Engin Meric stood atop the watchtower overlooking the village, his eyes focused on the distance where Ebonheim and the others had set off to seal the breach. The tempest that had previously subsided was now raging again, its fury even more intense than before. Lightning streaked across the sky as thunder rolled across the heavens, rattling the very earth underfoot.
His eyes, hard as flint, took in the havoc the elements had wrought upon his village. Homes half-submerged, grain stores ruined, the river swollen and wild. He had been working on fixing up the place with the rest of the villagers when the tempest had struck again and he had taken his place on top of the watchtower, watching the chaos unfold in silence as he waited for news of his goddess' return. Yet, he was no stranger to hardship. He knew resilience was the only response to such destruction.
An ear-splitting crackle of thunder rattled the watchtower as Engin watched, but he did not flinch. Instead, he gazed intently at the sky, his keen eyes seeking out anything that seemed to be out of place in this tumultuous storm.
“Engin!” a voice called out. Bjorn, towering and fierce as ever, marched to the base of the watchtower with his prized claymore at hand. "Elementals!" he shouted as he neared, "Swarming in from all directions!"
Engin snapped out of his reverie and began to bark out orders. "Get the men to gather near the village's edge! We need to get everyone together and prepare a defense!"
"Right!" Bjorn replied, hefting his claymore over his shoulder. "On it!" With that, Bjorn dashed off into the village, shouting orders to the guards and sending them scurrying to prepare the defenses.
Engin moved to stand on the highest edge of the watchtower's platform and watched as elementals burst from the forest all around the village. Bjorn was right. They were swarming everywhere.
Torrents of wind whipped through the main thoroughfare, shaking the thatched roofs of houses. Clumps of earth rose from the ground and hurtled aimlessly, shattering against stone and wood. Flames flickered ominously, consuming what they touched with an insatiable hunger. And water, inky and deep blue, snaked its way between homes, its surface bubbling with chaotic energy.
He climbed down from the tower's edge, descending the spiral staircase that led to the ground floor, the wooden steps creaking under his feet as he made his way to the ground.
"To the barricades!" He roared, his commanding voice ringing through the village. "We need to fend off these elementals! Keep them at bay while we await Ebonheim's return!"
Bjorn nodded and rallied the villagers. They took to the streets with haste, armed and ready to repel the invading elementals. Torrents of wind burst through the main street, sending debris and broken pots flying into the air with deadly force. Elementals flowed freely out from the forest, their forms shimmering with chaotic light and energy as they charged at the villagers.
With a heavy swing, Bjorn swung his claymore in a wide arc, cleaving through three elementals at once, sending chunks of them flying through the air as they dispersed into wisps of glowing light.
"Keep your guard up!" Bjorn roared, swinging his sword again, "Watch your backs!"
Guards and beastkin warriors fought the tide of elementals, their weapons flashing through the air in swift strokes and their bodies twisting and turning as they battled against the surging horde.
On the other side of the village, Argoran, the leader of the Aslankoyash tribe, stepped to the fore, swinging his obsidian blade through the air as he carved a path through the elementals with expert precision. He roared as he moved, his voice echoing through the village and ringing with a deep, authoritative voice. "Rally to me!" he bellowed. "Stand fast and fight!"
A vanguard of beastkin warriors leapt to his side, joining Argoran in his charge and bringing their weapons down onto the enemy with ferocious blows that sent elemental fragments scattering through the air.
Another boom sounded through the village, and everyone stopped fighting and turned their eyes to the direction of the blast.
Hilda and her Jixishan druids had joined the fray, their bodies glowing with a verdant hue as they wielded their own elementals to combat the invaders. They worked in tandem, keeping the elementals at bay while directing their allies to fight in various formations to hold them off.
"We must defend!" Hilda shouted, her eyes shimmering with an inner glow as she conjured a vortex of wind that pushed away a swath of elementals.
An earth elemental shot up from the ground, its body composed entirely of loose dirt and mud as it lunged towards Hilda with its sharp tendrils of earth. Hilda turned to face it, her eyes narrowing as she swung her staff in an arc and summoned a wave of water to wash away the elemental. It disintegrated with a roar, its body disappearing into a shimmering haze of light.
