The Final Stretch

-1:50 P.M.-

I looked down onto the docks to see Orion in the distance, on top of a boat that was low to the water and with scaffolding still all around it. His arms were crossed as he sat on that boat. I couldn't see his face, but that Red Stone on his hand gave away his identity. Tavian was right, this was the final stretch.

Taking the lead, David, Tyler, Charlie, Alex, Drake, Tavian, Ellie, and I all started running down the hill to push against Orion's soldiers. These soldiers didn't have any shields so they were easy to take down after deflection and stabbing were put to use.

"Look out! Orion's got a trebuchet!" Charlie shouted out. I took one good look over at Orion and it launched. If that hit us, we would be finished!

We were on a slope on the glacier. If that big rock hit us, the slope would collapse and every single person would fall to their deaths. Luckily, I can handle a cannon like that pretty easily.

I watched the large rock make its way over to us. "Ullr! Give me some footing again!" I yelled out. Ullr slid in front of me and bent down, letting me run off of his back and jump off of his shoulders.

As that rock got closer, I pulled my left arm to the right side of my body, getting ready to force a collision with my stone and the rock. It got close enough and the two collided.

[DEFLECTION ENGAGED]

[9:59 Cooldown]

The rock shot back with so much force that the wind leaving the collision sent me back into the mountain behind us. I lost all of the air in my lungs as that rock was sent into the docks, causing a ripple effect in the water so large that the rest of the dock was submerged under a foot of water.

I landed on the ground with no fatigue and with both of my eyes. I was able to withstand the impact a lot better than I used to. I turned back to look at Dani, replenishing my motivation to continue.

"Let's finish this! Orion!" I screamed out, running down the hill while killing various soldiers. Lia was sitting in the back defending the medical supplies and injured soldiers as we all moved up. I thought we were doing a good job, but there weren't too many people left on our side. Those who were injured and a couple of healthy soldiers were the only things we had... a total of maybe two hundred people. And we were so close... we could make it!

"Tavian! Orion's aiming for Lisa and Aegis!" Ellie screamed out in horror. Tavian turned his head towards a rowboat in the ocean as Orion turned the trebuchet towards it.

"HEY, YOU IDIOT! THAT'S YOUR DAUGHTER! DON'T SHOOT THAT BOAT!" Tavian screamed out with all of the fury in his lungs... but Orion wasn't listening. He launched the rock at the boat with his daughter and a person named Lisa. What could I do? Was there anything I could do?

I turned to look around to see Carl breathing in deeply while sitting right next to a cannon, holding a piece of rope in his hands. His eye was narrowed in on that rock Orion launched at the rowboat. I couldn't believe the concentration I could see from Carl at this moment. Before I knew it, Carl pulled the rope and a loud ringing noise filled my ears as a cannonball shot out of the cannon next to him.

Like a miracle bestowed upon us, that cannonball collided with the rock in mid-air and saved the rowboat.

"Heh... I knew I could still be useful... Sky! I'll give support from up here! Get up close and personal! Quickly!" Carl yelled down to me. I nodded out of surprise, flipping past and killing even more soldiers on the hill. If we kept pushing forward and got to that boat, we would all be safe... victory... it was so close, I could almost taste it!

I killed three more soldiers in my way and kicked more into the water on the left side of the cliff from our position. Orion couldn't shoot any more rocks because of the angle we were at, so this fight would be more than easy.

I saw another figure come up right beside me, running at the same pace, killing with the same efficiency, and then she passed me as we came to a level part of the ground. She had white hair and green eyes, throwing me off for a moment as her hair color was so similar to Deity's.

"Sky, my name is Lily. I'm Lia's best friend. I was told that you're the person I was to thank for saving my life, so I'm in your debt. Tell me where I should go, and I'll listen." Lily told me. She had a similar look to Lia... almost identical. Why haven't I seen this girl before? Where did she come from?

"If you say so. I want you to move up with me. Let's clear all of these soldiers out of the way from the dock and secure a place to regroup. You clear out the left half, I got the right. The people behind us will join in, but there's nothing wrong with getting a head start." I said to the polite girl. She nodded, pulling out two daggers from her hips that mimicked Lia's fighting style, and ran in again to kill more soldiers. I was thoroughly impressed that we basically had two Lia's on our side now.

I stabbed my sword through several plates of armor and kicked many others down, killing them with a deadly strike as I flipped around to dodge other strikes. The bow users near the boat were all shot down with Carl's pinpoint accuracy. I was also impressed with him. There was so much talent I hadn't known about hidden within our ranks... but Carl's always had a keen eye.

This was it, we were so close to Orion now... I could throw my sword at his boat we were so close! The excitement was draining my energy.

"Sky! Look out behind you!" Ullr shouted out. I turned my head and a blade came swinging in for my head. Thanks to his warning, I was able to block it, diffuse the attack, and cut him in the throat. He grabbed the oozing part of his body and fell to the ground in a puddle of blood and disappointment.

From above our position, I saw an explosion with a lot more smoke originating where Noboki was fighting. She was thrown high up into the air, using her sword to stab into the glacier and slowly slide down. I was amazed she recovered by that, but she turned over to me with the first look of worry I've ever seen out of her.

"MOVE! NOW!" A foreign noise came out of Noboki's throat... screaming?

[COOLDOWN RESTORED]

[SYSTEM TRANSFER ENGAGED]

[FORCE TAKEOVER]

As if I was watching somebody else use my body, an ice wall shot up from behind Noboki as molten material started to pour down the slope and into the water. Was that magma?!

Pillars of smoke shot out of the water as the hot and cold material came oozing out of the entrance we once ran from. With that smoke, a large portion of the glacier started to fall on top of us.

My body instantly shot above me as if I was flying and the stone on my left hand collided with the glacier, shooting it off into the distance as far as the eye could see. Due west was Scorched, but once the part of the glacier shot towards the north, it collided with something made of glass, and even more shattering echoed throughout the entire Isle.

My body dropped back to the floor and my legs broke at the knees.

What the hell is going on?! I wasn't even in control right there!