by Cheek, Jason
Orion created the Jutsu concept on the fly as he pictured the effect he wanted the shamanistic magic to produce. This wasn’t going to be a tight shot of compressed air like what was needed for a Wind blade. No, this was going to be a massive blast of air from something like an airzooka on steroids. The special attack was broadly based around the concept of stink-shot that he’d played with his co-workers in the helicopter repair bay at his night job. Basically, the concept was to fart into the mouth of the airzooka and then shoot it across the bay to where your buddy was hard at work. Extra points were given for things like open mouth shots. The hardest part of visualizing the magic was forming the compressed air he was holding into a doughnut-like shape to form the air vortex with.
It took all of his physical strength to hold the tight pocket of compressed air together as his mind moved to the next part of the process. There was a brief moment of time that he could remove his hands from the rotating compressed air. Sliding behind the ball in a crouch, Orion covered his open palms with Air magic as he hit the compressed mass with a Hadouken-style strike, giving it everything he had while yelling.
“Wind Wave Blast!”
Okay, so it wasn’t “Wave Motion Fist” from Street Fighter, but it was the next best thing, Orion thought, as the air was nearly ripped from his lungs. The compressed air pocket doughnut-like shape kept its shape as it shot through the air in the shape of a perfect air vortex towards his hidden raid mates fighting for their lives. Minny, who was standing next to him, couldn’t see what he was doing with his magic, but she saw the results, when a five-yard circle blasted out of the wall of inky darkness that surrounded the melee fighters in the center of the line.
For a split-moment, the monsters fell back as their magic camouflage was stripped away from them, while the support side of the raid froze in horror. The thick mass of monstrous, horse-like creatures the size of colts ravaging the Devil Dogs’ melee line were walking nightmares. Orion’s subconscious immediately identified the monsters as a mutation between a zergling and a reptilian-like horse. The front half of the horse-like head, chest, outer legs, shoulders, withers, and dock were covered with the black, chitinous-like shell of an insect that acted as natural plate-like armor. Also, similar to an insect, they had antenna-like fibers instead of hair that cascaded down their long necks. While the monstrous horses had hooves on their hind legs, their front legs had feet that looked like spider claws, which they used with devastating effect to carve through the bronze breastplates of the tank line like can openers cutting open aluminum cans. Even more horrifying were their misshapen mouths that seemed to be their main attacks, which had jaws that opened outwards like the mouth of the Alien in the movie Predator. Without a thought, Orion triggered his Identify spell as the name of the creatures popped up before his eyes in a system window, Elite Dreadstallion, level 34.
Amazingly enough, Ashley, who had been holding the center of the defensive line, didn’t bat an eye at the unveiling of the nightmarish monsters. Standing tall against the black wave of insect-like monstrosities, her sandy-blonde ponytail danced behind her back as her shimmering long sword and kite shield kept the crush of monsters at bay as they rushed back in to attack. Protecting her back was her husband, Killtet, as his dual short swords drew black ichor from the attackers with every slash in a complex dance of death. The only other pair that could be seen was the DPS Warrior named Austin who was fighting back-to-back with the Assassin Zyphonn. Upon seeing what they were up against, they fell back behind Ashley’s Iron-reinforced shield, while the rest of the melee line’s icons began to flash red as the hidden monsters redoubled their efforts to brutally tear the invaders apart.
“Defensive line fall back!” Ashley’s strong voice rang out, as oozing darkness began pouring out of the creatures’ mouths and skin in front of her. The effect wasn’t so much like a dragon’s breath weapon, but more like the magical fog in the movie Excalibur, when Morgana chanted The Charm of Making. It was in this way that the inky black camouflage began reforming around them. Before it could completely re-fill the area, Orion caught sight of a monstrous entity that was bigger than all the others. A quick cast of his Identify revealed the creature’s information, Elite Dreadmare Matriarch, level 61.
