I wandered around in search of water. I grabbed my backpack and found a little water left in the bottle.
I opened the lid and tried making Oliver drink it. It didn't help much though. I had no other option and threw the whole water on his face. He suddenly opened his eyes in shock and got up. "Yup. You are alive." I smiled. He looked at me as if he couldn't believe I was real. He scanned me from head to toe and said, "Blaze?"
"You went unconscious while fighting Cryopter." I told him. I narrated the whole story about Mark and I meeting Phantom and what all had happened. I even told him where the other DELTAs had gone and that we needed to hurry. He nodded, slowly taking in all the information. He then told me his tale.
"Cryopter isn't easy to defeat. He broke my electrified rock sword and sent me flying. That's the last thing I remember. Even together, it was difficult to withstand Cryopter's strength." Oliver said. I understood. "First thing's first. We need a faster transport. Where are the hermits?" I enquired. I needed to call Sounge, Lily's pet hermit. By that time, I had learnt how to whistle with the peculiar sound Lily used to call the hermits. I whistled loudly and nothing happened for about a minute. That embarrassed me.
But then a whole pack of hermits were seen rushing towards us. Sounge immediately fell on me and licked my face wet. "Eek! That's gross. You have gotta stop doing that." I exclaimed and Sounge obliged, stepping away. The hermits had now become friendly to us.
Sounge looked a little confused where the other DELTAs were. I explained him that they were in a fight against Cryopter in Hilton town and that we too needed to get there. I tried my best to avoid talking about Lily. How Sounge would react to the news of Lily's death, I didn't know.
Sounge looked at one of the hermits who seemed to be fine with travelling to the next town. Oliver sat on the other hermit while I sat on Sounge. Our journey ahead began. The hermits were taking a nice pace as we continued through the grasslands. Every once in a while, I found random craters on the ground. That proved that Cryopter had been there. We were going in the right direction.
"Are the others doing okay against him?" Oliver worried. "Don't know. But we need to hurry." I replied as the hermits galloped faster. Oliver agreed but looked a little dejected. He said, "I am of no use now that even my emergency weapon is gone. I don't know why you even mattered to stop for me. You should have just gone leaving me behind. Lily was right. You are an idiot." I smiled. "If idiot is what you call a family member, I am okay with it. Remember? A family never leaves anyone behind." My most dramatic reply seemed to cheer Oliver and he would have hugged me tight if we weren't riding two different hermits at a pace of 100 kilometer per hour.
We took a halt in between near a small stream. I filled up my bottle which had finished after I used it to wake Oliver up. Oliver washed his face, now looking more alive. The hermits also got a few minutes rest and then we resumed the journey.
We soon reached the outskirts of Hilton town. The town glowed at night. Even from far, I could see the destruction. I watched the citizens running away as a palace collapsed. The houses were being crushed by Cryopter while he fought the DELTAs. I found Mark on top of a palace, swinging his grappling hook, Quester, ready to launch it on the monster in front. That was the first time I saw Cryopter.
Yeah, just as I expected. He was as fierce-looking as Raptor. His sabre toothed fangs almost touched his neck. His body only had muscles. He almost looked like a fit balloon with ripped abs. Since birth, he would be working in the gym. With such a body, he would pass as the best gym trainer in the world. Of course he needed no shirt. His abs showed off with black jeans almost ready to tear open, barely surviving the mass of his legs.
He turned and bared his fangs as he looked at me. Yeah, one of the scariest moments. But I needed to be strong no matter how coward I was. Oliver and I were getting close to Cryopter. Oliver masked a confident face and exclaimed, "Dude, how am I supposed to fight? I have nothing!" I realized and told, "Part ways. Go left and meet up with Amanda. Let your hermit fight for you." He understood and immediately changed tracks.
Cryopter looked a little confused but still was ready to take me on. As I rode Sounge, I soothed the hermit and said, "You need to help buddy." Sounge made a noise which would have meant Yes bro! or No way! Go die yourself. Nevertheless, I charged at Cryopter and just when I got extremely close to his claws, Sounge jumped. The hermit kept his leg on Cryopter's head, hitting as it passed. Sounge was surely the best combat hermit I had ever seen.
We ended up on the other side and Cyopter was on his knees. I turned Sounge back and rushed for another strike. This time I unsheathed Magnum and launched it on the beast's chest. The creature wailed as I summoned Magnum back in my hand. But that wasn't enough to kill Cryopter.
In fact, he looked even more furious now. "Zakostroph, aren't you? Of course you would be strong as you are my brother's son. But alas, I cannot let you reach him. I have a lot of plans as to how to kill you." The way he said it, he looked confident of tearing me apart. But after so many deadly adventures, even I had got some guts. "Keep your plans safe with you for your next life. In this one, they'll not work. You will be dead before you know it." I replied, almost shouting so that he could hear me clear.
He threw his hands on the ground, thrashing the land and shaking it. "You are used to this, buddy. We can do this." I told Sounge and he agreed. Even though the ground was separating into two, Sounge skillfully jumped from one end to another, eventually taking me to Cryopter.
The monster uprooted a tree nearby and rushed towards me, using it as a weapon. I had my own though. Magnum was held tight and I charged forward. At the last moment, Sounge ducked, making me head-to-head against the beast. I cut off the tree into half but Cryopter was fast. He used the leftover branches and slapped me to the ground. I fell off of Sounge. The hermit looked a little tensed and confused, waiting for an instruction.
Magnum had fallen somewhere far off. Not a problem though. I summoned the battle-axe and the next moment I had it in my hand. I tried getting up but Cryopter punched me with his massive fist. Yes, that hurts. But luckily, Xavier got a little time off of saving the citizens and came to my rescue. He was controlling the warship and in the sky, I watched as he fired bullets. During nighttime, the warship looked dangerous with the lightings installed and the machine guns set out.
Cryopter was shot on the back but he held strong. That was my time to strike. I called Amanda who was busy safeguarding the people. She looked at me with a confused look. "This guy can only be killed by Xorains. This means that only we both have a chance!" I explained while dodging Cryopter's attacks.
Amanda got her sword Blizzard out and came running to me. "Okay. I'm ready. What's the plan?" She asked. I looked at her and hesitantly said, "Uh, no plans yet." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay fine. We attack together and confuse him." She said. I complained, "The plan would have been great if Cryopter wouldn't have been listening!"
I looked at Amanda and nodded. Together, we charged, Amanda going right while I just went straight. I was blocked by Cryopter but Amanda managed to get a hit. I used the time to slash Magnum into the creature's stomach. Cryopter cried in pain. From above, Xavier launched bullets and the beast fell to the ground.
"This one's mine." Amanda said, pushing me away. We were literally having fun fighting King Jalaar's brother. That wasn't something I expected. Amanda did her signature move and held her sword upside down, the hilt showing towards the monster's gut. She thrust the sword into Cryopter and the monster gave a loud cry. After a few minutes, the beast moved slowly. He looked at me and said, "Don't think it is over. My brothers are coming. The more time you take, the better. King Jalaar's army is getting ready. Your fate is already decided." Saying so, the creature breathed his last