Battlefield Reclaimer 19: Misspoken Words
The gnome marauder staggered two steps to the side as Jeric's spear thudded into its skull. The strike came with the dull sound of wood hitting stone, low and muffled.
The gnome's hammers rose into the air with a reflexive jerk. It was stunned for an instant as it shuddered and tried to recover its balance.
"Sam, get up!" Jeric roared, as he faced off against the marauder. "Go back to the cave!"
His face was as pale as a sheet, but he was standing there, wobbling on his feet as he protected his son. He raised the spear again. There was no way he was going to let this gnome hurt Sam, not while he was still breathing.
Sam rolled out of the way and jumped back to his feet at the same time as the gnome started to move again. This time, the marauder ignored him and swung around to attack his father, its hammers rising.
There was no time to go back to the cave and Sam knew his dad was only saying it out of an instinct to protect him. What they needed to do was to kill the gnome. Running right now would only make it worse and give the marauder time to recover.
He only had 9 points of mana left, but hopefully it would be enough.
He should have brought another spell scroll from the cave, but it wasn't clear if it would have even worked on this marauder. The Earth shield it had was powerful.
They had it flanked now. His dad was attacking from the front, while Sam was on the opposite side. If they could take advantage of that to pin it down .... Crystal flames surged around him as he attacked, driving the spear point down towards the back of the marauder's neck at the same time as Jeric attacked from the front.
Somehow, the marauder sensed him. It spun in place as one hammer lashed out toward his father and the other toward him. The movement threw it off balance just a bit. It was enough that Jeric managed to dodge the hammer coming his way.
Jeric poured his mana into the new spear as he stabbed again, causing the enchantment to flare to life. A dark, magma-like glow surrounded the point of his spear as it pierced through the marauder's ribs, stabbing deep into its chest.
Still, the marauder completed its spin, the second hammer swinging out toward Sam and driving him back, before it completed the turn and jerked its body away. Dark blood welled around the wound as it started toward Jeric again.
At the same time, Jeric roared with rage as he saw the gnome's hammer brush past Sam. The attack had come too close to his son. He raised his spear and charged at the gnome, both of his hands wrapped around the haft.
At the same time, Sam poured all but one point of mana into an attack, splitting it between the spear's enchantment and his crystal flame. He stabbed forward, aiming for the center of the marauder's back.
An enormous spiral of crystal flame curled down the haft of the spear, combining with the enchantment that rose from the spear itself. The point became searingly bright.
In front, Jeric had dropped all of his defense in order to attack. He was facing the marauder head on as he stabbed straight at it. The marauder's hammer headed for Jeric's chest at the same time as Jeric's spear pierced through its heart.
An instant later, Sam's spear slammed into the back of the marauder's neck, driving inward half a foot with explosive force.
Unfortunately, the gnome's hammer continued on and slammed into Jeric's chest. He bent around the blow, his right ribs caving in as he was flung across the tunnel and into the wall for the second time. He crashed into the stone wall and slumped to the ground with an agonized groan.
The marauder stood frozen, two spears standing out of it. Jeric's was embedded in its heart, the long haft dragging on the ground, and Sam's was through its neck. Slowly, like a wall collapsing, it began to lean ....
Then it toppled to the side, falling to the ground where it could only twitch as it died.
Sam ignored it, rushing toward his father as fear filled him. It was a tidal wave that crashed in his heart, his eyes widening.
"Dad!" he shouted. The spear dropped out of his hands, forgotten, as he was halfway there. He fell to his knees beside him, reaching out to feel his chest.
He knelt in front of his father, trying to see how bad it was. The gnome had hit him twice now ... the first time when it kicked him and now again. The hammer strike had to have been even worse.
His dad's hand reached up, trembling, and slowly ... patted Sam on the shoulder.
"You're ... alright," Jeric said faintly. His eyes were only half open. "Good."
He coughed, painfully. Half of his chest was dented inwards, his right ribs bent from where the hammer had struck.
"Dad!" Sam called again. It felt like it was all he could say as he stared at him. His eyes were wide and frightened.
Time compressed. An instant turned into an hour as father and son looked at each other.
Jeric's gaze grew increasingly calm. He let out a breath of air that stabbed at his lungs as he patted Sam on the shoulder again. He had rushed out to save his son, and he'd succeeded. That was what was important.
He looked down at his chest, which was bent inwards where the hammer had hit. It was a mess of blood. Something was broken. He wasn't sure what the result would be, but ... there was something he needed to tell Sam, in case he couldn't in the future.
