Tales of An Escapade

Twelfth Chapter

The sky became dark, black merging with crimson, and thick misty clouds rolled over the surprisingly canvas. A wolf's howl hollered through the icy air and triggered their fellow wolves. A roar of a grizzly echoed through the trees that rose from the ground, joined by a subtle quake. The cry of a lion made its way to the fellowship, loud and strong like royalty. For a minute, there was silence. Ane felt the lingering silence on her skin, and she was about to move, before the shrieking came from above. The princess lifted her head and faced vultures circling above them. She cursed within, and gathered courage within.
"Say goodbye to your magic," whispered Peita.
"I will use it when necessary, though," muttered Bethil, shook by a sense of anxiety.
"You can't," grinned Peita, "I abandoned all magic."
Ane's eyes widened as she looked at Peita's feasting smirk. She couldn't blame him; they were harmless. Right? Right.
"And remember," began Vastice, "focus on yourself now. They're not that aggressive yet."
"If you don't focus on them, they won't focus on you, remember that. This way, it'll give you time to properly train."
The group nodded, and all except Peita, Vastice, Tully and Pitér, they felt a tad of fear. Either because of the intimidating scenery around them, or because they've never really had the time to fight these animals. Peita snapped her fingers, and the show began.
Ane completely focused on the wolves, and faced them with her claymore tight in her hands. Out of the darkness, through trees that were thick and sturdy, a wolf came fast and steady. It jumped, and reached a level higher than Ane. The princess rose her claymore with both hands as she looked up. The air around her was split by the blade, and the tip pierced the fur, and later the chest of the wolf, who yelped and fell on top of Ane. She quite easily made her way from underneath the animal, and had to think quick as the next wolf was already lunging forward, this time in direction of Ane's abdomen. The princess spun until her side was facing the wolf. She grabbed her claymore in both hands, turned the blade to the wolf, and jammed it to her left, effortlessly planting it in the wolf's eye. She yanked her weapon out of his eye, but hadn't prepared for the next wolf. It jumped on her, and Ane barely had any time to protect herself. She hit the ground and used her claymore to stop the wolf's beak from reaching her face. It was aggressive and she felt his claws pierce Ane's clothes. An arrow neatly saved Ane, and the wolf fell to the side, an arrow bathing in red blood.
"You're welcome" grinned Marrie. Her spear was gold and brown and shone in the moonlight. Ane now took the time to take in her surroundings. Little time did she have, as the next wolf came at her.
Elliot's longsword was making waves. He had killed one grizzly, with a little help of Bethil nonetheless, but now was facing his own bear all by himself. As it stood on his paws, it towered over Elliot graciously and left Elliot utterly intimidated. The longsword that he carried in his hands trembled slightly, but Elliot found his composure as soon as he realised he couldn't truly die. The roar of the bear startled everybody for a split second, but not Elliot. Elliot, either dumb or quick, used this moment to attack the bear. He lunged himself forward, and jumped up. The bear turned to his side, and Elliot could only slice open skin of the bear his left, front paw. The grizzly made an angry sound and Elliot neatly landed back on his feet to the bear's side.
"Stupid bear," he hissed. His enemy placed all his four paws on the floor and looked at Elliot with a rather angry expression. Elliot knew what this meant. Right as the bear lunged forward, so did Elliot, his weapon neatly positioned forward. Before the moment of collision, Elliot felt air tighten around his throat out of nervousness. He rose his sword, and aimed it right between the bear's ears. He planted it down, stopped the bear in the middle of his tracks. He blessed the sword and moved on to the next animal.
Bethil was circling with the lion. He found it a tad ironic. He wished he'd be allowed to use magic, and have a fun time with his fellow beast. Yet he couldn't, so he was consciously holding his short swords in each hand. It had probably been the easiest for him, as he had felt the beastly fighting style in his own body before, yet this still felt different. They were more aggressive, faster and at the same time smarter. Although the latter could be debated. However, Bethil knew that as the levels would rise, so would the cleverness of the animals. Come on, Bethil, the young shapeshifter told himself, time to attack. The lion then lunged forward, aiming right for Bethil's neck. Typical, thought Bethil, and he dodged it neatly by rolling over the floor. Out of everyone in the group, Bethil fought the most defensive. As everybody was slashing and hacking, Bethil first analysed the lion's tactics – not that he needed to. He knew the lion would attack Bethil's neck mainly, using only teeth and front paws. So that left few options; either the lion's neck which was hidden behind a layer of manes, or his behind. Bethil was aware of his own skills that he learned through his form as a tiger as well, so that made it easier.
