Taboo Online

Eleven creatures pressed separate decisions against his senses. Some wanted to wound him, others wanted to distract him, and several were already searching for a path around his defense.

Pain flared behind Luke’s eyes as the pack attacked.

Gritting his teeth, Luke focused only on the nearest threat and lunged forward. Its real attack separated from the surrounding intentions a fraction of a second before it jumped, giving him enough time to step inside its reach and drive his spear through the front of its chest.

The creature twisted around the weapon and slashed at his face.

Luke ducked, tore the spear free, and activated Quickstep. The world lurched around him before he reappeared several yards beyond the first stalker.

The rest of the pack converged on the spot he had left. Three monsters collided in midair, while another slammed into the wounded creature and sent both of them tumbling through the mud.

A breathless laugh almost escaped Luke. Their speed had looked terrifying while they surrounded him, but now he could turn it against them.

"All you have is numbers."

The nearest stalker spun toward his voice, but he was already moving.

His spear punched into its shoulder without sinking deeply enough. Luke could not see the mana knot the way Lauren could, but the impact disturbed the creature’s energy. A brief ripple traveled through its body and gave him a rough sense of where the knot might be hidden.

The knot was lower.

Luke adjusted and attacked again. The second thrust struck something dense beneath the creature’s skin, causing dark energy to burst from its side before its body collapsed into black water.

Landing the first kill steadied him.

Two stalkers rushed from opposite directions while a third waited behind them, ready to dart toward the gate the moment Luke dodged. Instead of moving sideways, he stepped back and let the first two sets of claws pass inches from his chest.

The butt of his spear caught one creature beneath the jaw. Luke drove the blade into the other’s foreleg, twisted away from its teeth, and kicked it hard enough to create a little space.

When the third stalker sprang, he angled the spear shaft across its path. The monster struck the weapon, lost its balance, and crashed into its wounded packmate.

Luke drove the spear through both bodies before they could untangle themselves. Two pulses of disturbed mana traveled up the shaft, and he ripped the blade through both points of resistance.

The stalkers dissolved together.

Movement near the Root Gate caught his attention when another creature slipped around him.

Luke reacted too late to intercept it normally, so he used Quickstep for the second time and appeared beside the stalker. The spear shaft slammed across its front legs, sending it rolling through the mud until its body struck the tangled roots sealing the gate.

His excitement vanished.

"Don’t touch that."

Reinforce surged through his arms as he drove the spear through the stalker’s back. The first thrust disturbed the mana near its spine, and the second shattered the knot hidden beneath it.

The remaining monsters hesitated.

Luke turned toward them with mud covering his clothes and black water dripping from the spearhead. Before they could spread out again, he charged.

Truth Behind Motion still struggled with the pack’s overlapping intentions, so Luke stopped trying to read every creature at once. He focused on the nearest two, watched what they truly meant to do, and forced them to respond to him.

Mercer’s drills returned to him one movement at a time. Luke kept the point between himself and the nearest threat, moved his feet before his hands, and resisted the urge to chase the weapon after a failed strike.

Without Lauren exposing the mana knots, each kill took several attempts. He had to strike, feel how the creature’s mana reacted, and adjust before another attack reached him.

The process was slower without her, but he could still do it.

Once Luke stopped allowing the entire pack into his perception, the fight became manageable. He forced the stalkers to approach through one another, used the spear’s reach to interrupt their charges, and killed them whenever their unstable mana revealed where the next thrust should land.

A stalker leaped toward his back. Truth Behind Motion caught the murderous intent a moment before its claws reached him, and Luke turned, guided the creature past his shoulder, and thrust into the knot beneath its chest.

The creature burst into water around the blade, leaving only one stalker near the shelter’s entrance.

The final monster stared at him with empty black eyes before turning and running toward the rain.

Luke almost let it go, but Truth Behind Motion pressed another intention into his mind. The creature was not truly fleeing. It meant to disappear into the storm, circle the shelter, and approach the Root Gate from the other side while Luke believed the wave had ended.

"Nice try."

He ran instead of wasting mana on another Quickstep. The stalker vanished through the broken boundary, but Luke cut across the shelter and reached the opposite side as it emerged from the rain.

Surprise disrupted the creature’s movement for a fraction of a second, giving Luke all the time he needed.

His spear punched through its skull and struck the mana knot behind it. The stalker dissolved before it could retreat again.

[You have defeated the Black Rain Pack.]

Reinforce faded, and the sudden loss of strength reminded Luke how much mana he had already spent. He stood alone among the puddles, breathing hard, when a second message appeared.

[The Second Wave shall commence in five seconds.]

"Five?"

Luke glanced toward the Root Gate, which remained sealed and silent.

He wanted to kneel beside it and call Lauren’s name again, but the puddles began trembling before the countdown ended. Luke raised his spear and searched the shelter, yet nothing emerged from the black water.

The silence bothered him more than the growling pack had.

Something thin rose behind him.