Chapter 74: Dark Skies


    In the skies above Far-reach a formian princess fought to kill. No longer was it good enough to simply keep the humans away from her sire. The veryst of her family was now actively participating in the ughter below, X couldn’t let her opponents have an opportunity to strike out against her.


    And so she fought, fending off three fighters while actively going for the kill. Sheshed out at the blond haired woman, the archer having survived the bacsh of her skill’s detonation and the strike X had delivered to her side.


    She had fallen, unconscious and charred, even as the human whomanded the rain had caught her, X had assumed the woman dead. But there must have been a powerful healer among the human workers, the archer herself was most likely above the third threshold.


    X had analysed the human and found herselfparing favourably in every attribute. Even still, it had been wrong to assume her total superiority. It was difficult for X to determine the exact strength of humans, most were fragile, their weakness apparent.


    Even the demikin that were born to her own hive were inconsistent in their strength. And even though she was awakened, closer to human than most other monsters, X still found the creatures strange, beyond her understanding.


    Though X had taken their form, obtained their powers, and slowly learnt their ways, she had only done so because of a higher directive. It was necessary, the monarchs had said, a new paradigm for their kind.


    It wasn’t her job to disobey. After all, who was she to question her betters? Even if her mother had been killed and reanimated, it didn’t matter. It was correct to submit to a higher authority, even if thest of her family was corrupted beyond all-


    X froze, her body stiffening just as she was about to trigger [Ray of Annihtion]. Her mind spun, her vision narrowed.


    Where was she? Why was she fighting above a human settlement? Where were her-<strong>Fight. </strong>


    Themand mmed into her consciousness. A condensed pulse of water impacted her from behind and sent her tumbling through the air. A searing white stream of fire carved a tunnel through the torrential downpour and threatened to incinerate the outeryer of her carapaced armour.


    X reached out and grabbed onto a point in space. Then she tugged, pulling herself bodily through reality as the very air screamed at her passing. She unleashed twin beams of gravitational energy, driving away the feathered serpent.


    Strange, ethereal creatures danced through the rain. Nearly invisible they struck out at her with ded tendrils. One such entity cut into X’s lower thigh, she shredded it with a swipe of her ws.


    <strong>Protect. </strong>


    X winced as chains wrapped around her mind, forcing her to look in a specific direction. The archer was facing away from her, looking down towards the ground, charging an arrow of light. The world seemed to slow as the formian’s perception narrowed into a pinpoint of focus.


    She should have finished the human off when she had the chance. How dare she threaten her queen?


    <em>Her queen… </em>


    X forced the archer to abort her attack with a slicing beam of gravitational energy, she fended off two blurred creatures that struck out at her from the rain itself, positioned herself so the serpent couldn’t breathe its mes without endangering the human man, then slowed that same human with a domain of gravity.


    She did all this in seconds, and all while distracted, her mind elsewhere.


    She had to protect her mother, the queen of her hive, her very purpose-


    “No!” She screamed, clutching obsidian wed fingers to her head. Everything hurt, her mind ached as it strained against invisible restraints. She felt the cold, callused hand of control reach out to once again rip her back into delusion.


    X willed herself to fly back, to take in her surroundings and situation. She needed a moment to steady her mind and regain control. Something was very, very wrong. But instead she attacked, kicking out at the coatl, shattering emerald scales and sending the serpentine creature sting back.


    Everything felt distant, like she was a spectator in her own mind. She felt the chains wrap themselves even tighter, firming their hold over her will. Far below, the abomination her mother had be tore through the human outpost, a twisted host of undead howling in savage sympathy.


    The human man spoke again, his voice easily carrying over the roaring wind and rain. But it didn’t matter, she heard his words but didn’t listen. There was a distant memory of anger, had he said something before that had made her rage?


    It didn’t matter. She had failed.


    <strong>Kill. </strong>


    The mentalmand ordered. And she would. X would rip these foes apart, then she would join her mother on the ground.


    They would be together.


    Forever.


    Then a familiar wall of inky ck swallowed the light. It stretched and oozed across the sky, within moments the rain had stopped falling, the wind had stopped howling.


