Chapter 85: Fight the fear (Second Part)

Along our journey made of fear, doubt, but also bravery, we have cheated death too many times to count. We pushed our differences aside and joined forces to survive.

Slowly, we started to trust each other and were able to escape calamities one after the other.

Determination, experience, and luck played an equal part in our success, but none were enough this time.

*Bam*

Another explosion, like many others before, reached my ears, but the impact that followed was completely different. I just had enough time to catch Alianelle before being projected on the other side of the carriage. With Alianelle awkwardly held in my weak arms, and with only a hurriedly summoned earth magic to protect us, we had no other choice but to let the impact do its sinister job.

Another thunderclap-like noise made my ears ring in protest and my heart beat with fear. The creaking and tearing sound of the decaying wood all around me informed me that this old carriage only offered a symbolic resistance before giving up after too much torment.

Amid this deafening noise, the distant indignant roars of the Vrapy along with Walmir’s own screams of powerless rage reached me before being quickly drowned out.

With everything collapsing around me, all I could do was focus my magic to protect me and the unconscious girls in my arms from this unknown but devastating force ready to tear us apart.

That’s why I stubbornly focused my gaze on Alianelle’s pained face, trapped in her suffering and oblivious to the surrounding chaos.

I focused my entire will on this single thought.

This single wish.

To protect her.

My body was twisted and threatened to be snapped in half while blows fell all over my body making a dull noise each time it made contact with my too thin protection created from hurriedly summoned earth.

I focused for as long as I could and persevered long after my ears had stopped working normally. Even after my senses were unable to tell where the ground and the sky were anymore.

The violent impact on the grassy soil gave me a painful answer that knocked the air out of my lungs.

With Alianelle’s limp body still stubbornly gripped in my arms, my sensations all came back at the same time.

Pain was the first thing I felt and it reassured me, for I clearly remembered what it meant to not feel anything after this kind of accident. The unfortunate memory of my first encounter with a genuine Krath that swallowed an entire forest before using its remains to break my body was still fresh in my memory.

I gently pushed Alianelle to the side to sit down. My sense of balance still unreliable, I stayed on the ground to hurriedly inspect my body all around, for a wound too critical to ignore especially since I was without any miraculous potion to salvage irreparable damage this time. Fortunately, except for a few bruises and bleeding cuts, I was otherwise spared from any critical wound.

With unsteady legs, I stood up to inspect my friend for any potential wound, but she appeared completely unharmed, undaunted even by what had just happened. She had a few traces of blood on her clothes, but it was already impossible to tell if it came from one of my bleeding cuts or a wound already closed by her outrageous regenerative ability.

“Sillath!”

Jazor’s scream brought me back from my thoughts and made the relief I was feeling after seeing Alianelle safe melt like ice on a summer day.

I raised my eyes and looked around.

The carriage behind me was on its right side broken in half, almost ripped open like an eviscerated beast some could say. The only massive wheel remaining was aimlessly spinning making it clear that this part of the carriage had reached the end of its journey.

Fortunately, both the Vrapy and the open-aired back wagon appeared in a far better condition. The two Vrapy had already stood up with Walmir by their side without any apparent wound while the back wagon was on its side, but still with all its wheels intact.

Next to it, Ilan was firing long deadly slices of water magic from his sword and infernal tornados from his short axe, keeping all the nearby aggressive animals at bay for now.

Jazor, with Himara and Seth under his arms, had lost his axe, but except for rustled clothes and disheveled hair, he seemed otherwise unharmed as he made his way toward us.

It took me longer to realize where Paul was until I noticed his motionless, but apparently safe, body just behind Ilan. Considering that Jazor had obviously saved the two children, it appeared more than obvious that Ilan had protected him, something that I was sure would greatly displease Paul once he woke up.

If any of us could survive our current predicament.

My ears were still ringing and I was feeling a little dizzy when Jazor finally reached me slightly out of breath.

“Sissy, are you alright?” he asked with more worry in his voice than I had anticipated before putting the two children on the ground.

I ignored Himara’s tearful face as she looked at me with concern and simply nodded before forcefully dispersing the remaining fog clouding my thoughts after the shock with a vigorous clap on my cheeks.

All of us were safe, but none will remain that way for long. Too many lifeforms had surrounded us and our usual unstoppable way of fleeing was unusable. With his violent downpour of attacks, Ilan had given us time, but certainly not enough to lift the back wagon and reattached it to the Vrapy.

Even if it was possible, simply passing through the growing crowd of animals was not an option. Vrapy were known for their speed and almost unlimited stamina but they weren’t invulnerable. Even with our protection, it was pointless to hope that they would be fast and resistant enough to break through the various animals, magical or not, ready to tear us apart.

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No matter how I thought about it, there was only a single way out of this situation.

“Jazor, can you use your magic to get us out of here?” I hurriedly asked.

The dumbfounded look on my friend’s face didn’t reassure me, but fortunately, Jazor didn’t immediately deny the possibility of using the same magic that had allowed us to rejoin Alianelle when she was taken away by the Ryunno clan member.

With his hoarse voice, he quickly looked around before finally answering my desperate query.

“Four adults including me and four children… I never even dreamed of attempting something like that.”

“But is it possible?” I insisted while Walmir and Ilan slowly made their way toward us while repelling a growing number of assaults.

“As long as everyone can touch a part of my body, directly or not, it should be possible. But I won’t be able to lead us far and I will be completely defenseless for weeks to come,” he finally explained with reluctance written all over his face.

