The creature’s body jerked and twisted as it shambled towards Teyva, two of its kin moving in from separate directions. Behind them, a pair of the horrible monsters were in the process of being overwhelmed by her mockery swarm. The things dripping black flesh reeked of oil and death while its frame was punctuated by oddly placed bones jutting out in random places It seemed like it was barely holding itself together. Even so, it was faster and stronger than Teyva remembered. It was the eyes that unsettled her the most; bulging and filled with a mad panic.

The only reason they hadn’t leaped at her in the first place was the circle of pale light sending frost eeking up their legs and slowing their movement. She hazarded a second to glance about and see where Azrael and Elat were. Azrael had placed herself between another small group and Elat, her weapon raised and a thin barrier forming around her person thanks to her [Warden of the Front] ability. They’d learned the name of it after Azrael gained the powers of an outsider. Elat on the other hand had drawn his complex-looking bow and begun stringing arrows; letting them fly to devastating effect.

“I thought these things were done for!” Azrael shouted, kicking one of the creatures in the face just as Teyva returned her focus to her own group. “Why are there still some around?”

“No idea! We destroyed their nest!” Teyva fired off a gleaming [Pale Bolt] into the face of one and watched with grim satisfaction as The Marble dropped his entire heft on top of another. She glanced up at the canopy, the light filtering through the trees was beginning to dim, things were about to get worse if these things were still around.

“Mother! Behind!” Nephral gasped from her shoulder. Teyva’s immediate reaction was to turn and snatch the surprise fourth Wightling out of the air with her [Grasp of the Mimic]. Her free arm grew and distended into a terrible claw that wrapped angrily around the torso of the freakish creature, crushing down on its body to devastating effect. Unfortunately, the moment she turned around she lost sight of the third Wightling of the initial grouping and felt teeth bite into her leg. She groaned as the poison notification appeared on her stats and she whirled, throwing the first wightling at the one she’d blasted and turning her attention to the one on her leg.

“Get off of me!” She shouted, raising her blade arm, coating it with frost, and plunging it down into the monster’s shoulder. The creature fell still after a few seconds of exposure to her [Chill Touch] but with the poison in her system her passive abilities weren’t healing her. She jerked her leg back and kicked, glancing over in time to see Azrael and Elat stumble over one another as Elat moved forward and Azrael moved back. Elat let out a shout, one of the creatures leaping up and biting his arm. He punched it in the head over and over until it released him.

On top of it all, the trees didn’t help. The dense foliage and cover was making it hard to tell how many of these things there were. She hadn’t even had time to use her journal on them when they were ambushed.

A garbled shriek broke out from the right and she turned to see three more of the horrors running in her direction while the loud thump of The Marble’s body crashing into the ground signalled the end of the two who had been tangled together by Teyva’s throw. She turned and was startled by a sudden rush of air past her head as an arrow impaled one of the creatures, its body dropping to the ground.

“Watch it!” Teyva shouted.

“Sorry!” Elat called.

“Use your Journal, Teyva! They’re not the same creatures!” Azrael shouted back.

“A little busy here!” Teyva retorted, shifting her arm to the chain whip. She still hadn’t used it in combat yet but she’d played with it while they walked, swinging it at trees and practicing the extension and retraction ability. She whipped her arm out, the chain growing longer until it jerked to a stop; wrapping around one of the Wightlings. She whipped her arm again, pulling backwards and ripping into its unholy flesh with the barbs on the chain while spinning it around. It staggered, black ooze dripping wildly from its body while glowing chains began to coil up and around its legs.

Teyva regained her footing and glanced at her status, the poison was wearing off. She sent a mental message to her mockeries to check on them and was pleased to receive a confirmation that they had finished their latest kill and were on their way. The angry hum of the swarm filled the air as they leaped onto another one of the horrors and gave Teyva a little respite. She called The Marble back and positioned him between herself and more of the wicked things while she finally took the chance to use her journal.

[Starving Lesser Wightling] Hostile - Level 4

HP: 100% MP: 100% SP: 100%

They were significantly stronger than the original batch of wightlings. Starving? So they were dying, and that meant they were desperate. She grit her teeth and ordered The Marble forward, the black-and-gold stone slab marching forward on massive spider legs. It opened its horrible mouth and extended a long whipping tongue, bringing the massive implement down on one of the nearest Wightlings, coiling it up, and dragging it screaming into its massive maw.

The crunching of The Marbles feast signalled the end of the fight. The last of the wightlings fleeing into the trees.

Teyva let out a breath and leaned against her massive companion; “Yikes.”

Azrael walked over with Elat who was still nursing a bite on his arm. “You said it, what happened?”

“We need to work out some new strategies,” Teyva said, “We weren’t ready for an ambush.”

“We weren’t ready because we thought they were dead,” Azrael pointed out.

“I may be of some service there,” Nephral chimed in. The three of them glanced at the feline and the creature flapped its wings, delighting in the sudden attention. “I overheard Lord Deshan and Elder Yol considering that some of the wightlings who were further away from the site may not die right away but would eventually succumb.”

“That would have been nice to know sooner, cat,” Elat grunted.

“Weakened as they were I assumed they were not a threat, and they would not have been if not for your bumbling, bowman,” Nephral growled back.

