crunch crunch
Stray leaves rustled under the horse’s hooves, as we galloped back towards the street exit.
To our relief, the other end of the street was free from obstacles. However, that feeling instantly dissipated as the plaza came into view.
In front of us, under the dimming rays of the setting sun, the once-pristine stone plates, serving as the flooring, were now dyed crimson. However, the late afternoon light was only a small contributing factor to its new color.
Over a dozen bodies lay on the stone, scattered around, sometimes in more than one piece – some guards, a few civilians. Turning our gaze to the other corners of the plaza did not reveal a prettier sight.
There were also thrice as many charred remains of the attacking creatures, some leaving smoldering piles of vines and wood, while only large areas of charred stone with remnants of ash implied the former existence of others.
As for the monsters themselves, most have already left through the large hole in the wall, where a massive metal gate used to be. In the distance, farther along the walls, I could still hear sounds of fighting, a sign of resistance by the surviving guards.
As for the nearby defensive stations, only the battered remains of the somewhat delicate metal barrels, as well as the blood and gory innards splattered on some of the wall’s edges, were left of their former protectors.
The rancid, acidic chemical smell in the air, likely the aftermath of firing those canons, was mixed with the iron scent of blood, and that of burning plant fibre.
The remaining creatures, less than half a dozen (judging by the remains), were meandering in the general vicinity of the gate.
One thing of note were the other creatures beside the vine blights – or rather, a single creature. In fact, this was a creature I recognized, albeit I’ve never actually seen it – not in color, at least.
The massive frame, at least 5 meters tall, was very close to a tree trunk, and covered in dark, nearly-black bark. Its arms, covered in small, crooked branches, were nearly half the width of the main body.
Unlike its smaller kin, the large wood blight stood silently in the middle of the large hole in the wall, keeping each corner within the reach of its natural battering rams. Its eyes - or rather, the two hollows near its upper end, with small pus-colored sparks glimmering within them - were slowly scanning the perimeter, soon locking in on the newcomers (which were us).
However, the massive creature made no attempt to leave its post.
Despite noticing us, it remained rooted in place – in fact, its trunk, splitting in two below the ‘torso’, had literally sprouted roots, some of which had already pierced through the cracks in the cobblestone.
Hulking over its kin like a silent guardian, it was ready to defend the breach to the bitter end.
“Bloody hells.”
Alrox couldn’t help but curse, his voice growing even more tense than before.
“Do we fight it, or?..”
The blight before us was bigger than the ones described in Pine Harbor’s Adventurer Guild’s guide. Considering the blights at the edge of the swamp were 1 CR monsters, this one was probably a 2 CR one, not to mention its ranged support, which were around 2 RCR by my estimation.
Sure, the two of us could probably clear the blockade, given enough time, but that would certainly defeat the point of our early response.
“You said you have two Alchemist Fires?”
“Yes. Smoke bombs, too.”
It went without saying that we quickly listed our consumables while riding back to the plaza.
“Do we break through?”
Alrox simply nodded. By now, he had turned his horse, returning us back the the street we came from, and ‘parking’ it in a small dead-end alley. Meanwhile, I tossed him one of the Alchemist Fire concoctions, which he caught with ease.
“Wouldn’t the Darkness Sphere be better?”
“Got any Superior Nightvision potions?”
“...”
For a moment, especially after that fight with Zod, I forgot most people couldn’t see at all inside the black mist.
“Let’s go.”
Without a moment’s delay, we rushed back into the plaza.
Throwing one last glance at the field of carnage, and the monsters ahead, I couldn’t shake off my reluctance – even if our plan worked out perfectly, we would be cut off, barred from any visible retreat routes.
‘This is a very bad idea!..’
Unfortunately, this wasn’t something I had the luxury of thinking deeply into right now, as our approach had already aggro’d the ranged mobs.
clang clang clang
Most of the initial barrage was dodged or deflected with ease.
A few thorns did find their way to my torso, yet their force wasn’t enough to pierce the chainmail, leaving them stuck in the hard leather, like thick, inverted porcupine needles. My partner’s scalemail fared even better, fully deflecting the attacks.
“Now!”
Both of us launched the concoctions at the same time, watching them travel in two perfect arcs – right onto the rooted blight.
[
Heeeaaaaaagghhhh!!!
]
The low, ethereal roar that slowly escaped the creature, sent tangible vibrations through the air. However, beyond angering it, the Alchemist Fire didn’t do much damage, flowing down the dark wooden surface in fiery streams. It would seem this particular tree had high fire resistance.
Still, it began beating itself with its giant, branch covered arms, in an attempt to extinguish the flame.
Just then, I threw a smoke bomb.
BFOOOM
The landing spot was precisely calculated – the farther edge of the smoke covered the big blight, while most vine blights were caught in its sides.
“Go! Through the sides!”
We charged into the smoke, having already charted a path between the few creatures within.
One of the nearby vine blights tried to obstruct me, despite the low visibility, yet the reward for its haste was two cut off ‘arms’, which prompted a horrid screech.
