Roderick Rok was dead; his body torn asunder and left to rot on the Serenti coastline as it deserved to. With Joshua Cronen pursuing, if not already having killed, Fawcett it seemed to Shinsou that matters were close to being concluded in the proper manner.

Despite the tinge of optimism that these thoughts brought the Telgradian, each step towards that godly, telltale energy of Cronen’s felt heavier than iron. The muscles in his broken shoulder ached with a searing pain, even underneath the icy tourniquet that Shinsou had crafted, and the skin on his hands and cheeks glowed red with the toil of the grim labour of battle. He knew that the cocoon he had created would remain frozen for a while whilst the magic kneaded and melded nerves, bone and flesh back together, but it didn’t make the journey on foot any less painful. When he was finally finished clambering over rocks, sands and grasslands, the Telgradian fell back, panting, next to a wall of shale and slate of what was to be his final resting spot before the two minute stint to where he could feel Joshua’s energy emanating from.

This goddamn arm’s going to be no good to me in a fight, so I hope you’ve softened up or killed anything hostile before I get there, pal.

As the Telgradian kicked off from the wall, propelling himself back onto his feet in readiness for the last few minutes of his travels, Shinsou realised that this section of the coast near Serenti was as silent as a crypt. He found it un-nerving; eerie almost, like there was a negative aura smothering him. Perhaps it was because this area seemed so scarcely attended that Osiris felt uncomfortable, or perhaps it was that he was walking towards the unknown. The Brotherhood’s leader could suddenly feel a cold chill down his spine as Joshua’s ever present energy violently spiked and became erratic.

Something’s happening with Joshua. Is he fighting Fawcett? I can’t sense anything but him, though.

Shinsou suddenly jumped as something slammed ahead of him.

What the fu…

The first thing he witnessed was Joshua smash out of the sandstone cliff ahead of him, fumbling through the fresh sea air like a tossed rag doll before crashing into the Serenti sea, sending white foam scattering like grapeshot. A tremendous tremor accompanied a hollow rumbling before something abhorrent carved the sandstone cliffs open in front of his very eyes. Flanked by imposing splinters of jagged rocks that jutted out of the mountainside, something monstrous manifested from the rocky heart of the shoreline as the bitter odour of burning mixed with the sweet scents of the ocean. It ascended, unfurling huge leathery wings the size of galleon sails to its sides, before diving towards the ground and impacting the crystal blue shallow water with an ear-splitting crash nearby.

What in the screaming blue hell is that?! It makes Sunwing look like a pup!

The infamous Sunwing, the dragon that had blighted the Twilight Mountains, could have fit thrice into the stomach of this hulking beast. Whilst Shinsou stood in awe of this goliath’s form, he failed to notice until it was too late that it had inhaled deeply with the intention of unleashing hell. What followed was a river of napalm that spewed from the dragon’s maw, directed straight at Breaker.

Fuck, what am I doing?! Move it!

As Osiris began his laboured approach, the Telgradian was relieved to see that his inaction hadn’t brought harm to Cronen, who had pulled a torrent of the ocean up from beneath him to extinguish the threat. Shinsou’s mind blocked the aches and pains, feeling pebbles roll underfoot as he began to sprint towards the warring duo. Joshua’s aquatic shield turned to molten ice, breaking the flow of the magma and releasing a thick cloud of steam that seemed to obscure the creature’s vision. Without help, the demi-god, regardless of how powerful he may have been, would soon be in trouble.

That was his opening.

As Breaker’s ice faltered, Shinsou slammed his working arm directly below him and willed a thick, viscous tendril of ice to manifest in the ground. It snaked with speed towards the demi-god before penetrating out of the earth and coiling around the man’s waist, hoisting him back towards the Telgradian and out of immediate danger. As Cronen landed on his feet, fork lightning ripped through the murky cloud of steam, accompanied with a stomach-churning roar. For a moment afterwards there was a short silence, one that seemed suspended in the air for several moments before another loud crash bellowed through the air. A fearsome bellow raged out of the vapour ahead and the winged creature tore into the sky from below. A stream of crimson embers trailed behind it as it darted upwards, and with every powerful beat of the monsters wings a plume of bright sparks would erupt in a powerful magnesium flash. There, above them, it hovered like a vulture circling prey.

Shinsou’s black attire, smeared with mud and streaks of rusty dried blood from his confrontation with Rok, flashed momentarily from underneath his white greatcoat as it was rushed by the breeze created by the resultant shockwaves.

“What the hell is that?" Osiris asked, shooting Joshua an incredulous look.