Benjamin Vryce

The trail was a twisted, winding path. Moving between trees, over moss slick rocks and through bramble patches that snagged at his clothes with every step. It was dark too, the canopy of leaves above blotting out much of the sun. Benjamin chuckled to himself mirthlessly, at least it wasn’t wet.

He ended up leaving the crossbow behind after it had gotten tangled in brambles for the umpteenth time. The release lever had been tripped and it had discharged into a tree, after that he thought he could move faster without it. The only weapon he still had was the long belt knife, he hadn’t been impressed with it but it never hurt to have an extra. Besides, his claws were as sharp and deadly as any blade from the table.

After an hour or so of walking the undergrowth let up considerably. The trees here were older and spread farther apart, the ground was carpeted in a thick bed of fallen leaves, remnants of many winters. He had to go slowly so as not to make too much sound.

The trees were getting incredibly large, another hour into the path and they were larger than any trees from earth, except maybe the redwoods. He had seen pictures of those in a nature magazine, somehow seeing trees of that size in person was even more awe inspiring then he would have believed.

Since he was looking upwards, gaping at the trees, he saw it when the first attack of this trail came. They came bounding in, springing from branch to branch. Running head first down the trunks like it was a flat road.

They chittered as they came. First two then three, four, six of them. Great furred beasts, he had trouble making them out, between the speed they were traveling and the green gloom from the massive trees. He got his first good look when the first one landed right in front of him, the size of a large dog with a tail even bigger than its body…It was a giant squirrel.

It bared its teeth at Benjamin, four massive incisors reminiscent of the dire rat. He supposed that made this a dire squirrel. That was all the time he had for comparisons as it launched itself at him. Mouth open, ready to bite his head off. Benjamin fell back instinctually tripping over a tree root and landing on his back.

He had a sudden flashback to how he had died. He had panicked then too, stepped back and tripped only to be gored to death. Not this time. With sudden resolve he bared his own fangs at the charging beast and reached up to meet its charge.

He got his hands around its throat as it came in close, narrowly managing to stop its advance as its mouth snapped shut inches from his eyes. His fingers flexed, driving his claws deep into the beast’s neck. It chittered again, this time in agony as Benjamin dug his fingers deeper into its flesh.

With a grunt of effort and the full might of his newly acquired form Benjamin ripped the creature’s throat out. Blood rained down on him, and he found himself covered in a crimson tide once more. He closed his mouth trying to avoid tasting the foul stuff to only partial success.

Bringing his legs up under him he shoved, the beast flew off him and crashed into the closest tree. Benjamin managed to make it as far as his knees when the next two beasts pounced. One came in high, the other crouched low.

He brought one foot up under him and used it to launch himself forward to meet the pair. Hands curved to bring his claws to bare. Swinging his right arm into the head of the one that had went low he heard a crunch as its skull broke under his swing.

He didn’t have time to get excited about his victory however as the other one landed on top of him and bit down hard on his shoulder. The new brigandine cuirass blunted the majority of the bite but the plates were crumpled up and the outer layer of leather was ripped.

Benjamin drove his left hand up and into the squirrel’s abdomen, entering just below the ribcage. Grabbing a handful of whatever he could find he ripped it out. A mass of blood covered ropes came away in his hand and the now mortally wounded animal fell away from him with a screech.

That was three down. He looked up and around as he climbed to his feet. Two of the beasts were on the ground rushing at him, he couldn’t see the other three from where he was. Picking a creature at random he rushed it, fangs bared and claws leading the way.

Just before impact he dodged to the side, letting the squirrel dart passed him. Reaching out as it flew by, he snagged its tail. The big bushy object was surprisingly solid under his hand, feeling like a thick cable of corded muscle.

He dropped to his back and pulled. There was a sharp crack as the bones in the tail shattered, the maimed squirrel screeched out its agony. This caused the second beast to hesitate for just a moment. Benjamin took advantage of that split second and rolled back over onto his knees again.

He swiped out with his claws, but missed the beast by an inch. One of the three that had been out of his sight landed on his back just then and sunk its teeth into the extended arms biceps. Benjamin convulsed in pain, wondering how he was going to recover from this. The answer came in a flash of silver.

He had forgotten about the little spider drone in the heat of combat. It looked like it had been waiting for the best opening before it engaged, the dire squirrel perched on Benjamin’s back was just such a chance.

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Silver plunged both forelegs forward into the beast, each held a syringe of something either poisonous or venomous. Before releasing the clasps and going for other attachments it could also hook onto its limbs.

Benjamin didn’t have time to spare watching further however. The now poisoned squirrel was writhing on the ground in pain but his arm was in bad shape. He pulled it back to his chest as the squirrel that had paused as its companion landed on him rushed forward again.

As he was cradling his wounded arm with his other Benjamin didn’t know what else to do so he leaned into the beast as it lunged and bit down hard on its neck, just as it bit into his cuirass. The teeth once again dented the thin sheets of metal but failed to penetrate.

Benjamin didn’t have much better luck himself; his fangs were quite short and his mouth not designed for biting in this manner. The dire squirrel also had thick fur covering its throat. Even so as his fangs sank into the squirrel it let go its hold on him, surprised perhaps that its prey had bitten it.

