The enraged brute chased after her, moving a lot faster than I would have given him credit for. Still, McKenna had no trouble out pacing him as she—and the cyber—headed straight for me.
Running for my bow, I lunged out of the way, rolled, and grasped the grip in one fluid movement. I nocked an arrow and pulled back on my bow the moment the brute ran straight into the cliff wall.
The force of the impact caused the whole gorge to shake, knocking me to the ground and causing me to loose my arrow off course.
Leon shrieked.
I turned my head to see my arrow impaled into the wall two inches to the right of his face.
“Sorry!” I shouted.
Claire had maneuvered herself behind the wraith while Bella activated her shield and took a flurry of blows from the speedy creature.
With the brute regaining its composure, I turned my attention back to my own fight.
I drew my bow and loosed a flurry of arrows. Almost all of them hit home, but the cyber didn’t seem to notice.
I gained all those levels, and just when I had thought I could finally take something, I come across an even harder challenge.
Typical.
Thankfully, its attention remained on McKenna as it took another swing.
“Don’t let it hit you, Char!” Trevon shouted. “One blow was enough to cave in Beto’s chest.”
“Easier said than—” McKenna dropped to the ground beneath the brute’s grasping hands, then rolled away. “—done,” she said as she jumped to her feet. “A little help would be appreciated.”
She didn’t need to say a name for me to know that barb was directed my way.
“Trying here!” I said as I tapped the magika stone on my bow, causing a bolt of electricity to appear and run up both arms of my weapon.
I pulled back on the string, aimed for the brute’s face, and let loose. The arrow sailed through the air, leaving a trail of light in its wake before slamming into the brute’s eye.
The blow caused the brute to falter and stumble backwards.
“Booya!” I shouted.
But before it fell, it steadied itself, reached up, and yanked the arrow free. Its eye fell away with it and flashed a bright white as it came loose.
“What the—”
Wires flailed and sparked where it had been.
“Is this whole thing mechanical?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Trevon called from across the battlefield. “Look, its chest is bleeding.”
Squinting through the night, I could barely make out the dark lines of red that ran down the front of its body.
This was useless. A fully organic creature or beast, whether it be level 64 or 104, would at least feel pain and suffer from attrition, but as the battle waged on, the brute neither slowed nor showed any signs of being affected by the wounds we were inflicting.
“How do we kill this thing?” I shouted to Claire.
“I’m kind of busy!” was all she bothered to yell back.
This wasn’t working. The wraith was too quick for Claire and Bella, and the brute was too strong for McKenna and me.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said to McKenna. “Can you keep the brute occupied and stay alive for a couple more minutes?”
“Not like I have much choice!” she shouted as she dodged another blow.
We’d never win if our attention stayed divided. We needed to gang up on the smaller creature first, then direct all firepower on the brute. It was the only thing that made logical sense to me.
Turning toward the wraith, I tapped the Enrage stone and decided to fight speed with even faster speed.
I took a step forward, and the world around me started to blur. The shock of it caused me to freeze up and fall face first into the ground. I felt the bones in my nose break as I collided with the hard surface.
I flinched and braced for the pain, but none came. The Enrage spell must have been pumping my blood full of adrenaline.
Awesome.
Less than a heartbeat later, I was on my feet and plowing toward the wraith.
It never saw me coming.
I activated my shield and smashed into its body like I’d seen Izaiah do, sending the wraith soaring through the air to crash into the ground.
Thinking it was toast, I let my guard down.
Big mistake.
Quicker than my senses could register, it was on its feet barreling toward me. Its fist slammed into my chest, destroying the barrier and cracking one of my ribs in the process.
Again, I flinched, waiting for the pain.
When none came, I unleashed the hardest punch I could muster and with the help of the Enrage spell, sent the wraith tumbling along the ground to where Leon stood.
Leon yelped, tossed a fireball at it, and scurried away as quickly as he could.
As the wraith climbed to its feet, I could sense it was moving just a little bit slower. Whether it was from growing weary or because it was thinking, analyzing, and determining its next move, I didn’t know nor did I care.
Quicker than quick, its arm shout out and grabbed my arrow that was in the wall, yanked it loose, and flung it through the air, end over end.
I dropped to the ground, avoiding its path.
Somewhere behind me, Trevon yelled out in pain, and McKenna shouted in alarm. I couldn’t focus on their troubles right now, though. We needed to kill the wraith, or the whole battle was lost.
While I was dancing with the cyber, Claire and Bella had not been idle.
A short distance away, the pair stood with their hands clasped together as a small ball of blue light formed between their palms. All at once, it lanced out in a solid beam and punched straight through the wraith’s heart.
When the attack had dissipated, a smoking six-inch hole was missing from the wraith’s chest, and a large crater had formed in the wall behind it.
The light faded from the cyber wraith’s eyes, and it crumpled into a heap.
Thirty-Six
A wave of agony and exhaustion washed over me, taking me to my knees.
“By the gods!” I groaned through clenched teeth.
