by Jeff Sproul
In that moment, terror gripped Chaxin. He'd thought that the monster at the shore was perhaps a bad dream. He still couldn't remember anything from before waking up in the mausoleum.
Tagrin stumbled toward him, but fell to his knees, bleeding.
"Run," Tagrin muttered, as he slumped to the side.
But Chaxin couldn't move. He was paralyzed. He stared at the monster before him. Its claws were slick with blood.
The creature lumbered towards him and drew its arm back.
In that instant, something snapped in Chaxin's mind.
The merfolk struck with those red claws, but Chaxin was already moving. He ducked under the attack, just as he'd seen Tagrin do from a distance. Time seemed to slow as he spotted the fallen sword. He grabbed it and stumbled away from the merfolk, as it recovered from its attack and turned towards him.
Chaxin gripped the sword with all his strength. He held it between himself and the merfolk. He felt the lightness of its weight and the balance of the blade. He pulled it in closer and readied himself. How could he run? He couldn't see anything in the fog. How many of these monsters were still around?
The creature took a step towards him, then another. Its arm drew back and swung at Chaxin. This time, faster.
Chaxin pulled to the side and swung the sword to connect with the monster's arm. The blade glanced off the creature's claws and cut deep into its scaled arm.
Even as he cut the monster, he couldn't help but be filled with a sense of disgust and dread as he felt the creature's flesh give way to the blade, pushing beneath its scales.
The familiar guttural cry of the wounded merfolk poured from its mouth.
Chaxin didn't hesitate to take advantage of the wounded creature. He pulled the sword back and gripped the pommel with both hands as he stepped in to thrust it straight into the merfolk's chest.
The blade sunk halfway into the monster. It stumbled back with heavy footfalls. Chaxin had been slow to grip the blade, and even as he tried, he realized he no longer had any control of the weapon.
The merfolk's other arm swung at him. The claws didn't catch him, but the weight of the monster's arm knocked him to the side and sent him falling to the ground.
He fumbled on the ground, looking up at the creature as it pulled the blade from its chest and tossed it away, out of sight in all the fog.
Chaxin managed to stand, just as the merfolk neared, its claws descending upon him.
Clang clang clang.
Chaxin could barely register the approaching metallic sound as something like a wall smacked into him, despite the fact that he hadn't been moving. He was knocked once more to the ground, but he didn't feel the pain of the creature's claws. He looked up and saw another figure before the monster.
A metal figure. Or at least, a figure clad in gray armor, with a sword and shield.
A woman yelled from beneath the sturdy helmet. "Ahh!" came her voice, as she swung her much larger sword and cut into the already wounded arm of the merfolk.
It emitted another wounded scream, but the woman didn't relent. She swung again and again and cut into the beast's torso, creating deep gouges from which sickly black and crimson ichor spilled out. She brought her leg up and kicked the already stumbling creature, causing it to fall backwards. Her armor clanged as she rushed over and sunk her sword right into the fish-creature's open mouth.
With that, it seized up and stopped moving.
Chaxin pulled himself off the ground and stared at the armor-clad woman. "Thank you," he said, taking a few steps towards her. "Are there more of them?" he asked. But his eyes went wide as he remembered the man who he'd just been talking to. "Tagrin!" Chaxin gasped.
Chaxin turned and saw the man still lying on the ground. A pool of blood had formed around his chest in the dirt.
"He wasn't the first, and he'll surely not be the last to be taken by the merfolk," came the woman's voice from beneath the helmet. "But I am surprised to see that you're still alive." The armored warrior turned and walked towards Chaxin.
Chaxin stared at the metal helmet of the woman who'd just saved him a second time. "You're the one from last night?" he asked. It was then that he recognized the features of her armor, and the specifics of her voice. "That wasn't just a terrible nightmare? This is all real? Whatever this is? Please! Tell me what's going on!"
Deloris reached up and pulled her helmet's visor up. Chaxin could see her softer features and her deep red hair.
