Chapter 22: Escape
Outside of this room, I was unaware of what was going on outside. Absolute chaos. I was sure that they could hear my scream. However, it seemed like there were more problems for this resistance. Before it happened, Viking continued to count as the other traitors surrounded him. He was even slowing down his counting so that he would give me more time. Sometimes, he even miscounted or pretended to forget where he was. He just didn't want to abandon me nor break his promise. However, that was all abruptly ended. The name I screamed out. Viking heard his brother's name and rushed through to my location. I didn't know how many rebels he went through, but it did take time for him to arrive. However, I was unsure of how he got through the mage. I could only assume that she knew that Viking was Cutter's brother. However, I could never be sure.
When he came, he threw the two guarding mushroomfolk out of the way. And when his eyes met with Cutter's body, he slowly approached. Outside more chaos ensued. The rebels scrambled to fight against the coming hordes of loyal roaches and General Kull.
I was frozen. I didn't know what to say. Viking went over to Cutter's body and knelt besides him. Silence overtook us for a moment. I was about to open my mouth, but I still didn't know what to say. "Viking... you're brother..."
What was I going to tell him. That Cutter was just alive a few moments ago. That he was working with our enemies. That he took his own life. I just couldn't bare to say anything. Instead, Viking came to his own conclusion. "Cutter... those damn dark elves. They must have done this."
He twitched and gripped his axe tightly. His eyes swayed from place to place with no clear direction. But there was disbelief and sadness. And that sadness quickly replaced with anger.
"I'll kill them. I'll kill them!" Viking yelled as he picked up Cutter's body in one arm while carrying his axe in the other. He roared as his eyes went bloodshot red. I knew he couldn't even see anything clearly. It was like everything around him was an enemy. I was lucky that he didn't begin to attack me. Instead, he rammed straight through the room's wall. As our enemies prepared to fight from all sides, the room turned to chaos. I could hear bolts of lightning and shouts coming from the other passageways. However, I had no clue as to which side. Roaches on both. Dark elves, dwarves, mushroomfolk, and other creatures on one. But roaches on both.
Viking let out his rage and began to attack anybody. Since, he knew that some of those roaches were on the enemy side, he didn't care who he was fighting. And Cutter's ragdoll-like body was right there beside him with the knife still in his eye.
"C'mon, dark elves! Fight me! Afraid that I'm not as small as my brother!?" Viking yelled as he swung his axe around. He distracted the others. And me, as well.
I heard a faint cough coming from Hornet, and I immediately came to my senses. I went to her side. Those purple-spotted mushrooms oozed out some kind of viscous fluid. Nonetheless, I took each one off. I remembered that Cutter said that they were for medicinal purposes, but I knew his knowledge came from this Magilla girl. He may have trusted her, but I didn't. But then again, I still just wanted to believe that a roach that I knew for some time would be capable of committing treason. I never knew what was in his thoughts, but I wouldn't have guessed being a part of this underground resistance.
I put my mind at ease. As I sheathed my blade, I knew I wouldn't be able to wrap my mind around it. So, I focused on Hornet instead. As soon as the mushrooms were off, she slowly opened her eyes. Her burn marks seemed to be getting better, though. If Doc was here, he might have been able to figure out a way to use those mushrooms to our advantage, but there was no use thinking about it.
"R...Roach?" Hornet mumbled. She was still half-dazed.
"Let's go," I said comforting, "Give me your hand."
I gave her my shoulder to lean on as we made our way out.
"Cutter... He's - ," Hornet said slowly. I wasn't surprised that she now knew that Cutter was alive, but I didn't want to tell her what happened to him. Not yet, anyways.
I looked at her solmenly and replied, "I know. We can talk later. Let's just focus on getting out of here."
I held my electric crossbow in one hand while helping Hornet with the other. It was a lot easire for us to get through as Viking brought most of the rebels to his location. And the other passageways seemed to be crawling with our soldiers. I wished that I could help Viking, but I had to focus on saving one or the other. Not both. Hornet was in no condition to fight, and Viking didn't seem to be in control of himself. If I went over to him, I'd probably get killed without him realizing it.
Hornet and I kept going. When I noticed one of the mushroomfolk coming at me with a sword, I shot him away. There were others. The occasional arrow or bolt of lighting came by us, but I had to keep moving.
To my surprise, Hornet grabbed my electric crossbow and shot a bolt into a patch of darkness. A quick reflex. A dark elf fell to the ground into the small slivers of light. He was about to shoot an arrow at us, but Hornet could see him. She could see him. She began to smile with ecstasy as her eyesight healed.
"Nice shot," I said mimicking her nice smile. I unsheathed my blade and let Hornet carry the crossbow in one hand. She still needed my shoulder, but she continued firing whenever she would notice an enemy coming towards us. When an arrow came at us, she would shoot it away. It was as if her eyesight was even better. She was more accurate than she used to be. The very few that were in reach, I killed with my blade. However, none of the other roaches came to stop us. It seemed like they didn't want to fight another one of their own kind. I was happy about that. I didn't want to kill any of my siblings, either.
