Chapter Nineteen

As the vision faded, Elysia found herself kneeling, panting for breath and teary-eyed, surrounded by dozens of Chrotile. Her Elemental pride spiked, but the lingering effects of the vision squashed it as she stumbled to her feet.

Without a word, she turned toward the exit and stumbled away on stiff legs. Her mind focused on one thing, escaping to Umbra to hide. Even her guilt at leaving her group hanging once again fell to the wayside.

In a blink of her sluggish mind, she found herself on Umbra. Eva and Joe stared at her in worry from the kitchen, but like everything else, Elysia paid them no mind in her single-minded pursuit.

Upon reaching her bedroom, she closed the door before numbly stripping away her armor, leaving it on. With the last of her energy, she crawled onto her bed and curled into as tight of a ball as she could joined by Ione, who frantically rubbed against her while purring loudly to cheer her up, but it was no use. Choked sobs filled the bedroom, straining her sheets with tears.

Fortunately, her overstressed mind gave into oblivion soon after.

The next morning, she blinked awake. Her unfocused eyes met the light beam shining through her bedroom window, confusion building. However, as her mind booted up, the confusion shifted to a soul deep sadness tinged with exhaustion.

Uncaring for the outside world, she remained laying on her bed staring off into space.

Even a knock on the door didn’t break her stupor. The knocking persisted for several minutes before falling silent.

Urus’s presences became heavy a few seconds later. “Your team is waiting for you.”

Elysia twitched, but otherwise remained still. “They know what happened and understand. Even they could feel the oppression of powerful emotions from a deep soul bond.”

Her dead eyes flickered. “Have them go without me. They are probably better off without me.”

Suddenly, Elysia lifted off the bed and shot through the window. The next thing she knew, she was underwater. On instinct, she flailed to the surface, anger flaring to life. “What the hell!”

With the young elemental broken from her stupor, Urus transported her back into her bedroom through the same window before anyone noticed her lack of clothes. “There we go. Quit with the moping. I doubt your sister would want you to lie around when she is fighting for her life. You will need every bit of strength for what is coming. Even I can’t stand against the Elemental Council. Even if I could, I can’t risk my citizens. You must face them on your own and you need strength for that. I talked with your group and they understand your situation.”

Elysia plopped on her bed with her arms crossed, a scowl present. “If they are so strong that you can’t face them, what chance do I have?”

“If I were to act, the entire council could mobilize, but if you fought for your freedom on your own, only parts of the council associated with the elementals element can act. Internal politics would stall any further action. The ones chasing your sister are part of the water council so they won’t act directly against you unless directly threatened. Eventually the Lightning High Chancellor will send his own troops though too, so if I’m right about your sister, you will face at most two parts of the Elemental Council.”

“Still, that’s way beyond me.”

“It is for the current you. That’s why you need to get stronger. You don’t need to beat the Elemental Council. Just prove you are more trouble than is worth it to bring you under their umbrella.”

A long sigh escaped her as she pushed herself to her feet and picked up her scattered armor. “Fine, I get it. Grind a bunch of levels or become a slave to this super powerful elemental government. I hope I’m not making a mistake, but I’ll join Mezo.”

“Excellent! Please head to the arena. Your team’s turn to portal onto Mezo is coming up soon.”

Decision made Elysia pulled on her armor. She grabbed one of her backpacks on her way out. In the kitchen, she stuffed it with several meal bars and water bottles despite not knowing if she needed food anymore. Just in case, she grabbed her crab daggers too and slipped them in the makeshift loops on the backpack before walking out onto the rear deck, Ione at her heels.

She found her crew mates sitting on patio chairs sipping coffee. In a hurry she gave them a wave which they returned seemingly in the know. They likely were with a nosey turtle watching everything.

Unlike her previous trip to the arena, the streets seemed alive with shop open, business as usual. The entrance to Mezo must not be a public spectacle or they were avoiding the arena because of what Thrazk did. Though something told her Thrazk’s display didn’t scare them. She doubted that was the first time Thrazk blew something up. At least he was on her side.

The crowded streets parted to allow Elysia an easy passage to the arena. Less than five minutes later, she stood in front of open doors tall enough to fit a dozen Thrazks through. Before she could back out, she stepped through, head held high.

The first thing that greeted her was a table with a single wristband. Upon closer look, she found the purple wristband had a 36 printed on it. Any confidence she tried to portray vanished when she realized it was the only one left, meaning she was the last one to arrive. She timidly nodded at the Blue Chrotile standing behind the table as she grabbed the wristband and strapped it to her right wrist.

The moment she cinched it down it flashed white before dimming to a soft glow. Curious, she glanced at the Chrotile overseeing the table, prompting them to speak. “This wristband links you to your teammates, acts as a beacon for rescue and keeps track of earned points. Please don’t remove it. Even Urus might struggle to track you down without it and you will void any points earned.”

With a nod of understanding, Elysia followed a slight pull through another set of doors leading toward the arena. Like they said, the wristband directed her toward a line organized similar to before the ceremony. Ordered by number, each team stood in line in front of a glowing crack in space she assumed was the portal to Mezo.

