The Shadow of the Peak

John listened as he scanned the surroundings, now that he had the luxury, and could not help but be impressed. The hollow in the fortress’ base was round and covered in rune-inscribed reliefs that almost approached an art deco appeal in its love for straight lines and sunbursts. Ruining that aesthetic were the various depictions of human faces, robed and serene, that were copied in towering visages some dozens of times in all directions: the three Humans of legend whose names John had already forgotten, save the one whose name the current Peak took. But more than the esoteric architecture, more than the golden pelos set to glitter by the lanterns both above and below, and even more than the absence of guards, John was struck by the size of their enemy’s home. The walls of this hollowed-out bottom almost seemed a quarter-mile away from where they stood, and the stairs going up looked to be at least six stories tall before finally reaching the highest platform. Waiting just up those steps, behind those final doors described by the Bitter Nines…

Bianca. The Peak. An enemy unknown in a fortress unmapped. John went to open a portal big enough to fit everyone through and onto the highest platform-

SOVEREIGNTY: Tunnel failed. The Dignity of a Throne claimed by another cannot be violated.

The Gamer was almost more surprised by not seeing space rip open before him. He muttered as he contemplated the pop-up, “So the Throne is really close to the bottom… or else, the area covered by its ‘Dignity’ is…” Colossal, based on the massive structure all around them. Was most of the fortress a “no-fly” zone for John, then? He’d rely on his minions even more than he had hoped. He looked back to what ran through the center of the platform, squeezed between Travolta and Alysha before they began to spread back out: the glowing leyline, reaching up towards the middle of the fortress… and suddenly ending there, just twenty feet above their heads. At its end point he could see the faintest hints of the light exploding outward as if the leyline were a beam of energy splashing against an invisible forcefield. John tested his suspicion as to its meaning.

SOVEREIGNTY: Tunnel failed. The Dignity of a Throne claimed by another cannot be violated.

He couldn’t open a portal past where the leyline suddenly terminated. He tried again, this time just before it ended… and the small portal opened just before his face. Then that’s it: the leyline leads to the Throne… or rather, the Throne’s “Dignity.” It ends where the Dignity begins… or maybe it starts there. His eyes tried to peer where the leyline must have pointed, to where the Throne must sit in waiting. So everything above that point, and some ways around is all off-limits… for now.

“This is… strange.”

John closed his test portal before glancing at Tricia as she read the projection from her wrist. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, we have more important… but it’s just… this structure, its scale, and even the patterns… perhaps only differentiated by the disuse, but they’re the first objects similar to the derelict ‘immovables’ on the Plate, in particular to that room where-” Her eyes went wide as a red light appeared on the corner of her datastream. “N-Nevermind, we have hostiles incoming!”

John’s minions rose into alert poses, putting the Bitter Nines on notice. Sure enough, a wave of Lawmen followed close behind Tricia’s flying drones that sailed back towards their owner. Their silver armor and halberds marked them one and all as Shapers; a full forty now began to collapse on the platform in a semi-circle rising up from the bridge’s exits, and a few stray Braves could be seen trailing behind them.

If we get bogged down here, and they keep coming-

[MM= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Al_zBHlxq0]

The others, however, knew only that their destination awaited... and none proved as eager as Miles the Human. John followed her rainbow of hair as she took a leap onto the first two steps of the only path forward before motioning to the rest of them. "Fight and move! We can’t stop here!" The air and surrounding life took on an electricity that only John felt as Miles’ battle spirit raged; if it moved the others, then it was proven by the sudden ferocity with which everyone moved in tandem towards Miles. John blinked up just a few more steps before beginning his march upwards, and all fell in behind him and Miles as they charged upwards.

C’mon, assholes, take the bait…!

Fifteen feet above ground, John would soon hit the point of no return… but the Shapers didn’t seem to know or care about that distinction. What they knew was that this new, terrible threat was nearest to their master and had to be stopped.

The Shapers, barely trained and recently promoted, were the hasty replacements for the unit John had already laid low… and they fared no better this time as John’s lunges felled four of them before they reached his body. The support fire from his minions slew another twelve before then, and Rave, Tricia, Travolta, and Fairy were already upon John to take the wave on. A blinding, directional flash of light disoriented the poor bastards to the west while Fairy’s mid-air intercept and cleaving axe met them on the right. Another twin-burst of flames from Golgon and Cidi caught more on their flank while the survivors were met with the monstrous reaches of Hurk and Durr.

The rest had little to do but push everyone onward: Galley quickly joined the humans up front, Tricia in the center and ready to cast heals, and all the rest doing their best to stay on the path. One of the Shapers broke off from charging into where her brethren died and instead raised her halberd to bring it down on Yui, seemingly the most **** in the knot… only to be bound by Zalla as she cast a rune from her armor.

Zalla locked eyes with the enemy through a cracked visor… and the withering accusation of betrayal was too quickly sent. A bash of a white tentacle to the helm snapped the neck below it, sending the corpse slowly hovering downward.

“No time for sentimentalities, peon,” Tita chastised before sending necrotic energy into the first wave of Braves finally joining the battle.

The vanguard slain and his allies quickly catching up, John was left with **** but to finally cross the threshold… and did so with a few short steps.

There was no message… no pop-up… nothing. But John knew he was now within the Dignity, and so now would have to guess at when he would actually be outside of its range from here on out. Without another thought to it, he began sprinting up the stairs, followed soon by Miles as she finished her last Shaper with an elbow to the cranium. She was soon caught up to him, and the two were now sprinting up the steps in a faux race, tempting the Braves away from the knot of **** behind them and towards those closest to offending their supreme leader.

Miles’ grin was nearly worn ear-to-ear as she dashed alongside John. “You’re really going to do it?”

To John’s surprise, the sprint up the massive staircase didn’t prevent him from calmly shooting back, “If I don’t, people relying on me are going to suffer or die! What else do I really need-?”

John stopped his sprint only to catch the two Braves that had managed to hit him and his partner on an intercept course; both stopped on the steps to address their respective attackers, Miles with a parry and grab and John with a flurry of serpent’s bites once the Brave got close enough.

Only after felling the young warrior did John realize how far they had come… and how far behind the rest had ended up. While Miles and the Gamer were now just twenty feet from the final platform, the nearest of their allies remained five times as far. They were safe enough with their own strength, but John still remained still to let them catch up.

Miles gave a quick exhale as she looked down at the same. “I know what you mean.”

John raised an eyebrow at that. “Do you?”

“You kidding?” She beamed a toothy grin as she laughed, “Who knows where I’d be without them...”

Her trailing laugh was marked with the smell of charred bodies and melted, cheap metals, but it struck John as oddly sentimental. Miles had not yet opened up to him about her condition, much less shared any vulnerability it left in her. Her smug, horny persona had slipped... just for a moment…