As soon as 0600 arrived the morning after the Freelancers arrived at Polaris Station, the tarmac was quickly filled with the smaller aerial personnel carriers that would be dropping the individual teams to their search areas around Albireo Lake.
And as much as many of them were bright and alert, more than a few of the participants getting themselves in order through things like very strong coffee or other such stimulants for those who needed it.
Among those groups, Soren’s team were on the more alert end. Aside from Branmek’s consistent yawning as everyone got loaded onto the carrier, not a soul aboard wasn’t alert and ready for action at a moment’s notice. And as the carriers were getting into the air and leaving the outpost, that was when the morning tensions finally broke enough the team was willing to talk to each other in the hold.
“So, who’s got their nerves running huh right now?” Sellen spoke first, breaking the ice from everyone checking their equipment. For her, her slender fingers were running along a mechanical lance, a crystal within its construction thrumming with soft light as her prodding of it caused the panels to shift and fold. “Y’know, going into the field to hunt some unknown Wyrm, danger all around, who knows what Beasts potentially driven half-mad by the thing.”
“Definitely not making it sound fun,” Ard shook his head as he ran a finger across the runes carved into the wand held in his left hand. “Still, gonna give us a story to tell Zenver when we get back! Think he’ll find the room to make some new song to try on our sorry ears?”
“Hah! Depends on who finds it first,” Branmek gave a chuckle. “And of course the race’ll be on soon as we land. What order we on for it anyway? Oi, pilot! What area we headed towards?”
“Your team was set to this zone along the river,” the pilot’s voice rumbled over the intercom, and a mana-screen flashed into form, quickly zooming along a map of their destination and highlighting a northern section of the main river feeding into the lake. “It’s part of the overgrown ruins that surround the lake. A good enough place to land in peace and get moving from.”
“Not Ascian ruins I take it?” asked Syr, her fingers drumming along her staff.
“Nah. Not as old, but stuff from the Dark Ages,” replied the pilot. “Theory goes it’s leftovers from before the Frontier expanded enough to become uninhabitable to non-Beasts.”
“Ah, right,” Syr gave a hum. “Dark Age ruins may not be as advanced, but they do paint an image of the time. I remember my College trip here having a lesson those ruins are also some of the few safer locales across the Frontier. A lot like the Ascian ruins, Beasts tend to stray away from them.”
“Precisely why we’re using spots like it as the LZs for the expedition. Once we’re landed, you lot are free to make use of the camp facilities there before you get to the search. It’ll only be a few more minutes at this speed, so don’t worry too much now.”
“Least there won’t be much waiting,” commented Soren. “We can form our route once we’re at the forward camp. And hey, Syr may get the chance to test herself against some other Beasts on the way. Sounds fun, don’t ya think?”
“As long as it isn’t anything too extreme. I doubt we want to get into a fight with anything like a Reiusuth and Reiath. It’s that species’ mating season around this time of year if I remember the cycles right.”
“Aye,” Soren nodded. “Late summer is usually when Wyverns are at their worst. Pretty sure the Hunters have been busy making sure no territories are being crossed into with the Wyverns in the forests and savannahs.”
“Fun fact;” Sellen chuckled as she leaned on her lance. “Right around Albireo Lake, there’s a titanic tree called the Everwood, you know it?”
“Of course!” Syr nodded with her usual enthusiasm. “It was actually my topic of study during my visit. My group wasn’t allowed to get close so my observations had to be from afar. It’s the single tallest tree in the entire Zenith Frontier, bigger even the largest trees in Vanira. It’s one of the defining landmarks alongside Albireo Lake.”
“It’s also a massive nest for the Rei species. Those branches are full of nests from different pairs. Rumor goes at the very top of the tree, the oldest Reiusuth and Reiath live, ones that have been around so long they’re stronger than any other members of their species in the whole Frontier!” Sellen’s eyes were flashing in excitement as she told the tale. “It’s one of my goals as a Freelancer to hunt them some day! The kind of challenge that’d get you in the books for all time, that’s for sure.”
“Best not to say things like that before a hunt, remember?” Soren had a teasing lilt in his voice. “You might just bring trouble y’know?”
