Chương 100: Arc 2 - Chapter 42

Fritz surfaced at the base of the tall, wide stone pillar. He pulled himself onto the small craggy shore around it and quickly plugged his ears with wet rags. He stared around at his team, most of whom had swam here much more quickly than himself and had been waiting. They were deafened with rags, just as he was, even if they had little effect on his enhanced ears, and Bert signed a question at him.

"Rest?" Fritz peered up at the daunting climb, sighed and signed back, "Rest. Nine minutes. Hide." When he flashed nine fingers at the rest of the team they seemed to get his meaning and took cover behind some of the taller stones on the shore, hiding while taking some time to recover from their swim. It had taken some time and some peril to get here. They had been set upon by two trios of sirens as they had approached.

The new addition of cloth earplugs and the potency of the tonic had much reduced the threat of the enthralling song, and they were able to fend off and slay the beasts handily. Once the team was able to scramble onto land that is. When swimming from island to island they had to dive below the waves to dodge the talons of the swooping, screeching sirens as they were assaulted from above. Still, when they had sturdy, if slippy, stone under their feet the sirens stood no chance.

Even if they were strong and fast, the team were Pathers and steadily growing into their new powers. Cal's Guided Toss was incredibly potent, especially when combined with his Heave. He was able to throw head-sized rocks as easily as pebbles. Those soaring stones unerringly sought the sirens in the sky, flying straight into the beasts' paths as they attempted to slip past, shattering wings or caving in chests or skulls.

It was an absurd synergy and one Fritz couldn't help but be envious of, even if he preferred his own ability to survive things he had no right to. In fact, many of the team's powers were appealing in their own various ways and past the niggling envy he felt a kind of pride that he had dragged them this far. When they left the Spire, they would be golden Climbers, level ten and far more able to dictate the shape of their futures. He and Bert however would still have to tread carefully.

Though level twenty was nothing to scoff at, Fritz knew that some rare few of the Nightshark's enforcers were still at a greater level. He shook his head, dismissing thoughts of the outside and what he'd have to do to keep himself and his family safe. Leaning on the pillar, Fritz considered the current Floor, hoping that the team's repetitive exposure to the enchanting tones of the sirens' voices would help inure them to future mental or sound attacks. Or perhaps offer them an Ability that did so at the next Well.

With his own Ability channels all filled, Fritz wondered what sort of evolutions he would be offered or how that even worked, he was in unknown territory as far as the next stage of Powers worked. Normally he would've asked Lauren about it as they rested, but alas, she couldn't hear. The nine minutes passed by quickly, and Fritz planned a route to an entrance to what he supposed was a system of caves within.

Surprisingly, he and his team weren't spotted by any of the incoming or outgoing sirens delivering their silk threads and leaving with empty baskets. The monsters obviously hadn't noticed their missing kin and must have thought the pillar completely safe and secure. Deciding to forgo scouting ahead for now, Fritz motioned for his team to follow. He climbed up the sheer face of rock, taking the easiest route so that Lauren wouldn't suffer too much.

After a gruelling six minutes of struggle, he clambered into the cave mouth he had noted before. His team were soon gathered around him and they looked at the passage's walls with some wonder. He followed their gazes and realised that the dark of the cave was lit by glowing, grey lichen that grew in uneven patches. He had missed it due to his Dark Vision. It rendered everything as visible as if it were a cloudless day, something he was only now familiar with due to the Spires.

He grumbled inwardly at the light, he would have to be careful where he stood to make the best use of Cloak of Dusk. Fritz bade his team wait with some more hand gestures and they nodded. He quickly assessed their condition. Bert was as healthy as ever. Rosie and her brother looked a little tired, but it'd pass soon enough. George seemed fine and nudged Cal, gesturing to the raider's pack and then to himself. Getting the message that George wanted his armour, Cal quickly obliged.

Lauren panted as she leaned against a wall, the climbing and swimming had been rather rough on her due to her lower physical Attributes. She hadn't wanted to use her boot's Imbued Ability, explaining it would make her an easier target for the sirens. Even if he agreed with the sensible sentiment, he was still a little disappointed he didn't get to see Icewalk in action.

