Chapter 20 Finale

Ice from Hel

The egg was growing quickly as Lucas skirted the tree line, trying to get close to the healer while staying out of sight. Knowing from experience how long it would take to hatch, Lucas timed his approach for the moment the egg would split open. The healer had just finished tending to another slaver as Lucas ran out of cover and hurled the egg towards them.

In mid air it hatched, the egg sack falling away as a fully grown Combat Spider came out, rolling along the ground to come to its feet right in front of them. The two Salvers and the Combat Spider stared in bewilderment at each other for nearly a full second. Lucas arrived in that moment’s distraction, going directly for the healer. Mid lunge, he pulled the last remaining Porcupine Quill out of his inventory and thrust it at the healer's neck. Lucas regretted not aiming for the chest as his enemy reacted just in time. The healer narrowly dodged the blow and dove into a roll, transitioning smoothly to his feet a couple of metres away. Lucas used Analyse.

[https://i.imgur.com/YMlrEIB.jpg]

The warrior who Koro had just healed moved to intercept, gesturing for Koro to make a run for it. The Combat Spider was on him immediately, having recognised the only thing it needed to know; threats to the Broodlord. To the man’s credit he managed to avoid getting eviscerated by a flurry of Scythe blows that were so fast Lucas could barely follow them with his eyes. All thoughts of protecting Koro were dashed as the man scrambled to fend off the spider’s assault.

Lucas moved past them, confident in his Combat Spider, and made for Koro again. Koro did not retreat this time. Instead, he pulled two baubles off his vest and threw them at Lucas’s feet. They collided with the rubble in front of Lucas, instantly exploding into a cloud of grey smoke. Lucas shielded his face as the smoke enveloped him. He dashed through as fast as he could, but when he emerged from the cloud, Koro was no longer where he expected. The moment it took for Lucas to skid to a stop and look around was all the time that Koro, who had dashed to the left, needed to bring out two handheld crossbows.

Lucas flooded Mana into his Enchanted Armour just before Koro fired. The two bolts ricocheted off Lucas’s chest armour like it was made of metal, sending the bolts spinning through the air. Koro cursed under his breath. Lucas adjusted his angle, and sprinted to close the gap. He made it only a few steps when a searing pain shot up his legs. Lucas saw Koro smile just before he toppled over, resulting in more points of pain lighting up along his body where he hit the ground. At ground level now, Lucas saw a handful of tiny metal spikes littering the ground around him.

‘Caltrops.’ Lucas thought, as he struggled to get control of his body, which had started to shake uncontrollably. ‘Poisoned caltrops.’

Lucas sent his Quill back into Inventory and worked to force tension into his muscles. He stabilised his position on the ground enough to look up. Koro was approaching, a dagger in his hand and a grin on his face, but from his flank came the Combat Spider. Having apparently dealt with its opponent already, Combat Spider launched at him. A flurry of mid-leap Scythe strikes took Koro completely off guard. Rapid fire stabs, sounding like the start of a drum solo, sent him toppling over with a cluster of fresh puncture wounds in his neck, arm and side.

Lucas screamed and tensed up his whole body, trying to fight the convulsions long enough to get to his feet. The Regeneration Bracer was counteracting the poison quickly, but he would be helpless if anyone came to finish him off right now. Combat Spider left Koro for a moment to come and check on Lucas, obviously worried for him but unable to offer any meaningful help. Lucas managed to get to his hands and knees and saw Koro healing himself.

Lucas continued to scream as he attempted to force himself into a sitting position, but a vomit of white foam cut off the sound with a wet gargle. He deliberately filled his Aura with murderous intent and pointed at Koro. Combat Spider leaped into action, but Koro’s wounds were healing fast and he already had another two baubles out from his vest. He flung them at the ground in front of himself, then shielded his eyes.

Lucas knew immediately what was going to happen, trying his best to cover his own face. The balls struck the ground in front of Combat Spider, exploding with a resounding bang. A flash of white light struck the area, so powerful that it drowned out the midday sun. Lucas had managed to bring an arm up in front of his face, but rainbow coloured after images were still burned into his over-sensitive retina. The Regeneration Bracer was already working to correct it as Lucas struggled back to his feet.

