Shadow Sun Progression: Shadow Sun Book Four

by Dave Willmarth

  Prime didn’t stand, but saluted with one arm that held a tool of some kind. “I shall be fully repaired in approximately three minutes.”

  Allistor left him to it, going back to the group. The regeneration of the tank’s leg was nearly complete. “Bjurstrom, sweep the room, check for the usual, then we’re outta here.” A few seconds later most of the raiders were fanning out in groups of ten to loot and check the room.

  In raid chat, Allistor said, “Gene, Gralen, I need you guys to head back to Battery Park. Andrea, I want a couple of your guys back at Cheyenne to load up half a dozen more bombs in a storage ring and teleport to meet Opportunity. Gralen, get back here with those bombs as fast as you can. We’re heading back up and out of this place. The new plan is we blast these things into charcoal.”

  He could hear Andrea telling Gene who to call back at the Silo to get the ordinance. Allistor knew they still had a few bombs on the Opportunity now, but he wanted more. He was dealing with the losses reasonably well, getting better at not blaming himself. But these things were going to pay for killing his people. And they weren’t going to get to kill any more.

  With Prime and the tank both back on their feet, the raiders retraced their steps. Prime carried the dead tank’s body, Logan carried the healer. The group guarding the lowest level joined up, leaving the door blocked behind them. They picked up the group guarding the upper door, and made their way back down the tunnel to where it opened into the crater. From there, several of the raiders with high strength and agility stats were able to simply leap up to the higher level. Prime reversed his previous job of catching jumpers, this time gently tossing people up into the higher tunnel. And the rest, including Fuzzy, Allistor used Levitate to lift up. The last one to go, he had them clear a spot before he used Dimensional Step to join them.

  The entire raid party jogged down that last tunnel, back to the original stairway, and up through the concrete building at the surface. Their pace was a bit faster on their return trip around the perimeter, since they were just retracing their own steps, and were reasonably sure the ground was safe.

  Back aboard the Phoenix, Allistor examined the loot he’d taken. They had a few more minutes before Gralen would be back with the bombs. He’d gotten one of their spears, a pair of thin metal bracers, two gems, and ten thousand klax.

  Fomorian Spear

  Item Quality: Rare

  Attributes: Strength +2, Constitution +2

  This weapon, constructed of shadow steel, is imbued with a slow-acting poison concocted from the deathcap mushroom.

  Allistor took a moment to inform Nancy and Amanda of the source of the poison, in hopes that it would help them to better counteract it in the future. Nancy thanked him, her eyes unfocusing to check her interface for any relevant information. Amanda put a hand on Allistor’s arm. “Lucy, the healer who was killed, her daughter is here on the Phoenix. She’s part of the raid party, and saw her mom’s name go grey. I’m going to go talk to her.”

  Allistor nodded, not trusting his voice. He did his best to express his thanks with his eyes as Amanda kissed his cheek and departed. Promising himself he’d spend some time with the little girl when the battle was over, he went back to the loot. The next item of note was a staff about eight feet long, made of some type of very hard wood, a shade of grey so dark it was nearly black, with streaks of deep crimson swirling within the grain. Embedded along the top third of its length were several dark stones.

  Fomorian Mage’s Staff

  Item Quality: Epic

  Enchantment: Darkness, Void Bolt

  Attributes: Intelligence +2, Will Power +3

  This staff acts as a spell storage device, spell enhancer, and melee weapon. The enchanted stones hold (3/5) charges of the AoE spell Darkness, and (9/12) charges of Void Bolt. Stones can be recharged with current or alternate dark magic enchantments. Spells cast using the staff as a focus will have increased range (10%) and potency (variable).

  The last item was a small dimensional storage bag. When Allistor accessed it, he found several dozen gems of various sizes and shades. Closing the fifty-slot bag, he made a mental note to share them with Michael when the two of them had time to identify each stone and any enchantments they already held.

  Gene’s voice came across raid chat. “We’re about one minute out. Got six more bombs, plus the three we already had.”

