Bryn motioned for Pax to move closer before turning back to Eldan. “I assume they’re all adults, right?”
“Two of them are young adults, and one is full grown.”
Bryn nodded. “Levels? Elements? Do they have any abilities? What about the ones Talpa spotted fighting against each other? How injured are they?”
Eldan gave her an approving nod and answered rapidly in her usual no-nonsense tone. “The shatter digger is level 5, a small adult with powerful legs and dangerous claws. It’s got a Tremble ability that can knock us off our feet or disrupt the ground, making it easier for it to dig. Works against walls pretty well, too.”
“The two fighting each other are smaller. One’s a level 4 air juvenile and the other a new level 5 flame adult. The air beast has a reasonably dangerous Storm that is disrupting the Flame breath from its opponent enough to put up a good fight. I’d say they’re about mid-fight, somewhat tired, but still strong enough to cause us trouble.”
Bryn nodded her understanding before looking at the rest of their crew. “Warriors, stick to blunt weapons as much as possible. We want to stun or disable the beasts. Blows to the head or joints are best. We’ll circle to the right and get behind the earth beast, doing whatever we can to attack from a distance or above to avoid its earth abilities. We’ll retreat in the opposite direction from the other two beasts to lure it further away and give us time to fight it alone. Mage Eldan? Would you be able to distract or lead away the other two?”
Eldan frowned. “Then I won’t be close enough to pull you out of danger if things go sideways.”
“I’ll keep an eye on the kids,” Sergeant Ironfist said with a curt nod.
“We’ll keep you updated.” Bryn tapped the Echo in her ear. “And we’ll call if there’s any trouble we can’t handle.”
Eldan nodded and without another word turned and ran off to their left.
“Thanks,” Bryn called after her before turning back to the others. “The rest of the battle is magic stuff, so that’s on Pax.” She motioned for him to take over.
Pax stepped up, ready with a plan he hoped would work well. He’d been leaning into his Strategist skill off and on since he’d proposed this trip to Merchant Nightblade. Bryn had given him a solid base to build on. He gave everyone a fast and succinct dump of instructions before turning back to Bryn.
“After you.”
She gave him a fierce grin, spun on her heels and led the way.
***
They stopped on a rocky outcropping on the other side of the shatter digger where they could only feel slight tremors through their feet. They all took a moment to examine the beast.
Thick, earthy scales glistening with mineral deposits covered its body, granting it an almost rocky appearance that blended into its surroundings. Of its six powerful limbs, it was the two front ones that looked the most dangerous. It was a bulky beast that had reached a young adult size, half again as tall as Pax was and maybe seven or eight feet long. That meant it was likely at the peak of its transition from juvenile to adult.
It swung its head in long sweeps while making frustrated stomps with its legs. One of them landed with a sudden boost of power, making the ground quake and debris shoot up in the air, adding more dust to the clouds already surrounding the beast.
As if the maneuver helped it sense their presence somehow, its head swung toward them, and an abrupt eagerness filled it.
“Go. Set up and then attack.” His crew was in motion before he finished speaking while Pax wished he could spare the mana for Overcharge. He might still use it, but with their plans for this beast and the other two nearby, he had to be careful with his mana.
Pushing aside thoughts of their next battles, Pax ran forward with his crew and focused on his part of the plan, a tricky pattern of Bulwarks.
“Here’s your Surge of Strength.” Dahni shot a hand toward Amil.
“Yes!” Amil aimed a grateful look at Dahni before he yelled, “Hammer time!” With a fierce grin, he and the four warriors bolted toward the beast, brandishing their blunt weapons. Their companions hung back with Pax and the other supporters.
Eris cried from above as Rin’s outline went blurry. She swung wide, glistening Mistblades in hand, on a mission to target non-critical areas to disable and weaken the beast. Her Levitate made her particularly suited to counter the beast’s ground-shaking abilities.
Dahni had a hand out, already raising a ramp ahead of those hanging back. Hopefully, he’d be able to keep stable against the beast’s abilities. Pax and the others raced up the ramp as soon as it appeared. Dahni finished his build by creating a protective ledge at the top.
He switched immediately to thrust both hands at an area just in front of the charging digger. Watching the beast’s limbs sink into the suddenly soft ground filled Pax with relief that something would slow the thing down. Then it stomped with both its back feet into the Quagmire-softened ground and somehow regained its traction.
But the split-second reprieve was enough for Pax to cast his Bulwarks. He tried to reassure himself that the digger being closer was a good thing. It made all his spells a little cheaper, so his mana would last longer. Even the sudden flush of faster mana recovery from Dahni’s and Neptid’s buffs didn’t mean he wouldn’t be hurting for mana today.
