“This is bad, Nick. We need to get the fuck out of here while we still can.” He turned his head to find Veronica hanging from the next statue over. She must have spotted me clinging to the wall.
“Not without Sophia and Devin,” he replied, scanning the faces in the crowd with increasing desperation.
During their brief exchange, Nick watched the river king slaughter another straggler. He bowed his head and offered a silent apology. Sorry, there wasn’t anything I could do.
Although the situation was dire, part of him wasn’t willing to give up. Not without considering his options. He wracked his brain while sizing up the colossal creature, but he couldn’t see any obvious weaknesses or come up with a way to slow it down.
While the beast’s wounds were severe, it didn’t seem to be running out of energy. Likely the work of powerful abilities at play combined with its monstrous pool of health. It would continue to attack until the blackmist broke over the tower, heralding the arrival of something that he strongly suspected would be even worse.
Watching the carnage play out, he couldn’t find it in himself to argue that they should take on the creature, no matter how hard it was to watch members of team Earth fall to its wrath. In the end, Nick knew that V was right.
There wasn’t any way for the two of them to make a difference, and he wasn’t willing to risk it all to save every stranger that was in danger. Not when his only option would be to sacrifice his own life in exchange. At least no one was in range of the dragon-turtle’s jaws at the moment. Maybe it won’t get anyone else before we make it inside the tower.
Nick knew that he was lying to himself. The beast was coming in hot, heading for the thickest part of the crowd, where progress was slowed by the thick press of bodies. The river king was going to kill dozens of people, possibly more, before everyone made it to an entrance, the beast’s bloodlust was sated, or it expired from its wounds.
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As bad as that was, it was going to be much, much worse if the creature had enough mana to unleash its fiery breath. Nick could only hope that its injuries were too serious to let loose the devastating cone of flame.
That was when he noticed that three people had turned around. They were heading back to engage the beast and delay it so the others could escape. It’s Kenji and Devin.
Horror rose within his breast as the realization of what was happening broke over him. His heart only sank further when he saw that Sophia was with them. He turned and looked at Veronica, who had come to the same grim conclusion.
“I’m going,” Nick said, as he tensed his body and prepared to leap off the wall. While risking his life for strangers was one thing, sticking his neck out to save his friends was another matter entirely. Besides, with those three fighting beside us, we just might have a chance.
“Fuck that. You’re on your own,” V said. “Don’t get me wrong. I like you guys, but I’m not dying for anyone.” But when Nick jumped down and hit the ground running, Veronica landed beside him.
The leather-clad woman kept pace as they began sprinting toward trouble instead of heading the other way. At least the crowd was thinning as the bulk of team Earth reached the tower and began circling around both sides. Grumbling protests all the while, he heard Veronica mutter to herself, “But I’m not ready to be alone again either.”
Not long after, Nick broke free of the crowd, eyes locked onto the profile of the river king’s shell. They should arrive at the fight within another few minutes, as long as he was willing to keep burning stamina.
He couldn’t afford to waste mana on force acceleration. Not if he wanted to be in fighting shape when he got there. His imagination ran wild as screams filled his ears, but Nick shut out his fear and kept on running. He had to reach his friends before it was too late.
Despite her declaration, Veronica looked just as worried, running by his side with a grimace on her face. Nerves alight with adrenaline, the pair raced toward danger, with an even greater threat looming on the horizon.
With the shadow hunt arriving immediately, they had to join the battle before the elite beast could overpower their allies, put the river king down, then make it back to the tower before the blackmist devoured them whole.
All the while, panicked people continued pouring into the tower. Some with fully formed parties, some with random strangers, more doors disappearing with every beat of his heart. Another exit vanished every time that his boots hit the ground.