“Ha…got him…” the Wild Hunter said before his wobbly legs went out from underneath him. Rushing to his side, I was relieved to feel a pulse. Pulling his eyelids open, I realized that his eyes had rolled backwards, and that he would most likely be unconscious for a while.
“Get him out of here!” I ordered one of the few remaining Enforcers. Grabbing him by the arms, it dragged the comatose Wild Hunter towards the breach in the castle walls.
“Go help Venari, we’ll deal with the rest!” Lieutenant Barbatus shouted at me. I gave him a thumbs up before taking off. I was about to ask Eve where the Predators were to help me find Venari, until a giant spout of water shot into the sky on the opposite end of the gardens. Redoubling my pace, I tapped on my earpiece to get in touch with her. “Venari, you doing ok?”
“No! Your golems are helping, but she won’t go down!” She replied, panting. In the background, I heard the sounds of pounding footsteps and robotic voices saying, “Deploying tasers.”
“How do you kill undead? There’s gotta be something, right?!?!”
“Death mages or elven silver are the best solution, but unless you can pull your Deathwalker out of your ass, the only other options we have right now is to exhaust her over several days or turn her into small enough pieces that the Law of Undeath can't sustain her!”
“What the hell is elven silve-” I started, before a thought flashed through my mind. Reaching down, I grabbed the dagger that was still on my hip and held it up to my eye. The flawless blade reflected the dim moonlight, revealing a set of flowing elven letters that weren’t there before.
“Shrouded Moon…” I read. At that moment, I had an epiphany. “Venari, I think I might have a plan.”
“What’s your…shit!” I heard her shout. “Just get over here now!”
Luckily, my tireless mechanical legs allowed me to reach her quickly. I passed by several ruined Predators, their insides still crackling with electricity. Spotting Venari, I saw that she was covered in shallow cuts and dirt, her chest rising and falling quickly with every exhausted breath she took. In the background, Morgaine was engaged with the Predators, laughing as she swung her sword.
“HEY!” I called out. Venari turned around, smiling in relief. Grabbing her wrist, I shoved the dagger into her hand. “Take this, it’s elven silver!”
“How-” she asked until I cut her off.
“No time! Just keep her distracted for a few minutes, but don’t let her see the dagger yet! Trust me!” I told her, almost pleadingly.
She gave me a curt nod. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast!” she urged, pulling a stream of water from a nearby fountain before charging at Morgaine.
I dashed back to one of the destroyed Predators, kneeling down on the damp grass. “C’mon, c’mon,” I muttered under my breath, tearing off the damaged outer section to get to the internal components.
“[I highly advise against this course of action.]”
“Not like I have a lot of other choices right now!”
With a grunt, I managed to yank out the Predator’s central power bank. Turning it over, I was pleased to see that it was still mostly intact, with only the shell being slightly dented. Pulling out a piece of copper wiring from the Predator, I carefully began fiddling with the battery. If I still had hands of flesh and blood, they would have been shaking like a leaf in the wind.
“[Be careful.]”
“Ah, yes, because I was planning on not being careful with a power bank I’m trying to turn into a bomb, what a groundbreaking fucking idea!” I snapped. “...sorry.”
Delicately peeling away the layers, I threaded the copper wire through the battery, careful not to make contact with any of the volatile sections. I held one end in my mouth, attaching the other to a screw on one end of the battery. The last thing I did was twist the other end of the wire and pull a section off, leaving a sharp point.
“Ta-da!” I beamed, holding up my new contraption. Tapping on my earpiece, I spoke to Venari. “Hey, I’m done! I’ll make an opening for you, when I do, go in with the dagger!”
Her only response was a grunt of pain and the sound of metal clashing against metal. I had to trust that she heard and understood what I said. Holding the battery to my chest, I ran towards the fight.
Venari was in a bad position, having been forced to grab her sword near the tip to hold Morgaine’s blade back. The undead mercenary was leaning over her, grinning creepily as she used her weight and gravity to push Venari down. “You put up a good fight little lamb, but you die here!”
With one arm, I lifted my Whiplash and aimed down the sights. Pulling on the trigger, I sent several bursts of rounds at Morgaine, hitting her on the side of her torso. The powerful impact pushed her off balance, giving Venari an opportunity to shove her away. With a shout, she summoned the last of her Vitae to form a band of solid water that wrapped around Morgaine’s arms, crushing them tightly to her side.
Grabbing the sharp end of the wire, I screamed, “VENARI, GET BACK, NOW!” and pierced through the thin metal layer protecting the power bank. I felt the battery start to heat up rapidly, and I sprinted at Morgaine with all the speed I could muster. I dive tackled the undead mercenary, taking her to the ground.
Looking at me, she smirked. “Are you serious? You’ll have to do better than that, little one.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Watch me.” I said calmly. The battery was burning so hot the nanomachines that made up my body were melting, and I knew it was time to go. “Eve, get me out of here!”
“[Searching for compatible systems…Compatible system found, beginning transfer process….]”
The familiar sensation of numbness enveloped me, lasting for several seconds. When my sight suddenly returned, I realized I was in the body of a nearby Predator. Although it was intact enough for me to control it, it was missing an arm as well as having a crippled leg. Not for the first time, I thanked God that machines didn’t have a sense of pain. An abrupt detonation brought me back to my senses, and I looked just in time to see my former body turn into a fine black mist. Morgaine didn’t get off unscathed either, the explosion having taken off a large chunk from her midsection as well as turning whatever armor that she had left into scrap. Black goo oozed from the massive wound, and although the flesh had been completely torn away, most of her bones were still intact.
