A few hours of waiting had passed by when the sun finally began to set. In preparation for the final battle, Kallen had wrapped his wounds and summoned Legacy of the Fallen. Fearing losing too much blood, he decided to power up [Revenge] by bashing the weapon's hilt into his offhand, instead of cutting himself anywhere. The attribute was almost full anyways.
Kallen sat atop the Elder Gargoyle, his nerves forming a pit in his stomach as he waited. When the sun fully set and night had fallen, the stone casing around the terror began to crack.
An eerie feeling filled the chamber as shards of stone fell away, revealing the Terror's flesh. They smashed into the ground, thunderous crashes reverberating off the walls.
Without wasting a second, he surged forward, [Revenge] pumping through him as he drove his blade into the Gargoyle's exposed neck.
The weapon connected, tearing through the tough hide—but the aura of fear slammed into Kallen only a moment later, flooding him with the intent to flee. The aura of fear was now unbidden by the encasing of stone… his muscles locked and his thrust faltered. The next moment, the Elder Gargoyle roared and thrashed, hurling him across the room.
He hit the ground hard. The wind was knocked out of him and he was left gasping, forcing himself to roll as the creature's massive halberd came plummeting down. It crashed through one of the stone columns, missing him and hitting the ground, sending gashes of stone flying in its wake.
Kallen had just been there. It was sobering to know that if he hadn't moved, he would have been reduced to nothing but a puddle of bloody pulp.
Shit…
Shit…
Shit… the word repeated in his head like a mantra as he pivoted to plan B. He regretted ever thinking that his first plan was infallible… that was like the first rule of plan making: never assume it will absolutely work.
Kallen darted to the side. The mighty halberd swung again, missing him by inches and driving a deep trench into the chamber floor. Another column came crashing down.
The Gargoyle followed, wrenching its weapon free and swinging it in a wide arc. Kallen dropped to the floor, then scrambled to his feet, moving for the next column. There were about two dozen of them, which meant that he'd need a little more than a fourth of them to be destroyed for the type of structural failure he was looking for.
Another column came crashing down. Kallen kept moving, throwing rocks and fallen gargoyle helmets at the beast.
The Elder Gargoyle had a twisted sort of intelligence to it, but it was also enraged from the wound in its neck. This left its attacks mostly mindless. It didn't seem to have a clue that it was aiding in its own defeat.
Kallen dismissed Legacy of the Fallen, he knew crossing blades with the monster was pointless.
The sixth column shattered.
He cursed, having not prepared himself properly for when the ceiling began to cave in. He'd expected it to take at least eight.
Shit!
The ceiling buckled. Kallen dove out of the way, activating the dredges of [Revenge] to allow him a burst of speed. A deafening roar came from behind him, and he shielded his head, chaos engulfing the chamber.
A billowing cloud of dust filled the air, obscuring his vision, but he didn't need to see to know that the terror had been buried beneath the destruction. For now.
Kallen staggered to his feet, coughing to clear the dust from his aching lungs. His opponent wasn't finished—far from it actually. But he'd bought himself time for round two.
~~~
The dust had only just begun to settle when Kallen began to pick his way through the rubble, scanning for any sign of movement. He had since summoned his awakened weapon, the knuckles on his left hand white as he prepared himself. He was aiming for another strike to the neck, this time hopefully, he wouldn't falter.
But then he felt it. A massive claw broke free from the rubble, followed by the glint of piercing red eyes. Kallen froze again. He was a deer in the headlights. There was no way he could fight that thing head on, the castle crashing down on it had barely done anything… it wasn't even bleeding, just more pissed off.
I… I can't…
Escape wasn't an option, the Elder Gargoyle was just that much faster and with its wings, it could spot him from the skies. He realized, there just wasn't anything that could be done. There was no way to beat that thing with just a first tier sword, even if it was awakened.
Kallen stood still, hands slack and fresh rain falling from his face. With [Amplifier,] he felt the vibration of the liquid bouncing off of the stone, torrents of water coming down in sheets. Beyond, he could hear the faint echo of waves crashing on a beach.
The ocean…
A glimmer of desperation ignited in his chest. Giving the menacing terror one last glance, Kallen turned and ran once more.
