“There’s trouble. Massive movement under us and the upper levels are also starting to stir,” said Ceglar. “It’s not exactly organised but they are getting closer.”

The pyron all panicked and started chattering but Blake ignored them and continued talking with Ceglar. He was well aware that a cool head was necessary.

“What do you think? Charge through to the top or hide, waiting for it the disturbance to settle,” asked Blake while keeping the stairs in his sight.

Ceglar hesitated for a moment.

“I think we need to charge through,” he said. “There’s no telling what caused the disturbance or when it will stop. In the worst case scenario it’s a Newcomer which is claiming new territory that either bested Kegaut or got past him.”

Blake nodded but didn’t agree with the assessment completely. He wanted to continue but Zan-adar butted in curiously.

“Sorry, but what exactly is a Newcomer?” he asked fearfully.

“The collective name we use for the new monster species which appeared,” answered Blake, then continuing his talk with Ceglar.

“I doubt it’s a Newcomer, the major activity is below us and not above,” he said. “But yes, charging seems like a good idea. How do we do this?” Blake looked at the two unconscious pyron which were tied to Ceglar’s shoulders. “I don’t think you can fight that well with those two.”

Ceglar snorted at the remark.

“It will be enough as long we don’t get caught by a group,” he said, moving his muscular arms around, checking their mobility. “You’ll have to blow groups apart from a distance, we don’t really want our companions to get too close to the monsters. Do you have enough juice?”

Blake cocked his head worriedly.

“I’m not at full capacity but I’ll make do,” he said, then turning to the Pyron. “ Can you also fight from the distance?”

The female scientist was the first one to answer.

“We are all quite drained, but we do have a bit left,” she said.

Blake nodded, slightly relieved.

“Good, let’s hurry then,” he said and ran together with the pyron behind Ceglar who lead the way.

They stormed up the stairs and through the corridors following the path they came from. Blake readied a low-power lava orb in his hand again. He grimaced as he ran and looked out for the monsters. If it was just him and Ceglar he’d be much more comfortable, the idea that the pyron could get infected and turn while he had his back to them made him nervous. Suddenly light tremors shook the corridor, causing cracks in the ice with increasing speed.

“The movement is getting stronger,” said Ceglar, still leading them through the icy corridors. “They are all now getting to our position. Give it everything!”

The whole group was now sprinting as fast as they could. Ceglar was restricting his speed before but he now ran ahead, getting down on all four. A considerable distance was built up in a moment between Ceglar and the rest who struggled to keep up. The werewolf suddenly jumped and slashed at a monster which appeared from around the corner. The monster didn’t stand a chance with all the momentum Ceglar had, it’s torso was torn and the werewolf finished the deed with a strong punch to the head, cracking it open with a nauseating sound.

The pyron winced seeing the monster which was supposed to have been one of their kinsmen. Fear spread on their faces but they had no time to stop, they continued with Blake on their front and Ceglar running ahead now that he finished the previous monster.

He turned at the corner, followed by more sounds of crashing. Blake soon got to the turn, slowing his sprint. Ceglar was fighting dozens of monsters which were half-running, half-stumbling into his direction. He continued advancing but every step was followed by a swing of his arms, leaving monsters slashed open and quickly punching them to the side, smirching the clean walls and cracking them up.

Blake and the pyron followed him, the werewolf’s speed and strength was so immense that they still managed to run forward through the frozen halls, jumping over the motionless monsters. The pyron didn’t stomach the scenes quite well, some shrieking as they watched Ceglar fight through the advancing abominations. The torn bodies they went over also caused terror but Blake and Zan-adar were now in the first row, keeping them all running.

Blake saw that his companion couldn’t fight at full potential, he restricted his movements and wasn’t as fast as usual because of the tied pyron. Nevertheless the wolf was a blur of gray and brown which left broken bodies behind it. More and more monsters swarmed from the nearby side corridors and charged Ceglar. A blood freezing snarl was on his face and the werewolf continued his rampage, punching, slashing and slowing their advances by throwing the broken bodies at them but he couldn’t go forward anymore and Blake noticed that the distance he was keeping shrunk gradually.

