by J M Hamm
I quickly realized that I had blocked off everything outside of what was necessary for the run itself. Instead, I had been focusing solely on running and the feeling of wind across my face and rhythm of the earth beneath my feet. It had felt freeing and euphoric but was foolish.
The Fisher had been screaming in the back of mind, warning me. As I came to a stop, I could feel its frantic pleading as it called out to me, but it took me a moment to regain my senses. What is it bugging me about now? I thought.
I called out to the creature, but it returned only feelings of excitement and fear. A desire to run overwhelmed with a sense of battle lust. A fight was coming, but all I could see was grass dancing in the gentle breeze.
I was vaguely aware of a rustling sound when something large and heavy struck the back of my knees. I collapsed, and my shoulders struck the ground with a heavy thump that drove the wind from my lungs. My legs were the only part of me remaining airborne when something long and tensile wrapped around my left calf before tightening and dragging me into the air to dangle only a few feet above the ground.
Two beady black eyes stared at me from above a mouth full of multiple rows of tiny, razor-sharp teeth. Enormous buck teeth poked out from beneath the snout of the creature, giving the otherwise razor filled maw an awkward appearance. Its ‘fur’ was green and mangy, like patches of grass growing out of diseased and putrid flesh.
On its back was a large growth, much like the bulb of a flower. Thick black vines grew from the wilting top of the bulb and thrashed around the creature as they pounded at my ribs and limbs.
I immediately activated my Arcane Shield and conjured a bladed staff of eldritch energy in my left hand. I lashed out at the appendage while grasping my leg, but I found myself being swung around and thrust into the ground. My head rang, and my stomach lurched as I tried to move. Bright flashes of light swam through my vision, accompanied by a symphony of tinnitus.
The mild confusion and nausea quickly passed, and my shield had protected me from the worst of the damage — even my mana was mostly untouched. I was once more tugged into the air as I struck wildly with my conjured staff. Energy crackled as I began to create eldritch spikes in the air above me. Each was as long as a flagpole and pointed downward at my enemy.
This proved to be overkill, however, when I heard the screech of a giant bird of prey piercing through the sky. The vine holding me fell to the ground, releasing me to roll into the sea of grass.
“Dammit,” I cried out. “What the hell was that thing.”
I sat up and looked at the creature. A large hole had been drilled through its head, and a giant kingfisher sat upon its shattered skull pulling long strips of flesh from the creature’s back.
“Nice save, but I’m not sure you should be eating that.”
The bird gave no response, so I walked over to the creature and gave it a closer examination. It had the general shape of a large rat, and the two buck teeth reinforced my theory. A large, green bulb grew from the center of the creature’s back, and thin, branching tendrils of plant matter grew down into the rat’s flesh — fusing plant and animal.
The bulb itself was made of four large leaves that closed into a point at the crest. The top of the bulb was slightly open, revealing red and gold petals. Thick black vines still grew from the center of the bulb but were beginning to liquefy and seep into the ground beneath the creature.
I closed my eyes, readying myself to use the Eye of Madness to gather more information about the rat but a sharp chirp interrupted my concentration. I looked up at the bird, still feasting on the body, and I saw it shake its head slightly as if it to warn me.
Instead, the Companion sent me an image of several more creatures around us. Bulbs, just like the one atop the giant rat, were hidden beneath the grass and spread around us at even intervals. I counted at least seven, but it was impossible to be sure.
“So, what do you suggest?”
It looked up at me once more, before sucking down a strip of flesh in one gulp as if it were eating spaghetti. Images once more invaded my mind, outlining its plan.
“Okay,” I said, “we’ll do it your way this time.”
Chapter Thirty-four: Out of the Breach
My own eyes were unable to see the enemies that were spread out in the grass around me. I knew that they were there only because the Fisher had shared its memories with me, revealing the area around us in an incredibly detailed birds-eye-view map. It seemed unlikely that they would continue to wait for long.
I would need to strike as fast and as lethally as possible before the creatures had a chance to launch their own attack. I closed my eyes, trying to build an image in my mind that contained the location of each of the bulbs and their direction and distance relative to myself, but simple memories and images wouldn’t be enough. I needed to see.
I took control of the Fisher’s senses, trying to concentrate on only using its sight. I split my focus, using my bodies senses to listen and feel the vibrations in the air and ground.
I saw myself standing on a small, bald hill like an island sticking up above waves of grass. Spores had spread out to fill the air around me with a blue haze as they danced upon eddies of wind that spun them into tight spirals and dizzying patterns.
Below the haze, eight lines of rippling grass encircled me. Each row was rushing towards me from a different direction. Only the unusual pattern of movement showed that anything was wrong. Nothing could be seen within the ripples and they created no noise as they sped through the grass, parting it slightly behind them.
I felt the Fisher grow anxious, its talons flexing, as it began a dive.
