Red light glimmered into the underground chamber, deflecting off the fallen crystals that had been torn loose by Valian’s blast of fire. The godstone amidst it all, oscillated under Valian’s touch, and the Duke and Alyssa looked on with hushed breath as the red mound drooped out of the gate.

Mirio’s mind was aflutter with thoughts, trying to piece together the poetic language of the world winds and what hint they might hold. Could it even be possible that something poetic would have use in a fight, surely not. Though as he thought on it more, there was always a poetry to motion, a rhythm to sequences of technique, and a melding of concepts as one bettered their grasp of the craft. What did it really mean? And if it did mean something how could he decipher it in the mere seconds he had before the red mass burst forth, with whatever manner of monster it held.

*Starlight… And the river of darkness between… That shall consume all things in time*

*It doesn’t sound like a beast I’ve ever heard of… But this gate connects to a world beyond our own. What if it isn’t a beast…*

*What would it be instead? I mean, maybe something the gods know of? Or keep at bay?*

*Some kind of evil that creeps into places of light?*

Mirio pulled his lips tight and grit his teeth.

“Fuck it”

He spun the tip of his blade back into its sheath and stepped under the red mass, and outstretched his hand to touch the throbbing membrane. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his senses, and gazed into it with his missing eye. The world winds wrapped around the creature in a chaotic flutter, and he could sense both light and dark within. Divine, and a force to combat it.

*Of course… It is a being of black magic. The magician had to know of it to call it forth. Perhaps it is a creature of ancient lore. Something the black hand might worship as if a god*

Mirio leapt back from the oozing mass as it dropped to the floor and shook the cavern. The membrane pulsed and squirmed, veins of light and dark, shifting within.

“Quickly! Tell me the deity, the creature, or dark being that the black hand worship”

Gladly looked on with intense curiosity at Mirio’s actions, and then downward to search his memory of all the lore he knew of the black hand, and then a somber voice echoed behind him.

“The Guardian of the Steps, a beast born of the titans, said to reside in the aurochs star constellation. A creature of immense power even the gods must fear” Alyssa replied.

Gladly’s eyes flicked back and forth quickly as he gathered his thoughts.

“It is said, the beast will one day return to seek vengeance upon the gods for perverting his influence over the divine realm”

The Duke tsked and stared at Dasha, “Keep the kid in line, this isn’t the time for a history lesson”

Dasha darted her eyes from the Duke to Mirio, and whispered under her breath, “What the hell are you thinking?”

“I don’t know… But I think this creature is this Guardian”

Before Dasha could react, the red sack burst out through the cavern, the ooze splattering all over her, Mirio, and everything else.

She peered through her narrow eyes at the creature’s immense stature. It rose from its balled up position to stand at its full height. Its body was like that of an incredibly muscled man, but it was made of rivers of light and dark, that swirled like moving runes and tattoos across its surface. That was, if you could call it a surface, the dark and light were energy made manifest. The darkness looked as though it was a place that absorbed all light, and the light looked like an uncomfortable weed that had grown out of control through its dark form.

As the creature rose, its demonic horns punctuated its silhouette against the gentle violet glow of crystals in the cavern wall behind it. It towered five spans higher than any man… Or was that ten? She had fought tall creatures before, heck, she had even fought a giant minotaur just moments before, but something about this creature was different. It oozed a presence more threatening than any kingdom made by man, it was as though even the brightest of hopes could not hope to stand up against the presence of doubt and pain it radiated.

Mirio looked at the creature with his one remaining eye and felt a tremor of fear rise from the depths of his bones. His vision blurred, and became chaotic, as the beast took its time to stretch out its neck and ball its armoured fist. Never had he felt more fragile than he did standing before the beast.

His hands trembled as he drew out Ember, his lips quivering as he wrapped his finger around her held tightly.

It was however in moments of struggle and fear, that Mirio was at his most dynamic, and he did something no one expected, not even himself. He closed his one remaining eye.

As his senses adapted to the dark, the fearful presence of the being eased just enough that he could grasp onto his resolve once more.

“Try not to look at it directly!” he shouted.

