Galactic High

“My blessings!” Alora cried out in warning as she shut her eyes in concentration. “They’re fading!”

“Geek the mage!” Nika yelled out, following Chiyo’s pointing finger as she let loose a burst of plasma fire towards the ugly crone. The witch growled out a word of power in response, raising her arm to direct a wall of sodden mud that rose out of the earth to absorb the shots. The two Skinwalkers peeled off and dashed to the sides, not directly going for the group, but looking to hide in the now almost overbearing fog.

“Stay close!” Jack warned as he felt Sephy’s back touch his as the Skritta aimed at one of the Skinwalkers, the foul beast zipping from side to side in supernaturally swift erratic movements. The Skritta’s plasma bursts hissed through the air, but they found no purchase, disappearing into the menacing fog with nothing more than a faint sizzle. Jack kept his eyes behind them, allowing the others to overtake him as he sent bursts of heavy plasma fire back the way they came. He concentrated his fire on the larger, hulking giant mushrooms that attempted to shield his attempts with their large club-like arms, but also dropped several of the smaller creatures that were trying to sneak up on them through the ever-thickening mist.

Aided him in covering their rear was Dante, who barked out in anger as the ‘dog’ blasted jolts of lightning at anything that moved, the electricity devastating the monsters clusters at a time, though Jack didn’t know how long his four-legged friend could keep it up as his friends were having trouble with what was ahead…

“Keep them in your sights!” Alora shouted, frustration creeping into her voice as she held a wand out, trying to predict the movements of the other Skinwalker as it circled around them like a predator trying to panic a herd of prey. She readied a spell as the monster let out an unnatural screech of rage after Chiyo was able to hit it with an elemental blast of water.

“Izorinn!” Alora yelled out, seizing the opportunity, sending several chains of light blasting out of the ground, aimed at the staggered beast.

Despite being slowed by its recent wounds, the Skinwalker nimbly dodged the first two chains that attempted to grab them, and prepared to charge towards Alora. But before it could move, a third chain caused it to stumble, wrapping around its ankle and quickly snaking up the leg as the creature roared in anger. It yanked at the chain with supernatural strength, struggling desperately to break free from the holy bindings as their radiant glow burned against the Skinwalker’s corrupted flesh…

“I can’t hold it for long!” Alora warned.

“Blast that fucker!” Sephy yelled out.

Everyone that could pivoted to the called-out target and unleashed a barrage of plasma fire at the Skinwalker. Bright bursts of energy streaked through the air, slamming with sizzling impacts as they struck the creature’s torso, limbs and face, sending chunks of seared flesh flying. The creature screeched out in agony, the sound echoing through the plains, before there was an almighty *SNAP* as the Skinwalker broke free from Alora’s Chains of Light.

The sheer volume of firepower had forced the creature to its knees, its strength faltering under the onslaught and its desperate thrashing about. But despite the grievous injuries, Alora could see the wounds begin to close, and the smouldering burns started to be replaced by new skin as its regenerative abilities began to kick in, with the creature’s eyes glowing a bright red of rage.

It’s healing! Don’t let up! Chiyo warned as she lashed out with telekinetic power at the other Skinwalker, who had circled around to try and catch them off guard. Jack quickly let loose a burst of covering fire down range, then rushed up to join the others in concentrating their fire, until finally the creature’s regeneration began to falter under the relentless assault, with one devastating bolt of plasma fire from Sephy catching the Skinwalker directly in the face, right between the eyes. The plasma bolt punched through the Skinwalker’s forehead, exploding out the back of its skull in a shower of bone and black gore. Finally, the creature’s eyes dimmed, the glow fading as its burning body slumped to the ground.

Nice hit, Sephy! Chiyo acknowledged, and the Skritta grinned despite the situation.

“Don’t celebrate just yet!” Nika warned, as the wall of mud the witch had summoned suddenly disappeared, revealing nothing behind it.

“Shit! Where is it?” The Kizun yelled, as she looked around, picking off targets as more creatures had begun to encircle them again, taking advantage of the group’s efforts to focus down the Skinwalker. “Does anyone have eyes on the mage?”

