NBB3 - chapter 19: Through the hills

Solus looked at the line far in the distance. It wasn't much now, but he knew what it was.

Home.

"Further, further, always further."

Laron was singing softly as he trudged forward,  Sig's body draped across his shoulders. With each step he took, his feet sank into the top layer of the wasteland floor, and behind him was a trail of cracked footsteps.

Solus forced his small mana body to go up, a thing he had been doing most of the time for the last few days. His mind stretched and frayed, the connection between him and Laron weakening as he rose a few feet above the other's head. Five feet, that was the limit. The single time he tried to push beyond that, the purple cable connecting Laron to his main body had started crumbling. Even now, the damage was visible, small holes covering the cable, as if something had taken bites out of it.

Still, five feet was enough. They had dodged two wyrms and a group of Kaots because of it. But for how long would that be?

There will be more Kaots and probably shadow stalkers when we reach the mountains, he thought, not for the first time.

He had hoped they would come across a group from Skulltown, but the wasteland was as desolate as he remembered.

Hours later, when a red glare covered the wasteland to their right, they finally reached the start of the hills. The first slope was a few hundred feet away, the hills sprawling behind them.

"Heavy, heavy, Sig is heavy," Laron sang.

He had been singing the same thing for most of the last few hours, and Solus barely heard him anymore. His eyes were on the hills, wondering how they were going to make it through. If only he still had a body. He had thought about using Laron's body a few times, but he was afraid of what the Cestodia might do. It had been oddly quiet, lying still to the side of Laron's brain after what Sig had done. Without Laron, all of his efforts would be for nothing, and Sig would probably remain here until something found him and cracked open his skull.

"Laron, there are dangerous things in those hills," Solus said after a while.

Laron stopped and frowned before turning back towards the wasteland.

"Back? Find another route?"

Solus shook his head, realized the other didn't see it and grunted. "No. We need to go to the city that is in the hills. It is the only safe place for us right now."

"Danger... city," Laron chimed as he turned to the hills, his frown deepening.

"Just keep looking for anything dangerous," Solus said.

Laron nodded and began walking up the slope as Solus tried to develop a better plan than to hope everything would turn out alright. The best thing would be to find a cave to hide in till it became light again. The Shadowhunters mainly hunted when it was dark.

When Laron crested the first hill, he spotted a broken area filled with boulders and debris. It looked like a big object had plowed through, cracking the hill and creating a jagged v-shape inside. Solus saw dark patches on the side turned towards him, almost like small holes and indents.

"Go there," Solus said, causing a few stones to glow.

"Dark! Dark is no good," Laron said as he looked in the direction of the glowing stones.

"We need to find a place to hide," Solus said.

Laron grumbled but carried Sig's body forward. Soon the gentle slope turned difficult, gravel and loose rock covering the steeper incline that led to the split and broken hill. The closer they got, the larger it became, and when Laron stopped in front of the sheer cliff, Solus knew it had to have been a Wyrm that crashed through. Nothing else was this big.

The multiple cracks and small openings lining the ragged wall were dark, but to Solus the softly glowing stone illuminated everything.

"Walk past the openings so I can look inside," Solus said.

Laron muttered something but did as asked. As they moved along the wall, Solus checked multiple entrances. Most were too shallow or had an opening that was too wide. Finally, after a dozen bad ones, he looked inside a narrow corridor that seemed to open into a small cavern.

"This one," he said.

"Dark, dark," Laron complained.

"Don't worry," Solus said as he illuminated a few rocks deep inside the cavern, causing a soft green light to cast long shadows.

Laron smiled as he moved inside, but even with the light, it was tough going. The black and purple undead stumbled across the rocks, almost dropping Sig. Solus saw no other entrances and exits, making it an excellent place to hide. There were a few large boulders to the side.

"Put Sig down here, then move back a bit."

It took a while to guide Laron, but eventually, he managed to block the small entrance with two of the boulders. Finally, Laron sat down with his back against the wall.

"Sleep," he sang, closing his eyes. Moments later, his breathing became ragged, then halted as he fell asleep.

I need a new body, Solus thought as he looked around.