Fritz considered his own reserves, he was half full on Dusksong, and although his body, especially his arms, ached from all the climbing and swimming he couldn't say that he was truly tired yet. It had to be all the good meals he'd been getting recently, triply so to them being mostly monster meat. His nine Endurance didn't hurt either. Turning and slipping into a shadowed nook, Fritz ventured deeper into the tunnel of stone.

As he snuck closer to what he was sure was the centre chamber, he heard the soothing call of the siren's song again. The sound was getting louder and louder as he slowly approached, overwhelming the protection of his rag-stuffed ears. He fumbled with his remedy pouch and retrieved the mind-clearing tonic, drinking its bitter contents down in one quick swallow. The intense taste of the tonic lingered on his tongue, sharpening his attention further on his own state.

Immediately the strange fuzzing at the edges of his senses ceased. It seemed the enthralling, dazing power of the song had already been creeping up on him without him being aware of it. Fritz reasserted his Control and Focus, banishing the song from his mind, then with a twist of the shadowy magic in his centre forced his Dusksong to hum a different rhythm, wrapping himself in an opposing tone. The insidious calmness retreated, replaced with cruel conviction, and he pressed forward.

The song grew louder still, the many beautiful voices resonating in his chest and ringing on his bones. He resisted and drew closer to an opening lit with fire light, then peeked within the chamber beyond, from which the calling chorus resounded. Great braziers illuminated the huge room, the coils of wood smoke floating into holes in the stone cavernous roof. The walls were covered, hung with long curtains of glittering silk that reflected, refracted the fire light, filling the chamber with scintillating radiance.

Three glamorously feathered sirens, wreathed with bright sashes of shimmering silk, worked the gleaming threads, weaving them into sheets of shining cloth. Their hands moved smoothly and their long nails were far more precise and practised than those of the ones Fritz had observed before. It was their powerful voices that led the song of their lesser sisters. Who were arrayed with bright ribbons and lent their help when and where it was needed, following the melody easily as if it were a stream of simple orders.

All told there were twenty-four of the avian women, all in the colours of common birds, save the leaders whose bright plumage more resembled the rare parrots of Portus Hai and other lands with warmer weather. Having seen what he needed to see, and worrying that he would soon be overwhelmed by the insistent enthralling song, Fritz retreated back to his team. When he arrived he found them standing around some siren corpses in the process of being plucked and plundered.

Apparently, the beasts had flown in while he'd been away and the team had dealt with them easily. Springing on them and slaying them as they swooped into the cave mouth. With a few hand signals, he proposed a plan. He had decided on simplicity as the key to easy victory. A frontal assault with Bert and himself leading the way to disrupt the song as best they could. Then, once the sound had stalled, the rest would charge.

He also ordered Lauren not to use her flames, suspecting that the draped silks would ignite with but a spark, turning the chamber into an inferno in seconds. She nodded reluctantly but saw the reasoning behind his warning gestures. If the team wondered why he and Bert were to lead the attack they couldn't articulate it in their current state of deafness. The answer was simple, but also a secret he couldn't reveal.

The Gold Award, Reignbreaker, would let them resist effects like the siren's song and, now that he thought about it, the drizzler's Bind. He had also considered the poisons and the sleeping concoction they had found in the raider's pack but decided against using them. Even in such a large chamber, he felt that his own team would suffer more from the soporific effects of the gas than their foes would.

And, unpractised as they were in the ways of envenoming weapons, they risked poisoning themselves when handling the various vials and the deadly substances within. Again, simplicity would be the way to win this fight. The fewer unfamiliar variables in their battle plan the better it would work. Or so Fritz hoped. He led them forward, deeper into the cave and stopped the team, ordering them to stay when he felt his Dusksong roil within him.

A small sign the song was getting too strong for those without some kind of true resistance. Soon he and Bert were by the entrance to the lavishly adorned weaving room, and with a nod Fritz signalled his friend to rush in. Bert seemed somewhat dazed but obeyed nonetheless, activating his Ability and blurring towards one of the sashed sirens. He hit it with a monumental force, throwing it bodily into a long curtain of green silk that gleamed with a blue sheen.

