Legacy of Ruin, Chapter 1: Shattered (P2)

They walked on the dunes along the crooked coastline, so they could keep their eyes on the low lying beach to their right and the mainland on their left. The treck through the desert was as hard on the footmen as Llorrin had expected. The light ocean breeze was refreshing to most, but did little to cool off the armoured men. What Llorrin hadn't expected was that he'd have such a hard time keeping up. They'd only been going for about an hour or two, but he was already fearing he'd fall behind at this rate. The desolate, barren land provided almost no shade at all, so even the stops - which allowed Carekon to study something closely or make notes on the map he was drawing - didn't make it much more bearable. Llorrin contemplated running into the sea briefly to cool off, but he didn't want to look weak, and he hated getting his clothes wet. Carekon and Irewyth weren't being slowed down by the heat at all. They were well ahead of him and Chuth. Llorrin assumed Irewyth had cast some sort of water-based spell to protect Carekon and her from the heat. 

"Whatever spell it is they're using to keep going like that... I wish they'd cast it on us as well," Llorrin said grudgingly.

"What? Some sun too much for ya, kid? 'fraid yer pretty skin is gonna come off?" Chuth, who was sweating heavily himself, grunted, but Llorrin made no comment.

One look at Chuth told Llorrin that Chuth was suffering as much as he was if not more. Chuth kept taking his hood off and putting it back on, as if he couldn't decide which option was the most comfortable. Llorrin noticed Irewyth briefly looking over her shoulder at him. Though he'd only been half-serious, he still hoped the hydromancess hadn't heard him complain. They broke eye contact when Wheann, who had gone ahead, suddenly came running back. He was waving his arms wildly and shouting. Llorrin reached for his pistol and Chuth aimed his rifle, expecting to see someone - or something - chasing after the half-elf, but it quickly turned out he wasn't in any danger. Chuth grumbled something and lowered his rifle. By the time Wheann reached them they had all gathered together. Sweat dripped down from the half-elf's chin as he stopped and bent over: clearly the half-elf had sprinted back as fast as he could. Everyone except Carekon looked eager for some action and to hear what the half-elf had to say.

"I found one of our ships... it's totally wrecked... and there's also something else you'll want to see," he huffed.

"Can't you just tell us what it is?" Irewyth frowned, but Wheann shook his head.

"I'm not sure how to describe it," he said.

Llorrin and Irewyth shared a look of concern. They followed Wheann's tracks, which brought them closer to the sea. Llorrin welcomed the sea breeze, which felt more refreshing in closer proximity to the shore. They climbed a large dune and upon reaching the top saw the site where Wheann had discovered the shipwreck. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of something he'd never seen before. There was a huge rock pillar that looked like it had been put there by colossal hands standing just beyond the edge of the sea. When they had walked past the pillar Llorrin finally saw the shipwreck. The pillar, big as a bastion, had blocked it from sight up until now, but there, toppled over onto its side, was a wrecked frigate. It had crashed onto its side with so much force the side of the hull that had hit the ground had sunk deeply into the sand. The once proud sails had been ripped to shreds by the wind and the masts had been cracked like twigs. Some supplies - crates and barrels - had been left on the shore.

"Looks like the Wavebraver to me," Chuth said. He often prided himself on being able to tell every ship in the navy from another.

"Ironic she should have met her fate in such a way," one of the footmen remarked, but no one laughed.

"There's no corpses," Carekon observed while putting away his maps and his quill for the first time since they had left the camp.

"Maybe the crew survived," Llorrin said. He knew some of the Wavebraver's crew, and hoped with all his heart some of them had survived.

"Unlikely," Irewyth quickly said, speaking as if she were lecturing an ignorant child. "Open your eyes. There's no tracks."

This time Llorrin wasn't about to let her roll over him so easily.

"But look, someone had been stacking up those crates!" he pointed out. He pointed at a brazier standing near the stacked up crates. It had some charred pieces of wood inside of it.

"And those, are the remains of a fire. Someone must have survived," he protested.

Irewyth still didn't seem very impressed.

"For a while, maybe," she said, lifting an eyebrow.

"At least it's something," Wheann said as the group approached the crates. He made a face as he knelt down near the brazier. The brittle remains of the wood crumbled as he touched it. The half-elf rubbed some of the ash between his fingers.

