NBB2 - The chaos rifts - chapter 29

For hours, Solus led them along the edge of the forest, the long ravine stretching out most of the way beside them. It ended when he could see the end of the bone forest far in the distance. Beyond it was the wasteland, and he knew if he continued for a bit, he would see the hills.

Not yet, he thought as he turned to the forest and walked inside.

The forest had grown immensely since he had escaped from under the ground, and it took a long time to find the spot. Scanning below, he eventually sensed the tunnels that led up from the deep cavern system where he had been locked away long ago. A small hill was atop it, and when he saw the opening in the side, he couldn't help but laugh. It had been such a long time since he was here!

"We came all the way here to find a cave?" Tatjie cursed and dropped to the ground with a solid thud. Lying on her back, she looked up at the sky.

"Wake me when we leave," she rumbled before closing her eyes.

The others looked at Solus, and Derin carefully put Sig on the ground. The grey undead still hadn't as much as stirred, the orb clutched in his hand, undrained.

"Wait here," Solus said before disappearing into the cave entrance.

Dirt and dust lay scattered across the ground, marred in the middle by innumerable footprints. Seeing how many undead had passed here, Solus cursed. Had they found it? Scanning around, he quickly spotted the stone plate that he had left to indicate where he hid the sphere and its power source. Digging them out, he placed them beside each other. The sphere was, as he now knew, just a low grade one. It wasn't anything like the first he had found, which had been a lot higher grade, although he had no idea how high, nor anything like Domain. Still, remembering how it had helped him escape, he couldn't stop the joyful emotion at holding it again. Placing it back in the odd machine, he gently pressed the large button.

The machine lit up, and a soft hum came from inside, followed by a soft voice.

> Booting temporary AI.

> Sufficient energy found, rebooting the main personality.

>...5%..14%...39%...71%...95%....100% done

"Solus?" The soft feminine voice caused a smile to cross his face. "My date says you've only been gone for a year! Didn't I tell you only to wake me when there is some form of civilization on this planet!"

Solus nodded, wondering if the sphere could even see that. "I know. But unless you help me, there won't ever be anything on this world ever again."

"I knew it. You are just like the others, waking me up when you need my help!" The sphere began pulsating softly.

"Wait, wait! Solus said, getting a bad premonition. "There is also a form of civilization on the planet now!"

The pulsating continued for a short while before stopping. "Preposterous! There was none before. Did you find one hidden under a stone?"

Solus sat down cross-legged, wondering where to start. He had the feeling that asking his own question right now would not have the desired effect.

"That too," he said, thinking of Tendraal and Realdeep. "But I've also created something…" wondering how he was to explain about Skulltown he had an idea. With some focus, a small platform rose beside the sphere.

"Can you see this?" he asked, creating a small tower in the middle of the platform.

"A tower? One tower does not make a-" The sphere's voice stopped as more and more buildings appeared around the tower.

Digging deep in his memories, Solus closed his eyes as he visualized Skulltown as he last saw it. More and more buildings appeared, and soon he realized the platform was too small. Enlarging it, he continued all the way until he was at the wall. When he finished it, he opened his eyes.

A miniature replica of Skulltown lay sprawled in front of him. Blue beams from the sphere were scanning it, pausing at some locations.

"You've made yourself a city."

Solus nodded, wondering if it would be enough.

"Are you alone in it?"

Grinning, Solus shook his head.

"No, the last count Drys did, showed there were close to eighty thousand undead in the city. Not all stay the whole time, as some go out searching for more awoken, while others hunt for old-world relics. There are also the hunters that search for and hunt the giant Wyrms."

"This is not yet a civilization… however, it might turn into one. Fine. You may bring me there, and I will answer your questions. Perhaps, my presence can make it, so some of the mistakes from the past are not repeated."

Taking a deep breath, Solus felt a wave of relief flood him. Hearing the calm and collected voice somehow made it as if things would be alright. It reminded him of his initial encounter with a sphere, and he knew it might be nothing more than wishful thinking. Still, it felt good. He waved his hand, and the replica sank into the stone, preserved a dozen meters below the surface.

"What should I call you?" he asked after a moment.

"An interesting question. Long ago, the first AIs of my type were called, Semantic Artificial Minds. As I am probably the last one, you can call me Sam."

Solus nodded, wondering how it would be if you knew you were a created entity. Was that better or worse than being an undead? He didn't know, and with all the ancients gone, he wondered if it mattered.

"Explain what the trouble is you spoke of before," Sam said in her soft voice.

