The Scrap Knight Ch.9

All things considered, Nic thought he carried himself rather well during the battle. Granted that was mostly on account of his primary task being to stay out of the way, but a good job was a good job.

The rats surged forth as one, the largest of them leading the charge with a vicious screech. A simple intimidation tactic that worked entirely as intended on Nic, sending the young techne diving for cover that didn’t exist. His thoughts rushed past in a blur, panic making it difficult to parse any of them.

Fortunately for him, the Knight was made of much sterner stuff. They held their ground, raising their shield to block the first rat as it fell upon them. The creature hissed in fury, only to be silenced by a swift stab of the Knight’s sword. A second rat rushed to take its place, but the Knight was faster. They hurled the limp corpse at it with their shield, tangling the new attacker in a mass of fur and confusion. It didn’t even have time to squirm free before it too was put to the sword.

More came, quick and ferocious, striking in pairs or trios, trying to overwhelm with sheer numbers. The Knight met them all in turn, moving faster than anything that size had a right to. A blurred maelstrom of whirling sword and immovable shield, always in the right place to fight off an attack or lash out with one of their own. Nic would have been in awe, had he not needed to focus on his job.

But for all its skill, the Knight was still only one against a swarm of dozens. The armored figure simply could not be everywhere at once, no matter how masterfully it tried, and inevitably one of the rats slipped through.

The first to manage it mostly got lucky, the creature leaping clean over the Knight as they blocked a different attack. The rat skittered to a halt on the uneven ground, looking about as if it were confused about where it had ended up. That didn’t last long as its beady eyes fixed themselves on where Nic stood nearby, a fresh hiss spilling from its jaws as it leapt to attack.

It could only have been a second at most but to Nic it felt like eons passed. He absorbed every detail of the creature as it flew, every glisten of saliva on its razor teeth and ripple of muscle beneath matted fur. Terror ran through him at the sight, threatening to seize him entirely, but fortunately his mind was still moving too fast to freeze.

Instead, his fingers flew to his tablet and the button to activate the magnet charm, Nic thanking whoever would listen that he’d forgotten to close the program. It whirred to life at his wrist, Nic casting just as his opponent coiled to pounce. A close race but Nic was faster, making a sharp upwards gesture in the rat’s general direction.

A cloud of loose metal shards on the ground sprang to life in reply, bursting up like a shotgun blast into the rat’s underbelly. It squealed in pain, staggered but not deterred, already preparing to resume its attack. Nic tried to scramble out of the way but only ended up tripping over his own feet and the rat taking the opening to strike.

Nic was just on the cusp of tumbling over when he felt something solid appear at his back, instantly arresting his fall. The Knight stepped forward into view, bringing their blade down to meet the rat as it leapt through the air. It didn’t even have time to cry out as the weapon clove through the shoulder and neatly sliced it in two.

There was no time to appreciate the victory. Out the corner of his eye, Nic caught sight of more rats swarming towards them. The Knight had given up sure footing to save him and their attackers were more than happy to take every advantage, the closest of them mere seconds away. With no time to call out a warning, Nic raised his hand and cast again, not at any loose scrap but instead at the Knight’s sword arm. His spell caught the limb in its invisible grip and pushed it back, straight into the face of the closest rat. The impact wasn’t much, the rat looking more stunned than hurt, but it stopped the onslaught just long enough for the Knight to catch up.

Pushing Nic forward onto his knees, the Knight swept their shield down and slammed it into the stunned rat with a sharp crack that left it crumpled on the floor. Two more came at the opening, stopped only by a smooth backswing that placed the shield in their path.

The Knight went to strike with their sword, but the rats were starting to get clever now. Rather than try to snap at the body, the two rats instead sunk their teeth into the shield itself, letting their weight pull it down towards the ground. Though they couldn’t wrench the shield from the Knight’s grasp, they were able to pin it in place.

More rats swarmed into the opening. The Knight lashed out, trying to hold them back but limited by the dead weight on their other arm. One got lucky, breaking past and sinking teeth into a shoulder. The Knight tried to shake it off but couldn’t get an angle, only managing to slice off a length of tail which the rat didn’t even seem to notice.

