by J. J. Pavlov
"What was that?" Gram looks around in surprise and turns his shield in every which direction, readying himself to defend against this potential threat. The acoustics of this place makes it hard to pinpoint where it came from, so everybody's on high alert.
We soon realize that it's no longer the first scream echoing off the walls. It's being answered by many others, and it soon settles into a chatter that seems to expand in all directions. From the depths of the halls, a deeper voice bellows something in a strangely guttural and foreign language, before the noise of metal armor pieces clattering against each other rises all around us.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." I mutter.
"Run!" The bard shouts, and we spring into action at the same time as all around us strange creatures appear on top of buildings and emerge from alleyways. They come at us from all directions, and the entire mountain seems to come alive.
With my night-vision, I can see what they are. The best way to describe them would be bipedal naked mole rats. They have tiny beady eyes, giant incisors that are exposed, and wrinkly pale skin with few bristly hairs sticking out all over their bodies. Their heights are mostly around the same as those of the dwarves I've seen, some being smaller and some bigger.
This fact seems to have allowed these creatures to scavenge dwarven armor pieces and tools for their own use. Many are wearing rusted chainmail or dented armor pieces, wielding all kinds of tools as weapons, even if they were not intended as such.
As we run through the streets of the ruined dwarf city, the trampling of countless feet grows louder by the minute. When I look up, I see that mole rats are pouring out of the windows in the pillars as well as cracks in the buildings, climbing down the walls adeptly.
The encirclement is quickly shrinking.
"We need to get to the Bridge of Enleith, quick!" Shooting his crossbow behind us while running, the bard exclaims. With so many pursuers, his haphazard shot easily finds a target. A high-pitched squeal confirms that he killed or at least wounded one of those creatures, but it's only a drop in the ocean of flesh and metal coming for our lives.
"Hasta de Lumin!" I shout, and a spirit spear forms above me even while I'm running. In its radiance, the mole rats that come from our sides shy away with surprised screams. At such close range, and illuminated by my light, I finally get a good look at them, better than I could with night vision.
They're hideous!
Releasing my spell towards the front, I aim to open up a path before us. It cuts a straight line through the air and pierces two of the creatures, before detonating on the breastplate of a third. They were among the first to come out onto the road that we're following, and my spell deters others from doing the same. But only for a moment.
"Quick!" Rolan shouts, cutting a mole rat's head off while running past it. That seemingly casual feat of strength and skill causes the surrounding creatures to stop and fall back in fear. These small critters are many, but they're cowards.
Then the deeper voice from before bellows something and all the enemies begin to move again as if shaken from their shock. It's obviously their leader, but I can't pinpoint his location because of all the squeaks and clanging metal.
I look back and find that Gram has picked up Daica, carrying her while running as fast as he can. Kamii has been able to keep up with me so far, and Luna isn't doing too poorly herself, despite her less than stellar constitution.
"Hasta de Lumin!" Once again, the radiant light gathers above me, before I release it towards our front. Once again, it pierces several of the mole rats and causes the others to shy away. But at this point, it's too late; the encirclement is complete. The houses, alleyways, and rooftops around us are filled with enemies, a huge army is right to our rear, and there are more and more closing up the path ahead.
This spell is pretty bad for area of effect. It can take out several individuals in a straight line but does nothing for when the caster is surrounded.
Then I hear Luna beginning to chant. I'm sure her magic is much better suited for clearing large packs, so all we have to do is hold out until she's ready. It will most likely take anywhere between thirty seconds and a whole minute. I just hope the party can hold out long enough.
"Mahkotoh!" Kamii shouts, and I spin around. A mole rat wielding a metal spike has emerged from a crack in the ground and is jumping at me. The little dark elf throws her crab claw around and slaps it out of the air. The little creature is confused but doesn't look hurt, as it shakes its head to regain its composure. Then it opens its mouth and screeches in a high-pitched tone threateningly, before charging at us again.
Before I can react, Kamii swings her cursed arm again. Since the creature is now moving along the ground and already gauged the previous hit as harmless, it doesn't try to dodge. Instead, it attempts to take it with its rusted breastplate.
This time, its feet leave the ground as it's sent flying back into its pack.
Wait, that hit just now looked stronger?
From the encirclement, another mole rat gathers its courage and charges forward. Kamii lets her right arm crash down from above. Apparently, having misjudged her reach, the creature takes it directly on its head. A cracking sound emerges from its neck, and it falls to the ground lifelessly.
Don't tell me...
Before I can pay further attention, Gram lets Daica down right next to me, before bringing his shield forward just in time to repel a larger mole rat coming at the party from the rear. In fact, this one is almost as tall as I am.
When I look into the darkness, I finally notice that among the encirclement many much larger figures loom. Some of them are as tall as the big man, with muscular bodies to match, towering over the others of their kind like adults would over children. They aren't moving just yet, but I don't think any of the humans would be able to deal with those.
Are these small ones actually only children?
