by Matthew Peed
The Raptors were circling the creature in complex patterns so that it couldn’t predict where to aim. One of them launched a missile into the creature’s chest, where it exploded, but little damage was done. Shadow leaked more profusely, meaning that it had been wounded, but it looked like it was barely bothered by it.
I studied the creature the best I could. With the distance I was working with, not to mention all the other mana being flung around in the air, my senses were coping with a great deal of interference, and some of the information was a bit garbled at times. At least it was all being funneled into my pseudo aura so that another creature of horror wasn’t created. I was starting to realize that more wasn’t always better, at least on this world. I would have to be careful about unleashing any powerful weapons without being there to absorb the aftermath.
Chapter 14
Puppet
A few hours before the horde hits Steel Spire
The spiders crept through the horde with ease. I was right in that most of the monsters were sleeping. I aimed for an area that had a dominant type of monster: a large camp of Minotaurs, nearly a thousand of them. There were quite a few random monsters scattered around the Minotaurs as well.
I set the spiders to go off after we put a decent amount of distance between the horde and us, so that if another panic happened, we wouldn’t be as close this time. We made our way from the horde as quietly as possible. I was thankful that Azra had started pulling the stumps up as we went; otherwise, it would have been like leading them right to us. Being on the game trails also helped to reduce the number of trees we had to cut down.
When we were several dozen kilometers from the horde, I had all the spiders release their payload. Once they released all the liquid, they made for the forest line to keep a sentinel on the horde. A golden, nearly invisible mist spread from the drop points. It quickly engulfed the section of the horde, but it seemed I had underestimated the power of the chemical.
After five minutes it covered nearly three kilometers before it seemed to reach its limit. The Minotaurs that had been in the epicenter of the attack were the first to suffer. If my memories served me right, it should have taken a couple of hours for the early symptoms to surface, but I must not have taken the mana into account.
A Minotaur near one of the points had reactions only after a few minutes. His roar of pain filled the air as his skin turned a deep red. Blood flowed from his eyes, snout, and mouth as he collapsed to the ground, seemingly struggling for breath. Large blisters, the size of a man’s hand, formed all over his body. His struggling caused one of the blisters to hit the ground, and it exploded in a deluge of pus and gore.
I watched in horror as the weapon I’d created tore through the horde. It didn’t even need to be breathed in. Some of the monsters tried to cover their faces, but once the mist touched them, it only took a few extra minutes to work its way into their systems.
The horde dropped into a panic as the infected monsters rushed from the contaminated area. They caused the chemical to spread even farther. I was wondering if I alone would be the cause of the destruction of the horde when the old necromancer rushed out of the tent. He looked around before he shouted something that caused all the monsters to stop in their tracks completely.
Even though the infected monsters struggled for all their worth, they still ended up dying, unable to move an inch. Kuul walked near one of them and examined it for a while. A frown formed, which grew deeper the longer he studied it. Finally, it seemed he lost his patience as he sent a wave of green flames at the corpse, burning it to a black pile of ash.
I wondered if he was upset that it wasn’t a curse or spell that he could replicate. No, sir, as Father would say “It’s science!” The old man went to a few more corpses, trying to figure out the method used. I was relieved when, after the six or seventh corpse was burned to ash, the old man had failed to figure anything out. I wondered why he didn’t bother with the large amount of death in the area, as I’d heard that was what necromancers used to cultivate mana. It could be that he was just too powerful to be bothered with the small amount that had died, even though that number was nearly a thousand strong.
I was about to disconnect my drones when I noticed something happening in the middle of the affected area. The air mana swirled into a cyclone as it pulled all the remaining gas left over into the center of the twister. The nearby bodies were also pulled in and were ripped apart. Kuul actually backed away instead of investigating the phenomenon. I couldn’t tell how great the mana fluctuations were from the drones, but the air was literally rippling with it.
The cyclone died down, and a grotesque looking creature emerged. Made out of an orangish-red cloud, its body didn’t seem to remain in one shape for long. The only place that looked . . . normal was its face, which took on a Minotaur’s shape. It had two horns, but there was no pattern to them; they just turned and twisted randomly. Appendages and tentacles emerged from its body without rhyme or reason, but its lower half was like a gas with no legs to be seen.
I moved one of my drones closer to get a better look as well as to see if I could get some sound. I watched as the old man and the creature stared each other down, and shuddered as I thought about what I had inadvertently created. The drone was only a few dozen meters away when I thought it was close enough.
“What . . . what are you?!” Kuul shouted at the creature.
“What am I?” the creature echoed back to Kuul in an unearthly voice that violated some natural boundary of the world. It looked at its own body. “I don’t know the answer . . . I was created to . . . kill, yes, kill,” the creature said, then parts of its body started to change with spikes appearing at the ends of appendages, and yellow smoke emerging from other parts. “But not for the sole reason of killing . . . no, there was a reason . . . Maybe if I kill enough . . . I will remember!”
