As group training wrapped up, Atlas rejoined his groupmates. They were chatting amongst themselves when he walked up.
"Hey Atlas." Cassia greeted him.
Lior glanced at him before turning back to Reyn, not sparing him a word.
"Hey Cassia," he replied.
"We were just talking about the physical exercises today. You were doing really well."
That got an exhale from Lior.
"What?" Atlas confronted him, not liking being talked around.
"Well, I would hope you can do well at something. Let's not forget ten minutes ago when you couldn't even participate in Nexus control." Lior turned to face him, not shying away.
Atlas frowned. He couldn't defend himself on that point.
"Drop it, Lior." Reyn said, not looking up. "He's on our team. Just get along with him so we don't have to hear it every day."
"Whatever. Just don't hold us back on the mission." Lior walked to stand a few paces away.
Cassia gave Atlas a small, empathetic smile.
"That concludes training for today," Calendra announced from the front of the hall. "You'll be assigned your field missions next. Go to your usual meeting spots."
She turned and left, prompting the students to file out. Several of them whispered as they passed Atlas. He pretended not to notice.
"I feel bad for you, Lior," one said in passing. "Only having three useful members out there must be tough."
Lior gave the boy a glance and kept walking.
Atlas let them pass without a word. He kept his eyes focused forward.
The group waited in the courtyard for their sensei to arrive. Atlas stood near the edge of the stone with his arms crossed, gaze drifting past the walls toward the distant wilds. Cassia sat on a low wall, posture straight, eyes on the treeline. Lior leaned against a pillar, idly flicking a small flame between his fingers. Reyn lay stretched across the back of her dragon, one leg dangling lazily over the side.
"They've been more active lately," Cassia said at last. "And closer to the capital."
Lior didn't look up. "Beasts attack. That's nothing new."
Reyn tilted her head, watching the flame dance in his hand. "Yeah, but it doesn't feel the same anymore." She swung her leg slightly. "It's not like we're just protecting villages. It feels more like we're going out to hunt them."
Cassia nodded faintly. "And no matter how many we deal with, more keep appearing." Her eyes narrowed. "It shouldn't be like that."
Reyn frowned. "Like they're keeping up with us."
"Or adapting," Cassia said quietly.
No one spoke. Even Lior's flame wavered before steadying again.
Reyn shifted on her dragon, a little less relaxed now. "You really think something's behind it?"
Lior let out a short breath. "You're both overthinking it. Doesn't matter why it's happening." He pushed off the pillar, rolling his shoulder. "That's what we're here for. We deal with whatever's out there."
His gaze slid toward Atlas and lingered.
"For those of us who actually have a Nexus."
The words cut clean through the air.
Reyn went still. Cassia's expression tightened but she said nothing.
Atlas didn't look at him. His eyes dropped to the ground, jaw set, hands curling slowly into fists at his sides. For a moment it looked like he might say something.
He didn't.
Reva made her way over to the group. As they noticed her coming they stood to greet her.
"Good, you're all here. Ready for a solo mission today?" she said as she approached, a smile on her face.
"When you say solo, you mean the four of us? Without you?" Cassia responded.
"Exactly what I mean. Your teamwork has been improving lately. I'm hardly necessary for a routine mission anymore." Her voice was firm, but softened just a touch. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. I wouldn't send you if I didn't think you could handle it."
"So I'm in charge of keeping Atlas and Lior from fighting each other instead of the beasts? Great." Reyn said in her usual tone.
"There won't be any of that today." Reva turned to look at the two of them in turn. "Will there, boys?"
"No, ma'am," they both said.
"Excellent. Then Lior, you'll be in charge."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Atlas felt a quiet pang at not being chosen, but he understood it, and nodded along with the rest.
"Alright. There's a pack of direwolves near Timbre village to the west. You'll exterminate them and protect the villagers." She looked across the group. "Be careful out there. Watch each other's backs."
"Understood," Lior said for the group.
"Good. I'll see you all back here later."
Reva left them to make their final preparations. The tension settled in once she was gone, everyone quiet with the weight of going out unsupervised for the first time.
