by Jez Cajiao
He scowled at the group, pulling a healing potion from his belt, followed by a mana potion. He quickly downed them both, ignoring Rin’s normal arrows as one after another was fired, and watched each projectile bounce off and fall to the floor.
“Hinko…help Rin.” Thomas ordered, knowing he had no choice now. He exchanged a look with Dirik and they both turned and raised their shields, even as Wena flooded them both with healing magic. Yulin’s shield spell began to darken in color as the scout and ranger fired arrow after arrow, each strike draining the shield of more mana.
“It’s like that, is it…fine! I’d hoped to get more loot in the pot first, but still, you’ll all make useful subjects!” Yulin coughed and screamed at them, pulling on his necklace of charms and snapping one from the collection. As soon as he threw it aside, the air around him shimmered, as though creating a heat haze, and Yulin began to change.
The man shifted, his red robes darkening to black, even as his skin lost the healthy pink glow he had possessed before. As his cheeks grew sallow and his skin turned grey, his face lengthened, a small beard appearing, and his ears grew pointed, each pierced with three golden rings.
“Drow!” Dirik growled, receiving a flirty wave in response from the tall, stick thin dark elf that had replaced the effeminate human they had put up with for weeks of travel.
“Yes, darling! A beautiful, wonderful, smart, and handsome Drow I am…and my servants you are all going to be!” Yulin called back, both hands weaving another spell as his shield began to fail. Thomas went cold, seeing that Yulin was unconcerned by the group’s reaction.
“Rin, stealth the fucker! Hinko, use your special arrows. Wena, keep us alive! Dirik, let’s go fuck up his day!” Even as he shouted orders and setting off running forward into battle, he knew it wasn’t going to end well. Yulin had been with them for weeks. The questions he’d asked around the fire each night, the ‘friendly’ competitions over ale to see who had spells and who didn’t…their sneaky tricks, all of it had been to prepare for something like this.
“Ah, ah!” caroled Yulin, gesturing with both hands and slamming his palms down toward the ground. The rocks above Dirik and Thomas shifted ominously before dozens fell, smashing into both men even as they raised their shields in panic.
Thomas blacked out for several seconds before blinking and finding himself on the floor. Something heavy laid on his back and screams sounded out nearby. He coughed, feeling a tearing pain in his chest. Blood spattered from his mouth into the dust before him as his vision swam. Cursing, he levered himself upright, forcing the stone chunk from his back with an almighty crash.
Looking around the corridor, Thomas blinked again to clear his vision. Dirik was only a few feet ahead of him, but he was in bad shape. Dirik’s once-gleaming plate mail was heavily dented and covered in blood. His shield lay on the floor to one side, and his limply hanging forearm testament to why he no longer wielded it.
Even as Dirik laid about with his mace, beating back things that dodged and lashed out with claws, another of the images in Thomas’s HUD went black. Wena. He spun around, the confusion debuff in his HUD the only thing he could see clearly. Blinded as he was, he suddenly felt pain as unseen forms attacked him. He swore, the corridor shifting crazily as he staggered, and he fell over again, tripping on a cloth bundle that writhed.
He forced himself to his knees, watching the debuff fade out as the world came into focus suddenly, sharply.
He’d tripped on Wena’s body. The slight elven girl had been savaged by something with tremendous strength, her corpse practically shredded, but her face had been left intact. The horror in her eyes sent him stumbling to his feet, only for something to smash into his side, slamming him into the wall. Thomas brought up his sword instinctively, blocking a second strike as the creature lunged forward again, uncaring of the injury.
The black skin and deep red eyes of the Imp made him flinch back again, slashing at it with his sword, even though the blade barely scratched its thick hide. The Imp grabbed the blade directly, yanking it out of his hands and throwing it aside, even as it grabbed him by the throat and lifted him, slamming him against the wall. It licked the blood from his cheek with its long prehensile tongue, then bared its teeth and was about to bite, when a voice called out from further down the corridor.
“No! Bad kitty! That’s mine!” Thomas was twisted to one side, then lowered and dragged along the floor through the blood of his friends until he looked up into the crazed eyes of Yulin.
