by Ramy Vance
Naota suddenly looked up. He watched the soldiers walking back and forth, staring at the zombies with frightened expressions. Many of them ignored the snarling corpses outside the wall, trying to pretend nothing was happening. "Fucking pathetic," he muttered. "When are we getting out of here?"
"What do you mean?"
"We're rested enough to get back out there. What the hell are we still doing sitting here?"
Persephone laughed softly to herself. "You want to go back out there? You know that's a death wish, right?"
Naota met Persephone's eyes. His stare was broken and cold, but not without hope. "You want to stay in here and let people die?"
Out loud, it sounded ridiculous. "Of course not, but we don't have any orders."
Naota stood and wrapped his energy chains around his wrists. "What do we need orders for? We know what needs to be done. We have the equipment. Might as well get back to work."
Persephone nodded as she stared down at her hands, the sigils on her possessed hand glowing brightly. "You know it might mean a court-martial for you, right? We were told to stay here. Those might as well be orders."
"I didn't sign up with the Initiative to sit on my ass while people get hurt. Did you?"
"No, but I wanted to make sure you knew what was at stake."
Naota grabbed a rifle from the arms rack near their table. He slung it over his shoulder as he put more ammo into his pack.
Persephone pulled up her comm and pinged Creon. "Hey, I need a favor."
The gnome appeared on her holoscreen. He looked beyond frantic. His hair was frazzled, and his glasses kept sliding down his nose. "What can I do for you?"
"We need you to patch into the army's intel. There are people who need our help throughout the city. We need to know where they are."
Creon leaned out of screen range and shouted something, then came back and said, "That seems like something Martin can help you with. Let me connect him."
Creon was replaced by Martin's sarcastic paperclip face. "So, you two ready to play hero? Well, just give me a second and voila! Instant access. Looks like you have your job cut out for you. If you need anything else, just ask. You shouldn't be bothering Creon; he's got enough on his plate. If you think Earth is bad, you should see the gnome world. Actually, you probably shouldn't."
Persephone and Naota headed toward the main gate. Two soldiers guarded the gate, both of them armed to the teeth.
One of the guards raised his gun. "Halt. You aren't authorized to leave."
Both guards’ guns flew out of their hands.
Alex walked up behind Persephone and Naota. "Didn't know you two were here. If I had, I would have tried to get out of this shithole sooner. What's the plan?"
The two guards left, no doubt to find their commanding officer.
Alex raised her hand and teleported the two rifles to her. "You believe the nerve of those guys? Fucking grounded me. Who's even in charge here?"
Naota shrugged. "I’m surprised you let them.”
Alex checked her rifles. “Too much going on. Best to be a team player. I figured I’d be a better team player in the air.”
“Probably, but like you said, there’s a lot going on. The brass is using our limited resources as best they can. Right now, we’re working with human forces who have never faced off against zombies. Not like any of us have."
She threw one of the rifles to Persephone. "Unfortunate. At least Team Boundless is still up there, even if they’re ferrying civilians to the floating cities. Speaking of which,” Alex connected with Chine, who was encumbered with numerous civilians, including two kids who sat in Alex’s seat. He was doing well but wished he was with Alex. That made two of them.
Alex shook her head. “Well, we're hoofing it until I can get back in touch with the rest of my squad. Let's get going before anyone puts forth a decent effort to keep us in."
She rose into the air and pulled Naota and Persephone up with her. The three of them went over the top of the wall and hovered there for a second, taking in the severity of what they were up against.
Persephone pulled up her map. Martin had dropped pins where there were civilians and wounded soldiers holed up for protection. "I'm sending the details to both of you. Let's hit the closest one."
Alex dropped Persephone and Naota into the pit of undead as she pulled her scythe from the ether. She dive-bombed the horde of zombies, and Naota swung his chained blades at her side.
Persephone aimed her arm, and tentacles burst out and lashed through the pile of bodies.
Alex surged forward, swinging her scythe. She cut a path for them to move forward as Naota sheathed his daggers and fired, clearing away the zombies who were starting to take notice of them.
The going was slow and methodical, the three of them carving a narrow path for them to get away from the DZ. Once they could catch their breath, they headed into a building, figuring it would be easier to move through the city on rooftops rather than contesting the streets with the swarm of undead below them.
Naota glassed the building across from them from atop the roof. He pointed to the room the civvies were in while Persephone coordinated with Martin for a dropship to come to their position in an hour.
Alex and Persephone leaped from the roof. The dragonrider telepathically guided herself and Naota through the window while Persephone used her tentacles to latch onto the sill and pull herself over.
An older man was curled up in the corner of the apartment, holding a young girl in his arms. He hardly looked up when Persephone approached him.
She reached out to the man, who flinched toward the corner. "Sir, we’ve come to get you out of here."
The old man looked at Persephone, dazed. "Can you help my daughter?" He held the young girl's body up. The girl's head slumped lifelessly.
Persephone swallowed the gasp that threatened to escape. "Come on," she said as she helped the man to his feet. "Let's go."
They made their way back to the window as Alex and Naota headed out of the apartment to sweep the rest of the rooms for survivors.
