Chapter 15

Broken bones [https://imageshack.com/i/po23HNf2p]

Ziggs eyes shot wide in panic.

‘Reverse’

Ziggs activated his perk and the follow-up strike from Jack hit only the water. Water splashed up as Ziggs disappeared in a violet flash and reappeared where he was 15 seconds ago.

Ziggs appeared right beside the corpse of Giroso and fell to his knees clutching his head. Blood seeped from under his helmet and mana exhaustion threatened to put him to sleep right there and then.

His leader Ferris was still here kneeling before the corpse of Giroso with tears in his eyes. Ferris was desperately trying to get rock of his best friends corpse.

Ziggs reached out and grabbed Ferris’ hand.

“Keep your tears after you avenge him!” he said with a wheezing breath.

Ferris looked at Ziggs with glossy eyes. he didn’t seem to be all there. His look was unfocused and his hands trembling.

“Ferris! For Divine's sake! Go and kill him!” Ziggs screamed at Ferris in anger.

Ferris' eyes finally got their focus back. He picked himself up and turned towards Jack.

Jack wasn’t there anymore. He was further in the distance running away in a full sprint. Water splashed under his plated legs as he was fleeing with his mace by his belt and shield left behind.

Ferris looked at his men and only Milo and Levine were unscratched. They were pulling the corpses of their two dead comrades out from the rocks and checking if they are still alive. Their ranger meanwhile was cradling his broken leg and watching the cliff for any new rocks coming their way.

“Milo! Levine! Leave them! We need to catch their killers! Without Giroso we will not be able to track them if they gonna get away,” Ferris said to his two comrades still on their legs.

He didn't wait for their answer. Ferris turned and ran after Jack without looking back. Armored Delver and Sword Delver followed his example with no hesitation and ran after their leader.

Three men ran through the ravine their faces twisted by sadness and anger. They didn’t crave money, glory, or power anymore. They craved revenge and revenge shall they take.

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“They don’t have Endurance stats, else we would be dead by now,” Orla said.

“We still can’t outrun them,” Linus answered between his fast breaths.

“We need to drop the bags,” Orla suggested thinking about how to get away from their pursuers.

“Even if we drop the bags they will catch up eventually,” Linus argued, “We have to fight them before we are completely exhausted.”

Mad Dogs stopped to rest and catch their breath. Delvers were still close on their tail, but they had no choice as the long run take its toll on their tired muscles. Three Delvers were visible in the distance and they were closing in an unrelenting pursuit.

“We will not win this fight,” Jack said.

“Oh! Look who is suddenly scared of a fight,” Linus said, “What choice do we have? We have nothing more up our sleeves.”

“There always is a way.”

Jack watched approaching Delvers with a sinister look. Mad Dogs tried to shake Delvers off by fleeing in unpredictable patterns through the rocky Riftlands, but it wasn’t enough. Dogs managed to gain distance despite their clear difference in physical might and speed, but the landscape became more and more open and the distance they had gained was becoming shorter at an alarming speed.

Jack stopped watching their pursuers and surveyed the landscape around him. There was nothing of note or importance around him. Nothing came to his mind, there was no great escape plan which miraculously popped up in his head.

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The fight seemed inevitable and Jack's twisted mind was excited for the fight to come. They will be forced to fight and they will probably lose. Lose. It wasn't a feeling Jack experienced often in his old life, but here in Rosmorre it seemed like everything was against him. He wasn't on top of the food chain anymore, and the thought of fighting against impossible odds filled him with excitement.

Zaun stepped by Jack's side and pointed somewhere in the side.

“I see nothing,” Jack said to him, “Your senses are way beyond mine.”

Zaun picked up his bags and started walking in the direction he showed before. After a few steps, he stopped and looked back to see if the rest of the Dogs followed him.

“Well, it’s not like we have a better plan,” Jack sighed and picked up his own bags, “Get up, lads! We run again!”

“Ah!” both Linus and Orla sighed at the same time and got up to continue their run.

