Henrik Saetre
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Riftside - chapter 13
🕑 Added 2025-02-16 20:57:43 +0000 UTCI stared at the Scuttler's crushed shell and the monster goo that was splashed across the ground, my arm tingling from the impact.
“Roq? How can such a light hammer deliver such a powerful blow?”
“CRRRRITICAL HIT!” Roq's voice thundered through my mind. “Did you see what I did? How I squashed that Scuttler like the bug it is? How I fed on its gory goo?”
A heavy shield slammed into my chest, sending me stumbling backwards, and a heartbeat later, a Scuttler's pincer snapped where I'd been standing.
“Strong hit!” Knut's voice boomed. “Good I soften shell!”
“Ash? Look! On the tree! More brains to eat!”
The northerner swiped his mace, catching the monster under its shell and flipping it through the air. Before it fell, Knut's shield bashed a second Scuttler, his mace following in a practiced motion, crushing through its armored head and killing it.
“See and learn!” Knut laughed, the sound nearly drowning out the clicking of the approaching monsters. “Quick and clean!”
“Use me like the hammer I am!” Roq said. “More killing!”
But as I stepped to Knut's side, the man held his shield out and started backing away from the dozens of Scuttlers pushing towards us. The sound of metallic bodies scraping against the steelhusk trees filled the forest and made the hairs on my back stand upright. This was becoming more dangerous with every passing second.
“Too many!” he yelled and made to turn around.
I pushed past the warrior and swiped two of the corpses into my storage before jumping back.
Eight more to settle the debt.
Knut's shield knocked aside another pincer that might have very well grabbed my leg. The guy was good, which made me wonder, how the hell did he get stuck with Benedict?
“Move back. Need new chokepoint!”
“NO! Stand and fight! Strike them down and feed me their blood!” Roq cried in my mind. His voice was eerily human-like, which only added to the strangeness of the situation.
We retreated, the dense forest working in our favor, forcing the Scuttlers to bunch up as they pursued. Eryn and Johan once more moved at a brisk pace. I kept my eyes on them for as long as I could and prayed to whoever would listen that no monsters would get past us and catch them.
A scream pierced the air, distant but clear.
It was definitely human and male. Familiar.
“That's Marcus.”
“Ha! Listen to him scream!” Roq's laughter rang like steel on steel. “A fitting end for a coward. I only wish we could have been there to witness it ourselves!”
“That's enough, Roq. We don't celebrate loss of human life.”
“Man made poor choice following wizard,” Knut said as if reading my mind. “Being traitor kills fast when Riftside.”
“The Scuttlers did you a favor by removing his impure genes from your pack.”
I ducked under a branch, careful not to catch my shield as I tried to keep up with Knut.
“Might be, but we all got a common enemy,” I said, trying to give my thoughts voice. “Together we stand a chance, but alone? Well, Marcus learned pretty quick how it works when standing alone.”
“He didn’t stand alone. He ran alone,” Knut said, but his voice held no humor as his mace crashed into a rotten tree. “People never help me or mine.” The log tumbled behind us, creating an obstacle for the monsters. “Why I care for coward with no coin?”
I shook my head, the frustration of having separate conversations mounting. For a moment, I wasn't even sure what I was saying to either of them.
“Our strength is in numbers, Knut. In working together. If not, the monsters win.”
He scoffed.
“Why should I care?”
“And what of me?”
“What of you?”
“If it is you against monsters, am I not on the wrong team? Considering I am not human and all that. Also, you kind of killed me, didn't you?” The question caught me off guard, and my toe hit a root, sending me stumbling on top of my shield.
“Watch path!” Knut yelled and swept his mace about, catching me beneath my arm and hauling me to my feet.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Totally should be. You can't even run for shit.”
I couldn't risk having such a conversation now. It had to end so I could focus on the battle.
“You want to kill stuff, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then help me slay monsters. For now.”
“Fine. Then stop running and start fighting! I want to see your blood spilled on the ground!”
We caught up to Eryn and Johan near a fallen log. The scavenger's face was pale, sweat dripping despite the cool air. His chest heaved with each breath, hands trembling as he stepped between two trees.
“Move faster or die.” Knut's mace tapped against his shield as he jogged around them in a rhythm that matched the clicks of the pursuing monsters. “They gain ground.”
“I can't,” Johan's voice cracked. “Never been... outside the walls before. Need…air.”
