Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) (64 page)

“
Come
on!” Twenty percent was still too much. I had to get myself
back into the fight in order to protect the others. They were having
a hard time against little ones.

I
stomped a foot against the ground as hard as possible. Jarring shock
rippled up the leg, spine, and to the top of my head. Double vision
pieced back together in time to hear a second scream that repeated
the effects of the first.

“
Double
stuns?!” Awesome Jr. groaned and fell to his knees amid a
series of broken enemies. Their arms still twitched even though their
health bars were empty.

The
giant creature took strides across the room. One formally severed arm
half formed in a skeletal mockery of itself. There were no eyes to
speak of on the creature, but it’s jaw was grinning as damaged
limbs stumbled forth.

“
Ru-u-un!”
SweetPea stuttered.

Carver
did, not, run. No matter how caring these teenagers' warnings were. I
would stand my ground. I would swing this sword over and over until
there was nothing left. Nope, instead I took another claw to the
body. The pain sent me flying far enough that there was time to
wonder what a bear's attack would feel like. Likely very similar,
more mass and strength over the small tears of these tentacle
creatures. Bearing the brunt of a third attack brought my already
fading health bar down to twenty percent.

Blood
was everywhere. Vision blurred by streams of sweat. The sword was
still in my hand. I had mere seconds to get back to my feet before
the creature would attack again. Another one of those hits would maim
me. Maim Carver. Whatever.

One
knee was up, the leg didn’t have enough strength to force me to
stand. Both hands were gripped around the giant sword's handle. I
glared at the creature in my best old man defiance.

“
I
will not die lying down.” Carver would not die lazing about. He
would stand and fight. He would stand and swing, and swing, and
swing.

I,
however, slipped and fell. The one knee I had propped up lost
purchase and left me hanging on by the edge of Carver's sword. At
least there was still that minor dignity.

A
weight pressed on my shoulder and hissed. Then spat a small ball of
fire. I had enough awareness to glance to the side. A small
[Messenger's Pet]
's was spitting defiance at the larger
creature. The sheer audacity of my situation must have set the boss
monster back because it growled and roared.

“
Oh
god. We’re all screwed.” Shadow was pressed against the
ground. One eye tilted up, seeing the giant creature towering over
the lot of us. The boss was smaller than before, having lost some
mass to the destruction of its wriggling bits.

I
tried to stand up again. Both hands pulled with frail strength upon
the sword's hilt. The blade dug into tile and ground below in
response. Even if this horrifyingly giant mass of squiggles descended
those jaws my direction. A pitiful death would invalidate my attempt
to give him a stellar ending.

“
His
health. It keeps going down.”

I
winced and realized that the wounds all over my body had applied a
bleed of some sort. My quarter of health was down to ten percent.
This was not fair. This was not the way things should end. I would
not die on the ground. I would stand on my feet. I would go out like
Carver wanted.

SweetPea
reached out with one hand to try and heal me. Her battered form
stretched across the ground and a torn look across her features. I
had enough strength to look around and weakly smile at the lot of
them. They were only here on this fool's errand because of me. Me and
this brilliant idea to take Carver into a dungeon.
[Messenger's
Pet]
was still spitting tiny balls of fire out. They were
minuscule before the bigger monster, but enough to cause it to flinch
at times as chunks sizzled.

Brief
moments of respite allowed me to struggle back to my feet. Everything
felt worse than it had. My strength from the dances had faded. The
sword in my hands turned back to its cane. Both knees locked up into
position in order to keep me upright. Pain flared between my
shoulders as everything hunched again. There, like my first day as
William Carver, I stood. Putting on an air of pride.

We,
Carver and I, would die on our feet. By all the Voices Continue had
to offer, by all the mental willpower available to me. I would grace
him with that image at least.

But
I might close my eyes, if only a little.

There
was another roar from the boss. As if my debilitation could get any
worse. Another wave rippled through preceded by a giant stomp.
Another giant footstep came through and a sixth roar.

This
time, a much louder, much angrier cry answered the boss. From above
and behind, somewhere in the distance came a loud scream that sounded
more like thunder than a giant lion. I opened one eye a little and
saw the nearly empty health bar. A cough full of blood sputtered out
of my old form.

The
other eye opened and vision swam into focus. Something new collided
at high speeds with the boss monster. A shock wave rippled as the two
connected. I pulled together what little willpower was left.
[Identification]
triggered on the newest creature.

