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  William grabbed large chunks of the dome and threw them to the side. The dome had taken two indirect hits from the fire arrows and half collapsed.

  “What the shit!” Pegg shouted and he tried to lift some of the crumbled dome too. “Where’s that crazy Mage? I’ll wring his neck for going wild out here!”

  Drew flew across the smoldering battlefield, he crossed the distance slowly with Yocca’s leg in his claws.

  He flew past small fires, charred bones and undead flesh on his way to the giant bat corpse.

  I don’t see him anywhere!

  “Pigra! You bastard! Come help clean up your mess!” Pegg shouted. He paused after chucking stone over his shoulder and looked around for the Dwarf.

  Yandas stumbled towards him. She was singed all over and her eyes were bloodshot.

  “He’s dead. The crazy bastard is dead,” Yandas wheezed.

  “You are damn right he’s dead,” Pegg said. “I’ll kill him if he’s killed my friends.”

  “Dammit you idiot!” Yandas broke down and cried. “He’s really dead. He lost control of his magic and detonated himself.”

  Sw?dgar shouted something nonsensical and dragged Yocca’s limp body from under with the giant bad corpse. The big Dwarf dropped to his knees to hug the comedian close.

  Yocca wailed wordlessly over his dead friend.

  No! No. I can have saved him.

  Drew landed unnoticed by the grieving Dwarf and placed Yocca’s leg down beside him.

  He checked for the debuffs on the severed leg and there weren’t any. He tentatively reached out to touch Yocca with his wing tip. His healing ability did not bring up any debuffs.

  Does that mean he’s really gone? There should still be time to reattach this leg.

  Before Drew could say any words to comfort Sw?dgar, purple fog seeped out from the middle tunnel.

  Several Skeletons pushed aside the rubble and The Hag coughed and staggered forward. The purple fog slowly seeped into her broken shoulder, shattered hand, and the burns that nearly covered her completely.

  “I’m not done yet, your fates are decided. Such feeble attempts at survival. Ha!” She choked out a laugh. “My purpose is a river flowing down to the ocean, inevitable.”

  A dozen more Skeletons pulled themselves together. Their bones were scorched black in places but largely still whole. They moved in an awkward mob, their movements were clumsy. One Skeleton came and offered its shoulder for the Hag to lean on as she shambled forwards.

  “She has to be stopped,” Drew said.

  “We will stand and stop her.” William said confidently.

  “Here we go again.” Pegg said and equipped his sword and buckler.

  “Isn’t this enough?” Drew called out to the Hag. “Give up! Leave the mines. Or we will have to arrest you.”

  William turned his head to look at Drew.

  “No more chances, she’s done too much evil already,” He said.

  “He’s right,” Pegg said as he stepped up beside William. “You are done Hag!”

  At the sight of more undead, Yandas tried to stand but could not find her feet. Sw?dgar helped her sit down beside Khermet.

  Pegg and William charged the Skeletons before they could form up into an organized group. Drew pulled out his Flame Wand but it was empty.

  I thought the fight was over! I should have been charging my wands back up!

  Drew used Mage Hand to bring his Shirk into a ready position while he focused on charging his wand.

  Pegg and William left a mess of bones behind as they worked their way through the Skeletons to the Hag.

  Those bones are going to start getting back up if I can’t finish them off with fire.

  The top half of skeleton got the drop on Pegg and chomped down on his leg, right below the knee. Before Pegg could fight back, another Skeleton threw itself on his back.

  William plowed forwards through the undead. His helmet obstructed his view and prevented him from seeing Pegg get buried under two more Skeletons.

  There’s no time to charge the wand!

  Drew dropped his focus on charging the wand and brought the image of the script up in his mind. He had practice channeling the Firebolt spell, knew its precise shape and form and parameters. He knew how the wand stored his un-aspected mana as a charge and then shaped that charge into the Flame aspected mana for the spell.

  “Get off you damn bags of bones!” Pegg shouted.

