Mana in the Air

Momo drags me behind one of the corners of the corridor. I can barely feel my left arm.

I lean my head against the wall. The damp stone is chilling my hair. I can hear the sounds of battle.

Brutus is yelling and hollering but I can’t make out anything he is saying. The sounds of his blades rebounding off of the hard shell ring out in the corridor. The footsteps of the dragon turtle vibrate the stone floor with each step.

The cold damp air begins to heat up. A blast of fire flies down the corridor to my right. Momo pulls me away from the edge to protect me from the heat. I can see that she is shaken.

“You need to go help them…I’ll be alright…”

I still can’t feel my arm. The air is getting hard to breathe in here. The air is getting thinner by the moment. The concern on Momo’s face shows how conflicted she is about leaving me here.

“Go. They need you.”

She looks at me one more time. Placing her hand on my right shoulder. She dons her helmet and in that moment her whole demeanor changes back to that of a leader.

“You stay right here Tai. Do not move from this spot.”

I nod my head. I don’t think I want to move for a while. She rushes into the fray. The sounds of her large metal footsteps echo as she charges ahead.

So bosses can leave their boss room? That's not fair. They can’t do that in most games. Of course this is real life so I shouldn’t expect them to play by any rules.

I was lucky all that thing did was tear into my arm and destroy my shield. If I hadn’t deflected the bulk of the attack it probably would have pierced my heart. For how dire the situation is currently my heart is not beating as fast as it normally does.

Have I gotten used to this life already? The ever present danger of being an adventurer doesn’t thrill me as much anymore? No, that can’t be right…

The turtle shell must have slammed into the wall. I can feel the impact through my back. Dust and debris blasts down the corridor from all the fighting. Slowly I shift myself around so I can watch the battle from around the corner.

Momo is doing all she can to keep the monster's attention. Its tail flails wildly smacking against the walls of the dungeon. The floor underneath the dragon turtle glows a faint orange.

It looks like it can’t continuously breathe fire. It needs moments in between to build up enough for another attack. Something is wrong. The others are starting to get their distance from the monster.

They all disperse down different corridors and stop attacking. The dragon turtle retreats into its shell. It begins to spin, starting slow then gradually gaining speed. It begins bouncing off of the walls while skating across the dungeon floor.

The dragon turtle is using its tail to constantly push itself off the wall.

The air starts to heat up again.

The dragon turtle begins to breathe fire. While still spinning the monster takes on the appearance of a tornado of flames. I duck deeper down the hall to avoid the heat and casting flames. It eventually runs out of breath.

I can hear the metal footsteps running down the corridor. I don’t have to see it to know its Momo. Without speaking she hoists me over her shoulder and takes off running. The others are not far behind us.

I guess that is it. We are fleeing the dungeon. It’s the safest play to make as a leader.

“The boss room is just ahead!”

Wait what? What is Momo planning?

“How are you hanging in there Goggles?”

“I’m still alive…”

“Good. We need to kill this thing. It won’t let us leave here alive if we try to flee.”

I guess that makes sense. If it chases us spinning it will eventually catch up to us. It has more directional control than you'd think. We can only lose the monster on the third floor since it won’t be able to fit.

The problem is the maze is too far away at this point. The dragon turtle would catch us eventually. Even as we flee now I can hear the sounds of its shell scraping against the walls as it tracks us down.

We clear through the large archway leading into the empty boss room. Momo directs the party to prepare along the sides of the archway. Momo sets me down and pats my head once.

I um…didn’t expect that.

Then she prepares herself for the boss.

I can hear it coming.

The boss blasts into the room spinning . It takes a moment to stop then its body extends out of its shell. I can see the glow of anger in the monster's amber eyes.

The dragon turtle's tail is moving wildly back and forth. The others are waiting for something. No matter how much I want to help I am stuck here watching.

The determination in everyone's eyes is inspiring. The surprise of the boss being in the corridors has shaken them but now that they have more room to fight. Their resolve is noticeable.

The floor beneath the monster starts to glow.

“Silence! You know what to do! Brutus! Let's give them all the time they need.”

“RRRAAAWWWRRR!”

