Life Review Ch. 06

As the ogre convulsed and smoked, Shawn and Denza both struck their final blows. Shawn's flaming fist slammed into its massive chin as Denza's final arrow pierced deep into its thickly muscled neck. The ogre swayed as its eyes rolled into the back of its head and blood dribbled from its nose and mouth. It collapsed into the building behind it, crushing the poorly built wooden structure.

The trio dusted themselves off and grinned at each other. Cassidy was the first to speak, "So who won that one?"

Denza frowned, "I couldn't tell."

Shawn flexed his sore hands, popping his knuckles, "Let's just chalk it up to teamwork. We each get ten points. What's the total? I'm at twenty four."

"Twenty," Cassidy sighed disappointedly

"Twenty five," Denza said smugly. Shawn groaned loudly. She had beaten him by one point.

Shrill cries echoed across the valley in an oscillating chorus of alarm. The sun breached the rocky walls around them and bathed the disheveled buildings in warming light. Shawn took a deep breath and readied himself for his next challenge.

"We've been found out. Get to your positions," Cassidy barked, quickly clambering back up onto the rooftops.

Denza followed after Cassidy. She paused with one foot on a ruined wall and gave Shawn a worried look, "Please don't be reckless."

Shawn winked and began jogging backwards, "Ye of little faith. I'll be fine with you watching my back."

Denza frowned and shook her head before disappearing over the wall and out of sight. Shawn turned and sprinted towards his starting position on the opposite side of the town. He made no effort to hide himself and darted along main streets in full sight of the alerted gnolls and kobolds.

As planned, a growing horde of creatures accumulated behind him quickly until he was being chased by an angry river of monsters. Shawn was forced to leap over small clusters of kobolds that scurried out of houses, struggling to get dressed. He made several sharp turns and nearly barreled headlong into a group of gnolls lead by a raider running towards him. Shawn had never run parkour before in his life, but his body seemed eager to break into a sprint and run diagonally up one side of the alley and propel himself like a pinball from wall to wall over the beastmen's heads.

Shawn laughed gayly as the freedom and exhilaration the flooded his body. All the nerves he had felt over the plan evaporated as he simply lost himself in the absurdity that he was living. He was being chased by a horde of monsters that were baying for his blood, and he was having the time of his life. He was soon forced to temper his enthusiasm when he reached his position and waited for the mob to catch up before leading them along the snaking maze Cassidy had planned.

Within the confines of the alley, only four kobolds or two gnolls could engage him at any given time. Shawn was confident in his abilities to fend off the seemingly never ending waves of monsters. Four kobolds rushed at him weidling spears. He easily parried the weaker monster's thrusts with his own spear and dispatched each one with a single thrust through their chest.

Shawn had the advantage of size when he fought the kobolds. They couldn't overwhelm him with their numbers in such a confined space. When groups of gnolls came forward to engage him he had to be extremely careful. A careless mistake could spell disaster for Shawn because even the weakest gnoll was his equal in strength.

Two of the smaller gnolls, only slightly taller than himself, engaged him cautiously. They were dexterous enough to avoid thrusts from his spear and closed the distance between them to force Shawn to fight with his fists. They attacked him together with furious swipes from their claws which Shawn deftly avoided by swaying or ducking out of the way. As he blocked one swipe with the back of his fist, the attacking gnoll clamped it's claws around his wrist and held him like a vice. The second gnoll tried to ensnare his remaining arm but instead collapsed with an arrow sprouting from an eye socket.

Shawn channeled his fire magic into his free fist and let the energy detonate as he slammed his armored knuckles into the gnoll's snarling mouth. The resulting detonation sent blood and teeth in every direction while the gnoll fell to the ground. Shawn looked up and saw Denza giving him a disapproving look. Shawn shook out his arms was as back pedalled into another alley. He needed to do better. He couldn't let the gnolls get close.

The next waves came relentlessly. Shawn could see the gnoll raiders at the far end of the alley barking orders in a series of yips and cackles. Squads detached themselves from the main group and moved down side alleys. Shawn figured that they were trying to flank him, but luckily Bishop and Denza had done their jobs well. Shawn skipped back to avoid more attacks from the kobolds and glanced to the left. He saw a squad of kobolds led by a gnoll desperately trying to move a cart loaded with boxes that had a broken axle while Denza picked them off one by one from above.

