Thirsty yelled, “I’m like a drag magic girl. Call me Sailor Dragalicious.” Thirsty pointed his wand and the second monster went down, its head splattered all over the ground.
Aodh was terrified. He was glad Thirsty was with him, even if his friend was doing a lot of unnecessary things. He didn’t understand half of what the man in high heels was saying, but he grasped they were going to help everyone. It was time to make a stand. He gripped his staff tightly and set his jaw. He wished he could be brave and powerful like Thirsty.
He’d just have to do the best he could.
* * *
Liangyu walked through the fog, carefully choosing her steps to avoid stumbling. Ghinsja and Matilda were matching her pace, and it would not be proper to show any weakness. Her three most powerful thralls trailed behind.
Matilda carried an enormous, boxy weapon. She’d met Liangyu and Ghinsja on the way back from fetching the artifact weapon as Liangyu had ordered.
The artifact weapon looked menacing and alien as it balanced on the blonde woman’s shoulder. It had been expensive to procure and it only had one shot left. Liangyu hoped they wouldn’t need to use it, but she wanted a contingency plan in place in case the operation went bad. If she had to cut her losses, she still wanted to walk away with a reward.
Suddenly, she heard faint music in the distance, the sound warbling strangely in the fog. Liangyu stopped walking and her subordinates fell in beside her. Her eyes snapped to Ghinsja and she barked, “Report!”
The pale Areva woman nodded and closed her eyes. After a few silent moments, she said, “Quite a few thralls are down. The bog shambler is down. The two Mo’hali men are still the only downed enemies.
“The large vehicle is no longer shielded but is being guarded by two enemies. One of them is Aodh O’Breen. Our initial target, the Asian Terran man, is alive and heading towards the large vehicle. All other enemies are heading towards this point too; I assume the music is guiding them.
“The group of three to the rear of the enemy caravan is making steady progress towards the large vehicle. Raquel is shadowing them.
“The enemy Mo’hali Hero boy is attempting to circle back, but Anz’wei is preventing him from doing so.
“The taller man that disappeared before my fog covered the battlefield is on foot, running towards us. He is still far enough away that there are no thralls near him.
“To the best of my knowledge, Biivan and the enemy High Priestess are holding position in the sky. Every time a bit of fog touches them, I can confirm they are still there.
“Mourad is done dragging one of the smaller vehicles into the water—”
“She’s been wasting time,” Liangyu said quietly.
Ghinsja licked her lips nervously and said, “Mourad is moving slowly to the fight in front of the large vehicle. She seems to be looking for a good time to strike.”
“Is that it?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Liangyu tapped her lip with a finger while she thought. She asked, “Are the surviving targets currently wounded? What is their status?”
“They are all tired with superficial damage, but no serious injuries. The Hero boy is slowing down and may be eliminated soon.”
Liangyu nodded. “Anz’wei is utterly dependable. I am not worried about the boy.” She thought further and instructed, “Tell Mourad and Raquel to meet up near the large vehicle. Tell them to look for an opportune time to strike together or to just wait for us. Ghinsja, can you start using the fog as a weapon yet? Are we close enough?”
“We are to the large vehicle, yes. I won’t be able to move very fast while concentrating, though.”
“Okay, fine. We will begin moving slower.” Liangyu turned to regard Matilda. The silly woman had wisely stayed quiet and even more wisely looked nervous. She kept glancing back at Liangyu’s most powerful thralls.
Liangyu ordered, “Matilda, watch for the Asian orb-Bonded man that you attacked before. He is trouble. If he is still alive when we get to the main battle and you have a clear shot with the artifact weapon, take it.”
Matilda mutely nodded. Perhaps she isn’t as foolish as I thought, Liangyu mused.
* * *
Mourad’s attention was completely focused on the sounds of combat ahead of her. Her enhanced vision in the fog allowed her to see fuzzy shapes moving around. Suddenly, a whispered voice hissed directly in her ear and she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. She turned enough to see the half-corporeal mist person that had formed next to her.
