Chapter 27 – Set Fire to the Hive

  Hall, his eyes closed, pushed away the sounds of the approaching horde. Pushed away their screams and their stamping. He ignored the stench of mercury and sulfur and stopped feeling the trembling earth or the freezing air on his exposed skin.

  He stood in a sea of black, an ocean of nothingness. His soul a flickering candle, a beacon in the night. Hall steadied the flame, fueled it with defiance and will, fed it his grim determination.

  A roaring fire expanded in his chest and extended to his limbs. A calm smile appeared on his lips and, just for a fraction of a second, the world seemed to halt.

  His eyes snapped open, an inferno burning deep within. He tightened the grip on his chains and their unsteady glow exploded into a stream of blue fire.

  Lily shook off her daze and her widened eyes met Halls’. His booming voice drowned out the demons of hell. “Protect the scythe! Let them burn!”

  The girl shook her head fiercely and smacked her palms against her cheeks. She raised her arms and a radiant chant left her lips. The seam of her white dress danced in the flakes of light that twirled around her.

  Hall felt almost bad for destroying the image when he activated his skill to welcome the Nephesh-Ra’a. “Bad Moon Rising!” He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.

  In an instant, a blood red veil covered the world around them. Even the ground, in a radius of ten meters, seemed to form puddles of blood.

  The monsters kept coming. When they finally entered the range of his skill, they hardly showed any reaction. Their fearlessness and the strength of their soul made them resistant to the effects of ‘Bad Moon Rising’. But not immune.

  In an explosive strike, Hall swung both chains at the closest revenant. They struck its skull, cracked it open and scattered grey matter on the ground. Its legs kept moving. One step and another, before its disfigured body dropped. Where it fell, another revenant stepped on its corpse. It was the first casualty of the battle. It wouldn’t be the last.

  Hall’s ferocious roar, his skill ‘Blast Tyrant’, struck the waves of monsters and his chains followed. They clashed left and right, shattered bones and burnt away dark flesh. Fast and precise, they annihilated enemy after enemy.

  But for every revenant he slaughtered, for every specter his soul energy extinguished, for every Nachtmahr that fell, a dozen took their place.

  A revenant’s body hit Hall’s shoulder. He flinched at the numbing pain, but raised his arm again to let his weapon fly.

  But the revenant rushed past him. They all did. Not one of the Nephesh-Ra’a even looked at him. Their eyes focused on the scythe, the blade in the tree.

  Behind him, Lily finished her chant and drops of light descended from the sky. The ‘Tears of Heaven’ brightened the area around the obsidian tree. But their usually brilliance changed. In the crimson glow of Hall’s skill ‘Bad Moon Rising’, the dazzling light transformed into a red nightmare. The bloody rain melted the skin, flesh and bone of their enemies. Where Hall’s chains destroyed one body after the other, Lily’s magic annihilated every enemy in a small radius around the scythe.

  Bloodcurdling screams of pain emerged from the dying monsters. They staggered, stumbled and fell, taking down their own with them. The stench of tainted blood filled the air and the corpses began to pile up.

  But the earth never ceased to tremble. The enemy still ran at them. Hall couldn’t take them down so easy anymore and their mana pool slowly dwindled, as did his health.

  Enemies crashed into him. Carelessly swung blades cut into his limbs and passing specters took large chunks of health points every time their incorporeal claws tore his flesh apart.

  Hall panted and clenched his teeth. By now, he stood in a puddle of his own blood, his view hazy, his ears filled with screams. The chains’ blue light dimmed and couldn’t keep the darkness at bay.

  “Watch out!” Moira’s panicked voice yelled in his head.

  He never saw the rusty axe coming. The revenant’s weapon bit into his stomach and the taste of warm copper filled his mouth. “Damn.” His knees hit the ground.

  A dozen monsters passed him, but Lily’s crimson drops of light obliterated them before they reached the scythe.

  Hall renewed the grip around his chains and stepped forward. But the black mass of bodies swept over him. Heavy steps crushed his limbs and his blinking health bar emptied.

