Tayla saw the horrors of the void in full display. The elder Krak’un hovered above, unharmed and reveling in the carnage unfolding beneath it. The hunting party was barely holding out under the onslaught of a near endless barrage of kelp blades and lesser Krak’un. The Ono did their best to fend off the elders gargantuan claws, it seemed to be taking all of their strength to simply deflect or dodge the blows. The Huntmaster was aiding the Ono where needed, their considerable skill being put to the test. Meanwhile the hunting party was holding the juveniles back with all their might.
Further away was a group of six adult Krak’un in a circle around something. One of the crabs was thrashing around wildly until it suddenly collapsed in a heap. There was a loud crack as a fist burst through its back plate. With a guttural roar Fel pulled themselves out of the beasts innards. Covered in blue blood and gore, steam rising from their armor. They looked like some sort of demon.
Tayla couldn’t help but notice that for the first time she could recall, her sibling looked tired. That didn’t bode well.
Laying to the side were the blooded remains of Alnur, he was slumped over Zo, protecting her with his own body. Something broke in Tayla, a noticeable shift in her mind. She hissed through bared teeth, her breath freezing the air itself. She turned her sights on the monster that had harmed her brother so deeply. Dropping her rifle, she ripped the strap off that held the metal case on her back, it fell to the ground with a light thud. She laid her trembling hand on the locking mechanism, it flashed green as it recognized her, unlocking the case.
She grabbed the contents of the case as she spun to point the ancient weapon at the elder being, holding the weapon against her hip with one hand on the handle, and the other on the control stick. The complex machine whirled and hissed as it fully unfolded, it was a bulky hunk of intricate parts; yet by some advanced feat of engineering, it was also incredibly light for its size. The panel on the top of the weapon showed an array of arcane symbols and numbers, Tayla had worked for the better part of ten years trying to decipher all of the old world gibberish that spooled on the display. She understood half of the information, which made her the only one experienced enough to fire the thing without risk of being blown to pieces.
The display showed the remaining energy in the fuel cells, she had three shots until it was empty. The Keel could recharge the ancient batteries, but it took almost a full month of trickling power into them for even a single shot, any faster and the fuel cells could overload and be destroyed. She aimed up at the infernal monster, it still didn’t seem to have noticed her, or perhaps it didn’t see her as a threat.
She was about to make it rethink that.
Glancing down she saw the weapon chime that it was ready for use. Tayla braced herself in a wide stance as she pulled the trigger. The gun screamed a high pitched sound, as it reached a crescendo there was a roar. In the dome of star light, a new sun was born, a ball of plasma streaked in a flash, melting everything around it as it traveled, casting light brighter than the noon day sun all the while. The elder didn’t have time to react, the plasma ball struck the side of the nightmarish creature, everything on that half of the thing was liquified instantly. Flesh boiled, armored plates vaporized, the whole of the valley reeked of burnt ozone and charred flesh.
Several of the elders' claws fell limp as the tendons that connected them to the spherical body melted like candle wax, the claws drooping till they touched the valley floor. Many of the desecrated corpses that had hung from the creatures tendrils were turned to ash from the heat, those that remained were screaming in pain. The elder struggled to keep flight, having to use the claws remaining on its good side to hold it aloft.
Did you notice me now you prick?
Tayla raised her middle finger to the monster before putting her hand back down. The gun shook and wheezed as it began trying to cool down for another shot. Tayla threw caution to the wind, giving herself fully to the Tranquility. Her hands froze to the handles as she tried to force the ancient weapon to ready itself again.
The elder recovered quicker than she had estimated; normally things didn’t shake off balls of plasma with such ease. While the amount of surviving blades the things had at its disposal was much more manageable, Tayla wasn’t in a position to dodge them. The Tranquility made her approaching doom seem like a trifling thing and not the terrible death that it was soon to be. A figure lept out in the path of the blades, shielding Tayla with their body. She lost grip on the Tranquility at the sight. Before her was Alnur, riddled with blades piercing his body, he brought his broadsword down, severing the blades that still skewered him as they fell limp.
Tayla felt the link weakly react. She opened it, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Gods, that gun of yours could wake the dead. Case in point. Alnur sent, his face had a cheeky grin, marred only slightly by the bloody mess of his empty eye sockets.
