Arrogance flowed freely from Tyr’s posture as he looked around at the gathering monsters. On all sides, he and Ruin were faced with hundreds of creatures that ranged from small and green to large and ugly. He didn’t recognize what any of them were, except... is that a minotaur? What’s the monster of Minos doing here? Even stranger was that there were perhaps a hundred of them. He was acquainted with the legend of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, but he couldn’t understand why there were multiple copies or how they could have come into being. He’d confirmed millennia ago in a fit of curiosity that the story was just that, a work of fiction to give back story to the Greek god pretenders. To find a product of legend alive and here before him now was just astounding.

Beyond his curiosity though, Tyr was immensely excited - overjoyed, even - at the prospect of combat with all of these monsters. He’d battled men and beasts primarily for the entirety of his extensively long life. After such a long time, the battles had turned to drudgery as he realized that none could match him in skill since he’d accumulated so much more experience. How could a mortal, even one blessed with extreme talent, hope to beat the wisdom he’d accumulated through millennia? There was none, so he’d given up the dream long ago.

A side of him hungered to test his blade against their hides and flesh. Perhaps one here would have the savagery or skill to press him in the melee. Warmth spread over his mind, gradually turning into a raging inferno of bloodlust as his grip tightened on the leather-bound handle of his greatsword. Runes started to glow on the guard, sending a ping of red light towards the flat of the blade where more angelic runes were inscribed. One in particular shined brighter than all the rest and that was the symbol for “War.” A second sigil denoted as “Death” started to burn with a shadowy black, seemingly sucking in all the light around the blade.

Giving a mental nod to Ruin beside him, he dashed forward and slew 5 of the tiny green monsters with a single swing of his gigantic blade, severing bone and sinew as if it were air. Slightly disappointed, Tyr turned to his side to see a minotaur lowering its head in an attempt to skewer him. Amused, he put up his blade and took the blow head on, blocking the entirety of the force. He bashed the monster’s head with his sword’s guard, easily crushing the skull. At that moment, however, an invisible and thick fog rushed back into the area as if it were water filling a hole.

Instantly alert, Tyr swept his eyes around in an attempt to discern if there was something behind the strange phenomenon. His pupils darted back and forth, contracting to a point and obviously displeased at being unable to find the source. Ruin, who was closer to the destroyed tower, spoke to his mind while unleashing a ring of fire into the surrounding creatures. I feel a pressure being exerted from the direction of the tower. Tyr, I...I feel my power beginning to wane!

Alarmed, the man swung his blade in a horizontal arc, sending a wave of dark energy towards Ruin. All the hundred beings in between the two dissolved to ash and Tyr turned into a blur that almost instantly reached the steed’s side. Putting his back to Ruin, Tyr started speaking across their mental link. I can feel it now too. It’s like...our power is being drained, or maybe blocked? But that would mean… The two became very disturbed as the line of reasoning went in that direction. If their power was being impeded by this unknown substance, then that could only mean that He allowed it.

Their power was drawn through a tether between their souls and a realm called the Hidden Dimension. Dark energy and dark matter existed in a concentrated form there, allowing its synthesis and conversion into raw power as it travelled along the heavenly tether. It was a gift from Him at the beginning when they were chosen to take up the mantle of being his harbingers. Never before had they even felt the slightest of disturbances in the tether. Until now.

Tyr imagined that it wasn’t that their power was being sapped, but rather they could no longer draw from the hidden dimension. If this was the case, they should be able to stop using their abilities and it would cease the depletion of their power. He decided to test this hypothesis and mentally spoke to Ruin again. Cut your flames, Ruin. I think we’ve just been sealed off from the hidden dimension by whatever this soupy fog-like substance this is. I can’t feel any of the Seals or Trumpets anymore either, so it’s obviously affecting us like a veil. If we revert to our mortal states, we may be able to save what power we still possess.

Ruin followed his master’s words immediately, reigning back in the plasma that spewed forth from his neck, hooves, and tail. Energy receded back into his body in pulsing waves and soon all that remained was a regular looking stallion with deep red skin and a black mane.

Nudging Ruin, Tyr said, “How does it feel now?”

It was as you said. The power is stabilizing, but it is not returning to my prior level before we reached Terra. Thankfully, I can still feel the connection to the Armory, so we are not completely without protection.

Nodding at the hopeful result, Tyr also began to recall the power from his greatsword, robbing the light from the runes along the blade and guard, but before he could complete the task a large, tan monstrosity loomed before them, blocking out the setting sun that had just been reintroduced to the valley by Tyr and Ruin’s meteoric arrival. Massive lower canines jutted out from a jaw that was too big for its hideous face. There was no hair to speak of, only rippling muscle on a 10 ft tall frame. In its hand, it carried a...tree?

Tyr paused and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Good God, you’re ugly!”