“Ah piss off,” Sellen returned Soren’s teasing with a smirk. “A little bit of confidence pays off! No reason to cower about when it’s better to face the challenge head on and improve, right?”
“Aye to that!” Branmek cawed with laughter as he stroked his beard. “And a race it’ll be once we land! So best we act quickly!”
“Well, we are competing with some folks from the Guilds in the Capital and past it, so we’ll…” Soren trailed off as he felt a pulse run up his right arm. Glancing at his arm, he caught a soft glow ebbing from under his sleeve. And as Sellen gained a surprised look on her face at noting Soren’s sudden distraction, Soren shot to his feet. “Pilot, we may need to be careful here!”
“What, why? The path is totally clear! Nothing’s on the radar.”
“Something’s about to be!”
“What do you…”
And then a roar pierced the air. Piercing through the very metal of the carrier, a loud, shrill shriek of a roar that echoed across the air. And following it, though more muffled, a far more booming roar.
“What in the…” the pilot sounded baffled as he spoke again. “You lot may want to take a look at this. On our left!”
The currently dim windows of the carrier flashed to transparency. The team gathered on the left side, and what they saw was more than shocking.
Darting through the air were two shapes. To the team, one was the familiar shape of a Reiusuth, its form akin to the Reiath yet larger and fierce, scales of a fiery red highlighted by silver markings. The crimson wyvern spewed fireballs from its maw as it fought with something above the tree line at a level far higher than usually seen for it.
Its foe was near impossible to make out, like a blot of darkness in the air as it weaved past the Reiusuth’s volley of fire. The shadow darted in, slamming the Reiusuth away and sending it tumbling through the air. And as the wyvern fell, the shadow began to be edged in dark crimson light… light that loosed from it as a dark blade of power, slicing through the air and clipping the Reiusuth.
As the Wyvern went tumbling past the trees, that blade of dark power didn’t stop, however. It instead kept going, its cut scorching the air itself as it blasted upwards.
And cut right into one of the wings of the carrier, rocking the craft and sending the team tumbling to the floor as the vehicle was sent tumbling down like the Wyvern.
“Hold on tight you lot in there!” shouted the pilot. “Beginning emergency landing procedures! I’ll try to bring it down softly as I can, try to get strapped in and get steady! You two spellcasters, see if you can’t help out!”
“On it! Ard!” As Syr shouted, Ard nodded.
Staff and wand raised, runes flashing as lights expanded outwards, turning into a ward surrounding the passenger area. Syr raised a hand to move the ward further to the cockpit. The carrier went tumbling down, the tearing of trees ripping through the air as the carrier went falling, falling towards the floor of the forest.
And as they braced for impact, everything went black as the carrier finally went crashing into the forest floor, tearing across dirt, roots, grass and stone as it careened to a stop.
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“Face it, Heritor of Astral… face the Shadow of Death, and prove thy era’s worth.”
Soren’s eyes snapped open, and he shot up with a gasp, hearing a sharp yelp at his side. Glancing over, a frazzled Syr was who greeted him, the Alf’s ears tilted downwards as she stared in surprise.
“S-Sorry…” Soren put a hand to his head, feeling it throb. “What happened after the crash?”
“Well, thankfully everyone is in one piece,” said Syr. “Besides, well… the carrier.”
Looking around, with his head now clearing, Soren was able to take in the aftermath of their crash.
Light was streaming down through the gouge the carrier had carved through the treetops, and the all too damaged flyer was jutting from a deep rut, its damaged engines billowing dark smoke upwards. The rut it had carved was filled with debris from the ground it had torn up, and more than a few pieces of the carrier itself.
A short way off, the rest of the team was looking around. Sellen and Branmek were standing atop an incline formed by some of the denser roots, while Ard was moving his wand across their pilot companion, ensuring there weren’t any present wounds.
“Anyone get the number on that damned Shadow?” Soren threw out the remark as he stood, him and Syr trotting over to the others as Sellen and Branmek moved back down. “Guess we got an idea of what we’re dealing with at least.”
“Yeah… big flying blob that can trash a Reiusuth and one-shot a light aerial craft,” Sellen grumbled as she leaned on her lance. “This is gonna be interesting. Ard, how’s he holding up?”
