#undermines

Mercenary Prompt #2 Dicenne's Perspective

Nothing was going to get into the Incontinental Hotel if Dicenne had anything to say about it, but these Black Blood monstrosities were no joke. His weapons slashed into the viscous goop, threatening to get stuck or sucked in, and he wasn’t sure he was even doing any damage to these things. Freezing and shattering them seemed to work well, but the magic folk were quickly depleting their energy in an attempt to keep up with the swarm.

He took to chopping off chunks at a time, creating smaller blobs that were more manageable, but those had an easier time wriggling through the cracks to get inside the hotel. With a forceful, forward thrust of his sword, he pierced one of the more enormous humanoid-shaped monstrosities and sliced upwards - essentially cutting it from groin to head. Once the blade was freed from the substance, he bashed his shield against it with the full force of his unnatural strength. The miscreation immediately exploded upon impact, sending a downpour of syrupy black blood directly atop his person, then splattering in various directions.

There was no way they were going to do this without getting dirty. Maybe the effects would take a while to take hold. Maybe his thick skin would come in handy and he wouldn’t be affected at all. For now, he had to keep fighting, there was no other choice but to protect all the innocent lives inside the building. They were counting on him.

He wiped the back of his hand across his face to clear his vision, spitting out anything that may have gotten into his mouth as he kept pushing onwards. Squinting, he tried to spot the remainder of their group behind the crowd of monstrosities, but despite their slightly translucent appearance, he saw nothing.

He just had to keep going. He had to keep fighting and be strong. Eventually, it had to end. Nothing would get past him. He would protect them.

A flash of rainbow caught his eye across the street through a small break in the swarm. He blinked and returned his attention to the battle ahead of them. Talonoa had rejoined the fight at some point, a concerned look about him. Dicenne wasn’t certain if that look had anything to do with his current ooze-covered appearance, or what was going on inside that he was unaware of. He spotted the flash of bright colors once more in the same place as before, shaking his head a bit before rubbing at his eyes. Something was wrong.

The memory hit him like a truck when he realized what it was that he was seeing. He recognized that tacky, brightly colored shawl waving in the middle of the crowd. His wife Linalia donned the gift every time he returned home from war so she could easily be spotted. She was short in stature but loud in beauty, and as their eyes met he smiled and felt old, familiar emotions begin to well up. It had been so long. But what was she doing out here?! Enemies surrounded her and looked as if they were going to attack at any moment! He had to get to her, he had to save her!

Abandoning all sensibility, the black blood’s madness overtook him.

He dropped both his sword and his shield with a *clang* before he began to muscle his way through the crowd of…what was this? Who were these people? Why was everyone so resistant to him getting to his wife? She was in trouble, couldn’t they see that?! “LINALIA!” He cried out, ripping arms and legs free of whatever was trying to hold him back. Fists clenched at his side as he exhaled a bellowing *ROOOOAAAAAR*, fists pounding into the nearby obstacles, sending them flying backward. Lowering his shoulder, he dug the toes of his boots into the ground and pushed off, slamming forward into everything in his path and carelessly flinging it aside or trampling it with heavy footfalls.

These things grabbed and slashed at him, tried to knock him over and trip him, but it was to no avail. He had become an unstoppable force in this berserker rage and plowed his way through the throngs of things trying to stop him from getting to her. He broke free from the crowd and she opened her arms to welcome him home, only to vanish the moment before he made contact. 

He spun around in a panic, spotting the brightly-colored rainbow shawl on the ground nearby. He picked it up and held it to his chest, calling out, “LINALIA!” She was there again, ten feet in front of him, looking panicked. He dashed to her and she disappeared yet again. She was now atop a nearby building, screaming at him! In one giant leap, he was up on the second-story balcony and from there clambered the rest of the way only to find her gone. Now she was in the middle of the road crying, about to be run over by cars rushing past! With a running leap, he jumped! Feet SLAMMED hard against the ground, cracking the pavement where he landed what should have been a few feet away from her - yet she was not there. He was growing more and more frustrated, why couldn’t he reach her? Eventually, he would, he just had to keep going! But now he was growing so, so very tired. Feet began to drag as his vision blurred. Arms flailed out in front of him in another attempt to grasp his wife, but again just empty space. He stumbled and fell to his knees, legs too tired to work anymore. He began to crawl, but even that felt like an arduous task at this point. Collapsing onto his side, eyes focused on the rainbow shawl in front of him that wasn’t actually there. “I’m sorry…”, and then the world went black.

