by Ramy Vance
“Agreed.”
The trio made their way down the dirt hill in silence, occasionally checking their HUDs for the information Abby had sent them.
Persephone continued to glance at Abby as they traveled. Eventually, Abby caught the drow’s eye. “Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“You seem…different. Like you’re not all there.”
Abby stared at Persephone blankly. Then her face softened, showing the old Abby, bright-eyed and curious. “We are different. Very different. But we are all here.” She took Persephone’s hand. “Nothing between you and us has changed. We will talk about this as soon as we can. But our feelings are the same.”
“Uh, all of you?”
Abby chuckled softly. “We do not think Martin shares the same affinity we have for you.”
Terra cleared her throat loudly. “Just gonna say, right now might not be the best time for you two to be hashing out your relationship. But, that being said, we’re all going to have a long talk with you about what your devil science has been doing, Abby.”
Abby nodded solemnly. “Yes, we believe it is something to be spoken about as well. But, as you said, later.”
They were still a good distance from the defense tower, and they traveled in silence.
Terra noticed how the terrain had been affected by the defense tower. The energy it was releasing reminded Terra of the energy she’d seen around the lich. Not because it was the same, but because of the effect it seemed to have on the world around it. The earth beneath Terra’s feet felt tainted, distorted, just as the sky above was.
She had seen the same sort of corruption in the troll she had been fighting. A darkness that seeped deep into you, that would begin to replace what you were, make you into something else entirely. She worried that Abby might have brought something like that into her life.
But, for the time, it seemed like a necessary darkness, if that’s what it was. Terra wanted to kick herself for the thought. A few months ago, such a thing would never have slipped into her mind. Now she was weighing the cost and benefits of Abby putting her life in danger. She’s just a kid, Terra thought, looking at Abby and Persephone. They’re both just kids.
And both had been turned into engines of war. Terra wondered if she could have handled any of this at their age. Probably not. Terra was glad that she’d had a whole lifetime to prepare for this.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Abby, who was tugging on her arm. She looked at the girl, whose finger was pressed to her lips as she pointed at a hoverpatrol driving by in the distance. Terra could see it was manned by two orcs.
“Who’s a better shot?” Abby asked.
Terra and Persephone exchanged dubious glances. The drow said, “Maybe me. I went through a lot of rifle training.”
Abby nodded as she constructed a small cannon. “We need to take them out quickly. We only have so much power left. Running on less than ten percent.”
Persephone nodded and scanned the area for a good vantage point. She scampered up a small hill and took aim. Abby aimed from her current position.
After a few moments, Persephone whistled. She fired immediately, and Abby did the same. Persephone’s shot hit the driver in the head, and Abby’s plasma blast pierced the passenger’s chest.
Within seconds, Abby, Terra, and Persephone were running toward the car that was careening about. They had to secure the kills. If either orc survived, they could call reinforcements.
They pulled up on the car, which had crashed into a small dune. Terra ripped the door off and pulled the two orcs out. The passenger was still breathing. Terra ended it quickly.
Abby stared curiously at her hand. “It seems as if we are more underpowered then we thought…that would usually be enough for an entry-and-exit wound. We don’t think we even pierced halfway.”
Terra checked the orcs for weapons, pulling every plasma blade and gun off them. She handed Abby a plasma rifle with an impressive scope and passed two plasma pistols to Persephone. “Come on, we don’t have far to go. Do you think anyone would notice if we took the ride?”
Abby scanned the area. “It doesn’t look like there are too many patrols. And we don’t have far to go. Either way, it would be better to be more mobile than on foot if we are caught.”
They climbed into the car, Persephone and Abby squished to one side due to Terra’s broad, muscular build. Terra stared, befuddled, at the car’s controls. “Uh, any of you know how to run one of these things? Maybe you should drive, Abby. You are all techno-god and so forth.”
Abby closed her eyes, and the car roared to life.
“You want the wheel?” Terra asked.
