Chapter 385

385 Dangerous Play

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, AND GORE***

Ralph had stopped breathing, sending Tidas into a panic attack. He had been Tidas’ mentor and best friend for years, and had always been at his side. As tears moistened his eyes, Skye closed hers, built her Shaman magic, and funneled it into her necklace..

At first, it felt like a drop of water falling into an ocean.. Hers was less than nothing compared to what the necklace was connected to. It accepted her minuscule magic like a temporary bridge clicking into place..

Suddenly, Skye was overwhelmed by a surge of power that threatened to rip her apart. For the first time: she had directly connected to the Source. She had called to the magic as an incomplete Catalyst, and it had answered in full-force; regardless of whether or not she was ready.

Skye cried out and doubled over as her insides boiled, but she kept conscious. Tidas watched as darkness tugged at his eyelids, and beckoned him to oblivion. Struggling against it, he watched as his wife’s entire body lit up brighter than a Yuletide tree.

Tidas reached out to her, but the Dark and Ether magic dragged him down into an abyss. It was similar to what Zazzy had experienced, but Tidas already had a darkness within him that the magic latched on to, and amplified. As he slipped into his own personal hell, Skye focused on saving Ralph..

She gritted her teeth and grunted with her efforts as she put her palms on top of Ralph’s lifeless body. A kind of electrical crackling noise could be heard right before his body seized, then relaxed several times. On the fourth time, Ralph had finally started to breath again.

He thought a goddess had come down and saved him until Skye cried out in fear. She had looked over at Tidas, who was laying unconscious on the ground. Since they were in an area where the generator was broken, the muck was slowly covering him while draining the life from him.

Skye shakily got up, and stumbled over to Tidas as a horrendous screeching noise resounded over the battlefield..

.....

Skye’s powers had annoyed Richard before, but now it was like someone dragging their nails across a blackboard inside of his head. The pain was unbearable to him, and sent the monster into a frenzy. He rushed towards Skye right as she was about to reach Tidas, and howled when he neared.

As he came within ten feet of her parents, Zazzy unleashed her flames on him. Richard cried out in agony as her dragon’s fire charred his oozing flesh, forcing him to back off again. As Zazzy kept a watchful eye out, Skye used her magic again to heal her husband.

The pain was nearly unbearable, but she’d rather feel it than lose Tidas. He meant everything to Skye, and she wasn’t willing to go on without him...

As the Light magic poured out of her necklace, Zazzy was starting to have a hard time keeping Richard at bay. He had become more like a rabid animal than a coherent monster as Skye broke down the Dark and Ether magic surrounding Tidas.

Right as she had finished and released her connection, Skye lost consciousness. The overwhelming amount of magic that her system had experienced forced a shutdown for self-preservation. She wouldn’t realize it until later, but Skye’s body could activate her Shaman trait upon instinct; if she became too badly injured.

Zazzy caught her mother mid-fall, and scooped up her slightly conscious father before the black ooze could try to cover them again. As she backed up and torched anything not in armor, Zazzy feared for her parent’s lives..

‘I wanna fly away with them now, but I can’t leave the others behind, either.. What do I do?! That Thing just keeps making more tiny things! What do I do?! What do I do?!’

As Zazzy started to panic, Tidas came to..

At first, he looked around like he was a zombie until his eyes landed on his wife and panicked Zazzy. He pushed the chaos in his mind down, and told her to take a few breaths. As she slowly calmed down, he checked over Skye to make sure that she was alright.

She had no outward injuries, but Tidas had no clue about her internal functions. His main concern was that she had awakened another trait, which would make her an even bigger target. Especially if it was Light magic..

Skye was only out for a wee bit; just long enough for her body to heal itself, but Tidas still freaked out over it. He wanted Zazzy to take Skye away, but they both refused. Neither wanted to abandon the other soldiers, and refused to leave.

Tidas wasn’t happy about it, but he technically couldn’t order her off of the battlefield without everyone retreating. He was ready to sound the alarm for it, but Skye was adamant about her idea now..

“I ken ye think me nutters, but I know it’s in there! I can feel it, Tidas. And I proved that I can touch Dark and Ether magic without consequence.”

Tidas looked at her with an angry expression and furrowed brow; “You passed out! You can touch it, but you can’t handle the shit! What do you think will happen when you touch the-thing?!”

He was about to yell out ‘the Spear’, but then Richard would know what they were planning. Tidas didn’t want Skye going into the palace at all, but if there was no talking her out of it..

“Then I’m going in with you..”

“Yer the Commander! Ye canna leave the battlefield!” Skye yelled at she gestured to the chaos before them.