Nic’s mind raced all the faster, desperately trying to think what possible move he could make here. If he leapt into the fray himself, he’d be torn apart in seconds. A near dead tablet and no armor wasn’t going to do much in the face of what they were up against. He still had the magnet charm loaded up but that had barely worked against one target. Three at once was simply too much for such a tiny spell to handle. He needed something bigger, something that would get and hold attention long enough for the Knight to recover.

Burning precious time, Nic’s eyes swept across the chamber, looking for anything that could fit the bill. His gaze inevitably fell upon the mound, the many screens and wires still flickering away with their scrap code. The memory of what had started all this came back to him, that piercing digital roar when Nic had disturbed it.

Or perhaps scream was the better word, one that had brought the rats running to protect it. A coincidence? Maybe but Nic was out of both time and better ideas.

Throwing himself at the edge of the mound, Nic located the same rig he’d moved before. Grabbing it in both hands he pulled, putting all his strength into tearing it away. The scream sounded again, somehow louder than before, Nic having to fight the urge to cover his ears as he strained against wires that refused to break.

Undeterred, Nic clenched his hand and cast, unable to aim more specifically than the whole thing at once. It had an immediate effect, pieces flying everywhere as the rig disintegrated in his hands. The rest of the mound flared at the sudden change, small explosions popping off as circuits shorted out and exposed the warped guts within. Broken circuitry, frayed wires, and the corroded shells of barely functional power cells, all glowing white hot as they burned. Several screens blinked out, unable to handle the damage and soon after the entire mound fell silent, the unnatural light vanished in a blink.

The rats took instant notice. Pained squeals rang from all directions, as if each creature felt the destruction personally. Distress quickly turned to rage as dozens of beady eyes turned on Nic with murderous fury. He had without a doubt gotten their attention.

Why had he thought this was a good idea again?

For the umpteenth time that day, the Knight stepped in to save him. Distracted by Nic’s actions, it was simple for the armored warrior to shake off the rats pinning the sword and shield. Once freed, both were put to work, hacking into the oncoming swarm in a deadly dance of corpses and blood. Nic could only stand back, dodging those few that made it close as the Knight did their work.

And then, quite suddenly, it was over.

It took Nic a moment to realize that nothing had tried to kill him in the last several heartbeats. He looked around and saw it was because there was nothing left to try, every single rat in the chamber laying dead. The only thing left standing, besides himself, was the Knight. They stood tall over the carnage, armor flecked with blood, sword and shield held ready for any lingering threat.

“Is that all of them?” Nic asked, not knowing what else to say.

The Knight nodded, stabbing their sword into the ground before holding out a hand. Nic took it, allowing himself to be pulled back to his feet as exhaustion hit in a sudden wave. The adrenaline crashing from his system and leaving him wavering on his feet. The Knight placed a hand on his shoulder, reassuring and steadying all at once.

“I’m fine,” Nic breathed, leaning into the Knight’s support as he tried to gather his wits. “That was just, a lot.”

The Knight nodded, giving a noise that might have been a laugh before gesturing towards the remains of the mound.

“Right, right, let’s get this shut off before something else goes wrong.”

The words were barely out of Nic’s mouth before he noticed the Knight was looking at something behind him.

“What?”

The Knight said nothing, instead slowly reaching out to retrieve their sword. Not really wanting to, Nic turned to look for himself, hoping against hope the Knight was just being cautious.

At first glance, the scene appeared unchanged, bodies and pieces of bodies scattered haphazardly about the chamber. It took a moment for him to realize that those very same pieces were moving. Not the movement of muscle and bone but the drip of fluid running from furry remains in thick rivulets. Before his eyes Nic watched as the remains melted, liquefying into a strange reddish soup that looked like a cross between blood and molten steel.

The liquid began to flow across the ground, all of it drawing together into a pool at the base of the mound. As more and more joined together, a shape began to emerge from within the liquid, growing and morphing by the second. A huge, hulking thing that rapidly sprouted all manner of fur, claw, fang, and spine, all laid atop a grotesque amount of brute muscle. It rose tall within the chamber, growing faster than Nic’s exhausted mind could keep pace with.

Then came the eyes. Far too many eyes, sprouting from the head in uneven rows. They rolled back, then forth, then finally settled into place, each turning independently to fix a glare of pure venom upon the two interlopers to its home.

“Are you serious?” Nic asked no one.

The Beast answered with a roar.

*

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