The barrage of fireballs stopped as the sky opened up. Even the flame-light creatures paused their attack to see what was going on. The landscape finally revealed itself, uncovered from the gloomy darkness. It was as bare and desolate as one would assume, though even here there were signs of life.
Darkened mud, thorny plants, and many little creatures skittered around to find shelter in the shadows of anything they could. White-bark trees stood separately, each dead or dying, and each worst than the last. At the tops of each of tree was a smoldering ember, slightly smoking. All of them like candles that had been blown out.
As for the fire-like entities that dwelled at their tops, they had abandoned their resting places. Each of the fire lights burned hotter, enlivened after the sunlight gleamed through. It was a sign of freedom from the fog, and now that all the shadows were clear, it was easy to see their targets.
Without any fog to hold them back, they descended on the adventurers with renewed fury. But their anger wasn’t filled with revenge; this was a celebration of the breach of their foggy prison.
Linc’s eyes widened as he saw the flames clearly. There was faces in them, all of them grinning with malevolence. His sword grip tightened, but he still hadn’t used his flash step skill.
“Hold! We can take them!” Lara called, but her voice was strained. Linc could tell she had been injured, and by the sounds of her voice, her battle against her pain was more intense that this one. But the situation was getting worse.
More and more fireballs whizzed past, more accurate than before, faster, hotter. Other flaming creatures saw the battle from a distance and joined in on the celebration.
Linc strained every muscle to sidestep three of them, duck under another, and press his body to the ground to escape many more. Each ball of flame was scarcely dodged, and each of Linc’s hairs curled, singed from the heat. The area he dodged in was coated in wailing flames, and the space he had to move in was constricting.
Despite the pressure, Linc moved closer to Lara and Lannister. Finally he saw their ability. A blue ring flashed into existence as it swallowed a fireball and disappeared. He guessed it was a type of defensive portal or some kind of absorbing shield magic. He couldn’t be sure, but either way, the blue ring took a moment to form, and he reasoned that it wouldn’t be useful against his own secret skill.
“Grrh!” Lara grit her teeth as more flames coated her side, burning and melting the leather and flesh together before they each dripped off her body. But she held on, knowing that pain was temporary.
Lara guided floating rocks across the battlefield with deafening speed, each of them whistling through the wind faster than the balls of flame.
Each rock passed through the firelights and caught alight, leaving gaping holes in their elemental forms. But it wasn’t always a kill. Some of the flame entities perished, and others reformed. There was a weak point, but whatever it was, was not always hit.
However the numbers getting slain were still not enough, even if she could clearly see the targets. What started as a small line of them turned into an engulfing wave of fire that was about to engulf them. Linc already knew it was not something they could win, even with his hidden ability.
He glanced over to Vanderby and Estra. Each of them were still huddled behind the shield, expecting him to handle it. But why was it always him? Couldn’t they do anything useful? As he stood alone between the two groups, he realized he didn’t need them. Perhaps he never did, and his opinion of them turned sour.
Pathetic. Linc thought. He was glad to see that at the very least, Estra had readied her bow, but she hadn’t even knocked an arrow to fire. Not that it would help. If Lara, who effortlessly crushed the giant bug, had trouble killing them with her high-speed stones, trying to kill them with arrows was akin to insanity.
The realization dawned on Linc. They were all out of place here, out of their depths. They should have never left the bosom of the city streets, where each alleyway sheltered them or provided their next opportunity. But their naivety and greed had made fools of them all.
Linc was close enough to hear Lara’s huffs and groans as she fought against the pain and enemies alike. He had never seen such resoluteness confined in a single person. She dodged as best she could but wasn’t fast enough. The fire lights prioritized her, the only one standing and attacking them, and other than Lannister’s portal, Lara had no real defense—but it was better than Vanderby who didn’t even raise his shield to protect them all. But Linc didn’t use his skill. He suddenly felt threat grip his heart and clutch it, and it all came from Lara.
Linc stepped back as he heard her words, and a sense of coldness creep up his spine, breathing on his neck.
“Lan, plan B.” Lara whispered, pushing out the words just a little too loudly.
The blue portal flashed open again, but this time it didn’t close as they stood behind it. Lara finally dropped her hands and gave up the attacks against the fire lights. She turned and stared at Linc with the same look she had after the giant skittering creature died; a hunter eyeing its prey. Her eyes were empty. Detached. As cold and mechanical as the bug she’d slain.
Linc leapt further backwards, his hand still tight on his sword. He pushed his senses to their limits and scanned the rocks, looking for any sign of movement. He knew she was an earth or rock manacrafter of some sort, so the threats would come from those.
*Crunch!*
“Gh-gaaah!” Estra screamed. Linc spun his head back to the others.
Vanderby’s shield collapsed to the ground. Blood flowed after the sickening crunch. His hands poking from the the shield were limp, his body flattened. But there was no rock atop it. It had simply drove down into his body.
Linc took in a quick cold breath as he watched Estra scream. More fireballs hurtled towards her, and without the shield she would be nothing but ashes. Yet before flames could touch her body, she was pulled from the ground and floated over to Lara, her limbs flailing from the speed.
Lara fixed her eyes on Linc, but instead of crushing him, she raised a brow. He had taken his hand off his sword. It was a sign that he admitted defeat, one she knew well, and decided to give him a swift death. She raised her hand to crush him under his own weight, but before she could lower it, he disappeared.
*Fshrew~*
A gasp of whispering wind sounded. Linc vanished.
Little did Lara know, Linc had a single ability. With his grip on a weapon, he dashed through battlefields like a shooting star, cutting enemies down in one swing. But without a weapon, he disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but a whisper of wind behind.
Invisibility or not, Lara wasn’t worried. She had an invisible wall of crushing gravity raised around her. If this was a sneak attack, he would die shortly. But after a few moments, nothing happened.
“Your friend is pretty smart.” Lannister said, holding Estra in his arms. She tried to push herself out, but was no match for his higher level strength. All she could do was cry and weakly beat her fists against him, even as more fireballs whizzed past the edges of the portal.
“Quick.” Lara said, trying to hold her side as she bent over in pain. Another portal formed behind them, and with their captive they stepped through.
On the other side a gentle breeze greeted them. The sounds of hissing fireballs disappeared, replaced by a sweet silence and an aroma of flowering plants. A nearby mountain was as good of a place as any, and from there they could see the swarm of firelights crashing onto Vanderby’s corpse, leaving it as a blazing fire. The portal snapped closed before any invisible threats could come through.
Lara grit her teeth, held her breath and scanned the surroundings, but sensing nothing, she collapsed to her knees and fell backwards.
“Ugh.” She weakly groaned.
Lannister raised a brow, “You pushed yourself too far again.”
“It was for the mission. I already told you I won’t fail again. Give me some time to heal.”
Estra remained silent, too fearful to speak. Lannister put her down and she curled her arms around her knees, but her teary eyes watched every movement of her captors, expecting a flick of Lara’s wrist and sealing her life at any moment.
