The Knot That Binds

Sixteen: Emotional Fallout

This might be the best damn ride I've ever been on. Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping quite like flying through the air while holding onto a jellyfish tentacle for dear life. Once we crest the top, Nox is the first to leap but I follow right after. My eyes are closed, afraid that I might just fall right through the translucent creature and plummet back to earth at Mach speed. Instead, my feet plunge into one of the grossest feeling things I've ever come across. The best way to describe it is like stepping into a pool of slime, feet sinking slightly but holding firm at the same time. Readying my spear, Nox nods to me to say something.

"Alright-"

His voice is a little hard to hear over the din of combat, but he's elevated it for me to hear properly.

"-we'll deliver a coordinated strike at the same time! It might have an attack that it uses once its health gets lower meant to buck us off. If that's the case and I somehow get paralyzed, promise you won't pee on the wound!"

I let out a weak laugh despite the harrowing situation.

"Sorry, can't promise nothing!"

He laughs too and then readies his estoc. Calm yourself, you'll be fine, everything will be fine.

"On my mark!"

Nox shouts, his chest heaving nervously.

"Three!"

It'll be fine.

"Two!"

Time to square the hell up.

"One!'

My spear begins to glow with the activation of a skill.

"Now!"

Both of us crash our blades into the top of its head, unleashing a fury of attacks that make the boss let out a piercing wail. It starts to shift side to side, sending us prone. Looking at its health bar, we brought it all the way down to the final health bar already.

"Hell yeah!'

Nox cries, his sword planted into the jellyfish to keep him anchored. A purple aura begins to emanate from the neon beast, reverberating like visible soundwaves. Confused, I begin to say something.

"What's that-"

I'm cut off when it pulsates vibrantly and creates a ripple of destruction on the ground. We were safe from it, but about ten players died from the attack. Looking over to see how our guild's doing, my stomach drops. Bolder's got three coral guards all pinning him down, Thena's trying to help her brother, and Gambit's hunched over Montes. The youngest member is in the red, probably being fed a health potion by his elder cousin. Shit, if we don't hurry and finish this, they might die.

"We have to kill it now!"

Nox nods and begins laying into it once more, I then follow suit. After just a handful of hits, another pulse wave erupts. This one affects us, knocking me a few feet to the side. Nox, however, is sent tumbling over the edge. Quickly, I scramble to my feet and try to chase after him, but he's already fallen. On my stomach looking over the edge, I watch Nox crash into the ground and drop to maybe only ten percent health. Instead of taking a health potion, or writhing on the floor, Nox pops up and begins sprinting in the direction of our guild. With his blade flashing brilliantly, he delivers blow after blow against the coral guard. It frees up Thena and gives Gambit the cover he needs. My eyes go wide when by the time Nox reaches Bolder, he's become a flurry of rainbow-colored pixels. Instead of taking out his killers, Thena begins screaming at Nox. It's on me to hurry and finish off the boss.

"It's just you and me, now!"

I shout, raising the spear over my head. As if hearing my challenge and laughing right in my face, another blastwave erupts; but only pointed upwards. Knocked straight into the air, I use the downward momentum of falling to drive my spear deep into the boss. Between our critical attacks from above and the fellas below dealing blows as well, we're real close to getting out of here. My weight shifts as the jellyfish begins vibrating like it's charging up an attack. This time, when I stick my spear into the translucent flesh, it's not just for damage but for stability too. The blast is larger and more painful than any of the previous ones, even jarring my spear loose and me as an extension. Launched once more, this time it's with enough force to fly over the edge. The boss's health bar has to be at one percent at the most. One more good strike can end it. An awful idea comes to mind, but it may just be the perfect one. Gripping my spear in one hand, I wind it back. Eyes closed out of fear of failure, I chuck the weapon with all my strength. Even with my eyelids closed, a notification pops up in the center of my HUD. 'New skill unlocked! Projectile'. Right when I open my eyes, I see the spear crash into the jellyfish's flesh and then explode into a trillion little rainbow pixels. Elation fills my chest, we did it! But now, I have something else to deal with: falling. Turning my head around, the floor is just a few feet away. My health is at ninety percent, so maybe I'll be fine; only one way to find out. The most hollow yet painful blow I've ever felt radiates through my whole body. Suddenly, I'm gasping for air as the breath leaves my body. Coughing and curling up to manage the pain, I can only think of how ridiculous it is that Nox got up and ran to help them. I don't wanna move for the next hour after taking a fall like that, let alone dive right into combat. Steadily lifting a health potion to my lips, I begin to stand up and look around the room. Many guild players are cheering and holding one another. Randomly I'll spot one mourning the loss of their friend, Troy included whose right-hand man was killed during the battle. Cutting through the joy, I can hear distant screaming. Getting to my feet is harder than I thought it would be, but I eventually get there. A player runs up to me and gives me a fist bump I wasn't expecting.