Wayfinding | Aaravos x Reader |

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21: WHEN EMPIRES FALL

At speed of a hummingbird's beating wings, the elf kneed Syvanne's arm and stole his steal. When Troy tried to cross swords with the male, Enox swung his blade across the knight's torso - summoning scarlet hues from beneath the silver plates. Before anyone could inch towards the villain, he looked to the heavens and mimicked the cries of a phoenix. All of you knew what was to come. As the blood-curdling bellow of conch-shells reverberated through the facility, all nine of you - including poor old Troy - slid on your plague masks.

Miscreants, of various races and sizes, pooled from the entrances - all misguided and enraged. According to Arkeus's theory of the survival of the fittest, the frontline soldiers were the brawniest. So, he set out Harrow and Syvanne to hurl bolas at the first row of ruffians. The second section of soldiers consisted of the best of the best. The blacksmith assigned himself, Gliden and Troy to charge at the crowd. While they tried to thin the mass, you and Uzner helped Theodore finalize his ingenious plan. The task was quite onerous with black-marketers constantly attempting to bag you and decapitate the others. Fortunately, even while outside of your element, you were able to entrap their feet with the stony earth.

The last few soldiers in the assembly were the cowards, Smith said. And they were apparently the most lethal contenders. Usually involved at the end of battles, the cowards had the advantage of daring their competition when they were at their weakest state. And certainly - after several taxing minutes of humming blades, endless pivoting, and fishing flesh with steel - exhaustion was the truth. Fortunately, none of the others had to combat the ruthless overseer the way Inyah did. Fueled with the desire of proving her worthiness and her need to protect you, the moonshadow elf swung her sword with the valor and vehemence of the Dragon King. Regardless, she was still inferior to Enox. And seeing as he fought with one arm folded behind him, it was evident that he was toying with her.

"Oh, In - you don't really think playing dress up with a bunch of humans would stop me, did you?"

"Well, being cocky isn't helping your case either-" the imp retorted, complacently. Her smirk rearranged into a look of distress when the male sliced the back of her hand and booted her weapon in the air.

Arkeus skidded to a halt at the sight of the commotion and, in a frenzy, launched towards the private duel - not before hollering to you and your alchemist team, however. "Set the devices off! Go, go, go!"

Locking eyes with the others, you gathered a quarter of the spherical mechanisms into your arms and stormed east. Uzner and Seymour acted likewise in contrasting directions. Making it to your destination, you twisted the screws off and tossed the gadgets in the path of the ruffians. All occupied with battling the knights, they failed to recognize the contraption until a bone-juddering whistle escaped it. With that, puce-red fumes cascaded from the device and swamped the perimeters, rendering everyone - but your colleagues - unconscious. As the bodies littered the floor, Troy and Syvanne nodded towards you in gratitude.

The relief was short-lived, however, for even past all the barking and clamouring, you could hear the Prince call to Uzner in dismay. Instinctively, you made a break towards them and discovered Smith slumped to the floor with his hands pressed against his spine. Harrow steadied him by the shoulders, but - engulfed by insufferable agony - the boy convulsed like a gutted fish.

"What's wrong?! What happened?"

"There's a - a throbbing pain in my legs and back . . . it's growing numb-"

"I thought you said you were alright!"

You took a gander between the two males. "Said what? What's going on?!"