Pax shot his Bulwark out into a formation with enough parts to strain his mental control of the spell. Satisfaction filled him when an almost invisible staircase appeared in front of the charging warriors. He tagged them with his Ghostlight markings even though the swirling dust made seeing the steps easier for the warriors. He warned them anyway.
Five strides ahead of you, Amil. They’re marked.
Got it.
Without hesitation, Amil ran up the stairs at full speed with the warriors right behind him. Even Ironfist kept pace, despite her heavier armor, and brought up the rear.
To Pax’s delight, the digger slowed, its head swinging up toward the figures ascending into the sky above it.
In two, he warned Amil, glad to hear his friend’s distant voice warning the others who didn’t have Echoes.
When Amil leapt from the top step, hammer pulled back into a powerful swing, Pax stretched his abilities and slammed enough energy into Flashbang to make it tremble to be released.
Counting the last second down, Pax’s mind strained to keep the Bulwarks intact, not wanting to dump the warriors to the ground if he let the spell fail. The digger reared back, its powerful front legs coming up to swat Amil out of the sky.
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Bang!
The explosion of light and sound was so much stronger than Pax had managed in the past, making him glad it didn’t affect him. Thankfully, the digger wasn’t immune at all. It froze in shock, front limbs rising defensively and no longer trying to target the descending figures.
Amil’s hammer landed on his armored head, just behind its right eye. It let out a sharp cry of distress loud enough to make the air shake. The warriors behind Amil followed him over the last step in a rapid sequence. As Amil tumbled artfully to the ground, hammer still in hand, the other warriors followed his example.
“Horrid, you’re up.” Pax tapped her on the back.
She shifted to the top of the defensive wall and turned to aim her rear toward the fight. A gust of air pushed her odorless ability forward, tickling Pax with a sudden urge to be more reasonable. He pushed it away with practiced ease as he switched to his private communication with his companions.
Talpa, Whisk, your turn.
We are going. You can trust us. We will win. Whisk sounded ecstatic, making Pax smile.
As his two companions disappeared, Pax hoped Talpa could bring Whisk along with his Phasing Passage like they’d practiced. Whisk had plenty of experience conforming to Pax’s body and hiding under his armor. He’d applied that knowledge to wrapping closely around Talpa so he could travel with him underground.
Pax pushed aside his worry about his companions and checked on the warriors landing their blows as they leaped from his Bulwarks. Bryn hit a forward shoulder joint with her mace while Tasar matched her on the opposite side with an empowered staff strike. Finrick and Ironfist followed close behind with staff and hammer, slamming in the rear joints so hard that the beast’s back half slammed into the ground, legs splayed out and kicking up dust.
Amil had already scrambled across the heaving ground and made it back to Pax’s staircase of Bulwarks for a second round. The other warriors raced to follow his lead.
But their rapid movement triggered the beast’s instincts. It reared sideways and lashed out after them with one of its powerful front legs. Pax watched helplessly as it slammed a leg into Finrick from behind and sent him flying off to the side with a pained cry. Sergeant Ironfist immediately veered away from her path toward the staircase to follow him. Pax had to hope she’d be able to keep the young warrior alive.
Focusing back on his Bulwark staircase, Pax added a long strip out from the top step and highlighted it with Ghostlight. It gave his friends more flexibility, so they could jump from whichever spot looked the best to them.
The digger roared in pain again. Pax glimpsed a shimmer darting in and out near the front leg that had hit Finrick. Rin moved with impressive speed and agility, judicious uses of Levitate allowing her to avoid the bucking ground. She slammed her blades into the same spot on the leg over and over, attempting to penetrate the protective armor. Eris joined in, using her Ariel Rend to target the same areas Rin was.
It was obvious blunt force was a better way to hurt the beast, but if Rin could break through with her Mistblades and take out one of the front legs, it would be an enormous help to immobilize the beast.
It roared drunkenly and struggled to lash out at the almost invisible Rin. None of its six legs were working as well as they had at the start of the fight.
Amil launched himself from the top of the staircase with another roar, his hammer bright with his Blaze Infusion. He landed a staggering blow on the front shoulder opposite the one Rin was attacking. Bryn and Tasar were moments behind him, staggering the digger again. Pax considered another Flashbang or even a Hallucinate, but hesitated. He still had another battle as well as the Taming of this one ahead.
