Sean didn’t bother wasting any time. He dashed forward, instincts screaming at him to attack. To take advantage of the time his opponent was wasting on speech to tear out its throat. He was nearly halfway there when his mind caught up to the fact that this particular creature didn’t have a throat. But by then, Sean didn’t care. Summoning his mana along his left arm, he activated bone shield for the first time.
Liquid-white material coalesced in a flat sphere along and in front of his forearm, forming a large buckler that melded itself directly onto his bones. Roughly a foot in diameter, it wasn’t quite as wide as Sean had hoped for, but what it lacked in size it clearly made up for in sheer heft. The buckler was at least half an inch thick, and felt heavier than any serving platter Sean had ever carried.
Bone Shield activated. 2 mana used. Durability: 2. Hardness: 9
That single ability had cost him fully half his mana. Half of the hourglass on his own life – and in his very first exchange with the nightmare-cape (or whatever this thing was) bone shield saved the rest of it. The creature swung both of its dark claws just as Sean threw his left arm out to meet the blow. Both claws felt as if they sank partially into the shield, and if Sean had still had a heart left it would have skipped a beat. Thankfully for his long-since-devoured organs, the creature’s claws stopped cold halfway through and were only able to rake the rest of his shield.
A shrill grating sound like that of nails dragged across thick glass shot through the room, and Sean charged straight through his opponent. He wasn’t a fool. Any gamer, fantasy nerd, or hell anyone who had ever seen a Marvill movie could see that this thing was some kind of ghost. Which most likely meant physical attacks were going to be completely useless and – given how this thing had been gliding through the literal furniture – it was probably also ethereal or some shit.
In other words, he now had to fight something that could fly through solid objects, carve up whatever it wanted, and was most likely effectively immune to the only abilities he had. All of which was proven when the creature simply exploded into fragmented darkness the instant he was about to make contact, before reforming a second later and flying after him.
Come on, man. Sean lamented, as he wondered just what they could have done to piss this particular nasty off. We didn’t even touch that book! So why’s it gotta send spooky nightmare shit after us!?
Just as he was about to clear the doorway, two skeletal warriors walked into the tavern, each armed with the same sword-and-board getup Sean had seen the patrols carrying. The nightmare-cape behind him shouted something, and both of the undead in his path turned their attention to him. The warrior on the right hefted its shield in front of it, pulling its arm back for a heavy thrust. Meanwhile the one on the left lifted its sword hand high, no doubt preparing to bring an overhand blow down with all its might.
Lefty’s plans were interrupted when Sean ducked his head behind his shield and slammed his own might into the warrior, doing his best impression of a rampaging bull. To his surprise, the trick worked. The skeleton’s sword bounced off his shield like a toy sword off a truck, and the sheer momentum of his attack bowled the undead over. Its partner’s thrust never came, the warrior instead having to duck behind its own shield as a battle-axe so clear it was almost see-through swung at its head as they flew by. Gel’s blow missed by a mile as the pair rolled into the street, but the attack had still done its job of throwing off their other opponent.
Sean clambered to his feet as quickly as he could, ignoring Lefty’s attempts to re-engage, and took off. He swerved past the holes in the street as he ran, hoping that his inability to pick up speed in a straight line wouldn’t allow the ghostly nightmare-cape to catch him in the back. Not wanting to risk looking back to check for that very thing and accidentally falling into a mystery pit, he asked the slime his most pertinent questions first. Shouted them, really.
“Are they still chasing us?!”
“Yeah!” Gel said enthusiastically, and Sean could immediately tell the battle-high had gotten to the slime. “Great job knocking that one down, did you see my–”
“Thanks, but why are they chasing us?!” Sean interrupted. He had initially thought that the ghost had come from the graveyard – which had made sense to him, given the cryptic-ass warning that one grave-tree had given them – but now that the warriors were after them as well, he had a sinking feeling he knew the answer. Still, he had to know. “And what was that thing saying?”
“Bancroft sent them, I am one-hundred-percent sure.” Gel responded, and the slime sounded almost gleeful at the prospect of being able to take on more of the necromancer’s minions. “Mostly because it was angry at us for burning down the stables and forcing it to track us by smell. Did you step in something while we were there? I wasn’t paying attention.”
