NBB2 - The chaos rifts - chapter 30

"Stop looking back!" Sam snapped at Tatjie, who had been about to look across her shoulder. She grumbled and kept running.

Derin ignored them and cursed his luck as he looked back while trying not to trip. The five white dots, tall and armored, were still chasing them.

"Derin, how much bleeding longer? I can't keep running like this, I ain't no skeleton!" Tatjie rumbled in between her ragged breathing.

"Stop asking already! You know we need to reach the hills first. You can see those as well as I can. Look ahead."

Derin looked at the small hills far in the distance. It would take them half a day more to reach them at their current speed.

"It will take half a day unless you speed up," the AI said, almost parroting his thoughts. "The skeletons following us will overtake us in three hours. You need to run faster."

Derin wished she hadn't added that. He had thought they might still make it.

"Shut it, Orbie! Why don't you go run by yourself? Do you have any idea how bloody heavy you are?"

"Approximately two hundred and ninety-one kilograms," Sam replied matter of factly.

Derin barked a laugh, at the same time wondering what a kilogram was. He did know the sphere and machine weighed far more than he could lift. He had suggested he help Tatjie, but after she dropped the thing, he couldn't even lift it. He knew he might be able to raise it with his energy cords, but for how long? If they needed to fight, he would need his energy.

"Seeing as there's nothing else to do, why don't you two tell me more about this Skulltown?" Sam said.

Derin sighed, wondering why everybody constantly wanted to know things. It annoyed the hell out of him. Trying to tune out Tatjie, who happily began explaining about common things, he played with the idea of suggesting he run ahead of them and get help. But the prospect of running even faster for half a day and then climbing through the hills for another deterred him.

I hope Solus and Tirella will come and find us soon, he thought, trying to ignore the constant prattling.

--

"Why don't you just wake up!?" Tirela said in consternation.

Solus' body lay dormant on the ground beside her, and she couldn't get herself to move him another step. Slumping down, her head in her hands, she focused on the vibrations. They were far off now, heading in the wrong direction.

"Finally gone," she said before sighing in relief. Knowing she had no other choice, she grabbed the second of the mana-orbs that she had taken from Solus. The first had long since turned to dust, and this one was cracked and dull. It wouldn't help much longer, and that meant she had to take the other ones as well. Solus wouldn't like that she imagined.

Summoning the small information screen Solus had given her; a weary grin pushed away some of her anxiety. Both of her values were maxed again, one at 17000 the other at 12000. If this big lug would wake up already, he could help her evolve, and she could probably carry his heavy body without such a strain! As she felt the orb turn to dust between her fingers, she suddenly had an idea.

Crawling towards Solus, she opened his pouch and grabbed the other two mana-orbs. Opening his hand, she placed one between his fingers before waiting. Nothing seemed to happen, and she was about to take it back for herself when the orb started glowing.

"Hah! Why didn't I think of that before?"

She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had thought of it now, and that was still plenty on time.

The faint blue glow flared up until it seemed as if Solus held something burning between his fingers. She could see the veins and bones of his hand through his flesh. She became afraid something would go wrong and was about to grab the wyrm-orb when it dulled and turned to dust.

Feeling her heart sink, she knew it meant it either didn't work or…

Reluctantly she placed the last orb in his hand, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

Moments later, the second orb was glowing as bright as the first, and she felt pain at the thought of it turning to dust without any use. Even after having absorbed so many orbs, evolving so far beyond what she had been, the image of the orb brought a desire and hunger in her that wasn't easily stilled.

A soft groan came from Solus, and she perked up. Bending over him, she saw his eyelids flutter open, and then the burning golden eyes stared straight into hers.

Just like those of Jagged, she thought, smiling.

--

The first thing Solus felt was a strong flow of energy going from his hand straight to his mana-field. Something was trying to block it, and as it flowed in, he could feel dissipating.

Scathia? What is she doing?

He opened his eyes and looked straight into Tirellas pitch-black eyes. The orange undead was hovering right above him, staring at him and smiling.

"Tirella?" he muttered, trying to get up.

Tirella moved back, and he pushed himself in a sitting position, his body shivering.

"What is wrong? You almost absorbed two whole orbs, but you still look this weak?" Tirela said.

He could hear a slight confusion in her words, and patting his waist, he found that all four orbs were gone.

"I needed them to get you out of there!"

