Gideon stumbled backwards, his skin scorched by the sudden eruption of fire and stone. Hot coals battered his body as he started to run and triggered Shadow Charge in order to clear the area and get to safety.
He emerged just outside the radius of the attack and turned to see a ring of fire and jagged rock surrounding The Ashen Harrow. The figure stood with arms still outstretched, twin molten blades extended out to either side and dripping liquid fire.
A quick glance to the left confirmed that Mia had managed to stay clear of the worst of the damage, but Red had been caught right in the middle of it along with Gideon. The brawler had also opted to charge straight toward the enemy rather than away from danger.
“Shit!” Gideon blurted, watching as Red charged toward the enemy, his armor on fire.
Bullseye: What is he doing?!
Gideon: I don’t know!
Etherically charged shots flew toward the enemy but he deflected each with deft swings of his swords and Mia was forced to pull up as Red charged into her line of sight. She cursed, running around in a wide arc to reposition herself and hopefully get a clear shot at the enemy without taking out Red.
Having the brawler in close limited her options though and explosive rounds were out of the question now. Red also wasn’t likely to last long against those swords considering that most of his abilities were offensive in nature and he didn’t have the greatest sense of self-preservation or situational awareness.
Gideon: We need to get in there!
Bullseye: What about the plan?
Gideon: The plan is screwed, he’s gonna die if we don’t do something.
Gideon was already running. He’d seen Bullseye out of the corner of his eye and could make out each of his allies as green dots on the mini map. The ball of shimmering light around the turtle indicated that Bullseye’s protective abilities had shielded him from the worst of the AOE damage, but as he ran towards the enemy he triggered his new Juggernaut spell and grew to five times his usual side as he charged at the Harrow Lord.
Gideon triggered Phantom Step, pouring ether into the spell to enlarge its reach and appearing behind the figure just before the Harrow Lord plunged both daggers into Red’s unprotected chest. The brawler had been knocked back by a deflecting strike and was reeling as Gideon’s ability disrupted the enemy attack.
He tried to leverage off the momentum of the moment, thrusting both talons up into the Harrow Lord’s body, but the figure vanished into smoke, moving through space in the blink of an eye to come up beside Gideon and thrust both blades toward his back.
Gideon moved quickly, bringing both of his talons down and deflecting the stabbing thrusts of The Ashen Harrow’s blades, but catching the edge of one of the molten swords in the ribs as he defended himself. Searing pain ripped through is side as he stumbled backwards and a spray of blood flew off in an arc from the enemy’s sword.
Gritting his teeth, Gideon quickly recovered, lunging forward with his left talon. The blow was deflected easily and the Harrow Lord followed up with an elbow to the face that cracked Gideon’s nose and sent a burst of blinding pain through his skull before one of the burning blades drove toward his heart.
The blade cut into the flesh of his chest but scraped along the side rather than digging deep as the Harrow Lord was driven aside by Bullseye’s charge. The giant turtle gored into the enemy alien, digging his horn into the figure’s back as the Harrow Lord tried to fend the armored brute off with strikes of his swords.
Pain racked Gideon’s body from both the cut in his chest and in his side. He turned to see that Red was similarly wounded, already carrying a savage wound on his left arm where the flesh hung open in a jagged tear. He held the maul in his right hand and grunted as he raised the weapon and pointed it at the enemy.
“Homeboy’s about to get a hammer up his ass!”
Gideon turned to see a rapid flurry of gunfire hit the Harrow Lord as he struggled to extricate himself from the giant turtle. A moment later he turned to smoke and reappeared directly in front of Red, thrusting both blades through the brawler’s stomach before he had a chance to defend himself.
“NO!” Gideon shouted on instinct, lunging forward and triggering Blade Flurry in an attempt to drive back the Harrow Lord.
His talons were a blur of black death, glinting in the starlight as they struck at the Harrow Lord again and again. The enemy deflected most of the attacks but now and then Gideon felt the blades cut into flesh, sending gouts of molten fire rather than blood bubbling out into space.
