Chapter 23

The expedition walked along the wide avenue within the gatehouse, the walls held glowing blue crystals every few metres providing illumination. Jack noticed as they walked, that the white stone blocks the building was composed of showed subtle but noticeable striations indicating that the stone had been moulded by an earth cultivator. Perhaps the entire stronghold had been constructed by earth cultivators.

The stone passageway they walked through echoed with the thump of their boots and the rattle of their armour. Some of the marines breathed heavily while one of the diplomats let out a small whimper.

The end of the short passageway was illuminated brightly from lights within the courtyard up ahead. Cheryl motioned for them all to stop.

“There are several dozen warm bodies up ahead, they all seem to be ready for a fight,” Cheryl told the Lieutenant.

He nodded. “Marines, take point and be ready to fire as soon as we emerge,” he ordered his men. “I’ve already got a couple of machine guns on the upper level of the gate house, they’ll be able to give us covering fire,” he told Cheryl.

“Well then, it seems like everyone’s ready to dance, let's go,” she said calmly.

The end of the tunnel came up and the lieutenant told Jack to set up a wide shield to cover them from ranged attacks. Jack stepped forward cautiously and did as he was told, continuing towards the courtyard. Almost as soon as he emerged, his shield was pelted by arrows, fire balls, and shards of stone, he felt the drain of power on his shield but kept it going, his left arm was starting to burn with pain however. His shield was opaque which allowed him to see through it and tell what was attacking them.

Scores of elven soldiers stood arrayed at the other end of the large cobblestone courtyard in front of the main keep, shooting arrows and elemental attacks at them. The soldiers and hunters all ducked back into the gatehouse and got their rifles ready. Jack stepped back also.

The marine lieutenant distributed orders to his men which essentially amounted to kill everything with impunity, since there was no lack of targets. Cheryl said much the same thing to the hunters. Jack unhooked his rifle from his weapons harness and checked the magazine and the safety was off before following everyone back to the courtyard.

The lieutenant ordered the soldiers he’d placed on the upper level of the gatehouse to open fire before he led the charge out, guns blazing. Jack followed close behind, hearing the gunfire echoing throughout the courtyard. A few seconds later he emerged and already half the elves were down while the rest watched in horrified confusion as their comrade and themselves were easily cut down.

Jack paused and brought up his own rifle and aimed down the sights at an elf across the courtyard, the elf was just standing there, bewildered at the sight of what was happening. Their spear hanging limply in their hands, two other elves lay dead at their feet.

Jack hesitated, never having killed something that looked so human before. However, the moment passed when someone else took the shot for him, he never saw who, he just saw the elf’s breastplate deform and red sparks fly out from it as the elf collapsed backwards. The elf spasmed and jerked from pain as the incendiary round burnt away at their insides before they finally fell still. It really was a slaughter.

The diplomats stayed behind just within the gatehouse, Dr Nicholson watched it all with a small smug smirk of satisfaction.

Soon enough, the courtyard was clear and the way to the large set of stairs leading to the gates of the main keep were open to approach. However, something else came out to greet them.

From a shadowy corner to the left of the main keep gate, a large portcullis began to creak open with a great metallic rattle. Harsh sounds of elven voices raised in anger, and then great guttural, bestial howls answered.

The portcullis gate fully opened and from the shadows emerged two enormous monsters. They were strange humanoid creatures standing over three metres tall and very nearly half as wide giving the immense creatures a squat appearance, their skin was grey and leathery with yellowish white patches that looked like bone armour covering parts of their torsos and limbs. Their limbs were thick and strong, their hands looked to end in thick talons and their legs looked as strong and sturdy as an elephants. Their hairless heads looked flat and featureless with tiny eyes and no noses but still possessed wide mouths that opened up into feral snarls of fury. On their backs however, was a bewildering array of long rapidly thrashing tentacles that looked capable of doing serious harm.