Reyn broke the silence. "Told you it would be wolves."
Everyone smiled, the mood lifting just enough. They loaded onto the dragon and took off into the sky.
As they approached the village they had grown quiet, taking it seriously.
Then Reyn spoke up. "Look down there. Something's wrong!"
They shot toward the ground. When they landed, the four of them stepped off the dragon and took in the scene. The wolves were already dead, torn to pieces across the clearing.
"Oh my... this is horrific." Cassia said what they were all thinking.
"What could have done this?" Reyn pondered aloud.
Atlas stared at the carnage. Whatever had come through here hadn't even bothered to eat its prey. It had just torn them apart and moved on. His thoughts shifted to the nearby village.
"It doesn't matter. We need to get to the village and protect the people from whatever it is." Atlas spoke up.
Lior glared at him, but he knew Atlas was right. "Let's move."
Soon they were in the air above the village. They could already see destruction below. A massive ogre was moving through the livestock corrals near the edge of town. The farmers had fled, their tools scattered where they had dropped them.
"That thing is massive. We won't stand a chance!" Cassia exclaimed.
"We need to go for help. This is worse than we thought." Reyn added.
Atlas stared down at the beast and said nothing. He was ready to leap, ready to throw himself at whatever was threatening those people. He wouldn't move until Lior made the call. Reva had put him in charge and Atlas respected that. His grip on his axe tightened as the ogre raged below.
Lior thought for a moment. "We're the ones here. We have to go. We can't let it reach the village."
Atlas jumped before he finished his sentence. He caught a tree with his axe on the way down, splitting it clean through. It broke his fall enough that he hit the ground running, sprinting straight at the ogre.
As the beast reached for the livestock, Atlas hurled his axe. The ogre caught the motion and turned, raising its arm, taking the blade into its forearm. It howled in rage and charged.
Atlas didn't slow even as the ogre raised its massive fist and brought it down. He threw himself to the side and the blow cracked into the earth. The ogre turned toward him and raised its hand to swing again.
Before it could strike, a blast of fire hit it from the side. The beast spun, facing in that direction. Then Reyn's dragon landed on its arm, claws tearing into flesh and locking hold.
The ogre howled and flung the dragon toward the ground. Reyn jumped, snatching Atlas' axe mid-air and rolling clear as she landed. The dragon released its grip and took flight, sweeping past Reyn as she caught its back. She tossed Atlas his axe as she rose.
The ogre thundered after them, but its legs had been seized by roots and vines bursting from the ground. It pitched forward, stumbling before catching itself.
Then the ogre shifted its focus toward the one holding it down. It barreled straight for Cassia.
Lior drew a slow breath, then stomped forward and drove his fist through the air. Fire bloomed across his knuckles and shot forward in a steady, scorching stream, catching the ogre across the side of its face. It screamed and changed course, now bearing down on Lior instead.
Atlas leaped without hesitation, burying his axe into the beast's shoulder. It bought Lior a second to dive clear of the trampling feet. But rather than continuing after Lior, the ogre veered for the treeline. Atlas pulled his axe free and went for its face.
Before he could reach it the giant groaned with effort and ripped a tree from the ground, roots and all. Atlas struggled to hold on and then lost his grip entirely. He hit the ground hard. He could hear his team shouting somewhere above him, could feel the heat of Lior's flames striking the giant. He couldn't make out the words.
Before he could collect himself the ogre swung the massive pine. It connected squarely with Atlas.
Crack.
Atlas rocketed into the trees. Cassia pressed her palms together and swept them apart, bending the trunks out of his path. Then she raised her arms, calling the grass up in a dense woven mat to soften his landing.
She didn't know if it would be enough. But the ogre didn't stop.
It barreled at Lior again. Cassia threw everything she had into the roots at its feet. It was too large, carrying too much momentum. Her vines barely slowed it as it reached out and closed its hand around Lior.
He blasted flames against the inside of its palm, searing the skin, but the ogre hardly seemed to notice. The dragon landed on its face, clawing and snapping at its eyes. The beast howled and swiped at its own head, releasing Lior in the process. The dragon flapped its wings once and it was back in the air with Reyn riding above.
