12 Miles Below-Chapter 51Book 7. : Wild West

Ah, there he is. Superior called out. Was he always this fast? I don't remember that in any of the videos or your fight with him.

He can be real fast when he wants to be, but I've only seen hints of it in the past few fights. Otherwise, he's got gravity manipulation and his shield's impenetrable.I have a feeling he hasn't been using all of his occult kit because it wasn't completely needed yet. Might change now.

We're safe so long as we're in the smoke. So I say let's not take chances. He'll come in here soon enough.

I expected he'd be arriving into the fight here, just not this fast. The plan was mostly on track - if To'Naviris exposed his back to me and I was in killing range, I'd absolutely assassinate him in one hit.

But until I had a completely certain window, I'd hide out in here and prepare the ground.

The true division fractal within the white machine blade To'Aacar had forged was a lot more dangerous to use than my regular winterscar blades. That thing cut concepts itself out of existence. Too sharp, even looking at it in the occult sight felt like it was doing damage.

Which it was, in a way. Using an occult mirror that drew and powered this blade would pop the mirror out of existence. Which made some sense since the pure of a division fractal was attacking itself just in activation - and that would be a part of the mirror image. So, in order to soul-kill To'Naviris, I'd need to cut him with this blade personally.

Which meant only one good shot at it all.

If To’Orda arrived early before we got a hit off To'Naviris, then I'd bait him into the smoke stack and mug him in here. Or so that was the plan. I do have some reservations on this one.

Oh? Superior asked. I saw the fight from both mite video feed and some of your memories here, Prime, but he still seems like a Feather to me. What's got you holding the heat?

Of the three of them, To’Avalis can't be negotiated with, To’Sefit just wants to watch people suffer, but To’Orda seems off.

As in?

As in the sort of Feather who could say "Nothing personal" and actually be genuine about it. As soon as the reasons to fight me are gone, he really does seem like the type that could go from full life-or-death fighting to sitting down on the ground and being perfectly fine with a truce.

If it had been just that, both of us might be a little less bloodthirsty in going for a soul-kill against him, but I'd still be wary and leverage everything I had. No, there was another reason something about To’Orda felt off to me. A hunch.

Superior observed my thought patterns and figured it out before even I could. He's the first Feather you've seen besides Wrath to care about anyone else outside the fight. You make a good point there, Prime.

That's... right. He paused the battle at the valorant just to pick up a pup and send it on its way out of the fight. For no personal benefit at all that I can see. It's been stuck in my head for a while now, but I can't understand why. A lot of enemies out there have shown some speck of humanity every now and then.

I think I can guess. Superior held a metaphorical hand out, counting down fingers. To’Avalis would have used it as a hostage, To’Sefit would have worn it as a pelt and asked if she looked good in it, To'Aacar would have ignored it or killed it if it was within hand-slicing range just because it's in the way. But To’Orda? From what I'm seeing, he handled things just like Wrath would. That's what's got you having second thoughts. It's because he's behaving like Wrath.

Scraps raining down from above. Superior, did we always have this level of self-introspection?

Eh, He sent the emotions of a shrug with a slight humblebragging smile to it. I had a lot more time to start looking inwards at how and why I act. You, on the other hand, had a lot of distractions out there. Like not dying and making new friends. Or enemies, I'm not judging.

It's great we can split the workload then, you handle complicated emotions and I can focus on stabbing things.

Not so fast, Prime. I'll be sending you a bill for the therapy session later or else I can't call myself a Keith. I expect a good hour in our body with all the ration bars I can swim in. There was a pause. I changed my mind, I want a bath. Nice long soak. I think I've had enough fire and destruction for a little while.

You dirty traitor. How could you turn your back on fire and destruction? Have you lost your pride as a Keith?

There were some things that must remain sacred, and Superior and I needed to iron those out. And we'd do it after To'Orda had been handled.

He'd come into my occult range; I could see him slow his speed down, hammer and shield held up and aimed right at the smoke as he edged closer to the fight between To'Naviris and To'Wrathh.

Yeah, he's not coming in here. Scrap, I hate it when they’re smart.

It was a valiant attempt, Prime. However, I have a possible solution.

The idea floated through the soul link between us. I shot him a thumbs up and got to work. An excellent suggestion, Superior. I forgive you for your prior attempt to turn back from fire and destruction.

Occult pulsed out, and all eight ghosts I could send with any semblance of control leapt forward. Superior matched my number as well, our small army charging straight through the smoke and out to the clearly unsurprised To’Orda.

With the way he'd been skittish around my prepared territory here, he clearly wasn't planning on being stuck anywhere there.

Neither Superior nor I thought we could actually kill To’Orda with only occult mirrors moving around, but sixteen occult grapples reeling him into the fire was a far more affordable option. We’d abduct him into the smoke, then beat him up and mug him.

The grapples came out of the mirrors the instant we felt in range of it, and the big lug didn't disappoint in his reaction speed. Too many of us for one hammer to dispel it all, so he chose to reposition himself. At the last moment, a swing down into the ground with a half leap upwards had him leap above the hammer strike right as a shockwave expanded out of the hammer macehead. Our first wave of grapples missed, and the last second redirects didn’t aim high enough. Occult pulsed around each mirror as we once more made another attempt to yank him out of the air where we wanted him.

