Cray wouldn’t say it to Louise, but he wasn’t a fan of Karah's idea. Louise might have done a dozen Finds with them, but she was still new. And unready to take point. Karah said it was a learning experience, but he couldn’t help worrying.
Yet, they did well. He took some hits - at about 40%, he would need to keep in the back of the fights, but that was his fault. He'd been so overconfident that he hadn’t spotted that blasted Gibberer until it was too late. Still, sloppy as it was, the garage was clear. Karah and Louise had used some major abilities, so they’d have to be careful in the future, but part of being a Finder was knowing how to handle that.
Rather than push further into the dealership for more loot, though, Louise guided them out and across the overgrown street, where a Mexican restaurant loomed over the parking lot. A place that people might have taken their families to in a better world, with a cheery cartoon sign of a mustached sombrero hung over the entryway. Now, of course, mold crept over each broken window.
Cray frowned. After the loud battle in the dealership, there wouldn’t have been many more enemies left. A minor mistake, though, just something to explain to her later. Only a few Spine Strikers and Gibberers stood between them and the restaurant, nothing they couldn’t handle.
But once they fell, rather than enter, Louise passed by the restaurant. Instead, she pushed past a set of leafy vines and into another parking lot.
He followed her. Broken concrete crunched beneath his running shoes and unease twinged in his stomach. A glance at Karah showed equal confusion, and he suspected they were low on time.
When they fought past another group of Spine Strikers without entering a single building, he could remain silent no more. “Where are we going?”
Louise jerked back and blinked. A moment’s pause, then… “To the red light.”
"The what?"
"Don't you see it?"
Just in case, he looked around. Nope, the sun beat down on them and the smell of kudzu filled his nostrils. There was a hospital nearby, on the left alongside what might once have been a busy intersection, and trees aplenty grew through asphalt and concrete, along with the same thick vines they’d had to hack through to get here. A thicket of greenery, but no red light. “What are you talking about?”
“But... I can see.” Her voice trembled, hoarse, but she pointed over the trees. “It’s a pillar, as high as the eye can see, and bright red.”
But there was nothing there!
Karah elbowed him, then mouthed ‘Passive’.
He frowned. It was rare, but some people could detect certain things, he knew. Part of what made Maryl such an effective Finder was that she could ‘taste’ the location of equipment nearby. It wasn’t something you normally saw until second level or higher, but given how strange the Hero class was, maybe it was part of the package. And they weren’t too far from a waypoint if it went bad. He had his misgivings still, but he followed.
The jungle that replaced downtown gradually sloped up, and Louise went straight toward a tower, or rather the ruin of one. There was a giant hole where the roof once stood, with the look of a meteorite smashing into it from above to crash through each floor. Only the east and west walls remained, which gave it the look of two horns, while at the base, red light gleamed. Not a pillar, but a red glow, akin to a flashlight covered by a hand, but on a building-size scale. Was this what Louise spotted? He couldn’t be sure. He opened his mouth to ask.
Louise charged inside.
/-/
They were so close. The knowledge had the feel of a mosquito bite and gnawed at Louise’s attention. It itched with promise, a promise of something nameless, save for how she craved it. Monsters attacked. Some Spine Strikers, others Gibberers and even a Trampler. Each tried to keep her from the red light, but they fell before her, torn apart by fist, bullet, and spell.
So close…
The world filled with warm heat. She pushed through the vines and into the crater. It gouged deep into the earth and the wound bled slime. Pale red, thick, and viscous, it oozed like sludge, with vines like green veins creeping up the sides to broken offices. Cubicles, desks and computers served as stepping stones through the sludge. And at the center, a crystal the size of a basketball; blood red, it pulsed in time with her heartbeat, so close she could taste it and succulent like… the juiciest of steak fresh from the grill, all slathered in barbecue sauce. She drooled, her skin clammy and slick with sweat.
Forward… Just need… to-
Karah dragged her back.
