by J. Carrarn
He wasn't wrong. They crashed on their backs in the wasteland, and Solus found that he couldn't move.
"Solus? SOLUS!" Tirella yelled, but he was unable to respond. His entire body had become an unresponsive mass.
Tirella tried to drag him away before cursing and releasing him.
"You weigh as much as a mountain!"
He wanted to retort but couldn't. Then he felt his body sink into the earth while the sky above turned into a small square. Walls of stone surrounded him.
She is hiding us below, he thought with relief.
"It's going to be fine. We're going to be alright," Tirella said, and then Solus felt his vision and thoughts become foggy. Whatever Scathia was doing to him, it was different from the first time she had frozen him. The last thing he knew was that the square hole above him closed itself, locking them in a dim green-glowing room. Then he lost consciousness.
—
Tirella stared at the silent grey giant on the ground. He reminded her so much of Jagged, the leader of Bastion. Calm and collected, but capable of ferocious anger. An image of the mighty and noble undead, moments before he had been ripped apart by the Kaot Lords, came to her, and with it a terrible sadness.
No!
She shook her head violently. There was no time for that now.
Placing her hands on the stone around her, she focused, sensing the small tremors above. If she could feel them down here, someone was making a massive racket above ground, probably in an attempt to get to them. She looked in the direction the others had said Skulltown was and began making a tunnel. The drain on her mana was immense, and she stopped after the tunnel was only a few hundred yards long. If she wanted to get them away far enough, she would need mana-orbs.
Looking back down at the stone armor wrapped around Solus's waist, she inspected the small container. It was closed, but she could feel the familiar soft pulse of mana emanating from inside. Knowing she had no choice, she touched the container, willing it to open. The stone was harder to mold than regular stone, but eventually, it opened, revealing four wyrm-orbs. She grabbed two and then sealed the container.
She sat down and quietly began absorbing one. The pure, clean energy that flowed into her was a far cry from the murky black stuff she had become used to on the other worlds. It also didn't cause her to become angry and confused as those from the Kaots did. After a while, she stopped and looked at the two orbs. They still held much mana, but she needed her hands. Staring at Solus's waist-container, she frowned as she concentrated. Stone crawled up her leg and wrapped around the top of it, forming a piece of armor with a container similar to Solus's. With some satisfaction, she placed the orbs inside before closing it with more stone. That would have to do for now.
Turning to Solus, she sighed as she began dragging him through the tunnel. His weight caused a trench to form in the dust and soil.
"You really need to lose some weight," she groaned.
Hunted
"Stop looking back!" Sam snapped at Tatjie, who had been about to look over her shoulder. She grumbled and kept running.
Derin ignored them and cursed his luck as he looked back while trying not to trip over his own feet. The five white skeletons, tall and armored, were still chasing them.
"Derin, how much bleeding longer? I can't keep running like this! I ain't no skeleton!" Tatjie complained in between taking deep ragged breaths.
"Stop asking already! You know we need to reach the hills first. You can see them as well as I can. Look ahead."
Derin looked at the small hills far in the distance. It would take them half a day to reach them at their current speed.
"It will take us half a day unless you can run faster," the AI said, almost as if it had read his thoughts. "The skeletons following us will overtake us in three hours. You must run faster."
Derin wished she hadn't added that last bit. He had thought that they could reach the hills without having to deal with their pursuers.
"Shut it, Orbie! Why don't you run faster? Oh, yeah, that's right. You don't have legs! Do you have any idea how frackin' heavy you are?" Tatjie snapped.
"Approximately two hundred and ninety-one kilograms," Sam replied matter-of-factly.
Derin barked a laugh, and then wondered what a kilogram was. He did know the sphere and its docking station were too heavy for him to lift. He had suggested he and Tatjie take turns carrying it, but after she had dropped the blasted thing, he couldn't budge it. He knew he might be able to raise it up with his energy cords, but for how long? If they got into a fight, he would need that energy.
"Seeing as there's nothing else to do, why don't you two tell me more about Skulltown?" Sam asked.
Derin sighed, wondering why everyone was so damned curious. It annoyed the hell out of him. He tried to tune out Tatjie, who happily began rambling about the must-see sights of Skulltown, and toyed with the idea of running ahead to get help. After a moment of uncertainty he decided against it. The prospect of running even faster for half a day, followed by clambering through the hills for another didn't appeal to him in the slightest.
I hope Solus and Tirella will reappear soon, he thought while trying to ignore the constant prattling.
—
"Why won't you wake up?" Tirella asked, dismayed.
Solus's body lay dormant on the ground beside her, and she was unable to drag him another step. Slumping down on the floor, her head in her hands, she focused on the tremors. They were far away now and heading in the wrong direction.
"Finally gone," she said, sighing in relief. Knowing she had no other choice, she grabbed the second of the mana-orbs that she had taken from Solus. The first had long since turned to dust, and this one was cracked and dull. It wouldn't last much longer, and that meant she would have to take the other ones as well. Solus wouldn't like that, she imagined.
