War Games - Chapter 27

Dawn rose an hour and half later. Nothing had happened before dawn, so they had no worries of fending off an ambush.

Some of the group were waking up while others were still asleep. It had been a long night.

Ellegaard, Jesse, Lukas, Nicolai, Alexsi, Gabriel, Harper, Soren and Emerald were awake at the crack of dawn while everyone else was still asleep. The nine of them were gathered around a table at one of the corners of the large room, discussing a plan to take back the order’s fortress.

Kate and Axel slowly opened their eyes. After checking their surroundings, they saw their friends gathered at the table.

“Huh? Kate?” Asked Axel, looking around more.

Kate sat up and put on her glasses, looking over to where everyone was gathered, she rose to her feet.

“I guess they’re thinking about a way to get the fortress back without getting slaughtered by Ghouls.” She said

Some more people began to stir.

Axel got up and walked over to the table where the discussion took place.

“So, do we have a plan, or what? We’re not exactly well equipped, you know…” Said Axel

“I am well aware of that, Axel, So we’ll need to think of something strategic if we want the fortress back.” Said Alexsi.

“Well, Emerald has her equipment, and I can use my powers.” Said Kate

“I’m sure we can clear a path. Are the others ready to go?” Asked Ellegaard.

About half the remaining group had woken up.

“So… What do you guys suggest?” Asked Lukas

“Maybe we can create a diversion. Some of us will be able to lure the ghouls away and allow you to gear up.” Nicolai suggested

“That might just work.” Said Gabriel.

“Can’t really think of a better option. Let’s head out.” Said Soren

The Others soon woke up. They had a light meal for breakfast and left the ancient fortress. They walked along a grassy path, led by Jesse, who, with his knowledge of the world’s geography, would take his friends to the town, and the fortress.

It was a nice sunny day, much to the group’s delight. Jesse led the way, with a wooden sword in his hand. Due to the order’s knowledge of the landscape, they knew exactly where to go. It would take about 15 minutes to get there by foot.

“Well, if we’re going to storm the place… we should at least have some decent weapons. Wooden swords at least, right?” Asked Kye

“There are some trees around. We could make some.” Said Maya

“We just need to cut down a few trees. We can make us some wooden swords. Not the best for fighting ghouls, but far better than nothing.” Said Ivor

Luckily, Keyen always comes prepared, and that includes his battle axe. It only took 4 swings to cut down a birch tree resting on the path nearby

“We can get apples and saplings from them too.” Added Jess

Keyen handed some of the wood to Petra and Olivia. Setting down a crafting table on the grass, they made 6 wooden swords and passed them around.

“Mind if we hang onto the saplings? We could replant these later.” Said Rou

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Said Magnus

Rou took all four of the saplings from the tree. There were also 2 apples, so they had a little extra food to boot.

A short walk later, the Order’s Town was in view.

“Alright, so… We should try to lure the ghouls away?” asked Gill

“It seems like the best thing we can do.” Added Kate

They were now at the gate’s base. Keyen threw his hook, and he managed to get a grip on on the top of the gate. He began to climb his way upward.

“How do I open it?” Asked Keyen from the other side of the wall

“There should be a switch somewhere on the side.” Replied Ellegaard

“See any Ghouls?” Asked Kate

“No. They must be holed up inside. They despise light.” Keyen answered

“I Guess that'd make sense.” Olivia pointed out

Keyen found the lever to the gate controls and flipped it upwards. The gates slowly rolled to either side, and the group ran in.

The Town was empty. The Citizens had gone to the underground shelter that was built in response to Oxidai’s attack, in an effort to protect them.

“Are the townspeople alright?” Asked Sanya

“They’re underground. We had a small farm and food reserves down there. They could survive for months.” Said Maya

“Well, we should check on them after we’ve cleared the Ghouls.” Suggested Petra

They headed down the main street, nearing toward the fortress. As they approached the main double doors, they were all cautious to enter. They didn’t know if the Ghouls were right behind the door or if they had completely left.

Jess worriedly and slowly opened the door and took a peek inside.

“... I don’t see anything.” Jess said.

“Uhhh... Guys?” Asked Kate

Everyone turned around and looked at the main street behind them, and the bridge to their fortress. A small army of skeletons was approaching.

“There are most likely ghouls within the halls of the fortress. We’re cornered!” Said Alexsi.