Louise whipped her head about. After everything, how dare she touch her!? She aimed instinctively, but a vague feeling of wrongness held her back just long enough for her gaze to follow Karah’s pointed finger to the black glyph on the ground right in front of her: a spell-trap.
Louise swallowed. If she had continued, she would've triggered it. It would have trapped her like before. Would it last until the trap sucked every bit of her dry? Until she was a shriveled-up prune of a girl? The warmth about her cracked, and the world came into focus once again. She’d been about to, what? Attack Karah? What’s wrong with me? She bowed her head. “Thank you, I didn't notice.”
"Don't be stupid." Karah pointed at several more spell-traps. “No point rushing to your death. Now, follow my lead.”
Louise nodded. The need to reach that pillar of light still pulsed within her, but she had a better grasp of it. Karah was right. Despite every fiber of her body demanding that she charge forward, she took a step back. Karah knew what to do.
They worked their way through the crater, careful to avoid the spell-traps. A shelf served as a makeshift staircase, the vines a rope. Soon enough, they were in front of the red crystal. Smooth as glass, with dozens of tiny little facets, light poured over it like water, but even more came from within, a fire like the sun.
Thought lost to instinct, and Louise grabbed it without thought. The moment she touched the gem, the crater shuddered like a wild thing. Masonry from above toppled on them and the sludge surged, sucking in the surrounding debris into its depths. While Karah and Cray held upon the vines for dear life, Louise grabbed hold of the crystal.
It burned at the touch, and her flesh sizzled and poured out smoke. But before she could reconsider, the red light surged and boiled into her, burning her from the inside out. The cavern, the sky above and the world itself were all a sea of red. Power seared through her veins, a power she did not, could not, and perhaps never would understand.
Screech! But they were no longer alone.
A dozen Spine Strikers perched upon the top of the crater, amongst the broken computers and desks. Spines rained down, and one caught her painfully in the shoulder, but she countered with a swift arcane blast. The purple bolt slammed into the first one and smashed it against the wall in a spray of red and loot.
The battle engaged. Karah leaped up from broken table to shattered monitor in a blur to reach the top of the crater. Then she was upon them. Every moment, her fists and feet pounded another foe. Thwips signaled Cray’s contribution, Louise joining him with her own spells and crossbow-work, and one enemy after the next dissolved into red. Yet more enemies came, more than when they began. So many of them, and as weak individually as the strikers were, they bombarded the three of them with spine sprays. Not all hit, but enough did to hurt. Louise could feel her health dipping ever lower.
Karah jumped back down, visibly pale from damage. "Go loud. Lightning crash!"
A giant ball of lightning shot up above her, then slammed down with the eponymous crash. But it didn’t break. Instead, bolts of lightning streamed from it to every enemy that got close. The reek of ozone filled the air and, when the enemies charged in, the spell tore them apart one by one.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
But the way Karah shoved them back through the tunnel told Louise that it was a temporary measure. They raced forward, but right as they were about to reach the lobby of the building once again, Karah dragged them to a stop. When Louise looked at her, confused, she hissed, “Bottleneck.”
Oh! There were tons of the creatures, but the opening was small enough only a few could make it through at a time, and for those who did, they received an arcane blast or stream of bullets for their troubles. The enemies tangled up with their allies while Louise and Cray didn't even need to aim—they literally could not miss. Bullets and purple bolts hurtled through the air and red masses filled the tunnel. It was a killing field, and despite their numbers, the enemies were too weak individually to bring them to bear in such cramped confines. They died one by one until, what seemed like moments later, all the creatures had fallen, the tunnel piled with their loot.
Karah caught Louise’s gaze with a glare that showed they would have a discussion later, but said, “Time.”
Crack!
Louise whirled instinctively, but it wasn't an enemy, nor even a spell trap. Instead, a section of the ceiling shattered, below which a tree trunk peeked out of where varnished, hardwood used to be. It wasn’t the only one; another section of wall flickered, for lack of a better word. One moment, it was the same ruin of a building that had been a minute before, the next, a marble column stood where it used to be, akin to some sort of manor.
