Unconquered Tower

SIXTEEN

Taoya rocketed down the burning streets with single minded determination while Roan and Harris followed along like leaves in a breeze. Goblins came out of the darkness with their sharp blades and met their end swiftly, cut down by Harris’ sword and crushed by Roan’s warhammer.

Rubble shifted and an ogre came out of a half-collapsed building, blood smeared around its mouth. It carried a typical club in one hand but in the other was an unrecognizable shape, blood seeping out to trickle on the ashen stones. It lifted its club above its head as it started to roar, but Roan was faster.

The warhammer caved in the ogre’s chest and threw it back into the crumbling ruins of the building. No kill notification came, but Roan couldn’t stay to secure the kill. All around him the horde slunk in the shadows, darting out to cut and slash. If he allowed himself to be isolated then it wouldn’t be long until he felt those obsidian blades.

They continued to run, dispatching foes when they interrupted their journey, but otherwise leaving them. The closer they got to the fight the easier it was to hear the screams. Men and women pleading, crying out to others, begging for mercy. It was all buried under bestial snarls and savage cries.

Taoya disappeared in a blast of light, excess energy discharged in a burst of energy. Roan blinked his eyes instantly and dove to the side as he lost his bearings, his vision stripped away. Ahead of him he heard Harris swearing loudly as he was caught in the blast as well.

“Why’d he do that?” Roan called out, hoping that Harris had seen something he hadn’t.

“Hob!” Harris called back.

Roan blinked his eyes rapidly and his vision was restored in a few seconds. The smoky light of the burning village returned. The small knot of climbers they’d been angling for were dead. Their bodies split apart like rotten wood. From a street over they heard Taoya’s enraged cry and another burst of light filled the night air.

“Check the bodies!” Harris called as he broke into a sprint to get into the fight. Roan wondered when the other man had decided it was his place to order him around.

“His bloodline is better suited for this fight. Do not let ego distract you,” he told himself as he looked over the dead. They’d all died from a single catastrophic wound. A wound similar to the one that had nearly split him in half.

Roan checked the dead to see if there was anyone he recognized. Some of the faces looked familiar, but nobody that he knew. Most looked to be wearing rags of regular clothing, marking them as independents and not the elite fighters. Roan looked around and saw nobody else there.

He searched pockets and rapidly threw everything into his pack without looking at it. Fingers were checked for spatial rings, but there were none to be found. Their weapons were starter grade weapons, similar to his sword and warhammer. He piled those to the side in a heap of clanging steel as the sounds of Taoya’s duel with the hob continued to grow louder.

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“It’s getting closer,” he realized, pulling his hands out of a dead man’s pocket and grabbing his warhammer just as one of the village cottages exploded in burning wood. Shrapnel flew everywhere as the battered body of the hob slammed into the ground, bounced, flipped, and skidded on its feet. One of its arms dangled loosely to its side and half of its face was pulped.

It turned to look at Roan and a single fang showed in its mouth as it turned to face him. The rest of the cottage collapsed inward, burning timbers throwing a shower of sparks into the air as the mangled hob slowly approached.

Roan remembered the first one he’d fought speed. The power and destructive force of just turning its blow had nearly killed him. A tingle of fear touched his gut, slimy-ice it clenched at him as the hob took another step forward.

Knuckles cracked as his grip on the warhammer tightened and he stood before the mob. He refused to run from the mortally wounded creature. He lifted the warhammer into a two handed grip and took a step toward the mob. Its haunted smile flickered as if it didn’t understand why he wasn’t running.

“Crush it.” The thought held a rage to it that burned away the cold fear. Roan started forward, jogging toward the creature as he reared back for a horizontal blow that would level its good side.

The hob jabbed with its glaive, the longer reach forced Roan to pivot. He spun on his heel away from the dangerous point and got closer, swinging with all his might. Steel met bone and the hob was thrown off its feet and tumbled away, landing awkwardly on its side and struggled to get back up. It coughed and black blood spewed out from its cracked teeth as it lifted its glaive up again.

Roan roared as he charged, channeling the anger and hatred he felt for the monster in the scream of defiance. It slashed at him and this time Roan blocked the blow with the head of the hammer. Sparks danced from where the metal met, the thrum of vibration threatened to numb his hands. Roan ducked low as the hob used the momentum of the block to spin on its good leg and cut at head height.

Roan swung with all his might as he rose up. The hammer hit underneath the hob’s ribs and continued forward, obliterating bone and liquefying flesh. More black blood poured out of its open mouth as it folded around the hammer. The glaive finally fell from its numb hands to clang to the ground.

The kill notification came a second later as the hob fell limply to the ground. Roan’s breathing was ragged, more from the excitement of the fight than the exertion. It had taken only a few seconds, the two of them moving faster than any non-climber human could. Even heavily injured, the hob had nearly matched his speed and strength.

“Roan? You good?” Taoya asked as he came from further down the street. The collapsing building having blocked off any way to reach them. There was no longer any excess energy pouring off of Taoya as he jogged toward him, Harris right behind.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for tenderizing it,” Roan said, waving at the dead hob. He grabbed the glaive and tossed it onto the pile of weapons before stripping of the hob of its token and putting it into his pouch.

“Hit it a bit too hard last time and burned through my reserves. This mana core allows me to recharge much faster, but its still not instantaneous,” Taoya explained.

“Don’t worry about it. Think this was the last of them, or is there a third hob out there?” Roan asked.

“I don’t know. We’ll stay on guard but let’s find the others and Tyler. I’m sure we can figure something out once we regroup,” Taoya said. Harris grunted in agreement as they looked around the burning village.

“Don’t suppose you saw where they were?” Harris finally asked, turning to look at Roan.

“Village isn’t that large. We keep killing goblins and eventually we’ll find them,” Roan said, not wanting to admit he also didn’t know.