A/N:
Good afternoon, everyone! Look at that, this chapter's actually coming out at a not-totally ridiculous time! :P
To be fair, I did have a draft done at like 3am last night, but- I decided it was better I take some self care and just finish it in the morning.
As for notes about this chapter specifically? well… I did have a lot of trouble trying to find a suitable fight for Phillip to test his mettle - One that'd convince even King that he had good intentions. In the end, was I successful? Well, read on to find out, ya goobers! :P
Phillip laid the bouquet of freshly picked flowers at what appeared to be the town's entrance - the remnants of some sort of gate or decorative arch. He dropped to one knee, and took a moment of silence.
Once that moment was over, the group continued on their journey. To break the silence, Phillip asked "Remind me, what are we doing at the knee again?"
Amity cleared her throat. "The purpose of this field trip is to discover the ice glyph, is it not?" She asked, in the best impression of her mother she could muster. Her girlfriend, Luz, couldn't help but laugh.
After she'd regained her bearings, Luz tried to properly explain. "We're here to try and make a connection with nature, one of the core tennants of wild magic! People have been coming here since the Boiling Isles was young! Plus, It's where I discovered my second glyph…"
King nervously leaned into Luz's ear, and whispered. "I dunno, Luz…The titan only showed you the Glyphs because he trusted you, and- as the new source of magic for the Boiling Isles, I don't know if I can really…Bring myself to trust him."
"I understand." Luz said, with a small sigh. "But I'm sure he'll surprise us. You don't have to trust him, but…Trust me."
King rolled his eyes. "For my big sis, I'll try." He said, before pulling her into a hug.
As King and Luz talked amongst themselves, Amity hopped in to distract Phillip. Warning, "Keep your eyes peeled, Phillip. Old tales told of a wild animal called a 'Slitherbeast' that roamed the Knee. It's the type of critter that is docile unless provoked…But if they're provoked, they're relentless pursuers. They have an amazing sense of smell, too." The way she framed it made him…doubt she was telling the truth. It sounded like a campfire story. But he made a mental note, just in case that it'd come up again.
For the rest of the day, the group kept making small-talk. Swapping tales and jokes, just enjoying each other's company. But, eventually, the sun began to once again set. "We should probably start setting up camp soon." Amity said. Best they find some shelter, though - just for a little bit of extra protection.
A strong candidate came upon the horizon. What initially looked like a large temple of some sort - soon revealed itself to be a series of mineshafts that led deep inside the titan's bones. "Guys, we should proooobably be careful." Luz said, her stomach dropping. She'd never seen this part of the Knee before - but what was the only thing the Emperor could be mining for here? Titan's Blood.
Phillip raised an eyebrow, out of the loop. "What's got you so spooked, Luz?"
"It's, just…Obron led a mining operation here, so, the area's probably extremely unstable…" Luz tried to explain. Phillip just shrugged, as good an explanation as any. Still, shelter was shelter, so…They pitched a tent, before setting up a campfire and roasting some Marshmallows.
Unfortunately, this campfire would essentially act as a flare. One that alerted the nearby…Slitherbeast.
The ground began to rumble - it was closing in, and fast. "What is that?" Phillip asked, stick in hand, as the quakes became too strong to ignore. "Don't tell me…"
"It's the Slitherbeast!" Luz squeaked.
Amity slapped her face, and grumbled. "Just call me Nostradamity…"
"We should hide, now!" Luz gulped, as the creature got closer and closer. Amity begged to differ - "No! We need to run, it'll sniff us out if we try to hide." With little other choice, they ran into a mineshaft.
When they got deep enough that the natural light faded, Phillip drew a light glyph in the snow and summoned a little ball of light - hovering above his hand. It wasn't much, but it was enough to illuminate the narrow cave. But they didn't have much time to stop and admire the scenery - they had to try and find a different route out, give the beast the slip.
But as Phillip ran - he tripped over what appeared to be some strange blue rock. He landed extremely roughly - his hand being impaled on a sharp stalagmite. "Bloody hell!" He shouted, crimson blood dripping to the ground.
"Phillip, Are you okay?" Amity asked, as she ran over. It looked - rough. It'd pierced straight through, and- in fact, it'd broken off.
He grit his teeth and clutched the base of the rock, but Amity squeaked "No, don't! It's keeping, well- your blood in place." She tried to explain, but her lack of medical knowledge didn't help much.
Luz gasped, both at the sight, and the potential consequences. "That rock, it's called Fool's Blood - It's extremelyyyy fragile, it's a miracle this whole shaft didn't collapse."
Unfortunately, it seemed their relentless persuer had no such reservations. It's heavy footsteps stomped through the cramped caverns, quaking the titan. Without much other choice, they had to dust themselves off and keep running deeper and deeper into the old mine.
The end of the road came when they came across a wide open area with a large chasm. There was another entrance on the other side, but- they had no time! The Slitherbeast had finally caught up, and their backs were against the wall.
Phillip snapped the fingers on his good hand, Currant transforming from crow back to a staff. He dug the butt of the staff into the ground, making a stand. Of course, alone? He was toast. But all four of them? They certainly had a chance.
The Slitherbeast stopped for a moment, seizing up its prey. It noticeable discolored patch on the right side of its head…From Luz's fireball, way back when. But strangely…It seemed to completely ignore Phillip, Amity, and King.
"It's after you, Luz!" Amity squealed, as it momentarily backed up - before charging at Luz full force. Time seemed to slow, as all eyes seemed to be on Phillip. She especially knew how he used to have a…habit of abandoning his companions, and that injury? The old Phillip would take this opportunity to run.
But this wasn't the old Phillip. "Get down!" Phillip shouted as he pushed Luz out of the way and taking the hit in her stead. He clutched the impaled hand in pain as the monster pinned him down. It seemed that he'd got its attention. "Luz, go! I'll catch up." He shouted. As he wriggled under the beast's grasp.
Luz grit her teeth, conflicted about what to do…But she ended up taking the coward's way and running off. Not just her, Amity and King followed behind.
It wasn't just Luz that ran off - Amity and King followed. They left Phillip to face the beast alone.
Currant transformed back into a crow, and tried to distract the beast for a moment. Pecking at its eye, it gave Phillip just enough room to wriggle out from underneath it. Before she once again transformed back into a staff, and fell into his good hand. He planted his feet, knowing he was woefully mismatched. The ground rumbled and shook, as it seemed the cave was going to collapse at any moment.
His eyes darted, as he tried to scout his surroundings - wait a minute! Falling from the ceiling was what looked like a sheet of ice, and…He swore he could just make out the faint glimmer of…A Glyph!
No time for celebrating, he had to think fast! He carved a quick glyph combination into the ground with his staff. two Light Glyphs and an Ice Glyph. A combination that would freeze a target in place!
He twirled his staff around, taunting the Slitherbeast like a bull and a red cloth. It took the bait, trampling over the glyph and becoming encased in ice. With not a moment further to spare, he hopped on his staff and made like a bat out of hell out of that cave - just barely managing to escape the mineshaft before the entire thing collapsed.
But he didn't stop. He knew the Slitherbeast's containment was temporary, it could easily find another way out and keep hunting him. In fact, he kept running until his adrenaline tank completely ran out. He had to take shelter for the night, but- he'd left his backpack back at camp, he hadn't bothered to grab it. With few other choices…
He had to sleep inside the ruins. The ruins of a town, unbeknownst to him, that he'd burnt.