A streak of fire sizzled past his face, missing him by inches. Shawn looked wildly around and saw a raider-sized gnoll adorned in tattered patchwork robes and jewelry made of bones and skulls. The gnoll spellcaster, which he remembered Nessa telling him was some sort of shaman, towered over the rest and fired spells at him from behind the lines of soldiers.

The shaman fired off another firebolt that careened across the space between them. Shawn tensed and was going to throw himself to the ground when a second streak of fire collided with the first and exploded in a shower of sparks and embers. The shaman let out an annoyed cackle and looked around the find the source of the spell.

Shawn took his opportunity to send cleaving arcs of wind into the lines of kobolds and gnolls to give himself breathing room to retreat. Shawn cut down waves of enemies inside the narrow alleys while Cassidy kept the shaman in check and Denza picked off smaller groups that tried to find alternate paths to get to Shawn's rear.

The plan seemed to go flawlessly. Shawn backed around another corner and lashed out with a blade of wind that decimated the next wave of kobolds. He had lost track of how many he had killed up to that point. He was sweating under his armor and heat radiated from his body from the effort he was exerting.

Shawn heard explosions in the distance. Each explosion was accompanied by a bellow of pain and rage. Bishop had begun his stage of the plan. Shawn continued to fend off his attackers, leaving piles of corpses in the alleys as he slowly followed the snaking path he had painstakingly learned.

He waited for the next wave to come for him, but none came. He peaked around the corner and saw the alley was empty aside from scores of bloody corpses and those unlucky enough to have clung to life. There was another explosion, closer than the last. He heard loud baying nearby and felt his stomach sink.

"Denza? Cassidy? Where did they go?" Shawn called out.

He waited a few moments and got no reply. He ran at a wall and kicked off to catch the lip of a roof and pulled himself up. He saw Denza firing rapidly four alleys away and Cassidy blocking two different volleys of magic not far from her.

"Fuck," Shawn spat. He ran full tilt towards Denza, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"What happened?" Shawn yelled as he got closer.

"I don't know. After the bombs started going off the commanders sent the majority of their troops off towards Bishop. We didn't have time to tell you. I've been trying to slow them down but I'm running out of arrows!" Denza's arms were a blur as she drew and fired in rapid succession. Down below, kobolds and gnolls were dropping like flies, but it was merely a drop in the bucket.

"Okay, new plan. Help Cassidy kill the shamans. She's been put on the defensive. I'll hold them off here," Shawn commanded. He didn't give Denza time to object and sprinted towards the head of the marching column.

Shawn reached the end of the row and flipped off the roof to land at the mouth of the alley where it met the main street. An explosion rocked the earth nearby, sending vibrations through his body. Bishop was close, along with the giant and his guards.

The horde bore down on him, kobolds rushed at him with spears down in a wild charge while gnolls had pulled bows and knives. Shawn gripped the wind magic inside of him and pushed its power through his body to his extremities. Shawn's body became the eye of a maelstrom, the cutting blades of air whirled around his arms and legs.

Shawn counter-charged and drove headlong into the mass of bodies. With every punch, kick, block, and parry, Shawn sent razor sharp currents of air tearing into the mass of enemies before him. He barely registered the stinging pain of stray arrows and blades striking him, Ruth's armor holding strong against the onslaught.

Bodies piled around him and sweat poured from his body as he fought to stem the tide, but he was forced back inch by inch. A fourth explosion blew apart a house four alleys over, bits of wood and metal rained down around him as gravity brought them back down to earth. The indignant roar of the giant was deafening.

There were three more bombs primed to go off, and they couldn't be wasted on the footsoldiers. Shawn had to think quickly. How could he divert the river of monsters? He looked desperately around him, seeing nothing that could be used as a roadblock. He dodged out of the way of a clumsy spear thrust and a bright plume of fire erupted from the distance. One of Cassidy's critical mass fireballs had struck its target. He allowed himself a brief moment of pride for Cassidy before returning his attention to his work.

