The Monolith

by Stephen Roark

  A Seeker ate a short axe to the face. He screamed as half his health vanished.

  “What are they doing?!” Fujiko shouted. I inspected one of them, who was brandishing dual swords, deep in the fray of the headless hags that lashed out with terrible anger.

  Waldemar—Level 18

  One of the nurses fell to his thrust and collapsed silently to the steps, knocking several others down like dominos. Her body vanished, spilling Quintessence across the group as he continued to cut through them.

  “We should help them,” Altarus said as we stared out across the battle. There had to be at least three times the number of wet nurses as there were Seekers.

  It must have been an ambush, I thought. A trap. They’d come here hunting and been overwhelmed.

  “We have to find the spider,” I replied.

  “They might be able to help us.”

  “Oh, like the others?” I turned to face him. “Remember the Swollen Cemetery? Mayoi and Rumble?”

  “This city is too high level for us to take on our own,” he replied. “We need them, and right now they need us.”

  I sighed heavily, turning my eyes back to the fray. He had a point. The Seekers were losing, being steadily beaten back by the dreadful women. Another of them went down to Waldemar’s blades, but the one in the back raised up her wand again to cast. This time, none of them noticed.

  “DOWN!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

  One of the Seekers turned to me with a look of surprise, then dropped to his knees as another spell raged toward them, this time curtains of green flames, rolling back on themselves as they scorched the air. If the nurses had heads, they would have been burnt off in an instant.

  Goddamn it.

  I dashed forward, unleashing the last of my Firebombs on the nurses, aiming as far back as I could so as to not cause any collateral damage to the Seekers. I slid between one of them and blasted my Blunderbuss into the chest of one of the women, as there was no head to aim for.

  48

  But no riposte. Apparently the rule was no face, no riposte.

  Her blade cut my shoulder.

  -59

  I cracked her sternum with a Blunted Strike, freezing her in place and leaving her open for a Disembowel—

  179

  Which applied the bleeding debuff, and followed up with a Crippling Blow.

  191

  The damage was good, better than I’d expected for something two levels higher than me, but the women could hardly be considered to be wearing any armor, as they were wearing next to nothing. Altarus fired, chipping away a bit of health as I ducked her knife and slipped behind her, burying my axe in her back.

  MASSIVE!

  277

  Her health was falling, and Waldemar shouted beside me as he thrust his sword through her guts.

  “Who are you?!” he cried out, tugging his blade free and spilling blood everywhere.

  “We’re here to help!” I yelled as something stuck me in the back.

  -105

  Heat from the flames pressed against my body like warm hands threatening to topple me over. Sounds of battle rang out as steel clashed against steel, flesh tore open and bodies hit the ground.

  “Get this thing off me!” a Seeker screamed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl on the ground, pinned awkwardly across the steps by a wet nurse who was slamming her fists against her chest like she was trying to tenderize a slab of meat. Her health was dropping quickly. Fujiko dove forward and drove her shoulder into the headless woman’s side and sent her tumbling away. The other girl leapt to her feet, seized her axe and used a skill I’d yet to see.

  Throwing both of her arms to her sides, she bent backwards and bellowed a loud roar that rippled across the nurses closest to her, hurling them away and spilling them into each other. Many fell, others became twisted among the others.

  Colossal Roar, I thought as the three-legged horrors tripped over each other, giving room to the rest of the group.

  The girl popped what must have been a Morphine Lozenge, which returned her health to almost full, and moved to swing with her axe, when a nurse stabbed at her back. I Shadowstepped forward and slammed the tip of my blade into the hideous creature’s chest, knocking her away at an odd angle, then followed up with a blow to the chest.

  188

  She fell back, and several other seekers ganged up on her, plunging their various weapons into her body, shattering what remained of her health. Gunshots filled the air, a Mortal Arrow cut past my head. A Phantom Orb sucked past me, draining health from everyone around.

  -25, -28, -29

  “Rand!” Fujiko shouted. I turned to see her low, a pile of wet nurses all fighting to tear her to pieces, but before I could make a move to help her, what remained of the doors of the old cathedral splintered into pieces, spraying over everyone like shrapnel. The ground shook, and everyone, including the dreadful women, fell to the ground and tumbled back down the steps. I managed to keep my footing—somewhat—and looked up at the cathedral as a monster emerged.

  56

  The Consumed

  “Horror, horror, horror! The cathedral is gone! What unholy curse has befallen us! And our God, who once spoke to me, has fallen silent. What will we do! I hear it moving behind the walls…”

  —Deacon Becker

  It was impossible to understand the structure of whatever it was that came crashing out of the cathedral. It was at least twenty feet tall, and that was just a rough estimate. The main part of its body was bulbous like a frog’s belly, but covered with strips of vine-like things that almost looked like wood that formed something like a cage around it, almost like a piece of armor.

  It didn’t have “legs” in a traditional sense, but instead, held itself up with more of the hard vines that wriggled beneath it like a secondary organism with a mind of its own. Its arms, all five of them, were more recognizable, but instead of fingers, there were flat slabs of flesh dripping with strands of mucus that clung to each other like a web.