"This isn't the time to be discussing that," she said. She looked over to the fallen Tagrin. "But here's a tip. The dead don't need their valuables. And the crystal around his neck has some value to it. Did he have a weapon?"
At first, Chaxin didn't move. "He had a sword," he managed to speak, before he took in a slow breath and went to the immobile form of Tagrin. He stared down upon the man. The man he'd just been sharing words with not more than a couple minutes ago. He looked at his neck and saw the chain of the necklace, and the white crystal resting in the mud.
"Take his boots as well. We'll see if we can find you a less bloody tunic," said Deloris. "You'll need the gear, and he ain't going to be needing them anymore."
Chaxin looked back to the armored woman. "You want me to loot a dead man?"
Deloris sighed. "You've got a lot to learn. So start learning. Take what you can get. In this world, it ain't much, and you're going to need every bit of it. I doubt there's much energy in that soul crystal, but it'll be better than nothing."
Chaxin stared at the fallen man for several long seconds. He looked at the man's boots, then the crystal.
"Hurry up," said Deloris.
With a sigh, Chaxin proceeded to remove the man's boots. He knelt in the mud and pulled them off. He put them on, finding that they fit well-enough. Then, he unhooked the necklace and pocketed it. He wasn't sure what a soul crystal was, but if Deloris said it was valuable and wasn't taking it for herself, then maybe it could do him some good. He didn't have any money, and maybe after this terrible nightmare was all over, he could barter it for lodging, or food?
Chaxin rushed over to where the monster had thrown the sword. He grabbed it off the ground and went back to Deloris. "What now?" he asked. "Are we safe?"
"Not even close," she said. "This fog is preventing us from taking account of things in town. The merfolk have withdrawn, but not all of them realized that. So there's still plenty in town to deal with."
"So the town won the fight?" asked Chaxin. "The monsters were driven back?"
Deloris shook her head. She reached up and pulled her visor back over her face. "Not even close."
Chapter 4: Better Odds
Chaxin's footsteps were slow and careful; his feet were still growing accustomed to the boots he'd taken from the dead man, Tagrin.
The soft clanking sound of Deloris's armor was ever-present in front of him, despite her slow movements. She held a sword a bit larger than his own, and apparently made of a different metal. He noticed that there was silvery writing on the blade, but he was too far and at a bad angle to be able to read it.
She carried a metal shield on her left hand. It had a reddish rim, with some of that runic writing inlaid on the side facing her.
"Where are we going?" Chaxin spoke up. "Where is everyone?"
Deloris spoke in a low voice, which was almost muffled by the helmet she wore. "We're heading towards the town hall. If anything is still defended, it'll be that place."
"Why are those creatures attacking?" asked Chaxin. "Is it my fault?"
Deloris chuckled. "Oh no, certainly not. I suspect it had something to do with the ship that was beached. Perhaps the merfolk had been planning this attack for a while. It's hard to say. Merfolk warriors don't boast the highest intelligence, but some of their shamans and chieftains can prove to be downright clever."
As they walked, they passed by more of the deceased townsfolk. Some were disemboweled, like Tagrin. Others were missing arms, or even entire chunks of flesh from their bodies. One particularly gruesome
body was missing its head, and looked as if something had been gnawing on its torso.
Despite his objections, Deloris had insisted he take the white tunic of a man who seemed to have died in such a way that the tunic was in relatively good condition. Removing it from the man's corpse filled Chaxin with a terrible sense of dread. Hopefully, he could get the man's dying face out of his mind.
There were discarded weapons, jewelry, and other wearables, usually in close proximity to the corpses, along with the clothes they still had on, which weren't in the best of shape, depending on how each of the townsfolk met their end.
"Pick that up," said Deloris. She pointed at a metallic clasp.
Chaxin bent over and grabbed the clasp. He inspected it, but then heard Deloris's armor clanging as she kept moving. He turned and followed quickly after her, as she didn't seem to be losing step.
"Is there any writing on the inside of it?" she asked. "Like the writing on your chest?"