Behind the creatures, were several elves that seemed to be goading them forward. Two of them held short rods that glowed, Jack narrowed his eyes and saw the glowing was coming from runes covering the rods.

An elf held up a rod and shouted something, one of the creatures let out a deep bellow from its wide maw and charged forward into their group with a lumbering but swift gait. It thundered forward and Jack could actually feel the ground shake slightly at its approach. The soldiers needed no orders and immediately opened fire.

Fiery impacts appeared all over its body centred around its torso, the beast simply tanked the shots and continued charging across the courtyard like a juggernaut. It tried to bowl over two of the soldiers but they managed to roll out of the way just in time. However, just as it ran past them, its tentacles whipped around and seized both men in their grasp. The monster stopped its run and the men both screamed as they were mercilessly crushed to death in moments, the creature dropped the two broken bodies to the ground and it turned its head to regard the rest of the humans with a low growl that reverberated throughout the courtyard.

Multiple scorch marks marred its hide but it still looked ready to fight. The lieutenant turned a frustrated grimace at Cheryl who simply stepped forward, a large razor sharp shard of ice manifesting next to her as she walked. At a slight gesture the ice shot forward into the large beast’s chest, unlike the armour piercing bullets before, the ice pierced the bone armour plate and lodged in there.

The creature let out a howl of pain and fury as it staggered back a few paces but it didn’t go down, it looked at Cheryl hatefully and let out a strangled snarl, thick, stringy grey fluid spilled out of its mouth.

Another booming roar was soon heard from near portcullis as the other creature charged forward. It leapt into the midst of the hunters and soldiers and began rampaging.

Jack sighed internally, but overall he still preferred this sort of fight over gunning down elves. He reattached his rifle to his back weapons harness to one of the magnetic locks and got out his extendable blast spear, he stayed back however, not wanting to get caught in one of the beast’s charges, he’d need to pick his moment. However he did join in in pelting the rampaging beast with elemental attacks along with the other hunters and soldiers.

While Cheryl kept the first beast busy, everyone else attempted to face off against the second. It moved quickly around the courtyard, not seeming to have a particular target, it swiped at one soldier with a claw before twisting around to bludgeon a hunter with a cluster of tentacles on its back before kicking another hunter away, sending him flying.

The soldiers continued trying to shoot the thing but kept having to run and dodge as it continued its rampage. One brave hunter stood his ground and poured a thick stream of fire onto the beast as it charged but it simply ignored the flames and grabbed the hunter with one large meaty paw. It lifted the hunter up and crushed him before throwing the corpse away with a berserk roar of mindless fury.

Several hunters tried to charge it from behind but the beast almost seemed to have eyes in the back of its head because its tentacles suddenly started lashing around and flailing. The hunters were forced to hurriedly retreat but not before a couple of them were severely whipped and bludgeoned.

The monster continued to rampage around the courtyard, several hunters and soldiers were injured and brutally killed but the continuous gunfire and elemental attacks began to have an effect. Horrendous wounds covered its body, grey ichor-like blood oozed from its wounds and scattered in great arcs everytime it moved and lashed out. The beast was clearly still berserk but the grievous damage done to it had taken its toll, it dropped to one knee, breathing heavily like a furnace bellows. Its face was still contorted into a furious snarl.

Again, hunters attempted to get close enough to finish it off but it lashed out with its large taloned hands and tentacles. A few of the hunters got light blows in but were forced to retreat once more.

Jack stepped forward, deciding to make his move. He set up as strong a shield as he could before charging the beast’s right flank. It noticed him and whipped several of its tentacles at him, his shield took the blows and allowed him to get through and plunge his blast spear into the creature's hide. It didn’t sink in very far but it was enough, he pulled the trigger for the detonation effect.

With a muffled explosive crump, the spear recoiled upwards, ripping through what was left of the monster's hide. The spot Jack had stabbed disappeared into an explosion of grey gore which covered him nearly head to toe. He was really glad he was wearing a full face covering helmet just then.

