“Careful what you wish for,” Astrid warned, struggling to catch her breath. “These last few seem tougher.”
“I guess that’s why they’re the last,” Julianne quipped with an easy grin. “Got any other tricks up your sleeve?”
“A few,” Astrid replied, taking the rope dart from her shoulder.
“Then we’ll each take half. Race to the finish?” Julianne didn’t wait for an answer. Her eyes flashed white, and she dashed off.
“Wait fer me!” Garrett yelled. “If ya want ta win a killin’ competition, ya need me on yer team!”
Julianne sprinted down Tahn’s narrow streets, the heat of battle flushing her cheeks. Marcus, where to? she sent.
Near Mary’s, he replied. You know, that’s not very fair.
What isn’t?
We know the layout of the town. We also have an army. And we have you, Bastian and Hadley to talk through. We can’t lose!
Don’t bet on it, Julianne sent, her mental voice sharp with warning. We’re not the only mystics in town—not anymore. And our new friends aren’t exactly useless, my dear. The resounding crash of another huge body hitting the ground shook the town as if to prove her point.
“ONE!” Astrid’s voice called over the din.
“Shite!” Garrett snapped, putting on a burst of speed and disappearing around the corner. He reeled back into view a second later. “SHITE!”
Stomping footsteps approached and Julianne dashed into the narrow alley, staff already in position. She darted out between two giant Skrim feet, then wedged her weapon between two more. A mighty shove sent the beast sprawling. Garrett hollered and leapt onto its back and yelled “ONE!”
A heartbeat later came Astrid’s reply. “Two! Hurry up, slowpokes!”
Garrett’s eyes glowed. “Aye, she’s a tough lass!”
“Eyes on yer kill, sweetheart, before ya lose one.” Bette didn’t stop to make good on the threat but ran past him in the direction of the only tavern in Tahn.
Wrenching her staff free from the heavily-muscled corpse that lay on it, Julianne took off after her friend. When she came upon two mid-sized Skrim, she grinned. Between them, Marcus and Tansy held the beasts off, but were having a hard time penetrating their tough, scaled armor.
“Garrett, help Bette with the ugly one,” Julianne instructed. “I’ll team with Tansy and Marcus.”
“They’ve both got faces like a dog's ass!” Garrett complained.
Julianne ignored him, tossing away her staff and dashing forward. She pulled her daggers free and dropped to the ground, sliding along the dirt. Her knife slammed into the thrashing tail beside her, halting her momentum. The Skrim screamed and lashed out with its scaled feet to stomp the mystic.
Julianne rolled out of the way, jerking to a halt as its foot pinned her cloak under it. She was released a moment later and sprung up in time to see the giant body crumple. Marcus and Polly stood over it, weapons dripping with blood and alien ichor.
“Two!” Marcus bellowed.
“Three! Take that, ya gobshites!” Bette’s yell came right after.
Julianne slapped Marcus on the shoulder.
“Ow!” he yelped. “What was that for?”
“I asked you for a hat, not a posy of flowers!” she snapped.
“I thought it was for you!” he complained.
Julianne shook her head. “The day I don a straw monstrosity like that is the day I give up my right to lead the temple. Seriously, Marcus?”
He shrugged, but Julianne wasn’t quite ready to let the matter drop.
“And now poor Boone is wearing that bouquet of rubbish on his head! I can’t tell him to take it off. He thinks it was a meaningful gift.”
Marcus’s face screwed up and turned red, his eyes watered, and he coughed wildly into his shirt. It wasn’t enough. He dissolved into laughter so prolific he almost stopped breathing.
Julianne regarded him with narrowed eyes—then those eyes glowed.
Marcus stopped laughing immediately. His face, however, went from red to purple as he began to fidget.
“Sorry, Jules” he gasped in a strangled voice. Then, giving up on all sense of decorum, he shoved a hand down his pants and started scratching furiously. A look of bliss spread over his face.
“I hope so,” Julianne said, turning her back on him and scanning the rooftops for alien activity. She gave no sign that she knew exactly what he was doing. Garrett wasn’t so generous.
