Chapter 386

386 Air Drop

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

“That is the craziest plan I’ve ever heard!” Tidas bellowed as he leaned away from his wife.

“I told ya that ye weren’t gonna like it. Do ye have a better idea? Ima all ears if ye do,” Skye replied as she side-stepped a creature, then cut it down.

“No, but-That’s insane! You’ll only get one shot, then he’ll know you’re there! He’ll go after you! He might do it once you touch the damn thing anyways!”

As she ducked so Zazzy could take out a creature with her tail, Skye asked; “He’d have ta go through a wall ta do it!”

Tidas cut down two more creatures before he commented; “Like that big angry green guy from that movie! I can see it happening!”

Skye scoffed as she, Tidas, and Zazzy slowly back up. She needed clearance to flap her wings and take off, but they didn’t want what they were doing to be completely obvious to Richard. He still followed Skye with his creepy empty sockets, so they couldn’t rush what they were doing, or they’d give themselves away.

As Zazzy moved back and checked her sides, Skye and Tidas rushed out front of her to keep the creatures at bay. After gaining a bit of lift, the two darted back to her, and grabbed ahold of her. She swung her tail forward for Tidas as Skye held on to her front arm.

After they had climbed up, Zazzy took off, and circled the battlefield..

.....

There were bodies and black ooze everywhere as they got a bird’s eye view. Skye’s barrier was starting to fall apart as the creatures ripped it apart to get to the soldiers. There weren’t nearly as many, but enough to still be giving them issues.

As they climbed in altitude, Skye kept her eyes discreetly on Richard. He was trying to stand, but wasn’t used to working such a massive body. He was at least two stories tall now, with jagged bones sticking out like spikes all over his body.

As Zazzy aligned herself, Tidas readied himself to jump..

“I still don’t like this, but I trust you.. Come back to me, love,” Tidas stated as he crouched down.

“Me place is by yer side, love. As is yers by mine,” Skye replied with a soft smile.

Tidas leaned forward on his heels, kissed her, then fell backwards off of Zazzy. Skye grinned as she watched him free fall right towards Richard. As he came down, the monster was looking up..

He held his long sword off to the side as he fell, then kicked his foot off of it so he would avoid going straight into his mouth. As he came down, Tidas dragged his sword down the front of his monstrous uncle; spilling gallons of ooze onto the already blackened battlefield.

The soldiers cheered as he hit the ground, leaving a shallow crater in his wake. It reminded them of a super hero, and had automatically boosted their morale across the board. As the fighting intensified, Tidas held out his two swords: ready to finally finish his business with his uncle once and for all..

Murdoc and Arthur darted out front of the rallying soldiers with Tidas’ sheaths in their hands. As they stood before the towering nightmare, Tidas subtly motioned to the sides. The two angled their feet, then waited for the Field Commander to move.

As Tidas took a step, so did they.

Right as Richard came down on Tidas, he lept backwards; giving Murdoc and Arthur a clean shot at his backside. He shook the ground with his roar as he reached out towards Tidas. Ooze still spilling out of his front from his initial attack.

Amara and three other Highlanders jumped forward in his defense. She roasted the outstretched hand that was too close to Tidas as the other three Tanks threw giant rocks at him. It wouldn’t injure him like the dragon swords or sheaths did, but it was inconvenient and time-consuming for him to separate them from his body.

The Highlanders had done it to slow him down on the few rare occasions that they could evacuate a village settlement. They had tried many times over the years to establish settlements, but Richard had attacked every time. Not many were able to be saved.

Amara cranked up her heat as memories of the people lost began to overwhelm her. As her flames turned blue, and everyone near moved far away; Zazzy joined her. Their flames mixed and scorched away layers of Richard’s protection.

He cried out and backed up towards the palace, giving Amara and the others a moment to realize that Skye wasn’t on Zazzy’s back..

************

When Skye saw Tidas hit the ground, she pulled Zazzy off to the side, and towards the palace. She didn’t know if Tidas would be a big enough distraction, but she also figured that the others would rally around him. Once he was being attacked by multiple people, he wouldn’t have a choice but to keep his focus on them.