“We can get into the treasure room, and make some weapons.”Said Petra

“What about those Iron Golem Things that Emerald built a few nights back?” Asked Sanya

“Oh! Right! I had them patrol the streets, but i have no clue where they are....” Said Emerald

“What do we do about all of those skeletons?” Asked Soren

“Let’s get in the temple and get our equipment first. We can barricade the door and drop some TNT on these Skeletons before they can break it down.” Magnus Suggested

“Works for me…” Said Gill, eyeing back at the Skeleton horde. As slow moving as they are, it won’t take long for them to get to the order’s front door.

They all hurried inside. Petra and Olivia had a little leftover wood, so they quickly barred the door.

The Skeletons began to pound on the door, luckily, the walking bones were not notorious for strength, as without muscles, they cannot surpass the strength of an eldritch or human being.

The group slowly walked across the left hallway, checking left and right for a Ghoul to pop out and attack them.

“Let’s get up the stairs. Quickly and quietly.” Whispered Aiden

They made their way up the stairs, crouching down, yet moving fast, doing their best to avoid unwanted attention.

They found the hallway where The Order and their friends set up some rooms. They now had access to the equipment they needed, but they would have to fight for it. One Ghoul happened to be in the hallway.

Gazing upon the order with it’s unworldly purple eyes, it let out a very loud howl, spooking the Order as well as slightly hurting their ears.

It was Emerald’s watch for an ambush when the Ghouls came the previous night. She was fully equipped with Armor, A Diamond Sword, and a Bow with a Power Enchantment on it, making her arrows even more deadly.

She drew back and arrow at shot it directly at the foul creature. It landed straight on the beast’s forehead, sending it reeling backwards.

“Impressive.” Commented Nicolai

“Exactly where I called it!” shouted Emerald with pride.

The Ghoul was horribly wounded, but not quite dead.

Kate may not have armor, but she does have an incredible power at her fingertips, as well as a strong Demon Blood sword.

She formed a sphere of fire in her hand and hurled it at the ghoul. Hitting the creature’s shoulder, it was now wounded even worse.

Petra, Jesse, Aiden, Maya, Gabriel and Soren also had wooden swords with them.

The Ghoul, with what little energy it had left, did not give up its attack. It headed toward Harper and tried to lash it’s claws at her, but the engineer ducked out of the way in time and kicked it over.

While it was down, Petra stabbed it in the back with her wooden sword, followed by Aiden and Soren. The Ghoul couldn’t get up with three swords it the creature’s back.

“I think we’re clear. Let’s get our stuff. Quickly now!” Said Gabriel

Everyone hurried to their rooms, and began to put on their armor and grab the material they needed.

Vulcan ran to the front window and looked outside.

“Door’s Holding up.” He told everyone.

Magnus came out in his armor, and more of his friends soon followed behind.

“The Skeletons could breach the Gates Soon. Magnus, Light ‘em up!” Said Stark

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” Magnus said, lighting some TNT and dropping it on the skeleton horde.

Every single skeleton was blown to pieces by the blast, but the door and a part of the bridge were destroyed with it.

“... We didn’t think that all the way through…” Said Vulcan

“Urgh… I’ll fix that later.” Said Magnus

“... Um… Jesse?” Alexsi Asked Jesse in a fearful tone

Everyone looked out the window:

Demons. Corrupt Monsters roaming the streets.

“They’re everywhere…” Olivia Gasped

“... I fear the abyss has been made manifest…” Said Nicolai

“... They might breach the underground… We gotta stop those things.” Said Aiden

“Everyone armed?” Asked Sanya

“Yeah. We think so.” Said Kye.

Everyone went downstairs as quickly as they could, readied their weapons, and began to prepare for the unholy assault. A large group of about 20 Cultists brawlers and some zombies were closing the distance.

Emerald, Soren, Olivia, and Harper were armed with bows, as well as Stark and Sanya, who had crossbows. The six of them unloaded a hailstorm of arrows on the incoming cultist horde. Several of them dropped dead from the strikes while others were wounded.

Ellegaard and Vulcan were preparing an arrow cannon on the fortress’s front steps.

“Everyone, I’ve got some potions! Use these!” shouted Ivor as he ran outside, carrying a handful of bottles.

“What do you got, Ivor?” Asked Kye

“Strength, Invisibility, and Regeneration. But I only have one of each.” Ivor advised

“I can pound them to dust with my axe up close, if someone gives me a hand. Give me the Strength potion!” Said Keyen

“I Can sneak up on some of the stronger demons. Let me have the Invisibility potion.” Said Stark

“Save the Regeneration. If someone is wounded, we can use that in place of Kate’s power.” Said Maya.

