PART IV: ENEMIES ALL AROUND
Callie had tossed her bow to the side and was working to pull out her shorter sword, just to have something to try returning the attack besides her foot. Then the pain hit her, as well as the sudden realization that she’d been injured. Unbidden, she screamed in agony as the ScorpoBeaver charged her again.
A flash of reflected sunlight glinted in Callies face and there was suddenly a long blade impaled through her attacker’s body, pinning it in place. A split-moment later Celeste charged into view, her second sword casually beheading the ScorpoBeaver with a single slash, the head flung aside and spinning through the air, dark zombie-blood pinwheeling out from it.
“Healer!” Celeste called out, extending a hand to her embedded sword. The blade seemed to struggle for a moment, but then leapt into her hand, as if returning to a place of comfort. With a hard kick from the Major, the body of the ScorpoBeaver was sent flying, followed by a crackle of orange light as the Major Flashstepped away, intercepting another zombie creature.
“I’m here!” Lhawni said, Callie still stunned by what had just happened to her as she groaned and hissed in pain. “Leg?” Callie didn’t answer, and Lhawni lightly slapped her face. “Hey! Are you hurt anywhere else?”
Callie shook her head to clear the redness clouding her mind, a fresh wave of agony hitting her. She sucked in air through her teeth, trying to hold down another scream. “Just the leg!”
The stomping sound of Tazrok’s rush to Callie’s aid distracted the Goblin from her work. “Callie Gnome!” the Ogre cried out.
“I’ve got it!” Lhawni snapped, returning to Callie’s blood-soaked calf. “Go kill something!”
Tazrok stood confused in worry for a long second, before nodding sharply and rushing off to his right, his form warbling once again into his huge Spider form, legs almost immediately snapping out in multiple directions, either kicking, slashing or impaling anything they came in contact with.
Lhawni had summoned her Totem a few minutes earlier, and as Tazrok turned, she called for a Healing Pulse. The wave of Healing energy passed through them all, sealing anyone’s small wounds near-instantly, and in Callie’s case, slightly numbing the pain in addition to slowing the flow of blood.
“Need me?” Ambria called a short distance away. “I might be faster.”
The Shaman shook her head. “I’ve got it,” she replied as a faint blue light appeared in her hand, focusing on Callie’s leg. “Sorry, this is going to sting a bit. I have to touch it.”
“What?” was all Callie could mutter before a fresh wave of pain hit her.
Lhawni needed to touch the wound to heal it fast and properly, but with Callie’s armor in the way, she didn’t have much of a path to it except through the hole the spike had already made. She jammed her finger in, curling it on the underside of the armor so her knuckle was resting against the bloody wound.
Callie hissed, fighting back an urge to scream again as new pain hit her, despite the numbing effects of the Pulse. But almost immediately, she could actually feel the pain ease as Lhawni began to stitch things together. The Goblin pushed her power. It was slower than Ambria would have been but the Goblin still worked fast and efficiently. In less than ten seconds, she pulled her blood-soaked finger out from under Callie’s armor, everything as good as new.
“It’s going to be stiff for a while, and maybe scar,” Lhawni said. “You’ll be fine, though.”
“Battle scars are sexy!” Pixyl called out from the top of the nest in a singsong voice. She was still working to saw her way into the dome, but had been worried about Callie and watching carefully, barely resisting the immediate urge to rush to her aid.
“Yup! They sure are!” Shul’an added, dropping a Multishot towards a couple somethings.
Extending her hand, Callie’s bow flew from where it had fallen. She used it to help stand, finding the calf of her leg was indeed stiff, but not in pain any longer. “I’m good,” she said, nodding towards Lhawni as she pulled a mana potion from her right side. The Shaman nodded in return and scrambled out of the way.
“How’s that hole coming!” Callie yelled back to Pixyl, making a face as she drank back the foul liquid.
“It’s going slow! Halfway!” the Pixie called back. Following Reynard’s preparatory guidance, the goal was to cut a hole at least a half-meter in diameter, a little bigger if possible. It needed to be large enough that the DragonFire Oil flames had somewhere to go, lest the inferno blow the dome apart. But it also needed to be small enough that there was no risk of hatchlings escaping.
“Everyone stay focused,” the Major called out, needing to take a break for a moment to drink a mana potion of her own. She’d been Flashstepping almost constantly since the first animals came at them, as often as her charge cooldown would allow, and it had finally caught up with her.
