Morning cracked, perhaps for the last time for the eight on the dirt of the hills. They all rose from their tents and came outside as the light of Arionis pinched their eyes and knocked them awake. One by one they crept out their bases, for there was just another hill to conquer. Before hitting the hay on the day before, they all had agreed that this hill must be covered in one day for they needed empty time to explore the unforgiving lands of Pyrothos.
"This valley gets a lot less light compared to the outsides.", said Stephen as he yawned and stepped outside his tent.
"Given that we're surrounded by two giant pillars of rock, I should think so.", Anneliese replied, slightly mocking him as she too walked out her tent.
The team assembled one by one as they all collected in the centre of their camps. The air was a little strange and awkward for Trent and Violet, for last night's events weren't one they could ignore.
"Let's set off for the hills right now, time is a luxury we currently can't afford.", Emma said as she packed her things into her bag.
"Amen to that. Let's go!", said Natasha as she begun walking towards the incline, the others followed.
They walked somewhat in a line with Ann in the front and Gavin in the back, so that they wouldn't lose track of one another, and Ann's elf eyes would see danger incoming from miles. They continued walking till the incline grew stronger and they begun to exert more strain. Inbetween the climb, Emma observed Trent, for he hadn't uttered a word since morning.
"Everything okay, love?", she asked holding his hand.
"Yes.", he replied bitterly.
"What's the matter? You seem off since dawn.", Emma continued, patting his hand.
"Nothing, just not enough sleep I suppose.", he replied brushing her hand off. His eyes couldn't let go of Violet, who herself was looking into the ground and wondering what had happened. Emma noticed Trent's glance and tried understanding the whereabouts.
"Anything happen between you and Violet?", she asked as sweetly as she could.
"No. Why do you ask?", he replied brushing her off.
"Trent, I know something is going on. I also know you won't tell me until it's too late.", Emma said in a bold tone.
"What do you expect me to say to that?", Trent replied.
"Nothing. I know you won't be telling me anything. Yet here I am, offering you my ears whenever you're ready.", she replied kissing his hand.
"Thank you. However, I assure you, I'm fine.", he replied drawing his hand back.
"Yes, and Stephen is the smartest of us eight.", Emma said sighing. "Just let me know when you're ready.", she ended as she turned around and continued walking ahead.
Meanwhile, Anneliese and Natasha too had noticed something off with Violet.
"Hey, is everything alright with you?", asked Anneliese gripping Violet's arm.
"Yes, why must you ask?", she countered.
"Nothing. You just haven't said anything since the morning. Not even when Natasha tripped over that rock and landed face first.", Anneliese replied with a little mocking tone.
"Guess I didn't sleep well. Nothing to worry about.", Violet said brushing her off.
"Something happened between you and that tall guy, right?", asked Natasha jumping in.
"His name is Trent. And no.", said Violet, a little angry.
"Chill, dude! I know, I was just screwing with ya.", Natasha replied as she chuckled a little.
"Nats, shut up! She's clearly upset!", said Anneliese nudging Natasha.
"No, I'm not. Just drop it, I'm fine.", said Violet again.
"If you could listen to yourself, you know you'd think otherwise. We're always here to listen, just tell us once you're ready.", Anneliese continued.
"There's nothing to tell. Let's focus on the task at hand.", said Violet as she hastily moved ahead.
Anneliese and Natasha decided to give her some space as they continued behind. The eight walked for hours on as the incline became more and more steep, and eventually the peak was to be seen again.
"Aha! The peak!", said Ann in awe.
"Do we do the whole Goblin egg thing again?", asked Stephen mocking Ann.
"There's no need for that this time, though I appreciate the enthusiasm.", replied Emma, mocking Stephen. "Plus I don't wish to be netted by our Trent again.", she ended laughing.
