Amaya sat frozen as she felt the tension escalate with every passing second. She would’ve been frozen in fear if she weren’t literally held in place by Scalisth’s World Speech. In an instinctual manner, she tried to use her internal energy to improve her sight so she could analyze her threat. When she activated her will, she felt a powerful force clamp down powerfully around her soul. She looked up and saw that Scalisth was staring down at her, rage, and anxiety plain in his eyes.

“Don’t do it or we all die,” was what he was communicating to me through his hardened glare. He lingered on me for a second to ensure I wouldn’t do anything before looking back up into the sky. The dark shadow was still there, covering the sun like the moon during a solar eclipse. When I tried to look past the glare to look at the entity, a pressure drilled into the back of my head, forcing my gaze down towards the ground.

I felt nausea hit me in waves as my vision began to sway. Despite how wrong it felt, I kept my eyes open so that I maintained situational awareness. Whatever that creature was, I was not going to look at it again. After a moment, I felt Scalisth’s presence fade slightly, and I was able to breathe again, but only very slowly. I ignored the burning in my lungs as I quietly took shallow breaths to try and get as much air in as possible.

I waited for another twenty seconds of utter silence for the unfathomable being to leave. I noticed that the clearing became a bit brighter, which likely meant the beast had stopped blocking the sun and was moving away. I celebrated inwardly at remaining undetected, especially when you consider how many idiots there were to potentially screw things up for everyone.

Just when I fully let my guard down, I felt the mysterious presence multiply in intensity as its power fully encompassed the area. “What… what is it doing?” The air became heavy as it felt I was being watched by an unknowable being. Like a god, the entity silently observed the clearing as it spread its influence across the area and far beyond.

The intensity spiked and I felt a shift in the atmosphere. I couldn’t tell much without focusing energy to my sensory organs, but I knew that a powerful wave had spread throughout the clearing, interacting with everything inside of it. In an instant, I felt the numerous threads I had accumulated be shredded into nothingness by the wave of force. In an instant, all of my hard work was destroyed, and there was nothing I, or anyone else, could do about it.

Internally, I was seething with hatred, but my anger was consumed by a fear or dying. This fear kept me rooted in place, waiting patiently for the judgement of the monstrous entity. A loud boom resounded throughout the area, and a bright flash of light illuminated the entire clearing. I would’ve flinched but was still pinned down by the Altum’s command.

Right when I thought it was all over, I felt the presence recede and the air become lighter as I was able to breathe fully again. Scalisth was still hesitant, waiting for another minute before releasing everyone from their invisible shackles. A dozen people fell to one knee, while some completely collapsed under the might of the unknown being. My abilities let me off easier than most, but I still felt lightheaded as I relaxed my body after all of the tension it was under.

I looked around the clearing, and saw that no one was dead, but a few people had noses dripping blood or deathly pale skin. Not caring much for the condition of the group, I looked to Scalisth for what to do next. He stood in the same position as before, his body frozen like a statue. He stayed that way until he seemed to notice my gaze, after which he reestablished his posture and fixed his gaze forward. Without a word, he turned around and walked out of the clearing.

Before, I might’ve thought he looked regal or imposing, but all I could see when looking at the Altum was a scared child running from the retribution of an angry parent. “Serves him right, uppity dick.” I snorted a laugh, but the situation quickly lost its humor as I remembered what happened.

“Why did it send out that disruptive wave of energy? Was it looking for something, or simply sending a message?” I felt within my source and found that the previously established connections were destroyed, and I was set back to square one. I scowled in anger, but as I had done many times in the past, I quickly schooled my expression to not let any of my emotion show. “It’s alright, the situation is still salvageable. I guess I’ll need to get to work tonight.”

Internally, I planned out a course of action to best rectify the situation. Best, case, things would be normal again within a few days. Worst case, I have to give up and try another method. I smiled as I thought of all the new variables I would need to consider. Still, I was nothing if not patient, and I knew that I could solve each and every problem if I took my time.

Time was on my side, and I was destined to win.

///

I woke up with a start, feeling like I had my heart restarted by a defibrillator charge. I opened my eyes wide and tried to move but couldn’t. My entire body was tingling, and I felt an immense weight bearing down on my entire body. Panicked, I whipped my eyes around to try and get a feeling for where I was. I was sitting down with my back to a tree and my legs laid out in front of me. I couldn’t move them but was happy to see they were still there even if I could barely feel them.

