HERE IT IS! The next 15 pages of Snowcraft, ready for all your greedy eyes to read. And, introducing in todays update, the introduction of DDDDOOOORRRRIIIIFFFTTTAAAAHHHH!!!!
Here ya all go! For those of you saying Snowcraft is lacking in action, HERE IS A MITTFUL OF IT FOR YA!
Deccus took a deep breath. Concentrating heavily, Deccus bent his legs and jumped.
Time seemed to slow down for a few seconds. He bent his body at the height of his jump, twisting slowly backwards.
Due to the heavy weight of Golem, Deccus could not complete the back flip, and landed heavily on his rear.
The crowd instantly roared its disapproval.
“What the heck was that? That was pitiful!”
“C’mon! Do it for real this time!”
Deccus immediately tried to stand, but moving in something twice your size and three times your weight was not easily done. He tried several times to get up, and finally succeeded.
The crowd was not pleased at all. They started to throw things and fire some shots at Deccus. They all ricocheted off the shell harmlessly, but Deccus started to back up anyways. He tripped on his feet and fell back again.
This time Delia came to Deccus’s rescue. She helped Deccus to stand up again, and said softly to him “Don’t worry. You’ve done very well compared to me. It’s very hard to move in the Golem.” Deccus then looked at her through the crude eye ports, and saw Delia smile slightly. Luckily the Golem’s faceplate covered all of Deccus’s face, since he went beet red at that.
Clash waved his arms at the crowd and they eventually settled down.
“Do not blame Kenny for the poor agility shown. It is a fault of the Golem’s inner mechanics. They are just air hydraulics, and are not the most responsive. Not the best for moving quickly. But anyways!” Clash stomped the floor and a section of wall opened up. “Everyone! We are going on an exhibition match against the Badgers with these Golems!” Out of the wall came two Golem’s on a cart, pushed by two people. Then came another cart, and another behind it, then more on top of that.
Deccus watched in horror as a force powerful enough to smash through Vahal was unfolded in front of his very eyes. An even three dozen Golems were wheeled out in front of the Howler soldiers, one Golem for every person there.
The eyes of the soldiers lit up immediately. For so long they had strived for a power great enough to take over the impregnable fortress city of Vahal, and now they had it. Nothing but the largest of shots could break the armor of the Golem, and Vahal had no defenses on that scale.
It seemed hopeless to Deccus. The soldiers quickly gathered into the Golem’s, and they learned how to work them far faster than Deccus did.
Trying his best to impersonate Kenny’s voice, Deccus turned to Clash and said “Hey, Clash. Where are we taking these first?”
Clash turned to Deccus. “What?”
A little louder, to say it over the voices of the enthusiastic Howlers, Deccus repeated his question.
“Take your faceplate off, boy. I can’t hear a word your saying.”
Deccus opened the plate and it swung upwards. It was hinged at the top of it. Deccus left it down slightly, so only his mouth was visible. “I said where are we going first with the Golems?”
Clash laughed maniacally. “Vahal, of course! Where else did you expect!?”
Deccus’s heart clenched. And they could take it, too. Without Vahal, the Badgers were lost. It had everything they needed, and hardly any other place could substitute it as well. Sure, Arcania had their own barracks, but it wasn’t near as good as the Academy.
Clash whipped his hand and knocked Deccus’s loose faceplate up. It swung upwards and revealed Deccus’s face.
Deccus stared in horror as an evil grin spread on Clash’s face. Deccus could do nothing but watch as Clash started to laugh. He laughed harder and harder, then whipped around to face his minions. “Minions! I have news most pleasant for you! In this mech is not Kenny, but it is actually-“ Clash grabbed an arm of the Golem and flung it towards the Howler swarm. “DECCUS!”
Clash had pulled Deccus hard enough that he was trying to keep his balance, and he eventually fell off the raised stage and into the Howlers.
Instantly there was a contest to see who could hold Deccus the longest before they were ripped off by another Howler trying to get Deccus too. Luckily the sudden movement of Clash’s pull had closed Deccus’s faceplate, otherwise his eyes would have been gouged by the mass of people.
Deccus tried in vain to fight off the onslaught, but it was useless. If one was knocked out it was replaced by another.
Then the sound of wood hitting wood was heard and Deccus felt a very strong grip on his left forearm. A Golem pilot had waded his way through the crowd and had Deccus by the arm.
“Get off of me!” Deccus yelled and forced his Golem to pull towards himself, slinging the unsuspecting Howler into a group of three trying to pull Deccus across the floor. The Howler pilot didn’t release his grip on Deccus, but he fell on his head and the pilot was knocked out.
Deccus yelled and lifted himself up so he stood, and ran. He ran through the crowd and back into the hallway where he came from. A few Howlers managed to hang on, but Deccus shook them off.
The Golem moved very slowly, but the power in each step seemed to send it flying with each step. Every vibration as the foot stamped the floor sent shivers down Deccus’s spine. It was enough to make a person squeal with glee.
Still pulling the limp body of the other Golem pilot, Deccus quickly looked down the hallways, trying to find the best way out before a swarm of angry Howlers caught him.
To his left it got darker, and was the way he had come from before. Straight ahead got a shorter roof as it went, and was too short for a Golem. To the right looked like it had bright lights all the way along it.
The sudden yells behind Deccus made him run down the path to the right.
The hallway stayed just high enough to allow passage for a Golem to get through. The lights seemed to be some glow in the dark kind of thing, and lit the way fairly well.
The hallway continued for a while, until it led straight to a door. A rather large door, one that slid up like a garage door. However, Deccus couldn’t see any switches or handles on it. The yells behind him got closer and closer, until he could bear it no more.
Deccus reared his right arm backwards, and punched the door with all his might. It didn’t knock the door off, but it was loosened. Gripping the limp soldier still holding his left arm with both hands, Deccus swung the Howler against the door. It shook heavily, but the door still wasn’t open. It did make the unconscious Howler let go, so Deccus left it on the floor.
