Stone, Metal, and Darkness

Kyro squeezes his eyes shut, slowing to a halt. He expects a deafening crash, pebbles from the falling rock to pelt his sweat-covered skin. He expects to open his eyes and see a pile of skin and bone, or simply nothing at all. However, the crash never comes, and as Kyro opens his eyes, he sees that Cage's dead body is not there.

Instead, Kyro sees something unsettling, even more terrifying than the hundred-foot-tall stone giant that stands less than a mile away.

The chunk of land—the size of a house—that was meant to squish Cage hovers above the lava pit before Kyro. Under the hovering chunk, on the edge of the pit, Kyro sees a black form, and two white discs of glowing light. They shine like the eyes of that giant, the only difference being that these eyes shift constantly, almost seeming to spin on the figure's face.

The figure rises from the edge of the pit, and the massive chunk of black rock rises with it, held up by several black appendages that sprout from the figure's back. Kyro watches with wide eyes as the figure's full form comes into view. Tall, nearly as tall as Kyro, with long spindly arms and legs, each inch of its body shifting like a great black flame.

"Cage..." Kyro forces a whisper through his dry throat. The figure glances at Kyro, nods, then looks at the stone giant. It only stands there, but the appendages sprouting from its back shimmer.

The building size chunk of rock rises higher in the air. Then, as if it weighs no more than a feather, those appendages catapult the rock through the air. Kyro can only watch with his lips parted in awe as it flies and flips through the air, heading directly toward the white-eyed giant.

The stone giant swipes the rock from the air with its massive hand. It explodes into millions of pieces with the force of the blow, and Kyro winces as the eardrum-bursting crash reaches his ears. He'll surely be deaf by the end of this.

Shards of black rock from the smashed chunk pelt the stone giant's face, chest, and legs. However, it shows no signs of pain. If pain is something that it can feel. Then, the ground vibrates as it takes a massive step forward, eyes trained on the tiny men before it.

Kyro meets the eyes of the black figure standing beside him. It looks past him, at Ingen and Krash, who both look just as shocked and bewildered as Kyro feels. Those appendages shrink, disappearing into its back in a flash. Then, the figure raises its lanky arm, which shoots forward, stetching toward Ingen and Krash quickly.

Kyro has trouble even following the arm with his eyes as it explodes into a sphere of black at the end. The sphere grows fast, enveloping Ingen and Krash and shielding them from the outside world. The arm shrinks back, leaving the giant black bubble behind.

Kyro's eyes linger on the familiar bubble, and he chuckles, meeting the figure's eyes, "So it is you, then," he says, the dread in his heart replaced with relief, "I can't imagine Ingen will be too happy about being trapped again, though." If Kyro himself had not once been inside that bubble himself, then he may have reacted differently, if he could react at all.

Cage shrugs his black shoulders, then something appears in his hand. He tosses it, and Kyro catches the object. A Rage Stone with around two doses shaved off. Kyro looks at the stone giant as the ground rumbles with another step. The strength and sharpness given by the Stones increase with a larger dose, however... take too much, and only death awaits.

Kyro is not sure if Cage knows this detail, but it does not matter. The Rajin will need more than a sliver to deal with the mountain of a monster that approaches. His eyes scan the destroyed volcanos and dark pits that spot the land. All this destruction, Kyro says, and all it did was land.

Kyro squeezes the Stone, and it shatters into little red crumbs. He cups them to his mouth and uses the water gourd at his waist to wash it down.

Kyro's eyes widen, his muscles bulge with a surge of strength, and his mind races with possible ways to kill the giant. He can see each crack in the stone skin of the giant, each crack made by its steps, even from this distance. Kyro takes a deep breath, grip tightening around the hild of his sword, trying not to be overwhelmed by the largest dose he's ever taken. Then, he looks at the black, otherworldly form of Cage.

Cage gestures with a side nod to the giant, then turns and bursts into a sprint that even Kyro will have trouble keeping up with. Kyro grins, watching those lanky black limbs blur with the speed of their movement. He joins Cage, cracking the ground below his feet as he rockets into the fast sprint of his life.

Just the same as Kyro, Cage's body vibrates with strength and most of all, freedom. The solid darkness no longer comes from his body in this state. The darkness is his body. Cage sprints, the black rock below reduced to a blur by his speed, spinning white eyes staring up at the giant. It stares back.

So you're here for me, Cage thinks, well, here I am.

In the split second before the rock crashed down upon him, Cage had an entire conversation with Lithi. The still very strange man had said that 'he' had come for Cage, which is the second time that Lithi has spoken in such a way. Then, the man said that he would help Cage, but the end result of this battle is up to him. Cage wouldn't have it any other way.

A dark shadow shrouds Cage's vision, and he looks up to find a giant stone fist plummeting down toward him. If he had a mouth right now, then Cage would be grinning wide. His black legs compress to give them more power, and then he leaps, one arm stretching and gripping one of the giant's knuckles.

Cage uses the arm to swing up and over the gian't fist, then to barrel back down onto its stone wrist. His other arm—a nice thing to have after so long—explodes to a massive size, his black fist the size of a boulder. The fist slams down onto the giant's wrist, cracking some of the stones and flaking others off.

The giant's arm is forced down to the black rock below with the force of the strike. His arms returning to normal, Cage wastes no time as he turns and bolts up the giant's arm, Kyro's blue figure dashing through the air in the corner of his eye.

