by Atlas Kane
As Cade buckled to the ground, he heard the two women struggling to remove the raptor. Cade collapsed, the beast’s legs completely giving out and pressing him into the soil. His lungs strained for another breath and lights began to spark in his eyes. I’m gonna die by being squished by a space dino? Hell no!
Then he remembered the boar. With his last breath he shouted. “Fiery Regrowth!” Without seeing anything but his own rapidly fading view of the ground beneath him, he heard Bellows squeal. Though his voice was muffled, the skill had activated.
Suddenly, the light of the sky poured in around him as the raptor’s body was flung aside. Cade gasped, fresh air filling him like sweet nectar.
He rolled to his back and stared up at two beautiful faces, his concerned and loving women, breathing hard and covered in abyssal blood. Then he saw the ugliest face of all, Bellows peering down at him from his beady eye.
“Hey guys. So we won then?”
Minda laughed, relief evident in her features. She reached down and helped him sit up. “Yes, we did. All of those nasty things are dead, thank the gods. Now let’s get you back to Camp Casmeer.”
Satemi moved in to his other side and propped him up. Then they all stood together.
Cade glanced around at the carnage of the battle. Dead abyss creatures lay everywhere, their blood soaking into the earth. At least it wasn’t in camp, he thought. Still, gonna have to burn these things or who knows what will come to eat them up.
The three turned and began walking up the hill. Clean up could come after they all rested. Cade recovered his head enough to thank the women and walk on his own. His body was bruised from the crushing weight of the raptor, but he would be fine.
Then a voice of ice and steel spoke behind them. In a flash, all three had their weapons in hand once more, and they faced a creature both fair and fell beyond all others.
“I require the mask. If you hand it over, my master may give you leniency,” Ketzal demanded. Her hair rippled in the air, her horns shimmering like bronze in the sun. Her face was covered by a steel mask like the guards of Tanrial wore. In her hand was a whip made from the steel of a soul weapon. The lash that extended from the handle crackled with pure energy. She held a ball of black flame in the other. Most striking of all were the two wings that hovered behind her, protruding from her back.
An abyss beast stood to either side of her, and they roared a challenge.
Cade glanced to Minda and Satemi, and the only thing that crossed his mind was, Girls, this is Ketzal, the woman I told you about.
28
The Harlot and the Herald
“What are you doing?” Cade called out, his mind reeling from the implications of seeing this woman here flanked as she was by the abyss beasts. Minda growled, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up slightly as she stepped forward, extending her staff for combat once more.
Satemi stood beside her. “It doesn’t matter, Cade. She’s chosen her side. We must fight or die here. I know what I choose to do.”
Ketzal stood rigid, her body seeming to struggle for a moment against invisible bindings. Then she said a single word, her voice doused in emotion. “Cade!” But her head whipped to the side, the wings at her back contorting in pain. And when she faced them again, the ice had frozen her voice once more. “Hand over the mask or die!”
Glancing at the fell beasts at her side, Cade knew that though the numbers were shifted for the first time, this might be a more dangerous battle. On the woman’s left stood a raptor, this one taller than its predecessor, its claws and fangs glowing silver. He checked its status to see if anything else could be learned of the beast before the fight began.
Fenmali Hai Loor - Abyss Raptor Alpha
Level Unknown
Creature Type Unknown
Condition - Blessed
The bear snarling on the other side gave the same information when Cade scanned it. They were both alphas and both had a Blessed condition. Whatever that meant, Cade had the feeling it wasn’t good, not for his side anyhow.
But hearing Ketzal’s voice call out to him, her real voice, shifted something inside his chest. She needed his protection as well, and as Satemi strode forward, he knew he had only a single chance to do so.
Cade ran out between the forces, holding up his hands to either party. “Stop! Just stop!” Surprisingly, both women listened, their blank masks facing him. Never before in his life had he received the attention of such a terrible and unsettling audience. He cleared his throat and gave it his best shot.