“No, but we’ve gotta keep moving!” Jack growled, as they heard the whispering and giggling in the mists around them as the Death Candles flickered all around them once again. “These shroom things are gonna swarm us otherwise!”

“He’s right!” Alora confirmed. “Sephy?”

“Drone can’t find the caster!” the Skritta confirmed distractedly as she let out a few covering bursts as a group of the smaller creatures, who looked like they were summoning walls of earth to provide cover for their forces. “Nor the other Skinwalker!”

“Could they have retreated?” Jack asked as he and Dante ran ahead of the group, with the human clearing a path by unleashing a full-auto burst of heavy plasma fire into a particularly large giant mushroom. He cursed as he was forced to quickly reload as the mycelium got ever closer, though thankfully he didn’t fumble the change of battery, his many hours of firearm practice during their evenings being well worth it.

“Fuck no,” Nika responded as she spurred the others forward, staying close as she sent bursts of covering fire behind them. “They’re still around, keep your eyes open!”

“Damn it! There’s no end to these assholes, and they’re barely flinching!” Sephy warned as she sent a burst towards some of the giant mushrooms ahead of them.

The larger ones are slow, Chiyo reassured her. Keep moving!

The party sprinted across the uneven ground, the damp earth sucking at their boots despite the ‘Featherstep’ enchantment Chiyo had cast on them, though whether this had been affected by the foul witch or not, Jack couldn’t tell. The hag was still around however, with the sound of cackling hot on their heels, though Chiyo did not detect any more spells being cast.

For now.

“Sephy? How are we looking?” Alora asked as she waved her wand, shooting a manaball at a cluster of the smaller creatures, the spell detonating and downing them as they moved to intercept the group.

“I can’t….Wait! She’s up there!” The Skritta warned as they heard cackling from above them, before something dropped from the sky ahead of them, crunching as it slammed to the ground.

“Shit! Drone down!” Sephy exclaimed, as a blurry form flew directly above them. “You fucking old cunt!” The Skritta cursed at the hag as she immediately took aim, blasting several bursts at the levitating figure above. Several missed due the magically blurry nature of the witch, but one clearly connected, eliciting a satisfying yelp of pain as the witch quickly landed back in the fog.

“I saw where it landed!” Jack spoke up. “Chiyo? Is there nothing you can do about the fog?”

I am! The Ilithii confirmed. I’ve been using my powers to try and blow it away where I can, but there’s too much of it around!

“Fair enough,” Jack grunted back as he got to one knee, lined up his sights and squeezed the trigger of his heavy plasma rifle, the shots punching through one of the smaller creature’s head with a wet splat, before another quickly took its place. “Dante?” He asked, looking down to the ‘dog’ by his side, who quickly looked back at the human on being addressed. “Can you help find Sephy’s drone?”

“Woof!” Dante confirmed as he quickly dashed ahead to the front of the group, while Jack kept the rearguard, as he saw that several of the larger creatures were moving quickly as the smaller creatures latched on the ride, using their abilities to somehow enhance the mushrooms which grew defensive plates and got bigger and bulkier, protecting their allies behind them.

Jack cursed under his breath. This threat moved with an unsettling coordination, more than proving their intelligence as they countered the group’s tactics and weaponry, but his instincts told him there was something more to it than that.

Though what that was, he didn’t know.

“Skinwalker!” Nika warned, as the monster leaped out from the shadows, its crooked limbs carrying it forward with unnatural speed as it charged for them. Its claws slashed through the air, barely missing Alora as Nika pulled her out of the way, with the Kizun firing the shotgun in retaliation. The Skinwalker snarled as the close-range blast caught it in the side, singeing its flesh as it continued its furious assault, its eyes glowing red with primal fury as it focused on Nika, who had to quickly use her tail to get out of range of the lethal razor claws.

