Echo Online 2

by Zachariah Dracoulis

  “There’s a secret passage,” Frostiey said, tilting and nodding her head around the bar, “it’ll spit us into the sewer system, then it’s a straight shot to the docks.”

  “And should we be worried about giant rats or anything?” Sam jokingly asked after tucking her new gun down the back of her pants.

  “Potentially,” Frostiey replied, letting that hang in the air for a while before shooting Sam a wink, “but I haven’t seen any yet.”

  Truthfully, I was actually a little disappointed that I wouldn’t be going toe-to-toe with a bunch of dungeon beasts, though at the same time I acknowledged that we probably had better things to do than waste a bunch of our time playing with supersized vermin.

  “Lead the way then,” I said, deciding to keep my pistol in hand, “see you around, Frank.”

  “You too, Buck.” Frank replied as we followed Frostiey around to a practically invisible, Labyrinth-style hole in the wall next to the bar, “Good luck out there.”

  Have to say, that was one of the first times I’d heard ‘good luck’ and actually felt like I might need it.

  The weird part was that that feeling didn’t actually have anything to do with being concerned about our welfare and had everything to do with if we actually succeeded.

  Carl had whipped out his God power and cratered a solid portion of the city, and he was supposed to be on the ‘good’ side.

  I knew it was all a game, but I just couldn’t shake the thought that maybe unleashing some kind of eldritch force wasn’t the best idea in the whole world and maybe, just maybe, I’d end up feeling like Oppenheimer after World War II.

  Honestly, I was just glad to have Frostiey’s happy drink running through my system and did my best not to focus on how crappy I’d feel if I’d been left to my own devices.

  That and, you know, the fact that we were walking next to a river of piss and shit.

  29

  “All I’m saying is that I’ve never gone to the bathroom in Echo, so why is there sewage down here?” Sam asked for the umpteenth time.

  “I’ll clean us all once we’re out of here,” Frostiey replied tiredly, “I’ll even make it so that our philtra smell of vanilla and honey suckle, but for now can we please stay focused?”

  “Listen to her,” I said, eyeing off the mostly still water next to us, “last thing we need right now is to get in a fight and fall down there.”

  “Ugh,” Jane gagged, “don’t even put that in my head…”

  There was a part of me that wanted to see just how much I could push her, but that part was quickly smothered by how much I cared about her.

  Also the fear that she may literally push me and pissy-poop isn’t exactly my desired cologne.

  “We’re here,” Frostiey announced, pointing to an indented section of concrete, “we should be fine to go straight up, but from there we have to be completely silent until we’re sure we’re alone.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I replied before waving for the girls to go ahead of me, “Where’s it come up?”

  “Alleyway behind some kitchen or something,” Frostiey said, clearing a path for Sam as she made for the ladder, “should give us enough room to breathe until we get our bearings.”

  “And this dock we’re hitting, you’re sure it’s not going to be an absolute bloodbath on our end?” I asked.

  “Positive,” Frostiey replied confidently, lowering her voice once Jane and Sam were halfway up, “it’ll be a bit more of a stretch to get you all home than some of the other docks, but at least you’ll actually get there. Go on, you next.”

  “You go ahead.” I said.

  “Why? So you can look at my ass?” Frostiey joked.

  “No,” I chuckled, “because I’d like it if the person who knew where we were going was up there.”

  “Why did you let Sam and Jane take point then?” Frostiey asked.

  “Because as much as I want to know where we’re going, I also couldn’t be trapped down here with them complaining about the smell for another minute.” I whispered lightheartedly, hoping she’d take the joke.

  “Fair enough,” Frostiey quietly laughed before finally climbing up onto the ladder, “I’ll be sure to shout down if we start getting ripped apart up there.”

  “And I’ll make sure to slide down and run away as fast as I can.” I joked as I gave the sewer one final scan for giant rats and started climbing up after the Gathlain, “I’ll also make sure to tell your story, of course.”

