Chapter 24
"Surround him !" Norgus ordered.
His army of cosmic beasts fell upon Trident from all corners, leaving him no openings to escape. Still finding a gap, Trident bolted through their ranks, their claws trailing after him, breaking free from their grip his being exhumed that massive globe of condensed flames, which dazed them as he blazed past. Following him behind like vultures stalking a dying prey, they shot those fiery orbs at him from behind. Slithering through those stormy walls, Trident kept unleashing his own surge of flames at intervals, taking down tens of them in the process.
They were gradually catching up with him, knowing fully well that if he didn't increase his pace he would end up getting caught in those vicious claws and bladed talons. He doubled his pace, but one thing was sure, at this state of his, without evolving, he was definitely going to wear out soon.
It fell upon him from above, its talons smashing his back and digging into his ribs, the weight of this beast was sending Trident crashing to the ground. Unleashing that surge of lightning from his being, he took down his attacker. But more came for him, smashing him with their burning claws, they surrounded him once again, huddled in their core, they fell, crashing to the earth.
Trident rose to feel the force of a thousand blows of talons falling upon him from every corner and that massive storm of lightning descended upon him in never ending gusts, always driving him deeper into the ground in a frenzy of burning flames. He felt the leg of a beast crushing him to the the ground under its weight, with its enflamed and lightning sharp beak slashing down, it was prepared to rip off Trident's head. Trident parried the blow with his antlers, unleashing an orb that struck his executioner, sending it flying into the air, a storm erupted that also threw Trident off his feet, but before he could regain his senses, he felt that fusillade of halos land on him from above scalding his hides thin. Letting out a cry of pain, he enacted a forcefield, which shut that army of cosmic beasts away from him. Quaking within as they smashed the walls of the forcefield, their eyes blazing with fury and their souls ever ready to get him devoured by their destructive rays of power. They were more than maddened to have him dead and their life force at the moment was this same will, as long as he was alive and still breathing, they were enraged and still blazing.
Closing his eyes Trident tried to focus, regardless of the pain he felt within him as a result of these beasts smashing against the walls of his shield, he nevertheless willed himself to push on. He couldn't fail Thorace, he sighed, he wanted to battle and has always been one to disregard his stand in any confrontation but on focus on only one thing, the ultimate aim in any war - victory.
His bone quivered and his hides rippled as those burning and wavelike sensations ebbed from his being, cascading down his mind and soul like cosmic waterfalls, engulfing his hearing with their deafening crash, he steadily ascended the slope towards his peak. The shield began to crack as the pressure from outside intensified, with Norgus' cosmic beasts becoming more enraged with the resistance Trident had put up against them. Their desire had become a bloodthirsty fury, now bent on unleashing its pent-up madness.
The shield tore apart and once again, like hurricanes, they upon Trident, driving him into a sea of halos and talons to the ground, resuming their frenzied battle to devour. But the wind rose and polar frequencies blazed into a fit of chaos.
Trident arose, the speed of his ascent beyond that of lightning, hides flaring and antlers blazing, he charged into the dense core of their ranks, unleashing that typhoon of destruction upon them. His bladed hooves dug into their hides as well as his antlers, sending them screeching to the skies as they dropped dead. One by one they flailed, with Trident soaring high, slashing like a cosmic blade of destruction cutting through their ranks, sparing none and taking down all, his eyes burnt of the desire for vengeance and he did it with stellar stealth. Taking down his victims with a single blow, leaving them howling to the air in their dying frenzy. But soon, his waves of strength began diminishing and taking advantage of his waning energy, they surrounded him again, leaving him no room to escape or counter attack, engulfing him in flames and blows.
Coming again, this time as an astral sea of will and fury, it took them by surprise, consumed in their fit of vengeance, they hadn't expected their prey to have any reserve left. Nevertheless it came, coming like an astral whirlwind of fury of an enraged cosmic beasts. Those colossal waves of condensed and lightning loomed waves erupted from Trident's being, rising to mountainous heights, it engulfed those surrounding him in its enflamed and mighty waves, burying them in its burning sands of destruction.
Crashing on the top of a plateau, his limbs still kept him standing as he panted wildly, his hides steaming. He knew he was wornout and the reserve within couldn't keep him going much longer.
"You've finally decided to succumb to your fate Trident." The voice mocked him from above.
Staring at the flaming skies, he saw Norgus gazing upon him from the edge of a battlecarpet, surrounded by his army of cosmic beasts.
"You didn't hear me say that, did you ?" Trident countered.
"Your situation at the moment needs no explaining", Norgus continued, "I can say that without your master, Thorace, you are as good as gone. So much for being a warrior."
"And I won't admit being anything less", Trident replied, "I come as one but stand as a thousand."
"How true are your words ?" Norgus probed, "just like Thorace you are boastful, but let's see if you can back your attitude with action", staring at his army of beasts Norgus ordered, "attack !"