A blaring horn call sliced through the quiet night, yanking Evie from the depths of her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open to a campsite plunged into chaos, the calm savagely torn apart by the ongoing alarm. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she scrambled upright, fumbling with the blanket tangled around her.
The camp, moments ago a quiet tableau under the starlit sky, was now a hubbub of action. Shadows cast by hastily grabbed torches flickered erratically against the light canvas of the tents. The air was thick with the scent of fear and the cries of battle. Evie looked around frantically, no idea which way to go, and had to jump back in surprise to avoid getting trampled by a running caravaneer.
"Darius! This way!"
Reyna’s commanding shout sliced through the din, her voice tinged with urgency as she marshaled the caravan’s defenders into a semblance of order. She was somewhere to Evie’s right, the direction of her voice distorted by the commotion. Evie’s mind raced to catch up as more armed caravaneers sprinted past her in the direction of Reyna’s shout. Catching sight of Darius, she stumbled after him, boots slipping on the slick grass.
“Stay close, Evie!”
Darius's voice reached her over the noise, elevated over the sound of battle, but still calm and in control. He was slowly making his way to the front, his figure hazy and indistinct in the torchlight. Evie sprinted after him, yelling at his back.
“I hope you’re not going to tell me to stay back!”
For a brief moment, Darius slowed and stared back at her with grave eyes.
“No. I told you, no passengers here. If you’re with us, you’re fighting.”
“Good.”
Evie swallowed, clenching her fists and edging closer to the group of fighters. She was not at the front line, but close enough to see the battle ahead of her. The caravan was well-organized and well-trained. A bulwark of [Defenders] held the front lines with aegises and tower shields closing the gaps between the wagon, while [Adventurers] and a couple of [Knights] on armored horses sallied out in rapid strikes, cutting into the Virus’ flanks. Four [Healers] were set-up just behind the front lines with more [Adventurers], these ones archers, interspaced between them. The group’s rotations and maneuvers were seamless, but there were so many enemies.
Just beyond the circle of light thrown by the campfire, she could make out the hulking forms of Virus surging forward. Their bodies were an amalgamation of nightmare and shadow, their movements unnaturally fluid in the dim light. They were so big, so violent – twisted abominations of nightmare. The reality of the fight sank into her bones – this was what she had wanted, but it was nothing like standing guard on the Richmond walls when the Virus attacked the fort. Even during that night two years ago there’d been 300 soldiers beside her and a parapet in front of her. This… was different.
Evie’s mind was broken from its stupor as a voice screamed out from the front line.
“Juggernauts on the right, two of them!”
Evie saw Darius break into action and before she could think, she was right beside him.
“Nathan Hale!”
Just as Evie summoned Victoria, Darius called out his own hero. For a second, she forgot the battle and could only stare as Darius transformed in front of her. Unlike her transformation, and pretty much every other one she’d heard of, Darius seemed to grow smaller, more indistinct, instead of grander. The colors around him muted and the shadows thickened, seeming to wrap around him and pull him in, just like he was a Virus. One second there were two of them running side by side, and then she was alone, charging at two juggernauts.
“Um… Darius?”
Evie’s head swung from side to side, but there had once been two of them charging the juggernauts, now there was only her.
“Oh shit…”
Realizing she had nowhere else to go, Evie gripped her cutlass tightly in one hand, cloak flapping behind her, and charged at the first behemoth. Just as she was about to thrust, a tree trunk sized limb came hurtling at her face with blinding speed. Instinct taking over, she threw herself down, nearly sliding along the ground. She felt a whoosh of air as the dark fist passed over her head, and thrust her sword forward, slashing a small line of light through the juggernaut’s side.
Whirling to face it, she saw the juggernaut slowly standing up, cold eyes glaring at her. If the slash had hurt it, there was nothing in its face or demeanor that showed any discomfort. She tensed, ready to charge again, but warning sirens screamed inside her head. Acting on instinct, she leapt to her left, barely avoiding the incoming blow as the second juggernaut joined the fray, trying to pulverize her with another boulder-sized fist. The ground trembled under the impact, and she felt the shockwave through her bones.