My nose was on fire, and my chest was in excruciating torment. I immediately called out for my Healing spell, and relief filled my body. Even though the pain was gone, the exhaustion remained.
Chet. That thing drained my strength.
I didn’t have much choice if I wanted to stay in this fight, so I tapped the Enrage stone again. A surge of adrenaline filled me once more.
Standing, I surveyed the scene. There was no time to relish in our minor victory over the wraith considering that the brute still stood. With the wraith out of the way, though, I turned my attention back to McKenna.
She was still holding her own, inciting the brute and then running away as it barreled after her.
“How’s it going?” I shouted.
“I’m fine, but Trevon’s been hit,” she called back.
“By the brute?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t know,” she said.
Claire and Bella raced forward to assist McKenna while I ran over to where Trevon lay propped against the wall. His head hung low, and something protruded from his chest. As I drew closer, I noticed his shirt was soaked with blood and an arrow—my arrow—protruded from his chest.
Did I do this?
I replayed the battle in my mind as quickly as I could, but I didn’t recall a single time where I loosed an arrow in the direction of people.
Wait. That wasn’t entirely true. I had shot near Leon, but that arrow embedded in the wall and—and the wraith threw it at me.
When I ducked, it must have hit Trevon instead.
No, no, no.
I dropped down on my knees beside him, painfully aware that we weren’t safe yet as the brute slammed his fist into the cliff face a couple of yards away.
Without another moment’s hesitation, I placed one hand on his chest and yanked the arrow free, then willed my Healing magic forth. A soft blue light
washed over him, but he didn’t stir.
He was probably unconscious.
“Is he okay?” McKenna said as she rushed over.
I glanced up at her and saw Claire and Bella fully engaged with the brute in the background, then turned my attention back to Trevon. I used Heal one more time for McKenna’s benefit, and once again, the blue light washed over him.
Still, he didn’t move.
“He’s hurt, but we can’t give him the proper care he needs out here. Help me get him away from the battle,” I said as hopped to my feet.
McKenna knelt and crouched down on the other side of Trevon, helping me to lift him.
“Over there,” I said, nodding toward the cave.
“What if there’s more of them in there?” McKenna asked.
“I'd think they’d have all come out to play by now," I said, humorlessly.
McKenna looked at me, then at Trevon and around the gorge, but nowhere else offered sufficient cover. She nodded, and we began to carry him out of the way.
“Don’t you die on me,” McKenna muttered as we closed the distance.
The brute roared, and Bella yelled, “Watch out!”
I turned just in time to see an earthen projectile as it left the brute’s hands and headed straight for us.
There was no time to think. I let go of Trevon and placed myself between him and the boulder.
This better work.
I thumbed the Impervious Ring and willed it to activate. A purple glow covered my vision a half-second before the giant stone slammed into me. Bracing myself, I expected to be thrown into the air or at the very least, pushed backward. Contrarily, the boulder shattered, and a thousand fist-sized clods of dirt rained down around us.
As quickly as it came, the purple glow faded from my eyes.
“Holy monkey balls,” McKenna exclaimed.
“You’re telling me,” I said as I turned and helped her hoist Trevon back up.
Our narrow escape was only a minor relief. With the brute’s attention on us, I wasn’t sure if we could find a safe place to tend to Trevon, but we had to try.
“Faster!” I shouted.
McKenna needed no prodding where Trevon’s life was concerned.
Just before we reached the mouth of the cave, the brute closed in, threatening to cut us off. Thankfully, Bella and Claire intercepted it while Leon came alongside to assist us.
All three of us quickly moved Trevon into the cave.
The brute bellowed, and I glanced back just as Claire activated her shield. The brute’s giant hand crashed into her as it thundered forward straight toward us.
Bella managed to slip in front of it just before it reached the cave opening.
The brute halted its approach and took a powerful swing at her.
She dodged, but its great metal fists slammed into the lip of the cave, causing half of it to collapse.
The ground above us quaked and sounded as if the whole cave itself would fall in. With the brute standing in the entrance, though, we had no choice but to take Trevon deeper into the darkness.
Dirt rained down around the brute, and it looked up in confusion.
“Bella! Claire!” I shouted as the rumbling grew louder.
Bella was closer and slipped inside, but Claire was still out of sight. As the brute refocused its attention on us, it took a step forward and then stopped, swatting over its shoulder at something.
It turned, and I saw Claire hanging there from her sword that was now firmly embedded in the cyber’s back.
At that moment, the rest of the ground above it gave way and buried them both.
I jumped onto Trevon and shielded him from the falling debris.
When the dust settled, I spun and ran for the cave entrance. “Claire!”
It was so dark, I couldn’t even make out my hand in front of my face. The collapse must have completely blocked the opening—not that it was much lighter on the other side.
There was no way I would be able to find Claire without a light.
That’s when I remembered one of the magika stones Alton had given me that I’d not yet had a use for.
Luckily, with my ability to use the magika from the stones in my arm on command, I automatically called forth the Light spell, and the stone reacted immediately.