Something wriggled in Shawn's mind. What had Cassidy's plan been if the plan broke down? Set the town on fire? Shawn glanced to either side and saw dry, rotting wood. Without a second thought he let go of his wind magic and pulled heavily from the ember of fire magic in his mind. His hands burst into brilliant crimson and gold flames as he channeled his power into his hands.

Two small orbs of fire grew into existence as Shawn formed two fireballs in either hand. He fed more power into each orb until the scorching heat was nearly unbearable for him. The orbs weren't quite beach ball sized as Cassidy's critical mass fireballs were, but they are roughly the size of a volleyball and were roiling masses of white and blue flames.

Shawn grunted when he completed the spell and the energy left him. Both fireballs blasted from his hands and tore their way into the buildings on either side of him. There was a pause where Shawn wondered if his spell had somehow not worked, when two thunderous explosions ripped apart the builds and spat hungry flames in all directions. He was forced to rolled backwards into the main street to avoid the piles of burning metal and wood that collapsed into the alley.

He didn't have time to catch his breath. He looked down the street leading back towards were Bishop was leading the giant. The next explosion would happen soon, and would cut off the support from the kobolds and gnolls, so Shawn had to move further down the main thoroughfare and block off the other outlets.

Charging up two fireballs, Shawn ran towards the center of the town. He fired explosive orbs into each house he passed, leaving behind a trail of shattered and burning blockages. When he got to the center of town, he circled back and returned to the rooftops. He quickly found Cassidy and Denza, who were each downing one of their potions. Cassidy was sweating heavily, but Denza only looked slightly flushed.

Once he caught up with them he panted, "I've cut off the access points to the main road, so Bishop should be clear for a while.

"Those shaman were more persistent than I gave them credit for.," Cassidy's face twisted in disgust with the aftertaste of Nessa's rejuvenation potion.

Denza looked down at her two empty quivers, "I need to find more arrows. I have half a quiver until I'm out."

Shawn jerked his thumb back towards the trail of carnage he had left, "A bunch of the gnolls had bows, you can probably scavenge some."

A fifth explosion sent plumes of fire and smoke into the morning sky. Cassidy narrowed her eyes and shouted over the racket, "You need to be quick! Bishop is running out of road.

Denza darted off, bounding across the rooftops. Shawn took one of his potions out and chugged it, grimacing at the vile taste. They didn't have time to spare, Shawn heard the mass of armored bodies clanking down the side streets towards them.

"Roadblocks are out. I need your help to contain them," Shawn said, as the two set off towards the onrush of monsters.

"I have an idea, but it's going to really sap me of power," Cassidy warned, looking drawn. The effects of the rejuvenation potions would only help stave off the effects of exhaustion and recoup their energy very slowly.

"We don't have a choice. We have maybe five minutes before Bishop reaches the final bomb and we still have a large number of kobolds and gnolls. They won't fall for the same trick twice," Shawn leapt off a roof and narrowly missed a rotting board as he landed on the next.

"We need to take out their leadership. Denza will be back soon, so she can help take out the rest. If you can stop them for a few moments, I can do some damage on the back lines." Cassidy brandished her wand, crackling with electricity.

Shawn pressed his lips into a tight line, but agreed. Cassidy ran off to circle around to the rear of the horde, while Shawn jumped right into the thick of it, literally. Summoning the explosive power of his detonation fists, Shawn dropped into the tide of monsters. He landed on the shoulders of a gnoll, who crumpled to the ground under Shawn's weight, then two explosions from his feet propelled Shawn into the a group of kobolds and killed the gnoll instantly.

The benefit of Detonation Fist was the condensed destructive power, so each blow from Shawn came with an almost guaranteed kill if the target wasn't large enough to withstand the shockwave. The downside, as Shawn was finding out quickly, was that the ability absolutely guzzled his energy reserves. He cleared a large gap in the horde, and ran after the stragglers running away towards the center of town. He caught up easily by using his Windstride ability. He used his spear to cut down the fleeing kobolds to conserve his magical energy. He turned and fell into a ready stance.

Shawn waited for the monsters to come to him, giving him a moment to catch his breath. He heard yelps and alarmed cackles from a ways off behind the river of kobolds and gnolls, who approached more cautiously. Shawn knew the number of gnolls would be low at this point, their estimates putting them around eighty or so and Shawn had killed a good half that number thus far. The real drain on Shawn was that the kobolds numbers were still in the hundreds.