  “Great. We’re all clear. Prime’s troops have retreated to a safe distance. Try and drop the first three into the craters you’ve already made. After that, we’ll see how things look.”

  Kira lifted off without needing to be asked, having heard that more bombs were imminent. Allistor stood at the open cargo door and studied the compound, more of it coming into view as the ship ascended. The three craters sat in a nearly straight line down the middle of the complex. Crossing his fingers, Allistor took a deep breath. “Please let these bombs finish the job. I don’t know if I can take my people back down there. Or if they’d follow me when I ask.”

  He watched, along with most of the other raiders who’d gathered around, as Opportunity dropped the third wave of bombs, one at a time. After each impact, Gralen waited a bit for the dust and smoke to clear. When the third bomb slipped into the final crater and exploded, Allistor heard more than one of his people whispering prayers of their own.

  Just as the impact sounds died down and the clouds began to disperse, there was a tremendous secondary explosion. Allistor could see a ripple pass through the ground below, rubble being tossed up and remaining structures crumbling as the wave rolled underneath. A moment later the ripple could be seen advancing outward, damaging other nearby buildings and causing a wave to extend out across the river. The small perimeter structure that housed their previous entry point disappeared in a cloud of concrete dust.

  Level up! You are now Level 52! You have received two Attribute Points.

  Every single person on board both ships leveled up along with Allistor. But a quick check of his interface showed that the quests he’d given out were not complete. Which meant there were still living enemies below.

  Prime appeared next to Allistor. “Sire, my scouts have engaged a small party of Fomorians to the north.”

  Allistor’s interface map now showed half a dozen or so red dots tightly clustered about a hundred yards north of the western end of the complex. “Kira, take us there!” Allistor shouted into raid chat. If the enemy was within combat range of Prime’s droids, he couldn’t just drop a bomb on them. It would take out any of their nearby droids. Allistor considered doing it anyway, but feared that would hurt not only his reputation with Prime, but with any observing factions. He cursed the System and his new responsibilities under his breath.

  The Phoenix shifted smoothly westward and began to descend rapidly. Allistor felt the urge to hold onto something even though the floor underneath them was completely stable. He could see the flashes of plasma rifle fire from the battle droids, and the much larger bodies of the fomorians pushing toward them, using broken walls, trees, and large chunks of concrete as cover.

  Kira landed in the closest open area she could find, about fifty yards west of the battle. The moment the Phoenix set down, Allistor shouted, “Let’s go!” and leapt off the cargo ramp, jogging toward the fight. As soon as he was close enough, he used Identify on the enemy monsters.

  Fomorian Guard

  Level 55

  Health 73,000/77,000

  Fomorian Guard

  Level 60

  Health 81,450/85,000

  There were four guards, all roughly the same levels as the raiders had faced below, between fifty and sixty. But the ones that caught Allistor’s attention were bigger, and smaller, than the others.

  Fomorian Patron

  Level 75

  Health 165,000/165,000

  Fomorian Scion

  Level 20

  Health: 28,450/30,000

  The Patron stood at least a dozen feet tall, with alabaster skin and eyes that glowed blue. In his arms h
e held the much smaller Scion, maybe four feet tall and very thin. The Scion’s eyes also glowed, but with a bright green shade rather than blue. And it held a bundle against its chest, wrapped in fabric or leather, that leaked a similar green glow in several places.

  The guards were acting as shields, using their bodies to protect the other two. The smaller one’s lower left leg was dangling at an odd angle, clearly broken. All of them were covered in a thick layer of debris dust, and a few had what looked like scorch marks on their skin.

  “Spread out! Form into your groups!” Bjurstrom called out in raid chat. “Focus on the guards first. The others don’t seem to be holding weapons. Start with the guard closest to the big guy. Hit them with everything you’ve got, and stay behind your tanks!”

  Allistor decided to leave the guards to his people. They outnumbered the fomorians roughly twenty to one, and since none of the enemy were identified as mages, he had faith that the raiders could take them quickly. His concern was the glowing eyes of the Patron and Scion. They seemed likely to be magic users.

