The Shadow vanished behind the tree line during the team’s pursuit of it along the riverbank. Fast as they could move, that thing was shockingly fast in the air. But knowing the direction it was headed in, full sprint along the riverbank was the fastest they could pull in trying to chase after the thing. Syr had gone ahead a bit with her staff in flight, but not far enough end up out of sight of the four runners.
“Ya think… that thing was… followin’ the Reiusuth?!” Branmek managed to pant out his words, desperate lagging behind Soren, Sellen, and Ard in their run. His heavier armor certainly wasn’t helping him there.
“Wyrms do tend to make sure they finish their kills,” said Sellen. “But instead, it moved back to the lake rather than attack us… really wondering what’s so interesting about it that some Wyrm is hanging around. Can’t be the Ascian ruins!”
“That or the ruins are what drew it to the lake to start with,” added Soren. “Either way, doesn’t matter much. Syr, see anything from up there?!”
“No signs of it after it went down!” replied the Alf, circling back down and matching pace with the runners. “But I saw the break in the trees. We’re close to the lake by now.”
“As good a sign as any! Let’s pick it up!”
“Aye, ya long legged bastards’re gonna kill my arse!” Despite Branmek’s complaint, the run tilted up to a full sprint.
And as the sounds of rushing water grew stronger, the party came to a stop right at the cliff edge that broke the tree line. To their side, the river descended into one of several crashing waterfalls that formed the rim of the cliffside, at least three more spread across the natural wall that fed into the glimmering lake below. The wide expanse of water eased out away from the falls, shifting to another section of the forest, a wide clearing with a welcome looking beach, the lines leftover from Beast herds visible even at a distance heading to the thick grasses and back into the forest itself.
Idyllic, really. Or, it would have been had that been all to the lakeside.
Because then there were the ruins that marked the lake. Towering remains of the Ascian empire, constructed of sterling white stone and lined in still glimmering crystalline “veins”, and even these more fragments flowed in the almost riverlike method of construction one could compare to Alfish weaving, yet somehow more precise, more full of intrinsic detail centuries of ruin had yet to remove. And this ruin was only one of many scattered across the world. And yet, this alone was worth the effort of study it took to mount this kind of expedition to make sure the “Shadow” stayed well away from it.
“No sign of the blasted thing,” Ars moved to the railing of the pathway leading down the cliffside, giving it a rattle to make sure it was still being well maintained. “Think we should move down to the lake itself?”
“No other direction to go but unless it flew clear to the other end of the forest,” Soren shaded his eyes as he scanned around, though he then gave a wince. And this time, the slight glow ebbing from underneath his sleeve was almost impossible to miss. Quickly pressing his sleeve down, Soren was quick to draw his gaze down to the visible research outpost at the coast of the lake. “The research outpost. Let’s get there, hopefully the sensory equipment is up and running. We might be able to point out where the Shadow is.”
Soren hurried to the lead position. And while the other three seemed unbothered, Sellen giving a longer look despite, Syr certainly felt something odd about it. Or really, the fact Soren was clearly trying to hide something. And all the Alf felt was her suspicions being more assured by the moment. She just needed to see what the definitive moment would end up being.
----------------------------------------
Had the situation been any different, perhaps the notion of a calm walk down to a lake surrounded by lush forests and wildflowers would’ve made for a nice outing. One could even make a case for watching the roaming Magic Beasts that were keen to be a lot more placid than most. But, a Frontier both was no such place for that, and with the threat of some Wyrm divebombing them at any given turn, the team wasn’t keen to let their guard down as they approached the research station.
And when they entered it, the hurried rush that must have happened to evacuate meant the place was littered with scattered documents and more than a few samples that had thankfully not had their containers shattered in the rush.
But what was of interest to the party wasn’t the main room, but the observation deck above. These kinds of bases were outfitted with all kinds of observational tools to scan their designated Frontier sectors, be it ecological data or tracking Magic Beast movements to relay back to the Hunters so they could properly arrange their hunts or send jobs to the Guilds.
“Wonder if one of those recon drones is still working…” Sellen skimmed around the edge of the various consoles still flashing with data, stopping at the wider set of screens with a control device worked into it. As she got tapping away at it, the console reactivated and flashed with data. “Let’s see… most of the drones were predictably grounded… a couple look like they got blasted and need to be recovered. Aha! One is still in the launcher!”
“Well then what’re ya waitin’ for? Get ‘er up in the air!” Branmek stepped over as Sellen took the controls with an excited look. “You er… do know how to get one of these things up, don’t ya, Sellen?”
“Relax, I’ll just launch it and set it to auto-mode. Get it patrolling around the lake’s area to try and spot the Shadow and relay a signal to other nearby teams that we’re at this station.”
“Just… try not to bring the big snarling Wyrm onto our heads,” Soren commented, Sellen scoffing as she cracked her knuckles.
Everyone else gathered around the console as Sellen launched the drone, a few quick flicks switching it to and automatic path as it came out of the launcher with a thwomp. And as it took off, the drone was quick to start feeding data as it zoomed up and over the trees, its sensors scanning through and picking up all sorts of readings within the branches and forest floor. And even better, pings from friendly Deck IFF signals it was picking up.
“Those must be the other teams,” Syr gave a relieved sigh. “Can we send out a message to them?”
“Easy enough,” Sellen cleared her throat as she gave a microphone switch a flick. “To all friendly Freelancer and Hunter teams moving in on Albireo Lake! This is Sellen Freesia with the Amber Dawn. My team and I have made it to Albireo Observation Station and am making use of an observation drone to scan for the Shadow. Any teams receiving this message, relay contact of any—”
As Sellen was finishing the message, that piercing shriek screamed through the speakers of the console. And a split second after, the drone camera was taken up entirely by dark, inky black, the feed cutting with the horrible sound of screaming metal and that thing’s roar still echoing through the speakers.
“Well, at least the drone found it… which probably means it also found us,” Soren looked upwards as the sound of wingbeats came from above. Each like a dense thud in the air as whatever it was shot overhead. “I’m hitting the emergency shielding!”
