Legacy of the Fallen (Ascend Online Book 2)
Page 71
“So, Lyrian,” Aldwin was the first to ask once we’d managed to form up into a tight circle, his voice barely above a whisper. “What exactly are our options?”
“A narrow cave or the wide-open area outside it,” I replied, seeing everyone lean in to listen. “It’s hard to make out from this far away, but I doubt we’d be able to get more than a dozen people in a line if we fought in the cave, less if the terrain inside doesn’t cooperate.”
“A dozen people would likely fold under The Beast’s attacks like paper,” a female Tul’Shar, whose name I didn’t know, stated. “We’d have no room to maneuver, or use our numbers.”
“I thought pretty much the same thing,” I agreed, nodding at the dark-furred woman. “Which is why I think it’d be best for us to draw The Beast out of the cave and fight it out here in the open. If we were fighting people, or even smaller creatures, fighting in the tunnel would be a better tactic. But in this case…we’d simply be feeding the front ranks into its mouth piecemeal.”
Everyone visibly grimaced at that mental thought but didn’t disagree with my assessment.
“I’m a fan of anything that doesn’t end up with me being dog food,” Lazarus announced with several of the more melee-oriented group leaders echoing in sympathy. “Fighting outside sounds like a safer bet.”
“Only if we can contain the creature,” Aldwin said, the experienced warrior having arrived at the same concern that I had earlier. “We can attempt to box the beast in using our numbers while fighting in the open. But our success will largely depend on everyone standing their ground when it turns its attention towards you. If a group breaks…”
“Then it can run circles around us,” Freya finished. “We—”
A shrill whistle suddenly interrupted Freya and caused all of us to flinch at the sound of the earsplitting shriek.
“What the hell is that?!” I exclaimed, feeling my heart begin racing in my chest at the unexpected noise. “Where is it coming from?!”
“I don’t know; I can’t tell!” Constantine replied as everyone in the circle glanced around in a panic trying to find the source of the sound, only to have a thunderclap of magic echo out from the direction of the raid.
Twisting at the newest noise, we all instinctively looked back towards the waiting raid of Adventurers, only to see several more flashes of magic erupt amid their ranks and for everyone to begin to scatter, confused voices and shouts filling the air.
“Shit!” Sierra demanded as we all watched the disaster unfold before us. “Are we under attack?”
“I have no idea!” Drace barked, taking a step towards the rapidly disintegrating raid with the majority of the group leaders moving to follow him. “But we need to get this under control now before it wakes the damn boss up!”
“All of you go sort out the raid!” I ordered while tearing my eyes off the Adventurers in the distance and glancing around us trying to find the source of the whistling sound that had preempted the chaos. “I’m going to find out what’s making that damn noise!”
Amaranth told me as the rest of the group rushed off towards the raid, prompting the both of us to turn around.
A flash of movement suddenly caught my eye, and I felt my heart lurch as I saw a figure jogging towards the cave, a figure that I couldn’t help but recognize.
“Ignis!” I spat the name like a curse as a wave of both anger and confusion shot through me. “What is he—”
Flinching from the sudden volume of my familiar’s warning, I reflexively twisted and fell into a fighting stance, managing to complete my turn just as a dagger sliced a line across my jaw, inches away from my throat.
“Shit!” I heard a voice curse as the now bloody dagger reversed itself and came in for another attack, forcing me to take a step backward to avoid it. “They weren’t kidding when they said that you were fast!”
“Ugh!” I grunted, my hand reaching up to clench my face as a wave of pain and shock shot through me, my brain caught completely off guard by the unexpected attack. Forcing myself past my surprise, I followed the hand holding the now bloody dagger until I found myself staring directly at Hido, his teeth bared angrily as he rapidly backed away from Amaranth who had placed himself before me.
“What the fuck, Hido?!” I shouted, recovering from my surprise as I reflexively reached down to draw Splinter from its sheath. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Hido replied with a laugh as he drew a shortsword from his waist, oblivious to the wound that Amaranth had just inflicted on his arm. “We’re trying to wipe the raid!”
“Why?” I demanded, seeing another flash of magic erupt from the now disorganized cluster of Adventurers in the distance.
“Because fuck you, that’s why!” he spat angrily before rushing forward with both of his weapons held high, uncaring of the fact that both Amaranth and I were ready to meet him.
“Damn it, tell me why!” I shouted as I stepped up beside my familiar, catching Hido’s slashing sword on Splinter and trapping it while Amaranth simply dodged under the elf’s dagger and sank his powerful jaws into the wrist holding it. “You have to know you can’t beat the two of us! You missed your chance with your cheap shot!”
