There was nothing as scary in the water as a water golem, and Dianah was showing why. Her mastery over the water element, as well as her ability to draw from the river's power into her own, made her a formidable opponent.
At first, Kigen extended his tendrils, growing to become vines. He intended to absorb the golem that was holding him hostage in water. This did not go according to plan, as he ended up taking in more and more water. He felt as though he was absorbing the entire river.
Thus, he ended up just absorbing the ice around him. He planned to first get himself free. The same thing kept happening. He continued to absorb the ice so as to free himself, but the ice kept forming, keeping him in place.
Dianah laughed to herself as she watched her prey struggle. Now that she had him, she was not going to let him off that easily.
Kigen continued to extend his tendrils. This time, he was not absorbing anything. He already had too much water in him already. The thin tendrils quickly wrapped themselves around his entire body. Then they started expanding, slowly adding space between him and them.
They were an airtight barrier, and Kigen had to generate some wind elements into the space around him to prevent it from collapsing. Slowly, an airtight dome was forming around him, giving him some wriggle room.
The tendrils turned to vines and they continued to expand. Just like Mongik had done, he formed a sphere, with him at the center. For a moment, Kigen stopped to admire his creation. He had just acquired a new skill; he could move with relative ease underwater now. He felt he could make the sphere as big as he wanted, limited only by his magical energy.
However, he was not after size, but a way out of this predicament. He could still feel the cold and hard ice surrounding him, encasing him. His tentacles were getting colder, and brittle. Already, there was some parts of the tentacles he could not feel. he assumed that they must have either frozen or broken off. Dianah was fighting back with the cold.
Kigen could feel a strain on his body, indicating that he was running out of juice. Soon, he would be too strained to produce more tentacles. Luckily, that moment had not come yet.
Thinking fast, he caused thorns to emerge from his tentacles. All this was not something he had had tried before, but he had now been pushed to the limits. He had his back against the wall, and he was giving his all, discovering more of his abilities than he knew.
Once the thorns formed, he did not sit still. He caused them to start rotating around his body. What a sight it must have been, Kigen would have loved to see it. It wasn't just one line of thorns, but multiple thorns just moving around his body.
His plan was simple, to grate the ice and find a way out. He was deep in the river, but there were rapids all around, he could easily find a way out.
Dianah was feeling very vexed by now. The fairy was not giving up, and it seemed to have the means to get out of her clutches. Once he did, she feared his retribution. Already, they had a few fairies captured, perhaps desiring the guardian was being a little too greedy?
Just as she was thinking this, Kigen's little sphere seemed to implode, as he sucked in all the tentacles he had produced as rapidly as he could. The next moment, before Dianah could respond, Kigen swung his fist at the ice wall encasing him.
Boom! Without suspense, Kigen's punch blew apart the ice, and he shot out of the water. Once airborne, he turned to look down, observing the still area within the river.
Suddenly, a massive hand made entirely out of water reached out to grab at him. Kigen had been on high alert, so he flew up. The hand continued to extend until it was at the height of a fully grown tree before slamming down on the water.
What was this, a scare tactic? Kigen cursed. He hated that he couldn't get past the golem that he'd sent running more than once. It seemed she was quite tough.
The problem was, Kigen could still hear them, the captured ones. Their voices could still penetrate everything and ring into his brain, and there was no way he would let them be captured. This led to the big question, how to get past this golem.
Kigen could only think of one solution. Just like always, brute force has never failed him. However, when dealing with a water body, a force of nature like a river, how does brute force come into the equation.
Up and up he went, climbing the updrafts to gain more altitude. For a moment, Dianah thought the fairy was finally giving up. Even Mongik felt a little calmer when the guardian took off.
The little fairies inside were getting weaker, and he had to let them out at some point. To do that, he had to get as far from the guardian as he could. Hence, he started rolling downstream. With Dianah's ice coat around his spherical form, he could drift with the river's powerful current.
Just as he was rolling away, Mongik felt it. A sudden fear descended upon him. His instinct, horned from countless battlefields, were screaming at him. He was in danger, but he couldn't tell from where it was coming from.
Like a shadow, Kigen descended upon the river at blitzing speed. Angling himself to enter through one of the many rapids, Kigen had to be careful to avoid any underwater rocks. He could still hear them, the sounds of the fairies in distress.
With as much momentum as he could preserve, Kigen swam through the river. Quickly, he discovered another cool feature about him. Due to the shape of his hind wings, he could easily navigate across the water. His wings could serve as fins, making him as agile in the water as fish.
Kigen did not have time to savor this new discovery. He was moving too fast, and he had to fight off the river currents, as well as bob and weave around the river rocks. To his delight, it was much easier than he expected. It felt as natural as he did when flying through the forest.
Boom! Kigen's fist smashed upon Mongik's body, tearing a hole through it. Kigen didn't wait, swimming inside the spherical body instantly.
To his relief, there they were. Seven fairies, still alive. Two were barely a week old. He didn't even know their names. Another three were badly injured, while the others were spotting some manner of hurt. They were huddled together, shivering. What a sad sight they presented.
Kigen was livid. To think his kin would be in such a state. As for the fairies, they were overjoyed. For a moment, they thought they were goners. Now, their guardian had moved heaven and earth to come rescue them.
Mongik felt the attack, and before he could react, Kigen had already entered his spherical space. Luckily, the guardian was not going for his core just yet. Once inside his space, Mongik began contemplating how to keep them all there for a while longer. If he could deliver the guardian ...
He'd seen Dianah make that mistake, and she'd paid heavily for it. Even the master had relinquished the command to capture the guardian, opting to just collect a few fairies. That went to show how much of a threat Kigen was.
Just as he was in his head, planning, Mongik suddenly felt a painful stab. Looking inside, the guardian fairy had formed a spherical shape using wood and earth element, sealing his kin inside. What's more, he had formed massive thorns, and they were scrapping his insides, tearing apart his form. Even part of his core was affected.
That's when things got interesting. Once the thorns dug in, they began to furiously absorb the essence in the mud, sucking the very life out of the golem's body. Mongik was now panicking. This was not how he died.
Decisively, Mongik dispelled his body form, and his core drifted along the river. He would find some way to recover, but there would be no hope if Kigen consumed him.
Once he had his kin secured, Kigen managed to extract himself from his dome, while still maintaining the integrity of the structure. After that, he took to the skies, and happily, returned back home.
Unfortunately, he came to learn some devastating news. Twelve fairies were badly injured, some in very critical states. Moreover, the worst had happened. Two fairies had given their lives protecting their home.