She barely had a second to get her bearings before the first juggernaut was on her again and it was all she could do to avoid getting crushed by the onslaught. The assault was relentless, barely giving her time to breathe, let alone counter. Each movement had to be precise, any mistake and she was done.
“Skill, got to use a skill.”
Her thoughts were frantic, looking for any opening to turn the tide of the fight. Each time she opened her mouth, another strike came spearing at her and she was forced to block or throw herself to the side. She was rapidly tiring as the barrage of strikes overwhelmed her ability to defend herself.
“Need to take a risk…”
Evie steadied herself, waiting for the closest juggernaut to make its next move. Carefully, she shifted her weight forward to her toes and prepared herself to lunge at the giant, giving up defense for a chance to even the odds. She saw the juggernaut pouncing forward and leapt at it, sword raised and battle cry pulsing from her throat. Her yell was so loud that she almost missed the calm voice cutting through the night.
“[Shadow Strike].”
With a lurch, the juggernaut she was attacking stopped short, hand still raised to strike at Evie. Evie’s sword came crashing down, but the monster was no longer there. It was tumbling sideways, almost in slow motion, essence flickering, before vanishing into the night.
Standing right beside her, barely a hands-breadth away from her falling sword was Darius, dagger held casually in each hand, eyes calm, but focused. Together, they moved in on the second creature, spreading out to attack it from both sides. Now outnumbered, it hunkered down into a defensive posture.
“Thanks for taking their attention.”
Darius’ voice was light with a small chuckle in it, but his eyes never left the remaining enemy. Evie’s, on the other hand, came out in short gasps as she fought to regain her breath.
“I thought. You were going. To make me fight them all on my own…”
“At least I gave you the warning.”
“That. Was you?”
Darius shot her a sly smile.
“We really got to work on your fitness girl… Already out of breath after one skirmish.”
She just glared across at him.
“Ouch if looks could cut, I wouldn’t even need these knives… Come on, let’s finish this.
As one, they charged the juggernaut, pinning it in from both sides. The beast was strong, but it was no match for the two of them fighting together. It swung wildly at Darius, who ducked under the blow and countered with a slash that seemed to pass through the creature, leaving an empty line of darkness in its wake.
Making use of the distraction, Evie darted in close and swung hard at the juggernaut’s unprotected back. For a second, her mind went back to a different night, a night when she wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t fast enough and the juggernaut had caught her blade and snapped it in two. But that was different. She was different. The cutlass tore through the beast, blade glowing with a warm yellow light.
The juggernaut staggered, its form beginning to dissipate. It swung one last desperate blow towards Evie, which she dodged easily, stepping aside and letting it slide past her. Darius went for its back, Evie, its neck. With a sound like tearing fabric, the juggernaut's form unraveled, the dark energy that held it together dispersing into the night air.
Panting, Evie stepped back, watching as the remnants of the dark creature faded into nothingness. Darius came up beside her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Good work. But keep your guard up – there’s more work to do.”
Nodding, Evie looked around, her senses still on high alert. They were around 50 yards from the line of caravaneers that seemed to be holding its own. Suddenly, she heard a word that triggered memories and chilled her soul.
“Swarm!”
As scary as the Virus were, there was a small comfort – they moved like people. Extremely fast, strong people that felt no pain or fear, but still, people. But the swarms were different. Facing the winged monsters out of nightmares that seemed to be made of the night sky brought a different level of challenge. And terror. But the caravaneers had something they didn’t usually have. They had her.
“[Sun Never Sets]!”
Evie screamed out her skill running back to the defensive line facing the bulk of the incoming swarm. The night sky lit up with the break of dawn behind them, identifying previously invisible enemies cloaked in the darkness. Archers exclaimed in surprised joy as their previously blind shots now had clear targets. Beasts began to falter and fall and Evie stared up at them with savage glee.
Evie had no bow, so she focused on directing the sunlight that shone at the army’s back. Without the night to protect them, the flying swarm was a more straight-forward, if no less deadly threat. It still took several ordinary shots to bring one down if no skills were used, but the light allowed the archers to concentrate their fire and helped [Defenders] position themselves more effectively to protect the army’s weak points. Still, there were at least a hundred flying monsters and Evie felt somewhat useless just moving the sunlight around to help the caravaneers around her. Then she realized there was more she could do
“[Cannonade]!”
