Of Beating Hearts and How to Break Them

Beneath a ruined city, covered in the darkness of a neverending tempest, two figures sprinted down a long-abandoned subway tunnel. In front ran a blonde, whose magical suit was stained with the remnants of previous combat. She held her side as she splashed forward through ooze-stained train tracks. Closely behind her followed a lanky figure in mismatched armor, carrying a bloodstained staff.

John and Ela had been running and fighting for some time now. They’d broken away from the majority of the horde around the train crash, but stragglers and new undead continued to harass them as they pursued the Harvester. In an effort to conserve mana, they’d done most of their fighting physically since then, leaving both of them worse for wear.

The blonde knight had taken a nasty hit to her torso from a hidden enemy that had jumped at them from above. Her health bar was still just above half, but she hadn’t even had time to mitigate the pain in their rush to escape. John had had to block a hefty wallop from another with his forearms, and he still felt as if he’d fractured something before [Gamer’s Body] had done its job.

Ahead of the pair, the tunnel widened into a small maintenance section, built into the stone and railed off from the tracks. A hefty set of old metal doors had been chained on the left. Next to it was some kind of viewing area, with a set of windows so stained that it was impossible to see anything through them. Rusty metal lined the glass.

The tunnel around them continued to morph, large patches of flesh and goo emerging from the walls and ceiling. They dripped with luminescent liquid mana, which trailed off into pools along the sides. Everything seemed to pulse with constant rhythm, like a heartbeat, all around them.

“This is getting freaky,” John gasped, hopping over a torn set of tracks. “Geez… How far did that thing go?”

“What? Tired already?” Ela joked, her own breath still heavier than normal. “We have not started fighting the boss yet!”

John prepared his best snarky comeback as they hopped another section of broken rail. Before he could, he stumbled, catching himself on the chains, sending gnarled rings and rattles up and down the tunnel as metal shook on metal. The heavy thunk echoed everywhere. The Gamer grunted at the impact, huffing. His shoulder ached from where it had rammed into the steel of the door. He cringed, hoping he hadn’t drawn anything else towards them.

The worn-out nerd coughed as he righted himself, thankful for the filter keeping out the rust and ick he’d stirred up. Even through [Gamer’s Body], a soreness was beginning to creep into his muscles. He could almost feel the lactic acid building up and slowing him down.

“Are you OK?” Ela asked, coming to a stop next to him.

“I’m alright, I think. I don’t exactly do this for fun every day.” The Gamer chuckled as he sucked in air. “I spend most of my time playing games on a computer, not running marathons. Especially not zombie-infested marathons. These stupid things aren’t even giving XP!”

The blonde knight looked behind them, gazing into the shadows. “They are going to catch up if we stop moving for too long.

“We can work on your cardio later,” she sang with a smile, turning back. “Take a second and drink some water. I am going to patch myself up. Then we keep moving.”

“Yeah… yeah.” John opened his inventory, drawing out two of the sports drinks he’d stashed away the previous evening.

He offered one to his companion before quickly gulping down half of his. Taking a step forward, he knelt so that he could knead his calves, hoping to alleviate his soreness.

Ela leaned back, closing her eyes and holding the cool bottle to the back of her neck. She stretched, puffing her chest out as she rolled her shoulders, working her muscles over as she flexed, then relaxed. She set her axe up against the wall, freeing her other hand to run over her ribs, a faint green glow over her palm.

The satisfied goan she let out sent a tingle down his spine and into his loins. “It is useful that your inventory keeps them cold.”

“Oh, uh, it’s definitely useful,” he stammered, pulling his eyes away from her to tend to himself. “There’s a lot of weird stuff I seem to be able to-”

He was cut off by the sound of shattering glass.

A bloody, ooze-stained fist punched through the window behind him, flailing as it grasped for anything it could get purchase on. Crumbling bits of glass rained all around him. John stumbled forward, away from the thing, as a second arm joined the first.

Brittle undead bones pried the glass apart, trying to heft their full, headless torso through. The Gamer turned, weapon at the ready, driving the sharp end of his staff into a forearm to little effect. He twirled his weapon around, considering using one of his remaining spell casts on the thing.

In his moment of hesitation, Ela stepped past him, her bone-bladed axe above her head. She dropped it like a guillotine, severing both the monster’s grasping limbs. Still, the stumps continued to writhe, stuck in the broken window, twisting to try and get through to them. A pained groan emanated from the ghoul’s chest cavity.

’These things are getting harder to put down for good… Its health bar won’t even go to zero,’ he thought, as they both backed up.

