As he sat there, watching the titan stride back toward his people, he heard another of the thumps from before. When Xar’ Dakra’s torso jerked backward and a hole appeared in his back, Allistor wanted to cheer.
“The Howitzers!” he gasped, unable to get enough air to shout. He didn’t hear a word he said, and was sure Helen didn’t either. After casting another heal on them both, his hearing improved a good bit. He heard gunfire, the sound of plasma weapons, and the sweet, sweet sound of a Howitzer round firing.
He pulled himself up again, he legs a little steadier this time. Though his health bar was back to full, he still felt damaged inside, concussed and weak. He checked Helen’s injuries, finding that her ribs had retreated and her flesh showed a fresh scar. Patting her cheek a few times, he said, “Come on, lady. On your feet. That thing’s not dead yet.”
*****
Andrea was atop the tower with Dean, observing the fight through a rifle scope just as he was. Her guys, except for Bjurstrom, who was off in some rat dungeon with the lowbies, were spread out along the wall to help coordinate fire. Her heart leapt into her throat as the giant delivered a vicious kick to Allistor’s Humvee and sent it flying. It landed on its roof fifty feet away, crushing Nathan before log-rolling several times.
She was sure that all three of her friends were dead. Nothing could have survived that. And the monster was moving forward to finish the job. She began to sob, even as she heard Dean cursing up a storm next to her.
“That son of a bitch killed them! Did you see? I’m gonna cut its god-damned nuts off and hang ‘em from this tower! I’m gonna shit in its eye socket! I’m… Oh, shit! He just rolled out his door! Allistor’s alive!” He keyed his radio, screaming into it. “Allistor’s still alive! Shoot that thing! Get its attention! Right fickin’ now!”
Sam shouted back through his own radio. “Already on it!” and both Howitzers boomed within about a second of each other. One round struck the ground very close to the monster’s feet, causing it to stop and look down. The second round blasted into its hip, staggering it.
Dean fired with his .50 cal sniper rifle, the monster still well within his range. Andrea heard a few sporadic rifle shots from below, as well. She held her breath as the thing turned away from Allistor and started back toward the Citadel’s walls. It was clearly limping, and moving more slowly than when it had been chasing the Humvee.
Andrea wept even as she raised her own rifle and took aim. A deep breath to calm herself, and she squeezed the trigger. She thought her round bounced off one of the thing’s teeth as it opened its mouth to roar. Sliding the bolt back and chambering another round, she fired again.
Down on the ground, George and Sam were shouting at their gun crews as they reloaded and adjusted the Howitzers. They were a little rusty, not having practiced in several months. Sam vowed that would never happen again. If they’d been two seconds slower just a minute ago, that big monster would have stomped Allistor flat.
“Move your asses! You see that mountain moving our way? He’s coming to eat you!” he roared at his guys, even as they shoved the new round in and secured it. When his guy on the sights gave him a thumbs up, Sam fired. George’s crew were only about five seconds behind.
Not having a way to get the massive guns up on the wall, they’d settled for opening the gates and backing the weapons up so that they were aimed toward the airport. The radio in his ear gave him a play-by-play of Allistor and company dodging and teasing the giant while he and his guys prepped their gun. He was just preparing to fire when Dean screamed at them through the radio.
He loved Allistor like the boy was his own son. He’d felt a dagger in his soul when the radio screamed that the boy had been killed, his gaze instantly finding the still-rolling Humvee. Blind rage had him promising a painful death for Xar’ Dakra and all his kind. When he heard there was a chance to save Allistor, he’d have sprinted down and thrown the round at that monster if he had to.
Which is what he thought the air force guys were doing as they ran past him out the gate. “Hey! Where you going?”
McCoy held up a claymore in each hand. “Gonna leave a few surprises for the big fella!” Sam saw the other six airmen each held two of the anti-personnel charges.
“You know those won’t kill it!” Sam shouted at the man, who was already turning to catch his friends.
