“Hm, we seem to have created a large wall…”
All things considered, the eight Decaylings were doing fine. They were a little tired, but Nyssi making bets on who could kill the most Voidborns was keeping their spirits somewhat high. However, the corpses were starting to pile up, and it was getting harder and harder to make space for themselves.
“Make it explode! Make it explode!” Talok exclaimed eagerly. “Send all them flying, mister Retvik!”
Retvik had been somewhat multitasking the entire time, both by holding the ground beneath their feet together, but also creating a gravitational shield to keep everyone safe. Because of the sheer number of corpses, Tenuk and Talok had somewhat switched roles, with Talok using little psionic daggers to kill smaller Voidborns, and Tenuk was creating hurricane winds in a bid to push the corpses back and slow down the constant tide. Most of the rest of the team were joining Talok in her Voidborn slaying, and Phovos in particular was going all out, not just burning them with unholy black flames, but she was also literally tearing some of them apart with her now molten metallic teeth.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tenuk countered, glancing at Kuta. “The wall of corpses is somewhat protecting us.”
Kuta immediately opened their eyes and glanced around. They had been both protecting and guiding Thassalin as the Time Drake used his powers to look into the distant past.
“It is getting in the way of killing the majority of them…” Kuta frowned. “Retvik, dear, can you get rid of some of them, perhaps?”
“It is all or nothing, dear.”
Kuta shrugged. “Alright, do as Talok suggested. The wave of flying dead metal will knock most of the still-moving Voidborns off their feet.”
Retvik smiled, then focused his gravitational powers. A blast of energy completely destroyed the wall of corpses, and the dead bodies all flew in different directions. For a moment, everything was vaguely calm, but after about only thirty seconds, the Voidborns were starting to move again. Phovos though immediately went back on the offensive, creating pillars of black fire, strong enough to melt other Voidborns.
“Is it alright if I go complete monster against these bastards?” Phovos asked, as she and Kayel changed the flame pillars into a flame wall.
“Feel free, Phovos. Let them taste your claws and fury. Just try to stay as close to us as you can.”
Phovos smiled, then started tearing at any Voidborns who were making it through the fire wall. Retvik bolstered the flames with a ditch around the base of the flames, then focused on keeping the ground beneath them sturdy. He needed to, because occasionally a Voidborn would try and dig towards them.
“We can’t do this forever though!” Tenuk was getting a little annoyed. “Has Thassalin not found the thingy yet?”
“Not yet. We are looking very far back into the past.”
Tenuk sighed, not amused by Kuta’s answer. “What about the black thing that was above us?”
“It was a distraction!” Nyssi exclaimed. “Probably a red herring.”
“What is a herring?” Talok asked.
“A fish.”
“Oh.” Talok thought for a moment, then, satisfied with Nyssi’s answer, went back to slashing things with her massive sword, chucking psionic daggers at things, and occasionally using her telekinesis to throw her massive sword at other enemies.
The slaughter continued, but the team was slowly growing anxious.
“We’re going to have to do something more at some point…” Tenuk muttered. “We can’t do this forever. For a while, totally. But not forever.”
“I know. I am trying my best to speed things up!” Kuta sighed. “There is not really much we can do….” Kuta suddenly paused. “Actually, there somewhat is… Retvik, Kayel, dears, can you create a platform for us all? If we get higher in the air, these mindless brutes cannot reach us as easily.”
Retvik groaned slightly. “I can, if Kayel freezes the ground beneath us to keep it all solid, but someone else needs to take over the whole protective shield thing for a bit.”
“It’s fine!” Nyssi exclaimed. “I’ll take over with the shield. Just get us airborne.”
“Very well.”
Nyssi’s green and purple telekinetic energy formed a bubble around the team. Kuta made sure that no one was close to the edges, so Retvik and Kayel could do their job. The platform Kayel had created stayed together nicely, and Retvik concentrated on moving everything upwards. They all quickly reached a good height, and the Voidborns below seemed to slow down somewhat.
“Can I fly around and kill them?” Phovos asked. “I NEED to kill more of them. Also I am somewhat starting to believe that this is my territory now, and I ought to stop thinking that. But killing them helps me.”
“I would rather you stayed here, Phovos. But feel free to attack from a distance.”
Phovos tutted, but quickly settled down. She glanced at her hands, whispered something to herself, then somehow magically managed to create a golden spear in her right hand. Amused by this new discovery, Phovos did as was suggested and started throwing spears downward.
“Uh, just a little thought…” Nyssi suddenly exclaimed. “Why are all the Voidborns no better than corrupted monsters? I thought Voidborns were supposed to be smart. Or at least as sapient as we are.”
Kuta blinked in surprise. “That… is a really good point…”
Before anyone could come up with an answer though, Thassalin burst back to life, opening his eyes and ever so slightly slowing time outside of Nyssi’s telekinetic shields.
“Welcome back to the land of the conscious!” Kayel joked. “I assume you’ve got some answers?”
Thassalin stretched himself out. “You are absolutely correct. Because I have just worked out what is going on.”
“Oh?” Nyssi raised a painted-on eyebrow, but swiftly and telepathically saw Thassalin’s next few words. “Wait… what?”
The Time Drake smiled uneasily. “We are inside the source. Specifically, we are inside a colossal, comatose Voidborn, and we are currently fighting its weakened white blood cells.”
“So, uh…” Kuta hesitated slightly. “Where are we specifically and how do we get out of here and destroy the source?”
Thassalin glanced around briefly. His time powers may have been weakened, but he could still see backwards, into the past. “We are in its stomach currently.”
“With all those ruins and shit beneath us?”
“Yes. Its last meal was a village of beings that had displeased this monster. All we have to do though is get outside, find its head then kill it.”
Everyone glanced at each other, feeling awkward and confused. Kuta though immediately came up with a new plan.
“Everything is settled beneath us currently. That means there is some form of gravity here that keeps everything below us flat. This means, if we tunnel upwards, we will escape more quickly, rather than moving through the Voidborn’s body.”
Retvik sighed a little. “I assume you all want me to use a laser to make a hole above us?”
“Indeed, my dear.”
“Fine, I will do it, of course I will, but you all need to keep this platform intact and cover for me. And someone needs to shield us to stop debris falling on our heads.”
“No problem, mister Retvik! Missy Nyssi and I will protect us! And mister Kuta and best friend Tenuk will make us go up!”
“Alright…” Retvik grunted as he prepared himself. “Let us get out of here…”