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NBB3 - chapter 1: Confused dreaming
🕑 Added 2021-08-04 06:51:46 +0000 UTC"Keep running!"
A small group of undead ran down a hill, barely keeping their footing. Ahead of them, a bright yellow sun burned mercilessly, creating long shadows that reached for them like thick fingers. In the lead was a yellow-skinned zombie in badly crafted leggings. The jerkin he wore was torn to tatters, and cuts and bruises covered the exposed flesh. Behind him were five simple white skeletons, unable to keep up.
"If you fall behind, you're no more than a mana-stone," Gregar, the lead zombie, roared as he reached the flatter ground and took a look across his shoulder. Although burly and heavyset, he wasn't the least bit surprised that he outpaced the small white skeletons.
Behind the skeletons, a group of black beings crested the hilltop. With six legs, they resembled spiders with torsos of skeletons mounted atop, screeching and roaring as they ran down the hill.
Gregar slowed down slightly, looking ahead at the next slope a hundred meters away.
Two more hills before we get back… we're never going to make it, he thought as he took another glance over his shoulder. If he couldn't bring those five back, the others would have been ended in vain. Besides, without them, he had no more mana-stones and wouldn't be able to stay in Skulltown for more than a few days.
Gritting his teeth and tearing the corners of his lips in the process, he stopped and turned to the hill. The awoken had just reached the valley floor, a surprising feat in itself. It didn't matter, though, as the Kaots were already halfway down the hill.
Gregar spread his large bare feet wide and began breathing in. The air expanded his chest, the ribs creaking, but he didn't stop until it was almost twice the size it had been before. Steam began blowing from his uneven ears, and he spread his arms. The moment the skeletons ran past him, he opened his mouth and a jet of a green gas shot from between his lips, billowing out to cover a wide area in front of him. The first line of the Kaots screeched and ran into the gass.
Brainless numbskulls, Gregar thought as he turned. The skeletons stood huddled together behind him.
"Numbskulls," he roared. "What are you waiting for? Run!"
The skeletons gingerly turned and began running towards the next hill. Their bones clicked, and their movements were jittery.
Perhaps I should toss one behind and hope those Kaots fight over it, he thought as he sprinted after them. A look behind showed that many of the Kaots had run headlong into his attack. It suited him just fine, as it meant they would be out for the count for a few hours. The trouble was the ones that now circled the quickly expanding cloud.
Halfway up the hill, Gregor turned back. The skeletons miraculously managed to reach the start of the other hill before the first Kaot overtook them. The multi-legged monstrosity jumped atop the last skeleton, smashing him into the ground. Effortlessly it ripped the skull of the skeleton off and cracked it open to reveal a blue, glowing orb the size of a thumb.
Two more Kaots reached the first and jumped for the orb. They immediately began fighting, giving the remaining skeletons time to clamber up the hill.
When Gregor reached the top, another skeleton was reduced to rubble, and he groaned.
"Keep running, you simpletons!"
The skeletons didn't reply but continued running up while the kaots had a small war over the two orbs. Gregor looked around and grunted. They were on two of the higher hills in the area, and he had a free sight of the sprawling city in the distance; one more hill and then a bumpy slope. Normally a short distance, he knew. But now? It could have been to the Whitebone forest and back, and it wouldn't have mattered. They would never make it.
A small irregularity drew his attention. On the rocky hill to the left stood a massive skeleton. It was watching the city and hadn't seen Gregor yet. With bones so thick they connected together to create a ribcage and arms that let no light through, it looked like thick armor plates covered it.
Hope blossomed in Greggor as he recognized the one in the distance. He ran to the edge of the hilltop, sucked in a deep breath, and widened his stance.
"Skull! Help! We are here!"
His roar caused the air in front of him to whirl away, and dust and small particles wooshed from the hill and into the air. The sound echoed through the surrounding hills, and the distant skeleton turned around. Even from this distance, the two brightly burning green eye sockets looked like blazing balls of fire. They looked at Greggor, then turned towards the hill behind him.
"He is going to come help… right?" Greggor muttered as he watched the skeleton that was just standing there.
