Galactic High

“Come on then!” Jack taunted the Skinwalkers with a furious growl, his red-hot anger on full display as he raised his heavy plasma rifle and flicked a switch.

*THWOOP*

He fired a grenade with his underbarrel launcher at the pack, who swiftly dispersed before it arced down and detonated in a powerful explosion, though he grinned as he spotted chunks of black, putrid flesh paint the back of the district wall. As quick as they were individually, the Skinwalkers still couldn’t dodge quickly enough in a group. He fired several more which chewed into the enemy ranks, though he couldn’t tell if he hit any more of the evil shapeshifters.

Take them down! Chiyo panicked as she stated the obvious, while the Skinwalkers quickly dispersed among the tide of Myrelings and Blightcaps that were spreading out of the bottleneck. Twigspawn from up on the surrounding walls peppered them with arrows, which seemed to barely have an effect. The swarm of fungus poured out of the gate, forming ranks even as the concentrated plasma fire scorched through the air, dropping many of the monsters yet doing little to stem the tide as more continued to dash in, stumbling over the bodies.

“Damn, they’re fully committed to this!” Nika cursed as she quickly reloaded, slapping another battery into her plasma rifle before chuckling. “At least they’re not trying to be subtle anymore!”

“Hold them off!” Alora barked, her voice steely with resolve. “Sephy, any update on your drones?”

“More coming, don’t see any priority targets!” The Skritta reported between bursts. “The swarm is starting to thin at the back, but there’s a fucking lot of them!”

“Keep them back!” Elysandra warned as she raised one of her hands, causing roots to burst out of the ground and entangle a bunch of monsters at the gate, though the effect was negligible as more simply climbed over them. “I have more defences growing! If we can hold out long enough, I’ll have a vessel to awaken this forest’s guardian to turn the tide!”

More bolts of searing energy punched into the fungal masses of the Blightcaps attempting to shield the rest of the horde from harm, bursting through their grotesque forms and sending clumps of spore-infested flesh flying in all directions.

“I’m right here you fungal fucks!” Jack roared, fully in the zone as he unleashed a barrage of plasma fire that tore through the thick hides of the Blightcaps on the front line. One particularly large brute staggered to the forefront, but before it could gain any momentum, Jack threw a grenade at its feet. The explosion ripped through the creature’s lower half, sending its upper body flying back into the horde.

“Yeah!” He taunted, feeling a kind of thrill he hadn’t felt before surging through him even as his nerves were grating on him. “That’s how we do it on Earth, motherfuckers!”

“They’re not endless, keep it up!” Alora called out as a Myreling suddenly burst through the line, this one looking different to the others. It was somewhat taller, with pale stones integrated into its mutable form, and its milky-white eyes were narrowed in the fury of a berserker as it charged straight at her with an overgrown limb studded with heavy stones. A burst of plasma fire was absorbed by the large plate in the centre of its chest, Sephy cursing as the beast leapt over the barricade.

Its jagged stone axe-like limb swung towards Alora’s head, but with a graceful pirouette she sidestepped the blow, twisting around in one fluid motion to send her spear plunging through its side, igniting with radiant holy power that tore through its body, dropping it instantly.

“Not today!” Alora muttered under her breath, quickly turning back to face the next wave.

Standing shakily behind the barricade, Chiyo’s mind was split as her different headspaces worked to control the battlefield, not even bothering to float. She focused her mind on subtly pushing enemies into each other, while also hurling the explosives she had left into the heart of the enemy forces. Acid vials shattered on impact to melt through the fungal hordes, while alchemical bombs detonated with bursts of fire and shrapnel, carving out chunks of the Blightcaps as they charged.

As she reached out with her mind, Chiyo felt a sinister presence lurking on the edge of her perception. As she focused on the sensation, her eyes widened as she realised where it was.

Incoming from beneath! Chiyo echoed telepathically.

“Their dark presence pushes back the sanctity of this place!” Elysandra cursed.

Knowing she couldn’t allow the creature below to ambush them, Chiyo focused her power and reached into the ground with her telekinesis, her mind straining with the effort even as Elysandra softened the ground. She yanked the Blightcap up from beneath the earth before it could fully erupt underneath Jack, the creature clearly having been modified by the Myrelings with rapid burrowing in mind.

