Teamwork (3)
After another few weeks, everyone finally got the hang of working as a team. With Aavern as our designated strategist, the rest of us just focused on noticing when the others needed help, or finding opportunities to use our talents to make the fight easier.
"Your growth is impressive," Azor said one day, after an especially grueling scrimmage where we were allowed to use mock gems. "You four have perfected your coordination. It's almost like you all instinctively know when to help each other."
"You won't believe how much Aavern pushed us to learn to do that," Qassot sighed.
"I still can't get used to this thing knowing more about fighting than me," Dracoa said, pointing a wing at Aavern.
"Thanks," Aavern said, "I think."
"Even Cyil seems to be improving."
"Cool!" I said. The extra sleep I had been getting was going quite a long way.
"Do you four feel like you can find your way around a fight now?" Azor asked.
"That's a weird question," Qassot said.
"Yep!" I said.
"Well, then I believe you are almost ready to set out on the journey to get the gems."
"Really?" I asked. I felt a bit sad. I was quite comfortable in this place, training with my friends. I hadn't even given any thought to what would happen if we finished training, and the mission Kovo gave us.
"This afternoon is your final assessment," Azor said, "Rest up and get ready."
The final assessment. The battle where we would be freed from his training and set off to gather the gems and defeat Ezarik. Azor said that we would be together as one team and that he expected us to defeat every single creature, just like a mock battle. We entered the wide field of random hills, mountains, flat plains, and boulders outside Azor's castle. This time, we were stationed in a large valley with a mountain in the middle, with various cliffs, rocks, hills, and caves which would have been perfect for hide-and-seek.
"Gosh," Qassot said, gaping at the other side.
The summoning crystal on the other side of the arena was completely surrounded with the hardest creatures we had ever fought armed with the most powerful magical spells and weapons we had ever seen.
"Okay, strategy time. We can travel in pairs," said Aavern, jumping immediately into planning. He had been surveying the field while we stared at the sheer number of enemies. "Riselus will be waiting in ambush in that cave cluster by that copse of trees."
Riselus nodded.
"Dracoa and Qassot will be on the frontlines. Your job is not to fight, but to lure them towards Riselus and trap small groups of them in the cave. Come in from two sides and destroy the numbers bit by bit."
"Got it," Dracoa said. She was smiling slightly, clearly excited for the fight.
"You're so much more responsible than Cyil," Qassot commented.
"Hey," I said. "I'm still here, y'know."
"Cyil and I will take out the creatures with long range spells and then loop back to provide long-range support."
"ARE YOU DONE PLANNING?" Azor yelled from his position atop a large cliff next to a large pile of rocks.
"NOT YET!" Aavern yelled back, then continued. "Save the creatures with the toughest protection spells for last. Thin out their numbers first."
"HOW ABOUT NOW?" Azor shouted again.
"Yup!" Aavern yelled.
"GO!" shouted Azor.
Aavern and I immediately grabbed rocks and javelins and flew up to get a vantage point. Riselus lumbered off, leaping off a ledge to crush a small, fast creature and make for a clump of trees nearby where Aavern had directed him. Dracoa and Qassot flew and bothered the opposition, drawing in and out of range, picking them off one by one and shepherding them to Riselus. Well, Qassot did, anyway. Dracoa mostly smashed the creature's heads in.
The day was bright and the large mountain in the middle was a great vantage point. Aavern and I landed on it and searched for what Azor called "snipers", which were creatures who found a high position and flung long-ranged spells at us from the back. They were difficult to deal with, especially with the tougher creatures Azor created called "bruisers" taking up the front of the charge.
"Look out!" I yelled, as a huge burst of fire narrowly missed us as we flew up and away.
"That was close," Aavern said.
We dodged a small swarm of flying creatures who were immediately set upon by Qassot and flew up to get momentum to hurl our projectiles. Another blast flew by, so close that my fur stood on end from the heat. We dove. We came straight at it. A blast was a hair's breadth from Aavern's face. He got his rocks right in the face of the creature, lightly scouring it. I flung my javelin at the creature, who had just begun charging another fireball. It went straight through the arm into the creature's chest.
