Sunny had kept more than one watch shift, taking on the position until morning came, and the others were finally able to see again, after waking up again, of course.
Having finished his extremely long, and uneventful shift, Sunny went to sleep, as the others went to work on their own things.
When everyone was awake, Nephis gave each person a task, and with no complains from anyone, they quickly went to do what they were asked for.
Nephis took care of their breakfast – or lunch – or brunch.
Caster was assigned to continue their map of the forgotten shore. The one, where before were mostly the positions of the statues on. Now, he was also adding certain vantage points, where the cohort could rest on the way back.
Cassie remained close to Nephis, always remaining alert and sensitive to anything that may feel wrong. Their blind seer was, after all, very good at sensing things that were about to happen, which in most cases could be disastrous.
And the trio of Effie, Kai, and Ray, were assigned to fortify the platform of the severed neck, where they were staying on. For this they used the previously looted iron plates, from the iron spiders they had continuously encountered on the way.
Nearly all of the plates were shaped into iron rods, which could either be used as make-shift spears, or were used to create a railing around the surface, to help them all hold on. Only few were used to create actual defensive covers, which were simply integrated into the railing of iron rods and the golden rope.
With everyone hard at work, they managed to get their jobs done, by the time Sunny woke up again. Now everyone was resting, back in the middle of the smooth surface, eating the remains of the earlier cooked food.
That was, until Cassie suddenly looked south with a somewhat troubled look on her face, "I think… I think a storm is coming."
After hearing this, everyone threw a look at the gray sky. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary right now, but if their seer was saying so, then they would be stupid if they wouldn't heed her words.
Every member cursed in their minds. Storms were always a problem in the dream world, but depending on the zone on was in, they would be stronger or weaker.
And here in the forgotten shore?
Here, on the forgotten shore, if one was outside of the dark city, it could nearly be called a death sentence. A storm meant that the dark sea would rise earlier than usual, this alone was already bad, but the things it brought with it were just as dangerous.
Due to the earlier arrival of the sea, the nightmare creatures would behave unpredictable. And that was not just the ones roaming the ground by day, but the deep sea dwellers were no different.
It was Nephis, who made them all move, "You heard her. Prepare…"
But their blind seer stopped them, "Wait. There is something else."
"You can sense more?" Ray asked her, already feeling a certain uneasiness.
"Not really sensing. I just… I can hear something else. A rustle."
The second she finished talking, Kai and Ray suddenly moved. Kai raised his bow, while Ray aimed his throwing knives at the sky. Nearly in the same instant, they each released their memories, hurling them into the sky.
All of the others hadn't even been able to fully understand what was happening, when two dark shapes fell from the sky, and heavily crashed into the platform.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Flesh Reaver]
[Your being is getting forged.]
Most jumped back in surprise, the moment these things smashed into the ground next to them.
What lay before them were two corpses of nightmare creatures, resembling locusts.
When the others finally made sense of what had happened, they also noticed how Ray and Kai hadn't taken their eyes of the sky, yet. They didn't even have the time to wonder, before both loosened another volley, resulting in one more locust falling from the sky, pierced by both, arrow and knife.
Not even averting their eyes, Kai and Ray both yelled as one, "Those things come in swarms!"
Only then, did the information they had, finally register inside the minds of the others. By then, the sounds of the swarms many wings also reached the cohort completely.
When one came close, after having evaded one of Ray's knives, Effie raised, and threw her spear, basically causing the creature to explode, due to the force used.
Caster was also summoning his own memory, as Nephis raised her sword. The normally composed leader also shouted an order to Cassie, "Cassie! Wind!"
The blind girl flinched, but immediately after called upon her staff, which materialized seconds later.
By that point, Caster's memory had also already materialized. A sling shot, which he used to target the wings of the locusts, taking away their most pressing advantage.
The next instant, Cassie raised the staff, and a literal wave of wind crashed into the approaching swarm, causing every target hit, to stagger, and some even to fall.
One of those that fell, landed unfortunately on the platform, and without hesitation jumped at Sunny. The young man, decapitated it, but the inertia caused it to still crash into him, throwing him back, close to the edge, where he got a short glimpse of the lower parts of the colossus.
And, what he saw, made his blood run cold, and his face become even paler.
Numerous dark shapes were currently climbing the legs of the giant, headless statue.
Next, he used his kunai with the attached string, to take off the wings of another locust, managing to kill it a moment later.
