Chapter 51.

Enora blocked a strike with her huge damaged shield, going for a swing of her sword immediately after. She could feel Nick right next to her, stabbing with great strength while also carrying a shield he had stolen from an enemy. Clearly the situation did not allow any kind of mistake if even he had to defend. An arrow spun through the gap between them, hitting a Grey Devil in the ribs, spurting blood and groans away, following which Rose let out a laugh.

(Enora) Careful, on your right !

Reacting in time, Nick moved his protection against an enemy arrow. His leather covered shield was in a terrible shape, covered in cuts and projectiles, almost falling in pieces. The man himself had a hurt side and crimson on his face from a head injury. It stung a lot. But the trio could not linger too much on this feeling, fighting as much against the monsters as against their growing panic.

(Rose) How did we end up in this mess ?

…

Only a day had passed, and a great change happened, giving hope to the three mage's hearts : a strong breeze. It was the first time in … forever that such a thing occurred. A breeze ! True enough, they were reacting in an extreme manner to a small detail, but to them it was amazing. They felt overwhelmed.

Quickening their pace, they trudged through what they wished was the last tunnel they would ever see, finally entering a great cave. In said cave, they were on an elevated place, with the only way to get down appearing to be a soft slope to their left that followed the curved wall until the ground level. At the other end of this two hundred square meters cave, a five meter large exit bathed in warm light from which wind blew.

This wind carried a scent of finality, of achieved goal, to the point that the trio only noticed the threat ahead a bit late. Below them was a camp of more than twenty tents, with many muscular and taller than average Grey Devils. In fact, they also looked less wild, with a sickly white skin, and were equipped with boiled leather armours and iron weapons. They were not alone though : two Ash Trolls were also there, sitting in a corner while gnawing on large bones. Those did not look different than usual, just beasts. By the time the humans realised what they stumbled upon, the two guards standing only a few meters below on the slope sounded the alarm. Honestly, they had hugely messed up.

(Enora) Fuck !

Enora's sentiment was very much shared.

…

It had only been a few minutes, and in fact the three of them were in an average situation : they were on the slope that was only five meters wide, so the enemy could not surround them easily, but at the same time their right side was exposed to the enemy archers on ground level. A few Devils had already died, either pierced in their hearts or with arrows through their facial orifices. Rose felt excited despite the dire situation, as she enjoyed using a bow tremendously. Wild magic allowed her to use it to its fullest potential, leaving her only to worry about aiming. Admittedly her shoulders would probably hurt like hell after the fight, but it was a problem for the victors.

The two frontliners however were not having a blast, with cuts and bruises appearing on their skin little by little. After all this time in the maze, Enora's brigandine was quite damaged although not to the point of losing its protective advantage. Still, it needed urgent repairs. As for Nick, some rings of his chainmail were battered and even fell quite some time before, with his surcoat partially torn here and there. Only the small blond behind them had a relatively untouched set of clothes as she never seriously fought hand to hand. She did not have armour though. Anyway, they felt desperate : the enemy numbered at least forty, with the two Ash Trolls on their way and archers trying to pin them down.

(Enora) Rose, try to take out those little shits below !

Less than a second later, rose notched an old and blood covered arrow, aiming at the enemy archers. She pulled hard on the string as much as she could before letting go. Only a pained scream entered her ears as she watched with delight how the arrow that almost killed her weeks before was plunged into a monster's throat. It was her personal revenge. Yet, she did not linger too long, keeping on the good work to ease her companion's burden.

With less danger from their side, the duo went on the offensive, hacking and slashing about in ragged breaths and bloodied air. The monsters began taking steps back, but not out of fear : it was only to let the Trolls take action. They had finally arrived and looked impatient. However, since they had to share a space of five meters, they were definitely less efficient, to the human's benefit. Also Nick and Enora had learned from their past mistake, trying their best not to stay too close to each other, as a single broad swing could probably knock them out.

Until that point the three had demonstrated their abilities as fighters, waiting for the right moment to strike hard. The arrival of the new monstrous enemies felt like the right moment. Like a single organism, the three mages used up their energies : Enora stomped hard on the brown soil, releasing a great cone of devastating flames on the two beasts while Nick projected a beam of light at one's face and Rose aimed her arrows into those creepy red eyes. The burst was fierce, and a single arrow managed to take out the leftmost monster. With a deep howl it fell and rolled the slope, taking many Devils with it until it stopped on the lower level. The situation seemed to be getting better !

