Grand Game 304: The River to Somewhere (last chapter of Book 4) (Patreon)

Multiple hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

In the wake of the stygian overlord’s attack, the flying serpents launched their own assault, streaming before, behind, and even through the descending magical projectile.

I was safely hidden beneath the water, though, and with no target against which to direct their fury, the serpents aborted their dives to skim along the river in search of me.

Your farspeaker bracelet has been deactivated.

The Game alert was a relief. Safyre was gone. And out of danger. Which left only me to get to safety. I was not certain how I was going to accomplish that, though. Making the river my new home was not an option.

“What’s happening?” I asked Ghost from the river bottom.

“The big one’s magic is about to hit the water, and more stygians are approaching the riverbanks,” she reported.

“Call it an overlord,” I said absently. “More? What type?”

“Crawlies,” she replied.

Landbound stygians. Hells. The overlord must have summoned them. I couldn’t do anything about them, though. Staying submerged, I waited for the overlord’s spell to hit.

It took longer than I expected, but when the casting finally landed, its impact was unmistakable.

The water turned bright yellow.

“Oow, golden water!”

I waited to see what else happened. Whatever had turned the water yellow, I was sure it was nothing good. Just swimming in the stuff might be deadly. I glanced around in sudden trepidation.

Only to relax a heartbeat later.

The surrounding water was crystal clear. In fact, most of the river’s depths remained unchanged. It was only the surface that had turned yellow. Unfortunately, that did not help me much.

My lungs were crying for air.

Damnation. I would have to rise to the top soon. But not yet, I thought stubbornly. Eyes riveted to the surface, I waited for the river to carry me past the yellow taint or for it to dissipate.

“Is the overlord leaving?” I rasped, searching for a distraction from the burning sensation in my chest.

“No.” A pause. “He’s coming closer.”

Well, that’s just… great.

Deciding not to ask any more questions, I waited. A second passed. Then another. Was the yellowness of the water above lessening?

I couldn’t tell.

Finally, feeling myself turning blue, I accepted the inevitable and shadow blinked.

You have teleported into Ghost’s shadow.

A hostile entity has detected you! You are no longer hidden.

I gulped in air and my eyes darted sideways. Yellow scum—so thick it was nearly solid—floated atop the river. No wonder, it hadn’t affected the water below.

Warning: the nether toxicity in this vicinity has increased to tier 12! Your health, psi, stamina, and mana are degenerating at a rate of 45% per minute (reduced by 4 tiers due to existing protections).

Urgh. So that was what the yellow stuff was: raw nether.

I sank through tainted water quickly, but the single second I’d been in it was enough to convince me I didn’t want to face the overlord on land.

“It’s firing again,” Ghost reported.

I didn’t have to ask her who she meant. Drawing on the shadows, I cloaked myself—or tried to.

A hostile entity has detected you! You have failed to conceal yourself.

Hells. What now?

✵ ✵ ✵

An hour later, I was still in the river.

The overlord had not ceased its bombardment or moved away. A silent sentinel, it kept pace with the current to remain above me. According to Ghost, the stygian hovered a mere sixty yards above the river’s surface, but that still put it beyond the reach of my mindsight.

The train of landbound stygians following along the riverbanks had grown too. And worse yet, despite repeated attempts, I had failed to conceal myself again.

I knew the reason, of course.

The overlord hanging in the sky was to blame. The beast seemed intent on catching me, and each time I resurfaced for air, it launched another nether blob into the river.

My straits were dire, no doubt about it.

The only thing I had going for me was the river itself. For some reason, the stygians appeared reluctant to enter the water. And as powerful as the overlord’s blobs were, after close observation, I was able to discern that their effect dissipated after five minutes.

The hour had seen me cycle endlessly between the river surface—to steal breaths of air—and the river bottom—to hide from the overlord’s blobs. The only upside to all that strenuous activity was that I advanced my nether absorption skill at a record-breaking pace.

Your nether absorption has increased to level 41 and reached rank 4, increasing your chance of resisting harmful nether effects by 10% and decreasing the damage you suffer from them by 20%.

I’d gained four skill ranks in less than an hour, a phenomenal achievement—if only it weren’t in such deadly circumstances.

