by Han Yang
The sky beamed down a bright light, and a second later, my inner eyelid glowed a vibrant golden color. When the magic cleared, I saw Nee patting her chest.
“Six hells, they used wrist bolts to kill me. They killed me. Who does that under yellow banners? They killed me,” Nee repeated.
Yermica guided her to walk off the shock.
Nee continued to mutter in shock while Yermica helped her cope by offering reassuring words. I started at the duo with sympathy.
Nick arrived, tossing two bodies to the crude road. “Can you help me grab the others? I killed six. Mom would be so proud that the years of training paid off. Pa… not so much, but he isn’t big on violence.”
“Yeah, you cut them down like a pro. What happened?” I asked.
He shrugged. “They chose war over trade. Not sure why either. Crafty little shits used small bolt casters under their robes at the wrist. Nee figured it out and ate three bolts meant for me. Crazy girl saved me, and her sacrifice let me win, well that and the backup help.”
Nick shook his head in dismay, heading back to the battlefield.
I returned to my bed under the table, decided to occupy Sprinkles again. When I shimmied into the big guy's body, I saw the enemy had fortified their gates.
Crack! Whoosh!
Six rocks lobbed up and smashed into the thick dirt wall, falling short. I walked the lumbering form over to the section where Famo and his troops had set up. I plucked trees out of the soil, hurling them at the defenders.
Most fell short, smashing into the stern cliff face. A smaller tree soared over the town, and a few crashed into stout buildings.
I was a bit miffed when the trees shattered but the thick building stood. A rock would certainly do more, but it wasn’t worth it after that. These defenders had invested insane amounts of mana into thickening their buildings.
A quick head shake ‘no’ and a wave for the dwarves to keep moving gave Famo all the information he needed.
I went to the section where I expected my swatted enemies would have landed. A few of the elk stirred, eager for a release from their misery.
I smushed their brains with my index finger. When no more cried for mercy, I plucked the dead out of the jungle. Their bodies piled into my left arm until I couldn’t find any more.
An eagle on the horizon told me the orcs had probably noticed my revival. Or maybe it was the magic from our conflict. Nothing to do besides hurry into a proper defense position.
I deposited the kills into the middle of the caravan that was already moving again, rolling forward to where I had to stop clearing the road.
Returning to the front of the new road, I extended the clearing. My thoughts meandered to Harvish and his death. If he’d hidden in a wagon like I currently was, he’d have retreated, pulled his minion forces back, and lived to see another day.
Nee dying sent a strong signal; lock myself away until I knew I was safe. That was the price of a champion - to always be hunted.
If I had to guess, a griffin had flown over this town, delivering a message - kill the necromancer and earn a whole lot of Z.
The road clearing became routine and mundane. I’d topple a section, chucked the debris toward the river and patted the dirt until it merged with the soil. Over and over, I went, clearing the jungle as quickly as I possibly could.
Every few minutes, I’d poke my head up, checking for signs of life from the trolls. They seemed content with accepting a few dead. I’d fight them if they left their walls, but that wasn’t likely. This chieftain was ruthless and cunning, and it was best to avoid him.
I also scanned the horizon, not finding any air mounts trying to spy our progress. When I finished, I noticed this river flowed under the main road. That meant the orcs wouldn’t need to use the bridge to reach us. They just needed to dive into the forest before crossing the water.
Building the bridge would be quicker than creating a loop, a second road to let the line stretch out, and then reconnecting to the main road.
Work. It all came down to hard work. I walked down the river, finding a massive rock. Ensuring I bent my knees, I struggled to get the hefty rock off the ground. Each step closer to the narrower section was treacherous, and I thought I’d fall over a few times.
When I reached the shoreline, I saw that if I added another rock like this to the opposite edge, I could connect the trees without a central structure point. Sure enough, another rock rested on the other bank.
Hell yes.
I dropped the big ass boulder a few feet into the water. My other minions immediately began constructing a ramp along the shore.
After the adventures in the sea around Kalo Island, I didn’t second guess myself as I strode into the water. The distance was minimal, and my body handled the ocean fine.
My false courage was a mistake.
I felt like I was sinking down, and down, and down, and down until I was certain I’d vortexed into another dimension. The reality was that the skeleton was ripped downstream and never sunk fast enough based on the river’s current and my buoyancy.
Far too late I realized I was trapped under the surface and unable to swim out of the current. I screamed in frustration, desperate to reach a bank or surface. I knew my goblins would be dying.
I rationalized the panic had likely taken minutes. My shielding goblins were already dead unless they could make air bubbles or something.
With infinite energy, I continued to fight to exit the water.
Crack!
My body jarred, instinctively gasping when I ran into a bridge pillar. The force of the water pinned me to the structure. I calmly climbed out and onto the bridge just as an orc scouting party crossed.
Oh, come on!
Nothing was going right.
Instead of asking which way the local grocery store was, I swatted a palm across the bridge.
The quick action connected a half-dozen mages who panic casted at the same time, mixing their magic until it condensed in a massive explosion. Ruh-Roh.
Boom!
The explosion flung me from the bridge.