Combat Spider’s massive eye plates had taken in so much phosphorescent energy that it had gone into some kind of catatonic shock. It could do nothing but tremble and twitch as Koro approached. Lucas got back to his feet in time to watch Koro unstrap an object wrapped in paper from his thigh. He pulled a drawstring that caused the paper to fall away revealing a brick of wobbly iridescent jelly. It immediately started hissing and steaming when it hit the air. Koro slapped it onto the Combat Spider’s face, where it stuck and jiggled in place, then sent the spider tumbling away with a push kick. Koro ducked and covered his head as an explosive boom sent limbs and spider slime everywhere.

Lucas toppled over again from the shockwave, but the Regeneration Bracer had almost fully neutralised the toxin now. He rolled back to his feet and charged. Koro turned to see him coming and stood up. He drew a long knife from his belt and entered a combat stance, a resigned look on his face.

When Lucas was almost in melee range, Koro used his free hand to fling a fistful of dirt (that he had apparently picked up when ducking) at Lucas’s face. Lucas was forced to close his eyes at the critical moment of summoning his Quill. Instantly aborting his attack, Lucas rolled to the side, but felt a flash of pain light up across his face before he could get out of reach. Back on his feet, Lucas let the Quill fall back into his inventory and drew his Perfectly Balanced Knife. The cut on his cheek was shallow, but was burning with the same venom that had paralysed him earlier. Koro’s knife was poisoned.

‘Of course it is,’ Lucas thought as he approached again, cautiously this time, watching for whatever dirty trick came next. Entering into a watchful and deliberate state of mind during a battle triggered a response from his senses. The same feeling Lucas had while fighting the Clan Hunters returned, like an active feed of information coming off Koro’s Aura. This time it was stronger, Lucas was stronger. The power of his 7 Spirit had opened new pathways and Lucas embraced them without hesitation. A point of his Mana fed into Koro in a similar way to when he used Analyse, but instead of coming back with a reading, it stayed and formed a lasting connection that acted like a data feed. A popup appeared, but was immediately dismissed.

Koro drew a second long knife with a grin, then sprang forward. One blade flashed at Lucas’s face, but that wasn't the blade he intended to hit with. Lucas knew. In defiance of his instincts to shield his face, Lucas let the blade fly past his eyes, missing by barely an inch. Instead he used his Dagger to deflect the blade lunging for the armour gap under his arm. Had he raised his arm to protect his face he would have exposed the gap and blocked his own vision of the true attack. Koro tried to disengage, his composure shaken for the first time at the realisation that Lucas had read him like a book.

Lucas didn't give him the chance to escape, lunging in with his own strike. Koro spun a flurry of swipes at Lucas in an attempt to fend him off, but Lucas’ body contorted with impossibly perfect timing to slide between them all and sink his dagger into Koro’s side. Koro grunted in shock and pain. He dropped his knives and slapped his palms onto two packages that were secured to his chest.

‘Holy shit.’ Lucas thought when he realised what Koro intended.

Just as a hissing sound started, Lucas drew out the Massive Bear Skin from his inventory and draped the entire thing over Koro. Bright yellow gas billowed out from under the bearskin and pained howling came from within. Lucas wrapped his arms around Koro, while the bear pelt swelled up like a balloon being inflated. Inside, Koro screamed and struggled. The screaming took on a wet gurgling quality before Koro went still and silent.