Take it out! Chiyo called out to whoever might listen, recognising the bloated fungal sacs on the thing as the explosive kind they had seen before.

“Got it!” Jack called back, levelling his blunderbuss at the thing before blasting out a cone of white-hot plasma that obliterated the thing in a powerful detonation, the force of the shot wiping out its fellows around it. Jack then began to reload the gun, cursing as he fumbled with the single-use batteries, not used to handling the weapon at all.

Well done! Chiyo called back, feeling her energy begin to wane as the constant heavy expenditure of her powers began to take their toll…

As the fungal horde continued to press forward, Nika gripped her sleek plasma rifle firmly in her hands, steadying her breathing as she squeezed the trigger in rapid succession, letting out accurate bursts that slowed the Blightcaps down. She swore as she realised that they were very quickly adapting to their tactics with the aid of the Myrelings, who were reinforcing their natural armour. Still, her aim was true, hitting joints to trip the evil mushrooms up, anything to slow them down. She cursed again as the Myrelings got bolder, charging through the gaps among the Blightcaps. She fired, though growled as her shots flew harmlessly through the illusion.

“Motherfucker!” She swore, now really pissed off. “Let’s make this more personal!” She muttered as with a swift, fluid motion, Nika holstered her rifle and unslung her shotgun, making sure she was going to have more enemies in the direct line of fire.

She was going to hit something, damn it!

As the quickest Myrelings reached the barricade, Nika obliterated the closest ones in a deafening blast, their bodies exploding in a puff of spores that caused Nika to waft the air in front of her with her tail.

Watch out, they’re going to reach us! Chiyo told the others as the distance between them and the horde grew ever smaller by the second, even as the Ilithii used her telekinetic powers to trip and rip apart the approaching tide. We’ll need to fall back again soon!

“Hold your nerve!” Nika replied, laying down more suppressing fire. “Wait until the last moment! Let Alora make the call to fall back! Druid, how long do you need?”

“I’m almost done with the summoning!” Elysandra called out as she spread her hands out in front of her towards several of the Blightcaps embedded with stones, causing them to crumple and fall as her magic rapidly heated up all the rocks in her line of sight to white-hot roasting levels. “Give me as much time as you can!”

“HOW FUCKING LONG, WOMAN!?” Jack yelled out in frustration as he quickly reloaded with a curse. “I’m on my last battery!”

“Minutes!” The druid called back. “I’ll tell you more when I’m done! The Baromets will charge and cover your retreat when you give the word!”

“Alright, we’ll hold until the last moment then!” Alora agreed. “Though it’s cutting it a bit close!”

“Down you go!” Sephy gritted her teeth and braced herself, planting her feet firmly as the tide of Myrelings approached. In the back of her mind she was looking out for the Skinwalkers, but she couldn’t see them yet, likely due to some trickery. Without hesitation she held down the triggers of both of her twin plasma SMGs, unleashing a rapid hail of plasma bolts that tore through the air in a dizzying spray. Her shots found their marks as several of the armoured Blightcaps went down by sheer attrition alone, though it couldn’t last as the Skritta was forced to reload. Her plasma bouncers she had taken from the Trickster were useless here, and her plasma rifle, unlike Jack’s or Nika’s, was more of a precision weapon. Sephy began to worry as more closed in, and checking the feed from the drones, she was disheartened to see more coming out of the treeline to join the horde.

‘Damn, they’re desperate to kill us if they’re throwing this much at us!’ The Skritta thought to herself. ‘They must not want any comms getting out at all! Whatever they’re up to, they must want to maintain their stealth and remain hidden from local factions for as long as they can!’

Suddenly her musings were interrupted as a bolt of lightning lanced out from next to her, slamming into the nearest Blightcap and jumping to several more Myrelings who staggered, but seemed to have built up some resistance.

“Good boy,” The Skritta told Dante. “But they’re getting smarter!”

“Alright, move back now!” Alora called out as the bulk of the horde got within reach of the secondary defences, with several of the frontrunners already making it over.

