NBB3 - chapter 9: Changes

Solus screamed as he shot up. A wave of agony and pain rushed through his connection with Tirella, and for a moment, it burned a bright red. Then it calmed, pulsing slightly.

Tirella!

He shot towards the thin cable leading back to his body. He thought of Laron's safety for a moment, then another wave of agony came through the connection with Tirella as it flared up red again. He touched the mana-cable and shot through it, willing his mind to move faster as it rushed down. Before he reached their small hideout, there was one more flareup of pain, then the connection reverted to its previous dull and grey state.

Solus shot out of the cable and into the room, forcing his small mana self towards Tirella. He managed to get halfway there, close enough to see nothing obviously wrong. She lay calmly on her slab, eyes closed but moving behind the eyelids.

"Tirella?" Solus shouted.

There was no reaction, and he attempted a  few more times with no result. Eventually, he hovered as close to her as he could, trying to connect with her through the connection. It was impossible, and it felt like forcing himself through a mountain.

Something happened. She was hurt, he thought as he examined her. Did that mean she was like him? Hovering like a small cloud, unable to actively interact with the world and following the undead, she awoke? He shook his head, confused. Had she ever awoken anyone? She never spoke of it, and he couldn't recall. Perhaps they were on the other worlds she had traveled?

He stayed for a while, looking at her, waiting for more pain. None came, and at some point, he realized he was forgetting about Laron. The undead might wake up and find him gone. Feeling torn, Solus took one more look at Tirella, then turned back to his own body. The cables around his body were largely unchanged. Only Skull's seemed more cracked than usual. He wondered what the massive skeleton was up to, but that would have to wait. The cable that led to Laron had thickened since his evolution, but there weren't any cracks on it yet, which showed he had been right. The stronger the undead became, the thicker and less stable the connection. Why, though?

Moments later, he was shooting back through the mana-connection, wondering if Laron had woken up yet.

--

"Alone, alone. All alone," Laron cried as he moved through the narrow cracks that led away from the spot he had slept. When he awoke, he had been alone, and the small green figure had been nowhere. His arm was still hurting, but he could move it.

The darkness around him was stifling, and as he moved further, he wished for Solus to return and light the way. As if something had heard him, a green glow erupted from above him, lighting the grey and brown rocks of the cavern and hurting his eyes.

"Back, you are back," Laron whispered as he squinted up.

Solus looked around, turning on his mana-overlay and quickly checking if there was anything dangerous nearby. To his surprise, he saw a small group of four red smudges, likely spiderlings, far behind them near the blocked entrance.

"Did you hear anything before you left?"

Laron's head bobbed up and down but continued moving forward. His body had fully reverted to his slim build, and a quick check showed his bonus strength was back to zero. The purple stripes across his body were so dark and indistinct that he looked almost like a slim black shadow.

"Movement, talking... Talking movement," Laron whispered, quickening his pace.

Solus didn't reply but kept his attention on the back. They had been moving through the winding tunnels for a long time now, constantly taking the splits that seemed to lead up. Solus was dividing his attention between the front and back, starting to feel like they might make it out. Some of the smears were disappearing from his vision already.

A low rumbling came from behind them. The narrow cavern walls shook as dust drifted through the air.

Solus turned to the back and cursed. The red spiderlings had broken through and were now moving towards them.

"They are coming," he said, wishing he could do something to make Laron move faster.

In hindsight, he should have taken over Laron's body while the other had slept and moved it further away. But there was nothing he could do about that now.

Laron let out a soft whimper and tried to speed up. It didn't help much. Soon, tapping and ticking sounds came from behind.

Solus counted the dots again and groaned. All four were after them. Would Laron be able to defeat those even with his new abilities? As the mana signatures zoomed closer, two of them somehow skipped all the sidepaths they had taken as if they knew exactly where Laron had gone. They would reach them fast. There was no other choice, Laron would have to try and fight. There was no other way.

"Stop at the next intersection!"

Laron almost stumbled, then shook his head. "No, no! They are coming, coming to end me!"

"Yes, and we can't flee from them. So you have no other choice. You need to defeat them," Solus hissed.

Laron didn't stop but continued scrambling along the halls.

"Laron, stop and get ready," Solus yelled as he worriedly looked ahead. The corridor was narrow here but widened ahead. If Laron was to have any chance, he had to stop where the spiderlings couldn't fight him side by side.

This time the dark undead stopped and looked up in dismay.

"How, then how?"

Solus grimaced, wishing he had a better plan, but there was only one thing he could think of. "Hit the wall," he said.

Laron looked at him, but Solus heard the Spiderlings rush up.

"Hit the wall!" Solus roared, and Laron cringed before striking the wall. A dull thud came as his knuckles scraped across a sharp stone edge. His arm bulged slightly, but not a lot. Solus held his status up, looking at the strength.

