Chapter Sixty - 060

Chapter Sixty - 060

"Ugh," Magda groaned. "That hurt."

Ice spilled off of her back, clattering sharply to the hard ground. She leveraged herself up, feeling the weight of a large slab of ice still resting against her lower back and legs.

Force Wall!

A brief flare of her favorite Skill threw the slab up and back against the wall, where it cracked into three smaller chunks and slid to the ground. The yellow bubble dissipated and Magda got to her feet, her heart eager to rejoin the fight. Her rage boiled in her veins.

That blue bastard threw me! She hadn't been hit that hard since the Warlord of Neven and she'd been a full stage behind at the time. She spat out a mouthful of blood. Blighted giant must be at its second Temper at least...Guild records didn't say they were that strong naturally. Hope they weren't wrong. Because if that beast isn't at second Temper yet, then Haarwatch is going to have some mighty foes knocking on its doors.

Her Health was too low, hovering near 50%, so she knocked back one of the basic healing potions they'd prepped. They didn't have many, but each of them got some, even the new kid. The red liquid fizzled slightly as it went down her throat, and she watched as her bar filled back up to 90%. Did he even get a chance to use it? Or was it...maybe it was too quick.

Magda stretched and cracked her neck, making sure she hadn't pulled anything. Doing so, she noticed something half-buried in the icy debris: a severed belt with an ornate and entirely too familiar buckle. Sucking in a breath, she reached down and pulled it free. On it was an empty sheath made for a dagger, and a battered-but-still-whole potions case.

That fool of a girl, Magda cursed. She hurriedly strapped the case to her own belt, cinching the buckles tight. Just like a noble to misplace three thousand crowns worth of draughts. She felt nervous even having the precious items on her; they were worth enough to feed and outfit an entire company of Tin Rank Guilders for a solid year, training included. Entirely too precious to be left behind.

Magda straightened and assessed the situation.

The four remaining survivors had finished off the witches and had joined Callie in fighting the leader. Five against one would normally be excellent odds, but the brute was monstrous. Staggeringly high Health, bottomless Stamina, and apparently enough Mana to bombard them with those ice spears for nearly three minutes. If this was to be a battle of attrition, Magda wasn't sure they'd survive.

We should run while we can.

Callie was a whirling dervish of sharpened edges, her knives flashing out at dizzying speeds to carve up whatever patch of flesh she could reach. However she was encountering the same wall as the others, the giant was a mighty foe. His Strength was off the charts, and his Endurance and Vitality were likely also bolstered. And those spells he wielded.

Magda's gaze lifted to the roof, which had a large hole torn through it. Not melted, but pure force had smashed up through the dome. Right into the kid.

Blind gods. I...this...I'm sorry, Felix. Truly. She had asked, begged the boy to come with them. Were it not for me, you'd still--

Thud thud thud.

Thud thud.

Thud thud thud thud.

Noctis' tits....Some small part of her had been hoping the Risi were stupid or still sleeping, somehow able to ignore the sounds of their conflict. But that roof exploding would have been like a beacon to the entire encampment. She started running toward the doors, skirting the fight that was growing more and more intense. She flashed > in handsign at Callie, but couldn't tell if the damned woman was gonna listen. Gritting her teeth, Magda glanced out the front doors.

A quick count into the fog marked easily two dozen Risi Warriors headed their way, with more close behind she was sure. Snarling in frustration, Magda grappled with one of the doors, a huge thirty foot bronze monstrosity that had been left wide open after the leader's arrival. Her muscles strained, screaming with exertion as one of the doors ever so slowly began to close. It took about ten seconds, but she got half of the double doors to close with a resounding slam.

"RAUKTA! Falla lokti!" One of the giant's cried, throwing its club overhand. Magda flared her Born Trait, extending the size of her kite shields, and slapped the crude projectile out of the air with a crash. Magda wanted to grab the second half of the door, but the Risi were too close.

She had to stem the tide here.

"C'mon then, blue bastards!" Magda reached her left arm up before slamming it into the ground right outside the doors, shattering the thick ice and exposing the rock beneath. Two more strikes and chunks of rock began flinging upward with each blow, and the giants were nearly upon her.

"RUAAAHHHH!!!"

Force Wall!

Magda flared her spell, expanding a wide bubble of yellow energy all around the door and catching six of the approaching giants right in the chests. The force of their collective weight strained and broke the spell to Magda's annoyance, but it did its job; they rebounded, not particularly painfully but their charge was broken, causing those behind them to trip and stumble. Risi Warriors fell into a mad jumble of limbs, each new warrior adding further confusion to what was once a straight forward run up.

Waiting no longer, Magda hefted two stones the size of her head then lobbed them directly into the pile up.

Stone Break!

The rocks burst as they hit, sending a powerful explosion of shrapnel deep into confused Risi flesh. Magda didn't let up, instead reaching down and grabbing stone after stone, throwing with impressive accuracy and bursting them all. Within thirty seconds, all of the charging giants were on the ground, groaning in horrible pain but not quite dead.