“Got a wee itch on yer sack, matey?” he asked loudly.
“Marcus!” Bette scolded, barely keeping her own laughter down. “Not in front of the ladies!”
“If a man has ta scratch, he has ta scratch, lass,” Garrett explained sagely. “And if the itch happens ta be a magical one, I’d say he’s right fucked.”
“Ugh, men!” Tansy groaned. “Oh! Bastian says there’s one back at the gates.” She stopped for a moment, her mouth pressed into a look of dismay. “Those other guys are headed for it. Hurry!”
Chapter Eighteen
If Julianne hadn’t been forewarned about the massive bristling Skrim at the gate, she’d have run screaming. In fact, she was tempted to do so even now. Bastian’s images somehow hadn’t truly conveyed the beast’s size.
It wasn’t particularly fast. That was about the only thing in favor of the fighters as they watched the monster’s slow progress toward the town. Too big for the spindly legs protruding from its side, the Skrim dragged itself on its belly, leading with its enormous and muscular snout.
“Och, now that’s a beastie and a half,” Bette muttered.
“Aye,” Garrett agreed in a low voice. “How’re we gonna kill the bastard before that magnificent lass and her team catch up?”
“The what now?” Bette growled.
Garrett winked at her. “Ye know I’m teasin’, me love. Yer the only lass fer me. I mean, a man would be lucky ta get that tall wench, but not as lucky as the man who gets yerself, if ya know what I mean.”
Bette shook her head and gripped her axe tighter. “What’s the plan?” she asked Julianne.
“Since when does a rearick need a plan?” Julianne leaned on her staff, cocking an eyebrow.
“I give it about a minute and a half until—” Bette was interrupted by someone yelling “Three!” from a distance. “Make that half a minute. And now we’re neck and neck.”
“Bitch help me,” Julianne moaned in exasperation. “I was only joking about the contest, really.”
“Too late now, Jules.” Hadley popped around a corner and walked over to join them. “You should know you can’t say something like that in front of a rearick and then take it back.”
Julianne gave him a cool look. When he didn’t react, she nudged an eyebrow northwards.
Hadley coughed and blushed. “Sorry. Too late now, Master.”
“I’m glad you’re ok. When you disappeared, I wasn’t sure if we’d see you again.”
Hadley grinned. “Between you and Hannah, I was trained by two of the best.”
“Hey! Long time no see.” Aysa gave Hadley an excited wave as she ran toward them. She was alone, but a low rumble in the distance announced that the incredible machine her new team had brought was on its way. Aysa slowed when she saw the Skrim. “Woah. I might have found my people before you found yours, but you totally won the ‘find the biggest monster’ competition!”
“If we don’t stop that fat bastard out there, he’ll just have to sneeze and half of Tahn will fall down,” Marcus yelled. “Come on!”
“Well,” Aysa said with a sharp grin, “another fat bastard and a skinny regular bastard are on the way with a surprise!”
As one, Julianne and her friends—new and old—ran toward the final beast.
Astrid’s helmeted head jerked between Aysa and the direction she had come from. “Are Vinnie and Gormer okay?”
“They’re safe, but a little beat up. I came to find you and tell you they’re on the way,” Aysa replied.
Julianne froze in mid-strid
e, and her face went pale and slack. “What was that name you said?”
Astrid skidded to a halt beside her. “Sorry,” came Astrid’s muffled reply from her helmet. “I wanted you to find out a better way.”
“Gormer? He’s on your team?” Julianne’s face hardened. “He’s—”
“Not the same man you knew,” Astrid interrupted, placing both hands on the mystic’s shoulders. “Read me. I’ll show you what we’ve been through together.” She remembered how Gormer had fought his addiction and all his worst impulses. She recalled how he became a hero.
Julianne’s eyes flashed white and she gasped. “I had no idea…” Her voice trailed off, and she got mist in her eyes and a trembling smile on her lips. “I always hoped the salty bastard would find his way, but I didn’t expect that.”
“No time for this,” Marcus shouted. He’d noticed they’d fallen behind.
