Runeblade-Chapter 211B2 : Siege, pt. 1

Kaius pumped his arms, keeping an easy pace as flickering oil lamps washed them with light.

He longed to stretch his gait—to push himself to the full speeds he was capable of. If they did that, Ianmus was dead.

The mage was ahead of him, sprinting as fast as he was able—a speed that was genuinely impressive considering his distinct lack of Strength and Dexterity, the man clearly considered running to be a vital skill in a caster’s toolbox.

To his right, Porkchop was keeping a similar loping gate to his own, though it was obvious to see that he was also forcing himself to a slow pace.

They took the corner hard, keeping their speed as they pressed on.

He could hear the plague raging behind them. There was no pursuit yet, but it would only be moments until the bodies were discovered and a force was on their tail—the smallest of graces afforded to them thanks to their sudden discovery, confusion working in their favour.

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His mind raced as darkened stone rooms flashed passed them. Did they fight, or did they run? Running was risky. Once they were out of the caves, they’d have enough headroom to throw Ianmus on Porkchop’s back and make a break for it.

Unfortunately, the plague seemed to be made up of largely physical specimens. Considering how long their journey into the earth had been, Kaius suspected that their pursuers would close the distance before then.

Leading the boggarts on a pursuit out of the valley could be disastrous—precipitate them splintering into groups and infecting an even wider region. If they were unlucky, it might even speed up the boggarts discovery of the plains.

No, they had a duty. He doubted they’d be able to cull all of them, but at the very least they could fight them to a standstill in the darkness of the caves—thin their numbers until they were forced into a fighting retreat.

If they did enough, they might cripple the tribe. Stall their development and starvation long enough that a team better suited to their annihilation could be rallied.

Kaius pressed his lips into a hard line, his mind made up.

“Tell Ianmus we’re going to have to fight—we’ll hold a choke point in the darkness.” he pressed through his bond, Porkchop replying with an unmistakable feeling of acknowledgement—and an undeniable undercurrent of red thrill.

Kaius felt it too, his blood heating with a roar that had been steadily building since they had been discovered. Calm had come with it, the cool certainty that there was no more room for anticipation and dread—only action.

The bloodsong had been changing within him, he’d noticed. Less overwhelming, less…feral. He’d grown since leaving the depths. While he still felt the rushing anticipation of the fight, he no longer wanted to turn and fight where he stood as he once would have. Some of it was undoubtedly the clarity that had come with his ignited Mentis—the energy of his fire burned by his Glass Mind as it searched for avenues to victory.

Some of it was due to simple experience. The Depths—the isolated microcosm of challenge and battle that they were—had made it all too easy to indulge in base desires. His responsibilities had grown. His team, their mission, his vengeance, the phases, his growth.

Porkchop, on the other hand… Judging by the growing anticipation and violent desires he felt cross their bond, his brother was still very much in favour of simple, direct, action.

Not that Kaius could judge him for that, he still longed for the thrill of the fight—it had simply been tempered.

A howling roar raced through the tunnel behind them, a low rumble echoing shortly after it.

The pursuit had begun.

…

Kaius spotted the narrowing of the cave—the pitch black hiding no secrets before the flat monochrome vision of his Truesight. The boggarts had done little to excavate the tunnels this close to the entrance of the cave, and a natural deviation in the stone had led to a section that tightened to where he and Porkchop would only just be able to fight side by side.

**Ding! Truesight has reached level 48!**

The perfect place to make their stand.

“Ianmus! Stop beyond the thinning walls!” he called.

The mage nodded, his chest heaving too hard to answer through words.

Kaius appraised him, taking in his sweat streaked face and flushed skin. Ianmus had pushed himself hard—sprinted for all he was worth through the caves. No doubt his Stamina was shot, though thankfully the man would have little need for it in the coming conflict.

He could hear the roaring noise of their pursuers drawing closer—a tremendous wall of sound that burst through the cave in a constant assault. They were a minute away, maybe two.

Ianmus was the weak link to a fighting retreat, and given his pace through the cave, would have no chance in an outright rout. They’d need to buy the man time.

He took his position at Porkchop’s side, facing back the way they had come.

Mana flashed through the darkness, welling up from within his brother's centre as jade plates bound his massive body in impenetrable defence.

Kaius held his blade ready.

Heat washed over him—Ianmus working immediately to refresh their empowerment before the tide was upon them.

**Ding! You have been Enhanced - Sundrenched Strength!**

The howl of the plague grew all the more baleful—slavering monsters baying for flesh. Their hunger, he realised. Blood had sat heavy in the air as they fled through the sites of their slaughter, it must be driving the boggarts mad.

“Ianmus,” he called, keeping his eyes dead ahead as he waited for their enemies. “There is a good chance we will need to flee.”