For the first time since Abby had arrived, she giggled and blushed, an extremely human gesture. And one Terra hadn’t realized she attached purely to Abby. “Uh, we don’t know how to drive. Never learned. This is all you.”
After a few minutes of trying to figure out the controls, Terra finally used the car’s touchpad to throw the vehicle into reverse, spin around, and head toward the underground tunnel system. Abby occasionally gave instructions about where to go.
Finally, they reached the entrance to the tunnel system. They left the car after parking it nearby where it wouldn’t be spotted easily.
The tunnel entrance was gated off, but Terra was easily able to rip the metal links. Then she descended into the dark, using a ladder that hung ominously over the side of a concrete slab.
Terra jumped off the ladder and hit the ground, her feet making a heavy smacking sound as water splashed up onto her. “Ugh, I hope this isn’t orc-shit water.”
Abby landed beside her. “It’s too dark down here.” Her eyes suddenly shone with the intensity of a high-beam flashlight, brightening up the tunnels substantially. She whipped her head around, momentarily blinding Terra.
Terra threw her hands up to block out the light. “Oh, my good Lord, that’s so much worse than orc-shit water. You look like you’re from a horror movie.”
Persephone climbed off the ladder and yelped when she saw Abby. “Or like Judge Doom.”
Terra stared at Persephone, dumbfounded. “Was that a Roger Rabbit reference? How old are you? Forty?”
Persephone hung her head. “I really like human cartoons. They’re funny.”
Abby, who had wandered away from the other two, called over her shoulder, “We think it’s this way.”
Persephone and Terra caught up with Abby, who was pointing down a tunnel that stretched upward on a slight incline. They followed the tunnel for some time until they heard a noise up ahead.
“What do you think that could be?” Persephone asked.
Abby shrugged as she dimmed her eye-beams. “There wouldn’t be security down here. That wouldn’t make any sense.”
Terra was grinning broadly. “Oh, I call giant rats. Like, ROUS status.”
Abby’s face didn’t betray any emotion. “We don’t think this is the right time to—”
Terra shoved Abby. “Lighten up a little. Being tense all mission isn’t helping anyone, especially not you. Pick a monster.”
“We have always been partial to mutated rats. Very freakish ones.”
Terra turned to Persephone. “What about you? What’s your pick?”
“Easy. A corrazal. Those always crop up in a sewer story.”
Terra raised her eyebrow. Persephone’s answer was even enough to give Abby pause. “What is that?” Abby asked.
“Oh, it’s a drow story. When children run away and get lost in wells or sewers, they meet an old woman who pretends to be a wise witch, but the woman is actually a cannibal. She eats the children alive and leaves their bones on the parents’ doorsteps. I figured if the two of us aren’t quite adults, we would be prime candidates for a corrazal.”
Terra draped her hand around Persephone’s shoulder. “That was unnecessarily morbid, but a good contribution, nonetheless. Better than Abby’s. Hers was basically just mine.”
Abby crossed her arms as she started forward
. “We think we picked a valid answer. It was our answer.”
Terra and Persephone followed closely. “Glad to see she can still be teased,” Terra whispered.
The three turned a corner and froze in their tracks. In the shadows of the tunnel, something large was moving beneath the surface of the water. “Shit…” Abby sighed. “We forgot about water snakes.”
A viper’s head almost the size of Abby’s body snapped out of the water, mouth wide open, fangs dripping with a green venom.
Terra leapt into action, grabbing the snake by the throat and wrestling it to the ground. The two splashed about in the water while Abby tried to line up a good shot with her rifle.
The snake rose into the air, Terra hanging on for dear life. “Can you choke a snake?” Terra shouted.
Abby, who was getting frustrated with not being able to aim past Terra, shouted, “Stop moving around so much. We can’t get a shot without hitting you.”
“Sorry for trying to kill the damn thing!”
Persephone’s tentacles burst from her arm, wrapping around the snake’s lower body. She ripped it out of the water. “Let go, Terra.”
