"Predator?!" Shawn had to speak up to hear himself, and Garrett shifted his head behind him. Anything that could mute the world had to be dangerous.

"Bandersnatch, it's close! They hunt in pairs! One bite, and you're done!" Garrett hand-signaled people to move to the lights, and everyone stayed close, running to safety.

"Soft spots?!" Shawn called out.

"Don't bother with the skull, it's as strong as magisteel! Aim at the neck or the hips on the rear legs!"

Shawn could feel his heart rate rise, and he pushed more energy from his core down to his hand, nurturing a baby flame in his grip. a tiny trickle of power made the journey while he cocked back the hammer of the firearm, looking for motion. Trying to hear the sound of a predator taking slow, stalking steps.

This was a predator with a deadly ability, for certain. Telga fired off one of her illuminating globules above them, breaking the darkness of the forest with a burst of light that illuminated almost as clear as day.

There was no stalking or subtlety as the primal scream from before perforated the air, the creature's stealth now exposed. Like the shriek of the mythical banshee, it filled him with immense horror, and he spotted the source coming up the path behind them.

Two creatures were already loping forward and broke out into a sprint, now that they sensed their prey was almost out of their grasp. Jeweled eyes glistened with malevolence, they were long brown and black furred, six-limbed creatures with razor-sharp talons, and a whiplike tail that zipped behind them. Their maw was nothing but teeth. Deadly, serrated teeth, jutting forward from their mouth which gave them a primal, but no less terrifying bite as they split off at the response of gunfire. One well-aimed light spear that Telga heaved with precision hit one of the creatures--but, the weapon glanced off the shoulder and found no purchase. The two creatures split up and they dove into the underbrush, deep and undisturbed, near them.

"Everyone get to town, tight formation!" Garrett's voice still sounded distant, like a bad audio signal in a remote region, and Shawn strained to see where the threat was. He had to rely on his vision on this one, and he channeled more power to his arm, feeding the fire that burst into a churning ball of flame, burning brighter and more violently.

This was different from the fixed amounts he'd fired off with the fire darts. This was similar to the freezing stream he fired with the ice gestalt--a constant stream of power, coursing from his core to through his body. It was not as intense as the burst power required for the darts, but he could feel a tiny trickle of fatigue slowly building. He hadn't fully recovered, yet, and he sent out a surge of flame, trying to flush out the creatures. some of the underbrush was dry and caught flame. It forced the creatures to act now, or there would be a wall of fire quickly building, covering the people they were stalking

But it wasn't enough. There was a scream, a sudden lunging monster that grabbed one of the survivors, and dragged them back into the woods--all in less than a second, from the opposite side he'd lit up. He knew it was too late when he heard a death scream--and then abruptly stopped in a crunch of bone.

"Movement right!" he screeched out, throwing out a cast of flame and expending what little stamina, right at where the Bandersnatch had been. the sudden inferno caused the creature to snarl, their easy kill interrupted and the intense flames forced them back into cover, deeper in the woods and trailing embers on their fur. He extinguished the flame and grabbed the revolver with both hands, feet planted, and took a slow breath even though his heart was beating in overdrive.

The weapon bucked in his hands two times. He heard the thunk as the rounds hit the creature on the retreat, and it screeched in fury, the sound of rustling underbrush being overwhelmed by the crackling fire.

"Shawn, keep that fire going!" Garrett called out, the muffled dampening on his hearing now less intense. The survivors were on a full-tilt run toward stone and steel walls he could just make out, lights going up from the nearby town and the screech of more Aveeran taking flight in the gloom of the evening. He ran at a breakneck pace, wishing he'd gotten a crash course--no pun intended--of flying.

Regia fluttered into position by his back, dousing the flames so it wouldn't turn into a forest fire. He lowered his weapon and nodded, all the while falling back. That muted sound was intense--she tapped his shoulder for emphasis, and he knew the danger was right on top of them.

The second creature almost caught him off guard--he managed to slam one fire bolt into the creature while Regia hit it with a blast of water, disrupting its leaping strike. The Bandersnatch slammed into the side of a tree, He swore he felt that monster's talons clip just by his feathery crest a second prior, but it was back up on its feet, snarling and rushing their position again.

He fired out of reaction, aiming at the broad chest. Regia had grabbed her rifle and fired, hitting. The rounds didn't do enough damage as the creature shrieked and tried to lunge after them again. They both hopped backward, out of range as deadly claws raked across the air.

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"Up and away Shawn!" Regia screamed out, using her hydro blast to knock it away, and then she used her wings to spring up along a tree trunk, climbing with incredible speed. With the tightness of the forest here, it was impossible to spread his wings. He channeled every bit of strength he had into the leap, having the mind to holster the pistol before he did. He felt a glancing strike as talons raked by his leg, bouncing off the armored leggings--it still felt like a red hot pain on his leg as he scrambled up the trunk, watching the creature leap up almost twice its body length and nearly got him again. Fortunately it failed to find a grip and tumbled to the ground below, where it screeched angrily.

He couldn't fly quite yet, but his fingers and legs did find purchase in the deep grooved bark of the tree. It leaped again, trenching its claws into the bark, and gaining on him.

