Spiteful Healer

Chapter 85: The Shattering Pt. 4

Entering Unique Dungeon:Hrath’mir Fortress

Dungeon Option 1: Dying in this dungeon will reset the dungeon and return you to the entrance with no death penalty.

To exit the dungeon, abandon the quest. The quest cannot be re-accepted. Combat and weapon skill experience cannot be acquired while inside this dungeon.

Aegis climbed onto the back of the gryphon and soared up into the night sky, but this time not to the west - he flew eastward, high up towards the clouds as he caught sight of what he was looking for. A group of 8 silver-scaled dragons flying majestically above the land in a circular formation, the largest of the dragons leading the front. As Aegis approached, one of the smaller dragons flew to intercept him. At this point Aegis saw that each and every one of the dragons had a unique name and were marked as elite,

[Kelik’radanir, The Silver Dragon(Elite) - ??] roared ferociously as it flew with his yellow eyes in line with Aegis’ gryphon. The dragons were massive and made Aegis and gryphon look like nothing by comparison, its eye the size of Aegis’ head, but as it opened its large snout to reveal its razor sharp teeth, it didn’t appear aggressive. Aegis also noticed that, despite being cautious around the reapers, his gryphon didn’t act apprehensive around the dragons, as if it was accustomed to flying near them.

“We are going into hiding, human. And we do not wish our locations known. Turn away from us and let us leave in peace.” Kelik’radanir spoke, his large tongue moving inside his snout drew Aegis’ gaze. He was surprised to hear it speaking so clearly despite being a dragon.

“I need your help.” Aegis said.

“Have we not already given enough to your people? We have failed. You and your kind have already been proven incapable of stopping this darkness. Your champions, and ours, have fallen. You must know when to accept defeat.” The dragon roared back. Aegis got the sense that he was lacking a lot of Shattered World lore information, and felt himself missing Rakkan greatly in that moment.

“There is still a chance.” Aegis insisted. “The light of Eirene can still save everyone.”

“The light of Eirene is weak!” He snapped back aggressively as they flew alongside each other, Hrath’mir fading further and further away.

“It’s the only light left!” Aegis shouted back, pointing up at the two stars in the night sky. “You can fly away and run now, but if you do, it’ll be only a matter of time before those Avatars of Darkness find you and turn you into their ghouls. You’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“Then what would you have us do? Fly down and die alongside the humans, like my father did at Truam Keep?!” Kelik’radanir shouted back. Aegis’ first thought was only that he was glad he didn’t have to do a quest at the battle of Truam Keep, from what he’d been hearing about it.

“No, not die. Fight for a chance to survive. The Avatar of Eirene is still alive, and she can still stop this and save the world. Hrath’mir won’t survive, but you can, and the other kingdoms can. But only if you help me bring her back to Hrath’mir before it's too late.” Aegis shouted at him over the loud soaring wind whipping past them. The dragon glared at Aegis for a moment as it pondered his words.

“I don’t know who your father was, but he trusted humans enough to fight alongside them until the end. We owe it to all the people who died at Truam keep to not give up.” Aegis tried saying.

“Fleeing with our tails between our legs is unbecoming.” A female dragon voice spoke, as Aegis watched her soar over top of him and flank him on his right so that Aegis had two dragons flying on either side of him. [Ysil’mareina, The Silver Dragon(Elite) - ??] was her name, and as she flew in this formation, Aegis watched the other 6 maneuver to fly in a formation behind him, as if he was leading the pack. The idea that a group of 8 dragons were now following his commands suddenly sent chills of excitement down his spine.

Level Up!: Leadership has reached level 31!

“The Silver Dragons do not fear the darkness.” Ysil’mareina said confidently. “Take us to your Avatar, priest of Eirene. If you say there is a chance to win, then we will fight until the end.” She finished, and the other dragons roared in approval.

“Right this way.” Aegis grabbed the reins of his gryphon tight, steering downward from the skies and westward. It was obvious that even though the gryphon was flying as fast as it could, flapping its wings furiously, the 8 dragons were having to hold back in order to allow him to stay in the lead. That all stopped when the dome of light came into view, surrounded by a flock of reapers.

“The Avatar of Eirene is in the middle of that swarm of reapers.” Aegis pointed ahead.

“They are weak. Your Avatar has done well to drain the fear from her heart. Without fear, they are nothing.” Ysil’mareina spoke confidently.

“Burn them to ashes.” Kelik’radanir roared. The 8 dragons flew forth and released torrents of white flames from their mouths, raining it down upon the swarms of reapers. There was something extremely therapeutic about watching the reapers get wiped out so easily. Within seconds, there was a clear path to the dome of light for Aegis and his gryphon and he soared down to land inside of it.