"Good job!" Aavern said, throwing a rock to smash the spawning crystal. "There's another one to your left!"
With the "snipers" distracted, Riselus, Qassot, and Dracoa were able to pick off the weaker creatures.
Half an hour of battling passed. I was frantically flinging javelins all over the place, Aavern bombing continuously, and the others doing… their thing. I was on the wrong side of the field. Only bruisers were left. Aavern told me that Riselus was making a literal mountain of defeated creatures by the position he took up. Qassot had taken a big hit from a fire blast and was flying crooked despite the protection spell.
"Dracoa! Behind you!" Qassot yelled.
A light beam zapped Dracoa's tail. She slammed her now-singed tail through the creature's head. It crumpled and split in half.
"You too, Riselus!" Qassot called again.
A fireball set Riselus's trees on fire. That made him angry. He rammed into the creature, bowling it and several more over and half-embedding them into the ground. His front turned black from another burst that narrowly missed. He retreated back into the cave.
"Nice!" Qassot called.
"LOOK OUT!" Aavern yelled.
A creature exploded in Qassot's face, shattering her protection spell. She was out. That wasn't good. Dracoa was going the same way, seeing how many lightning bolts were being fired at her.
I rammed a javelin into the back of a creature. I noticed Dracoa go down from a flying creature. Aavern went up and slammed the birdlike thing in the face with a spray of shattering rocks. The shower of shards lightly damaged several below it.
"Let's escape somewhere with less enemies," Aavern said.
"Good idea," I replied. I stooped into a dive to gather speed.
I wasn't watching where I was going and almost immediately smashed headfirst into a creature which I didn't see.
A fog began to blow in from the sea, which, combined with me being dazed from the impact, meant that I could not see. I quickly retreated to a sheltered spot on the mountain and waited for the fog to clear.
When the fog disappeared, I peeked out. Creatures roamed unchallenged over the plain. Most were barely glowing blue. Aavern had done immense damage alone. How should I react? I didn't know. Aavern didn't strategize for when most of our group was out. I still had a clump of javelins with me. I decided to make good use of them. I rushed up and dropped them like bombs. There were too many clumped creatures to dive. The javelins fell and pierced many of them. I took out half of them on contact.
I went on, dropping javelins. I had a close call. One creature exploded and a piece of it hit me. I flew around, two last javelins in hand. There was no way that I could destroy the remaining dozen clumped creatures, even though they were all crumbling. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the rockfall next to Azor. An idea sparked into my head.
If I can't destroy them one by one, I can take them all with me. That thought raced through my head. If I could pick up a massive rock and dive into the middle of the enemies… No, I wouldn't be able to lift a rock that big.
A rock tumbled down. Another idea slowly formed. The rockfall… what about it? A memory burst to life. One time, I was hunting a rare creature on a mountain with Aavern in hopes of bringing some meatballs back home. Rocks from a mountainside tumbled down at just the right moment, trapping our prey and killing it instantly. An explosion brought me back. They were already beginning to attack. I had to do this quickly. I flew up, out of range, luring them to the rockfall. Just right underneath it. I flung my last javelin at a straggling creature then rammed headfirst into the top of the avalanche-in-the-making and knocked myself out.
-
Later, when I awoke, I saw the not-so-rockfall spread out across the field. Several dozen former boulder creatures lay twisted and mauled at the bottom of the slope. Azor walked silently over, slightly glowing in the evening sun.
"Great job. That was an excellent performance."
I shifted slightly. I was suddenly aware of a sharp gnawing pain in my head. I groaned.
"Don't move yet. There's a rock embedded in your skull. Stay right there." Azor walked over and a dim light appeared on his fingertips. He inspected my head.
I touched my head with a wing and felt something sharp. Pain erupted from that spot. I blacked out again.