Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

it rocked everyone back, making them all fly a few feet and land on their arses, but if she hadn’t cast that damned spell, Devlish would have been blown to tiny pieces.

As it was, he groaned, rolled over, and looked up at the ceiling—just in time for debris to fall down from it and hit him in the head. He stood up faster than she would have thought possible and ran over to join them as his health ticked up. “I hate that spell, Mur. Incoming from above.”

Murmur didn’t need to be told twice. She moved over and retrieved the key from Kyriel’s corpse and strode over to free the final shackle on Sheladrios. The massive turtle glowed, his shell crisscrossing with lines that reminded her of a computer chip, connecting until the entire shell glowed blue. Even a monocle of sorts formed over his left eye, and she could hear hydraulics lifting something. Maybe it was his shell, or perhaps he was part robot.

“Thank you, Murmur.” His voice had regained strength, and he glared at the ceiling as it began to disintegrate. “I appreciate the assistance and shall return the favor when my brother descends.”

Sheladrios appeared far more regal and a lot more powerful than he had while captured in that cage. No wonder he had so many guards. She only hoped he was a good turtle and not an evil one. Nothing in the quest had indicated either way.

The monster chuckled, which made the ground reverberate slightly underneath them all. “I am not evil as such, but I am against my brother using his power to enforce the world he wishes to see. Under water should be beautiful, not a hive of strife.”

Murmur nodded, unable to sense anything purely bad from him, just a sense of righteousness. While sometimes that could be just as bad, in this case, she didn’t think it was.

The entire raid moved back as far as they could on the right-hand side of the massive cavern while the ceiling above the center continued to disintegrate.

Just as it collapsed fully, Sheladrios asked a boon. “Could you, if possible, not kill him? I don’t think he realizes that what he does is so wrong, and we would be better off if we could avoid him dying. My species does not replicate easily, and I would be lonely for a very long time.”

Murmur glanced at the massive creature, sensing the sadness that lingered around him and nodded. “Fine. We can do that.”

Quest Update:

Do not allow Sheladrios`s sibling to be terminated.

She voiced as much over the raid chat, despite knowing everyone had received the notification. She didn’t want anyone to be able to say they hadn’t known. “Don’t kill him. With a few percent remaining, Sheladrios will take over his sibling.” There was general murmuring around her, but overall, as long as they completed the quest and got the loot, most of the raid wasn’t about to care.

Murmur blinked as the ceiling finally gave way and dropped another massive reptile on their laps.

This one glowed a deep orange, and its eyes held a fiery dose of madness, as if he’d been the one left too long to his own thoughts and devices. Murmur understood Sheladrios’s plight, and she felt sorry for them. The former prisoner would be his captor’s caretaker for the rest of his life.

If the raid didn’t wipe in the process of helping defeat him.

Abyssios Zonama’s shell pivoted, and tiny cannons sat on the top like he’d been altered physically into a weapon. They appeared to operate independently of one another, their turrets twirling around as they focused on different people.

“Duck for cover!” Devlish called out, a split second before the first round of fire let loose. It careened through the cavern, missing the entire raid for the most part. Where it hit the rock walls, the stone began to crumble, shaken by the impact. Several members received a shot to different parts of their bodies. And though a limb could easily be grown back by healing…it still hurt like hell.

“Have your mages use electromagnetic spells if they have them,” grumbled Sheladrios, his tone filled with melancholy. “It is best to disrupt his mechanics.” Disrupting mechanics seemed like one of the best ideas ever. Murmur narrowed down her search for abilities and frowned. There were slim pickings in this raid.

Only Etriad appeared to have that type of ability, but Dansyn also offered his services. “I have a Wave of Dissonance that should accomplish the same thing.”

With the mage and Dansyn firing off their effective machinery silence every fifteen seconds, Murmur was able to concentrate on the entire raid and the rest of Zonama’s abilities. Those cannons still fired, just not as often, nor as accurately. That gave her a bit more breathing room.

As his health approached ninety percent, Sheladrios mumbled out another set of instructions. “Watch out for his Shell Spin. It’s one of his most effective abilities, where his shell spins like a top. No new damage will touch him, though DoTs may still tick down.”

Murmur nodded, but secretly wished he’d just come out and tell them everything at once. Piecing them together as they went along wasn’t the most advantageous use of that knowledge she could think of.

Ninety percent hit, and the turtle suddenly snapped himself into his shell and began spinning. It looked comical at first, like those old video games where if you jumped on a turtle it would spin and spin and try to kill you. Actually, exactly like that except for the turret-mounted guns.

He aimed for Devlish and spun right at him, barely blocked by the massive tower shield. The force of the spinning pushed Devlish back rapidly, the sand-covered stone floor allowed him to mostly slide toward the ramp. She could see the strain in the way Dev’s veins stuck out from his neck as to how hard he was trying to keep the creature back.

Ten seconds had never felt so long before. And as Zonama reverted to his