Interlude – Unprepared

Yirrel Annsi, the Bulwark of the Deep, as some called her, Warden Commander to others, knew only pain. One moment, the world was all white, and in the next it was agony. She opened her eyes, blinked a few times before she realized that she was buried beneath the rubble. Her right hand clutched a warm form to her chest, so she raised her left and found nothing. Distantly, through the fog that somehow surrounded her mind, she realized that her left hand was gone. She was in pain that ran deeper than her body.

She groaned and tried to focus on her perk. It took her three times to activate it, but she managed to trigger her Force Blast. The debris blasted away from her, and she groaned as her head nearly split in half.

“Yirrel—” Bera started and then coughed, blood splattered on Yirrel’s sinew like armor. “What happened?”

Yirrel couldn’t even speak. She pushed the both of them out of the rubble, and after a step it was Bera who was holding her up. She grimaced as she leaned on the minotauress, every part of her body was aching. She looked around, trying to figure out who else had survived. She didn’t know what hit them, but if it had damaged her this much even with all of her defensive perks active, then she didn’t have much hope for others, even with her powers boosting them.

A piece of rock tumbled next to her, revealing a crystalline shell, glowing brightly. It was cracked and battered, and then it crumbled and Gemheart stumbled out of it coughing up blood all over the ground. She turned and scanned with her eyes around the ruin of the cliff. Then she heard the cries, people that were injured and buried in the rubble near her, some had managed to survive, but they wouldn’t live for long. Beyond her circle, there was no signs of survivors. Yirrel looked in the direction where her sister had been and found no sign of her. She closed her eyes tightly, then pushed grief back, she didn’t know if this was over, and she was in no state to fight.

She saw a blast of light in the distance clear a piece of debris and a woman in white crawled out. The Healer’s veil was torn up, her arm gone. Before Yirrel’s eyes, the skin on her face and her arm regrew. Yirrel knew that she had to be healing her own soul to be able to heal that way. Half of the pain Yirrel felt now was soul pain, she could tell that her injuries were not healing despite her high vitality. She would need to heal her soul before she would be able to do that.

But if the healer survived, then there was hope for the few others near Yirrel. She was just about to call out to her when something interrupted her.

A voice spoke in her mind.

Yirrel listened to what it spoke, anger rising up in her. Kaeliss, the Speaker for the Blind, and his Unchained had crossed every line imaginable. Had killed hundreds, had killed her sister. She shook her head, fighting through the fog in her mind, trying to get back on track. She realized what hit them now, Awirren had been attacked by the Unchained. The stupid bitch had refused to speak on the reasons, saying only that they tried and failed to assassinate her like many other High Rankers they had killed in the past. But this much damage could only have been done by the Reaction Engine. The vile weapon created by the Cthul in their mad hope to recreate what they had lost. The laws of the universe did not work as they did in the old worlds, they had no idea what they had created. In an instant it had killed hundreds of the most powerful people in the world, the majority of the High Rankers in the core. The Reaction Engine had destroyed their souls, with no hope of resurrection. Her sister…

She steeled herself and called out to the Healer. “Polima,” she rasped, barely able to speak above a whisper. The Healer heard her despite that and turned in her direction.

Yirrel coughed, blood leaking down her chin, but she pushed through, opening her mouth to speak when a notification blazed in front of her eyes, bright red.

Warning! The 11th Dome of the Reckoning - Dome of Hastur the King in Yellow has been opened! The armies of Hastur are on the move. Defeat Hastur and all of his generals in order to stop the spread of corruption.

Fight, prevail, prove that you are worthy.

Defeating Hastur will bring new opportunities and rewards for those brave enough.

Yirrel froze, her mind barely able to comprehend. She had never imagined that anyone would be so stupid to try, yet she and the others had made sure that each of the domes was watched. All but two were watched by their people, this one was one of the two that was watched by the Empire of Exiles. They had people in the Empire’s forts, spies, but she had believed that their measures were enough. Now, her sluggish mind tried to put the pieces together. The Empire would be foolish to release a dome, and she did not think that they were stupid enough for that.

