by Xander Boyce
They went back and forth on some of the various ideas, trying to find a better way to eliminate the shaman and the threat his elevated position presented. They briefly discussed alternative objectives; the structure at the bottom of the pit was clearly important to the trolls, but it would be easier to secure after they’d cleared the room. The discussion only lasted a few minutes and by the end, everyone was convinced the original proposal was the most likely to succeed.
They all crept back towards the entrance to the pit, Drew leading the way. After he passed the gateway, he crouched low, trying to hide behind the mounds of dirt that were piled haphazardly around the upper rim. The others followed in after him, and once they were in position Drew began creeping forward. He would have to travel about sixty feet before he would be close enough to blink step up to the shaman.
Moving from cover to cover, he made it about halfway before a troll turned right as he was moving between two piles of dirt. They made eye contact for a split-second before the troll bellowed a scream of anger. Immediately the report of a gun echoed throughout the room, and a line of fire traced from near the entrance into the troll’s chest, carving away green skin as it burned the beast.
Drew cast acid arrow and shocking acid arrow, targeting four more trolls to weaken them as he started running full speed towards the shaman. More gunshots and lines of fire exploded throughout the room, Trista's skill in action. The narrow confines and echoing nature of the room made Drew's ears ring a little louder with each report. Sarah was going to have to treat all of them for tinnitus after this.
About halfway to his target, a troll jumped in front of him. Without thinking he launched a lightning bolt, which sent the troll crashing down a level of the pit. Drew hoped he didn't land on a human. Five ragged breaths later he was close enough to trigger blink step.
It took him half a second to reorient himself. When he did, he launched his full complement of spells at the shaman. Blasts of superheated plasma balls and shards of ice struck a shadowy shield around the shaman, followed by a bolt of lightning and two cones, one of pure frost and the other of sticky frostfire that clung to the shield and kept burning.
Drew was pushed backward by the force of the explosion, losing his footing and saving himself from falling off the ledge by a last-second grab for a big rock. Luckily the Shaman wasn't completely un-phased by the alpha strike. He had been pushed back as well against the wall, the shield around him now visibly leaking black umbral energy. He quickly cast another spell while Drew struggled to stand up. The shield seemed to recover some of its shape, becoming more solid.
The shaman held up a hand, palm out, "Hold, Deathweaver, I wish a parlay before we attempt to kill each other once more," his voice cracked like dry parchment.
Drew glanced down at the conflict between his team and the other trolls, Robbi was slashing through a troll with a massive, ruby greatsword, while lines of fire kept the trolls at bay. "Okay, you have thirty seconds."
Chapter Forty-Two — Pyrrhic
“You have obviously talked to humans from the greater population. That divine xatherite you used to kill my people on the surface is proof of their interference. Tell me, Deathweaver," The troll spat out that title, animosity dripping off his tongue, "Did they tell you that you were special? That you were their best hope of survival?" He snorted and turned around.
"You are nothing but a tool, a means by which they can destroy their enemies. You cannot create. You cannot heal. You can only obliterate. You are a blunt instrument, designed only to destroy. That is what they need you for. They don't want you to think. They don't want you to stop and consider the consequences of your actions. They need a loyal soldier who will kill in the name of Protector and Senate."
"I can save lives," Drew rebutted, "Human and troll alike. I can use my powers to protect people from suffering," Drew said, circling the troll, wary for a trap. He needed information about the universe, about Ares and his siblings, and about the system. "We don't have to fight. There could be peace between our peoples."
The troll snorted, "At what cost? You save others, and they will reward you. They'll give you anything you want: women, drugs, physical pleasures you cannot currently comprehend, but only so long as what you want is war and death. The system does not want us to make peace with each other. It feeds on our blood. It stole my people from our homes and deposited us here, and then promised that if we sacrificed enough of your kind, we could go home. Why do you think it did that?" He paused giving Drew a chance to think, but not long enough to answer.