--

Laron shuffled up a small path staring at the top of the hill. They needed to cross it to get further, but carrying Sig made it more difficult for Laron.

Solus hovered a few feet above Laron's head when he heard shuffling. He spun around and saw a shadow moved between two boulders a hundred feet lower and halfway up another slope. He recognized the long, agile shape of a shadow hunter, one for now, but where there was one, there were usually more.

"Laron put Sig down," he said.

Laron didn't need any convincing, quickly putting Sig down and cracking his back.

"Rest? I like to rest!"

"Get ready to fight," Solus said, trying to see where the shadow hunters were.

Laron straightened, his eyes widening as he looked around in panic.

"Kaots?" he whispered.

"No, shadow hunters. Things that run on four legs and usually hunt in the dark," Solus said.

Laron's shoulders lowered, and he looked around. The fear left his face as soon as he heard it weren't Kaots.

Solus constantly looked around when something moved like a blur between two boulders twenty feet away from them before coming into sight. A long shadow hunter, loping low across the ground towards them.

"Behind you," Solus shouted, lighting up the ground all around the shadow hunter.

Laron turned and jumped forward with a wide grin on his face. The Shadowhunters accelerated, and Laron barely managed to bring his arms up. The four-legged thing slammed into him, pushing him over. Laron's muscles grew visibly from the impact and again as he slammed on his back into the rocky ground. Arms up, he grabbed the neck of the shadow hunter.

Solus looked on, feeling helpless. He hated the feeling.

The Shadowhunter and Laron struggled, the canine snapping and snarling as it attempted to reach Laron's neck. At first, the Shadowhunter was the stronger one, and its round, wyrm-like mouth snapped closed inches from Laron's face. But as the struggle continued, the beast pushing, Laron's muscles grew steadily.

Solus paid close attention to the surroundings, expecting more shadow hunters to come soon, but as the struggle below him dragged on, he saw no other movement. Below him, Laron started getting the upper hand, and slowly he began pushing himself up, using only a single hand to hold the now whining Shadowstalker by the throat. When he reached his feet, he lifted the whining and struggling thing up. He raised his other arm, ready to end the beast when Solus had an epiphany.

"Wait. Don't end it!" he said, causing Laron to look up in disbelief.

"Not? Why not?"

"Knock his head against the ground without ending it, make it go to sleep!"

Laron cocked his head, then dragged the struggling shadow hunter to an eight-foot boulder and bashed its head against the side. A loud crack sounded, and the Shadowhunter stopped struggling as a thin, muddled white liquid trickled from its nose.

"Not that hard!" Solus shouted, and Laron stopped mid-swing.

"Now wait, let me try and use the body," Solus said, hoping the crack hadn't ended the Shadowhunter.

Solus shot forward, entering the body. He hadn't known what to expect, but when a mental hammer blow turned everything dark, he had just enough time to feel happy.

--

As Solus woke, he felt odd. His thoughts were all jumbled, and he felt hungry, something he couldn't recall feeling before. Some instinct told him to attack anything that moved and devour its flesh and mana-orb. It took a lot of effort to keep himself from following it. Feeling strained, he opened his eyes and looked around. Something was pinning him to the ground, and whatever it was, it was muttering.

"Solus back? Go inside… and hide? Solus? Soooollusssssss? Green, green flying undead."

Laron? Solus thought.

He tried to clear his throat. Something seemed wrong with it. A soft growl was all he managed to produce, and even projected his voice caused effort.

"Laron, let me go," he said.

"Solus!"

Laron released him and jumped back until he was a good distance away. He had bite marks in his arms and a weary look on his scraped face.

"What happened," Solus asked as he tried to keep down the desire to devour Laron and see the color of his mana-stone.

"Little floating Solus went inside nasty snapping undead, and it stopped moving. Then a while ago, it got up and began snapping again! Snap, snap. Right at me!"

Solus frowned as Laron's words muddled through his mind, somehow seeming more complex than they should be.

"Just wait till I'm ready," Solus said before lying down and summoning his status window.

Two small windows popped up, and his own was a little odd. He just couldn't put his finger on what was wrong with it. He tried to read through the lines, which caused him a migraine.

