Chapter 54 - Into the Wild III
As Thrain was following their target, the group started to march. They had no reason to rush the process, so they strolled toward the bighorn. Considering the possible unexpected events during a battle with their first magical beast, imagination ran wild.
When everyone extinguished the possible scenarios, they eventually sped up the passe. They had already walked for hours, and the distance to Thrain was getting shorter.
Lysander knew that situation well. He lived it far too many times before. Preparing for battle wasn’t something you could explain. Only those who experienced it could understand. After the vote, dedication, motivation and eagerness were palpable feelings among the group. But the battle didn’t start instantly as usual. The time gap between a decision of such magnitude and action should be as small as possible.
As the scenarios were being thought out, the smiles of some turned into grim. The hike to Thrain had become a mind battle for most. Amelia’s head wasn’t high anymore, and her face twitched from anxiety. She lowered her head so others wouldn’t see it, but her trust in the group faltered each minute.
As the group approached the final approach, Lysander stopped walking.
“Mr. Lysander, is everything alright?” asked Kwame.
The man's eye had changed. The previous mentor's posture switched from a guide to the warrior beneath. He looked back to Kwame with a smile on his face.
“It has begun.” Said Lysander as he pulled out his sword out of his spatial ring. The trembling knees paled faces, and silent doubts had reached the point of no return.
As Lysander walked through the group in the direction Thrain was, he could see the peak of everyone's mind battle. Daniel, Kwame, and Luca were all as determined as before. Michelle didn’t show signs of doubt, but he knew it would be her first battle against a magical beast, and she lacked other experiences. Amelia, Kaelar, and Zara would be the ones tested today.
No one can decide it on your behalf. Is pushing through fear and danger within you? At some point, everyone needs to know. Decide now… Thought Lysander as he looked back and said, “Everyone, speed up, I’ll go ahead of you. The dwarf needs our help.”
His words hit everyone as hard as a truck. They couldn’t see anything; nothing pointed to what Lysander said. But they knew that the man who had been silent up to that point wouldn’t joke about that.
Before they could process or ask questions, he had disappeared. The snow where their mentor was had been thrown all around. Fear of losing Thrain on top of the second-guessing paralyzed some.
“Everyone, we must help Thrain. Thanks to the snow, we can see the tracks, and it is time to run. We’ll meet at the end of the road. Remember the plan, reaching the magical beast. There won’t be time to go through it again.”
“Kwame…” Said Amelia, but no words followed.
Kwame answered her by simply placing his hand on her shoulder.
Daniel walked to her, scrubbing her hair as he smiled. He then looked at both Kwame and Luca and nodded. Without speaking, the three knew that the rest possibly wouldn’t keep up with their speed. The entire process took a few seconds, but everyone realized their limitations in those moments.
The trio started running in the same direction as Lysander.
The first to follow was Michelle. She knew her strength was still not in pair with the others, but there was no better opportunity to comprehend the difference. Her usual aloof personality was not displaying at all. With each step, her movements became sharper. All she focused on was the battle ahead.
The moment the other three started running, a rumbling sound echoed in the mountain range. It didn’t matter which, all heard the sound. None was close enough to feel the ground trembling, but the noise alone was enough for them all to think simultaneously.
THRAIN!
Using mana to increase their speed, everyone rushed toward the noise.
Lysander had reached the peak where Thrain was. He could see all three a short distance away. The running Bighorn used a fire element spell when he started the last jolt to pull Thrain from the fight. As the spell broke, a loud explosion at the very top of the mountain sent the Arcane Bear to the side, creating space between the two. As both creatures tried to regain their feet, the ground gave in. The explosion set loose a massive piece of ice and snow sliding down the mountain. In their way, everyone tried to stay above the falling debris, but the force was too large.
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Lysander controlled his mana, flying toward Thrain in the blink of a second.
“Mr. Lysander?!” was all Thrain could say as he was pulled out of the incoming doom of snow. Holding the dwarf in the sky, both observed to see if the avalanche could suffocate the bighorn's agonizing growl. It used its fire element to try to open space, but the charging time between spells was enough for the endless snow to cover it repeatedly. The arcane bear roared, running toward the bighorn. It had no care for the wall of snow coming down the mountain. It entered the avalanche head-on, trying to find its food.
The scene was mesmerizing enough that Thrain took a few moments to realize he wasn’t in the mix of the beast's fight or the avalanche. He looked at the man holding him by the arm, again recognizing Lysander.
“Mr. Lysander, how did you find me?”
“I’m not that old yet.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Thrain.
“Your goal is to hunt eight magical beasts, isn’t it?”
“It is…”
“Let’s start with those two…” he said, pointing the sword to the middle of the mountain, as the avalanche had already reached halfway downhill.