Solus just nodded, trying to smile at her.

"It's fine. Scathia is doing something to me, draining my mana somehow." He looked at the dimming orb in his hand. He wouldn't have much time left.

"I am going to fall unconscious again soon…" he said helplessly. What could he possibly do to stop the horrible Lich? He didn't even know how she was doing it!

"Evolve me, fast! Into what you are!" Tirella's voice shook him awake, and he gawked at her stern face.

"I can't carry you, and creating this short tunnel cost me two whole orbs! That big yellow skeleton and Scathia are still searching for us, and if you go unconscious again..."

Sensing around, Solus felt the bone forest far off and to the side, and dozens of deep rumblings all across the surface. Undead were digging in the wasteland! Feeling the loose earth and stone behind them, he realized that Tirela must have dragged him all the way here.

He looked at her, wondering why he trusted her so much, enough to contemplate giving her his priced pattern. She had helped him, but so had others, and those had betrayed him in the end. But not all, he reminded himself. Not Drys or Norg. And if he stayed here, they would find him sooner or later. His mana was draining so fast, the influx from the orb barely outpaced it.

"I'll try," he said reluctantly, seeing her face light up.

"Show me your mana-field, quick. I don't know if I even have time enough."

His words barely ended when a deep orange mana-field filled the hollow space. He inspected it, seeing the now-familiar, incredibly dense, oddly-shaped-pattern that filled two-fifths of the available space. He knew it was part racial, part class pattern, and he suddenly realized that he had no idea how to change it so she could do what he could. Panicking, he wished he could see what kind of evolution options she could get, and then it hit him. If she could see it for herself, she wouldn't need his help!

With a woosh, his intensely green mana-field overlapped hers, and he was shocked to find an odd, squiggly pattern in one corner. It pulsated with a dark light, and as he watched, he felt the pulse beat inline with the mana that was draining from him.

"Wait, what is that?" Tirella asked, pointing at the same pattern, a look of horror on her face.

"That is how she is draining my mana away," Solus replied dully. It had to be. The thing hadn't been there the last time he checked. Ignoring it as best he could, he focused on the improved status-window he had gotten from Domain. It was incredibly dense, and he wondered if he would manage with the time he had remaining. Focusing on Tirella's mana-field, he began rapidly copying the pattern. As he worked, he noticed slight oddities in the pattern, things that his instincts told him shouldn't be like that, and knowing it would take more time to resist, he changed everything as his instincts demanded. As he did, he wondered what the oddities meant for himself. Was something wrong with the status-inscription that Domain had given him?

He barely made it in time. The mana-orb turned to dust as he added the last of the lines, and he felt his body slump to the ground.

"Say, Status-window and search for the Earth Elemental pattern!" he projected, hoping she wasn't unconscious. He thought he heard a muted reply, and then his consciousness faded again.

--

"Solus? SOLUS!" Tirela shouted as she shook him. "Why didn't you give me your pattern? What did you do?"

She didn't get any response, and she felt like hitting him. What did he do? What was that pattern she had gotten? And why had she felt so weak and pained as he inscribed it? Groaning, she thought of the two destroyed mana-orbs.

"Why didn't you just…" she slammed the ground. No use. What had he said, status-window?"

A blue screen popped in front of her, blocking her entire vision. She scrambled away in shock, with her back against the wall, but the window followed her. Lines appeared, and she noticed she could read them. They resembled the ones on the small window she had used before.

As she read the lines that continued appearing, her eyes grew large, and when they stopped, she turned to Solus.

"So this is why you are so different… I wonder if Jagged had one of these."

She didn't get any reply, and she hadn't imagined she would. Instead, she turned her full attention on the screen in front of her, and a broad grin covered her face.

"This will work just fine, just fine indeed, "she muttered before she lost herself in the many new impressions and things she read.

--

Deep pits covered the ground from the border of the white bone forest to deep inside the wasteland. Hundreds of skeletons were digging frantically, trying to get deeper into the ground.

"You fool, how could you let them get away?" Uran shouted at a Crowned skeleton standing in front of him.

"They didn't get away. An enormous army of Kaots was roaming the hills around Skulltown. There is no way they got past those." The skeleton's emotionless voice responded.

Uran roared and struck the skeleton. It flew back, skidding across the ground a dozen times before staying still. A few bits of bone lay around it.

"I don't care! I wanted them here, together with that sphere!"