KillThemAllTheyreComingKillItKillThemAllKillIt….
Thomas suppressed the maddening voice at the back of his head, gritting his teeth and stamping it down firmly into a corner of his brain and glaring up at Yulin. He suddenly saw Dirik’s symbol turn black. Hinko’s health bar was bleeding out steadily, the yellow color an indication that he was unconscious.
“Now, how about you tell me all about your world, hmmmm? You never wanted to talk about it before, but maybe if you do, I’ll let you live, yes?” Yulin purred, stroking the side of Thomas’s face, his fingers coming away bloody. He raised them to his mouth, his tongue flicking out to taste Thomas’s blood, and a sadistic smile tilted the corners before a new sound became audible.
It was a sound Thomas had only heard recently; a scrabbling, babbling sound made of hundreds of tiny bodies with tiny mouths repeating the last sound they had heard….
“Yulllliiiiin…yuuuulin…yuliiin…yuuulliiinn….”
Thomas was unceremoniously dropped to the ground, discarded as unimportant, as the Imp bounded forward to put itself between its master and the oncoming tide. First a handful, then dozens, then hundreds of Feenals appeared around the bend, claws rasping on stone and carving furrows in each other in their desperate attempt to reach the flesh they sensed.
A second, third, and fourth Imp joined the first Imp that Thomas had fought, and all four took up positions in the corridor, conjuring small firebolts and hurling them into the oncoming mass.
They barely had any effect on the majority. A few caught fire, setting light to others nearby, but this horde numbered in the hundreds, not dozens. The Imps were absorbed into a rolling tide of death and hunger mere seconds after they began their defense. A few short screams marked their deaths, followed by the inevitable explosions as their corpses went critical.
The rolling wave of death was momentarily held back as the corridor almost collapsed. The pressure wave from the quadruple explosions buffeted Thomas into the corpses of his friends, and he gazed around the devastation, shell-shocked.
Yulin stepped back into view, standing between him and the onrushing wave. The dusky mage began gulping down mana potions like they were going out of fashion and casting shields, flamewalls, and a series of spells Thomas didn’t recognize in his stunned state.
The shields began to darken, faltering at the edges as first one, then a handful, then finally all the Feenals began to power forward again. Yulin began breaking charms and spell scrolls frantically to hold the vermin back.
Chunks were blown out of the Feenals. Waves of darkness cut them to shreds. Otherworldly screams were heard as rents in space opened, claw tipped hands reaching through to tear into anything within reach, and still, he was slowly forced backwards.
Thomas closed his eyes as the tide grew nearer and played dead. Surprisingly, he was completely ignored as the creatures piled over him and everything else in their mad rush to come to grips with Yulin. Screams sounded from somewhere in the distance, and then more explosions, and Thomas sensed the approach of something big. A scuttling multitude of chitinous legs carrying something heavy approached, then ran over him, one even stabbing through his exposed hand before lifting out and carrying on.
His mouth filled with blood from biting down on his cheek so hard. He dared to crack open an eyelid, seeing the back of something being carried on the carapaces of dozens of small scarab beetles as it disappeared around the corner. Its grey-green hide, riddled with faintly luminescent veins, pulsed. The sigh
t made him feel sick as he tried not to imagine what the rest of the damn thing looked like.
The explosions went on and on, as did the screams, until the corridor Thomas was in fell far enough behind the rolling battle to grow quiet. As the sounds faded, Thomas furtively slid a cautious hand down to his belt, feeling the potion pouch there…and cursed inwardly as his fingers encountered sodden leather and tinkling broken glass vials.
He opened his eyes a crack, glancing around the room as he slowly began to sit up, when a movement to one side caused him to flinch violently and reach for his spare dagger…one more thing that wasn’t as he expected it. This time, he did curse aloud, even as his fingers scrabbled frantically in the bloody funk of battle that surrounded him. It seemed like forever before he finally found the pommel of the blade, and at the same time, a nearby voice whispered to him.
