Chapter 292: 292. Familiar’s Assistance

Another torrent of leaves hit the peak of the mountain, shaving off chunks of rock. Party members scattered like ants, leaping off the mountain edge, and grabbing hold of the cliff until the wave passed. Everyone else sought shelter behind massive summoned shields. There was no elegance in their actions, they could even be described as cowardly and inefficient, but it was done all with one thing in mind: protect the secret of the party’s advantage for as long as possible. It wasn’t an easy task, but in the long haul, it was going to produce results.

Two line-strikes hit the massive minion, pushing it back hundreds of feet at a time. The mesh of vines surrounding its body proved too thick to let the attack through, regrowing quickly after each hit. Anyone would be concerned with such an opponent, but for some reason, March was happy. Dallion’s music skills let him see the grain of joy that appeared in her head; it wasn’t much, but the first time he had seen anything of the sort.

“Stay down!” Euryale pulled Dallion back down behind the protection of the cliff edge. “It’s too early to have a death wish.”

I don’t have a death wish, Dallion thought. All he had was a cat’s curiosity.

“I leave you for a few days and you still manage to get in trouble,” the gorgon joked.

In typical fashion, she hadn’t displayed any shock or concern at the sight of him being targeted by the guardian’s minion. Dallion didn’t know much about gorgons, but from what he had seen and heard their emotional attachments were different from those of people: they were much faster to form emotional attachments to things they liked, while also not worrying overly much when they were in danger. In fact, the only time that Dallion had seen Eury really worried about him was when she had learned he was dealing with chainlings or the overseer.

“I’m getting better at it,” Dallion smiled, earning him a punch in the shoulder. “Shouldn’t we do any fighting, by the way?”

“No, that’s March’s show.” A few of the gorgon’s snakes stretched up, so as to get a better view of the fight. “She’s been hoping it will happen for a while.”

“Oh.” Dallion frowned. “Using me as bait again…”

“Not that part. She was hoping the guardian would attack her. That’s why she kept leaving the party, so she gave it the chance to act. Her, or me.”

“You?” Dallion blinked.

“What do you think a scout does in realm expeditions? There’s more to getting info than making maps and observing. The whole point is putting myself out there so the guardians tip their hand.”

More blasts echoed in the sky. Someone was using a crossbow again, with limited results. Shortly after, a few more party members joined the rest, holding on to the cliff. Interestingly enough, Vend wasn’t there, and neither was Agnii.

Just as Dallion was thinking of taking another peek, Euryale put her hand on his shoulder.

“Not yet,” she whispered. “Wait till the guardian falls.”

“Will you remain here till then?”

There was no answer.

“What’s the big deal with the minion, anyway? It’s tough, but it’s just a minion.” That said, it was also true that the guardian did massive area damage, putting even a group at risk.

“Not quite.” Eury’s snakes moved about, looking in all directions. There were too many other people nearby to be sure that even a whisper would remain unheard. Grains of hesitation appeared throughout her face. “It’s not a minion,” she whispered, moving closer to Dallion until her lips were almost touching his ear. “It’s a familiar.”

In that instant Dallion froze. With all of Nil’s talk of familiars being rare, he had never considered such a possibility. While he knew he wasn’t the only person with one, on some level, he believed himself to be the only person in the city. If anything, he hadn’t seen any other minion up to this point. Of course, it was possible that those who had them were simply less reckless than him, hiding their advantage until they really needed it.

Shield, is that true?

I’d say yes, the companion shield said. You must get close to it to know for sure, but looks like it.

Is that why the creature is unknown? Nil asked. The echo sounded more intrigued that Dallion had heard him in a while. It existed during the dryad era of dominance?

The armadil shield didn’t respond, as if he hadn’t heard the question. Apparently, limitations held not only for Dallion, but for other echoes as well.

“Time to go,” Euryale said, then kissing Dallion on the cheek, pulled herself up the cliff onto the mountain summit.

“Wait!” Dallion shouted, but it was already too late.

I could have given her Nox, he grumbled.

Let her have her fun, the armadil shield laughed. It’s not like she’s completely defenseless. I’d be more worried about having a giant slab of rock fall onto the mountain.

You think that might happen?!

No, but it makes for good conversation. Seriously, chill a bit. The most important quality during a battle is to keep a level head. Even great generals mess up when under stress.

I guess that makes you some military genius.

Who knows?

Now that his girlfriend wasn’t here, Dallion peeked again. The fight was still going on. March and half a dozen people continued with their attacks in the sky. With the exception of March, everyone else was at about three quarters health. Having Lux for support was truly a huge advantage during battle. The trick was that for the firebird to remain, so did Dallion—if he was to get thrown out of the realm, his familiars would go with him. Did the same hold true for the guardian’s minion?

Shield, if we defeat the guardian, the minion will disappear, right? He asked.

You want to defeat the guardian? The shield asked, surprised. I’m for being positive and supporting my owner’s dreams and all that, but don’t you think you’re setting your sights a bit high?

