I arrived at the outside boundary of the Dead Lands that was the closest to the village. This place was fucking massive, and the mana coming off of this place was wrong. I could see the vibrancy of life with my eyes, either to my Race, my stats, or most likely both. This place was devoid of it.
I could see strange flickers of what I knew as souls through out this place closest to where I was, but beyond that, I really couldn't see anything. I needed to though, because I had no idea where Kharie was, and now that I was closer to this place and could feel it this close, my chest was tight with worry for her.
I concentrated, and pushed my perception to pass whatever limit I subconsciously placed upon myself. I almost had to cover my ears as I began to hear the sounds all around me for what felt like miles. I didn't know what senses would help me best, so I didn't want to slack in any of them.
My eyesight enhanced, allowing me to see much further into the distance than I normally would, and with startling clarity. More flickers of light appeared around me, but the further into the Dead Lands I looked, the more I understood that the name truly was an apt one. I began to move forward and entered the grey landscape, my eyes searching for anything, and my ears open yo listen for anything that might help. The senses were extremely dulled inside this place, and more so since I was actually inside it.
I willed my Perception to show me more as I used the full range of the SSS+ ranked stat. Immediately, I heard what sounded like a cry of pain, and I whipped my head towards the sound, and that's when I saw it. A soul, one clear and free from impurities deep inside the fog of the Dead Lands, but it wasn't bright. It was dim, slowly becoming dimmer with each passing moment. I recognized the pitch of Kharie's voice with that scream, so there was no doubt it was her. However, the way her soul dimmed and flickered... I only saw this happen when...
I launched forward so fast that the wind howled, the air cracked, and the fog parted around me, dispersing like it ceased to exist. My heart raced, my mind a cascade of fear for her life, and rage at whatever caused this.
"I WON'T LET YOU DIE!"
■ ■ ■
Earlier:
A drone's head exploded in a brilliant shower of orange fire as her arrow struck true, the enchanted arrow working as it should on these weaker creatures. For some reason, the Elites, as well as the Queen, merely stood back and observed as it sent drones after her in small groups. There were a lot more of them than she previously thought. She had already killed roughly 10 of the damn things, yet they just kept coming.
One got closer from behind her, but she simply dodged to the side, drawing the dagger on her right hip in a blink, and shoved it into the spider's head. The creature spasmed and rolled on its back, it's legs curling up towards the sky before it finally stopped moving. These drones thankfully didn't seem to have the strange saliva that she saw from the Queen, which was good. Her clothes would be dissolving off of her otherwise, let alone her skin.
She loosed more arrow, some igniting the creatures once more, some freezing them solid before another strong arrow shattered it, and many other different effects that she had imbued onto them. She had to keep summoning more arrows from her spacial ring, but at least she had plenty to spare. Sometimes she'd spend hours just enchanting hundreds of arrows at a time. Just because someone doesn't have a combat class doesn't mean they shouldn't learn how to fight, and they should always be prepared for one at all times. That's what her mother had always told her.
She killed around a dozen more drones, some with arrows, and some with her daggers when they drew too near. She just had killed another drone with an arrow when she heard a loud hissing noise coming from the Queen. As this happened, the Drones halted in their tracks immediately, and then began to back off. She watched carefully, unsure of what was about to happen. Then, the Queen's mandibles clicked together, a strange vibrating noise created by the action.
Suddenly, one of the Elites began to lumber forward, it's 8 large legs digging into the ground with every step. She looked closer, and realized that its two front legs, from about halfway down the joint, to the ends where they stuck into the ground, were sharp like blades. She grimaced.
"I should have juat stayed home." She muttered, but she wouldn't give up, even if she knew this would probably be her end.
She drew back her bow as the creature skittered forward, its mandibles clacking together as that familiar spit that dissolved parts of the ground it touched.
"Wonderful..." She said, but she didn't show her worry on her face.
She wanted to try running again, but with all of the drones surrounding on all sides, and the webbing blocking her escape from behind her, her only choice was this. Even if death was inevitable, giving up without a fight was not something she would consider. Whether this was fate, or just bad luck, it didn't matter.
The Elite suddenly lunged forward, and she loosed her arrow in the same instant. The Elite brought up it's front left leg, its reflexes surprising for such a large creature, but unlike the Queen, the arrow did strike the spider, but it barely went in past the tip. The arrow exploded with fire at the same time, making the creature screech as it waved its leg back and forth repeatedly as it attempted to put out the fire. With those legs, and that weird saliva, she couldn't let this thing get close to her.
She used her incredible speed to run around the creature as she peppered it with arrows, but she couldn't keep it up for too much longer. Her stamina was dangerously low, and she gritted her teeth as she pushed herself to her absolute limit. She was also running low on mana, as sending it into her enchantments to boost their effects took it's toll.
It suddenly shot a stream of that weird saliva at her, and she mostly dodged it. It hit the left sleeve of her lightly armored tunic, and it started disintegrating immediately. She tore the sleeve off quickly and threw it to the ground. She blew out a relieved breath as she found it did not make contact with her skin. She fired another arrow, one imbued with lightning, making the creature sieze for a moment.