"Amen to that.", said Ann as she nudged Trent. Trent didn't have anything to say to this, he just walked while staring at the ground. He would often glance at Violet, but when she'd meet eyes with him he'd quickly trace them back to the ground, too scared to even face her.
"You alright, bestie?", asked Ann, visibly concerned for Trent.
"Yes.", Trent said glumly.
"Dude you haven't spoken a word since morning. Either say something Trent-esq for I'll clock ya!", said Stephen, mocking Trent.
"I'm fine, just didn't sleep well. Regardless, the peak is literally a few inches away, enjoy that for now.", Trent replied, brushing Stephen off as well.
The team continued afoot as they finally made contact with the floor of the peak. They halted and gazed again, for the view from mountain peaks was just amazing.
"Holy shit!", cried Gavin as his Troll eyes showed him magnificent views.
On their south they saw a highlight of the second hill, on their west they saw a fraction of the great waters of Oceanus, on their east they saw a little highlight of the Arc. Yet the most fearsome of all sights lay to their north; The Mountain Of Pyrothos. Only a shadow of the great mountain could they lay eyes on, it towered over them strongly as the mighty mountain it truly was. At the peak of Pyrothos they saw a radiant red glow, which was undoubtedly magma erupting from its brutal core.
"Pyrothos!", Emma yelled outloud as an amazing glimpse of their future stood in front of them.
"Damn! Another day's travel and our feet with be rubbing against the rocks of Pyro-", Stephen had just begun his expression of astonishment when... Brakadoom! A strong thunder like voice shook the peak of the hill strongly, bringing our heroes to their knees.
"What now?!", asked Ann as she struggled to regain balance.
"Looks like another mythic! Everyone, high alert!", cried Emma as they all slowly stood up, only to be knocked down by the rumbling again. Finally the rumbling stopped as a strong pillar erected itself to their north, tearing through the peak.
"The fuck is this now?", asked Stephen as he looked at the pillar. It was as basic as a pillar can get, just a large rectangular rock which stood strong to their north. They gazed upon it for a long while with nothing to happen, all they did was stand there confused. Just then, however, the pillar begun glowing as some writings became visible on its face.
"What's this?", asked Natasha approaching it, she could understand none of it.
"Seems to be some ancient writing. Perhaps a message? A warning?", wondered Trent as he tried reading it, but no avail.
"There might be some clues in that book of your-", Ann was just about to suggest something when another pillar erected itself opposite to the first, to their south.
"Now what's this?", asked Stephen exasperated. The pillar again gave a dim glow as a similar script printed itself on its face that was eyeing the eight. The team stood confused as they tried making out what exactly this meant. Just then, another pillar erected itself to their east.
"Alright, now I'm very confused.", said Stephen in absolute frustration. Again the pillar glowed as it read some old manuscript. The team just stood there in utter confusion as they gazed and gazed, but no avail. Finally a last pillar erected itself to their west, which again glowed a dim white and read the same text.
"So we've got four random chunks of rock with white text on them?", said Gavin scratching his head.
"Anneliese, you're an Elemental with a staff, can you decipher something?", asked Trent with a decent hope.
"Not at all. This script predates my knowledge.", she replied scratching her head.
The team didn't know what to think or how to act. They just stood there on the top of a mountain surrounded by four pillars.
"Do we just ignore this and move o-", Stephen was about to raise a genuine question until he was interrupted by another strong rumbling that shook the floor. The team struggled to gain balance as the rumbling grew stronger and louder. Finally it stopped, the ground calmed down and the team stood up. The threat wasn't averted just yet, though, the base of the pillars then begun making a strange noise as a crevice emerged from below them. This crevice ran itself in a circle that joined all four pillars, encircling the eight.
"Any idea on what the fuck is happening?!", cried Ann as the readings suddenly became mighty bright.