The night turned day came alive with the crash and explosions of artillery as black, iron cannons formed on the ground in gaps in the line of defenders. Huge roars and plumes of smoke belched out as cannonballs targeted Virus flying in the sun’s light with perfect precision. She was unstoppable. She was going to destroy them all. She…
One moment she was standing, reveling in her power. The next, she was falling. The sun in the sky winked out and the cannon shots came to an abrupt halt as her hero’s form shattered into tiny motes of light. It was as if she’d run into a metaphorical wall – her whole world shook and shuddered, turning gray around the edges as she collapsed to the ground. Caravaneers that had been cheering one moment cried out in alarm as the Virus attacked with renewed vigor against their now nightblind foes.
Evie tried to get up to rejoin the fray, but it was as if all the energy had been sucked out of her. Even moving a finger felt like the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.
“What…”
She could see the winged, raven-like Virus swooping down on her, but could do nothing to stop it. It plunged straight for her face, talons extended, but even squeezing her eyes shut in fear was too much for her body. She was already bracing herself for the pain when she saw the streak of red light flash right above her.
“[Fire Arrow]!”
The burning wood ripped through the Virus’ body, lighting it up in red-hot flames which vanished as soon as the bird dissipated. Several more flying Virus flew at her while other, standard ones ran at her on the ground. The entire line in front of her buckled as the Virus seemed to focus all of their attention on her fallen body. Evie heard one scream, and then a second as caravaneers were cut down, overwhelmed by the sudden surge.
“[Force Mirror]!”
“[Stone Wall]”
“[Immovable Object]”
Skills rang out through the night as the group desperately attempted to reform. The caravaneers held, but now every one of them was fighting with not even the [Healers] left in reserve. Evie tried once again to do anything, but not even the smallest muscle in her limbs felt like it was capable of the effort. Another Virus broke through the line and ran at her. It was almost upon her when a massive sword struck through its chest, carving a hole straight through it. Her eyes searched, looking again for her savior, but found nothing until she felt movement behind her.
Suddenly, Evie felt herself being grabbed under the armpits and dragged away from the fighting, head lolling and arms skipping along the ground. Strong hands lifted her torso up and she felt the rough bark of a tree against her neck. Eyes unfocused, she saw a blurry figure in front of her, holding a cup to her lips. When she didn’t drink, a hand pulled her chin down and tipped the cup. She would have wretched if she had the strength, as steaming hot liquid burned her tongue and throat, but after a second, the sweet aftertaste of chocolate replaced the scalding heat. A little warmth started to spread from her stomach and her vision sharpened enough to see Reyna’s worried face looking down at her. It gave her enough strength to open her mouth, but her words came out as a barely audible croak.
“What…”
“Don’t talk, drink.”
Reyna tilted the cup again and poured another small bit of steaming liquid down Evie’s throat. She swallowed weakly, trying not to gag and Reyna just shook her head with disapproval.
“Didn’t you think to try using two skills at once in practice before using them in a fight?”
Evie didn’t have any words even if she had the energy to speak. Reyna sighed and shook her head.
“No of course not… Kids… I need to get back to the front – all of the room you and Darius bought for us is lost now. It's going to be a tough one. You should be safe back here, but I can’t spare anyone to look over you”
With that she was gone and Evie was alone. She had never felt so helpless – not even watching her mother fight the juggernaut in front of her. Reyna had left the rest of the cup beside her, but it was beyond her to even reach for it, let alone lift it back to her lips. Her fingers felt like they weighed 100 pounds each and her arms might as well have been made of wood.
With the smallest of movements, her eyes flicked back to the battle where the caravaneers were desperately fighting. It was not going well. Reyna had rejoined the battle and Darius was fighting beside her, no longer flitting in and out of the shadows, but instead manning the front lines himself to try to stem the tide. But the defenders were on the back foot – desperate fighters dragged their comrades behind the lines to get support from [Healers] who were on the front lines themselves, while exhausted [Defenders] looked behind them for reinforcements that didn’t come. They were on the verge of getting overrun.
