Unconquered Tower

THIRTEEN

“Shit.” Roan slammed the axe blade into his opponent's skull, cracking the bone and guttering the fire in its eyes. He shoved the skeleton backward with his free hand and spun around. His tired legs pumped as another fresh wave of adrenaline hit him, dumping energy into him as he raced down the alley.

The skeletons were too slow to catch him, but all the territory that Taoya had managed to secured disintegrated in a moment as Roan leapt clear of the hall and into the fray. Darren was quick with his orders, arranging the groups with sharp, barking commands.

“T! Get to the back and charge up! Everyone spread out, encircle it and kite! Clockwise, every other person attacking until my command!” Darren’s voice bounced off the walls as the group followed his orders without hesitation. Roan found himself following after them as he joined the currently U-shape that had the giant surrounded. As it lumbered out of its coffin and closer into the wide cul-de-sac, the edges of the U slid inward and sealed the behemoth.

“Harris, you first!” Darren ordered. One of the boys that Moira had commanded when she carried him free stepped forward unflinchingly. The sword he carried was too polished to have been looted, the edge gleamed as he whipped the blade around his head and cut into the giant’s thick femur. It was like taking a hatchet to a redwood.

Chips of bone broke off but the giant didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Its burning eyes locked on Harris as it lifted its club over its head. Harris scrabbled back, but Roan could tell the boy wouldn’t make it in time.

“Next!” Darren’s voice barked and the second to next person stepped forward. There was enough space between everyone that the second attacker hit the other wide femur with a looted axe. Roan winced as the rusty hand axe buried itself in the bone and then ripped free of the boy’s hand as the giant spun on it.

“NEXT!” Darren continued the line of attacks, each one of them dragging the skeleton’s attention away from the previous attacker. It couldn’t keep up though, the skeleton wasn’t some automaton operating on a previously uploaded attack pattern. Roan saw as it shifted, the weight of it sending a plume of dust in the air as its heel ground into the floor.

It took the next attack and its club was already coming up and around in anticipation of Darren's command. Roan felt his breath hitch, but the other boy wasn’t stupid.

“REVERSE! RACHEL START!” Darren sent the attack counter clockwise with the girl next to the previous attacker darting forward. Her blow was just as ineffectual, but Roan saw where all the attacks were slowly biting away at the tree trunk thick femur. Cracks slid across the old bones, splinters of it breaking free as it tried to change its momentum as the circle moved and darted to keep it contained but also stay out of reach of its club.

When it came to him, Roan moved decisively. He leapt forward and brought his dull axe around into a two handed slam, aimed right in the center of spiderwebbing cracks. Yellowed bone peppered his face as the split widened, but didn’t fully break open. Cursing in annoyance, Roan jumped back just in time to feel the passage of wind as the club passed through where he had just been standing.

Time passes slowly as Roan waited his turn to attack. Darren shifted the attack pattern twice more as they whittled the giant down. The entire time he had to keep his focus on the giant as any one misstep would see him turned to paste. It was suffocating to be stuck, waiting for his next attack as they went.

Discipline broke as one of the free lancers missed Darren’s call to reverse the pattern. The girl had freckles over her pug nosed face. Curly brown hair that was greasy with sweat and dirt, her clothes torn and bloodied as she stepped forward. Roan saw her face fill with understanding and fear as she realized she’d made a mistake. She carried a long handled hammer that had yet to taste giant bone, still polished and shining, unstained by battle.

Blood splattered across the black walls as her body was tossed like a ragdoll. The shining hammer slid from her dead fingers on the ground, clattering loudly as she didn’t even have time to scream. Bone snapped and broke as she hit an empty coffin, leaving a long trail of blood as she slid into a puddle at the base.

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“FOCUS!” Darren roared, his voice filling the cavern and stifled any thought of breaking. Roan glanced over his shoulder and saw Taoya in a lotus position, hands on his knees as he breathed slowly and evenly. Power was glowing around the big man, but it had yet to reach the pinnacle of cackling energy Roan had seen repeatedly.