"It's no wonder there's no tracks. This fire burned out a few days ago at least. I don't see why they would abandon their site when they're this well-supplied though. Perhaps they were killed by raiders?"

"That seems unlikely, too... Why would raiders kill the men, but leave the supplies?" Irewyth asked.

The way her voice and attitude changed for the better every time she addressed the half-elf irritated Llorrin for some reason, but he tried to ignore the feeling.

"Wait a minute..." Llorrin said as he started forward. The ground directly around the campfire somehow looked unnatural to him. He was just reaching out with his left hand to feel the ground when one of the footmen took off his helmet and made a disgusted sound. Now that his withered, reddened face was revealed it was even easier to tell how much the man had been suffering from the heat under that piece of steel.

"Bah. This cursed land is just too hot. We might as well go back to the camp. Nothing could survive here," he spoke in a gruff voice, scowling at the sand. Suddenly he screamed. Llorrin spun around only to discover the warrior had been pulled into the ground all the way down to his middle. The sand around the man turned red almost instantly. Everyone watched in horror, as if frozen in place while the man thrashed about. The soldier's body convulsed and he screamed repeatedly as he clawed at the sand in an attempt to pull himself out of the pit he'd fallen into, unable to form any coherent words. His partner was the first to break out of the trance.

"Hold on Tyrek!" he cried out, running forward while the rest of the group instinctively fell back, suddenly more concerned with the ground below their own feet than the trapped marine's fate. Rushing forward, the brave footman threw his shield off to the side and reached out his now free hand at the dying man, diving onto his knees in an attempt to reach him faster.

"No! Wait!" Llorrin shouted as he overcame his initial shock and started forward as well. He reached for the pistol that was tucked inside his vest, but it was already too late.

The second footman never reached his comrade. With a final cry, Tyrek was pulled underground, and his would-be saviour vanished beneath the earth almost simultaneously as the ground below him gave way as well. His screams immediately became muffled as sand fell down upon him. Llorrin stopped dead in his tracks as he reached the pits the men had fallen into, watching in horror at the sight and sound of their bodies being torn apart below the crimson sand. He aimed his pistol, but realized it was too late for either of the men.

"Something's beneath us!" Carekon called out.

"Really?!" Wheann scowled, which could have gotten him into trouble considering the difference in rank between them, but Carekon seemed too perplexed to even notice. The half-elf was clenching his curved combat knives in his hands in a reverse grip, but against opponents that were this deeply entrenched, he might as well have been unarmed. Llorrin didn't hesitate and fired into the pit. A green fluid flew up out of the pit, but from the screech and the sudden way the earth moved he could tell whatever he had hit wasn't dead yet. Chuth seemed unfazed and took a step towards the pit the first footman had dissapeared into.

"I've got a special treat for them tunnelin' bastards!" the sniper growled as he put an item from his pouch down the barrel of his gun. He quickly aimed and fired down, and the blast that came from his musket was almost as powerful as that of a cannon. The cry from the creature below was almost entirely drowned out by the blast. It sent a tremor through the ground, which Llorrin found somehow alarming, even if he couldn't really tell why. He covered his eyes from the sand that was blown in every direction by the blast, but still caught a glimpse of several monstrous legs and what looked like a head flying out of the pit.

No matter what the sight of those limbs had made Llorrin expect, nothing could have prepared him for the sight of the bleeding creature that burst out of the pit he had fired into. His eyes widened at the sight. He was faced with a brightly-coloured, massive, four-legged insect with narrow eyes and sharp fangs at the front of its head, fangs that were stained in the blood of his comrade. More blood covered the two shorter, pointed 'arms' it had at the front of its body. They had razor sharp edges, like its legs, and were clearly deadly weapons.

A sudden surge of anger broke Llorrin out of his paralised state. He reached for his cutlass. The creature was quickly upon him and drew an arm back for a strike just as he was about to draw his weapon. Irewyth suddenly jumped in front of him, planting the edge of her staff against the insectoid's head. Llorrin just barely stopped himself from drawing his cutlass and slashing into her back. The monster stopped moving almost entirely as its entire body seemed to freeze over. Then Wheann leaped at the monster, and brought his daggers down upon it. His elven daggers flashed three times in quick succession, severing the creature's fighting arms and forelegs. Since the beast was still pushing on its hundlegs, trying to get close enough to bite, Wheann spun around to its left, burying one dagger in the beast's right eye socket while bringing one down into its head from above. The creature now stopped moving completely, even when Irewyth drew back her staff, and quickly collapsed.

