Chapter 95: Ghost Riders

Everett was tired of running.

His wings made the task of using his legs somewhat obsolete.

But being in a foreign, hostile realm forced him to act with a certain degree of restraint.

The last time he tried to fly above ground, he was only airborne for around thirty minutes before he was knocked out of the sky by a flaming projectile.

His chest armor was singed, his handsome face was covered in dirt, and his hair was matted with blood.

Three days. Three days of this absolute madness, and Everett was still no closer to figuring out how to get out of this place.

This was clearly a test, judging by the fact that he had already run into students from other groups. However, they weren’t interested in working together. Their only interests lie in attacking or robbing him.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it… I should have just gone to school to be a financier instead…!”

Everett flaps his wings hard to propel his body out of the way.

A large spear strikes the ground where he’d just been standing only moments ago, and Everett shakes uncontrollably.

“Holy shit… This place is a fucking madhouse!”

Everett draws his sword from his sheath.

The weapon had already been broken on just his first day here, but he had minimal other options.

Running clearly wasn’t working. Flying was also going to be a no-go.

Fighting and hoping for a miracle was his last gambit.

He turns to face his pursuers.

Two unbelievably large trolls loomed above him, their faces grotesque and their bodies covered in muscle like iron.

Everett thumped his chest hard. “Come on then, you giant pricks!”

The trolls instantly respond to his provocation and rush toward him in massive, lumbering steps.

Everett flies to meet them headfirst, roaring like an animal while holding up his broken sword.

A troll reaches for him, but Everett ducks just underneath his grip and flies straight for the troll’s face.

With a yell, he plunges his broken sword into the eye of the troll, eliciting a deep, powerful roar that nearly ruptures the young titan-blood’s eardrums.

Everett rips his sword out of the troll’s eye and spins his body counterclockwise.

He lands on the Troll’s shoulder and covers his sword in a bright green aura.

Savagely, he swipes his sword across the neck of the large troll, and a wave of blood hits him hard in the chest.

Unprepared for the sheer volume, Everett cannot move his body in time to protect his wings from getting wet.

As the troll slips over, life leaving his eyes, Everett leaps off his corpse while aiming for the rocky wall closest to him.

He almost reaches it, but before his fingers can graze the rocky surface, his body is smacked out of the air, and his vision goes black.

Pain is the only thing that jolts him awake.

Everett gasps deeply before letting out an anguished scream.

He knew instinctively that he had multiple broken bones. His right wing as well.

The pain was so excruciating that he couldn’t even draw in breath properly. His lungs felt as if they were being poked at by plinters of bone.

As he lies on the ground in agony, he vaguely hears the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards him.

He tries to crawl, but his body fails him when he needs it the most.

Darkness begins creeping into the corners of his vision. His thoughts slow to a crawl.

As he fears death creeping closer to him, in the distance, he hears a shrill cry that thrusts his consciousness back to the land of the living.

“Fear the Vanquisher, foul creature! Allow me to send you into the cold embrace of death!”

–

The troll was nearly upon Everett’s limp body when it suddenly turned around.

It’s murky yellow eyes picked up more than a dozen or so smaller figures rushing towards him. Horses.

At the head of the herd, there are three that are unique compared to the rest.

The leftmost horse is being ridden by a small, pale figure with black hair. As if mirroring it’s little rider, the horse is of the leaner sort, with an inky black coat.

It’s mane, hooves, and tail exhude an ominous purple aura. Even from several feet away, the troll can still feel the chill of the flame-like substance.

The rightmost horse is a bit less outwardly intimidating. It is a powerful beast, with a deep, earthy-colored coat wrapped tightly over rolling muscle.

Like the other horse, it’s mane, tail, and hooves are all covered in a ghastly aura that almost seems to resemble flame.

Though unlike it’s companion, this horse had a deep green aura, rich in vibrancy and power.

The head of the horse was also different. It’s muzzle hangs open slightly, allowing full view of dozens of blade-like teeth.

However, it was the center horse that bothered the troll the most.

It was the largest beast there. Almost too large to even be called a horse to begin with.

It was an enormous war horse, over nine feet tall.

The creature was as black as obsidian, with glowing red tattoos running across the length of it’s powerful body.

It’s aura was abysmal.

Flames shrouded it’s hooves and tail, exhuding a heat that melted the ground underneath it.

It’s eyes were like hot masses of metal; deep red and steaming with an unnatural rage.

The troll roared as it ran to meat it’s next meals.

“Hit it from both sides!” Solomon roars.

“I don’t have a weapon!” Dakota yells over the pounding of hooves.

“Here!”

Nila unslings a sword from her back and tosses it at Dakota like a boomerang.

“You can hold on to ThunderSplitter! All I need now is my new baby!”

Nila hefts up a sword that she looted from the orc cave.

It is an enormous greatsword, fashioned from the bone of a giant.

It’s blade was incredibly sharp, but it was the serrated edges running up both sides of the weapon that truly attracted Nila.

“I thought you said ThunderSplitter was going to be your weapon forever!” Solomon laughs.

“We talked it out, and we agreed that it was best for me to move on!”

Solomon can only shake his head as the girls on either side of him rush forward.

Their horses carry them right towards the troll.

They race along each side of him, diving just underneath his meaty hands and racing towards his legs.

“Now!”

In unison, both girls swing their weapons at the knees of the giant creature.

Their blades cut into it’s flesh with immense ease. Nila enjoys the sensation of ripping her weapon free, sending spurts of hot blood all across the canyon floor.

With a loud roar, the troll falls to it’s knees.

It’s anger is palpable, and it is far from defeated.

Before it can launch some form of counterattack, the last horse is upon him.

The troll punches the ground to stop it’s advance.

Jagged spears of rock rush up from the shattered ground.

But rather than being impaled, the horse lunges over the pillars with the grace of a swan and the speed of a lightning bolt.

The troll is briefly too stunned to move.

In that moment, the horse does something completely unexpected and lands on the stomach of the injured troll.

It begins galloping up the troll’s body as if it’s still on the ground, defying gravity as if it had no bearing upon it at all.

In just an instant, the horse has reached the upper chest.

His rider shifts his weight to stand on top of the horse’s back, and then he lunges into the air.

The horse disappears from view like a ghost. Meanwhile, an unholy black sword appeared in the human rider’s hand.

Solomon swings his sword in a devastating downward arc, and the troll’s entire head is split into two.

As blood and brain matter shower him, he flips off the body of the troll and plummets through the air.

However, before he hits the ground, his horse rises from the soil like a ghost and catches him. It was so perfect, it was as if they’d rehearsed the maneuver beforehand.

Solomon’s steed races clear of the falling troll corpse. Nila and Dakota cheer for him in their own unique ways.

“You did it!”

“I still believe it should have been me to deal the last blow, but I shall let you bask in the glory of this day as a testament to my generosity.”

As he goes to join the girls, his eyes spot a downed figure only a few feet away.

He notices a white wing. Too large to belong to any bird.

’Don’t tell me…’

His heart nearly stops as he leaps off the back of his horse and runs over to the downed figure.

His worst fears are confirmed when he meets the gaze of their group’s final missing member.

“Cool horses… did you guys.. bring one for me..?”

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