B3 Chapter 302: Cold Desert Night, Finale

Every single one of Kaius’s instincts still screamed at him in urgency.

He might have made it to the vaulted stone tower, but the ruinbringers were still right behind him. Even injured by the deluge of storm magic he had pumped into them, the stun that Stormlash left in its wake was not potent or long lasting.

Already he could hear the maddened squeals of the beasts as they shook off their wracking convulsions and rose to their feet.

His feet pounded on the stone as he peeled off to the left, circling the exterior of the tower. Scatterings of loose sand coated the stone, blown over the chest high wall that surrounded the veranda.

While it wasn’t quite as bad as running on the desert floor, it still played hell on his traction.

Worse, the terrace was far wider than he’d hoped. His pursuers would have more than enough room to follow — if only one abreast.

Turning mid step, he caught the briefest glimpse of a scorpion watching him from the sand outside — its carapace scorched and cracked. Doom screamed in his mind. Its tails twitched, he ducked.

Two spines smashed into the stone level with where his head had been only moments before, showering him with jagged shards that ruined the polished smooth exterior of the building.

Casting his hand behind him, he burnt the last of his charges of Zone of Discombulation to cover the path behind him in a shimmering field. The ruinbringers would have to slow to thread their way onto the exterior of the pagoda. If he was lucky, the spell might just give him enough time to reach the stairs.

He tore his way around the corner at a full sprint, leaning as far forwards as he could to keep his profile below the covering wall.

The stairs were right up ahead, open to the air on one side. Right at their peak, Kenva leaned out over the edge with her bow at full draw — just high enough that the swooping geometric eaves of the next floor covered her from easy return fire.

“Hurry!” she screamed, her drawn arrow lengthening into a mana-infused javelin.

She loosed as a deep thwack cut through the night air, a streak of glowing blue racing over his head to sink deep into something behind him. The sound of crunching chitin was quickly followed by a furious scream.

Uncanny Dodge screamed in his mind once again.

He reacted instantly, unleashing an Expedient Shunt below him.

Kaius went airborne, feeling his trousers rustle against his legs as three spines narrowly missed him.

Another cracking explosion carried him further, adjusting his angle as he stretched out his hands for the lip of the stairs. Kenva ignored him, another glowing javelin fired directly at his pursuers as she ignored the spine that buried itself into the stone by her chest.

He slammed into solid stone with every bit of speed he could muster. Ribs screamed in protest as the air was driven from his lungs.

For a moment his questing hands found nothing but air as his legs kicked aimlessly against the stone, searching for traction.

His stomach clenched. Another moment and he’d need to burn his last Shunt, his best chance of dodging the ruinbringers ongoing bombardment.

Then the hard corner of the stairs slammed into his fingers.

Every muscle in his arms and back burned as he threw himself upward, clearing the edge in a single smooth movement.

“Go!”

Kenva spun from her angle, tearing ahead of him with vine-bound steps.

Sprinting after her, Kaius flew up to the next landing and found Porkchop waiting for him — clad in his suit of crystalline heavy-plate as he braced himself for whatever raced after him. Impenetrable claws crunched the floor of the landing beneath his feet as a low growl rattled out of his throat.

“Run, brother!” Porkchop crunched his lead paw further into the stone.

Kaius turned his head as the air popped, catching a Shardwall erupt from the ground before it tore its way down the stairs.

One of the ruinbringers impacted it with a furious crunch, the beast chittering in fury as it was forced back down the stairs.

Kaius gasped — they needed some way to halt them, even with their constant pace the ruinbringers were just too damned fast.

War Haven!

He still had one inscribed — a preparation for their next ambush, if they ran into another scorpion buried beneath the sand. It had completely slipped his mind in their desperate sprint for the vaulted tower.

Spinning on his front foot, Kaius continued sliding backwards under the momentum of his sprint. As he turned, he saw another wall of jade rush down the stairs. It drew another round of furious screeches from their pursuers.

“Come, Porkchop! I’m going to block the entry way!”

His brother reacted instantly, heaving on his self-made clawholds to spin his heavy bulk as he ran for him. A moment later, the glyph on his chest burned a forest green as he cast his spell.

Kaius bore down his will on the inscription, shaping the domed barrier of War Haven as tight as he could while still covering the stairwell up into the landing. Every stride of space he saved was potentially another hit that the forceshield would block.

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It snapped into position not a moment too soon, a ruinbringer coming to a slamming halt as it rammed into the barrier. Waves of pulsing light spread through the shimmering wall, knotting his stomach as he prayed it would hold.

It did.

Kaius cast a final Zone of Discombobulation as a parting gift, swallowing the stairwell in a thin mist of confusion. More skills chimed in his mind, level ups waiting for his attention

His last glimpse was of a ruinbringer shuddering in confusion, swaying slightly as its tail tapped the barrier of force in front of it — each touch coming harder and faster than the one before.

Following the veranda to the left, Kaius saw his brother sprinting ahead — and Kenva positioned around the next corner, her bow at the ready.

“Just go! I’ve blocked them with my barrier, but it wont hold for long!”

The ranger nodded curtly, vanishing around the corner.

Kaius followed close behind, the next turn revealing the back of the next set of stairs.