TRC - Searching for the Sky Ch. 23

"I do."

"Don't heal her yet," said Falma, stepping up beside the rogue. "Carryin' her like this will be easier than if you cure her and she panics."

Kedder flipped the ornate dagger and caught it by the blade with his fingertips, holding it out to the swordswoman. "You cut, I carry."

"I'm stronger, I oughta carry her."

The thief shook his head, "If Kal drops that wall and there are more bugs on the other side, you will need to fight us out of here."

After a moment of thought, Falma nodded. Taking the knife, she went to work on Elden's bindings.

Once he had collected himself, Kal came over and used a simple cleansing spell to get rid of any remaining spores on the woman's body. Cutting the last few strands, Falma let the priestess fall into Kedder's arms. With a long leather strap from Ria, the mage helped secure Elden to the thief's back. As he finished, he looked up worriedly at the fighter.

"I can feel it too," said Falma, looking toward the door. Vibrations in the floor indicated a large group of the ants headed this way. She glanced over at the mage, "Are you good ta fight? You took it pretty rough earlier."

Kal nodded, "Technically, those were my first kills. When I signed on, I thought we were coming out here to kill some beast, not monster girls. I'll cut down a horde of ant-girls if they are trying to kill me, but no more workers just trying to do their jobs," he said, tilting his head toward the chitin-clad woman still sitting on the floor.

"Hard to disagree with that. If you're ready, let's get outta here."

By the time they got to the exit, there was no denying it. A large group of ant-women was just outside Kal's wall.

Kal took a moment to change back to the metal staff. Kedder's suggestion to switch weapons seemed sensible and he followed it without considering his other abilities. He was better with the staff and it could be just as deadly as a blade when combined with his strength rune.

Falma wrung the grip of her sword in anticipation. She glanced over at Kal, "Ready."

Kal raised his staff in both hands, sending out the tendrils of magic to the top of the stone door he created earlier. The ant-women on the other side must have sensed something. The vibrations from their movement ceased a moment before he anchored himself and pushed the slab down.

The woman that sprang through the doorway was nothing like the workers they killed. Hard chitin covered her head like a tightly fitted bandana instead of hair. A thick mask of the same material covered her face from nose to chin while her eyes were like Bea's, multi-faceted but human in shape. She also shared the butterfly-girl's height and front covering. Kal was too busy fighting for his life to wonder if it opened up in the same manner. Unlike Bea, the hard, black chitin encased all but the front of her torso, instead of stopping at her thighs and upper arms.

A long, scythe-like blade extended from her forearm on one side while a needle protruded from behind her wrist on the other. Kal spun the staff frantically, his strength rune flaring as he released the magic holding his feet in place. This ant-girl was much more skilled than the workers and the suddenness and ferocity of her attack caught him off guard. As she pushed him back, another identical ant-woman darted out the doorway and engaged Falma. A third attempted to emerge from the other side until a throwing knife sailed past Kal's shoulder and found purchase in the ant-woman's neck.

The workers grabbed the soldier and pulled her back into the tunnel. One of them removed the knife and threw it away where it vanished and reappeared in the thief's hand. Another produced some of the sticky substance with the healing properties, slathering it over the wound. Seconds later, the soldier was back on her feet and ready to jump back into the fray, only to find her sister had been pushed back and she no longer had enough room to get into the chamber.

Kal's surprise from the woman's initial assault passed quickly and he soon took control of the exchange again. As the strength and speed runes glowed brighter, the mage started pushing her back into the doorway, preventing her friend from coming to help. He smirked at the look of frustration in her eyes.

The other soldier in the room had Falma locked in a defensive battle. The smaller woman was extremely strong and would have quickly overwhelmed the fighter if not for her magic belt. Though the swordswoman had her beat in skill, the ant's speed forced Falma to keep falling back, directly into one of the zombified horses. A bite wouldn't kill her outright but if the fungus got inside her it would eventually put her into a daze, much like the priestess.

"Hey, bug-lady! Catch!" yelled Kedder.

With barely a glance, the soldier swatted the throwing knife to the ground then braced for the expected attack from her opponent.

