Golden Sun Redux: Venus Lighthouse Chapter, Part 2
"Plans, anyone?" asked Isaac as the gryphon flock fell upon them. Every second more of the green-feathered monsters flapped out of hiding in the vast ceiling of the Venus Lighthouse. Isaac drew his sword, but was well aware that they were fantastically out-numbered.
"Scatter like roaches?" suggested Garet.
"I like that one," Ivan commented as he prepared Plasma Psynergy.
"What about Mia?" demanded Isaac, looking to where she leaned against her staff unsteadily on a pillar above the chasm. The gryphons were getting low enough to attack now, circling overhead and breaking off in clusters to make runs on the Adepts below.
Isaac tapped into the Psynergy that charged through his mind and focused it, raining Clay Spires into the flapping mass. They were largely ineffective, though occasionally one struck a monster and dropped it toward the floor. Then the Silver Blade flashed as Isaac swept it at the stunned creature, but he cleaved only air and stone.
Though not in a position for hand-to-hand combat, Mia did her best with a salvo of Ice Horn Psynergy, managing to wing enough of them that Ivan could successfully target a few with Shine Plasma.
When the gryphons realised that they were facing heroes, not simple wanderers, they stepped up the assault. The corrupted birds formed into squadrons and flew low over the heads of their targets, firing wave after wave of Wing Stroke bolts.
Garet leapt fearlessly, landing on the back of one of the creatures. It was on its way up, and anger fuelled its strength more than the added weight could drain it. The attacker was in for a ride few ever lived to remember, let alone tell about.
Garet found himself being whipped about by heavy winds as the gryphon rose to the ceiling, swirled around a towering pillar, swooped through an arch, and - CRACK! -found itself stunned enough to consider reducing altitude.
As he massaged his smashed knuckles, Garet noticed that his unwilling mount was falling at a tremendous speed, hurtling toward the floor without enough consciousness to brake. He rose to his feet, keeping a grip on the feathers, and cried out before leaping away: "Eruption!"
Rolling to a halt, Garet looked back in time to see the scarlet energy beneath the gryphon explode into roiling twin columns of fire and magma, enveloping the space he had just been in. If it took that much force to bring down one of the creatures... Thirty feet away Isaac was trying to handle an entire squadron.
Isaac took a swing at the first diving beast but missed his mark, and the second gryphon had a clear shot at his back. There was a rending sound and Isaac screamed in pain. He crumpled to the ground, barely retaining consciousness as waves of agony wracked his body.
The gryphons fell upon Garet and he swore, realising that Isaac wasn't going to be able to lead them out of this battle. "Ivan, I want you to get Isaac and Mia out of here, back the way we came. Don't worry about me, just do it!" he snapped, cutting off any chance for argument.
"Unleash Zephyr!" called Ivan, and purple winds swirled around him as he raced across the cold stone floor. Behind him, Garet concentrated and felt the power of Mars flow through him.
"Everyone set?" he whispered, and in his mind a chorus of Djinni voices answered in the affirmative. Fire burned in his eyes as the Champion Garet looked up toward the cloud of snapping, screeching malevolence and raised his hand. "Inferno!"
A storm of raging fireballs flared into life, circling the entire vast hall in a grand spiral before closing in on their targets. The fireballs condensed into a burning core at the centre of the gryphon flock and exploded, roasting all those who hadn't scattered as soon as the flames emerged.
Garet wasn't fooling himself. It was a delaying tactic, not nearly strong enough to destroy such creatures. But Ivan had already grabbed Isaac and was leaping (with some difficulty) over to the pillar where Mia was slowly sinking to her knees.
"Flare Storm!" With another gesture Garet sent a series of blazing sheets of sparks up around them, hoping to deter the gryphons from further attacks. And that was about it for Psynergy, unless he wanted to end up in worse condition than Isaac. Garet unslung the Righteous Mace from his belt and stood ready.
"Do you think you can manage with one leg?" asked Ivan as he found a footing on the pillar.
"Probably, if you can give me a little support. How's Isaac?" Ivan looked with apprehension at the injured Gallant. The slash really was an ugly wound, and Isaac's one consolation (if he had still been conscious) would have been that he couldn't see it.
"Out cold. And I think-ugh. I know he's lost some blood. You've dealt with worse."
"I've dealt with plague, but that doesn't mean I can cure it. Let's move," Mia suggested, and pulled herself up to lean on Ivan's shoulder. As soon as her hand touched his robes there was a flash of purple and a gust of wind; Zephyr had extended his power to Mia. "Great. The first person to hop at the speed of sound."
