NBB3 - chapter 34: All together now

Norg fell to his knees and took a quick look around the squarish stone room around him. There was an opening in front of him, with a stone door cracked to the side. Bodies lay strewn across the hall beyond, and behind those, another door, also open.

Where are we? he thought.

A crackling came from behind him, and he spun around toward the rift. He stared at it with wide, fearful eyes.

"What was that?" he whispered, turning his gaze to Oytach and Vingria, who lay in crumpled heaps beside him.

"Something dangerous and strong," Oytach said as he slowly pushed his dull black body up. "It reeked of Kaot mana… but it wasn't the same."

Vingria scrambled up and turned to the rift, pointing at it. "Stop yapping! We need to close that rift now!'

Norg pushed himself up and towards the rift. The crackling red mana lightning on the rift's edges was pulsating, and the rift shuddered. He took a step back. He had never seen a rift move like that.

"Bile, what is happening to it?" he hissed.

"That… thing is trying to enlarge it," Oytach said as he took two steps back. "Close it!"

Vingria rushed forward, her mana-field erupting out from her and covering the rift.

The rift seemed to stabilize for a moment, then a green wave of light poured from the rift, blasting Vingria on her back.

"Too strong," she growled. "Norg, close it!'

Norg was already at the rift, and his dull grey manafield with its intricate green pattern appeared easily covering the rift. Again it stabilized, and Norg grit his teeth as he readied himself for a possible energy pulse. It came right away, and even with his preparation, he was pushed back and almost stumbled. He barely managed to remain on his feet, but his mana-field winked out.

"We need to do this together," he shouted.

Vingria moved towards him, and Oytach joined them, looking at them in confusion.

"What do I do?"

"Cover it with your pattern and try to suppress the mana bleeding out of the rift," Norg said.

"Ready? Now," Vingria shouted.

Three mana-fields appeared, Oytach's dwarfing that of the others. The rift stabilized with a snap, and the red lightning edges calmed. Immediately a pulse burst out, shoving Vingria back. Norg grabbed her, holding her in place, and this time their mana-fields remained.

With a shake, the rift shrunk a bit.

"Keep it up," Vingria roared, just as another pulse blasted out.

Norg held his ground, holding Vingria by her arm when another pulse came, then another, and then they came without stopping. Norg stumbled back, and another wave came that shoved him back. Stumbling back, he let go of Vingria as both of their mana-fields disappeared. Only Oytach remained but was on his knees, with his fingers dug in the ground as more pulses battered against his massive shape.

A loud crack came from the wall beside Norg, and a fissure ripped up, dust and small debris falling from it.

Each pulse was powerful than the previous, and Norg saw that Oytoch was slowly pushed back, his fingers pulling lines in the stone ground.

"We need to close-" Norg shouted as he struggled to his feet when with a short pause, a stronger pulse came that knocked him back and against the wall.

Oytach's mana-field flickered but held.

"I can't close it," he shouted.

Vingria and Norg tried to crawl back, but the pulses kept increasing in strength, pushing them against the wall. A green flickering of light appeared in the middle of the mana field.i

"It's coming through," Vingria hissed, panic in her eyes.

As the mana extended towards them, slowly shaping into fingers, a dark cloud poured into the room, blanketing everything and blotting out the light of the portal. It vanished as fast as it came, and a tall, gaunt, and grey shape stood before the portal inspecting the dark green fingers that seemed shaped from green specs of light.

"Sig?" Norg muttered as a grey mana field erupted from the figure, expanding through the walls and enveloping even Oytach's mana-field.

The rift shivered and the red lightning dulled as the mana in the middle paused. A pulse came through, then another, and even Oytach was shoved back against the wall beside Norg.

Sig, however, didn't budge, the pulses almost seeming to not affect him. With a shudder, the rift shrunk, and the fingers slowly crumbled. The light they were made up of flooded back through the rift. Immediately the pulses resumed.

Sig continued as if nothing was happening, and the rift shrunk rapidly. When it was only the size of a fist, a final weak pulse of green light came, then the rift plopped out of existence.

Debris ticket to the ground from where it had been held against the walls, and dust softly trickled down from the ceiling.

"Sig?" Norg asked as he took a shaky step forward.

"It's good to see you again, Norg," Sig said as he turned. "Now, how about you tell me where Solus is and what that thing was just now?"

--

Solus woke with a snap, an odd dream of struggle fading to the background before he could grab it. He looked around and saw he was back in the underground room that he shared with Tirella. Gazing dully around, he saw his body was still there, as was Vingria's.

Still, as his gaze drifted around, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Different than it had been. His gaze stopped at long cracks in the ceiling and crystals that had dropped to the ground.