Written for mercenary prompt #2 found here! Talonoa's Perspective

The Darkfuse Cartel stood no chance against well-trained mercenaries. Even with their guns and robotic guards, Talonoa and his crew were a well-oiled machine at this point. Their rooftop snipers kept the air clear while the fighters on the ground thoroughly combed the streets. The wounded were taken to the Incontinental Hotel where a wide variety of healers were stationed and at the ready for whatever may come their way. 

Manageable chaos.

Unfortunately, that feeling did not last for long, as expected. Talon turned his icy gaze to the sky as Nikki the Fixer flew in, a few bullets from the nearby snipers pinged off her impenetrable shield as she came to hover a street away. He could barely make out her words directed at Gazlowe over the commotion, but that maniacal cackle was hard to miss. She was enjoying this, and it was about to get even more fun for her. Not good. 

Dozens of drones began to swarm the area and while the snipers did a good job in bringing them down quickly, it didn’t matter. Within them contained monstrosities made of black blood itself. The various blobs and humanoid-shaped creatures began to take form, some heading towards the various groups of fighters while others were directed to attack the Incontinental Hotel and destroy everyone inside.

He grumbled out a soft ‘fuck’ under his breath before shouting out to the remainder of his nearby crew, “WE NEED TO PROTECT THE HOTEL!” They formed up and began to fight their way towards their base. While they had done a good job thus far of avoiding the dangerous substance, fighting monsters literally made of it didn’t bode well, especially for the melee fighters. They did their best to clear a path, trapping the monstrosities in place with various magics to allow the ranged crew to take care of them all while avoiding too much black blood splatter. There were too many to keep being that delicate about it if they wanted to reach the hotel in time to warn those within.

Talon’s eyes flashed with rage as he twirled his halberd above his head, slicing it across the space in front of him. Streaks of jagged ice and glacial winds extended in a vast cone, freezing the monstrosities to their core and in place. Dicenne and some of the other frontline crew didn’t even need to be told as they raised their shields and smashed their way through the frozen enemies, sending shattered pieces of black blood in every direction.

Eventually, they were able to reach one of the open sides of the hotel, the path created in their wake already closing back up behind them with more of the horrible creations, cutting their crew in half as the back part of the group wasn’t able to make it to the door. They would be fine, he told himself. There was no other option. He ordered those who did follow through to guard the door and try to reunite with the rest of their crew while he sprinted inside to warn the healers:

“MOVE EVERYONE TO THE SECOND FLOOR!” Shouted Commander Dal’shula, “WE WILL HOLD THEM OFF FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!”

He pushed his way through the crowds, trying to find the area where he knew their healers to be stationed, gaze frantically seeking Naralinthe’s golden hair among the swarming bodies. A sudden wave of blinding magic nearby caught his attention as screams rang out and a few people were sent flying backward. He muscled his way towards the commotion only to see his lovely lioness with a scalpel in hand about to stab a stunned worgen. What the fuck.

He grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms down, “NARALINTHE, STOP! What are you doing?!” His gaze darted between her, the worgen, and Nahilvi in confusion as to what was going on here. The madness had clearly begun to settle into those touched by the Black Blood, and manageable chaos had very abruptly turned into absolute chaos. 

The worgen was surely infected. They knew this could happen. Was she infected?  At this point, many likely had some level of infection.  Except him… And he wasn’t sure how that could be.

He spun her around, cupped her cheeks, and growled in her face, “He needs treatment, not an execution! Pull yourself together!” There was no understanding here, only anger. Later he may regret that, but for now he had the rest of his team and everyone else inside this hotel to worry about as well.

The Mercenaries writing prompt #2 Xylaes's Perspective

“WE NEED TO PROTECT THE HOTEL!”

Xylaes didn’t have to hear Talonoa’s shouted orders twice to know he needed to rejoin the others on the ground to make their push. The rooftops in Tailgate Park didn’t provide very good vantage points for the hotel itself, and that was where his son Garren was currently stationed. He shimmied his way down the side of the building with ease just in time to witness a couple of drones starting to drop some black blood monstrosities atop the Incontinental Hotel’s roof. Shit.