Terra did as she was told and fell into the water. Persephone raised her hand when Abby was about to fire at the snake. “It’s just a big snake,” Persephone said. “We don’t need to kill it.”
Persephone hoisted the snake over her head and retraced their steps a few feet along the tunnel. She tossed the snake down the sewer, and it slithered away, disappearing beneath the water and the shadows.
Terra sighed as they continued their journey up the tunnels. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”
The tunnels rose on an incline until they split up, one heading higher into what Abby explained would be air vents. They followed Abby’s directions as the tunnels grew tighter and harder to navigate, moving without a sound. The higher up they went, the easier it became to hear orcs walking about and talking to each other.
Finally, Abby raised her hand, and they stopped. “This should be it. Let us double-check.” She looked at her HUD, scrolling through a few menus until Anabelle’s HUD signal showed up. “She’s in there.”
Terra leaned closer, peering through the vent Abby had indicated. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s in there.” Then she punched straight through the wall. The wall shattered, sending Terra toppling over, rolling, and somehow, she made it look like she had intended every move.
Abby and Persephone followed her inside.
Anabelle was in the middle of the room, chained to a chair. She looked up when they entered. Her face was smashed to pulp, eyes swollen shut, her skin a purplish-blue hue. Small cuts and slashes covered her face.
Terra rushed over to the elf and ripped her chains off. “Oh, my God, Anabelle, what the fuck happened to you?”
Anabelle slumped out of the chair and hit the floor. She opened her eyes. “Grok…where is she…”
Terra leaned over to help her up but was pushed back by a sudden flash of Anabelle’s mana. It was strong enough to toss Terra, Persephone, and Abby, off their feet.
Anabelle had rolled over to her stomach and started clawing her way toward the door. “Grok…” she muttered under her broken breath.
Terra came back around to Anabelle and scooped her up. “We’re here for you, Anabelle. We came for you.”
Anabelle looked up at Terra, her eyes still barely able to open. She shivered as she cried, small whimpers at first until she was sobbing harshly, her whole body tight with pain as she clung to Terra as if she were a babe. “Get me…get me out. Please, get me out of here.”
Abby opened her HUD. “Reinforcements are here, and our extraction will be here in a minute. We need to make space.” She raised her hand at the wall, her nanobots converting her arms into a cannon. “This should be outside.” She released a huge plasma blast that tore through the wall, opening the room to the outside world.
Terra walked to the hole in the wall and stood beside Abby, who looked down at Anabelle. The cool callousness left Abby’s face as she recoiled in horror at Anabelle’s condition. She took the elf’s head in her hands and kissed her forehead. “Belle, it’s going to be okay. We’re getting you help.”
Anabelle was still crying, repeating over and over, “I don’t want to be here.”
Persephone pointed at a pair of incoming lights—a dropship, one from Sarah’s reinforcements, which Abby had been informed were meeting near Cire. “They’re here.”
The door to the room opened. Grok entered, her eyes bright with anger. “No! She is mine!”
The dropship opened its door and Terra leapt inside, followed by Abby and Persephone.
Grok glared at them, looking from Anabelle to Persephone, her eyes finally resting on the drow. “There’s only so much loyalty a microchip can bring, I guess.”
Anabelle stirred, moving enough to see Grok. “Wait, I need to…” she muttered before passing out.
Grok exploded with speed as she rushed at the dropship, which was pulling away. “Give Anabelle to me!”
Persephone’s tentacles slammed into Grok, plowing the orc into the wall. “None of us belongs to the Dark One!” Her tentacles receded in time to close the dropship’s door.
Grok lay under the rubble. She flexed, sending the debris flying before surging to her feet. “Not the Dark One’s. Mine,” the orc growled.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The dropship landed at the orc great hall in which the twelve tribes had gathered. Dozens of other dropships had arrived, as well as soldiers from HQ. Many of them looked uncomfortable walking among the orcs, but the peace seemed to be holding.
