Chapter 40: Death’s Embrace

  Marcus slowly turned, keeping the monster in his sight, and moved backwards in slow motion. He had made two steps as Carmen’s scream of terror set off the battle. The centipede accelerated and moved down one of the pillars, at a speed far greater than a large beast should be able to move.

  It charged towards Marcus, the large pincers on its head spread wide, ready to devour Marcus alive. In the last second he jumped to the side, feeling lighter than usual because Kou was already on his game. Marcus rolled and came back onto his feet.

  Gun fire impacted on the body of the monster but did nothing more than to annoy it. But annoyed it was and its head turned to the origin of the attacks and the doom train quickly charged at Janette and Achara who stopped firing and spread out.

  Marcus sprinted after the beast and reached its tail as it tried to snap after Achara who turned invisible and re-positioned. Marcus jumped on its back and held on to its rough back armor and hammered his fist into the giant body. He was not sure how much this would help but the monster’s head turned and it coiled up its body. Long sharp legs came at Marcus like a wall of swords, slicing and piercing his armor and body, but nothing caused any serious harm. If it had been one of the others, they would be minced meat right now, Marcus knew. The large pincers tried to snap after Marcus, who tried to get some distance. The monster had obvious problems to move its head thanks to Kou trying to hinder it with his abilities. Marcus could see the concentration on his friend’s face and knew that Kou would not be able to fully hold it. With a powerful jerk the beast freed itself and raised it’s head in a way that Marcus had seen before.

  He rushed to the nearby pillar to avoid a lethal dose of acid spray. The monster exhaled but instead of acid juice a dense stream of white particles flooded the area and covered it with something like a white fog. Where the fog touched Marcus’ armor it started to melt. In panic he jumped back and shouted into his com “Don’t let the fog touch you, it is acid. DO NOT BREATH IT IN!”. He activated the gas mask function of his helmet but was not sure if it would help.

  Marcus, took a deep breath and charged the monster again. He was uncertain how much damage he could do but if that thing concentrated on him it was for the best. He came around the pillar, slammed his foot in the side of the centipede and it reacted with a screech. It snapped after Marcus and he punched the pincers to keep it away. The two continued to dance around each other, the smaller Marcus surrounded by deadly legs and beset by pincers and the possibility of sudden acid death.

  Janette landed a few good hits on the softer underside of the monster and purple blood dropped to the ground. The large enemy quickly turned and charged at Janette who started to run in zig zag patterns. She moved through half the room but the monster did continue to pursue her, the rest of the team and civilians tried to move out of the way but the sudden changes made it hard to predict where it was safe.

  As Janette sprinted around a pillar with the monster closely behind, Achara appeared out of nowhere next to it. She held her new sword in both hands and sliced it against the movement direction of the centipede. The black blade cut through the leathery skin and cut of several legs before Achara could no longer hold on and got pushed back. The beast screamed and its head flung around, a second later white spray filled the area and Achara made a massive leap (+Kou bonus) and just escaped the cloud. Others were not that lucky. The scientist had hidden behind a pillar nearby and the fog flooded over it and Marcus could hear screams and painful coughing even from the distance. Carmen ran away from the deadly cloud and Malcolm dragged a shaking Bianca away while the shirt on his arm was dissolving and his skin turned white and blisters appeared.

  Marcus rushed the centipede, jumped half up to where the neck of a human would have been and slammed his fist into the monster. The beast struggled and buckled but Marcus held onto it, pushing it down with continues punches. Using this moment Achara turned visible right under its head, and with a mighty scream and a two hand strike, she sliced half the head off. It shook and shook and blood spilled to the ground but it finally dropped dead. “MARCUS!” Kou screamed and Marcus rushed off as soon as his feet touched ground again. He reached Kou who leaned over Bianca and injected something into her neck. Kou turned “Take her, run to the bus as fast as you can.” and Marcus did not ask question but lifted the woman into his arms and started running.

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  He passed the large, half open door and activated his IR vision, and ran straight into the long dark hallways. A light from behind quickly caught up to him and overtook him with ease. It was Achara and she sprinted down the path in front of him and shortly after Janette did the same. Marcus ran, and from time to time he checked on Bianca who was still shaking, her breath was rattling. Her left arm and shoulder had no clothes or skin left, muscles and tissue laid bare being still dissolved by the horrible gift of the centipede.

