The warriors charged all at once, their crystalline armor shimmering with the pulsing energy of the undead crystal behind them. They moved with terrifying speed and precision, a blur of deadly motion that overwhelmed us in seconds.
I raised my axe to block the towering warrior’s katana, but the force of the blow nearly sent me to my knees. He was so strong! I thought, certainly too strong for me, but I had strengths of my own. I tried to throw him off balance with a telekinetic shove, but his sheer weight limited the effectiveness. Next, I focused on projecting fear, hoping to disrupt his attacks, but it only slowed him for a heartbeat before he swung at me again.
Beside me, Maya darted forward with uncanny speed and began attacking landing blow after blow on the smaller warrior. Her short swords flashed, slicing through the gaps in his crystalline armor. Yet, the actual damage she did was negligible, the warrior’s armor seemed to absorb much of the damage. She grunted in frustration, her strikes connecting but not doing enough.
Elyria, standing a few paces behind, strummed her lute, her voice rising in a desperate attempt to bolster us. She played a magical tune, meant to rally us and weaken the enemy, but the dark energy surrounding the warriors repelled it, the song’s power dimming in the face of their countermeasures. Her face tightened in worry.
The battle was not going well. The hulking warrior swung his katana again, the edge grazing my shoulder. Pain seared through me, but the damage it did was more than just physical, there was a pulse from the blade, and I felt myself grow weaker, more sluggish, as though it was leeching energy from my body with each strike. My limbs grew heavier, something was draining me.
Elyria’s fingers danced across her lute, she was casting something now. In the moment I thought how nice it would be to know what she was doing, perhaps I could use my abilities to sense her intentions, something to think about if we survive. In response to her song, Maya’s movements became faster, suddenly she was a blur of blades and arrows. Her enhanced speed was a help no doubt but still it felt like we were barely keeping the warriors at bay. The relentless barrage of strikes was wearing us down, and there was an energy that appeared to be coming from the crystal that made every second of the fight more draining.
“We can’t keep this up!” I shouted, ducking beneath another swing from the katana-wielding brute. My body ached, my vision swimming from the constant barrage of attacks.
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Almost in response to my call, a loud banging echoed from below, interrupting the chaos of the fight. The sound grew louder, shaking the floor beneath us. The crystal warriors didn’t falter, but I could hear something coming. Probably something worse, I thought.
Suddenly, the stairwell burst open, and a horde of zombies poured into the room. The floor trembled under the weight of their rotting bodies as they swarmed into the chamber. It looked like they were all here. Without thinking I yelled, "Fight harder, before we are overhelmed!"
Elyria, her voice strained with panic, cast a spell that I recognized as a charm, she was trying to turn the zombies to our side, great idea! I thought as she started strumming her lute to cast the spell. But as the notes filled the air, she winced and made eye contact with me. “It didn’t work!” she shouted, her voice filled with disbelief. “They’re resisting!”
I braced myself, expecting the zombies to tear into us any moment, but the attacks did not come. Instead, they surged toward the crystal warriors, clawing at them with rotten fingers and decayed limbs. I blinked in confusion. "Why are they helping us?"
Maya, panting from exertion, didn’t miss a beat. "Who cares? Just fight! With their help, we can take them down!"
Chaos erupted in the room. The zombies threw themselves at the crystal-armored warriors, clawing and biting, their decayed forms crashing against the warriors like a tide. For a moment, the pressure on us lifted as the undead shifted focus. But the crystal’s energy pulsed, radiating through the room, and I could feel it seeping into my bones, weakening me even as the zombies fought the warriors. The regeneration from my tattoo was trying to respond but it was not strong enough.
Elyria, always quick to adapt, cast again, but this time on both of us. I could feel the spell take hold, and my movements became quicker, more fluid. I danced around the room, dodging between the combatants as Maya fired arrows into the crystal warriors’ exposed joints, chipping away at their armor. Her critical hits landed hard, but still, it was not enough, they were too powerful.
As the battle raged, I felt a surge of anger rising in me, a raw psychic force clawing at the edges of my mind. The katana-wielding warrior swung again, the blade narrowly missing my chest, but the radiation-like damage pulsed through me, and something inside me snapped.
A deep, primal fury flooded my mind, I flailed within my mind, trying to take hold again of my sanity. I reached for my unconscious, for the safety of the bridge. I could not lose control, I had to hold on, losing my mind now would surely doom me, and I needed to win this battle. For Elyria, for myself, for Earth. With all that in mind I reached again into my unconscious, for the bridge, for my center. My peace.
What I found there was truly awe-inspiring.