Bastian wasn't entirely satisfied with the old man's answer, but if that tower was the only way out then he really didn't have much of a choice. As for the Wolfborn being from another realm, he didn't quite know what to make of that. Bastian had always been the skeptical sort. He never gave much thought to anything like magic or other worlds, but it seemed like both of those subjects were about to become much more prevalent. With nothing else to say, Bastian simply moved with the group and followed behind the man.
As they drew ever closer to the tower the sound of wind whistling in the distance could be heard. This was odd for someplace that had been so deathly silent up until now. Gardevoir then shouted at them to start running. Not long after the warning, Bastian felt the same chilling wind he had felt in that field. Unable to contain his curiosity, Bastian turned around instead of running to see exactly what they were supposed to be fleeing from. He immediately regretted it.
Bastian had been in battle before. He had experienced combat with both man and wolfborn. There were many times in his life where he had been afraid, but this... That thing. For the first time in his life, he felt true fear. Pure, incomprehensible, suffocating fear. Every instinct, every fiber of his being began screaming at him to be anywhere else but here.
Not needing any further convincing than what was before him, Bastian nearly mounted the giant hound in a single adrenaline-fueled leap. With a bit of extra climbing, he joined his comrades atop the unnaturally large canine. Though he had been skeptical at first, that mysterious glowing tower suddenly seemed like a great place to be. Hopefully whatever that thing was wouldn't be able to match pace with their unusual mount.
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Devrin easily finished off the Remobra that was on the floor before turning to face the other two. With Luna already swinging at one of them, he simply swung at the other. He had no doubt that the fight would be over quickly now. The Remobra didn't stand a chance against such massive weapons built to take on monsters many times their puny size.
With the Pink Rathian distracted, Swiper decided it was now or never. While the wyvern was distracted with the Duramboros, Swiper made his way down the slope as quickly and quietly as he could before making a hasty getaway.
Devrin was surprised. So she was capable of polite. With that out of the way it was time to deal with the Remobra clinging to his shield. His sword was laying on the deck by his feet after he had dropped it to free up his hand to reach the antidote, so he simply swung the shield and slammed the pesky little wyvern against the ship's mast to buy himself time to retrieve his sword and face the rest of the Remobra.
"Maybe if I let you," Devrin replied to Luna with a cheeky grin of his own. "Don't forget that you're not the only one who has to swing a giant axe around."
As if to emphasize his point Devrin switched his charge blade over into axe mode for some extra reach and took a swing at the remaining Remobra.
To say that Swiper was nervous when he saw the Rathian's head peak over the ledge above him would be an understatement. He was absolutely petrified. Not wanting to abandon his prize, Swiper pressed himself as close as he could to the ledge, stayed completely still, and just hoped the Rathian wouldn't look down and notice.
Bastian lost track of how long he had been falling after awhile. As far as he knew he could have been falling for days, maybe even weeks. All this spare time was a great opportunity for his mind to run wild. His entire life flashed before his eyes. The attack on the village, his mother, Gwen, that damned tower engulfed in flames as he made his escape, and Leo. Rising above every ever thought, however, was a single notion: He wanted to go home. He just wanted to go back to his family and forget all of this. He wanted to forget the wolfborn, forget the bard that was dragged off into the night, forget poor Felix who now laid dead in a field. He wanted to go home.
Eventually he found himself on solid ground. Bastian was confused. He didn't remember hitting the ground. He wasn't in any pain. After running through a mental checklist and making sure every part of him worked as it should he sat up. His belongings were scattered around him, so he began to collect them. As he did so he noticed the mysterious old man and a giant dog that seemed to have taken a liking to Lorenzo. After all the strange things that had happened today, he was now officially of the mindset that anything was possible at this point.
The man seemed very enthusiastic to see Marque, and Marque seemed rather joyous to have found him as well. This man must have been who he had recruited them to help find. However, the man was now babbling something about heading to a mysterious tower off in the distance that was projecting some sort of light. Marque requested that the man explain everything on the way, but Bastian had had just about enough for one day.
"We're not proceeding anywhere," Bastian said after retrieving his belongings. "I don't want answers on the way. I'm getting them now."
Bastian approached the old man clearly irritated.
"What were those things up there? Where are we now? What does that tower have to do with anything? And most importantly why should I give a damn? Marque recruited us to help find you and we did, so if it's all the same to you, I would like to go home to my family.
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Bastian stayed close behind Col as the pushed on to the stone. The flames were both his best friend and worst enemy, threatening to consume him as much as save him. He could feel the sting of the searing heat on his flesh, but he really had no choice but to push on. He had no interest in dying today. He had a family to return to.
As he and Col continued on, the flames moved. The flames reorganized them themselves into a channel for them to follow, providing safe passage from the wolves straight to the stone. Bastian had heard stories of magic, but he only ever treated them as such. Stories. This, however, was definitely something different. Perhaps magic did exist after all. If that was the case, then hopefully it was as incredible and miraculous as he had always been told. They certainly needed a miracle.
After pushing past intense heat, the pain, and flashbacks of a particular burning tower that he always experienced around open flames he joined up with the rest of the party at the stone. Bastian turned his attention back to the Wolfborn. The flames continued to ward off the beasts as they stood around the mystical glowing stone, but now that they had arrived the question remained: Now what?
As if to answer his unspoken question the earth began to rumble beneath them. Bastian looked down at his feet as the ground shook. What in the world was happening? His thoughts were soon drowned out by the rumbling turning into a roar. Bastian struggling to maintain his footing as the ground churned beneath him. Then his footing was removed completely when the ground gave way completely. Now plummeting down through the darkness he could only wonder what would come next. As his mind processed hundreds and thoughts and possibilities, one question stood out amongst them all:
Is this how I die?
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