Chapter 52: Narrow Escape
As Damon turned to his companions to command them to take cover, his eyes widened.
Artheus swayed on his feet, his armour penetrated by a dozen arrows, each over a meter long, made of dark wood and a black metal tip that tore through his armour with ease.
Blood spurted from his mouth as he tried to speak before collapsing to his knees.
The others weren’t much better off.
In the span of a few moments, it seemed as if a rainfall of arrows had struck them. Jax had a massive injury in his shoulder, while Victor lay unconscious on the ground, with two arrows stuck in his back.
A wave of dread washed over Damon as he realised only a single arrow came his way, while his companions were struck with a dozen or so arrows.
’They’re targeting specific members of the group!’
Damon was quick to move. He dashed toward the direction of the arrows, deflecting them to give his companions room to move.
"Get them behind the tree trunks!" Damon commanded Jax, who kneeled beside Artheus’s unmoving body.
"Dead..." He muttered, "He’s dead, dammit!"
With no other way to keep his allies alive, Damon raised his arm and activated his black ice manipulation. He waved his arm in a half-circle, creating a wall of black ice around them and blocking the attackers.
But the arrows never stopped, and cracks quickly began to spread across the ice.
"It won’t hold long! How do we get out of here?"
Jax was out of it, staring at the body of the dead tank.
"Jax!"
"Huh?" Finally, the archer’s eyes lifted. "There is a 15-second cooldown for the teleport."
Damon’s eyes snapped toward the platform to their right, only a few steps away from them.
"Get them on the platform!"
Jax didn’t need to be told twice, quickly lifting both Artheus and Victor and carrying them onto the platform.
But before his boots could even hit the engraved stone, the ice shattered, and a figure dashed forward.
It was around two and a half meters tall with greyish skin and elongated, elf-like ears. Holding a curved blade, it charged straight at Jax, but before it could reach him, Damon activated his Shadow Step.
CLANG!
A single block sent tremors down Damon’s entire arm. The monster looked visibly surprised that he managed to block, but it quickly retaliated, its movements fluid.
Damon had no choice but to activate Berserker’s Fury just to keep up, but behind the single enemy warrior he saw a dozen more, approach them with slow steps.
"Those are Dark Elves, Damon! They are way past level 50!" Kitsune’s voice cut loudly through his head.
Realising it wasn’t a battle they could win, Damon activated his Shadow Step again, just as Jax placed his hand on the orb. The moment he appeared on the platform, Damon noticed something in the far distance, behind the cover of the thinning trees.
There were massive walls of black stone, rising high in the distance, the very same ones he had seen from the ground, unmistakably the citadel.
But before he could get a proper look, or before the attackers could reach them, the teleport activated once more, and the four of them vanished.
Instantly, Damon moved toward Victor, pulling the arrows out and checking his pulse.
’He’s alive,’ he realised before his attention moved to his left.
"I knew it..." Jax whispered, kneeling beside Artheus, "I fucking knew it!"
He suddenly rose, turning toward Damon, who stood above Victor.
"If it wasn’t for your bullshit, he would’ve still been alive!"
"It was his choice to go," Damon replied before continuing. "Blood will attract monsters. I suggest you give him a proper burial unless you want his remains to be eaten."
Jax blinked. His hand twitched at his side, rage burning behind his eyes, but he simply turned to his slain comrade and lifted his body before walking away.
It took around two minutes before Jax managed to bury the body of his companion and return to find Victor already sitting up.
"What... what happened?" He asked. His gaze shifted between Damon and Jax with a confused frown before a sudden realisation struck him. "Where’s Artheus?"
The silence that followed his question was more of an answer than any words could be.
Victor swallowed hard, nodding slowly as he realised what had happened.
"What now?" He suddenly asked, looking more toward Damon for an answer rather than Jax, who was about to reply.
"We return to the Central Station," Damon replied.
Victor raised a brow at the reply before rising to his feet.
"You sure you’re ready to move?" Jax asked.
"Yeah, my passive healing ability works fast," Victor replied.
***
The journey back to the Central Station took longer than expected. With both Victor and Jax injured, Damon was forced to face all the monsters by himself. Of course, with the anger he felt after what happened, it worked well for him. He had a perfect opportunity to let out his frustration.
Just as the night reached its peak, they finally reached the entrance to the Central Station. This way inside had been sealed off before, but now it seemed completely usable, a first indication of change that Damon noticed.
The second change he saw when they stepped inside and saw countless stalls and new buildings that weren’t there before. Despite it being the middle of the night, the station was surprisingly alive, with hundreds of people going on about their day, or rather, night.
"Looks different," Damon murmured.
"Yeah, a lot has changed."
Suddenly, as people began to take notice of their arrival, a large crowd gathered around them.
"Isn’t that a scouting group?"
"But who are they with?"
"Wait! Isn’t that him?"
Quickly, whispers began to spread.
Unbeknownst to Damon, ever since his sudden departure after his battle with Kade, he became someone of a legend, a story every person in the station knew. Even newcomers, who there were plenty of, were quick to learn the story from those who’d seen it, making him basically a small celebrity.
"What’s with all the commotion?"
Damon asked, but Victor simply chuckled nervously.
Suddenly, the crowd began to split as the leader of the human coalition in the central station heard of the sudden arrival.
Her heels clicked softly against the floor as she approached them with a complicated look on her face.
"It’s been a while, Ivy."