  He wanted to avert his gaze from the large message window, but the game didn’t allow it.

  All color disappeared from the world and only shades of grey remained. Lily’s eyes widened and tears streamed down her face. She bit her lips and, while sobbing silently, she continued to chant her spell. Colorless drops of light still formed a barrier to protect the scythe. But her strength approached her limit. Her arms trembled and her tears left her eyes red.

  Hall tried to call out to her and Moira. But no sound left his mouth. No sound reached his ears. Silence dominated the grey world. He stood next to his corpse, but had no hands to grasp, no voice to speak and no legs to run. Helplessly, he watched the endless flood of monsters run against the shivering Lily.

  Do I activate ‘Garden of Thorns’ and hope it will stop them?

  Hall threw away the thought. It wouldn’t be enough. But if he used ‘Ain’t no Grave can hold my Body down’ to rise again, he would just fall once more, with a hefty penalty.

  Damn it! Too weak!

  He looked down at his mangled corpse and cursed himself.

  What do I do? What do I—

  Only then did he notice the change around him. The Nephesh-Ra’a slowed down. Not only their steps, but all their movements. And not only the monsters, even Lily’s tears fell slower. Time stretched. Undetectable at first, the rampaging army soon slowed to a crawl.

  “I’m sorry, Hall.”

  Hall’s gaze turned toward the solemn voice. A young girl kneeled beside his corpse, her right hand placed on his own. Her black suit glowed in this purgatory and stood in stark contrast to her pale complexion.

  “Hello, Grim.”

  For some reason they could talk, but it didn’t surprise him.

  She never raised her head and smiled at him where he lay. “I’m truly sorry.” The pain in her eyes drove a stake into Hall’s heart. He hadn’t seen her like this before.

  “It’s not your fault. I was too weak.”

  “No.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “All of this. This is my fault. I was…”

  She trailed off and, despite the desperate situation, Hall didn’t dare to push her.

  Lily’s magic finally collapsed and the Nephesh-Ra’a broke through. The first revenant rushed toward the scythe. In slow-motion its withered hand grabbed for the blade.

  “You know, when we first met, I wasn’t completely honest with you,” Grim said.

  Lily slowly stepped away from the blade and soared over the hordes of dark figures.

  Hall remained silent.

  “I told you that I never recruited another Harbinger because there was nobody worthy.” Her shoulders slumped. “The truth is… I wasn’t.”

  The instant the first revenant touched the scythe, its fingers detonated and only left behind black ash. Every specter, every revenant that tried to pull it out, suffered an agonizing death, their darkness devoured, their bodies and souls shattered. The monsters threw themselves against the scythe. And though they all fell, with every death, with every sacrifice, the blade dislodged from the black wood—each time a little bit more.

  Grim raised her head and glanced over the myriads of raging shadows, the black tree and the mutilated corpses in its branches. “This is where it began,” she bit her lower lip and shook her head, “no, that’s not right. I guess this is where it ended.”

  “Your last Harbinger?”

  “She was my friend,” she almost whispered, “but the darkness was too much. I was too much. Always asking the impossible and never hearing her pain.” Her head turned toward Hall’s corpse. “And now I’m doing the same again:”

  Her trembling hand tightened around his own. Not a single Nephesh-Ra’a came close. They rushed around Grim and his body, like a mountain parting the sea.

  “So it was her after all?”

  “You’re not surprised?” She sounded a little hurt.

  “Not just anybody could do it. And there were clues. It’s the whole affair with Benmal’ach I don’t quite get. Why did she try to destroy him?”

  “Not destroy. Recruit. But she failed and barely escaped with her life.” Grim sighed. She seemed smaller than he remembered. “Back then I had lost her already.”

  “You warned me of a shadow from the north. Is she part of it?” Urgency crept in Hall’s voice. More and more monsters threw themselves against the scythe and it already lost a lot of its grip on the tree.