“I know, if their numbers are as great as you said—as it sounds like they are—then they’ll wear us down with attrition alone. We don’t have the potions or regeneration to keep up—I've done the estimations I can, and none of them look good. Even in the best case scenario, we stand no chance.” Ianmus’s voice was determined, but Kaius had dealt with the nerves of staring death in the face enough times to hone in on the raw edge to the mage’s tone.

“Rieker set us up.” Ianmus continued, trailing off to a whisper.

“Calm yourself. We’re going to be fine.” he assured—they might lose this battle, but he’d be damned before he resigned himself to losing his life. “When I call for it, I want you to retreat. Race to our tent as fast as you can, it’ll hide you well enough.”

Kaius could practically feel Ianmus’s gaze snapping to the back of his head.

“You want me to abandon you to your fate?” Ianmus asked, the thin edge of shock and offense cutting through his nerves.

“No,” Kaius said with a shake of his head. “We’re just buying time—It's almost certain that me and Porkchop will be able to lose them on foot. We’ll circle back, collect you and disappear.”

“We cannot flee to the plains,” Ianmus cut in, voice resolute. “The two of you might be fast, but you’ll leave tracks—if we’re followed, they might be convinced to vanish into the forests if they discover how rife they are with food.”

“We can lose them in the hills—chip away at their trackers and raiders. I doubt we’ll be able to starve them out, with how much meat today will bring—but we can harry them all the same.” Porkchop assured the mage.

The half-elf ground his teeth at his explanation, but clearly thought it was a reasonable course, not saying a word to the contrary. Instead, Kaius felt the man start to channel his mana—the cleansing might of the sun gathering around the man.

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“I’ll focus on healing—a full strength beam might be effective here, but it would burn me dry.”

Kaius nodded.

“I hear them, they’re close.” Porkchop suddenly butted in, hackles rising as he growled into the darkness of the tunnel.

“Ready yourselves for glory, my friends.” Kaius said, settling into his guard—ready to break the boggart’s charge with Stormlash.

….

The first boggarts spilled around the bend in the passage in a gibbering tide that was preceded by the dull flickering glow of torches. The light was inconsistent and dim. A dull radiance that only just barely managed to beat back the darkness, leaving much of the passage draped in gloom.

Barely any of them held torches at all, really—most seemingly having been driven to furious madness by the sudden alarm and assault.

It mattered little to him, but hopefully it would make the boggart’s advance all the more difficult.

Most of the mob were boggarts, their charge slowing as the crowd was crushed together by the narrowing tunnel—forced to march eight abreast in the confines of his team's chosen battlefield. They were an unending tide—more pressing from around the bend to push on the backs of the dozens of bogglings that choked the visible stretch of cave.

The sudden force of the walls pressing them inwards hit the approaching plague like a physical blow—many of those in the middle falling to the ground as their allies to their sides were forced inwards. Pained screams rang out, bones breaking as those that fell were trampled by their allies.

Even a few bugbears faltered. By far the minority of the force, they were still easily visible by their stature, scattered inconsistently though the mass—urging their lessers onwards.

Kaius grinned with feral glee as he saw that his plan had worked—that the memory his Glass Mind had impressed on him of a panicked stampede of deer through a tight gully had proven relevant.

Orange light spilled across him, snarling cries rising to a near fever pitch as the plague spotted them.

Boggart spearmen and slingers loosed their projectiles. Most were empowered in some way, mana flashing in his eyes as the lesser creatures drew on system granted skills to imbue their weapons with myriad powers.

Kaius took it all in. His skills and Glass Mind aiding him in tracking their passage—and how best to defend himself.

**Ding! Explorer’s Toolkit has reached level 50!**

Even empowered by skills, the tight crush of the chokepoint had severely hampered the boggart’s ability to put any real force and skill into their blows. He dashed to the side, twisting with unnatural speed as he guided the stone weapons he couldn’t dodge into glancing safely off his armour.

**Ding! Uncanny Dodge has reached level 41!**

**Ding! Tempered by Dissonance has reached level 46!**

It wasn’t perfect—the slings in particular still bruised flesh and cracked bone, a dozen flares of hot agony radiating through his arms and ribs. However, such slight wounds could barely even slow him, the slighest trickle of Health enough to wash away all evidence of injury.

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 61!**

Cutting another soaring spear out of the air, Kaius was treated to the sight of his stone-clad brother unleashing a maddening roar—one that resonated with unnatural potency, sinking deep into his ears.

Bulwark’s Challenge rolled over the rapidly approaching tide like poison. It amplified the visible boggling’s aggression to untold heights—small eyes widened, growing bloodshot as the monsters let out a feral scream of madness.

As a single unit, their attention focused on his brother, more of their number falling beneath the feet of their brethren as they fought madly to race towards his brother. The debilitating strength of the skill was evident in the shaking of their limbs, and their stumbling lack of coordination.

Porkchop didn’t wait for them to come—nor did Kaius.