Fire elementals spewed forth from the sky, shooting flames down upon the villagers like arrows of light. Guards and beastkin warriors alike dove to the ground and rolled out of the way to avoid being set ablaze by the flames. A few managed to take cover behind their Ebonwood shields, their natural resistance to fire proving useful in fending off the attacks.
As the tempest of elements crashed against their fortifications, a sense of unity born of desperation gripped the defenders. They fought with a newfound urgency, their attacks more ferocious than before as they rallied to defend against the surging horde.
Engin clenched his teeth as he watched the village defenses waver under the onslaught. "We must hold out!" he shouted, his voice barely audible over the roaring tempest as he tried to rally his men. "Our goddess will return soon!"
Bjorn grunted as he struck down another elemental with his claymore, "No telling when that will be!" he replied, his tone strained. "We need to keep them off us!"
The winds howled, sending showers of leaves and debris into their ranks. Engin braced himself against the gusts, his eyes stinging as he looked for any villagers caught in the open. Spotting an elderly woman struggling against the wind, he sprinted towards her, wrapping his arm around her frail body and guiding her towards the relative safety of the nearest barricade.
"Stay strong, Maeryn," he encouraged, his voice carrying warmth that the cold wind couldn't strip away. The woman nodded, her eyes glinting with a quiet resolve.
As he turned to rejoin the front line, a roaring torrent of water rushed towards the barricades. Engin's heart pounded in his chest as he saw the wave, the watery leviathan barreling towards them like an angry sea.
"Brace for impact!" He yelled, rallying the villagers as he rushed back into the fray. The surge of water hit the barricades with thunderous force, but to his relief, they held. Engin's feet slipped in the muddy ground, but a firm hand grabbed him, keeping him upright.
"Easy now," Sven said with a grim smile. "Don't get yourself killed out here."
Engin shot his friend a nod of gratitude before turning to face the water elemental that now flailed on the other side of the barricade. "Not to be a bother, Sven," he began, "but could you take a few to take care of that?"
"What do you think I am? An Arcanist?" Sven asked with a snort. "If that blasted ol' recluse of one that's been hiding in his cabin all year long would appear once in a whi—"
Sven was interrupted as a fireball blazed past him, striking the water elemental dead center, and engulfing its form in a blaze of flames. A cloaked figure emerged from the foliage behind them; his hood concealed his features except for the scruffy white beard that spilled from underneath. Rain bounced off an invisible barrier around him, shielding him from the storm's wrath as he raised a hand, conjuring another fireball before hurling it at the water elemental, incinerating it in a wave of heat and light.
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Sven shot the cloaked man a glare and muttered under his breath, "About bloody time..."
Engin nodded to the old man. "Th'maine...you can certainly pick your moments," he said as he turned his gaze to the battle raging on beyond the barricade.
Th'maine glanced at him with his cloudy gray eyes before his gaze followed Engin's to the front lines. "The noise," he said, his voice raspy and aged as he spoke. "Got a bit more annoying than I'd like."
Engin shot Th'maine a small smile before turning back to the battle. "Fair enough. Glad you came out. We don't have any other Arcanists in the village except for you. We could use your help."
Th'maine shrugged in response. "Tsk," he grunted as he raised his hand towards a charging earth elemental. Th'maine's fingers curled into a fist, and his eyes flashed with an inner glow.
Streaks of light crisscrossed over the elemental's form, slicing it into cubic fragments that crumbled onto the ground. Th'maine nodded to himself and returned his hand to his side. "I expect adequate compensation for this," he said as he strode past Engin and made his way towards the front lines. "I'll let you know my terms later."
Engin shook his head, letting out a small laugh as he watched the old Arcanist walk away. Th'maine was certainly one to keep things simple and uncomplicated. As the old man disappeared from sight, Engin turned his attention back to the battle before him.
The defensive line was holding steady, but he knew they couldn't maintain the defense forever. It was up to Ebonheim to end this tempest. They had to hold out for as long as they could—hopefully, they would be able to buy enough time until she succeeds in sealing the Conflux.