The big beast lumbered toward them with the spikes on its back swaying to and fro. When it saw them, it lifted its head and roared. Billows of steam puffed from its mouth.
But another roar rose behind them. “WOOHOO!” The Badger’s voice amplifier shook the air around them. “GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY! WE’RE TAKIN’ THIS FUCKER OUT!”
Julianne’s eyes glowed as she called to the others to regroup. The Badger moved faster than any manufactured rolling object had a right to move. It was riding high on its tall wheels, and its main turret popped up from the middle of its roof.
“Vinnie!” Astrid shouted, clapping her hands. She caught a glimpse of the big mage in the turret tipping back a wineskin as he streaked past. He discarded the empty skin over his shoulder and roared loud enough to be heard over the clatter.
“That means…” Aysa giggled, “Gormer is driving?”
“What the hell is that thing?” Marcus asked, dumbfounded. He hurried over to join Astrid, Julianne, and Aysa.
“Is that a gun in the middle?” Julianne asked incredulously.
“He’s gonna harpoon that Skrim,” Astrid announced proudly. She lifted the faceplate of her helmet to get some air and display her smile.
THOOM! The tethered spear streaked toward its target, trailing a cable behind it.
They were close enough to see Vinnie gesticulating wildly, but not close enough to hear what he was shouting. The Badger suddenly swerved to the right and Vinnie grabbed the harpoon controls again. The harpoon sank halfway into the shell covering the monster’s long neck.
The line went taut as the Badger turned around the monster’s side.
“They’re trying to wrap it up!” Marcus shouted.
Now the beast bellowed in pain. It twisted around after the Badger, trying to hit it with its tail.
“Oh no,” Astrid gasped. The harpoon’s line went slack and risked becoming tangled in the Badger’s wheels.
She slammed the visor back down and took off running, pulling magical energy from The Well to give her strength and speed.
“Where is she going?” Hadley asked. Astrid tore across the field nearly as fast as the Badger. “I mean...one person against something that big?”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Julianne shouted, lifting her staff above her head. “CHARGE!”
Astrid moved so fast she sent up a rooster tail of dirt behind her pounding footsteps.
“She’s...bloody glowing,” Bette shouted. A sparkling blue halo had appeared around Astrid’s body.
The Knight swung her rope dart over her head, and about twenty feet from the beast, she catapulted from the ground like a human arrow. Her rope weapon wrapped around the Skrim’s neck and she landed on its back, then she started trying to choke it to death.
The thing forgot about the Badger and shook its head violently. On the second whip, Astrid lost her grip and went flying.
“No!” Julianne screamed, covering her mouth. The group stopped short.
They watched in shock and horror as Astrid flew fifty feet into the air. The Knight pinwheeled and slammed to the ground hard enough to make a crater.
“Avenge her!” Marcus shouted, sure Astrid was dead.
But she wasn’t. Astrid popped out of her crater and charged the beast again.
“How the hell did she survive that?” Bette exclaimed. “Who the hell is that lass?”
“She’s a Wellspring Knight,” Aysa shouted, laughing crazily. “That’s her thing, apparently.”
They started running toward the towering Skrim again, although they had little idea how they’d take it out.
Aysa ran at one if its cloven hooves and whacked it with her metal shield. The magitech shock from her weapon made it lift its leg.
Bette and Garrett hacked at its rear leg while Julianne whacked it in the knees with her staff.
“Look out!” someone shouted. The Badger was coming around again.
Gormer and Vinnie had managed to keep the line from tangling, and now the Badger returned to wrap up the thing’s legs. Julianne and Aysa dove to the ground to keep the cable from taking their heads off or pinning them to the beast as it tightened.
The giant Skrim made a comical sound like “whuh!” before it toppled and fell on its side. It was down but not out yet. It nearly knocked over the Badger with a headbutt.
The blue energy bolts that streaked over her head nearly blinded Julianne. Boone was calmly walking forward, pistols blazing. His cloak was draped over his upper shoulders and trailed behind him like a cape. Both of his glistening black eyes were focused intently on the Skrim’s neck. The flowers on his straw cap swayed gently as he strode.
