3.3.19.7 The Juggernaut - Part Three
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| A Centaur Lord from Parthenia, the land Quazar Gykkos-Assis lived. |
However, the troubles are far from over. After the Paladins bailed out safely from the crashed Aurora, they still have to land as close as possible to the gates of Kraal’Thragon.
CRASSH! ‘Nghieeh!!’
One pegasus got shot on the neck with an arrow, and falls straight to the ground along with the rider and passenger: Hernan.
‘Eleviant!’ Iris immediately catches Hernan with the Levitation spell, but the rider falls too far for any wizard to catch and joins his steed in death.
Chris and Dejan relay the order to the others by speech and signs, and they all descend at once to follow Iris and Hernan. The goblin, orc and skeleton archers shoot more arrows at them. The Paladins block the arrows and shower the enemies with Fireballs, Frost Arrows, projectiles and the like, and they finally touch the dry ground again.
‘AAAGH!’ This time a griffin rider gets shot and falls from his steed. Chris immediately dismounts and pats Acavela, his partner. ‘Thank you, my friend. I think I must walk from here on. Go home safely with your mate here.’
And then, he shouts to the riders, ‘All riders, go back now and assist our friends in Crypton! Tell Rael’charon about our progress! Now, go!’
‘Aye, Sir!’ Acavela the red griffin and the riders on the ground immediately take off and withdraw with their comrades on air.
Now It’s eleven against eleven thousand, and the Paladins fight so fiercely like they never did before. They’re outnumbered, but the brutes are clearly outmatched.
Desmond breaks five skeletons, a ghoul and two goblins with a Megaton Impact, earth-reinforced blow, shouting, ‘We must push forward! We can’t stay on like this!’
Agustina the ‘statue-faced’ only responds with ‘An Jokul’me Fyasch!’ and sends a huge wave of Blizzard towards the gate. The enemies are swept away and the Paladins charge through, but soon they’re surrounded again.
Robert sends a horizontal Dragonfire Slash, splitting a group of enemies by the torso, saying, ‘Spells and attacks alone won’t be enough. We must conjure something extra powerful to open the path for us.’
‘Conjure, you say?’ Hernan responds, ‘Oh, I know! An Petra Aschi!’
A hexagram portal appears in front of the Escudian fencer, and SPLASSH! A huge creature comes out from it as if a dolphin jumps out from the sea. The Paladins immediately recognizes it at once as the blue-scaled sea serpent-like Ancient Blue Dragon, the Leviathan Petra.
‘HARRR! How dare you summon me just as I’m halfway across the Petravia Ocean?’ The Leviathan sounds and talks like Eidos, but it’s all coming out from his ego fulfillment and his human counterpart’s past as the Old Man of the Sea, the strangler, the legendary menace of the Petravia Ocean.
Hernan, of course, practices his courtesy as Petra’s ideal partner by responding, ‘Pardon me, O’ Great One. We’re in dire need of your help. Please lend me your strength, because before you now stand the enemies that will surely satisfy you – throngs of them!’
Arrows and weaons start raining on the dragon. He doesn’t get hurt even a bit, yet it’s enough to make him aware of the situation around him before seeing it with his one huge eye in the middle of his face.
‘This big a challenge... And all I need to do is to protect you and your friends until you all go safely into that castle, right? You read my mind and I yours, partner. Shall we begin?’ Petra’s eye flashes with excitement.
‘Ready, fellow Paladins?’ Hernan shouts.
‘Lead the way, Great Petra,’ Cristophe answers, slashing through three ghouls and two goblins with the Ten-Point Chain Slash skill.
Naturally, Petra wastes no time. ‘FHHOARHHH!’ From its mouth comes a huge Tidal Wave that sweeps all enemies frontally. And then he moves, encircling the group of Paladins, forming a Dragon Wave that serves as a protection field, covering their advance.
‘Move as one, push forward to the gate! Watch out for attacks from above!’ Chris leads the small group that walks step-by-step with an accurate, uniform timing. Hence they go too fast or too slow, they will be trampled by the one who should’ve been their shield.
As a living being, the Leviathan doesn’t depend on the aura contact with his partner. He just moves on and on like a whirlpool, and the group soon comes to a halt.
