by Ramy Vance
“The way of the Traveler isn’t that much different from my practice. You have mana or magic. I have ki or life energy. Both of us manipulate that for tangible results. What I’ve found is that generally, you can only push yourself as far as your will can take you.”
“Like Terra.”
Sarah snapped her fingers as the group climbed and descended a hill. “Exactly.”
Kravis held up his hand, and the group stopped. As he scanned the hills with a pair of binoculars, Sarah said, “When she was off-Earth, Terra was able to tap into the natural process of using her ki. But once back on Earth, the way our planet and realm works, you need a lot of training to get to that level. She could probably do it one day. Ditch the exo-suit and be as strong as she was. But it won’t happen overnight.”
Anabelle sat beside Blackwell and Naota, who spoke quietly to each other as they shared a sack of water. “So, what am I supposed to do?” Anabelle asked.
Sarah tapped Anabelle’s forehead. “All blocks we experience in life are up here. You remove those blocks, you remove the limitations of your growth. Until you stop holding yourself back, you’re never going to move forward.”
Anabelle felt like she had just been transported to the past. That sounded like something her former masters would have said. “Didn’t know you were so enlightened.”
“No need to get snarky. Just repeating what I was taught. Feels like it helps sometimes.”
Kravis interrupted their philosophical discussion. “That’s it. Up ahead. The orc encampment. Last spot of defense from this side until we get to the massive setup they got going on. We move through here to the safe spot, and we’ll be good for the night. You guys ready?”
Blackwell chugged more water and nodded.
Naota lifted his sunglasses for a moment to stare defiantly in the wrong direction. “Born ready,” he said stoically.
The orcish encampment resembled a small fort, nothing like the Kravis’ and Sarah’s camp. Its walls were built high, and sentries were posted all along its length. Kravis informed the party that there would be a small army in the encampment as well. “It’s going to be a hell of a fight if we don’t plan this well.”
Anabelle looked at Sarah. “Well, this is more of your guys’ thing. What’s the plan?”
Sarah used her binoculars to scan the encampment for a few moments. “We have to take out those sentries first. I’ve seen the general setup of these kinds of forts. The walls are nearly cut off from the rest of the camp. They’re on a different level. If we can take out all of the sentries at the same time, we should be able to slip in undetected.”
Sarah and Kravis were taking the eastern and southern parts of the wall, while Anabelle and the marines would handle the other sides.
The party split, each going their separate ways. Anabelle’s worked their way around, using the dunes to provide cover. Once they got to their position, they opened their compacts, looking for the most appropriate weapon.
Blackwell, who had been in charge of outfitting, had packed a sniper rifle for each with a powerful scope.
Anabelle clicked the rifle, and it downloaded into her hand from her HUD. She believed the weapon was inelegant, but she would rather have followed Sarah’s lead than mess up. Stealth wasn’t exactly her field of expertise.
On the opposite side of the fort, Kravis and Sarah were getting into position as well. Instead of picking a good vantage point, they had snuck up to the wall and were preparing to scale it. Sarah sent Anabelle a confirmation that they were about to move and to wait for her signal to fire.
Anabelle lined up her shot, as did the two commanders. Then her HUD dinged. She fired, taking out one of the orcs as Blackwell and Naota followed suit.
Sarah and Kravis quickly scaled the wall, the pair flipping up onto the top and rushing the four orcs standing guard. Kravis took two and Sarah the others.
Kravis fired his crossbow twice, hitting both orcs in the head as Sarah tossed a kunai at both of the orcs. Without breaking her stride, she ducked under cover of the wall, scanning for the other orcs that weren’t easily visible. “We have a cluster of three over on our side, and there’s two more on yours. They should be visible in about ten seconds.”
Sarah scooted around the corner of the wall, leaning over for a better view. She motioned for Kravis to go forward, and he fired twice, dropping two orcs while Sarah took care of the last one. As the orc fell, Sarah could hear the familiar sound of silenced sniper-rifles firing. “Everyone’s down up here,” Sarah confirmed. “Get on up.”