Richard hadn’t stopped pouring ooze out in between Zazzy’s attacks, and there were plenty of bones on the ground to make an army with. The attacks hadn’t subsided as the Alconians fought for their survival.

Their rotations had gotten spotty as more and more soldiers than the Shamans could handle were injured. As the creatures started to break through Skye’s barrier, she and Tidas made a run for the palace..

As they got about fifteen feet from the door, spikes shot out of the seemingly dried ooze that coated the ground and scattered bones. Richard made a deep screeching noise before taking off towards them. Zazzy tried to stop him, but he ran right through her flames as he howled in anger and pain.

Tidas pulled out his swords, but Richard was moving too fast. The only chance they had was Skye, and she was already pissed off..

Watching his skeleton-like frame running at her, Skye realized that one of his legs was slightly bigger than the other. As she focused her Earth magic, she made spikes pop out of the ground right as he closed in on them.

They weren’t coated in anything special, but Richard still cried out like he’d been sliced by one of the dragon swords. Tidas thought that it was because she was the Catalyst, but Skye knew better..

“I think his real self is in his leg! Or at least it was,” she commented.

Tidas watched him flailing around and added; “I think you’re right on both accounts. Did you see how deranged he became when we went near the palace?! I bet that you’re right: the E.S. is inside..”

It took Skye a moment to realize that he meant the Ethereal Spear. She didn’t know how long her fragment of the Northern Star would protect her for, or if she would be overwhelmed by the Dark and Ether magic before she could kill Richard... But she would try, or die doing so.

Right as they were about to make another run for the palace, Richard cried out in a new and creepy way..

All of the little creatures turned, looked at Skye and Tidas, then started to scream as they ran towards them. Converging and condensing like a river hell-bent on flooding them. Seeing the massive amount of enemies coming at them, Skye and Tidas had to turn back towards Zazzy.

As they neared her, the angry dragon torched the oncoming waves of creatures as her parents ducked to her sides. Once Richard saw that they were away from the palace again, he made a weird gargling noise, which seemed to be a signal to his creations to return to their chaotic murdering.

Skye watched as Richard turned to his side, and shifted his body into a larger size..

The dried ooze, bones, dead soldiers, and the creatures that came too close were absorbed to make an ever growing body. As Tidas started to try and come up with a counter plan, Skye thought about her dreams. They had been trying to tell her something, but she didn’t know what.

Whenever Skye emptied her mind, the imagine of her free-falling into the roof of the palace came to the forefront. It was the first time she’d seen Richard, and didn’t realize who or what he was back then. As they defended Zazzy’s sides from random creature attacks, an idea started to form in her head..

“Husband! How much do ye trust me?!” Skye yelled over the noise of the carnage.

Tidas grunted as he sliced a creature in half; “With my life! Why?!”

Skye grinned, then looked up at Zazzy and yelled; “Care ta give yer Momma a lift, me scaly bairn?!”

Zazzy and Tidas both looked at Skye with confused expressions, then caught on to her meaning. She wanted Zazzy to fly her up to the roof so she could bypass Richard altogether. It was a good idea, except Richard was watching them..

“How do we get passed him? He’ll just send a flood of those things after us again,” Tidas stated as he gestured to his monstrous uncle.

Skye smirked; “That’s the point: we go over, not around.”

“Na, I mean he got to Zazzy when she was flying before. What makes you think he won’t shoot her out of the sky or something if he sees us on her back?!”

Skye maintained her cocky expression; “Ima assumin’ he will. That’s why yer goin’ up wit me, but not in.. Yer on defense, husband!”

Tidas locked eyes with her; “Like hell you’re going in without me! We don’t know what’s waiting inside! What if he has some of those things in there?! You could get overwhelmed as soon-”

“We’re already overwhelmed out here! The others need ya more than I do right now! Will ye forsake Everyone?! Do ye not trust me ta handle me self?!”

“It’s not that, I just,” Tidas paused a moment as he cut down another creature; “I love you, Skye! I don’t want to see anything happen to you!”

Skye grunted as she sliced a creature across it’s front, sidestepped, then nearly cut it in half down it’s middle. The creatures had started to thin slightly as Richard kept increasing his size. If he kept growing, it might become impossible to take him down without the whole of the Star Continent taking him on.

As a break in the onslaught came, Skye walked over, grabbed her husband’s collar, and yanked him in for a kiss. There was passion mixed with conviction as her lips conveyed her resolve. As they parted, Tidas huffed with bitter amusement..

As Zazzy stretched her wings, Tidas stepped forward to take down a creature as he asked; “What’s your plan, love?”