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Bk 2 Ch. 34 The Despair of Hope
🕑 Added 2024-08-09 23:16:30 +0000 UTC34.
Local Leaders
Duncan Glades (8)
Santiago Silva (5)
Terrance Marshall (4)
Chadwin Hart (4)
Chloe Smith (3)
“Shit, this guy Duncan must be a beast. Eight dens by himself,” Cameron said as he continued to peruse the list. Santi nodded in agreement, rapidly searching his memory for anyone named Duncan Glades. He couldn’t remember anyone who would be a powerhouse strong enough to tackle eight dens by themselves. So much had changed, the ripples of his actions spreading and growing larger by the day.
“Chadwin?” Daniel said with a laugh. The scout must have been punished for his lack of help clearing the last few dens since he wasn’t on the top five leaderboard. Santi skimmed down the list and saw him and Hana just a few down at six and seven respectively. Bianca and Cam were eight and nine.
Regional Leaders
Adam Murtaugh (10)
Duncan Glades (8)
Naomi Weaver (7)
Marcus Weaver (7)
Nia Weaver (7)
…
12. Santiago Silva (5)
“Hey, Cam. Have you looked at the regional leaders?” Santi asked, whispering as they got confirmation about Cameron’s father. The man was a true monster in the last timeline. More beast than man. Someone everyone feared. Santi stared at the list of destroyed nests and understood how Mr. Murtaugh came to be created in the mountains.
“No…why?”
“Just look.”
Cam was silent for a second. His eyes glazed over and his shoulders slack as his mouth hung open. Bianca took one look at him and walked over, placing a tender hand on the big man’s elbow. Santi ignored that and waited for his friend to shake himself out of his stupor.
“Santi. I thought he was dead. Santi! I thought he was dead!” Cam said, desperation and shame twisting his face as he grabbed Santi by the shoulders.
“I know, I know. We all did…we all did, man.”
“I have to go and find him. Santi, we have to go and find him!”
“The minute this shit is settled, we go and find him together. The minute everyone here is safe.”
“No! I brought you your family! He’s my only family. We need to go!”
“Cam! We can’t. We’re not strong enough. We’d be dead before we were halfway there. He’s hundreds of miles away in the mountains. It would take us weeks of traveling and fighting. We don’t have food. We don’t have the supplies. And we have responsibilities here!”
“He’s my responsibility!”
“NO! Your Dad would never want you to risk yourself to find him. He’d take my head if I let you go off half-cocked like this.”
“You’re telling me you don’t have the skills or power to get there?” Cam asked in a deadly whisper. The weight of a lifetime of friendship was balanced on the scales with his new responsibility to this community and the future of their world. Santi had the skills to sneak his way down the state and power to fight his way through if needed. He could live off the land and it wouldn’t even be truly difficult.
“I do. And I can’t leave these people. We can’t leave these people.”
“It’s bullshit!” Cam roared, his voice echoing in the chamber as he drew himself to his full height, face darkening with rage.
“It is bullshit. It’s also the right call. If we leave to go find your Dad, we leave everyone here vulnerable. The rift in the warehouse. Whatever the fuck is downtown. We sacrifice it all.”
“FUCK THEM, SANTI! HE’S MY DAD!” spittle sprayed out as Cameron screamed. Bianca backed away from them, hurt on her face while the others made themselves scarce.
“I love him too, Cam. He was a second father to me. And he would tell us to do our duty. He’s strong Cam. He’s standing at the top by himself. We have to trust him, like he would trust us!”
“Fuck!” this time it was a harsh whisper as Cam stalked out of the ant den. Bianca followed right behind while the rest of the team looked at him. Daniel and Hana had matching looks of respect and nodded to him. Chad was blank faced while Chloe wore her sympathy plainly for everyone to see.
“I won’t abandon you.” Santi walked away, trailing after his sister and best friend. The walk through the tunnels was done in silence and when they came out of the tunnels only Bianca was standing there waiting for them.