On the rooftop, Persephone placed the old man on the ground. He continued to stare at his dead daughter as if he were puzzled and said nothing.
After a few minutes, Alex and Naota returned. Alex watched the man from afar. "Give me a minute." She walked over to him and held her hand over his forehead.
The old man closed his eyes and rocked back slightly. When he opened his eyes, they were full of tears. Alex whispered something to him, and he handed the dead child to her. She walked over to the corner of the roof, laid the child down, took off her jacket, and covered the child, then returned to Naota and Persephone. "We have more to find."
"What did you do to him?" Persephone asked.
"Pulled him out of shock telepathically. Tried to ease the pain. He'll be okay for a few hours. After that, I'm not sure."
They continued their mission, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and breaking into the apartments that were flagged, bringing whoever they could find back to the rooftop pick-up point. After a half-hour, they ran across a group that was stranded at ground level.
The small, squat house was surrounded by zombies who clawed the walls, their eyes dumb and glazed, their mouths gaping with frightening hunger.
Alex pointed at the door. "I'll hit the door and provide a distraction. You two can slip in through the back and get them out fast. Sound good?"
Persephone and Naota nodded.
Alex leaped off of the roof, spinning her scythe. Before she hit the ground, she telekinetically pushed all of the zombies out of the way. She backed up against the door and pulled out her pistol, quickly getting six headshots on the zombies around her before slashing with her scythe to maintain a perimeter.
Persephone led Naota through the back door of the house. She took point, clearing each corner as she stepped into the room, her pistol raised in case of an attack.
The two of them reached the living room, where they found a group of wounded soldie
rs huddled together. One of them drew his gun, prepared to fire. When he saw it was Persephone and not zombies, he sighed and relaxed. "What are you doing out here?"
Naota leaned next to one of the soldiers and helped him to his feet. "Doing what needs to be done."
The soldier nodded as he wiped blood off the side of his face. "We didn't think anyone was coming. We lost contact with the rest of the squad. Been stuck here for hours without…fuck, I thought I was going to die in here."
Alex's scream came from the front of the house.
Persephone turned to Naota. "Get them to the back. I got Alex." She took off toward the front door.
The door exploded in as Persephone's tentacles tore it apart.
Alex was cutting through anything that got close to her. A zombie's head was attached to her ankle, separated from its body.
Two zombies flung themselves onto the dragonrider and knocked her down. The larger one sank its teeth into her neck, and blood spurted as she screamed and dropped her scythe. She clenched her fist and fire bloomed on her skin, incinerating the two zombies. She struggled to her feet as more zombies massed behind her.
Persephone ran to Alex, and they made their way back to the house. Alex held her neck tightly, trying to stem the loss of blood.
Once they made it through the house and past the back door, Persephone scooped Alex into one arm and used her tentacles to pull herself up to the rooftops again. She took them back to the pick-up roof.
Alex leaned against the parapet, breathing heavily. She was losing a lot of blood, and Persephone was worried.
Alex waved away the drow’s concern with her bionic arm. "Cut it out. I'm okay." She pulled a patch from her dragon anchor and slapped it on the wound, where it instantly cauterized the skin. "Looks like we were just in time." She pointed at a helicopter heading toward the roof. "I'm not sure how long this can keep going."
Persephone looked down at the zombies clawing the side of the building. "Neither am I."
Naota watched the helicopter. "As long as it takes us to get everyone out of here."
Persephone nodded. "Yeah. I guess it's going to have to."
The door to the helicopter opened. Cire smiled down at Persephone before leaping onto the rooftop. Behind him were more helicopters, all with the insignia of the shaman’s tribe.
Persephone approached him. "What are you doing here?"
Cire walked to the edge of the rooftop and pointed at the streets as orcs leaped from the helicopters into the thick of the zombie horde. "Us orcs have handled the issues on our planet. I thought it would be helpful to provide our services to the other realms. Our platoons should be able to handle some of the worst areas."
Persephone smiled as she breathed a sigh of relief. "So, I guess the horde is finally back."
Cire nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes, and the realms will see the extent of orc strength. I think they might have a different opinion of the horde once this is over."
Persephone threw her arms around the shaman. "Thank you so much. "
Cire patted the top of her head before breaking their embrace. "This is a huge moment for us, and one the Nine Realms will remember."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Abby reached out to the light, letting her nanobots stretch out from her so she could communicate with it.
The nanobots passed into the light.
Abby received a surge of information. This was it, the heart of the elder gods, but it was more than that. The hearts of all of the universes met right here.
Each universe was before her, waiting for her to grasp it. Abby concentrated on her own and felt it rushing toward her.
She reached out to touch it, to flip the switch and reopen the valve.
An unearthly screech tore through Abby's head. It sounded like a thousand voices asking different questions at the same time. She recoiled as her nanobots returned to her. A lingering thought remained in her head, the last bit of information communicated to her through her connection with the nexus of the elder ones.
Danger.
Abby returned to regular consciousness and backed away from the nexus valve. "Something's coming. I think it's a defense system. It's preparing to defend itself from us."
