The tendrils were rushing quickly towards him and Cenric, shifting through the sand and stonework as if they were swimming through water. They were moving at a speed that not even Tharos could keep up with. The ground before him was a blur of sand and loose stones, coming at him with blinding speed. As he and Cenric kept running, Tharos angled himself with his shield raised so he could maintain a good pace while also being prepared for the next attack.
He felt his heart racing as fast as a thousand horses and his head stinging as if it were being struck by thousands of arrows. Which made it hard for him to maintain his focus on what he was seeing as he couldn’t truly believe his eyes. The tendrils that were quickly closing in on him and Cenric were a perfect blend of flesh and metal. The flesh was bright red in colour, resembling fresh blood, and pulsing, producing a thumping sound like a heartbeat. The metal was a greyish metallic blue, appearing solid yet taking on a property similar to water.
“Is this what my ancestors had to deal with?” Tharos thought to himself.
As he finished that thought, a Tendril struck at him from beneath the ground. It was sharpening itself into a whip-like appendage with thin, sharp needle-like spikes running down its side. Lashing out at him, the Tendril tried to hit Tharos square in the chest. Tharos twisted to the left and angled his shield, managing to deflect the blow. The remaining paint on the shield was scraped off in the process. Tharos then retaliated by quickly slashing at the Tendril. Sparkes flying as they clashed.
Then more tendrils closed in on Tharos, striking at him from all angles. With a flurry of quick dodges, well-timed blocks with his shield, and parrying with his sword, Tharos managed to keep the tendrils at bay while also protecting Cenric’s back as they continued to withdraw to the outskirts of the city.
Blow after blow, thrust after thrust, the tendrils wouldn’t relent in their assault
for what seemed like hours, but in reality, it was only several tense minutes. Tharos couldn’t keep this up forever, and neither could Cenric. Tharos could tell, even without looking at him, that Cenric couldn’t keep running indefinitely; whatever Vigor had kept him going was fading. Tharos was also feeling the exhaustion start to overwhelm him. His arms and legs felt heavy as lead and moving them was tiring. It was like moving through thick mud. His body was starting to give way, bending and buckling under the relentless assaults.
His mental state wasn’t faring well; his mind was being assaulted by a convergent stream of information. Around him, the quickly blurring movement of whirling sand, stone, and metallic flashes made his eyes dart quickly, forcing him to react with only milliseconds to spare. Even someone with his humble abilities with the sword was finding it difficult to manage. Adding to this were the headaches caused by the rapidly increasing levels of magical energy building up in the vicinity. The intensity was so strong that one could taste it in the air, accompanied by a growing sense of an indescribable presence emanating from beneath the ground, drawing closer with each passing moment.
This presence was unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was a chilling cold, not the refreshing breeze of a hot summer day or the biting cold of winter. This cold penetrated to the very core of his being. As Tharos prepared to repel another wave of attacks, the tendrils suddenly retracted without warning. A look of confusion crossed Tharos’ face as the tendrils appeared to be retreating beyond reach, and even the legion of creatures trailing behind had disappeared from view. Tharos heard Cenric speak up, noting that it was a miracle that Tharos was able to maintain the connection despite the intense stress.
(“Are they still behind us, Tharos?“) Cenric asked, his voice heavy with weariness. Tharos knew it wouldn’t be long before Cenric would collapse from exhaustion.
(“No, they have stopped for now, Cenric.”)
(“Why would they stop?“)
(“I don’t know, but we are almost at the city limits, and the reactor is about to go off.”)
However, this was just the calm before the storm. Within a few minutes, the northern gate came into view. The ground, which was still shaking, stopped for a split second and then started to shake even more violently than before. Tharos and Cenric both turned around to see that the long appendages that were previously obscured in the ground below were now bent outwards, with what looked like a massive shape rising out of the sinkhole that had formed near the palace district. It was difficult to discern its true appearance as it was obscured by a large amount of rubble; however, it was massive. The long appendages that formed its legs were approximately 100 meters long, and the body to which these legs were attached was possibly two or even three times larger.
Tharos and Cenric stood there, staring at the thing. Cenric’s eyes were wide, and his legs started to wobble. Tharos didn’t show much emotion, except for a slight dilation in his pupils and a twitch of his lips. Tharos then heard a loud thud right next to him, which broke his concentration. Cenric had collapsed on the ground beside him.
“All tuckered out. You did well, Cenric.” He couldn’t help but feel a small amount of pride at least for Cenric sake.
As Tharos was about to pick up Cenric and sling him over his shoulder, he heard a loud noise resembling that of a horn. The noise was so deafening that it reverberated through his entire body. Accompanying this sound were massive blue lights scanning through the city. One of the lights landed on him, almost blinding him, and then started turning red. The giant mass, which was long and V-shaped, began to slowly head in their direction, causing the ground to rumble as it moved its massive legs.
Tharos ran, carrying Cenric over his shoulder, feeling the scorching heat on his skin as he dashed forward. A massive arc of energy flew past him, narrowly missing him by a few meters and disintegrating a building to his side in a flash of green light. Loose bits of stone, glass, and tile bounced harmlessly off his breastplate. Tharos knew he had no time to waste; he had only a few minutes left until the reactor would go off, and even less time to reach the city limits. He had to keep moving. As he moved, more arcs of energy flew towards him in rapid succession, sparking through the air like bolts of lightning. While most of them missed him by several meters, one of the arcs managed to hit his shield arm. The shield blew up into several massive splinters, some of which hit him in the face, leaving massive holes on the left side of his face, with his left cheek almost completely gone, exposing the left side of his jaw. Tharos gritted his teeth as the wound quickly began to heal. However, that was the least of his issues. He felt his left arm was on fire as the green energy moved up his arm, spreading quickly and almost reaching past his elbow. With a quick movement, he angled his arm in a way that allowed him to still hold onto Cenric’s collapsed body. Tharos used a dagger tied to his belt to quickly stab into his left arm, causing the energy to arc onto the dagger before he dropped it on the ground. His left arm was now mostly a burnt-out stump, but the wound wasn’t healing as quickly as it normally would.
“That is rather concerning.” Tharos thought to himself as he looked at the burned-out stump that used to be his left arm.
As he continued running, the northern gate was only a few hundred meters away and quickly coming into view. However, as he looked down, he noticed his shadow was growing larger. Turning his head around, he saw the palace starting to light up like a bonfire, as arcane energy burst its way through the stone that composed its structure. The monster then began to turn, with the blue and red lights emanating from it now focusing on the palace. Tharos could feel it – the reactor was about to blow. The place began to erupt like a volcano, a stream of magical energy gushed forth with the sound of thunderous crashes that reverberated throughout the city. The area started to crumble as the entire place, including the monster, was consumed by a blinding light that arced out. Tharos couldn’t react quickly enough as his vision was replaced by nothing but a bright white light that stung his eyes. All he could hear was a ringing in his ears as he and the comatose Cenric were then flung forward at blinding speed. Tharos tried to maintain his bearings and keep a hold of Cenric, but he couldn’t. He felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness until everything went dark, with nothing but pure silence.
