Sol Boxset

by Samuel Small

  Catching Jake’s eye, Dante shouted, “I can handle these, I just need you to take care of the ones on the bottom, and maybe give the fucker a charley horse or something!” The creature bucked, and Dante almost lost his balance. Jake had to do as he was asked because if Dante didn’t give every ounce of focus he had on that creature they would have no hope of coming out on top. He ran forward, Elizabeth at his side, and began to strike at the numerous black creatures that surrounded the large monster.

  He felled two average-sized ones with two quick swipes, then continued forward and plunged his sword deep into one of the seven-foot monsters before him. It yelled and cried out, but Jake ripped his sword out then chopped off its head before it could do anymore. Another human-sized one lunged and tried to slash him with its long claws just as he pulled his sword free, and he blocked it just in time, shoving the creature back then taking out one at his side. It was hectic fight, and Jake had to keep shifting his eyes all around to be prepared for the next attack.

  Based on the high-pitched squeals Jake heard, Elizabeth must have been cutting them down with equal efficiency. That was good, because it was taking everything he had to remain alive, and he couldn’t pay any attention to Elizabeth’s safety lest he become a victim of one of these savage creatures.

  Jake kicked a tiny monster that tried to bite at his feet into the air and cleaved it in two, then drove his sword through another at his side. The sheer number of them was about the same as the horde of Voids they had fought at the base of the tower, only these were a lot more dangerous. They were aggressive and leapt rather than hobbled, and came in various sizes too, all of which had different strategies. Had he been the same person he was a couple of months ago, he’d have been dead in an instant. But he wasn’t, and Jake cleaved through two more in a quick combo, then turned to face another horde as more black liquid dripped from the monster. He gritted his teeth, then charged.

  ***

  Dante blasted two handfuls of energy into the creature’s back and shot himself high into the air, just in time to prevent its snake tail from piercing its fangs through his body. That thing was a pain in the ass and Dante fired at it too, calling it an “asshole” as loud as he could. It cried out and retreated back toward the thing’s ass where it belonged, and he landed on top of the creature once more. By this time, more of the little shit dudes had formed, and there were enough of them to warrant Dante’s attention, all of them running toward him. He would’ve loved to take the time while that obnoxious tail was reeling to blast the creature’s back, but he had to deal with these assholes too. He fired into a crowd of them, calling them “fuckheads” at the top of his lungs, then extended both of his arms out and let out as much energy as he could muster.

  He focused on maintaining it so that there was a steady wave coming out of each hand, and when he was sure he managed it without blowing himself up, he shouted fuck before various nouns as he spun around and took out all the little back shits. Then he yelled once again, and landed a firm blast right on the back of the creature’s head. It cried out loudly, and he pumped his fist in victory at the effective hit. He realized it was about time for a certain pain in the ass to be showing up again, so he jumped and rolled to the side as the tail tried to gobble him up once more. He fired into it, and called it an asshole.

  ***

  Cold. Everything was cold. It was as if she was lost in a vast ocean, allowing the waves to push her body back in forth. Nothing mattered, and she was at the mercy of the world around her. There was no feeling there. Just a deep darkness. Emptiness.

  From outside, the girl thought she heard a voice.

  It seemed faint and far away, originating from somewhere outside of the deep ocean that she was sinking into. Soon she’d be so far gone that it wouldn’t matter. Nobody would be able to reach her, and she knew it.

  The voice grew louder, but not because she was rising out of the ocean, only that the person on the other end was more frantic.

  Angry even.

  She continued to sway, caught up in those currents, the voice now disrupting the calm and motionlessness she’d become accustomed to. It was unnerving, jarring, and most of all…

  Annoying.

  And profane.

  Yes, that loud voice was doing nothing but shouting swear words. The girl shut her eyes tight, but a new sensation welled up inside of her all the same, one that she’d almost lost forever. Anger. She felt really angry at the voice, which would not shut the fuck up, and she clenched her fists. It let out one last angry yell, and the girl opened her eyes.

