The Connected System

She could feel an energy surging through her. It was warm, making her body tingle.

Piper opened her eyes, looking up at the worried face of Cerie. The small fairy looked huge, she was hovering so close. The green glow was bright, hurting Piper’s eyes.

“So bright…,” she muttered.

“Sorry,” the fairy replied, her natural glow dimming.

Cerie flew back as Piper pushed herself up. She had to fight her body shaking. Everything was still blurry, her head pounding. Her hand brushed against a rolled up sweatshirt that had been serving as a pillow.

“What happened?”

“You collapsed,” Cerie said. “You pushed your Core too far with the summons.”

Piper tried to stand but stumbled. She caught herself on the parapet. Looking around she could see the Archers spread out on the two sides, firing arrows down off the roof. Kim ran from one side to the other, stopping only long enough to launch a fireball before starting to head back to the other. She stopped, noticing Piper was up.

“Piper,” Kim said, walking over. “Are you okay? You had us worried.”

“Dad?”

Kim hesitated before speaking, exchanging a quick glance with Cerie.

“Lord Lochlan is where he needs to be,” Cerie said.

“Where’s that?”

“He’s outside the wall,” Kim said, pointing over her shoulder. “There’s a…” she paused again.

“The leader of the gaunts has arrived,” Cerie said.

Piper took a step away from the parapet. She wobbled a bit but got steadier as she took another step.Cerie hovered over her shoulder. Kim stepped back, giving Piper space, but kept her arms out ready to catch the teen. The world stopped spinning, gaining in detail as she took more steps.

The sounds of fighting filled the night around her. Metal on metal, snapping and breaking of wood. At least she hoped it was wood she was hearing and not bone. There was screaming. Some of the people of Clan Brady were getting hurt. She couldn’t hear any sounds of the gaunts being killed. As much as she hated thinking it, Piper hoped there were more gaunts dying than humans.

She wanted to reach up and cover her ears, block out the sounds. It was horrible. She wanted to scream. Not in pain but anger. This shouldn’t have been happening.

Why was it happening?

They hadn’t done anything to the gaunts to provoke this. The gaunts had killed people, had attacked them. Hadn’t there been enough killing already? So many had died when the Connection appeared, so many more had died in the weeks after. Why did so many more have to die now?

She reached the far parapet, leaning against it, too tired to stand. At least she wasn’t dizzy anymore. It was easy to find her father by the lights around him. His glowing axe wasn’t that bright, almost lost in the shadows of the other lights. A strange fire floated in front of her dad, hovering a little higher than he was. It moved around as he moved.

Piper focused on the strange flame. It was small, tapering to a flickering point. There was something inside the flames. She saw a large body underneath, dressed in black armor carrying a huge axe. Watching the way the body moved, Piper realized what was in the flames.

A skull.

The monster, the leader of the gaunts, had a flaming skull.

But it wasn’t just the flaming skull that surprised her. It was the thing that provided most of the light in the area, bathing it all in a green tint. It wasn’t as bright as the day, but it was close. The banner stood tall behind her father, the flag waving in the fierce wind.

Piper knew it was the banner emitting the Spirit she could feel. Her Adapted body’s new instincts told her that she’d drained her Core dangerously low. That was what had made her pass out. But it was the wave of power that came from the Banner that had woken her up and was now refreshing her tired body.

It had only been a minute at most, but she felt so much stronger, like she had hours of sleep and rest. Glancing at her Status, she saw that it was going up faster than before. She wasn’t in combat, so it was the normal regeneration. Just faster. She couldn’t tell how much faster, just knew that it was.

She felt stronger. Piper had the urge to run downstairs and charge into the gaunts. Her weapons would hit, with critical blows happening more often. She would hit faster, easily able to avoid the attacks from the slower gaunts.

The banner was some kind of mass buff.

She looked up at the icon that appeared in her vision.

BREAKER’S BANNER

WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A WARBREAKER’S BANNER, YOUR STATS, ATTACK AND DEFENSE ARE INCREASED. YOUR NATURAL REGENERATION RATE HAS BEEN INCREASED. DURATION: AS LONG AS THE BREAKER’S BANNER IS ACTIVE.

When had her dad gotten that ability?

And how long would it last?

She couldn’t see Harper. Wouldn’t her sister be out there with their dad.

“Where’s Harper?”

Cerie didn’t answer. Piper looked back for Kim but the older woman had run back to the parapet, launching a fireball down into a crowd. Piper moved closer to the corner where she could still see her father and the fighting in the schoolyard. There were so many people moving around. The night was bright but not enough to make out details from this high. She wondered how the Archers knew who to target. They probably had some Ability.

There were a lot of people. She knew most of them were gaunts.

She couldn’t see Harper.

“We do not know,” Cerie replied.

Piper’s hands grasped the concrete top of the parapet. She could feel the sharp edge cutting into her palm. Harper had to be alright. She was probably down there in the fighting, dancing around the gaunts and killing lots of them.

