Forgotten Clan: 3

Aule, Griffith, Oeric and Troall all geared up for a battle. Oeric had it in his mind that he would take the brunt of the fight while the others got away. Griffith and Aule had other plans, but along the same lines as Oeric. They all wanted Troall to get away unharmed and back to her clan. 

“Troall, let us handle this,” Oeric whispered rapidly, “you get home.”

Troall clicked her teeth and growled, “I can’t let that happen.”

“It will be okay,” Aule added, “we can hold them back.”

The three tyrians watch Troall’s expression, she wasn’t budging. 

Griffith tried to persuade her in a different way, “how about you go get us some back up.”

Troall considered what Griffith said and gave a quick nod. 

Oeric felt his fire spark leak out of his eyes and spread through his mane as he said, “you won't have to wait long, we’ll distract them.”

Oeric snarled as the mane of fire extended down his back and through his tail. He was on fire and the sight sent some of the more flighty Haedian running away. 

Aule couldn’t use his magic while Oeric was using his, but he was just as skilled with brute force. He got into position and waited to strike. Griffith’s help was mostly utility based. While the group of haedians were busy staring at Aule and Oeric, Griffith had vines wrapping around the haedian’s legs to hold them in place. Or, at least, slow them down.

Aule and Oeric charged as they watched Griffith’s vines strike. 

“Time to go,” Griffith shouted over to Troall through the sound of clashing bodies. 

Troall hesitated, but saw that Oeric and Aule could hold their own. She said she’d be back and vanished through the tunnels. Had anyone ventured into the tunnels of The Beneath at this moment all they would hear would be loud growls and roars shaking the walls. The disagreement could be heard throughout the tunnels that were in the immediate area. And if the group had been paying attention, they would have realized the effects of their dispute were affecting more than just the haedians.

Cracks began to form and closer to the fight deep cervices formed large enough for a small haedian to get stuck. Rocks broke off to the walls and ceiling. They ricocheted off other pieces of debris and rained down on the fighting tyrians. 

A piece of debris hit Griffith on the head and disrupted his concentration of his spell. The vines loosened on the haedians that were still trapped. The few that broke free before Griffith could stabilize latched on to Aule. 

Oeric noticed a shift in the haedians and shouted, “Griffith, focus!”

Griffith refocused on the vines, but he also looked around at the tunnel around them and saw it was in shambles, falling apart around them. 

“We need to go!” Griffith called to everyone, “the tunnel is going to collapse!”

Aule and the haedians fighting him stopped to look around them. While Aule agreed and tried to disengage, the haedians took it as an opportunity to double down on their effort. They didn’t fear a cave-in quite like the topside tyrians did. 

“Oeric, time to end this.” Griffith shouted and he let go of the vine spell. Oeric, Aule and Griffith had spent a good chunk of their life together. When they heard Griffith’s shout, they knew what it meant. 

Aule swiped at the haedians around him and tried to get higher. Or more specifically, further away from Oeric. Aule ended up going into a tunnel and running into Troall and her warriors. 

“Stay back,” Aule said and looked around. If he were to be honest, he wasn’t sure they were far enough away. Before Troall could ask why the air turned hot. 

“Go back!” Aule panicked and watched the haedians back to the boundaries of the forgotten clan. He fought Oeric’s super heated air with his own ice. He knew it was no match, but he hoped it would chill the area long enough. 

Back with Griffith and Oeric, the haedians noticed the grey tyrian retreat and thought they had another advantage. However, shortly after the thought crossed their mind, a gust of wind entered the tunnel. The haedians were shocked and excited as some opened their wings to catch the updraft. As they maneuvered in the air they thought they had another tool to take down the tyrians a notch. 

Griffith smiled as Oeric fire exploded outwardly and heated the air to such an extreme that the haedians cried out and expertly tried to glide away. Some cautiously landed and found the ground was still as cold as it always was. As more realized the blazing heat was only in the air streams Griffith was creating, they landed and ran back to their own clans. 

In an instant, the heat retreated to Oeric and Griffith let his wind die out. Aule tenderly peered out of the tunnel. “We should head back to Troall,” Aule motioned them to follow him.

“With future clans, maybe we could try a subtler approach.” Aule whispered as his friends got closer. 

Oeric smiled in such a way that showed how much enjoyed fighting them, but Griffith agreed to a less violent adventure. Oeric rolled his eyes, but didn’t express his distaste for the idea. Instead, he mumbled, “maybe.”

The three ventured through the tunnels until they were back with Cailu and Troall. 

[909]