Sean thought back to the dried horse manure he had inadvertently stepped in, and clearly recalled the feeling of it squishing through his toes. He started swearing, but kept the bulk of it inside his own mind instead of venting at Gel. He hadn’t thought to clean his feet off in the grass, so some of it must have stayed on him as they ran out. Though that still didn’t answer how it had known to follow them here.
“How did it find us, though? We left all that goop behind when we evolved. Even if it tracked us there, how did–” Sean quit talking mid-sentence as he dodged around another hole, then darted into the alley between a pair of houses. He didn’t need to breathe to send his thoughts at Gel, but focusing on the conversation was still a bit of a distraction right now.
“No idea.” Gel responded, and this time the slime’s eagerness to get back in the fight started bleeding over. “It’s here now though, so what’s our plan?”
Sean didn’t have one. His whole logic behind going into the alley had been that if their pursuers lost line-of-sight, then they would have to start guessing where he was headed. If they went the wrong way, then that would give them some time to figure out what to do next. He wasn’t about to admit that, though.
“Survive.” Sean declared, making up a new plan on the spot. “If we can lure the patrols into those holes or take them out ourselves, then we can fight the ghost one on one. Figure out how to kill it.”
That actually sounded sort of good. Sean reflected briefly, sending a mental ‘thank-you’ to the two main sources of tactics training in his old life: the military, particularly his old supervisor Technical Sergeant Adams, and videogames.
“Love it.” Gel announced. “Though, that’s not a ghost. It’s a shroud.”
“What’s the difference?” Sean asked, feeling like that particular information may have been useful before he had started internally calling the thing ‘nightmare-cape’. At least he hadn’t inadvertently shared that nickname with Gel.
Before Gel could respond, the shroud attacked. It burst through the wall next to Sean, claws extended and reaching for his skull. Pure luck was all that kept the creature’s sudden ambush from killing them, its aim off by only the barest few inches. But the gap gave Sean enough time to bring his shield up and smash it into the shroud once more.
Only instead of dispersing the shroud into pieces his enemy’s ice-blue eyes flashed once, releasing bolts of bright-blue energy, and his arm stopped. Or, more accurately, Sean’s entire body did. An alarm bell sounded off in his head as a bright-red prompt with sky-blue lightning weaving through its borders crackled through his vision.
You have been stunned by an unknown ability of ‘Lesser Shroud’ for five seconds.
Panic shot through Sean so quickly that his skeletal nature reacted immediately to dampen the emotion. A cold shiver passed through him, but that still wasn’t enough to take the fear away completely. Sean tried to respond, to fight off the stun ability, to warn Gel about what was happening – but he couldn’t. Even his mind felt like it had been scrambled and poured through a sieve. There were too many pieces in too many places, and he couldn’t make sense of his own thoughts enough to send them.
All he could do was watch.
To his dismay, the shroud didn’t waste the opening. It didn’t spend any time monologuing, gloating, or toying with its prey. The only discernible change in its features was a malicious, satisfied twist to its nightmare of a mouth as the shroud attacked once more. It had three whole seconds to kill him, and the shroud clearly wanted the job done before its stun effect elapsed. Its claws came for him and–
– and Gel’s swipe with the axe intercepted them mid-swing. It wasn’t anything so formal as a block or parry. One second there was nothing between them, and the next there was so much slime-metal in the shroud’s face that it had no choice but to explode into darkness once more. The slime began furiously slashing at the open air, keeping the creature from reforming its body. An angry wailing sound emanated from the wisps of furious darkness and an instant later, it had shoved its way back through the wall once more.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“The difference is these things can stun their prey.” Gel twirled his axe and pushed it against the wall to forcibly adjust Sean to stare at the wall the shroud had just gone through. “Great trick. Wish I could do it.”
The two skeletal warriors from before came around the corner, rushing straight for them. Gel’s mental voice remained excited, but it gained a note of worry as the slime spoke again.
“Uhh… Sean? Now would be a great time to wake back up.” Gel swung his axe at the pair of warriors, forcing them to give up on their charge and adopt defensive positions. Righty and Lefty both raised their shields and swords in a mirror image of one another this time as they advanced. Gel’s next swing barely slowed them at all. “Sean!?”
Five seconds had never felt so long. The stun wore off just as Gel’s last shout came through, and Sean raised his own shield immediately. He was only an instant too late.
