FILE_RECOVERY_COMPLETE
PARTIAL_FILE_RETRIEVED
RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Salt and Sanctuary belongs to SKA studios.
Chapter 29: The Storm
(For probably the only time I'm going to do this, Reverence from The Salt and Sanctuary OST is quite fitting to listen to while reading this chapter.)
Spectre coughed as the world returned to his vision. He opened his eyes and looked around. Through blurred vision he could tell that he was in a ruin. HIs confusion at the sight lasted for naught but a few seconds as the memories returned. The stadium had lost power and he was trapped in the rubble. He tried to move but found himself pinned. And in pain.
Intense pain. He looked behind him to see a particularly large slab of concrete was resting on his legs. Wonderful. An incessant squeaking drew his attention. A large black bat was resting on a pipe that was jutting from the wall. Spectre scowled at the blasted beast. He reached for his flintlock.
The gun was just barely out of reach.
"Brilliant." Spectre groused. "You just had to drop us out of the sky, didn't you Azredak?"
There was no response, other than the squeak of the Saltbat. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of fighting. The screams of people dying. Gunfire blasting through the streets. The kingdom wouldn't last long.
"SPECTRE!" A voice called out.
Spectre recognized the voice of The Sodden Knight. Azredak's wayward Darkborn.
"BACK HERE!" Spectre called back.
He could hear the shuffling of rubble. Sliding rocks and scrap could also be heard. Spectre turned his head to the doorway. He smiled as Sir Francis's head peaked through.
"Greetings." Francis said.
"Hi. Mind helping, this slab is rather heavy, and I can barely feel my legs." Spectre gestured to the rubble on his legs.
"That's what I'm here for." The Sodden Knight said.
The giant knight grabbed and lifted the slab off of the Saltborn. He may have been strong, but he could only lift the mass of rock and metal high enough for Spectre to pull himself out. He crawled to his flintlock, aimed, and fired at the Saltbat.
The creature died instantly, barely having time to react. It disintegrated as the Grimm were known to and the Salt flowed back into the Saltborn. Spectre sighed in relief as he felt the Salt return. A drink from the Flask of Fire soon found his legs back in working order.
"All right, Francis, let's get out of here." Spectre said, pulling himself to his feet. "Tell me what's going on. How long was I out?"
"You've been out of action for a good hour and a half or so. Azredak's forces are taking the city. Kaira and Ronin are leading them. Multiple Kraekan Cyclopes, Unspeakable Deeps, and Kraekan Wyrms." Francis said.
"Great. The Atlesian flying army will be useless to us." Spectre muttered.
"That's not all." Francis continued as they exited the rubble of the coliseum. "They've managed to recreate the Tree of Men."
Spectre looked out on the city. The arena had slammed through the walls of Vale, creating the perfect opening into the city. He could see the giant monsters rampaging. A Kraekan Cyclops would occasionally fall dead. He saw a familiar red streak behead one. The Wyrms were busy harassing the warships from Atlas. Unspeakable Deeps were rising from the seas. The worst though were the Trees of Men. Multiple giant golems of rubble and bodies. Civilian bodies hung by the neck from the constructs. Occasionally throwing out what appeared to be Dust crystals.
A few had no bodies hanging from them. Instead, the glowing weak spot at the highest point of the Tree was revealed and spewing forth various elements. One glowed yellow and threw out lightning every so often. Another breathed fire like the one from the Red Hall of Cages.
"How many?" Spectre asked.
"I managed to take one down, but I fear it was the only one we destroyed. There are five in total." Francis answered.
"How?" Spectre asked as he watched the nightmare unfold before him.
"The crystal on the head. It's a Dust crystal imbued with the Salt. Kaira probably created them. By and large, these are Salt constructs." Francis replied.
A small figure appeared next to A Tree that was firing off Lightning. It erupted into flames and started throwing them at the Tree. The fire was rapidly burning the construct and it had little defense against it. Soon enough it collapsed into a pile of rubble as the glowing crystal went dark. Further down by the docks, Spectre noted the odd cloud formations lit up by the moon. Occasional flashes of lightning would strike followed quickly by the rolling thunder.
"There's Amber. She's been training her powers with the help of Jaret." Francis explained quickly. "Jaret tried to make her leave when the arena fell, but she was having none of it."
"Great. But we need to get out there." Spectre replied as they headed into the warzone that was Vale.