The new blows forced the full body of the digger to the ground, the strength of its legs no longer able to keep it up. It shook its head from side to side, sending more rocks flying as the warriors fought to get clear.
As soon as its vulnerable underbelly touched the earth, Pax sent the command. Now, Talpa and Whisk.
Pax’s tension shot through the roof, as he knew his two companions were in immediate danger. He really wanted to jump into Shared Senses to see exactly what was happening under the digger, but knew he couldn’t. Not only did he need to watch over the battle to adjust any strategies necessary, but there wouldn’t be much to see in the dark confines below the beast.
“Yes,” he whispered, when he saw the distinct glisten of Whisk’s body emerge from beneath the digger and climb up its neck.
Cage time. Everyone, go!
In a flash, everyone stopped what they were doing and raced to converge on the beast. Pax triggered his armor’s Wind Walker ability, hoping there’d be at least five minutes for the cooldown to lapse before they got into another fight. Regardless, running faster and jumping higher was a necessity when facing the earth beast with its ground shaking ability.
Pride filled him as he saw Whisk’s body bulge up and engulf the digger’s entire head before moving down to spread across its front, too. The rest of the crew raced in from every direction, some with weapons, and others with the nets and ropes Tyrodon had been working on since yesterday.
Whisk’s Corrosive Grasp sent the digger into violent convulsions, making it harder to throw the ropes and nets around it. But the beast wasn’t trying to attack them, which was a plus.
Amil had raced back up Pax’s staircase before casting a net over the top of the beast. He let out a frustrated yell when it didn’t open up and spread out like it was supposed to with the weighted edges.
Bryn was right behind him, her arm duplicating his motion, but this time her net worked the way Tyrodon designed it. It spun out like a large spider web to land over the front half of the digger. Tasar cast another one that tangled its rear legs. More nets fell until the warriors were out and ran back down the stairs.
With relief, Pax let the Bulwark lapse while the digger writhed, tangling itself further. They were so close to success.
Racing in, Pax and Tyrodon pulled the separate parts of the cage out of their inventories. The ground bucked beneath them, making it obvious their practice assembling the cage on a firm ground wasn’t adequate.
The metal base shook, and Pax smashed his fingers against the shaking bars as he struggled to slot them in correctly. He cast another few Bulwarks to give them a stable platform to work on.
“Save your mana. I got you,” Rin called out, appearing by their side. She used her Levitate and Agility to hold things steady enough that they could finish.
When the final sections clicked into place, Tyrodon raced around to the side facing the digger. He undid three latches, letting that side fall to the ground like a crude ramp. “Get it in!” he yelled and jumped away, running to get to a safe vantage point.
Dahni stepped up, both hands out, and raised an earthen wall under the far side of the beast, tipping it toward the cage. The warriors had latched onto the ropes from the nets and strained to pull the trussed-up beast into the cage.
The two stonepaws even joined in, running at and ramming the tied-up beast from behind with adorable roars of effort. With ponderous slowness, they finally pushed the thrashing beast into the cage.
The warriors grabbed the bars of the open side and together shoved it up and into place. Amil had the latches fastened a moment later with a victorious cry.
Everyone took a few quick steps back and, for a moment, just stared.
Whisk melted back off the beast’s head, oozing out between the bars of the cage. The digger slumped back in relief, completely spent and oozing blood from the wounds Rin had caused.
We did it, didn’t we, Pax? We’re the winners. Talpa and I are the best winners, aren’t we? And it’s ok for me to talk now, because the battle is over. Right? Good job, Talpa. We’re the best of the best. Pax is so lucky to have companions like us—
Pax laughed, a mix of relief and battle adrenaline making it come out a touch hysterical. “Yes, Whisk. You and Talpa are the best.” He turned. “All of you are the best.”
Smiles spread before someone cleared their throat.
Pax turned and saw Sergeant Ironfist giving them an approving nod as she led a shaking-looking Finrick back to them. “Excellent job, kids. Just make sure you don’t let your guard down. I’d hate to see you lose everything because you forgot you were in the Wilds and started celebrating too early.”
Bryn straightened with a nod. “Guard positions, everyone not involved in the Taming. I’ll check in with Eldan for the status of the other two.”
Despite the weariness of coming down from the battle, the others moved quickly into a guard formation with the cage in the center.
“Get this Taming done as quickly as possible,” Bryn said. “Eldan led the other ones away, but wants to bring them back so she can have one of them for herself. She doesn’t sound very patient.”
Pax shook his head in exasperation before turning to Finrick and Ironfist. “So, which of you would like to make this beast your new friend?”