But the Game alert also served to remind me of something else. It was time to renew my defenses. Removing an enchantment crystal from my belt—not easy to do when submerged in a river—I ground it in my fist.

You have activated a nether protection crystal. For the next hour, you will be shielded from the ill effects of the nether at tier 4 and lower concentrations.

The enchantment did not protect me from the nether blobs, but it did lessen the detrimental effects of the spell somewhat. Protections seen to, I turned my attention inwards and focused on my mental compass.

I’d resigned myself to not returning to the guardian tower, at least not by the most direct route. By now, its nether portal was a few dozen miles away and well out of reach.

There was only one other possible means of escape.

Draven’s Reach.

It was the sector’s second dungeon, and while I knew nothing about the dungeon, its rank, creatures, or layout, its gateway offered hope for Ghost and me. The Game’s nether portals were specifically warded against the stygians, and the pursuing horde would not be able to follow us through one.

All we had to do was reach it.

Draven’s reach portal shone just as brightly in my mind as the one to the guardian tower. Crucially, though, the river was leading me towards it, not away.

In fact, given how rapidly the portal’s direction was changing in my mental compass—shifting from dead south to east—the time to leave the river was quickly approaching. Every instinct was telling me the dungeon’s entrance was close to the river shore. And for both Ghost’s sake and my own, I hoped I was not wrong.

“Almost time,” I told Ghost. “Ready?”

“Yes, Prime.”

I had just a few more preparations to make myself. Crushing the other enchantment crystal I held ready, I turned my attention inwards and cast my buffs.

You have activated a rank 4 Dexterity enhancement crystal. For the next hour, your Dexterity has been increased by +8.

You have cast heightened reflexes, increasing your Dexterity by +8 ranks for 20 minutes.

You have cast load controller, granting you a 10-minute encumbrance aura that slows any armor-wearing foe within 2 yards by 20%.

You have trigger-cast quick mend. When your overall health falls below 30%, it will instantly heal you for 20%.

For what I planned next, speed was vital.

With all my gear and buffs, my Dexterity was almost one hundred. I was undoubtedly quick, and most of the stygians would have difficulty catching me. I only wished I was faster.

While you’re at it, why not wish Safyre was here? I thought dryly. Or better yet, that you were both safe in the tavern?

My mental compass swung dead east.

Breaking off from my musings, I focused on the here and now. It was time. “Now,” I ordered.

At the command, I sensed Ghost climb up the eastern riverbank and race past the nearby stygian beasts who could not see her. I waited, giving her time to draw ahead. Then, spinning psi, I formed a windslide and hopped on.

Windborne flung me upwards and towards the river’s eastern shore. Breaking through the river’s frothing surface, I gulped in air—the response near automatic now—but unlike on previous occasions, I did not fall beneath again.

Windborne kept pushing me higher, and when the spelled ramp finally came to an end, I was two yards above the water and my upward trajectory continued in a graceful arc.

I had only seconds to act.

My senses extended, I scanned the area. Mindsight reported nothing over me, but I did not doubt that the flying serpents circling in the hazy mists above had started their dives. Or that the equally-unseen-overlord was readying a nether blob. The river’s western shore was out of range. But on the eastern bank, I sensed a dense mass of mindglows.

Focusing on the farthest I could see, I shadow blinked.

You have teleported 20 yards.

I re-emerged in the real with my blades sheathed and poised to flee. It took me only a split-second to adjust to the sudden shift in terrain, then my feet were pounding hard against the ground as I raced eastward.

The stygian I’d targeted whirled around to nip at me, but I had already passed beyond its reach. Drawing in more psi, I prepared another casting. My teleport hadn’t carried me clear of the gathered mass of landbound stygians—as I’d known it wouldn’t—and those still ahead were turning to confront me.

“Overlord firing!” Ghost sang from ahead.

“Got it,” I replied grimly, beginning another mental clock in my head. If my escape went perfectly, I would be able to outrun the descending blob. But if it didn’t…

No point worrying about that now.

Two stygians converged on me. Sidestepping the striking jaws of the first, I leaped over the taloned paw of the second to land lightly behind the creature. Not looking back, I kept running.

The gap between Ghost and me was closing fast, and she was already too close. “Run faster,” I panted.

