Spires

“I… see…”

Alcaestus chose his words carefully.

The Death’s Dancer, Nicholas, carried the look of man hoping that the answer would be a ‘no’.

“You’ve made a bargain with a slasher to ambush another slasher. You’ve given her one of our signal flares. You’ve agreed to go to the location immediately.”

“Yeah. That about covers it. So, you in or out?”

The red, white and blue skull mask was fearsome, but terrible for gauging a person’s expressions.

“I have questions.”

“Well, sure, but make it quick. I’ve got to go leave a message at the dead drop for the guys.”

“Then I’ll start with the obvious. What makes you think she can be trusted? It may be a trap for us. The slashers may be intending to join forces to remove us as threats.”

“Well, I don’t trust her, but… we have confirmation that she has only killed other slashers.”

“A tactic to reduce her competition. It is what predators do,” he pointed out. “They are competing against each other, but we are on the opposite side entirely. I don’t have to tell you that we are quite valuable in terms of points, let alone our efforts to protect people and keep them supplied. To remove either of us will open many gates for a slasher to skulk into the fortress for their prey.”

“I’m not going to argue any of that. It’s all legit, but I’m thinking the risk is worth it. That clown needs to go. And neither of us has had any luck at hunting him down. Even with you being some kind of great hunter. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of finding out how many kids he murdered when the daily update drops.”

Of course Al was sick of that as well.

The murder of the defenseless was like a knife to the heart of a true hero.

“He is quite adept at avoiding us.”

The clown never struck close to where the two of them decided to set an ambush.

It gave credence to their estimates that the clown was close to Level 50, if not already above.

Otherwise, Al’s hunter Skills would’ve at least given him a sniff.

To gain absolutely nothing spoke of high levels or a very powerful Skill.

Putting it all together, Al expected that the evil man wouldn’t be an easy kill if they managed to force a confrontation.

Al chewed on the question in silence.

“Any day now…”

“The hunter doesn’t enter the forest without a plan. Many contingencies for the many branching possibilities. Anything can happen on a hunt. Predators and prey must always be treated as unpredictable. Thinking creatures are even more difficult to predict because they don’t operate on the ingrained desire to survive. No. You and I have the freedom of will to chose the more dangerous path if we deem the rewards worth the risk.”

“Okay… great… so, you in or out?”

“I don’t like that we’re going on her word and a plan that she hasn’t shared. Is there even one?”

“Look, bro, I told you. She sends up the signal and we go to it. Kill the clown, maybe her if she tries to take us out.” Nicholas shrugged. “You don’t have to go, man. I don’t know what her plan is, but she seemed confident about it, so, whatever. Trap for the clown, trap for us? What does it matter? One way or another we’re getting a shot at a murdering slasher.”

“Very well. I shall join your endeavor.”

Nicholas stared at him, blinking slowly.

“Great. So, just watch for the signal.”

The message went out to everybody through the forum on the world event page and directly to select individuals.

Darkness tinged with red filled the entire video window.

Shadows moved.

A small horizontal line of white appeared in the middle.

It slowly split, opening to reveal a bright smile in the void.

The voice that emerged echoed from multiple areas as if there were speakers all around the viewer.

“Hello.”

Deep, gravelly, like grinding rocks.

“I’m done with being second.”

A high lilt, like a young girl.

“Lindsay the clown. I challenge you.”

A husky rasp.

“Come die at my hands at this location.”

Locals immediately recognized it.

Outsiders used the names of the businesses to cross-reference with their own maps.

“I’ll be waiting.”

The message ended.

Everywhere in the city people reacted.

Two slashers, both in the top five, cursed Holly Foster.

She had just put a big target on their territory. She had called out the clown, but it didn’t take a smart guy to understand that she also had them in her sights.

Not to mention all the rest coming to take what they can in the chaos.

She was giving both sides a great opportunity.

In the Raynanaut’s hangar Alin glanced at his mom.

“Don’t look at me. I have no idea what she’s thinking.”

“This isn’t some kind of secret plan?”

“She has rules to follow and she hasn’t broken or even bent them since your dad employed her. If this is some kind of backslide there’s nothing we can do from here, but be aware.”

“So, I should tell Captain Molds to put the skyship in extra red alert?”

“After the gentleman slasher, I don’t think we have to worry about a repeat. As long as the rangers maintain their vigilance. As long as we maintain ours…” His mom shrugged.

“I won’t let something like that happen again.”