The whole time the creature was talking, Kuul was backing away while he channeled a spell of some kind. When the creature finished his sentence, Kuul sent a ball of flaming darkness the size of a man’s head at the creature. It didn’t seem to know fear or didn’t understand that it was in danger and took the attack full in the . . . chest-like area of its body.
The creature roared in pain that reached us all the way back at the convoy. I grabbed my head in my own pain but did my best to hold the connection with the drone. For something to be able to cause me pain, it definitely wasn’t ordinary. I saw several of the suffering creatures explode into pus and gore, which flew toward the creature. The wounds closed in a blink of an eye.
Kuul had blood running down his face from all his orifices, and his face was screwed up in concentration as he managed to finish another spell. “In the name of the Celestial Cassin the Dark. Undead creature, submit yourself to me!” Green chains with red runes on them burst from the ground all around the creature. They wrapped themselves around him while he looked at them with curiosity.
“Undead . . . yes, no. I am very much alive!” the creature shouted, then its form flexed. Cracks appeared in the chains before they shattered. It moved and one of its appendages shot like a whip toward Kuul. It collided with his barrier but still managed to make a crack in it. From the shocked look on Kuul’s face, I assumed it must have packed quite a punch.
“I can’t let this venture be a waste. She’ll kill me for sure this time!” Kuul said, then raised his arm.
A moment later a blast of green energy exploded in the sky. My drones all picked up movement at once as they saw the entire horde start to move in our direction. They weren’t just walking either; they started running full tilt.
I turned toward Azra. “Bury us! At least twenty meters down, now!”
She did as I instructed without hesitation, and I felt the vehicle tilt forward as we accelerated briefly. We came to a stop after a quick drop. She channeled some more mana, and the cave that led to us was filled in. Azra and Cadum were the only ones who needed to breathe, so we would be fine for a few hours, and I could alway
s create some fresh air.
I turned my attention back to the encounter at the horde camp. Kuul had been joined by the other necromancer, as well as a few more. They must have been on patrol or attending to other business. They launched a barrage of unholy spells, and bone spears, balls of green flames, black ethereal chains, and a mixture of others flew toward the creature.
The creature looked at the attacks flying toward it before a green barrier much like the ones the necromancers used appeared around it. As the attacks impacted the barrier, cracks formed. But, as if it were learning, the barrier seemed to grow more robust as the barrage continued. A few moments later, the necromancers were breathing deeply from mana consumption as the barrage ended.
They started to inch backward as they realized that nothing was working on it. One of the necromancers channeled another spell, then a regular ball of fire emerged from his hand. It shot toward the creature, and it actually hit. The attack was pitiful, though, and it quickly died after burning the creature for only a moment.
“Pain . . . feeling . . .” it said before several of its tentacles shot toward the necromancers.
I barely had time to blink before the necromancers were impaled by the attack. My drone shook a moment later as something buffeted it. A few died instantly, but some remained alive.
“Death . . . more, I need more, I still don’t remember my purpose.”
The ones who were still alive had the tentacles twist around and impale them through the head. I gaped at the power of this . . . thing I had wrought on the world.
Kuul and the other young man had been able to avoid the attack. They glanced at each other before they faded into smoke. The creature stared at where they were for a long moment before it turned to my drone and looked directly at it. I wasn’t sure if it was because the drone wasn’t technically alive, but it decided to ignore it. It turned toward where the horde had charged, then started to glide over the air after them.
I set the drones to follow it and disconnected from them, then turned toward the others. “My gift for the monster horde has spiraled completely out of control. I need the crystal, to speak with Father, NOW!” I said urgently.
Azra dug in her pack as she said, “The horde has passed, so we should be able to use it safely. Besides, I don’t think they were in any condition to sense us.”
I took the crystal from her and channeled some mana into it. I was really testing my limits today. It took a few moments, but I saw Father appear in the orb and start to speak.
“Puppet, have you found the horde? What are we looking at?”
“The horde is heading for the forest tower as we speak, and judging by the speed they were moving, they should be there in a couple of hours or so.”
“That soon . . . alright, I’ll have it handled. Make your way back if you can. I might need a strike force on the rear line.”
“Father! I . . . I may have created a bigger problem,” I said. I felt ashamed about what I had created. “I created a substance called ‘mustard gas.’ I’m not sure what happened, but a creature of immense power was formed after I used it in the camp,” I explained, then showed the clip of the happenings to Father.
“I see. That is indeed a problem. However, Puppet, while you were the cause, that does not make it your fault. If I make a sword, am I responsible for it being the cause of death a thousand kilometers away?” I shook my head in answer. “Exactly. Magic in this world is very much alive. If the fates wanted that creature created, it would have happened eventually.”
“I . . . understand, Father.”
“Good. Now get your asses back here!” The image in the crystal faded as the link was cut.
