NBB3 - chapter 16: Splatter

Solus hid between the dense white leaves on the far end of a branch, looking at the wasteland that stretched beyond. It had taken them the better part of the day to reach the end of the forest, and he was startled by how fast the forest had grown. Yet, even here, he already saw small stubs growing out along the outer edges, encroaching on the wasteland.

Saplings, he thought.

It was a word he'd never used, but with the word came meaning and images from Viridi's memories. Almost immediately, a whole lot of information came from the sphere's gift, adding to it. The information and concepts from the two different sources took a moment to mesh together. As his mind was a jumbled chaos, Solus frowned. Would he be left with these constant things flooding his mind for as long as he existed? He hoped not. Although the information was useful, it was also distracting.

There was a shuffle next to him, and he turned to look. Laron was peaking through another small opening, a conflicted look on his face. Solus could relate. Long ago, he had been happy to travel through the wasteland, but that was when it housed nothing he couldn't handle. Now? To many Darkstalkers, Kaots, Wyrms, undead, and other beings roamed it that could end him and Laron in moments. Only Sig, who sat beside him with closed eyes, would be capable of defending them- if he wouldn't go unconscious before that.

"Still no energy regeneration?" Solus whispered.

Sig's eyes fluttered open, and for a second, he looked around as if unsure where he was. Then he focused on Solus and shook his head. "No. I need another mana-orb, fast. Everything I do seems to drain me further. If this keeps up, you might have to carry me."

Solus frowned as he remembered when Scathia had done something to drain his energy, causing him to fall unconscious constantly. Was it like that?

"Alright. Keep still until we move," he finally said.

A growing annoyance and anger flowed through the connection with his real body, but he pushed it aside this time. Although he enjoyed the sensations, his current body's clinical and clean thinking was more useful right now. Thinking of his new body, he pulled up his status window, something he hadn't done since evolving.

Name: UNKNOWN

Age: 57

Sex: male-ERROR

Race: Skullidar

Type: elite

Class: -

Strength: 10/14

Constitution: 16/19

Dexterity: 12/14

Endurance: -

Intelligence: ERROR

Wisdom: 4/14

Charisma: 1/1

Mana-field: 690/700

Physical density: 213/500

Skills: 1

Inscriptions: 1/4

Mana generation: 4

The values weren't overly low, but he frowned when he saw nothing had increased yet. After evolving, he'd been fighting and acting non-stop, but none of the values had even improved? He tried to recall how long it had taken him in his original, first body, but all he remembered was that the values increased rapidly. Was what it was like for other undead?

Bile and bone… no wonder most of the others are so weak, Solus thought as he gazed at his two companions.

Each must have had to work much harder than him to get where they were now, especially Sig, who was a third evolved. Had they even maxed out their attribute values before they did? If they hadn't, they probably had basic evolutions and were wasting any potential they might have. He couldn't wait to speak to Drys.

He pushed the desire away and focused on the wasteland. But, first, they had to do something else.

"Laron, it's time," he said

The lean black undead flinched before slowly turning to look at him.

"Now? Have to?" Laron said, his face warped in fear.

"Yes, we might not have time later. Move beside Sig."

Sig opened his eyes and was looking at Laron with curious interest. Solus had told him about the Cestodia in Sig's mind.

"Do you have enough energy for this," Solus asked.

"We will have to find out," Sig said, motioning Laron closer.

The still slightly muscular black undead fidgeted, shuffling forward so slowly he barely seemed to move at all. His strength boost was still partially in play.

"Laron, now!" Solus snapped, his voice rising as anger from his connection flooded him. They had no time to waste.

A soft laugh came from Sig, who was looking at him.

"You really are him. Short-tempered and angry all the time. It's a good thing your voice doesn't cause things to shake as it used to, or you would have shaken us from the tree," Sig said before bursting out in a soft fit of laughter.

He didn't appear to notice the surprised looks of Solus and Laron. Still, it seemed enough to set Laron more at ease. He moved towards Sig, kneeling beside him.

"Now what? What?" he muttered softly.

"Don't struggle, and stay perfectly still," Sig said.

Before Laron had a chance to act, Sig's hand shot forward, grabbed Laron in the neck, and dragged the other close. At the same time, Sig's face became hazy, and Solus was stunned as he saw how Sig's face dissolved into a fine mist that entered the side of Laron's head. He had never seen Sig warp just one part of his body, and he hadn't even known he could.

He watched in stunned curiosity as Sig studied the inside of Laron's head for a while. Eventually, his other hand rose and moved towards Laron's face. The black undead was sitting perfectly still, his eyes large with fear. When Sig's hand turned transparent and slid into the side of his head, he shuddered, his hands twitching.

For a while they just sat there, then Sig's head moved back as he pulled his face and hand from Laron's head. They both reformed, and Sig slumped against the branch, his head back and eyes closed. Laron blinked, then quickly crawled back, staring at Sig in trepidation.

