A peal of thunder and flash of light exploded somewhere behind Kyle as he ran, briefly illuminating the terrified faces of unawakened goblins, trolls, and ogres as they fled to the heart of Varleez. Soon, he came upon the fringe of the bloody spectacle. 2 shrikes were tearing through a line of trembling defenders; unawakened men and women trying to buy time so others could retreat. Without thinking, dozens of tendrils of Parasitic Resonance shot forward, not at the shrikes, but at the rapidly dwindling line.
The moment they connected; Kyle felt his mana pool drain rapidly as he activated Storm Shelter around every single one of them. The shrikes let out cries of alarm as they were rebuffed by the wall of barriers that sprang out of seemingly nowhere. And then Kyle was upon them. Taking advantage of their momentary confusion and blocked line of sight, he vaulted straight over the phalanx provided by his Storm Shelters, palm pressed directly against the chest of the nearest shrike.
His barriers faded as he withdrew the tendrils from the unawakened nearby, who collapsed as one at the strain of having Kyle’s mana flowing through their undeveloped mana pathways. Instead, each tendril invaded the shrike’s body with purpose. Kyle’s time hunting the beasts had shown him their vulnerabilities, and he didn’t hesitate to snuff out its life, feeling a portion of his mana pool recover as the Core of the Parasitic Devourer greedily drank in its mana.
[BE CAREFUL, DR. MAYHEW. THE REMAINING 6 SHRIKES ARE CONVERGING UPON YOUR LOCATION. ONE OF THEM IS GIVING OFF AN ANOMALOUS MANA SIGNATURE.]
Kyle heard C.H.A.D.D.’s warning, but was already locked in combat with the other shrike that had been attacking this portion of the line. It was fighting cautiously, launching buzzsaws of mana from medium range. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have been much of an issue, but with the evacuation happening behind him Kyle couldn’t afford to let the attacks get through.
He’d already pushed mana through his left bracer to create a buckler shield, but it only withstood 3 attacks before it shattered, forcing him to push more mana into it to keep the gauntlet’s barrier active. With a growl, he connected to his armor, shaping the mana-dampening effects into the space between him and the shrike.
[THEY ARE CLOSING IN, DR. MAYHEW.]
Kyle swore as he mistimed a block, taking a deep cut on his arm, just below the shoulder. Adaptive Regeneration was already hard at work, and he placed a hand on the injury to activate Healing Impetus for good measure. He knew all too well the effect accumulated damage could create, and with the shrike’s allies on the way, taking more damage was inevitable.
It was clear the shrike was just buying time for its allies to arrive, but so was Kyle. Soon, 2 more of the creatures appeared, creating a cautious semicircle around him. Kyle saw 3 others start gathering bodies of the fallen before dashing off into the night. Another explosion of thunder and light rang out behind him, and the frenzied combat began in earnest.
Compared to the other shrikes Kyle faced, the trio that now attacked him fought much more conservatively. Rather than closing in to tear him apart, they seemed content to launch wave after wave of buzzsaws at him, forcing him on the defensive. Kyle deflected what he could, though he couldn’t keep up with the near-endless assault.
The shrikes seemed all too happy to maintain the pressure, advancing slowly as Kyle was forced back step after step; blood spattering each inch of ground he lost. Healing Impetus was showing its value as the excess regenerative energy was constantly put to work. Deep gashes were opened, only to be visibly shut moments later. This effect only intensified as Unbreakable Will came into play, increasing the effectiveness of his Willpower attribute the more heavily he was injured.
Even so, it was a losing proposition. Kyle’s focus was pushed to its limit; and he knew he had to act. He’d hoped at least one of the other shrikes would have joined in, but he’d have to make do with the 3 before him. Kyle understood that the tendrils of Parasitic Resonance wouldn’t be of much use; they would simply be sliced away amidst the myriad attacks. However, his training provided him with an alternative.
What if, instead of simply reaching directly toward its target, Kyle could direct the tendrils to move along another path?
Slowly, painstakingly, he wove a web across the ground in front of him. The tendrils were slower, took longer to invade, but were relatively unscathed by the conceptually sharp attacks used by the shrikes. The sheer focus it took to control the dozens of tendrils was staggering, and coupled with shaping the negation field from his stonebloom armor and trying to parry the endless attacks amplified the difficulty many times over. Still, he’d done it.
With a primal roar, Kyle ripped the mana away from the 3 shrikes at once, destroying the creatures from the inside out as he felt his own reserves replenish. Kyle watched as they beasts fell, a satisfied smile appearing unbidden on his face. As foolish as it had been to use shrikes as a training ground, he managed to come out on top.
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He staggered for a moment, concentration slipping just enough to lose control of Ignition. He took a shaky breath, putting his attention back on healing. A single look down at the bloody tatters of his clothing and deep scars on his gear told him how close he’d come to getting in real trouble.
