Chapter 35

They took off in a run back toward the edge of town. When they rounded the corner to the road they had started on, Roden saw a swarm of little black silhouettes rustling about the street and the homes. They looked like ants haphazardly making their way through a picnic.

“We need to tell Errrkkkk somehow!”

“Yeah I think I got that covered.” Roden brought a flame to his hand, “Conflagration!”

The flame looked like a torch as it was lofted through the darkness. Many of the gremlins actually turned and followed the bright light on its journey to the largest group. The explosion rocked the ground and shook the homes. Any gremlins caught in the blast were vaporized by the bright white orange flames.

Riakon nodded “Yeah, I think that’ll get his attention.”

“I suppose it’s time we get in there.”

Both men were already activating their personal buffs. Riakon burst with yellow light from his Faith Shield and Sanctify. While Roden sprouted his Grove Armor and his Moment of Ignition cloak. He stretched out his hands, one to either side, a goofy grin wide across his face as his Flame blade erupted into his left hand and a slightly shorter version of his golden flamberge dropped into his right hand. He was finally going to have his Anakin moment.

“I’ll take the left side of the road.” Riakon said, pointing with his glowing hammer.

“Then I’ll take the right. I’ll watch your back.”

“And I yours.”

They both gave resolute nods and started running.

Roden was faster, his leaping about allowed him sail through the air and land amidst a loosely packed group of gremlins. He landed in a half crouch, took a deep breath, and launched into a flurry of sword strikes. His form would have been impossible with real swords, but his swords lacked the weight. He was able to whip them around at blinding speeds. Each cut left its victim sprawled out on the ground maimed or dead.

He fought his way down the road the majority of his attention was focused on the gremlins attempting to break into the homes of the townsfolk. He stabbed one gremlin who tore at the door of one such house. His Flame blade popped as it vaporized the ichor like blood that poured out of the wound.

Any gremlin that got the idea to charge him was unfortunate to confront his Moment of Ignition aura that was nearly enough on its own to incapacitate the weaker gremlins. Roden hadn’t realized it before, but his style was practically perfect for this kind of fight. His steady output of reliable attack and passive damage made it nearly impossible for the gremlins to even touch him.

Riakon was not having the same kind of luck. Fights like this were the antithesis to Riakon’s style. Sure, each of his hammer blows crushed each gremlin significantly more than was necessary, but his slow movement led to him being easily surrounded.

Riakon had burst through the doorway of a home to find a group of gremlins brandishing small knives at the family of townsfolk huddled in the corner of what was probably their living room. His hammer ripped through a couple, but the others were able to run past him and back out the door.

Riakon looked at the terrified people, “Are you okay? Are any of you injured?”

They all shook their heads no. Riakon nodded in reply and stepped toward the door. However, the light from the door was replaced by numerous roiling shadows. Just outside the doorway Riakon could see a sea of gremlins. As confident as he was in his ability to knock out the biggest and baddest creatures. He hated everything about this fight.

Then that voice crept into his mind, “Do it!” the voice hissed

No! he thought back at the voice.

“Riakon, they will all die if you don’t. My power can help you, help them.”

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The gremlins were jostling to be the first one in the door as others started toward the windows.

“Do it, Riakon!”

Riakon looked toward the family, saw the fear in their eyes and the hopelessness on their faces. In an act of desperation he took a deep breath, stepped to the door kicking the first gremlin who got in his way and exhaled a wave of fire over the horde of gremlins.

The sound of the gremlins being burned alive was drowned out by the voice in his mind coaxing him on, “Yeessssss! Good! That is it! Show them your power!”

On the other side of town, Errrkkkk was fighting a losing battle. The gremlins had orchestrated an attack on two fronts. Errrkkkk only assumed it was on two fronts from the fiery explosion that he saw back by their treehouse. Errrkkkk wasn’t in any real danger, but he couldn’t keep track of every gremlin at once.

He rapidly concluded his only option was to transform. He needed the extra speed and chi as his reserves were rapidly depleting.

He focused his chi between his wings and bore down on it until it met with that spark deep inside of him and it exploded. The torrent of chi surged out of him in a great aura. He wasted no time. He zipped through the throng of gremlins delivering powerful strikes while on the move. When he noticed a group of them had banded together to confront him, he crouched and pivoted. He brought his hands together before thrusting them forward toward the mob and shouted,

“Caaaaaaaaa, Caaaaaaawwwwwww!!!!!!”

His most recent advancement allowed him to pour more chi than ever into the blast, increasing both its power and range. The beam raced across the road and tore into the gremlin ranks. Those caught in the golden beam met a swift end.

