A noise in the night woke Orion.
He would hear the tent flapping in a strong breeze, punctuated by the movement of unsecured objects around the campsite.
The dregs of sleep still lingered, clouding his judgment and leaving him feeling groggy. The sound of something metal and heavy hitting the ground jolted his thoughts, and he got to his feet. He looked around for his shoes, putting them on and stepping to the entrance of the tent.
Orion pulled back the flap and stepped into a storm.
There was a wind-storm of some sort—dust and debris swirled around the clearing. The leaves of most of the staghorns were flapping up and down violently, others swaying around chaotically with the wind. One must have fallen from a tree, the violent moving and twitching of its two massive leaves drawing Orion’s attention as it lay on the ground.
They almost look like wings.
Had it landed on Shadow? Orion could see the big warrior’s armor underneath the giant plant. Shadow raised his arm toward Orion, hand grasping at nothing. Another staghorn fell off a trunk and started being blown rhythmically around the clearing.
He struggled o make sense of its movement, and horror dawned as he realized it wasn’t being blown around—it was flying.
What he thought were leaves flapped and rode the waves of wind. Grand, almost ponderous movements of its wings sent dust flying up. In a split second, more-and-more of its kind joined it, over half of the staghorn in the clearing taking to the air.
What had been a beautiful, leafy plant was now a monster.
He inspected it. It was called a Moonleaf Moth—definitely not a plant.
The grogginess of sleep washed away in an instant, and Shadow appeared at his side immediately. Had he used his Swap? He didn’t even realize, but sure enough, it was on cooldown, and Shadow was beside him.
“HELP!” Orion yelled at the top of his lungs, bending down to inspect Shadow.
He was unconscious, but still alive. It looked as though he’d been drained of all color, and as he turned Shadow’s head, he found a bloody wound the size of a fingertip on the side of his neck that was leaking a small, steady trail of blood. A mesh of black tendrils pulsed out from the wound across his friend’s skin, causing panic to pulse through Orion’s body.
He pushed the panic down.
He had potions; he could heal Shadow. Looking up, he stared at where Shadow had been lying previously as he reached into his inventory. The Moonleaf Moth was still there, wings quivering as it looked upon Orion and Shadow. Its compound eyes were faced directly toward the two men, and he saw a sharp, almost needle-like barb sticking out from the thing’s head. A drop of blood glistened on the tip.
The cauldron appeared in Orion’s hand. He cradled Shadow’s head, intending to pour a dose into his open mouth, but he was hit heavily from the side. He went sprawling, and was quickly blanketed by the body of the moth that hit him. Squirming, he tried to escape, but the weight combined with the wings of the creature beating down kept him trapped.
Something sharp poked his neck. Darting his eyes to the side, he used his Portal ability just as he felt a sharp, stabbing pain. Appearing across the clearing near Arika’s tent, Orion rubbed his hand on his neck where he’d been bitten, and a spike of panic returned at the bloody smeared across his fingers.
Arika, Honeypot, and Gizmo emerged from their tents to behold the horrible sight. Orion looked up at Arika, who stared at him in shock.
“Help Shadow. The cauldron—” Orion fell to his knees in a sudden bout of weakness.
They sprung into action, and Orion was filled with relief that they’d responded faster than he had. Gizmo turned spherical, rolling toward the center of the clearing. Honeypot ran toward the cauldron Orion had dropped next to Shadow’s still form, phasing into invisibility. Arika rushed to Orion’s side, holding her staff out and putting her hand on his head protectively. Femera jumped off of her shoulder, getting low to the ground and letting out a low growl at any moths that flew by.
“I can’t hit them without hitting all of us!” Arika’s eyes darted around at the moths flying above.
Orion watched in horror as a moth closed in on Shadow. It flew almost lazily, and Orion realized it was the same one that had attacked him earlier—blood still dripped from its life-sucking appendage.
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Honeypot appeared from Stealth behind the giant flying monster, stunning it and immediately laying into it with his scimitar. Femera must have used her Flying Fox ability, as she shot toward Shadow’s prone form and launched herself into the side of the stunned moth. Shadow was safe for now, and Orion felt a moment of relief before the reality of the situation set back in.
His attention was arrested by the Moonleaf Moth that had attacked him earlier as it took to the air, flying a half circle around the clearing, all the while focusing its beady eyes on him and Arika. Abruptly, it swooped down toward the pair with blistering speed. As it drew closer, frustration rose in Orion and it felt as though time slowed. Could he really do nothing? His thoughts felt thick, like molasses.
