NBB3 - chapter 13: Who are you?

"Keep moving," Solus hissed as he struggled forward across the lowest branch of the tree. The ground was twenty feet below them. His left arm was dangling uselessly from his side, but he had no time to do anything about that. His right hand was clenching a small mana-orb that glowed as he absorbed it. It belonged to one of the zombies that had splattered on the ground near where he had slammed into the ground. He had one more but was saving that one. Sig would need it if he were to have any chance of waking up.

Laron was close behind him, his body rippling with muscles while thick ochre-colored blood oozed from ruptures in his legs. He had landed on his feet, and only his massive strength had kept them from crumbling. Still, the buildup hadn't been fast enough, and as he moved, the sound of bones grinding against each other came from both legs. Solus reasoned the only way he was even still walking was because his muscles were holding everything together.

As he looked at Laron, the other was gazing at the ground, more blood dripping from his lip, and he occasionally looked at the dim glow emanating from between his fingers. Solus hoped it would be enough to fix his grievous wounds, but he doubted it.

Behind them were four zombies, the only ones that had landed on a branch and hadn't ripped to pieces. Glaum was one of them, dragging Belgh with her. Her hand was wrapped over Glaums, holding the fourth and final mana-orb Solus there. It was glowing softly, but Solus had no idea if that was because she was absorbing it or Belgh was. Two green zombies walked behind them. Solus wasn't sure how those two had managed to land unscathed.

A shout rang from the thick canopy behind and high above them, and everyone but Belgh froze, then looked up at the dense cover of white leaves above them.

Solus tried to make out something, but he saw nothing.

Did they see us? He was starting to worry if they would even make it to Sig. Perhaps he and Laron should run for it?

The sound of snapping branches and thudding feet came from somewhere to their right. Solus followed the sound with his eyes, seeing nothing but branches, trees, and leaves. The sound quickly distanced itself, and more shouts rang out from above, following whoever it was that was fleeing. A few moments later, the silence returned.

"Away, away they go," Laron sang softly before coughing. A mist of ochre-colored blood burst from his mouth, and he moaned softly.

We need to get out of here and find more mana-orbs, Solus thought.

As he tried to watch where he stepped, he continued forward again, keeping a watchful eye on Laron.

An hour later, they reached the tree trunk and the end of the branch. He hadn't heard any pursuit parties for a while now, and the mana-orb in his hand had turned to dust a long time ao. It had been barely enough to fix his left arm, although it still felt weak. Laron stood close behind him, dried blood on his lips.

"They are so slow, slow," Laron whispered as he looked at the four zombies a hundred feet away that were limping towards them.

Solus didn't respond, but he was getting tired of waiting for the others. He'd thought of leaving them behind a few times, but they were alone in a forest filled with dangers. Having a few extra targets with them would increase their chances to get out of here.

"Slowwwww," Laron moaned.

"They haven't evolved and are weak," Solus replied. They hadn't had any time to talk since he'd taken over this body, and he noticed the other kept hovering close as if he wanted something.

"Are your legs fixed?" Solus asked, pointing at the remaining wounds.

"No more scritch-scratch," Laron said as he smiled and stomped his foot down on the branch. The whole length vibrated slightly, and Solus grimaced.

"Good, because we need to go down from here," Solus said, pointing at the shadowy roots that covered the ground thirty feet below them.

"Let's not jump," Laron hissed abruptly, without any of his normal speech oddities.

Solus blinked as he looked at the black undead, surprised at the intelligible thing he had said.

Laron was staring at his feet with a horrified look, his hand halfway to his temple. Looking at the spot he knew the Cestodia to be, Solus saw the skin wriggle oddly as if something was moving below. Laron wobbled on his legs, then steadied and looked at Solus in confusion.

That thing gets stronger as he gets stronger, Solus thought.

He took one more look at the zombies who were still fifty feet away and decided they could come after. If he didn't unearth Sig soon, Laron might not make it. He sat down on the edge of the branch and pushed a hand against the bone bark, extending his bone-morphing senses.

It took a moment, and then a vague connection appeared between him and the bone roughly a few feet around his hand. The slowness of it irritated him again.

Just have to make due, Solus thought as he willed the bone to extend outwards into a simple hand-grip. When he had made five and could reach any lower, he slung over the edge. His recently healed arm cracked but held, and he used the tips of his feet to shape two footholds.

"Let's go," he said, seeing Laron look at the handholds in wonder.

When he finally reached one of the roots that jutted out of the forest floor, he felt like screaming at the slow and ineffectiveness of the bone-shaping of his current body. A quick look showed that the other zombies had caught up, and a string of climbing undead hung above him, taking one careful step after the other.