"So?" Solus asked, staring at his grey friend.

"I can't remove it now. I don't have the energy for it," Sig finally said as his eyes fluttered open and stared at Solus intently. He frowned, then quickly shook his head as if trying to convey a message.

"Then we have no choice," Solus said as he wondered what Sig was trying to tell him. Perhaps he couldn't do it all? Or the Cestodia had already burrowed into Laron's brain?

Solus shoved away from the sad feeling that bubbled up from his connection as he wondered if there was another way to remove the Cestodia. As he gazed through the foliage, he saw that the sun had turned slightly orange. With some difficulty, he put the troubles of Laron's brain parasite to the back of his mind and began scanning the treeline left and right. When he saw nothing, he got up and turned to the others. Sig's eyes were closed again, and Laron gazed at the grey undead in silent awe.

Solus grabbed a branch and started absorbing a final bit of bone matter, distributing it across his frame. It thickened the already present layer of bone scales and plates that covered him. The weight made it hard to walk, but there wasn't much bone to come by in the wasteland. Finally, when no more bone would stick to him, he moved to the edge of the branch and looked down.

"We need to move now. The longer we wait, the larger the chance we get found, and it will be dark soon," he said.

He didn't add that if they had to carry Sig, that would make things worse. The ground was only twelve feet below them, the branch bending low from their weight. Going back to climb down would take forever, but Sig wasn't in any condition to jump. Thinking for a second, he turned to Laron, inspecting him. If the muscles were any indication, he still had some of his strength boost remaining. It should be able to do what he had planned.

"Laron, pick up Sig and move over here."

Laron's head turned around, a look of surprise on it, while Sig's eyes opened, giving him the same look.

"We need to get down, and jumping is fastest. You will carry Sig because the bone is weighing me down too much," Solus said, trying to remain patient as he had to explain what he wanted. A wave of annoyance and anger flowed through his connection, and the strength of it confused him.

"Alright, no need to get upset," Sig whispered before waving at Laron. "Better pick me up before he gets angry."

"Picking up, picking up," Laron softly sang as he looked from Solus to Sig. Then he moved to Sig and wrapped his arms below the other. As he stood, he groaned, a look of shock on his face as he straightened up, swaying slightly.

"Heavy!"

Sig didn't respond as Solus hissed to get Laron's attention. A few moments later, they stood side by side near the tip of the branch. It was bending down dangerously, and Solus felt his body want to slide forward.

He is right, Solus thought as he scrutinized Sig. That lanky frame weighed far more than Laron and him combined.

"Jump when I-, "Solus began, but before he could finish, Laron jumped.

Solus felt like a giant hand flung him up as the world zipped by.

"Biiiiile," he shouted as he failed with his arms.

After a second, his upward motion slowed, and he hung in mid-air for a split second, getting the chance to admire the view of the wasteland he had from this high.

Puss blowing, brainless- Solus screamed in the confines of his mind as he started shifting the bone on his body to his legs.

Far below, he saw Laron with Sig staring up at him as he plummeted back to the ground. He lost control over the emotions flooding in from the connection to his body, causing raging anger to suffuse him as he focused on strengthening his legs and lower back.

A second before he would land, he saw Sig move as if ready to act.

"Sig, don't!" Solus roared, causing the undead to freeze just long enough for Solus to slam into the ground.

As the bone below his feet touched the ground, time seemed to freeze for a moment as he sensed something from his main body, a feeling that had been hidden by the deluge of emotions.

Something is wrong with Tirella!

The moment vanished, and his legs splintered and snapped as they crushed under the violent impact. Bone shrapnel flew all around as his body smashed into the ground, and he raised his hands to prevent his head from shattering. The thin armor plates still covering his wrists cracked together with the bone beneath, but he managed to stop his momentum enough for his head to only thump into the ground.

A ringing sound came from all around, and he saw Laron's feet appear in his vision.

What the-

The pain and discomfort, together with the confusion, disappeared as his small green mana form ejected from his head. He hovered there, feeling no pain or anger, just slightly disoriented as he looked down on the shattered remains of his body. Laron stood beside them, a look of worry on his face.

Yeah, you better worry, Solus thought as he recalled how Laron had jumped down. The bile stained fool had catapulted him into the air!

Pushing his rising anger away, Solus examined his body. The legs, even reinforced, hadn't withstood the crash, but his upper body was only fractured slightly. His wrists stood at an odd angle, but otherwise, his arms seemed fine. From what he could see, the body wasn't ended, just heavily damaged.

Steeling himself against the likely pain, he tried to enter it, but he just flew through the head and back out, noticing a slight crack in the side of the skull as he did.

"Solus?" Sig whispered, looking at his body in dismay.

"Laron, pick up my body and carry it," Solus said as he sighed wearily. "And tell Sig I'm alright, and that body just needs a mana orb."

Laron didn't respond, just gazing at the body with a look of worry.