Blake did a few motions while he ran ahead of the group, causing the orb to grow to the size of a football, glowing much brighter and revealing something which resembled a storm within the orb.

“Get down Ceglar!” Blake shouted and hurled the orb in the air, above Ceglar, illuminating the ceiling as it flew.

The werewolf didn’t look back but just grabbed the nearest monster and threw it into the rest, making them halt for a moment. He then kneeled down turning his head back and throwing his arms up to protects himself. The orb landed a couple meters further, in the middle of the approaching monsters. As it fell down the surging storm within seemed to overpower the invisible barrier which restricted it, unleashing an explosion which engulfed the nearby monsters, catapulting them to the side and setting them on fire. Ear piercing shrieks filled the corridor.

“Go, charge now!” shouted Blake, his voice unsteady from the lost energy.

Ceglar immediately got up and punched himself a path through the scattered monsters. Most seemed disorientated from the explosion so he managed to quickly go through the choke point, followed by Blake and the terrified pyron.

They were now running again with full speed, Ceglar spearheading and tearing the few approaching monsters which were in front of them. A couple abominations posed no problems now that Ceglar wasn’t being overwhelmed. The werewolf lead them with no bigger problems to a side corridor which wasn’t overrun.

“All of them are following us!” said Ceglar grimly while still running. “ Even the ones ahead of us and on our sides somehow seem to know our position.”

“It’s all over… we can’t..” muttered the pyron behind Blake. The latter had no time to wonder how the monsters were tracking them but just waved with his hand swiftly, motioning Ceglar to continue.

“That changes nothing, we need to hurry!” said Blake and turned to the pyron which were running behind and next to him. The group was a sad sight, terrified and only going forward because everyone else was. Zan-adar’s eyes were also full of fear but the man had still spirit, giving everything, something Blake respected.

“The next time it’s you who needs to help and cast something!” shouted Blake at the pyron, not caring if the monsters would hear him, everything was going to hell anyway. “Ceglar is fighting with everything he has to protect your life! Do the same you sad excuses for a safety match or I swear I’ll leave you here!”

The pyron sprung up, some light returning to their eyes. They were still very much terrified but his voice snapped them out the worst. Blake didn’t wait to get an answer, turning his gaze forward and running, suppressing his own fear and anger.

More and more monsters were starting to appear in front of Ceglar as he went through the halls and corridors but the werewolf showed no signs of fatigue yet. Each and every one were disposed of and crashed into the wall in an eyeblink, leaving them motionless.

“We are nearly at the stairs, the main bulk of them is there,” roared Ceglar from the front as he tackled another monster ahead of him. “Ready whatever you have, one orb won’t be enough!” as he said that he broke the monster’s neck, jumped up and continued to run.

Blake was already breathing unsteadily from all the sprinting but he nodded, following.

“Understood,” said Blake.

Zan-adar, ran next to Blake and spoke up, his voice fearful but resolute.

“I’ll also do my part. And so will you!” said Zan-adar, turning to his scientist companions. They sprung up, but gave nervous nods to the merchant.

The group took a few turns, passing frozen gates and houses before arriving in front of a huge hall entrance.

“We are here,” said Ceglar as he ran with full speed into the enormous hall.

As Blake and the pyron followed, their illumination lit up the beginning of the hall revealing a bone-chilling sight, an endless sea of monsters. The abominations were all looking at them, swarming like ants in their direction with loud roars and gurgling noises. Terror gripped Blake’s heart as he saw Ceglar charging straight at the approaching monsters, being outnumbered by hundreds and thousands. Despite all the shrieking an impact resounded clearly as Ceglar threw himself in the midst of the monsters, sending many flying and tearing up many more, spearheading the path for the rest.

