Aura stiffened, glanced at her teammates, then turned to the Solaryns. "We don't have much time. Name's Aura," she said, "and this is Navi, Lucas, and Kai," pointing to each of her friends as she introduced them. "You are?"
A male Solaryn stood up. "My name is Zarir, and this is Elidor, Zahava, and Aurelia," he replied as he introduced himself and his companions.
"Aura, we're about to be surrounded. Introductions later," he reminded her, a mixture of fear, concern, and worry in his voice as he watched the void swarm close the distance.
"I know," she replied, nodding at Navi, then turning back to the Solaryns. "Zarir, pair up, defensive circle, melee outer, range inner, cover each other. What do you think, can you do that?"
Zarir glanced at his party members, who nodded, then turned back to Aura. "You helped us and didn't have to. Sure, and we don't really have a choice if we want to try and survive."
[Swarm at 200 meters]
Chloe's warning interrupted Aura. She quickly took her place on one side of the boulder, Lucas behind her. The others paired up, Navi with Kai, Zarir with Elidor, and Zahava with Aurelia, together forming a two-layered defensive circle. Chloe's voice echoed in Aura's head.
[Swarm at 100 meters]
[Swarm at 50 meters]
Then the swarm reached them, and chaos erupted. Growls smothered the thunder as dozens of wolf-like spawn clawed their way up the boulder.
Aura used Object Weave and flung five pebbles at one, cracking a crystal. Navi's Blaze Shield flared in defense as his sword thrust cracked a core. Lucas's arrow shattered a crystal as he shot a spawn mid-leap, and Kai's lightning stunned one before using his knives to destroy its core.
The Solaryns fought just as fiercely. Zarir's wind arc sliced a crystal while his Tessen deflected claws. Elidor's Crystal Storm slowed spawn in his area as his whip shattered crystals. Aurelia cast Surge Barrier on Zahava, shielding her from a spawn's attack. Zahava's flaming whip trapped it, and her katana cleaved its crystal.
A spawn's claw gashed Aura's thigh she winced as pain flared, but relief followed almost immediately as Lucas's healing took affect.
The battle continued as their circle held against the relentless tide. The only advantage they had was the large boulder's top surface. Its area prevented an excess of void spawn from gaining purchase and overwhelming them.
This allowed them to defend, but they had to do so continuously as defeated void spawn were almost instantly replaced by more.
Aura's focus was on making sure none passed her to threaten the others. She noticed Navi, Zarir, and Zahava doing the same, but not without cost. Injuries piled up.
Lucas and Aurelia used healing magic for the worst injuries while providing offensive support with Elidor and Kai. Aura expanded her Object Weave to include everyone helping to attack and defend when needed.
The battle intensified as spells continued to be cast and elements clashed against the void beasts. Growls echoed, and claws slashed as thunder rumbled over the battle in response to lightning flashes, but the spawn seemed endless.
Time seemed to blur as the battle dragged on. Aura's muscles ached like she'd been through one of her master's endless training sessions, but she forced herself to continue fighting; she refused to give up.
She could tell the others were in similar condition—tired, struggling, covered in blood and dirt—and by Chloe's calculations, they only had one or two spell casts left.
Lightning flashed again, and Aura could see that the spawn around their boulder had thinned. She could finally see clear land behind them.
We need an area spell …one powerful enough to knock out the remaining beasts…she thought…I wonder if…It might work.
"Navi, can you cast a Volt Strike?" Aura called as she blocked an attack while Lucas's arrow destroyed the spawn's crystal.
"Yes, one, but it's not enough; there are still too many," he replied, having a general idea of what she was thinking.
Zarir's voice reached them. "If you're planning what I think you are, then I can help," he said, narrowly dodging an attack. "I have a spell, Light's Blessing, that can power up his spell. It will use all my innate mana, but it might just be enough to end this."
Even better… "Alright, when I say, cast it on him, and Navi, cast your spell on the closest void spawn. Everyone else, drop to the ground to avoid the energy wave," Aura said.
