by Atlas Kane
The crowd of abyss cats broke apart. Some resisted the skill, their attacks resuming at once, but most of them flattened to the grassy field and slunk away in random directions.
The battle raged on, and as Satemi swung her long swords from her saddle, splitting the skulls of the beasts they passed, Minda flung daggers made of energy and continued to reduce the number of abyss cats one at a time. The initial wave of cats was shattered, and though a few dozen remained on the field, they were separated, disorganized, and waiting to be killed.
“Take us around once more,” Cade called, and the boar swung away from the bears that lumbered behind. As they circled round and headed in for a flanking charge, Cade watched as the apes crashed into the abyss creatures. Angry fists crushed in skulls and ribcages alike. The cats gave them almost no challenge at all, but soon the massive bears met the Kotani front lines. The two forces crashed together like the meeting of opposing tides.
A hellish scene unfolded before them as claw-clad paws smashed bone and tore flesh, both sides paying for every inch. Only the superior numbers the apes possessed made way for an obvious advantage. When two of them could confront a single bear at once, the fight ended in moments. The apes didn’t fight in blind rage, but cooperated, one distracted the foe while the other disemboweled it. Cade was impressed to see this practice taken a step further when an ape caught the paw of an abyss bear, hugging it to his body and rolling to the ground. The bear lost its balance and was pulled forward, using all of its might in an attempt to not fall to its side. In a flash of claws, a Kotani warrior had torn open its belly.
It was only when the raptors closed in that Cade saw more losses on their side. The skilled tactics of the void monsters matched the apes, and the one-sided slaughter stabilized.
Then something else came, something from the darkness of the void itself. It ran on four legs, but had three writhing serpent heads. Across its back lay flattened scales jutting out like plates of armor and behind it flowed a long and powerful tail, at the end of which swung a mallet of gleaming onyx.
Its three mouths opened up and howled in defiance as its forces were decimated. Running in a burst of ungodly speed, it sunk its teeth into the neck of a Kotani Ape, tearing free a hunk of its flesh. The ape fell, limp and bleeding, to the battlefield.
The Kotani Ma roared, calling the unknown terror toward it. And then the behemoths were charging one another, and the battle raging around them seemed pale and insignificant.
“Ketzal! Charge that thing. When we get close, have Bellows use his tusk attack. I don’t think our champion can handle it on his own.”
The demoness spurred the boar on, and they cut through the last pack of abyss cats, shooting and slicing their way through. Minda activated her mana wind attack, the leaves tearing through their midst even as Cade fired yet another Explosive Shot. Their combined efforts were impressive, and if the beasts hadn’t been otherworldly, would have been enough to make Cade’s stomach churn. As it was, he simply felt grateful to rid this fine world of their presence.
Yet a hundred feet ahead, two behemoths collided. The Kotani Ma lowered his horn-covered head and rammed the abyss creature. A sound of splintering bone swept across the battlefield, and Cade winced, hoping their champion hadn’t been too grievously injured. The monster it had charged stopped in its tracks, the bones in its chest and ribs cracking under the pressure of the attack but holding up. Its snake head shot out and found purchase on the ape’s back and neck, slicing into his flesh. The bone armor his body had grown prevented a quick death, but the Kotani Ma was taking significant damage.
He curled his hands into fists and hammered on the creature’s already-damaged ribs, and the battle unfolded like the ether storm still raging away above them.
As the fear bled away, and Cade prepared to attack a monster from the void itself, he inspected their latest foe.
Kargina Shash - Abyss Chimera
Level Unknown
Creature Type Unknown
A Chimera? What kind of buck-toothed, cross-eyed irony is this? Cade grumbled, pissed off some monster had stolen his title. There’s only room for one of us in Antinium, and you are too damn ugly to stick around.
Half the distance had been closed, and Cade had a bad feeling about the size of the beast they were charging. It made the Kotani Ma seem as small as his son Chandi. By the looks of it, the ape was holding his own, but when the chimera brought its tail round and smashed the ape, the battle turned. The bony appendage crushed the ape’s shoulder, disabling one of his two effective weapons. The only hope for defeating the hulking monster was to end it here and now.
