Diana jolted awake, her heart racing, and beads of sweat clinging to her forehead. She blinked a couple of times to get rid of the flash under her eyelids. In the dream, she stood before the pyramid, runes pulsating with an otherworldly glow. With a wave of her hand, the entire structure erupted in a cataclysmic explosion.
Diana shook off the unsettling feeling, trying to convince herself it was just a dream. Yet, the image of the gigantic explosion and the pyramid reduced to rubble lingered in her mind. She had similar dreams that felt too tangible before but this one was something else. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the dreams were more than just dreams.
With a deep breath, Diana forced herself to focus on the present. The dream was just caused by their talk of the Aspects last night and that was that. She had more important things to deal with than nightmares.
Diana rose from her makeshift bedroll, the cold sending a shiver through her spine. The air in the cavern felt dense with anticipation. As she moved among the others, waking them from their restless sleep, she could see their thoughts were of the impending battle.
After the tasteless breakfast of even more monster meat and water.The hideout buzzed with subdued activity. The clatter of armor being donned mixed with the low hum of rare conversations as the group prepared for the battle.
When they were ready they left the hideout without a glance back. This suited her just fine, they had a job to do and there would be enough talking once they got to preparing the battlefield.
Diana looked at her companions and was satisfied. Each one of them looked prepared for the heavy fighting ahead, the equipment Mia made was sure to be a big help. As they stalked the city and got closer to the nest they encountered the bugs more often but the small groups wouldn't be a threat even if they were unarmed and asleep.
They scouted the area around the nest until they found a suitable place for the fight. The nest was visible a short distance down the street.
“Okay everyone lets get to work, guys you will construct the rubble funnel and me and Mia will prepare the escape route.”
Diana's eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for a tunnel or a side street. She exchanged glances with Mia, but the other woman shook her head, she also didn’t see anything. They moved slowly, navigating the rubble-strewn streets.
Diana felt her foot slip and the next thing she knew she was falling. Fortunately it was a short fall, the rubble crumbled under her and now she was just below street level. Around her was a network of corridors, connecting the buildings around.
“Hey Mia, get down here.” Diana shouted as she brushed her clothes from the dust.
Mia jumped down way more gracefully than Diana did.
“Use your Tracking and we will know if the bugs use these corridors. If they are clear we have our escape route.” Diana said.
It turned out that the tunnels right under the street were clear of bugs and could be used.
With that problem solved they found a suitable ledge nearby and took a look around the battlefield.
She watched as Hector and Frank got busy in the streets, stacking debris and rubble strategically. Soon the street had only a narrowing pathway culmination into a manageable chokepoint, where Hector would fight. The work was going quickly with the enhanced strength of the men.
After the walls were finished Hector and Frank joined them, their faces smeared with dirt. The group gathered around her, their eyes serious.
"Remember," Diana began, her voice steady, "we are here to kill as many as possible. We work as a team. Each of us has a role, and together we can overcome whatever comes our way."
Diana wasn’t big on pep talks herself but saying stuff like ‘team’ seemed to have an effect on people so she used it when appropriate. By the looks on the faces of others it worked this time too. Hector left for the funnel, Frank and Mia stayed with her.
The three of them stood on the platform and Diana felt a soft wind in her hair. She cast one last glance at the fortifications they prepared, and nodded to herself. She felt her grip tighten on her steel staff.
It was time to get to the actual work.
She moved with a practiced precision, her fingers dancing with the runes as she unleashed controlled explosions, luring the centipedes. She spaced the explosions enough to get all her mana back in between.
"You've become our very own thumper, Diana." Frank quipped.
“What's a thumper?” Mia asked.
“Thumper? From Diune? One of the most famous sci-fi works of all time? To lure sandworms?” Frank said his eyebrows raised, but Mia only responded with more confusion on her face.
“Cut the chatter and focus” Diana brought them back to reality. “The bugs are here”.
Indeed the first bugs were leaving the nest and heading straight for their defenses. At first, only a few centipedes, like scouts probing the defenses, cautiously approached the makeshift barriers. The funnel was working, they engaged Hector and he disposed of them with just a few swings of his war pick.
Mia fired a few arrows at the bugs that tried to find a way over the wall, and Frank was jumping in and out of the fray trying to keep the pressure off of Hector. So far so good.
Diana continued the thumping and, soon the trickle became a torrent. The initial handful of centipedes quickly multiplied into a writhing mass, flooding the streets. The skittering sound they made now changed into a rolling thunder. Their walls held for now. Diana switched to killing the centipedes en masse.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Diana was almost drunk on her own power as she let her strength loose. All the work, experimentation and preparation culminated in this moment. No more small skirmishes, no more limiting herself. Her skills shone in a full scale battle like this. She felt like a maestro in a symphony of destruction. With each precise movement, runes etched into the air crackled to life, unleashing explosions that sent centipedes spiraling through the air. Her mastery over the destructive forces was a ballet, each detonation purposeful and perfectly timed.
The carnage she unleashed would be enough to satiate any god of battle that she knew of. The way the centipedes swarmed made her magic even more potent. Each rune she cast killed dozens of monsters, sending their blood and guts high into the air.
I love the smell of power in the morning.
Yet, it wasn't just raw power she wielded. With her staff she traced frosty sigils that cast an eerie glow. The air chilled around her, and centipedes got herded wherever she wanted them. The battlefield became a surreal tableau, with walls of ice getting created and destroyed, compounding the chaos.
As the explosive bursts shattered exoskeletons, and frost boxed in the swarm, Diana weaved her spells with an almost ethereal grace. Her movements were the embodiment of control amid pandemonium. The city street, once eerily silent, shook from the display of her unshackled power.
