NOVEL NEXT 148 - Don't Stop Me Now
I was learning not to be as selfish as the nature of my vocation pushed me toward. Or at least, that was my excuse.
Kneeling atop a house alone in the midst of a ruined outpost, covered in my own blood and holding out my hand as if I could stop the literal titan standing in front of me… well, it certainly looked as though I was hogging the limelight. A good trick always drew your attention away from where the real magic was happening.
Is this your card?
The words were so cliche and fitting, but filled me to the brim with joy. Perhaps that was just the blood loss and mania. Above me, the necromancer in the skyscraper-sized zombie with fists raised high didn’t seem to find it as amusing.
Before his attack came in, I went for the reveal. Blood-slick hand twisted, and I raised it up to the dark sky. Ta-da.
From the ground of the outpost, a card of bright, magical energy emerged. My domain allowed the impossible. Required it. The amount of health I had drawn away while repeatedly downing potions furthered the stretching of what I was granted by the System.
It was… beautiful.
Vertically, it rose. Splitting the rock and stone of the outpost. Perpendicular to me, it stretched out a good thirty feet along the top edge.
Tyler paused and tried to look down, but by then it was too late. The muscles in my right arm tensed and burned as I clenched my fist. Sent it to the sky.
The whole area became illuminated in purple light. My body shuddered, unable to control such unimaginable energy. Edge of the card hit the groin of the giant zombie as it tried to right itself to move.
A spray of gore and bodily fluids rained down from the point of impact. My card increased in pace before shooting into the sky like a firework. Rather than burst, it vanished with a thrum of energy that vibrated the air surrounding the whole outpost. My arm hung limp to my side, and I fought the urge to pass out.
Silence briefly, and then a hideous ripping sound. The line of purple drawn straight up the center of the large undead started to separate the two halves. Muscle and sinew tearing from each other as it could no longer hold the weight of its ridiculous form. Like the grinding of two large stones, the skull split as well, immediately ejecting a slurry of decaying brains to join the near-liquified internal organs that were splashing across the outpost, filling the hole the zombie had emerged from. The stench was overwhelming, a hideous main course to follower the gut-wrenching starter the audible tones had served up.
Purple electricity swirled around my arm as a figure came into view. Although my vision was fading, I knew it to be Tyler.
Robes soaked through from the brain matter of his piloted corpse, all I could see was the anger on his face and desire to destroy me. But what could I do?
Two Imp cards beside me, as much as the cast pained my tired arm. Classic Fire. Maybe because I couldn’t stop shivering.
The necromancer was hovering in the air, some spell keeping him afloat. He shouted something at me, but it just sounded like murmuring. To prevent my Imps from doing any damage, an arc of green energy went across his front, almost like a curtain - briefly amusing. In his own hand, some foul bolt of eldritch energy or something started to power up.
He didn’t know that I was still a distraction.
And then he did, when it was too late.
The crack of Ren’s rifle met my ears, and a beam of radiant energy pulsed up from down below to core the necromancer in just the same way as his zombie-suit had died. Brains burst from the top of his skull as his summoned titan still crashed down to the outpost gradually. His magic effects vanished into nothing, and his own inert body followed suit.
I had shared.
Tried to move myself nearer to the edge of the roof to try to spot the elf. Vertigo, as my struggling limbs instead took me overboard. The brief rush of air almost comforting on my pained body, but also grated against my nerves. Of course, then I fulfilled destiny by introducing my skull to the cobblestone street.
I rolled away from the sight of my burst head and took a deep breath of air thick with the stench of death. Turns out that fall damage did count for
It was enough to stand, although my head almost went for a round two against the ground. Instead, my throbbing eyes looked around for Ren.
Most of the outpost that wasn’t dust and debris was cluttered with the spent body of the giant zombie. I had expected it to have faded away, but no such luck. In my peripheral, however, was something odd. Narrowed my eyes, but was soon distracted by the radiant hair of the elf nearby instead.
Not quite so radiant as it was soaked through with zombie juice. She lay prone on the floor in a puddle of the stuff, scowling up at the sky while her rifle lay next to her injured leg. Collateral from the lateral clattering of the shattered aspirant. Oh, that was a weird one. Might be losing some marbles.
In agony, my feet shuffled across the dirtied stone ground until I was close enough to—very carefully—lean my head down. “Arise and shine, moonflower.”
“Leave me be.” She continued to glare past me, angered at the sky. “I heard a whisper in my head.”
“Welcome to the shitshow.” I wavered and managed to drool blood onto the ground beside her. “Did say I’d share, didn’t I? Got some danger and bullshit of your own.”
“Guardian powers.”
“Yeah.”
Her eyes went to me, still a healthy amount of ire in them. “I’m not mad at you for it, but I’m also not not mad at you.”
“I can live with that.” Still wavering, I held a crimson-marred arm down to her. “How about this? I have something that will turn that frown upside down. Promise.”
While at first she didn’t seem swayed in the slightest, the addition of the promise broke through any defenses. A hand came up, and I struggled to right her. Almost ended up on the dirtied ground myself, but through miracle alone I stayed upright. She put one arm over my shoulders and used the butt of her rifle as a crutch.
“Same leg again,” I noted.
She grumbled something, but I didn’t catch it. Might have dried blood in my ears.