“Nothing worse than what we got,” Ard held out a hand, helping the pilot to his feet as he stood. “I think we should get moving to the forward camp. Standing around near this wreckage without our bearings on where we are is gonna be a mess.”
“I’m at least still got our relative location,” the pilot drew his own Deck, giving it a few taps. “Thankfully I had this loaded with the latest map data. Should be able to get us a new route to the ruins camp. I’ll send it to all of you right now.”
With a few presses, everyone else’s Decks pinged, and the objects were drawn. A map flashed into form on the screen, pinging a red dot on their current location in the forest, before then tracing a line to a green hexagon that flashed “Ruins Camp Delta” after it was pinged.
“Eh, we landed closer than expected,” Branmek commented. “Only a couple of klicks. Should be a short route yeah?”
“Let me get the emergency supplies out of the carrier while we’re at it. I’ll also send up the emergency flare so the outpost knows where to find the craft.”
Nods went around, and the Freelancers took post to watch for any potential Beasts as the pilot got to work, sifting through the wreckage and pulling out a decently sized transport platform, a press to the object activating it, a soft thrum coming from the device as it rose ever so slightly off the ground. And once the platform was loaded with the supply boxes loaded into the hull, the pilot drew his flare gun, flicking the rings attached to the barrel to set it to the appropriate markers.
With a clear thwomp, the flare was sent skywards, rocketing up beyond the treetops before it detonated into an array of red and white flashes.
With the knowledge a retrieval team would be on the way soon—hopefully—the group got moving.
Whether it was because of the fight that had brought them down or something else, the team’s trek to find their intended landing zone was all too quiet. The sort of quiet that draws out all kinds of paranoia when the only sounds are ones footsteps and the occasional distant roar of some other kind of beast. The sort of quiet that made someone all too wary of the slightest possible threat jumping out at them.
“This place is a lot more unsettling to be in when you know there’s some Wyrm flying around who can do who knows what to anything it fights,” Syr’s comment broke the silence after the long trek, only letting up as she saw they were about to their intended base camp.
“We’ll go over it once the camp is set up,” said Soren. “Should be right on through this set here, in the grove past it.”
Before the group was a denser thicket of trees compared to the rest around them, covered in tightly wound vines and foliage that formed something akin to a natural wall. Sellen led the way through, using her lance to push through the vines and make a path wide enough for the pilot to get his carrier through. As they proceeded, Syr watched with wonder as the vines closed up behind them all on their own, the faint rustling of foliage following the party through and to the grove beyond.
And it made for quite the sight. Ringed by the natural wall formed by the forest, the grove was a pleasant looking spot, wide and open, a small brook streaming through it. And throughout it were the stone, ivy covered ruins of a time long past. While they were few and far between, the derelicts were sturdy enough they held strong even after all the time that had passed. The faint shimmer of a barrier being projected from small, nigh hidden pylons around the grove gave away the purpose of the space as a safe place for those working within the frontier to retreat to.
Further in and past some of the derelicts, centering the encampment was a set of sturdy looking tents, no doubt holding rest space and other camp necessities, while the central zone surrounded by those tents held a spot for making a fire, cooking hardware, and a shaded table. And predictably, considering the fact it had no doubt been more than a few days since the camp’s last use, every bit of it was covered in leaves and other foliage that had been blown in.
“Well, least we can relax for a bit,” Ard let out a long breath as they entered the camp proper, casting a quick wind spell to blow the leaves away from the shaded table so they could set everything down. “So… we’re off to one hell of a start, aren’t we?”
“Let’s not say anythin’ tha’ll jinx our arses,” Branmek hopped to the bench, his eyes tracing Sellen and Soren as they set their weapons to lean across the table. “Least we can say we got some of the first glances at the blasted thing. Can’t say running across it going after a Reiusuth was inspirin’. We really are after one hell of a beast.”
“And the new problem is finding out if it headed back to the lake or not,” Soren folded his arms as he leaned against the edge of the table, then glancing to the pilot. “What’ve you got in those crates there? Anything that’ll let us get in touch with the outpost to report in?”
“About to get that set back up,” the pilot chuckled as he pulled out some tools and set one of the crates aside. “This is all the stuff meant to get the camp up and running anyway. Give me a minute to get this antenna set up. Why don’t you lot check the tents, sit down a bit. No reason to get too anxious about moving yet.”