"The crevices, they've somehow activated these pillars. This must be an opening of some kind.", Trent said as he spun the barrel of his pistol. "Shit! It's a gateway! Everybody, out of the circle, now!", he ended as he ran outside the circle trying to get as far as possible from the four pillars. The others followed without questioning as they all exited the circle. Lucky they were for doing so, for the crevices begun glowing the same vibrant white, as the beams radiated strongly from the rocks and begun cracking the four pillars. Finally the rocks gave out and exploded strongly as the circle cracked open and a beast smashed the circle from inside the hill and sprang itself to the peak.
"What the fuck is that?!", cried Stephen as he gazed at the new mythic they had to encounter.
The mythic was a scary one, indeed. It was a lynx made entirely of stones that covered it's feline body, it's whiskers too were made from a thin line of rocks. It had nails sharpened as strong flints and it's teeth were made of the hardest of rocks. All of this, however, wasn't it's greatest strength, that lied in its two eyes which were made entirely of two mysterious red gemstones. These gemstones weren't only for show, for they had the power to magnify light and eject it, incinerating anything in its path!
"Trent, any updates?!", asked Emma as she too, gazed in awe.
"One sec!", he yelled as he rummaged through his book, "Aha! Obsidieye it's called!", he ended as he pointed at the thing in its book.
Just then, the lynx lunged onto them as it tried crushing them all under it's weight. The eight evaded the attack of the ferocious stone cat and dodged to the sides, scattering.
"Trent, we'll keep it busy, you give us the intel!", said Anneliese as she readied her wand.
All of them, except Trent, surrounded the lynx as Trent hid behind a rock.
"Anneliese, distract it, Gavin will take it from there!", said Gavin as he whipped out his Crush.
Anneliese then chanted a spell that shot hot water at the thing, it made contact, but the lynx only flinched it off.
"Hey, ugly!", said Gavin jumping in as he smashed the thing with his strong Troll muscles. This did more damage than the Obsidieye thought, for it sent it flying far behind. The cat gained ground again as it purred an angry sound at the eight.
"Guys, I got everything we need! It was made for quick transport of material from one place to another, especially near the hills. It's a quick one and can do massive damage if it makes contact, its major strength lies in its eyes which can deliver lethal beams. Luckily for us, the thing is brittle, we must hit it with as much force as we can while someone scratches those eyes!", Trent cried closing his book as he emerged from behind the rock.
The lynx was a mighty quick one, it used it's strong feline legs as it swiftly moved from place to place while the others tried making out it's new attack. Now, you might assume another tedious battle between a mythic and our heroes, right you would be to say so months ago, but this team is synchronised and with the power of two elementals, I would be more worried about the lynx rather than our heroes.
"Alright, everybody, let's show this cat who's boss!", cried Emma as everybody readied their ground.
Gavin pulled out his Crush, Stephen readied his spells, Anneliese raised her wand, Violet formed her blade, Natasha chanted her mist, Trent cocked his pistol, Ann loaded her bow and Emma focused her magic, this once scattered eight were now a united team with abilities that far outweighed a mythic.
"Gavin, strike it down, Ann and Violet, await my call!", cried Emma as she walked aback and Gavin leapt up from above her. He intercepted the lynx on his way down with a thunderous blow that smashed the lynx into the ground.
"Ann and Violet, now!", Emma cried as she sent a flurry of spikes to aid Gavin. Ann and Violet jumped up together with their strong elf legs as they rained down on the lynx. Ann shot an array of arrows on her way down as Gavin jumped out the way, causing all the arrows to catch the pathetic mythic. Now, with the mythic dazed, Violet rained down as she smashed into it's face with her golden blade and struck it hard, yet she couldn't seem to tear the eye off. The lynx snarled and purred as it managed to headbutt Violet far back with its strong stone face. Natasha stopped Violet from crashing to the ground as she summoned her mist.
"You okay?", asked Trent as he shot a few pellets at the thing.
"It's fine, doesn't matter anyway, let's focus on the mission at hand, that's top priority.", Violet replied with such anger that a strong purple sword let go of her fingertips and crashed into the lynx.
