NBB3 - chapter 22: Trouble never comes alone

"Could you bloody hurry up already?"

Sumil didn't respond to Galg but took a look over her shoulder. The half a dozen monstrosities were even closer than before. A blue flash of lightning shot from next to her, appearing in front in an instant. It slammed into one of the figures, then bounced back harmlessly.

The attacks continued a few more times before the bolt flashed back towards her.

Galg appeared ahead of her, his forward motion carrying him alongside her for a few moments.

"Those things are impenetrable! You need to move faster!"

Sumil turned her gaze forward, trying to push out more of the explosive balls.

They were hundreds of feet above the wasteland, and the familiar hills were now a thin line in the distance. They needed to get there before the Kaots caught up. She was sure they had been sent after them by Domain, although she had no way to prove it.

"What's that?" Galg shouted as he appeared on her other side.

He pointed to a spot left, and as Sumil looked over, she saw a small dust cloud erupt from the wasteland just in front of the hills. They were too far to make out what it was, but whatever it was, it might prove a distraction.

"Let's find out," she shouted as she turned in the direction Galg was pointing.

--

"He is the Cestodia," Drys whispered.

Solus nodded, taking a look at Laron, who was staring out of the window. His eyes had turned entirely purple but weren't glowing anymore, and his speech had improved. However, he did still sing more than he talked, sometimes repeating choice words.

"He doesn't seem dangerous," Solus said. "But those you guys dealt with were?"

"Yes," Drys said. "But I think I have an answer to that. Laron's original mind was shattered, and I think that meant the Cestodia could slowly take over the body instead of having to struggle with the original mind. A bit like what those AI are doing?"

"From what I can see, the wyrm-like thing is now completely integrated into the brain," Sig said. He had been taking occasional looks into Laron's skull, to the annoyance of Laron.

"If I went to look at his status, there would probably be some changes," Solus said. "But what about when Laron froze and became unresponsive?"

"Probably because the Cestodia was trying to take over fully, but they didn't themselves realize what they were."

The three were quiet for a while, and Solus was the first to break the silence.

"We have other, more important issues. Scathia is somewhere in the city."

Sig looked up,  but Drys just snorted before stamping on the ground.

"I know. She's been causing trouble ever since you left. After one failed assault some years ago, she's been staying in the shadows. Every now and again, she tries something new, distrubing something, but we can't find her."

"Those Goliarn seem to do what she wants," Solus said. "I followed some to a building-"

"In the western part of the city. We know. We've left it alone, so we at least have one spot we know she operates from, "Drys interrupted him.

The undead scowled as he looked at the machine in the center of the room. "She keeps interfering with my research…"

"What is that thing?" Sig asked, mirroring what Solus was thinking.

Drys sighed as he walked towards the machine and began fiddling with it. "If I get it to work, it's a machine that can create mana-core's from kaot-orbs."

"Mana-cores?" Sig asked, confused. "Why?"

"Are you trying to evolve again?" Solus asked, looking at Drys curiously.

Drys was quiet, then turned to the other two. "A lot has happened in the last fifty years," he said as he looked around the room, his gaze lingering on the cell. "You know about the Lethargic ones?"

"The undead that become unresponsive and just sit there, doing nothing?" Solus asked, noting Sig's eyes widened in shock.

Dryss nodded. "They started appearing shortly after Scathia's attack. First, we thought it was another of her tricks, but we soon found it was hitting her followers as hard as any other undead."

Drys fell quiet, looking at the ground. "We all are," he muttered.

Before Solus could ask what he meant, he continued.

"It took Sam and the others almost twenty years, but they finally found the reason behind it. Undead minds are magical, and they can only stay intact for a limited time. Oddly enough, zombies' and other fleshy undead's minds deteriorate faster than those of skeletons. "

Solus frowned. "So they break down after a while? Why didn't we see this before? We should have seen this in Tendraal?"

Drys sighed. "It hadn't started yet. Normally, this process takes a long time, but the ancients, our great creators," he barked a laugh. "They were afraid of what might happen if undead ever learned to create more undead, so they added a failsafe to every pattern they made. Depending on the level of an undead's evolution, the process is sped up."

Solus didn't answer, but he began worrying. Did this mean he would eventually act like those undead he had seen? Just sit in a corner and stare at the ground?