To that end he and Unseen had taken to stationing themselves close to the people they had transported to Hayden’s makeshift fort near Coal Harbour during the brief transit.

“Do you think Lindsay the Clown is going to show up?”

His mom drummed her fingers on the fabricator machine’s control panel.

“No,” she said. “He’s in the lead from solely killing kids.” She sighed. “These are the moments I hate. When words come out of my mouth that don’t properly convey the horror of the reality. Boy, don’t ever get jaded and cynical. I sounded like I’m discussing dinner options with your dad.”

“I’ll, uh, try.”

Back at the fort, Hayden sat in a tent with Dayana, Prim and Howard.

“No idea what that crazy bitch is up to, but I can’t say I mind it too much,” she said. “If anything, it’ll get all the murderous bastards into a relatively small area at the same time. Their inner natures guarantee that there’ll be a lot of bloodshed.”

“Couldn’t happen to better people,” Howard grunted before pounding his beer in one long gulp.

Prim raised a brow.

“Healing factor. Only way to get a decent buzz.” He cracked another beer.

“You should talk to the drunken wanderer.”

“His stuff does the trick, but he needs it for real serious stuff, eh? I’ll be hitting him up after this shit is over with.”

“Are you going to be there too?” Hayden regarded Dayana.

“Yeah, but in stealth mode. We’re only dropping in if there’s a good shot at one of the top ranked slashers.” Dayana twirled a small knife in her fingers. “Otherwise we’ll let them fight. Prim, what’re the rangers planning to do? Comms are still sketchy. I want to avoid friendly fire.”

“It shouldn’t matter, right? I thought that the IFF was still working properly.”

“It was last time we docked, but I don’t want to take any chances that it could change. Might be the spires wants to fuck us over or maybe someone out there manages to use a spell or Skill.”

“I’ll have to check in with the captain. You might have better luck, flying up there yourself. They shouldn’t be too far. They’re sticking near us to provide air support and keep an eye on the water.”

Howard jolted like a lazing dog that got a whiff of a bear entering the backyard. “What’s up with the river?”

“Unknown,” Hayden answered. “Vague danger sense and oracular warnings. The people are on edge. Can’t blame them for jumping at shadows. Then again, you never want to dismiss those sorts of things. They’ve been proven right enough times in the past. Still, nothing in the water other than animals and monsters. None of which have bothered us except for that one giant seal.”

“Don’t you have that water mage?” Howard said.

“Teresa’s an ice wizard. Don’t get that wrong. She’ll freeze your balls,” Prim said. “We’ve got her periodically freezing the surface. Figure the extra time it’ll take something to break through will give us more warning.”

“So that’s why it’s frozen. Didn’t look right. Not for this time of year,” Howard said. “Thought it was some spires fuckery or monster bullshit. What about the other guy you got?”

“Galen? Cold Mist Warrior. Not water warrior,” Prim said.

“Don’t sound all that different to me, eh.”

“It’s different.”

Howard waved a hand. “You want me to take a look? I could go for a swim.”

Prim glanced at Hayden.

The latter shook her head. “No. Thanks, but you’ve got more important things to do.”

“I hope that fucking clown takes that little killer’s challenge,” Howard grunted.

“If we’re lucky then all these murderers will kill each other.”

“What are the locals in that big ass tower saying? It’d be a good time to gather their forces, coalition up and hit the slashers in the back when they’re busy killing each other,” Howard said.

“They’re staying put. They only want to defend themselves until this is over.”.

“I’d call em cowards, but it’s the right strategy to run out the clock on this one. Damn shame though,” Howard said.

“It’s too bad the locals were already split before this whole thing even started. They were never going to work together,” Prim said.

“Too much bad blood between different neighborhoods from what we’d heard. And that’s from the ones that were willing to talk to us in the first place,” Dayana said.

“They all have someone to hate. And everyone hates the guys in that tower the most, eh?” Howard said.

Holly sat on a rooftop.

The night was darker than the last several had been.

Much quieter too.

Noticeably less gun fire and spell explosions.

It was a strange thing, the hazy barrier that separated the city from the rest of the world. There was a ceiling about a few hundred meters higher than the tallest building according to the rangers’ measurements and yet when she looked up she could see clouds, the moon and the stars beyond.

Well, not the moon on this night, nor the stars. Just the clouds.

An unfortunate coincidence since her domain worked better with things in the sky for the blood to weep from.