Collecting his thoughts, Solus tried to explain as fast as he could. He told about the rifts that had started appearing, the Kaots, and finally the need to know how to absorb a mana-core.

"A mana-core is the next grade of mana-orb, a qualitative change. If a mana-orb is a battery, a mana-core is like a small power plant. The ancients never used them on undead, or even on themselves. They used the smallest ones to power cities, and the largest ones for whole planets."

The unfamiliar words caused concepts to pop up in Solus' mind, and he realized he understood what she meant. He was curious why the ancients never used them, but that would have to wait.

"So how do I absorb one?"

"You need to focus your mana-field in one spot, wrapping the core inside. Learning to focus your mana-field is documented as a notoriously difficult process to learn."

Groaning, Solus shook his head. No wonder he and Drys never figured out how to absorb the large mana-orb -no, mana-core- he corrected himself. Now he needed to learn something new again. It also meant he had to find more mana-cores. If not just he, but also Drys and Tirela could absorb one, they could- his train of thought stopped. Wait, what could they do then?

"What happens if you absorb one?" he asked, realizing he had no idea what a mana-core even offered that draining thousands of mana-orbs couldn't.

"I don't understand the question. Nothing happens. Mana-core's are a requirement to evolve beyond certain bottlenecks. Inscribing basic patterns draws the mana required from the mana-field to power the changes they cause. More difficult patterns need far more mana than a single mana-field can hold. Not even holding a hundred high-grade mana-orbs would be enough. To inscribe those patterns, a mana-core is used in concert with the mana-field to power the change."

Solus blinked. That didn't make sense! He had never seen any restriction to evolve like that. Besides, why did it sound so vague and uncertain?

"Why have I never seen a reference to any of this in the Status window?"

"Because there was no need to add it. Due to the rapidly declining mana before the great escape, only a few mana-cores remained."

Solus' mind wandered off again. He had heard about the decline of the mana before, but he didn't know why it had happened. Annoyed, he put the question on the ever-growing list of things he wanted to know.

"What did they use the mana-cores for if not to evolve?"

"They were used to power the great ships as they flew to the edge of the galaxy, draining them in the process," Sam replied, and a small blue beam projected an image of an odd mechanical machine in front of him.

Looking at it, Solus shook his head and pushed the questions the image brought away, with a tired sigh. Making a loop on his waist armor, he placed the hammer inside before picking up the machine. Remembering how many spheres he had moved around during his short existence, he grinned. Then he moved towards the exit, thinking of what lay ahead of him. He had better warn Sam about what she could expect.

"Don't be alarmed when we get outside. There are a few other undead, but most are friendly. Three are from my city, and one is from another world. She came through a rift but isn't a Kaot. The last somehow survived the purge, and-"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Sam's voice was filled with horror and fear, a level of emotion Solus had yet to see from her.

Solus stopped a few steps from the tunnel exit and looked down at the sphere.

"What's wrong?"

The sphere didn't reply, but she pulsed as a blue beam inspected Solus' face.

"You are not lying…" she finally said before remaining silent.

Solus waited for a bit, but nothing happened. "Sam?"

"The ancients destroyed all undead when they left, and they were very thorough. One of the reasons was that most of the undead created by them were… unhinged. The process of making them left them dangerously unstable. If one is still here, in possession of old-world knowledge is not a good thing."

Staring at the light beyond the exit, Solus thought about what Sam said. Then he shook his head. "There is nothing I can do about that right now. We have worse problems to solve."

"Perhaps you are right. But I suggest you end that old world undead-monster the first chance you get."

The coldness, emotionlessness of the AI's words made Solus blink. He had no love for Scathia, not after what she had done. But he had the idea she was at least partially doing it to save the world. To just coldly state he should end her, even he meant to do so, irked him. Walking outside, he glanced at the sphere in his arms and decided it wasn't just Scathia that would need watching.

It was quiet in the open area beyond the exit. Tirella sat facing the tunnel, two balls of stone in her hands. They were cracking and morphing, stone passing from one ball to the other in a jittery stream. Half up the slope of the hill lay Tatjie, eyes still closed. Derin sat to the side, staring quietly at Scathia. The Litch sat near the forest, another pattern in front of her, broken branches of trees littered on top. Seeing her, Solus realized the only reason he brought her here was to learn about the mana-cores, and he knew what he needed now. Should he leave her, go through with what he had planned and end her? Both options didn't sit well with him. Not able to make up his mind, he decided he would take her to Drys and let him decide. Her manipulative ways were beyond him, but Drys should be fine.

