Chapter 8

Battle of Torchlight [https://imageshack.com/i/pncXWnMhp]

They came out of the darkness like a living ball of hatred and hunger.

“Spears forward!” Jack screamed and Mad Dogs got ready to face their enemies.

Three sharp bloody spears rose besides Jack’s shoulders like messengers of death. Old man joined three besides him with one of his own and braced for the glorious pleasure his old world couldn’t offer to him.

Eldritch Souleaters ran through the narrow tunnel with reckless abandon. The tunnel had a place only for two of them to stand shoulder to shoulder. The size of the horde was not visible in the darkness, but from the sound of it hell gates themselves have been opened and every fiend of every ring decided to honor Mad Dogs of Rosmorre with a visit.

There will be no fight. The initial charge from monsters will be enough. Shear blind mass of bodies will wipe the party out.

Despite that Mad Dogs steeled their hearths and held. The tunnel trembled under their legs and monsters were closing in fast.

First Souleater was almost on them.

It was just outside spear range when its leg bumped into the body of the already dead Souleater lying on the ground from the skirmish before.

Blind Souleater stumbled on it and fell on the ground bouncing its head on the rock floor. Souleater’s head bounced with a loud crack as its skull cracked under the hit, but it was not enough to take the fight out of it. Just moments after falling creature was already picking itself up to push forward once more.

That was when the second Souleater stumbled over the same corpse as the first one and fell on top of him pushing them both down. The second was followed by the third, and the third by the fourth, and in mere seconds blind horde was stopped dead in its tracks.

“Push!” scream echoed off the walls and spears were thrust forward piercing a mass of foes.

Jack’s spear pierced the skull of the first enemy in his way like it was made of clay. He had no time to look at the notification in his vision as he pulled out his spear with a stream of blood following it. Jack’s eyes burned crimson as crimson pooled before him.

He took a step forward and with it came the next thrust. His body twisted, legs rotating his torso to deliver a death sentence to his next target. The spear sunk in flesh and bone like it belonged there. Jack took a step back to pull the spear out and then took the next step to put it back in the flesh of his enemies. Step back and step forward repeated itself and with each repetition, a new enemy lost its life.

Jack wasn’t a master spearman. His spearmanship had no beauty in it. Not at all. His spear was a brutal tool made for one purpose only. For purpose of killing. He was a cold, calculating machine. He was one true monster in this tunnel of fiends. His spear didn’t stop as he carved his enemies to his liking. In less than a minute mountain of corpses rose before him.

The rest of Mad Dogs stood by him unwavering. Zaun and Orla stood by his sides and mimicked his movements to slay their own opponents. Their spears often missed lethal parts, but it didn’t matter as Souleaters were clumping together in one blind useless mass. Spears allowed them to strike from Jack’s side as he danced close to the deadly reach. It was a dance too well known to Jack. It was a dance of violence.

Behind them stood Linus.

He had no space to act. His heart burned with desire as he saw his party fight in his stead. He burned with the desire to help, but there was no place for his desire to be fulfilled. He ate up bitterness in his heart and did his best to not distract them. This wasn’t his time.

“Next time,” he mumbled watching the backs of fighters in front of him.

The blind horde of Souleaters wasn’t able to fight back, but they still tried. Dead Souleaters filled the tunnel from ground to ceiling but the ones behind still pushed forward. New and new monsters emerged through gaps between dead ones and they all laid dead before being able to do any harm to the party in front of them. Spears danced and blood flowed.

But monsters still pushed. And Mad Dogs was forced to retreat step by step. They had to back off as corpses filled openings before them and were pushed forward by live monsters behind them. Souleaters climbed over and cut through their dead to reach the party of humans. Blind and helpless they died and their blood flowed in rivers.

The stench of guts and blood became overwhelming. Blood collected under them until it reached their ankles. With every step Dogs took they stomped in blood under them. Their wooden armor was colored crimson. It was especially true for Jack as his front didn’t have a single spot left where somebody could see any other color except the color of the blood.

But they held. Mad Dogs held. The momentum of the monsters was broken and the tunnel gave them an immense advantage. Corpses built natural barricades and blind Souleaters had no option left but just push forward through it.

Linus' concentration on the fight in front of him broke for a second as he got enthralled by the flow of the blood under his boots. His gaze followed the blood behind him and when he looked back his body grew cold.

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“Fuck!” he screamed and turned.

His spear didn’t allow him to turn as it got caught by side of the tunnel but Linus didn’t care.

He dropped his spear and ran in the opposite direction from the fight.

“Fuck!” he screamed like it would make him faster, but it didn't help.

He dived forward right into the pool of blood under him, but he wasn’t in time.

Torch sniffed out in front of him from the blood washing over it.

Darkness took hold.

Linus froze in terror.

“They see in the dark!” Jack shouted somewhere from Linus' back.

Linus' hands trembled while holding the blood-soaked torch in them.

“Zaun! Orla!” Linus screamed in the darkness," Please run!"

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Darkness took hold.

