XXX
The entire army retreated back to the mainland, many glad to be out of the tiring, suffocating ocean. After the last of the army stepped through the portal opened by the promoted Zartan, Fulcan pulled the two guilds aside.
“Ulterium, Tarsus, I’m going back with my men. I’m hoping Helterium will see us retreating so he won’t be on his guard, and that’s where you two come in. I need you two to try and take him out. But you both have to be careful, remember that he has the Hydromancer on his side.”
“You’re hoping that by killing Helterium this war will end once and for all?”
“Well it should. Helterium’s the only one controlling the entire army. Without their controller, they’d turn into statues again.”
“That’s reasonable, but it’s a high cost for both our guilds,” I spoke. “The Hydromancer is strong, and there’s no doubt of its ability to take out every single one of our members easily. It’s basically suicide.”
“I risked my army retreating. If the statues make it to Tenebris, you know our swords are practically ineffective. We have a minimal number of cannons around the city, but those won’t be able to hold off the entire army of stone. My men are willing to die for their nation...are yours?”
Both guilds fell silent. There were no glances exchanged between the guild members.
“We’ll do our best,” Tarsus said. “In the meantime, you should get some of your men to burn the bridge. It’s made of wood, right?”
“Yes, that is an excellent suggestion. It’ll be hard to get to the bridge with Tyrannust’s men patrolling the mainland, but it will stall Helterium and his army. Good luck, Blood Guild, good luck, Night Guild. If all fails-"
“Then we’ll improvise,” I spoke, smiling at the king. He nodded in return, turning to jump through the portal.
“Godspeed,” he shouted behind him as Zartan followed him through, pulling out the white gem from the obsidian slab and shutting the portal.
“Well, it’s just my guild and yours again. Like the good times.”
“Like the good times,” Tarsus smiled. “Well, after the arena.”
I gave out a short laugh.
“So where to?” He asked.
“Famming returned to the sea surface to tell the fleets of the sudden change of plans. Should we just wait for her to return?”
“We’d be wasting time. What did Famming say?”
“Nothing. She just left on the submarine after Fulcan declared the alternate plan.”
“Well I guess we’re on our own. Guilds, any suggestions?”
“We should split up. Scout the army, track their movements,” Konkurra replied.
“Splitting up sounds good,” Calliphar spoke.
“I’m down,” Foku agreed.
“Blood Guild and Night?” Drog asked.
“Doesn’t matter, as long as we get the job done,” Pyrrhon answered.
“Alright,” Tarsus intervened, “One group will go and track the Hydromancer, the other will track Helterium. If they happen to be side by side, then we’ll be back together to take them out.”
“Just like that?” Sylvan asked.
“You heard the king. We’ll figure out a way to get Helterium. Split up now!”
Two groups immediately formed, the twelve members evenly divided.
“Ulterium, you’ll focus on the overlord. My group will go for the Mancer. Remember to hide yourselves, and don’t do anything dumb. Let’s go!”
The groups left the tent, starting off in the same direction, everyone headed towards Helterium’s palace. As we arrived at the underwater structure, Tarsus’ group split up to search the outside while I led my group down the trapdoor on the west wing to the hidden balcony.
There was nothing in the dark, empty auditorium. The overlord and his army had probably left a while ago, and no trace of life could be found in the vast space below us. I led my group out, discovering my plan of tracking footprints to be futile. The underwater current washed away the sand quickly, leaving no marks for us to follow.
Tarsus met up with me, expressing the same hopelessness. We decided to follow the most probable track that led to the bridge at the edge of the island, where the statue army would march up the continental slope ashore, cross the wooden bridge, and step foot onto Mainland Grozorg.
Running along the seafloor with the weighted ankle bracelets was the most inefficient method of travelling underwater. After a while, both guilds took off the bracelets and began to swim along the sandy ground, gaining speed and catching up to Helterium’s army of statues.
After fifteen minutes of doubt, the army was finally in view. I motioned for Tarsus to flank left with his group while I led mine right. The statues marched slowly, to both ours and Fulcan’s advantage, and we caught up beside them in no time. The ocean floor was littered with coral and other tall aquatic plants that concealed us from the army’s view, and the constant fluttering of passing fish helped our smooth strokes blend in.