A shape hurtled towards me from the left. Dropping into a roll, I let it sail over and regained my feet without missing a stride. Five more beasts approached from the fore, but my spell was ready, and I released it without hesitating.

You have cast mass charm. You have charmed 5 of 5 targets for 20 seconds.

I grimaced. I’d been saving the spell for the aerial assault, which I expected to arrive at any moment. But done was done, and I would have to adjust my tactics accordingly. Weaving through the now-docile shapes ahead, I sent them to guard my rear.

The way ahead was almost clear. Only two more stygians lay between me and open ground, and I could pass them with a single leap of shadow blink, but I didn’t. I glanced upward.

C’mon, what’s the holdup?

Right on cue, a mass of shapes rocketed through the upper edges of my mindsight—the anticipated wave of flying serpents. Hopefully, it was all of them. But there was no time to count.

Weaving psi, I slipped out of the real...

You have teleported into Ghost’s shadow.

… and back into it twenty yards away.

A second later, the foiled serpents’ outraged shrieks filled the air. Music to my ears. Grinning, I surged past Ghost. Buffed as I was, I was faster than her. Turning my focus inwards for a brief moment, I readjusted the course of our flight according to my mental compass.

The portal was so close now I could almost taste it.

“Five seconds until blob impact!”

Damn. Damn, and damn.

We were almost there. And windborne was not ready yet. Knowing there was nothing else I could do, I kept running. The ground sloped downwards—we were on some sort of grassy knoll—and my pace increased a touch.

“I see it!” Ghost exclaimed.

“How far?” I panted.

“Close,” she said eagerly.

“Don’t wait for me. When the spell hits, keep going until you reach the portal.”

“Why? Will the blob hurt you this time?” she asked in confusion.

I didn’t get a chance to explain.

An enormous plume of dense yellow jettisoned down from above, turning everything sickly yellow before obscuring my vision entirely.

An unknown entity has cast the composite spell, blob of nether, over an area you currently occupy. The first spell-stage has been activated, spreading noxious fumes over the targeted area.

Warning: your surroundings have been contaminated with a concentrated dose of nether. The nether toxicity has increased to tier 24! Your health, psi, stamina, and mana are degenerating at a rate of 105% per minute (reduced by 4 tiers due to existing protections).

The nether the overlord had discharged was so concentrated it clumped together to form a liquid sludge. Nor was it filtered, as before, by the river’s fast-moving water.

The net effect was something altogether different—and twice as bad.

You have failed a magical resistance check!

Your void armor has reduced the nether damage incurred by 10%. Void armor charge remaining: 99%.

Your health has decreased to 99%.

Your stamina has decreased to 81%.

Your psi has decreased to 87%.

The yellow goo clogged my nose. My eyes burned, and I coughed, almost gagging as I inhaled more of the wretched stuff. Blinded and disorientated, I tripped over my feet and rolled down the hill.

You have failed a magical resistance check! Your health has decreased to 98%.

“Prime!” Ghost cried.

“Keep going,” I ground out as I bounced down the slope. “I won’t be able to see in this mess. Wait at the portal, and I will teleport to you.”

You have failed a magical resistance check! Your health has decreased to 96%.

But despite the horrid feel of the nether, I was relieved. As debilitating as the effects of the overlord’s spell were, they would not prevent me from reaching the portal. In only a few more seconds, I would escape the free-floating nether’s clutches.

The noxious fumes have reached maximum dispersion. The first spell-stage is complete. Second stage spell(s) released.

I bounced to a stop at the bottom of the knoll, the Game alert still flashing before me.

Uhm, really? I wasn’t sure which stunned me more—the roll down the hill or the contents of the Game message. Spells within a spell? Staggering back to my feet, I took a stumbling step in the direction I knew the portal to be. What the hell is stage two?

I didn’t have to wonder for long.

As my left foot pressed down, biting agony shot up my leg.

You have failed a magical resistance check! A necrotic spike has been activated, inflicting necrotic damage upon you.

Void armor charge remaining: 89%.

Your health has decreased to 90%.

Ouch! That had hurt.

Leaning down, I felt along the top of my left foot and touched something sharp and elongated. It had gone through the wayfarer boot as if it didn’t exist. Wrenching the thing out, I brought it close for inspection, and only when it was inches from my face could I make out what it was.

