“By Justice, I think not!” Malek cried, his blade whistling through the air to slam into their shadowy foe, even as it crashed into them. And suddenly, all was madness.
Jera and Alex's unprepared screams, Grey scaled twisted thrashing monster, razor sharp claws lashing out to tear at unprotected throats even as, with a burst of frenzied strength, Jess's own gauntleted hand snapped forward, grabbing her foe's gnarled wrist, squeezing with all her power as she fought to force the creature back from Jera's bare throat, instantly spinning into a grapple with the beast as it thrashed, diseased gray scales steaming in the damp, lashing like an enraged beast even as Jess pinned back its clawed limbs before heaving it over her hip with the ease of long practice, even as she felt the creature's teeth clamping fiercely upon her form, only to be stopped cold by her mithril shirt. With a jerk and twist she roared and slammed it to the ground, and it rolled away, laughing.
With desperate speed, Jess scooped up her fallen sword with shaking hands, ignoring her throbbing side, forcing herself to stay steady. Focused.
“Jess! Are you all right?” Malek cried, eyes wide with panic.
“Yes!” Jess snapped. “Stay focused, Malek! It circles like a leopard, looking for weakness!”
“Alex, Jera, are you two all right?” Jess called out to her friends, hearing nothing but their frantic breathing.
“Yes!” Alex said at last. “But I don’t think Jera can take much more of this.” His voice was shaken, exhausted. Jess wondered if he spoke for himself as well. “I’m sorry, Jess, it darts away too fast for me to focus a casting on him!” Even as he said it Jess’s gaze was caught by the dozen pairs of hungry eyes glaring at them, the horde of pale lurching figures even now crossing the muddy road, their intent to enter the stables now beyond a doubt.
“Alex, do what you must!” Jess shouted, and found her ears ringing as her friend uttered a single word of power.
Her entire body seemed to reverberate as the true force and potency of those ancient syllables rang through her mind like the sonorous gong of a massive bell, and at that instant she understood the essence of that primal utterance with every fiber of her being.
To rupture and shatter. To scatter apart. No exotic spell webs needed, Alex uttering a Primal word, the strength of his will keyed to the fabric of reality itself. It was power in its purest form, for all that Alex risked his own destruction, mortal flesh striving to master an art that defined reality itself. She spared Alex half a glance, relieved to see him intact, for all that he looked shaken, and Jess instantly understood why. For the dozen twisted figures approaching had been slammed off their feet. Bodies were sent flying back, some to smash against the sides of nearby buildings, others torn limb from limb, a patina of crimson now covering the road.
Malek whistled. “By the gods, Alex, that’s incredible! You'll have to teach me that spell!” Jess grinned in sentiment, even as she kept her eyes on the scurrying form lurking in the shadows.
“It was a True Word, Malek, not a proper spell at all.” Alex shuddered. “It doesn’t just knock people off their feet. It tears through them. If you get hit dead on… it can blast through you, rupturing tissue, even tearing off your limbs. It's a horrid way to go.”
Jess risked a second glance, absorbing the results of Alex's magic firsthand, a hideous sight of death and dismemberment being all that was left of half of the opponents who had been lurching towards them in utter silence but moments before, the ones that had survived shambling away on broken limbs.
“They were the ones who chose to start this battle!” Jess cried out. “They’re damn well going to suffer the consequences of that choice. We will fight, we will survive, and if anything tries to prevent that, we will kill them!” Her words were fierce, her eyes blazing with an icy fire.
It was then she felt a certain shiver race down her spine, spinning about, remembering the ambush predator stalking them, even now.
27
Focus, Jess." Twilight's words, almost hypnotic, penetrated her frantic mind. Finally, she thought to focus on what lay just beyond sight, Alex's well timed spell jolting a memory almost lost like some distant dream. If she focused, maybe, just as a scent hound could track its prey by the odor of its sweat, so too she could track this alien thing by the pervading miasma of foulness she had sensed emanating from that creature from the very moment it had struck. A sense of hideous wrongness that the creature radiated, its aura stained by a foul patina of hate and rot.