“Few more minutes. I want those legs broken and ready to shatter. Keep up the intensity!” Darren continued his work of organizing their attacks. Only once more did Roan have to dart in, hitting the same spot he had last time.

A fissure opened as the center of the bone cracked completely open. The giant stumbled, nearly fell, and caught itself with its free hand. Roan froze as he saw it lean down, his feet frozen as his instincts screamed to attack while his brain told him to retreat and continue the pattern.

“BACK!” The shout broke Roan out of his momentary daze and he threw himself backward, hitting the ground with his shoulder and rolling as fast as he could. The ground shook as the club hit where he’d been standing. It was a powerful enough blow that Roan flipped partially as the ground shivered from the force of it.

“T! I need you now!” Darren ordered as Roan slid to a stop and got to his feet. Cold sweat beaded down his neck as his heart thumped erratically in his chest. From the corner of his eye Roan saw Taoya unfold himself and stand slowly.

When Toaya’s eyes opened they burned with power, blue energy practically screaming from them as he lowered himself into a crouch, fists raised as he looked at the giant skeleton as it tried to get back up.

Then he was gone.

Wind blew up in a burst, sending a spray of dust up as the burnt smell of lighting filled the air. Roan blinked rapidly as his eyes burned from dust and grit. A boom filled the room, a cloud of dust rode a shockwave as Taoya and the giant disappeared in a flash of light.

Roan coughed and choked as he backed up, blinking and wiping at his eyes as he tried to see what had happened. Darren’s voice was somewhere, coming in short stutters as he alternated between commands and coughing.

“Found something to shut him up.” Roan felt the harsh thought rise up and didn’t immediately side line it. That Darren had been instrumental so far was without a doubt, but having to sit and listen to the stranger tell him what to do continued to grate on him. It was the smart play though, the one he couldn’t risk not following. It was too dangerous and he was too weak.

That was the thought that hurt the most. Even as he wiped his face clear, coughed and spat out a mix of mud and dust. Taoya was so much stronger than him it was like staring at a mountain from the base of it. There were others like him as well, those who straddled the two worlds and profited from them with vast power.

“I’ll catch them. I’ll pass them. I’ll finish this tower and find them.” Roan found a wall and held onto it as the dust slowly settled. He’d drifted to the edge of the cul-de-sac and was holding onto a closed coffin door. Roan jerked his hand off of it like he’d been scalded, glaring up at the lid, scared if it would open and another of the giants would emerge.

When nothing came for him, Roan turned to look at the center of the fighting space. Taoya was standing with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily as he stood over the shattered skeleton. Its legs were gone. Splinters of bone were strewn across the room, a spear of it sticking out from Harris’ thigh. The boy wasn’t screaming, his face pale and sweaty as he trembled in pain as Moira perched next to him, looking over the injury.

Roan looked away from them and toward their foe. It was still alive. The infernal fire was still burning in its eyes as it slowly tried to crawl away from the recovering Taoya. Nobody had moved yet, they lay on the ground or slowly waited for orders from the panting Darren as he tried to get his breath back.

The glimmer of the hammer on the ground shone. A dead girl’s chosen weapon was several pounds of steel with a flat face on a long lacquered handle. A spike came out the back of it, wicked sharp and curved like a bird's beak. He moved without thinking about it, reaching down and grabbing the handle of the warhammer with a single hand.

He stalked over to the slowly dragging torso of the skeleton. Its fingers gouged into the hardpacked dirt as it worked to escape. Roan walked to the side of its head and looked down at it. There was a hollowness in him as he met the burning green eyes.

“This place isn’t what I thought it would be.” The words were a whisper, unable to be heard over the general talk and cries of people moving around. Darren had nearly recovered his breath and was starting to assume command again.

“It doesn’t matter. I will survive and clear this tower. No matter the cost.” Roan threw the hammer behind his head, perched up on his tiptoes and brought it down with all his power. There were already cracks in its skull. Between its burning eyes, and that was where Roan aimed for. The flat head hit the center of the spiral of cracks and Roan was rewarded with watching the hammer wave the skull inward and the burning green eyes winking out.