NBB2 - The chaos rifts - chapter 26

Solus kneeled behind a large piece of what used to be the roof of a two-story building. He tried to focus, suppressing the anger at Scathia, and worry for Derin. He needed to focus on Tirela's plan, but the other emotions seemed to nag him from the corners of his mind.

Clearing his head with a shake, he looked at the rubble below.

Tirela was walking through the ruins towards Scathia, her tall shape sticking out between white bone debris.

Stupid idea, he thought as he thought about her plan.

He preferred either attacking head-on or laying a trap. This whole trickery thing was more Drys' style.

A shout came from the wall, and he looked up. The Yellow-plates had spotted Tirela, pointing at her.

Tirela stopped when they began shouting, and a moments later, Scathia moved out of a small building build inside the wall. Her taut skinned face was hard to read from this far, but Solus thought she seemed angry instead of surprised. It almost looked like she had expected Tirela to show up.

"Grab her, don't let her get away!" Scathia cried, and a dozen of the Yellow-plates jumped forward.

"We need to talk!" Tirela's voice boomed forward.

Nobody replied, and more Yellowplates ran forward, their forms jumping across and dodging debris in their haste to heed Scathia's order.

Tirela kneeled, and a pillar of stone pushed her a dozen meters in the air.

"They will never catch me. Talk, or I'll escape below ground, and you'll never find me again," Tirela shouted.

This time Solus could easily make out the emotion on Scathia's face; hate. He had seen it before when she was watching the sludge skeletons torture him in vain. The memory of the look on her face as the sludge hit him caused a wave of his own hate to rise. It washed away the confusion and clutter in his mind and provided focus. Sensing the stone below the wall, he began spreading his power. If anything went wrong, he would just pull down the whole section of the wall and find Scathia in the buried remains.

"What do you want?" Scathia's voice was barely a whisper to Solus. She had projected it beside Tirela's head.

"I know where there is a wyrm with a mana-core. If you tell me how to absorb these core's, I will tell you where!"

"Impossible!" This time Scathia's voice was audible from the wall as she stepped forward with a scream.

"It's not! This wyrm is ten times the size of a normal one and doesn't move any more! Tell me how to absorb the core's, and I'll tell you where it is!"

It was quiet for a while, and Scathia's face was scrunched in concentration. Then Solus saw a slight movement on the wall where Derin was. Two of the black skeletons ripped him off the barbs and beside Scathia.

"Tell me where it is, or I'll dismantle your friend!" Scathia projected, her voice softer than before as she placed her hand on Derin's head.

Readying himself, Solus kept his eyes on Derin. He hadn't come all this way to let Scathia end the purple undead.

"Your city is in ruins! If you plan to save any of it and rebuild, you have no time for this!" Tirela shouted. "Let him go, and tell me how to absorb the core's!"

"Tell me where the wyrm is and come down, and I'll let your friend leave!" Scathia's projected again.

As the calm returned to Scathia's voice, he had to strain to hear it from where he sat. Not good. Something moved below the stone pillar on which Tirella stood, and he blinked in surprise. Two shadowy grey figures moved between the rubble before climbing up the tower.

How did those-

"Get out!" he projected beside Tirella's head.

Solus watched as Tirela looked up in confusion, then froze and slumped down on the tower.

"I can't move!"

Tirela's voice sounded beside his head. She sounded angry, not afraid.

Solus clenched his jaw and focused. The stone tower Tirela was on grew in height and grith, while stone tendrils stretched from the sides and grabbed at the nimble grey shapes. The grey figures easily dodged the assault, barely slowed.

Growling, Solus created a wide ring of stone just above them, blocking their way up. His anger flared when they didn't slow at all but climbed upside down to the edge, but then he grinned evilly. He removed the rock that attached the stone ring to the pillar and let it plummet down with barely any effort. A single cry sounded as it crushed the two shapes below.

Turning back to the wall, Solus saw the Yellow-plates running towards the tower. Behind them stood Scathia, her arms stretched towards Tirela, her face one of focus and pain.