“I think we should,” Syr adjusted her staff. “We’ll need to make a plan for moving towards the lake. There’s no telling what’s been stirred up in the forest with the Shadow out and about.”
“It’ll make the trek there interesting, that’s for sure,” Sellen chuckled and hefted her lance to her shoulder. “Let’s make sure we’re the first ones there! Can’t let the hotshots from the Capital think us Clearharbor Freelancers are gonna lag behind!”
“Aye to that!” But, Soren had a thought behind his assured grin. That voice I heard… what was that? Was my head playing some kind of trick on me? Or… was it something else? Something tied to this Crest of mine?
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After a fair bit of cleaning—which really was mostly Syr and Ard using spells to clear out any dust or dirt that had gathered in the tents—the party plus one were gathered around the comms antenna the pilot had set up. Said pilot was tapping away at his Deck, and a satisfied smile came to him when the device pinged.
“There we go! Connection’s up. Let’s get in touch with HQ and tell them what we saw… getting through annnnnd… there! Operator, you there?”
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“Hearing you loud and clear Pilot Marco. Was it you who sent up that recovery flare earlier?”
“That was us yeah. Don’t worry, me and the Freelancers are in one piece. We got surprised by the target though, got caught by an attack when it was fighting a Reiusuth above the trees.”
“… so that confirms its ability to fly. What’s the state of the downed transport craft? We can inform the retrieval team of what to bring.”
“Busted engine and a damaged win. The ship’s recoverable, but it sure as hell won’t be flying out of the woods.”
“Understood. The other Freelancer teams have also arrived at their base camps as of now. With the antennas active, communication will have eased up so contact can be made in the search area. Freelancer team, make sure contact is maintained once you begin moving towards the target area.”
“Not a problem,” Sellen gave a nod. “We’ll start planning our route. Also, tell the other teams to keep their eyes open for a wounded Reiusuth. The crash meant we couldn’t confirm if the Shadow had killed it or not, so we may have a very angry Wyvern roaming around the search area.”
“We’ll send out the alert. Good luck out there team. Operator, over and out.”
The call ended there, the team moving from the antenna and to the shaded table. The pilot otherwise went about going through the supply crates. Sellen drew her deck and placed it on the table, an area map opening up. With a few flicks of her hand, several indicators both for their camp and intended destination appeared.
“Alright, let’s see what we gotta work with,” Sellen began tracing a finger over the map, plotting out a few pathways from the camp and to Albireo Lake. One path followed the river directly, another went through some of the thicker parts of the forest, and the third option was between the two choices. “We’ve got a couple paths. If we follow the river directly, it would be the fastest route, but it’s also pretty open from above. The forest paths have more cover, but the furthest one would mean we’d bee picking our way through the thickest portions… and we can’t exactly be taking things slow this expedition.”
“Then we take the riverside path,” said Soren. “Sure it’s the most open but you’re spot on in saying we can’t exactly be slow about it. Most direct path there I’d say. Besides, not like we need to fight every Beast we see, if any are still out and about right now.”
“Aye, I’m with Soren,” Branmek slapped a thick hand to the table. “My bet is that Shadow done circled back to the lake. Was prob’ly after that Reiusuth because it got ta’ close ta’ tha’ lake.”
“I’d argue we’d want the cover the forest gives us, but…” Ard looked at the map, shaking his head. “I doubt that Wyrm cares about whether it can see something or not. From what I’ve heard, Beasts on that tier don’t really care much if they see you or not… magic attuned senses and all that.”
“Then we want to be quick,” Syr nodded. “I’m with them. River pathway it is.”
“Heh, guess it’s unanimous then,” Sellen chuckled as she picked her Deck up, flicking the map off. “Alright then! Let’s take another half-hour to rest up and get ready. Check your weapons, take a nap, maybe cook. Whatever will get you to relax and be ready for it. Just be ready once time is up!”
Affirmatives went around from all the others, and the team broke off. Sellen moved to talk with the pilot, while Ard trotted off to look around the ruins. Branmek ducked into one of the tents, no doubt intent to catch up on some sleep while he could. Soren moved to simply wander about, but, turned his attention upwards when he saw Syr heading for one of the taller parts of the ruins, using her staff to glide upwards and bypass the damaged stairs to reach the roof, whatever was left of it.
