“There are a few! I think I've found where they are holding the siege master. Third floor down,” Andremedia said, before letting out a cry. A moment later her gasping breath could be heard. “I-I'm out. Ow. I had to escape through a window. Oh sh--”
“Media? Media, what happened?” Skyth yelled. Asura turned a corner, melding into the shadows before Caelite ran by. The demon stopped and looked around, a few feet in front of her.
Asura held out her hand. “Ice wall.” It blocked off the hall, before she ran back the way she came down the stairs, fae-stepping through the halls to move faster. She heard pounding on the wall behind her, while the demon struggled to come after her.
“Sorry, back. Ow. Don't try flying out,” Andremedia said with a groan. “I got hit by a catapult amongst other things. Third floor down, it's there. Good luck. I'm respawning back at Everlight.”
“I'm almost to the stairway!” Asura said before turning the corner to the stairs. She froze as players made their way up. “Incoming! I'll try to make my way up, but there are a lot of players!”
“I'm cut off!” Scalios yelled.
She let out a curse before charging up the stair and holding out her hands. “Tornado!” She took the players by surprise before she leaped over their fallen bodies, a moment before turning and holding out both hands. “Ice wall! Okay, Skyth, Mutt, I'm almost to the floor. You two on your way down?”
“Yeah! It's clear up here,” B4hamutt said quickly.
“I'm almost to the stairs, I'll meet you there,” Skyth called. Asura nodded before running up the stairs and onto the targeted floor. She took one step into the hall before being sent hurtling back, twisting through the air before slamming into the wall.
“Owww...” she groaned from the ground, her weapons still clasped firmly in her hands. She slowly raised her head and her mouth fell open. “Star?”
“Asura?” 5t4r asked, staring at her from the opposite end of the crowded hall.
She slowly got to her feet, growling. She tapped the ground twice before appearing in front of him and cleaving down with Excalibur. He brought his own sword up to block it, holding it firmly in both hands. Her left hand moved out, hooking her dagger and its hand guard around his blade and pushing it aside before pulling her sword around. She spun once, cleaving her blade into his side. He let out a gasp of pain and stumbled back, falling to the ground. She took a step closer, but quickly backed away when a polearm was stabbed at her face. She fae-stepped back, readying her guard.
She glanced to the stairs, frowning at the wall of ice that now separated her from her back up. 5t4r groaned before getting to his feet and glaring at her. A quick heal spell and his side was fixed. “Asura, just... just go. There's no way for any of you to break through the fortress's defenses. Why don't you just run away?”
Asura took a small step back. “I... I might die here. But I'm going to take as many of you as I can with me. Especially you,” she growled and narrowed her eyes.
“Really? Are you still that upset about me betraying you guys? It's just a game!” He then glanced to the side. “Oh, right. Umm, Asura, meet Elene. She's my uhh, girlfriend,” he said before motioned to the girl wielding the spear. She wore a black corset and loose black pants. Long fangs jutted up from her mouth, blocking off a portion of her red face, while a single large horn jutted from her forehead.
“Hi, interesting choice of armor,” Asura said nervously as she looked away from the revealing outfit.
“Armor's useless with most the weapons these days,” Elene said before taking a step forward and thrusting out with her spear. Asura's dagger caught it, locked the pole between the blade and handguard, before stepping forward to thrust. Instantly 5t4r's sword was in front of her, forcing her to stumble back to avoid being hit.
“We've got her,” 5t4r said before motioning to the staircase with his head. “Just make sure they don't come in, get the others if you can.” He charged forward, bringing his sword to sweep at her side arm. She caught it with her own, quickly stepping forward to stab him with her dagger, but the spear shot out by his side, forcing her to deflect it with her dagger.
She held out her left hand. “Burst!” The explosion forced the two back from her and she took another step back, frowning. “You've gotten a lot better,” she said grudgingly.
“We play together a lot,” he said before motioning to Elene. “She's really amazing. We even got matching headsets last christmas.”
“Will you stop talking about me to your ex-girlfriend?!” Elene yelled before smacking him on the side with the butt of her spear.