As soon as we got to the passageway we came through, Hornet began firing behind her. Her shots still as accurate as ever. There was nothing more enjoyable than seeing her smile. It's been so long to see a real smile for so long.
As some dark elves came behind us, bolts of lightning came at us from the front. However, they zoomed right past us and went straight at the enemies. It was our own soldiers. My brothers and sisters.
Then, General Kull came out into view. There was a glint of anger in his eyes, but also one of glee for battle.
"General?" I exclaimed.
KR-01 was by his side ignoring me.
"Good work, Roach. Now, get out of here," General Kull said as I saw an undead bat fly to his shoulder.
"Shall I order the other roaches to charge forward?" KR-01 asked the general.
The two were no longer interested in me, so I kept going forward. But there were no words to explain how happy I was to survive. And backup came just in time.
The general replied to KR-01, "No. I want some exercise. I'll deal with these traitors myself."
He smiled as he went in alone. He wanted to enjoy every moment of it. General Kull conjured a blade of bones in his right hand. "These bodies will make fine sacrifices for Great Lord Kellet."
Dark elves shot their arrows, but the general deflected them away with his blade without any problem. Pikes of bone came out of the ground impaling them. A lizardfolk came at him with two sword, and he quickly dispatched him with one swift strike.
Even the renegade roaches came to fight him. They were reluctant to fight against their own kind, but they had no love for our general. I couldn't particularly blame them for that. But I was still upset that they would turn their backs on the Queen. Going against the general meant going against the Queen.
The enemy roaches fired their electric crossbows, but General Kull was ready. He lifted his left arm - fully comprised of bronze. Each bolt curved and went straight into his palms without moving an inch. More and more shots fired. Swords, arrows, and lightning. Skeletal arms arose from around the enemies attacking and crushing them. Kull's bronze arm seeped with electricity, but none reached him. And with the blink of an eye, a torrent of lightning came out from his metal palm. Every creature that was struck vaporized. When I looked back, I saw some of my traitorous siblings turn into ash one piece at a time. It was as if they were being erased from existence. They didn't even have the chance to scream in pain.
Then, Magilla came with her pyromancy and her own magic. When arms of bone was about to attack her, she burned them away.
"Mages... Roaches attack! Leave the mage to me. Kill those traitors, " General Kull ordered annoyed.
My siblings rushed by us and went into the fight. Arrows were still getting past General Kull, however no bolt would pass by him. However, now he was focused on facing this mage. Whenever Magilla would shoot a flame to stop the roaches, Kull would attack. This gave the mage no chance to prevent my brothers and sisters from passing by her. The battle was chaotic. No order. No plans. Just a flurry of violence and blood. And they were all squeezed together. No room for a big battle. Heads were smashed and decapitated. Limbs cut. The defenders were fortified, but there were just so many roaches. The usual tactic. Bodies just piled on top of each other. If there was somebody alive underneath, they would soon die from the pressure or lack of air than anything else.
Cries of battle was shouted on both sides.
"Kill those traitors!"
"Freedom or death!"
"For the Queen!"
"Never surrender!"
And many more. There was just so much noise, and the sewers only turned the battle into an echo chamber.
But as long as Hornet was safe, I was pleased. At least one of us made it out, I thought. We looked at each other happily. I hoped Viking was safe, but since backup was coming, I was sure he could hold out for a couple of minutes.
"Just hang on for a few more steps. We're almost there," I said as she was about to daze off. She wasn't hurt, but just tired. We were almost there, anyways. Just a couple more steps and we'd be safe on the side.
Hornet replied as I looked forward, "Roach, thank you. I -"
The sound of metal piercing through bones and flesh. Blood. There was already so much blood on me. So much blood from different creatures. But this was different. My blood? An arrow shot by the dark elves. Was it aimed at me? Was it just a random shot in the dark? No. Not my blood. It was splashed on me. No arrow pierced me. The sound of gargling. I looked over to Hornet. An arrow protruding from her neck. Stuck in place as she struggled and writhed. Her eyes were reaching the top and back of her head. Blood coughed out. Choking on her own blood. Felt like hours. Was only seconds. Brothers and sisters rushed past us to fight. No tears. Just blood.
Eyes dead. Gray. No color. Nothing. Empty. Silent.
We were right there. I rushed the last two steps and got to the side laying her down.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Disbelief. We were right there. Just a couple more steps, and we would have been safe. She would have been safe.
I begged and shook her. "Please, wake up. Wake up, Hornet. You're fine. You're fine."
There was no response. It was like talking to a doll. Her eyes were wide open, but there was no life in them. The arrows stuck right through her neck from behind. I took it out carefully and applied pressure to the wound. She couldn't have seen it coming. Not from behind her. Yet, that was the only arrow that hit her. The deafening battle continued, but I didn't care. I just kept shaking Hornet to try and wake her up. But she was gone.
"Wake up. Wake up."
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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