Name: UNKNOWN

Age: 12

Sex: Cell divider

Race: Elizar's Hound

Type: basic

Class: -

Strength: 14/14

Constitution: 12/12

Dexterity: 21/21

Endurance: 39/41

Intelligence: 1/1

Mana-field: 300/420

Physical density: 590/610

Skills: -

Inscriptions: 0/1

Mana generation: 3

Solus looked at the unfamiliar word behind sex, which usually was one of three things: a stripe, male, or female. Now it said something that meant nothing to him, and an assortment of memories and concepts from the sphere's old gift didn't make it any better. All they did was make him realize that he could smell Laron, and he smelled appetizing. Shaking his head, he looked at the race line, trying to focus on the fact that it didn't say Shadowstalker.

Shadowstalker name other undead gave, he thought. Then he blinked at the oddity with his thoughts. He couldn't figure out what was going on, so he looked at the other values. The attributes were good, which wasn't that unexpected. The shadow stalkers had been a bane to the lower tier undead in Skulltown and were responsible for-

For what?

The memories he just saw clearly disappeared, and he blinked as he felt something had been taken from him. It angered him, but he shoved it down and looked at the attributes again.

One point in intelligence, he thought. Something deep inside was screaming at him, but he couldn't figure out what or why. Something about inteligence... Then he blinked.

Wait... one intelligence bad!

The sudden thought flooded his mind with fear and urgency.

Need hurry, Solus thought as a moment of clarity came and went.

He pulled up the possible evolutions. A list filled with unfamiliar names appeared. Cerberus Spawn, Eldrin Demon, and a host of others that he hadn't seen before, and that meant nothing to him. He tried to read through what they meant, but they became a confusing jumble when there were more letters.

The small screaming voice was becoming weaker, and although he didn't know why, it didn't seem good.

Intelligence.

The thought bubbled up through the thick fog that now filled his mind. That was what he needed. Ignoring everything else, he looked only at the increases in attributes, barely knowing what that even meant and searching for something that increased his intelligence.

Strength, strength, dexterity, Solus thought, reading through the lines getting more and more blurry.

Finally, when he could barely make out the letters, he saw intelligence. He couldn't even make out what the rest said and selected it. The status window's automated process whisked into existence, and his mind ejected from the body.

Like being doused by water, his sense of clarity and ability to think returned.

Solus gazed down at the body, his eyes wide as a wave of panic swamped him.

I almost lost myself!

After a while, the panic subsided, and he noticed the body wiggling and warping below him. Laron stood to the side, his gaze switching between Solus and the Shadowhunter's body.

"Solus is back, so we fight, fight again?"

"No. I'm evolving the shadow hunter into… something else," Solus said.

Below him, the body was lengthening and widening considerably, already half again as big as it had been before. The ears were growing up and back.

Wondering what he even selected, he pulled up the status windows again.

Name: UNKNOWN

Age: 12

Sex: Cell divider

Race: Uridimmu

Type: advanced

Class: -

Strength: 14/18

Constitution: 12/14

Dexterity: 21/23

Endurance: 39/44

Intelligence: 1/6

Mana-field: 300/840

Physical density: 590/930

Skills: -

Inscriptions: 0/2

Mana generation: 4

Everything had improved, which was normal, but the intelligence had comparatively gone up more than he had ever seen from a single evolution. Then again, he had never seen a cap of one in intelligence before either.

As he watched, a thin line appeared like shimmering hair. It connected the body to something below the ground, quickly growing thicker and more prominent until it became a new conduit. At the same time, a new connection appeared in his mind.

"I need to go back in the body," Solus said as he turned to Laron below him. "I'll be back soon. Don't do anything, and if the body ends up moving, hold it down."

"Leave some light… please?" Laron said as he looked around awkwardly.

Solus realized the lights he had created before had vanished, and Laron had been sitting in the dark all this time. He focused, and lights appeared in the ceiling. Laron sighed contentedly as he gazed up. Solus hovered towards the cable connecting him to Laron and was drawn inside, disappearing.