(Nick) Okay ! Let's push on, we are about to …

As Nick shared these thoughts, a thunderous roar echoed. Something that made the walls tremble and the ground shake. Something they had never heard before. On their right, below them, a shadow appeared from a recess they had overlooked. A huge shadow, almost five meters tall, with its head at the same height as them, began moving. This 'thing' looked hideous, with three yellow cat eyes, holes for ears and nose, a large mouth with protruding fangs and two bones piercing the top of its malformed skull. Those were shaped like cones, short, with large bases. The rest of its body was equally horrible and disproportionate too, with relatively short arms, long legs and scrawny body. White bones emerged regularly through the skin, forming spikes, but it did not seem like it was natural, as blood and pus oozed from these extremities. It had a rabid and crazy look, foaming at the mouth and trembling. In fact, the other hellish creatures did not appear too pleased to see it either : they seemed as scared as a monster can be.

Taking advantage of the human's daze, the last Troll charged at Enora with the great horn that crowned its disgusting head. The tanned warrior instinctively shielded herself, but how could a piece of wood merely four centimeters thick resist such a might ? She was projected against the left wall and only stopped when crashing into the tunnel they used to arrive. She got back to her feet with great pain, her left arm hanging useless at her side and her shield in pieces at her feet. Yet she still held her sword, and her eyes did not lose a bit of determination. Seeing this, the other two began panicking, but felt Enora's will and calmed their minds. Once one had composed themselves, then the others would follow.

Rose took the lead by loosing three arrows in a row, hitting the last Troll in the knees and right elbow. She did not try the head, as it was betting on a luck that she felt was cheating on them. The beast fell low, giving enough time for Enora to bolt forward and sink her weapon in its right eye socket, covering her hand with white, gray, pink and red fluids. The stink did not bother her as much as the large one meter and a half hand that came crashing on them in the next instant.

The Grey Devils were not much of a threat at that moment, as the second Troll corpse was rolling down the slope and preventing them from attacking, but this large wart-covered white hand that tried to grab the little humans, that was dangerous and frightening. What could be more dreadful to a human than a huge being trying to squeeze and devour them on the spot ?

Like one body the three mages rolled and jumped and ran around, avoiding as best as they could an enemy they had never fought before. But it was persistent in its desire to have a snack, and did not give up. Eventually, Rose had her left leg caught, screaming like never before as it dragged her towards it. She was not keen on being passive anymore though, and at the first moment she could, she extended her arm and cast several Sunlight Beams in those yellow eyes, frying them instantly like eggs in a pan. Nick was not idle either, throwing his spear like Rose had done against the Troll not too long before, aiming for the face with as much magical strength as he could muster while Enora took care of the Grey Devil tide.

The streak of light left by the spear pierced through the hole that served as a nose, only leaving a fourth of its length outside. Those injuries destabilised the giant, making it drop the blond woman and stagger violently. Without hesitation Nick jumped from the platform and tried to catch the falling Rose. But he missed. It was not easy feat after all. She crashed onto the brown soil, cracking a rib or two in the process while the man actually fell on the monster's swaying shoulder.

(Nick) Well shit …

Since the opportunity was in front of him, he would not let it pass. Grabbing his hatchet, he began hacking away at the monster's neck, slowly beheading it while holding onto one of its horns. Enora was very much worried for Rose, but soon felt the little blond's thoughts transmitting pain and the view of her surroundings. She was getting back up and stumbling towards the bottom of the slope, trying to flank the remaining Grey Devils and avoid the giant. Soon enough, she and Enora turned those pesky creatures into burning corpses. All the while the man of the group tried his best to avoid the grabbing attempts of his enemy, swinging his hatchet like a madman. He eventually fell, but not before his two companions finished their barbecue.

Eventually, they managed to make the beast crumble on its knees by expending all their fire energy, then on its belly, to finally turn its head into a disgusting, stinking mess of twisted pulp. Only a few minutes had passed, and yet the trio looked tired and injured to an extreme degree. They could feel each other's pain from broken limbs and wounded flesh. Enora's almost severed arm, Rose's partially crushed leg, Nick's broken ribs and bloody face. All of it was shared, and multiplied their suffering and yet they did not try to suppress the Nexus of Minds, they did not try to stop feeling as they now considered the pain of one as the pain of all. They simply collapsed against the giant monster, using up the leftover light energy to heal their most urgent injuries.

By the time they were empty of any magic, they all could walk, albeit with each other's help and many groans. Slowly but surely, they went through the exit, looking around with hope. And what a sight ! After ten meters of tunnel, an immense, massive cave appeared, probably several kilometers wide and, at its center, a stone city. Movement could be seen from where they stood, people and everything, bustling in their everyday lives. This single detail made the three mages shed a few tears, as it was finally over.