Deccus turned to look behind him and saw six Golem’s trying to fit through the cramped hallway. Taking a few steps back, Deccus readied his shoulder and ran into the door. It finally buckled and came off it’s hinges.
Deccus ran forward a bit, and found that he was walking in snow. He was happy to see it after being in the Howler fortress for so long, but it posed a new problem if it got too deep. Knowing that if he didn’t try, he would get caught, so he ran straight again, taking what seemed a good route to return to Badger territory.
The deep snow proved to be more of a challenge than first anticipated. He had the strength now to walk right through it all, but it slowed him down a lot. Deccus took higher, longer steps to walk over it all, and it worked better. He could outrun all of the pursuing Golem’s with this method.
Except one.
Deccus saw how the last Golem was walking, and Deccus copied it. Taking a slight jump at each step he could move a few feet each jump, and his pace was much faster than merely walking.
But, it proved useless. Deccus simply could not move fast enough to outrun his last rival.
There was only one way out.
Deccus spun on his heel and sped for the Howler. It seemed that the Howler expected this, and was ready to fight as soon as Deccus got there.
Deccus threw his fist forward at the chest region of the Howler. It put it’s arms up and blocked the punch, but it knocked it back a little. Deccus swung his other arm at the side of the Howler, and it hit the arm of it. It punched Deccus in the shoulder, knocking Deccus back, then another on the left arm. Deccus blocked a punch to the head, but it made him fall on his back.
Immediately the Howler was on top of Deccus. It started to punch furiously at him, one arm after the next. Deccus threw an arm up and smacked it back a little, but it returned with harder punches. Deccus thought he heard a crack…
He swung his arm up and it contacted with the Howler right in the head. The uppercut had hit the Howler in the chin. He heard something break, and saw that he had knocked the faceplate right off of the Howler. But, it wasn’t just any Howler.
Delia reached up and felt her face. Then her face contorted with anger and she screamed “Damn you!” and resumed her punching with an increased ferocity.
All Deccus could do was put his arms up and block the punches as best he could. He was useless against her anger, and could do nothing to stop it.
Then Delia reached, gripped Deccus’s faceplate, and ripped it off it’s hinges. Deccus realized that his weakest spot was now exposed, and Delia wasted no time to try and cream his face.
Deccus blocked a left arm swing, blocked the right arm, grabbed her left arm, blocked the other arm and grabbed it on the next swing. Using the legs now he put them on her stomach and kicked, sending her flying several feet. Deccus tried to get up, but failed again, and Delia got up much faster than he did. Instead he swung his leg and tripped Delia. She fell on her side and Deccus pushed on the ground and flung to his other side, then crawled to her and punched her shoulder. The well aimed strike hit the joint, and ripped through the weak portion of the armoring. His arm broke through rubber hoses that started to spray air all over. Delia looked at the wound, then punched with her other arm and kicked him. The loose air started to blow all over, so she ripped what remained of her helmet off and threw it aside.
Deccus had managed to stand again while she did that, and had a sure footing so he could block punches without falling back.
She ran forward, her good arm reared and ready to hit Deccus in the face. Deccus stuck out a palm as she swung and caught her fist, then clenched hard. Then he realized that there wasn’t any power in the hands, just in the arms and legs, so squeezing did nothing to her fist. She stuck her other arm out and swung it at Deccus’s face. The slow Golem could not raise his arm in time to block, so he took a hit to the face. He felt Kenny’s useless helmet fly off. His footing had been lost, so he reeled back from the hit. Luckily the swing had hit the side of his head, and there was still armor there.
But, that wasn’t where her fist was headed.
Deccus saw her fist, moving in slow motion, heading straight for his unprotected face.
Just in time, he moved his head to the side and put both arms around her good arm. Doing a move Deccus saw on TV once, he put that arm on his shoulder, gripped hard and flung her over his shoulder. She landed on the snow on chest. Deccus quickly jumped and stomped on her back, then jumped off again.
She was on the ground, imprinted in the snow, heaving for breath, her loose hair spread out beneath her head.
Deccus wiped his brow. He came up and put a foot on her throat. “Give up?”
She opened her eyes and glared. “Never.”
She swung her good arm and clipped him on the foreleg. Deccus fell on his side, right on top of her. She immediately started to pound on him through any means she could, and Deccus hurt too badly to stop her.
An air valve on Deccus’s elbow burst open from a punch. He raised his arm and blocked the next punch, then grabbed her arm. He used his other arm to grab the side of her open head area, pulled the shoulder plate, and with a yell he ripped a section of armor off, exposing her shoulder.
“Take that!” Deccus yelled as he used the ripped off portion of the armor as a weapon on Delia. Deccus had her good arm pinned down, her other arm was losing power quickly, and her whole suit started to become heavier by the second.
She made a well aimed kick on Deccus’s back. Deccus bent from the pain, and he looked at her face.
Deccus saw Delia grin. With a quick tug and a spin, Deccus was flung a few feet away and she had jumped at him head first while he lay on his back.
Deccus rolled on the snow and she plunged right into the frost. She struggled to free herself while Deccus stood up.
_Holy crap, she’s a scrapper._ Deccus thought as he took deep breaths.
Delia tackled Deccus to the ground. The attack knocked them down a nearby hill. But, the hill happened to be Howler Hill, the longest continuous slope on the Island. People commonly slid on shields down the hill for fun, so the snow was packed hard and slick as ice. The slope was quite steep, and it was nearly a mile down in total.
This, of course, did not bode well with Deccus.
They were sliding down the hill at high speeds, punching and kicking each other. Delia was on top, using her knees and good arm. Deccus could only punch, since he tried to slow down with his feet by gouging his heel in the snow.
