To Battle II: Part 2 [Legendseekers]

Upon Oberon’s insistence, Samson had assigned everyone that traveled to Wingfell to help locate the missing Valorise xyns.

Before they departed, they returned with Samson to the Knight’s Headquarters, helping the knights that traveled with them to unload the piles of Clef Compasses within their Bags of Holding to temporary safekeeping.

“Do you really think we can teach the entire populace of Moonreach to find their Soul Song in time before the day that Ryu begins the war?” Pantalaimon asked

Troia shrugged, shoving a crate of Clef compasses by a wall, closing a lid on it before stacking another crate onto it with much effort. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “We’ll have to see after we save these xyns from Valorise…”

—

Samson wasted no time in organizing everyone to set out for the journey within the outskirts of Moonreach. Pantalaimon, Troia, Bravura, Chiptune, and the rest of the xyns that went to Wingfell were still weary, but this time, they were accompanied by far more knights than before to support them. Numerous scouts flew far ahead, high above in the air to search for the missing xyns. They were also accompanied by a flock of Accipidrakes that zipped through the air at lightning speed; each one fanning out in a circle to aid their search.

“Remember,” Samson instructed the remaining xyns as they flew low above the ground, “The second I give the orders, start playing the music you were taught to use if we see Corruption Beasts and Corrupted Xyns. Stick close to the knights, don’t stop playing, but if we give the orders for you to flee for your safety: Stop playing at all costs and do as we say! Oberon needs to hear about the results!”

“YES, SIR!” The xyns echoed. Pantalaimon and Bravura managed to sound convincingly determined, and Troia mumbled it halfheartedly as she ran on foot.

An Accipidrake dove by the scouts high above the air and those below closer to the ground, screeching at the top of its lungs as it circled around the group- then zipped away, towards the south- the direction of the Perilunal Plains.

“AN ACCIPIDRAKE FOUND THEM!” A scout cried above. “FOLLOW IT SOUTH!”

“You heard them!” Samson shouted at the group following him. “We can’t lose it’s trail!”

Every xyn present flew or ran as fast as they possibly could, following the Accipidrake as if it were a shooting star they couldn’t afford to lose.

—

The landscape of Moonreache’s outskirts changted from the withered, moonlight-deprived shortgrasses to the longer grasses of the Perilunal Plains. The grasses here- and not too far in the distance, the entire troop could see smoke rising from the distance; and the further they pressed into the Perilunal Plains. It began to become unbearably hot; flames and embers shot past them all in the breeze…

It didn’t take long for the xyns to see that the entire horizon was a haze of grey ash, smoke, and the stench of corruption. The further they pressed into the Perilunal Plains, the hotter it became, and many xyns began to feel themselves pant for cool air. For Troia, it began to feel stifling, but she refused to dismiss her mask halo.

“This isn’t right! Why are the Perilunal Plains burning?” Pantalaimon coughed. They blasted their Wind breath to clear the smoke, and numerous other Wind element xyns cast their magic to form a protective bubble of swirling wind around them; but the oppressive heat contained within could not be abated through wind magic alone. The ice element xyns immediately exchanged glances and exhaled their own Ice breaths to cool the air, one by one; no individual could afford to sap their energy entirely before all of the Vexyns were found and saved.

Samson growled in response as he charged ahead of the others, just at the forefront of the bubble. “Corruted xyns can only cast corruption magic; we know it’s acidic, but it can’t burn like a flame. The fact there’s this much fire means that the Corrupted either tore down a settlement and an existing fire went loose, or a xyn cast the magic themself to burn this place down!”

They passed by one settlement that was completely set on fire, with no xyns clearly present. By this time the fields became were clearly alive with fire eating away at the endless fields of shriveled, moon-light deprived grasses in every direction. More xyns in the bubble began to cough; the collective Wind Magic could only filter so much of the smoke out, and it  was becoming difficult to breathe.

The group of xyns passed by another settlement, and another, and another, all burned down to ashes with nothing left except the remains of structures left in their wake, painted black by corruption ooze and burnt to charcoal by . It was a horrific sight… yet there were still no xyns, uncorrupted or otherwise, to be seen. 

Where were the Vexyns from valorise? Were there even more xyns that needed be saved from the Perilunal Plains if their settlements were being burned down? It was possible- not everyone chose to evacuate to Moonreach, though they were warned that they could remain at their own peril. 

The group heard the panicked screams of several Accipidrakes above the billowing clouds of smoke, and the shrieks of the scout xyns soaring from up above. 

One scout xyn, unseen from the thick clouds of smoke, screamed at the top of their lungs:

“THEY’RE COMING! WATCH OUT!” 

Something like a dark sail, ever so slowly, lowered itself beneath the thick clouds of smoke, cutting through it’s surface like a shark’s fin through water. One more such fin followed, then another, and yet another again. They were pitch black in color.

Corruption Beasts were here. 

And they weren’t alone.

The grasses that were not set on fire rustled around on all fours. Troia and Pantalaimon could make out the shapes of dark silhouettes, running on all fours, and the glinting of crackling purple and grey eyes. 

Packs of Corrupted Xyns had located them too.

Troia instinctively wanted to growl, but she suppressed the urge, remaining silent as she focused exclusively on breathing as much as she could. Making sound would only make her inhale more smoke than what could be filtered out. Pantalaimon realized this, too, and slowly tried to manage their breathing to minimize how much hot air they intook. The bubble of air began to feel like a cage of heat; the Ice and Wind element xyns would be spent of their energy to cast magic if this lasted longer than it had to.

The xyns in the bubble of rushing air began to panic, but Samson ordered them by howling as loudly as his voice could possibly be heard. 

“RUN LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! Don’t stop to play music right now! We have to escape from this hellhole NOW- or we’ll be burned alive if we don’t!!!”