Card stood on nothing.
At least, that was what it looks like.
A thin current of wind gathered beneath his right foot. He compressed his spiritual energy into it, pushed down—
WHOOSH!
—and shot several meters higher into the air.
For one glorious second, Card smiled.
Then gravity remembered him.
"Ah, shit."
He dropped.
His left foot kicked downward.
Another burst of wind formed beneath it.
WHOOSH!
Card lurched forward instead of upward, arms flailing as the ocean rushed beneath him.
"Okay! Okay—still working on it!"
He forced himself upright and searched the horizon again.
There.
Far beyond the shore, barely visible against the endless blue, something moved through the sky.
Sharur.
Even from this distance, Card could recognize the winged lion's silhouette.
Which meant the Wanderer was there.
Card squinted.
Then looked back toward shore.
Then at the ocean separating him from Sharur.
His breathing was already ragged. His legs trembled whenever he gathered spiritual energy into them, and the strange lightness he had felt when first discovering Wind Walk was disappearing.
He had already traveled farther than he thought possible.
But the Wanderer was still more than forty miles away.
Card clicked his tongue.
"Damn."
He tried another step.
Wind gathered beneath his foot—
then immediately dispersed.
Card dropped several feet before catching himself with another burst.
His face tightened.
"I wouldn't be able to get to the Wanderer that fast."
And even if he somehow did...
What then?
He would arrive with almost no spiritual energy left.
Tan was unconscious.
Flavio was still restrained inside the beach cave.
At least, he was supposed to be.
Card stared toward Sharur for another moment.
"Sorry, Flavio"
He turned toward land.
"I can't let you and Tan die."
Card stepped against the air.
WHOOSH!
He launched himself toward shore.
This time, he stopped trying to force the technique.
He let himself fall.
Waited.
Felt the wind.
Then used another small burst.
WHOOSH!
Fall.
Step.
Fall.
Step.
Card's movements were slower now, but each burst consumed less energy.
A grin crept across his face.
"So that's it."
He looked down at his feet.
"I've been fighting the wind."
Another step.
This one was smoother.
"Still gonna need a lot of practice."
He glanced toward the rapidly approaching coastline.
"Wind Walk..."
Card laughed.
"Yeah. I'm keeping that."
Flavio stumbled through the mouth of the beach cave with Tan across his back.
Sunlight struck his face.
He immediately wished it hadn't.
His head pounded.
Every muscle in his body felt like it had been torn apart and stitched together incorrectly.
The wounds left by the Wanderer burned beneath his clothes. His legs trembled under Tan's weight, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Flavio took three steps.
Stopped.
Bent forward.
"Tan..."
No answer.
"I'm gonna need you to lose about fifty pounds."
Tan's arm hung uselessly over his shoulder.
Flavio groaned.
"Preferably right now."
He forced himself upright.
The distant sounds of battle carried faintly through the air, but Flavio couldn't see it.
Good.
He didn't want to.
Not now.
His goal was inland and away from the main fighting.
The village cave.
There were entrances scattered throughout the surrounding land, including one somewhere closer to the beach. The villagers knew where many of them were hidden.
But navigating what waited underneath?
That was different.
That belonged to the scouts.
Flavio only needed to reach the entrance.
He could worry about everything else afterward.
He adjusted Tan across his shoulders and started walking.
Slowly.
One step.
Then another.
A fifth-class demon wandered between the trees ahead.
Flavio immediately stopped.
His hand instinctively moved toward his broadsword.
Then stopped halfway.
"No."
He backed behind a tree.
The demon hadn't seen him.
Flavio lowered himself carefully, keeping Tan balanced against his back.
His breathing sounded impossibly loud.
He watched through the leaves.
The demon sniffed the air.
Flavio froze.
His fingers tightened around Tan's arm.
Keep moving.
The creature turned its head.
Come on.
It scratched at its chest.
Flavio stared.
You have the entire damn island.
The demon finally wandered away.
Flavio waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then he moved.
No sword.
No spiritual energy.
No fight.
He simply carried Tan in the opposite direction.
The beach was drowning beneath demons.
"SHIELDS!"
The Village Chief's voice disappeared beneath the impact.
BOOOOM!
The front line slid backward across the wet sand.
Warriors screamed as they planted their feet.
Spears thrust between shields.
Demons fell.
More climbed over them.