The Matriarch was the size of a terrestrial Clydesdale and was obviously the group’s leader, Orion thought, as the monster proudly stood to watch over the battlefield about twenty-yards back atop an especially large outcropping of rock. Unlike its smaller brethren, this monster had the scorpion-like tail of a Manticore. Not only that, but it also had arm-like spikes on either side of its body. Almost like batwings but without the fleshy skin part of the wing. These bone-like protrusions ended in pointy, chitinous spikes that had the ability to reach forward like arms at chest level.
How did he know that? Because the monster eyed him from across the battlefield and snapped its spikes forward threateningly like it wanted to rip him apart. That in and of itself was pretty creepy but the flexing point of the scorpion tail stretching out high overhead as if it were drawing back to strike sent a shiver down his spine. Nonetheless, Orion had an impression of great intelligence as the Matriarch’s red gaze locked onto his own. It was in that brief moment of eye contact that Orion felt something alien brush against his mind. It was filled with territorial outrage, fear, and a touch of surprised curiosity at their mental contact. The communication that passed between them wasn’t in words so much as feelings and impressions. In that split moment, it was like they’d shared a brain dump. Unfortunately, before Orion could understand what any of it meant, a shriek of anguish broke the mental connection he had with the Dreadmare Monarch.
“Get the fuck off of her, pussyfaces!” Killtet shrieked like a madman, as he jumped on top of the mini-horde of Dreadstallions that had tackled Ashley to the rocky ground. A third of the range line switched to healing as they did their best to keep the defensive line leader alive, but it was simply too much damage too quickly. Within seconds, Ashley’s hit points plummeted to zero as Killtet went berserk. It was the last thing that Orion saw of either one of them as the magical darkness closed in around them while Killtet raged. “I’ll fucking kill you all!”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Orion’s eyes glanced towards the raid interface just as Ashley and Killtet’s icons turned gray. A quick glance over the interface showed him that the entire defensive line was going down at the same time as the magical wall of darkness suddenly surged forward. The Rangers and Mages in the backline immediately switched over to dealing damage as they began worriedly backing up over the rough terrain. While some of them shot out individual spells, the majority held their fire, since only AOE spells had a true chance of hitting the enemy within their natural camouflage.
“Run while I hold them off!” Santaz Krew, one of the active service Navy men that was home on leave, shouted to the rest of the line as he began channeling Ice Barrage at the main bottlenecks in the rocky nodes before them. While it wouldn’t hold the creatures off for long, it would force the creatures to either go through or around the temporary blockade. Hopefully, it would give the remaining survivors of the raid a little more time to put some distance between themselves and the enemy.
“You can’t hope to hold them back by yourself,” Marina's voice countermanded Santaz’s as she took command of the situation. “Rangers fall back while Mages cover!” Releasing a Hail of Arrows AOE at the choke point, the retired helicopter pilot bellowed out “Move it, people!” as she fell back.
While the remaining four Rangers turned around and raced after her, Shelly Marie stepped forward with Daiki Musashi as they both added their AOE spells to the conflagration. As the Rangers reached their new defensive position ten yards back, Marina’s voice called out for the Rangers to give covering fire for the Mages to fall back, when movement at the edge of the swirling darkness caught everyone’s eyes. A second later, a bloody and torn up warrior came staggering out the cloud bank, while releasing a Frost Nova behind him.
Orion immediately recognized Vector Fisher as he cast a Regeneration on himself and tried to put some distance between him and his pursuers. A part of Orion was unsurprised as he quickly glanced at the raid interface to verify that Vector was the only remaining melee class left alive. The man had a unique multiclass Frost mage, Warrior, Priest build that was extremely effective at surviving. Even so, the Dreadstallions had torn him apart given the condition of the man’s dented shield and shredded leathers. His gear even smoked in places from where he’d taken the brunt of the Fire mages’ AOEs. Marina’s stern voice was already calling for one of the Rangers to switch over to healing as the rest of them began hammering the bottleneck with their Hail of Arrows AOEs, when Vector suddenly stopped and turned around to face the boiling darkness that was nearly on top of him.
