Sola
Sola entered right behind the adventurers and knights leading the charge. She was awestruck for a moment seeing the alien landscape, red big-leafed trees, and small orange shrubs.
Her attention was quickly diverted to a particular tree standing closer to the tunnel and currently swiping at the adventurers that jumped around it.
A torrent of water rose from the water barrels that the augmenters had carried in here and shot at the burning tree monster. It howled when the water slashed over its burning crown and evaporated most of the small fire beings running around between the entrance and the monster.
Her gaze lastly fell on a familiar group; the first person she noticed was Sir Zeke Tomp, the tall knight was barely standing with most of his weight on his warhammer, the two young knights Lance and Erhen also looked bad but much better than their leader, and lastly the grim Silas looking concerned.
Sola couldn't see Eydis anywhere but guessed that she was somewhere on the front, that girl never understood how being a bodyguard worked. A slight smile snuck on her face as she thought about the young woman, and she hurried over to the group to find Michael.
She got over to them to see Eydis lying on the ground and her heart stopped for a moment.
“Idas, no,” she shouted and pushed Lance to the side to get to her. “I am here, little one,” she said to the unconscious girl and looked over her.
“She is still alive and augmenting,” came Michael's pained voice from the side but Sola was too shaken to notice the tone.
Eydis was badly burned, and her right arm seemed to be broken and her neck wasn’t as strong as it should be. Sola began stabilizing her head and then said, “Michael, I need your help with this. You need to carefully remove everything from her wounds before we can treat them.”
“I can't.”
“Michael, she might get an infection and die if we aren't fast and thorough enough.”
She was confused as to why Michael would refuse, was he in shock? He loved Eydis like he had his siblings, she couldn't believe it. Then she looked up and saw the tears running down the eleven-year-old boy's face and the blood on his severely shaking hands.
“Oh my god, Michael.”
“It doesn't matter,” he said out between his teeth, he was obviously in pain, “It's just my hands, help Eydis.”
Sola stared at him for a moment and then nodded. She looked at the knights surrounding them with concerned expressions, but they wouldn't be able to help her in their state either.
“Don't just stand there. Go to the entrance and bring me a couple of guards and the stretchers!”
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Kiran
The water evaporated the moment it hit the guardian's flame, but Kiran managed to draw it back out of the air even if he lost a large amount.
First time seeing a dungeon in fifteen years, and it had to be a damn fire affinity one, he thought and drew in more water from the barrel behind him.
He concentrated his efforts on controlling the burning leaves on the tree, which he suspected would be the source of any area attacks the monster could employ.
Kiran was concerned about this whole thing, to find a four-skull monster, even if it was a dungeon guardian, so close to the surface was bad, really bad. The mana levels shouldn't be rising this fast; it should have taken at least ten years to get to this point, but it has not even been five since the mana started returning to the world.
He inspected the guardian closer and noticed the large hole in the face plate of the tree, he couldn't help but smile because the only one that had any way of inflicting that kind of damage on this beast was Michael.
With a flick of his wrist, Kiran formed the water together in a sphere and let it fall onto the tree monster like a waterfall. He pulled as much water back out of the air when it evaporated and added it back to the top of the waterfall.
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Geron
The tree smashed down its fist and caused the knights and adventurers to scatter before it. Geron had to deal with the increased weight of the magical greatsword that Sir Pyke had given him at the start of the campaign.
He still remembered what the old knight had said, “This sword was given to me by Lord Cedric when I became Commander, it is only right for you to inherit it. Make no mistake though, you will have to prove yourself worthy of it.”
It technically didn't matter to him that the sword was thrice as heavy as his usual weapon because he could use much more mana when wielding it without breaking it, but it was still uncomfortable.
A silver-ranked adventurer charged past him and stepped onto the fist of the beast to use the upward motion to catapult himself right at its face.
His skin was grey and crumbling as he smashed his fist into the tree with such force even other augmenters weren't able to match.
The beast staggered back into the ropes that the adventurers had prepared, and they began throwing more over the top. The fire began to lick on them but with the constant stream of water falling on the flames and the rope they managed to hold.
