Sulliman enjoyed the morning sunshine. He liked being up on the balcony of his big mansion, with nothing but himself, his drink, and the warmth. Although those Withers were a bit annoying sometimes, floating overhead and blocking the sun.
Something rattled in his basement. Sulliman opened his eyes. Leaving his wine behind, he scampered downstairs, arming his crossbow as he ran. He stood behind the door, peeping through a special hole he left.
One of the floorboards cracked open. A white Ardoni, a light blue Ardoni, a giant creature he has never seen before, a yellow Ardoni, and a man wearing silver armor climbed up from the hole beneath. How did they know about his potion-trafficking tunnels?
He threw open the door and aimed the crossbow. "What are you people doing in my house again?" He demanded.
"Actually," Senn walked up to him and kicked the crossbow out of his hands. "We are here for you, Sulliman."
"Senn?" Sulliman shrieked, "How… uh... what are you doing here?"
"You betrayed us." Ria drew her spear. She began marching towards the man.
"Betrayed?" Sulliman backed up the stairs. "Why, I only did what I had to do to stay alive, sweetheart. You can't blame me for that, can you?"
"We most certainly can!" Senn jabbed at him with his sword. "Thalleous died to keep the Prime Songs safe! He and so many others sacrificed themselves for the good of Ardonia. And here you are, betraying Ardonia for the good of yourself."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Sulliman backed onto the balcony. "Let him kill me and take it?"
"Deny you have one!" Senn shouted. "Isn't that obvious?" He was almost stomping now, the tip of his blade glinting menacingly under the sun.
"Senn!" Shouted Sulliman. "We can work this out! You wouldn't kill an unarmed old…" He came to the edge of the balcony.
"Sulliman, stop!" Senn lunged forward for his hand. "Woaaaaah!" But it was too late. Sulliman stepped into the air and fell, 25 meters straight down.
Senn and Ria headed back to the basement, where Hubris and Grek were fiddling with all the potions Sulliman left behind.
"…as many potions as you can carry." Hubris told Grek and Grim. "The army will put them to good use."
Grek picked up a light blue potion labeled "speed." "I know potions don't work on Ardoni," He said, "but I've always wondered what would happen if…"
Grim grunted rapidly, shaking his head. Grek rolled his eyes. "Speak for yourself, Grim." The Jaggarthan drank the entire potion in one giant gulp. The bottle dropped on the ground, shattering into pieces.
"Oh… My… Gosh!" Grek said. His voice was sluggish and deep. "I've… al-ways… want-ed.. qui-cker… speed… and… re-flexes."
"Uh-oh." Grunted Grim.
"Umm… the speed potion slowed him?" Hubris pondered. "Should we give him a slowness potion then?"
"I don't think that's how potions work," Ria said, "but we might as well try." She took a bottle from the stands and gave it to Grek.
"Wait!" Hubris shouted. "That's not a slowness potion! That's…" He was too late. The Jaggarthan had already drained bottle.
"Ah!" He shouted. "I… can't… see… my… arms!" Grek's body seemed to vanish into thin air.
"Um… he's invisible?" Hubris observed.
"Here, Grek." Senn found a bottle labeled "Slowness." "Drink thi… Umph!" He bumped right into him, sending the potion flying.
"I… got… it…" Grek said. The bottle, by some miracle, stopped in midair. They all watched in wonder as the cork unplugged itself and the liquid flowed out into nothingness.
"Ah!" Grek said. "Good to be back!"
The party came to the main gate.
"Our main objective is to kill the Withers." Hubris reminded everyone. "And kill Pythus or the Deathsinger should they come."
"Are you ready for this?" Senn touched Ria's arm.
"Were we ever ready for all the things we've done?" Ria replied. They threw open the gate and charged out.
"Wow, this is so EASY!" Grek shouted as he ripped another unsuspecting skeleton to shreds. "They never saw it coming!"
"Of course they didn't!" Yelled Hubris over the tumult. "You are freaking invisible!"