*What the hell am I doing…*

His thoughts raced, as he focused all his energy into seeing through the world winds. Silver strands wound their way around the world around him. They spiralled up the god stone, and traced delicate patterns around Valian as he whispered incantations and worked through a process of spell sequences. They spun up around Alyssa and her youthful body, also up underneath Dasha’s armour, under Gladly’s badly damaged vest, and around the Duke’s physically impressive stance.

They even danced between the crystals at the edge of the cavern, and wound themselves in patterns around the gate.

Two golden figures stood far to the back. One with long flowing hair, and the other with a grizzled beard.

“They’re fucked, we should get out of here” the man said dismissively as he turned to walk away.

“No, let’s watch this play out” the woman said with a devious smirk, “Stand as all you are, hold nothing back” she continued, this time directing her voice toward Mirio.

Mirio’s sight continued to be built out of silver spirals, it even ran up through his own body. The only thing it didn’t run through, was the creature letting out a heated breath in front of him.

*Why can’t I see it…*

He turned his head slightly, and caught onto the gentle thrum of its breath, just as he was accustomed to doing when he fought any opponent. It wasn’t yet about to lunge, he had probably a couple of seconds to figure out his next steps. Should he open his eye once more, or…

*Or what?*

*What can I possibly do, if its form is hidden from me*

*Wait… Its body held magic runes. What if they are what hide it?*

He loosened one hand’s grip on his sword and raised it against the creature, using the rushing river of his speeding thoughts to search for the pattern within the clockwork of energy he had sensed while gazing upon it for the moments before he closed his eyes.

As he twisted and flicked his fingers, he found a crack within the spell, a small glowing orb like he had seen when under Gladly’s mind maze spell.

The creature’s breath halted, before bursting out like steam from a volcano. Its body twisted, and its toes dug into the stone as it drew around its body a whip of light.

Dasha gritted her teeth, and threw her lance of ice at the beast, and dived down low to avoid the trajectory of the whip.

“Get down!” she screamed

Mirio twisted up his fingers as the stream of light cracked through the air with a violent boom following in its wake.

.

And with the last movement of his finger tips, the orb of light unravelled into thousands of silver streams, trailing all around the creature and down into the very tips of the whip. His eyes locked onto the beast’s for a split second.

Mirio could feel the effect of Gladly’s spell of haste on both his body and mind, and he found a subtle joy in being able to have time enough to stand in this moment a little while longer.

As the whip tore through the air, his own eyes tore into the creature’s gaze. As their eyes met, they did so without the terrifying presence that the beast was accustomed to inflicting on others. It sneered in disgust, as Mirio felt a spike of sadistic delight.

With one large inward breath, he spiralled all of his mana into the palm of his sword hand, and twisted it into the colored light of his oasis spell. Precisely tinkering with the magical combination of sequences to fill the magic with what he could see within the soul of the beast.

As the magic of his oasis spell seeped into the blade, the steel shook and warped as though it were being dipped into the sun itself. Only the fibres of iridium woven deep into the runesword held it together.

The blade for a moment joined with Mirio’s soul, filling with the confidence, and glee that filled him from within. Surging forth with that power, the blade became ethereal and somewhat translucent, only deflecting blue flickers of environmental light.

With one confident slash, the blade bit into the Guardian’s whip. Mirio dipped his head under its light as it coiled rapidly around his blade.

The beast stared at Mirio through the world winds, the tug of its arm not succeeding at releasing the bind. An oozing of colours bled from Mirio’s sword, and crept onto the white whip, infusing it with an oscillation of colour.

Dasha stood up and stared at Mirio as he stood in a bind with the imposing giant, with her eyes wide in shock and disbelief. Firstly, how was Mirio standing so confidently against this thing, and secondly, how was it that his sword had turned translucent blue.

Rainbow colored light glimmered off the blue dragon scale armour Mirio still wore, as the man, and the creature of legend stood toe to toe in a battle of wills.

“What the fuck is going on?” the Duke said with a slight stammer, careful not to lose his composure.

“He’s doing everything he can to buy us time” Alyssa replied

…

Dark red eyes glimmered in the shadows just ahead. Silvia held back a gasp, and spun quickly into cover. She had hoped that any rageclaws in the sewer system were settled far away in a distant corner somewhere. What were the chances of one being just around the corner where the children were huddled waiting for her return.

