Four Horsemen: Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Mya slapped Petor’s hand, sending the core he’d been holding flying, she snatched it out of the air and held it in front of him.

“Wha?”

“Before you go trying to consume another core, two things, one this core doesn’t have essence in it, just mana, so you would just be topping up your mana. Second as you advance killing things or doing things that are of a lower level than your level you won’t earn nearly as much essence.”

Mya passed him the core back again.

“Okay, good to know. So what do we do with them?”

“Cores have a lot of uses, alchemy, forging, anything that uses mana, can use a core. As such they’re one sought after good with a pretty standard price. This Orange flecked core is worth two hundred and fifty gold.”

“Good to know.” Petor stored the core and Valter tossed him a second.

“You killed both of them.” He turned to Desari. “Well, shall we start this hunt?”

“Follow me.”

Petor slipped through the woods with them. Whatever he got from those demons allowed him to see right through the darkness of the world.

He started to pick up on things that he’d ignored in the day, a slight glow to somethings, a different light around them.

Movement drew his eye as he held up and hand, the others slowing into stillness.

Wolves that weren’t wolves, formed of shadow that flickered and shifted around them, their three eyes roaming as they lifted their heads, sniffing the air.

Sniffing a trail of color.

They lowered their noses and continued on, adjacent to where the group was among the trees. He’d seen that color before, it was the same as the shadowlings that attacked them.

They must be tracking them, or searching for them.

They weren’t far from their old camp. It would be a matter of time for them to pick out their trail and follow them. Then they’d be at their rear.

He looked at the others, pointing in the direction of the wolves and slashing his neck. The others nodded and shifted slowly and steadily. Drawing their weapons so as to not make a noise.

He didn’t know how Valter moved as quiet as a ghost within his armor but he pulled it off.

They were spread out along a bank, a small stream between them and the wolves as they prowled forward.

One bounded a few steps and snorted at the other to hurry up. The other was sniffing the air more than ever.

Men were one thing to fight, beasts and creatures like this, every paw a weapon and their mouth made to tear and rend. Petor ran through his actions as the wolves passed him, then Mya.

He drew a piece of the stormvine. The sniffing wolf’s head snapped around.

Mya fired, the sniffing wolf yelped and charged, the other wolf was hit by Desari’s arrow, burning in blue light.

Valte’s bolt went through the sniffing wolf sideways, a clean shot through the heart and lungs, if such a thing was to have them. His fire inscribed bolt set the beast on fire.

“Lets move!” Desari said.

Petor stored the vine, the wolves had sensed it as soon as he took it out. He’d have to test out the Emberbloom sections and see what kind of reaction he got for those.

Valter snatched up the cores and they rushed through the forest. Desari took up the lead once again as they slowed their pace, using the rivers and rough stone to hide their passage.

They settled down among rocks and trees, things called out to one another in the forest, none of it natural. He hadn’t heard one creature moving around in the dead fall or a bird flying through the trees.

“Lets keep going,” Desari said.

“Wait up, I think those wolves, they were uhh, well I could see them smelling like a vapor of color.”

“I saw that too, something darker than the night,” Valter said.

“You have a mana sight?” Desari asked.

“Mana sight?”

“There’s a whole lecture on it, but basically you can see mana in nature. Depicted by the color of the mana’s affinity. Fire mana is red, water mana is blue, air mana is white and shadow mana is black.”

“Okay, yeah I guess?”

“They were tracking the other shadows.” Valter said.

“They could be natural shadowlings, creatures born within shadow. We’ll get more answers further in. Lets go.”

***

Petor let out a breath as a group of giant shadows passed. Each of them had two eyes and mouth that took up the rest of their elongated melted faces. They moved on four tentacles that merged from their cloak like armless upper bodies. The wrapped around trees pulling them forward slowly and steadily.

They dipped into the dark pools behind trees, flexing as if drinking up the shadow.

Desari signaled for them to move, they shifted through the forest. She halted and studied the area ahead.

Minutes ticked over.

Desari signalled them close.