Deccus reached up, pushed her up and backhanded Delia on the shoulder, knocking her off of him and a few feet to the side. She continued to slide down at the same speed. She angled her body to head back for Deccus. He was less agile than her on the slope, since he was on his back and her on her stomach.
As she quickly approached, he grabbed her arm, pulled in, pushed off her back and landed hard on his stomach. This knocked the wind out of him, but at least he could maneuver better.
Delia stuck her fingers in the snow to slow down slightly, in order to go to Deccus’s level. He slipped his hand on the snow and threw them backwards, flying forward. Delia grabbed a leg and tried to pull herself up Deccus. He shook his legs to try and shake her off, but she held on tightly and continued to climb. He reached behind him and grabbed her hand, threw her forward, grabbed a leg, then swung her backwards in a spin. She was behind Deccus a little, but he was intent on beating her, so he stuck his fingers in the snow to slow down as she peddled up.
Deccus aimed a kick at her exposed shoulder, but she swerved to the side and peddled up so that they were side by side. Deccus punched, but she grabbed his arm, pulled herself forward and punched his rib cage. Her fist went right through the armor, ripping some hoses. Deccus felt his right leg get heavy.
He punched her back, but she had a hose by the grips, and she refused to let go. Instead Deccus pulled her closer, put his hand above her head and pushed her face in the snow. He could hear her yell in anger at this, since she couldn’t lift her head. Deccus pulled her head up, to let her catch her breath, then pushed it back down.
Deccus felt a bump on her face. He lifted her up, and saw what would scare the living daylights out of anyone.
Apparently a rock had gotten in the way of her path, and it had made a deep gash across her face, right in between the eyes and went to the chin. Her face was beyond hatred, it was loathing. She clenched the hose in her hands, cutting the air flow, which caused the hose to overflow and burst. Deccus’s right leg got heavier again. He pushed her off and swerved to his left, away from her. She peddled to the side and caught up easily, a trail of red behind her as the blood flowed freely from her face.
At that moment Deccus hit a mound of powder snow. He was temporarily blinded, and his eyes stung. He closed them for a second as the powder snow built up in his hair.
As the snow cleared, Deccus felt something gripping his hair. He opened his eyes and looked.
She was right in front of Deccus, her face staring at his. Her good Golem arm was holding Deccus’s hair, and her arm was sticking out of the hole Deccus ripped in her shoulder. Her face had an evil grin to it, and it spooked Deccus to see a face still smile like that despite the huge gash.
She pushed Deccus’s face down into the snow, the same as he did. He couldn’t breathe while she did this, and all he could do is flail his arms and close his eyes. She pulled his head up, but before she let him catch his breath she started to punch his face with her exposed arm. She dunked his head again, then pulled it up and punched it more.
_Ugh. She’s killing me!_ Deccus thought to himself.
Suddenly they were both airborne. Sometimes jumps were made on the hill, and they had hit one.
Deccus opened his eyes and looked down, seeing them go up and the hill go down wasn’t too comforting.
Delia still had a grip on Deccus’s hair, and she started punching again. Deccus reached over, grabbed her shoulder opening that he made, and pushed her under him. Her face stuck out the back, and her feet by Deccus’s face.
_Bad idea._ Deccus thought as she started waving her feet around to try and hit Deccus’s head. He didn’t want to hurt her too badly by putting her head first, but when one is going as fast as they were and hit a jump, he didn’t want to land on his own mech.
The ground came quickly and it hit Delia first. They bounced once, then continued to slide. Deccus let go of her and pushed her back under him so she slid behind him. He turned around to face her.
She had been knocked unconscious by the landing, and her head hung limp in the snow, skidding on the glazed surface. Deccus grabbed her hair, pulled it up and pulled her close. He could see the end of the hill approaching, and the level ground came quickly. It could break her neck if her head hung loosely and the ground evened off.
Apparently another ramp was built at the bottom of the hill, and they went airborne again. Instead of landing on her this time, Deccus tilted so that he would land sideways, his right arm first, and Delia clamped to his left side. Deccus saw the ground come closer, closed his eyes and prepared for impact.
When the ground came Deccus rolled. He bounced up once, which knocked his breath out, but he regained it quick when he prepared for the rebound. He bounced again, smaller though, and continued to roll. She was clamped tightly to Deccus, and he didn’t dare let go.
Eventually they slid to a stop, Deccus still holding Delia to him. He opened his eyes, let go of her and stood up.
He was battered. He had melted snow in his hair, which had long ago frozen, a heavy leg, no helmet, a crack in his hip region and almost no breath. All he could do is stand there and take deep breaths, watching the blood run down Delia’s face while she lay unmoving.
Deccus reached down, put an arm under her knees and another under her head, and picked her up. Both his arms were good, but her bad arm was useless as it had no pressure to move.
Deccus adjusted her position and started to walk off in a general direction.
“Well, Delia.” Deccus said to her limp body. “If it wasn’t for you trying to kill me, that would have been enjoyable. We should do it again sometime.”
“Mmm…” She moaned in his arms. Deccus paid no attention to this.
She opened her eyes slowly. They darted from Deccus’s face, to lower down on her, then to his face again.
Delia stuck her exposed arm into the limp Golem arm and lifted. It was much heavier without the additional power, but she managed to lift it and hit Deccus on the head with it.
He let go of her as he fell backwards. One cannot take a 20 pound hit to the head too well. She stood up after she fell and stood over Deccus, who was feeling his head for open wounds.
Delia kicked Deccus in the rib, which made him flip on his stomach. She sat on top and brought an elbow down on his back. She did it again, several times, without mercy. Then she grabbed his head and stuffed it in the snow, and pounded it in. She stood, gripped his leg, began so spin in a circle, lifting Deccus up and threw him several feet and onto his face.
She came over and saw the crack in the hip joints. Getting an evil idea, she reached down, put a hand into each crack, and pulled it apart. The wood began to split further, and it snapped in two. The hoses were still there, but she ripped them all apart so that the lower half could not move.
