NBB2 - The chaos rifts - chapter 28

Solus knew there was something wrong the moment he jumped across the last part of the rubble and got a clear view of the outskirts of the city, and the place left Tirela and the others.

Black scorch marks marred the now partially collapsed building he had made to hold Scathia. From this distance, he couldn't see anything moving. With fear for what might have happened clouding his mind, he raced across the few piles of rubble land and the highways leading out.

Almost there, he still didn't see anyone. Nothing moved, and as he moved in front of the building, he winced. Deep scrapes in the wasteland ground and holes as if something exploded marred the surroundings of the building.  Between the damage were footprints. Tracing them, he saw a massive amount of tracks leading out into the wasteland in the direction of Skulltown.

"Tirela, Sig?" he called, rushing into the building. Half of the room had caved in, and more scorch marks covered the remaining segments of wall.

Where are they? Solus thought, his emotions becoming more turbulent as he ran back out of the building.

He grabbed one of the four wyrm orbs from his pouch, holding it in his hand, ready to drain it if needed. Taking a closer look at the area, he saw a large hole and upturned earth behind the square building he had trapped Scathia in. Feeling hope, he ran towards it. A tunnel just like the ones he could make was surrounded by smaller, ragged holes as if something had clawed its way down.

Tirela got away!

Jumping in the large hole, he saw it moved two ways. Left went a short distance and ended under the Scathia's prison. The other side led away further away before going up again sharply and disappearing from view. The walls were cracked and broken in places, and he could see tracks.

Tirela tried to hide underground, but something came after them, he thought, running through the tunnel to the end. Jumping out, he saw he wasn't that far from the buildings, and the tracks he had seen led past the hole.

Something followed them underground, while the rest came after them when they popped back out.

Looking at the tracks, he tried to calm himself. He jumped as high as he could, and as his body shot up, he looked in the direction of the tracks. Nothing moved, and even at the apex of his jump, he didn't see anything but a trail of tracks leading away.

When he struck the ground, he didn't dampen his landing at all. The ground cracked, a ripple moving away from him that reached the sides of the buildings. Tears and fissures appeared on the walls. He squeezed the handle of his hammer as a helpless, powerless feeling made him roar in anger.

It took a while for his emotions to cool down, and when they finally did, he cursed himself for wasting time. Turning to the tracks, he propelled himself forward. Within moments he had left the now devastated buildings far behind.

Had Scathia done something? Or did Kaots chase them? There were so many tracks; it had to be Kaots or... Minglings? No, those wouldn't stand a chance against Tirela or Derin.

Did Tirela get caught off guard by Scathia? Derin had still been there, right? As he tried to come up with a plausible scenario, another option formed in his head. What if Tirela had double-crossed him like Domain?

No, I don't believe it.

He tried to think of another possibility, but no matter how hard he tried, the idea kept rearing its ugly head. In the end, he pushed away all options and focused on running. He would find out what had happened soon enough.

An hour later, he still hadn't caught up, and he frowned. He hadn't been in the city that long, had he? He tried to recall, but his mind wasn't cooperating. Looking ahead, he could almost picture the hills in the distance. At this speed, it would take him only a day to reach Skulltown.

Ahead of him, the tracks changed course abruptly. As if the group of undead and kaots making them had suddenly decided on another route, the tracks turned left at a sharp ninety-degree angle away from Skulltown. Another wide band of tracks joined the first, and following it back, Solus saw it had come from the direction of Skulltown.

Turning his heads between them, he frowned as he looked in the new direction. It took him a moment to realize what lay that way, and then he shivered.

The Bone forest and Realdeep! Are they heading towards Uran?

Confused, he followed the trails.

--

"Don't stop! Keep going!" Tirela screamed at Tatjie, who was staggering behind her. She couldn't help the other, not while she was carrying Sig. Staring down at the silent dark shape with a large wyrm-orb clutched in his hands, she felt like cursing.

Why won't you wake up!?

Incoherent shouting and screaming came from behind her, and she took a quick look across her shoulder. A chaotic battle was raging not too far off, dozens of Kaots raging and screaming as they attacked Scathia's two remaining Cherocs. Far behind, a seemingly unending stream of slower Kaots was running after them.

