"We need to move now."
Nephis commanded the pack, and the group of sleepers immediately burst into action. Kade tossed Cassie from the ground and back to the echo, dismissing the girl's alarm, and bolted ahead before his peers.
Shouting out behind him, panic-laden in his voice. "Way ahead of you!"
The memory of the last encounter in the Black Sea was a daunting one. The feeling of drowning was not a pleasant one; Kade would rather avoid it again if he could.
Sandra, for a second, scowled at his escape but was quickly left in the dust for her small moment of hesitation. She ran with the scavenger echo, side by side with the confused seer who lay on its back.
Cassie was disoriented, trying to make sense of the events around her.
"What's going on!?"
Sandra spared her a glance. "A storm is coming."
The seer gulped, anxiety now painted on her doll-like face.
But there was no time to talk; everyone was streaking it across the labyrinth as fast as they could. The small drops of rain gathered further onto the land, etching across the sky like a pencil shading.
It was wet, slippery, and dangerous. The group of sleepers is desperately trying to keep their footing. A slip-up could mean a fall. Whether on sand, mud, or sharp rocks, injury at a time like this could mean death.
Despite this, they had to run as fast as their legs would take them. Kade, Sandra, and Sunny are leading the pack, while Nephis, Ike, and Cassie's mount were in the back. The brawler's starting advantage is quickly overtaken by the wind spirit and the freakishly athletic shadow.
He scowled, determined not to fall behind. Summoning [Embodied Wrath] into reality, the two stone limbs forming like pillars on his back only to split apart like a pinecone, the separated rock coiling around the orange energy that puppeteers it.
Switching to [Flight] instead of [Fight], the floating stones collided together, forming the jagged, angular, bladed wings, the stored energy shooting out of the construct like a dagger.
'DASH,' Kade commanded; a pulse of energy from his aspect empowered his broken wings; the crackling orange light arced around him. As he immediately accelerated, he was sent flying forward, with the G-force pulling against him.
The wind roared in his ear, the rain pattering down, bursting through the rain, his boots digging into the fresh mud, sending him soaring beside him. Taking the lead once again, a dastardly grin hit his face.
'It's not nearly as fast as Caster, but it's plenty fast enough!' Kade remarked, staring for a second behind at his peers who raced to catch up; their fatigue and heaving chests reminded him of his advantages. That sense of being the unstoppable force.
Well, unstoppable not in an instant, but in endurance. So, what if he couldn't swim, cook, or take the lead of the group? --
He could do things that they couldn't dream of!
He was the [Heart of Chaos]. He was the brawler, the Asura of the outskirts.
Kade had let his confidence take a hit recently, especially because of the Forgotten Shores challenges... But he wouldn't allow that. His confidence, no matter how reckless, is what defined him.
If he wanted to thrive, he had to dig into his roots and grow from there!
The jagged energy faulted as the Dash wore off, Kade's velocity quickly falling with it, his allies getting closer and closer. He glanced back past his drenched locks and to his group.
"FOLLOW ALONG, I'LL CLEAR US A PATH!" Kade roared happily, cackling to himself as adrenaline sparked in his veins. His allies looked at him with a mix of uncertainty and surprise.
Except for Sunless, who gritted his teeth, "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Get back here!"
Kade suddenly turned on his heel, running backwards, face-to-face with Sunny. High on the energy he had put into himself
"Only if you can catch me!" He called, the shadow's expression darkening as he attempted to catch the brawler, his fingertips getting mere inches away before the jagged wings of [Embodied Wrath] glowed again, the cooldown wearing off.
Kade spun back toward the path—'DASH! And he pulsed forward like a slingshot, just avoiding Sunny's touch.
Kade slid against the restless mud, gliding across it like an ice skater, the velocity of his wings jumping back and forth between speeding up and cooling down. The torrential downpour drowned the world, black clouds churning above.
The Asura's wings glowed in the dark, tracing behind him like a burning flare guiding his cohort. He didn't look back, trusting their ability to follow.
--Now it was time to see if he could lead.
His goal was the cliffs, his destination hidden away in the darkening sky, and jagged outposts of cliffs and coral. There, most likely three kilometers ahead, while he could make it with the help of his broken wings, whether or not all of his friends would was the concern...
He had said he was going to make a path, and now was the time to do so.
The puzzle-like maze of the labyrinth started to clutter closer and closer around him as he drew closer to the cliffs. The world was soaring past him as the momentum catapulted him. Obstacles that seemed distant shot forward directly in front of him.
He had only moments to avoid catastrophe, and without slowing down for a single second.
'It's now or never.'
If the path ahead was unkind, then he'd make it submit.
Just like back in the alleyways, running from Shadow Blade Kurt. Kade didn't think. He moved.
The labyrinth passed by him, sliding past rock faces and coral spikes; the threats brushed by as he shot forward, carried by his wings. He maneuvered through the swarm of barriers like an arrow piercing a hive.
