Chapter 30 - Spectacle

“Spectacle? How so?” Eve asked, looking at Darrien.

“Use it all,” Darrien said. “Whatever you can. Make the archers and the boss focus on you. Blue and I will slip in behind them, take out the groups along the way, then finish the boss.”

Eve studied him for a second. “You sure you can do that with just the two of you?”

Blue smiled. “Archers are weak in close quarters. We’ll have the advantage. Don’t worry.”

“When the volley of arrows stops,” Darrien pointed. “Head that way until you see a cliff. That’s where we will be.”

With that, Blue and Darrien took off. Cynthia raised a barrier, enclosing the group. Nomi stayed beside Chris, carefully working on his shoulder. Samantha and Eve didn’t hold back. They used everything they had left, tearing through the surrounding area to draw attention.

Behind them, explosions lit the forest. Fireballs burst against the trees. Stone boulders crashed through the canopy. Darrien glanced back and grinned. “We need to be quick. They can’t keep that up forever. Follow me.”

He picked up the pace. Blue followed, but barely. Darrien moved like he belonged to the shadows, slipping between them, never fully visible. For a moment, Blue was reminded of chasing Yeol and Cheng through the mountains. He smiled. Then focused. Qi flowed into his legs as he shifted into Flowing Steel, letting the technique carry him forward. Along the route to the cliff, the two moved together, cutting down groups of archers as they went. By the time the creatures realized what was happening and shifted their attention from the team to them… it was already too late.

The bows fused to their arms made it difficult for them to react up close. Group after group fell under Blue and Darrien’s speed and precision. Then they stopped. Just out of sight of the boss. The explosions behind them had stopped. They watched as the boss reached back, pulled an arrow from the ground, set it to the string, and drew. Then released. The sound tore through the air. Neither of them moved. All they could do was trust the team. Darrien’s voice cut through the moment. “Now!” They moved. “I go high... you go low!”

The boss reached for another arrow, but this time, it saw them and turned. Drew. Released. The whistle came instantly. Darrien was too close. He twisted mid-air, shifting his weight, turning just enough to avoid a direct hit, but not enough. The arrow tore through him. A chunk of his lower left bicep ripped away. Blue shouted. Darrien didn’t slow down. He waved him off and kept moving. They closed the distance. The boss reached for another arrow.

“No you don’t, asshole.” Blue hurled his jian.

The blade struck the arrow clean out of the creature’s hand. Blue landed, rolled, grabbed his weapon, and moved just before the massive bow slammed into the ground where he’d been standing. As the bow slammed into the ground, Darrien was already moving. He hurled his daggers at the boss, and in the same instant, the creature spun, knocking them out of the air. As it turned, it grabbed two arrows and fired them at the same time.

These were different. A faint blue hue pulsed along their shafts. Blue tracked them for a split second... watched them travel nearly a hundred feet, then watched them curve straight back toward them.

Darrien shouted, “His eyes!”

Blue shifted, dodging the first arrow. As he moved, he saw it... the boss’s eye, glowing blue. Blue gathered qi into his jian and swung, shattering the second arrow mid-flight. Darrien didn’t hesitate. He closed the distance, blade low, aiming for the leg, but the bow met him first. It slammed into his back. Darrien crashed into the ground.

He looked up just in time to see the first arrow circling back toward Blue. “Fucking turn around!”

Blue spun. His jian came up just in time to deflect it, but not cleanly. The arrow sliced across his cheek before driving into the ground beside him. Blood ran down his face. Blue didn’t stop. He turned and dashed toward Darrien as the boss swung again. Blue ducked, sliding past the strike, grabbing Darrien as he moved. “You good?”

“I’ll be okay,” Darrien muttered through clenched teeth.

Blood poured from his arm, soaking the entire left side of his suit. Blue tore a strip from his shirt and tied it tight around Darrien’s upper arm, pulling it into a tourniquet. He cinched it hard. Blue looked back up. The boss stood there, unmoving... watching them. Waiting. Challenging them to make the first move.

“He’s fast,” Darrien said. “And he can control the arrows.”

The two of them stared at the creature.

“We can’t let him grab the arrows,” Blue said.

Darrien exhaled slowly. “I’ll distract him.” He looked at Blue. “Aim for the bow.”

Darrien dashed forward, throwing daggers as he moved in and out of the bow’s range. The creature reached for another arrow. As it drew back, Blue moved. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he launched forward. Everything narrowed. His focus locked onto one point... the joint where the bow fused to the creature’s arm.

The moment the arrow released, Blue leapt. Gathered qi around his blade. One clean slash. The arm severed. The bow fell with it. The boss screamed. Darrien didn’t hesitate. He turned, grabbed two arrows from the ground, and drove forward. Both knees slammed into the creature’s chin, lifting it off its feet and sending it crashing onto its back. Darrien kept moving. He sprinted toward Blue... planted a foot against him and used him as a springboard. He shot into the air as his Aether flared. Black and red wrapped around the arrows in his hands. He came down hard, driving one arrow into each eye of the creature and out the back of its head. Darrien fell backward, arms spread wide. The adrenaline finally wore off.

“Ahhhh… son of a bitch.” He grabbed his left arm.

A moment later, the team arrived. Blue looked back. “Glad to see you joined us.”

“We moved as soon as we could,” Eve said.

“Darrien, oh my God, are you okay?” Cynthia cut in, rushing past Eve as she saw him covered in blood.

“Ugh… clearly I am not.” Darrien groaned.

Eve crouched beside Blue, splashing a bit of the healing potion across the cut on his cheek. “Good job.” After a few minutes, they realized they had time to rest. They treated what wounds they could, with Nomi moving between them, helping where she could, while the rest relied on whatever potions they had left.

Eve looked over the team. Everyone was exhausted. Hurt. Samantha had cauterized Chris and Darrien’s wounds, much to their screaming and her complete lack of sympathy.

“We’ll camp here for now,” Eve said. “Grab something to eat. Rest while you can. The longer we stay here, the worse this gets.”

She stood and walked toward the edge of the cliff. Chris pushed himself up. “She’s right. We can’t leave. Our only option is forward.”

He tossed a few more mana potions to Samantha. Cynthia sat down quietly, legs crossed, slipping into meditation... the only way to recover the flux she’d burned through. Darrien stood, rolling his shoulder slightly. “Well… I’m ready whenever. Not like a chunk of meat’s going to grow back on its own.”

Samantha chugged a mana potion. “Aaron better give us a vacation after this,” she muttered. “I’m not a doctor, you know.”

Darrien looked down at his arm, now burned, and sighed. “Well no shit. Do you see my arm?”

The team laughed. Blue walked up beside Eve. She pointed out into the distance. “There,” she said. “That’s where we’re headed.”

A structure a few miles out stood tall above the trees. Blue followed her gaze. “Looks that way… you ready?”

Eve summoned her spirits, their presence flickering into existence around her. “I am,” Eve said. She turned back to look over the team once again. “We are going to need that power of yours, Blue, or a miracle.”