As Zazzy flew over the spot that Skye had seen in her dreams, she told her scaly bairn to go back and help her father. Zazzy nodded as she watched her mother free fall through the roof of the old palace, and disappear into the darkness within..

Skye’s heart hammered within her chest as she ran down an all-too familiar hallway. It was drastically colder inside the palace, which wasn’t that surprising considering how dark and creepy it was. Remnants of the snow that had drifted in during the winter crunched under her feet as she ran at her highest normal speed.

She had turned off the flow of all of her magic, so as not to be detected by Richard until the Spear was in her hands. As Skye’s lungs burned due to the cold, dry air, she knew exactly where to go..

The room that the Spear floated in was the same room that Skye had always seen it in within her dreams. As she stepped over the threshold, her heart froze as she listened for the macabre voice...but nothing came.

Darting into the middle of the room, Skye tapped into her Tank and Shaman traits, then connected to her necklace. As it filled her body to brimming with magic, Skye was struggling to keep her legs moving, the pain was so intense. Not even dulling her nerves kept her pain down by much.

When Skye reached out and grabbed a hold of the Spear, the pain was suddenly gone..

She wanted to stop and examine it: to try and figure out what was happening to her, but she kept running. A window lay directly in front of her that led to where the length of the courtyard curved, and turned into the remains of an open garden.

With a loud grunt, Skye jumped through the broken window, and rolled onto the ground. She pivoted, then turned the corner to make her way back to the fight. She started to build her Earth magic, but it felt like it was sucked away by the Spear every time.

As Richard’s massive backside grew larger, and her desperation hit an all-time high: Skye’s necklace started to grow brighter..

An enormous surge of power that made her feel like it was about to burst hit Skye a hundred times worse than it had before. Her muscles and bones ripped and cracked with the pressure..

‘Not yet! Not now!’

As the thought crossed her mind, Skye’s eyes started to shine as the power was divided amongst her Earth, Shaman, and Tank traits. Her organs, bones, and muscles spontaneously healed almost all at once as she closed the distance at three times her previous pace. The bones in her feet continuously broke and healed as she dug her feet into the ground with every step.

As she sprinted, Skye also funneled her Earth magic into the ground..

The crumbling barrier had instantly repaired, and shot up to fifteen feet all around the battlefield; except for one section near the palace. Those that were on the battlefield looked around with shocked expressions, then smiled knowingly..

Murdoc jumped backwards near Tidas to avoid a strike from Richard as the walls sprang up around them. He looked at his friend with a smirk before saying; “I think yer wife is back!”

Tidas kept his eyes trained on th the opening, expecting Skye to come running in with the Spear, but that wasn’t exactly what happened..

Massive pillars of stone popped up out of the ground like a disconnected stair case; building up to Richard. As the last two started to raise, Skye came dashing in through the opening with the Spear in her hands. She jumped-stepped up the slightly winding stairway.

Amara and Zazzy had kept Richard in check by attacking him from two sides at the same time, but they’d lost him when Skye stepped onto the battlefield. The only thing that saved her was her speed..

Skye had set up her stairway, entered the battlefield, and ran up the barely made steps in the time it took Richard t turn around, and raise his arm. He wasn’t even able to swing it before Skye was planting the Spear between his empty eye sockets. As she looked down at him, Skye twisted the Spear, then shoved it down as she cried out.

Everything was still, then Skye shined as bright as the sun before everything was coated in black ooze. Richard had exploded with the force of a box of grenades; sending victims and bones flying. The last thing Tidas saw was his wife fading away for a split second as the light overwhelmed his sight.

The moment the explosion had happened, all of the creatures that Richard had made dropped into a pile of goop and bones. As the smoke cleared, Tidas crawled towards the area that Skye and his uncle had been, and sighed in relief when he saw his wife still standing. She was looking down with a sympathetic expression on her face..

Another Shaman came over, and healed his broken leg enough to hobble to them. As the goop was absorbed by the Ethereal Spear, a thin, frail old man was exposed to the world..

Skye looked at his confused expression and spoke in a soft, but frank voice; “Strip away the magic, and all that be left is the man.. Tidas, I believe this is your uncle: Richard MacArthur.. He’s still alive..”