Too furious to do anything other than attack, Gideon pressed his advantage, using Dark Rejuvenation as his Flurry attack came to an end. The Harrow Lord struck back immediately, swiping and thrusting his molten swords with more speed and skill than Gideon had ever witnessed even in all his years of watching The Great Hunt.
If it wasn’t for the spell he’d just triggered, Gideon knew he’d already be dead.
“Red need heals!” he shouted, trying desperately to hold back the Harrow Lord’s attack as his wounds were restored but fresh injuries sprang up all over his body.
“I’ve got him!” Mia called back.
“On my way too!” Bullseye shouted.
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Twin beams of blistering crimson light shot into the side of the Harrow Lord’s body, driving him of balance just as he was about to land a killing blow against Gideon. The laser burst forced the enemy to blink out of existence again, reappearing beside the enlarged turtle where he hacked and slashed at Bullseye’s shell.
Gideon spun around to see Red running up, his wounds healed as Mia repositioned herself and began firing venom rounds at the Harrow Lord. The sickly emerald bullets shot like tracer rounds thudding into the enemy’s body and sending up threads of green mist as they connected.
The Harrow Lord visibly stumbled backwards, temporarily pulling back from his fight with Bullseye before slamming the ground with both blades and sending vast cracks of molten rock snaking outward from where he stood.
Bullseye was sent hurtling up, spinning end over end with fire licking at his enlarged form. Gideon dove to one side in an effort to avoid a huge line of erupting rock and Red did likewise, narrowly avoiding the burst.
“Venom!” Mia shouted. “That hurt him! I’ll get as much damage in as I can manage, but someone’s gonna have to keep him away from me.”
“On it!” Gideon said, already running toward the enemy and checking his available spells.
He was no match for the Harrow Lord in skill, but if the venom was doing damage, all he had to do was keep the enemy occupied and survive long enough for the others to deal damage. While he was still a good distance away, Gideon triggered Shadow Charge, coming up in front of the Harrow Lord and slamming his talons into the ground.
Instead of the cloaked figure, he was met by a thick cloud of ash which obscured everything in the area. Gideon coughed, looking around for some sign of the enemy as the ash bit his throat and burned his nostrils.
“I can’t see him, where’d he go?!”
“Can’t see either,” Mia said. “There’s just a massive cloud of ash everywhere.”
“Just start swinging,” Red offered unhelpfully. “Maybe you’ll hit something.”
Gideon blinked, trying to see through the murk and unable to breathe. The ash was doing something to his body, burning it from the inside, making him slower and causing his vision to blur. He needed to get clear, but he wasn’t thinking straight.
“Get out of there!” Mia yelled.
“I concur,” Bullseye said. “Your vitals are dropping rapidly, Gideon. You must MOVE!”
Gideon turned and started running. At least, that’s what he intended. In actual fact, the best he could manage was a stumbling shuffle, little better than a crawl.
His talons had retracted and he felt the cool rock in his hands as he crawled along the moon’s surface. He coughed and spluttered, eyes burning, throat and lungs on fire. His hands were shaking and it felt like his skin was on fire.
“You need to get out!” Mia pressed.
There was a spell he could use, wasn’t there? Something to move from one place to another quickly. He should ask Gonzo about it. He was a greasy bastard but he knew everything there was to know about the Burger Bin.
No. That was wrong. Gary wasn’t at the Burger Bin. This wasn’t some kitchen fire, and he wasn’t crawling along the oil slick surface of a burger dive.
“Gideon!”
Who’s voice was that. Was it his mother? Jini?
Some part of his mind flashed back to the present and Gideon triggered Phantom Step without even knowing what it was. He shot through space, spat out of the ashen cloud and tumbling onto the stone. His lungs still burned and it was difficult to see, but clarity began to return as he stood shakily to his feet, checking the mini map on his HUD to confirm that Red had made it out.