A thud from behind made him turn around, and he saw one of the skeletons had tripped on a boulder. The other two were struggling up behind it. There wasn't any sight of the Kaots yet, but the sound of thudding footsteps was closing in fast.
Greggor swirled around and looked between the city in the distance and the towering skeleton on the hill. Then, gritting his teeth, he pointed at the skeleton.
"Run over there, and don't trip again!"
The skeletons didn't respond but just turned and ran in their rickety gait in the direction he had pointed. Greggor took a last look towards where the Kaots were running up, then turned and ran towards Skull.
--
On the other hilltop, the skeleton gazed at the small group running his way.
"Always help weaklings," he rumbled, the sound causing the small stones and pebbles around him to bounce up and down.
"Skull do this, Skull do that. Bah!"
Skull struck the boulder beside him, a piece of rock two times his size, cracking it in the middle and causing a part to snap off and slide to the ground.
As he was grumbling, he didn't see the small, translucent green figure that hovered above his head. The small figure resembled a man with long spiky hair and a skin-like granite. It was carrying a massive hammer in one hand and looked around with unfocused eyes. Skull also didn't see the waist-thick cable of energy that connected him to something below the ground. Deep fissures ran through the cable, and when Skull had hit the boulder, the cable had shuddered as if on the breaking point.
A loud roar came from the other hill, and Skull looked up to see a group of Kaots burst up the hill. As soon as he saw them, his hands clenched, and his teeth grinded as his massive jaw moved left to right.
"KAOTS!" he roared, his already brightly burning eye sockets flared up, the energy hiding his whole head from view. The cable shook and shuddered, more cracks appearing.
The stone Skull stood on pulverized as he jumped forward, leaving behind a massive crater and stone shards flying around like shrapnel.
The small figure seemed attached to the spot above his head and flew up into the air with him. The figures unfocused eyes had flickered for a moment at the shouted word, then returned to their dreamlike state.
--
Greggors head shook up at the roar, and he saw Skull shoot into the air. The skeletal behemoth sailed towards them, and within moments passed above his head. He turned around, seeing it crash in the midst of the incoming Kaots. A wide smile appeared on his face, causing the corners of his lips to rip open.
"I guess we are going to make it after all," he said as he moved towards the skeletons that were halfway between him and the Kaots.
At the hilltop, Skull was roaring as he grabbed the Kaots, ripping them limb from limb. Greggor looked at it, feeling jealous at the display of superior strength.
"Weak!" Skull shouted as he hurled half of a Kaot across the hill. Within moments the hilltop had transformed into a place of destruction and scattered limbs. Nothing was moving anymore.
Greggor stopped the skeletons. "Stay here until he calms down," he said. Then he moved closer, his eyes on the kaot bodies that lay strewn about. Skull hadn't taken a single of the mana-orbs yet. Greggor hoped the massive leader of the city's defense would leave them. Although there were major strings attached to absorbing them, there were always undead to find willing to take the risk.
He stopped a hundred feet from Skull, watching him crush a few of the still twitching Kaots to mush. When the skeleton stopped moving around, he scraped his throat. The wet sound made Skull turn around, and he almost took a step back when the two burning eye sockets focused on him.
"What want?" Skull rumbled.
Greggor kept the smile from his face and swallowed. "Thank you for saving us, boss Skull."
The skeleton was quiet for a while, then nodded. It seemed slightly placated by the deference.
"Go Skulltown. It safe there."
Greggor flinched. He had hoped Skull would leave first, giving him the time to take the kaot-orbs. He couldn't go and grab them now, as there was a penalty to having them. Taking a quick look at the nearest body, he suppressed a sigh.
"Yes, Skull," he said, turning around and suppressing his greed. It cost him little effort.
As he walked back, collecting the skeletons and heading towards Skulltown, he contemplated what had just happened. He knew most of his older brethren zombies wouldn't have been able to suppress their emotions. They would have rushed forward, grabbing the kaot-orbs as they let their emotions get the better of them. He was different, though, and unlike the older zombies, his emotions had barely increased after turning into a zombie. He knew it had something to do with the adapter pattern he had, a variation of the default one. It was also the default one the new zombies got these days. Most of the old patterns were no longer available. At least not in Skulltown. If an undead, for whatever reason, wanted one of the old versions, they would have to go to one of the other cities. But that brought a whole different set of problems with it.