  That earned me a little giggle from Frostiey as she struggled to keep her footing on the weirdly slippery rungs, “Of course.”

  With each rung I felt a little closer to home, and even though our party had fallen silent, I could still feel the excitement that was brewing amongst us.

  The concept of making our WMD was still less than fun to think about, sure, but I couldn’t help but become intoxicated by what everyone else was feeling.

  Granted, the result of all that was me pulling a gassy smile on my way out of the sewers, though that didn’t change the fact that I, for the first time since nabbing the Angel energy thing, was truly ready to get back to my little island.

  “Coast is clear on both ends,” Sam whispered, nodding towards the far end of the dark alleyway, “but we think there might be a Hallowed Kings patrol making their way around the block.”

  “What makes you think that?” Frostiey asked, clearly thrown by the prospect of more than just whoever was at the docks.

  “We heard some people talking,” Jane replied, “couldn’t see ‘em, but they weren’t exactly being loud.”

  “Might just be the empty streets,” I suggested with a look up at the moon, “night air always seems to carry voices farther.”

  “Which is why we should probably get a move on,” Frostiey added before leading the way towards the closer end of the alley, conjuring what looked like a gun made of vines as she did, “and let’s try and make it quiet.”

  With that, the party fell silent again, slipping down the alley towards the sounds and smells of the bay.

  I don’t know why, but in that moment I made the decision to put in more effort to going to the bay in the real world, even if it was just to have a coffee and look at the water.

  Anyway, after making sure we weren’t about to get snuck up on, Frostiey peeked around the corner, let out a sigh of relief, and gestured for us to join her.

  “See anything?” I asked before reaching her shoulder, deciding I’d rather have it explained than have us all line our way up out the alley.

  “Exactly like I thought,” Frostiey replied near-silently, “five halos, all of whom are milling around on the dock, and their AA. They’ve got three boats ready to go, none of which have any sort of defensive capabilities.”

  “Well, that’s a shame,” I quietly chuckled as I checked my mag, “any chance they know we’re here?”

  “Not unless it’s a really terrible trap,” Frostiey murmured as she backed into the alley, “like, really terrible. They’re only a hundred or so feet away, and once we’re there we’ll have full view of everything around us for about a literal mile.”

  “We push then,” Sam said assertively, “keep it as quiet as possible, try to have you three use your magic, and when that inevitably fails we’ll go loud and hijack the nearest boat.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Jane agreed, resting her shotgun on her shoulder, “Will we have any cover?”

  “There’re a couple of cars between here and there,” Frostiey replied, “then, provided we get to the docks without being seen, there’s a few crates and fishing equipment that should give us enough cover to stay hidden until the last possible moment.”

  “Right then,” I let out distractedly, sneaking a look at the nearest sedan, which was some twenty feet from where we were standing, “I’ll go first, then Sam, then Frostiey, then Jane. Don’t bunch up, and if you hear something don’t keep it to yourself.”

  “Sure you don’t want me to take point?” Frostiey asked,
“No offence, but I know I’d feel a whole lot more comfortable if I wasn’t riding bitch on this.”

  “As grateful as I am for you getting us this far, there’s no way in Hell I’m not leading the pack here.” I replied somewhat cockily.

  “Oh yeah?” Frostiey chuckled, “And how do you plan to stop me?”

  “Like this.” I said before ducking around the corner and making my move for the nearest car.

  If I’m being honest, I was actually kind of glad to have that little argument, it was a really good incentive.

  I didn’t have a whole lot of time to focus on that though as, mere seconds after reaching my position, I was tapped on the back, sending me up to a micro-car that just barely hid me.

  We continued like that, barely making a sound despite how quickly we were moving between the vehicles, until we reached a set of manicured bushes next to the mouth of what was clearly a private pier.

  Taking a moment to let everyone catch up, I peered through the hedge at the ‘AA’, which appeared to be little more than some kind of metallic modern art that consisted of three, thin thirty foot tall spikes which came to a point at the top.