"Look, I'm trying to make it better for you, I just don't know how!", Trent yelled angrily shooting a few more pellets which caught the lynx right in it's mouth.
"You don't have to!", Violet cried louder as a strong purple sphere smashed the lynx's face and sent it hanging off the peak. The poor mythic was caught in the crossfire of a confused Trent and Violet.
"Do we stop them or let them take their wrath out on that stone thing?", asked Stephen whispering to Anneliese.
"Alright, enough! Both of you, drop it! Whatever it is that's happened between you two, sort it later! We can't afford to bring down this whole place because of your aggression!", yelled Emma as she came between the two.
"Yeah, guys! Discuss this shit tonight! For now, we've got a mythic to take care of!", cried Ann, jumping in as well.
"Sigh. They're right, Violet, we need to take care of this thing first.", Trent said panting.
Violet didn't say anything, she just turned to the lynx, who was starting to get back on its four feet. The lynx was belittled, trashed, knocked and smoked; as you might have picked on, mythics don't handle humiliation well. The lynx roared and purred angrily as it's eyes grew a bright red and aimed at Trent and Violet.
"It's going to shoot! Everybody, I'll cover you!", cried Anneliese as a strong bubble surrounded the eight preparing for the attack. Finally the eyes gave out a magnificently bright dazzling red beam that shot itself with such striking precision it smashed against the shield. The book had informed the eight about the beams beforehand, what it couldn't inform them was about it's immense and raw power. This mythic wasn't one to deal with once angered, or so they were about to find out. The beams broke through the shield with almost no effort as they exploded the ground underneath and sent the eight flying in a strong and dense cloud of dust. The eight were on the ground as they struggled to get back on their feet. When the smoke cleared, they slowly rose as some of them bled freely.
"That's one tough cat!", said Ann as she shot more arrows. Emma enchanted these arrows midair, but to their disappointment, the lynx elegantly evaded them and gained back ground. It again shot a pair of beams with dazzling elegance that aimed at the eight.
"No!", cried Anneliese as she surrounded them in her shield again.
"I'll help!", cried Emma as she layered her shield as well.
"Dleihs!", yelled Stephen as he too, tried blocking the shield.
"Let's see it crack four layers!", said Natasha as she too surrounded the protection bubbles with her mist.
This is perhaps the strongest defence anyone can ever make on Arionis, yet it still somehow wasn't strong enough to stop the lynx. One by one the shields begun cracking as the beams finally tore through and broke into them. They now realised that they had to win this with their minds, for defeating an Obsidieye with brute force was no easy task. They all crashed into the ground as they again bled freely from their foreheads.
"nnn... Must think of something.", said Trent as he scanned his whereabouts and tried finding something to use.
"Emma, we need to do something together, we can't win by numbers unless we use them rightly!", Trent yelled to Emma.
"Amen! What did you have in mind?", asked Emma to Trent.
"Just do as I say, trust me on this one!", said Trent as he weakly stood up and loaded his pistol.
"Stephen, distract that thing, be stupid, go!", yelled Trent at Stephen as he weakly picked him up.
"You got it Trent-o!", Stephen said as he ran towards the lynx and stood bravely infront of it, yet his legs shook hard. "Hey, fuck face! Those gems you've got on your eyes, was a necklace too expensive?!", Stephen continued yelling at the Obsidieye as it slightly begun to madden the thing. "Made of rocks, eh? A river can carve you in miniutes, fuck face! How about you show me your power, if you have some at all!", he continued mocking the thing.
Finally the lynx ran out of patience as it shot a strong beam of red from it's eyes at the poor imp. Stephen jumped out of it's range and tried evading most of it.
"Gavin, go now!", cried Trent as Gavin leapt up high with his Crush and rained down again on the thing. It's eyes were locked on Stephen strongly for it couldn't even see the incoming attack. Gavin took full advantage of this as he smashed the thing hard to the ground with his mace.