Seven of the ripples came to a sudden stop and the grass began to weave together before growing into tall bulbs that appeared directly behind where the ripples had ended. The eighth ripple did not stop, instead, exploding into motion as claws and matted fur crashed into me from behind.
My split focus had delayed my reflexes. I only lived because the other seven had held back, perhaps in caution as their opening attack probed my defense. The intelligence and coordination this showed terrified me. If humankind lost our only advantage, intelligence, to beasts, then what hope did we have to thrive in this new environment?
The rat-plant thing that had attacked me proved that they were capable of incredible levels of stealth as well as debilitating sneak attacks. I wasn’t sure I could handle the remaining monsters if they were able to get the drop on me. So far, they had remained hidden, but it had only been a scant few seconds since the first attack had ended.
I would need to either attack all seven at the same time or find a way to defend against their immediate counter attack. I hated being on the defensive as it always felt like a losing strategy. Luckily, the Fisher had its own ideas about how we should handle the situation.
Whatever the creature might be, it was not subtle. It had shared with me images detailing its plan to take out the creatures, though calling it a plan might be giving it too much credit. I sighed as I mentally agreed, giving it my permission to act.
Now was not the time to reign in its bloodlust or its twisted sense of humor.
The Fisher turned into a cloud of black and red smoke that flickered with its own internal light. The sun still shone in a clear blue sky above a field of rolling green and spinning sapphire, and yet for a moment, it was as if all color was drained from the world save for that infernal red glimmer.
I snapped out of the moment, fully concentrated on my own senses, as I heard the familiar sounds of bones cracking. The slain rat-plant creature had slowly begun to rise from the ground with slow, twisting motions. It looked unnatural, like strings attached the creature to a sinister puppeteer.
At first, the creature’s stance was unsteady, and it wobbled upon weak knees and its head jerked back and forth in erratic, spine-cracking motions. The limbs quickly stiffened as the Fisher brought the corpse under its control. The creature gave out a roar as it charged forward and disappeared into the grass.
Eldritch Mimicry gave me the ability to give these shadow illusions ‘realness,’ which allowed the smoke to take on a viscous quality that would cling to anything it touched, hampering their movements. The grass grew heavy and began to flatten.
I felt the Fisher reach its first target, sharp fangs bit into cold flesh as vines wrapped around limbs. My mind was full of confusing images shared through our bond, and I could sense the metallic taste of blood as it slid across my companion’s tongue. Apparently, the strips of flesh it had torn from the body of its current host had not been enough to satisfy its appetite.
As soon as the Companion met its first target, I followed the plan and opened the Eye of Madness, choosing to use it as a group debuff rather than focusing it on a single object. I could feel a physical eye appear in the middle of my forehead, closed but slowly opening.
Images of fire filled my vision as the eye grew wider. My eyes stung, and I could taste smoke as it sought to invade my lungs. I coughed, grabbing at my throat as if I could not breathe. I looked around to see an inferno had consumed the grassland around me. Screams rose up like the howls of the earth itself — rising from beneath my feet in a deep rumble.
I was lost in the illusion for a moment, but I would not allow myself to succumb to my own attack. I pushed the images away, using every shred of willpower and Focus I had left. As reality returned the rumbling screech rising from the ground crashed into me like a physical wave, sending my hands up to my ears.
The earth shook, not in a steady rhythm, but in large, violent jerks as if explosions were being set off deep below. The grass began to sway and stretch out in every direction. I could feel their pain, each blade of grass a single nerve that exploded in agony as fire consumed it. My own nerves cried out in sympathy and I sank to my knees as I fought back against the anguish.
The eye on my forehead threatened to close as my Focus waned. I brought shaking hands up to feel my bleeding nose, shouting in rage as I fought against the fatigue. The eye closed a bit more, the only thing keeping it open was my stubborn refusal to give in to the pain. I only needed a few more moments …
My Pain Tolerance skill did little to block the illusory pain as my muscles clenched and my vision began to swim in flashing lights. I held out, feeding the pain into my anger — allowing my rage to grow rather than succumb to the weakness.
I stood and looked out over the grassy field once more. I had it, the location of each creature was blazoned into my mind. The Fisher shared this information, immediately transforming into a giant kingfisher bird as it exploded into the air leaving its former host as a mist of red and green.
It hunted, its motions quick and efficient. The beak and claws of the bird effortlessly tore through each skull as easily as it had torn into the skull of the first rat. Unable to hide, they were defenseless to the bird.
My concern did not lessen, however, as I was drawn into a greater connection — a link between each of the slain monsters. Deep beneath me was … something. I could feel it, a system of roots tangled beneath the ground drawing sustenance from above. The grass, the roots, and my attackers were all a single organism, a single mind with a singular goal. To feed.
The Eye of Madness drifted closed, and I fell once more to my knees. I could feel myself slowly losing my grip on reality. It was becoming harder to tell who I was, the man or the plant beneath his feet, and the feeling of my nerves burning soon became unbearable.
I had to expel these invaders on my surface!