  William turned then and noticed Pegg had fallen behind.

  “Hold tight Pegg!” William said.

  Three Skeletons jumped on William’s back. He carried them with him for a few steps until a Skeleton reformed itself from scattered bones and grabbed his legs.

  “Fire Bolt!” Drew shrieked. He held the spell form in his mind and visualized its shape in front of his wand. But the spell did not take shape.

  How hard can it be? If I can program a stick to cast the spell then I can do it on my own.

  Drew unequipped his Shirk and let his Mage Hand spell fizzle out.

  I need to focus! These damn Skeletons need to be put down for good. They need to burn!

  The spell ignited then and shot forward with Drew’s desperate anger fueling it.

  The undead covering Pegg screamed as they caught fire. Pegg wailed as he was singed a bit too.

  “Firebolt!” Drew turned his wand on the Skeletons covering William and fired off another spell.

  MP: 23%

  Combat Results: Skeleton lvl 8 exp 375

  …

  Combat Results: Skeleton lvl 7 exp 325.

  New Trait: Flame Affinity Level 1.

  Several combat notifications popped up but Drew flicked them away.

  He turned his wand on the Hag but a giant bat swooped by above him and he had to dive out of the air. Drew rolled to a stop and the Hag climbed onto the bat’s back.

  “Fly! Flee!” The hag cried. The giant bat pumped its wings to take off.

  “You will not escape!” William shouted.

  He activated his sword’s ability. The shock wave of force energy was weaker than before, but it was enough to slice through the remaining skeletons between them.

  Drew switched to his Wind wand to conserve mana. He drained the last charge to cast a single large Wind Blade. It took the wing off of the giant bat and the monster and the Hag crashed back to the floor.

  She rushed back to her feet and Pegg was there to receive her hasty slashing attack on his buckler. He parried her attack and interrupted her next spell with a shallow slash across her face.

  Drew swooped in under Pegg’s shield and pierced her chest with his Shirk. He threw his weight into the flat pommel of the shirk to drive the long knife up to the hilt.

  Drew clung to his Shirk with both claws as the Hag staggered back. The undead monster rasped out half a word before William stepped up and decapitated it.

  Combat Results: Necromancer lvl 44: Exp 3666.

  The Hag’s corpse fell and the undead fell apart all around them. There were several bulges in its robes.

  “Is she dead?” Pegg asked.

  “We did it!” William cheered. He planted his sword in the ground and removed his helmet to wipe away the sweat from his brow.

  “I got the combat notification.” Drew said as he poked at the corpse. “She must be dead.”

  Drew pulled his Shirk out of the hag’s corpse. It was covered in purple grease so dark it was nearly black. He looked away as its robes fell open.

  “Whao!” Pegg gagged as he covered his eyes.

  Drew caught a glimpse of its shriveled broken body. There were two large blue bottles of liquid, the melon sized dungeon core, and the Grimoire.

  The magical tomb growled at Drew. He hopped backward instinctively and kept the Shirk between himself and the Grimoire.

  William stepped down onto the Grimoire. It quieted under his heavy plated boot.

  “Quite you!” He said. “Now. What is this?” William picked up the dungeon core and considered it.

  Drew hopped over to the two blue potions.

  Are these mana potions? I would kill for an Identify spell.

  He picked up the blue potions and stored them in his gathering ring. They stacked perfectly with his last mana potion.

  He brought one out and downed it.

  MP: 87%

  Drew started meditating to restore his Mana and Stamina pools. He turned to look at the crumbled dome and his shoulders tightened with concern for the two ranchers inside.

  I need to get back to Hemut and Vaylari. And check on Yocca too! If they are going to bury him it would be good to reattach his leg.

  “What is going on?” William asked before Drew could fly away. He took a step back to look at a notification only he could see.

  “What is it?” Drew asked expecting danger.

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  “This orb is the dungeon core,” He said. “I don’t want this. It belongs to the Dwarves.”

  “What?” Drew asked.

