Autumn slapped a mosquito as it pierced her arm, "I hate it here."
Titus flicked her arm as he walked past, imparting a trickle of healing into the tiny wound.
"Ow!" she complained.
"It could be worse," Eli said, "at least it's quiet."
Another half hour passed, and the woods grew darker. Rare glimpses through the canopy revealed a sky darkening with broiling storm clouds.
"Looks like another downpour on the way," Eli observed, staring up through the canopy.
"I really fucking hate it here," Autumn replied.
A disembodied voice echoed off a tree, "incoming."
Eli whipped his staff towards the tree, then panned it across the woods. Something big scurried across the roots with scratching claws, it was on a collision course with the group.
"Contact!" Eli shouted, charging and releasing a blast from his staff.
The creature leapt to the side and kicked off a tree, landing at an angle and flanking around to his right. Eli caught a clear glimpse of its long, slender body and short, fluttering legs. It was the size of two men, and moved at unnatural speeds.
"It's a lizard!" He shouted between blasts.
The creature dodged each bolt of magic, leaving them to scorch roots and trunks. It alternated between straight dashes and zigzagging maneuvers, using trunks and bulging roots as cover as it closed the distance between itself and the adventurers.
"Keep it busy!" Autumn yelled, dropping to a knee and planting her palms on the roots beneath her. Tendrils of wood soon slowly swirled up and around her hands, creeping up and wrapping around her arms as they grew in size. Titus encircled her to keep himself between her and the lizard as it scurried behind the trunks around them.
Eli slung his staff over his shoulder and pointed two fingers from either hand, beginning a rapid barrage of smaller, faster magic bolts that trailed after the lizard as it ran. Finally, he struck a leg and the creature's stride faltered. He aimed his hands on its hind legs and pumped more magic into his gauntlets, slowing his rate of fire but increasing the size and damage of the bolts. He landed several more shots before the lizard quickly limped behind a trunk.
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"I think I hurt it," he said, aiming one hand at either side of the trunk and waiting for it to reappear.
The leaves overhead shook, and the lizard leapt from the canopy towards Eli. Autumn met it in the air, now half-clad in bulky wooden armor that twisted and curled around her body. One arm wielded a thick wooden shield, while the other extended out into a long, sharp spear that pierced through the creature's abdomen as it sunk its teeth deep into the armor on her shoulder.
They tumbled to the ground in a mess, rolling and twisting as they both struggled for dominance. Autumn came out on top, straddling the lizard's back and driving her spear through its chest just beside its right front leg. It shot forward despite the wound, jerking Autumn as it dashed. She brought the shield down repeatedly against the back of its head as it carried her forward.
"Two more," the voice of the unseen scout echoed through the woods.
Titus spotted one of the incoming lizards and conjured six lightning spears. He grabbed one from the air and hurled it towards the lizard, instead striking a trunk. The lizard veered to the left, climbed up and around a trunk and then leapt at Titus. He grabbed spears with both hands and hurled them forward, piercing the creature's torso as it flailed in the air. Both spears exploded from within, showering him with guts and blood as chunks of lizard clattered around him.
The third lizard rounded a tree and sprinted towards Eli, who quickly drew his staff and leveled a charging blast at the creature's open mouth. The magic bolt erupted from his staff with a boom and flashed across the short gap between them, traveling down the creature's throat and briefly illuminating it with a red glow from within. The bolt tore out of the hind quarters of the lizard, which slumped and tumbled forward.
With a frustrated yell, Autumn shed the armor from her arms, dropping the shield to her side and breaking off the spear in the lizard's body. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around its neck, then twisted to the right. The creature veered with the twist and slammed head first into a trunk. Autumn was flung from its back and thrown against the tree, landed awkwardly in a heap beside the dazed lizard.
She placed her hands on the roots beneath her and began to transmute them. As the lizard swayed and shook its head, wooden tendrils crawled out of the roots and wrapped around its feet. It regained enough sense to spot her on the ground beside it, and whipped a toothy mouth in her direction. Its strike came up short as a trapped foot yanked it to a stop. It snapped its jaws and tried to lunge again, helplessly tugging as the tendrils climbed further up its legs.
Eli dodged its whipping tail and ran up the length of its back, stopping to aim his glowing staff at its head. Autumn shot to her feet just long enough to dive to the side as the bolt of magic exploded the lizard's head. Eli rode the creature's corpse as it collapsed to the ground, then hopped off to land beside Autumn and offer a hand to help her up.
"I totally had that one," she said defensively as she took his hand and climbed to her feet.
"I believe you," he said.
"You'll get 'em next time, kiddo," Titus said, placing a hand on her shoulder to heal her bruises, earning a snarling look from Autumn.
Eli called out at the woods around them, "is that it?"
"I think so," the echoing voice responded from further away, "no promises!"
"Thanks, nice to meet you too!" Titus called out after the voice, which didn't respond.
Thunder cracked, muffled and spread in all directions by the canopy. Eli felt the first drops of rain begin to filter through and splash off his skin.