Energy pooled in my chest, ran down my arm, and a white ball of light gathered in my palm then steadily rose into the air until it came to rest a few inches below the cave’s ceiling.
Every rock, stone, and crevice in view of the ball was displayed in all the brilliance of the sun without any heat.
“Claire?” I asked hesitantly as I stood before the great pile of rubble.
A muffled groan elicited forth from it.
“Claire!” I shouted and threw myself at the mound, tearing rocks from it with abandon.
That’s when my Enrage ran out, and I collapsed from the greatest measure of debilitating exhaustion I’d ever experienced.
I opened my eyes, and only darkness greeted me. My head pounded with a migraine that intensified every so often with a deep thump. I let out a soft moan, my entire body aching.
Hands gripped my shoulder, and I could hear muffled voices.
As the seconds passed, the voice grew clearer. “Aren, are you okay?”
A blue light washed over me, and the headache subsided, but the thumping continued at a steady pace, though now it sounded more like the clacking of stone on stone.
Despite the return of my hearing, the darkness remained.
“Claire?”
“No, it’s Bella, how are you feeling?”
I tried to sit up, but Bella’s hands forced me to stay lying down.
“Where is—” I coughed, then winced as pain shot through my chest. “Heal,” I managed with a groan.
The soothing blue light appeared once more, and nearly all of my aches disappeared. I tried to sit up again, but Bella resisted.
“I’m fine,” I said, pushing her away. “Where’s Claire?”
“Still buried,” Bella answered. “She’s alive but pretty hurt. She managed to engage her shield just before the cave collapsed, but the force was too great. It saved her life to be sure, but it wasn’t enough.”
“Light,” I said, commanding the magika stone once more.
Another soft white ball of light rose to the ceiling.
“Fascinating,” Bella said in awe.
“What?”
“You don’t even have to touch the stone?” she asked.
I pointed to the neural link.
“I’ve got to get me one of those,” she muttered.
“Just don’t get it from Alton. She might install a control override or cut off your arms and replace them with metal ones,” I said, chuckling.
Bella snorted, but her face remained stoic.
“Help me up, will you?” I asked, extending my arm.
Bella reluctantly grabbed hold of my arm and hoisted me to my feet.
Leon was standing in front of the rubble pile, steadily removing one rock at a time and tossing them aside, causing the clacking sound I’d been hearing.
“Where’s McKenna and Trevon?” I asked as I looked around and noted their absence.
“I don’t know,” Bella said, her gaze falling to her feet. “Shortly after you lost consciousness, we discovered that Trevon hadn’t survived the battle. He’d lost too much blood, and his earlier ordeal had already made him weak. She was distraught and took off deeper into the cave. We figured she wanted to be left alone, so we kept our attention on you and Claire and let her be.”
I felt as if the wind had been snatched from my lungs, and I had to take a moment before I let out a heavy sigh. This wasn't the news I had hoped to hear. McKenna, I am so sorry.
I cleared my throat and turned back to Bella. "How long was I out?'
“About an hour,” Leon called through clenched teeth as he grunted and attempted to heft a huge stone from his perch on the pile of rocks.
I hurried over to him
as fast as I could and helped to toss it to the side. Leon panted and struggled to breath.
“Go,” I said, motioning to the side with my head. “I got this. Take a break.”
He nodded, walked over to one of the larger stones, and sat down.
“Claire, can you hear me?” I called out.
“Aren, is that you?” came her muffled response.
“It’s me, we’re going to get you out of there, okay?”
“Hurry, Aren, I—I can feel the stones shifting.”
I immediately reached out and grabbed the largest, most manageable rock I could find and began to lift it. Pain shot up my back, and the air caught in my lungs as I wheezed out a raspy breath.
“Are you all right?” Bella asked as she stepped toward me.
I released the stone and held up one hand, halting her. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly.
“Why don’t you try not to overdo it and stick with the smaller ones?” Bella said.
I held back a biting remark and swallowed my wounded pride. “But Claire—”
“It’s all right, I’ll help,” she said, placing a hand on my arm.
Together, we steadily began unburying Claire.
At last her right arm became visible, and a hole opened up, allowing the light to shine down on her face. It was covered in dirt and caked in dried blood.
“Where’s the cyber?” I asked.
“It’s beneath me dead, I think. At least, I’m pretty sure it is. It hasn’t moved at all this whole time,” she replied.
“All right, hang tight, we’re almost there,” I said, forcing a smile.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she quipped back.
That was a good sign. Humor was always a good thing.
I removed another rock, and the whole mound quaked.
“Aren!” Claire cried out as the stones shifted. She screamed in pain, and then her voice was muffled once more as the hole filled in.
“Claire!” I shouted.
“Screw this,” Bella said. She tapped a blue stone then reached down and with one hand, tossed aside stones twice the size of the one that nearly killed my back. With her other arm, she braced the rocks above Claire, preventing them from falling down.
Confused at first, I realized she was using the Golem stone. She had said it would triple her strength. Apparently, that didn’t just apply to battle damage, but also had a variety of other uses.
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) Page 27