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Ebonheim continued to lead the chaotic energies into the Keystone, her motions never wavering as she focused on her task at hand. It was taking too much time, but she couldn't let up now. The planar energies crackled with chaos as she led them into the Keystone. Tendrils of lightning shot out from its surface as its silvery glow grew brighter and brighter.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the gargantuan elemental returning—its flames blazing with a fiery red-orange hue. As its lumbering footsteps drew nearer, the sound of wood snapping and breaking filled the air, and the ground shook from its movements.
Serrandyl rushed past its legs, her form a blur of crimson as she darted around it in an effort to distract it again, but to no avail. Giving up on her attempts, she changed course and lunged at a small earth elemental, shattering it with a powerful kick—sending pieces flying through the air—before shouting at the group. "That big thing suddenly stopped chasing me and headed back here! What do we do?"
Thorsten cleaved through another elemental with his axe before ducking to avoid a gout of fire. "Keep distracting those other elementals!" he shouted at the soldiers as he swung his weapon around and hacked another elemental's head off with one swing. "We have to hold out until Ebonheim is finished! Serrandyl, you and I will distract that big one for as long as we can."
Serrandyl nodded, leaping through the air and spinning to avoid another fireball, before she rushed forward to engage the gargantuan elemental again. Thorsten followed suit while Lira and the other soldiers continued to fight against the rest of the elementals.
Ebonheim's body shuddered, and she let out a gasp, almost losing her balance for a brief moment as a bolt of lightning from an air elemental struck her divine aura. An earth elemental charged at her, but was swatted down by one of her sentinels, its broken body slamming into the ground with a sickening crunch before exploding into a pile of dirt and rocks.
With a grunt, she turned her focus back to the Keystone and continued to lead the energies into it, the silver crystal crackling with bright light as the energies surged and flowed like a raging river, her chants becoming more strained as she struggled to keep up with the rising energies.
She didn't like the idea of Thorsten and Serrandyl being the only ones to keep the gargantuan elemental distracted, but there was nothing she could do about that now—her focus was too absolute to allow her to break focus again to aid them.
Another explosion echoed in the distance, this time close enough to send tremors through the earth, and Ebonheim cursed to herself as she bit her lip and kept going. She wasn't there yet!
Another blast and then another, and the ground continued to shake like a frightened animal as the gargantuan elemental plowed through the forest and lashed out with its burning limbs, slamming against trees and reducing them to splinters while Thorsten and Serrandyl worked to keep it at bay.
"Woah!" Serrandyl exclaimed, her form blurring as she dodged another punch from the elemental's massive fist. "Thorsten! Got any ideas on how to knock this big thing down?"
Thorsten grunted as he sidestepped the elemental's stomp, his eyes fixed on its flaming body as he swung his axe around and hacked away at the elemental's feet, ripping a chunk of flaming earth off and sending it flying through the air before he shouted in reply, "I'm thinking!"
Ebonheim narrowed her eyes and let out a deep breath, forcing herself to concentrate despite the distractions around her, her fingers continuing to weave complex patterns through the air as she poured more and more energy into the Keystone. Lira and the others were holding their own against the smaller elementals. If that's the case...
She willed her trio of tree sentinels to attack the gargantuan elemental, and they dashed forward as one, their roots and branches ripping from the ground, sprouting spikes and sharpened limbs as they reared back and struck the elemental's flaming body with their limbs.
The elemental let out a roar, its limbs flailing about like firebrands before it turned its fiery gaze on the three trees. As one, the sentinels attacked, swinging their limbs at the elemental—who was now forced to deal with them while Thorsten and Serrandyl continued to distract it—and tore gashes into its body with their limbs, sending fiery debris flying into the air.
With a deafening roar, the fiery elemental swung its heavy arm, sending one of the sentinels flying and crashing against a nearby tree, its body burning as flames lashed at its bark and leaves. It hit the ground and crumpled into a pile of blackened ash before exploding in a shower of embers, showering the area with bright orange sparks.
The second sentinel held out against the elemental, exchanging blows with the gargantuan fist as its flaming limb came crashing down against the sentinel's torso. It held its ground, its oaken body lacerated and burned, but it continued to fight, its limbs striking against the elemental's body with powerful blows that sent flames and debris flying through the air.
