Lily pushed herself away from the edge, trying to stand. The world spun around her.
"Are you alright?" Tanya asked.
Lily nodded. "Just need to catch my breath."
Tanya nodded. She handed Lily her rifle and helped her to her feet. "And then we keep fighting."
Lily nodded. "I'm going to take a look at the perimeter."
"Of course," Tanya said. "Keep your head down. Those things can get pretty nasty."
Lily nodded and walked toward where the barrier met the sea of darkness that stretched before her. She stopped. There was something out there. Some sort of…shape. It seemed to be moving.
She took aim with her rifle. Tanya's words echoed in her head. Don't retreat.
Lily pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and the dark form disappeared. Then it reappeared, getting closer. Lily took another shot. The bullet tore through the creature, sending it toppling backward. As it fell, it grew bigger, forming a mass of fleshy tentacles and sharp teeth. Its eyes opened wide as if startled by the sudden pain.
"Ah!" Lily shouted. "I hate Voidspawn!"
There was movement behind her. Lily turned, her plasma rifle raised. Two dark forms moved toward her. She fired, killing one instantly.
The other lunged at her. Lily deflected the attack with her halberd, but then a third one appeared. She swung her weapon upward, severing one of the tentacles. The creature screeched and thrashed about. Lily struck again. This time, the tentacle sliced completely off. The creature fell to the ground and began crawling toward her.
She backed up, trying to put some distance between herself and the grotesque squid-like creature. But she knew better than to turn her back to them. The next strike came down from above, knocking her down onto the hard ground. The tentacles wrapped around her torso, constricting, crushing, squeezing. Lily gasped in pain, trying to pull away.
"No!" Tanya shouted. "Don't retreat! We're almost there!"
Lily coughed up blood as she struggled against the tentacles. She felt pressure building behind her eyes, threatening to burst free.
"The shell won't hold long. I'll cover you," Tanya said.
She held out her rifle. Lily took it, bringing its muzzle to bear on the beast. A volley of shots rang out and the creature jerked in pain, shrieking as it collapsed into a puddle of black tar. Lily turned around.
Tanya was gone. Gone! Where did she go?!
"Tanya?"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
But the soldier wasn't listening. She was dead. Her armor melted away to reveal a hideous tentacled monstrosity. Its tentacles coiled around her body, squeezing the life from her. More tentacles lashed out at the soldiers. They fell to the ground, screaming in pain as their bodies were torn apart. Screams of terror filled the air. Men cried out in fear. All the while, the tentacles continued to emerge out of the darkness. The screams of the wounded merged into a single scream of pain.
And then, like rain after a storm, the shells stopped falling.
"What…what's going on?!" Lily shouted, turning around. "Where did the shells go?"
More tentacles emerged from the darkness. They crawled over the dead bodies of the others. They were everywhere now. Men were dying, limbs torn off in seconds. Some of the tentacles lashed out at the soldiers.
I’ve got to get out of here!
A tentacle whipped past her head. She ran faster, trying to escape, but it kept coming. She heard the heavy thud of an armored boot, striking the ground. She looked up. Officer T’alik stood before her, his halberd raised. She scrambled backward, away from the tentacles.
"T’alik!" she yelled.
He moved forward, swinging his halberd. His blade connected with the tentacle wrapped around her shoulder. The tentacle fell to the ground. She pulled the sword free and held it up, watching as the tentacle thrashed about, trying to reconnect itself.
"You're hurt." T’alik said, looking at her shoulder.
"No," she answered. "It's fine, just a scratch. But we need to hurry!"
"We can't rush in without any protection. There are too many of them."
"There aren't that many! They don't know where we are. We just have to keep shooting until we're safe."
He sighed and nodded. His shield shimmered and changed. It stretched wide, forming a circular dome of blue-white light.
Suddenly the game launched into a new cutscene.
> “Alright, soldiers!” Officer T’alik roared. “First volley down, another one should come up now! Load the guns and fire again!”
>
> The Malakhim worked quickly, opening the artillery and reloading, the still-smoking shells rolled on the ground. In the distance, eldritch magic crackled and screamed. Torrents of thunder and flaming hail rained down, explosions of Father’s fury that showered down on the Beasts. The orders were simple. Destroy the enemy, as much of it as possible. Ensure nothing remained standing, and T’alik decided that is exactly what he would do.
>
> “Fire!”
>
> The glorious orchestra of death rang out. The rancid smell of sulfurous smoke choked the air. The only thing that could be seen were the explosions of the shells. His comrades fired their collections as well, the lesser officers to the left and right taking the sign to send a barrage of magic into the air.
>
> The second volley landed, and the ground shook. It would be just a matter of time now until they broke the enemy. The radio came to life.
>
> “This is Tank Battalion Commander Ellion reporting,” her voice came through, the magical energies interfering with the radio. It drifted in and out of coherency, but enough of the message came through that it didn’t matter. “Are we given clearance to attack?”
>
> T’alik picked up the radio to answer. “Just a moment,” T’alik laughed. “This is too much fun. I wanna have a third volley.”
>
> “May Father curse you, T’alik!” he could hear the scowl in Ellion’s voice, “This is a war, not a playground!”
>
> “It’s both for me.” T’alik put the radio down and walked over to his soldiers. “Double rations for you all tonight, just get the third volley in under a minute. I’ll be counting!” He giggled, almost bouncing with glee. The guns were raw power, sheer, utter, control. The artillery was beautiful from the barrel to the treads. Father had always been a lover of beauty, and it showed on the ivory white of the cannons, the seaweed-like patterns of gold. Even the shells were a thing of beauty, as temporary as they were.
>
> The third volley fired. The rumbling of their explosions sent shivers up T’alik’s spine. He loved this job. He picked up the radio, finally content.
>
> “Ellion, we’re ready for you. Father bless you!”
>
> The response was a discontented grunt. T’alik couldn’t help but smile.
----------------------------------------
© Copyright 2022 R.M. Mulder. All rights reserved.