It hit the stone wall beyond, its wings and limbs snapped, broken it fell to the ground where it collapsed in a twisted heap. Fritz slipped into the chamber a moment after, when all the monsters had turned their gazes from the sight of one of their shattered leaders to the intruder in their midst. Even after such a shock, their song stuttered for only a moment, and they continued voicing the bewitching melody. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Another of the sash bearers beat its azure wings in Bert's direction, buffeting him with a sudden gust. He endured it, keeping his feet, if barely. But the wind was so powerful it almost knocked Fritz down even though it wasn't aimed at him. The hanging silks cracked and snapped in the sudden gale, and the last of the leaders, one festooned with scarlet feathers, took control of the song, directing its kin into changing their tone and rhythm to something far more subtle and seductive.

The lesser sirens followed her lead, lending their voices to hers. Fritz was assaulted with powerful feelings of passion, and that illusory, bare, beauty became apparent again. A host of lithe lovely ladies all singing to him, calling him to embrace them and accept their caresses. Oh, how that would feel, to have those elegant claws, run over, tear into, his skin. Bert stopped in his tracks and near drooled as he stared over the beguiling host.

Fritz pushed away the intrusive mental attack, slipped through the net it cast over his senses. As if he were looking through a heat haze, just underneath the seductive, wavering glamour, he could see their monstrous forms again. Fritz pretended to trudge dumbly toward the leading singer. He put on a stupid grin, trying to get as close as he could to the scarlet-clad, feathered, woman, siren.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately since he could feel himself falling under the sway of the music again, another of the lesser beasts swept a claw at his arm. His Danger Sense was delayed, likely due to the current deluge of illusory magic swirling his mind, but before his armour and flesh were rent he was able to dodge the blow with a graceful step to the side.

He cursed and drew Quicksilver, stabbing a siren with his blade's sharp point before tearing it out and slicing off the arm of another beast that tried to slash at him. It wasn't long before he was being swarmed from all sides. He dashed forwards, slipping through the rain of raking claws and slashing talons and arriving before his silk sashed foe. He activated his barrier ring only for its protection to be dispersed by a swift strike from the scarlet siren.

The sudden attack was more akin to a spear thrust than a kick and Fritz was able to slide around it, harnessing his Grace to slightly spin on one foot and bring Quicksilver down on the, still outstretched, scaly leg. He activated Gloom Strike for good measure as the black, razor-edged blade descended, coating it in sticky, smoking wisps of shade. He made the right choice, the siren only noticed his strike at the last moment, wasting its chance to dodge with a hastily aborted attempt to claw at Fritz's throat.

Quicksilver bit through scales and carved through flesh until it caught on strong, hollow bone. Fritz grimaced, then pulled, grinding, sawing the rest of the limb off. The leg fell to the silk laden ground, as did the siren. The beast writhed and shrieked, its song destroyed. Fritz put the siren out of its misery, leaping over a flailed talon and plunging his blade into the monsters heart, rendering its voice finally silent.

The greater song didn't stop, but without someone leading it the tones became discordant and muddled. Though he had slain one of their leaders, or maybe because of it, the remaining sirens renewed their furious swarming assault. Even as they did so the melodic enchantment faded away. Bert broke out from his stupor and Fritz could think clearly again. No longer dazed and dulled, and with his Senses restored to their full potency, Fritz raised his two weapons and began a deadly dance of black and bone.

He slunk and spun through the storm of talons and claws, untouchable as an evening shadow. When he evaded he struck back if he had an opening, though they were hard to find when beset on all sides. Still, Quicksilver and Mortal Edge were taking their deadly toll on the sirens, beast after beast fell to his blades and his friend's fists. For a few moments Fritz thought that perhaps he and Bert wouldn't need the team's help at all in this battle.

Of course, as soon as he mused as such he was proven suddenly, horribly, wrong. The azure-plumed siren pulled in a huge breath, puffing out her feathered breast. Then it screeched and all the others echoed it. The sheer volume of the piercing scream shook his flesh and rattled his bones. His hands went to the sides of his head, shielding his plugged ears as he fell to his knees. his weapons clattered beside him but he couldn't hear them.