We made quick time following the destruction the horde left behind. Even going full speed, though, we still failed to catch up with them. Even more surprising was that we didn’t catch up with the creature either. I wanted to fix the problem I had created one way or another. I connected with my drones, then looked ahead of us and was able to see the dust and debris cloud that such a large body of creatures created when they moved en masse like that. It was several hours ahead of us still.
I concentrated on the mana fluctuations that the creature created and saw him just behind the horde. From the drone senses, he looked like a wave of shadow that was eating away at the back of the horde. I shook my head, as I feared we wouldn’t even be able to catch up before they reached Father. I focused, then looked inside my storage ring, then quickly worked to take the drones apart and rebuild them using the parts to create an aircraft that could carry the party. We would have to leave the regular automata behind, but I felt they would be outmatched with the equipment they were packing.
“Stop the convoy,” I ordered. Once we came to a stop, I jumped out and pulled the new aircraft from my inventory. I created a chassis for us to sit and took all the repulsors so that it would be able to fly with the added weight. I believe Father would call it a “helicopter” except only without the blades that created the uplift.
I turned to one of the drivers. “I need you to come with us. It needs a dedicated pilot.”
“Understood, my lord.”
He jumped into the pilot seat and took a moment to familiarize himself with the controls. While he was doing that, I went around the vehicles and took the guns from them. I told the rest of the automata to wait there and I’d send someone to get them once we handled the crisis. I quickly mounted the weapons on the vehicle, then hopped aboard. Natsuo had his hand inside the dashboard, but I left it alone, as anything he was doing would only help.
The pilot flew us up, then angled toward the horde. In the air, we were able to make much better time and quickly started to gain on the rear of the horde. It was getting into night at this point, so visibility was lower; but everyone in the heli was basically able to see at night, so it was of little concern.
“We’re getting close to the creature, so get ready for the fight of your lives,” I said to the party.
A flash of light in the far distance pulled my attention for a moment, but I had to disregard it as a tendril of shadow nearly slammed into the heli. The pilot was able to avoid it, but more soon followed. It looked like the creature had seen us.
“Move over!” Natsuko shouted at me over the wind.
I moved over and noticed as I did so that her weapon had changed. It was a large tube now, with spikes that were sparking toward the back.
She leaned out over the edge, and as she aimed the cannon toward the ground, she yelled, “Eat this!” A beam of energy blasted from the cannon. The particle beam lit up the night as it burned through trees and the ground alike. The creature took the beam full on as the necromancer-like barrier he used was sliced through as if it wasn’t there.
The . . . otherworldly voice roared in anger as it reverberated in my mind. Natsuko’s gun changed back into her normal rifle form, and she slumped back. Four spots on her back opened as steam blasted from her body. Natsuo leaned in, then placed a hand on her, channeling mana into cooling her down.
“Well . . . at least I hit it,” Natsuko said weakly.
“That’s a good start,” I said with a small smile.
“Incoming!” the pilot shouted just as a wave of shadow slammed into the bottom of the heli. We jerked around as the pilot fought for control, holding on as best we could, but Azra was thrown from the aircraft. I wasn’t even able to see where she landed, much less if she was alright.
“Get us out of the sky!” I shouted to the pilot.
He nodded, and the heli tipped straight down. I wanted to yell that I didn’t mean it quite like that, but just before the heli hit the ground, it tipped back up and the repulsors flared, bringing us to a stop a few centimeters from the ground.
“Bottom floor,” the pilot said smugly.
“If we survive this, I’m going to kill you,” I growled at him.
We got out of the heli, and he pulled away from the ground before I could say anything. The machine guns started to revolve as he was leaving
the tree line. I just hoped he would survive.
“Alright, I had hoped that we could test the waters a little more from the air, but we’ll just have to go like this. Azra is down somewhere, so we need to hurry up and finish this so we can find her,” I said to the party. “It’s made from four mana sources: air, unholy, death, and life. That means it’s going to be a bitch to kill. We need to make sure it stays away from the horde so it can’t recover.”
“Containment. We, unable. Father, able,” Natsuo said with what I think was the longest sentence I had ever heard from him.
“We need to contain it so that Father can deal with it,” I reiterated for everyone.
“I . . . I think my ice can do the job. Unlike with the mutt”—we’d had to leave him back with the automata—“this thing can’t counteract the element entirely.”
“Let’s go with that. I’ll back you up.”
We followed the sound of gunfire, then quickly left the living trees behind. The pilot was evading the tendrils of shadows like it was child’s play, but if we had been in there, it would have sent us flying. I noticed that the metal seemed to have changed color, but I had no way of confirming that. Bullets slammed into the creature, doing little damage but still managing to hold it in place so it could not pursue the horde.
Natsuko changed her rifle into another form. This one still looked like a rifle, but it had several of the spikes the cannon had inserted around the body of the weapon. She and Natsuo made their way over to a boulder, where Natsuo set up what looked like a barrier.
I looked over to Z2. “Ready for this?”
“I was created for battle,” she said quietly.
