Chương 72: Chapter 71 - Defending the Plateau

Aaron backed up next to Giddeon. His back tensed as it touched the cold stone behind him. The hum of the portal opening vibrated through him.

"What is it?" Gideon muttered through tense breaths as he strained.

"Cats.. I think," Aaron replied.

"Lots of them," Alex added as he tucked in behind Aaron, wedging himself between him and the rock.

"You really need to learn to fight," Paige drawled.

"Just keep them off me. I only need a couple of minutes. Surely you can manage that?" Giddeon said. The scorn in his voice was palpable.

"Yes, of course," Paige said as she moved in to cover the opposite flank to Aaron.

"Tim, don't get yourself injured. You just need to keep them away for a few minutes. Flap your arms, shout, do whatever you can to scare them off," Aaron said. Tim covered the last slot around Giddeon. Aaron stood on his left flank, Paige on his right and Tim at his back. The rock covered the approach from the front.

"Sure. I'd rather not get too close to one of those things if I can help it." The cats crept forwards, but stayed cautiously distant from the party. Four creatures stalked around the plateau. They stared and circled, keeping their heads close to the floor and eyes locked onto them. One of them opened the keratinous points which made up their mouth and let out a series of high-pitched pulses. Another cat hissed and responded with its own series of pulsed shrieks.

"Are they… talking to each other?" Alex asked. His voice quivered. Paige rolled her eyes so hard it looked audible.

"Does it matter?" She reached into her belt and grabbed a dagger. She tossed it down, and it bounced across the stony ground towards Alex. He flinched away from it and looked up at Paige.

"Well, pick it up then!" Stone screeched as one of the cats charged forwards, but it dug its claws in and ground to a halt as the party refocused their attention on it.

"I don't like the look of this. They look intelligent. It's waiting until we're distracted," Tim said. Aaron focused his eyes forward at a cat as he spoke. It locked its void-black eyes with his, and the muscles on its back rippled as if it was tensing for an attack.

"We won't get distracted then. Alex, get up. The more eyes on them, the less likely they are to attack." Alex grabbed the dagger and scampered to his feet. He tucked in between Aaron and Tim and held the knife forwards with a straight arm and locked elbow. Aaron sighed. He can't fight, but I just need him to stay put. Maybe it will be enough to intimidate the corrupted creatures. The cats strafed back and forth in front of them, equally spaced apart. One of them brushed shoulders with another as it walked past.

The second cat jumped back and let out a fierce hiss. It swiped at it, smacking its head to the side. But it didn't do any damage. It simply opened its beak, creaked out a series of eerie vocalisations and then continued to strafe back and forth, but keeping a greater distance from the other cat this time. Wind continued to blow out from Giddeon and the portal, but the area close to the stone was like the eye of a storm—there was little noise and the gusts felt gentle.

The cats, however, were battling the spell to get to them. Their claws were out and gripping the rock as they kept their bodies close to the ground. Unlike normal cats, these were hairless. But if they had hair, it would be blowing back in the wind and acting against their advance. They began to close in. The strafing turned to prowling and the screeching to rumbling and growling. Cuthbert cawed in quick succession from the top of the rock Giddeon was casting a spell on.

Aaron had to strain and focus not to turn to look at the bird. Their connection was strong as ever. It hurt to hear him agitated and not check. Even though he knew he was fine. Paige whipped her saber towards them, slicing across the air. A gust blew back Aaron's hair and whistled in his ear. The closest cat was forced up onto its hind legs by the blast of wind. It flailed its front paws frantically, but was swiftly blown over onto its back.

It scrambled back onto its feet and crouched low to the ground a few paces back. It opened its beak, baring rows of jagged teeth. Its mouth rippled in the wind coming from Giddeon's spell. It was impossible to tell how sentient or intelligent these creatures were, but if Aaron had to guess, this thing was making a threat. A panicked caw called down from above, followed by rapid beating of wings. Aaron looked up. A black paw swiped and barely missed Cuthbert as he took off from the rock and flew overhead.

The creature had climbed onto the rock behind them. But it didn't give them a chance to react. Dark skin and jagged teeth darted towards Aaron's face. He jumped to the side, but not far enough. Pain seared through his arm as a claw glided through his flesh. He wanted to yell in pain, but held his focus. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. He turned to attack the beast, but Alex beat him to it. He sunk his dagger into its flank with a frenzied flurry of stabs.

Its whimpering screeches were overshadowed by a bone-rattling scream as the other creatures took the opportunity to attack.

"Stand your ground, stay together," Aaron yelled over the roaring wind. But the heat of battle had already risen. The cats launched in, singling out Paige. With a mix of dexterity and skill, she ducked and rolled from the assault and made it out unscathed, but she was separated from the party and fighting alone. Tim ran to her aid, with Aaron and Alex close behind. Tooth, claw, and black flesh whirled in the wind as the battle ensued.

All Paige could do was parry and evade the onslaught of claws, but the others managed to slice the creatures from behind. Aaron's dagger landed multiple times, but was met with tough resistance. Only the direct blows managed to penetrate through the skin. The rest glanced off as if slicing against a rock.

"Behind you!" Paige shouted. Aaron turned. The creature Alex stabbed was back on its feet and limping towards Giddeon.