Soren slammed his hand to a large button on another console marked “EMERGENCY”, and just in time, a shield pulsed into form as an arcing beam of black energy came for the station. Everyone braced as the shield began cracking apart on them, Syr and Ard already preparing spells as the cracks rapidly expanded. But it held, the beam sparking out, whether because the thing that had fired it had stopped sustaining it or couldn’t keep it up.
And glaring at them from across the way was their target. Still shrouded by its own visible aura and cape-like wings, the Shadow. A gleam of red shined from what had to be its head among that shroud of black, and as it arced its head up, that shriek of a roar sounded again. And this close, it was shrill enough to force the party to cover their ears even through the walls of the station.
“Definitely found us!” Ard looked to Soren and Sellen as it looked like their quarry was all too ready to attack again. “So, we throwing up wards, or are we getting out of dodge!”
“Getting out of dodge! Fast as we can!” The others nodded as Soren took the lead, the party zipping down the stairs right as another blast slammed the protective shield. Just in time too, as this one broke through the shield and blasted right through the upper room, slicing through, and shearing the roof right off. And before another blast could come around to meet them, the party burst through the main door and back outside.
And the Shadow was there to greet them, the shrouded Wyrm prowling along the ground as a whining growl ebbed from it. It seemed almost unpleased to learn its targets had escaped unscathed from its follow up blast.
“Alright, looks like we’re the first ones up here,” Soren drew his sword as the Wyrm stalked around, its wings rippling with each thudding step it took. “Same formation as last time?”
“We’ve got your back!” Syr twirled her staff, Ard nodding and giving a swish of his wand.
“Aye! Let’s see how my shield ‘olds against a Beast like this!” Branmek slammed his shield down as it folded back out.
“Least we can brag we ran into it first!” Sellen laughed as she readied her lance, Soren shaking his head.
“However it goes! Let’s get hunting!”
Weapons drawn, the Freelancers’ quarry seemed to be aware of what was going on as well. As it roared again, the dark cloak of energy that had shrouded it burst away as its wings flared, casting aside its shroud in a gust of wind as it’s roar echoed out across the lake. And with the ground coated in a fine haze of that fading black power, they finally saw what their foe truly was.
Its body as long as a large truck and just as wide, carried by four thick legs, a long tail gouging out some of the ground with each swing. Its body was black as night, covered end to end in thickly set, sharp, plate-like scales that gave its slender body an almost blade-like appearance. Its wings were as full as its body, in part coated in ragged fur that made it seem more like a cape than wings, yet it was all too telling of their true purpose from the limbs that defined those wings, just as thick and powerful looking as the beast’s front legs. Its head was serpentine, the scales angling it out at the snout and jaw before arcing up into a set of fierce horns. And that black as night body was accented by pulsations of crimson, running through its scales and to its limbs with each step it took towards its new marks.
Syr and Ard led off with spells, lobbing balls of fire and spikes of ice at the beast as it charged. A flare of power ran up the beast’s wings, the spells harmlessly bouncing off it, not even causing the Wyrm to flinch as it barreled ahead, raising one of its wing arms high as the vanguard moved in. When the hard talons of the arm slammed down, Soren and Sellen dove out of the way, Branmek holding fast with his shield as the Wyrm threw out a follow-up strike, the shield holding firm even as the Dwarf blocked it head on.
Branmek glanced at Sellen, who acknowledged it with a look of her own. Taking her lance into both hands, the ports on the weapon flared as Sellen charged in, finding what seemed to be an opening in the second strike. The Wyrm’s head adjusted ever so slightly as her lance shot through the haze of its scattered energy, its tail suddenly whipping around to meet the lance head on. Sellen’s eyes went wide as her attack was caught, the tip of her lance scraping along the side of that tail, sparks flying from the contact as she was sent down the side of that trunk-like thing, only for it to just as quickly whip back the other way and slam into her side.
“GYAGH!” The Machina was sent flying back as the Wyrm spun around, shockingly quickly for something of its size. As Sellen rammed her lance into the dirt to break her fall, Soren went charging in, ducking under spells fired by Ard and Syr to cover him. Again, the spells bounced off of the beast’s wings with a flare of power, and as the Wyrm shifted to strike, it was met with Soren getting into range. His sword flared as the blade ignited, flashing bright blue as he swung, cutting through its shielding haze and raking it alongside the hardy scales coating the neck. Soren grimaced as he saw that all he’d managed was scoring the scales, barely even making a dent in them with his swing.
The Wyrm lurched forward, Soren barely having the time to use his sword as an impromptu shield as the beast used its body to side check him, but that was enough to send Soren skidding back along the ground, and even then, a few pressure cuts marked his cheeks.
“NOW!” Yet Soren gave his call with a smirk, Syr and Ard shooting out from behind him with spell catalysts flaring with elemental power.
Ard’s wand loosed a mighty ball of flames at the Wyrm, Syr’s staff slicing through the air as lightning cracked forward. Both spells were aimed through the gouges in that haze left by Soren and Sellen’s strikes, managing to strike home and sending the Wyrm lurching back as it roared. Soren pumped a fist to see the spells had been effective, and while it wasn’t much, it meant their attacks could work against this thing.
Branmek took point as the Wyrm moved to slam its wing arms down in retaliation, the talons of those arms being met by the sturdy barrier projected by his shield. The Shadow roared, power charging at its maw that it loosed onto the barrier, intent to try and blast the Dwarf through it at point blank. As the shield began to crack, Branmek adjusted the hold on his axe, a smirk beneath his beard.
The Shadow was hit by another volley of spells from the mages, more simplistic magic bolts this time, enough to harry its attention and create holes in that still present haze of energy. Yet while the beast refused to let up, next came Soren and Sellen again. Both of their weapons burst with magical light as they leapt into the air, slamming sword and lance down onto the Wyrm’s back. The air audibly cracked as scales were slammed in, and it was enough to make the beast cut off its own beam as it roared. Branmek took his own opening, axe coating with fiery golden light as he swung it in an upwards arc, his axe meeting the jaw plates of the beast as it fell from the sudden loss of the barrier.