She grinned fiercely. There it was. Almost perfectly camouflaged in the dark shadows, yet unable to hide the reek of vile malice that suffused every pore of its being. In fact, looked at in just the right angle, she realized that she could see a fine webbing of sickly yellow and green strands that seemed to cover the creature in its entirety. With a sudden shiver of insight Jess realized that those strands were, in fact, chords of twisted vitality, protecting its physical manifestation with currents of corrupted magic pouring strength and purpose into the hideous abomination. As if wakening from a dream, she realized that this wasn't the first time she had faced such abominations, given life and vitality by twisted infernal magics.
Almost as if in trance, she felt her blade kiss her cheek, and the sudden sweet tang of pain made her grin. She heard slight hissing but ignored it, eyes staring forward, keeping track of the creature slowly creeping toward her right flank. She was careful not to reveal her sudden awareness, yet even from her periphery she could almost make out the hungry rictus of its grin as it approached.
Jess sensed the moment it rushed forward, claws extended to tear out her throat.
She ignored her friends' gasps as she let loose a single shout and spun around. Her fierce smile met the creature's hideous reptilian gaze, understood the look of surprise before widening in a frisson of agony, her longsword plunging forth with the pent up speed a crossbow limb snapping free of a loosened trigger, punching through the monster's suddenly smoking scales like a hot knife through lard with the force of her thrust, the creature's own mad rush serving only to impale it further upon her blade, punching through to the very hilt of her sword.
The demonic beast let loose a hideous bloodcurdling shriek of agonized rage even as Jess savagely yanked back, ripping through the monster's innards as she tore her smoking longsword free in the instant before the impaled creature could tear into her with tainted claws.
Adroitly Jess made use of the speed and timing her mother had always thought best suited for the dance floor, pivoting neatly away from her enemy's line of attack in the instant before it lashed out with ichor-laden claws, flanking it once more. The eviscerated creature, sustained despite its grievous wound by the foulest of magics, was nonetheless utterly off balance, and could only stumble forward after its desperate attack, twisting and screeching as its intestines spilled forth from the awful wound.
Jess seized the moment, hammering down upon her momentarily stunned foe with a desperate fury.
Expecting bony plates and supernaturally resilient sinew to provide considerable resistance, she was surprised at how effortlessly her longsword cleaved through rigid armor and thick muscle, the demon's madly blinking head parting cleanly from its neck in a spray of hot fetid blood splashing Jess and her companions as the corpse collapsed, shuddering and shriveling to a burnt crisp even as they stared on in awe and horror. A terrible silent shriek seemed to echo through the ether, as if the demon's very soul had been sundered by Jess's terrible blow.
Even as the creature's remains crumbled to smoking ash, the stable’s stench of entrails and offal became overladen with the awful wreak of brimstone.
Jess blinked, the silent room suddenly filled with screams she recognized too well, and she found herself grinning, despite the terror and danger just past, smiling with the glee of having cheated death one more time, bringing ruin to hated enemies that had sought her demise but moments ago. To her surprise she found herself laughing, Malek's voice chiming in concert, the pair roaring with relieved mirth, despite Jera's pan
icked wails.
Never did Jess recall feeling so alive, so intoxicated with the rush of savage battle fiercely won. She caught a glimpse of Malek's mad rictus of a smile, and knew her grin mirrored his own.
“We did it! Brilliant, Jess! That was just bloody brilliant!” Malek declared, their laughter washing away the fear and terror that had near drowned them moments before, leaving only sweetest exhilaration in its wake. “Your blade sliced its head clean off! A fierce Oberhau strike indeed, my sister.”
“Damn straight!” Jess enthused
Alex’s voice was soft, sonorous as he spoke. “Triumph in the face of horror and death, for such is the fierce joy and true passion of the warrior. But beware, brave soldier, the maiden who walks by death’s side, and never succumbs. Embracing only madness, besting all foes.” Jess felt oddly chilled by her friend's soft spoken quote, even as Malek smirked and finished the ancient adage.