The shroud shot up from the ground, and this time it wasn’t aiming for him. Its spectral claws stabbed through the opening in his lower ribcage, piercing directly into the slime housed inside his chest. Gel shouted in pain and the arm holding their only weapon faltered. The shroud’s face twisted up to meet Sean’s crimson orbs with its own pale-blue, a mocking triumph sparkling just below those icy depths. Rage shot through him, and another emotion-dampening shiver swept him from head to toe, but this time Sean had rage to spare. He slammed his bone buckler directly into the thing’s face.
The creature dispersed into black smoke again just before the blow landed. Though he might have imagined, Sean thought he heard an echo of laughter coming from within the smoke.
“Gel?!” Sean asked Gel as he took several jumps backwards from the still-advancing skeletal warriors. “You alright in there?”
“Yeah…” Gel burbled up. The slime shook himself, then cried out again. “First stabbing. Not my favorite. No wonder you get so pissed off all the time.”
Relief swept through Sean just as his anger solidified. He had no idea how much damage Gel had just taken, but Sean was determined for that to be the last time the shroud got his stupid spectral hands on his friend. He blocked another blow from Lefty on his shield and his instincts screamed at him to move. Righty thrust forward again just as Sean dodged backwards, and the ensuing exchange of blows continued to get worse for him. Sean was pushed back until he felt the edge of a pit on the back of his heel crumble.
His right arm raised as Gel got back in the fight, hefting their transparent axe once more.
“Wait for it…” Sean said as Righty prepared yet another heavy thrust and Lefty slowly advanced, shield up. “Wait…”
“What are we waiting fo–” Gel began, but Sean cut him off just as Righty struck.
“Now!” Sean lunged forward, stepping between his two opponents and shoving Lefty aside with his shield.
“Now wha–?” Righty’s thrust went wide, sliding past Gel’s axe as the skeletal warrior committed fully to its thrust. Sean spun on one foot and shoved Righty hard with his shield. Righty stumbled backwards into open air, and promptly fell down the three foot-wide hole. The surprise etched onto its skull as it grasped at nothing on the way down might have been comedic if they weren’t still under attack.
The next several seconds of combat were the most intense and thrilling Sean had yet to experience. Manic laughter bubbled up out of him, his rattling jaw echoing hauntingly through the streets as Sean dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and dodged his way across the village. He met each of the shroud’s charges with his shield as Gel kept Lefty at bay with the axe. The battle was desperate, and he was outmatched – but Sean had never felt so alive.
Their battle lasted only moments, but it felt like much longer. With each set of traded blows, Sean’s battle-high grew. His instincts for combat were matched by the other skeletal warrior, but his undead opponent couldn’t seem to get a read on the slime’s attacks. Each swing of the axe felt both random and timed, as if Gel were simply going with what felt right to him. When the shroud disappeared into another wall, the pair seized on that moment.
Gel hooked Lefty’s foot with his axe as Sean ducked low, then rose to his feet and shield-slammed the skeletal warrior into another pit. The undead plummeted at least ten feet down, and Sean’s instincts cheered alongside the slime at the downing of another opponent. His skull swiveled around, looking for where the shroud might be coming from next – but he saw nothing. Unfazed, Sean kept his shield up and settled behind it, watching the walls and the ground as he waited.
As the fight had gone on, Sean had learned a few things about the shroud. The spectral creature had some way of mitigating his toughness with its attacks, though not even to pierce all the way through. Its claws alone weren’t up to the task of breaking him. At least, not by themselves. The shroud was holding some special ability in reserve, one that had made its dark claws gleam – only for the creature to seemingly withdraw the effect when Gel’s axe had swiped through its form.
The thing was smart. It had never come at Sean the same way twice, which made its sudden absence all the more disturbing. It had also apparently settled on eliminating Gel as the way to take them both down. A strategy that was more accurate than the creature could possibly know.
They hadn’t seen it use its stun ability again, but Sean would bet his remaining arm that wasn’t due to luck. The shroud was biding its time, waiting for the perfect moment. It had failed once, and probably didn’t have the mana to try again too many more times.
Not so tough without your armed guards, are ya? Sean thought, wishing he spoke at least some of the thing’s language so he could voice his taunt aloud. Though he would need an actual voice for that first.
