The Elderien Chronicles

The beast's weight

The sorcerer stood outside the large space just anterior to Alastair's house and he watched as the Vines crept up the walls of his house.

Then, as the largest branch of the creeping vines wrapped around the door and pulled it away, Cara screamed again, clinging closer to Alastair that time. Outside, he could see a sorcerer standing, hands stretched sideways with drops of blood hitting the ground at intervals.

Alastair had an idea of what to do, so he grabbed Cara's hand tightly.

"We will leave this place now. Get ready." He said to her and she nodded. Not that she really understood what he was talking about, but for the sake of that very moment, she just did what her mind told her to do.

Alastair sighed and in one swift movement, attempted to dash out of the house, holding Cara's hand. But the sorcerer standing outside his house suddenly controlled a swarm of large, climbing vines at them.

The swarm quickly United into a large mass and hurled at them, but Alastair formed a large shield and blocked the attack. The Vines destroyed the shield, but it stopped their movements nevertheless.

Just then, one of the Vines grabbed Cara.

She screamed as the vine dragged her along the ground, trying desperately to cling onto something, but it was futile. Alastair sprang into action. He shot a bright orb of white energy at the large vine that had grabbed Cara and broke it into two.

The sorcerer snarled as he did, and proceeded to inflict even a larger wound on herself. Cara quickly stood up and began to run towards Alastair as the sorcerer prepared herself for another attack.

She conjured a large mass of black smoke which brought the winds to the scene as she did. She appeared to be gathering the wind into the smoky mass and when she shot it at Alastair, he formed a shield, blocked the attack, and fell on his knees, clapping his hands on the ground as he did.

A telekinetic wave of energy escaped from the impact and pushed the mass of smoke back to the sorcerer who could not deflect it in time. The mass hit her, sending her flying in the air before she hit the ground with a cry.

Cara was amazed. She'd never seen anything like that before. But the moment did not last for as the sorcerer fell to the ground, something gigantic was running towards Alastair.

"Watch out!" Cara screamed but Alastair was not fast enough. The humanoid bear that was running towards him collided with him, grabbed him, and jumped in the air before they both crashed to the ground with Alastair under the beast's weight.

Cara gasped as they fell.

She was certain Alastair had died. There was no way he could survive such a fall, especially with a beast of that magnitude pressing him to the ground. So when the beast rose, shook its head, and turned to her, she felt her heart jump within her and she turned to run away.

She cried as she did, and from a corner of her eye, she could see the sorcerer standing up. The beast was closing in on her, her legs were too weak to outrun something like that. She persisted but then she missed her step and fell.

"Argh!" She cried out as her knee bruised, but as she turned to see how far the beast had come, it suddenly grabbed her from the ground and threw her towards the sorcerer who, at that time, had already conjured a large root to grab her.

She screamed as she flew in midair, but just before the root could grab her, a telekinetic orb wrapped itself around her and shielded her from the root.

The root hit the orb, cracking it a bit before it descended to the ground. Then it rolled away from the sorcerer's location and finally shattered as Cara landed at a safe distance.

Cara looked at Alastair who was struggling to stand up. One of his legs was broken and his left arm did not look so good.

He had bruises all over his face and his nose bled profusely. The sorcerer snarled at him and the beast growled loudly. Then it jumped towards Alastair again who quickly shielded himself from its attack.

Another punch came his way which shattered the shield Alastair had erected. But when he wanted to attack, the beast growled and jumped, giving enough space for a sudden tremor that occurred underneath the ground where Alastair stood.

Alastair shielded himself but a large vine wrapped itself around his right arm and pulled it, dislocating it immediately. Alastair groaned as it did but then, another branch caught his left arm that was already broken.

"No!" Cara cried out but as she did, vines wrapped themselves around her legs, fixing her to the spot. She struggled to break free, but she couldn't.

Then, in one precise move, the beast dashed toward Alastair and punched him in the chest. He crashed to the ground, his ribs broken in several places and blood escaping from his mouth and nostrils.

"Give up, mage. You cannot do anything else in that state. I am only here for the girl. You do not need to throw your life away." The sorcerer said to Alastair as he struggled to breathe.

No, that could not be the end.

He closed his eyes as the beast growled before him, a growl of triumph he presumed. Then he heard Cara's cries of resistance as the sorcerer pulled her along. His entire body was getting weaker by the passing second and he knew what he needed to do. He sighed at the choice he was about to make, but sometimes, one must break the rules to serve the greater good.

He closed his eyes and felt his magic connect with that of the blood around him. He was about to use blood magic, the gift from Hades itself.

As he offered up his blood to the dark beyond, the Vines that wrapped Cara's legs suddenly dried up and broke.

The beast tried to attack him again but vines, large ones, burst out of the ground and wrapped themselves around it, twisting the beast as they crushed it.

The sorcerer snarled and tried to attack again but Alastair redirected her own strike against her and sent her crashing to the ground.

She was immediately knocked out. Cara rushed to him and helped him stand, but he had several fractures in his body.

As he suddenly lost consciousness, he sent her a map of the exact place she was to go. It amazed her how he could do that but she did not delay.

Dragging him along with all of her might, she set off for the healer's place he'd shown her.