It wasn’t apparent whether the lumbering hulk understood him or not, but the sound of rushing wind came in answer. In a burst of beastial strength, the monster swung his tree trunk around like a stick, aiming to crush the human before him. Tyr dodged away backwards towards Ruin and snorted in annoyance. The monster wasn’t really an issue for him, but it did remind him that he needed to deal with the others surrounding him in the vicinity if he wished to be able to breathe after releasing the last rune on his sword. Somewhat despondently, he desummoned his greatsword and pulled out a bow made out of bone that glowed verdant, carved with skulls that gaped in unseeing petrifaction.

***

While Tyr was drawing the string of the bow, a few monsters tried to rush them, but were repelled by Ruin’s power kicks. Like a dance, the steed trotted around his partner, whipping his back legs out in perfectly timed kicks to each intruder, sending them speeding backwards like they’d been hit by a train. Even though he had been forced to recall his externally supplied power, Ruin was still exponentially stronger than an everyday type of horse. It was a result of holding so much power internally and currently, his reserves boasted about 75% of his potential.

If a formula were to be applied, it would work out that every 10% he retained would equal a 2.0X multiplier increase in his base strength. For example, by this model, he currently was boosted to 192.0X his base strength since the power was multiplicative. Luckily, this was was not an expendable resource that would be spent by simply fighting and moving around, but if he were to release the seal on his abilities and use some, his personal strength would decrease by the amount of what was deducted by his ability. If he used 10% to cast a forest sized fire nova, which was one of his favorites, he would lose a 2.0X boost for the foreseeable future and would drop him back down to 96.0X his base capabilities.

The downsides to using the Gift, as Ruin like to call it, would be a double hit - it would subtract power necessary to use his Gift and also reduce the physical capabilities of his body. He knew that this would almost certainly affect Tyr the same way, so he elected to not use any power. What his partner was about to do would be more than enough to end the current situation.

***

Tyr’s breath slowed as he aimed the bow at the lumbering creature in front of him. Ruin’s kicks had kept the monster cautious of approaching, but now that his steed saw that his master was done, he stopped his whirlwind dance of death and stood just behind Tyr, allowing the approach once more. Concentration showed across his face as he felt the power welling from his soul and into the bow in his hands. The skulls moved slightly in response and regained a piece of livelihood, beginning to shimmer like a wraith along the bow’s exterior. An arrow dripping with poison formed from nothingness and pressed itself tightly against the taut bowstring where Tyr’s fingers kept it in position. Additionally, wind began to wrap itself around the shaft and arrowhead, resolving itself into an impossibly snug coating of air that rotated with the force of a hurricane.

In Tyr’s mind, he went through the process of dictating the targets that would be afflicted by what was to come. Satisfied when he’d narrowed it down to creatures that weren’t initially surface dwellers, he let out the remainder of his breath calmly and loosed the arrow that was brimming with power. The arrow shot forward in a true path, exploding into a circular wave that propagated out from the point of impact once it hit the monster that was trundling towards them from 30 ft away. Poison pervaded the air, seeping into each of the monsters as the wave washed over them. Almost immediately, they began to cough, blood seeping out of their skin as if it were sweat.

The metallic smell hung heavy on the air as one by one the monsters fell to their knees and then fainted from blood loss. For all, it would be the last time they saw the light of day as the blood continued to flow until not a drop was left in their bodies, pooling beneath their grotesque forms. As for the wave, it continued through the trees and the valley, disappearing from sight.

Ruin trotted up to stand even with his partner and asked, What was the range of this particular pestilence? Tyr stood unmoving, waiting until the culling was complete. After a minute, he opened his previously closed eyes and sighed with a grimace. Answering Ruin, he said, “I extended it to 30 leagues this time.”

[AN: 1 league ≈ 3.45 miles, so 30 leagues is a little over 100 miles]

Ruin slowly shook his head in disbelief. If you went that far…

“Yeah... my reserves dropped down to 30%.” Tyr looked over the field of corpses in deep contemplation. His physical ability should be at 8.0X his natural right now. It wasn’t ideal, but when he’d been considering the range of effect, he decided to secure a safe zone first before anything else. He also felt that something was off about this substance that was hanging in the air. It had a tinge of familiarity to it and he was a bit stumped as to why. Turning his head to look at Ruin, he said, “With a 30 league radius clear of monsters, we might be able to find some humans. I’d still like to hear how this all started. Plus, we could use the time in between to try and explore what our limitations are now.”

Ruin gave him a mental nod and Tyr wearily patted his steed’s neck after placing the bow back in the Armory Dimension. Off to the side, pieces of rubble were still falling from the 5,000 ft tall tower, or rather what was left of it. If some modern person were to look at all the the track that Tyr and Ruin had carved out, the tower, and all the countless bodies littered among the uprooted trees and overturned ground, they’d be sure to think that bombs had been detonated. Wisps of smoke still rose from charred pieces of wreckage and flesh. A sickly smell of death and blood permeated the air.

