NBB3 - chapter 10: Traveling far and wide

Tirella rushed through the city, noting the fiery destruction and black blazes across the walls and streets. Far away, a black smudge covered the side of the wall, and the top portion had a gaping hole in it.

He left a mark before he left, Tirella thought with a grin. It was good, though, making it easier to follow the fire-undead. It had taken longer than she had anticipated for her to regain her strength, and hours had passed.

As she shot across the city, reaching the wall, she saw that the scorch marks continued on the ground beyond, disappearing into the distance. Hovering above the wall, she looked at the city then the desolation beyond. Should she follow the fire-undead or find out what she could about Scathia?

For a moment, her desire and anger threatened to take hold, her mind floating down, then she shook her head to clear it. Something about the white mana rain and the effect it had on the undead bothered her. They had looked so much like Kaots, but that should be impossible. They were obviously not Kaots...

Wait, how are Kaots made, she thought. Were they always as they were? Tirella frowned and looked at the town. It wouldn't go anywhere, but if she lost the fire-undead, she might not find it again.

She floated up higher, scanning the horizon and trying to locate some movement. When she was so high, the town below her was no more than a small area, she stopped. There was no movement yet. She had no idea how far the undead could have gone. Perhaps it was hiding?

She glided forward, thinking about what had happened while searching for any moment. Suddenly she remembered the other clouds that had been there. Where had those gone?

Did this happen in Skulltown?

The sudden thought caused her to frown in worry. So many clouds had formed, and she had no idea where they had all gone. Suppressing her worry, she shot away into the distance, her mind abuzz with worry.

---

Solus hovered above Laron's head, silent in his watchfulness.

"Days, days- weeks and days," Laron sang, his words more coherent than they had been before.

"Yes," Solus muttered, bored out of his mind. "And we will need to walk for a few more days until we reach the edge of the Whitebone forest."

"Days, days," Laron hummed.

A soft ping from the other's status made Solus look at it, staring at the attributes in worry.

Name: Laron

Age: 52

Sex: Male-ERROR

Race: Asimalarin

Type: special

Class: Warrior

Strength: 7/12

Constitution: 12/21

Dexterity: 7/16

Endurance: 20

Intelligence: 6/ERROR

Wisdom: 1/8

Charisma: 7/7

Mana-field: 531/900

Physical density: 770/1200

Skills: 0

Inscriptions: 1/6

Mana generation: 8

The other was gaining strength quickly, and with it, the Cestodia was growing in strength. Already it stretched along the side of the skull, looking more often at Laron's mana-orb.

"Run- run and jump?" Laron queried, the desire obvious in his voice.

"No. It is too dangerous," Solus said.

Laron sighed sadly, raising his hand but stopping before he reached his temple.

"Grows, grows?" he muttered.

"Yes," was all Solus said.

They traveled for a few more days, the hills making way for the seemingly unending wastelands. At the end of the third day, a line of orange and white gleamed in the distance, illuminated by the setting sun.

"What, what?" Laron asked, staring at it.

"The Whitebone forest," Solus said as he stared at the line in the distance. Thick, lime-colored mana permeated the forest, almost covering up the red shine from the sun.

Laron whooped and jumped forward, seeming to forget the need for both silence and care. Solus let him jump once before he reigned him back in. Then they continued onward. Without any place for shelter, Laron traveled through the night, and late in the next morning, he stood, staring at the long line of bone trees that spanned the horizon.

"Made it, it! We are here?" he hummed, turning to look at Solus.

"Close," Solus said, feeling his mood lighten as he saw the joy of Laron. He could hardly wait to wake Sig, and although the other probably couldn't speak with him, he could use Laron as a proxy.

Laron sighed as he moved towards the trees. As they got closer, the dark shadows between them became clearer, as did the size of the massive trunks. Curious, Solus looked up. Since the last time he had been here, something had changed. Hand-sized, dull-white leaves formed a thick canopy that barely let any light through. Below it, the lime-colored mana seemed to collect between the leaves, so thick in Solus' mana-overlay that it brought images of a thick, morning fog into his mind. For a moment, he lost himself in Viridi's images of the past, then he shook himself awake.