“Ah, why the hell not?” With a quick wave of his hand, wind mana gathered around Soren’s legs. A couple of leaps later, and he was on the rooftop as well, dismissing the spell as soon as he landed. And he cracked an amused smirk to find Syr had in fact risen higher, enough to give herself a proper view above the tree line and beyond. “See anything decent all the way up there?”
“Of course I can!” Syr laughed as she looked down, a quirk twirl of her waist angling her staff to bring her swooping downwards. “I wanted to get a look at the Everwood. I’ve never been this close to it,” Syr had a thoughtful look for a moment, then giggled. “Want to take a look? There’s room on the staff.”
“Sure, why not.”
Syr skooched over to make room, Soren managing to situate himself next to her. Once Syr was sure Soren had a good hold, the staff lifted back up, bringing the two right to the upper limit of the barrier. And spread before them was the whole stretch of the forest that lay beyond. To one end, a break in the trees where the river no doubt was, surrounded by the thickets that spread further and further. And off in the distance, towering above anything else, was a tree so gigantic it belied reason.
Its branches stretched high enough to almost touch the clouds, its trunk so wide it put many of the buildings in Clearharbor to shame. A towering monolith of nature, the Everwood, considered the very center of the Zenith Frontier itself.
“Man, not even the Citadel back in Aurora is as big as that thing,” Soren gave a whistle as he took the tree in. “Can’t imagine what it’s actually like around that thing.”
“From my studies, it’s almost like its own forest. The Everwood isn’t technically one tree either, but a series of trees that grafted together as they grew over countless years. It’s a natural citadel, carved out by nothing more than the whims of nature and the Beasts who call it their home. I suppose we could say the Star wanted to make sure we all knew just how grand nature truly is.”
“And yet we’re still trying to outdo it. And in some ways, the Ascians actually did it,” Soren turned his eyes skyward, narrowing his gaze. “Nah… guess they’re out of sight today.”
“The Flying Cities?”
“Yea. Saw one around the same time you joined the Amber Dawn. Though I guess “saw” is relative, since they’re so high up they’re not much more than dots in the sky.”
“Ahaha, and all we got about them is the fact they exist,” Syr also looked skyward. “One of my goals is to find the ruins with information about those cities. I want to know why they’re in the sky, what made the Ascians decide to leave this earth and take to the heavens. Was it because they looked down on the other people of our Star, or was it for some other purpose?”
“Who’s to say?” Soren flexed his right hand. “If you ever get up to one, maybe you can ask them yourself.”
“Hahaha, that would be the day,” Syr looked back to the Everwood, “Though I think I prefer this to the sky. I find a varied landscape makes for a far better view than muddying it up by being so high you lose sight of it all. Hard to appreciate things from so far away, don’t you think?”
“Yeah… better to look closely…” Trailing off a bit, Soren looked to Syr.
He knew what they were saying was more a coincidence. But with so little distance left between them seated on that staff, perhaps he couldn’t help but look at her… closely. The natural waves her hair formed into, seemingly formed by the same winds gently rustling it now. The way her slim ears poked through the curtain of green, occasionally twitching as if to reflect her thoughts. Even the somewhat alluring way her deep violet eyes contrasted with her pale skin.
Like anyone else, Soren wouldn’t be ashamed to admit Syr was beautiful. But currently, seeing that face so full of wonder as she stared across the landscape before her? He felt like he actually understood why. It wasn’t simply the way she looked. Her soul is beautiful too… and that’s just as easy to see.
“So… think we’re ready to face down some Wyrm?” Syr’s question snapped Soren out of his thoughts, the young man coughing into a hand as he snapped forward.
“Honestly? No idea… but I’m sure as hell gonna try.”
“Hehe… then let’s make sure we both make it back,” Syr held up a pinky, giving a snicker when Soren raised a brow at her. “I’m not trying to jinx us. Just… y’know, so we can keep going on more adventures. Maybe even go beyond the horizon!”
“Against all warnings, all caution… is this what we deserve for trying to peer beyond the horizon?”