“The shadows originated from underneath us,” her voice quiet, not a whisper that would draw more attention.

“How deep you think?” Mya studied the ground.

“Thirty meters.”

Valter tapped the ground with his pommel and listened to the stone.

“Should be just stone.  Think about five meters deep. We’ll have to find the tunnels and little chance we don’t get found out. I’d say that we smash some holes in this stone, pack it with powder and blow it up.”

“I was thinking something similar,” Mya said.

“A fair fight is a bad fight,” Petor said.

“I agree and dropping this on their heads sounds like a mighty fine idea to me,” Desari said.

“Here,” Valter handed them pick axes.

Mya pulled out the explosive candles.

“Dynamite is gunpowder’s nasty little cousin, crack a hole, light this puppy and throw it in.” She gave each of them two.

They fanned out.

“Go!” Valter said, not trying to keep his voice quiet anymore.

Petor  brought up the pick axe and drove it down, waiting for the jarring tingle the pickaxe went into the stone as if he was putting it through clay. He tilted it and pulled it out, landing three more powerful and deep blows.

He shifted around to the left, and cut deep into the rock.

“Done!” Valter said.

Petor looked up and stored the pickaxe.

Mya was the last to turn into the group.

“Fire in the hole!” Petor took out the dynamite, lit it and shoved them into each hole and ran back to the forest.

He caught a tree and pulled himself behind it.

The ground rose and shuddered, then collapsed below. Darkness like spilled ink spread out from the hole.

Light burned into Petor’s eyes as a flare shot high into the sky.

The shadows shrieked, they fell back slightly and pushed on, strong enough to fight the flare’s light.

Petor pulled on his shield, tightening its straps.

Desari fired light into the hole in the ground as she advanced, drawing her sword and circling the hole.

She jumped into the hole, Mya ran, holding a rifle high in one hand, she ran two things down her leg, they flared with light, she jumped into the hole and threw them in every direction.

Valter jumped after her with shield and sword.

Petor jumped after him, he hit the ground, rolled on his shield, dodging a shadow’s claw that shot at where his chest would have been.

Petor rolled to his knee, pushing mana through his new spear

A blast of mana slammed into a giant shadow with its large hungry mouth and tentacles.

His blast hit it in the side, shadows melted away as it stabbed back at him. Petor interposed his shield and activated the runes.

It slowed the attack which crashed into him and send him over the mound of stone they’d created. He landed in a tangle of fur, soft and hard. A shiver ran through him, the metallic smell and the feeling of lifeless limbs making him jump to his feet.

An inscription was scrawled into the floor, the flares and white flame balls illuminated most of the cavern, but the shadows fought against the light’s constraints.

Shadow leaked out form the pile of rubble.

Mya was in her lich-form white inscriptions ran down her sword as she weaved around another giant’s limbs and took off the screaming head of a shadowling.

Desari was a force of light hurling out spells from different wands.

Valter bashed a deer-shadow to the side with superhuman strength, his blade darted out, the shadow’s motion tearing itself open upon his blade. It burst to blue flames.

“Meatlings,” A voice came between Valter and Desari.

She threw out a flare.

A creature sitting upon a chair of charred wood threw up one of his great claws to cover his face. Twin horns stuck out of his head, his body looked the same texture as the wood.

Its mouth was a collection of fangs sticking out in different angles, shadows dripped like blood from his mouth. He lowered his hand, his eyes seemed to drink in the light of the flare.

He reached out his hand and the shadows wrapped around the flare’s light, firs in threads and then in bands, the light dimmed and stuttered as the shadows were burned away.

Then the flare disappeared.

Desari threw out several more flares.

“He’s still drawing shadow mana from the formation, destroy it!” Desari yelled.

Valter let out a yell, throwing himself behind Desari.

His shield flared like a hammer striking steel, sparks decorated the shadow lord’s fist, snarling at Valter.

“I see the things in the dark,” Valter chuckled.

The shadow lord let out a roar and lashed out.

“And the shadows know me as a cold acquaintance,” Desari’s sword flared behind the lord, he half turned as her blade stabbed into his back, unable to get all the way through as she dodged his attacks. Valter slashed at his leg.

