Chapter 81: Bloody Nightmares

Trint had begun to think of this new way of shielding his Soul from outside detection as Soul stealth. It had become a relatively easy thing to maintain. Like walking it took very little effort and quickly became something you don’t consciously need to control. You just keep it going. There were drawbacks though. He couldn’t have any of his Soul creations out near him. He was unable to shield them with stealth when outside his body. He considered forcing the two independent nightmares, Baba Jaga, and Koshchei, to be drawn back to his Soul but his party met them after the first day and the two agreed to rejoin Trint’s Soul until later.

The two powerful nightmares were good scouts. But stealth is only good till you’re spotted and then like hide and seek you either run and escape or get caught. But this was not a game to any of them and there were additional options. At this point, all the good options were gone. They would be forced to fight if the wrong people spotted them. They all agreed a quiet escape was going to be their only chance to avoid an all-out fight for freedom.

Getting caught would restrict their opportunities since they technically weren’t permitted to leave. They also would be confined and limited in the ways they could deter assassins.

The party finally decided to rest as they were close enough to the city to scout a route to Ele’Azar’s contact. They were only an hour away from reaching the very outskirts of a sprawling metropolis when they found a cave large enough for them to all fit comfortably and was also empty and dry.

The city was large enough to have many launch locations that would allow them to get off the planet. The large population and many options would hopefully keep their departure undetected till they were long gone.

“You can all rest here,” Ele’Azar encouraged. “I’ll go ahead and find us a ship. My contacts will be cooperative and won’t ask us any questions.”

“How long will you be gone?” Pneuma asked.

“Give me ten hours before doing anything, but I expect to be back in about 6 hours. I’ll have to maneuver carefully. If they are searching for us, then I’m not going to be able to just walk in like any other person. It’s going to require me to move to a few locations and wait before pushing further into the city.”

“We will wait at least ten hours,” Trint agreed. “If you’re not back, we will assume you were caught, and we will have other plans at that point.”

“What do you think you’d do if I’m not back?”

“Let’s hope you get back in time,” Pneuma said, “but I don’t think we should tell you. If you get caught, they might have a way to get the information from you. And I don’t want you tortured to get it. You can system verify that you honestly don’t know this way.”

“So, get back in time or this is likely goodbye,” Trint solemnly confirmed.

“Okay, then I hope that is not what happens,” Ele’Azar agreed. With a firm handshake and then a nod farewell to the others, he left to get them a way off the planet.

The four who stayed behind spent their time quietly. First, they came up with a couple of contingency plans for if Ele’Azar didn’t return. Then it was rest, meditation, and some quiet conversation. As the hours ticked by the closer it got to the deadline the more, their nerves grew tense.

“I don’t like this,” Trint confessed with barely restrained frustration, “He should be back by now.”

“There’s still an hour left before his estimate and five before we agreed we’d leave without him. Just be patient,” Bitain’La tried to reason. Although she seemed concerned too.

“You’re right but now our chances of needing to use our alternate plans are increasing,” Trint concluded. “None of those were as likely to work as Ele’Azar’s. I’m sorry to rush you all but I want to send one or two of my Soul creatures out to scout closer to the city. It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours and sending the two shadowy nightmares will be less of a risk then. I know it wasn’t our next best option, but I don’t like feeling blind where we are holed up here. Not being able to use our Soul senses has been difficult since we left. I feel blind.”

“You done?” Pneuma huffed in frustration. “I know you mean well but you are getting too worked up. We need to wait until the agreed time.”

Nine of the ten hours passed with no answers. Finally, Pneuma and the rest were growing nervous and agreed with Trint’s plan to scout before they enacted any other plans. It hadn’t gotten dark yet, but they still agreed his two strongest nightmares were also the smartest. They could provide the best feedback.

Baba Jaga and Koshchei were sent out to check the route slowly and carefully to the city. Ten seconds after their departure, they both rapidly returned to Trint.

“You should have sent us earlier,” Baba Jana’s insidious whisper warned. “They are all around us.”

“Please let us kill them,” Koshchei begged with bloodlust and pleasure as only a wicked executioner could request.

Trint and the entire party spread their retracted senses out to the surrounding area. The situation was worse than they suspected. They were surrounded. About a mile from them in every direction on the ground was an army of fighters. Thousands of Soul warriors were out there. They were armed and waiting for them.

“There are too many,” Arneala’s despair bled through her shock. “I can’t fight that.”

“Bitain’La, you can stay here and deal with the consequences of betrayal or you can stick close to me and push through to the city. Decided now!” Pneuma demanded.

“Uh…” She recounted the combatants and reconsidered the cost of an engagement on this scale. “No, I can’t kill that many of my people. Escape is no longer an option for me.”

