Final Confrontation

As they ran through the darkness, Ithicos was struck by the bizarre majesty within its depths.

Before it looked kind of like fog, now it looks like some sort of eternal night!

He continued to sense around the area with great amounts of concentration. Which made the aforementioned statement odd, as he took great pains to consider it. Perhaps he was making these bizarre one liners as a way of passing the time?

“It will be ok Miyo! The mana in this area has yet to be dissipated, so I can use my nature magic to heal you!”

As she said this, the mana behind then began to gather around, as Shari chanted a simple healing spell. Most likely because she did not wish to take too much mana from Ithicos’ sensory network.

Almost there…

This action was likely prudent, as they approached the center of the darkness, and found that there was something very simple which could penetrate it without any blockage. Sound.

*CLANG*

Clashing metal could be heard close by, eliciting Ithicos to immediately pause.

If I breathe fire at this point… there’s a real risk of burning Armos or the kid… So in that case…

Lowering a bit to the ground, Ithicos began backing away little by little. Until he reached the point where the eternal night met the neverending fog.

Get ready guy's!

“Got it Mr. Dragon!”

Huh? Can she understand him? What did she unders-

Before Miyo could follow through on that inquiry, Shari quickly cast a small ice spell, which bound them to Ithicos’ back, after doing this, she used the ice to then create a small cocoon around the two of them.

“GROOOOOAAAAARRRR”

Now a bit excited for a particularly daring stunt, Ithicos let out a pillar of flame straight up, and then brought said pillar downwards. Once the pillar had reached roughly forty five degrees from its original orientation, he ended the flames for a moment, before immediately bounding forward at top speed! Running roughly five to six bounds, he then lowered even closer to the ground than before, and jumped with all his might as high as he could.

“Wooooooohooooooo!”

Despite her surprise, Miyo quickly found herself enjoying the sensation of flight as they climbed through the air at top speed.

I'm coming honorable elder sister! Hold on!

While Shari, despite her initial enthusiasm, was sternly watching out the ice, waiting and watching for any signs of her sister in trouble.

I see them!

Much to his satisfaction, Ithicos could see Armos, Mairi and the little one keeping a large quantity of tentacles away. Though the hole allowing Ithicos to see them was rapidly shrinking, as tentacles swarmed to keep there secrets hidden. Unfortunately both Armos and Mairi could not yet see Ithicos, likely because of the stress of the situation, so there was little hope in getting them to come to him in time.

“Hi Mr. Dragon!”

Only the little one could see him, but neither Armos nor Mairi were in any position to hear her.

As I thought, the reason this area looks so much darker isn't just because I got closer, but because it's where it started surrounding everything with tentacles, like some sort of giant structure. To make things even better, it looks like my hunch was right! Armos, Mairi and the little one aren't hostages yet, though if I'm not quick they might become those soon!

Letting his wings out, Ithicos expanded them as much as possible, as quickly as possible. As soon as this was done, he sent them forward, flattened himself as much as possible, put his arms to his sides, and stared directly at his three must save targets. Once this was done, with all of the force he could muster, he flapped his wing backwards, creating an incredible force sending him forwards at top speed.

I'm coming guys!

Wait for me Armos! Honorable Elder Sister!

Wooooohoooooo! Again?! I must ask Ithicos to do this for me more often!

As they sped forward, the tentacles trying to close the hole seemed to not notice, as they continued at the same speed of repair. Armos and Mairi on the other hand, finally did notice, as Mairi finally noticed the child's incessant pointing and looked up, seeing the rapidly approaching dragon.

“Uhhh, get ready for impact Armos! We got a draconic arrow fast approaching!”

“Ha! You shouldn't make those kinda jokes ‘round Shari! She'd get pissed!”

“Not the time!”

True to her orders, and despite his nagging, Armos did grab Mairi, who grabbed the child in turn. As they did this, various tentacles began to wiz past them, initially not aware of this new scenario, but quickly coming to figure it out, as they began closing in at closer and closer distances after pausing for a few moments to evidently consider what was going on. As all of this was happening Ithicos and the other two began to rapidly approach. Getting right through the hole before it could get closed.

