by J. Carrarn
Shielding his eyes, Solus felt the tremors that followed in the wake of the shockwave running through the bone he was standing on.
"Then we must hurry. This could be happening at Skulltown right now, and I don't know if the upgrades made to the barrier will hold out against such an onslaught," he growled. He turned around quickly and leaped further up the ruined building. A small explosion and a string of angry words from Tirella followed him. A moment later, Tirella's form blurred past as she too sprang up.
Together they landed on the top of the building, startling a dozen undead. They took one look at Solus and Tirella and then scattered in all directions.
"Wait!" Solus ordered, trying to grab one of the undead before it could escape. It nimbly dodged his grasp and leaped from the edge of the building. Solus tried to grab another one when suddenly something from above cast a large shadow over the rooftop. He dodged back to avoid an attack. The Ygdra that had appeared over them circled once and then flew on, deeming them unimportant. For now, at least.
Tirella landed on top of the skeleton that Solus had wanted to grab, clutching its neck in her hand and lifting it into the air with ease. Solus moved toward her and the skeleton in the eyes. The flickering green light in its eye sockets stared back at him.
"Do you know where Scathia is?" Solus growled, bending closer, his nose almost touching its skull.
"No."
An emotionless voice echoed around them, and Solus grabbed the skeleton, ripping it savagely from Tirella's grip.
"When did these things show up?"
"Just after the sun rose. Another large rift appeared in the sky above the salt flat, and shortly after, a dozen of them flew out," the skeleton replied, his voice still emotionless.
Solus growled, not sure what the salt flat was, and tossed the skeleton to the floor. "Get out of here, and tell any undead that you come across to flee this place and make their way to Skulltown."
The skeleton scrambled up and stepped to the edge of the building. "Where?"
Solus turned around before pointing south. "That way, after a three days travel through the wasteland you will enter hills. Travel straight through them for another two days, and you will find another city."
"Another city?" the skeleton said, for the first time showing a slight bit of emotion: confusion and wonder.
"I will tell the others," it said as it jumped over the edge.
"They won't make it," Tirella said as she watched the skeleton disappear. "But you know that…"
Solus nodded. "Most won't, but they will stand a better chance out in the wasteland than locked in here. Besides, it will keep the Kaots hunting them distracted and buy us more time to find Derin."
A shudder came from deep under the ground. Sensing the World Elemental's presence, Solus noticed that it felt weaker than he remembered. Or had he become more powerful?
"HURRY, TIMEEE IS RUNNNINGGG OUTTTT."
The world elemental's voice boomed through his mind, sounding sad and afraid.
Tirella groaned beside him, the force of the world elemental's powerful voice causing her to fall on one knee.
"What do I need to do?" Solus shouted with his mind. His mental voice was almost as loud as that of the world elemental.
"GROWW STRONGGERRR!"
Feeling his temper flare up, Solus stamped on the ground. The damn thing just kept repeating itself!
"HOW!?" He roared back, both mentally and vocally. His voice blasted out, debris and dust flying away from the rooftop.
"ABSORBB THE CORREEEEEE."
Solus heard confusion and anger in the voice this time, but he also felt the presence begin to fade away again.
"HOW!?" Solus roared, afraid the elemental would depart, leaving him hanging.
"ABSORBB THE CORRREEEE," came the voice again, weak and far away.
"How do I absorb a core?" Solus shouted, but the presence was gone.
He wanted to shout again when someone grabbed his arm. It was Tirella, a look of pain and confusion on her face pointing to the side. "Look out!"
Turning, he saw two Ygdra come about and fly toward them. The flapping of their immense bone wings sounded like explosions. They were only two streets away and closing in fast. Seeing a grand opportunity to unleash his anger and frustration, Solus stepped forward, drew in a big gulp of air, and held it. The Ygdra were close enough for him to see the crackling red energy in their empty eye sockets and feel the malevolence that hung about them as they bore swiftly down on their position. Solus waited until the Ygdra were almost upon them and then let loose a roar.
