“They attacked you?”

  “This idiot just had to go and run his mouth.” Arciel grumbled in response to Alisson’s question.

  Shepard nodded at Alisson. “I asked those ‘Monolithians’ what they were doing on the island, and they said they were doing what needed to be done.”

  Shepard clenched his fist.

  It appeared that the summoner pair had reached the Monolithian base of operations to the north of the island, and were going to fetch a ship ride back to Andestine, when Shepard got in a verbal argument with an officer, and he and Arciel had to make a run for it.

  They had been conversing near the tunnel opening that Alisson had emerged from when he first set foot on Sabasa.

  “Did you ascertain what their real unit designation was?”

  Shepard shook his head. “No idea; they were tight lipped. None of them seemed human in the least. But I guess that’s what an extermination battalion would act like. They know about this tunnel, ” Shepard pointed down at his feet. “They’ll be coming any time soon. We figured it was our best chance to get off this island. We can go back to Aleeze, and make our way north to the Caliphate, they should be more than willing to welcome us and send us back home, in being allied to Andestine.”

  Alisson nodded in understanding. “Reasonable enough. Then let us journey together.” Alisson pointed down at the tunnel, “This passage, like the one you previously traversed, is also infested with those red-skinned rats. Moving together and protecting each other will make our trip easier.”

  With that, they agreed to a temporary alliance. The four of them slowly descended. Alisson would’ve climbed down quickly using Firo’s powers, but he didn’t want to reveal them to anyone. Firo’s layer of slime also acted as shock absorption – Alisson could probably take a much larger fall than he could’ve before with no issue.

  They started down the tunnel, cutting the mounts they had used loose on the surface, and moving on foot.

  “There’s no telling when they will attack, but once the tide of beasts starts, it will not end until we progress a good distance past them, or collapse the tunnel mid-way.”

  Alisson would need to once again punch through the tides of beasts. This time however, he had three extra fighters, and the power of a slime. It should be easier.

  They advanced cautiously for many hours, Alisson and Shepard at the front, Arciel in the middle and Dascha watching the rear. Arciel’s lights floated a good distance in either direction with the group.

  It was bound to happen eventually. They all saw it. A red hand. Far in the distance, creeping out of the lights.

  “Aricel, smoke ‘em!”

  Shepard commanded. A second later, Arciel unleashed a spell she had been keeping ready all this time. A large undulating beam flew down the tunnel. With that, it was time to speed up, and break through the enemy. Shepard grabbed Arciel and slung her over his back, and started to sprint down the tunnel. The mage girl was, understandably, not as physically capable as the other three. The tides of red fleshed, long-clawed creatures flowed out of the darkness toward them. Alisson rushed forward to take the lead. He would thin out the center of the hordes, and Shepard and Dascha would take the sides, trailing behind in his wake.

  With Firo’s power, dicing through the beasts proved an easy affair at first. His strength allowed him to cut through their bodies, ignore their vitals, and continue with great speed. Every so often, Arciel would launch off a barrage of magic to give them some breathing room, her lights followed with them, illuminating clearly the enemy in all directions.

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  The pure mass of beasts ramped up quickly, and Alisson was slowed in his momentum.

  “Enough clearing them, we need to focus on running now!”

  He signaled, and the three began to ignore more and more beasts, simply trying to run through the ones they didn’t have the time to kill. Even with three strong fighters and a formation, the tides were oppressive. There must’ve been more than last time thanks to Arciel’s lights – But they didn’t have the leeway to fight in the dark like Alisson could alone.

  “There’s too many of them-!”

  Shepard was swinging wildly, unable to fight well while carrying Arciel.

  “Do not lose will! Keep moving!”

  Alisson spat. He didn’t want to have to leave the humans behind. These were good people. He had confidence in himself to fight off the hordes on his lonesome if it was needed, but it wasn’t ideal.

  He suddenly heard a loud whine followed by a whimper.

  He looked to see Dascha tumbling across the tunnel ground. A red fleshed beast was entangled with her, gouging its claws into one of her legs. Alisson flew into action, dicing the creature apart and shoving it away. He only had a moment to ascertain the damage to his comrade, but all he could spot upon her crumpled armor was her blood. He scooped her up with a hand, tucking her under his arm.

  Just then, Arciel fired another barrage in both directions, clearing the immediate area for the briefest of moments. Shepard and Alisson put their backs against each other.

  “Now what do we do?”

  Shepard growled.

  “We keep moving.” Alisson sheathed his sword and flourished the remainder of his imbued knives. “I’ll block the passage to our rear with a phosphorus cloud, we just need to keep moving forward.”

  “I’m running low on mana here…” Aricel grumbled.

  “Save it in case of an emergency. Now, go!”

  As the hordes of red beasts emerged from the darkness, Alisson threw a knife behind them. It detonated in a cloud of searing white, burning through the flesh of any creatures caught within. Him and Shepard broke into a sprint down the tunnel, cutting down any beasts that got in their way. The hero acted like less a vector that cut through enemies and more as a battering ram, pushing them aside by blowing through them and shoving them aside with his body.

  With his heavy armor and pure strength, it was a viable tactic. Although Alisson was stronger with Firo, he was still slight of stature and nowhere near the power of a hero.

  The going was tough, but they managed after the initial hiccups. Soon, the torrent of beasts slowed to a trickle and halted, giving them some time to rest and lick their wounds. Dascha was worse for wear, she wouldn’t be able to walk on her own until they reached someone who could heal her. They did what they could to stop the bleeding and ease her suffering. He hoisted her on his back and they continued the long journey back to Sidonia.

  …

  The tunnel’s Sidonian entrance was guarded. Alisson moved ahead, instructing the humans and Dascha to remain behind. He used Firo’s abilities to camouflage himself and crawl up the walls of the entrance. Sure enough, there was a small garrison of Sidonian soldiers, clad in white armor, defending a small depot that the 56th had used.

  Alisson decided on a course of action. He crept back down silently, and disengaged the camouflage. He crawled up normally, and the soldiers took notice.

  “Hail and take heed!” Alisson called. “The 56th is gone! And so is Sabasa! I have much to report!”

  The soldiers took him in, and he briefly informed them of the situation.

  “You captured a hero and a summoner? Amazing…”

  “Yes. I also retrieved a surviving Sabasa who is wounded. Pray allow me to go retrieve them, I was making sure this area was safe.”

  With that story, he was able to secure passage for the four of them. The garrison had a healer with them, who patched up Dascha in no time. Alisson requisitioned a few of their horses, and set off for the capital, saying that this was all confidential and that he would report to Sidonia on these matters in person; as well as to return the prisoners.

  Finally, when they were a good enough distance from the garrison forces, Alisson said his goodbyes with Shepard and Arciel.

  “You should be able to continue north. Just watch out for Sidonian patrols. I won’t be sticking my neck out for you if you get caught.”

  Shepard nodded. “Thanks for everything, Alisson, we’ll see you around.”

  With that, Shepard reared his horse and turned away. Alisson set his sights down the road to the Capital.

  **