TBATE Short Stories

Arthur's Unexpected Return To Dicathen

ARTHUR LEYWIN P.O.V:

The torrent of attacks were endless.
Damnit...these guys aren't too powerful, but there's so many of them! And they keep regenerating! I thought as two more soldiers began to strike at my sides.
Regis darted towards one of them, dealing a lethal blow to its neck, as I took out the other.

We hadn't been in this zone for long, but it was already proving challenging. There were a vast army of seemingly 'undead' soldiers, that were extremely easy to take out, but their near-instant regeneration made the act pointless.

"So, Princess, I don't wanna whine but my aether's getting pretty low. How about we stop attacking?" Regis suggested.
"Oh, what a great idea. Maybe if we ask nicely, they'll stop too." I retorted. As annoying as it was to admit, Regis was right. At this rate I'd fight myself into an early grave.

I continued striking them down with attack after attack, and I could feel my moves getting heavier. Just as I prepared to search for an escape route which might give us some time to recuperate ourselves, a soldier twice the size as the others lurched from behind and managed to get a solid slice in my shoulder.

"Where the hell did he come from?!" Regis cried, as I spun myself to face him and took a solid step back.
"And what's with that size?!" He continued, glancing around. "I was pretty sure these guys were all the same."

I searched along with my partner, and I began to notice some of the other soldiers increasing in size. As I concentrated, I could feel the flow of aether gathering as their bodies grew. The aether flow seemed to be originating from the blows that Regis and I dealt to them.

"Don't tell me..." I murmured. "They're growing stronger from our attacks?"
"Well!" Regis blurted out with a nervous chuckle. "If that's true then we really fuc-"
His words were cut off as a soldier pounded him with a hammer that sent the dog flying. Despite the severity of the situation, his misfortune was always comedic to me.

The cut to my shoulder was still deep, my lack of aether slowing down my regenerative abilities. I began to make my way over to Regis, desperately thinking of ways to pass this trial.

No...forget passing the trial...how do I even get out of this situation?

I was snapped back into reality by a sharp pain to my stomach. There was a soldier, right in front of me, with his sword lodged deep into flesh.
I hadn't even seen it-
It pulled its blade out from me causing an alarming amount of blood to spill from the wound. However, the solider wasted no time for pity as it readied its next attack. Panicked, I prepared to block with my dagger, but my lack of confidence in being able to handle the force was worrying.

The shock of the two weapons colliding pushed me back with tremendous power.
They're definitely stronger! I thought, my body skidding to the ground.
The soldier was already walking towards me, with more approaching from my sides.

What kind of ridiculous zone is this?
Am I really...
"Damnit Arthur," I muttered to myself. "You really don't have time to think like that."
Reaching into my dimension rune, I pulled out an object that might finally have some use.
"Regis!" I cried out. "Get here now!"

Luckily, the mutt was already on his way here and only took him a couple of seconds to finish the journey.
"What's the plan, milady?" He started. "Cause it better be good! And quick!"
"Get inside me. We're leaving this hellhole!" I replied.
"How valiant and brave."
"Regis!" I ordered. He quickly transformed out of his wolf form and into me as I began to activate the mystery object, banking everything on this last ditch effort.

The object was one I had discovered a while ago, and was completely oblivious to its use other than the one word written on it:
'Home'.
That, and the fact it's shape and structure was similar to that of the djinn medallions we had used to teleport to the underground sanctuary.