Chapter 27: The Great Hunt (2)

A massive dome of blue light was erected around the Guild.

“Alright,” Theodore began to explain. “This should keep anything from coming in or out. Unfortunately, maintaining it will require all of my attention. I won’t be able to do much else.”

The other Wings nodded, before entering the Guild.

“You explained everything to the adventurers inside, right Lu?” Roselwyn asked. Lu Lulach nodded. “Where’s my sister and her friend?” She scanned around the Guild.

“I believe by now, they’ve retired to their rooms.”

“Alright. Call them. We need to strategize.”

The five of them found themselves huddled into Wyn’s room, packed shoulder to shoulder. Wyn brushed the remaining water from her hair, having been interrupted in the middle of a bath, sitting cross legged on her bed, the only one with any free space.

“What was he doing in the room while you were in the bath?” Roselwyn asked, daggers shooting toward Magus from her eye.

“Nothing!” Wyn shouted. “And that’s hardly the most important thing to discuss right now!”

“Right. So, let’s just jump into it. Lu Lulach, you know where that wolf’s at right now?” Theodore began.

Lu Lulach only shook her head. “They’ll probably reach the Guild in a matter of minutes. Sad to say, my floret was only able to stall for so long. It didn’t last long after making contact.”

“Theodore, how long do you think you can maintain the barrier for?” Roselwyn asked.

“As long as supplies last, I reckon. From what we’ve seen so far, it shouldn’t be able to break through, and any damage I should be able to repair pretty quick.”

“So the Guild isn’t in any urgent danger. We have plenty of time to come up with a strategy.”

“A strategy for what?” Lyza started. “That thing won’t die. We literally cut it in half the first time we fought, and it didn’t care. What exactly are we supposed to do here?”

The room was silent for a moment.

“We could try to restrain it? Seal it away?” Wyn suggested.

The room immediately perked up at the suggestion.

“I know a few imprisoning spells.” Theodore said. “Nine Ice Prison, Ever-Shifting Labyrinth, Moat of Magma. Could any of those work?”

“It couldn’t hurt to try them,” Lyza said.

“We’d have to be pretty far from the Guild, unless we want it to also get caught up. Neither Tireyien nor those spells are small.” Roselwyn interrupted. “And these prisons would require constant maintenance. I doubt Tireyien would simply sit in them quietly.”

A resounding crash shook through the ground, and panicked shouts began to rise through the Guild. Frantic knocking came from Wyn’s door.

“W-what the hell is that thing outside the Guild?” A shaking voice asked. “Is that really the Grim Diubh… Wyn, it didn’t look like that when we faced it, right?” They opened the door, only to find a shaking Shion.

“Shion?” Wyn asked. “What do you mean?”

“C-come look!” He shouted, pulling her to the front of the Guild. Roselwyn wanted to object to this rough treatment, but just followed. They found the entire Guild huddled just outside the front entrance, terrified murmurs spreading through the crowd like a plague.

What they saw outside the barrier was not the same foe that they had just fought. Tireyien seemed to have grown in size, now towering over the guild with ease. Wrapped around their neck was a coil of roots, spreading down across their back. Their cloak of feathers rested on two spines of roots, giving the appearance of wings.

“What is that thing?” Lu Lulach gasped. “Why—!”

“Ah, the mother spirit.” Tireyien said. “I must apologize. Your child was unable to withstand… assimilation. Perhaps it was simply too injured. But… just as you sacrificed its life for your own goals, we too have donned its sacrifice for ourselves. Observe what we have learned from her corpse.”

“Iomprior Domhain Colossus.”

The massive stone giant rose to its feet once again. With a raised fist, it crashed down upon Theodore’s barrier, sending cracks flowing through it like a river after a storm. The stone fist raised for another slam, chipping away more and more of the blue wall. Theodore let out a grunt, pouring his mana into the cracks, mending them as they formed.

“Sorry captain, but I’ll have to make an amendment! I don’t know if it’ll last the day!”

“We’re luring it away! Lyza, Feregus, to me! Lu, are you fully recovered yet?” Roselwyn charged forward. Lu Lulach nodded, and immediately, the four of them rushed out to meet the monster in battle.

Wyn grabbed her sword, and nodded at Magus. The two followed suit.

The adventurers of the Guild could only watch in stunned amazement at the once in a lifetime battle on display before them. Massive tendrils of roots and vines clashed together, giant hydras that refused to stay down. Two massive giants of stone colliding into each other, tearing each other apart only to reconstruct themselves from their opponents falling corpses. Roslewyn and Lyza dodged through the strangling vines. More than once, Roselwyn’s sword cleaved through flesh as Lyza’s chain whip shattered iron-like feathers and bone.

“Feregus! The thing!” Lyza shouted. Feregus smiled, before leaping into the air. Lyza leapt after him, landing atop his shoulder. She clipped the tip of her whip to the back of his armor, before leaping into the air.

She whipped Feregus around in the air, the human equivalent of a meteor hammer.

“Cataclysm Strike!” They shouted in unison. With a spinning wing, Lyza slammed Feregus into Tireyien’s chest, sending the wolf flying into the canopy. It flew so far that it all but disappeared into the trees. Lyza yanked Feregus to her, planting a foot atop his head as she leapt after them.

“Isn’t that a ridiculous combo?” Theodore laughed as he passed the astonished crowd. It was always a crowd favorite. Now that Tireyien had been knocked away, the fight was leaving the Guild, and as such he no longer needed to protect it. The blue barrier shimmered and faded away.

The Wings were a tight knit group, covering each other's openings and striking through the wolf’s. However, they were so tight knit that Wyn couldn’t find any openings to join herself. Wyn could only watch the battle from the side. She had circled around the wolf, looking for an opportunity to join in, but the density of attacks left her no room to intrude. She could only barely keep to the outskirts, throwing a few small fireballs as the Wings did all the work. Now, she flew after them, Magus in her arms, her teeth gritted in disappointment.