    Then a long de of wickedly sharp steel shed through the world of shadow, aiming straight for her neck.


    ===


    Hera saw the blur of darkness an instant before it was toote. She called a warning to Kaan as the old fool tried taunting the enver. Pocht roared and swam through the air from where the coatl had been sent flying by the ant’s blow.


    They were all injured, exhausted, and barely holding on. It was taking every ounce of power possessed by two of humanity''s elites to fend off a single awakened monster. And they weren’t going to win.


    Of every participant in the battle, only Pocht’s mes seemed to be having a consistent effect on their opponent. Her enchanted de had allowed her tond a single hit on the enver, but getting into close quartersbat with an entity of such formidable strength was practically suicide.


    Hera knew that if she sustained another near fatal blow there wouldn’t be any amount of healing that would save her. Her soul screamed and her body stung. They were going to lose.


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    And then she had spotted the streak of ck heading towards them. Darkness exploded all around them, the storm above was sealed behind an undting and writhing ceiling of shadow.


    Pocht roared as the coatl found itself no longer supported by its master’s rain. Kaan himself cursed and summoned water around his feet, the impromptu skill use allowing him to remain hovering, though the man was far less stable than he had been while in the rain.


    The rain spirits themander had summoned let out high pitched wails of agony as they faded away into watery essence. Hera felt the barrier of light she was standing on begin to fuzz and disintegrate . She fell,nding on the soft, almost cloud-like shadows at the bottom of the domain.


    Hera pushed everything she could into [Prismatic Sight]. Trying desperately to see through the domain of shadow and see the situation down on the ground. It didn’t work, her perception was incapable of prating the inky gloom. If another enemy had arrived and they were trapped…


    There was a sharp ng as steel met hardened carapace. Thenughter boomed through the darkness.


    “You thought you could hunt me and mine without consequence? Did you think I wouldn’t seek you out for round two?” A tall, muscr figure shouted. Though their form was shrouded in shadow Hera made out sharpened tusks and olive green skin.


    <em>An orc? The one from Pherin? What did they say his name was? Sepsis? </em>


    “Humans!” The orc shouted. “How about we put aside our many, <em>many,</em> differences, and kill this ant first?”


    “First?” Kaan asked, crossing his arms in an attempt to look dignified. “I have no interest in siding with an enemy of humanity.”


    “Enemy of humanity?” The orc said,ughing. “Don’t tter yourself, the entirety of your pathetic species-”


    Hera interrupted their argument by firing an arrow of light at where the enver was hovering, dark blue energy building up in their palm. “Kill it! We can have a pissing contestter.” She shouted.


    The orc hefted his longsword and leered down at her from where inky tendrils held him in ce. “The name’s Szesis, King Szesis. And I’m sure to win <em>any </em>contest you-”


    The enver screamed, then threw herself forward.


    ===


    Leif reduced his weight and hauled himself up onto the royal sky skimmer, even so therge skimmer still dipped slightly as he stepped aboard. The Empire’s Mercy, the skimmer’s name was written in cursive gold along the side, was made of dark carved wood. The edges of each nt were outlined in a metallic silver woven into intricate details.


    He didn’t have time to take the skimmer in, men and women were scrambling up the vehicle’s sides, desperate to board before the ever approaching horde of undead would breach the final bluff’s defences.


    Another screech split the air and several people froze. A man climbing the skimmers side dropped, his grip having ckened as hostile intent washed over the surviving humans. Leif reached over the side with an amber arm and caught the man, hauling him up onto the deck.


    The man, a crafter of some kind slipped on the rain slick wood of the skimmer’s deck but Leif didn’t have time to see if he caught himself. He, alongside several members of the Empire’s Mercy’s crew, began to assist in pulling those attempting to climb aboard.


    A gangway was lowered and the scramble to make it aboard the vessel turned into a stampede to ess the narrow wooden passageway. Leif let the aura he had been tightly restraining unspool.


    It hung heavy in the air as he manipted it towards the panicking surge of humanity. He infused it with a generalmand of patience, of calm. It had an immediate effect, the disorganised boarding slowed as people took a step back and reassessed their surroundings.


