Shifting Planes- The Complete Box Set

by Jeff Sabean

  “I will try it your way, Aki, but I do not like it,” the bard replied, picking up a new song as the throng of hungry zombies closed in.

  The group felt the quickness enter their limbs as the song began, feeling their movements speed up and watching the already sluggish zombies slow even more. A knowing look passed over the faces of the group, and they prepared to cut through the devilish brood. Aki replaced the short sword with both of his tonfa, the shadows curling angrily around the weapons as he started spinning them to get a rhythm going.

  The fighters led the way into the crowd, severing arms as they reached for their living targets and heads whenever possible. Aki kept the blades retracted in his weapons, preferring to use them mostly defensively to swat aside strikes intended for the bard or the sisters, and to occasionally bring one down to crush the skull of a zombie that made it that close.

  For every one knocked aside or decapitated, it seemed two more took its place. If one was dropped low without removing the head, it would continue crawling into the companions, attempting to bite any living appendage in range. The sisters did the best they could to set fire to the bodies of the zombies as they passed by, but by the time the group cleared the alley it was clear they were exhausting themselves with the effort.

  “Don’t worry about it, just try not to die,” Aki said over his shoulder as he used the blades in his tonfa to sever an arm that had reached through and grabbed his cloak. The zombie the arm had been previously attached to screamed in frustration more than in real pain until his other tonfa swept across and connected solidly with its skull, crushing it from the side and crumpling the beast.

  The Brewdigger brothers appeared to be having the time of their lives at the front of the group, bouncing off each other and smashing body parts away with their shields. Heads flew as Bendiac swung his axe, and bodies hit the ground as Thrazzoun swung his blacksmith hammer, each swung connecting solidly with another skull that stood between the group and their freedom.

  Off to the left side, Abugraic was holding his own, although this type of free-for-all melee was not his preferred method of fighting. He nimbly dodged clawing hands and snapping jaws as he ducked and dove around the beasts, removing a head here and stabbing another through an eye socket there, always just a hair away from becoming lunch for one of the hungry undead.

  In the center of the formation, Hankish played his heart out, providing haste and refreshing the stamina of his companions while attempting to slow the already slow-moving zombies around them. His fingers were a blur as he twisted two songs together, both melodies seeming to come from different instruments. If the companions had time to stop and listen, they would have been awestruck, but it was impossible as they battled for their lives against the unending throng of undead.

  Behind Hankish, the sisters stayed in tight, loosing fireballs behind them as they passed the mob of hungry monsters. The flames licked at the beasts, igniting dead skin and bones and spreading through the horde: not stopping the closest from coming, but eventually dropping them as the flames devoured their bodies.

  “Do not exhaust yourselves, ladies,” Aki warned as he crushed the skull of another zombie. “We may have a need of your special talents yet.”

  Ja’ade let out an impish giggle as she looked over at her sister, saying, “The other-worlder is going to lecture us about conserving our energy.”

  Mialin tossed a white-hot fireball through the chest of a zombie, sizzling through two more and embedding in the fourth, where it exploded and ignited several more in the explosion.

  “How quaint,” was all she replied, smirking and preparing another blast.

  “Just trying to help,” the medic mumbled as he continued swatting away attacks to protect the three in the center of the wedge formation.

  “And we appreciate it,” replied Ja’ade with a grin as she tossed another fireball. “It’s...cute...”

  “Cute. Yeah. THAT’S what I was going for,” he grunted, picking up the rhythm of his attacks as more zombies pressed toward them.

  Turning toward the docks, the companions pushed through the mob as best they could, although now the crowd of zombies pressed in from all sides at once rather than just from the front. Having the walls of the alley had seemed to be constricting, but being on the wide-open street they soon began to realize how much protection the alley had provided.

  “Can we find some side streets that lead to the docks to give us a break here?” Zatus shouted ahead to the Brewdigger brothers as they lead the charge through the middle of the city.

  “If ye think ye can do better, take the lead!” Bendiac shouted back, laughing as he swiped his axe through the chest of a zombie, then stomped its head as its top half continued to crawl toward him.

  “Lead on, good dwarf, lead on,” the exasperated gnome replied as he swung his staff around it, pushing the mob back more than killing any of the beasts.

  “Can ye make a tornado, or just in water?” Thrazzoun called back, shield pushing his way through a group of zombies and smashing heads with his hammer as he stepped over them.

  “It requires concentration to start,” Zatus replied, the gem in his staff beginning to glow. “If you can get us a small break, I can give it a try!”

  “No time,” Bendiac hollered back, laughing as he brought his axe down on the skull of another monster. “Trample the weak, hurdle the dead, better keep up, or we’ll leave you instead!”

  “Very cleaver,” muttered the gnome, his silver eyes glowing dangerously. “Watch this!” he shouted as he let loose a blast of energy that sent the undead on the left side of the group flying.

  The dwarves leading the charge swerved into the area temporarily cleared by the blast, pushing forward in a burst of speed. The docks came into view as the dwarves led them around the corner to the left, and it appeared they might have a temporary reprieve as the way was virtually clear.