  Steeling himself, Allistor cast Mind Spike on the little one first. It began to scream, dropping the bundle it held and thrashing so violently that the larger one had difficulty holding on to it. Allistor hit the Patron with Restraint, and the spell failed. He tried Mind Spike again, and that failed as well. The Patron was simply too many levels above him.

  Thinking furiously, Allistor decided to try a more physical approach. He channeled a Flame Shot for three seconds before calling it down atop the enemy’s head. It did some minor damage, and caused the Patron to lose his grip on the little one.

  Wailing in anger, the Patron turned his back to the child and stepped between it and Allistor. The ground between them shivered from the sonic attack, and Allistor found himself on his knees, holding his hands over his ears and gritting his teeth. His eyes unfocused slightly, and he thought they might be bleeding. He could feel warm drops of liquid running down his cheeks.

  The giant fomorian lumbered toward Allistor, a familiar-looking spear appearing in its right hand as it strode through the debris. Its mouth now closed, the sonic attack ceased, and Allistor struggled to focus. He managed to cast Barrier in front of himself, but had no faith that it would stop that spear. Focusing on the ground just in front of the Patron, he cast Erupt, hoping to slow it down.

  And it did. The stone spike shot upward at an angle, penetrating the right leg of the giant and causing it to scream in pain. This time it wasn’t a sonic attack, and Allistor’s mind was recovering quickly enough that he could cast Shatter on the spear.

  A second later the weapon erupted, sending shrapnel deep into the body of the Patron, his arm and leg peppered with more shards, and his hand simply disappearing into a bloody mist. The force knocked him back, freeing him from the stone spike in his leg, and blood began to spurt from the wound.

  Allistor became aware of screams behind him on either side, and in front of him. A quick look around showed half a dozen of his people down, but still moving. Michael had a spear poking through his shield and shield arm, the sharp point just inches from his heart. But he was still on his feet and advancing with the other tanks.

  The Scion, visible now that the Patron had been knocked to one side, was crying and attempting to get to its feet. Allistor mercilessly cast another Mind Spike on the creature, and it began to roll around on the ground, screaming.

  The Patron used his good arm to push himself up onto his knees and shouted a short series of words. A black flash appeared in the air directly in front of him, bursting outward to strike Allistor’s barrier. The spell’s momentum was cut by maybe a third as the barrier burst with a small popping sound, and the spell struck his shoulder. Allistor was knocked off his feet, his armor melted and his shoulder burning. He nearly passed out from the pain, but managed to hang in there as several heals washed over him.

  Staying on his back, partly to make himself a smaller target, and partly because he didn’t think he could get up, Allistor cast Levitate on a large chunk of concrete with jagged edges. With a flick of his hand, he moved it away from the Patron about fifty feet, then reversed its direction. The momentum of the projectile as it crashed into the enemy caused him to stop the next spell it was chanting, and Allistor heard some bones break.

  He quickly cast Mind Spike on the Patron, and this time it worked. The thing grabbed its head and shook it violently.

  Fomorian Patron

  Level 75

  Health 119,105/165,000

  Not waiting for it to recover, Allistor cast Shatter on that same chunk of concrete, now sitting just a foot or so from the giant. The explosion did another several thousand points of damage, and left bleeding wounds across most of its body. Allistor’s own health was up to about ninety percent, and he still had plenty of mana.

  Just as the Mind Spike was wearing off, Allistor cast Levitate on the Patron. He flicked one hand upward, sending the monster shooting high into the sky. Allistor kept it moving upward until it was out of his spell range, at which point the Patron slowed, then fell. Allistor estimated the fall would be more than a hundred feet, and was already anticipating the creature’s death when it began to slow, using magic of its own. Rather than smashing into the rubble and bursting apart, it settled slowly on its own two feet and began chanting again.