“Avatar of Eirene. We've gotta get you back to Hrath’mir, so you can call down the light of the stars, and shatter this world. Hrath'mir's done for, but the rest of the world isn’t.” As Aegis spoke to her, her eyes were already open and she was listening attentively despite focusing on holding down the Avatar of Fear.

“When I release this spell, the Avatar of Fear will be free once more. Are you sure this is the right path?” She asked Aegis worriedly as she eyed the star of Eirene on his shield.

“I’m certain.” Aegis nodded, reaching out his hand to her so that she’d climb on the back of the gryphon with him. Hesitation was visible in her eyes, but she watched as two of the smaller dragons crashed down on the forest around them, knocking trees down with their large talons.

“Get on. The city does not have long.” [Burel’mintrax, The Silver Dragon(Elite) - ??] spoke as he kneeled low for the other Eirene soldiers to climb on his back.

“I will drown this Avatar of Fear in flames, that will hold him here for sometime.” Another other dragon spoke.

“Let’s go.” A soldier urged the Avatar of Eirene, and finally she relented. She released the spell, ending the dome of light around them and within seconds the Avatar of Fear’s slimy form began to bubble and grow outward. The soldiers rushed to climb on the back of Burel’mintrax, while the Avatar of Eirene took Aegis’ hand and climbed onto the back of the gryphon. They jumped off of the ground and took flight, returning to formation with one dragon staying behind. The moment they got some distance, they saw a burst of white flames bombarding the Avatar of Fear.

Aegis was anxious, even with the dragons, they’d taken a lot of time to get this far. He could only hope that the gates of the 2nd level would still be holding by the time they arrived back at Hrath’mir, and to his luck, that was the case. As the city of Hrath’mir came into view, he saw that the darkness was just now flooding through the lower section of the city on the east, north, and south.

When the Gryphon finally landed outside the chapel, he saw eyes of excited hope staring up at him from the Eirene Priests that’d remained behind.

“The Avatar of Eirene, you’re alive!” One priest shouted joyously.

“The Silver Dragons have come!” Another cheered.

“How much time do you need?” Aegis turned to the Avatar of Eirene.

“As much as you can give me.” She said as she rushed inside the chapel and the dragons began circling above.

“Okay listen up," Aegis rallied the Eirene priests outside the chapel. "if we want to save this world, we’re going to need to hold these outer gates long enough for the Avatar of Eirene to finish her prayer. The Avatar of Suffering is approaching from the north. Burel’mintrax, take these priests down-” Aegis pointed out the same priests he’d always entrusted the north gate to. “And focus on holding him back using healing magic. Remember, he is empowered by suffering, so only use healing magic to hurt him. Burel’mintrax, he’ll have with him the corrupted Avatar of Zeus, it’s up to you to take him out.” Aegis ordered them. Burel’mintrax nodded as he landed outside the chapel, lowering his wing so that the priests could get on board alongside the other Eirene soldiers already on his back.

“Come, I will take you down to the 2nd gate.” Burel’mintrax roared at them. They quickly obliged, climbing on his back and Aegis watched them take off. From then, Aegis looked to the east and south gates.

“I think I know how to stop the Avatar of Anger at the east gate, but only if I’m there personally. I don’t know what to do to hold back the Avatar of Death.” Aegis said as he looked around at the dragons circling above.

“I will handle death.” Ysil’mareina landed next to Aegis’ gryphon, while simultaneously her body slowly shrank down and warped. Aegis looked on in awe as he saw that she, in a matter of seconds, had transformed into a beautiful, completely nude tall humanoid with a light silverscaled tail and two small silver horns. Parts of her body still had scales on them, but nothing was covered - instead his profanity filter did work to block out distinct features around her private areas.

Aegis wasn’t the only one staring in shock, as all the Priests and Priestesses present watched her in awe as she stepped towards the pair of statues flanking the Chapel’s entrance, reaching out and touching both of them with her hands glowing silver.

A few seconds later, the statues began to shake and vibrate, slowly warping and coming to life as their stone bodies moved on their own.

“Golems? How is that going to stop him?” Aegis asked curiously.

“Death is not very effective against things with no life.” Ysil’mareina smirked, and as she said it, Aegis had to stop himself from slapping his forehead, ashamed he hadn’t thought of it himself. “These are measures to delay only. Once your Avatar finishes her magic, we are leaving regardless of the outcome.” She finished, and Aegis gave a nod.

“Just survive.” Aegis said as he watched Ysil’mareina direct her golems south, shifting back into her dragon form as she did. He spotted her flying above the 3rd level of the city and landing a few hundred meters away near another large statue, repeating the process to grow her army of golems.