Suddenly, a hair-raising roar swept over the disaster area. Loud and guttural, it resonated so deeply that the two felt their bones quake. Alarmed, Tyr oriented his body towards the sound, instantly assuming a stance ready for battle. He’d forgotten to do one very important thing back when he’d cast the pestilence:make it a bubble instead of a wave. What he’d taken out were all the ground based monsters, or anything that was touching something near the ground at the time.

It did not include airborne monsters.

***

Alexis couldn’t fathom the depths of how screwed she was.

At the moment, she was staring down a gryphon the size of an SUV and her only offensive capability was maybe flashing it momentarily with her magic light. Actually, scratch that, it couldn’t even been considered offensive could it? If she remembered some of the terms the boys would throw out when talking about their games correctly, her “ability” would count more towards something called crowd control. Alexis gave a self deprecating laugh and leveled her gaze back towards the gryphon, a hint of nervousness gained by the realization of her utter vulnerability.

She was good at running, that was it. She’d never taken martial arts because honestly, who does that in America? Some kids might have had parents who thought the activity was cool, but generally speaking the past time was incredibly rare. After all, what use would the violence learned have for a budding U.S. citizen? If you punched somebody, you’d likely be sued or expelled from whatever organization you were a part of at the time, such was the degree that violence was abhorred.

She knew that many took the classes for the self-discipline it offered, but she thought those individuals were rare. The majority were the ones who had taken a particular liking to fighting. Either because they were inspired by some movie, or they felt that they were weak and needed to protect themselves. The rest of the population just prayed that the police would catch the bad guys before...Wait, what the hell am I thinking about? I’ve got a fucking gryphon in front of me! Its huge white wings flapped once more and folded to its sides.

Alexis nervously looked at the hawkish lion and slowly put her hands on the rooftop, pushing her body into a crouching position as she rocked onto the balls of her feet. Her actions had caused the beast to tilt its head in wonder, but otherwise do nothing else except adjust itself on the rooftop towards the young girl, claws screeching as they slipped heavily across prefabricated steel.

Ever so slowly, the gryphon started walking forward with caution in its hawk-like eyes. The clinks on the roof that signaled its advance drove nails of fear in Alexis’ heart, petrifying her. It’s not going to eat me, right? Right? No matter how much fear she held though, she couldn’t bring herself to move. Like she was rooted, her legs refused to take that initial leap. Perhaps it was because in the back of her mind, she knew that if she made such a drastic move the beast would be alarmed and then REALLY try to eat her.

Their distance decreased until the gryphon was a shadow looming over her now trembling body. Slowly, and ever vigilantly keeping an eye on the small human, the gryphon bent its head down and sniffed. Puffs of heated air blew against the side of Alexis’ face, lifting her hair and revealing the girl’s terror-stricken visage as each sampling breath was expelled through the slits on its beak. But it then did something completely contrary to what she expected. In some apparent act of subservience, the gryphon bowed!

Flabbergasted, Alexis reached out a shaky hand and gently placed it on the creature’s massive head. At the gesture it burrowed its head against the palm and then sat down right in front of her. Bewildered at what she was experience Alexis looked to the side and saw something that lended some explanation to the situation: there was a saddle. This is a tamed gryphon. But then another thought occurred to her. Where is its rider?

Scaring the both of them and causing the gryphon to get into a defensive stance, a sudden sound of thunder crackled, rolling across the valley. However, instead of getting weaker, the sound seemed to intensify and build. Alexis felt that she had heard a similar sound before in her life, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. Her eyes widened in realization and looked towards the skies just in time to see two streaking meteors blow through the thunderhead, sending the clouds curling back like a scroll.

In the matter of a split second, the two objects collided with the middle of the massive monolith that had drilled up to the surface to unload its horrors. Alexis tightened her already white-knuckled grip on the gryphon’s saddle and watched with wide eyes as the structure burst apart, followed by a streaking impact as whatever tore through the colossus made landfall. A tremor pulsed through the valley and trees could be seen flying as they were uprooted and flung aside by the meteors advance upon the ground.

A tiny sliver of hope appeared in Alexis’ heart as she gazed upon the debris falling from the ruined tower. Giving a glance towards the gryphon, she thought, Maybe...maybe now I can make it to mom and Mitch! Completely forgetting her promise to her mother, determination spread across her face and she patted the beast beside her. It crooked its head to the side and moved next to her, seemingly reading her intentions. Taking a firm grip of feathers and the saddle, Alexis pulled herself up into the seat atop the fearsome legendary creature.

A few hops later, the two flew into the sky with a burst of its mighty wings. Destruction reigned below as Alexis stared wide-eyed at the town as they flew over head. Green goblins could be seen rushing around in packs, bursting into buildings and carrying women away. She shuddered at the thought and tucked the memory away, praying for the lives of those captured and being slaughtered underneath.

The two did not stop however, and continued to soar towards the direction of the crumbling tower. Smoke from fires dotted the air and the gryphon skillfully dodged all of them to ensure that they didn’t choke on the noxious fumes. Before long, and much faster than even a car could have handled the distance, Alexis found herself over the school where her brother attended.