“Nope! But it might hold still for a second, so you can shoot it!” McCoy grinned back at him, leaping down over the edge of one of the switchbacks and disappearing.
Sam chuckled even as his guys called out that his gun was ready to fire. He looked to his gunner, who was adjusting to sight on the monster. The moment he saw the thumb go up, Sam fired.
This time his round blasted into the thing’s side, where a human kidney would normally be. Sam saw a spray of black blood behind the monster as the round exited its back. A quick glance over at the Humvee showed Allistor getting to his feet and reaching into the driver’s seat. He hoped that meant Helen still lived as well.
*****
Allistor was about to lift Helen out of the driver’s seat when he changed his mind. Reaching for the gear shift, he put the Humvee in neutral and took hold of the ignition key, he turned it to the off position, then cranked it. After some sputtering, the engine came to life. It didn’t sound good, but it was running. A quick glance told him the vehicle had at least one flat tire, and possibly a bent or broken axle. It didn’t matter – they were never going to get back into the fight walking.
As gently as he could, he lifted Helen and moved her over to the passenger’s seat. Then he climbed in and put the truck in gear. It lurched forward, two flat tires thumping as something metal under the hood squealed. The ride was rough, but not as bad as it would be if he had to carry Helen and try to catch up with the monster.
The Humvee thumped and bumped and squealed its way down the runway, at its best speed of maybe twenty miles per hour. He couldn’t tell exactly because the speedometer was shattered. He kept his focus on the Xar’ Dakra as they inched closer to his back.
Xar’ Dakra
Void Titan Elite
Level 30
Health: 90,750/187,000
The elite monster was below half health. Allistor had to assume it was because of the hits it took from the big guns. He could see the two batteries sitting side by side in the middle of the open gate. Even as he approached the titan from behind, one of the guns fired again. The round clipped the titan’s leg, the glancing blow still enough to shatter bone. Allistor gasped as the round ploughed up the dirt not thirty feet to his left.
Xar’ Dakra roared, “Eaaat yourrr soulsss!” and pointed toward the gate, identifying the source of his pain.
The second gun fired, and this time the round impacted someplace more solid. Based on the titan’s step backward, Allistor thought maybe it was the chest. No round came out the back like before, and he was sure he heard the giant wheeze after the impact.
While it was distracted, he drove up as close behind it as he could. His plasma rifle was on the floor someplace, but Allistor was now within range to use magic. He cast Mind Spike at the titan, but it appeared to fail completely. There was no reaction at all as it recovered its balance and started forward again.
Following behind, Allistor focused on his Erupt spell. Rather than cast it outright, he tried to imitate what he did with Flame Shot, building up the spell with more and more power before launching it. It seemed to be working, and he increased the juice he put into it for a full ten seconds before focusing on the ground where the thing was about to step.
He released Erupt with all the spirit and focus he could muster behind his intent. A stone spike the size of a Christmas tree burst from the ground just in time for Xar’ Dakra to put his full weight down upon it. As big as it was, it barely penetrated all the way through the foot, with just the very tip protruding from the top and making black blood well out around it.
Xar’ Dakra screamed, the sound threatening to shatter the wal
l ahead of him even as people along the top of it covered their ears and wailed at the pain. The titan gingerly stepped forward with its unimpaled foot, then tried to lift the one with the spike in it. The spike held just long enough to throw him off balance. He fell forward, both hands and one knee hitting the ground.
While it was down, Allistor used the last of his mana to hit its eyes with a built-up Flame Shot, only to be disappointed when the flames struck, but appeared to do it no harm. In fact, Xar’ Dakra managed to get back to his feet, snap the stone spike, and continue toward the Citadel, still not noticing Allistor in the Humvee. It wheezed again as its torso expanded, and a light of hope bloomed inside Allistor.
Not having taken time to grab a radio, he had no way to communicate with his people up on the wall. Which made him feel foolish. He stopped the truck for a moment and located his plasma rifle. The brand-new weapon was scratched and slightly dented from the Humvee’s roll, but, as far as he could tell, it was still functional. It was the only thing left in his arsenal, other than his sniper rifle, that could hurt the thing. He was ready to sacrifice himself to slow the thing down long enough for Sam and George to get in a few more shots.