The words Soren had heard in his dream rang in his head. The image of that sundered sky, of the maddened beasts. And of the grandiose dragon bearing his fury down on it all. And yet… he still felt a shared confidence in the idea as Syr held that pinky to him.
“Beyond the horizon, huh?” Soren let himself smirk, bringing his own hand up and wrapping his pinky around Syr’s. “Why not. Sounds like a hell of a goal to keep in mind. Sounds like you’re aiming to show up the Ascians.”
“Maybeeee~,” as Syr gave a mischievous giggle, Soren returned it with a chuckle.
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With their rest period up and plan assured, the initial steps out to the river path were quiet for now.
Around them, the natural wall of the trees that broke off to the riverbanks, teeming in wild grass and flowers before shifting to a rocky edge were the river split through the earth, lapping at the edges of the shore or rushing past the scant boulders that jutted through the riverbed. Natural trails lined both sides of the river, formed from years of natural patterns from beasts coming and going to drink their fill, and more than a few bone remnants marked ends of the shoreline as well. The leftover markings of predators and scavengers.
“Still a bit too quiet, huh?” Sellen mumbled a bit as she scanned around, her head array shifting around. “Makes sense the herbivores would’ve run off to hide. Wonder if any scavengers are gonna pop out to look for something.”
“Gonna be something ballsy enough to pick at whatever the predators left behind when the herbivores scrammed,” Soren stopped at a set of tracks on the ground, running a finger through the pressed in dirt, “Guess a herd of Aptonos were watering here until a bit ago. Probably ran off when the Shadow and that Reiusuth started fighting.”
“Probably swooped on the guy when he was coming in to catch one of ‘em,” Ard knelt next to Soren at the tracks, the half-alf nodding in agreement. “Kind of a shame really. Would’ve made a better first trip this deep in to see the grazers doing their thing, eh, Syr?”
“I’m sure I’ll get another chance when things are quieter,” Syr chuckled as she trotted past the two. “But if anything, having a relatively clear path to our destination feels like it’s for the best. We do need to be quick after all.”
From there, the progress along the river was as quiet as before. A few birds flit past here and there, and Soren caught sight of some Neopteran Beasts shuffling about in the tree line. But nothing of note came to greet the party… at least until Sellen lifted a hand to signal a stop. And when a scent all too like rotting flesh hit the wind, they understood why.
With a quick flick of Sellen’s hand, the party ducked to cover behind some of the larger stones at the bank that formed a convenient little wall at the shore. Peering over, the source of the disturbance was quite minor as it turned out. A group of lesser Plains Raptors, gorging themselves on the carcass of some unfortunate herbivore.
“Well, that’s far less than I expected,” Syr let out a bemused hum. “Should we just go around?”
“There isn’t a Greater around, we can just em to scram. They’ll come back later,” Ard chuckled as he drew his wand, giving it a bit of a spin. “Wanna see a good trick for getting the lesser out of your hair? Doubt these ones’ll behave like what you and Soren hunted the other day.”
“Don’ make it too loud now,” Branmek sighed. “Last thing we need is ta’ go attractin’ something big right as we’re on a good path.”
“Relax,” though as Ard readied his spell, the troublesome glint in his eyes didn’t do much to dissuade Branmek’s worries. Sellen looked far more amused. “It’ll be like a firecracker! Not somethin’ that’ll be heard halfway across the woods.”
With a flick of his wrist, a small ball of light flew from Ard’s want and sailed right towards the pack of Raptors. After bouncing off their feed, the ball burst into a small flash of light, producing a loud crack that barely echoed across the air. But, the sound was loud enough to disturb the raptors, and no doubt further disoriented from the flash as well, they were quick to dash off as they barked to the air.
“See? Barely anything at all. And if anything did notice, they’ll be after the noisy pests instead of us.”
“Huh… I never thought of that kind of spell before,” Syr had a hand to her chin, rerunning the image of what she’d seen in her head. “That really does come across as handy.”
“All I did is replicate the effect of a flashbang grenade, nothing too complicated,” Ard chuckled as he gave his wand a spin. “Sometimes it’s better to disorient someone and scram then get into a fight. Or in this case make them scram.”
