Heroes aren’t born… they’re forged through hellfire and determination.

  - UWO Major General Lambert -

  Deep breaths don’t help me find the calm as my mind catches up. I’m covered in blood. My own mixed with Trent’s. So many eyes are on me. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I feel a throb in my leg where the adrenaline injector stabbed me.

  “What dragonflies?”

  “Big… fucking… dragonflies,” I point toward the ceiling.

  Dorliac looks up again, but there’s nothing there yet.

  “What happened to Trent?” Verantha asks, eyes wide.

  “I… he… dragonflies.”

  I'm so screwed, what do I even say? I feel tremors in the ground and the unmistakable sound of heavy plate armor sliding against itself. My head turns slowly. The WHA Knight, they’re standing over me now. Shit.

  “Contact!” someone yells.

  People start shouting, pointing above. Large… man-sized dragonflies are moving towards us at a high rate of speed. Dorliac turns, blinking twice.

  “Eyes up!” she bellows, stepping away from me.

  “Weapons ready!” Mwangi yells after, then waving to the exit, “Fall back through the tunnel!”

  He wants to create a choke point just like Tenny did, smart, especially with them having air superiority. Dorliac gives him a nod, acknowledging his strategy. The bog will provide good obstacles for these creatures since not all of us can fit in the narrow path.

  “Fall back to the tunnel!” she echoes.

  Those in the Platoon given the heavy weapons, namely the M240 Bravos lean them up against jutting plant fiber near the tunnel entrance, their battle buddies on their side steady the rounds that were designed to load and lay flat, not vertically. This isn’t their first rodeo though.

  Gun smoke, and the pounding sounds of what created it fill the air. It’s orchestrated chaos. The knight grabs my shirt, pulling me into the air in front of them before slinging me onto their metal shoulder. I try to move free, but they squeeze me, my eyes bulging.

  “I just healed him!” Verantha yells over the gunfire.

  The knight doesn’t speak. They stride toward the tunnel entrance. Each step is measured and deliberate. Their long, thick two-handed sword leans on their other shoulder. It probably weighs more than me.

  “Let me go!” I yell, careful not to touch their armor with my off hand. I can feel Abyss practically salivating for it. For their sword too. It’s coming in waves. The pulsing of need. Confusing and clear in the same breath… consume.

  One of the large dragonflies manages to smash its dying husk into a retreating soldier, crushing their chest.

  [ 1 x Wither Charge Gained ]

  That wasn’t from the soldier though, they’re still wheezing, the dragonfly then. I can get charges from these bigger ones.

  Dorliac yells for the Cleric as Mwangi heaves the beast off of them. Verantha rushes over to them, light spilling from her by the time they start dragging them.

  Meanwhile, the knight thunders through the retreating soldiers. Shoving them from their path, completely disinterested in helping. Where are they taking me? What is going on? Do they know I killed Trent? They must suspect. Fuck, should I just let Abyss eat? No, I can’t let anyone see it. Trent saw it for less than a minute before he decided to try and kill me.

  The knight brushes through the end of the tunnel, stepping out into the bog, and moving deeper into it. Somehow unfazed by the sinking steps. Their strength stat must be insane. How far are they going to take me into the bog? The sound of gunfire is muffled now. My thoughts are starting to become less cloudy, and less jumbled.

  “Hey, let me down,” I say.

  No response.

  “We need to help them.”

  Again, no response.

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  I try to shuffle and shimmy, but they squeeze harder, my ribs feeling like they’re going to break again.

  “Okay, okay, relax.”

  They don’t. We’re a hundred paces from the entrance when they show me their vibe. Throwing me through the air at a gnarled root of some kind. My hand splays out to stop my fall, breaking my wrist on impact. Fuck they’re strong. I scramble from the ground.

  “What happen… Trent,” they demand in a very squeaky voice that doesn’t match them.

  “The… the dragonflies killed him.”

  “Liar!”

  They move forward, I roll out of the way just as they bring down the sword where my leg was, fucking hell, all of these WHA guys are whack jobs.

  “Hey!” I hear a voice yell.

  It’s Tran, Barlow’s right behind him. Weapons up and pointing at the Knight.

  “You better chill the fuck out,” Barlow growls, switching off the safety.

  Gilroy comes from behind them. Eyes darting back and forth.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asks, rifle pointed down, but his hand ready.

  “He kill friend… I kill him,” the Knight’s voice squeaks.

  They all blink at the mismatched shrill squeaking voice.

  “You’ll eat lead before that happens,” Tran warns.

  “Amen,” Barlow says.

  “Then all die… acceptable…” they squeak, hefting the blade from the ground.

  “Shit,” Sergeant Gilroy mutters, raising up his rifle.

  The knight doesn’t even hesitate as it swings in an arc. I throw my body back down to avoid it. The three of them open fire… the armor is bulletproof. Each of them steps backward as the Knight strides closer. The blade rises as Gilroy’s foot slides into a bog hole. Shit. I lunge forward, slapping my Abyss hand straight onto the leg of the Knight. Black webs explode over the entire suit of armor.

  The blade slams to the ground. The armor is being eaten. The knight’s head… is gone? The black tendrils recede back into the ring leaving…

  “The fuck…” Tran breathes, mouth hanging open.