"Get closer to the water! There might be more!" Llorrin shouted as he started reloading his pistol, taking several steps back. Everyone was wise enough to follow. More of the insectoids did appear, jumping out from pits that had been dug all along the shoreline. Llorrin now realized why the tremor Chuth's special ammunition had sent through the ground had worried him. Even at first glance, he counted more than fifty of the beasts, and more of the creatures were still popping out of the sand further away from them.

"Well, at least we know what happened to the others now," Wheann said wryly, his daggers dripping with green blood.

"Escape will be difficult," Carekon stated. With their back to the sea, there seemed to be no way out for any of them.

"Piss on that," Chuth growled as he fired his musket. It was a perfect shot that exploded an insectoid's face. A blue magic sphere flew from Carekon's hand, taking the shape of a bird right before it hit into another creature. Blue light engulfed the beast's entire body and the monster collapsed, but the monsters disregarded their losses, charging onward. Llorrin finished reloading his pistol and waited for the creatures to get close enough to make the shot count, but he knew it would be useless: there were simply too many. He fired, the shot catching a creature in the leg, when Irewyth suddenly spoke up.

"Get in front of me, all of you, and don't move!" she commanded.

No one knew what Irewyth was planning or even if she was just trying to save herself, but they nevertheless obeyed. Wheann had to pull Carekon, who seemed frozen, with him. The creatures had almost reached them and Llorrin was getting nervous about standing still. He was considering diving into the ocean, when Irewyth's eyes suddenly glowed a vibrant blue and she held out her staff horizontally in front of her, the powerful tool brimming with magic. Ice spikes shot out of the drenched sand below, surrounding their group like a fence and impaling several insectoids from below while others crashed against the perimeter. Though it was an impressive display of magic, Llorrin immediately realized the shards were never going to hold out forever.

He was so caught up in the spectable that he didn't notice the gigantic wave that was coming towards them until the very last moment. Llorrin cried out, but the water somehow didn't slam into them, seemingly evading them on purpose. The insectoids were already beginning to flee. He noticed a smirk on the hydromancess' face as she exploded the icy spikes outward, the splintering shards killing many of the creatures even as they turned their backs.

The waves were faster than the insectoids, crashing into the beasts and flowing into the holes in the ground they had emerged from. Their terrified shrieks filled the air. But if the insectoids were drowning, then why weren't they? Llorrin looked about himself. They were swaying from right to left on the waves, drifting among drowning creatures, but nevertheless the ground beneath his feet still felt solid. Llorrin gasped as he looked down. They were standing on a block of ice that was floating in the ocean! He looked at Irewyth, who looked strained at the effort it was taking to keep the ice block afloat. Llorrin quickly checked his feet because he was sure he was going to slip on the ice, but his feet were sunk about an inch into the ice, which gave him some stability. Every time he repositioned one of his feet the ice would magically let go, and when he put it down it would twist and lodge itself around them again, keeping him in place without making it impossible to free his foot. The sudden cold was uncomfortable, but that was the least of his worries now.

He'd only just noticed the fascinating workings of the spell Irewyth had just cast when an insectoid's arms suddenly appeared out of the water, the creature clawing fervently in an attempt to climb onto the iceblock. Disgusted, Llorrin put his boot in the struggling beast's face and shoved it back down to drown. From the corner of his eye he caught the rock pillar they had passed earlier. Something about it alarmed him. Then he saw shapes moving on and about the rock, and with a shock realized that it hadn't been just a rock. It was a nest. Wheann had noticed it as well.

"Look!" the half-elf shouted, pointing at the giant wasp-like creatures that were flying out of the rock. Llorrin squinted and brought a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun. They were as brightly coloured as their skittering counterparts, but their sword-like stings and long fighting arms alone already made them look far more dangerous to Llorrin. The buzzing sound the wasps made grew exponentially as more and more appeared from the nest. Some were simply buzzing about, but those who noticed the group flew in their direction. As they got closer Llorrin could clearly tell the beasts' bodies were longer than any human's.

