As I was about to fill in another gap in the hole an unusually large revenant came rushing at me. This fella was big and missing an arm, giving him a lopsided gait. He hit the ground with his free hand, creating night around him, and somehow managed to keep moving. I hadn't been attributing much intelligence to these things. Being undead, I just assumed their brains would be a mushy congealed lump of matter, but this one emerged from its circle of darkness and immediately created another in front of him, keeping himself low almost animal-like, fast even with the lack of a limb.
It screamed, an incoherent challenge, loose eyes rolling in uncontrollable hunger, as it came through the darkness. I grimaced as it bit down on its own tongue, severing it between broken black teeth. Not missing a step, though, and nearing my position it hit the ground, hiding again.
Fucking hell.
Keeping my one hand on the house-protective circle, I multitasked, etching out a half circle and joining it to my house circle. As I finished the movement the revenant burst through air, headfirst directly at the newly created circle and me. Hitting it at a dangerous speed its head splattered, followed by its already decaying body. I watched inside the circle as my whole world turned to a sea of red and black, bones audibly snapping. I cringed against the far wall, gagging, and this time was not able to control myself. I vomited loudly on the grass.
I’d seen my fair share of gore in my career, but I had never been exposed to this level so close before. Vomiting again, my eyes watered from the acrid stench. Heaven have mercy, at least I couldn't smell the rotting revenant.
Ghob must have seen my predicament as I dropped my circle, leaving a neat half circle mound of putrid flesh surrounding me, but he did not judge me on my weak stomach. He gestured and the ground swallowed the pulverized creature, as well as the vomit.
Nodding my thanks, I leant against the wall behind me, weakly wiping my mouth and making some effort to look like I hadn't just lost my guts.
I closed my eyes briefly, took a breath and said to Ghob, ‘Watch my back for a moment, please, if you don't mind.’
‘Of course, Warder, always.’
Re-linking with my protection circle, I gritted my teeth as I applied my will to it. I was tired but bearing it. I envisioned the wall whole and healthy and felt it respond. I turned my head to watch and was delighted when, like a zipper, it healed from the top down in one smooth movement. Any revenants left hanging or pushing through were butchered, leaving Erdgeist and Agrona dealing with remnants on our side in one fell swoop, smashing in heads, cutting off legs, anything to end their progression.
Grinning at Ghob, I suddenly saw him whip his head to the side, surprise lighting up his typically grim stony features. I turned and my mouth dropped too, I gazed up, amazed at the head high torrent of broiling water that roared past us.
When I first moved here and I was exploring my new home and land I was delighted to discover a clear mountain stream flowing past adjacent to the side of my property. It was deep and slow moving, allowing me to watch the clear water trout and bass flicking through the undulating weed. I was also lucky enough once to spot a curious mink that had scampered into view one quiet day. I was thrilled to say the least.
Now I was seeing what must have been that same water flow past, slamming into the remaining revenants on the other side of my wall, lifting them up. I watched in awe as disembodied watery arms formed from all directions, ripping apart the dead with savage abandon.
Faces briefly emerged and disappeared and high-pitched tinkling laughter could be heard briefly as they appeared. The water flowed along the length of the front of the circle, darkening, as it was stained pink and red from the undead body parts. Curving around it left nothing in its wake but a swathe of dripping destruction. Entering my circle it veered towards Ghob and me. Erdgeist and Agrona both popped underground, appearing alongside us, Erdgeist frowning at Ghob like he'd done something wrong. Ghob looked at him shrugging his stony shoulders. It seemed he wasn’t expecting company so to speak.
The water rearranged itself into a towering, swirling column, while bearing down upon us two large muscled arms formed, attached to a sinewy torso and the head of a truly mesmerizing being. His skin was translucent, with hints of a vivid emerald green tinged royal blue. I gaped in astonishment as a fish swam through his mid section and back down into the depths of his watery column. Looking further up his body it was lean and very defined, strength rippling through him. Arms crossed, he had braces of beaten pearl attached to his wrists. I finally reached his face. I smiled instantly as mirth and joy leapt out from his eyes. He had aquiline features with a light delicate touch, almost feminine, but nothing could call those deep royal blue eyes anything but masculine and alive; he radiated a strong presence.
