Restless - Chapter 2

Melissa took a deep breath behind me before I heard the familiar crackle of electricity and the discharge of a light bolt from her Vi-rifle. I turned back, catching sight of her absolutely unloading on the Shades surrounding the Solas Lux. 

The ones behind us took the brunt of the sudden fire, directly disintegrating into black fog under the powerful bolts. The others all around received glancing blows, their half-solidified forms smoldering in the darkness. It seemed to stoke their embers more than anything as they struggled even harder to press into the light.

Once she fired off a couple dozen shots, her rifle glowed brilliantly and hissed sharply. The Emberguard pressed something on the side, ejecting a rectangular cartridge of sorts as she shoved another one loosely into place. Her rifle lit up once more, radiating enough heat to take away the slight chill spreading in the air as she cleared out an entire side of Shades.

“May the Great Lord guide you. You got this, kid.” She glanced back at me with one last bright smile before sprinting through the hole she made. Her Vi-rifle lit a path further.

As soon as she left the warm embrace of the Solas Lux, the shadows all around converged. As the Shades escaped the light, they turned more and more incorporeal like they were nothing more than horrific mirages fading into the darkness, mere fragments of nightmares haunting the back corners of my mind.

Like Shari to blood, the Shades all around me chased after the Emberguard. Her rifle flashed several more times before she turned a corner. For several, long seconds, all I could hear was the faint hums of her Vi-rifle getting further and further away. The bright flashes of the rifle grew dimmer and dimmer.

I felt eyes all around me as I picked up the lantern holding the Solas Lux and made my move, breaking into a dead sprint back toward the center of the city. My feet constantly splashed in the thin layer of water covering everything. I moved around bulky pillars and half-fallen walls of the surrounding buildings. 

Dark shapes flickered and moved under the fallen structures, though nothing moved out towards me. Everything is going to be alright- Melissa pulled all of the Shades away. I’ll be able to meet her back at the camp, and from there leave the Undercity and go back to my nice warm home.

My fragile hope shattered as the first Shade blocked my path. It just lurked there as I moved down the street to it. Its too-long limbs and stretched body stayed absolutely still even as it started smoldering, but its oblong excuse for a head tracked me slowly. It watched with its faceless mass of darkness as I ran around it.

Several more joined it, appearing in front of me and then simply standing still as they waited for me to approach them. The Solas Lux kept them back as their dark forms sizzled under the light, turning less transparent the closer I got. Eventually, there were too many to simply run around. They gathered, blocking my path until I had no route except to get closer to one to pass.

I drew closer and closer to the Shade, my sprint turning into a hasty walk as I couldn’t help but slow in revolution. Its body turned from a mere fragment of shadow to a horrifically solid black mass. The mass sizzled as the Solas Lux approached within lunging distance.

My heart pounded in my chest like a jackhammer desperately trying to get through hybar reinforced centcrete. I ducked around it, dodging to the side as it sluggishly swiped at me with claws as long as my hand. The menacing darkness seemed to coalesce in the claws, promising a painful death if I were to be caught by them. 

I dodged several more in the rubble-cluttered streets. For the most part, the creatures couldn’t approach me. Outside of standing in my way to block and waiting for me to pass, that is.

I might actually get out of this alive- at least, that’s what I thought until two things went very wrong. One, the road cut off. A collapsed building surrounded by puddles of water blocked the way forward. Two, I noticed the Shades break through the outer layer of the Solas Lux, slowly closing in on me just as they had back when I was with Melissa.

I gasped for air as I stepped into a particularly deep puddle, flooding my shoe with freezing salt water. I needed to speed up. The longer it took me to get back, the lower Melissa’s chances of survival.

Over or around? The thought briefly passed to just go over since it would be quicker, but my courage faltered as I stared at the shadow-cast centcrete. I’d walked around ruins for the past week, so I was particularly aware of how unstable these buildings really were. It was potentially suicide for me to get through that, especially since there was no telling how many Shades lurked in it.

Around. Around was the only option. I tried to think back to the map Melissa briefly showed me as I hesitated at the junction of an alley. The air started to chill, bringing with it that damnable cold that always seemed to haunt me. The shadows twirled in delight around the edges of the Solas Lux as I stopped moving. 

My memory of the map was hazy at best on a good day. My spamming heart turned the rest of my head hazy as I stared at the horrors lurking all around. I- I’d have to just push on.

The shadows started to close even tighter on me as the golden illumination of the candle flicked. My breath turned visible as my lungs turned shaky. Now or never.

I ran into the alley, my lantern flashing past bundles of trash and pools of rotten water. Half-buried alcoves hid doors covered in rubble. Okay, okay- if I just cut through here I’ll-

I stumbled to the side as a smoldering shape lunged from the shadows. Its movement halted in the light, though it barely helped as the Shade’s long claws stretched from the darkness.