She and Kravis went to the most likely spot on the wall for Anabelle and the marines to scale. She’d guessed correctly. Within minutes, the trio was scrambling up the side of the wall.
Once they were all atop the wall, Anabelle waved at the other side. “Down there?”
Sarah nodded. “Yeah, there’s usually a set of barracks. Three, generally. We roll in. Take them down, sweep the area, and make camp for the night.”
Anabelle peered over the ledge of the wall, looking for the barracks. “Sounds good.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Anabelle prepared her grappling hook and waited for the signal from Sarah. She wasn’t used to following direct orders from anyone other than Myrddin. This was something she could get down with. Being along for the ride was much more tolerable than she had expected.
Blackwell and Naota were bickering quietly, and both Sarah and Kravis were waiting for them to shut up and get their grappling hooks ready.
When Naota realized everyone was waiting on him, he looked away bashfully as he quickly prepared his hook. Blackwell said nothing and betrayed no emotion, but he worked fast as well.
Once everyone was prepared, Sarah took the first leap. Everyone else followed her.
As they slid down their wires, Anabelle noticed the distance from the top of the wall and the ground was greater than she’d expected. Either tech or magic had augmented the space between the wall and the ground. It made sense. The added distance would give the orcs at the bottom enough time to prepare. That is, if they had been properly warned.
“The ground should be coming up soon,” Sarah whispered.
Sarah was right. It felt like the bottom came out of nowhere. Anabelle and the marines hit the ground with a heavy thud, while Sarah and Kravis landed gracefully on their feet, barely making a sound.
The barracks were in plain sight, but the space beneath the walls was expansive. Anabelle had been expecting the buildings to be clustered together, but they were spread wide over the length of about a football field.
Sarah pointed at the barracks closest to them and crept toward it, keeping to the shadows. Everyone followed suit until she raised her hand. The party halted, and Sarah sprinted ahead. She climbed up the side of the barracks, to the roof, and disappeared for a few moments. She returned to the edge and raised six fingers.
Anabelle looked from Kravis to Sarah, confused as to what to do next with this information. They were obviously trying to be as quiet as possible, and Anabelle was not used to sneaking around. So, she shrugged at Sarah, who smiled back and winked at Kravis.
The gnome grabbed Anabelle’s hand, tugged her toward the barracks, and pointed at the window.
Anabelle peered through the window and ducked quickly. A group of orcs were seated inside. She gathered it was her job to do a headcount. Slowly, she peeked up again. She counted four that she could see and raised four fingers for Sarah.
Kravis was moving, preparing to take point, but Anabelle waved him down. She didn’t want these two to have all the fun. She pointed at herself, and Kravis took a step back. Up above, Sarah smiled widely.
Anabelle pushed open the barracks windows. She concentrated her mana, her body dissolving into the shadows cast by the windowsill. The darkness slithered into the barracks as the window shut quietly.
Still dark and intangible, Anabelle crawled up the side of the wall and slipped into the shadow cast by a nearby orc. Her hand emerged from nothing and p
ulled the orc into his shadow.
The other orcs reacted, but by then, Anabelle had jumped out of the shadow. She drew her mana to her arms and legs, increasing her speed, delivering blow after blow in a whirlwind. She spun and knocked each of the orcs out.
Anabelle felt the exertion from the successive attacks, but she pulled mana from the orc’s last breath to replenish herself. Then she slipped out the window.
Sarah was waiting for Anabelle and nodded her approval. “That was impressive. Didn’t see you as someone who could be that stealthy.”
Anabelle tried not to look too proud of herself. “We don’t get to be stealthy very much. Myrddin’s always throwing us into the boiling shit pot.”
Sarah pointed in the direction of the next barracks, this one still caught in the shadows. The party moved silently as a unit, despite never working together in this capacity before. Anabelle could see the natural leadership Sarah possessed, even if she’d heard through HQ gossip that Sarah didn’t consider herself a leader.
