Chapter 55: Healer?
Edric breathed in the stench of the wicked about him, took it in and worked the spit in his mouth, swallowed the poison whole as the inner flame stirred with the taste of the shadows. The Blessed Father’s flame took hold of his body, and then he was off toward the swarm, golden sword clasped tight in his hands.
Wind whistled. Men growled. Shadows screamed. The ground broke underneath his armored feet. Edric gave in to the thrill, every muscle of his being vibrating and trembling with the zest. The world faded, and he was left alone here, alone in a stretch of dark with only shadows to keep him company.
He grunted as a Shrieker came stabbing with nails sharper than steel, ducked under it and stretched his hand out, felt his fingers wrap around something soft and sticky. Pulled at the creature with all his strength, the thrill rising, the snap of the soft bones seeping deviously into his mind.
‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Shrieker - lvl 196]!
Another one poked a curious head from beneath his feet, peering up at him with half its body still deep under the ground. Edric dodged the twisted bastard’s nails as they came up toward his crotch, reached down at it with his free hand and yanked at its hair, pulled it stumbling across the hall, pushed it a few steps ahead to see the expression in its face.
It was blank, as ever. These creatures were nothing more than lingering ghosts of someone’s memories.
He stabbed the sword right through the edge of its hanging chin when it looked like the Shrieker was about to shriek. That’s what they do when you give them a chance for it. Shriek and scream and cry. About a bloody deal as any shadow over the Broken Lands, and the answer was always the same.
You kill them, and kill them more, until the others rise up and you cleanse them too. The practice of it scarcely changes.
But the thrill… That was one thing Edric didn’t want to change.
He caught a stray Shrieker aiming for his boys behind, thumped a loud way across to announce his presence, and slowed down when the creature decided to turn to him. Radiance washed off of him and spattered over the creature, coating it in holy light, burning it till it clunked down on its knees with dark smoke coming off from all around it.
Edric cleaved its neck clean from its body to make sure it stayed silent.
There were more. There was always more in these ancient crypts. He was beginning to suspect something insidious was at work here, but couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. The Wretched Mother had its court wide in the Broken Lands. The attempt to bring back the Weeping Horror, though?