The trip through the thin cable took longer than he remembered from the previous times. When he finally reached the end and popped into the room, he looked around, hoping to find Tirella in a small mana-form like him.

The room, however, was empty.  Nothing had really changed, and only the number of conduits connecting to his body had decreased. He wasn't sure which ones had disappeared, but a quick scan showed Skull, Sumil, and Sig were still there. He also noticed the new, thin one that represented his canine body.

He looked at his body, then at that of Tirella, and frowned.

"What are you up to," he muttered.

He knew she had to be doing something—the odd wave of fear and danger he sensed from her had to have meant something. Besides, if he was out and about, it was safe to assume she was too.

Inspecting his own body, he tried to determine how much longer it would be sleeping for, but all he got was the sense that it would be a long, long time.

"It means I'll need to improve this new body. Who knows how long it will be until I can use my own again," Solus muttered.

He was about to return to Laron when he felt something pushing against his mind. It took him a moment to figure out what it was. It wasn't as much something pressing against his mind, but something pushing against something else… something connected to him.

Is something happening with the barrier? he thought with a frown.

He focused on it, but all he sensed was a pressure on it that slowly but steadily increased. Without a way to go up, all he had to go by was his feeling. After a few minutes, he decided that he was wasting time. There was no way for him to find out what was going on, and there was a new body waiting for him.

He moved towards the thin conduit and touched it, instantly drawn inside as he hurled up at an insane speed. When he reached the end of the conduit, he exited above the body. Laron was still sitting where he had been before, so he floated down and touched the body.

His thoughts felt sluggish when he woke again, but the desire to tear into things wasn't as strong.

"Solus, Solus, where are you," came Laron's soft singing voice. "I'm borrrreeeeddddd!"

Solus opened his eyes and was surprised to see that the cave glowed a soft red. Edges and cracks were sharp, and he could make out fine sand at the back of the cave, but the colors were now red, black, and grey. Laron sat to the side, moving his hands in front of him in an odd pattern as he hummed.

Solus got up, instincts he had never had before moving his paws in such a way that they barely made a sound. His body rose from the ground, and he was slightly disoriented until he realized he was still on all fours. The ground was closer than he was used to, and he didn't see his own body from his peripheral vision.

"Laron," he projected, and the other jumped up in fright.

A ping came from Solus' status window, and he took a quick look.

> Intelligence 2/6

"Solus is back, back he is!" Laron sang as he moved towards Solus before stopping. "You are Solus? Solus you are?"

Although happy at the body's quick intelligence increase, Solus sighed as he heard Laron's odd speech pattern had returned, as he kept repeating the sentences and questions.

"Yes," he projected, and at the same time, a low growl came from deep in his chest.

He blinked, not sure what that was about, then turned to the boulders that blocked the side. He could see a bright, burning gleam through a few cracks.

"The sun is up," he muttered, then turned to Laron. "Open the exit. We are heading to Skulltown."

Laron's eyes widened, and a smile crossed his lips as he jumped towards the boulders. Solus noticed he struggled with them, and a better look showed that Laron's muscles had reverted to their smallest size.

When the boulder finally slid from the entrance, Laron jumped outside before Solus could warn him. As Laron disappeared from the cave opening, burning light streamed inside, blinding Solus and stinging his eyes. He groaned as he backed up, turning his head away.

“Solus?” Laron called from outside.

"Come and get Sig. Then wait," Solus replied, not giving any explanation.

It took a long time before his eyes finally got used to the light, and even then, it pained him to look up.

When it didn't become any better, he growled and rushed out of the entrance, almost knocking over Laron. A couple of boulders to the left of the entrance cast a small shadow, and he moved towards them so fast he almost hit his head against one. As soon as he took to the shadows, his eyes stopped hurting, and he felt more comfortable.

I guess we will be traveling at night, he thought.

"Shadow Solus is alright?" Laron asked as he moved towards him.

Sig was slung across his shoulders, and the constant pressure seemed enough to trigger his ability as Solus saw his muscles minutely growing.

"Follow me. We are going to Skulltown now," Solus said as he oriented himself.

