Age of Dragons Online

Chapter 16: Believing

                                                        Chapter  16

                                                         Believing

        Linkalb let out a mighty roar, and began walking toward them.  Wait, goblins can roar? Nadran wondered, then felt a sudden sense of dejà vú sweep over him.  Oh yeah, he thought, so could the roaring plant I fought on my first day... Wait, was that really only a few days ago?  Things are happening so fast...

        Nadran left his contemplation to notice that Linkalb was almost in front of him, and Aledro was starting at him with an "are you going to move?" look.  Nadran jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed under Linkalb's massive fist.  I have a really bad habit of spacing out in the middle of battles, Nadran thought, trying to focus on the situation in front of him.  He quickly stepped back as Linkalb attacked again, barely dodging the huge swing.  "Ok, let's attack at the same time to try to maximize our strength."  He looked at Aledro, who nodded, and glanced at Lunalia, who glared at him.  "Alright then, let's go," he said, trying to ignore Lunalia's hostile gaze, and he ran toward Linkalb, Aledro beside him.  They leaped forward, striking him in each knee as they passed.  To Nadran's surprise, he saw one of Lunalia's spells fly through the air, striking Linkalb in the throat.  The three styles landed in almost perfect unison.

        It was like hitting a brick wall with a small stick.

        Their weapons rebounded off of Linkalb's skin, knocking them off balance and sending a shock up their arms from the impact.  As they fell to their knees, Lunalia's spell struck Linkalb's throat, and, like the other attacks, bounced off, fracturing into hundreds of pieces that flew in every direction, almost striking Nadran, Aledro, and even Lunalia with bolts of transparent wind energy.  Nadran and Aledro scrambled to their feet and turned to see Linkalb facing them with a grotesque grin.  The behemoth lifted its leg and kicked, launching the duo into the air and knocking the air out of their lungs.  When they struck the ground, Nadran's entire body screamed in protest.  His eyes watered at the sudden pain, and he grit his teeth to keep from crying out.  He forced himself to rise unsteadily to his feet, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to take down a creature that was basically immune to all of their attacks.  Nothing came to mind.  Meanwhile, Linkalb was looking around as though searching for something.  What could he be...?  Nadran wondered, then froze as its gaze settled on a small tree, which, at twelve feet tall, was nearly as tall as the giant.

        No, Nadran thought, don't tell me he's going to...

        Nadran's fears were confirmed as Linkalb grabbed the tree, and, with what seemed like little effort, uprooted it, lifting it into the air.  He spun it around in his hand with an elegance that seemed impossible for a creature of his bulk, then brandished it like a club.  A couple of seconds later, he swung the tree down at the spot where Aledro and Nadran were standing. 

        Nadran leaped to the side, avoiding the strike, but one of the thin branches caught him, dealing a stinging blow to his shoulder that dropped him to one knee.  This is not going well, he thought, as he looked for anything that could help them.  There was still a ring of goblins surrounding them, and Linkalb was faster than he looked, so running was out of the question.  He turned more to see Lunalia standing about ten feet behind them, not participating in the battle after her initial contribution, and seemed to be rethinking whether she should help them, attack them, or just leave them to Linkalb.  Unfortunately, this meant that they would probably be dead before she came to a decision.

        "Uh, you know, we would really appreciate it if you helped us out a bit.  Just saying," Nadran told Lunalia, then jumped back to avoid the giant's attack.  Like before, however, the whip-like outer branches were impossible to avoid, and one caught his cheek, causing his head to jerk to the side.  Wincing, he touched his cheek to find it wet, and he moved his fingers in front of his face to see blood on them.  Lovely, he thought.