Cade turned around and shouted to Sholl, Satemi, and Ketzal. “Dismount! Dismount now!”
Not wasting the time it took to ensure they listened to his command, Cade told the same to Gemma who immediately leapt into the air, transforming into her tiger form just before she touched the ground. Finally, he shouted forward to Ketzal. “Tusk attack then you jump off too.” The demoness shook her head, but Cade insisted. “Please, just trust me!”
With a look of fear in her eyes, Ketzal shouted, “Relentless Gore!”
As Bellows grew feet of gnarly tusks, bearing down on the chimera, Ketzal jumped off the boar’s back, and used her shield’s skill to blunt the fall.
Cade had time to fire a single shot, Armor Piercing, and aimed the bullet where he thought the chimera’s lungs would be a few feet behind where the snake head attached. Then he stood up in the saddle, bracing himself. Bellows slammed into the abyss chimera’s side, caving in one side of its ribcage. Their momentum was stopped after only a few feet, the monster’s body four or five times the size of the great boar.
Then Cade was in the air, flying toward the terrifying creature. He had time only to activate Shroom Shield, and he smashed into the creature’s back.
The skill blunted his landing, but still, one of the large scales cut through his leather vest like paper. Only the chain mail beneath saved his life. Groaning, Cade tried to stand, looking to the side and watching as Bellows thrashed, his long tusks buried in the chimera’s chest. Despite the grievous injury, the monster was aiming its tail at Bellows. The hammer-like weapon crashed into the boar’s side, but the new plate armor worked wonders in nullifying the attack. Again and again, the tail landed, clanging so loud Cade’s ears were ringing.
Cade hopped to his feet and began the morbid work of finishing the monster. He dropped a Spider’s Kiss on a flat expanse of tender skin between the chimera’s shoulder blades, then a Culling the Pack. Neither seemed to have much effect, so he darted forward, and aimed at the base of the middle snake head. Cade fired an Explosive Shot.
A burst of dark blood and tissue showered him, and the middle head fell limp.
Then the other two released their hold on the Kotani Ma, turning up and around to face him.
“Shit!” he yelped, regretting how long it took for his rifle to recharge.
One of the snake heads darted out to bite him, the mouth big enough to wrap around his upper body completely. Cade held up his ring and fired the little blob of acid straight down its throat. He was forced to leap to the side to avoid being bitten, and he fell to the ground below.
It was a fifteen-foot drop, but he managed to fall into a roll. When he turned around the final snake head was closing in on him fast. He opened his hand and summoned a Boom Stick. Cade lobbed the explosive in the air and held up his buckler, bracing for impact.
The snake’s mouth snapped shut on the bomb and erupted in flame and gore.
Chunks of the beast’s ruined head slapped into Cade’s buckler and a fountain of dark blood soaked him head to foot.
But when he looked up at last, he saw Bellows had torn free his tusks and was running away toward a remaining cluster of abyss bears. The chimera was falling, its thick legs buckling at last, and when its behemoth body touched down, it shook the earth beneath Cade’s feet.
It was over, the worst of it at least. Yet a few dozen feet ahead,
Cade spotted the Kotani Ma. The ape had crawled away a few feet, and his body was soaked in his own blood. The chimera’s snake heads had done too much damage.
Cade sprinted forward and used Restoration of the Grove as soon as he was at the ape’s side, and then he took out the poultice made from the Scorching Sweet Potatoes. He rubbed the substance in the still-gaping wound in the ape’s neck and flinched as the beast roared in his face. Cade held up his hands, hoping the champion would know he was trying to help. When he found himself still in one piece, Cade summoned a Healing Tincture from his Inventory and poured it into the ape’s mouth as well. Out of tricks, Cade stepped back, hoping he’d done enough.