  “Run for it, lads,” Abugraic called to the Brewdiggers. “Hank is runnin’ low, and it’ll get harder if he drops!”

  The group sprinted forward, clearing aside the few zombies in their path while the sisters took turns sending fireballs into the mob at their backs, slowing its progress and giving a bit of breathing room to the exhausted party.

  “There! The small schooner at the end!” Aki called to Bendiac, who was leading the charge. “That should be large enough to get us where we need to go but small enough to sail with a small crew!”

  “Are ye a sailor now too,” muttered Abugraic, clearly tired of taking orders.

  “I know my way around a ship,” Aki replied, beginning to breathe hard and losing his patience with the surly dwarf. “Unless you know better, but I remember you saying you can’t even swim, so why don’t you just shut up and run.”

  Chapter 15 – The Escape

  Bendiac reached the dock Aki had pointed out and paused to catch his breath as he reached the first slip. The rest of the group slid up to a halt beside him, inquisitive looks on their faces.

  “Why did we stop?” Aki asked, looking for danger.

  “Methinks we should take it slow,” the dwarf replied, not taking his eyes from the dock in front of him. “Would be a shame to make it here to die.”

  “Don’t take too long,” Ja’ade replied, sending a fireball into the mass of zombies stumbling down the street to the docks. “Mialin, can you be a dear and help slow them down?”

  A wall of flame several feet thick dropped from the sky to block off the dock from the street as Ja’ade finished speaking.

  “No worries,” the other Xyrstiina replied, her eyes shining as she watched the flames. “That should give us time to get the ship launched.”

  “Lead on, Master Dwarf,” her sister said to Bendiac as the first zombies hit the wall of fire and burst into flame, shrieking as they added to the intensity of the blaze.

  “Aye, here we go,” he said, taking a tentative step toward the end of the dock where the small schooner was tied up. “Don’t ye let any o’ them monsters sne
ak up on us now.”

  The group walked in silence, the ease of the passage seeming out of place after the harrowing journey from the center of town to the dock. Hankish was strumming a mellow tune, the waves of rejuvenation rolling over the companions as they kept a wary eye on the seemingly empty ships they passed along the way.

  “Don’t ye ferget we thought the city were empty too,” Abugraic quietly reminded the group, his blades held at the ready as he silently stepped from one plank of the deck to the next.

  The ship was in the last slip on the dock, on their left side. The group let out a collective sigh as they reached the gangplank without incident, the only sound to be heard coming from the burning zombies at the end of the pier.

  “What are the chances the ship is empty?” Hankish mused, still strumming his lute lightly.

  His brother kicked him across the buttocks and gave him a filthy look.

  “Ye know better’n ta jinx us like that,” Abugraic stated, kicking the halfling one more time for good measure.

  Laughing, Hankish picked up the tempo of the tune he was strumming, and immediately the group felt the music speeding up their movements.

  “Well, then, I suppose we should get moving, this ship isn’t going to clear itself of undead!” he laughed.

  “Aye, here we go again,” Thrazzoun stated, swinging his shield in front of him and standing side-by-side with his brother, creating a shield wall as they moved up the gangplank to stand on the deck.

  As the last of the group stepped on deck, Aki and Abugraic pulled the gangplank up into the ship, securing it along the side. The party spread out a bit as the fighters went about untying the ropes securing the ship to the dock. Hankish continued to play, speeding up the process, and the sisters maintained a watchful eye on the door that led below deck, not wanting to be taken by surprise.

  When the ship was untied and beginning to drift a bit, Aki showed the other members of the group how to raise the sails and steer the ship out of the harbor.

  “Why are we doing this now?” Zatus asked as the ship began slowly edging away from the dock. “Shouldn’t we clear below deck first?”

  “Do you want to fight off the zombies on the dock while we clear out any that may be below deck?” Aki asked.

  “Fair enough, Doc,” his friend answered, taking the wheel and directing the ship out to the open ocean. “When do you want to clear below?”

  “Once we are away from the shore and don’t have anything trying to climb aboard, we can drop the anchor and clear the ship,” Aki replied.

  As the group watched, the flame wall created by Mialin dissipated and zombies began scrambling around the burning corpses left in its wake to rush the dock. When they reached the final slip, the undead beasts surged past the end of the dock, landing in the water and sinking immediately.

  “Should we be concerned?” Aki asked, looking over the side of the ship.

  “Nah, the water is deep here, and they can’t swim,” Zatus replied, watching as more of the monsters plummeted off the edge of the dock.

  “Should we set more on fire? It seems reckless to just sail away and leave a city of zombies for the next unsuspecting victim...” Aki remarked thoughtfully, staring at the burning corpses on the edge of the dock.

  “Must you humans set fire to EVERY city you visit?” Hankish asked, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Say again? Oh, right, Heishi and Tiane started the fire in Terminus, right?” Aki replied, catching on to the joke and laughing along.

  Without waiting for a consensus, Ja’ade and Mialin together launched massive fireballs at the closest buildings to the dock, incinerating them and starting the blaze.

  “I do not believe there are gods,” Ja’ade began, smiling as she watched the fire begin to spread, “but if there are any out there, I believe they would appreciate the irony.”