Rolan is using his torch as a deterrent on one side while swinging his sword on the other, trying to cover as much space as possible. The bard is doing the same, having drawn his short sword and using it to threaten the enemies that are inching closer; reloading the crossbow under these circumstances is pretty much impossible, so it's a good call.
Gram is using both his stature and his massive shield to hold our back, and Daica has put down her backpack, and taken out vials and flasks of chemical substances, mixing them together hastily. Even under these circumstances, her hands are unexpectedly steady in their work. She might be creating either an explosive or some chemical which can scare the creatures away.
Then my attention is taken by a mole rat with shattered incisors and a bloody mess for a face flying through the air. Spinning my head around, I find that Kamii has entered a battle trance, roaring vigorously while swinging her cursed arm. She has started advancing into the densely packed creatures, who have nowhere to retreat to. Every hit seems to gain more and more weight, and at one point, enemies are flung through the air like ragdolls or splattered onto the ground, their bodies broken beyond recognition.
Wow! I remember her hitting me before, but it was only once. There seem to be specific conditions attached to that strength, or else I would have shared the fate of these hideous creatures. Maybe it has something to do with a combo counter or something like that, but that just sounds way too out there.
Wait, this is a fantasy world, it's entirely feasible that a strange power with game mechanic-like laws exists here. I quickly look around, but it seems everybody is occupied on their own fronts, so they don't notice what Kamii is doing. For now, I feel like they don't need to know.
"Ignis!" For the first time, I chant it loudly, and a giant flame appears on top of my palm. Luckily, I had enough foresight to lift my arm high above me, or I would have burned my own face off. Throwing the fire into a group of mole rats that are trying to circle behind the little dark elf, I burn several of them to crisps while the others clamor to get away.
"Catastrophe!" Luna's calls out and raises her staff.
Her spell is done! It took even longer than the laser one, so I hope it's good. The fire and wind crystals embedded in the tip of her staff glow in their respective colors, symbolizing that this spell is using those two elements. From that glow, a ball of light flies up high into the air and explodes in a bright flash. The mole rats shy back half a step, blinded by the sudden light.
The brightness fades and leaves behind a large flame, from which small fireballs rain down on our surroundings. It's a firestorm spell, which affects a large area - perfect for the occasion. The moment the balls come into contact with the surrounding enemies, they explode and cover the creatures in flames.
However, the original flame is used up quickly, and while it was effective in causing havoc and breaking the enemy formation, not that many of them have been killed. Just when I think this, an upward draft pulls the fire from the burning corpses all around us and gathers them back into an even bigger flame.
That's a multi-use spell, just like the laser? I have to admit that Luna has the most destructive potential on the team while being the physically weakest. Just like a true glass cannon. She must have put all her points into spell power and none into cast speed.
After the second deadly rain of fireballs, the encirclement crumbles and the mole rats scatter in all directions, running for their lives. Even the big ones that were only watching, most likely for an opening to charge in, are retreating in terror.
"Now's our chance, make a run for it!" Rolan shouts and pulls Luna out of her spell-casting trance. She blinks her eyes, before swinging her staff behind us, throwing the entire original flame down onto the street. It explodes into a huge field of fire, which cuts off the path for any pursuers.
"This way!" The bard shouts and leads us while swinging his short sword at the routing enemies, to dissuade them from barring our way.
"Hasta de Lumin!" I shoot a spirit spear at those that seem hesitant to open up the path. Then I leap to Kamii's side, grabbing her left arm. She spins around and swings her crab pincer at me, but I dodge just in time, before taking hold of her shoulders. "Snap out of it! We're running!"
"I-I'm sorry..." She looks shocked at her own actions, but I pull her along.
"Don't worry." I give her a reassuring smile. As I take that moment to look at the carnage she left behind I suppress a shudder. Towards the end, those she hit were scattered into tiny pieces where they stood instead of being sent flying, practically disintegrating from the force of the impact.
Damn, that was close! Cold sweat is forming on my forehead at the thought of what would have happened to my body if she had hit me just now.
"Daica!" I find that she seems to have finished mixing her concoction, but there's no point in using it for the time being. "Take Senka."
Without waiting for her reply, I place the doll girl in her free hand, while lifting her backpack from the ground. She looks at her new luggage with a surprised expression but immediately begins to run after Rolan and the others.
"Big man! Come on!" I wait for Gram, who is taking his time strapping his shield over his backpack so that he can run faster.
"Coming!" Gram responds while turning around one last time to make sure nothing is pursuing us through the wall of fire, before joining up with Kamii and me.
Suddenly, the angered voice of the mole rat leader resounds through the caverns, and I hear whirring sounds coming from the rear.
Several metallic impact noises on Gram's shield confirm that they're shooting at us with bows. Luckily, none reach us, since we were running forward, and the big man isn't hit anywhere other than on his shield. I have to wonder how almost blind mole rats can use projectile weapons, but I won't question it; they aren't hitting anything, and that's the important part right now.
I think now is the time to use that light shielding spell; there will be another volley, and this time their aim might be better. The incantation is really a mouthful, and I feel like I'll bite my tongue while trying to speak it on the run, but under the current circumstances, I have to try nonetheless.