He lunged forward, the lion did the same, nearly copying his moves, but Bethil jumped fast, and spun around as soon as he landed. He then rapidly approached the lion, who had nearly turned around, setting his left blade in the left back paw. The lion yelped, but lunged at Bethil once again, this time jumping. Odd, thought Bethil, as he had just harmed one of the parts where much force was put in when jumping.
"Sorry," apologised Bethil, as he planted his right sword underneath the lion's manes, piercing his neck. The lion dropped down when Bethil swiftly pulled out his sword.
Daphne had swiftly killed two wolves, but now faced the vultures. They circled high. She contemplated her options, and it all came down to the fact that she couldn't wait till they'd land. Magic wouldn't work, but Daphne's wings were no magic.
"What are you going to do?" asked Tully, when she noticed Daphne was staring at the vultures.
"Fly," answered Daphne, and she unfolded her hideous wings. She jumped once and her wings did the rest. Soon, she was mingling with the vultures. Her leathery wings took the scratches from the claws well, but Daphne's own skin didn't. Seven vultures. She managed to hit two of them with her falchion, but the others one neatly dodged it. Daphnelle's wings were bigger than the vulture's, making it harder for her to be as mobile. While she cursed, she swung her falchion once more, hitting a wing of one of the vultures. She turned to her victim, grabbed his neck and snapped it. She dropped the thing before bloodshed would be on her hand. Four more to go. One of the vultures attacked Daphne bluntly, causing both winged fighters to struggle with each other. While Daphnelle was doing her best to stay up and not crash down and keep the vulture's claws from damaging crucial places, the vulture was being anything but kind. Aggressively, his beak also tried to pick Daphne's eyes and remaining horn. It didn't take long before the other three vultures jumped on Daphne, sending her straight down the ground. The hard crash didn't faze Daphne, as she stood up immediately, thanking the gods for letting the falchion not slice herself – as the falchion still was damaging – and folded her wings. With her feet on the ground, Daphne did feel a bit more secure, and she took the vultures out one by one. Not without effort; the fifth vulture had bit her in her neck, yet luckily there'd be no damage.
The other eight just seemed like they had the best time. Intertwined in a brutal routine with their foes, they danced their way into taking them out neatly and precisely, almost as if they'd trained this exact pattern of movements and attacks. Ane found Marrie the most impressive; her dance with the spear was the most elegant and seemed the most professional. While the others were playing around rather brutally, it felt as if Marrie was tiptoeing on water lily's, considering every move thoughtfully. Her spear was the elongation of her feathery body, floating through the skies, taking out wolves, lions and bears. It was insanely admirable, and Ane wondered where Marrie got her elegance from. The splatters of blood on her clothes and face made Marrie irresistibly gorgeous. It was enchanting, but Ane had to focus on her own enemies.
Hours went by, and by the time that they'd reached the seventh floor, they were exhausted. It would all come down to teamwork right now. They had subtly observed each other's fighting styles over the past while. It was pretty easy to determine who fought the most offensive. If you'd rank the twelve from most to least beastly, it'd be Peita, Daphnelle, Bethil, Lewir, Pitér, Tully, Livi, Vastice, Ane, Jarco, Elliot and Marrie. Brutes would have to stick close to those who fought tactically, just to keep them safe from unexpected dangers. Three groups of four; Peita, Pitér and Ane; Daphnelle, Tully and Jarco; Bethil, Livi and Elliot; Lewir, Vastice and Marrie. Generally good pairs, thought Ane, but she couldn't count on Peita and Vastice during the real fight, so she considered that greatly as she was grouped with Peita.