I hope those Cherocs last, she thought. They were the last distraction they had left. The other minions of Scathia had already fallen in similar ways.

"Can't you make more of those things?" she screamed at Scathia, who was bundled up in Derin's arms. Although powerful in her own right, she lacked physical strength and couldn't run fast enough.

"Not without source material," Scathia's replied in an annoyed voice, her eyes focused on what was happening to her. One of her hands rested on Derin's shoulder, glowing weakly.

Tirella didn't know what she was doing, but ever since she had laid her hand there, Derin had been able to keep up. She hoped it wouldn't have any nasty after-effects, but they didn't have another choice but to ignore it at this point. Even she felt weary, although she knew she could continue almost indefinitely. They had been fleeing at full speed from the moment not too long after Solus had left. Looking at Tatjie, she knew the weakened zombie needed rest.

"You are sure there is something in this direction?" she shouted at Derin.

"The Boneforest! I am positive! You should be able to see it soon."

Tirela hoped he was right. Running ahead, she wondered how Solus was doing and if he succeeded in grabbing the mana-core.

--

Watching the looming forest ahead of him, Solus slowed down. The tracks disappeared amidst a ravage of broken trees—snapped branches, cracked trunks, and a few ripped out of the ground and lying to the side.

He scanned the sides of the forest as far as he could see. It shouldn't be this far yet, he knew. The fact the forest was here meant it had grown again, monstrously so. It also meant he had no idea where Realdeep was. Sensing ahead of him, he felt soft tremors and rumbling from deeper inside the forest.

He walked into the forest, hoping Uran hadn't evolved, or if he had, he had lost some of his temper. They had been close to equal before, and his latest evolution had done little to increase his combat power. The trail of destruction led deeper into the forest, but on a smaller scale. The trees were so massive here that Solus didn't know if even he could uproot one. Staring at one, the size of a small tower and just as wide, he wondered how big they would become eventually.

The muffled sound of an explosion came from ahead of him. Gripping the handle of his hammer, he rushed forward. As he dodged around the closely packed trees, the sounds became louder. Soon he began hearing, screaming, and roaring.

There was a battle going on, and he hoped the others weren't caught in the middle.

As he rushed around a massive white trunk, he suddenly ran out of the forest and onto an open area. Ahead of him lay Realdeep, or what was left of it. A massive battle was happening, and pockets of Kaots battling defenders were everywhere. Many of the domes, the top of the buried skull buildings, were cracked open, and from the deep rumbling, Solus knew the fight was happening below the ground as well.

Ygdra and smaller flying undead flew between the massive trees that stood in the city, raining red crackling destruction down on both the defenders and Kaots. They didn't seem to discriminate between who they destroyed, grabbing and eating what they caught whole.

Solus could see that the defenders were sorely outmatched, the much weaker undead getting slaughtered by the ferocious Kaots. If the others had made it here, he didn't have much time!

Scanning the area, he saw no indication of Tirela's tall orange form anywhere. Where are they? he thought worriedly, walking forward and readying his hammer.

There wasn't any sight of Uran anywhere either, but he saw a group of tall, fully armored, bone-club-wielding skeletons at the edge of the city. Their small crowns were visible even from this distance, and he wondered if Kreel was among them. They seemed to be guarding a larger building that was still in one piece. Standing in a semi-circle around the massive open maw that was the entrance, they ended any Kaot that came to close with vicious effectiveness. Judging by the number of bodies sprawled around them, Solus guessed they had been at it for a while.

He played with the idea to shout for his friends but then shook his head. He didn't know what was going on yet, or where Uran was. If he drew too much attention now, he might have to fight everything in the city, Kaots, Ygdra, and Uran and his lackeys at the same time.

Heading towards the Crowned ones, or whatever Uran called the guards, he regularly scanned around for the others. He could see across most of the destroyed buildings, the top having cracked inside, but all he saw were different types of skeletons fighting with the Kaots.

Circling one of the few domes tall enough to block his view, he stood eye to eye with two green-brown, six-legged, two-armed Kaots. Their form reminded him of Grinder, the crazed undead that had tried to take over Skulltown. They were ripping apart a few skeleton defenders, one of which had had red bones. The Kaots saw him at the same time and charged.