The fighting raged on throughout the night. Each man fought tirelessly, but there were just too many for the three to account for all of the gremlins. Eventually, the town’s militia was gathered up and they helped keep the gremlins away from the rest of the town’s people, but as each fighter fell, the despair of the people only grew.

The fighting raged for so long Roden’s golden sword had to be recast. Riakon’s Faith Shield had ended and he no longer had enough magic to recast it. Errrkkkk had burned through all of his chi by the time his second transformation ended.

They had regrouped back at the base of the treehouse; the majority of the remaining gremlins had been pushed back just beyond the edge of town, but everyone could still hear their chattering.

All three men showed signs of wear. Roden’s armor was scuffed and he was panting heavily. Errrkkkk looked tired, but had few wounds of note. Riakon however, was covered in small cuts and punctures. He bled from nearly every space of exposed skin.

Even more shocking was Grok, who stood next to Riakon. His front claws were covered in dark gremlin blood and he too had a few scratches.

“Well boys, what do we do here?” Roden said while trying to catch his breath.

“Do you have any fireballs left?” Riakon said through gritted teeth.

“Just one, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”

“That’s more me, I’m spent.”

“Yeah… Me too, cacaw.”

Fuck, was all that came to Roden’s mind. He had burned through much of his repertoire saving townsfolk from the gremlins or trying to keep them from destroying the town itself. He still had enough magic left over for a few spells and most of all, he still had his Divine Gambit. As that very thought crossed his mind his attention was drawn toward the center of the gremlin mob.

He saw within their ranks was a slightly taller gremlin holding a staff that glowed with a sickly black energy that he could just barely make out in the dim light. Roden breathed a sigh of relief and trepidation all at once. He knew if he could take out the shaman the gremlins would scatter without their leader, but he also knew that staff meant that shaman was charged up with more magic than a gremlin was supposed to be able to wield.

“Hey guys, can yall see the shaman in the middle of the gremlins?”

Both men squinted and peered toward the mass of hairy creatures.

“Yeah, I can totally see them with my non-existent ability to see in the dark, cacaw.”

Riakon seconded Errrkkkk’s statement with a “Cacaw.”

“Well there is one, and I am going to try and end this. If I fall in there please take my body to my mother, she might be able to at least bring me back.”

All three men shared a moment of silence and even more so respect.

Roden resolved himself to his course of action. First, he casted Blessed Traveler on the three of them, he needed to be faster. Next, he activated his second use of his Moment of Ignition, he needed the aura to keep the gremlins off him long enough to reach the shaman.

“Wish me luck.”

Both men answered solemnly “Good luck, cacaw.”, “Good luck.”

Roden took off in a run that built up speed toward the gremlin horde. He could see the light of the moon reflecting off of their viciously pointed teeth. The glow of their red eyes seemed to hover formless in the dim light of the moon.

He had dismissed his Flame blade when he had cast his Blessed Traveler so he was empty handed when he brought his Conflagration into his hand. He was a flaming figure in the dark, his flaming cloak trailed behind him as he ran. The gremlins held back until he was close enough for them to smell his fear.

The mob surged forward toward Roden. Before they could reach him he planted a foot into the ground and leaped high into the air. He soared over their heads, fire in hand. He finally got a good look at the gremlin holding the staff. It had a knowing look in its eyes as it took in Roden in his full glory falling straight toward him.

Roden loosed his spell, “Conflagration!” just as he saw the glimmer of his Divine Gambit urging him to throw it. The spell landed at the shaman’s feet and erupted into an inferno. Roden himself was caught in the rush of flames as he had no way to prevent himself from falling into the blast.

The shockwave from the explosion was the part he hadn’t considered in his calculations. The force of it shattered parts of his armor and left him exposed to the flames. He did his best to curl up and protect his head, but it still hurt like hell.

His landing was not nearly as glorious as he had hoped. He had been too dazed by the blast to land on his feet and instead found himself shaking off his stupor while sitting on his ass surrounded by scorched gremlin bodies.

Roden was absolutely shocked to see the shaman had managed to stay on his feet. A swirling barrier had managed to blunt his flames just enough to save him. Time for plan B,

“Blaze!”

The cinders smoldering across the shaman’s clothes ignited. Roden dragged himself to his feet and inched closer to the flaming gremlin. As soon as his aura contacted the fire of his Blaze ability, he activated Flashpoint. His cloak burned up in an instant. The shaman could do nothing as he exploded. His Flashpoint explosion shook the ground and was followed by a second explosion of even greater force as the shaman’s staff unleashed all of its stored energy, with Roden at the epicenter.