Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 57: Sifting Sands

Toren Daen

Darrin and I rushed back to our party, our steps only a few amidst the endless stamps of the aether beasts. I withdrew Oath and Promise once again, then threw my dagger with all my might at one of the chittering creatures.

The dagger cut a flying scarab beetle in half, then lurched midair to sever another insect's wings.

A small swarm of scarab beetles, each at least two feet long, buzzed around Jared's shield. Every now and then, a stream of fire exited the cover, burning several scarabs and dropping them. They fell, their exoskeletons smoking.

I was reminded of a chittering dome of legs and wings and carapace, making me stutter in my step. Darrin wasn't so daunted, running forward and throwing punches so fast I nearly couldn't see them. Bursts of wind erupted from every direction, taking a scarab with every strike.

I'm not as weak as I was then, I chided myself, drawing my fingers over Oath. The edge turned a light red, my fire spell making the edge sear. Then I rushed forward with a cry, hurling a fireball as an opening salvo.

It scorched a few of the rampant insects, diverting their focus from solely Alandra and Jared. I met them with my blade, using it as an extension of my arm.

Oath reaped vengeance on every insectoid body it neared, cutting through their carapace without resistance and leaving behind two smoking halves. I sidestepped a lunging bite from one of the bugs, bringing my saber down as I moved. The bug was bisected neatly, immediately cutting out its skittering calls.

Another scarab beetle tried to latch onto me from behind, but Promise was still zipping about in the air. My dagger whizzed past my ear, severing the beetle's wings before it could reach me. It tumbled into the sand, all six legs kicking.

I brought my boot down on its shell, the squelch of flesh grounding me.

With more targets to focus on, the small swarm became less concentrated, allowing Jared to act from behind his shield. His warhammer was the judge, jury, and executioner of any aether beast that got too close, swatting anything within three feet of him out of the sky. Alandra periodically sent out streams of flame, scorching any beasts that got past the shield's defenses.

A few mandibles latched onto my arms, sending me slightly off balance. The simple break they caused in my rhythm allowed me to be swarmed, scarabs latching on and slowing me down. Their bites made my telekinetic shroud creak, so many at once quickly siphoning my mana.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed out with an unfocused wave of force. My telekinetic shroud dampened the pushback, allowing me to breathe. The beasts were flung off of me, and the zipping form of Promise returned to cut their lives short.

I grabbed an aether beast as it tried to rush Darrin's unprotected back, my fingers crunching into its carapace. I cut it in half with Oath, then threw the top half to the ground.

The sand had quickly become soaked with bug innards, tainting the grains a nauseating yellow-green. The swarm was quickly being worn down by our joint efforts, our blades, hammers, and spells extracting a deadly toll.

When the battle finally ended, I was sweating heavily. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and the heat was beginning to burn. We'd fought for nearly an hour straight, slowly whittling down every aether beast that came our way.

Darrin had a few cuts on his arms that barely leaked blood, but he was the worst off of us all. While most of us were feeling exhausted, there weren't any major injuries.

Jared spat on the corpse of one of the scarabs he'd squashed with his hammer. "Stupid buggers," he said, resting his weapon on his shoulder.

"Anyone badly hurt?" Darrin called out. He was stomping on any scarabs that were still moving, finishing them off before they had a chance to bite us in the ass.