The one-foot wide root was slippery, and taking one step, he slipped sideways, barely managing to land on his knees and stop from sliding off. He continued to crawl down on his hands and feet, wishing he had claws or nails. He barely noticed when Laron reached the root.

Instead, his full attention was on a clear spot between the roots, a hundred feet away. Scrambling down, he sighed contentedly as he dug his bone toes into the dark sand of the small open area and gazed at the ground. Roots were all around him, some blocking his view, while others had enough space to squeeze through. For anyone but him, there was nothing remotely different about it.  He, though, saw silvery-white mana-particles flow up through small holes in the ground.

Falling to his knees, he started digging into the soil. Halfway through, the other zombies reached him.

"What is he doing?" Glaum whispered.

"Dig, dig," Laron replied.

"I can see that!" Glaum snapped. "Why? We need to get away before they catch us."

Solus shut out the others, digging as fast as he could. Glaum was right, staying in one spot was dangerous. He barely dug half a foot when his fingers thudded against something hard.

The stone container, he thought.

He began scraping away the soil, slowly revealing a flat stone area. For a second, he worried he'd not get into the container; then he remembered that one edge had broken, dirt crumbling in. Searching for the edges took some time, and the first one he found was intact. By now, the others had fallen silent again.

"What is that?" Glaum asked, no longer sounding angry but interested.

"Stone…" Laron said, his voice weakening.

Something thudded to the ground, and with a bad premonition, Solus looked up to see Laron sit on the ground. The dark undead's hands were clutching the sides of his head, and his eyes were squeezed shut.

I hope that mana-orb is enough to wake Sig up, Solus thought as he returned to the digging, trying to move faster. Laron wasn't going to last much longer.

His hands touched a crumbled edge; then, one penetrated through the soil and below the sheet. He quickly dug through, forcing his upper body inside, and with some effort, he pulled himself forward and into the small room he had seen in his dreams. It was dark, but the little bit of light falling through the opening fell upon a dark shape in the corner.

Sig, Solus thought as he crawled the little distance towards his friend.

The last time he had seen Sig outside of his dreams, the other had been a tall, athletic, grey-skinned being with hair that floated around his head as if having a life of its own. Now all there was left was a disheveled, emaciated figure that lay crumpled in a heap in the corner. Solus grabbed the mana-orb he still had, stuffing it in Sig's hand. The skin was dry as paper, and when he pressed it slightly, it stayed indented. Still, he knew that Sig wasn't ended from the existence of the thick, heavily cracked cable.

"Come on," Solus muttered, gritting his teeth.

A sudden racket came from outside as if something was breaking the canopy above, then a heavy thud came from above, and dirt and dust fell from the ceiling above.

What the hell is going on?

Taking one more look at Sig and noting the mana-orb was ever slow, slightly glowing, Solus turned around and crawled back through the dirt entrance. As soon as his head poked out, he cursed. A dozen skeleton archers stood on the roots, their bows aimed at him and the others.

"Well, this looks interesting! I've never seen your evolution before!"

A voice echoed around his head, moving from left to right as if someone was examining him.

Solus gazed around until he saw one skeleton, whose bow was still lowered and who was staring at him with blue-glowing eye sockets. The mana-bleed from them was much stronger than that of the others, who had a green glow.

"Geed is going to be very happy that we managed to recapture you," the skeleton continued as he waved his hand.

Solus took a quick look around, noticing more archers behind them. He wanted nothing more than to charge at them, but he knew his current body couldn't take them all out. A look to the side showed that the other undead were all staring around with fear on their faces. Only Laron wasn't paying attention. The black undead sat on the ground, his head in his hands as he gazed blurrily at the ground.

"Now, I hope you try to resist…" the voice said, this time moving from Solus to the others, a noticeable glee in it.

The undead had been looking around for a way to escape, but after his warning, they seemed to deflate. When nobody moved, the lead skeleton archer waved his hand again. A group of archers came down from the roots and grabbed the undead. The two that came to Solus grabbed his wrists and pulled him out of the hole.

"Go inside to see what he was up to," the lead skeleton ordered.

Solus's anger surged up, spilling from the thin connection that led to his true body and into the skeletal container he now inhabited. His hands balled into fists as he watched one of the archers jump down and crawl inside the hole. A dozen of the archers had their bows pointed at the entrance, and Solus cursed. He should have stayed inside and remained quiet. Sig would have had more time to wake then!

Some moments passed before the skeleton crawled back out, dirt and ground falling from his skull and shoulders as he straightened.

