Xander's mind finally calmed down, or at least a little. Connor was beside him breathing slowly, but breathing nonetheless and that was enough for now. His wounds were shallow and with the help of the Powders, he should be back on his feet soon enough. In front of him, a dozen metallic boxes were piled one into another, squeezed, wrecked, and sometimes even overturned. None were identical, some were small, and others were long enough to fit three smaller inside. Of course, he had understood these were some kind of carts, propelled at incredible speed through some magical means. It was an impressive feat. He wondered had they had a sufficiently large Spatial Ring on hand, could they have brought one back with them? He marveled for a short moment at the technical prowess of the people of this world. These carts were mostly made of metal. Tons of it. All were painted in luxurious colors and some had even more intricate designs, now of course marred by the wrecking. They all had windows, doors, strange wheels, and probably a hundred other features he couldn't even guess the use of. But a minor mishaps and everything went to hell.
For the moment he hadn't spotted the Doors, and no doubt they would show themselves in time. He had to admit this Challenge was getting to him. Never had he felt the fetid breath of death as he had today. He had been so close to dying, and he had been so close to losing Connor, his childhood friend.
A tremor shook the earth, and he was brought back to reality. Little cracks in the ground, and in the distance some wrecked carts fell. A howling, haunting shriek echoed through the air, and Xander's heart skipped a beat. Never had he ever heard something quite like this. It was a sound that made his blood run cold, and his skin crawl. O Lord Robert, Lady Jessica, Lady Lirael, please protect us, he prayed. He wasn't overly religious, but if there was a day to pray, it was today. The smashed carts rumbled. Metal screeched against metal. More shrieks echoed through the air. In front of him, under the downcast sky and heavy rain, multiple columns of black smoke rose into the air. A few fires added to the eerie atmosphere, and shadows were moving about. Trudging, shambling.
Xander got up and unsheathed his sword, feeling all of his body react to what was to come. Beside him, Connor was coughing, he didn't dare look at him. "Connor, are you alright?" he asked, faking a calm he didn't feel.
"I'm fine," Connor replied, his voice hoarse. "I'm fine," he repeated, and Xander could hear that he was anything but.
"Can you stand? We're about to have some company," Xander said, his voice low.
"Shit," whispered his friend. "In a moment." The shadows seemed to be more interested in other carts for the moment. The heat, along with the smoke from the various fires has been enough to raise a fog, making it difficult for the young man to distinguish what was happening within. We need to move somewhere else. There's nothing to protect us, no advantage either. Some of the carts were large enough and high enough to be of use. If they didn't catch fire themselves. Besides the strange stone roads and railings in between, there wasn't anything around. Just a flat landscape of fields that stretched until the horizon. Who eats that much? he wondered.
On the other roads, where the carts seemed to fare from the other direction, another wrecking had happened. Probably in reaction to ours? He let the thought slide and focused on the most important right now. His instinct shouted there would be monsters about, and soon. So he needed an advantage, any advantage he could get. A few steps back, beside the railing on the other side a larger cart had been fallen on the side. But thankfully a smaller one had been stopped, its back end squeezed, just in front of it. It was near enough to allow them to climb on top of the larger one.
He glanced at his friend, "We've got to go, Connor, now." He tried not to sound too urgent, but he was afraid. His friend was still a bit unsteady on his feet but he could walk. There was glass, fragments of metal, and other bits everywhere on the roads. He even spotted a few limbs without their proprietor. Now nearer, he could see that every cart had been inhabited. Those he could see were mostly dead, from the shock, from the debris, or for some other reason he couldn't fantom. But a few were still moving. Or, maybe more to the point, they were moving, despite displaying trauma that should have killed them. One man, had a large piece of metal sticking out of his chest, and yet he was shambling about, his eyes glowed red, and his mouth was left open, frothing because the lower jaw was missing. It wasn't turned toward them, something Xander was grateful for. He didn't want to have anything to do with that travesty of man.
He climbed on top of the smaller cart, helping his friend up. "We need to reach up there," he said, pointing at the larger cart. "It will be easier to defend ourselves from there!" Connor kept his mouth shut and nodded. This wasn't the moment for idle chatter. Xander reached higher on the smaller, trashed cart, and grabbed the railing of the larger one, but some hand or claw caught on his foot from under him and drew him back.
Connor pulled a knife from somewhere and cut the offending limb. A hateful shriek resounded, and the cart trembled under multiple impacts. Xander quickly climbed up, and once again helped his friend. All around them, people, or what had been people, were coming out of their carts, blowing away doors and the last few standing windows. There was no doubt in his mind that they were the monsters, hateful red eyes burning, and that they were the prey. One spotted the two of them and he shrieked again, drawing the attention of all his brethren. Then without warning, he charged in their direction, followed by half a dozen that were nearby.
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The crazed monster was already bleeding from several places and had a limp arm. But that didn't prevent him from jumping like a crazed lemur. Xander predicted where he would land, and kicked at the flying beast just as he came into his reach, propelling it back toward the ground. "We're going to have to fight," he said, drawing his sword. Connor nodded but only had a knife to work with. "Probably going to be a long fight..." he muttered. They had barely two or three meters of safety between them and the ground.