They have grown immensely, he thought as he gazed up at a towering specimen beside them. It was almost a hundred feet high and so thick a Crablon could hide behind it. The dense mana fascinated him. Although it wasn't the same mana as the one his current body was made up of, it was closely related, and he felt a slight resonance between him and it. Perhaps, if he had time, he could use it?

Laron stopped before entering the forest, a frown on his face. "Danger, pain?" he muttered.

Probably, Solus thought. The Asimalarin's words had ripped him from his ponderings. He thought of the Shadowhunters and the other things that might inhabit the forest. Years had passed since last he had been here, and before that, the forest had quickly grown dangerous and full of unlife. He could only wonder what had changed. And what of Uran's old city, Deepdown? Would Uran's old undead minions have stayed? Not that it mattered. They were far from the city and wouldn't come much closer.

"Not if we are careful," Solus said.

Laron moved into the forest and the shadows. At first, it was easy to move, but as they got deeper, thick white roots, smudged with grey and black from the ground, grew up and across the forest floor. The tangled mess blocked the way forward, creating a maze both vertically as horizontally.  At first, Solus made Laron move slowly, climbing up and down, but he soon found that their progress had all but halted.

No other choice, Solus thought, as a grumbling Laron climbed across another root, his single arm making it more than a little award. When he reached the top, Solus sighed.

"Jump down."

Laron looked up, both joy and fear warring on his face.

"Jump? No danger? Pain? The wyrm grows!" he hissed as he tapped the side of his head.

"We are close to Sig," Solus said, which was true.

Laron seemed placated easily, and with a big grin, jumped from the twelve-foot root wall. He thudded on the ground, his legs shuddering and his muscles bulging. His grin widened, and he surged up the next batch of roots, an uneven slope that ended at a ledge. Without holding back, he jumped forward, rolled down the other side, and landed heavily, his muscles growing again.

Their progress increased sharply, but Solus kept a watchful eye on the Cestodia. It was growing in tandem with Laron's strength.

As they closed in on Sigs location, Solus felt the presence of his friend grow clearer, and then he saw the cable, far in the distance, glowing with green and grey mana. It was like a beacon in his mana-overlay, shining in the dull white of the bones and lime mana that permeated the trunks.

He was about to tell Laron they were almost here when he saw bright green dots ahead of them, passing Sig's position. They were higher in the trees, moving across the branches far faster than Laron could.

"Stop," Solus hissed, his attention fully on the moving dots. They were far away, but they would pass close by where Laron was if they continued on this trajectory.

"What, what?" Laron whispered. Terror sat on his face, something Solus had noted once or twice before but seemed to occur more often as of late.

"There are undead moving ahead of us," Solus said. Hesitating for a moment, he pointed at a tree nearby. Ever since they arrived in the forest, he had no more stone to light the way. The little that was there was far below the cover of the roots.

"Climb up that tree and wait."

Laron didn't complain, moving immediately while Solus tried to come up with a plan. If Laron stayed below, whoever it was that moved closer would easily spot him from above. The roots were thick but had too many openings above and to the side. Above them, on the same level as whatever came their way, seemed like a better place to hide.

Hide, Solus thought, annoyed, angry, and amused at the same time—how things had changed.

Not too long ago, he would have barged in, unafraid of the consequences and solid in his knowledge that little could stop him. And now? He fingered the hammer by his side, his fake, transparent body still giving him the sensation of touch. His time would come again. He just had to wait, no matter how hard that was.

Although having only one hand, Laron's increased strength and agility helped him climb to the first branch. Solus noted belatedly that the branches stretched so far that they interlocked high above the ground. The one they sat on was eight feet wide, and it overlapped with the one far in the distance, creating a sort of bridge.

Should have looked up sooner, Solus thought, annoyed at himself. If Laron had climbed up, they could have used the branch bridges and traveled ten times as fast.

The green mana-outlines, which were close enough now to make out their general shape, were heading roughly in their direction. They would pass by within a few moments, but Solus still couldn't see them without his mana-overlay. The thick canopy of bone twigs, and white, furled leaves made it almost impossible to see. But that should work two ways, Solus hoped. He quickly located a thickly covered section of leaves, a spot where the ends of multiple smaller branches connected.

"Hide in there, and don't move," he said, pointing to the natural hideout.