She bit down on her bottom lip and gazed back in the direction of the kids. How could she possibly take on a situation like this, what was she meant to do? If it was just her, she would run, or sneak past. She was no match for a creature as agile and powerful as a rageclaw, only the best of the adventurers, and hunters could take them down.

She knocked an arrow onto her blood red bow, the one that Mirio had helped her get, and she thought on his words again, as she had done since she had it with her. He had encouraged her to do right, even when it didn’t seem like the world would reward it. Somehow he saw that a choice made with strength of character, influenced the power of the act itself. So what was the strongest choice here?

Her eyes darted around as she tried to find a thought.

“I have to lead it away”

She held in her breath for a moment, before she pulled back on her bow string and stepped into the passage.

FWIP

The arrow spun true, flexing and bowing as it shot through the damp air.

THUNK

RWOOOAR

The creature’s jaw tore open as it screamed and pounced towards her.

She pulled a second arrow, and let it loose.

FWIP

The rage claw gripped tight into the stone and deftly sidestepped the shot.

With a sharp twist of her footing she sprinted down the tunnels, bouncing off the walls, and spinning as she turned down each new alley with the roaring monster right behind her.

…

Dasha looked up at the Guardian, its immense pressure filling the cavern, its energetic form of light and dark whipping in runic patterns. Mirio’s eye was firmly shut, and his brow creased in deep focus as he bound the creature to his now translucent blade.

As she looked at the mythological creature terror filled her from the depths of her bones, to the point she knew that striking it with her blade would almost certainly yield no result. And having cast a spike of ice at it, only for it to harmlessly scatter against its form, she had little faith in her magic either. So how was it that this peasant boy from the sticks stood without fear?

Or was he afraid, but just too busy to show it?

The sigils on the guardian twisted and shook, and the creature let out a gentle and knowing smirk at Mirio.

As Mirio gazed at the creature, he saw nothing but ribbons that wrapped around its form. Blissfully free of its terrible presence, he felt as though matching the beast was in reach, or at least… For a time.

He softened his grip on his blade and twisted his footing to settle into a stronger position, before winding his sword in a figure eight and rushing forward with a stutter of feinting steps. Lines of light travelled up the creature towards its central orb almost as though notes of a song calling to the tip of his blade.

He weaved and shifted amidst the flow of the strands of light as the beast swiped back and forth to guard against him. However, as he was, and as much as his sword sung along the lines of its form, he saw its defence as nothing but a mild distraction that could only delay the inevitable but not stop it.

Could he win?

Mirio twisted his foot and pulled back, as a surge of dark energy emitted from below each of the world wind ribbons. Each silver thread unravelled and blasted off the Guardian’s form in a chaotic blast that shot into the cavern like silver fire.

The creature was invisible once more. Mirio had no other choice but to open his mortal eye, to reveal a terrible sight as the beast’s great taloned hand sliced at his throat.

Too terrified to move, he clenched shut his eyes, and drew deep from his training and experience to whip his back leg around in a sweep to slip under the blow.

*Damn it, I thought I had equalised the fight, but…*

Gladly looked on at Mirio with a studious gaze.

“Did the kid figure out that the sigils on its flesh are a mixture of stored counterspells and charms”

Dasha’s eyes widened as the beast’s claw swiped a hair’s breadth away from Mirio’s cheek.

*I have to do something, I’m standing around like an idiot. Come on! Think!*

Mirio twisted and turned, diving under, around and through the creature’s sequence of attacks, the green haze of Gladly’s haste spell granting him just enough speed to pull it off.

The Duke’s jaw dropped open as Alyssa turned to him with a smirk.

“Okay, I’ll admit it, the kid has got moves”

“He’s mine, don’t forget” she replied with a wink.

Mirio gulped and flashed his eye open for a split second to observe the creature’s sigils in order to again trace its form with the silver threads of the world winds.

*Damn it, they keep shifting, I can’t trace its form for more than a second or two. I can’t keep fighting like this, or I’ll be too exhausted to keep up my defence. This thing definitely has the advantage. I don’t think I can win here, but neither is running an option…*

The beast shifted and moved with uncanny agility for its size, swiping at Mirio with combinations that perplexed the mind. Altering angles, and the timing of its rhythms, combining fast swipes, with built up blows, and injecting feints between them. Dasha couldn’t quite keep up with how Mirio was doing what he was doing, but she understood the broad strokes of what was going on, enough to understand what might tip the balance of the fight if she were a part of it.