Turning to Satemi, he said in a hoarse whisper, “Do me this favor and you will not regret it. Fight to disarm her, do what you must, but break the hold Vormer has over her. You can see as well as I do. This is not done of her own will.”
The warrior stood rigid, but for the time being, she showed no sign of attacking outright. He had to take that for a good sign.
Then, speaking to Ketzal, he pleaded. “Ketzal! Try as hard as you can to deny Vormer’s influence. This does not have to end in anyone’s death!”
For a moment, he felt that his plea might sink through the mental hold Vormer had over the woman. Her head jerked to the side and her chest rose and fell as she panted with effort. But when she turned back to him, her body was serene once more.
She was not in control of anything.
“Cade Clarke. I came only for the mask, but now that I see such passion, I feel moved to action. You and yours will die this day, I promise. And I’ll adorn your skulls with gold to hang above the mantle in my study.”
“That isn’t going to happen, Vormer,” Cade growled back. “If you wanted my head so bad, you should have come yourself.”
Satemi lifted her head, her shoulders tense with rage. “I’ll handle her! You three bring down those freaks.”
When it was clear the battle would soon be joined, Ketzal cast a spell. Her body shimmered with dark mana, and then a ball of energy began forming in her hand, expanding rapidly. It churned with incredible power, black fire writhing in the demoness’ upturned palm. Then she released it.
The magic blaze shot out toward Satemi. Cade gasped, thinking it would all be over before he’d even joined the fray. But the warrior-woman brought her swords together, a dome of crimson light surrounded her. The magic ball splashed over its surface, roiling with power. It sloughed off and fell to the ground dissipating into thin air.
“You done playing around? I want a real fight, so no more tricks,” Satemi shouted. Then she bounded forward, her swords flashing out before her. In a blur, she used another skill, her movement skipping forward as if she’d teleported. Ketzal’s whip snapped out and deflected the first of many blows.
In a few moments, the battle moved into the frenzy of an unpredictable brawl.
The bear charged first, the raptor at its back. “Relentless Gore!” Cade commanded. He watched as Bellows’ tusks thickened and extended to twice their length. Each tusk forked into three twisting spears of bone. When the skill was finished, five feet of jagged death jutted out of the boar’s face. The abyss creature roared back in defiance, and the great pig charged.
Bellows slammed into the great bear’s chest like a fevered fork lift, his tusks tearing into creature’s flesh and snapping ribs like tinder.
In a single moment, the battle between the two huge animals was decided. The bear was massive, nearly twice the size of Bellows, but it had been struck through too many times to ignore.
Bellows thrashed, tearing the holes wider with each second. Refusing to die, the abyss bear raked his sides with fell claws, and the silver energy seeped into the boar’s flanks.
Even as the bear fell dead, Bellows grew stiff. His legs locked, and it appeared as if he’d simply been frozen solid. Cade watched in horror and the two fell to the ground. Though the boar continued to breathe, letting Cade know he still lived, the beast was most certainly out of the fight.
Ignoring its fallen comrade, the raptor leapt over the mess and lashed out at Minda. She tried to
roll away, but the monster was faster than the others had been. Cade saved the woman’s life with the Shroom Shield, blunting the attack at the last moment. Yet the same effect took hold. Minda grew still, her eyes wide with terror. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but no words came out.
The raptor turned to Cade to finish its final opponent, teeth snapping in the air as Cade dodged. He stole a glance at Minda and saw she was fighting to move her hands to her lips, something held there, some bit of an herb. Is she trying to heal herself? he wondered, furious that he’d already used his Restoration of the Grove skill.
The raptor struck again, and Cade smashed away its hungry mouth with his hammer.
Satemi and Ketzal battled further up the hill. In a flash, Cade saw the electric whip lashing out at the taller woman, Satemi turning aside the rapid attacks with her great swords. For their length, the woman spun them around like daggers, grace and precision in her every move.