"Flyers!" Carekon warned them once he saw them too.

Irewyth threw the monsters an agitated glance.

"Now that's all we need," she muttered.

Chuth, who had managed to reload his musket despite everything that was happening around him, didn't hesitate one second and fired, dropping one of the creatures out of the sky. Llorrin was forced to reach for his second pistol, the one on his hip, and this time didn't wait for the beasts to draw closer. His shot hit one in the wing, and while not lethal, it sent the creature plummeting down into the water where it would surely drown. Carekon tried to use the Holy Light to ward them off, but it only seemed to attract more of them. About a dozen of the wasps were headed towards the iceblock. Irewyth aimed her staff and sent a large frostwave rippling through the air towards the beasts, destroying their formation and dropping several more into the ocean. Those who evaded the blast swerved around and moved to surround the party. Llorrin knew they were going to have a tough time dealing with the insectoids, and if more arrived from the nest, then they would eventually get overwhelmed... Someone had to do something, and fast. It came as no surprise that it was Irewyth who seemed to have a plan.

"Cover me!" the hydromancess shouted, moving to the middle of the iceblock. She turned towards the nest and started channeling a spell, but Llorrin had no idea how long it was going to take. They were so close together he could see the sweat tickling down her face and feel her breath on his skin. Llorrin had to try hard not to get distracted.

"Put your backs to each other!" he shouted as the creatures began to circle the ice block, getting closer and closer with each pass. There was no time to reload his pistols, so he put them away and drew his cutlass again, the metal gleaming in the sun. As if attracted by the light, the wasps dove down at him. The buzzing sound they made grew louder to the point it was almost unbearable.

With Irewyth concentrating on the enemy nest rather than keeping her ice block afloat and level, the improvised raft grew extremely shaky during the fight, making it difficult for the party to keep their footing, but also made it difficult for the insectoids to strike at them. The fighting looked clumsy at best.

Llorrin cut at the wasps many times as they flew past, but dealt and received only small wounds. The others were much more hard-pressed. Chuth, who didn't have a melee weapon at hand, tried to use his rifle as an improvised club, but seemed more likely to topple over into the water at any given moment than knock out any of the wasps. As soon as he saw the opportunity the sniper reached to his side and pulled out a bayonet, which he put on his rifle only just in time to catch a wasp that tried to fly into him and knock him over. He was nearly knocked onto his back, but with some help from Carekon managed to remain standing and drop the creature into the ocean. The chaplain had crept to the middle of the circle as well. He aided his companions with bursts of light that healed any injuries they sustained, but couldn't do much offensively. Wheann once again found his daggers to be too short to fight effectively under these circumstances, and could do little more than defend himself when one of the wasps got close enough to him to strike. The fight seemed to go on for ages and more wasps kept arriving, when suddenly a loud cry from Irewyth drowned out the buzzing sound they made.

Irewyth's voice sounded like a raging storm as she directed an enormous wave up from the sea to slam into the nest. Llorrin saw many of the wasps leave the nest to get to safety. Her spell hit the rock pillar with so much force that the entire nest was toppled onto its side, splashing hard into the water. Irewyth wasted no time directing more waves over the fallen rock. Those wasps that managed to escape flew out from all of the holes, fleeing inland. Their buzzing grew louder with each one that exited the nest, and Llorrin was certain his eardrums were going to explode. The wasps that were fighting them drew back, hovered in midair for a moment as they assessed the situation and then began to fly off one by one. Llorrin sighed in relief. He could still hear the buzzing sound in the air even as the beasts disappeared into the distance, but the sound quickly faded away.

"What are they doing?" Llorrin asked no one in particular.

"Simple," Irewyth said, panting a little. "The nest is destroyed, so they no longer have to defend this area."

"I didn't know you were this powerful," Llorrin said, which evoked a scoff from the hydromancess.

"It might disappoint you. I won't be doing much more spellcasting today."

Llorrin stared into the distance. "I hope your little spell hasn't drowned our companions further up."

"No," Irewyth answered him with a thin smile. "I created a very local storm."

"Speakin' of drownin'," Chuth grunted. "We're one man short."

The party looked around to check who was missing, and then at each other.

The same name was on everyone’s lips:

"Carekon."