A BRIGHT RETURN

‘Hang on!’ Mocha warned with a neigh that reverberated around the area.

Iris instantly clung tightly to the saddle–after all, Mocha didn’t wear reins, her knuckles white as she braced herself.

“Hurry!” Iris cried out, pure terror filling her.

Then with a powerful surge of strength, Mocha leapt forward, accelerating towards the only exit that the monstrous throng had unwittingly left open. The world around them seemed to blur into a miasma of shadows and ominous red eyes as Mocha ran with all her might.

Please go go gogo. Hurry hurry hurry!

Iris shot a look over her shoulder, just in time to see the Marauder Prince’s face, a mask of pure terror, fading into the shadows as they raced past him. The prince seemed frozen in place, as if the nightmarish spectacle had stripped him of all courage and action.

But then, with a grimace twisting his face, he roughly spurred his horse, urging it into action. His panicked eyes met hers for a fleeting moment before he angled his mount, trying to fall in behind Mocha and herself. It seemed that even the vile Marauder Prince understood that their quarrel paled in comparison to the imminent threat that pursued them.

But there was no safe passage back the way they came. All they could go was… forward.

The swarm of murder hares had ignited into a frenzy, screeching their bloodthirsty cries into the night that rose into a deafening roar as they sprang into action, launching themselves at the fleeing riders.

Their bodies collided with each other, rolling and tumbling in a horrific display of desperation and fury as they reached out with their grotesque mandibles, grasping for flesh.

Their gleaming eyes reflected a horrifying image of a world gone mad. The surge of eldritch monsters climbing over one another, unyielding in their pursuit, was a sight straight from an apocalyptic nightmare.

Yet, amid the mounting terror, Mocha charged on, her determination unwavering. Iris clung to her, their bond solid in the midst of chaos.

Every nerve screamed for her to surrender to the fear, to give in to the inevitability of the monstrous tide behind them, but she would not.

Iris held hope that her best friend would get them out of this.

She had a life to return to, a love to protect, and a promise to keep.

However, for all Mocha’s speed, the monstrous horde seemed to be keeping pace. The terrifying glow of their eyes remained constant in the darkness behind them while their blood-curdling cries were almost like a relentless soundtrack to their chase.

A horrific realization settled in Iris's gut like a stone.

We're not outrunning these things. We're just... barely staying ahead.

Every instinct begged her to push Mocha harder, but she knew they were already at their limits. Her friend, despite the fear, was giving everything she had.

‘Iris, fucking do something! Keep them off of us!’ Mocha neighed, her voice filled with fear as she charged through the forest.

That jolted Iris back to reality.

She was right.

Iris [Focused].

Mana welled up through her core and filled her conduits, responding to her call like an eager hound. Iris channeled it, her fingers sparking with raw, potent energy. Drawing from this torrent, she cast [Spark], hurling it again and again into the encroaching mass of gnashing teeth and glaring eyes. A few of the beasts screeched as the bolts found their mark, their bodies convulsing violently before they fell, motionless and quickly trampled by the Marauder Prince’s horse as he fired lances of ice at the monsters.

One by one they fell to either ice or lightning, but it was a raindrop in a storm. The swarm barely slowed, their relentless pursuit undeterred by the fallen.

Not enough. Okay, let's crank it up.

She pulled more mana through her, the energy surging through her veins like an electric current. She forged it into her spell, the air around her crackling as she cast [Chain Lightning]. The resulting arc of electricity zigzagged through the monstrous swarm, searing a wider swath of them.

Yet, still they came.

Iris gritted her teeth, the taste of determination–or blood rather–was sharp in her mouth. She could feel the drain, a gnawing fatigue clawing at her.

But they needed more, much more.

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A deeper pull of her mana, stronger, more potent. With an inward breath and a hard swallow, she let loose her [Chain Lightning].

The amplified spell roared to life with a deafening crack, a zigzagging arc of destructive power that cut swathes through the monstrous tide. The forest briefly lit up in stark relief under the brilliance of her attack, the bodies of numerous murder hares illuminated in their final throes of life.

Yet, even as some of the horde fell, others filled the gaps, their charge unabated, their thirst for blood undiminished.

The once comforting distance between them was dwindling, it forced the Marauder Prince to take another route, pushing him further away from Iris. If she weren’t so focused on their own safety, she would have shot a spell at him.

The pulse of alarm from her [Danger Sense], jolting her out of her spells and sent Iris spinning around just in time to witness a murder hare launch itself out of the dense undergrowth, eyes blood-red and teeth bared for an attack.

Mocha's urgent neigh rang out, a deafening, echoing call in the encroaching silence. Panic tugged at Iris's heart, but she pushed it away, shoving it down with the cool weight of resolve.

