Chương 21: Chapter Twenty-One: Momentum

TWENTY-ONE Roan sighed with relief as they pushed out of the hallways and onto the wide boulevard. The press of skeletons had yet to yield, but using the hallways kept them limited as they tried to push forward. The lack of space was also what kept Roan from using his newfound warhammer to the best of its ability.

"Remember the plan," one of the independents said behind Roan, acting as if Roan was some crazed berserker.

"Keep them off my back," Roan said as he lifted his hammer up and lunged forward. The hammer cut through the air and hit the leading skeleton with the cracking sound of breaking wood. Silver steel punched free of the sternum of the skeleton and it collapsed into a heap as Roan stepped into the boulevard. He began to work. The long handled warhammer cut through the air as he spun and pushed forward, the long reach of the weapon clearing the area out around him.

With his full momentum the hammer hit the first skeleton and carried straight through to hit the next one. Both of the skeletons died from the single blow, their bodies beginning to crumble instantly. Roan finished the swing and didn't allow the hammer's momentum to slow, finishing the swing and starting the next one. It was a fight not to look behind him as the wave of independents flowed behind him. They formed a barricade of flesh and steel as Roan became the lead point of a wedge of fighters.

From all ten of the hallways streams of fighters started to push forward and into the horde. Unlike their initial retreat when they had ran for their lives, this time was much more coordinated. The weakness of the skeletons quickly became apparent. They died by the dozens as nearly everyone pushed forward. Darren hadn't been foolish enough to leave their mode of retreat unguarded.

A single fighter held the entrance to all ten of the hallways while a small group of a half dozen led by Moira stayed to continue selling the salvaged weapons and whatever else she could. Roan fell into a rhythm, the hammer whipping back and forth like a broom as he carved a path towards the next alley. Harris was leading that group, using a pair of axes to carve apart skeletons. Further down was Taoya who charged fearlessly with blue lightning flickered around him, lighting up the darkness.

Islands of control formed in the boulevard as the fighters cleared space, working to reach one another. Channels were forming as skeletons were stacked up, Roan getting into rhythm as he fought closer and closer to Harris' guards.

"Having fun, yet?" Taoya's voice was loud across the boulevard as bits of bone went flying everywhere from the big man's fists.

"Your idea of fun is strange," Harris said, dipping low and scything a skeleton's leg free. Roan crushed another duo of skeletons with a swing and reached Harris' rearguard.

"Lines in place!" Harris yelled back toward his hallway as they formed a bubble around the entrances of the alleyways. The constant press of skeletons was thinning away as they died by the dozens as the phalanx formed. Roan took a moment to catch his breath, the fighting had been intense but short. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!" Don't feel as tired as normal. Arms aren't burning, hardly out of breath, and feel like I can do this all day.

That's weird." Roan did his self analysis as the fight ended, just as he had been trained to do. It was critical to identify any wounds or strains before they became a hindrance in a future fight. It was equally as strange that he didn't feel as tired as he should. Fighting was tiring, it was something that exhausted a body quickly. Even if the fight was short, he should have felt some type of exhaustion." The point in endurance that I saw? That doesn't sound right. What else …"

Roan's train of thought ended as he let the hammer rest on the stone floor and reached into his shirt to touch the amulet around his neck. The little stone was hot to the touch, nearly threatening to scald his fingertip." Processes curse energy and refine it. The dead are animated by corrupted life energy and the amulet processes and cleanses it. Then feeds me the life energy?" Roan ran his fingers through his hair as he thought it through."

If it's processing cursed energy and supplying me with energy, then upgrading it would allow me to fight longer. But what else does life energy do?" Roan shook his head, this place was just more questions with too few answers.

"Roan? You good to go?" Taoya asked as he walked through the established lines, still crackling with energy.

"Just lost in thought. Ready for phase two?" Roan asked as he picked the hammer back up again. Phase two was picking a direction in which to push. The boulevard stretched out in every direction, even with coordination and tactics, they wouldn't be able to fight the entirety of the crypts.

"Of course. Got to start earning some money," Taoya said with a laugh as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Give us mortals a minute," Harris said in-between deep breaths as he straightened up. AS they waited the last of the lines connected, forming a full bulwark around the entrances to the halls that led to the saferoom. Darren came up from the depths with a longsword on his shoulder, looking over the fighting area with his inquisitive eyes.

"Left or right?" Taoya asked instantly. Roan had noticed that when he was charged up like he was, with all that kinetic energy around him, he had the energy of a toddler. A seven foot tall toddler who could punch through walls.

"Left. These halls are everywhere, so we'll go down the closest one at the end of our cul-de-sac and see if it leads to a new saferoom," Darren said.

"Come on, Roan. I want to see how long you can keep up," Taoya said with a chuckle as he raced forward past the line of defenders and began his wrecking ball imitation.

"Is he always like that?" Roan asked the others. Harris snorted and nodded instantly while Darren blinked once.

"All our bloodlines have their side-effects. You should hurry and help, even Taoya can't hold the entirety of the boulevard," Darren said dryly. Roan nodded as he realized that was all he was going to get from the man. Taoya did need assistance, the mass of bodies pressing in toward him was threatening to swallow him whole. Roan joined the fight without any hesitation. Bones shattered and eyes guttered out as he carved a path around Taoya as more and more fighters trickled into the breach they had created.

The gaps between alleys weren't far, hardly more than ten feet apart. It took Taoya and Roan only a few minutes to push through the skeletal lines and create the gap they needed. Darren had three fighters ready who immediately started to fight through the hallway. Roan could already see how this was going to go. A continuous slogging grind through the crypts as the undead never relented. Roan couldn't help but think about how he wasn't tiring, not the way he had earlier.

He knew even with the amulet he wasn't as unrelenting as the undead, but he was starting to narrow the gap between himself and the bloodline fighters.