  “I don’t know. I meant it when I said I lost her.” She clenched her left hand to a fist. “But she is out there, that I’m sure of.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind, but… why are you here?”

  Grim hesitated and opened her mouth before closing it again.

  “I… I wanted to make sure this wasn’t too much. I couldn’t… not again,” she rambled.

  Despite their situation, Hall couldn’t help but chuckle. So even she can feel insecure, huh?

  “I told you, I would fight.” He couldn’t grasp her hand, but he could put his conviction in his words. “Even if it’s all the darkness of the world. All the evil and wickedness. I won’t back down. I won’t leave.”

  He glanced at the scythe that barely held on to the black tree. He looked at Lily who arrived at the left side of his corpse. She kneeled and grasped his hand. Her lips formed thin lines and tears trickled down her face, each one falling slowly. Then his eyes wandered to the timer.

  “But I have to say, it doesn’t look too good right now,” Hall said.

  “I’m sure you will find a way.” A faint, but warm smile spread on Grim’s face.

  “Yeah… I’m happy about your faith in me, but I’m afraid faith won’t be enough. Not today.”

  For the first time she raised her head and looked at him, not at his corpse. The pain in her eyes, though not gone, was pushed behind a spark of mischievousness. She licked her lips and winked at him.

  Once again, she rendered him speechless. What is she up to now?

  Grim lowered her head until her own face hovered over his. Before he could say anything, she pressed her lips on his forehead. Warmth spread from her touch and even after she pulled away, his forehead tickled. A mark, a vertical line and a curve at its top, remained for a short time, but its red glow soon disappeared and left no trace.

  “For now, this is all I can give you. Even this…”

  “Is bending the rules?” Hall suggested.

  “Something like that. I wish I could do more.”

  He nodded and breathed in deeply. His gaze swept over the waves of darkness. The dark abominations trampled each other in the attempt to sacrifice themselves.

  “Thank you. This is enough.” With a last look at both girls by his side, he raised his voice. “Ain’t no grave, can hold my body down!”

  Blinding light filled the world and when he opened his eyes, he saw an army of vicious beasts surrounding him. Screams and the smell of burnt flesh assaulted his senses. Time returned to its normal flow.

  Lily gasped, and though her features relaxed, her tears didn’t stop. Hall wanted to comfort her, but time ran out. He couldn’t see Grim anymore, but felt her hand on his own. For Death, she was surprisingly warm.

  Hall pushed himself to his knees. The cold ground still trembled, but he felt the power of the runes beneath him. He pulled out the blades of the soul weaver, the sword in his right, the dagger in his left. Lily refused to let go of his hand and he still felt Grim’s touch. Both followed his movements.

  The labyrinth had taken its toll on the dark blades he held and their durability reached its limit. Thin cracks and notches in the metal showed their condition. Hall grit his teeth, but he was out of options. “Moira, I’m gonna need your help on this one.”

  “Yes.” She cleared her throat, but still wavered. “You don’t necessarily have to target a specific spot in the rune array, but for a somewhat better result… the circle shaped one slightly to your right and….” Desperation entered her voice. “The one that looks like a cross in a star. Left of the first one. Hurry!”

  The runes below him had gained a luster that made them stand out from the obsidian ground. Within moments, Hall found the runes Moira pointed out.

  Lily rubbed her red eyes and calmed down. Her voice, weak at first, rose above the screeches of the dying and lifted a weight off Hall’s shoulder. ‘I will follow you into the Dark’ added to the effect of ‘In my Time of Dying’ and the blue energy he poured into his blades grew ever brighter.

  The scythe, as if unwilling to let go, still clung to the tree and consumed its darkness. After a last glance, Hall raised his arms. He closed his eyes and filled his lungs with cold air. ‘Blast Tyrant’, a powerful roar, swept over the fields of enemies and, with terrifying force, he rammed his blades downward.

  New cracks formed on the weapons when they penetrated the ground. Like water, the energy flowed along the engraved lines of the divine runes.

