Mathew

Immediate impressions from the two bundles of thought were that one was bright and chaotic the other was the first darkened mind Mathew had sensed. Something about the faded mind created a conflict within himself. Joyous and grieving tried to permeate his being. Neither made rational sense, so the invading feeling crashed uselessly against a fortress dedicated to survival.

Stepping to the door, Mathew wondered for a moment why Amber kept her pillowcase around.

Mathew took a deep breath and bellowed. “Back away from the door!”

“Okay, I’m moving.” The cracking voice made Mathew rethink his threat assessment.

Amber moved to back him up with her spear as he unbarred the door. The small comfort she lent him was offset by a greater sense of responsibility to protect. Half opening the door, Mathew stepped out.

Two Earth humans were a few car lengths away from the door. Standing over a body was a lanky teen in a dark stained hoodie. With worn jeans and work boots, he was lucky to bring over valuable clothes to the wilderness. Under the teen was the slumped form of another. Stepping out of the Hub and circling around, Mathew spotted salt and pepper hair on the prone newcomer.

I thought Harper said the elderly and young didn’t get transferred. Mathew filed away the discrepancy suspiciously.

“What do you want?” Mathew demanded, his focus on the young man’s mind.

Take the weight. The boy’s desperation was palpable.

“Grant is sick and he needs to be taken care of. Please help him, please help us.” While the boy said this, Mathew felt another resolution forming. The details weren’t as easy to pick up as the tone. Some hidden weapon in response to being flanked.

Mathew took a step back. Between him with Ripper and Amber with the spear, they could come off as a threat pretty easily. In fact, he’d unconsciously lowered into a predatory stance of coiled potential.

Straightening stiffly in a way that his instincts told him was a mistake, Mathew spoke slowly and clearly. “I believe you, we,” he gestured at Amber and Harper. “Believe you. My name is Mathew and I will help you how I can. What is your name?”

As much as he wanted to put Ripper down to assure the boy, he couldn’t do it. Knowing of a hidden weapon took that option off the table.

“Ben McCoy.” Ben licked his lips. “And like I said, that’s Grant. He’s sick and needs help. It’s a bite and the poison just lingers. If I’m not suppressing the poison, it draws in monsters.”

“What type of monsters,” Amber spoke up.

“Uh… Glass salamanders.” Ben winced. “That shoot lasers.”

“Better get you two inside before your suppression stops then.” Harper stepped forward unarmed and unconcerned. Giving Mathew side-eye.

Casually picking up the old man with one lanky arm Ben started toward the door. “About that, I ran out a little bit ago. For all I know, they are sneaking up right now.”

“Make yourself at home.” Harper stayed outside for a moment blocking Mathew and Amber. “What the hell was that? Threatening a stranger for no reason. What was it you said? “Make a home for good people.” And then you turn on the first guys that show up needing help. My Hub, my rules. Okay!”

“Hold up!” Mathew stopped and took a breath. “I didn’t threaten anyone, I recognize strangers can be a threat, and I’m not going to ignore a threat.”

“I treated you better than that.” Harper turned. “Both of you.”

This was so not the time to have a conversation about the ethics of posturing. Tapping Ripper onto the slanted gray stone like it was a cane Mathew put on a big smile and asked. “Hubmaster Harper, may I enter your prison?”

Something shifted on her face like she had just realized something. Made Mathew want to read her mind but fear of what path that would put him on held him back.

“Uh yeah.” Harper nodded. “Let’s get inside.”

Entering the Hub, Mathew heard over his shoulder. “You said your piece so I’ll say mine. Mind that you be fair, ya hear?” Amber’s tone was gentle.

Mathew brought over a strip of pork jerky and the thermos lid of water. Amber and Harper re-entered, arms draped over each other’s shoulders.

“Thanks,” Ben said between bites.

“What’s your story?” Amber asked.