***
“What in the world…”
Darius threw a knife at a diving Virus as he jumped away to his right. He conjured another one in his hand and raised it to block the talons of another diving bird. Without a second's hesitation, he leapt and snatched the bird’s viscous, black wing as it tried to circle for another dive and, using his falling body for momentum, spiked it into the ground. Before it could rise, his knife was plunging through its head and into the ground beneath. Not bothering to remove it, he let it vanish and summoned another one, head spinning to find the next enemy.
He had stopped his [Silent Presence] aura the second he’d seen the swarm come in. He was most valuable stalking silently through the enemy’s lines, cutting through Virus from behind, but his team needed him to draw attacks or else they were going to lose more people. They were still in danger of losing people even with him drawing the brunt of the Virus’ attention and taking out the strongest foes.
“How are there so many? I’ve never seen so many attack at once, and I didn’t even sense them coming… Could it be because we have two Tier 2s?”
He stole a glance over at Evie lying collapsed against the tree where Reyna had left her and would have laughed if not for the gravity of the fight. Of course she’d tried something like that in the thick of the deadliest battle of her life. You had to pick up most things by experience as a Tier 2 – there weren’t enough of them around to train each other, especially not outside of Washington – but testing her limits in the middle of battle was insane.
“She’s probably never met another Tier 2 before in her life besides me…”
Her mistake would have been funny if they didn’t so desperately need her to fight off the Virus. His skills from his [Spy] archetype, told him there were still hundreds more enemies coming, both my land and air. It was one of the rarest archetypes – in between [Assassin] and [Adventurer] – that was capable of serving as both a scout and high-end damage dealer, but fighting multiple enemies on the front line was not his strength, despite his size.
“We could really use that light skill again right about now…”
Darius swung his knife, taking out some of his frustration by cutting apart another Virus as it tried to flank his wife. He let himself fall more deeply into the trance of battle, letting the clash of steel and cries of his men become white noise outside the tunnel. One heartbeat, one strike, one fallen Virus, until he was standing in a patch of grass empty but for the stumbling Virus that hadn’t yet realized they were dead.
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Bells in his head chimed as his [Silent Warning] skill alerted him to more incoming danger. He swiveled and saw three more juggernauts charging at the bulwark. They couldn’t hold there, they needed more time.
"Fall back! Fall back to the second line!"
His voice cut through the clamor, a desperate attempt to regroup and hold the line. He saw Evie's gaze meet his, her face straining with effort as she tried to do anything to rejoin the fight. In that fleeting moment, he offered her a nod – a silent promise to keep fighting, to keep them all safe.
But as he turned back to the fray, Darius knew that promises were as fragile as the bodies making them. The Virus surged forward in a relentless tide, and he felt the desperately retreating line buckling under the pressure. If the juggernauts reached them before he did, they were through.
***
“I need… to fight.”
Evie screamed at herself as she tried with everything she had to move anything, a finger, a toe, anything, closer to the battle line. Her vision blurred, each attempt to move sending waves of weakness coursing through her body as she struggled to overcome the extreme lethargy gripping her soul. The faint echoes of the battle reached her ears – the clash of metal, the shouts of pain, and the booming footfalls of the approaching juggernauts.
"Darius…"
Her voice was barely a thread of sound. She could see him now, a silhouette backlit by the flares of combat, moving with a grace that belied the ferocity of his attacks. He was cutting down Virus after Virus, but it wasn’t enough. She could see the strain in the set of his shoulders, the brief faltering in his steps as he ran to face the juggernauts alone.
“Victoria…”
Her call was more prayer than home as she tried to resummon her hero. Nothing happened. She could have cried in frustration, but she needed the energy for something more productive. She focused all of her might into one push, the effort making her whole body tremble. Slowly, she lifted herself off the ground. One inch, then five. She was almost standing when her legs gave out and she collapsed back to the tree behind her, right where she started.
***
“[Minuteman]!”
Darius felt a wave of weariness pass through him as he activated yet another skill. His body blurred - one second he was 30 yards away, the next he was right in the middle of the fray slashing apart shadow after shadow with reckless abandon.