"Consider the alternative," Ivan replied as they leapt ahead and a Wing Stroke demolished the pillar-top they had been standing on. Mia considered offering 'Hobbling at the speed of sound', but decided to save her breath and run for the door instead.
The strength of a Champion in his muscles, Garet swung the Righteous Mace up and around, smashing into one of the gryphons and sending it careening into the wall. Several more took its place, diving at him with glittering talons and savage beaks.
Garet found he was being driven back toward the wall and eventually into the corner, somewhere he definitely didn't want to be. Maybe a big enough explosion would be enough to take them out, and the others could escape. Of course, he didn't know what kind of explosion that would be. If he had known it, the word 'nuclear' would have popped into his head.
As it was, Garet swung once, twice, too wide and got the mace stuck in the wall. He pulled with his significant power, but the gryphon's beak descended toward his neck-
The next thing that occurred to Garet was that if he could get whatever was affecting his ears at that moment to happen on a large scale, it might be big enough. The thing after that was that he was travelling at such a fantastically unsafe speed that only Ivan could be responsible. The third and final thing was that he had just hurtled through a door and crashed into a wall, with the other Adepts piled on top.
"Do you really think that was the best plan?" asked Mia when the rumbling stopped. The second Ivan's running tackle had carried all of them through the door, an onslaught of the gryphons' Twin Beaks attack had obliterated the doorway, leaving nothing but a broken, rocky barrier to mark its former place.
"Not much else to do. It was the door or us. How hard did I hit him?" Mia bent over Garet, making a few quick checks for fractures or bleeding. She shook her head.
"Nothing to worry about. I think it was sheer exhaustion." Ivan sighed in relief. "And slamming into a granite wall at high speed," Mia continued.
"Shouldn't you be fixing up Isaac?" he asked sharply, switching topics at whiplash speed.
"Yes, yes. You know, if you ever decide that adventuring isn't your thing, you might consider some kind of tackling sport. Like- great god of the north winds! I thought you said this wasn't too serious!"
"I was wrong?"
"Vertebral damage, and if I can see that you know it's bad - damage to the shoulder blade and ribs - blood loss ..." Mia's voice trailed off. "Water of Life. NOW!"
"What? Why?" asked Ivan, but when Mia switched over to her crisis voice even a Manticore would listen, and he was already searching his pack for the liquid. "Here!" Mia snatched the flask of glittering golden fluid and started applying it to the injury.
"Wild Gryphons were created through the potentially corrupting effects of Psynergy, right? So basically, they're as good as cursed. And if a cursed creature strikes at a Psynergetic organ, bad things happen due to interaction between-"
"I don't want to know any more," Ivan said fervently. There was a flicker of blue light, and a Mercury Djinni appeared beside Mia. It caught sight of Isaac's condition.
"Hot damn!" it exclaimed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Right there, the vertebral- no, scratch that, stop the flow of blood. Unleash Fizz!"
The sight of Fizz healing a bloody wound was far too much for Ivan to handle. Fighting nausea, he slumped back against the wall and closed his eyes. Outside it was probably dark, although the halls of Venus Lighthouse were permanently lit with the glow of red, yellow, and green torches.
In all likelihood, Saturos and Menardi had already stopped for a time, or were busy with a similar horde of monsters. They were stronger than the Adepts, but maybe not by much. Considering the confrontation that Ivan was both hoping for and dreading tomorrow, they had better be prepared.
It might have made Ivan feel a lot better to know that at that moment Saturos and Menardi were staring in disbelief and growing anger at five statues in the centre of the room.
"HOW many combinations?" demanded Saturos, certain that he had misheard Sheba.
"She said, 'one hundred and twenty'," Felix repeated, annoyed. "And I wouldn't use that tone of voice if you hoped to get any help from her in the future."
"Surely we can use Psynergy to break through?" asked Menardi.
"If there were a way to break down this door, I would have found it by now," Alex called from the alcove. "This is the Venus Lighthouse, after all."
"Very well," Saturos relented. "Let's start shoving."
End of Chapter Two
This was something of an experiment in writing, so I hope everyone enjoyed it. While I don't think this part was as much fun (it was also too short), the third and final part of the Venus Lighthouse Chapter will be up within a week and should be good. Back to good old adventuring: the discovery of the Gaia Blade, the confrontation at the Aerie, and much more Djinn banter (my favourite part).