Back in the center of the platform, the situation was gradually worsening, more and more were coming down, and even together they were unable to kill all of them fast enough, to stop them from approaching them.
'Argh, fuck it!' Ray cursed, before lowering his gaze for a moment, "Kai! Caster! Aim for the wings! Nephis! Take care of the ones landing on the platform! Effie, you too!"
Most acknowledged the order more instinctively, than consciously. Nevertheless, everyone followed suit.
Kai and Caster adjusted their aims, to no longer aim for lethal hit, and instead went for the membranous wings. As for Nephis and Effie, the two quickly abandoned their fruitless attempts of participating in the air battle.
While Effie was able to kill quite a few, she simply burning through her essence way too fast, to make it until the end of the battle.
The plan quickly reaped results, since through the adjusted aim, Kai and Caster were hitting even more accurately, due to not being restricted to aim for the head, any longer.
Most that were hit, thankfully didn't even land on the colossus, but those that did, were swiftly cut down by the combination of the incandescent fire, and pure muscle power.
As for Ray, since his knives didn't have any extra safety measures, every hit could become lethal, which led him to simply aim for the locusts' midsections from the very beginning, and it made the best results.
The ones hit, either did before, or after hitting the floor, only depending on where they were hit. These were mere beasts, and swarm dwellers at that. Meaning, they certainly did not have much protection going for them.
When the members of the cohort were slowly starting to clear up the swarm, Sunny suddenly rushed over, yelling: "We have a problem!"
This time, Nephis reacted again, after having just dealt with another locust, who reached the platform, "What?"
Sunny hesitated momentarily, and then gestured down, "There's a couple hundred nightmare creatures all over the colossus. They'll be here pretty soon."
Her expression turned even more dark, than it had before. She looked over, to where the others were still fighting off the swarm, before she turned to Sunny again. "...come with me, then."
Effie saw the two leaving, but didn't have the time to dwell on it. Gritting her teeth, she took on the extra burden, and simply pushed through.
Everyone continued as best as they could, butt hey had been doing that, since the very beginning already.
Nephis and Sunny, were now keeping the new horde of enemies, currently ascending the giant statue, at bay. One on each shoulder, killing them as best and fast they could.
The others were still busy with the swarm of locusts coming from above. The situation had sadly turned from bad to dire already,
Kai had, by now, already shot most of his arrows, and had to resort back on the blood arrow. The very memory that could just as well kill him, if he were to fail his shots one too many times.
Even Ray's essence was still dropping rapidly, with every knife lowering it further. Sure, the fragments he was receiving were a very nice motivation, but even he wasn't hitting every throw. His knife's enchantments were great, but not all-mighty.
Caster also had, by now, switched back to his ghostly Jian, joining Effie in her 'cleaning' duties.
Cassie was also still using her staff, to keep the swarm away, as best as the staff allowed it. She was most likely the reason they hadn't been completely picked off yet. All the while, her rapier was doing its job perfectly, stabbing through locust after locust, but even the rapier couldn't continue endlessly.
The situation looked truly dire for the entire cohort.
Unknown to the upper part of the group, they had it still better than the duo of shadow and fire. Those two had to keep possibly hundreds of nightmare creatures at bay, all by themselves, with the only advantage being their high ground.
The only respite, was that the locust seemed to also be contend with taking what the duo was keeping away, as their day's dinner.
From time to time, singular locusts rushed down, not towards the platform, and the sleepers on it, but rather towards the legs of the colossus, if fortunate, snatching one of the apes climbing them, and if unfortunate, being grabbed by the very apes, and being torn apart by them.
When slowly, all hope seemed lost, a sudden shift hit the two attacking hordes of nightmare creatures. As if, having formed a tacit understanding, both began fleeing nearly at the very same time.
The members of the cohort didn't understand at first, as they were all far too exhausted and hurt, to think about it too deeply that fast.
But, a moment of rest later, all their faces turned pale, as they directed their gazes southward.
The storm was nearly upon them.
They had been so distracted, and busy with the swarms of nightmare creatures, they hadn't been able to prepare for it at all.
This could only mean one thing; they needed a wonder, or a shit load of luck, to get through this soon-to-be hell.
-x-
Hope, this one is better, than the previous chapter. The fragment count, along with an entire showcase of his runes will come after the storm.
Thank you for your support ;)