Awaken Online: Dominion

by Travis Bagwell

  His attention shifted to the horde of undead still barreling across the field toward the wall. There were simply too many. He could repurpose the larger bones at the base of the wall, which would reduce the size of the growing ramp and buy them some time, but that wouldn’t solve their problem. More of the feral undead would perish, paving the way for their brothers to make it over the wall and into the city itself.

  It was only a matter of time.

  A sinking feeling was forming in Jason’s stomach as he realized that they wouldn’t be able to hold this position – not against this many enemies. His gaze shifted to the interior of the city behind him. What sort of destruction would the ghouls cause if they made it inside the Twilight Throne? Even with the civilians safely evacuated to the keep, they would destroy most of the southern quarter, rampaging through everything in their path. They would cut a swath of destruction through his city so wide and deep that it might take months to recover.

  Even as that realization struck him, he knew he had no choice. If they made it through this, then they could rebuild. But, first, he needed to keep his people alive.

  Jason turned his attention back to the field outside the city, his resolve hardening. He knew what he needed to do.

  With a thought and a wave of his hand, bones erupted from the pile at the base of the wall, throwing the ghouls standing atop the pile hurtling through the air and slamming into the stone blocks of the fortification. Jason snatched a bag from his waist, pulling open the drawstrings. A mound of glimmering orange and red crystals rested inside – the remainder of the fire crystals at his disposal.

  Quickly, Jason began building.

  Dozens of Death Knights began to take shape along the wall, the bones piecing themselves together simultaneously – forming sinewy limbs and the familiar spiked shields of his minions. Jason didn’t have time to get creative, and he needed a creature that could withstand the onslaught of the feral undead – a creature that could buy them some time. The newly-formed Death Knights shoved the Kin back from the precipice, their eyes widening ever-so-slowly in surprise as the undead formed in the air before them.

  Once Jason hit his Control Limit, he ripped apart his catapults, adding as many defensive troops along the wall as he could. Then he made alterations to each minion, placing orange crystals inside each Death Knight’s right foot. The creatures’ hands were fused to their weapons and shields, so he needed to use a limb that they could damage at will. He could only hope that this would work.

  Suddenly, Jason was finished with his preparations.

  He surveyed his new creations and the feral undead that were already clamoring up the wall once again. He looked at the Kin as they backpedaled away from the newly-formed Death Knights. He saw his people on the interior of the courtyard as they scrambled away from the ruined remains of the catapults. He noticed Eliza and Cecil standing on the road leading back toward the keep, ready to initiate their fallback plan. In the distance, the dark silhouette of the keep loomed above the city.

  A lot was about to happen once Jason completed his spell. He was about to lose quite a few troops, the ghouls would destroy a large portion of his city, and they would be pushed back to their fallback position – forced to make a last stand in front of the keep. The weight of that decision hung heavy on his shoulders. Yet there was no other option.

  “Let’s do this,” Jason said, slamming his fist down on the control panel.

  The world around him immediately lurched back into motion. A piercing pain wracked Jason’s head – like someone was driving a pick into his skull. He had stayed inside the creation panel longer than he had expected and the feedback pain was unusually severe. He heard shouting around him, but he was having difficulty focusing on his surroundings – red notifications flashing in his peripheral vision.

  He was lifted from his feet and sent barreling through the air. Jason hit the ground on the interior of the wall. Hard. The wind rushed from his lungs and brought on a fit of coughing, only making it more difficult to catch his bearings. Riley’s face hovered in front of him, her expression harried and her eyes glowing with unholy energy. Behind her, Jason could see the skeletal forms of his Death Knights on the wall, the rest of the Kin dropping from the rampart and landing all around him.

  Riley yanked him to his feet and shoved him toward the roadway. She was shouting something, but he couldn’t understand it. All he knew was that she was half-supporting and half-carrying him down the road, a small contingent of Kin forming a protective bubble around him. Despite the pain that wracked his head, Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something. Some final command he was supposed to give.

  “Wait…” he said, struggling against Riley.

  “We need to keep moving,” she shouted.

  “One last… thing,” he grunted. “Plan B.”

  “I know. Cecil and Eliza are already in position,” Riley replied. “We need to keep moving and get behind the first line of traps.”

  Jason just shook his head, shrugging off his soldiers and turning to face the wall behind him. His Death Knights still stood on the fortifications, barely keeping the relentless waves of feral undead at bay.

  Just a moment longer, he thought. Not yet.

  Even as he looked on, one of the feral skeletons leaped on top of a Death Knight, its clawed hands ripping at the bones that formed his minion’s neck. Only moments later, the ghoul tore the Death Knight’s horned head from its shoulders, roaring its rage into the night sky.

  Just a second more.

  More ghouls streamed onto the top of the wall. They were threatening to overwhelm his line of minions, and he could see more Death Knights fall. Riley was still shouting at him from nearby, the small contingent of Kin glancing nervously at him. They needed to retreat.

  Now, Jason thought, issuing a simultaneous command to his remaining Death Knights.

