Runeblade

Kaius tore through vines and brush alike as he raced through the jungle. His team was ahead of him, Porkchop acting like a plow as he used his strength and bolstered momentum to tear unheeded through the undergrowth.

A high pitched scream echoed through the canopy above. Looking up through clustered ferns, Kaius saw the faint glow of mana concentrating around a maw of needle teeth.

"Another beam coming, be ready!"

His team tensed at his words.

The gathering mana reached a fever pitch.

"Now!"

They scattered, diverging into the undergrowth. Old Thousand Eyes unleashed. Another beam of sonic energy, visible only as a bar of blurred air and potent mana, tore into the earth right where Kaius had just been standing, tearing a furrow into the earth and pelting him with sod.

It was loud — loud enough that other depthsborn had been running from the Champion in fear of becoming lunch. Kaius grunted, restraining himself from covering his ears.

The Champion ripped its head upwards, and the beam carved a path through the jungle. Oak-sized ferns were torn into chunks, their shredded fronds falling to the jungle floor like autumn leaves.

With the sub-canopy ripped open, Kaius caught a glimpse of Old Thousand Eyes racing onwards, its great wings flapping as it began to bank and turn. Then it was gone, hidden by the jungle growth as they raced away from the site of its strafing run.

They reconverged, following Porkchop once more. Kaius grit his teeth — this couldn't continue. Those beams were strong — unblockable and bypassing most of their defences. He'd been clipped once and it felt like he'd shoved his arm into a turning mill stone as his bones cracked and muscles tore.

Dodging them wasn't too hard — thanks to his and Kenva's mana-sight, they had a decent window to react, and it always seemed to target the loudest noise right before it fired. Still, even if they were consistent, it was only a matter of time until one of them made a mistake, or, gods forbid, they ran out of resources.

He'd gotten the Champion's measure by now — he was sure of it. The way it flew, with perfect control and tight adjustments that gave it a startling degree of aerial agility; its relatively frail looking body and the measured war of attrition it instinctively waged.

Kaius would have bet his blade that it was stacked high on regeneration attributes. Even its mana skills lacked the punch he would expect from a Champion a quarter of the way into the second tier.

The inconsistent delivery of its attacks, and the distance it created whenever they landed a hit pointed at one thing — it was keeping its Resources as full as possible, keeping up just enough pressure that they were forced to continue to expend theirs.

A diabolical, frustrating — and worst of all, effective hunting style.

But it meant one thing. If Old Thousand Eyes was mostly invested in its regeneration attributes, with a larger focus on Dexterity like he assumed…it was fragile and comparatively weak, both magically and physically.

If they could bring it down, and leverage their capacity to dish out overwhelming force in a short space of time…

Kaius heard the Champion shriek once more. Through a gap in the sub-canopy, he saw a physical glow emanate from the grey hairs on its stomach — absent of any mana. A skill it had used more than once.

"Needle hairs!" Kenva cried.

He was already moving, slicing through a thin bush of reddened leaves as he sprinted to the left. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ianmus and Kenva race towards Porkchop.

The Champion shrieked again, a cutting noise that stung his ears. Kaius grunted, throwing himself behind the trunk of the nearest giant fern and covered his head as he crouched. Thousands of hand-span long glowing hairs shot through the canopy, tearing through foliage like ballista bolts to vanish into the soft jungle soil.

Kaius's bones rattled as half a dozen hairs glanced off his armour, smashing him with the weight of a sledge hammer and battering his flesh. Three found purchase, hitting at an angle just right to blow straight through his scales. Lines of white hot fire erupted as the shots blew out through the front of his chestpiece.

A wet hacking cough sprayed red blood over the lush undergrowth. Spitting out the blood that lingered in his mouth, Kaius rose to his feet and ran — they would have time before the Champion attacked them again.

"Injuries!" Kaius called, reaching up to tear out the hairs that were still wedged halfway through the scales on his chest.

"They got to me in time! Kenva took a few hits to her leg, but they're already healing!"

Kaius breathed a sigh of relief. The rain of needle-like hairs was one of the most troublesome of the Champion's skills that they had encountered. It was fast, over a wide area, and absolutely devastating with its penetrative ability. The only saving grace was that the wounds each needle left were relatively small and easy to heal.

Still, it was another chip at their condition — a slow wear that would grind them down!

He needed to bring the beast down.

Kaius looked at his brother, sturdy and clad in over a tonne of stone armour. The bat had proven wily, but it had shown it was willing to come in close when there was the space for it to strafe them.

There was a tree not far from them, its titanic trunk visible through the gaps in the sub-canopy. If Porkchop could bait it in with a Bulwark's Challenge, and he stunned it with a Stormlash right as it struck…it might just be enough to bring it down. If Kenva and Ianmus could focus on its wings, they'd be able to ground it permanently.

"Porkchop! How do you feel about taking a hit so we can bring it down?"

"That's literally my job! What's the plan?"

Kaius grinned — it wasn't a certainty, but it was better than their current circumstances. They could do this.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

…

Bursting out of the dense ferns, Kaius raced on the heels of his team as they sprinted into the clearing that surrounded the tree.

He'd briefed his team on his plan. They'd agreed readily, not one of them was willing to let the Champion wear them down slowly over hours. They had to make a play, and this was their best bet.

Looking up, Kaius saw the beast circling far overhead, watching them closely as if curious about what had brought them out of the obscuring safety of the jungle undergrowth.

Ianmus and Kenva skidded to a halt, charging their attacks. They wouldn't have enough time to prepare anything overwhelmingly lethal, but every scrap of power they could cram in helped. Kaius blew past them, keeping pace with Porkchop's charge.

