A day later, Syllis and her companions found themselves sitting in front of the chief of the wall.

Vernim sat with an indistinguishable look on his face. “Why are you four here?”

“Because we have something to tell you about,” Clyde said.

“It couldn’t wait a few hours?” Vernim asked. “The taran are going to begin raiding our Abyssia in an hour!”

“Your Abyssia,” Syllis said, her face serious. “We have a feeling you’re going to want as much time as possible.”

“Hmph,” Vernim scoffed. “Out with it then,” he said, noticing their uncomfortable demeanor.

Clyde briefly glanced at his teammates. He looked to Korman, Aura, then Syllis. Only once he had received a terse nod of acknowledgement from each of them, did he speak. “We’re leaving the wall.”

Vernim raised his brows slightly. “Alright, when?”

“Tonight,” Clyde said with great resolve. “We know it’s sudden—”

“Sudden!” Vernim yelled. He stood and made angry gestures as he continued. “You think this is sudden!? A week’s notice would be sudden. In that time, I would at least get a shipment of elmannise. You four though, one of the pillars of this wall. It would take two weeks to send notice and receive enough soldiers!”

Syllis scrutinized Vernim inwardly. What sort of leader would lose his composure so easily? ‘Or is it that he loses his composure for the sake of his people?’

“You’ll survive, Vernim” Syllis said. “Your wall will survive without the four of us.”

“You can’t just wait another week!?” Vernim yelled again, especially furious.

“We can’t,” Aura said.

“We’re losing our window to escape before the suns split again,” Korman said.

‘Ah.’ Syllis thought. She had indeed noticed how Aura and Korman had grown closer over the course of the last couple months. They had longer conversations, Korman spoke his mind more often and Aura stopped talking to Clyde as much. ‘He’s been trying to open up more… to match Aura’s disruptiveness.’

The secare nymph smiled. She did not know whether she should find that aspect of their relationship endearing or a problem. If Korman stopped being the calm, reserved, counterpart to Aura, then someone else would have to take the part.

“That again…” Vernim said, knocking Syllis from her thoughts. “Ehtis told me of the priests’ absurd theory. Are you four, the origin of that nonsense?”

“Nonsense?” Aura asked.

“Right, nonsense,” Vernim said. “Very well, be on your way tomorrow. We don’t need lunatics on the wall, no matter their sheer ability. Even if there were fifty copies of each of you, what use is there in lunatics? Pure lunacy will only get my people killed.

“Perhaps your flying creature killed Hlorndt because of just that, lunacy,” Vernim finished. He emphasized flying creature, hinting at a deeper understanding of the matter.

Syllis looked to Aura, as did Korman.

Aura had grit her teeth together and smiled awkwardly. She seethed underneath. “We’ll be off then.”

The four of them left the room and furious Vernim. They began to cross the length of the wall, making their way to the staircase.

Finally, mere minutes before the taran were slated to begin their assault, they had arrived at their post. They were stationed beside Hiolo’s group. All five of them greeted Syllis and her companions as they approached.

Syllis applauded the elmannise sense of time. They could be heard as they started to charge the length of the abyss. She had long wondered how the elmannise could tell time in Abyssia. She herself felt so distanced from the sun that it was impossible for her to make reasonable estimations of time without outside factors. Such as how many times she slept or how many times the flames flickered at the entrance to the sky chasm.

After days of wondering on her own she had asked Hvenn after their feast yesterday. He explained how the elmannise vision gradually darkens to allow them to sleep at night before gradually brightening as the sun rises. Due to their heightened senses they understand every increment and can separate time by that.

The volleys of brimstone arrows began to descend upon the taran. They were a warning, and a warm welcome.

‘Very warm…’ Syllis thought. She had participated in over sixty battles at the foot of the wall, yet she marveled at the brimstone flames every time. The blue twisters danced and swirled in the air like exotic dancers, hired for upper-class events.

After all of the volleys had been fired and the taran neared. Both Syllis and her companions, as well as Hiolo’s team fought against the hoard. There were many regular and amplified taran. They were not too great a threat. If Syllis had been heavily corrupted, then they could be one.

This was a sort of paradox though as the amplified and regular taran could not greatly affect her sanity and by extension corruption. She only needed to use a conjured spear to dissect them. Because of this, Syllis continuously looked to the entrance of the chasm. The regular and amplified taran would need to fight in conjunction with something greater, a titan.

There was a sinister feeling. Every time she looked ahead expecting to see a couple titans and they had never appeared. This feeling began to well up within Syllis, settling at the bottom of her stomach, still full from the night before.

"The analysts predicted four titans,” Syllis said. “Where are they?”

“We don’t know,” Hiolo said from the left. “There have never been less titans than they’ve predicted.”

“Less?” Syllis asked.

“That’s right,” Hjiull said. “Lazy bunch over there… They give up halfway through their search and leave the ‘undiscovered’ to tear us apart.”

“Used to be lazy,” Doroil corrected Hjiull. “They’ve been especially astute these past couple months. It makes me wonder if something happened…”

“Regardless,” Hiolo said. “There will be at least four titans.”

