Syn's heart raced as she stood up again after tripping for the seventh time. Without wasting a second, she resumed her sprint at top speed through the dense forest.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on," she repeated, her voice a mix of determination and desperation.

Her chest tightened with each breath, the knot in her stomach growing as the image of Nyk confronting the colossal Garoth haunted her thoughts. Ignoring the branches lashing her face, she redoubled her speed. She simply couldn't afford to be late.

The forest was the shortest path from Nyk's house to the cliff, and every second was precious. But even though she had crossed the forest hundreds of times during the day and was familiar with the route, she had never traveled it at night. With the dense foliage blocking most of the moonlight, she found out that surprises were hiding behind every tree and every branch, making her constantly trip or divert direction.

Her body was exhausted, and as her legs burned with each powerful stride, she drew upon her magic and inner resolve to push past physical limits. Out of pure necessity, she supplemented her physical prowess with her card's power.

Darkness made it almost impossible to dodge obstacles and avoid tripping until a branch hit her face or her foot found a protruding root. Still, by harnessing her card's power, she used the wind to propel herself through the air, leaping and gliding over obstacles or dodging and diverting limbs at point-blank distance.

She finally arrived at the base of the hill, but instead of stopping, Syn pushed through. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to maintain momentum and ran uphill.

Her body protested, but her mind focused on Nyk's safety. Fatigue couldn't take over. Her willpower somehow found a balance and meter after meter, her instincts mitigated the effort on her exhausted body by balancing it with her mana infused moves, racing uphill at an astonishing pace.

Exhausted but resolute, Syn arrived at the edge of the cliff. The wind whipped around her, cooling the sweat on her brow and refreshing her trembling body.

She climbed the rock she had last stood on when she watched Garoth fight the challenger and scanned the moonlit terrain below, searching for any sign of Nyk or the cage Vaughn and Nysander had talked about.

The wind blew strongly against her face, tangling her hair and blurring her vision. "There!" Her pulse quickened as she spotted a cluster of rocks that seemed out of place on the ravaged beach.

"I made it!" Her heart briefly slowed down with relief as her strained eyes recognized a tiny shadow circling the group of stones.

"NYK! NYYK!" Syn screamed, "NYKEEEL!" But the howling wind blowing against her snatched her words away, leaving them unheard.

She observed as Nyk continued to move around the rocks. "I have to do something!" she mumbled to herself. She was about to scream again when her magic-sensing abilities flared, drawing her gaze to a massive silhouette scaling the Dragon's Talon pillar.

The moonlight cast an eerie glow on the figure, making it easily distinguishable even from this distance. Her senses instinctively told her that a powerful aura of magic surrounded the entity. The intensity of the magical signature sent a shiver down her spine, and she realized with a jolt that it belonged to Garoth—alive, despite the wound her father had inflicted on it.

"Oh no..." she murmured, her gaze darting back to Nyk. Undeterred, the shadow approached the stones briefly before walking away from them. "Please, please, please, go in a different direction..."

Her heart sank, and desperation gripped her as she watched Nyk circle the formation again and set a determined course toward the sea pillar where the menacing figure loomed.

"STOP, NYK! STOP!" She called out again, "NYKEL SOLRUN! DON'T YOU DARE! NYK STOP RIGHT THERE! I SAID STOP!... Nyk Stop!… stop..." but the relentless wind continued to silence her, snatching away her desperate plea.

Nyk was unknowingly walking into danger, and there was nothing she could do. "No, no, no, no, no, no, I can't let it end like this!" she thought, her mind racing for a solution.

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Her eyes darted below, but she knew descending would take up a much precious time. At Nyk's pace, he would reach the pillar where Garoth stood long before she could get to the beach.

Panic surged within her, threatening to overwhelm her. "I'm late, too late, I'm–No! Stop and think! There must be something you can do!" she calmed herself, her voice strained with desperation.

She fought against the rising wind until a gust of wind made her stagger. Her eyes opened wide in realization, suddenly fuelled by hope.

Her gaze blazed with resolve as she looked down. She quickly selected a protruding rock, stepped back, and leaped from the cliff without hesitation, trusting her magic to break her fall.

Syn focused on all her willpower and magic before her, using it to push against the rapidly approaching rocks. Her descent slowed, and a fleeting smile crossed her face. But the smile quickly vanished as her speed increased once more, and she hit the ground with a jarring impact, losing consciousness.

