The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 44: A Saint's Tale

[Dorak] was a level 60 player, but viewed his high level as a privilege. He tried to use his power to help smaller players or protect them so that they could grow as well, and was excited about the upcoming war against [DeathGang]. He was feeling restless after waking up early, so he had come to these low-level woods after hearing that patrols had found it to be clear. He wanted to grind a bit, but in a low-risk area where he was unlikely to have to deal with strong players or bosses who might tire him out before the upcoming war in the East.

When he heard a couple of players shouting nearby, he went to investigate. On his way, he saw a couple of smaller players running away from the sound, hoping to avoid any meetings with gankers. Since those players were small, they were in no position to risk conflict. Dorak was, however. He was surprised when he came upon the corpses of two players, one female and one male. The male had obvious stab-wounds, suggesting that an Assassin was the culprit. The blunt brutality of the kill was reminiscent of the [DeathGang] Guild. There was a faint rustling sound among the trees towards the South. Squinting in the darkness, he saw a single pair of light footprints leading away from the kill in the direction of the rustling leaves, and quickly followed them. He was glad that seemingly only one ganker showed up, since that player would probably be beneath his level.

He was in the [Ranger] sub-class, a sub-class of Archer which could also use swords effectively. Combined with his level, this meant that his Agility was high. Although he couldn't see his opponent in the darkness, he quickly approached the rustling sound and heard it grow louder. Soon, he could clearly make out that someone was pushing through a particular clump of bushes in front of him. Since it was night, it was difficult to run at full-tilt, but the [Ranger] passive skill [Natural Life] gave him an affinity to the terrain which allowed him to maintain balance even if his feet landed slightly askew or met a slight obstacle. As he closed in on the sound, he heard someone crying out, "Leave me alone, DeathGang! I won't tell you anything!"

He quickened his pace, worried that DeathGang was trying to torture people into revealing the war plans. As he firmly shoved aside a faceful of leaves, he saw a player from [DeathGang] standing over an unaligned Mage, using a foot to pin the Mage to a tree while holding out the tip of his sword towards the Mage's neck. The Mage wore sunglasses and a thick, blue coat. The area was eerily still, apart from the DeathGang member slowly moving the sword's tip forwards as the Mage cowered against the tree.

"Tell me your plans," the DeathGang member said to the Mage, in a low, monotone voice.

Dorak unsheathed his sword hastily in anger, keen to make sure that the Mage was out of harm's way and would not divulge information. The sound of the sword was loud, and the DeathGang member turned his head.

"Leave weaker players alone, DeathGang scum," growled Dorak.

"Nice to meet you, I'm DicingDevil," replied the DeathGang member in deadpan, "I'm glad that you recognise our Guild, we do a lot for fame."

"You're just bullies."

"Not at all. You lot are evil, you are conspiring to start a war on our Guild for just playing the game and PvPing."

"Then you are lost!"

On saying this, Dorak flung himself forwards with his sword raised, and swung it downwards at DicingDevil. The Assassin quickly raised his own sword from near the ground, parrying Dorak's blow and then using [Lunge] to pierce Dorak's face from beneath Dorak's blade.

Realising that his attack had been hasty, Dorak quickly stepped back. As DicingDevil attempted a horizontal [Slash] to Dorak's right flank, Dorak parried it away, then attempted a [Lunge] that was also parried by the Assassin. As DicingDevil tried to counter-attack, Dorak took advantage of his superior Dexterity to use [Blade strike] and swat the Assassin's weapon to the side, leaving DicingDevil wide open to central attacks. Dorak smiled and prepared to thrust his sword, but was interrupted when he felt his arm collapse weakly downwards, and his body keeled over forwards. He had been struck by [Spark]. He felt weaker, and was unable to move as DicingDevil teed up and struck a [Strong blow] to the right of his neck. This strike easily drew blood.

Feeling dizzied by the blood loss, Dorak fell to the ground. However, as DicingDevil prepared to stab downwards, Dorak rolled out of the way and struck at DicingDevil's feet with his sword. The unexpected strike sent DicingDevil to the ground. Dorak got quickly to his feet, but saw the world around him through blurred vision and felt lost. Nonetheless, he saw DicingDevil on the ground and pointed his blade, threatening a strike if the Assassin attempted to rise.

However, he was floored by a blunt, thudding blow on the back of his head, that sent him collapsing face-first towards the ground. His sword clattered on the ground, and he lost his grip on it. As he looked up, he saw the Mage, but the Mage's right arm had transformed into a rotting, corpse-like shape. Dorak wondered if this was all a nightmare. The Mage's behaviour was also strange, carrying a piece of paper by his side that had a few scribbles on it. Some of the scribbles disappeared as he cast [Mana Push] to shove Dorak's sword out of the way.