Ben looked up, getting eye contact from each of them one at a time. “We don’t have time for my whole story. I’ve been here in Leternum for more than a month. Grant at least four. Best we can tell, the first people from Earth started popping over six months ago. Too many people in one spot draws the monsters in. Grant told me so and it saved me time and time again. Every week enough people are released into an area to become noticed by the territory Alpha. Gah, sorry it’s not quite that simple. There is a-” Ben gestured like he was manipulating a puzzle as he sought the words. “Another factor, about how strong you are. Too many and too strong, then boom! Death.”

Taking a breath, Ben pressed on. “Right now, I’m breaking rules. Rules that have kept me alive longer than the rest I’ve watched die. So I need to know. How long have you been here?”

“Bit more than a day. How long do we have?” Harper asked.

Ben’s shoulders dropped. “About a week. Anyone else I haven’t seen yet?” Responding to the shaking heads, he continued. “At least a week then. But we aren’t actually safe now. Just not worth the attention of an alpha. Thank you for taking us in.”

The steel in his spine melted. Ben let go of his burden because there was room to share it. Mathew frowned. He’d done enough of carrying someone else burdens to get burned. Killing the first instinct to just help was part of growing up. Even here, his heart went out, but someone else would have to carry any weight someone decided to drop. Taking a long moment, Mathew thought if that was going to be him this time.

Tuning back into the conversation, Ben was answering a question. “That is what we were trying to figure out. Apparently, before Grant some people actually made a town. Judging by the size, it was probably four or six weeks old and full of people. We were going into the ruins to find out how they did it. That is where Grant got bitten. I used my stealth magic to hide the miasma of his bite wound but it just wouldn’t heal. A day later and he went from hardworking to comatose.”

“This time- do you hear that?” Ben stood and looked through the shutter on the door.

I should have used that when he knocked on the door. Mathew chastised himself.

Holding their breath, a sound grew.

meep.

meep.

Meep, meep.

Ben whispered. “They’re here. I know you think this shelter is safe but monsters are strong on another level. We have to fight them or scatter. I’m going to fight.” His hands shook.

“My tutorial- sorry -transition monster couldn’t break this shelter. It’s my magic.” Harper said. “Give it some credit.”

“Transition monsters are about level one. Like we were, like all you still are.” Ben shook his head. “It isn’t not giving you credit. Just you aren’t there yet.”

Mathew kicked himself for not scanning Ben yet.

Scan.

[Ben ~ Gifted

Otherworld human

Class: Redacted level 5?]

“What level do they compare to?” Mathew asked. Noting the sudden silence from outside.

“We don’t have any more time. Fight with me if you want to live.” Ben cringed as his lanky frame slid through the door. Mathew weighed the burden. These were strangers who showed up to drop trouble on their doorstep. If the structure made by a level one didn’t have a chance, what difference did a level one fighter make? Darker options surfaced instantly. Feeding the salamanders would probably pacify them. It wouldn’t even be his fault.

“Sorry Grant.” Mathew overheard Ben. It was a choked-off sob. Ben expected to die.

Launching himself out the door after the child, Mathew put berating himself on the back burner. Right now was the time to live without regrets.

Ambling up the slanted slope, a group of glimmering distortions approached. The rippling movement was like watching an otter on land. They were wider than otters, though. With tendril frills splaying out at the top of the neck, Mathew also got the salamander impression. Just like Ben said, they appeared to be made of glass. What shadows they did cast looked like that of a magnifying lens. The same amount of light got through but it wasn’t spread out nice and even.

There were four or five of them. Bunched up, it was hard to tell, and the monsters moved as a pack.

“I’ll tank.” Mathew hated the words as he spoke them. Though it took the sting of guilt out of his next demands. “Use your stealth you damn ninja. Amber spear from behind me. Harper do what you can.”

With that, they were out of time. Throwing his arms out, Mathew bellowed at the beasts. Focus on me fuckers.

He didn’t see the first laser honestly, it was stupid that he expected to be able to see the light coming. As the dress shirt burst into flames from its pocket, warmth from the bone plate quickly grew painful. Tearing his ignited shirt off, Mathew exhaled out a cone of digestion magic.

