The hill shook, mud and debris sliding off to reveal a craggy dome with spiky ridges running along it. Two enormous, skeletal arms reached through the lower holes on the front of the ‘hill’, pushing it out of the muck as water rushed out of an inky-black shell. The titanic turtle rose to its full height of over twenty feet with enough force that the resulting quake shook Shaya and her comrades, forcing them to brace against it to avoid losing their footing.

A Titan!?

In the immediate vicinity, the sudden shock forced Azreon into a lower, wider stance to stay upright and checked his advance.

Before he could continue his rush, a house-sized, wedge-shaped skull burst from the shell’s central hole, a long spine extending behind it as it launched towards the vulnerable noble. The sheer size of the undead Titan’s jaws left no room for doubt that it could pulp someone in mythrite fullplate, but to guarantee death the tips of the Titan’s jaws were shaped like warpicks capable of destroying walls or other Titans.

The jaws took less than a heartbeat to emerge and cross the distance to Azreon, snapping shut with a boom that rivalled a peal of thunder and stunned Shaya with its sheer volume.

Yet Azreon lived.

Despite the speed of the attack and being staggered, he had managed to dodge to the side with astonishing speed.

The undead Titan’s head twisted as it tracked Azreon, looking to lunge at him again, but the necromancer barked a command to stop that as Azreon closed with them.

Impossible, Shaya wondered, shaking off her pain and thankful the skeletons in front of her took longer to recover than she and her companions.

Ralus lunged in, scythe whirling. With the alacrity potion pumping through their veins, they were able to take advantage of the brief disruption the enchanted weapon inflicted upon the skeletons. In seconds, another skeleton lie in shambles at their feet, sinking into the muck.

“Ren!” Shaya barked, watching Azreon charge into melee with the shocked necromancer, “give Azreon supporting fire and get Bitey in there! Crow,” she snapped to her summoned creature, “attack the Umbresnake as well!”

“Gotcha,” Ren said, voice stiff from fear as he shook off the sonic blast, “gonna be a long swim for her though.”

“Apricot,” Shaya turned to her small friend, “can you open a small portal for the mongoose to go through?”

“On it,” she replied without fear or hesitation, disengaging from the skeleton she battled, “Ellil! Bend space to my will!”

Shaya stepped in to engage the skeleton Apricot left behind as well, falling into a defensive stance as now three skeletons focused their attention on her. As much as she wanted to rid herself of this obstacle and get to Azreon’s aid, it made no sense to risk herself here when her energy would be needed later. She’d be the anvil against Ral’s hammer.

The necromancer was unprepared for Azreon to survive and was on the back foot, but recovered faster than Shaya expected. Azreon’s sword – capable of lopping off arms with single swings – bit into the bones protruding from the necromancer. Shadows slithered over the rogue mage’s form, then they fell into a combat stance as their fingers elongated into wicked claws. They went on the offensive along with the Ur wrapped about them, the three points of attack putting Azreon on the backfoot despite his supernatural agility. The Ur’s shadowy form made it difficult for Azreon’s precise parries to stop, the creature connecting with him more often than not.

He must also be under the influence of an alacrity potion, maybe one more potent than Oraeus’.

He’s not casting any spells though, either he’s sustaining too many or he’s run out of stamina to put out more. Or maybe he just can’t concentrate on the battle and spellcasting... he’s in a bad spot, which he put himself in.

...or maybe he’s actually too afraid to draw in more Amber.

Shaya spared a glance up to Zaal, who continued to watch impassively.

“Is this seriously still within the parameters of an introductory deployment!?” She shouted at him, “Aren’t you going to do something!?”

“No,” he rasped, answering both of her questions at once, “you will figure it out.”

Piece of- Alright, think fast Shaya. Adapt and overcome!

The undead Titan is mostly nullified right now – it can’t attack Azreon without destroying its creator. Even moving to engage us right now might throw the necromancer off balance worse than Azreon, so it looks like it’s slowly repositioning in case Azreon is forced back enough to be exposed to its attacks. It will attack us if we get close though, it has the height to attack over Azreon’s fight...