Sarah met the dropship and helped get Abby off while Terra carried Anabelle in her arms.
Terra kicked open the door and shouted, “I need Cire and Nib-Nib now!”
She didn’t have to wait long. Cire and Nib-Nib were sitting at the long table, talking to the tribal leaders alongside Roy, Blackwell, and Naota.
Cire raced to Terra’s side. “Is she alive?” he asked.
Terra nodded. “I need you two to heal her like you did for me in the arena. She’s strong, but I don’t know if she’s going to pull through.”
Cire took Anabelle in his arms and walked off, shouting at a pair of orcs to follow him as Nib-Nib scuttled behind to keep up.
Abby limped along to join them, but Terra stopped her from going any farther. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Abby removed Terra’s hand slowly. “To see if we can help.”
Terra waved her finger at Abby and clicked her tongue. “No, not even close. Persephone is going to find you a room where you can rest. There’s no way Grok will just let us get away with Anabelle, and if you think you’re going to fight in the condition you’re in, you are sorely mistaken.”
Abby smiled and conceded with a nod. “All right, Mother.”
“Someone has to look out for your mad-scientist ass.”
Persephone took Abby’s arm and drew it over her shoulder. The pair went in the same direction Cire had taken Anabelle.
Terra walked over to the throne and took a seat. “Can someone get me a fucking drink?”
One of the orcs handed Terra a jug of mead. As she took a huge gulp, Sarah walked up and sat beside her. “Looks like you guys ran into some trouble on the way.”
Terra handed the jug to Sarah. “You know, it honestly could have gone a lot worse. Abby managed to free a shit-ton of orcs from the Dark One’s mind control and from that Dark Melody crap as well. Found Anabelle without a problem, even though Abby was in bad condition. Only problem is how messed up Anabelle is. I mean, she looked fucked. I’m worried about her.”
Sarah’s face betrayed very little emotion. Terra thought she looked worried. She could have just been hoping, though.
Sarah pulled out her HUD and projected a map of the surrounding areas. “I noticed the orcs. It was a surprise. I didn’t realize there were so many throughout the free tribes. Knowing Abby’s plan worked helps that make more
sense. What happened to Anabelle?”
“Grok happened to Anabelle.”
Sarah leaned forward, folding her hands and resting her chin on her knuckles. “That was what I was afraid of. Did you check her for microchips?”
“Why the fuck would I do that? Did you see how bad she looked?”
“That’s exactly why. The Dark One’s tech only has the ability to work when the host is broken physically and emotionally. It’s likely that whatever Anabelle just went through was nothing more than an integration process. Grok might have only been torturing her so Anabelle would be vulnerable enough for the chip to work.”
Terra shook her head, angry that Sarah didn’t seem to care about Anabelle. “I was a little more concerned about getting my friend out of a fucking torture chamber.”
The orcs around the table were beginning to notice the argument at the throne.
Sarah unfolded her hands slowly and meticulously as if she were a puppeteer controlling herself. “Don’t think for a second I don’t care about Anabelle, but none of that’s going to matter if she’s under the Dark One’s control. The longer a chip is in, the stronger it gets.”
Terra tried to tell herself to relax. Fighting with Sarah wouldn’t help anything, and she did have a point. Terra hit her comm and connected to Cire. “Hey, I need you to check Anabelle for microchips.”
Cire replied quickly. “Understood. And for your information, the healing ritual went well. Nib-Nib’s eggs will accelerate the process. She should be up within a day, fully healed.”
“Sounds great. Let me know if you find anything. Check up on Abby too. Make sure she’s resting and not planning her next attack.”
Terra hung up as Roy and the gang headed over to her.
Roy’s eyes were sunken, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in months. To a lesser degree, the same was true of Blackwell and Naota. Whatever they had been up to since Terra had left must have been stressful.
Roy collapsed into the chair beside Sarah, grabbed the jug, and drained it. “Okay, let me have it.”
Terra debriefed Roy, letting him know all the details and the status of the team.