    Several crew members and imperial officers gave Leif strange looks, their own aura’s having been attempting to perform a simr feat.


    “Ropes.” Leif said. “Hang them over the side and help people up.”


    Two nearby soldiers snapped to attention and began to follow hismand. Seconds dragged into a minute, Leif became the centre of a whirlpool of chaos. His aura on full st the humans gave him enough of a berth to haul people up and onto the skimmer.


    Two medical officers he recognised led a small contingent of injured up the gangway. Leif red his aura and unconsciously people made way for the neers. The skimmer was packed, the vessel dipping ever so slightly down with every new addition.


    Leif looked around and saw dozens of people he recognised. From members of the expedition to soldiers he had fought alongside. They were safe, if the skimmer cast off now they could make it out.


    But there were still dozens who had yet to board. And dozens more still moving towards the three smaller skimmers. It made him wonder just how many people had been present within the outpost.


    He wondered if there were other groups of imperials in the wilderness surrounding Far-reach. He knew the army''s motive for being this far north was to set up a series of forts and outposts to monitor the wilderness.


    Leif didn’t know what woulde of that n. Would the empire still attempt to cordon off and slowly resettle thends of the fallen kingdom of Pherin?


    Themand to cast off was bellowed from the skimmers rear and the gangway was retracted. Leif saw Sieg and Marcus pushed up against a barrel as people were squished together like sardines.


    Crewmates of the skimmer were ushering people around, trying to evenly distribute their weight so the vessel wouldn’t tip over. He saw another bunch of expedition members near the far side of the skimmer, Melissa and several of the younger humans he hadn’t learnt the names of.


    He even saw Johan, the bald man was speaking to a group of haggard looking imperial officers. One of the officers, a man with severe features, caught Leif’s eye as he studied them. A small metallic earring dangling, the jewellery blowing in the wind.


    Something about the man’s gaze made Leif recoil internally. But he maintained eye contact, Leif was proud of his actions during the siege. If the officer had an issue with his presence then he could-


    The wind stopped all at once. The rain faltered as everything went quiet. An ominous, tense, silence descended onto the world. Leif nced around, unsure as to the cause.


    Then he saw it, through the dispersing mist and clouds hung a twisting, writhing spherical mass of shadow. It was like a dark sun hovered over Far-reach, the inky ck of the object drawing in all light and colour.


    The Empire’s Mercy rocked to the side as it was finally pushed away from the docks. All eyes were focused up at the sky.


    <em>What on earth? Is that a skill? I didn’t think Hera or whoever thismander Kaan is, used shadow magic? Is it the enver? An undead thaumaturge? </em>Leif thought, his mind racing.


    Suddenly an onught of dark blue light burst from the massive sphere of darkness. They sliced through the air, several mming down into Far-reach and the surrounding wilderness. A beamnced just to the side of the Empire’s Mercy, the skimmer lilting at the potent beam''s energy.


    A dozen more beams erupted from the shadows, each sting off in seemingly random directions.


    The people still on the docks yelled and dove for cover. One of the mostly full smaller skimmers cast off, the hovering vessel rocking dangerously to the side.


    Through the now mostly clear weather Leif saw shes of skills as soldiers fought off the ever growing tide of undead assaulting the barricades preventing ess to the stone arch that connected both bluffs.


    Leif’s heart tightened, if things kept up not everyone would get away. It would be a ughter. His fist tightened where he clutched the skimmers metallic railing. What could he do? What should he do?


    Then a line of dark blue light neatly sliced the two docked skimmers neatly in half. A spray of red mist burst from both decks, the evacuating passengers killed instantly. Four neat halves of wood and metal unceremoniously fell from the sky, the ropes holding the skimmers to Far-reach snapping, unable to hold their weight.


    More beams camencing from the hovering sun of darkness, but none came close to the docks. It had been a random, deadly coincidence.


    And now nearly a hundred people would die, trapped, watching as their peers escaped.


    A triumphant screech split the stunned silence. The enver queen wasing to reap its due.