The attack never came. Instead, she felt a tiny sting on the exposed flesh above her eye. Jerking her head away, she brought up her arm to stab the ghostly figure above her. The tip of the needle passed through empty air as her attacker faded away. The tiny dart the apparition used fell to the ground in front of her, its tip still stained with poison.

She jumped out of her opponent's range and stumbled, her legs not responding to her commands. Dropping to her knees, she looked up at the human woman bearing down on her, unable to even raise her arms in defense.

A swipe of Falma's sword and another head joined the two on the floor left by the mage.

"Not the way I like ta do things, but it's better than bein' dead," she said, looking over her shoulder at the zombified horse still champing its teeth at her as it strained against its bonds. Turning back to the fight in the doorway, she saw the mage appeared to be faring better than she had.

Kal waited patiently for a mistake. Just defeating her would do little good as there was another waiting behind this one. He also realized that this battle wouldn't go unnoticed by the rest of the colony. He had seen regular ants deal with prey and worried they would be overrun by sheer numbers soon. The mage had an idea, but he needed a good-sized opening in her defense for his plan. Even with his superior speed and strength, she was proving too skilled for such an opportunity.

Pumping more power into the strength rune, he batted the soldier's blade, making it swing wide. Shifting his grip, he poured even more energy into the rune and brought the staff down across her chest. The woman stepped back and dug her clawed feet into the rock, taking the blow. The top quarter of her torso covering cracked and fell away, revealing a very human-looking breast. At the same time, Kal felt a sharp pain and saw the ant-girl's other arm held out, the tip of its needle piercing the skin of his shoulder. Pain flared as the soldier squeezed her hand closed and began pumping poison into him.

The ant-woman's face covering opened. Splitting down the middle, the triangular, modified mandibles rotated up and back until they looked like one of the winged helms he'd seen pictures of. Behind the mask was a very human face, aside from the faceted eyes.

"You are strong, the queen will enjoy you for a very long time," said the woman, grinning. The mage could tell what she was saying wasn't what he heard. Whatever language they used, it wasn't Common. Luckily, his translation spell didn't care.

"She might," said Kal, "but I'm never going to meet her."

The soldier's face showed her surprise, she hadn't expected him to respond in her tongue.

Kal leaned back, letting the point of the needle slip free, and brought his staff into position. The healing and cure poison runes on his back faded and the strength rune shone as he thrust forward with the end of the staff. The power matched that of the last strike, but this time he angled the staff up slightly instead of striking down. Unable to find purchase with her feet, the ant-woman sailed into the soldier behind her and they both went hurtling across the larger tunnel outside until the far wall stopped them.

The mage's speed rune flared as he darted through the entryway. Their graceless tumble left a large swath among the workers for him to follow. Reaching the women as they tried to extricate themselves from one another, he thumped them both on the head with the end of his staff, knocking them out.

Kal turned around to see the soldiers' entourage of workers cowering before him.

"Move over there," he commanded, pointing further down the slope while hoping they understood him. "Any of you..." he was interrupted by the noise of twenty worker ant-girls moving to where he pointed. "Okay... wasn't expecting that. Any of you who try to get in our way will be killed. Do you understand?" In unison, twenty heads nodded.

Falma and Kedder emerged from the chamber a few moments later. No sooner did Kal summon Ria again then they heard an unmistakable rumble coming from the lower parts of the colony.

"We need to go, now," said the fighter.

"Stay close," said Kal. Stepping behind the other two, he powered the speed rune and split it among them. After a couple of steps to get acquainted with the magic and moving as one, they were off to find the source of the fresh air coming down the tunnel.

------

"Of course it couldn't be that easy," said Kedder, looking at the wall in front of them.

Holes that dotted its face expelled the air, creating the breeze on their faces. Unfortunately, the largest of the openings was barely large enough for Kal to fit an arm into. The mage immediately tried to shape the whitish material, but geomancy did not affect it, despite being hard as stone. The only one who could escape at the moment was Ria.

Falma inspected the walls around them. They appeared to have used the same substance to reinforce the dirt, which explained why the large tunnels hadn't collapsed despite a lack of supports. It also made digging out seem unlikely.