"We are leaving immediately!" Solus said, stomping towards Tirela. Her intense black eyes stared into his, a smile creeping across her yellow lips blossoming into a full grin.

Perhaps when all this was over, he could show her Skulltown and the area around it. The idea made him involuntarily return the grin.

"So, we just came here for another sphere?" Scathia said, staring at the object in Solus' arms.

Her taut face was unreadable, and Solus wondered if she had realized why he needed the sphere. Looking back at her, Solus nodded.

"Let's head to Skulltown. With both Tendraal and Realdeep destroyed, it's the only remaining city."

"That you know of, and that's assuming it's still there," Scathia said with a sneer.

"Yes," Solus replied as he turned around.

Definitely give her to Drys. He can get the locations of any other cities from her, he thought.

Tirella moved to shake Tatjie awake, but the heavyset zombie's eyes flashed open upon a single touch. She must have been awake before, listening to them. The two got up while Derin moved towards them, staring intently at Solus. Seeing the eyes of the other dart to the side before staring at him again, Solus blinked. Derin was seeking to tell him something. Trying not to be too obvious, he looked in the direction the other had glanced at. Between the branches of a tree not too far off was a thick shadowy cloud. A pair of red eyes looked at him, blinking twice before disappearing.

Happiness at seeing Sig awake was overshadowed by confusion at why the other was hiding. What is going on now? he thought, walking forward. As neither Sig nor Derin was sending him any projected messages, that meant something was listening.

His mind spun, and with nobody speaking, not even Tatjie, they quietly made their way through the forest. The silence grated on Solus' nerves. What was going on?

When they finally reached the edge, and the wasteland loomed beyond, Solus was even more confused. Nobody had spoken, but a sense of foreboding and danger hung in the air.

As he stepped past the tree line and onto the wasteland, an angry voice came from behind them.

"So you are really just leaving? Didn't we make a deal?! It's a good thing I just finished..."

Solus swirled around and saw that the others did the same, but much less surprised than he did.

Uran stepped out of the forest behind them, glaring at Solus. His previously empty eye-sockets were glowing with a pale yellow light.

He evolved again, Solus thought, cursing himself for not giving the sphere to Derin or Tatji.

"You!" Sam hissed, her soft voice laced with spite. The sphere began flashing rapidly, but Uran just glanced at it once before turning his attention to Solus.

"I want one of those mana-cores you promised me!"

Solus was about to say something when a burst of soft laughter came from Scathia.

"So, you are Uran? I've heard about you!"

Before Solus could stop her, the thin undead stepped closer to the lumbering yellow skeleton.

Uran ignored her, but Solus felt a surge of fear. What was she up to?

"Unlike him, I can get you a mana-core," Scathia's next words caused Uran's glowing yellow eye-sockets to focus on her. Solus growled, stepping forward to stop her, but Uran looked at him and raised a finger. Feeling the danger ooze from the other, Solus took a step back and turned to the others. Without knowing what Uran's new evolution had granted him, he had to be wary.

"Explain," Uran's deep voice boomed at Scathia.

Scathia moved a step towards him, and as she did, Solus cast a glance at Tirela, Tatjie, and Derin. They had known Uran was here, or at least that something was! He stepped towards Tatjie and handed her the machine, then flicked his gaze at the wasteland. She nodded, taking a step towards it.

"Don't move, "

Uran's voice held a threat, and as he spoke, there was movement behind him. A dozen of the Crowned Ones stepped from between the trees, their eyes on Tatjie and the machine.

Scathia laughed, nasty and full of spite.

"Both Solus and the orange one carry a core! If we work together, we can slay them, and each takes one."

Solus stepped in front of Tatjie, his focus on the ground below. If Scathia stopped his ability to move, they would be finished. Without holding back, he channeled his stone-molding, and the ground behind Scathia opened as a stone tendril flashed forward. It wrapped her around her neck, squeezing. At the same time, dozens of tendrils shot from around Uran, grabbing him.

"Run to Skulltown!" Solus snapped at Tirella and the others, at the same time creating more and more tendrils of stone. All of them were as dense as he could make them, and he felt the drain on his mana-field intensely, but as he could still move, it must have hampered Scathia's ability to bind him. From behind him came running, heading towards the depths of the wasteland.

Uran roared, struggling to get free, and the stone cracked and shivered at places but held. The crowned skeletons ran towards Solus when a black cloud oozed from behind them. It enveloped the Crowned Ones before shooting up into the air. It didn't get as high as Solus had expected before the cloud disappeared and dozens of flailing skeletons dropped to the ground. Amongst their falling figures was Sig, again unmoving.