Past my shoes, I could see the body of the beast I had been working on for the past hour lying motionless as ever. Like before, I could see the flesh pulse every few seconds as the energy exploded within it. Unlike before, though, the eruptions of energy were much more pronounced than before, and a small glow was even visible from the wound on the beast’s flank.

“Is it going to explode?” I wondered as I felt fear fill my chest. I wasn’t close, but I wasn’t far either, probably five meters away. I knew from firsthand experience how powerful the energy inside the creature was and began to worry that I would be caught up in the blast radius should it explode. I tried to move but felt the weight increase in power with every attempt, stopping me from moving at all.

My heart sank when I noticed the pulses of spirit become more frequent and brighter, becoming more and more pronounced with every passing second. Like a countdown timer leading up to an explosion, I could do nothing but watch in horror as the flashes became faster and more obvious as the power built up to critical levels.

Just as I thought things were past the point of no return, I felt a shift in the environment. The mysterious pressure I felt since waking up had increased exponentially, and I felt like I was being watched by a malevolent deity. My pulse quickened as I felt the power flood the area around me in unison with the increasingly frightening speed of the explosion countdown.

All at once, I felt as though time had slowed down as I watched the events unfold before me. One second passed, and I noticed the flashes turn into a constant drone of sound as the brightness skyrocketed in intensity. Two seconds passed, and I noticed the ground beneath the beast begin to quake with fearsome power. By the third second, I saw a shadow descend from above the tree line.

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In less than a second, a tendril of pure darkness descended towards the imminent explosion. I only saw it for a moment, but I would never forget the vile revulsion I felt upon seeing the dark protrusion writhe as it approached the body. With no effort at all, the tip of the tendril speared through the illuminated beast’s body, causing the ground to crack from the impact. Like a tree spreading roots, smaller outcroppings exploded from the main mass, ripping through the flesh in hundreds of different directions.

It only took an instant for the limb to move upwards, hauling the 300kg beast into the air with no difficulty whatsoever. A second after it disappeared above the tree line, an explosion resounded through the air, a light gust of wind licking at the highest branches of the trees. The presence faded with the explosion, as I felt the mysterious pressure disappear along with it.

Frozen in fear, I fought against the urge to stay concealed as I tried to move. Still unable, I tensed my muscles in frustration, flexing the fibers in an attempt to break free from whatever was restraining me. After thirty seconds, I felt the constraining force lift, and I was finally able to move. In defiance of the power imprisoning me, I swung my arms into the air as I kicked with my legs. Reveling in my bodily freedom, I tried to sit up, but found the motion difficult.

Holding my hand up to my face, I could see that my fingers were trembling. A cold sensation under my eyes compelled me to slide my fingers under my bottom eyelid. I looked at my fingertips and saw a wet stream of water painted across my fingers. A single teardrop ran down my face as I shuddered when remembering events passed.

“What… what the hell was that?”

///

Once I felt up to the task, I stood up and made my way into the camp proper. Since the smelly beast was distracting everyone, I was forced to work on obtaining the meat a good ten meters away from the edge of the clearing.

Making my way through the short brush, I entered the clearing to see how bad of shape it was in… no, how bad of shape the people were in. No one was standing, as everyone was either coiled up on the ground or leaning against a tree. Those whose faces I could see were stricken with fear, revulsion, or a mix of the two, their wide eyes staring off into the sky. When I passed through the foliage, a few people nearest to me flinched in fear, their eyes looking to me like a gazelle to a lion.

I paid them no attention as I searched for Quentin and Levi. Everyone was in bad shape, and we needed all of the leadership we could get. I looked for a moment until I saw Quentin’s dark skin hidden under a tree trunk, his head hung low. I tried to approach as nonthreateningly as possible, but his head still shot upward when he heard my approach. I stopped when I saw his expression.

His usually stoic face was hidden behind a mask of fear and doubt. His permanent frown was replaced by a shocked gasp as he looked up at me like I was a monster in human clothing. His eyes, which were usually cold and calculating, were wide with fear and confusion. I wouldn’t have recognized him if it weren’t for his distinguishing bald head and large, muscled body.

“Oh… it’s you,” was all he said once he realized I wasn’t some monster. His tense posture relaxed as his shoulder sagged, his arms falling down to his sides. His gaze went up to look into the sky, before he quickly brought his head back down, staring at the ground.