“Come on Minny,” Orion urgently shouted, as he turned around to scoop the little Gnomeling up in his arms. Instead of allowing him to grab her, Minny tried dodging around him to run toward the remaining Devil Dogs fighting for their lives. Understanding the little Gnome’s desire, Orion snaked an arm around her waist and hauled her up in a reverse hip carry as he took off in the opposite direction of the battle. “It’s time we got the fuck out of here!”
“Nooo,” Minny wailed, “you can’t leave them behind!”
“Yes I can,” Orion shouted back as Vector’s icon turned gray. “Keeping you safe is my only priority!”
He didn’t have to look back to know what was happening behind him as Shelly Marie and Daiki’s defiant screams came to his ears a moment before they were suddenly cut off. If there’d been any doubts, Minny’s terrified whimpers told him everything he needed to know as both of the Mage avatars turned gray in his HUD. Even though Marina’s urgent calls to focus fire cut him to the core, Orion ignored the sounds of battle and the inhuman shrieks of the monsters’ taking out his brothers and sisters as his booted feet beat a path towards the boiling hot springs with a limp crying Gnomeling tucked under his arm.
While the Marine part of him hated leaving anyone behind, the logical part of his brain drove him on. The only person in the raid that could permanently die was Minny, and he was going to keep her safe whether she wanted him to or not. Besides, in his heart, Orion knew that there was nothing he could do to stop the raid from being wiped. They’d need to have three to four times their current numbers to have any hope of standing against those monstrous Dreadstallions and their special camouflage ability, he thought sourly. That is, until his mind went back to the Elite Dreadmare Matriarch watching over the battle. Who knew if even then their combined levels and numbers would be enough to take the elite boss out.
That thought brought his mind back to the turmoil he’d felt during the moment of empathy he’d shared when they’d looked into each other’s eyes. While the Matriarch had a face that Orion doubted a mother could even love, there’d been an intellect there that had resonated with something deep inside of his soul. Even now, his mind was filled with images of Hobgoblins and the Dreadherd fighting one another in a battle to the death. The story hadn’t been given to him in words so much as a series of flickering images that had been sent to him in those brief seconds of contact. More than that, his own thoughts had been transmitted back to the Matriarch in a similar way.
Orion shook the conflicting thoughts running through his head away as the bubbling hot springs came into sight. For now, he had to ensure that they both escaped this cluster fuck, before trying to contemplate what all of the images in his head meant. Orion was just angling for a thin strip of land that went around the large bubbling pool of sulfur, when his ears picked up the scrabbling sounds of claws and hooves against stones. He was just looking over his shoulder, when Minny shrieked out fearfully as her little legs began to kick excitedly.
“They’re right behind us!”
Immediately, Orion’s eyes focused on the billowing cloud of darkness that had nearly caught up to them while he was lost in thought. Instead of being completely hidden in the darkness, this time the front-halves of the Dreadstallions could be clearly seen in all of their glory as they galloped over the rocky terrain. Black smoke billowed out of their nostrils and mouths, while gore and viscera stained their dark muzzles from their earlier kills as their red, glowing eyes burned with hate. Seeing the speed at which the monsters were closing, Orion surged into a sprint, while he hurriedly slung Minny around his waist like an old-school swing dancer as she screamed bloody murder. The little Gnomeling came to an abrupt stop a second later straddling his neck as Orion reached for his Air Shamanism ability.
There was no time to listen to Minny bitching at his rough handling of her as he tried to come up with a plan. While there was nothing in his arsenal of spells to specifically help him out in a situation such as this, Naamro, the Plain’s Centauride Shaman, had taught him that the most important precept of learning to be an Air Shaman was flexibility. He couldn’t even begin to count the number of times she’d said that he needed to be flexible in his thoughts, body, and mind if he was going to incorporate the magic she was teaching him into his martial arts. While he’d thought it was annoying as hell at the time, it was this constant focus of looking for new ways to adapt that gave him the brilliant idea that suddenly popped into his mind.