"Ready, NOW!" she shouted. Zarir responded as a golden light gathered around him, then a pillar of glowing light bathed Navi. Power gathered around him, and then a massive bolt of lightning struck a group of void spawn near the boulder's centre, sending a wave of lightning arcs spreading outwards.
The void spawn on the boulder were obliterated, and the ones surrounding the boulder that survived the blast wave were paralysed, lightning cracking around their crystals cores.
Everyone on the boulder hit the ground to avoid the lightning wave, except Aura…hope this works…then, using her remaining mana and Object Weave, she grabbed control of the lightning heading her way, wielding it…can't do this for long...
Then, without wasting time, she jumped from the boulder and directed it to wipe out the last of the void swarm that had survived, striking and destroying their crystals as fast as she could, before collapsing as Chloe voiced telepathically.
[No Enemies detect in the surrounding area. Warning combat suits mana at 0%]
Exhaustion washed through Aura. Her head was hurting, and all she wanted was to go home and curl up in her bed to sleep. She heard her name called, then felt hands gently grab her shoulders.
"Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Navi's voice reached her, heavy with concern.
"Ouch, my head," she winced, looking up at Navi. "I'm okay, we survived."
"Yeah, we did, thanks to your idea" Navi responded, voice a mix of annoyance and relief.
"Come, let's get back to the others," he said, offering his hand to help her stand up. Aura reached out and grabbed it, stumbling a little as she stood. Navi caught her and kept her steady.
Together, they made it back to the boulder, climbing up to join the others. Aura and Navi made their way over to Lucas and Kai.
"She okay?" asked Lucas as Navi helped Aura to sit.
"She said she is," Navi responded, his voice a mix of emotions.
"That was some crazy stunt you pulled," Kai said earning a reproachful look from Navi as he sat next to Aura.
"Umm forget I said anything" he quickly amended.
Silence reigned for a while, broken only by the rumble of thunder and heavy breathing. Everyone was exhausted. Even Kai and Lucas, who were always messing around, kept quiet. Aura leaned against Navi and rested, eyes closed, her head throbbing from her abuse of Object Weave. Gentle whispers soon broke the silence as the Solaryn started conversing quietly.
Several minutes later, Zarir walked over. "I want to thank you again for helping us, not just for before, but for the battle just now as well."
Aura heard Navi sigh. "Don't thank me, thank her. She made the decision," his tone sending her a warning she knew all too well…yikes, he's not happy with me…ugh, I'm going to hear about this later… she thought as she opened her eyes, looking at Zarir.
"You're welcome," she replied.
Zarir nodded at her. "I was wondering, since we all are heading for the rendezvous point, would you be amenable to us all travelling together?" he asked.
Aura tilted her head, looking at Navi. "What do you think?" she asked, hoping to earn some brownie points to mitigate the impending lecture.
"It's a good idea. We're all low on casts or have none; it would be safer," he replied.
Aura looked back at Zarir. "Guess we're travelling together."
"I'll inform the others," Zarir replied, gratitude in his voice.
As he walked back to the other Solaryns, Aura closed her eyes again to rest, but heard Navi whisper, "We are still having a talk when you're feeling better."…damn, guess there is no escaping the lecture.
**********************
Several hours later eight tired individuals entered the rendezvous point, it had changed since Admiral Negus arrival all buildings and personal hidden behind stealth shielding.
In the centre of the area were three obelisks, each obelisk had a title: Trial point, Mission and Shop.
Surrounding these obelisk were numerous groups of different races, other trial participants that had arrived before them, the area alive with chatter.
No one paid attention to their arrival, as a voice greeted them.
[Welcome participants, congratulations on reaching the rendezvous point. Points will now be calculated and displayed.]
The points obelisk flashed, ignored by everyone until a shocked voice call attention to it. Chatter ceased and slowly everyone's gaze landed on the new arrivals.