Taboo Online

The first gunshot hit Rhea’s shield before anyone could answer Kellan. One of the overlapping blue panels flared white, and the impact shoved her back half a step. A second round struck near her shoulder just as Dorian moved between Iris and the wounded elf.

"Corridor," he said.

Three human operators emerged through the smoke beyond the archway. They wore modern body armor reinforced with black plates etched with glowing brands.

Several corrupted elves moved ahead of them on all fours. Their white-wood armor had fused to their backs, and hooked branches grew from their fingers.

A woman followed behind the group with copper-colored wires braided through her short hair. More curled around her forearms and disappeared beneath a sleeveless leather coat.

She studied the four candidates, then glanced down at the fading light beneath their feet. "The Forge woke up for you? Good. Saves us the trouble of finding new test subjects."

Electricity gathered around Kellan’s hands. "I liked it better when the enemies were monsters."

One of the corrupted elves lunged, and Rhea caught it with her shield. The creature struck hard enough to crack one of the blue panels, but the others folded inward and trapped its arm between them.

"Move!" she shouted.

Kellan shot past her in a streak of white-blue light. He crossed the chamber before the nearest operator could turn his rifle and drove a charged fist into the man’s chest.

Electricity burst across the black armor and threw him backward into a generator.

The second operator barely had time to react before Kellan appeared beside him with his arm already drawn back. The wires around the woman’s forearm snapped forward and caught him around the ankle, turning his own momentum against him.

He skidded several feet across the floor and struck the stone shoulder-first when the wires pulled tight.

"Kellan!" Iris shouted.

"I noticed!"

The second operator aimed his rifle at him, but Dorian reached the man first and shattered the branded barrel with an upward swing of his mace. The operator stumbled back and stared at him in surprise.

Dorian hesitated, and the operator used the opening. He pulled a knife from beneath his vest and drove it toward the gap below Dorian’s ribs.

One of Rhea’s shield panels flew across the chamber and struck his wrist, sending the knife spinning away.

"Decide how you feel about it later," she said. "Stay alive now."

Dorian’s expression tightened. He grabbed the operator by the front of his armor and hurled him into the advancing corrupted elves.

The corrupted elves fell on him, their brands driving them toward the nearest body even though he had fought beside them. His scream made Dorian pause again.

The woman with the wires laughed. "Still sorting people into heroes and villains? That habit won’t last long in here."

She yanked Kellan toward her.

He twisted onto his back and sent a surge of electricity through his body, allowing the current to race along the copper wires. Her smile disappeared when it reached her arm, but the brands beneath her skin lit up and absorbed most of the charge.

Kellan pulled at the wires. "That usually works better."

"You’re still using the abilities they handed you."

With a sharp jerk of her arm, she lifted him from the floor and slammed him into one of the silver pillars supporting the Forge.

Rhea tried to reach him, but two corrupted elves hit her shield at once and drove her backward toward Iris.

The wounded elf lay between the generators with a golden anchor pressed against his chest. Bands of light held his ribs in place and pulsed in time with his weakening heartbeat.

Iris crouched over him and raised one arm. A second anchor lifted from her belt, opened in the air, and sent golden threads across the chamber.

They wrapped around Rhea’s waist and tightened beneath her white armor, easing the pain in her ribs enough for her to breathe normally.

"You’re using that on me?" Rhea asked.

"You’re the wall," Iris replied. "You won’t help anyone if you collapse."

A branded bullet slipped through the damaged section of Rhea’s shield and struck her upper arm. The armor kept the round from going deep, but blood quickly appeared beneath the broken plate.

Iris divided the golden threads. Some remained around Rhea’s ribs while the rest wound around her upper arm and compressed the wound.

"I can keep you moving," Iris said. "I can’t repair everything they break."

"Then don’t waste anything trying."

"I’ll decide what counts as waste."

Another creature climbed over Rhea’s shield, but Dorian caught it in both hands and dragged it away before its claws could reach Iris.

Black veins covered the elf’s face, but his pale green eyes were still visible beneath the corruption. He looked terrified.

The creature’s mouth moved.

"Please."

Dorian’s grip loosened, but a brand along the elf’s spine flashed and forced its claws toward his throat. He turned too slowly. Rhea intercepted the strike with the edge of her shield, though one wooden claw still scraped across his jaw.

"Stop waiting for them to make this easy," she said.

The elf had begged for help, yet the brand continued forcing him to attack. Dorian tightened his grip and raised his mace.

"I won’t leave them like this."

He brought the weapon down once. Bronze light spread across the floor from the point of impact and formed a narrow circle around Rhea, Iris, and the wounded elf.

A system message appeared before Dorian.

[Oath recognized.]

[No suffering soul will pass this line while I remain standing.]

Bronze light spread across his armor and concentrated around the head of his mace.

Two more corrupted workers charged. Dorian stepped into their path and struck the first across the chest. The blow cracked the bark covering its body, and the bronze light sank deeper until the black brand along its spine shattered.

The creature collapsed and stayed down.

The second one leaped over it, but Dorian met it at the edge of the glowing circle. He caught it with his shoulder and drove it into the floor hard enough to split the silver stone beneath them.

Across the chamber, Kellan tore one foot free from the copper wires. "Could’ve done that earlier."

Dorian glanced at him. "Busy."

The woman pulled the remaining wires tight, but Kellan stopped fighting against them and let her drag him forward. She realized his plan too late. The wires had already hauled him within reach.

He drove both palms into her chest.

Lightning filled the chamber and threw her through the nearest control frame. Copper wires snapped in every direction as she disappeared beneath broken panels and modern cables.

Kellan landed on one knee with smoke rising from his armor. Behind him, the last operator still standing looked down at the broken rifle in his hands and ran.

"Don’t chase him," Rhea ordered.

Kellan was already moving when a blue panel detached from her shield and struck the floor in front of him. He stopped just short of running into it.

"He knows where the others are," Kellan said.

"And they know where we are. That corridor is narrow, unfamiliar, and full of hostile markers."

"So we wait until he comes back with more people?"

"We move together."

Electricity still crawled across Kellan’s forearms as he watched the passage where the operator had disappeared. After a moment, he let it fade.

"Fine."

Rhea turned to Iris. "Can he make it through the Forge?"

The wounded elf’s eyes had closed. Golden bands held his ribs together, but blood continued soaking the floor beneath him.

"Not without dying on the way," Iris said. "His leg is shattered, and something inside him is still bleeding. I can keep his heart working as long as the anchor stays attached."

"How far can you get from the anchor?"

"Far enough to search the Forge. Not far enough to reach the village."

The elf’s fingers moved weakly against the stone.

"Seal," he whispered.

Iris leaned closer. "The hostile seal?"

He lifted one trembling hand toward the corridor. "Break... Forge."

He began coughing before he could say anything else. Blood touched his lips, and the golden bands around his chest tightened.

"That’s enough," Iris said.

Rhea examined the nearest alcove. Its ancient silver doors had been forced apart to make room for a generator, but the space beyond them was mostly enclosed.

"The alcove," she said. "It’ll keep him out of the next fight."

"We’re leaving him?" Kellan asked.

"We’re moving him somewhere defensible."

Rhea and Dorian lifted the elf while Iris kept the anchor pressed against his chest. They carried him into the alcove and lowered him between the remains of two stone benches.

Rhea removed a small blue panel from the back of her shield and pressed it against the doorway. It expanded at once, creating a translucent barrier across the entrance.

[Sanctuary placed.]

[Duration reduced by structural corruption.]

[Estimated duration: 18 minutes.]

Kellan read the message. "That isn’t long."

"Eighteen minutes is enough."