"There is an empty chamber there. It seems to be created from stone."

Empty? Solus thought. Did that mean-

A short cry came from one of the branches, cut short before Solus managed to see what was happening. A branch was shaking slightly, but the foliage behind it was motionless, and there was nothing there.

Wasn't there a skeleton there? he thought.

A second cry came, and this time he saw something from the corner of his vision. Swirling around, he was just in time to see a skeleton disappear behind the root it had been standing on, seemingly dragged away by a dark-grey tendril of mist.

Sig!

"Who is doing this!" the lead skeleton roared as he looked around. Before someone could even think of answering, two archers that had been standing close together disappeared, dragged away by two tendrils of almost black mist.

"Fire on them," the lead skeleton roared as he pulled his bow. "One of them must have some skill we don't know!"

Bile and bone, Solus cursed as he saw half a dozen Mana Blasting Bows turned on him. Thin beams of energy appeared on them, quickly increasing in intensity.

Solus dodged back, stumbling across one of the parts of the root network. As he fell backward, four streaks flew across his face, crackling into the bone behind him. Startled screams of panic came from all around him.

Laron, Solus thought as he scrambled up and climbed behind the nearest root. He looked across and barely managed to duck again as more energy slammed into the trunk or passed overhead. He only just saw one of them strike Laron in the back, causing his muscles to grow as flesh scattered about.

"Sig, save the black fleshy!" Solus projected as loud as he could, trying as much as he could to mimic his voice of old.

He hoped Sig would recognize his voice and would help Laron. There wasn't anything more he could do, though, and he needed to save himself. Who knew how hard it would be to get another body! Focusing on his bone-manipulation skill, he drew the bone from the root below his hand towards his body. Until it let go of the root, it was hard to move, but as soon as it attached to his lower arm, something changed. It became infinitely easier to change, almost feeling like a free-floating, not fully connected bone that was still part of his essence.

As he remembered a skill he had used long ago, Solus shaped the bone into a familiar shape. A bone shield grew from his lower arm, while at the same time, more bone drew from the roots and across his body. As he absorbed more, his energy supply dwindled, but he also felt far more solid, powerful even. Thick bone scale armor wrapped around his hands and lower arms, and another shield formed on his other arm.  He was just finished when crackling energy slammed into his back, knocking him against the now oddly misshapen root.

A short burst of pain came from his back before disappearing, and he rolled over, slamming the shields together and in front of him. Small bits of bone and bone-dust were falling from his back and shoulder, and he could feel the cracks and broken bones. Across the edge of his shields, he saw two archers aiming at him. Two new energy arrows were forming almost instantly. He moved the shields together, and the energy arrows slammed into them, almost knocking the shields against his head. Slight cracks appeared, but the bone held.

More bone, Solus thought as he focused on where his back was touching the bone root. Although more difficult than with his hands, he managed to cause bone from the root to wrap across his back and shoulders, covering the damaged parts and crawling across his chest and arms to reinforce the shields. The way it moved reminded him of something, but he was too preoccupied to recall what.

"End that one! He has to be the cause," the leader roared.

Solus braced himself when a scream came from behind the roots he was backed up against. A flailing figure flew through the air above his head, colliding with one of the archers aiming at him. The archer and the figure toppled from the root in a tangled mess of limbs, slamming into the roots below. Bones cracked and snapped, splinters shooting and flying everywhere.

Sig? Solus thought, then he saw something on the ground beside the bodies. The bow! He rushed forward, keeping his shields up, and ran towards the dropped bodies. The remaining archer snapped out of it, and an arrow flashed his way. He barely managed to block it with his shield, dodging below the root and towards the bow. It had fallen between two roots, and he grabbed before hiding below the nearest root. Screams and explosions came from above, and he drew the bone mass from the shields towards his chest and head, creating a thick cover.

As soon as his lower arms were clear, he focused on the bow. For a moment, nothing happened, then he felt the opposite of what draining a mana-orb felt like as mana moved through his hands and into the bow, weakening him slightly. Still, it was only a little, and with effort, he pushed more inside the bow. A burst of light illuminated the area he stood in as a blue arrow formed. He stuck his head out from under the root and saw that only a few archers were still left, all back to back with the leader in the middle. They were all shooting at something between some of the roots that he couldn't see.

He aimed for the leader, looking along the arrow of blue energy when he realized he had no idea how to release the bolt. Shoving more energy in didn't work. The archer next to the leader saw what he was doing and pointed at him. Seeing bows pointing towards him, he released his focus on the bow to jump sideways. As soon as he did, the energy arrow whizzed from the bow, shooting a dozen feet over his target.