The fishermen fought beside the warriors, using long spears, hooks and whatever weapons they had brought from the village. Blacksmiths swung heavy hammers. Carpenters wielded axes meant for timber.
Behind them, scouts fired until their fingers bled.
And still—
the demons came.
Thousands.
Odysseus stood near the center of the formation.
Unlike the Village Chief, he wasn't watching the demon directly in front of him.
His eyes moved constantly.
Left flank.
Right flank.
Distance from the water.
Number of wounded.
Position of the scouts.
Rate of advance.
Another wave struck.
"Prometheus!"
"Already on it."
Prometheus moved behind the front line.
A warrior lowered his spear.
Prometheus touched two fingers against its head.
Red spiritual energy flowed down his arm.
FWOOM!
Fire wrapped around the spearhead.
He moved to the next.
Then another.
Then another.
"Don't waste it," Prometheus said.
The warriors nodded.
Odysseus raised his sword.
"FRONT RANK!"
Burning spears lowered.
"THRUST!"
The entire line attacked.
Flaming spearheads tore into demon flesh.
The first row of demons collapsed.
"SCOUTS!"
Bundles of arrows were passed toward Prometheus.
He swept his hands over them.
Fire spread across dozens of arrowheads.
"LOOSE!"
The scouts fired.
Burning arrows climbed into the sky.
For a heartbeat, the beach seemed to glow beneath them.
Then they fell.
Demons screamed.
The Village Chief drove his sword through one creature, twisted, pulled it free and smashed the pommel into another's face.
"HA!"
A demon attacked from his left.
The Chief caught the strike with a shield, rotated with the impact and buried his sword beneath its ribs.
Knight.
Gladiator.
Whatever the battlefield demanded.
He had survived too many years to care what the technique was called.
A demon broke through beside him.
A spear flashed.
SHHK!
The creature stopped.
Achilles stood behind it.
He pulled the spear free.
"Your left."
The Chief grinned.
"I had him."
"Of course."
Another demon attacked Achilles.
Its claws swept toward his throat.
He leaned backward.
The claws missed by inches.
Achilles rotated beneath the creature's arm.
His spear reversed.
The butt struck its knee.
The demon buckled.
The spearhead entered beneath its chin.
One movement flowed into the next.
A warrior beside him struggled against two demons.
"Achilles!"
The warrior threw him a shield.
Achilles looked at it flying toward him.
His expression twisted in disgust.
He simply stepped aside.
The shield sailed past.
"Why would you throw that at me?"
"For protection!"
A demon attacked.
Achilles ducked.
Turned.
Countered.
The demon dropped.
Achilles pointed his spear at the warrior.
"Don't do that again."
Several meters away—
"WHOA!"
Theseus tripped over a corpse.
A demon's claws passed directly over his head.
Theseus crashed onto his back.
"Oh, come on!"
The demon lunged downward.
Theseus rolled.
Its claws struck sand.
He grabbed its wrist, wrapped both legs around its arm and twisted.
CRACK!
The demon screamed.
Theseus released it, scrambled to his feet—
and slipped.
His heel struck another demon in the jaw.
THUD!
Both Theseus and the demon stared at each other.
Theseus blinked.
"Huh."
The demon attacked.
Theseus grabbed a broken spear from the sand and stabbed it.
The Village Chief saw the whole thing.
"Did you mean to do any of that?"
Theseus looked offended.
"Of course!"
He took one step backward and nearly fell over another corpse.
The Chief burst out laughing.
"Liar!"
Odysseus didn't laugh.
He was counting.
They were killing demons.
A lot of them.
It didn't matter.
More kept coming.
Their wounded were increasing.
Prometheus's flames were becoming smaller.
The scouts were running through arrows.
The formation had already been forced several hundred meters from where the battle began.
Odysseus looked inland.
Then toward the Village Chief.
"Chief!"
The Chief parried another attack.
"What?"
"We're leaving the beach!"
The Chief turned.
"What?"
"We can't hold this position!"
Another wave crashed against them.
The front line moved backward.
Odysseus pointed inland.
"Your village has walls!"
The Chief understood.
The walls.
Outposts.
Watchtowers.
The enormous crossbows.
Everything they had spent the last month rebuilding.
"How do you want to do it?"
Odysseus smiled.
"We don't run."
The Chief smiled back.
"Good answer."
Odysseus raised his sword.
