"Nephri, can you check the two beams that reached the water? See if there's anything important at either end."

"At once." Nephri slithered toward the coastline and dived underwater. Ebonheim stayed where she was to focus on deciphering the riddle.

A short while later, Nephri reappeared with news of what she'd found. "A coral reef lay at the terminus of the beam stretching beneath the waves. At its center rests a spherical stone similar in shape and size as the object within the obelisk. Three sentinels guard its vicinity."

Ebonheim perked up at the information. "Three sentinels? Like the ones we fought before?"

"Yes. Their ilk. Though they possess less formidable appearances than those conjured previously." Nephri paused before continuing. "Shouldst we attempt acquisition?"

Ebonheim sighed. "Great." She groaned and buried her head between her knees. "So we gotta fight 'em again, huh?"

"Thou doest not appear enthused with our current prospects."

Ebonheim rubbed her temple. "I really don't. Hopefully, those sentinels don't have the same ability to multiply as the last bunch we encountered. If they do though..."

"We must prepare for the possibility. However..." Nephri glided closer until she hovered directly above Ebonheim. "I doubt these guardians retain power equal to the first. These were smaller constructs, shaped to resemble simple crustaceans and aquatic fauna. The other beam leads to an undersea chasm where another sphere and its guardians await."

"Hmmm..." Ebonheim tapped a finger against her chin as she thought. "Then those five beams must all lead to artifacts needed to fuel the obelisk. And judging by the text I read...each artifact has something unique to contribute to the process. This is probably our chance to disable this thing before its countdown ends."

Nephri nodded slowly. "True."

Ebonheim stood up and stretched her body before taking a deep breath. "Can you take care of the spheres under the sea? I'll grab Syntris and drop him off to deal with one of the artifacts. Then I'll take care of the other two."

"As thee wish."

"There's probably a trick with those sentinels like last time. Try destroying them first, then the artifact. If that doesn't work, do the reverse. If that doesn't work, try luring them away from the artifact and repeat the process. Should work eventually."

"An adequate course of action. Well said. Let us proceed forthwith." Nephri slithered away, heading straight towards the shore.

Ebonheim closed her eyes, tapping into her divine storage to call upon Cephied once more.

The giant Aetherframe burst into being in front of her. Cepheid landed heavily on the sand with a resounding boom and rumbled eagerly. As always, the hum of machinery echoed within the frame.

She entered the cockpit and fired the ignition sequence. The Aetherframe roared to life, thrumming with power. She activated flight mode and blasted forward, arcing over the ocean in a rush. Using her divine sight, she searched for Syntris, finding him wandering through the jungle towards her location. She headed toward his direction.

Soon enough, she spotted his massive figure trudging through the foliage. He stopped and glared up at the sound of the approaching Aetherframe, leveling his broadsword in preparation. She brought Cephied to a hover several meters above the canopy and engaged the external speakers.

"No time to explain," she announced. "Get on! I'll drop you off somewhere to smash some stuff."

"Finally, some action," he grunted, sliding his sword into its scabbard on his back. He reached out and grasped Cephied's extended hand, clambering onto its arm and hoisting himself up into its palm. When settled, Ebonheim ascended into the clouds, bringing him high over the islands in the distance.

She followed the closest beam of light leading towards land to a small volcanic island with a single towering peak. An active caldera belched lava from its peak. There was nothing else notable besides the rocky slopes and barren cliffsides dotted with vegetation. Smoke billowed constantly into the air as molten lava poured down its sides into the surrounding sea.

Ebonheim landed the Aetherframe safely on the edge of the caldera. She dropped Syntris from a height, allowing him to freefall to the ground. He struck the ground with a loud crash, leaving a deep crater beneath him.

"Follow the light. You'll find a stone sphere and a few sentinels guarding it. Destroy everything you can until the job's done," she explained via the external speakers. "Think you can handle that?"

He turned to face her with a thumbs-up before lumbering forward into the volcano proper. Ebonheim took to the skies again and flew off.

She followed another light beam across the ocean. It led her over another large island covered almost entirely in tropical flora. Its geography consisted mainly of steep cliff faces jutting above the water. Thick vegetation grew rampant everywhere—even covering some of the cliffs themselves—forming a lush green carpet across its entire surface.

A small plateau sat isolated from the rest of the terrain surrounded by dense jungle. The light beam pointed directly to its summit. She descended until she spotted a strange formation atop the bluff. She activated a zoom lens to get a better look. It appeared to be a ring of standing stones forming a circle near the edge. She focused on the circle's center.

Sure enough, she spied another familiar object sitting within the arrangement. A tiny white sphere rested in the middle of the ring. Nearby, she spotted three metallic constructs patrolling around it in a protective formation. Each sentinel stood taller than a bear at full height.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

They bore the shape of something... avian, but grotesquely exaggerated. A bat perhaps?

Their wings stretched wide—far wider than any bird she had ever encountered, and they were made of segmented metal, each joint clicking noisily as the limbs moved. Sharp talons tipped each appendage. At the front of their elongated, serpentine neck, a narrow skull-like face jutted forward, ending in a long, pointed beak that snapped open and closed with a mechanical clatter. Their hind legs were short and angular, ending on sharp claws that scraped against the stone beneath as they paced around the stone sphere.

Ebonheim could tell they sensed her presence from the way they stared upward intently. Without hesitation, they spread their wings and launched into the air, heading straight towards her.

Oh boy. Here we go again.

She lifted Cephied away from the area and increased the throttle. The Aetherframe responded instantly and sped forward, leaving the three sentinels far behind. She circled back toward the plateau, aiming her sights at the sphere on the topmost section. It lay nestled between a cluster of giant boulders stacked atop one another. Its surface glowed with a bright blue light.

