...There were the requisite 12/12 showing when we went into the Koldrake's Lair.... But I never saw more than 7 fighting as battle began. As a Gunner, I can strafe up and down the field and count how many are in the fray. The tell was still at 12/12 a few minutes in... More than 6 to 7 were not to be seen.. There was one other, a slight figure dressed in black, but, I never saw them fight at all, although they were, at times, near the forefront... One player fighting cried out "No AFK", as, the tell tale number of 11/12 was now showing... But now there were only the four of us in the fray... The others were nowhere to be found. I feared the day might be lost... It seemed to take forever to get it down to 80%...
....The battle raged for over 20 minutes, 70 %, 60%, 50%, 40%, with just the other 3 girls and I fighting our little hearts out against the massive beast. As we managed to near the 26 % mark, I had a delivery at the door, and had to step out of character and the fight for precious seconds... My delivery driver probably thought I was a bit rude, but, the lack of a proper party had narrowed the window of delivery tine I had expected... I'll give her a nice tip though... Much to my surprise, I was still alive when I returned... I left my groceries in a pile by the front door, and leapt back into the fight...
...Back once more, with the tell now at 10/12, the four of us fought the good fight, and great deeds were done that day as the dragon tossed us about like toys on the battlefield. The tell dropped to 7/12, as players gave up on those of us actually fighting... After a long battle, we four stayed the course and somehow finally toppled the mighty dragon. As we dragged our exhausted bodies over to receive our well deserved reward, I saw that same slight figure dressed in black, waiting at the base of the far cliff side for us to depart... Perhaps it was another player, suffering from lag, so they could not fight or risk being kicked out, as had happened to me before a computer upgrade... Or, perhaps it was the Angel of Death, watching and waiting to see the outcome of such a mighty battle... I hope she was not disappointed...
...I never got the names of those 3 warriors I fought beside, but, they have my utmost respect for staying the course under such harsh conditions... Heroes all...*Bows in respect*...