AA3 55 - Atonement IV (Kai)

The first few Thralls to attack the two of them died to Kai’s spear, and he quickly cleared enough space for Gwen to get to work.

The Gormagyr was moving swiftly despite its wounded leg, and Kai dared not leave it to its devices, which meant that they needed to start pushing that way.

Before Kai could start, a pair of larger Thralls moved into his path. Hairless with pale skin and three arms, the Thralls had plates of metal grafted onto their chests, protecting them.

At the same time, a cluster of smaller Thralls came in from the far side and charged towards Gwen with a chorus of howls and piercing screams.

Trusting that Gwen had things under control, Kai focused on the two facing him, drawing on his Essence in preparation.

As soon as he did, they both attacked, pushing Kai to the limit to dodge all six of the claws coming his way.

A gust of wind howled past Kai as Gwen knocked a Thrall off of its feet, letting him take a portion for himself and slam it into one of the three-armed Thralls.

The unexpected attack knocked the creature onto its back, letting Kai focus on the other in a frenetic exchange that ended with Kai’s spear taking its leg at the knee.

Beheading it with a swift strike, Kai used another blast of air to keep the other from regaining its feet before putting the spike of his spear through its forehead.

The immediate threat dealt with, Kai moved to Gwen’s aid, helping her with the Thralls that had ignored him.

The stone cover overhead stopped Gwen from using any lightning from the storm, but she was able to conjure smaller arcs out from her hands and into the closest Thralls as blasts of wind kept the rest at bay.

Despite their efforts, more Thralls were joining their attackers, and Kai was torn between chasing the Gormagyr and helping Gwen. If they stayed as a pair, he was worried the giant would get away.

Thankfully, Kai was saved the decision as Jarn and a pair of his thearns came charging into the fray and began cutting their way towards Gwen.

Leaving them to deal with the Thralls, Kai raced after the Gormagyr, who had dragged itself over to one of the warehouses, leaving a wide streak of blood behind it.

The Gormagyr had risen up onto his knees and was hunched over in the opening, its frame outlined by a growing amount of sickly green magic as the foul thing drew on its magic.

Kai had no interest in finding out whatever last-ditch attempt at survival lay in that warehouse and drew heavily on his Essence to catch up with the giant.

The green light swelled as Kai approached, illuminating the interior of the warehouse and revealing multiple Bone Thralls standing motionless along the wall. The giant’s magic, however, was focused on something concealed by its bulk.

“It’s not enough, I need more!” The Gormagyr roared, raising one hand up into the air and making a fist.

Kai heard a dozen or more heavy thuds from behind him, followed by exclamations of surprise as wisps of green began to build around the Gormagyr’s hand.

“Kai, stop it quickly!” Gwen shouted urgently, making Kai glance back to see that all of the Thralls had collapsed.

Verdan had said that the magic of the Gormagyr was animating its creations, which put its current actions into a concerning light.

Covering the last few feet in a blur, Kai growled in frustration as the giant’s magic flared one last time, fading just moments before Kai’s spear plunged into the Gormagyr’s back.

Powered by all the force of his charge, Kai felt his spear dig deep, enough to pierce the giant’s heart.

The Gormagyr’s huge frame went still before Kai ripped his spear free in a shower of blood. Grunting and doubling over, the Gormagyr slumped down onto the ground and turned to fix Kai with a mad grin.

“My death matters not,” the giant said, blood trickling from its mouth. “My elder brother will see the north drowned in blood and offered to the Annwae. Not that you’ll live to see it.”

The mad giant began to laugh despite its wounds and laboured breathing as blood pooled around it.

“Foul thing. May your death bring peace to your victims,” Kai said, raising his spear to deliver the final blow.

Metal screeched as a blur interposed itself between Kai and the giant, catching Kai’s spear on one sword while its second came slicing in at Kai’s face.

Jerking back and away as fast as he could, Kai hissed in pain as the tip of the blade slashed across his cheek, leaving behind a trail of burning pain.

Grimacing, Kai brought his spear up at the ready as the abomination that had struck him walked out of the dim interior of the warehouse.

“My pride and joy,” the Gormagyr rasped, its hoarse whisper loud enough to echo through the abruptly silent area. “Even unfinished, it will be your end and that of your friends.”

Kai gripped his spear tight as the Gormagyr gave a gurgling laugh that faded away into a deathly quiet.

“What in the Abyss is that thing?” Jarn called out, but Kai dared not take his eyes off the creature that was slowly moving towards him.

Standing at seven feet tall, the Thrall, for it could be nothing else, held a humanoid shape but was far beyond even the Bone Thralls in complexity.