“Time to embarrass myself.” Aegis sighed as he pulled the reins of the gryphon and took off towards the east gate. As he landed, he saw the Avatar of Anger floating along the wave of darkness towards the gate, preparing to stretch out his arms.

“Peace. PEACE AND LOVE!” Aegis began to chant as the gryphon soared over the Avatar of Anger, causing him to halt his advance, while simultaneously he felt the eyes of all the Changxi soldiers on the eastern wall staring up at him.

“Hey guys, do you know why they call him the Avatar of Anger?” Aegis yelled as he maneuvered the gryphon towards the east gate, landing next to the Changxi Commander. “Because Avatar of ‘Oh no, where’d I put my legs?’ was too long to say.” Aegis shouted, and the Avatar of Anger let out a furious, echoing growl.

“By the way, he’s totally about to dangle some bodies from his arms to taunt you guys. But what he’s really doing is trying to draw attention away from the fact that he has no balls. That's what the big arms are compensating for.” Aegis shouted just as the Avatar of Anger was about to reveal the corpse of the Changxi Avatar. Just like last time, when he did it, the impact was somewhat lost due to Aegis’ mocking comments.

“Totally called that. He’s so predictable. The only thing that makes you Angry about him is when you think about how much he can eat without gaining weight. Cause the food just passes through him, I bet.” Aegis shouted to the soldiers on the wall while motioning to the Avatar’s spectral wraith form.

“DO YOU MOCK ME, PRIEST OF EIRENE?!” The Avatar of Anger shouted as from out of the mist stepped the Avatars of Hatred and Jealousy.

“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? I mean did you really need that clarified? Not that smart, huh.” Aegis shrugged. “Are you really going to let an idiot like this take down the east gate?” Aegis turned to the Changxi Commander, and she smiled back.

“NOCK ARROWS!” She shouted at her soldiers, and like before, the battle began by the Avatar of Anger swooping up behind Aegis and preparing to strike at him, only this time, the Avatar was stopped from attacking by a blast of white flames as Kelik’radanirsoared overhead with his large majestic silver wings buffeting the dark mist away.

“DESTROY THEM!” The Avatar of Anger shouted angrily as the Ghouls of Anger began charging out of the darkness. Aegis could step back with his gryphon from the edge of the wall and watch as the forces of the east gate, with the help of the silver dragons, held back the forces of darkness.

The north gate held similarly, Aegis saw Burel’mintrax and the Priests of Eirene healing back the forces of suffering. And to the south, Aegis heard and saw the stomping of an army of giant walking statues intercepting the Avatar of Death. He didn’t dare go near to see how it was going, but the simple fact that the darkness had not spread overtop of the walls to the south this time told him that the golems were doing their job.

For a brief moment, Aegis felt as though not only could he survive, but that it was possible for Hrath’mir to not fall. By all accounts, the battle looked completely winnable, they just needed to not give up and fight using each Avatar’s weakness against them. That was, until he saw it. Up until now, the other Avatars were leading the dark wave of mist forward across the land and into Hrath’mir, but as the battle went heavily in their favor, Aegis saw for the first time the actual source of the dark mist.

[?(Elite) - ??]. A large black formless mass began to rise out of the mist from behind the Avatar of Anger, causing him to cackle hysterically.

“Master, these creatures look to stand against us. They believe they still have a chance!” The Avatar of Anger turned to the rising mist as two large red eyes appeared from within it.

“Priest of Eirene, your time is up. You must finish your ritual now!” Kelik’radanir shouted to Aegis as he turned and began flying upwards away from the mass of darkness, but not quick enough. Like shots from a gun, strings of dark mist shot up at Kelik’radanir from the mass, wrapping themselves around his arms and necks, and in seconds, yanking him down out of the sky into the darkness as he let out a horrifying roar of pain. He disappeared in the mist, and as he did Aegis looked to see that the other 6 dragons had heard this cry around the city. All of them began to soar upwards towards the third level of the city, fleeing in fear.

“What the fuck is that.” Aegis said as his jaw watched in disbelief.

“Darkness.” The Changxi Commander struggled to get the words out, as the dark mass began to swirl violently. Seconds later, from the mass, stepped Kelik’radanir’s body, but his name had changed [? - ??]. It pulled back its now darkened silver scaled neck and bellowed out a breath of black mist over the eastern wall, the Avatar of Anger laughing all the while the soldiers hit by the breath were decimated.

