Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 53

Severance wasn't sure if the skill's stun would catch Maun again since it hadn't been very long since the last time he'd employed it, but at the very least, it would keep Batin out of his hair for a short while. Either way, he wasn't going to hang around and see.

One.

He ran into the corridor. It was full of marble dragons, spaced out in packs of three and four. The sight of them filled his belly with dread, but he had no plans to fight them.

Two.

He plunged into their midst. And then he heard it: a low, rolling laugh from somewhere behind him. His blood ran cold. There was no time to worry about it because marble dragons came at him, all whipping tails and snapping teeth.

Three.

Severance danced out of their reach, twisting his body sideways to slip between them. Then he pivoted on one toe, narrowly avoiding a brutal toothy lunge, before spinning down into a crouch while a long tail swiped overhead.

Four.

He pushed off with one hand and sprung up on the other side of the first pack.

"Vast," he yelled, and charged towards the next group.

He could only hope that the enraged marble dragons would slow the others down. And that the others would actually stop to fight them, because otherwise he'd be chased by a stampede of death all the way to the Boss room, where he'd very quickly become a smear of meat paste.

"Nice trick." The voice came from right behind him, and Severance was so startled he stumbled. He all but fell into a pile of marble dragons.

A dark shape flitted past, emitting a low chuckle. Maun easily drew ahead, slipping through the dragons without so much as a ripple of disturbance. That left Severance to deal with them.

Or maybe not.

He narrowly avoided two chomping attacks, before a silver blur plowed into them. A savage, snarling growl echoed through the corridor and suddenly Severance was forgotten. He took the opportunity to run after Maun, even though his heart thudded anxiously in his chest. Would Vast be alright? A glance back showed Vast wrestling one dragon down by the throat, while a second dark shape glided like a wraith amongst the rest.

Batin.

Relief soared free for a moment, because Batin was there, helping, and Vast would be okay—but then it crashed because Batin was there and would no doubt overtake Severance in a matter of seconds.

Severance put on a burst of speed, forcing himself to move as fast as he ever had. He leaned forward, his boots skimming over the ground without so much as a sound.

Just ahead, the third pack of marble dragons lumbered after Maun. Not a single one of them noticed as Severance caught up to them. The corridor was narrow, leaving not much room to slip past.

Yet that wasn't the only route available. Severance looked at their angular, leather backs and just knew he could do it. Like he knew he could open his mouth and talk, he knew he could easily leap up, find his footing, and pass over the dragons.

So he did.

It was a surprisingly easy thing to take a flying leap and land lightly on an uneven, moving target. From there, he kept his forward momentum, hopping from one dragon back to the next, then pushing off a tossing head.

He landed softly on the ground on the other side of the pack. Ha! Take that!

"Vast," he shouted again, then scrambled after Maun. He needed the vastlhidan to run interference for him. If Vast could trip up Maun somehow, that would give him the chance to get ahead.