Chapter 15: Dance of Shards
They ran as the Brighthome crashed into the battlements, tearing it apart further with its fracturing hull. The wreck managed to slightly dislodge the tower upon impact, forcing them all to fight to maintain their footing as the structure tilted dangerously.
Cross found himself stumbling, gravity pulling him to one of the battlement’s broken edges. He saw Wristy and Cole bracing themselves against holes in the floor, and Misser grabbing the side of the helm tightly.
But there was nothing around cross but debris which was also sliding towards the edge of the battlements. Cursing under his breath, his hands shot out to find anything to hold onto as the edge rapidly approached.
A cut in the floor, a piece of the wall. Instead of either, he heard pounding footsteps right behind him just before a hand locked around his wrist.
His feet slipped over the edge, but the rest of him hung in the grasp of Armel’s good arm. His greaves pulsating with that wall-walking Aura again, locking the both of them in place as he flashed another grin. But when Cross looked back to him, he could only point behind him and shout.
“Move!”
Armel’s head whipped around just in time to spot a large chunk of the Brighthome skidding along the battlements towards them. He grunted before hauling Cross back onto the battlements and rushing after him as the entire chunk careened over the side along with Blackstone debris.
Cross slowed as the slanted battlements evened out, the tower settling into its new position. He whipped his head back just as the Brighthome fell.
He saw movement, figures racing along the falling Brighthome with something whipping through the air around the first.
“Blanken!” he shouted to the others as he raised his Caster and fired upon the figure just as they leaped towards the Battlements.
But soon he began lowering his caster, eye widening in awe as he watched them spin through the air, only then realizing it was a Blanken Pawn without a single piece of armor covering them. Despite the bare shell, the energy never struck them.
Countless shards of Pearlglass formed together into a larger surface to intercept the arc, shattering as the figure continued spinning towards Cross. The Pearlglass flew around them in fluid curves, following their movements and swerving back around.
Only when he felt a hand on his shoulder was Cross snapped from his shock. He whipped his Caster up as quickly as he could as he felt himself being pulled back, but it wasn’t enough. The Pearlglass formed into several large shards which punctured through his arm and ripped themselves out in a spray of ichor before he could even shout.
“Shard Dancer!” Armel yelled as he practically threw Cross back “Flank ‘em!”
Cross caught himself on his good arm, his caster slipping out of his grasp as he tried pushing himself up. The Blanken landed on the very edge of the tower with the second following just a moment after. Though her armor was fixed, Cross immediately recognized the modified Blaster arm.
The same one she immediately trained on Cole and Misser, firing blasts through Holst’s swirling shards and forcing the others to dive behind chunks of broken Blackstone or fallen pieces of the Brighthome for cover.
Armel helped Cross stumbled past another pile of dark rubble, immediately getting to work on his wounded arm as Cross kept track of their foes.
Though that was what he told himself, in truth he couldn’t keep his focus off of the dancer at all.
Their movements were hypnotically fluid, hands and feet twitching and swerving in loops and twists as they spun. The Pearlglass swung around them, swinging back around only for them to suddenly stop as the Blanken altered their movements.
Whipping their hands together, the Pearlglass shards once again formed floating shields as Cole and the others returned fire. Blast-Arm stuck quick behind her ally, who’s constantly shifting shards kept forming into shields before breaking apart. They negated cast after cast, leading the Dancer themself to produce an all too familiar cackle.
Brother Holst.
“Witness them, Sister!” Holst called to Blast-Arm as he danced “Foul Spawn of the false God! Purveyors of conflict! We are the Mother’s love! If not for your brothers and sisters, fight to save the realms from these horrid creatures!”
“Somebody shut ‘im up!” Cole called out to the others, only for their next volley of casts to prove just as ineffective at getting through the shards as the first.
“Just our luck…” Armel grumbled as he finished patching Cross’ leaks “Listen Comrade, we gotta flank ‘em. Dancin’ ones are a pain, but we just gotta get past them shards and he’s done.”
He waited for a moment before giving Cross a shake, finally making him tear his gaze from Holst.
“How?” Cross asked “How is he moving like that?”