Brace for impact!

“Got it!”

Seriously, how can she tell what he's thinking so easily?! Is she psyc-?!

These thoughts were once more cutoff however, as Ithicos finally made contact with the ground in a resounding thud. To keep the two of them safe, Shari increased the thickness of the ice shield Surrounding them, while filling it with nature magic vines, which cushioned and healed any potential wounds made from the blast. Meanwhile Armos jumped up just before Ithicos made contact, landing right on top of the dragon once the dust settled.

“Ha! What an entrance! You got a plan!”

Yeah…. This!

Seeing everyone was safe, Ithicos let out a torrent of flame straight ahead of him, and let it burn the entire surrounding area. The effect was immediate, through the perfect darkness a more… flawed, foggy kind of darkness could be seen.

Yeah… that works! But now that still leaves the question… how do I kill this thing? At first I thought I had it on the ropes when I caught those tentacles, but then that just turned out to be a distraction…

I actually disagree, I'm rather certain the creature had not been expecting Ithicos' sudden capture of its tentacles, and I believe it was likely planning to wait a little more time before unleashing the darkness so it could create a more perfect trap. Building a truly all encompassing tentacle network to attack from everywhere with no conceivable escape. Before finally surrounding everyone with darkness rather than a chosen few within immediate range and without immediate notice of Ithicos. Presumably it planned to either wait for Ithicos to get as far away as possible before finally unleashing this trap or perhaps more sadistically, it hoped to surround him in darkness too. In such a way that he could only hear his friends getting slaughtered without being able to so much as burn the surrounding tentacles without risk. I have no clue how it would achieve such goals, but based on it's apparent history, disturbing specializations, and bizarre chain of logic, I am willing to bet it had something like this in mind.1

So what do I do? Do I attack this thing again, the same way as last time, only with my friends being with me? No… if it was prepared last time, there's no way it won't be prepared again.

If anything, the creature's greatest move was performing its actions with absolute confidence, as though it had actually seen through everything. Now there was no chance of Ithicos pulling such a trick without caution on his end.

Do I continue burning the entire area until I hopefully burn it somehow? Well, my flame might burn the tentacles, but can they burn the real thing given its fire resistance?

Once more, I am actually doubtful this is entirely the case, at least not in the way Ithicos assumed, but to once more credit the abomination against nature itself, it truly acted as though it were nigh unbeatable, in a way that the actually unbeatable Ithicos was fooled into taking seriously.

Well, if anything I got to find it first… but how do I do that?

Just then, a thought suddenly hit him, a simple observation of the situation.

No matter how dark things get… I still see my flames… I still see the magic formed by Shari… But most importantly…

He looked at his own hand, and the trees surrounding them.

I still see living things plain as day! Is this monster the same?

Ithicos began looking back and forth, considering the area carefully.

If so, then it’s either behind some of these tentacles, or underground… wait a second.

Ithicos looked to his comrades, pointed to the tentacles squirming around, and then pointed to his own throat, giving an exaggerated show of breathing. Shari answered his question carefully, looking through her memory for any examples which may prove one case or the other.

“Umm, it depends on the Blue Signal unfortunately. But as far as I remember, I never saw it breathing.”

Right… but did you see it fully to begin with? Considering this darkness, I can't imagine it would be easy.

“... No, now that you mention it we never did. At most I felt a certain sort of… wrongness when I saw what appeared to be its main body, but my eyes never bleeded like Miyo's did.”

“Oh oh! I get what you're asking! When I was first attacked by that… What did you call it? A signal symptom? Anyway, when I was attacked by that thing, even though it was dark I could kind of see it moving up and down as though it were breathing… though when that fire of Shari's passed over us I also noticed it didn't have a mouth… So…”

“Do ya need mouths to breathe? Bugs sure don't.”2

“That's true…! So in that case, the chance of this thing being capable of breathing is even higher!”

