Death Smith - Book 1 - Chapter 8

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Gravity and lightning

Six and a half months ago.

August, 13 AR.

Inside Rift 1.

“Hold or we die!” Thomas screamed at the top of his lungs, holding out his shield and bracing for impact.

Most of the survivors huddled together, holding out their shields and bracing their spears tight. The wave of Lizardlings and Lizardmen rushed downwards, hissing and roaring as they came closer and closer.

The shield wall would have broken immediately had it not been for the Rifters that had taken up a position just in front of the survivors. Dieter raised his voice to strengthen the survivors. “Hold on tight!” He shouted as he held out his mace above his head and waited for a few seconds as the wave of monsters came closer and closer, within reach of Dieter already.

‘What is he waiting for?’ Lance thought as he waited anxiously. It looked as if the man was simply pausing, yet the closer lance watched, the more he noticed things that were off. Small pebbles and dirt trembled around Dieter. The man’s arms trembled as if he was holding onto something heavy. Slowly, it dawned on Lance that Dieter was about to do something dangerous and potentially change the flow of combat.

‘A skill! He is going to use a skill,’ Lance thought before he shifted his gaze towards Thomas. “Thomas, we need to take cover!” Lance shouted as he pointed at Dieter a few seconds before the man slammed his hammer down hard.

Within seconds, Dieter had transformed the landscape as dust, bits of stone, and torn monster limbs flew everywhere. From what Lance could see, Dieter’s attack had completely shattered the stairs leading upwards.

Thomas slowly got back to his feet and took quickly realised that the survivors would need to regroup again. “Reform!” Thomas said, eying his surroundings. Dust was still obstructing much of his vision. From what he could see, several monsters lay buried within the rubble. Some had even fallen off this plateau and had plummeted down to a lower level, only to end up as a red smear. Even after the attack from Dieter, there still were dozens of monsters left alive. One by one, these Lizardlings and Lizardmen got back up and continue their attack. Noticing this, Thomas yelled at the rest of the survivors to prepare. “Brace!”

The Rifters tried to stop the flow of monsters, but with several Lizardmen on their hands, they couldn’t do all that much. A few Lizardmen and Lizardlings rushed past the occupied Rifters and charged into the shield and spear wall. The force of the monsters hammered into the survivors with an overwhelming force. Many of the survivors screamed and shouted in fear and confusion.

“My arm!”

“We need to run!”

The shield wall was crumbling because of the Lizardmen that were attacking the survivors. These hulking beasts appeared almost indifferent to the survivors and the spears that they presented. Compared to Lizardlings, a Lizardman could ram into shields with enough force to break arms or even throw people down several flights of stairs.

Even the Rift-hound proved ineffective, with the Lizardmen simply shrugging it off as if it were a mere insect, although it did not stop little Hans from trying. Noticing the imminent collapse, Thomas shouted at the survivors before their morale would shatter. “We need to hold, or we die!” His eyes widened as he noticed some survivors screaming as they moved backwards, two even running away in a panic.

‘This is bad,’ Lance thought, seeing half their wall collapsing and within seconds, monsters flanked the remaining survivors due to them not having enough numbers to cover the width of the stairs. Lance then shouted for Thomas. “Thom-”

A Lizardman silenced Lance in one quick movement. It had grabbed Lance’s shield and had thrown the shield down the flight of stairs with Lance still attached to it, forcing Lance to crash and tumble downwards.

* * * * *

A few minutes had passed since the collapse of the shield wall. The fighting had broken apart and spread out over the many plateaus, resulting in smaller pitched battles or skirmishes. Daniel backed off as he grabbed one of his throwing daggers from a nearby corpse, placing it between his teeth before grabbing his sword again. His thoughts came fast and focused. ‘This is bad.’

He forced himself to focus on the fight in front of him, having to deal with two Lizardmen and one pesky Lizardling that stood in the middle. The smaller Lizardling had simply refused to die like its brethren that now lay dead around the remaining monsters. ‘These critters are resilient. I barely have enough time to react, let alone check on how the others are doing. I need to finish this quickly,’ He thought as he glanced to the side, seeing signs of killed survivors wherever he looked. The carnage enraged him, forcing him to focus on what was ahead of him.

‘I was already low on stamina from the earlier fight. I need to make this count,’ Daniel thought as he gripped his sword tightly, taking on a crouched position from which he could speed up quickly. His body hungrily drained his stamina as his muscles contracted.

Every fibre in his body was preparing itself for the dash skill that Daniel had honed throughout his life. At lower levels, the skill allowed a Rifter to dash away. But, after years of using it and advancing it in power, it could settle a fight in one violent move.

The first Lizardman screamed and hissed as it charged Daniel. A large scale-covered arm swung for the Rifter’s neck only to miss as Daniel suddenly sped forwards with enough force to create a cloud of dust behind him.