A butt-lunge by Tazrok-the-Spider drove his stinger through the head of another Bearthing, the last of the ones they had seen in the vicinity. He then pushed it away with two legs before using the other six to concentrate on the various smaller creatures, first stepping on them, and then flicking the bodies off into the weeds or the water. The Rangers adjusted their positions slightly to assure the Ogre wasn’t caught in any wayward crossfire.
Callie called forth a new Turret, and mentally directed it towards targeting smaller creatures. It was grizzly work for all of them, but they focused on the task and not the effects. Reynard and Celeste had taken some time while they had waited for Tazrok to get over his headache to talk about what they all had before them. They had been warned it was going to be bloody, messy, smelly, and disturbing. But, success relied on everyone doing their part, so none of them could dwell on how awful they should feel. “If you need to get sick, you do it later!” the Major had said simply. It didn’t help a lot, though, and Callie could sense that she and some of the others would have a psychological reckoning once the danger had passed, or at least the need for a stiff drink or six.
The sounds of heavy hoofbeats were heard in the distance, growing louder as something big and heavy raced towards them. Without even thinking, Callie layered up a Rapid Fire Piercing Shot and looked for the source of the thundering sounds, a bad feeling growing in her gut.
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It charged from the reeds, something resembling a huge, six-legged water buffalo. It’s head was down, pointed horns thrust forward like a pair of lances, and aimed right for Jesca. Callie had been ready, though, and loosed her layered attack. A quintet of arrows flew, accompanied by additional Piercing shots from Reynard and Thucax. The trainer’s arrow dove into the creature’s skull, as did one of Callie’s, her others plunging into the Buffalothing’s neck. It stumbled, tripping on its failing legs, and began to tumble towards Jesca, throwing mud and dead grasses before it.
The Catkin barely dodged out of the way, but the momentum of the beast carried it right past her and up the side of the Bogwump dome, barreling towards Pixyl. The Pixie’s reflexes were as sharp as Jesca’s, though, and Pixyl shot straight into the air just in time, using her melded Airborne Dash skill and leaving a streak of magenta mist behind her. Unfortunately, this put her almost twenty meters straight up almost instantly, and it took her a moment to get her bearings. Meanwhile, the dead Buffalothing continued its forward roll up and over the mound, splashing into the swampy water on the other side, a huge wave pushed out from it.
Pixyl’s momentarily confused position in midair was enough to give the circling Drakelings an opening, and one of the largest dove for her, claws out, intent on possibly making a meal of the delicious Pixie. Before Callie could even bring her bow to bear in the hope of shooting it down, Reynard had already released a Homing arrow into it, targeting time down to almost nothing at his Platinum tier. The impaled Drakeling’s momentum carried it crashing right into Pixyl, though, sending her away from the shore and spiraling down towards the murky water.
She plunged, stunned and feeling a pain in her side from where the Drakeling had hit her, before getting enough sense to get her flight telekinetics oriented and arrest her descent, the power making the water ripple. Unfortunately, she was now over the water, and her attempts to fly back to the shore were slow, cumbersome and immediately exhausting. Major Celeste Flashstepped, stretching and extending her arm out from the shoreline, eventually snagging the Pixie’s hand. She yanked Pixyl in close before she fell to the ground, panting in exhaustion and wincing in pain.
“Are you hurt?” the Major asked.
“Just a bruise.” Pixyl panted, reaching for the blue elixir at her belt, “I’m low on mana and stamina though.”
“I can help,” Lhawni said, mentally triggering a Refreshing Pulse from her Totem, which served to give everyone a small, quick jolt of fresh energy. Then she scrambled to help Pixyl to her feet, hand on her neck, so she could deliver a Rejuvenation spell, adding another shot of both stamina and mana together. That, coupled with the mana potion, was enough to get Pixyl back into action, and she rushed back up the dome to resume cutting, swearing to herself about how long it was taking. “You sure you don’t need healing?” Lhawni called after her.
Pixyl shook her head. “I’m fine. Let’s just get this done.” Her hand flashed with light and she plunged her Ethereal Blade back into the top of the nest to continue cutting.
Pixyl’s renewed attack on the nest seemed to turn up the ferocity and number of the incoming attacking creatures. “I think we need another one of those exploding things!” Celeste called out as she skewered another zombie ScorpoBeaver.