Sellen used her lance to boost around and grab Branmek as the Shadow began to lurch, dashing away with her companion as the beast hit the ground. Soren vaulted off the beast as it swung its wing arms wildly, letting off a bolt of magic as he did so. As he moved away though, Soren noted something.
As the Shadow thrashed and swung its arms, that haze it had made was reforming. Be it their own attacks dissipating it or just naturally fading, that haze it had cast had been all but gone by now. And yet as the beast shook its body and thrashed its arms, it thickened up again, even restoring the lattice of energy it had been shielding itself with.
“Any idea what this haze it’s making even is?” Soren shouted as he landed. “Feels just like that tar stuff it left behind too!”
“I think that tar is what this haze makes!” said Syr. “It’s some kind of ether fog. I’d ask how, but this thing being a Wyrm, I’m not at all shocked it can produce one! Still, if it can also block magic, there’s no way we can wear it down fast enough on our own!”
“Aye! We done hit the bastard hard as we can, and we’ve barely even dented its ruddy scales!” Branmek spat as he spun his axe. “Wyrms’re tough alright… barely fought a thing that can shrug off hits from tha’ three of us like that in a while.”
“Stuff that can passively block magic is a pain to boot,” Ard flicked his wand, a brief bit of flame licking at his lips from his frustration. “Hope those other teams start getting here soon, because another few rounds of that and we’re not gonna last, especially if it starts getting clean hits in!”
“You’re telling me,” Sellen rolled his right shoulder as she grumbled. “If I was any less sturdy than I am, the damn thing would’ve broken my arm with that tail swipe! Ruined my damn sleeve though!”
“Be glad you got off with a ruined sleeve and nothing worse,” Soren flicked away a bit of the blood on his cheek. “Plus, looks like the big guy is done being polite!”
As the Shadow let out a rumbling roar, power gathering at its maw again, Syr’s eyes widened as it also moved its wing arms around it as well. Almost as if it were casting a spell just as they would. And everyone realized they needed to get moving or stand firm as the Wyrm raised that growing ball of energy upwards.
“Ard, Syr, layer a shield up with me!” Branmek raised his shield, the mages already casting as he raised his shield again. And as the layered barrier formed, while they expected an even more concentrated beam of power, that wasn’t it.
The Shadow’s wing arms slammed down onto the ball it had formed. And when the beast roared again, that ball burst, turning into dozens of arcing bolts of energy that rained down in the area around them, focusing in on the barrier and raining bolts onto it. Each pelting bunch of the barrage broke one layer, then another, and the final one was held firm as Syr and Ard focused their magic to bolstering Branmek’s shield barrier… only for that to shatter into pieces under the relentless barrage and rain dark bolts down on the team.
The Shadow rumbled as it looked ahead through the dust raised by its barrage. A part of the lakeside had been all but carved out thanks to that, pockets of grass left scorched and cratered, more gouged out from where it had focused that attack to.
The Wyrm then twitched, moving aside just in time as an arc of light shot through the dust. The beast growled as it found its foes still standing. Battered from its barrage, but far from down for the count and clearly not intent on giving up the fight.
“Gonna take a lot more than that to keep Amber Dawn Freelancers down,” Soren lowered his sword as the remains of the used energy drifted off the blade and spat at the Wyrm as it growled, Sellen snickering at the sight.
“Hey guys, I think we pissed it off,” she said, Branmek chuckling as he leaned on his shield.
“Bastard hits hard though, I’ll give him that!”
“I do think we bought enough time,” Syr swiped her staff around, a breeze of green magic ebbing out from her staff, a slight glow covering them all. It wasn’t much, but they could all feel the pain from their fresh wounds easing up, enough to bring them all to standing again.
“So nice to know you can use healing magic,” Ard let his head hang back. “Luck of the draw right there!”
The Shadow roared, perhaps out of frustration or maybe even anger. And as it went barreling for the team again, dark power coursing along one of its wing arms as he looked to smash them into the ground, the beast was halted when a sudden barrage of all sorts of magic spells came from elsewhere. The beast roared as it lurched to the side, a mighty flap of its wings lifting it upwards as it shot above.
“Hey, Amber Dawn team, sorry to keep you waiting!”
Soren looked up, spotting a figure in Hunter’s armor running up to them, their large sword batting aside a bolt fired from the Shadow as it flew away from the still ongoing barrage of spells coming from all sides as more and more teams came rushing in.
“Took you all long enough!” Soren laughed as the Hunter came to a stop. “Bet you all saw that barrage attack from a mile away huh?”
“Just glad to see you all survived it! Healers, get over here and start patching them up!” The Hunter waved over a group of white-robed mages, turning back to the group, “What’ve you got for us?”
“For one, this haze it makes does… something, we’re still not sure yet,” Sellen said. “But it also blocks magic. So long as it’s got that lattice around its body, it’ll block most lower strength spells unless you break through it first. But we still don’t know why it coated the area with it.”
“It did look like it was reacting to breaks in the haze,” Soren added, looking to the fight as the beast was back to the ground, swinging its way through the melee fighters that had moved in to start striking at it. “Actually… I can’t see the thing’s eyes. It might be blind, so maybe it uses this haze to “see” through some kind of magic.”
“Not the first time I’ve seen a Magic Beast do that,” The Hunter nodded, hefting his blade up. “And we’ve seen what its attacks look like so far. Once you’re patched up, feel free to jump back in! Almost everyone is here now, so it’s time to see what team bags this bastard!”
“And there goes our fun,” Soren’s dry remark was met with a sigh from the mage currently working on healing him up.
And once the team was healed up, they were quick to dive back into the fray with the others.
And with reinforcements to back the Wyrm out, now they could really make some progress. Both in learning how the thing fought and what they could or couldn’t get away with when it came to damage.
A backline of mages to pelt it with spells when it tried to break away, melee and mid-range fighters harassing the beast. Any who got caught by its attacks were pulled away to the back line to be tended to by healers. It was all process; things Freelancers and Hunters were used to going about in these kinds of operations. Those who fell back would relay what they could piece together jumping back in or getting the casters to focus on certain kinds of spells for those capable of doing so.
But the way this Wyrm fought, how it used its attacks, as the fight went on and damage was done on both sides, came across as startingly intelligent, all too like their own means. Its blasts of dark power, be it focused beams or storming bolts, were all too like the spells of a mage. The way it lashed out with its arm wings and tail, focusing power along them to enhance its strikes, rang of the styles of a melee specialist. And it seemed to be learning, countering moves if anyone seemed to be getting to comfortable, breaking formations once it caught onto them, trying to blast its way to the backline to break the spell barrages.
And over this entire time, the lakeside was routinely coated, dispelled, and recoated in that beast’s magical haze. Every inch of ground made seemed to be pulled back just a bit. But it was wearing down as time passed.
But Soren still didn’t feel that unease leave him. As he and Sellen broke through again, landing slashes that actually shore through its scales after who knew how long of them and others wailing away at the monster, he didn’t feel at all confident in that progress.
[Something feels… off.] was the thought that ran through his mind. Adding to this feeling, despite their progress in causing damage, Soren noted something off about the wounds the Shadow was now showing. There was blood, sure. But, alongside that, anywhere they had actually succeeded in breaking through the thing’s thick plates, was white. What this meant, he had no clue.
As he and Sellen were pulling away from their attack, that sense of unease grew all the heavier. Was it unfounded fears? Some effect of that thickening haze the Wyrm was creating?
And that was when he noticed wisps of the scattered haze moving towards the Shadow. Ebbing and flowing, everything it had scattered around was pulling back, thickening back into that shroud it had first had. And yet, that didn’t stop. This shift was enough to make everyone pull back. Spells stopped dead against the thickening shroud, and the fighters dared not get close. It grew and grew… and then vanished as the shroud was pulled in completely.
Everything froze for a moment. A single, long, hanging moment of mounting dread as the Wyrm’s body pulsed and flashed.
And with a roar that was somehow even more piercing than before, that compressed aura burst outwards with an entirely renewed fury to it.
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The Wyrm had changed. Its scales had sharpened, edged now in harsh crimson. Its horns had extended and gleamed red, the entire structure of its “face plate” looking to have shifted entirely, revealing a pair of glaring crimson eyes pulsing with harsh light. All its limbs now looked edged in blades, the scales extended and flared out, same for the tail, now resembling a sword as it carved a gouge in the dirt. And its wings were flaring around its body as the beast roared once more, glowing from the power coursing through them and even expanded from this sudden change.
“What in Gehenna?” Soren’s eyes fluttered as shock ran through him. “This thing can transform?! The hell kind of Wyrm is this?!”
“Definitely a Black Wyrm then!” Sellen snapped.
“Defenders at the ready!” The lead Hunter shouted orders, those with more defensive tools like Branmek jumping to the front as the Wyrm charged.
The beast reared one of its wingarms back, power coursing through the limb as it swung, raking the ground, and the defenders, with a wave of power as it tore its claws through the earth. The line didn’t even hold for a moment against the blast, the defenders being sent flying back through the air. When attackers rushed through to try and stall it, the beast’s tail swept through the air, slamming through and gouging its way through the attack line. Mages fired their spells, the barrage being met with one from the beast, arrays of spells being snuffed out by dark bolts that pierced through and rained on the backline.
[Get the wounded quickly!]
[Don’t worry about formations, just hold it back!]
[What the bloody hell did this thing turn into?!]
The measured battle devolved into chaos all too quickly. Whatever the Wyrm had done to take on its new forms, the progress the collective force thought they had been making seemed almost moot even with the visible damage that lingered on the beast. Its attacks had a ferocity behind them that shattered any defensive line they dared form, be it barriers or solid shields. When an attack did hit from someone, the beast was just as quick to bat them away with limb or tail. And its blasts of magic were all the stronger, raining hell down on the battlefield with every bolt or beam.
“Moving through!” Sellen yelled as the team took point again, blasting past some retreating fighters with her lance at full blast, it’s thrusters roaring as she zoomed underneath a tail swipe and slammed the tip through, raking across scales to do what damage she could before getting out, only to have her trajectory ruined when a dark bolt slammed into her side.
“Sellen!” Branmek and Soren shot in with spells from Ard and Syr backing them, the dwarf deflecting bolts of magic with his shield. Soren cast a wind spell, he and Branmek shooting past the Wyrm and grabbing Sellen, moving as quickly as they could to help her get away as the next group moved in. Soren carried Sellen while Branmek grabbed her lance.
“Ya’ holding up?” Branmek glanced at Sellen’s side as they ran, the Machina shaking her head as they got back to the gathered healers.
“I think I’m tapping out for a bit,” Sellen groaned as she held her side, the cloth of her tunic stained black from the bolt. “The small stuff I could handle, but this thing is hitting way harder now. Think we’re in a situation where everyone can pull out… who am I kidding, no way we can pull out.”
“I’m thinking this thing isn’t gonna be done until it’s killed everyone here,” Ard hissed as he and Syr joined the other three. “Hey, any news about potential reinforcements?! No way we can handle this thing with how it’s starting to rip through us!”
“We’ve gotten word through, but it’ll be ten minutes until additional forces arrive!” said one of the medics, who also got to mending Sellen’s wound.
“Will we even survive ten minutes?!” Branmek growled as more screaming ensued as the Wyrm crashed through the next group to try and face it. “Cause if this keeps up folks’re gonna start actually dying! I doubt anyone’s able t’keep their defenses up anymore!”
“If we could just knock it out of whatever this mode is…” Soren winced when his arm burned, clutching his sleeve as he felt a pulse run up it. “Now?! Dammit…”
“We have to try and stall at the least,” Syr stood, spinning her staff around as she looked to Soren. “Soren, we should try to get more of the wounded out. Ard, Branmek, keep an eye on Sellen, yeah?”
“Don’t do anything too reckless now,” said Sellen. “Can’t be losing the promising rookie and an up-and-coming High Ranker!”
“Just have some faith!”
Syr followed Soren as he took the lead back into the fray. The Alf started by launching a barrage of fire bolts at the Wyrm, the bolts crashing into its lattice barrier and drawing its attention. It caught Soren’s incoming rush, and it swung with one of its forelimbs, the claws meeting Soren’s blade, the air ringing from the clash as the blade and claws deflected one another, Soren rolling around and catching a following slam from the Wyrm’s other foreleg.
“Everyone who can move, pick up anyone who can’t and scram!” Soren barked at those already starting to retreat as he ducked away to get out from under the Wyrm, jumping back to avoid a slam from its wing arm, barely avoiding a following burst of energy from the slam. As Soren dodged or deflected what strikes he could, Syr continued to wave off those fleeing while pelting spells at the Wyrm to cover Soren in the melee exchange.
But it hardly seemed like they were making even a dent in the thing even as Soren got some clean strikes in past the Wyrm’s guard, his sword scoring scales on its limbs and body with the strikes he did land, while the spells Syr was able to land home did similar damage. Some, but nothing that felt like enough.
Soren blocked another swipe of the beast’s claws, being sent skidding back across the ground. And the Wyrm was already charging a blast at its maw before he even stopped. Soren angled his sword and ignited the blade, yet Syr was already rushing forward, a barrier rising from her staff as she got to Soren’s side, just in time to catch the blast. Syr let out a yell, and with a yank of her staff upward, the rapidly cast barrier angled upward, sending the blast of energy up and away.
“Getting this close is a bad idea for you, y’know that?” Soren snapped, Syr chuckling.
“Then it’s a good thing I’ve got a Sword Saint covering for me! The last group is also cleared out, we should…”
Syr trailed off as the Wyrm came charging in. Syr shot back in time as Soren moved ahead of her, deflecting the strike from the wingarms that followed, though the residual bursts of power scorched past, Soren visibly wincing as he was raked by those edges of dark power. And as Syr pulled back, while he was still moving to recover from the deflections, he caught a movement. Syr was moving to his left, the same side where the Wyrm’s tail was… and that tail had moved.
Soren could hear the air whistling as the blade-like end of that tail swung, and he was moving before even fully registering it.
What Syr heard was the sound of something cutting through the air… and the next, the slight, sick sound of something piercing flesh. Everything stopped for a moment as the Alf turned. Before her was Soren, standing in a stance meant to deflect an incoming attack.
Instead, he stood before Syr, pierced by the tip of the Wyrm’s tail. Not run through luckily enough, but deep enough blood was already oozing around the edge of the blade, and some dripping out from Soren’s mouth as a staggered groan ebbed past his throat. Syr’s eyes widened in disbelief as Soren glanced back at her, a strained smile showing.
“Good… couldn’t… let you get caught…”
And with a downright careless flick of its tail, the Wyrm tossed Soren aside. Syr watched as he went tumbling to the ground, bouncing once, twice, before finally flopping to a halt on the grass. She could tell the Wyrm was rearing up at her again, hear those behind her yelling for her to move and get away. But, as tears began moving down her cheeks, Syr grit her teeth. Her eyes narrowing into a furious glare, Syr faced the Wyrm, her staff bursting with magical light as she swung it upwards, her arms shaking from the strain as lines of mana became visible across her arms.
“You… get… away! Flare!” As Syr shrieked the spell name, her staff burst with light, slamming the Wyrm in a brilliant burst of magical power. And no sooner did that brilliant burst end and the Wyrm sent reeling Syr bolted to reach Soren, dropping to her knees as others were already moving in to cover her. As soon as she got close, Syr rolled Soren to his back, the swordsman coughing as Syr was quick to press her hands to the wound on his stomach, a breeze of magic already forming around her hands. “Don’t you even think about pulling some stupid hero act on me! We were going to do more than just this! You were going to do more, right?! So don’t go and die on any of us here!”
The magic at Syr’s hands grew stronger, but the wound was closing far slower than she was hoping it would. And not helping, as she got a better look, was the fact a sickly black color surrounded the edge, creeping out through the blood straining the cloth of Soren’s clothes. It felt almost as if his body was resisting being healed.
“Come on… come on…” Glancing to Soren’s face, Syr grit her teeth as his eyes fluttered. “Stay awake, got it?! If you drift off now you might not…”
“Syr!” The Alf turned at the shout, the sound of Sellen’s lance roaring through the air as the Machina crashed in front of her, deflecting a bolt of magic that had come from the Wyrm’s latest barrage. Ard and Branmek were quick to join. “How’s he looking?!”
“Not good… there’s more to this wound than I thought… this has got to be the same with the other injured fighters too. But this… this is deeper. But, I’m not going to just stop!”
“Then we’ll buy ya’ the time!” Branmek said. “At least enough to get Soren the ruddy hell out of ‘ere!”
“We’ll make sure the others can help you out! Ard, Bran, let’s go!”
The other two nodded as Sellen charged back into the melee. Syr had to force herself to look back to her task, the sounds of the fighting crashing through her ears as magic pulsed around her more and more. Is the way I am right now not enough? If I undid it then maybe… but then I’d just be giving it away… but, if it’s to save a life…
Syr’s thoughts trailed off as Soren’s eyes started to close, and she grit her teeth as she pushed more power into the spell. Wind ebbed around her, and at her back, an emerald glow began to show from beneath her robes. As the glow around her grew, Syr then noticed that glow she’d seen under Soren’s sleeve also growing brighter. Please let me be right… if you have that kind of power then maybe… please just don’t die on me!
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He felt like he was drifting downwards.
Soren wasn’t sure what all was going on. He recalled up to that moment of piercing pain as he blocked the Wyrm from skewering Syr with its tail, and the brief moment of consciousness before he’d been flung aside. And now, it was all just black. It felt weighty, almost choking as he drifted further and further.
“This… this is death… is it? I’m… dying right now… aren’t I?”
But then came a sense of frustration, of annoyance. Frustration that he didn’t know what had happened to his companions. Annoyance he’d made a move so reckless. Soren could already hear the tongue lashing.
… if he ever got it, anyway.
Still, he continued to drift downwards. Yet it felt like something was there. It was slow, weak, but something reached him through that darkness. A breeze, light and warm… yet it passed so fleetingly he almost wasn’t sure if it was real.
“Were you to tap into that strength you have chosen to conceal, perhaps then the outcome would have changed. Perhaps you would not find thyself in this limbo.”
“Would it?” Soren scoffed at the voice, not really caring who or what it was. He just wasn’t in a mood to be patronized. “I’ve kept it sealed because I don’t know. Why was I given that kind of power? That kind of connection? What’s the point of using it before I have my answers? That’s… that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“And thine unwillingness has brought thee here. Drifting between life and death at a time so critical. This is no mere happenstance you face; it is a trial… and here, would you willingly allow those you call companions to die here because of thine hesitation to use that power within you? Would it sit well with you, knowing their deaths could have been avoided had you merely decided not to hide what you are, Heritor?”
“I think a stab to the gut is pretty hard to just get back up from!” Soren’s irritation rose as he snapped. He still couldn’t see anything, but this new presence was already getting on his nerves with this brief exchange. “We were all caught off guard! That thing is… what they hell is that Wyrm?!”
“A herald. A sign of change… yet it is not here naturally. Nay, someone has set this trial upon this era long before it would need to arrive.”
“Someone sent a Black Wyrm on the loose for some… trial?!” A pulse broke through the black as Soren shouted. Soren felt as if now he was falling faster. And that warm breeze was feeling all the more present. “And so what does this have anything to do with this Crest of mine, huh?!”
“It is as I challenged, Heritor of Astral. To face the Shadow of Death, and prove thine era’s worth. It was mine hope that, as bearer of the Astral Blade, you would prove this immature era could perhaps weather the storm that is to come.”
“What storm?! Hell, ignoring that, just who in Gehenna are you anyway?! I don’t know if this is just some dying delusion or what!”
“You already know who I am, Heritor… we have not met, but thine dreams have told you mine name. I am one for whom the legends of this land speak… one whom your very soul still remembers.”
“Can we cut the vague stuff and just be direct?!”
“Hm, then direct I shall be! Listen well Heritor. For I am the Father of Dragons, the Dragon of Astral Genesis. I am Jormungandr, first of the Grand Dragons!”
The dark around Soren vanished in an instant as he felt himself burst through something. As it was cast aside by a sudden gust of wind, Soren looked around to found himself suddenly atop a reflective surface of water that stretched as far as the eyes could see, only disturbed by the ripples that ebbed out as he stood up. Above was a clear blue sky of rolling clouds. And descending from that sky was that dragon.
The one Soren had seen in that dream he had seen so many times. That grand white and gold body, wings that blotted out the sky, and grand golden horns and burning azure eyes. It was something he felt so familiar with despite only ever seeing it in a dream.
And that Dragon landed before him, standing as tall as some of the largest buildings, his wings folding in as in as his eyes gaze down to the stunned Soren, a rumbling breath rising through his maw.
“… I really must be dying if this is what’s happening to me,” Soren stumbled back as the Dragon craned down further, giving a downright unimpressed huff that about blew him over. “This… this has got to be some dying fever dream or something.”
“It is whatever you make of it,” Now Soren could feel it, feel the Dragon’s voice ringing in his mind. “This place between life and death is but an ephemeral image, a reflection upon which souls can encounter one another. You, Heritor of Astral, are able to reach mine soul through the spark which lies within your own. Is that spark truly so worrisome you would lock it away out of fear?”
“Considering it almost got me and some friends killed when it first became a thing?” Soren about scoffed, flexing his right hand. “I’m not like Pendragon. I don’t even know what this is. Something connected to the Ascians… how am I supposed to know if this is good or bad?”
“What of it? Why argue with yourself over its nature. It is you. And you do not have time to resume this debate,” Jormungandr angled down, bringing his head almost level with Soren, still making the half-alf look utterly miniscule. “You have a choice. Continue to restrain your very soul, and potentially consign yourself and your allies to death. Perhaps others will rise and succeed where you would fail, yes. But… are you content with that? Content to lay down and accept death, when you have barely taken the first step down the path before you?”
“Really hitting me with that lack of choice, aren’t you?” Soren’s eyes narrowed, an amused rumble rising through the Dragon. Raising his right hand, as Soren pulled the sleeve of his jacket back, the Crest was already shining. “By the Concepts… was honestly hoping I could decide on this at a different time… but I guess fate has other ideas for me, doesn’t it? Fine. What’ve I got to do so I can get back, hm?”
“All you must do is accept that which you’ve inherited,” Jormungandr gestured, Soren turning. Rising from the waters, a sword of pure light appeared, in the recognizable shape of Soren’s Hyperion. “But to take it means declaring to all what you are.”
“Yeah, I get it… someone descended from the Ascians, one of the few people alive who might be able to find the secrets about what happened to them. Or… does this Heritor thing mean something more?” Soren turned to the sword, glancing back at Jormungandr.
“You will find out soon enough. The currents of Fate have already begun to shift… it will be up to you to see where that current takes you.”
“Guess that’s the straightest answer I’m gonna get… fine. Alright Hyperion… let’s see what we can do with this power!”
As the Crest on his arm grew bright, Soren reached out and grabbed the blade. The structure of light opened and gleamed, the sky above starting to roll as Soren drew the blade. White light turned iridescent as he raised the sword of light, until all Soren was able to see were endless colors swirling around him.
“Until the next encounter, Heritor. May you blade sever this Shadow of Death and open the path forward.”