Delia reached down, picked Deccus up by the collar, and lifted him up to her face. His legs slipped out of the leg armor, thus reducing his weight by half. With that reduction in weight she could easily lift him up to her face.
She smiled at Deccus. He didn’t like it, not like the one in the base. All he could do was move his head backwards and stare at her face in horror, which was almost completely red with her blood.
“Nice work, wonderboy. You almost beat me there. You put up one heck of a fight.” She said right to his face.
He nodded, trying his best to be nonchalant as possible. “Thanks. You too.”
She pulled him closer. “Don’t get sassy with me, boy. Remember, you are at my mercy. I could snap your neck right now if I wanted to. I could-“
Her words were stopped by a sound fast approaching in the distance. It was one sound, sounding rather unlike a machine, but it got louder as it came.
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…” Was the sound.
“What the-“ Delia started to say.
“HAAAAAAA!” A blue streak flew across Deccus’s vision and smacked into Delia, sending her flying. Deccus fell to the ground and watched the scene ahead.
A blue ski-doo had ran into Delia, sending her rolling across the snow.
The rider was not a light boy, and had quite a bit of weight to him. He still looked like he had good reflexes and speed, for a rider. Across his back were two large, long, double-barreled guns, and his armor was blue, but that was all Deccus could see since he was moving too fast.
The rider drove circles around Delia much in the way a horse would taunt an intruder. He drove circles around her, once in a while driving in closer to her and almost hitting her. She tried to fight back against this new arrival, but he was simply too fast for the slow Golem to hit.
The mystery rider pulled out a glowstick. He began waving it in an odd fashion, but it must have meant something.
Another ski-doo came roaring past Deccus and into the circle around Delia. They both started taunting her, laughing and pointing at her all the while. She could do nothing against the two of them, and they just poked fun at her.
Nova pulled out a glowstick and waved it around. Deccus couldn’t make out the slightest meaning from it.
Almost instantly another ski-doo came into the scene. He drove up to Deccus and stopped beside him.
His voice was very reminiscent of the biker dude stereotype. “Whoa, cool threads, dude.”
Deccus looked down at himself. He noticed how silly he looked having a huge mech upper half, but his normal legs beneath that. He hadn’t noticed it due to him being on the business end of Delia’s fists.
“Uh, thanks, man.” Deccus said slowly.
Instantly the rider’s voice changed into that of an over pumped action hero. “Now is not the time for talk! Now is the time for ACTION!” He waved his head, signaling Deccus to get on. Deccus did just that, swinging a leg over the back half of the seat as the rider started to speed off.
The other two riders left Delia, waved more glowsticks and followed Deccus’s ride. Behind them were three more riders, all on ski-doo’s. Delia didn’t try to stop them, and instead she just watched them leave and started to climb up the hill.
“She’s in for a rough night.” Deccus heard the main leader say to him. “There’s going to be a blizzard moving in and she’s gonna try and climb a mile long hill.”
Deccus didn’t say anything, he just looked at the rider beside him to his left.
“Oh, by the way, I’m Drifter.” He took one hand off the steering and stuck it out to Deccus.
Drifter was not a light boy by any means. He wasn’t unnaturally large, but his arms were strong and looked fast, despite their size. On his forearms were two small shields, clamped on and looked hard to take off. He had dark blue armor on, with blue cloth forming an X on his chest, and other cloth straps n his forearm, foreleg, belt and one piece tied around his head for a headband. He had glasses on, but they were under sharp goggles. The hair itself was brown and his eyes green.
Deccus only looked at the hand. “Is that safe? I don’t think I want to let go of a hand here. I might fall off.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Skull here is an excellent rider, aren’t you, Skully?” Drifter gave Deccus’s driver a light punch on the shoulder. Skull immediately turned and glared to Drifter, said in a menacing tone: “Don’t touch me.” Then turned back to driving. Drifter just laughed.
“By the way, where were you Deccus? We’ve been looking almost a whole day for you. I’ve never seen the General so uptight to look for someone. Practically all the Badgers were out on patrol, trying to find any trace of you.”
Deccus thought on this. Had the General really been looking that hard for Deccus? He wasn’t near as important as someone like Anton, but now that he thought on it, Deccus did have quite a record of single-handedly changing the course of a battle to his side. Someone like him didn’t come very often.
“Say, Drifter, I should tell you.” Deccus said above the sound of the ski-doo’s going. Drifter drove closer and leaned his head.
“What’s that?”
“The Howler’s are preparing a huge strike force to attack Vahal with. It’s going to have three dozen Golem’s (the thing that I’m wearing… half of) and Clash will probably gather more troops and siege machines too. I hate to say it, but with those Golem’s, Vahal doesn’t stand a chance.”
Drifter thought for a second, then pulled out a glow stick. He gave it a complicated wave, and one rider from behind drove up to Drifter’s other side. They spoke to each other, but Deccus couldn’t hear anything. They both nodded and the new rider broke off from the group.
“I just sent Mikey boy off to send a message to Vahal about your warning. It’s probably a good thing you were gone. Now at least we can prepare.”
“But you don’t understand Drifter, a Golem is invincible to everything but another Golem. Vahal’s defenses don’t have anything strong enough to punch through the armor.”
Drifter waved his hand. “We’ll worry about that when it comes. Right now our main concern is getting you back to Vahal. Don’t you worry about anything.”
Despite Drifter’s words, Deccus still worried. Without Vahal, the Badger’s would be effectively taken over. Clash is sure to properly defend Vahal if he took it. It would be his greatest victory, and he could finally surpass Lazlo as the greatest Howler commander after Venom.
Deccus heard Skull clear his voice. He spoke in a loud announcers voice. “Males and gentlemen, may I present to you, VAHAL!”
Deccus looked over Skull’s shoulder and saw indeed the Badger capital of Vahal. Deccus almost thought that he would never see it again.
