Where Riven was stationed was dry, like a graveyard. There was nothing—until he noticed it.
Riven first heard it. The movement was unusual for your average Sunderkin. It felt awfully fast, and the sound it made gave him the impression that it was massive.
This wasn't good for Riven at all. Varik was wrong about one thing: Riven wasn't strong. Yes, he was cunning and crafty, but if three Sunderkin were to come, he didn't stand a chance in hell. He thought of running away through the tunnel,the tunnel he was in was the path out of the city, after all but there was a massive flaw in that idea. Yes, he could run, but then what? He could be overrun by monsters on his way out or even inside and from the sound of things, something was already coming his way.
It was about a minute or so after he first heard it that he laid eyes on the dreadful abomination. It looked like all the other Sunderkin, but what made it different was its size. It was much bigger than the average one, and it had four hands or, to be more precise, it had something that looked like hands behind it. That made its movement exponentially faster than the others.
Riven placed his hands on the mask covering his face and started laughing.
"Of course I had to get the unique one. By the way—WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"
Before he could finish the sentence, the abomination laid eyes on him or teeths. It didn't have any eyes, but with how close it was to him, it could hear his breathing. It started charging at him with murderous intent in its... well, not eyes—you know what I mean.
He looked down at his hands. He didn't have a weapon to defend himself. All he had were the iron chains on his wrists. They looked rusted and old, but that didn't mean he could break them with brute strength. The chains may have appeared worn, but they did their job.
He was in need of a weapon, but from the looks of it, he wouldn't be able to get one. He had to come up with a way to kill the monstrosity or at least buy enough time.
He scratched the back of his head.
"I could punch it to death. Wait—no, that won't work. What about a chokehold?"
He grinned.
"Yes, that can work. Now... how do I get on top of that thing?"
If he got too close, the pale-skinned abominations would launch at him, so he had to find a way to draw its attention away and somehow manage to get on its back.
He remembered that during his time on the Pillar, the only way to distract the monstrous creatures was with noise. But it was so noisy right now that for the trick to work, he had to find something that would make enough sound to divert its focus. There was nothing, he couldn't use stones, those wouldn't do anything. He could just leave, but if he did, it would go after Varik or Nira.
He had to figure out a way to make a loud enough distraction.
Meanwhile, the utility-type Firstborn was injuring as many of the Sunderkin as he could, slowing their charge sufficiently.
He looked at the female Firstborn behind him.
"Isn't it ready yet?"
She glanced at him. "I'm coming—I need more time."
He stared at her, voice harsh and tired. "The hell do you mean more time? We don't have that. I can't keep this up forever."
She didn't respond.
He hissed. There was another Firstborn with them. She was female, but more or less useless. She couldn't fight in ranged combat; only melee. And she couldn't charge into the swarm of Sunderkin in front of them.
"I'm done," she said.
He caught the boomerang flying back toward him.
"You're done? If so, then throw it!"
The shard was in her hand. Its once majestic black obsidian color was no more. It was still black, but now a massive crack ran through the middle, and light leaked from within. It looked like the orb was swallowing the light around it—and now, it was failing to contain it.
The veins that once ran across the surface were gone. All that remained in her hand was an orb desperately trying to hold something it could not.
She glanced at him.
"Move. I'm about to throw it."
He shifted backward slightly. She stepped back as well, weighing the shard in her hand. Then she took a sharp breath. With a small shift of her weight and a flick of her wrist, she hurled it—aiming more on instinct than precision.
The shard flew to the right side of the tunnel wall, and the moment it touched the ground, the crack widened. The orb began to glow.
It was losing control.
In a heartbeat, a white burst of light erupted, surrounding the entire tunnel and blinding everything within it. What followed was destruction in all its glory. It was like nothing Riven had ever seen. The tunnel exploded, rocks flying sky high, and a distant glimmer of light seeped into the underground darkness.
The path where the orb had landed was no longer there—it was obliterated. The Sunderkin were gone, completely wiped out.
Riven's ears rang from the explosion, and every Sunderkin in the area was affected by the sound—just like him, if not worse. Somehow, the three Firstborns had managed to survive.
The pale-skinned monstrosity in front of Riven struggled to regain its balance. The explosion had clearly done a number on it. This was the moment Riven had been waiting for.