Chapter 19: Escape

Tayo’s veins began to glow. It began at his fingertips, then spread rapidly, lighting a path through his arms, across his chest, and into his eyes. He sat utterly still, face serene, as if lost in a dream. Around him, the particles of light pulsed like a heartbeat. Daro staggered back, stunned.

“This—this isn’t normal,” he muttered, stepping forward again, wary.

He reached out to take the professor’s sword from Tayo’s lap—but the moment his fingers touched it, a searing pain shot through him. He recoiled, his fingertips singed.

“What are you doing?” Hiro demanded from behind him, rushing forward.

“His energy is being drained,” Daro said through clenched teeth. “If we don’t take the sword, he’ll die.”

Without waiting for a response, Daro summoned electricity around himself. He braced himself and tries again. This time, the current around his body protected him just long enough. He wrenched the sword free.

Instantly, the glow in Tayo’s veins began to dim, fading like dying embers. The gathered light—the radiant energy that had surrounded him—shot skyward in a pillar of light before vanishing into the heavens. Tayo’s body slumped sideways. Unconscious.

Hiro dropped beside him, her hands checking for a pulse.

“He’s alive,” she confirmed, but her voice was full of concern.

Daro stared down at the sword in his hands, then at Tayo, his expression a strange mixture of awe and dread. “I should have guessed,” he whispered.

“He can’t wield it. Not yet.” Daro voiced to Henry and Hiro.

Then the forest exploded with wind.

A roaring gust tore through the trees, slamming the trio apart. Hiro tumbled with a cry, rolling to a stop. Henry, caught off guard, was knocked out cold, his body crumpling near a thicket. Leaves and branches spiraled through the air like shrapnel.

Daro’s gaze snapped upward—and there he was. Gotar. Riding the wind like a ghost, his dark, swirling cloak blending with the storm he brought. Another blast came, tearing through the forest. Daro barely evaded it, diving beneath the canopy to Tayo’s side.

He lifted Tayo carefully, and carried him over to Hiro, who had scrambled back to her feet.

“Take him,” he said, thrusting Tayo into her arms. Then he held out his sword.

Hiro blinked. “What?”

“Give this to him. Wake Henry and get out of here.”

“But—”

“No!” Daro barked. “I’ll hold him off. Just go! I’ll catch up.”

From behind, a low hum sounded. A portal had opened in the forest floor, and Gotar’s minions—creatures twisted by dark magic, armored beasts and goblins—began spilling out like a flood. The portal snapped shut, slicing a lunging lanba clean in half.

Daro was already moving. Lightning flared around him as he launched toward Gotar, blade ready. Hiro, heart pounding, turned and sprinted toward Henry’s still form.

A short distance away, Henry stirred to the sound of distant clashing metal and howling wind. Hiro shook him awake.

“Get up!” she said. “It’s the boss—Gotar. We have to go.”

Henry blinked, confused. “What happened? Where’s Daro?”

“He’s fighting. He said he’ll catch up.”

A goblin lunged from the shadows. Henry’s spear flashed, cutting it down mid-air. 

He glanced in Daro’s direction—just in time to see him leap into the sky and drag Gotar down with a devastating arc of lightning.

Daro’s face was grim as he landed. “I never thought I’d see you away from your cave,” he said. “You were always so timid.”

Gotar’s eyes glowed. His voice rumbled in beast-speech. “Times change. So does authority. Address me by my proper title now—God-Slayer.”

Daro understood. He didn’t flinch. “That doesn’t change what you are, a traitor.”

Gotar bared his teeth—and charged.

Meanwhile, Henry had thrown Tayo over his shoulder, gritting his teeth under the weight. He and Hiro raced up the slope, goblins hot on their trail. Hiro fired arrows at the beasts on their tail.

Then, thunder cracked across the valley.

They turned back just in time to see the sky lit by veins of electric light. Near the rock pillar formations, Daro stood—bloodied, but unbowed. An arrow jutted from his back. Minions swarmed beneath him from the valley, climbing, shrieking, claws digging into stone.

Above him hovered Gotar, his eyes glowing with malice. “Greet Ea for me,” the beast rumbled.

Daro didn’t respond he began to climb the closest pillar. He held the professor’s sword in one hand, his own spear in the other. Wind, sharp as blades, cut him from every angle. Blood streamed down his arms. Still, he climbed.

At the peak, Daro roared. Electricity surged through his entire body, causing the very rock to tremble. The sword in his hand began to rise—first inches, then meters—until it shot into the sky like a comet.

Daro closed his eyes and whispered something inaudible.

His body began to glow—then unravel. Not into flame or shining particles, but into lightning. His form disintegrated into pure electricity and the pillar crumbled.

Below, the gathered creatures shrieked as the falling rocks buried them.

Above, Gotar had no time to flee. The lightning struck him dead-on.

Hiro and Henry saw it all. They were now on horseback and Hiro now had Tayo with her.

They had reached the forest’s edge. The goblins behind them disintegrated in the electric wave, evaporating into ash.

Only the armored lanba remained.

Hiro struggled to aim from horseback. Her arrows deflected off its armored hide. Tayo stirred slightly in her arms but remained unconscious.

The lanba roared—and leapt.

Henry saw the opening. He jumped from his horse mid-gallop and slammed his spear through the beast’s open maw, impaling it. The creature shuddered—and collapsed.

Henry landed hard, but scrambled back up, breathless. He quickly got back on his horse.

They galloped, leaving the smoldering battlefield behind.

Storm clouds gathered above, drawn to the place where lightning had consumed the sky.

“It’s this way,” Hiro calls, as they made a sharp turn.