Bowing low, the water leaning and forming to accommodate the impossible move, he smiled, teeth translucent as crystal.
‘Elemental King, Lord Ghob, it has been a millennia.’
Ghob reacted by increasing his size by a foot. He bowed his head marginally, his skin rippling with a miasma of various Earth hues and materials.
‘King Nichsa, Elemental Ruler of Water, your arrival is unexpected, no.’
Turning to me, Nichsa moved forward and stepped completely out of his watery column, forming long sinuous strong legs, leading up to a short wet kilt. Kneeling before me, he bowed his head, touching the ground.
Ghob gasped silently in shock.
‘It is a pleasure to meet you, Warder, champion of our Earth, how may I assist you?’
I was gob smacked. I half consciously started scratching at my right palm; it tingled within the presence of the king.
CHAPTER 31
Returning his bow, I made it low and purposeful. New emotions bombarded my mind. The Elemental King of Water’s mind reached out to me, tendrils of emotion skittering along the outskirts of my consciousness. I could feel his power. He was a creature of emotion and sharp intellect, unfettered by earthly concerns, fluid and free. As this fluttered across my mind, I felt a vast depth to him as well. He controlled the streams and lakes but also the deepest darkest parts of the world’s oceans, a creature of untold power and mystery.
*We can communicate through thought alone if you so wish, Warder, his mind lightly imparting his message.
Startled, I looked at him with his piercing cerulean eyes. He had a slight grin on his face.
*That is very generous of you King Nichsa,’ but words will suffice for the moment*, I thought back hoping it worked.
‘As you wish, Warder.’
Realizing our silent exchange and I think a little peeved for not being a part of it, Ghob harrumphed loudly, pretending to clear his throat.
I grinned, finding Ghob’s uneasiness a little amusing. Come on, he was so serious most of the time, kind hearted I’ve discovered, but dead boring serious.
Focusing back onto the situation, not wondering about Ghob’s intentions again, I nodded to Nichsa.
‘Your assistance would be welcome. Thank you for dealing with the remaining undead.’
‘You are welcome, Warder,’ Nichsa said. Nodding to Ghob, he asked, ‘If you’d be so kind as to dispose of the hmm … parts left over, Lord Ghob,’ gesturing to the undead body parts strewn around us.
‘Yes, of course,’ Ghob grated, the epitome of cordiality.
Damn, I think those two have beef, I thought, eyeing them both off suspiciously.
Before I could ask if everything was alright, shit hit the fan.
We were facing a full-on frontal assault.
Ghob and our new ally, Nichsa, both whipped around to where I had just healed my circle of protection. It was now was being slammed by half a tree trunk, wielded in a clenched claw by the largest wight I had seen to date. This one towered about halfway up my circle, right where it started to curve down from the epicenter. Horrified, I watched as it hefted the tree again using both claws, it gripped it tight using its incredible strength to hit the same spot again.
My circle ech
oed the assault in my mind and I automatically strengthened it. As long as I kept that up he wouldn’t be getting in, fingers crossed.
‘Warder, this is your battle and your property, what would you will of us?’ questioned Ghob softly.
I heard a gurgle of what sounded like surprise come from Nichsa. Raising an eyebrow at him, I answered Ghob.
‘If you would like to take care of any revenants with King Nichsa, I will take care of the wight. I believe it needs a lesson in “the bigger they come the harder they fall”.’
‘By your command, Warder.’
Upon saying this, a mob of revenants rushed forward from the depths of the forest they created a massive wall with multiple globes of darkness, popping into existence below and around the wight. It pushed against my circle like a dark, cancerous growth. The darkness, though, surprisingly could not penetrate it.