The two ran through the burning streets as civilians and innocent fled the opposite way. They avoided the conflicts as much as they could while they hurried towards the center of the fighting. Spectre hoped his team would be there.
Every so often, Spectre would fire his flintlock down one of the streets. The bullet would invariably hit one of the monsters of Azredak's army and provide a nice distraction for any fighters.
Huntsmen, Huntresses, Cops, and Atlesian Knights were struggling to hold back the ever-surging tide of darkness. The Cops and Atlesian Knights were next to useless against the Darkborn. But at least the cops were herding the civilians away from the conflict. Any that got involved were quickly cut down.
Spectre looked to the skies to see Ironwood's armada was managing to hold off the Kraekan Wyrms. He sighed in some relief as they wouldn't have to deal with them.
Soon enough he heard the familiar gunshots of a certain sniper rifle and scythe combo weapon. Spectre looked ahead and saw Ruby running circles around a Tree of Men while ineffectively attacking the construct's legs.
"I was hoping we'd meet again. You owe me a fair fight, Saltborn." A voice proclaimed as Spectre was about to go join his teammate.
Spectre turned to see the skeletal face of Ronin Cran.
"To think that you actually succeeded against us on the island. Unthinkable, supposedly impossible. Yet, it happened." Kaira the Architect floated behind Ronin. "Azredak really wants you removed from this war."
"Architect. Cran." Spectre greeted as he aimed his pistol and drew his shiv.
The skeletal knight smiled cruelly while Kaira's hands glowed white as she readied her own Salt based magics.
The Sodden Knight drew his own blade. The Shrouded Bulwark gleamed in the moon's pale light. The stand lasted for a good second before Ronin exploded into action. The Sodden stepped in and blocked the smaller knight's broken blade.
Seeing as Francis was dealing with Ronin, Spectre turned his attention to the Architect. The sister of the witch scowled at Spectre and flew towards him. Her hands glowing with power. Spectre fired the Mosaic Culverin at her. He missed and she slammed into him. An arcane white circle appeared between the Saltborn and the architect's fist, before an explosion of power sent him flying into a building.
Spectre recognized the Salt fueled attack as such. He pulled himself from the rubble of the building and ran at Kaira. The Architect summoned multiple Salt spheres. Each exploded into a burst of Salt. Unfortunately for the Architect, Spectre had grown far more nimble on Remnant than he was on the island. He jumped over one, Dart branded between two more, landed on the ground and rolled under a fourth. He came up from his role and fired a Salt infused shot at the Architect. The bullet slammed into her, and she cried out in pain.
Ronin easily parried one of Francis's strikes when he heard Kaira. The broken knight glanced over and saw, her clutching her arm. Blood flowed from the wound. The knight growled, drawing forth an old power from Azredak, a black flame erupted around Ronin. He lunged towards the Saltborn with far more speed than he had been using previously. The Saltborn barely reacted fast enough to block the attack.
Spectre stumbled backwards as the force of the attack threatened to knock him off his feet. He had forgotten that the former servant of Jaret had this ability. It was strong on the island; it was stronger now. Francis leapt through the street and tried to impale Ronin. The broken knight easily blocked the strike, though he did slide back from the force the larger knight imparted.
Ronin began a rapid assault of strikes at both Francis and Spectre. The two struggled to block everything. Spectre was able to dodge most of what he couldn't block, but Francis wasn't so lucky. Multiple strikes broke through Francis's guard and slammed into the Sodden Knight's armor. Kaira, meanwhile, had focused on healing herself. Her abilities as a Salt Alkymancer came in quite handy. She quickly stemmed the flow of blood and immediately began working on traps around the battlefield.
While she wasn't as strong or combat capable as Ronin Cran, she was still a force to be reckoned with. A loud crash was heard. Kaira looked down the street to see a panting Ruby with some of her team standing in front of a downed Tree of Men. She scowled but had an idea. While Ronin was dealing with Francis, she had planned to trap the battlefield, but now, she flew down the street.
Spectre didn't know how much more he could take; he did know how much more Francis could take though. The Sodden Knight parried one of Cran's attacks with his arm and threw the small Knight backwards. He roared in rage and slammed a glowing blue fist into the ground. Spectre recognized the attack immediately. He was rather unprepared for the intensity though. Last time he had faced this attack, it had merely been enough to slide along the ground. Now, though, a veritable wave of electricity rippled out from the point of impact.