Lior found Cassia and they fell in together. Reyn swept down and pulled them up. From altitude they watched the ogre track them with its eyes, still fuming. It reached down and scooped a fistful of earth.
"It's going to throw it at us!" Cassia yelled.
"Get away!" Lior shouted.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Reyn yelled back.
Rocks and dirt exploded around them. They dodged most of it, but the dragon had taken some of the scatter. It flinched in pain. Reyn's expression tightened and she reached forward to press her hand to its neck.
"It's going to keep throwing until it knocks us down or we flee. We need distance, now." Lior said.
"We won't get away in time!" Panic had crept into Reyn's voice.
They watched helplessly as the ogre hefted another handful. Then an axe buried itself into the back of its hand, and the debris dropped.
"Did you think that would kill me?" Atlas stepped out of the trees.
"No way..." Lior said, and a grin broke across his face before he could stop it. "Alright. Reyn, drop us off and go for help. The three of us will hold this thing."
Atlas slid clear of a descending fist, ripping his axe free from the hand as he went. The beast came at him again, but Lior hit it with a sustained blast to the back and it wheeled around, giving Atlas room to move.
He caught sight of Lior and Cassia working together, drawing the ogre's attention, holding their ground against something far beyond either of them. He felt something swell in his chest watching them. Across the open ground, Reyn was already a shrinking shape against the sky. She would come through. He was certain of it.
The ogre fixed its attention back on Atlas and came after him. Cassia heaved upward with both arms and a mass of roots tore free from the earth. Lior took his cue and leaped, pulling his arms back, breathing in fast and deep.
The ogre stumbled on the roots and Atlas hit it with a full tackle, enough to tip its weight past the point of recovery. It crashed down. He got clear just as Lior's hands drove forward and a massive plume of flames poured over the fallen beast.
"Direct hit! That has to do some damage!" Cassia exclaimed.
The ogre rose slowly, brushing fire from its face as it stood. Then it smiled.
Atlas felt rage cut through him at the sight of it.
He came in fast, low, sliding underneath before it could react. He pushed off the ground and jumped hard, landing on its back, then launched himself again into the air above it.
Below, Lior and Cassia held its attention. Vines wrapped around its limbs as it tore through them in fistfuls, advancing steadily while fire blasted into its face, seemingly feeding something in it rather than breaking it.
As it began to close the distance, Atlas came down and swung with everything his fall carried behind it. The axe connected with a heavy thud.
The ogre didn't fall. It simply roared and reached up to grab him. The massive hand closed around Atlas before he could move, and then he was thrown straight down into the ground at terrible speed. He struck, rolled, and came to a stop.
Cassia cried out, but she couldn't break from the ogre bearing down on them. "Split up. You go that way, I'll go the other. Keep it wrapped as long as you can." Lior commanded.
"Got it." She took off. She worked her arms constantly, pulling vines from the earth to constrict its legs. She had never seen anything tear through her plants so easily. She felt as though she was barely slowing it down.
The beast paid her little mind, stomping after Lior as he ran flat out, blasting flames back over his shoulder. For a stretch they kept it moving, buying time. Then it burst through Cassia's vines and lunged suddenly. Lior had been expecting a swing. He had no way to dodge.
The hand closed around him and slammed him into the dirt. The ogre raised its fist above him and brought it toward the earth.
Cassia willed her vines with everything she had, arms shaking, but she was too far and moving too slow.
The fist came down.
Boom.
No dust. No impact.
Atlas stood over Lior with both arms raised, body shaking, holding the massive fist off the other boy.
Lior stared up from where he lay, barely conscious. Atlas was bloody. He was battered. He had taken blows that would have killed Lior outright, and he was still here, standing over him.
All those times he had cut Atlas down for not having a Nexus. He had been so wrong.
"Atlas..." he croaked.
Atlas couldn't hear him.
Cassia's vines finally reached the ogre's arm and hauled it back, taking the weight off Atlas. Without hesitation Atlas was already moving, sprinting in and launching himself off the ground. He rose straight into the ogre's chin and drove an uppercut into it with his full weight behind the blow.