Their speedy trip to the end of the tunnel offered them a brief respite, but they could already hear the oncoming horde.

"We shoulda tried to get out the way we came in," sighed the fighter, looking up at the ceiling.

Also looking up, Kal remembered a spell he used a long time ago that was especially meant for dirt. "I have an idea, but it will take some time. I'm going to try to put a hole up there, he said pointing upward. "Then we just have to break through the... inner shell?" he said, uncertain of what to call it.

"We can name it later," said Falma, drawing the sword from the sheath on her back. "I'm strong, not smart like you two. I'll hold 'em off as long as I can." She looked down at her chest and grumbled, "Shoulda bought some better armor."

Kal didn't think that was a fair assessment of her intelligence but didn't have time to dwell on it because Ria was yelling in his ear.

"Kal! Armor! She's the same size!" the sprite yelled. In her excitement, she apparently forgot his ear was so close.

He looked over to see Falma looking back in confusion. The avatar was right, she was about the right height and stature. "Falma. Remember what I did before I fought the knight? Ask Ria for some new armor and stand very still." He looked over at Ria, "Give Falma the armor when she asks for it," he said making it official for the sprite. A moment later he added, "Hell, give her the sword too, it's too big for me anyway." With that taken care of, he looked up and began preparing for the spell.

Glancing back toward the sound of oncoming ant-women, she shook her head. "Not supposed ta switch horses midstream, but what the hell." With her sword in one hand pointing toward the floor, she held out her arms as Kal had. "Ria, I guess I need some new armor."

The sprite squealed with excitement as a stream of tiny lights flew out of her bag and surrounded the fighter. Ria briefly considered stripping the woman and giving Kal a peek but decided that would be in poor taste given the gravity of their situation. Besides, Falma still needed her underclothes and padding.

The sphere collapsed much like before, with only a slight pause as the woman's strength-enhancing belt fell to her ankles. The fighter looked down to find an unusual looking suit of armor as the motes containing her old armor floated back to the sprite's bag. At first, it looked like blue paint had been splashed across it, but she quickly noticed the rainbow patterns along the edges of the coloring indicating exposure to extreme heat.

"Molten rock caused the strange colors, but the magic appears to be intact," said Kal without turning around. The mage had extended a fist and was drawing an intricate rune above it as he spoke.

"It's magic?" asked the fighter. As if on cue, the straps cinched themselves down and the breastplate shrunk around her torso, forming two mounds that fit her breasts comfortably. The final speck of light drifted forward and touched her unoccupied hand, turning into a sword the same length as hers. Where her blade gradually tapered all the way to the tip, the new one maintained a straight edge along its length before coming to a shallow point.

She held both swords up, amazed at the strength imparted by the armor as she held one in each hand. Wearing magical plate armor while wielding two zweihanders was the most powerful she had felt in her life. Movement further down the tunnel caught her eye, bringing her attention back to the situation at hand. There was only one problem.

"Ria, take this one," she said, holding out her sword and keeping the new one. "Amazin' as it would be, I don't know how ta dual-wield. Even if I did, it wouldn't have been with anything this long." When the sword disappeared, Falma turned and stepped out of the magic belt around her ankles before striding toward the oncoming ants. "Grab that too," she called over her shoulder at the sprite, "I don't have time to put it on, and with this," she rapped her knuckles on her breastplate, "I don't need it."

Kedder watched the fighter for a moment before looking over at Kal. "Once you make the hole how are we supposed to get out?"

"With the same spell I use to glide. I'll make us both very light then jump out, drop you off, and come back for the others."

"Good enough. Do you need my help with anything? If not, I may as well help the woman. Plus, the priestess here is getting a little bitey," he said in exasperation. Elden's eyes turned milky during the short run to the end of the tunnel and Kal noticed that she was gently dragging her teeth across the back of the thief's neck. Minutes ago it had looked more like amorous kisses.