Drawing deep from his mana-field, Solus violently nudged the massive bed of stone below the wall. Deep below the ground, something rumbled, and long cracks appeared in the bone wall. The pattern inscribed on the wall tore in half while segments of the wall snapped off, crushing yellow-plates below.

Two bolts of crackling red energy slammed into the army of Yellow-plates, disintegrating part and scattering the rest. Solus jumped to his feet and looked up. Two of the Ygra's circled above them, their stubby bone jaws open and crackling with red energy. With the pattern cracked, the invisible barrier was gone, giving them free rein to attack.

Solus saw they only had eyes for the large group of undead below the gate and ignored them. Instead, he focused on the stone tower. Cracked and slanted, a hole in the middle caused it to tilt perilously. Tirela was scrambling up, holding the edge so she wouldn't slide off.

She can move! Solus turned back to Scathia, but all he saw was Yellowplates and a large tear in the hole behind them.

"She is getting away!" he projected to Tirela.

"Go, I'll be right there."

Taking a two-step run across the roof, Solus jumped from the edge with as much force as he could muster. The building behind him almost pulverized. As he shot through the air towards the top of the wall, a loud screech came from above and behind.

Swirling mid-air, Solus saw that one of the Ygra's flew above him, its glowing red eyes locked onto him. The stubby jaw opened, and Solus barely managed to raise his green hammer. A crackling ball of energy struck it, stinging the palm of his hand, and then he was spiraling out of control, flipping and twirling through the air.

He slammed into the top of the wall, the thick layer of bone-cracking, section breaking apart while splinters of it flung around. The momentum carried him further, and he rolled towards the other edge of the ruined wall. With nothing to grab, he rolled over and plummeted to the wasteland below.

He managed to flip over and get his legs below him and focused on the ground. The wasteland floor split apart as a column of stone shot up and met him midfall. The top layer of stone cracked and crumbled, but the pillar held, and he scrambled up.

There were no more flying monsters above him, and he swirled around.

Scathia!

With a growl, he located a group of forty or fifty of the larger Yellowplates, some black skeletons, and Scathia. They were running into the wasteland. One of the skeletons was dragging a motionless blue shape across the ground.

Gritting his teeth, Solus knew he couldn't get too close, but he had to do something. Weighing his options,  he blinked. A nasty grin surfaced on his face, and a large stone hand-formed below the tower. It held a boulder as large as Solus, and with a sweeping motion, it threw it towards the fleeing group.

One of the Yellowplates had been looking across his shoulder and shouted, but it was too late. The boulder struck the middle of the group, crushing two of the Yellowplates before rolling across one of the skeletons. The rest turned, and Scathia's voice echoed around his head.

"You shouldn't have come! But now I'll get your mana-core!"

The Yellowplates turned and began running back towards him.

"Stop!" Solus roared as a dozen more stone hands rose from the wasteland. Each held a boulder. The Yellow-plates slowed down but continued after a moment's hesitation.

Suit yourself, Solus thought, and the stone arms hurled the boulders at the Yellow-plates. Warned this time, only two of the boulders struck the undead, the Yellow-plates dodging and leaping out of their paths. Feeling the drain on his mana, Solus frowned.

"Lure them closer!"

Tirela's voice projected beside his head. Solus looked around but didn't see her.

"Below."

Looking down the stone pillar, he saw Tirela stand behind it, out of view of the incoming undead. She was grinning at him and held up a massive stone club, almost as long as she was tall.

Solus gin widened, and he nodded. Then he turned to the incoming undead, focusing on the stone arms to throw boulders. He crushed another of the surprisingly nimble Yellowplates with a lucky shot before the rest reached the tower.

As soon as they arrived, the plates on their lower arms extended until they were an arms arm length beyond their fist, and they started slamming into the stone that crumbled instantly. Feeling the tower shudder, Solus drew the stone from the middle of the tower to the edge, increasing its density but leaving the tower hollow. The cracking from below turned into a thudding, and one of the plates snapped backward with a screech.