Spectre jumped against a wall and Shadow flip branded over the wave. Cran was not so lucky. The wave of electricity hit the skeletal warrior's armor and electrified him. Francis stood back up; two glowing orbs of lightning blue electricity shone from underneath his helmet.
"Azredak's good for something it would seem." Francis muttered as he watched the wave.
He recovered his senses quickly and moved in to fight the knight. Spectre ran right alongside him. Together, applying continuous pressure to Ronin, they were able to force him back. A particularly nasty strike from Francis sent Ronin to the ground. Spectre moved to shoot him, only to stop at the last second.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kaira's monotone voice spoke up.
Spectre turned to see Kaira floating up to them. Her hand wrapped around Ruby's neck. The rest of his team were still at the rubble from the fallen Tree of Men.
"All it would take is a single movement and her neck snaps." Kaira said. "Or I can recreate that Tree and your friends become one with an instrument of torture."
Spectre looked between Ruby and his team. The girls were stuck. Blake and Pyrrha were trying to cut through something. Weiss was just pulling. The realization that they weren't there because they couldn't be dawned on Spectre.
"Surrender, and I will let them be." Kaira said.
"No…" Ruby gasped out as she fruitlessly tried to release Kaira's hold on her throat.
Spectre glanced down at Ronin. The smile on the fallen knight's skeletal face grew a little wider.
"No magic to save you this time." Ronin taunted.
Spectre glanced at Francis and nodded. He lowered his gun. He glared at Kaira as he backed away from Ronin. Francis, getting Spectre's signal backed away too.
"You're a disgrace." Spectre spat at Ronin.
"So, I've been told." Ronin said as he stood up.
Kaira dropped Ruby to the ground when Spectre raised his hands in surrender. Ruby looked at him in despair, only to see him wink at her. Her face took on one of confusion. Spectre and Francis reacted quicker than Kaira could have predicted. In a single fell swoop, Francis attacked Ronin, while Spectre shot at Kaira.
Francis's attack impacted Ronin's back and sent the knight flying down one of the streets. The Salt infused shot from Spectre's attack hit its mark. Kaira's hand took the brunt of the damage and was a mangled mess. She screamed in agony and turned with rage to look at the Saltborn. Spectre and Ruby were already running towards their team. The Saltborn reached the girls and saw the wires that ran from the fallen Tree of Men to their necks.
"Back away!" Spectre commanded as he reached them.
Infusing the Salt into his shiv, Spectre sliced at the wires. The Salt burst forth from his blade and cut the wires easily. The power of the Salt Alkymancer was released and the girls were easily able to untie the wires from their necks.
"Glad to see you've decided to join us." Weiss snarked as she picked up her fallen rapier.
"Sorry, kinda hard to move when you have an arena resting on top of you." Spectre replied as Kaira drifted towards them.
Spectre noted her more sedate pace. The fact that she was content to just float lazily towards them, despite her earlier rage showed how confident she was.
"How are things going here?" Spectre inquired as he aimed at a Kraekan Cyclops.
"Fine, all things considered." Blake replied as she began shooting at the beast.
"We managed to save most of the civilians on the coliseum when it collapsed. People have been evacuating to Beacon." Weiss continued. "Any type of travel is kind of moot at this point."
"I noticed." Spectre said as he fired once more at the Kraekan Cyclops that had entered the square.
Kaira flew in and grabbed the Saltborn. She threw him into one of the buildings. More Cyclopes moved into the square. Spectre pulled himself from the ruined building and charged at Kaira. The woman smirked as she created a Salt sphere right in front of him. Spectre tried to dodge it, but the blast still caught him. It hurt like nothing else, but he pushed on.
He got right up to Kaira and began slashing at her with his blade. Another crack of thunder was heard as she blocked one of his attacks. For as skilled at Salt Alkymancy as she was, Kaira was equally as unskilled in hand-to-hand combat. She pushed Spectre back and flew off.
Ruby had climbed up a Kraekan Cyclops and positioned herself on the roof. She saw Kaira back away from Spectre and flew into the air. She took her scythe and steadied the barrel against the roof she was on. She took aim and began firing at the various Kraekan Cyclopes around the square. She aimed for their eyes.
Her aim was on point as she was able to blind many of them before the ultimate distraction occurred.