The fights in groups went rather smooth and they easily adapted to each other. Peita saved Ane numerous times and Pitér did his best to keep Peita safe as well. The most troublesome group was probably Daphne, Tully and Jarco's; their fighting styles just didn't get along. Tully fought professionally, Daphne felt brutally and Jarco tactically. They just couldn't feel each other's moves and it ended in each of them getting attacked several times though it could've been avoided with proper teamwork.
"Daphne, get Tully's back!" yelled Jarco. Daphne did as he said.
"You can do it too, you know?" she snapped.
"Guys, don't fight each other," said Tully.
"We've got to work together," interrupted Jarco, ignoring Tully completely.
"I am trying to protect each of you, including myself. You just fight far too defensively! How about you stop analysing their attacks and get our backs instead of only caring about yourself," accused Daphne.
"We need someone who actually observes them as well," scowled Jarco.
"What is that supposed to mean? We all do," frowned Tully. "Let's just con–"
"I just think that you just fight too held-back," said Jarco.
"That's coming from someone who spends five turns blocking and one turn attacking," muttered Daphne.
"That's called wearing them out."
"It's called wasting precious time."
"We have to continue," shouted Tully. "You two know each other better than I know any of you. Get along and let's fight."
"She's right. Let's just get this over with. Get our backs," sighed Daphne.
Jarco nodded. "Let's do our best."
The trio nodded once again, and turned their focus back to the hurdle. After the seventh floor was handled, they all had to rest. Nearly none of them except Peita, Tully and Pitér left the arena without at least some illusionary scratches.
"I'm... exhausted," huffed Lewir. He placed his falchion with the other weapons and sat down on the bench outside. He had also taken a flask of water.
"It sure was," agreed Marrie, also drinking from her own flask.
"So... why exactly do you lot want to go to the Eastern Bay?" asked Peita, nonchalantly leaning against the wall.
"I heard the only way of reaching the core is through the Eastern Bay," replied Ane.
"And why exactly do you want to go there?"
"We are on a quest," Ane said, a little insecure.
"Oh, a quest? Are you doing a good job so far?"
"I would say so," nodded Ane, looking at her comrades, receiving agreement.
"Nice. I like my people with conviction. Now, drink up your hydration and follow me. There is something I'd like to show you," said Peita, and she began walking south of the cabin. The others followed her and watched as the scenery in front of them changed back to a treeless, sunny environment. Every step that Peita took set off into a new spark of a joyful landscape. It was almost as if she carried a cloth with her, painted with sparkling colours, which dripped over the saturated landscape.
They followed her, into the forest, and through an intricate path of bushes, trees and strangely exotic plants. Once they reached a tiny pond with fireflies hovering over the watery surface, they all stood around the circle. It was almost as if the area was made to be surrounded by exactly twelve people. Exactly twelve, no more or less. Peita reached out to Vastice's hand, standing to her right, and to Ane's hand, to her left. Almost like a chain reaction, everybody held each other's hands without questioning it. And like a magical twist, it sparked off. The fireflies bundled into a spiral of light headed right to the sky and erupted into a shower of light that rained over the twelve. It draped over their hair like glistening rain and trailed down their bodies. And each and every one of them felt the same sense of victory, levitation and satisfaction, almost as if they've just been blessed with divinity.
Peita was the first one to break the chain and she faced the eleven others.
"What has just happened?" asked Ane.
"This is one of the small sources where there is a direct connection between magic and mortality. What just happened is what people call the Divination, a ritual which takes away any unnecessary springs of fate and replaces them with fulfilment, courage and fortune. It can only be initiated when the fireflies feel like it's worth giving the mortals this blessing."
"So... nothing bad will happen to us?" asked Livi softly.
"Only your own will can break the blessing. It's no guarantee you won't receive a hit or two, but luck will always find its way back to you. Once you dragged your own will through and decide to go against the instincts of the blessing, nobody can tell what will happen to you next," said Peita.
"Why did you lay the blessing upon yourself?" asked Elliot genuinely curiously.
"You did not think I would let you out in the wilderness by your own? Besides, I've got stuff to finish in the Eastern Bay as well," Peita grinned.