PART VI - WAVES OF RESISTANCE

Callie ducked behind the huge rock again, just as her target exploded, a shower of now-gravel raining off her leather helmet, as well as Lhawni and Ambria, who were sharing the cover with her. "How many big ones are still out there?" she yelled.

"A lot!" Major Celeste snarled back, in between the zappy sounds of her Flashstepping around the battlefield.

"Do we need to fall back?" Vanis asked loudly, but also slightly distracted as part of him focused on keeping this anti-threat aura active, which Callie was fairly sure wasn’t doing a damn thing to help. He also had multiple Fiends summoned, and was working to keep them organized as well.

"Not yet, dammit!" a somewhat-angry Pixyl screamed back as she swooped in on another Greater Elemental. She deftly slipped sideways, narrowly avoiding a boulder thrown her direction. A two-fisted double shot of her Ethereal blast to the monster's chest vaporized its Heartcore, and it collapsed into a heap. Her bombing run completed, the Pixie started to circle again, looking for her next target while dodging an occasional throw from below.

Callie cursed to herself as another boulder crashed into the protective barrier, making the ground shake and her teeth rattle as cracks appeared. She ducked around for an instant, launching another of her signature Explosive Shots, which burst the core of the Elemental that had just attacked. Another shower of rocky chunks pelted down. “We’re going to need to move soon,” she said in warning to Lhawni and Ambria, nodding to indicate the failing cover they were hiding behind.

A roar and a smashing sound heralded Bratig's destruction of two normal Elementals, but another crunch of a boulder off his armored back was unmistakable. He'd taken at least three of these hard hits since things had started to go crazy, and he had to be hurting. The Dwarf refused to fall back for healing though, staying on task. The Major was going to rip him a new one for that.

"How far?" Cheena asked as she called forth another Healing Pulse from her Totem, trying to help. She then managed to get another general healing spell directed from the Totem towards Bratig for a few seconds, before the construct was summarily smashed into tiny pieces of light by a boulder crashing through it. The remnants of magic sputtered and fizzled as they shot in random directions like tiny fireworks, burning themselves out after a few moments.

"Two-hundred meters," Maugra called back. "Maybe a little less. I can see the vent, though."

"We need a better plan than ‘just shut up and kill them’!" Callie snarled out loudly to anyone that would hear her.

"I'm open to suggestions," Vanis yelled back, shooting the Gnome a glare as he released a duo of Bronze-Tier Fiends on a pair of Elementals closing from the side. They weren't Greaters, though, so the Demon pair would take the enemies down in a moment.

Another huge explosion rang out, this time from Olin's Ethereal Bomb that he lobbed into the middle of a pack of six rock monsters. Stone was vaporized, with the remains flying in all directions. At least one Greater Elemental survived, its Heartcore seizing on the remnant scattered pieces to rebuild itself anew. "I got a few there. On cooldown," the Bladeweaver called out, a professional and focused tone to his voice.

"Get ready to push forward! We’ll have a window in a moment!" Celeste warned, her Command Aura pulsing out and seeming to synchronize everyone. Celeste’s observation skills were uncanny, and she could somehow track when all the monsters threw their boulders, and when enough would be on cooldown to press the attack forward. "Charge ten meters and then get behind cover again. Rowani! Clear the way!"

The Pantherkin had fallen back to lend a hand healing Melga. The Dwarf had taken a hard boulder hit to her side in Owlbear form, hard enough to cause her to return to normal form, and Tazrok had all but thrown the Dwarf to safety before returning to the fight. "I’m going now!" Rowani yelled out, rushing from behind the rock and shifting to her Guardian. The Tortalis charged forward with amazing speed, head retracted, and bowled over at least eight Elementals. An excited Pixyl swooped in behind her like a dive bomber, zipping and flipping in the air as she used her glowing swords to one after the next pierce the hearts of the downed enemies, before using an Ethereal Blast on the last one and flying into the air again, laughing the whole time.

"She's crazy!" Lhawni said quietly from next to Callie as Pixyl's momentum carried her high into the air. The Pixie arched over, setting her sights and diving on her next target, her swords held forward like the spikes of a falling missile.

"Yeah, but she's our crazy," Callie grinned. "Damn, she's amazing," she added as Pixyl sliced a normal Elemental in two before casually blasting another Greater into rubble just as it was about to throw.

"You’ve got that right," Ambria agreed. “She absolutely is.”

"Everyone move now!" Celeste ordered before blowing long on a whistle she kept around her neck, just like a Sergeant on the Bunkerball field, and together everyone dashed forward as another hail of boulders rained down where they had just been.

Callie looked back, watching as the shelter she, Ambria and Lhawni had just been hiding behind got smashed to pieces. That had been close.

The team pressed the attack, and Callie dove for refuge behind another pile of rocks, while Lhawni and Ambria found their own cover. They were slowly making headway as they thinned the Elementals in front and to the sides. "How are you doing?" Major Celeste asked Callie after the officer zipped in behind the rocks protecting the Gnome as well. The Major had a big grin on her face, despite the seriousness of the moment, probably rivaled only by the giddy glee of the overhead Pixyl.

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Callie glared at Celeste, before edging around the rocks and loosing another arrow. Somewhere ahead, there was another explosion sound. "Oh, I'm just doing peachy, Major," Callie snarled sarcastically as the ground shook from another boulder hitting her rock barrier in response. "A month ago I was home in my soft, comfy bed, happily wasting my days looking at cat memes. Now? I'm fighting monsters made out of living rock! With a bow and arrow! I’m pretty sure none of this makes any sense!"

The Major peeked around, taking stock of the battle. "Well, you're doing a great job!" she said casually, before there was a blurred flash of orange light and she was gone.

