by J. Carrarn
As they spoke, the noise from below stopped, and the last of the undead disappeared, screaming shortly inside the Crusdon's jaws as they slammed shut. The enormous undead crustacean, which had grown bigger, dropped on its belly and stared at the rift.
"It realizes that more will probably come," Domain said.
"Puss and bile, what is that thing?" Tatjie asked as she squeezed between the stones and onto the small ledge beyond.
"Trouble, that's what it is!" Galg replied.
He stared at the Crusdon, but Solus noticed the blue eye sockets glanced at him every now and again. The annoying skeleton had clearly heard and remembered. That's going to be trouble, Solus thought.
Sumil and Sig arrived, and Solus hastily explained what was happening.
"We need to end it," Sumil said when he finished. Her blue eye sockets burned brightly as she looked at the Crusdon.
"If you had brains, I'd say you'd have lost them!" Tatjie said with a hiss. "How are we ever going to stop that thing?"
Nobody replied, but Sumil and Sig turned to Solus.
Feeling their gazes, Solus wanted to groan. It always came down to this, didn't it? With a deep sigh, he turned to Domain.
"How likely is it that I can end that thing?"
Domain looked down, and this time a faint blue glow covered his whole body as if a mana-field were wrapped tightly around it. He didn't reply for a while, and Solus almost thought he was malfunctioning when the light flashed another time, and the AI's dark canine eyes blinked.
"Hard to say."
Tatjie punched the wall beside her. "What? You go and think for that long, and that's all you've got?" The wide-shouldered zombie's eyes narrowed as she stared at the darkhunter in disgust.
"I'd like to see you do one point four billion calculations per second with less than a tenth of your brain," Domain said dryly.
"Guess," Solus grunted.
"It's stronger, more durable, and larger than you. The stone you can shape will never penetrate its carapace, and if you bury it, it will just dig itself free," the AI stated matter-of-factly. It turned its attention back to the monstrosity.
Feeling hopeless, Solus wondered if they had to leave it here and hope it didn't move to Skulltown.
"However," Domain continued, making Solus cringe at the delay.
Solus's hands cracked as he balled them into fists, staring at the AI.
"Yes?"
"If you can get inside of it, you should be able to get to its mana-orb and absorb it from the inside. That will kill it."
"Inside of it? What is wrong with you?" Tatjie gasped.
Sig, who had been quietly standing to the side for a while now, stepped forward.
"What if I do it? I can phase inside." As he spoke, he turned to a grey-black cloud with two red eyes in the middle.
Domain nodded while Derin stepped forward, waving his hand through Sig.
"That's interesting! You can go through anything?" Derin said, impressed.
Sig's voice echoed hollowly around them. "Not everything, but most things."
"That might work, but you will have to go in through its mouth. And for that, someone has to distract it, or it will bite you to bits. Its teeth can still hurt you, even while you are non-corporeal," Domain said as he examined the cloud.
"There is another problem," Derin, pointing at the rift.
A few Kaots stood before the rift, stopping in their tracks when they saw the Crusdon blocking their path. They looked around, sheer panic evident on the face of one orange-skinned, blubbery zombie. A grey, plate-covered skeleton dodged around the side, but the Crusdon moved so fast that the skeleton had no time to even jump aside as the pincer grabbed it mid-leap. A moment later, the skeleton disappeared inside the massive maw.
"If we attack it, someone will have to stop those Kaots from interfering," Derin continued.
Galg grinned, his disembodied voice bouncing from the walls. "Perhaps they could help us?"
Derin made a move toward him, but Tatjie was faster, slapping the skeleton's chest and knocking him back between the two boulders. "Pipe down, brainless."
Solus blinked as he remembered the skeleton flashing across the wasteland, faster than he could hope to run. Why didn't it just dodge the attacks of the other two? Wait, dodge?
"Galg, come here," Solus said as he beckoned the skeleton which was pushing himself back to his feet.
"Sure, sure. Slap me away. Tell me to come. Make up your minds!" The skeleton grumbled but moved to Solus, staring at him with his glowing blue eye sockets. "What?"