  “Dante,” she muttered.

  ***

  Another few Malice were felled by Jake’s sword as he continued to push onward, closer to the giant creature’s foot. At his side was Elizabeth, shouting and panting as she let out a fast flury of attacks that kept the smaller monsters at bay. Up top Dante yelled, an indication that he was making progress.

  The Malice weren’t being created as fast now, and Jake didn’t have to make frantic movements just to stay alive. He leapt forward and drove his sword into one of the dripping humanoid monsters, then looked up at the boy atop the beast.

  As Dante punched rhythmically into the back of the creature’s head, the tail snapped at him, but he blasted it away without even looking at it. He continued to punch steadily into the monster, which roared in anger at every hit. Jake couldn’t believe it, but Dante was completely dominating that thing, and he and Elizabeth were handling the creatures at ground level just fine. As things were shaping up, they were going to fell the giant beast no problem.

  Then Jake felt a slight pressure at the back of his neck, as if a million bugs squirmed there. It didn’t feel right, and as he watched Dante fire at the beast’s tail and the back of its head, he thought something was missing. It dawned on him, and he yelled to the boy. “Dante watch out! It isn’t creating as many monsters for some reason!” Dante turned toward Jake, a smile on his face. The smile wavered and he raised an eyebrow then looked at his feet.

  The entire creature’s back transformed into a massive array of spikes, and Dante had to jump and dodge as they sprouted out of the creature, each and every subsequent spear aiming to impale him. He ran along the creature’s back, onto its head, then leapt off as one last spike caught the tail end of his jacket and flipped it over his head. As he fell, he swung it back to its right position, let out a burst of energy to break his fall, then turned to the creature that roared right in his face. Jake had to cover his ears at the sound and almost fell to his knees from the pain, but Dante only stared into its black mass of a face, clearly annoyed.

  “You ripped that move off of my friend William!” Dante shouted, gathering an insane amount of energy in his palm. He pulled his arm back, then lashed it forward, shooting out a beam of energy that dug deep into the creature’s face and sent it spiraling backward. Jake and Elizabeth had to jump out of the way to avoid being trampled under its massive feet.

  The creature backed into a nearby building and the entire structure collapsed in on itself. The debris rained down behind the creature as it turned toward the three teens, its body tensed like a cat backed into a corner. It roared and so did the serpent tail, and an army of Malice began dripping off of it on all sides.

  “Dammit,” Dante said under his breath, fixated on the rubble as it hit the earth with a thundering crash. Jake kept his eyes on the creatures that were beginning to form, taking the opportunity to regain some stamina. Without turning to Dante, he spoke.

  “I think the plan should stay the same. Elizabeth and I will handle the small fry, you keep your attention on the big one.”

  “That ain’t gonna work anymore. Listen, I was dealing with that asshole before you came, and the only reason we were still alive was because we had the thing’s attention divided. With you guys at its feet and me riding its ass it couldn’t focus, but now it can. Trust me, I’ve dealt with that thing on land and its just gonna thrash about and fuck us all up.” He continued to speak while gat
hering energy into both hands. “Our best bet is to slow its movements, although we’re kinda limited with our kit… that sword of yours is a bit big, yeah? Why don’t you try to chop of its legs or somethin’? Princess there can handle the little shits, and I’ll keep pissing off the big one.” The orbs flashed and swirled in his hands, casting him in a frantic display of light and shadow.

  “I highly doubt I can take on all those alone,” Elizabeth said.

  “Yeah, and I don’t see how I’m going to sever an entire leg off of that thing, it’s humongous.”

  “Well, you’re some big shot military man now right?” Dante said, then began turning his palms toward the monster, which snarled at them from a distance.

  “I’m coming for you fuckhead!” he shouted and let the energy release. Jake took it as his signal to start, and charged at the army of monsters, Elizabeth at his side. Just before he reached them, he thought he saw something strange moving out of the corner of his eye. He focused on the strange movement and slowed his pace, eventually coming to an awestruck stop.

