The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  Artemis was a longtime citizen of the outpost and knew the ruins well. What lay ahead of them was one of those dangerous sectors. If they went rushing in, they were sure to meet trouble.

  The Queen’s coarse voice rasped at them. “There’s no other way.”

  Artemis looked left and right. They were blocked in on all sides by rubble. Towering piles of rusted metal like mountains stretched overhead, at least a hundred to a hundred fifty feet tall. All other routes of escape were sealed off.

  They didn’t have any choice – the only way was forward!

  Artemis was no coward. They were out of options so it was time to bite the bullet.

  The three of them fled into the unknown territory. It was a maze of ruins constructed out of rock and metal, with random piles strewn haphazardly every which way. All they could do was push on, practically blind, with no idea of what lay ahead.

  They hadn’t taken more a few steps into the ruins when Cloudhawk felt a wave of apprehension wash over him. “Wait a second!”

  Both women stopped and looked at him questioningly.

  He pointed in front of them at a pile of stones riddled with stalagmites. At first glance, it didn’t look out of the ordinary, but after close inspection, they were surprised to find that it was a cluster of large monsters. Half of their bodies were buried with only their backs showing above ground. They seemed to be unaware of their presence.

  Well shit. Mutant monsters barred the way in front while sweepers were coming to kill them from behind. No detours to the left or right. What were they going to do?

  “I have an idea! You two hide.”

  Cloudhawk instructed the Queen and Artemis to find a place to stay low while he rushed towards the monsters. By the time he came within thirty feet, four or five of them began to stir.

  The monsters looked like enormous iguanas but were eight to ten meters long. Each of them had eight thick and stubby legs and a sizeable head, split by a crocodile-like maw full of razor sharp teeth. Their whole bodies were the color of sand and stone, and natural spikes grew from their backs like armor.

  And there were a bunch of them!

  Cloudhawk skidded to a halt and didn’t even think about it before turning tail and running in the opposite direction. Three or four of them immediately gave chase. Before two minutes had passed, he ran headlong into the army of sweepers and their lieutenants, who reared back in surprise at what was coming their way. Cloudhawk, proud of his timing, immediately wrapped himself in his relic cloak and disappeared from view.

  His plan was simple: lead the monsters to the sweepers and have them fight it out. He figured the creatures would do a lot of their work for them. However, things did not end up being so simple.

  Moments after the two sides met, a truly enormous lizard titan appeared from the wilds. This one was a full 80 feet long and each step caused the earth to tremble. As a result, the crumbling buildings around them gave way, toppling into one another like dominoes.

  Hidden by his cloak, Cloudhawk could avoid the lizards and sweepers. But now he was caught in an earthquake in which buildings dozens of feet high were crashing down all around him. Like ancient warriors felled in battle, they came rumbling to the earth, spewing crushing rubble everywhere.

  Holy shit!

  The way back was suddenly blocked by debris. In this crucial moment, the Queen’s absence was distinct and possibly fatal. Luckily, the sweepers and lizards had begun to fight each other. For now, they didn’t know he was there.

  73 Decisive Battle in the Wilds

  Towering ruins were brought down by the unbridled rampage of the giant lizard, like building blocks knocked away by an angry toddler. The area was plunged into chaos, punctuated by the crash of buildings that sounded like erupting volcanoes. In a tsunami of debris, the remains of the ruins covered everything.

  Cloudhawk whipped his head around but couldn't tell up from down. Nearby, another building several stories high came crashing down like an avalanche overhead.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Cloudhawk ran like his life depended on it.

  Blocks of concrete weighing hundreds of pounds smashed into the ground on either side as he fled. Everything shook and the sound of crumbling stone was deafening. Every passing second felt like an eternity as Cloudhawk feared the next block would flatten him into a meat patty.

  But Cloudhawk was lucky. Before the bulk of the building collapsed, he found cover, though a rolling boulder caught him in the back and sent him sprawling. It struck with such force that he saw stars. It also felt like he’d broken several bones. He lay there, pinned beneath it.

