Hoyohté must have warned him, because Karkash was able to avoid the brunt of the acid. It splashed the side of his face only, and when Stoker threw a punch with all his strength, Karkash simply caught it. With his one unmelted eye, Karkash turned to look at Stoker.
He spat more acid. A bolt of electricity cut through it, igniting the hydrogen. Both men’s clothes caught fire, but Stoker took the worst of it as the flames relished the chance to spread throughout the hydrogen in his body. He dropped and rolled until the fire extinguished. He climbed to one knee as flesh all over his body was returning.
‘Nize,’ he said, running again, ‘are you alright?’
‘Y-yes...’
‘Where’s Hoyohté?’
‘She’s staying in front of him where he can protect her. I’m sure she’s also watching his back for him.’
Stoker growled. He was hoping they would have split up, but they apparently knew better. Their formation was ideal for low-visibility combat, because if Hoyohté had gone above the fog or below, she wouldn’t have been able to eliminate Karkash’s blind spots, which would have meant the advantage for Stoker. Wishful thinking, it seemed.
Another car came reeling through the fog, and Stoker had to sidestep it. He ran south, making more fog behind him. He knew that he could take Karkash down with a simple bath of hydrogen gas, as the sparks in the air would make it explode immediately; but the problem was avoiding the explosion himself. A double-down scenario was certainly not ideal. He decided it was time to flee again.
He passed an overturned police car, and for a mad moment, considered stealing the officer’s firearm before remembering the reason he hadn’t brought his own to this fight.
Finally, he reached a part of the road where none of the vehicles were tumbling through the air. He picked a big blue truck and yanked the hapless civilian out.
Before he could jump in the driver’s seat, however, a lightning bolt pierced his chest. His entire body spasmed violently, and he looked back to see Karkash in the distance, risen above the fog, hovering toward them.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
BTW, Mr. Frost, there was something that was bugging me earlier, only I couldn't get the comments to work properly at the time. In the scene where Hector and Garovel are testing the limits of Hector's ironmaking ability, Garovel laughs at Hector's stupidity in thinking that he could make a catapult without knowing, in detail, how a catapult worked. Hadn't Garovel himself suggested, just a few minutes prior, that Hector try making some sort of satellite?
ReplyDeleteThat was a joke though on his part.
ReplyDeleteHaha, yeah. He said that he "was going to suggest" it, and as William said, he was largely joking, because an orbital satellite would certainly require more than just metal to actually operate. Hector could have probably made something "satellite-shaped," but it would definitely not have a functioning computer system and all that nice stuff.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying we can't make a computer out of iron? *sobs* No! My plans are all ruined! *curls up in corner*
ReplyDeleteI feel like i ought to contribute to how I found this story.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading girl genius (do you read that Mr. Frost?) I saw an add for a dark, serial novel called zombie knight. I thought it would be medieval with some zombie saving people but no. It's this. Love it all the same though :)
Aha, thank you for the information. And indeed, I have read Girl Genius. I'm a couple months behind, currently.
ReplyDeleteY'know, I thought about making TZK medieval, but eh. It seems like big fantasy settings are always medieval. I wanted to imagine one that had progressed all the way into a modern era--without just having it take place on Earth, 'cuz that's an even more common fantasy setting.
Shouldn't it say that Hoyohte is behind Karkash, not in front of him?
ReplyDeleteNope. Hoyohte would stay in front, where Karkash can see and protect her while she looks over his shoulder, warning him of attacks from behind him.
ReplyDeleteHaha. "Air's clear of flying vehicles, time to fix that"
ReplyDeleteAh, i see. I've often been criticized for my lack of a sense of humor; it seems that such lack has prevented me from properly appreciating that fine point.
ReplyDeleteOooohhhhh ok. That makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteCool.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the departure from the norm
ReplyDeleteWtf? How is Karkash hovering? Is he using electromagnetism to float a metal platform?
ReplyDelete