Chapter 51: Draugr
"I put the bastard down, I swear!" Mateo is let down gently by Aaric as we all gather together away from this newly arrived threat.
I pull out my spear and go into a fighting stance, "I dunno, Mateo. The man here doesn't look very dead to me."
"You don't shrug off a skewered heart, golem!" Mateo replies bitingly.
My eyes stay right on the Glavian. The man is covered in his own blood and can barely stand, let alone hold his weapon. His gaze is malicious but unfocused. "It's fine. I'll put him to rest." A final stand against us. Weapon in hand, I begin to walk forward. I need to end his misery.
"Arlan, stop!" Hoektan roared.
I'm caught slightly off balance by the Wolf Lord's sudden shout. "Hoektan?" I ask in surprise as I turned my head slightly to see him.
"He is already dead!"
"I know? I'm going to end his pain." I reply back in confusion. Does he want me to keep him at death's door?
The Wolf Lord growled low, "What I mean is that he is truly dead. A corpse. His soul has already departed."
If that's the case then that means... "Some kind of zombie?" This is the first time I've met something undead. I've dealt with monsters like orcs and goblins, yeah but this? Feels like I'm in a horror movie now. Then again the same could be said about me...
"I have no reason not to believe so but something is wrong." Hoektan explains, "There is nothing in my [Domain] that could raise a corpse immediately. Nor would I suffer a necromancer to step into these lands."
Hoektan begins to sniff the air in disgust, "And the smell... That scent is coming for him. Fetid, rotting meat slathered in sweet honey."
Honestly that sounds absolutely disgusting and now I'm glad I can't smell. But the Glavian was killed just a few minutes ago. Any noticeable decomposition, even the smell, shouldn't be happening in such a short time unless there's some magical reason I have no idea about.
Now Aaric begins to sniff the air, "But I don't smell anything like that. Do you, Mateo?" Mateo turns and shakes his head at the elf before both of them look at Hoektan.
The old wolf's eyes narrow, "Then it's magical in nature. Even my Tsume is affected." Next to her father, the wolf pup is doing her best to suppress her gagging. That poor girl, distressed by the wretched stench that only she and her dad can smell.
Mateo coughs and begins to speak, "It's been a nice discussion but we still need to deal with our undead problem immediately. Can't exactly have him running around the woods at night, can we?"
"Agreed. "The Wolf Lord nods as he begins to speak to Aaric, "Go with Arlan. I will protect the others. With my enfeebled body, I can do that much at least."
Aaric nods in consent, "As you say, Lord Hoektan." The elf moves and places himself behind me, and begins to knock his bow without an arrow. Didn't need to. What did he call himself? An Arcane Archer? While he did have arrows stashed in his quiver, his preferred ammunition was those magic arrows he would conjure with his bow. He certainly did a number on a few of those Glavian soldiers.
As for me, I ready myself to attack with trepidation. Whatever this guy was before, how has Hoektan on edge. There's no room for complacency.
'I'll keep <Claw of the Lamb> in my back pocket for now. My spear should be more than adequate for this.'
"Golem... golem... " It mutters incoherently as it takes a step forward. And then another.
[Unit Arlan. I highly advise extreme caution.]
Now even Oracle is offering a warning. And if she has to pipe up... My arm begins it's transformation into the cannon. I might as well do this the right way.
"GOLEM GOLEM GOLEM GOLEM GOLEM!" It's steps were now strides until it flies at me at full speed-
"GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"
-Until it suddenly is right in front of me.
"What the-!" Aaric gasps behind me.
With unnatural swiftness and the grace of a mad beast, he swings his sword down at me as I stop the transformation and put up my spear's shaft to block the attack. The Glavian's strength is absurd. He's bearing down on me and I can't manage to push his blade aside. My arms and legs are struggling to not be overpowered. I'm completely pinned.
Aaric, sensing my struggle, moves swiftly to my flank. "[Arcane Shot]!" He shouts as he fires a volley of arrows at our attacker, sticking right into his sides.
"N-No effect!?" The elf stammers with bewilderment.
Even with a new set of glowing arrows adorning him, the Glavian soldier doesn't relent. He, instead, turns his head slowly towards Aaric.
"Arrows... magic... YOU KILLED THEM TOOOOO!"
A sudden kick sends me stumbling back. The man has launched himself right at Aaric.
