A ball of flame bloomed in the middle of the field, transforming into a red lotus that spread its petals, consuming everything within a dozen paces of it. The swarmlings were vaporized, their remains absorbed by the ground, while the crater produced by the attack, surprisingly shallow compared to how strong the blast was, slowly healed over.
There was nothing left of the swarmlings save for a few motes of ash while the Wanderers left a small indistinct clump of grey goo.
"Waste of Animus," Balliol grumbled.
Amiri, whose face was in a wide grin, didn't deign to respond.
Virgil rubbed his forehead and sighed in exhaustion. The five of them were holed up in a fortress of sorts, though it was nothing more than a short tower with only a single point of entry. The tower was situated on top of a rocky hill that looked like it was cut in half. On one side of the tower was a sheer rock face that plummeted more than a hundred paces down and on the other side, only a single winding path that eased around a field of craggy boulders.
They had been in here for the past week after a gruelling battle that saw them pushed past their limits and leaving one of their number nearly crippled.
The veritable tidal wave of swarmlings was easy enough to get past. Amiri's copious use of her Blossoming Fire-Lotus made sure of that. Virgil shot down any Wanderer or Hunter that came closer than a longstride and even when they ran into the forest where line of sight and line of fire was notably short, he accurately took out any and all Wyldlings stronger than a swarmling.
At least until an actual Chaos Lord had confronted them. One moment they were running easily, the next, a dusky grey arrow took Sarra by the knee and nearly tore her leg off. Balliol's quick reaction in deploying a demi-sphere of hardened air blocked off most of the resulting arrow rain.
Virgil tried to pinpoint where the attack came from but the arrows seem to come from everywhere, at least until another empowered shot punctured their protection that, if not for Amiri pushing Balliol out of the way, would have taken their Warder's eye out.
Virgil traced the arrow's path and, even though the flight path curved and twisted, the disturbance in the Chaos Flows was clear. Their assailant was a tall woman standing on top of a tree nearly a longstride high. Her eyes glowed red though her skin was an unhealthy grey. She had a manic smirk on her face while she drew a massive recurve bow.
An arrow formed out of light mist as she pulled the string up to her cheek. Virgil didn't give her a chance to shoot, with his own purple plasma bolt blasting out of his rifle. The woman's eyes widened as she jumped out of the tree, releasing her own shot as she fell.
Virgil's bolt curved in its trajectory, still aimed at her heart. The arrow, on the other hand, moved towards them at nearly the same speed as his plasma bolt and, when it was fifty paces away, it shimmered then multiplied into a rain of arrows.
The impact created sparks and cracks across the surface of the dome but none penetrated the barrier. Virgil had bought enough time for Craig to apply first aid to Sarra who had fainted from the pain. Craig carried her in his arms and they continued their flight.
Virgil took potshots at the Chaos Lord, timing his attacks to interrupt her from making any. It was evident that his range was greater than hers as she stopped trying to shoot at them after they were more than two longstrides away.
Their troubles were far from over, however, as the horde of swarmlings converged on them. The Wanderers were easily discernible but the smaller Hunters were a pain in Virgil's behind.
"We need shelter!" Balliol shouted.
With Sarra still unconscious, it was up to Virgil to shape the Chaos to their needs. He ejected his Animus into his Field, letting the Chaos flows of the Mid Marches resonate with his thoughts. They needed someplace to rest, a place to recover, and a place where they could hold off any attack from the stronger Wyldlings.
Craig, Amiri, and Balliol added their Animus to the mix though they let Virgil's vision prevail. The plains they were on blurred and the next thing they knew, they were surrounded by cliff faces and canyons. The shift in their surroundings meant that they were safe but only until the Chaos Lord forged a path into their waypoint. The singular path they were in continued until they arrived on top of the secure place they all wanted and, since then, they were holed up in the tower.
The flaw, unfortunately, was that Virgil forgot to account for an escape route and thus, there was none. Before he could remedy the situation, they were found and the waypoint became contested. Now, neither Virgil and his team nor the Chaos Lord could change anything.