The bright, yellow-red light, visible through the smoke ahead, signified we were nearing our objective, and with it, the crucial point of our improvised plan.
[
Gaaaaaaaah!!!
]
Somehow sensing our imminent approach, the creature raised one of its arms…
[Charge] !
BOOM!
The enormous flaming appendage, over two meters long, crushed into the stone where I passed only a moment ago, sending a gust of air towards the back of my head.
[Charge] !
I didn’t try to cut the massive blight with my sword – even if I could inflict some damage, it would be meaningless anyway, while a tiny mistake could cost me dearly.
cracka
I heard a sound similar to cracking glass. Then, I saw Alrox running along the other side of the breach.
Tchaaa!
The massive block of wood, momentarily paused farther ahead, as if mid motion, was swung backwards, aiming at the running man. When Alrox turned to block it with the broad side of his axe head, the air around him shifted, and then, a transparent half-sphere in front of him broke, emitting a sound akin to shattering glass.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The swing connected, yet much of its energy was lost. The Destroyer also jumped backwards, using the remaining force to propel him farther back, landing beside me.
“Tsk.”
With a dissatisfied expression, he turned around, as I followed him into the dome – more specifically, the nearby entrance, with a twisted metal door bending inward, as if crashed by a battering ram.
“Is everything alright?”
As we leaped into the narrow corridor, the blight emitted a wrathful roar, yet didn’t try to chase. Not that it could even fit in through the entrance.
“Should’ve turned off my barrier after the first strike.
Haaa…
It’s depleted now.”
The tinge of regret was evident in his voice.
“Better safe than sorry. Where to next?”
We made our way through the security checkpoint, which, surprisingly, displayed no signs of struggle. It would seem the guards here either went to the walls, or escaped through the doors at the other side of this elongated room.
However, a moment later, something did catch my eye – very thin scratch marks, stretching from where we walked to the exit. Their nearly-uniform distance suggested something thorny and wide, at least 1.5 meters in girth, was dragged through this room. Or perhaps – crawled thought.
“We’ll follow that.”
Catching my gaze, Alrox instantly made his decision.
The corridor we exited into was relatively wide, enough for three people to pass freely. We continued onward.
The doors we passed by, mainly heavy reinforced wood, were barred shut. However, we did pass by a large door, which was shattered into splinters.
Glancing into the spacious room, which looked like some kind of office, I instantly saw the countless blood stains, splattered on the walls, floor and desks. However, not a single body came into view… And a fresh trail of blood now joined the scratch marks on the smooth stone floor.
We continued our light jog – while it was true that danger could await behind every corner, I was confident in my ability to hear the slithering vines ahead of time, and every other side-door along our path remained closed.
After a few minutes, during which we circled around the large structure at least once, we finally reached a double set of large metal doors, bent inward just like the front entrance.
In front of them stood a single vine blight. Upon seeing us, rather than attack, it gave out a piercing screech.
[
Hreeeeeeeeu-]
[Charge] !
This time, having observed its kin’s movements, I was confident in my actions – charging right up to its proverbial face, leaving its stakes with neither space nor time to gain momentum, I swung my sword, in a similar half-crescent shape to the one I once used to slay a charging goblin on my first mission.
The vine blight tried to spread its appendages farther to the sides, but this time, my swing was far stronger, and much more confident than back in that cave – before it could impale me with the stakes, it was vertically bisected, two matching halves collapsing to the ground.
“Good job!”
Throwing me a quick nod, the Destroyer charged past, into the opening.
Doing my best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling, telling me I could be marching into a death trap, I promptly followed, immediately scanning my surroundings.
Beyond the door was a wide, circular corridor, surrounding a massive chamber. To our right was a metal fence, below which was a vertical decline. Judging by the slightly sloped angle of the floor beneath my feet, the whole corridor probably spiraled downwards.
Bfffzzzz
In front of me, 1 meter tall and 2 meters wide, was a window, protected by extremely thick glass, around half its height in depth. Through it, I could see the other side of the chamber, roughly 3 meters below our current position.
There stood a wide metal door, surrounded by two windows similar to this one.
Bfffzzzz
Behind those windows, I could see the thrashing fragments of something that looked like a massive, thorny vine stem, which was apparently throwing itself against the door – or rather, the barrier surrounding the chamber, as the low, bassy buzzes that followed its flailing movements indicated.
To the left of the door, about one third of the chamber was separated by a low metal fence, behind and below which I could make out a watery surface, and even the wobbly dark-yellow surface of what was likely a slime.
On the other side was a platform, its surface – a steel grid with polished wooden planks on top.
On that platform, even from my angle, I could see a few people in uniforms. Also, beside the door - or rather, in front of an open steel panel, with a large crystal inside - stood two people. Judging by their clothes, they were both Wizards, and both were channeling arcane energy into the crystal. Actually, one of them looked familiar…
‘Jarold?’
Without a doubt, it was that Wizard I met in the Guild back in the day – the one who told me he often took side missions at..
‘Oh.’
This explained it.
