“If you’re ever in serious danger, just shout. Either the beasts will get you even quicker, or you’ll find some help.”
That was what Finnean had said the next morning. It was now afternoon, and Daniel stood next to a half-crumbled stone watchtower, peering out into the village proper. The grass here was flattened by movement of something large, and they had found the village centre destroyed, fresh prints belonging to something with two massive reptile feet.
The group had several guesses about what it could be, but none of them were very good trackers. In fact, Daniel reckoned they were just as unprepared as he was. Still, with any luck, the massive beast wouldn’t return for the ambush.
He let out a sharp whistle, which was mirrored by three similar noises. Then, he made his way over to a small wooden house, whose walls had miraculously survived with only a few holes. Daniel had meticulously cleared all the debris and the furniture, leaving only a large, open space to hide. There, he saw his guardian - the eight-foot tall puppet bound with chains, its cloth rugged and ashen.
The more he looked at it, the more he was convinced there was something wrong. There were too many small and personal details on it - like its crooked teeth, half a dozen scars on its back, large misshapen fingers, and uneven ears. The chains that bound it were rusted by blood, digging into its cloth body with every movement.
Daniel was glad to have it as an ally, even if he didn’t fully trust it. If Finnean had wished him dead, the mage would’ve done so when they all slept. He knelt against the wall and conjured his faithful panther, giving it the order to protect him at all costs. Then, Daniel muttered his new skill.
“Spiritbound Shield.”
What appeared all around him was a translucent mist, dark blue and grey, swirling around him in an otherworldly brilliance. It was just beyond his arm's reach, and as the wind quieted down, the mist whispered to him dark and eldritch secrets that were too quiet to hear. Vague faces coalesced inside the mist, laughing at something.
If a villager were to pass by, he would faint from shock. If he didn’t, he’d be raising the alarm in every city, for a necromancer had risen. A ghastly figure clad in black robes, surrounded by a cloth puppet and barrier of souls was nothing but evil. Daniel chuckled at the thought - hopefully, animals would be just as scared.
The shield currently had three charges - a courtesy of him hunting for two deer in the morning. Daniel breathed in and out, feeling a connection with the mana around him. The enchanted robes of mana sensitivity made the world of mana just a tiny bit more vibrant.
He peeked outside to the sight of Thalia excitedly warming up, swinging her sword like mad. Despite multiple attempts at explaining the plan, she refused to have it any other way besides her fighting every beast head-on.
She glanced at a bright flash in the sky and picked up a black box, opening it with haste. Inside was a single vial holding a drop of putrid green liquid. Shearing the top off with her sword, she emptied the contents onto the hardened dirt. Immediately, a hundred different flowers blossomed, bloomed, and wilted.
A cacophony of shrieks erupted all around them as every bird started to flap their wings and sing their birdsong. A flock of crimson-eyed ravens descended onto Thalia, though none lived to tell the tale. The crimson barrier protected her from thousands of overgrown ants swarming around her, devouring everything in their way.
Daniel waited with bated breath. Their strategy was simple - wait for the beasts to fight it out, pick off any that attempted to flee, and then kill everything that had survived. Corvin had fashioned traps made of steel wire, and Finnean had hidden figurines and puppets inside every house. In theory, they were as ready as they could be, but even the best of plans went wrong sometimes.
A minute passed, then two. For a moment, he wondered if the strange liquid was even effective. Then, he sensed the earth rumble, vibrations spreading across his body. Another minute ticked, and now the walls were shaking, already on the verge of collapsing. Only then did he hear the absolute chaos happening outside. A hundred voices were joined as one in a frantic frenzy. Daniel could only watch in wonder as a stampede threatened to overrun the village whole.
Stolen story; please report.
