“What the fuck is that?” Cal silently asked himself. He had scouted ahead with a little help from Sleek to get a good idea of how the pools were guarded. He found the expected Gryalth battle mages, but what he didn’t expect was the hulking form of something at looked sewn together from the remnants of squirrels. Suddenly, he was grateful the plan hadn’t involved bringing Third Smasher along, as this would have set the squirrel into a rage, and he doubted he’d blame him. Had that been his family or friends used to create the monstrosity he knew his anger would have boiled over by now.
Turning back the way he came, he crept along as carefully as he could. The frankensquirrel was something new, and he’d rather they were expecting it than rushing in blind. Before he could reach them, however, a black form that looked to be made of shadows emerged from the rock wall. Cal would have thought it some kind of weird escaping gas if it hadn’t stopped moving after it was entirely free of the wall. Just as he was about to dodge around it, it solidified into a Gryalth shape and started speaking.
“Hello, human. I have questions, and I have a deal to offer you,” It said. The shape of its face moved similar to how a human would speak, and the result was a tone missing all the usual difficulties the Gryalth seemed to have when they spoke to Cal in the past.
Cal debated ignoring its words and just attacking, but he worried that would bring the thing behind him into the fight. He decided on words for now: “Do you now? What kind of offer?”
“Well, first of all, I wasn’t aware the technology on your planet had progressed far enough for this level of space travel. So I assume this is more magical in nature, which I also believe isn’t anywhere near the level needed for this travel, except perhaps in a very few small enclaves of mostly nonhumans. So tell me, how did you wind up here with such impressive magical abilities without our noticing?” It asked.
“Would you believe a secret society of capybaras taught me their ancient ways?” Cal responded. He had no intention of telling the truth, but he didn’t like how calm it was. This Gryalth carried itself differently from the rest he had encountered so far. The more human-like manner unnerved Cal. He had no idea if this was just an effect of whatever magic it was using to take this form or something it had learned to better communicate. Either way, it had left him on edge in way he didn’t at all enjoy.
“I would not, but I am willing to offer you a chance to live. Go back to your group you brought on this poorly executed assault, convince them to surrender, and you can all become servants of the Gryalth empire. Trust me, it’s a much more enjoyable fate than most experience,” It answered. Cal’s feeling of unease further ramped up. He wanted to know how long it had been watching them.
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“You know what? I think instead I’m just going to see how well your face can take a lightning blast,” Cal said as he released a quick blast of electricity through his hand, aimed at what looked like its head. The lightning found enough of something to at least cause the Gryalth to yell in pain.
“Fine, then die with the rest,” It said as its hand started weaving several rapid patterns. Behind Cal, an alarm started ringing, while in front of him, a wall of metal formed in the air.
“Hey, you didn’t say you could make a metal wall. I might have considered otherwise if you had admitted that,” Cal yelled at the barrier. He needed to get out of here fast, both to warn the others, and so he wasn’t stuck fighting what was quickly approaching behind him alone.
An idea hit him. What would happen if he poured friction mana into the metal wall and gave it a nice hard shove? The Gryalth didn’t seem to have a full grasp on his abilities, only that he had them. Cal was reasonably sure if it had been otherwise, it would have been smart enough to expect the coming lightning bolt. He had used enough of them on his return trip against the battle mages, after all.
He placed both hands onto the plate and started channeling as much of his friction mana as he could into it. Not for the first time, he wished it was easier to develop his core to handle more types as this was worryingly slow going, and on top of that, this was something he had never done before, and he desperately didn’t want it to explode in his face. The loud thuds of the monster somewhere behind him became clearer every second. He was quickly running out of time. He pushed hard, feeling the sharp pain of his mana channels being overtaxed. He ignored it, having no other choice. The mana poured into it, even as his body throbbed with pain. The footfalls were right behind him now. Hoping desperately that it had been enough, he gave the metal barrier a hard push.
His hopes and quick thinking paid off, as the shove not only moved the wall but also sent it flying down the tunnel, crashing hard into something that screamed in pain on the other side. Cal hoped the noise belonged to the alien that had created the wall. It was not enough to stop the wall's movement, though, as it continued down the path until finally careening into the wall at the bend in the path, further eliciting a horrifying scream of pain, followed by silence.
Cal didn’t spot much of a gap between the metal plate and the wall as he passed but wasn’t willing to take the time to verify that the Gryalth was dead. Instead, he rushed past his makeshift battering ram as fast as his feet could carry him. He had people to warn, and most of all, he wanted some help before fighting what was now in pursuit. The unease that had settled into him from the Gryalth’s presence hadn’t abated, no matter how hard he had mentally tried to shake it. Of course, it didn’t help that the loud thuds of monstrous footfalls continued after him.