Catacombs bomb scene, first draft, unedited

~~~

{Bernsen! Bernsen,please wake up! I beg you, please! Wake up!} Anguished cries and desperate shifting of Maxie made the warrior stir and open his eyes.

He choked, as his body spasmed in protest, a thick vicious smoke was assaulting him by slowly making its way inside his armor through the shattered eye lenses and the partially collapsed mouthpiece of his helmet. The fumes burned his lungs and made his eyes water. He blinked repeatedly and tried to shake his head to get the disorienting ringing noise out from his ears.

{Oh thank Dolora! You are alive!} The armor choked up, the inner padding hugging the warrior tightly.

{What… what happened?} The man coughed, trying to piece together his jumbled thoughts and get a hold of his surroundings but, wherever he looked, only pitch blackness could be seen.

{I am not sure, there was an explosion of some sort and then everything went dark, I have no idea what’s going on! I tried to reach out to Zapp too, but he is not responding!} The armor tried to speak while on the verge of panic.

The man, feeling his senses slowly return reached toward his belt and pulled out his beidhander, it’s fire enchantment springing to life and bathing the passage in rich orange light. “Sahra! Kenzie! Web! Zapp! Skorne!” He called out his tribe members individually as he got up and shakily began to walk forward while hugging the wall of the passage for support with his other hand. His vision kept going blurry and out of focus, the artificial eye was now completely busted and was no longer showing anything. A terrible dry sensation was felt in his mouth, making him nauseous. Still, even though his limbs shook, he kept moving, the small passage suddenly seeming to go on endlessly into the darkness. Each step took tremendous effort from his part, even with Maxie trying to help him walk.

“Berniiiii-i-i-i-ee!” A stuttering tiny cry, broken up by a series of uncontrollable sobs made him stagger and look down to see Kenzie limping towards him which immediately struck him as odd since she has- had wings.

The warrior collapsed on all fours, letting his sword fall down next to him and removed the gauntlet from his right hand to reach with it towards the caith sith. She latched on to it immediately, hugging his hand with her body as she whimpered and shook. “B-b-bernie. I am so scared. I-I can’t hear anything!”

The warrior immediately reached toward his chin before remembering that his helmet, even though it was mangled, was still on. He tugged at it with his power fist, feeling his flesh start to tear again but grit his teeth and with a roar of pain, ripped it off before throwing it away. The crumpled headpiece rolled along the floor, leaving a bloody trail before it went still.

He quickly reached into his beard and pulled out a crimson vial before pulling the top off with his teeth and shakily holding it up to the fairy. She drank the thick liquid, choking and hiccuping as she tried to stop her sobbing while the man closed his eyes, trying to focus his fleeting thoughts as blood dripped down his beard from what was left of his face.

The fairy sniffled loudly, calmed down somewhat as the pain she was in eased somewhat by the magical concoction. “Bernie, we need to help the others, they were thrown over there.” She let go of the empty vialand turned around topoint behind her and he warrior nodded, gritting his teeth as he stood back, nearly stumbling in the process. Holding the fairy close,he started to move again, feeling his strength slowly return as his enhanced metabolism did it’s work. It did nothing to stop the crippling weight of fatigue however.

Thankfully, the explosion had launched everyone in the same general direction so, after a few more steps he was reunited with his allies, his stomach turning at the sight. Everyone appeared to be alive but unconscious. Bernsen let Kenzie crawl into his beard for safety and grabbed a handful of health potions. Kneeling down, he turned the witch’s body over, seeing that half of her face got disfigured by a piece of superheated shrapnel that grazed it.

Gently opening her mouth, the man began to pour the liquid down her throat while trying not to cry. Zapp took the brunt of the attack,his coat scorched black and peeling off in places,exposing several bleeding wounds where the loose projectiles had struck. Skorne was the one who got away almost unharmed and was the first one to recover, her armor withstanding the blast almost completely and giving her only a mild concussion.

The witch and the lion came to soon after, shaking and coughing just as the warrior had. “I am getting too old for this shit.” Zapp hissed as he limped.