Solus moved as fast as he could, grabbing the skeleton's shoulder. Galg didn't respond.
"Why didn't you just dodge that?"
Galg laughed again, mocking this time. "Why should I? You can't hurt me. If you even try, I'll be long gone!" As he laughed, his shape turned to a blue bolt and zapped a few feet to the side before turning back into the skeleton.
A tingling, itching sensation came from Solus's hand where he had been holding Galg. Looking at his palm, he saw a few black scratches across it.
"Can you dodge that Crusdon?" he asked, looking at Galg.
Galg looked at the giant crab as it munched on the last of the new set of undead.
"Course I can, but why should I?"
Derin stepped forward and slapped the skeleton on the back of its head.
"So Sig can enter through its mouth while we stop the other undead from interfering!"
"Oh, that. Okay!" Galg's skull bobbed up and down a few times, and Solus wondered if Drys even remembered what pattern he gave the skeleton. They could use more undead like this, but preferably ones that were more intelligent and less chatty.
They discussed their plan for a bit longer and witnessed another bunch of Kaots getting slaughtered. As soon as the Crusdon lay down, Solus walked forward.
"Sig, Galg, go and take care of the Crusdon."
Sig nodded, turning into a dark cloud and floating away.
"Watch how I show that monster who's boss!" Galg said before disappearing in a crackle of lightning.
Solus and the others continued down, watching Galg zap across the rocky terrain. Sig floated after him, still remarkably fast but barely halfway to the giant creature when Galg got there.
"Hey, you ugly crab, try and eat me!" Galg's taunt echoed up the hill, and Derin groaned loud enough for the others to hear.
The Crusdon shot forward, its two pincers slamming shut around the tail of a small lightning bolt.
"Bile!" Solus cursed.
The thing was faster than they had expected. Galg appeared to the side and had no time to utter another taunt. A claw snapped shut a fraction of a second after he had disappeared.
Solus watched Sig and projected his voice. "It's faster than we anticipated. You'll have to time it carefully. Move after it attacks Galg again."
Sig didn't answer as he approached the monster from behind. The Grablon's claws moved so fast that they became a blur. The loud repeated snaps of its pincers echoed off the hills as it tried to grab Galg.
"Incoming!" Domain hissed, and Solus snapped his head to the rift. A dozen Kaots charged through it, stopping in their tracks. They stared in alarm at the battle ahead.
Solus leaped forward, outpacing the others as if they stood still. "Follow as fast as you can!" he commanded before jumping forward once more and sailing toward the Kaots. He saw Domain race toward the Kaots below him like a dark streak.
The Kaots saw him coming, and one of them tossed a missile of black sludge his way. Focusing, Solus raised a stone wall to block the projectiles. As the disgusting blobs hit the wall, a loud screeching came from the stone. The noise drowned out even the Crusdon's rampage.
Landing on the stony ground, Solus fell forward until his upper body was almost horizontal above the ground. A stone outcrop appeared below his feet, and he shoved off, shooting across the remaining distance with his face inches from the floor.
There were three Kaot skeletons and five other fleshy
Kaot undead, none of a type that he had ever seen before. From a distance, they had looked like zombies, but up close their skin resembled stone. Their bodies looked like they were made from blocks of stone and rubble, but they didn't glow like the ground below him, and he couldn't sense them either. An orange glow burned between the edges of the blocks and rubble. They had their backs toward the rift, steep rock to the sides, and the Crusdon ahead.
Seeing them back up until they almost stepped through the rift, Solus had a flash of inspiration. Stone tendrils shot from the walls while the ground the Kaots stood upon cracked loudly as it rose and angled like a ramp that sloped down into the rift. The three Kaot skeletons toppled over, but one of them shot long brambles from his body, anchoring itself to the stone ramp. The other two were not as lucky and slid back through the rift.
The three undead that resembled stone jumped up, at least twice as high as the platform, trying to jump across. Midair, the tendrils slapped them, and they shot back down and through the rift.