That's all Kharie needed and she capitalized on it. She loosed another arrow that buried itself in one of it's eyes. The creature let out a pained screech that quickly died as the arrow imbued with ice magic slowly spread a frozen layer of ice across its head from the inside out. As its head froze, Kharie loosed another arrow that was imbued with force magic at its head. The result was explosive, it's head exploding in a shower of blackened meat and ichor. Kharie breathed heavily, and in any other circumstance, she would have been proud of herself. That was the highest ranked monster she had ever killed, and she actually felt a few of her stats increase as a result.
She actually had the a second to breathe, and she didn't waste the time being given. She summoned two of the potions her brother had made, and downed them. They would both restore her mana and stamina by half. The only down side was that you couldn't just drink potions like this all the time. Taking two at once basically meant she'd have to wait at least a couple of hours before drinking another. Good thing she didn't get hit by anything yet, because she couldn't have drank a health potion even if she wanted to. Staying on the move and using her enchantments were more important.
Despite the grim situation, she would keep fighting, even if part of her wanted to just give up. It was ironic to her that something like this happened so soon after hearing the news of her brother, only furthering her own guilt. It was almost like the world was punishing her, even if this situation was ultimately her own fault.
"Mom always did say to 'stay away from the fog.'" She thought, her mother's voice in her head actually making her smile, "I hope you can find it in youself to forgive me, mother. It seems I'll be seeing you a lot sooner than I thought."
She wasn't what exactly existed after death, but she was sure something did. There were people that could see the metaphysical after all, and they confirmed the existence of souls. She had heard that when people died, their souls did not die, they simply... left. No one knew where they went, but it had to be some kind of afterlife or something... right? She hoped so.
Another Elite, this one a bit smaller with a sleeker body stepped forward after the Queen made that hissing noise once again. She readied herself. The thing moved, and her eyes widened. It was fast, and she barely had time to blink once before it was upon her. She brought her bow up and blocked the creature's open mouth as it tried to bite her. Kharie snarled as she brought her foot up and delivered a strong kick to what was effectively its jaw, but it did nothing except send a shooting pain through her foot and leg.
She spun out of the way, reluctantly letting go of her bow as the creature stumbled forward from her no longer fighting against it. She pulled out her daggers, but when she went to take another step, her leg burned with a sharp pain that made her stumble and cry out in pain. She looked down and found with horror that some of the creature's saliva had landed on her leg, on the top of her right thigh, and it was eating away at it. She could see her muscle, and could even faintly see the bone underneath.
"Shit!" Kharie screamed, both in pain and from effort as the creature lunged at her, it's bladed front legs swiping down to meet her.
She turned the blow aside with a well timed parry, but the force of the blow still made her arm ring with pain, and made her cry out at it put pressure on her wounded leg. The effect of the saliva was getting worse. She couldn't drink another potion for some time, and she didn't even have time to look through any of the salves she had, much less apply one. She had never even heard of or seen these creatures before, so she doubted anything would work.
She roared in its face as she turned its next bite aside, and drove her left dagger into one of its many eyes. The thing screeched as it brought its left leg up and down far too fast for her to dodge. Kharie had felt pain before, she was in excruciating pain right now. Still, nothing had ever prepared her for what happened next. Her dagger soon fell to the ground, along with her entire right arm up to the shoulder. Blood sprayed from the wound as Kharie screamed a haunting, shrill note.
As pain coursed through her mind, a powerful surge of anger at this creature also surfaced. She turned that rage and pain into strength for a final attack. She channeled her mana into her knife, imbuing it with so much force that the creatures head exploded the moment it sunk into its head. Unfortunately, her dagger could not withstand that much mana at once, and it turned to metal shavings only a moment later.
Kharie fell to the ground as her leg went numb, falling on her back as she clutched at the stump of her arm, pain now becoming her entire world. She glanced down at her leg to find that it too was now separated where the saliva had hit her leg, and the saliva was still eating away at her now stump of a leg. The pain was indescribable, and it was all she could do just to keep her head up as she sent a glare towards the Queen.
She wasn't sure if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but inside of that blackness of its eyes and its posture it held, something gleamed. The closest thing she could use to describe it would be something close to a begrudging respect. She would not give this beast that satisfaction.
"Go to hell..." She rasped, coughing up a mouth full of blood.
The Queen stared at her defiance for a moment, and then gestured for another one of her Elites to step forward. It was roughly the same kind as the first one, no doubt being sent to finish her off. In the moment it spent lumbering towards her, she couldn't help but think of her brothers.
She knew they would be sad... they would probably cry for days. They were softies at the end of the day, and she loved them for it. She doubted anyone would ever even find her corpse, but they'd know something happened to her. The villagers were an independent people these days, so she knew they'd be okay. Even so... there were many she called her friends who would never see her again.
That was also true for the people she had met yesterday. Despite the horrible circumstances that led their meeting, she couldn't deny that she met some truly interesting people. Elias and his mates were nice enough, with the admittedly pretty man standing out a lot to her. He was the first man she had ever met that captured her focus like he did, and the first to make her heartbeat like a drum when he complimented her.