He burst through the outer gates, tripping over himself in a mad dash to get away. The castle sat on a small hill, its walls just edging the perimeter. Kallen slipped at the beginning of his descent, falling rather ungracefully before he scrambled to his feet and kept moving.
"Help!" He rasped, voice raw. He ran harder, feeling for the connection of [Voice of the Sea.] There was a faint ripple on the water's surface, but he needed to be closer.
"Help me!" Kallen tugged on the vibrations of his own voice, [Amplifier] alerting everything within a mile's radius. He came to a running stop just yards away from the shoreline, the rock beach rough on his bare feet.
"Help…"
The waves wrinkled in response and then a burst of sonic energy spread outward, resonating through the ocean like a rhythmic wave. Kallen waited an anxious minute, but there was nothing. No response. The ocean raged on, uncaring.
A roar boomed from behind pierced his ears; he cursed, rain lashing his face as he turned, whipping around to see the Elder Gargoyle airborne, hurtling down as a gargantuan missile of armor and horror.
"Dead gods!"
The Terror crashed down only a dozen yards ahead. It approached Kallen slow, deliberately dragging its hulking weapon as if savoring the end of a short lived hunt.
Kallen eyes landed on the weapon.
A new plan, plan D shimmered to life, pressing forth with hope and the faint idea that he just may survive.
[Amplifier], as it turned out, was an attribute surely gifted from heaven itself. With it, his attunement to vibrations and energy was heightened. He could feel the shifting electric charge in the atmosphere… in the Elder Gargoyle's halberd.
"Come on…"
A low rumble roiled above. Dark clouds churned with unbridled wrath, lightning leapt across the sky, vengeful tendrils arcing every which way. The Terror roared once more as it moved in close, raising its weapon high.
Kallen's eyes widened, a grin breaking on his face. "You idiot."
A flash descended from the sky, arcing bolts of plasmatic destruction tearing down like a spiderweb from hell. A thunderclap followed and Kallen pulled, [Amplifier] multiplying the force of both the lightning, and the thunder. What resulted was chaos.
When vision returned to him, the Elder Gargoyle had staggered. Its armor was smoking and there were faint burning scars seared across its silver plating… but his heart sank. The lightning had wounded it, but not nearly enough.
Kallen was a dead man. Plan D was a spectacular bust.
It was plan E's time to shine. He grimaced, holding Legacy of the Fallen out in front of him. He recalled its description, remembering the sole enhancement it possessed.
Memory Description: "This blade once ruled the battlefield as its master ruled the land. It now bears the weight of the king's demise. The crimson stains along its edge whisper of reign, betrayal, and legacy, while the cold steel only hums with the echoes of unfinished conquest."
Its only enchantment was, [Fallen Soldier.]
Kallen didn't quite know what that entailed, but as he reached for something, he felt the shadows around him begin to stir. Tendrils of shade pooled on the ground before him, and from the darkness, three spectral warriors emerged, charging forward with weapons raised.
The first soldier was immediately decimated. The second was immune to the Gargoyle's flame and struck forth, its weapon sinking into the flesh of its leg. The dormant terror's mighty halberd raised and then fell again.
Then there was one.
The crushing fear compounded into Kallen. He would have loved to join his soldiers in the rush on the creature, but he couldn't. The aura of fear was too great. His limbs would just lock up again, it was useless, he… he couldn't do it.
Kallen was only an aspirant. He was a regular person with a few parlor tricks, that was it, there wasn't any powerful aspect backing him. A dormant terror was a threat for a real battle hardened awakened, not a 17 year old student like him.
He had talked big at the beginning of his nightmare. He had taunted the jailor and insulted the king in his mind. He had belittled the gargoyles… and he had cracked jokes the whole time.
But it was because he was afraid. He had been ever since his arrival… from the very beginning.
He needed to make light of the nightmare, almost to show that he had agency of his own. To prove that he had control over the tone of the situation, even if the outcome was unclear.
But the king…
That mouth that was too wide. Jagged teeth mimicking the voice of his sister… telling him to stay put as it ruthlessly hunted him down.
It was terrifying.
Impulse alone fueling him, Kallen turned and ran.
He splashed into the water. The salty cold blazed over the wound on stomach like fire. Kallen stumbled forward, tripping against the push of the tide, falling into the sea and letting it swallow him whole.
