Page 178 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
My claws grabbed an arrow out of the air and turned around to stab a close-combat human spy that had foolishly come within arm’s reach. I dropped the arrow, ducked a [Sword Art: Slash], then caught the close-combat spy by the ankle. Righting, I swung my human spy in an arc. He took a blow from an ally, knocked over an elf, and when I let go, he flew off into a group of three elven knights that came running into the lobby from a hallway on the left side of the grand staircase.
[You have defeated aBlackfog Spy (Level 21). + 21 EXP]
“Any chance,” I said to the human Swordsman, stepping cleanly out of the way of another [Sword Art] skill, “that you want to defect to evil? Your form is excellent.”
The elf that had been knocked down jumped to his feet. “Don’t listen to him! [Fireball].”
At the same time, I easily dodged another arrow from the elven archer who hung back. The other elf, a fighter type by the looks of his brass knuckles, attacked the knights.
The fireball was avoidable, but I didn’t want to dodge it. I was sure the wooden palace in the wooden tree in the wooden city was spelled against fire … but just in case. “[Protector].”
My shield’s durability from the previous fight meant that it could only take one or two hits before the cooldown, then I wouldn’t be able to activate it again for fifteen minutes.
The shield dissipated the flames but didn’t break.
“I’m serious.” I turned to the swordsman. For some reason, my senses were telling me thatthisBlackfog spy wasn’t happy with his lot. “You’re what? Level twenty-five? You shouldn’t be lost in a group of masked figures. We have an excellent afterlife plan.”
He hesitated for the barest instant, and the mage elf threw up his arms in exasperation. “Seriously, Barry! We’ve been through this! You are a valued member of this team. Nowstab him.”
The human, Barry, took a half-hearted stab at me, which I easily parried. “We also have free health care. And a four-day workweek.”
Barry lowered his sword. “For real?”
“Argh!” the mage said. “That’s it!”
[Update: Predictive analysis: 40%. Available predictions: attack trajectory and perk activation.]
The notification came just as the mage lifted his hand high in the air. I thought he was going to cast an area of effect spell, but there were no predictive lines showing that. Instead, he slammed a small ball to the ground.
Billowing plumes of wolfsbane exploded at my feet, knocking me back from the sheer unpleasant experience.
[You have taken 14 points of Critical Damage. Health 602/616.]
[Warning! You have been poisoned byWolfsbane. You will lose consciousness in 00:00:10]
[Unique EffectWolfsbanetriggered:Beast Form. Spend mana to maintain current form or revert toBeast Form.]
[You have taken 14 points of Critical Damage. Health 588/616.]
[Warning! You will lose consciousness in 00:00:09]
Wolfsbane was the poison best suited to hunting down and trapping any of my kind of canine beastman—werewolf, wolfman, coyotekin, foxkin, foxfolk, fox spirit, or mythic jackal. It also trapped us in beast form so we couldn’t hide, and it was an almost automatic critical hit.
I coughed and jumped back toward the exit. It wouldn’t matter if I popped my antidote now if I was standing in the poison radius.
Lady Amy had successfully defeated all of her Blackfog assailants and was already running up the stairs. And the knights had successfully detained the human that barreled into themandthe elf archer. “You were supposed to save that for Their Royal Highness!” Barry’s voice criticized. “Now what do we do?”
“The portal mage can make another for all I care! Let’s get out of here.” the mage elf grabbed the swordsman by the scruff of his neck and dragged him off to the unguarded hallway to the left side of the hall.
The fresh air from outside filled my lungs, and I collapsed to the ground.
With little time to spare, I summoned a wolfsbane antidote from my storage.
CHAPTER 108
Is That a Horse?
Brownie
