Lanek awoke from his slumber to the sounds of combat echoing in the distance. With a grunt, he sat up and looked around the tent, seeing a hobgoblin looking at him in shock. When Lanek tried to speak to the hobgoblin, it dropped to its knees, croaking out a single word.
“Khan.”
“Yikes, please stand up, I don’t even know what to do with the title. Can you tell me what’s happening? Where are my weapons and companions?”
The hobgoblin rose a bit shakily and gestured toward a crude box near the entrance to the tent. “Your companions are fighting near the gate. We are under siege by a horde of gaunts, my khan.”
Nodding in understanding, Lanek donned his weapons. “I’m sure you have something better to do than watch over me, best get to it. You do have my gratitude for caring for me while I was unconscious, however.” The hobgoblin bowed slightly before rushing out of the tent.
Lanek returned his attention to his gear, finding that his armor was a bit tighter than he remembered. It was uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t need to be replaced, a simple adjustment of the straps should do. However, it did mean that he was a bit larger than he was before he had passed out.
As he went to adjust his gauntlet, he froze and stared at his hand. It now had an underlying green tint to it and his fingers were a bit longer. Although, he was thrown more by the fact that he now appeared to have 4 cm long black talons at the ends of his fingers. He wanted to remove his gauntlets then and there to see what other changes had occurred, but he didn’t have time.
Drawing his sabre, he stepped out of the tent and began his descent to the gate, moving faster than he ever had. From his perspective, he could see that the main gate was breached but the gaunts were being held at a makeshift barricade. He could see Talwarg crushing every gaunt that came within his range while Liv skewered the advancing gaunts in their sides and backs from one of the flanking barricades. It took him a moment to spot Ograch, firing with precision at the largest of the gaunts, clearly trying to eliminate the gaunt leadership.
Who is that? Lanek thought as his eyes fell on a tanned individual that could have passed as human if it weren’t for his antlers. He watched as the Lothenae’s hand glowed for a moment before his fist shattered a gaunt’s skull. Whoever he is, that was pretty badass.
Suddenly, Lanek’s forward momentum came to a halt and he found himself launched backward and onto his back. Gasping for air, he was beset by a purring mass of white fur and numerous licks from the behemoth that was Sanguineus. As always, these two couldn’t help but put a smile on Lanek’s face, regardless of the situation.
“Come on, guys. There is work to do.” The pair immediately got to their feet and followed Lanek to the barricade. As soon as he came within range, he started launching his whip’s blade into the bodies of the gaunts, discovering a major change to his capabilities. He was no longer given the option to absorb the souls of his enemies. I expected it, but this is going to make it a lot harder for me to use salvo. I’m going to have to make it count when I use it. Well, no time like the present.
With a surge of speed, Lanek leapt to the top of the palisade, clinging to a space between two sharpened points. He focused his power and unleashed an [Ethereal Salvo] straight into the face of the hulking gaunt bulwark that was still slowly shambling to the walls. As the blast rocked the creature back, Lanek unleashed another salvo, this time spread across the tightly packed gaunts trying to force their way to the broken gate.
As the smoke cleared, Lanek frowned. While the gaunts were falling back to the trees and giving the Night Arrows some much needed time to recover, Lanek’s [Ethereal Salvo] was no longer as powerful as it once was. It still used as much mana and fired as many projectiles as before, but it wasn’t scaling as much. Damn, it must have been getting boosted by [Soul Shackle].
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
He hopped down from the wall, using his sabre and whip to help the Night Arrows clear the surviving gaunts from the kill box they had been funneled into by the barricades. When he turned, he came face to face with Talwarg. The massive hobgoblin’s eyes staring at him, a questioning look in his eyes.
“Later, Talwarg. I know that we are going to have a lot to talk about.”
The hobgoblin shook himself out of his reverie and nodded. “That we do. Nice horns by the way.”
“...What did you just say?” Lanek reached up to his head, choking as his fingers found a pair of horns sprouting from just above his eyebrows and curving upward for about 12 cm. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Talwarg with a serious expression on his face. “Do I have tentacles?”
“What? No, no tentacles that I can see. Just the horns. What the hell are you?”
“I’ve apparently been transformed into a dranrid. Any idea what that is?”
“Not a clue. Nerek might, but I doubt it.”
As Liv and Ivan approached, Lanek saw the surprise in her eyes and spoke before she had a chance to. “Yeah, I know. New title, new race. I’ll tell you all about it later. Who’s this?”
“My name is Ivan, I helped your friends keep you safe while you were unconscious.”
“Thank you for that. Welcome to the team, I guess. Although, I’m not entirely sure it’s the best place to be at the moment.”
“Meh, my other option was to die hiding in a cellar. Anything is better than that.”
“Fair. So, any ideas as to what we should do? Those salvos managed to buy us some time, but I won’t be able to use it again without some mana replenishment. Even then, they are taking a lot more out of me than they used to, so I probably can’t just keep launching that attack even if you gave me a steady supply of cores.”
Talwarg looked pensive, regarding the gate and the gaunts already beginning to reform at the forest’s edge. The chieftain sighed and shook his head.
“The next attack won’t stop at the barricade now that the gate isn’t there to slow the gaunts down. We can try to run, but our elders, children, and crafters will not be able to keep up if we try to outpace the gaunts.”
“What if some of us stayed behind at the gate to buy time while the rest get to the city? The gaunts might not follow that far.”
“We would need to leave to many people behind to hold the gate for that to work. If we left that many warriors behind, there wouldn’t be enough to protect the rest of the tribe.” Talwarg shook his head angrily.
Nerek spoke up as he joined them. “Not necessarily. It is no coincidence that the gaunts came after us when we were sheltering Lanek during his change. I have no reason why, but they want him. Where he goes, they are likely to follow.”
“I see. So I could choose to hold them here or lead them away while everyone flees to the monastery? I’m willing to give it a try, but I would need some help.” Lanek said.
Just as Nerek was about to respond, he paled as he looked at Lanek more closely. “No, never mind. We cannot risk you like that.”
“Well, you don’t really have much of a choice anymore. This sounds like our best shot. So, about that backup?”
Talwarg was about to step forward when Ograch appeared behind him, pulling him back. “No, Talwarg. I will stay with Lanek, the odds of the tribe reaching the monastery safely are much higher with you leading them.”
Liv shrugged and stepped forward to stand next to Lanek. “The Great Bear has marked you as his own. You will have my support.” She snorted in amusement. “Besides, I can’t imagine coming face-to-face with the Bear to be judged for my deeds in life if I let you die so soon after he bestowed that title on you.”
“We don’t know each other, but I want to help. I don’t want those innocents to die and I hope you will give me a place in this city you are trying to rebuild.” Ivan said quietly.
“You don’t need to prove yourself to get a place in the city, but I won’t turn down any help I can get.” Lanek said while clapping Ivan on the shoulder.
“Now, Talwarg. Once you get to the monastery, Caelis already knows about your people, so you shouldn’t have any issues with her. Just tell her what is going on. We’ll get the gaunt’s attention, so get started on the evacuation.” Lanek said.
Before they left, Nerek turned back to Lanek and handed him a small pouch. Within the pouch, Lanek found several cores. He smiled in thanks before immediately refilling his MP.
“Make them count.” Nerek said.
“Oh, I intend to.”
The next sound Nerek heard as he hurried away to catch up to Talwarg was an explosion. Soon after, he smiled in malicious satisfaction as the screams of dying gaunts accompanied his people’s escape from their village.