“Ral!” Shaya said, blocking a spear thrust while parrying another. She side stepped to keep the first two skeletons between her and the third, preventing the last one from having a clear line of attack to her. “If we kill the necromancer, will the Titan cease being animated!?”

“The spell would linger for a minute or more,” Ral answered, “we must find some way to destroy the head of that undead Titan if we want to survive.”

Ral dropped another three skeletons, adapting to the enhanced speed. Their fighting style changed back to their usual, conservative one, losing the acrobatic attacks she had seen them use throughout the swamp. Their staff still glowed, however, and Shaya assumed that had something to do with the new abilities – more questions for later.

With the pressure on the skeletons now, Shaya shifted her stance and riposted against the last skeleton, chopping through its spine. She looked down at her axe blade and sighed, noticing how its edge was already chipped and rolled from the abuse she had put it through these past few hours. There was no way it was cracking through monster bone, let alone Titan bone. And how would she target its weak points anyway?

Gods damn it, I can’t believe I focused all of my effort this past month on defensive spells. I just don’t have enough tools in my belt for this situation.

Her head dropped, eyes drifting over her new shield.

No, she corrected, forcing her mind to expand to include everything at her disposal, we can do this.

“Ral, Oraeus – can your animancy stagger that thing?”

“No, its too big,” Ralus responded, their words coming out in a rushed batch, “the power required to animate something that large is also substantial, we can’t rival it.”

Oraeus nodded in agreement.

“Samorn,” Shaya turned to their musician, their strings still as they watched Azreon’s battle, “Samorn.”

The delicate woman blinked, shifting her attention from Azreon to Shaya. “Sorry, yes?”

“I know your spells can’t affect the undead snapper,” Shaya said, “but do you think you can overpower the necromancer’s mind enough to have them stagger their own creation? Even for an instant?”

Samorn thought about it for a moment before nodding, “The mage is distracted by Azreon, I might be able to.”

“I believe in you,” Shaya smiled and was relieved to see Samorn return it, the petite woman looking almost predatory covered in the swamp’s rotting detritus.

Bitey leapt through the small rift in space that Apricot opened, the little mongoose’s momentum carrying it horizontally through one portal and then down vertically as Apricot opened the exit portal above the necromancer. The Ur aborted a lunge towards Azreon as Shaya’s primal crow swooped at it, leaving it open to Bitey’s attack. The mongoose landed on the necromancer’s shoulders, the two creatures doing battle amongst the mage’s bone armour. The distraction let Azreon go on the offensive.

“Apricot,” Shaya said, watching the battle unfold, “can you make a larger portal? One large enough for me to fit through?”

The short woman looked less confident this time, “I can try, but that will burn me out. And we’ll have to get closer.”

“Apricot, no,” Oraeus said, looking concerned for their companion, “you’re powerful, but calculating that size of portal without a beacon will be too much even for you.”

Apricot looked determined, “I know the risks Oraeus, thank you for your concern.”

Shaya thought about it some more, “I think it might be the only way, unless your animancy can take the Titan down?”

Apricot shook her head, “Ralus and Oraeus are better Amethyst mages than I, despite it technically being my designated role in my lance.”

“Okay, start casting the spell please and give me a few feet so I can build up momentum,” Shaya said, mind racing to put her plan into place, “Samorn - do you know any spells that can calm emotions?”

“Of course,” she said, eyebrow quirking at her, “Why?”

“Have one prepared for me,” Shaya said, “In case I lose control.”

“You can’t be serious,” Oraeus said, eyes widening as he realized what she was thinking of.

“Do you have any other ideas?” Shaya asked, with a bit more heat than she intended, “I like it less than you do Oraeus, but we can’t fight that thing head on – we fell it in one blow or it kills us. It’s that simple.”

Oraeus shook his head, glancing to Ral who also shook their head.

“Then we’re stuck with this one,” Shaya said, “Oraeus, I’ll need you to forecast the Titan’s movements and make the call for when we execute the plan.”

He nodded with a sigh.

