Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Look Out For Yourself!!

The next few seconds passed in chaos. My teammates shouted; someone ran forward. I found myself sprawled on the ground, gagging, with a crossbow bolt sticking out of my chest. Thankfully only a fraction of the tip made its way in. I gritted my teeth and rose back to my feet. By my side, Becky furiously strung and shot arrows, in rapid succession toward the golems. Following suit, I brandished my own crossbow and returned fire at the golem that shot me.

The three shield-golems charged at us, their footsteps like thunder. Mr. Atlas met one with an arcing swing of his massive axe. The weapon's edge bit into the golem's wooden shield. Hei dove spear-first toward the crossbow-golems that remained standing back. A shield-bash from a golem clipped his torso, but he kept going. I raised my hand, conjuring a razor-sharp crystal of ice. As I took aim, another crossbow bolt hit me in the abdomen. But this time, I endured it with a muffled grunt, and launched my Frost Missile right back. It hit one of the crossbow-golems, before ricocheting into the other one standing right beside. Each impact sent a spray of shattered stone off the golems' bodies.

I switched to my crossbow and kited back farther into the forest, and two of the shield-golems came after me. The undergrowth grew thick beneath my steps, and in my panic, I had to make sure not to trip. Becky remained at my side, firing arrow after arrow at our pursuers. Thankfully we no longer had the crossbow-golems to worry about, and as long as we kept distance, we had a fighting chance. But Hei and Mr. Atlas were fighting a two-on-three, and we'd need to get back to help them soon.

I fired a second Frost Missile at the golem in front. The attack found its mark, then ricocheted off. The ricochet missed the second golem, however, and disappeared among the trees. I heard it shatter against something off in the distance. Right after, from the same direction, came a low, inhuman growl. Other growls followed, and they grew louder. Closer.

"The cave zombies!" Becky shouted at me.

"What?"

"You hit them! You made them mad! What do we do?"

I didn't know. Do I tell Becky to run back to the others for safety, then run off by myself as bait? That wouldn't even work if they went after us both, would it?

"Sophia!" Becky shouted at me, her voice cracking with desperation.

I saw the zombies for the first time, swarming toward us from out of the woods. Oh no.

These weren't the lumbering, arms-out-in-front, mindless corpses you'd see in movies. The zombies came toward us like rabid wolves, practically sprinting on all fours. Their gaunt, decaying frames slipped effortlessly between branches and vines, with a slick momentum that made my stomach sick. Worst of all, they came at us way, way faster than we could flee.

"Kite back from the zombies!" I finally said. "Deal with them first!"

"There's too many…" Becky stammered. "I see four…five…"

I knew that. But what other option could we take? I aimed my crossbow at the nearest zombie. It charged straight toward me, so close I could already see its hollow, putrid eyeholes. I shot a dart. It found purchase but did nothing to slow the zombie down.

"Run!" I screamed at Becky without thinking. She began to sprint away, but hesitated and stopped after a few steps. Then she turned back to me, readied her bow, and fired a spray of five arrows at the undeads. The arrows pierced but failed to stop them.

Two zombies pounced on top of me, pinning me down together. Their teeth, thick and pointed and diseased, bared at my face. Following suit, the other zombies leaped at me also.

A wall of golden crystals erupted from the forest ground. It rose up between me and the rest of the zombies, and I could hear as they slammed mid-jump into the wall.

As I struggled under the weight of the zombies on top of me, a sword-point pierced one of them in the skull. I squinted my eyes at the blade's bright gleam. Its wielder was a young, armored lady who had just emerged from among the trees. Metal plates, decorated with golden trims, clad her seamlessly from head to toe. A headband-like metal circlet guarded her forehead. Mid-length blonde hair framed the sides of her face, hiding those parts of the circlet underneath. She kicked the other zombie that still pinned me, managing to knock it off. Becky then shot it through the eye-socket. The undead fell to the soil with a thud.

The armored stranger pointed her blade at my neck. Almost immediately, Becky nocked an arrow at the stranger's skull. Meanwhile, the crystal wall began to shrink back into the earth with a low rumble.

"Art thou friend or foe?" the stranger questioned with a tone of royal authority.

"Pssst," Becky whispered loudly to me. "I think she's an NPC."

"Hey!" the stranger shouted. "What is that supposed to mean!" Her noble demeanor completely fell apart, and now she sounded like an upset teenager.

"You saved my life!" I interrupted them. "I'm pretty sure we're friends now! Please?"

The shield-golems had retreated for some reason. Meanwhile, the zombies on the other side growled in unison, clamoring to climb over the ever-shortening wall. The stranger looked to me, then Becky, then nodded. She turned to the wall and assumed a sword-forward battle stance.

The wall fell. The zombies rushed in. We met their advance with a barrage of attacks. A fierce few seconds were all it took to dispatch our enemies.

"Don't worry," the stranger said as she approached and examined my wounds. "Their bites aren't contagious. I came to this place three days –"

"Sorry, I have friends in battle," I interrupted, beckoning Becky back toward the road from where we fled. "They're waiting for us to return."

The stranger followed us as we took off running. She remained by our side, hardly the slower despite her plate armor. I was glad she followed; she could very well be another ally, and so far I didn't hate her.

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"Let us make haste," the stranger panted.

"Wait, so are you an NPC?" I asked to verify.

"No! I'm an actual person!" She seemed offended. But…wouldn't an actual NPC react the same way?

We spotted Hei and Mr. Atlas as we neared the edge of the forest. They had bruises on them, and Hei had a few crossbow bolts sticking out of his body. The enemies were nowhere to be found.

"I'm at half HP," he said as I neared. "The crossbow golems are dead. We disengaged after that."

I ran up to him. Hei got more injured than I thought. His dark clothes camouflaged the blood trickling down his torso and legs.

I grew lightheaded. "Oh no, Hei…"

He gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm already starting to heal. My HP's slowly going back up."

"...Does it hurt?" I asked.

He responded with a shrug. "Yeah."

"Who is that with you?" Mr. Atlas pointed at the stranger. I gave a crude summary of what happened in the forest.

"You can call me Saber," the stranger said. "I'm 23 years old. I was in the woods near my house, just there for a stroll, when I got lost. Then, a wolf…"

…Saber? Wasn't that a knight from some anime? Alright, so this girl wasn't an NPC; she was just a roleplayer.

"...Anyways," she concluded, "I'm probably the jungler here. My Paladin's Sword does additional damage to the undeads in the jungle. My ability lets me create a temporary crystal wall."

"Jungler?" I asked.

"The player that farms the jungle creeps," Saber explained.

"...What?"

"It's a character role in MOBA games." She looked across our confused faces. "Does that familiar to anyone? We have towers, and minions, and jungle camps…"

Mr. Atlas shot a glance at Hei and me. "You kids play video games?"

"Not MOBAs," I said. "But let's show her the map."

After a moment of hesitation, Mr. Atlas took out the map and held it up for Saber to see. Almost immediately, her eyes lit up.

"There's no doubt," she said. "This is the quintessential MOBA map. Three lanes, river splitting the two sides. Although there's only one base, instead of two. Actually, wait. You said the crossbow golems are dead, right? Did you kill them?"

"The two of them," Hei said. "The shield golems are still alive. They left and continued down the road." He yanked a crossbow bolt out of himself, and thankfully blood didn't start gushing out. I winced, nonetheless.

"Please follow me to the middle," Saber said, and she took off in a brisk walk in the direction we came from, back to the riverside. "I need to check on something."

"Let's rest up first," I suggested. "Many of us are injured."

"No time," she said. "Everyone, I think this is our chance to win the game."

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