Pushing even more power into Ignition, Kyle exploded into action. There was no time to stop and think, only time to act. In a movement that took the shrike by surprise, Kyle leapt with all his might directly toward the cave’s ceiling. The beast retaliated with a quick slash that grazed Kyle’s cheek, but before the follow-up attack could come, Storm Shelter was already blooming to life.
Kyle’s momentum wasn’t dangerous on its own, but the rapid expansion of his defensive skill certainly was. Over the past months, Kyle trained diligently to use Storm Shelter in rapid succession for situations exactly like these. Gritting his teeth through the strain in his mana network, he forced the shield into shape, smashing the suspended shrike against the cavern’s ceiling with incredible force.
The barrier fell apart almost as quickly as Kyle called it into being, but it was enough. The stunned shrike didn’t have time to react as Parasitic Resonance closed the distance, finishing its work before Kyle fell out of range back to the dark floor below. As he descended, a single thought crossed his mind. Maybe I should have taken a moment to think about the landing.
Even braced for the impact, he landed clumsily, causing his ankle to twist painfully. Fortunately, he was able to mend the injury quickly, but it cost him a precious second to gain his bearings. As Kyle turned toward the sealed mouth of the tunnel, he saw Ver’ah take a nasty cut across his chest, returning the blow with a strike of his own. The ground between them was spattered with blood, a macabre painting they added to with every moment.
Hanastrel was still where he’d left her, throwing a constant stream of shadowy blades at the retreating shrike to buy Ver’ah more time. A tendril of Parasitic Resonance reached out, channeling Healing Impetus into the troll as Kyle moved to assist. Ver’ah saw the motion and shook his head, parrying an attack from the shrike.
“Hanastrel and I can handle this one! You need to get to Drokh!”
Before Kyle could argue, the troll released the defensive skill on his shield, sending a blast of force through the stony blades that barred the tunnel. Another person with a shield bash, Kyle noted.
“Go!” Ver’ah shouted.
Snapping out of his observation, Kyle gave the duo one final look. Hanastrel still had severe damage, even if her condition wasn’t currently life-threatening. Ver’ah was bloodied, covered in wounds from head to toe. Yet neither showed the slightest inkling of doubt or hesitation as their attention focused on the shrike before them.
It wouldn’t be too difficult to take down the remaining shrike with Kyle’s help, but it would take precious time in a fight where every second counted. Their leader was in danger, and Kyle was in the best position to help. Kyle gave a silent nod toward them as he moved toward the tunnel, a show of respect for their resolve. They had a hard fight in front of them, and he hoped they would come out on top.
All worry about Hanastrel and Ver’ah was cut off as Kyle saw mana flowing into the stone tunnel, attempting to seal it off with another wall of earthen blades. Barely sidestepping the first spire as it erupted from the ground below, Kyle found himself barely a half-step ahead of the grinding stone.
Kyle swore as he felt the mana change course, courtesy of Identify and Auric Perception. Rather than sealing on the far end, the shrike was now trying to trap him in the middle of the tunnel. He’d been able to thwart other attempts in the past, but this was the first time he was confronted by simple, physical stone. A lot of stone. That… would actually work really well. A nervous chill crept into him at the thought.
With a forcehammer baton in each hand, Kyle channeled mana as he began to swing, releasing kinetic blasts directly ahead into the encroaching stone. Pieces of some spires were broken and blown away, but they were growing faster than Kyle could break them apart. He could see the mouth of the tunnel opening into another cavern just ahead, though it was closing fast. He winced as a blade of stone slashed the bottom of his foot. He was slowed by a step, and then 2. Panic began to grip him as his attacks grew more frantic.
[YOU MAY WANT TO ACCELERATE, DR. MAYHEW.]
“I know, C.H.A.D.D.!” Kyle yelled, an intrusive thought worming through his mind. I won’t make it in time. Just as despair began to sink in, a bright light surged across the opening, followed by shaking thunder.
The stones in the hallway stopped growing in the wake of the mighty attack. It was just what Kyle needed. Resuming his attack with renewed gusto, he broke free of the tunnel and entered the wider cavern. It was unrecognizable from the cave they’d walked through just minutes earlier, sharp spikes of stone protruding from every surface, with massive scorch marks lining the walls. Then his eyes fell on Drokh.
The ogre was bleeding from several large puncture wounds in his torso, and missing his left leg below the knee. Blood spattered and stained the stone around Drokh, even as the lightning coursing through his body courtesy of his boosting skill burned him away from the inside. The smell of cauterizing flesh filled the cavern, a testament to the desperate move Drokh was forced to make. When Kyle saw the form of the shrike opposite him in the cavern, he understood.
Kyle expected to see the lithe, lean forms that he’d grown accustomed to, maybe with some slight variation. C.H.A.D.D.’s rough scans painted a similar picture, reinforcing that expectation. They were both wrong. The creature standing before them was a juggernaut, a stone-clad monstrosity that nearly filled the other end of the cavern on its own.
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The alpha was the size of a tyrannosaurus, at least 15 meters long and half again as tall. Its body was encased from head to toe in slate gray rock, its legs literally melded into the cavern floor. As Kyle regarded the creature’s featureless face, a thought struck him. It’s like it’s piloting a mech. The shrike’s body was encased in an armor of mana-rich stone and earth. Wicked blades protruded from the stone construct’s long arms, and Kyle interposed himself between it and Drokh as a barrage of sharpened stone flew out from its chest in a storm of shrapnel.
