Alain felt the last of Theo's Ingwaz burst catch him—a soft, slowing resistance against the air, bleeding off the deadly momentum that should've shattered his spine.
He slowed, not to a crawl, but still fast enough to make his world spin.
Twisting his body, Isa flared on his left hand.
A pillar of ice erupted underneath him, the barely slanted angle managing to catch his fall as he rode it down in a controlled descent.
Snow kicked up around him as he slowed, sliding the last few meters before the ice tapered off. He stepped down lightly onto solid ground, breath sharp but steady.
A clean landing.
He tightened his grip on Laevateinn and exhaled once.
Then he looked up.
The Aberrant stood hunched over its stump of a shoulder, the entire area around the severed limb trembling. The red glow pulsing out of the wound brightened to an unbearable intensity, cracks racing across its torso like veins of molten glass.
The monster wasn't defeated. It was enraged.
Alain's eyes widened a fraction.
"…That's not good."
The Aberrant screamed. Alain barely managed to get on his feet before the ground exploded.
A colossal vine burst from beneath the snow, thicker than a tree trunk, shattering the terrain as it whipped upward. Alain dove aside, rolling behind the nearest crystal pillar just as the vine speared through the spot he'd been standing.
A second vine tore free. Then a third. Then dozens.
The entire peak erupted in a frenzy of red-glass tendrils, shooting from the ground in blind, feral rage. Each one struck with the force of a collapsing tower, pulverizing ice and rock with every thrash.
The plateau groaned beneath their weight. Snow blasted into the air in white clouds. Crystal shards rained like knives.
Alain ducked behind the pillar, panting.
Theo slid in behind him a heartbeat later, dragging Kai'el's limp form across the snow. A vine slammed into the opposite side of the pillar—
CRASH—!!
A deep crack split down its length.
Theo flinched. "We are going to die. We are absolutely going to die—"
"Shut up," Alain gasped, gripping Laevateinn tighter. "We're not dead yet."
Another vine slammed into the ground nearby, sending a tremor through the entire peak. The slope tilted harder. Snow and loose stone began to slide toward the edge.
Theo peeked out, eyes wide with panic. "What is it even doing?! It's not attacking—it's just—"
"Raging," Alain finished. "It's in pain."
"Great. Fantastic. We chop its arm off and now it's throwing a tantrum." Theo pressed Kai'el closer to the pillar as another vine smashed down only meters away, showering them in shards of crystal.
"What now, genius?!"
Another vine slammed the pillar next to them, breaking it into hundreds of pieces. They were out of time. Out of cover.
Alain peeked out—
And saw a vine curling back, the entire length of it tightening like a drawn bowstring. It wasn't thrashing randomly anymore. This one knew where it was going, who it wanted dead.
It was aiming straight at him.
"Dodge—!"
Theo got the message immediately, throwing his body away from the blast zone.
Alain pushed off the pillar—Raido already sparking—however, he hadn't noticed a smaller tendril that came out of nowhere. It latched onto his feet, tying him down to the ground.
Shit!
He looked up. Another tendril was coming, however this one was different. It was pointed, sharp, and ready to gut Alain like a fish.
Alain's muscles strained as he tried to tear free, Raido flickering uselessly under tangled roots—
He couldn't dodge.
"ALAIN—!" Theo shouted, but he was too far, slipping on the tilted slope.
The tendril drew closer, the air hissing as the sharp tip cut through it—
…until Kai'el moved.
It wasn't fast nor clean. Even in a state of semi-consciousness,his body moved.
He shoved himself off the snow with what little strength remained in his ruined body, dragging his limbs across the ground in a broken crawl. Blood streaked behind him. His vision was barely focused. His breath rattled in his chest.
But he reached Alain.
…
And he threw himself in front of the strike.
"KAI'EL, STOP—!"
THWACK—!!
The vine drove into Kai'el's back with a sickening crunch, folding him around the blow. Alain felt the impact through the ground, through the air, through his entire body.
He didn't scream—there wasn't enough strength left to scream—just a choked gasp as the tendril hammered him into the frozen earth.