“HA! Suicide bomb! Didn’t expect that!” Morgaine cackled with the black goo dribbling out the side of her mouth. Holding her side with one arm, she slowly started pulling herself towards her sword that laid on the ground a few meters away.
With a war cry, Venari leapt at her, the elven dagger held high above her head. Seeing the danger, Morgaine turned around and used her palm to block the blade. The dagger slid through her flesh like a hot knife through butter, and a cloud of smoke erupted from the wound. To my surprise, the undead mercenary yelped in pain and shock. Her body had suffered tremendous amounts of trauma and damage, yet a cut from the dagger was the only thing so far that made her react in any way.
Grunting in exertion, Venari forced the dagger closer and closer to Morgaine’s face. Suddenly, Morgaine jerked her head to the side and relaxed her arm, receiving only a small scratch on the side of her face. Venari fell off balance, and the undead mercenary bucked her off, managing to free her hand from the dagger.
Forcing myself to my feet, I put my weight on my good leg and limped towards them. Multiple alarms were ringing in my head, informing me of the various damaged components and systems in my body.
“AHHGG!” Morgaine screeched as Venari managed to stab through the joint behind her knee. The elven silver was having a visible effect, with the areas around its wounds billowing smoke. Morgaine was also noticeably slower, and with a grunt, she turned herself over, seemingly giving up. Venari yanked the dagger out and stood over her, panting heavily. Blood and dirt covered her body, and the previously spotless armor had deep scratches all over its surface. Grabbing the edge of her helmet with one hand, she threw it away, letting her hair fall loosely behind her.
“What a surprise,” Morgaine chuckled weakly. “The little lamb has fangs. Too bad your friend isn’t here to see this momentous occasion.”
Venari's nostrils flared, and she gripped the dagger tighter, raising her arm up.
“Well, what are you waiting for? If you’re planning on ending me, do it already!” Morgaine mocked. “DO IT!”
“Wait!” I shouted, stopping her at the last moment. She turned around, confusion written on her face.
“Your master is dead. How is it you still exist?” she asked, a slight quiver in her voice.
“I’m just in another body, why the hell would you think I’m dead?”
“Evan, is that you???”
“Um, duh?”
“Your bomb turned your body to ashes, what was I supposed to think?!?” Venari replied angrily.
“Oh. Yeah. Well I’m not, so stop worrying.”
I looked at Morgaine, who seemed to find our conversation amusing, her lips curled in a small smile. “So what do we do with her?
“She’s committed crimes against the Empire of Pithus and its people. She will die.” Venari stated emotionlessly.
“Well hold on, let’s think things through here,” I said hastily. “She might have some more information on your brother’s operation.”
“[This creature may also prove to be an opportunity for research. If possible, you should try to bring her back for analyzation.]”
“...Fine,” Venari spat. “You watch her then. I’m going to find my brother.”
Venari handed me the knife before running off. While Eve had some of the few remaining Enforcers reconvene on my location, I took control of one of the drones hovering high in the sky. Slowly descending, I scanned the remains of the top floor of the castle. It was in ruins, with most of the bodies having been killed by the initial explosion, while others had fallen victim to the falling stone. Zooming over to the governor's office, I examined the corpses, finding many either wearing the armor of soldiers or the hooded robes of mages. Strangely enough, I didn’t find any trace of Drusus, leading me to believe that he had somehow survived.
“[It is possible his body was buried under rubble, or that the explosion had launched it somewhere.]”
“Eve, I know you’re smart, but trust me, if you don’t see the bad guy die right in front of your eyes, there’s like a 90% chance he’s still alive.”
“[What information did you use to reach this conclusion?]”
“Movies and stuff.”
“[Hmm.]”
I could almost hear the doubt in her voice, but she didn’t say anything else. When the Enforcers arrived, I took over the one with the least damage. I then ordered them to rip out the metal wiring from the destroyed robots in the area and weave them together to form metal cords. I took no chances, wrapping Morgaine’s wrists and elbows behind her, and tying her cords around her ankles, knees, and thighs. By the time I was done, she was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
“On second thought…” I thought to myself. Taking one more piece of thick cord, I knelt down near Morgain’s face and cheerfully said, “Open up!”
“Oh come on,” she complained. “I’m uncomfortable enough as is, do you really have to gag me?”
“Dude, I’ve seen duller teeth on a shark. No way I’m taking any chances with you.” I said with a deadpan expression.
Morgaine seemed to think it over for a few moments before reluctantly opening her mouth. As I reached to place the cord in her mouth, she lurched forward, snapping at my fingers. I jerked back, yelping, only to realize that Morgaine was laughing uproariously.
“HAHAHA, you should have seen your face!” she sniggered.
“Alright, that’s enough out of you,” I said, exacerbated. While one of the Enforcers held her head still, I wrapped the metal cord around her mouth, making sure that it was tied tightly. I let out a sigh of relief once I finished, finally letting my guard down. Stumbling to a pile of nearby rubble, I gently lowered myself down and sat on the rough stone.
“Eve…How many robots are left?”
“[Calculating…4 Enforcers, 1 Predator, 7 Dianmu Gunners, 3 R.O.A.R Artillery robots, and 17 Lyco model Arachnid Robots.]”
“Goddamn…Well, at least it’s over now…I think…I think I’ll just take a little break…”