Darsihm melted out of Harper’s back, a formless mass at first, then slowly becoming an ethereal crow again.
“You conscious?” said Roman. A beat passed. “You alive?”
Neither answered.
“Hmm. I suppose if you were dead, there wouldn’t be anything left of you.” He picked the reaper up with a soul-empowered hand and then hoisted Harper over his shoulder.
That only left Hector. And with all the rubble around, the kid could be just about anywhere.
‘Hey, is Hector even alive?’ he asked.
There was a pause, and then Voreese said, ‘Garovel can’t recreate him from scratch, so he must be there somewhere.’
‘Dammit, why’s that kid gotta be so resilient? I don’t wanna search through all this shit.’
‘What about Harper?’
‘Yeah. Already found him. Pretty sure he’s just unconscious. Darsihm, too.’ He flipped over a bisected tree trunk. ‘Aha, hey. Think I see Hector.’ He moved closer and pulled a pair of legs out of the ground. ‘Aw, shit. It’s just his legs. Hmm. Guess he’ll be wanting these pants, though.’
‘Y’know, you could try calling out to him.’
‘Good idea.’ Pants and belt draped over one arm, he started shouting. “Hector! Where are you, pal?! If your lungs still work, then say something!”
Rather than a voice, a sudden spire shot up on the other side of the rock formation. When Roman made his way over, he found Hector’s upper body in the midst of regeneration. Crumbled chunks of his helm remained around his head, and he had one-and-a-half of his arms, but his chest had yet to fully reform. Roman could see Hector blinking at him.
“Well, now,” said Roman. “This brings back memories. You managed to stay conscious this time, though.”
-+-+-+-+-
It took a while to reach the nearest rallying point. Karkash didn’t even know where it was. Because he didn’t need to. Hoyohté had all the fallback locations and contingency plans memorized. This one was a long-abandoned gas station, and it stood some fifty kilometers north of the Carthrace Nature Reserve.
Karkash was the first to arrive, of course. He took a seat on the roof, which groaned under his weight but held together.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every day at noon PST by ~400 words.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Page 573 -- LXVI.
‘Uh, shit... is, um--is there anything I can do to help them?’
‘No,’ said Garovel. ‘They’ve taken their lives into their own hands now. It’s up to them.’
Uncertain, Hector went to work on a soul-empowered dome. He doubted it would do much good at this point, but attacking directly seemed like a much worse idea now. At least this way Harper would be “blinded” again.
Darkness fell over the two of them as the iron roof spanned out, blocking out the sky and the rain. Able to taste both blood and mud in his mouth, Hector watched Harper begin to glow again, becoming the only source of light once more. Dozens of pillars supported the dome as it completed itself. Even Rathmore’s Gate was covered.
Harper returned to his feet. He looked straight at Hector, and the expression on the man’s face seemed to indicate that he had regained consciousness.
However, Hector didn’t get the opportunity to ask.
The explosion of light made everything go white.
Chapter Sixty-Six: ‘Once the Light has arrived...’
Click to display entire chapter at once -- (mobile link)
Roman saw the solid bar of white shoot up into the sky and had to shield his eyes. It remained there for a long moment, and even after it was gone, the image of it was still burned into his vision for a few seconds.
As he drew near, he saw the aftermath of the fight from the air. The forest had been leveled all around Rathmore’s Gate, the odd chunk of metal or stone mixed in. Unable to see either Hector or Harper, he returned to the now wildly uneven ground for a closer look, knocking an upturned rock over with his rough landing.
‘Damn,’ he said. ‘I know the place wasn’t in such great shape when we left it, but now it just looks like a bomb went off.’
‘See anyone?’ said Voreese.
‘Looking.’
Harper appeared in a flash, standing right in front of Roman. But he didn’t attack. Instead, the light dimmed all around him, and he collapsed face-first into the mud.
Roman stared at him a moment. “Huh.”
‘No,’ said Garovel. ‘They’ve taken their lives into their own hands now. It’s up to them.’
Uncertain, Hector went to work on a soul-empowered dome. He doubted it would do much good at this point, but attacking directly seemed like a much worse idea now. At least this way Harper would be “blinded” again.
Darkness fell over the two of them as the iron roof spanned out, blocking out the sky and the rain. Able to taste both blood and mud in his mouth, Hector watched Harper begin to glow again, becoming the only source of light once more. Dozens of pillars supported the dome as it completed itself. Even Rathmore’s Gate was covered.
Harper returned to his feet. He looked straight at Hector, and the expression on the man’s face seemed to indicate that he had regained consciousness.
