Chapter 28: The Well Mission

“On guard!” Maritza shouted.

The second giant, blue clawed hand emerged from the well, destroying its entire basin. More murky water gushed out of the well’s hole, and the two monstrous hands pressed against the ground to lift up a massive, reptilian body. On the body’s stubby end was a reptilian mouth covered in dirty lapis scales, and a pair of unblinking, sludgy green eyes stared wildly at Maritza and Ronan.

“This is unlike any Norovir I’ve ever read about,” Ronan remarked, shifting his feet on the low stone wall. Already, the toxins in the brown water were beginning to sizzle the rocks away.

He could only wonder what such a terrible substance would do to his skin.

“It’s triple the size of Norovirs I’ve defeated in the past,” Maritza said. “It must be Corrupted by The Hellsworn.”

Confirming her suspicions, the Norovir’s serpentine mouth slid into an open smirk, revealing a set of unnatural black fangs. The fangs gleamed, and drops of purple poison fell into the disgusting water by its huge blue tail.

Then, Ronan’s Hellblade jittered in his hands, as if magnetically attracted to the Norovir’s black fangs. Ronan noticed a striking similarity between the Norovir’s sharp teeth and the metal of his sword. The two seemed to dazzle with the same texture and color.

The Norovir hissed, spreading droplets of poison towards the Nightblades that fell right before their feet.

Her eyes still on the monster, Maritza whispered, “We need to evacuate everybody inside. Possibly all civilians nearby too.”

Ronan heard Maritza, though he didn’t acknowledge her. He was distracted by the pull of his sword towards the Norovir.

Maritza glanced at Ronan from the corner of her eye. Norovirs were incredibly perceptive predators, and she didn’t want to alert the creature to any possible entry for attack. Before she could muster another word to Ronan, she swatted at a pain in her neck that felt like her skin had been slashed open. The burning of The Shroud began to overtake her, and she winced, completely overwhelmed by the feelings she could normally suppress. She grit her teeth and shut an eye, barely able to get a breath out. She was far enough from the Temple of the Butterfly where she could tap into The Shroud's powers safely and without notice, though she had gone for so long without guidance from The Shroud that manifesting its abilities were a struggle.

Through her single open eye, her vision went foggy. The last thing she saw was the Norovir open its jaws wide. It slammed its giant tail to the murky water, and a wave the size of the Inn raced towards the Nightblades.

“Maritza!” Ronan shouted. “Move!”

He stood in front of Maritza, blocking the incoming poisonous water. Ronan pulled Martiza by the shoulder pauldron of her leather armor. Murky water with flecks of purple barreled at the wall they were standing on, but Ronan’s Mark of the Butterfly began to glow white and steam. In a jump that smashed the wall he and Maritza were standing on, Ronan leapt up to the Inn roof, but not before taking the brunt of a poisonous wave to the back.

He crashed to the Inn’s roof with Maritza, and heard the backplate of his dragonscale armor sizzle. He pawed at the secure straps of his cuirass, but couldn’t reach. Maritza hyperventilated, trying to push away The Shroud. Black Runes spread across her neck and to her face.

Below the Nightblades, the Norovir roared. It slithered through the brown water, then tackled the building, shattering the Inn’s windows. The occupants inside screamed.

At the top of his voice, Ronan shouted to them, “Run through the front exit!”

The acid was burning through his dragonscale armor, and he could feel it moving to his black shirt next.

With the Runes spread from her neck to her cheek, Maritza growled like a feral dog and swung her sword at Ronan. In a precise strike, she cut the strap of his cuirass, and it fell beside their boots. The Norovir’s acid had burned a hole clear through the dragon armor, and the two looked at the damaged cuirass in awe.

Then Maritza tore off Ronan’s shirt and threw it to the floor. Tiny dots of acid fizzled on the fabric. Ronan checked over his shoulders at his back, but felt no further burning.

“You’re okay,” Maritza said. “It’s all off.”

When Ronan completed his turn towards her, she couldn’t help but notice how muscular he had become from his training. She redirected her attention at the Norovir slamming against the building, and heard the Inn’s occupants flee out the front door. Almost half of her face was black with The Shroud’s Runes, though one of the wings on her Mark of the Butterfly remained white.

She was controlling The Shroud and using its abilities.

“Norovirs don’t use poison,” Ronan huffed, rolling out his shoulder. His Hellblade pointed in the direction of the blue reptile.

“Well,” Martiza said, “This one does. Look, the water levels are rising in the back of the Inn. Soon it will have the entire street flooded.”

“Then I’m switching to offense,” Ronan declared.

Maritza nodded. “You take one side and I’ll take the other. I’ll distract it while you strike it from afar with your fire.”

The two separated and jumped to the roofs of the neighboring buildings, both of which were a story higher than the Inn. Bubbling, poisonous brown water overflowed past the Inn’s roof, and the people in the streets ran from door to door, banging and warning others of the dangerous water filling the city blocks.

From atop the roof of a high building, Maritza whistled at the Norovir.

But it refused to look at her, as if it was privy to their plan.

Instead, it moved towards Ronan. He glanced over at Maritza who continued to try and get the monster’s attention, but the Norovir was shaking the side of the building he was on with both its clawed hands.

The Hellblade jounced in Ronan’s fingers, and he knew he couldn’t let the Norovir continue its attack.

Soon, more innocent people would die.

Ronan channeled his rage, aimed his sword at the Norovir, and with a howl shot flames through his Mark of the Serpent and out from the tip of the Hellblade.

The orange and red fire crackled in the air, and the Norovir hissed. More brown water jetted out from its mouth, dissipating Ronan’s flames.

Ronan stood powerless, feeling like he was back in the Training Grounds of the Temple of the Serpent, struggling to be of any use to anybody.

That’s when Ronan heard The Shroud’s whispers.

“Release us,” they demanded, “Your friend has already done so. We can help.”

The veins on Ronan’s forearm turned black, and the Hellblade lit up with a black light that made the Norovir cover its hands over its eyes.

Ronan didn’t care that his sword was a Hellsworn weapon, or that he was unsure of The Shroud’s capabilities.

If it was going to give him a chance at saving the people of Augustate from this dastardly beast, then he was going to do it.

With a deep exhale, black veins darted along Ronan’s arm, over his shoulder, and down to his fingers.

“Let’s defeat this monster,” The Shroud said.