Meanwhile, a few others were climbing up their cart. Xander didn't let them grab themselves up and severed hands and arms without discrimination. The monsters didn't seem to care about their wounds and kept coming, moaning, and howling, like beasts.
"Cover me just a minute!" asked Connor, he was beside the railing of this strange cart, and Xander soon understood that he was about to cut the railing to get himself some weapon with a longer reach. He triggered his Ability and launched a white crescent toward three monsters that were about to catch up to them. The blade cut through as if it was made of butter, and the three former humans fell to the ground, their bodies split in two. More shrieks echoed through the air, and Xander could see more and more of them rushing toward them. Under the hands of his friend, the cut railing soon got a sharp end, and Connor was ready to fight again.
Stab, stab, stab. Connor was a blur of movement, and Xander wasn't any less impressive. But they wouldn't hold long at this rate. Monsters were numerous, and even if they were cut in two, they still sought their demise. As time passed, they seemed to change and get quicker, nimbler, and progressively more powerful. Monsters from the other side of the road, where they initially came from, were also joining the party. "Gurtav's blasted Luck, what the hell is this Challenge?" shouted Connor, his voice hoarse. The black smoke from the burning vehicles nearby didn't help with their situation.
Xander didn't reply, he was too busy fighting. He decided that he needed to try something probably stupid. "I'm going down there for a second, help me up when I'm finished!" He didn't hear the probably disapproving reply from his friend as he jumped. BURN his mind shouted, and his sword was soon covered in angry flames. His foot barely touched the ground he had already Stepped away from the beasts, his sword cutting through the mass of monsters, twirling in a fiery robe. He jumped on one cart's still mostly intact front end, unleashed a wave of white cutting light through a line of monsters, and ran away again, moving through overturned carts, slicing whatever came in his way.
He probably hadn't stayed that long on the ground, but it had felt like an eternity. These monsters were getting dangerous but weren't there yet. Instead, they were numerous, and one slip would spell their end. He was soon rushing back toward their cart, and he Stepped, trying to reach the top. But his ability didn't allow such movement and only left him a few feet above the ground. He tried to push himself up, stepping on air, as his Master had demonstrated, but failed. Thankfully, Connor was there to catch his extended arm and pull him up.
"That was stupid!" said Connor, disgruntled.
"Says the pot to the kettle," replied Xander, panting. "Seems that burning them is the way to go." He was exhausted already. His little stunt had taken a lot of energy out of him. But, there were way fewer creeps coming from that side of the cart.
"Well look on the other side, there's at least twice as many there!" replied Connor as he was running from one end to another, punching through heads. "Gurtav's cursed Luck, I need to sharpen it again!" Both were getting tired. He stood up and picked up where his friend had left the fray.
"Where is Takeo anyway?" asked Connor, "Not that he would have been of much help, he had the Ring."
Xander didn't reply. He felt terrible guilt. Have I left him alone in this mess? he wondered. He didn't know, and he didn't want to know. So he busied himself fighting. He could probably activate his fire Ability again, but he wouldn't be able to extract the most benefit out of it, that is, if he didn't jump back into the fray. He was already exhausted, and he didn't want to risk it. Connor was joining him when he heard a loud crack.
The ground itself rumbled, once again. They could feel it through their feet. All around, carts screeched. The monsters if they hadn't been crazed before, were now. Frantic screams echoed through the air, the latecomers to the party were now rushing toward them, jumping and climbing on top of those already present. These seemed to be at another level of craziness, and it didn't take much for the humans to understand these were going to be a lot more difficult to deal with. Their arms and legs had gained both in length and mass and now sported sharp claws. Their whole body had changed, leaving behind the semblance of a human, and now looked more like demons.
"Get ready!" he shouted. Not that Connor could have missed them. Five of them were just about to jump at them. Xander unleashed one white crescent, severing an arm of the demon, and bisecting several of the lesser ones below. Not enough! he thought. He needed more power. BURN! his mind shouted once again, and his sword blazed. He felt empty now, but he didn't care. He was going to fight until he couldn't anymore. Beside him, Connor was giving his all too, pushing himself further and further.
Xander lamented the absence of his shield. Even the Thorn Shield Jade would have been a godsend in their present situation. And Connor was probably feeling even more useless, having nothing besides his own strength and cunning to help him. But he fought on, and Xander was proud to fight alongside him. By the time the demons reached them, only three were left. They were fast, and their claws sharp enough to rend the metal of the cart. His sword was a blur of fiery movement, but only the most powerful of his moves were enough to maim them. Connor could only push them away, or if he was lucky, puncture an eye.
Another ominous crack resounded, and the ground rumbled again. This time, it didn't stop. Their cart was shaking and some of the beasts were falling on their knees. Every one of them, monsters and humans alike stopped fighting and looked around. Some monsters fell, disappearing into widening cracks that were revealed in the ground, and the rumbling transformed itself into a full-blown earthquake. "What the fucking hell?" shouted Connor, this time in terror.
Monster fell into the ever-widening crevices, howling in fury. Carts tumbled down. Even their abode was moving, as the growing cracks led entire segments of the ground into the abyss below. There was no getting out of this. He caught on to his ever-friend, and together they fell into the abyss too.