The Chronicles of Outsider: Humble Beginnings
Page 80
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“Keep moving, just go on, get!” Cuke hollered and dropped another glyph of warding he had made on the ground behind them. Thom and Natalia pulled the carts along and ran forward as quickly as they could go with sweat pouring down their faces.
The carts bumped along across the ground as they swerved around trees and patches of shrubbery then through tall grass; the occupants noticing none of it. The forest blurred past as they went straight for the tunnel they had found. Thom groaned loudly as stitches pained his sides and his mouth grew parched.
He looked over to Natalia and they shared a concerned glance that spoke volumes. Both knew if that giant demon caught up to them there would be no saving them from a horrible death as well as the pain of watching each other die. Thom watched her go and willed her to move faster; content as long as she survived.
He looked over his shoulder and saw Cuke right behind him with grim determination stamped on his brow.
He turned back around and tripped, sprawling out on the ground. He tried to scramble to his feet when Cuke lifted him up and helped him push the cart until his momentum was built, then returned to his own and resumed running.
The cleric heard an explosion then a loud roar and cracked a grin as he knew his glyph had been effective. They rose up the side of a hill and he paused to look back as the others continued toward the rocky shelf. He placed his hand over his eyes to block out the glow from the lake and squinted into the semi-darkness.
Flames erupted up the side of two trees as coiling chains of fire ignited. They spun out overhead then lashed out at the dwarf on the hill only to stop short against his protective circle. The cleric placed his hands high in the air and called out to Reiin in prayer before punching out with a fistful of divine energy.
The light struck Cancer in the face and blinded him on contact. The demon roared again in outrage and struck out at random with the whips; shattering trees and sending their remains flying. One of the whips struck a wagon and split the wheel apart from the body.
Cuke stumbled as his wagon tipped over and he cursed loudly. Natalia and Thom turned to help him but he waved them on. “Keep going, I’ll meet you there!” He rushed to and fro to lay the unconscious people back onto the cart then looked up at the raging demon not so far away.
Reluctantly the two continued until they were at the tunnel’s mouth and disappeared into the low ceilinged passage with their carts bumping along behind them. Cuke pulled back his sleeves and charged up a spell. He tilted his cart back up and held onto it as he released the energy.
He and the cart both walked off the hill but didn’t descend at all; instead walking and rolling across the air. Cuke and his cart rushed along faster than he could run and made the tunnel just as Cancer’s vision returned.
The demon barreled forward and slammed into the rock face with his whips striking out at the tunnel repeatedly; leaving scorch marks that sizzled the stone and missed the dwarf’s back by inches.
“You won’t escape me so easily, you insignificant little runts!” he vowed and extinguished his whips. He sucked in a deep lungful of air and grinned wickedly as the heat gradually rose in his chest and built up pressure until smoke seeped from his nostrils.
Cuke caught up with Natalia and Thom and gave them a reassuring nod. “Looks like we made it.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. He took a minute to pause and catch his breath with hands on his knees; shaking away the painful thoughts he knew would try to overpower him.
Thom and Natalia looked at him then and he knew what they were about to ask. He held up his hand to stop them and nodded knowingly. Their eyes lowered to the dark stone and filled with tears.
Natalia dropped to the ground and wept with her knees drawn up to her chest. With great sobs that racked her whole body she cried for the loss of Outsider who died to save them all. Thom crouched beside her and held her with tears of his own streaming down his face.
Cuke wiped his eyes on his sleeve and cleared his throat. “We need to keep moving, Cancer isn’t going to just sit by and--” An explosion of sound shook above them and dust trickled down from the ceiling above them. “What the devil was--” A second explosion louder than anything he had ever heard before shook the entire mountain with a deafening sound so powerful, tremors rocked the tunnel.
“Get out of here now!” Cuke roared and threw a floating ball of light that followed him into the air. They took off running into the tunnel’s depths with their wagons as the mountain shook and seemed ready to collapse on them.