  If that gets ahold of you, you’re not getting free, I thought as the thing began its attack. I stared in awe.

  The Consumed—Level 41

  It moved faster than seemed possible, rolling forward and crushing a row of wet nurses in front of it with no regard, rushing towards the Seekers with a furious intent. Two of them screamed as they were crushed beneath its weight and died before the scream could fully escape their lips.

  Waldemar leapt to his feet, brandishing his swords and swung out at the boss, but clashing harmlessly off its carapace like a mite attacking an elephant. He howled as the thing moved, seeing his inevitable defeat in its movement and let his swords drop to his side as it rolled over him, crushing the life from him.

  “Rand!” Fujiko shouted. I turned in the direction of her voice as a swarm of wet nurses, oblivious or uncaring to the presence of the Consumed, swarmed her with numbers impossible to handle. She went down before I could even move.

  This is it, I thought as I watched the devastation around me as the Seekers went down. I dodged out of the way of an axe and felt Altarus’ hand on my shoulder.

  “We must go!” he shouted in my ear, waking me from my dazed stupor brought on by the enormous nightmare that had emerged from the old church.

  I sprang into action and leapt away from a group of wet nurses, slashing one with my axe to get her out of my way. We ran from the cathedral, spurred forward by the deadly sounds behind us of seekers dying and the Consumed’s thrashing as it threw itself towards us.

  “Fujiko’s gone!” I shouted over my shoulder as I leapt what remained of a fountain and dashed into the confined darkness of a side alley.

  “I know!” Altarus bellowed back as I threw myself into a slide to avoid a line of spiked wire that had been stretched between the two buildings on either side of us. Something wet and thick clung to my side as I rose to my feet and continued sprinting.

  “Look out!” I shouted.

  “Got it!” he replied. I he
ard him roll through the muck as he followed me.

  Something scurried out from the shadows ahead of me—something low and rodent-like. I didn’t have time to look. I just swung out with my axe, and to my surprise, the thing tore in half.

  366!

  Quintessence swirled around me as I kept running. The alley dead-ended in front of us, and I skidded to a halt and turned around to see a furious horde of wet nurses funneling into the tiny street behind us.

  “What now?!” Altarus roared.

  I looked around for an exit, but it appeared we were trapped. Windows and doors lay all around us, but like every other building in Quelan, they were covered by thick iron bars.

  “We’re trapped,” I scowled as the deluge of bodies crashed towards us. One of them, unaware of the taut line in front of her, stumbled forward and was instantly bifurcated, spilling bloody slop and guts onto the nurses beneath her. The two pieces of her body hit the ground and continued moving, the legs kicking and the arms clawing for anything they could find, snatching the foot of another and latching on for the ride.

  My heart sank. Not because we were about to die, but because it was just another setback on our journey. Rey was going to have to wait, as were the others, trapped in their mindless bodies, plagued by whatever virus or possession had ahold of their minds, while we recovered, leveled up and returned to seek the spider once again.

  “We tried, Rand,” Altarus said, turning to me as the wet nurses closed in. “That’s all anyone can do.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, nodding angrily, not even bothering to raise my axe as the awful women cascaded towards us. “I guess so.”

  Something metal screeched and tore behind me. A voice cried out.

  “This way!”

  I spun around to see a man standing in an open door, a great blade slung over his shoulder, a hat of triangle leather obscuring his eyes, a thick black jacket of worn leather covering him, but most importantly, a violet scarf circling his neck.

  The boy’s father!

  He motioned to us. “Now! There’s no time!”

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I Shadowstepped right through him and into a large living room lit by a ring of torches along the walls. Altarus dashed after us and the man yanked the door shut just in time. The wet nurses crashed against it like a wave breaking against the tall rocks at the ocean’s edge. Without heads, they could not snarl or cry out, but the sound of their half-nude bodies slapping against each other was somehow even more awful.

  “Horrible things, aren’t they?” I turned around to face the man, who had just rescued us from what would have not only been a terrible death but also the end of our journey. We’d already lost Fujiko. It seemed like we couldn’t go anywhere in this world without somebody dying.

  You will die! I thought as I eyed the little boy’s father.

  Gunter Glacier—Level 34.

  Not max-level like Rathborne, but not a slouch either. He stood like he was carved out of metal, like the thick slab of his enormous blade that looked almost too big to wield. Its honed edge was spotted with chips from previous battles and I grimaced as I pictured it carving through flesh only to chatter across bone like a serrated knife.

  “The whole city’s gone to Hell,” he said, a hint of sadness behind his strong voice. I didn’t have to even question him to understand what had driven him from the security of his home, from his son, and out here into the madness: he saw himself as a protector—a light doing its best to beat out the dark.

  “Your son is worried about you,” I told him.

  “You spoke with my son?” he replied.

  “He’s worried about you,” I told repeated. “We’re not far from your home. Why haven’t you gone back to check on him?”

  Gunter sighed and hung his head. I saw the stains of blood and other equally disgusting things on the fabric of his pants, once beige, and the tears in his jacket. He looked like he’d been fighting for some time now—on his own.