“Oh, I’m aware!” Hido croaked through clenched teeth as my free hand then grabbed him by the throat and pulled him closer. “But this was never about beating you…that would have just been a bonus if I’d managed to do it myself. This was just about keeping you busy for as long as I could.”
“God damn it,” I hissed angrily, having momentarily forgotten about Ignis after Hido’s unexpected betrayal.
Glaring at the man’s unexpectedly hate-filled eyes, I realized that I wasn’t going to get anything more from him, and that every second I wasted here, was another second that I played into whatever plan that he and Ignis had concocted. Making a split-second decision, I released my hold on Hido and shoved him backward, watching him twist and fall awkwardly as my familiar stubbornly held onto his arm.
“Take care of him for me, Amaranth,” I said, feeling a cold wave come over me as I turned back towards the cave where I’d last seen Ignis, my feet already moving towards it. “And make it hurt.”
A vicious snarl, followed by a pained scream rang out behind me as I dug my heels in and began to sprint towards The Beast’s Lair. Triggering Blink Step as I ran, I used the spell to give myself a head start towards the cave, eventually spotting Ignis, who was now standing completely still, directly in front of the cave’s entrance.
They trained the camp yesterday on purpose! I thought to myself, the realization causing me to curse myself for my stupidity. None of us even paused to consider the fact that he and his friends would have tried to do it intentionally. Especially not after the majority of them had died. But why? Why would they want to do that? This doesn’t seem like simple griefing, and trying to screw us over for fun. Hido actually seemed angry about something…but what?
Continuing my mad dash towards Ignis, I was eventually forced to put my questions to the side as I finally reached the cave’s mouth, seeing him turn around to face me, still holding a whistle to his mouth. With a dying shriek, he pulled the object away from his face and broke into a smile as I approached.
“Lyrian! You made it!” He said with obvious joy. “I didn’t think for a second that Hido had a chance in taking you down, but he really wanted so badly to try. I just had to let him. Though it looks like a close shave was all that he could ma
nage.”
“What the hell, Ignis?” I barked at the half-elf, his calm and collected tone causing my anger to soar to new heights. “Why are you doing this?”
“Well, I said I’d try harder next time, didn’t I?” Ignis replied, his grin growing even wider. “You know, everything was going so well until I literally ran into you yesterday. Like what kind of fucking cosmic joke is that? Here I am trying to fuck everything up, and boom, there you were, just in time to save the day. God, I was so angry. Still am a little, to be honest.”
“Why the hell would you want to do that, Ignis?” I asked, trying to keep my anger from boiling over as I took a step closer to the man, only to see him take a step backward towards the cave in response. “This entire region is going to be destroyed if we don’t fix the Ley Line in time and get those spirits under control. I can’t see you gaining anything from any of this!”
“It was never about us gaining something from doing all of this,” Ignis replied with a shake of his head. “It was about sending a message. One that would be impossible to ignore.”
“A message to who, Ignis?” I demanded, getting tired of the roundabout conversation. “And for what?”
The smile on Ignis’s face grew wider at my question as if he’d been leading the conversation just to get to this point.
“Did you ever wonder how the Grey Devils kept finding all of the caravans that came out this way?” Ignis asked me, cocking his head to the side as he spoke to me.
“Huh?” I replied, confused by the unexpected shift in the conversation. “What does that have to do with this?”
“It has everything to do with this!” Ignis exclaimed, the smile on his face finally fading away and shifting into anger. “You and your damned guild ruined a good thing for us, Lyrian, and then when you had a chance to make amends…you spat in our faces and made life even more difficult for us.”
“You’re a damn spy for Carver,” I said as I finally began to piece together everything that Ignis had told me.
“Ah! I knew you’d figure it out eventually, Lyrian,” the half-elf replied, the half-smile on his face returning. “Which brings us back to where we are right now. Carver’s decided that an example is in order, and given that we have this convenient world event to work with, he decided that it would be in all of our best interest if things just went…ka-boom here. In fact, he and the others should be on their way to make sure that happens now.”
“Carver is coming here?” I couldn’t help but blurt out, feeling the bottom of my stomach fall out at the revelation.
“Actually,” Ignis said, mockingly looking at his wrist as if inspecting a watch. “He should be here already, and on his way to the Ley Line if the timing is right, not that I really expect you to be able to do anything about it.