No! Chiyo exclaimed. Quickly thinking, she recognised that the recent heavy rains had left the ground slick and muddy, which the group had been able to avoid so far thanks to her ‘Cane of Travel’ they received from Clan Ashtail. But at that instant, the Ilithii got an idea, using her abilities she had enhanced with the ‘Essence of Water’ they acquired from the Pallid Pit and channelling her hydrokinetic power into the earth beneath the furious Skinwalker.

As she focused heavily and trusted her friends to cover her, the ground beneath the Skinwalker suddenly rippled, and a surge of water erupted from the mud. The attack caught the skinwalker off guard as water coiled around its legs, pulling it off balance as the slick mud clung to and hobbled the monster, while a grateful Nika hopped away. Testing the limits of her powers, Chiyo twisted her hands and manipulated the water to form a swirling vortex that she heated up, scalding the screeching Skinwalker as it snarled and snapped towards her, unable to advance as it thrashed wildly.

Seeing the opportunity, Alora stepped forward, summoning her spear with a thought and channelling her power into the spiritual weapon before driving forward and thrusting her spear deep into its side. She reflexively pulled back, ducking under the backswing of one of its arms as the Skinwalker let out a bloodcurdling howl of pain. Alora didn’t hesitate, driving the spear deeper into its torso, twisting it as she channelled more divine power into the strike, seeing the radiant energy sear and burn the creature’s corrupted flesh.

Alora desperately held on to her spear as the creature’s claws lashed out uselessly, as she took advantage of the spear’s reach and kept just out of the Skinwalker’s range before it suddenly collapsed to the ground, as if the dark power puppeting it had just had its strings severed. The red light in its eyes dimmed, and its body smoked and cracked from the radiant energy still coursing through it.

“Well…that’s one way to kill them,” Alora quipped with a sigh as she dismissed her spear, moving back towards the group.

“Sure, let’s see if there’s a gun store around here that sells holy plasma batteries!” Sephy joked back.

“That's two down, but there might be more,” Jack warned. “Dante? Where’s Sephy’s drone?”

“Woof!” Dante barked as he ran forward a few metres and stopped.

“Good boy!” Sephy grinned as she picked up the hunk of metal and kissed it before frowning. She quickly put it in her bag, stumbling awkwardly as she zipped it back up and shucked it back on her shoulders. “Damn, can’t fix it quickly even if that witch wasn’t about.”

“We’ll have to make do!” Alora spurred them on, even as they began to tire. The tension in the air grew ever thicker as the group stopped for a brief moment to catch their breaths until, from the murk, they heard the distinct, guttural growls of several more beasts in the fog.

“Dogs!” Jack warned, as he spotted one of the sickly yellow hounds dashing towards them, easily hiding underneath the fog.

“Not these fucking things again!” Nika cursed as she quickly switched to her staff, twirling it around her at speed and lashing out as one of the ‘Shitbulls’ lept at them. Her blow caught it in its emaciated-looking ribs with a crunch, sending it clattering to the ground as it left behind a trail of black ichor. Spotting that another pack was running around to attack their other flank, Chiyo channelled her powers once more, lashing out in a telekinetic wave that blasted the pack backwards, sending them scattering.

Don’t let them slow us down! Chiyo warned as she spotted more of the fungal monsters stepping into view, and getting even closer…

“Watch out! Mage up ahead!” Sephy warned as she quickly moved to take aim, but had to change targets as one of the hounds made a charge for her. She quickly dropped the beast with a burst of plasma fire, before spotting the faint forms of more dashing through the fog.

Jack took a moment to turn his head, spotting the old crone in the distance. With a cruel smile, she raised her gnarled hands and began to chant in a rasping hiss.

Suddenly, black tendrils of energy shot out from the ground in front of him as he tried to shuffle back. One tendril wrapped around his leg, pulling tightly and holding him, and he somehow felt foggy in his mind, as if he couldn’t concentrate or summon his willpower to break away. Growling, Jack fought through it and kicked out, releasing the hold, and looked back to see that his friends were batting away more of the dark tendrils that were striking them. Sephy reacted quickly, turning around with a snapshot and sending another burst of plasma fire at the hag, connecting with a curse of pain from her as the spell was suddenly disrupted and the tendrils disappeared.