“It’s okay, boss…it’s me,” said Rin, slowly moving into clear view from where he’d been crouching by Wena’s corpse. “I’m…I’m sorry, Thomas. I saw what he was, how easily he outclassed us all, and I stealthed instinctively. Then when you all began to fall, I tried to get behind him, but his barrier already surrounded him. I barely managed to get past him without being noticed, so I did the only thing I could think of…I found the hive and shot the center with a flame arrow.”
“You made them crazy….” Thomas whispered, slumping backwards in pain. “You made them crazy and gave them a target…Yulin.”
“Yeah, boss. I cast a rough illusion of him, shouted his name and sent it winging its way down the hall, while I stayed hidden. Let them come for him, I figured either they’d kill him, or at least distract him long enough for me to stick a knife in his back.”
“Bastards nearly killed me too, but I played dead.” Thomas winced as he unwrapped his potion pouch and looked inside. It was full of broken glass and a slurry of liquid that was slowly seeping out of the bottom.
“Here…” Rin said, passing him a full health potion with a grimace. “It was Dirik’s; don’t think he needs it now…”
Thomas caught it and winced, both at the pain the motion caused, and the implied reason behind their friend’s condition.
“Ah, crap…I’m sorry, Rin. I…I hired Yulin…he was all I could find…all that’d work with me, anyway. I should have disbanded the party, released you all from the oath, and gone on alone. You’d have found another team easily, and they’d all still be alive. This is all my fault!” Thomas blinked away hot tears of shame. He bit into the cork on the healing potion, pulling it out and spitting it aside before chugging its contents in one go.
Pain spread through his body in a rush as wounds flash healed, his fingers popping back into place from where they’d been twisted by the Imp. As the high-grade potion spread through the rest of his body, he was left panting and weak. He felt like he’d just ran a marathon, but at least he was alive. Thomas took a deep breath and looked over at Rin to find him shaking a tear-streaked face emphatically.
“No, boss…I was…sloppy, prideful. I thought I could kill one of the Feenals and bring it back as a trophy. I wanted to show you all that’s how good I was, even able to steal a part of the hive away, and nobody would know. Well, they knew…they fucking knew straight away! I caused this. I awoke the hive and dragged it down on us, giving that dick, Yulin, the chance to slaughter our friends.” He knelt back down next to Wena, stroking her hair back from her face and gently closing her eyes. “I’m so…so sorry, Wena!” he sobbed, great tearing sounds of grief that shook him as he whispered to her, the words too low for Thomas to make out.
Thomas got to his feet and moved over to Rin, putting one hand on his shoulder and drawing him up to his feet. Half supporting the man, he drew him into a bear hug and held him tight. At first, Rin stiffened, weakly trying to push free. Then, all of a sudden, something broke in him, and he grabbed onto Thomas desperately as he wept his heart out on his friend’s armored shoulder.
They stood like that for several minutes, until a loud explosion in the distance reminded them both of where they were. They broke apart awkwardly, both men used to bottling up their emotions tightly around others, and grabbed their weapons.
“Right; how about we go cut Yulin a new arsehole, then loot the shit out of this place?” Thomas suggested, his own cheeks wet with tears. He hefted his sword in his right hand and Dirik’s mace in his left.
“Yeah…let’s remind him why we’ve got such a bad reputation…” Rin muttered, drawing a dagger and flipping it end over end before catching it and brandishing it suggestively.
“Too fucking right, mate!” Thomas grinned at him, all awkwardness gone as they focused on the task at hand. If the Feenals hadn’t killed Yulin, then he’d wish they had soon enough.
◆◆◆
Chapter Two
I came to with a start, the noise of a siren loud in my ear as I was unceremoniously bounced so hard, I nearly came off the stretcher. “Wha…!” I cried, trying to grab something to stabilize myself, only to find that I was securely tied in place. Thick leather restraints on my wrists and ankles and chest bound me tightly to the jouncing gurney in what looked like an ambulance. One that was tearing through traffic with the sirens blaring like mad.
“You can relax, Jack. I am Mr. Johannes, and I was sent by the Baron to examine you and make you an offer, should you prove suitable.”