A fellow Kotani Ape bounded up, seeing the damage and insufficient healing. Then it did something surprising. The beast held one hand to its chest and the other to one of the Kotani Ma’s wounds. After a moment passed, green light poured out of the ape’s chest and into its leader’s body. At last, the wounded ape seemed to stabilize.
He sat up, breathing deeply. Looking like hell itself, the beast actually nodded to Cade in thanks before returning to the battle and producing an ear-shattering war cry.
Cade took a moment to assess the damage. It was a hard pill to swallow. Nearly half the Kotani Apes were fallen, their proud forms slumped or crumpled on the battlefield woven through the scattered bodies of the abyss creatures. Those that remained were slaying the final few bears and raptors in terrifying efficiency.
Satemi led the others who’d jumped free of Bellows during the charge, and for a moment, he thought the battle might be over. Then a rhythmic clanking came from Tanrial, and he turned to see three full squads of the Silver Guard approaching.
The Kotani Ma called the apes to form up once more, and throwing Cade’s group a confident glance, ran ahead of his fellows and toward the shield wall assembled before them.
“We have to get into the city while we can. The apes can handle this!” Cade insisted, and the others nodded their assent.
“I just hope they remember not to kill everyone,” Ketzal fretted, gazing in fear as the lines met in a clamor of bone on steel.
Satemi spoke next, her voice taking on the tone of the iron-gutted general once more. “We trust in our allies. If Vormer is allowed to summon more abyss creatures, we might all die though. Let’s go while we can.”
The demoness nodded, prying her eyes from the battle.
The members of Camp Casmeer trudged away, covered in gore, but more or less in one piece. So far, the raid on the city had gone better than Cade had hoped for. He stood and watched for a few brutal seconds. The apes had shouldered their way into the front ranks of the Silver Guard, and had they been forced to push their way through them, like any other army, the battle would have been long-winded and costly. Instead, the apes used their superior size and agility, vaulting over the shield wall and smashing into the heart of the formation.
In a handful of moments, the spine of the shield wall was crumbling. Cade watched in relief as the Kotani Ma himself shoved a guard to the ground, and rather than crush the man or woman to death, the great chieftain plucked the silver mask away from their face and tossed it away.
We trust in our allies, Satemi’s voice echoed in his head once more, and he pulled himself away.
Then he followed the group as they ran up the steps into the city of Tanrial, seeking the golden-scaled asshole that had caused all of this pointless ruin.
It was time to skin a lion.
25
The Heist, Hellacious
It wasn’t quite like they were sneaking in Tanrial. Yet jogging away from the pounding of fists on steel, it felt that way.
The city was as eerie as it always was, feeling filled with eyes yet somehow deserted.
How many other guards Vormer could have here was still an unknown. Ketzal was the closest thing they had to an undercover agent though, so as the group came to a fountain, he called for a brief rest.
“Everyone should drink some water. This is probably our last respite. And while we do, Ketzal, can you tell us anything more? That was exactly thirty Silver Guards out there. We killed nine more when we fought to free Gemma. How many more should we expect?”
Ketzal creased her brow, her thoughts visibly tumbling through her mind. “I am not exactly sure. Vormer did not keep exact accounts of anything, though I cannot imagine he would share them if he did. I’ve never seen more than thirty gathered at any given time though. There are at least five others though, the elites. Of that, I am certain.”
“Elites?” Satemi said. “And what kept you from spilling this information until now? We need to know what you know or none of this will work.”
The warrior’s harsh tone had an effect on Ketzal. She dropped her horns in shame. “I am sorry. I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels as if my memories have been torn. I recall dozens of servants, yet I cannot remember their faces. I have witnessed parading Silver Guards, watching them drill and train, yet none of their names nor their specific numbers are there. Then, as we entered the city, more has been coming back.”
Cade touched her shoulder, lifting her face to his. “Sholl has even fewer memories than you do. He was under direct control almost the whole time he was here. I know you didn’t lead us astray on purpose, but please, just tell us anything you can right now.”