Looking below, he was just in time to see Tirela jump from behind the tower and into the midst of the undead. Swiping the stone club around, she hit the nearest group, scattering them. The pole shattered on impact, stone debris flying everywhere.

Seeing her annoyed look, Solus grinned and formed another stone club beside her, increasing its density to match the tower's shell. Tirela saw it immediately and snatched it up just as ten of the Yellow-plates jumped her. Thick stone tendrils shot from the side of the tower, grabbing at the Yellowplates. The stone wrapped around them but cracked and exploded outwards in a wave of stone within moments. The plates covering the Yellow-plates grew outwards, and serrated edges showed all across them.

Seeing more Yellowplates rush Tirela, who was busy flinging them around, Solus jumped off the side of the tower. He landed on two of the Yellowplates, feeling their plates snap below his feet. Turning his back to Tirela, he drew a deep breath and roared. A column of shimmering air struck a group of the undead moments before they could pile atop Tirela. The two that got the brunt blew back against the others, cracks and fissures appearing on their plates. They rolled across the ground, scrambling to get back up.

Solus clutched his green hammer and jumped towards another group of undead. He struck the side of a Yellowplate's head, and it crumpled inward while the Yellowplate flung sideways, crashing into another and knocking it off its feet. Roaring, Solus began striking at anything that moved.

When he had downed over half of the Yellowplates, his arm froze mid-swing as he lost control of his body. Scathia! How had he forgotten about her? As he fell forward, his arms responded again, and he caught himself. What's going on? Pushing himself up, he looked around.

A handful of Yellowplates stood behind him, their backs towards him as they stared at a peculiar scene. Tirela stood there, holding Scathia by the throat and lifting her high enough for her feet to dangle in the air. A couple of the Cheroc stood close by in an attack pose.  Scathia hung limply, not resisting and just glaring at Tirela.

Not sure how long Scathia would wait until she immobilized Tirela, Solus ran towards them. He barreled through the immobile Yellowplates. They scattered all around, remaining motionless on the ground. Solus frowned as he realized nobody was moving beside Tirela and Scathia.

"Why aren't these guys moving anymore?" he asked as he stopped beside Tirela, staring at Scathia.

"It appears she can't use her abilities when you crush her neck," Tirela grinned—squeezing a bit harder. Scathia's slightly glowing eyes bulged out of her head, veins appearing around her temples.

Solus frowned, moving towards one of the unmoving black skeletons. The eye sockets, normally aglow, were empty and dead. Turning to Scathia, he nodded. So this was what the rumors were about?

"She is either controlling them, or they aren't real awoken."

Tirela lowered Scathia, dragging her behind as she moved to the unmoving body of Derin.

"He seems hurt," she said, gently prodding the blue undead with her foot.

"Let me go, or your friend will never wake!" Scathia's voice projected around them, hatred dripping from every word.

Solus didn't reply. He looked at the unmoving undead around them and the Ygra's that flew above Tendraal, raining destruction on the crumbling city. From different holes in the wall, undead were fleeing alone and in small groups. Most of them seemed to be heading in the direction of Skulltown. If that was by design or luck, he didn't know.

Turning to Scathia, he gripped her skull.

"Let's make things simple. Tell me how to wake Derin, and explain how to absorb a mana-core."

Without waiting for a reply, he squeezed, slowly increasing the pressure.

"I won't tell you anything! If you destroy me, you will never survive!"

"Wait!" Tirella said, stopping Solus, who was about to squeeze harder.

"What if we give you a mana-core. Will you tell us what we want to know?"

For a moment, the only sounds were the explosions from Tendraal, and Solus could see Scathia's eyes moving between him and Tirela.

"If you give me a mana-core and let me leave with it, I will tell you," Scathia finally said.

Solus laughed, his grip increasing. "I don't believe you! What will stop you from running without telling us? And don't tell me we should just trust you."

"I will help you wake your friend!" Scathia said, a tiny bit of panic in her voice this time.