Please, you can’t di-
Alnur coughed up a bit of blood. Tayla, could you lend me your eyes for a minute? I’ll make sure you get another shot.
She wanted to scream at Alnur to get to safety, to tell him that she would protect him, but the argument died in Tayla’s throat, it was the logical choice, the elder had to be killed, it was too large a threat. She let out a shaky breath as she shared her sight with Alnur.
Tayla spared a glance at Fel, who was frantically fending off the four remaining adult crabs. Between the frenzied cracks of their whips Tayla could see Fel staring at them, their face contorted in pain.
The elder screamed in anger, throwing every last blade it could muster at the siblings. Alnur adopted a wide stance as he held out his broadsword to the side, igniting the edge with entropic energy, the blade's white spine glowing with green flame down its length. Tayla focused her eyes on Alnur’s back, it was an odd thing watching your body move through someone else’s eyes. Alnur launched into a flurry of parries and strikes, broadsword in one hand, whip in the other. Tayla could not afford to blink, her eyes straining to stay open so as not to blind her brother.
Despite his valiant efforts he could not hold off every blade. The cuts and slices were adding up quickly, with each one his reaction speed slowed by a fraction. Tayla’s eyes burned, watering from the strain.
She was so focused on Alnur and the rain of blades, that she completely missed the looming shadow of the approaching elder itself. It roared as it brought down a pair of its massive claws.
“What have we told you about keeping your eyes open to your surroundings?” The pair of ravens cried out as they swooped down beside Tayla. The Huntmaster landed between Tayla and Alnur as they brought out a spear in their hand. The ends grew outwards and struck the siblings, pushing each other apart as they were thrown away from the impending doom. The claw narrowly missed them, but struck the Huntmaster and their ravens with full force, hurtling their limp bodies into a nearby wall with a sickening crack.
As Tayla landed on her back, she heard the chime of the plasma cannon, she gritted her teeth as she struggled to lift the weapon from her prone position, aiming the cannon up towards the elder. She pulled the trigger, another blistering corona came to life, the elder raised its arms to protect itself. The ball of plasma tore through half a dozen of the heavily armored claws with ease before expending all of its immense energy. It appeared the elder had learned the threat of the plasma cannon and seemed determined not to let another direct blow land.
The corpses that hung from its body began to laugh in unison as the elder floated back a bit to recover its strength. It wouldn’t take long for the beast to deal with them now.
Tayla pressed the firing mechanism again desperately, the cannon flashed angry symbols in protest, refusing to fire until it was ready. She forced herself to stand on shaking legs, she would at least die a proper warrior's death. Alnur lacked the strength to pull himself to his feet, his arms giving out as he tried to push himself up. In the distance Fel was howling, the number of adults they were fending off was down to three, but they still couldn’t break free from the fight to come help Tayla and Alnur.
A scraping sound caused Tayla to glance over, her eyes widening at the sight of the Huntmaster without their garbs. The source of the scraping was from a multitude of black spears extending from the center of the Huntmaster's torso, the spears held them aloft in the air while also extending and contracting to propel them forwards in a bizarre form of locomotion. Tayla had always been curious what was under the wraps the Huntmaster wore. The whole of the Huntmaster’s body consisted of thousands of writhing thick black worms.
She had always wondered where the black spears had come from, she finally had her answer.
They came close to Tayla, turning their bulbous misshapen mass of a head towards her. Without her uncle and aunt she couldn’t be sure what the Huntmaster was trying to communicate, but she sensed a feeling of shame and guilt. They were probably afraid to show their true form.
Tayla reached out a hand and grabbed the Huntmaster’s own ‘hand’. She squeezed it a few times in rapid succession, just like she did when she was a child going for walks with her aunt and uncle. The Huntmaster’s body shuddered in response, the worms that made up the hand wrapping around Tayla’s and squeezing gently in return.
Looking at the looming creature above, Tayla was unsure of what to do. She only had one shot remaining, she couldn’t afford to hit the outer plating again. She looked around the battlefield to see if there was something she could use against the beast. The hunters and the Ono were still fending off the swarm of lesser Krak’un, without the Huntmaster to back them up, they couldn’t risk breaking free. She looked up towards the dark sky, was there truly nothing they could do?