“Prolly experience,” Armel shoved him “Now c’mon!”
Cross hefted his Caster, his eyes briefly checking on Armel’s one-handed patch job before steeling himself and charging out from behind cover.
Whether it was the sound of his greaves on the battlements or a movement from the corner of her eye, Blast-Arm swung her namesake around just as soon as Cross took off.
“There!” she yelled as she fired “They-!”
Her next words were lost as a crushed pile of Blackstone was sent her way courtesy of Armel. While nowhere near dense enough to be a threat, it was just the distraction Cross needed to fire first. Of course, Holst stepped in, swinging his arm back and sending a portion of the Shards flying past Blast-arm to intercept his attack.
“Now!” Cole shouted as the others resumed firing.
Though their arcs came fast again, Holst wasn’t deterred.
Cross lunged behind another piece of broken Pearlglass with Blessed beams scouring the Blackstone nearby. He glanced back to see Armel ducking low whilst gesturing towards the Blanken, and nodded before timing the Blessed Beams. The time between her blasts had shrunken considerably since their last fight, but he still waited for a gap before swinging up over the chunk Pearlglass with his Caster.
Only to notice two problems.
One: Brother Holst had taken off running for the others, charging the trio in a flurry of spinning shards that they scattered to avoid.
Two: Blast Arm was directly on the other side of the Pearlglass Cross was hiding behind with her leg raised.
She kicked the entire chunk of debris into him, with Cross struggling to level his caster at her as he slammed back against the ground. He fought to right himself and bring up his caster again, only to look up into the barrel of Blast-Arm’s namesake as it began firing.
A heavy chunk of Blackstone came flew into the side of her helmet, with Cross quickly rolling to the side as the Beam tore into the ground beside him.
He looked up to see Armel charging, but Blast-Arm was already leveling her weapon towards him. Cross’s leg shot out almost on instinct, slamming into the side of her knee and making her stumble before he threw himself up into her shoulder-first.
Throwing her back, he hefted his Caster towards her before going wide-eyed at the sight of Misser being sent rolling beside her. Cross’s eye shot up to see the flurry of Pearlglass shards that was Brother Holst speeding towards them, with Cole firing on him. It was Wristy’s Caster, behind Cole she was busy stuffing blackstone into fresh wounds dug through her armor.
Despite not even seeing them, Holst was somehow still in tune with the incoming casters shots The shards still managed to form before they could reach them, and his shell was still completely unmarred.
Armel had said Holst’s skill probably came from experience, yet Cross couldn’t imagine how long a Pawn needed to fight in order to get there.
Blast-Arm was already rising and, sure enough, Cross’s caster fired too late to keep from being intercepted by the shards. His attention went to Holst instead, as he was undoubtedly the bigger threat up close. Those shards had punctured his armor like it was nothing. How were they supposed to get close when he was surrounded by the damn things?
Armel’s battle cry broke through Cross’ growing panic. He could see Holst’s eye shifting to the side as he changed the movement of his arms again. But this time, Cross saw his eye go wide before trying to slow down.
Tracking his gaze, Cross saw Armel charge right past him.
Wielding the same large chunk of the Brighthome in his grasp.
He ran straight for the incoming shards, which bounced right off the Pearlglass of the Brighthome. Cross saw several ram into Armel’s side, but he kept pushing forward before crashing into Holst and ripping the Dancer off his feet.
Blast-Arm slammed the barrel of her weapon into Armel’s head and threw him to the side, but it was too late. The moment Holst’s rhythm was broken Cross could see the numerous shards slowing down. They started to fall, only for Holst to catch himself on one hand and halt their descent.
Cross aimed without hesitation, firing on him just as several shards shifted to block a cast from Cole. Blast-Arm swung the barrel of her weapon, but the arc was already passing her. It ripped through Holst’s shoulder and tore it and his left arm straight from his body. The force sent him spinning forward as Cole fired again.
Cross lunged back behind another piece of rubble as Blast-Arm fired with a cry of fear.
“Brother?!?” she spun to her comrade, only to step back as he spun forward.
“Steal yourself, Sister!” Holst hissed as he swung to the side. The shards picked up again and followed his movements as Cole fired on him, with half forming another shield and half ramming themselves into the gaping hole where Holst’s arm used to be.