Uran howled before turning to the unmoving emaciated undead that lay on the ground.

"And you, where are the mana-core's you promised me!?"

Scathia didn't move, but her voice projected above her body. It sounded weak and powerless.

"They are still somewhere below the ground, and Solus is still unconscious and unable to move. My mana-drain will keep him under for at least another day. Just find him!"

Uran stomped on the ground, tears, and fissure appearing around his foot.

"The area is enormous, where are they!?" he howled.

"I don't know! You are the one who let him get away!" Scathia screamed back.

The giant yellow skeleton growled and stepped towards her; his foot raised as if to flatten her. Then he stopped, his head cocked to the side. Turning, he stared into the distance where another Crowned skeleton came running from the Bone forest. Just above the forest, above where he knew Realdeep would be, white forms flew. They were shooting green jets of flame at fleeing Ygdra's, who shot back with crackling red balls of energy.

"Kreel, I told you to stay in the forest! I can't message you if you're too far from the trees!"

"Your plan worked! Your skeletal dragons have destroyed most of those flying things, and with them gone, we are starting to win back the rest of the city."

Uran laughed uproariously. "Of course my plan worked! Do you think I gathered all those wyrm carcasses and wyrm orbs for nothing?" Then he turned back to the undead, digging around.

"But now you are here, go and help them out! According to her," Uran pointed his yellow finger at Scathia, "Solus and that orange undead are hiding below ground somewhere."

Kreel didn't reply but stared at the digging undead.

"I think I would be more useful back in the city, ending those Kaots that still roam around," he finally said.

Uran turned to him, his head lowering a bit until it was at the same height as that of the Crowned skeleton.

"Kreeeeel?"

Uran's voice rumbled in a low and dangerous voice.

The white skeleton jumped forward and walked towards the other undead who were still digging. "Yes, yes! I'll do as you say," he said.

As he moved away, Uran turned back to Scathia.

"You had better hope they find him before this day is over…" Then he turned and strode towards the middle of the dig area.

Scathias's body remained behind, silent and motionless.

Many hours later, as the sun sunk behind the horizon and darkness set in, Uran was pacing around. His angry curses propelled the undead to even greater effort as they dug endless pits in the wasteland, further and further from the white bone forest.

A sudden scream came from one corner of the dig, where an undead had been digging. The rest of the skeletons looked up, just in time to see the top of a skull disappear inside the ground. A grinding, chewing sound followed.

Uran walked forward, staring at the place the skeleton had disappeared when something moved to the left of him. Swirling around with his massive skeletal fists raised, he witnessed four more skeletons swallowed by the earth. The same grinding, chewing sound followed.

"Boss! Hel-" A projected voice was cut short, and more grinding sounded.

"What is going on!?" Uran roared as he rushed forward.

Dozens of skeletons disappeared all around him, one less than a meter from where he stood. Jumping towards it, he was just in time to see a line of triangular teeth slam shut above one of his skeletal minions' heads. The crunching that came from the hole left no mistake of what had happened.

Uran roared in anger as he turned to Scathia.

"You promised me Solus wouldn't wake!"

"It's not Solus!" Scathia screamed back, followed by a yelp. "Noo!"

Uran saw the unmoving shape of Scathia disappear under the ground, and as sudden as everything had happened, it was quiet. Swirling around, he saw the hundreds of skeletons that had been digging were all gone. The dugout pits the only proof they had existed.

"Damn you, Solus! I will find you!"

Roaring in anger, he ran towards the forest, disappearing inside. Only his last roared command echoed back out.

"Kreel, get everyone ready. We are going to Skulltown!"

--

Sitting below the ground, Tirela laughed. She had never felt as powerful as she did right now. Turning around, she moved to Scathia's unresponsive form and kicked it gently.

"Wake up!"

Scathia's eyes shot open, widening when she stared at Tirela. A moment later, her surprise turned to a glare.

"So, you evolved."

Tirela lowered herself to her haunches, a deadpan look on her face, her brown lips a thin pursed line. "Undo what you did to Solus, or I'll rip your head off."

"Why do you help that fool? He would have this whole world end with him! Just give me his mana-core, and I can stop these rifts from appearing," Scathia hissed.

Tirela moved her hand towards Scathia's face in a slow and deliberate motion. The previously pure orange skin was now a smattering of orange and brown, tiny lines like cracked earth covering it. All along her arms and chest sat fine hairs, brown, shiny and sharp like needles.

