Krom's gentle touch ignites me, kindling life's vibrant flame,

From barren expanse to lush lands, I call every being by name.

-Thoubose

ROMAN

“Krom that was bright!” Alfred said, desperately clawing at his eyes, trying to get his focus back. “What was that!”

“No idea, but that wasn’t good.” Gerald gasped as he realized the beacon this place now had become. His cabin was positioned on an overlooking mountain separating forest valley from beach and sea. The whole area had just lit up as if it were the light of day. “Master Acolyte, please refrain from that again.”

“Like the baby can understand that” Alfred quipped.

“He’s a smart boy! Aint you Theo.” Gerald giving the baby a tummy tickle at that.

Roman, picking up on the worry from Gerald. “So, let’s say someone were to kill our king, how quickly do you think we could all muster a full counterattack?”

“The way Ger made it sound, I would say these guys are self-appointed kings, more mobsters” Alfred interjected.

“Regardless.” Roman replied hastily.

“They probably started hunting us the moment they unfroze. We did hopefully delay them a bit and Ger did have a few secret paths that had to throw the trail off.” Thomas said. Worried glances crossing between each of the members in the party.

“Well, I think that just let them all know exactly where we are.” Sloan interjected in a flat tone, voicing what the others were avoiding.

“How’s the recharge?” Thomas looked to his brother.

“I’m decent now, maybe a third. I just can’t waste too much jumping around.”

The next few moments were a flurry of activity as Gerald began pulling bags and supplies out of cupboards and throwing things hastily in empty sacks. The group helping best they could as Gerald grumbled and pointed at various items scattered around the place.

“Ger! I thought you had bags ready! We are doing a lot more assembly than if things were ready!” Alfred whined as they all scurried around.

“I said it would take ten minutes!”

“Bug out bags are supposed to be ready always!” Alfred said as he hastily threw items in various sacks.

“At least you will have supplies!” Gerald retorted.

“Al stop pestering Ger.” Thomas groaned from his area of the cabin as he worked with the group.

“Alright, was just saying, that’s all.”

“Don’t be grabbin the candle sticks, you daft? What would we need them for?”

“Sorry got into a grab and go kinda mode… They are quite nice.” Alfred looked around embarrassed as Roman and Thomas chuckled, the mood lightening slightly until the next bit of bad news.

“Krom!” Gerald shrieked. “Me wards, they are trippin.” He closed his mind for a moment before continuing. “Looks like a party northwest.” He closed his eyes again. “Gettin the numbers once they all pass through. Fifteen maybe twenty.” Gerald then continued his manic packing.

“What ya thinkin’ Commander? Thomas looked toward Roman.

“AH, another party. Northeast.” Gerald interrupted as he mentally reviewed his ward network, placing his hands on the post of intricate runes to make sure it wasn’t malfunctioning.

“How many on this one.” Sloan asked, worry in her tone.

“Seems about the same as the other lot.” Gerald replied.

“Darn that’s a lot.” Thomas grumbled. “Two score!”

“What did you expect, they are hunting Gemini!” Alfred interjected.

“I am thinking if we run, it might be hard to lose the tail with two groups in pursuit.” Roman stroked his chin as he thought over the chain of things to come. “Ger, you got any traps rigged around here?” asking a question he already knew the answer to.

A wicked look crossed Gerald’s face as he confirmed with a simple. “Who do yous think lives here?”

“Alright perfect, exactly what I thought. We will need to harry them then, hopefully we can take most out and make a clean exit.”

“Let’s not be worrying about no clean exit. I have a back way to the shore, cuts through the mountain ridge and drops us right on the beach. We can take my boat from there to get to the river. It will get us somewhat close to the Fredrickson’s barony. We can trek it from there.”

We won’t get far if we flat-out run to the exit, especially if this is just the first wave of whoever was available in haste to hunt the Boss Slayers.” Roman chuckled. “We might need to whittle them down. Then run while the rest are regrouping. Get us the edge back. Can we see an area map?”