Solus raised his hammer, suddenly feeling like smashing them apart. It wasn't his still missing battle-rage, but he would take what he could get.  He jumped forward, dodging below a taloned strike, and rammed his hammer into the chest of the Kaot. The Kaots flesh rippled oddly as it was flung towards a nearby dome where it immediately crawled back up.

Solus stepped to the side, just in time to dodge the second one's slash, and roared in its face. The cone of shimmering air that hit the Kaot was far more effective than his hammer. The flesh covering it ripped apart, puss and slivers of flesh flying away from it as pitch-black bones became visible. The Kaot, most of its face gone, howled and struggled to stay on its half a dozen feet.  Solus stepped forward and hammered it on top of its head. The angular, large jawed head flattened, disappearing half in the neck while the Kaot crumbled to the ground.

Solus swirled around, just in time to see the second one jump forward. He stepped into it, hitting the Kaot with a two-handed strike from his hammer in the middle of its face. The disgusting head snapped back while vertebrae broke in two and pierced the front of its throat. Its body made a partial flip before slamming into the ground.

Looking at the two Kaots, Solus frowned. Should he take their mana-orbs? They were corrupted, and he couldn't absorb them, but others might take them if he left them here. After a second's hesitation, he focused, and the stone below the bodies opened up, swallowing them whole. He drew them a few meters below the ground.

Satisfied, he headed towards the Crowned ones.

He came across a few more Kaots, dispatching them quickly and likewise burying their bodies. When he finally reached the Crowned ones, he was starting to get more worried. There were barely any surviving defenders around, and he hadn't seen any sign of Tirela or the others.

"Halt!" A familiar voice sounded beside his head.

Looking at the middle of the guards, he grinned.

"Is that you, Kreel?"

"Uran has said you are not allowed in this city. Leave." The Crowned One's voice sounded aggrieved.

Solus snorted as he gestured around. "Look around you, fool! You need all the help you can get. You're getting overrun!"

"Uran will take care of it!"

Shaking his head, Solus wondered how the other could possibly do that.

"Where is Uran?" he said, deciding he might have to speak with the ancient undead again.

"He is in the undercity, making-" Kreels smug voice was cut short, and Solus saw him shudder.

When he spoke again, his voice was timid. "Uran says that if you want to be useful, you should go to the spot where you locked away the portal and make that stone barrier you left around it bigger."

Solus blinked in shock. If Uran thought he could be useful, the ancient undead had to be deeply troubled, and things were even worse than he thought. It also meant they were on speaking terms again. He looked around the enormous city. He was never going to find others like this.

"Tell him I can't yet. Some undead from Skulltown fled here from the wasteland, and I am trying to locate them."

Kreel was quiet, and Solus wondered about what the skeleton and Uran were speaking. He also wished he had a similar ability. It would be advantageous if he could talk with Drys right about now.

"Uran says to tell me their names. We will find them and send them to you. That way, you can go and re-bury that rift. More and more of these things are pouring out, and Uran needs more time."

Wondering what Uran was up to, Solus nodded. He didn't feel like leaving the search for his friends up to Kreel, but they knew the city and were with more. Besides, more Kaots meant it would be even more challenging to find them. Perhaps if the rift wasn't too big, he could close it again.

"Fine. But tell Uran that whatever he does, he needs to hurry. Now, where do I go?"

Kreel pointed to the side, and Solus moved towards the forest that lay not too far away. When he was at the edge, he stopped. A thought played through his mind, and although dangerous, he couldn't stop himself.

Turning, he looked at Kreel.  "Ask Uran if he knows what mana-core's are and how to absorb them."

Kreel fell silent again, and then he shuddered a few times. When he looked up, Solus saw the light in his eye-sockets flare-up.

"Uran knows. He wants to know where you have heard of it and if you have one. If you do, he will give you anything you want for it."

So the ancient skeleton knew about them as well? Solus' mind spun.

"I have two, and I will trade him one for the knowledge on how to absorb them," he lied, blinking at the odd feeling it gave him: a combination of fear and loathing. He had lied before, but he didn't remember it feeling like this.