A glance at the front of the line told her the first twenty-five teams were already through. Next, she turned her attention to her team, but when she spotted them, she found them staring at her. Struck with embarrassment at her continued failure to meet up, Elysia’s shoulders slumped, but the idea of leaving Sereia alone to defend herself pushed her on.

She had to get stronger for Sereia’s sake. Even if her team hated her, she would use them to get stronger. With Urus watching, she doubted they would try anything and none of them showed hostility, just a bit of unfriendliness. She couldn’t put her life in their hands, but maybe they could still work together toward a common goal. Though she wasn’t sure how well Urus could watch if they needed these wristbands. If the team didn’t work out, she could try to strike out on her own. It wasn’t like it was her first time surviving on her own. Too bad she wasn’t a tank machine like Thrazk.

Mind resolved, Elysia strode forward, taking her place next to her team. She sent an apologetic smile to each of them, earning a nod from Thres and Thuax though their expressions remained neutral, though it was hard to tell under Thuax’s masked helmet.

Unlike his siblings, Thauzo stepped toward Elysia, towering over her, but his posture was nonthreatening. “Glad you made it, Elysia. I’m sorry to hear about your sister. I’m sure she will be alright. If my clutch siblings were stranded in the ocean alone, I’m not sure what I would do. Don’t worry about your absences, just focus on your job and you will be fine. You will stay with Thres and focus on back line damage. Leave the rest to Thuax and me. I’m sure we will crush everything in our path.”

Despite not believing it would go that easy Elysia nodded her head in assent. “I’ll try my best.”

They fell silent as they waited for their turn, which came up only a few minutes later. When they reached the portal a Green Chrotile began speaking sounding a bit bored as they probably said the same thing to every team. “Once you step through the portal, you begin your challenge. The portal will drop you on a random safe location on Mezo. Like every challenge, each team can earn points for kills, dungeon clears, and support efforts for healers and tanks. On top of this, you can earn bonus points for being the first team to beat a dungeon. However, don’t be greedy or fight over dungeons. At Urus’s discretion, she will deduct points for conflicts with other teams. To return, reach the center of Mezo within a week. Your wristbands will lead you to where you need to go on the last day. If you cannot reach the exit portal, we will send a rescue team toward your location at the cost of half of your points.”

The Chrotile paused. “Any questions?”

Upon receiving silence and negative shakes, they pointed toward the portal and directed their attention to the next team.

Taking the dismissal for what it was, they stepped toward the portal. Her Chrotile teammates stepped through without pause, but Elysia faltered a step just before the portal. She eyed it with apprehension, but only for a moment, as she doubted Urus would send so many of her talented young Chrotile into a portal that didn’t work.

Like when she entered a dungeon, the moment she stepped through the portal she felt herself pass a membrane, then her surroundings changed.

Welcome to Mezo! You are the 36nd group to enter.

Achievement! Dungeon Island.

“Congratulations! Few have the opportunity of participating in the first clear of a dungeon Island.”

Reward: 10% experience bonus within Mezo.

With a mental wave, she banished the notification. Half expecting some snark to pop up not but none came, so she focused on her surroundings instead.

The first thing that hit her was an oppressive humidity. Unlike what she was used to, this had a cross between Neah Bay and a volcano. Fortunately, without the need to breathe air, as far as she could tell, the heavy air had little effect on her. A glance at her teammates, also surveying the surroundings, told her the humidity didn’t seem to bother them either. The heat was a different story, but fortunately, her new armor felt breathable.

Surrounding the grassy clearing they stood in was a thick, tropical rainforest. One look told her they would need to cut through to make it anywhere suddenly thankful she had two Chrotile teammates with swords to deal with that. The next thought drew her attention to Thres. She hoped her fire worked here. At the very least, she doubted there was a risk of a forest fire. The moister wasn’t as bad as the crab dungeon at least. Thankfully, she had lightning, or that dungeon would have been impossible.

A sudden roar stilled her group. The trio recovered a moment later, falling into formation, but Elysia remained still as her eyes gravitated toward the source. Another roar rattled their eardrums, followed by a rumbling. This time, Elysia broke from her trance and scrambled to her spot next to Thres as Thauzo turned his shield to the source.

Seconds later, the thick forest collapsed to reveal three horns sprouted from a head. A beak like mouth opened to release another roar, only to shift to a rumbling whimper.

Before the team could react, the massive truck sized creature broke into the clearing. Its pain hazed eyes landed on the group but quickly moved passed them as it lowered its horned head to ram through the other side of the clearing.

Elysia’s eyes fell to a trail of blood leading toward the tunnel the creature made, then back to the creature halfway out of the clearing. Deep oozing gashed littered the creature’s thick hide, but the wounds did little in slowing it down as it escaped out the other side of the clearing.

The team glanced at each other, still on guard, only to freeze once more as the sound of several rapid footsteps reached their ears originating from the tunnel the creature came from.