“I can make us a quick battle map.” Gerald said as he grabbed his ring of runes and started flipping through them. Gerald selected a purple glowing rune with an eye embossed on it. “Good old trusty mind’s eye, it lets me project images from me head. Got that pretty in a game of dice.”

“How much do you gamble Ger?” Alfred looked playfully concerned.

“Enough to win these bobbles. I can slap together a battlefield map with what me runic network be givin’ me.” He concentrated for a moment on the rune card, before it shimmered and revealed an areal map of the terrain, traps Gerald had ready, enemies in the area, and various paths Gerald chose to highlight.

“This is great!” Roman thought for a few seconds as he strategized the situation. “What’s this?”

Gerald pointed to a few of the traps, explaining how and when they should be deployed.

…

THE FREDRICKSONS

“Team B, like bad ass-ary right?” Alfred looked to Thomas from their hidden vantage point on a rocky outcropping along the ridgeline.

“If you need that to get psyched up, then yes absolutely team bad ass-ary is what Roman was thinking when we made the sixty second plan.” Thomas smirked in amusement at his brother.

The twenty Skull members were stalking silently forward with a slight shimmering glow. The invisibility runes they cast on themselves before making their assault was actually helping Thomas and Alfred. Before leaving the cabin, the team was able to link to Gerald’s ward network with an additional bracer they equipped, to help them track the assailants and activate the trap runes without needing Gerald to manually activate them from the Cabin. The men might be invisible, but the wards were powerful themselves. The wards were why they could now see a faint shimmering outline around the men as they crept towards Gerald’s cabin, unbeknownst to them. Without access to the network, the squad of men would have easily walked right past the brothers.

The connection to the ward network required them to use their earthen casting slot, rending them less a class of essence for the battle, but worth it for this kind of intelligence. Roman made sure to top the energy off for the whole network’s supply at the cabin’s pilar, to make sure it had enough nature essence stored. Gerald, living a relatively hermit life with no enemies had no need to keep the maximum amount of power his network could hold, nor could he probably fill it in a month himself.

“It’s going to be tough for Roman, he won’t be able to use the ward network and a few of them must be using a few large area of affect sneaking runes across their party members. They are using strong invisibility and sound dampening at the least.” Alfred whispered.

“He should be fine, he has Sloan.” Thomas whispered, wincing as he said her name.

Alfred catching the movement, decided not to bring it up now.

“The squad is spaced out pretty good.” Alfred noted, reviewing the shimmering forces ahead of him.

The men were being corralled in the direction of the cabin, unbeknownst to them. Dense, thick vegetation around Gerald’s property to their right sides and a ridgeline to their left. It was thick and thorny in some areas, leaving the easier path as the one of less resistance. Gerald knew this. There were three men on each of the outsides of the sneaking formation, a group of five in the middle. The remaining nine men were spread out behind the front as ranged support.

“They’re probably instructed that because they know lava is in play after earlier. It would take too much power to convert that much of an area, then the other group would come in to mop us up when we are drained or distracted, if I try. That was probably their plan at least.” Thomas replied.

“Dreadlocks three o’clock.” Alfred pointed out Ranjoon, the man from earlier and second hand to the man they killed in the previous engagement.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“OOOO Nice. They don’t know the hornet’s nest they just poked. We probably should have just killed all these guys back there, then we wouldn’t be here now.”

“We didn’t know what we had stumbled into before.” Thomas slowly unstrapped the borrowed war hammer. Gerald’s was nowhere near as fine an instrument as his war hammer was, but he would be re-united with it once he got back to his castle.

“Thoughts?” Alfred asked.

“I am thinking we both hit a double lethal blow on captain dreads. I’m guessing we should double blow each person we strike. They’re probably all using shield runes like most basic outfits.” Thomas thought out loud.

