Haeros Dungeon - Chapter 13 preview (Patreon)

Death arrives quickly, in the middle of battle, in the dungeon. It has no patience, no desire to wait around for a proper introduction; it charges into the fray and makes its way amongst tight-knit groups, breaking up social dynamics and only occasionally creating a more stable environment in its wake. It has no grace, no concept of politeness, and when it arrives, it speaks in tongues.

The first of the doppelgangers died with a spike through its head. The second tore itself apart on a hidden fractal mirror, its leg coming off at the hip, body rotating around the unyielding surface such that the remaining muscles and tendons, propelled by the creatures charge, ripped apart on their own volition. It lived only long enough for Kira’s wisp to drop down, honing in on its face and slipping down its throat to burn it alive.

It was a guaranteed kill, almost every time, that trick. Somewhere out there, I was sure, there’d be a creature that would ignore such shallow tricks. A stone elemental perhaps, a dragon. Creatures on the fiftieth floor perhaps, whose base resistances would laugh at the pitiful heat the wisp output. But not here.

Two deaths, but another five of the creatures were rushing down, one of which looked no more than a child. No surprise that Yorrick targeted that one first, taking out the weakest to help build his store of stolen life energy. He slammed into the creature at a rush, barreling it over with his shield and then lowering the edge into its throat and throwing his weight into it. The crack of breaking bone and the struggling gurgle was loud, nearly as loud as the screams of the hunters around him, as another doppelganger crashed into him from the side.

I lost track of them, because my own fight came right at me. There were three left and while Kira and Sophia handled one together, wisps and mirror shards creating painful obstacles, that left two for me. Thankfully, both were on one side, but spaced far away from one another. I had no choice but to rush them.

The first, I took on the uphill charge, blocking a swinging arm and diving to the side in another sacrifice throw. Mostly not on purpose, having intended to actually just grab hold of it, but my guard had been blown away by the attack.

Only momentum saved me, poured down my own arm, sending it shooting outwards to help block the blow even as I grabbed and threw the two of us to the ground and rolled. Even then, I felt something important snap in my arm, the pressure of my own force contending with theirs, such that it was too much for my all-too-human bones to hold up to.

My own scream joined the doppelganger’s chorus, bone grating on flesh within me as we slammed into the ground with a boom that shook the earth and rattled my neck and jaw. I hammered an elbow into the creature’s face, lying on top of it as I was, and crawled upwards and landed another blow powered by my vault, again and again.

“Lin!” Sophia’s cry was bedraggled, desperate.

No more time, as I threw myself backwards into a roll, knowing it might live and heal, knowing leaving it alive was a bad idea, but not having a choice. I came to my feet, empowered by momentum as I shoved myself backwards and into motion, moving faster than ever and nearly tripping over my own feet as I did so, only the need of movement and a desperate scramble keeping me from falling face first into the ground.

Kira threw a hand up, moments before I reached the doppelganger. Her eyes were wide, desperate, not actually seeing me as she unleashed hell. I killed the vault extrusion, pulling back on the momentum as I threw my feet into reverse, but it was too late.

Fire – hot, hot fire – washed over the doppelganger, setting it alight. I couldn’t stop myself, so I did the opposite, changing course and my vault for the second time in a matter of seconds. Slammed into the creature and took it out of the flames, or at least the flamethrower aspect. It was still burning, as was I, only the salamander leather I was wearing keeping me from receiving third-degree burns immediately.

Instead, I went through, eyes closed, flames licking at my cheeks, at my hair, forcing me to fight and elbow and grip the monster by feel alone. I tripped it once we were out of the flames, taking it down with my body riding it on the fall so that gravity and my weight added injury to flames.

Then, I reared upwards, sinking my gauntlet-spiked knuckles – smaller now, but more numerous – into its sides. I kept punching, once and again, targeting entirely by feel as I opened up the healing reservoir within me and began the process of wiping out the numerous burns.

It was a relief, as adrenaline flooded in and wiped a little of the pain away. That’s the thing about burns – they hurt. A lot. To the point that morphine can often be insufficient for burn victims, especially when its full body burns. Even covered, I could feel portions of my skin had blistered between gaps in the armor – and anything directly exposed was burnt down to the third layer, some of it slightly crisped.

Kira had grown stronger, her connection to the flames ever tighter. Such that her flames stoked higher than ever. Such that even brief contact – like running through her unleashing it – was sufficient to cause such damage.

It also exhausted her, drained her of energy. To the extent that we never wanted her to utilize it, not unless it was absolutely necessary.

Like when her teammates left her open to being attacked.

“Lin!” Kira cried out, in surprise. The shout was echoed in a wordless noise from Sophia, though I had my attention focused on the creature below me.

The doppelganger beneath me thrashed, throwing me side-to-side, even as I tried to strike at it. The monster lurched, throwing me away as it bucked its hip, doing an impromptu bridge with such force that I flew through the air. I struck the ground not so far away, tucking my head and turning my shoulder so that I could roll and not injure myself.

As I spun and rose to my feet, the doppelganger was clambering up. It stared at me, and then at the wisps that were darting to it, and it let out a howl. This one was higher pitched, more desperate as it turned and ran for the nearest hill.

I chased a few steps before coming to a stop at Kira’s shout.

“Brand! Where are you Brand!” she screamed, eyes wide.

“Blood and fire,” I snarled, turning away from the fleeing monster. It was not the only one that escaped, both of the creatures that I’d fought having made it away. Surprisingly, the one that had attacked Yorrick was dead, but the body of the juvenile was gone.

“Come on. If he’s anywhere, he’s behind us.” I gestured for the group to retreat the way we had come, Kira’s wisps flicking out ahead of us in a wider circle than ever. I could only hope that we found the boy, and that he was not already dead.

Truth be told, I figured he might be. After all, they had no reason to keep him alive – unless they had a use for him. If he was dead, us retreating was the worst idea, but no one else objected, so we moved.

And hoped.