Azalea was already diving forward as the bandit released the arrow he’d aimed at her. She didn’t know how or why, but her body seemed to move on its own. It was like she’d suddenly grown an instinct, and knew just what to do to ensure that she survived. Even as Riley staggered back with a cry of pain, a black-shafted arrow sticking out of his shoulder, Azalea was already on her feet again, now within easy melee distance of the archer. Her spear thrust out, catching the man high in the chest, and taking him down with one quick jab.
The other archer, seeing his ally fall, hurriedly dropped his bow, yanking a short sword out of the sheath at his waist. But he was unprepared and unaccustomed to using the weapon, and Azalea’s weapon had far more reach. She thrust again, but stumbled slightly in the uncertain lighting, and only succeeded in hitting him in one leg. But she had more than enough time to pull her weapon free and stab again. This time, her weapon struck true, and the bandit fell.
She turned back to see the other bandits swarming Riley’s position. Already distracted by the arrow, he was quick to fall. Caius hadn’t risen since that arrow had knocked him down, she thought. She had no clue where Oscar was. The bandit sneak attack had been too effective. With only one enemy in sight, the bandits glared at her for a moment, then charged. Azalea knew at once there was nothing she could do to help her companions, so she turned and ran.
This time, her dash through the tunnel wasn’t an act, and she ran as fast as she could, slinging the spear into its holster over her shoulder. With both hands free, she was able to push off of the twisting tunnel’s walls. The bandits were yelling behind her, making it sound as if they were right there. She cast a quick buff spell over her body, refreshing the agility buff she’d used early, and felt, rather than heard, the pursuit starting to fall back.
She broke out of the tunnel without warning, stumbling slightly on the steep slope down into the main cavern. She managed to catch herself with one hand thanks to her agility buff, and slid down the slope in a shower of pebbles. The second she was back on her feet, she whirled around and threw a fireball at the tunnel opening. The lead bandit and her spell met at the same place, and he was blasted back, impeding the progress of those behind him. Before they could re-organize and chase after her again, Azalea had already reached the entrance of the cave.
She bounced off an invisible wall at the beginning of the dungeon, and let out a panicked curse, then ran back to the other side of the cave. The bandits had caught up to her now, and one took a wild swipe at her back with his sword. She narrowly avoided the blade, but couldn’t turn to retaliate without getting surrounded. And she had no doubt that if she were surrounded, she’d die. So she ran as fast as she could, letting her agility buff slowly pull her ahead of the bandits. They showed no sign of tiring or slowing down, however, so she knew she couldn’t stop.
Her only hope, she reasoned, was to find Kyraa and the sisters. They’d split up at the main entrance, with Kyraa and her guild going down the left path. They had more numbers, so they were probably still alive. She’d have to join them and wait for Caius and Riley to respawn and head back. This firm thought locked in her mind, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, hoping against hope that the Sisters of the Night were still alive up ahead. If they weren’t…
Two tunnels and a large cave with a dozen dead bandits later, she found them. They were resting against the wall of a third cave, eating a quick meal and replenishing buffs. They looked up at once as Azalea appeared, however, unable to notice as the girl came scrambling in. Azalea missed a small drop-off where the tunnel met the cave and hit the ground in an awkward roll before getting back to her feet.
“Help!” She yelped, dashing right at the group. “There’s like twelve of them after me!”
Thankfully, the Sisters didn’t waste time asking questions. Tankbabe, the largest and tankiest of their number, jumped to her feet at once and moved to block the bandits who were now piling out of the tunnel. Nearly all of them stumbled as Azalea had, then stopped in their tracks as they saw the five women standing to defend their ally. The bandits still outnumbered them two-to-one, but they hesitated all the same, uncertain. Perhaps it was something in the way that the Sisters responded so quickly to their presence.
“What the hell is going on here?” Azalea had reached the guild leader just as she asked the question. “Where are Caius and the others?”
Even in her panicked state, Azalea thought it was interesting how Kyraa had only bothered to remember Caius’ name and not the others. Azalea shook her head. “Caius and Riley are dead. I don’t know where Oscar is, but I didn’t see him fall.”
Before the guild leader could speak again, the bandits, who had reformed by now, began to move forward to attack. Tankbabe was flanked by both Bubbles and Centrogen, who threw small glass bottles at the enemy. Explosive potions, Azalea thought. For a guild that only had one melee fighter, they were remarkably effective. Tankbabe blocked most of the attacks with her large tower shield, and those that did slip through her guard glanced harmlessly off her full plate armor. She bashed one enemy back with the shield, and the man quickly fell to two spells fired by the backline.
