Chapter 90: Graveyard of Adsagsona (2)

‘Bad, bad! This situation is bad!’

Organs squashed beneath Zayn’s feet as he sprinted toward Jarlock, who had taken cover behind the statue of Adsagsona.

The statue appeared completely indestructible. Blades of compressed wind struck its stone body and scattered harmlessly, while chunks of earth smashed against its pedestal hard enough to explode into fragments without leaving so much as a crack.

And it wasn’t only Zayn rushing there. Even if not for the sake of aiding their one hope, Jarlock, people had taken notice of the statue’s indestructibility.

Combined with the fact that the specters remained near the corner of the graveyard for the most part, the statue had become the only real safe area. This was especially true considering the wind one… the first Adsagsona, had begun sniping anyone who tried to flee.

A man sprinted toward the treeline in the distance.

All she did was raise two fingers and flick them, causing a thin distortion to flash across the graveyard.

The man collapsed a moment later, nearly severed in half.

‘Tch!’

Zayn dove behind the pedestal as another blade of wind shaved across the ground behind him, gouging a narrow trench through the dirt. He tucked into a roll and came up beside Jarlock.

Frantically looking around, he noted ten total had taken sanctuary there. Most of them were those whose faces and names he’d taken note of: Caldon, Jarlock, Paul, Jordan, Nathan, someone named Elijah, and finally, Cali, who’d followed after him. The two others were nameless to Zayn.

Beyond their little cluster, only a handful of stragglers remained scattered throughout the graveyard, sprinting between the piles of rocks and the miniature boulders strewn about by the rock specter’s attacks in desperate attempts to avoid the onslaught.

Though their numbers had dwindled, those remaining were quite talented. Their continued survival served as proof.

Another explosion shook the clearing.

The second specter swept an arm upward, and a slab of earth tore free from the graveyard. The piles of rocks for grave markers toppled as the ground beneath them split apart.

With another motion, the specter hurled the mass toward a fleeing survivor.

The woman barely threw herself aside.

The projectile smashed down where she’d been, blasting open a crater wide enough to swallow several graves. Dirt, shattered stone, and fragments of bone rained across the clearing.

Jordan, flipping her bloodstained dreads out of her eyes, croaked:

“We need to get out of here! Fuck my arm, it hurts!”

Zayn swallowed all his regret and fear, forcing his composure.

“We can’t… beyond finding a blade to our backs, their presence is proof we were right. I don’t know what it will accomplish, but to complete the trial, we must defeat them.”

Nathan, sporting a nasty gash in his shoulder, groaned, then shouted:

“You seem to have it all figured out, Zayn! What the hell do we do?! What can we do?!”

Zayn placed a hand on Jarlock’s shoulder.

“Get this man close enough to crush their corpses underground.”

‘Ack!’

The entire group flinched as a boulder slammed into Adsagsona’s head. It shattered across the statue’s face, spraying stone fragments over those crouched around the pedestal.

Still, the statue of Adsagsona stood unharmed.

Looking around…

‘We might be all that remains.’

A pale young girl with red hair, whose name Zayn didn’t know, pressed herself against the pedestal and shouted:

“You think that’s possible?!”

“I don’t know…”

Zayn took a deep breath, then pushed off the ground and gripped his falx.

“All I know is that hiding here won’t accomplish anything.”

The other nine looked at him with a mix of horror and anticipation, as if they both awaited and trusted his words while fearing them to no end.

As he stood, Zayn opened his left palm, letting a golden card appear on it.

None even questioned the card as Zayn continued:

“So, stand up and stand with me. I’ve learned the general area of their graves, directly behind them at the corner of the graveyard. All we need to do is get Jarlock there and have him crush the corpses underground with his Relic.”

Zayn looked down at the card.

‘As I figured…’

It was still a black joker.

Unsummoning [Twist of Fate], Zayn held out his left hand to Jarlock just as something massive struck the other side of the statue. The impact thundered through the pedestal beneath their feet.

Only one question remained…

Zayn asked:

“Are you up to the task?”