Falma knew a bit about fungal zombies, though this was her first time encountering them, and told them what she knew after noticing the change in the cleric's eyes. It would take a day for the spores to infect enough of the priestess to kill her. A short time later, the body would reanimate with a singular purpose of spreading the fungus. However, the infection didn't wait until its host was dead before trying to find new victims. In a little while, Elden would become violent, attempting to bite whoever she could. Her current behavior was just a precursor.

"I'm good," said Kal. "Leave her. I'll take her first then come back for you two."

Kedder nodded and untied the leather strap, gently laying the priestess on the ground by Kal's feet. "Work fast," he said before chasing after the fighter.

Falma looked out over the mass of insectoid women running towards her. These weren't the docile group of workers Kal ordered about earlier. She guessed those had been part of a small scouting or hunting party. These women were whipped into a frenzy, determined to avenge their sisters and kill the intruders. After Kal pointed out that the ant girls were just workers she had felt slightly guilty for cutting them down. There was no trace of those feelings at the sight of the oncoming horde. The swordswoman's cry echoed in the tunnel as she charged into the wave of ant-girls.

She kept the sword Kal offered because she felt it would be better for this situation than her own. More weight at the end of the blade meant less slowing as it passed through an enemy, and she expected to go through a lot of enemies. It was also in much better shape than hers, purchasing the belt wiped out her money and she was still only about halfway to a new blade. As the fighter swung the sword in a wide arc, she quickly realized it was more than pretty.

The bodies of seven workers fell to the floor. She was expecting to get one or two and use her strength to send the rest flying, not to cleanly slice through them. The swordswoman didn't have time to be surprised. Darting to one side, she nearly stumbled from the armor's unexpected speed boost. Falma recovered quickly and swung again, sending more of the workers to join their sisters on the ground. The wide tunnel forced her to dash to the other side, where she finished off the ant's front line.

A few tried climbing the walls to flank the fighter. With a flick of Kedder's wrist, they fell to the floor, clutching at the knives protruding from their throats. Moments later, the blades vanished, returning to the thief.

The ant-girls were zealous but not stupid. Sacrifices were expected when they tried to overrun an opponent, but a score of their workers lay dead or dying and the human hadn't even been touched. The next group to fall was more from momentum carrying them into range of the woman's deadly blade than the desire to attack. The soldier ants watching from behind saw this and called out to their charges to retreat. This enemy was far beyond the smaller workers' capabilities and there was no sense in any more dying needlessly.

Unlike Kal, Falma had no idea what they were saying, but let up when she saw the women drawing back. The fighter smiled, noting she had only been forced back a couple of steps in the initial exchange. Unfortunately, five of the soldiers were advancing and she knew from her earlier fight they were far more dangerous. Falma's skill far outpaced theirs but their superior speed left her at a huge disadvantage. With Kal's armor she could keep up and probably take out a couple, or even three, but five at once was a bit too much.

"Duck," came Kedder's whisper from right behind her.

Falma dropped into a crouch. The soldiers were so intent on the fighter they hadn't noticed the shadowy figure behind her, attributing the workers killed trying to scale the walls to some unknown ability of the human. Two small knives sailed out over the swordswoman's head, one each at the first and last of the five. Neither woman saw the projectiles and both suddenly had blades sticking out of their chest, the throwing knives easily penetrating their torso's hard covering. Like their sister back at the gardening chamber, the workers dragged them to the ground, removing the blades and coating the wounds with healing goo. Instead of recovering, both ant women began to shake and flail violently as the poison on the blades went to work. Seconds later, they stopped moving.

"Dammit, those were my only enchanted throwing knives, none of the rest will get through their armor," said Kedder quietly.

Fighter and thief both dodged to the side as two of the workers picked up the blades and sent them hurtling back in the humans' direction.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that again unless it's absolutely necessary," said Falma as the poisoned knives clattered across the floor behind them. Kedder grunted in agreement before running over to pick them up. The fighter paid him no heed as the three remaining soldiers fell into a battle stance and began slowly advancing.

The thief stayed back as Falma engaged the soldiers. He saw earlier that the woman was skilled, but against three opponents he couldn't help but worry. More concerning were the soldiers further back pushing through the throng of workers toward the swordswoman. Three, she might be able to handle, adding another five would be the death of her.