Continuing onward, hopefully to be further undisturbed as they went, attention was kept at full just to be sure. Though the further the party got, the more Soren started to feel that sense of unease coming back around, his right-hand flexing and relaxing as he just couldn’t shake the sensation.
Come on, just relax a bit… we’re just past halfway there, and there hasn’t been a sign of the thing yet. For all we know another team ran into it already. Or… is this feeling for another reason? As he mulled it over, Soren flinched as the hairs at the back of his neck stood. In the same moment, Sellen seemed to catch onto his sudden alertness.
“Above!” at Soren’s shout, the party shot back, a fireball sailing past were they had been and crashing into the ground, exploding and sending shards of molten stone flying through the air. Syr and Ard’s quick wards prevented any damage, but whatever had tried to get them clearly didn’t seem to have aimed to hit… or it couldn’t haven.
That same deep, booming roar they had heard before the crash echoed across the trees. And crashing down from above was, without any doubt from the party, the very Reiusuth they had seen fighting the Shadow. Just like the Plains Raptors Soren and Syr had fought, its body was darkened and discolored, its maw flecked with the black tar substance and its eyes constricted, wild even. But most tellingly was the cut across its body, oozing in blackened, charred flesh cauterized by the attack that had brought their transport down.
“Impressed the thing isn’t bloody dead,” Ard let out a nervous chuckle. “Definitely isn’t in any state to just… leave us alone, is it?”
“With eyes like that?” Sellen lifted her lance, the mechanical weapon opening as she gripped it two-handed. “No way it’s letting us pass without a fight. That… and look at it. It’s got a foot in the grave already.”
“Shame, really,” Branmek lifted his axe from his back, spinning the haft as a flick of his left arm readied the collapsible shield mounted on his gauntlet. “But, that was part of our mission: Put down any Beasts that Shadow’s gotten to with its blasted infection or wha’ever it is.”
“The way this ether feels…” Syr shut her eyes for a moment. And when she opened them, there was a resolute gaze to them as she raised her staff. “Whatever this Shadow is… the way it’s ether disturbs everything from the air to this Beast… there’s no way we can’t stop it here.”
“This won’t be an easy one,” Soren put his hand to his sword’s hilt, taking to the front with Sellen. “These guys are trouble enough under normal circumstances. And now we’ve got one half-dead and driven mad by some Wyrm’s power. Syr, ready to let us see what you can do in a real fight? This isn’t gonna be like your initiation test.”
“Of course,” Syr gave Soren a confident look as he glanced back at her. “I knew what I was getting into when I decided on this. I’ve got your back.”
“Hehe, good to hear,” Soren drew his sword, a flick of its trigger igniting the blade with bright blue light. “Let’s make this quick! For this thing’s sake as much as our own!”
The Reiusuth roared, the air shaking as flames ignited at its maw. And as the gout of flame loosed, the party dispersed away. As Sellen and Soren charged down the sides of the jet of fire, Syr interrupted the flames with a quick lightning spell, the bolt crashing into the Reiusuth’s neck, scorching past the scales and causing enough damage to cut off the flames spewing from its jaw.
Ard swung his wand in a low swing, a streak of ice rushing across the ground, bursting upwards into a spike, catching the Reiusuth as it was reeling from Syr’s lightning, its head crashing right into the spear and more of its scales sheering off. And with it stunned from the two spells, Soren and Sellen struck. Both their weapons surged with energy as they struck, Soren’s sword striking home on the impact point from Syr’s spell while Sellen drove the lance into the wyvern’s torso.
But while the intent was a quick kill, Sellen’s eyes widened when she found her lance stopping short, barely getting the tip in before it stopped dead. And as the Reiusuth roared, Sellen and Soren retreated as it shook its body, scales flaring up to try and shred them as it shook, then spinning its body around, using its tail like a club to smash through Ard’s ice spike, sending shards flying across the ground and into the river. And as Soren’s retreat stopped, he was met with the Reiusuth carrying its spin around, its spiked tail swinging upwards, the intent to use it to try and smash him clear from the beast’s roar.
“I gotcha!” As Soren threw his hand up to cast a barrier, Branmek dashed in, his shield flaring with light as he raised it. Both barriers formed into a layered structure, the wyvern’s tail crashing into it hard. And while both Freelancer’s flinched, the barrier’s first layer shattering and the second layer cracking all over, it stopped the smash as intended. “Get it!”