He continued to fire all four of his pistols, even as everyone else scattered when the beast swept its tail again. Boone simply jumped it and kept shooting as fast as he could. The monster turned its toothy head to Boone and lunged. Boone pivoted and shot it in the face over and over.
Boone was less than five feet from the monster’s open mouth when it finally died from the barrage of the magitech bolts, and he put several more shots down its throat just to be sure. Then he calmly holstered his pistols in the leather straps that criss-crossed his chest.
He stood motionless as the others slowly recovered. Some lifted themselves off the ground while others put their weapons away with trancelike motions. The sudden calm seemed to affect everyone the same way, and nobody spoke a word as they converged on Boone.
Villagers wandered out of the smoldering rubble of Tahn. The Badger hissed as its rear ramp lowered, and Vinnie lumbered out slowly with Gormer limping behind him. They were both bruised and bloody.
One of the villagers walked up to Boone and stared at him from two feet away. “I saw what this one did,” Mary said with tears in her eyes. “He...killed that thing. It almost ate him, but he killed it. This Skrim fought for us.”
“I am a friend,” Boone called. “I have a hat!” He gestured proudly with all four hands to his new favorite possession.
“It’s a great hat,” Mary agreed. “I might even forgive Marcus for stealing it from me.”
Marcus choked on his stifled laughter, and even Julianne struggled not to giggle.
“A friendly Skrim,” another villager stated. He too walked up to Boone and looked him up and down. “I saw you in town. You saved my children.”
“Humans are worth saving,” Boone declared. “Humans gave me freedom. They let me live when they could have killed me. I begged her to kill me when we met. Instead, she gave me a home.” He pointed at Astrid, who held her helmet under her arm.
“Not all Skrima are bad,” Astrid explained, loud enough to be heard by all. “The same monsters that attack our world keep his people enslaved.
“Well,” Mary said, “if there is one Skrim as good as this one here, perhaps there are more.”
More villagers gathered around Boone. They placed their hands on his shell, and he reached out to them, careful to fold his sharp fingers inward.
“Where the hell did you get folding chairs?” Astrid asked as Vinnie dragged them off the Badger. He was moving stiffly, even as he swayed
from excessive drinking.
They were too tired to go back to town, and even if they hadn’t been, there wasn’t much of a town left. Vinnie had moved the Badger away from the dead Skrim, though.
“Had these made back in the Protectorates,” Vinnie replied. He winced when he tried to smile, since his face was swollen and caked with blood. “I have all kinds of useful things tucked away.”
He struggled to set up the chair and almost fell. One of the villagers steadied him while another unfolded the chair. The legs sank deep into the soft soil when Vinnie collapsed into the wood that strained against his mass.
“Molte grazie,” Vinnie murmured in the strange language he sometimes used.
The villagers followed Vinnie’s lead and pulled out more chairs. “I told them where the food stores are,” Vinnie told them. “And the wine,” he continued with a grin. “I would play host, but I’m simply too tired. It’s only right that we have an immediate celebration.”
“Where are Gormer and Aysa?” Astrid asked. She hadn’t seen them since the beast stopped breathing.
“I think he’s avoiding an old friend,” Vinnie replied. He tried to lift a wineskin, but his arm trembled and shook. “And she is catching up with one.”
With his sleeve ripped, Astrid had a rare glimpse of the bulging muscles of his arm. He normally kept himself covered. “I may have overdone it,” he confessed with a strained laugh.
Astrid came over and helped him lift the wineskin. He gulped from it until she pulled it away.
“You should probably have some real food,” she suggested.
“You know that both food and drink replenish my magical energy,” Vinnie stated, turning his bloodshot and glassy eyes to her. “Especially drink.”
“The more I hear that, the more I think it’s horseshit,” Astrid declared.
Vinnie chuckled and groaned at the pain laughter caused. He produced a hunk of dried meat from his tunic and gnawed on it.
Gormer walked down the Badger’s ramp wringing his hands. Astrid had never seen him look nervous. She followed the path of his quick glances, but mostly he looked at his feet.
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