Surprised, he gaped after the arrow, forgetting to dodge. A flash of light appeared in the middle of his vision, then he felt like something slammed into his chest, and he hurled back and into the tangle of roots behind him.

Short stabs of pain came from his chest, and glancing down, he saw that the bone armor on his chest was charred and warped. Still, it had done its job, as the bones that made up his body were unharmed. Another blast struck the ground next to his leg, and he rolled sideways, trying to find a spot to hide.

Two rolls later, he fell from a root and crashed into another one a foot lower. Glad he hadn't broken anything, he scrambled back up. The archers had turned back to something out of his vision, rapidly shooting energy arrow after energy arrow down at the ground. Raising the bow, the damaged bone on his chest got in the way, and he pulled it away, adding it to his waist, and upper legs for later use. Without the added layer, it meant he couldn't take another hit, though.

Energy flowed back in the bow, and a new blue arrow formed. He aimed at the leader and released it as soon as he couldn't push more energy in. The arrow flashed forward, slamming into the archer next to the leader. A flash of blue blinded him for a second, and when it disappeared, the archer was gone. A moment later, something slammed into the ground at the other side. The leader turned to him, raising his own bow.

"Get that one first, then focus on the black and purple one!"

Its Laron, Solus thought in surprise.

Wait, where had Sig gone? He'd barely thought it when a cloudy tendril of grey rose from below the lead archer and his followers. It wrapped around one of the archer's legs, and the skeleton looked down, turning his bow down. The fog disappeared, taking the skeleton's leg with it, who began flailing to keep his balance. He dropped his bow, then fell from the root.

The remaining skeletons had ignored their leader and still had their bows pointed at the ground, and Solus released another arrow. He missed again, this time hitting the bottom of the root, causing it to shake and sway.

The leader looked at him, at the branch below his feet, then turned and ran. His voice echoed out from behind him.

"Hold them back! I'm going to warn Geed!"

The remaining archers began backing up, four shooting arrows down. The other two turned to Solus, and before he could fire the arrow, he had made two green ones flashed his way. He ducked below the roots just as a double explosion rocked them. Bits and pieces snapped off, flying away and clattering atop him.

Solus crawled back and away, trying to keep out of sight and finding another position from which he could shoot. Another two explosions, not as close together this time, rocked the root network he crawled through, then another two.

"Sig! Get the one that's trying to flee," Solus shouted, his anger getting the better of him as he revealed his position.

One explosion hit the network close to his voice, then another, but then it stopped. When no more came, he slowly climbed up and stuck his head up across a twisted piece of blackened bone.

Laron was moving along the branch, his body once again heavily muscled and bright purple stripes flashing and blinking all across his body.

Solus had no idea how he had gotten up, but he carried a large portion of root. He held it up as he stalked towards the archers with an excited look on his face. They had their bows pointed at him, four new energy-arrows forming.

Bile, Solus thought as he scrambled up, just in time for the arrows to be shot at Laron.

Laron jumped forward, holding the thick root in front of him. The arrows exploded in a green burst, and his forward motion stopped as the purple lights flared up even brighter.

Solus grinned and raised his bow, targeting the center skeleton. Before he could form a new arrow, Laron stepped forward and hurled his shield at the archers. It struck the left one before it had any chance to dodge, knocking it off the branch. As it flailed it pulled the one beside it along with it.

Solus finally formed an energy arrow and released it at one of the two remaining ones, knocking it from the root in a burst of blue energy. Laron didn't wait but ran forward, and he reached the last archer before it could form another arrow. Solus lowered his bow as Laron grabbed the skeleton's skull and ripped it off with a savage twist. The body crumbled to the ground, then slid from the side of the branch.

Solus looked at where the skeleton archers had fallen and saw that one was pulling itself up by a root. It had a snapped leg bone. He raised his bow, taking his time to focus and aim before releasing the arrow. It zipped through the air and struck the skeleton's skull, blasting it to pieces.

As the last of the archers stopped moving, and silence returned to Whitebone forest. Laron was looking around, and Solus began climbing up.

"Sig?" he asked, hoping his friend was back.

There wasn't any response, which hopefully meant he was chasing the lead skeleton. Solus made new handhelds as he climbed up the root where Laron was sitting. As he did, he scanned the bottom of the tree for the other zombies. All he found were bits and pieces of goo, an arm and ichor splattered across the maze of roots. There was no sign of Glaum or Belgh. He wondered where they had gone, but not enough to go look for them. He turned his attention to Laron, who was staring at him with a large grin plastered on his face. Two pointy canines flickered between his lips.

