Kallore
As he rushed for the entrance to the underground base his keen eyes pierced the darkness, searching for whatever enemy was at the gates. Another burst of gunfire was quickly silenced. He frowned, noting the lack of incoming fire.
Two more guards appeared from the entrance, looking alert. They leveled their weapons at him initially, but quickly realized he wasn’t the threat.
“Over there!” He pointed an arm in the direction their comrades had been.
The two soldiers dashed off into the night, intent on rescuing their friends and protecting the base. Kallore slowed to watch. He was at the main entrance now, and whoever was attacking them would have to go through him to get to Elin. The back doors were carefully hidden and never to be used except in an emergency. He felt confident enough to pause and gain additional information before he reached her side. They would need everything he got.
This action put him in perfect position to witness the horror that came next.
Both soldiers reached the closest shelter, a parked personnel carrier. They carefully eased their weapons over the hood and around the rear, looking into the darkness for their attacker. They should have been looking underneath instead. An insidious shadow of glossy black rippled out from under the vehicle.
“UNDER THE TRUCK!”
But his warning was too late. The Outsider simply reached up and ripped the lifeforce from their bodies. Two husks collapsed, and the stomach-churning figure burst its shell, growing ever bigger as new muscle strands arced out and back into its body in a nauseating display.
“By the gods,” he whispered, stunning by the casual arrogance with which it killed. This was no creature of his planet. It was some sort of demon from the beyond.
Behind him the door to the base ground open, emitting another four soldiers.
“Stay back,” he snapped, one hand outstretched behind him to ward them off. “It’s an Outsider.”
He could hear the men whispering amongst themselves, but he ignored what they were saying. The all-black creature had heard the door opening, and its faceless head seemed to be oriented in their direction now. It humped and rippled as it came forward, almost seeming more humanlike now that it had absorbed the essences of the soldiers. Kal feared what would happen if it got its hands on many more.
“Where did it come from? I thought we closed the portal.” The one soldier behind him spoke loud enough that even Kal couldn’t ignore it. The fear in the guard’s voice was evident, as was the calm acceptance of the fact that he was about to die.
“We thought we destroyed the first trio that came through,” he replied softly. “I think we’re seeing the first evidence that you were wrong. Very, very wrong.”
“But why is it here?” The voice sounded slightly stronger, infused by the hope that perhaps Kallore could make a difference.
If only the dragon had as much confidence in himself as the men did.
“It must have tracked me,” he answered. “My lifeforce is much stronger than yours. It probably acted like a beacon the moment you woke me up. It just took it this long to get here.”
There was a long silence as the Outsider grew closer, seemingly in no hurry to close the distance.
“Can you kill it?”
Kallore stuck out his right hand and called for his fire once more. “Let’s find out.”
He stepped forward and without warning the whip shot out, catching the Outsider around the shoulder. It left a red score along what he supposed was the chest of the oddly shaped being, but nothing more.
“Tough bastard,” he growled, stepping forward and snapping the whip again.
The long tether of fire curled out—and stopped short when the Outsider caught it in a fist.
“Uh—”
The glossy black arm-shape pivoted and pulled in one sharp motion. Kallore was jerked off his feet into the air, up and over the Outsider and then slammed into the ground.
“Oh,” he croaked as the dust settled.
The Outsider had recognized a threat now though, and it faced him. Kallore dismissed the whip before it could use it against him. Getting to his feet, he circled slowly around to his left, until the black being was no longer between him and the new guards. Then he stabbed a palm at it, and unleashed a blast of concentrated fire no larger around than his wrist.
A terrible wailing-trumpet sound assaulted his ears, nearly driving him to one knee. When he raised his head again he saw what had caused the noise. His blast of fire had burned a hole right through its midsection. The glossy black armor was already stitching itself closed, but Kallore grinned. He had seen the inside of the being. It was a dark purple in color, but his blast had proven something to him.
It could be harmed.
The Outsider suddenly flowed across the ground in a smooth run that was far quicker than he’d seen it move before. Kallore barely jumped to the side in time to avoid a thunderous blow to his chest. He twisted as he jumped, and gasped as the appendage attacking him lengthened just enough to graze his skin. Blue energy was sucked from his body.
Kallore didn’t have time to think about it further—he raised both palms and fired off two blasts. He cut them short, not wanting to risk missing and incinerating the soldiers as he spun. Having a better gauge of his opponent’s strength now, his firewhip shot out, wrapped around its chest, and pulled the creature off its feet toward him.
A mighty fist hit it square in the center mass, stopping the Outsider’s momentum and sending it tumbling back in the other direction.
“Ew.” He shook his hand, purple goop dripping from it. His fist had managed to crack the armor. “Not nearly as tough as I thought,” he snarled, advancing on the Outsider. “Can’t even kill me with one touch. Weakling.”
Whether the taunting had any real effect or not, it helped fire him up. Which was good, because as the black shape rose from the ground, a huge black sword erupted from the end of one of its arms.
“Oh now, that’s just not fair,” he complained as the blade whipped toward him.
Kallore threw one arm up to block the blade, calling forth his armor. Dragonbone pushed out from under his skin, a dark sandy-tan color. The blade hit it, driving him to the ground with a mighty CRACK!
The smile on his face was wiped clean as the agony from his arm drilled lances into his head, splitting his concentration. Twisting his arm in disbelief, he realized that the noise hadn’t been the sword shattering as he’d expected, but the blade cracking his armor.
Before he could do anything the Outsider leaned in and snatched some more of his lifeforce. Kallore’s punch sent it tumbling through the air before it could rip it from him, but he lay on the ground gasping for air as weakness filled his body.
Defeated.
It had beat him. It was too strong. There was nothing Kallore could do. The being was going to walk through the base and steal everyone’s life. Nothing he could do was slowing it down.
He raised his head, watching it go for the guards. They were dead. There was nothing he could do for them. All four raised their rifles and started slamming rounds home into the Outsider. It slowed its advance, and he could see parts of it flying off, its tough outer armor shedding most of the force but not all of it.
“It’s not enough!” one of them called as he stopped to reload, allowing the monstrosity to close just that much quicker.
“Give it everything! Reinforcements are on their way!” a new voice shouted, crackling with command as its owner put action to word, lifting her advanced rifle and stroking the trigger in short, accurate bursts.
Her rifle.
Her.
Elin. The voice belonged to Elin.
Kallore struggled to his feet, trying to come up with one last, desperate trick to stop the Outsider. There had to be something he hadn’t tried. Something that might work.
Then it came to him.
Oh yeah. That might work.