The ogre stumbled back a step, then found its footing and roared as Atlas landed. It came for him again. Atlas had no more moves left. He could only watch as another attack swept toward him.
Suddenly energy erupted from the sky.
A pillar of lightning coursed down and struck the ogre, frying it where it stood. Reva dropped from above and landed in front of Atlas. She looked him over, taking stock of his condition. "Glad to see you're still standing, Atlas. I'll handle it from here."
The ogre took a lurching step forward, still intent on its enemies. It didn't take another.
Reva raised one hand, palm up. Pillars of metal rose from the ground and closed in around the beast. She turned her palm down and lowered it. The pillars drove inward, embedding into the ogre's chest and back and tearing through it from within.
She broke her stance. The pillars receded into the earth. The beast toppled with an enormous, shuddering crash and lay still.
Reva was already moving toward Lior and Cassia. Atlas ran to join them.
"Is he alright?" he asked.
"He'll survive," Cassia told him. She was already pulling small flowers and herbs from the ground and grinding them between her palms. "You two shouldn't be so reckless, throwing yourselves at something like that."
Atlas looked at her, unsure what to say.
"But thank you. You both protected me out there." She smiled at him.
Reyn slid off her dragon as it landed nearby and came to stand beside Atlas, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You look like hell. I'm glad you're okay. When that tree hit you I didn't think you were getting up from it."
"I'm surprised I did," Atlas said. "I just had to get up and keep fighting."
Then Lior coughed and pushed himself upright. Cassia told him sharply not to move, but he came to a sitting position anyway and found Atlas with his eyes.
"You could have been crushed, you idiot."
He said it without any real heat behind it. And somehow they were both smiling.
Lior held his gaze. "Thank you." Atlas gave a single nod back.
"So I leave for half an hour and now you two are best friends?" Reyn said.
Cassia laughed first, and the rest followed.
"Alright, now that Lior can move, let's head back." Reva paused mid-stride and turned to face them. "You all did well today. This threat was beyond what you should have faced, and you fought anyway, to protect the people of that village. You fought as a team, and you protected each other. I'm proud of you all."
She turned and walked on. The group looked at each other with quiet pride. Reva didn't offer praise unless they had truly earned it. They all felt it, the same understanding passing between them without anyone having to say it.
They loaded onto Reyn's dragon and lifted into the sky.
"Are you sure you're okay, Atlas?" Reyn asked as they flew. "That hit was brutal. Cassia should probably be working on you instead of Lior."
"I'm fine," Atlas said. "Knocked the wind out of me. For a second I didn't think I'd get back up."
He glanced at the others.
"But I could still hear you fighting. So I did."
Cassia didn't look up from her work, herbs turning slowly in her palms as she treated Lior.
"I don't know how you survived that," she said quietly.
Atlas didn't answer.
Lior, barely keeping his eyes open, caught the small smile that crossed Atlas's face. He said nothing.
When they returned to the academy, the conversation found its way back to the fight.
"We need more damage output," Lior said. "We couldn't bring something like that down."
"Well, it was enormous," Cassia said. "It made Reyn's dragon look small. What were we supposed to do?"
"My dragon barely scratched it," Reyn added. "And Atlas' axe wasn't doing much either."
"It took my full blast head on and didn't even flinch." Lior went quiet for a moment. "Maybe we need to start combining attacks. Atlas, what do you think about swinging a flaming axe next time?"
Atlas laughed quietly. "That might actually be interesting. Probably still wouldn't be enough for something like that. But yeah."
"Hey, I'm just thinking out loud. Someone has to be the brains around here," Lior said.
They all laughed as they moved through the halls.
"Lior!"
A voice called from the courtyard as they stepped outside.
"Oh. Jaruk." Lior said. "I'll catch you guys later."
He split off without much thought.
Atlas watched him go. Jaruk's eyes moved across the group and landed briefly on Atlas. He didn't bother hiding the scowl.
Atlas said nothing. He turned and kept walking.