Laron frowned but did as asked, rushing forward before clambering into the dense patch of branches and leaves. As soon as he couldn't be seen from the outside, he stopped, and the two waited. They didn't need to wait long before the sound of soft voices carried towards them. Ahead, white shadows moved. They were hard to spot against the white backdrop of the forest, and they ran soundlessly and quickly across the massive branch. A group of twenty skeletons, tall, with a crown on their heads, and covered in small white plate armor that grew from their bones. Solus recognized their kind straight away.

Crownie's evolution, he thought as he examined the group and recalled Uran's righthand.

Each was carrying an odd thing in their hands that glowed thickly green with mana. A host of information poured into Solus' mind, together with concepts and images.

Bows… Manablasting bows, Solus knew, and he shuddered as he looked at the mist of mana not too far away. If those undead wanted to, they could disintegrate Laron before he had a chance to flee. The thick mana-mist below the canopy would power the bows and make their attacks devastating.

The group stopped a few dozen feet away and spread out, scanning the ground below. Solus felt soft vibrations in the air and the mana. They were speaking! Sadly he was too far to hear what. After a few moments, the group moved across the branch, their steps barely causing any tremors in the sturdy, inflexible material. As they drew nearer, Solus began to worry.

Do they know we are here? No, that made little sense. They were just looking at the ground, and their bows weren't at the ready.

As if hearing his thoughts, one of the skeletons drew its bow, pointing it at something beyond Solus' vision below the branches. Again a message vibrated through the group, and this time Solus picked up a few words.

"...group…. three... Kaots!"

The skeletal archers all raised their bows and jumped over the edge. Suddenly, Solus and Laron were alone on the branch again.

Bile. Can't see where they are going now, Solus thought.

"Lie on the branch," he whispered.

Laron gawked at him, and for a second, it looked like he was going to ignore the request. Then he sighed and lay down, flat on the branch.

Solus distanced himself from the tethering that held him to Laron, and with great effort, floated down through the branch Laron lay on. As soon as his head poked through, he could see the root-covered ground below. The crowned skeletons ran across the roots with surprising agility, jumping between the top ones and leaping dozens of feet with ease. They went in a straight line, back along the path Laron had taken.

Solus waited until they were out of sight, then released the strain and shot back to Laron.

"Legs go," he muttered, pointing in the direction he sensed Sig. Laron slowly exited the foliage, then looked around.

"Down, down, back down?" he sang in a low whisper.

"No, stay on this branch," Solus said, pointing along the way the skeletal archers had initially come from.

Laron ran forward, quickly moving along the branch. There was a thick covering of branches and leaves at the spot it connected with the next one, and Laron looked at it with trepidation before slowly crawling through. It didn't take too long to get to the other side, where the other branch continued like a long white road.

Ten minutes later, Laron had covered a lot of ground, and he was crawling through another intersection of leaves and branches when Solus heard something. A distant clattering.

"Stop," he whispered.

Laron froze, and Solus poked his head through the canopy, looking ahead. His transparent green glowing eyes widened in awe.

Massive, building-sized skulls clung to a nearby tree, wrapped together and to the trunk by long tendrils of more bone. Bridges sat between the branches higher and lower, connecting them. As Solus gazed up and down, he saw undead move around; thousands of small figures crawling and climbing across the many paths and bridges.

"City, city, a city," Laron sang, and Solus snapped his gaze around to find Laron had stuck his head out of the covering and was staring ahead in wonder.

"Hide," Solus hissed.

Laron didn't react. His mouth hung open; he gazed up the tree.

"Help, help they can, maybe?" Laron whispered, his single hand rising to press against his temple.

"We don't need their help," Solus replied, starting to worry. "Sig can easily remove the parasite. Besides, they might be dangerous."

Laron didn't respond and gazed at the other worry growing as the agile black undead pushed itself through the leaf cover and onto the branch.

"Laron, they might be dangerous," Solus hissed again, but Laron didn't react and began moving across the broad branch that led to the city. Why wasn't that wyrm brain listening anymore? He had listened so well for so long?

Solus ground his teeth, hovering above Laron as the other walked closer to the city. He had barely crossed half of the branch when a flurry of movement came from the other end. A group of archers, similar to the ones they had seen before, ran towards them. Their bows were pointed at Laron, who stopped with a confused look on his face.

"No fight, no anger," he shouted, holding out his hand and stub.