Once they closed in on the barracks, Blackwell and Naota took point, lining up their shots to eliminate the three orcs chatting out front. Kravis, Sarah, and Anabelle snuck around to the back of the barracks.
Sarah boosted Kravis up to peek through the window while Anabelle held the window up.
Anabelle gave the signal to Blackwell and Naota, who fired as Kravis took care of the two orcs in the barracks.
They were about to rejoin when a whirring alarm went off.
Blackwell and Naota looked at each other as one of the orcs they had shot stumbled to his feet. Naota took aim again and fired quickly, dropping the orc, but it was too late. The alarm had already been rung.
At least twenty orcs came running out of the last barracks. When they saw the small party of resistance fighters, two of the orcs ran back into the barracks, returning within a few seconds with two vials of black liquid.
Anabelle recognized it instantly. It was the same stuff that Abby and Persephone had briefed her on.
One of the orcs took the vial and slammed it against his skin. When the glass cracked, the black liquid forced itself inside his mouth. The other orc did the same.
Black tendrils ripped out of the orc’s bodies as they fell forward, the other orcs forming a circle around them.
When the resistance party rejoined each other, Naota was already sputtering an apology for missing his shot. “I thought I had it lined up. I’m so sorry, I thought—”
Sarah clapped Naota on the back. “Don’t worry about it, everyone misses shots. Honestly, things usually go ass-backward way before this. You guys did good for your first time.”
Naota’s face brightened as he smiled and flipped up his glasses. “Really?” He turned to Blackwell. “Permission to WYL out, sir.”
Blackwell stroked his brow as he sighed. “I’ve told you before to stop asking me for that.”
“Is that a yes, sir?”
“Goddamn, yes. And stop calling me ‘sir.’”
Naota whipped out his chain tasers and flipped them over his shoulders as he turned to face the orcs. “Let’s show them how we do this at HQ.”
A blast of tendrils hit Naota in the chest, sending him flying, his screams echoing through the cavern.
The two orcs who had ingested the fluid were back on their feet. Tendrils were shooting chaotically out of their bodies, like some kind of foreign agent. Their eyes rolled into the back of their heads, and they were foaming at the mouth.
Anabelle whistled loudly. “Guess that’s what the black goop is for. That’s not too impressive. Naota? Are you okay?”
Naota sat up, scratching his head, looking around as if he were lost. “Uh…yeah…I’m still alive. Not exactly kicking, but still alive.”
“Let’s take care of these sons of bitches.”
Anabelle sprang into action, sprinting to the orcs with the tendrils with Sarah hot on her heels.
Naota joined up with Blackwell and Kravis, who were drawing the other orc’s attention with suppressing fire.
As Anabelle leaned in close to take a swipe at the tendrilled orc, the orc reached out with a speed Anabelle hadn’t been expecting and landed a punch to her face. As the elf flew off, her comm rang. She hit the ground and accidentally picked up.
Terra was on the line. “Hey, Anabelle, do you know anything about dinner etiquette?”
Anabelle climbed to her feet as the tendrilled orc leapt over its brethren and landed in front of her. It slammed its hands down to crush the elf, who managed to roll to the side. “I’m kind of busy right now, Terra!”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t know who else to ask. I’m kinda at this fancy dinner and there’s a thousand forks to choose from, and honestly, they all look the same, but I remember seeing in a movie that picking the wrong fork is a huge deal or something.”
Anabelle flipped up to her feet and caught the orc in a flaming uppercut, sending the creature stumbling backward. “Uh…how many forks are there actually? A specific number. And what are you eating?”
Anabelle was hit in the chest by the tendrils, which sent her flying over Sarah, who was grappling with the other tendrilled orc while Naota leapt into the large mass. He spun, electrocuting any orc dumb enough not to move out of the way.
The elf slid across the ground, rolling to her feet and charging her arms with lightning.