  “Give it here then.” Pegg said, sarcastically.

  “I got a quest to restore the dungeon to that elf ghost,” William said. “But it rightfully belongs to the dwarves, they have a legal claim to it. And they spent their lives to save ours. It would not be honorable to their memory to hand it to a ghost now.”

  While William spoke Pegg watched Yandas and Sw?dgar. Yandas stirred and Khermet helped her to a more comfortable position. Sw?dgar gathered up the remains of Yocca.

  “And when I refused that, then it gave me the option to add this dungeon to my kingdom? Weird orb.”

  “And you didn’t take it? Are you stupid?” Pegg shouted as he picked up the grimoire.

  “Pegg wait!” Drew cried. “Don’t touch that book. It’s evil!”

  “It’s not evil. It’s the Maledictus. It’s a Grimoire that teaches you Necromancy.” Pegg said as he read a prompt.

  “It clearly has an evil name.” Drew said and started discretely charging his flame wand.

  We have to destroy that book.

  “Agreed,” William said. “It is surely cursed. We should destroy it.”

  “You religious idiots. Necromancy is a legitimate industry,” Pegg said.

  “Just drop the book Pegg,” Drew said calmly. “Look what it did to everyone. It obviously drove the Hag insane.”

  “No! I can’t drop it. It’s mine! I need it.” Pegg said and hugged the book closely. “My blighted Debuff timed out and became permanent, but the Maledictus removed it. I will die without the book.”

  Pegg looked blankly at a prompt only he could see. Drew watched as the man’s skin became pale and his red hair turned white.

  “The book is turning you into a monster Pegg!” William said. “Put it down already we will destroy it.”

  “Don’t do this. It’s not worth it. Let me heal you!” Drew said desperately.

  “You would know! You are a monster and you are doing great! This was your quest to come down here anyway.”

  “I was born this way!” Drew said. “The gods made me this way and I’m doing my best with what I’ve got.” Drew said.

  “Well your best is not good enough so give up. It’s my turn to shine!” Pegg shouted.

  “I can still heal you!” Drew said. “I can save you.”

  “You aren’t saving anyone anymore. Hemut and Vaylari are dead because of you!” Pegg yelled.

  No! They can’t be dead. Hemut was stable. Vaylari should have plenty of hitpoints and her debuff would have timed out already.

  “Why do you get to be so special?” Pegg cried. “This isn’t some fantasy story where you can just save everyone! We don’t have Heroes anymore!”

  “We have to try.” Drew shouted back, but he wasn’t so sure anymore.

  I couldn’t save Hemut or Vaylari. Or Yocca. I could barely get my own wing back on.

  “This book will make me strong. And necromancy is a profitable industry.” Pegg said.

  Maybe he’s right?

  “It is dark magic and should be destroyed.” William said.

  Pegg reached out towards the scattered bones and flexed his hands.

  “Stop him Drew!” William cried as he put his helm back on.

  Pegg raised a pair of Skeletons. They were awkward and clumsy but they stood up ready to fight.

  The charge restored to his Flame wand and Drew released a breath he’d been holding.

  “You chose this path,” William said solemnly. “There’s no going back now.”

  Pegg backed away slowly as the two skeletons squared off against William and Drew.

  “I’ll handle these two,” William said. “Go stop him.”

  Drew flew after Pegg as the newly converted Necromancer gathered more bones to himself with a wave of his arms.

  Drew resisted the urge to burn the bones out of his hands and used Mage Hand and his Shirk to cut through the bones before they formed into Skeletons. He followed through with another swipe of his Shirk and forced Pegg to stagger back.

  William finished cutting down the two skeletons and ran to catch up with Drew. “Burn them, before they get up again.”

  Drew turned his Flame wand on the shattered Skeletons and surrounding bones. The charge drained out as he cast a stream of liquid fire over everything.

  Pegg ran to the wrecked dome and flexed both of his hands over it. He yelled wordlessly and visibly fatigued from the effort.

