Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (ereader iphone .TXT) 📗

wiped my blade with my finger and shook the gore from my hand. I turned back to the set of undead dominoes which had forgotten how to stand and crawled toward me, eliciting an unholy chorus of groans. I curb stomped each of their heads to vile pulp, staining my new greaves and boots with filth and rot.

That makes thirteen.

While I took out the group, Raven flew overhead and rained her razor-sharp feathers down on the zombies. I couldn’t tell how many she took out, but she attacked, glided out of the horde before rising, and dropped once more.

When she could do no more from above, she circled and dropped next to me as I bashed my emerald pommel into the side of a zombie’s face, crumpling the weak bone. It dropped, and I crushed what remained of its skull under heel.

Another rushed us, stumbling over the corpse of its friend.

“Allow me,” Raven said and struck with what looked like a finger jab to the roamer’s eyes.

The roamer stopped dead, falling lifeless to the sand. When Raven withdrew her hand, she had sharp talons instead of hands. Her fingers were longer than a human’s and had glossy black claws where there should be fingernails. I whistled.

“Neat trick. How many more are left?” I asked.

With a flap of her wings, she rose to survey the battlefield. “About eighty, give or take.”

“All right, can you fight by yourself or do you need backup?”

She scoffed and flicked her eyes down. ”I’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say,” I said and didn’t bother waiting for a reply.

There’re zombies to kill.

Between the two of us, we cleared out the shambling horde in under two hours. It took a lot of patience and hit and run tactics to whittle them down, a handful at a time. I had to be careful of my battle fatigue as the fight wore on, so Raven and I took turns when it neared max.

I went through thirty of them just fine, but my sword slipped off a particularly brutish roamer’s face and let him get close enough to bite me. It wouldn’t have gotten through my armor, but Raven crushed its head before it could even try. She didn’t even gloat about saving me as she helped me to my feet.

“Thanks,” I muttered and picked up my steel.

She nodded and flew into the air to begin her aerial bombardment.

As the hours ended, I buried my blade through the skull of the last roamer and sighed in relief.

I was utterly exhausted, but I still had the strength to smile at the mound of corpses in our wake. I looked around and spied a large dune to our right. The shadow stretched far and offered a much-needed rest from the sun’s beating gaze. I pointed to it, and we both went and sat down, nearly collapsing.

“Godsdamn, but that was fun,” I said, pulling out two waterskins and handing one to Raven, who was currently using my shoulder to rest on. I was so tired, I couldn’t muster the strength to shove her off.

“Get off me,” I snapped.

“Sure, sure,” she said and didn’t budge but to uncap her water.

Whatever. How close did I come to maxing my fatigue during that last pass?

I opened my interface to look at my battle fatigue meter. Huh, I still have a little bit left in the tank, but why am I so fucking tired, then?

I lifted the waterskin to my lips and drank deeply, my muscles quivering. Ah, my armor is heavier, my sword too. The shadowsteel plates were much thicker than even my own set back home; it added more than a little weight to myself, and with my stat penalty, I wasn’t used to the difference yet.

As my fatigue wore down, my strength returned, little by little, and I leaned back, basking in the soft wind that carried a nice breeze and gusts of sand towards us. That fight did its job. I feel better. My head feels clear, even with all that Magnus dropped on me.

I was a fighter; my clarity came at the end of my sword.

While I had the time, I decided to sort through my notifications. I knew after a fight like that I had more than a few waiting for me.

Combat Results!

48 Killed (Roamer): 14,400 Exp!

4 downed: 1200 Exp!

Mercy Penalty: -400 Exp

Total Exp Gain: 15,200 Exp!

Exp: 5100/5100

Level Up! (x3)

Exp: 3700/5400

Level 54

30 Stat Points Available!

 

Less than I was expecting, actually. With how much Exp Ouroboros has been throwing my way, these numbers look almost normal. Still more than I should get for killing a bunch of roamers, but for what’s coming, I need all the boost I can get.

With my stat penalty from being so far away from Eris, putting my points into my main stats would most likely be a waste. Need more Durability for sure. Maybe more Attack Damage as well.

I put twenty into Durability and ten into Attack Damage, which brought Durability to thirty-five and Attack Damage to forty. Not bad. But I’ll need to keep working to get stronger.

“You ready to move?” I asked, tipping the last of my water into my mouth.

“Yeah.”

Raven used me as a crutch to help her stand, and I was about to shout at her when she offered me her hand. Still a little pissed, I took it reluctantly.

She walked a few feet out of the darkness, and the sunlight caught her face. She closed her eyes as the wind swept her inky hair back. “The heat feels wonderous, though I bet I’ll be cursing those words in about ten minutes.”

“Yeah, probably. Hurry and shift before we─!”

I tackled Raven to the ground as my instincts screamed at me and a blast of hellfire scorched the sand to