  “Dammit. This thing just won’t die!” Allistor rushed toward a nearby bit of wall, about four feet of it still standing. He reached it just as the Patron completed its cast, crouched as low as he could get, and held his breath. A second later he was knocked over and buried under shattered pieces of brick as the wall fell on him. His health bar down to sixty percent, he was blinded by the brick and mortar dust in his eyes. Wiping frantically, he cast a heal on himself and began to blink rapidly, trying to clear his vision.

  He could see the giant fomorian’s blurry outline ahead of him. It was advancing again, limping badly and stumbling over rubble in its path. When he started chanting again, Allistor tried his new Silence spell. And as with the other magic attacks, it failed.

  Just as Allistor was resigning himself to being blasted into oblivion, Prime darted in from his left and stabbed the Patron with his staff. The weapon didn’t penetrate the skin, even with the android’s considerable strength behind it. But it did interrupt the cast and give Allistor a moment to breathe. The fomorian swung its handless arm at Prime, blood spraying from the stump as it knocked the droid away like a rag doll.

  Desperate for a way to stop this monster, Allistor tried something stupid. Focusing on the ground right behind the Scion, he cast Dimensional Step. He staggered when he appeared behind the little creature, still not steady on his feet from the hits he’d taken and the instant change of location. Drawing his sword, he cast Restraint on the Scion, then wrapped his left arm around its throat and lifted it up against his chest. He pointed the sword at its neck, and shouted.

  “Hey! Over here! Surrender, or I kill this one!”

  The Patron, who had been searching the ground where Allistor had just been, spun around and glared at him. It spoke in a language he didn’t understand, but sounded vaguely Gaelic. Its remaining hand raised, pointing a finger at him. Allistor began to feel sleepy, and more dizzy than he’d been a moment before. Growling through the effects of the spell, he pressed his sword harder against the Scion’s skin, the tip sliding into flesh.

  Immediately, the spell effects faded, and the Patron dropped its hand.

  “Prime, can we negotiate with this thing? Do you understand it?”

  “I do not, sire. Fomorians are a scattered and reclusive race, rarely encountered. But they have a reputation of having no honor or sense of mercy.” Prime moved to stand next to Allistor, all three of his eyes focused on the Patron, his shield and staff at the ready.

  As if to confirm Prime’s words, the Patron screamed at them, unleashing its sonic weapon again. Allistor didn’t hesitate, pushing his sword through the Scion’s throat, levering it forward and nearly decapitating
the little creature just as the wave hit him.

  The Patron’s scream ceased immediately, and it flew into a rage, charging toward Allistor and Prime. Spells began to hit it from all sides. Allistor saw that his raiders had finished off the guards and had all turned their attacks on the last remaining fomorian. It mostly shrugged off the attacks, until three stone spikes shot up in front of it, one penetrating its knee, another its left foot.

  Three tanks rushed forward with shields raised, slamming into the thing from slightly different directions, then hacking at it with swords while it was recovering. They quickly backed off, placing themselves between it and Allistor as the dps raiders slammed the thing with more spells. Allistor, on his knees after the sonic attack, let go of the corpse he held and tightened his grip on the sword. Casting Dimensional Step again, he appeared behind the Patron and swung as hard as he could manage at its spine.

  The blade cut deeply, but didn’t sever the tough creature’s spine. Allistor quickly stepped back and stabbed upward through its back, hoping to hit something vital. He felt the blade scrape against bone, either the creature’s ribs or its vertebrae, and it shuddered. He twisted the blade as he pushed further, then twisted the other direction as he ripped it out.

  Finally, an experience notification flashed in front of his eyes as the Patron dropped to its knees, then forward onto its face.

  Level up! You are now Level 53! You have received two Attribute Points.

  Allistor sank to his own knees, his hands shaking from the fading adrenaline rush. His raid interface was showing a few more greyed out names, and he didn’t want to look to see who it was. About a quarter of his raiders were at or below 50% health, and he could hear cries of pain as they were being healed.

  “Get up and help.” He growled to himself, pushing aside the inner conflict that threatened to disable him again. Getting to his feet, he took a few seconds to survey the battlefield, then started casting heals on those who needed them.