Once in awhile, a large predacious fish would approach us, but thanks to Famming’s preventive measures, our weighted bracelets were installed with a repellent that caused the flesh-eating fish to turn around and search for other prey. I had adapted to the sudden appearances of monstrous-looking beasts underwater, and overtime, my fear of deep-sea predators was soon dispelled.
Helterium was located in the center of the army which had completely filled the underwater pass. There were at least a thousand statues in front, behind, and on Helterium’s left and right. But the Hydromancer wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
I glanced to the left, and Tarsus started drifting away from the statue army with his group. If I guessed correctly, he was leading his group to seek out the Hydromancer. Reverting my attention back to Helterium, I tried to come up with a solution to get to him. There was no help from any of my partners, and even if they had devised a plan, it would be impossible for them to tell me underwater.
There was virtually no way to get to the overlord. Though Sylvan was in my group, though he could still fire an arrow underwater, his arrow would sail significantly slower through the thick ocean, and instead of arching down, the arrowhead would float up. And by the time the arrow made its way to the overlord, the stone army would have already noticed and shielded their commander from the fatal shot. It was truly a challenge even for a master ranger, and we only had one shot. I didn’t want to take this huge risk where the odds were not in our favour. There had to be another way of getting through the wide army unnoticed.
We followed the army from behind for the next thirty minutes, my group waiting to follow my lead. I racked my brain for all the formations we could create, but every single strategy could not permeate the four-thousand statue army. There was no way of getting to the overlord.
Suddenly, a fish snapped out from the sand, sending Pyrrhon flailing out of our guise in surprise. He drifted helplessly above the stone army without the support of his ankle bracelet, and floated directly above the throng of statues.
To our surprise, there was no response from any of the rock warriors. Pyrrhon floated right behind Helterium, and he quickly rebalanced himself, darting back to the group. The statue army continued their monotonous march, as if nothing had happened.
Now was our chance to strike. I motioned to Sylvan, and he immediately fired an arrow towards the overlord’s head. The entire group watched as the arrow slowly pierced through the viscous current, curving upwards and directly towards Helterium’s skull.
I don’t know what happened next. One second and the war would’ve ended, but the next, my head collided against a rock along the ocean floor, my vision blacking out for a short moment.
A huge current forced our group backwards, a forceful wave of water sending us tumbling along the ocean floor helplessly. After clearing my vision from the collision, a blurry wall of water was created between Helterium’s army and my group.
The wall of water separated the two forces, allowing the army to march on dry land as the mass of water was forced against us. Of course, it was formed by none other than the Hydromancer. The cerulean-black cloaked figure had its arms extended, as if pushing the tall wall of water against us, barricading us from reaching the overlord. On the other side, the march of the statues continued on dry land, now at a faster pace without the thick water hindering their speed. Sylvan’s arrow had been deflected by the sudden wall of water, piercing the sand a couple of meters away from our group.
Tarsus and his group arrived a minute later, floating beside our group, helpless behind the lofty wall of water. Sylvan had tried to fire another arrow towards the Hydromancer, but the wall absorbed and deflected the arrow back, nearly piercing Sylvan’s right ear. The water wall also prevented us from passing to the other side. I tried to lunge through, only to be sent floating backwards by the Hydromancer, hopelessly plummeting along the seafloor.
There was nothing we could do. We watched as the army slowly advanced up the sandy slope, disappearing high above us. Splitting up to distract the Hydromancer was no use. It was as if it could control multiple currents at once. When we tried to flank the Mancer, it would push us back together with a strong, forceful wave. There was nothing we could do.
We drifted helplessly along the ocean floor for the next half-hour, racking our brains on ways to overcome the Hydromancer’s blockade. Suddenly, the wall of water fell as abruptly as it was erected, the tumbling of the lofty water wall hurling the twelve of us backwards once again. The Hydromancer drifted upwards and beyond our vision, rejoining the army of statue.
Each of us climbed up the sandy slope slowly, relieving the nitrogen build-up within our bodies to prevent contracting the bends. It was a delaying journey, and by the time we finally reached the sea surface, we had wasted a lot of time. Looking beyond the horizon, the last of Helterium’s army entered Mainland Grozorg. The bridge was burnt, but the Hydromancer had recreated a bridge of water in replacement, easily overcoming our pathetic attempt.
We had failed Fulcan. The army rose out of the water and made it to the mainland. In no time, Helterium would arrive to Tenebris and destroy the ineffective militia there, crumbling the last hope of Grozorg. Is this how it would all end?