Her eyes caught shapes along the top of valley walls, a familiar voice booming from above. “Our king needs us now more than ever!” Dozens of figures in the garb of the clanless leapt from the staggering height above, lashing out with thresher whips to swing as they fell, in perfect unison the strangers circled the elders main body in mid air. They landed against the beast and began attacking it with blades and picks. Back on the plateau tight formations of rifle squads launched volley after volley at the beast.
The owner of the familiar voice simply stepped off the edge as he effortlessly cast his whip out to swing down and land in front of Tayla.
Twins were generally small and lithe by nature. Well, no one seemed to mention this fact to this man, he was a towering wall of muscle. His aged face covered in creases and a thick beard. What was left of his grey hair was pulled back.
Tayla smiled, “I’m glad you could join us uncle Cyrus, just in time for our final stand.”
Her uncle looked towards Alnur, it was clear he wanted to rush to his king’s side. Alnur was still watching through his sister's eyes, he rolled on his back while holding up a hand. “Leave me for now. Is Lillian somewhere safe?” He croaked out.
Cyrus ignored the protests as he ran over and began treating the worst of Alnur’s wounds. He scowled at the elder. His voice rumbling with rage. “That such a foul beast could grow unnoticed is a shock. As for Lillain, do you really think she would stay back when she heard you were in trouble?”
As if on cue a staccato of explosives rang out. Standing on the edge of the valley wall stood Lillian with her repeating cannon, firing volley after volley at the elder. Lillian always had an interesting sense of style, she wore hulking plate armor despite her thin frame, yet around her waist was a billowing skirt. She dressed as though she planned to attend a ball afterwards; but not before fighting a small army to get there. Currently she was shouting profanity and curses that could turn a priest pale. She stopped long enough to glance over towards Tayla. “Tayla! Is Alnur alright!?” She yelled down.
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Alnur coughed. “Tell her I’ll be fine.”
Tayla shouted back. “He’s been blinded and he’s losing a lot of blood! It doesn’t look good Lil!”
Lillian removed a hand from her oversized weapon, holding it over her mouth for a moment. Before turning back to the elder as she screamed, her voice overflowing with emotion. She continued raining explosive rounds and verbal insults at the Krak’un, which shuddered in pain in response.
Glancing at the plasma cannons display, Tayla saw it was primed for its last shot, but as it was now it was a waste to try against the elder. “I’ve got one shot left before this thing is useless. I say we go for the classic one, two combo; make the final shot count.”
Cyrus’s forehead furrowed in thought. “We will do everything we can do to give you a clean shot.” He had finished dressing most of the wounds he could on Alnur, stabilizing him for the moment. He raised his voice so the clanless above could hear him. “Ready whips, we must bind the beast!” There was a chorus of affirmation in response. “I will stand guard for you my dear, you focus on getting a clear shot.” He said as he drew a blade, standing between Tayla and the beast.
Taking a deep breath, Tayla lifted her plasma weapon towards the elder Krak’un. She gave herself to the Tranquility once more. Her sole focus was the beast before her, she let all of her other thoughts and feelings ebb away. Time began to flow slowly, the clanless above cast dozens of whips around the two most forefront claws of the elder, pulling with all their might to try and raise them up. The elder responded quickly, using what few claws it had let to try and cut the whips binding it. A flurry of explosive shots from Lillian hit one of the claws in its partially melted joints, severing the tendons as it fell to the ground below.
Another explosive struck one of the other damaged claws, this time the source was from Ophelia. Managing to make an incredible toss while still protecting the remaining hunters.
There were still two more claws that flailed to free the elder.
The Huntmaster launched itself at the beast, its wriggling mass struck against the elder’s plating as the worms scattered and danced across the surface until they formed a makeshift net. All at once, the worms grew ridged as their bodies expanded outward, colliding with the remaining free claws as they held them in place.
The clanless were shouting in effort as they heaved the two huge claws higher and higher. It wasn’t enough though, the elder’s maw was still hidden, its long flowing tendrils that used to be legs were anchored into the ground below. Slowly the beast was winning the tug of war, pulling its claws lower, bit by bit.
The black spears groaned as they tried to hold the massive monster at bay.