  An over-sized Wight rose from the rubble wielding a large sword over its shoulder. A second later, a smaller Wight rose wielding two curved scimitars.

  “See! With this book I brought them back!” Pegg cried triumphantly.

  The two Undead Ranchers climbed out of the rubble awkwardly. Their movements jerky imitations of the people they used to be.

  No! Were they really dead? He’s gone mad!

  “We can’t kill them,” Drew said.

  “Burn them Drew!” William said.

  “I can’t!” Drew said. “I need to save them. What if I can reverse the curse?”

  “Is Undeath a curse?” William asked as he readied his shield.

  “You have to destroy the book,“ said a quiet voice.

  Drew turned at the familiar voice. There above him, floated a Wisp.

  Borealis? Borealis it’s you!

  The large Wight swung its sword, and William blocked with his shield.

  “Yes Drew. Good to see you again. You need to destroy that Grimoire before he unlocks more of the quests,” He said.

  William was fully engaged with the larger Wight. He blocked another swing of the undead’s large sword.

  Drew brought his Shirk around to protect William’s neck from the other undead’s backstab.

  Drew tried to parry the Wight’s strike but it’s second scimitar came around quickly and he had to juke out of the way.

  “You are able to destroy the Grimoire with iron,” Borealis said from above. “Just infuse your blade with mana and stab it. A slice won’t cut it.”

  Easier said than done!

  “You should consider leveling up,” Borealis said calmly while Drew circled around William and parried another attack from the Wight. “The extra points in agility would help your reaction speed.”

  “A little busy!” Drew said as the dual wielding Wight pushed between him and William and pursued him across the cavern.

  Pegg leaned against the ruined dome to catch his breath while his Wights did the fighting for him. He tied the Grimoir to his belt and equipped his buckler and sword. He watched the fight for a moment then skirted around behind the dome.

  “Actually you have enough exp to bring your Agility to the 50 point milestone. One level up and then 9 points of agility will just make it. That would get you an additional Agility Trait,” Borealis said as he floated calmly above the battle. “Behind you.”

  Drew pulled his eyes away from the Wight as Pegg swung his sword at him from behind. Drew blocked the strike with his Shirk and let the force of the blow send him pinwheeling to the side.

  Sw?dgar gave his two injured friends a concerned look then charged into the battle. He barreled into the larger Wight and knocked it flat.

  “Horken. Der Fasty dun. Bork! Bork!” He said to William and nodded to where Drew fought with Pegg and the faster Wight. The larger Wight stood back up and dusted itself off.

  William hesitated a moment then charged in. The dual wielding Wight rushed Drew as he tumbled across the cavern floor. It pulled both curved blades back to strike.

  “Don’t do this!” William shouted at Pegg as he blocked the blades from slicing into Drew. “She was your friend. And you have turned her into this monster.”

  Drew took the moment to breathe and access his status screen. He spent nearly all his exp for the upgrades.

  Skurr level 11? (48,812/18,000) Yes / No?

  Stat Increase: Agility +9 (30,812/29,980) Yes / No?

  He glowed with golden light at the level up and felt his body limber up as the stats changed his physical and mental acuity.

  New Trait: Agile Body Rank 1. Your reaction time and precision are greatly increased. Abilities that utilize Agility are easier for you.

  “That’s sweet coming from you.” Pegg said as he tried to back stab the armored man. William turned and the strike glanced off his armor instead.

  “You couldn’t protect her, I brought her back and I can keep bringing her back as many times as it takes!” Pegg continued.

  “That’s not Vaylari anymore.” William said as he swung his armored boot into Pegg’s chest. The Necromancer was knocked on his back, winded.

  William turned back and blocked the Wight’s strike. He set his shoulders and parried the next attack, stopping the Wight’s combo with his shield.

  “It’s not you anymore.” He said resolutely. “I am sorry I couldn’t save you.”

  He sliced off the Wight’s arms and brought his broad sword down again. The strike bisected the monster from shoulder to hip.