Crap! Dammit, I need to slow him down! I regain my footing and slam my fist into the ground.
"[Tremor]!"
A low rumble shakes the earth beneath us as a small fissure snakes it's way towards my target. Aaric follows up and shoots another shot directly into the soldier's leg. His movement slow for just a moment, but a moment's just enough for the fissure to catch up. He trips and his leg sinks into the fissure.
Not letting this opportunity go to waste I immediately, I close the distance between us and, with his back turned, almost run him through his upper chest with my spear. Contact with the spear tip had been met with severe resistance like I'm trying to pierce through metal. I pour more mana right into my strike and push on through. Right into his heart as blood gushes out from his fresh wound; blood as dark as midnight.
'Black blood?' No, I can think about it later.
"Got you!" I shout triumphantly. I can't believe it took that much of my strength just to pierce skin. The bastard, however, still hasn't given up.
"No... NO! NOT... YET!" Even with my weapon penetrating through him, he's begins pushing his way back up, wounds be damned.
I'll give him what he wants then. With full force I jump up and forward, swinging him up with my spear and slam him head first back into the ground as I land. The loud crack of bone splintering reverberates around us. I yank my weapon out and put a cautionary distance between us as his mangled body is left lying in a compromised position on the floor.
Silence wafts over the area for just a moment. "It's over, right?" Aaric warily asks from afar, "He might as well be snapped in half now." I doubt even an zombie can struggle to move with a broken body. Then again, I should go over and make sure he stays down permanently this time.
"He is not done yet, Arlan!" Hoektan shouts at us as if he sensed our carelessness, "The ambient mana is gathering within him!"
The wolf was right, as the mutilated corpse stands up once more. The bone fractures poking up like a tent in his skin were disappearing, some loudly snapping back into place. Even worse, the gaping hole where his heart was, is now rapidly closing.
"No, He's [Regenerating]!" Aaric shouts frantically, "Arlan, use your fire spells! Stop him, quickly!"
With my free hand outstretched, I discharge a [Fireball] right at the Glavian and he explodes in cacophony of flame. The smoke and dust quickly clear away to reveal the man still standing, but noticeably charred. And still healing.
"No effect!?" Aaric gasps in shock, "Fire should have stopped his [Regeneration]!"
I launch one more [Fireball]. And then another. And another. Each time, he takes the hit head on and each time it has no effect as he begins to slowly walk towards me.
[Alert! This unit's mana stores are critically low!]
"Aaric! I'm running out of juice!" I shout in panic. "I need time to recover!" We've hit the worst case scenario now as my last [Fireball] was as useless as the first. If I drain myself now, I wouldn't have enough to push through my spear to use it effectively.
"We don't have time, Arlan! He's coming right at you!" Aaric replies. The soldier has now recovered his gait and the distance between us has shortened even more.
There is one last trick up my sleeve. The first trick I wanted to do.
"Stall him! I just need five seconds!"
My arm begins it's transformation as Aaric fires one more [Arcane Shot]. The arrow strikes true, right into our opponent's ankle and pinning him in place.
Last chance. I stab my spear into the ground and brace myself. "[Arc Beam]!"
Electricity cackles once more around me as a beam of pure mana shoots out and envelopes my target. His skin and sinew begin to strip away as he faces the full brunt of my attack. However...
"He's STILL [Regenerating]!?" After all we've done to him, the Glavian man literally refuses to die. Even still, his [Regeneration] starts to outpace the damage I'm inflicting on him.
[Arc Cannon] is too energy intensive to use with my mana reserves. My own supply of life energy siphoned from my core powers it. In short bursts, the drain is manageable. But a sustained attack like this begins to show the deficiency in it's design.
[Warning! Core power has dropped past fifty-percent! Continuous use of [Arc Cannon] is not advised!]
I'm running out of resources. We need a decisive blow against him if we're going to survive this.
"Aaric, he's healing but he can't move! Cut off his head!" While my beam is right on him, I can see it's taking all his strength to stay up. "Let's see him [Regenerate] from that!"
Putting away his bow, Aaric pulls out his sword from it's scabbard and darts at the Glavian.
"His skin is as hard as iron, Aaric! Put everything you have into it and make it a clean cut!"
The elf's blade begins to vibrate as he pulls back and swings right at the Glavian's neck.
"[Vorpal Slice]!" He screams right as he swings forward.