"We need to get back to where we entered the waypoint to get out of it," Sarra said when she regained consciousness and inspected their circumstances. She gave a long-suffering sigh and rolled her eyes at Virgil. "You've been away from the Legion long enough to lose your edge."
"That Chaos Lord was too strong. It took all I had to make sure she wouldn't poke any more holes in us," Virgil replied a little defensively. "I didn't have enough time to focus on all the details."
"So you built a tower where you can shoot everything to death while staying safe."
"I've been the Watchtower's commander for twenty years. It leaves a mark."
Over the next few days, the team fended off nearly continuous attacks, leaving them little time to rest or replenish their supplies. Though the rations they'd packed was enough for now, Virgil didn't know how long they could stay here.
He did not doubt that the Wyldling Wave had already started and, going by how many swarmlings attacked them and how many of the higher-tiered creatures lingered in the surroundings, the ones that entered Rumiga should be just as numerous. He could only console himself with the fact that the five of them were keeping the stronger ones tied up here.
Worry was counterproductive though. Worry about his sons and daughter, who would have to face the Wave without him would have paralyzed him or spurred him to break through the blockade recklessly. Worry would have him sleepless and exhausted, easy prey for the enemy. His hands squeezed the stone battlements.
Crrick!
The stone broke under his strength and cracks spiderwebbed down the stone block.
"Easy there," Craig said. "Don't waste your strength."
"Right."
They were waiting for the Full Moon.
Virgil didn't know how much time had passed in Rumiga but he knew the moon would soon reach its peak strength. Then its light would penetrate the walls of their prison. The Full Moon weakened the barriers between the Chaos Sea and the varied planes just as the Dark Moon made it nearly impenetrable. The moment moonlight touched their tower would be the moment they could escape this deathtrap and return to Rumiga.
They only had to keep their strength up for the attempt.
"There's more of them bunched up on the path," Amiri said gleefully while tongues of flame materialized and gathered above her palm.
Virgil nodded, raising his Plasma Caster and sighted down the barrel at the Hunter trying to sneak through the shadows cast by the cliff. In the Depth, Virgil's Animus reserves regenerated with enough speed that he could theoretically keep shooting forever. Of course, the mental fatigue of doing so would stop him after a few hours.
A brilliant purple bolt drilled into the Hunter, popping its head like a balloon. In the meantime, Amiri tossed more fire-lotuses at the mass of swarmlings and before long, her immediate range was clear.
They must have killed thousands in the past week, yet the horde was never completely annihilated. After an hour, Virgil and Amiri stopped to rest. Balliol and Craig took on the post. Balliol stroked his waxed moustache while he gathered his Animus.
It took a couple of minutes for the Wyldlings to get close enough to his range then, with a flick of his wrist, a small blade of hardened air cut through a dozen swarmlings and beheaded a Wanderer. Frowning in concentration, he called the wind knife back and sent it flying off to another direction to similarly reap more lives. Craig simply watched, ready to help if Baliol needed it.
Virgil entered the tower through a trap door at the centre of the flat roof and climbed down the ladder that led to the ground floor. The construct only had a couple of bedrooms though it did have ample living space. He needed to nap for an hour or so to refresh himself.
When he opened a bedroom door, he found Sarra meditating on the bed. She cracked open an eye when she heard the door creak open. Virgil nodded at her then turned on his heels to go to an unoccupied room.
"Wait."
Virgil glanced back and saw her slowly getting to her feet. She winced when she put her weight on her injured leg.
"How goes?"
Virgil shrugged. "Same as always. Hunters, Wanderers, and swarmlings. No sign of that Chaos Lord."
Sarra nodded. "They're not trying to kill us. If they were, there would be Chaos Lords knocking on our doors."
"What do you think they're after?"
"You think they're after something?" Sarra glanced up at him.
"If it were just the lower tier Wyldlings then they're probably just following their instincts. But with a Chaos Lord, maybe even more than one?" Virgil grunted. "Then yes, they're after something. What would they be doing in this backwater plane in the first place?"