So she isn't unafraid of being ended after all, Solus thought with a scowl.

He released some of the pressure.

"This is what will happen. You will wake our friend, and come with us. I will show you where the giant wyrm is, and then you will tell us the way to absorb a mana-core. After that, I will let you go."

"Tha-"

As soon as Scathia's started talking, Solus squeezed, shutting her up.

"And! you will leave this part of the world. If I find you are still here after we deal with these rifts, I will bury you in the deepest part of this world I can find, encase you in a layer of metal and leave you there to go insane." He released the pressure, glaring into the red eyes.

"Fine."

Scathia's single word was laced with so much hate Solus could almost taste it.

If I let her leave, she is going to cause so much trouble. Looking into her burning eyes, he made a decision. The moment she told them how to absorb the mana-core he would end her.

Giving her one more squeeze, he let go. Tirella followed his example, and Scathia thudded on the ground, hands around her neck. She glared at them for a moment.

With a shudder, the still intact Yellow-plates and Cheroc's skeletons began moving. They were about to rush to Scathia when Solus stepped in their path. Looking at them, he directed his voice to Scathia.

"They can come, but they will follow at a distance behind us."

"Fine!" Scathia snapped again, and the undead grouped in a column a short distance away.

Scathia moved towards Derin and kicked the undead in the ribs. "Wake up!" she snarled. A shudder passed through Derin, and with a shock, he sat upright, looking around. When he saw Scathia, he scrambled back, eyes wide as the blue patterns on his body glowed brightly.

"Welcome back, Derin," Tirela said, stepping towards him. The purple undead's eyes widened even more, and he looked around. When he saw Solus, a look of relief spread across his face.

"Where are the others?" he asked, his voice rough and cracked.

The others! Solus cursed and turned to the city. More and more Ygdra were flying above the city. Looking where they came from, he saw an enormous rift in the sky above the white planes spewing out more.

"I'll get them," Tirela said, moving towards the city. "I'll meet you at the city with the giant wyrm, at the same building we stayed at while you were hunting with Sig."

Watching the orange undead purposefully walk to the city, Solus felt a wave of worry. Would she be fine? Did she have enough energy to dig the others out? Taking a deep breath, he crushed the concern. She had survived longer on her own than he had. Worrying was useless. He turned to Derin.

"Can you use your abilities?"

"Depends on what you need," Derin muttered, pushing himself up with a pained expression.

Solus pointed at Scathia. "We have a deal with her, but I am pretty sure she will jump us if she gets the chance. She can't lock us both down, so if you see me stop moving, grab her with that ability of yours and strangle her until I move again."

Derin cracked his neck and looked at Scathia. A smile played around his lips, but his eyes showed anything but.

"Sounds like fun."

Scathia snorted and turned to the wasteland.

"Are we going or what? We've lost Tendraal, and if we don't hurry, none of the other cities will remain."

Cities? Solus thought, taking a last look at Tirela, who was halfway to the wall. He was about to tell her to be careful but stopped just before he could. What was wrong with him? Shaking his head, he remembered how odd Norg had acted around Vingria at the start. Was that what was happening to him?

Turning in the direction where he knew the giant wyrm to be, he stomped forward.

"Follow me, and stay close."

--

Many hours later, Solus was still in the lead when he saw something far off in the distance ahead of them. It seemed like a flash of red light, but he didn't sense any tremors in that direction. They still had almost two days of travel ahead of them before they would find the enormous city with the wyrm. He had expected at least some wyrms, but so far, he hadn't detected a single one.

"Why are we stopping?" Scathia asked, her desire to be in control evident. Her tone showed she demanded an answer.

Solus ignored her and began walking again. He kept his eyes out for anything, and as they closed in on the red light, he saw more flashes. Eventually, he saw a black tear a few hundred meters above the wasteland floor. Red energy trickled around its edges, and now and again, it would crackle in a blinding flash. Each time it did, he thought he saw a pair of gigantic taloned hands tearing at the edges of the portal.