Then, in a flash of bright light, the gargantuan elemental's fist reared back and punched through its tree sentinel's chest in a shower of flames and sparks, leaving a gaping hole where the sentinel's torso had been moments before.
The elemental roared, its form blazing with flames as it swung its arm around and hurled the remains of the sentinel like a discarded rag at Serrandyl, who darted out of the way as the remains pelted the ground at her feet.
The last of her tree sentinels was pinned against the gargantuan elemental's chest, the elemental's arm holding it in place as flames flared from its body, burning away its bark and leaving patches of blackened wood in its wake until the sentinel's form began to disintegrate into ash and embers.
Ebonheim grimaced as she felt the sentinels' energies fade, but she steeled herself, ignoring their loss as she kept focus.
As the gargantuan elemental turned to face her, Serrandyl stepped in again, a toothy grin on her face as she leaped into the air and delivered a powerful kick to its face, sending it reeling back with a roar.
"Hey, ugly!" Serrandyl taunted as she slid under its legs to avoid being grabbed, "Come and get me!"
Thorsten joined the fray, leaping into action as he cleaved through an oncoming elemental with his axe before rushing in to aid Serrandyl. "Here's something for you, oaf!" he shouted as he struck the elemental with his axe. A burst of magical energy accompanied each hit, sending shards of molten rock from its wounds blasting in all directions. "How's that for a taste?"
Serrandyl shot Thorsten a grin and rushed past him, a faint crimson aura enveloping her as she dived through the air and barreled at the elemental in a whirlwind of claws and kicks. With each impact, she left claw marks in its form, shredding its rocky flesh and leaving smoking wounds behind.
The gargantuan elemental raised its giant fist, but before it could strike, Thorsten threw his axe at its arm. As the weapon flew through the air, its blade glowed with a green hue, and the axe sped toward the elemental's arm with tremendous force. As the axe struck its forearm, a blast of green energy erupted from its impact point, sending the gargantuan elemental staggering backwards.
The axe fell to the ground with a metallic clang as the elemental stumbled, its fiery glow flickering for a moment as though doused by water. With a grunt, Thorsten stooped to pick up his axe and spun towards the elemental as it recovered from its blow.
"How much longer?!" Thorsten shouted, his voice strained and gruff.
Ebonheim clenched her teeth. "Almost there!" she shouted, her eyes never leaving the rift above her. "Just keep them off me for a little longer!"
The gargantuan elemental emitted another roar and raised its arms up in the air. Serrandyl and Thorsten both ducked as its giant fists came crashing down on them like giant sledges. It then brought its fists together, sending out a blast of super-heated air that swept across the clearing—evaporating the rain, and setting everyone ablaze.
"Ugh!" Serrandyl cried out, her skin burning as she rolled on the ground to put out the fire. "Dammit!"
Gritting his teeth, Thorsten pushed through the blast and leapt towards the elemental, slashing at its leg with his axe, causing another green explosion that sent the elemental reeling again.
The guards—thanks to the fire resistance granted by their ebon armor—were largely unaffected by the attack, but the beastkin warriors didn't fare so well. Several of them writhed on the ground from their burns while others gritted their teeth in pain as they fought through the flames.
Lira was among them—her face a mask of agony as she crawled towards the gargantuan elemental on her hands and knees.
"Lira!" Thorsten shouted, his voice booming over the tempest as he spotted her lying on the ground nearby. "Lira, are you okay?!"
Lira staggered to her feet, her body covered in burn marks as she let out a strangled cry. "I'll be fine..." she said, her voice strained as she tried to catch her breath. She clasped her hands together and murmured under her breath. A burst of verdant energy erupted from her palms, and pulsed across the area like a wave, soothing her allies' wounds and leaving a faint green glow where the healing magic had touched.
As Lira's healing washed over them, their burns disappeared, and they stood again, refreshed and ready to continue fighting.
Ebonheim felt a spark of hope well up in her chest as she saw them pull together. She returned her attention to the Keystone; only one more facet left to go. All she had to do was keep going—just a little more—and they could finally put this tempest behind them.