The Lord hissed and turned his attack on him.

Mya drew a stick of dynamite and fired at a shadowling, she missed , getting batted away from the pile.

“Petor!” She threw the stick. Petor ran, catching it and held up his shield, slamming into the pile. Shadow mana was pouring out between the cracks, sneaking across the floor into the shadow creatures, healing them.

Mya fought from the floor, firing her pistols. Valter and Desari danced with the lord and several giants lashed out with their tentacles to get in hidden hits.

Petor scrambled for a lighter.

A tentacle shot out of the darkness, but he saw the shadows and the not-shadows much easier now. He rolled away from the attack, getting sprayed with rocks. He got to his feet and ran for Valter and Desari, drawing the stem of Emberbloom he poured mana into it and threw it at where the dynamite was lodge in the rubble.

The Emberbloom detonated, causing a chain reaction with the dynamite.

A section of the floor disappeared as the rubble blew apart, smashing into Petor.

He blacked out, coming to against a wall. His head hurt something fierce he drove his mana to speed up the healing.

To his right was the wooden throne, just off to his left was Valter and Desari

Valter was slammed by a tentacle in the back, throwing him into the shadow lord’s reach. He stabbed out with his claws, tearing through one arm and punching into Valter’s side.

Petor’s blood ran cold.

Valter was thrown to the side, blood running down the lines on his armor.

The flares were being squashed, more of the shadows able to form and drink from the surrounding shadows, the formation thankfully inert.

Petor pulled out the emberbloom flower, empowering it with mana and threw it at the throne.

It hit the back of the throne, rolling around in the seat, opening its leaves a beam of fire shot out of the flower, hitting a giant shadow, burning it and several smaller shadows from the roof.

The throne went up like it was covered in oil, the flames burning blue.

The lord screamed.

Valter’s inscriptions ignited as he grabbed his armored arm, still holding his sword and shoved it to the upper section of his arm.

The metal flared red.. “I liked that arm!”

The lord turned to face him. Valter skidded to a stop infront of him, bracing himself and shoved his arm out, igniting his shield’s rebuffing rune. The lord was pushed from his feet, hitting the ceiling.

Wind crashed into him and threw him into his burning chair.

Desari weaved among the shadows, her blade separating limbs and burning shadowlings.

Petor drew his spear, taking three steps and hurled it, the spear was badly thrown, his vision still blurry but he had a big targe.

The spear came in high spearing through the lord’s stomach into the throne.

A shadow rushed Petor from the side, he smashed them away with a backwards blow of his shield. He didn’t have the time for another spear Petor threw out the last chunks of stormvine, his mana falling down to dregs.

He threw them out into the mass of shadows now crawling in through the hole above and surging for Valter and Desari, he was worried about Mya he heard her pistols but he couldn’t see her on the other side of the rubble.

The stormvine sections went off, throwing one another, actually buffeting the pieces to the others side.

Shadows were burned away, the lord slumped in his chair.

The creeping darkness slackened and night, dark but uneclipsed snuck in, the moon and the stars shining upon the ground and through the hole.

The chair kept burning but parts were coming away.

Two of the giants pulled back into the corners of the room, one above Valter and Desari, the other near Mya.

Beast made from shadow rushed Mya.

Petor drew his spear and ran around the rubble.

She fired a pistol that shot out a flare right into the giant shadow. It melted through their hide and burned within, the creatures screamed, tearing into itself to pull the flare out. It burned through its tentacles and dropped to the ground, the giant contracting.

Others shirked back from the light, moving around it for Mya.

Petor pressed to where the wall and the rubble narrowed, setting himself and driving his spear forward.

The beast half killed itself running into his spear, blue flames spread as Petor withdrew, he shoved the stolen mana into his shield, throwing back a shadowling.

He stabbed into a deer, its momentum carried it forward hitting his shield. Petor ground his teeth and turned the blow into the ground.

Any mortal would have been thrown from their feet.

Petor tore out his spear and readied his shield.