“I'm not his ex!” Asura said instantly, her face bright red. “I never even, with him, ew.”
“What? Hey! What's wrong with me?” 5t4r asked before taking a step back.
“Nothing, just, you're like... I helped train you,” she said awkwardly, gaze lowering. “You're like a little kid. It would be kind of creepy...”
“Because you... wow.” 5t4r shook his head. “You really take this too seriously. It's just a game. Let's just kill her and send her back.”
Asura frowned and leaned forward. When 5t4r charged forward, she fae-stepped behind Elene. The demon spun around and Asura locked the demon's spear up with her sword before stabbing twice into the girl's stomach. She then fae-stepped backward. She let out a shriek when she collided with the wall of demons. “Hellfire!” Black fire burst out from her, enveloping the players and causing them to let out loud, pained screams. She dropped to her knees and swung Excalibur in a wide arc, the blade cleaving through torsos and turning the closest demons to a flurry of red sparkles.
Elene and 5t4r fae-stepped towards her, so she immediately fae-stepped past them to appear on the opposite side of the hall. She quickly tapped the air, re-enabling party chat. “Can you guys hear me?”
“Yes, are you okay?” B4hamutt asked. “Mission is a bust. Too many have arrived, we can't do this. I called off the assault force.”
Asura sighed. “Okay, I'll try to escape. Just a moment, see you soon... one way or another.” She re-enabled local chat. “Star, tell me one thing.”
“What?” he asked as he slowly moved towards her right, as the spear woman moved to her left.
“When did you and her meet?” she asked before taking another step back, quickly losing room
“Ummm, a few weeks before the war even started,” 5t4r said with another blush and looked to the side. “My cousin introduced us and-”
“Okay, so she was a real life girl friend,” Asura said with a smile. “I can forgive that. Fireball!” she cast at him and he tried to cover his face. She then turned left, charging at the woman. Pain shot through her body when a wall of arrows struck her. She crumbled to her knees as pain thrust through her, and she slowly looked to the right. Their audience stood, many holding bows. A hand on her shoulder drew her make to attention.
“Dark echo,” Elene cast, as once again pain shot through Asura's body and she disappeared in a flurry of red sparkles.
The world surrounding Asura was black and empty. She held herself as her eyes watered, the sensation of the arrows and the repeated effect coursing through her, even though the pain bursts had already ended. She took short, ragged breaths until the pain slowly died away, leaving her panting and groaning. “What's... what's happening to me?” she asked, her arms wrapped tight around her stomach. Even now she could still feel the pain flowing through her, long after it should have faded.
Chapter 19
Age: 20 years, 4 months
Weeks passed before Asura and her friends regrouped to take on their third legendary monster. While there were a few incidents with the pain bursts resonating in her, the angel put them out of her mind and tried to ignore them. Skyth had located the angel monster, and B4hamut, Scalios, Asura and Andremedia were flying high above the clouds as they waited for the girl to meet them.
“I hate being so high,” Andremedia whispered and hugged herself. Her colorful fae wings cast rainbows across the clouds when the
sunlight passed through them. “I-it's so cold!”
“It's not that cold,” B4hamutt said with a chuckle.
“You only say that because you're a dragon,” Asura said angrily. “Dragons and leviathans are better conditioned for such things. I, on the other hand, keep getting ice in my feathers.”
“I don't know why she's making us wait up here so long,” Scalios said as he looked around. “I understand being paranoid, but come on. There aren't that many people trying to follow us around. There's no way they could have followed us here.”
“I wonder how many people have killed those two bosses now,” Asura said before wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
“No idea,” B4hamutt said with a shrug. “There was only an announcement when we did it, since we were the first. Since we released the information on the second one, there have probably been a few dozen. Oh!” He stopped when a message popped up in front of them.
Skyth invited them into a group, which they quickly accepted. “Sorry I'm late!” she said. “I'll be heading up soon! I figured it out though. Can you guys meet me over Camelot?”
