AoP | B2 | Chapter 57: Bridge (Patreon)

After an hour that felt both short and agonizingly long, Seth pushed himself stiffly to his feet, done healing thanks to aether in his body. The searing pain from their fight with the Ice Elemental had subsided to a dull, throbbing ache that settled deep in his bones. Nearby, Kaelen was assessing his range of motion, twisting his torso to test the wound in his side.

Once satisfied, the Dark Assassin, Seth, and Nightmare left their small refuge carved into the rock face and continued along the riverbank. The distortion field was still humming around them, so the direwolf couldn't go back into the teardrop necklace and was forced to remain by their side.

Seth's gaze landed briefly on the torrent of water next to them. The raging river was tearing chunks from the cavern floor as it thundered past. Even from several yards away, its sheer force sent sprays of water onto them. Crossing it would be suicide, even for someone with the enhanced strength of a Wielder.

Hopefully Colossus is on this side, he thought, though his eyes darted over to the opposite bank.

The trio's respite was short-lived. Less than ten minutes into their march, two figures emerged ahead of them: a towering Earth Elemental with a granite body and a Water Elemental swirling up from the nearby river. Thankfully, neither radiated the overwhelming pressure of a Silver-Tier beast.

The fight was over almost before it had even begun. Seth unleashed Dusk Scythes, and the dark blade of condensed energy hissed through the air as he charged the Earth Elemental. Simultaneously, Kaelen blurred to the side, though the man winced in pain. The Dark Assassin's daggers glowed with a phantom purple as he engaged the Water Elemental. 

Almost simultaneously, Nightmare darted in low and sank fangs into the Earth Elemental's side. Black corrosive smoke ate through stone like acid, creating a deep hole in the darkened rock. 

Seth struck at the weakness without hesitation. His scythes cleaved the creature in two with three quick slashes, and the massive body of stone shuddered before collapsing into a pile of lifeless rubble. A heartbeat later, Kaelen's daggers flickered out and finished off the Water Elemental. Its churning form collapsed into a puddle that spread thin across the cavern floor.

Leaving the two beaststone behind, they resumed their grim run in silence. The brief, brutal efficiency of the fight had done little to ease the renewed tension between Seth and Kaelen. Whatever words they had shared an hour earlier had changed little: they remained allies of circumstance.

Seth felt the weight of it with every glance toward the Dark Assassin. They were both driven by hatred, forced to fight a war they didn't care about, yet in a week they could find themselves on each side of the Warfare Rift, ordered to kill one another.

After another dozen minutes of running, Seth felt the ground abruptly tremble beneath their feet; Kaelen skidded to a halt ahead, his head snapping up. Seth stopped beside him as his core stirred in his chest and Nightmare's Danger Sense flared to life. The sound of a battle echoed through the cavern: the deep, reverberating boom of stone on stone. The moment they rounded a bend, the source of the noise came into view.

A massive Earth Elemental, nearly twice the size of the ones they were used to, was relentlessly hammering a familiar, gold-and-hazel beast. Colossus. The scorpion stood like an impenetrable bastion, his massive shell absorbing the relentless blows as he shielded a small silhouette that moved behind him after each attack.

The woman—her dark hair plastered to her face with sweat and grime—struck out with twin daggers that sparked uselessly against the Elemental's stone. The weapons were desperately searching for a weakness that wasn't there.

"Shit," Seth muttered, already dashing forward and casting Intermediate Identify as Nightmare vanished with Illusionary Emptiness by his side.

     Giant Earth Elemental

     Potential: Silver Tier            Rank: 72 (Low-Silver)

     Affinity: Earth                         

     Strength: 174                       Arcane Power: 160

     Toughness: 335                   Well Capacity: 200

     Agility: 115                           Regeneration: 130

Seth's jaw tightened, a cold dread washing over him. The numbers were basically a death sentence. It had taken all three of them, pushed to their absolute limits, to pierce the Ice Elemental's defense. This new foe had even higher Toughness. There was no way they could win. They had to flee. 

