I figured out something while I was hurtling through the air. Nothing grandiose or deeply philosophical, a simple understanding of one of the experiences in life that had never really bothered me until now.

Acrophobia, the fear of heights. I get it now. Used to never bother me, I’ve kicked my feet over the edge of over a dozen cliffs throughout the years. It was scary the first time, but Gramps was always there, so I never got scared.

But now that I was actively falling several dozen feet, it made total sense. And yet, it's not the height that’s terrifying me, it's the ground that has me worried. I mean, I know I shouldn’t be worried. Logically, Jaren wouldn’t have dropped me from that high up if he didn’t have a plan to get me down safely. I just hope the plan didn’t involve his direct intervention because he looked a bit preoccupied at the moment.

Maybe Lirae was going to come in with another unexpected save. I looked at the boss battle for a second, just in time too, a giant root shot out of the ground under the pale lizard’s back legs, a ploy to entangle it. Not a good enough one, however; the lizard’s metallic liquid peeled off its legs and flew through the air around them, slicing through the vines as quickly as they grew.

So never mind that option. Crap…

I held back the dire wish to scream my lungs out, but the ground was getting really, really close now. I instinctively raised my arms up to guard my face. But just as my final moments came near, my ears picked up something odd. It sounded like flowing water. Actually closer to water being poured into a bucket. Just as I was going to open my eyes to see what it was, I crashed into said, more like heard, water.

My body swirled around like I had just fallen into the sea with a lead weight tied to my body. But the sensation only lasted a moment. Soon I was out of the water and falling back through the air. I finally opened my eyes and saw that I was heading for some more water. I crashed through that one, but it wasn’t nearly as disorienting this time. The first dip had slowed my fall.

Truth be told, the whole thing was sort of refreshing.

I fell through it the same as the last one after a moment, still unaware of how high in the air I was. After breaking through the bottom, my feet hit the ground. I tumbled, falling to my knees, before inertia threw my whole body into the dirt. I turned over, onto my back, closing my eyes and heaving huge breaths of air.

I made it. I clenched to the earth, the soft grass and dirt running through my fingers letting me know that I was safe. It’s hard to describe the joy I felt being back on solid ground. With a pledge to never leave the beautiful ground again, I sat up…only for a hundred gallons of water to crash down on me, throwing me back into the dirt. Well, mud now.

“Awesome,” I said as I rose again, wiping mud off my arms and face. Then I remembered there were two water balls up there.

The second crashed down right after the thought before I even had a chance to move. But I at least braced myself for that one and managed to stay upright as the water washed over me. But hey, it cleaned the rest of the mud off. I cupped a small bit of the water in my palm.

Is this thanks to Hait? If so, damn, he needs a raise. I can do that, right? I’m his boss, kind of?

Now sure no other water blasts were coming my way, I got back on my feet. My knees were a little shaky, but I’d live. Probably an aftereffect of all the falling.

I scanned the area. The boss fight had moved a ways off, away from the frontline and more into the monsters’ side. Actually it looked like the whole frontline had moved up, there weren’t any monsters around me, thankfully.

Jaren slashed out at the boss, green explosions going off with each time his blades clashed with the boss’s protective silver liquid. Roots and vines shot out of the ground under the beast’s belly as Lirae continued her assault.

Arrows and an assortment of other projectiles launched out our side as more squads attempted to assist in the fight. But not so much as a single arrow pierced through the boss’s silver defenses.

Melee troops marched on its legs, fighting against a wave of the boss’s silver goop as well.

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My focus centered on the metallic substance. It shot around and protected the overgrown reptile from every angle without seemingly any input from the boss. Some sort of automatic defense maybe. The words sitting at the top of my vision came into focus.

“Mimic the boss.”

If mimicking it gave me access to such an insane ability. I salivated at the thought. I wanted it. Fear pricked at the back of my neck. The thing had just nearly killed me, and now I was debating on diving right back in to take it on. What was I thinking? I barely survived one encounter, I doubt a second would go any better.