Ivor tucked the Regeneration pation into his coat pocket, and handed the other two to Keyen and Stark

Lukas, Maya, T.T., Jess and Alexsi headed down the street to fight the Cultists and Zombies.

Even more creatures were coming from either side of the street, from behind Ivor’s tower and either side of the neighborhood.

Keyen, Kate, Gabriel and Nicolai headed to the left, while Magnus, Kye, Gill, And Axel headed to the Right.

Rou, Petra, Aiden, Jesse and Ivor were the only ones who weren’t into action, but they had something else in mind.

“There must be more Ghouls. We should go inside and clear them out, then aid our friends.” Said Ivor

“Agreed.” Rou nodded as the five of them entered.

Nicolai, Kate, Gabriel and Keyen had no trouble at all with the skeleton swarms. The Four Powerful Warriors were able to easily cut down swarms of skeletons that came marching their way. They advanced further into the streets, mowing down more and more.

“Heads up, I think I see something…” Kate said. They all ducked down.

They slowly made their way to the edge of the building, until they heard an explosion. Gabriel dived out of the way of rubble flying from a destroyed house.

They saw Some Creepers with glowing purple eyes slowly inching closer to them.

“Damn… what are those things? They explode?” Asked Keyen

“Yeah! Don’t get to close when it’s about to blow…” Said Kate

Keyen charged at the first one, And killed it with a single strike from his axe, using not only his own incredible strength, but also the buff from Ivor’s potion.

“Duck! Archers!” Yelled Gabriel

Some Skeletons shot at them with their bows, but they all dodged in time.

Kate got to her feet and was about to hurl some fire in the archer’s direction, until she took an arrow to the shoulder and feel backward

“Argh…” She groaned. Gabriel helped her sit up. “I j- aaa… OW!” she yelled.

Gabriel pulled the arrow out, and he, along with Katelyn looked with wide eyes:

The Arrowhead had an ominus purple glow.

“Good God, that hurts... “ Groaned Kate.

“Here, I’ll take you to Ivor.” Gabriel said as he scooped her up in his arms.

“We can handle things over here, and run back to the group if things get rough.” Said Nicolai

“Run if you want, Nicolai. I’m not going anywhere until I’ve buried every last one of them!” Said Keyen as he got out for cover and charged down the skeletons. “Come at me you saucy bastards!”

Nicolai followed behind, while Gabriel carried Kate to the Order’s front gate.

Sanya, Harper, Olivia, and Soren were still shooting. Ellegaard and Vulcan were operating an arrow cannon they had built.

Lukas, Maya, Jess, Alexsi and T.T. were still slashing away at zombies coming their way, although Lukas and Alexsi had taken a few minor hits, they were all in good shape.

“Guys! Ellegaard’s gonna shoot! Get back here!” Shouted Soren.

The Five of them ran away from the small zombie horde. Maya tripped, but quickly got to her feet and kept running. They regrouped with the others and turned to face the oncoming horde.

Ellegaard pulled the switch to the cannon, now loaded. Firing about 40 arrows at once, they rained down on the zombie hoard, causing almost all of them to fall and die.

A few of them got back up, despite being shot. Soren and the others did not relent in their shooting, and took down the rest manually.

“That’s all of them over there…” Said Sanya

“Guys, Is that Gabriel and Kate?” Asked Vulcan

“Is Kate hurt? Gabriel’s carrying her…” Said Alexsi

While people needed to focus on their attack, Alexsi walked over to Gabriel, who set down Kate, clutching her shoulder.

“What hit her?” Alexsi asked Gabriel. “A Corrupt Arrow…” He replied.

Kate removed her arm to let Alexsi take a look at hit. He applied a drop of antivenom to her wound and quickly applied the bandage. It’s as if he knew exactly how to treat the exact kind of injury, most likely because he already has.

“Should you get some rest…?” Asked Ellegaard

“No.” Said Kate, with a slight tone of pain in her voice “Gimme a second to catch my breath. Alexsi’s help and the Elixir will help this heal.”

Meanwhile, Petra, Jesse, Rou, Ivor, and Aiden entered the Order’s Fortress to cleanse the structure fro many remaining Ghouls.

Entering the Treasure Room, they spotted two. Sadly, the two of them spotted them at almost the same time, causing them to charge, and beginning the battle.

A Skull Immediately flew at Ivor, but lucky for him, he’s seen these attacks before. He was able to duck in time.