"Here kitty kitty kitty!", he yelled as he repeatedly struck the thing with his Crush, not letting it rise.
"Emma, Anneliese and Natasha, give it all you've got!", Trent said taking cover backwards. The three jumped into the scene with Natasha in the front. Natasha summoned a strong fist made of her magic that struck the lynx back further. Before it could fall, Anneliese caught it by her strong vines and left it hanging midair.
"Times up, kitty cat!", cried Emma as she sent a strong stream of blaze that ignited the lynx and struck it back to the ground.
"Ann and Violet, now, it's eyes!", cried Trent as he shot some pellets to make cover for the two elves. Ann and Violet ran towards the thing as Ann shot a few arrows to cover Violet while she tried getting close. Violet ran towards the thing with her strong elf legs as she tried gaining on it. The lynx noticed her body getting close, it tried to do something but the cover fire kept it halted. Finally, Violet managed to reach the lynx as she jumped up high with her elf legs and landed at its neck, gripping the crevices of the rocks strongly. Violet climbed upon the lynx and formed her blade into her hand which she pointed at the left eye. The lynx rocked back and forth as it tried setting her off, but as always, her grip was ever strong. The cover fire continued as everyone joined in; pellets, arrows, spikes, mist and fire were striking the lynx as it tried staying afoot. This gave Violet enough room as she enchanted her blade and struck it down with strong force. The blade made clean contact and smashed into the eye of the lynx, causing a brutal tear that shattered the left eye completely, leaving it broken to pieces. The lynx cried such a strong cry that shook the hilltop. In true maddening pain it was, for its eyes were mighty sensitive. The lynx was in such agony that it shot out beams from its other eye with absolutely no mercy, and no holding back as it desperately tried to gain some ground on the eight. Violet would poke the other eye out as well, but the red beams wouldn't let her do so. Finally the lynx broke free from the vines and the cover fire as it managed to rock its head upfront and send a strong beam of vibrant red towards the seven. The beam struck Stephen, Emma, Gavin and Ann in its rage. The lynx was now free from the strong blows of the four as it rocked its head strongly, knocking Violet to the ground.
"Fuck fuck fuck! Something, do something!", cried Trent as Violet lay helpless in front of the thing.
"I got her, don't worry!", cried Anneliese as she chanted a strong bolt of lightning at the thing. The lynx evaded backwards as it sent out another beam quickly, which caught Anneliese, for it was too fast to even notice. Anneliese was smashed to the ground as the lynx now looked at Violet again.
"Stop!", cried Trent as he shot the thing with his pellets. The pellets struck it's neck and angered it. The lynx purred at Trent and shot the beam strongly.
"No!", yelled Natasha as she sent out her mist that struck Trent to the ground and evaded him from the incoming attack. Just then, Anneliese weakly stood up(she was perhaps the only one of the eight capable of handling a beam from the lynx's eye) as she shot a geyser of steam from her staff at that thing. The lynx dodged back and forth as it rushed at Anneliese.
"Fuck!", cried Anneliese surrounding herself in her shield. The shield had just formed as the lynx clawed it harshly, breaking it. The lynx's claws sadly made strong contact with Anneliese's chest and impaled them with such deep strength that it knocked her out from the loss of blood.
"Fuck! All our heavy hitters are down! It will be a while until they gain consciousness!", cried Trent as he looked around.
"It's just you, me and Violet, Trent. You need to think of something!", said Natasha as she tried evading the thing's attacks.
"I can't. But I know someone else who definitely can.", said Trent as he gazed upon Violet, who still lay half concious on the floor of the peak. Natasha was fighting with the lynx, it wasn't long before the lynx would overshadow her, and the others would take much too long to get up, soon it'd be only him and Violet. Trent acted to the best of his human abilities as he sprinted strongly ahead leaving the ground behind him and tried getting close enough to Violet.