“His heart's racing and muscles are cramping,” Eryn muttered under her breath, fingers pressed to Johan's neck as they walked. “He's not going anywhere,” she said. “If we push him any harder, he'll collapse.”
Knut's eyes narrowed.
“Question, blacksmith. You pay to protect you and healer?” he asked and gestured at Johan. “Or all three?”
It was such a simple question, yet it struck me to my core. And the way Knut asked it was so...transactional. Still, I knew he wasn't the bad sort, just pragmatic.
“Let them take the weak one. We can attack the Scuttlers while they eat. Easy kills.”
“Shut up.”
I exchanged a glance with Eryn. Her green eyes held steady, and a slight nod told me all I needed to know.
She's a healer to the core, and preserving life was part of that.
And me? I was a protector.
“The three of us,” I said, stopping and adjusting my grip on the shield. “That was the deal.”
“Spoken true.” Eryn walked over and rubbed a hand across my back. “You agreed to guard all three.”
Knut sighed.
“I made bad bargain, not knowing his zero level.” He pointed through the trees with his mace. “We fight again. There. Two big trees close together. Good spot to hold ground.”
“Finally! More killing! If only that northerner had found me instead. Our battles would be legendary!”
We hurried over, and Johan thanked us by moving as best he could. He'd long ago shed his weapon, or maybe he'd given it to Eryn, I didn't know, but he'd have been useless in a fight anyway.
“Eryn, keep going with Johan. We'll hold them off again and then catch up.”
“Thank you,” Eryn said, and the look she gave me, as if I was a hero, made my heart flutter as set of into the forest. The thought of fighting the Scuttlers frightened me less than imagining even one of them slipping past us and catching up with her.
“Hope she be worth it,” Knut said as he took up a position between the massive trees. He touched his mace to one and then the other with a slight ringing sound, before turning and rolling his shoulder.
I chuckled nervously, wanting to say that's not why, but not wanting to be called out on what was at least partial bull crap.
“You hit those coming between trees. I take sides. More hard to deal with.”
I nodded, stepped through, and turned to face the oncoming wave of monsters.
“Just how strong are you?”
“I am the ultimate weapon!”
“Sure. But, like, did we splatter the last one because Knut had hit it, or...”
“I am POWER! I am DEATH!”
Then the first monster scuttled between the trees and I deflected its snapping pincer with my shield. Behind the lead monster came many more.
I swept Roq down square on its shell. Once again, goo sprayed across me as the hammer smashed through shell and splashed its soft insides.
“Three bells!”
“Lucky strike.” Knut crossed behind me to attack the first flanking monster.
“YES!”
“Are they really that low of a level?”
A second Scuttler crawled across the first. Before it could set its feet, I leaned in and struck Roq between the pincers, smashing its shell, once again killing in a single blow.
“More! Feed me more! I want to taste their insides!”
Behind me, Knut's mace rang against shells. His boots scraped dirt as he dashed between monsters trying to circle us.
“Easy ones attack you! Good!” he laughed, the sound mixing with the screech of his mace smashing against their armored shells.
Two Scuttlers squeezed between the trees, pushed against one another. I blocked one pincer with my shield, knocking another away with the hammer and lifting my foot to avoid a third. Then I struck, killing one of the duo. The other snapped for my leg, but I put my shield down as I'd seen Knut do, barely knocking the attack away. I swung Roq down and added the carcass to the growing pile.
“Left side weak!” Knut shouted. “Too many!”
A Scuttler lunged at my exposed side. Knut's shield appeared from nowhere, deflecting the attack.
He was right. The monsters were pressing us harder, spreading out around us in greater numbers.
“Duck!”
I dropped without thinking. An attack swept through where my head had been, the monster having climbed up and around the tree.
“Thanks!”
I crushed Roq into the Scuttler's underbelly, sending it flying.
“Bye bye!”
If not for Roq's power and my ability to kill them in one hit, I'd be minced meat. As it was, my breathing became heavy and adrenaline flooded my system.
“They get creative!” Knut's mace crushed through a shell, but two more immediately replaced it and the tip of a pincer cut into Knut's left arm, drawing a curse from the adventurer. He knocked them both away, and kept fighting, but blood ran down his arm. I could already see our inevitable demise unless something changed.
“Fight here is over!” Knut said, leaping and stomping down, staggering five monsters. “We go!”
I knocked one monster back and then swiped two carcasses into my storage before turning and hopping away with a shout. “Breach born ruin!” I said as a claw nearly ripped my face off.
“Brave in the face of loot? Maybe I can work with that.”