The Second Ghoul jumped forward towards Petra, swiping it’s sharp claws at her. Her face received a minor scratch, but did not bleed. Her armor and helmet easily withstood the rest of the attack.

Aiden and Rou ran to the second. Aiden was able to block a swipe from the Ghoul’s claws with his diamond blade.

Rou ran around the fight and tried to stab the Ghoul from behind. She slashed it’s back, but the monster quickly spun around backwards and smacked her with it’s claws, making her land on her back.

Aiden tried to stab it, but he got grabbed by the Ghoul, now clutching him with both horrific hands.

He did his best to struggle from the Ghoul’s grasp, but as he was doing so, his skin was getting ripped by the sharp claws digging into his jacket, his shirt, and later, his skin. He was grunting in pain, and losing his focus.

Jesse ran in to help them. He smacked the Ghoul across the face, not killing ti, but making it lose it’s grip on Aiden. Rou got  back up and stabbed it in the back with both her knives again. Aiden and Jesse attacked simultaneously, causing it to stumble over on it’s back.

Aiden gave the Ghoul a finishing blow directly in it’s neck.

“Phew… Thank you Jesse.” Said Aiden.

Petra and Ivor were holding up themselves. The Enchanter threw several Potions of Harming While Petra kept them both safe. All of the Ghouls Swings were blocked by Petra while Ivor threw several potions at the abomination. It didn’t take long for the two to kill it.

“Nicely done, Petra.” Said Ivor

“You want some help, Aiden…?” Asked Rou

“That’ll be nice if you could…” He groaned with a slight tone of pain in his voice.

Rou removed his Jacket and began to tend to his wounds.

“Think there are more?” Jesse asked Petra

“We better look.” She replied.

“Best close the door so Rou can tend to Aiden without being attacked.” Suggested Ivor

“I’ll mend his lacerations, and we’ll go back outside when I’ve fixed Aiden.”

Petra, Ivor, And Jesse left the room.

“Just lay down and stay still. I’ve got some medicinal herbs with me. This shouldn't take long.” Rou instructed.

Aiden nodded, laid down on his back, placed both his hands and arms atop his chest, and let Rou tend to his injuries.

Back outside, Axel, Kye, Gill and Magnus were slowly retreating, as they were being overwhelmed. Magnus and Axel still threw TNT at the oncoming horde, while they were slowly backing away.

“Damn… these creeps are gonna close in on the fortress if we don’t think of something…” Kye muttered, stepping forward to stab a Skeleton with his Iron sword, and then quickly backing away.

“There’s too many… what are we supposed to do, there’s like, a hundred of these creepy things!” Said Gill, still holding his diamond sword.

“I’m out of TNT… Magnus…?” Axel asked

“... One left.” Magnus answered

They eventually backed up enough to where they regrouped to their friends.

“... Oh, Hell…” Said Sanya, seeing the oncoming horde.

Ellegaard and Vulcan readjusted the arrow cannon to aim at the skeletons, zombies, cultists, and demons.

Magnus, Gill, Axel and Kye ran out of the way. Another forty arrows rained on the horde, killing a pack of them. There were many more to come, however, and the two engineers couldn’t reload fast enough to keep them from reaching the fortress.

Everyone began to back up slowly, and some of them kept shooting their bows, trying to stop the horde in any way they could.

Rou came outside With Aiden, now that his wounds were mended.

Emerald had the Iron blocks needed to build an Iron golem. She quickly placed the pumpkin on top, and the Iron Goliath thundered to life.

Magnus lit his last TNT charge, and threw it as hard as he could, not at the horde, put with an upward motion to his throw, so he could land on top of the horde, hopefully to destroy more of the fiends, rather than a few in front of them.

The Iron Golem Built by Emerald stomped forward to smash their unholy enemies. It crushed a Cultist Brawler with it’s large, powerful arms, and stepped to the right to stomp on another.

Everyone braced for battle. Harper and the others kept on firing arrows the entire time to provide cover for their friends using swords. Magnus and Gill landed some hits, but both received some minor bleeding cuts and stumbled backwards.

Kate was still hurting from being hit by an Unholy arrow, but she was still able to fight. She slowly rose to her feet and swung her sword in a horizontal arc, sending a blast of energy directly at the Cultists. Several of them were knocked off their feet.

Just as one of the Cultist Brawlers was about to slice at Kye, until a long, Sharp, Iron object hit it directly in the back.

Someone just threw an Iron sword directly into the Brawler’s Spinal Cord, making it fall over, lifeless.

