Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret of the Always ❯ The First Battle ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

"I knew this would happen!" Nemesis said. "I had a bad feeling about coming here. I guess the only way is to fight our way out." He unclipped a fresh shock grenade and pulled out his machine pistol. "I guess it was a good thing I bought this thing." Switching the gun to its 6-round burst mode, he hit the proximity detonation toggle and chucked the grenade over his shoulder to take out the enemies coming from behind. He then leaped out of the vent, and fired twice, launching twelve bullets at the surrounding enemy soldiers and taking out 5 of them. The remaining ones scattered and brought their weapons to bear on him. He rolled forward through the gap he had just created and jumped, doing a quick 180 and firing twice more, taking down 3 more enemies.

Now there were only 4 left and the grenade in the shaft had just gone off, taking out that group. Nemesis was relieved to see Tii'jan standing just behind him, chanting quickly and ripping the guns away from three of the four troops. Finding his gun empty, Nemesis tossed it aside and drew his sword. Two of the troops without weapons started charging toward him and the armed one shot again. Nemesis dodged to the right and slashed back that way, taking out one of the charging soldiers while the other was caught by Tii'jan's bullet. Tii'jan then had to dive aside himself as the armed soldier shot again. Nemesis took the initiative and leapt toward him, slashing downward, knocking the gun from the man's hand and then slashing across his stomach, killing him. The last one started running the other way and Nemesis let him go. Tii'jan was already heading back for the cave, examining one of the guns he held in his hand.

Nemesis rushed to catch up, picking up his gun and taking another from Tii'jan, who spoke. "Give me your sword," he said.

Nemesis was off guard. "What?"

"You heard me. Let me have your sword. I want to see something." Nemesis unsheathed the sword and handed it to Tii'jan. He looked it over and touched the blade. One rune began to glow and Tii'jan spoke under his breath. "Vere'tash Antoran". The rune disappeared and Nemesis felt a burning sensation on his right wrist. He looked at it and scratched where he felt it, cringing at the pain. Slowly, the skin peeled away to reveal an exact copy of the rune that had just disappeared. He looked at it, puzzled, and then looked at Tii'jan. "That is an offensive rune. Now that you have gained its power through your experience with it, you can use this rune during battle. Unfortunately this is only the first of the offensive runes, so it will likely be quite weak."

Nemesis took the sword back from Tii'jan. "So how do I use it?" he asked.

By this time, the pair had exited the base and there was no evidence they were being tailed. Tii'jan gestured toward a rock protruding from the ground off to the side. "Simply say the name of the rune, and point the runeblade at your target. This rune translates in the ancient elven tongue as `Shockwave'. Try it out. Just say `Vere'tash Antoran'."

Nemesis pointed the blade said the rune and waited. His wrist began to burn again and he noticed that the lone rune was glowing blue again. The power surged from his hand and down the blade shaft, causing him to tighten his grip as the blade vibrated violently before releasing the energy out through the air. It struck the ground just in front of the rock and the ground shuddered there, breaking the rock into pieces in a matter of seconds. The burning subsided and Nemesis knelt, sapped of energy by the attack. Tii'jan applauded him.

"Very good. You now know how to use the runes. Using the sword will increase your experience and you will learn many new offensive as well as defensive spells to cast. Now, we should…" Tii'jan trailed off as he noticed movement. He looked up at the raised cave entrances to see the thieves setting up sniping positions. One thief noticed them. He rushed back into the cave and came back seconds later with what looked like a grenade launcher. By this time Nemesis and the elf were at full run away from the mountain. The man took two shots at them, which cleanly missed, but broke Tii'jan's concentration, causing him to fall to the ground.

Nemesis helped him up and checked him. He had gashed his leg badly on a rock and it looked broken. There were now troops coming from the main entrance on ATV's and on foot. They all had guns. Nemesis led Tii'jan over to a rock outcropping and took up both of the guns he carried. He quickly reloaded his machine pistol and checked the charge on the blaster, which was nearly full. He picked up the other two guns Tii'jan had and put his back against the rocks. He decided to use the blasters first, choosing the two rifles with the most power. He whipped out, spraying the oncoming group with blaster fire and then dodging out of the way as their blasts flew by. Seconds later, two ATVs jumped over the rock outcropping, the passengers shooting at him. Nemesis took some pot shots at them, then dove again as more shots were fired. He concentrated fire at one and got several lucky shots that hit and detonated the engine, sending parts and burning bodies flying. The other one swung back around, firing once again. Nemesis decided to take a different approach. He quickly unsheathed his sword as he flipped back over the rock putting it between him and the ATV. Nemesis waited for the enemies to jump back over and then spoke the rune, pointing the blade at the ATV. The attack worked much quicker this time, surging out in only a couple of seconds. It hit dead on, causing the ground to break apart and the ATV ground in, wrecking the chassis and engine.

Nemesis cheered for himself, then remembered the rest of the troops heading for them. Two more ATVs had launched and countless troops were headed their way. Nemesis went back toward Tii'jan, firing the whole way. Tii'jan looked hopeless when he got there. "How many are there?" He asked. Nemesis merely shook his head. Then, a small air speeder leapt over the mountain peak and strafed the enemy troops, causing them to scatter. Nemesis sheilded his eyes as the rounded speeder came to a stop next to them and the cockpit opened. He didn't know what to think, but he just hurried up to the front of the craft.