With perfect timing, he leapt through the air, wind whipping at his back as he passed just over the onrushing juggernaut’s strike. Contorting his body and turning over, he launched a hail of knives at the back of the monster, before landing in a crouch behind it. Not waiting to see if it had fallen he turned and crossed his arms in front of him, just in time to block the blow of another massive Virus. His arms shook and he slid backwards several feet, but within a split second he was running back at it, rapidly ducking and swerving as it tried to turn him into a pancake.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed his knife underhanded at the juggernaut’s head, causing it to duck on instinct. Not letting up, he swung a leg back and launched a flying kick at the crouching beast’s head. Knee struck head and Darius encountered a surprising weight of resistance as the collision drove both of them off balance. The monster stumbled away, but he mistimed his landing and he was unable to fully plant on his left foot as he’d planned. Razor sharp pain tore through his shoulder and he looked down to see a black sword-arm protruding from his chest.
Instead of pulling away from the sword, he turned into it, blood flying as the blade ripped through his arm. Ignoring the spasm of pain he continued his spin, bringing his knife hand around and cutting through the juggernaut’s neck. With a satisfying pop, he heard it disintegrate as he turned to face his remaining foes.
“Too. Many.”
His voice came out in gasps and his limp arm dangled at his side.
“Just a little bit more.”
Instead of running back to the lines and the healers waiting for him there, he let them continue to work on the rest of his men and charged back into the fray. Three more Virus came down before he was once again face-to-face with the remaining two juggernauts. One still had two of his knives sticking from its back while the other one was unharmed, showing no ill effect from the kick he had given it. Not waiting for them to charge, he bellowed a war cry and ran at them.
“[Backstab].”
Just as he was about to reach the foremost juggernaut, his form passed through it like a wraith. Both fists passed through empty air and he came out of a cloud of darkness behind them, leaping forward with his knife. One, two, three, stabs at its back and it was done, already starting to dissipate. Before it could fully disappear, he reached with his other arm to grab a knife from its back and froze as his shoulder locked up in pain. The knife was there, so tantalizingly close, but still out of the reach of his grasping fingers.
He didn’t need to look to know the blow was coming, easily breaking through his guard and into his unprotected chest. He flew through the air in a massive arc, clattering to the ground in a heap yards from where he had been hit. He moved to lift himself back to his feet, but immediately collapsed to his back, staring up at the now clouded night sky. His vision swam as he lay there, pain lancing through his broken ribs and clavicle. It wouldn’t be long now…
His eyes filled with the form of the final juggernaut, staring down at him impassively. It raised its foot high above him.
“Reyna… I hope this was enough.”
The foot came down on his unprotected head.
***
Evie screamed. Or tried to. It came out as more of a throaty wail as she saw the monster cave-in Darius’ head. The juggernaut's foot lifted, leaving Darius' motionless body crumpled on the ground. Horror surged within her, a desperate plea for this not to be real; for him to stand up, laugh, and brush off the wound. But he lay motionless. It was too far away to see clearly, but she knew his broken body was now a mess of blood and bone.
The night was cruelly silent – no triumphant roars from the silent Virus, no cries of loss from the humans. Only the continuous sounds of battle as the humans readied themselves for another charge. Darius had bought them a crucial minute with his sacrifice. A minute for the [Healers] to work and the tired soldiers to catch their breath, but the number of Virus was still immeasurable and the humans’ leader was gone.
Once more, Evie tried to stand, one foot, then a second building a shaking platform beneath her. She took a step, and then collapsed back down to her knees. Tears formed in her eyes. Tears of frustration. Tears of loss and regret. Tears of impotence. Lacking the strength to try to stand, she crawled forward, one hand and then the next. She didn’t know how she was going to do any good in this state, but she’d figure it out when she got there.
"Come on, Ivans."
Her voice was a ragged whisper lost in the wind, but still she moved forward.
“By Tirelle and by Gavin, this can’t be the end for us. Darius… he knew we could defeat them. He believed in me.”
With monumental effort, she kept crawling forward, one arm in front of the next. The world shook, a dizzying dance of shadows and light, but she focused on the sounds of battle, using them as a beacon. Ever forward.
And suddenly, she was there, banging her head against a crate as the sounds of battle grew closer. Nails digging into the hard wood, she pulled herself to her feet once again. She swayed and stumbled, just like that night on her birthday, but there was no shoulder to lean on, no warm glow. Just the battle.