Solus felt a wave of worry flash through him, but he didn't have any time. The stone that bound Uran was cracking and crumbling. Just keeping it in place as long as he had was an immense drain on his mana-field.

Sig and the Crowned skeletons hit a tree, branches snapping as they crashed through and slammed into the ground.

Solus lost sight of them, and he couldn't sense what was going on either. His full attention on the stone tendrils, he felt a tingling from one of them. Looking up, he saw it was the one holding Scathia. She just hung in the stone, the skeletons she had made uselessly ripping and hitting it. The tingling became a humming, and it increased in intensity quickly. She was doing something, and he had to get out of here before-

There was a scraping behind him, and he spun around.

Tirella was there, knelt beside him, her hands on the ground.

Why hasn't she left, he thought in consternation.

Before he could feel what she was doing, the trees around him shivered and pulled their roots from the grounds. Solus turned to look at Uran.

He can do it without touching them now?

Solus cursed as he remembered how Uran had caused the trees to attack him before and jumped towards Tirella. Te slammed into her, knocking her sideways out of the path of two roots that shot from the soil at her previous position.

Grabbing Tirela around her middle, he jumped as far as he could towards the wasteland. If he had to fight, it couldn't be with all those trees around.

"Sig, HIDE!" he roared, hoping the other wasn't unconscious again. Tirela struggled in his grip, and she shouted something, but a roar from Uran drowned out what she said.

"Get back here!" The skeleton's projected voice drowned out every other sound around. At the same time, Solus felt the other rip some of the tentacles apart.

Knowing he was wasting energy he needed for something else, he released his control of the other tendrils binding him. The only ones he left were those around Scathia. Wondering if he had the energy left to lengthen the canyon behind them so it would block Uran, he felt a tingling in his arms and legs. It was the same as the tingling he felt from the stone binding Scathia.

"I buried Sig below the forest. If he survives, he can pass through the stone and leave by himself!" Tirela whispered.

Solus wanted to answer, but his mouth was numb as control over his body fading. "Scathia is using her skill! I am losing control over my body," he projected, afraid that he would lose that ability any moment.

He wasn't wrong. They crashed on their back in the wasteland, and he couldn't do anything.

"Solus? SOLUS!" Tirela yelled, but he couldn't reply, his entire body a shivering unresponsive mass.

Tirela tried to drag him away before cursing and releasing him.

"You weigh as much as a  mountain!"

He wanted to reply but couldn't. Then he felt his body sink down, and the sky above turned into a small square. Walls of stone surrounded him.

She is hiding us below, he thought in relief.

"It's going to be fine!" Tirela said, and then Solus felt his mind grow foggy. Whatever Scathia was doing, it was different from the first time. The last thing he knew was that the square hole above him closed, blocked by stone, and locking them in a dim green-glowing room. Then his consciousness faded.

--

Tirella stared at the silent grey giant on the ground. He reminded her so much of Jagged, the leader of Bastion. Calm and collected, but capable of ferocious anger. An image of the mighty undead, moments before he was ripped apart by two Kaot Lords, came to her and with it a wave of emotions.

No!

She shook her head violently. There was no time for that now.

Placing her hands on the stone around her, she focused, sensing the small tremors above. If she could feel them down here, someone was making a massive racket up there, probably in an attempt to reach them. Looking to the side, in the direction the others had said Skulltown was in, she began making a tunnel. She felt the drain on her mana, and she stopped after the tunnel was a few hundred meters long. If she were to get them away far enough, she would need mana-orbs.

Looking back down at the stone armor wrapped around Solus's waist, she inspected the small container. It was closed, but she could feel familiar soft energy emanating from inside. Knowing she had no choice, she touched the container, willing it to open. The stone was hard to mold as if it was stronger than regular stone, but eventually, an opening appeared. Inside, she saw four large wyrm-orbs, and she grabbed two before closing the container.

Sitting down, she quietly began absorbing one. The pure, clean energy that flowed inside her was a far cry from the murky black stuff she had become used to on the other worlds. It also didn't cause her to become angry as those from the Kaots did. After a while, she stopped and looked at the two orbs. They still held much mana, but she needed her hands. Staring at Solus's waist-container, she frowned, and stone crawled up her leg and wrapped around the top of it, forming an armor with a container, similar to the one Solus had. With some satisfaction, she placed the orbs inside before closing it. That would have to do for now.

Turning to Solus, she sighed as she began dragging him through the tunnel. His weight caused a trench to form in the dust and soil.

"You really need to lose some weight," she groaned.