She summoned the small information screen Solus had given her; a weary grin pushed away some of her anxiety. Both of her values were maxed again, one at 17000, the other at 12000. Absorbing so many wyrm-orbs back in the mine had paid off. If this big lug would wake up already, he could help her evolve, and then she could probably carry his heavy body without much effort. As she felt the orb turn to dust between her fingers, she suddenly had an idea.
She crawled toward Solus, opened his pouch, and grabbed the other two mana-orbs. Prying open his hand, she placed one between his fingers and waited. Nothing seemed to happen, and she was about to take it back for herself when the orb started glowing.
"Hah! Now why didn't I think of that before?"
She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had thought of it now, which was good enough.
A faint blue glow flared up until it seemed as if the orb had caught fire, burning like a star between his fingers. She could see the veins and bones of his hand through his flesh. She became afraid something would go wrong and was about to grab the wyrm-orb when it suddenly dulled and crumbled into dust.
She felt her heart sink. It didn't work! Or maybe...
Reluctantly she placed the last orb in his hand, hoping that she was doing the right thing.
Moments later, the second orb was glowing as brightly as the first had, and she felt pain at the thought of it turning to dust without being of any use. Even after having absorbed so many orbs, evolving so far beyond what she had been, the orb still brought forth a desire and hunger inside her that was not easily stilled.
A soft groan came from Solus, and she perked up. Bending over him, she saw his eyelids flutter open, and then his burning golden eyes stared straight into hers.
Just like those of Jagged, she thought, smiling.
—
The first thing Solus felt was a strong flow of energy going from his hand straight to his mana-field. Something was trying to block it, and as it flowed in, he could feel dissipating.
Scathia? What is she doing?
He opened his eyes and looked straight into Tirella's pitch-black eyes. The orange undead was hovering right above him, s
taring at him and smiling.
"Tirella?" he muttered, trying to get up.
Tirella moved back as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, his body shivering.
"What is wrong? You absorbed two whole orbs! How can you still be this weak?" Tirella said.
He could hear a slight confusion in her words, and patting his waist, he found that all four orbs were gone.
"I used them all to get you out of there!"
Solus just nodded, trying to smile at her.
"It's fine. Scathia is doing something to me, draining my mana somehow." He looked at the dimming orb in his hand. He wouldn't have much time left.
"I am going to fall unconscious again soon…" he said helplessly. What could he possibly do to stop the horrible Litch? He didn't even know how she was doing it!
"Evolve me, fast! Into what you are!" Tirella's voice shook him awake, and he gawked at her stern face.
"I can't carry you, and creating this short tunnel cost me two whole orbs! That horrible yellow skeleton and Scathia are still searching for us, and if you fall unconscious again..."
Probing around them with his senses, Solus felt the bone forest far off and to the west. There were many deep rumblings all over the surface. Undead were digging down into the wasteland! Feeling the loose earth and stone behind them, he realized that Tirella must have dragged him all the way here.
He looked at her, wondering why he trusted her so much, enough to consider giving her his prized pattern. If they got stuck here, Uran and Scathia would find them sooner or later. His mana was draining so fast, the influx from the orb barely outpaced it. Time was running out.
"I'll try," he said, seeing her face light up in response.
"Show me your mana-field, quick. I don't know how much time I have left."
He barely managed to finish his sentence when a deep orange mana-field filled the hollow space. He inspected it, seeing the now-familiar, incredibly dense, oddly shaped pattern that filled two-fifths of the available partition. He knew it was a part racial, part class pattern, and he suddenly realized that he had no idea how to change it so she could do what he could. Panicking, he wished he could see what kind of evolution options she could get, and then it hit him. If she could see it for herself, she wouldn't need his help!
He quickly summoned his mana-field, overlapping hers, and he was shocked to find an odd, squiggly pattern in one corner. It pulsated with a dark light, and as he watched, he felt the pulse beat in line with the mana that was being drained from him.
"Wait, what is that?" Tirella asked, pointing at it, a look of horror on her face.
"That is how she is draining my mana away," Solus replied dully. It had to be. The thing hadn't been there the last time he had inspected his patterns. Ignoring it, he focused instead on the improved status window he had gotten from Domain. It was incredibly dense, and he wondered if he would manage with the time he had remaining. He focused on Tirella's mana-field and began rapidly copying the pattern. As he worked, he noticed slight anomalies in the pattern, things that his instincts told him shouldn't be like that. Operating on this instinct, he made the adjustments to some lines as he copied them onto Tirella's mana-field. He wondered what the irregularities meant for himself. Was something wrong with the status inscription that Domain had given him? It made sense, given everything that had happened.
He barely made it in time. The mana-orb turned to dust as he added the last of the lines, and he felt his body slump to the ground.
"Say 'status window' and search for the Earth Elemental pattern!" he projected, hoping she wasn't unconscious. He thought he heard a muted reply, and then he passed out again.
—
"Solus? SOLUS!" Tirella shouted as she shook him. "Why didn't you give me your pattern? What did you do?"
Solus didn't respond, and she felt like hitting him. What had he just done? What was that pattern she had gotten? Why had it hurt as he inscribed it? Groaning, she thought of the two depleted mana-orbs.