Are we going to be stopped and ended this close to Sig? Solus groaned. Anger rose deep within him as he saw the crowned skeletons create a half-circle in front of Laron.

"No, no, no," Laron muttered. "I'm not dangerous, dangerous not I," he continued looking at the skeletons.

"It's no Kaot," a disembodied, emotionless voice said.

"Not one we've ever seen before, you mean," another replied.

"Kaot's don't speak," a third voice said.

"Quiet," a fourth, angry voice snapped.

Although the skeletons looked almost identical, Solus picked out the leader immediately when he activated his mana-overlay. The skeletons were all covered in thick green mana, but the one in the middle easily outshone the others. It stepped towards Laron, who focused on it with a fearful gaze.

"Who are you, and why are you here," the leader snapped.

"Don't tell them about Sig," Solus shouted, keeping his eyes on the skeletons. None reacted to his outburst, but Laron's mouth opened and closed a few times.

"Don't tell them about Sig," Solus hissed again.

Laron grunted. "Laron. I am Laron, yes, and help. Help I need!"

The skeletons were quiet, but Solus sensed slight vibrations in the mana, showing they were speaking to each other.

"Come with us," the leader finally said, stepping aside and pointing at the city.

A wide smile came to Laron's face, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes! Help me, you will!"

The skeletons didn't answer, but they guided Laron across the branch bridge towards the city. Solus hung above Laron, gritting his teeth in anger. As they got closer, intricate details of the city became apparent. Fifteen feet high and almost as wide as the branch they traveled across, a doorless gateway led into the rest of the city. Circular symbols and engravings were carved into parts of the ground, walls, and ceiling.

The lead skeletons stepped through the gateway, while those behind lingered, their bows pointed at Laron. The Asimalarin didn't notice, his eyes wide as he looked at the city beyond. When he stepped onto the symbol-covered bone, the carvings flickered red for a second, then remained inert.

The skeletal archers finally lowered their bows, and those in the back turned, taking up position in well-hidden alcoves beside the gateway.

"Follow me," the lead skeleton said. A vibration in the mana between him and the others followed, and two archers flanked Laron while the others stayed at the gatehouse.

The leader led Laron through the city, across bridges that bobbed and moved as they crossed them, and small ridges that circled the massive trunk, all the way to the top. They had a good view of the surrounding area from this high, and Solus ignored the buildings and looked at where Sig was. So much was here now that hadn't been here long ago. They were close to Sig, and decades ago, that had been the edge of the Whitebone forest, where it bordered the wasteland. But that was then, and as he stared in the direction the wasteland should be, he saw nothing but more trees.

They continued until they reached close to the top of the canopy, the white leaves all around them as they walked across a steep, winding staircase that led to a large building made of two stacked skulls. The skulls were stuck so close together that it almost looked like a single head with four eyes and two nose holes. The staircase was the only obvious way to reach it, and Solus had the feeling they were led to whoever was in charge. It didn't surprise him too much. Laron's evolution was something they had probably never seen before.

The staircase ended inside the skull, and as they moved inside, the light from outside dimmed. As Laron stepped around the large bend and away from the staircase, he and Solus looked around in surprise. The inside of the skull was large enough to house multiple wyrms and almost hollow. Balconies of bone covered the back and sides, with ramps leading towards them. Light streamed in from the four massive eye sockets, and below them stood tables filled with bone tablets, closets, and ten-foot-high slabs, covered in patterns.

It looks like Drys' tower, Solus thought. Something moved between the slabs, and another crowned skeleton got up from where it had been crouching at the bottom of one.

"What did you find?" An angry voice asked as the skeleton turned its blue eye sockets to the skeletal archer. Then it noticed Laron and froze.

"This undead was moving towards Realdeep, Kreel. We thought it was a Kaot at first, but it speaks."

Kreel?

Solus looked at the Crowned one with interest. So Uran's former right hand was now the leader of Realdeep? The last time he had seen the white-crowned skeleton had been before he went below ground, to Viridi.

Kreel jumped forward, moving with the same odd grace he had seen of the other crowned ones.

"Where did you come from?" Kreel snapped, pointing a bony finger at Laron.

Laron tried to take a step back, but he was held in place by the two skeletons that flanked him.

"Me? Big, big city! With the big wyrm!"