The group didn’t need to be told twice as they pulled back, with those that still had them dropping live grenades behind them to greet their pursuers. Jack covered their retreat with some more blasts from his heavy plasma rifle, but he kept his shots to controlled bursts this time, worried about ammo.

As they dashed toward the final barricade just next to the stone door to the inner shrine, the ground moulded itself under their feet to become as smooth as a football field, allowing them to move quickly while also allowing the sheep-shaped Baromets to charge past them and slam into the fungal lines, their immense bulk crushing Myrelings and Blightcaps alike, sending many sprawling into the dirt as Jack spotted several Skinwalkers revealed amongst the horde.

The Baromets seemed to home in on the Skinwalkers with a vengeance, vine-like tendrils emerging from their thick wool-like foliage to lash out, while their natural resilience allowed them to take a beating from the enemy’s attacks. One Baromet wrapped its vines around a towering Blightcap brute, squeezing with immense strength that crushed it to a pulp, while another kept charging straight through a crowd of Myrelings that were working on armouring another Blightcap, knocking them down and squelching them into pulp with its brutal stampede.

This distraction bought the group valuable time to reach the last barricade and check their weapons once again. Meanwhile, Elysandra raised her staff and muttered a string of druidic words of power. A low rumble echoed, churning the ground up to reveal pit traps and vines that would slow the horde down.

“Not one more step back,” Elysandra warned as the immediate ground between the last wall and the evil blight behind them grew a ditch with spiked roots pointing out. “They know enough about what I intend to do to commit most of their local force to try and stop it, and that will be their folly.”

“Got any more of those cool hedge thingies?” Sephy asked, pointing to the Baromets. “They’re kicking ass!”

“No, but I intend to call on something else to guarantee our victory!” The druid promised.

Oh no, look! Chiyo exclaimed, pointing at the battle ahead of them.

They saw one of the Skinwalkers dashed towards a Baromet, ducking beneath the swinging vines and slashing at its woollen body with razor-sharp claws, causing the sheep-like creature to roar in pain as dense foliage was ripped away in chunks. The Skinwalker showed no mercy, moving with unnatural speed to juke the creature as it circled around, hacking at its legs and sides, severing vital vines that supported the massive plant-beast.

Another Skinwalker leapt onto another, forcing it to the ground with unnatural strength as several of its companions joined in. They tore away like a pack of hungry wild dogs into the back of the creature, severing the vines and branches that held it together before quickly moving on to the rest, dispatching the creatures methodically as they fell one by one.

The remaining Baromets at the gate fought valiantly, their massive bodies still stemming the tide of monsters. One that seemed to be bleeding green sap-like blood was able to catch one of the Skinwalkers in the side with its horns, only to then collapse as a Hag suddenly emerged from their invisibility. This one had long, matted hair and cast a spell that caused the leaves and vines of the Baromet to quickly wither and rot away, destroying the construct in an instant, before the witch cast another spell that seemed to double the amount of Skinwalkers in the area.

“So that’s where the fucking illusions came from!” Nika cursed.

A sudden light from the shade of one of the back walls suddenly flashed out as a second Hag with more curly grey hair, not content with illusions, focused her power on a fire spell. The flame shot out and clung to the penultimate Baromet like napalm, before abruptly jumping to the final one with the same effect. The creatures howled as their bodies burned and blackened from the inescapable flames, crippled and dying.

“Their spirits return to the forest,” Elysandra whispered solemnly. “They may be called upon again once new vessels are created.”

“Better get ready to avenge them!” Jack warned as the horde dashed out. “Those pit traps aren’t going to stop the real threats!”

Sure enough, as the fungal horde clambered over the barricade they’d just left and lumbered towards them, the traps and hazards scattered across the battlefield slowed their approach. The pitfalls and entangling vines the group had easily bypassed ensnared the Myrelings and Blightcaps, though Jack was disappointed to see the caltrops he’d dropped during their retreat had no effect. He guessed the fungal creatures were unable to feel pain. However, even as the expendable hordes were delayed, the Skinwalkers proved to be far more formidable.