Before anyone could react to what just happened, Two more Iron swords flew across the street, hitting two more cultists.

Someone was helping them. But who…?

The Figure could not be seen, as he or she was standing in front of the Order’s view of the sun. They took a great leap forward towards the horde. They landed on both feet and stabbed two more Cultist brawlers simultaneously.

“Is that…?” Maya asked herself.

The Figure turned around to face everyone

“Isa…?” Asked Aiden in Disbelief.

It really was her. She was wearing an Iron chestplate on top of her golden colored dress, holding an iron sword in each hand. She had a scar on her face, close to her left eye. She gazed on the group for a moment, and immediately went back to fighting.

A Large Skeleton, about 10 feet tall, wielding a huge mace was approaching down the main, southern street.

“Are Keyen and Nicolai still over there?” Asked Kate

“They kept fighting, and neither of them looked ready to give up…” Said Gabriel.

“I’ll go check on them.” Said Maya  as she quickly bolted to the end of the street

Gill ran with her, hoping to find Nicolai and Keyen in one piece. They had both already saw Nethra bleed out right before their eyes, so they don’t need more of their friends dead, even if they are not human.

But both of them were still fighting. They had some visible injuries, but both more more than capable warriors. They were still able to fight, and fight they did.

“Maya? Gill?” Asked Nicolai as he briefly looked back at the two of them, and then turning around to block an axe swung at him.

Out of the group of 30 or so skeletons, along with 10 cultist brawlers, there were only 2 cultists and 5 skeletons remaining.

Keyen threw a flashbang towards the skeletons, moving in a horde mentality.

This gave Maya and Gill an opening. They ran in towards the dazed skeletons, quickly cutting down two of them before they could react and recover from Keyen’s flashbang

Nicolai took a hit from a cultist brawler, right on the shoulder. The sharp claws caused bleeding from his shoulder.

The second Cultist took a swing at his face, but Nicolai blocked, and then stabbed it with the same motion. Knocking back the second cultist with a kick, they were both on the ground, and they were both quickly stabbed and killed.

With only five skeletons remaining, Keyen was able to send pieces of one of them flying across the street from a horizontal swing, using not only his powerful axe, but a strength buff from a potion. Maya and Gill fought with two more, both of the skeletons with clubs in their hands.

Maya got smacked across the face, but it was only a small, one handed wooden club. Maya wasn’t hurt… much.

Gill managed to stab the rib cage of the skeleton, crippling it and knocking it off it’s feet. He quickly used a downward thrust to stab the skull and shatter it.

Nicolai cleaved a Skeleton with a crossbow clean in half. With only one left, it didn’t take long for Gill, Keyen, and Maya to overwhelm it.

“Killed em all? Cool.” Said Gill

They all regrouped to the fortress.

Petra, Ivor and Jesse had finished cleaning up the ghoul problem from within the fortress. They received minor wounds, but were still able to walk, and fight.

Isa, T.T., Jess, Aiden, Rou, Kate, Lukas, Kye, Magnus, Gabriel, Keyen, Nicolai, Emerald, and her iron golem were holding up against zombies, a few ghouls, some skeletons and some cultists.

With all them working together, they were able to hold a steady line on the street. Kate held of from using her Elixir power to heal anyone yet, as someone could get critically injured during the fight.

More and More Cultists were being shredded to pieces.

“Guys! Get clear! We’ve reloaded!” Shouted Ellegaard.

Everyone ran out of the way, and Vulcan flipped the switch. A volley of 40 more arrows showered the small unholy army. The size of the horde was now considerably dropped, meaning a melee battle could work.

Everyone either began to slice away at what was left of the demons, or showered them with ranged attacks. It didn’t take long for the unholy beasts and undead to be quickly overwhelmed. The last of the horde was destroyed and the town was secure.

“... We did it.” Jesse panted

“We coordinated our plan, and we beat them back.” Said Emerald.

“I guess there is hope, still. Just work together, and We’ll be fine.” Kate added

“Anyone injured?” Asked Alexsi

“Not doing too good…” Said Soren, holding his hand over a small stab wound.

“Ivor, Kate, Alexsi, help me mend everyone’s wounds.” Said Rou

Alexsi and Ivor had some potions on hand. Kate raised her left hand into the air, and it began to glow white. She used her power to fully heal Soren, Gill and Magnus. Her skin grew a light grey color and she fell to her knees.

Most of her friends had seen this before.