Stopping in front of the stone slope, Solus knew he should just block the entire gate again. Focusing all his energy, he stepped back. A loud tearing, grinding noise came from all around, and the two steep stone walls beside the rift closed in on it. Debris, stone, and dust fell everywhere as the entire earth shook. The stone wrapped around the rift, but moments before it slammed shut, one more Kaot slipped through. Behind it, the stone completely engulfed the rift, and the surroundings turned dark without its glow.
The Kaot, a muscled one with orange skin and long, tangled yellow hair, slammed into the ground in front of Solus. Spitting out sand and dust, it pushed itself up, revealing a slender torso with two hair-covered breasts. Pitch-black eyes as dark as coal focused on Solus.
Bushy yellow eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and the Kaot seemed about to ask something when her eyes saw what was behind Solus and widened in terror and surprise.
"Kaot Lord," she hissed before turning around and slamming her hands against the stone enclosure. Cracked pits formed, and splinters shot through the air.
From behind Solus came the sound of running feet, and a second later, Derin, Tatjie, and Sumil moved beside him.
"Who's that?" Tatjie hissed, staring at the strange orange Kaot that was still slamming against the stone.
The heavy thudding was slowing, and after another hit, the Kaot stared at the hole in front of her. There was no sign of the rift. She turned and pointed two hands at Solus.
"Open," she ordered in a sharp, raspy voice.
"It can speak!" Sumil said, turning to Solus. "We should capture it. It can answer our questions!"
"Capture?" the Kaot muttered, sounding confused and now staring at Sumil.
"Not the sharpest tool in the shed," Domain said before turning to Solus. "Sumil is correct. Grab her. With the rift closed, we need to keep our focus on the Crusdon."
Solus nodded, walking forward and cracking his fists.
"Try to keep her in one piece. We can't ask questions if you end her!" Domain hissed from behind.
Solus frowned. He knew Domain was right, but could he even get her to come along without a fight? He kept his focus on the stone below the female Kaot, ready for anything. If she made a wrong move, he would try to wrap her in a bundle. Looking at the deep indentation in the wall behind her, he doubted it would hold her for long.
The strange Kaot spread her arms, growling deep in her chest while the hairs on her body straightened, gleaming like metal.
"I'm not looking for a fight," Solus said, raising himself to his full height, which was two heads taller than the other undead. "I won't harm you unless you force me to. All I want is some answers."
To his complete shock, the Kaot cocked her head and straightened up again. "Answers?" The word seemed to be unfamiliar to her, as if she wasn't sure what it meant.
She is young! Solus thought, and he looked into her eyes, trying to find some spark of intelligence. Although they looked dark and ominous at first, he also read uncertainty from them. Wondering how much she could even tell them, he stepped aside to give her free passage. "Please, come with us."
The undead cocked her head to the other side and walked forward, passing Solus without even glancing at him. She headed straight toward Domain.
Solus fell in line behind her, confused and wondering what was going on. Looking up, he saw the Crusdon still snapping at Galg, who was zapping around without stopping. Sig was nowhere in sight.
"No, stop it! What are you doing?" Domain hissed as he dodged out of reach of the undead who jumped after him. "What is wrong with all of you? Stop trying to pet me the first chance you get!"
Solus grinned as he watched the strange orange Kaot jump around, trying to grab Domain. She was agile and fast, but so was the darkhunter.
Turning his attention back to the giant undead crab, he wondered how long it would take for Sig to absorb its mana-orb from within. He created a chair and sat down, his attention divided between the relentless orange-skinned Kaot and the Crusdon.
Why do I get the feeling this is going to take a while?
Level up
"I think it's slowing down!" Derin said from his position, relaxing on a chair that Solus had made for him.
Sumil and Tatjie sat beside him in chairs of their own, watching the battle. Behind them, Domain grumbled with annoyance. Tirella, as Domain had named the strange orange-skinned Kaot, was stroking the AI's thick, dark fur with a contented smile on her face.
