B2 Ch. 50 Old Man River

“This shouldn’t hurt.”  Thunder Decends muttered, concentration writ across his face as the head of his hammer shimmered and became incorporeal to match Tilly’s state.

‘Shouldn’t?!’ Tilly had just time enough to think before the hammer exploded forward and crashed into his abdomen.  The impact transferred an incredible amount of kinetic energy to him and he launched into the air, streaking over the mountains at unbelievable speeds.  The thread connecting him back to his body tightened and began to pull him back, the flames woven into the connection flaring brightly with the strain.

Tilly choked off a belated scream as he realized that the impact hadn’t actually hurt.  His spiritual form was fuzing at its edges under the strain of taking on so much energy, but it did not cause him any harm, spiritual or otherwise.

After only seconds he was clearing the mountain ranges and gained a clear view of the battle raging below.  The Horde had made it through the gates and unto the walls and clearly had the upper hand in the battle.  The Whytes however, were exacting a high price for every step, and Tilly saw at least half the attacking army had been destroyed in the reckless push.

He burned past the roiling cloud of chaos and hatred, closing his eyes, and hoping that he would go unnoticed.  But just as his arc began its descent toward his physical body, he felt that same terrible awareness pass over him, attempting to latch on.  It might have been because of the distance, or Tilly’s speed, or even due to some effect of Thunder’s Ability but whatever it was, the Prime Dirge’s attention slid off him, unable to latch on.  Tilly let out a sigh of extreme gratitude as his path shot him behind the hills.  As soon as the line of sight was broken, Tilly felt the weight of its attention lighten considerably, but not disappear entirely.

Before he knew it, he was gasping for breath, once again fighting the feeling of vertigo that always accompanied his return to a physical state.  All around him, his companions stirred, getting to their feet.

“We have to go, now!”  Tilly gasped, rolling to his feet dizzily.

Ichiro rose to his feet smoothly and tucked away his sword, “We are ready, what is the plan? How will we get into the city.”

“The city is just a doorway into the valley, one that the Horde will soon open, but I think there is another way,” Tilly said moving over to the embodiment of his fears and sticking one of his moccasined feet into the stirrup. As he stepped up and settled into the saddle, he looked around to find the rest of the group mirroring his urgency as they too mounted their Nightmares, looking to him for further information.

“I don’t entirely know what this means, but we need to get a river that pours down from the mountain range to the east of the city.  The Prime Dirge is leading this attack directly and spotted me on the way in and out.  My contact assures me that if we reach the river, we will be granted a boon and access to the valley.  We need to clear these hills and then cut east to meet the river by the fastest line possible. Everybody Clear?”

Everyone in the group nodded as they loosened weapons and prepared for what was to come.  Kindle lept into the air above them, crying out fiercely in anticipation of what was to come.  Tilly turned his mount toward the battle and the object of their quest.

“Let go!” He called as he kicked his Nightmare forward into a gallop, not bothering to lower his voice.  The rest of the group followed and they cleared the last of the hills in less than a minute. As they broke out into the plain, Tilly immediately felt the Prime Dirges' attention redouble on him, and he heard gasps and exclamations all around him as its weight settled down on the group.   The battle was still too far for them to make out any details of what was happening on the wall, but they could make out a small contingent breaking off from the rear of the Horde and moving toward them.

Tilly cut to the east toward the distant river and urged his mount to move as fast as possible on the open ground.  And move it did,  Tilly could feel a slight tug of discomfort on his bond, as the Nightmare pulled on his life energy even further to eke out some more speed.   The mount’s feet were a blur as it pushed toward the river with all it had, followed closely by the others.

Turning back to measure the approaching group's relative distance, Tilly was shocked to see that they continued gaining, even with the mounts at full speed. Even worse than that, Tilly could see the cloud approaching as well, and the feeling of pressure on his mind was increasing by the second.

He whipped his head over to Hilber whose nose was bleeding freely as he held an arcane gesture in one hand and the reigns in the other.  From his form, a shimmering shield had risen to cover over the group, interposing itself between the Dirge’s attention and the galloping group.

“I am already doing all I can!” he snarled, the blood from his nose painting his teeth red as it continued to flow. The pinkish energy of his magic was thing above them, and it flickered ominously at the increasing pressure being levied by the distant pursuer.

Then the pressure increased again, and even the mounts began to slow under its weight, causing the pursuing contingent to gain on them even more.  Tilly’s group had a shorter path to the river, but whoever this group was they possessed incredible speed.

Tilly looked back towards the battle once again, hoping against hope that he was missing something, then high above the mountains, streaking through the sky, Tilly saw something that looked like a meteor.  It was then that the sound of a boom reached them, and a ring of concussive pressure exploded out from the object as it increased speed, hurtling down towards the battle.