Her message had been sent.

Both messages.

Another one after the first, but to only one person.

She had a Skill that gave her insights into her preferred targets.

It was how she knew that the clown was definitely higher level than her or he had a very strong Skill to obfuscate his inner self.

Because all she got when focusing on him was a brief sense of what would work to goad him into action.

For others it had been the equivalent of an entire file filed with strengths, weaknesses and tendencies.

For him it had been akin to a single sentence.

This was the message she had sent to him.

You wouldn’t be the first clown I’ve put down like a rabid dog. Monsters, men and demons, I fear none of you.

Now, the question she asked herself was why had she used that word specifically?

It had felt right at the time she had composed it and since Skills were linked with the subconscious she couldn’t just dismiss it.

That fact that she thought to question it was significant.

She just couldn’t decide why.

The dark streets were empty with the exception of tiny islands of light cast on the pavement by lonely streetlights.

There were no monsters within a block of the area she had invited everyone to join her in.

She could see them lurking in the shadowed places, yet none ventured any closer. As if there was an invisible barrier.

Fear.

Slasher’s senses picked it up in the air.

That wasn’t remarkable in and off itself.

The entire city had carried that aroma since before the event had even started.

It had only grown stronger since then, permeating everything.

She had seen headlights in the distance only to vanish into alley ways and parking garages.

Slasher groups.

No doubt they’d proceed the rest of the way on foot to remain hidden.

They would all be cautious of the trapper and butcher duo’s traps.

Though, she supposed the former deserved the lion’s share of the credit for those.

They didn’t concern her overmuch.

They were likely to run into each other out in the dark and take care of themselves for her.

She went over the checklist in her head for the hundredth time since she had sent the message.

The rules were simple and straightforward.

They contained the types of people she could kill. Along with the clear order not to endanger innocent lives in pursuit of those kills.

It was why she didn’t operate in areas where innocent lives could be at risk.

It was always better to take the ambiguity out of it.

A shambling horde of rotting bodies marched straight down Main Street.

Humans and monsters.

An unexpected bonus.

The necromancer was making an appearance.

That meant four out of the top five were in the area.

Only the clown was left.

She decided that even if he didn’t show then it wouldn’t be a waste because she could try to get 3, 4 and 5.

Get two of them and she’d drop the clown to 2 with a big lead, which would force him to go after her.

What was that thing that one old dead Chinese guy wrote?

Something about giving the enemy multiple roads that all led to the same place?

Gunfire erupted from the buildings on both sides of Main Street.

The undead were blown to bloody chunks even as they separated and crashed through doors and windows, seemingly at random.

Holly’s blood night had been properly kicked off with literal bangs.

The hangar was awash in hurried activity.

A squad of rangers set up to take guard duty over the comatose cultists.

Alin, his mom and Unseen were going to be busy elsewhere with another squad of rangers.

He triple-checked his power armor.

“Fully charged and loaded.”

“Looks like it to me.” Kat held the diagnostic tablet up to his face.

“I, uh, it’s linked to my HUD.”

“Oh, right, sorry. Just kinda nervous.”

“It’ll be fine. That place is going crazy. It’s like that soup with everything in it, you know? They’re so busy with each other and the monsters that they won’t be able to focus on us. Especially, if we stick to the plan and stay on the move. Hit and run, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. You know?” he smiled.

More importantly, if every slasher and bad guy with the levels to threaten the rangers aboard the skyship were down there then Kat, his friends and the rest of the rangers would be safely shooting at the targets he and the others would be marking.

“You ready, Boy?”

His mom had already done her pre-mission checks.

“Almost.”

Kat grabbed his hand.

He opened the armor so he could feel her properly.

“Kiss,” she demanded.

He hesitated a moment.

His mom was looking.

Then he realized that nothing was promised to them.

Any moment could be the last.

So, he opened his faceplate with a thought and kissed her like it.

“Awww.”

“Mom! Grow up!”

“What? It’s cute. Young love. Reminds me of me and your dad. I’m sure Kat’s parents were the same, right, Kat?”

“They are shameless with the PDA. Kind of like you guys,” Kat said.

“We always thought it was important that we raised Alin to not be ashamed of people showing their love for each other.”

“Well, you guys failed cause I cringe inside every time I catch you guys. Seriously, you have a room. Use it!”

Kat raised a brow.

“It’s totally different for us,” he whispered.

“Uh huh, well, come back.” She kissed him again.

“I will.”