Tsk. I'll have to kill them up close, most likely. Damn, I--The fog ahead of her swirled, vomiting forth another line of eight foot warriors, each as fresh as the last.

"Noctis grant me patience," she muttered, striking the ground again and leveraging another round of projectiles. "Again, then."

Shit! He reactivated the wards! Callie glanced around, seeing the drawn and grim looks on her friends' faces. A hand landed on her shoulder, heavy and clanking. She looked up at Mags, taller than everyone except Bodie.

"Can any of you break this down?" She nodded at the wall. Callie shook her head, though Bodie answered.

"Kelgan, perhaps you..?" The large warrior asked the bearded halberd user. Kelgan was panting, all of them were, their Stamina having been used up again and again in this fight. He held up a hand and straightened, though still leaning on his polearm.

"I can try," he offered before look askance at his weapon. "I only hope this salvaged thing will last."

Callie clasped his wrist, helping him stand fully. "You're too stubborn a bastard to fail, Kelgan. I know you'll make it happen." She turned to look at the rest of them, fire in her eyes. "We've been here before. The edge of the cliff. Enemies all around us. All..." she broke a moment, her throat catching slightly. "All of us won't make it. All of us already haven't. But blind gods, some have! So pick up your weapons and lift your chins. We've already succeeded, no matter what happens here."

Mags grinned and let out a rowdy "Huah!" that was quickly echoed by the rest. The Shieldwitch stepped forward. "I'll take the vanguard and create some space. We do this right and we can take a bunch with us."

"I like the sound of that," growled Yan, his shortswords out and eager. Callie saw Bodie grip his mace and Portia clasp her quarterstaff with her elbow, fingers already shaping some sort of spell.

"I'll augment your shields, Lady Aren," Portia offered, before pushing her working toward the tall woman. A wave of white light flowed toward her, splashing onto her armor and sinking in. A notification must have popped up in front of her, as Mags simply smiled and waved it away.

"Thanks. That'll help."

Then the asshole spoke again.

"Do you truly wish to die cowering in the corner? You thought yourselves wolves, but you've no teeth at all, do you?" A deep belly laugh echoed through the chamber, muffled only by the sound of his advancing warriors. "I admit you have hurt this flesh, though it is only a passing injury, as are all who follow the Song of the Mother. I had hoped that you would have learned something from the Labyrinth, angry one, that perhaps the Mother's voice would reach you. You were so very close, after all."

Callie felt a flash of fear at the mention of the twisting maze down below, but she squashed it. Later. Deal with it later. Grimmar was still talking.

"--beautiful music. Perhaps if we consume you, the Mother will let you hear it before you die? A comforting thought, no?" A wave of laughter rolled through the giants, white teeth and white beards shaking in dark mirth. "I--"

He was interrupted by the sound of banging.

"What is that?" Grimmar asked, motioning his men to check.

The sound was faint at first, but steady, like a ticking clock. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Four Risi converged on the spot, the rear doors that led out into the sink hole, the nightmarish portal that fanned the flames of Callie's fear. The ice was shaking, small pieces chipping off with each successive impact.

Something is trying to get in. Callie's fear screamed in her mind. It's free. It's free. Noctis wept, it's free!

CRASH!

The ice shattered into huge pieces as the twin doors slammed open, framing an eight foot portal into the night and a single, heaving young man with dark hair and gleaming blue eyes.

"Felix?!" Magda shouted.

The kid? What? Callie's mind spun, her fear still running rampant. He lived?

"WHAT! IMPOSSIBLE!" Grimmar shouted, and, for some reason, slightly...afraid? He gestured to his warriors. "Kill him! NOW!"

For his part, the kid looked damn surprised to find so many giants fixated on him, but then he did something that stayed with Callie for the rest of her days. He charged in.

And he was fast.

Felix's body flickered, suddenly appearing twenty feet closer than he was, a spray of ice pluming behind him. He encountered the first warrior, ducking beneath their slow but powerful swing before jumping upward with a devastating uppercut. Green liquid sprayed out from his hand as he struck, and the giant fell backward with a strangled cry. He moved on, leaping toward the next Risi Warrior in line and laid into them. The warrior was enveloped in a bright blue flame for a moment and seemed to lose his nerve, because the kid rode the giant's body down to the ground as he let loose a flurry of blows.

One of those deadly metal clubs swung horizontally at Felix, but he somersaulted over it, tucking into a roll and coming up within melee range of the Risi Warrior. That close, the giant had little it could do other than attempt a grapple, which it did. Callie sucked in a nervous breath, but felt it push free in a huff of surprise; the giant that grabbed him found himself blasted away by some sort of blue lightning spell.

Who the hell is this kid? She turned to Maggie. "If we survive, you gotta tell me that one's story."

Mags grunted, smiling in a relieved sort of way. "Without a doubt. Assault Plan A?"

Callie tilted her head in agreement before turning to the others. "Kelgan! Break that ice down! If a kid can do it, so can you! Bodie, Yan, Portia, let's thin the herd!"

"Huah!"