Callie glared after the Elf on general principle. A little ways away, Cheena and Lhawni were busy working on Ambria, who had apparently taken a hard tumble on the last rush when a bouncing boulder knocked her feet out from under her. After a quick check, the injuries seemed treatable. She had hit her head hard when she fell, though, and had been seeing stars for a bit, and there was a lot of blood on her face from what looked to be another broken antler. Ambria insisted she was fine, just bloody, but the two Shamans were fussing over her all the same.

"How many more?" Callie called out to anyone that would answer.

"About twenty more of the big ones!" Maugra called back, a ball of lightning shooting from her hand. There was a concussive sound of an Ethereal Blast a ways off, then a second, both followed by an excited whoop from an easily identifiable Pixyl. "About eighteen more of the big ones!" Maugra amended.

"We can handle eighteen," Callie mumbled to herself. "No problem." Another boulder crashed to the ground only a few meters away, leaving a huge divot as it rolled away. "If we don't get squashed first and turned into salsa," Callie added. Piercing Shot finally restored another charge and Callie layered up an Explosive Shot paired with Multishot. She looked around the protective barrier, taking aim at a pair of Greater Elementals, but her shot went harmlessly wide as she was forced to take cover, another incoming boulder crashing into her protection. Callie cussed a string of expletives, trying to will her powers to recharge faster.

Over Callie’s head flew one, two and then a third normal Elemental, flung long by Juniper’s tentacle vines. They crashed motionless in a heap, their cores crushed by their own falling weight. The Dryad was on an angry tear, concentrating on clearing the field of anything not a Greater Elemental and doing it with amazing effectiveness. She had summoned multiple pairs of vines, seeming to control them with one hand, flinging Elemental bodies in every direction, although careful to avoid the rest of the party after a harsh warning from the Major. From her other hand, she projected the body-size shield of thick brambles strong enough to deflect away the boulders as they hit, somehow no momentum being transferred to the crazy-eyed Sylvan when the shield was struck.

A roar from Tazrok signaled another enemy torn to the ground, but the yelp of pain also signaled a hit he took. The Druid seemed more stunned and surprised than injured, and immediately pounced on the Greater that had just attacked him. They crashed to the ground together, the Hellhound grappling with the enemy. Tazrok quickly detangled himself, before proceeding to repeatedly smash the Elemental’s Heartcore into tiny shards of dead rock with his weighted tail, the Hellhound adding a final snort of victory at the end.

Not far away, Melga and Wallir were tag-teaming a pack of Elementals, the Owlbear and Direbear working in near harmony as they batted aside or crushed the smaller types. Finally, a lone Greater Elemental stood, winding up for another boulder throw. As if in mutual agreement, Melga went high and Wallir went low, bringing the monster crashing to the ground, and Melga’s sharp beak was able to tear its Heartcore right out before crushing it to dust, the Elemental losing form and becoming inert rubble.

Slowly the team crawled forward, the Elemental horde’s resistance finally starting to ease as Callie and the chaotic, flying Pixyl destroyed the bulk of the remaining Greaters, while the rest of the team concentrated on the final mop up of anything smaller. One benefit of the Elementals all coming for them was that there was no longer a need for scouting, either on the top of the ridge or even down the sides, as everything conveniently came to the slaughter instead. As a result, space was being effectively cleared between the last of the incoming Elementals and the stone arch marking the Rift.

Every once in a while, a new monster would form by the arch, usually a normal one, but occasionally one of the Greaters. Like the rest, they would immediately begin to amble towards the team, stepping forward to be quickly brought down by any one of a number of means. Thankfully, the rate of new Elementals forming was slow enough to not be of significant concern as long as any boulders were dodged, which was easy at this distance.

It didn’t take much longer, and the battlefield was finally quiet. Piles of rocks and rubble showing where elementals had fallen littered the landscape, and occasional plumes of purple smoke showed the resting spots of various fallen Demons.

“Is everyone unhurt?” Major Celeste asked, removing her helmet for a moment and running her hand through her sweaty hair.

The team looked at each other. It was obvious a few people had some bruises and scratches needing attending, maybe even a little more than that for Bratig, although he still brushed it off as just being ‘a little stiff’ as he tossed a general heal onto himself. The Major gave him a hard glare, not fully believing him, but Vanis suggested they give him a proper examination once the Rift had been tapped. The Dwarf grumbled a bit before Rowani put her foot down as his trainer, and he grudgingly conceded.

“Shall we,” Vanis said, graciously gesturing towards the stone archway over the Rift. They were within eighty meters now, maybe closer to sixty, and save one or two normal elementals that had emerged, the way was clear. Everyone was exhausted, but a final victory walk as a group was exactly what they needed, and Callie imagined them looking like a crazy pack of misfits doing that epic slow-motion walk to a pounding movie score, purple smoke billowing and debris all around them.

Maugra put her hand up, a worried look on her face, and stopped everyone’s approach. “Something’s not right.”

“Do you have Danger Sense?” Vanis asked warily.

The Goblin shook her head, turning in a slow circle as if trying to find the source of whatever she was feeling. “No I don’t, not here, but something is wrong with the magic … it’s … I don’t know … focused oddly.”

“Major? Wallir? Callie?” Vanis said, asking the same question of those he knew also had the alert capability. “I’m not feeling anything.”

Callie was already pretty calm at this point, fighting being over for a while, but to help, she took another pair of calming breaths. There was suddenly a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, stronger when she vaguely faced the stone arch over the Rift. She pointed. “Something’s not right and it’s coming from there.”

Major Celeste, an Elf’s natural Danger Sense giving less of a warning, shot her eyes wide as she finally felt it too. “Everyone back!” She yelled, turning and breaking into a run as she spun her finger in the air and then pointed back the way they had come.

The ground around them started to rumble, and the huge arch began to crack and fall.