They joined Ranger Morningstar’s squad at the port boarding chamber.

Comms chatter painted an unpleasant picture at what was going down at close to a thousand meters below the skyship.

The terms all-out war or bloody violence seemed apt.

His nerves turned the inside of his gut into tight coils.

His mom spoke into a private channel.

“Breathe in and out. Be mindful.”

“I know.”

“If I didn’t think you were ready for this I’d leave you on the ship.”

Not counting mindscape and Danger Complex training, his real combat experience had been almost entirely against monsters. Out in the wild, in encounter challenges and spawn zones.

That early skirmish against the necromancer’s undead didn’t really count since he wasn’t killing real, living people.

Whether they were slasher or evil didn’t really matter to him.

He had thought about it a lot, especially on this Quest, and had come to the conclusion that people were people.

It’d be different from killing monsters.

What the people around him had shared of their own experiences could only prepare him so much.

Maybe it was that unknown that made him so nervous.

Would he freeze?

Throw up?

Or worse… would he feel nothing?

Would killing another human feel the same as killing a monster or mutant animal?

How would it feel to shoot another person?

To see the look in their eyes as he cut them with his multiweapon?

To feel the breath leave their bodies through the gray?

“Don’t think about it before. Focus on the task in the present. Deal with the consequences after you return alive.”

“I know… I will.”

“Remember, you promised Kat you’d be back. We didn’t raise a liar.”

“Comms check. Squad on Channel 69,” Ranger Morningstar said.

“Really, Jude?”

“Sorry, Mrs. Cruces. I lost a bet to Nat One.” He pointed at another ranger.

“And your parents always said you were the mature one.”

“Well, ma’am. You know my parents… and I am the most mature one out of the whole family.”

“I don’t know about that. They seem to have high hopes for Luzi and from what I hear…”

“She’s got a silver tongue, like her namesake.”

“Check, Goldenspoon.”

He cut in.

The rest of the squad chimed.

“Alright, try to relax. We’re not dropping in until all the bastards stick their hands into the fire. If you need to piss or shit, then too bad. The time for that was before you put on your armor.”

“Thank gray alien god for the high tech diaper system, right, sarge?” Ranger Triple Dip said.

“Yup, but you love the diaper way too much.”

“It’s just so convenient.”

Laughter ensued.

The rangers busted each others balls.

Alin found himself growing increasingly annoyed and embarrassed.

“You rangers are the biggest kids,” his mom said on their private channel.

She smirked at him.

The banter was a lot less funny when his mom was right there listening.

It must’ve been the reason for the policy that ranger parents and children didn’t go on Quests together unless it was an emergency or there was no other choice.

He could see why it’d throw people off focus.

Mercifully, go time arrived.

They dropped behind a stand of trees on the edge of the parking lot of some kind of flooring and furniture business.

It made sense that the trapper slasher, Robert Trainor was the man’s name according to the event page, would hunker down in it as a base considering the raw materials he could use for his traps.

The rest of the area had other useful businesses to loot, like a car tire store, a hardware store and a grocery superstore. There was also an aquarium fish store, but that probably wasn’t as useful to him as the rest.

“You’re up, Goldenspoon,” Ranger Morningstar said into the comms.

Alin willed the gray to emerge from his body and the opened holes in his power armor.

Natural fog had rolled in from the river, but hadn’t quite reached their area. Not that it mattered. If people saw fog shrouding the shore they wouldn’t think twice about his own little patch obscuring him, his mom and the rangers as they crossed Main Street and skulked into a side alley.

Rangers crept forward slowly.

Rogue-types checked for traps with their Skills, magitech and regular tech.

A pair of ranger mages cast a simple detect traps spell.

The trapper slasher was likely over Level 40, which was why they had gone with the overkill method to their search.

Sure enough, they revealed several traps.

Trip wires mostly.

Some triggered explosives, while others launched wooden lattices studded with rusty nails.

“Gross. Bastard smeared shit on them,” Ranger Nat One said.

“You think he used his own?” Ranger Triple Dip said.

There were other traps.

Iron bear traps with crushing jaws.

Somehow, despite all the detection methods they had used, Ranger Honey Buns stepped in one.

A strangled cry of pain went up over the comms.

“Shit! That hurts,” he hissed. “But, I think I’m cool, guys. Doesn’t feel broken. Armor looks like it held. Just feeling the pressure, so, I wouldn’t mind some help.”

Two rangers.