In front of the tide was a pack of luminous creatures, reptiles the size of a house with elongated necks, scales glittering in the sunlight. One of the creatures twisted its neck, looking at a pack of chiselled-marble boars charging behind it. Then, it breathed out a prismatic ray of light, disintegrating the monster in an instant. That had proven to be a mistake, because a furious pack of boars charged straight into its legs, bringing it down to the ground. It let out a miserable cry as thousands of pounds trampled its body and crushed its skull.
They should have fled the moment she uncorked the vial. Instead of not working, it turned out to be too effective. Facing even a pack of such creatures could end up being as challenging as facing Velkir, not to mention an entire beast horde. The wooden buildings wouldn’t be enough - they would be completely demolished.
Still, he had no other choice but to stay still and hide. Calling the panther to his side, he dismissed it, instead choosing to conjure a blue and red sparrow, feathers sticking up from its head to resemble a mask. Quickly, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the sparrow.
Even though conjuring a panther was challenging, it was nothing compared to flying. With great difficulty, Daniel started to rapidly flap his wings, ascending to the sky. He had fallen to the ground enough times as the bird to know he would mostly be fine, but regardless, fear held him at bay. He didn’t dare to fly too high or too fast.
Eagles clashed with ravens and hawks for air superiority, and he quickly avoided a gust of wind that would slice him to bits. Daniel observed the situation from above. As long as they survived the initial wave, the beasts would steadily trickle in. Some of the smarter ones were hanging back, observing the situation and judging whether it was worth the temptation. Eventually, even they would come around.
A thunderous crash resounded through the village as one of the luminous beasts charged straight through a building, threatening to run over Thalia. Instead, her blade expanded to three times her body size, and with a single slash, she bisected the creature. This prompted some to stop in their tracks, but even if they wanted to, the beast wave was pushing them to certain death.
Just like him, Finnean and Corvin were hiding, though the latter wasn’t as lucky. Just before colliding with a monster, he jumped in the air, narrowly soaring over one of the marble boars, painting him a target for anyone passing by. Daniel wished him the best, concentrating on his own house.
For a few moments, his 14 LUK worked its magic. The monsters swerved around his house as if it was a solid roadblock that meant death. That was until a particularly brave Stormcaller decided that it wouldn’t budge from its charge. Desperately, Daniel switched consciousness and rolled to the side, avoiding more than two thousand pounds of flesh and lightning that tore through the wooden building like it was made of paper. The whole foundation shook for a tense moment.
Time slowed as he raised his hands, shielding his face. It crashed down on Daniel like an avalanche, and were it not for his shield, he would have been buried under the weight of the house. As it was, splintered wood and a broken ceiling marked a perfect circle around him. The mist thinned out, but fortunately, that had only counted as a single blow.
The puppet had not been as lucky. It weathered the full impact of the building. Somehow, it was still standing. A moment after, a two-headed wolf slammed into it, sending both sprawling to the ground.
Immediately, a scythe cleaved through its immobile body, taking a part of the puppet with it. Daniel grasped the soul, regaining a charge of his skill before a marble boar knocked into his shield with such impact that it launched him several feet in the air.
Miraculously, the shield protected him from even the fall, though it now was almost entirely gone. Unfortunately, it couldn’t protect him from vertigo and the sudden stopping of momentum, which shook his internal organs. He crumpled onto the ground, wondering why the world around him was spinning and why his breakfast was rapidly coming up.
When Daniel came to his senses, he glanced at the horde, wondering how he was not yet dead. There, in front of the phantasmal shield, was the puppet warrior, its chains dug into the ground. It braced for impact, and, despite how light the puppet looked, withstood the impact of a massive zebra, each stripe a different colour. This, combined with the magic shield of fog in their way, made animals pull to either side of them, unwilling to face certain death.
Daniel reached out for another soul as the puppet bashed the zebra’s brains out. With shaking legs, he stood up, glancing at the village centre. Before him was a scene depicting hell. Dead bodies littered the ground like leaves, rivers of blood flowed along the buildings, and beast clashed against beast, viciously tearing each other apart.