Failure
abounded. Repetitive stuns had made pretty much skill usage
impossible. I had a hunch, given the sleek azure skin and thinned
look. A female I think. That shade matching her scales lined up with
the scarf of a certain orphanage caretaker. It also matched scales I
handed over to that very same woman.

“
Who
is that?” Someone whispered but my ears were muffled from all
the yells.

“
I
don’t know.”

“
Carver's
almost dead, do you have anything left?” Awesome Jr. asked.

“
Better
yet, why is that dragon helping?”

“
She,
I think.” HotPants said.

She,
the giant azure dragon, was going to town on the creature of
nightmares and ink. Relief washed across my face. It was enough to
make me happy in this path. I stayed on my feet and suffered the
buffet of wings and near misses of huge limbs. Wingtips, balls of
flame, and conglomerations of tentacle monsters passed me where I
stood. My health dipped into critical and started flashing.

I
nodded and bore witness to the scene.

Flames
proved to be the nightmare's downfall. Ball after ball of light
orange fire spat out of the dragon's maw. Each one sending the boss
creature into fits as it shrank visibly and writhed. Soon there was
nothing but a growing puddle of goo.

Finally,
its health bar reached rock bottom. She, the dragon, let out a few
more blasts to ensure that the enemy’s health went into the
negatives.

I
tried to smile but instead hit rock bottom myself and slipped
downward again. Rapidly my legs gave out and soon Carver's body was
on the ground. I had a front row view of the large dragon shrinking
and twisting upon itself. The dragon was turning back towards me and
in moments she turned into human form.

Our
mystery rescuer was Mylia, the Half-Dragon orphanage Mother. Her
hands reached for a scarf and wrapped it back across her hair. The
blue knitted clothing was now obviously hiding a small pair of horns
and a tint of azure scales that hung around her forehead. One more
mystery solved of why she looked the way she did. She was practically
dainty now as she screamed out Carver's name.

“
Carver!”

I
tried to smile but barely moved my eyes in her direction.

“
Carver!”
She shouted again. Did no one want to use my, I mean his, first name?

“
Mylia.”
I croaked.

“
SweetPea,
can you do anything?”

“
I’m
completely out. Empty. Do you have any bandages?”

"Nothing
for that level of damage." HotPants said.

“
Anyone
have anything?” Awesome Jr. sounded nearly frantic. The four of
them were standing around now, moving but not nearly as broken as I
was. They at least had slivers of health remaining.

“
Mylia.”
I croaked again.

“
I’m
here Carver.”

Swallowing
hurt. Breathing was beyond difficult. There was a taste of copper in
the back of my mouth that would make me barf again if there was any
strength to do so. I had nothing left but still had room for a final
push. I won and succeeded in a final adventure. There was one thing
left to do.

“
Tell
me a story, Mylia.” My lips felt dry. Everything hurt more than
normal. The pain was rapidly fading into a numb sensation.

“
I
will. I will, you have to make it through. We’ll get High
Priestess Peach here, or I'll carry you.”

“
Mylia,”
I whispered with all the strength left to my old body.

“
Mister
Carver. You can't die now, what will the kids do?”

“
Tell
me a story.”

“
I
don’t…” She was crying.

“
You
promised... to think about it.” My hips hurt fiercely.

“
I,
I don’t know where to start.”

“
Your
story Mylia.” I gasped and coughed. The vile taste in the back
my throat grew worse and breathing was harder. Another wracking wave
of coughs as my frail form couldn’t double up. Carver wouldn’t
cry, I existed beyond this game, but right now there was nothing
else. Mylia was getting a chance to say goodbye and that was
something everyone deserved.

“
What
do I say? How do I start?”

“
Once
upon a time,” SweetPea said. “That’s how all the
best stories start.”

"So
cliché," Shadow muttered. HotPants poked him weakly.

I
tugged at Mylia's sleeve in desperation. Neither eye seemed capable
of focusing. They slowly drifted downward and barely worked.
Blackness haunted the edges of my vision.

“
Okay.
Okay, a story. But you have to stay with me, Mister Carver.”
She swallowed too and wiped away her tears. Moments later they
returned but she worked through.

“
Once
upon a time…” Mylia Jacobs whispered.