Miyo excitedly looked to Ithicos from out of the ice cocoon, hoping she had found some sort of grand revelation.

Well, so all we can confirm is that it might breathe… or at least its signal symptom might. Whatever the case may be, there's a chance this monster might need to breathe, so that means…

Ithicos let out another burst of flame, completely burning out all of the tentacles in the area, leaving only the dark fog, occasional fires now burning all over, and occasional bits of greeneral not scorched by said flames. In many ways he was fortunate to be in a plain rather than a forest.

If it's underground, and I destroy its means of breathing, it dies! And if it goes up, then my flames will burn it to a crisp!

This plan was actually rather clever, but before it could be implemented, Shari snapped him out of this thought process.

“Are you a common scoundrel, or a dragon, Ithicos?”

As these words hing in the air, time seemed to stop.

A scoundrel…? Why would I be…?

He looked up slowly to his comrades before realizing.

Earlier… When I caught that thing's tentacles, I took the easy, cowardly route. I didn't even consider the situation my friends were in… all I did was continue with that plan. I may have been transformed into this by some unknown mechanism, but it is still my form regardless. What am I doing acting like some puny person? I am a dragon, and as a dragon, I should not even consider taking such a wretchedly simple way through this. I should fight, and fight with all I have!

As if answering this question, Ithicos let out a mighty roar, and immediately afterwards a mighty flame.

“Understood! So what will you do now?”

It’s simple! I just need to find it! And to do that…

He reared his front legs like a horse, and let out one final, magnificent roar.

I just need to keep on looking! It can't hide forever! My first instinct… the instinct of a dragon was correct from the very beginning, it was my second thought, the thought of a person, which was wrong!

“Good to hear! Are you ready Mr. Dragon?”

You know… in a weird sort of way, I’m glad to hear that name… I guess it reminds me of what I’m no longer?

To answer her question, Ithicos charged forward. Pushing his mana sense to the limit as he began his hunt. It must be mentioned that the creature was nowhere to be seen nor sensed, and even the tentacles were becoming a less frequent occurrence. This strategy seemed to be paying off well, to the point where I wondered why it was not their first idea, but I suppose that would be impossible. Given Ithicos already running away to chase the monster before even a most basic strategy was formed. But I suppose according to Ithicos this first instinct was perfect with no cause for criticism.

“Is there anywhere you haven't checked yet Mr. Dragon?”

Miyo asked out of curiosity, a fair bit bored of this search after only a few minutes.

“That doesn't matter, the creature could just hide out in a place we already looked and we'd be none the wiser.”

“Real scaredy cat!”

Mairi calmly pointed out. Before the child added on an additional comment at the creature's expense.

“Can it really move though?”

“Why wouldn’t it be able to?”

“When it attacked me with those underground tentacles it couldn't move an inch.”

“Couldn't or wouldn't?”

“Why-”

“Because it could attack from any range? And it's not like it needs to send its tentacles through its feet, it could just send some tentacles underground and then move separately. Well, I suppose if it actively needs to feed tentacles underground to control those massive knots of tentacles, its movement would still… be… a little… impaired.”

That's it! Even if its movements aren't that impaired… than the only reason for it's attack ceasing is-

“It's probably running away right now, we have to be quick!”

After Thinking all of this and saying all of that, the rest of her comrades, including Ithicos and excluding the little one, shot her inquisitive glances.

“It can move separately from its tentacles, but to use them for these underground strikes, it still needs to feed them inside! So if we're seeing less strikes, it's probably cutting off more and more of those knots to get away!”

A quick glint of understanding ran through everyone before Mairi made her next statement.

“It probably cut off the tentacles farthest away from it first, so if we got to the place with the most tentacles…”

“Ha! We find exactly where that coward is hiding!”

“Exactly.”

Frankly it wasn't that incredible of a discovery on its own, but in a situation such as this, making it and figuring out what to do with it was genuinely brilliant.

“If we want to stop this thing, you gotta cut it with the fire Ithicos… actually, could you sense where the tentacles are?”

Kinda.

