Cyber Mortality

Chapter 50:

After five minutes of slashing and dodging, my limbs grow weary, yet there appears to be no end to the flood of hatchlings crawling up their mother's back.

"I won't be able to keep up this pace much longer," I warn Vyra between breaths. My heart pounds hard in my chest from darting around.

"We can fall back," Vyra nods. "I can probably do this for another five minutes but after that no clue."

I grasp her waist and leap upward. We drop down onto the balcony for a moment to catch our breath. I turn my eyes back toward the hatchlings. Without Vyra and I holding their attention they start to look for food other places. Several leap down toward those battling at the bigger mantis' feet.

DeNyle takes great swings with his broadsword to cut a hatchling in half as it lumbered toward Jez.

Rocky fires arrows from beside us, shooting the hatchlings in the eyes to kill them.

Jez launches volley after volley of fire to torch the incoming wave of hatchlings.

With everyone distracted by the smaller ground troops, the mother mantis sweeps down with a bladed arm.

Birch deflects the mantis blade before it can slash anyone in half, but he is shoved back several feet.

"I'm going back in," Vyra leaps off the balcony and rolls as she hits the ground.

"How are you holding up?" Rocky inquires as he looses another arrow.

"I'm tired, but uninjured," I shrug. "I don't know how much longer everyone else can keep fighting though. This is insane."

"When your life is on the line you can do a lot more than you think," Rocky replies while dropping another hatchling with an arrow.

Vyra's voice rises up to the balcony as she shouts over the cacophony.

"Get the wounded to the exit for more cover!" she commands.

I vault over the balcony railing and cushion my landing with an air pillow. As I summon my swords to my hands I slash at a hatchling that is chasing after one of the healers who is trying to carry an injured person to safety. Several more hatchlings lunge after them, but I step in the way. My right sword cleaves one in half, which is swiftly followed by my left sword slicing up another.

After several minutes of protecting the retreating injured, the flow of hatchlings slows until there are only a few left cowering around the mother mantis.

"Good work everyone!" Vyra shouts while glaring up at the larger mantis. "Now for the giant one!" Vyra charges forward, sliding on her right leg to dodge a swipe of the giant mantis' bladed arm. Others follow suit, dodging and weaving before finding safety under the belly of the mantis.

I zip around the right side and slide under an arm as it slashes toward me. The blade smashes into the ground behind me, lifting my braid with a large gust of wind from the force of its attack. A second arm makes a lower sweep which threatens to slice my legs off. I shoot a burst of air out of my feet and flip over the arm as it freight trains past. I land beside one of the legs only to find a hatchling waiting for me. I swing my sword and it blocks with the blade on its arm. My second sword blocks a slash from its other arm and as I parry I slice my first sword across the hatchling's torso. It screams as it topples to the ground in a messy heap.

"Go for the legs!" Vyra shouts with her naginata raised.

I leap up using the air to propel myself higher and hack at the front left leg of the mother mantis. Her body shudders as her other legs are likewise hacked off. Everyone quickly scatters when, without the support of her legs, the mantis smashes into the ground. She screams an angry hoarse cry and glares at us with her glowing red eyes.

"Finish her!"

As if in slow motion, we all leap toward her.

DeNyle hacks at her lower right arm, lobbing it off like an axe through a skinny tree.

Vyra spins and smashes her staff, now a spear, through one of its eyes, which sends goo cascading down the mantis' body.

I hack away at one of the other arms, slicing it halfway through to make it unusable.

Birch leaps the highest. His silver shield glimmers in the light of the braziers as he rockets above the mantis' head. When he has neared the ceiling, Birch turns in the air and points his shield toward the head of the mantis. Now, looking more like a human arrow than a man with a shield, he plummets downward. At the last second he slams downward with all his might to pierce the mantis' head with the pointed bottom of his shield.

The mantis throws her head back and screams again. Her mandibles clack loudly like blades slamming together. She throws her last arms about wildly before slumping forward. The ground shakes as her body smashes into the floor.

"We did it," I breathe while my heart pounds madly in my chest.

The mantis' body concaves on itself and then crumbles away into dust.

A blinding light appears above us in the center of the room. I raise my hand to block some of it and gaze upward between my fingers. In the light a golden band shimmers. It slowly lowers until it floats before Birch.

Birch reaches out his hand slowly to grasp the object. When he does the light fades out and the band leaps toward him. Quick as a viper, the golden band bites down on his arm and clasps itself there.

"What the," Birch stumbles back with his left arm held out before himself. He gazes at the golden band in confusion.

"Is that the object we are supposed to find?" DeNyle gazes at Birch's arm.

"I think its a shield," Birch mutters and releases the clasps on his silver shield. The shield falls to the ground with a clang while Birch takes a step back from it.

"Try using it," Vyra encourages Birch.

Everyone takes a step back, unsure of what will happen or if Birch can even figure out what the object does.

Birch clenches his hand into a fist and raises his arm as if holding an invisible shield.

"Shield," he says.

The band glows and then a golden light erupts from it. Where once there was nothing a clear shield tinted with a golden glow stands out from his arm.