Movement caught his orbs and Sean spun towards it, shield raised. As he’d expected, the shroud had come back for them. It had also apparently learned from its earlier failure, and had stopped underestimating them. Four more armed warriors charged alongside it as the shroud flew towards them. Footsteps crunched the dirt behind Sean, and he turned again. Another pair of patrols were coming from two more directions.
They were surrounded.
How did it find them all so quickly? Sean cursed. Was this its plan before it even attacked? Damnit!
Thinking quickly, Sean backed down the only route left available. He dashed into the house behind them, lamenting its lack of a front door. He rushed up the stairs to its second floor, hoping to at least force their enemies to come at him one at a time. It would make dodging the shroud harder, but what other choice did he have?
Think, think, think! Sean chastised himself. There had to be a way out of this. They just had to find it.
Sean’s proverbial stomach dropped as the skeletal warriors slowly filed into the house below him. They formed a solid defensive line first, before the shroud floated in above them. Its pale-blue eyes locked on Sean, and Sean felt the inevitability of death from its gaze. He was about to start planning their defense with Gel, when the slime’s axe melted down. It reformed into Gel’s core, and Sean’s jaw slowly dropped.
“What uh… what are you doing?” Sean asked, as his right arm shot into their satchel.
“Looking for the trumpet!”
“The.. trumpet?!” Sean couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They needed a weapon to fight off the warriors climbing the stairs, not a musical instrument! This wasn’t a musical! “What the hell is that going to do?”
“Save our lives!” The slime shouted back. “Barry said it was his final trump card!”
“And you tell me now!?” Sean took a step forward and bashed his shield into the first undead to reach him. To his dismay, the undead did not topple backwards onto his fellows. It stood its ground, and struck again.
“The memory didn’t make any sense before!” Gel said, poking one eye out of Sean’s ribcage to get a better look in the bag. “Who calls their instrument a badge of honor?”
Sean personally wondered what sort of loon called their trumpet their final trump card, but he didn’t have time to question the validity of a dead man’s decisions. They were still under attack, the skeletal warriors were pushing him back, and the shroud hadn’t even joined in yet. It had simply floated up, remaining only a few feet from the railing.
With a sinking feeling, Sean thought he knew what the shroud was waiting for.
“How’re we doing down there, Gel?” Sean asked, trying to keep his worry from his voice as he stumbled backwards against the advance of two skeletal warriors. There were only two rooms up here, and he was about to be forced into one of them. Just as he hit the doorway the shroud’s eyes gleamed once more, bolts of bright-blue energy lighting up the room.
“Gel?!”
You have been stunned by an unknown ability of ‘Lesser Shroud’ for five seconds.
“Got it!” Gel shouted triumphantly, raising the trumpet high in Sean’s broken right arm. The slime put the trumpet’s horn up against Sean’s open jaw. “Here, blow!”
The shroud’s spectral head tilted, and its pale-blue eyes narrowed. It dove towards them, claws outstretched.
“Oh, right. You can’t breathe.” Gel said, sticking the trumpet inside himself this time. “Because I ate your lungs.”
“And they were delicious.” Gel mumbled to Sean, right as he inflated himself with a copied pair of those same lungs. With a little extra effort Gel formed a mimicry of Sean’s own lips and pushed an entire lungful of air through the trumpet.
A loud, cacophonous note that couldn’t possibly have come from an instrument of that size shook the entire house. Far above, the sky rumbled and the clouds split apart. A beam of brilliant white crashed down from the heavens. It bore through the house in a perfect circle, as a solid mass came through the beam and landed directly in front of Sean and Gel like a meteor thrown by God himself. With its arrival, all of the house’s occupants were blinded – even the undead.
When the light finally died down, the blindness lifted and Sean’s ‘stunned’ status had worn off. A roar of pure, primal rage shook the house once more as the latest entrant to the fight bellowed its defiance to the world.
Sean propped himself up on one elbow, and his jaw dropped open in shock. He gaped at what the trumpet had summoned, unable to believe what his orbs were reporting to him. He rubbed his empty sockets with one hand, but the scene before him didn’t change. A prompt appeared in his vision.
It was a brilliant, almost incandescently luminous white, and the sound accompanying it was – perhaps fittingly – a chorus of royal trumpets all blaring together in heraldic song.
“Oh, god damnit!”