Chapter 95 - Overrun

Hump readied his staff as flesh prowlers poured out of the gateway, forming a half circle around the entrance. There were at least twenty of the snarling beasts, and for now they held back. Whatever the reason, Hump was grateful. With Skander down and them stuck within the confines of the building, Hump was far from confident that they could handle so many.

The creatures were waiting, hackles raised, teeth bared. Albry was watching them now too, his eyes as black as they had been in the temple. He wore a serene smile, as if he were in the presence of gods rather than monsters. Hump wondered if there was any part of the priest left now, or if his soul was so far gone there was no coming back.

The thought didn’t last long. His eyes were drawn to the beast staring out of the rift, its head tilted in an inquisitive manner. The motion appeared alien on such a large being. If not for the flicker of light within its black eyes, they might have been invisible. It had to be twelve foot tall, with powerful, broad shoulders and rippling muscles. Its skin was of such dark red that it was almost black, the flesh lumpy and misshapen as though it had melted and reformed. On its head, it wore a helmet of tarnished bronze. Spikes protruded from the top like horns, and a breastplate covered much of its chest and shoulders.

Hump had seen nothing like it in the book Elowen had shown them in the church. There was no mention of anything that could speak, let alone anything resembling intelligent life. The fact it had snuck up on Skander and taken him out so easily was enough for Hump to know this was likely a fight they could not win, which meant escape was their new objective. There was just one problem… how the hell did he convince Bud to abandon these people?

Hump searched the room for anything he could call an advantage, his mind racing. There was only one thing they had going for them; the creature was stuck holding open the gateway. Unfortunately, there were simply too many unconscious townspeople. He couldn’t think of how they’d get any of them out, let alone all of them.

One thing at a time, Hump told himself. Focus on what you can do.

His eyes fell on Skander, the rogue barely conscious, groaning on the floor a couple of paces from Dylan. Madeleine stood before him, her shield ready, a challenge in her eyes as she stared down the flesh prowlers.

“We grab Skander and we get out,” Hump said quietly.

“We can’t leave these people,” Bud growled.

“We can’t save everyone, Bud,” Hump said, his jaw clenched. He stared at the flesh prowlers, just waiting for their words to set them off. “Our goal was to close the gateway and we accomplished that. Now we need to survive this so we can make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“The wizard’s right,” Randall said. “There’s a time and a place for heroism and this isn’t it.”

“I’m not abandoning them,” Bud said.

“We save who we can,” Hump said. “Grab someone on your way out, but don’t die pointlessly.”

Bud let out a deep breath but remained quiet.

“Now then,” Hump said. “Dylan, you grab Skander, the rest of us will cover you.” He fumbled in his potion pouch and took out a vial of Second Life, handing it to Lawrence. “Give this to him. It will help with the pain and slow the bleeding.”

The cleric took it. “I’ll need a minute to stabilise him.”

“Just get him out,” Hump snapped. “You can stabilise him when the rest of us aren’t dead. Go!”

The moment Lawrence moved, the flesh prowlers bounded forward. Lawrence didn’t slow, grabbing Skander by the collar and dragging him back. The rogue groaned in protest, clutching at his wounded stomach. A thick trail of blood followed him, and Hump felt fury well within him. There was so much blood. They’d been complacent, and it had cost them. Not again.

He levelled his staff to the left flank of the flesh prowlers, channelling power through the formation he still stood on. “Transform Earth.”

A pit fell out beneath them, only a foot or so deep but the suddenness of it was enough to send four of them to the ground. He didn’t stop there, drawing on more power. Letting his rage fuel the essence that coursed through him, throwing all caution to the wind.

“Fire Blast.”

Heat billowed forward, bathing the smaller pack members in flame. The room filled with the pained howls of the creatures as the others unleashed their blessings, yet even with the strength of so many Chosen combined, it wasn’t enough in the face of such numbers.

One of the pack members made it through to Hump’s left, charging him with vigor. It was met by a silver arrow through the eye, stopping it dead in its tracks. Bud waded forward, his blade like whirling fire, freezing anything, it touched. Dylan caught a goliath’s charge with his staff, the beast snapping down on the wood and failing to break through. A bear loomed over the druid as he roared and held the creature back, then slammed it to the side as Randall let loose a whip of frostfire, wrapping around its torso.

From the scream it let loose, Hump knew it felt that, but more were coming.

“Stay behind me,” Madeleine shouted, her voice resonating with power as essence rose around her.

Slowly, they retreated, the nine of them clumped together. Lawrence worked on healing Skander’s wound even as he dragged the rogue back.

Something crashed behind them, and Hump heard a sharp scream. He turned in time to see a giant flesh prowler charging past Celaine, shoving Estel aside and throwing her to the ground. Dylan was there to help her a moment later, warding off one of the smaller pack members. But the goliath charged on. its body was bloody and burnt—it must have been one that had escaped their initial attack. Hump had forgotten the few that had gotten away, and now its sights were set on him.