“Pull back to the third gate, we have to hold. Just a bit longer!” Aegis shouted anxiously as he yanked the reins on the gryphon and took off into the sky towards the third level. He could do nothing but flee from whatever this thing was, but he watched the red eyes within the black mass following him as he reached the chapel and landed outside, spotting the 7 remaining silver dragons now flying high above the city but still nearby.

Aegis hopped off the gryphon and ran through the chapel to find it empty in the main room, but when he reached the prayer room in the back, he saw a circle of priests holding hands around the Avatar of Eirene, including the Great Prophet.

When Aegis entered the room, the Avatar of Eirene opened her eyes from her prayer and looked at Aegis nervously.

“I… I am scared. I understand what I must do, but it terrifies me.” She said worriedly to him. “What will happen to the world in the future, if we go through with this? Will it really be better?” She asked him, and the Great Prophet and other priests turned to Aegis too.

Aegis looked at them, but ended his eyes on the Statue of Eirene in the center of the prayer room. It was then, in that moment, that Aegis finally understood what it meant to walk in the light of Eirene. Why his intermediate class existed, and what purpose it was supposed to have.

“It’ll be better, because Eirene will always be there, to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.” Aegis replied. “She’ll be there to protect this Shattered World from the darkness, in all its forms. From Suffering, Fear, Anger, and death.” Aegis gave them a nod. The Avatar of Eirene still had hesitation, but she eventually gave Aegis a nod back, closing her eyes and entering her prayer once more.

A few seconds later, the entire chapel began to shake violently and the Avatar of Eirene gave off a powerful white glowing light.

“Lindra, we call upon your light, shine down on this darkened world, separate those who still stand in the light, and protect them from the darkness.” The Avatar of Eirene chanted under her breath, and after she did, a violent quake overtook them, knocking out the light of the candles as a blast of light shot upwards through the roof of the chapel, destroying the ceiling of the prayer room as it continued upwards into the night sky towards the star beside Aegis, Lindra.

A few moments of this light beam later, Aegis and the others looked up and watched as a gigantic rippling shockwave exploded over the night sky from the Star Lindra, several rings of light diminishing as they spread outwards, and from the center exploded several dozen fragments of light.

Aegis understood it now, how the islands came to be, and how the world was shattered - and most importantly just where exactly the island stones had come from. He watched as the fragments of Lindra shot through the night sky like falling stars, breaking off into groups of 5 as they fell over the lands far in the distance. All of the fragments faded from few over the next few moments, and none of them had come towards Hrath’mir.

“It is done.” The Avatar of Eirene said as they all looked up and watched the last fragment fall, the night sky now missing one of its stars. The sounds of screaming and terror could be heard still from the city around them.

“What about us?” One of the priests asked.

“We will not survive this darkness, but thanks to our actions, the world will live on.” The Great Prophet said as he gently put his hand on the shoulder of the priest. Aegis knew he was right - they’d shattered the world, but something still felt missing. His quest objective was to survive. Before he could think more on it or act, a sudden crashing sound erupted all around them as the remains of the chapel roof were torn off by a giant silver claw.

“You will not sink with this ship. The world will be doomed to repeat its mistakes if the priests of Eirene are not present to light the way to a better future. Much must be rebuilt, and you will be the ones to rebuild it.” Ysil’mareina shouted into the church as she lowered one of her wings down into the prayer room to act as a ladder for Aegis and the others to climb out.

“Get on. They are coming, and they are in quite a foul mood. For you have just Shattered their World of Darkness.” Ysil’mareina spoke with a draconic smirk. Aegis motioned them to quickly climb onto her back, the Avatar of Eirene and the Great Prophet being the last to get on. The moment they had all secured themselves by grasping the scales on her back, she lept off from the rubble of the chapel, and Aegis saw his gryphon standing idly at the entrance of the chapel waiting for him, the Avatar’s of Darkness breaching the third gate alongside the corrupted silver dragon nearby.

As loud as he could, Aegis let out a whistle to get the gryphons attention, and it looked up to see him and jumped up off the quaking ground, soaring up into the skies after them. As they rose higher and higher, the other 6 Silver dragons joined them, where Aegis saw on their backs they too were carrying as many people as they could. Once in a pack of 7 dragons and a gryphon, they began soaring away from the fallen fortress of Hrath’mir.

Even so high up, Aegis could hear the screams of terror - they had survived, and the world would be saved from the Avatars thanks to the fallen star and the shattering, but only a few people were on the backs of the Silver dragons. Hundreds of thousands of people were left behind to die as the darkness swallowed up the city of Hrath’mir. The Changxi Commander, the Zeus Commander, and all of the other god’s avatars that fell, all left behind in what Aegis now knew was to become the Abyss.