  “Doesn’t look like much…” I murmured after making sure the small group of halos weren’t within earshot, “Cool, sure, but not all that dangerous…”

  “Hear those seagulls?” Frostiey asked, clearly still slightly annoyed by the fact that I’d taken point.

  “Nope.” I replied as I looked around for the gulls.

  “Exactly,” the Gathlain said, “if you’re more than fifteen feet above sea-level near one of those things, you’ll get zapped right out of the sky.”

  “Got it,” Jane scoffed, “no flying or giants allowed. Where do we go from here though?”

  “There’re a few crates of rope and crap up the pier a bit,” I replied, using the hedge to stay all-but-invisible, “but I don’t know how much noise we’ll make getting there.”

  “We won’t be able to run then?” Sam asked.

  “Definitely not,” I sighed, biting down hard on my lower lip and quietly clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, “and if one of those halos so much as glances our way-”

  “Open season.” Frostiey muttered, “I’m still confident we can take them, but with that patrol getting around it’ll be risky.”

  “I say we push up.” Jane suggested confidently, “Saves us sitting around here waiting to get snuck up on.”

  “I’m with Jane.” Sam agreed, sending a smile across Jane’s lips.

  As far as I was concerned, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

  I didn’t want to be the last one to throw my hat in the ring, but traipsing up the pier and hoping nothing would go wrong seemed like a plan doomed to fail.

  But it was our only plan.

  “Fuck it,” I sighed, “let’s do it.”

  “I like your optimism.” Frostiey said with a little smirk before readying up and nodding, “Ready when you are.”

  Not going to lie, there was a small part of me that was regretting being at the front.

  “We get to those crates and we’re good…” I whispered to myself more than anyone else as I made sure that I definitely, positively had a round chambered, “Alright, push.”

  With that, I moved around the hedge, keeping as low as I could while keeping my eyes on the five halos milling around at the end of the pier, my finger tapping my gun with each of my steps as I crept.

  Then, a mere five feet from my goal, Dave did it.

  The little fucker sneezed.

  Suddenly all of the halos’ eyes were on me, including the additional four that had just come out of one of the boats.

  We were all frozen, my gun pointed at the wood, the halos’ shotguns and swords either aimed at the ground or resting on their well-armored shoulders.

  “I…” I trailed off, completely lost as to what the fuck had just happened, before letting out a nervous little laugh, “Why?”

  30

  “You don’t even have a fuckin’ nose!” I barked as I practically dove for the nearest crate, popping off two shots that went completely wide as I did.

  “Yeah, but…” Dave replied somewhat timidly, “Whatever, I was bored.”

  “Bored?” I snapped, watching as the girls ran past me and took cover where they could, “You’re gonna get us killed because you were bored?”

  “You won’t die, you big baby,” Dave chuckled right as a section of the crate exploded just above my head, “remember that arena? You whooped ass at that thing.”

  “That was PvE, this is PvMe.” I growled before leaning around the crate and firing off three more shots, two of which glanced off a halo’s chest armor and into his throat.

  “Sure, you have no discernible skill whatsoever,” Dave replied mockingly while I let off another quick volley, “provided you don’t waste all your bullets like a complete idiot, you’ll roll through this like you’ve rolled through everything else.”

  “Need I remind you that I nearly had my heart ripped out of my body?” I asked, cursing myself out for yet another failed few shots that either ricocheted off the halos’ armor or missed altogether, “You gals holding up!?”

  “Oh yeah, we’re fine!” Frostiey shouted sarcastically over the gunfire, “Why don’t we just call up halo HQ and get ourselves a real party going!?”

  “That’s the spirit!” I laughed as best as I could before letting out a few quick breaths and popping up, finding, firing at, and downing two halos.

  “And that’s a wrap folks.” Dave sighed after I’d dropped back down, “I mean, unless you’ve got another mag on you?”