One with the enhanced strength passive had to use the nearly unbreakable composite material handles of their hand axes to pry the huge trap’s jaws open.

“Medic check,” Ranger Morningstar said.

“I’m fine, sarge.”

“Check it anyway.”

Ranger Keyboard ran a handheld scanner over Ranger Honey Buns’ leg. She shrugged. “Just a bruise.”

“Re-check for traps,” Ranger Morningstar said.

They could afford to take their time.

The fighting hadn’t made its way south to their location

The bright flashes and loud bangs provided another layer of cover for them, drawing the slasher’s attention north away from his backside. He’d be prepping to receive attackers from the front, while they sneaked in the back.

The double check came in good, picking up a handful of traps they hadn’t gotten on the first sweep.

“Let’s get those drones inside,” Ranger Morningstar said.

Rangers flew the tiny remote-controlled insect-like drones through the broken windows.

If the trapper had detection Skills, then, with luck, he’d read them as insects.

Alin was looped into the drone feeds.

He kept the windows small and on the edge of his HUD.

Most of his focus was on the gray around them.

He had filled the alley, but fought to keep it from seeping into the buildings.

Skills might read his fog as unnatural.

“Uh oh.”

He didn’t recognize the hushed voice.

It drew his attention to the drone feeds.

“Guy’s got victims strung up.”

“I want ID’s,” Ranger Morningstar said.

Their level of concern for the victims depended entirely on what side they were on.

They’d either do everything they could to save them or completely ignore them.

The drones continued to buzz inside the huge interior.

It looked like the trapper had done a lot of custom work.

The floor and furniture store had been turned into a metal and wood maze of horrors.

“Got positive ID’s on 2 out of 7. Slashers. The rest are… lacking in the face area for the software to scan.”

“Okay. Find Robert Trainor. And mark him. Let the Raynanaut take care of the sick bastard.”

“Hold it, sergeant,” his mom said. “What’s that in drone 2’s view?”

It was dark inside the business with small areas with dim lighting from flickering candles.

The drone had to get really close for a better look under night-vision mode.

His mom had spotted another person on a rack-type thing. Kind of like the wire framed drying rack she used for laundry. Except, tilted at a steep angle.

The person was upside down.

The person appeared to be really tiny.

“Shit,” Ranger Morningstar said. “It’s a kid.”

Alin couldn’t tell if they were a boy or girl because of the bag over their head, but he could clearly see them struggling to breathe through the rough cloth. Their little chest was moving up and down rapidly.

“Uh… don’t take this the wrong way, ma’am, but I have orders to minimize risk. The primary objective is to take out slashers,” Ranger Morningstar said.

“Jude, am I hearing you right? You’re going to call in the strike knowing that a child is in there?” his mom said flatly.

“I hate it, but yeah. Those are my orders.”

“Check with the captain.”

“Comms are sketchy and we risk detection. The beacons are already going to be a roll of the dice.”

“Check.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The silence was only broken by the soft buzzing of the drones as they continued to search the building for the trapper.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Captain said orders stand.”

“You don’t even have confirmation that the man is in there. He could be at any of these other buildings. He’s turned this entire area into a trap-filled death zone.”

“As you know, since you were at the briefing, our orders are to go to every building if we have to.”

“I’m disappointed. We don’t abandon innocents to be collateral damage just to secure objectives. It’s what makes us different from the rest.”

His mom locked eyes with Alin.

“I need you to use your power. Find out if the trapper is inside. Find any other innocent victims.”

“On it.”

Yeah, he was a ranger and there’d probably be issues later, but it was his mom and she had that gravitas thing that came with decades of having fought the good fight and never once compromising her principles.

“Alright, keep searching. We still haven’t found him anyways. If he’s at another site then a strike would just put him on guard. But, make it quick. I don’t want the fighting to reach us when we’re not done here. Who knows how many psycho fuckers are on their way to join the fun? Or are already here?” Ranger Morningstar’s face was a stone mask behind his faceplate.

No squad leader liked being challenged in the middle of a mission by someone not in the chain of command.

Then again the rangers weren’t like traditional militaries. That chain wasn’t nearly as unbreakable for them.

Plus, Rayna’s sister in-law kinda had some stick, so to speak.

His mom had no shortage of deeds to back it up.

He sent the gray into the building.

Intense focus and worry for the kid and maybe more kids he needed to find blinded him from the threat sneaking up on them from the rooftops.