I fell in beside Knut as we retreated, like a dam moved downstream, leaving a trail of broken shells and scattered limbs, and with a seemingly endless river of monsters chasing us.
“Is fighting monsters always this intense?”
“Only good hunts!” Knut laughed, though I caught him wincing. The bottom of his kite shield bumped along the ground as we ran. His arm must have been wounded more severely than I thought.
“Hurry, Eryn!” I yelled as we came within sight of them once again. She had one hand on Johan's back, pushing him forward. And despite not responding, I knew she'd heard me.
That's my girl. Don't waste a breath on the obvious.
“Where do we hold?” I asked Knut.
“To your left! An opening. No trees. Let them surround you and go down in a glory of blood and gore!”
I ignored Roq as Knut shook his head, muttering something under his breath.
“What's that?”
“Battle prayer, brave scavenger.” He turned and stared at me with a wide grin, and it was all I could do not to run straight away from the crazed man. “You have heart of warrior! I will die beside you proud!”
“Die? Not yet, big man. Choke point?”
“Hah!” he laughed but nodded. “Come.”
Right before we'd catch up with the others, Knut turned. This time he'd chosen a spot with enough space between two trees for us to stand side by side.
“Kill quickly and stop flow, then retreat and funnel between trees. Stops flanking.”
I nodded my understanding.
The Scuttlers rushed up and we killed the first two and stepped back, letting the next scramble over their own, straight into our weapons, again and again, the monsters bunched up between the massive trees before flowing around. They were driven forward by a greed I couldn't understand, throwing themselves at us with abandon.
“Good!” the northerner approved as I copied one of his combinations. “Shield bash stuns, then strike! Works every time!”
“Oh please.” Roq sounded offended. “That's barely adequate. I could show you moves that would make this barbarian's jaw drop.”
“You would?”
“Well, I would if I remembered them.”
We fell into a rhythm, Knut fighting with efficiency, and I survived on Roq's abnormal combination of hitting like he was ten times heavier. But the longer we fought, the more damage we both sustained. There was no easy way to defend against dozens of pincers and monsters at the same time. The more we killed, the louder Roq got and the greater his bloodlust became.
“Feed me the blood of the insignificant! The weakened and the overpowered! The splattered and the—”
“Shut your breach!”
My shield knocked aside another attack and Roq pulverized the monster, but despite my increased strength and fantastical weapon, fatigue crept into my muscles. How many had we killed? Twenty? Thirty? And still they came, an endless tide of clicking legs and snapping pincers.
“I can't keep this up. I'm getting tired.”
“Weakling! Do not give up!”
They were starting to surround us and there was nothing we could do.
“Can you stun them?”
Knut grunted with effort as he bashed another crab away.
“Magic burned low. Spent on extra strength.”
“What do we do?” I narrowly dodged an attack, knocking the Scuttler into the path of another.
“Kill faster! Feed me more!”
“Help or shut up!”
“Feed me and I'll help!”
“Argh!”
“Pray and charge away from the enemy.”
“What?” I crushed another Scuttler and stepped out of reach from two more.
“Three, two, one, go!”
Knut swiped his shield, knocking away a monster with a roar, and raced away through the forest like an out-of-control steel-barded warhorse. With a manly yelp, I rushed after him, pincers snapping at my heels, but despite my wounds, I still outpaced them.
Fifteen yards away, Knut came to a stumbling halt and settled into a shuffling jog, and as I caught up, dark blood streamed down his right boot. A deep gash ran across his calf where a monster had caught him sometime during the battle. The northerner's face remained stoic, but his limp grew more pronounced with each step, the damaged muscle struggling to support his weight.
“How bad?” I asked, glancing back at our pursuers.
“Had worse!” Knut grunted, though his face was pale beneath his beard and the way he favored the leg told me enough. He could keep moving but not for long. “Need to reach the girl and level zero!”
“IF we reach them.” Roq's voice held an edge of excitement. “Though I must admit, dying while actually fighting wouldn't be the worst way to go. It is still better than running!”
“Don't you dare quit on me! Think of the carcasses! The money! The loot!”
Knut's laugh was rough, and it ended with a sputter, but he gave me a smile and a nod.
“Eryn?” I yelled.
“Here!”
We angled towards her shout and I was relieved to see Johan jogging under his own power.
“That looks bad, Knut,” Eryn said as we caught up, my chest heaving for breath. “How are you even moving?”