Strength: 5/12 + [6/40]

"Again, and again," Solus urged him.

Strength: 5/12 + [8/40]

Strength: 5/12 + [10/40]

Strength: 5/12 + [11/40]

Laron continued ramming the wall, the thick skin on his fist scraping open, and a slight reddish smudge appeared.

Five seconds and the first two are here, Solus guessed. He let Laron strike until there were two seconds left.

"Turn around, and wait for the first to show!" he shouted, causing Laron to groan and turn. Red goo oozed from his scraped knuckles, but his muscles were swollen. His bonus strength sat at twenty-one, which Solus hoped would be enough.

The padding was harder as two of the spiderlings dodged around the corner, streaking across the ceiling like small missiles. Luckily the corridor was too narrow for them to move beside each other.

"Hit the first one!" Solus roared, and Laron took a step forward, striking at the incoming spiderling.

The multi-legged undead tried to stop, but it was pushed ahead by the one behind it, and with no room to dodge, Laron's hit it in the middle of its head. The forward motion increased the damage, and it stopped dead in its tracks while Laron was shoved back two steps.

"Forward! Hit it again until it stops moving!" Solus roared, looking back to where the other spiderlings were. They were half a minute away, and although he had no idea what had delayed them, he wasn't going to complain.

Laron rushed forward as the second spiderling tried to climb across the first, hampered by the other's struggles. Solus kept an eye on the bonus strength, he had hoped twenty-one was enough to end it with one hit, but it had just stunned it. Luckily the incoming kinetic energy had made the muscles rebound back, and only a single point was lost.

Laron struck the spiderling between its many eyes, right, then left. His left fist did less damage, and Solus knew Laron was holding back due to being wounded. Three hits were all it took to immobilize the first spiderling. It wasn't dead, but there was no time to end it right away. As it slumped, leaving enough room above, the second one scampered over it. Laron raised his arm to block strikes from the forelegs. The impact knocked him back, but he managed to keep his footing.

Now came the risk, Solus knew, and he hoped Laron's constitution would hold out.

"Let him hit you," he shouted as Laron was about to retaliate. "Don't hit back until I tell you."

Laron panicked, looking at him for a second, causing the spiderling to jump forward and knocking him to the ground. Its toothy mouth opened, ready to bite Laron.

"Shove your left arm in!" Solus roared.

Laron was at nine bonus strength, far too little for what he needed to do. Solus hadn't expected the other to do as he said, but to his surprise, Laron roared in agony and fury as he shoved his already damaged left arm between the jaws. They slammed shut, mangling his arm. The spiderling began slamming him around, the flesh on the arm tearing as it did, and Laron howled in pain.

"Hold on!" Solus roared.

Laron's strength grew at an insane speed, and a few seconds later, just as the flesh on his left arm began tearing, it shot across the twenty-five mark. Solus knew there was only a single chance this time, so he waited one more second until it hit thirty.

"Now! Hit him," he shouted.

Laron didn't hesitate, but as he was slammed into the wall again, he jerked his arm back. A sickening sound came as his entire lower arm was ripped off, leaving a bleeding stump with a piece of bone and frayed flesh at the edges. The spiderling, stuck with its legs between the walls, lost its balance, and Laron roared as he stepped forward. His entire body rippled with bulging muscles, and the purple stripes glowed dimly as he slammed his fist into the Spiderlings head. A dull crack came, and the spiderling slid backward, white ichor spurting from its mouth. Laron was still roaring, ready to hit it again.

"STOP, STOP!" Solus roared. The other two would be here in twenty seconds, and Laron needed all the strength he had. Laron stood above the spiderling, his fist raised and his breathing ragged.

"Stick your arm through its mouth and put your hand on its mana orb," Solus said. Although he knew the consequences of an undead feeding on Kaot mana, there was little choice.

Laron didn't move, and he felt the other's mind was confused and in pain.

"Laron! Absorb the mana-orb, or you will be ended!" Solus shouted as loud as he could. Finally, Laron snapped out of it and looked up in confusion.

"Stick your hand through its mouth as close to its head as you can, then begin absorbing its mana-orb," Solus shouted.

Laron nodded, and a second later, a dull glow came from the mouth of the spiderling. Solus kept an eye behind them and saw that the spiderlings were only ten seconds away. He hoped it would be enough time to regain some of Laron's power.

"When the other two come, use all your power and strike the first one. If it stops moving, focus on the next."

As he spoke, Solus suddenly turned his attention to the first one, the one still alive. It was struggling to get up.

Bilestained Kaot scum, he thought.

"Laron, turn and end the other one!"