John turned to his companion. “L-let’s get going.”

She nodded and the two set off again, the howling of the undead on their heels.

---

The pair plodded along the shadowy tunnel, the strange growths on the wall barely providing any relief from the darkness. They’d reduced their speed now to try and conserve stamina. A comfortable silence had settled over the two as they continued onward. The blonde had estimated based on their maps that they were approaching the station they’d wanted to get to anyway, so the boss was probably close.

’I’m still not entirely sure how I’m going to use my spells when we’re actually fighting the thing,’ John thought, mind on the battle ahead. ’I’ve got no solid answer about whether friendly fire is on or not, but I’ve gotta do something.’

Slowly rounding another corner, the two geeky companions noted the tunnel shrinking around them. The beating of the walls grew uneven, murky colors bleeding together all around.

’My other skills have more precise targeters at least. Maybe it is time to try out [Ice Surge]. I’ve got a decent amount of mana back by now…’

John’s musings were interrupted by Ela stopping.

The Gamer turned to follow her gaze down the tracks, pulling up his weapon. In front of them, the tunnel had all but been cut in half by a mix of collapsed stone pillars and steel wreckage. Their destination sat in front of them - the downtown subway station. The head car of a second subway train had been turned on its side, now bisecting the route in front of them..

The Harvester was waiting for them.

The car that blocked their path had been rolled over and rammed diagonally into the walls, wedged in such a way that there was no passing it on either side. The roof, leaning towards them, was dented and torn with streaks of blood and ooze and color running down its face.

The boss sat atop it, chest-maw undulating, low rumbles coming from within. It stared at the pair, watching as they approached. The Harvester’s muscles throbbed as it locked its eyes on The Gamer again. He could have sworn its ribs contorted in a twisted mockery of a smile.

John raised an eyebrow as he realized that the squirming sinews that had made up the boss’ limbs had degraded somewhat since they’d seen it earlier. Its muscles were still pronounced, unnatural strength flowing through them, but it seemed somewhat visibly anemic now. The flames of his previous spell had burned out, leaving a nasty, charred scar across its shoulder.

The vibrance of the colors coming from the gigantic flesh tumor on its back had also faded somewhat, giving off only a cool blue glow now. John shot another [Observe] out and sent his brain to work, trying to understand what was going on with it.

The party paused, both squaring up against the Harvester. Ela shifted, hefting her axe in front of her with both hands, while John pointed his staff directly ahead, shining their beacon of light forward. His mind still rattled with thoughts about strategy and ability usage, but his body had frozen.

“Does it look different to you?” he inquired, keeping his voice low.

The Pole nodded, slightly. “Yes… what has changed?”

“It’s used up a ton of mana. Maybe that’s also connected to its physical ability?” he guessed. ’Maybe we could have let it burn out more if we’d actually tried to fight everything.’

A shrill groan came from distantly behind them, reminding the pair of the horde giving chase. The Gamer paused, trying to gauge how long they had until the rest of the monsters reached them. “They’re catching up.”

“Then we should finish this quickly. Come on!” Ela shouted, sprinting towards the train.

John whirled, turning to follow, pushing his body to keep up as best he could. The boss let out a fresh shriek, unlacing its ribs and revealing its dripping maw again. The blue hue of mana within was far more prevalent now, throbbing and beating. A ripple ran through the creature as it widened further, bones cracking and popping as it spread itself open. The tentacles within began to weave themselves together into some esoteric shape he couldn’t recognize, a harsh glow cascading from it.

“JOHN! WALL!” Ela screamed, an intense green flaring within her eyes.

The Gamer reacted as quickly as he could, spurred on by the urgency in his comrade’s voice. He flung a hand forward, reaching deep within for mana. A soothing cool sprang from his core, racing down his arm towards his palm. Brilliant, icy teal flashed in front of John, and he closed his fist with **** conviction, casting [Lesser Frost Wall].

The air around them dropped in temperature immediately. Frost crept forward on the ground ahead of them. All at once, the air in front of them grew dense and heavy with water. In a sudden burst, ice exploded from the ground, freezing upward. An imposing shield of crystal now separated them from the boss.

The Gamer took a good look at his finished product. The wall was somewhat jagged and uneven, with swathes of snow clinging to rough edges. Before he could finish evaluating its integrity, a muffled roar shook the tunnel. Ela dove into his side, knocking him over behind the thing, dragging him forward so they sat almost on top of eachother, huddled with their backs to his ice wall.