"What about when they start attacking everything?" Sig asked.

"We don't know about that yet," Drys said. "All we know is that the lethargic ones and some others sometimes start raging uncontrollably."

Solus looked at the cell, then at Drys. "You?"

Drys nodded, his hands clenched to fists. "It started a few years ago, and it's happening more and more. I lock myself down, so I don't destroy everything, but every time it is worse. Sometimes I don't regain clarity for weeks."

"You say it's because of those patterns?" Solus asked.

Drys sighed. "Yes."

"So? Why don't we just wipe your pattern off and create another one?" Solus asked.

Drys laughed, a mad, haunting sound.

"We tried. Sam, Borl and me, we wiped the patterns from a few undead to test it, but the damage has already been done. Borl thinks our mana-fields have changed somehow, been infected on a base level. The undead we tried this on had evolved twice…." Drys fell quiet for a moment. "He had been only slightly lethargic, but after we wiped his patterns, he was completely unresponsive. He never said or did anything again. Only went crazy with the others a few weeks later."

Solus looked at the machine.

"Why the mana-orbs?"

"It's the only thing we could find that would work. An undead that evolves to a fourth level evolution is… changed. The ancients never had enough mana-core's to use on undead, but from what we have found, the change will remove what makes undead turn lethargic."

Solus blinked as he felt a weight fall from his shoulders. He and Tirella would be alright. The prospect of sleeping for perhaps hundreds of years suddenly seemed less horrible.

"How do you know?" Sig asked. "How do you know that the fourth evolution will solve this?"

Drys pointed at Solus and grinned sadly. "Well, when he and Tirella evolved, Sam was able to detect some of the changes. She had still been in her orb back then, and she was able to calculate things… don't ask me the details. I didn't understand then and don't know."

"How close are you?" Solus asked, pointing at the machine.

Drys' grin disappeared, and he struck the center part of the machine. "It should work! All our calculations show that it should, but we can't control the mana-flows. Someone has to harness the power of those orbs as the core forms in the middle, but I keep losing control, and the machine breaks down."

Drys muttered beneath his breath as he fiddled with some of the parts of the machine.

"Borl and Sam have lost interest, and they say I should stop and look for another way… but there is none!" Drys shouted.

"Perhaps I can control it?" Solus asked as he examined the machine. He was more powerful than Drys, after all.

"That's what I hope," Drys said with a tired sigh. "But this isn't a problem that requires brute force."

Solus ignored the slight jab and looked at the machine. "Should we try now?"

Drys shook his head. "No. I just returned from the AI tower, and Borl told me they expect another surge of insanity soon. We should wait until that has passed before we try."

"Do you know when it will happen?" Solus asked curiously.

"No. It usually happens somewhere this day or the day after they warn me," Drys said.

Solus bent his canine head to the ground as he thought about everything that was going on. Although it might be troublesome if the event happened while they were in the midst of attempting the machine, what about that thing pushing on the barrier? Or the whole thing with Scathia?

"Why don't we try now?" he finally said as he looked up at Drys. "We might not have the time to wait."

Drys stared back at him, slowly frowning.

"What do you mean?"

"There is something… or someone pushing against the barrier," Solus said, belatedly realizing that there might be something out there. "I don't know what is causing it, but the pressure is increasing all the time."

Drys' frown deepened. "On the barier? You can't feel if it's going to break through?"

Solus shook his head. "I've got no idea what is going on."

"What about Tirella?" Drys asked.

"Like me, her body is still asleep, but I can feel she is doing things. I can't talk with her, though," Solus said, and he growled. It was an instinctive reaction from his body, but it felt pleasant.

For a moment, a tense quiet hung in the room as Drys looked at the machine, then he sighed.

"Fine. Let's try."

Solus and Sig waited and watched as Drys took kaot-orbs from the tables and put them on the machine's arms before fiddling with some of the parts on the main machine. Finally, after ten minutes, he turned and looked at Solus.

"I'll activate it, and you need to summon your manafield to control the flow of mana. It's somewhat similar to closing a portal. Every one of those orbs will send a stream of mana that needs to move into the central container. You need to direct it so it flows along the arms."