“Ralus, stay back until the alacrity’s backlash is over,” she continued, “everyone: get ready to take down the necromancer the moment the Titan goes down. If the mage thinks they’ve lost, we know they can explode corpses.”

Everyone paused to consider the type of explosion a body of that size could create.

Now, if only I had asked to borrow Bri’s bastard sword...

“I can fight,” Galo said, forcing himself to his feet.

Ren paused his shooting to glance back at him, then to Shaya, his dubious expression suggesting he disagreed.

I don’t have time to deal with this idio– oh wait...

“Good, we’re going to need your strength for this battle,” a smile crossed her lips as she turned to Galo, “but you’re going to need a weapon that can keep up with that nimble opponent.”

She flipped her axe and offered the haft to him, “Here, take my weapon so you can get in there and support Azreon, I’ll take care of your maul.”

He looked at her with suspicion, but accepted the trade and rushed towards his companion, heedless of the danger.

Shaya and her lance followed at a slower pace, Shaya carrying his maul over one shoulder.

The Titan’s head turned to track the incoming threats.

Shaya drew in as much Amber as she could handle, but something felt off when she opened herself up to the Aetherium. Moving towards the undead Titan made her fear spike, but a month of emotional abuse allowed her to acknowledge the feeling and set it aside faster than she’d ever been capable of in the past. Despite clearing her mind of emotion, however, the aether she drew in was difficult to hold onto, as if something had corrupted the Veil in the region.

Is this the Ur’s influence on its lair? Umbrex was the Titan of entropy...

Setting aside that concern as well, she focused on drawing in Amber regardless of the hurdles, feeling more and more certain of her plan’s success as the aether settled within her. She hefted Galo’s maul, getting a sense of its balance. It was heavier than what she’d expect for the average maul, but she was more than strong enough to handle it. The real problem was the haft – Galo had big hands for a human, but Shaya’s were larger still, which made holding the weapon with the hammer facing correctly more difficult.

‘Indexing’, she thought to herself, something I wouldn’t have really understood prior to taking up smithing...

“Phaedra!” She invoked while unstrapping her shield, hoping she could use it as a focus and still have time to ditch it. She started shaping a spell based on the barrier seed, but modifying it to be almost unrecognizable as such. “Project a wall to shield my allies from harm!”

That invocation almost feels like a lie, but I can feel it working anyway.

Samorn’s music started up as they advanced, her violin emitting tense, sharp notes with pronounced, stabbing staccatos. The necromancer snarled, shaking their head to guard against the mental assault tied to the song. Samorn’s slender fingers guided her bow across the violin strings with increasing intensity, the song grating upon Shaya’s mind. The necromancer grew increasingly agitated as they fought against the intrusion, their movements more erratic as they went on the offensive against Azreon.

The beast war on the mage’s shoulders had given Azreon opportunities to make some progress against their bone armour, chopping through some of the spines guarding the mage’s neck. But the advance stalled out once the Ur and mongoose took their battle to the swamp, where the Ur-Umbresnake was quickly overpowering Bitey in the water. The necromancer’s new offensive once again put Azreon on the backfoot, his blade flashing out to deflect flashing bone claws from the joints in his armour and his visor, where the necromancer hoped to gouge at his molten gold eyes.

Shaya finished tracing her circuit, holding onto the completed spell while she uncapped her strength potion and quaffed it. They didn’t have much time before Galo stumbled into the Titan’s reach and got himself killed, but the giant snapping turtle’s glowing eye sockets followed the man unerringly and made the head’s position as predictable as they could make it.

“Everyone ready?” Shaya asked, mind ruminating on everything that infuriated her. Which was surprisingly easy with Azreon in her line of sight, embodying much of the Empire’s ills in one conveniently detestable form, as well as an undead Titan and spawn, embodying the endless threat to her homeland.

“Ready,” Apricot said, sweat beading her forehead and Sapphire light spilling from her bloodshot eyes, “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“Of course,” Shaya replied, brow furrowing as she stoked her anger, “the gods themselves couldn’t stop us now.”

Her comrades groaned as she spat in the face of fate.