The pair of us shuffled away from the large corpse taking up most of the outpost, and I directed her towards one of the few buildings still standing and not awash with rotten bile. Trying not to tip us both to the floor, my muscles shook as I softly kicked the door open.
Ren’s ire turned to a raised eyebrow as she moved ourselves over the threshold and up to the System-created woman standing there.
“She must have respawned already,” I said. “Caught a glimpse of her through the window.”
The elf groaned. “Fascinating, trickster. Thank you for dragging me here to tell me.”
“No.” I smiled. “Go a little closer.”
A difficult task when we were the only things keeping each other up, but with a renewed scowl at me - she did as such. Eyes moved about randomly as she interfaced with the options presented to her.
I watched her face. Wanting to know what kind of power she had gained from killing the necromancer. Still worried for her safety, of course - I doubted anything could really erase that persistent emotion when we had the love and care for each other that we did… but I was confident this was better than me hogging both abilities. I was already too full of my own ego.
The annoyance washed away from her face to be replaced by neutral surprise. She turned away from the modestly dressed woman, and her eyes sparkled - almost unable to get her words out.
“Trickster,” she whispered, as though she had just pulled a fast one and didn’t want anyone to know. “I just bought four-hundred Sweet Cakes.”
I leaned closer to her, attempting to push some of the grime-slick hair away from her face with my bloody hand. “So did I.”
She gasped, and we hugged, not wanting to get a taste of anything unsavory by being any more intimate.
But this was… this was enough.
We stared at the flickering flame of the campfire, as far from the outpost as our tired legs had been able to take us. Not far enough to avoid the smell. Wrapped in blankets, the five of us had been rather silent. Any elation from winning over the undead and setting the outpost free struggled to get through our damp and bloodied clothes. The trio who had run the necessary distraction looked rough around the edges, having fought through the emerging zombies after their jog. I had no idea where Roger had gotten to with all that had happened.
Despite our health being topped up to full, Ren and I still looked at death’s door. Color drained from our faces, clothing torn and matted to our bloodied and gore-drenched skin. We both needed a bath… and possibly an exorcism. Still, existing and decompressing had taken precedence.
My right arm was still twitching and shivering, even with the warmth of the fire and blankets around me. Still had my skin attached, which was nice, but the muscle throughout my arm felt like I had chewed it up just like against the Siren.
I looked over at the elf and brought my menus up. No doubt about it, her name was now the same golden tone as my own. She hadn’t mentioned any new bars or abilities - but that could wait for later. She currently had a handful of Sweet Cakes on the go, chewing on one slowly as her unfocused eyes glared at the campfire.
There was the feeling that the power gained from a Guardian depended on which Guardian it was, and what kind of Class you were. A Siren in the mythological sense was a monster who lured you in with an attractive song - offering you something you desired.
Like fanfare bringing me out onto the grand stage.
To be the greatest magician up in the limelight to wow people to death - that’s exactly what I had wanted since landing my soft skull in this world. Now I could bring that into reality, facilitated by my demonic power.
Without knowing what Tyler had killed, it was hard to pair his power to something that made sense. The ability to generate a crowd, along with the biggest fan possible. As a necromancer, creating zombies was his thing before the boost, so I didn’t expect Ren to start summoning anything. Would it be something related to drawing a crowd together? Or was it about safety or proficiency?
My knack for painting everything in a showmanship shade did me a disservice. Not everything revolved around me and my predilection for being a showoff.
Ren caught my idle stare and moved her hands away as if I had been eyeing up her handful of baked goods. The indignant glare told me I had my own.
Trouble was, I didn’t have the appetite right now.
Victorious, and without any losses on our side. Almost seemed too good to be true. Saved the outpost and got rid of one of the Lady’s most important Player’s in the area. Now she’d have the decision to either bunker down to assail Candlekeep with the retreating groups hungry for her blood, or she would need to march away from the city to deal with us herself.
A cornered animal was often the most dangerous, but I also wasn’t keen on having an army after me.
Tanya roused, blinking her eyes and shaking the fog from her mind. “What’s next then?”
They turned to me for guidance, as if I wasn’t just a simple man slowly losing his mind while craving both attention and violence. My tongue lagged in my mouth as I struggled to put into words the epilogue to round off the last hour of absolute horror.
“We’ll go to the cottage again,” I managed, eventually. “Recover. Then we’ll gather what allies we can, and head to Candlekeep ourselves.”
The trouble with wishing to put on the greatest ever show was that such a thing could only live in the future. Past performances were done and dusted, decaying away as soon as the curtain fell. There were always shinier accolades and larger crowds to be wooed, and it was what took me ever forward.
My career had yet to peak.
After it did? It was hard to imagine I’d retire, just as much as doubted I could ever be content running smaller shows. Some part of me yearned to be stronger. More powerful. Completely full to the gills with bullshit. But what then?
I shook the thoughts away. “Let’s get moving. Unfortunately, I promised Ren the first bath, but I’m happy to go last in return.”
The elf nodded eagerly, flakes of pastry bouncing down her blanket like an avalanche, but she said nothing. Any worries I had about letting her join the cursed-by-higher-powers club were once again washed away at seeing the energy in her eyes.
With both of us acting in tandem, our enemies had no chance. A duet for the ages, she was no longer my protégé, but a true equal. A double-act beyond compare.
The world was ours to Dazzle.