Blake grimmaced as he continued running and kept his gaze on the werewolf which was making good use of his claws and fangs. The hall was huge and Ceglar cleared just a thin line, the sea of monsters would regroup in a second.

Beams of light appeared from the pyron’s hands as they ran through the hall. They aimed them in two main directions, doing their best to stop the monsters from flanking them or cutting them off from Ceglar. The beams burned through the monsters, stopping them and slowing the next wave down with the smouldering remains of the previous. Running to their death didn’t seem to bother the monsters as they just continued to advance with their horrible shrieks, using the first row of attackers as shields and trying to decrease the distance.

The pyron desperately tried to hold the freed path between them and Ceglar, shifting from offense that kept Ceglar’s back free to defense which kept them safe from the monsters they passed by.

“That’s it, continue!” yelled Blake back at the following Pyron. Fear was still choking them but going on the offensive let them regain some fighting spirit. “Cover our sides, I’ll take care of any that get through Ceglar.”

Blake conjured his orb but this time he didn’t grow it big but he just turned it a few times with a concentrated look and pushed it against his knuckle, making the barrier yield and engulfing his hand with the orb as if it was some sort of glove. It changed shape to fit his fist and grew dimmer. He repeated the same process with the other, a bit more awkward now that he couldn’t help himself as much with the other hand. The monsters were weaker than Ceglar but their strength was far superior to Blake’s, however that only mattered if the wobbly abominations managed to hit him.

A second later he nodded to the Pyron and they stopped covering the very spot on the front letting a small number of monsters through which were either thrown back by Ceglar’s punch or just missed by him as he advanced. The monster’s weren’t all stuck together so he managed to keep at it with a decent speed.

Blake braced himself as the first monsters approached. One of them had horrible injuries, a slash running from its shoulder to it’s stomach, showing more than it should while the other was seemingly uninjured. Blake ignored the ugly sight and closed the distance between them, dodging the uninjured monster and throwing the slashed up one with a front kick to the chest into a nearby beam, killing it in seconds and leaving charred remains.

He turned, only to barely dodge the stumbling attack of the other monster. It narrowly missed with its jump attack and lost balance for a moment which Blake used well, throwing a hook at the monster’s head making it shriek in pain as Blake’s fiery “glove” burned it’s face with a nauseating sizzle. He threw another punch at the monster and kicked it aside, making it share the same fate as the previous one.

Blake looked ahead, worrying about Ceglar but the werewolf showed no signs of slowing down as he continued his bloody marathon. It didn’t seem like he was holding back any longer on behalf of the tied pyron. The monsters were all weaklings for him but their numbers could easily spell out their doom if he was careless.

More of the abominations were now left behind Ceglar, most with broken bodies and heavy injuries. The werewolf could no longer be as careful as he spearheaded the way and Blake understood that, keeping his orb gauntlet up, punching and tackling the monsters in front of him, making them stumble into the fiery rays with which the pyron held a line.

Blake lost all track of time as they proceeded, sounds of constant shrieking, cracking and sizzling numbing his mind, only interrupted by the occasional bloodthirsty howl Ceglar let out.

Beads of sweat started rolling off his face as he struggled to come up with the power needed for every punch. The pyron behind him managed to keep their deadly rays up for the whole time, shifting them back and forth, just barely managing to keep their formation. They were at the end of their strength too, struggling to keep up, some even losing focus and making their beam flicker.

Blake was just fighting another wave of monsters left behind by Ceglar. Four monsters broke past the werewolf and three injured ones stumbled in Blake’s direction. He ran with heavy steps and ready hands, greeting the first one with a feint to the side and kicking it into the way of the beams. He immediately turned, seeing that the others were now all steps away from him.

