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The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3427194" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 134</p><p></p><p>A DUBIOUS RESCUE</p><p></p><p></p><p>“Talen!” Shay yelled, rushing back to engage the creature, which bore Talen high into the air. With his arms pinned, he could not wield <em>Beatus Incendia</em> against it, nor could he overcome its unnatural strength to break free.</p><p></p><p>Serah stared up at the creature in horror. The others were all gone, dead or likely to be so soon; she stood alone, helpless to stop it. Varo’s words of a moment ago echoed in her mind, mocking. </p><p></p><p>But then a noise echoed through the night; the sound of a horn, its low dirge echoing between the hills, and the cleric of the Father turned to see a new source of hope appear. </p><p></p><p>A column of riders appeared on the road at full gallop, weapons and torches held high. There were over two dozen of them, led by a man in heavy armor riding a big destrier, steam flaring from its nostrils in the chill night air. The sword in his hand was an unusual one, recognizable even at a distance; few blades bore the blue-steel tinge of <em>Valor</em>. </p><p></p><p>“About time, general,” Varo whispered to himself. The cleric, cloaked in <em>invisibility</em>, had carefully crept down the hill, moving closer to the corpse gatherer while trying not to reveal his position. If he’d known how sharp the creature’s senses were, he wouldn’t have bothered with stealth, but at the moment the gatherer was too preoccupied with other things to deal with the cleric. </p><p></p><p>The corpse gatherer, still holding onto Talen, turned slowly as the company of riders turned smoothly off the road and up onto the shoulder of the hill, still riding in a tight formation two or three abreast. Their pace slowed somewhat as their horses left the road, but their mounts were western breeds, sure footed and used to riding in the rough mountains of the frontier. Their leader let out a roar that was echoed down the line, lifting <em>Valor</em> as he came charging toward the enemy.</p><p></p><p>Ignoring Shay, who was hacking in vain at its ankles, the gatherer responded by taking a step down the hill, swinging a long arm low with the full force of its mass and momentum behind it.</p><p></p><p>The creature smashed its fist—with Talen still inside—into the onrushing riders with devastating force. Horses and men screamed as the gatherer’s blow crushed bones and bodies. The charge had been blunted with that one fell strike, and the few attacks that came at it as it rose back up were almost completely ineffective against it. </p><p></p><p>Dar shook his head as he rose up where he’d been flung to the ground fifteen feet away. He’d dropped <em>Valor</em>, but it was easy to find, lying in the stones nearby. His horse was just a mangled heap. </p><p></p><p>A half-dozen riders from the rear ranks of the cavalry formation rallied and swept around the hill to come at the monster’s flank before it could reset and recover for another attack. They slashed at its legs with swords and axes as they rode past, but even with the added momentum from the speed and mass of their horses, the damage they did was minimal at best. The monster lifted a leg and brought it down onto the back of the last horse in the charge before it could get free, smashing it into the ground, and sending the rider flying through the air. He landed badly in the rocks, and slid down the hill, limp and bloody. </p><p></p><p>Varo became visible near the creature, crouched behind a rock a few few from the gatherer’s left leg. Holding up his scroll to catch the light still shining from the torches atop the hill, he invoked the power that had been initially placed there by Gudmund, priest of Orcus. As the markings on the scroll faded, a soft blue glow began to materialize around the cleric’s fingers. Thrusting the scroll back into his pouch, Varo crept out toward the creature’s huge foot.</p><p></p><p>Having gained a moment’s respite, the gatherer lifted its fist high. A gaping opening appeared on the side of its head, black and sinister.</p><p></p><p>Shay had abandoned her attack, and darted back twenty feet, sheathing her sword. Getting a running start, she leapt onto a nearby boulder, and used that as a springboard to leap up onto the monster, landing at the point where its right leg joined its body. A pair of animated, rotting arms jutting from its body tried to grab onto her, but she leapt up, using the protruding bits of gravestones and other tomb fragments to climb higher up onto its body. She was clearly trying to make her way to the fist that held Talen prisoner. </p><p></p><p>But before she could get there, the creature opened its fist, and smashed Talen into the yawning maw that had appeared in the side of its head. The light of <em>Beatus Incendia</em> flared briefly, then vanished as the knight disappeared into the corpse gatherer’s body.