Planting its deformed limbs on the train car for support, the boss vomited a blast of vile, neon blue at them. Acidic liquid mana spewed from the Harvester, splattering all across John’s defensive barrier. A distinct hiss arose as the stream bore its way into the ice. Water ran down both sides as it melted.

John and Ela scrambled to pull their limbs in, withdrawing from the splatter around the wall, sizzling as it ate into the stone floor around them. She wrapped her arms around him, using her suit as protection for them both. They clung tightly to each other, sheltering from the barrage.

’This is really not how I hoped my first time being this close to her would go.’

He sighed, gasping for air, as he waited for the **** to end. A chunk of ice fell from above, thunking onto his side. The acid on it burned into the padded armor he’d been given for a second before he knocked it off into the dirt. Looking up, he realized that his wall was going to run out of health before the boss did mana.

Channeling his alchemical abilities again, he placed a hand on the cool frost before them, lining up a new targeter as closely on top of the previous as he could and recasting. A fresh wave of ice erupted from below, frost and snow alongside it, reinforcing his failing defense. Breathing shakily, he held his gloved palm on the wall, prepared to use a third [Lesser Frost Wall] if necessary.

“John,” Ela said, her face almost right next to his. “When this lets up, be ready to throw some spell at it, whatever you can use quickly.”

He turned down to meet the look of the woman with her arms wrapped around him. “You got a plan?”

“As soon as we can move, I will go left and rush it. I am going to try and stop it from casting again. You go right and hit it with something,” she spoke quickly. “It does not have to do damage, just buy me time.”

“OK.” The Gamer nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Acid continued to splash all around them as the two prepared their counterattack. John checked his mana, noting that a decent chunk of it had regenerated since his desperately low levels by the old wreck. He had a few spells’ worth, enough to bring the idea of [Ice Surge] back into his mind, though he remained focused on his given objective. A channeling spell wasn’t going to be worth anything as an immediate distraction.

Agonizing seconds continued to pass as the Harvester refused to relent. Liquid unending seemed to rain around them. Until it didn’t. The silence was deafening as the attack ended. Throaty wheezes came from beyond the ice, bouncing around the abandoned station. It took a second for John to catch up and process that it was time to move, but Ela hadn’t waited for him.

In the time it had taken John to snap to it, she’d scrambled to untangle their limbs, hurrying to her feet and beginning her own sprint forward. As fast as he could, The Gamer rolled out from behind the other side of the wall, bits of remaining acid sizzling against his equipment as he prepared to cast.

The Harvester looked awful now. Its glow was almost completely gone, chunks of its flesh sloughed off, sinews separating as it stepped backwards. Still, it planted its feet once more, fixated on the Bookworm Knight as she closed the distance between them. Its chest moved sluggishly, but with enough strength to threaten as its fleshy tentacles started to weave together again.

’Not this time!’ John thought, raising his staff again, awash with familiar amber light.

Swirls of verdant greens cut the darkness of the world around him. He poured his mana from deep within into the staff, gilded shades erupting from the lantern atop it. He loosed a [Lesser Air Burst] straight at the boss, crashing into its chest as it tried to attack his friend. It popped with the sickening sounds of burning meat.

Holy fire scattered all around, knocking the monster back, its concentration broken. The boss let out a warped, sickly cry as John’s spell seared into its softened inner flesh. Limping away, the Harvester jumped down the far side of the car, out of view.

Hurrying to his feet, The Gamer rushed to catch up to his companion as she approached the barricade their foe had stood atop. Ela jumped, pulling her weapon behind her and slamming it into the steel of the train’s roof. Her suit trembled with mana as she pulled herself up by her axe’s handle, swinging sideways to throw her leg over the lip.

With a foot overtop, she clambered up, scanning the area in front before turning back to John. “Here!”

She flipped her axe around, grasping it from just under the head and offering the hilt to The Gamer as he arrived below her. He grabbed the handle and, with great effort, she pulled him up enough that he could drag himself atop the fallen car. Together, they turned to follow the boss.

’What the hell…’ John thought, stomach churning as he saw what lay beyond the wall of steel.

The subway station was clogged and cluttered with growth; metal and rock had been rended apart and rebuilt into a kind of fortress. Large chunks of the concrete flooring had been dug out into pits of ooze and color and blood, from which strange growths emerged. The walls themselves seemed to squirm. Strange, undead flesh held together a mish mash of materials, lines of color pumping strength inward.