I stood, letting the eye fade, leaving only a faint glow where it had been on my forehead. I felt a dull ache in my chest, and my breathing was heavy and came in uncontrolled gasps. A deep cough that rattled my chest. At the same time, I could feel the earth beginning to quiet. As I looked out, I saw the grass go still.
Even the breeze had gone silent.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as the grass began to sink into the ground, leaving behind a plain of dirt filled with small holes and littered with corpses. It was like standing on a giant scalp and watching strands of hair being sucked back into the skin — incredibly unsettling.
The newly bare earth revealed seven bodies laid out around me in an almost a perfect circle. Each corpse had either a large bulb or a red and gold flower growing from its back, and thick tendrils of plant matter growing into its flesh. They were not all the same creature, however.
I saw two more of the mutant rats, now dead and broken. Among the dead were also what looked like a giant praying mantis, a horse, and some kind of dog that had grown as large as a sedan and was covered in thick cords of bulging and asymmetric musculature. The remaining two bodies were too mutilated to recognize, other than being able to tell that they had been some kind of quadruped.
I didn’t truly understand what kind of creature I was up against, but it seemed clear it was retreating. It was impossible to say for how long it would do so. A panicked and cornered creature the size of an entire golf course was not something I felt ready to take on directly. As effective as the Eye of Madness had been, it would have diminishing returns and was nearly as debilitating to me as it was to any potential enemy.
The Fisher was still in its avian form, once more feasting on carrion while showing no distinction between flesh and plant. It seemed to be absorbing eldritch energy directly from the air. It had no need to eat.
The battle hadn’t done much for me either, as I had gained only a single level in Eye of Madness as well as roughly enough XP to progress ten percent towards my next level. I didn’t stick around to examine these gains, however, instead choosing to escape while I still had the chance.
I put as much distance between the site of the battle as I could and quickly eliminated most of the distance across the golf course. The black tar of a nearby road soon came into view, and I poured everything I had into the sprint as if I was in the final stretches of a race.
I quickly reached my destination, but what I found there almost made me want to turn around and take my chances with the sentient golf course. It, at least, I understood.
The road was cracked and overgrown and had the empty shells of cars littering its length. Across the street I saw a half-collapsed building, now spilling bricks and green shingles into the street.
The more important detail was the large metallic box the size of a single-story house and supported by wheels as high as I was tall. It was angular and sleek and painted with white lines and alien symbols. Three large turrets stood atop its roof, and many smaller guns lined its sides.
Standing atop the vehicle, beside an open hatch, was a familiar face.
“I see you have managed to survive, Mr. Finn.”
Chapter Thirty-five: Isolation
I stepped towards the alien captain, gravel cracking as I crushed it between my boots and the hard pavement. The Fisher was screaming warnings in the back of my mind, but I didn’t need the blotchy images it sent to know that there were two soldiers approaching from behind. They had given up all pretenses of stealth. Each step was like the pounding of a drum, but I had no illusions I would have heard them had they not wished it.
It was a warning. We are here, behave, they seemed to say.
I briefly wondered how long they had been following me, but it was useless speculation if they were even half as talented as Catayla. They could have been my shadow since I’d first stepped onto the beach, and I’d have never known.
Sebbit climbed down from the top of the massive transport — more of a tank really. His skin was a crimson that was a few shades darker than the blood red of his uniform. The raised bumps and jagged scars that lined his face gave him him the appearance of being hewn from coarse rock.
He carried no weapon, but still h
eld himself with an air of intimidating strength. The captain was shorter than any of his soldiers, but I still had to look up to make eye contact and I was considered tall, at least by human standards.
Four massive Peacekeepers flanked their commanding officer, two on each side. Several more stood atop the vehicle, each staring down at me with steely eyes. The giant soldiers stood at perfect attention, with one hand resting on the butt of their rifles and unreadable expressions on their faces.
“Sebbit,” I said, subconsciously raising my hands slightly to keep them in view. “Is everything all right? Do you know where Catayla and the others are?”
“My subordinate is fine, Mr. Finn,” the alien said in the dull monotone of his computer translator. “As are the rest of your companions. I understand they are worried about your fate and are most likely looking forward to a reunion. I hope to facilitate that meeting as soon as I am able.”
Sebbit walked closer, his pace slow and measured. He kept eye contact with me the whole time, and even though his body language was relaxed my instincts screamed at me that I was in danger.
“Are they here?” I asked, slightly raising my chin to point towards the massive vehicle that Sebbit had descended from. “I’ve been trying to join back up with them. We got separated after an attack on the river — we were actually trying to help Catayla find you.”
“I have been briefed, Mr. Finn. Thank you for your assistance in the matter.”
“How did you find them?” I asked. “And how did you find me so quickly? I appreciate it, of course, but I’m surprised to find you here … waiting for me?”
In answer, Sebbit reached down to his belt and unclipped a small disk with a single depression in the center. “Every Peacekeeper carries one of these. I believe you have one as well, yes?”
I nodded.