When the lizardman turned around to locate Daniel again, it would find the Rifter standing over the decapitated corpse of the other Lizardman. Daniel was at that point breathing fast, as if he had just run a marathon. His face was pale from exhaustion and the infection that was sapping his strength.

The smaller Lizardling in the middle took several steps towards Daniel before falling to the floor onto its side, showing a throwing dagger lodged within the back of its throat.

His voice came out rough and forced. “You Bastards are tough, I’ll give you that,” Daniel said as he took a step forward, swinging his sword to the side to clean it of blood. His eyes met the remaining Lizardmen as he continued talking to it with an intimidating calmness.

“But this close to the finish, I can smell the bottle of scotch that is waiting for me at home,” The Rifter said while grinning, stepping over the dead Lizardling in a menacing way. He then pointed his sword at the remaining monster as he continued to enlighten the monster. “And I’ll be dammed if I let you ruin that for me.”

He flexed his arm before rushing forwards, pressing the advantage now that he had startled the monster.

* * * * *

“Run... Just keep running,” Thomas said a few minutes later. Both of them were tired from the constant skirmishes and them running to safety. Much of their bodies was covered in painful bruises while lacerations were visible across their chests and arms.

“What the hell do you think I am doing?” Lance snapped at Thomas, ducking down in time to dodge a wide swing from one of the Lizardmen.

Lucky for them, the Lizardman did not seem to see them as a genuine threat. It was toying with them at this point. The monster had painted himself red from the blood of other survivors. It now hissed and growled every time it swung at either Lance or Thomas.

Thomas rolled to the side, nearly falling from the stony plateau, but dodging another swipe from the monster. The Lizardman was about to swing again when it felt the impact of a spear hitting the underside of its tail.

Hissing, it turned around and faced Lance, who was holding the spear. Noticing the anger, Lance backed off before finally running away. Sounds of claws digging into stone and a feral growl filled the air.

‘I can’t jump for safety, and I am near a corner, so the stairs are too far,’ He thought as he felt his lungs burn from all the effort. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.

The edge came closer as he sped forwards. For a split second, the thought tempted him to jump. ‘Would falling to my death be a better alternative to being eaten alive?’ The monster was slightly faster than Lance and was gaining on him. His mind came up with a last-ditch plan.

‘No matter how strong something is. Something is still a slave to the laws of physics. No way is it able to come to a halt as quickly as me, right?’ He recalled how these monsters often slid across the stones, having to dig their claws into the stone to remain steady. It wouldn’t be the same as Lance’s shoes, which had a far better grip on the floor. Nearing the ledge, he yelled. “This is stupid!”

He dropped the spear and grabbed his backpack in one hand, holding it to the side. The second he reached the end of the ledge, he stopped. He came to a halt before he spun on his heels, throwing the bag towards the monster’s face.

‘Now!’ Lance thought as he jumped to the side. The lizardman simply blocked the bag and slammed it to the side. The monster slid to a stop, just barely managing to not tip over the edge of the stone surface. Hissing, it slowly got up again. It towered over Lance and almost looked amused at that moment before a sudden impact forced the Lizardman to the side again. Thomas had body slammed the monster from the side and forced it over the ledge in one violent offensive.

“No... no!” Thomas yelped as he felt himself go over the edge as well. Lance had grabbed Thomas’s arm in time and yanked him backwards at the last second. Thomas had nearly soiled himself out of fear as he expressed his emotions. “Bloody hell! Thank you. Thank you!”

“Let’s not do this again,” Lance replied as he pulled Thomas up, hearing the Lizardman splattering on the plateau below them. “I hope the others are still alive.” The last Lance had seen of the survivors was them all scattering in all directions, while a large group of them fled down the stairs.

Even on their plateau, they could see corpses littered left and right, both human and monster alike. Even the Rift-hound was laying limp on its side, breathing slow and forced. Lance and Thomas could see dozens of slaughtered Lizardlings next to little Hans, establishing that the Rift-hound had put up one hell of a last stand. Grabbing his equipment, Lance turned to Thomas. “What about the Rifters?”

Before Thomas could reply, the two men heard another loud impact coming from above them, nearly showering them in copious amounts of stone. Thomas was the first to reply. “We need to help.”

“Are you insane?” Lance hissed, but Thomas was already rushing towards the sounds, speeding up the broken stairs, determined to get to a higher level of this rocky construct. With a sigh, Lance then followed Thomas, knowing full well that they were rushing into certain death.

* * * * *

‘Just die,’ Daniel thought as he evaded the Rift-guardian’s attack while Daniel picked up his knife again. The two of them had been duelling for five minutes already, although it felt like a lifetime to Daniel. Another dagger flew towards the monster’s eye before it dodged it. The monster hissed angrily before it spat out a brown ooze towards Daniel again. The Rifter dodged it in time as he heard the ooze slowly melt the stony surface it had hit instead.