"Spiritia sanctia, servas eon circon meas!" I don't know what I should be doing when I finish, so I throw up an arm. From my chest a sphere of faint light expands, covering me, Kamii and Daica before me. It's a bubble, which travels with me as its center.
It worked!
"Everyone, get inside here!" It doesn't encompass the whole party on its own, but the space inside is just big enough for the other members to join us. Rolan and Luna look at me in wonder, probably thinking why I didn't use this earlier. Actually, it just slipped my mind, until the arrows started coming.
A huge number of ripples move across the shield bubble, and I realize that hundreds of arrows just bounced off of it. If I hadn't used this when I did, everybody here would have been turned into pincushions!
I don't know how many hit points this shield has, or how long it lasts, but it doesn't seem to break under the constant rain of arrows and other projectiles that come down on us. I just hope it'll hold out for as long as necessary.
All around us, the mole rats are beginning to appear on rooftops and stream out of houses. Apparently, they already circled the barrier of fire Luna left behind. I can see that they're easily keeping pace with us, holding their weapons in their powerful jaws while running on all fours.
"The bridge is just past the city!" The bard shouts while running, and points forward. We're following a mostly straight path, which seems to have been the main street of Rathgolim. With my night vision, I can tell that in the far distance there's a wall, which marks the end of the giant cave that houses the dwarven city. "We can make it!"
As if to mock the bard's hopes, a roar echoes through the entire cavern and seems to shake the very foundations of the mountain. Everybody comes to a tumbling stop, and the shield bubble disappears with unfortunate timing - I can't tell whether it was affected by that roar, or its duration just ran out naturally.
The mole rats begin to cheer, so it must be something from their side.
"What was that?!" Rolan looks around with his sword at the ready. He must realize that his weapon is wholly inadequate to deal with whatever can create that kind of sound.
"That is their queen." Unexpectedly, the bard has an answer.
"You know what these creatures are?" I find myself asking him with a hint of suspicion. Why didn't he say anything earlier? He was against going through Rathgolim, most likely knowing that it's dangerous because of these mole rats living in the city's ruins. If he had only told us, we most likely would have decided against going through here.
"They are the Graebern, an ancient race that has been living underground in these mountains long before humans walked these lands and the dwarves made these caverns their homes." He speaks while looking at the enemies beginning to rally. "Over the years, there have been very a few encounters with them, but never have they mobilized like this."
I'm sorry, I drew them toward us with that needlessly large-scale Libera Animar spell. They didn't notice us when we were only walking around with Luna's light. But what's done is done, getting out of here is more important than placing the blame.
Opening the Scripture of Belys, I look for a spell I used to think of as useless before. It illuminates the area around the caster, which is safer than the open flame from Ignis. Other than that, I didn't see any meaning in learning it, since the fire spell achieves the same effect, and I can see in the dark anyway.
"Circoluceo!" I shout, and an explosion of light spreads out from my body. With my unnecessarily huge magic output, what's supposed to be a sphere of faint illumination that surrounds me, becomes something akin to a subterranean sun.
"Woah!" The others in the party cover their eyes in surprise, but since they weren't looking directly at me, they aren't completely blinded.
But the Graebern were staring us down in the twilight of the weak torches, so the effect is much more profound. Pained squeals and high-pitched screams come from all around us, as the creatures of the dark had their retinas bu
rned away as if they looked directly into a midday sun. They claw at their eyes and stagger about, running into each other in the ensuing confusion.
"Go!" Rolan isn't one to waste opportunities when he sees them, so he pulls Luna along, who's still blinking her eyes from the flash-bang.
The entire party immediately starts to move once again, and we run past the dazed creatures, through the streets of Rathgolim. I don't know how often this will work, so we really need to get clear of the encirclement as quickly as possible.
"There is the Bridge of Enleith." The bard announces in a hopeful tone and increases his pace.
When I look in the direction of where he points, I can see that there's a pretty narrow bridge leading across a deep chasm. It's only wide enough for a single horse-drawn cart to cross, though it must have been somewhat spacious for the much smaller dwarves.
There are no Graebern on the small platform of the other side, as far as I can tell. Just beyond that platform is a massive gate, similar to the one we passed through to reach the dwarven city. That must be the exit.
The earth-shattering roar form before echoes through the entire mountain once again, and this time it sounds much closer. When I turn around, I see a massive naked mole rat in the distance coming after us on all fours. It's even bigger than the cyber-dinos I saw on the Dark Continent. That must be their queen.
Fresh pursuers who weren't directly affected by the S*lar Flare are beginning to close in from all sides once again, and the path to the bridge is about to be cut off. Arrows are coming from behind us as well, though Gram does his best to block them with his giant shield.
While I can understand that getting onto the bridge will make it so not as many can pursue us, they still run faster than humans do. Even if we make it across, they'll just follow us and catch up in no time.
"Hasta de Lumin!" I shoot a light spear through the ranks that are closing up before us, causing them to scatter again. That was barely enough to let us break through.