Similar to one of the very first techniques Naamro had taught him, Orion pictured the Enhance Speed technique that she’d shown him to increase the speed of his strikes by wrapping his limbs with air. When cast correctly, the technique lessened the air resistance to his body, while increasing the speed of each movement. After a week and a half of practice, Orion could now wrap his entire body in a sheath of air. Though it currently only gave him an overall fifteen percent increase to his attack and movement speed, this time, however, he was going to try something different. Instead of creating a thin layer of air around his body, Orion focused his magic to form a thick layer of air that functioned like a shortboard that he could grab with his hand.
With that created, Orion focused once again on the situation around them, only to find Minny beating at his head with her little fists, while shrieking at the top of her lungs as the herd of Dreadstallions came barreling up behind them. In that moment, he could hear their snapping fang-filled maws and insect-like shrieks filling the air with the promise of a grisly death as he angled his sprint to a waist-high node ahead of them. They were only seconds away from being torn apart and trampled under the monsters’ chitinous clawed feet and hooves, when he leaped into the air.
“Hold on tight, Minny!” Orion shouted, as he landed on the top of the base of the rocky outcrop without stopping.
“We’re going to dddiiieee!” Minny wailed, as Orion used his momentum to propel them to the very top of the shoulder-high node and sprang into the air. “Aaaeeeiii!” Minny’s wordless scream nearly deafened him as they soared through the air.
Orion didn’t worry that the climb had allowed the nightmarish herd to basically catch up to them. He was too focused on smoothing the air around them as he whipped the invisible air-board under his feet. ‘Just like riding The Dark Side of the Moon at Canaan Valley,’ Orion thought, as he flexed his knees and leaned his weight forward. A second later, they dropped in amongst the lead Dreadstallions’ clawed legs as the air-board jolted to a rough landing six inches above the rocky slope.
It felt like a snowboard biting into the snow at the start of a run, Orion thought, as he sent the board skittering to the side to dodge a snapping maw. Ducking low, he sent the board flying underneath the bellies of three of the lead monsters in the blink of an eye, causing them to rear onto their hind legs in surprise and fury. Orion knew they were only seconds away from being caught as he sent the air-board shooting back in the opposite direction directly for another node.
If they’d been on a steeper slope, there wouldn’t have been any problems with getting the extra speed they needed with his Air Shamanism magic. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and his push/pull technique wasn’t able to make up the difference of the twe
lve-degree grade as they raced towards the boiling sulfur pool at black-diamond slope speeds. A system window tried to pop open to say that he’d learned the new spell, Wind Surfer, but he dismissed the window with a flick of his eyes as he cut away from a particularly large Dreadstallion that lunged at Minny’s head. As the inner jaws yanked out a few wisps of Minny’s hair, Orion sent the air-board flying to the top of the node with a super hop, before twisting to the side and leaping off of it in a corkscrew flip.
“Woohoo!” Orion shouted as Minny screamed in terror, while they looped over the top of the Dreadstallion’s head. While the move got them away, it was only temporary as the rest of the herd surged forward to intercept them when they landed. Orion tried to pull/push the air-board faster with all of his Air Shamanistic power, but it was no use, he was already driving the board forward as fast as he could.
In that split-second they were coming in for a landing, Orion could see the Dreadstallions’ chitinous-covered heads jostling for position to sink their fang-filled maws into them. Switching tactics, he began casting his new spell, Wind Wave Blast. Unfortunately, in his heart. he knew there was no way they’d survive the creatures’ attacks for the five seconds he needed to cast it. Orion was cursing himself for breaking his promise to Star and getting Minny killed, when a piercing cry filled the air.
The herds’ reaction was instantaneous. As Orion and Minny came down in front of the galloping monsters, the Dreadstallions’ fang-filled maws didn’t strike, but let them land in front of them without attacking. Even more shocking, the monsters’ seemed to be slowing down into a trot as the air-board shot towards the rocky shore of the boiling sulfuric pool. Orion had one last look at the hideous monsters as the impenetrable darkness covered the lead Dreadstallions once again.