"FIRST FORMATION! THREE STEPS BACK!"
The warriors moved.
Demons surged after them.
"STOP!"
Shields planted.
"SECOND FORMATION! BACK!"
Another group moved.
"STOP!"
The retreat began.
Not as a rout.
Not yet.
Every meter of sand would cost the demons blood.
Far from the villagers, Ares rolled his shoulders.
Athena stood several dozen meters behind him, sword in one hand and Aegis strapped to the other.
Apollo remained farther back.
Fourth-class demons moved throughout the forest.
Kapres.
Tikbalangs.
Too many were beginning to spread outward.
Athena saw it.
"Ares."
"I know."
"You have one job."
Ares smiled.
"Make them love me."
Apollo sighed.
"That's not what he said."
"Same thing."
Ares stepped farther away from them.
Athena immediately understood what he was doing.
"Apollo. Back."
Apollo frowned.
"He hasn't even—"
Ares released his spiritual energy.
WHOOOOOM!
The forest shook.
Leaves tore free from branches.
Dust exploded outward.
Apollo stumbled backward.
Athena planted Aegis into the earth and braced behind it.
Across the forest—
demons stopped.
A Kapre slowly turned.
Then another.
Tikbalangs raised their heads.
Dozens of fourth-class demons suddenly forgot everything else around them.
Their attention shifted toward one source.
Ares.
Spiritual energy poured from him without restraint.
To the demons, it was irresistible.
Sweet.
Powerful.
Something to devour.
Ares spread his arms.
"Well?"
The first Tikbalang screamed.
{HOUWAAAA!}
Then the forest erupted.
Apollo stared.
"They're all coming."
Athena drew her sword.
"That's the point."
The first Tikbalang reached Ares.
He smashed it aside.
A Kapre attacked from the right.
Ares ducked beneath its pipe and drove his weapon into its stomach.
Another kicked him in the ribs.
Ares rolled across the earth.
He rose laughing.
"Yes!"
Apollo drew an arrow.
Fire ignited across its head.
He fired.
SWIISH!
The arrow struck a Kapre approaching Ares from behind.
Flames erupted across its back.
Ares turned and finished it.
More arrived.
Five.
Ten.
More.
Ares disappeared inside the crowd.
Athena watched carefully.
"Apollo."
"I know."
"Don't get close."
Apollo fired another burning arrow.
"I wasn't planning on it."
A Tikbalang kicked Ares across the face.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
He slowly turned back toward it.
Then laughed.
Not the laugh from before.
Athena's expression changed.
Ares rushed forward.
His weapon struck once.
Twice.
Again.
Again.
The Tikbalang collapsed.
Ares continued.
"Ares!"
No response.
Another demon attacked.
Ares turned and butchered it.
He stopped defending.
Stopped measuring his attacks.
Stopped listening.
Apollo lowered his bow slightly.
"He's slipping."
"Yes."
"You gonna stop him?"
Athena watched the demons surrounding him.
"No."
Apollo looked at her.
Athena raised Aegis.
"Master wanted their attention on Ares."
A Kapre flew from the crowd and smashed through a tree.
Ares followed it, laughing.
"He has it."
Apollo looked back toward the carnage.
Then Ares suddenly stopped.
His head turned.
His eyes settled on Apollo.
Apollo froze.
Athena immediately stepped between them.
Aegis rose.
For several seconds, Ares simply stared.
There was no recognition in his eyes.
A Tikbalang screamed behind him.
Ares spun around and attacked it.
Apollo exhaled.
Athena didn't lower her shield.
"That's why you stay back."
Apollo swallowed.
"Noted."
The ocean was becoming violent.
Perseus threw his net.
It opened across the air and dropped over two Syokoy.
He pulled hard.
Both creatures rose from the water.
His trident punched through the first.
The second bit at the ropes.
Perseus twisted the net around its arm, pulled the creature toward him and drove the butt of his trident into its face.
It dropped.
Nearby, Bellerophon descended upon his Pegasi.
He carried his trident beneath one arm like a knight lowering a lance.
A Sirena launched herself from the water.
Bellerophon struck her cleanly through the chest.
He lifted her from the sea.
"Pathetic."
Perseus looked over.
"You know they can't understand you when they're dead."
"Then they should have listened while alive."
Perseus shook his head.
"You really enjoy yourself, don't you?"
"I enjoy excellence."