Azalea took part in the fighting as well, but she was as careful as she could be. Her experience in fighting was probably less than the others and she didn’t know their tactics, so she limited her attacks to times that she was sure she could get in and out without interrupting the Sisters. She took two bandits down herself, one with a well-placed spear thrust while he was turned to face Centrogen, and the other with a mana bolt. Slowly but surely, the numbers of bandits were dwindling, and none of the raiders fell.
Finally, when there were only three bandits left, the mage, who was still alive, called for a retreat. He guarded them the best he could as they ran back to the tunnel to escape, but Kyraa still managed to take one of them down with a lightning bolt right before he could make it out. The mage and his last surviving companion quickly disappeared into the tunnel.
“Don’t chase after them!” Kyra called, as both Bubbles and Centrogen made to do exactly that. “They’ll probably spring some kind of trap on you.”
She turned back to Azalea then, letting out a long sigh. “You interrupted our buff cycles.”
“Sorry about that,” she replied, replacing the spear in its holster. “But you were the only option I had left.”
“To be honest, I’m surprised you guys were nearly wiped out. Caius is a nasty fighter. I have trouble believing one of these bandits managed to best him. It’s not like that Captain is here.”
Azalea knew she was referring to the boss from the last raid. Shaking her head, she said, “It was a sneak attack. Two bandits got behind us when we weren’t paying attention and shot him in the back. They got Riley after he fell.”
“And your scout?”
“I think he might have survived,” Azalea said. “But I can’t be sure. He had two bandits running him down when Caius got shot, so I lost track of him.”
“He’s good with that bow of his,” Tankbabe offered. “And I don’t know anyone else as fast as him. I’m sure he’s fine.”
Oscar had indeed survived the battle, though it took him almost ten minutes to show up in the cave where Azalea had found the Sisters. When he did, he looked pale and had blood running down his left arm. He could barely hold onto the longbow in his hand, and he was limping badly. Azalea rushed over to him at once to heal him.
“I’m surprised you managed to get away,” he said, his voice growing a little stronger under her healing spell. “I was sure you were going to die after Caius fell.”
“Saw that, did you? Well, I got lucky. I was able to buff myself before they caught me, and I ran away. I got to the Sisters in time and we beat them. Two got away, though.”
“Oh, I caught those,” Oscar said with a smirk. “Ran into them just outside the last tunnel. Nearly ran into each other, actually. I got the sword guy but the mage nearly killed me.”
“Nice work,” she said, finishing the healing spells. “That should suit you for a while. Drink one of your potions. I have a feeling we’ll need some endurance for the rest of this.”
He did just that. She downed a potion as well for good measure. “Caius and Riley won’t be able to respawn for at least another twenty minutes. It will take them at least two hours to get here. I don’t think they’ll be able to help with the rest of the raid.”
“About that,” Kyraa said, coming over to join their conversation, “We’ve cleared out the two paths over there, and we didn’t see the boss room. All that’s left is the path you four took”
“I found the boss room,” Oscar said. “At least, I think I did. There’s a door locked behind a C-Rank magic skill level on the other side of the chamber where we lost Caius and Riley. Those bandits we found were probably the guard.”
“Hmm,” Kyraa said thoughtfully. “Then we’re almost done. We might just be able to finish it with the numbers we have. If you two stick to melee or mid-range, it’s possible.”
“We can’t have the one tank,” Oscar said, nodding toward Tankbabe. “She’s good, but she can’t tank a boss all by herself.”
“Hey,” Tankbabe interjected, her voice indignant. “If Caius could do it, so can I. My armor is better than his anyway.”
A small smile crossed Centrogen’s face as she too spoke up. “Don’t you two worry about us. We’re the best combat guild this game has, you know.”
Azalea disagreed, but privately. Caius had fallen to a fluke, and he was leagues ahead of the Sisters. But she kept that opinion to herself. “It’s not like we can leave the raid anyway. We might as well give it a shot. Worst case scenario, we’ll just have to come back with full numbers and try again.”
The others agreed. Even Oscar couldn’t think of a reason not to try the boss fight, so they joined the Sisters. Azalea sent Caius and Riley a message explaining their choice with the Contact spell, telling them to wait wherever they respawned. If they won the raid or lost, they could regroup after the boss fight.
“Alright, let’s get to it,” Tankbabe said, a determined expression on her face. “Let’s make history as the smallest raid group, eh?”
Well, he's faced similar odds before. But don't worry, he'll only come back stronger! Or so we can hope xD