The obsidian mantises.
A thought crawled into Deron's mind; he knew these mantises lived on top of the wall, but this was the first time he had witnessed them in flesh.
Deron looked at the other bandits for a moment, their blazing eyes fixed on the mantis.
Discomfort spread across the band as they knew as much as Deron did, facing any unknown enemy is like a gamble after all. They could be strong or weak, but the critters lived for a century and guarded the wall, so he cannot underestimate them.
With each passing second, the scratches grew clearer and louder. Until a loud screech escaped its obsidian mouth. As soon as it reached the band, they covered their ears.
The screech was sharp; it sounded like a rumbling machine more than a creature. Expressions on their faces tightened as pain shot through their ears.
Deron and Neg were dangling on a single nail as he pulled out the other nails; they were about to snap in half. But before he could take the last nail out, the critter appeared, and now he is stuck.
"Kluck!"
Curses escaped his fangs as he regretted tying the knot for a moment, but something else gnawed at his mind.
Disappointment.
What?
Discomfort on his face now turned into confusion.
After turning into a gladiator, he never felt disappointed in himself, so why did it return now?
The disappointment targeted his blood, and it was amplified by the cold glass touching his body. It was warm around him; the cold had dissipated as the mantis appeared. And yet, Deron could only focus on the coldness. Even the pain that he felt a moment before faded away.
Why?
The pinnacle among immortals, superiors to Eldari.
And yet-
Here he was trembling before a damn critter. Deron froze in his place as a barrage of alien thoughts invaded his mind.
At the very moment in his brain, a clash was taking place. His disappointment kept eating away at his other thoughts, forcing him to focus only on it. There was nothing he could do but believe in his instincts.
With a sharp groan, he plunged his palm into the single nail above him. The iron bit deep, tearing through leather and flesh alike. The alien thoughts now faded, replaced by pain.
His skin could now feel the warmth around him, and the world rushed back. But it was not the time to rest.
The obsidian mantis now stood above them.
Its features were now visible under the moonlight; it had three pairs of obsidian limbs like a mantis. But, its torso was like the bandits', the glass formed the muscles on it, while a head with crooked horns sat on top of it.
The deadpan expression on its black face made a chill run down Deron's spine. With a scratch cutting through the silence, it tilted its head as its gaze scanned each bandit.
The sound of grinding pistons echoed around them. As the scythe-arms parted, the creature's abdomen held a revealing core of swirling, sapphire light in a metallic chamber. With a mechanical groan, the blue fire surged—coursing through the obsidian veins like molten lightning.
The glass mouth of the creature parted vertically, letting out a shriek. Panic spread among the bandits as they tried to move away from the wall.
Deron pulled Neg by her waist and pushed himself away from the wall, but the knot held them back. He immediately pulled his dagger out. Without any delay, he started cutting the rope, but the rope was too thick.
The glass-sharp scythe cut the air above him as the mantis moved forward. But before it could reach, Deron moved the rope in between him and the scythe.
With a single strike, the rope was sliced off, but—
Crackle
Before it could fall to the ground, the rope started crackling. The thick fibres of the rope started to turn glossy and then into obsidian, and the glass wall before them pulled the glossy rope into itself, with a ripple; the rope was fully pulled into the wall.
His eyes widened as he realised how the wall repaired itself, and his heart started beating faster. Same fate awaited them if they were not careful.
Deron shot away from the wall as his mate hung onto him. The rest of the bandits did the same; they wanted to reach the top before the mantis caught up to them.
A gust of wind spread across the wall as all of them shot up.
Pistons of the mantis kept grinding as two thin translucent blue wings emerged from its back, the engine in its abdomen kept rumbling as it shot up toward them.
Dread spread across his face as he flapped his wings fast; Neg hung onto them tightly, hoping not to fall to her doom. His partners also carried the same expression as they flew alongside him. He looked down.
The mantis was fast; it quickly reached the pair of bandits in the end.
Whoosh
A scythe sliced the air below them, but they avoided it barely. Before it could slice again, the winged bandit shook the wingless one off his back.
Whoosh
In a split second, the bandit was sliced in half and turned into obsidian. The dread on his face was trapped beneath the glass. An arm emerged from the mantis's shoulder and grabbed the dead bandit.
Crackle
With a swift motion, the dead bandit cracked into countless shards as his body was thrown onto the wall.
Deron looked back, his heart beat like a drum. If he couldn't manage to stay up, both he and Neg would face the same fate.
But—
Pathetic, and they call us the superior…
Disappointment crept back into his mind; this was not the time to be disappointed. It was strange; the disappointment did not belong to him. The intent behind it was clear; it hated fiends with all its will.
He grasped the hole on his palm and pushed his fingers into it; his nails bit deep into the wound. The alien thoughts slowly faded as he could feel the warmth behind him again.
"Deron!"
Multiple voices called out to him, Neg on his back, shook his shoulder as his senses returned. Ryne, on top of them, looked down with dread.
The thin wings of mantis buzzed right beneath them.
"Kluck!"
His instability caused him to slow down; now he had to fight the mantis. With a swift motion, he pulled out a schmitar from his belt and turned toward the mantis.
Thundering roar echoed as his monstrous wings flapped; the mantis was ready to slice them both in half.
Whoosh
The mantis shoots its scythe forward, but steel meets the scythe.
With a swift motion, he parried it and tried to slice its arm. But he failed, not completely though. A crack appeared on the mantis's scythe.
Crackle, Crackle
It slowed down for a moment and shrieked loud enough to make his ears bleed; the cracks on the scythe were healing.
However, before it could heal completely, he repeatedly struck it again.
The glass scythe broke with a loud crackle. It plummeted down, and the mantis slowed down completely and hovered beneath them as they kept flying up.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he sheathed his schimitar. He looked over his shoulder to check on Neg, but she was passed out.
He looked down to see that her right leg was turning into obsidian; his eyes widened as the realisation struck him. While he kept striking its scythe, its other scythe pierced her leg.
Screams of her agony were muffled behind the shrieks of mantis. Without any delay, he sliced her leg off before it could spread up.
Her leg glossed as it fell down, its glass surface reflected the cobalt sky and the two crescents. Their band now maintained a distance between them and the wall and kept flying. Finally, they reached the top, which was in the clouds. She was still passed out. He let her sleep, as it was impossible to wake her up in this situation.
Click, Click, Click
Thousands of mantises slept on the top, their bodies twitched and reflected the sky.
Ryne whispered, "Just keep your distance and glide down into the city."
Deron didn't answer Ryne. He couldn't. His lungs burned, and the copper tang of Neg's blood was thick in the air—a scent that felt like a dinner bell in this graveyard of obsidian. He adjusted his grip on her, feeling the terrifying lightness of her body now that the weight of the stone was gone.
He looked out over the sea of twitching, glass limbs. Every 'click' of their carapaces felt like a countdown. He didn't care about the city anymore; he just needed to land before the sky turned orange and the 'labourers' decided it was time to wake up.
Deron's gaze swept across the sea of dark clouds. They stood behind the wall, many black peaks rose, tearing through the clouds, but between them rose a black cathedral that stood on the horizon. Four spires around it emitted a pale, lifeless green light.
The Ashen chapel…