  Meanwhile, numerous lizards passed him. The young scavenger was filled with pride and determination – at least the danger he weathered was paying dividends.

  The titanic lizard awakened by Cloudhawk’s ploy lumbered closer. The sweepers fled, hoping to avoid destruction themselves. Thankfully, the invisibility offered by Cloudhawk’s relic cloak was far-reaching, concealing both his heat signature as well as any other sign of his presence. Without him in the monster’s sights, the sweepers became his scapegoats.

  “You fuckin’ freaks,” Cloudhawk cursed to himself. “Let’s see how nasty your deaths are!”

  Stranger Black stared at the iguana-like monstrosities. “It’s a wastelands wyrm!”

  The full name of these creatures was “eight-legged tyrant lizards”, but the people of the wastelands usually just called them wastelands wyrms.

  Wastelands wyrms were some of the most ferocious creatures in all the wastelands, living and feeding off what remained of the old world. Their hide was thick and unyielding like rock and they were strong enough to uproot mountains. Through brute force alone, they tunneled their way through the ruins and ripped apart anything in their path. They were responsible for the honeycomb of tunnels that were often found throughout the remnants of cities.

  These thick-skinned behemoths were more than difficult to contend with. With so many together, they were nothing short of terrifyingly deadly – even the savage sweepers were powerless.

  One of the relatively smaller wyrms was fastest and led the charge.

  It was over twenty feet long, and though it looked like a lizard, it was covered in bulging muscle. Spikes ran along the length of its spine like sword blades, waggling as four pairs of thick and powerful legs quickly conveyed it across the terrain. Its head was lizard-like, its maw as terrifying as a crocodile’s, and its worm-shaped body swayed like a cumbersome machine as it gave chase. So far, it had to be moving at over thirty miles per hour and rising.

  Longhorn stepped forward to face it.

  Although he faced a creature several times his size, Longhorn wasn’t fazed in the least. He charged ahead, each step leaving deep trenches as powerful legs propelled him forward. Like a goliath from the ancient tales, he bore down on the beast, indomitable and defiant, terrifying anything that dared bar his path.

  No fancy tricks, no flashy moves – Longhorn plowed into the wyrm head-on!

  The two disproportionately-sized but equally resolute foes crashed into one another so hard their surroundings exploded into dust and shards of rock. Neither was knocked aside, each struggling mightily while not giving ground.

  “Aaaarrggghhh!!”

  The wastelands wyrm roared and swiped at Longhorn with its claws. He blocked with his left arm and the force of the collision kicked up more debris. The monster responded by spreading its toothy mouth wide and lunging for a bite. Longhorn, in turn, punched it in the face!

  Crrrack! A dozen of the wyrm’s teeth splintered and the impact knocked it several paces away!

  Longhorn didn’t let up, rushing forward to re-engage. His fists were like cannonballs – two, three punches – with each blow landing with unparalleled force. Every punch was like a blast of lightning, cracking open the beast’s skull and drawing blood.

  Cloudhawk, watching nearby, was absolutely stunned!

  Not only did the mutant hit with terrifying force, he s
eemed to be made out of reinforced iron! His punches were like strikes from Artemis’s hammer.

  He could hardly be considered human! He was a monster!

  Even one of the wyrm’s larger brethren couldn’t survive an onslaught like this. In the midst of the brutal thrashing it was receiving, the wyrm tried to turn and flee but Longhorn grabbed it by the tail. The monster had to weigh seven to eight tons, but no matter how much its legs churned, it couldn’t wrench itself free from his grip.

  By now, a second wyrm had caught up. Longhorn was suddenly faced with two of them.

  “Huh!”

  Muscles all over Longhorn’s body bulged and a burst of stupefying energy filled him. Dragging the monster by the tail, he whipped it around in a circle and threw it right into its companion. The two collided and crashed into the ground in a tangled heap.

  Forget Cloudhawk, even the sweepers gaped at the scene, all color draining from their faces!