"Violet! Violet!", he yelled as he cupped her cheek in his hand and shook her to life.
"nnn... What's happening?", she asked as she weakly got up and grabbed his hand in her's.
"I need to talk to you, I need you with me, please! Natasha will be able to hold that thing for a minute at best, please I really need you!", he yelled repeatedly, shaking her.
"I'm with you, Trent, always. Talk to me.", Violet said as she slowly woke up and laid her head on his lap.
"I'm really sorry for yesterday, I'm sorry I shrugged you off. You must understand this impending fear within me, this fear to never be enough. I always feel weak, left out and small. How can I not? I'm a human being surrounded by elves, mages and elementals, I'll never be enough to complete this group, what I contribute is fucking pennies. I shrugged you off last night because I was scared, scared that I'll never be fit for someone like you. That fear won't leave me, it's something that's fucking baked into my soul, but what I can promise you is that I'll always be there for you. Not once will I ever leave your side, not for a second will I let you out of my grip, I'll always stand strong aside you no matter what. I can't promise you anything until we collect all the gold from the mountains, but what I can promise you is an attempt from my end to mend this gap between us. When I'm with you something just clicks, things snap into one and everything suddenly begins to make sense. Never have I met someone who had your brains, your strength and your wits, you astonished me the second I met you. With your pearl eyes, with your honey skin and with your gorgeous soul, you absolutely had me knocked out. I really do want to be with you, but there must be a right time for that. For now, I need you to think of something, I can't let my mistake last night be the cause of death of our loved ones. My mind is bright and so is yours, but together we're literally a fucking powerhouse! I can't think of a single thing right now, but I know you can! I ask of you, I literally beg of you, please bridge this gap between us and think with a clear mind on what to do to that gem-eyed freak. I need you, Violet, I need you, please, I won't be anything without you.", he ended bawling as he kissed her cheek.
"Trent...", she gasped as she cupped his cheek and kissed it while tears let go of her eyes.
"Uhh guys! If you're done with the whole making up thing, can you please help?!", cried Natasha as she brawled the lynx with an arm made out of her mist.
"Violet, anything?", asked Trent as he cocked his pistol.
"Just might have something! Everybody, collect over here!", yelled Violet as she drew her blade. Natasha struck the thing with a strong gust of mist as it smashed into the floor, giving Natasha time to come running towards Trent and Violet.
"I have a plan. It's lost one eye and it can't see the entirety of its left side, we can use that to our maximum advantage!", Violet yelled.
"How?!", asked Natasha in a hurry as the thing woke up.
"Eye... Left... Vision... Aha! An illusion!", said Trent jumping in.
"An illusion? What?", asked Violet raising an eyebrow.
"Let me make it clear. Natasha, you control mists right? So can you control their density, their thickness?", asked Trent.
"Absolutely. Why do you ask?", Natasha asked confused.
"This is going to take all of your power and more, but we need to somehow surround that entire beast in a mist so thick it can't see outside of it...", Trent continued his plan as he explained every detail in a hurry, while the beast finally rose and readied an attack. "... that will give the others enough time to rise and take care of the rest.", he ended as he made the plan crystal clear for all of them.
"Sounds like a plan! We don't have time, go go go!", cried Violet as she turned around to the beast.
The thing purred and snarled as it readied it's beams.
"Remember, if it hits you even once you'll knock out badly and won't get up for a long time. Avoid those beams at all cost!", cried Trent as he jumped to the east, while Violet jumped to the west.
"Please work.", said Natasha under her breath as mist surrounded her hands, making a strong, dense cloud.