Storm Shelter sprang to life as Kyle activated Healing Impetus, stabilizing some of Drokh’s injuries. The bleeding visibly slowed, but before he could say anything a blade of stone erupted from the ground between them, forcing Kyle away from the ogre. Lightning surrounded Drokh as he began to float, growling as he flew toward the alpha. “On me!”
So much for a ‘thank you,’ Kyle thought, following the ogre’s order. The chamber shook as Drokh released another blast of lightning, leaving nasty scorch marks across the shrike’s stone armor as pieces chipped away. It was a visually impressive display, but Identify told Kyle the truth. Hardly any of the power actually made it through the armor, most of it being drawn straight into the cave floor below.
Drokh seemed unbothered as he avoided impaling spikes from above, releasing another bolt at the shrike. This one left a visible crack on the armor covering the creature’s left arm, which it promptly swung at Drokh and Kyle. If the usual attacks from the shrikes were spinning buzzsaws of tiny blades, this was a brutal cleaver, aiming to crush them as much as slash.
While the attack’s speed was impressive, Kyle and Drokh dodged easily, Kyle below and Drokh above. Kyle barely heard the pained cry over the sound of the scythe of stone crashing behind him, and he glanced up to see Drokh captured in a web of stone. Leaping on instinct, Kyle felt the cavern floor beneath his feet shift, just a moment too slow to catch him.
Hearing Drokh cough above him, Kyle refocused his attention on the alpha. The mana in its armor hadn’t changed, but with the help of Auric Perception, Kyle could barely make out a fluctuation in the mana inside the stone casing. It’s trying to conserve, Kyle realized. Of course, given the scope of what it had done in this short time, Kyle shouldn’t have been surprised. If it wasn’t for Ignition continually supplying him with atmospheric mana and draining the shrikes, he’d have been running low on mana too.
Then, the shrike moved. Rather, the stone armor did. It began to slide forward along the ground as though it was on a conveyor, aiming to crush him. Kyle almost activated Storm Shelter in a show of defiance, but stopped when Synaptic Barbs detected a shift in the ground behind him. The stone seemed to ripple, just slightly, as an earthen lance moved to impale him from behind. Instinctively, he vaulted to his right, narrowly avoiding the speeding shrike as it rammed the earthen blades head on, the stone simply being absorbed into its armored shell.
It used its momentum to spin on the ground, face him, and charge again. Kyle dodged once more, even though he didn’t feel anything behind him. As it rushed past, Kyle reached out with tendrils of Parasitic Resonance, and his fears were confirmed. The stone, being inorganic, had no mana network for his skill to infiltrate. Despite all of his training to control Parasitic Resonance, he’d never thought to develop methods against armored opponents like this.
If Drokh was right about the creatures sharing a hunting instinct, there was no doubt that the alpha had at least some sense of the danger posed by Parasitic Resonance. Its solution was a good one – if the enemy can kill with a touch, be untouchable. Of course, that wasn’t a sustainable answer. After all, even if it sealed in some air, it would need to breathe eventually. The question came down to whether or not the alpha would be able to kill Kyle and his companions before that need became critical.
Another wet cough from above told Kyle that Drokh had a lot less time than he did. He reached out with Parasitic Resonance and delivered another Healing Impetus for good measure. He could buy time for the ogre, but more specific treatment would be necessary, and soon. And not just for him, Kyle thought. Hanastrel and Ver’ah were in rough shape, too.
That simple realization was all Kyle needed for clarity to wash over him. If his escort died, he would fail the job. The impact to his reputation would be significant, with Suierrillax and Jarberry also facing some backlash. What’s more, he hated the idea that he was being used as a pawn by somebody on Er’Mithren pulling the strings. Whether it was the Council or D’Oillelat, somebody was going to answer for what they’d done. It was time for Kyle to put some more of his cards on the table.
The alpha charged him again, and this time Kyle leapt backwards over the emerging blades of stone as he activated Storm Shelter. The whole cavern trembled as the creature smashed into the barrier, the raw force of the impact sending small spiderweb cracks across both the barrier and the armor of stone. With the shrike’s momentum halted, he deactivated the skill. It was the opening he was looking for. “C.H.A.D.D., now!”
C.H.A.D.D. didn’t hesitate. Vines erupted from the C.H.A.D.D. pack, lashing toward the shrike’s head with the speed and precision of the stranglevines they’d encountered. However, instead of barbs and acid, these vines carried a different payload: seeds. Thousands of seeds the size of grains of sand were deposited into the cracked armor before the shrike could repair it, sealed within the stone casing. Still, C.H.A.D.D.’s attack wasn’t over. Kyle felt another surge of energy emanate from the pack as C.H.A.D.D. activated the unusual formation formed by the endless coil of twisting vines.
There was a flash of gold that was visible within the cracks, and suddenly coiling vines and twisting roots began emerging from inside the shrike’s armor, tearing open new furrows and deepening cracks. The alpha let out a pained cry as blades of mana flew out in every direction, slashing away the plant life before it could rip into its flesh.
Kyle grimaced as he failed to deflect all of the attacks; deep gashes opening up on his arms and thighs while his armor was scored over a dozen times. Despite the pain, Kyle pressed forward, tendrils of Parasitic Resonance surging into the now deep cracks in the alpha’s armor. And then he felt a connection as his skill took hold. The stone armor fell away, and Kyle’s eyes met the shrike’s hateful yellow gaze. Then its eyes lost focus, and it slumped forward, still supported by the thick stone encasing its legs. The shrike alpha was no more.