Chapter 18

The group without Sol, were running out of the boss room. They were exhausted, Tower's vision was blurry and he was losing consciousness. Elora was sweating too as she was carrying Sharp.

The boss room began to crumble as they ran past all the undead held back by iron bars on the wall. There truly were thousands of them, all groaning and crushing each other. As the ceiling began to break, so did the iron bars that held them and a few started to fall out onto the ground.

They managed to dodge the undead and climb the flesh hill with their remaining strength. Elora pulled out the bag of fairy dust and blew it in all of their faces. Gravity loosened on them and the two of them jumped. It was tough but they managed to kick off the walls and propel themselves upwards.

As they made their way up they saw hundreds of undead start to pile up beneath them, crawling over each other as they tried to chase the life that was escaping them.

They reached the top and collapsed on the floor. Elora pulled high quality healing potions from her necklace and started pouring it down everyone's throat. Potion poisoning was dangerous but it was better than dying.

Soon everyone was looking better and Tower managed to roll over and grab his phone from his pouch. He coughed up a black blood as he called a number.

"This is Tower, leader of Fodder Group 1141. Code Bl-'' he coughed violently, "Code Black. Immediate backup. Thousands of undead are coming out of the dungeon. Team is heavily injured and there are refugees in the area."

"Copy that Tower. Black Code has been processed. Backup is on their way. Escape to a safe area. Leave refugees if necessary."

"Negative. Refugees are in the safest place. If the undead pour out into the forest then we are all dead-"

Tower collapsed on the ground, the phone slipped from his hands. Elora hurried over and emptied a health potion into his mouth.

"Tower. Base to Tower. Do you copy?"

Elora picked up the phone, "This is Elora Evergrand. The undead are about to pile out of the dungeon in less than twenty minutes. You need to get your ass here right now! If I die then you will pay the price with your head. We need healers and as much firepower as you can bring!" she demanded and then hung up the phone.

It sounded awful and petty but her life was on the line and so were the teams, and the refugees in the fort.

Spike sat up while rubbing his head, it was bleeding and his mohawk was ruined.

"Wha- where am I? What happened?" he asked with squinted eyes.

"You need to help me get them out of here," she pleaded with tears in her eyes.

Spike got up and stumbled around, he looked at his unconscious teammates. He quickly checked their health bars and found them all below 5%. It was going up slowly but he was still worried.

"Where's Sol?" he asked.

"He's stuck down there. He's gone. We need to get the team out."

"Ah fuck." Spike said as he knelt down on one knee, "We need that fairy dust. We can't lift Tower alone."

He stumbled back up to his feet and went over to Tower. Elora pulled out the bag again and blew it towards the group. Even with the lightened gravity, Tower huffed and puffed as he picked Tower up and held him above his head. Elora managed to heave Mute and Sharp on her shoulder and follow Spike through the tunnel.

"How long will it take them to get here?" she asked with a hurried breath.

"You called in? Did you say code black?" he asked.

"Tower did but he went unconscious. How long until they get here?" Elora replied.

"Twenty minutes I'd say, did we kill the boss?" Spike questioned.

"Yeah, I have the lich's head. The iron bars collapsed and the undead are climbing the hole as we speak," Elora said.

"Shit. There were thousands of them," Spike remarked, "We should head to the fort. If they got into the forest we stand no chance."

"That's what Tower said before he passed out," Elora stated.

The two emerged into a moonlit forest; it was midnight. They turned to their right and began to run towards the fort. It was grueling even with the fairy dust effect but they carried on.

"Let us in!" Spike shouted as he banged on the wooden gate.

A few seconds later a head popped over the wall, "Let them in!" A woman shouted.

The doors swung open and the group fell into the fort. Spike tried to lay Tower down as best as possible but it was more of a drop.

"Water!" Ester shouted to the other refugees, "What happened?" she asked, "And weren't there six of you?"

"He's stuck down there." Spike said on both knees, sweat was dripping from nose onto the ground. "Listen to me and listen carefully. Get your group and go hide in the fort. Barricade yourselves in with anything you can find. There's thousands of undead that will be piling out of the dungeon soon."