The Prime Dirge’s attention once again lifted off Tilly, and he gasped in relief as the Nightmares picked up speed in the absence of its pressure.  Tilly, however, continued to stare back at the coming collision in awe.  The cloud whipped around the Prime Dirge and shot upward to meet the new threat like a lance.

As the cloud launched upward to meet the falling meteor,  Tilly heard the shout of the Flowers guardian boom through the heavens,

“THUNDER DESCENDDDDS!”

Whether he was shouting his own name, or he was named after his strongest Ability Tilly did not know, but another boom, this time so loud that Tilly felt it in his chest roll off the impact.  The cloud was completely dispersed by the kinetic energy released as Thunder crashed into the Prime Dirge, hammer first.

Their collision with the ground below looked more like an artillery strike than a physical blow, and hundreds of the Horde were caught in the resulting concussive blast.

It. Was. Epic.

‘Hell yeah brother’  Tilly grinned fiercely at the incredible opening move Thunder had used to lay into the Prime Dirge. Unfortunately, this had done nothing to slow the group pursuing them… They were still gaining.  Tilly looked forward to measure their distance to the river and his heart sank.  They wouldn’t make it.

He sensed the formation of galloping mounts shift behind him and saw Ichiro in a tight conference with Sir Micheal, speaking loudly enough to be heard over the gallop, but not loudly enough for his words to carry to Tilly. Whatever was said, the knight nodded and pulled back on his reigns causing the mount to slow.

“Gorrock, with me,” Ichiro called. Gorock looked back at the Lapin and hooted with glee as he saw the Lapin’s intention. Tilly was about to slow as well, thinking that the group as a whole had a much better chance of defeating whoever had come to pursue them.

“No, Jonathan!” Ichiro called, slowing just enough so that he would meet the trailing attackers within sight of the river.

“Do not forsake the mission!  You must obtain Patreonage, or this is all for nothing!”  He shouted over the growing distance between their two groups.  With him were Gorock, Sir Micheal, and Hilbert.  Kindle let out a fierce war cry, wheeling in the air and breaking off with the group to turn and face their pursuers.

Tilly’s face fell, but he nodded in understanding and turned to fully focus on the approach to the river, which was coming up fast.  Time was short and he would trust their decision-making as much as they trusted him. To his right and left were Franklin and Amelia, both showing complicated looks on their faces, but determined to continue with him.

Gorock’s wild taunting echoed from behind them as they pulled up to the river's edge.  Tilly dismounted, and the others hopped down just a moment behind him.

“Hello! Mr. River?”  Tilly shouted at the flowing waters, urgency undercutting his attempt at a respectful tone.  No answer returned and he looked at his two companions feeling lost.  Amelia returned his look with no ideas to add, but Franklin ignored the look entirely and moved to the river with a strange mix of concentration and sorrow pulling down the lines of his face.

“This is it…” He spoke quietly as he unwrapped the scarf from around his neck.

Tilly looked back to see the pursuing group almost upon the rest of their party.  Ichiro and his group had dismissed their mounts to regain the lost constitution and were taking up a diamond formation with Sir Micheal at its point and Hilbert at the rear.

“Well, whatever you are going to do, do it.”

Franklin laid the blue length of fabric across his upturned hands, almost tenderly, and knelt at the edge of the water, lowering it in.  Tilly blinked in shock, as the water rippled around the piece of clothing and formed the shape of a young girl with blue skin.  She looked to be sleeping, but as Franklin lifted her back from the water, her eyes blinked open slowly.

The sound of a clash of arms and a cackling howl broke out in the near distance, but Franklin seemed to be immune to outside pressures as his face broke out in a brotherly smile at the appearance of the little girl.

“Hello little friend, it is nice to finally meet you…”  He said settling her onto her feet. She looked around slowly and her eyes grew as big as saucers.  Her location sunk in and she rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes as she fought back tears.

“Thank… you… for bringing me home.”  She stuttered through a hitching sob.  Then behind her, the water began the froth and a man with a beard of flowing water and scales running along his upper body stepped up from its surface at a run.

“Daughter!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms open and rushing to the shore.

“Papa!” She cried flinging herself at the approaching figure.

He snatched her from the air and twirled her around, laughing uproarously.  Something in Tilly twinged at the sight, but something far deeper began to well up with the pain, washing it in healing sorrow. He broke his eyes away from the site and looked back at the Ichiro’s group, who was now completely enmeshed in battle with the pursuers.  Now that they were much closer, Tilly was able to count twenty-ish Consumers being led by a huge Strigoi wielding a battle axe.

Even as the smaller group fought to keep them engaged, half of the Consumers broke off and continued toward the river. The water-bearded man looked up from his embrace and his smile fell,

“Ah, I see…” He said, setting down his daughter and turning to address the three before him.