Out of that impenetrable night, heavy undead hands started clawing and scratching at my protection. Holy shit there were a lot — leprous hands beat down and even a few were attempting to bite at the wall, though not able to get any purchase with their teeth or mouths. They looked almost comical. Laughing out loud I watched one clamp his mouth on the concave surface to suck at it.
He had some issues.
Behind them a few large undead bears and several mangy cats lumbered and slid into view, and then to my astonishment a full pack of wolves, large grey silver timber wolves, rushed in howling with a nasty gurgling, snapping at anything they could reach, matted fur caked in rotted blood. One howled into the sky, its call wet and sloppy, a macabre imitation of what it would normally sound like.
‘Hum, okay then, the revenants and all the rest, Ghob,’ I countered. He nodded in acquiescence.
‘Agrona, take care of the revenants with Erdgeist,’ he ordered.
‘I will be with you shortly. King Nichsa, would you mind assisting them?’
Indicating his compliance with an unnatural curve of his neck, Nichsa melted down forming into a very large puddle. The water flowed along the ground, unobtrusive, but I had a suspicious feeling quite deadly; he moved in the direction of the undead.
‘Warder, please trust me, I won’t be too long. I have sensed more to this attack then meets the eye,’ Ghob said.
‘Sure, Ghob, do what you must.’
He sunk and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
I watched as several smaller but no less dangerous wights clambered into view, pieces of tree and large boulders clasped for use.
My poor wall was going to cop a beating, that’s for sure.
Rising up from the earth behind one said wight, Agrona appeared. She leapt onto the wight, grabbing its head and with one movement her sheer strength, born of Earth, tore it off. Kicking off its back, she somersaulted and pegged the head at a midnight black timber wolf, caving in its skull and tearing it off with the sheer power of the throw.
I had a feeling she’d be alright. Her fighting prowess level was just freaking unreal. A small army in itself … Rock on, yak.
Just as she sunk below ground, Erdgeist rose up directly in the middle of the large mob of wolves, head down, swords hanging loose by his side, seemingly not aware of what he stood amongst.
Startling the pack, they stumbled and fell against each other snapping at the closest wolves, ripping off chunks of decayed flesh. Realizing they had something else to attack right in their midst, as one they turned and attacked. There was a flurry of furry bodies, rotting flesh and cracked teeth covering Erdgeist.
I yelled, panicked that he was overcome and froze not sure what to do. But Erdgeist’s swords flickered out at mid height, sheering into the sea of flesh and with one blurred movement they turned a full circle, Erdgeist pivoting and Mahogany Death and his silvery sword cutting a massive gory swathe through the putrefied bodies.
Wolves screamed and clambered in a frenzy to inflict some sort of damage on the elemental. He pivoted again, turning on the balls of his feet. His swords snickered silently through them, skulls and bones not impeding their flow in the least.
In two moves he was surrounded by a mound of matted fur and gore, bodies twitching, heads snapping, not dead but grossly incapacitated. One head, which had part of its shoulder and a leg still remaining, scrabbled ineffectively to reach the gnome. Erdgeist waded though the steaming pile, crushing the head with a pop in his passing. He didn’t break stride. Covered in bloody thick streaks of diseased blood, he painted a scary picture.
Flicking his blades, he re-sheathed them into his sides, well, looks like he found a spot for the silver blade then.
I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding, shaking my head in wonder.
I eyed off the wight on steroids. Time to earn my keep.
I weighed up several scenarios or courses of action. The mega wight let out a bellow that reverberated loudly through the glade before launching his tree in a tremendous overhead swing that I felt in my bones as it connected close to the apex of my sphere.
I needed to do something as soon as possible.
The area around the wight was clearing. Agrona and Erdgeist had coordinated, creating a distraction and had the hoard massing further along, away from the wight, clearing me a path and leaving me some breathing space.
Closing my eyes I breathed, centered myself and dropped beneath the surface of the ground, aiming for the area directly behind the wight. I slid back up, shocked at the noise and smell the revenants and rotting animals were creating, all worked up into a ravenous frenzy. I could hear Agrona throwing out taunts, which enraged them even further, particularly the leftover smaller wights.