But its Agility is higher than Colossus' even if I use Beastmaster Rage, Seth thought, gritting his teeth. He continued his run toward the scorpion, whose Quartz Armor already showed a network of fine cracks under the heavy assault.

Just as Seth closed the distance, Colossus spotted him. A wave of pained relief washed through Link. 'Seth! Be careful, this—'

But before Colossus could finish, the Elemental in front shifted. The stone of its arm flowed and reshaped itself to morph into a large war hammer. With a roar, it swung the massive weapon down. Colossus tried to scuttle back, but the hammer crashed onto his shell with a cataclysmic crack. To Seth's horror, a large section of his Quartz Armor shattered, and a deep fissure appeared on the golden carapace beneath.

Kaelen surged forward like a phantom in the gloom. The purple energy around his daggers intensified, coalescing into the shape of giant blades as he slashed at the giant Earth Elemental. Yet even with the Dark Assassin's spell, the weapons barely left a scratch on their wake. Seth charged in as well, though in the process he swept his gaze around their surroundings to search for an escape. Somewhere the Giant Earth Elemental wouldn't fit.

Then he saw it. Far ahead, almost lost in the cavern's darkness, a single, narrow bridge of stone stretched from one side of the raging river to the other. An idea immediately sparked in Seth's mind.

Before Seth could voice his plan, the towering Elemental raised its hammer-arm again and drove it down in a brutal arc toward Colossus. Seth moved on instinct. Casting Iron Fists, he threw himself in front of the recovering scorpion, knowing he had to deflect the crushing blow.

A violent, bone-rattling jolt surged through his body as the stone hammer slammed against his gauntlet, glanced off, and smashed into the ground. The force rippled outward in a thunderous shockwave, then blasted dust and shards into the air.

'We need to get it onto that bridge!' Seth yelled through Link, trying to keep his face from contorting in pain.

Wasting no time, Colossus slammed into the Elemental's flank with a loud screech and unleashed another Chitinous Taunt that reverberated through the cavern. The golem-like creature's glowing eyes flared with incandescent fury as it turned toward him once again. The scorpion followed with Desert of Aegis and another cast of Quartz Armor, then began to retreat toward the stone bridge. At the same time, the two imperial Rogues slashed and struck in tandem, their blades sparking uselessly against the creature's rocky hide.

Kaelen's eyes widened as they met Seth's for a brief instant—and in that heartbeat, the assassin understood the plan. His movements shifted at once, his attacks turning wild and frenzied, goading the massive creature to advance faster. The newly formed layers of Colossus's Quartz Armor were already crumbling from the blows, and his shell now bore the full force of the Elemental's powerful strikes when they finally reached the foot of the bridge.

Yet before they could start crossing, the Elemental let out another roar and a surge of aether erupted from its maw. The very air seemed to twist and ripple as an invisible force seized them all, yanking their bodies forward and compelling them to attack against their will—its own taunt.

Seth gritted his teeth. Shit.

A moment later, the creature raised its massive fist. Aether coiled around its arm in a blinding swirl of light. The glow intensified with each passing second, growing hotter and more violent. It was preparing a single, devastating strike—one meant to obliterate everything around it.

"Nightmare!" Seth shouted, his shadow scythes flaring to life along his forearms.

The direwolf unleashed a torrent of aether into Mantle of Terror, desperate to disrupt the Elemental's focus. But the oppressive aura of fear washed over the creature without effect.

Undeterred, Nightmare pounced. His fangs, dripping with the corrosive power of dark shadows, sank deep into the creature's chest and ripped open a smoking wound.

Still being pulled forward by the Elemental's spell, Seth gathered every drop of Darkness aether within him he could and channeled it into Dusk Scythes. With a roar, he lunged to drive the condensed blades straight into the gap Nightmare had carved open.

The weapons sank into the Elemental's, and a deep, grinding hiss of pain reverberated out from its maw. An instant later, the gathered aether around its fist sputtered and faded into wisps. Grinning, Seth ripped the shadow blades free and unleashed a furious storm of slashes, carving deeper and deeper gouges into that wound.