Kiran won't be able to keep this kind of barrage up for long, Geron thought and continued to watch the adventurers try to drag the guardian down.
The beast let out an infernal scream when one of its legs broke under the constant attacks and it fell to one knee.
The scream had not even subsided yet when the forest came alive with yelling and other noises.
“It is calling the monsters to defend itself,” a silver-plated adventurer yelled.
“Secure the perimeter. Guards to the front, knights support where needed. Let's give the adventurers the time to finish this,” Geron ordered swiftly but stayed where he was.
The humans barely had time to deploy when the first wave of crazed monsters broke through the tree line, but a row of organized spears held their charge for now.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
We should be glad that Lord Cedric always put value on disciplined troops and not just augmenters, Geron thought and refocused his attention on the guardian.
It was flailing its hand around trying to swat the humans like flies but the ones that surrounded it were the elite of the local guild. It was unlikely that most of them had ever faced something like this, but they were still used to monsters and this one was severely wounded, outnumbered, and many of its abilities were probably impaired by Kiran. They would never again get this easy of a fight against a four-skull monster.
It tried to flare its fire again and again, but the fire was always suppressed by similar amounts of water. Then its second leg was pulled back by the ropes and the monster fell to its hands.
“Now finish it,” someone yelled, and the adventurers charged in unison.
The guardian suddenly rose, pulling those that had held it with the ropes of their feet. A dangerous light began to glow in its mouth as it prepared for a devastating attack.
“Get back,” Geron yelled and charged forward.
The waterfall disappeared at the same moment.
The light began to blink dangerously in its mouth, the burning leaves dimmed, and the flame in its mouth threatened to overflow, at first, it was red but got brighter and whiter with every passing moment.
Geron leaped right at the hole in the face plate of the monster when a torrent of water shot past him and into the mouth hole of the beast. Half of its face was blown off when the water evaporated and exploded, leaving an even larger opening for Geron to ram the greatsword into with his whole weight.
The monster tumbled from the explosion followed by Geron's weight and fell backwards.
Geron crashed down with it but was back on his feet the moment it had landed. The sword was only halfway in, so he raised his foot and stomped down on the crossguard of the large sword, ramming the rest into the beast.
It howled again but the leaves began to glow dimmer and dimmer until all light had faded.
“The beast has fallen,” he yelled victoriously, and the men cheered loudly.
The monsters that had pressured the guardsmen broke off their suicidal charge the moment the guardian had fallen and began running around in panic. Some still ran into the line of humans while most fled back into the forest.
“That went surprisingly well for a who knows how many times evolved four-skull,” one of the knights said absent-mindedly while he walked back from the front.
“Don't underestimate them, without the large wound and magic support we might have been decimated,” Geron censured the knight and the man nodded apologetically.
“We are gonna have to deal with more of them if they find the way through the other tunnel,” Kiran noted.
“There is another tunnel,” a voice asked, “We couldn't find one.” It was Sir Silas who stepped over to the knight commander.
“Yes, one of the adventurers that you were looking for escaped through a little tunnel close to the center of the dungeon. He said it was barely large enough for him to fit through and led him into a natural tunnel. I don't think that many monsters will be able to squeeze through there, but he couldn't tell us where exactly he emerged, so we don't know.”
Geron then turned back to Kiran and asked, “What do you think, how long will the dungeon take to collapse?”
The old mage looked around and then replied, “From the size and mana I would say thirty to forty minutes at most.”
Geron nodded and then ordered loudly, “Gather what you can, we are leaving in twenty minutes.”
“I am sure Lord Rowan would appreciate it if you retrieved the monster core of the guardian. We gathered a couple of cores ourselves,” Silas spoke up and Geron agreed.
- Half an hour later –
Geron oversaw the last of his men leaving the cave entrance that led down to the dungeon. He could hear the rumbling of the dungeon collapsing and he thought he could make out bestial screeching from below. The knight shook his head, that was impossible, they had collapsed the tunnel behind them with earth magic to prevent monsters from following them.
He turned around and walked over to the makeshift tent where Michael's party had been brought to.