  In unison, each hulking defender slammed its right foot into the rampart with such force that it crumpled the bone and crushed the crystal embedded in its limb. A series of explosions rocked the top of the wall, blasting apart the Death Knights and any ghouls foolish enough to be standing nearby. The force of the blast rocketed out from the top of the wall, spraying ivory debris and dust in every direction. A wave of force crashed down through the street, momentarily throwing Jason off balance.

  “Can we go now?” Riley demanded, not waiting for him to answer as she lifted him to his feet and practically dragged him down the road. “The others have already evacuated.”

  Jason belatedly realized that she was right, and their small group was the only one still standing in the roadway. The rest of the Kin were rushing back toward the market and the keep. But there was still one more step in their retreat and Jason wanted to see this.

  As he was half-carried away, Jason’s attention was focused on the wall behind them. The ghouls had already recovered and were beginning to stream over the now undefended fortification before dropping to the street below and rushing between the buildings. They soon caught sight of Jason’s small group, and a roar of rage ripped from their throats. The creatures clawed at the air with their hands as they raced forward.

  As the first feral creature reached the roadway, glowing blue runes erupted along the length of the street. Jason knew that similar designs had been etched by Eliza and Cecil into every road leading back to the Keep – the small man feeding Eliza mana potions and advice as she set trap after trap. Spears of ice rocketed into the air, splitting the undead creatures’ bodies in half. The ice soon towered over the roadway, creating a makeshift wall that bought the Kin a momentary respite during their retreat.

  Jason felt worry sweep through his mind despite the numbing chill of his dark mana. The traps continued to trigger, and the ghouls began pounding at the icy surface from the other side, their forms shadowy and hazy through the semi-transparent material. Their fallback plan had worked, but he wasn’t certain whether it would be enough. This was far worse than any of them had expected,
and Thorn hadn’t even made his appearance yet. Now that they had given up the wall, the Order leader could easily infiltrate the city and strike at any time.

  Their only hope was that their traps would be enough to whittle down the undead before they reached the market, and that their last stand position was strong enough to withstand the attack that was coming. Because there was nowhere else to run.

  Chapter 57 - Enraged

  Frank shuffled uncomfortably, twigs pressing into his stomach and scratching his arms – a product of the barren row of bushes he was currently hiding behind. He had thought that he would grow accustomed to the discomfort the longer he sat in this hiding place, but that hadn’t been the case. If anything, he had only become more irritable and pensive as the hours ticked by.

  He heard a faint rustle nearby, evidence that the remainder of the Kin were stationed around him, perched on tree branches, and hiding among the dead trees. The group was positioned a few dozen yards back from the roadway leading into Kelton. This had been one of the first towns that Frank had conquered after Fastu, which meant there had actually been survivors.

  They had followed Alexion’s trail to the south, their enemy’s progress slowed by the slaves in his caravan. It hadn’t taken them long to catch up, but instead of trying to strike the group on the road, Frank and his lone division of Kin had used their mounts to circle to the west. They had passed Alexion’s forces and set up an ambush at the next town where they could take advantage of its defenses.

  Frank had made contact with the leadership in Kelton and explained the situation. The town’s grizzled leader hadn’t loved the idea of using his village as bait, but Frank also hadn’t given him much choice. The man and his people had Jason to thank for their newfound immortality and the enhancements to their defenses – a favor that Frank had been forced to call in early.

  As if the waiting wasn’t bad enough, he had also seen the universal system message some time ago announcing that the Twilight Throne was under attack by feral undead. Since he now knew exactly what Alexion was up to, he guessed that Thorn was somehow behind the attack. That might also explain the crystal that they had found in the first Wraithling nest. He could only assume that Thorn had somehow been causing the native undead to evolve.

  Although, he supposed that it was still possible that this could have all been some sort of distraction on Alexion’s part. However, that seemed like overkill just to raid a few outlying villages.

  Plus, that was giving Alexion far too much credit.

  Frank glanced at the chat window in his peripheral vision, his expression worried. He had tried messaging Riley and Jason but hadn’t heard back from either of them. That wasn’t a good sign. Although, it wasn’t like he could do anything about that right now. He was too far away from the city to return in time to help, and he still hadn’t completed either of his missions. Alexion was still pillaging their western border, and Frank hadn’t received any sort of notification that Vera had conquered the final town.

  He just had to hope that his friends would be okay on their own.

  “Sir,” Cisco suddenly whispered from beside him, causing Frank to jump slightly. The undead man had seemingly appeared out of thin air as he dropped from Sneak.

  “Are they here?” Frank asked quietly.

  “Alexion’s forces should come into sight within the next five minutes,” Cisco reported. “By our count, they have more than a hundred soldiers and have taken nearly fifty slaves.”

  Frank grimaced. Between his single division of soldiers and the Death Knight guards in Kelton, they had half as many troops. He wasn’t counting the villagers. He had ordered the civilians to retreat to a nearby town to keep them out of harm’s way. Even if Frank and his men perished here, he hoped that they could inflict enough damage to discourage Alexion from continuing his raid. He didn’t have an endless supply of Confessors and Nephilim.

  “Do they suspect that we’re nearby?” Frank asked.