  An explosion of light erupted beneath Hall. It coiled around him and Lily, swallowed them, and rose to the heavens. And it spread. The glowing runes detonated and beams of light emerged from the ground.

  The Sorian runes in the labyrinth had stunned the Nephesh-Ra’a. But the divine runes’ light tore the flesh off their bones, ripped apart their innards and incinerated the shreds of remaining skin. Revenants and Nachtmahre wailed in utter terror before their bodies turned to dust. The specters screamed in panic, but they couldn’t hide from the blazing rays that burnt away their essence.

  Hall’s strength seeped through the blades and into the ground. His vision became blurry, sweat formed on his forehead. A cold numbness spread in his limbs, but he grit his teeth and poured even more energy into the runes.

  The overwhelming brightness turned the crater into a deathtrap for the dark beings, but no matter how many perished, more rushed over the crater’s edge.

  A dull haze entered Hall’s eyes and the light around him flickered. A handful of specters charged through the weakened seal, but Hall shook his head fiercely to clear the daze that surged inside of him. The seal stabilized and burned away whatever entered its range.

  “Focus, Harbinger.” Moira yelled. “I wish I could do something, help somehow. But please, don’t give up.”

  Hall’s upper body swayed slightly, but he clung to the blades in his hands. And he wasn’t alone in this fight. “Don’t worry.” Sweat poured from his pale face and he showed his clenched teeth in an attempt to smile. “This is nothing.”

  The handles in his grip still trembled together with the earth. More and more cracks appeared on the few inches of metal that stuck out of the ground. And then, with a sound clear as a bell, both weapons shattered. Hall’s energy proved too much for the battered blades and they exploded into hundreds of shards.

  The sharp fragments pierced his hands, arms and body. Blood flowed from a dozen wounds, but Hall never felt it. The light retreated from the edge of the crater and allowed the dark flood to reconquer their lost ground.

  “Damn it, what now?” Hall shouted. He tried to stand up, bus his tired legs gave in. Numbness paralyzed his limbs and only with great effort could he move his arms.

  “Hall, your blood!” Moira urged him.

  Hall only nodded and forced his palms on top of the shards of metal that still stuck in the earth.

  The first specters almost reached them, but Hall showed no signs of panic. He groaned and pressed his hands down. The blade shards pierced his palms and burning pain overwhelmed the cold paralysis in his arms.

  The blades’ black flames had disappeared with their destruction and Hall’s blood warm gushed out of his hands. It filled the small cracks in the metal, flowed around the fragments and entered the ground.

  He forced his soul energy through his blood and into the runes. Another explosion of light annihilated the Nephesh-Ra’a who almost reached the scythe.

  A wave of nausea hit him, but he compelled himself to look at his blood and poured more and more energy into it.

  Hall’s health bar slowly emptied and he tasted metal on his dry tongue. The earth still trembled under the enemy charge.

  “Only a little more,” Moira pleaded.

  Hall nodded and spit out a mouthful of blood. “No problem.”

  Pain and fatigue clouded his mind. The screams of the dying monsters faded and Lily’s voice, her song, took their place in his consciousness.

  His breathing grew shallow, his vision misty. His beating heart droned in his ears and cold sweat covered his skin. He lost track of time and seconds turned to eons.

  Hall barely reacted when a hand gently shook his shoulder. “You can stop now.” He needed a moment to process Lily’s words.

  He raised his head and saw no more dark figures at the edge of the crater. The earth stood still and dead silence ruled the frozen cave.

  “You did it,” Moira whispered. “You really did it.” She laughed softly, but sobs of relieve found their way into her voice.

  “Yeah, we did.” Hall closed his eyes and pulled his mangled hands from the shards. The remnants of the once powerful blades had taken on a red shade and the faint cracks glowed crimson.

  He tried to move his numb legs, but they refused to obey. His upper body swayed before it fell on its side and his shoulder hit the ground. Lily slowly turned him on his back and rested her hands on his arm.