“If I can’t affect it with my magic, at the very least I can change the field of battle”

In a turn of pace Dasha turned to Mirio and created small icicle foot holds at the base of Mirio’s feet, helping him to push off in ever tighter turns. She then cast ice into channels underneath the ground to create swells, and fissures underneath the steps of the beast.

The beast had no other choice but to pause its attack, and direct its gaze at Mirio in thought. It couldn’t afford to turn to deal with the ice knight, not yet at least, not while the slippery creature buzzed about looking for any avenue to attack its heart stone.

It pulled its foot from a fissure and let out a smouldering breath.

The fast creature was cunning for a mortal, but not a match for the gods, and definitely not a threat to himself, so long as he maintained a tight defence and held the initiative. As a master of battle, he found the cunning little being a curiosity, and knew he had been holding back because of it. It was a shame that the magician was turning the battle field against him, did she not realise that he didn’t even need the ground.

The energy of the beast pulsed and the light within the godstone surged, as unearthly winds filled the cavern. The Guardian’s toes lifted off the broken earth, and hovered the span of a man off from the ground.

“It can fly?” Dasha said with a gulp, “What the hell! I just found a way to be part of this fight!”

Mirio panted and sweat beaded along his brow, he could already feel his focus waning. It was almost impossible to see the creature clearly, even while mixing his mortal and other worldly eye.

He saw the writing on the wall… He had already lost the fight. There was no martial trick, or battle strategy that could turn the battle in his favour, the creature’s conditioning and battle preparation was like something he couldn’t have imagined before experiencing it for himself.

“So this is the power of a creature that rival’s the gods…” He said out loud for the creature to hear.

“Thankyou for the lesson”

“I can’t reach this level of strength”

“At least… Not by fighting you”

The creature stared at him with unflinching ferocity.

Dasha let her gaze drift to the creature and was again shook by its terrifying presence that had now grown strong enough to freeze her in place. Her hair blustered in the unnatural wind as the beast readied itself for a final deadly attack.

…

Tarkon wiped blood from his lip as he pulled himself out of the brush. Dusting dead leaves and thistles from his embroidered vest he made his way out to the road leaving the city. He narrowed his eyes as he looked to the burning rubble that had once been the city wall.

Looking behind him he saw the last of the escaping city folk almost caught in the blast rushing for shelter in the distance.

*At least some of them made it*

He scratched his head, perplexed by how things had changed so quickly. Surely the war with the south was months away from reaching the city. Didn’t Rainal’s forces have to first cross the sea and land his forces? How could they cause such havoc without an army?

He peered up to the roars of the Dragon above the city.

*Why is it flying like a maniac? Is it high or something?*

Tarkon rolled his shoulders and kinked his neck and then padded down his pockets.

*Where is my storage satchel?*

Pursing his lips and swaying side to side as he walked, he traced his way back along the walls in search.

…

“Yah, yah, YAH!” Martin screamed as he hailed down another series of blows to the back of the Dragon’s neck.

FWOCK FWOCK FWOCK

The Dragon picked up the pace, deciding that the attempt to dislodge the irritant was more trouble than it was worth. With a few strong beats of its wings it soared high into the sky, zooming towards the scattered storm clouds, quickly breaching them and heading into the cold stretches of air high above.

Martin’s breath became thick with fog, and too thin with oxygen to breathe. His helm gathered sheathes of ice and stuck to his skin underneath. He gripped tightly on his dagger, and sliced through the tethers holding him to the Dragon and plunged downwards.

The air smacked and tousled against his armour with its cold sting, a whistle howling as he fell like a stone.

FWOCK FWOCK

With a flutter of beats from the Dragon’s wings, it turned and sped back towards him, its jaws wide and its teeth glowing in the distant moonlight.

“Guess this is it” he whispered under his breath.

His eyes closed with peace and serenity like he had never known before.

And in the depths of that dark embrace, that was when he saw her.

The long flowing locks of hair of Calypso, and her hand outstretched towards him.

As she smiled he felt a light grow inside of him, and fill his veins.

