The other hand came down from atop me, trying to grab hold of my feet as I plummeted down slowly. A quick adjustment of my descent speed solved that problem, but…I’ll be damned, I wasn’t really in a good position here. Each drop was killing my height advantage and I had a feeling that falling into the Shadow Titan’s body without a light source would be a quick death for me. This wasn’t a combat mission; it was a scouting job. And I had found the Core…just had to try something.
Using the last of my height advantage before the glowing point between the beast’s eyes fell out of view, I fired four arrows in an arc, watching as they disappeared into the shadows. They didn’t miss their target, for I wasn’t aiming at the core. Rather, I was aiming at the area below. My Arrowfinder ability would let me track down that area and hopefully the core would still be there. The features of the Titan didn’t seem to move around during this fight. Though it could conjure arms out of shadow, it seemed to keep its face in a stationary position.
I grabbed one of the light bombs and twisted the midsection hard, praying that the explosion wasn’t dangerous. Smaller hands of shadow had all emerged from the bank of darkness beneath me, all grasping up to grab a hold as I fell into them. Right before I met the hands, there came a loud pop, followed by a searing heat in between my hands, almost superheating my metal gloves. I gasped and held onto the ball, opening my fingers to allow the flare to do its job.
Beams of light came bursting out of my hands in all directions, causing the shadows to vanish around me instantly. The grasping fingers made of darkness retreated and the entire Titan shivered, letting out a high-pitched shriek, as if this light was hurting it. A column of light opened up as the Shadow Titan parted way for my descent. I hurtled down to the ground, adjusting my glide ability at the last moment to land gently, as to avoid shattering my bad knee.
Dropping the gleaming ball of light on the ground, I hastily produced two torches, lighting them both on fire with an elemental burst. Less than ten seconds later, the light bomb hacked, wheezed and then ceased emitting any light whatsoever. The shadows encroached upon me once more, yet…I got the feeling that the darkness was more afraid of me than I was of it. Had this Titan never encountered a Venator who knew what it was before? Had it ever been in danger?
These questions faded from my mind as my Arrowfinder abilities began to activate. Three miles to the southwest. That was where my arrows rested. And that was where the beating heart of the Shadow Titan lay, waiting for me to destroy it, just like I had slain the others. The shadows had a good reason to be afraid.
As I limped my way back home, pondering just how exactly we were to kill a thing primarily made out of shadows, there came a gurgling sound in the distance. A deep and familiar combination of huffing and dragging noises that instantly brought to mind the L’Gara we had faced deep in the mountains. Could it be? My heart rose for a moment at the realization that this kill could lead me closer to gaining that permanent strength bonus.
But…did I have time to waste? There was still a ticking clock here. It was only a matter of time before the Shadow Titan was able to send its forces to attack the village. And I needed to be back with them to defend from whatever wave was coming our way…but, still…what if an attack never came? What if the green flames that still burned so brightly kept the monsters away?
Trig would need to make more light grenades for our attack against the Shadow Beast. L’Gara had plenty of Estoan and Firnin to give…
A tough call, but ultimately, I decided to give in to temptation. Gaining one more point towards a permanent strength bonus, plus the additional yield that the L’Gara would give was just too useful to pass up. Besides, I’m sure Trig and the Overseer together could keep the village safe. At least…I really, really hoped so.
Following the sounds of the L’Gara, holding my torch high in the air, I made my way through the silent forest. In the distance, the gleaming circles caught my eye once more. The pods belonging to the beasts that continuously hatched within the forest. Would this nursery be destroyed when the Titan died? Part of me hoped that the monsters would only stop hatching. If we could bring a division of Breachers here to take a look, to analyze these eggs, who knows what we might learn?
A long dragging trail greeted me as I followed the sounds of the creature. The L’Gara had been dragging itself towards a large body of water, though not the same one I had been to before. This was a larger lake with no obvious source of where the water was coming from. Perhaps an underground river leading into it?
The darkness receded as the torchlight revealed a small L’Gara, desperately trying to crawl its way to the waters. I was surprised to see that this creature was only a fourth of their regular size. Its rubbery blue skin glinted as I inspected the beast.
“Just a little guy, eh?” I said, raising my bow. “I almost feel bad about this. Almost.” I readied four arrows on my fire bow, knowing that