Like before, Ambria ran for the Egg-sploder, while Tazrok lumbered to join her. The Faun snatched it up, juggled it loosely in her hands in nervousness, and finally got it under control. She twisted the timer knob before offering it to the Ogre.
“Which way?” Tazrok asked.
“I have no idea!” Ambria snapped back.
Tazrok shrugged, and threw it in what looked like a random direction. This time roughly to the southwest, where it landed with a light splashing sound in the reeds. “Loud noise!” he called out, remembering the warning Callie had given previously for those with ultra-sensitive ears.
Callie, Lhawni and Reynard each knelt, plugging their ears with their fingers moments before the Egg-sploder started screeching. Like before, the flood of incoming attackers abruptly slowed to barely a trickle. The zombie infected turned as one, charging the deadly lure. Most of the larger animals by this point had been dealt with, so the screaming went on longer than last time before something large enough to disturb the device finally reached it. There was another tremendous explosion, and not only the large animal, but at least a couple dozen smaller ones all were sent flying. The explosion seemed almost twice as large this time, and for some reason Callie unconsciously made a mental note to mention the inconsistency to Fizzlebek.
“Tazrok! Pull here!” Pixyl yelled, breaking the sudden stillness. She had cut most of the hole, but didn’t want to go further lest the top drop down into the nest. Instead, she’d cut out a smaller hole that the Ogre could reach into and pull the whole thing out like a plug.
The Druid lurched forward, but a cracking sound from the dome below him gave him pause, his weight likely too much for even the stone-like dome to hold. Grumbling, he grabbed a mana potion and made a face as he tossed back the foul liquid. The rapid shapeshifting had taken its toll and he needed a recharge. Now, he changed back into his spider form, allowing him to distribute his weight out between seven of his legs spaced around the edge of the nest’s dome, while his body hovered above Pixyl where he would be able to reach through the handle-hole with his eighth.
Tazrok shot his leg into the handhold, working to find the underside and get some leverage. It was thicker than he expected, but eventually he felt an edge and hooked his thin leg under it. Pulling with all his might, he fought against both the weight of the stone-like dome and the slippery underside. Pixyl had to make a few more cuts, but finally the plug was pulled free, crashing down the side before splashing into the water.
“Major! I need that oil!” Pixyl called out.
“Tazrok, take over for her!” Callie ordered.
The Ogre-Spider seemed to nod in understanding, skittering around bodies to start fending off the slowly resuming influx of zombie creatures. Major Celeste swapped spots with him, sliding her backpack off so she could retrieve the metal container of Dragonfire Oil.
Up until now, not a single creature had made a sound. No snarls or growls or even yips of pain. In fact, save the team’s callouts and the thwacks of their weapons, the two Egg-sploder bursts, and an occasional Drakeling call, things had been eerily silent. Several of them had commented on how creepy the silence was, with Thucax even referring to it as ‘a little nightmarish’.
Then, there came a deep, hissing roar. Around the team, what little ambient sounds there were abruptly disappeared. Overhead, the circling Drakelings abruptly turned tail and flew at high speed for the safety of their nests in the rocks. While it had been eerie before, now everyone felt the full weight of absolute silence as the only sounds everyone heard were the beats of their own pounding hearts.
“What the hell was that,” Callie asked slowly, with obvious trepidation in her voice.
“I’m not sure…” Reynard said carefully, trying to orient himself on the direction it came from, which was proving difficult given the echoes off the valley walls. “I think I recognize that roar from somewhere. Everyone, be ready!”
From the southwest came the crashing of rotted trees and the splashing of water. Each of the rangers warmed up their bows, forming an arrow but holding off applying any spells to them before knowing what was coming.
“Why do I have a feeling Tazrok’s bomb woke something up,” Jesca said, tensing.
Major Celeste was distracted fumbling through her pack, trying to dig out the canister of Dragonfire oil, but in all of her fighting, it had sunk to the bottom and was proving far more difficult to retrieve than it should. It was jammed into a corner, and every time she thought she had it, the canister would slip out of her fingers. She was about two seconds shy of just upending the thing and dumping it all out.
“There!” Shul’an shouted as another tree crashed into the swamp. “I saw something big, dark and long.”
“Oh hell!” Reynard called out in a sudden panic as recognition finally came to him. “I know what this is! Basilisk! Don’t look! Everyone, turn your back to it!”