Kreel responded almost instantly. "Uran agrees. He will come to you after he finishes here. When you give him one, he will explain."

Solus sighed and nodded. Then he turned and walked away. He had gambled the other would just tell him, but it seemed it would not be that easy.

Running past the few domes, he dashed into the shadowy forest. Something must be seriously special about these cores if no-one wanted to tell him. How did Uran even know about them anyway? From one of the spheres, he had collected? That made sense, and he wished he could ask one of the spheres.

He stopped mid-step, almost running into a tree. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner! He could ask a sphere, Uran's sphere even! Thinking back to the one he had buried in the tunnel exit, he almost cursed. Why had he not thought of this sooner? Now that Uran knew he possessed a core, it could only spell trouble.

Speeding up through the forest, he noticed the shadows moving a second before he ran into a group of incoming Kaots. Most of them were short, wide-shouldered ochre-colored fleshies. Instead of slowing, he just ran forward, roaring as he slammed into them. He didn't bother looking behind him, as bodies flung against trees and into the air. He was starting to feel out of time. If he were to find the sphere, power her up and ask her his questions, he had to hurry with saving the others.

--

Tirella sat with her back against the stone wall of the small chamber she had made. It was hidden between the numerous bone domes, mostly underground. Only a few slits at the top gave them a view of what was happening outside.

"I am telling you, that shout was Solus!" Derin said, pacing through the room.

"And I'll say it again; it doesn't matter! We cannot go outside like this!" Tirela shot back as she pointed at a sleeping Tatjie and an unconscious Sig.

"Then let me go! If I can find him, we will be fine."

"Are you forgetting about her?" Tirela asked, pointing angrily at Scathia, who sat with her hands clasped together, drawing patterns on the ground below a pile of skeletal remains. They lay outside as they passed, and she had demanded Tirella and Tatjie drag them inside the room before it was closed.

"Puss and bile!" Derin cursed, striking the wall beside him. Cracks appeared, and Tirela placed her hands on the ground, quickly repairing them.

"Stop that! It costs energy to fix them, and those Kaots might hear you!"

Derin nodded wearily and slumped on the ground.

They sat in silence for a while when a red light filled the room. Looking up, Tirela saw that the pattern Scathia had drawn on the ground was lit up so bright it was hard to look at it. The bones draped across it were shaking and moving and then disintegrated into a pile of bone dust. A second later, two white bone hands stuck out of the dust, pulling themselves forward. A skeleton, covered in white plates, drew itself out of the dust and stood behind Scathia. Soon another followed, and it continued until most of the bone dust was gone.

Five skeletons now caused the room to feel even more cramped.

"Only low ones, the best I can do with so little material to work with," Scathia muttered unhappily, looking at the skeletons. "If we can find some mana orbs, I can evolve them."

Derin got up and moved towards the skeletons, staring into their green glowing eye sockets.

"Are they like us?" he asked, turning to look at Scathia in shock.

Scathia looked at him dismissively. "No, but they can become sentient if I let them. Currently, they are bound to me and will move as I command."

"Did you make all of the undead in Tendraal like this?" Derin asked, seeming to ignore her derisive attitude.

"No! That would be ridiculous." Scathia said, her eyebrows raised. "Only the yellow plates and the guards, and all the undead that used to inhabit the tower." As she spoke, her voice got weaker, and then she glared at the wall. "All that work, gone! If only that fool had given me his core, all of this could have been avoided."

Derin didn't respond, staring at the skeletons for a little longer before sitting back down.

Focusing on regaining her mana, Tirela kept her gaze on Scathia. She didn't trust the Litch at all, guessing she was capable of more things that she hadn't shown yet.

"Tirella, Sig, Derin, Tatjie!" A voice shouted not too far away. Another voice echoed it, not too far away.

Derin jumped up and rushed towards one of the slits in the top of the wall.

"Does anybody know any white, crowned skeletons here?" he asked, looking around in confusion.

A second later, the voices came again. "Come out of hiding. We will bring you to Solus!"

The group looked at each other, stunned silent. Outside, the shouts repeated themselves, moving away in the distance.