Can't he hear me? Solus' mind spun quickly, and then he realized the problem. He was connected to his proxy body, not Laron.

I hope I can get back to this body later, he thought as his mind shot towards the small energy cable leading to his own body.

The trip lasted longer than he remembered, but that could be because he was in a hurry. If Laron and Sig left that body behind, he would be back in the same trouble as before.

Long moments later, he shot out of the cable and into his and Tirella's room. Although he knew he had to get back to Laron fast, he still took a moment to look at Tirella's body. She seemed fine, and he couldn't feel the deluge of worry he had sensed just before he slammed into the ground.

"What are you doing?" he muttered, staring at her.

As he did, he again felt the warm stuffy sensation he had before. A grin came to his face. He liked her, and not just a little. Another word drifted up and with it images and concepts. Love? Mulling over the concept for a moment, he felt a growing confusion. Then he recalled his broken proxy body and turned around, shoving the confusion away. He had no time for this right now. Besides, Tirella's mind wasn't here, and even if it was, how was he going to talk to her about this? He barely understood what was going on himself!

The cable that led to Laron had thickened considerably, and it was now gleaming with a purple and pink sheen. There weren't any cracks on it yet, but he knew that was just a matter of time. He hovered forward and into it starting the return trip to the surface.

You had better not have left my body behind, Solus thought.

Just like the trip here, the trip back felt too long, and when he finally shot out of the cable, he was agitated. He immediately looked down and found Laron slogging forward into the wasteland.

The black undead was dragging Solus' skeleton body with him while Sig stumbled forward beside him. The grey undead was looking ahead as his hair floated around his head, obscuring the contemplating look he had. The forest was a thin white line far behind them.

This far? Solus thought. They had traveled much further than they should have in the short time he had been gone. Wait… how long had he been gone?

"Laron?" Solus asked.

A slight pull came from the purple connection tethering Laron to his main body, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He still didn't know why he was forced back to the cable as soon as he spoke, and he forced his form to resist. It hadn't happened this strongly with Laron, and it showed how much stronger the other had become.

Laron stopped mid-step, his head snapping up.

"Green floating Solus! Back, back!" he dropped the heavily damaged limb, pieces breaking off as it hit the ground, and began dancing around, pointing up.

Sig turned to him with a look of confusion on his face as he looked around Laron's head and straight through Solus.

"Laron, stop!" Solus said. "Tell Sig I am fine and continue bringing my body along. I need a mana-orb to repair it."

Laron stopped dancing and nodded sharply before turning to Sig.

"Tiny Solus wants a mana-orb, a mana-orb to repair, to fix, to-" Laron stumbled forward, clutching his head. He began shaking, then rolled on his back, curving up until his heels and head were the only things touching the ground.

"Laron?" Sig called out as he looked at the black undead, taking to shambling steps forward.

"What did Solus say?"

Sig looked worriedly at Laron, then around, trying to locate Solus. There was no response.

"Rotting wyrms," Sig muttered.

Laron began thudding on the ground with his heels, and a tiny bit of red fog trickled from his nose.

"Solus, I know you might need this body, but if he breaks, we won't make it across the wasteland," Sig said as he moved towards Solus' broken-down skeleton body.

"If you are back around Laron's head, you probably don't need this body as much as we need it right now."

Without holding back, Sig slammed the already fractured head on the ground repeatedly. Even as weak as Sig was, he easily cracked the skull, and as it crumbled, Solus felt a sharp stab. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a connection disappeared.

"Great," he muttered.

Still, Sig was right, and he watched quietly as the grey undead grabbed the small mana-orb. It immediately glowed brightly as Sig moved towards Laron. Before he even reached the groaning and struggling undead, the mana-orb turned dim, then dark, and a moment later, dust trickled to the ground as it pulverized.

"Let's hope this is enough," Sig muttered. His upper body changed into fog that billowed outward, quickly encasing himself, Solus, and Laron's flailing body.

Solus couldn't see anything, and he grunted as he tried to make out what was going on. Seconds ticked by, then a soft moan came and the cloud disappeared as Sig's body returned to its physical form. Laron lay beside him, no longer flailing, and the red mist had stopped coming from his nose.

"I couldn't remove all of it, just the part that had plunged into his brain," Sig whispered. "I guess I'll go and sleep again…" his words trailed off, and his eyes closed.

"Great… and we are back to where we started!" Solus shouted. He looked down at Laron, wishing he could throttle the other.

"You better wake up fast," Solus said as he turned to look at the forest.

The white line was far away, but that didn't mean they were anywhere safe. To the left, a dusty trail moved roughly in their direction. From the size and density, he assumed it was a wyrm. If that made it to them, Laron and Sig would be done for.

As he gazed around the wasteland, Solus decided that as soon as he woke up and was back to his powerful self, he would make the wasteland safer to travel. Perhaps create some small outposts with guards to patrol and more hunters to take care of the Kaots and Wyrms.