  Panther and the others inwardly rejoiced that they were on the same side. Judging by the display they’d just witnessed, one punch from this man would turn them into paste. Who among them could stand against power like that?

  Longhorn’s chest heaved as he fought for breath. A fight like this was exhausting and he feared spending too much energy here. After all, there was a dangerous demon hunter still to face.

  But the wasteland wyrms did not flee.

  The larger of the two monsters struggled back to its feet and slowly approached, much to Longhorn’s dismay. He was capable of handling several smaller wyrms if he had to, but this one was at least twice as large as the first. Even so, one on one he might’ve been fine… but one against two?

  Kill him… kill him! If these things can kill even one of the demon’s henchmen, that’d be fantastic! It’d take a lot of the pressure off the Queen and really improve our chances.

  Yet the heavens did not hear Cloudhawk’s desperate pleas. Just as his heart was filling with dark expectation, an equally dark figure appeared on the horizon. The sweeper’s airship drifted into view moments before the whir of a chain gun filled the air. Bullets rained down on the wyrms and they exploded into chunks of blood and flesh.

  Even stony flesh could not withstand the airship’s weapons. They could be made of steel and the chain gun would still rip them apart. What hope did mere skin have? The remaining monsters were peppered with a few of the bullets and fled into the ruins to hide. One of them was headed right for Cloudhawk while he was still laying prone on the ground. One well-placed step and he’d been crushed flat.

  Time to go!

  Stranger Black was watching the creature run. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied the boulder that pinned Cloudhawk move, and saw the young man clambering with some difficulty towards the safety of the ruins. He was so infuriated he saw red – this was the little shit that’d almost killed him at Blackflag Outpost. How could Stranger Black deny the rage and resentment in his heart?

  “Stop! Come with me. Kill this irritating whelp!”

  Vulture sprang into the air and began circling the area to hunt Cloudhawk down while the others bore down on where they saw him last. Cloudhawk hid in a dead-end, trying to hide from the birdman’s keen eyes. He was too weak – if they found him, he was a dead man!

  A dozen sweepers spread out and were headed his way. Nearby, the airship had descended and dropped a rope, lowering several more sweepers to the ground to help with the search. More and more enemies flooded the area and he would soon be found. Cloudhawk’s demise seemed certain, and soon after him, the others would be caught as well.

  How far could his invisibility cloak get him?

  Several sweepers came upon Cloudhawk’s hiding place and spotted him. They hurriedly reached for their weapons, crying out for the others as they attacked.

  “Sons of bitches!”

  Cloudhawk had no choice but to brandish his exorcist rod and charge ahead. He swung at one of them and met his hefty sword with a loud clang. Cloudhawk was stronger than ever but he was facing a group of hardened sweeper warriors. He wasn’t going to get the upper hand here.

  Another sweeper came in from the side, brandishing an iron cudgel. Cloudhawk lunged to the side just in time. The displaced air from the attack whipped his clothes.

  Two more sweepers nearby saw him and leveled their crossbows his way. Powerful arrows were ready to skewer him, but before they could, a nimble figure leapt from the ruins nearby. The shadow skittered by so fast that it seemed to defy gravity, surprising the two archers.

  A flash of metal and throats opened like fountains of blood.

  Had the Bloodsoaked Queen come to save him? But that would be stupid! Coming here was like putting the noose around her own neck!

  The airship spotted the Queen and started to bring around its broadside. The chilling, telltale sound of its chain gun started to whir and moments later, the area was carpeted with gunfire. Strong as the Queen was, she couldn’t ignore the hail of lead and ducked back into the ruins to use them to cover her escape.

  The Queen knew she couldn’t save Cloudhawk.

  However, she was the demon’s main target, and her reappearance would get the attention of her hunters. If she could lead most of them away, Cloudhawk would have a chance, but it would ultimately be up to him.

  “Second Brother, Third Brother, take the troops and go after the demon hunter!” Stranger Black shouted out his commands, but he himself looked in Cloudhawk’s direction. “I’ll join you after I wring the life out of this brat.”

