by Eric Vall
It turned out that there wasn’t much left to push through before we got to the square. Arwyn and I emerged into the wide-open square as Varleth and Orenn came at the same time from the street to our left. Debris littered the square: destroyed stalls, broken wood, glass, and brick everywhere with bodies and blood splattered around. Nia was already there as she stood before a massive monster. Her body crackled with lightning, and her gaze was strangely at her feet, but it was the massive behemoth of the spider that stood at the entrance of the cathedral that drew our eyes.
“Stay back,” her voice urged from our communicators. Her tone was urgent and nearly panicked, and I understood why.
The monster was an arachness. They resembled spiders from a distance, but when they stared at you, you knew it wasn’t, for instead of the small head, bug eyes, and pincers of a spider, it was the face of a beautiful woman. This one was mostly black flecked with spots of brown through the torso while the legs were more brown than black, the tips stained red with blood. Her human head had golden skin, round cheeks and large lips, a button nose, short red hair, and the eyes were--
“Avert your gazes!” Arwyn hissed. “If you look it in the eyes, you’ll be paralyzed.”
Ah, yes. That was the most dangerous parts of these monsters, their paralyzing gazes. That was why Nia had already been looking at her feet. We did as Arwyn said, and I snapped my gaze to the creature’s spider legs.
But battle had already been joined as the arachness lashed out with lightning speed at Nia. It was very fast and nimble, and Nia, with her gaze averted, had her hands full. It was all she could do to dodge its attacks. Her spells needed time to be cast, and the monster wasn’t giving her a second of time or the space to do that in. Nia cursed from across the square as she dove in time to avoid the swipe of the arachness’ massive front leg.
That’s when Orenn ran forward, his metal skin glinting in the sunlight. He used his enhanced strength to close the distance between him and the monster.
“Wait, Orenn!” I yelled, but he either didn’t listen to me or didn’t hear. “You can’t--”
He reared back to swing, and swing he did. His fist slammed home against the side of the beast which made it roar but not much else. Before Orenn could even react, the arachness whirled onto him and swatted him aside with its massive legs. He fell back in a heap, his pride hurt more than his body. While I was sure he was fine, his metal skin and strength wouldn’t work against this monster.
See, I knew from my readings that arachnesses, along with their massive size and strength and their paralyzing gazes, had nearly impenetrable torsos. Orenn could punch through a brick wall, but he couldn’t punch through the arachness unless he used all his mana, and frankly, he shouldn’t risk that. If Nia had time to cast one of her more powerful spells, she could kill it, but the monster simply wouldn’t give her a chance. I had that time though as the arachness was wholly consumed with trying to murder Nia and Orenn, and I knew that the arachness’ weakness was the small soft spot of its underbelly.
So, my attack was simple.
I summoned my drillmoles again, had a bullet bass make them metal for good measure, and told them to dig. With Nia and Orenn distracting the monster, it didn’t sense the attack coming. Moments later, the drillmoles erupted beneath it and drilled through its stomach. It screeched, a cry that made us cover our ears, and then it collapsed to the ground as my moles broke through the top of its torso in a spray of yellow blood and spider guts.
Arwyn laughed sharply. “Well done, Gryff.”
“That was simple,” Orenn called with a smile as he dusted debris off his metal flesh.
“Smart strategy,” Varleth added cooly. With his demeanor, that was a damn good compliment.
“I tried to tell him his attack wouldn’t work,” I said to Arwyn and Varleth, “but I suppose he didn’t hear me.”
Arwyn studied the massive spider. “We’ve never fought one of these before, so it’s not a surprise to me that Orenn wouldn’t know his metal isn’t very effective.” Then she turned her smile to me. “Did you learn about the weakness from the book I picked for you?”
I smiled and scratched the back of my neck. “Indeed I did.”
“See what academia can do?” she said with a laugh. “And look, I think you’ve been well rewarded for the trouble.” She bent down and picked up an essence crystal. It was dark as coal with the faint silhouette of a woman inside. “It’s all yours.” She offered it to me.
