Becoming Legend

"Just hold on, Ned," Katolin said in a voice that hides her pain. But she wasn't great at hiding her emotions. Tears hanging at the end of her eyes, and her lips could barely put on a smile.

She held Ned by the arm around her shoulder while she strode the lava with the pair of her limbs. The scales at the tip of her limbs sizzled from the lava.

[9 Seconds left, Ned.]

Ned scowled at ICE's voice. She was eager to disregard Katolin as long as Ned survives. But Ned disregards her since he can't blame her, either.

Across them was the mouth of the cave, around its edges were rocks falling from the trembling of the dome.

"Why are you doing this?" Ned said.

As the lava crept out the mouth of the caves, the temperature was rising around the dome

"You've done too much for me, Ned." Katolin put on a happy face. "This is the least I can do to return the favor."

At 6 seconds, they were half the exit. But behind them was the persistent Evolved Kruthik, while S'vokalt roared from the castle. Hundreds of smaller Kruthiks stood atop the inclined pavements where no lava could reach them—yet. They were desperate to catch the human invaders or free their Mother.

They decided to free their Mother, but the Evolved Kruthik trailing them was even more desperate to reach Ned and Katolin.

Seeing that the trailing beast was almost catching them, Katolin increased her speed. She was both desperate and in too much pain.

The tip of Katolin's limbs was burning, yet Ned was doing nothing as though she was a princess in distress. In order to help Katolin, Ned conjured Windlances and discharged them to the trailing beast. Ned was trying to hit its limbs—to slow it. Perhaps—to cut it. With the succession of Ned's attacks, he hit its front limb, dislodging the tip and throwing its head to the lava.

A part of its face swum down the lava, scalding it in the process.

This gave Ned and Katolin the time to reach the edge of the cave. The entrance of the cave was an elevated part that blocks whoever was trying to go inside.

At 3 seconds, Ned started to shake his body. But at the same time, Katolin stepped inside the elevated part of the cave. With now safe at the entrance, Ned breathed with relief.

But not for long, the Evolved Kruthik behind them made it past the inclined steep in the middle of the lava flooding ground and leaped with its face dripping of lava.

Midair, it roared and landed across the pair with lava splashing under its belly.

Ned jumped down from Katolin's grip and shielded her from the incoming attack from the beast while Katolin fell on the ground with her limbs badly damage.

Ned called for the broken Butterfly, as it was the only weapon available for him.

Ned blocked the sweep attack coming on his left. But was thrown further to the mouth of the cave and was followed up by the beast as it leaped and landed over him.

Ned was barred by the beast's spikes as he tried to make an escape.

Not wanting the beast to escape, it started to stab Ned relentlessly.

Ned rolled on his left, back to his right, and repeated for almost three times.

Enraged, the beast even stabbed Ned faster and now used its spiky head to ram Ned.

Before his head reached Ned. Ned saw an opening under its belly—to where its Core was. Ned was only waiting for the beast to make a mistake since it was deeply enraged. Seeing the gap wide open as it stretched its head further to increase the damage it would cause when it landed to Ned, he took the chance and thrust the broken Butterfly to its chest, and closer to the Core.

This caused the beast to lurched backward as the pain reaches its entire body. It growled together with dark brown blood leaking from the wound Ned had caused.

The Evolved Kruthik moved backward, freeing Ned in the process, while it screamed of pain. Ned rolled and hurriedly stood to go to Katolin.

Only to realize that Katolin was nowhere to be found.

The Evolved beast growled as it tried to stand from its incapacitated state, but before it could do so, Katolin screamed from above.

She used her limbs to push and to propel her midair and landed behind the beast's back.

The lava was rising and could almost reach the peak of the elevated ground near the mouth of the cave.

Ned thought it was convenient that the ground near the mouth of the cave was elevated, but was it so? What if it was made to be elevated to avoid anyone from coming inside. Ned wanted to find out, but seeing that Katolin was fighting for her life behind the Evolved beast's back, Ned dashed forward without having a second thought to help her.

Ned conjured Windlances, reducing his mana to a hundred. The spear made of wind whistled and pierced the limb of the beast. The attack made it angrier. Forgetting the pain, it started to jerk its body viciously.

With Katolin on the beast's back, she had to put a lot of effort into her burned limbs to stay behind its back. With only a pair left, Katolin managed to balance herself.

The two were dry of both mana and energy. Unable to conjure any more spells, Katolin leaped and caught the beast's neck and started to grapple while the beast was trying to shake her off.

With a shaking hand, a blurring vision and a body almost giving up, Ned tried to shoot the beast with his Windlance but missed to hit.

That was the last of his spell, anymore than using his mana would result in Mana Burn. In which he couldn't afford to conjure any more spells since the chance of him collapsing without Mana was a sure way to kill both of them.

Instead, Ned dashed and leaped to meet the beast eye-to-eye but was swept midair by the beast's spiky limb.

Ned saw the attack was coming but unable to evade since he was midair and his body won't move to his will.

Ned landed and rolled back to the mouth of the cave.

While Katolin was gripping the neck of the beast, the lava was rising like a tide underneath them.

Unable to free itself, the beast rolled trying to free itself from her grasp.

With her hands and limbs wrapping the beast's neck, Katolin pulled it closer to her body. The black to black cloak flapped in the air as the beast jerked its head.

"What are you doing?" Ned muttered to himself, unable to grasp Katolin's thinking. "Let it go!"

Katolin shook her head, unable to even open her mouth to speak to Ned. Doing so might lose her focus and strength.

Feeling that the Evolved Kruthik was losing its strength, Katolin even grasped its neck tighter.

Behind them, at the edge of the ruined plaza, were the smaller beasts, screaming—perhaps cheering for their Evolved companion.

"Release that beast!" Ned ordered. Blood leaked off his mouth with his back against the wall of the entrance to the cave. "I'm ordering you, Katolin! Let. It. Go!"

Still, her answer was no by shaking her head. Instead, she even gripped the neck even stronger which caused the beast to lose its balance and fell with half of its body now submerged in the lava.

Katolin's limbs crackled with too much effort she was exerting onto them. Still, she didn't let go. She wanted to make sure that the beast was dead before she let it go.

She was right, its eye opens from what Ned thought to be a dead one and violently shake while Katolin still gripping its neck.

Veins on her forehead, muscles under her jaw, and blood leaking under her lips, Katolin was doing her best to keep the beast away from Ned. Too much so, she produced a genuine smile while looking at Ned and tears leaked and lingered at the tip of her eyes. Then she nodded and produced another pair of her limbs. Now, with four limbs: two burned to crisp, and the other two too thin from the lack of mana.

These newly produced pair of limbs went straight to the beast's remaining eye—boring and drilling it. Too deep, its yellow eye fell from its socket.

With the last of its breath, the beast roared and shake Katolin on its neck. But Katolin didn't falter as well. The new limbs retracted from the beast's eye and gripped to help her other limbs. She then pulled the neck closer to her, maneuvering it so that it would move away from Ned.

She did it fairly well, the neck Katolin pulled made to follow its body as the beast was moving backward while lava splattered under its limbs.

"N-no!" Ned said stuttering. He pulled himself up, but with his impact against the wall—he could barely do so. "No! Don't do it! Let go! Katolin! Let go. Now!"

Katolin smiled and pulled the neck of the beast, maneuvering it even further from the cave.

"Thank you." Was that her lips Ned could read. She said those words without having to produce her voice. But it was all clear in Ned's mind. Her voice: Strong yet witty. Swift like a dagger, and clear like a thunder. Thank you was what she had said.

Giving up, the beast submerged down the lava along with Katolin.

"No!"