He didn’t need to be told what this was.

It was all he had ever wanted, he had finally been chosen by the goddess. He had at last become enlightened.

Light shone from behind his armour as a great sphere of light enveloped him like a cocoon. The Dragon’s maw crunched tight around the orb, hitting it with such force that even its divine power sparked and warped. With a violent toss of its neck, it threw Martin towards the ground like a meteor. He blasted through the night clouds like a ray of sunlight, as the beast followed behind in a smouldering mass of fire.

Martin could barely move himself under the G forces, he struggled and pulled himself around to look towards the city below.

FWOCK FWOCK

CLASH

The familiar click of a saddle slid under him, as his wyvern pulled up from under him, spiralling and twisting, to avoid dragon fire.

SHOOM SHOOM SHOOM

Pillars of fire shot past from left to right in billowing red clouds.

All they could do was drop at full speed, curving only but a little to level out as the red mountain quickly rose to meet them.

Martin pulled tightly on her reins and spun her away from the rocks, towards the great lake. Water blasted several stories high as they plunged into its depths.

FWOCK FWOCK

The Dragon’s breath burned against the surface of the lake, starving it of oxygen and leaving a trail of steam and boiling water. It huffed and turned back to the city in a hurry, returning to its rampage now that it had rid itself of the tick.

Martin coiled into a ball, and squirmed in agony as the water burned under his armour. He cut at the binds of his armour with his dagger, while his wyvern driven by a fight for its survival dragged itself to the surface without him and took off into the skies in a panic.

Martin kicked and bucked as the last of his armour peeled away. He kicked out in long and wide strokes along the bottom of the lake where the heat was most dispersed, and fought with his breath until he pulled himself up at the shore. His skin steamed as he threw himself onto the pink sands. He looked over the lake as it continued to boil, and a thick fog carried over its surface.

“Good luck guys” he said just before collapsing, closing his golden eyes.

…

“The Arakaze are ahead!”

“I see them!”

“Steady!”

The dark wings and menacing fangs of the Arakaze flooded in swarms through the sky.

“BRACE!”

THWACK CRUNCH THUD

The wyverns screeched as they gripped the Arakaze in their talons like eagles grasping their prey. Their powerful hind legs, more than powerful enough to kill a great wolf, tore into the Arakaze flesh like razors into fresh meat.

The squadron of wyvern riders punched through the swarm like heavy cavalry, while the swarm of Arakaze looped around them like scout riders, surrounding them with superior numbers.

FWET FWET FWET

TINK

TINK TINK TINK

THUNK

The commander screamed out in pain as one of the Arakaze rider’s arrows found its mark between the shoulder joint and main plates of his armour. With a grit of his teeth he tore it from his flesh, and pulled his wyvern around as his squadron filed in behind him. He lifted his hand and flashed out his fingers as wide as they could go.

The wyverns split into all directions like fire, as they balled up bile within their throats.

FWOARRRR

Whips of flame tore through the skies in vicious flares. Its light reflecting off the clouds above, and glistening off the short black fur of the Arakaze and their leather wings.

Bodies poured from the skies like rain, trailing smoke and the sparks of fire in their wake.

“Follow me” the commander roared, as he pulled up towards the clouds and pierced through them to the clear skies above.

The commander’s jaw dropped in shock, as a flock of Arakaze in spiked armour already lie in wait and stormed towards him and his squadron.

*They already had them positioned to ambush us? Damn it!*

He quickly pulled on the reins, and shot up towards an incoming Arakaze while his wyvern dropped back, allowing momentum to carry him up into the sky alone with his lance drawn.

He locked the back of the lance into the socket on the shoulder of his armour careless to the blood pouring from his arrow wound. Shooting like a dart he narrowed his gaze and carefully aimed the tip of the lance.

The air tousled and smacked on all sides as the wolf-like jaws of the Arakaze sped towards him in a flash.

“Raaaaaaaaarh!”

…

Footsteps sung out through the hollow tunnels of city sewers; scuffling, spinning, and pounding through the shallow water.

FWET

Silvia shot blindly over her shoulder as the beast’s breath closed in.

THUNK

The rage claw roared as a third arrow had sunk into its tough and sinewed flesh. Driven by rage, and not struck critically, it shook its jowls and hurried after its prey undeterred.