"Um," Chaxin murmured at first, as he held the wrist-clasp in his left hand, peering on the inside. "I don't see anything. It looks like it's just metal."
"Feel free to put it on if you want some protection on your wrist, but it won't help you much," said Deloris. "Not sure how high-quality it is, but it might not be worth taking if it weighs you down."
"Why do you have me looting the dead?" Chaxin spoke up, dropping the clasp beside him. "What of these people's families? Are we bandits? Thieves?"
Deloris sighed. "Keep your voice down. I don't want to end up dealing with more merfolk than we have to. I could fight off a few, depending. But I can't guarantee your life if I can't engage them all at once," she all but growled.
Chaxin frowned, his voice becoming little more than a hushed whisper. "Please, explain this," he said, urging her again.
"Fine," she murmured. "Everything you see around you can be placed into two categories. Crafted items, and enchanted items. Those clothes you're wearing, most of the buildings around you, that sword in your hand; all of that is crafted, in some fashion or another. It could be made of various types of materials, but it's all just crafted stuff."
"Alright," Chaxin said, unsure how that really explained anything, but he decided to wait for more before complaining.
"The writing on your chest, the writing on my shield and sword, that's what we call rune magic. Sometimes referred to as scrawl, or other various names. It's the only magic we humans know how to use. Without it, we're only as good as our stats and the crafted gear we can make. Rune magic allows us to enchant gear with magic properties, to improve it."
"What are stats?" asked Chaxin. "And what sort of properties? The words on my chest talk about time slowing the poison. But it also says something about mana."
Deloris grumbled. "Stats are… um. They're points. You gain points through experience, from killing monsters or crafting. Or um… ugh, how do I explain this without a grimoire?"
Chaxin's lips parted, about to speak since he was utterly confused by this explanation.
"The rune magic on my sword lets me increase the strength of the sword. To create rune magic, you need one of those crystals that you looted earlier. But there are various types of crystals. Some can hold more energy than others, and some only accept the soul energy of certain monsters. Using one of those crystals, I had someone enchant my weapon. Now, instead of my sword being as strong as the metal it's made out of, it's able to hit with more force, even from a regular swing."
"Um… ok," Chaxin said, still unsure about it all.
"Ok, how about this. If I had a regular sword and swung it at a tree, let's imagine that it would take me about ten swings to cut the tree down. But, if I enchant my sword with rune magic that increases the sword's strength, I might be able to fell the same tree with only five or six swings. Does that make sense?"
Chaxin visualized what she was saying and nodded. "I think I understand now. So…" he trailed off, thinking about it some more. "Can you do anything else beyond increasing its strength?"
"Yeah, all kinds of things, depending on the material of the sword, the rune magic, and the crystal used in the enchantment. It… can be pretty complex, to be honest. But seriously, let's keep quiet for now. We don't know how many more merfolk are around. This fog could be hiding dozens of them for all we know."
"There wasn't any fog last night," said Chaxin.
Deloris grumbled. "What did I just say about talking?"
"Sorry," Chaxin murmured.
The two of them continued to walk through town. Chaxin hoped that Deloris knew where they were going, even with the heavy fog. He remembered that she'd sent the other two she was with to the town hall. He hadn't been able to look around at the time, so he wasn't sure how far away it might be.
Deloris slowed down and Chaxin almost ran into her.
"Keep quiet," Deloris whispered. "Noise up ahead. Keep slow."
With that, Deloris crept forward, keeping the sounds of her armor to a minimum. Chaxin's brow furrowed as he listened to everything around them, but he couldn't hear anything unusual. After about ten feet or so, he heard sounds similar to the thuds of the merfolk's feet. The more they crept, the more his pulse pounded in his ears. He tightened his grip on the sword. If what Deloris said was true, then he wished it was enchanted like hers.
"Ahh!" a man cried out, before a soft thump sounded ahead of them.
"Shit, move!" said Deloris, who broke into a run.
