The Antorak crashed down through the wooden stairs leading to the depths of the mine, falling far below out of sight. Marci shrieked above me and dove down to land on my shoulder, giving me a peck. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and turned around to inspect the area I had landed in. It was a landing between levels of stairs, it looked to be thirty or forty feet below the surface. There were many tunnels burrowed in the sides of the hole, exploring would have to wait.
Scrambling back up to the surface took less than a minute, even as the Antorak had badly damaged the staircase with its massive body. My increased strength and agility allowed me to jump some gaps and tip toe one particularly destroyed staircase. Marci had jumped off to circle back overhead, staring intently down in the hole.
“Sylar!” Camile shouted as I crested over the rim. She lunged across the distance and wrapped me in a hug.
“I’m ok. It went over the edge and out of sight down below.” I told her. Looking around showed the devastation from the beast's two charges. There were several of the Thorks miners bodies unmoving, both combat and noncombat. Arthur was limping in my direction and his health bar was less than half. Rocks was down to one fourth health and looked unconscious on his back.
Van was also less than half, limping and grunting in frustration. This was probably the first time he had tried to fight something so much larger and stronger than himself. The ape was almost pouting as he stood near the edge and peered downwards.
“No new ghouls, it's still alive down there.” I announced glumly.
Marci was the first to spot movement, she let out a shriek and flared her wings in defiance. We all turned to look and saw the head of the Antorak emerge from the darkness. Its powerful legs pierced the rock as it slowly climbed itself out. We only had a few more moments before it would be back on the surface, its health was sitting at 1350/2100.
It was still above half health, most of our fighters were below half and/or dead. If it managed to surface again I knew with certainty that we would all die. Turning to look at Arthur and Camile I saw the fear and defeat in their eyes. I knew I had to do something.
Regret warred with guilt in my mind, guilt over the death of my squad. Guilt over the death of Marci’s mother. Regret of letting my explosion related skills decay, regret of having to break my promise never to use the bombs again. The framework wasn’t going to let me forget, it wouldn’t let me ignore something so destructive.
Checking my inventory showed that I had 50 simple bombs and 25 standard bombs. Enhanced Explosion had decayed to level 6 and remote detonation had decayed to level 10. I would be able to detonate two at a time in succession with the powerup from enhanced, not as strong as before but still enough damage.
“Everyone back! Back to the far wall! If any type of exit presents, take it!” I started shouting.
“You don’t have to do this Syl, we can still fight it as we have. It’s already down to half.” Arthur said from beside me, guessing what I was thinking.
“I do Arthur. No one else dies to this damned bug.” I replied in the coldest voice I could muster, trying to drown out my internal panic.
“Everyone back! Back! Drag those who can’t walk!” Arthur started shouting as he limped over to the ruined barricade to help.
Turning back to the hole I had less than a minute before the Antorak would crest the surface. Once it was over there would be no safe way to use the bombs. Running over to the side it was climbing up, I was standing directly over it. It looked up with cold, intelligent eyes and roared its defiance. Marci shrieked her own back at it.
Peace settled over me, love and faith pouring from my companions through the bond. The emotions were so powerful I teared up instantly. Wasting no more time I threw the first two standard bombs over the side.
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I waited for the bombs to get lower enough to be close to the underbelly of the beast and triggered the double detonation. The impact was immediate and the beast was rocked off the side of the hole and out of sight. I could faintly hear it roar from farther down, whether from pain or frustration I didn't know.
I threw down two more and staggered the detonations. Checking the combat log showed one successful and one miss, the one that hit did minimal damage. It became a sick game of cat and mouse as the Antorak tried to climb back up while I battered it back down.
Ten standard bombs later and the mighty Antorak died with a whisper down at the bottom of a deep dark hole. The cruelty of it all felt overwhelming. Transported here against its will, forced to fight and die. My mood was somber in victory as I walked back over to the remaining survivors to take stock and check notifications before the next wave.
Congratulations! You have survived the halfway mark of this survival event! There are 6 days remaining in this challenge. There will be no new foes for six hours, all health bars and wounds will be healed. Rewards based on contribution to this point.
Congratulations! You have reached level 33!
Congratulations! You have reached level 34!
“I’m sorry Sylar, I know you didn’t want to do that. Thank you.” Arthur said softly as he put his hand on my shoulder. He wasn’t limping anymore, everyone had been fully healed.
“Sorry my ass! You could have done that from the start! What is wrong with you? You let people die and you had a damned bomb the entire time! You let us fight these beasts with sticks and stones!” One of the Thorks miners I didn’t know the name of was yelling as he stomped across the mine in my direction. He threw his pick axe and it bounced harmlessly a few feet from me.
Van intercepted him before I could think and tackled him to the ground. Van punched him twice directly in the skull before I could get to him and pull him off. Reaching out through the bond didn’t help, Van was enraged that an ally had, in his mind, tried to attack me. The miner was dead as soon as the second punch hit.
The mine exploded with activity, everyone shouting at each other. Van was standing beside me and roaring a challenge to anyone nearby. Arthur and Gerald were shouting at each other. Rocks was back up and in a shouting match with one of the miners, weapons drawn. My mind was reeling from the death of the miner.
Marci landed on my shoulder and gave me a soft peck, sensing the turmoil of my emotions. Snapping out of it, I began to move in Arthur and Geralds direction when I heard Camile shout.
“Stop it! Everyone stop it!” A powerful wave of emotion flowed from the young woman where she had stood on part of the barricade still standing. She had combined one of her inspiration skills with her words and the reaction was profound. Everyone in the mine stopped what they were doing and spun around to face her.
“Stop this madness! We’re supposed to be allies! We are only halfway through this nightmare and you want to fight each other? Don’t you feel it? You are letting the framework win!” She continued to shout. Tears flowing freely down her cheeks, the sight of which combined with her words melted my heart. I felt my fear, guilt and anxiety quickly ebb away, replaced by relief and comfort.
“She’s right. Yes, Sylar has access to bombs, which you clearly know of. There is a collateral risk to using them. Without the Antorak being down in that hole the risk would have been far too great.” Arthur followed up his daughter. He was taking the blame for me not using the bombs earlier, my respect for him growing ever more.
“I understand Arthur, I do. It’s hard, seeing someone you have known for years die and think it could have been prevented. We lost many people to that monster. The monster that only attacked us because you showed up and triggered the survival event.” Gerald spoke after a few moments of silence before continuing. “Whether it's fair to blame you for the Antoraks' arrival or not is irrelevant. Grief overrides all other emotions.”
I considered his words and realized for the first time how this would look from the Thorks miners perspective. We had come into what had become their home, triggered a survival event and taken control. None of our party had died or been grievously injured while they had lost people.
“We didn’t come by choice, the framework did that. We can only make the best of the situation. Let’s separate for a few hours and recover. We can discuss strategy and supplies before the next spawn.” Arthur said, giving Gerald a look that conveyed respect.
With that we walked over to where we had initially entered the mine. Marci was on my shoulder and had decided to take a nap, she was exhausted emotionally. Van was confused about why everyone stopped fighting. He would scan occasionally for more ghouls to fight before grunting in frustration.
I settled down against the mine wall and closed my eyes. Camile joined me a minute later and leaned against my shoulder. Neither of us spoke, letting the silence tell the story. For another day, or round, or wave, we had survived.