25. Golden Warrior I
The colossus threw a punch at the golden warrior with its wounded hand, apparently not caring about the blood dripping from its severed fingers. She easily avoided the blow with a step back. Then she climbed onto its fist, propelled herself upward, and cut one of its crimson eyes.
The monster roared to the heavens, but did not stop, and launched its other fist, attempting another attack against the woman. She managed to react in time, bringing her arms together to withstand the blow. She would have been hit... if not for Tryg.
He arrived an instant earlier and, analyzing the shadows of the clash, cut the monster's forearm. He was not able to tear off the limb, but he still carved out a good chunk of flesh and stopped its attack.
Another roar of pain echoed. The warrior widened her yellow eyes at Tryg, undoubtedly surprised by the arrival of an unexpected third element. As she landed, sliding across the snowy grass, she stared at him, breathless, aching, and confused, her golden hair rustling in the wind.
Tryg, on the other hand, ignored her astonishment and charged at the colossus again, not losing focus on his main objective. Fortunately, the woman quickly understood that he was an ally and joined the fight, even weakened as she was, placing herself beside him.
The monster, now one-eyed, growled, brought its fists together, and slammed them brutally against the ground. Snow and earth scattered in every direction, and a shock wave struck its enemies.
Tryg, obviously, saw the blow in advance and guarded himself against the debris and the shock, covering his face with his empty hand and driving the sword into the grass with the other. He was still pushed back, but not nearly as far as he would have been without the sword's support.
The warrior, however, did not seem to have the same capabilities as him, much less the same stamina, and was struck. Still, an instant later, she drove her daggers into the ground, keeping herself nearby. The impact was not as strong as the monster's punch earlier, but it still shook her.
A cloud of snow and mist also formed around the colossus, clouding Tryg's vision. Luckily, he also had the vision of the shadows. The shadow of a huge rock flew in his direction. Time slowed. Widening his eyes, he realized that the stony projectile, almost as large as him, was not coming toward him, but toward the warrior to his left.
Instinctively, he abandoned the sword and threw himself to the side, grabbing the woman before they both rolled through the snow. The stranger groaned, even as Tryg fought to keep his grip from hurting her too much, due to the wounds on her body.
The boulder smashed against the distant wall, breaking into thousands of fragments. As soon as they stopped rolling, Tryg released the warrior. The other sword was already in his hand when he rose to his feet, waiting for the next attack. The woman prepared herself as well.
Luckily, nothing came next. The freezing dust dissipated shortly after, revealing the colossus approaching them with short, heavy steps, its hideous face twisted with fury. While he still had time, Tryg studied the stranger, her wounds and her exhaustion, and bit his lip.
He had no idea who that woman was. For all he knew, she could very well be another challenge of the labyrinth, although the labyrinth had never placed someone alive and apparently human like her in his path. And, even if that was not the case, if the warrior had been in the labyrinth for as long as him, or even longer, she could definitely prove to be a threat to Sinmara's life and his. Added to all that was the fact that she was not just any warrior. It was clear as day: she knew exactly what she was doing, by the way she moved and used her weapons.
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Trusting such a capable and mysterious stranger... would be risky. But no riskier than facing an opponent as large, strong, and resistant as the colossus alone.
Tryg took one more look at the approaching monster, then at the place where he had left his unconscious teacher. After confirming both her safety and his own, he opened his bag and took out a flask of Idunn fruit juice.
"Drink this," he asked, handing the flask to the woman. "It'll help with your wounds."
She held the flask. For an instant, she stared at the yellow juice with suspicion, but soon drank it all. However, the partial revitalization of the drink would take a while, enough time for the colossus to reach her.
"Once you're better, follow my lead," Tryg said, and advanced against the monster to buy time, not even noticing the surprised expression with which the warrior looked at him and at her own body being healed.
The colossus struck with an open hand, trying to crush Tryg. You're pretty agile for something so big, he thought. But not as agile as the queen. Tempered by the days of exhausting training he had endured, Tryg anticipated the attack and rolled to the side. As he regained his balance, he spun with the sword held in both hands and cut the colossus's wrist.
Again, his strength was not enough to sever its hand. In truth, even if he used all his vigor, Tryg was certain he would not be able to cut through his enemy from one end to the other, even with a sword as durable and sharp as the one Sinmara had given him. But he did not need to, nor did he want to.
The fighting style his teacher had been teaching him had not been developed to make the most of the user's physical strength. On the contrary, all her techniques focused on agility and cleverness: redirecting powerful blows and then taking advantage of the openings created by such calculated deflections.
Thus, Tryg did not focus on piercing, much less splitting the stone-skinned colossus. He focused on moving and wounding it as efficiently as possible.
Running around it, Tryg avoided the slaps and punches that tore through the air around him and, whenever he found an opening, cut the shins, knees, wrists, elbows — any relevant point. In exchange, his worn armor gained several bloody splashes, and a growing pain began to throb in his head due to the thunderous screams that punished his ears.
For a moment, Tryg thought the colossus was not as smart as an Einherjar, much less a Revenant, since it was not reacting lucidly against him, trying to drive away the small opponent who was nimbly tearing into its flesh. But he soon realized that was not the case.
The monster once again brought its fists together, raised them, roaring, and slammed them against the grass again, even harder than the first time. Tryg predicted the impact and retreated in time to avoid being hit by its hands, but not in time to avoid the shock wave that pushed him away.
Damn...
Then, using the cloud of snow and earth it had raised, the colossus advanced, throwing slaps and punches nonstop at its enemy. Tryg was able to dodge, analyzing the shadows of both the monster and the protrusions formed by its attacks, leaping and running to the sides.
However, no matter how much Sinmara's guidance had made him more experienced, skilled, and careful, Tryg still could not process every aspect of the battle — all the new craters and protrusions, the enemy's attacks, his unconscious teacher lying in the distance — and, eventually, he was struck by a random rock in the eye.
He staggered, grunting, bringing a hand to his face. The colossus, taking advantage of the opening, slapped the side of his body, sending him rolling through the snow. Fortunately, Tryg managed to bring his arms together shortly before the impact, avoiding serious damage to his torso.
Still, when he stopped and rose to his feet again, it was obvious to him, from the excruciating pain in his left arm, that his shoulder had been dislocated, and that some of his bones had, at the very least, cracked.
Tryg ignored the pain as much as he could, gritting his teeth, and looked toward the thunderous, accelerating steps coming in his direction. The monster was roaring at him, wildly swinging its enormous hands.
Then it screamed and fell face-first onto the ground, sliding through the snow. Tryg's eyes widened, startled, but soon he realized what had happened. All it took was seeing the woman who was now on top of the colossus, driving the pale blade Tryg had abandoned earlier into the monster's back, her brows furrowed with determination.
She definitely... was not an ordinary warrior. After all, not even Tryg, with partially divine strength, had managed to pierce the colossus's stony skin, much less knock it down. She's strong, he concluded, narrowing his eyes with suspicion, realizing how wrong he had been to assume otherwise at first.
Stronger than me...