Snarling, the hag quickly cast something else as she flew up to avoid the Skritta’s further shots, thrusting her hands out towards a pack of the hounds and imbuing them with unnatural vigour Their movements became even more frenzied as their beady eyes grew more focused with a red light.

Kill the hag! Chiyo warned the others as she maintained a barrier of force to keep as many of the hounds at bay as she could. I can’t keep this up!

Jack churned the ground all around him as he unleashed a full-auto volley of heavy plasma fire, obliterating the enhanced hounds that the hag sent for him, before he snapped up and filled the sky with green fire. He caught the hag by surprise and it crashed to the ground, letting out a shriek of genuine pain as it picked itself up. It quickly shouted something in a guttural tongue, ordering the remaining hounds to target the human as it quickly sped into the fog again…

“Glitasha!” Alora yelled out, shooting a burst of glittering particles of light out of her wand, covering the hag and several of the nearby monsters with a twinkling dust that clung to them like glue, and making them completely visible in the fog…

“Thanks, Alora,” Nika growled under her breath as she dropped to one knee, having already drawn her sniper rifle, trusting the Eladrie to give her the welcome opportunity. Inhaling deeply and steadying her aim, the Kizun pulled the trigger.

The powerful plasma round pierced through the fog with lethal precision. The ugly crone’s eyes widened in shock, her yell cut off as it took her in the neck. She staggered back, her hands clutching at the wound as her dark, foul blood slipped between her fingers. Her voice faltered as she attempted to cast a spell, and the group felt something in the atmosphere around them clear and dissipate as the hag collapsed to her knees, then weakly to the ground as it bled out in the mud.

“Nice shot!” Jack grinned in relief as he saw the witch drop, and almost immediately the ranks of monsters around them began to falter. The fog began to dissipate somewhat, allowing the group to seize the moment and quickly drop several of the hounds as they recovered.

We’ve got this! Chiyo reassured the others. Finish them off!

The Ilithii concentrated as she drew upon the water from the sodden ground around her, raising her hands and swirling the water around her, solidifying it into sharp icicles which she hurled at the closest hound that was still up, piercing it through the creature’s emaciated hide with a yelp, and causing the beast to collapse in a pool of more black ichor.

“Pyrallis!” Alora yelled, pointing her wand and blasting out her ‘Firesnake’ spell that honed in on the enemies around them. Though it was less effective in the sodden weather, it did enough, outright slaying several of the hounds and smaller humanoids supporting the mushrooms, but also lighting them up for Jack, Nika, Sephy and Dante to light them up!

“About time! They’re thinning out!” Sephy realised, as the amount of monsters coming out of the fog was reducing by the minute.

“Don’t get cocky,” Nika warned as she switched back to her plasma rifle, latching her sniper rifle onto the magnetic clips on her back. “They could just be regrouping.”

“A girl can hope…” The Skritta sighed under her breath as a burst from her own plasma rifle took out the last of the hounds that had taken a run at her.

“Woof!” Dante barked angrily, as the markings on their body began to grow brightly before summoning a huge ball of lightning behind them, surprising the giant mushrooms and their smaller custodians as jolts of electricity burst out from the ball to shock and stagger them.

“You couldn’t have done your ‘Tesla Coil’ trick earlier?” Jack joked with a raised eyebrow at the ‘dog’, who stared back for a moment with wide eyes and gave a quick bark, though what it meant, Jack had no idea.

The wet ground might have made it bad for us, Chiyo noted. Or Dante was focused on something else.

“Doesn’t matter now, I guess,” Alora panted, as the worst of the fighting was now over. “We’ve got a reprieve, but we shouldn’t drop our guard.”

“We’re bloody tired from that, but we can’t stop for a break,” Nika decided, as they slowed down, taking potshots at any enemy they could still see.