Solus nodded as he moved towards the machine. Getting an idea, he turned on his mana-overlay. Ugly red mana, intertwined with black particles, hung tightly packed around the many kaot-orb, while small streams and gaseous clouds of different colored mana hung and weaved through the room. There was far more here than he had seen in any other closed space, and some of it leaked into Drys, Sig, and even Laron.

The light and abundant mana moved towards Drys and Sig while a slither of pink found its way to Laron.

Then he noticed a golden spec, slowly drifting towards him, and traced it and a few others coming through the windows.

Strange, Solus thought as he looked at the golden mana. Shouldn't his new body draw in another sort of mana?

Drys turned to Sig. "Keep an eye on Laron and me. If we lose control in the middle of this, we might try to hurt you. Lock me in the cell if that happens, and just hold Laron."

"How long will this take? Solus asked, ignoring the mana around him.

"Not that long," Drys said with a scowl. Usually, I lose control of the energy streams when the mana-core only just start forming."

Solus moved closer to the machine and summoned his mana-field. The field, so small compared to his original one, still enveloped the machine. Drys stared at it for a bit, then shook his head.

"I didn't realize you can't use your old mana-field. This won't work."

"Let's see how far I can get," Solus replied, ignoring Drys's scowl.

"Fine. I am starting the machine now," Drys said.

Solus didn't respond but focused on the mana-orbs and the machine's arms.

Drys stepped beside him and raised his arms. Green mana spread from him like a wave, touching, then engulfing the transparent container in the middle.

Solus looked in surprise at the way Drys manipulated the mana around him. It was the first he saw anyone do it like that. Then, with a soft jolt, the machine hummed to life, and the arms creaked a bit as they slowly started rotating around the central machine. The mana in the kaot-orbs turned agitated instantly, while the liquid in the central container pulsed softly. The red mana floated away from the orbs.

"Guide the mana flows," Drys said with a strangled voice.

Solus focused on the mana, sensing it pass through his manafield. He focused on it and pushed it mentally pushed it towards the container. The mana reacted to his actions, then slowly moved sideways, away from the arm. With a grunt, he prodded it back in line before focusing on the other orbs. The mana was hovering like clouds around them, slowly dissipating in all directions. Only a tiny portion ran along the length of the arms towards the center of the sphere.

Solus quickly focused on the mana, shoving it along the direction of the arms. Like out of control streams of water, two swirled away, and he stretched himself to guide the streams closer to the arms. Within moments he was so absorbed in keeping the red mana near the arms that he lost all sense of time. When the first mana reached the center container, it flowed into the liquid and coagulated in the middle. Right away, the indistinct shape of a mana-core formed. As if agitated, the mana on the arms turned chaotic, small streams leaking off and away. Solus grunted as he tried to multitask and keep the streams in check.

The mana began streaming faster into the container, and the core in the middle grew more distinct.

"Yes, yes!' Drys muttered through clenched teeth, the green mana still pouring from him.

Time passed slowly, as the mana-core became more real, when Solus, his mind stretched to the limit, felt one of the streams burst away, shooting in another direction. He groaned as he grabbed it and forced it back in line. At the same moment, another stream surged away, and he couldn't reach it in time. Before he realized what was happening, the other streams scattered like a horde of kaots. Cracking sounds echoed through the room as the kaot-orbs turned to dust.

Drys groaned and sagged forward. The deluge of green mana disappeared, and the mana-core in the center dissipated.

"Another failure," Drys groaned.

"We were close," Solus interrupted him. "We should try again!"

"I can't," Drys muttered, shaking his head. "It will take a day or two for me to regain the energy to run the machine."

"How are you doing that anyway?" Solus asked.

Drys pushed himself up, swayed, then moved towards the machine. He absently brushed the remaining dust away from the holders on the ends of the arms.

"It's a skill. You can probably find it on your status screen. The requirement is high intelligence and a specific class," Drys said.

"Something is happening, happening outside," Laron sang from the window.

Solus's head snapped around, and he suddenly realized he was hearing screams and roaring and had been for a while. He just hadn't been able to pay it any attention.

"Bile and bone," Drys said.

He rushed to the window, quickly followed by Solus and Sig.

"It's starting," Drys whispered as he backed up.

Solus pushed past him and put his head through the window.

Undead were panicking in the center of the square, fleeing in all directions as a small group of what looked like Kaots rushed towards them from a side alley.