Jack was in the middle of a lunge when darkness took hold around him. He lost his aim and struck more left than he initially intended. He still pierced Souleater next to his target, but his target was unhurt.

What he felt next was four long knives piercing his armor and landing deep on his right side. Souleater knew where he was and swung precisely. Pain and happiness filled Jack. He was now blind one against seeing foes.

“They see in the dark!” Jack shouted for his party members and put up his left hand with the shield to deflect the strike which would take off his unarmored head. He guessed right and strike bounced off his shield.

“Zaun! Orla!” he heard Linus scream in the darkness," Run!"

Jack released the spear handle still in the body of a dead monster. Spear was useless in close combat while not being able to even see. Jack stretched his right arm forward reaching the head of Souleater in front of him. Souleater chomped on his hand drawing even more blood with his teeth slightly punching through Jack’s armor.

Jack with his hand still inside the monster's mouth grabbed its tongue and pulled it closer to him. Then he struck Souleater’s head with the sharp edge of his round shield while still holding his mouth from inside. He held it tight and repeated strikes until Souleater went limp and new notification fought for his attention besides countless others.

“Bring it to Linus!” Jack turned and showed his hand on the chest of Zaun still standing behind him.

Zaun took flint from Jack’s hand and left in darkness.

Jack turned back to hell depths and listened.

‘From the right!’

He ducked just in time to not lose his life. His head was just slightly rocked by a glancing blow as a few shallow gashes showed on top of his head. Blood dripped over his eyes, but in darkness, it didn’t make a difference. As soon as he dodged the strike, he lunged for Souleater who just tried to kill him. Before he closed the distance between them monster was able to strike Jack once more, this time cutting Jack’s torso and leaving deep painful tears.

Jack didn’t stop. He closed the distance and acted like he was trying to grab Souleater, but pulled away his hand at the last second. He could hear how Souleater’s maw closed on space where his hand was just a moment ago. He swung his shield and it landed on the creature’s jaw breaking it and pushing its head downwards.

He grabbed Souleater for real this time. His hand landed on top of its head and pulled it closer to him at a downward angle making Souleater lose its balance. Jack swung his shield’s sharp side with an overhead swing landing it on the creature’s neck from a high angle.

“Crack!” Souleater’s neck broke with a loud crunch and Souleater went limp in Jack’s hand.

There was no new notification.

“So monsters need wheelchairs too, huh?” Jack smiled thinking about the bizarreness of it, “Good to know.”

Next Eldritch Souleater was already on him. He dodged, but sounds close around him became unreliable. There were at least three of Souleaters already behind the barricades.

He dodged again and blocked the next invisible strike with his shield. No. There were four of them.

Next strike he let glance of his shield. Jack rotated out of blow and with rotation tried to strike his shield into the second foe, but he missed in the dark.

His shield hit only air as the monster dodged below his strike and punctured the armor on Jack’s stomach with all its claws at the same time.

Blood gushed out of Jack’s mouth as Souleater picked him up and held him above itself.

Jack couldn’t resist. His arms didn’t listen anymore.

“It was nice,” he said to the darkness with a happy smile awaiting his end.

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Jack’s end didn’t come.

Torchlight was ignited.

Eldritch Souleaters screeched in the pain.

Each of them had a huge black eye on their foreheads, previously hidden. These eyes let them see in the pitch darkness, but now they became their weakness as light damaged them. Monsters fell on knees clutching their heads and one holding Jack let him go.

As he was put down Jack tried to strike Souleater, but his hands still didn’t listen.

Instead, he headbutted Eldritch Souleater doing it no harm. Jack knocked himself unconscious.

Orla was already there spearing Souleater who held Jack through the side of its head with one swift motion. She pulled it out and Souleater fell over dead. She didn’t waste time as she already attacked the next one, while the monsters still were vulnerable.

Linus followed right beside her with a torch in his shield hand. While Orla dealt with the right monster he stepped toward the left one. The movements of Jack ran through his mind.

Step. Twist body. Thrust.

Step. Twist. Thrust.

He stepped and blood splashed up from under his boot.

He twisted and his body responded. Strength stat and Hands of Spearman granting him power he never had. It was only a little bit more, but it mattered.

He thrust and spear pierced Eldritch Souleater through its skull.

Linus stood there for a moment with a spear through the monster’s head. It was his first kill. He shook himself off and pulled his spear back out. Souleater’s corpse slumped over.

Orla was already on her third weakened target.

“Zaun get Jack out!” Linus shouted, “We will hold them off for a bit and follow.”

Zaun grabbed bloodied Jack. With Linus' help, he pushed Jack up on his shoulder. Before leaving Zaun put his free hand on Linus' shoulder for a brief moment looking right into his eyes. Linus saw proudness in Zaun’s eyes before silent men turned and ran towards the exit taking geezer with him.

Linus looked forward and saw Orla already spearing creatures still squeezing past the mountain of dead bodies in front of them. He smiled and joined her.

There was a place for him this time and Linus took it with a smile.

His spear drew the blood.