As soon as they were a safe distance from their backline, Porkchop roared. The sound kicked Kaius in the chest, resonating with the fury and frustration of an apex predator who demanded its due.

Kaius felt his blood roar in response, stoking the fire in his chest. Song called to song, and his hunger to put an end to this farce of a battle towered to new heights.

The challenge didn't go unanswered. Even before Porkchop had unleashed his Skill, Old Thousand Eyes had been banking into a steep dive. The second it heard his call, the Champion released a shriek of its own and swerved into a tight hairpin turn that would bring it straight to his brother.

Kaius slammed his sword into his sheath, both hands held ready. His lungs bellowed, drinking in the fresh jungle air as a flush of anticipation crept up his neck. This was it.

Porkchop braced, ready for the Champion that shot towards him like a slung stone.

Bare strides before the Champion hit the ground, Old Thousand Eyes flared its wings, lashing out with claws that glowed with the might of an unseen skill.

Porkchop was ready, thrusting his claw into the ground to summon a wall of jade to block the attack. In the same moment, Kaius called on the power he had bound into Drakthar.

A crackling whips made of a gods' chained fury appeared in each of his hands.

The Champion's claws cracked Porkchop's summoned wall. It shrieked in outrage, speed carrying it onwards as it beat its wings to gain altitude. Kaius unleashed.

His spells pulsed and flared as they cut through the air faster than Kaius could blink, empowered by the reverberant force that saturated his mana pool. Both Lashes bound the Champion in searing chains of mana.

It screamed, smoke rising from its body as it convulsed — wings snapping half closed to send it carrening sideways towards the ground.

Even with two casts, his stun barely lasted for a moment. With as much Vitality as he suspected the beast to have, its natural resistance to afflictions would be hard to overcome for long.

It was just barely enough. Unlike his last attempt over the river, the Champion was a bare few longstrides above the jungle floor. It smashed into the ground, wings crumpling awkwardly against its chest as its speed sent it into an uncontrolled roll.

He and Porkchop raced after it, desperate to capitalise on the opportunity.

Old Thousand Eyes rose to its feet, shaking its head as it snapped its wings open. They were burned, red and black sores weeping freely alongside similar wounds on its chest and back. They were already healing, fresh skin and fur slowly erupting from the edges of the wounds.

It beat its wings once. Twice.

Kaius grit his teeth, blue motes of mana erupting from his Aelina glyph as he cast Slip Step. The Champion dashed away from him, awkward and ungainly on the ground. Every step, it beat its wings faster, turning into a fast hopping bound.

They couldn't lose this opportunity. He cast Nail after Nail, hoping to mire the joints of its wings with twisted steel.

Five in total, three of them missed, his sprint and the distances involved throwing off his aim. One sank deep into its back, drawing another gurgle of agony from the Champion. The other tore a ragged hole in its wing, too small to be anything but a minor inconvenience.

Kaius cursed under his breath. Where the hell were Ianmus and Kenva?! If they couldn't ground it, it would just back off until it had healed and its resources had regenerated!

As if his backline could sense his anxiety, two shots tore across the open ground — a cutting lance of solar light punched straight through the base of the Champions wings, burning a furrow across its back. Half a moment later, a streak of blue slammed home, punching deep into the dense knot of flight muscles on the bat's chest.

A cry of relief and bloodlust burst from his lips as Kaius raced toward the Champion, existence warping around him with every step.

Old Thousand Eyes let out a gurgling cry, batting its wings as blood torrented to the ground. Mana built within it, concentrating in its legs and drawing a terse frown on Kaius's face.

Another skill, what fresh hell would it be this time?

Before he could question it further, the Champion coiled its legs up tight and leapt — rocketing a full two dozen longstrides into the air. It beat the air fiercely with its wings, gaining speed and altitude, banking shakily as it avoided a hastily shot Lance of Fury.

"Fuck!" Kaius cried, hearing his brother let out a similar roar of frustration. He slammed a balled fist into his thigh, staring at their opponent's retreating form.

Old Thousand Eyes was injured, blood raining from its chest as it sped away. It was wavering, swerving like a drunk — but it was still fast, and its wounds were healing. It steadily rose, hiding itself amongst the obscuring safety of the immense branches overhead and circled. Watching them.

They'd failed.

"Kaius!" Kenva called before he could order the retreat. He snapped towards her voice, seeing the ranger sprinting towards him and waving him down.

"Over there!" She pointed desperately towards the far off cavern wall, "It'll be forced to come in close and won't have as much room to maneuver, I think I'll be able to wear it down if you and Porkchop can weather it!"

Kaius followed her gesture, seeing a gap in the canopy where one of the jungle trees had fallen, shattering the branches of many of its nearest neighbours. It was far, but not too far — he must have missed it with his focus on the Champion.

Hope swelled as he saw what Kenva meant. In that newly opened space, dozens of young trees vied for dominance. Each one was still a behemoth, multiple times the size of the largest redwood he had ever seen — but they were a mere fraction of the size of their fully grown relatives.

They strangled each other in their desperation to monopolise the newly freed source of sunlight that filtered down from the holes in the cavern ceiling so far above. A forest in miniature, where even Old Thousand Eyes Dexterity would be tested by the smaller gaps between the trunks.

Kaius looked up at their enemy, still flying awkwardly as it watched them. They had an opportunity — time while it regenerated the Health it had burned to recover from its wounds.

They could use that to set up.

"Let's go!"