Frantically looking around, Cidre starts to back away from the Chaos Swan, "What's the plan here guys?" He asks, watching as the swan's mouth opens wider, the black sphere swirling within.
"Stop moving, it drawing its attention," Robert says, noticing that the swan's eyes have become focused on Cidre. Glancing around, Robert's eyes catch on the holes in the car ceiling. 'Maybe we could fly through them, and get away,' Robert thinks, taking a small step towards Sydra.
"Since we can't kill it, our next best option is to escape," Robert says, motioning towards the holes, "We can fly through the holes to escape, but it will be a tight fit for the one carrying Erich,"
Before Sydra can respond, the swan's mouth opens fully, and a pitch-black beam shoots out of the sphere. Dodging out of the way, Sydra looks at the spot he had just been standing, which is now encased underneath a layer of obsidian. Seeing that it missed its target, the swan swivels its head towards Erich and releases another beam.
"Watch out, if it touches you, you'll become trapped inside the obsidian," Robert says, grabbing Erich's hand and pulling him out of the way. Barely getting out of the way in time, Erich stumbles across the ground.
"We need to leave, now!" Cidre says, throwing on his pendant and flying through one of the holes in the ceiling. Grabbing Erich, Robert does the same, leaving only Sydra behind with the swan. Having only one intruder left, the swan turns all its attention to Sydra, who is in the process of spreading his wings.
'Dang it, I was only a few seconds slower than the others, but now I'm all alone,' Sydra thinks, jumping in the air towards one of the holes. On the verge of passing through it, Sydra feels a gust of wind pass over his shoulder, as a black beam reaches the hole before him, closing it upon impact. With the hold blocked off, Sydra is forced to return to the ground to find another way out. 'I'll just have to go through a different...' Sydra's thoughts are cut short as he watches the rest of the holes become covered in a layer of obsidian.
On the other side of the cave, the group is flying above the mountain, watching as all the holes are covered.
Watching it happen, Robert turns to look back at the front of the mountain, where they had gone in at. "Come on, we'll wait for Sydra at the entrance, he might need help when he gets there," he says, carrying Erich in that direction. Looking back at the holes one more time, worry fills Cidre's face as he catches up to Robert.
"He should be able to escape, right?" Cidre asks as the group lands on the ground in front of the tunnel. Not answering his question, Robert walks up to the tunnel and listens for echoes that would alert him of Sydra's approach.
Running down the tunnel, Sydra jumps to the left as the swan releases another attack, "How many attacks is that now?" He wonders, looking ahead at the end of the tunnel. There he sees Robert waving towards him, with Cidre and Erich standing on either side of him with their weapons ready.
"I guess I should speed this up," Sydra says, activating his lightning aura and flashing down the rest of the tunnel. As his foot touches the grass on the outside, Erich and Cidre swing their weapons towards the side of the cave, causing it to break apart.
Running over to check on Sydra, Robert grabs his shoulders, "Why did you wait until the last moment to use your lightning speed, we were getting worried," Roberts exclaims, scanning Sydra's body for any injuries.
"Sorry about that, I wanted to work on my agility and dodging skills, and the only way to do that is to test myself against dangerous opponents," Sydra says, calming down the aura within his body.
Once the group was sure that the Chaos Swan wasn't going to break out of the cave any time soon, they followed the path back to the valley of sheep. Sitting down, the group watched as the sheep rubbed up against one another while eating lunch.
"Do you think their golden hooves do something? I keep seeing them absorb the lightning created by the sheep," Cidre says, watching as one of the sheep hops over a mossy tree laying amongst the tall grass.
Turning to look at the sheep, Erich picks up a rock and tosses it to the left of the sheep, hoping to see them use their abilities. "I'm sure it does, but what its effects are is the real question," he says, slightly disappointed that the sheep didn't even glance at the sound of the rock bouncing off of a tree trunk.
Standing up, Sydra throws his cloak over his shoulders, "I'm going to try and get closer," he says, sinking into the shadows. Flowing through the shadows, Sydra makes his way down to the valley towards one of the larger sheep. As he gets closer, Sydra feels an intense electrical surge flow through his body, and the sheep bounces off before he can get any closer.
"What was that?" Sydra mutters, noticing that the electrical surge left his body as the sheep left. 'Do they have a magnetic field around them?' He wonders, taking a closer look at the sheep. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, Sydra makes his way to another sheep, only for the same electrical surge to run through his body.
This time, when the surge hits Sydra, the sheep don't run away and instead stares directly at the spot Sydra is standing. Slamming one of its hooves into the ground, the sheep fires a lightning bolt off in Sydra's direction.
Reaching out his hand, Sydra activates his lightning aura to combat the incoming bolt. Grabbing the bolt out of mid-air with his bare hands, Sydra grips it tightly, waiting until it fizzles out.
"I guess they can sense me and attack," Sydra says, shaking his hand in the air as he takes a few steps back. Leaving the area around the sheep, Sydra retreats into the forest to come up with a plan.
"Should I just rush out and grab one?" Sydra wonders, scanning the sheep for the best one. Upon seeing a small one a smile appears on Sydra's face, "That one shouldn't be too hard to catch," he says, getting in a running position.
Rushing out of the woods, Sydra races towards the sheep in an attempt to capture one. However, as he approaches, the sheep become startled and begin running in the opposite direction. As they run, the sheep rub against one another, and the static electricity around them starts to build up.
"Hey, I think Sydra is trying something," Erich says, noticing the sheep are moving erratically around the valley.
Turning to look, Cidre watches the sheep become faster as time goes on, "Are you guys seeing this? Sydra can't even catch up to them, and they are still increasing their speed," he says, his face becoming red with laughter.
"I don't think he has activated his lightning aura yet, but if he does then it shouldn't be too hard for him," Robert says, pointing towards a shadow weaving back and forth across the ground behind the sheep.
Back in the valley, Sydra finds himself falling further and further behind the sheep, "How are these things so fast?" he asks, coming to a stop. Noticing they are no longer being chased, the sheep slow down to start eating the grass again.
Watching the sheep eating grass without a care in the world, Sydra feels a light sense of humiliation build up in his chest. 'Am I really nothing more than a nuisance to these sheep?' He wonders, looking down at himself in shame.
After a few seconds, a burning desire to prove his determination bursts out of nowhere, "No!" Sydra yells, causing some of the sheep to look up. "I will not be defeated by sheep!" Activating his lightning aura, Sydra turns his piercing gaze towards one of the closet sheep.
Feeling a shiver go down its spine, the sheep lifts its head into the air, searching for the enemy. Seeing nothing, the sheep becomes even more terrified and starts to shiver, attracting the attention of several other sheep.
Dashing to its position in a blur of Ashgold lightning, Sydra grabs the sheep off the ground. "Haha, I caught one!" He exclaims, lifting the sheep above his head for the others to see.
Before he can begin dancing with the sheep in his arms, Sydra feels the ground beneath his feet tremble. Confused, Sydra looks down at the ground, watching as it shakes again after a few seconds.
"What could be causing the ground to shake?" He asks, looking back up to the top of the valley where the others are jumping up and down, waving for him to turn around. "Is there something behind me?"
Feeling the ground shake even more violently than before, Sydra slowly turns around to see what is causing the tremors. Standing a hundred meters away from him is a sheep, smaller than the rest, but with an entire body made of gold. Taking a step forward, the sheep makes the ground tremble, and the other sheep back away silently.
"BAAA!!!"