I twisted around as far as I could, glimpsing a small figure sat almost behind me. He didn’t bother to move, and as I strained, I managed to see that he was holding a briefcase on his lap, a paper upraised in one hand as he looked at it. The fucker wasn’t even looking at me.
“What…who?” I gasped out, my mind feeling like it was wrapped in a blanket of fog from the anesthetic.
“Humph. Not off to a good start, now are we?” he muttered to himself, before folding the paper and putting it away. He shifted over to sit on the seat nearest to me and fixed me with a glare that was obviously supposed to be intimidating. “Very well; let’s make this quick, shall we?”
“I…uh…”
“Please be quiet, Jack. This will go a lot more quickly if you do. Right, then; you’ve come to the Baron’s‒he’s my employer‒attention. He has instructed me to make you an offer, one that is exceedingly generous, in my opinion. You will be retained to work in his acquisitions team. This will involve a great deal of training, and then, you will be sent to acquire certain objects that he desires. In return, you will be well paid, and your current legal…difficulties…will be taken care of. As a gesture of good faith, we’ve already removed you from the hospital. See how generous we are?” He smiled perfunctorily at me and I stared back at him, trying to figure out what was going on. This little bastard had broken me out of jail for a job offer?
“Look…I think you’ve gotten me mixed up with someone else, I’m not…”
“No Jack, you have yourself mixed up, not us. A wolf wearing sheep’s clothing to fit in is still a wolf; just a surprisingly stupid-looking one.”
“I’m not a wolf, I’m a gamer, and I was a barman, but…”
“You are a wolf Jack, or you have the correct genes to be one at least. We confirmed that in the hospital, and your healing certainly dismissed any doubts I had personally.”
“Huh?” I muttered, confused. I was starting to get annoyed with the weird way the little bastard talked. I looked him over. He was maybe five foot one, with oily skin, greasy hair, an expensive suit, and a generally weasely yet still arrogant attitude. He was a lawyer, alright.
“Look, pal, I dinna who ye are, but ya can either talk straight or let me out o’ here and fuck off, alright? I’ve had a shitty enough night already.” My accent came through, as it always did, whenever I was stressed or angry. Years of shitty call center jobs and speech training was dismissed in an instant.
“Yes, well, I think I made myself clear, Jack, even to one of your ilk. I’ll try to make it simpler. Baron offer you money, you be good and do as told, all good, yes?” He spoke in a sweet, sugary voice,
like some people do when talking to animals and small children.
“And if I don’t?” I asked, a low growl seeping into my voice at his words.
“If you don’t? Well, then, you get to learn to fly! Won’t that be wonderful?”
“Fly?”
“Yes, Jack, from the plane door, out over the channel. Look. You’re obviously not bright; I had some hopes you would be at least smarter than your brother, but clearly, I was wrong. If you do what we tell you, the Baron will give you a great deal of money and some fabulous opportunities; if you refuse, then you’re a problem. The Baron dislikes problems, and he tends to use them as examples to others…very messy examples. Hence learning to fly would be a much better idea than disappointing him later on.”
“Wait a minute. You’re offering me a job, and threatening to kill me if I don’t take it and be a good little boy?” I growled at him.
“Ah! Yes, you can be taught; what a relief. After we had a similar discussion with Thomas, he became violent and had to be...educated.”
“Wait, what? Hold the fuck up.; you know Tommy?” I quickly replayed the conversation in my mind, realizing that he’d mentioned Tommy before as well.
“I see we’re back to simplistic again. Okay. Yes, Jack, me know Tommy. Tommy was bad and got punished. Now you get chance. Understand?”
“Punished! What the hell?!” I roared, my rage coming totally unhinged at the implications, and I threw my full weight against the restraints, yanking them repeatedy as I rocked the stretcher from side to side, screaming obscenities at him all the while.
His face went red with anger, but when the restraints on my right arm slipped, giving me a few scant inches of space, he went white with fear. His hand dove into the pocket of his tailored suit to retrieve a small stone. He pressed it against my chest and frantically started reading off a small sheet in his other hand as I tried to get to him.