The Heartstone Journey

Book 2 | Ch. 13 - The Hollowed Lands [Outer III]

The sound of falling rocks could be heard from above along with movement all around above. It was an ongoing battle that Hunter promptly warned Royal not to get into. By the time his senses returned he, Nick and Cloudy were washed up at the end of a mini lake wondering how far they really fell down from the top not even remembering how he managed to survive such a height. The fog that loomed in the middle of the waterfall was not present down below only remaining in the center. Since no fog was in the way it revealed a small clearing with warped trees around that still looked lively even inside the hollowed land as well as the flow of water that crossed over them heading north.

"How did we manage to survive?"

Cloudy rubbed his eyes wiping off the debris on his face asking Hunter who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no clue."

The three were roughed up but relieved to not have died since Royal was still up above fighting for his life. Hunter peeked behind at Nick whose arm was still wrapped in cloth but not in a cast. So with what supplies he had he made a makeshift cast around his wrist and treated the minor wounds they all had gotten possibly from the fall or the steam. It was difficult to tell what really gave them those injuries after falling unconscious. They adjusted their masks and made haste not forgetting Royal was above fighting for survival. Not wanting to be a bigger burden than he was being Nick hopped off scaring Hunter for a moment thinking he let go without realizing.

"I'm alright. We gotta hurry right?"

"Fine but don't hesitate to jump on my back if you can't keep up."

Hunter muttered, Nick gave a mighty thumbs up with their attention gravitated over toward where they would need to get up to assist Royal. Above where the waterfall poured down below Royal bravely stood against two massive enemies at least thrice his size intimidating him to say the least. His situation was disadvantageous, uphill, even poor to say. Alone and a bit shaken there were hardly anything he could use to his advantage be it terrain, skill and or luck. The field was flat and a bit jagged at best in some areas but never bothered the worms while it could cause problems for himself instead. Knowing his own limits of what he can and cannot do he chose a well known tactic to face against the beasts on an even playing field. "Hit 'N Run." Each time he stabbed what his body felt in return was heavy resistance and heavy recoil. At the same time he leapt away not wanting to get crushed or sent flying by their attacks. The worms seemed to be in sync with each other's movements with one striking while the other attempted to land on him. He wasn't going to stand around and take it though; he needed to make haste for he knew he couldn't beat both of them if they kept coming at once. He dodged their strikes in hopes of getting in a hit or two in between. Royal would strike, the worms would be unaffected and counter back forcing him to instead not strike but flee or swipe by the worms massive bodies.

"My rapier isn't suited for this type of enemy. It's my weapons weakness. Armor's too hard? Then I need to gather more force into one point and break through!"

He didn't have Cloudy's speed, Nick's unnatural strength nor Hunter's perspective sight and willpower. He only had his brains to keep him alive. What could he do? He asked constantly wondering, racking his brain for a quick solution.

"Keep attacking! Wear and tear! Don't stop!"

He shouted at himself.

Slowly he built up damage overtime on one of the enemies hard outer shell trying to fight a one on one aligning the two behind one another. Finally the worm began to crack down its back with Royal hitting the monster with everything he had as the worm's hard outer armor cracked and began to fall off. Royal took the opportunity to attack in one last blow piercing one of it's now open weak points. It was unaffected, in return it only let out a small gargle likely not hurt enough for it to care. It let out a bloodcurdling screech distracting Royal for a moment as he covered his ears instinctively. It shook his rapier out of its body as Royal's attention was too focused on one enemy and forgot about the second worm charging from behind. He was slammed brutally in the back being thrown forcefully into a large hillside with steam poking out of parts of the hill. His vision began to blur as he could feel blood dripping out from his mouth down all over his body and the strange soil. Flee! That word floated around in the back of his mind understanding his enemies were far above his level. No it wasn't him that understood but his body. At first he wanted to be praised by Hunter as how a kid would be when doing something notable. But as the battle went on that was no longer on his mind. He was naïve for thinking he could beat such beasts with only a years worth of training maximum.