"Of course you do."
Another Sirena attacked.
Bellerophon turned his Pegasi sharply and struck downward.
The Wanderer watched from Sharur's back.
Something was changing.
At first it was subtle.
A Syokoy attacked Perseus.
He caught it in his net.
Another Syokoy immediately charged.
Not around its ally.
Through it.
Its claws tore into the trapped demon's back as it climbed over the creature to reach Perseus.
Perseus's eyes widened.
"What the hell?"
He stabbed it.
Another came.
Then another.
Sirenas began screaming.
Their voices became harsher.
Wild.
One attacked Bellerophon even after losing an arm.
He impaled her.
"Amusing" Bellarophon said
She continued clawing her way down the shaft of his trident.
Bellerophon's expression finally changed.
"They've gone mad."
The Wanderer looked beneath them.
Then—
THUM.
Sharur's wings faltered.
Only slightly.
But the Wanderer felt it too.
A pressure rose from somewhere beneath the ocean.
Not spiritual.
Demonic.
Deep.
Ancient.
Heavy.
Sharur growled.
"Master."
"I felt it."
Perseus pulled his trident free from another Syokoy.
"What was that?"
THUM.
Again.
Stronger.
The sea demons screamed.
And attacked harder.
Their movements became increasingly reckless.
Pain meant nothing.
Wounds meant nothing.
They tore through each other if another demon stood between them and their prey.
Bellerophon raised his trident.
"The pressure is affecting them."
The Wanderer said nothing.
His eyes remained fixed on the water.
Far below Sharur, beyond the reach of sunlight—
something shifted.
The Wanderer's hand tightened around his sword.
The demonic pressure rose again.
Flavio stopped behind a fallen tree.
Two demons stood ahead.
And behind them—
the place he needed to reach.
He could see the clues now.
A group of stones arranged beside the roots of an old tree.
To anyone else, meaningless.
Flavio recognized them.
The entrance was close.
Very close.
Unfortunately, so were the demons.
Flavio slowly lowered Tan behind the fallen trunk.
His hand touched his broadsword.
He stopped.
He could probably kill them.
Probably.
But how much would it cost?
His spiritual energy was already dangerously low.
His body felt even worse.
Flavio looked at Tan.
"No."
He crouched.
One demon wandered several meters away.
The other stayed.
Flavio waited.
A minute passed.
Then another.
The demon sat down.
Flavio stared.
"You've gotta be kidding me," he whispered.
It remained there.
Flavio looked around.
A loose stone sat near his foot.
He picked it up.
Looked toward the trees far to his left.
Then threw it.
The stone struck a trunk.
TOK!
The demon's head snapped toward the sound.
Flavio waited.
The creature stood.
Walked toward it.
Flavio smiled.
"Thank you."
He lifted Tan again.
His knees nearly buckled.
Flavio bit down on the pain and moved.
Fast wasn't possible.
Quiet would have to do.
He reached the tree.
Moved the hanging vegetation.
Darkness waited behind it.
Flavio slipped inside.
The demon returned seconds later.
Nothing remained but trees and stones.
Flavio couldn't see his own feet.
He leaned against the wall.
"Okay."
Tan remained across his shoulders.
"Now what?"
The cave beneath the village stretched far beyond anything Flavio understood.
Somewhere through those tunnels was home.
There were also traps.
Dead ends.
Routes that could leave him wandering for hours.
Only scouts knew the cave properly.
Flavio moved slowly.
Eventually the tunnel split.
Two paths.
He stared.
Then noticed scratches near the stone.
He leaned closer.
"Card does this."
He remembered watching Card inspect similar markings before.
But remembering that Card looked at them was not the same as remembering what they meant.
Flavio stared harder.
"Come on..."
Nothing.
His eyes closed.
Think.
He could feel a faint current of air from one direction.
The other was still.
Flavio looked toward the moving air.
"Hopefully you're not a trap."
He stepped into it.
The retreat from the beach continued.
"LEFT!"
Odysseus shouted.
The Village Chief immediately shifted his warriors.
A group of demons tried to circle them.
Achilles intercepted.
He ran toward the first.
Jumped.
Planted one foot against its chest.
Vaulted over it.
His spear stabbed downward as he passed.
He landed behind the second demon.
It turned.
Too late.
The spear pierced its ribs.
Achilles pulled it free.
A third attacked.
He slipped beneath the claws.