A green explosion went off in my peripheral vision. I watched as Jaren struck out again, but this time, the silver liquid wavered as a ripple went through it. The boss roared at him and sent him and a small ground squad flying with a swipe of its tail. But that distraction was enough for Lirae to get a vine firmly wrapped around one of its legs. The vines tightened and pulled the leg down to the ground. The boss stumbled. Melee troops surrounded it in seconds, hacking at the fallen leg.

Did they just win? I thought. Was I about to watch my chance slip away?

Then the beast roared again, higher pitched this time, as more silver shed from its pale skin. The silver shot out in spikes, spearing all that surrounded its fallen leg and utterly destroying the vines. It got back to its feet just in time to intercept another of Jaren’s whirling blows.

A strange emotion grew in my chest as I watched the battle unfold. Confidence I think. Now might be my best shot, it's distracted by its battle with Jaren and Lirae. And I didn’t need to beat it, just get close enough to mimic it. I looked down at my green skinned hand.

In this form, I can get close with a burst of speed and mimic it. Getting out might be tricky, but the new form might be able to answer that. Yeah. As the plan finished forming in my head, I felt a grin grow on my face. This was good, very good. I couldn’t exactly pin down why, but getting the boss’s form was important. Almost direly so.

“Liam!”

“Captain!”

Two voices went off from behind me. I turned and found the twins, they stood a ways away, surrounded by some of Jaren's squad. Tawny and Hait yelled and waved at me, all while Daila stood behind them.

“Are you okay?” Hait asked.

I tilted my head at the question. Sure I was, he saved me, didn’t he? Haven’t seen anyone else with water powers. Maybe he just wanted to double check. Need to thank him anyway. However, Tawny yelled out before I could thank him.

“Come back! We’ve done our part!”

“New orders! Our squad’s been assigned to help with the Bodyguards!”

Orders. Huh.

I turned back and looked at the boss, then back to the twins. My gut wrenched at the thought. Did I really give a damn about orders? I took a deep breath, already knowing the answer.

“Sorry! Gonna need a minute!” I yelled back, turning to the boss.

“What are you doing?” They yelled in unison.

“Captain Foster, return this once!” Daila joined them this time.

I shook my head. “I can’t.” That was the truth. Call it a gut instinct, or even providence, for all I know, but I needed to mimic that pale lizard. It was huge for some reason. It was a quest, after all. And I was only going to be gone for a minute or two. I’d help fight whatever the hell Daila wanted me to once I got back. But I had to do this.

I turned my head to the side, to say my final piece. “But, thanks for the save, Hait!” I yelled out, lowering my legs as I readied myself for the sprint.

My knees shook again. I waved it off, just more aftereffects. But my legs didn’t stop shaking. In fact, my whole body was shaking. I stumbled a bit, trying to regain my balance. “What?”

The ground rumbled all around me

I grabbed the muddy ground, trying to stay balanced as the earth shook under my feet. Cracks grew all around my feet as the dirt and grass beneath me began to crumble. I desperately tried to figure out what was going on.

Was it something else from the boss? An earthquake ability of some sort? Why the hell not? What couldn’t the damn thing do? But it couldn’t be, it was so far away, there’s no way it could be the one doing that. Besides, it would use the ability on the squads attacking it first, surely. Its red, sharp gaze entered my mind’s eye. Was I still a target? Dammit, I wanted to look up at it, to see, but it took all of my concentration to stay on my feet as the ground underneath me shook even harder.

Then the cracks stopped all at once, along with the quakes. I gulped. Maybe it was nothing, just a normal, natural earthquake. I hoped.

I took a step, and the earth crumbled underneath my feet. In seconds, I was surrounded by darkness. Hands, not sure how many, grabbed me, pinning me down. I couldn’t move. Then I heard a voice.

“We got’em. Returning to camp with the target.”

Damn, I really can’t catch a break here, can I?