“Tremble, soldier, before the mistress of battle. By her crimson gaze you will know the Handmaiden of Oblivion, the End of All Things.” Malek laughed. “What a time to be quoting Brennon. The general would be proud, Alex!”
“At least we are alive," Alex sighed. "Malek, please help me with Jera. She's not feeling too well. Jess? Keep your sword high. We need you alert, and doing what you do best."
Jess nodded. “Twilight, where are you?” She called, smiling with relief as a pair of sapphire eyes met hers in the darkness.
“I’m here,” her familiar soothed. “Beware, Jess. This land lies trapped between dream and nightmare. Do not let your companion’s eyes close in exhaustion while you are here, or they may never escape this twisted web of dreams.”
“Don’t worry, we’re leaving here as fast as we damn well can,” she assured.
“What’s that, Jess?” Malek queried, doing his best to help Alex with a shaking Jera. Her trembling gaze was locked upon the horror of shattered bodies, twisted and inhuman. She started to whimper, burying her tear-streaked eyes in her lover’s robes.
“Twilight gave me counsel,” Jess explained. “Whatever happens, none of us dare fall asleep in this realm. If we do, we might end up trapped in whatever nightmare these people are living, never to escape.”
Alex hissed as, much like Jera, they couldn't help but stare at the twisted creatures Alex had sundered. Their flesh was gray and scabby, mangy hair torn out in sore ridden clumps, and their bulbous eyes were a faintly luminous yellow even now, sightless in death. Yet for all that, Jess felt a horrible wave of pity. For unlike the demonic monstrosity she had just beheaded, there was no denying that these pathetic creatures had once been human, before being so hideously warped by whatever plague or spell or figment of darkest nightmare had infected them.
By silent agreement they turned as one to walk back along the western road from whence they came, too sickened to bother rummaging through the eviscerated remains of their savaged mounts, simply wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the haunted town as possible.
It was a walk both quiet and terrible, nothing but the sound of their trudging footsteps, Alex’s voiceless soothings, and Jera’s panicked sobs. That and the pouring rain, drowning out all else. Jess and Malek kept their swords ready and eyes sharp, wary of any further ambush through the pouring rain.
After what seemed endless moments Malek let out a cry of triumph. "Jess! Do you feel it? The barrier binding this town, it's weakening!"
Jess nodded. "You're right, Malek, I feel it too." It was almost as if the Shadowlands themselves had raised its dark cloak to cover part of the world of the living.
This, she realized, must be the dreaded rift between the realms of Shadow and Dawn that they had so feared being unleashed with both the wand and chalice in play. It seemed all of Pomell had indeed been swallowed up, and how odd that they had not felt the transition until horror itself had descended upon them.
She exchanged a solemn glance with her shieldbrother, knowing he too was aware of just how dire the situation had become.
“I know, Jess. You don't have to say it. The moment we get Alex and Jera safely out of here and to the nearest shelter, they are to send word to the Guild representative nearby, and we're going back in.”
Jess's answering smile was bleak. “Could it ever be any other way, Malek? If there is even a chance that we can stop what is going on back there, we have to go back. Even if all we can do is reconnaissance. At least we know we can survive true Shadow if the rift gets any deeper.” She shook her head and sighed. “We have to do it, no matter how much I'm sick of this downpour.”
Then she heard Jera scream, even as Alex collapsed in a heap, Jess desperately trying to break his fall. She didn’t have time to safely secure her sword before her friends stumbled to the ground, twisting and writhing, crying out with terror, their fine clothes now spattered with mud and filth.
Blades quickly sheathed, Jess helped Alex back to his feet even as Malek gently held a screaming Jera. With grim silent nods, they began to walk back, and their friends' ragged breathing instantly eased.
“By the gods, were you trying to kill us?" a terrified Alex demanded, even as he regained his breath. His wild-eyed panic sent chills down Jess's spine.
“What happened?" she asked her friend softly.