"Pusscracklings, what is that!" Derin hissed as he and Scathia stepped beside him.

Nobody answered him, and Solus changed course slightly. He didn't feel like getting anywhere close to the portal. If those hands were real, a single one could crush him. Trying to close the portal seemed impossible.

"We might not have time for your little scheme," Scathia finally said. She sounded weary, and when Solus looked across his shoulder, he saw her gaze at the portal.

Following her gaze and noting how slowly it was expanding, Solus shook his head. He had wanted to take it slow and give Tirela a chance to catch up, but that option seemed out now.

"Then we better hurry. We are going to start running. How fast can you move?" He asked Derin.

"Fast, but not for long. I could really use a wyrm orb."

Solus nodded and turned to Scathia. "I presume you can't run?"

Scathia scowled at him, her taut face seeming disgusted at the notion.

"Thought so. I am going to carry you, don't do anything silly, or I'll drop you."

He grabbed Scathia with one arm, holding her like a big rock, and began running.

"Let me know as soon as you are getting too tired!" he projected at Derin. A grunt came in response.

After a short while, Solus looked back, and to his annoyance, the Yellowplates and Cherocs seemed to keep up with ease. Luckily so did Derin.

They came across a dozen smaller rifts during the day—most with tracks of undead below them that led off into the wasteland. Solus kept an eye out for Wyrms, but he didn't sense a single one even when it became night. It bothered him, and not just because he needed one for himself and Derin to replenish some energy.

Where are they? The best case would be that the Kaots had hunted them all, and the worst case was that another Crusdon had come through and was eating them.

Discouraged, he continued on, as the last glow of the sun behind him disappeared, and the darkness ahead deepened. The soft glow of the stone below the dust didn't give him a clear enough view to see as far as he liked. Still, he didn't even think about stopping for the night. With Scathia here, the lack of wyrms, and those hands that kept popping up in his mind, he wanted to get back to Skulltown as fast as he could.

Portals were easier to spot during the nighttime, the red energy around their edges visible from great distances. After counting twenty of them, Solus stopped, fear growing deep inside of him. Halfway during the night, they returned to a slow walk, as Derin was slowly breaking down from lack of energy. His evolution had increased his stamina, but it had run out after what he had gone through.

Through the next day and halfway into the night, they walked. At one point, Solus had put Derin and Scathia on a stone platform with wheels and started dragging them around.

The Yellowplates had already turned to specs on the horizon before the sun even set and were now completely gone. Only the group of Cherocs continued to follow them, undeterred by Solus's speed.

Pulling the cart ahead, Solus felt a vibration through his feet. It had been going on for a while now, and he could sense it came from almost straight ahead of them.

"What's that?" Derin's voice sounded a bit better after resting for half a night.

Solus stopped and cracked his back. To his joy and amazement, his mana-field was regenerating far more energy than he spent just walking. A cursory examination of his left arm showed that the grey flesh was almost back to normal. There were just some small abrasions left from the black sludge. Even the green hairs were growing again, short stubs that seemed to grow so fast he could visibly see them turn longer.

Turning to where Derin was pointing, he saw it was in the direction the disturbance he felt came. Far in the distance, flashes of blue light crossed through the air, streaking from somewhere on the ground to a spot in the air. Moments later, red dots shot back down, causing the rumbling Solus felt. Together, they illuminated the dark sky in swaths of red and blue.

"More of those Ygdra's," Solus said, realizing they were close to the city now.

Sensing around and trying to remember the sun's exact position as it set, he realized the city might be directly below the flashes. Staring at the stars, he knew he should somehow find a way to navigate by those. His memories told him it was possible but didn't add an explanation of how.

Grabbing the stone cables, he stepped forward, this time in a straight line towards the blue and red flashes.

"Scathia, get those minions of yours ready to fight. It seems someone else has found the large wyrm."

Solus heard a sniff from behind, but the skeletons ran forward, one at each side as if scouting.

Let's see what more trouble we can find, he thought.