"Shawn, get to cover!" Regia called out. He held his body as close to the trunk as he could, digging claws in for dear life as she knocked the creature away. It was relentless in its pursuit, and a third tumble finally dissuaded it. He wasted no time to scramble the remaining distance.

He saw Regia mantle up to a thick cross-limb, while more Aveeran poured in from the town, armed with gestalts glowing and rifles firing. Shawn saw Telga fire off another light globule to mark off the creature's position.

The unforgiving fire forced the monster to retreat, trailing blood. He aimed the revolver once more and fired the last two rounds, hitting it in the back where they impacted in small trickles of blood. It finally succumbed to the numerous rounds, and collapsed, screeching before the screeches faded to a low, wheezing gasp.

He doubted he got the kill on it, but it felt like immense relief, knowing he'd taken a stand against something deadlier than himself and survived.

Regia steadied him from his perched position, hand firmly on his shoulder, and examined him with fascination. "Damn, I think you're alright, Shawn! You might make a decent Aveeran eventually!"

He let out a panting laugh; now that adrenaline wasn't powering his actions, he felt shaky as he dug his claws into the rough textured bark. "Ah shit, that was...is it always like this here!?" His heart rate still felt like a jackhammer in his chest, and his hands were shaky. No outdoors trip he'd made in his life had come close to this level of danger, willingly pursued.

"No. They smelled the blood. We got unlucky, I think I saw the other mate of the pair take someone...chasms take them," she cursed, and heaved from exhaustion. A few embers trailed up from the ground. "Claire got to the gate, she's alright by the way, I saw her there."

He nodded weakly, his voice caught in his throat from his panting. "Let me catch my breath...I'm tapped out on near-death encounters for a day."

A few minutes later, the massive steel-reinforced gate, easily two stories tall, creaked open with a grinding of gears and a flywheel spinning distantly. Shawn and the others were greeted by several members of a militia, armed with more of the lever action rifles, and a few revolver-type weapons–just like Regia’s. The firearm’s tech was distinct–turn of the century, but powerful weapons nonetheless, minus the strange alchemical rounds they used.

People in white-banded uniforms attended to the wounded and ushered them to safety; most of the buildings were made of stone, and what appeared to be concrete reinforced buildings, with occasional timber accents. The color of the wood matched the heavens-spanning trees and made the place look like a frontier town–rugged, but serviceable. He would have sworn he was witnessing a time capsule of the wild west...but on an alien world.

A taller Aveeran stepped forward, dressed in the vest and tan-colored fatigues of the militia; he was muscular, broad-winged, and with the color markings of a golden eagle, complete with golden-colored eyes. He held a small pipe at the corner of his beak, gripped tightly as he moved past his comrades, and approached Telga.

“Are you alright, Telga? What happened?!” he called out.

“They…” Telga looked like the weight of the events caught up with her–it wasn’t the trek, the debris burning up in orbit, or the beleaguered looks on the survivor's faces. It was the sight of this man she knew and recognized, that finally broke her will. Shawn saw her slump, her wings held at cockeyed angles. “We didn't stand a chance.”

The man said nothing more, and tucked his pipe into a vest pocket, before giving Telga a reassuring hug, head bowed low. “Ah, damn it all. Is there no place on this blasted jigsaw puzzle of a world that’s safe, then? Not even those orbital moons?”

“They took losses. They bled for it,” Shawn stated quietly. The man let go of Telga, hand resting on his pistol, and he peered at Shawn intensely. He took a sniff of him and tilted his head. It was a little awkwardly close, but Shawn stood his ground. Maybe it was a cultural thing.

“I don’t recognize you. Are you one of Revarik’s zealots?” That telling statement was troubling, and suggested Telga had plenty to worry about.

“Point me in the direction of that smokey-shaped bastard, so I can kill him. The name’s Shawn, by the way. Of Earth. I'm a bit of a way from home, let's say. I also perform extermination of mutated murder cats.”

"Bandersnatch," Garrett corrected.

The man regarded this, beak clenched tightly. Several tense seconds went by, as the newcomer peered at him, examining his injuries and sooty feathers. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because you'll listen to me, Varrick,” Telga scolded. “This young man put himself at grave risk for all of us.”

“That a fact?” He sounded skeptical, before turning back to Shawn, a slight creasing of his beak as he smiled. “You look like shit.”

“Yeah, you would too. I had a close call with someone trying to roast me like a game hen. He didn't even have the courtesy of seasoning me beforehand,” Shawn stated flatly, gauging the reaction from the newcomer. "Also, this forest is hella dangerous."

Varrick grinned at this, reached out, and gave him a bear hug that left him short of breath. “Welcome to Remaria, son, where incineration is only the fourth leading cause of death!”

“What are the top three?” he asked with a wheeze. He was rethinking the whole 'hollow bones' theory because Varrick was strong.

“Predators, environmental hazards, and belligerent Radiants," the broad shouldered warrior responded in a hearty voice.

Shawn could feel Telga's glare boring through both of them as he failed to stifle an ill-timed laugh.