CRASH!
Anitus shot through the metal corridor Tulos created. He cut a straight line through those monsters. Amaro caught him with open arms, sliding through the snow. Amaro felt the power of his awakening fade as time resumed and the Oskuutor exploded into a rain of black blood.
Amaro saw the dumbfounded expressions of the others. He would have been proud to display something like this under normal circumstances. Especially with how Kaara was looking at him right now. There was hope in her eyes, but that guilt still reflected.
It felt like the first time he truly understood what she was thinking. Maybe his awakened Ux still lingered in some way. He looked at the pile of Malaki mincemeat which used to be a troop of Oskuutor. There was no steam, nor regathering of flesh. They looked to be dead.
Still, Amaro did not trust that. Anitus dashed over to Raktus, dropping to his knees and recoiling at what he saw. Amaro unclipped his cloak and laid it over his corpse. He clasped his hand on Anitus’s shoulder. He had been the closest to Raktus, “It’s times like this we remember to be warriors, so we can live to grieve as brothers.” It was a lesson Lorshiir had taught them. Something he did not fully understand until now.
He wished he could shed a tear for Raktus, but he just felt numb about it. It did not feel real. Was he experiencing an Ux dream? Was this life even his own? Why didn’t he want to cry for his younger brother? He swallowed, pushing those thoughts away.
Anitus climbed to his feet, giving him a nod, “Those monsters will pay.”
“What was that?” Kaara asked, finally breaking from her shock, “You moved so fast!”
Amaro stared at his palm, noticing the blisters that had formed where he held Quinrai, “I’m not certain. Perhaps all of our Ux awakened at once. I’m uncertain if I can do that again, but before this night is over I will kill more of those things.” He clenched his fist, “Let’s go. There’s much more to do.”
Tulos went ghost white, “Amaro…” He pointed behind him.
Amaro turned, his heart leaping into his throat at what he saw. The monsters were reforming. Even now, they were reforming. What else could they do? What were they missing?”
Anitus roared, blasting them with a giant jet of fire, “Just fucking die already! Damn you!”
“I don’t get it…” Kaara said, “They should die. The bell worked. It had to have. You all heard the way it rang right?”
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Amaro nodded, “And Anitus’s sword is made to kill Malaki.” He grit his teeth. Even now. Even after all of that, they still could not avenge Raktus. Amaro did not know if he could achieve that state of power again, but even if he did, those monsters still wouldn’t fall.
“We need to find somewhere to hide,” Rixam said.
“Where can we hide?” Tulos said, “In the ground, the trees, the snow, it doesn’t matter. They’ll find us. They’ll run us down until we’re exhausted. Even if we could kill them, there’s too many to fight back.”
Amaro scanned the trees, spotting a brief flash in the distance. He pointed, “That way. There’s more people over there. Even if we cannot kill them, we can slow them down by hacking them to pieces. We only have to last until the sun rises, right? We’ll just have to leave ourselves enough room to escape them, and not allow ourselves to be cornered.”
“We’ll have to attack them with magic sparingly. Otherwise they’ll grow too powerful to avoid.” Kaara said, clutching the bell.
Amaro looked at the moon. He wished he knew how much time had passed. It felt like the sun should have risen a long time ago. So much had happened since the ceremony started Amaro hardly had any time to absorb it all. He had been blown away on his own, but with speed like his, finding Anitus and Raktus had been easy. After that, He had found Tulos hanging in a tree. The first part of the night had been relatively peaceful, but that was until they started hearing voices in the forest. Shambling shapes and figures who vaguely resembled the other noble children. It had been Raktus who had warned them.
“Their voices don’t sound right.” He had said.
It ended up saving them. They were caught in a fight for their lives. Ambushed by large swaths of Oskuutor and bone armored Malaki. Rorik and the Nephilim girl had shown up at the right time to help them.
It became clear during that fight, the bat drake had been holding back against him earlier. The creature was a ball of muscle and violence among the monsters, swallowing the limbs they bit from the monsters.
The Nephilim girl had quite the aptitude for magic too. It was likely her angelic ancestry gave her some sort of edge when it came to summoning magic. By her account, Sancta was safe, but she was unconscious. The Nephilim girl had ensured she was hidden while she drew them away. That was a relief to hear. As she led them to where she had hidden his sister, however, they were intercepted by another gang of monsters. They had to run, encountering a group of Tibur and nobility. Amaro had wanted to see Sancta among them, but she had been nowhere to be found. He wondered if she was still in the location the Nephilim girl had told them about. However, the darkness coupled with the constant running and fighting had thrown his bearings off.
With what happened to Raktus, perhaps Sancta could have done something to save him. He shoved those thoughts to the side. There was no use dwelling on the past right now. There was nothing he could change about it. All he could do was hope that he had only lost one sibling tonight.
“Get ready.” Gornax said, “I can feel tremors. Wherever we’re heading, that’s where they’re all at.”
Amaro looked ahead, “Then whatever or whoever is there needs help. Those monsters are using us to grow their strength. If the people fighting don’t know about the Oskuutor like we do, then they’re just making them stronger by fighting.”
“So what’s the plan, brother?” Anitus said.
“We distract them, rescue the others, and get out.”