A cone of rippling and shivering air burst from his mouth, heading straight at the incoming Ygdra. The ripple moved so fast it crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and struck the two Ygdra mid-flight. As if gripped by a giant, their wings bent backward as the bones cracked loudly. One of them plummeted straight down, its wings almost ripped clean off, many of the bones in its exposed chest cracked and broken. The second one had sustained less damage and circled about, trying desperately to get as much distance between it and Solus as possible
Solus let loose a second roar and this time the cone of shifting and rippling air hit the retreating Ygdra squarely in its back, knocking it down and away. More of its bones and tendons snapped, but by some accursed luck, it managed to stay airborne as it crookedly flew toward one of the towers in the distance. A third roar was unable to reach it, the air ripples dispersing before they could reach the fleeing Ygdra.
Realizing the Ygdra must have been drawn by his shouts at the World Elemental, Solus surveyed the city. Although lots of buildings had been destroyed, the city was massive, and most of it was still intact. The enormity of Tendraal once more astounded him. Drawing in another deep breath, he roared up at the sky.
"Derin!"
The name echoed out across the city, and he hoped Derin would hear him if he was still in one piece. Turning to Tirella, he saw she was standing again, looking at him with wide eyes.
"What was that thing?" she asked, rubbing her head with both hands.
"A world elemental," Solus replied. "How much could you hear?"
"All of it…"
"We don't have time for this now, but I'll explain what I can after we find Derin and get out of here."
Tirella frowned, her expression indicating that she was about to interject. Instead, she kept silent and nodded. "What's the plan?"
"Find Scathia and force her to tell us how to absorb a mana-core," Solus growled, looking around.
The highest point he could find were the two remaining towers, but the host of Ygdra swarming around them made it too dangerous. He could make a stone tower for his plan, but that would cost him a lot of energy—more than he could spare.
"She is probably at the spot where the fighting is thickest," he said.
He moved around the roof, looking at the city's different sections, hoping to catch a lucky break. Tirella joined him, but he could feel her gaze more on him than on the city. He ignored her, heading to the side of the roof that gave a clear view of the wall. Half of it was gone, replaced by a deep crater lined with black scorch marks. From his vantage point, he could make out the remains of buildings in the walls of the crater. The undercity must have grown far beyond the wall, and he wondered how many undead were there right now, seeking refuge.
"Look!" Tirella said beside him, pointing at a spot close to the wall at the city's opposite end.
Squinting, Solus saw a few of the Ygdra shoot their red crackling energy at the wall. Instead of hitting it, it slammed against something that glowed blue on impact before dissipating over a momentarily visible barrier.
"Scathia will be there!" Solus said, scanning the path to the wall. Many of the buildings in between had been destroyed or covered in curtains of crackling energy that seemed to persist after the Ygdra had assailed it. Calculating the distance, he knew he could make it if he jumped from building to building. Turning to Tirella, he pointed at a broken-down building across the
destruction adjacent to the building.
"Can you jump that far?"
Tirella was silent as she looked at where he had pointed. "I don't know. I've never tried."
"Try now," Solus said.
He moved to the building's far edge before making a running jump toward the building. The rooftop behind him crumbled, and he cringed. Why didn't he remember he had to be careful with that?
Whistling through the air, he heard a loud shout from behind him. Hoping Tirella would make it, he landed on the building. The roof cracked under his weight, but to his surprise, it didn't shatter. He turned around and was just in time to see Tirella fly uncontrollably toward him, a panicked look on her face as she flailed with her arms. She slammed into him, knocking him over while more cracks appeared in the roof.
Rolling across the floor, they ended against the wall with a loud slam, Tirella sprawled across Solus. Feeling her body pressed against his, Solus felt his mind grow fuzzy as a host of unfamiliar emotions rushed through him. It lasted for only a moment, but when he snapped out of it, he saw Tirella stare at him, her face slack.