A shadow passed over Louise, and she looked up. It was the middle of the day… except for one small patch above her, where strange purple clouds hung across a sky that was bright blue one moment, then inky black the next.
Karah grabbed Louise and hoisted the stopwatch out of her belt.
It read 2:05.
"What's going on?" Louise asked. “What does-?”
Cray grabbed her without a word and pulled her forward, himself breaking into a run. Another crack. The car next to her twisted and writhed, the headlights toppling to the ground when the front bumper turned into a bush. Louise shuddered and raced forward, only to stumble. The floor shattered beneath her, and the asphalt beneath became a grassy knoll. Louise stumbled, but managed to stay with Cray. The surrounding walls were concrete-gray, except for more patches where grass flickered through.
They turned the corner, only for a faint purple smog to meet them. Cray pushed her to the side, and they ran past, then-
SKREE!
Louise braced for battle, but there were no strikers to be seen.
Their shrieks filled the air, along with the snuffled roar of Tramplers and all-too-familiar gibbering, echoing from all directions, yet when Louise whirled around, only the twisting and breaking walls. But she could hear them, oh she could hear them. Claws clattered against stone, feet sunk into dirt, hooves alternating between grass and linoleum. But for all the sounds of battle, no enemies, no monsters.
She bit her lip and peered in all directions, from the patchwork buildings to the purple fog above th-
Her gaze shot up. The clouds and day/night were gone. All that remained were endless purple clouds, as far as the eye could see. And with each passing moment, they grew thicker, closer.
She sped up, into a full sprint now. All around them, the ground and buildings flashed and twisted, between from downtown city to suburb, and inch by inch, the city lost.
Kaboom! But not one of Cray's shotgun blasts. A lamp post smashed against the ground, the concrete beneath it now a burbling creek. A roof fell out of the sky with another crash. Faster. The sounds of battle echoed around them, and they raced through a parking lot, between two buildings, and on the other side–
SKREEE!! Spine Strikers, but not just 10, 20, or even 30. Over a hundred of them, plus an equal number of Gibberers attacked and slaughtered one another. In the space of a moment, two strikers dissolved into red, but rather than the normal pile of loot, the Gibberer gorged itself on its fading remains with blunt, yellow teeth. Then a bombardment of spines tore it into a red mass itself.
Louise pressed herself against the wall, breathing as softly as she could, but Karah motioned them forward, past a wall that twisted between brick and tree while chunks of masonry toppled to the ground.
Overhead, the purple clouds descended, slow and inexorable.
A screech, and a dozen more. Spines rocketed in all directions, and one caught Louise in the back of the leg. Pain shot through her, but she clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle the noise. Still too loud, but the sounds of battle masked it. Another crash, and a wall smashed to the floor next to them. A trailer-home stood in its place, half-covered by vines as if it had been there a decade rather than a moment.
Karah signaled a final sprint, and they finally made it across the street. But there was no other alley to go through. They dashed inside what might have been a charming little boutique, except that it shuddered and dozens of knickknacks crashed to the ground and shattered when a desk twisted into a television.
There were more of them now, more of those flickering, writhing places. Almost 1/4 of the ground now had been replaced, some patches of grass, others mold-rotted rugs. The world fought against the changes, but it was losing; and when it did…
Another screech, then a pause, followed by a strangely human scream.
Louise turned back, but Cray shoved her forward without a word.
The door on the other side was locked, and didn’t give way with the first shove. Enchanted. Without so much as a word, Karah slammed her fist into it with all her strength, and it cracked with a deafening boom, then Cray unloaded his shotgun into it and Karah shoved it, once, twice, then again, until it finally gave way. So loud, they were so loud.
The moment the door opened, purple fog flooded inside. So much and so thick, it was impossible to see more than a couple of dozen feet, but from what details they could make out, the overpass had crossbred with a field, which hung on girders overhead, at least for now.
