Lloyd found himself ogling a ravishing river just beyond a few rows of trees. It had been a few days since Sylvia, in which they found themselves in a few Corrupted fights against razor-leaf throwing squirrels, more poisonous frogs, and a wind-manipulating hawk that would have been a ton of trouble if it wasn't for Cassius taking it out of the sky with a few lightning bolts. None of the fights were particularly challenging, but between the fights and the warmer climate, they began to accumulate quite the musk between the three of them. They all missed the hot spring and comfortable beds. They would have to settle for a quick dip in a likely cold river and the forest floor would be their bed for the night. As they walked towards the bubbling brook, Lloyd stepped over a few fallen trees and noticed that it looked to have been chewed, not cracked.

“Hey guys, I think…” Lloyd began to say before something shot out of the water. Seven beavers splashed onto the grass, their chunky bodies standing taller than Regal’s waist. Their red eyes focused on Lloyd’s group as their tails slapped the ground with a voluminous wet thud, leaving an imprint behind in the soil. They slowly advanced as their teeth began to rapidly chatter.

Lloyd flung off a haphazard arrow as Cassius erupted with his lightning. Lloyd’s target moved its head at the last minute, causing the arrow to implant into its bulky side. The beaver quickly readjusted and stared at Lloyd, seemingly not affected by the attack. The electricity from Cassius appeared to have a more significant effect, causing it to stop its chattering briefly. The men readied for another wave of attacks when, all at once, the beasts stopped their chattering and thrust their teeth into the ground. Earth and wood erupted from the grass, almost instantly creating six-foot-tall pillars in front of each beaver. The pillars were a few feet in diameter, which mostly covered the large bodies of the water rodents. Lloyd stepped to the side to get a better angle of attack. As he raised his bow, he saw the beavers turn around in unison, creating a thunderous crack as their tails slapped into the pillars.

Lloyd was forced to drop his bow as he dove to the side. Chunks of sharp rock and a thorough spray of dirt and mud hit him all at once. He briefly lost his breath as his ribs landed on one of the felled trees. Lloyd got to his feet, holding the ribs on his left side as he attempted to suck in air. A few quick, deep breaths later, he had his bow in his hands again. Regal was already swinging away at the four beavers attacking him. Lloyd was concerned that his brother had to fight so many of them, especially now that he saw him bleed, but he knew he had to focus on his own fight first. Cassius was shooting lightning behind him as he attempted to take cover behind a tree. Cassius’ left hand was completely mangled, and he was seemingly limping on both legs. Lloyd looked down and saw he had a few cuts but otherwise was fine. He realized that most of the attacks must have gone toward Cassius because he had already injured one of them.

More pillars were erected around the beavers as Lloyd shot another arrow toward his closest enemy. The beaver had eyes only for Cassius and didn’t see the projectile coming. The arrow pierced the eye of the animal, letting a loud shriek go before hitting the ground. Lloyd looked over to see Cassius chugging down a health potion as well as one of the new buff potions he got from Julie. Large chunks of rock and wood blasted Cassius’ cover, cracking the trunk of the tree. His timber shelter wouldn’t hold up long.

Lloyd nocked and loosed two more arrows at beavers that were descending on Cassius’ location. The arrows hit non-lethal areas of the animals but served their purpose of forcing them to focus on him. One beaver charged toward Lloyd while the other stayed back and began creating another pillar, this one taking longer to make. The Corrupted chomped forward, and Lloyd side-stepped while slashing both swords at its head. The blades carved a chunk out of the top of the beaver's mangy fur. The beast yelped before turning in place and thrusting its flat tail into Lloyd. He reacted at the last minute, thrusting his blades forward. The swords found their mark, digging deep into the creature’s side just in time for the tail to crash into Lloyd. The deafening slap of beaver tail on human skin disoriented him enough to not immediately feel the crack of his bones as he careened backward from the impact.

To Lloyd’s surprise, he hit the ground, rolled a few times, and hopped back up on his feet. He cradled his right side as he looked at the beaver, who was acting as a temporary sheath for his swords. The animal bounced around in pain as its tail slapped the group, creating indents each time it landed. The second beaver looked towards Lloyd as it constructed another pillar, this one taking a few seconds to form. Lloyd looked around for cover but saw nothing in his immediate area that he would be able to get to in time.

Cassius rushed out from behind his tree and unleashed another lightning attack. The area between the beaver and Cassius erupted with electricity. The air was filled with thick ropes of bright blue lightning. The size and color amplified beyond Cassius' regular attacks. Electricity shattered the half-erected pillar, pummeling the beaver with its own attack. Other arcs of lightning hit the animal square in its bulbous body, quickly ending its existence. Cassius shot another minor attack towards the beaver sheath that was still stomping around in pain. Lightning collected around the swords, using them yet again as lightning rods to electrocute from the inside.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Lloyd fumbled for his back, his right side completely broken and useless, while his left wasn’t in much better shape. He turned to the side and spit out the deep red blood that was pooling in his mouth. Well, that's not good.