He had been in these hills many times, and from where they had entered and how the sun was moving, he knew where they would have to go. A ping from his status window made him grin, and a quick look showed his intelligence had grown again. He didn't expect the odd idiocy to happen again.

Within moments Solus knew that his new body was far more suited for travel than even his real one. Although he was faster if he jumped with his  real body, the Uridimmu body flowed across any terrain with a grace and speed he found hard to believe.

"So...lu…s," Laron called as he stumbled up the hill, not able to keep up.

Solus stopped and rapidly dashed below a shadowy overhang. From his hideout below an overhanging rock, Solus' sensitive ears picked up the sound of Laron's movement perfectly, as if he was right beside him instead of hundreds of feet apart. Looking at Laron, he examined the other, trying to ignore the glare of the sun. Laron's muscles had found an equilibrium with the pressure of Sig's weight and had stopped growing.

Solus sighed. He had forgotten how it felt to be the fastest and have to wait for others. Still, after having been bound to others for so long, having freedom of moving made up for a lot, and he calmly lay down to wait for Laron. As he did, he inspected his status window, looking at the two inscription slots he had.

No skills… he thought.

If they got into a fight now, he would only be able to fight with his body, and that meant getting close. There were probably many Shadowhunters, and Kaots left in the mountains, and he didn't want to lose his body this fast. Seeing how far Laron was, he pulled up his list of skills. It was relatively long, especially compared to the evolutions he had seen before, and he began scrolling through, reading the texts.

Before he reached halfway, his status window had pinged twice, and a glance showed that his intelligence had maxed out. The amount should be enough to keep his mind working smoothly. Returning to the list, he was just staring at an interesting skill that gave him a toxic breath cone when his ears picked up a slight sound.

Footsteps, he thought as he closed his status window and moved toward the sound.

Laron was almost at the top of the hill, moving at a steady pace, but that wasn't where the sound came from. He scanned around, squinting against the glare, trying to pinpoint the sound amidst the odd echoing off the hills. Then he saw them. Three Kaots, moving across a narrow ridge, above Laron's position and along the part where the hills connected. They hadn't seen him yet, but their eyes were locked on Laron.

If he sees them, he will panic!

Solus moved before he realized, his lean body shooting across the terrain towards a part of the hill higher than the ridge. The taller hilltop cast a long shadow across that part, and it was above the path the three Kaots would need to move by.

What am I doing? Solus thought, barely paying attention to the steep cliff he scaled with ease.

He had just thought how horrible it would be to lose his body, and here he was going again. Still, an impromptu plan was forming rapidly in his mind, and he knew it was doable.

"Kaots!"

A startled scream tore through the silent hills, and he recognized Laron's voice. Having reached the overhang, the Kaots began howling, and he turned to look back at Laron.

Laron was staggering, his eyes on the incoming Kaots. Even from this far, Solus could see his eyes wide as he stared around, looking for a place to hide. Luckily he was still clutching Sig, and Solus hoped he wouldn't just drop the unconscious undead. The Koats previously slow footsteps turned to rapid padding, and Solus ignored Laron as he focused on the small ridge.

The three Kaots were surging forward, almost knocking each other down into the depths below. They were a few feet from the edge when Solus pounced, aiming for the first one. Sailing through the air, he just had the time to see that the last of the Kaots was carrying something before he collided with the first of the Kaots. His front paws mauled the Kaot's face as he pushed him towards the edge of the ridge, using the force to jump back and onto the narrow path. The fleshy Kaot flailed, grabbing the one beside it, then with a startled scream, both plummeted down.

Solus stood on the ridge, gazing at the last of the undead. It was tall and spindly, with skeletal arms, and one of his hands clutched a small metal object.

A sphere? Solus though.

He had no time to figure it out as the Kaot screamed and charged. A surge of energy shot through Solus, and suddenly, it looked like the Kaot was moving in slow motion. Not sure what was going on, he wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. He jumped sideways and into the wall beside the ridge, the long nails on his paws scratching across the rock as he pushed forward and ran a few steps across the almost flat surface.