The bear pelt began to dissolve in Lucas’s hands, he leapt back, letting Koro drop to the ground. The bear pelt fell to pieces. Underneath it Koro’s skin was sloughing off his face, but he wasn't dead yet. Lucas still had a Fractal in his Aura, an ethereal spectator for the whole fight. He passed it his Brood Nexus again and bent to stick his dagger into Koro’s neck, ending his rattling attempts to draw a breath.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

As soon as his Fractal had absorbed enough Mana to hatch a new Combat Spider, Lucas ran to Brawler. Caleb and Korah were nowhere to be seen and the other Slavers were bunched up trying to fend off the remaining Combat Spiders. Brawler’s Aura glowed with the green energy of its Regeneration Ability. It was no longer shaking from the toxin in the needles, but was still struggling to get back to its feet. The Stun Harpoon lodged in Brawler’s side was transferring some kind of energy that made it hard to move. As he ran, his new Combat Spider hatched and ran with him. Some of the Slavers noticed him, pointing and yelling, but none were willing to leave their defensive formation to stop him, not with the Combat Spiders still circling to look for openings.

He risked looking at his Map as he ran, and saw Korah’s dot on the other side of the clearing. There were two red dots with her, and hers was flashing ominously. Swearing to himself, Lucas dashed the last few metres to the box that Brawler's harpoon was attached to. There was a big, obvious switch on top of the box so Lucas slapped it the moment he got close enough. The power shut off immediately and Brawler Sprang to his feet.

The Slavers started yelling; “Retreat! Retreat!”

Lucas pointed towards where Korah was, and commanded Brawler to charge. It immediately began building speed. The harpoon was still stuck in its side and the box clattered over the rocks as it ran.

Caleb scrambled desperately to keep out of the Nyx Warrior’s grip. They had fought each other several times and she unfortunately understood his capabilities well. He had tried several times to get some metal into her, but each nail had clattered to the ground as he was forced to drop his concentration to keep out of her reach. He had an advantage of one Agility Gate, but she was stronger. The power in her legs meant that even though his reflexes were good enough to keep out of her grip, he could not escape her by running.

The terrain was uneven and unpredictable, which was to his advantage. He led her deeper into the ruins where the rubble was thickest, darting around and over the rock formations, always inches from getting caught. Forcing her to work around the rubble to reach him finally gave him the chance to get a nail into her. It pierced her armour easily and sank into her shoulder. He would have preferred a leg, but would take what he could get.

Before he could get a hold of that nail and twist, a blue energy enveloped her. Caleb had seen that before and knew she could launch herself like a bolt of lightning with that energy. He darted behind a pillar of stone but the monstrous bitch actually kicked it in half, shattering the rock and sending him sprawling. He rolled back to his feet immediately, but before the dust settled a stone pelted into his chest with the force of a hammer blow. It knocked the breath out of him, probably breaking a rib or two. Another rock narrowly missed his head as he scrambled to get to cover. Rocks were shattering into dust all around him now as she pelted them at him with rapid fire.

‘Were the fuck is Hestor?’

Caleb rolled into a square channel, like an irrigation ditch, fist size rocks exploding at the top of the ridge. With a precious second to concentrate, he got hold of his sword. It levitated out of his scabbard and floated above his head, ready to impale the Nyx if she showed. She didn't. Distant screaming could be heard from the other side of the Ruins as Caleb peeked above the ridge. Nothing.

“Fuck.”

The sound of feet on stone was all the warning he got. He turned in time to see her flying down the ditch with impossible speed. She had a clear shot and he wasn't going to be able to dodge. Instead, he ripped a pouch of metal shrapnel and filings off his chest and threw it into the air between them. If he had a second longer to concentrate he could have turned the cloud of metal shards into a wall of immovable, deadly objects that would have shredded her body on impact.

But he didn't get a second. With his hold on the metal only half formed, she crashed through it. The shrapnel lodged into her flesh, all over the front of her body, but the crazy bitch didn't care about getting hurt. It barely slowed her down as she punched though, shot two hands out, and clamped iron hard fingers around his throat. Caleb instantly panicked, knowing those fingers would crush the life out of him. He still had a hold on the metal filings, and pressed them deeper into her body in an attempt to force her back. Blood leaked out of every inch of her skin, painting her red in an instant, but she held his gaze with bloody eyes and unshakable resolve to see him dead. Panic scrubbed Caleb’s mind of thought and he thrashed helplessly. His throat started collapsing and the vertebrae in his neck crunched. Suddenly she started trembling and the pressure let up. Caleb looked down to see a long knife protruding from her chest.