"It wants to foster war, to create a never-ending conflict. Whatever the system's purpose is, it wants our blood. My people were powerful once, like yours. We eradicated hundreds of weaker species and created an empire that ruled across the cosmos. Then, at the height of our power, we too thought to create peace, an alliance that would foster learning and growth for every awakened species." He paused, his words remorseful, "We had such dreams. The system would not allow it. It gave quests of sedition. It turned us against ourselves, and for that salacious promise of power, we turned cannibal. We killed our brightest children, craving the power they would give us, fearing that they might outshine us."
"Too late we realized the error of our ways. We had already ruined ourselves. Those of us that were left gathered together the scraps of our once great civilization and fled. We fled to the furthest reaches of the known, to places where no mana engine could reach. We became vagrants, wanderers of the stars. The system could not let us escape its clutches so easily though. We fled for millennia, for generations, afraid of the day the system would find us again." He turned and looked at Drew, his violet eyes glowing with emotion.
"Find us it did, and it brought us here. It promised us freedom, real freedom, if we would only sacrifice ten of your people for one of mine." The troll smiled, a wicked grin, "So I gave the system the blood it desired. A thousand dead humans for a hundred of my people, finally safe from the system." As he said that, the blue building below them flashed, shedding a bright light throughout the pit.
The color drained from Drew's face as he looked frantically down at the pit, the captives that had been digging were now mostly dead. His group had managed to save thirty or forty, but the trolls hadn't been trying to fight, their efforts had clearly been on killing as many of their captive humans as they could. Red blood stained the dirt. He turned to look at the troll shaman and saw him in the process of casting a spell. Immediately a fireball erupted from Drew's hand; it exploded against the weakened shield around the troll. It was only the first impact, within a second, frostfire ball, acid arrow, shocking acid arrow, cone of frost and cone of frost-fire were all launched again. He could feel Aeon's power struggling for the surface for control, crying desperately to be let free, to punish the wicked.
Drew tamped it down as his spells ripped through the Troll's shield and then sent it flying, landing with a crack against the far wall and then sliding down with a wet thump. Drew stalked over to him, anger coursing through his veins. The troll just looked up at him and smiled, "Your people die, deathweaver." And then he kicked out with his legs, sending Drew tumbling. A blast of fire transferring heat into his side where the blow was stopped by blade barrier, but the energy it imparted still cracked the cockroach shell embedded in the armor. Drew cast lightning bolt, but the shaman managed to get an arm up. Whatever was left of the shield bouncing the bolt up and into the ceiling where it dissipated harmlessly.
Rolling for cover behind a table, Drew began casting dancing blade, he wasn't sure if the sword would cut as well as Robbi’s, but his other spells were on cooldown. Once it was cast, he peaked around a corner, launching another lightning bolt at the Shaman, who had to jump to avoid the blast.
Hair standing on end, Drew rolled over the top of the table he was hiding behind. Feeling a jolt of electricity bind his left hand to the ground, the smell of burned flesh filled his nostril. He cried out in pain, but his momentum saved him, rolling over the table before more damage could be d
one by the pillar of lightning that had erupted where he had been hiding.
Dancing blade slashed into the troll, cutting deeply into its right arm. Drew tried to focus on another spell, and lightning bolt was almost up. The pain in his left arm was incredible, the shaman's attacks having already burned through his mana shield, leaving him vulnerable. He jumped towards the shaman, trusting in blade barrier and dancing blade to do the work for him. Impacting with a thud, he slid back, the trolls' superior strength preventing him from being able to complete the tackle.
Dancing blade struck again, cutting deeply into the troll’s neck and green blood fountained from the wound soaking Drew immediately. A last lightning bolt flickered from his fingers, catching the Troll straight in the chest and sending him flying back against the wall again. Drew kicked him once in anger then turned back to the edge of the ledge.