I flew back into the water, the current quickly smashing me into a shattered section of the bridge.
Damn.
I was beginning to really dislike the river, especially when the section that kept me from getting dragged further burst. The river’s strong flow swept me downriver again, and I had to wait at least twenty minutes until I hit a gentle S curve.
A euphoric feeling surged through me when my body washed ashore, and since I was a skeleton, I kissed the sand substrate. When I stood, I saw a bunch of pissed off eagles flying right for me. They were only a few minutes away.
Shit. I was so far from my army that I couldn’t even see them.
Knowing I’d have to maybe fight my way back, I unstrapped my shield and club.
Glancing down, I saw that I had sadly drowned the ten shield goblins that resided in my chest. All of them hung attached to their tethers, eyes wide in shock and fixated in death.
Double shit.
When I scanned the section of the beach and then across the river, I realized I was on the same side that I had started on. All that effort for nothing.
Triple shit.
Actually, that might be good, I mused. At least their advanced scouts couldn’t chase me with the bridge disabled. The distant birds materialized into six eagles, one griffin, and one dragon. I started to run when the dots connected.
I groaned inwardly, knowing some powerful magicians zoomed over treetops, desperate to catch my big skeleton out of position. The orcs had allied with at least the flying humans to hunt me.
Six hells. I seethed at the chance Sprinkles might die to the point my gut twisted in complaint. Our entire army relied on Sprinkles. Losing him would be a major setback.
Knowing I was running out of time, I did the most logical thing a warrior could do. I tossed the buoyant shield nearby into the forest and sadly abandoned my club next to it. I hastily ripped out all the wood
decking and my specialized goblins.
I scattered them into the forest, hoping my plan would work.
Ensuring I was without decking or random bits of wood, I partially submerged into the river, ripping out a nearby tree to smooth the beach. I then planted it awkwardly as a reminder spot for myself. Doing my best, I waded into the depths. I touched the bottom for the first time. All that wood had changed my buoyancy.
It was a hard lesson to learn, and I was so flipping mad at myself. Those were some high-level goblins too.
My hands sorted the muck, trying to find an anchor point. Even though I had sunk, the current still wanted to drag me down river.
Eventually, I found a rock against the river’s bottom. I buried my feet into the silt and became a statue.
I couldn’t move the army here before the aerial riders arrived, and Sprinkles was an idiot, so I stayed in his body.
Five minutes became ten as I waited patiently in the depths. The murky water slowed at that point, and it was shallow. However, the river was thick with mud and seeing up to the top was hopeless.
The unknown gnawed at me. Just when I figured they would have finished searching, a jolt of electricity tingled my senses. The magic intensified, forcing my hands to let go of my rock.
Well, shit.
I trembled from the surge of power coursing through my bones. The first spell had certainly been joined by someone with incredible magic.
Trying to control Sprinkles proved useless, and I bounced off the river bottom without the ability to control my bones.
I could feel the connection to Sprinkles weakening.
Someone shook my real body. Sprinkles’ bones cracked from the magic.
I didn’t dare return or heal him. The current carried me down stream, and the magic faded. Whoever had tried to bring me back stopped.
Regaining control of the skeleton, I reached out, trying to slow my travel. When I found a new rock to cling to, I tried to heal my minion and found the spell slowly reaching out from me to him because of the distance.
Before I could perform my healing spell, I ran into a slight problem.
The rock clamped onto my hand with pincers.
My other hand chopped down hard, freeing me of the sudden attack.
I traveled further down the river, slipping beyond my ability to heal Sprinkles.
The situation grew grim when I plummeted out of the river, free floating almost. The top of the water spilled in while the bottom was still.
To say I despised being blind and underwater would be an understatement. My angst and complaints wouldn’t help, but I knew being calm would.
A set of jaws clamped down hard onto my tibia. This time, I grew extremely worried. I could tell whatever grabbed me wasn’t a decent sized crab, it was a leviathan. Not huge, but definitely almost my size.
With a powerful kick, my other foot smashed into a face - and not the face attached to my left leg.
Six hells. Unbelievable.
A hydra had me, and I screamed ineffectively into the water at my luck. The second head played blocker against my attacks. The dastardly creation was smart and the head attached to my leg swam me toward somewhere.
Hmm… we shifted a whole lot of sideways distance.
I figured it out. There was a lake about twenty miles south, next to the minotaur city of Koor. I had to be in there. I reached out with my hands, trying to find anything to slow our swim or use as a weapon.
A second set of jaws clamped onto my right shoulder. These were bigger than the ones on my leg. I didn’t panic or freak out, but I did hit the acceptance stage of grief.
This second attacker gnawed toward my neck. My left hand rubbed up against a snout, almost like I was petting the beast threatening to tear me in half. I tried to inspect my attackers or find any bearing, but the damned depths robbed me of sight.
Maybe…
I used touch to see.
My fingers traced the snout until my fingers found closed eyes.
Ah… Perfect.
I dug my fingers in, driving them until I felt the eyeballs squish. Hydra two decided he wasn’t that hungry for skeleton bones, but I didn’t let go.