The dusky passage lit up pure blueish white, overwhelmed by the brilliance of the lash of crackling lightning that appeared in his hand. Almost all of the boggarts howled, those lacking the skills to protect their vision finding themselves blinded by the flash.

**Ding! Latent Glyph of Drakthar has reached level 48!**

He struck, slashing at a bugbear at the head of the charge. The heat and paralysing fury of a typhoon seared straight through its meagre defenses, boiling flesh and driving the resonant force of his mana deep into its body. Two streamers arced outwards, gracing two lesser boggarts with the same pain.

**Ding! Resonance Amplification has reached level 43!**

Clear as his vision was, he saw the terrible state of the creatures—blackened and smoking, they fell beneath their fellows feet, slowing the approach of the horde further.

Porkchop charged. His amulet might have been a comparatively small boost to his top speed now, but it still had one use—it got him up to speed in the barest of moments.

Trusting in his armour, Porkchop smashed straight into the front lines—caring not for the prickling row of wood and stone spears that were trained on him. Crude implements of war shattered on sacred jade, the full weight of the charge crushing bones and pulping flesh.

Then a jade wall erupted from the ground, crushing a full third of the front line backwards—forcing the boggarts into a disarray.

The skill expended its energy quickly against the endless tide of meat—but it did its job well, creating space for Porkchop to tear into the remainder.

His charge wasn’t without injury—half a dozen different streaks of red flowing from between the gaps in Porkchop’s armour.

Kaius raced in, blurring across the battlefield as he flowed through a precession of thrusts and cuts. Each one parted flesh—cleaved through limbs and left lifeblood flowing in its wake.

**Ding! level 58 Boggart - Skulker slain - Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

…

**Ding! level 64 Bugbear - Hungry Clubber slain - Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

**Ding! Liturgical Bladeform: Primus Ordo has reached level 50!**

…

**Ding! Liturgical Bladeform: Primus Ordo has reached level 52!**

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 53!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

The bogglings tried to mount a resistance—a few managing to lean on a myriad of skills to turn his blade, or punish his assault with a quickened stab, or an acidic slash. He simply pulled back, more than happy to focus his efforts on those more vulnerable.

**Ding! Uncanny Dodge has reached level 42!**

…

**Ding! Uncanny Dodge has reached level 44!**

**Ding! Truesight has reached level 49!**

With how crowded they were, it was impossible for them to track him effectively—especially not with Porkchop’s skill still pulling on their attention, forcing their fury towards his indomitable presence.

His blade moved like a living thing, smashing aside the probing strikes of a particularly ambitious bugbear totting a warpick, his heavy parries leaving it open to retaliation—something he capitalised on with ruthless efficiency, slipping around its allies’ club swings and spear thrusts to roll his sword into a riposte.

**Ding! Tempered by Dissonance has reached level 47!**

…

**Ding! Tempered by Dissonance has reached level 48!**

**Ding! Liturgical Bladeform has reached level 53!**

Blood sprayed, another body falling limp on the floor.

**Ding! level 62 Bugbear - Swift Raider slain - Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

The press started to regain some organisation—the sudden fury of his team's assault waning as the barking commands of bugbears brought some semblance of order. Those further back—an unending tide that stretched out of sight—stopped pressing forwards, giving the vanguard time and space to breathe. Until he blitzed passed, gutting them open, that is.

Kaius held himself back from unleashing Stormlashes into the pit—he was perfectly poised to take out the bugbears that were leading, but every spell cast was one that was unavailable to him for the rest of the battle.

Somewhere, out there in the masses of bodies, were the warchief and his shamans. He’d need power for that kind of threat.

Tightening his footwork, Kaius directed his mind to economy of motion. Short cuts and brisk stabs, unburdened by frivolous movements. Every point of stamina was precious, and with his Glass Mind utterly focused on the movements of his enemy he was freed to spend his effort like a miser.

It was basic—mechanical and routine, but it brought with it a solid rhythm. A tempo that let him force the boggarts to pay for every hairsbreadth of ground with a mountain of cooling bodies.

**Ding! Liturgical Bladeform has reached level 56!**

**Ding! Uncanny Dodge has reached level 49!**

**Ding! Tempered by Dissonance has reached level 50!**

**Ding! Explorer’s Toolkit has reached level 52!**

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 62!**

**Ding! Brotherhood of Ichor and Animus has reached level 65!**

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 54!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

He could do this as long as he needed to.

…

Ro watched the tide of boggart’s and larger bugbears stream past her.

It had finally happened, as she knew it would.

Now she had a choice to make—too much pressure and her vexing charges might break, letting some of the tribe flee. Or worse, one of them might fall.

The dead couldn’t learn.

Still, this much was far from enough. Too easy and they wouldn’t be pressed up close to the edge. Those kinds of lessons stuck with you, wormed their way deep to influence you forever more. The kind of teaching that would save them when there was no one coming to help.

She’d act to stymie the flow soon. But not yet.