“What the hell are these things?” Jack asked, indicating the giant mushroom-like bodies littering the ground around them, though his question could have just as easily applied to the smaller creatures that accompanied the Skinwalker to the cabin to ambush them, or the witch that may have been in command of the large mob that just attacked them.

I don’t know, Chiyo answered. But the Death Candles I do, by reputation. I should have recognised them when we were on the boat, but we’ve never encountered them physically before.

“We can always hit the books when we get back.” Sephy shrugged. “I mean, our client wants information, so we can squeeze some more cash if we find out what these things actually are.”

“True, but I doubt it will matter.” Alora sighed as she regained her energy. “Besides, you’re thinking too far ahead. When we get to the shrine we’ll be uncovering whatever we can anyway.”

“True,” the Skritta admitted. “But the final note of the local ranger didn’t exactly give us much to go on. These guys are sneaky.”

“Yeah, they’re well coordinated too,” Nika added. “Far better than normal monsters would be.”

Not only that, but these things tended to bleed the same despite being completely different species, Chiyo spoke up curiously, deep in thought. But what is the unifying factor that connects them all? They’re fungal I think, but that fact doesn’t exactly paint a big picture…

“There’s also what we know of what they’ve been doing before we got here,” Jack added. “Killing some, taking others, and what were probably some surgical strikes too, like at the Corvin Outpost. Why would these monsters do that?”

“Speculating won’t do us any good,” Alora reminded the team, getting them to focus. “Let’s go!”

The group, victorious but still weary, continued their cautious journey through the pitch black night, with no ambient light to guide their way. Though Alora had her lights in front of them, and Dante kept things around them clear, Jack knew that the light, no matter how faint it was, would draw attention like a dinner bell for any hungry predators around them.

But what choice did they have?

The Death Candles, though diminished as an immediate threat, continued to hover in the distance, their ghostly lights flickering ominously as they shadowed the group. The group remained as silent as they could, only communicating on subvocal comms to avoid drawing any more attention from the dark forces lurking in the wilderness.

Every step they took was deliberate as they navigated the desolate plains, moving in a tight formation with weapons at the ready. Every one of them was on full alert for another ambush, acutely aware of the dangers that could be lurking just beyond the veil of mist, but nothing came.

If anything, that put them even more on edge.

They didn’t dare stop as they walked, sipping water and nibbling on power bars to try and keep themselves going as they kept hiking, making a few more miles, though not knowing for sure what they’d be walking into with no drone in the sky to scout ahead for them. They passed by the ruins of an old farmhouse, its skeletal frame looming out of the darkness as Alora’s dancing lights spun around. The building was nothing more than a crumbling husk, its wooden beams splintered and rotting, and the group didn’t dare investigate, keeping their distance as they passed it by.

In the old fields behind it they came across a grove of fruit trees, likely the modern-day remnants of what was once an orchard, though these trees were ancient, their trunks swollen with age, and the ground beneath them was littered with the rotting remains of fallen fruit, with a few still on the trees that Alora dared to pick but didn’t eat, wanting to test them back home instead.

As the group pressed on through the pitch-black night, the darkness around them seemed to deepen with every step. The only sounds they could hear were the crunch of their boots on the uneven ground and the occasional rustle of dead leaves caught by the wind, while the ghostly lights kept their distance as they shadowed them. As they carried on, the mist around their ankles slowly rose and grew thicker, causing Jack to try and waft it away as it came up to his waist.

Suddenly Dante barked loudly in warning, though the ‘dog’ couldn’t seem to focus on any one thing as he looked around them.

“What’s wrong Dante?” Alora asked as she looked around, her vision seeming to blur in the dark before her eyes focused on an ominous figure emerging through the fog. Tall, wearing finery with pronounced cheekbones and an imperious expression, the Eladrie governess regarded Alora with disgust, just as she did constantly all those years ago…

“I will teach you to obey one way or another, girl…” The Eladrie woman sneered, pulling out a thin, white cane.

“I’m not a child any more, Lady Fane!” Alora yelled in anger, as she summoned her spear, and roared a challenge of defiance, charging with all of her hate.“I will so enjoy killing you!”