“Fine,” Soren snickered as he swiped the blade. “Challenge accepted!”
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Syr’s eyes widened as the glow of magic around Soren suddenly grew. And as the glow around his own arm shone out until it began to trace lines over the sleeve of his coat, the wound on his stomach vanished in a near instant. Syr cut her magic off, looking at Soren’s face as he seemed much more measured now.
Soren’s eyes snapped open, and he shot upright as he sucked in a breath. He barely even registered Syr’s surprise shriek as he clutched at his stomach, breathing in slow, drawn measure to try and steady himself.
“Well… that’s probably the weirdest thing that’s happened to me in a long time.”
“SOREN!” Next he knew, Syr almost pounced on him as she hugged him, knocking Soren back to the ground before he’d really caught his bearings. “What the hell were you thinking jumping in front of that thing?!”
“Stopping it from killing you?” Soren blinked a couple of times to make sure he was indeed back. “Look… I’m sorry. But… I also don’t think an active battlefield is… appropriate for this kind of chewing out?”
Syr was reminded that indeed, an active fight with a Black Wyrm was going on when a few bolts of black energy crashed into the ground near them. But, as Syr pulled back and Soren sat up again, it didn’t stop the tears coming from Syr’s eyes, her ears drooping down as well. And as she shuddered in some frustration, she gave Soren a punch on the arm, the half-alf yelping.
“That was a bit unnecessary don’t ya think?” Soren rubbed his arm as he stood, Syr wiping off her eyes and giving him a stern glare. “Ahehe… I’ll apologize properly once we’re done here. I got a fight to get back into.”
“What?!” Syr grabbed Soren by the arm as he stepped forward. “No you are not! That wound may be healed, but there’s no way you’re in…” Syr trailed off, finally taking note of the Crest visible even through Soren’s sleeve. “You… you do have one.”
“This Crest? Yeah,” Soren drew his arm away, the Crest fading as he flexed his wrist. Along with it, the runes that had once marked his gauntlet had vanished as well, leaving dull imprints as the only remnants of their presence. “More things I’ll explain once we’re done here. For now…” Soren leaned down and plucked his sword from the ground, raising it up one handed as he set his left hand to his upper right arm, leaving the sword held horizontally as he set it near his face. “No clue if I can kill the thing… but we’re sure as hell driving it off today.”
“Are you sure?”
“Course I am. Besides, I promised we’d go on more adventures together, didn’t I? Can’t let this one be where it ends,” Soren let out a breath as he shut his eyes. As he focused inward, he felt the heat of power rising from deep within. The Crest reappeared on his arm, beginning to shift and expand until it had risen across his entire arm, its glow increasing by the moment as it also slightly rose off his arm. “Here we go… Crest On… Astral Drive!”
Power burst around Soren, coalescing into a white-blue lattice of energy while his Crest was glowing iridescent. And Syr knew what this was. A state unique to Crestbearers: Full Drive. It took on different forms and even different names, but it was always the same concept: The power of a Crestbearer made manifest by fully releasing the power sealed within that mystical marking.
“He is… he really is one…” Syr raised an arm as Soren shot off, moving so quickly he vanished from her sight in a flash of white. Gripping her staff, Syr set her own gaze, hurrying off herself. “If he’s willing to do this, then so am I!”
That flash was the only move Soren needed to reach the frontline, a streak of white moving through the air as he slashed right as the Wyrm was bearing down on Sellen, Ard, and Branmek again. Its wing arms were deflected away in that flash, Soren shifting into his typical neutral stance as the Wyrm stepped back.
“What in the… Soren?!” Ard was the first to voice his shock, Branmek the more silent of the two.
“You… you really decided to do that now, huh?” Sellen got a nod as Soren didn’t break his gaze with the Wyrm. “Alright then. Come on you two, let’s get everyone else out! Soren, don’t go and get stabbed again! Sharzok’ll chew you out himself if you come back in anything more than one piece!”
“Not planning on it!” Soren met eyes with the Wyrm as is growled at him, adjusting his grip as he let out a breath. “Alright big guy, round three. Let’s go!”
Soren shot forward as the Wyrm lunged. Blade met talon as the air flashed black and white, Soren already leaping over the Wyrm as it moved to slam him with its wing arms. As he was moving over it, Soren swung as his blade ignited, slamming the beast’s back with a wave of bluish light before landing on its back as it screeched, scoring a few more strikes before leaping away when the tail swung for him. The Wyrm turned and loosed a barrage of bolts, which Soren matched with his own with a swipe of his left arm, pushing himself further back in the air as the magic barrages collided with one another.
When Soren landed, the Wyrm fired a ball of magic at him, which he cut right through as he charged again, stepping past a jab of the tail and scoring his blade along it’s edge, his swing finishing by slicing right into the scales of one of the Wyrm’s forelimbs, making good on the damage the other teams had caused and properly drawing blood from the beast at last even in its powered-up state. The Wyrm’s response was to bring an energy-coated wing arm sweeping around to attempt to lariat the Freelancer with it, only for him to blink away in a flash, reappearing above the Wyrm, descending with a spinning slash trailing light as he slammed down on the Wyrm’s head, scales cracking as the blade gouged in and swiped through, though not deep enough to be more than an annoyance of a wound.
Again Soren jumped away as the Wyrm tried to strike, and his retreat was covered by a barrage of spells from the others, giving him the chance to glance back.
“We’ve got you covered from behind!” The Hunter who had met up with them before shouted from the back. “Buy us what time you can to let people recover! Hell, get a few more cuts in for us while you’re at it, Freelancer!”
“Planning to do more than just that!”
Soren cut aside another spell and charged back in, slamming his blade down and resuming the melee of magic and blades to talons.
And as their fight raged on, the beast chasing Soren around the lakeside as he dove in and out, scoring clean hits all the while avoiding anything worse than a graze or scorch from magic, Soren had never felt more of a rush yet. The way the power flowing through him felt exhilarating as he exchanged blows with the Wyrm, be it from his blade or clashing spells, finding it easier and easier to feel what the power of his Crest let him get away with by the moment.
Dodging attacks by blinking away in a bolt of light to reappear past it and strike during the moments the Wyrm was winding back from its own moves. Astral magic he’d scarcely used before suddenly feeling so natural as he loosed bolts of the Force or coated his sword in it to slash right through the Wyrm’s own dark powers. And assisted by those in the backline, whose spells or ranged weapons created extra openings for Soren to get a clean strike in, the push they had long looked for was here.
And when the Wyrm, sufficiently enraged by now, struck for Soren with its tail blade again, this time he caught it. His sword opened as it ignited further, blade gleaming as Soren slammed it into the tail blade. And with a yell as he carried the slash through, he severed the tip of that blade from the very beast, the Wyrm’s shrieking roar echoing across the lake as it lurched back. The severed tail tip went flying, crashing into the ground tip first. And with it, the parties hunting this beast roared in a cheer at the sight.
The cheering ended when the Wyrm roared again. Power gathered at its maw and wing arms. Soren moved to try and catch it, but the beast was already primed to strike. Both a beam of dark power and swarm of bolts loosed at once, Soren raising his sword in time to catch the beam as it struck, gritting his teeth as the light around him expanded, but the encroaching swarm of bolts was all too threatening as they began to converge down on him.
But rather than impact, the bolts went slamming into a barrier that formed. One made of pulsing emerald light, flowing around like wind. And it held as the swarm collided with it, dissipating only when the barrage did, and Soren slashed the beam of magic aside. Looking around, Soren couldn’t quite see who had cast the barrier, but a glimpse of green magic to his side said enough.
“Keep going!” Syr’s voice, suddenly ringing in his mind. “Everyone here knows you can do this! Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!”
“I don’t know what you’re up to Syr, but thanks for the assist!” Soren shot forward as he felt another warmth bloom around him, the lattice of light surrounding him taking on a green tint as he charged through the Wyrm’s next barrage of magic bolts.
The beast dodged away as Soren slashed, its wings flapping as it carried itself back to the air, weaving past the storm of spells that followed and countering with its own barrages and beams again.
“Don’t you try to run away!” Soren took off after it, growling as the Wyrm moved over the lake and towards the ruins jutting out from it. “Tricky son of a…”
As Soren reached the edge of the lake, the water suddenly began to freeze, forming a bridge. In the distance, he saw several casters with staves raised, and he saluted to them as he took off across the forming bridge, aiming right for the towering ruins as the Wyrm perched atop them.
The Wyrm roared again as Soren leapt from the ice bridge and to the angled ruins, making an almost perfect ramp to the perched Wyrm as it glowered down at him. The Wyrm charged its power again, and Soren took off at full tilt. As he dodged past the incoming barrage of magic, side stepping or blinking past bolts, he set his sword to his hip, the blade’s mechanisms whirring and hissing as its Crystal core gleamed brighter and brighter the more power he focused into it. The run up carried on through the barrage, and when Soren had rushed halfway up the ruins, the Wyrm roared again and took off, its wings spread as he shot down the tower, again charging a blast at its maw as more power coursed along its wing arms.
But Soren didn’t relent in this sudden game of chicken. As the Wyrm released both an arcing beam and weaves of magic from its arms, Soren met it head on as he slashed. He was brought nearly to a halt as the converging attacks met his gleaming sword. Soren strained as the collision caused streams of both their powers to arc through the air, sending small bolts of light and darkness flying around as he tried to push through it. And with a roar, Soren’s aura burst, rushing around his body and sword as he finally broke through, his light coated blade slashing through the dark beams as he rushed the Wyrm.
And the moment he felt a catch, Soren carried the slash through, the light around his sword extending as he gripped it tightly.
“Ragnarök!”
The air flashed white in line with Soren’s swing, and he went shooting past the Wyrm as his blade struck true. The dark aura was cast aside by the slash, and the Wyrm roared again, careening down as one of its horns went flying off, the struck zone leaving a prominent gash running along where its horn had been, marking out an eye and scoring the scales down its neck. As the Wyrm descended towards the lake, its body was coated by inky shadows. And just before it crashed into the water, it just… vanished. A brief burst of shadows was what met the surface of the lake, but the Wyrm was gone, and so too was the shade it had caused with its ether fog.
The horn Soren had severed lay stuck on the lakeside, eyes on it during the quiet moment of stunned silence that followed. And again, the hunting parties exploded into cheers on the realization that they had won. Whatever had happened to the Wyrm for now was moot, only the reveling of their clear victory over the thing.
Soren appeared back at the lake shore in a flash of light, the lattice around him dying down as his Crest also receded. And when it had, he was wracked by the heaviest feeling of exhaustion he had felt in ages, immediately flopping down on the grass and letting a long breath out in a sigh of relief.
“Well… that makes for a hell of a debut of that, I guess,” Soren weakly chuckled as he shaded his eyes with his left arm, a tired smile on his face as he felt like he could scarcely move. “Man, I am gonna be feeling this for weeks…”
“All that matters is you did it,” he heard Syr speak, and when he moved his arm, Soren found his vision was a bit hazy, though that was probably the exhaustion kicking in. But, he could barely make something out, something that receded as the Alf knelt. “Whether it’s dead or just driven off, I think we can rest easy knowing we won today. That you took the win home for everyone.”
“Hehe… tired as hell though… definitely could’ve done without the stomach stabbing…” Soren’s eyes began to droop as he felt more and more drawn in by a desire to sleep. “Hey… what did you do back there anyway?”
“Hmhmhm, consider that my little secret, for now,” Soren could tell Syr had put a finger to her lips.
“Rest easy for now, Soren. You’ve earned it.”
“Yeah… I think… I think I will,” as he drifted off, Soren could feel his head coming to rest on something soft, feeling fingers stroke through his hair and a warm breeze blow over him. For now, he accepted that sense of relaxation. Come what may, right now, he’d enjoy the feeling of victory along with everyone else.