The beast didn’t even make a noise, it stayed standing for several more moments before toppling to the ground, thankfully not on top of Jack.

Meanwhile, Cheryl was handling her own opponent far more adroitly than the rest of the expedition. She expertly and elegantly avoided every swipe of its claws and every flail of its tentacles. She made a smooth pushing motion with both her arms that looked like a martial arts or tai chi move and the large ice still embedded in the creature’s chest sank deeper.

The beast howled in pain and launched a massive haymaker at Cheryl, she elegantly spun out the way and conjured another large shard of ice as she was spinning like a dancer, she used her momentum from the spin to launch the ice up and into the creature’s armpit. A large amount of greyish blood jetted outwards from the wound and again the monster howled in pain.

It began to stagger and hunch over, for the first time the monster began to look worried and frightened, it was no longer bellowing in fury like a berserker or flailing around with its attacks. Instead it began to back off slightly, limping and still growling but now clearly looking at Cheryl in fear.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Cheryl straightened up and slowly sauntered after it, looking completely relaxed. One of the elves bearing a glowing rod angrily shouted at the creature from by the portcullis gate. The soldiers and hunters who’d been just been watching in awe till then, remembered the elves by the portcullis and moved to engage them.

The elves noticed that their apparent ace in the hole was about to be defeated and promptly retreated back into the shadowy depths inside the portcullis gate which fell shut behind them.

Meanwhile, Cheryl suddenly moved forward blisteringly fast and before the beast could react, a metre long thin shard of ice suddenly embedded through its left eye socket. It stayed frozen for a few moments before its body finally realised it was dead and crumpled to the ground with a loud thump.

With that, the courtyard was clear, though everyone continued to look around warily, just in case there were any more surprises. When nothing else came up, Cheryl and the lieutenant led everyone into the main keep.

They walked up the wide white stone steps onto a large platform, before them was a set of large iron wrought wooden double doors. Cheryl walked up to them and opened them slightly. She peeked within before withdrawing her head and looking back at everyone.

“No one’s there, let’s go,” she told them and stepped inside. The human expedition followed her.

Two hunters grabbed the large doors and opened them fully, allowing everyone entry into the keep. They stepped through and emerged into a large hall lit up by white glowing crystals lining the walls and a large glowing crystal formation embedded in the ceiling high above them.

The hall was very large and spacious, done in the same white stone that the rest of the keep was made from. Multiple large corridors led off from it and stairwells led upwards to a second floor balcony. Lining the wall were a series of strangely half finished statues and sculptures.

Everyone slowly stepped into the silent, empty hallway. They looked around warily, weapons held at the ready. Suddenly, an arrow came from up above and shot through one of the soldier's eyes, killing him instantly.

Multiple arrows rained down upon them from elven archers suddenly appearing on the second level and everyone ducked for cover or made sure to protect any unarmoured parts of their bodies. Another hunter and a diplomat went down with arrow wounds.

Soldiers and hunters fired back and tried to rush up the stairs, at the same time however, dozens of armoured elven soldiers rushed into the hallway from all sides. From there it became an all out battle, the hunters rushed into combat eagerly, the soldiers fixed bayonets and it was on.

Jack got out his rifle and brought it up. The first elf to charge him wore the same armour as the rest of them; silver and red enamelled plate mail with full helms. They wielded a large sword and shield. Jack took aim and fired a burst of three shots. The elf collapsed backwards. Jack was surprised at the ease of it all. He took aim at another elf and fired once more.

Gunfire, the roar of shooting flames and screams filled up the hallway, weapons clashed and explosions rocked the room.

More elves charged into the hallway and Jack was inundated with targets, he fired off shot after shot as one elf after another charged at him. One of them tried to blast him with fire but he shot through the flame and heard the elf scream in pain, he allowed the fire to wash over him before it guttered out, revealing the elf down on the floor.