Each halting step took her closer to the sounds of battle, to the scream of men and women fighting for their lives against a tyrannical enemy that had taken over their world and meant to drive each and every one of them into the dust. She saw a woman – tower shield in one hand, ax in the other – repel one flying Virus and then another, screaming obscenities into the void. She saw a man fire arrow after arrow into the darkness, sometimes hitting, more often missing into the deep, inky blackness of the night. And she saw Reyna, sword clutched in both hands, screaming above the din – shouting orders and jumping in to cover any weakness in the front line.
She walked past all of them, hardly aware of what she was doing until she was out there, alone in the midst of battle. The attention of the enemy settled upon her and the push on the frontlines seemed to abate slightly. Virus circled on the ground above her and in the sky above her.
“Evie! What are you doing?!” Reyna screamed from somewhere behind her. “Get back!”
“Victoria.” She stared out at the enemy willing her hero back to her. She felt something stir within her, but within a second, it was gone and she was empty again. The Virus started to charge, swarming at her from every direction.
“Victoria.” She tried again, holding out her empty hand and willing her sword to form. Again, nothing happened. Not even a whisper of power this time. She was so tired. So so tired. The Virus were almost on her – it would be over in a matter of seconds. And then she felt a presence beside her. She turned and saw Reyna, laughing, greatsword hoisted on her shoulder.
“Well, I always thought last stands were stupid, but here I am. It’s an honor to fight beside all of you. [Lost Treasure]!”
Warmth burst through Evie from the woman beside her as Reyna glowed with a brilliant aura of kaleidoscopic colors.
And then another woman was on her other side, one of her tentmates, the one with the tower shield.
“[Unbreakable Line]!”
And then a man, the one who had laughed so hard at the campfire that he had nearly choked on his food.
“[Power Surge]!”
Person after person ran out beside her, casting aside the weak protection of the wall of wagons to face the charging enemies head on and use their final skills. Evie felt power surge around her and within her and opened her mouth one more time.
“Victoria! [Sun Never Sets]!”
She exploded with light and the full glory of the sun’s blaze lit up behind them. Charging Virus pulled back, keening silently in the full light of the sun’s blaze.
“Attack!”
Reyna roared and they were a charging force of their own, running with reckless abandon at the swarm of abominations surrounding them. Power coursed through Evie’s veins and she felt herself carried forward by the momentum of the charge into the teeth of the enemy.
The light seemed to energize all of them, just as it seemed to drain the power from the Virus. Evie’s first cut tore straight through the chest of a Virus, her next decapitated a second. Beside her, caravaneers charged forward behind the weight of heavy shields. Arrows flew through the air, finally finding their targets, and axes and maces pulverized the suddenly retreating Virus. Reyna swept her sword in long arcs, using it more as a club than a precision weapon, batting away enemies. Floating jewels orbited around her, bursting every time they came into contact with a Virus sending off cascades of elemental force.
They ran and cut, sparing no energy for defense – the last of their skills focused on one final offensive charge. And just like that, they were through and there were no more enemies to cut down. Evie spun, eyes wild with adrenaline, and saw that they had cut a clean path through the enemy to the other side of the clearing.
As she turned, the sun whipped around behind her so it was still at her back and faced the enemy lines. She saw that the Virus were on the back foot, but not routed. At least 100 more either stood around or hovered above the path of their charge including the last remaining juggernaut.
It stepped forward and raised its fists, and something strange happened. It was something Evie had never heard about before, let alone seen. The other Virus around the juggernaut seemed to fuzz and blur and then their darkness seemed to break apart and orbit around the huge monster. More and more Virus joined the storm of toxic blackness until they could no longer see the juggernaut beneath the orbiting clouds, even with the strength of the sun’s light behind them. Then the essence of the smaller Virus started to plunge inward, straight into the body of the juggernaut at their center.
“What in the world?”
Reyna looked as confused as Evie did as she stared out at the smoky darkness. Another voice beside them whimpered in fear..
“Oh this can’t be good.”