Kaira was focusing on dodging the Saltborn's gunfire and retaliating with attacks of her own. However, everything was thrown asunder when a body slammed into her. Spectre watched, wide eyed as Kaira was knocked from the sky by Ronin Cran of all things. Francis strode into the square and readied another lightning wave. The Saltborn took cover behind the fallen Tree of Men as Francis slammed his fist into the ground.
Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss were able to dodge the attack once they noticed it, but the Kraekan Cyclopes, Ronin Cran, and the grounded Kaira all bore the brunt of the attack. When the wave dissipated, the sounds of battle were no longer heard. A groaning near the body of Ronin Cran was heard though. The knight itself was slowly disintegrating, along with the bodies of the Cyclopes that were around the square. Distant sounds of battle could still be heard along with the occasional crash of thunder.
Ronin Cran's body was pushed to the side and Kaira slowly stood up. She looked at the group warily. Spectre aimed his flintlock at her.
"You're already too late to save this world." Kaira said as Spectre pulled the trigger.
The Salt infused shot went through the Architect's forehead and she fell over dead. Spectre holstered his pistol and turned to his team and Francis.
"What now?" Blake asked.
"We go and help the rest of the city. This battle is far from over. We just cut down two of his number, but the rest will still raze the city." Francis said.
"Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, you three head to Beacon. Defend the academy. With so many civilians there, the Darkborn are bound to start making their way towards the school. Spectre, you, Francis and I will head to the docks. The sea is Vale's weakest point, aside from the new hole in the wall." Ruby commanded.
"Unfortunately, Ms. Rose, I shall not be joining you. I have a duty to guard Amber. I shall go and give her support." Francis said.
"All right, Spectre, you and I will head to the docks." Ruby corrected. "Let's go!"
"Why do we always have to deal with the civilians?" Weiss asked as they ran towards Beacon.
Francis headed back the way he and Spectre had come from while Spectre and Ruby hurried towards the docks. The cracking of thunder was getting less and less frequent.
"Vale's called in all of her Huntsmen for this." Ruby said as they ran towards the docks. "Even with their help, I'm not so sure Vale will survive."
"Ruby, I believe that Azredak has underestimated us." Spectre said, "He's going to need a real miracle to destroy this city."
They reached the docks and were surprised by what they saw. Many Unspeakable Deeps were smoldering and disintegrating. Floating over the docks, with glowing blue eyes, pulling lightning from the sky and slashing it at any monster that came close was a familiar lone figure. The headmaster of Beacon screamed as another bolt slammed into him and was thrown at another Unspeakable Deep. He was single handedly holding the docks.
"That's Ozpin's semblance?!" Ruby yelled in excitement.
"His name is Jaret, the King of Storms, AND HE'S FINALLY DOING SOMETHING!" Spectre exclaimed.
Spectre paused long enough to apply Pitchfire to his blade before the two rushed in to help the king. Spectre could see that Jaret was getting tired. While he was flying and calling down the storm to attack his enemies, he clearly couldn't keep it up forever. Spectre leapt into the fray against the sea monsters.
He and Ruby began cutting their way through the Unspeakable Deeps, all of which were drawn to Jaret. The king would throw another bolt of lightning at one of the sea monsters and slam his cane into the head of one that got too close, but he was rapidly being overwhelmed.
Spectre and Ruby cut down one of the sea monsters. Jaret threw a bolt at the monster as Spectre slammed a blade into its face. They noticed that it was clear. The area was clear.
"Spectre." Jaret greeted through heavy breathing as he landed.
The glowing in his eyes had disappeared and the storm had receded.
"Jaret." Spectre greeted again. "I guess they call you the King of Storms for a reason."
"Part of… my… deal with… Azre… dak." Jaret wheezed. "Takes… a lot… out of me."
"I can tell." Spectre replied.
"How much… of my… city… has fallen?" Jaret asked.
"The city proper is in ruins. We've managed to hold off the Kraekans that came through the breach in the wall. Most of the civilians are sheltered in the academy." Ruby reported, before looking to the skies. "And you've cleared the docks, while Ironwood's fleet has cleared the skies."
Spectre looked to the skies and breathed a sigh of relief. Only one of the Atlesian ships remained, but there were no more Wyrms.
"Excellent." Jaret breathed.
"What now?" Ruby asked.