Just before her hands wrapped around Scathia's neck, the thin undead growled deep in her chest.

"What is wrong with all of you? What does it matter what happens to another, as long as we can stop the Kaot Host from ravaging this world?"

"Don't worry. I already know how to close the rifts. All I need from you is to release Solus. Now, fast. Or I'll make you." Tirela smiled her still completely black eyes glistening dangerously.

Scathia's hand shot up so fast its movements were blurred, and she grabbed Tirella's wrist.

"Fool! I'll take yours then!"

A sickly white glow emanated from Scathia, then stopped, her smile freezing on her face.

"No! That's impossible, how did you-" her voice was cut off as Scathia grabbed her neck and squeezed.

"Last chance, "she said.

"Never!" Scathia hissed, and Tirela shrugged. With a flick of her hand, she snapped the Lich's neck, and with another, she ripped off her head. Black ichor flowed from the neck ends, tarnishing her skin.

"Ug, disgusting!" she muttered, dropping the head and wiping her hands on the body of the unmoving Lich.

A soft groan came from the end of the tunnel behind her, and she swirled around.

"Are you finally awake again? Glad this worked," she said with a laugh as she walked forward.

--

Solus' head was pounding, and it felt as if every part of him was battered and beaten. He heard Tirella say something, but it was like a soft mumble. Why was he awake? He sensed his mana regeneration had kicked in, and a surge of energy was rippling through him. It alleviated some of the pain and reduced the pounding until it was bearable.

Besides his mana-regeneration, he also felt a trickle of energy from another source. He couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but it was close. Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar green glow of the stone. Spreading his senses, he started. He was incredibly far below the ground, much farther than he had ever been. A mighty presence, familiar and peaceful, hovered not too far from him, examining him.

Where am I? he thought with a shock, and a rumbling in the earth came as a reply.

“STILLLL WEEEEAAKKKK, BUTTT NO LONGGGERRR ALONNEEEEEE!”

The world elemental's voice was louder than ever, but it didn't seem as powerful as before. A weak undertone underlay it.

"So, if that thing is talking with you, it means you're awake? How about you stop ignoring me then?" Tirela's voice came from beside him, a bit rougher than before, and he could hear the laugh and joy in it. Just the sound caused something inside him to shiver, and he turned to look at her.

"You've changed!" he blurted out, his deep voice sounding high pitched following the world elementals rumbling. He stared at her multicolored, orange, and brown skin and the prickly hairs covering it. The yellow had deepened so much that it seemed almost brown now. Her black eyes, however, hadn't changed at all. What surprised him most, though, was the fact that he could see the stone and minerals inside her skin. She almost seemed to glow from the inside out with a myriad of colors.

"So, did I pick the right evolution?" Tirela asked, raising her hand.

A ball of shiny metal dropped from the ceiling, falling on her palm. It quickly changed into a dozen different shapes: a towering Wyrm, a building, a tree, and ending in a perfect replica of Solus. She tossed the statue to him with a grin, and as he caught it, he felt the weight it held.

He hissed in surprise as he recognized it as metal, but not which kind. Not gold, something else, lighter. Focusing, he tried to change its shape, and it felt effortless. He changed it into a dozen shapes until he ended with Tirella's and tossed it back.

Why can I shape metal now?

"BECAUSSSEEE YOU ARRREEE TOGETTHEERRRRR"

The world elemental's voice sounded happy, even in its weakness.

"GOOO UPPP, FINNDDDDD STRENGHTTTTT!"

The words weakened at the end, and Solus felt the presence vanish. He looked down, wanting to ask it to stay and explain.

"Let it go!" Tirela said, sounding rushed. "It's dying, and every time it comes this far up, it weakens considerably."

He looked at her, stunned. "You could hear it?"

Tirela laughed, but Solus could feel her sadness beneath. Why could he sense her emotions?

"We need to get back to Skulltown and find that mana-core, fast. We will need it if we are going to stop these rifts from appearing before the Kaot Host comes through."

As Tirela spoke, she moved towards the end of the tunnel they were in, and it lengthened ahead of her, angling slightly up.

"Come, we need to hurry!"

Solus scrambled up, feeling his hammer press against his leg, and as he looked down, its presence comforted him.

"Then you better come back because Skulltown is the other way," he said with laughter in his voice.