Laron jerked around, his arm releasing from the mouth, his skin scratching along the teeth. Although he had only absorbed energy for a few seconds, he looked slightly better already. Without waiting, he jumped at the first and stuck it in the middle of its head. The black carapace cracked, and goo squirted everywhere.

It costs too much energy, Solus thought, keeping an eye on the bonus strength. Another option came to him, but they would need to be fast.

"Rip his mana-orb out and run," he shouted.

Laron needed little urging, striking twice in the middle of the skull, easily cracking it open. He jammed his fist in, and a second later pulled out a nasty, dull-black mana-orb twice the size of his thumb. The tapping of incoming spiderlings made him jump forward and run, even before Solus could tell him to.

Now to hope those two will consume their own first, Solus thought as he looked behind them. Laron picked up speed through the broader part of the crevice but still barely made it through and around the corner when the other two arrived. For a few moments, Solus feared they would ignore the downed spiderlings, but then the red mana-signatures stopped, and he heard hissing and fighting from behind. It was even better! They were fighting over the remaining mana-orb.

"Drain the mana-orb and continue running," Solus said, only then noticing that Laron had already started the draining. He noticed that the purple mana that surrounded the black undead was slowly discoloring, a slight reddish hue coming to it.

I'll need to get him good mana-orbs soon, or this won't end well, Solus thought. But for now, that would have to wait. His gaze switched between the front where he created a new trail of glowing green rocks for Laron and the back to see when the spiderlings would turn.

To his surprise, the spiderlings stayed for a long minute with the corpse, then they turned and headed back whence they came. Another minute later, they exited the range of his mana-overlay. Solus placed some more lights, then stopped when they reached another split in the narrow cavern. They had a moment to think about where to go from here.

"Light, light? More light!" Laron hissed, clutching the filthy mana-orb in his hand. It was glowing strongly, and as it did, his wounds healed, but his purple mana stained more.

"Stop absorbing that," Solus snapped.

Laron blinked and looked at his hand. "Why? Feels good-"

"It will turn you into a kaot," Solus interrupted him, and this time Laron gasped and dropped the mana-orb. He began wiping his hand on his leg, staring at Solus with accusing eyes.

"Little green man say, absorb, absorb!" He said, looking back at the orb and kicking it.

Solus looked at Laron in confusion. He hadn't expected such a quick reaction from the other. Something about the prospect of turning into a kaot made Laron more fearful than he had any right to be.

Solus looked around for the likely way to go up, and eventually chose to go left, if only for no other reason than that it angled further away from the cavern they had just left. Laron was still glaring at the mana-orb when he placed another green light in the left hall.

"Laron, what do you know of kaots?" Solus asked.

There was no response.

"Laron?"

Laron growled, sighed, then hummed as he moved in the direction Solus had highlighted. He was using his remaining hand to scratch the stump of his other, which only had the upper arm remaining.

"Kaot bad, evil, nasty," Laron sang sadly.

"What happened with you and Ourlin? Did the Kaots get you?" Solus asked, curious about what had happened.

"Grab me, grab Ourlin. Fight each other… during the fight one… big one, big-headed one. Boom!" Laron made a motion as if something exploded, then his eyes went dull, and he rubbed his head.

"Something came out... small, slithering…" he whispered before falling silent.

The Cestodia came from the kaots? Solus thought as he tried to find more information in his gifted memories and the images. There was none.

Laron continued moving forward as Solus kept his full attention on the mana-overlay, not releasing it for even a moment.

For a long time, they wandered below ground until, finally, Solus saw a massive, dull-white mana-signature move above them. It was relatively close, and he could sense vibrations in the ground. He recognized the signature. It was a Wyrm. At the next intersection, he led Laron left.

When they exited from below the ground, still deep in a trench, the light that oozed down was blinding compared to the green light Solus had made. Laron dodged back into the cave, rubbing his eyes.

“Pain, pain. Always pain,” he cried.

"We are back outside," Solus said. Their trip had led them in the direction of Sig, but it would take them many more days to reach where his friend was burried.

After Laron got used to the light, they continued further, and as the trench widened, the sides turned from sheer cliffs to steep hills, to slopes. Eventually, as the sun reached its peak, they moved up again and soon stood atop a low hill. All around them were hills similar to those Solus knew from around Skulltown. For a moment, he thought they might be close, but when he tried to sense the location of Skull he realized it was still very far away. So far, that it was no more than a vague sensation of a direction.

We are south of Skulltown, below the Whitebone forest, Solus thought as he examined the hills around him.

A slight movement drew his attention. His mana-overlay, still active, showed trickles of white mana slowly oozing from the ground. They gave off a vile, disgusting sensation, and as the light of the sun brought more of the golden mana down, the disparity between the two became more obvious. Where the golden felt burning hot and welcome, familiar and energetic, the white felt chaotic and sickening, and as he focused on it, he wished he could wipe it away.