She accelerated and brought the Aetherframe to a dive as she drew closer, targeting the artifact with her energy beams. However, the moment she fired her first barrage, a honeycomb-structured barrier rippled across its surface. The force field repelled the blasts harmlessly away.

Okay, fine. Time for Plan B.

She shifted course and targeted the trio of incoming sentinels instead. They approached rapidly and swerved aside to avoid her initial strikes. One managed to get close enough to slam against her hull before flying past. Its impact jarred Ebonheim briefly before she recovered her bearings.

Once steady, she launched a second volley, hitting one squarely in the chest with an explosive blast. Its entire torso exploded in a shower of shrapnel and sparks. She followed with another shot aimed at the wingtip of the remaining two, but missed completely as they zig-zagged wildly in the air. Both avoided her attacks as they maneuvered around the Aetherframe in erratic patterns.

One sentinel banked sharply sideways into the Aetherframe's right flank, ramming hard against the hull before peeling away. Again, she shuddered slightly but remained stable within the frame's cockpit. The collision left behind a shallow gouge in the metal plating. The second sentinel crashed into her opposite side and pushed her to the left, causing Cephied to tilt wildly as it struggled to regain control.

After regaining equilibrium, Ebonheim initiated another attack pattern, shooting repeatedly at the nearest opponent while dodging the remaining foe. She targeted the damaged section of its body, scoring several direct hits. Each blast tore through its armored carapace and ripped open large gashes within its inner mechanisms. Black fluid oozed from the openings and splattered across the ground below.

At the same time, the third sentinel swooped over her head and slammed itself into the Aetherframe from above. Cephied rocked violently on its axis from the impact.

Ebonheim clutched tightly onto the controls as she attempted to counteract the unexpected motion.

Unfortunately, this caused her aim to go wide as she fired in reflex. The energy beam pierced harmlessly through empty space several meters away from the target. Before she could reacquire a lock, the two injured constructs dove past her defenses, forcing Ebonheim to break off to avoid taking further damage.

For a few minutes, they played cat and mouse in the air.

Ebonheim took advantage whenever they came into range and scored another hit or two. Bit by bit, she whittled them down, tearing away bits of armor and components in small chunks. Every now and then, a lucky strike hit a critical joint or vital system. Their movements became sluggish and uncoordinated. Eventually, they fell behind her trail as Cephied soared past their faltering forms.

As Ebonheim finished dealing with the sentinels, she flew Cephied back over the plateau, targeting the still-active stone sphere. Once aligned with its location, she launched a concentrated burst of energy directly into its core.

The blow connected, smashing through the protective shield surrounding the sphere. The ensuing explosion engulfed the entire plateau momentarily, lighting up the sky in an incandescent flash. A thunderous boom echoed across the jungle as dust clouds kicked upwards from the blast zone.

She circled low overhead to survey the results. Nothing remained except a charred crater where the sphere once sat. The three sentinels also lay shattered amongst the rubble.

"Well...that takes care of that one."

The job done, she rocketed away towards her next objective. She checked the clock to gauge how much time remained on the obelisk timer. Thirty minutes. Plenty enough time to finish this.

----------------------------------------

The last sphere crumbled into powdery ash after her attack. She let out a relieved sigh as she surveyed her work. Around her, the ruins stood silent amid a landscape of blackened debris. Smoke spiraled from piles of scorched metal scraps strewn around the area.

Satisfied she'd accomplished her task, she switched gears and flew away from the island towards the obelisk. On the way there, she picked up Syntris who already completed his portion.

The obelisk's countdown continued, slowly ticking down every second. Fifteen minutes remained on the clock. Ebonheim landed Cephied onto the beach beside the floating structure. She exited the Aetherframe's cockpit and hopped onto the beach.

Nephri glided overhead, returning from her own mission.

"How did things go?" Ebonheim asked without preamble as she approached.

"Successful," Nephri answered. "The process went smoothly for me. All objectives met without difficulty. Didst thee encounter problems?"

"Some," Ebonheim admitted. "They weren't too bad, though. Got a little messy near the end. Had to improvise."

"Were your foes overly powerful?"

"Not terribly. Just tricky." Ebonheim brushed her hair back. "Mostly though...I got lucky with timing."

Syntris stomped over to join them. "No one told me there'd be tricks to my part either. Wasted my efforts initially by attacking the sphere first before dismantling the guardians instead." He shrugged. "Did the job regardless. Now what?"

"Now we go to the obelisk."

Ebonheim jogged up to the obelisk's base. Its surface emanated heat, which caused the surrounding air to shimmer with distortion. The orb within its core still pulsed with energy, but its glow dimmed steadily. After another minute passed, the light faded completely. The runes disappeared from view, and its hovering motion ceased altogether.

Now inert, the whole contraption settled slowly to earth. Its bulk hit the sand with a loud crunch. Seconds later, the outer layer cracked apart along seams she hadn't noticed before.

The trail of Quintessence finally emerged into view. It streamed outward in a steady flow, splitting into three branches and drifting upward into the starry night sky. Ebonheim tracked their paths using her Divine Sight, watching closely as the energy flowed towards the fractal dimensions beyond the realm's boundaries.

"Looks like we'll have to split up again," she said aloud. "Seems like each one goes to a different place. Want to play rock-paper-scissors on who gets to pick the one they want to follow?"

Syntris and Nephri exchanged glances before turning toward her.

"Clearly your mind's been tainted from spending too much time with the mortals," Syntris grumbled irritably. "What an absurd suggestion."

"Fine. Sorry," Ebonheim apologized. "So which one do you guys prefer? Me, I'm curious about the one on the left."

"Very well," Nephri replied. "Thou mayest choose thine own path."

Syntris shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. Just toss me into one before you leave. I can't fly myself there."