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“What the heck was that?” Cleo asked, her mouth gaping. There was a hole in the giant wall ahead of the mountain, the edges ringed with molten rock. A second later, the walls of the maze sank back into the earth as if they never existed. The first sector looked as if a child had taken a picture of a city and drew brown scribbles on it before spilling a bucket of ink that covered it with brown. The capital’s wall was screeching as metal slivers continued to fall off the web-like cracks caused by the impact.
Raea landed next to Cleo and Palan. Her face was pale. She had seen everything from the sky. The angels hadn’t even had time to panic before they and everything they owned were wiped away by the explosion. One second, buildings and roads demarcated civilization; the next second, everything went up in smoke. On the mountain, thousands of halflings were collapsed on the ground. The only ones that remained standing were the archlings.
“That was a doozy,” Cory said and teetered to one side before falling onto her butt. The last traces of light connecting her to the B.F.G. were fading away. She panted and fanned her sweating face with her wings. “How come you three weren’t affected?”
“Because they have a better use,” a voice said. The four turned their heads. Pyre was riding a boulder up the mountain with Mathias behind him. Pyre grinned at Palan. “What do you think of my invention?”
“It was impressive,” Palan said.
Pyre clicked his tongue. “I could’ve made something like this much sooner if you gave me an orb of pride when I asked for it the first time I met you,” he said. The mountain shuddered before it began advancing towards the crack in the capital’s wall, but at a much slower rate than before. The other side of the wall was exposed, but there weren’t any angels around; otherwise, they would’ve rushed inside. “The B.F.G. gathers every sin and virtue, mixes them up, and produces pure energy. If the Creator existed, this would definitely be close to his power. It’s a shame it uses too much mana.”
“Can you fire it again?” Palan asked.
“Only when everyone recovers. Nearly everyone’s overdrafted,” Pyre said and shook his head. “I already distributed some plants and pipes, but my stash really can’t accommodate this many people. The remaining work will have to be done by you two and the archlings. There was the being with the lightning avatar, and now, there’s the being with the earthen walls. But it seems to have stopped for now.”
The mountain continued unimpeded unlike earlier that day. Pyre didn’t mind the walls blocking them. It was better than walls falling on top of them and crushing them. Pyre sighed. “It only we were closer to the capital,” Pyre said. “I could’ve fired the B.F.G. up and over instead of wasting the shot on the wall.”
“It’s good enough,” Mathias said. Sweat dripped down the four-armed centaur’s body, creating mud with the dirt beneath his feet. He and two other halflings were urging the mountain forward. “When our ancestors were first expelled from the surface, the wall was the reason why they lost. The angels could raid their homes, but they couldn’t reciprocate. It’s different this time.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t the only reason,” Cory said and rolled her eyes. “Centaurs probably lost because they were too stupid.” She snorted. “Just fly over the walls, gosh.”
“Do you see that?” Raea asked and pointed off into the distance. Everyone’s gaze followed Raea’s finger. She was pointing at the semi-circle of destruction in front of the wall.
“See what?” Cleo asked and squinted while leaning forward. “It’s too dark to see anything.”
“Cory?” Raea asked.
“I’m a harpy,” Cory said and shrugged. “Not an owl.”
“I see it,” Palan said. “The two people on the ground? How’d they survive?”
“Survivors?” Pyre asked and raised an eyebrow. “Are they conscious? What about their clothes? Are they wearing any?”
“What an odd question to ask,” Cleo said.
Raea ignored her. “Yes,” she said. “On the ground and wearing clothes. They’re not moving.”
“How close are they to the capital?” Pyre asked and rubbed his chin.
“Practically right in front of the wall,” Palan said. “You think they’re from inside?”
“Possibly,” Pyre said. His eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter. Keep advancing.”
“Are you sure we should keep advancing?” Mathias asked and furrowed his brow. His knees were trembling. “Wouldn’t it be better to let everyone rest first? It’s not like the angels can repair the wall that quickly.”
“You think they’ll give us a chance to rest?” Pyre asked and snorted. “The walls stopped forming at night. The being was probably toying with us and took a nap. Why else would they make a maze instead of eliminating us? Hell, they could’ve boxed us in with four walls. You can bet they’ll chase after us in the morning if we give them a chance.”
“I think they would’ve woken up after that explosion,” Cleo said and scratched her head. “I mean, I know I would.”
“Which is why we have to hurry up,” Pyre said. He pulled a pipe out of his bag and stuffed it into Mathias’ mouth. “Here, smoke this.” He placed a screaming plant inside and set it on fire. A movement in the corner of Pyre’s eye caused him to whirl his head around and frown. He raised his head and shouted, “Hey! Where are you going?”
Palan had leapt into the air, heading towards the crack in the wall. “When it comes to hunting, he prefers to work alone,” Raea said and furrowed her brow. “But I’m not going to let him go by himself. We’ll start first, I guess.” Her wings spread as she leapt into the air. Cleo managed to grab onto Raea’s tail before she took off.
Pyre scratched his head as the three got further and further away. The pace of the mountain couldn’t keep up with them, not with only three archlings powering it. “I guess that’s fine,” he said as his eyebrows knit together. “Right?”
Mathias grunted in reply. His face was unusually pale, and his eyes were struggling to stay open. Pyre raised an eyebrow. Why hadn’t Cory responded? He turned around and saw the red harpy squatting with her wings hugging her body. Red threads were shooting out of her butt, sticking to the ground and wriggling along her skin, forming a cocoon. She was evolving? Cory bit her lower lip. “I think I ate something bad. Stupid raisins.”