"What is going on," he muttered as he shook the last of the fog from his mind and quickly examined the room. Most of the decorations were intact, as was Tirella's body and-

"No," Solus snapped as his gaze stopped at the mishmash of energy conduits that ran from his body and up through the ground.

There had been three large ones when he was here the last time; a grey one for Sig, a green one for Skull, and a crackling blue one for Sumil. Now, only the blue one remained, large amidst the dozens of thinner cables of energy.

"Sig evolved," Solus muttered to himself, trying to think positive. "But what happened to Skull?"

As he gazed around the room, he realized that he couldn't return to his four-legged body. Even if it was still there -a quick look at the bundle of cables showed it was- he wasn't going to risk moving to it. The enormous mana thing that had almost grabbed him would probably still be there somewhere.

What was that anyway? he wondered.

In hindsight, the feeling he got from it had vaguely resembled a Kaot Lord, but that couldn't be, right? His gaze drifted across the cables as he tried to figure out what it could have been, and one of the cables drew his attention. One he had used many times before.

Laron!

"He should still be in Skulltown," he muttered, his voice echoing oddly through the room.

He ignored it and shot forward. Laron could help him contact Drys and find out if Norg, Vingria, and Oytach had managed to get back. As soon as he touched the cable, he was drawn into it and shot up through the familiar tunnel of light and mana.

He tried to remain calm as his body flashed up, wondering how long he had even been in that odd dream. It felt both a short and long time.

When he saw the end of the tunnel in the distance, he caught a glimpse of buildings just before he shot out the other end and into a loud, smoky place. Green glowing stones decorated the walls and ceiling, creating a perpetual greenish gloom.

He quickly scanned around, finding he was in a room with tables surrounded by undead. They stood so close together that many undead bumped into each other or touched shoulders. Nobody seemed to care, though. At the far end was a small bar, barely wide enough for the massively fat zombie that stood behind it. A door behind him gave a glimpse of a larger room with piles of slimy white stuff.

Gazing down, Solus was surprised to find Laron sitting on a chair opposite Gregor, towering over the other and the table. His round belly pushed up against the table, engulfing the edge. A piece of flesh lay on the table between them, steam rising from it. Perplexed, Solus looked at it when Laron grabbed a sliver, ripping it free and stuffing it in his mouth. He hadn't noticed Solus yet, and after a quick look around the odd room, Solus frowned and didn't call out.

Why aren't they with Drys and Sig? he thought. If Gregor had found Laron, he should have brought him back!

"So," Gregor said as he grabbed a small piece of meat. "Did you think about my offer?"

Laron nodded as he chewed loudly.

"Yes. I'll check with Bilderbin when we are done here. If Drys doesn't need anything more, I'll follow you," Laron replied in his melodic voice, almost a song.

His speech… It's normal! Solus thought, barely believing it. Gone were the repeats and the drawling. Only the songlike quality remained.

"Good! Be careful that Galg doesn't see you...  something about that one creeps me out," Greggor said as he pulled another piece of meat from the massive chunk.

Galg? Solus's eyebrows shot up at the mention of the blue skeleton. If he was back, that meant Sumil was back!

"How many mana-orbs do you have left?" Laron asked.

"Two," Greggor grunted, shaking his head sadly as he gazed at the meat in his hand. "Who would have thought those wyrms were good for more than just their orbs?"

"I wonder what that large one would taste like," Laron said, looking at the chunk of steaming meat on the table.

"Better wait till Vingria is back before you try something like that, "Greggor said with a grin. "If it's as big as you say, it's better to wait for the others to take care of it."

A roar came from a table on the other side of the room, and Laron looked up, his eyes flashing purple.

Two zombies stood on each end, their hands on the table as they growled at each other.

"And I'm telling you that I saw him," a bald zombie with a gash across his left eye roared.

"Stop lying! Nobody has seen Skull for weeks," the other one screamed back.

Skull is gone? Worried, Solus recalled the missing cable that had led to Skull. He was about to speak to Laron when the room fell silent, and he looked up just in time to see a skeleton rush through the room so fast he left after images.

The first zombie surged forward with his arms outstretched. Before he could reach the one on the other side, a large skeletal hand grabbed around his neck, hoisting him two feet in the air.

A skeleton with thick, yellowed bones stood next to him, gazing at him with a skull with three eye sockets. Two glowed a dark blue, while the third sat slightly above and in the middle and glowed a paler blue, almost white.

"You know we don't tolerate trouble here!" A dull voice echoed throughout the room, silencing any whispering that had still been occurring.

The bald zombie was holding on to the skeletal hand that held him up while nodding, but the skeleton put his attention to the other one.

"Both of you are not allowed here for the next four days. Get out, and don't let me see you here again!"