The six of them drove to the gate, Drifter said the master password, and they entered. They disembarked from the ski-doo’s.
“Dang, your hair looks like crap, Deccus.” A rider with dark red hair said. Deccus reached up and felt it. It was almost straight up, and full of ice chunks.
“We’ll worry about that later. Come, we should take you to the general.” Drifter waved a glowstick in the direction of Headquarters and walked. The rest of them followed behind him.
The secretaries jumped when they saw Deccus in his state. They immediately opened the door to the General when they saw him and Drifter. They all entered, and the darkness of the room immediately followed as the doors shut behind them.
“Ah, excellent job, Drifter. I see you found Deccus.” The General said in his mysterious voice.
Drifter looked at Deccus, then his hair, then back to the General. “Well, he’s not in the best of shape, but we got him all right.”
“Excellent. That’s good to hear.” The General spoke to Deccus next. “Did you see anything while in the Howler base?”
Deccus immediately launched into his story. He told him of him on the dungeon wall, of Hime and Otherun, of Clash’s announcement, the unveiling of the Golem’s, the planned attack on Vahal, and his battle with Delia.
The General sighed. “It’s as I feared. I never thought that they would stoop so low. But anyways, about this attack. Riles, go the Comm Tower and send a message to Arcania and Perry. Tell them we need every available soldier and heavy weapon they can bring, and tell them not to worry about defense. The Howler’s will focus only on Vahal now, so defense of their cities are useless and unnecessary.”
A rather short boy nodded and left the office. When the door opened the light flashed on the General. Deccus quickly whipped his head to the General’s direction, but he had leaned to avoid his face being seen. All Deccus could see was the General’s shoulder, and nothing else.
The door shut and the General spoke again. “Drifter, I want you and the rest of your team to go back out and find the missing half to Deccus’s Golem. We’ll need to make Golem’s of our own if we hope to properly defend ourselves in the future.
Drifter nodded, waved a glowstick, and the other four members of his team left. Deccus was about to follow, but the General stopped him. He stopped and turned back to him.
“Secretary, send the rest of the team in here.”
In a second the door opened again, and Holly, Kaeden, Kleth, Ted, Wedge and Shed came in the room.
Holly blinked and tried to see through the darkness. “Deccus? Man, you’re a sight.”
Kaeden patted Deccus on the back rather hard. He didn’t notice due to the remains of the Golem on him. “Good to see ya back, man.”
“Silence!” The General said sharply. Everyone stopped and faced him with attention.
“As of now, you seven have been promoted for your service in the Arcania Attack. All of you now have access to higher level equipment, and special circumstances have made new weapons available. For, as you see, Vahal is about to engage in a massive siege by the Howlers, and it is likely that they will succeed.”
Everyone but Deccus gasped at this.
“But…” Shed stammered. “How could they beat us? We got them good last time, didn’t we?”
“Yes, we did repel the attack last time, but this time they have new equipment. You see what Deccus is wearing?”
Everyone looked to him.
“Looks like he put a tree on and named himself ‘squeaky’, as usual, only now he has hair like a punk rocker.” Holly said with her usual wit. Deccus glared at her. His hair was starting to melt, and was slowly sinking back down.
The General spoke again. “What Deccus is wearing is half of a new piece of Howler equipment. It can increase ones strength two fold, but at half the speed. With the increased strength, anyone in one of them can easily break through any infantry’s armor with ease. Why, with enough hits, it could even take down the wall around Vahal.”
Kleth gave a small whimper.
“But, if you all go to Dagor now, we have prepared new equipment for you in order to help combat the new Howler threat.”
“Sweet!” Kaeden yelled. “New weapons!”
“Think of the upgrades as a gift for your assistance. Arcania would have been lost without all your help.”
The General tried to speak further, but gave up due to Deccus’s, Holly’s and Kaeden’s excited yells. The General growled under his breath and yelled.
“Just go and get them already!”
Everyone shut up and went out the door.
“Oh, and Deccus?”
Deccus stopped and turned.
“Take that half of the Golem to Science, could you?”
Deccus nodded. “Sure thing.” He left out the door, went up the stairs in the receiving office, took off the Golem, threw it on a random table in the Science bay, then left to Dagor’s weapon shop excitedly.
He went in, and saw the other six of them swarming at Dagor’s desk. He was trying to restore calm, but Holly was almost over the desk trying to get her new equipment. Deccus reached, grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back down.
“Thanks, man.” Dagor said and retreated to the back with an assistant.
Deccus folded his arms and glared Holly in the eye. She returned the look, and they attempted to stare each other down. Kaeden was hopping on the spot, Wedge tried to keep calm and was succeeding, and Shed looked puzzled. He didn’t know what could possibly improve his armor any more than it already was. He made it himself, and it was heavier than anyone else’s armor. He couldn’t see how any improvements could be made.
Dagor returned with a cart full of equipment. Deccus made everyone line up in a row in front of the desk.
Dagor put a pile of leather and a rifle in front of Wedge, a very, very very large gun by Kaeden, new armor and weapons for Holly, new radio for Kleth, a satchel of medic equipment for Ted, a complicated wood set for Shed, and a strange weapon for Deccus.
Everyone marveled at their new armament, Kaeden and Deccus especially.
Deccus took off the Howler armor he was wearing, put on his hidden armor, and picked up the new weapon.
The indefinable sense of power from this gun flowed through Deccus like electricity. It had a space for an arm to go in, with wood shielding for the forearm, a long barrel, and a few switches. Deccus slipped his arm in the opening, and found that it fit snugly. Only the sides of his forearm were protected by the outrigger of wood, but it seemed more for looks that purpose. It was a considerably heavier weapon than his S-buster, and Deccus felt the internal triggers. One was for firing, and another for charging, Deccus hypothesized. Despite it’s huge increase of size over his S-buster, it still could effectively be used with one hand only.