Looking down, Thrain finally realized how they had evaded the landslide. They floated above the ground level, not touching the snow or the mountain.
“Mis… Mister Lysander… Are we flying?!” He said, using his other arm to grip the boot tightly around his chest.
“Calm down. You’ll need your head to fight.” said Lysander as he floated to the foot of the mountain.
Easier said than done. Thought Thrain as he tried breathing, looking at the chaos happening in the mountain. He could see that the bear had reached the bighorn, and now both creatures had tumbled down the hill as spells flashed above the snow for a moment before being covered by it again.
When the raging mountain stopped, both magical beasts understood that nature was stronger than them. The thought didn’t last long as the bear still felt like eating the slippery bighorn he had encountered. Shaking the snow on its fur, the arcane bear's eyes shone one green and the other blue. Snow started to compact around him and the bighorn. Any doubt about his position on the food chain had been eliminated. The bighorn knew his final moments were closer as the bear’s paws slowly approached him.
Before the bear could reach him, an incredible pain in his neck shocked him into reality. As it used all its energy to try and get up, its eyes could see that the bear had stopped. Lysander had thrown the little man above the bighorn to take the opportunity to kill it before the creature upped its defenses once again. Thrain knew such an opportunity might not come again, and as he reached his target, his best daggers were on hand.
Thrain frenzied. Stabbing, again and again, the bighorn’s neck, blood covered his hands to the point regular daggers might escape his grasp. His blades weren't regular weapons. He had spent a small fortune to amount the resources to crafting them. The weapon had a curse that increased its sharpness and the chances of causing the target to have increased bleeding. The blades had different shapes, with lowered portions and a few holes in their body. It could cause the materials to lose some of their durability; at the same time, it was the reason behind the additional internal bleeding effects.
The bighorn screams became dull as strike after strike, Thrain took the creature's life. The opening the avalanche had created, the attention the bear called for, the added power coming from being launched by Lysander at the animal. Thrain had everything going for him as the beast drew its last breath.
Lysander didn't have to look at the dwarf to be sure he wouldn't stop until the creature stopped moving. With that out of the way, Lysander looked at the bear, currently analyzing Lysander's back.
"Thrain, I'll hold this arcane grizzly in place. You regain your strength and wait for the others." said Lysander.
The bear didn't take long to charge the man. Its eyes still shining both colors, rocks rose from the ground and were thrown in Lysander's direction. Instead of evading them, he decided to use spells of his own. Creating small ice spears with a wave of his left hand, each spear was sent flying toward the incoming attacks. As the spells reached each other, Lysander ran to meet the bear.
The creature stood on two paws, roaring at the man, its size double that of the incoming man. Lysander didn't faze in the slightest. His blade on the right hand found the bear's skin easy to pierce through. The creature used its claws to try and parry the sword, but Lysander's speed was in a league of its own. Every wave of the bear's claws found only air, sending snow and rocks flying.
After three successful cuts, Lysander backed away. This is enough. They can deal with the injured grizzly with good teamwork. He thought.
Thrain didn't notice the exchange. He was too focused on making sure that the bighorn had died. His eyes only moved away from the animal as he heard familiar voices.
"Thrain!" Screamed Kwame.
The three men had finally reached the fight. A glance told them enough information to position themselves between Lysander and Thrain, adding an extra layer of protection.
Thrain's eyes sparkled with tears as he looked at his friend, but using his forearm, he cleared his face and joined them, creating a line.
"Luca, everyone. This will be your fight, an arcane grizzly." said Lysander without looking at them as he moved his right arm to sheathe his sword. He sends the weapon back to his spatial ring with nothing on his wast.
"Mr. Lysander, thank you for rescuing Thrain," said Kwame. Daniel was silent, but his posture and expressions doubled Kwame's words.
"Guys, the bear can use both earth and water magic. We have to be careful. It has much more mobility and durability than the bighorn, but it should be tired after all this…" said Thrain.
"Luca and Daniel, you'll be responsible for attacking it while I use spells from afar. Thrain, can you fight?" asked Kwame.
"I can just buy some time to recharge."
"Good, the others will arrive soon. It will get easier as they get here."
All nodded in approval. They knew that to Kwame's words, anything more than that would be a waste of words.
Meanwhile, Michele, Amelia, Kaelar, and Zara ran as fast as possible to reach the others, but the animal wouldn't wait.
It was still raging, replaying that it couldn't hit the tiny human that had approached him previously. Now, the same human had three new friends for it to eat. Looking at them, it decided the tiniest would be his first prey. It locked its eyes on Luca.
The kid instantly noticed the attention of the bear. He started walking to the side, eyes locked with the bears. Daniel used the situation to walk to the opposite side, encircling the creature. Kwame started to conjure a spell, using the incantation to call forth a wind blade. Everything was set for the start of the second round.