Chapter 89: A Rocky Farewell
Shade reappeared from the shadows, his small face pale but his eyes burning with renewed intensity, immediately grabbed Eirin’s hand. He pulled her with surprising force, his small legs already churning as he started running away, back towards the cave entrance.
But Eirin couldn’t stop herself from looking back. Over her shoulder, she saw the monster, Girak, still smiling gently, a look of unwavering devotion on its craggy face. It did not move, nor did it attempt to defend itself against the relentless barrage.
Girak only remained standing there, a colossal, unmoving barrier between Eirin and the advancing bounty hunters. He knew, with an ancient wisdom, that once he moved, once he engaged in combat, his sheer size and power could inadvertently endanger the two students. His only purpose was to protect, to create a path for her escape.
Eirin’s heart ached, a sharp, physical pain in her chest, seeing such selfless sacrifice. Without a second thought, driven by a powerful surge of protectiveness, she pulled her hand back from Shade’s grasp. As she did so, she thrust the precious weeping bindweed into his small, surprised hand.
"Hold this!" she commanded. Then, with a fierce, desperate resolve, she turned and rushed back towards Girak’s side, ignoring Shade’s baffled words behind her.
"Stop it!" Eirin screamed, her voice echoing with righteous fury through the cavern. As she did, she swung her arm in a desperate, wide arc, releasing a powerful wind blade. This one was larger, more turbulent than her previous attempt, fueled by the emotion surging through her.
It tore through the air with a violent whirl, once again injuring those bounty hunters, sending them sprawling. Her amber eyes glowed with an intensity she hadn’t known she possessed, a vibrant inner light that pulsed with her gusting Flair.
Eirin huffed and puffed, her lungs burning, not from exertion, but from the sheer force of her emotions, as she instinctively, positioned herself beside the monstrous golem, protecting the creature that had only moments ago filled her with abject terror.
The tremors began once again, deeper and more frequent this time, shaking the cavern with renewed ferocity. Eirin looked up at Girak, her gaze meeting his, and saw the monster looking at her with that same soft, knowing gaze.
"You and your companion must leave," he rumbled, his voice filled with urgency, "before the cave closes again."
Despite having seen the monster for the very first time, Eirin felt oddly, inexplicably connected to it, as if an ancient bond stretched between them. She reached out, her small hand patting the coarse, rocky arm of the golem, a gesture of comfort and defiance. Girak smiled, a wistful, heartbreaking expression, as it raised its massive arms.