With their supernatural strength and agility, the Skinwalkers moved like phantoms across the battlefield, effortlessly dashing through the blighted hordes and weaving around the obstacles as they charged straight for the group.

‘This was the moment they’ve been waiting for!’ Jack realised. ‘The Myrelings and Blightcaps are simply cannon fodder, pawns to sacrifice while the important pieces get into position to move in for the kill!’

One of the Skinwalkers darted ahead of the pack, its monstrous form blurring as it ran, barely visible as it dodged and ducked out of the way of the plasma fire sent its way, it’s elongated limbs stretching out and moving it in unpredictable ways to avoid getting hit.

Sephy drew her plasma bouncers and opened fire, her shots ricocheting off the ground to curve to where she thought the monster would be, confusing it as the shots bounced its way. The Skinwalker twisted and contorted its body, dodging the two plasma bolts with unnatural fluidity, though one of the bolts managed to clip the creature’s side, burning its skin but barely slowing it down as it closed the distance.

“Brace yourselves! Switch to melee!” Alora called out as Sephy, a second ahead of the Eladrie, drew her new knives, which glinted in the dark as they quickly extended into short swords unprompted.

“Hell yeah…” the Skritta muttered under her breath, steeling herself as the Skinwalker she’d shot at charged straight for her. “Let’s see what these bad gals can do!”

Dropping low, she spun to the side, evading the Skinwalker’s deadly claw by a hair’s breadth. As the beast’s momentum took it past her Sephy darted forward and slashed upwards with her right blade, catching the Skinwalker in the elbow.The Skritta was caught by surprise as with a burning, sizzling sound, the blade cut deep into the bone, almost severing it completely as the Skinwalker let out an agonised yelp.

Not questioning her good fortune, Sephy pivoted on her heel and brought her left blade around and up as she firmly stabbed the Skinwalker in the armpit all the way to the hilt. It thrashed about in pain as Sephy dodged back, then boldly lunged forward again, planting both blades into the Skinwalker’s chest before it collapsed to the ground, dead.

“Holy fuck…” Sephy gasped in amazement. “I’ll take it!”

Another Skinwalker charged at Nika, who saw it coming and blasted it with her shotgun mid-leap to stop it dodging, catching the monster in its chest. For a moment, the Skinwalker staggered before continuing forwards as if the damage was nothing but an annoyance, with the wound beginning to seal almost instantly. She blasted it again, aiming for the legs. It staggered forward, tripping as it fell to the ground, before a second Skinwalker came at her low and fast, forcing the Kizun to use her tail to quickly dodge to the side as she unleashed a counter blast with her shotgun, but the creature rolled to the side to evade the shot with uncanny agility. It planted a claw in the ground to steady itself as it turned around and lunged for her throat.

But Nika was quicker. She ducked under its attack, letting her shotgun fall to the side, quickly magnetically clipping onto her armour as she drew her bo staff with her free hand. In a single, practised motion she spun her staff in a rapid whirl that caught the Skinwalker in the chin with an almighty crack that knocked it back. Continuing the flurry in a defensive whirl, she caught the other Skinwalker full in the chest, caving in its chest cavity with the kinetic modules of the staff. It dropped to the ground, its regeneration already re-inflating its organs as it pushed itself back up with a deep growl, only for the Kizun to smash it in the top of its head, putting it down again as the blast of kinetic power crushed the Skinwalker’s brain. Rapidly spinning around, Nika drew her shotgun once again and blasted the first Skinwalker as it made a move for Chiyo, catching it full in the chest, firing again and again to make sure it didn’t come back.

Chiyo suddenly threw herself to the side as another Skinwalker dodged Jack and went for her, claws outstretched with its maw open wide in a guttural roar. She barely had time to react, throwing herself to the side as its claws raked the air where her head had been a second before. Holding her nerve, the Ilithii extended her hand and smashed the creature with a blast of telekinetic energy that surged from her palm, the force slamming into the Skinwalkers chest, sending it staggering back. It dug its claws into the ground to stop its momentum before it charged again, forcing Chiyo to summon a telekinetic barrier that the creature smashed into once, twice, before stopping to charge with extra force for the third attempt.