Theo's voice cracked.
"NO—NO—NO—!"
The tendril recoiled, ripping free of Kai'el's body with a wet, tearing sound, and prepared for another strike.
He collapsed onto his side in front of Alain, blood pooling beneath him, staining the snow.
Alain stared, paralyzed.
"Kai'el…?"
Kai'el's head twitched weakly.
He looked up at Alain through half-lidded eyes, pain clouding his expression—and somehow, managing a tiny, breathless smile.
"…you're…bad influence…" he whispered.
Alain's throat closed. His chest ached.
"Kai'el—why—why would you—"
"Because… you were… about to die, idiot…" Kai'el exhaled, half a laugh and half a groan. His voice was barely audible. "And I…was a goner…anyways."
His fingers twitched against the snow, searching for something he couldn't grasp. His eyes unfocused, then slowly dragged back to Alain's face.
"…but… I don't want to die…"
Another vine smashed into the slope, spraying snow over them.
Theo scrambled closer, eyes wide, desperate. "Kai'el—stay awake—hey—HEY—!"
Kai'el's gaze drifted, unfocused. His hand unconsciously went to his face, a single tear slid down his cheek.
He blinked slowly, voice coming out rasped, "Huh…I'm…cry…ing…?"
—before his body went limp.
…
Alain didn't even have time to process what happened.
He hit the ground sideways, the wind punched out of him as Theo shoved him clear. The vine slammed down where he'd been standing, pulverizing the ice in a deafening blast.
"MOVE!" Theo barked, voice hoarse.
Alain scrambled to his feet on instinct alone. His mind wasn't caught up.
His hands weren't caught up. His heart wasn't caught up.
He kept looking back—toward the smear of red in the snow.
A vine tore a trench between them, cutting off the view entirely.
"ALAIN!" Theo grabbed his arm, dragging him behind what remained of a shattered pillar. "Snap out of it! We're still in the kill zone!"
Alain's breath hitched, and he took a deep breath.
Stay calm, Alain. Don't let his death be in vain.
He swallowed hard, forcing the tremor out of his hands.
The vines weren't slowing. If anything, the Aberrant's rage was intensifying — each strike heavier, faster, more violent than the last. The shattered pillar they hid behind groaned under another impact, cracks widening down its length.
Theo peeked out, eyes wide. "It's losing it! The whole mountain's destabilizing—look!"
The ground answered for him.
A violent tremor shook the peak, throwing Alain against the pillar. Snow and red crystal avalanched past them, sliding toward the abyss as more of the plateau peeled away.
The Aberrant thrashed in the center of the arena, vines lashing in every direction like a storm of spears. The air stank of fractured ether and raw Titan fury.
Theo grit his teeth. "Alain, we need to retreat. Fall back to higher ground while it's blind with—"
"No."
Alain stepped forward.
"He saved my life," Alain said quietly. "I'm not running."
Theo's breath caught.
"Alain—"
A vine slammed down beside them, blasting the ground apart and showering them with shards.
Alain didn't flinch. His fingers tightened around Laevateinn's hilt.
"I won't let it be for nothing," he muttered.
He dragged in a sharp breath, the cold burning his lungs. The Aberrant's vines slammed blindly across the battlefield, pulverizing the snow, cracking the stone, shredding anything that dared to stand upright.
Somewhere behind the chaos lay Kai'el's body.
The Aberrant bent forward for another roar—Thick, corded strings stretched across the sides of its neck, pulsing violently as the Titan-soul inside strained against the body. Every time it screamed, the strings tightened like the cords of a bow.
Theo's voice cut through the chaos.
"THE NECK! THE STRINGS ON ITS NECK—THAT'S THE WEAK POINT!"
Alain's grip on Laevateinn tightened, the sword burning with intent, cloaking itself in ether. He looked at the blade, understanding its intent.
"Yeah, you know what we have to do, right?" he asked.
Answering immediately, the sword hummed with life, red runes finally pulsing, like waking up from its thousand-year slumber.
"Then burn."
ᛈ — Perthro (Enchant)