The Kaot turned, moving at a snail's pace, and Solus slashed at the hand holding the small sphere. The Kaot dropped it as Solus landed behind the other, his movement almost carrying him over the ridge. His claws dug in the stone, and he came to a halt, then turned and saw the Kaot jump at him with outstretched arms and a maddened snarl. He tried to jump away, but the Kaot slammed into him, wrapping its arms around him and carrying both over the edge.

No! Solus growled as he bit down on the Kaot's face.

The Kaot howled and let go as it grabbed its face. Solus jumped from its chest, his body nimbly turning in midair. The ridge disappeared just above his paws as he hit the wall. He dug his nails into the stone, sliding down a few feet before hanging from the wall, his body tense like a coil. With a growl, he pushed himself up, stretching out his paws and slashing them at a higher point into the rock, they didn't dig deep enough, and he slid back down. He tried again but barely got a foot further when the edge of the ridge crumbled. With a catlike jump, he moved sideways, barely managing to hang on to a small outcrop.

He growled in frustration. Was he going to lose another body? The ridge was now only an arm's length, but he could see from the loose rocks that if he tried to grab it, the stone would crumble away.

"Solus?"

Laron's frantic voice came from above, and a moment later, the other's wide-eyed face poked over the edge of the ridge. His mouth fell open when he saw Solus in his Uridimmu body hanging from the side. He stretched one of his arms and grabbed Solus' paw.

Before Solus realized what was happening, Laron pulled him up along the side. When his upper body was over the edge, he scrambled forward and onto the ridge. Laron stood beside him, his body heavily muscles and purple lines pulsating across. Sigs body lay a bit further away, just before the ridge, dangerously close to the edge.

"What happened?" Solus asked as he scanned for more Kaots. He saw none.

"Kaots, Kaots," Laron said as he looked around. "One came from behind!" He pointed back down the hill, and after a moment, Solus found a decapitated Kaot lying there.

Where did that one come from, he thought.

And how had Laron defeated it? He moved towards Sig when he noticed something small and gleaming in the corner of the ridge and stonewall. It was the gleaming sphere the last Kaot had carried. He moved closer and saw that it had some oddly familiar symbols on it and looked exactly like a small version of an AI sphere.

"Laron, grab this," he said as he touched it with his nose. "Then pick up Sig. We need to get out of here before more show up."

"Laron carry this, Laron carry that," Laron muttered as he moved forward. Then he saw the sphere, and his eyes gleamed as he snatched it up. "What's this?"

"I don't know, but we are taking it to Drys," Solus said. The idea of seeing Drys again caused a wide smile to form on his canine face.

Much later, when it was the deep of night, Solus moved through the darkness that seemed as bright as day to him, just completely tinted in red. Ahead of him was a distant noise and commotion. Occasional screams and heavy thuds dampened the constant sound of talking. Behind him, Laron was stumbling to the top of the hill.

Solus looked around quickly, but when he saw nothing moving, he sprinted forward, relishing in the freedom of movement. He knew what was behind the top of the hill, and when it, he smiled as he took in the sprawling city that lay before him.

Green and yellow lights illuminated its outer edges, and he frowned when he saw there wasn't a wall surrounding the outermost buildings. The last one that he had made was deep in the city, now surrounded by chaotic outskirts that vaguely reminded him of Tendraal.

Faraway, close to the center of Skulltown, he saw his own tower, still the highest point in the city. However, two other buildings were not far off in height. One was Drys' tower, taller than he remembered but still with the green gemstone with which he had inlaid it. The other was a more angular thing, with a round top.

He stood there, drinking in the sights, when Laron stumbled beside him.

"A big city," Laron said as he looked around with wide eyes. His weary face seemed to regain some energy. "So many lights, lights, lights everywhere," he sang as he began moving forward.

Solus nodded. The lights were new, and he was curious about them. There was something else that worried him, though. As he followed beside Laron, he tried to imagine how the undead of Skulltown would react to his form and what he would do if they tried to end him. He decided that his best bet was to show them he could talk. Hopefully, that would prove that he wasn't dangerous. Even then, he wondered how he was going to get them to let him go to Drys.

Let's hope one of them recognizes Sig, he thought.