“Are… you okay, Quentin?” I said, concern plain in my voice. I had only known the man for a few days, but he had always remained calm and collected, even at the worst of time. To see him like this was unsettling to say the least.

The man waited for a second before he sighed, looking back at me with defeat plain in his eyes. “What do you think?” he said with a resigned tone. His eyes were half open as he looked at me, as if it wasn’t worth it to open them up fully.

Deciding it wasn’t the time, I went to find Levi. She wasn’t too far away, but unfortunately, she was one of the people curled up in the fetal position on the ground. Unlike Quentin, though, she was fully unconscious when I approached. I crouched down beside her and tapped her twice on the shoulder. When she didn’t move, I moved my finger to her wrist to check for a pulse. A moment passed with me feeling nothing, and I was worried she was dead. Luckily, I felt a weak pulse a second later, and sighed in relief knowing she wasn’t dead.

Even though she was alive, I decided it probably wasn’t good to wake her, so I let her be in favor of finding someone else. Whether by chance or not, I saw Amaya sitting underneath a tree a few meters to the side. She looked at me when I approached, a small smile across her face when she saw me.

“Olivia, I was getting worried when I didn’t see you. Are you alright?” Her smile waned as she looked me up and down, covered in dirt and grime.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Do you have any idea what happened? What was that… that thing.” I shuddered at the memory of the vile tendril skewering the beast as I watched, powerless to fight back if it decided to go for me.

Her smile fell completely as her eyes became serious. “I… don’t know, but it was something special, no doubt about it. Even Scalisth was shitting his pants when it appeared, and he’s a monster himself.” My face fell as I realized the implications of something being able to scare that guy so badly.

Now it was Amaya’s turn to ask a question, “Do you know what that explosion was? I heard it and thought I… we were all done for.” She punctuated her question with an awkward laugh as she tried to break the tension.

“Yeah, about that…” I proceeded to tell her about my work on the beast and how I accidentally caused it to go into a meltdown. Amaya, to her credit, listening calmly, even as I described how the being grabbed the beast right before it detonated.

“Wow, that sounds intense,” was the woman’s conclusion after hearing all of it. “Not to point fingers, but do you think that the carcass is what lured that monster over here?”

I frowned in thought as I considered the possibility. “It’s likely that was the reason, considering it grabbed up the body and then left with no other issues.” I looked around at the defeated group of people. “Well, no issues caused by it directly, I guess.”

///

We continued talking about the situation as we tried to plan a course of action. The leadership structure was demolished, and the group was on the brink of collapse. As we were planning, though, a certain individual interrupted our conversation.

“We shouldn’t try waking people up early, since I read somewhere that it can be bad for-“ Amaya cut herself off when she heard movement from her left. Within an instant, we both raised our hands in defense as we prepared to meet the incoming threat. Our worries were never met, though, as the figure to emerge from the woods wasn’t a beast, but Scalisth, who looked as composed as usual. Amaya and I looked to each other as we made eye contact with the alien.

“Hmm,” he said in a carefree voice, “I figured you two would be taking this the hardest, all things considered.” His black eyes looked over us scrutinizingly before his attention fell on the people behind us.

“Oh, and why is that?” Amaya said, questioningly.

The Altum looked back to her for a moment before saying, “In cases of a transcendent being like that appearing, having no spiritual defenses is worse than having weak defenses. You are skilled enough to be sensitive to the presence of the transcendent while being too weak to defend yourself properly.”

Seeing our confusion, he added with exasperation, “Imagine three people staring at the sun. One of them is blind, so they are not affected by the sunlight. Another is not blind but has the knowledge to block the sun or squint their eyes to lessen the brightness. The third is also not blind but does nothing to protect themselves from the bright light. The first and second are fine, but the third loses their eyesight.”

I nodded in understanding. “So that… thing was immensely powerful, huh?” Scalisth nodded to confirm. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t it kill us?”

“It was too focused on its prey to see anything else. I concealed our presences so that we appeared muted to its senses. It would’ve known we were there if that carcass hadn’t begun emitting so much energy.” He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Hey, get off my case, you just said that I distracted it by making that animal blow up. You should be thanking me!” I looked back at the Altum in defiance.

He returned my gaze with a flat look. “It wouldn’t have even come over here if it didn’t detect such a massive spike in the ambient Crusa, the energy.”

I looked away from his accusatory gaze and decided to look back at the group behind us. Many of them were so out of sorts that they hadn’t even noticed Scalisth’s appearance. “What will happen to all of them?”

///