"We should get to the academy." Spectre said. "The Darkborn in the city proper may be gone, but who knows how many are attacking Beacon."
Jaret and Ruby nodded. The three hurried through the ruined streets of Vale towards the academy. Jaret took note of each destroyed building and home. Such reckless destruction should have never been allowed to happen.
"We were able to kill Ronin Cran and the Architect." Spectre said as they ran through the city.
"Ronin was resurrected?" Jaret asked.
"Apparently. We were more concerned about trying not to die. But those two are dead." Spectre said. "Sir Francis left to find the Lightborn."
"Let's hope they stay dead." Jaret said.
They reached the cliffs and began the climb up to the academy. The silence was deafening as they climbed. They reached the top and saw that the academy was still mostly whole. Looking out, Vale itself was pretty badly damaged. More than a few fires raged in the city.
"Ozpin?"
The group turned and saw Glynda coming towards them. Behind her, they saw some students and civilians wandering around. Yang saw Ruby and ran to her. They embraced as Spectre paid attention to Jaret and Glynda. Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss were tiredly leaning against a wall. Jaune, Nora and Ren were nowhere to be seen.
"Is everything taken care of?" She asked.
"For now." Jaret replied. "The civilians?"
"Any who made it here are safe. Had to deal with more than a few of those dragons that got through." Glynda said. "We've suffered so much loss. James says that there are more civilians hiding in the city."
"Too much has been lost." Jaret agreed.
A short silence fell on the group. The silence was broken by a sound that chilled Spectre to the bone. A loud roar. A very loud roar. It shook the ground they stood on. Spectre stepped forward and looked towards the horizon. Out towards the mountains, he saw a black speck. A black speck that was getting very large very fast.
"It's not over yet." Spectre muttered.
He turned back to the crowd to see them coming closer.
"EVERYONE HIDE! IT'S NOT OVER YET!" Spectre yelled.
The civilians looked startled. They soon saw the massive black mass in the skies. A multitude of them hurried back into the school.
"What is that?" Ruby asked as she and Yang made their way over to the group.
"I really hope I'm wrong, but that's probably Kraekan Dragon Skourzh." Spectre said.
"Scores?" Yang said. "That's an odd name."
"He said Skourzh." Jaret said.
"Yeah. It's him." Spectre confirmed as the shape grew close enough that he could make out the largest monster he had ever faced.
The giant black beast flew on two great black wings. Grasped in its left hand was a trident buzzing with energy. The massive weapon was three quarters the dragon's height. It had no hind legs, instead, living up to its name of Kraekan, it had the tentacles of an octopus.
The beast landed in the center of the city and Spectre was able to get an accurate size measure of the dragon. On Azredak's island, the dragon had probably been a good thirty to forty feet tall. Now, it was much larger. Easily surpassing a hundred feet in height. The ribs around his midsection acted as a sort of pseudo body armor.
"Crap." Spectre said. "Our problem just got a whole lot bigger."
One of Skourzh's tentacles slammed leveled several buildings as he began destroying the city. No doubt searching for life in the rubble.
"I don't remember him being that large." Jaret said.
"He wasn't." Spectre replied.
"How do we deal with that?" Ruby asked.
Spectre looked around. Trying to think of a plan. He eventually looked up at the top of Beacon tower and got an idea.
"Jaret, I hope you aren't too attached to your office." Spectre said.
"Not really… Why?" Jaret asked.
Unfortunately for him, Spectre had already taken off running towards the academy. Jaret looked at Ruby. She just shrugged and took off after Spectre. Yang, not wanting to be left out followed. The two quickly caught up with the Saltborn. They hurried into the elevator.
"What's the plan, corpse man?" Yang asked as the elevator ascended to Jaret's office.
"Well, we need to kill the dragon. Cutting off his head should do it. We just need to reach the head." Spectre said.
"And Beacon tower is tall enough to do such a thing?" Ruby asked.
"Should be." Spectre said as the elevator dinged.
"What about the civilians in the rooms below?" Yang asked.
"Send a message to Jaret." Spectre said as he ran towards the window that faced Vale.
The dragon was still leveling the city. Spectre used his gun and smashed out the window.
"Ruby, seeing as you're here, you think you can make the shot?" Spectre asked.
"Shouldn't be that hard." Ruby said as she steadied her weapon.