With a grimace, he rushed over to rejoin the others, but not before pulling out his comm device to deliver a hurried voice message to Garren. “Incoming! Take cover, will be there as soon as I can.” While they had been training heavily, his son was no melee fighter yet. He was a great shot, but Xylaes doubted his abilities to fight monsters like these while up close and personal.

By the time he had reached the group, Talonoa and the front lines were already plowing ahead through the frozen monstrosities on their way toward the hotel. He gave Stellan a brief nod as the older man ran up to round out the back of the crew. “Do bullets even work on these fucking things?”

“Explosive, but not a great idea with so many fighters nearby unless you want everyone here going out of their minds.” Stellan was already strapping his sniper rifle to his back and retrieving his sword. “In other circumstances, that sounds like a fun time.” He smirked over towards Xylaes, attempting to lighten an obviously serious mood. What was war without a little bit of humor anyway?

It did elicit a slight grin from Xylaes, but the expression was abruptly washed away when they and a handful of others in their crew, including Fiorenze and Tinnaire, were suddenly cut off by another wave of monstrosities crowding in towards the hotel.

The two men shared a look of annoyance before Stellan took charge, ordering them to start clearing a path towards the hotel and their friends, while he and Xylaes would keep an eye on their six. Some of the Darkfuse Cartel still remained and would take full advantage of this situation in an attempt to regain some ground. It was not the ideal position to be in, but they were an efficient team and Stellan had already been witness to some of Xylaes’s exciting new features.

Void magic had come easily to Xylaes after he released it for the first time. Controlling it felt almost similar to controlling arcane had in the past, whether that was by design or just the particular brand of void he possessed. Much of it remained a mystery to him, but it was thrilling to have magic of any kind running through his veins again after having it ripped away over two decades ago.

The unspoken agreement was to take on the Darkfuse up close and personal while trying to bring down the black blood abominations from a distance. Watching Inistellan fight was akin to watching a ballet: His movements were fluid and graceful, always constantly aware of who and what was around him at any given moment. Much of the crew knew him to be an excellent marksman, but Xylaes had always considered him one of their better melee fighters as well - if not THE best. Xy himself was certainly no pushover, but this was on another level and certainly not what they train in the Farstriders. Stellen never spoke much of his past, and at times Xy wondered exactly how much he was leaving out. He could relate, so he never asked.

While the older mercenary breezed through a group of Darkfuse, Xylaes set his sights on a few of the black blood monstrosities creeping their way. Overthinking was his enemy, and he decided to do what felt natural. Extending that replanted arm, the glowing purple runes covering it shimmered, glowing brighter as a small, cloudy void sphere appeared among the enemies. Opening his arms wider, the sphere rapidly extended until it completely engulfed the attackers, trapping them within the dark violet and black mass. With a clap of his hands, the sphere promptly imploded into itself until it and the monstrosities vanished in a puff of void. Efficient given it didn’t leave a mess of black blood in its wake.

Stellan shot a brow upwards before nodding back towards the groups still marching and pushing their way toward the Hotel. Xylaes turned to join the front of the group, eyeing the absolute horde of monsters barreling towards the base. The forefinger and thumb of both hands pinched together and touched at their points as that eerie purple gaze and the runes on his arm glimmered even brighter. As he pulled his hands apart, a spatial rift began to tear open beneath a large mass of the monstrosities, disappearing them into the nether. His gaze briefly flicked towards Fiorenze and Tinnaire, silently urging them to shove as many in by any means possible while he concentrated on holding the volatile magic in place.

He was still largely untrained in this type of magic, and perhaps he shouldn’t have been using it or pushing himself so hard, but desperate times called for desperate measures. His hands began to shake with the effort and he dropped the spell, stumbling to one knee and bracing his hands against the ground to steady himself. The rift snapped shut, slicing a few of the creatures in half and causing the black blood to splatter in various directions before reforming into smaller globs.

“On your feet, soldier.” Stellan grabbed him by the collar and yanked him upwards before returning to his graceful assaults, seemingly barely winded without a single hair askew.

