As the pack of shadowhorns charged towards us, we wasted no time in preparing to engage them. With a dozen or so of these monstrous creatures surrounding us, it was clear that we were in for a tough fight. Already in a Zen state, I took hold of my weapon, the only one remaining after the previous encounter with the bird that had caught me.
Davy, the strongest among us and our appointed leader, quickly gave us orders. "Stick together and form a defensive circle. Our backs must face each other," he commanded. We had no choice but to follow his lead, trusting in his experience and skills as a prestigious explorer from a long line of seasoned venturers. In fact, he even ranked first in our final exam at the lakefront.
With our backs against each other, we formed a defensive formation that looked like a plus sign. This would be the most efficient way to face the pack of shadowhorns, as they were coming at us from all directions. We each faced outward, ready to engage any creature that came our way.
The snarling of the shadow horns echoed through the realm, and their crimson eyes glowed with an otherworldly intensity. We stood firm, weapons at the ready, waiting for the inevitable clash.
The pack of shadowhorns was upon us, and we quickly sprang into action. With my weapon in hand, I launched it like a boomerang at an approaching shadowhorn, but it dodged my attack and closed the distance between us. I grappled with the creature, using my strength to wrestle it to the ground. Just as it was about to sink its fangs into my flesh, my weapon returned and pierced through its head, ending its life.
Meanwhile, Cliff used his spear to fend off the other incoming shadowhorns, expertly striking at them with precise jabs and thrusts. Kei took advantage of the distraction, throwing daggers to land killing blows on two of the shadowhorns. But as the remaining creatures grew more wary, we knew we had to switch up our strategy.
As two shadowhorns charged towards Davy, he stood his ground and waited for the right moment to strike. With a fierce battle cry, fire suddenly manifested in his hands. Dodging the attack of one of the shadowhorns with a slick slide, he then landed a devastating uppercut on the other one, setting it ablaze. The remaining shadowhorn pounced at him from behind, but Davy ducked at the right time, causing it to land in front of him. Seeing its companion perish in the flames, the creature backed off.
Davy’s skill in fire weaving was a result of his family’s teachings, which had him studying the properties and shapes of fire since he was a child. To master the first phase of fire weaving, he had to watch flames burn daily for an hour, studying their movements and properties. When he finally manifested fire, it was like a natural extension of his body, and he wielded it with deadly precision.
The area was suddenly engulfed in an ominous aura, causing us to freeze in our tracks. Then a creature emerged from the darkness. It was twice as tall as the shadowhorns and had four crimson eyes, black fur, and a single white horn protruding from its head. Its appearance was both contrasting and similar to the shadowhorns.
As the creature approached us, we could feel its malevolent energy pulsating through the air. We quickly took defensive positions, knowing that this new foe was not to be taken lightly. The creature’s eyes glowed ominously as it let out a deep growl, signalling its intent to attack.
The remaining shadowhorns, about half of which had started the attack and were retreating, moved aside to make room for the new beast.
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"Now what is this?" Cliff questioned Davy.
"I’m not sure, but it is best that we stay away from it. Everyone, flee! commanded Davy.
The shadowhorns retreated; we dissolved our formation and prepared to run, our Zen state still activated. The creature loomed around us.
However, just as we prepared to make our move and escape, the creature seemed to sense our intentions. As we tensed to run, we noticed that something strange was happening. A black sphere started to materialise around the creature’s single horn, growing larger and larger at an alarming rate until it finally reached its maximum size.
Without warning, the creature hurled the sphere towards us with incredible speed. Our reflexes were already heightened by our Zen state, but even we could not react in time to dodge the incoming attack. The sphere struck the ground with a deafening explosion, unleashing a powerful wave of energy that consumed everything within a certain radius.
We watched in horror as flames engulfed everything in sight, scorching the earth and turning it into a barren wasteland. The heat was intense, and we could feel our skin burning despite the protective clothing we wore.
We barely managed to avoid the full impact of the blast, but the edges of it still hit us hard. Davy and I were knocked to the ground while Cliff and Kei managed to escape, as they were a bit behind us. but we quickly got back up, still in our Zen state. The creature was still standing there, its horn smoking from the blast.
I stood frozen as the monstrous creature locked its eyes on me, and I could feel its predatory gaze piercing through me. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only me and the beast in a tense, deadly staredown. Its slow, deliberate approach was suffocating, and I felt powerless to move or even breathe. It appeared as though I had lost all of my vitality.
As the creature neared, a muffled voice broke through my trance. At first, it was barely audible, like a distant murmur carried by the wind. But gradually, the voice grew louder and clearer until I could finally recognise it as Davy’s. "Get yourself together!" he shouted.
With Davy’s voice snapping me out of my stupor, the world came back into focus. I could see Davy standing between me and the monster, bravely fighting it off despite being wounded. Blood dripped from his hand, which was slashed by the creature’s claws. As some of the shadowhorns emerged, I could also see our other companions, Cliff and Kei, fighting them.
As the monster approached and Davy’s fire seemed to have little effect, I felt an intense headache wash over me. Suddenly, my vision started to distort, and I could see two images of the world, like I was looking at a mirror; everything was very blurry. I felt dizzy and disoriented, thinking my consciousness was finally giving up.
Because of me and my incompetence, Davy was going to lose his life. I had to act in some way.
My body started moving on its own as my survival instinct kicked in. With the last of my strength, I launched my dagger towards the monster, aiming for its eye. The dagger started to descend towards the ground, probably because I had not given it enough momentum. I had failed, as it seemed, as something bizarre happened.
It happened so fast that I could not make sense of it. In the blink of an eye, I could see the weapon embedded in one of the monster’s big eyes, with black blood seeping out of it. My dizzy and distorted vision prevented me from realising what had really happened. The creature let out a screech and began to retreat.
The shadowhorns soon dispersed, leaving just the four of us. I recovered consciousness and looked around me. Davy was alive and breathing heavily, and Kei and Cliff rushed towards us, their bodies covered in wounds after their fight with the shadowhorns.
We waited a while to gather ourselves, and then we started to get ready to go. But to our surprise, more shadowhorns started to emerge from our surroundings, circling us. But something was odd about them; they seemed too tall for shadowhorns. When I focused my gaze, a realisation struck me. They were people—tens of them.
We found ourselves encircled by a group of beings that appeared suddenly from every direction, leaving us no chance to flee. They shared similar clothing and physical features, standing about twice as tall as ordinary humans, which added to their already imposing presence. With fair skin, white hair, and dark blue eyes, they looked healthy and robust, surpassing the average human stature.
One of them spoke in an intimidating tone, "You cannot flee now."