Grabbing hold of her neck and leg, Solus pushed himself up before gently putting her on her feet. Ignoring her piercing gaze as she rubbed her leg, he moved back a few steps and grabbed his hammer.
The shiny green surface distracted him for a moment. It reminded him of something that he couldn't quite recall. Later, he thought.
"You need practice," he said before looking for their next destination. "Ready?"
"Sure, but catch me properly next time!" Tirella snapped before laughing.
Shaking his head in wonder, Solus leaped forward. He landed on the next building and turned to do as Tirella had said, but this time she was soaring through the air without much trouble. Stepping aside to give her space, Solus blinked when she hit the ground, rolled smoothly, and ended back on her feet. There was barely any sign of impact where she had landed.
She must have a lot more dexterity than I do, he thought.
"That was great!" Tirella roared in laughter.
Seeing her so happy reminded Solus of when his powers had been new to him, especially when he first discovered that he could leap great distances. The sensation of freedom, the thrill of flying through the air. With a grin, he nodded.
"Yes, it is! Now let's go and get Scathia!"
Tirella smiled at him, her black eyes gleaming, and he blinked. He wondered why he felt so hot all of a sudden. Forcing his thoughts back to the goal at hand, he jumped forward.
It took them a while to reach the last building, and by that time, they could see an enormous pattern etched on top of the segment of the wall adjacent to the mountain. A small army of Yellowplates stood below, while some white-plated skeletons stood in front of the wall, etching more symbols on it.
"There she is," Tirella said, pointing to the side where the unmistakable figure of Scathia stood. Three black Cheroc skeletons accompanied her.
Nailed to the wall behind them was Derin, his head down as he hung limply from the black pins that pierced his arms.
"They have him," Solus said, resisting the temptation of just jumping forward. He knew Scathia could just hold him in place while the others trapped him again.
"We need a plan…" he muttered. Tirella touched his arm, and he looked around. Her ink-black eyes stared at him, a glitter in their depths.
"I might have an idea," she said. "But you will have to trust me."
Clunky planning
Solus kneeled behind a large piece of what used to be the roof of a two-story building. He tried to focus, suppressing both his anger at Scathia and his worry for Derin. He needed to focus on Tirella's plan, but his other emotions seemed to nag at him for attention.
Clearing his head with a shake helped slightly, and he looked at the rubble below.
Tirella was walking through the ruins toward Scathia, her tall shape standing out between the white bone debris.
Stupid idea, he thought as he recalled her plan.
He preferred either attacking head-on or laying a trap. This whole trickery thing was more Drys's style.
A shout came from the wall, and he looked up. The Yellowplates had spotted Tirella and pointed at her.
Tirella stopped when they began shouting, and a moment later, Scathia moved out of a small ruined structure built inside the wall. Her taut-skinned face was hard to read from this far away, but Solus thought she seemed angry instead of surprised. It almost looked like she had expected Tirella to show up.
"Grab her, don't let her get away!" Scathia cried, and a dozen of the Yellowplates jumped forward.
"We need to talk!" Tirella's voice boomed forward.
Scathia did not reply, and more Yellowplates ran forward, their forms jumping across and dodging debris in their haste to heed their mistress's order.
Tirella kneeled, and a pillar of stone pushed her a dozen yards up into the air.
"They will never catch me. We can talk, or I'll escape below ground, and you'll never find me again," Tirella shouted.
This time Solus could easily make out the emotion on Scathia's face; hate. He had seen it before when she had been watching the sludge skeletons torture him. The memory of the look on her face as the acidic sludge had hit him caused a wave of his own hate to wash over him. It cleared the confusion and clutter in his mind and provided focus. Sensing the stone below the wall, he began to reach out with his power. If Tirella's plan went south, he would just pull down the whole section of the wall and find Scathia under the rubble.