A bullet whizzed past his ear, drawing his gaze to one of the rooftops where a few of the Darkfuse snipers had stationed themselves once again. Before Stellan could react, Xylaes ripped open another spatial tear, this time for himself, and appeared behind the attackers. With sword in hand, he sliced cleanly through the neck of one of the shooters before stabbing it through the gut of the other. His void gaze stared down at the still-living Darkfuse, who was now pleading for his life, before he just smirked and returned to Stellan’s side through the rift. He would die a painful, drawn-out death, and honestly, it’s what they deserved.

“The fuck…” Stellan’s words drew his attention towards the crowd of abominations in front of them, who were suddenly being violently shoved to the side, and in some instances straight up, in a path heading from the hotel straight towards them. Whatever, or whoever this was, was creating an excellent path for them to get through.

“Dicenne?” One of the other crew members exclaimed, as sure enough the tall, black blood-covered Sin’dorei burst through the wall of attackers. 

He didn’t stop to say hello, in fact, it was as if he didn’t see them at all despite sprinting right by them and across the road. He stopped, spun around, reached for something on the ground that wasn’t there, and then called out his dead wife’s name, “LINALIA!”

Oh.

The crew was warned that the black blood madness would affect them in different ways. That man was deep into the Unseeming, but at least a path had been cleared and the monstrosities were beginning to thin on this side thanks to their combined efforts. He watched as Dicenne dashed around the area and jumped atop buildings, obviously searching for someone who wasn’t there. Someone who wasn’t alive anymore and hadn’t been for a long time now. 

“He’s gonna hurt himself even more if he keeps going.” Xylaes’s heart stung for the man. They had both lost their wives unexpectedly years ago, and after the Shadowlands, Xylaes knew damn well that seeing a version of your loved one in a place you couldn’t stay was a form of torment he wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

“Yeah.” Stellan frowned, “I got him.” There was no way any amount of them were going to outmuscle this man. Stellan reached into his unending pouch of tricks at his side to retrieve what appeared to be a small pistol. He flipped through a case of darts, selecting a specific one before loading it into the gun. The next time Dicenne slammed into the ground nearby, Stellan aimed and fired the dart into the side of the man’s neck. This was for the best, he was already in bad shape. “Go find your son, we got this.”

Stellan didn’t have to tell him twice and in the blink of those ominous purple and black eyes, he was atop the roof of the hotel and thrust into a cloud of…wait, was this flour?? Eyes immediately met Garren’s, and then Sheizara’s, who were both coated in flour but didn’t seem to be injured, and then dropped to the ground where this small half-ooze, half-flour black blood dumpling rolled slowly across the ground between them. 

“Help please.” Sheizara pleaded while Garren waved off the haze of flour, coughing a few times. What the actual fuck.

One scene of chaos right into another.

Everything Nahi had brought was unpacked in her tent, there were a few more luxuries, but nothing she couldn’t pack up and move alone if she had to. Then the company had called for them to go Tour the Undermines as a group to become accustomed to the place. 

Nahi stood, staring out over the Undermines with her eyes wide, how could anyone live like this? There were barely any straight lines, and here she disliked Dornagal because she thought it was all too straight, but this building chaos set her organized mind on its proverbial ass. There was trash on the streets and had been propositioned twice before they even made it to the central hotel.

At least the hotel they stopped in was well run and mostly organized, they managed to keep the worst of the riff raff from inside the building, but there were a few indoors. Stepping out into the street she was Al,ost hit by a car and the driver flipped her the bird, clearly sidewalks meant nothing her. 

The scents and sounds assailed her, the detritus and trash piles all around the city made her take out an ointment she used to help block out bodily fluids when she was working at the clinic. Nahi did great with blood, somehow managed puke, but it was the smell from inside a person’s chest cavity that was her struggle. She didn’t not run from helping the healers but once the work was done she would end up with a bucket out back, regurgitating her days food into it. Down here she had to use the ointment just to make it down the streets.

Inner turmoil flashed through her, that desperate need of hers to put everything in its place twisted inside her, she had never been one to impose her organization on others but never had she been more tempted, not that she could fix the things here. Maybe this job wasn’t for her, surely she could go home and come back out for other things?

An voice inside her head shushed the other one, they may allow her to go home, but she could not allow that herself. A place in the company was being made in her shape and she would show them her worth, now if only her worth was not in this crazy carnival of mayhem and dilapidated buildings.