"Thorn and I have pushed the limits of what we can do long before coming here, so you don't have to worry about us," Ren said with determination in his eyes. Siraye smiled at him proudly and tousled his hair, getting a scrunched face in return. "You really should stay this time. I could use a good instructor on how to use this Wraith mana," she said, hoping he would accept her offer. "I might consider it," he said wryly.
"Can we please get going? I've been sitting still for too long, and I'm itching to see what the Dericoed are made of," Nenvalur said, rotating his stiffened shoulder and cracking his neck. "We'll be there in a few hours, provided we don't encounter any difficulties," Siraye said plainly. "Hah! Difficulties? Is that what we're calling monsters now?" he asked sarcastically.
Siraye shook her head. "It's not that simple. On the one hand, we have the Dericoed to deal with, but on the other, there is an ever-present layer of mana-fog that acts as a deterrent for those looking for the stone," she explained briefly. "If mana-fog is enough to stop you from reaching your goals, then I don't even think a rematch is necessary," Nenvalur said jokingly.
"Don't underestimate it," Siraye warned, getting a surprised look from Nenvalur and the others. "I've been there once before, and let me tell you, it's like nothing you've ever experienced. Granted, I was only able to manage the third stage back then, but the eerie feeling has stuck with me ever since," she said, almost shivering at the thought.
Nenvalur, not being ignorant to an honest warning, immediately shifted his perspective on it. "In that case, we'll follow your lead," he said in a much more serious tone. "I'm glad that even though you're always hungry for battle, you can still listen to reason," she said, putting a fist to his chest.
"It's the best way to make sure no unnecessary risks are taken," he began with a shrug. "I'm all for a good fight, but I won't blindly ignore a warning; I learned that lesson long ago," he said, lowering his head a little as he turned away.
It looks like it still haunts him, even after all this time, Siraye thought, giving him an empathetic smile.
They made their way to the stables and mounted their horses before heading towards the southern gate. They rode silently and at a steady pace as they left the walls of the city, breathing in the fresh forest air of Erberos once more. Siraye rode at the front of the squad, followed closely by Nenvalur, while Ren, Thorn and the others helped to keep a lookout in case any monsters dared to challenge the aura expelled by the group.
There's only one kind of creature that would even dare, but even though it hasn't been seen in nearly a thousand years, that doesn't mean it wouldn't appear, Siraye thought as she stared as far ahead as she could through the dense forest.
"How much longer until we get there?" Nenvalur asked as quietly as the sound of hooves striking the ground would allow. "When you start feeling like the world is closing in around you, you'll know we're close," Siraye said, still keeping her gaze straight ahead, trusting the others to keep an eye out for the Dericoed. "Commander, look," Derion's voice scraped from a few horses behind her, prompting her to signal everyone to halt.
"What is it?" she asked, turning in her saddle to look in the direction he was pointing. Following his outstretched hand, she saw it: A massive, lumbering humanoid figure could be seen moving almost effortlessly through the trees.
I shouldn't have said anything, she thought to herself as she saw the creature through the trees.
It stood on two root-like limbs that raised its total height to almost nine meters tall, as two thin arms spawned sharpened, claw-like thorns from them to act like fingers. Its head sat upon a wreath of leaves that went from the base of its neck to the width of its shoulders. Its face, with hollowed sockets for eyes, had a maw that had countless, smaller thorns for teeth.
Siraye's eyes opened widely as she realized the predicament they were in. "It's a rogue Dericoed! Everyone, get into position! Thorn, Ren, Nenvalur: You're with me. We're attacking this thing head-on, but do not underestimate its cunning!" she shouted, not bothering to hide their presence any longer. "Yeeeeeees! Finally! A worthy opponent for a legendary battle!" Nenvalur shouted, drawing his blade that hungered for death, while Thorn conjured a blade of pure mana and thorn a scarlet scythe nearly twice his height.
"Go!" She commanded her squadmates, who executed her command with practiced precision. Haldir and Eirenne immediately leaped into the trees while Vyra and Derion half-mooned their positions in accordance with Siraye's. Nenvalur, Thorn, and Ren followed closely behind, drawing copious amounts of mana. Without much delay, Siraye sent off a massive fireball to gauge its responsiveness.
As if on instinct, it conjured a massive wood and earthen shield without even moving an arm. The resulting explosion created a nice cloud of smoke to help conceal their approach. Haldir and Eirenne infused their arrows with Kyr, enhancing their speed to try and crack the barrier they knew it created based off Siraye's first spell. The air cracked with thunder, sending an echo through the forest as the shield created to block it smoldered.