Staring back at Minda, frozen and unable to help herself, Cade had a wild idea. He sprinted away into the nearby bushes, and as the raptor made to pursue him, he triggered Canopy of Occlusion. Thankfully, enough shrubbery decorated the side of the hill to count as a degree of cover, and immediately, he could see confusion in the beast’s eyes. It shrieked and leapt straight toward him. Cade darted to the side, and when the raptor landed, it no longer could tell where his prey was.
Cade had but a few moments to make a difference. He sprinted back to Minda and fell at her side. Taking the herb from her hand, he pushed it into her mouth. Her jaw hung slack, so he gripped it in his hand and ground it around, chewing the herb forcibly. Her tongue got in the way and blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. That could heal later though. Cade continued until he noticed a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.
She twitched again, her jaw beginning to work of its own volition. Then, meeting his eyes, she whispered, “Behind you.”
Cade spun to see the raptor had somehow pierced his veil of camouflage and was jumping towards him once more. He rolled out of the way, shoving Minda in the opposite direction. The raptor was on him, striking relentlessly. Each near miss made his heart race. He shot it with a Double Tap, the bullets doing little to slow the beast. He blocked its clawed attacks with his hammer, crushing a few of the beast’s long fingers.
Then its body began to glow, some ability coming to life within its flesh. The claws at its hands extended, mana infusing them. When they were nearly three feet long, it struck at Cade once more. And though Cade blocked the attack, the mana claws tore into his shoulder, and he fell to the ground. Instead of paralyzing him, the mana-infused claws instead left a burning feeling in his wounds, as if a cold, liquid fire had been poured into them.
The raptor hissed and prepared to leap once more, its deadly rear claws imbued with the same fell magic. But the roots wrapped around its legs. Cade looked over and saw Minda had moved her arm and staff enough to cast her ability. Wasting no more time, he pulled out the last Blast Stick and threw it at the raptor. With all the intelligence of a hell beast, the raptor snapped it from the air in its jaws. Though the following explosion was far smaller than the Boom Stick had produced, it was enough to remove the creature’s bottom jaw, bits of wooden shrapnel erupting up into its brain.
Without another sound, the raptor collapsed to the ground.
Minda was struggling to stand up, fear written across her features. With a single, shaking hand, she pointed to the battle up the hill.
When he looked, Cade saw a shield of power pushing Satemi back. The abyss creatures all began to bleed onyx energy into the air, and Ketzal rose up on her majestic wings, absorbing the power of the fallen enemy. Not only their souls it seemed, if the beasts had any, but their bodies as well, melted away and poured into the woman’s core. Ketzal opened her arms wide, and the shield grew more powerful, pushing Satemi back. A massive spear formed in the air, all black and angled like a shard from the abyss itself.
She would release it. The spear would pierce the woman’s heart he’d begun to love, and then the over-powered demon would turn and kill him and Minda and Bellows last of all. Not on my god damned watch, Cade grumbled. He pulled back his arms and flung his axe directly at the woman’s face. By some miracle or the will of the gods themselves, the axe struck Ketzal in her steel mask with a clang.
The piece of metal tumbled to the ground.
A flash of power erupted all around her, and she fell back to the ground, landing in a crouch. The spear dissipated along with so much of the energy she’d absorbed. The battlefield was silent, and Cade listened to the sound of his own ragged breath.
Then Ketzal looked up. Each of her eyes were glazed over with domes of shimmering gold. “That’s it! Can’t you see? That’s how he’s controlling her!” Cade shouted, running toward the two, yet unsure of how to stop the inevitable from happening. Her power diminished, Satemi would end this fight, and the beautiful demoness would die a pointless death.
He should have trusted the warrior’s heart more. Instead of charging forward and slashing out with her sword, Satemi sheathed her weapons in a flourish and stepped forward. Her posture grew still, and Cade realized she was using the power of the mask. The two women stared at each other. In one, the soul weapon gleaming softly in the sunlight, the weight of judgement and will pressing outward. In the other, Cade saw the struggle of Vormer’s presence, the vile man’s will exerting itself from so far away.