Derin suddenly moved his head close to the slit. "We are here!" he roared, causing Tirella to curse and get up.

"I hope you didn't just make a huge mistake," she hissed and moved to Tatjie.

Derin didn't respond, but the patterns on his skin began glowing dimly.

--

Running out of the forest, Solus came to a full stop as he gazed in disbelief at what lay ahead of him.

A portal grew from the stone covering he had made, mostly swallowing the cover. Only small edged were still visible.

I can't close that, he thought with a shiver. It was one of the largest rifts he had seen, matching those in the air above Tendraal.

A mass of Kaots was fighting below the portal. One side where the small ochre-colored ones he had barrelled through, while those they fought were black and shot brambles and barbs like the Cherocs and the first Kaot he had fought.

Do they even fight each other? Solus didn't know why he was even surprised by it.

Stragglers from both sides were moving towards the forest, some disappearing between the trees along the edge of the forest. Focusing on the portal, Solus moved a massive amount of stone up and around the portal. Unlike the first time, he could sense that the stone that touched the portal disappeared. Wondering if he could clog it, he poured more and more stone into the portal, but it didn't matter how much he put there. All of it vanished. Figuring it was useless, he created a thick shell of stone around the portal. It was still growing, and a sense of threat emanated from it.

When he finished, he saw that the fighting Kaots had stopped. They were all running towards him now, their apparent mutual conflict set aside.

Great!

He growled, looking around. Should he run or fight? Seeing how fast they moved, he knew running meant leading them all to Realdeep. But fighting them all seemed both a waste of time and mana. As the thoughts flashed through his head, another realization washed them away. A grin spread across his face as he spread out his senses, further than he had done since creating his stone forest.

A shudder ran through the ground a few feet before him. A ripple appeared in the dust, moving in both directions away along the edge of the forest. With a thunderous tearing, the earth ripped open, a fissure growing away from him. So deep, it seemed to go on without end, the chasm widened rapidly. Although he felt the drain on his energy, it wasn't as fast as he had expected, or any sort of problem. Digging deeper, he increased the speed at which the chasm widened and deepened. The incoming Kaots stopped, skidding to a halt as they watched what was happening. As the edge closed in on them, they turned and ran back to the portal. Those that weren't fast enough plummeted down.

The expansion only stopped when the chasm ran below the foot of the stone barrier he had made. Letting go of his grip on the stone, Solus straightened. He didn't know when he had stooped over, his hands on the ground, but when he got up, he felt dizzy for a moment. It quickly cleared, though, and as he stared ahead, he was dumbstruck. The ravine before him was so wide he didn't think he could jump across and looking down, all he saw was darkness. Looking left and right, he couldn't see the ends of it. He remembered the earth had begun ripping by its own accord at a certain point as if it wanted to continue what he was doing, and the energy drain had increased when he willed it to stop.

A grin quickly turned to a soft laugh that only stopped when a familiar voice came from behind.

"Showoff!"

Solus swirled around and saw Tirela look at him between the trees, smiling. Seeing her orange face caused the smile on his face to widen, and he just grinned back at her. Her black eyes seemed to hide things he wanted to know, truths he needed finding, and he felt like he drowned in them.

"Are you two about bloody done? I think we need to leave?" Tatjie's voice broke the spell, and Solus shook his head. Frowning, he saw he had somehow missed the appearance of Tatjie, Derin carrying Sig, and Scathia with a small group of skeletons.

Seeing no Uran anywhere, Solus scanned the area. He wanted to ask how they had been, what had happened, but there was no time. He needed to find the hidden sphere fast. He had a rough idea where he had to go.

Walking to Derin, he took Sigs hand and placed a wyrm-orb in it, wrapping the fingers tightly around it. Then turned away, roughly in the directions of Skulltown.

"Let's go. We need to hurry!" he said, taking long steps along the forest's edge.

"I am tired. Can't we just rest for a bit?" Tatjie groaned.

"No," Solus grunted, increasing his pace. "It's about time we figure out what these mana-core's are all about, and I think I know of a way to get the information we need."

For a moment, there was a stunned silence behind him, then the sound of running.