The repeated sharp cracks of Ruby's weapon rang out through the area. The bullets sailed through the air and hit the dragon. However, her rifle might as well have been a pea shooter for all the good it did.
"Can I try something? You fire, I'll supply the power." Spectre asked.
Ruby nodded. Spectre grabbed onto Crescent Rose. He willed the Salt into the weapon. A far louder blast was heard as a blast of white exploded from the barrel of Ruby's gun. The Salt rapidly burned away, and the bullet sailed through the air. A white streak followed the projectile as it slammed into the dragon.
The giant monster actually stumbled forward. It roared in pain and turned towards Beacon. Even from as far away as he was, Spectre could feel the giant dragon's gaze settle on him. Skourzh leapt into the air and flew towards the academy. Spectre watched as the people still milling about in the courtyard ran towards the building. He hoped that they would be safe.
The dragon landed in the Beacon courtyard and looked into Jaret's office. Spectre watched as it raised its trident over its shoulder.
"GET DOWN!" Spectre yelled as the dragon attacked the building.
The monster swung its trident through the roof of the tower. The walls went with it. Spectre, Yang and Ruby stood up. Surprisingly, Jaret's desk was still there.
"I think we got his attention." Yang deadpanned. "Now what?"
Spectre didn't answer as he immediately began firing his flintlock at the beast. The tainted shots were slowly biting into the monster's flesh. Ruby and Yang soon joined in. Each blasting their own projectiles at the beast. Skourzh growled and inhaled.
Recognizing what was about to happen, Spectre tried to flip Jaret's desk. It was startlingly heavy.
"Yang! A little help please?" Spectre called to the brawler as he struggled to lift it.
Yang hurried over and together, the two managed to flip the desk on its side. The three ducked behind it as Skourzh unleashed its electricity laced breath upon the tower. The heavily reinforced wood of Ozpin's desk protected them from the attack.
"Spectre, what do we do? We aren't getting through!" Ruby yelled.
"Keep him busy, I'll think of something." Spectre called out as he rolled to avoid Skourzh slamming his trident at him.
The weapon left dents in the floor. Spectre fired another Salt infused shot at the dragon. Skourzh growled and raised his trident once more. Energy gathered around the points, as he slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground far below. A massive ball of lightning flew from the tip towards the tower. Yang and Ruby were able to get out of the way. Spectre tried to roll out of the way but wasn't so lucky. The blast pushed him towards the entrance of the elevator.
He could feel he was on death's door. He forced himself to his feet and looked at the dragon. If he were a gambling man, he would have bet the Skourzh was smiling cruelly at them. The dragon raised his trident again and fired a multitude of lightning beams from the blade.
"YANG!" Ruby cried out.
"Heh, look at that." Yang said
Spectre looked over. Yang had a beam that had pierced right through her chest. Blood was slowly leaking out. Skourzh growled in satisfaction.
"Yang, no. Please. I can't lose you." Ruby pleaded.
Spectre hurriedly sent a message to Ozpin. The lightning dissipated and Yang fell to the ground behind Ozpin's desk. Spectre hurriedly made his way over. He glanced at the dragon. It was inhaling to breath his lightning on them once more.
He pulled out his Flask of Fire. It was low. Very low. He reached them.
"Please… Yang." Ruby pleaded, tears streaming down her face.
Spectre reached them and opened his flask. He poured the liquid down Yang's throat. The wound began closing. The blonde began to breathe easier. Spectre didn't think she was going to make it. Most people didn't walk away from an electric shot straight through the heart.
"She's not going to make it if we don't stop that monster." Spectre said.
"What do we do?" Ruby asked, wiping the tears away.
A loud roar echoed over them as the lightning of Skourzh's breath bathed the top of Beacon tower.
"The same thing at the docks. You have to kill me. Take the Salt and end this." Spectre said. "I'll be fine."
Ruby gulped and nodded. Spectre positioned her gun at his heart.
"See you soon." He said as Ruby pulled the trigger.
The Salt burst forth from the body of the Saltborn. Skourzh growled, pleased that he had defeated the puny thing that had killed him so long ago. He was about to hunt down the false king of storms when he heard a scream of pure agony. Curious, he turned back to the tower.
The Salt rushed up Crescent Rose and into Ruby's body. Her vision clouded for the briefest of moments, though it felt like an eternity. Spectre's memories of everything filled her head.