Chaxin ran after Deloris, trying to look around her as best he could, but he also didn't want to be out in the open, in case a merfolk attacked. Before he knew it, two large dark shapes appeared in the fog up ahead.
Deloris rushed for them, holding her shield in front of her as she swung her sword at the closer of the two silhouettes.
Chaxin didn't want to get any closer than he needed to. He kept back six feet or so, his eyes wide. He gripped the pommel of his sword with both hands and took a step forward.
His foot connected with something, and his gaze fell to the ground.
Lying at his feet was a man in similar clothing to Tagrin. An axe was in his hand, but his fingers were slowly releasing it. His arms and back were littered with bloody gouges. Chaxin could see a dark green substance within the center of the cuts.
"Heal… me," the man groaned, and his hand reached out and clutched at Chaxin's ankle.
Chaxin pulled his foot back, almost stumbling. "I'm sorry! I don't… I can't!" he said.
"Can't stop the poison," the man murmured. "Nothing left." The man's eyes slowly closed, bit by bit. His body relaxed.
Chaxin dropped to his knees and reached out for him. "Sir? I'm sure we can find the doctor and—"
Around the man's neck was another white crystal, held in place by a silver entrapment. The man's body stopped moving entirely, and a moment later, the crystal pulsed several times with a dull glow before slowly fading.
"Chaxin!" Deloris called. "Cover me!"
Chaxin looked up. His senses returned to him. The sounds of Deloris slashing at the merfolk and blocking their claws with her shield echoed around the street.
There was a third dark shape in the mist and Deloris was backing towards him.
He rose from the ground and rushed to her side. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, desperate for guidance.
"I was wrong," said Deloris, her voice haggard as she backed away. "I can't take all three. I'm barely keeping up with the two. Keep the third one off me as long as you can. Don't let it hit you."
"Alright," said Chaxin, watching as the third merfolk came into view from his side, a short distance from the two that Deloris had engaged.
Even as he steeled himself for the fight, the fear of the monsters and what they were capable of ebbed into his mind. Deloris stood firm, as he took another step back, and then another. His heart raced. He wanted to run. First Tagrin, then all the nameless bodies in the streets. Then that man who begged him to heal him. He'd only survived thanks to Deloris. Was anyone in the town still left? What if they w
ere terribly outnumbered, even worse than they were now?
The two merfolk on Deloris's side lumbered towards her and struck at the same time. She deflected the double attack with her shield, but was pushed back several feet. She righted herself and countered with her sword, knocking one of their clawed hands back, while smacking the other away with her shield. She sliced with her weapon, effectively re-engaging both of them on her own.
Which left the third merfolk to center its focus on him. Without warning, its thick legs propelled it forward. As it ran for him, it drew its arm back, ready to attack.
Chaxin tensed. He knew his only hope of survival was to dodge. It was too late to run, even if he wanted to. The monster closed in quickly, almost upon him.
Schlick! Schlick!
The fish-like creature groaned and gurgled incoherently, its arm lowered as it stumbled forward and face-planted into the dirt.
Chaxin was shaking where he stood, the monster collapsed before him. Two arrows stuck out from the back of its round head.
The beast's arms slowly moved, as if it was trying to right itself.
Chaxin pulled his sword back and chopped at the creature's skull.
Crunch.
He pulled the sword back and swung again.
Crunch.
And again.
Crunch.
Filled with feral rage, he didn't relent. The monster was vulnerable. The more he attacked, the more the creature flinched and lost its grip on the ground.
Finally, his sword broke through its skull and the fish-like abomination twitched for the last time.
His lungs filled with deep gulps of air as he held his sword, ready to strike again. But the monster was no longer a threat. Chaxin swallowed, trying to contain his rage and panic as his hands shook.
Just then, two dark figures appeared in the fog, both running towards him. They looked like some sort of black apparitions, as their forms floated through the mist. His eyes went wide as he stood resolute, ready to fight this new enemy. He could still hear Deloris fighting off the two other merfolk. If he didn't confront these new assailants, they would overwhelm her.