Dropping the barrier at the last moment, the Skinwalker was thrown off balance as it lurched forward, and Chiyo pushed as hard as she could with her power to send it crashing forward back over their barricade into the pit of sharpened spears below, impaling and trapping the creature as it futility struggled to break free.

‘One down…’ Chiyo thought to herself as she turned back to the fight.

“God dammit!” Jack cursed as he saw four Skinwalkers bearing down on him. He brought up his blunderbuss and let out a thunderous blast that bisected one of the foul creatures as it tried to dodge, and cursed as the rest closed the distance. He clipped the blunderbuss to his back and drew his axe, swinging with all of his might, but his target ducked under the blow, its claws flashing as it counterattacked, slashing Jack across the chest with a loud metallic clang.

“Fuck!” Jack yelled out in pain, looking down at where he was hit but not seeing his armour ruptured by the blow. He growled with rage as he swung again, his axe biting deep into the Skinwalker’s shoulder. However, the creature didn’t scream or falter as it grabbed the axe embedded in its flesh and yanked Jack forward, aiming a claw at his face which Jack ducked, then he dodged another attack from one of the other Skinwalkers ganging up on him.

He rallied quickly as he thrust his axe upward on pure instinct, catching another Skinwalker in the throat, causing it to gurgle and fall back. Its body twitched as it began to regenerate, before another chop from Jack’s axe cleaved the Skinwalker’s head clean off.

Another Skinwalker charged at him, forcing him to dodge and swipe with his axe, though the human cursed as the axeblade swiped through empty air as the illusion dissipated, throwing him off-balance. Another Skinwalker took advantage of the distraction and pounced on him, its jaws snapping dangerously close to his face. Jack twisted, narrowly avoiding the bite, and sent the creature sprawling backwards with a powerful kick. He had no time to follow through as another Skinwalker attacked from his left, slashing at his thigh. Pain flared up his leg but he gritted his teeth and swung his axe in a backhanded strike, connecting with the creature, but the Skinwalker’s claws still managed to rake across his side with another jolt of pain.

He staggered, but only for a moment, the pain only fueling Jack’s rage. With a roar, he spun around, bringing his axe down in a brutal overhead strike. The Skinwalker tried to dodge, but Jack was faster. The axe cleaved through its skull, splitting it in half with a burst of black ichor and yellow fragments. The creature fell lifeless to the ground, twitching as its body began to dissolve.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted another form dashing towards him. Quickly he reached into his pocket and drew his sidearm as the Skinwalker lept.

“Overcharge!” Jack yelled, the powerful photon blast catching the Skinwalker full on as the energy crushed its skeleton and blasted it back. Jack snapped round and fired a burst at another charging Skinwalker, but hit another illusion. Before he could switch targets, a jet of dark magical energy smacked into him. He grunted and quickly spotted who was responsible: the Hag standing a few metres away from the battlefield, looking confused at her spell not doing any damage, before she quickly chanted the words to another spell, causing several mirror images of herself to appear nearby.

Jack’s eyes narrowed as he charged towards where he last saw the real one as the illusions began to scatter, their collective eyes widening in shock as Jack’s momentum carried him straight to the original.

“You can’t hide from me!” Jack roared as he charged. He brought his axe down in an overhead strike, changing the direction as he listened to his instincts, turning it into a side swipe as he saw the churned earth compress.The invisible Hag staggered backwards as it only just managed to dodge the blow before shooting another dark ray of magical energy at Jack, though if it did anything to him, he couldn’t feel it.

The Hag spat in her guttural tongue and raised her hands, chanting a spell, and the ground beneath Jack’s feet twisted and rippled as tendrils of wet, rubbery fungus burst from the ground to wrap around his legs, the Hag cackling as they tightened around him.

“Stupid boy!” it rasped. “I know not what you are but-”

Jack didn’t give her a chance to finish as he flexed his powerful legs and tore free from the entanglement spell, surging forward. The Hag’s eyes widened in shock as he closed the distance. He spotted a Skinwalker suddenly charge at him from the side, but in that moment the logical part of his brain spoke up.