"What big city?" Kreel snapped. "Skulltown? You mean the big, standing wyrm tower?" his voice became angrier as he spoke. "So, a spie! Drys sent you, didn't he? Finally decided to see how far my experiments have come along!"

"No, I-" Laron tried to say something, but Kreel roared in anger.

"He has no right! Hoarding all the patterns, sharing none! Just because he evolved a third time and has more powerful minions! Bah!"

Kreel turned around and stomped back to the tables.

"Place him with the others and find out what he knows!" he shouted, no longer looking at anything but one of the massive, standing tablets. "Then force him to show his mana-field and copy the pattern!"

The skeletons dragged Laron away, but not before Solus had looked at the tablets. Mismatched patterns were pieced together, resulting in something that made little sense and would probably destroy any undead that it was added to.

"No, no! Help me! I need help," Laron shouted as the skeletons dragged him away. Kreel gave no response, but the leading skeleton finally turned to Laron.

"Be quiet. Kreel has been in a bad mood ever since he caused one of the dragons to explode. If you don't shut up, he might react it out on you. Whatever help you need, you won't get it here!"

Laron's eyes widened, and Solus knew he was about to go into panic mode. He quickly hovered before the Asimalarin's face. "Quiet, calm down! We can figure out a way to get out later!"

Laron stared at him, his mouth opening and closing. Then he nodded and slumped in the skeletons hands, making them drag him along as he looked at the ground miserably.

They were carried back down, past the most populated middle area, and towards the city's bottom, but Solus didn't care much about the city. It was made up of a ragtag bunch of half-finished skulls mashed together to create a chaotic, ugly whole. The paths and stairs had no railings, and far below the forest's depths, ground loomed. If Laron fell from here, he would splatter into a million pieces.

Finally, the skeletons stopped at the other side of a long walkway leading to a building resembling a stack of skulls with bone bars in front of the windows. "Toss him with the others and tell Lexirg he has another one to work on," the skeleton leader said. It took one more look at Laron, then turned and walked back up.

The two skeletal archers dragged Laron towards the building that had a small entrance with a thick door. They knocked it twice, and a loud cursing came from inside, followed by an angry voice.

"Busy! I'm busy! Leave me alone already!"

"Lexirg, we have another one for you! Kreel says to get his pattern."

It was quiet; then, heavy footsteps rang out from inside the building. The door slammed open, and a short skeleton stomped out. With both fists resting on the ground, its chest was wide and thick, and no light passed through the interconnected bone. Its leg bones were so thick they touched each other, and its skull was attached to the shoulders without a neck. Two burning red eye-sockets looked at the skeleton archers then lowered to Laron.

The odd skeleton stuck out an arm that was longer than it should be.

"Good. I was getting bored with the others," it snarled as it grabbed Laron and drew him inside the building.

Laron tried to resist, but Lexirg's hand was so large that it wrapped around Laron's entire upper body, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Tell Kreel I'll have some more filled-in-slabs tomorrow!"

Without waiting for an answer, Lexirg slammed the door shut, covering the halfway in gloomy darkness. Solus gazed around as Laron hung from the massive hand, and Lexirg bolted the door from the inside. When he finished, he dragged Laron down the hallway and deeper into the building. They passed through a few narrow hallways with small rooms on each side, each with a closed gate. At the end stood a door made of vertical ribs that gave a view of the inside.

It was a large room with flexible bone tendrils attached to the wall. All along its length hung fleshy undead, primarily zombies, unmoving and their eyes unfocused.

Lexirg put his hand on the door, and it started to glow slightly. Then, a moment later, he pushed the door open. The undead in the room all shuddered, and a few snapped their gaze to Lexirg.

"No, not me," one of them howled, and as if triggered, more began screaming and roaring to be left here. Not all though, most just hung silently, staring at nothing with dull eyes.

Lexirg grinned as he pulled Laron towards a free spot on the wall. He shoved him against it, and as his hand glowed, the tendrils moved of their own accord and wrapped around Laron's neck and arms. Then he was drawn so tight to the wall that he practically hung from it.

Lexirg stepped back and looked at the crying undead around him.

"Don't worry," he rumbled as a predatory grin covered his face. "I'll get around to you all before those stuck-up crowned ones come to retrieve you and ruin my fun."

Then he turned and stomped away, closing the gate behind him.