“Because in the next few seconds,” the half-elf continued as heavy footsteps began to echo out from the cave behind him. “I think you’re going to have a hell of a lot more pressing things to worry about.”
No sooner did Ignis finish his sentence than a massive, familiar looking head emerge from the shadows of the cave, its bright yellow eyes glowing fiercely as it first gazed at me and then shifted over towards the half-elf standing closer to it. With a growl of agitation, I saw the pupils in the twin orbs narrow in anger, the noise coming from its throat increasing in volume as the rest of its body stepped out of the shadows, towering over both Ignis and me.
“Goodbye, Lyrian,” Ignis said in a steady voice while slowly spreading his arms open in acceptance for what was about to happen. “It’s a shame I won’t see how this works out…but then again I really don’t have any doubts what the final result will—”
Before the final word could leave Ignis’s mouth, a massive maw shot down from above and swallowed him whole, the sounds of ripping flesh and cracking bones filling the air as it began to chew through his body. Making short work of its impromptu meal, I then saw the yellow eyes shift towards me, the maw opening wide as it took another step out of its cave.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered to myself as I gazed up at the creature and took a step backward, everything in my mind going blank, save for a single thought repeating itself endlessly.
The Beast was awake.
Chapter 52
Time slowed as The Beast sailed through the air towards me, giving me a perfect view of my impending death.
I saw its long and wicked claws stretch out before its body, their razor-sharp tips angling themselves directly towards my chest. The creature’s maw was open, a distant howl managing to pierce through my stunned mind as rows of jagged teeth grew larger and larger with each passing instant. As it grew closer, I could even see the bloody spittle that sprayed out from the side of its jaws, along with the bits of flesh that once belonged to Ignis.
That bastard. I felt a wave of rage surge up inside of me at the thought of the man, the emotion piercing through the terror of The Beast’s presence and causing my mind to snap back into focus. He expects all of us just to lay down and die, to let Aldford die! I can’t let him get away with this! Not without trying!
Feeling the paralyzing fear release its hold on me, time resumed its normal speed as I looked up at The Beast, and saw that the distance between us had almost vanished. In an instant, I realized that unless I did something fast, I’d soon be sharing the same fate as Ignis, something that he no doubt had hoped for when he’d lured me so close to the cave.
Fortunately for me, however, fast, was only a matter of thought.
Triggering Blink Step, I watched The Beast’s open mouth blur away into a spray of dull colors as I teleported out of its path, reappearing at the very edge of my range just in time for it to complete its pounce, the impact causing the ground shake.
It must have some sort of fear aura, I thought as The Beast launched itself towards me, its thick and powerful muscles visibly rippling under what I now saw to be scales that covered its entire body. Gaining speed, the creature moved with a smooth serpentine grace despite its massive size, which with my newfound clarity, I was able to estimate was at least fifteen feet tall and nearly twice that in length. Catching sight of a reptilian tail whipping back and forth behind the creature as it moved, I felt an odd wave of familiarity come over me, feeling as if I almost recognized it from something I’d seen before.
It looks sort of like a wingless dragon, I said to myself, angling my sprint away from The Beast and back in the direction of the raid, hoping that Sierra and the others would be able to rally the raid before long and come to my rescue. But it doesn’t quite look like a dragon; it’s more lizard-like and without the long neck…wait! I know what it is! It’s a Land Drake!
Glancing over my shoulder as if to confirm my guess, I saw that The Beast was rapidly gaining on me and decided that I had several much more pressing matters to worry about, rather than trying to identify exactly what species it was.
Chief among those concerns being to somehow find a way to survive the next thirty seconds.
Thinking desperately, I briefly considered switching my sprint into a zigzag pattern, but then just as quickly dismissed it, realizing that
The Beast was likely better suited to twisting and turning than I was. The best chance for survival that I could think of would be for me to use my magic to confuse the creature and try to stay one step ahead of it for as long as possible.
Not waiting for a reply from my familiar, I slowed my sprint for as much as I dared, allowing The Beast to catch up with me ever so slightly, then a moment before a set of teeth snapped through the spot that I was standing in, I triggered Blink Step once again. Feeling my world shift, I reappeared at the edge of my range laterally and away from The Beast, turning my head just in time to see it rush past me, the momentum of its charge carrying it forward.
Immediately, I heard a frustrated howl fill the Grove as The Beast planted all four of its clawed feet into the ground, its head whipping around wildly in an attempt to find me. But before it could twist far enough to see me, an azure streak blurred past it on the opposite side that I’d found myself on, causing its attention to instantly shift in that direction.