Mad Dash Through The Corruption

The sky seemed to grow darker and the air thicker as the party passed through the threshold into the old fort. Straight ahead of them was the keep they had spent the previous day preparing to storm. Within that keep was said to lie a beast, a creature so powerful and ferocious that it was single handedly keeping all of Santa rio locked to this single island. Looking over the roads, it would appear the tales were not exaggerated. From outside the barrier, the carnage could not be seen, but within, the withered skeletons of men long dead lined the pavement alongside the fresher corpses of hoplites who’s sacrifice told the town of Santa Rio all it needed to know; that this place would not welcome them.

Maggie gasped at the sight of the dead along the road while Lian scanned the area cautiously, her faithful companion keeping their senses wide open for any signs of trouble. Ember and Moze however stared straight ahead, their eyes locked upon their goal. There were no sounds, no signs of life. At this moment, they felt completely alone in this dead place. Before they could become complacent however, something finally caught their attention, something moving. It was not on the streets or among the ruined structures around them, but atop the very building their eyes were locked onto. It was difficult to tell from this distance what it was, but there was no doubt about its size. It stood tall over the battlements atop the keep a behemoth with a roughly humanoid silhouette. It gazed out over the horizon, its attention focusing on the four interlopers standing at the gate.

The party flinched as the beast reared back and released an ear splitting roar that could doubtlessly be heard throughout the ruins. Whether or not it could be detected by the ears of those outside of the instance was unknown, but what mattered is that it was enough to leave the party’s ears ringing. It took them a moment to recover as the ringing slowly subsided, however, in its place came a booming, beastial voice of somethin monstrous.

“Leave this land of death and darkness. What lies beyond this ravaged fort is not fit for the feet of man. Turn back and leave while the possibility yet exists for you, as you cannot be afforded to venture further.” The voice growled.

Just like its roar, the voice of the beast atop the keep could be heard from all around the ruins. It was deep and ominous, but also irrelevant. It was likely that the thing speaking to them right now was their target, the creature they needed to lay low to find the answers they sought. Raising his shield, Moze marched forward. There was no need to ask, the party was ready for whatever awaited them, even Maggie who stuck close behind Ember. At the sight of their persistence however, the creature rested a hand against the top of the parapet.

“Then… You have my sympathies interlopers.” The voice of the beast uttered remorsefully.

Confused as they were at the statement, they had little time to think about it as a thick black cloud had suddenly begun to form behind them. Cutting off access to the gate, the cloud grew like a wall before suddenly, slowly rolling forward towards them.

“Crap, run!” Moze shouted.

Not too keen on arguing, the party hurried after him, only for a massive piece of rubble to crash beside them, causing Ember and Maggie to stumble as it nearly struck them. Their eyes shot forward, then back upward to the monster who was already raising a massive slab of stone over its head. The party braced themselves before the beast heaved the slab of rubble through the air with alarming accuracy. Immediately, the party spread out as that boulder of crumbled masonry crashed down directly in the center of where they once stood. Ember subconsciously wrapped his tail around Maggie and used the surprising amount of strength it possessed to ensure she too was out of the way.

Those evasive efforts practically forced everyone against walls of stone at the opposite ends of the street, stumbling over the bones that littered them in the process. Moments later, another projectile of stone was cast from the keep, this one breaking up into a volley of smaller chunks. Ember and the others quickly ducked beneath some overhangs of the old structures while Moze raised his shield. The stones peppered his shield with enough impact to chip away at his hit points, but nothing to be concerned about. No, the concern ended up coming from within the structures where the others had taken cover. With the plink of metal against stone, Maggie was the first to notice, and with a shout alerted everyone that something else was afoot.

Rising from the ground, using the head of its spear against the ground to help force itself onto its feet was the former corpse of a hoplite. Their visage was decaying, but still relatively fresh and a thick black smoke reminiscent of the billowing wall slowly chasing after them poured from its mouth. It slowly staggered towards Maggie and Ember while Lian was witnessing her own trouble rising up beside her, Koumei growling at the creature, warning it to stay back.

“Crap! Everyone! We’ve got zombies or something!” Ember shouted out.

What really caught his attention about the corpse however, more than just the smoke, was its stomach. Like other beasts seemingly mutated around this area, a great toothy maw could be seen upon the creature where it shouldn’t be. Peeking out from behind its broken armor, it could be seen having formed within its torso. Ember quickly ran out from behind his cover, dodging another handful of thrown bricks in the process and dragging Maggie right behind. Lian followed suit as well, her eyes wide with horror at the sight of these mutated corpses rising up all around. Before long, the zombies were no longer relegated to only the structures as the fresher corpses began to rise up in the streets right before them. With the dark cloud following not too far behind, fighting these creatures was a prospect that the crew silently agreed was better off avoided.

Barreling forward, the party focused on forcing the creatures out of their path, Moze shoving them aside with his shield while Ember used the momentum of his charge and the head of his maul to shove others aside. Their efforts also created a path for Lian and Koumei to follow. Unfortunately, that did little to prevent the rain of stones falling down around them, Ember taking a hefty hit to the head while keeping Maggie behind the cover his small form could offer her.

Rapidly, the gate of the keep approached before them, the portcullis having fallen long ago leaving it wide open. There was no time to think or properly prepare for what may lie beyond it. The party needed to hurry before they were overwhelmed by the rain of rubble, black cloud, or the rising dead. Bracing themselves as best they could, the four party members charged through the opening, hearing the sound of crashing stone moments later. Turning around, the entrance had collapsed the moment they had entered. Despite that, everything had suddenly gone quiet. No more falling stones, no more growling dead, no more pursuing cloud, just the four of them in the ruins of what looked to have once been a chapel of sorts.

However, before any of them could get too comfortable, the sound of crumbling stone returned, followed by crash after crash on the floors above, getting louder, getting closer. The party looked around, trying to prepare for some unseen force before a hole suddenly opened up in the ceiling. What proceeded to drop through it was an absolutely massive humanoid creature. They were larger than Thordon, larger than any goliath, larger than even the bramble bear. Clad in a massive set of armor that seemed to barely cling to their bulky frame, the creature looked around through a slitted helm. Thick black smoke billowed out of it with every breath. There was no doubt about it, this was the beast that was hurling rubble at them as they tried to run.

“I-Is this thing the boss of the fort?” Moze asked.

“I dunno, probably! Hurry, let’s kill it!” Ember shouted, preparing his maul before feeling Maggie tugging against his tail.

Looking back, Ember realized that he still had Maggie held tightly to him. “S-sorry.” He said, releasing the grip of his tail on her, though she didn’t venture far as she stared up at the monster before them.

“This land… must be contained. Your foolish quest must end.” The creature said in a raspy growl, lifting up one of the old pews with a single hand.

“Sure thing, except we don’t really have a choice now for many reasons. Sorry bud, we’re taking you down.” Moze replied.

“Then… You leave me no choice. You must be stopped.” The beast growled, as it squared up for a fight.