Ester turned ghost white, she didn't respond.

"Did you catch that?" Spike asked with gritted teeth.

"U-Urm yes, yes I did. We will go once we've gotten you some water."

Spike laid down on his back and breathed heavily and so did Elora.

"I never knew you were so serious," she said between breaths, "You always seem carefree."

"My team is my family, don't tell them I said that."

Elora smiled, "I won't, I promise."

` A woman came and placed a bucket of water between the two, she brought out a sponge and dipped it in the water. She went to soak Spike's head but he snatched it out of her hand.

"Fuck off," he snapped, "Go be with your group."

The lady looked terrified and ran away towards the inside of the fort.

Spike looked back and saw them packing up their things. They were grabbing everything they had, even the wood from the barracks to barricade themselves in. A tear dropped down his face. He wiped it quickly and sat up.

Sharp moved slightly, followed by a painful moan. Spike crawled over to him and patted his head with the sponge.

"Stay still," he said, "That was one hell of a shot."

"Is it dead?" Sharp asked through groans. His muscles were all still torn. His raven landed next to him and rubbed it's cheek against his. He weakly held a hand up and stroked it.

"We did, but it's not over," Spike replied.

"Are we all ok?" he asked.

"We're fine, Sol is stuck down there. What happened to him?" Spike asked Elora.

She splashed her face with water, makeup coming off in puddles.

"He said some badass line before cutting the lich's head off and then held its body down to let us escape. Then something triggered and the cave started to collapse." she said.

"Ah fuck," Sharp groaned, "Did I get the demon?"

Elora chuckled, "You blew a hole through its chest. I was very impressed."

Sharp turned his head with pain, glancing at Tower and Mute then both their stats.

"There's thousands of undead coming out of the dungeon," she said, breaking the bad news.

"Behind the iron bars?" Sharp asked.

"Yeah, I thought he was bluffing," Spike said.

"So we're all going to die," Sharp replied casually.

Spike slapped his chest, "Not the first time, hey."

Sharp managed to get to his feet right as Tower opened his eyes. He jumped up straight into a fighting stance.

"Relax, big man," Spike said, "We're out of the dungeon but there's a horde of undead coming."

A headrush of blood hit Tower and he laid back onto the ground, "Sol, he saved us," he said.

"Don't give him all the credit, did you not see my sound waves?" Spike boasted.

"If I had the energy to hit you I would," Tower replied.

He glanced over to see Mute who was moving slightly. He rolled over and checked for any injuries. "Did you give Mute any potions?" He asked the group.

"I did, yes," Elora replied, "Your health bars were going down and I thought it would be better to receive potion poisoning than dying," she said honestly.

"You did the right thing," Tower said, "Thank you."

Tower suddenly realised the call he was making, "Where's my phone?"

Elora handed it to him, "They're coming, the whole organisation," she said.

Tower gave her a side eye, "The whole… Organisation?" he questioned.

"Well, ah ah, you know I just said that if they didn't then my whole family would want their heads," Elora said with embarrassment.

Tower chuckled painfully, "What's the point in having power if you don't use it," he said.

"They're coming out of the dungeon now," Sharp said, "I can hear hundreds of footsteps."

"Well team. It's been an honour," Tower said, "But I think this may be our last fight."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Sir," Sharp replied.

"Eh fuck it, it was a nice life," Spike joked, "I hope I'm a prince in my next one."

"As if you'd get a second chance," Tower chatted back.

Mute didn't say anything as she sat up confused. Tower explained the situation and she pulled out her sword ready.

"Just like that?" Elora questioned, "I don't want to die."

Spike laughed, "Being around Sol long truly changes the way you see death. He says that death is not glorius, it's beautiful. A sweet embrace of the end of your life. Death is not just the end but the beginning of a new life, somewhere he can't go. Death is a pleasure that he can't possibly achieve since he doesn't fear it."

Tower turned to Spike, "That might be the smartest thing you've ever said. But then again it was a quote."

"From Sol too," Sharp added.