“Thank you, Katelyn.” Said Soren. Now fully healed, he went off to assist Ivor

“Uhhh… Ya alright there, Kate? You need a glass of water?” Asked Sanya

“Some water would be nice, please.” Kate said with a slight tone of weakness in her voice.

“I was half-joking, but… here. I have some.” Sanya answered, walking to her and handing her a water bottle. Kate drank half of it without saying a word.

She helped kate sit down on the ground. Her wound from the unholy arrow had started to heal thanks to Alexsi and the Elixir, but after healing three of her friends she was at a shortness of breath.

Ivor, Rou, And Alexsi provided help where it was needed.

“Thank you Isa, but… why did you come back?” Aiden asked

“I wasn’t planning on leave you guys to fight that beast Oxidai alone, so… given my sword skill, I thought I could help you. I returned to my kingdom, and things were okay. I Reginald and Milo about the situation, and to prepare the townspeople. A skeleton army came and attacked the next day, giving me this scar next to my eye. Milo and Reginald have everything under control in my world.” Explained Isa

“Hmmm…” Said Stark

“What do you suggest now?” Asked Vulcan

“I don’t think it would be the best idea to look for Oxidai right now. The Temple me and Ivor said something about the ‘Hand of Light’ being a weapon of sorts that works to beat him, but i think we need to look for it.” Said Kate

“What do you suggest are next move be?” Asked Maya

“We went down to try and fight that ‘Formless Flesh’ monster, but that went horribly.” Said Alexsi

“Maybe we need to raid the Darkest Dungeon. It may have the things we need to beat Oxidai.”Said Lukas

“Well, we’ve got some things to do first.” Said T.T. “Let’s get the townspeople out here. I’m sure some of them are willing to fight.”

“We should get to work on fixing some buildings too. Those Things made a mess.” Added Keyen

“I want to gear up if we’re going somewhere, and build more Iron golems.” Said Axel. “Plus, Am I the only one who’s hungry?”

“I could eat. We’ve got some stuff to sort out then.” Olivia told them.

“Alright. First, Let’s Get the townspeople, fix the houses, and get some snacks. We can discuss tonight over dinner.” Said Jess

“Agreed.” Said Harper

Ivor, Rou, And Alexsi had healed everyone (for the most part) and began to repair some damages to the streets and houses with various damages.

Keyen, Harper, Gill, Olivia, Kye and Emerald went to the fortress to gather items they needed for repairs.

Aiden, Petra and Jess entered the underground shelter they had built to keep the 150-200 townspeople safe from the murderous cultists. They explained the situation to everyone. Some people were scared, but others were willing to help defend the town and make repairs. About half of them returned to the surface.

The Order was sorried that the citizens may discriminate against their eldritch friends.

Surprisingly, they didn’t do or say anything mean, and were somewhat accepting of them. Seeing as they were fighting alongside the order, Stark, Rou, Vulcan, Keyen, Sanya, Alexsi and Nicolai were seen as their guardians. Some of them thought they were weird-looking, but they had enough common sense not to spit out any insults.

Emerald had new experiences too. She was working with the order with everyone else, and she remembered a group of 7 girls who would often bully emerald.

4 of them saw Emerald in a better light, given recent events, and formally apologized for their actions towards her. The other 3 were still bitter and rude towards her.

With the Citizens helping them, the order and their friends fixed the entirety of the town’s damage before nightfall. Everyone went inside and locked their doors, with Kye’s wolves and Emerald’s Iron golems around the streets.

Everyone ate dinner as they discussed a plan for the next morning.

“So… This Formless Flesh monster…?” Asked Ellegaard

“The Thing is more horrible than I can describe. A mountainous mass of demonic flesh, within the depths of this very city.” Said Alexsi

“We’ll have to look for a way to kill it.” Said Ivor

“Maybe it’d be best to try and explore the Darkest Dungeon before trying to fight the formless flesh or Oxidai.” Said Axel

“That would make the most sense to me. He’s pretty powerful. With the right plan, we can take him down.” Said Kate

“In the end, every plan relies on the proper equipment. We’re not ready to fight him. Not yet.” Said Stark

“I think we should sleep on it. I’m exhausted.” Said Emerald.

“Me too.” Added Magnus

“Same.” Said Keyen

“Ditto.” Muttered Jesse

“Let’s talk about it in the morning then…” Said Ivor

Everyone went to bed, other than Stark, who took the first shift of making sure there wasn’t another attack.

They would have to find a way to stop Corruption from destroying the world, Somehow.