  It was snow, or at least he thought it was at first. Only it wasn’t snowing, and it wasn’t falling from the sky. Instead, it seemed to be drifting across the city. Jake followed it to the source, and was even more stunned to find that it seemed to be leaking out of a building. The hospital to be precise. It was insane though, how could snow be forming inside a building? It drifted closer to him, and Jake’s mouth became agape in realization.

  It wasn’t snow, it was ice. Very small, fine particles of ice. Just as he turned to the source once more, the hospital’s door was blown off its hinges, his former comrade Sara standing triumphantly in the empty entrance.

  “Dante! Will you shut the fuck up?” she demanded.

  Jake stood there, stunned as he watched the scene unfold, only barley aware of the sweeping sounds occurring just ahead of him. Rather than be annoyed at Sara’s angry call, Dante ran to her, a goofy smile lighting up his features. He grasped her pale hands and shouted over the stomping creature. “You’re just what we need!” Sara didn’t withdraw from his touch, but she did turn her head away. As she did, the creature they’d been fighting reared up and her eyes widened. She shook Dante’s hands off of her own, and pulled him in.

  “Was that you?” she said, pointing at the creature.

  Up ahead, Elizabeth called toward Jake. “Anytime now!” He turned and saw her frantically slashing and fighting off the army before her. Jake’s face flushed, he was completely embarrassed to have been wrapped up in Dante and Sara’s stupid exchange, even though he was glad Sara was better. He came to Elizabeth’s aid, taking out the Malice surrounding her.

  “Sorry about that, I just got caught up in their, uh...”

  Elizabeth stabbed into the head of a Malice before her. “Lovely exchange?”

  “Er, not exactly, but…” Jake’s eyes flickered and locked on Dante and Sara. Dante pointed at the giant Malice and waved his arms around frantically as if trying to accentuate a very important point. Sara, for her part, seemed to be listening intently. Jake took down another Malice.

  “Still, I didn’t think that he’d be the one to wake her up,” Elizabeth said.

  Jake plunged his sword into one of the larger Malice creatures and pulled down, splitting it in two. He looked up at Elizabeth, an eyebrow raised. “You mean you kept tabs on her?”

  “D-don’t get the wrong idea. She might have been the enemy, so it was natural to keep an eye on her.”

  Jake stopped fighting and looked at her. It was dark, so he wasn’t entirely sure that she was blushing, but the way that she averted her eyes and lowered her sword led him to believe that it was very possible. Her eyes flickered up from the ground and rested on him. Then a massive light came between them and destroyed the Malice that were no doubt closing in on them while they had that strange exchange.

  “Get a room you fucks!” Dante shouted, then blasted at the small Malice that surrounded the large creature.

  “Ha ha. Why don’t you leave the small creatures to us as planned and do your part?” Elizabeth retorted.

  “Change of plans,” Dante said, blasting away at the surrounding sea of Malice, “our trump card arrived early.” He jerked his thumb back toward Sara, who was creeping up behind him. “You got it covered, yeah?”

  “Wait, Dante,” Jake said, “you can’t just go changing the plan without telling us—”

  “Your part’s the same,” Dante said, dropping his weight and gathering energy into his palms. “Get ready!” he said, then blasted himself into the air. Before Jake could call out to him and ask exactly what he meant, he landed on the creature’s head and began punching into it frantically. It let out a fearsome and pained roar, then drew back.

  “Get ready Jake, Elizabeth,” Sara said, her arms outstretched. She was sweating heavily and her palms were glowing. Whatever she was planning had to take up a massive amount of Sol.

  “What do you mean? Dante hasn’t told us anything,” Jake said.

  “That idiot.” She clenched her teeth as her arms began to shake. “Listen, just… Elizabeth, remember how I captured you?”

  Elizabeth looked perplexed for a moment, but then turned away and nodded.

  “Smash the ice. Now!” she called.

  Jake turned to the creature, watching as frost began to creep up each of its massive legs. Jake understood at once and began rushing toward it, Elizabeth still at his side.