“...”

Uhhh…

As Ithicos tried to communicate the general range of his newly formed mana sense, he found himself unsure how to communicate his limits physically without risking a surprise attack.

“He can get close enough, but it won’t be certain.”

“Is that true Ithicos.”

Ithicos nodded to Mairi quickly.

Thanks Shari.

“No problem!”

“Huh? What’s no problem?”

“I was not speaking to you honorable elder sister.”

“...Ok?”

After letting that bizarre statement stand for a few moments, Mairi pointed forward in a definitive manner.

“Whatever, let's get going Ithicos!”

Right!

Running forward, Ithicos stopped releasing his flames regularly, allowing the tentacles to hit him. The creature gave up trying to hide its strength in a move that it likely saw as necessary to escape. In order to ensure they would not be hurt, Shari expanded the ice wall, and made it so the five of them were fully covered. It made it so that Ithicos appeared to have a light blue turtle shell on his back. This did not deter the tentacles however, as they continued to strike at Ithicos and his humorous looking turtle shell, though not in any coordinated fashion. Which secured even more evidence to the group that the creature did not view this attack as a priority, but was instead occupied with something else.

It's interesting, when bunched together they add that eternal night look to the darkness, but when they're separated, they're entirely invisible.

Ithicos marveled at their abilities, while also feeling more and more thankful for his tough skin. For if it were even a slightest bit more vulnerable to the tentacles, he would surely die a thousand times over. After another batch of tentacles, one form of darkness gave way to… a slightly less horrifying darkness, the foggy kind from earlier.

“Does this darkness EVER end?!”

Miyo’s original awe was immediately replaced with annoyance and a general loss of patience.

“HA! Tell me about it! And unlike on the isle, we can’t even find the edges. At least those were a lil brighter!”

“So the creature has a range for this darkness… the size of an ISLE?!”

“If it makes you feel better, honorable elder sister, the darkness was thinner where Mr. Dragon and I were initially.”

“Huh… that's good I guess, actually Miyo, you escaped for a few minutes to find Ithicos, did you notice the darkness getting any different?”

Pausing to consider Mairi’s question, Miyo answered after putting her finger on her chin and looking out, comparing her memories to the current situation.

“I do remember feeling certain that I was getting away from the darkness, but I can’t be certain given all that was happening, my feelings were likely just as much instinct as they were simple hopes.”

“Fair enough. In that case I guess we can confirm the creature is close, at least close enough that the darkness won’t change easily. In fact that display just now may well have been in desperation.”

So then… where could it be?

As she thought this, Mairi continued to scan the area.

No matter how far we run, the shadows stay the same… if it were the size of an isle and we started at the center I suppose that explains a part of it, but even then wouldn’t we be able to tell by this point? Especially if the creature was going the opposite direction as us? This implies we’re going in the same direction as it.

She looked around, considering the area and its looks.

Non living things which do not give off light appear pitch black, just like on the island, it’s only the living which can be seen in this darkness. Maybe it’s behind something? But what? More tentacles?

“Ithicos, could you quickly burn through all the tentacles around us, I don't want a trace of this more powerful darkness for exactly three seconds.”

Ok.

Not understanding the gravity of her orders, Ithicos spun around quickly, releasing his flames as he did so.

As I thought, after burning through the tentacles, the flames continued forward, not stopping till it flew far enough away. So there’s no stones or formations it can hide behind, at least in our immediate area.

As she scanned the area, the tentacles began to form again, with a large swarm forming to their right side.

Huh… wait a second, if it’s so close, then why are all of the tentacles forming at one side?

Shari was about to tell Mairi something similar to what she had told Ithicos earlier, but she was stopped as she had to reinforce the glorified turtle shell. Armos tried to tell Mairi to get her head in the game, but he was distracted by one of the tentacles getting in, which required his immediate attention. Miyo and the child were about to say some distracting nonsense, but were distracted by a burst of flame let out by Ithicos. Ithicos didn’t say anything either, on account of him being a dragon and not a bipedal. All of this gave Mairi the time she needed to make a consideration.