Soren nodded as Branmek swung his axe up, catching the blade into the softer underside of the Reiusuth’s tail. And as it was pulling up, taking the Dwarf with it, Soren had his opening. Pulling the blade’s trigger, the edge met the base of the end of the tail right as light burst along the blade. And in a clean cut, the end of the tail was severed, the Reiusuth falling backwards from the change in weight as the lost section of its tail flopped to the ground.
“Ard, Syr, make sure it won’t get up on us!” Sellen was already readying her lance again as the Reiusuth flopped around, fighting to regain its balance.
Quick spells from Ard and Syr snared the struggling wyvern with earthen restraints, Sellen dodging past its talons as it tried to slash at her. And with a burst of power at the end of her lance, Sellen was sent rocketing forward, driving the weapon deep into the Reiusuth’s torso. The beast roared and flailed, trying to break free of its restraints in its careless frenzy.
“Soren, bit of help here!” Sellen ducked as a talon swipe almost got her, shoving her lance further in to try and finish the thing off.
“Just quiet down, will you?!” As Soren charged, he leapt over a fireball the thrashing wyvern let loose, electricity sparking around his sword as he came down, stabbing the blade right into the beast’s neck, slamming it through a gap in its scales and piercing right through, with a pull of his trigger releasing the spell charge, sending the electricity blasting through the wyvern’s body as Sellen pulled her lance free. And after a moment of Soren holding the charge, the wyvern finally fell silent, it’s trashing stopping right as it broke the rushed restraints, its head flopped to the ground as it wheezed out on last breath.
“Well… that was violent,” Ard approached the wyvern as Soren withdrew his blade, removing the blood left on it with a quick flick. “I mean, sure the things fight like hell, but this one… didn’t even seem like it cared how much it got hurt.”
“Just like what we said with those Raptors,” said Syr. “Fighting without a care for how its injured, but also seeming to just be acting on instinct… whatever the Shadow can do with that residue it leaves behind, it isn’t pretty.”
“No kiddin’,” Branmek knelt by the Reiusuth’s maw, prodding at some of said residue and rubbing it on his glove. “Ain’t seen ether residue like this before. Not that good at this whole sensing stuff, but even I can feel somethin’ is just bloody off about it.”
“All the more reason to track that Shadow down and find out what the heck is even going on with it,” Sellen shifted her spear back to its carry mode, hefting it to her shoulder. “Let’s phone in the kill so they collect the body ASAP. Don’t want those raptors coming back and picking up whatever the hell drove this thing half mad.”
As Ard was readying his Deck to make the call, the air split with that shrieking roar they knew had to be the Shadow’s. And following that roar, an inky black shape shot right past the party, headed right along to their destination. A glimpse so brief as it flew along they could only confirm it was absolutely the same shape they had seen not that long ago. And Soren felt a pulse of heat run up his right arm, putting his left hand to his forearm as he felt it almost burn.
“The… hell?!” As that burning feeling refused to leave him, Soren yelped as it turned to a piercing pain in his skull. And with it came fuzzy images. Images of something dark, coated in burning wisps of power as grand wings flared outwards. And somehow, a sense of dread that came off as worryingly familiar.
“Soren?” Sellen stepped over, putting a hand on Soren’s shoulder as his breathing got heavy. “You okay?”
“Not really…” able to admit that much, Soren stood straight, removing his hand from his forearm. “But I’ll manage. We need to get after that thing.”
“Are you sure?” Syr stepped over next, her palm already aglow and with a small drift of wind. “I know the Reiusuth didn’t hit any of us, but if you need something to ease whatever that was…”
“It’s passed,” Soren shook his head, taking in a deep breath. “I’ll explain later. But for now, let’s keep on the job. If we just saw it, it means we’re ahead of the other teams. We need to tell them too.”
“I’ll do both that and call in our kill,” said Ard. “And I’ll fast about it too.”
Soren nodded, and the party resumed their trek, but now at a much faster pace than they had been. The sense of urgency was rising, and whatever it was, Soren felt this had something to do with that voice he had heard. And they could do nothing but face it head on… whatever it truly was.