  Her eyes wandered along his body. His armor was torn to pieces, his weapons were shattered. She stroked his battered skin, careful not to touch the wounds. Lily bit her lower lip, but couldn’t stop her tears from falling.

  She lowered her head when a hand reached for her cheek. Hall smiled at his familiar. He could guess his state from her red eyes and disheveled hair, and it took most of his strength to raise his arm.

  “Silly girl.” His thumb brushed her tears away. “You know these wounds will heal. And even if we voyagers die, it’s not for long.”

  Lily sobbed and pressed her hands against his chest. “Do you know what it feels like to see the one…” she pressed her face into his palm, “you… foolish, stupid…”

  “Why?” Moira asked. “You’re a voyager, aren’t you? All this pain. All this suffering. Why?”

  Hall didn’t answer right away. He stared at the sky where the ceiling disappeared in the cave’s dim light. “There are worse things than pain.”

  His health bar slowly recovered and his wounds disappeared one by one. And then the timer finally ran out.

  Too bad those kills didn’t give any experience. That would solve a lot of problems.

  With Lily’s help, he got up and stumbled toward the black tree. It had lost its threatening aura and the once oppressive air around it tasted of ash. The disfigured corpses in its crown had fallen victim to the runes’ light and only torched branches remained.

  Hall placed his left palm on the trunk. The wood crumbled under his touch and stained his fingers. He took a deep breath, grabbed the scythe with his right and pulled. The weapon had barely held onto the tree and came out easily. “Too close.” Hall shook his head. “Way too close.”

  “Master.” A sharp voice resounded in the crater and a jolt ran through Hall’s arm.

  “What the?” He stared at the scythe in his hands.

  “Master.”

  “It grew a lot,” Moira explained. “It was destined to gain a consciousness sooner or later. But don’t expect too much, it will take a lot more before it develops a real personality.”

  Hall took a closer look.

  “Not bad.” He patted the weapon and felt a pleasant tingling.

  “It will probably need a name at some point,” Moira said with a soft voice.

  “Alright, I’ll think of something.”

  He swung the heavy scythe and, like an axe, it bit into the trunk. The dead tree offered no resistance and Hall cut through it in single swipe. The black abomination trembled and slowly toppled over. Even before it hit the ground, its branches turned to ash and gusts of wind carried it away.

  Soon, only an obsidian pole stood in its place. “What’s that?” Hall inspected the arm long rod.

  “This is a powerful item,” Moira said, surprised. “To distort it like this, requires a equally powerful curse. You’re not strong enough to purify it alone.”

  “We’ll see.” Hall smirked and drew on his soul energy. He activated the purifying properties of his skill ‘Down with the Sickness’ and drowned the black glow of the metal pole in his blue light.

  “Oh.”

  “Told you.”

  “Alright, alright, I’ll put it away for now and we’ll try later.” He didn’t mind the eerie glow or its nauseating aura too much and both disappeared when the item entered his inventory.

  Hall turned and tightened the grip around his scythe. “And what can I do for you?”

  Hundreds of illusionary figures—men, women, and children—filled the crater behind them. Most carried weak smiles and some held hands. An old man stepped forward and bowed. The others followed his example. An army of ghosts bowed their heads before Hall and his companions.

  “We will never be able to thank you enough, not in this world.” The old man’s body flickered. “May your soul be blessed.”

  A faint glow emerged from the purified spirits and their figures slowly dissolved into particles of light.

  “Harbinger, take me out.” An excited undertone entered Moira’s voice.

  Hall raised an eyebrow, but did as she asked. He put the scythe into his inventory and held the heavy tome in both hands.

  Thousands of little lights ascended into the sky. They twisted and merged until a single stream of glowing energy flowed toward Hall. “It’s alright,” Moira said.

  Hall hesitated, but relaxed when he heard his grimoire’s words.

  The stream of light entered the book, flowed through it and emerged from its backside. The energy of hundreds of souls surged through the old pages and Hall trembled at the feeling of the accumulated strength.

  That’s the pure power of souls? Quite frightening really.