Two more whips appeared, each one wrapping around one of the claws. Tayla looked down to see Fel, seething with anger. They heaved, and the elders claws snapped backwards. The sudden jolt caused many of the Twins above to lose their balance, their whips went slack. It didn’t matter, Fel gave another heave and wrenched the elder back towards them. The elders' tendriled legs grew taught, then began snapping in quick succession. The corpses it used began to scream in frustration, the screams slowly devolving into incoherent babbling.
It was afraid.
Fel walked backwards slowly, pulling the full weight of the colossal monster. The screams turned to pleading, even without understanding the obscene tongue, it was clear it was begging for mercy. The air around the elder began to distort, the puppets began to chant in unison, it was attempting to cast some forbidden spell.
Fel answered with a scream of their own, a guttural roar that shook the very air itself, hitting Tayla in the chest like a punch. Fel’s body seemed to glow slightly as they screamed, the puppets exploded from the force of Fel’s shouting. With that last push, Fel pulled with all their might, tearing the last of the anchoring legs out of the ground or ripping them to shreds, the elder tumbled backwards, exposing its underside.
Tayla was calm, she had to be, this was the best chance they had to kill this wretched thing. She saw the maw, but she knew to wait a moment longer until she was sure she knew where the core was. It was now or never, she pulled the trigger, a final sun bursting into life. It seared a path towards its target, slow and sluggish to Tayla’s perception. The white hot ball of energy struck true; right into the waiting maw of the elder.
The immense heat and energy had nowhere to escape, the inside of the Krak’un acting like a blast furnace, its flesh superheating to the point of vaporization. Steam and smoke billowed from the charred remains of the elder, its body dropped, no longer held aloft by whatever eldritch powers had been fueling it.
The battle was finally over, and as the Tranquility disappeared, the pain and fear returned in full force. Tayla simply dropped her cannon, she was weeping as she hobbled over to her brother, her leg screaming in protest at her misuse of it.
Alnur looked ghastly.
She shook him gently, his head drooping limply. She screamed. “Someone, anyone, help me!” No one responded. Confused, Tayla looked around, her uncle Cyrus and what remained of the Huntmaster were frozen in place. She turned to find the elder stopped mid fall, hanging in the air motionless.
I’m no doctor, but I don’t think your brother is looking so hot right now. Tayla felt a chill as she tried to find the source of the mysterious voice. It dawned on her, something had pried open the link.
She looked around frantically, she couldn’t see anyone who wasn’t frozen in place. I’m over by that woman, what was her name, Zo? Yeah, over there. Tayla looked over, the only thing by Zo were the remains of Vauhn.
Her heart leapt out of her chest, the upper half of Vauhn was waving at her.
“This can’t be real, this is all in my head. What the fuck is happening!?” Tayla screamed as she clutched the sides of her head, grabbing fistfuls of hair.
The waving hand reached down, grabbing its own limp head by a horn as it pulled the head upright, the neck was broken so the head was flopping around. Vauhn was staring at her, his jaw torn all the way down to his collarbone, leaving an enormous gaping wound. So, I couldn’t help but overhear your dilemma, and since we happen to be in a position where the celestials can’t see what we’re doing. What if I were to offer you a way to save your brother's life? Even as a disembodied voice, Vauhn’s tone was ripe with self satisfaction and smug bravado.
Tayla hissed. “You’re a demon, come to bargain for my soul. This can’t be happening.”
Hey now! I resent that! I assure you I have no ties to the infernal realm, I am just a wandering good samaritan looking to do his good deed for the day!
Tayla got up, and started walking calmly towards the dead man.
Excellent, now all you have to do is shake my han- He was interrupted by Tayla pulling out her revolver and putting a bullet between his eyes. The hand holding the head aloft lost its grip as Vauhn’s face smashed into the ground.
The hand spasmed for a moment before hurriedly grabbing the head by the horn again and lifting it once more. Hey! That hurts you know! Just because this vessel is dead, it doesn’t mean I can’t feel pain- Tayla fired again, hitting the same spot. Fuck! Ow! Can you not shoot me for a second while I finish my sales pitch! Nonono. Tayla fired again, thinking to herself that eventually this had to do something.
Vauhn’s voice took on a pleading tone. Time out! Just wait before you do that again! Holy shit I have such a headache now. Look, earlier you said you would do anything to save your brother, even if that meant a deal with the archenemy. Well? Do you want to save your brother or not?
Tayla cocked the hammer of her revolver. The thing had a point, Alnur would surely die without intervention of some kind. “You want my soul right?” She asked with dread in her voice.