As soon as Hiolo finished, a large roar sounded. Carving through any other noise. Blood gushing didn’t make a sound, the cries faded into the background and the last words of elmannise were cut short—not that there were many with the lack of titans.

“Number one…” Clyde said.

‘I understand why he’s awestruck…’ Syllis' thoughts trailed out as she stared at the hulking monstrosity. It was much larger than any titan she had seen before. No, perhaps it was more suitable to give it a different name. ‘A behemoth.’

This behemoth was not as simple as the titans. It was over fifty percent larger and had more distinguishable features. Intricate white teeth that looked to be carved from stone. Pink eyes, formed from mushy organs with black pupils at the center. Tar-black wings that had more detail than normal. There were discernible ridges and that was only from Syllis’ view. If she were closer, they would certainly look even more interesting. It had four arms with many joints, allowing for extraterrestrial movement. Its legs—or what should have been—were essentially an amalgamation of vines, like an octopus with its legs tied together in a sort of bow.

‘How does it even walk?’ Syllis thought. The beast turned, directly facing the center groups. ‘What a creepy smile…’

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“We’ve got a problem!” Aura called out from the backlines. She ran up to the front line.

“What is it?” Clyde inquired.

Aura looked around before leaning into Clyde’s ear. Syllis followed, standing close enough to hear. “This titan is using the abyss in the same way the elmannise are!”

“What!?” Hiolo called out, his superior hearing allowed him to hear the faint whisper.

“Hold on, Hiolo,” Aura urged him, while continuing to whisper into Clyde’s ear. “Let me finish speaking before you refute. You can’t alert the other teams. It will instill chaos.”

Hiolo stood motionless for a moment.

Syllis understood how hard of a concept it was for him to grasp. She herself was shocked upon hearing the information. But she was not an elmannise. She had not been a follower of Abyssia for years, earning the right to shape it to her will.

‘Deities are somewhat irrational. What kind of god gives gifts to its followers and then to the enemies of those followers. What do they gain from that carnage? They only lose their devotion.’ Syllis thought. Perhaps she was too young, too inexperienced, or too weak to understand. ‘Maybe once I transfigure more anathema. Then will I finally understand? Would I make the same choice if I was presented with it?”

Hiolo nodded tersely.

“Those wings,” Aura said. “They have the same ‘waves’ rolling across their surface as the abyss. They act as two shields essentially.”

“What do we do?” Hiolo asked, stepping in towards Aura and whispering.

The back line briefly exchanged spots, defending them as they discussed. They talked about various solutions, but only one shone through among them. It was coincidentally the most difficult plan for Syllis and her companions. But to save the wall, they were willing to do a lot.

For the place that gave them hope again. They had made friends and ate—decent enough—food. They were given gifts and were revered for their ability. They were able to take a couple months to collect their feelings. The flame within each of them was slowly fanned back to health. Aura was somewhat reluctant. However, through her friendship with Hiolo’s squadron that reluctance was quickly dismissed.

“Alright, let’s kill this behemoth, everyone,” Clyde whispered.

They fought off the taran as normal. This was until the behemoth entered their immediate area. Once it posed a threat, the taran would try to sneak past, they were crafty. This was when they planned to deal with it, while the back line dealt with the droves of taran flanking.

There was a pressing issue, the other titans had not shown up yet. ‘Where are they?’ Syllis continuously found herself wondering, until she was greeted by the behemoth. Then, there was no time to think about the three missing titans.

The ground shook violently. It almost seemed to yell out, threatening to shatter under the pressure of two of the behemoths' large arms.

Syllis had previously been shaken deep by her first titans large form and force. This though, was on an entirely separate plane from that. She did not even have complete confidence in their plan. This was the first time since they had arrived at the wall and she had killed her first titan.

The monstrous arms sliced into the floor like a knife through butter, despite their appearance which had not seemed sharp. If it could cleave the abyss, it could cut clean through a person with the slightest movement. Not that it mattered, the impact would kill first.

Hiolo, Clyde, and Hjiull ran towards the beast. They dodged several blows that spelled certain end for them, should they have even gotten even grazed.

The beast shook, furious not at the people, but its own inadequacy to vanquish them. Pink pus seeped from its eye lids. An extraordinary amount, large enough that it could fill a home in a few seconds. Its only semi-fluid state causes it to fall into small pools on the ground.

“Ready for this?” Syllis asked, turning to face Korman.

“I’ve been thinking,” Korman said, cleaving the lives of several taran. “What could be at the end of the chasm? Will there be beasts, stronger and faster than this thing?”

“Probably,” she answered. “That’s why we have to deal with this thing, right? So that we can see and hopefully escape.”

“Right.”

Syllis began to form to conjure two ice javelins. They materialized within the air, just below both of her hands. She condensed them into the tightest state she could. They needed to pierce the skin of that behemoth, after all. Not only that, they needed to tear through enough innards to kill the abhorrent thing. It had taken her near ten minutes to finish both colossal javelins. They were nearly twice as large as she usually constructed them.

“Is that fine?” Syllis asked Korman.

“This thing might be denser than any of the metal weapons in Asanoch. The weight is perfectly distributed as well. Maybe I should have asked you for one of these sooner. Our battles could have gone much smoother…” Korman said, praising her. “So yes, it's great.”

