One Minute to Midnight Read Online Free Page B

within a minute they were surrounded
by a crowd of undead, all of them grunting and groaning as they
reached out for the two riders. Scott dismantled them with ease and
the two picked up their pace as Willy flew above, reporting on the
changing landscape ahead.
    "They've got two dragons, one of them
at least twice the size of mine, and I'm sort of hoping they won't
attack." Willy yelled down.
    "Even if they do, we've fought this
dungeon before, and won more times than we’ve wiped. Those dragons
aren't the ones I'm worried about, it's Lady Kalindora. Just watch
out for the golden orbs on each side of the castle gate. If you
touch those we'll have to battle the dragons for sure. The orbs
will activate them." Scott said.
    "Right on." Tony said. He looked up at
some smaller flying creatures that were brandishing large iron
maces "Hey Willy, watch out for those gargoyles."
    Willy was already ahead of him, and
his dragon had caught a whiff of the offenders from more than a
mile away. His dragon shot a cone of flame toward a band of
incoming gargoyles, and set them ablaze. As they fell to the earth
their screams were music to the dragon's ears. It
laughed.
    "I'm going to come back later and eat
their ashes." Said the dragon.
    "You speak? How wonderful. What's your
name?" Willy asked.
    "Bartholomew the Kind, at your service
my lord." The dragon said.
    "Pleased to finally meet you in
person. I had no idea dragons could talk, since you don't do it in
the game." Willy said.
    "We're a long way from there, Master
William. Ha ha ha." Bartholomew laughed.
    Minutes later, they were in the black
courtyard, facing an army of demonic undead and a cavalcade of
monsters. They remained motionless as the players approached and a
giant ogre blocked their passage into the court. He looked
menacingly down at the three adventurers and snarled, giving them
an evil grin as he hefted a two-handed battle-axe, easily the size
of an adult human.
    "You boys ready for this?" Scott
asked.
    They nodded. "Let's get it
done."
    "I got you on heals." Tony
affirmed.
    "I'm ready for ranged damage. You hit
him hard, and I'll keep firing." Willy said.
    Scott rode in on his horse, charging
the giant beast as he roared a battle cry. His warhorse slammed
into the ogre knocking it back as he stood on the saddle and leapt
forward with his battle-axe. Scott cleaved down, slashing the ogre
across its right wrist, causing it to drop its weapon. However, as
Scott halted, the ogre smacked him in the face, knocking him over
on his back. Tony began to cast a healing protective spell, and
marveled as purple light emanated from his fingertips. Scott felt
his energy begin to rise, and he quickly leapt to his feet to
charge again. The ogre saw him coming and picked up a giant log. It
swung down as Scott performed a forward roll, springing up and
slicing the ogre in its stomach. Its entrails sloshed out onto the
ground, making a thick wet slapping sound as the ogre moaned in
agony. It swung one final time with the dead tree, striking Scott
in the side. His plate armor deflected the blow and as he spun
clockwise Scott ducked down and cut the ogre behind the knees. It
went down, and when Scott looked up he saw that Willy, true to his
word, had fired three times into the ogre. It sat on its knees
wavering, with nine crossbow bolts in its face, a huge gash in its
stomach, and no ability to stand. With a crash, it fell forward,
clearing the way for them to enter the courtyard.
The ensuing battle with the undead took them another forty minutes
to complete, and when they got to the gate each of them could feel
the battle fatigue associated with a huge surge of adrenaline in a
fight.
    "This was a lot easier behind a
keyboard." Scott breathed heavily. He was leaning against the
two-story tall iron door leading into the castle.
    "Yeah, agreed. We have to keep going
though; this is just the beginning of the dungeon." Willy said,
panting.
    Scott and Willy were covered in black,
sticky, orc blood,