Cade watched on, unable to aid in this final battle. Then he heard Bellows rising from where he’d fallen, and Minda touched Cade’s arm. He looked down into the small woman’s eyes, and she nodded at him. This was how it was supposed to go. This was how they would trust her.
The end of the silent duel came soon enough. Ketzal gasped, and the orbs of gold evaporated from around her eyes. She fell to her hands and knees and stared at Cade. Tears streaked down her face, and he noticed that when the sun caught them just right, they too were golden. Ketzal’s features were haggard, pain written in her every expression. She sobbed, her teeth bared in frustration.
“I’m so…” she tried, but she lacked the strength to finish. With one final, pleading look, she collapsed to the ground.
Cade looked around him, at those who’d chosen to fight at his side. Satemi bowed to her fallen foe, then with absolute resolve, removed her mask. She handed the mask to Minda who rushed up to her side. Then the tall woman stooped and picked Ketzal up in her arms. Glancing at last to Cade, Satemi’s face shone a triumphant bronze, and slowly, she grinned.
Not having seen the woman’s face in so long, he was struck again by her intense beauty. It was impossible not to respect the woman’s resolve. Though it hadn’t been her fault, the previous attack of the villagers she’d sworn to protect weighed heavily on her heart. She’d demanded more of herself than she had to give, yet now, knowing she’d done her best, Satemi at last relinquished the guilt.
“Let’s go,” Cade said in a voice heavy with emotion. “We have a new member of our village, and I think she needs our help in restoring her strength.”
Satemi nodded and turned up the hill, bearing the woman easily. Minda ran ahead, turning only long enough to shout back to them, “I have herbs for this! I can help her, I know I can!”
Not since meeting the two women had Cade felt more pride and more respect for the both of them. Rather than hold Ketzal’s unbidden crimes against her, or fall to the pettiness of jealousy, they had already opened a space within both of their hearts for the woman. A fitting end to a short-lived day, Cade thought, staring up at the noonday sky. So much had happened already, and yet he knew the rest of the day would be dedicated to recovering from this whole bloody mess.
29
Three, the Best Sort of Crowd
Minda applied her herbs immediately, and Cade even handed out a new concoction his Alchemical Engineering Occupation unlocked. It was a Health Tincture that restored their bodies from the bruises and exertions of the fight.
Ketzal rema
ined unconscious all throughout the day, however, and she lay in their furs fighting to reclaim herself.
A fever wracked her body, making the woman shake occasionally, sweat beading on her brow. Yet throughout her long recovery, Cade marveled at the tranquility that possessed her.
Minda and Satemi went on a short walk, the two of them bathing in the waterfall together, speaking with the intimacy of true friendship and admiration. Cade used the time to give Bellows another proper meal, emptying most of the rest of their stores of meat. Tomorrow, all five of them would go on a hunt. But tonight, they could eat what they’d kept in storage and be grateful for it.
It was frustrating to see how Cade’s XP remained unmoved by the incredible battle. Somehow, the abyss creatures existed outside of this plane of existence. No loot and no XP were not what he wanted from deadly beasts, but again, they could gain more of both on the morrow’s hunt.
He sat and prepared a few more of the Blast Sticks and one more massive Boom Stick. They had been invaluable during their fight, and Cade wanted as much ammunition as possible. The thought of coming across the Kotani Ma made his blood run cold. Even the bigger grenade might not be enough to pierce the beast’s hardened skin.
There was work to be done if their home here at Camp Casmeer could be called safe. Satemi had plans to add palisades up the slope that led to camp. It was a shame for a patch of wild flowers had sprung up, and their numbers continued to increase. Some dormant bulbs littered the area, and the thought of trampling the white and crimson flowers made his heart ache.
Yet such defenses would force whatever army Vormer sent after them next to bottleneck at least. But still, without more villagers, the whole plan looked hopeless. He’d told Satemi this, his words soft but touched by fear nonetheless.