She calmed her heart and slowed her breathing as she listened to Ghinsja’s new directions from Liangyu. She wished the Death Witch had just ordered their entire force to form up and attack at once, but she knew Liangyu thought of herself as a tactician. She rolled her eyes.
The big mercenary hoped the evil woman would get herself killed. That would make escaping even easier. She sighed and began moving towards her rendezvous with Raquel. She had to admit it made sense to pair up with the mercenary captain.
Deep down, she had to concede she wanted the mage to back her up, too. From what she’d seen so far, the thralls were not doing so well against their targets.
* * *
Henry ran towards the sound of music, Mareen’s feet pounding the ground right behind him. Her heavy armor made a hundred hollow thunking sounds as the wooden plates jostled together. He hadn’t even needed to discuss his course of action with his wife. Suddenly hearing the music after fighting in relative silence not only meant someone from their group was still alive, it also meant they had a rally point. They’d just looked at each other and run towards the sound.
A zombie loomed out of the fog and Henry didn’t even pause running. He snapped off a shot with an exogun and the unnatural thing went down. He was almost out of bullets. Why was he always out of fucking bullets? How many of these damn things were there?
Suddenly, he saw the fog thickening out the corner of his eye and he reacted on pure instinct. He shoved Mareen away, knocking her to the ground, and sprang away before a claw made of fog slashed the space where they’d both been standing.
“Well, that isn’t creepy or anything,” he muttered. Mareen just grunted as she got to her feet and began running again. They both kept an eye out for more fog claws.
Henry was amazed how far from the Battlewagon he and Mareen had been fighting. They were both exhausted, but he was happy she wasn’t too badly hurt. It sucked he was almost out of ammo, but it’d been worth it to keep the nasty, diseased creatures off of them both.
A group of zombies in their path were slow to react; Henry and Mareen split the undead things’ heads open from behind. Henry had been aghast earlier that Mareen hadn’t known to hit zombies in the head. Then he remembered that people didn’t grow up on zombie horror movies on Ludus.
Henry took a few more steps forward and stopped in his tracks, his mouth open. To the background beat of Men at Work’s “Down Under,” Thirsty Zha Zha was in her element. She blocked a weapon wielded by an undead soldier with a blast of air, then used two remaining bronze cones of her wand to destroy its brain and take another zombie down with it.
A tentacle materialized out of the fog, and Thirsty summoned a shield of air from her hand, stopping it cold until it dissipated.
The drag queen’s long wig whipped around in the violent air currents from the battle, threatening to come off at any moment. Blood from a dozen cuts and scratches covered her, and she was limping, but she stood proud in heels. She snarled as another group of zombies rushed her position. Thirsty held out a hand and bowled them over with a wall of air. As Henry watched, one of the bronze bracelets on her wrist crumbled to dust.
“Toss one now, Tony!” she yelled.
Aodh threw one of his grenades towards the group of zombies and Thirsty helped it with a small gust of air. As soon as it landed among them, Aodh clenched his fist and the grenade exploded, destroying the pile of undead. Aodh looked terrified, but he stood firm.
Henry
shook his head. “Badass,” he whispered. He heard pounding footsteps out in the fog and cursed. He couldn’t use his enhanced senses very well in the obviously magical fog that covered their entire location. He prepared for another nasty surprise, but thankfully Vitaliya and Gonzo burst out of the fog, Uluula right behind them with her flaming polearm.
The entire group met up and Henry shouted, “Everyone behind Thirsty. She can block all the claws and shit coming out of the fog!” Nobody argued or even acknowledged the command, they just moved. Henry took it as a sign of how exhausted the entire group was.
“How many of these damned things are there?” growled Gonzo.
Henry just shrugged. Another couple zombies lunged out of the fog and were put down in seconds by Vitaliya’s fire followed by an ice spike thrown by Gonzo. The Asian orb-Bonded man glanced around and frowned. Where are Jason, Rark-han, Yanno-ibbi, and Bezzi-ibbi?
Henry scowled. In all the chaos, he’d forgotten to use his earth sense ability. He concentrated, trusting his team to watch his back for a moment, and laid his awareness out over the earth. He’d developed the ability to such a degree that it was many times more powerful than the paltry power he’d started with.