“Better to assume that at least. Best to break through their Skull twice, instead of them surprising us in retaliation.” Alfred replied.

“We did take that guys rune deck; he might not have a good backup set.” Thomas whispered.

“We didn’t loot the king guy; Dreads could have gotten an upgrade. Let’s just assume we have to vaporize everyone like they were Gemini.” Alfred cracked is neck, and subsequent knuckles as he begun to prepare for the upcoming skirmish.

“Alright.” Thomas wiped some sweat from his forehead and adjusted his hammer grasp.

A maniacal grin forming on Alfred’s face. “Been a long time since we’ve done this and now two times in one day, my blood is pumping.” Alfred unsheathed his sword slowly to not draw unnecessary sound.

“Yeah!” Thomas gripped his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s do this!”

Waiting for the last of the ranged group to pass their hiding spot, the Fredrickson brothers finally begin activating some of the defensive runes littered through the natural makeshift corridor. Pop Pop Pop, a series of ripping sounds came from the dense vegetation followed by a minor tremor from the ground as the thing moved. A massive, thorned vine arose from its grip in the earth. The thorns each the size of a grown man, and they were densely packed along its length, an absolute nightmare to see moving. The vine, freeing itself from underbrush, cleaved through the left side of the formation killing seven of the assailants instantly with its weight and spiked veracity.

“Seven.” Thomas whispered.

Once the vine came to rest, the trap expended, Alfred activated another defensive trap rune. This one causing a boulder near their vantage point to dislodge from their higher elevated ridge point and tumble down the hill, causing a miniature rockslide in its wake.

“Eight more dead or not going anywhere anytime soon. Holy Thoubose Ger!” Alfred looked on in astonishment at the destruction wrought by the traps.

“Three, two...” Thomas grabbing Alfred’s focus again.

Thomas cast and shot two pumpkin sized fireballs in succession from his outstretched palm at Ranjoon, who wasn’t affected by the previous traps. In those moments, Alfred charged up two plasma bombs, one at a time. Each manifesting from a small seed of power between his two hands and turning into a grapefruit sized core of purple light, fired directly at Ranjoon. The two fireballs detonated on impact. The first one causing the remaining Skulls a shower of molten magma. The second causing Ranjoon to flash out of existence before subsequently exploding and raining more molten material on the group. The concussive force of the detonation from the two plasma bombs upon reaching the empty target was enough to finish off the remaining Skull forces.

“He had a second chance rune. They must have an opal in this faction. No runesmith or crafter can make that rune without the actual gem helping the process. One of those super powerful, super impossible to create without a codex one.” Alfred informed Thomas. “It’s that passive I always have with my opal.”

“Where you think he went?” Thomas asked.

“You set a point and if you are about to be lethally wounded by a blow, it will teleport the caster. You have to set the point when you passively activate it, so he probably went back to muster more troops at Bentonville. I have the upgrade because I can set it anywhere and it works anytime my gem is with me versus needing a rune to be passively activated and taking up a rune essence slot. I can also jump to my spot at will once a day just bout if needed, but then my second chance doesn’t work till it re-charges.”

“Why didn’t the big boss have that trigger?”

“Because I chopped off his head too quickly for the threat to register to the rune.”

“Well Krom…” Getting back on task Thomas scanned the field. “I bet the second wave of reinforcements is bigger. More time to rally people in from and we won’t get a chance at it. That little lot was anticlimactic.” Thomas grinned as he playfully knocked into his brother with his shoulder.

“Live to fight another day. Let’s loot these guys of anything their people can use back on us, then get to the extraction point.” Alfred began walking towards the boulder, to confirm those kills before moving on.

“Sounds good!”

…

ROMAN

“It’s been, awhile.” Roman awkwardly looked to Sloan.