"Alright, pussy cat, your time ends now!", she cried as she aimed her hands strongly as the thing and surrounded it in her mist. The mist was mighty thick, a strong and pink cloud which was so dense it blocked all sights ahead of it. The mist wrapped itself in a circle, trapping the Obsidieye. The Obsidieye looked confused as it tried figuring out what exactly the three were trying to do. It tried escaping the mist by running through it, but the mist was so thick it would push it off. The beast gazed into the mist as it tried to find a pathway that would take it outside. Just then, however, a shadow was seen dashing through the mist. The mythic was a little startled as the shadow merely appeared, then vanished. A while passed, and there it was again, with electric speeds it dashed as a shadow through the mist. The mythic's eye only showed it when the shadow was to its right, and every time it would infuriate the mythic. The shadow was seen again, with swifting speeds. This time the mythic didn't want to wait, it aimlessly shot a beam of bright red from it's eye at the last sightings of the shadow.
"Trent, pull an Aquillith, now!", yelled Natasha as she struggled to keep the mist intact.
Trent heard this, and as quickly as he could, he tossed Emma's sword where he'd seen the beam. The same thing the sword had done to the Aquillith, it was about to do to the Obsidieye. The sword spun and landed inside the area encircled by the mist as the beams strongly reflected from the sword and sent it back at the beast. The beam strongly struck the face of the Obsidieye and broke the entire left half. The Obsidieye cried, shrieked and snarled as it slammed into the ground in raw agony. The pain was a dense one, indeed, for the same beams that had once struck down towers had caught the Obsidieye in its face.
"Violet, before it gets up, do it!", cried Trent from far away. Natasha heard this as she sent mist beneath Violet's legs and tossed her into the air, sending her inside the circle.
"You've hurt my friends, cunt, now its my turn!", she yelled as she rained down like a bolt of angry lightning on the Obsidieye and latched onto it's face.
"You've got lovely eyes, it would be a shame for someone to do this!", Violet yelled loudly as she strongly struck the blade into the other eye of the lynx. The blade made a clean slice as it tore through the other eye and ruptured it, releasing light from it in all directions. The Obsidieye cried and hissed as it tried swatting Violet off. It had lost both it's eyes and it had no means of countering any attacks anymore. The once scary Obsidieye was now reduced to a worthless pile of rocks. This all had taken a major toll on Natasha, for she had never kept her mist intact for so long. Natasha passed out with a strong thud on the floor as she exhaled a strong breath. Call it luck if you must, but just then Emma weakly rose from her knocked state as she tried standing on her feet upright.
"nnn... What's going on?", she asked weakly.
"Long story, we kicked it's ass and plucked it's eyes, but it's still alive and we don't have the brute strength to knock it out. We need you, Anneliese and our Troll for that. I know I'm asking for a lot but I need you to heal them, preferably now.", said Trent as the mist cleared.
"Ah, yes! I'll do what I can.", Emma cried as she ran towards Gavin and Anneliese and begun the healing process.
By now the Obsidieye had eventually managed to yank Violet off it's back as she landed on the ground with a thud. Violet could have been in serious trouble, but to her luck, the thing couldn't even see.
"Uhh Gavin doesn't feel so good.", said Gavin as he weakly woke up with his fist on his head, luckily Emma had healed him in time.
"Oh Troll of ours, there is a lot we need to explain, but for now I need you to do what Gavin does best. Rage, my friend, rage!", said Trent to Gavin.
"That's what Gavin loves best!", said the Troll as he rose up and whipped out his Crush. "Rage!", he yelled a big Troll yell. Gavin launched himself into the mist bubble as he smashed the thing badly, breaking chunks of rock and smashing it into pathetic little pieces.
"nnn... Updates, anyone?", said Anneliese, wearily waking up as well.
"No time. The thing is missing both eyes, Gavin will harm it, Emma has healed you, just deliver the final blow!", said Trent to Anneliese.
"Didn't follow all that, but it ends with me kicking it's ass, so I'm in!", Anneliese said as she wearily stood up and pointed her staff at the thing.
"Do it now, Gavin!", said Emma from behind.
Gavin heard Emma as he smashed the thing with such strong Troll force that it sent it flying towards Anneliese.
