Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

"First off, I'm swamped," Orion stated flatly. "And besides, Kraken can't leave right now."

He gestured toward the ocean. "Don't think for a second that this front is quiet. The dragons might not be escalating the war, but they sure as hell haven't agreed to a ceasefire."

The situation in the Emerald Dream Realm was far from stable. Kraken was the team's only Sea Race arch lord; he was essential to holding the line. As for Orion, his schedule was already packed. On top of the planned invasion of the Silverwood Realm, he had promised to go with his bro Arthas to the Godforsaken Land to raid for black gold. He had absolutely no time for a side trip to the abyss.

"Ugh, and it was such a perfect plan," Makareth sighed dramatically. "Right down the drain." Isabella's expression soured as well.

"Instead of chasing materials for a hypothetical raid, maybe you should focus on locking down your territories on the Dusk Continent," Orion said, twisting the knife.

.....

The Silverwood Realm, The Stillness.

While Orion was giving Isabella a hard time, a certain Wood Elf was living through her own personal hell.

Thwip!

A wind-infused bolt shot from the dense woods, striking the lead Red-Eyed Ghoul. It tumbled to the forest floor in a spray of blood, only to be swarmed by the ghouls following it, which immediately began to tear the corpse apart in a cannibalistic frenzy.

The arrow had bought Xylia thirty seconds. Tops.

Once the corpse was devoured, the pack of demonic monsters, still hungry, picked up her scent and resumed the chase.

Xylia's face was a calm mask, but panic was clawing at her insides. What now? My mana is completely gone. I can't manage a power shot, can't even cast a basic healing spell.

She glanced down at the bandage on her left leg, now soaked through with fresh blood. Ripping another strip from the hem of her tunic, she wrapped it tightly over the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding.

There has to be a chance. There has to be hope for the Wood Elf race.

As one of the Guardians of the Wood Elves, Xylia's will was iron. She wasn't like Freyla. Xylia had seen more combat, had lived by the brutal laws of the forest. For survival, for a sliver of hope for herself and her people, there was no line she wouldn't cross. That was the difference between a Guardian and a standard Elder.

Even now, pushed to her absolute limit and completely out of options, she refused to give up. It was that unyielding spirit that had forged her squad—Angel and the others—into such a loyal and capable unit.

Roar!

Just as she hauled her aching body onto the branch of a massive tree, a piercing shriek erupted from the woods ahead. It was a sonic attack, the kind only an Alpha-level Cyclopes could produce.

With her mana depleted, she had no defense. The sonic attacks slammed into her, and she lost her grip, plummeting from the tree.

Damn it! An ambush!

She hit the ground with a sickening thud. Her left arm, which she'd used to break her fall, was now useless, sending waves of agony up to her shoulder. But even then, the will to survive didn't flicker. Gritting her teeth against the pain that felt like ground glass in her bones, she tried to push herself up, to crawl into the relative cover of a nearby bush.

It was no use. Her wounded leg gave out. She couldn't move.

"Drive out the demonic monsters… rebuild our home…" she whispered, her voice a raw rasp.

The massive, one-eyed Cyclopes stepped out of the trees. Xylia pulled the dagger from her belt.

"Drive them out!" she screamed, raising the dagger toward the beast in a final act of defiance.

In that instant, an overwhelming Legendary level presence descended, crushing the Alpha-level Cyclopes and freezing it in place.

Boom!

A stone pillar, like a massive totem pole, fell from the sky, smashing the Cyclopes into a gory pulp.

At the same time, the shrieks of the Red-Eyed Ghouls in the woods behind her were joined by a chorus of low, guttural snarls—the sound of something not quite man, not quite beast. The forest suddenly felt far more sinister.

"Who are you?" Xylia demanded, her guard still up. She watched as a figure landed silently atop the totem pole.

Tangere ignored her. He hopped off his plaguetotem and stared down at the pile of gore with an expression of genuine annoyance. An Alpha-level Cyclopes corpse was a prime reagent for summoning rituals. What a waste.

"Who are you?" Xylia asked again. She knew anyone who could kill a Cyclopes that effortlessly was far beyond her league, but she felt no fear. The stranger had saved her life, a fact she couldn't ignore, so her tone was a fraction less hostile than before.

"Who I am doesn't matter to you," Tangere said without looking at her. "If you want to know why I saved you, just wait. The people you're looking for are on their way."

He glanced back at her confused face, then turned and walked toward the sounds of combat between his Plague-thralls and the Red-Eyed Ghouls. He was here to collect corpses, after all.

"Captain!"

"Captain, where are you?"

Before long, familiar voices echoed from the woods. The confusion in Xylia's eyes vanished. "I'm here!" she yelled back, her voice cracking.

Moments later, a group of Wood Elves, led by Aerin and Angel, leaped through the canopy and landed around her.

"The captain's hurt!"

"Oh, gods, Captain, what happened?"

"Don't you die on us!"

Seeing the faces of her twenty-something squad members surrounding her, Xylia finally let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. The tension that had kept her going for days finally snapped.

"Elder Aerin," she said, looking up at the woman already casting a healing spell over her. "Was it you who saved us?" She recognized the newly ascended Elder from a few brief encounters during past patrol rotations.

"The wounds weren't fatal, but you let them fester for too long," Aerin said, her focus on the spell. "We can talk later. Let's get you back to camp first, and I'll explain everything."

She needed to get them all to safety before she dropped the whole story on them. It was the only way to ensure they'd stay.

Xylia studied Aerin's face for a long moment, then nodded, accepting the offer.