Soon enough he ran out of bullets and switched to firing off lightning bolts before he had a chance to reload and keep firing.

The hunters weren’t having it all their own way however, many of the elves seemed to be skilled fighters and had managed to bring plenty of the hunters to melee range. Jack also found himself confronted with an elf using the same large sword and shield that many of the others wielded. The elf lashed out at him and Jack attempted to block with his rifle, the rifle splintered and gave way, Jack was driven to his knees. The elf wrenched his sword back, Jack lost his grip on the broken rifle and was booted in the chest causing him to fly backwards several feet.

The elf snarled and stalked forward, intent on finishing him off. Jack scrambled to his feet. He heard the elf laugh viciously and say something, Jack didn’t understand what he said but more or less got the gist. He got out his spear and held the blade tip pointing towards the elf who chuckled at seeing such a short weapon. Just as the elf got within range, Jack flipped him the bird with his other hand as he pressed the button on his spear. The spear shot out and extended three metres almost instantly, piercing through the elf’s face plate. With a gurgle the elf toppled over.

The elven soldiers continued to pour into the hall and attack the hunters and soldiers, however they were slowly but surely gunned down and overwhelmed. The stone floors became slick with blood and other bodily fluids, it turns out elves also lose control of their bowels upon death, just like humans. And already, there was a faint multicoloured mist rising upwards, coalescing within the hall.

The hunters and soldiers continued to fight and soon enough, the elven soldiers were whittled down to just a few. A group of soldiers had managed to take the upper floor and were firing down upon the melee beneath them, helping bring the fight to a close. The last few elves remaining were surrounded in the centre of the hall. They refused to drop their weapons or surrender and kept fighting.

Despite the diplomat’s protests, Cheryl quickly moved in and mercilessly finished them off.

From there, the party quickly took stock of their situation. From the original expedition numbers of twenty four soldiers, twenty six hunters, six surveyors, five diplomats and Cheryl who’s just Cheryl; six soldiers, four hunters, one surveyor and one diplomat were dead. They were all very low on ammunition, the two juggernauts outside had soaked up a lot of bullets and the fight within the hall depleted it further.

Currently, Cheryl and the lieutenant were discussing what to do next.

“There are still plenty of life signs within the keep from what I can tell,” Cheryl told him loud enough for everyone else to hear. “But from the way they’re positioned and their body language, most of them are non-combatants. I think the rest of the defending force are down that way.” She pointed down a long, wide hallway that led straight from the main keep gates down into the depths of the fortress.

The lieutenant sighed. “Well…..we may as well keep going, if it's just one more fight then it's better to finish what we started. The follow up team is only a couple of days behind us so we’ll be able to get some reinforcements and relief at the very least. When we’re done here I’ll call this into the outpost and we’ll see what they want us to do,” he said, not sounding overly happy with the situation at all. Apparently, there was another smaller team of hunters, soldiers and surveyors following along behind them, just in case they needed support, they were primarily carrying medical supplies.

“Right then, let's go, there seems to be only a dozen or so elves left up ahead of us, they may be the commanders of this facility,” Cheryl said as she marched off down the hallway. Again, the stone work was lined with white glowing crystals that provided illumination and lit their way.

The expedition, now bloodied and weary, walked along the hallway, their boots echoed off the stone work and likely announced their presence ahead of their arrival. Up ahead of them, another large set of gates opened up as if by themselves, unmistakably natural light flooded into the hallway, momentarily blinding them.

Their eyes adjusted as they stepped into another large hall, much much larger than the entryway they’d fought in. The ceiling was incredibly high, it was dozens of metres tall, though it had to be in order to accommodate the rift floating in the middle of the giant room. Just like the one in the human outpost, it was a tall rift in space, it looked like a warp in the air, making everything look distorted around it, allowing one to see both inside and through it at the same time. Jack thought he could see buildings and daylight through it, but it all looked too warped to be sure of anything.