“Well.” The witch’s expression was dark as she ran her fingers over her scarred face. “Karma is a bitch. Not sure if I should complain though.” She then quickly added and looked at the warrior mournfully for a moment before closing her eyes tightly, unable to stomach the grotesque visage.

“Wait.” Skorne suddenly piqued up and looked around. “Where is the wizard?”

The warrior’s blood went cold and he looked around, his memories suddenly rushing back as the last blood clots in his brain dissolved. “Oh no.”

A raspy cough made everyone turn their heads behind them in surprise. A little deeper in the passage, a figure was laying on the floor. Bernsen rushed there immediately, nearly tripping as he ran toward the wizard.

Somehow, the blast of the explosion had launched him even further than everyone else. Likely because he was the one who took the brunt of the attack. It was a costly sacrifice, the warrior realized as he came closer and saw the horrible sight before him. The wizard’s body was torn in half by the explosion, with only his shoulders and upper chest area laying on the floor of the passage, while his legs were nowhere to be seen. One of his arms was gone and his body was scorched and riddled with countless sharp jagged pieces of iron that protruded from him like spikes, making him look like a pincushion rather than a man. Half of his head was burned all the way to the bone beyond recognition, exposing the shape of the skull underneath. The other side meanwhile, was bearing an almost unnaturally serene and peaceful expression, the remaining eye held closed.

“Bearson…” The wizard’s voice was weak. It was a miracle that he was still clinging to life but the warrior knew it was not for long as he collapsed on his knees next to him. “Looks like...I really blew it this time, huh?”  Webster’s lip twitched and he coughed up some blood.

“No…!” Sahra covered her mouth as her face paled and she collapsed on her knees as well from the sight.

“There is… something you need to know.” The aesthetician continued,his voice growing even more faint, forcing the warrior to lean forward to discern it.

“...closer.” Webster pleaded,his voice now barely a whisper and the warrior leaned even more,his face mere inches away from the wizard’s.

Webster’s arm suddenly jerked forward, clutching a rusty looking serrated knife and plunged it into the warrior’s last remaining eye.

“Gotcha.” Blitzkrieg’s raspy voice cooed creepily and the wizard’s eye opened to reveal the malicious red glow of the assassin’s presence.

>What do yoAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Everything turned twisted and red for the warrior. He would have snapped right then and there if not for years of mental conditioning but managed to retain enough ludicity to forcibly reach through his familiar link and pull out some of the precious embers of the lion’s spirit energy.

{Wait! Berns-URGH!} The lion’s body shuddered as if in great pain although the warrior could no longer see it.

“GET OUT OF HIM!” The warrior screamed, his hand bursting with a brilliant golden shine and plunging deep into his brother’s mangled body.

The wight let out an ear splitting wail and it’s essence was violently rejected from the body with the powerful flow of spirit energy in the form of a stream of black dusty particles that escaped from Webster’s mouth, nose and ears.

Unfortunately, even with his brief hold over the wizard’s body, Blitzkrieg had left a deep rot within it, one that was immediately set ablaze by the powerful flames of warrior’s life.

Webster’s body burned with the intense glow,the brilliant golden fire consuming his body and covering the horrible wounds he was inflicted with in his final act of loyalty. Within moments there was nothing left behind but a small pile of ashes.

“Damn, that hurt!” The gravely voice complained from somewhere behind and above him and the warrior tensed up, raising his head at the direction by instinct even though he could no longer see.

The immortal assassin was sitting in one of the alcoves near the ceiling that were previously occupied by the dead resting within the halls,his legs dangling over the edge as he glared down at the wounded tribe with glee.

“That fancy light magic of yours is pretty freaky. Can’t say I’ve ever been hit by anything like that before. Hurts like a bitch it does and I am quite vexed in the arts of pain so you can takemy word for it.”

“You’ve tricked us.” The warrior lowered his head and inhaled sharply.

“Yup.” The assassin admitted to his guilt with the most careless of shrugs. “Not usually my style to set up traps like that, I am a fair sport you know? I prefer to look my target in the eye as I slaughter them.”

