Requiem for an Aberrant Chapter 17: Chapter 17- What Crawls Out

Read chapter 17 of Requiem for an Aberrant by TheJestersGambit on NovelPedia.

Cole knew the moment Filoa struck the first root. It was a subtle tremble in the damp moss beneath the dining table, like the Gorge's heartbeat had finally skipped a beat. Somewhere out of sight, veins of ruin were threading through soil, seeking out every cluster of spores that had anchored this false dream in place. A low moan rose from one of the cottages, shapes beginning to stumble from the doors. They blinked the sleep from eyes that hadn’t truly belonged to them in years. Cole began to rise from his seated position. Around him, the cottages cracked open one by one, as the villagers stumbled out into the silver-violet moonlight. He flexed his fist, then let it loosen repeatedly. The same rhythm his heart was making in his chest. ‘ Focus.’ Was all he could tell himself. His eyes remained on the last cottage, the one where he’d once laid his head beside Aegis and Ariana. Now shadows moved behind that doorway too. Aegis came out first. Ariana behind him. Before the nerves could take hold he reminded himself. He’d done this before, not here, but in the training where The Absolute broke him down to bone and built him back up on bruises. The training where he went against multiple versions of that monster at once, earning him his one ability from the Soulgrid before his trial. His Dancing Rhapsody. “I’m used to this.” The villagers found him with their calm eyes, and all at once, they came for him in one mass with a unified guttural scream. Perhaps, a final cry from Ceralune itself. Above him, the glowing spears he conjured from his fingertips flickered into existence, then rained down in delayed volleys of ten. They stopped the advance of the first wave of villagers. With the seconds bought, he sprinted to the other side of the dining table, dealing with the other half of villagers. The elder lunged first with a desperate cry. Cole slipped the strike, pivoting around the man’s shoulder and sent another spear through the elder’s coat, fixing him to the dining table. The mental pull it took to keep each construct stable tugged at his heightened focus. [Essentia Projection Speed Increased: 48 > 49 [Essentia Stability Increased: 22 > 24]] Another came at him. He dodged and vaulted onto the table, his eyes cutting through the swarm. Ariana and Aegis still watched from the back. Waiting. Leo charged but Cole grabbed his wrist, spinning him into the next pair of villagers. The bodies tangled and he pinned all three down on the dining table with another spear, straight through their clothing into rotting wood. He dropped off the table’s far edge, sliding through the damp moss as he made a dash for Aegis and Ariana. He couldn’t waste strength fighting all the villagers, who would eventually break free from his constructs. Aegis went ahead of Ariana, as if from the desire to protect her, even now. Cole pushed his legs faster, hand brushing his belt as he turned his body into a spinning hook kick that swung wide, forcing Aegis to adjust. It gave Cole just enough time to slip the dagger free. Aegis ducked the kick, his fist swinging for a counter, failing to notice the dagger Cole hid until it was too late. He stumbled back. Ariana stayed still, watching the two of them fight whilst mumbling to herself. If she had intended to instill fear within Cole, it worked. Two seconds was all he had before the villagers swallowed him again. Aegis roared, throwing a punch overhead. The fist grazed his cheek as he used the forward momentum to catch Aegis's arm at full extension, launching him straight into the next rank of villagers charging at the side. He pinned them too, fabric nailed to the dining table’s corner, then glanced around for Ariana. She was gone. ‘ Did she slip past me?’ Another villager lunged. Cole trapped the arm between his thighs, dropped into an armbar to wrench it harmlessly, then rolled clear as another slash missed his ribs by inches. He pushed himself off the ground. ‘ Filoa said she could handle a few.’ A nasty scent hit hi