As it attempted to pull away, Benjamin raised his uninjured hand and dug his claws into the creature’s throat just under where his teeth were buried. Holding its head in place with his jaws he buried his hand into its throat and pulled.

He was awash once again with gore, but he had taken another enemy from the field. The only enemy that left was the one with the broken tail. He staggered to his feet; eyes blurring with pain. He squinted passed the pain and blood to find his last opponent.

He finally found it, perched some twenty feet up a tree staring down at him with narrowed eyes. He started cackling at the thought of a squirrel glaring at him, maybe he was more hurt than he thought. He staggered forward a step then collapsed to his knees, a glint catching his eye as he fell.

The dire squirrel took the opportunity to leap at him. As it dropped, Benjamin raised his arm, flinging silver at the last squirrel. They met five feet over Benjamin’s head, Silver sinking another one of its syringes into the beast moments before it collided with Benjamin.

This caused the already injured squirrel to spasm in pain, but it wasn’t out of the fight just yet. Rage had over ridden its mind it seemed because it gave out an ear-piercing chittering squeak and drove its fangs into Benjamin’s upraised arm.

He didn’t have the strength to fight back, or an uninjured arm to do it with. Benjamin was thrashed about as the beast shook its head. The only thing that saved his arm was the new metal plated bracer he had put on at the last platform.

Even that had only saved him from being punctured, he was pretty sure his arm was broken. He howled out in pain as the thrashing slowed and then stopped, poison finally setting in. he breathed raggedly cradling both arms to his chest. Silver, back at his side injected him with a pain killer but it was like putting a Band-Aid on a stab wound.

He had felt the tremor inside as he killed each of the dire squirrels. The knot inside him had grown brighter once more, he wondered if it could help him in any way. Closing his bloodshot eyes, he tried to concentrate on the knot.

Like before he hadn’t figured out how to unravel the knot so he pulled on it instead. It seemed to shrink in on itself as he pulled but gave him access to its power. He thought about nothing but healing himself quickly. He needed to be healed and fast, he squeezed his already closed eyes tighter. Wishing that his wounds would heal faster.

He felt another sting as Silver shot another pain killer into his battered body. He didn’t know if it was the meds or the knot of power but he was starting to feel less pain. His wounds were starting to itch, bringing almost as much agony as the bites themselves.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. Slumping forward onto the dog sized squirrel that had savaged him so badly, he fell asleep.

* * *

Frank Briggs

Frank had no idea how long he had been battling in the Labyrinth. It was fun, and kept his mind off of his worries. He stood far back from the action, taking cover behind a humanoid Juggernaut Class security Drone. It had taken him several hours, ten repair drones, and the help of the advanced A.I. he had gotten from Shipwright, but he had managed to piece one of the enemy units back together.

Hickory, Dickory and Dock darted around the battlefield in a triangle formation. Bowling into small drones and rending them to pieces. Each of the dire rats was now wearing a refurbished shield generator on a carbon fiber harness.

Frank had acquired them from Personal Combat Drones he had defeated. He then hardwired a repair drone to each harness, so it could made repairs on the fly. He had tried to outfit his friends with blast pistols too but they still had to run on all fours, and couldn’t get the concept of aiming down anyway.

Frank was toying with the idea of shoulder mounted guns with a rudimentary A.I. built in for targeting, but hadn’t had the time or the parts. As his mind wondered his drones and the dire rats finished up the last level.

Frank looked around, surprised that he was done already. Had it really been one hundred levels? There was so much more he wanted to try. He was contemplating calling for Shipwright to see about doing it again, when the World lord contacted him.

“Mr. Briggs, you made excellent time again I see,” it said with its synthesized voice trilling more than usual.

“Hi Shipwright, yea I did but I haven’t been able to figure out how to fix my friends yet. What am I doing wrong?” he asked dejectedly, remembering that he was supposed to be working on that and having forgotten all about it.

The World lord buzzed and writhed, flailing its limbs and spun around for long moments before replying.

“It can cause errors for one to influence another on matters of the soul…but I have reviewed the footage and see that you have yet to start…a small hint couldn’t hurt.” It said reluctantly.

“Yes, Please Mr. Shipwright.” Frank said with a big smile.

The World lord knew it shouldn’t but it couldn’t help itself. The boy was doing so well for a meat bag.

“Cancel visual input from your ocular sensers.” It said by way of starting. “Find the energy source collected from defeating enemy drones. That energy source will be connected via wiring system throughout your hardware.” It paused for a moment gathering its thoughts before it continued.

“There will be a malfunction in the wiring system, find it.”

It took frank almost five minutes before he figured out that Shipwright wanted him to close his eyes. Even longer to find the tremoring knot, once he found it, he let out a happy cry and gave it a tug.

“NO…um…I mean…Mr. Briggs. Pulling on it will free up a little energy initially but make it harder to unravel later.” Shipwright cautioned the young man.

“Oh, ok. Thanks Shipwright. I’ll work on this for a little while.” Said Frank, sweat already beading up on his brow at the strain.

“Do not rush the process Mr. Briggs, this takes much time.” Shipwright cautioned, before switching his screen off. He shouldn’t have said even that much, but he couldn’t imagine a small nudge in the right direction could hurt.