The shard in my hand was about half a foot long and formed from a glistening ebony substance—the very same material I had found in the stygian’s nest during the rift dive with Simone’s people.

Why am I not surprised? I thought and threw the shard away. I glanced at the ground, certain more spikes awaited ahead. That one little spike had cost me five percent of my void armor and only slightly less health, and I didn’t fancy walking over more.

“I’m here!” Ghost reported.

I checked my mindsight, but the spirit wolf was out of range. That didn’t matter, though. I knew in which direction to head. Spinning psi, I cast windborne.

For a short, blissful stretch of ten yards, I flew through the yellow plumes of nether, but by the time the spell came to an end, I was no nearer to seeing Ghost.

Damn, I thought and jumped blindly off the windslide. My leap carried me a few yards further, after which I crashed ignominiously into another trio of waiting shards.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Void armor charge remaining: 70%.

Your health has decreased to 74%.

“Hurry,” Ghost urged. “The serpents are gathering for another dive.”

More good news, I groused as I picked myself up. I couldn’t wait for windborne to be ready again, and I was still taking damage from the nether. There was no help for it. I would have to risk walking across the spelled ground. “How far am I from you?”

Ghost hesitated. I knew she wasn’t too good at measuring distances like I did, never having needed to do it before. “Sixty yards, maybe?”

My heart sank.

“Is that too far?”

It was. But I didn’t say so. My mindsight extended only twenty yards, which was how close I needed to be to Ghost before I could shadow blink to her. That meant fording the remaining forty yards by walking.

If I move in a leaping-run, I can clear more ground with each step. I didn’t hesitate, even knowing the cost. From a standing start, I jumped.

My left foot crunched down.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Ignoring the shooting pain, I leaped off the injured foot and forded another four yards.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

I came down on my right foot and sprang forward again. Then again and again.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Necrotic spike activated…

…

“Keep coming, Prime! You’re almost here.”

Too focused on my agonizing leaps, I didn’t respond to Ghost’s encouragement, but it kept me going.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Void thief triggered! You have acquired the spell, necrotic spike (stolen), from an unknown entity and will retain memory of it for the next 4 hours.

Necrotic spike (stolen) is a tier 6 spell that when triggered by a hostile will drain 5% of the target’s health. The damage inflicted is magical in nature and will bypass all physical defenses and armor. The spikes will remain manifested for 5 minutes before dissipating.

Note, a stolen spell is already embedded with the original owner’s skill and attribute mix, and its power is not determined by your own skills and attributes. There are no attribute or skill prerequisites for you to meet. You will, however, have to expend the same amount of mana as the original owner to cast the spell.

Even the surprising Game alert did not break my concentration, and I kept jumping trying to eke out as much distance as I could between leaps.

Necrotic spike activated. You have sustained nether damage.

Necrotic spike activated…

…

Void armor depleted.

Your health has decreased to 32%.

Your stamina has decreased to 7%.

Your psi has decreased to 13%.

Finally, Ghost’s mindglow came into sight—as bright and welcoming as the sun. Almost shuddering with relief, I shadow blinked to her while still mid-leap.

You have teleported into Ghost’s shadow.

“You made it!” the spirit wolf sang.

“Only thanks to you,” I replied. Rising to my feet, and steadfastly ignoring the many ebony shards buried in my boots, I glanced behind me.

I couldn’t make out any of the approaching stygians through the yellow mess, though.

“Ten seconds to flying serpents’ arrival,” Ghost reported.

I turned back to the portal. Even this close-up, the luminous curtain of magic was barely visible through the nether haze. I had no idea what the dungeon held in store for Ghost and me, but it couldn’t be worse than what awaited us here.

“Then, let’s not hang around to greet them,” I replied. Inhaling deeply, I stepped into the dungeon.

Transfer through portal commencing…

…

…

Passage completed!

Leaving sector 18,240. Entering the Endless Dungeon.

✵ ✵ ✵

The End.

Here ends Book 4 of the Grand Game.

Michael’s adventures will continue in Wolf in the Void.

Coming soon!

I hope you enjoyed the story! If you did, please leave a review and let other readers know what you think.

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Happy reading!

Tom Elliot.