Terra answered, “We’re eating salads right now.”
Anabelle connected with the orc, sending it stumbling backward. “It’s the really thin one with all the prongs bunched together.”
“All of the forks are tiny and have prongs close together.”
“Goddamn it, Terra. Just Google it!”
Terra sighed loudly as Anabelle dodged another tendril attack. “I did. They all look the same.”
Blackwell crashed into the tendrilled orc’s side, but not from tackling it. He was thrown and he crumpled to the ground, then realized where he was and opened fire on the orc.
Anabelle flipped over the orc, shooting electricity from her hands. “Do you even like salad?” she shouted.
“No,” Terra answered. “But I don’t want to be rude.”
“Ugh, why don’t you ask Abby?”
A timid voice spoke up. It was Abby. “Uh, I told Terra to call you.”
The tendrilled orc picked Blackwell up and tossed him at Kravis, who nimbly dodged out the way as he fired his crossbow. Kravis hit two orcs in the head as Sarah ran up behind him, scooped him up in her arms, and tossed him into the thick of battle.
The gnome sheathed his crossbow and drew two daggers, slashing at anything that moved as he sailed through the orcs. He landed beside Anabelle, who was deflecting the tendrilled orcs’ attacks. “Why don’t you just send her a picture, Abby?” Anabelle shouted.
“I did. She said they all look the same.”
Terra groaned in irritation. “Forks all look the fucking same! Oh, shit. Sorry, sorry, sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Abby said. “I’ve heard people curse before.”
“No, I was talking to the Prime Minister.”
Anabelle grabbed the tendrils from the orc, trying to drain as much mana as she could from the creature. “Wait, you’re eating with the Prime Minister?”
“Uh, I think a couple of them,” Terra answered. “Prime Ministers plural, at least.”
Across the battlefield, Sarah unleashed a massive blast of ki as she jumped on top of the tendrilled orc, and started beating the shit out of it.
Anabelle felt something welling up in her. “Wait, you’re with how many prime ministers right now?”
“Wait, Anabelle, I got to go. I think I did something very wrong.”
The line clicked, and Anabelle screamed with rage, her body filling up with mana. Her hands caught fire, and she drove them deep into the tendrilled orc’s body, burning the creature alive from the inside. When she stood up and looked around, the other orcs were dead.
Sarah was also pushing herself off a te
ndrilled orc. “Now that was a fight,” she said as she walked over to Sarah. “What brought that out in you?”
Anabelle laughed as she looked at the orc. “You know, I was upset that Terra was having dinner with a bunch of prime ministers. And then I realized I was upset at myself for being upset about such a stupid thing. I don’t even want to be doing that. I want to be out here. And I was being pissy about something I don’t even care about.”
Sarah punched Anabelle in the shoulder. “That’s what I was talking about. The only block is you. Come on. Let’s get this place in order. We’re camping here for the night.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
They woke early, before the dawn, and walked through the shadows of the cavern by the light of their HUDs like silent wraiths hellbent on the impending destruction. By the time they finally came to the surface, the sun was beginning to rise.
In the distance, Anabelle could see the orc defense-tower looming. It was not that different than the towers she’d seen the Dark One using across Middang3ard in briefings provided by Abby. The construction was not orcish. Even from this distance, Anabelle could see the bright blue lights given off by the Dark One’s advanced technology.
The party stopped on a hill as Sarah peered through binoculars, gauging the situation. “So, what’s the plan?” Anabelle asked.
Sarah handed the binoculars to Kravis, who looked through them for a moment before passing them to Blackwell. “Similar to before. We’re breaking into two groups, and we work our way through the base. Set detonators across the foundation, a couple of other hot spots. Call in reinforcements from the resistance to deal with the hell that’s going to come afterward. Try to get out alive.”
Kravis was hunched over a collection of grass and twigs, striking a piece of flint to start a fire as Blackwell and Naota watched. “You know, we have fire starters,” Naota offered.