“Huh? Why?” Asura asked before they started flying towards the dragon lands.
“It took me ages to figure out. This boss is hidden in the lore. Remember how Camelot used to be an angel city, before the war?”
“Yeah?”
“The angel is hidden high up in the clouds! The only way to get to it is by using the wings of the angels,” Skyth said with a chuckle. “I'd been wasting all my time searching in the angel lands for it, when it was up in the sky all this time. Really high up.”
“Are you sure?” B4hamutt asked. When they crossed into dragon lands, the clear weather gave way to thick clouds and below they could hear the sound of rain pouring.
“Yes! I've fought her already. I uhhhh, got thrashed,” Skyth said with a chuckle. “But she's really high up. It's Syn the seraph.”
“The queen of the angels?” Asura asked with a gasp. “But she's dead! Been dead for... well, years before the war ended. Wasn't she corrupted by the demon's assassination attempts and died during the dragon's final push?”
“Nope. She's hidden in the clouds. She looks weird, but I'm very sure she's the boss. I'm here, how long until you'll arrive?”
“We're almost there,” B4hamutt said. Within a few more minutes of flying the group caught sight of the leviathan, hovering above the clouds.
“Took your time, huh?” Skyth asked before motioning around them. “What do you see?”
“Clouds,” Asura said with a chuckle. “Looks like a rain storm.”
“Yup!” the leviathan said before pulling out a small tomb. “I found this while going through Sanctuary's ruins. Just an old history tome. One of dozens.”
“It tells us how to find Syn?” Andremedia asked as she looked around.
“Sorta. Mentions how she'd ride into battle on the clouds themselves, surrounded by... well, that's not important. What is important is when she did, her clouds shot lightning. That's why we had to do it today, another storm was moving in.”
“So she only comes out during the lightning storms?” Asura asked, her eyes scanning for any sign of the ancient angel. “Then where is she?”
“Hidden amongst all these clouds is one of gold. That triggers the fight. So, everyone, get looking!” Skyth said before flying off.
The others nodded and flew off as well, looking through the field of dark clouds for the golden prize. “Are you sure it's still here?” Asura asked after searching a few dozen clouds in vain.
“Yes. It's not very big, so make sure to look close,” the leviathan said softly. “Whatever you do though, don't touch it. It'll teleport you to the fight.”
They searched through the clouds, but after a few minutes of no sign, Asura began to get bored. She flapped her wings and blazed across the field, flying so fast the clouds under her were scattered aside. Her eyes quickly glanced left and right, trying to catch sight of anything gold as she crisscrossed across the field.
The world fizzled out for a moment before reappearing. “Huh?” She stopped and looked around, but her friends were gone. “Uh oh. Guys, I think I found it!” The clouds around her began to shift and writhe. A scream tore threw the air, louder than the crack of lightning. She covered her ears and darted back. Then she saw it.
Wrapped in the clouds was an angel. At least, it had been once. The clouds seemed fused to its body and it stood over twenty feet tall. Syn, the fallen. Chunks of the once glorious angel's armor were torn away, revealing disfigured red skin beneath. The giant angel lifted a hand, the clouds themselves fused with her arm, and held it towards Asura.
“Um, guys? I definitely found her. Oh shit,” she said with a nervous gulp.
“What? Where is it?” Skyth asked.
“I don't know, I was flying and I think I slammed into it. Just, hurry up! I don't know how long she'll wait before attacking.”
“Damn it! We'll find it! Just stay away from the clouds, she uses them to launch lightning and will try to grab you!”
“What?” Asura looked down and let out a shriek. She drew her blade and sliced, cutting a large tentacle of cloud. Unsurprisingly, the cloud just formed around the blade and gripped her. She shrieked again and pulled away, barely escaping its grasp before it could get a firm grip. “Hurry it up! I don't know how long I can hold up against this by myself!”
“We're on our way! We just need to find it! We'll be there as soon as we can! Assuming it's still there...”
“What?” Asura asked and flew up higher, out of reach of the clouds.
“Sorry, didn't mean to say that out loud!”