Xar’ Dakra had left the airport behind and was now limping toward the first switchback leading up to the gate. Being eighty feet tall, he didn’t need to follow the road. He simply stepped upward with his good leg, pulling himself up one level like it was a set of stairs.
The moment he did, both guns fired. The dual impacts knocked the titan off balance, and it was forced to step back down, arms waving for balance, to keep from falling. When it stepped back with its weakened leg, the remaining bones snapped and the leg gave way. Xar’ Dakra tumbled backward, landing with a tremendous thud and raising a dust cloud with the impact.
Seeing his chance, Allistor pushed the Humvee as fast as it would go. Which was still painfully slow as he drove past the prone monster, steering with one hand and firing his plasma rifle with the other. He got up the first ramp and was working his way up the second when Xar’ Dakra began to move. The monster sat up, bending forward at the waist and trying to grab the Humvee moving above. Allistor leaned forward against the steering wheel, trying to use body english to make it move faster. He was saved by a hail of plasma rounds falling onto the thing’s head from atop the wall.
Making the next turn, he had to slam on the brakes as McCoy and three other men jumped in front of the Humvee with the arms raised. “Stop! We just set up some mines!”
They rushed to the Humvee, McCoy helped Allistor out and began to lead him up the slope along one side as the others grabbed Helen and lifted her. A quick glance told them there was nothing they could do for Nathan, and they worked together to carry Helen up the slope. Both teams avoided the traps they’d just set, moving as quickly as they could. People on the wall shouted encouragement as, behind them, Xar’ Dakra was pushing himself up and beginning to crawl after them.
“Noooooo! Dieee!” he wheezed as he clawed great gouges in the earth, collapsing the bank of the slope below them. When the abandoned Humvee rolled down the bank toward him, he snatched it up and hurled it toward the wall. The shouting turned to screams as the armored vehicle struck the top of the wall, crushing several people before exploding, flaming gas billowing out to burn many more, both atop the wall and down below.
Another Howitzer round struck him in the shoulder, pushing him back and snapping bone. More plasma rounds rained down on him. The repulsive smell of burning titan blood wafted up the hill, making everyone nauseous, even as they fled for their lives.
One of McCoy’s airmen, whose name Allistor couldn’t remember, popped up as they cleared the next level, reaching the last upward ramp before the gate. He had an RPG launcher on his shoulder, and winked at Allistor as they limped past. As soon as everyone had cleared his line of fire, he pushed the trigger.
The rocket shot forward at nearly point-blank range, flying directly into the open mouth of the crawling titan. Striking the back of its throat and detonating, it blew massive chunks of tissue and teeth outward. The airman who’d fired the shot was peppered with nasty ichor and bone shrapnel. He fell backward with a cry of pain.
McCoy abandoned Allistor, pushing him upward toward the gate before he turned and ran down to retrieve his comrade. Allistor quickly checked his mana, seeing that enough had regenerated for him to help. He cast Levitate on the injured man, and McCoy was able to easily drag him back up the slope. Allistor turned and tried to keep up with the others, still a little unsteady from getting his head bashed around. McCoy caught up to him and helped both men into the gate.
A moment later, several explosions went off as Xar’ Dakra reached the claymores. There were muted cheers from the wall as the entire place rocked with the combined explosions. Allistor could see Sam and his guys rushing to reload the big guns, even as he heard more plasma rounds being fired above.
Exhausted, wounded, and out of mana, Allistor put his back to the inside of the wall to one side of the gates and slid to the ground. His people had already set Helen down there, along with a few dozen of his people wounded by the Humvee, and both Amanda and Nancy were tending to them as Dawn stood guard, watching the open gate like a hawk. With a groan, Allistor produced and gulped down a mana potion. He cast heals on each of his people, one after another down the line until he ran out of mana again.