As Greggor moved further, he glanced behind on occasion. To his surprise, Skull was slowly moving after him, his gaze on the ground and stopping every few paces.
Him too?
Greggor frowned as he thought of the ever-increasing number of older undead just becoming distant and unresponsive. Some just sat in the streets, unmoving.
--
The small, translucent figure above Skull's head was slowly turning around. His eyes were unfocused and passed over everything without showing any reaction.
Until Skulltown came into view.
For a moment, the murky green eyes turned sharp, and the lips drew up in a small smile. It lasted for only a moment, then the sharpness faded, and the eyes drifted away.
--
When Greggor reached the top of the last hill that separated him from Skulltown, he looked out at the massive city that filled the valley in front of him. The old ones sometimes spoke of when it had only been small enough to cover a fraction of the valley when the inner wall had not been the inner wall but had encircled the entire city. However, that was far before Greggor had awoken, and all he knew was that the city was large enough to get lost in.
From this vantage point, the difference between the outer and the inner ring was obvious. Grey and dusty, the inner core of the city was built entirely of stone. Tall buildings, reminiscent of the ruins of the ancients, stood between smaller buildings, creating a chaotic maze. Bands of walls separated them, spreading outwards as slowly more white bone buildings appeared until you reached the massive inner wall. It was said it was the last thing Solus the Guardian had created before disappearing. Beyond it, the entire city was made of white bone, sprawling outward and filling most of the valley. Far to the north, across the side of the hills where most undead didn't dare go, the city had started growing up the slopes.
Greggor gazed at a distant spot, close to the edge where the half-finished buildings stood. His own small home was there, unrecognizable due to the distance and the chaotically placed buildings. Two rooms, one filled with the things he had found over the years, and the other to rest. They symbolized everything he had gained. Well, that and the well-hidden cache of mana-stones below the floor.
"Let's go down," he said, pushing the skeletons onward. If he brought these to the school, the reward would finally allow him his next evolution. The second only, since the Librarians had increased the prices of the patterns again. The second time in a hundred days.
Tall white bone guard towers stood unevenly placed along the edge of the city. When he left for the search a few months ago, the towers had still stood further into the city. It didn't surprise him they had been moved to the edges, but it did surprise him it had taken so long.
Below each tower sat a group of three or four undead, some chatting others staring at the ground. He waved at the neasest guard and got a short nod from a grumpy-looking zombie. It had four arms and was fiddling with a shiny black skull.
"Keep moving," Greggor muttered at the skeletons who had stopped to look around.
Dozens of undead moved through the streets ahead of them, some disappearing inside buildings. Most of the fleshies would be off to find some fun and entertainment in the inner rings if they had the mana-stones for it.
Halfway through the first street, Greggor noticed more and more casual glances from the other zombies. They were examining the white awoken skeletons walking behind him.
"Hurry, hurry," he whispered to the skeletons.
Need to get out of the outer rings, Greggor thought as he saw a trio of red-skinned, four-armed zombies whispering amongst themselves. They hadn't stopped watching the awoken skeletons.
Greggor ushered the skeletons on just as the zombies began moving his way. Their eyes were trained on him, grinning evilly. They were almost on him when they stopped and gazed at something beyond him. Their eyes went wide, and they quickly backed up, disappearing into a nearby building. Greggor turned and saw Skull had entered the street, still moving a few steps, stopping and waiting before continuing.
Lucky, he thought as he quickly ushered the skeletons onward.
He managed to reach the safety of the well-patrolled inner city without any more incidents and drew a relieved breath.
"Come on," he said, no longer whispering.
A group of six white-plated zombie guards patrolled towards him. They nodded in passing, and for a moment, he thought it was at him.
"No block road!"
Greggor turned and saw Skull was staring at him, and he realized the other wanted to get past. He jumped aside, dragging the awoken with him.
Skull stomped onward without a word. Those undead wandering about gave him a wide berth, and he moved down the long road towards the main square in the distance.