  “I’ll be fine,” I replied coolly, setting the handgun down beside me, closing my eyes, and slumping down into a comfortable seated position, “that Frostiey chick seems to know what she’s doing, and if shit gets too real, I’m sure Sam’ll just go all cat.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not the halos I’m worried about,” Dave said while I did my best to settle down a bit and wait for the girls to shout for me, “you might want to open your eyes, bud.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake…” I muttered after begrudgingly following Dave’s suggestion, “Can’t you find someone else to piss off?”

  There were six of them at the mouth of the pier, two with riot shields at the front, four with batons, all of them Elves and dressed like some kind of mall cop-SWAT hybrid.

  “And they don’t even let you carry guns.” I scoffed, looking between their panicked faces as I slowly drew Dave and brought my free hand to my mouth, “Stupefaciunt.”

  They’d obviously seen me whisper into my palm, but when I didn’t immediately hurl a fireball their way they decided to grow a collective set and start moving forward.

  “I sure do hope you have a plan here, Buck.” Dave muttered while I waited for the last of the group’s feet to hit the pier.

  “Oh,” I chuckled, smiling at the group, “you know I do.”

  Then, right as the shields were about to descend upon me, I snapped my fingers in their direction, warbling their shields and stunning the entire squad.

  Unsure how long the stun would work for, I launched myself with my wings into the shields, tackling the majority and sending two into the water.

  “That’s my boy!” Dave laughed maniacally as I pried a shield up and stabbed the Elf beneath, feeling the energy of a fresh soul ripple straight into the blade, “Kill these pointy-eared fucks!”

  Doing my best not to lose myself in Dave’s bloodlust, I clambered up and kept the struggling Elves down while stabbing at every available opportunity, sending blood everywhere and choked groans across the pier.

  “Stay. Down!” I growled when one of the Elves tried to push me off.

  “Get mad, Buck!” Dave cheered, “Fuck ‘em up!”

  If I’m being totally honest, I don’t think he was a good influence on me.

  Thankfully, outside of the pure adrenaline I felt coursing through my veins that I’d come to expect with the kil
ls I got with Dave I wasn’t enjoying my one man massacre, especially not as I pushed bodies aside and drove my blade into the cowering Elves beneath.

  It was different than my other fights though, and not just in the way that Dave was able to munch on souls far easier.

  Something about butchering the Elves in a less-than-fair fight felt comparable, though not completely similar, to when I went on my sacrificial killing spree.

  Mostly, it just made me feel like I needed to keep my sanity in check and, despite how useful he could be, minimize how much I used Dave in my engagements.

  “Buck,” Sam called softly from behind me, the sound barrier-creating wings and my repeated stabbings making it kind of hard to focus on her voice, “Buck, honey? I think they’ve had enough.”

  “I’ve almost got them.” I replied, not quite hearing the maniacal tone in my voice.

  “You’ve got them,” Sam said coolly, “and we’ve got ours, and it’s time to go.”

  “Just… almost.” I grunted as three of the Elves bodies despawned, giving me better access to what I now realize were more dead bodies.

  “Buck, it’s time to go.” Sam repeated.

  “I-” I started then stopped after realizing what I was doing, “Alright, I’m done.”

  “Good,” Sam let out with an obvious sigh of relief, “I was starting to think I’d have to knock you out and drag you onto the boat.”

  “Okay, so maybe I lost myself a little bit,” I replied innocently as I put Dave away and turned to face Sam, “but it’s kind of hard to stop when you really like killing Elves.”

  “Sure thing, Ted Bundy,” Sam scoffed before waving for me to follow, “Frostiey and Jane are just checking the boat. She reckons we’ve got about five minutes ‘til the shit really starts raining down, and we don’t want our boat to be anywhere near the shoreline when that happens.”

  “Can’t argue with that.” I said, looking over my shoulder at my handiwork just in time to see the last of the bodies disappear, leaving a sizeable bloodstain on the pier.

  “Playing it a bit loose with that whole ‘chaotic’ thing, aren’t you?” Frostiey asked, pulling my attention over to her and the small-ish yacht she and Jane were waiting on at the end of the pier.