Book 3 Ch 25: Motivation

The beetle was a solid chitinous creature about the size of a football that looked like a roach with much sharper mandibles. It spread its wings and prepared itself to launch toward them.

Ollie pointed his staff at it and a small bolt of fire blasted out of it and shot the creature backward.

“Go and get help, warn everyone to take shelter in their homes!” Michael yelled at the young squire that was with them as he drew his sword and shield.

“Michael, I have an idea,” said Ollie as he blasted two more of the creatures with small bolts of fire.

“Shoot,” Michael was walking toward the well, preparing for the thousands of legs he heard scrabbling up it and the hundreds of wings he was hearing start to flutter.

“Do the fire thing on your shield and sword and hold them in front of yourself and brace.”

Michael complied, taking a forward leaning stance as he channeled the divine will of the gods into flames that encircled his shield and kissed his sword.

Ollie made a circular motion with his staff and twisted his wrist at the same time and very suddenly a circle of giant roaches was roaring toward Michael. They flew into his burning shield, immolating themselves and falling to the ground squirming and writhing for a few moments before settling with their legs in the air as scorched piles of chitin.

Michael kept his shield up, but was forced to use his sword to strike at several that managed to get around it until he formed a set of barriers that funneled them more directly into his shield where they would burn to death. Luckily, the beetles seemed to be mindless, and after just a few moments of them flying through the portal that Ollie had created into Michael’s shield they were all dead.

Ollie dismissed the portal and stumbled a bit. He was drenched in sweat and panting, relying on his staff to keep from falling over.

Michael skewered one of the bugs with his sword and examined it more closely. The color of the chitin as well as its yellow ichor-like blood led him to believe it was related to the creature that had ambushed them in the cave with the statue of Seras, and more recently at the lake of beasts. They seemed to be in charge of the horned men and lizardfolk, though he wasn’t exactly certain of the hierarchy. These seemed to be mindless, unlike the larger ones they’d encountered, which had made their fight much easier.

Ollie pointed at the insect, even as he panted. “I think it needs a bit more time on the grill before you eat it, mate.”

Michael chuckled and flung it off of his sword and onto the ground. “So they were the source of the tainted water?”

Ollie nodded. “Yeah. Their waste I’d guess. I thought about just tossing a fireball in there, but I don’t know that I would’ve been able to cleanse it after.”

“Glad you thought to use the portal.”

He shook his head. “I’m not. It’s tiring as hell to do on the fly like that.”

A few moments later the knights arrived along with a dozen militia.

“It’s okay. We managed to beat them,” said Michael.

“These were the source of the corruption?” asked Laird.

Ollie nodded. ‘Yeah, but I still need to clear a bit more of the contaminants from the wellwater itself. Just let me catch my breath.”

“I’m sorry, had we realized that the contaminant was something of this nature we would have been more prepared.”

“You’d have to be mad as a cut snake to have predicted that, mate.”

A woman in hastily strapped-on, half-melted armor stumbled into the group with her sword and shield at the ready.

“What’s the trouble? Did we get it all sorted or are you all standing around with your thumbs in your asses because we’re fucked anyway?”

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The woman had short black hair, dark eyes, and very full lips and it took Michael a moment to realize that she was the knight he’d only just healed less than an hour prior.

“Ser Blake, you should be resting.”

“No I fucking shouldn’t Lounds. There’s more rifts to close, and shit to do. Besides,” she tossed her sword into the air and caught it by the hilt giving it a twirl. “I feel great.” She looked around at the corpses on the ground, and the well, then Ollie and Michael.

“Nel, get some of the militia to gather these up and go bury them a short ways out of the wall. I’m guessing they’re the source of the taint in the well and that means we don’t want them in here.” She turned and pointed at Michael and Ollie. “You two, one of you had to have been the one who healed me. Which was it?”

“Me,” said Michael, stepping toward her. “I’m Michael.”

She held out a hand and they clasped one another’s wrists.