Sarra snorted. "Huh, you shouldn't bad mouth your own home."
"It's not bad-mouthing if it's the truth."
Sarra pushed past Virgil and walked up to their dining table. She reached for the pile of rations, still in their waxed paper wrappings, in the middle. Virgil sat opposite of her.
"Fixing this leg's making me so ravenous I could barely think," she muttered. "That arrow was infused with something that's making it harder, too."
"How long do you think…?"
"Another week, I think. Hopefully it'll be in time for the Full Moon, otherwise…"
"What?"
"Just leave me here."
Virgil reached for a ration bar too. He bit off a piece easily, chewing it into mush and swallowing in short order.
"What's got you two so down?" Amiri asked when she came down the ladder. The red-haired woman was as cheery as always. "Haaaah! I haven't burned that many things since my Legion days."
Virgil couldn't help but smile at the younger woman's antics. Well, at least her fire doesn't last too long due to the lack of flammable objects. Otherwise, she would be staring at the dancing flames and giggling incoherently.
"We were talking about what the Wyldlings were after," he said.
"Kill and eat?"
"More than that probably."
"Aren't they after the Gemheart? To destroy it, I mean."
"That's not an easy thing to accomplish. Throwing numbers at the Watchtower in the hopes of overwhelming its defences is, well, futile."
"Sure, but it'll kill nearly everyone stationed there," Sarra said drily.
"Er, yes. That's true, but only if Theo doesn't bring everyone to hole up in the underground. That would buy them enough time to wait for reinforcements."
"I don't think they're after the Gemheart, at least, not just that."
"What then?"
"The Avos."
Amiri lost her grin and Virgil frowned.
"Why them?"
"To spread their taint. If they bring an Avos low, their guardianship will fall with them. Given enough time afterwards, a Chaos spring can form."
"Fallen Sun!" Virgil cursed. "When will the moon break us free? Damn my foolishness!"
Sarra reached up to pat his shoulder. "We'd be dead otherwise."
Amiri's smile slowly returned as she grabbed a ration bar. "Always look on the bright side, Virg. At least this redoubt has given us time to recover. We would have been hounded to death otherwise."
"There's that." Virgil sighed. "Huh, I just wish I was there for when Yuri joined the training camp. She still hadn't inlaid her Facet when I left."
"Ehehe, I wouldn't worry about your little girl. Our kids will look after that airhead."
"She's not that bad," Virgil protested weakly. "At least she's not afraid of her Heritage, unlike your youngest."
"He'll outgrow it," Amiri waved offhandedly. "I suppose you're happy little Yuri didn't inherit her mother's disposition."
"No comment."
The two women and Virgil ate in silence, then he left to find a room he could crash in. He hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours at a time and though he was strong, he was fast approaching his limits. As it were, he conked out as soon as his head hit his bedroll.
What seemed like the blink of an eye passed before someone was shaking him awake. Virgil bolted up and reached for his pistol even before he opened his eyes.
"Wha--?"
"Wake up, Davar," Balliol growled, "you're needed up top."
"Right." Virgil yawned and flooded his mind with Animus to give his system a jumpstart. Balliol had already left. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and ran out, climbing up the ladder two rungs at a time.
"Report," he said as soon as he popped out of the trap door. All four of his teammates were on the roof for a change, all of them looking in the same direction.
Feeling his heartbeat quicken, Virgil hurried to the battlements. The path was empty of swarmlings for a change. Their corpses didn't last long in the Tidelands, quickly disintegrating once the animating spirit was destroyed. They didn't leave any Chaos dust nor did the Wanderers or Hunters leave any Chaos shards. They only did that in the planes.
Virgil followed their gazes. Down the path, near the edge of the waypoint, the Chaos Lord that had hounded them stared back into his eyes. She didn't have her weapon drawn, however, and her hands were empty.
She was wearing a white cloak and when the breeze made the garment flare, he could see a red circle drawn on it. It was the near-universal sign of parley.
The woman grinned. She had come to bargain.