The sword cuts right in and slices away at flesh... And get's stuck right before he can go completely through.
Aaric's face flushes with despair, "Even that wasn't enough!?"
More black blood gushes from his arteries as his arm shoots out and grabs Aaric by the neck. Aaric hands claw wildly at the Glavian's arms, trying to make him let go. Our opponent responses by squeezing the elf's trachea tighter.
[Core Energy has dropped to thirty-percent!]
If I keep this up, [Arc Cannon] will drain the life out of me. But if I stop now, Aaric's will be left at the mercy of this beast.
Nothing to it, then. The Glavian's head is barely holding on. I'll give it the push it needs.
With my free hand, I take aim right at his head. "[Rocket Punch]!"
My other fist fires out and hurls it's way forward, hitting the Glavian square in the face with an impactful thwack.
While it put a noticeable pause in [Regenerating] his neck, all I've seemed to do is piss him off even more. With a guttural roar, he forcefully tosses Aaric aside like luggage and focuses his single minded fury onto me once more. At least now, it's just him and me.
[Core Energy has dropped to fifteen-percent! Warning! Cease use of [Arc Cannon] or certain death will occur!]
A quick glance at Aaric's direction shows me he can barely stand at this point; struggling to breathe and coughing blood on the floor. Even Hoektan looks like he's struggling to whether or not join the fight, but that would leave the most vulnerable of our group without his protection.
"Hoektan! Take the others and run!" I shout. This is the only option left for us.
The Wolf Lord furiously shake's his head, "No! I will NOT abandon you! There's no escaping this creature we do not defeat it!"
He's unfortunately right. Even if the old wolf joins in the fight, Mateo wouldn't have the time or the strength to carry both Yumei and Tsume to safety.
[Warning! Core Energy has dropped to five percent! Initiating shutdown of offensive abilities for unit safety.]
'What? No no no! What are you doing, Oracle!? You shut off the [Arc Beam] then I might as well be dead already!'
[Safety protocols past critical point cannot be overridden by command. Shutting down offensive abilities.]
And just like that, my [Arc Cannon] goes out with a sizzle. Now free from the oppressive beam, the Glavian begins to close the distance once more towards me.
[Have faith, Arlan.]
'That's complete bullshit and you know it, Oracle!'
This beast is going to kill me and then the rest of us afterwards. Taking hold of my spear once more, I take my last few moments to consider my options. I still have <Claw of the Lamb> but with so many eyes here I didn't want to use it. So far only Tessa has seen it. The rest, well, usually die when they do. Then again, I'd rather be shunned than dead and I barely have enough mana to fill up my spear to break his defenses.
Will the Claw be more effective than using Haldin's Spear? Only one way to find out as the Glavian soon reaches striking range. Putting aside my fear of exposure, I make ready to bring out the Claw.
"[Enchant Object: Foxfire]!" A feminine voice echoes from behind me as my spear is suddenly engulfed in a blazing blue flame. "Now! Strike him!"
Without second guessing my newfound boon, I thrust forth with my spear and easily pierce through the Glavian's exposed spine in his neck. With a quick swipe, his head falls cleaning off as his body loses it's balance and staggers backwards, falling onto the floor. Despite being headless, it was now flailing it's limbs furiously. Embers where the blue fire touched still burning hotly on it's flesh and sinew.
Turning around to search for the owner of the voice, I now see Yumei sitting up from the coffin, struggling to breathe. Her arms outstretched towards me as the remnants of her taxing spell cast fades away.
"The draugr is... still not... defeated!" Yumei labors to say between coughs, "While the... enchantment holds... strike... at his chrysalis!"
"His what!?" I ask, confused at her terminology.
"His chrysalis!"
I'm completely lost. "I-I don't know where that is!" The fuck is a chrysalis!?
Mateo groans indignantly from his curled position, "It's in his right breast! Godsdammit, golem! You don't know where the chrysalis is!?"
"Arlan!" Hoektan's sudden roar interrupts Mateo's ridiculing, "He's running back for his head! Stop him!"
I turn back and see the headless Glavian making a mad dash towards his severed head. With the still flaming spear, I take aim one last time and strike true. With a straight thrust, I perforate his right breast as I hear the sound of glass breaking. Shards of crystal burst out along with blood, metal and tissue from the spear's exit wound.
And for the final time, the body of the Glavian soldier finally slumps into the ground. The struggle is finally over.
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