The Harvester had run towards the center of the blown out area, where a huge mass of flesh hung from the ceiling, suspended by webs of ooze and tendrils of meat. It throbbed with mana, radiating neon blues. With every pump, the room seemed to quiver, the vein-like streaks in the walls and floor all flowing towards a beating heart. All the energy began to gather, moving towards the point on the center closest to the Harvester.

Ela and John had both played enough games to know what to do.

“Don’t let him touch it!” they shouted together.

The blonde knight crouched, mana rippling down her suit into her thighs, and pounced off the car they stood on. Her mana dropped dramatically as she pushed herself. John heard her grunt in pain and watched her health tick down from the strain. She shot forward with great leaps and bounds, closing the distance as fast as she could.

’Outta range for the wall,’ The Gamer thought, processing all his options.

Adrenaline shot through his body again, his senses sharpening as he focused intently. Breathing in deeply the anxious nerd activated his [Unawakened Eye], hoping to finish the fight before its cost became detrimental. The world around him flashed in color and vibrance; he could see the raw mana as it flowed all around him to the nexus in the center of the station.

There were noises behind him. Once distant, now all but roaring. John turned, gazing into the darkness behind him at shrouded forms shambling in their direction. Splashing and squishing sounds of undead footsteps echoed forward and back. The faint glowing of their mana-infused bones created a mess of silhouettes as they approached.

He jumped from his perch, sprinting into the fray. ’No time to waste…’

Golden winds whipped around him as he poured mana into his staff again, **** to slow the boss’ advance. Familiar warmth erupted from his staff as he fired off a [Lesser Air Burst]. It sailed overtop of his companion, exploding over the monster’s back as it closed on the heart. The Harvester stumbled, but was undeterred, unfurling an unnaturally long arm towards its goal, squirming sinews undulating, restructuring its flesh to give it more reach.

’Dangit! I need more stopping power!’ he thought.

John looked up and watched in horror as mana began to float from the beating mass of meat, flowing outward to meet the Harvester’s grasp. His enhanced vision gave him a perfect view of raw mana being absorbed by the tendrils of the creature’s flesh. Their virulence returned quickly, strength returning even before it had fully made contact.

“Ela!” The Gamer yelled, beginning to panic. “It’s already-”

She was one step ahead of him. With a mighty battle cry, she drew her axe back over her head with both arms, mana shooting through them. Gasping in pain as her strength took a toll on her physically, she chucked her weapon at the boss with all her power. Her aim was true, and the blade sunk into the boss’ freakish arm just before it could touch, knocking the limb sideways.

In the seconds the boss recoiled, Ela closed the distance on it, leaning over to slam into it from the side. All her body weight went into tackling the boss sideways, away from the heart, robbing the boss of the restorative aura. The rib-teeth of the monster’s chest flexed as it let out a distinctly angered growl.

John screamed as bones sunk into the blonde’s flesh, tearing into her arm and shoulder where she’d rammed into it. Her health was more than cut in half, blood running down her suit and staining her armored plates. The two went sprawling on the far side of the room, Ela gasping and coughing as she pulled herself to her feet.

She grasped her arm, forcing her shoulder back into place. Her axe had been cast out of reach, so she knelt to pull a small knife from her armored boot. The boss turned to meet her, its own sinews reorganizing into a muscular form, the maw of its chest opening again, interior tentacles once more writhing with the drops of mana they’d been given.

John came to a stop a few feet away from Ela, placing himself between the boss and the throbbing heart it had tried to get to. The knight spun the knife in her hand downward, sluggishly entering another combat stance. Her left arm hung limply at her side.

“Ela…” The Gamer muttered, looking over at her bloodied arm.

“It is not as bad as it looks. My suit is healing me already,” she gasped through gritted teeth, trying to **** a smile. “Can your biggest spell kill it? I will be out of mana soon.”

The Gamer threw an [Observe] at the boss, hurrying through math in his head. ’Ninety-eight HP left on it… Just under eighty base on [Ice Surge]... I could use my talent point on it, plus the staff…’

“I’m not sure, but I think so,” John said, opening his inventory to start setting up. “It’ll be close. I need twenty seconds or so though.”

The Bookworm knight swallowed, rolling her shoulders over. She dropped her bag at her feet, the duffel landing among the ruined tracks with a hefty thump. Slowly, painfully, Ela raised her injured arm into a fighting stance and spoke with conviction, leaving no room for questions, “Do it.”

Her suit thrummed with the last of her mana, a faint green glow accompanying a return in strength. The blonde stepped to the side, placing herself just in front of John again. Resolve bolstered her fading strength.