Karah hesitated, but shoved them to the left and around the overpass. A detour for safety, but one that would take precious moments.
With every step, the fog thickened further, until even the street lamps were little more than stars in an endless mist. The fog was cold, wet and slick against her body, more akin to a mouth than any weather phenomenon. The sounds of battle softened and muffled, like someone had turned down the volume. Even their feet against the pavement were almost completely silent.
In that silence, they ran, even the huff and puff of their breathing absent. It wasn’t far. They just had to -
A bloody claw erupted out of the mist. The hooked tip came within a whisker of Louise’s eye before she threw herself to the side and out of its path. Another strike, this time a meaty and scaled fist, sent her sliding across the grass and pavement.
She scrambled to her feet, but the fog was too thick to see their attacker before they struck. She prepared to cast a spell, but Cray grabbed her.
“No time…” A shout twisted his face, but the words were so soft as to be barely more than a whisper. “Run…”
Louise let Cray and Karah pull her along, and she raced away. She stumbled against a log and still couldn’t see whatever attacked, but black spikes erupted from the purple clouds.
One buried itself into her flesh, sharp and barbed. Pain shot through her, but there was no sound, no shlick of the spine piercing flesh, no crack against bone. They raced forward, but no follow-up attack came. Perhaps they’d escaped it, or something else attacked.
The purple clouds thickened further. Soon enough, the only thing—the only thing that she could see was the purple mist. Even when she waved her own hand in front of her face, nothing. It felt like she was dreaming, just with that purple mist to soak her skin and leave her shivering. Except that every so often, they would crash into something, a tree or a wall, and each time, they had to figure out a way around, blindly feeling about in the wet cold.
They were almost there, less than a tenth of a mile away, when something slammed into her face and hurled her back, ripping her from Cray's grasp to skid upon concrete and finally sprawl upon the ground.
No follow-up attack, not yet anyway. Louise called for Karah and Cray, but no response. She couldn’t even hear her own voice. She was alone. Gotta get to the waypoint, then I’m safe. Carefully, she got to her feet and reached forward… to bump against a wall that she was certain hadn’t been there moments ago.
She activated her mini-map. No buildings to be seen, just a little maroon dot to represent her in a formless void, with a green dot to symbolize the waypoint. Okay, it’s to the left… She felt her way left along the wall, and tried to run through the mist, but every so often, she would hit something or trip and stumble. Really, it was more of a hobbling jog.
Worse, she wasn’t alone. Things were there with her in that endless purple murk. She couldn’t see or hear them, but they were there. Could they see her? There had been attacks. If they could see… she shivered and tried to speed up.
Another slam, her crashing into a tree, but she pushed off of it and kept going, even when she stumbled into a ravine. Her whole body ached, and she was cold, wet and tired, so tired… but she’d nearly made it. No sign of Karah or Cray, but she was almost out of this waking nightmare.
She was about to cross the threshold when something slammed into her and drove her to her knees with pain. She let out a shocked cry, silent as everything else. But she was so close and had to just get a little further. So she got to her feet and charged forward, this time careful to bob and weave to avoid the attacks and cross the threshold.
Before she could enter though, another blow struck, clawed and cruel, tearing her flesh and hurling her back once again.
Panic rose in her. There had to be a way to get past it, or she was going to die here, alone in the fog. She couldn’t see or hear it, though, and had already used her Cold Snap. But it could see and hear her… She rushed forward again, but this time braced herself.
It slammed into her once more, and sliced through the flesh of her shoulder, but this time, she kept to her feet and aimed an Arcane Blast where she thought it attacked from, then ran forward.
No sound, no sight, but this time she crossed the threshold without further attacks and her mini-map let her know she was inside the waypoint. No sign of Karah or Cray. Had they already come? Or were they stuck in the endless mist still? She hesitated, but even if they were out there, she wouldn't be able to find them.
So, unsure and hoping she wasn’t making a mistake, she activated the waypoint, destination Lifehome.