Kaeden was shaking. His new weapon was almost three times as heavy as his old one, and the barrel was twice as wide. He had gotten no new armor, but even if he did he wouldn’t have noticed it. He was wrapped up about his new cannon.
Wedge had gotten an awkwardly shaped rifle. It looked uncomfortable to use while looking at it, but after trying it out he found that it fit rather well for him. His new armor was just a thicker leather jacket and boots, nothing new there. He wanted to test the rifle out…
Holly had gotten standard upgrades. Heavier armor, larger weapon, the like. She wasn’t complaining, though.
Kleth’s new radio had an increased range and more wavelengths could be covered, and it even had a new scan feature, so looking through different frequencies for activity went much faster.
Ted’s satchel had new kinds of bandages, heat packs, drinks, and other assorted things. They looked like they would help him out immensely.
Shed couldn’t make head nor tails of his upgrade. All it was was a bunch of pieces of lumber, hinged at the ends in complicated fashions. Dagor came over and showed him that it was a bracer for his shield. Once latched onto the underside of the shield, it could increase the force of hit it could withstand without falling over. It even folded up inside the shield for easy carrying.
Everyone marveled at the new equipment.
“So, how do you all like it?” Dagor said and leaned on his desk. “This all was some of my best work. Hope you like ‘em.”
Kaeden was too overwhelmed to speak, Holly didn’t want to, Ted couldn’t, Kleth was busy trying out his new radio, Deccus was figuring out the purpose for the protective sides, Wedge was flicking with his weapon and Shed was busy installing his new attachment.
No one spoke for quite some time.
“C’mon! I worked for days on these! At least say SOMEthing!”
Deccus nodded his approval. “Nice work, Dagor. Definitely some of your best.”
A sudden burst of wind knocked the door open. Ted shut it with difficulty.
“That blizzard Drifter talked about must be moving in.” Deccus said while fiddling with his weapon.
Deccus remembered something. It hit him like a ton of bricks.
“Oh, no….” He whispered. He dropped his new weapon, unslung his shield and dashed out the door. Everyone yelled at him, but he didn’t listen. He didn’t stop running until he hit Vahal’s gate.
“Let me out!” He yelled above the howling winds. It was starting to get very dark.
The guard inside the wall yelled back. “No way. This blizzard is getting fierce. You’d be better to get in the Academy.”
“But I’m a Valiant! You gotta let me through!” Deccus said the master password, but the gate still didn’t budge.
“Sorry. Orders from the General. No one is to leave Vahal.”
Deccus didn’t have time for this.
Acting on spontaneous logic, Deccus felt in the snow for the secret doorway into the wall complex. He found it, opened the door and was inside the thin hallways of the wall complex. He went up some stairs up, and a few levels up he was in the guards room.
“Hey! You can’t come in here!” the guard stood up and blocked further passage.
“I don’t care.” Deccus pushed the thin guard to the side easily and stuck his head out the open window.
It was a sheer drop down to the ground, several meters at most. Deccus had no choice, however, and prepared to jump down.
The guard grabbed Deccus around the chest. “You must be crazy! Jumping down in this weather.”
Deccus took his shield and smacked the guard across the face. He was easily knocked out, and he slumped to the floor. Deccus stuck his head out again, moved back a few steps, readied himself, then ran forward and jumped out the window.
The wind blew Deccus to the side as he fell. He put his shield up above his head, to try and catch as much wind as possible to slow his descent. It worked fairly well, and Deccus landed hard on his feet. The snow cushioned much of his fall though, and he couldn’t waste time. He immediately began to run in the direction he came from.
He saw a series of ski-doo treads in the snow still, and he moved his finger straight across them, judged his direction, and began to run.
The wind must have blown on his back that night. Deccus could feel his steps being lighter than usual, and he ran with all the speed he could, still following the tracks the best he could in the darkness.
After a few minutes of running Deccus couldn’t see the tracks anymore. The blizzard’s falling flakes had covered them up, and Deccus had to go on instinct alone.
The snow got heavier and heavier as it built up on Deccus’s shoulders. He unfolded his scarf, brushed himself off with it, tied it around his face and neck, and continued on.
Not seeing anything in any directions, Deccus took a rest. He had been running for thirty minutes straight, and he still hadn’t seen anything. It didn’t take at all long on the ski-doo’s to get to Vahal, but they moved many times faster than Deccus could. How he still had a bearing on his direction was any guess. Deccus shook his face, brushed more snow off and continued on his way, at a lessened pace.
Onward he struggled. The wind had stopped cooperating, and was blowing against his path. Deccus slowed from a jog to a quick power walk, then to taking slow, powerful steps. He didn’t dare put his shield in front of him, since it would catch the wind and blow him away. He kept it parallel with him, so that the wind just blew past it.
For nearly ten more minutes he continued like this. It was now completely dark, and the wind and snow blew harder than ever.
Finally, Deccus found a sign that insured he was on the right track. Oversized human imprints in the snow, massive footsteps, and most of all, a blood trail. Deccus got on his hands and knee’s, and followed the trail the best he could. It tended to pool in area’s, but it generally kept a continuous path.
Deccus followed the trail of blood, and he felt it go uphill. Nevertheless, he kept going determinately.
He continued to climb up the hill. His face was almost right in the snow, since it was getting very hard to see in the blackness. On and on he followed it, until he saw a sign.
The blood behind him was frozen, like it had been there for a while. This blood was newer, and wasn’t completely hard yet. Deccus followed it all the more.
Indeed the blood got newer and newer as he crawled, and the wind and frost got heavier and heavier.
Then, he found what he had been looking for.
Delia was lying in the snow, unconscious, still in her broken Golem. Her face was laid on the snow, and the wound on her face almost frozen. Her face was almost starting to look blue, she was so cold.