Working his inventory as fast as he could, The Gamer ripped his aero alchemy gem from its socket in his staff, slapping in [Ice Surge] and selecting its damage upgrade from the skill tree menu. Slamming the bladed base of the Lantern Bearer’s Battle Staff into the ground, John poured in almost all of his remaining mana, praying to the almighty Lady he’d been told about that he’d have enough time to finish channeling.

The boss spread itself wide, massive arms looming over the two wayward mages that had ventured into the subway. It groaned one final time, half its ribs dripping with Polish blood. Slamming its huge fists onto the ground, it launched itself forward, barrelling towards its opposition.

Ela sprang forward to meet it, sliding under its first blow and sticking her dagger into the Harvester’s shoulder. As it twisted back, she abandoned her knife, focused on dodging. She slipped under another nearly fatal strike, swerving behind the boss and retrieving her blade with her other hand.

The temperature in the room began to drop noticeably. Frost crept from the lantern atop The Gamer’s staff, and from its blade on the floor. The wood was stiff, its once warm heart now given to winter’s grasp.

’Gotta finish channeling… Come on!’

The boss whirled to try and squish the knight again, but she was already moving, dancing around it with all the energy she had left, doing her best to keep it within John’s vision. As she hopped back to gain space, the creature reared up, the viscera in its chest-maw trying to make shapes again. Ela snapped to attention, spinning the knife around in her hand and throwing it into the boss’ right eye. Ooze and mana spurted from the wound as it retreated from the damage.

’Ten.’

A chorus of monster growls came from behind them as the horde began to pile over the train car. Bodies on top of bodies slammed into steel, **** to clamber over and defend their creator.

’Nine.’

Ela’s suit began to flicker as her mana ran dry. Willpower alone kept her power going. She ducked another meaty strike, sliding across the muck-slick floor and kicking upward with a flip back, ripping the knife from the monster’s eye socket and throwing it up into the air.

’Eight.’

The cold on John’s arms helped calm his nerves. Every exchange of blows in front of him made him want to puke. He wanted so desperately to run forward and help her, but he knew he’d make no difference.

’Seven.’

The knife fell from above into Ela’s waiting hand, just in time to carve into an oncoming fist. She juked backwards once more, as her strength enhancements failed. The weight of her armor began to slow her down as its magic faded to passive levels, all the vibrance leaving its fibers.

’Six.’

The Harvester’s swipes were close now, growing closer each time. The Bookworm Knight lamented that she had let herself get rusty in the time since she’d been a squire. There had been a time where she knew she’d have had enough stamina to deal with this creature alone.

’Five.’

The horde had finally begun to clear the train, bodies flopping over the edge into the station.

’Four.’

Crystals of ice had begun to grow along the edges of John’s staff, a holy amber glow deep within them.

’Three.’

Ela finally slipped, a glancing blow knocking her off her feet. Her knife went flying.

’Two.’

John’s heartbeat rang heavy in his ears as Ela narrowly rolled out from under a crushing stomp.

’One.’

The Gamer screamed, the weight of his staff all but immovable, stuck to the ground with ice, “ELA, GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

The blonde knight scrambled away from the boss one last time as John unleashed his [Ice Surge]. The Harvester turned, its one remaining eye seeming to widen as it saw him. With the last of its strength, it opened itself up to use its acid spit again, to no avail. Its time was over.

Wave after wave of ice erupted from John’s staff, deadly points of sharpened crystal sent forward to carry **** to his foe. Each shard of ice was of a brilliant, milky blue, yet within them was a core of brilliant holy glow, the power of the lighthouse’s beacon. Frost seemed to fall all around him, a small snowstorm accompanying his greatest spell.

**** was all the Harvester knew now - real ****, not the twisted facsimile it enjoyed before.

Ice tore it apart, shredding its unnatural sinews. Gore and ooze and blood went everywhere, running down and marring the beautiful ice John had produced. Its back tumor, once radiant and glowing with mana, popped, spraying the last of its liquid power in every direction. The surge ran all the way to the far end of the station, leaving bits and pieces of the boss behind as it went, until it slammed into the wall, impaling the monster’s chest-maw off the ground, motionless.

John’s strength returned, his health and mana pinging back to full as his experience bar raced across his vision.

Behind him, the horde collapsed one by one, their strength melting away into the goo at their feet.

LEVEL UP

He turned, ready to go heal Ela, only to find her standing, her whole body thrumming with energy. She raised her once-wounded arm to the sky, and found nothing wrong. Her eyes widened in disbelief. Her health and mana were full again. She flexed as her suit stitched itself back together until all evidence of her fight was gone.

“...You can level me up…”