"Guys, focus!" Ria glided past on her Song. "We need to kill the Withers!"
"Incoming!" Senn shouted. Instinctively, he put up his bubble.
"That's not enough, Senn!" Ria jumped into the middle of the group and summoned a massive blue shield, blocking the attack.
"Well, there's our Wither, now what?" Grek asked.
"We shoot it down, genius!" Ria let the shield down and started launching flaming red comets at the Wither. Senn also planted himself and started launching fireballs, using the Song he collected from Tygren. Hubris joined in, firing crimson darts. But the Wither dodged and dived, using its skulls to intercept the Songs.
Grim rolled his blue eyes behind his helmet. He began charging his scythe. The Thunderlord enchant sparkled like lightening, and "Ka-Boom!" A dazzling bolt shot through the sky, frying the Wither.
"When did you learn that trick?" Grek asked.
Grim grunted with another roll of his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you 'discovered' it. Very clever." Grek dashed towards another skeleton. But as he did. His body started emerging from thin air and the skeleton saw him and turned.
"Grek, watch out!" Senn leapt forward and put his sword through the skeleton's skull. It collapsed just when its sword was about to pierce the Jaggarthan.
"The potion wore off, Grek." Senn cleaned his sword of skeleton remains.
"Well," He sighed. "It was fun while it lasted."
"We are not finished yet." Ria cautioned. "Three more inbound!"
"Wait," Senn squinted. "There's a fourth shadow."
"It must be the Angel of Death." Ria said. "We cannot…"
A flash of violet lined with gold zoomed over them in the air. Val swooped in, both arm blades raised. She crossed them before her as she hurtled towards the Angel. He blocked the impact and was nearly forced out of the sky. They broke away, and the Angel motioned for the Withers to focus on the group below, while he took care of the flying Ardoni.
Val rose higher in the air. Slightly folding her golden wings, she dived. The Angel pulled up at the last second and avoided impact. He took off into the distance, with Val chasing after him. She summoned her flaming comet and shot it after him. It missed. She tried again, and again, but the Angel was moving too fast for good aim.
"The Angel's not fighting back." Observed Senn.
"But neither can Val kill him." Ria said. "She can hit him from afar, while he has only swords."
Suddenly, Val stopped firing her comets. From her waist, she drew two long sabers. Thinner than swords, but much longer. Concentrating all her energy into her wings, she caught up and came above the Angel. Then, Val gave a huge grunt of effort and stabbed the sabers into the Angel's wings. He gave a cry of pain and fell out of the sky. Val landed beside him and stabbed him through the chest.
The three Withers towered over the group. "Grim, can you do the lightning thing again?" Grek asked. Grim shook his head. "I guess that's a one-time thing."
"So what's the plan now?" Hubris asked, "We tried to hit them with Songs, but they just dodge."
"I actually have an idea." Senn said. "If we all concentrate the power of our Songs at one point…"
"The Withers are coming!" Whispered Hubris. "Grek, come on!"
"Why am I the bait?" Grek asked, "Why can't any of you…"
"Because you are the biggest!" Hubris shouted under his breath. "And the toughest."
"Well, okay. Seeing how you are all smaller and weaker than big tough me…" Grek swaggered into the small square. The Withers spotted him instantly and dived.
"Quickly! Together!" Senn and Hubris raised their swords, Ria raised her spear. They channeled their Songs and hurled them at the center, right between the Withers. The fireball, darts, and ray that Ria chose, concentrated on one point. The crimson sphere collapsed on itself, becoming a single red dot. Then, it exploded, sending a red shockwave that instantly killed all three Withers.
"Woah!" Grek ducked low, holding his hands above his head. "Next time, warn me!"
"I didn't know it was gonna be this powerful." Senn said. "It might be because of the Prime Song."
"Well, the Withers are gone." Ria said. "Let's call in the cavalry." She took out a small rocket and ignited it. Moments, later, a green firework exploded in the sky.