“Close your eyes!” Desari yelled

A silvery powder caught the moonlight as it scattered through the room.

Petor ground his feet, his shield and lowered his spear against the floor.

Light bloomed as if he was staring into the sun, heat evaporated the little water stuck to his armor.

As soon as it came it dissipated. Petor blinked and stood, thankful for his night vision for not the first time.

Shadowlings, evaporated, dropping black dust and cores, the sound of glass and stone making his heart lurch up into his chest.

“Fucking fuck,” Mya summarized aptly as she held twin pistols in her hands, looking for threats.

“I do not sense any more of the shadowlings,” Desari said.

“Dropped right into the pit of them,” Valter said.

Petor stood up, rolling his shoulders and neck. Valter stepped through the ash that had been the throne. He pulled the spear that had pinned the shadow lord with a jerk, unsettling more of the ash that dropped to the floor, separating out a core of orange mixed with red that rolled into the room.

“Well that’s the shadow creatures dealt with then,” Petor said.

“Now we just need to find the person that was summoning them,” Desari said.

“How we going to do that?” Petor asked.

“Well someone had to come up here to create this ritual. Its pretty fresh,” Mya crouched down next to the summoning circle .

“This kind of thing needs someone to watch over it. They had to be close and be doing it for a while. Windmolen is the closest town, we’re closer than we where we camped, an hour or so walk. People are lazy, why go several hours to keep a secret when an hour will do?”

“They had a reason to do such a thing, this takes a lot of knowledge, not the kind that you should be getting out on the edge of a kingdom. Someone had a purpose for this,” Desari looked around. “They bound a shadow lord of a low strata, had him operate the summoning circle to draw in others. As more came in, the eclipse range spread.”

“Kill a bunch of creatures, some people that go out into the forest and you increase your power. This person was close to achieving what they wanted and they were starting to not worry about the cost or how it would appear to do it,” Mya stood.

“Would the summoner know if the shadow lord is dead?” Desari asked.

“I think it was a blood binding, not a soul binding. Their orders would be bound but they would have to come here to issue orders and they wouldn’t know what’s happening to their summons,” Mya said.

“Well, then, we can lay a trap,” Desari looked at them.

“Petor, find out the path that the summoner takes to get here, then the rest of us will head off through the forest, reach Windmolen. Petor lays outside the town, the rest of us circle around and enter, say we’re there for the mission. Spook out the summoner.”

“He runs then I get him,” Petor said.

“If he doesn’t then it will take some time and figure out who has the knowledge and grudge to carry out something on this scale,” Desari said.

“Lets secure the rest of this place first,” Valter said.

“Let me have a look at your arm,” Petor said.

“I liked that arm,” Mya snorted. “Fucking badass dude from one undead to another.”

Valter grunted and scratched the back of his head. He was eager to get Petor to look at it. Damn thing wasn’t actually attached, just the armor that was working as if the arm was.

The muscle and bone knit together and connected, Petor giving him periodic heals as they searched the place.

The cavern was largely natural, opened up slightly to make it easier for someone to make it through the original caves into the cavern turned ritual room.

The bodies were organized, a hole dug for the animals, the humans were put to one side. Mya destroyed the circle in the middle of the room.

Desari collected dust and cores left behind by the shadowlings.

Petor leaned on a shovel, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

Mya and Desari walked out of the cavern.

“Do you know the trail?” Desari asked.

“Yeah, they aren’t any woodsman and they’ve been coming here frequently.

Natural night had settled, but it was still early, a few hours before midnight Petor guessed.

“Guess we’re going to flush them out?”

Petor passed the shovel back to Valter, he stored it away.

“The sooner the better, else they find out we destroyed their pet shadow lord and try to hide.”

Petor took a drag from his canteen and held it out to Valter he shook his head.

“Alright.” Petor stored the canteen and grabbed his armor, putting it back on. He studied the undergrowth again, where the dirt was clearer, the underbrush strayed away from, the needles pressed into the mud.

“Here,” His eyes flickered over the signs as he tracked it through the darkening night.