"Why aren't you helping me? We could have won easily!" Dorak shouted at the Mage.

"Keep him down and interrogate him," the Mage said to DicingDevil. He removed his sunglasses and blue coat, and put them back into his inventory.

DicingDevil lowered his sword towards Dorak's throat, in a similar position to that which he used to threaten the Mage before. As Dorak tried to scramble to his feet, DicingDevil stabbed him lightly through the throat and kicked him to the ground. Dorak saw that the Mage had sat back down near the tree, and his right arm had returned to normaĺ.

Dorak was exhausted, and powerless to resist as DicingDevil crouched down and held him in a [Chokehold], then followed this up by withdrawing a dagger and using [Black Spot] to cut a further slit high on Dorak's throat. Dorak could barely speak, due to the pressure of the strong chokehold across painful wounds. He was crying, but barely felt like he was. Dorak had 15% HP remaining, and waited for the pain to end when his HP ran out.

The Mage soon cast [Spark], and Dorak felt his skin weaken and give way as DicingDevil tightened the chokehold against Dorak's unresisting throat. Dorak felt heavily ill, as if his body was being turned inside-out. He vomited out blood. The [Spark] had only reduced his HP by 3%. As he tried to wriggle out of DicingDevil's grip, he found that that his body was unable to move.

"So, do you mind telling me about Kruxol's plans of attacking DeathGang?" sneered DicingDevil.

"I won't tell you!" squealed Dorak, with pain in his throat.

DicingDevil nodded to the Mage. "Cael, your turn to ask."

Cael cast [Spark] again, and Dorak felt a painful numbness flowing through his body. DicingDevil's choke felt as though it was wringing his throat dry, and he coughed up more blood.

"I won't talk," he whispered.

He twisted his head slightly, wincing in pain, and saw that he had only 3% HP remaining.

"I'll die soon," Dorak continued, "but we'll all have revenge on your Guild."

Cael shrugged, and used [Healing], restoring Dorak's HP to 25%. He also cast [Meditate], to recover his MP faster.

"If you give us information, then I will loosen my grip and let you die. If not, then we will keep doing this," said DicingDevil.

Dorak tried to get out of the chokehold, but DicingDevil used his left arm to apply pressure to Dorak's throat wounds, and then easily kicked Dorak back to the ground.

For a couple of minutes, Cael used [Spark] periodically, and Dorak collapsed ever more weakly towards the ground. A few small players had noticed the commotion, and peeked in through the branches nearby, but Cael shooed them away with [Magic Missile]. One brave level 12 player tried to run in and help Dorak, but died easily after Cael cast one [Dark's Tendrils].

Through all of this, Dorak stared indignantly at the ground, and refused to provide answers. However, he could barely stand the pain. His body was going limp, and DicingDevil continually tightened the chokehold. Every attempt to move or breathe was met by a sharp sensation of pain, due to the pacifying effect of [Spark].

While Dorak had been hanging on, he felt a surge of despair when he saw Cael cast [Healing] again. As the next [Spark] landed, Dorak tried to scream, but no sound came out. As he tried to catch his breath after the [Spark], he stammered out quietly, "Alright, I'll tell you."

"Go on," said DicingDevil, and slightly loosened his grip to let Dorak speak.

Dorak considered lying, but then realised that being caught in a lie would probably bring further retribution. He didn't know how much DicingDevil or Cael already knew. Besides, his mind was too foggy now to think of a convincing lie.

"I - I know that the Guilds are planning to attack you this morning," Dorak said in a high-pitched, whistling tone, speaking slowly as he was short of breath. "They will fan out across the East of Kruxol, so that you can't escape to the town. A few big Guilds are taking part, they brought strong players from nearby. Lots of people won't fight after the draugr thing, but we have a large force."

"I see. Are the Guild leaders going to enter the thick of the fight? Sounds risky." asked DicingDevil.

"No, they will start by going to the far East and North to cut off escape routes, then they will join the fight once DeathGang are weakened. A few leaders will accompany the main force, but the important ones aren't mostly going along with the main army. Big battles are too risky, especially with players not respawning sometimes now."

"Do most players know about this plan?"

"I think only strong players like me know much about it, mostly," said Dorak with a hint of pride, "but many players have been told to gather at the East, a few might not come because war seems too likely to be painful for low-level players."

"Thank you for your answers," said DicingDevil, who used [Silent stab] and stabbed hard into the back of Dorak's neck with a dagger. Dorak lay dead, with blood staining the ground around him.

"I'll forward this to our guys once we return East," said DicingDevil.

The two players ran Southwards, towards the hills, and left Dorak's corpse lying amidst the trees.

"The play's the thing..."

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