Taliyah stood steadfast with a rock wall before her. The candle undead on the other side failed to breach. She looked towards her leaderâleader of The Wall, Marikâas he prepared a spell sheâd seen cast over and over.
Their team had always been underestimated. Taliyah had heard countless times that utilizing walls would not serve them in the long run. Several guild masters had said they needed potent attack power, yet they were able to rise to A-rank on their own merit. As Marikâs spell finished, Taliyah grinned.
The crushing sound of bones reverberated from the other side of her wall. Their formation was simple, and Marik delivered their crunching ceiling.
This was their teamwork, surrounding enemies with walls that would make certain of their defeat was only one aspect of this adventuring group. When Taliyah released her wall, they were pleased to see the hallway cleared of the loathsome undead. Their bodies melted into candlewax and sunk into the stone floor.
Tror knelt down next to the descending wax and turned his head back to Marik. âHave you ever heard of a candle zombie?â
âNo, but it is ironic when you think about it.â
âIt is?â Taliyah asked.
âYeah, I mean, we are in Candlewax kingdom.â He started walking ahead and down the hallway. âI am more surprised we havenât heard of them before...What, with the candle golems and all.â
As the hall ended, they turned down another passageway. This one eventually led to a large door with a small candelabra engraved.
âYou think this leads to the boss room?â Tror asked.
âOnly one way to find out,â their leader said and pushed on the door. It opened easily, revealing a large room.
The room was as big as the throneroom of King Tallow, and there were stone pillars holding the whole thing up. On each pillar was a large candle, providing light and warmth. Towards the ceiling there were crenelations and walkways on each side. Marik looked towards the walkways flanking them.
âI donât like the look of this. Itâs perfect for an ambush.â
Taliyah looked to the end of the room where a stone wyvern sat perched on a flat pillar. Looking closer, she realized that it wasnât stone. The body of the beast was covered in wax. Taliyah pointed at it. âYou donât suppose that is the boss?â
âShould we wait for others? I doubt they will join us, though,â Tror said.
Marik shook his head. âWe should be able to take a wyvern boss at least. The only concerning thing is this appeared on the first floor.â
Taliyah nodded. âThis was supposed to be an A-rank dungeon. Either that, or a low S-rank at best. However, the appearance of a wyvern boss on the first floor is a bit concerning. We need to find the others. Without a way out, we can only hope they are waiting on the next floor.â
âHey,â Tror said, âyou donât suppose that there are multiple floor one bosses for each group, do you?â
âI have never heard of that happening. In any case, letâs see what this boss is all about, shall we?â As Marik finished he walked into the chamber.
Taliyah followed him with trepidation, hoping this wyvern wasnât buffed to oblivion. If the worst should happen, she knew that they could finish off the boss. But she desperately hoped the others would greet them soon.
Upon entry, the door slammed behind them, and Taliyahâs fears were confirmed. The Wyvernâs eyes lit up with a red glow. It slowly lifted itâs head. The creature didnât stand on ceremony for long. It leapt from itâs perch and glided down to the floor with a quake.
âShit,â Marik said.
Taliyah followed his gaze to the ceiling on the sides. Skeletal archers with candle wax bows stood and surrounded them. The standoff was short lived as the archers pulled back wax strings, seeming more like spider silk. They didnât pull arrows from quivers. Instead, after the string was pulled taught and released, small flame arrows darted towards The Wall in all directions.
âEarth Formation!â Taliyah pressed her hands to the stone floor, and an earthen wall surrounded them, launching out of the ground with a might similar to the rock giants themselves.
With a flap of wings the wyvern was above them. It launched a fireball in the only place not covered by a wall.
âEarth ceiling!â Tror shouted, and a ceiling of earth manifested to cover their weakness.
Taliyah was glad for the brief reprieve in their new hidey hole, but she knew that wouldnât last. If they didnât think of something, theyâd be cooked alive. However, this adventuring team wasnât A-rank for nothing.
âEarth scattering!â Marik pushed his hand up, and the ceiling above them launched upwards. It impacted the wyvern in the stomach hard before pushing it all the way up. The room cracked from the monsterâs body, and it shrieked with rage.
The skeletons didnât stand on ceremony. Some had incredibly jumped from the walls with candle batons. Otherâs remained on top to launch another volley of arrows.
âTake care of those, Taliyah!â
âOn it!â
Taliyah summoned a wall of rock beneath her feet. The earth spell flung her from the floor to the wall, and she landed sideways on it with grace, using a rock sled to glide along the smooth stone towards the skeletal archers.
There were at least twenty archers on the side she landed, and towards the back was a skeleton with a black orb of wax. She knew what it was on instinct.
âDonât worry about mana conservation, Taliyah!â
Taliyah smirked with the words of their leader. She slammed her palms to the ground. âEarth wave!â
A large tidal wave of sand and rock jutted out of the ground before lurching forward. From this height, the earth wave nearly touched the roof of the boss room. The skeleton archers and summoner were unceremoniously swept away. The wave took their bones and smacked them against the opposing wall, shattering them in an instant.
Taliyah didnât wait to bask in the glory of killing the small army. She ran to the ledge and jumped. âEarth bridge.â
The bridge formed beneath her, connecting each walkway. She briefly looked down and saw that her companions were easily winning against the clay-wielding skeletons.
Taliyah jumped down onto the other side. This side was noticeably missing a summoner, which meant that she didnât have to use as much mana this time. âEarth shield!â
A square rock-shield formed in her hand, and she charged the skeletons, smashing through the first one with ease.
she mused.
Taliyah spun in a circle, like a ballerina with a massive shield. Before long, the skeletal archers had all turned to white dust.
She ran back towards the ledge to see the ending of the fight. The wyvern was just about to breath fire towards her companions, but when Taliyah felt the swelling of Marikâs magic, she knew that candle drake was done.
âWall Coliseum,â Marik said. The ginormous wall lunged from the ground and spread almost to the roof of the boss floor, simultaneously blocking the flames. However, that wasnât the true danger of the spell.
Taliyah could swear she saw horror written on the Wyvernâs face. The wall started to fall towards it, rending the creature with fear. It tried to make a last ditch effort to fly to the side, but it didnât reach the end of the width. The boss fight ended with the loud cracking of wyvern bones as it was crushed.