  “You take the right, I’ll take the left,” she said, and Jake did just that.

  Jake ran to the creature’s front leg, brandishing his sword. He wound back and smashed the blade into the creature. The ice the leg was encased in shattered with a loud crash and the creature unleashed another pained roar. He heard a second crash, then the top half above him began to fall. He picked up the pace, not wanting be laid flat by the large beast, and attacked its hind legs. They too fell apart, and Jake rolled out of the way as the legless creature fell to the ground.

  A blast of air hit Jake and he covered his face, then looked up sharply as a mouth, with two large fangs, began to barrel toward him. The creature’s tail.

  He rolled out of the way then leapt on top of it, plunging his sword deep. The giant Malice screeched and thrashed about, but Jake’s lodged sword allowed him to stay atop the creature. He slid it forward and outward, and the tail dislodged, squealing as it faded into nothing. He fell to the ground, landing uncomfortably on his rear, and panted hard. Atop the creature’s head, Dante called out.

  “Bedhead! Princess! I’m no good at cutting. Finish this fucker now!”

  Jake looked up. He had nearly just been eaten, but Dante wasn’t giving him a break. He made eye contact with Elizabeth on the other side of the creature, who nodded and took off for its head. Jake shook his, then slowly got up. He only had one thing left to do. He charged down the creature, allowing his sword to slide along and cut deep into it. Then he did a quick pivot, and came under the creature’s neck. He raised his sword into the air as he ran. The thick liquid mess of the creature’s throat rained down as it cried out. He passed Elizabeth who was doing the same, then came out the other side.

  The creature screeched, its head deflating as it bled pools of black liquid from the deep and ragged gashes Jake and Elizabeth had made. With one last desperate roar, the creature exploded into fine particles, and those particles disappeared into clouds of thin smoke before they even reached them. Opposite him, Elizabeth was panting and clearly exhausted. He felt the same, and dropped to his haunches. Never out of energy, Dante kept swearing at the empty space the creature had just occupied as Sara laughed at his odd behavior. The bitter battle was finally at an end.

  Just behind Dante, heavy footfalls slammed into the ground.

  Jake turned and took in Führer Bellator, his cape billowing out behind him as he slowly walked toward the group. He gritted his teeth as the man spoke.

  “A very good effort, Dante. I was right to leave these few alive to assist you.” He thrust his
arm out at Elizabeth, who began to rise into the air. Dante turned his head to her, worried, then back at Führer Bellator. His fists were clenched and trembling.

  Exhausted, but not willing to give Elizabeth up without a fight, Jake got back on his feet. “She saves your country and that’s how you repay her?”

  The Führer’s cold gaze found its way to Jake, then jerked suddenly down. He jumped back, dropping Elizabeth as ice sprang out of the ground at him. Sara’s head was down, and Jake could make out no clear emotion in her trembling posture. He began walking toward her, wanting to assist if they’d have to battle the Führer, and he was just within earshot to make out Sara’s shaky voice.

  “It was you.” She looked up. “You’re the reason they’re—” she swept her hand out and sent several icicles hurling toward the man. He continued to walk forward. Just as they were about to make contact with him, they burst into shards, the tiny bits of ice that made them up dancing on the ground. He stretched his arm out toward Sara. Her feet left the ground and her body twitched all over.

  “Fuck,” Dante mumbled then fired a blast of energy at Führer Bellator. It curved around him and flew harmlessly into the darkness. Dante dropped down low and ran toward the man, a fist raised to attack, but his body flew to the side before he came within striking distance, skidding across the pavement.

  The Führer went straight to Sara, looking her dead in the eye. “You,” he said, then turned to look at Dante who was getting to his feet. “You two remind of a pair of hopeless dreamers I once knew. Don’t be stupid and end up like them,” he said, then let go of Sara. She fell to the ground, grasping her throat and coughing as he stepped over her and toward Elizabeth. If Dante and Sara couldn’t do anything against him, what the hell could Jake manage?