Sam’s crew was first to be ready, but they waited for George’s crew. When both were set to fire, Sam called out, “Hooooold… wait for it to look right at us… FIRE!”
The guns both rocked backward as the kinetic rounds raced out of their barrels. Allistor couldn’t see where they hit, but a moment later he and everyone else in the Citadel leveled up. There were cheers from up on the wall, down by the gate, and especially up on the tower where Allistor heard Dean yelling, “Yeeeeehaw!” and saw him waving his hat.
Allistor’s interface was flooded with messages, but he didn’t care. He simply closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
Chapter 17
Aftermath
When Allistor opened his eyes, he found Chloe standing in front of him. Her head was tilted to one side, her arms crossed. Fuzzy sat next to her, looking from Allistor to the little girl and back again. He had his Fibble doll in his mouth, and it was covered in crumbs that Allistor suspected used to be cookies.
“Hi there, Chloe. When did you get here?”
“Just a little while ago. Mom had Nigel ask us to bring a bunch of herbs for her to make potions. You’ve been asleep for a while. And you look like shit.”
Fuzzy’s eyes widened as he looked at the girl, who covered her mouth and giggled, looking over both shoulders to see if her mother was nearby.
Allistor snorted. “Thanks. That’s about how I feel, too. I don’t know if they told you, but that big void titan punted us like a football.”
Chloe’s face grew sad. “Yeah, they told us. It killed Nathan. And a bunch of others. This was a bad one, huh?”
Allistor nodded, motioning for her to come closer. He gathered her into his lap and hugged her. She made a face at the smell, but relented. “Yeah, this was a bad one. But we’re still here. And even though we lost some good people, we’ll remember them and what they did to help the rest of us stay alive.”
Chloe just nodded. Looking around, Allistor counted eleven covered bodies laid out farther down the wall. He assumed there were at least a few more that weren’t recoverable. After a deep, calming breath, he looked back at Chloe.
“So, you should be proud of me!” He poked at her belly, causing her to squirm.
“For what?”
“I didn’t let that thing bite me! Not even once!”
She rolled her eyes at him. “But you let it kick your ass. Like, actually kick you. Hard.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything about not letting monsters kick me. Only bite me. You mean now I have to keep them from kicking me, too?”
She leapt up out of his lap and turned to face him, hands on her hi
ps. “Yes! Kicking, biting, scratching, shooting, umm… stomping!” She paused to sniff at him. “And pooping! No more letting them poop on you!”
Without another word, she turned and stomped away. Fuzzy watched her go for a moment, gave Allistor a sniff from a safe distance, then shook his head and followed the little girl.
“Traitor!” Allistor called out before sniffing himself. “On the other hand, I don’t blame you.” He leaned forward and pulled off his shirt, which had absorbed the majority of the titan blood that had splattered him.
Leaning back again, he pulled up his notifications. He’d received a huge amount of experience and Fame Points. There was experience for killing the titan, experience for defending the Citadel, even more experience in the form of a bonus for defeating an elite monster twice his level. All of it combined had raised him up to level twenty! He felt elated for a moment, until he looked over at the bodies nearby and remembered the price.
As he looked around, he saw that thousands of his people had responded to his call. Some only just arriving as the fight ended, as there were limits to how many could teleport at one time. But based on the vacant stares he saw, even those who arrived before Xar’ Dakra died, but hadn’t made it up onto the wall to fire a shot, still leveled up. He’d ask Nigel about it later.
Getting to his feet, he walked over to where Sam and the others were cleaning up spent shells and preparing to retire the big guns. Allistor called out, “Great job guys! You saved us all, no question. And especially me! If you hadn’t fired when you did, I’d be a pancake right now. So thank you.”
He held out a hand to Sam, who sniffed conspicuously in his direction, made a face, and declined. “You’re welcome, boy. I’ll shake your hand after you’ve had a shower. No offense, but you reek.” The others all chuckled, giving him thumbs up or salutes from a few steps back.
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