  “I haven’t observed any signs that they are preparing for our ambush and they haven’t sent out any advance scouts,” Cisco replied.

  “Perhaps they’re overconfident,” Frank murmured. He couldn’t believe that Alexion would be foolish enough to forgo scouts, but perhaps he had taken away a different message from the universal system notice. If Jason was occupied in the Twilight Throne, then Alexion likely thought he was safe.

  Besides, even if they caught Alexion off guard, they were going to be relying heavily on their home turf advantage to make it through this battle. They were sorely outnumbered, and the Confessors were resilient – their regeneration healing them continuously until they ran out of mana.

  Frank sighed. “The plan is the same. Wait for Alexion’s forces to reach the gate and start to breach the town’s defenses before we strike. As mobile ranged support, the Nephilim are priority targets. Have our mages curse the Confessors to slow them down.”

  “Yes, sir,” Cisco replied. Before Frank could add anything further, the man had already vanished, leaving Frank alone once more – his only company his worried thoughts.

  The minutes ticked by with painful slowness as the Kin awaited their enemy.

  When Alexion’s caravan finally made its appearance, it did so with little flash and fanfare. The group simply marched down the middle of the roadway, globes of light hovering above the soldiers and pushing back at the murky darkness. A long line of manacled undead trudged along behind Alexion’s troops, their heads bowed and their chains clanking in a discordant rhythm as they moved. The group made no effort to mask its movements – instead, loudly announcing its presence.

  Arrogant asshole, Frank thought to himself. His guess must have been right. After the system message, Alexion didn’t seem concerned about a fight. He wasn’t even trying to launch a surprise attack on Kelton. Perhaps he thought he could get the village to capitulate without a fight.

  If that was the case, he was in for an unfortunate surprise.

  Frank felt his pulse speed up as the enemy force marched in front of his position, hoping that the desiccated line of bushes was enough to hide his bulky form. The seconds ticked by without any alarm going up among Alexion’s group and his troops made no effort to search either side of the roadway.

  As they passed, Frank could finally see the captured undead with his own eyes. Unhealed injuries riddled their bodies, and congealed blood seeped from gashes in their skin. Others were missing entire limbs. Alexion had apparently decided not to use any of his resources to heal the slaves, and Frank could feel a familiar anger bloom in his chest, pushing back at his habitual hesitation and doubt.

  However, it was the sight of undead children bound in shackles that caused Frank’s breath to hitch and his hands to clutch at the hilts of his axes. They were terrified, their eyes round as they watched the Nephilim that strode up and down their ranks. He saw the occasional parent carrying a child, struggling to hold their weight despite their own injuries.

  Alexion is making slaves of children now? Is there any depth he isn’t willing to sink to? Frank wondered, forcing himself to remain still and silent despite the rage curdling in his veins.

  As though his thoughts had summoned him, there was a break in the line, and Frank caught sight of Alexion striding along inside the formation. He walked alongside a young woman dressed in fine leathers, and an impeccably-dressed manservant hovered just behind them. The pair spoke glibly, unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the Twilight Throne and the bound and broken slaves that trudged behind them.

  Frank vowed to himself right then that he was going to give them something to worry about. Just not yet. He needed Alexion to commit his forces before they struck.

  The caravan finally passed their location and neared the walls. As they arrived at the town, Alexion strode toward the gate, his heavy plate armor gleaming in the unnatural magic light that hovered above the road. Several figures stood on the wall, their faces obscured by heavy cloaks.

  “Hail, people of Kelton. My nam
e is Alexion, and I am the ruler of the Crystal Reach. We are here to conquer this town and take slaves. I will give you one chance to surrender. Open the gates now, and we will spare some of you; you have one chance to protect your wives and children.”

  He paused for a second to let this sink in. “If you do not heed my warning, we will burn this town to the ground and take all of you. Those that survive anyway.”

  As Alexion trailed off, a heavy silence descended upon the town. The figures on the wall made no move to respond. To be fair, Frank would have been surprised if they had managed to speak. It had taken them longer than Frank cared to admit to build the decoys – using clothing salvaged from the nearby homes to fashion their limbs. Although, it was worth it to see a gold-clad idiot try to intimidate a bunch of cloth dummies.

  Alexion seemed to grow frustrated by the silence. “This is your last warning,” he declared loudly. “Your ruler Jason cannot save you. Make the wise decision.”

  “Dumbass,” Frank murmured to himself.

  He heard a soft snort of amusement and glanced to the side to find Cisco crouched beside him once more. “We are ready to strike,” he said quietly. “We will move once you give the order.”

  Frank just nodded, turning his attention back to the scene playing out on the road. Alexion must have finally reached his limit, because he waved a hand and his white-robed zealots marched forward, creating a line in front of the dark crystalline gate. Their hands soon began to glow with red and orange flames.

  Only moments later, the energy blasted forward with tremendous force, splashing against the gate’s surface. At first, nothing happened, the flames having no discernable effect on the fortification. Yet as the seconds ticked by, the surface began to ripple and warp, and the substance peeled away and dripped to the roadway like black blood.