“As long as you can lead us out of this deathtrap, then it’s good enough!” I exclaimed without hiding the relief in my voice.

“But what will happen after that, Sillath?” he asked while stroking his beard in a now-familiar nervous movement.

“What do you mean?” I asked, taken aback by his sudden question.

“You will be the only one left to defend all of us,” he explained while lowering his voice so only I could hear him, not that it was really necessary considering the deafening noise the various magic, friendly or not, flying all around us made.

“If Walmir and Ilan decide to turn on us…” he started with worry and doubt written all over his face.

Although we had both chosen to team up and fight with Ilan and Walmir while risking our lives together, contrary to what Paul had thought, it never meant that any of us had blindly put our trust in them. Be it when we teamed up to fight or when we decided who we paired together to guard the carriage at night, our two groups always made sure to keep the balance of power stable between us.

With me alone to face both Ilan and Walmir, this delicate equilibrium will completely disappear if Jazor used this magic.

I understood and even shared his concerns, but I still interrupted him.

We didn’t have a choice anymore.

“We’re out of options, Jazor. I'll take care of them if things get out of hand.” I forcefully declared with all the confidence I could muster while looking at Ilan tearing dozens of animals apart with magic too fast for my eyes to register properly.

“Alright, sissy. Let’s do that. I already gave you my time after all,” he finally declared with more seriousness and solemnity than I ever saw on his face.

These words said with such emotion from a man used to light talks and jokes may appear devoid of any sense to anyone listening to our conversation. Seth and Himara just next to us were probably completely confused by these words Jazor only said to me once before.

After saving Alianelle, when we still had the illusion that it would be possible to rejoin a friendly and safe beastman camp to escape any investigation from the Ryunno clan, he gave me a delicate-looking hourglass that I thought was only to serve as proof of his identity to enter this camp. I didn’t realize the true nature of this gesture and the implications behind it.

This traditional artifact, created by his clan when he was born, was meant to follow him at every step of his life from his first until his last breath. An item even more sacred than it was precious that I tried to return to him a few days after meeting with Ilan and Walmir.

However, Jazor refused.

He gifted it to me and affirmed that he would only take it back once we were both safe.

‘I give you my time.’

With these few words as only explanation, he gave me a promise to cross all the incoming obstacles together.

To never betray each other.

This item, what it represented for him, and these few words were enough for me to understand what kind of promise it was.

Something unbreakable.

Something beyond trust.

A proof of brotherhood.

I couldn’t disappoint him or betray this kind of trust.

Whatever happens, I will make sure he sees the end of the road with me.

So, I simply nodded with my eyes plunged into his own.

I knew it was all he needed.

“Come here, slowpokes! Time to leave this damn place!” hollered Jazor in familiar, unrefined words that took me a while to understand in this world’s language.

Both Ilan and Walmir interrupted their violent downpour of magic to turn their attention toward Jazor.

Few words were necessary to convince them to retreat toward us even if it was clear that they had no idea what we had in mind.

Now wasn’t the time for explanation.

“Ahh!”

With a loud scream, Ilan gave a violent blow with his trustworthy and intimidating axe. As if the air itself was split open, a violent wind magic was released toward the incoming wave of animals only preceded by a screeching noise making my teeth grind together.

None of the various species fighting together to tear us apart were able to avoid it. As if they had hit a wall, the luckiest among them on the far sides were sent flying like dolls in a storm, while the ones unfortunate enough to be too close from him were simply cut in half or torn to shreds.

With a heavy breathing, Ilan used this short window of relief to rejoin us with Paul's unconscious body on his shoulder. Walmir didn’t hesitate to do the same.

“Everyone, touch a part of my body and whatever happens, don’t let go! And don’t touch my beard!” declared Jazor with a forceful voice.

Our group faced too many obstacles to let the lack of information about our strategy prevent us from reacting as quickly as possible.

In less time than it took to say it, we were all in position.

Seth and Himara both grabbed Jazor’s right leg while Walmir settled for a firm palm on his left shoulder with his only remaining hand. Ilan, with Paul on his shoulder, took Jazor’s right arm while I clenched his left with Alianelle’s hand tightly held in my other hand.

“Now or never, Jazor!” Barked Ilan while looking over his shoulder at the growling animals quickly reforming their ranks less than five hundred meters away from us.

I closed my eyes and tried to relax as much as I could in anticipation of the uncomfortable sensation I knew would come.

With Alianelle’s cold and limp hand in my tight grasp, I waited with bated breath for the magic that would save us. Jazor concentrated and started to gather an impressive amount of mana. Only a few seconds later, I started to feel the soil under my feet soften. With this sensation alone it was impossible to discern if we were fusing with the earth or simply sinking into it, but I knew it meant Jazor’s magic was activated.

However, the uncomfortable sensation I waited for didn’t come.

I snapped my eyes open as soon as I felt my feet return to their previous state.

“Jazor?” I asked, baffled, not believing what was happening.

The sweat pearling on his forehead along with his uncontrolled breathing, and his eyes round with shock were more than enough for everyone who had placed their hope in him and his magic to understand and despair at his failure.

“What’s wrong?” hurriedly asked Walmir while Ilan had already unsheathed his sword and axe, ready to once more face our foes.

“So it’s impossible?” I asked distraught while making my head work overtime to find another solution.

“It’s not…” he surprised me with his answer and before I could ask for more details, he pointed a shaking finger at the source of his failure.

Alianelle.