  “That just happened…” Barlow says, lowering his rifle and blinking.

  Barlow turns, hearing the increasing gunfire from the plant. Soldiers are running out and falling back.

  “What’s going on?” he asks.

  “Dragonflies, big ones.”

  “Where armor!” the no longer knightly looking person squeaks in front of me.

  In front of us is a butt-ass naked… gnome. No more than three feet tall. Big beer belly, patchy back hair that looks greasy, and festering pimples all over his belly and chest. He turns, looking back and forth at each of us, eyes bulging like he just saw his first pair of tits.

  “Where armor?” the gnomish man squeaks.

  “What the fuck?” Gilroy asks, pulling himself out of the hole, he looks at the gnome and then the retreating soldiers.

  The gnome leans down, somehow hefting the blade upwards.

  “Where armor!” he shrilly squeaks, spinning in a circle with the blade.

  Gilroy fires three times, center mass. The gnome staggers and then falls to the side, the blade falling onto it, pinning it down.

  “Alright, Novak heal him, Barlow tie his ass up,” Gilroy sighs, shaking his head, turning to move towards the soldiers that are fleeing, “Looks like we have bigger problems.”

  “I can’t,” I admit.

  “I’m not joking, fucking heal him!” Gilroy barks, looking back at me.

  “I can’t, Sergeant, I don’t have the skill anymore.”

  Silence, then panic. My feet move toward the greasy gnome that tried to kill us.

  Barlow and I try to heave the blade off him, but it’s too heavy. I grasp it with Abyss, I feel a shiver run through my arm as it gobbles it up. The hunger it had before becoming less of a demand. The gnome struggles to breathe, clutching at his chest.

  “Give me your trauma kit,” I say to Barlow, then looking at the wounds, “Triage.”

  Time slows. The gnome's body reveals itself to my eyes. I can hear the muffled gunfire in the distance. The throb from my broken wrist radiates up my arm. Looking down at the gnome, his right lung is pooling blood, left ventricle of his heart is completely torn open. He’s fucked. Even with healing, this would have been difficult if not impossible. There’s nothing I can do for him, except try and get him to the Cleric.

  “We need to get him…” I stop, eyes widening as I see what’s in front of us.

  More and more soldiers are fleeing from the large plant structure. Dozens in every direction. The ground is tremoring from something big landing on it. Gales of wind blow the smog and push us all back. A large oversized leg comes into view as the air clears from the flapping over enormous bus-sized wings. Holy fucking shit.

  “That’s… we need to run boys,” Gilroy says, louder now, “That’s an order!”

  [ 1 x Wither Charge Gained ]

  I feel the memory of the gnome crawl across my mind. World burning memories. His home world when it fell. Snapping out of it, Tran grabs my shoulder.

  “Move!”

  I stagger to my feet, all of us running through the bog now with the rest of the soldiers. The large dragonflies are ants compared to what I assume is the Emperor Dragonfly. Eyes wider than a man is tall. Each beat of its wings sends debris flying like a tornado fucked a hurricane.

  Guns fire all around us as retreating soldiers shoot down the man-sized dragonflies.

  [ 1 x Wither Charge Gained ]

  We’re all going to die. No one can fight that thing… Dorliac’s a healer, the Cleric isn’t good with fighting anything except undead, and Tenny is back at base camp. The knight and the mage, they’re both dead, that’s probably on me. My feet stop running, breath catching in my throat. Tran, Barlow, and Gilroy don’t notice me stop, they keep running onward. I can fight it… I’m the only one here that can come back if they die. I have a responsibility to try... no, a duty to try.

  I turn to face the monstrosity that lumbers forward. As a Witherbrand, I might be the only one here that can fight it. My eyes peel upwards, my arm blocking the heavy wind. Another large dragonfly crashes near me. Then another, some of them dying by the wind sending them spinning into the ground. There are hundreds of them littering the skies. If I don’t fight this thing, Cortez… everyone… they’ll all die… again.

  No… not on my watch. Never again.

  I’m not a hero… but fuck sitting back and hoping for someone to save the day. I’m giving it my all, no matter what, to the bitter fucking end.

  Wither charges slide up my spine. More and more.

  [ 1 x Wither Charge Gained ]

  [ Wither Charges Full ]

  [ 1 x Charge Converting ]

  [ First Stage of Hidden Passive Activated ]

  [ Messenger of Death ]

  Everything slows in my perception. My senses becoming heightened. A forced exhale, and my pace becomes a run as I move towards the towering creature wrought from nightmares.

  Carry the torch.

  [ Rolling for Daily Chapters... Failure ]

  Tuesday the 13th.

  Saturday the 17th.

  If you don't want to wait for the bundle drops, Patreon will still be getting 1-3 chapters daily until book one is finished. Then a week off to edit and send to publisher, then back to the daily 1-3 chapters for book 2-3. As a reminder, there is only one tier for my Patreon, which means you get all of my stories for one price.

  thank you for supporting the story in the ways that you already have. Every single one of you keeps the fire burning and the words moving toward the page.

  Thank you, I truly appreciate you all??

  P.S. Discord may or may not be getting a bonus chapter this weekend ??

  Discord Plug:

  The Forsaken Realm Discord Invite

  Patreon Plug:

  https://www.patreon.com/c/Godric_HTG