Countered.
Moved.
Never stopped.
Theseus fought differently.
Much differently.
A demon swung.
Theseus leaned away.
Too far.
He lost balance.
"Whoa—"
He grabbed the demon to stop himself from falling.
Both crashed to the ground.
Theseus somehow landed on top.
He punched it.
"Sorry!"
Then stabbed it.
Prometheus laughed despite himself.
"Theseus!"
"What?"
"Nothing!"
Odysseus looked behind them.
The beach was farther away now.
But so were the demons' bodies.
The living horde continued following.
Exactly as expected.
He looked toward the distant inland terrain.
"Keep moving!"
The Village Chief raised his sword.
"YOU HEARD HIM!"
The villagers roared.
Their retreat continued toward home.
Card finally reached the shore.
His last Wind Walk failed completely.
He dropped.
"Shit—"
THUD!
Card rolled across the sand.
He stopped flat on his back.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then:
"Definitely needs work."
He sat up.
His entire lower body hurt.
Card looked toward the beach cave.
"Alright."
He stood.
"Let's go get Tan."
A thought crossed his mind.
"And make sure Flavio hasn't done anything stupid."
Card started toward the cave.
Flavio's journey underground became slower.
Much slower.
His legs had stopped trembling.
That worried him more.
They simply felt numb now.
He reached another intersection.
Three tunnels.
Marks sat along the walls.
Flavio recognized none of them.
"Fantastic."
He lowered Tan carefully.
Flavio sat beside him.
Just for a moment.
He touched Tan's neck.
Pulse.
Still there.
"Good."
Flavio rested his head against the stone.
His eyes wanted to close.
"No."
He slapped his cheek.
"Not here."
Flavio forced himself back up.
He looked at the three tunnels.
Then closed his eyes.
Air.
One route carried a weak current.
Another—
nothing.
The third carried air too.
"That's not helpful."
He opened his eyes.
Flavio examined the markings again.
One looked vaguely familiar.
He remembered Card once pointing toward something similar while speaking with another scout.
Which direction had they gone afterward?
Flavio rubbed his forehead.
"Think."
His exhausted mind refused.
He looked down at Tan.
Then laughed weakly.
"If we survive this, I'm making Card teach me this shit."
Flavio chose.
The tunnel didn't kill him.
That was encouraging.
It also didn't end.
That was less encouraging.
Minutes passed.
Then—
light.
Flavio stopped.
Not sunlight.
Torchlight.
Faint.
Distant.
But unmistakable.
His eyes widened.
"Tan."
No response.
Flavio smiled anyway.
"We made it."
He continued forward.
The tunnels gradually became familiar.
Storage areas.
Supplies.
Signs of human use.
The sections beneath the village.
Flavio finally emerged into a wider chamber.
He lowered Tan.
Carefully.
Very carefully.
Then collapsed beside him.
His back struck the stone wall.
Flavio didn't care.
For several seconds, he simply breathed.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
He checked Tan again.
Still breathing.
"Good."
Flavio's broadsword rested beside him.
His hands were shaking.
His body screamed for sleep.
Somewhere far above them, beyond stone and earth, the war continued.
Flavio couldn't hear it.
Couldn't see it.
Didn't know the villagers were being forced from the beach.
Didn't know thousands of demons were following them inland.
Didn't know Card had turned back.
Didn't know what was waking beneath the ocean.
Right now, none of that mattered.
Tan was alive.
Flavio leaned his head against the wall.
"Card's gonna be pissed."
A weak smile crossed his face.
His eyes closed.
This time, he didn't fight it.
Within seconds, Flavio was asleep beside his friend.
{END OF CHAPTER 18}
Hi! Sorry for the late chapter... (understatement of the year ).
How long has it been? Maybe 8 years since I started this novel? Lol.
Well, I dropped it for a little bit after realizing I didn't know shit about war, so I decided to join the military.
It helped a little.
And now that I'm about to get out, I guess it's finally time to start writing this story again.
It's honestly crazy coming back to The Wanderer's Apprentice after all these years. I'm going to try to keep the heart and story of what I originally wrote while improving the writing with everything I've learned since then.
If you enjoyed the new chapter, have suggestions for where the story should go, notice something I messed up, or just want to say what's up, leave a comment. I read each and every one of them.
And to anybody who somehow waited all these years...
Thank you. Seriously.