However, Hector didn’t get the opportunity to ask.
The explosion of light made everything go white.
Chapter Sixty-Six: ‘Once the Light has arrived...’
Click to display entire chapter at once -- (mobile link)
Roman saw the solid bar of white shoot up into the sky and had to shield his eyes. It remained there for a long moment, and even after it was gone, the image of it was still burned into his vision for a few seconds.
As he drew near, he saw the aftermath of the fight from the air. The forest had been leveled all around Rathmore’s Gate, the odd chunk of metal or stone mixed in. Unable to see either Hector or Harper, he returned to the now wildly uneven ground for a closer look, knocking an upturned rock over with his rough landing.
‘Damn,’ he said. ‘I know the place wasn’t in such great shape when we left it, but now it just looks like a bomb went off.’
‘See anyone?’ said Voreese.
‘Looking.’
Harper appeared in a flash, standing right in front of Roman. But he didn’t attack. Instead, the light dimmed all around him, and he collapsed face-first into the mud.
Roman stared at him a moment. “Huh.”
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Page 572
‘Garovel, tell me the soldiers are safe.’
‘They’re not. You need to buy another two minutes or so.’
‘Two minutes?! Do you know how long that is in the middle of a fi--?!’
The attack came from the side, catching Hector under the rib cage. Light burst out of Harper’s fist, cutting through metal and flesh like butter. He sailed into the rock formation, which stood strong against the impact, not even cracking.
The right side of his chest was gone, but he didn’t let that slow him down. More spikes, broad as he could make them.
Harper tore through them with a spray of light.
He raised the mirror shield. It protected him but shattered. He dove away, knowing another attack was imminent, hoping for another chunk of aluminum and not finding it.
Abruptly, Harper shuddered. The man doubled over onto his hands and knees.
Hector had to spare a moment of surprise before deciding to keep attacking anyway, but by the time he launched another spike from his gauntlet, Harper had vanished again, the trail of light leading behind Hector this time.
He didn’t get the chance to turn around before feeling the next impact. The beam of light cleaved horizontally through his chest, finishing Harper’s earlier work. Hector’s legs and stomach flew one way, and his upper body flew another. Still perfectly conscious, he splattered to the ground in a bloody heap, arms mangled but still functioning.
He made to attack another time, undeterred by the loss of over half of his body, but when he saw Harper hunched over and trembling again, Hector hesitated. He suddenly wasn’t sure that attacking was the smartest move. On the one hand, he of course needed to provide a distraction, but on the other hand, if he provoked Harper too much, then the fight might just end instantly, and then everything would be for naught. So he stayed his hand this time and observed.
He squinted. ‘Harper’s not looking so good...’
‘Not surprising,’ said Garovel. ‘The hyper state takes a very heavy toll--heavy enough to kill him and Darsihm both if they can’t control it well enough.’
‘They’re not. You need to buy another two minutes or so.’
‘Two minutes?! Do you know how long that is in the middle of a fi--?!’
The attack came from the side, catching Hector under the rib cage. Light burst out of Harper’s fist, cutting through metal and flesh like butter. He sailed into the rock formation, which stood strong against the impact, not even cracking.
The right side of his chest was gone, but he didn’t let that slow him down. More spikes, broad as he could make them.
Harper tore through them with a spray of light.
He raised the mirror shield. It protected him but shattered. He dove away, knowing another attack was imminent, hoping for another chunk of aluminum and not finding it.
Abruptly, Harper shuddered. The man doubled over onto his hands and knees.
Hector had to spare a moment of surprise before deciding to keep attacking anyway, but by the time he launched another spike from his gauntlet, Harper had vanished again, the trail of light leading behind Hector this time.
He didn’t get the chance to turn around before feeling the next impact. The beam of light cleaved horizontally through his chest, finishing Harper’s earlier work. Hector’s legs and stomach flew one way, and his upper body flew another. Still perfectly conscious, he splattered to the ground in a bloody heap, arms mangled but still functioning.
He made to attack another time, undeterred by the loss of over half of his body, but when he saw Harper hunched over and trembling again, Hector hesitated. He suddenly wasn’t sure that attacking was the smartest move. On the one hand, he of course needed to provide a distraction, but on the other hand, if he provoked Harper too much, then the fight might just end instantly, and then everything would be for naught. So he stayed his hand this time and observed.
He squinted. ‘Harper’s not looking so good...’
‘Not surprising,’ said Garovel. ‘The hyper state takes a very heavy toll--heavy enough to kill him and Darsihm both if they can’t control it well enough.’
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