Chương 60: Chapter Sixty: Clearing the Air

SIXTY Darren sagged against a tree, his chest rising and falling in dramatic fashion as he looked around wildly. Roan approached calmly, seeing if the man was injured, but Darren looked mostly just overexcited. He hooked the point of the warhammer under the ogre's necklace and pulled it over the dead monster's head, tossing it with a flick towards Darren. The other man snatched it out of the air with ease, turning to look at Roan as he willed himself calm.

It was impressive how much control the man had over his own body, Roan could see how Darren stilled his wild breathing and regained control of his borderline panicked movements.

"There's a nice bounty on those," Roan said, watching as Darren folded the necklace over and pocketed it.

"They're tough. That hammer you have is a good weapon for them. Breaks them apart a lot easier than this," Darren said, waving the sword in front of himself.

"It is a lot tougher with a sword," Roan admitted. He was actually surprised Darren had managed the feat. It had been difficult for himself and that was after the body tempering.

"Come on. I'll lead us back," Darren said, spitting dryly to the side and wiping at his lips. Roan could see his throat bobbing as if he was trying to swallow something.

"Here," Roan offered his canteen which had refilled a bit. There was maybe a swallow or two left in it, but Darren took it without complaint and handed it back with a barely audible thanks.

"I'm sure the others are nearly back. We took too long with them," Roan said looking back at the dead horde officers.

"Yeah." Darren pushed off the tree with a groan and started jogging slowly. Roan fished into his ring and pulled out his inferior stamina potion. With the boost to his body and the mana enriched meal he'd eaten, even with the lack of sleep, he felt decent.

"Darren. Stamina potion," Roan said jogging up to him and offering the standoffish man the bottle.

"Thanks." The bottle disappeared in an instant, Darren drinking it in a single swallow and tossing it to the side. A shudder ran through him as he gasped and shook, but he started moving faster nearly instantly. They moved fast through the forest, Darrren's ability allowing him to blaze the path forward with ease while Roan followed after. There were no goblins leaping out at them, stabbing wildly, but there were bodies. Lots of bodies.

The team that Darren had taken were the best at the village and it showed as they passed through slaughtered goblins that lay broken against trees. No climber corpses were seen, which Roan was grateful for. Already he knew tonight was going to be a bloodbath if more of the shamans were ranging about.

"I guess I owe you an apology," Darren said suddenly.

"Right now probably isn't the time for it," Roan countered, his eyes continually sweeping their surroundings.

"We're fine. I can sense up to five meters perfectly around me right now. Nothing is alive aside from us and only the shamans have ranged attacks and we can see the glow before it hits us," Darren said.

"I'm not a fan of heart to hearts. Why don't we just pretend we spoke about this and we're cool?" Roan asked.

"I need clarity. I, we, have goals that supersede ourselves. This tower is killing our world slowly but accelerating. It was our plan to stop it, we risked everything coming to this tower when we could have lived much easier, privileged lives. Do you understand where I'm going with this?" Darren asked. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"You don't like wild factors or people with their own goals that could slow you down. I get it, but again, this isn't the time," Roan nearly begged to end this. He'd already talked to Taoya and that was all the talking he wanted to do on this subject.

"I plan to funnel resources to those who have the best chance of clearing this tower and stopping the drain. That is those who have bloodlines like Taoya, Tyler, or others who entered with us. It is not fair, it is not just, but it's what I'm going to do."

"And you think my current actions slow you down?" Roan asked, allowing himself to be dragged into the conversation. They'd slowed as Darren had talked, going from a near run into a shambling jog.

"Not yet. But you're greedy. You want what you want, not what we want. I will not allow our mission to fail." Darren stopped and looked at Roan and in the darkness of the forest, Roan had to admit Darren had the edge. His physical stats were better, but he couldn't see or react anywhere near as well as the other man could and Darren was just as well trained as he was.

"I can play ball. My goal is to climb the tower. I won't sacrifice myself for you, but I can help." Roan shifted his feet and clenched the warhammer tight. He had reach, but if Darren struck he'd need to be ready to fight back instantly.

"We're both assholes. I know that, you know that. I will ask you to put your life on the line and maybe even give you orders that lead to your death. Taoya likes you and that does mean a lot. I trust T, I really do." Darren's weight shifted slightly and Roan tensed, ready to strike at any moment.

"I just saved your life. Kept your dream alive at great risk to myself. I don't want this to go this way," Roan said, speaking honestly. If he was forced to kill Darren then there'd be no regaining the trust of the Pact members. Even if it was in self-defense.

"Can I risk it though?" Darren whispered.

"Trust Taoya like you said you did. He trusted me enough to send me to rescue you. Trust that others can make reliable choices. It's not all on you, Darren." Roan's words echoed in the pitch black of the forest where Darren was hardly more than an indistinct blur in front of Roan. Laughter burst out of Darren's mouth suddenly and the tension popped like a balloon. Roan felt his shoulders ease, but he kept a wary eye on the Pact's strategist.

"I trust T and he trusts you. Shit, we don't like each other because we're too much alike. Too practical. It makes perfect sense," Darren said with another dark chuckle as he turned around and started to walk away. Roan followed after him just to keep him in line of sight.

"What makes perfect sense?" Roan asked.

"I've been so worried that if I fell or slacked that nobody else could take up the burden, but it's been right in front of me the entire time. Now that you're apparently no longer suicidal, it's you. You have what it takes to make the hard choices," Darren said as he giggled, the sound of a man on the brink of sanity.

"Darren?" Roan asked as the other man started to jog again, rushing forward." The damn potion. It made me weird as hell and I wasn't under the strain Darren is. Don't take stamina potions if we can avoid it," Roan thought to himself as he was forced to keep up.

"The others swore to our ideal, but there's personal glory that drives them. Pride at being the first to conquer the tower or return to their clans or houses with power never seen before. Humanity in them that will slow them at the last second. You though, I saw it when you killed Craig. You have it, the hardness needed." Darren's words were a stream without end, a rushing torrent that blended together. Light filtered through the trees and Roan could make out more than just shapes.

Goblins were laying dead everywhere. Filled with crossbow bolts or slashed apart. An ogre's body was like a small hill, crumpled right on the edge of the clearcut where the killing fields in front of the village were. They burst from the trees and Roan swore as he looked upon the village. A sea of goblins smashed against the walls, dead and dying in droves as mobs fired relentlessly into the crowds.

Crude ladders were thrown against the short wall and climbers hacked apart the scampering mobs, throwing sliced apart pieces back. A squad of ogres lifted a battering ram, a cut down tree capped in crudely hammered iron, and started to march toward the gate. In front of the gate were the survivors of Darren's mission. Some of them were hammering on the gate, but the majority had fanned out to make another defensive line against the oncoming hordes of fearless goblins.

A horn blew in the distance, a shrieking organic sound that stirred the goblins into a fury. The squad of ogres began to charge toward the gate, the massive ram pointed right at Moira who held the center of the defensive line.

"Shit." Roan couldn't think of anything else as fear and anger sparked through him. The red stone on the end of his appropriated staff began to glow.