//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 - Climbing a floating mountain // Story: Celestia Trigger // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// There was a small den of beasts at the back of this underground village of ponies. They seemed to be loitering around a single, massive stairwell. Most of them were yellow in color, though there was a pair of massive beasts sitting right next to the stairwell that were different. Once again, my instincts told me that those two would be boss monsters, and we'd have to deal with them last. Probably at great expense. "Take care when dealing with these beasts," I told my friends. "I get the feeling they're not just going to let us walk through." Scorpan took point and gave one of the beasts a massive punch, before turning to the next and giving it a...I can only describe it as a flying roundhouse kick. Whatever it was, it was effective, as both beasts didn't get back up again. "They seem easy enough to dispatch," he rumbled. That was when one of the creatures roared and charged him, causing him to fall back before he got hit. "Aye, easy enough to dispatch," Gregory chuckled, before drawing his blade. "Right up until they fight back." "As it is with all things," I said, drawing mine. "Together?" "Together," the pair of them echoed. Gregory and I singled out a new beast and dashed at it at the same time, slicing into it with our blades. Then I saw it go flying into a cave wall after Scorpan delivered his uppercut. The three of us were a powerful physical force to be reckoned with. Of course, Zehan and Copper weren't idle either. He froze a pair of beasts into place, after which she focused her flames on them, causing their new prisons to melt rapidly. Probably the only time they would ever have both frostbite and blisters. Justice, meanwhile, jumped into the middle of a set of creatures and beeped. Then a storm of electricity erupted from his form, striking the beasts around him and causing them to spasm and fall to the ground. The robot then strode back to us and nodded stiffly. "Full-body taser fully repaired and upgraded," he informed us. "Targets neutralized." "I see that," I said. Between all of us, we'd taken care of every beast between us and the two guarding the massive stairwell. "Justice, do a scan of these two," I said, leveling my sword at them. "I'd rather not get into a fight before knowing how to win." The robot turned and bathed the both of the creatures in green light from his eyes before beeping and nodding. "The blue creature has a much lower body temperature than the others of its kind, while the red one is running hot." "Then we have our party," I said, stepping back. "Copper, light up the blue one. Zehan, Gregory, work on bringing the red one back down. The rest of us will run interference and absorb their counters." "Might use you to get a stronger blow in on the blue one, Justice," Copper said. "That is acceptable," the robot replied. Scorpan walked over to stand in front of Copper with Justice, while I guarded Zehan and Gregory while they charged their magic up. The zebra and griffon unleashed a stream of ice-cold water at the red beast over my head, causing it to roar in pain before charging me. I used my blade to defend myself and dissuade the beast from charging past me, and received a gut-punch for my efforts. I bent over in pain, and while I recovered from the blow, I saw Copper execute her attack. She lit Justice on fire, and the aflame robot charged forward and assaulted the blue creature with fervor. The beast let out a low roar before drawing back and licking its wounds. Justice himself also fell back as the flames left his form. After which I felt a soothing wave of magic wash over my form. It would seem Zehan had taken an interest in my well-being and decided to act on my pain. Meanwhile, Gregory launched a stream of water at the red creature, causing it to roar again before it also fell back to the stairway. "We need them moved," I said as I got back up. "The only way up is past them." Copper nodded and switched her battle harness to Flamethrower mode. I had an idea then. "Justice, switch!" The robot got the idea and the pair of us rapidly switched places, before I held my blade up in front of the mare. "Copper, aim for the sword!" I felt the blade grow warmer in my hands, and then I executed the strongest sword move I knew, slashing the blue beast multiple times and letting it feel the flames that now wreathed my blade. It roared, and as the flames faded, I fell back to guarding Copper. The beast made to follow me, and Scorpan gave it a quick uppercut, before punching it so hard it hit the far cave wall and fell atop a few other knocked-out beasts. Gregory and Zehan let loose with a spell that actually chilled the air before it impacted Justice, turning him into a moving ice sculpture...that then charged forward and slammed his new form into the red beast. It flew back to join its brother on the far side of the room, and I sheathed my blade when I saw that none of the beasts we'd beaten back were getting up again. "I think we're good," I muttered. "Quickly, let us ascend the floating mountain. Supposedly our guru lies on it somewhere." The ramp up to the heavens was long, and the winds howled around us. Fortunately, they didn't actually blow us off the thing, though they weren't any warmer. Once we got up to the first piece of actual land, we saw the makeup of this mountain. Several chunks of rock, all chained together, with ramps connecting each piece to another. The winds howled and made the most interesting of noises between the rocks, and I could see, barely, off in the distance, our goal. One large chunk of rock separate from the others, far higher up than any of the rest. Of course, as we made our way to the other end of the piece of land we were on... I could see a rock, moving, in front of us. I pointed at it before drawing my sword. My allies caught on, and I walked over and tapped the thing with the flat of my blade. It shrieked and exuded a violet mist, and I coughed before reaching for my Lightning. It wouldn't come. I was dumbfounded that something could negate my powers, even temporarily. Then again, these creatures with this sort of defense would be the perfect defense for a prisoner of the magical kingdom. With that in mind, I decided to use my sword as a fallback plan and took to slashing the creature repeatedly. My allies joined in, and soon, the rock-creature had been bested. I felt...refreshed, renewed by the experience. I held up a hand and conjured a little lightning into it, to reassure myself that I still could, and was relieved to find the spark dancing over my palm. "I have no idea what that thing was," I said aloud. "But if they think that's going to stop us from our goal, then I say we dismantle all of those things." My party members voiced their approval and we made our way onto the next part of the Floating Mountain. Once more, we found more of the moving rock monsters, and once more we dealt with them with blade and brute force. The miasma they exuded upon being contacted was fast-acting and inhibiting to all our magical spells, but pure force was a good counter to that. Plus it wore off quickly as well. Though, any threat of magic and they were quick to reapply it to us. The process of climbing up every single floating bit of land was a long, arduous one, but we left nothing but broken rocks in our wake as we made our ascent. Eventually, nothing remained for us to climb save the last, long ramp. Here the winds were their strongest, and we all decided to wait for even so much as a slight lull in the storm before we ascended again. With nothing else to do, the six of us hunkered down and rested on the mountain as we listened for a break in the eternal storm...