More and more essence got sucked into the juggernaut and then, it started to grow. It was already massive, easily ten feet tall and twice the width of an average human. As it absorbed the energy from the other Virus it grew beyond 15, then 20, then 30 feet high until it was a giant as tall as the trees. Another person beside her swore
“In Tirelle’s name…” They were all frozen, staring up at the monster above all monsters. “What do we do?”
Evie stood, unmoving, as the mass of dark energy swelled before her. The juggernaut, now a towering colossus of shadows, loomed like a dark god, its presence chilling the very air. She could feel the fear ripple through her comrades, their earlier triumph evaporating into dread, and someone screamed.
“Run!”
Just like that, the line of brave warriors scattered in every direction. Even while the people around her fled Evie stood rooted to the spot, her gaze locked on the monstrous figure as it absorbed the last wisps of its kin. Her legs shook on the ground and her hands felt numb on her sword’s grip.
"Evie!" Reyna's voice cut through the panic, her tone sharp with command and a tinge of fear. "We can't fight this. We need to retreat!"
The behemoth completed its transformation, its body now pulsing with the stolen life force of a hundred Virus. It roared silently, a shockwave of malevolent energy rippling through the air, and began to move towards them with slow, deliberate steps. Reyna grabbed Evie's arm, trying to pull her away.
"We need to go now, Evie! There’s nothing we can do here!" With a snap, Evie felt herself pulled out of a daze and let Reyna pull her into the woods. She let the sun vanish, conserving what little energy she had and sprinted with all she had into the forest.
The giant seemed to have eyes only for them. It plowed through the forest after them, knocking down trees and kicking up a storm of dust, rocks, and roots behind them. It was disturbingly fast for something that size and had little trouble keeping pace with them, even with the trees blocking its path.
“Have a plan?”
Evie tried not to bite her tongue as she panted our her words while she ran.
“No… How about you?”
“Um… Hope it gets tired? Or bored?”
"Great plan.”
The juggernaut continued its relentless pursuit, trees breaking like matchsticks in its path, the ground trembling with each of its monstrous steps. The sun had started to rise for real, but the early morning light did nothing to slow the massive Virus. Their breaths were ragged, their muscles burning from the exertion, but they dared not slow down.
Then warning sirens started going off in Evie’s head. At first, she just thought it was the adrenaline finally overcoming her frayed nervous system, but the sirens kept ringing. And there was a familiarity to them. In fact, she’d heard similar sirens in her head just a few hours ago. But that had been Darius’ skill…
Senses hyper-focused, she looked around frantically trying to find the reason for the warning. It couldn’t be the giant slowly gaining on them from behind – she didn’t need a warning to tell her what was about to happen there… Instead, her eyes caught on the trees in front of them. They were two strong oak trees, easily fifty feet tall with gnarled branches twisting into the canopy. But what caught her eye was the dozen or so ropelike vines tied between the two trees reaching from ground level to at least 20 feet above the ground.
“Reyna…”
“Evie down!”
Reyna screamed, and without thinking Evie hit the ground at a full sprint, kicking up dust and fallen leaves as she slid under the lowest vine.
“Keep going!”
Reyna screamed again, kicking Evie back into motion as she stopped to look back. They ran about 20 more feet before there was a massive impact behind them. Unable to stop herself from looking back, Evie came to a stop and spun to face the giant. It had run straight into the vines without slowing and had snapped many of them, but a few of them had held, tangling it up and bringing it to a halt.
But what made her stop short with wonder, relief, and unmitigated joy, was the figure standing on a thick branch of one of the trees, high above even the giant's head. With a massive leap, he threw himself at the giant, flying through the air with two knives glinting in the nascent sunlight.
“[Death From Darkness]!”
Darius flew straight into the behemoth’s head, knives shooting through the back of its shadowy skull.
Evie stared, mouth open, hoping, no praying that would be enough.
“It can’t possibly survive that, right?”
The giant staggered, stumbling in its leafy prison, but it was still standing.
“[Traplord]!”
Reyna’s skill activated and the remaining vines wrapped more tightly around the behemoth, growing sharp thorns. They twisted like serrated, green ropes, wrapping around the behemoth and ripping through it before connecting to the trees and the ground. The giant struggled viciously, each thrash pulling vines out of the ground and tearing at the trees that bound.