Before she could get much farther in her thoughts, Bera spoke.

“Yirrel,” she said hurriedly. “I’m getting reports from wardens in the city, there is a spatial rift in the center of the arena. The Unchained had created it and—New report, something is… they report monsters coming through.”

Yirrel’s eyes widened and immediately she looked at Polima.

“Quick, Polima,” Yirrel said. “Heal us, we need to close that portal!”

Polima’s eyes turned dazed as if she was looking at something far away. Then, her face contorted in a visage of terror. A small sphere appeared in her hands and she immediately crushed it against her chest. Light flashed, forcing Yirrel to turn her eyes away. She blinked and looked back, only to see that the place where the Healer stood a moment before was now empty.

“No,” she whispered in disbelief, her lifesensing skill telling her that people around her that had managed to survive were quickly dying, two already vanished from her mind.

“Coward,” Gemheart rasped as he downed a potion that didn’t do much to improve his state. Regardless, the warform kreacean pushed himself to his feet.

Yirrel looked at the empty space where the Healer had stood for a long moment, and then steeled herself.

“Bera, mass communication, now.”

“On your word, Warden Commander,” Bera answered.

“Start now; This is Warden Commander Yirrel Annsi, speaking to all—”

*  *  *

Ryun blinked as he read through the notification, he didn’t understand what it was, but it did resemble events that he had encountered in the past.

“Erdania,” he spoke, and the woman turned her eyes to look at him. “Do you know what this is?”

“I…” she spoke slowly. “Maybe, I’m not sure.”

Selia was a few steps away, she had been in the middle of speaking with one of their escorts when the notification came through.

Then, Ryun’s sense caught something at the edge, where the barrier and the rip in space were. The people inside disappeared, space trembling as they somehow got away. And then something got through the rip in space.

“Something is coming through the portal,” Ryun said.

Erdania turned her eyes in the distance as something turned into several something, then a dozen more. The rip in space shook and then twisted, it expanded, breaking the barrier around it and becoming thicker somehow, larger. Then, things were flooding out from every side of it in a nearly full circle.

They were fast, and of varied sizes. He couldn’t quite get a good picture of them at that distance.

“Selia!” Erdania yelled and her partner ran over. “What are—”

Another voice echoed inside his head.

“This is Warden Commander Yirrel Annsi, speaking to all able fighters. The notification that you just received means that one of the domes housing unimaginable dangers has been released. The Unchained have created a portal in the center of the arena, linking the released dome with us. It is of utmost importance that the invading monsters be stopped, and the portal closed. I do not rule most of you, but I beg of you, anyone who can fight, head to the arena walls immediately, do not let the monsters get into the city. All non-combat personnel need to start evacuating right now. Anyone with powers that are able to close spatial rifts find me on the walls.”

As soon as the voice stopped Ryun looked back at Anrosh and Nayra. “Go to the compound, evacuate our people.”

“What?” Anrosh asked, confused. “She said that we need to fight—”

Ryun shook his head. “We won’t hold them here,” he focused his willpower on his sense, the image in his head sharpened and he saw. Thousands were spilling into the arena every moment, running in all directions, and only a fraction of the wall was occupied. He sensed a massive shape pass through, and he heard the intake of breath and curses from people nearby. A shape as large as a house, dragged itself across the ground, six spear like limbs pulling a bulging abdomen that felt like a sack filled with eggs to his mind. As soon as it got through it started to burrow into the ground. This wasn’t just monsters, a swarm, this was more. He could sense small monsters, barely the size of dogs, and larger the size of lions, of elephants, the size of buildings. “They will spill into the city, go, now. I’ll stay and help hold them off as much as possible.”

Anrosh and Narya hesitated, but then with one look in the arena, Anrosh nodded. They turned and ran to the city.

Ryun saw Erdania and Selia stand at the edge of the wall, and he joined them. His sense told him that only a few people behind them were heading to the wall that surrounded the arena. The Warden Commander’s request had been heard, but it looked like few were going to accept it.