The other zombie clenched his teeth with a look of anger. He remained quiet, though, and just shared a look with the other zombies at his table before rising and stomping to the door. The skeleton followed him, dragging the bald one along to the door, where he tossed the bald undead out and into the dark alleyway beyond. Then he slammed the bone door shut and turned back to his place in front of it.

Slowly the whispered conversations started again, and a few minutes later, the place was bustling as if nothing had happened. The remaining two zombies at the table with the two troublemakers began scarfing down the remaining meat, grinning at each other.

"He wasn't wrong," Greggor muttered, drawing Solus' attention.

"You've seen Skull?" Laron asked as his eyebrows raised, his hand hovering above the meat.

"No. But yesterday, there was a massive commotion when I went to Drys to tell him I had found you. Two odd undead entered the city, flying across the wall, and headed straight for Drys's tower," Greggor said, pursing his lips. "You should have seen it. One of them could change to lightning and zip through the air faster than I could follow!"

Good, Sumil is here too, Solus thought. He was curious to find out what had happened to her after Domain had stolen her body.

Laron picked another piece of meat from the now rapidly dwindling chunk on the table. Since Solus had appeared, it had halved in size.

"So? What does this have to do with Skull? To do?" Laron sang. When he repeated the last words, he sighed and rubbed the side of his head.

Greggor didn't reply, worried-looking at Laron.

"Don't look at me like that," Laron hissed. "I'm fine. Don't worry Drys with problems that don't exist! Now, Skull?"

"Right," Greggor said. "Drys had a long talk with those two, and I managed to catch some of it. Apparently, there's another open portal somewhere in the wasteland and these two came from there. Outside they found an army of chained up Kaots-"

"What?" Solus hissed.

Laron's head snapped up, his purple eyes gleaming as they stared at Solus.

"You're back!"

Greggor fell silent mid-sentence, staring at the air above Laron's home.

"Who are you talking to?" Then he bent further over the table, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Solus?"

Laron slowly nodded, still looking at Solus.

"I didn't think you would come back," he said softly.

"Stop looking at the air," Greggor hissed. "Others are noticing."

Solus looked around and saw that Greggor was right. A couple of zombies from a nearby table stopped whispering and gazed at Laron. With some effort, Solus hovered down and towards the table until it seemed he was standing beside the meat. Laron's gaze followed him, but a quick look showed the zombies were still silently watching.

"I'm back," Solus said with a short nod. "But ask Gregor about those chained-up Kaots. What else did Sumil say?"

"I'm not your messenger, messenger not," Laron sang, his eyes flashing angrily as he stared at Solus.

Solus bit back a short reply, feeling his emotions bubble chaotically.

"No, but right now, there is nobody else who can hear or see me," he said. "We've got trouble left and right, and I need to know what is going on!"

Laron gritted his teeth, grabbed a piece of meat, and stuffed it in his mouth before chewing aggressively, all the while staring at Solus.

"What is going on?" Greggor asked. "What is he saying?"

"He wants to know what Sumil said," Laron spat, slivers of meat flying across the table.

Greggor frowned as he examined Laron. Then he nodded and looked at a spot beside Solus.

"She said they escaped from another world and that someone called Domain was trying to get back here. He has some building in the wasteland with chained up Kaots in front of a rift. Drys called it an army."

Domain, Solus thought as he grit his teeth while thinking of the backstabbing AI. If he could get his real fingers on that one...

"Where are they now?" Solus asked.

Laron didn't repeat his message, staring at him.

"I'm a Cestodia," he finally whispered, his anger turning to confusion.

"Yes," Solus replied, confused. "So?"

"Drys destroyed all others of my kind because we are dangerous," Laron snapped. "Where do I go? What should I do?"

Solus was quiet, not sure what to say.

"You aren't the same," Greggor whispered. "I've asked around, but those others of your kind were different - mindless. They just infected undead and caused their heads to explode."

"Yes," Laron sighed. "That means I'm the only one of my kind..."

Bile! We don't have time for this, Solus thought. With effort, he kept quiet, trying to calm down. He needed Laron to cooperate, which wouldn't work if he had some existential crisis.

"We don't know that," he said as he thought of the rifts. "There are more worlds out there than you can imagine. I've been to only one and saw many different undead and Kaots and all manner of things! Why wouldn't there be more like you?"

Laron was quiet for a while, then looked up. "Are you saying I should go and search through the rifts?"

"No," Solus snapped before reigning in his impatience. "I'm saying there might be more like you, but right now, there are more important things. Tirella has been to innumerable worlds, and this is the only world she's seen that is not overrun by Kaots. "

"Do you think she has ever seen other Cestodias?" Laron asked suddenly.

Sensing an opportunity, Solus nodded.

"Possibly. I need to speak with Drys, find out what has been going on. Tirella will either be there or go there when she comes back. If you bring me there, you can ask Tirella what she knows."