‘About fucking time Hestor!’.

Korah’s body began to convulse, but she didn't let go. The nerve toxin on Hestor’s blade should have made that impossible. She didn't even break eye contact, piercing blue eyes shone out of her blood drenched face like ice from Hel. The knife withdrew and plunged in again. Finally she stumbled back, bloody foam coming out of her mouth as she let go of his neck.

Hestor darted around her, grabbed Caleb by the shirt and vaulted out of the ditch, dragging Caleb over the ridge.

“Get to your feet Caleb, run! NOW!”

Caleb managed to croak a reply despite his ravaged neck;

“Finish her off!”

“Can't you hear that? Run NOW!”

Caleb could hear it. A thunderous beat was rapidly approaching. He scrambled to his feet and followed Hestor.

The Slavers were in full retreat with the Combat Spiders corralling them out of the clearing. One Slaver with an injured leg stumbled and got separated. The Combat Spiders pounced on him immediately but paralysed him instead of dealing a deathblow. Lucas was following Brawler to get to Korah, but paused when Baldy McSwagger-Pants re-appeared.

Having apparently dealt with the Combat Spider he had tumbled off with, he took in the scene. Swearing under his breath, he shouted a challenge of defiance. The Combat Spiders turned on him, fanning out to come in from multiple angles. Just before they closed in, a clap of energy vaulted him forward. He dodged the encircling spiders and skidded to a stop near his paralysed comrade. After hauling him over a shoulder another clap of energy sent him to safety as the others cheered.

‘Impressive’ Thought Lucas, and left them to retreat.

The Brawler bounded ahead of him, its top speed was very fast once it built up momentum. Its huge, eight legged gait had no issues clearing the rubble. It didn't really know what it was doing here, since Lucas had just given it a direction and told it to charge, so it soon left him behind as it bounded out of sight.

Lucas looked at his Map again, the two red dots faded and disappeared as the Scout following Korah lost sight of them. Korah was in a square ditch of cobbled stone, lying at the bottom, completely drenched in blood. She was twitching and a bloody froth was coming out of her mouth, clearly obstructing her breathing. He rushed down and immediately rolled her to her side. An alarming amount of blood poured out of her mouth, but she took a ragged breath.

Knowing that the Healing Nexus was secured with a leather strap around her waist, he took it out. Not wanting to take the time to summon a Fractal, he trusted in his spiders to keep them safe and immediately entered the Nexus trance. Korah continued to bleed profusely as the Healing Nexus cleared the toxin from her system. Healing her was taking far longer than it should, and her breathing was growing weaker. He pumped more and more Mana through the Nexus, but the damage was deep and extensive, hundreds of tiny wounds were constantly bleeding internally. When Lucas ran out of Mana he dropped out of the Nexus trance.

Blood was still leaking out of her mouth, but at a drip now instead of a flow. Her breathing was ragged and strained, and she was pale and sweating. Lucas started to panic, not knowing what to do or why the Healing Nexus had not healed her. He took off his Bracer of Regeneration and put it on her wrist. Her Mana flowed into it. Lucas sat, fidgeting in a pensive panic for several more minutes. Then suddenly she spat out a glob of congealed blood and spoke.

“I had him. I had my hands wrapped around his Silence cursed neck. But he was not alone.”

Her last words choked off as she coughed up more blood. She held out a hand and Lucas took it, helping her to sit up against the wall of the ditch.

“Don’t worry about him, What’s wrong with you!? why didn't the Nexus heal you?”

“I am full of his metal. The healing just sealed it all in. It is sharp and keeps cutting me from the inside. How did the battle go? Did you get him?”

Lucas shook his head.

“We chased them off, but Caleb got away, along with most of his men. We killed maybe four or five of them.”

Korah nodded and offered her hand again. Lucas helped her to her feet. She spat out another glob of blood, but the continuous healing from the Bracer seemed to be helping.

“Will you help me get to the river?”