Greggor began following him, but he had to prod the awoken constantly. They kept gazing at the tall stone and bone buildings lining the street, peeking inside. Greggor knew it wouldn't matter much. There weren't many undead in this part of town right now. Most would be out gathering wyrm bones and hide, mana-orbs, kaot-orbs, or awoken.
At the end of the road, Skull was still in sight as he kept stopping, and they almost stepped out onto the massive square at the same time.
Greggor grinned as he looked at the school, the massive building that dominated this part of the city. Rumors said it was inside the core at one point and much smaller, but Greggor thought it unlikely. How could so many awoken fit into the small buildings in that area?
"Let's go! It's time for you to get to your new home!"
Greggor dragged the skeletons across the square. He wasn't aware of the two eyes on his back.
--
The floating figure above Skull's head looked at the zombie and the skeletons as they moved away. His eyes were not as unfocused as before, and when they moved to the building on the other side of the square, he blinked. A look of recognition on his face, he shook his head. For a moment, it looked like the figure would wake up.
School… the soft whisper echoed around Skull's head, but nobody could hear it.
The thick cable connecting Skull to something below the ground pulsated, and with a soft yelp an unseen force pulled the figure towards it. It disappeared when it touched the cable, disappearing. Then, the pulsating stopped.
Immediately the massive skeleton looked up, and his green eye sockets flared up.
"Stupid thing happen again. Why Drys no know?" Skull stomped on the ground, and the stone beneath his feet crumbled as long crack lines shot outwards. The undead in the vicinity ran away, some screaming for the guards.
Skull turned towards the inner city, and with his long paces, quickly disappeared into the chaotic streets.
--
Deep below the ground, in a room unlike any other on the planet, a figure lay on a stone bed. Dark grey and muscular, he was covered in green hair, and a soft green haze hung around him. His left hand twitched, the fingers stretching outwards, then his hand fell back. The green haze faded but didn't completely disappear—transparent cables of different sizes and colors attached to him. The smaller ones were pristine, while the thick ones seemed ready to crack and burst.
Beside the grey figure lay another. She was brown and covered in yellow hair that had grown to cover the stone bed around her. Although unmoving, a yellow haze hung around her.
A flash came from one of the cables attached to the grey figure, and a smaller version of him hung above his body for a moment. Then it was sucked into the cable and disappeared inside. It flashed through the cable, up and away, passing through dense layers of rock and earth until it exited into a dark chamber.
On the ground, curled up against the corner, lay a figure. Deep wounds covered its body, but the layer of dust and dirt across him showed he had been here for a long time. The room was barely large enough for the figure, and it shivered every so often.
The small transparent figure hovered above the body, the eyes moving around, but on occasion clinging to the figure on the ground. As they did, the figure seemed to wake slightly, and pain and anger appeared for a moment.
Sig!
The word was louder than the previous time the figure had spoken. The thick cable began pulsating rapidly. It drew the figure inside, whisking him away. As it did, more cracks appeared on it.
The figure was drawn back to the room, and again its large avatar moved slightly. But it still stayed asleep.
After a little while, one of the thinner cables pulsated, and the figure was drawn away yet again. This time it exited in the middle of massive ruins above the head of a simple white skeleton.
Grey, towering skyscrapers stood amidst a layer of crumbled buildings. Almost no part was clear to move through, and the skeleton climbed across the debris. It seemed unaware of the small figure hovering above it. For a moment, the figure's eyes focused on its surroundings. It lasted for only a moment.
"Ourlin better not be back yet," a soft voice echoed around the skeleton. "He won't like it if he finds I'm away again. No, he won't. No no. "
As the skeleton scrambled across the rubble, a small landslide occurred.
"Not so loud!" the skeleton muttered.
When he reached the camp, a small town surrounded by a thick stone wall, he stopped and hid behind a broken piece of building.
There was a group of almost a hundred undead standing in the middle of the town. There was a clear division, with roughly half being tall and brawny skeletons with bones wide and thick, enough to connect their ribcages together. The other half had longer than normal arms, and most had leather strings with skulls covering their torso.
In the middle stood one that was different from the rest, with two massive skull-shaped pauldrons and a long thick bone in his hand. He was pointing at a group of skeletons, waving his bone club around.