He clenched his teeth, suppressing the fatigue and ducked, avoiding the hands of the first monsters. His breathing was growing shallow but he forced himself to continue, jumping up and tackling an injured monster with his shoulder, catapulting it into the rays. Blake tried to catch his fall but failed, landing down. The rest of the monsters all jumped towards him growling and ready to tear him apart. Blake helplessly lifted his arms in an effort to shield himself but thankfully red and yellow lights flashed before his eyes, hitting the monsters and spreading out, making them burn.

Zan-adar appeared behind Blake, flinging the blazing projectiles.

“Get up, I can’t do this alone!” yelled Zan-adar as he threw more projectiles, stopping the monsters next to Blake.

Blake jumped up and swung his fist at a nearby monster but the monster didn’t let him regain his foothold. His punch missed and he narrowly avoided the monsters swipe. He just wanted to launch himself forward but something catapulted him to the side and an excruciating pain spread from his hip. He desperately tried to get up but a monster appeared next to him, pinning him to the floor with its leg and swinging down with it’s arm, wanting to crack his skull.

A fiery blast interrupted it, setting it on fire. Zan-adar appeared in a second and grabbed the monster’s head from behind, making his hand glow brighter as raging flames danced around the monster’s head, leaving nothing but charcoal in a moment.

Blake desperately sat himself up despite the horrible pain in his hip and swung his hands towards the remaining monsters, throwing his flaming gloves towards them and killing them in the following explosion.

Zan-adar quickly threw Blake on his back and continue running, followed by the pyron which seemed to have waited while Blake was on the floor, keeping other monster’s away.

“I can’t continue, my hip… I think it’s broken,” said Blake to Zan-adar who carried him as he ran.

“I saw it, what now?” said Zan-adar tensely as he directed one of his hands forward, making a flickering beam appear. It didn’t seem like he could carry on for much longer, none of the pyron could.

Blake bit his lips, trying to ignore the pain each Zan-adar’s step caused and the heat which burned his skin.

“The others need to keep this up as long as possible” said Blake with a pained tone. “You need to get me to Ceglar.”

The pyron sped up without question, closing the distance to the werewolf which was still roaring and howling as he attacked in all directions.

“Now throw me on his back and tell the rest that they need to get as close as possible,” said Blake. “It doesn’t matter if the line collapses for a moment, just hurry!””

Zan-adar nodded with a fearful expression and got behind Ceglar, throwing Blake onto his back. Blake nearly fainted from the pain which spread through his hip as he fell onto Ceglar, gritting his teeth, but he held onto a tied pyron and screamed up as a muscular paw was just flying towards his head.

“It’s Blake! Don’t!” he yelled and the paw missed him by a hair’s breadth and dug into a nearby monster’s neck instead.

“Why are you here? What are you doing?!” roared the werewolf as he continued tearing through the monster lines.

“We can’t cover your back anymore, the pyron are exhausted and I can’t walk!” yelled Blake, trying to speak over the shrieks of dying monsters. “They will close the distance now. How far are we from the exit?”

Ceglar picked up a nearby monster throwing it the opposite side and slowing other monsters down as he continued advancing.

“We are nearly there. They have to continue!” yelled the werewolf as he fought forward. “We are done if they circle me!”

“They will get closer and do as much as they can, try to speed things up!” yelled Blake while holding on and weaving his legs and an arms beneath the ropes, securing his position. The pain from his hip was terrible but it wasn’t the first time he was wounded. He glanced back, seeing that the pyron caught up and were doing their best with their diminishing powers behind them.

Blake checked the ropes again, confirming he was secured.

“I can’t fight anymore so I’ll leave the rest to you,” yelled Blake at the werewolf and conjured an orb which surpassed the one he previously threw at the choke point. He furrowed his brows as he tried to concentrate on the rampaging Ceglar, the orb grew darker with a vibrant pulsating red centre. The forces inside it violently circled as Blake scanned the area in front of Ceglar with sweat dropping down his face. He lifted his arm and flung the orb with all the strength he had left, afterwards letting it fall lifelessly down on Ceglar.

Everything around him was growing black and the last thing he saw was the huge explosion in front of them.

*******

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