His jagged wings scraped stone as he twisted midair to avoid impact. He spun with the world, guided by [Vigilance]—and when the obstacles weren't sturdy enough to stop him, he simply braced...
And smashed through them.
Rubble rolled off his shoulders as he burst through sand dunes, shattered shells, and webs of seaweed. His destruction left a clear path for the others.
Kade grinned, jubilation crackling in his chest. He cut through the storm like a heat-seeking missile, locked onto the cliffs.
Scavengers and centipedes dared not cross his path. They scattered, scurrying into the depths of the earth to escape the fury of the rain.
Hiding away from the storm while Kade penetrated it.
He broke through the labyrinth, the world opening up as he emerged on the other side. His destination was the cliffs right before him; one quick climb, and he would reach safety.
Skidding against the swamped sand, Kade halted before he hit the cliffside and turned back to his allies, waiting silently for them as water started to swallow his feet. He wouldn't continue until they had all made it to the cliffside...
There was no point in going ahead if they weren't there with him. [Embodied Wrath]'s wings glowing back into function once again. He had relied on Dash a hell of a lot, and as such, his reserve of [Unyielding Asura] had been eaten through a decent chunk. His reserves are dropping an entire seventh.
[4/7][1]
Then, a blinding bolt of lightning tore across the sky, painting the night in stark white—and there they were.
Sunny and Sandra were sprinting side by side, breathless, the tide licking at their heels. Ike flickered into place beside them in a puff of mist. Nephis and Cassie came into view seconds later, drenched but moving fast.
Kade smirked.
'Looks like we all made it.'
With the tide surging forward and the sea clawing at their backs, they rushed together and reached their destination.
With the help of his broken wings, Kade surged up the cliffside the moment the others reached safety. He leapt like a frog from one jagged outcrop to the next, blood-red gauntlets forged by [Rings of the Ravaged] digging into wet stone, anchoring him against the rain-slick rock and the yawning sea below.
Rain pelted his face, cascading off his brow as he squinted up toward the summit. The last scraps of daylight were being devoured by storm clouds.
'So close,' he growled inwardly.
One final [dash].
Kade launched himself upward in a burst of orange energy. For a heartbeat, he hung in midair—weightless against the wind—before slamming down on the cliff's edge with a wet, echoing crash. The stone trembled beneath his boots.
He rose, panting slightly, eyes scanning the dark plateau ahead.
'Time to see if there's anything waiting for us.'
He gazed up ahead, his eyes attempting to pierce through the enshrouding darkness, and that's when he saw—
Tall boulders surrounded him, massive and irregularly shaped, black in color and motionless... Kade had not recognized them at first glance.
All around him were scavengers lying on the ground.
"SHIT!" Kade spat, widening his eyes as he prepared for combat, yet the scavengers didn't move despite his loud entrance; instead, they lay still The moment tore by him, standing in silence at their unresponsiveness.
'...'
He shuffled forward and nudged one of the beast's heads with his foot, but it didn't move, not even at his outrageous disrespect. Kade did it again, and even then.
Nothing.
'What the hell is happening?' Kade mused, crouching lower to the scavenger, and that's when he saw--
The inside of its shell cracked and sliced apart. A mess of gore resting at the bottom of its carapace like leftovers. The scavenger was long dead, left half-eaten and discarded by its hunters.
Kade's words died on his tongue; he got back up and glanced back at the horde, or buffet of corpses.
With one question burning on his mind.
'Where was the predator?'
With another crack of lightning, he didn't have to look long.
Standing a couple of meters in front of him, illuminated by the sky's rage, were two hulking monsters, standing three meters tall, the scavengers' meaner cousins. Their spiked armor drenched in Azure blood and empty, terrifying eyes staring into his soul.
Kade's world froze, the reality crashing into him like a truck.
He couldn't respond or prepare for anything.
From one moment, they were staring at him, and the next—
It all happened too fast.
--
[Author's Note]
Hope you enjoyed my rendition of the storm scene! Well, my version is that I've tried to make unique to the original. I'm only making very slight changes to some things, that allow me to write original scenes rather than feeling like I'm copy and pasting my Oc's into SS scenes,
(Writing on specifically Kade, this chapter allowed me to do so, I would of probably gotten a different pov before, but I'm aware that I can't spend forever on the forgotten shore)
Along with the changes to difficulty!!!!
Just because the cohort is more powerful, does not mean they're going to have any easier of a time!
Now they will have to fight two carapace centurions instead of one!
I'm very excited to write the next chapters, and I hope you're anticipating it as I am.
Just one more thing, that being I NEED ONE MORE REVIEW TILL 10, THEN MY LIFE SHALL BEE YOUUUURRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! :3 and the extra 1-word chapter will be as well.
Thanks for your support, it means tha WORLD!
[1] This will be the measurement for how much energy [Unyielding Asura] has stored. This will be important, especially since it takes a full week of not using it to recover the amount fully.