“Mother Nature provides life…” Jerome recited under his breath and took a step toward the incoming multitude of Children.
“She provides vitality and protection…” His heart seemed to beat a lot stronger and Jerome tightened his grip over the shaft of his spear.
“To wield the power of the earth is to be a protector…” Jerome’s voice rose a notch and the earth seemed to move towards him.
“To become a shield…” A verdant glow of light lit up his footprint, flooding him with vitality. Jerome increased his pace from a slow walk to a jog…
“To stand in the way of the oppressor and shield the weak…” Jerome ran toward the army of Children.
~~~
Selene
Jerome zoomed through the battlefield, a red blur that cut down everything in its path. He moved from one end of the battlefield to the other. Creating sonic booms with every twist and turn.
Selene and her teammates couldn’t help but stop and stare. The very air they breathed had been charged up with waves of energy emanating from Jerome with every movement he made.
They couldn’t see his image anymore, just a red blur. Sonic booms ripped the air and stirred the wind wherever he zoomed past, almost affecting their senses. The essence in the air had also begun changing, becoming more concentrated than it was when the battle started.
“How is he doing this?” Trudhorn asked in awe, bringing them all out of their stupor.
“Get ready everyone,” Selene said looking at the edges of the forest. The Children were still pouring in like a massive tide. “There’s nothing we can do to help him right now. He’s taking on all the workload including ours and he’s gonna burn out soon.”
Selene whipped around and fired three arrows at some Children that went around Jerome. Her hands were literally shaking now but she pushed her core to calm down. She wasn’t going to show weakness now. Not now when her team needed her the most.
“The moment he needs to rest, we take over,” she continued, her voice almost unsteady at the end. “And if we can’t hold them back, we take Jerome and run.”
Selene’s teammates all prepared themselves for the inevitable. Readying themselves to jump in when Jerome got tired. There were no quirky jokes this time around and no cussing out at anyone. They all focused their attention and energy on the battle that was to come.
Boom… boom… boom…
The ground began to shake all of a sudden. Selene and her teammates looked down at the ground as their countenance changed.
“Whatever that is, we don’t want to be here when it gets here, Selene,” Ajax said.
Selene looked at the battlefield and noticed Jerome had taken to the skies. He stayed hovering there as he flapped broad red wings for a few breaths. Selene waited to see what he was going to do; what choice he was going to make. It didn’t make sense that he still had this much energy in him. If anyone could outrun this plague that was the Children it was him. She had her teammates to worry about and they were waiting for her to make a decision. He had no one holding him back.
~~~
Jerome didn’t spend too much time in the air. He flew toward them killing some Children that were foolish enough to reach for him in the air.
“That thing is huge,” he said, breathing heavily as he sat down on the boulder. He had used up a lot of energy and he needed to recuperate.
“Then we should leave,” Selene said and her team split up and started packing.
“I’ll be staying,” Jerome said and everyone paused for a breath.
“I’m sorry, say that again?” Ajax asked dryly. Selene glared at him … as did Jerome.
“There’s something here I need … under the earth. I’m not leaving until I completely extract it,” Jerome stated resolutely.
“Well, all the best for you then,” Ajax said and shuffled away.
“We never leave a man behind,” someone said.
“You don’t have to stay,” Jerome said, he got up to his feet trying to show he was still full of energy. Nevertheless, he was touched by the Sprout’s words. “I have a plan to take care of that thing.”
The giant’s foot came down once again shaking the ground beneath them. It sounded closer.
“Bram’s right, we never leave a man behind,” another said and Jerome had to turn and look at who said it.
Almost everyone stood around looking at him, their expression one of resolve. Jerome was truly moved this time around. He felt a lump in his throat. His eyes watered and he had to blink back tears. He had only known them for one night but they had opened up and accepted him as one of them.
“Seems you’re one of us now,” Selene said to him with a smile.
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Trudhorn walked up to him and bumped fists with him. It gave him a strange yet comforting feeling. The earth shook once again with the footsteps of the colossal Child.
“I do hope ye all know we ain’t shootin’ for sport down here,” Nia spoke up from down below after a while. Some of the Sprouts were still taking down the Children that were left while the rest of the team spoke with Jerome atop the boulder.
“We’ll take over,” Ajax answered, “And we’ll probably die here tonight — if it’s even night.”
Bram smacked him on the back of the head, “Focus.”
The creature was getting closer with every breath, and they could feel the ground shaking beneath their feet with each thunderous step it took. The tension in the air was palpable as the group readied themselves.
“Any moment now,” Jerome said as a blue flame sprouted on his palm. He quickly began compressing it, preparing for the biggest and brightest shot he had ever taken.
~~~
Jerome felt his heart pounding in his chest as he gazed up at the towering giant that loomed over them. It was still quite a distance away, but it was mostly visible now. For a moment there, fear and uncertainty took hold of him. He had never faced something so ginormous. He steeled himself, shaking himself free of negative emotions. Fear had never helped him before and uncertainty would only make him hesitate. He held his hand out facing the Children, infusing essence into the fireball in his hand. After a while the blue flame became so dense that it threatened to explode on his palm.
