Karta Stryker

Chapter 28: Siege Against Galgamere

Waking to the earth trembling underneath the roars of the strongest Dragons in the world was an experience I would not soon forget. Arcadia had her head resting on my chest, groaning with confusion as she came out of her slumber. She gasped as she became fully awake, making eye contact with me as we both shared the same realization; this was it.

We both jumped off of the mattress, getting dressed with a borderline panicked pace. I already had all of my clothes on, before I took my trench coat to look at for a few moments. I could remember the smiling faces of my family. I thought of how much they would want this suffering to end. This all ends tonight.

Arcadia was already fully prepared as I reminisced, flipping her twin blades in the air as some sort of self-assurance. She began to rush out of the tent, right before I grabbed her wrist. We both looked into each other's eyes. 

"Together." I reaffirmed, gripping onto her tightly. 

"...Together." She nodded back.

Marcus and Jade were waiting for us, geared up with some new attire. Marcus sported more tech-style black cargo pants, along with a black denim hooded jacket, a pair of fingerless leather gloves and fabric sneakers. Jade's usual casual getup was dialled back a notch, as she had dark gray, denim leggings in contrast to her gray tracksuit pants. She was still only wearing a black singlet, but she had some fabric gloves to lessen the wear on her grip. Makes sense, considering the size of her weapon. 

"About time, you guys!" Marcus shouted with some urgency.

"It's now or never." I spat.

We all sprinted through the forest, weapons still sheathed. We all ran like no tomorrow, our feet thudding with purpose. Arcadia flew elegantly between tree branches by using the hanging vines, where as Jade used levitated boulders to support her feet about a fathom in the air. Marcus ran on the ground, using infrequent boosts of flame to send over rocks, between trees or to go faster in general. My wings carried me through the air at amazing speed, twirling in between the tree trunks and bushes. We reached an eventual plateau of land, all of us hitting the ground running. Our steps were in unison, thudding louder and louder as we reached the coast. The trees cleared, and our feet had met the sand. An army of the Therro awaited, the most we have ever faced. 

There must've been thousands of them, as we couldn't see the islands at which they stood, and above them flew the powerful Ka'Lan and Yvette Dragons, whose roars broke the sky and brought rain and thunder down upon us. Arcadia twirled out her twin swords, the sound of their edges finely piercing the air around her. Marcus crouched low, his right fist held close to his face and his left arm fully extended outward, both palms full of his flames. Jade swung Joromalleus over her shoulder, keeping as cool as possible. I simply stood tall, trying to comprehend the state of Dragon-kind. We were in shambles, torn into pieces. All forced to walk on eggshells so long as Galgamere breathes. I was boiling with a new, untamed rage.

With the roar of a single Therro, we all split into our own attack plans. My wings broke the ground beneath me as they propelled me upwards, breaking the sound barrier. Stryker in hand, I came crashing downward, blasting a crater into the dark gray coal island. The Therro became stunned, but wasted no time in charging back towards us. Without hesitation, Marcus had executed his own offense to counteract the Therro. He shot a wide spread of flames towards the ground, burning the ones who weren't smart enough to leave the ground. The others that were forced to fly were privy to Jade's boulder shower, intercepting from the side of the flame wave.

They were still insanely agile, most of them dodging her attacks, but they were starved of many other options, leaving them open to me. I relied mostly on brute force, using the speed of my flight to augment the strength of my attacks. It worked well enough for a time, before one of them dug their fist into my stomach, sending me flying into the ground. Arcadia was paying attention the whole time, as she had caught me with a cushioning body of water. Marcus' wave ceased, as several Therro were trying to close a perimeter around him. Jade was already by his side, knocking several of them at a time with singular swings. They looked like they were getting overwhelmed, but Arcadia was already two steps ahead of me. She shot me a glance as if to say that they had it under control.