“Great!” Syllis said, “because I couldn’t change it again anyways. Unless you wanted to wait another—however long that was.”

“I think I’m fine…” Korman said, tossing this javelin up and down a couple times.

“Squad Hiolo! Squad Boorne!” Syllis yelled. These were their predetermined names. “It is time to execute.”

With Syllis giving the command. Both squadrons began to move. While Syllis and Korman fled to the left and right sides of the behemoth, the squads moved to form a diamond shape.

Hdoroil was standing at the top. His incantations were destructive, killing anything in their vicinity. It was problematic for him to be anyway but the front lines.

Aura was in the back. She was commanding both of her large, ephemeral crows. Under the constant stress of battle, she had nearly managed to learn to control both simultaneously. Although, she had made no progress on one of her crows moving autonomously.

Hvenn and Hfenia were to her left and right. They were her protectors and prevented taran from making it past. They had better perception and senses than even Hiolo and Hjiull making them perfect for withstanding flank attacks.

Though, it was only a matter of time until they would be overwhelmed. It was inevitable they were doing the work of two squads with under half the usual people. The hope was for the behemoth to be dispatched quickly, so that they could regroup before any taran made it past.

Syllis had cleaved through many groups of anathema and amplified on her way to her destination. The entire time, she was solely focused on the behemoth. There was no telling what it could do. She had learned her lesson from her first two titans and even several after that. Fables are unpredictable and their creatures embody that aspect.

The secare nymph had arrived at her destination. She cleaned the area of any lingering taran and made sure that no more were coming. The battle had dragged on for at least an hour by now. This made Syllis even more skeptical over the three missing titans.

On the positive side, it meant that no more taran would be entering until these missing titans had. Which gave her the opportunity to prepare.

Syllis had chosen the locations of herself and Korman precisely for this reason. They could not be distracted. Their plan required the utmost concentration. They only had one chance. If they messed up, then they would need to figure out another plan—quickly.

Eventually, after at least ten minutes of waiting, the wings were brought backwards. This was the beginning of the execution. Clyde and Hiolo were to attack the creatures' back left and right sides, pulling the wings towards them. Hjiull was merely a distraction at the front.

Syllis readied herself. She took in deep breaths before beginning to manifest waves of icy blue. She and Korman had already communicated their timing. They were to each throw their javelins fifteen seconds after the wings were pulled back to their apex. There were flaws in such timing but it was the best they could do.

The waves of icy-blue grew and began raging. Then, Syllis stepped on top and was carried around. Her momentum increased, culminating at the perfect moment. Syllis threw her arm forward, utilizing most of the speed before letting go of the javelin.

The icy-blue javelin looked like a blur as it pierced through the pitch-black abyss. It made a whistling sound before—seconds later—piercing through the side of the behemoth.

It made a large roaring sound and began to flail wildly. It shook the stone upon which it stood, throwing anybody within one hundred meters tumbling to the ground.

Clyde, Hiolo and Hjiull desperately moved to avoid the creature's own desperation. Its arms were violent and especially quick at this moment, in its last couple minutes.

Swoosh! The pink organs that made up its eyes cried out more of itself. Compared to the oozing of pus from earlier. This was now like an ocean being released from both the eyes and its sides where the javelins had entered. It threatened to consume all that was in its path and the weight of it would make that true.

‘Damnit.’ Syllis did not want to use too much of her sanity the day before they were to head into the abyss.

“Clyde, Hiolo, Hjiull!” Syllis yelled out to them. “Run towards me!”

The three men followed her instructions. They quickly ran towards Syllis, almost being overtaken by the waves of pus. Then a wall of icy-blue closed, encasing them entirely. The men within all breathed sighs of relief.

As Syllis ran back to help Aura and the rest, she looked at the front of the behemoth. Both of her javelins—thrown from her and Korman—had pierced through the side of the behemoth and were now cutting through the eyes of its fallen corpse. The scene looked grim.

Syllis reunited with Aura and the rest only to see that Korman beat her to it. She looked around in confusion. No taran were left, they had all been killed.

Every single squadron held their weapons down to their sides and cheered. The corpse of the behemoth stood like a monument of victory and the three missing titans showed no sign of entering. Besides, if they had entered at this moment, the four suns’ flames would have brought them close to death.

The battle was over.

“Good job, Syllis, Korman,” Aura said. She gestured for them to come closer. Once they did, she pulled the both of them into a warm embrace. “It almost pains me to leave this place but we must return.” Tears ran down her cheek as she let them go.

“Yes, we must return,” Korman said.

Syllis turned away from the both of them and towards the behemoth. A warped grin formed on her face before she widened it herself.

‘That thing… is four titans.’ Syllis realized. ‘Four titans, slaughtered. In less than ten seconds!’ She began to laugh crazily.

This time, it was not due to corruption, leeching away her sanity. Syllis had retained nearly the entirety of her mind. Only relinquishing about five percent of it to Coryzan.

This was just who she was. These were the effects of the thrill of battle, the ecstacy, the rush. The result of her sheer destructive capabilities, a flawless execution.