Syn let out another pained scream and held out her hand. Unsurprisingly, a large golden Excalibur formed in her grasp. The angel held the sword out towards Asura before letting out yet another scream. A dozen rays of light shot out and flew straight at the much smaller angel.
“Ice shield!” Asura yelled and held out her hand. The rays slammed into it, creating dents in the wall before three beams broke through and slashed into her, eliciting a groan. The smaller angel quickly sheathed her blade before looking down. “Very well. I know I can't fight you one on one, but I can fight you this way. Tornado!” She held her hands down at the clouds. A large tornado formed and began to swirl about, clearing a small space in the clouds. She dived through it, though a moment later it closed back up. The rain poured down on her, chilling her body while she flew. She shook her head, trying to ignore the cold before looking back towards Syn.
The larger angel had reversed her position, now dangling upside down from the clouds, still melded with them. She held out her sword and another burst of rays shot out to pursue the smaller angel.
“Ice shield!” The shield formed again, managing to block all the blasts this time. She grinned before drawing her sword and, once the hail of rays stopped, stabbed into the shield so it split down the middle. “River's course!” she yelled before plunging forward. The rain swirled around her and she shot straight at the larger angel.
Syn looked confused, but slowly raised her sword. The two blades clashed against each other and Asura plunged her free hand forward, against the abomination of an angel's chest. “Tornado,” she cast before kicking out and away. Fierce winds quickly enveloped the large angel, tearing the clouds from the monster's body.
Syn let out another pained scream as her mangled body had its white, cushy supports torn from it and she plummeted. For a second Asura thought she had won, but then the creature looked up. Wings spread out from the large angel's back. They were missing the majority of their feathers and the skin was charred black and rotting. When Syn flapped her wings feathers and pus spilled out, oozing across the once beautiful wings. Asura struggled not to gag as the larger angel flew straight at her.
“Eep! R-river's course!” She flew through the rain, as fast as she could. “Crap, crap, crap, AHHHH!” The disfigured angel was suddenly in front of her, blade at the ready. Asura shrieked and t
ried backing away, but Syn was too fast. The monstrous angel cleaved down, forcing Asura to block with her sword. The blow nearly knocked her sword from her hand before cleaving deep into her shoulder.
“AGHHH! Hurry it up! I can't survive long like this!” she screamed before turning to flee. “She's fast! Even in the water with river's course, she's faster than I am!”
“We'll be there soon,” B4hamutt yelled. “Just hold on as long as you can.”
“I'm trying, but this isn't ea-- EEK!” she barely parried another strike while her free hand covered her bleeding shoulder. “She's brutal!” Another powerful strike sent her backwards. Asura growled and wiped the rain from her eyes. She flew up and through the clouds, her vision clearing when the rain was abandoned below her. Asura watched the cloud line as she held her should. “Greater h-- GAHHHH!” she screamed when a blade pierced through her stomach from behind. She struck back, shoving off Syn and turned to face the larger angel. Her HP were already dangerously low. “G-guys, I need some help. I-- o-oh shit. Ice shield!” Ice encircled her as a torrent of rays slammed into it. They didn't stop though, and after a few seconds the shield crumbled from the assault. She screamed and brought up her arms right before the world went dark.
Pain failed to hit her, and she slowly lowered her arms. B4hamutt smiled down at her, a grin on his face as he held her in a protective hug. “You okay?”
“Took your sweet time, didn't you?” she asked before holding her stomach again.
“Sorry, it wasn't easy to find,” the dragon said before releasing her and turning around, his gauntlets ready. “Heal yourself, we'll take care of her.”
“On it,” Asura said before pulling back while B4hamutt and the others charged forward. “Greater heal. Regeneration.” Her HP shot back up and the wound knit itself. She glanced to her MP and let out an annoyed sigh. “I won't be good for a while on spells, I'm almost tapped out. Need to regen some of it. I should have brought the satchel, but I figured the stat penalties wouldn't be worth it with so many of us.”
Landasy Reality: Angel's Escape Page 40