Diluc and Kaeya

Part 3: Hilichurls!

Kaeya jumped back in surprise. Summoning Cryo, he yelled "Get back!" and shot it at the hilichurls. Amber rushed in front of Lumine and Paimon and pushed them back. Lumine tried to stand up to fight, but Amber stopped her saying, "We've got this!"

Currently there were 6 hilichurls, 4 small. Kaeya's current attack had frozen all of them, but the ice wouldn't hold off the bigger ones. One of the bigger hilichurls had a shield, while the other had an axe. Kaeya knew that the shield needed Pyro to be broken and that the smaller hilichurls wouldn't be frozen for long. He could try summoning more Cryo, but he needed more time. Summoning too much Cryo at once could have disastrous consequences, as he had learned in the past. 

Kaeya yelled out to Amber, "Aim for the shield!". Amber readied her bow and summoned Pyro to burn on her arrows. She took her aim and fired. The shot was perfect, and the shield caught on fire, burning.

Next to the shield hilichurl, Kaeya was fighting the axe hilichurl, while Amber stayed behind him. The attacks were fierce, and Kaeya was able to dodge most of them, but he could feel his stamina running out. The giant axe made it hard to get in close. Then Kaeya noticed something terrible, the smaller hilichurls were breaking out of the ice. 

Amber could see her partner in trouble, but the shield hilichurl was keeping her hands full. The hilichurl's shield was blocking most of her arrows and kept gaining ground on her. There was one final option. She checked her pockets, she had one left. "OPERATION BARON!" she yelled before throwing a person-like bundle on the monster.

KABOOM! There was an explosion, and the monster was on the ground, dead. Amber had no time to lose and started to assist Kaeya. She strung an arrow and aimed, before seeing the axe hilichurl hit the ground with his axe.

Amber went flying into the air, while Kaeya managed to keep his ground, still looking shaken. Amber hit the ground and felt a sudden pain in her ankle. It was sprained. She couldn't fight anymore, but she still had to protect Lumine and Paimon. She strung an arrow and kept it up preparing to fire if necessary.

Kaeya was still at odds with the monster. The ground axe attack had broken the ice on the monsters, and they were emerging. To his right, he saw Amber clutching her ankle in pain. He knew this was his fault. Before he could think the small hilichurls broke out of the ice and attacked.

Lumine watched helplessly as two strangers risked their life for her. She felt useless as they both struggled. When she saw Amber's broken ankle, it was the last straw. She ran towards the small hilichurls and jumped summoning a tornado of air.

Amber saw Lumine running towards danger, and screamed, "Get back! It's too dangerous!", but her words meant nothing. Amber then saw a tornado and knew how to help. She summoned Pyro into her arrow and fired at the tornado, lighting it on fire.

Kaeya jumped back dodging the assault of the smaller hilichurls when a tornado appeared out of nowhere sucking the hilichurls into the sky. He had seen Jean do something similar, but not to the extent of Lumine. He saw an arrow whiz by and light the tornado on fire, Amber's work. Kaeya saw the axe hilichurl distracted and striked. He summoned Cryo and blasted the hilichurl in the eye. The hilichurl blinded and alone, retreated. 

Seeing the hilichurl retreat, Kaeya regretted not being able to finish it off, but Amber was injured. He rushed to Amber, making sure her foot was okay. Amber insisted she was fine, and requested him to thank Lumine, who had saved them all. Lumine said, "It was a repayment of your kindness after you risked your life for me." Paimon looked jealous and retorted, "Where's Paimon's credit. Paimon helped too." The group laughed and took a moment to rest after the eventful battle they had faced. After the short rest, they continued their journey to Mondstadt.

Epilogue:

The axe hilichurl ran away seriously injured. His master has said the blue and brown haired peoplewere easy pickings. They hadn't anticipated the blond one's unexpected power. He limped through the forest until he came to a small shack, tucked on the outskirts of Wolvendale. His master was waiting for him.

"So, at last, you have returned." the mask figure said, "Do you bring good news?" The hilichurl grunted making sounds that could be translated into, "We were close, but there was someone else with them, some blond-haired girl. She outpowered the small ones. I was the only survivor." "Interesting" the figure said in a cautious tone, "Didn't I say I wanted that Creepus son dead. He rejected our gift, our delusion, instead relying on the disgusting power of his son's vision." The figure stood silent for a moment then with one slash of Hydro destroyed the shack. "He will pay for insulting the Tsaritsa."