Terra looked around wildly. "Why is it trying to defend itself from us? We're not trying to hurt it? Wait, we aren't trying to hurt it, right?"
Abby was still trying to find the source of the impending danger. "This place is like the neural network of the elder ones. It probably sees us as something like a virus, and that means it's going to try and flush us out."
The nexus valve split down the middle, pumping Dark Melody out on the ground. The liquid spread quickly, reaching up to the DGA's ankles.
Abby took to the air as an intensely primal fear filled her heart. The rest of the DGA was doing the same.
The Dark Melody stopped pouring now that the ground was sufficiently covered. Shapes started to form in the Melody, large humanoid figures that rose slowly.
Terra reached out to Abby. "Hey, can you help out with a sharp thing?"
Abby quickly constructed two axes and tossed them to her.
One of the humanoid figures took on the form of a balrog. Slowly, the other shapes did the same.
Terra backed away. "I know that balrog. It's the one from the arena."
Another shape formed from the Dark Melody, a face slowly coming into existence as electricity crackled around the body. It was Tesla.
Abby shook her head, trying to understand what was happening. "No, it's impossible."
The Dark Melody swirled up and Grok stepped out of the darkness, her eyes glowing the same color as the sky above.
Grok and Anabelle looked at each other, confused. "Uh, what's going on?"
Terra landed back down on the ground, swinging an axe in both hands as she stared at the balrog. "Guess we're doing a Greatest Hits."
Abby charged her hand cannon as Tesla rose into the air, his eyes locking with hers. "The nexus must be reading our minds and creating memories from our pasts. Our biggest challenges."
Thousands of figures popped out of the goo and coalesced into elves, wearing the uniform of an old mage college. Their dusty robes and hoods covered their faces, and their wands glowed with otherworldly energy.
Rasputina gasped and shook her head. "No, not here. I can't face this here."
Anabelle's eyes widened as she looked at the elves. "The College of Shogarethak? You were responsible for that massacre?"
Rasputina was trembling as she backed away from the rest of the DGA, muttering to herself, her eyes frantic and half-crazed. "Not again," she kept repeating.
Anabelle grabbed Rasputina. "What you did in the past was the past. These are just memories."
Rasputina pushed the elf’s hands away. "I don't want to do this again. That's not me."
Anabelle looked over her shoulder at the replica of Grok. "We're all doing this again. You understand?"
She glanced at Grok. "How come you don't have anything?"
Grok smirked quietly. "Because I have no regrets or fears. Doesn't seem as if Sarah does either."
"Less talking, more fighting!" Terra shouted as she ran toward the balrogs. She leaped into the air, bringing her axe down on the balrog in the middle as the other two circled her, preparing to pounce.
Grok sprinted in Terra's direction. She rammed into one of the balrogs, knocking it off-balance as it pulled out a fiery whip.
Tesla charged Abby, unleashing a torrent of electricity as he hit her that sent her flying backward.
Sarah walked over to Anabelle, who was sizing up Dark Grok. The three of them took their fighting stances.
The army of elf wizards faced off against Rasputina, who tore open her sides and pulled out two bone daggers. She growled, her eyes bright green and feral as she hunched over, her skin rotting away to its former lichness. She was as pale as a skeleton and nearly as emaciated.
She dashed toward the elves as they raised their wands. A fireball headed t
oward her and she dodged to the side, throwing a dagger that hit an elf in the head.
The fireball exploded near Sarah and Anabelle as Dark Grok attacked, moving faster than Anabelle or Sarah had ever seen.
Dark Grok spin-kicked Anabelle, who threw up a mana barrier at the last second.
The elf dropped to her knees and pressed her hand to the ground, sending a column of stone up at Dark Grok, who dodged it. She kicked the pillar, causing it to separate and fly at the doppelganger. The orc chopped at the stone, breaking through it as Sarah came up behind her and tossed a handful of ninja stars at the memory. They hit Dark Grok in the chest and exploded.
Sarah came through the smoke from the stars and uppercut Dark Grok, who wrapped her legs around Sarah's neck as she fell backward and flipped her into Anabelle.
As the elf rolled to her feet, a whip wrapped around her ankle and flung her toward the balrogs.
Abby flew past and fired a plasma blast that severed the whip around Anabelle's ankle. Tesla chased after her, launching small EMP bombs as he cackled,
Anabelle hit the ground and swung her leg out, unleashing a torrent of water at the balrogs Grok and Terra were fighting.
Terra was on the back of one of the balrogs, hacking at it with her axes and shrieking curses when a whip wrapped around her waist and slammed her into the ground. The balrogs were multiplying near the nexus.
Grok screamed as she slipped into the Path of the Lost. She flew at one of the balrogs and slammed her fist into its flaming head, breaking the creature's jaw. She leaped up and brought both of her feet down on its skull, which split open and leaked lava and flames.
As Grok turned to the next balrog, a blast went off near her feet and propelled her into the air.
Anabelle caught Grok in mid-air and flung her toward Dark Grok.
The orc tackled her dark doppelganger.
Dark Grok let out a blast of energy as she went down the Path of the Lost.