“A few things have come back to me. I think I know where the armory is. We should head there first. It is the closest to our position. That is where Vormer keeps his store of stolen soul weapons. It also leads to the tunnels below the city. We can enter from there. When I had that thought, I remembered the vault is not unguarded. The elites will be there, at least one or two of them,” she said, blinking away a rogue tear and focusing on telling them all she knew.
“And what of their classes or skills? Weapons? Who and what will we be facing, Ketzal?” Satemi said, her arms folded. Though the woman’s tone was no longer angry, her keen interest was unmoving, a force that weighed on the demon’s shoulders.
Cade noticed and added in a softer voice, throwing Satemi a placating look, “Remember, Ketzal. Anything that comes up will be helpful. Anything at all.”
The demoness nodded again, scrunching her brow in an effort to push past her clouded memories. “Three. There’s three I think. They are each nearly as powerful as Vormer. I am sorry, but I’ve never seen them fight, only stand guard. I just remember feeling frightened. And they wear the masks too, so I do not think they act of their own will.” Looking up to the group, Ketzal looked at a loss for words. “I’m sorry. I don’t know anything else. But I can lead us to the armory. I’m—”
Satemi cut her off by pressing her hand into the woman’s chest. “We trust you. All is well, sister. Now let’s get moving. We will have the advantage of numbers at least. Hopefully that will be enough.”
The group spread out and followed Ketzal down a side alley leading between two towers. It wove deeper into the city, and Cade glanced up once as they were about to enter the bowels of Tanrial. High above, outside of the dome that kept out the howling winds, the ether storm raged on. Bolts of condensed energy dappled the force shield, seeming like drops on the surface of a pond. The silence of it all, and the knowledge of the destructive force just beyond reach, sent chills through Cade.
Inside the network of tunnels, golden lights illuminated the corridors, the same as they’d seen back in the cave near Camp Casmeer. It lent their progress a nostalgic vibe, making Cade reflect on the shadow creature they’d killed not so long ago. What had this world been meant to be? Cade wondered. It feels as if we are here only to see it crumble into dust. Could there be anything more depressing?
Ahead, the corridor split off, and Ketzal turned right, not hesitating for an instant. At least we have a guide. We will need to thank her, let her know how much we appreciate this sacrifice when we return. Should we return, he amended.
Another few turns and then they were descending a long staircase, angular and garish. When they got to the botto
m, and the wide room collapsed toward a single doorway, Cade cleared his throat, preparing to call out and ask how much further their destination lay. But Ketzal stopped and turned around, facing the group. “Just through here. This hall will open up into an antechamber. At the back of that is the armory. It cannot be properly locked, so Vormer has at least one of the elites guarding it at all times.”
Cade nodded, then insisted he and Satemi enter first.
He gave a short speech, letting them know his thoughts on how they should proceed. “If our luck is bad and we encounter them all, Satemi and I will battle one, Ketzal and Gemma another, Minda and Sholl the last. Whoever finishes their opponent first, support the others. And remember, if possible, we subdue them. It is not only the right thing to do, but freeing a powerful ally from Vormer’s grip could prove invaluable. Satemi, do you agree?”
The warrior gave a terse nod, then they broke into pairs and walked through the doorway.
A few dozen yards ahead, a bright light spilled down from lamps placed high in a wide room. Before he noticed the thick pillars or the vaulted ceiling that gave the room the feel of an auditorium or a theater, he saw the three elites.
They stood like inhuman sentries, masks and armor of gold, matching Vormer’s, but sleeker in design. Less ceremonial and more functional, the warriors’ armor was a composite of scale mail and plate. The leader, standing tall between the other two, was unarmed. Only two seamless gauntlets hung from their arms, the silver metal of soul weapons. To one side, a short and squat fighter held two short swords, and even as they saw the warrior, they fell into a fighter’s stance. The last was enormous. A hulking wall of man, Cade had to assume the guard was male, hand set atop the pommel of a gargantuan war hammer.