Kyro flies with gritted teeth, a warhammer in his hands instead of the usual blade. He cries out as he reaches his target, slamming the spiked face of his weapon into the giant's knee. Stone and dust are sent flying with the attack, and a good-sized chunk is taken from the front of the rocky knee. Kyro pushes off the giant's leg with his own legs, and he flies away to regroup for another attack.

Kyro lands with his feet sliding to a halt several meters away. He looks up to see Cage leaping from the shoulder of the giant, his leg transforming into a giant black blade that slices through the monster's glowing left eye and part of its head. The skinny but long slice reveals a sliver of pitch-blackness behind the white light.

Kyro hums, nodding in approval at Cage's strength. He has no idea how Cage achieved this form, and isn't sure he'll ever know. But one thing is for sure, even with the euphoria of overflowing strength inside Kyro, he isn't sure that he would be a match for the Cage in his current state.

Kyro's eyes suddenly widen as Cage stands still suspended in the air. The giant raises the fist that was forced down earlier and the other flies toward Cage with the palm open. Kyro looks down at the giant's knee that he attacked earlier. It will take a few more hits if he attacks the same way as before, but...

Cage snaps his vision to the flat hand as his leg returns to normal. There is no time to think of an attack, so Cage does the first thing that comes to mind. His right arm shifts into a giant round shield, and he curls up behind it, expecting to be sent flying through the air.

However, he begins to fall through the air, the expected slam never coming. Cage hears a crash and stone breaking, then he sees the giant falter. His arm returns to normal, and as he falls, Cage looks down to see the giant's leg sliced—or rather smashed— in half, causing it to fall into a half-kneel. Kyro flies backward through the air, the head of his warhammer much larger than normal.

From the corner of his eye, Cage sees the fist of the giant fly toward Kyro fast, much faster than usual, as if the pain of its injury has left it frustrated. Kyro doesn't see the attack until its too late, and Cage watches as the fist slams into the Rajin with a ping of metal to stone.

Kyro is sent flying through the air, and he crashes into the ground, tumbling and flipping until he finally stops. Cage lands, watching just long enough to see Kyro slowly rise to his knees. Knowing that he is alive, Cage returns his attention to the giant, another massive stone fist flying down at him.

The pain he knows Kyro must be feeling causes Cage's body to burn with anger. He throws his black arms forward, and they burst into a giant cup shape just a bit larger than the ball of rock that approaches. The stone fist sinks into the solid darkness, down to the wrist. Suddenly, as if understanding what is happening, it pulls its arm back, its fist taken by the darkness.

Cage's arms return to him, but not for more than a second. One of them flies upward until it's level with the giant's head in its kneeling position. A second later, its own fist smashes into its head with even more force than it could generate itself.

The giant's head is sent backward a bit by the blow, and one of its eyes loses its light as a large chunk of its head falls away, dropping to the black rock below like melting flesh. The stone giant teeters there for a moment, seeming disoriented by the loss of half its head.

Cage looks to the side to check on Kyro, only to find the man has disappeared. A gurreral cry echoes over the land, and Cage snaps his eyes back to the giant. Kyro flies up from behind the giant, his warhammer once again abnormally large, almost the size of the giant's fist.

Kyro raises the giant weapon to the side and over his shoulder, teething grinding, eyes wide with rage. He swings horizontally with a grunt, the sound of stone breaking filling the area as it smashes into the side of the giant's head, the force of the blow creating a crater where an ear would be.

The stone giant's head is sent to the side, and its body follows suit. The land rumbles one last time as the giant falls on its side, sending dust and rocks flying. The monster's only eye dims until it slowly disappears altogether, a dark hole left behind.

Cage stares at that dark hole as his body return to normal, shrinking to his original height, the great strength leaving him, replaced by a wave of exhaustion. Kyro approaches from behind the giant a few minutes later, and Cage glances at him. He holds his normal sword in his hand, looking just as tired as Cage feels.

Kyro nods to Cage, panting, wiping sweat from his forehead. He winces suddenly, placing a hand to his ribs, "I see you're back to normal," Kyro says, blowing hard through his nose, "You'd be lucky to find someone that won't piss themselves at a sight like that."

Cage cracks a smile, wiping wet hair from his face, "I'm lucky enough. You seem able to hold your bladder," he says.

Kyro scoffs, returning his own smile, "I'm used to it," he says, turning toward the motionless giant. He hums, "That was easy. Too easy."

"I thought the same," Cage responds. He turns and sees Ingen and Krash sprinting towards him, still a third of a mile away. The bubble must have disappeared with that strange form. Cage still isn't sure what Lithi did, or if he'll ever be able to enter that state again. Either way, he wouldn't have been able to fight the giant without it.

"Let's just get out of here while we can," Kyro says, looking back as well, "Ah, there they are."

Cage watches Ingen and Krash walk up, and suddenly, he feels something leave the vault. He peers inside, only to see all of the usual items in the same place as before. However, he quickly realizes that the trackers are gone, or rather invisible against the darkness.

Cage had nearly forgotten about the tiny crystals. Earlier, when the light was still draining out of them, he had thought that he may have to smash them against the rock. But now, with the power taken from them, him and the others can leave Kalar without worrying.