His speed instantly halted as if he'd been caught into some thick invisible webbing of some kind. The giant turned on himself and threw down a ball of occult into the middle of our formation. Same thing I'd seen in my occult sight rocket through the smoke earlier and slam into the Odin rotary turret we'd just fixed up.

Unlike before, the detonation wasn't as massive, but it clearly was made for one goal: Eliminate all mirror images in one hit before we could swarm him, and all at once so we couldn't refresh the image from there. It worked only because we hadn’t expected it, he’d been out of range when he’d summoned the hit on the rotary cannon, so we had no idea to look out for halted momentum.

Solid tactic, but now the moment we see him freeze anywhere, we'll already be pulling our attack back. Superior said, humming as he studied our enemy.

So why blow his secret here?

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The answer came right after. He'd already positioned himself in range to extract To'Naviris. He'd just needed to be sure he was clear from whatever scrapshit we were throwing his way before he could use his.

The Feather sprinted. And by that I mean he dug his feet into the ground and ripped it apart from the power of his footwork forward. Not even two steps into his hyper-sprint, he slammed his hammer into the ground again while leaping over it, expanding another occult shockwave.

Together, he went flying straight through the air at insane speeds, swinging right for Wrath. She got out of the way easily enough - and realized she hadn't been the target. To'Naviris had.

The giant's hand reached out and yanked his compatriot out of the air, dragging him away as the two sailed over the Odin walls.

Ah. Yeah, that'd do it. Superior muttered. They don't want to play hangerball here.

Well, one of our plans had to eventually get screwed.

Just unfortunate it was the best one yet. There went any chance of assassinating To'Naviris outright. Now we had to hunt him down and do it the old-fashioned way.

Fire's eventually going to end on him, and then we'll have to find another way to hold his overclock down. Superior sent, and I grudgingly agreed.

A turn and a sprint forward, we were out of the smoke and sensor dust that kept us hidden. I yanked my discarded gear where they'd been left before I raced into the fire, and Wrath took that time to swoop up behind me, yanking the back of my armor up and flying upwards over the walls the moment I gave her the all-clear.

"I will need to reapply napalm to his shell." Wrath said as we passed the first set of walls. "The droplets are running low on fuel. Do you have suggestions? Traditionally, older humans used to spray it on their targets."

"More worried that he'll use his occult to slap it back at you. I suggest throwing it in vials attached with shaped explosives. We still have some leftover down in the outpost, just need to attach it to some extra Odin explosives. Detonate it early in the air, and it'll apply a fine mist of the napalm all over the general vicinity."

The rest of the Odin outpost here would also be set on fire for a second time, but it was clear Septimus had planned ahead for this possibility as the Odin here were already dispersing away like a well-oiled machine.

She banked herself straight for the supply stockpiles, dropping me off to the side. To'Naviris and To'Orda were further into the outpost centerpoint; I could hear them arguing.

"Do you have ANY conception of how many CENTURIES I've waited for a performance of this magnitude?! And you, YOU, have the AUDACITY to DRAG me from my STAGE?! THE FISH PLAQUE IS TOO GOOD FOR YOU TOO."

I didn't have any visual contact with them yet, not with a few Odin structures and a metal wall between us, but the soul sight was clear enough. To'Naviris had his hands wrapped around To’Orda's shawl, yanking him back and forth.

It didn't work, as the giant was far heavier, so instead all To'Naviris was doing was yanking himself back and forth.

"It was that or you dying pal, don't tell me you're dumb enough to think putting your back to that smoke pillar was going to be a safe thing to do." A voice that sounded very much not like To’Orda answered. "Or actually, you might just be. I don't know, I just know we gotta keep you alive or it's our ass on the line next."

"No you buffoon, THE FLAMES AND SMOKE WERE MY DRAMATIC LIGHTING!"

"You're already half on fire. Look - how about we rehash this after we either take down To'Wrathh or corner the hyper-weasel? 'Cause they're already here somewhere by now. The longer you monologue, the more time they have to get gear and supplies for something or another."

"Nnn... too late." To’Orda's voice was far deeper, and I could see in the soul sight he was already on the move. One hand yanked To'Naviris up and off his feet, and the other dug into the ground, giving him one more thing to push off along with his feet. They raced out of the way right as Wrath flew from the storage center, throwing explosives all over where they'd once been.

That was my cue to pen them in. Occult whirled around as Superior and I flanked the Feather pair with occult ghosts, grapples and flames. Even if Wrath didn't land a direct hit on them with the napalm, if I forced them back onto open flames, they'd get some of it on them, and that's that for their overclocks.

To’Orda looked the same as he had the last time I'd seen him, although his eyes had a little more emotion in them. Mostly worry, stress, and what looked to be deep annoyance at everything.