Walking a few steps to the right, I quickly judged the distance to the ground – around 6 meters. However, at the very edge of my vision, at the edge of the curving corridor, I could also see a massive wall of thorny vines, much like the ones I saw at the end of the street earlier. Those weren’t expanding, at least.
“Can we do anything to.. that?”
I turned to Alrox, who, judging by his expression, had also finished evaluating the situation.
“I have something that could.. slow that thing down, at least. But we have to get close to it, first.”
I nodded. He did tell me earlier that if things got rough, he had an ace up his sleeve beside the barrier. I surmised it was some kind of high-damage consumable. It would appear that was, indeed, the case.
“There’s probably another wall of vines to our left. Also.. I sense some movement there.”
The grating sounds of thorns scraping the ground, faintly audible from both directions, were not enough to drown the subtle sound of groaning wood to our left, down the sloped corridor. Additionally, I could hear much fainter scratches, almost scribbles, which, by now, I’ve come to associate with the vine blight’s strange form of movement.
“Alright.”
Finally slowing our step, we began cautiously advancing, weapons in hand.
However, before we could take more than a dozen steps, the first of the monsters, a vine blight, had already appeared from behind the curve, making its way to greet us.
And yet, it didn’t immediately attack, instead keeping formation with the others – a wood blight, twice as small as the one guarding the breach, another vine blight, and… a human?..
At the center of the procession walked a robed woman, an olive-colored robe covering her slender features. Her deep brown eyes, sharing the hue of her long, smooth hair, were gazing upon us with a mix of resolve.. and reluctance.
However, what shocked me wasn’t the fact that a human was among the monsters.
“You…”
No – what surprised me was that I’ve actually seen this woman before.
***
“W-where are you going?!”
The panicked scream, unbecoming a man of his physique, nonetheless escaped the throat of the burly man, who had become the survivor’s unofficial leader.
Before, even as the massive robed figure stood beside the window, passively preventing attempts to barricade it, nobody said a word, sensing his strength was, perhaps, enough to ensure their safety regardless.
When he opened the window, subtly tilting his head to better hear the sounds coming from outside, a few whispers flared up behind his back, yet none dared raise their concerns directly.
And yet, seeing the gigantic man put one large foot on the windowsill, his hands grabbing the walls at its sides, as if getting ready to jump out, down into the deadly plaza, the overflowing fear, perhaps at the prospect of losing their potential guardian, finally unveiled itself in full.
Surprisingly, for the first time, the masked figure had spoken, in a deep, growling voice, leaving the survivors with a single reply before descending into the plaza.
“I’m going to hunt.”
***
“You… why are you here?”
The undeniable surprise in the woman’s voice solidified the suspicion in my mind – that our previous meeting truly was a coincidence.
For some reason, I felt really annoyed at that fact. No, not that.. it was something else.
“Earning a bonus. Saving hundreds of people from dying of thirst, probably. Not to mention the suffering of thousands more.”
Upon seeing the subtle twitch in her eyes, the annoyance slowly morphed into something else, a feeling I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“But you had plans for today as well, didn’t you?”
Ah, actually, I knew what pissed me off so much.
“You don’t know! What this kingdom does!.. What this city-”
“They didn’t know, either.”
As I cut her off, her expression froze.
“The hundreds– no, maybe thousands of dead. Most of those who’ll suffer if you succeed. They don’t know, either.”
Remembering her voice from back then – the subtle regret; that hidden sliver of pity; those questions, fishing of an excuse;
“Yet, it’s probably worth it, isn’t it?”
“That!..”
I noticed a dull pain, coming from my fingers, which were gripping the hilt of my Arcane Harmony.
“Sebastian!”
I ignored Alrox’s shout, filled with urgency and annoyance.
“Say it.”
The woman’s face froze, the words in her throat, refusing to come out.
“Say it!”
That hypocritical reluctance only made me angrier.
Regret? Sorrow? After causing all this, even just playing a part – she dared feel sorry?!
“I-”
“Olevia.”
Suddenly, a new voice, raspy like dry bones rattling in a leather sack, yet stable, resonating with authority, came out of what looked like a small purple flower, blooming from one of the vines comprising a blight beside her.
“I appreciate your desire to keep our guests occupied. However – it’s time you occupy them in a different manner.”
“Elder…”
A tinge of reluctance was buried deep in her soft, quiet voice.
“Did Elerva’s life mean nothing to you?”
At the mention of the unknown name, the woman’s face froze once again.
Meanwhile, as the unexpected appearance returned some clarity to my mind, I noticed the buzzing thuds from the chamber gate become quieter, their pace irregular, and a few scraping sounds of thorns on stone - likely the uniform stone wall of this massive corridor - now accompanied them.
“I’ve wasted enough time. Do your duty.”
“Yes, elder.”
The flower withered, and immediately, the ramming resumed its earlier rhythm.
“I’m sorry.”
The woman, Olevia, turned her eyes back to me – this time, the droplets of regret were buried under a plate of icy resolve.
“You should have gone to Western.”
There was no more room, nor reason, for conversation.