  “I cannot see my son right now,” he replied. “Hearing his sweet voice will only weaken me and I have a job to do. To protect him, I must save this city from the madness that has overtaken it.”

  “I don’t know if you’ve been outside in a while,” I replied. “But I don’t think that’s something you can do on your own.”

  “There are others. I have been trying to organize them for some time, but they prefer to fight on their own. I fear that if we do not organize we will not succeed.”

  “The spider,” I said. “What do you know of the spider?”

  Gunter’s face went cold, like I’d just uttered some secret words that no one should know, or would want to know.

  “You know of the spider?”

  “I was told to seek the spider,” I replied. “By Cliemene.”

  His face hardened more as he focused his eyes on me. “You passed Cliemene’s test? The Fortune Teller is a devious one, old as the world itself, maybe older. You must be strong.”

  “Tell me about the spider,” I replied. This was no time to massage my own ego. We had work to do. Gunter shook his head and set his massive blade down beside him, its light reflecting and distorting the countless candles that hung around the room. “Do you know where it is?”

  “I do.” He nodded, his eyes on the floor. My heart leapt. “But you will not like the answer.”

  “Try me,” I replied.

  “To find the spider you must pass through the Mouth of the City.”

  “The Mouth of the City?”

  “It is an ancient place,” he muttered. “Dark and filled with danger.”

  “High level monsters?” Altarus asked. Gunter quickly shook his head.

  “Things far, far worse than that,” he said, a slight quiver in his voice. He glanced up at me. “You will understand—having seen the Fortune Teller.”

  A chill ran through my veins and straight down into my feet as I was taken back to the base of the mountain, trapped in Cliemene’s visions, her game designed to test my worthiness, and wondered just what would have happened to me had I not passed. If I understood Gunter correctly, we’d encounter something similar at the Mouth of the City. What would happen if we failed the test of Quelan?

  “How do we get there?” I asked. There was no turning back now—we were beyond that. Fighting our way through the city—trying to level—was impossible. We’d be dead no matter what we did. Like Fujiko. Like Rathborne. It was a high level zone but felt more like a place that had been designed for no one to go near. The whole place felt alive with danger, fueled by some vicious heart beneath the rows of packed houses and cramped streets that beat with the purest hatred and anger.

  “What is your name, Seeker?” Gunter asked me.

  “Rand,” I replied. “This is Altarus.”

  He shook my hand with an iron grip. “Rand…how sure are you that you wish to find the Mouth of the City—seek the spider?”

  “I’m sure,” I replied immediately. “We’ve come from the Weeping Hills, the Swollen Cemetery, Ebonmire and the Ruins of Londorin, survived the hordes of the Bloodless and other Seekers who tried to kill us and take our gear. I passed the Fortune Teller’s test, lost two of my friends to whatever virus is taking over this land, and two more on the way here. I’m not turning back until I have to! Understand?”

  Gunter stared back at me with the same intent I’d seen in Rathborne’s eyes, and very slowly, he began to smile.

  “I understand, Seeker,” he replied. “I see a determination in you that will not be stopped. Something to be admired.”

  “Thanks,” I replied, unsure of what else to say. “So…where are we going?”

  “Come,” he said, turning away and motioning for us to join him. “I will show you.”

  57

  The Cannibals of Quelan

  “Never in my most horrid nightmares did I think I would see a man eat another man. Now it has become a daily occurrence. I dare not venture from my home now lest the same gruesome end befalls me, but how much longer
can I remain here? Charles went out this morning, though I begged him not to, and I fear I shall not see him again…”

  —Cassandra Glade, citizen of Quelan

  The home Gunter had been hunkered down in was large and stately, filled with ornate furniture and fixtures, crystal chandeliers and monstrous oil paintings of men and women, obviously wealthy, cold stares behind their eyes that seemed to follow you across the room.

  Unexpectedly, the old wooden floor did not creak as we walked. Instead, the entire house seemed to suck up sound the way a black hole ate light, giving the place an unsettling sense of isolation, as though the building existed in a place simultaneously inside and outside the City of Quelan.

  We passed a massive servants’ kitchen on our right. The stoves obviously had not been used in some time, and a single bare bulb hung from the ceiling, its large filament glowing hot orange above the slabs of iron. As we continued on, I thought I saw movement in the dark corners of the room—something or someone hunched and frail scurrying away, doing their best not to be seen.

  “Come,” Gunter whispered, continuing down a hallway that seemed to cut through the center of the house, the soft flickering of the candles unable to reach the shadows that clung to the ceiling like drifts of velvet.

  “This city is full of mystery,” Altarus remarked from behind me. I nodded but said nothing. We continued down the hall, passing countless rooms on all sides of us, each with its own story. Normally, the intrigue would have been too much for me to resist and I’d have been rushing around checking each room, searching for chests and hidden secrets. But we had a job to do.

  Eventually we came upon a set of stairs that led to the second floor, lit by a bright set of bulbs that glowed with a slight reddish hue that gave the house an even more unsettling feeling.