“It was the right call. It’s just not the call he wanted to hear. He’s going to go see my Mom. I’m going too.” Bianca left and Santi was left with the remnants of his crew. His plans for leveling them had just gone out the window and he felt a festering rage burning in his gut.
“The rest of you can go back. Get some sleep. We’ll start planning on clearing the rift tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” Chloe asked in a small voice.
“One more den to take care of. I’ll see you all at dinner.” Santi didn’t flee, but the pace he set was one the rest of them couldn’t match. He knew he had made the right choice. Everything hinged on him building a base to oppose the Apostate’s faster than last time. Stronger than the last time.
The hurt on Cameron’s face tore at him. Another bit of acid that scoured his pitted soul. He flew across the ground, racing towards the last den they were supposed to clear as a team. A vacated animal pound.
The squat concrete building had devolved as something had entered it. The concrete drooped as if it was made of taffy and the roof had caved in. Glass lay in sparkling shards. Another step closer and the first of the creatures came out.
Cursed Amalgamation lvl. 26
It was…it was. Parts of animals welded together, dripping black blood, a human head in the center, face locked in a silent scream. Fur shifted and fell limp, threatening to fall off as it came crawling out of the window. The smell of rancid meat overwhelmed the area and wave of hopelessness crushed into him.
Santi wielded his willpower like a sword, slicing through the oppressive aura even as the morph weapon turned into a giant serrated sword. That caged rage spilled out in a primordial roar and Santi began to cut and slash.
Meat fell in splattering waves, oozing across the sidewalk as a half dozen dog heads began to howl in anguish. Santi kept going, the serrations slicing though the creature like butter. It died in moments and Santi was leaping over the corpse and through the busted windows like a hurricane.
[Gust] blew away the foul scent and battled for a second with the aura of despair that clung to the walls. Santi blitzed through the broken kennels as his silver blade became a wall of living steel. Creatures wailed and dies, their attacks ignored as rivulets of his blood mingled with the cursed monsters.
A human creature came stumbling out of an office.A cat head emerged from its bare chest, screeching in pain. Rat noses twitched on the creature’s face next to its own human one. A glowing purple-black stone emanated the feeling of hopelessness was located in the middle of its forehead.
Curse of Despair Anchor (Common)
Lvl. 31
“Come here!” Santi growled as he leapt at it. The cursed creature screeched, its human face elongating and dagger like teeth sprouting from its jaw. Santi sliced the entire lower jaw off, moving faster than the creature could react. Rancid black blood splattered the walls and the heavy jaw hit the ground with an audible thump.
Talons emerged from the monster's hands and it was swiping at Santi with a crazed intensity. It wasn’t fast enough. Santi hit it again and again. Parts fell just to regenerate as the creature's mass was slowly whittled away. It was nothing more than a punching bag for him as he continued to work his frustrations out on it.
He sliced a blood X across its chest and leapt backward, casting [Crosscurrent-Orb] and aiming it and the gaping wound. The orb had the faintest tinge of green around the contained winds as it crossed the space in less time than it took to blink.
Santi held the link to the spell longer, guiding it into the cursed anchor’s chest at the insertion point of the X before releasing it. [Air Shield] was cast in front of him as he watched the monster explode as wrathful winds were unleashed in a burst of power.
The gore hit the shield and slid to the ground, leaving Santi relatively unscathed as he stared at the ugly bruise colored orb. It reflected his mood rather nicely, but he resisted its siren call to fall into despair as he ripped part of his ruined shirt to wrap the fist sized orb up.
The den had been stronger than the others but still lacked the heft needed for him to really work his anger out. It had been decent for levels though.
Congratulations, you are now Air Mage lvl. 30
Comments
Nicholas Wheeler
Makes sense, I figured it would be a minor thing. Just thought this would be a good spot explore it
Dominick Ruiz
Romance will be more of a side thing that happens off screen. I don't mind writing it, but it's not really what this story is about. the relationship and how it affects the MC and others around him would be explored though
Nicholas Wheeler
I don't know if you are going have romance in this series, but if you are this might be the perfect time for something to happen between the mc and chloe.