"Why didn't you just…" she slammed the ground. No use. What had he said, 'status window'?"
A blue screen popped up in front of her, blocking her entire vision. She scrambled away in shock, her back colliding against the wall, but the window followed her. Lines appeared, and she realized she could read them. They resembled the ones on the small window she had used before.
As she read the lines that continued to appear, her eyes grew large, and when they stopped, she turned to Solus.
"So this is why you are so different… I wonder if Jagged had one of these."
There was no reply, and she hadn't imagined there would be one. Instead, she turned her full attention to the screen in front of her.
"This will do just fine, just fine indeed," she said before she lost herself in the possibilities laid out before her.
—
Deep pits scarred the wasteland beyond the border of the white bone forest. Hundreds of skeletons were digging frantically, trying to get deeper into the ground.
"You fool! How could you let them get away?" Uran shouted at a Crowned skeleton standing in front of him.
"They didn't get away. An enormous army of Kaots was roaming the hills around Skulltown. There is no way they will get past those," the skeleton's emotionless voice responded.
Uran roared and struck the skeleton. It flew backward, skipping over the ground a dozen times before staying still. A few bits of splintered bone lay strewn around it.
"I don't care! I wanted them here, together with that sphere!"
Uran howled in a rage before turning to look at the emaciated undead that lay unmoving on the ground beside him.
"And you, where are the mana-cores you promised me?"
Scathia didn't move, but she projected her voice above her body. It sounded weak and powerless.
"They are still somewhere below the ground, and Solus is still unconscious and unable to move. My mana-drain will keep him under for at least another day. Use the time to find him instead of ranting at me!"
Uran stomped the ground in frustration, small tears and fissures appearing where his foot had sunk several inches into the ground.
"Where are they?" he howled.
"I don't know! You are the one who let him get away!" Scathia hissed.
The giant yellow skeleton growled and stepped menacingly forward. His foot rose as if to flatten her. Then he stopped, his head cocked to the side. He turned and stared into the distance where another Crowned skeleton came running from the Bone forest. Above the white canopy of bone, where he knew Realdeep would be, a squadron of white creatures rose in the air. They were expelling green jets of flame at the fleeing Ygdra, who shot crackling red balls of energy back at them.
"Kreel, I thought I told you to stay in the forest! I can't message you if you're too far from the trees!"
"Your plan worked! Your skeletal dragons have destroyed most of those flying horrors. The tide of battle has turned! We are starting to win back the rest of the city."
Uran laughed uproariously. "Of course my plan worked! Do you think I gathered all those wyrm carcasses and wyrm orbs because it was fun?" Then he turned back to his undead diggers.
"Now that you are here, go and help them out! According to her," Uran pointed his clawed yellow finger at Scathia, "Solus and that orange one are hiding below ground somewhere."
Kreel did not reply and just stared at the vast excavation.
"I think I would be more useful back in the city," he finally said.
Uran turned to him, his head lowering a bit until it was at the same height as that of the Crowned skeleton.
"Kreeeeel?" Uran growled in a low and dangerous voice.
The white skeleton jumped and walked quickly toward one of the dig sites. "Yes, yes! Right away," he said.
As he moved away, Uran looked down at Scathia.
"You had better hope that they find him before this day is over…" Then he turned and strode toward the middle of the dig.
Scathia's form remai
ned behind, silent and motionless.
Many hours later, as the sun began to sink below the horizon and night fell, Uran paced about impatiently, stopping every now and then to yell and curse at his minions to dig faster. His angry curses motivated the undead to an even greater effort as they dug endless pits in the wasteland, further and further from the white bone forest.
A sudden scream came from one corner of the dig. The rest of the skeletons looked up, just in time to see the top of a skull disappear under the ground. A horrible grinding sound followed.
Uran ceased his cursing and walked forward, staring at the place the skeleton had disappeared when something moved to the left of him. Swirling around with his massive skeletal fists at the ready, he witnessed four more skeletons being swallowed by the earth. The same grinding sound followed.
"Boss! Hel-" A projected voice was cut short, replaced once more with grinding.
"What in all the hells is going on here?" Uran roared as he rushed forward.
Dozens of skeletons were being pulled under all around him, one only a few feet from where he stood. He leaped toward it, just in time to see a line of triangular teeth slam shut on the head of one of his skeleton minions. The crunching that came from the hole dispelled any doubt as to what was happening.
Uran roared in anger as he turned to Scathia.
"You promised me that Solus wouldn't wake!"
"It's not Solus!" Scathia screamed back, followed by a yelp. "No!"
Uran saw the unmoving shape of Scathia disappear under the ground, and just as suddenly, it was quiet. Swirling around, he saw the hundreds of skeletons that had been digging were all gone. The pits were the only proof that they had even been there. Only Kreel still stood close by.
"Damn you, Solus! I will find you and end you for this!"
Roaring in anger, he ran back toward the forest, quickly disappearing beyond the treeline. Only his last roared command echoed back out.
"Kreel, get everyone ready. We are going to Skulltown!"
—
Still underground, Tirella laughed. She had never felt as powerful as she did right now. Turning around, she moved to Scathia's unresponsive form and kicked it.