If his ears hadn't already been protected, Fritz was sure the brutal waves of noise would have ruptured something deep within them. Bert also dropped, clutching at his head and bleeding ears. He struggled then stood, shrugging off the aural assault. Even as Fritz endured, he could see that Bert was both closer to the azure siren and the screeches were aimed at him. The terrible pitch reached an unbearable crescendo and Bert fell on his back. Writhing and yelling for three whole agonising moments, then he fell limp.

The shrieking stopped, and though Fritz's ears still screamed, everything stood still. Then the sirens turned their bird-like glares on Fritz. He cursed and reached for Quicksilver, dropped in his haste to save his hearing. They screeched again, stopping his movement dead. Waves of sound washed over him, drowning him. His whole body trembled and it felt like his heart would explode from the pressure. He covered his head with his arms and wrapped himself into a ball, screaming the whole time.

Again the shrieking chorus cut off, and distantly, through his Awareness, he could feel the sirens surround him. His danger sense sought to warn him of all the talons and claws that would soon tear his flesh from his bones. But he could do nothing, his muscles wouldn't listen to him and twitched uncontrollably. He managed only to roll onto his back, avoiding the descending talon of the azure siren as it bared its knife-tip teeth in an evil grin.

A grin that was soon destroyed by a fist-sized stone colliding with it. Fritz could hear yelling, muffled as it was by that deafening ringing in his ears he couldn't quite tell whose it was. Maybe George's yell? They were too late though he could already feel a claw ripping open his throat. Or he did until Rosie appeared by his side in a blur and slew the beast attacking him with a chop of her sanguine-hued silver pick.

She took a few more slashes meant for him and though they would have sliced him to ribbons they only left small furrows on her scales or shallow cuts on her skin. George charged into the swarm, adorned in this iron armour. The sirens clawed at him but their strikes found no soft skin to part, only metal that sparked when they scratched it. Seeing the bulky man in their midst wouldn't go down, they made to screech again.

But their voices carried little of the power they held before and they were summarily sliced into pieces by a copper greatsword empowered with Sharpen Blade and channelling Sever. Limbs went flying, blood splashed and soaked the silks on the stone ground. Fritz ceased struggling, content with watching his team take on the last of their foes. There had to be about fifteen left after Bert and Fritz's initial assault.

His team took them on fearlessly and unmuddled, the siren's song having been stifled by the deaths of two of the greater beasts. The four fought and they were making a good show of it. Rosie and George were able to easily take the sharp claws on armour or scales and return the blows with deadly strikes of their own. Cal, who had taken to carrying stones in his Personal Pack, threw appallingly accurate rocks at their wings and heads.

Even Lauren, who had held back so as not to set anything alight, managed to slay a few sirens with her shortsword. She needn't have been so careful, it turned out, as the sirensilk was surprisingly hard to set aflame. It made sense in retrospect, it was woven of the sea, why wouldn't it have some resistance to fire? Fritz only got a modicum of strength back by the time the last beast was slain by a particularly brutal application of a warpick straight to its skull.

"WELL DONE!" Fritz yelled as Rosie pushed the siren off the point of her pick with a kick. She said something back but he couldn't quite make it out.

"WHAT!?" Fritz asked. Rosie gestured to her ear and pulled the rag out of it. Fritz did the same, not showing any of the embarrassment he felt. To his mild terror, he found that the cloth was bloody. Fritz quickly took out a healing tonic from his pouch and drank it down. The weak remedy would likely do very little for his ears but he knew it couldn't hurt. Rosie repeated herself but it sounded like he was underwater, the tone too garbled and low to make out the words.

"CANT HEAR YOU," he said.

"SIRENS SHATTERED MY EARS. WE'LL HAVE TO GET TO A WELL. I THINK." Fritz stared back to the team with a smile, hiding his fear over his injury. A debilitating one for a scout. Still, he had to console himself with the knowledge that his Awareness and other senses didn't need his hearing. Though the thought gave him an idea on how to 'train' his Awareness and Senses and become more refined at their usage. An interesting idea, for later. Lauren stepped towards him, raising her hands, talking.