A piercing shriek drew Ryun’s attention and he turned to see a massive shape blaze across the sky, heading straight for the portal.

*  *  *

Zenker landed on top of the wall of the arena, he lowered Sigmund down next to him and looked at the center. The monsters were spilling into the arena running across the ground like an unending black tide. The white light of the portal illuminated everything, letting them see the horrors that were running toward them. He saw large shapes lumber forward, each different than the other. He couldn’t see any identification above them, nothing to tell him how strong they were.

“Fuck,” Zenker said.

Sigmund remained silent, watching.

His senses informed him of an approach, but he didn’t turn. Gemheart landed on the wide wall next to him, cracking the ground. Zenker glanced to the side to see Yirrel and Bera slid from his massive back.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” Yirrel rasped, Zenker could see just how injured she was.

“How many got out of it alive?” Zenker asked.

“Three of us,” Gemheart rumbled. “Healer ran away.”

Zenker grimaced.

“We need to close the portal,” Zenker said.

Yirrel nodded her head. “Too many have gotten through already, too many are coming through every moment.”

Then, before Zenker could open his mouth to speak, the sky turned to day. A golden bird flew through the air, a phoenix. Zenker recognized Awirren Goldenfeather immediately, and he leaned forward. They had left her alive, despite how crazy she was, because they knew where her power lied, because they knew how useful she could be.

She screeched and dove. Then words echoed in Zenker’s mind.

—Golden Dawn—

A sun blossomed above her, filled with golden fire. It grew in size until it was at least a kilometer in diameter. Its light turned the night into day. She beat her wings and the sun fell apart, the fire streamed down around her and toward the ground. Zenker watched as the golden fire flowed like a waterfall and hit the portal, then expanded outward scorching everything in its way. An expanding ring of golden flames, burning with fire so hot that he could feel the heat on his scales from so far away.

He very nearly cheered, but he held himself back as his senses warned him.

The fire bathed the arena floor, burning stone to glass, boiling lakes, turning monsters to ash. And then the fire was gone, and the portal remained. Thousands of monsters were gone, but the big ones remained, some injured, some still surviving. A massive monster, the size of a tall building stood in front of the portal, one of its tentacled hands raised high. It looked like a hulking beast with four arms that instead of hands ended in tentacles, its neck was short and head squat, with red eyes and a long trunk covering the lower half. A dome of light had protected the monsters around it.

More monsters were spilling out of the portal, replacing the losses. Some of the surviving monsters on the other side of the arena started climbing the stands, heading into the city. The Golden Phoenix screeched again, fire blazing around her, and then monsters flew out of the portal, hundreds of them, all flying straight for her.

He turned his eyes from the fire filled battle in the sky.

“Yirrel, what do we do?” He asked.

The Warden Commander closed her eyes for a moment. “Do you have anything that can close the portal?”

Zenker grimaced. “Yes, but I would need to be on the other side of the portal to use it. It will detonate the portal, the explosion focused on the side where I use it. If I use it here… It will level the city,” he told her.

“We need to slow their advance,” Gemheart said.

“If Awirren couldn’t burn all of them… These monsters are strong,” Yirrel added.

“Fuck,” Zenker cursed. “I need you to buy me time, half an hour at most, and then I’ll go to the other side.”

Sigmund tapped his shoulder and then signed when Zenker looked at him.

“Yes,” Zenker answered his question. “I have no choice.”

Sigmund nodded, his expression turning determined. He grabbed Zenker’s shoulders and looked in his eyes, then he whispered.

“YOUR WILL IS PARAMOUNT.”

Zenker sighed as he felt reality bend around himself, his will surged threatening to burst out of him. He stepped back, nodded at Sigmund in gratitude and then sat on the ground. He hadn’t planned on doing it this way, but he had no choice. He focused on his remaining 3 tier 8 skills.

*  *  *

The Golden Phoenix’s attack had killed thousands, but more were coming still. Erdania watched as they filled the arena, running in all directions. A mass of black and twisting limbs. Something about them terrified her, but she pushed that fear aside.