“Can I just take that?” I asked, surprised as I took the essence crystal from her. I wasn’t sure if I’d actually be able to summon the creature, and here wasn’t the place to try, but I would later.
“Of course. You killed it, and you’re the summoner.” She shrugged. “Even though essence crystals are rare drops in the real world, there aren’t many summoners skilled enough to use one like this.” She winked at me. “Besides, you earned it.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” I smiled as I tucked the new crystal into my bandolier. “I’ll make sure I make you proud.”
“You’ve already done that many times over, Gryff.” Arwyn gave me a long look. “Many, many times.”
While we talked, Nia wasted no time after the monster was dead. She moved past the decaying spider and approached the river. With an elaborate twirl of her arms that seemed like a beautiful dance, she collected a huge stream of the river water with a single spell and whipped it through the air. The water coiled around her, down her arms and around her chest and waist. Her arms bent and grooved, her body spun, and a faint bluish radiance cascaded about her as she smiled brightly. The whole image of her right then made my heart thud loudly against my chest wall. She was breathtaking, and so was her magic.
She continued her dance, and with it, the water wove from fire to fire, extinguishing everything. The rushing waters traveled through the church and then along the circumference of the square until the burning buildings smoldered with smoke, charred but no longer burning. When the last of the fires were out, Nia spun to a halt and dropped her arms. Her dance had ended, and with it, her spell. The remaining river water splashed to the ground. We jogged over to her now that the square was safe from flames.
“Excellent work, Nia,” Arwyn enthused as she put a hand on Nia’s shoulder. “I like your initiative.”
Nia flashed her a modest smile. “Thank you, squad leader.”
“Are you injured?” the healer asked, not only to Nia but to the rest of the squad.
“I’m fine, just a tad winded.” Nia shook her head along with the others, then her eyes found mine She gave me a nod and a smile. “Good work, summoner.”
I flashed her a wide grin. “I do my best.”
“Yes, great job so far everyone,” Arwyn added as she turned her attention to the cathedral proper, “but the hard part starts now.”
With that, she strode through the blasted cathedral doors, and we fell into formation behind her, Orenn and Varleth behind her and Nia and me at the rear. Nia sweated profusely, and her cloak was torn in a few places. Her breathing was a little harsh, but she had just used a lot of magic and must have expended a lot of her energy and stamina to dodge the arachness.
I hoped she was truly alright and not simply putting on a brave front to hide a real wound.
That thought was pushed out of my head when I entered the cathedral. The pews were all scattered about and some still smoldered from the fires that Nia had put out. Through the acrid smoke, at the head of the church and right at the altar of the Maker, was the rift. It was large, a shimmering and shifting veil of black and purple, a portal to the hellish expanse of the Shadowscape, and we had to go in there and close it.
Arwyn marched right up to it fearlessly. “Nia, Gryff, even though you two are the vanguard, we’re going to send Orenn in first since he’s made of metal. That way if something is right on the other side, you won't get blindsided. You’ll be right behind him, and we’ll be right behind you.”
We nodded and stepped forward. This ri
ft was a lot bigger than the one that had opened on campus. The stench was terrible, but I knew it was nothing compared to the smell of the Shadowscape itself.
Nia sucked in a breath and cracked her knuckles. “Are you ready?”
I shrugged and gave her a confident smile. “We’ve done this before, remember? And by ourselves. We can do this easily.”
Her smile in response was soft but no less lovely. “I suppose you are right about that. Let’s do this, Gryff.”
“Yes, let’s.”
And so we readied ourselves, plunged into the murky void, and once again entered the home of monsters.
Chapter 5
The first thing that struck me was the all-consuming nasty odor of the Shadowscape.