Before the smokescreen could expand to cover all of him, another laser struck. His mind tried to reconcile knowing how lasers tasted with a blooming heat on his gauntleted arm.

Spreading out further, the dark purple smoke worked to spread the lasers out and eat away their potency. Keeping the cloud out like a shield thick enough to provide protection, Mathew was limited to making a twelve-foot wall. While this worked wonders for the moment, it also blinded Mathew and anyone behind him. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever.

Reaching out with his mental attack, he found five alien minds. Directing the skill and his whole pool of magic strained his motivation. Fight and flight waged war with apathy within his soul. But he had a target and a job to do. Enveloping a glass beast, Mathew pushed his digestion magic past it. Holding his magic from trying to consume the glass salamander was as easy as thinking it. Doing more damage and burdening its health pool wasn’t worth losing the improvised shield.

Cocking back his right arm holding Ripper, Mathew hoped to telegraph enough for Amber to be ready as well. Thrusting down into the dark purple mist, it felt right. Like the difference between watching two people scrap and roll on the ground vs. a satisfying haymaker. This was his prepared blow and he could throw his whole body into it.

Contact with the door-length creature sent a shock of reverberation through his body. Ripper dug into the gap between the shoulder and neck of the monster. The noise was worse than nails on a chalkboard and made every last one of Mathew’s hairs stand on end. Ripper burrowed into the glassy flesh enough to get stuck but not nearly the killing blow he’d anticipated.

Amber’s stab followed shortly after his. The quills of her spear broke off and the branch she had it tied to made a dull thunk that didn’t seem to slow the monster down at all.

Digestion magic was down to 134/285. Laser blasts continued to scatter into the smokescreen, draining more power away. Mathew’s hooked salamander spat a bolt into Ripper. Through the thin vapors of hunger magic, Mathew felt the laser scatter off the silver finish of the bone sword.

Holding Ripper as a bar across his body Mathew fought to turn the glass beast. Despite his size advantage, their strength was matched and the bastard was by far heavier. He didn’t know what to do. Holding onto Ripper to control one enemy wasn’t going to do enough. Taking a risk, Mathew let go with one hand and started swinging.

Using the force from its bucking around, he slammed his fist into its head. Joints shifted to their limits and the power of his whole arm transferred into the splintering sound of glass. Distantly he felt Ben enter his digestion magic field while engaging a salamander.

[Digestion points 78/285]

Backing away and swaying its whole body in an imitation of a dog shaking prey, the monster screamed out.

MEEEP.

Switching to a two-handed grip, Mathew planted both his feet on the meeping monster. Activating his dwindling magic, he channeled conversion. Reserves burnt away with his magic and strength fueled into his muscles. Another shrieking and Ripper lived to its name. Chunks of glass flesh were rent free with spiderweb cracks spreading into its frame. Dropping to the ground, Mathew’s magic faded out. The satisfaction of his empty magic felt hollow with the end of the shield.

Rising to all fours his first exhale since the fight started came out hot enough to distort the air. Without the burden of magic against his willpower, Mathew diverted the resource into mental attack. Latching mental claws into the strings of thought that made up the glass monster’s mind, Mathew felt his skill bump his elbow. Drinking the resolve from its mind, mental attack replaced it with his fear. Each time it tried to charge its laser, he tore out that idea.

Punishing his tunnel vision, another salamander landed a laser shot on his unprotected shoulder. The smell of burnt flesh invaded his nose but the shock of pain only lasted as long as it took to shunt into the beast his mind was tied to. Crossing his arms in front of his face, Mathew reversed his grip on Ripper and used it to shield the center of his mass. As his burnt arm struggled to respond to his demands, the mind-linked monster began bashing its head into the slanted gray stone.

Wordless knowledge was passed over from his mental attack skill. Pain was not something this being had ever felt.

More lasers were channeled through the dissipating cloud onto his stationary body. Ripper did its job scattering several rays apart. The others tore into his chest. Plates of bone blunted the damage but the gaps were showing themselves.