"Plans, anyone?" asked Isaac as the gryphon flock fell upon them. Every second more of the green-feathered monsters flapped out of hiding in the vast ceiling of the Venus Lighthouse. Isaac drew his sword, but was well aware that they were fantastically out-numbered.
"Scatter like roaches?" suggested Garet.
"I like that one," Ivan commented as he prepared Plasma Psynergy.
"What about Mia?" demanded Isaac, looking to where she leaned against her staff unsteadily on a pillar above the chasm. The gryphons were getting low enough to attack now, circling overhead and breaking off in clusters to make runs on the Adepts below.
Isaac tapped into the Psynergy that charged through his mind and focused it, raining Clay Spires into the flapping mass. They were largely ineffective, though occasionally one struck a monster and dropped it toward the floor. Then the Silver Blade flashed as Isaac swept it at the stunned creature, but he cleaved only air and stone.
Though not in a position for hand-to-hand combat, Mia did her best with a salvo of Ice Horn Psynergy, managing to wing enough of them that Ivan could successfully target a few with Shine Plasma.
When the gryphons realised that they were facing heroes, not simple wanderers, they stepped up the assault. The corrupted birds formed into squadrons and flew low over the heads of their targets, firing wave after wave of Wing Stroke bolts.
Garet leapt fearlessly, landing on the back of one of the creatures. It was on its way up, and anger fuelled its strength more than the added weight could drain it. The attacker was in for a ride few ever lived to remember, let alone tell about.
Garet found himself being whipped about by heavy winds as the gryphon rose to the ceiling, swirled around a towering pillar, swooped through an arch, and - CRACK! -found itself stunned enough to consider reducing altitude.
As he massaged his smashed knuckles, Garet noticed that his unwilling mount was falling at a tremendous speed, hurtling toward the floor without enough consciousness to brake. He rose to his feet, keeping a grip on the feathers, and cried out before leaping away: "Eruption!"
Rolling to a halt, Garet looked back in time to see the scarlet energy beneath the gryphon explode into roiling twin columns of fire and magma, enveloping the space he had just been in. If it took that much force to bring down one of the creatures... Thirty feet away Isaac was trying to handle an entire squadron.
Isaac took a swing at the first diving beast but missed his mark, and the second gryphon had a clear shot at his back. There was a rending sound and Isaac screamed in pain. He crumpled to the ground, barely retaining consciousness as waves of agony wracked his body.
The gryphons fell upon Garet and he swore, realising that Isaac wasn't going to be able to lead them out of this battle. "Ivan, I want you to get Isaac and Mia out of here, back the way we came. Don't worry about me, just do it!" he snapped, cutting off any chance for argument.
"Unleash Zephyr!" called Ivan, and purple winds swirled around him as he raced across the cold stone floor. Behind him, Garet concentrated and felt the power of Mars flow through him.
"Everyone set?" he whispered, and in his mind a chorus of Djinni voices answered in the affirmative. Fire burned in his eyes as the Champion Garet looked up toward the cloud of snapping, screeching malevolence and raised his hand. "Inferno!"
A storm of raging fireballs flared into life, circling the entire vast hall in a grand spiral before closing in on their targets. The fireballs condensed into a burning core at the centre of the gryphon flock and exploded, roasting all those who hadn't scattered as soon as the flames emerged.
Garet wasn't fooling himself. It was a delaying tactic, not nearly strong enough to destroy such creatures. But Ivan had already grabbed Isaac and was leaping (with some difficulty) over to the pillar where Mia was slowly sinking to her knees.
"Flare Storm!" With another gesture Garet sent a series of blazing sheets of sparks up around them, hoping to deter the gryphons from further attacks. And that was about it for Psynergy, unless he wanted to end up in worse condition than Isaac. Garet unslung the Righteous Mace from his belt and stood ready.
"Do you think you can manage with one leg?" asked Ivan as he found a footing on the pillar.
"Probably, if you can give me a little support. How's Isaac?" Ivan looked with apprehension at the injured Gallant. The slash really was an ugly wound, and Isaac's one consolation (if he had still been conscious) would have been that he couldn't see it.
"Out cold. And I think-ugh. I know he's lost some blood. You've dealt with worse."
"I've dealt with plague, but that doesn't mean I can cure it. Let's move," Mia suggested, and pulled herself up to lean on Ivan's shoulder. As soon as her hand touched his robes there was a flash of purple and a gust of wind; Zephyr had extended his power to Mia. "Great. The first person to hop at the speed of sound."