I torqued my body and pulled the shaking head closer to my frame.
Sprinkles was bigger just out of his element. I was also controlling an undead body with some fierce teeth.
The neck neared my teeth. An ungodly shriek vibrated through the water when I latched onto the throat.
For whatever reason, the one holding my leg straight-up let go. I used the respite to chomp my way down the neck and pull my body close to the hydras. I probably could have released the asshole and we’d go separate ways, but I was ten different kinds of pissed off.
My legs lashed out as I rotated. My knees wrapped another neck, securing me to my attacker.
Even though I was committed, I hesitated. I realized Sprinkles wasn’t that much bigger.
The hydra thrashed, four other heads coming down to the defense.
Each time a head latched on to me, my hands counter latched. I’d shift my teeth and bite into flesh. I knew blood filled the water, and I knew the hydra roiled with anger.
I bit the fourth neck, finding the fight fading from the leviathan.
Yeah… my day with Sprinkles was turning to pure shit. Every time I figured it was about to get better something happened.
The neck I bit became weightless.
My fight suddenly ended.
The pressure of something far larger than a hydra lifted me with its powerful proximity. Whatever this was, it moved the lake enough to drag me into its wake for a moment.
I realized the main body of the hydra had been torn free.
Something was big enough in this lake to eat hydras.
Whatever that was terrified me.
I sank, my frame crashing into a silty bottom.
Finally, I could orient myself.
Scrambling to my feet, I bunched my legs and leaped for the surface.
Sheer disappointment roiled through my mind. I didn’t even have an inkling if I came close. The depths left me blind and lost. My army’s hero was temporarily trapped in an arena filled with hydras and something big enough to eat them.
I jumped again, this time at an angle.
A mouth that was big enough to wrap my waist snapped down. A second head bit my left foot clean off when I struggled.
Oh…
I understood then. There was a king or alpha hydra who had eaten the smaller one.
Taking a gamble, I played dead with the hope this would placate my attacker. I couldn’t beat this one.
A second bite chomped my left leg off to below the knee. This time, I didn’t react and let the big hydra carry me.
The lake must have been deep and wide because we swam to the point that I felt my ability to control Sprinkles fading. Time became lost to me.
The big hydra who carried me did so slowly. The gentle push of the water seemed endless, telling me this lake was immense in size.
Eventually, the flow of water against my bones abated. I heard the smack of wet flippers against stone, finding I could see for the first time in ages. A few seconds later, we breached into an underwater cavern so vast I was stunned for a few reasons.
This was a hydra den carved out somewhere underground. Smaller hydras worked to remove sections of a wall in the distance.
Hundreds of the creatures lounged with multiple entry points back into the water. When the big guy arrived, smaller hydras darted into the water for safety.
The hydra carried me to a section of rocky terrain that seemed like a personal nest.
The hydra spat me out near a pile of dead crabs, and I clattered among the remains. The alpha stared at me, waiting for me to move. I remained a statue.
Maybe an hour, it felt like a day, but at least an hour went by, before the monster hydra left its observation to return to the waters. A few hundred feet away a smaller tunnel rested to go back into the water.
How
ever, all the way at the end of the tunnel, I saw a flicker of daylight from above.
Hope filled me. Wherever I was, there was a literal goldmine of Zorta. There was even a pile of hydra bodies littered among the creature city, and some glowed with orbs. Orbs everywhere from crabs though. There must have been hundreds of crabs picked apart every day.
Just a guess, but the citizens of Koor fed the lake with garbage, sewage, and dead bodies. The crabs ate the junk, the hydras ate the crabs, and this cave protected the massive herd… or swarm… or whatever.
All that was great, but Sprinkles was missing a foot, an orc army was coming, and the distance from my real body to this one stressed the connection.
My thoughts were interrupted when a gigantic head loomed over mine.
The big alpha had snuck back into the cavern through a different opening. This one was closer to his trophy pile. I waited until I heard the splash of it returning to the depths to move.
When I glanced behind me, I saw a smaller opening beside where the big guy had surfaced.
I surged forward, slithering across the smooth stone of the cavern floor. A massive head reached out, trying to chomp my leg. The jaws clamped down and onto the spot where I’d already lost a foot.
That small bit of luck was enough. I slid into a hole in the cavern floor. I prayed the big guy couldn’t get me, and that I wouldn’t become stuck along the route.
Not even five minutes into the tunnel that was a bit of a sink trap, I felt a pull. Suddenly, I shot out of the tunnel and found myself in a river again, the current taking me downstream.
My hand lashed out, catching a rocky bottom. I climbed my way up, always going up. I finally reached a shoreline, and once again I felt relieved.
I crawled into the thick jungle, not daring to stand. When I reached a decent spot in the trees, I spent at least ten minutes ripping up branches and covering Sprinkles.
That was Sprinkles orders when I left his body - do not move.
I zipped over the jungle, racing for my body. I soared over a lake that rested near an impressive city with walls that went hundreds of feet high. I didn’t get a long look because I was moving too fast.
The river fed the lake, and for a fleeting moment, I even saw scouts scouring the shorelines.