Before the rift stood around a dozen or so individuals, not the common elven soldiers that they’d faced before this time, though a few of them were wearing armour. No, these elves were clearly something else, several of them were wearing bulky full plate black mail and full helms that obscured their faces, they each carried enormous melee weapons, similar to what strong hunters like Nate normally carry. The warriors stared at them impassively without moving.

The rest of the elves wore no armour, but instead they wore fine looking clothes, furs and sweeping robes, their faces were uncovered except for a few that wore hoods. They glared at the intruding humans hatefully. Also amongst them that Jack noticed, was the female elf that had guided them to the stronghold, she was on her knees with a bloodied and battered face at the feet of one of the black armoured warriors, the warriors gauntletted fists dripped with blood.

Just before any hostilities could resume however, one of the diplomats stumbled forward.

“Please! This doesn’t need to continue! We have to stop this! Er…..” the diplomat implored both the humans and elves before attempting a few broken words in the elven tongue. Jack couldn’t speak a lick of their language but even he could tell the man had just massacred the pronunciation.

“Please! Dr Nicholson tell them, we must stop this!” The man looked to Nicholson who simply smirked and shrugged slightly.

Suddenly, the diplomat froze as if in pain, he gasped and began making choking noises. He fell to his knees and his skin began going red before he vomited up blood, the blood itself looked to be sizzling on the floor as if it was boiling hot. The diplomat collapsed to the ground, still jerking and twitching slightly.

The humans backed off slightly in fear and confusion, they then noticed one of the robed elves had their hands outstretched towards the fallen diplomat.

“Oh shit, attack! Into them!” Cheryl cried out before charging.

The hunters followed her in charging across the large hall, the soldiers stepped forward at a slower pace whilst opening fire with their rifles. The black armoured elves walked forward to meet them.

As the two sides got closer to one another, large balls of golden light manifested above them. Suddenly the balls of light began spitting out lances of piercing light that rained down upon the hunters. Several of them were hit, some of the hunters went down but the others kept on running. Jack conjured a shield above him which took a few of the hits. It could’ve just been his imagination but he could’ve sworn he heard an exclamation of surprise from the robed figures still standing by the rift.

A moment later, the hunters reached the black armoured warriors. The armoured elves had been moving at a sedate pace before but they suddenly exploded into action when one of them wielding an enormous axe larger than Jack’s own swept the axe through the first hunter to reach them. The hunter couldn’t react in time and was bisected at the waist.

The elf then followed up with an overhead smash of their axe into the floor, an eruption of rock flew outwards, heavy pieces of stone pelted some of the other charging hunters.

The other hunters engaged the elves with a mixture of heavy melee weapons and elemental abilities, the elves did the same, however they were outnumbered and quickly surrounded by the humans.

Jack confronted two of the armoured elves along with the rest of team Meredith, one of the elves attacked him with an overhead blow from their sword. Jack blocked it with a conjured shield and Nate used the opportunity to hack off one of the elves' legs before Noah finished them off with one blow from his hammer to the head. The next elf didn’t fare much better. Soon enough the armoured elves were dead, with Cheryl brutally tearing off the head of the last one and throwing it at the feet of the watching robed elves.

The robed elves all looked extremely perturbed by now, starting to back away in fear. One of them turned to another and grabbed their collar before shouting something in their face in a panicky voice. The elf shoved their companion away and shouted something to the others, they all simply looked to the shouter with a mixture of confusion and incredulity.

The elf who seemed to still be up for a fight snarled angrily, they raised their hands and an evil looking green mist began manifesting out of thin air in front of them. However before anything else could happen, gunfire barked out and the elf toppled backwards, their torso a flaming charred mess. The evil green mist stopped building up and dissipated into nothing.

That was enough for the other elves, they turned tail and ran through the rift. Jack could just make them out through the distortion. They didn’t stop running and continued until they were lost to sight.