The sixth bomb went off. Shawn drank a second potion and tossed the vial away. He took his spear and jogged towards the horde. Arrows, knives, and rocks came at him like hail. He managed to deflect or dodge most of the volley, but he couldn't evade them all. A small knife found a weakened spot in the cloth undershirt and sliced deeply into his side while more than a few rocks battered her chest.

Shawn hurled his spear deep into enemy lines. It landed blade first in the chest of a gnoll raider thirty feet away, that was locked in place by the sheer number of its comrades around it. Shawn drew heavily from his power once more and activated Gale Intercept. The wind howled around him as he was picked up and shot forward towards his spear. His passage knocked aside many of the kobolds as he blasted through their ranks. Once he reached his spear, time slowed in his mind once more. He gripped the shaft halfway along the length with both hands and swung his weapon with all his might in a tight circle.

The spell completed and the magical wind swirled around him in a tornado and buffeting winds. Gnolls and kobolds were lifted off their feet in the confined space of the alley and were cut apart by Shawn's spear like a human lawn mower. The force of the raging winds died and Shawn staggered drunkenly and slipped in a puddle of blood. He pushed himself to his feet, the world still spinning, and he had to support himself with a hand against the wall until his equilibrium returned to normal.

A screeching cry alerted Shawn to a new attack, he saw a small group of kobolds and a gnoll rush at him from the crowd of monsters. He swung his spear in a wide arc to fend them off, but the kobolds ducked under the the weapon and barreled into him. Shawn was tackled to the ground, his spear was knocked from his grasp and clattered away. Four kobolds sat on his arms and legs, pinning him. The gnoll loomed over him with a wicked sword poised to stake him to the ground.

The gnoll let out a triumphant laugh and plunged the sword down. Shawn struggled against his small lizard captives and managed to shake one off in time to slap the blade off target. A familiar searing icy cold fire burned across his shoulder as the blade sliced through the hardened leather and bit deep into his shoulder.

Shawn cried out in agony. He struggled to free any of his restrained limbs as his free arm fought against the gnoll's weight. The blade slowly pushed deep into his flesh. He thrashed violently and pain burst white behind his eyes.

He heard a feral snarl from high above him and saw a dark shadow swoop down and tackle the gnoll to the ground. Steel glinted in the morning light as two blades were held high and plunged down in swift avenging strikes. Blood spattered the walls as the blades rose and fell in rapid succession until the figure stood, blades dripping in gore and turned towards the kobolds. Green-flecked silver eyes burned out from under a curtain of silver hair and barred teeth.

"Run," Denza snarled, stalking forward with her bloodstained knives held aloft. The kobolds shrieked and bolted.

Shawn clutched the blade in his shoulder and rolled onto his unstabbed side, gritting his teeth in both anger and pain. The bond linking him and his feral avenger burned brightly with wrath. Denza's mind was consumed with the hunt. Shawn felt relieved that she couldn't feel his burning humiliation.

He heard an airy giggle from behind him, "Oh no. You don't get to run." Shivers rolled down Shawn's spine. There was a roaring of fire and squeals of pain, followed by the smell of burnt flesh.

Strong hands pulled him into a sitting position. Denza put her fingers around the wound, and he felt the blade slide free. Shawn hissed in pain as the cold steel was removed from his body. Cassidy stalked forward, fearlessly, with her hands enveloped in a cool blue mist. She pushed out her hands and the air cracked as the temperature dropped sharply. She knelt down and placed her open palms on the ground. Ice spread rapidly from her outstretched fingers and raced down the alley.

The horde running towards then didn't realize the danger they were running into and soon found themselves slipping and sliding. Cassidy had bought them a little time. Shawn looked down at his wound. The blade had cut cleanly, leaving only a four inch incision that bled freely. The blood that flowed from his wound was bright red. Shawn projected his menu out before him.

In the Scars & Injuries box there was a new entry that was blinking red in a heartbeat pattern. It read: Stab wound - Upper shoulder - Partial arterial tear: Life threatening. Shawn felt cold. His heart hammered in his chest as fear dug its claws into his brain.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Denza muttered under her breath. "The blade must of cut a major vessel."