"You're right." Solus nodded. He had noticed it a few moments before when he saw that Galg was allowed more time to recover between attacks.
The shadows lengthened as the sun lowered behind the hill.
"About time too! How long can it bloody take to absorb an orb? Did Sig decide to take a nap inside that thing?" Tatjie asked with a yawn.
No one replied. They just stared as the Crusdon quickly became sluggish. A little while later, it tottered to the left, one of its claws striking the ground nowhere near Galg. The skeleton stopped beside it, the first time it could stop since it had started dodging around.
"Finally! This was horrible. Horrible! I am never doing this again!" Galg's voice rippled around their heads while he deftly dodged another flailing attack. "Do you have any idea how boring this is?"
Derin groaned, placing his head in his hands. "Just when I was beginning to enjoy the silence…"
Solus got up and walked toward the fatigued Crusdon. When he had almost reached it, the enormous undead crab collapsed heavily on the ground. Waiting for the dust to settle before moving closer, Solus looked at where the thing's face should be. Hidden inside a small fold sat a row of red eyes that seemed out of proportion compared to its enormous frame. They glowed softly, but as Solus stared at them, the glow faded.
A final spasm came from the great beast, and Solus nodded when the eyes flickered a final time before turning dark. Through the rock, he could feel vibrations coming from inside the Crusdon's massive body. The flesh on its legs rippled, and small cracks appeared on its shell.
"Solus, stand back."
Sig's voice, weak and stuttering, came from all around him, and Solus quickly jumped away. The urgency and weariness he heard weren't what he had expected. Was something wrong?
Thick smoke erupted from the cracks in the behemoth's shell and began to form into an enormous dark-grey cloud that enveloped its remains. Billowing outward and inward repeatedly, tendrils of smoke stretched up and out. Solus jumped even further away as a tendril struck the spot where he had been standing, causing the earth to crumble.
"Sig?"
There was no reply, and Solus moved a step closer, raising his voice.
"Sig!?"
His voice's powerful shock wave dissipated some of the cloud, but it reformed almost instantly.
"I think he is evolving. He probably had no other choice after absorbing that much energy," Derin muttered from behind.
"Evolving into what? Is he going to play cloud in the sky?" Galg laughed as he point
ed at the dark sky.
Cloud? Solus blinked as concepts darted through his mind, and his eyes widened. How does he…? he turned to Galg, who was looking up, giggling like a maniac.
"Don't say anything." Domain's voice whispered beside his head, so soft that Solus barely caught it. Domain stood to the side, staring at him, and he saw the familiar calculating blue glow in its eyes.
"Later," came a second whisper.
Solus nodded, turning his gaze back to the cloud of roiling smoke. His mind was spinning. There were no clouds in the sky anymore, and only a few undead even understood the concept. How did Galg know? Thinking back to what Galg had done and said over the last day, he remembered something Galg had said right before the fight. Crabs. Solus tried to recall if he had perhaps mentioned them to Galg, but he wasn't sure.
Something changed in front of him, and he focused back on where Sig should be. The cloud was solidfying, the outside turning hard and glossy. A grey light shone from within, and the dark swirling smoke churned faster and faster.
"Why do I get the idea we've got to wait again?" Tatjie said with a groan as she fell back down on her chair.
Solus sighed, taking a quick peek at his status window.
> Time remaining: One day, three hours, and twenty-seven minutes
Taking a deep breath, he turned to Sumil. "Take charge of things here. I have business to attend to. When Sig wakes up, find out what he has learned."
"Yes, Solus."
Seeing Sumil turn her full attention on the shiny barrier, Solus turned to Domain. "Let's go train." Without waiting for a response. He turned and trotted up the hill, quickly increasing his speed. Soft padding from behind him told him Domain was following.
"Hey! Where are you going? Don't just lea—" Galg's sputtering was interrupted by a loud smack, followed by some mutters from Derin.
Solus ignored it and rushed up the hill and onto the cracked and rocky top. The hilltop ended in a steep ravine, and beyond it was the wasteland, wide and empty.