“Ah, I know where it is.”

?!

Everyone paused in shock, surprised by her sudden matter of fact tone. To make this confusion more poignant Mairi immediately began to kick through the shell.

“Ithicos, smash through the ground, now.”

Once she had done so, in the very same matter of fact tone she had used earlier, she pointed downwards and instructed Ithicos on their next move. I do not think he could see her very clearly, but the tone and body language she portrayed made her point clear enough.

Uhhh, got it.

Clearly a tad taken aback by this strange matter of fact tone, calm in the face of eternal night, Ithicos did as told, and smashed through the ground immediately.

Has she gone mad? I certainly hope not, but perhaps the darkness has gotten to her?

Whatever the case, Ithicos continued to smash away, until he reached… it.

Once they reached it, the thickness of the darkness increased, until the eternal night morphed from something inherently mysterious and all encompassing by nature into something more… malevolent. Something beyond the likes of natural creation. And all of them, for what felt like an eternity, felt a parade of contradictory emotions.

A terrible fear, born paranoid. Unable to even consider that which existed behind or in front was anything other than life threatening. Begging for safety from the darkness, begging for a life long in years, begging the darkness for anything other than what it thought came next.

A disgusting greed, destructive by choice. Willing to do anything to take and keep all that it could see. Begging for the comfort the darkness offered, begging for the freedom offered by its power, begging the darkness for a deal of any sort.

These emotions were inherently opposed in reasoning yet united in goal, one wishing to escape with the corruption the signal offered, the other wishing to stay using the power it could take. Together they rejected a single option, there would be no more combat. Regardless of the situation, these two emotions reigned supreme. Becoming the essence of something unfathomably omnipresent.

Yet perhaps this darkness was unable to do anything in time, before it could sway any of their hearts, Ithicos’ flame swarmed right through it. Unfortunately for the darkness, before it could make itself truly known, Ithicos had already begun charging a flame just to be safe, as such, once the darkness was unleashed upon them, the shock caused the flames themselves to be unleashed in turn.

Incredible… despite all of it's fearsome abilities, Mr. Dragons' will can break through all the same.

I did not quite see what Miyo was thinking here, as Ithicos’ rejection of the creature's fearsome display had nothing to do with his personality but his power and luck, but I suppose I could see her perspective in some sort of light. After all, the death of the writhing darkness as Ithicos’ flames tore through it was quite the sight. It was actually rather odd how quickly the darkness around them began to dissipate, given the creatures seemingly intense need to survive, but upon inspection of the larger scenario it was not quite so odd. Regardless, the darkness had left an impression, which was perhaps the only goal it had actually succeeded in, because now, after all that had occurred, the creature was finally in full view.

Gotcha.

And was unceremoniously smashed to a pulp, before another pillar of flame destroyed the remnants entirely. A few moments later, the darkness itself finally faded fully, allowing the dawn to finally arrive in force.

1: Due to an unfortunate bet made a few centuries ago, I am contractually obligated to mention that I may be biased in this assessment, or more accurately required to make it because of what I am. My nature as Goddess of the Veil puts me in a position of naturally disliking and distrusting those outside of the natural perview. This includes but is not limited to blue signals, signal symptoms and rogue veils. I must however also note that I have never, in my entire life, nor in the records made during my predecessor’s lives, ever found a blue signal which actually showed any personality aside from a whole hearted wish for genocide. So frankly I think I should only leave this disclaimer for rogue veils and their like. But again, I must reiterate I am constrained by a pesky bet and the oath it required.

2: Bugs actually do sort of have mouths, but I am unaware whether they breathe through said mouths or if they breathe at all. Perhaps my next report will be on that? Seeing as this report is coming to a close I will need something else to do. Actually, on a slightly unrelated note, do jellyfish breathe? I know for a fact they do not have mouths, at least not in the way I understand them… but frankly everything about them is bizarre so it’s hard to be certain. If I were to be told jellyfish were the product of some blue signal… while drunk, I would believe it.