Even the blunted fire of his armor burned under the plates.

The status fixture showed the accumulated damage.

[148 Health reserved: Torso]

[Health 89/330 (-93 Crafting damage)]

With a final slam, the glass beast his mind was tied to broke itself. Its head smashed apart, sending jagged pieces skittering into a halo of glistening shards.

“Clear!” Amber barked.

Bang, bang, bang.

Bolstered by the siphoned resolve, Mathew withstood the building pain and watched. Amber’s pillow was dropped to the ground and smoke rolled from the barrel of a pistol in her grip. Her target jolted back as kinetic energy disrupted its brittle body structure.

Sweeping for threats, Mathew’s view landed on Ben bearing down on a third. It was wrapped in some matte black material and slowly bowed backward. Between the tail and head of the beast, a black cable twisted tighter and tighter. Already bent into an unnatural crescent, the force broke over a threshold and the glass salamander’s belly blew out.

Three down, two remaining, his mind had missed them in his sweep.

meep, meep

Their unusual sound and the glimmering light drew his eyes to their retreating slide down the slope.

Up till now, the only monster he had to fight was the wraith. Maybe it was the pain but their retreat caught him off guard.

Hands pulled at Mathew and he turned to see tears running down Amber’s cheeks. Those are nice freckles, weird he hadn’t noticed yet. She was saying something but it sounded muted and indistinct. Following the pull of the hands, he floated back towards the shelter, each step keeping his feet under himself was automatic.

Slowly his sense returned.

“Mathew, Mathew,” Ben was trying to get his attention.

“Uhh,” Mathew responded.

“What. Is. Your. Health.” Something about Ben’s urgency kept his attention.

“Seventy eight,” Mathew answered. Why am I still holding up my status?

Dropping said fixture sharpened his mind more.

“-I said put your Health against the pain.” Ben.

Using that idea came naturally. This time as his spiral patterned orb of health shed layers, the fragments concentrated in his skull and spine more than the injuries.

[25 Health reserved: pain

10 Health reserved: shock]

Snapping back to himself, the burns lacing his body were muted.

“Thanks.” Mathew started waking purposely to the Hub.

“Mathew, I’m so fucking sorry.” Amber’s voice was laced with pain. “I thought I should save ammo, and I held back. I didn’t even tell any of you that I have my gun. This is my fault and I’m so fucking sorry.”

A memory came to Mathew of his carelessness in Pa’s shop. The old man asked little simple questions that when answered left no room for guilt, just the accidents of life that shouldn't be repeated.

“Did you hear me say “I’ll tank?”” Mathew asked.

“Yeah, I-”

“Did you do your best.”

“NO! I could have started off shooting.”

“And risk wasted ammunition.” How the hell did Pa make this look so easy. “No more blaming. All in.” Mathew stuck the fist of his unburnt arm out.

“All in.” Amber rapped his knuckles, her lip still quivering.

“We made it.” The corner of Ben’s mouth turned up.

The door of the Hub flew open and Harper rushed out with a freshly cut spear. “I’m coming- oh. You’re done.”

Mathew started a wheezing laugh. Amber joined him with tears from a different source. Giggling Ben rounded out their laughing trio.

“That’s not funny guys.” Harper stomped before her eyes bugged out. “Oh my god, Mathew, are you okay?”

They all laughed more. Fussing over his burns, the girls led him to their home and Mathew pressed no complaint about being given the bed for an afternoon rest.

Shooing them out with a promise to get medicine soon, he found himself alone in the dim space. Mathew allowed the authentic moment of catharsis and comradery to quiet down. Like an ember turned under to keep warm for the night. In the quiet calm, he tried to process everything. He'd seriously considered letting them die.

A knocking on the door interrupted. “Can I get you anything?” Ben asked. His gratitude put a lump in Mathew's throat.

“Yeah, one thing comes to mind.” Mathew hoped he didn’t sound crazy. “A nice block of wood.”