“Then don’t get in our way!” Trint growled. “Sorry, this is goodbye then. Thank you for your help,” Trint’s anger had been misplaced and his apology was met with a hug from the old mentor. Arneala also chose to stay with her mentor. She wasn’t ready to fight this many of her people’s seasoned fighters.

Trint and Pneuma jumped to their Soul Space.

“We can’t let them capture us, but I don’t know what it will mean to fight that many. I am confident in our growth but there could be countless more beyond them that we will have to slaughter to get away. They will likely pursue us too.”

“Pneuma, no one guaranteed things would work out. Even if I have to Reset, that’s better than just being captured and targeted by assassins again.”

“I don’t have to like it, but I am with you,” Pneuma’s conviction in staying at Trint’s side had never faltered. “I will stick close to you and try to clear a way through. Let’s go to the city and maybe we can steal a ship. We will figure this out together. Summon all your creatures and it’s about time we start mowing through those that oppose us. I’ve been waiting a long time for a battle,” Pneuma finished with an angry growl.

They both arrived back in their physical bodies and even before they left the cave Trint had summoned all his creatures. Thirty-six appeared surrounding the cave entrance. They were spread for a hundred meters in every direction. Trint mixed the various creatures and gave them loose commands to protect him while pushing through the forces toward the city.

With every passing day, Trint felt his Soul had grown and his control over it and his creations improved. Even during their travel here, he had stolen away moments to work with them in his Soul. Now would be the time when his Soul’s growth and capabilities in battle were tested.

Pneuma led the way and took a 45-degree right angle to their actual destination of the city. Trint followed and his circle of creatures kept in formation and moved with Trint. The forces arrayed against them were more intimidating to see than to sense. When Trint looked around, he estimated 10,000 people were surrounding them. Maybe more.

Not waiting to be diplomatic Pneuma transformed to a gigantic size. He rose to 18 feet in height and kept the other proportions of his frame. His arms elongated as he turned them into scythes and began reaping the nearest Soul masters on the ground. A few dozen were killed before the main force even realized the fighting had begun.

Following in his wake were Trint’s creations that Pneuma controlled. They were widening the path behind Pneuma and Trint followed to their left flank. Trint kept half of the remaining creations behind them as they would soon be surrounded and would need protection from the closing circle. Trint’s creatures crashed into the first of the Soul masters in a wave. Most of them had formed blades or sharpened appendages. All were now deadly Soul-empowered death reapers.

Each creature that passed the enemy forces didn’t bother stopping to engage them. The smarter ones that had great dexterity and control, executed quick surgical strikes and slices. Their opponents dropped lifeless to the ground.

Then the precision killers passed further into the formation of Cease fighters leaving occasional enemies to be killed by the other Soul creatures.

The less graceful of the creatures were still deadly. They ended up using wide swings of sharp blades, cleaving through body parts. They were making a bloody mess compared to the quick strikers but were dishing out death just as quickly. Trint couldn’t run at full speed, but they were pushing deep into the formation very quickly.

The force surrounding them rapidly began to collapse in toward them. Everyone in this battle could see the 18 feet tall behemoth and gave them an easy target for the enemy force to push toward.

The mile radius from the cave that the enemy had been positioned at began to tighten like a noose. Even the depth of the forces that had extended for at least another mile from those closest to the cave drew toward their enemy. If they couldn’t stop a frontal assault, it seemed they were going to try to overwhelm them.

Do you think they want to talk now? Trint communicated with Pneuma mentally.

Ha, ha, ha, Pneuma’s laugh back was mental and came from his gigantic form. It was all the response he offered as the slaughter continued.

The Cease troops in front of the giant trembled in fear at hearing the Soul projected laughter from the giant beast churning through their peers.

Pneuma continued to mow the enemy down with long sweeps of his blade, running it at about waist height to separate many of the people in front of him in half. Some ducked under the swing, others jumped over. But both of those groups that survived the initial swing either got caught in the backswing or by another Soul creature that followed in Pneuma’s wake.

Before they had left the cave, Trint had surrounded himself in a shell of Spirit strengthened Spirit armor. He added appendages and a tail to look more like a nightmare.

The void black creatures were swarming through the battlefield and Trint looked just like the rest of them. Some of the Pneuma forms even transformed to look more human to potentially trick anyone trying to target Trint.

Their coordination was fluid as they moved through the swarm of Soul masters. The Cease were firing off Soul attacks, swinging Soul weapons, and causing damage to Trint’s Creatures. Pneuma had taken some serious hits too. But none of the attacks were disrupting their progress. It seemed that Trint and Pneuma had improved their destructive potential as much as their defensive power. Their ability to regenerate was outpacing the level of damage they were receiving.