His rifle was stupidly easy to locate with his magic, and he felt it lying in a deep puddle a surprising distance the Battlewagon. Henry shook his head ruefully. Of course, the damn thing was deep in the fog and past a line of zombies. He stretched his senses out further.
He located Jason, his footsteps pounding toward them in the distance. Henry had no idea what his friend was doing, but he seemed okay. Bezzi-ibbi…
He gasped. “Mareen, I have to go!” he hollered.
“What, what are you—”
“I have to help Bezzi-ibbi! Stay with the fucking group!” Henry didn’t allow her to answer. He knew she was better at arguing than him, and he didn’t have time to discuss it anyway. Sometimes Mareen could be sort of fuzzy on the chain of command if she was upset.
Women. Henry shook his head as he tore off by himself into the fog. As he ran, he dodged the rapidly decreasing number of undead and kept slowly drawing more strength from the earth.
* * *
Bezzi-ibbi had hit the end of his tracks. He knew it was his last hunt, his last walk in the day. He was exhausted and there was nowhere left to run, but he was tired of acting as prey anyway. He stood with his back to the cliff that had blocked his flight, watching the big Adom cautiously approach.
Bezzi-ibbi snarled. He drew a sword from his metallic arm and coughed phlegm onto the ground. He absently noted the flecks of blood. He’d really run hard, harder than he ever had in his life. It hadn’t been good enough, though.
He slowly chuckled under his breath. He knew he was about to die, but he had no regrets. He’d followed his true spirit, his path as a Jaguar Troubadour. He could sink his claws into that as the long night took him.
Plus, the irony that his situation would have made an incredible song made him proud down to his marrow.
The huge, reptilian Adom was almost on him, and Bezzi-ibbi readied himself to make one last stand. He knew he was no slouch with a sword, but he was also realistic. He wasn’t fully grown yet, and the Adom would have outclassed him in every possible way even if he’d been an adult.
He held up his sword, his spine straight. He would meet death head on with an unwavering gaze. If he had to die, he would die like a true Jaguar Clan hunter. He bared his teeth and snarled a challenge.
Suddenly, the Adom female looked puzzled and turned her head. Bezzi-ibbi watched closely, waiting for her to attack. He had been so intent on his enemy, he’d missed the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Bezzi-ibbi registered the sound through his exhaustion and turned his head in time to see what was making all the noise. Henry burst from the fog, moving as fast as a galloping zebra. From the flashes Bezzi-ibbi could see, almost his entire body was covered in steel.
The Adom’s eyes widened and she tried to spring back, but Henry was moving too fast. With no hesitation, he swung at her with his short sword. The big Adom parried the flat of the blade with a scaled arm, bending the sword.
Henry responded by channeling all his momentum into his other hand, delivering an open-palmed strike with the full power of his body, twisting his hips and shoulders. He skidded forward with the force of his momentum, every ounce of muscle and weight put into the strike, slamming into the Adom’s center of mass.
Bezzi-ibbi watched in astonishment as the huge, heavy Adom flew back ten feet from the power of the attack before rolling. She crashed through a few small trees before springing to her feet with a roar of rage.
Bezzi-ibbi felt a new fire of hope and a strange, giddy feeling take root within his hunter’s spirit. He was living in legendary times. He slowly, painfully took off his shoes before flexing his toes. As the Jaguar Clan heir, he had to meet his enemies head on. He would not be prey.
He would rather die than let his Clan brother take all the danger for him. He would meet the threat together with his Clan in the gaze of the day.
Bezzi-ibbi had never been so tired, nor so excited in his life. This was a true test of his right to live as a Jaguar Troubadour. He snarled with joy and flexed his claws. To meet such a challenge at such a young age and find true battle kin…
It was a rare thing indeed. Bezzi-ibbi’s eyes lit up as he bared his fangs and summoned the energy to dart forward. This had turned out to be a very full day! Despite the sadness, despite the struggle, he felt joy to be alive. The Jaguar Clan heir hissed in pleasure as he looked for ways to support his Clan brother.
