Tales of Concordia: Volume One

Chapter Ten: Escort (Part 5)

Grissel

A chaotic symphony of hisses and low-pitched growls filled the air, replacing the buzzes and croaks of insects and frogs that normally populated the air. Directly ahead of me, the sources of the noise stood. All of the CBs that had been previously incapacitated were now fully capable of moving, raising themselves back up. I quickly scanned the area using the few seconds I had, first looking at where Rosetta and Langston had been. They started their fight already, traversing deeper into the marsh. I could see red arcs of lightning in the distance and the sounds of gunfire, meaning they were still in combat. Turning back towards the transports, I could see the last of the noncombatants hurrying back inside. About four others were left, still in their groups of two from the prior rescue attempt. Most of them looked shaky, despite the adrenaline rush from the situation. I was doubtful they had ever faced something like this before, they'd be liabilities at best in combat for me.

Focusing my attention back on the beasts just ahead, I approached, quickly switching my stance with my glaive to one better suited for combat, one hand gripped tightly on the front, and the other closer to the back.

I was faced with the largest of the beasts, which had no delay in starting its onslaught of attacks. It swung its tendrils towards all of us, flailing them in a quick storm of attacks. I quickly swung my glaive in response, slicing each of the incoming tendrils to pieces, leaving chunks of flesh and blood in a loose circle around me.

"Gah-!" I turned my head to the group of four to my right. One of the group members found a tendril wrapped around his leg. Not a second later he was launched into the air and promptly dragged toward the large beast. I quickly moved towards him, closing a large gap in a split second before swinging my glaive with its full length upwards, severing the tendril and causing the man to fall to the ground.

I had less than a second to check on the man, with the smaller beasts instantly closing in on us. I quickly grabbed him by the exposed collar of his equipment, before throwing him back toward his allies.

"Stay out of my way!" I shouted at the small group as I focused on the beasts.

*CRASH*

*SMASH*

Two of the beasts threw themselves at me, striking violently as they upended the earth, stumbling around themselves. I quickly darted backward, giving myself just enough space to swing my glaive in a large arc ahead of me, severing the front limbs of the two beasts which caused them to fall forward with a loud crash. I quickly moved forward, flipping my glaive to the blunt end and striking the closest beast from below. Its head shot upwards alongside the rest of its body. I noticed a small patch of flesh on its underside, with more mana concentrated there than anywhere else- The core!

I jumped forward towards the beast, slamming into it and forcing it onto its back. In another quick motion, I ran my Glaive through its neck, piercing it and locking it in place. The beast writhed furiously, attempting to remove the glaive and me from itself with no success. I pulled my arm back, straightening my fingers as I did so.

"Dragoncast-!" Dark grey scales and claws quickly grew along my arm, and without delay I plunged my hand into the beast's chest, quickly tearing out its core organ before crushing it in my hand. I used my other hand to grip my glaive, quickly pulling it to the side, severing the head of the beast from the rest of its body. I quickly returned my arm to normal.

*Thud!*

The beast fell limp on the swamp floor as its blood began to pool out. I quickly raised myself up, knowing I wouldn't have a second-