Angle those up more; their scythes pull back harder than you’d expect.
Noted. Cut scythes, flip up, switch to greatsword, plunging stab, finish off the first one.
Javelin the first, bait the attack unarmed, resummon, clash, roll under, stab up through the mouth.
There’s no room for error in that.
I know.
We carried out the parallel attacks before the beasts could press their newly gained advantage. Lia dashed forward inside the closest monster’s guard and raised her twin swords above her head, parrying its scythes as they fell on her. The onyx metal skittered up at an angle along the inside of the bladed arms and caught at the weakly armored joints above her. As soon as they found purchase, she flicked the blades out in matching arcs and sent the scythes spinning to the ground. The beast reeled back in pain, but Lia followed, leaping up to plant both feet atop its armored carapace. She launched into the air before her platform stumbled to the ground, reformed her greatsword, and plunged the blade straight through the back of her second attacker. It punched through the beast’s back without resistance and burst out from its stomach, continuing down until it sank into the ground.
Both beasts beside me reared up and raised their forearms in preparation for a set of powerful falling stabs. I waited patiently until my closest foe was committed to the attack, then pulled my blade back over my shoulder and hurled it forward. It caught the beast squarely between its sunken eye sockets and sent it spinning backwards across the clearing. I twirled to my right and held up my empty hands in a blocking position, ready to catch the attack of the final beast when my sword reappeared at the last possible moment. The familiar leather grip returned to my hand with a flash, and I dipped down onto one knee and braced the blade with both hands, waiting for the final attack before I rolled in and finished the fight.
It was an attack that never came. I realized my error too late; from my stationary position on the ground, I watched as the monster leapt over my head, training its blades on a target somewhere behind me. “MARIN!” I screamed, sending a surge of mana through my body in a desperate attempt to correct my mistake. The terror echoed within me twice as Lia watched from her perch atop her dead foe, wrenching at the greatsword that still pinned its body to the earth. I turned just in time to catch a fine spray of purple blood on my face as the monster exploded behind me, its chitin shattered like porcelain.
When I wiped the blood from my eyes, I found Marin standing with her fist extended only a few feet away from my head, her face as hard and cold as steel. The massive dose of adrenaline pumping through my blood was at odds with the waves of shock and relief crashing over me and Lia, and it left me frozen in place, trembling uncontrollably. Forcing myself to move, I took a single step forward and pulled Marin tightly against my chest. “Thank you,” I choked out, on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry.”
She stood stiff against the embrace, her head slowly turning side to side to look out over my shoulder. “Is it...over?”
Lia finally removed her greatsword from the carcass beneath her feet with a sucking squelch as she jumped down to the ground. I felt a powerful sense of finality as she brought the blade down through the last living beast as it writhed in pain in the bloody dirt. With a ragged sigh, she split her blade into the usual matched pair, sheathed them at her hip, and sprinted towards us. “It’s over,” she affirmed, tilting her head against both of ours as she joined the group hug.
I closed my eyes and focused on the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me in an attempt to crystallize a perfect memory of the moment; the relief, love, and utter triumph of holding Lia and Marin in my arms after our harrowing encounter was a moment I longed never to forget no matter how many lives I lived. The feeling extended through our bond and resonated deeply within Lia’s core, and we basked in the sensation together quietly.
“That’s all of them, right?” Marin asked, sagging forward in our arms as her adrenaline began to fade. “We’re safe now?”
“I think so,” I answered, nodding. Our battle had demonstrated that our bestial foes were heavily pack-focused, and while I was confident they would never split up beyond their obfuscating spheres of influence, I did my due diligence and sent out a pulse of Detection for the first time since the air cleared. In the instant the mana left my body, a burst of pain erupted in my chest, and I staggered back as I clawed against the all-too-familiar burning sensation.
Hello, Elden,Amaya’s voice cooed in my head. It’s been too long.
Lia crumpled to the ground and began to convulse, shrieking as the deconstructing pain of the void ripped through her body for the first time. Marin gaped at us in shock, her head turning back and forth between the two of us wildly. “What’s wrong? Primes, Lia, what’s wrong?” she asked, falling to her knees and reaching out a trembling hand.
Please, stop, I begged as the void tore at my lungs and stole my breath. Leave her out of this.
I warned you this would happen,the echoing voice said, ignoring my pleas.I warned you, and you didn’t listen. You shouldn’t have lied to her.I pulled on my consciousness as hard as I could in an effort to disentangle myself with Lia and spare her from the pain, but our bond was too deep for me to break. My ears filled with a deafening explosion of shattering glass, drowning out Lia’s desperate screams. You knew this was your lot in life, and you dragged her