Across the landscape below Aegis saw nothing but dark mist engulfing everything from the forests, villages, and hills. It was slowly creeping up and swallowing everything in its path, but off in the distance on the horizon, as the sun slowly peaked up and the dawn began, Aegis could see a large chunk of land rising up, separating itself from the darkness. The islands were being formed, saved by the light of Eirene.

Suddenly, Aegis’ vision went bright and he felt himself weightless. The Silver dragon he was riding on disappeared, as did those around him, until he was floating in the sky aimlessly and the ground disappeared. The only thing that remained was the morning sky and the clouds drifting through it.

“Do you understand our Purpose? Why the world needs our light?” A voice spoke to him of which Aegis wasn’t familiar, but he saw its source, a glowing orb of light that appeared a few meters in front of him and was hovering in the sky with him. Above it, he saw [Eirene, Light of the Stars(Elite) - ??]. Aegis felt a sudden jolt of excitement and nervousness as he saw the name.

“I understand why I was chosen, why these skills are required. It’s to fight back the Avatars and their gods, and prevent the islands from succumbing to the same fate as Hrath’mir.” Aegis replied, as in-character as he possibly could.

“I am happy.” She said, and her joy could be heard in her melodic voice. “I will grant you the power of my light, I hope that you will continue to make the world a better place and hold back the darkness.” She said, and a moment later, Aegis’ vision faded out and back in, and he felt weight return to his body. He was kneeling in the Prayer room, back in Arallia, alone surrounded by the ring of candles. He looked up to see his viewership holding steady at only 1000.

He was surprised it had dropped and was sitting so low, given what he just witnessed. As far as he could tell, that was the first time anyone had encountered the god of Eirene directly, but more than that, he was surprised by his quest notification.

Quest[3/3]: Pray to the stars and walk the path of Eirene to understand her true purpose and goals within the Shattered World.

Objective: 1/1 Survive the Shattering

Quest Giver: (none)

Reward: Intermediate Class: (Unknown)

Difficulty:Extreme(II)

Restrictions: Limited to classes: Priest, If the Pacifism skill is lost during this quest, the quest will fail automatically. This quest must be completed alone.

*QUEST IS INACTIVE*: This quest may only be completed while a Great Prophet of Eirene exists.

“Huh?” Aegis said, audibly confused. He was sure that the quest giver was the Great Prophet, but now it was listed as none. Aegis opened the prayer room door and immediately his ears were flooded by the loud ringing of a bell coming from the Monastery of the Star’s bell tower above him. He’d just realized that the prayer room was completely soundproofed from the outside, which made sense, but what didn’t make sense is that there were no other NPCs or players around him anywhere in sight.

“Hello? Priestess Clara? Sapphire?” Aegis shouted as he walked around, but he got no response - he could barely hear his own voice over the sound of the bell. He made his way out into the garden where he saw it was now night time in the Island of Kriene. Suddenly a big red number blocked his view in his interface. His livestream viewership had jumped from 1000 to 100,000. Then in a few more seconds he watched it climb up to 200,000.

“Sapphire? Clara? Great Prophet?!” Aegis shouted as loud as he could, but the garden outside was completely empty as well, but he still could barely hear his own voice over the sound of the ringing bell. It wasn’t just the bell from the monastery either, in the distance he could hear bells ringing from down the mountain. He walked through the garden out of the monastery to stand out on the path at the peak of the mountain, looking down around the land below.

300 000 viewers were watching him now. They didn’t want to see him do the quest in Hrath’mir, nor watch him talk to the Goddess Eirene, but now that he was alone here, they did? It didn’t make sense, but something was giving Aegis a very bad feeling. He looked down at the city of Arallia and saw people running around, moving about quickly through the streets, but something about it looked horrifyingly familiar. Aegis saw that the sandstone walls of the city were all manned by hundreds of Arallian soldiers preparing for a battle. Off in the distance he could see the Skyport, and when he squinted he saw that the Sky Darling was still docked there, so he quickly opened up his friends list and saw a few messages waiting for him.

“Aegis, time to go. Go go go!” - Sapphire

“Hurry your ass up with that quest, this island is going down!” - Quinn

“GET YOUR ASS BACK TO THE AIRSHIP NOW!” - Quinn

“COME ON IDIOT! CHECK YOUR MESSAGES!” - Sapphire

Aegis turned around to look across the desert in the direction that he’d seen the shimmering white Island Stone a few days earlier. It was shattered into hundreds of pieces spread across the desert, and around it was a flooding wave of darkness making its way towards the mountain from the opposite side that Arallia was built on. His viewership numbers climbed up to 400 000.