I'd say we wiped these two off the face of the world, but I'd be wrong about that. Because To’Orda had changed his goal in life from trying to kill me to just keeping To'Naviris alive from me. It was extremely annoying, and he was proving to be very good at it.

The giant moved like a monkey, dipping and dodging, using his hammer with one hand to shockwave himself out of danger again and again. None of his movements even so much as tried to fight back or take a possible opening. Instead, he relied on To'Naviris to go on the offense for him. The gradual surround I was planning was getting disrupted as they constantly slipped through the wall of occult mirrors.

And To'Naviris actually got his act together, using the giant shield for cover while his own occult swept through and periodically took down my ghosts.

Wrath would dip in and out of the storage center of the Odin, fetching more of the stockpiled goods and throwing them at the pair from a safe distance. That was far more effective since it forced them into a decision to either tank Wrath's hit and keep me and Superior off of them, or avoid Wrath's hit and possibly overextend against the small army of Keiths jumping around.

No matter what, we were slowly winning by sheer dint of setting everything on fire. Eventually, To’Orda would collect one too many droplets of napalm, get set on fire, and lose the overclock. Which was the only thing keeping him going this fast with perfect dodging.

"DO YOU THINK I'M NOT ALREADY TRYING TO FIND HIS TRUE BODY?!" To'Naviris screeched out all of a sudden, still carried under the giant Feather's left arm, right by the golden shield. I suspect they were discussing with one another in private, and something finally snapped in To'Naviris. "FINE. I'll just rip apart the entire stage so he can't hide. Ugh, this is so embarrassing."

"Nnn... works."

A giant occult hand reached out of To'Naviris and flattened the first Odin building. And in thirty seconds, every building here would be crushed down into the ground, which would expose my current hiding spot.

At this rate, I'd need to reveal some of my gravity bombs, nail To’Orda with that, and he'd have a far harder time dodging, and then knightbreaker him or To'Naviris in the same breath. As it stood, it was clear the giant was trying to stall the fight. Maybe hoping the Odin out in the deadlands would eventually run out of supplies first before the army of machines could make it? Septimus was still keeping them well handled even without the rotary cannon to snipe exposed machines, but supplies were finite.

I debated more options until a familiar-looking ball of occult blue shot straight forward at the enemy Feathers and detonated, occult reaching outwards before pulling back inwards with a second detonation. The attack had been too slow to hit, with To’Orda leaping out of the way even if it meant going through Wrath's prior bombed section. The Feather seemed outright spooked by that particular power, clearly acting on experience rather than paranoia.

It was unfortunate his reflexes had been that fast. The implosion of the occult sucked any occult mirrors into the center core and likely would have sucked a good amount of his personal shields in the process if he'd been in range.

I'd seen that particular occult spell used. It looks like Drakonis had either escaped To’Orda or gotten himself killed a while back and returned to life just in time. I watched with a mild amount of envy as another occult-stripping ball of power flew past my newly regenerated army of mirrors, forcing the giant to once more backtrack out of range.

Still hadn't yet figured out how to even trigger the fractal itself from the videos I'd stolen of Drakonis. The other fractals had been simple; the moment I reached my soul tendril into them, I could easily find the kind of mindset that would fuel them. This one, however? Not a single hint on what it used as fuel.

The prodigal Deathless himself swung into the clearing, landing in a roll. No armor, just him and the skintight undersuit relic knights used to avoid chafing. So I suspected he had managed to escape To’Orda instead of dying earlier.

He certainly looked drained but not quite out of the fight yet. From the roll, he got back on his feet, hand aimed down at the Feather pair dodging Wrath's next bombing run. Occult rippled around him one more time, coalescing into his fist as he passed by my hiding spot.

I realized right away a few things:

One: He'd be insufferable once this was all over.

Two: If he'd escaped To’Orda without armor, he'd probably had to chase after the giant using his occult lashes to move, equally outside of armor. Missing any tree or hitting the ground at that speed would have instantly killed him. High risk, but high reward given he'd made it here on time.

Three: If he’d come here without armor, that meant he’d passed through Bob’s domain without armor. Which means he was infected now. But Drakonis was an actual Deathless, so how those two forces would interact with one another was going to be... interesting. Bob didn't kill instantly, and Deathless regenerated from damage with a healing factor.

But the real crux of the issue: To’Orda realized in the same exact moment I did that Drakonis was a danger to the Feathers with his shield-draining ability. Because as soon as these Feathers lost their shielding, I'd rip them apart with occult bullets from my rifle or sidearm.

Bullets fired fast enough even Feathers like Father couldn't dodge.

To'Naviris might not know or even think about it, but clearly To’Orda did, given how quick he reacted.

No words, not even a single hello. For the first time since the start of the fight, he dropped To'Naviris from his arm and bolted straight for the Deathless, one giant hand reaching for him, golden shield still attached to the armband.

I can't fault his decisions. Out of all of us, Drakonis was the least prepared to survive the fight and the highest danger the longer he remained alive. Even if it meant leaving To'Naviris to the tender care of Wrath and me, it was arguably the best call.

Unfortunately for the big guy, my hiding spot happened to be way closer. Bad luck for him.