Brutus leaps into action with his blades unleashing a flurry of strikes. He starts by slicing at the dragon turtle’s legs. The monster stomps cause Brutus to have to dodge and reposition.

The turtle swings its tail like a flail but Momo arrives in time to deflect the hit with her shield. Momo locks her shield in the grooves of the cobblestone floor.

The tail recoils back and strikes a second and third time. Each hit Momo slides a little backwards but she has not lost much ground.

Brutus makes his move as the monster turns its whole body to face the pair. He jumps onto the turtle shell and begins to smack down hard on its carapace. The shell looks too tough for him to cause any damage.

The turtle retracts its head and strikes Momo with a powerful headbutt. She goes flying back towards the dungeon wall. The wall doesn't crumple. A bubble of water softened her impact.

Silence is standing still casting multiple spells at once. I see the small elements rotating around them: water, ice, and fire. Roots wrap around their feet and a ring wall of earth oscillates around the floor they are standing on.

I have never seen Silence cast this much. The amount of energy being used is intense. All the hair on my body is prickling with the mana in the air. It feels electric.

The turtle tries to strike Brutus with its tail. Brutus dodges at the precise moment. The monster strikes its own shell where the orc last was.

“GRRRAGGRRRHHHH!”

A low roar of pain cries out. The shattering sound causes me to wince in pain. The cry of agony subsides with a guttural rumble. The eyes of the dragon turtle glow instantly with hatred. Its underbelly is glowing even more brightly than before.

I can see why the monster is so angry. The back of its shell has been pierced by its own tail. The pink flesh is now exposed at the surface. The dragon turtle extends its legs as far as it can trying to keep the breach in its defenses out of reach.

Momo uses her shield as a ramp to give Brutus a leg up to jump back on the shell. He goes in for a deep strike and wields only one blade with both hands for maximum power. When he pierces the monster's flesh a fountain of blood erupts from the wound.

“AAAGAAGGRRRAGGRRRHHHH!”

The dragon turtle cries out again but only momentarily. It whips its tail directly at Brutus. I don’t think he is fast enough to–

A rope of vines wraps around the orc’s torso and flings him far off the dragon turtles back. He collides with a floating bubble of water.

Silence’s hat has fallen to the ground. Their violet hair is now glowing, spread out and floating. The air is thick with mana.

It’s so thick I can taste the energizing tingling on my tongue. There is an indescribable flavor to it.

I need to stand up. I can’t miss this. I struggle to rise using my only good arm.

The stone floor is cracking under the pressure Silence is exerting.

The dragon turtle turns its focus to the elven mage.

Roots shot out of the stone floor wrapping around the legs of the monster and bringing it crashing down. The whole dungeon shakes. Fire grows through the roots like veins and scorches the turtle's flesh.

New roots wrap around the under belly and shell constricting the monster to the floor. A compressed ball of earth floats high above the shell. A large amount of dirt becomes a small smooth ball rapidly.

Water begins to wrap around the formation in multiple directions. It doesn’t look normal. It moves slowly. The liquid seems to be extremely dense. Then in an instant the earthen core shutters for a moment and begins a chain reaction solidifying the liquid into ice.

The room goes cold. It feels like I am in a freezer all of the sudden. Silence moves.

Their right arm extends. The large floating glacier begins to fall.

Wait, something isn't right. Everything feels like it is moving in slow motion. The lingering orange glow underneath the dragon turtle sends a shock of fear down my spine.

I don’t think Silence realizes–

I run.

I run as fast as my body can take me.

I have to make it.

If I don’t move, Silence is going to die.

I can see it slowly as the ice begins to crash down on the shell. The dragon turtle’s mouth opens in agony. The crushing weight causes the fire building up within its belly to erupt out of its mouth.

The largest fireball the monster has mustered so far is hurling towards Silence.

I collide with the elf breaking whatever trance they were in. Our eyes meet.

I catch a moment of the night sky in their eyes. Even at this small moment where Silence is clearly distressed it's an enchanting view.

The fireball detonates before impacting near us. The shock wave sends us flying. I can feel my body scraping against the stone. I don’t feel the pain of colliding with the wall.

I fell into the darkness of that starry night.