeth and pushed forward, driving the dying general toward the wall of the caldera.

They hit the stone hard enough to numb Roan’s arms. Bones cracked as the polearm sank deeper into the general’s chest. Its singular yellow eye stared at Roan with rage, but its snarl of defiance was weak and wet, blood slopping out of its mouth.

“You were tricky. But not better than us,” Roan snarled. The creature had nearly caught them all, killed them in its elaborate trap. He ripped the spear free and spun the polearm in a blur, the axe-head coming down and severing the general’s neck in a single slice. The boss mob collapsed in a heap at his feet and he got the alert he’d been waiting for.

COMMON GRADE

DRAGON-KIN

HORDE GENERAL

1500 CREDITS