It was like every terrible smell in existence coalesced into one tremendous weapon. Rot, decay, blood, excrement… all mashed together. It was on record that prolonged exposure to the Shadowscape’s stench could drive a person mad, assuming one survived long enough to get to that point.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to worry about that because response squad members were equipped with small gas masks for when they entered this hell. So, I took in a breath, relieved that the smell and taste of the filtered air were mostly clear. The filters wouldn’t last forever, but the masks gave us time.
“It’s clear here,” Orenn said as he glanced at the two of us. “I’ll hang back while you two go forward.”
“Right,” I said and took a few long strides forward with Nia at my side.
The Shadowscape was a dark and broken mirrored version of our world, so while we were still in the cathedral, the roof was now caved in, the walls were broken and torn down, and a gaping hole was right where the entrance should have been. The exposed sky above us… it was a dark gray, devoid of any light.
The Shadowscape truly was a hell, and I wasn’t even accounting for the monsters.
Nia snapped her fingers and summoned small little fireballs to light the room. I peered around her and looked out the ruins to the town beyond. The air out there was murky and foggy, but I could see shadows moving within the mists, monsters on the prowl. We’d have company soon enough, I feared.
The rift whooshed behind me, signaling the arrival of Arwyn and Varleth.
“Okay,” Arwyn declared as she combed a hand through her long red locks and cracked her neck. “Let’s get to it.” She and Varleth already had their filter masks on as they spread out. Arwyn turned back to Varleth and put a hand on his shoulder. “Is it close?”
Violent shivers racked the banisher’s body as he closed his eyes and breathed in deep. “Yes,” he finally said, opening his cold eyes. “It’s not in the cathedral, but it is very close.”
“Good.” Arwyn nodded. Her cheeks rose with what I thought was a smile beneath her mask as she turned her gaze to Nia and me. “We’ll play this by the books. You two are the vanguard, and I will help you hold this position while Orenn and Varleth search for the Catalyst.” Her eyes surveyed us. “Any questions?”
We all shook our heads. Arwyn’s orders were clear, and our strategy sound.
“Good.” Her gaze turned to Orenn. “Do you have your flare gun?”
He nodded and rifled through his pack for a moment before producing a short little pistol that was as shiny as copper. “We’ll use it only if we’re in some deep shit.” He placed the flare gun in the loop of his belt.
My brows pinched together. “Wait, couldn’t they use the communicators?”
Orenn shook his head. “We can, but the Shadowscape can make them act all screwy, especially the farther away we get from one another.”
“The flare gun is just an extra precaution,” Arwyn said.
“Okay, that’s fair.”
Arwyn nodded, satisfied. Then she unsheathed her sword. “Alright everyone, you know what to do. Let’s get moving.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we responded as one.
We strode out of the rubble and to the damaged square beyond. Varleth led Orenn to our right and over the bridge to the other side of the river. The dense fog of the realm started to thin, and that made the approach of the incoming monsters clear. Nia gritted her teeth, cocked her fist back, and punched forward. A ball of flames rocketed from her fist toward the monsters that raced after our banisher. The flames burst against Nia’s target and illuminated both the fog and the monster briefly before the fire destroyed it.
It was only a box troll, but the other monsters with it turned our way, drawn to Nia’s magic. Arwyn stepped between us, sword at the ready.
“Nia, do you think you could take care of this fog?” Arwyn was all business now. “And, that should draw all the monsters to us and keep them off our banisher.”
Nia smirked. “Of course.”
She clenched her jaw as she readied her magic, muttering a spell under her breath, and then pounced forward and swung her hands together in a tremendous clap. A shock wave of wind burst forth from that and blew the fog away. The gust of air was so strong that it knocked Arwyn and me back, and I heard glass shattering across the square. When I recovered my wits, I found the square clear of mist and covered in debris, the stone cracked and teeming with monsters.
“Well done,” Arwyn added with a grin.
Of course, now we could see what was waiting to fight us, and it wasn’t pleasant.