"Arcane Staff, respond to my command!", cried Anneliese as a strong beam of concentrated light shot itself from the staff, aimed at the thing. The light made strong contact and shattered the mythic into two clean pieces as they smashed into the ground. Even with a severed body, however, the mythic still took a breath as it tried crawling it's upper half towards Anneliese.
"Don't worry, sis, got your back!", cried Emma as a strong jet of hot water struck the thing and seeped into it's crevices, melting it's insides. The Obsidieye gave one last cry as it's soul left it's body and it shattered into a pile of rocks that once made a dangerous mythic. Like all the magnificent beasts that came before the Obsidieye, it's body broke and became one with the dirt of Arionis.
"Hey! I was supposed to have the final shot!", yelled Anneliese pouting at Emma.
"Finder's keeper's!", said Emma pointing her tongue at Anneliese.
The team collected as Emma healed the others and they all knocked awake one by one. Stephen, Ann and Natasha rose from their tired state as they all assembled at the peak, once again. Trent and Violet let out a strong sigh as they were brutally tired. They both crashed into the floor and landed on their butts.
"Thank you, Violet, thank you.", said Trent panting.
"All because of you.", she replied smiling a sweet smile towards him.
"You guys seem awfully tired.", said Stephen mocking the two.
"How about you try fighting a rock cat with laser eyes?", said Trent eyeing Stephen.
"Speaking of which, how did you defeat it anyway?", asked Emma raising an eyebrow.
"We used an illusion.", said Violet.
"An illusion? Now I'm intrigued.", said Anneliese sparkling.
"Yes, it was actually mine and Trent's idea.", said Violet blushing.
"Indeed it was!", replied Trent, equally tomato.
"What was it? Just tell us already.", said Anneliese rolling her eyes.
"Well, I asked Natasha to create a cloud so dense the thing couldn't see through it, nor could it pass through it. I stood on its left, outside the mist, so it couldn't see my shadow no matter how hard it tried. Then Violet dashed at the right from the outskirts as her shadow reflected on the insides, confusing the lynx. It got frustrated and shot it's beam, just what we wanted. I took a page from my book on the Aquillith as I tossed in a sparkling sword that reflected the beam back at the lynx and caught it in the face. While it was shrieking, Violet was tossed in the air by Natasha as she punctured it's other eye and blinded it permanently. Then Emma rose, healed Gavin and Anneliese, and they broke the thing!", Trent ended explaining the whole scenario.
"That's fucking amazing! Holy shit, dude!", said Ann hugging Trent.
"Seriously, dude, that was brilliant!", said Stephen to Trent as well.
"Don't thank me, thank her.", said Trent smiling at Violet. All she could do in response was blush.
"Seriously, guys, good job on this one.", said Emma hugging both of them together.
"Thank you. You did amazing as well!", said Violet hugging Emma back.
"So did you.", said Trent hugging Violet as they surrounded each other in their warm embrace.
"We must resume our journey after a short rest though, for we need to make it to Pyrothos as soon as possible.", said Emma from behind them.
"That's true. Let's all take a short rest, we've strongly earned it.", said Trent winking at Violet, as she blushed again.
The eight took an amazing rest as they ate rations and talked a few minutes off, only to resume their journey again. They had faced many ferocious mythics together, but taking on an Obsidieye with no preparation had truly highlighted just how strong the eight were together. Those five that once needed days to fight a fish, those three that needed a kingdom to fight a Griffin had now become the eight that bested an Obsidieye before dusk. Truly this was a remarkable feat for an Obsidieye is no easy foe. For now, however, they resumed their journey afoot as they formed a chain and walked downwards hand-in-hand, again. They would make it to the base of the final hill without much effort, but the start of their final journey was about to begin. A strong heart they all must have to tread the lands of Pyrothos, for new horrors were waiting for them, but our heroes had a gift no mythic in the word did, love.
