Lindon expected Eithan to take the hit on his Hollow Armor, but Lindon had been given his instructions. He jumped.
Eithan reversed direction in a burst of force aura, shoving himself down and to one side. The Titan’s Striker technique streaked past in a thundering stream of bright golden light.
The river of madra passed over both Eithan and Lindon’s heads.
It tapered out almost immediately as the Titan returned its attention to Mercy and Orthos, grabbing one in each hand.
Lindon dragged his Thousand-Mile Cloud down to him, and once again it caught him.
He saw what Eithan had done. If the Titan had noticed Lindon, that blast would have been on target, and it might have even moved its head to follow Lindon as he fell. Instead, Eithan had drawn its attention upward.
By falling suddenly, Lindon had ducked it.
Orthos roared, and now that he was empty of soulfire, he was truly gigantic. While not a match for the Dreadgod, he was at least the size of a large dog compared to the Titan.
But he was still just an Underlord.
No matter how weak the Wandering Titan had become, and no matter the equalizing effect of the suppression field, Orthos was no match for a Dreadgod under any conditions. His shell splintered as the Dreadgod’s grip tightened, and Orthos would be torn apart in moments.
Lindon tried to send reassurance through their bond. Orthos didn’t need to hold on for long.
Lindon was coming.
He landed a moment later on the back of the Titan’s neck.
And with all his will, he began to Consume.
Lindon had fed on the thoughts and memories of the Wandering Titan before, so he knew what to expect this time. Even so, he was almost overwhelmed on every front.
The madra threatened to break his arm, and to be too much for his Heart of Twin Stars to process. The memories and impressions flooded Dross, poised to drown Lindon’s identity. And the willpower, titanic and voracious, crashed into Lindon’s like an avalanche.
Lindon was tossed in a whirlpool of the Wandering Titan’s emotions, but they weren’t the timeless fury that he had expected.
He felt frustration.
Irritation.
Dissatisfaction.
Exhaustion.
He had come here to satisfy its eternal hunger. He’d followed the scent of the one thing that could end its suffering, only to find that it wasn’t here. The trail was cold. And now he was being kept awake by some annoying, buzzing flies when all he wanted to do was eat and then sleep.
No, he wasn’t. The Titan was.
It was hard to tell the difference.
He broke contact with a gasp, his head pounding. The Titan rumbled beneath him, and this was as far as Dross had guided Lindon.
It’s working too hard, Lindon reported to Dross. I want to…it wants to leave. We can drive it out.
The Dreadgod tossed Mercy down, and her armor shattered. Essence covered the valley in a luminous violet cloud.
It dragged a struggling Orthos in its left hand, like a forgotten toy.
Slowly, the Titan turned back to Mount Samara again, and this time Lindon knew why.
It wasn’t focused on cracking open the mountain and getting to the treasure inside, though Lindon was certain there was another one in there. It didn’t even care to eradicate the people trying to escape.
It just wanted out of the suppression field. And this mountain was in its way.
First, it had thought this mountain might be its ancient home, but a long inspection had determined that not to be the case. It simply felt wrong.
This was not home. Not quite.
The Titan lifted the giant Orthos, and Lindon’s stomach twisted as he realized what it was about to do. It was about to hurl Orthos at the mountain.
[Deeper!] Dross shouted. [Dig deeper!]
This was the one chance Dross had seen of them driving off the Dreadgod.
The Titan abandoned targets that cost it too much energy. And Lindon could take that energy away directly, but he could only hold so much. His arm had limits, and so did he.
Though he hadn’t rested enough, he returned his right hand to the stony skin and once again used Consume.
As the Titan’s power crashed over him again, Lindon knew immediately that they weren’t going to make it.
This amount of energy loss was nothing to the Titan. It was vaguely aware that there was some kind of flea draining its spirit, but it couldn’t be bothered to deal with him yet. Lindon could drain its power all day, and maybe then tire the Titan enough to make it a little sleepy. But before that happened, it would have