"Are you telling me Laron snuck out on his own again?"
The skeleton hiding behind the building flinched. "Oh no. He found out… now what do I do?"
The angry shouting continued from the camp, and after a moment, Laron turned and snuck away. Either more careful or luckier, this time, he managed to get away without making any noise.
Unbeknownst to him, the transparent figure was still hovering above his head, eyes wandering aimlessly.
Only when Laron was far from the camp did he stop sneaking away and lookup. The buildings ahead of him weren't as dense as before, and his orange eye sockets flared up. He had reached the city center!
"Yes! That! I can do that! Why didn't I think of that before…? If I get a scale, they will see my strength. See it! Let me come along!"
Laron rushed across the debris, and the buildings ahead of him gave way to a wide-open area. He climbed atop a slope made of a toppled building side, looking around to see if any Kaots had snuck in again.
Tall but crumbling grey buildings circled him, and Laron knew the city behind it was vast. His thoughts trailed off as he stared at a grey smudge, visible between two of the towering pillars. Ourlin had told him there was only grey dusty, nothing beyond the city. Worse even than the wyrms that occasionally showed up again.
"No, no! Need to move," he muttered, dragging his attention back to the here and now.
This time he looked around carefully but found no Kaots. No wyrms either, for that matter. Just the jagged hills of debris that had once been buildings. In the middle of the area, jagged spikes rose just over some of the hills. Black and glistening, he couldn't see the thing they were attached to. But he knew what it was. It was his goal.
Laron slid back down the slope and climbed and clattered across the hills towards the center of the open area. Halfway to his target, he climbed over a hill of broken pavement and destroyed buildings and got a clear view of where he was going.
Inside a deep pit in the ground lay a massive shiny metallic wyrm, coiled up and with long grey spikes growing from its back. Occasionally, blue sparks ran along their length, but besides that, there was no motion. Old scorch marks dotted the area around it.
"It grew again, how come! How come?" Laron whispered. For a moment, he doubted his plan, then he giggled insanely and ran forward.
"It never moves. Never, never."
--
As Laron scrambled towards the wyrm, the small figure floating above him was staring at the wyrm. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something, then his eyes glazed over, and it closed again.
However, every time the wyrm came into view, the small figure stared at it.
--
Laron reached the last hill before the crater, and this close the size of the wyrm made him worry. It was at least ten times as high as the normal wyrms, and the gaping maw that lay to the side seemed large enough to swallow an entire building. The tentacles drooped down, unmoving, but from this close, he finally detected movement. In the darkness of the cavernous mouth, he saw the two massive tongues sway from left to right in a seemingly hypnotic pattern.
"Better move along the other side," Laron whispered before clasping a thin bone hand over the bottom half of his skull.
From the other side, the tall spikes angled high above the ground, and Laron slowly walked below them. The debris inside the crater had turned to small grit, and his white bone feet kept sliding across it.
The closer he came to the towering wyrm, the slower he walked until he stopped a few meters from it.
"So big," Laron muttered, gazing up and barely seeing the curve of the wyrm body. The wyrm plates, normally used as chest armor for the warriors or shields, were as big as a roof and were angled slightly outward at the top with razor-sharp, serrated edges.
"How can I even pull one-off? How, how, how?" Laron sighed.
--
The floating figure was constantly gazing at the wyrm. His mouth kept opening and closing, but no words came out. The small cable connecting Laron to the ground was softly pulsating.
--
Laron crossed the last distance and moved without any more hesitation, placed his hand on the plate.
Well, hello there, little skeleton.
Laron froze, then jumped back and looked around.
"Who said that?" he shouted, before swirling around. "Who, who?" he whispered this time.
When he didn't find anything, he turned back to the wyrm, staring at it and gently putting his hand on it again.
No need to panic, the voice said again. It was soft but firm.
--
Hovering above Laron's head, the figure jolted.
The sphere? How…?
The voice sounded confused, and the small cable began pulsating. Like a magnet, it drew the figure closer, but it just frowned and floated away from it. As it did, the green glow that made up the figure deepened, and the eyes blazed. Then a small gong sounded, and his hands moved up and away.
Where am I? Solus thought as he looked around.