Vauhn’s bullet ridden face narrowed its eyes in disbelief. What the hell would I do with a soul? No! I told you I’m not a demon, you might want to stop with this prejudice, it is really offensive.
“What? If you don’t want my soul, what do you want?”
A favor! Gods above you are a shrewd one aren’t you. I just want an exchange of favors. I give you the information that could save your brother, and you help me when the time comes.
Tayla looked away, this felt wrong on every level, but if she could save Alnur. “How would I have to help you?”
Oh thank the gods, I thought you were going to keep shooting me. I’m glad you’re starting to see the logic in this trade. One day, you will be in a position to make a crucial choice, a decision that will have long lasting implications. When that day comes, I ask that you simply show mercy to those that need it, even if you normally wouldn’t.
“Wait, that’s all? I just have to be nice when the time comes?” Tayla said.
Ya, that’s the basic gist of it. So what do you say? Do we have a deal?
Every fiber of Tayla’s being screamed at her not to listen to this thing, but if this was all it took to save Alnur from death. She would gladly accept the risks. “You have a deal. Now save him!”
Wonderful, glad to hear it. We just have to shake on it, you know binding magic and all that nonsense. The hand holding the horn let go once more as Vauhn’s head struck the ground once more with a dull thud.
The hand extended outwards.
Tayla was breathing heavily as she slowly reached out and shook the things hand. Vauhn’s eyes began to glow, prismatic light spilling forth from them. Eldritch symbols appeared in the air around their locked hands, burning with foul magic as they worked to bind her to her word, forever more.
It was all over in a moment, she pulled her hand back and rubbed her wrist. “Now, save my brother!”
Hm? Oh right, the answer you seek is in your pocket. Good luck! Vauhn’s hand began to slump.
“What! Hold on, you swore to save his life!”
Uh, no. I swore ‘to grant you the knowledge to save his life’, which I have done so. The things in your pocket, have fun.
Tayla scrambled in her pockets, the only thing that stood out was the chunk of blood stone. “How the hells do I save him with a fucking rock?!”
The thing let out an over the top sigh. Fine! Use the blood rock along with the Nightfather’s gift. I put your odds of success at about sixty percent, which is pretty good! I believe at you! Vauhn’s corpse finally collapsed. Bursting into flames as it burned away, leaving only ashes where it had laid.
Tayla was alone once more.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see the world start to move once more. She had precious little time before her brother bled out. She bolted over towards Alnur, sliding to a stop on her knees beside him. She had no idea what to do with the stupid rock, but the slimy bastard was bound by magic to tell her the truth, so that meant that somehow this could work.
“If I ever see that bastard again, I’m going to introduce him to the business end of my plasma cannon!” Lost as to what to do next, she cursed as she did the only thing that came to mind. She strained her hand, breaking down the small crystal into smaller pieces, shoving those shards into Alnur’s mouth and coaxing him to swallow the blood stone.
Almost immediately Alnur started to convulse, the blood stone was spreading quickly due to all of the open wounds. Tayla placed her dead hand on her brother's chest. She closed her eyes, despite his state, Alnur had left the link open, Tayla used that to feel everything Alnur felt. She could feel the blood stone moving through his veins and arteries. She began reaching out with the Nightfathers gift, halting the bloodstone as it reached certain spots. She would let the blood stone grow, filling wounds, and then she would kill it so it couldn’t spread further. Her forehead was slick with sweat from the concentration of the endeavor.
Something inside of Alnur stirred. The Fury had been stoked to life again.
The odd energy inside of Alnur burned as it rushed through his body and found the foreign bloodstone. The bloodstone in turn began to grow rapidly as it used the Fury and its power as a fuel source.
Tayla cursed as she tried to stop the growing chain reaction, channeling the explosive energy to the worst of the injuries as the bloodstone grew to fill the wounds before using her own power to halt the reaction after it had served its purpose.
It was hard to say how long Tayla continued the cycle of channeling the bloodstone and then halting it before it got out of hand, but eventually she was done. Alnur’s breathing was less labored, the color slowly returned to his skin. Tayla let out the breath she had been holding the whole time, and relaxed.
Which was enough for her body to decide it was time for her to pass out from the whole ordeal, as she fell over unconscious.