Cassius joined the fight with Regal while Lloyd downed his healing potion. They weren’t that far into their journey, but they were rapidly burning through their supply of potions. As the skin regrew and his bones shifted back into place, Lloyd peaked back into his bag, wondering if he should use his own buff potion. He looked back at the fight in time to see a pillar of debris get chucked at Regal. Regal turned enough to catch the bulk of the attack on his side. It forced him to stumble but otherwise didn’t seem to do any damage. It would be nice to feel like that for once, Lloyd thought as he stared at the vial. Cassius shot lightning at one of the three remaining beavers, its color and form looking more normal. The animal cried out before Regal stabbed down and ended it. I'll have only one minute.

Lloyd uncorked the bottle and put it in his teeth as he tossed his pack on the ground. Keeping his head tilted down, he ran to retrieve his swords. Gripping the hilts that were apparently still warm from Cassius’ electricity passing through them, heat enveloped his hands, immediately welting them before his still-active health potion began to heal them. His arms and head shot back as his teeth clamped down on the vial, fortunately not shattering the glass from the pressure. He landed on his butt as the liquid from the vial spilled down his throat. Lloyd spit the glass out as he got back to his feet.

“Fuck,” Lloyd said aloud. The timer has started.

Lloyd rushed back over toward his swords, intent on pulling them from the corpse, no matter how hot they might be. As he went for his weapons, he felt himself speed up. He gripped the hilts, feeling the pain, but chose to ignore it. He rushed toward the fight and found each of his steps more precise than ever before. He saw his brother swinging his sword, and it looked like when they would practice at eighty percent. The lightning even seemed to travel more slowly as if the air was denser.

Only two beavers remained before Lloyd joined the fight. He recklessly swung at the Corrupted, aiming for weak spots and eyeballs. His attacks landed as intended, and the fight promptly ended. Lloyd tightened his grip around his swords as he looked at his surroundings. He dared another Corrupted to attack; he felt amazing. Unfortunately for Lloyd, no attack came, and he quickly felt the effects diminish and disappear. The world now moved at its normal speed. Lloyd slumped his shoulders as he sheathed his swords.

“Holy shit!” Cassius said as he thumbed at his missing calf. It had already started to regrow, but the remnants of the bite momentarily remained.

“Everything all good?” Regal asked.

It took a moment for Lloyd to realize that the question was directed toward him. He lifted his head and looked at his brother. “Um, yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Lloyd responded.

“Cause you look like someone just told you there would be no dessert after diner,” Regal said.

“What? I mean…Mom’s apple pie is pretty fantastic and all, but yea, no,” Lloyd said.

“Seriously, that was a great fight. What’s got you all bummed?” Cassius asked.

“I drank that potion. I felt for a moment what you guys feel like on a daily basis, and now it is gone,” Lloyd said.

“Oh,” Regal said with soft eyes.

“Holy shit, right?” Cassius said as he slapped Lloyd in the chest. Cassius began to jump around and pace between the beaver corpses. “I don’t know how it was for you, but that potion that Julie gave me was amazing. I normally can feel this charge in my body before I attack, but after drinking that, it felt like my entire body was electrified just standing there.” Cassius said as he looked down at his limbs, flexing and clenching his fists. “The power was insane, although I don’t think it lasted as long as she said it should have.”

“She also said you would feel like a normal Ascended, not an Omega. So, not quite like us,” Regal said with a smirk.

Lloyd attempted to kick his brother, but Regal was able to dodge in time.

“See, too slow,” Regal said.

“Okay, smartass, the potion has worn off already,” Lloyd said.

“I feel like we all have a few issues with these potions. We should all gather our stuff and head back to Sylvia to talk to Julie. We can file a formal complaint with her,” Cassius said with his hands planted on his hips, and a grin firmly planted on his face.

“I agree, good idea,” Lloyd said with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You…” Regal said as he pointed at Lloyd, “just want to hit up the hot spring and proper bed again. You…” Regal said as he pointed at Cassius, who was still standing in his goofy hands-on-the-hips stance, “just want to see Julie again.”

“She’s a damn smokeshow, can you blame me? ” Cassius asked.

“Nope,” Lloyd said. She was damn attractive.

“Fair points all around. But we are on a mission. Onwards to The Citadel!” Regal said as he walked toward the river to fill up his canteen.

“We could just leave him now and run back there,” Cassius whispered to Lloyd.

“I know I could outrun him, but you?” Lloyd said as he pointed to Cassius and motioned up and down with his hands.

“Oh, fuck off,” Cassius said as he playfully shoved Lloyd.

They gathered their drinks and headed off toward their next checkpoint.