“Money, gorgeous!” Knut laughed maniacally. “Gorgeous money!”
“I need to bind his leg, or he bleeds out.” Eryn looked over at me and shook her head. “He won't make it to the station.”
I sighed. I'd known as soon as I saw the wound on his leg, but there wasn't much we could do. Either fight to the death or leave him and the zero behind, unless...
“We need a defensible position. Now.”
We barely kept our distance from the Scuttlers for what seemed like miles, but probably was only two hundred yards or so.
“There!” Eryn called, pointing just ahead of us through the trees. “Look!”
Two massive boulders leaned against each other, forming a rough triangular shelter.
“Will it work?” she asked.
“Anything... will work!” Knut stumbled, catching himself on a tree. “Just... need killing spot!” he said, his words slurring.
“Oh, this is pathetic.” Roq's tone dripped with disdain. “The mighty northern warrior, reduced to stumbling like a drunk. Though I suppose he has lost enough blood to BE drunk. Give me a sip?”
“The formation looks defensible,” Eryn said, already leading the way. “Natural stone shelter, single entrance—”
“Perfect place... to die rich!” Knut's manic laugh dissolved into wheezing.
“You're not dying,” I said, supporting his shield arm as he swayed. “Nobody's dying today.”
“Boring!” Roq complained. “Though I suppose that alcove WOULD funnel them nicely. Maximum carnage for minimum effort. Even you should be able to keep them at bay.”
The clicking of metallic legs grew closer again.
“Move!” I urged, helping Knut toward the stone shelter. “Before our metallic friends catch up.”
“Friends?” Knut giggled. “You make strange friends, blacksmith!”
And that's when Johan bolted into the forest without a word, disappearing between the trees. Not a single Scuttler broke from the group to chase him. Oddly enough, he didn't seem to have any issues running right then.
“Coward knew exactly when to run,” I muttered, giving a bitter laugh, too tired to even feel angry. “They're not even interested in him.”
“Focus!” Eryn ducked into the shelter first. “Get him in here!”
Knut's weight grew heavier against my shoulder as I half-dragged him the final few steps, the man's boots leaving bloody trails in the dirt.
“Must kill... more...” His voice had dropped to barely a whisper.
“Look at all that blood!” Roq's voice rang with excitement. “Wasted on the ground... It should feed me instead! Finish him off! Kill him and let me drain his life!”
Once Knut was inside, I yanked his shield free and wedged it into the entrance. The kite shield's curved metal surface nearly sealed the gap, leaving only inches around the edges.
Perfect.
A pincer stabbed through, seeking my flesh. I brought Roq down, smashing it off at the joint.
“YES! More! Break them all! And before the warrior dies, dip me in his blood, Ash. I will make it worth it for you!”
“What in the rift are you on about?”
“Knut?” Eryn's voice was tight with concern. “Stay with me!”
I glanced back to see the warrior slumped against the stone, his face grey. Eryn already had her supplies out, wrapping a tourniquet around his wounded leg to stem the blood flow.
“Brother–” Knut mumbled, his eyes unfocused. “Four little ones... in Kingsworth.”
“Save your strength,” Eryn said softly, working on his leg.
“Good family. Smart one.” His accent thickened with each word. “Winter coming. Need coin for food.”
I crushed another leg, trying to push through, my heart aching at the proud warrior's words. So he hadn't just taken the deal to earn money for the sake of money; no, he had wanted to provide for his family.
“Blacksmith,” Knut sputtered, his hand catching my pants leg. “Promise. Help them. Share bounty.”
“You'll help them yourself,” I said, smashing away another pincer.
“Promise!” His grip tightened. “Without my sword, might not make winter.”
“I promise.” The words came easily. This man had saved my life multiple times today; the least I could do was to repay him. “I'll make sure they're taken care of.”
Knut's eyes closed, a peaceful smile crossing his face.
“Good man. I can now die in—” he fainted.
“Now THIS is living!” Roq roared in my mind as we smashed another leg, not reading the room at all. “Or dying. Either way, it beats farming or being a shopkeeper!”
I couldn't argue with that as I hauled on the shield's strap, keeping it tight to the stone. My arms burned, my chest heaved, and my legs trembled with exhaustion. But some part of me, maybe the part that had always dreamed of being more than just a blacksmith, understood exactly what Roq meant.
This was living.
This was dying.
This was exactly where I needed to be. And I would see Eryn and myself through this. I had Pa and Ma waiting for me at home, and I wasn't going to let them lose a son again.