Alex took a moment to calm himself, blinking in the fierce rain, regathering his thoughts. “It was awful!” He shuddered with horror. “One moment we were trudging through the rain, the next you and Malek had left us, and Jera and I were in total blackness… drowning in it. Choking on it. I lack the words.” Deep brown eyes haunted by terror locked upon Jess's own. “It wasn’t just an absence of light. It was a force, enveloping us. And the most horrid thing was, it felt like it was giving way beneath our feet.” Alex grimaced. “It felt like it would rupture and send us falling into endless nightmare.” The intensity of his gaze, so unlike his normally calm, unflappable self, chilled Jess in a way the endless rain never could.
“There is something awful below, trapped in the darkness, Jess,” Alex whispered. “Something… monstrous. And it wants us, Jess. It won't stay trapped forever, and it wants to devour us, body and soul.”
Jess grimaced, not knowing what to say. Silently she gazed at her friends even as the rain poured down, Jera shrieking endlessly, insensate with horror. At last Jess blinked, breaking free of the paralytic numbness she felt subtly trying to overtake her, filling her with a curious kind of melancholy.
Jess shook her head and cursed. She refused to give will-sapping despair purchase upon her soul. No matter how slim their chances, how grim the odds, she would fight to get to the bottom of this horror, no matter how dreadful it turned out to be. She would battle for her friends' very survival. This she swore to herself, even as she gazed at Alex with renewed resolve.
“Okay,” she said at last. “We know that going back the way we came is not an option.” She took a steadying breath, focusing. Planning. “We’ve got to get to shelter now. You have to calm Jera, lest her shouting attract more of those... creatures, and Malek and I will have to get to the heart of this.”
Alex nodded resolutely, gathering a shaking Jera in his arms, soothing her until her cries turned to soft whimpers, her eyes still wide with unspeakable terror.
Malek and Jess shared a resolute look. “We’re really in the thick of it this time, aren’t we, Jess?” He managed a shaky laugh.
Jess nodded silently. “Come. Let us find shelter.” She looked back toward the town, grimly imagined fighting through an unknown number of horrors, whether they were monsters, or simply sickened humans stumbling about in a fevered dream. The one thing she could say for sure was that the entire town looked tainted and twisted to her, all the more so behind sheets of pouring rain.
No doubt living here, drenched in seeping nightmare, would warp any being not equipped to thrive within realms of haunted dream and Shadow.
Jess blinked, feeling suddenly sickened, realizing that some souls were equipped not only to thrive, but to feed off the twist
ed nightmare Pomell was slipping into. Like the Shadowrealms. A place none save Delvers determined to behold secrets lost to time would dare to enter, hungry to embrace wonders that existed only in ancient tales, those half mad men and women that reveled in the ancient dreams of forgotten civilizations.
Feeding upon their adventures. Growing stronger. Like she and her shieldbrother, Jess realized with a cold chill. She turned to her friend, even as they helped Alex and Jera head back the way they came. “Malek. Tell me true. Do you feel exhausted with the chill, the rain, the battle, or do you feel… alive?”
Malek gave her an almost offended stare, gesturing at their exhausted friends. “Don’t you think we have more important things to worry about than how tired we are?”
Jess exhaled sharply. “Just answer the question, Malek! Do you feel tired or not?”
Malek just shook his head, before blinking and considering. He gazed at his two other companions, obviously exhausted and shivering. He could deny it no more than Jess could. Alex and Jera both looked pale, drenched, in danger of hypothermia, on the verge of collapse. Yet Malek, who in addition to having survived the same ordeal had also carried Jera the last half mile, looked as vibrant and alive as Jess had ever seen him.
Malek gave Jess a puzzled smile. “It's strange. We’ve carried them for some distance, trudging through a damn chill rain, and that's after having fought twisted things out to kill us, with all the cost that places on a soul. But honestly, Jess, my body feels like I’ve just had a good stretch on the practice grounds, and I could fight all day long.”
Jess gave a grim nod. "I feel the same. Malek? I don't think Pomell is really Pomell anymore. I think we've already slipped into the realm of dreams."
Malek's eyes widened and he gazed at their friends. "Oh, crap. We're not just tiptoeing upon the outskirts, we're deep in Shadow, aren't we?"
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