Hypothetically.

Well, yes. The moment the owner is defeated echoes and guardians vanish as well.

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Thanks, that’s all I needed to know.

You’re going to do something reckless again, aren’t you?

Just a bit.

Sure. Well, don’t let me stop you. It’s always interesting with you around. Of course, I used to say that to most of my owners centuries ago.

And what happened? Dallion felt curious.

A really tangled web of affairs, triangles, and mutual manipulation. Most of them ended okay in the end.

In the air, the fight continued. For a while, both sides were content exchanging ranged attacks with neither moving any closer to the other. A tentative stalemate was created in which both sides were striving to gain a positional advantage. That was when Euryale stepped in. Waiting for the precise moment when another series of bolts were fired at the vine-whale, she leapt up in the air, using the bolts as platforms to jump off from.

Awakened can do this? Dallion gaped in amazement.

Combination of athletics and acrobatics, Nil explained. It was very popular in opera a few decades back. Very showy, but has limited practical applications.

From what Dallion could see, that hardly was the case. In a matter of moments, the gorgon had reached the minion. A large halberd appeared in her hands, its blade created of transparent material that glimmered in the background.

The creature didn’t remain inactive. Sensing the threat, several of the vines shot out in her direction. With a twist and a technique quite different from March’s, the gorgon sliced up the approaching strands of wood like a meat grinder. However, even her speed proved to be insufficient to fully stop the whale’s attack. With a spin twist, the gorgon positioned herself at just the right angle to have the vines bounce off the thin armor of her clothes, pushing her away without a wound. Almost on cue, March performed another sword line slash, putting the minion back on the defensive.

“Tough nut to crack,” the gorgon said, as she landed back on the ground. “Doesn’t do much damage, but hinders movement. It can keep us here for days.”

Of course, Dallion thought. Its plan wasn’t to kill off the group, but to keep them from progressing. Meanwhile, the constant echo attacks from the guardian would further grind them down until the party ran out of food or suffered enough casualties and was forced to retreat.

Change of plans, Dallion thought. Shield, get ready to cocoon me if something happens.

Here we go again, the armadil shield said, amused.

Ignoring shouts and warnings, Dallion pulled himself onto the summit, then rushed to where March was. As expected, it took everyone less than a second to notice. What he didn’t expect was March ending up next to him in the blink of an eye.

“I can get rid of the minion,” he instantly said, overcoming his surprise. “Without anyone getting hurt.”

“Dal, you idiot!” Eury shouted. She too was dashing towards him, though nowhere as fast as March had been.

“I only need your tower shield,” Dallion insisted. “Trust me on this.”

Telling a captain, and an imperial army veteran, to trust him wasn’t the most convincing argument Dallion could make. There probably were a lot of other approaches he could have taken, some involving persuasion from his music skills. However, there was no need for that right now. Dallion felt a deep conviction in what he was going to do, and wasn’t going to let it slip through his fingers.

In Dallion’s mind, time stopped. He was imaging March’s reactions, coming up with explanations and assurances to convince her he was right.

A massive shield appeared between March and Dallion. It was far bigger than he imagined—a solid chunk of metal that extended seven feet high and three feet wide.

“Go ahead,” March said, moving the shield to the side as if it were made of plastic.

Lux, get the shield and crash into the side of the minion! Dallion ordered without wasting a moment.

The firebird’s flames moved from March to the shield. A blinding flash followed, propelling the shield into the sky. It was fast, far faster than even March could handle. No longer afraid of harming anyone, the firebird gave it its all. Without warning, the shield crashed against the minion’s protective mesh, pushing it several dozen feet back.

Now, fly it back to the start temple! Dallion thought. And make sure to—

The whale disappeared from the sky.

—you bring the shield back, Dallion finished. Or maybe not…

It wasn’t like the shield was necessary, after all. This was a world, so March could summon it again at any point. Still, it would have been more impressive if Lux had returned the shield as well.

“Explain,” March said, looking at the sky. She wasn’t the only one. Several more of awakened were staring in the air. Euryale was the only exception, but she always looked in every direction, so it didn’t count.

“The minion was only trying to delay us, so I did the same,” Dallion said. “Lux can act as…” he paused. Explaining propulsion principles in this world wasn’t the best idea. “Lux can move things from place to place really fast. I won’t be able to use this trick again, but you won’t need me to. At least this guardian will think twice before sending it to stop you.”

That was remarkably sensible, dear boy, Nil said. It’s always a pleasure seeing you mature.

Dallion didn’t mind the compliment, although he would have preferred that Nil acknowledged the fact that he wasn’t a child.

“You’ll still have to take care of the guardian, but now you’ll lose less time.”

“Interesting.” March said. “Everyone, prep up! We’re heading for the temple!” She ordered. “Leave everything behind. We’ll get it when we’re done.”

A flaming tower shield appeared in the sky above them. Seeing it, March unsummoned the gear, leaving a somewhat confused firebird in its place.

Start healing, Lux, Dallion thought. We don’t have much time.

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