I slipped on something wet as the claws raked across my arm, easily slicing through my shirt. A scream ripped out of my throat as they easily pierced through my skin. Dark red flowed along its claws as I waved the Solas Lux at it, forcing it back. The claws dug four more channels of agony on their return trip.

The Shade’s mouth split into jagged creases of darkness like a deadly smile. It retreated into the alcove as its smoldering body blended back in like it was never there. My lungs ached as I staggered forward, carefully leading my way with the lantern and ignoring the numbness of my fingers and the warmth of my blood.

A can cluttered behind me. I glanced back as I waved the lantern, dispelling the shadows gathering behind me- Or at least I hoped it would. The Shades behind me, seemingly emboldened by the scent of my blood, seemed to resist the light more and more. They barely flinched back. The Solas Lux was weakening.

I ducked out of the alley, passing three more alcoves. I slid around them, each reeking of potential danger as my arm ached. I exited the alley back onto a main street. Rogue candles, still burning in defiance to the watery destruction all around, flickered as if excitement as I poured out onto the street.

The shadows swam in regret as I escaped out onto the wider path leading back to the camp. I was close enough that I could hear the hundreds of crying and injured people. Their voices held such bitter depression it was almost palpable as I picked up my pace as much as I could.

My lungs seemed to fail at getting enough oxygen as my heart pounded in between them. So close! Just keep pushing, and you’ll-

A shadow jumped in front of me, seeming to ignore the light of the lantern as if it wasn’t even there. It was larger and a deeper dark than the others as it chased me with its arms outstretched like it wanted a bone-crushing hug.

Fear dropped my temperature further than I thought possible as the ice-cold air burned my throat. I reached for my pocket with my hurt arm, nearly stumbling into a puddle of murky salt water as it throbbed in pain. Blood had long since fled my wound, turning the entire limb far colder than it had any right to. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that I grasped hold of the small cylinder Melissa passed to me.

I pulled the flashbang free of my pocket and pulled the pin. The effort made darkness swim at the edges of my vision, beckoning to me as if a lost parent. I tossed the flashbang just behind me as the darker Shade closed the distance.

I ducked my head down, losing sight of my surroundings for a few brief moments as the device went off. A blast of blinding golden light, strong enough to dispel even the darkest of shadows around it, burst forth from the flashbang.

The darker shade screeched, this one actually making noise as its body temporarily burned under the flashbang’s effects. The screech sounded somewhere between metal scraping on metal and an inhuman keening. I couldn’t quite place it, though it hardly mattered as my ears started to bleed from the concussive noise.

My ears being out of whack threw off my balance. It was only by a miracle that I kept stride and sprinted for the camp.

The camp’s temporary gate was in sight now. The light seemed so very attractive as my vision started to swim more and more. Just a few blocks before I reached it. So, so close to safety-

I ran face-first into a group coming out of an alley.

I hit the ground hard, my head slamming into the ground with enough force to turn my world into a sheer white curtain. By the time my vision returned, I found myself lying on the ground surrounded by three people. Each of them held flashing Vi-rifles as they fired off into a distant enemy. My faithful lantern—which protected me from the darkness—lay shattered off to the side, the Solas Lux burned out.

All three of them wore armor that looked far nicer and in far better condition than the Emberguard armor Melissa had. If anything, theirs made hers look like a cheap hand-me-down by comparison. Theirs was deep black with flecks of purple scattered about, imposingly standing out against the urban backdrop. It covered almost every inch of their heads and bodies, with the only gaps at their joints. I spotted purple clothes under their black armor.

The ringing in my ears faded slightly as I locked eyes with a fourth person standing over me. He wore a uniform much like the others, though without the helmet. Instead, he had on a dark purple beret that showed off several jagged scars across his face. His gray eyes seemed especially menacing to my hurting head as he glared down at me. The man held a box-shaped device in his hands pointed down at me, seemingly uncaring as his companions illuminated our surroundings with their constant shots.

”Mel- Melissa.” I gasped for breath as I pointed a shaky hand back the way I came. My tongue felt heavy in my mouth, slick with sticky saliva as I tried to get my point across. Words came to the forefront of my tongue, though they stopped just short. What did she call it? A veil? Think, Jasper, think! “Um- uh, Umbra Veil.”

The man’s face creased into a frown as he said something to the guys around us. The ringing in my ears prevented me from hearing his voice clearly. One of them moved out of my sight and back towards what I hoped was Melissa as the beret-wearing man continued to stare down at me. 

Just as the ringing faded enough for me to pick up the hums and crackles of the Vi-rifles, the device in the man’s hand loudly dinged. A purple light flashed up onto his scarred face as the frown turned into a relieved grin. “Found you.”

I tried to lift my head up as the dark spots on the edge of my vision pulled back. “Wha-“

The butt of one of the other guy’s rifles slammed down out of nowhere, instantly bashing me into darkness.