They started moving in a slow run, but they didn’t have to run far.

“Divines! No! No!” Linus shouted as they approached the place Zaun lead them.

Zaun looked at him with a worried glance.

“It’s not rift to the Outer or Deeper strata,” Linus said with a panic lancing his words, “It leads somewhere even worse and I have no idea where. We need to leave right now. If something crosses the border of planes from it, we will die right here and now.”

The rift in front of them shined in dark purple light. It wasn’t like the rifts they have seen before. The light from it was so dark one could mistake it for black if one didn’t look closer. Blackish tendrils extended from it and crawled in the air like disgusting worms or snakes.

It was sickness, pestilence fallen on this land from somewhere far away. They had never been closer to the Eldritch plane’s true nature than right now at this moment. Rift didn’t belong here. Space felt wrong, distorted, and sick around the rift. Just being close to it made their human instincts scream in sheer terror.

“There always is a way,” Jack repeated his earlier words.

“This is not the way,” Linus said, “There must be another.”

Sounds of running footsteps approached them from behind. Their foes were already on them. Ferris climbed into their view first.

There was not left a speck of the man they have met at House of Dermo. Ferris' face was twisted and unrecognizable. His eyes were full of pain and anger.

“You will pay!” he screamed seeing Mad Dogs before him.

“Don’t you see the irony in your ways?” Jack asked him calmly.

‘Stone spear’

Ferris draw his sword in his left hand and extended his other arm in front of him. Mana gathered in his palm and earth was lifted from under him. A spear made of stone was conjured in his right hand.

Two more Delvers showed up beside him with their swords already unsheathed.

Ferris stepped forward, wind up his spear, and threw it towards them with all his might. Linus barely reacted as the spear struck him right in the chest. The spear didn’t pierce his armor but exploded in countless rock bits which shoot out in every direction.

Linus flew backwards from the hit and hit the ground with a hard thud. His armor rumbled against the small rocks as he slid over them. His bags were destroyed and the content of them lay on the rocks around him.

Linus picked himself up instantly adrenaline pumping through his body and making him act before even waiting for the pain to reach him. His legs trembled as he picked himself up in the heavy armor, but managed to do so with a great deal of trouble.

“I see your point. We go through the rift!” Linus said through the pain.

“Haha!” Jack laughed.

“Haha!” Orla joined his laugh.

Zaun’s smile was hidden behind his helmet.

Ferris heard their laughs and anger in him grew to new heights.

“I will send you to the judgment of Divines you crazy bastards!” he screamed in anger.

All four Mad Dogs turned their backs to him and crossed the rift behind them.

“No!” Jack screamed and ran after them.

He was almost upon the rift when he was tackled by Milo. They both crashed down together and Ferris struggled to get free from Sword Delvers' hands.

“Get off me! I must kill them!”

Lavine rushed to them and helped Milo to restrain their leader.

“Ferris calm down! It is a rift to Fallen strata! They will not survive! You will not survive either!”

Ferris stopped struggling and only now looked at the rift Mad Dogs disappeared through. This time really looked at it. Only now he saw black color tainting the purple of the rift. His body relaxed and his mind finally was at ease.

“Go get the rest. We will camp here.”

“Ferris, don’t go through it.”

“I won’t! Go get the rest. We will close the rift right now.”

Both Lavine and Milo looked at Ferris with pity.

“Rift's heart is our biggest treasure. We already found a buyer,” Milo said.

“Money doesn't matter. We will use it now,” Ferris said with a dangerous glint in his eyes, "It is the least we can do for Giroso and the rest."

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Five men stood by the rift leading to the Fallen strata.

Their leader pulled out a violet orb and put it on the rock in front of the rift. He unsheathed his blade and smashed the orb with the handle of the sword.

Orb crumbled and a gush of energy escaped from it into the rift in front of him.

The rift started shaking and flickering until it finally closed for good.

“Good luck dying!” Ferris said.

Ziggs put his hand on Ferris' shoulder in a calming gesture.

“Let’s go! We need to bury the dead!”