The second explosion of the hour rushed over Cutlery as she dropped. A wave of wet shrapnel launched from every gap in the beast. The wet swishing of tentacles turned into one resounding slap everything was flung out. The remaining windows shattered from the blast.
Cutlery and Jake lay on the floor with their hands covering their heads. As the cacophony settled into quiet creaking they both jumped up and drew their weapons. No foe met them.
The coral beast had taken on the form of a thrown snowball. Slime and blood mixed into a slow-moving ooze. A few tentacles far from the bolts detonation writhed and flicked against the walls. They fell still after a few seconds.
"Well, that worked! If we can get more bolts, any others shouldn't be an issue!" Cutlery said. Jake looked upon their work.
"The bolts cost five thousand platinum and we have one more." He said calmly. The amount of money Jake had just mentioned was so high Cutlery didn't know it was an actual price something could have. Her mind was nearly burned out. She stopped thinking about it. Looking out the windows she saw the tentacles that had blown out the windows now lay in bumpy coils at the base of the building. The street she showed what she wanted to see.
The path was clear. The detonation had gotten the crowd's attention. Some of the first slivers charged. They were quickly followed. A funnel of people six bodies across lurched towards safety.
"That should do it. I bet they can all get out. Should make our path to the stage easier as well. Let's go get Haze." Jake said. He pointed to the crouched figure in the center of the float. A cube made of glowing white lines had formed around him. A few broken arrowheads lay on top of it. "He has some kind of shield. I bet we can break the platform below him to make things difficult. Even if he floats there, at least he will have to be to fly to get out easily" Jake said
Cutlery was awed at his quick planning. He had held his four slivers for nearly a year longer than her. Together they went back outside. As they exited the building, a few people looked at them in fear and joy.
"Thank you, heroes!" An older man hobbling on the edge of the funnel of bodies said. A cheer ran through the crowd. Cutlery looked down at herself. Slime and other viscera coated her body. The old man had been observant enough to guess they had killed the beast. Looking up she smiled. Now, this was how a quest should end. Cheers and applause from the people you saved.
-
Cutlery and Jake cut through the market stalls until the crowd was nearly past them. They ran around the remaining civilians until there was no one between them and the stage. They took in the battle.
Flashes of light, shockwaves, loud metal ringing, and screams rolled over them. The loyalists were losing in numbers. They had gathered on the upper center stage. The rebel upper slivers focused on shoving their enemies toward the edge of the platform. There the mid to low slivers would immediately bombard them with a half dozen attacks from the lower platform. Then Cutlery saw the two eight slivers battling.
They were high in the sky, both rode enchanted objects. Cutlery spotted the rebel by their flying rug. They had painted the tower with a red X over it onto the bottom of the carpet. The loyalist stood confidently on a huge cooking saucer. Glowing inscriptions coated it.
Their fight was fantastical in scale. They circled each other and spun in great arcs The loyalist would spit out spells while flicking a sem-transparent whip at the rebel. The rebel deftly avoided the cracking rope and directed oncoming spells away. A hail of arrows went for the loyalist from a bow nearly their own height. Each arrow sparked a different color or arced in a confusing path to the loyalist.
The result was a blitz that was nearly double the speed of anyone on the float below them. Cutlery dragged her sight back to the fight at hand. They had reached the float and Jake held out a hand to toss her up onto the lower platform. Landing on her feet with sword drawn Cutlery expected an attack. No loyalists were nearby. Cutlery noticed a single stubborn loyalist on the far side. They were the only one left on the lower platform.
Savannah was nearby. She saw Cutlery and jogged over. Her hair had been shorn short on one side, giving her a gangster punk look. If Cutlery was into one of the other feminine slivers, it would have to be her.
"You two made it! I thought for sure firing the ballista and blowing up the land squid would finally put a smile on your face Jakey!" Savannah jibed. Jake grunted and spoke as he lifted onto the float,
"We need to deal with Haze. Get anyone with an axe to crawl into the supports under the upper platform there and break it. Cutlery and I are going to see if we can get this thing moving." Savannah sighed and rolled her eyes at him then yelled to Tall. They went off together to gather some others and get to work. A huge detonation went off above them.
A smokey cloud had covered the eight's fight. The cloud faded and vanished with a sudden snap as the rebel eight plummeted from the sky, their carpet snapping in the air.
-
The enemy eighth was nowhere in sight. A flash of feathers came from the platform and the falling rebel slowed and gently landed. Several rebels fell upon them with healing. A streak of light pierced the dissipating smoke and fell toward the platform. It smashed into the rebel eight's chest. A rush of air rolled over the platform as a cloud of thick opaque gas exploded out from where the spell had landed
The black, almost liquid, vapor piled up like snow on the platform and expanded. Rebels dashed out of the black wall. Deep burns lined their skin. Screams echoed from inside the smoke as some failed to make it out. A wave of spells flew up into the sky smoke where the attack had come from.
The smoke cleared. The enemy was no longer there. The upper slivers barked orders and people began to move again. Several mages lined up below the platform and thrust their hand forward. As they breathed, a gust of wind rushed into the black smoke. It vibrated in response, clinging to itself and the wood.
Curses rang out as people yelled the names of those still inside the smoke. Cutlery saw a hand pierce the dark veil and they rolled out. Off the platform, they fell. Cutlery recognized Roddy. He had grown up slightly since she had seen him as a first Sliver. However, the details were faint amid the boiling skin and breaking muscles.
Cutlery glanced up in anxiety. Not only had that spell been powerful, but they had also waited until the healers were all grouped up on their eight.
"Rebels! The day is almost won! Surround Haze! prepare to execute the murderer!" A voice boomed from somewhere on the float. The upper platform groaned and fell as several axe-wielding figures dashed out from under it. The black ichor on it snapped off and stayed floating in the air. Several corpses fell out of the smoke as the platform collapsed.
Haze inside his floating square slowly descended as well. He held the other Gold, Cutlery now recognized Mlion. No time for pity. Mlion likely knew everything and he had done nothing. Two dozen low to mid-slivers surrounded Haze the black ichor smoke started to rain and then all at once it fell into a puddle on the platform that washed harmlessly over everyone's feet.
Haze looked up. His eyes had been burned red from the ballista's blast. Tears, or his blood, mixed in streams on his face. His mouth moved but no sound reached them. One mid-sliver, Cutlery didn't recognize, stepped forward.
"It's too late Haze! You can't take all of us! We can't even hear you! Drop this cowards prison now so we may fight!" The upper sliver said in a booming voice. Haze did seem to wait and read their lips. Slowly, he set down Mlions head and closed his eyes. As Haze stood, his head scraped the top of his cube's ceiling.
Then it began to fade. His voice slid through the first hole.
"I was not here to command or kill you! I was here to protect you from them." Haze said. He gagged after the last word. Falling to his knees he retched a splash of golden ichor onto the floor.