“Dieter... I need you to get up!” Daniel shouted as he circled the enormous monster again. He knew full well that he wouldn’t be able to solo it. The beast was twice as big as a Lizardman. A sword did not easily penetrate its grey and red scales. Dieter’s mace had done some damage, having beaten down one of its knees. Doing so had cost Dieter a chunk of his health and stamina, but it had limited the monster’s speed somewhat. Daniel darted forwards, feinting an attack to keep the aggression on himself, lest the monster go for Dieter’s unconscious form.

‘I would have preferred to die in a comfortable bed. But perhaps this is my fate,’ He reasoned, looking at the shard within the monster’s chest and seeing the red glow within the otherwise black shard. The red glow marked the monster as a Rift-guardian. These Rift-guardians were usually the strongest or the most intelligent of the monsters within a Rift. Beyond that, these guardians could occasionally also use skills. It was their presence that maintained the Rift-event. Kill the guardians and the Rifters could stop the current Rift-event.

‘Feinting won’t work. Perhaps another Dash? I have enough for one more, but then I am out,’ Daniel thought, feeling the weight of his choices on his shoulder. He was nearly contemplating simply throwing the monster and himself over the edge to at least stop this Rift-event but stopped when he suddenly heard shouting from some survivors.

“Look here, you big mongrel.”

“Oy, scales for brains. Are you too dumb to figure out what is going to happen?”

Daniel glanced at the survivors near the edge, shouting and distracting the monster to the best of their ability. Other survivors now appeared on the other side.

It surprised Daniel at first, but he soon realised what their plan was when he noticed Dieter was no longer unconscious on the ground. Instead, he spotted Lance and Thomas there next to a puddle of water. No doubt they had used the last of their water to help Dieter wake up. ‘Clever lads,’ Daniel thought, grinning as he figured out what had happened.

Tensing his muscles for one last dash, Daniel cradled his sword as if it were a spear. He poured every bit of stamina he had left into one last move while forcing what little Magicka he had into the sword. Jolts of electrical essence now ran along the edges. His eyes flashed bright blue as he burned Magicka, thinking about only one thing. Raising his voice, he called out to his friend. “Just give me one opening, Dieter!”

It wasn’t the first time Daniel faced death with only one chance of surviving. This is what it was to be a Rifter.

And the opening came swiftly at that. Dieter’s mace hit the monster suddenly as the monster hissed out in pain. Using the last bit of strength Dieter had, he forced the monster to its knees. “Now!” Dieter yelled, gripping the monster with both hands. He dropped his mace, pinning it down and keeping it on its knees. The monster slashed and clawed at Dieter violently, tearing into his skin and flesh.

The surrounding air felt charged, as if a flash of lightning was about to hit them. The monster noticed something was wrong as well, glancing first at Dieter before searching for the other Rifter, who vanished that very moment as his battle cry followed his final attack. “Die!”

Daniel blasted forwards, muscles groaning as he propelled his body beyond his limits. Pain assaulted his body as he gave it everything he had. He aimed his sword at the monster as he shot forwards, driving the blade up to the hilt in the monster’s left eye and out of its skull in one devastating and twisting thrust. Feeling the impact, Dieter warned the others for what would follow next as he rolled away himself. “Get back!”

Many of them threw themselves backwards or got into a prone position. A second later, the air was thick with the sounds of the monster dying as its flesh started boiling from the inside. The storm of lighting emanating from Daniel’s sword had completely ravaged the monster from within. It lasted two horrible minutes before it finally grew still and fell to the ground, limp and still steaming, with Daniel standing over him, wounded and devoid of any strength.

“You di-” The survivors wanted to scream out in delight but stopped when the very world rumbled and shook. They quickly realised that the Rift-event was ending, and that they were in a different danger now.

Daniel quickly took control. “Grab anyone you can and get to the top!”

From there it was a frantic dash to the top of the construct, with survivors dragging the wounded and even the dead before realising it was useless. Dieter had rushed away from the group only to return later with his unconscious Rift-hound slung over his shoulder despite the massive injuries the man himself had sustained.

“Get as close as you can to the centre,” Daniel commanded as he grabbed people and forced them closer and closer to the centre. Compared to how composed Daniel usually was, he was now on edge, with him being as rough as needed to keep the survivors in place. They could see the pulsating black energy that reached upwards in a beam. It was impossible to pass through it, but the Rifters wanted everyone to hug it as tightly as possible despite the way it was making everyone feel.

A second later, that black pulsating beam imploded before a massive black wave of energy began engulfing everything in its path. None of the survivors could even process it all before the energy ravaged their bodies and forced them to return to earth in a violent display of primal energy.

[Congratulation’s survivors, you have cleared this Rift.]

[You have been registered.]

[You have been awarded a Level up.]

[You have been awarded a personal skill.]

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Author: Osirium

Copyright: 2021 OsiriumWrites

Released: 2021