Examining her Core, Piper could feel the Advancement she’d gotten. But she hadn’t really fought anything. She’d fired her wand a lot, but doubted any of the blasts had actually killed a gaunt. Before summoning her inkdragon and wall, she didn’t remember any of the multi-colored sparks of Spirit flowing from the dead gaunts and into her. Had her inkdragon killed some? It probably had. She must have still gotten the experience even when unconscious.

What could she do to help?

Would she collapse again when the Banner disappeared?

She didn’t know but knew she had to do something. Piper drew her wand, looking from the schoolyard to her dad’s battle. Where could she help more? She watched the way her dad and the flaming headed monster fought. They moved around, twisting and turning, ducking and stepping back. It was hard to follow. There was no way she could fire a blast from the wand without risking hitting her dad.

The fights in the schoolyard were chaotic. A lot of movement, hard to tell friend from foe. But there were far more foes. Piper knew if she shot at the edges of the fighting, the chances were good she’d hit a gaunt. A shadowed form moved from gaunt to gaunt, sticking to the rear of the monsters. Piper could barely see it as it moved, disappearing into the shadows and reappearing to stab a sword into a gaunt. Everywhere the shadow went, gaunts died.

Piper thought it was Harper but the figure moved differently. It was still graceful, more dance than fight, but it was stiffer than her sister. It had to be the elf captive that her Dad had ended up releasing. Elora Seedspear had sworn an oath to obey her dad. Piper wasn’t sure she trusted the elf woman, but as long as she kept killing gaunts, Piper was happy to have her on their team.

She was tempted to summon another inkcreature. She just didn’t have the amount of Spirit needed. Not yet. Maybe in a couple of minutes she could try again.

“Do not think about summoning an inkcreature,” Cerie said, as if she read Piper’s mind. “Your Core is still too weak.”

“Okay.”

The thought wouldn’t leave. Piper knew she could be more help with an inkcreature but she’d wait a little bit. Let her Core regen for a couple more minutes.

Lifting her wand, she took aim at the edges of the crowd.

Movement in the east caught her eye. The only light was from the moon and stars but it was enough to show a dozen forms running down the road, quickly approaching the school.

More gaunts? They didn’t move like the monsters.

Was it the elves? Something else?

“Oh no,” she said, pointing.

Cerie and Kim looked that way, even the archers.

“Fuck,” one of the archers said.

***

Harper used the falling and dying gaunt as a springboard, launching herself into the air. She did a somersault, landing ten feet away with tonfas to the side. With one smooth motion, she slid the weapons across her body, feeling the slight resistance as the sharp blades cut through a Gray Gaunt Warrior’s neck. She kicked out, knocking the dying gaunt to the ground.

She ignored the sparks as they flew around her, drifting into her body. Notifications had flashed across her vision, she’d ignored those, mentally making them disappear. A flashing icon now hovered in the upper edge of her vision.

It was annoying but she was still able to ignore it, forgetting it was there.

Her concentration was focused on the monsters. There were still so many of them. She had to move carefully to avoid stepping or tripping on the bodies. Not just gaunts. There were a couple of humans mixed in. She was glad to see that the dead gaunts far outnumbered the dead humans.

The boost of Spirit from the magical banner was fading. The glow was dimmer, it wouldn’t last much longer. While she had the buff, she had to make it count.

Harper kept moving, dealing death as fast as she could. Her movements were getting sloppier with the increase in speed. Where it had been one out of every three gaunts was one killed, now it was down to one out of every five. Those others were still wounded, but they weren’t dying.

They needed to die.

Just wounding wasn’t enough. She had to completely remove them from the battle.

If the defenders had been following her, killing the wounded, that would be different but they were all involved in their own fights. Her father’s Banner was helping, giving them the strength to fight back the previously surging gaunts. The numbers were still against them.

Her movements slowed back down to normal, the glow cast by the Banner gone. Dodging a wild swing, she looked around, happy with what she was seeing. The defenders were pushing forward, driving the gaunts away from the wall. More bodies were falling.

Some pockets of defenders were doing better than others. More gaunts were pushing against the defenders at the stairs, trying to break through to enter the school. Harper joined others rushing the backs of the gaunts, trying to break up the surge.

She was tired. They all were. More gaunts fell, the yard littered with the dead and dying. The Drones still moved mechanically, stiffly, following basic moves and responses. It made it easy for Harper, as she could dance and slide out of the way, attacking before the Drones could react. For the Clan Brady defenders, it helped make up for their lack of experience versus the greater numbers.

She wished her father’s Ability had lasted longer. It had been a big help, giving them the boost they needed. Her tonfa slammed into the back of a gaunt. She used the blade to twist the monster away from the rest. It fell off the blade, stumbling, her second tonfa slicing through the back of its neck. Harper kicked it to the ground, turning back to attack another one.

Except the Drone had already turned to attack her. It hadn’t stayed facing forward, rushing the stairs, instead drawn by her attack. She knew she’d messed up. So tired, she hadn’t paid as much attention as she should have been counting on the Drone’s single mindedness. Its sword swung down. She barely got a tonfa up in time, the force making her knees buckle. Her arm bent, not the way it was meant to. The stronger gaunt had the leverage against her.

