Enemy A(n)t the Gates

127. The Siege, Part 5

I regret my choices. Many of them. How did this situation wind up with me facing down this inhuman axe-maniac whilst he charges his weapon with what feels like enough energy to cut a mountain in half? The things people do for their families, that’s all I can say.

The colony and Invidia are working overtime to establish all the shields they can as quickly as possible, layering protections across the already potent enchantments of the gate. Hopefully it’s going to be enough.

[Crinis, get off me.]

[NO!]

[IT’S AN ORDER! GET OUT OF THE WAY!]

I refuse to let her get caught up in the fallout here. Her Skills and mutations are totally unsuited to facing down this kind of situation, all that will happen is she’ll get herself killed for nothing. That’s an outcome I won’t allow.

I barely register as my loyal friend peels herself off my carapace and disappears into the shadows along the side of the tunnel. My focus is solely on that dreaded axe. Minds churning, I try to think of anything I can do to help mitigate this attack.

Sinking into the depths of meditation, time almost seems to slow. Do I have enough time to whip together a spell? Probably not, judging by the speed the axe is gathering energy, it’s almost ready to go. Can I create a physical barrier? Digging maybe? Unlikely to help. This guy is trying to cut down solid steel gates with an axe. If I put a few rocks in the way, it isn’t going to make a difference.

There has to be something, think!

The lone Legionary continues to sprint under the combined bombardment of everything the colony can throw at him. Tiny is blasting with lightning. Acid rains from openings in the gate and walls. Spells radiate as the mages spit out a plethora of magics. Maybe I can use a little Gravity Magic? I don’t need to spin a construct for it, and I’m well-practised at the basic forms, my main mind doesn’t even need to get involved.

Quick as a thought, my sub-brains begin to form and throw out basic Gravity Bolts at the onrushing juggernaut in the hopes that it does something. All I can really do beyond that is try and get up in this guy’s face. I dig my claws in the stone to get a firm grip and take a moment to steady my nerves.

DASH!

As fast as I can, Dash!

Right into the jaws of death!

Because that’s exactly what it feels like. My senses are going crazy at the sheer amount of energy pouring off that demonic weapon, so much that the very air itself seems to warp with it. An aura of bloodlust and violence permeates the air around the charging figure, leaking from the axe itself, saturating the minds of everyone who draws too close.

Even sunk into meditation, my emotions pushed to one side, I can feel it. A rage that bubbles up from within and eats away at my thoughts. I don’t let it. Even the cold logical thoughts of my own brain, severed from my emotions, tell me this course of action is illogical. I don’t listen. Even the Vestibule, the gateway through which the Will of the colony leaks into my being, is begging me to turn aside and allow others to go in my place. But I won’t.

I don’t know why. Explaining it is impossible. Something deep within my carapace is simply telling me this is a pivotal moment. He cannot be allowed to sunder the gate. And I won’t let him.

The figure looms large in my vision as we close on one another at hectic speeds. My mandibles stretch open wide, the dark energy of the Doom Chomp manifesting around me. More and more Gravity Bolts fly, peppering the figure all over without slowing his unstoppable momentum. Just before I reach him, my mandibles begin to snap shut as every cell in my body screams for me to flee this danger, to get out of the way and preserve myself because this is something way out of my league.

I don’t listen.

I was never very good at being what other people expected of me. Not in this life, or the last.

With a shout that impacts the air, the lone Legionary stretches back his arms that tiny bit more, like an elastic band stretched right to the breaking point, before unleashing his strike.

It’s so fast I don’t even see the axe move. One minute it’s over his shoulder, the gauntlets gripped tight around the haft, the next, the axe is buried in the stone at his feet, all the way up to those same gauntlets.

My mandibles strain for a final second as the world flickers before me and a tidal wave of energy explodes in the air in front of my face. It’s a blade of axe light like none I’ve ever seen. Instead of the normal soft glow of white light, this arc of power is bloodred. Rather than the size of a blade, it stretches from the ceiling to the floor in a vertical line of pure destruction.

Too late to prevent the strike from being unleashed, I pull myself to one side, but in a flash, the strike is upon me. Then it’s gone. One of my sub-brains triggers my healing gland without my conscious thought and a feeling of almost puzzlement flutters in me. Why—? Then the pain comes. Searing agony explodes down the right side of my body as I struggle to comprehend what just happened.

[Master! I’m here!]

My thoughts are sluggish. What’s going on?

The darkness is pitch-black and a forest of tentacles envelop my entire body in their embrace. Before my eyes are covered, I make out the sole Legionary in front of me on one knee, his weapon still buried in the ground as he draws deep, shuddering breaths. Despite being so vulnerable, no attacks fall on him. Why isn’t the colony attacking?

I’m sinking and I can’t even process the sensation as Crinis pulls me into the shadow, dragging my body through the darkness and out the other side. Where am I? …This pain is intense.

“Healing! The eldest needs healing!”

“Move aside!”

As the tentacles unwrap, I realise where I am. Crinis has brought me right in front of the gate, the gigantic steel barriers towering above me as my siblings swarm to my side, desperate to heal my injuries. I don’t have eyes for them. Instead, my addled mind tries to take in the jagged rent that has been carved into the left gate. The metal is twisted and warped where that horrific axe blow impacted and then cut through.

It’s strange. Why would he only target one side of the gate? Come to think of it, why can’t I see out of my right eye?

Or feel my right legs?

Ah. I think I get it. With the healing energies of my regeneration gland flooding through me, Invidia’s Healing Magic, and the ministrations of the colony, I can feel my flesh knitting itself back together and regrowing the part of my body that has been sheared completely off. Who needed a right side of the body anyway? Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if I’m going to get much time to pull myself together—heh.

Farther down the tunnel, the Legion leader has managed to stand and his soldiers have surged to encompass him within their ranks. Having secured their leader, they’ve resumed their purposeful march to the now damaged gates and the colony is scrambling to pick up the defence. No chance you punks are getting through this damn gate today!

“Get me back on my feet…” I manage to say. “We aren’t done here yet.”