Jarlock, wiping his brow, said:

“Fuck no.”

Then he took Zayn’s hand and stood, gripping his staff tightly in both hands.

The two men shared a solemn nod.

Zayn turned and looked at the other eight.

“If Jarlock fails, we all die…”

One by one, the rest of the group hesitantly stood as well.

Zayn edged toward the side of the pedestal and peered around it.

The two specters stood roughly thirty meters away among the ruined graveyard. Behind them, near the far corner of the graveyard, lay the section Zayn believed held their corpses.

For a brief moment, his eyes met those of the wind specter.

Its hand moved.

Zayn snapped his head back.

A crescent of compressed air screamed past the edge of the pedestal.

Looking back at his cohort, he said:

“I don’t think any attacks will work on the specters. Instead, we need to spread out and survive as long as possible. Draw their attention in as many ways as possible. All while protecting him.”

Zayn patted Jarlock lightly on the back.

Another crash echoed from somewhere beyond the statue. The earth specter had driven both hands downward, raising jagged pillars from beneath one of the remaining survivors. The man twisted between the first two, only for a third to erupt beneath his feet and launch him through the air.

He disappeared into the trees down the hill.

Cali paled as she looked off toward where the man’s corpse had been flung.

“I… I don’t know if it’s possible, but what choice do we have?”

The taciturn man, Paul, gave Zayn a slight smile.

“Lucas would be proud, little monster.”

The hulking man, Nathan, shouted:

“Damn it! Can we just kill these fuckers already!”

Zayn forced a chuckle, then said:

“Of course… Scatter!”

Zayn moved first.

He burst from the left side of the statue and immediately cut diagonally across the graveyard rather than running straight for the specters. Behind him, the others scattered from both sides of the pedestal, splitting in every direction and forcing the specters to choose between targets.

The wind specter chose Zayn.

Its arm snapped sideways.

The air ahead of him warped.

Zayn dropped instantly, throwing himself into a forward roll as a broad blade of wind tore through the space where his chest had been. The attack continued past him and struck the ground, carving a long scar through the graveyard and blasting dirt against his back.

He came out of the roll already moving.

A shadow passed over him.

Zayn glanced up.

‘Shit!’

A boulder spun through the air toward him.

He planted one foot against a large rock and kicked off sideways. The boulder crashed down beside him, blowing apart the ground and making a crater.

The force nearly knocked him from his feet.

Rather than fight against it, Zayn let the blast carry his momentum, stumbled twice, then drove himself forward again.

Another distortion appeared at his right.

Way too close to duck.

Zayn threw himself left, planted a hand against the edge of the fresh crater, and vaulted over it just as a narrow blade of wind passed beneath his legs. It struck the exposed wall of earth and blasted loose chunks of dirt into the air.

He landed badly, one knee nearly touching the ground, but forced himself onward.

A second boulder was already coming.

This one wasn’t aimed directly at him.

It struck several meters ahead, kicking up rock and forcing Zayn to change course.

Zayn veered around the new crater, vaulted a boulder from a previous attack, and finally risked a glance toward the statue.

Everyone had scattered. Nathan barreled toward the right flank while Jordan sprinted farther left. Cali and Paul separated in opposite directions. Each movement drew another spell away from the others.

Jarlock was lagging behind Zayn, running off to his side, beginning a wide arc toward the graveyard’s corner.

‘Good.’

Zayn charged toward the specters.

His goal wasn’t to attack, because he couldn’t.

Sadly, the specters didn’t only attack him.

Even while facing Zayn, the wind specter flicked its fingers toward distant targets, sending razor-thin cuts streaking across the graveyard. The earth specter was even less selective. Every sweep of its arms ripped chunks of stone and soil from the ground before flinging them elsewhere, turning untouched stretches of the cemetery into fields of fresh craters.

One moment, both focused on Zayn.

The next, a blade of wind crossed half the clearing toward Nathan while a jagged mass of stone arced toward Cali.

Zayn didn’t get to see what became of the attacks as another swipe of wind raced toward him.

Although…

Seeing as he got no message, Cali seemed to have survived.