Not Kaots, Lethargic ones!

A group of guards rushed forward to intercept them. Further out, Solus saw more undead running away through streets, in some cases chased by insane Lethargic ones.

"We need to stop them," Solus said.

"Solus!" Sig shouted, and Solus turned around.

Drys stood halfway towards the cage, his face warped with rage and anger. His hands were clenched to fists as he took staggering steps forward. Green plumes came from his nostrils on each exhale as his breath came out in ragged bursts.

"Sig, grab him and shove him in the cage," Solus shouted.

Sig surged forward, his body changing into a highly condensed cloud that wrapped around Drys. It moved halfway to the cage when the cloud dissipated, and Sig fell to the ground on hands and knees. Drys swirled around, howling in anger.

"What are you doing?" Solus shouted.

"He blocked my power!"

"Wyrms be damned, grab him!" Solus roared.

Drys raised his arms and levitated above the ground, green energy rippling along his body, concentrating in his fingertips.

Solus dased across the room, his nails scratching the ground, but before he got there, Drys slashed at him from afar.

Bile!

Solus dodged sideways as five circles of green energy appeared out of thin air and slashed through the spot he had just been standing. Before he could react, Drys slashed again, and pain erupted from his side as he felt the world spin around. A moment later, he slammed into a table filled with bone tablets.

Solus pushed himself up and noticed that the world was spinning around him. He shook his head, and as the spinning lessened, he looked up to see Sig dance around the room, dodging rapid slices from Drys. Laron stood by the window, a slight panic on his face.

"Laron, grab him and hold his arms to his side," Solus roared.

Laron looked up, then looked at Drys and shook his head. Before Solus could react, Laron jumped forward and out of the window.

What?

Solus had no time to think about the suicidal move.

Sig failed to dodge a hit and tumbled through the room with three long green wounds on his chest. Solus shot forward, dodging below a table. Drys hadn't spotted him yet or ignored him if he could even think that well, and Solus waited as the other raised his arms to slash at Sig. As soon as the green slashes of energy appeared, he dashed forward and slammed into the hovering Drys. It felt like he slammed into an unbudging wall, and Drys swirled around, grabbing for him.

Seeing the grasping hands, Solus used his skill. His short dark spines erupted from him and pierced into Drys from point-blank range. A startling scream erupted from the grey undead as a dozen of the spines penetrated his chest, and he fell to the ground.

"Sig, now," Solus shouted.

A woosh came from behind him, and then cold darkness covered him. It felt as if he wasn't anywhere, no up and down, no left and right. A moment later it was gone, and Drys wasn't in front of him anymore. He spun around and saw the two grey undead inside the cage, Sig grappling with Drys and the manacles.

Drys had spines across his chest, a few in his arms, and one jotting from the side of his face but even then, he was ever so slowly pushing Sig away. Solus crossed the room in a flash and, feeling a little sorry, chomped down on one of Drys' arms. His jaws were almost dislocated, and he felt teeth snap and shatter, but Drys weakened enough for Sig to release the arm and grab a manacle. With a solid click, it clamped around Drys' arm, and a moment later, the second closed around the other.

Solus let go and jumped back, but Drys managed to kick him in the head. A burst of sharp pain came from his neck and back as the world spun again, and then he slammed into the ground. For a moment, the only sound he heard was his own groaning, then an angry growling came.

He looked up to see Drys snarl and growl at both him and Sig.

"Do you think that will hold him?" Sig whispered.

Solus rolled over and tried to get up. His hind legs remained on the ground, and he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his upper back. Barely standing, Solus looked at Drys. Sig had slammed the cage door shut, and Drys was ripping at the thick bindings. A few of the spines had fallen in the struggle, and thick green fluid oozed from the wounds.

"They had better," Solus groaned as he looked at the table with regular mana-orbs. Although Sig had made a significant dent in the supply, there were still many left.

"Bring me some of those mana-orbs," Solus said as he lay back down. As Sig put a handful of orbs before him, Solus kept his eyes on Drys.

"We need to find a way to cure this," he said.

Before all of you turn into that, he thought to himself.

Sig grabbed some more mana-orbs and sat down next to Solus.

Solus drained the energy from the mana-orbs. The bones in his back slowly healed as he turned his gaze to the window.

Laron…. Where did you go?