Word: Holus-bolus

holus-bolus

[hoh-luh s-boh-luh s]

adverb

1. all at once; altogether.

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“So, what do we do now?” Sarah asked.

“Um…run?” Henry replied.

The other four members of the group found that agreeable.  Together, the party turned and ran in the opposite direction.  Unfortunately, the monster chose to follow them.  Fortunately, the monster also had some of the qualities it had before.  That is to say, it was slow.  Even Evan, the slowest member of the group, was able to keep out of claw’s reach of the thing.  After far too long, the monster fell out of eyesight.

The group kept running for as long as they could.  The only reason they stopped was because they reached a cliff.  Three members of the group collapsed while attempting to catch their breath.  The other two sat just as readily.

“So, uh, anyone know what happened?” Carl asked once he could breath correctly.

None of them did.  One moment they were all having a fine time swinging foam swords and throwing NERF balls at a guy dressed as a monster, and the next they were swinging real swords at a real monster. 

“Okay, let’s think about this.” Sarah said.  She went over the details that all of them already knew.  “So, we all got the real versions of what we had before, right?”  All but Evan were able to confirm that.  “And that monster looks a lot like the guy’s costume.” More confirmations.  “So, whoever it was in the costume probably got turned into the monster.”

                That met with a much less enthusiastic response.  Unless the monster started talking to them, there was no way to tell.

                “So, what, you think we can reason with it?” Jack asked.  He fiddled with a quiver full of arrows that used to be made of thin plastic pipes and a Styrofoam balls.  “Seems more like it wanted to rip our guts out than have a nice chat.”

                “Well, the guy was trying to fake kill us before.” Evan said.  “So, it stands to reason that it wants to real kill us now, since everything’s real here.”

                “Great.” Henry said.  He held his now armored hand to his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  It was a lot easier when his “armor” was made out of tinfoil covered cloth.

                “Hey, wait a sec…” Mark said.  “Everything we had is real now, right?  So, does that mean you two can use real magic now?” He pointed at Sarah and Evan as he asked the question.

                The two looked at each other.  Evan’s eyes lit up with the sudden realization.  Sarah slumped her shoulders.

                “Damn it, I should’ve went mage.  Healing magic’s lame.”

                “But necessary.  Especially here.” Henry said.  “And most especially for me.”

                “Why just you?” Mark asked.  “We both have swords.  We’re both the warriors.”

                “Yeah, but I have a shield, and you don’t.”  He held up the slab of colorful metal that once had been a slab of equally colorful plywood and PVC pipes. “That makes me the tank by default.  And yes, now that it’s real, that kind of sucks for me.  So yeah, Sarah, you know the drill.  Tank first, then everyone else.”

                “No, it’s healer, then tank, then everyone else.”  Sarah corrected.  “If I die before you do, you’re just as screwed as the other way around.  Besides, if we’re going by what we had before, I’ve got a rez spell I can cast twice before I need to recharge.  I can’t cast it if I’m dead.”

                “Fair point.”  Henry replied.  All of them nodded their agreement.  They all played online video games.  They all knew the rules of party play, and they all knew it was the best way to survive. 

                “Um, quick question.” Jack said.  “Do either of you know how to actually cast a spell?”

                The thought was interrupted by the untimely arrival of the monster.  At that point, no amount of video game knowledge or planning was useful.  Everyone panicked, screamed and scattered.  They no longer had much option for retreat because of the cliff, and running perpendicular to it did not appeal to them, since it would inevitably put them in the same situation as they were.  Besides, with the group scattered, there was little chance for them to all run in the same direction.

                Henry was the first to take an action that was actually productive.  “Ah screw it.” He said and launched himself shield first at the monster.

                The shied was blessedly as effective as it had been as a LARP tool, and managed to keep the monster’s claws away from anything squishy.  He lashed out with his one-handed sword, raking it across the monster’s hide.  It was not very effective.

                “A little help here?” He screamed.

                Seeing what was going on, Jack was the next to take action.  His bow was a lot harder to draw now that it was wood instead of foam and pipe, but the arrow was easier to deal with, so it balanced out nicely.  His aim was not so great though, and his arrow missed by a wide margin. 

                Mark was the next to step in.  His two-handed sword did much more than Henry’s.  It still did not hit anything important though.

                “Some magic would be nice!” He said as he swung his blade.

                “Working on it.” Evan said. 

In the game, he just threw a foam ball and shouted his spell.  And he kept the balls on a pouch clipped to his belt.  The pouch was still there, but not it was filled with a fine powder.  He grabbed some, took a deep breath, and called out the desired spell.  It worked.  The powder glowed and turned into a fireball.  The fire to monster collision was much more explosive than sword to monster impacts.  It still did little to slow the monster down.

Sarah had a much harder time.  She tried to simply yell her spell as she had in the game.  The strength buff she tried to cast had no apparent effect.  She thought back to every instance of magic she had ever seen.  It was all about thought.  She tried thinking that her friends were getting stronger.  The two warriors glowed briefly, and their swords became much more effective. 

“Okay, that’s better!” Henry yelled.  He pushed at the monster with his shield.  It skidded back along the ground.  Even with the buff though, he was unable to move it much.  “Everyone at once!  Hit it all together!”

It took a few tried to get coordinated, but eventually they got it right.  With arrows now hitting their mark, fireballs blasting it back, and two swords biting it, all while being enhanced by white magic, the monster continuously fell back.  It fell back so much, that its feet left the ground in favor of the open air bordering the cliff.  And then it met whatever was at the bottom of the cliff at a very high rate of speed.

The group of five once again collapsed in an attempt to catch their breath.  Then they all let out a half-hearted cheer for their first victory.  They stopped once they had expelled all the remaining air from their lungs.  The silence was broken by the heavy gasps and pants, and then by a question:

“So, now what?”

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Sorry if there's too many characters to be easy to follow.  'Tis the nature of the beast when it comes to such short stories.  Maybe some day I'll be able to expand it and give these people the attention the need.  Maybe.  Someday.  We'll see.