Robbi and Trista were fighting off the last of the trolls, a mere handful that seemed almost eager to die, rushing into the battle without a thought for their safety. Drew launched acid arrow and shocking acid arrow. One troll saw them coming but dodged into a slowly fading line of fire, decapitating it immediately. His other globes struck true, and Robbi scythed through the rest with powerful swings from his glowing red...nodachi? Drew shook his head, trails of blood flowed up from the slain humans around him. Filling the sword with a malevolent energy that Drew could feel from here. The sword shifted as he watched, becoming a claymore as he turned to block a strike from the last troll.
Trista claimed the last kill. She had begun firing not at the creatures themselves, but rather where they would be. Evidence of the effectiveness of her attacks adorned the area around them, severed limbs and diced trolls. Drew shook his head. The last of the trolls taken care of, he stalked back to the shaman, where three xatherite crystals grew from his chest: a yellow, blue, and indigo. He briefly considered having someone else come up and grab them, or throwing the body down, but opted just to harvest them himself, causing three blight flashes of color.
Kicking the dead shaman again for good measure and then jumped off the ledge Drew was on, activating gravitas to land lightly on the ground next to two dead bodies. He coughed as the stench hit him. Dead bodies, blood, viscera, and bodily waste created a miasma of odors worse than any he had encountered before. Putting his good arm to his nose to block out the smell he picked his way through the bodies and trails of fire until he was next to his team.
Robbi was in the process of slicing the heads off several trolls who despite being less than half together still clung to life. Trista was sliding a magazine out of her gun, checking to see how many bullets it had left in it. Three of her holsters were empty; Drew didn't see the other two guns. Sarah was holding a woman who was crying loudly. Aside from the thirty or so people huddled behind where Robbi and Trista had made their stand, there were another twenty or thirty that were slowly making their way up the spiral to join them. Drew didn't see Daryl.
"Everyone, I know you're scared, but some of the people might still be alive. Ensign Rothschild is a healer." He said pointing to Sarah, "Bring the injured to her and she can heal them." He received blank stares from the group looking at him incredulously. "Move it before more people die!" he shouted. They broke then, moving with haste to find those who were still alive. More than a few of them had to stop to vomit.
"Where is Daryl?" Drew asked.
Trista didn't answer, but she did pull on his good arm and point. When he turned to see where she was pointing, he saw Daryl about two spirals down, kneeling next to a woman, their foreheads pressed together.
"Sarah, I need you," Drew shouted, and he ran towards Daryl and his wife, forgetting for a second his own injured body. Sliding down the side of the pit he reached Daryl with a grunt of pain. The man looked up as he approached, his eyes bloodshot with tears streaming down his face.
Drew got his first look at Daryl's wife and swallowed. It looked like a troll had hit her in the stomach. She was still alive, but her lower half was a mess. Drew paused when he got to her, wondering where to start with this kind of mass trauma. "Daryl, what's the status? Is she awake?"
The man just shook his head, his face a twisted mess of emotions. Drew felt for a pulse, reaching first with his injured hand before gasping and letting it hang at his side, using his other hand he pressed it against her neck. "She's alive, it's weak, but she's alive." He turned to see where Sarah was, but the pit prevented him from seeing up too far, "Sarah! I need you." Others were calling out as well, calling for help but Sarah's head appeared over the pit. Her face was pale she looked at Drew, Daryl, and Daryl's wife and then cast heal, encompassing all of them in the effect.
Drew's felt the pain in his arm diminish, but his attention was focused on Daryl's wife. He tried to remember her name but couldn't think if Daryl had ever actually told him what it was. How could they not have discussed what his wife was named? He glanced down at her, the pulse was stronger, but her injuries were extensive. He could see some of her flesh knit itself back together, but he knew it wasn't going to be enough. Like the broken bones, Sarah’s spells wouldn’t be able to heal this wound.
Drew swallowed and looked at Daryl who looked back at him, pleading in his eyes. Drew cast his mind around, trying to think of something, anything he could do. Energize was too slow, but he cast refreshing rain, knowing that it would hit some of the others injured by the trolls, and help Sarah's energy level through what was bound to be a large amount of healing soon. Aside from that what could he do?