She [Focused] again, and this time used [Arcane Capability].

In an instant, reality seemed to warp around her. Each heartbeat became a drawn-out drumroll, each breath a gale force. As if moving through molasses, Iris thrust her hand towards the charging beast, her mana responding with an eager surge.

She used her [Telekinesis] and mentally grappled with the airborne threat and immediately a transient, invisible struggle ensued over the span of a single breath. A collision of intent, raw magical power against raw physics, locked in a moment that could determine life or death. Iris strained, then, with a silent and invisible explosion of force, Iris won out.

The creature was hurtled away from them, spinning through the air before it crashed into the undergrowth once more.

Not wanting another situation like that, Iris pulled from her core, the energy coursing through her, crackling and sparking with contained power.

With the image of Mocha, and the thought of the life she must protect in her mind, she cast her [Storm Armor]. The spell wrapped them in a shimmering, charged sphere that crackled with barely-contained power. Like an angry star fallen to earth, it sizzled with defiance, sporadic arcs of electricity lashing out, snapping at any murder hare daring to come too close, keeping them at bay, for now.

It's not enough, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. But Iris didn't heed it. She couldn't. We'll make it. We have to.

She kept casting, and she lost track of time as all she knew was the surge of spells that shot out based on her intent.

Her breath was ragged, forced out by the relentless pounding of Mocha's hooves against the rough terrain. She felt Mocha's powerful muscles bunch beneath her, the horse's unrelenting spirit pulsating beneath her thighs.

But it was Mocha's unexpected neigh that jerked Iris back into awareness. 'Uh, Iris. Hang on. When I tell you... cast [Featherfall] on us.'

Her heart hammered against her ribcage, pounding a rhythmic note of confusion and terror. “What? Why would I?” The question fell from her lips in a broken whisper, the words catching in her throat.

Iris tore her gaze from the darkened path to look ahead.

And froze.

A ravine gaped open in front of them, a chasm cutting through the earth like an ugly scar. The sight was enough to turn her stomach.

Her mind reeled.

This was madness. It was suicide.

“Mocha, no. It's too far.”

If Mocha heard, she gave no sign. Instead, it was like Mocha switched gears, because her head went down and the horse cranked it up to plaid. Iris forgot the murder hares, and leaned forward, hanging on for dear life as Mocha raced forward, leaving the nightmares in the literal dust.

Each stride carried them closer to the edge, each heartbeat measured the seconds ticking down to their perilous leap. Iris's blood roared in her ears, the sound eclipsing the cries of the pursuing murder hares.

“Mocha, let's talk about this,” Iris pleaded. Her voice was hoarse with fear, laced with a desperate hope that they could find another way.

'Get ready!' Mocha neighed.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck fuck fuck fuck. She's doing this. Fuck!

The world around her narrowed, the edge of the cliff rushing up to meet them. “Wait! Moooooochaa!!!”

And then, they were airborne.

The ground fell away beneath them, and a wave of vertigo swept over Iris as they sailed through the void. But something changed. A sudden rush of static prickled at her skin, a sensation she recognized, but one she hadn't invoked. A moment later, the world twisted as an intense jolt of lightning flooded her being.

It was her [Lightning Step], but not her doing.

In the next instant, both she and Mocha shimmered into avatars of pure, sparking energy. In their elemental forms, they crossed the impossible distance, defying reality as they bridged the gap. Then, as they reached the spell's limit, their forms condensed, reshaping into horse and rider once again.

'Now!' Mocha commanded.

Without hesitation, Iris cast [Featherfall]. The plummeting sensation ebbed, replaced with a gentle, almost weightless drift. Together, they soared towards the ravine's far edge, landing with a soft thud that belied the heart-stopping feat they had just accomplished.

Before she could even process what had just happened, a thunderous crashing drew her attention back to the other side of the ravine. Bursting from the undergrowth, the Marauder Prince charged towards the precipice, his horse's eyes wide with terror.

Iris watched in horror as the horse skidded to a halt just short of the edge, only to be swarmed by the voracious murder hares that didn’t stop even as the man cast icicles into the horde nonstop.

Suddenly a chilling scream echoed through the night, the air filling with the piercing wails of both horse and elf, as they toppled over the edge.

For just a second, Iris locked eyes with the Marauder Prince. There was a flicker of something in his gaze, a desperate plea, a moment of shared horror, before he disappeared into the abyss, the screams of the doomed fading into an eerie silence.

Mocha and Iris shared a look as the horde of rabbits from hell came to a stop on the opposite side of the ravine, screeching and hissing at them.

“Fuck.”

‘Fuck.’