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Opening her eyes, she saw stars dancing in her vision. Disoriented from the impact, she assessed her injuries. Her left arm throbbed. Although it looked fine. A flash of a memory crossed her, and she saw it twisting unnaturally when she crashed against the rock. Grimacing, she tried moving it. It did, though, with significant discomfort and pain.

Still dizzy, she squinted into the distance, searching for any sign of Nyk. How long had she been unconscious?

"Thank the gods!" Relief washed over her as she spotted Nyk's familiar shadow. He had made little progress. She couldn't have been out for long.

Her gaze shifted toward the pillar. Garoth's silhouette had split in two—one remained at the top while the other had begun its descent. She rubbed her eyes, puzzled, and looked again. "Two Garoths? How is that possible?"

She could see two figures, though the descending one emanated a much more potent aura. Her gaze returned to Nyk, decidedly headed toward them, and she sprang into action.

Shaking off her dizziness, she peered below. "Alright, let's try again… but a little less Nyk-like this time. I'll aim for a closer rock," she murmured and leaped again.

OOMPH!

"Okay -huff- rough landing, but -huff- much better," she said through gritted teeth, panting through the pain. She selected the next nearby stone, and with focused determination, she continued to leap, harnessing the wind to her will and refining her control with each jump.

Reaching the base, she didn't waste a moment before dashing toward the Dragon's Talon. "If I can't reach Nyk in time, all this effort will be for nothing," she worriedly thought.

Yet, as she ran, a small smile flickered across her lips. She couldn't believe what she'd just accomplished. She'd managed what had taken her nearly an hour the other day in mere minutes. She shook her head, knowing this was no time for self-congratulation, and sprinted ahead, but the smile remained.

Her mind became numb. Her entire body screamed with exhaustion, but she persisted, driven by the knowledge that she was Nyk's only hope. She just couldn't stop.

Slowly, she stopped worrying about where to step and felt her mind enter a flow state. Her mind seemed to put together what she had learned in the forest, and her descent and the strong wind blowing against her parted to let her advance, practically letting her fly.

With each step and jump, the pillar's base drew nearer, barely landing on a rock every few meters before jumping again in the air. She felt weightless. Then she spotted Nyk's discarded bag, and all her exhaustion and worry returned to her.

Her fingers gripped the bag "NYK! NYK! WHERE ARE YOU?" she yelled, her voice quivering as she dashed toward the bag.

BOOM!

Time seemed to freeze, fear gripping her as the thunderous crack reverberated through the crag.

Her heart wrenched, and she envisioned the worst: Nyk's lifeless form at the mercy of Garoth. Her willpower shattered, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as desperation and anger threatened to overwhelm her.

But then, after an agonizing moment of silence, a defiant cry pierced the air.

"WATERJET!"

It was Nyk's war cry, clear and unwavering.

Relief flooded her, strength returning, and her face lit up with a stunned smile. "By the gods, he's such an idiot!" she muttered, laughing through her tears and grateful that her tenacious friend was still alive.

With her courage rekindled and surging through her veins, Syn leaped through the air, crossing the few meters that separated her from the sea stack. With a single jump, she scaled the structure and found herself on a ledge.

A dimly lit cave lay before her, and her senses told her that strong magic radiated from within. She hastened toward it and leaped across the threshold.

The wind whipped around her as she stepped into the cave, the nauseating smell of blood shocking her. Before her stood what remained of Garoth's imposing figure, its horrifying wound still open and bleeding profusely.

Emboldened by her determination to protect Nyk, she unleashed a gust of wind at him, but Garoth didn't even notice it, his attention fixed on assaulting a crevice with his front paw. Driven by desperation, Syn mustered all her strength and bellowed.

"GAAAAAROOOOOOTH!" she roared, her voice reverberating off the cave walls.

Garoth's rocky scales seemed to bristle as her voice echoed throughout the cavern.

Snarling furiously, he spun around to confront her, his eyes blazing with wrath. The gaze of his six red eyes locked onto her, and he unleashed a deafening roar.

Unwavering, Syn planted her feet firmly and, responding to Garoth's roar, yelled, "LEAVE MY BEST FRIEND ALONE!" as she steeled herself for the impending confrontation.