"I'll go. Help Paige." Staff clasped in hand and knife in the other, Aaron sprinted back. The beast was injured, but Giddeon was too focused on the spell to defend himself. One claw swipe in the wrong place could be enough to kill. Even with Aaron's Manipulation magic. In cat-like fashion, the beast crouched down low and lined up for a pounce. But Aaron arrived first. He brought the head of the staff down onto the creature's head, sending it straight down into the floor.

The force reverberated through Aaron's arms, surging pain through his injured shoulder. Aaron covered his shoulder with the clasped fist of his knife hand and rubbed it to try and soothe the pain. Stay down, damn it! The creature's body twitched, and ripples flowed down the angular muscle fibres running across its back. But it didn't last long. In a split second, it shot into action and sprang back onto its feet—facing Aaron this time. The beast lumbered towards him.

One of the three leaflets making up its beak was stuck to the side, unable to close fully. Jagged teeth poked through and bit into the outside of its lip. Black blood trickled down its mouth. Daggers struggled to puncture them, except with a point-blank stab. But teeth might do the trick. Aaron locked eyes with the beast. Nothing reflected back in its beady black eyes. The only thing that differentiated them from the skin was a faint moist shimmer.

He muted out the roaring wind and shouts from his friends to focus on controlling the beast. Dominion Over Undead was rank 10, and capped there until Mastery of Undead was taken, but he'd had little trouble controlling dogs and bats. Sit, he commanded in his mind's eye. Mana flooded out of him like a plug had been pulled out of a bath. His knees buckled and threatened to send him to the floor, but he managed to steady himself. The cat's back legs trembled, but slowly lowered to the floor.

It sat upright with its front legs straight and paws together. The muscles in its arms bulged and twitched as if it was fighting for control—desperate to attack him. I can't hold this for long, I need to move fast. Aaron steadied himself for the flow of mana with the next command, then told the creature to attack its ally. It obliged, but not before a plume of icy mana expelled with a deep exhale. Specks of blue mana fluttered out of his mouth, around his head, and then dissipated. The mana cost was unbearable.

His legs trembled, then gave way. He plummeted to the ground and caught himself with outstretched arms. The cut on his shoulder seared with pain, and for the first time, he noticed blood saturating his tunic above his shoulder. A blur of black shot past him. Its claws clacked as they raked against the rocky surface. The beast launched itself through the gap between Tim and Alex. They were too busy stabbing at the beasts chasing Paige and were battered to the sides in its wake.

It sunk its claws into the rear of another beast and bit down onto its back. The cat screeched so loudly that it drowned out the already deafening winds, and black blood poured onto the rock. The creature spun round with unnatural agility and shook the beast to the floor, then pounced onto its side and ripped at its flesh, spraying out blood and ribbons of skin. A ball of black rolled around the plateau as the beasts battled. Aaron jumped out of their way, narrowly avoiding getting ripped open by a stray claw.

One beast stopped chasing Paige and turned its attention to Tim and Alex, whilst the last one still pursued her. It pounced up towards her chest, but she was quick enough to roll to the side, duck under its paw, and slash at its leg. Aaron desperately tried to help, but his legs failed him. The simple command had drained him to the point of exhaustion. But he had one last trick. He spoke through his mind's eye. Cuthbert, fly in from behind and blind the beast attacking Paige. The mana cost was negligible.

He wasn't asking the bird to do anything he wasn't already prepared to do—to help his friends. The bird went from slowly circling above to flying at speed and zoning in on its target. It flew round to the back of the cat and dived. The beast never saw him coming. Cuthbert swooped in from behind, flapped its wings twice to slow himself and clasped his sharpened talons around the bulging black eyes. The beast writhed and swiped up at its head, but it was too slow.

The bird took off, clamping down and scraping its eyes as he left. The feline creature swiped frantically in front of itself, but it was helpless. Paige maneuvered to its flank and plunged her saber into its side. She clasped it with both hands, placed the hilt against her shoulder, and drove it upwards towards its heart. A final attempt to thwart its attacker was futile as it went limp and fell to the floor.

"Time to go, now!" Giddeon shouted. Aaron barely noticed the wind was gone. He could hear his own laboured panting and his heartbeat pounding in his ear. The rock was now filled with a flowing sea of blue mana. A muted reflection of trees shimmered through it, as if looking through a frosted mirror. Cuthbert was first to fly through. He glided into the rock and disappeared with a spark of blue light. Aaron clambered to his feet.

With his dagger back in his belt, he was free to support himself using his staff with both hands. But walking was slow, and his injured shoulder felt like it could give way at any moment. Paige, Tim and Alex had regrouped, but so had the beasts. The remaining three stalked towards them. Wind flew out of Paige's hands, but the cats resisted. The beasts skulked low to the ground and pushed through it. Giddeon raised a hand, and a ball of fire floated out above their heads.

It lowered down in front of Paige and combined with the wind. In an instant, the gusts ignited, and flames roared forwards. A mixture of roaring flames and screeching filled the plateau as the party turned and ran. One by one, they made it through the portal. Giddeon grabbed Aaron by the arm, sending pain shooting through his shoulder, then flung him through. Blue mirrors danced around him, reflecting himself infinitely. They distorted and inverted, and radiated a blinding blue light as they danced around him.

Aaron's insides knotted and twisted and his body stretched and contracted. He was falling from the sky, yet not moving at all until everything snapped to a halt and dirt crashed into his face.