Smooth plates of bone covered most of the Thrall’s body, leaving only the left shoulder and the left side of its face exposed. The covered portion of its face had a bone faceplate and metal fixings, as well as a metal reinforcement to its jaw. Black markings trailed across the faceplate, but they were too faint for Kai to make out.

The left side, however, was made of raw skin and exposed sinew, with its unblinking eye exposed to the world and a few bone charms threaded into its glistening flesh.

Any other bone charms were hidden by the Thrall’s shaped bone armour, but Kai’s focus was instead on the two long single-edged swords that had been grafted into its arms.

This unholy thing was the culmination of everything they’d seen in the other Thralls, and Kai felt a shiver run down his spine as it regarded him.

Thunder rolled overhead, and the wind began to pick up right as the Thrall moved. One moment, it was there watching Kai impassively. The next, it was blurring towards him with terrifying speed.

Reacting on instinct, Kai dodged to one side, evading the first strike. The second struck his spear, the third cut across his side, and the fourth was a bone-covered foot to the chest that sent him flying back.

Kai landed heavily on something soft, realising a moment later that he’d hit one of the Thralls that had been drained of their animating magic.

Rolling off of it, Kai grimaced and clutched at his side, his hand coming away bloody. The blow hadn’t been deep, but it had cut all across his ribs.

More Kranjir had arrived at the centre since Kai last looked, with Jarn leading seven of his comrades to attack the Thrall while two more stayed with Gwen.

The Thrall was fast, but the Kranjir had experience with fighting creatures more physically capable than they were. The ground of eight was keeping close enough to help each other but not too tight that they couldn’t react.

Kai took a moment to cauterise the wound on his side with a stifled grunt of pain. A scar was better than losing more blood, especially in this fight.

“Stay close, fight together and do the Clan proud,” Jarn called out as his group closed with the Thrall, who had been silently watching them the whole time.

Drawing heavily on his Essence, Kai rushed to the aid of the Kranjir, pushing his fire to make him as fast as possible.

Seeing Kai coming, Jarn went on the attack, moving to the side as he did to turn the Thrall from Kai.

The markings on the Chosen’s maul glinted with a soft blue light as it came down at the Thrall, who smoothly moved aside before bursting into motion.

For all their experience, the Kranjir were outmatched by the Thrall, and two of them were cut down before Kai arrived. Both of the Kranjir had taken a broad slash across their bodies, splitting them from navel to neck with a deluge of blood.

Though Jarn had been artfully dodged, the rest of the Kranjir had not stood idle, and several strikes had landed on the agile Thrall, though none had pierced its armour.

Closing in with the Thrall, Kai drew on every last ounce of speed he had before snapping out a thrust of his spear at the creature’s head, aiming for the unarmoured section.

Though the Thrall had taken several hits from the valiant Kranjir without reaction, Kai’s attack caused it to dodge aside before retaliating with a blistering series of stabs and slashes.

Even with his Essence flowing freely, Kai found it difficult to keep up with the Thrall and gained several cuts to his upper arms. Thankfully, the Thrall’s fighting skill was rudimentary, making its raw speed and power the real threat.

Landing a strike to its side, Kai grimaced as he saw the flames on his spear flicker momentarily. Those bone charms he’d seen must be to protect it from magic.

The Gormagyr had said it was unfinished, so Kai guessed that the final form would have finished completely covering it in armour, making the Thrall incredibly difficult to kill.

Ducking beneath a slash, Kai noted the slight fracture on its armour that his spear had caused. It was a far cry from how easily it seemed to be able to carve through the armour that Kai wore.

A pair of thearns closed in from one side, pressuring the Thrall with quick strikes, while Jarn approached from the other side with another of the thearns.

Matching their moves, Kai closed with a jab at its legs, trying to help fix it in place.

Catching Kai’s spear on one sword, the Thrall took the hits from the Kranjir, staggering from the impact as wisps of smoke drifted from it. Jarn’s maul had done the most, but the magic of his swing had been nullified.

This was far from Jarn’s first opponent, and the Chosen were limited in their use of magic, as shown by Jarn’s pale features and strained expression.

Seemingly judging the Chosen as a threat, the Thrall’s free arm snapped out into a swift thrust, catching the big man in the gut and impaling him with disturbing ease.

The thearn who had been by Jarn’s side reacted immediately and grabbed Jarn as he staggered back, helping the Chosen away as the others closed in.

Kai did his best to do his part, but while he could make it parry or dodge him, the Thrall was fast enough to do so while still striking out at the thearns.

In mere moments, two more Kranjir were down in pools of blood while the Thrall was still in prime fighting form. Its armour was cracked in places, but it was holding strong.

The damn thing was just too fast.