  “Well, then,” Hankish said as he lounged against the railing, watching the city burn and playing a lively tune, “Shall we ensure there are no more surprises aboard and then find a good place to drop off those of us who have no death wish?”

  “Sounds good,” Aki replied, wiping some grime from a metal plate set next to the wheel of the ship. “Cattostrophy. Strange name for a ship, but I assume it is fitting seeing how the former owner presumably perished.”

  “I’ll never get used to your dry sense of humor,” Zatus stated, staring at his friend. “Let’s see what’s behind door number one.”

  ◆◆◆

  Following behind the Brewdigger brothers and their shield wall, the group opened the door leading below deck and rushed through. The room beyond was empty, but the stench of death wafted up the stairs from below. Taking it slowly, the team pushed down the stairs, the smell intensifying the deeper they ventured into the belly of the small ship.

  Opening the next door into the galley, a large zombie rushed toward the group, slamming into the shields and attempting to bite the dwarves who valiantly held it at bay. The beast was enormous, the fat which had not rotted from the body hanging all around, and the group guessed this was the former cook for the vessel. It took both dwarves pressing against its weight with both hands on their shields while Aki and Abugraic took turns stabbing and smashing the beast over the top of the shield wall as it reached across to keep it from reaching the group.

  Finally, Aki dropped his right tonfa and pulled the sword he acquired in the cave, swiping it across the top of the shields and connecting with the zombie’s neck, severing the spinal column and dropping its head backward into the galley.

  “One down, I would have to assume we have at least a Captain down here to deal with. If we are lucky the crew was in town when this zombie apocalypse began,” Aki said, looking at the cook’s corpse. “That would be a huge mess cleaning up, and I don’t think we would want any of the food that is still in there, so what do you say we just close the door and not use this room?”

  “You read my mind,” Zatus stated as the Xyrstiina sisters both nodded their agreement.

  They backed into the hall, secured the galley, and moved to the next door, the Brewdiggers blocking with their improvised shield wall. The next two doors opened into empty rooms, one being the crew’s quarters, with hammocks swinging with the rocking of the ship and the next containing some dried food.

  “At least not ALL the food is spoiled,” Hankish stated, staring hungrily at a box of uncooked rice.

  “We will find a way to cook that after we finish clearing this hall,” Aki replied, his stomach also grumbling a bit at the promise of hot chow.

  All eyes turned toward the door at the end of the hall: The Captain’s chambers.

  “What are the odds it’s empty?” Hankish whispered, receiving a slap from his brother in response.

  “Only one way to find out,” Zatus replied, nudging Bendiac and Thrazzoun to lead on.

  When all were set in the hallway, Bendiac kicked the door with all his strength, knocking it open and off its hinges. A zombie, more skeleton than soft tissue at this point, was standing across the room, a captain’s hat on what was left of its skull. It turned and stumbled awkwardly toward the intruders as they burst into the room, one leg dragging behind the other as its jaws snapped open and closed at the promise of live victims.

  A sad look crossed Aki’s face as he stepped forward, pitying the poor shell of a man before him who did not even have the ability to properly attack them. He batted aside the beast’s hands with the tonfa in his left hand, and continued to twist into the strike with the sword in his right hand, cleaving its head in a single swing.

  “Well, that, as they say, is that,” Zatus said, understanding the sadness on his friend’s face. “Should we clean out this cabin, or close it as well?”

  “Let’s close it up. When we arrive in Harmonui we can burn this wretched ship as well and everything in it.

  ◆◆◆

  The companions raided the pantry and brought a pot to the deck along with some of the food. As Mialin and Ja’ade took turns crea
ting flames in their palms and holding them against the pot to boil water, Aki took over steering the ship. He turned back South for a way, watching for any signs of pirates who might not appreciate their treasure disappearing.

  After a short trip, he dropped the anchor and let down a dinghy to drop off those who did not wish to travel to Harmonui on the shore. As the dinghy reached the water, the meal finished cooking and the sisters began handing out bowls of steaming rice to the group.

  “I wish I could convince the four of you to stay with us,” he said, looking at the dwarves and Hankish. “You are all worth your weight in gold in a fight, and we have one of those coming for sure.”

  “Bah, don’t ye get all mushy on me,” Bendiac grunted, clearly more emotional than he wanted to let on. “We have yer communicator from the gnome, and will be seeing ye again.”

  “Fair enough,” Aki replied as he dug into the first hot food he had eaten in several days. “But just remember that you always have a place with us, and if you ever need anything...”

  “Bah,” was all Bendiac answered as the four finished their meals in silence and climbed down the side of the ship into the boat.

  “We are eternally grateful for all the fun,” Hankish said, understanding how hard it was for Aki to say goodbye to his new friends. “If we decide a war sounds enchanting, we shall meet you in Harmonui to save the snooty elves from themselves.”

  “Fair enough, my friend. And if you need anything at all, you know how to reach me,” Aki reiterated.

  ◆◆◆

  With the Brewdiggers, Abugraic and Hankish safely deposited on the shore and headed South, Aki raised the anchor and turned North toward Harmonui to find his lost family.