I’m the one that’s supposed to be… protecting… everyone else…
He gritted his teeth. Even if he hadn’t dropped his staff in his fall, his arms were so weak he couldn’t swing it if he wanted to. He still didn’t have a single attack spell, and his two utility spells were both spent. Was there really nothing he could do? He set his jaw, ready to bite the thing if it came within reach.
It drew ever closer, insectoid eyes fixated on the pair as it dove. As it was just about to hit, it angled its giant green wings, flowing past them and toward the center of the clearing.
Orion’s attention was grabbed by the soft red glow of Gizmo as he stood at the edge of the pool. He had unleashed his Taunt, buying them time. The first Moonleaf Moth reached Gizmo, and the dozens of moths flying above all attacked him at once. The first hit knocked him over, his metal body faring better than Orion, but still being moved at least a meter by the collision. Another hit, and another, each subsequent hit sending him further in a different direction.
Orion had seven seconds left on the cooldown of his Swap ability, which he could then use to get Gizmo out of the mass of moths—but to what end? There was no way for Arika to position her Explosion without encompassing at least one of his party members as well, even if he swapped Gizmo to a different position.
His body got even weaker as the venom of the vampiric moth continued coursing through his veins, and his brain was beginning to fail him. He felt as though he was letting everyone down, and the frustration welled inside of him, threatening to burst.
His face twisted in anger and self-hatred. He looked at Honeypot, who had just reached the cauldron and was running it back to Shadow. Arika, who was standing above him protectively, looking down with worry and such pity that Orion had to look away.
Four-seconds left on Swap… but what can I even do?
Orion looked at Gizmo, who was still getting beaten senseless by the moths he’d taunted. His metal body and abilities had kept him alive so far, but checking the party interface, Orion saw the automaton had just over one-third of his health remaining. His active damage mitigation must be running out soon, and even if it weren’t, there was no way for him to survive an Explosion.
Arika took her hand off of Orion, and he looked up at her, but she was gone. She was… running away? For a second his heart dropped, unable to believe that Arika would abandon them—abandon him—in their moment of greatest need. The realization of what she was actually doing struck him like a dagger to the heart.
She was repositioning because she intended to use the Explosion on Gizmo, and lacking any other option, also herself. She knew his Swap ability was coming off of cooldown, and using it on her would accomplish nothing—but he could send himself to Shadow and Honeypot’s position, saving himself.
She turned and smiled at him, then cut her hand across the air in front of herself to cast Invoke.
Orion screamed in frustration, his throat immediately going hoarse. He looked up at Arika, locking eyes with her. She was smiling still, but it was a brittle thing—it didn’t reach anywhere else, her eyes sad and her posture dejected.
She used Explosion.
Orion appeared before Shadow and Honeypot as he used Swap, and he could feel the magic of Arika’s Explosion swell. Time had almost stopped for him, crawling along at a snail’s pace. For some reason, it seemed… normal. More normal than if time were passing by at its usual speed, at least. He could make out another source of magic, too. Was it his Swap ability? It still lingered in the air—the feel of the spatial-magic was anathema to the building source of fire and death.
He felt as though he was outside of his body, seeing himself and everything around him from the point of view of someone or something else.
Arika’s ability continued to swell, and the tiny source of energy poked into the world right next to Gizmo’s position. Orion looked at it curiously, the tiny Explosion now only the size of a match head. All the power of the Explosion was in that small, ever-growing source, however, and Orion knew it would only be a matter of time before all of that energy and force flew out, creating the devastating storm it always did.
The match-head had expanded to the size of a marble, and Orion’s face twisted in anger at the thought of Arika and Gizmo being engulfed in that ever-expanding flame. The emotion grounded him, returning him back to his body.
He couldn’t let them die.
Without knowing what he was doing, he grabbed at the fading strands of his Swap ability. Only wisps of the magic remained, slowly dissipating out into the world… yet he grabbed onto them still. He could feel the effort pulling at the strings of his body, and the more he reached for the lingering strands, the more his soul felt like it was fraying.
None of that mattered.
The strength of his will and resolve were monumental, and he wouldn’t let his friends be consumed by the flames.
With one last desperate pull, he grasped the power of his fading ability completely—and he used it. He could no longer see, all senses lost as he delved deeper into the depths of his mind. He imagined pulling Gizmo and Arika to him, their bodies and souls being pulled from the flames. He searched for something—anything—to give him the strength to make his will manifest.
A familiar power showed itself; the void within woke.
It hungered.