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 3427194, member: 143"] Chapter 134 A DUBIOUS RESCUE “Talen!” Shay yelled, rushing back to engage the creature, which bore Talen high into the air. With his arms pinned, he could not wield [i]Beatus Incendia[/i] against it, nor could he overcome its unnatural strength to break free. Serah stared up at the creature in horror. The others were all gone, dead or likely to be so soon; she stood alone, helpless to stop it. Varo’s words of a moment ago echoed in her mind, mocking. But then a noise echoed through the night; the sound of a horn, its low dirge echoing between the hills, and the cleric of the Father turned to see a new source of hope appear. A column of riders appeared on the road at full gallop, weapons and torches held high. There were over two dozen of them, led by a man in heavy armor riding a big destrier, steam flaring from its nostrils in the chill night air. The sword in his hand was an unusual one, recognizable even at a distance; few blades bore the blue-steel tinge of [i]Valor[/i]. “About time, general,” Varo whispered to himself. The cleric, cloaked in [i]invisibility[/i], had carefully crept down the hill, moving closer to the corpse gatherer while trying not to reveal his position. If he’d known how sharp the creature’s senses were, he wouldn’t have bothered with stealth, but at the moment the gatherer was too preoccupied with other things to deal with the cleric. The corpse gatherer, still holding onto Talen, turned slowly as the company of riders turned smoothly off the road and up onto the shoulder of the hill, still riding in a tight formation two or three abreast. Their pace slowed somewhat as their horses left the road, but their mounts were western breeds, sure footed and used to riding in the rough mountains of the frontier. Their leader let out a roar that was echoed down the line, lifting [i]Valor[/i] as he came charging toward the enemy. Ignoring Shay, who was hacking in vain at its ankles, the gatherer responded by taking a step down the hill, swinging a long arm low with the full force of its mass and momentum behind it. The creature smashed its fist—with Talen still inside—into the onrushing riders with devastating force. Horses and men screamed as the gatherer’s blow crushed bones and bodies. The charge had been blunted with that one fell strike, and the few attacks that came at it as it rose back up were almost completely ineffective against it. Dar shook his head as he rose up where he’d been flung to the ground fifteen feet away. He’d dropped [i]Valor[/i], but it was easy to find, lying in the stones nearby. His horse was just a mangled heap. A half-dozen riders from the rear ranks of the cavalry formation rallied and swept around the hill to come at the monster’s flank before it could reset and recover for another attack. They slashed at its legs with swords and axes as they rode past, but even with the added momentum from the speed and mass of their horses, the damage they did was minimal at best. The monster lifted a leg and brought it down onto the back of the last horse in the charge before it could get free, smashing it into the ground, and sending the rider flying through the air. He landed badly in the rocks, and slid down the hill, limp and bloody. Varo became visible near the creature, crouched behind a rock a few few from the gatherer’s left leg. Holding up his scroll to catch the light still shining from the torches atop the hill, he invoked the power that had been initially placed there by Gudmund, priest of Orcus. As the markings on the scroll faded, a soft blue glow began to materialize around the cleric’s fingers. Thrusting the scroll back into his pouch, Varo crept out toward the creature’s huge foot. Having gained a moment’s respite, the gatherer lifted its fist high. A gaping opening appeared on the side of its head, black and sinister. Shay had abandoned her attack, and darted back twenty feet, sheathing her sword. Getting a running start, she leapt onto a nearby boulder, and used that as a springboard to leap up onto the monster, landing at the point where its right leg joined its body. A pair of animated, rotting arms jutting from its body tried to grab onto her, but she leapt up, using the protruding bits of gravestones and other tomb fragments to climb higher up onto its body. She was clearly trying to make her way to the fist that held Talen prisoner. But before she could get there, the creature opened its fist, and smashed Talen into the yawning maw that had appeared in the side of its head. The light of [i]Beatus Incendia[/i] flared briefly, then vanished as the knight disappeared into the corpse gatherer’s body. [/QUOTE]
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