Inside the blind, I began to ready my first True Arrow. Fifty mana and a minute created a powerful arrow, capable of striking the core from just about any range. Combined with my Follow Up ability, I could dish out two punishing hits to the core before the Titan had a chance to react.
The arrow hummed as I raised it high, focusing with all of my might on it, watching as blue wisps of mana slowly trailed to the head. It’s a shame I couldn’t make more of these at a time. But alas, there was almost always a trade-off with such kinds of power.
“This is the blind?” Trig said as he entered. His leather vest was adorned with many grenades, all hanging from little clamps that could easily be torn off in the heat of battle. I recognized the large, round light grenades easily enough, but the rest of his arsenal was unfamiliar to me. “Looks like…and I mean no disrespect, but looks obvious as hell to me.”
“Hey, I’m just doing what my instincts tell me,” I said.
“Well, the villagers are all safe and sound downstairs. They aren’t happy about the food restrictions you implemented and 41 can’t seem to get them to understand the dangers you talked about,” he said. “I mean, to be honest, I don’t understand either. But medicine was never something I did well with in school. That or any other subject.”
I shrugged. I didn’t have time to be giving health lectures to everyone. They’d just have to endure eating only a small portion of food each day, even though we had plenty to go around. “You ready?” I asked.
Trig paused at those words and sighed. I could see the weariness in his eyes mixed with a hesitancy I hadn’t seen before. “As I’ll ever be.”
“What’s the hold up?” I asked.
“Nah it’s just…I thought it’d be fun to marry because I didn’t figure I’d be long for this world, you know?” Trig confessed. “But I didn’t realize how…how badly it made leaving the village feel. Like, if I had to choose between fighting a horror and just staying home with the wife…I’d rather stay here.” He hung his head low. “Does that make me a coward?”
“No, it just makes you attached,” I said. “I feel the same way about Hig.” This prompted Little Hig to poke his head out of his master’s satchel. “No, not you. Look, taking on attachments makes leaving harder, but…sometimes when I’m about to break, or give up and just let something eat me alive, I realize how much it would hurt Higgins. And that gives me something to fight a little harder for.”
“Are you just saying that to make me feel better?” he asked.
“No, it’s true. The people who stop you from wanting to leave give you a strong reason to come back alive. Try to lean into that. It keeps me sane, at the very least.”
“Well…I’m armed and ready. The hut is good to go, from the looks of it. Anything else we need before we go out there and beat the hell out of a shadow?”
“Just common sense, something we both seem to lack,” I said, raising my bow. “Other than that, I’m good to go. Let’s go kill a Titan.”
With those words, we both silently raised our green torches and set out into the darkness, moving towards the location of the arrows that had landed by the Shadow Titan’s core. A mere half mile away from our hut. Close enough for multiple hit and runs. If we could get away the first time, that is…
Chapter 39
The silence of that dark forest had never been greater than now. Trig and I made our way through the darkness, green torches raised, barely able to see ten feet ahead of us. But the green flame masked our presence; not a single monster found us on the way towards the core. A mere half mile, with each 100 yards marked by an arrow in the ground, making a trail for Trig to get back to the blind, should we be separated. Of course, I did not know if the trail would stay, but hopefully the Shadow Titan wouldn’t have an influence on the path.
The landscape slowly changed as we continued towards the core. The ground sloped upwards, more and more, forming a great hill—and a steep one at that. At one point, I looked over to see Trig forced to use his hands to climb up for a while. My own steps weren’t so difficult. Thankfully, I had a high enough dexterity to adeptly step without losing balance. My hands were free to hold Josiah’s Storm tightly in place.
I reached the top of the hill first and quickly raised a hand to indicate I had found something. Above us was what could only be described as an eternal storm, a whirlwind of shadow constantly swirling and twisting. A vortex that seemed endless. The green lights danced across the shadows, giving them enough definition to show that these shadows were moving. Were they made of something more than mere absence of light? What were they?
Trig climbed up beside me, keeping his head low. His eyes widened, but he made no sound. He knew better than to speak. There was still no sign of trouble. We were entirely outside of the Shadow Titan’s vision. Whatever secrets the green flames held, they were the key to avoiding detection. Though that would probably change once we struck.
I scanned the torrential nexus of shadow, searching for the core. A dim light in the center of the swirling chaos presented itself to me as I gazed, almost as if summoned by my mere intent. It was the core! Though it
