Even if the Malaki had left for one reason or another, they were not hard to find again. As lightning rained down from the sky, Kaara knew exactly where to run.
She sprinted towards the source of the fight, her heart pounding in her chest as thunderous claps echoed through the trees. With all of that lightning, it was clear someone either did not know the true nature of the Oskuutor’s abilities, or they had no other choice for survival. Perhaps Deka had found Tulos, and they were now killing off the Oskuutor?
Kaara could only wish she was so lucky. As she drew closer, she could see the flickering flames in the distance. The smell of smoke and burning hair hit her nose. This place reeked of death. The Oskuutor did not bother to hide their forms anymore.
“I never asked this, but…” Kaara said, frozen at the edge of the fire’s light, “How long was I out for?”
“Only a few minutes. It looks like they’ve been fighting for a while. What are those things?”
“So you can see them too now? Those are the Oskuutor we’ve been fighting. But they look a lot different now.” The more magic they had absorbed, the more their bodies had changed to become unknowable killing machines. Some had lengthened wormlike torsoes which coiled and writhed through the air like worms. Others had sharp crooked antlers which curled and tangled up the corpses of the fallen. Their jaws hung open in gaping elation as they wore the deceased like clothing. The small spiderlike appendages on their emaciated backs now sprouted from their backs like multi-jointed weeds.
At the center of the fight stood a small group fighting for their lives. The Malaki had tricked them into granting them power, but it was not as if they had any other choice. She spotted Amaro in the chaos as he tried to make an opening for the others to escape, only for the malaki to block his path.
“What do we do? We can’t fight those things.”
Kaara bit her thumb, thinking, “I don’t know. We can’t just leave them there to die, though. Especially with how much power they’re giving them. The Oskuutor are using them like batteries.”
And yet there were less of them here than Kaara had expected. What was going on? Where had all the Malaki been drawn away to?
Kaara’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to see a group of the bone armored Malaki emerging from the snow.
“Heads up, looks like we’re fighting after all.”
“What the hell are these things anyway, Kaara?”
“I don’t know. They just started appearing near the Oskuutor.” Her mind raced through the story of the silver reaper, but nothing matched. These were completely different malaki from the Oskuutor, but why were they here?
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She couldn’t think for long as one of the vile creatures came charging through with reckless malice. Kaara jumped, ramming her spear against its eyeless head. Her spear pinged off of its armor, leaving only a scrape behind. She leaped away, narrowly avoiding its jagged snapping jaws.
She looked over, to see Rixam cornered, thrusting her palm out to protect him with a wall of ice. She clenched her fist and swung it as hard as she could, slamming the wall of ice into the creature.
The creature staggered, but quickly regained its footing. It was relentless, but Rixam was no victim.
CRACK!
The blunt end of his spear smashed through its boney jaw, flinging teeth and black blood into the snow. The three pronged scar on his arm lit up with glowing green magic running down the shaft of his weapon before piercing straight into its skull.
That was not enough for this Malaki, however. Its snapped its broken jaw at him, leaning forward and allowing the spear to pierce deeper so that it could get closer.
An avalanche of rocks spawned from the sky and tumbled over its body, giving Rixam enough time to disengage and regroup with Kaara.
Kaara swallowed. She could not risk summoning again, even if Chompy could have easily cleaned through these lesser malaki. She could feel the Oskuutor waiting nearby, ready to take advantage of a single mistake.
Kaara could see they were outnumbered. These creatures were too dangerous to fight head-on. She needed a plan, and fast. Those Oskuutor nearby were soon going to be too powerful to kill even if they could find a way to kill them in the first place.
“We have to get to Amaro and the others and warn them. If we can help them escape underground, we can regroup and fight back.”
“After you. Not like they’re gonna listen to us.”
Kaara grit her teeth, backing up with the two of them as the malaki stalked forward. She summoned an ax head atop the shaft of her spear, and swung. A wave of cutting water cleaved through their ranks, “Run!”
She turned heel and bolted towards the bloodbath in the forest. She wasn’t going to make it in time, “Rixam, Gornax! Can you launch me?”
“Launch you? Into the Oskuutor?”
“Yeah! Gornax, use a rock, and Rixam use your wind! I can land, so don’t worry about me!” Kaara had done a similar trick to climb the Ingen tree whenever she had Arik and Rorik to help her.
The two of them looked at each other and nodded, “Alright, get ready!”
Kaara stopped in her tracks, planting the pole end of her spear into the snow. She felt the ground lift beneath her feet.
“On three!” Kaara shouted, “One!”
“Two!” The other two joined in.
“Three!”
Kaara bent her knees and braced as the land itself propelled her forward. Wind whistled through her ears, only to gather around her back. She jumped, propelled forward like an arrow. She channeled as much magic as she could into her spear. The ice made ax head grew, mid swing, “Duck!” She shouted out. As gravity pulled her back to the ground, she planted her foot, allowing her momentum to carry the expanded ax head forward. The Oskuutor turned to face her. She could feel her own halberd fighting her, but it was too late for them.
With a brutal cleave, she summoned a wave powerful enough to leave scars in the Ingen trees behind. The water severed their legs from their bodies. The Oskuutor tumbled to the ground, laughing hysterically with their stolen voices as they writhed and snapped their jagged maws at her.
She dispelled her ax, feeling the strain it had taken on her soul. Kaara looked to the stunned Xirxus children, “Come with me if you want to live!”