Wren leaned his shoulder into the gate. The corroded metal creaked. A faint dawn glow illuminated shattered concrete and twisted beams all around him. Argus, Bronte, Naia, and about two dozen others stood ready, weapons or tools in hand. Some gripped crowbars. Others carried scavenged spears. One or two had rifles with only a handful of bullets. This was it, the moment they would reclaim the fortress or fail trying.
Naia wedged a steel bar under the gate’s hinge. Sweat trickled down her brow. “Ready?” she muttered. Wren nodded, pressing harder. The barrier groaned, inching open. A stale smell rolled out: damp, rotting decay from the courtyard within.
Everyone tensed. They’d heard a creature inside. The day before, they’d started prying this open, but it only budged enough to reveal a scaly beast lunging at them. They’d closed it fast. Now, with more people, they hoped to drive it out or kill it quickly. Bronte gripped a bow, arrow nocked, scanning for movement.
A shriek cut through the morning quiet. A reptilian shape slammed into the partially open gate from inside, forcing the gap wider. Several people stumbled back, nearly losing their grip. Wren stepped into the breach with a newly formed ash blade in his left hand, a product of his skill leveling up to Intermediate. He braced his feet on the cracked asphalt.
The creature lunged. Its hide was a patchwork of scales, fangs glistening with some foul liquid. Two short horns curved from its brow. Wren darted forward, driving the ash blade toward its flank. Sparks flew where the dust-hardened edge met thick scales. The beast snarled, tail thrashing. It wasn’t a small monster. Its bulk nearly filled the gateway.
Naia jammed her spear in from the side, aiming for a gap near the neck. She struck flesh, but the creature twisted, smashing the wooden shaft. She stumbled, swearing. Bronte let loose an arrow from behind the group. It struck the creature’s shoulder, but didn’t sink deep.
“I need an opening!” Fernandez shouted, holding his shotgun at the ready. But with everyone bunched in front of him, a shot could hit allies. Wren got the message. He sidestepped, trying to herd the monster away from the group. The beast lunged at him, jaws snapping. He jumped back, raising a small ash barrier. Claws raked across it, fracturing the dusty shield in a shower of gray motes.
Teeth snapped inches from Wren’s face. He lashed out with the ash blade, carving into the monster’s cheek. It roared, rearing up. Fernandez seized the moment, stepping sideways. He pressed the shotgun barrel under the creature’s scaled chest and fired. A deafening boom echoed off the metal walls.
The beast jerked violently, greenish blood spraying. Its front legs buckled. Naia rushed in with a broken spear tip, ramming it into the side of the monster’s neck. Another hideous shriek. Wren swung the ash blade in a wide arc, aiming to finish it. The edge bit into vertebra. The beast collapsed, thrashing for a moment before going still.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Silence fell, broken only by ragged breathing. The group stared at the carcass, relief mixing with the stench of gore. Fernandez exhaled, pumping the shotgun to clear the spent shell. Three shells left in total. That was it.
Wren panted, stepping back from the bloody mess. The System pinged.
[System Notification: Scaled Devourer Defeated]
EXP +10
Ash Manipulation (Intermediate) - 2/150 EXP
Current Ash Reserve: 70%
He swallowed, ignoring the faint dizziness that threatened to toppled him. One monster down. Who knew how many more lurked inside?
Argus and Bronte signaled people forward. They pried the gate open enough to enter the courtyard. The morning light revealed battered walls, piles of rubble, and half-collapsed watchtowers on either corner. No immediate sign of more creatures. But the fortress’s interior was large, with multiple halls and corners.
“All right,” Argus muttered. “We break into teams. Clear each section. Watch for hidden monsters or old traps. Don’t split up too far.” He pointed to Wren, Naia, and a few fighters from Bronte’s side. “You handle the main building. We’ll check the perimeter.”
Wren nodded. His chest still ached from old wounds, but he forced the pain aside. They had a job to do, make sure the fortress was salvageable as a new home base.
Wren’s team of six advanced across cracked concrete. Broken crates and corroded metal drums littered the area. Weeds sprouted through the wreckage. A dull stench lingered, hinting at more dead things or old rot. Naia stepped over a twisted fence post.
“Stay sharp,” Wren warned. He formed a second ash blade for his off-hand, though shaping two constructs at once cost more focus. He scanned the corners with slow sweeps of his gaze.
They came upon a smaller outbuilding near the southern wall, a shed half-buried in debris. The door hung ajar. Naia nudged it open with a bent pipe. Darkness inside. She poked her head in, found only empty shelves and a rusted water drum with holes.
Fernandez nudged some splintered wood. “No sign of anything alive.” Another man from Bronte’s group, Kal, rummaged through a pile of old tools. Mostly broken. He pocketed a small metal clamp, muttering, “Might be fixable.”
They moved on, passing a collapsed watchtower that offered a vantage point if repaired. The ladder was warped, steps missing. They’d fix it later if the fortress was viable. For now, no one dared climb in its current state.
A flicker of movement near a stack of crates caught Wren’s eye. He raised a hand, signaling everyone to freeze. He stepped closer, forming a tiny swirl of ash in his palm to ready a projectile. He peered behind the crates, half expecting another scaly beast. Instead, a pair of skinny mutated rodents scurried away, squeaking. They vanished into a crack in the ground. Harmless, or at least not an immediate threat.
After twenty minutes had passed, they met back up near the fortress entrance that led into the main building. It was a heavy door, propped halfway open. Argus’s group came from the perimeter, nodding that the walls had some breaches but no major threats so far. The bigger question was what was inside.