"Consider the alternative," Ivan replied as they leapt ahead and a Wing Stroke demolished the pillar-top they had been standing on. Mia considered offering 'Hobbling at the speed of sound', but decided to save her breath and run for the door instead.
The strength of a Champion in his muscles, Garet swung the Righteous Mace up and around, smashing into one of the gryphons and sending it careening into the wall. Several more took its place, diving at him with glittering talons and savage beaks.
Garet found he was being driven back toward the wall and eventually into the corner, somewhere he definitely didn't want to be. Maybe a big enough explosion would be enough to take them out, and the others could escape. Of course, he didn't know what kind of explosion that would be. If he had known it, the word 'nuclear' would have popped into his head.
As it was, Garet swung once, twice, too wide and got the mace stuck in the wall. He pulled with his significant power, but the gryphon's beak descended toward his neck-
The next thing that occurred to Garet was that if he could get whatever was affecting his ears at that moment to happen on a large scale, it might be big enough. The thing after that was that he was travelling at such a fantastically unsafe speed that only Ivan could be responsible. The third and final thing was that he had just hurtled through a door and crashed into a wall, with the other Adepts piled on top.
"Do you really think that was the best plan?" asked Mia when the rumbling stopped. The second Ivan's running tackle had carried all of them through the door, an onslaught of the gryphons' Twin Beaks attack had obliterated the doorway, leaving nothing but a broken, rocky barrier to mark its former place.
"Not much else to do. It was the door or us. How hard did I hit him?" Mia bent over Garet, making a few quick checks for fractures or bleeding. She shook her head.
"Nothing to worry about. I think it was sheer exhaustion." Ivan sighed in relief. "And slamming into a granite wall at high speed," Mia continued.
"Shouldn't you be fixing up Isaac?" he asked sharply, switching topics at whiplash speed.
"Yes, yes. You know, if you ever decide that adventuring isn't your thing, you might consider some kind of tackling sport. Like- great god of the north winds! I thought you said this wasn't too serious!"
"I was wrong?"
"Vertebral damage, and if I can see that you know it's bad - damage to the shoulder blade and ribs - blood loss ..." Mia's voice trailed off. "Water of Life. NOW!"
"What? Why?" asked Ivan, but when Mia switched over to her crisis voice even a Manticore would listen, and he was already searching his pack for the liquid. "Here!" Mia snatched the flask of glittering golden fluid and started applying it to the injury.
"Wild Gryphons were created through the potentially corrupting effects of Psynergy, right? So basically, they're as good as cursed. And if a cursed creature strikes at a Psynergetic organ, bad things happen due to interaction between-"
"I don't want to know any more," Ivan said fervently. There was a flicker of blue light, and a Mercury Djinni appeared beside Mia. It caught sight of Isaac's condition.
"Hot damn!" it exclaimed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Right there, the vertebral- no, scratch that, stop the flow of blood. Unleash Fizz!"
The sight of Fizz healing a bloody wound was far too much for Ivan to handle. Fighting nausea, he slumped back against the wall and closed his eyes. Outside it was probably dark, although the halls of Venus Lighthouse were permanently lit with the glow of red, yellow, and green torches.
In all likelihood, Saturos and Menardi had already stopped for a time, or were busy with a similar horde of monsters. They were stronger than the Adepts, but maybe not by much. Considering the confrontation that Ivan was both hoping for and dreading tomorrow, they had better be prepared.
It might have made Ivan feel a lot better to know that at that moment Saturos and Menardi were staring in disbelief and growing anger at five statues in the centre of the room.
"HOW many combinations?" demanded Saturos, certain that he had misheard Sheba.
"She said, 'one hundred and twenty'," Felix repeated, annoyed. "And I wouldn't use that tone of voice if you hoped to get any help from her in the future."
"Surely we can use Psynergy to break through?" asked Menardi.
"If there were a way to break down this door, I would have found it by now," Alex called from the alcove. "This is the Venus Lighthouse, after all."
"Very well," Saturos relented. "Let's start shoving."
End of Chapter Two
This was something of an experiment in writing, so I hope everyone enjoyed it. While I don't think this part was as much fun (it was also too short), the third and final part of the Venus Lighthouse Chapter will be up within a week and should be good. Back to good old adventuring: the discovery of the Gaia Blade, the confrontation at the Aerie, and much more Djinn banter (my favourite part).