The two were concealed behind a massive decomposing fallen tree, teaming with fungi and moss. The thick trunk hid them at an elevation between the two less constricting trails that led towards Gerald’s cabin. From their vantage they could faintly make out the ridge outcropping the Fredrickson’s were setup on, through the thick forest foliage.

“I’ve been on solo assignments since.” She replied with reluctance. “Loyalties in question and all.”

“You know, we’re sorry Sloan. We had no choice.” Roman glancing at her with a sincere look, attacking the core subject as soon as it presented itself.

“I didn’t want that to come up right away.” She quickly cast her gaze down, reluctance at her added comment.

“It’s better than leaving it as an elephant in the room, not knowing if there will be a chance again.” Roman suggested.

“You could have at least warned me.” She scoffed.

“You know very well we couldn’t. Your brother didn’t relinquish his gem. He was a threat, and I am sorry to say right now, but he wasn’t stable. Sometimes power can fry a brain mad. We, as the kingdom’s other Gemini, were the guys that handle that business for Vlad. We signed up for that when we took our gems.”

The pause seemed to last forever.

“Thomas didn’t do it to hurt you. Al and I are just as guilty.” Roman tried to reassure.

“It wasn’t you to land the blow.” Her eyes grew distant.

Orders were to be followed or answered with death. Don’t let it weigh you down longer than it already has.” Roman’s tone gentle.

“How could I even begin to.” She paused, trying to gather the right words. “I watched him, the love of my life, kill my twin brother. Regardless of Dane going mad over time. It’s a bond you wouldn’t understand.” She gritted her teeth. “I see that moment every time I think about my brother for a second. I hate to admit that’s too often.”

Silence hung in the air until some loud popping, followed by an orange explosion in the center of the right path ignited the pitch-black night.

“Krom, we need to finish this later.” Roman straighten in position to take stock of the field and compose himself.

“Aye. We don’t have to talk about it, if we don’t get to it.” She looked down.

“It’s best to not leave things open, and its been open a long time it seems.” Roman pointedly said.

“I know.”

Roman turned his attention back to the task at hand. “Let’s see if our side tries to run a flank maneuver now that the gem’s they expect have been flushed.”

“I already primed some of the traps.” Sloan cleared her throat, wiping her eyes by pulling some fabric from the collar of her shirt beneath her leathers. “Some of these were simple arm or disarm pit traps that don’t use essence, so I will be able to still trigger some of the more lethal traps in the network, while those won’t require any further attention.”

Tuning into his gem mentally, Roman activated one of its codices stored runes. Natures presence, allowing him to target and follow the intruders leading up the left path, as if he were a bird over their shoulders. It gave him a feeling of dominion in the area targeted, creating a somewhat distorting effect of being in many places all at once. It included the presences like leaves, grasses, moss and other organics that were packed densely together in the small area. This ability was limited to gem’s specifically because the power needed to parse the eternal presence into usable information was impossible for a simple mortal brain. The gem was gathering feedback from everything organic it could connect to, then making the information actionable in a still somewhat disorienting feedback.

Regardless of them cloaking, he could feel their footprints bending the individual blades of grass and even their warm breath catching leaves, ferns, or taller brush here and there.

“Sorry need to keep my earthen essence available for my best offense, or I could help you with some of those trap activations.” Roman said. “Let me tune over there, one second. I need to keep it focused on the group as they go or I’ll lose them for a costly moment.”

…

“Boss.” A muffled whisper directed from the front of the formation of twenty, called to the rear. They were organized in rough groups of three, spaced apart to avoid area blasts on the whole platoon.

“Let’s give them a few seconds more to engage then we will get through the forest. We’ll ambush when they get them drained. Open hunting tonight.”

The Skulls crept off the path and into the forest ahead in stalking haste.

“I don’t hear anything over there.” The man leading the charged whispered back.

“Yeah, what the Krom is going on over there?” The leader grumbled in frustration.

“FFaaa” a man’s cries were cut off as he plummeted to death, skewered by crude whittled branches at the bottom of a simple covered manhole he stepped into.