  While Drew fiddled with his stats, the new Necromancer had raised another Skeleton from the few unscortched bones scattering the battlefield and sent it to retrieve Vaylari’s remains.

  Drew picked up his Shirk with Mage Hand and launched himself into the air with the spell as a springboard.

  Drew feinted with his Shirk and Pegg pulled back his leg for a kick.

  Is he a bit slower now?

  Pegg’s kick swished through the space Drew had been a second ago.

  The small adjustments of his wings and tail feathers came more easily and Drew did not lose control of his maneuver or pinwheel out of the way. This time, he flipped over once, enough to avoid the kick, and flared his wings to stall out in the air inside Pegg’s guard.

  Drew marveled at his new control for too long and Pegg jumped backwards before he could strike.

  It’s like I’m in a Wachowski sisters movie!

  “Quit hopping around!” Pegg shouted. “Just give up!”

  “You really don’t know me at all do you?” Drew said as he swooped around the Necromancer. “You crossed the line. I have to stop you.”

  Pegg had to keep pivoting on his back foot to keep facing the Skurr.

  “Drew!” William shouted as he struck down the last Skeleton and advanced on Hemut’s Wight. “Can you burn Vaylari’s remains?”

  “In a minute!” Drew called back.

  Pegg finished raising another Skeleton and Drew was having a hard time finding a good opening.

  I need to switch things up and burn these Undead.

  He brought out his Flame Wand and split his focus between charging it and his Mage Hand.

  MP: 73%

  Drew sliced through a new Skeleton just before it formed and Pegg growled in frustration. Pegg’s other Skeleton beside him placed its claw on his shoulder to console him but Pegg shook it off.

  “Get your claws off me and catch that Skurr!” He cried.

  William and Sw?dgar managed to take down the larger Wight after Sw?dgar locked up the Undead’s large sword with his pan and cleaver. Both fighters were nearly out of stamina.

  “Another one for the burn pile Drew!” William shouted as he huffed to catch his breath.

  “Hork! Hork!” Sw?dgar added in agreement.

  ”Switch with me then!” Drew cried.

  Drew felt the charge solidify in his Flame wand and broke away from Pegg. The Necromancer and Skeleton pursued him.

  Pegg summoned a Skeleton in Drew’s way. Drew sliced through the new monster before it could form. That slowed him down enough for Pegg to catch back up to him.

  “Got you now!” He cried as he swung his halfsword at Drew.

  “Get down!” William shouted and Drew went up over Pegg’s head instead.

  William released his sword’s slashing ability and a weak blade of force struck Pegg and his undead minion.

  Pegg blocked the attack at the last second with his half sword and buckler and was only pushed back. The Skeleton beside him was shattered.

  “Flamethrower!” Drew cawed from above and channeled the liquid fire spell with the last charge of his wand.

  He spread the fire around focusing on Vaylari’s remains, then Hemut’s, and then finally the few Skeletons they had busted up.

  MP: 37%

  Sw?dgar sat down with a huff and kept his eyes on the Wight’s remains.

  Drew watched his friends’ remains burn as the charge ran out in his flame wand.

  A warriors funeral.

  “No! Dammit!” Pegg cried as he reached out for more bones but there were not enough available in the vicinity.

  Pegg was hit with some backlash for losing the two Wights. Black blood dripped from his mouth.

  William hefted his sword into a high stance and advanced on the Necromancer.

  “Drop the Grimoire Pegg!” Drew called from above.

  Pegg looked up at Drew but before he could open his mouth, William lunged. Pegg shifted his attention to the blacksmith and slipped out of his range.

  That’s my chance! He’s got to keep him distracted!

  Drew swooped in from behind and channeled his mana into the Shirk with Mana Reinforcement just like he would a carving tool.

  William parried Pegg’s counter attack and in that moment where Pegg’s momentum was forced back on him, his balance rattled, Drew slipped his Shirk around his armpit and down into the Grimoire at his belt.