Out From the Fog
For the first time since he’d fought Thod the bandit leader, Henry truly feared he might die. Sure, the monsters he had fought before, the zombies he’d been battling against with Mareen, might have killed him through weight of numbers. However, ever since he had become Bonded, he hadn’t met many individuals he’d thought could end him all by themselves.
Meanwhile, the lizard person he was fighting had already almost killed him twice.
The creature was incredibly fast, strong, and tough. It had dark green scales and wore a vest with pouches over what looked like a strange kimono. Ropes covered its chest and wrapped around its torso. It was huge, towering over Henry, but what was really terrifying was its obvious intellect and skill. Henry had never had a fight quite like this one before.
What’s more, for reasons that completely eluded him, Bezzi-ibbi hadn’t run away. The kid was circling, obviously intending to fight, and Henry simply couldn’t pay him any attention.
He sort of had his hands full.
He had been surprised to realize that the lizard creature was slightly stronger than he was. Henry had already lost his bronze short sword. The metal had been bent up and the weapon wasn’t very effective anymore, so Henry had thrown it away.
As they circled each other, the giant lizard had untied a massive bronze ring with sharp edges from behind its back, obviously a weapon. It looked a lot like an oversized chakram, but probably weighed over thirty pounds.
From that moment on, Henry really understood how much danger he was in. The first time he’d blocked the bronze disc with his steel-clad forearm, his entire arm had gone numb and actually started to bleed. He’d been shocked. Without his Self Healing skill, he probably would have lost the use of his limb for the rest of the fight. Henry sprang back and absently patted his leg while he considered what to do.
Unfortunately, the lizard warrior didn’t give him any respite. Henry bobbed and weaved, keeping right out of the warrior’s range. Eventually, he decided that covering most of his body in steel wasn’t all that helpful if his opponent was strong enough to penetrate the armor.
Henry grabbed a stone from the ground as he dodged the next attack. He snarled as he flexed his magic, throwing the rock at the lizard person’s face. His aim was terrible as usual, but at point-blank range, he still managed to nick its shoulder. The power of the stone’s kinetic energy flung the creature back
a few feet, but it managed to continue tracking Henry with its eyes.
Suddenly, with a sound like the biggest, angriest cat Henry had ever heard, Bezzi-ibbi jumped onto the creature’s back. He slashed downwards with his quicksilver sword before jumping away to avoid the huge reptile’s claws. While his opponent was turned, Henry saw that its scales were so thick, Bezzi-ibbi had barely managed to do any damage at all.
Henry used the short reprieve to concentrate. He commanded the steel covering his body to move in a new way. In the space of a couple heartbeats, he had thick bracers covering his hands and arms all the way to right above the elbow. A pair of long blades arced gracefully from the outside of his forearms to a couple feet in front of his fists. The rear of each blade extended a bit past his arms.
The big reptile cocked its head and spoke. In a strangely accent voice, it said, “I have never seen anything like that before. You move the steel around your body like water. I am impressed.”
Henry was barely fazed that the giant lizard thing was talking, or that its voice sounded fairly normal other than the accent. Ludus had completely, forever changed his sense of surprise. Talking to a giant, murderous, intelligent lizard thing? All in a day’s work.
He responded, “I’m surprised too. You’re the first enemy I’ve had a tough time with in a while. Actually, how can you even talk? You look like a giant alligator…but with more teeth.”
The big lizard creature responded by showing all the teeth Henry had just mentioned. He wasn’t sure if the gesture meant it was angry or amused. It said, “Ah, yes, traditional battle taunts. I will return the gesture. You look like a primitive primate with intestinal parasites.”
Henry wasn’t quite sure how to take that. He coughed and slowly replied, “Ah, yeah, sick burn. That definitely got under my skin. Uh…I’m all riled up to fight!”
The lizard slowly blinked, its slitted pupils focused on Henry. “Let us have a short truce. I wish to know the name of the one that can fight me claw to claw without tricks. I admire this. Despite being orb-Bonded or a powerful mage, you have not attempted to kill me through ranged attacks or magic—nothing underhanded.
Delvers LLC: Obligations Incurred Page 22