He still had Storm Shelter available as his final defensive option, and he kept enough mana in reserve to use it if necessary. Kyle worried that doing so would have turned the shrikes’ attention back to the retreating civilians, but if push came to shove he had no qualms about using the skill to stay alive. Fortunately, it hadn’t come to that.
A quick flash of orange light from C.H.A.D.D. warned him of an approaching presence, which he felt a moment later through Synaptic Barbs. Kyle turned to look at the approaching Hanastrel, who was looking at the area with wide eyes.
“3 dead shrikes… by the ancestors, what happened here?”
“That depends,” Kyle said. “How much trouble am I in for leaving the room?”
“Forget the room,” Hanastrel said, voice still breathless. “How are you even standing? It looks like you’ve been cut to ribbons. Do your people regenerate like the trolls? Hell, I’ve never heard of a troll getting cut apart that much and still getting put back together.”
“It looks worse than it is,” Kyle said sounding as tired as he felt. “But we should be careful, there are 4 more somewhere.”
Before Hanastrel could respond, Drokh came crashing down from the sky above, landing with enough force to shake the ground. The gruff ogre looked at Kyle, lightning crackling all around him. A nasty cut crossed Drokh’s left shoulder, but he otherwise looked unharmed. A quick glance with Identify proved otherwise, as Kyle could see that his body was literally being burned from the inside out from the lightning that was pouring out of him. So, this is what it would be like to have a skill like Ignition without the ability to heal.
“I told you to stay put, Courier.” Drokh’s voice was a low rumble, but Kyle didn’t feel any malice behind it.
“You did, and I had every intention of complying until I heard the screams from the other side of the settlement. I wasn’t able to stop them all, but at least they were driven off.”
“You said, ‘driven off,’ how many shrikes were here?” Drokh asked, his eyes narrowed.
Kyle thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I only saw 3 more, but I have a sensory skill that indicated the presence of a fourth.”
Drokh swore, stomping his foot for emphasis. “We’re dealing with a shrike alpha. Hanastrel, have we seen any reports of shrike activity from the walls?”
“None, sir.”
The ogre looked into the distance for a silent moment, before turning to Kyle. “What do you know of shrikes, Courier?”
“I know that they tap into conceptual sharpness, they’re dangerous, and they usually travel in much smaller groups. That’s about it.”
Drokh nodded. “They have a shared hunting instinct, which only extends between 3. Unless they have an alpha. Rarely, a shrike will grow powerful enough to coordinate 3 separate packs on its own. This phenomenon is typically only seen in the Wilds, but if there were multiple packs acting in coordination, there’s no doubt that’s what we’re facing.”
“Assuming you all handled the other 3, it should be a while before the alpha is able to come back into the picture. With most of its pack gone, who knows if it’ll even be able to stay in charge?” Kyle’s voice held a tremor of hope, which Hanastrel squashed.
“There’s a hierarchy, Courier. The alpha could walk up to 2 other regular packs and assimilate them in less than a minute. What’s worse, alphas are significantly more intelligent than regular shrikes. It will remember this town, the tactics we used against it, and come back with another plan.”
“And this timing is no coincidence,” Drokh grumbled. “A shrike alpha just happened to slip past the Wall, past Her Majesty’s wards, and attack Varleez the day we’re coming through? This smells of conspiracy.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Kyle asked. “And where is Ver’ah?”
“He’ll catch up,” Drokh said. “Ordinarily, if we had to hunt an alpha, we would take an entire raiding band. The standard procedure is to find the den, bombard from range to draw the beasts out, and only engage when necessary. Ideally outnumbering the shrikes 3 or 4 to 1.
“However, that’s exactly what we would be expected to do. If this was a manufactured tragedy, as I believe, the orchestrator is waiting for us to gather our forces. And I’ll be boiled before I give them what they want.” Drokh’s last words came out as a growl, and Kyle could feel the undirected animosity pouring off the ogre.
“What would you have us do?” Hanastrel asked, voice quiet.
“We’re going to wait for Ver’ah to catch up, and you’re going to track the beasts to their den. I will slay the alpha myself; you and Ver’ah will simply need to hold the other shrikes until I’m done.”
“I’m coming with you,” Kyle said. “And before you argue, you just told me that you would ordinarily need a full raid team to handle a den. I’m perfectly capable of holding my own, and you’ll need me.”
Drokh scowled, but Kyle could see the conflict in his eyes. Fortunately, Ver’ah appeared past the crowd a moment later, giving Kyle the opportunity he needed. The troll was bloodied, with deep gouges in his armor and several wounds that hadn’t completely closed. He walked with a slight limp as he approached the others. Kyle walked over to Ver’ah, and without saying a word rested a palm on the troll’s shoulder, activating Healing Impetus.
The wounds crossing his body closed visibly, and Kyle suppressed a smile as the troll’s eyes widened, the latent healing energy from the skill being put to use by Ver’ah’s natural regeneration to spur his recovery further. Kyle turned and looked back at Drokh. “Don’t try to tell me that you won’t need a Healer.”