The yellow xatherite! He checked his notifications.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Mental Blow
Xatherite Color: Indigo
Xatherite Grade: Basic
Xatherite Rarity: Common
Type: Magic
Effect: Strike a blow against the psychic energy of the target. Dealing small amounts of mental damage.
Mana recharge time: 21 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Sacred Shell
Xatherite Color: Yellow
Xatherite Grade: Undeveloped
Xatherite Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Magic
Effect: Shields the caster in radiant energy which will block against all profane attacks.
Mana recharge time: 31 minutes, 30 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Volley
Xatherite Color: Blue
Xatherite Grade: Basic
Xatherite Rarity: Common
Type: Magic
Effect: Launch a multitude of arrows that fall from the sky dealing small amounts of piercing damage to enemies in a 4m radius for the duration.
Duration: 8 seconds
Mana recharge time: 14 minutes
Drew cursed under his breath, the words of the Shaman came back to him, when he said he could never heal. Looking at Daryl he shook his head, "I'm sorry. There’s nothing I can do." Daryl's entire body seemed to deflate, and his head resting near his wife's. Drew stood up, awkwardly patting the man on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Daryl." He stumbled away from the man, leaving him the last few precious minutes he could have with his wife.
Looking around he began doing the same thing as the others still walking: checking for survivors. He was soon covered in blood and gore, his boots steeped in filth. He cast refreshing rain as often as he could to renew the people around him while trying to clean the mess around him as much as he could. It took them nearly an hour before they had checked everyone. Trista had gone to tell the kids and some of them had come to help as well, speeding up the process considerably. In the end, everyone was mentally drained, if not physically exhausted. They relocated almost everyone to the entrance room with the kids.
Luckily, if there was such a thing, there had been two more healers among the survivors. Everyone that lived would be healthy again before the morning. Daryl's wife, Angela, was not among the survivors.
Chapter Forty-Three - Ranks
It was well past dark. Drew was able to keep everyone awake with refreshing rain. But the
fact of the matter was that his people weren't in any position to move. A small leadership meeting was held. Drew, Sarah, Trista, and Robbi were joined by an air force major named Tracy Hoffecker and a naval captain named Matt Snyder. They were the highest-ranking people among the survivors, and while there were a lot of civilians, everyone seemed content to have the two senior officers represent them.
"Final count is 228 people. 128 of those are the kids rescued from the cage room, 73 more from the pit. Scavenging for food turned up another 22 individuals in various rooms around the building, and Ensign Rothschild’s team of five. Of those, we’ve got about three dozen military or former military that we've got organized into a loose command structure composed of small groups of six to seven. With the senior NCOs in charge of two to four groups each, depending on combat capabilities. Our four JO's are each assigned six NCOs under them." Major Hoffecker summarized their position. Drew was a little put off by the immediate return to a military structure that had happened when the two senior officers had realized they were free.
Hoffecker was a middle-aged woman who might have been pretty in her youth. To his aura sight, she glowed with a mix of yellows and oranges underscored in green. She exuded an aura of confidence and competence, despite her rather frayed appearance. Both officers had been among those first captured by the trolls and were rather worse for wear. Snyder was in his late forties with salt and pepper hair, a strong jaw, and piercing eyes. His aura was blue and yellow with some sickly looking indigo and violet highlights.
"How many Numb do we have?" Captain Snyder asked, breaking Drew out of his reverie. The numb were the third group of kids he’d noticed. The ones that had mostly given up. They would follow along with someone if supervised but tended to stare off into space and do nothing if left to their own devices.
"The adults fared better, only one in ten of them succumbed to Numbness, the kids, well, it's more like one in five. The exact numbers are nine adults and twenty-six kids. We've split the groups into two different types: caretaker groups and work groups. The caretaker groups have a person with minimally effective combat skills assigned to each numb member. All our people with more effective combat skills are spread between the workgroups. Most of them aren't anywhere...combat ready, but they should be able to hold long enough for our big guns to show up." Hoffecker said inclining her head towards Drew's group.