With the corner of her eye she saw Mia release arrow after arrow. Some small part of Diana’s brain registered that she was targeting the stragglers that could disrupt their plan. Then a blood curdling shriek broke over the cacophony of the battle.
Duskshriekers swooped down from above, their wings slicing through the air. Diana watched as Mia, with a calm focus, tracked their erratic movements. As each of the flying creatures descended, her arrows met them with unerring accuracy. The fluidity of her motions showcased not only her skill but a profound ability to pick the right target. She understood the battlefield.
Each arrow she released found its mark, turning the tide of the battle with a lethal accuracy.
However the swarm seemed endless, no matter how much they killed more seemed to take their place. Diana knew she could keep killing the bugs for however long it was necesary.
The only question was if Hector could hold the funnel.
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Hector stood his ground in the narrow pass, the stench of blood and the clicking of centipede legs filling the air. Every step he took scraped on the dead bodies of centipedes that carpeted the whole area. His shield, battered and stained with centipede ichor, was the only barrier between him and the approaching horde.
A centipede lunged, its mandibles snapping, but Hector deftly sidestepped, bringing down the blunt edge of his mace on its segmented body. The sickening crunch echoed in the tight confines. Another one came at him right after, and Hector swung his shield, knocking it back into the wall with enough force to break its back.
Sweat dripped down his face as he fended off the relentless onslaught. As the fight pressed on, the walls of the alley seemed to close in. Dust, disturbed by the tumultuous battle, hung thick in the air, choking Him and limiting his vision. The alley became a crucible of ichor and steel, where Hector fought not just against the centipedes but against the encroaching weakness.The tiredness seemed to seep into his bones as he fought, a visceral struggle against the tide of chittering nightmares.
As the centipedes closed in, their chitinous exoskeletons scraping against the cobblestones, Hector fought on, a solitary figure holding his ground against the darkness.There was no grandeur here, no glorious clashes on an open field—only the harsh reality of survival in the close pitched battle.
Exhaustion seeped through his every movement, yet Hector persisted in swinging his mace. He was crushing, throwing and killing without rest. The muscles of his arms hurt more than the minor wounds he had when the Abominations managed to pierce his armor. Each swing of his mace was an arduous effort, the weapon getting more and more misshapen as the battle wore on.
As he stomped on an Abomination's head, squashing it like ripe fruit, another one blindsided him and latched onto his war pick with its jaws. Hector, not wanting his weapon crushed, let go of the handle. The bug spit it, and tried to bite him again. The warrior blocked with his shield. The chitin met the creature's teeth with a scraping sound like nails on a blackboard. The material of the shield groaned as the bug bit down. Hector, fueled by a surge of adrenaline, shifted his weight and punched the centipede with his armored right hand. He struck it right between its eyes stunning the creature. Hector pulled his fist and punched again.
And again.
And again.
On the third strike his fist pierced the monster's skull. He pulled his arm out with a wet squelch as the monster's body went limp and slid off of his shield. Hector wiped the blood from his face and quickly picked up his weapon. He threw himself at the next bug that approached.
He felt the pressure drop just the tiniest fraction and saw a shadow move through the dust around him. Frank emerged from the cloud, his daggers covered with ichor. He was death incarnate, moving in and out of the darkness. Swift and purposeful, carving through the swarm with a finesse that stood in stark contrast to Hector's own brutal fighting style.
The daggers, now an extension of Frank's movements, became instruments of slaughter. Sprays of blood followed in his footsteps. Some of the centipedes were set on fire or partially frozen. The dance of blades, accompanied by the anguished roars of the centipedes, and the sound of Frank laughing was a spectacle to behold.
Hector suppressed a shudder at the sound of his friends’ laughter in the middle of a battle. He hoped that he would never have to fight an opponent like Frank.
On the other hand he felt a surge of gratitude for the intervention. He could rest, even if only a little bit, as Frank's strikes created breathing room in the alley. As the battle raged on, the darkness that had threatened to swallow them whole receded a fraction with each dead bug.
Hector’s weapon pierced another skull and he prepared to face more enemies. Only there was none left. The sound of battle was gone, and a heavy silence settled over the battlefield. As the dust began to clear, revealing the changed landscape. Mountains of lifeless centipedes lay strewn across the ground. The air was heavy with the acrid scent of ichor, which was following freely on the ground.
Hector stood amidst the eerie calm, his breaths heavy. The weight of the battle etched lines of exhaustion on his face. The magnitude of the victory became evident as the sheer number of fallen Abominations unfolded before him. The once-menacing creatures, now motionless and defeated, formed a surreal landscape of chitinous shells and segmented bodies.
He lowered his weapon and stood in awe at the carnage the four of them brought.
Without a word he joined in with Frank and moved cautiously through the aftermath, navigating the maze of centipede carcasses. The ground was marked with the remnants of Diana’s spells—walls of ice and scorched marks from explosions. Blood pulled in the small depressions left from the explosions. Here and there Hector could see a dead Duskshrieker, each with an arrow in its head.
“We did all this?” He asked noone in particular.
“Well it was mostly Diana” Frank pointed to the funnel, now barely visible under the corpses “But that specific gallery of carnage has your name on it.”
Vertigo overcame Hector, he thought he understood the brutality of combat. He realized, however, that he was fighting in his own private bubble, the rest of the battlefield obscured by dust.
“The scale of it … “ he thought back to the way his friend was fighting. He looked at his right fist, some brain matter still sticking to the chitin armor. “ What have we become Frank?”
“Monsters” Frank replied calmly.