"Remember ..." Jeric said, as the words came in short, gasping breaths. "I'm proud ... of you. And never ... let your mother ... be sad."
"You're going to be okay," Sam promised, as he fumbled at his belt for his stylus. There had to be something he could do. "I'll ... make a healing scroll."
Jeric slowly shook his head, his hand still on Sam's shoulder. There was a whistling sound as he breathed, which was not good. Bubbles of blood started to form on his lips.
"I want ... to make sure ... you ... get home ...." He said, as he started to pass out. His eyes were closing. His words were faint, barely audible.
Sam's hands wrapped around his dad's shoulders and just ... stared. He didn't know what to do.
He held the stylus in his hands, clenching it, turning it from side to side as he tried to figure out what to draw, how to help .... If he hadn't run out of the cave, or insisted on facing the gnomes .... Hot tears cracked from his eyes and ran down his face.
"NO!" Sam finally shouted, as he stared upwards. He couldn't accept that his father was hurt. He was glaring toward the World Law.
It had left them with a broken class in the world. Because of it, they were weak, powerless .... He had never hated it as much as he did in that moment. His idea to defy it mixed with his desire to make it heal his father right now.
"HELP HIM!" he shouted at it, hoping that it really was some god or divine being that could reach down through the heavens.
There was no response. Just the echoing silence of the tunnels, as solemn as a temple bell.
For all of his father's life, the World Law had suppressed him, harmed his family, and ruined their chance to make something of themselves. Now, his father was injured and almost ....
Sam had thought that life was turning around, that it would all work out, but the World Law had never cared about them. He tried to pour his crystal flames into his father, making sure they didn't burn him.
Maybe he could heal him, like when he purified the spear. But the flames caught on to nothing, flowing through Jeric's body and back out again, as if his father were not even there. Healing was not a part of his abilities.
He wished that he'd just been a Farmer, or a laborer, working with his dad in the fields day after day. Poor, sad, desolate ... none of that mattered. He just wanted his father to be there, step by step with him as they walked through the world.
He wasn't sure how badly his dad was hurt, but he didn't want him to die. Not from one mistake that he'd made.
Denial turned to anger. Rage boiled through him, flowing with an intense, crystal blue as he found a target to blame.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
He yelled at the World Law, his voice echoing through the tunnels. If it had just given his father a chance ... a class that worked .... Or if he'd had enough time to help him unlock his class ....
Sam's thoughts converged to a point, blaming the World Law for everything that had just happened. If it was a distant, unemotional thing ... then it deserved to be broken.
Whatever the truth of that superstition was ... he would make it come true. He would shatter it so completely that it would never harm anyone again.
"A BROKEN SYSTEM DOES NOT DESERVE TO EXIST! PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT!"
The silence of the tunnels took on a thick, dense aura, as if it had suddenly become more than it was before, as if it were listening to him.
"HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THIS? I'LL BREAK YOU THE REST OF THE WAY!"
This time, something answered.
It was familiar, but not. He had heard it only once before, back in the ruins.
Attention, Outsider of Aster Fall.
Your Threat to Harm the World Law Has Been Recorded.
You Were Warned.
Back then, it had come in the form of notifications. Now, he was hearing its voice from all around him. It was a sudden, abrupt shock to hear the voice speaking to him. The distant, authoritative tone was so loud it was filling the world.
It stunned him into silence. What was happening?
There was a pause, as if the World Law were thinking. Notifications had popped up as well. They said the same thing as the voice. What was going on?
Then he realized what he'd just done.
He'd forgotten that the World Law had promised to keep an eye on him, back in the ruins after the Outsider formation teleported him. In fact, it had warned him not to do anything that damaged it. Now, he'd just threatened to break it.
He'd been a bit out of his mind, but he'd meant it. His mind cleared a little as he looked down at his dad. Jeric was still alive, but his head had fallen forward onto his chest.
Sam didn't know what to do. Could his dad breathe like that? Did he need to be moved? Why couldn't he have been a healing class?
His attention was fixed on what he could to do help his father, even as the World Law spoke again.
Authorities of Law Have Been Notified and Will Be Dispatched to Your Location.
Then there was a pause, as if the voice were considering something very important. He could feel the World Law analyzing him. The Law was flowing through the entire world around him, with a sense of presence that was everywhere.
The Situation Has Changed.
Instability in the Core Law Suggests Outsider Interference.
An Unknown Force Has Accessed the Outer Layer of the Core.
There are Flaws in the Seal.
... Your Existence Matches with that Threat.