"Are you alright?" Solus asked, looking at the side of Laron's head.

"Fine, fine! I'm feeling great," Laron said before humming slightly as he jumped on the spot he was standing. "Strongggg."

Too strong, Solus agreed. He was curious to find out what the purple mana was. He couldn't find any information on it, though he knew most of the other types.

"Yes. You are strong," Solus said, looking in the direction the skeleton archer leader had fled.

He almost slapped himself as he realized he could find Sig easily. He turned on his mana-overlay, and a cloud of purple mana closed in on him. Everywhere he looked, it hung, swirling slowly as it moved towards Laron's temple. The red spot was visibly growing as the purple mana coalesced around it, but it was also barely visible amidst the purple mana. Something about it seemed... weak. Solus wished he could look inside to see what the Cestodia was doing.

"Look, look! Dark fog returns!" Laron said as he excitedly pointed in the distance.

Solus's looked up to see Sig's familiar gaseous form ooze through the forest. It was like a cloud that darkened and sunk to the ground, covering almost a hundred feet across and a dozen up and down.

"Sig," Solus said, stepping forward.

He was about to ask his friend how he was when the cloud faded, and Sig's physical form appeared. He thudded onto the branch, falling on his knees. Sig's head was lolling back on a wobbly neck, his eyes almost closed. Two mana-orbs, one in each of his hands, flared up, then turned to dust. It didn't seem to help Sig much. The thick grey cable that ran from him and into the ground was pulsing slowly, the cracks lighting up as if from the inside.

Solus ran forward until he was beside the slender grey undead. Sig's body was still as emaciated as before. He didn't seem in any state to fight, and Solus wasn't sure how he had even managed to do what he did. Suddenly the forest around him seemed more dangerous and filled with enemies. They needed to get out of here as fast as possible.

"Sig, can you hear me?" Again, Solus tried to make his voice sound like his own did, but it lacked the distinct rumbling. Sig's eyes focused on him, and he frowned.

"Who are you?"

"It's me, Solus," Solus whispered.

Sig didn't respond, just looking over Solus' body, then into his eyes. A frown formed, and he struggled back on his feet. When he stood, he towered over Solus, staring down on him before looking around.

"Solus is a large grey, fleshy undead with golden eyes," he finally said as he turned back to Solus. He shook his head. "You are not Solus, even though your voice is slightly similar."

Solus grunted and looked back up. He might not look like himself, but he still knew the things he had known. Besides, Sig wasn't being aggressive or overly cautious. It almost felt like he was expecting him to prove himself.

"The last time you saw me was when we were fleeing from Uran. You were hiding in the forest while Uran was trailing us. He confronted us on the edge of the forest, and we fought. Rathica did something to me, and you distracted them at great cost. Tirella managed to hide your body in a small container below the forest ground."

As Solus spoke, a look of surprise and wonder came to Sig's face.

"Anybody could have heard that story," Sig finally said, but he didn't sound convinced.

Solus thought for a moment, trying to recall what else he remembered. He suddenly realized there was one thing he knew that nobody else would probably know.

"Long ago, shortly after I had evolved you and Skull, I killed a wyrm. Skull was constantly calling me master, and in anger, I told you to toss him down to me. He had to get the wyrm's orb, but he got stuck, and in the end, I had to get him out," Solus said.

A burst of joy and nostalgia came through the small connection that led to his own body as he remembered those times long ago. With the joy came the desire to walk again in his own flesh, not these borrowed bones.

Sig was silent now, staring at him before shaking his head in disbelief.

"Solus? What happened to you?"

Sig sounded confused but also incredibly exhausted. He was swaying on his legs, barely stopping himself from falling over.

"First, let's get out of here," Solus said. "Geed will probably send more undead soon."

"Geed?"

Solus turned to Laron, who was quietly watching what was going on.

"Laron, let's go. We need to get out of here."

"The others, others, what about the others?" Laron whispered, looking around.

"They are either ended, or they fled," Solus said. "If we stay here and search for them, the chances of all of us being recaptured are too large."

Laron sighed sadly, then jogged towards them, staring up at Sig when he arrived. His eyes were large with wonder.

"Sig, this is Laron. He helped me get here to find you. Without him, you would still be below ground, in some eternal sleep." Solus said as he turned and began moving across the roots towards the nearest trunk.

"Sig, can you carry us out of here?"

"I need a wyrm-orb," Sig said, shaking his head. "I can barely stay on my feet."

Solus had guessed as much. He had hoped that Sig had some energy left, as he had moved in his cloud shape moments before.

"Then we walk, and I'll tell you what happened," Solus said.