There were still a few Children left from the previous group but Jerome left those to Selene and her teammates. However, looming in the distance, the colossal Child he saw earlier was steadily advancing closer.
Despite the absence of the moon and the deep shadows cast by the dense tree cover, the Sprouts possessed remarkably keen vision, allowing them to discern the Child's head rising above the treetops in the distance.
“Aren’t you going to shoot that or something?” Selene asked, eyeing the flame with a hint of fear in her eyes. She released an arrow that sank into the head of a Child a few yards away, freezing it completely.
“Or something,” Jerome said in a strained voice. It was taking all his willpower to keep the fireball from exploding in its compressed state.
The essence in the air around him was becoming chaotic already and the Children were beginning to notice. Jerome knew the amount of essence in the fireball was still not enough for what he wanted to do. He exerted more pressure, straining to curl his fingers inward like claws, causing the fireball to compress a little bit more. The blue flame shrunk in size, causing the concentration of essence it was emitting to rise and Selene gasped beside him.
“Jerome, I think you should let it go now,” she said.
Jerome could hear the fear in her voice. The fireball was now smaller but denser than it was before and the core became a lighter blue color. Around its edges was a white-blue veil.
“Just a little closer,” Jerome said, looking ahead of him.
The colossal Child was closer now. It was enormous up close, looming over the team like a moving mountain. Its beady eyes were not as tiny as the ones on the smaller Children but were sizable and unblinking. The writhing tentacles on its lower face filled the air like a repulsive tangle of worm-like feelers, squirming and undulating in an eerie display of otherworldly power.
The giant Child stepped on some of its kind with its enormous foot, and the earth shook beneath it. It roared as it came within a few dozen paces of the team. Its voice carried a shockwave across the landscape that shook the earth beneath their feet.
Everyone was thrown backward at least ten paces but Jerome stood his ground, earth essence swirled around his feet holding him firmly to the boulder. Strands of blue flame slithered around him, some even cackling like electricity. The concentration of energy had reached enormous levels. Jerome tried to raise his hand but it was like lifting a mountain. He supported his right hand with his left and took aim.
Jerome let go of the flame and it shot forward like a laser, cutting through everything in its path with a blinding blue light. Enormous trees were cut in half and all the Children in front of them were sliced in two — some reduced to piles of hashed meat.
The giant wasn’t exempt as it was sliced in two and its guts spilled over like a giant tide, bathing everything and everyone in gore.
The laser sputtered out, having lost its fuel source, and Jerome felt true exhaustion for the first time in a while. His skin became dampened with perspiration that mixed with the gore that had splattered on him. He sat on his haunches to rest a little but the world spun around and he hit the ground and blacked out.
“And ye say ye were gonna face that, mate,” someone from the team on the ground said and everyone turned to Ajax. He muttered incomprehensible words to himself looking as scared as a fish out of water.
~~~
“He’s waking up,” Jerome heard someone say.
His eyes snapped open and he quickly stood up reaching for his weapon.
“Settle down, settle down. It’s just me,” Selene said with her hands raised.
Jerome relaxed. “How long have I been out?” He asked and sat down.
Everywhere was covered in yellow gory innards that stunk so much it could potentially wake the dead. He looked down at himself and frowned, looking away.
“We don’t have much water,” Selene said. She didn’t fare any better than him. “What you did back there was … amazing.”
Jerome sighed thinking about what to say to that. “Thank you. What about the others?”
“They went out in search of water. Some are still around though … looking out for the Children,” Selene said. “My mother didn’t know anything else about the Mother.”
Jerome’s gaze turned to her at that.
“She said she wasn’t opportune to enter Terra Praeta but father was,” she said looking away.
The wind blew the stench away from them for a while, giving them a moment of relief from the stench.
“Father’s actually a Saint now … has been for a while so … there’s no finding out anytime soon,” Selene continued.
“What does being a Saint have to do with finding out?” Jerome asked, perplexed.
Selene looked at him and smiled. “Have you met Elder Thorlin Vorthe?” she asked.
“No, but I’ve seen him.”
“Well, he’s a Saint. Probably the only healthy Saint there is in all of Vorthe,” Selene said and Jerome raised an eyebrow clearly not getting her point.
“It takes a lot to advance to the Saint Realm from the Sage Realm,” She continued. “The risks associated with taking that step are perhaps not worth it. So many don’t even try. The ones who do, end up having one leg in the grave. The power in their bodies becomes unstable and they age rapidly. Faster than they should. They have to be isolated; to enter deep meditation so they can preserve themselves.”
At this point, Selene’s eyes were distant and red. She wiped away tears and cycled to calm her nerves.
“I’m sorry about your dad,” Jerome said. He’d never consoled anyone like this before but he knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of it. He did not like it.
“Thank you for telling me about him,” he said again, with a slight smile this time around.
Laughter broke out a few yards away from them, announcing the arrival of those that went in search of water. The Sprouts got closer and bathed them with buckets of water. The water was cold, too cold to have come from an environment like the jungle they were in. Jerome glanced at the buckets in their hands and noticed they were made out of ice. It made sense.