All five of them moved around the Elemental in a frantic dance of survival, dodging and striking back as the giant creature tried crushing them with its fists. Colossus was barely holding on, his chitin splintering with every hit he took. They fought to wound the Elemental restlessly to keep it from channeling that powerful spell again. The moment the invisible energy forcing them to attack vanished, they fell back and resumed luring the Elemental toward the bridge once again.

Once at its edge, the giant creature of rock hesitated, its molten eyes flickering toward the raging river below. But when it spotted Seth, Nightmare, and the battered Colossus retreating onto the narrow span, a glimmer of arrogance crossed its jagged features. It had three of its prey all in one place—it could crush the trio in one decisive blow.

With a roar, the creature charged. Its massive body moved across the stones of the shaking bridge. Colossus braced himself, casting Quartz Armor once again, and met the charge head on. The defensive barrier shattered instantly under the impact.

"Get off the bridge!" Seth roared at his partners. 

The direwolf and the scorpion scrambled back toward the far side. Seth glanced across the river, seeing Kaelen pulling his sister away from the opposite end of the bridge. Then Seth leapt back, summoning every last bit of aether he could muster into one final Phantom Punch.

The instant his boots hit solid ground, Seth drove his fist downward with all his might. The Undead spell crashed into the bridge, then large fissures spiderwebbed across the structure. The section in front of Seth collapsed into the raging river first, and the rest followed in a chain reaction.

The massive Earth Elemental let out a furious bellow as it plummeted into the churning waters. A split second later, the rocks beneath Seth's feet crumbled. His heart fell to his stomach.

Yet, the moment he began to fall, a familiar chitinous tail lashed through the swirling dust and struck like lightning. It pierced through his leather armor, hooking him by the hood and jerking him to a stop mid-fall.

This time, however, there was no desperate scramble with his fall, no heart-wrenching sacrifice.

Colossus held firm, his eight legs braced on the stable ground as he hauled Seth back effortlessly. The scorpion set him down on the riverbank, and the tail uncoiled with a soft scrape against his jacket.

Across the river, Kaelen and Floria stood watching. For a long moment, no one moved, and the only sound was the roar of water echoing through the cave. The two assassins, Seth, and his two companions stared at one another.

'Do you want us to find a way around?' Nightmare asked through Link. 'We could hunt them down so we don't have to face him in the war.'

"No," Seth answered aloud. He could feel the direwolf's own reluctance; it was a strategic suggestion, the logical thing to do. But not the right one.

As Seth turned to leave, Colossus lifted one massive pincer in a clumsy and enthusiastic wave. A deep, grating rumble then reverberated through the cavern. 

"Byyyyyyyye, faaastt wooo-mmaann."

Seth and Nightmare both whipped their heads toward the scorpion, jaws almost dropping to the ground. It was the first time they had ever heard the young beast speak. On the other side of the river, Floria let out a sigh and shook her head in exasperation. Though Kaelen turned to leave, she paused—then gave a small, reticent wave to Colossus before following her brother.

Seth, Nightmare, and Colossus also turned around to head in the opposite direction. The direwolf immediately trotted over to the scorpion. 'Since when can you speak like humans?'

'I had to learn,' Colossus answered. 'She didn't understand me. That I didn't want to hurt her.'

'You protected her?' Nightmare asked.

'Yeah. It was the right thing to do,' the scorpion replied. 'The only choice that made sense.'

'Well, that's what you're good at,' Nightmare retorted with a sigh, though his mental voice was tinged with respect.

'That's the only thing I need to be good at!' Colossus exclaimed with a chuckle. 'I'm the fortress, you're the fangs, right?'

Seth glanced at his companions, a weary smile on his lips, then looked at the dark tunnels branching off into the unknown ahead. They had one last week inside the Rift. One week to find a way out of this distortion field. And one week to get as strong as possible.

Because soon, they would be facing Kaelen again—or Wielders just as dangerous.

And even if this war made no sense, Seth would still be dragged into the mess.