‘It wasn’t there before. It’s an illusion. Don’t believe it!’

He gritted his teeth as he chased after the fleeing Hag, the Skinwalker getting closer.

‘It isn’t real, it isn’t real, it isn’t real!’

The illusion of the Skinwalker puffed out of existence as the Hag spun around and shot a blast of force as Jack, but he didn’t let that slow him down. He tackled the Hag around the waist as it tried to fly away and knocked it to the ground, catching a clawed hand with his own and bringing his other fist to the elbow joint, breaking the arm.

“Di-” The Hag began to cast, but failed as Jack’s boot slammed hard into its face, the illusions around him dissipating as he did.

“Turn that shit off!” Jack roared in anger as he stomped again, turning the Hag’s next desperate word of magical power into a cry of pain as something cracked, the Hag’s cranium being far more durable than Jack predicted.

Not that it would save her.

“No!” she yelled, as Jack stomped again, and again, hearing crack after crack until finally his boot went straight through the Hag’s skull in a burst of black ichor and the smell of rotting vegetation.

“One down,” Jack grimly snarled as he ran back to the others.

“Izorinn!” Alora cried out, as several chains of light shot out from the end of her wand, wrapping themselves around one of the Skinwalkers and firmly holding it in place. The light seemed to burn it where it touched causing agonising pain.

‘They’re vulnerable to radiant energy!’ Alora realised. ‘Holy magic is a bane for them! Just what exactly are we facing here?!”

She thrust her spear forward at another Skinwalker that was slower to react than she’d seen before, catching it in the chest as she reached though her connection to Quemos and pumped more holy power into her strike, the creature convulsing as the divine energy burned deeply. Alora pushed forward, her hands steady with purpose as she drove the spear deeper, her eyes locked with the creature’s glowing red orbs.

Another Skinwalker charged at her before suddenly a powerful bolt of lightning smashed into it, chaining to several other nearby Skinwalkers, striking them dead. Alora realised they’d gotten most of them, with only Nika keeping the last ones occupied while Jack ran back to help her.

But the horde was almost upon them…

“Look out!” Sephy shouted, shoving Alora to the side as a manabolt struck the ground where the Eladrie had stood, Alora scrambled to her feet, raising her wand…

“Glitasha!” She yelled, shooting a fountain of glittering particles of light out of her wand towards the source of the attack. Sure enough, the particles stuck to an invisible form floating above them, arms waving in the air as it cast again…

Suddenly it fell to the ground as if swatted out the sky, as Chiyo struck the Hag with telekinetic force. The hag countered by shooting out a chaotic burst of magic missiles, forcing the group to take cover, before Sephy fired off a rapid volley of shots which ricocheted off the nearby district wall to catch the Hag completely by surprise. Finally, the bounding form of Dante swiftly charged and lept at the witch, crashing into its chest with the force of a battering ram, knocking the vile creature flat onto her back.

Before the hag could even gasp, Dante’s powerful jaws clamped down around her throat like a vice as the Elyssian Hound’s eyes flared brighter with a neon glow matched by the markings on their body as they unleashed a torrent of electrical force through the Hag’s body. The air was filled with the acrid stench of burning flesh as the Hag’s body convulsed violently, her limbs thrashing as the lightning coursed through her, before Dante released the bite, allowing the witch to crumple to the ground, very dead.

“The ritual preparations are complete! Hold them off for as long as you can!” Elysandra yelled to the group as she dashed past the stone doors to the inner shrine, sprinting hard towards an enormous tree at the very back of the grove.

“You’d better have something good!” Nika cursed as she spun her staff in wide arcs, catching one of the Skinwalkers in the jaw as it snarled and stumbled backwards.

The druid, bloodied and weary from the battle, planted her staff firmly into the ground and placed her palm on the trunk of the tree, calling out in an ancient tongue of Druidic and invoking the primaeval, forgotten guardian spirits of the forest.

“Hund’Razzil! Awaken!”

A ripple of energy surged outward from her, coursing through the ground like a pulse. The earth trembled beneath the group’s feet, knocking everyone off balance with the force of an earthquake as the roots of the colossal, ancient tree that had stood over the shrine like a sentinel for countless centuries began to stir. Its branches quivered as they stirred to life, the bark creaking like the groan of an old, tired giant.

