Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 54

Mama Golem, as Severance liked to call it, was a house-sized rock balanced on stubby little legs. Glowing blue veins cracked across its surface and filled in the joints between leg and body, somehow providing it with the power to move. These blue areas were also the only weak points of the Golem, so it was just a matter of attacking those until the Golem fell. That, and staying alive in the process, but Severance figured it would be an easy fight. Considering how well they've done so far, the battle would probably be over before they knew it.

He settled in beside Vast and Batin and used Skyfall and Pivot Cut liberally. If he got stuck on cooldown, he'd switch to simple slashes with the sharpened edge of his war fans. As long as he kept in Sky Dance, even those little cuts did some damage.

Being right up in the fight like this was actually more fun than he'd thought it would be. Every little move the Boss made meant he'd have less time to react since he was so close, but that was part of the excitement. He flowed around the Boss like water, his skills carrying him from one place to the other, while each cut from his fans left a mark.

It was liberating, this freedom of movement. No wonder so many people liked to play Shades!

The fight went on, with Vast snarling around its legs and the rest chipping apart the blue veins. Soon enough, the Golem rumbled and creaked as it leaned to one side and lifted a leg.

"Watch out," Maun warned, though Severance inwardly rolled his eyes. He'd been in this fight before. He knew what to expect. The Golem would drop its leg in a stomp attack, and it would knock over anyone who didn't brace themselves. No big deal.

The foot came down, and Severance leaned forward, making sure his stance was steady. He was expecting the concussive force to smack into him, maybe stagger him a little, and as soon as that happened, he could-

It punched the breath right out of his lungs. His vision darkened, his ears popped and then began to ring as if shrieking an alarm. And it hurt. It was like he'd gotten a full body slap.

He kept his footing, though he was barely aware of it. The fight faded beneath the overwhelming information assaulting his senses. For a horrible, long moment, he couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't see straight. But he could feel, and it was awful.

Then a familiar voice called out to him. "Everything all right?"

A little wild-eyed, Severance snapped his head to look at Maun dumbly. "What?"

Even to his own ears, his voice sounded thin and higher pitched than normal. He swallowed hard, because his body felt like one giant bruise and that wasn't supposed to happen.

The Golem shifted its weight, and began to slowly lift its other leg. Again? Already? Severance inhaled sharply, suddenly close to panic.

He didn't want another of those! Everyone had taken damage from that stomp, he could see it in the party list, yet no one seemed to bat an eye. Surely they had felt that horrible concussive force as well. Yet he was the only one left reeling.

What is going on?

"Sev?" Maun watched him with a gaze that was a little too sharp.

Severance flinched. Right. He had a job to do. That was easy to focus on.

"It's nothing. Earth Dance." Green winds gathered around him. He let them build for a moment, taking in the subtle, soothing warmth. "Radiant Dome."

The skill poured out over them, enclosing them in a transparent dome. Severance gasped. It was like a refreshing hug of warmth that instantly soothed away the hurt. It felt absolutely amazing and nothing at all like he was used to. Before, getting healed was just a thing that filled up his health bar. But now, there was no comparison.