“Then why?” The warrior gripped his sword tightly, feeling hollow.

“Honestly?” The mummy cocked his head and then narrowed his eyes menacingly, the glow in them flaring bright. “I really hated that fucking wizard. There are very few people who can claim that they have “killed” me, you included. But there is only one that had managed to entrap me. Even if it was only for a short while, that experience was...agonizing. Being forced to be stuck in a solid block of ice. Unable to move, unable to speak,unable to scream. Truly, a fate worse than death. So I beat him in his own game. I am glad that he realized what was going to happen moments before it did. That wonderful expression on his face as he was overwhelmed with despair, knowing that he had no way out. I will cherish it within my memories forever.”

The warrior’s hands shook but he didn’t jump at the wight with allof his fury. It was more than apaprent how futile killing him again would be. He needed to bide his time and gather information and for some reason Blitzkrieg hadn’t attacked them while they were vulnerable and was speaking more than he ever had before.

“Awfully quiet, aren’t you?” The shade cocked his head in a different direction. “And that face! Or should I say,it’s absence! That must sting pretty bad! I think I can see your skull form here! Although I suspect if you had one right now it would have been a marvelous expression to behold! The pain of loss is overwhelming, isn’t it? So pure, so… intoxicating.The anger,the helplessness, the regret you must feel right now knowing that one of your loved ones is dead and that there is not a single damn thing  you can do to bring him back. It truly makes you understand the value of a life,doesn’t it? Still,you can’t dwell too long on it too long, can you? After all,things have only just begun haven’t hey?” The wight chuckled and spread his arms out.

“So let’s look at the bright side and try to think of something positive! Like, let me think hmm.” The assassin appeared to be deep in thought as he looked around himself before suddenly grinning. “Oh, that’s right! Look where we are right now! We are already at the catacombs!”

He then leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. “So you won’t even need to burry hi-”

“Raaaaaaaaaagh!” The witch screamed and thrust her hand out at the shade, launching a massive flame lance in his direction. Unfortunately the assassin was anticipating it and dispersed into a black cloud, allowing the spell to phase harmlessly through him and explode against the wall with a blinding cluster of orange sparks.
“You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you! I WILL KILL YOU!” The dwarf screamed, tears streaking down her face as she launched aspell after spell at the shade in a desparate attemt to destroy him only for the assassin to laugh and effortlessly dodge every one with disturbingly unnatural ease.

“Oh ho?! Not who I was trying to get a rise out of but I like your attitude girl! Keep at it! You just might be the one who will end me for good!” Blitzkrieg egged her on,his leather coat flaring behind him as he pulled hiswide brimmed hat back tolook aheadof himself.

“Die! Die! Die! Why won’t you die!” The girl’s voice cracked as she screamed,pulling outmore strength than she had,attackingover and over until the warrior appeared behind her and forcibly grabbed her by her hair and pulled her down hard enough to put her face against the ground.

“Let me go!” She screamed hysterically, trying to wriggle and pull herself free of his firm hold.”He killed Web! He killed them! I will kill him! He needs to die! He must die! I don’t care how, even if I have to incinerate every speck of his body! He has to pay!”

“Sahra stop! If you keep fighing him like that then we are all going to die!” The warrior shouted and as if on que the earth around them shuddered as apieceof the ceiling suddnely came crashing down in the distance. He might have been no longer able to see but he felt, what the girl’s magic outburst was doing to the unstable structure of the cavern that was already weakened by the earlier explosion.

The shattering of the falling stone against the floor before her very eyes made for one hell of a reality check and the witch stopped struggling, going limp in his grasp and instead curling into a ball and starting to cry in helplessness over being unable to do anything.

“Tch, a spoil sport aren’t you?” The wraith shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “You know, the strangest thing about this chain of events that lead you here is that it didn’t have to be this way. You could have just walked away but you instead kept trying to force your way into bussiness you had nothing to do with and now…” The shade narrowed his eyes.

“Your friends are going to pay the price.”