Around the man, others were meeting a similar fate.

“Halt! This place is rigged with traps; don’t just stumble through. And there is no blasted noise coming from over there!” The leader’s tone now shrill. “Somethin’ aint right. Regroup at the horses. Maybe they already got them. No need to senselessly die.”

“Backout Carefully fellas.” A voiced called before the effect was cut.

…

Roman relayed the details to Sloan.

“They needed to go a few more paces. We aren’t going to be able to sandwich them in.” Sloan relayed from the ward network.

“Blow the traps anyways, of course we couldn’t get that lucky. We might get a few.” Roman directed.

Two enormous trees fell as if they were freshly chopped, one after another. Flattening all the men who couldn’t make it out of their way in time. Like a timed trigger, once the two mammoth trees were felled, they created an alley down the forest valley. The top of the improvised lane crumbling apart, unleashing boulders of all sizes tumbling from their perch down the incline, decimating everything in the channel.

“Darn Ger, what the Krom man!” Roman looked on at the devastation in shock.

“What was he preparing for? Remind me not to get on his bad side.” Sloan quipped.

“Absolutely noted.” Roman smirked.

She closed her eyes a few moments in concentration. “Nine down. Let’s stop the retreat, shall we?”

“Do that nasty looking vine then we will pick off a few till they realize they are being attacked then I can just flatten the rest?”

“Agreed. That’s sound.” Sloan grabbed two rune filled wands from her belt. They shimmered in all five essence colors. “Ready?” she looked over, extending a fist.

Roman eyed in approval as he quickly inspected her growing prowess in essence unlocks. He patted his bracers in luck as he molded his spear from his wristband and pulled out a simple hand axe, mindlessly scraping it along the loose end of his belt before responding. “Aye.” He tapped her fist.

The distant popping heard earlier was closer now, earth rumbling as a massive spike covered vine tore through the underbrush, eliminating four more of the attackers instantly. Simultaneously Sloan popped out from hiding unleashing a stored rune from both wands while Roman hurled his spear.

Four men in the path of the vine were saved from certain death. A purple pulse of light flashed. The vine slamming against it and retracting on impact, falling away from the men till it came to rest. The area that hit the shield, oozing as if the exposed areas were instantly vaporized. Unfortunately, Sloan’s two attacks were blocked by shield runes. Roman’s spear however, penetrated through the shield and traveled through the man’s chest, ending his target instantly.

“It wouldn’t be that easy would it.” Sloan gasped in annoyance.

“Not rag tag enough to not use shields.” Roman noted. “We shouldn’t have been so overconfident.”

“The Krom was that?” Sloan questioned at the anomaly.

“That’s an opal and trouble.” Worry overcoming the earlier confidence in Roman.

“Skull King?” She asked.

“Assuming.” Roman’s reply short, not letting the focus on the Skull boss wane.

Rage filled the Skull boss. The aura around the man pulsed with a deadly violate light. He stared directly at the two, a battle-hardened looking Venti man. He had a wild look, missing his left ear and sporting a deep scar across his left cheek that ran parallel with his jawline. Oddly enough, the man was dressed to the nine, there was even an out of place top hat adorned with a white Skull motif upon the man’s head. His outfit and shoes had no blemish at all regardless of trekking through the forest. A shimmering, crudely shaped opal stone was fastened to his belt.

“There you are little cowards!” The man yelled up. Regardless of their experience, the amplified tone caused the two’s heart to skip a beat momentarily.

“This is going to get ugly fast. Vanish to the tree line and pick the underlings off if you can, two are down a shield now. Ten total.” Roman recalled his spear from its distance, grabbing it from the air, rocks from the surrounding landscape slamming into Roman as he hastily constructed his earthen armor.

The two faced each other. Vengeance filled rage crossing stout resolution. One of you had to be the one to have my Jenny killed. The thought lighting a fire.