Underwater, the world went almost silent. There was a muffled, bubbling noise, and the sound of his heart slamming against his chest, but that was about it.
He called for help once more, [Amplifier] working to its maximum. His voice was a distorted cry beneath the waves, reverberating outwards, but the depths remained still. They wouldn't yield. Wouldn't aid. Wouldn't speak back.
Why weren't they helping?
Kallen pushed himself up, breaking the surface of the water. He swam seaward… anything to get away from the Elder Gargoyle, despite how treacherous the ocean may have been. It didn't matter.
He blinked hard, the salt from the ocean stinging his eyes. Rain poured down relentlessly and he was forced to brush his hair from his face, slick and drenched.
Behind, the sound of the terror taking flight sent a shiver of panic through him. Glancing back, he watched a dreadful flame come spilling from its mouth.
Left with no choice, Kallen dove under the water, taking a deep breath before doing so.
The world around went silent once again, and he descended, diving down as quickly as his mortal body could go. The Gargoyle had been high above, but it wouldn't stay there for long.
Kallen pushed. He tried for [Revenge], but it was empty. He tried to call for help again, but none came.
Would it simply hover above the water and wait for him to drown or resurface? Would it dive in after him?
He had his answer only a few minutes later. He heard the creature plunge into the water, but he didn't look back. Black spots had crept into his vision. Kallen couldn't hold on much longer… he didn't want to drown, but he also couldn't let the terror kill him.
He was stuck.
But as despair gripped him… as Kallen slowly stopped fighting, the tip of something coiled around his leg. He barely registered it at first, but when he felt a sudden pull and then the rush of movement, he gasped involuntarily.
But strangely, no water drew into his lungs. He wasn't choking. Oxygen flooded his airway, so sweet, so wondrous he would have cried if it were at all possible.
Water split and flowed through his opened mouth and nostrils, the brine dissolving into oxygen within him. His vision suddenly sharpened, more clear than it had ever been.
Kallen swiveled his head, eyes tracking the tentacle wrapping around him, stretching off impossibly far into the distance.
"What—"
In that moment, the Elder Gargoyle reached him, its clawed hand wrapping around his midsection with an iron wrenching grip. But only a moment later, a new tentacle—this one wider but just as ancient—shot through the murky depths, wrapping around the gargoyle and squeezing.
The terror thrashed, but it was no match, it only let out a horrified screech in defiance before going still, its hateful red eyes locked onto Kallen. Even still, all it cared about was killing him.
As the tentacle surged, the iron grip around him loosened.
And that was when he heard it…
It was a voice. One unlike anything he'd heard… unexplainable, alien, regal, it was impossible for him to describe. He could use a thousand adjectives, gather a thousand poets, but never begin to scratch the surface of explaining what he'd heard.
But somehow… he understood it.
Its intent was clear. Finish off the Elder Gargoyle.
With a final burst of speed, Kallen exploded forward, Legacy of the Fallen in his hand. When the creature's tentacle loosened around his foot, he felt his vision wane once more, and somehow, he no longer felt like breathing underwater was possible.
But still, he didn't need to.
It only took one strike. Kallen drove the blade into the dormant terror's neck. His weapon struck true and deep, seemingly drinking the blood of the Elder Gargoyle.
With a final flash of motion, he slashed outward, cutting the nightmare creature's throat, ending it like the plague it was.
Shortly after, the spell echoed in his mind.
[You have slain a dormant terror, Elder Gargoyle.]
Kallen would have laughed at the incredulousness, but he didn't have it in him. That and he would've taken in an absurd amount of water.
It wouldn't do good to get himself killed so shortly after the mysterious kraken monster had saved him. But then, wasn't it not a monster? It certainly wasn't a nightmare creature, but if that was the case…
Kallen simply didn't know.
Without ruminating, he thrust himself upward, breaking the surface with a delighted gasp. The moist air, the scent of petrichor… he never thought he would be so delighted to feel the touch of the rain.
Though he couldn't see it, he could feel the tentacle retract. The alien presence retreated away into the depths, possibly never to be seen again.
Then the spell chimed…
[You have battled to your last breath.]
[The denizens of the depths have heard your pleas.]
[You have been judged.]
[You are their blessed champion.]
Kallen floated above the water, mouth agape and staring into the distance.
[Wake up, Kallenir! Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]