Harper sank lower, trying to push back against the weight.

The weight lifted. A sword pierced through the gaunt’s chest. Harper scrambled away as the gaunt fell off the weapon, landing on the ground. Elora Seedspear stood over it, bloody sword raised.

“Are you alright Lady Harper,” she asked, calmly.

“Yeah. Thank you,” Harper replied, joining the elf woman in attacking the gaunts.

The back line of those attacking the steps had turned, facing off against the defenders.

“Of course,” Elora replied. “You are my Lord’s daughter. Your welfare is as important as his.” She twisted to the side, her feet not moving, a gaunt’s sword slicing down through where she’d been. With another twist, Elora brought her sword up, slicing into the gaunt. Harper watched the elf fight, seeing a similar style to her own. It was a dance, just with different moves. Harper’s combat style was constant movement, not staying still. Elora barely moved her feet, her body still a blur of movement as she dodged and attacked. There was something more efficient in how Elora fought.

“Someday you may hold my oath,” Elora continued.

Harper wondered exactly what that meant. Humans were now Adapted, part of the Connection, they could potentially live hundreds of years beyond the normal lifespan. Were Elves as long-lived as the stories, so being Adapted just increased their lifespan that much more?

Thoughts for another time as Harper blocked yet another sword. One tonfa pushed the attacking blade up and out, creating an opening she took advantage of. The second tonfa stabbed out straight, right through the gut of the gaunt. Harper pulled it up, cutting through the body. She pulled the blade out of the now much larger wound, stepping to the side as the dying body fell.

Briefly she wondered how much she had changed that the action hadn’t bothered her. She’d disemboweled the gaunt without a care, without pause. It had been the most efficient way to kill the monster and she had done it. She hadn’t liked doing it, but hadn’t felt bad about doing it. The gaunt was the enemy. It was attacking her friends and family. It had to be stopped.

She just hoped she never ended up enjoying killing.

“To the east,” someone shouted, Harper surprised she heard it over the sounds of fighting.

She stepped back, joined by Elora. Other defenders took their place.

Figures ran down the road, still too far to make out details.

“What now,” she muttered.

Harper and Elora jogged down to the road, joined by a couple of the other defenders,standing between the dungeon’s building and the school, watching the group approaching. They took up positions in a line facing east. Harper set her feet, blades held ready. She relaxed slightly as she saw the newcomers weren’t gaunts. They were people.

Armed people.

No one from Clan Brady. All their people were at the school. She couldn’t imagine any humans allied with the gaunts. How would the gaunts have connected with them? Why would either ally with the other? The people had to be raiders, looking to take advantage of the chaos and steal some supplies.

Vultures. Harper wouldn’t let them.

“Lady Harper,” one of the defenders called out, catching her attention.

She didn’t know the man’s name. He was older than her, probably close to thirty. It felt odd having someone like that showing deference to her, calling her Lady. He was turning to look toward the far corner of the school, toward the lake. A mass of gaunts appeared around the corner, charging for them.

She cursed.

Had the south defense failed?

“Stop them,” Harper called out, rushing for the new gaunts.

There was enough to reinforce the ones attacking the stairs. Enough to force a break in the defense. They had to be stopped. If the oncoming people were raiders, they’d get their chance to steal some supplies, not that there was much out in the yard. But it was more important to hold the defense at the stairs.

Harper leapt into the air, coming down in front of a charging gaunt. She led with her tonfas, the blades slamming into the monster, her weight bending it backwards. She pulled the blades out, hopping off it as the monster fell. Landing on the ground, she parried a sword, stabbing at a different gaunt with her other blade.

Others joined her, attacking the gaunts, trying to keep them from joining the others. The mass pressed in on her, pushing Harper back. There were a lot of them.

The pressure lifted. Harper got a moment to step back, watching the gaunts be attacked from two sides. The other group of humans were attacking the gaunts from the side, the monsters caught between the two forces. It was a ragtag group, looking even worse than the Clan Brady defenders. They had similar makeshift armor, just less of it. Mixed group of men and women, looking twenties and older. They had no true weapons that she could see. No swords. Just golf clubs, baseball bats, wood axes, machetes and branches cut into spears. They looked tired, worn out, but attacked with as much force as they could. Harper saw the flashes of Abilities, showing that a couple of them were Classed. One of the men stepped back, moving toward her.

“Who are you,” she shouted out.

“I’m Drew,” he said, giving a wave before twisting as a gaunt rushed at him.

He held his ground, body twisting. It was similar to how Elora had fought. Drew kept avoiding the attacks, not launching one of his own. Harper could feel energy gathering around him. He finally punched out, fist connecting with the side of the gaunt’s chest. Flesh and bone exploded, a hole burst in the monster’s side. It fell to the side, right into a kick from the man.

He stepped back, giving the monster on the ground a final kick before returning his attention to Harper. He looked to be mid to high twenties. Average height and size.

“You look like you could use a hand.”