  The book screamed and Drew followed through and slammed his body into the flat pommel of the Shirk to drive it in deeper to the evil book.

  “Nooooo!” Pegg screamed and crumpled to the floor.

  The book released a wave of Dark Mana that shattered Drew’s Shirk and wracked Pegg’s body in waves of dark static.

  Combat Results: Necromancer lvl 12. 2311 Exp.

  Skill Upgrade: Mage Hand lvl 2.

  “That killed him,” William said checking his combat notification. “It’s finally over.”

  Wait! Don’t trigger flags like that!

  The Dark Mana from the Grimoire circled the battle field and seeped into the corpse of the Hag.

  “Hork!” Sw?dgar shouted as the new Wight floated up into the air.

  Khermet drew an arrow and shot the Wight dead center in its chest but the Dark Mana flowing through it burned the projectile up and sealed the wound in seconds.

  “You just had to tempt our luck!” Khermet yelled.

  The Wight raised a hand and scattered bones were forged together into a spear.

  William charged ahead and the Wight swung its spear like a whip and forced the blacksmith back.

  Khermet loosed another arrow and it struck the Wight again. She responded by hurling the bone spear at him. He could not avoid the spear completely took a bad hit to his chest. His wound burbled around the spear as he cried out in pain.

  The Wight’s wounds released purple fog that spread slowly across the ground.

  Drew anxiously started charging his Flame Wand again.

  There’s no time to charge my wand again! We need fire right now.

  The Wight summoned another bone spear and a Skeleton started forming naturally from the abundant ambient Dark mana.

  William charged the Wight. He blocked its spear thrust with his shield and swung his sword into the undead’s side expecting to cut it in half.

  When his sword sunk into the monster’s flesh and stopped at the bone the Wight began to chuckle.

  Drew summoned up the image of a Firebolt in his mind. The parameters snapped into place easier than before. Despair and Rage at the loss of his friends mixed with his mana and his intent compressed the Firebolt into a Fire Bullet.

  “Any time now Drew!” William grunted as he pulled on his sword.

  William activated his sword’s ability and a small wave of force shook the Wight. He had not collected enough force with his shield for a strong blast, but it was enough to shake his sword free of the Wight’s grasping flesh.

  “Fire Bullet!” Drew shouted.

  The Fire Bullet echoed across the cavern and left an afterimage of a white hot beam as it pierced the Wight center mass. It made a hole the size of a dinner plate and the flames spread quickly, consuming the Wight. The monster wailed as it burned up to ash.

  Combat Results: Cursed Wight lvl 45. 6500 exp.

  “And stay down!” Drew shouted. He was exhausted, nearly out of Mana and Stamina.

  The mana crystals around the cavern flickered and shifted to white.

  “Well done Drew,” Borealis said. “I understand the situation was dire but be careful with that Flame Affinity Trait. Wouldn’t want it growing too high too fast.”

  Wait, will I turn into a demon?

  “No. Technically-“

  “Drew! Drew! Are you over there?” Damien cried.

  Drew turned to look across the cavern. Damien and Marcus and all three of the Johns were rushing across the cavern towards the sound of Drew’s supersonic spell.

  “Over here!” Drew shouted, and waved his wing.

  “Time for me to go.” Borealis said. “I’ll check in again soon.”

  “It’s good to see you again little guy!” Drew said as the Wisp faded from view.

  This was a terrible fight. So many people died. Pegg. Hemut. Vaylari. Khermet. Yocca. And how many goblins were murdered for the Hag’s undead army?

  Anger flared inside Drew’s chest and glimmer of fire crept into his eyes.

  “Drew! Khermet is still alive!” William shouted from beside Sw?dgar.

  “On my way!” Drew shouted.

  He stowed his Flame wand and focused on his meditation skill to restore his mana.

  There is still one life I can save!

  I could not have muscled through without all of your support. Your comments give me the energy to jump right into the next chapter.