Ahead of us was a legion of ghouls, gray skeletal fiends that resembled mummified corpses, only these were still very much alive. They didn’t have any claws, teeth, or eyes for that matter, just hollow sockets. What they did have was a gaping maw of a mouth that could drain the life force from your body with a bite, and there had to be dozens of them. With them were the usual assortment of grade E grunts: goblins of all types, trolls of all types, imps, a few wallerdons, and more.
While it seemed as if the horde had been waiting around before like an army waiting for marching orders, when the fog was blown away, all of their attention snapped to us. Immediately, they let out their various roars and cries which filled the air with a terrifying din that clamored for our death.
“You two ready?” Arwyn asked.
Nia and I nodded. We’d done this before, and we would do it once again. Only this time we wouldn’t be alone.
I ran forward and threw a handful of my monsters, axe goblins, box trolls, and daggerdillos, and sent them at the incoming horde. I fixed them with speed slugs and bullet bass metal. Then they collided with the army of attacking monsters and cut through them. I looked over just in time to see Nia weave her hands after muttering a spell and a layer of hard stone enveloped her body in a suit of rock armor.
I smiled at that new trick as she charged into the thick of the monsters. Her rock armor would do well against these grunts, but higher grade monsters would smash right through it. I hoped she was aware of that.
No sooner did the battle begin when a new challenge appeared and a blaring roar cut through the air. The ground rumbled as something began to stomp our way. Monsters flew out of the way as whatever was coming pushed through the fodder of smaller beasts, and then what turned out to be two immense beasts broke through the front ranks of the monster army and revealed themselves to us.
They had bodies near identical to a rhinoceros, only they were almost double the size, and the bottoms of their legs were covered by a thick, bone-like shoe. And their head looked like massive wads of bone, two huge skulls that I knew were as tough as steel. The glowing red orbs of their eyes swam on either side of their heads. These were ramblers, mindless rampaging monsters that could run straight through a mountain if given the opportunity.
“Gryff…” Arwyn started beside me.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I’ll take these two.”
“Gryff, you can’t just--” Her voice was almost pleading, but I thought she needed more faith. I had dealt with much worse before.
I ran to my right, away from her, and waved my hands over my head. One of the ramblers was already eyeing me, but the other had its sights on Nia, who was busy
with the brunt of the horde.
“Over here, you big ugly fucks!” I yelled. I kept at it until the second one turned my way too. It roared and cast its murderous gaze on me. As dimwitted as they were, their eyes sent a chill right down my spine, and I gulped.
The two ramblers charged me. The first one knocked aside my box trolls like they were children trying to jump onto a moving horse.
I didn’t have a lot of time, but I had a strategy that had worked for me before. As I threw a couple of my crystals, I focused my mana through them and activated them. The creatures within roared to life. Two of my wallerdons emerged through the smoke of their summoning. While their wide girths blocked my view of the approaching ramblers, that was okay. Next, I tossed six smaller crystals, summoning all my daggerdillos, their hard, segmented shells riddled with long and deadly spikes. They scampered up and attached themselves to the wallerdons.
I sent the wallerdons charging toward the ramblers, only seconds away now. Wallerdons were terribly slow runners though. At the speed they were moving, my now spiked wallerdons wouldn’t have the power to crush the ramblers, but I wasn’t done. I fished two of the smallest crystals from my bandolier and threw them at my wallerdons. With the usual flash, two of my speed slugs appeared and fixed themselves to my wallerdons. With a lurch, those lumbering spiked shields shot forward.
The first smashed head-on with the lead rambler. The rambler’s rocky skull was like steel, but even it couldn’t stop this attack. My wallerdon exploded into it and caved in the rambler’s head with a pop and a spray of blood and brain matter. I pumped my fist and whooped as my lips broke into a smile. I hadn’t been sure that would work with the ramblers, but now I could take the other.
Except my second wallerdon missed.
The second rambler was a few paces behind the first and had barely enough time to veer out of the way with an angry wail. I cursed as the spikes grazed the rough skin of the rambler and drew blood but not enough to kill it. The rambler cried with rage and pain and kept on its collision course with me, far too close for me to dodge.