There were only Sola, Kiran, Michael, and his guard present in the tent and a couple of gazes fell upon Geron as he entered.
Eydis still looked horrible, and Sola was still working on her, pulling parts of her clothing out of her burnt skin. Her arm and head were stabilized with wood, and he still wasn't sure if she would make it but if anyone could then her.
Geron was impressed that the girl was able to augment while unconscious, she often impressed him, to be honest. Even though she never had much formal training Geron couldn't help but recognize her sheer talent, not that he would like to share that sentiment.
Michael was lying next to the barbarian girl unconscious, his hands bandaged and his chest rising and falling slowly.
“Is he okay,” Geron asked.
Kiran, who was assisting Sola with his steady hands, looked up and said, “He wrecked his hands not once but twice. He can count himself lucky if he doesn't have any kind of lasting damage after they heal.”
Geron gritted his teeth and looked at the boy, how he laid there, he looked so small and helpless. Geron couldn't believe that he sent a child into a warzone.
“How are his chances?”
“He is still young, and his astral body is much sturdier than it should be. After what the knights told me he did and thinking of the amount of mana he has, he should have completely ripped his hands apart. I would say normally his chances would be a thousand to one to regain full function of his hands but with how unique his body is I would guess fifty/fifty. He will probably pull through, he always does somehow.” The mage looked lost in thought as he grabbed a set of pliers out of a bowl of water and returned to his work on Eydis.
Every time anything happens, he is in the middle of it and every time we find something new that is unique about him, Geron thought.
“Geron, you saved our lord down there,” Zeke's voice raspy pulled Geron out of his thoughts. He looked over to the knight who had been pealed out of his armor and was breathing heavily.
Geron knelt down next to the knight and inspected his injuries until he concluded that the knight would live.
“Without all of you he would have been dead long before we arrived,” he told the injured knight who shook his head.
“I can't do this anymore, Geron. I lost one ward already and now I nearly lost another one because I was careless,” Zeke gritted his teeth and tried to lean up which seemed to put him in more pain, but he continued as if he wanted the pain.
“I am not suited to protect him, Geron. I am not suited to serve.”
“No, you will not resign. As commander of the knights, I order you to stop being sorry for yourself and live with the fact that unforeseen things can happen. He would have died without you, of that, I am sure.” Geron stared the knight down until he nodded and sunk back onto his resting place.
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Michael
He put his hands in front of his eyes to block out the light but was instantly pulled out of his drowsy state from the sharp pain in them.
With a groan, he looked at the bandages and then at his surroundings.
“You're awake,” Sola's voice came from the side, and he looked over to her.
She was sitting with him in the tent next to a sleeping and bandaged Eydis, with her hands swaying over the barbarian girl.
They were in Michael's tent back at the main camp, so he had to have been asleep for a couple of hours at least.
“How is she doing,” Michael asked and got up without using his hands. He had severe muscle ache which didn't make it easier, but he was used to that.
“She should be fine. She healed well the last couple of days. I don't think she would have made it without her augmenting and my constant care though. Her burns weren't that bad, mostly surface level because of her increased toughness but the internal damage must have been worse for her to be still asleep,” the priestess answered calmly while still swaying her fingers in controlled motions.
“Days? How long have I been asleep,” Michael frowned, he hated being out for long periods, but he couldn't say that this was a first.
“Nearly two days. You used up every last drop of your mana and wrecked your physical and astral body in the process, your hands won't be back to full functionality for weeks.”
He looked at his hands and then toward Eydis, it was worth it, he decided.
“The dungeon is gone?”
“Yes, it collapsed behind us so there is no need to worry but we gathered some valuable materials before we had to leave.”
Michael watched her control her mana. She was directing it from one part of Eydis's body to the next, coordinating the young warrior's mana to ensure a smooth healing process.
Normally the mana would revolt against the influence but while normally augmenting was like a controlled stream that resisted when pushed in one direction, when the user was unconscious it was more like a bowl that could be tipped in the direction one needed.
“What now,” he asked, and Sola looked up for a moment.
“You are gonna rest. Your part in this expedition is over for now.”