  After a minute, the light finally vanished and Hall put the grimoire back. “Let’s see what skill you got from this, it looked impressive enough.”

  “Oh it is. It really is.” Moira beamed with excitement.

  “This is amazing, we can get your strength back up a lot faster,” Hall said. “Let me have a quick look at your progress.”

  “I’m really grateful for this, thank you, Hall.”

  He waved her off. “What’s there to thank for. We don’t have too many people in this world we can rely on. So we rely on each other.” Hall turned to Lily. She took his hand and nodded. His gaze wandered to the spot where he had lain, the spot where he died. “Really only a few. But we’ll do what it takes.”

  He walked toward the countless shards that once formed his blades of the soul weaver and his face twisted when he picked up the fragments. “Great, no swords, no armor. Good thing we’re done here.”

  Hall stretched his limbs and cracked his neck. His health and stamina slowly refilled and, even though blood and ash still covered his body, he felt a lot better after a few bites and some water. “Let’s get going. Those Nephesh-Tova guys owe us a big reward.”

  Now that the battle was over, the cold air assaulted his exposed skin and he wrapped his torn cloak tighter around his body. Unfortunately he still couldn’t wear the only clothes he possessed. Even if he put them on again, they would only serve decorative purposes and give him neither stats nor warmth.

  Hall stepped over the edge of the crater and almost missed the twitching mass on the ground.

  “Oh I forgot about you guys.” A grin spread on his face. “But you can’t really blame me now, can you?”

  A Nachtmahr, or what was left of him, dragged himself away from Hall. The monster’s legs were charred and a trail of his grey blood lead away from the crater.

  The creature of nightmares screeched at the sight of Hall. It clawed into the frozen ground and pulled his mutilated body away, desperate, frantic.

  “Are you scared?” Hall stood in front of the Nachtmahr, cutting off his escape route. He placed his boot on the monster’s head and glared into the large cave. “Do you see this?” Hall yelled. “If you’re watching, this is what will happen with the rest of your army.” He put pressure on his boot. The Nachtmahr’s weak bones gave in and the skull exploded like a ripe melon. “I’m coming for you.”

  The corner of Hall’s lips twitched, but he stayed quiet. Instead, he picked up the pace and ran through the wide cave, past frozen vines and large rocks. He jumped over streams of mercury and evaded fields of rock grass to spare his boots the same fate that his armor suffered.

  Before, he spent days fighting through the cave and through countless corridors. Now, he rushed through it all, only stopping to rest when his stamina ran low. Nobody stopped him when he ran through dark hallways and past rune covered walls, until he finally stood in front of another cave that looked tiny compared to the one he fought in.

  He still left the status points he got from his last three level ups undistributed, so he could make a better decision when he received the quest rewards.

  “Lily, how is your progress with the journal?” Hall asked his familiar who still read the ledger to increase Moira’s knowledge.

  “I think I’m about halfway through. Maybe we should only return it once I’m done with it.”

  “As if we’d give it back.” Hall chuckled and shook his head. “We saved their white behinds. If anything, they should increase our access to their library.”

  The familiar blue glow greeted them and the frail figures of the Nephesh-Tova worked on various tables.

  “You have returned.”

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  Author’s Note:

  Hey guys,

  Hope you enjoyed the new chapter,

  Took me long enough, I’ll make sure the next one will be out a bit faster :grin:

  As always, I’m grateful for every comment, for ideas and for pointing out mistakes (posts, PMs, chat), and thanks to those who did it and do it :D

  Special thanks to Ricky, Trent, Max and Sophie for sponsoring this chapter, you are awesome and I’ll get the next one done faster ;)

  :bye:

  Status Window Hall:

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  Skill Overview Hall:

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  Equipment Hall:

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  Main-hand:

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  Armor

  Chest:

  Legs:

  Gloves:

  Boots:

  Cloak:

  Rings:

  Necklace:

  Active Quests:

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  Completed Quests:

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  Available Titles:

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  Stat Window Lily:

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  Skill Overview Lily:

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