Looking up at the massive muscular back of the huge wight, I paled. It was seriously built. Wondering what steroids the bastard had been injecting, I noticed large, loose, rotting sections peeling off haphazardly.
Focusing I raised my arms, sensing all the rocks in the area. I made them mine and as one they all rose up midair, turning under the power of my elemental magic. I felt the Focus activate, pulsing into life, creating a corona of ochre-hued light around my upraised wrist. Touching on it with my mind gently, I gasped. I could move a mountain with what it contained. I didn’t think I needed that much power now; damn I wasn’t sure if I could handle it anyway. I just wasn’t experienced enough.
So letting just a tiny trickle in I was delighted to find that holding a mass of rocks midair became practically effortless.
With a nudge from my mind, I set the rocks spinning, another nudge and they were all a blur, a low humming emitting from them. Lifting them higher, I brought my hands together with a crack shooting the barrage of rock directly at the wight’s back and legs.
Zooming off they hit it with tremendous meaty thumps. I held my breath as over half the stones entered the rotting flesh of the creature’s back just as it had the tree in half swing. The wight paused, standing there in total shock. The tree trunk fell and it dropped to one knee with a crash. It fell face-first against the circle’s side, one serrated clawed hand ineffectively scraping down its surface.
Holy crap on a stick, bitch goes down! I hooted, fist pumping the air.
It suddenly raised its head roaring in pain, spittle flying everywhere. I grimaced prancing back, spying half a wolf body part stuck in its lower back teeth.
Dental hygiene clearly not at the top of its ‘to do’ list, it staggered up, turning to get a better look at me, growling low and deep in its throat; recognition burned in its eyes as it saw me.
‘Waarrdeeerrr…’
It was injured but definitely not down for the count. I shouldn’t have expected a few rocks to kill it.
Plan B.
Ignoring the fact that it was going to freaking pounce on me and tear me to shreds, I focused. I needed it dead. D.E.D, well more dead than an undead creature could be, out of commission would be more precise.
Feeling the circle’s outermost edge with my mind, I gestured and willed it to extend a few more meters — more importantly, the necessary distance t
o intersect with this creature and the majority of its bulk. Motioning, I moved it towards me. The circle, invisible to the eye except for mine, moved in my mind, with disastrous effect for the wight.
Like a fine surgical steel knife the circle edge parted the wight’s body in half with barley a whisper; rotting black blood gushed up the sides of the circle coating it for meters, clearly revealing where my circle was. I blanched as I was, oh so delicately, faced with the view of the wights steaming gangrenous body organs, flashes of pale pinks and garish yellows flowing into my line of vision. The wight’s face, a rictus of absolute shock, attempted noise of some kind. But with no vocal cords, well half of them being on the other side of the sphere, the sound came out as no more than a strangled wet hiss.
That was fucking disgusting.
Twirling to a noise behind me, I saw several loose revenants rushing me. They beat up dark globes to hide their progress, running through the wet earth, spraying up mud around them in great sheets.
Shit.
It clicked then — mud. We hadn’t had any rain lately. As they slogged through the water underneath them, it silently attached to their arms and legs, twirling up from the ground, sliding around there thrashing bodies. They seemed oblivious until I saw water glide up around their throats, neatly tightening and beheading them in unison, garrote style.
The water leapt and shifted in midair, coalescing into a smaller but no less imposing Nichsa.
‘Warder,’ he said, bowing low. Eyeing the remains of the gigantic wight, his eyebrows raised imperiously.
‘I underestimated you, Earth Warden, very impressive; you have grown powerful surprisingly quickly. May I extend my personal invitation to my kingdom at your earliest convenience, so that we may converse.’
Reaching out to me he offered me a small item — I examined it for a minute then id dawned on me that it was a rare black pearl.
‘Just breathe on this, say my name and a messenger will guide you.’
TERRA: Earth Warder Chronicles Page 20