Memories that were never hers flooded her mind. The Salt forced her to live through every pain Spectre had ever known. The pain of being hated by your own people. The pain of loss. The pain of failure. The pain of death. The never-ending pain of death. Always so close to the other side yet never feeling the sweet relief of release.
She screamed.
Pain from being impaled on the end of a massive sword. Pain from being smashed into the dirt. Pain from falling far too high. Pain from the slow death of toxic air. Pain from the soul rending of black magic. Pain from the power of god's rending you in two.
The pure agony of Azredak's own power.
She screamed.
The memories wouldn't stop. The Salt covered her eyes. It swirled and raged. It hurt.
She saw the destruction of an old ship. she saw a place of worship transformed into a den of evil. She saw a corpse forever bound to a small doll firing at her. She saw a massive three headed golem slam into her. She saw many people fall into despair. Forever trapped on an island with no escape.
She witnessed madness.
She witnessed insanity.
She witnessed pain.
She witnessed unending agony.
And she screamed.
She dropped her scythe and grasped her head. The memories were too much. The pain was too much. It was too much. It had to stop.
Spectre felt life return. The only thing he could hear was the crying, screaming agony of Ruby. He gulped as he felt a surge of power explode from the small reaper's body. Blinding white light erupted from her eyes. The Salt surged and raged.
Spectre was fascinated. A figure appeared in the storm of Salt. For a brief second, he saw a human shaped being in the surge of power that erupted from his friend. The dragon briefly felt fear at this new power. He had never experienced anything like this.
Ruby continued to scream.
The power targeted the dragon. Spectre could only watch as it surged into the great beast. Flooding its body with light and Salt. The dragon roared in pain. Slowly, the roar quieted to a stop as it fell limp. The great monster fell backwards into the courtyard and off the cliff. A veritable earthquake from its body hitting the ground shook the tower. Spectre stood up and walked toward Ruby.
The Salt was still raging around her. He knelt in front of her.
Through the pain, through the memories, Ruby could hear something. A voice. A quiet voice. A voice that didn't sound familiar.
"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to bear witness to our life." It spoke.
Suddenly the pain stopped. The world went dark and Ruby stopped screaming.
Spectre sighed as the Salt entered his body once more. Ruby was out cold. As was Yang. He felt her neck for a pulse. It was faint, very, very faint. He leaned his head back against Jaret's desk and closed his eyes. Ruby would be devastated.
The elevator door dinged open. Jaret walked through, followed closely by Glynda.
"We're alive." Spectre weakly said.
He may have just revived but he was exhausted.
"Yang needs medical help." Spectre pointed at her.
"Glynda." Jaret said.
Glynda nodded and wrapped Yang in a purple aura before levitating the girl with her.
"Jaret, have I got a story for you." Spectre said as he closed his eyes.
…/…
"Interesting. Most interesting." Azredak said from his puppet's perch.
"What is, my lord?" Tyrian inquired.
"They've survived. And managed to kill Kaira, Ronin and Skourzh." Azredak stated.
"Unfortunately." Tyrian uttered.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Kaira and Ronin can be recreated. Skourzh can be retrieved. But what we now know, is far more valuable. Return to me." Azredak said.
"And what do we now know?" Tyrian inquired, hopping down from his own perch.
Azredak's puppet vanished, but Tyrian could still feel the betrayer's presence.
"We know much. Most importantly, though, is that Remnant is home to a Lightborn." Azredak answered with satisfaction.
"A Lightborn?" Tyrian questioned.
"The gods from my world. I once aspired to be one. Instead, I learned how to take their power." Azredak answered. "However, that is the least interesting thing this attack has revealed. We now know exactly how to remove the Saltborn from the equation."
"How?" Tyrian asked.
"The Salt."
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Data Log BOS029
Question - How do you pronounce Skourzh? I pronounce it like a combination scores and scourge.
Question - Also how do you feel about my musical suggestion? When I write my stories, I like to listen to music. It just so happens that I like to listen to music that I think fits the scene as I'm writing it. Reverence from the Salt and Sanctuary OST just played on repeat for the entire duration of writing this chapter.
Information – Please leave constructive criticism. Updates to the archives take it into account, and it is greatly appreciated.
Input command - express_gratitude - Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated. Feel free to leave ideas and recommendations for the future. Input command-tip_hat...Command accepted; hat tipped. Input command-Close
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.