It's weak to lightning or highly condensed fire, Siraye noted, sending the information to the others through their mental connection. What about ice? Nenvalur asked, already having conjured a large spear off to Siraye's left. It's worth a try, let's see how it responds, she replied briefly.
He threw the javelin at a remarkable speed, creating multiple cones of air around it as it traveled. The Dericoed, sensing its approach, conjured a sharpened thorn from its body and countered the spell by thrusting into the tip of the spell.
It's dumber than it looks, Nenvalur sent, as he reformed the spell to incase its arm in ice.
Realizing its arm was entirely frozen, the creature severed its own arm and regenerated it within the heartbeat that followed. There's no point in trying to sever its limbs. We have to go for its core, Siraye noted, mentally applauding the attempt anyway. But where is its core? Ren asked, dodging an incoming array of spikes as the creature stomped the ground beneath it.
They're all different, so we'll just have to hammer it until we find it, Siraye said, slicing through a boulder that was aimed at crushing her. She dashed forward at a speed that made Nenvalur's spear throw look like a child had thrown it and began to slice at its legs before it even realized she was there.
The creature screeched in agony but quickly healed the deep cuts she'd made. Fuck me sideways; it's healing as fast as I can cut it, she said frustratedly, dodging a swipe of its claws and the spiked ground it created in its wake.
Thorn shifted his sword into a two-handed battle axe that was nearly as large as he was and dashed in to help back her up by severing one of its claws, forcing it to regenerate as the fallen limb sunk into the ground. Under cover of yet another barrage of arrows from Eirenne, Nenvalur jumped to a branch that was at nearly half the creature's height and dashed to attack its torso.
The creature nearly caught him as he flew, only missing him by a hair's breadth as he passed between its fingers and thrust his sword into its torso. He pushed a heavily condensed Pyrus spell into its chest, melting away the naturally formed armor surrounding his blade as Vyra tried to meet his blade with her spear on the other side with the same spell.
It's not here, he sent, jumping away just in time to avoid a swiping claw that was aimed at his back. The creature, finding no purchase with its claws, stomped the ground and sent another ring of large thorns to where it knew he would be landing shortly. Ren, having seen the attack, dispelled his scythe and dashed in, managing to knock Nenvalur out of the way of the skewers.
"Thanks," Nenvalur said with a nod, getting a single one back from Ren as a response before he dashed in for his own attack. Drawing from the Wraith realm, he threw a small, scarlet dagger near the crown of its head. However, just before the attack aimed at him could land, he reappeared where his dagger had landed.
He looked down into the gaping hole that was the top of its head, realizing there was a thin, leafy membrane just behind what would be its eyes. I found it! He sent to the others. Before he could strike, however, he was forcibly removed from his position as he sensed a crown of thorns being conjured beneath him.
Drawing more mana than before, he conjured a set of daggers between each of his fingers and threw them rapidly to different locations around its body. With expert precision, he reappeared with his reformed scythe at each location in contact with the daggers.
He can make clones of himself? Siraye asked with evident shock, stomping the ground before her to create a number of earthen platforms that gradually climbed higher. No, he's just that fast, Thorn sent back as the three of them watched as he, Derion, and Vyra simultaneously attacked the creature, cutting and stabbing into as many potential vital spots as they could think of.
The creature fell to its knees, screeching in pain before it realized its mistake. Siraye, Nenvalur, and Thorn used the platforms she'd created to bounce off of them in rapid succession, creating streaks of gold and silver as the three of them moved in to attack the base of its neck.
Infusing their blades with a mixture of Kyr, Pyrus, and pure rage, the three of them struck, severing the head from the body, as Ren materialized from above with a scarlet claw formed around his hand and a panicked look on his face.
Shit, he's out of position, Vyra sent to Haldir and Eirenne, who had adjusted their position due to the thorns created by the creature wherever they stood. They used an Inar spell to pull him down towards the severed head with incredible speed.
As if plucking a grape from a vine, Ren used the sharp ends of the claw to sever the membrane and grasp the core, ripping it out of its socket as he pushed away from the head, landing effortlessly some distance away.
The lifeless body of the Dericoed shuddered, rustling the leaves around the green-blooded stump of its neck before it fell, shattering the ground beneath it.
"Fuck yes!" Nenvalur and Siraye shouted victoriously while Haldir shook his head. "That was way too close for comfort. I thought we'd been had," Thorn said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Aah! That was a good fight!" Nenvalur said, wrapping his arm around Thorn's shoulder. "But you're right, we would've been fucked if it weren't for Ren," Siraye said, jutting her thumb over her shoulder.
Ren, still holding the core in his hands, regarded it curiously.