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH

HUFF HUFF HUFF

“Why the hell am I doing this? Ahhhh”

She flicked her bow over her shoulder, and sped ahead as fast as she could towards a flicker of moonlight at the end of a very long tunnel.

HUFF HUFF HUFF

PAT PAT PAT

The creature gained pace at terrifying speed.

Silvia wrapped her hand around her short blade in a dagger grip, and swung in a short sharp arc behind her to the timing of the creature’s breath. It hit with a satisfying precision, through the creature’s outstretched arm. With a quick twist of her wrist, she made sure to worsen the damage before letting go of the blade.

HUFF HUFF HUFF

The moonlight grew brighter and brighter, until she could make out the opening clearer and clearer.

It looked from this distance that the tunnel opened into the woods. With one last burst of her strength she stormed towards the opening, and as it grew closer, so did the columns she had thought were distant trees grow wider.

“No!” she screamed, as the sewer grate rushed up to meet her.

She gripped her hands around its bars, and thrashed at it in the hope rust and disrepair might help her pry it loose.

“No!”

The growl of the beast loomed from behind her, as it slowed its pace to bare its fangs.

She drove her back towards the grate as her knees buckled, and her hair cast in wild unkempt locks over her face, sweat causing the smallest strands to stick to her face. Covered in muck and grime, she had no other option left, than the grim reality of her fate.

“Oh well” she sighed as she gripped her hand around the last three arrows in her quiver and balled the arrow heads between her fingertips.

Pushing herself up from the grate, she grit her teeth, and spat on the ground in defiance.

“Hey, hey you there”

“Huh?”

“Can you step to the side a second, you are in the way”

She turned to see a man’s face pressed up against the grate and his arm reaching through aiming at the creature, his dark complexion contrasting up against white runic scars that trailed all over his body.

“Thanks” he said with a smirk as she stumbled to the side in shock.

His brow bunched up in a tight knot as his hand shook forcefully, bright torrents of light lit up the tunnel in a scorching white, as flames roared past her knocking her back tight to the wall with the smack of the heat.

Tarkon bit his lip and twisted his tongue in deep concentration as he carefully controlled the flames to steer them around Silvia, and to stop them whipping out to catch her as she moved. He twisted his grip to intensify the blaze towards the Rageclaw, until it shot out in a tight beam blasting through the creature’s chest.

He dropped his hand, and looked at Silvia with a raised eyebrow and a disappointed expression.

“Girl, what the hell are you doing down here?”

“Huh? W-what?” Silvia stammered out, hardly able to comprehend the turn of events let alone the man’s persecuting gaze.

Tarkon held tight onto the bars, oscillating streams of fire along their lengths until they turned red hot and bent wide open.

“You really are crazy huh? Going through the sewers to escape that bastard in the sky, can’t really blame you though. Do you mind?”

“Mind what?” she said as looking around at her feet to where he was pointing, “A satchel?”

“Yeah, I dropped it”

“Right, well here you go I guess, and ah, thanks” Silvia said as quickly handing him the satchel and turning back towards the tunnels.

SNATCH

Tarkon’s hand gripped tightly around her wrist and pulled her close towards him, “Where you going? Damn, girl, your head is a mess, exit is this way”

“No, I have to get back. The kids I left them”

“The kids? You got kids? Shiiit… I mean you look way too young for that”

“What?” she said shaking off the last of her shock by shooting a confused yet grumpy look, “No, there are some kids back there, I was leading the monster away”

“And almost became its lunch doing it, brave, but kinda idiotic”

“Yeah, well, thanks for saving me but I have to get back”

“Hold on, hold on, you helped me out too. Look, I got my satchel, I carry everything precious in the world to me right here, so, it was important I got it back. So now, I’m going to do you a solid”

“Uh, well thanks I guess?”

“Let’s go get them kids”

Tarkon trailed behind as Silvia jogged on ahead, he peered through the light of the swinging lantern stone at her hips.

*I swear to god I wouldn’t normally do this, but damn this girl is feisty tho, haha. Nothing like a little somethin somethin after a brush with a Dragon*

“Yo girl! Wait up! Why you gotta run so damn fast! This ain’t a race”