The great tree, towering and mighty, shuddered as its massive limbs cracked and flexed, breaking free from their prior resting natural stillness. Slowly it straightened, branches unfolding into arms and roots detaching from the earth to form powerful, sturdy legs.

Elysandra raised her hand and pointed to the attacking fungal creatures. “Strike them down!” She roared.

With a groaning creak, Hund’Razzil took a thunderous step forward, its massive tree limbs swinging with the force of a speeding truck. A group of Blightcaps barely had time to react before one massive arm swept through them, squelching their fungal bodies with a wet splat as the tree’s enormous wooden fists pounded them into the earth with an explosion of spores.

A Skinwalker leaped at the tree, supernaturally razor-sharp claws outstretched, but it was nothing more than an insect to the mighty forest guardian. The tree swung a branch with brutal precision, swatting the Skinwalker out of the sky mid-air and smashing it to the ground with such force that the ground cracked beneath the blow. The Skinwalker struggled to get up as it tried to regenerate, but the tree’s roots quickly followed, burrowing deep into the earth and sprouting to wrap tightly around the creature, holding it fast and causing bones to break, before a stomp from the ancient tree finished it for good.

With every swing the great tree decimated the horde, the evil monsters falling in waves as they had nothing that could withstand the raw power of the great colossus. Even the Skinwalkers struggled to contend with the sheer force of the tree’s blows, causing the pack to suddenly disengage and flee.

“You couldn’t have done that before?” Sephy called over to Elysandra, who had dropped to the ground on one knee.”

“No…” She gasped out. “This siege has kept me too busy, and even if my companions were still with me, I would not have had the power.”

“There’s no time!” Alora called, rallying the others. “We need to push back now and take the fight to them!”

“Indeed.” The druid nodded. “I sense their foul ritual accelerating, you must put a stop to it, but I still sense the blight regrouping! Hund’Razzil cannot travel that distance!”

“I’ve got something.” Jack spoke up, fumbling through one of the heavy-duty pockets on his heavy armour, a tinkling sound ringing out as his hands wrapped around the vial he was looking for. “I have no idea how long it’ll last, but it should be enough time to cut a path and fuck their shit up along the way!

Jack, are you sure? We don’t know what the effects will be! Chiyo warned, but Jack shook his head.

“I don’t like it either, but I don’t see a better play here.” Jack shrugged, looking at one of the potions they had gotten from Vetch Ashtail in the aftermath of their ‘Evil Shrek’ encounter, steeling himself for what he was about to do. “If the Potion of Quick Retreat worked for me, then hopefully this should too. Get ready!”

Jack carefully uncorked the vial in his hand and chugged it in one swift motion, grimacing at the foul, rotten taste of the yellow liquid. He groaned in pain as he felt a burning sensation roll through his body, like fire igniting in his veins. His muscles twitched and spasmed, then suddenly began to swell with unnatural strength. His bones creaked and cracked as his height surged upward, armour and gear stretching and expanding to match his growing frame.

In mere moments, Jack had transformed into a towering giant more than double his original height. He let out a low, rumbling growl, his voice much deeper as the Potion of Enlarge Size worked his magic, and his axe - now proportionally enormous in his grip - glinted in the low light, ready to fuck shit up.

“Holy shit!” Nika exclaimed.

“Cool!” Sephy added.

Excellent! Let’s hope this lasts! Chiyo approved.

“Woof!” Dante barked.

“Jack, are you alright?” Alora called up to the human.

“Yeah!” Jack grinned as he stomped forward, the others quickly checking their gear and following close behind. “I’ll carve a path through them! Point the way!”

Turn right at the gate! Chiyo informed him. Alora, you can use your Dancing Lights to direct him!

“Got it!” Alora acknowledged.

As Jack carefully made it past the district gate, he looked down towards the group of Blightcaps clustering together in formation, prepared to rally and push back.

“Alright you motherfuckers!” Jack growled, his booming voice echoing across the forest.

“Come get some!”