The ash cloud vanished as quickly as it had appeared. A single figure stood at the center of the area looking exactly as he had when they’d first laid eyes on him. Gideon knew instinctively that the Harrow Lord had fully healed from any wounds he’d taken. The figure still held his molten swords, but they were held up across his chest almost casually.
“Why do you not use the Null, Soulless?” The Ashen Harrow asked. “Why do you fight without your most fearsome weapon?”
Gideon shook his head, clearing his thoughts.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is the Null?”
The other figure walked closer, moving across the moon’s surface with his smoky cloak making it seem as though he hovered rather than walked. From behind, Gideon saw Bullseye walk up beside Mia and return to his usual size. Red was off to the left, keeping his distance for once as he hefted the maul.
“Curious,” the Harrow Lord continued. “You wield the Null and yet know nothing of it. How is this possible?”
Gideon shrugged. “Just lucky I guess. Maybe if you tell me what the hell the Null actually is, I could give you a better answer.”
The enemy kept walking toward him, speaking in a tone that was almost friendly.
“It is the ender of life, the void, the anti-ether, the devouring storm that will inevitably consume all that is and all that will be.”
Red snorted. “Super helpful, bro.”
Gideon ignored the brawler. “And I can use it, this universe ending force?”
The Harrow Lord nodded. “I have witnessed it myself. When you slayed the Strider who connected us to one another. It must have recognized your gift and thought that you would seek an audience with I and my companions. But clearly that was not the case.”
“How do I use it then?” Gideon pressed. “This Null. How do I fight with it?”
Something like laughter rumbled from the other figure as he came to a stop ten feet from where Gideon stood.
“Why would I instruct and enemy on the means of my defeat, Soulless? Honor is one thing, but handing one’s weapon to an enemy is quite another. No, I will not speak of the Null again and you will die as I prophesied.”
Gideon triggered Dusk Veil the moment the Harrow Lord said those final words. That act saved his life as the enemy threw his molten swords out like throwing stars, sending them flying end over end so quickly that they appeared to be discs of molten edged flames.
The twirling blades narrowly missed Gideon as he dodged to the left and ran toward the Harrow Lord. A stream of bullets hit the enemy from behind as Mia opened fire and Gideon summoned his talons and triggered Abyssal Pierce just as the spinning sword blades returned to The Ashen Harrow’s outstretched hands.
One blade cut into Gideon’s shoulder as he thrust forward, but the wound was worth the price buying him the space he needed to drive his right talon into the Harrow Lord’s body. The blade cut deep, causing molten blood to flow down the talon and onto Gideon’s wrist.
He cried out in pain as the Harrow Lord’s blood burned his flesh, causing it to bubble and come up in welts. He tried to pull back, retracting the talon but the enemy’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, holding it firm and pulling him in close as the blood flowed.
“Thus is the price for your theft, little one,” the figure said. “Your kind will perish for their pride, their impudence.”
Glowing green bullets continued to pepper the Harrow Lord’s body, but he seemed unaffected by the damage they were doing. Up this close, Gideon could see the faint outline of the figure’s face, a grim mask of dark bone, blazing red eyes hidden beneath a jutting brow.
He triggered Dusk Veil and felt the instant release of agony as he melded into the shadows and escaped the Harrow Lord’s grip, darting out of range just as Red came thundering in with his maul. The brawler swung the hammer, but The Ashen Lord deflected the swing with a two-handed defense.
“Enough!” the figure shouted, raising his hands into the air, smoke curling violently around his fingers. “Tend to me, Council of Elders and consider my deeds. I offer this sign as a marker of victory!”
He thrust his hands down and the ground cracked out from where he stood, fracturing in a wave of shattered rock that rippled outwards. The stone floor for fifty feet shuddered and shook, like a localized quake and then Gideon and his crew were falling, tumbling down with the rock into the depths below.