He could make out the words 'Soothe Burn' from reading her lips. He nodded, letting her cup her warm palms to the sides of his head. The ringing dulled somewhat as did the sharp, dizzying pain. Alas, his hearing didn't return, her minor healing was helpful, but seemingly not suited to the wound he had taken, limiting its effectiveness. Lauren asked him a question and he shook his head. She cast her heal again, her shoulders sagging from the Stamina drain. It helped, but not enough to count for much.

After the second attempt he waved her off, running the woman ragged for such slight recovery wasn't worth it. With a tired nod she acquiesced. Switching to hand signs and pantomiming, Fritz ordered the team to start gathering the silks, which they took to quickly, after a small rest. Lauren took command of the venture, her experience as a merchant coming to the forefront.

She had them separate the bloody silks from the pristine ones and even as they did they each marvelled at the splendour of the gleaming fabrics as they gathered them from the walls, floor or bodies. While Fritz couldn't understand exactly what they were saying he could tell that they were loving the sirensilk. Parading around with all the differently dyed cloth draped over their frames, joking and laughing as they piled them on and over each other.

Even the sorry sight of the sirens, where they were being piled by Bert and George, couldn't put a damper on their mirth. Fritz himself was wrapping himself in purples, greys and blacks while Lauren went for greens and yellows. Rosie and Cal ended up with a hodge-podge of multicoloured madness and George stuck to golds and reds, though he had to compete with Bert for those. Sirensilk was a wondrous fabric indeed, it glittered and gleamed with many hues, the light itself seemed giddy to dance on its sleek surface.

It was fine and tough, preposterously so, strong as boiled leather yet as thin as paper. Soft and smooth, it almost felt like cool water flowing over his skin as he let a pale-blue, nearly transparent length of fabric fall through his fingers. Already he could see why the nobles and the wealthy would pay so much for this. Even his own silken undergarments, which he had thought the height of comfort and luxury, felt scratchy and stiff in comparison.

Once they had their fun with the silk and had stored, stuffed really, the absurd amount away in their packs, they got onto the far more grim task of plucking the sirens and stuffing their feathers in sacks. Fritz wasn't too sure about how much siren silk was in a bolt, or how many bolts they had managed to gather. Though he was sure that they'd found a real fortune, and that wasn't even counting the feathers. So much wealth. And it was all theirs, well, once they made it out.

Soon they had taken all they could, leaving the chamber bare and bloody and carrying what they could of the sanguine-soaked silk. Climbing back down the pillar, they set to washing the bloodied cloth, trying to save what they could from staining. It was a somewhat amusing experience, beating the siren silk on the wet stone, like it was linen and they were merely commoners doing their laundry, instead of Climbers who were handling precious materials worth their weight in gold.

They were done salvaging what they could of the almost ruined silk in an hour, and rapidly made the wise decision to leave the Floor with their current loot. Fritz especially was emphatic about wanting to move straight to the next Well to get his hearing back. Bert was of the same opinion and boomed it loudly, causing the team to wince from the sudden shout. Luckily, the team agreed easily, much buoyed by their sudden windfall.

Before they left, they sent Bert back up the cliff and into the cave, his mission to ignite the pile of dead beasts they had left behind. Soon thicker, blacker smoke started to leak from the pillar's many tunnels and Bert made his way back to them. He dived from the cave's mouth and splashed into the sea before them before climbing back onto the shore.

With the team gathered and their packs and pouches secure, Fritz led the way, as usual, swimming from island to island as they made their way to the cliff with the tallest peak. Though Fritz had suspected they would be spotted and attacked, hounded the entire way, it was not so. It seemed that the fire they had left behind had distracted enough of the flying beasts to make their staggered approach to the Stairways island an uncontested journey.

From there it was easy, the dark caves and tunnels of the stone island couldn't hinder Fritz one bit. In fact, it gave him a great advantage over any sirens sleeping or stalking the passages, he could easily slip behind them and cut their throats with his dagger without them so much as seeing him in the dim light, when there was any. After some pulses of his Awareness and a lot of winding through the mostly-deserted tunnels, Fritz eventually led them right to the Stairway.

With a grin and a shout of joy, he was the first one up the scaly steps his fellows not far behind. He couldn't help but think: It's great when things finally go to plan.