In the corner of his eye, Hump saw Bud trying to intercept, his eyes wide with fear. Hump hadn’t seen him like that before. He was cut off by another flesh prowler, the creature’s clumsy attack forcing Bud back a step. He spun around, cutting through its hind legs. Bud left it there, scrambling frantically on the floor, racing for the pack leader that encroached on Hump.

Not fast enough though.

The goliath let loose a dreadful howl and Hump felt that same intimidation effect he’d felt from the one outside the cave. It pressed down on his soul, but he fought back with an effort of will, breaking its effect with ease. It had delayed him long enough though. Hump didn’t have the speed or strength to do more than throw up a shield. He barely raised it in time before the creature’s weight bore down on him, slamming him back and into the wall to his side with bone jarring force.

He held the shield with all his will, screaming as the beast snapped and clawed holes in it, forcing its way through. There was a sudden pain, and something snapped inside his mind. He roared, shattering the shield with an explosion of essence. Cold lanced through him but he didn’t care. The weight of the beast was gone and he gasped, clutching his chest and drawing in sharp, painful breath. It felt like he’d cracked a rib and had all the air sucked from him at the same time.

“Hump!” Bud cried, his back to him as he cut down another creature.

Hump rolled onto his side, trying to push himself up. Celaine was beside him a moment later, dragging him to his feet.

“Can you move?” she shouted.

Hump nodded.

“Hump! You need to speak.” She shot off three arrows in barely a second, her hand a blur as she took aim at anything that moved.

“I’m good,” he said, steadying himself on his feet. He glanced at the body of the beast that had almost crushed him. Its legs were splayed open from the blast, the flesh of its stomach torn with a hundred tiny wounds as if it had fallen through glass. But it was Randall that had finished it. The sorcerer flung his wand around, protecting the entire left flank with a whip of frostfire. Hump noted the bloody claw wound across his stomach. He was pale, and far from in good stead. But many of the flesh prowlers had fallen too. They were going to make it.

Shadow fell upon them. Hump looked up to see a score of shades descending. They were already below the roof, flying at them faster than Hump thought possible.

Hump slammed his staff into the ground and envisioned the widest blast radius he could possibly achieve. A shield wouldn’t be enough, he needed to force them back.

“Blast.” Arcane essence burst into the sky, a cone almost as wide as the house. It swept up with the force of a storm, sweeping the shades back into the sky. His arm was nearly numb from using so much essence, but it had bought them the few seconds they needed to be back out on the streets.

Bud had a young boy over his shoulder now, wielding his weapon with just a single hand. Hump clapped him on the shoulder and pushed him back, a spell ready on his lips for the next creature to give chase.

Inside, he saw that some of the flesh prowlers had forgone the chase and were instead tucking into the townsfolk they’d been forced to leave behind. Hump frowned. They weren’t eating them; they were dragging them back to the gateway. They weren’t here to feast, they were here for prisoners.

And that’s when he felt the creature’s gaze on him. Its lips twisted at the corners as its smile stretched. Ivory white teeth grinned out from within, stained a sickly red around the gums like rotten blood.

Hump felt something. A vague tremor in the air, a pulse of some twisted power that seemed completely foreign yet eerily familiar. Hump felt it crawl across his skin and a sickening sensation almost sent him to the ground. Every instinct in his body told him to run, but he knew he was already in its grasp. Energy pierced him like a thousand tiny hooks, sinking into his body. From every point, Hump felt cold forcing its way inside him. Digging deeper. Searching for his soul.

On instinct, Hump’s essence rose to meet it, his will forming a barrier against the invader. He pushed back against it, forcing it out of his body with every part of him. For a second, it seemed to work. Warm relief filled the parts of him that had already been taken, and he felt the pressure slacken.

Power speared him like a physical blow. Hump felt his essence shatter like glass, the barrier he’d called upon as his last line of defence gone just like that. The hooks dug deeper, their cold touch piercing deeper even than before. He tried to throw his own essence at it, spurred on by fear and desperation, but it was like chaos had taken over. His own power was a storm within his body, and the storm was growing colder.

Then he felt it. A hunger so intense it drove him to his knees. Despair flooded through him. Such complete and helpless despair that all Hump could do was wait. This was no simple attack; it was a force of evil. A power beyond anything he could face.

A shadow consumed Hump’s vision, light flickering within. It rose into the air until it towered over him. “You will regret coming to me before the end.”

Its voice was like ice. The very words pierced Hump’s mind with ear splitting pain. He tried to scream, but his mouth was not his own. As the pain grew, the edges of his vision turned dark. The last thing he felt before all consciousness left his was jaws clamped tightly around his leg, a burning pain that couldn’t compete with that in his head.

Yet there was no peace in sleep.