"What do you want?" Scathia's voice was barely a whisper to Solus. She had projected it beside Tirella's head.
"I know where you can find a giant Wyrm. It has a mana-core. If you tell me how I can absorb these cores, I will tell you where you can find it!"
"Impossible!" This time Scathia's voice was audible from the wall as she stepped forward with a scream.
"It's not! This Wyrm is ten times the size of a normal one and doesn't move anymore! Tell me how to absorb the cores, and I'll tell you where it is!"
It was quiet for a while, and Scathia's face was scrunched in concentration. Then Solus saw a slight movement on the wall where Derin was. Two of the black skeletons ripped him off the barbs and put him next to Scathia.
"Tell me where it is, or I'll dismantle your friend!" Scathia projected, her voice softer than before as she placed her hand on Derin's head.
Readying himself, Solus kept his eyes on Derin. He hadn't come all this way to let Scathia end one of his few friends.
"Your city is in ruins! If you want to save any of it, you have no time for this!" Tirella shouted. "Let him go, and tell me how to absorb the cores!"
"Tell me where the Wyrm is and come down, and I'll let your friend leave!" Scathia's projected voice repeated.
As the calm returned to Scathia's voice, he had to strain to hear it from where he sat. Not good. Something moved below the stone pillar on which Tirella stood, and he blinked in surprise. Two shadowy grey figures moved between the rubble before ascending up the pillar.
How did those-
"Get out!" he projected beside Tirella's head.
Solus watched as Tirella looked up in confusion, then froze and slumped down on the tower.
"I can't move!"
Tirella's voice sounded beside his head. She sounded angry, not afraid.
Solus clenched his jaw and focused. The stone tower Tirella was on grew in height and girth, while stone tendrils stretched from the sides and grabbed at the nimble grey shapes. They easily dodged the assault.
Growling, Solus created a wide ring of stone all across the pillar just above the climbing undead, blocking their way up. His anger flared when they didn't slow at all but climbed upside down to the ring's edge, but then he grinned wickedly. He removed the rock that attached the stone ring to the pillar and let it plummet down with barely any effort. A single cry sounded as it crushed the two shapes below.
Turning back to the wall, Solus saw the Yellowplates
running toward the tower. Behind them stood Scathia, her arms stretched toward Tirella, her face one of focus and pain.
Drawing deep from his mana-field, Solus violently nudged the massive bed of stone below the wall. Deep below the ground, something rumbled, and long cracks appeared in the bone wall. The pattern inscribed on it tore in half while segments of the wall snapped off, crushing the Yellowplates below.
Two bolts of crackling red energy slammed into the army of Yellowplates, disintegrating part of the battalion and scattering the rest. Solus jumped to his feet and looked up. Two of the Ygdra circled above them, their stubby bone jaws open and crackling with bolts of red energy. As soon as the pattern's connecting lines had severed, the invisible barrier collapsed, which had given the Ygdra a chance to bank and dive toward undead cowering below.
Solus saw that the Ygdra were focused on the large group of undead below the gate and chose to ignore them. Instead, he concentrated all of his attention on the stone tower. It had sustained quite a lot of damage; a hole in the middle of the structure caused it to tilt perilously. Tirella was holding on to the edge so she wouldn't slide off.
She can move! Solus turned back to Scathia, but all he saw was Yellowplates and a large tear in the hole behind them.
"She is getting away!" he projected to Tirella.
"Go, I'll be right there."
Solus did a two-step run across the roof and jumped from the edge with as much force as he could muster. The building behind him was almost pulverized. As he shot through the air toward the top of the wall, a loud screech came from above and behind him.
Swirling mid-air, Solus saw that one of the Ygdra flew above him, its glowing red eyes locked on to him. Its stubby maw opened, and Solus barely just managed to raise his green hammer as a crackling bolt of energy struck it. The force of the bolt coursed through the hammer and stung the palm of his hands, and then he was spiraling out of control, flipping and twirling through the air.