  The sweeper army split into two groups. Longhorn and Vulture gathered the three outpost assassins, ten sweepers and the airship to chase down the Queen. Stranger Black and the rest of the sweepers closed in on Cloudhawk’s position.

  “Form up, surround the area! No matter what I’m not letting him get away this time!”

  More sweepers were arriving after mopping up what was left of Hydra’s resistance and spread out across the sector. All paths leading away were sealed off. Though uncharted, the area wasn’t large and the sweepers had both air support and superior numbers.

  Cloudhawk and the others were caught in a deathtrap! There was nowhere to go!

  No matter who won or lost, the long hunt across the wastelands would end here!

  Cloudhawk understood this. There was no escaping this time, so he wasted no time thinking about it. It was time to fight these damn sweepers to the end!

  74 Rock and a Hard Place

  Cloudhawk was surrounded by seasoned sweepers, elite denizens of the wilds. They were burly, strong, and adroit with their weapons – Cloudhawk couldn’t break through. He juked in one direction to try and pass them, but one of the sweepers swung his ax at him.

  Cloudhawk sidestepped the swipe and leapt up, bringing his exorcist rod down in a vicious chop.

  Bang!

  The metal staff cracked the sweeper on top of its head. A trickle of blood marked a path down the mutant’s hideous face, but his armor was too thick for it to kill him outright. Try as he might, Cloudhawk wasn’t strong enough to pierce his foe’s protection. The best he managed was making the sweeper dizzy.

  Cloudhawk struck again, this time at another sweeper charging his way. His staff struck the attacker in the chest but was stopped by an iron chest plate. The staff’s sharp point only managed to leave a gash along the armor, causing no real damage.

  Goddamnit! What am I supposed to do?

  Vital areas were protected from his blows, and neither Cloudhawk’s strength nor his weapons were good enough to get past their defenses.

  Grinning hideously, a sweeper heaved his enormous ax. With nowhere to hide, Cloudhawk was forced to meet the attack head on and the powerful strike crashed into his staff like a thunderbolt. The sweeper’s twisted companions seized the opportunity and rushed in all at once. Cloudhawk could only barely stave off one or two of them. What was he to do against four or five?

  Would he be forced to use the exorcist rod? But using the relic on these minions would be draining. He�
�d have nothing left for the black-clad freak!

  As Cloudhawk hesitated, another figure emerged from a nearby corner to join the fight. Nimble as a bird, she leapt six feet into the air despite her cumbersome equipment, and brought her melon hammer down on one of the sweepers’ faces. The faceplate and half his head caved in, reduced to a mess of mangled flesh and broken bone.

  Artemis!

  Cloudhawk heaved a sigh of relief.

  Artemis’s weapons and abilities were especially effective against these heavily armored enemies. She knocked their counterattacks away with her shield while her hammer shattered another sweeper’s kneecap. She hit it with such force that the bone practically disintegrated, forcing the sweeper to collapse onto its one good leg. Her melon hammer never stopped, rebounding off his knee and around in a deadly circle before landing right on its head. The helmet protecting his skull crumpled like a piece of paper, with the bone beneath shattering like glass.

  Another sweeper tried his luck.

  Artemis swung around and bashed the mutant with her shield, knocking him back. She wobbled for a moment but her right leg planted and kept her stable. Pivoting her hips, she whipped her hammer back around and rammed it into the sweeper’s chest, leaving a dent too deep to be healthy. In fact, the mutant’s lungs and heart were completely destroyed. Blood leaked from every orifice, but he died too quickly to notice.

  Cloudhawk scrambled over to the corpse and picked up the crossbow by his side.

  Whoosh! Thud!

  One of the sweepers nearby had his crossbow loaded for a flank attack when an arrow lodged itself in his eye socket. He screamed and collapsed to the ground before he could fire his weapon. Meanwhile, Artemis was fighting off the last of them. The first swing of her hammer smashed the sweeper’s weapon to splinters and the second knocked him into the air. The third strike smashed him down and buried him in the dirt with virtually every bone in his body shattered. It was a miserable way to go.