Deccus leapt for joy. He reached down and somehow managed to pull her out of the hole Deccus had made earlier. He slung Delia over his shoulder, sat on his shield and slid down the hill with her on him.
The descent down was quick, and he had slowed down in time for the jump at the bottom. Deccus found his old tracks, made a mark of the direction they were in, slung his arms in his shield, and plodded on.
It was difficult going. The wind was harder than ever, and Delia wasn’t very light either. She caught a lot of wind and had a lot of snow on top of her. Worrying about her face, Deccus put Delia down, took his scarf off and tied it around her neck and mouth, not blocking the nose. He picked her back up and continued.
The going was very slow. He walked for ten minutes, not daring to stop. The wind had changed it’s mind, and now blew the other way against him again. Deccus was hoping that it would have stayed blowing in the same direction, so the trip back would be easier, but he never had that much luck, let alone now when he needed it most.
Another ten minutes of walking seemed to lead to no where. By now all tracks had faded, and even the tracks Deccus made behind him seemed to fill in as he watched them. Nevertheless, he trudged on for Vahal.
Without his scarf, the wind stung at Deccus’s bare face. He had his helmet on, and it covered his ears, but his mouth and nose was now completely numb. He started to faint for a second, but shook himself and continued.
He didn’t think that it would be this hard. Delia was getting heavier, the wind harder, the snowflakes more numerous, and his consciousness was fading, along with his strength.
_C’mon, you!_ Deccus thought to himself. _You can do it! Vahal can’t be that far away now!_
_I’m right. I’m come this far. I have to continue!_
With spurt of determination Deccus ran forward. He took huge sprinting steps, gaining as much ground as possible. Hopefully, the lights of Vahal would appear over the horizon, and he would be safe.
But, his sprinting burst didn’t last long, and he soon returned to his trudging.
The wind didn’t let up, his boots were filled with snow, and his armor was getting heavier, along with Delia. He slumped on the ground and let her roll off his grip. She flopped face down and stayed there. Deccus, however, fell to his knee’s, then face forward in the snow.
The snow felt so warm. He wanted to just burrow in there and sleep. It was so tempting…
A sudden gust of stronger wind woke Deccus from his stupor. He couldn’t just lay and sleep, he would freeze to death. He…. Had…. To… keep… going…
He pushed himself up, held himself up with his arms, and took several deep breaths. One last effort… he could do this.
But it was useless. He fell back down and gave up. He was as good as dead, and he accepted this knowledge. It would be a relief to not have to heave his lungs, and to not feel the numbness in his leg.
A cough brought Deccus back to reality. He heard snow crunching beside him, so he pushed himself up and crouched on one knee beside Delia.
She had awoken.
She opened her eyes and felt the scarf on her face.
“How did this get here?” She said.
“I put it there.” Deccus said loudly above the wind.
She quickly turned to face Deccus, then backed away. “You!”
Deccus put an arm around himself, to warm his chest. “Don’t be so jumpy.” He practically had to yell to be heard. “I’m not here… To hurt you…”
He heaved his frozen lungs for breath. Delia looked at him in the face, and he looked right back.
“I promise….” He continued speaking. “I’m… not… here to… hurt you… Please…. Believe… me…”
She inclined her eyebrows, her mouth still hidden by his scarf. “And how do I know I can trust you?”
“Because… I haven’t…. hurt you further, have…. I?”
She puzzled this for a second.
“Believe… me…. I had plenty…. Of opportunities to….”
She looked down at a nearby rock, still thinking.
“Delia… I’m really weak…. Here… I just…. Carried you… a few miles… in this weather… At… least… give me… a chance…”
She still looked at the rock, her eye’s squinting slightly.
“Delia… Please… I’m… spent here… I can… hardly… breathe… I can barely…. Talk… I’m just… about ready… to… give up……..”
Deccus sunk lower and fell again on the snow. He fully expected Delia to walk away, or to knock him out and take his equipment, leaving him for the dead.
But, luck was on his side that night.
She hefted Deccus up, put his arm across her shoulder and hers on his.
“You went to all this work to save me, The least I can do is return the favor.” She said to him softly.
Deccus leaned his head to face her, nodded, then took a step forward.
With her help, Deccus could finally walk again. She had much more energy than him, having just slept, but she almost had to carry him across the frigid tundra.
The wind was still blowing against them, and the snow hadn’t eased up. Yet still, they plodded on.
Deccus thought that they had neared Vahal, since they had walked for so long, but it didn’t seem so. Even after thirty minutes of it, they still saw no trace of civilization.
“Ugh!” Delia let go of Deccus and fell to the ground. Deccus sat next to her and tried to block the wind.
“What is it… Delia?”
“My… My back… It really hurts…”
Deccus thought back to their battle. He remembered now how he had stomped on her back. He thought he heard something go crack then, but he had ignored it. Apparently, so had she.
“That was… My fault.. I hurt your back.”
She turned her head to face his and moved the scarf off her face. She smiled, and this time it was genuine. Her hair was blowing in front of her face, her eye’s seemed to glint in the darkness, and her rising and falling chest broke all worries that Deccus had at the moment.
“Here… Would it help if I… Rubbed your back for you?”
She nodded. “Please.”
Deccus took his left glove off and reached for her back. He found her spine, touched it, and began to move his fingers back and forth, then in small circles, moving up slowly. She sighed and leaned forward slightly.
Deccus felt something on her back. She cringed when he touched it. It had felt like a large gap between two places of her spine.
“Ouch… That hurt.” She whispered while breathing heavily.
Deccus massaged the area around the wound, helping the tense muscles all he could. Without her, he was doomed, so he had to help anyway he could.
He was done with her back, and he put his glove back on his bare hand. His hand was very, very cold after being in the wind for so long.
Delia turned herself to face Deccus. She smiled ever so slightly. She leaned forward and put both her arms around Deccus’s frigid body and lay her head on his shivering shoulders.
“Thank you.” She whispered in his ear.
