Bab 38: Firestorm
"They're about to strike!" Katheren gripped Grayson's arm with urgency as she saw the goblin wielding the bone-carving dagger approach the black-clad figure.
"Listen," Grayson instructed rapidly, "Elyra, go topple the nearby braziers to ignite a blaze and cause chaos. Be careful not to burn our way out!" With an acknowledging chirp, the little owl unfurled her wings and dove toward the cavern floor.
"Stay here and cover me with your pistols. Remember to switch from silent to regular mode for the range," Grayson instructed Katheren. He then vaulted from the platform, crouching at the edge of a wooden bridge below, waiting for Elyra to make her move.
The owl swooped silently through the air, clawing the face of the goblin advancing towards the black-clad man. The creature screamed, its face marred by bloody gouges, dropping the knife to clutch its wounds.
As the surrounding goblins stirred, raising their eyes toward the small black bird in the sky, Elyra flitted to a walkway, drawing their attention away from Grayson.
She landed, transformed back into a dark-clad little girl, and kicked a burning torch basin off the edge.
"Ow, that hurt! I'll make the big meanies pay for my meat!" she wailed, rubbing her injured foot, hopping and skipping in feigned pain.
Complaints aside, chaos ensued below as the toppled brazier rained fire from above, scattering the goblins in panic, trampling one another.
Seizing the moment, Grayson, cigar clamped between his teeth, leaped from the bridge, his boot crushing a goblin's head as he landed. His sword slashed through a nearby goblin, then he raced toward the black-clothed man.
The goblins, realizing a human had entered their midst, converged with wild cries. Grayson, darting and parrying, was unstoppable; the goblins' meteor hammers thrown his way were deftly dodged, backfiring onto themselves in a gory display.
As the goblin numbers around Grayson thickened, Katheren raised her silver guns, the resounding shots echoing through the cavernous pit, leaving bodies strewn in pools of blood.
Her bullets spent, Katheren reloaded, startled as a meteor hammer whistled past, gouging a massive hole in the wall.
Goblin soldiers appeared on the opposite walkway, charging towards her. With empty pistols and no backup weapon, Katheren steeled herself for close combat when a beam of red light descended before her.
"Transform, transform, transform!" Elyra chanted in her child-like cadence, and one after another, the goblins turned into harmless animals.
Katheren stared agape as the little girl skipped forward, plucking the transformed goblins from the ground and tossing them over the walkway's edge as if they were mere pebbles.
"Quit gawking; we're not done yet. I don't play with dummies!" With the last goblin dispatched, Elyra stuck her tongue out at the stunned Katheren, then flew away as an owl.
"I'm not a dummy; you're a meanie!" Katheren pouted, reloading her guns. A sudden realization made her add, "No, I'm definitely not a dummy!"
While the girls bickered, Grayson had reached the man in black. He grabbed the man's neck and cut through his bonds. "Hey, buddy, no matter who you're working for, I'm sure you don't want to be these greenheads' dinner. So you better work with me!"
The man nodded vigorously, and Grayson, pulling him to his feet, made for the walkway entrance. The goblins, relentless, swarmed in, surrounding them.
Suddenly, a shower of silver bullets fell from above, sending the goblins into disarray, scrambling and colliding, many trampled to death by their own kind.
Grayson dragged the limping black-clad man to the center of the cavern, where he used his sword to fling burning logs at the goblins, forcing them back. Unexpectedly, more braziers toppled from above, hitting the goblins amid their ranks.
"Enjoy the fireworks!" Elyra cried, kicking heavy braziers down, crushing some goblins underneath and sending others fleeing from the fiery onslaught, the cavern filled with their cries and howls.
In the confusion, the man in black snatched a flaming log and swung it at Grayson, who recoiled, dodging the attack. The man broke free and limped towards the staircase.
"The conscienceless fox! You think you can escape like this?" Grayson glared at the man stumbling towards the staircase, only for a horde of goblins to descend, flinging their hammers at the sight of him. Dodging the deadly rain, the man was almost clear when Grayson caught his shoulder.
After a scuffle, with a punch from Grayson sending the man to the ground, Elyra was called upon to block their pursuers. She swooped behind the goblins, clawing the weapon bearers bloody, then as a girl, kicked a goblin off the walkway and unleashed blasts of energy, shattering a box of iron balls that cascaded down, scattering the goblins at the entrance.
Grayson seized the man, pressing him against the cavern wall and blowing smoke in his face. "Have you grown tired of living, brother? I didn't come all this way to die with you. Now tell me your boss's name!"
Gasping for air, the man smirked, "Even if I tell you, you can't win against him. None of you can!" With that, he headbutted Grayson, who parried and rolled away, only for the man to escape again.
Turning to Katheren's cry, Grayson saw a towering blaze where a tall tower, now an inferno, was toppling in his direction.
Dragging the man away proved futile as he fought back. Grayson released him to avoid the crashing tower, which fell upon the man with a fiery roar.
"Darn it!" Grayson cursed, rushing to the man's side. The man's lips were bloody, his eyes open, his last breath unspent. Grayson kicked the burning wood away and demanded, smoke from his cigar curling, "Tell me, where is the relic? Quickly!"
The man looked up blankly, his breath faint, uttering a garbled sound. Grayson pressed closer, straining to catch the whispered words, "Titan..."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone