NOVEL NEXT Step 18: Loss
Plumes of smoke and dust rise out of the crater. The chain-reaction did well to spread, and several buildings and even part of a tower have sunken into the wide, deep crater. Standing at the edge, I can't make out anything from Meira's mind, but I hear her heartbeat easily and take the leap in search of her.
"Meira! Wake up and say something!" I yell out, digging out fallen earth and slabs of concrete street. A wet coughs lets out behind me, but it's only the [Swak] responsible for all of this, hanging on for dear life.
Sneering, I lift the boulder squishing it and it breathes relief. However, Meira isn't also underneath it, so I let the boulder flatten the [Swak] and it spits out its [Soul Crystal].
Begrudgingly, I add the Crystal to my growing collection and continue searching. Pausing to get a read on her heartbeat, I hear nothing and fear what I'd heard before was merely the [Swak].
"Meira!" Trailing deeper into the crater, I make out a silhouette, but one far too tall to be Meira. It lunges, and the [Hezzura] revealing itself from the smog finds me too prepared—ducking under its attack, I carry the shortsword under its jaw, ripping out the Demons' head and spine with ichor-enhanced strength.
It too provides a [Soul Crystal], but not a trace of Meira. Again, I reach out with [Mesmer], ignoring the rising agony in my own [Soul Crystal] from heavy Essence and ichor use. Absorbing both of the [Soul Crystals] only alleviates some of the ache.
[Mesmer] pings off the minds of at least four other Demons in the crater with me but not Meira. Shortsword in hand, I sprint over to the closest, another [Swak] that fails to see me coming in the dust cloud. Ichor infused, the shortsword makes short work of the [Swak], and I pluck out another Crimson [Soul Crystal].
Searching for Meira around the now-dead Demon only brings disappointment, so I turn to the next. [Mesmer] lets me know the [Pavshka] an incline away is around chewing on something; whether that something is Meira I can't be sure, so I burst out after it.
Unlike the others, it senses me approaching long before I even reach it and fires a spurt of webbing that I cut through instantly. The spider-ant Demon flips itself over and roars defensively as its antennae twitch, sniffing me out wherever I move.
I'd figured that's how it sensed my presence on the rooftops, even as I stood invisible. Having a good long look at it now, I notice it has no eyes. Its antennae must do much of the sensory work.
It arches its back, protruding the web sac so it lets out direct spurts of webbing. Its attacks are easy to dodge; in fact, I weave through them so seamlessly I end up walking over to it.
Looming over, the [Pavshka] trembles. Its mind softens in my presence, and I figure… why kill something so weak? "Can you… understand me, fiend?" I ask, kneeling beside it with the shortsword placed edgewise against its carapace shell.
The Demon lets out a chittering whimper as it turns to gesture further down the crater that has now become an all-out slope as the road continues down the incline. A Demon heaves Meira out from underneath rubble, picking her up like luggage and throwing her over its back.
The shortsword leaves my hand with all the force I can muster into the projectile, but the [Pavshka] beats me to it—webbing the Demon from behind and drawing it in like caught fish. Meira rolls off the [Hezzura's] shoulders and into my waiting arms. There's a crack in her skull and she isn't breathing… no, she is, but faintly.
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The [Pavshka] struggles with its captured prey. Bones burst out of its back, tearing at the webbing till the bone Demon is free and on the move. Smart, the Demon runs to escape rather than attack, but it doesn't matter, I've already got total control of its mind.
Using [Mesmer] on this scale bleeds my injured [Soul Crystal], but I don't care. With nothing more than my whim, I command the Crimson-tier bone Demon to return. Stopped in its tracks, the Demon fails over and over to free itself from my psychic control. If there's anything I've shown love as much as agility, it'd be my psychic abilities.
Paralyzed beside me, the [Hezzura] stands in watch as I lay Meira down, brushing away strands of blood-slick hair from the crack. All this time I fought with myself, whether helping them was what I should do, what I wanted to do or if it was the right thing to do.
Did it even matter? Not when I can't think of anything to save her now. I know she can be saved—a potion or spell would fix her in a snap—she's still breathing, so she'd have a chance if someone… if someone had the power.
I don't. Did I ever?
"Meira… can you hear me?" Her heartbeat grows fainter, "I… why did you come out? I said I'd be back. Why?"
Of course, she doesn't answer. Her head lolls to the side, complexion growing paler with every precious breath. Essence is all the power I have, destruction and chaos of the highest order, unleashed into the world.
Corym was right, Demons don't do saving.
"Oh? What is this?" Someone beckons out from the end of the street. Looking up from Meira for the first time, I find the dust has settled and cleared, revealing the broken eastern gate arch lying a short walk away.
A man in a hooded fur coat with the presence of a Demon… no, several Demons, lurks closer. "A Demon? Moping over an Elf. You must be the one I've been searching for; I can smell it on you. Death, disease… sin. Do you remember me?"
Gently laying Meira down, I pick up her shortsword one more time and command the [Hezzura] to watch over her.
Glancing down at the man, I sniff, "No, not entirely, but speaking of smells, you must be the one stinking up this place."
He harks out a laugh, his coat rattling with him as he chokes on his own saliva, laughing. Then, wordlessly, he reaches into one of the coat's interior pockets. "You… you did this. I know, because I was shown."
Narrowing my eyes at him, I clench the shortsword, ready to imbue it with ichor. "Who are you?"
He pulls out a purple vial, dangling it in the air as he tosses his hood off. "I should be the one asking that. You're nothing like the King I fought… then again, she never came close enough to—"'
"Major Jeriko? Is that you? Ha." I scoff in recognition, "You… how are you here? Did the Heroes send you for King? Well, sorry to disappoint, but she's not here. If you want her, you'll have to ask Lumina au Hescaria."
"Given up your master already? I suppose I'll have to bargain this Healing Sprite for something else then." He smirks, and I catch his sight land on Meira behind me. "If you wish to save her, then-!"
I don't give him the chance to finish. Snapping my fingers at the earth beneath his feet, I command, "Petriv!"
The earth bursts, chains of igneous latch onto his feet while a dome forms over him, and I clear the distance, shortsword blazing with ichor. Jeriko breaks free with ease—much as I expected—skirting away from the crumbling dome but not fast enough to flee an ichoric wave from Meira's shortsword.
The wave tears through his coat, spilling out dozens upon dozens of Crimson [Soul Crystals]. He whirls away at the attack, cackling like a mad man, only to yet again dangle the purple vial in my face.
Wiggling his finger, he says, "Nuh uhh… you haven't heard the rules yet. Can't steal the pot if you don't play the game, Demon." He shrugs off what's left of his coat, revealing his body healed without a scar, but his left side is singed from my ichoric wave.
"The Heroes did a wonderful job bringing you back to… normal?"
Cackling even louder, he boasts with his arms wide. "No, better." Feet cracking the ground, he bursts out at me faster than I thought him capable. Snatching my neck in a moment of surprise, he launches us further before burying me in the ground.
Gasping at the air knocked out of my lungs, Jeriko smites down at me. His fists are coated in a radiant energy that has me locked in place, sinking further into the ground with each strike.
"By the Gods, I will kill you, like every! Other! Fiend!"