Iris stares at the gate with awe, saying, ‘So, the Dark Gate of Kraal’Thragon is really the last line of defense at all. Look at those carvings on the black wall and the gargoyles – they’re not just for decoration.’
Carol nods, adding, ‘And the guards: dracolichs, trolls, abomies, lichs... and of course, a demonic general. Looks like we have to use maximum force even to get past this gate alone.’
‘...Or, we can get an extra help. An Algaban Aschi! Robert holds his Dragon Saber Grimlock up. A hexagram portal appears out of the blue and an enormous, eagle-beaked red dragon comes out from it. The Ancient Red Dragon Algaban stares down at her rival and peer.
Petra looks up at her, saying, ‘Well, well. Looks like we’re fighting side-by-side this time.’
FWOOM! Algaban immediately gets into action by scorching a dracolich that attacks her, and then she says, ‘Or rather, up-and-down. You break the gate and I’ll burn all enemies around it.’
‘Why can’t it be the other way around?’ The Leviathan protests, and is answered with a fire breath from above. ‘Okay! Okay! I got your point! Sheesh, what a pain!’
‘I heard that!’ says Algaban with a roar. She then burns some more guards, a task more important and urgent than continuing her dispute and argument with her perfect opposition. The Paladins, of course handle the enemies from the back.
BAAMM!! BAMMM! BAMMM!
The blue serpent rams into the massive, gigantic gate one, two, three times, leaving barely a single dent on the ultramassive barrier.
And then he stops as though an idea just struck him, turning towards his partner, saying with telepathy, Hernan, I need your help on this.
Hernan looks puzzled, responding, Huh? Me? Breaking the gate? But how?
I’ll transfer my full power to youand the Albatross. You only have to concentrate that popwer on the tip of your sword and hit that gate one time on one point. Hurry, we must try this!
Hernan quickly comes between Petra and the gate. A streak of blue light shoots from Petra’s enormous eye, surging into Hernan’s body like electricity. He never feels this much energy before and as a medium, his body has limits. So, he channels this excess force into the tip of his rapier as instructed, aims, and...
‘HEEAAAHH!!!’
The Escudian fencer swings his sword with all his might and thrusts straight at the gap between the left and right doors – seemingly the only weak spot on the gate.
BLAAAARSSHH!! The blow goes in forcefully and accurately, but the door still won’t budge!
Hernan is sweating hard with desperation. Just as he’s about to push himself over the limit, suddenly he feels two hands on his shoulders transferring energy. The fencer turns his head back and sees Robert!
‘We can’t rely on Petra alone. We, the Paladins must lend a hand,’ says the white-haired man with a smile of a newborn soul. Behind him comes his soulmate Carolyn, also supplying mana energy, smiling the same way as Robert is, as though they’re two of a kind.
‘Vadis gave my life back, and I’ll help as much as I can as a token of gratitude.’
Tina comes behind Carol without a word, and Desmond behind her, saying ‘We’ve come this far, and we’ve got to move on.’
Kyflynn presses his hands on Desmond’s shoulder, his face looks serious but relaxed. ‘So, we’ll be damned if we just sit back and sweep the critters, while our friends are doing their best.’
Two cold gauntlets rest on the night elf’s ahoulders with a stream of non-elemental energy. A cold, dignified voice comes, ‘If we stop here, all we’ve worked on will be for naught and we’ll lose the things we want to protect.’
Another stream of power comes from the Heir of Vadis, Cristophe with a face full of determination, saying, ‘Glad you understand, Lord Adler. We humans cannot change fate. We can only do our best to find our destiny. So, here we, go, the best of our combined forces. HEEAAAHH!!’
FWOOSSHH!! Chris transfers a huge mass of energy through Adler, and the Viscount amplifies it with his own. The force gets stronger and stronger through the other five Paladins, and as it reaches Hernan it gets compressed, concentrated and...
BLAA-DAAAMMMMM!!!!
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| Sample Image: Chiron the Centaur from Greek Mythology |
End of Chapter 19
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Next Page: Chapter 20
Image Sources:
Centaur Lord: http://art.alphacoders.com/galleries/by_sub_gallery/1050/Centaur
Chiron the Centaur: www.superstock.com
Note to author: Script pg 300/313 chapter20
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