Having her body against Deccus’s seemed to light a fire under him. His body coursed warmth where she was touching him, and spread through his entire self. He stopped shivering so frantically, and calmed down immensely.
She let go of him and positioned her head right in front of his. For the first time Deccus noticed that her hair was the color of chestnut.
For a second she stared him in the eye, with the lightest of grins on her face. Deccus didn’t know what to do other than stare back in the same fashion.
In a surprise move, she moved her head forward and planted her lips right on his.
This had taken Deccus completely by surprise. He didn’t expect this to happen at all. But, he wasn’t complaining.
She parted from him and gazed at him again. “Thank you.”
Utterly flabbergasted, Deccus took several deep breaths. That was about the last thing in the world he had expected to happen, but now that it was over, he reveled in the idea of his first kiss.
Delia stood and helped him up. “Come on. We still got a ways to go.” She flipped the scarf back up on her face, put his arm on her shoulder again, and hers on his. Deccus remembered the direction they were heading, and went that way.
The wind hadn’t calmed down at all, but it didn’t nip as hard. The snow wasn’t so heavy, even though it was no lighter. Deccus had his strength back, and much more motivation than before.
For ten more minutes they continued at the increased speed. Deccus started to feel the effects of the cold again, and the wind began to roar in his ears. Delia started to slow down too. She was feeling the cold on her face, despite Deccus’s scarf. She only had on a Howler cloth outfit, and it wasn’t near as thick as Deccus’s armor and heavy fabric.
“I need to stop.” Delia said and sat down. She began to rub her arms, trying to warm herself up. Deccus sat down beside her and tried to block the wind with his body.
He thought back to his days of training. What did they tell you to do when you’re caught in a blizzard?
Always keep moving, that was the biggest thing. Even if you’re sitting, do more than just shiver.
“Rub your chest.” Deccus said to Delia. “Your arms can warm themselves up.”
She looked at him funny.
“I’m just saying, it works.”
She shrugged and moved her hands.
Now that he noticed, Delia was not at all dressed for this weather. She only had one layer on against Deccus’s three. He had an undershirt, a coat and thick armor. She only had a Howler pilot’s suit.
Deccus took off his armor and gave it to Delia.
“What’re you doing?” She stared at the armor.
“You only have one layer. I have three. This will be better than nothing.”
She looked at the armor, then him. She smiled, took it, and slipped it on. Even if it was only wood armor, it still blocked much of the wind. It fit her snugly, and covered much of her upper half.
She reached and touched Deccus’s hand. “Thanks.”
Deccus could do nothing but stare at her face. Her smile was so tempting…
There was a sudden gust of much stronger wind, followed by a loud crack that sounded very close to them. Deccus whipped his head in all directions, trying to find the source. He found it, and it wasn’t good.
A huge tree had snapped from the powerful winds and it was falling straight for Deccus and Delia.
“Look out!” He leapt forward and pushed Delia back and away from the tree. Deccus lay on his stomach, unaware of what was heading his way.
He looked up, and saw the tree continuing on it’s path downwards. He gaped for a second, but his instincts kicked in. He slammed both hands and the snow and kicked off at the same time, sending him forward quickly enough to avoid the tree.
But not quite quick enough….
Deccus’s ankle was caught under the massive tree.
“Agh! Delia, help!” He called to her. He heard no response, so he looked at her.
A long branch had come down and hit her on the head. She was knocked out cold, but something about her didn’t look right.
“Ah, crap!” Deccus yelled and tried to force his leg out from under the tree. He couldn’t move his foot at all, and the tree just sat on top, not caring about how much pain Deccus was in.
With a grunt, Deccus managed to pop his heel out from under the tree. He immediately ran to Delia. Even though she looked fine, something told Deccus that there was something more that was wrong.
_Vahal can’t be that far away now._ Deccus thought. _I can make it._
He stood up straight, and fell right back down. His left ankle felt like it was broken in seven places. Reaching down and feeling, he found it was only in five.
Still, he had no choice. He stood again, putting all his weight on his right foot. He tried to put the slightest weight on his ankle, but it hurt like blazes to even touch the ground. Giving up trying to work around the ankle, he decided to just not use it at all, so he got down on hands and knees and crawled quickly to Vahal.
It was slow enough walking to Vahal, but crawling slowed that progress to a near stand still.
Deccus never noticed before how much of a difference it made having his armor on. It had blocked a lot of the wind that was now ravaging his body. It was chilling to move, and Deccus grew stiffer by the moment. The wind felt like a knife in his side, and the snow a chilly blanket of ice on him. But, his determination made him continue, however slowly he was going.
Deccus was starting to lose the feeling in his face. He no longer felt the cold wind, and his eyes were on the brink of watering. He hoped that he didn’t tear, since the tears would freeze within seconds. Deccus had to keep his eyes closed shut almost all of the time, to prevent the cold from freezing his eyes into his skull.
_I wonder what Skull would say if he saw me right now…_ Deccus wondered. He half expected Skull to appear in front of him with a ride back, but apparently Deccus had seen too many movies. He stopped, opened his eyes and looked around, but saw nothing but trees and the random rock. Nothing was in sight that could help him at all.
Not a thing…
He was completely alone, he was too tired to move, the wind was stinging all the more, the snow was piling up on top of him, and his ankle hurt even though it had no weight on it.
_But… I have to keep going… For Delia…_
Deccus began to crawl again. He knew it couldn’t be that far to Vahal.
He crawled further in the snow. The frost was building up in his jacket, and melted down his shirt, which froze again. Deccus couldn’t feel his left arm, nor his feet.
_I guess… This is…. It…._ Deccus thought sadly. _I failed… I think I’ll just lie down… and die… Right here…_
Deccus’s arms refused to hold him up any longer. He slumped is body onto the snow. He felt the snowflakes begin to bury him, as if telling him that he was getting buried as he slept…