Laron gazed at the meat, his eyes unfocused. Then, after a few moments, he nodded and stared into Solus' eyes.

"I'll help, but you need to find another body. I'm not staying here much longer."

Solus wondered what Laron meant with that and where he would go, but he didn't ask. He could figure out how to help Laron later. There were more important things now.

"But first, we finished his meat," Laron said as he took another sliver of the now almost empty plate.

--

Six figures stood in a circle in the middle of Drys' room, staring at a simple female zombie.

"Can we trust him," a green undead asked in a low rumbling voice. His massive arms seemed misplaced, attached to the thin torso.

"I don't know, Enthrill," Tirella said as she scratched a dry patch of skin on her unevolved zombie body. "But what use is it if Sig already took the mana-core?"

"It wasn't our fault," Vingria hissed as she glared at Tirella. "Solus told us the thing was for him!"

As the others continued arguing, Norg frowned and glanced at Oytach, who had been silently observing the situation. After they had returned to Skulltown, the boisterous Kaot Lord had become quiet.

"Can you go back to where your body is and see if Solus is there?" Borl, a yellow, pudgy undead with bulbous eyes, asked.

"I don't know why nobody thought it a good idea to tell us Solus was back before sending him on some suicide mission?" he asked as he glared at Drys, who stood opposite him.

Drys didn't reply but grunted and began pacing through the room.

Borl sighed, then looked at the others. "So, let's see if I get all this right," he said. "Some massive Kaot is coming to us from space, and we have no way to stop it. Solus and Sig are supposed to go find a mana-core, but only Solus goes through. There he finds you three and a mana-core. After some stuff with another Kaot Lord I want to know more about later, he leaves his body and goes back through the portal. You three lose his body somewhere and are about to follow him when green light fills the sky, and you all flee. On the other end, something tries to follow you through, but Sig comes and closes the portal, after which you give him the mana-core, and he what? Says `thank you' then leaves?"

Norg nodded, and Borl shook his head before continuing.

"Now there's no sign of Solus, and Sumil here says that Domain is creating some sort of army on the other side of a portal somewhere in the wasteland," at this, he pointed at the last figure in the room.

It was quiet as everyone looked either at him or at Drys, who was still pacing through the room.

"Fantastic," Borl shouted as he threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Why, oh, why didn't you come to us first? We could have actually tried to plan before going off half-assed!"

"Maybe because you all hole up in your tower and never come talk with the rest of us?" Drys snapped, glaring at Borl.

"That's better than spending your every waking moment trying to make a failed experiment work," Borl snapped back as he waved at the machine.

"It is not a failed experiment," Drys said as he stopped and glared at Borl. "Solus and Tirella almost made it work, but Scathia came and interfered. Now, if you would just help me fix it!"

"Even if that is true," Borl hissed. "Why should we do that now? Solus isn't here, and if he was, we just agreed he has no body! What we need to do is go to that AI, Domain and try to reason with him!"

"No," Sumil said, stepping forward and putting a blue-skinned finger on Borl's chest. "We will do no such thing. Domain is a danger, and needs to be ended!"

Borl was quiet for a moment before shaking his head sadly. "That is what the ancients said about the undead. Do we even know why Domain is doing what he is doing? "

Sumil's face warped in anger, and her hands raised towards Borl.

"Enough," Enthrill rumbled as he slammed a fist down on the ground.

"Domain will have to wait. What we need to do is find another mana-core, figure out where Sig went, and get into contact with Solus somehow," he said as he raised his hand to interrupt Borl. "Then, after that, we will have time to talk about Domain and Scathia."

"Who made you the leader," Vingria asked softly as she stepped forward.

A soft knock came on the door, interrupting Enthril's response.

"Drys? Greggor is downstairs, and he brought someone called Laron? He says it's important," a slightly high-pitched voice said.

"Send them up," Drys shouted. He moved towards the small group and stared at Tirella. "How long till you and Solus will fully wake up and can act?"

The entire group turned to Tirella.

"Not in time, maybe not even anytime soon. Viridi did something to our patterns, gave us something… I don't know how long it will take," Tirella said.

"You are sleeping?" Oytach asked, his confusion evident as he inspected the small zombie.

Norg grinned and shook his head as he looked up at the different colored version of himself.

"No, her real body is. If you think those Kaot Lords we saw are strong, you should see her when she comes back!"

"Solus says he is right," a songlike voice added.

The entire group swirled around, staring at Laron, who stood in the door opening. Behind him was Gregor, staring curiously at Oytach.

Drys took two steps forward. "Solus is here?" he asked, staring at Laron.

"Yes, and he wants to know what has been going on, going on," Laron said as he moved towards the others. His gaze was locked on Tirella's temporary zombie shape.

"But before that, I want to talk to you," he said as he stopped a few steps before her.