“Evie! Hit it with everything you have! We don’t have much time!”
Reyna was running at the giant, sword raised, while Darius continued to stab at the back of its head, knives cutting away pieces of smoky flesh.
“Here goes… Second chance.”
“[Cannonade]!”
A line of cannons formed in the dirt in front of her and immediately started firing at the behemoth. Evie felt herself stagger, but she stayed upright. The shots fired every five seconds or so, each cannon going off in a row, and she felt a small bit of energy leave her each time a cannon reloaded and fired again.
She looked up and saw that the cannons were having a devastating effect on the behemoth. She hadn’t put much thought into aiming, only making sure she didn’t hit Reyna or Darius, but the monster was hard to miss and each cannonball that exploded against it left a huge crater in its skin.
It took 30 seconds for the giant to finally tear free of its bindings – by that time, its form was covered in holes and lines of light. It looked like it was ready to fall at any second, but still it thrashed around, forcing Darius to hold on desperately to a vine wrapped around its neck while Reyna flitted around its stamping feet, trying to inflict damage while avoiding getting crushed.
One cannonball and then another crashed into it and Evie started to feel herself getting faint. She was about to drop the skill when she saw two small pinpricks of light start to form inside its head, right where Darius had been stabbing it. The light grew brighter and brighter until it exploded through the front of its inhuman face revealing the two daggers implanted there. For a second, everything was still. And then the giant’s form slowly melted away.
***
“You knew!”
Evie’s face was red as she yelled at Reyna, eyes full of accusation. Her face grew even redder when Reyna just laughed at her.
“Of course I knew. He is my husband…”
“You could have told me…”
“And when was I supposed to do that? When we were running for our lives? Or when you were leading that heroic charge over there?”
Evie folded her arms, lower lip sticking out. She knew it must have looked strange to see her manifestation of Queen Victoria pouting like a child, but right now, she didn’t care.
“You still should have told me.”
“Aw, you were mourning me! I’m touched!”
Darius walked over to them, his eyes also full of laughter. He had let his form go and was back to his normal self. There was blood on his shirt, but otherwise his body seemed untouched.
“Reyna, if I kill him, will he come back to life again?”
“Interesting, I’ve never tried that before…”
“Wow there.” Darius raised his hands defensively. “Enough killing for today.”
“But how are you alive?! That Virus flattened you… There was nothing left of your head.”
“Well you know Nathan Hale’s famous quote...”
Evie just looked at him blankly.
“Unbelievable, you’d think history would be the one subject kids paid attention to these days.”
“Okay, so maybe I wasn’t the best student…”
Evie sniffed looking down at her feet absently kicking the dirt. But then she looked up, a hint of triumph in her eyes.
But you’re one to talk! Didn’t you say you delivered food? I’m sure you needed great grades to qualify for that job back in the day.”
Reyna guffawed.
“She’s got you there!”
Darius laughed as well, scratching the back of his head with a slight blush.
“Well played. Okay. Before being executed he said ‘I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.’ Makes for a pretty nifty skill.”
Evie’s mouth dropped open in amazement.
“So you can come back to life? When? How often? What are the rules?”
Darius just laughed, patting Evie’s head and tousling her hair.
“I can’t go around telling all my secrets, what type of [Spy] would I be?”
“That reminds me, time to get out of this form, conserve some energy.”
“No, don't!”
Darius’ voice was suddenly filled with alarm, but he was too late. The second Evie let her form dissipate all of the energy that had been keeping her moving vanished with it and she collapsed into a heap on the ground.
“Ugh… Newbies.”
Reyna pointedly stepped around Evie’s prone body.
“You are so carrying her back.”
“What after I saved you?! Being killed still hurts you know.”
“Then try not to get kicked next time! I ran all the way here ahead of that giant while you just had to tie a few knots and stand there. You’re lucky I don’t make you carry me back as well.”
Darius groaned and with hardly an effort, lifted Evie’s limp body over his back, letting her chin rest on his shoulder and supporting her legs with his hands. Reyna looked over at the two of them and smiled.
“Aw that's cute. Wish I could take a picture.”
“Think we should have kids?”
She aimed a kick at him and they both laughed, starting the long hike back to the campsite.