What is that? There was no answer, and for the first time in a long time, he wished he could speak with Drys. Ask the other what he thought on the matter. But he couldn't, and he had more important things to do first. Between the Cestodia in Laron's mind, Sig burrowed beneath the ground, and those odd lethargic undead in Skulltown he wasn't interested in more mysterious. Not just yet.

Pinpointing the fastest route to Sig, he lit a stone in the distance.

"Let's continue, Laron."

The black undead didn't respond but gazed around for a while before turning its attention on Solus.

"No, no. I don't want, want not- go where little green man wants to go!" Laron shook his head, glaring at Solus as if the other had harmed him somehow.

Solus hissed in annoyance as Laron turned and began walking in the opposite direction from where Solus had marked the green light.

"You have no choice," Solus snapped. "If you don't find Sig, you will end."

Laron stopped and looked up in disbelief. Then he shook his head. "No, no. Don't believe you!"

"There is a small thing, a Wyrm, in your head," Solus said as he floated closer and pointed towards Laron's temple. "It grows and grows, and when it is finished, your head will explode!"

Laron raised a trembling hand to his temple and shook his head. "No!"

Solus felt saddened for the other undead. It had had little influence over its own life, and for the first time since he knew, Solus wondered if he should have awoken all these undead. Perhaps he should have left them and let those able to awaken by themselves do so. Then he shook the sensation away. It was useless and foolish. An old, familiar anger surged to the fore as he focused on Laron.

"I want to help you, but for that, we need to go to Sig. He is my friend and buried below the ground. We need to reach him, free him! He alone can get that thing out of your head without killing you!"

Laron gazed at him for a long time, his dark purple eyes glittering. Then his face sagged, and his shoulders slumped.

"Believe you…" he finally uttered, turning back around. Laron trudged forward towards the soft glow of the light Solus had made.

And now we need to figure out how to get there, Solus thought, thinking of the many dangers he knew and didn't know that blocked their way.

--

Gregor lay in a crumpled heap against the far wall, drawing in air he didn't need, just to feel his chest expand. It showed he was still unended, not something everyone could say. Moans and groans of pain came from all around. His hands were closed to fists, hiding two mana-orbs he had snatched before others had come and told him and the others to stop. He didn't know why they stopped the others from taking them, but these were the last he needed to get his next evolution pattern, so he wasn't willing to relinquish them.

If they don't increase the prices again, he thought sadly. They had done that a few times now, and he kept missing out.

"Move out of the streets," a roar came from the entrance.

A long, thin undead with a tangled mess of hair hanging down his shoulders hovered a few feet above the street. All of the undead knew of him, although he rarely came out anymore.

Drys, Gregor thought as he scrambled up.

All around him lay wounded and unmoving zombies, most of them ripped apart. He had helped with that because the crazed lethargic ones didn't stop unless they were reduced to parts. Following the few other ones who had survived the battle, he passed below Drys, keeping his head down. He wouldn't soon forget the power the current leader of Skulltown had demonstrated, ripping apart the frenzied horde with ease.

Besides the lethargic ones, other undead bodies were strewn through the streets he passed; zombies, skeletons, some wraith, and a single, mutated ghoul. As his gaze passed over the ghoul, he wondered for a moment how zombies brought down such a powerful undead.

Those were hardly zombies, he thought as he gazed at another of the crazed ones that lay in four parts, propped up against a building. The power and craze with which they had fought had been insane.

His trip back home led him through the city, and he found that there were far more battles fought than just beside the building he had guarded. Crossing a simple square at the edge of where he was heading, he saw three simple skeletons plated in white and holding bone clubs. They stood around a group of unmoving zombies that listlessly stared ahead.

Some are still not ended? Gregor thought as he moved beside the others.

The skeletons looked up at him, and two raised their clubs as if they expected him to attack.

"Why are these still alive," Gregor said, pointing at the unmoving ones.

The skeletons slowly lowered their clubs.

"They were locked in the building," an emotionless voice projected from around him. "We found them as we scouted this area."

A skeleton pointed to a nearby building, and looking through the entrance, Gregor saw limbs, gore, and flesh strewn across the ground.

"They fought amongst themselves, tearing each other to shreds," the skeleton said.

"What will happen to them?" Gregor asked after a while. Although he had not felt the need to sit and do nothing, it hadn't eluded him that only zombies seemed to have gone crazy. The lethargic skeletons had simply stayed put, unmoving and uninterested. That meant he had another motivation to evolve to something else and fast.

"Drys has ordered the building in one of the streets in the south end of the city to be emptied and reinforced. They will be locked away there," the skeleton said.

Gregor nodded and turned back to the street that would lead to his home.

Things are changing, he thought as he collapsed the things he held, hidden in his hands. And not for the better.