He’d sealed the wound just like that, but he’d used up almost half of his shards for it. He glanced over to see Armel behind another pile of rubble. He was rubbing Blackstone in his own wounds with one hand and used the other to do the same for the numerous gashes running along Misser’s form.
No words, just a nod.
Despite the insane coverage the shard dancing provided, Holst cand Blast-Arm couldn’t keep up with so many opponents coming from multiple directions.
Cross waited for another brief gap between Blast-Arm’s beams, and swung his Caster up again to force Holst to cover for her.
Only for the Tower to tremble violently.
Cross cursed as he grabbed hold of the rubble, catching sight of Holst whipping his head towards the helm as Blast-Arm fought to keep her stance.
“Inside!” he shouted to her, “Sister No name, our Lady Beckons!”
Blast-Arm immediately whipped her arm towards the nearest entrance to the helm, which was plugged up with debris the same as most. But Blast-Arm merely fired a blessed beam into the rubble, steeling her stance as the beam maintained itself far longer than any the other Blanken had been using up until them.
It tore into the rubble, breaking chunks of Blackstone free until the entryway opened up.
Realizing their aim, Cross scrambled to fire upon Blast-Arm, but Holst was already back to playing defense. Even with almost half of his shards and only one arm, he launched into another flurry of movement that sent them up to shield from the caster arcs both Misser and Cross unleashed.
“No interruptin’ the boss!” Cole shouted as Wristy joined him on the other side of the Blanken.
Just as they began firing, Blast-Arm took off towards the helm. Holst flung himself after her, actually having to physically dodge several of the Arcs as Cole shouted for them to give chase despite Armel yelling for them to do the exact opposite.
“Get back here, damn you!” Cole rushed in after them, weapon-raised and words slurred.
Not to be outdone, Cross leaped over the rubble after them. He fired again while following Cole, only for an incoming Blessed Beam to send him diving for cover in the debris strewn entry hall.
He was so focused on them that he had forgotten the danger of the helm, up until he heard Lady Khullic’s voice.
“Seek shelter!” it was an order that made Blast-Arm and Holst skid to a stop just as they entered the helm proper.
Cross almost saw it as a boon until he noticed a giant pulsating ball of purple energy speeding towards them. Brother Holst launched into action, darting to the side and charging into Blas-Arm to throw her and himself out of the way of the attack in time.
Cole didn’t have such worries, he rushed past Cross into the helm even as the energy sphere crashed into the floor beside him and sent arcs dancing throughout the structure. The arcs traveled under him, with several licking at his legs before dissipating once they found no Vitae to destroy.
Cross pushed himself up as he saw Cole opening fire again, and moved to join him only for Armel to wrap a hand around him and pull him back.
Cross was about to ask what he was doing, only for a familiar sound to make him lock up.
A coo of delight.
Cole suddenly stopped and whipped his Caster around. But he was too late, a flash of white appeared before he was suddenly thrown back out of sight as a if as speeding ship had crashed into him head-on.
And standing in his place was Lady Khullic.
Cross could hear Misser and Wristy rushing to his sides, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe either Armel or him even had a chance of hitting her. His Caster felt heavy and useless in his grasp, so much so that he couldn’t even make a show of aiming it at her.
But lady Khullic merely glanced at them before vanishing in another flash of white as Cole and Wristy fired at her. Neither attack landed of course, grazing the floor of the helm before a force from behind slammed into Cross and sent him rolling into the middle of the helm.
He hadn’t even started pushing himself up before Armel and the others crashed against the floor next to him.
Cross looked back just in time to see that pale form speeding towards him, only for a massive spear to swing into it from the side.
Khullic darted away as Formal towered over the fallen pawns, keeping the tip of his spear pointed at her even as his shaper snapped its fingers at Holst and Blast-Arm.
“Looks like you was right, eh?” Formal asked as Khullic stood once again “Ain’t exactly a one on one like this.”
“I’ve never heard your kind speak truer words, my love.” Khullic rose and rubbed a hand along the new gash in her chest piece “The only question then… is what happens now?”