  Marcus reached the elevator shaft and now he could see the two women had prepared a make shift harness for Bianca. Without many words they lifted her with the harness while Marcus took the rope up to the highest floor. He continued his run, holding on to the dying Bianca, while Achara slightly moved in front of him with her sword drawn. They reached the cave and the surface without further complications. Achara gave him a sign and shot away, down to the bus, while Marcus moved as fast as he dared with Bianca in his arms. They had taken an hour to reach the cave before but Marcus only needed ten minutes in the other direction.

  Achara was waiting for him, following instructions from Kou over com, they put Bianca in the emergency medical bed of the bus and Achara put a breathing mask on Bianca’s face. She continued to give Bianca medicine and Marcus grabbed a bottle of water and tried to calm his nerves. Bianca was in critical condition and needed either a priest or serious medical attention and that meant they had to reach the base. Marcus called the base with the bus’ com array and informed them about the emergency. They would send a team their way as quickly as possibly.

  Minutes later Janette reached the bus and they shared a few words, confirming they were both okay. Achara left again and came back with the rest, basically lifting Malcolm into the bus who looked completely exhausted and in pain. He had tears in his eyes and moaned “too slow...too slow..”.

  As soon as the last person was on board, Marcus turned to Janette “Bring us home as fast as you can.”

  It was a hell ride. They had to bind down Bianca and the rest held on for dear life as Janette pushed the massive bus to its limits. Rolling over or crushing through smaller obstacles, actually drifting the massive thing around large boulders and avoiding collisions by a hair, Janette proved to be a demon at the wheel. After two hours they met the emergency team, who looked absolutely shocked about the state of the bus and how they had manage to get so far in such a short amount of time. Malcolm, who had not left Bianca’s side until now, made place for the priest who quickly started emergency treatment. Thank god for a well prepared military base, Marcus thought.

  The priest, a young, bald man thankfully took Marcus’ offer to link him to Bianca “She is no longer in mortal danger but she will need trauma treatment to fully recover”. After that he took a look at Malcolm but he refused any treatment until Bianca was safely in a hospital. Kou took the wheel for the rest of the journey and they did not talk much on the way. Achara inspected her black sword and Marcus wondered what would have happened if they had not found the weapon. He looked at his own hands with frustration, he had lacked the power to stop the monster. He needed to improve his power.

  They reached the base and eventually the dorms. Janette send a message to Cherry and Marcus felt utterly drained. His body was still good but his mind was pleading for a rest. When he closed his eyes he could still see Bianca in his arms in those dark corridors. Every second he feared she would stop breathing, dying in his arms.

  Marcus got rid of his clothes and took a long shower. Only now he had calmed down enough to feel the warm existence of unspent crests in his chest. Two more level, he spent them as always but had not the energy to feel happy about it. He still felt tired and too warm, he might have showered too hot. He made his way to his room to lie down for a bit.

  “Is Marcus not joining us? I though he would be the first in the kitchen to search for food.” Achara was already cooking something quick and tasty for the team. Janette got up from her chair with a moan to grab Marcus from his room. Seconds later her scream echoed through the dorms and Kou and Achara ran towards the source. Janette was leaning over the body of Marcus, who was lying motionless on the floor. She called out to him in panic but he did not react.

  Kou jumped right next to her and checked Marcus’ vitals, as Kou touched Marcus his eyes widened. “He is burning hot.” He quickly checked and Marcus’ whole body was hot, much hotter than it should be possible even with a fever. “What is happening? Is this from the battle? Was he attacked?” Janette’s voice was filled with fear and Achara held her tightly to calm her down.

  “An illness or infection?” Achara asked but Kou shook his head. The last person to get something like this would be Marcus with his insane vitality. But what could do this? No matter!

  “Achara, drag him under the shower we need to cool him down no matter what.” Kou said and they quickly got the large man into the shower area and covered his body with cold water. “He is still burning hot, how is he even alive?” Kou wondered, which made Janette freeze up.

  Kou stared at Marcus and tried to understand what was going on. This was no regular illness or effect. Something connect to the class holders then? He looked at the man and an idea formed in his head. “You all also gained levels right? Have you seen him spent his crests in the bus?” Janette and Achara denied it. That must be it, Kou thought.

  Kou took out his phone and called Carmen “Do we have some kind of bathtub in the building?”. Second floor, a tub designed for cleaning of large artifacts or other archaeological pieces was the answer. “Help me get him to the second floor we need to control his body temperature.” Kou said but Janette did not move. “Should we not call an ambulance, a priest?” she asked but Kou shook his head. “They can not help him. Marcus is not ill, not really. He is getting a Game Changer.”