The quiet Valerie and Serena seemed nice enough, although they didn't seem to know how to handle the drama that was happening. Then, there was Delphia. The kind woman that reminded her so much of her own mother that it hurt, and the way she treated her only furthered that feeling inside of her. The woman had held her and let her cry as she said soothing words to her. The woman had seemed to care for her a lot despite only just meeting her, and Kharie couldn't say she didn't feel something similar. She wanted to get to know her better as well.
"Not like it matters anymore." Kharie thought bitterly, and didn't even try to stop the tears that flowed from her eyes, "Don't be too sad... I'm so sorry I was so foolish. Vikoss, Rory, I hope you know how much I loved and cherished you both."
The creature reached her, and loomed over her. Kharie closed her eyes, and just hoped the creature ended it quickly.
*BOOM*
Her eyes shot open a moment later when a loud thunderous noise echoed throughout the Dead Lands. All of the creatures turned their heads to the noise, as did Kharie. In the distance, a shape brimming with wild energy was rapidly approaching them. It was so fast that Kharie thought she was seeing things due to blood loss, and her Health being under 2%. Her eyes opened even wider as the figure was now startlingly close already despite the distance it was at before.
As she focused on it, using her remaining strength to try and inspect it, the skill failed. That was odd, but now that it was closer, she could make out that it seemed to be...
"A person...? Out here?" She asked, despite the fact that she was also a person out here.
Power radiated from this person in trembling waves, and it was the strongest thing she'd ever felt. It was also familiar, but she was too exhausted to try and piece together how. The power this person emitted look like fire, but it was a mix of the blackest black, and the whitest white. It flowed in an almost ethereal manner as it wafted off of this person in waves. It was high in the sky, still hundreds of feet away, yet it trajectory made one thing clear.
"It's heading right towards... me?" She asked, although nothing could have possibly prepared her for what happened next.
A angry roar came from the person, and she could have sworn it yelled her name. Then, long black appendages, almost like vines or tentacles, emerged from behind the figure. They shot towards not her, but the creature in front of her, which was turned around facing the sky along with herself and the other creatures.
Her eyes buldged at not only the speed of these things, but the fact that they reached so far so quickly, their length seemingly having no end. The creature in front of her didn't even have time to dodge as the long appendages wrapped around its arms and large abdomen, and then it was gone.
Well, it wasn't exactly gone, but the speed at which the appendages yanked it up into the air towards the figure made it seem like it at first. She watched, doing her best to ignore the pain of her wounds which were throbbing and bleeding more now due to her elevated heartrate, as both the creature and this new figure flew towards her each at incredible speeds. Granted, one was controlled, and the other was uselessly flailing in the air.
The figure brought back its fist, and the air rippled from the power in that single action. When the two met, the figure punched it's fist out, striking the Elite directly in its large abdomen. Mana surged outwards as an explosion of black and white flames consumed the skies. The fog of the Dead Lands was blown away like it was a cheap parlor trick, miles of the Dead Lands becoming clear as far as the eye could see. Grey gave way to what looked like a scene from a scourge, or an apocalypse.
She gawked at the sight, and at the hundreds of other moving shapes she could see far off in the distance. She saw some of them looking up, but they were too far away to make out or to inspect. She looked back up just in time to see the strange black and white flames part as the same new figure shot out of it at great speeds. She could make out even more details now.
Large black wings, long flowing white hair, and piercing red eyes. She was certain that the person was male given the build, and just before it reached the ground, his wings flared, arresting his fall as he landed. The ground still shook from the landing, dirt cascading around him even from his slowed fall. Her now bleary eyes meet glowing red ones, and then she blinked. The person went from standing many feet away from her, to right in front of her in that single instance.
Kharie's vision was blurring and fading in and out, definitely from the pain and blood loss, but she still held her gaze with those eyes. They held concern, and a strange kindness she wouldn't expect given what she had just seen. Then he crouched down next to her, and gently put is arm under her head, cradling it gently. It was a nice feeling... a lot better of a way to die than how she would have previously.
That's what she thought anyways, until she gasped as her pain began fading rapidly. Her vision began to clear, and she watched in astonishment and awe as her missing arm and leg began to grow back at great speeds. Bone, muscle, nerves, skin, all of it grew back almost instantaneously. She snapped her gaze up, and couldn't believe her eyes. It made sense now that she thought about it, but her mind wasn't exactly working properly at the at time. But now?
"Kharie... please say something." Elias asked her, and while she had no damn idea how he found her or why he was here, she was definitely not unhappy about it.
She reached up, and put her hand on his arm.
"Pretty..." She said, slightly in a daze.
All right, so maybe her mind wasn't back to 100% just yet, but he truly was a good looking man. She hoped tbe strange loopiness would fade soon too. For his part, Elias just blew out a relieved breath, and then with his other hand, he gently brushed her hair out of her face, which unintentionally made her shiver. He smiled down at her.
"Good. I made it in time. That was a very close call."