Selia stood next to her, with Ryun beyond her. All of them were looking at the arena, at the tide coming for them. It seemed impossible to imagine them fighting that, it seemed impossible that so many could spill through that portal every moment. Yet there they were.

“What are we doing Selia?” Erdania asked.

“We hold the wall for as long as we can, I’ve sent for our warriors, once they arrive, we can…” She trailed off as attacks in the distance light up the side of the arena. Someone was on the walls, all around them people started firing at the oncoming tide. It was too little, too weak, she could see it. But some had to have answered the Warden’s call. They were there and fighting. In the sky, fire blazed in all directions as hundreds or perhaps thousands of flying monsters fought the Golden Phoenix, more spilling from the portal every moment.

Ryun climbed on top of the wall’s embrasures and looked toward the center. She felt him use Qi, and then he pointed both hands at the monsters running toward them. And then from both of his arms one beam of Void Qi exploded forward, hitting the front line of the monsters far in the distance, he moved his arms slowly, and she saw the monsters he hit falling, injured and some even dead.

Selia glanced at Erdania and then stepped up next to him, she shaped her {Sanguine Silver Spear} and then Erdania saw her use her abilities and perks. The spear multiplied into several dozen and with a flick of a hand, she sent them all flying forward at the monsters.

Erdania took a deep breath and climbed next to her, she didn’t have such long-range attacks, but she could already see that the monsters would reach them soon enough.

*  *  *

Zach and Naha rushed toward the wall that surrounded the arena. He saw other wardens running just like them. People were running all around them, heading in the opposite direction. It was making it hard to run on the streets, so Zach and Naha jumped to the rooftops. They didn’t know what would await them there, but they had heard the words of the Warden Commander. Whatever that notification meant, it was clear that this was an incredible threat.

It took them minutes to reach the wall, and by that time others were already on the walls. He saw powers being thrown at the mass of monsters running toward the stands. Zach looked around, and in the distance, he recognized the towering shape of Gemheart. Since both he and Naha were melee fighters, he nudged her, and they headed that way.

Once they got near, he saw the Warden Commander, wearing a strange armor that looked like it was made out of dark blue muscle fibers. She was missing an arm, and looked terrible, with Bera keeping her upright.

“Where are my fucking geomancers?” The Warden Commander asked. “We need to drop the stands, create taller walls, now!”

No one answered them, and before they could ask anyone for orders Bera noticed them. She whispered to Yirrel and the Warden Commander turned to look at him. She gestured with a hand and Zach approached, other wardens parting to allow them through.

“Zacharia good, you have a perk that can close rifts, yes?” She asked.

Zach nodded. “Yes, Warden Commander,” he answered.

“Good, you are staying next to me then. You are our plan b.”

Zach swallowed hard, looking out in the distance at the entire arena covered in black moving shapes.

*  *  *

Ryun and Selia were killing monsters by the dozens, hundreds even, from the distance. It wasn’t nearly enough. His sense told him that along the wall next to him monsters had already climbed up and were heading into the city, slaughtering people in their way.

The monsters in front of them weren’t slowing at all, and Ryun knew that it was only a matter of time before they reached them and then…

The line of monsters reached the first step of the stands, and they started climbing, jumping. Some of the monsters were too fast, Ryun couldn’t hit them with his beams. He dropped one of his {Void Beam} techniques and then cast his {Void Armor} followed by {Avatar of the Reaper}. He pulled in javelin copies from his forge and passed three to his avatar.

He dropped the other beam as one monster managed to evade Selia’s spears. It leaped impossibly fast toward them, and Ryun and his avatar both launched javelins at it. They both hit, sending the monster back. But more were coming behind it. Thankfully, their reinforcements arrived just in time. One of the reasons Ryun hadn’t turned and ran was that he had sensed them coming. Reki and more Zenshuen warriors landed on the walls and started firing at the coming monsters.

Despite their help, Ryun could tell that it wasn’t going to be enough. The arena was filled with hundreds of thousands, and more were coming by the moment. Not all of the wall was being defended, people in the city were not evacuating fast enough. It was going to be a slaughter.