Elat snarled and took a step towards Teyva and Nephral. Teyva instinctively stepped backwards and scowled at him; “Hey now, watch it,” she warned. She mentally soothed the mockeries when their growing ire transferred through her connection. The Marble, to his credit, remained stoically behind her.

“The feline needs to lose the attitude!” Elat growled, “We could have gotten killed!”

Azrael moved between the two of them; “Elat, ambushes happen, I should have been more aware of our surroundings, we’re relying on my senses to get through the forest, right?”

Elat hesitated and looked down at Azrael then at Teyva. He deflated a little; “Hmph, we won’t always have good intel, its best that its shared when it comes.”

Teyva nodded; “That I can agree with, Nephral can you be more free with your input dearie? You can be very helpful to me that way.”

Nephral eyed Elat and then nodded, “Very well, I concede the point.”

Elat let out a breath and turned away to walk over to where he had dropped his pack at the beginning of the fight. Teyva and Azrael exchanged weary looks. Azrael smiled and stretched her arms before nodding towards the ground; “We should take a break, we’ve been walking since daybreak.”

“Thank goodness someone else said it,” Teyva groaned, “Shall we set up camp? I’ve been thinking of something I wanted to try.”

Azrael nodded and hurried over to speak with Elat, Teyva let Nephral to the ground and called her mockeries back into her satchel. They eagerly buzzed over to her, jabbering questions about her condition into the back of her mind. “I’m fine loves, really, just a scratch,” Teyva crooned to them as they crawled up her legs and down her arms.

With them put away she turned to The Marble, “Dearie, can you set yourself up next to that tree over there?” She asked, pointing to a tree off to the side. The stoic mimic complied and sat itself down, becoming a marble wall in the middle of the forest. She smiled at it, while it didn’t have much in the way of personality it was certainly loyal. Teyva switched over to the [Grasp of the Tomb Guardian] and both of her arms became thin and mechanical. She flexed her metallic digits and took a deep breath, looking up at the sky through the trees. It was getting pretty dark but it still hadn’t slipped into full night yet. She shrugged and went to work.

Over the course of a half hour Teyva created wall after wall between the trees, using the trees themselves as the material source. The result was a ring of walls starting and stopping with The Marble. While she did that, Azrael and Elat worked together to set up a small fire pit and get some food going. When they looked up they examined the impromptu walled-off campsite.

“What do you think?” Teyva asked proudly, leaning against one of the wooden walls and grinning a needle-toothed smile.

“I think with enough time you could build an entire fortress on your own, couldn’t you?” Elat admitted, eyes following the fortification; “I suppose your marble friend is our door?”

“The Marble is a mighty gate!” Teyva announced, stepping up to the mimic and patting it on the side.

“Right,” Elat grunted, glancing over at Azrael who coughed out a laugh. Teyva shrugged and gave her Mockeries a mental command to go out and hunt. They swarmed out of her satchel as she sat down, crossing her legs while Elat looked on in discomfort. “How are you so comfortable with them?”

“Summoners bond,” Azrael pointed out, “Or she’s crazy.”

Teyva crossed her arms; “They are my babies, thank you very much!”

“Both then,” Azrael laughed.

Elat finally cracked out a laugh and Teyva joined in, “It’s not so bad, really, they’re sweet and worry about me a lot. I love them.”

“It’ll take some time to get used to, Elat, but I agree with Teyva. They grow on you for sure,” Azrael said.

“If you say so.”

“Now!” Teyva said, glancing toward the large pot that Azrael had produced from her personal [Old Satchel], “That smells amazing and we’ve got some strategizing to do. Those things are still out there and we should be ready.”

Azrael and Elat nodded and the three of them turned to their meal, Teyva pouring an extra bowl for Nephral who remained by his mothers side for most of the conversation that followed. As promised he gave his own opinions on their proposed strategies while Teyva and Azrael each pulled out their Journals to examine their abilities. Teyva noted that even when holding the Journal, Elat couldn’t get a full write up on his own powers which made things a little difficult but he knew himself well enough.

Elat possessed the Aspect of the Tower which at the bare minimum, had increased his height by over a foot. The abilities it had given him involved ranged combat and remaining stationary when possible. Apparently the longer he remained stationary the more powerful his ranged attacks were. On top of that he could use his second aspect ability-he’d never even so much as seen an aspect shard before-to slightly adjust the trajectory of an arrow in flight. He rarely missed and he never hit a comrade.

“Makes me feel a little better about that grazing shot you made earlier,” Teyva murmured.

“Yeah, sorry about that, should have warned you.”

“It’s fine! Things dead and I don’t have a hole in my head, right?” Teyva chuckled and sipped at the leftover broth from their meal. “Good stuff by the way, gotta thank the folk back at the village when we return.”

“You’re planning on going back?” Elat said, surprised.

“Of course! I love that place! Your old man is a pretty good guy.”

“He can be… difficult at times, especially with his advanced age,” Elat said.

“I can only imagine.”

Azrael yawned loudly, and the two looked at her. She blinked and shrugged; “What?”

“What happened to the stoic badass that saved me in that tomb?” Teyva asked, reaching down and scratching at Nephral’s head.

“She loosened up a little, what of it?” Azrael shot back.

“Nothing, honestly I’m glad for it.”

“You’ve come a long way too Teyva, not trembling or hesitating anymore. I’m proud of you.”

Teyva made a face; “I can’t hesitate anymore. Too much on the line. Even if I level up again and get another respawn…” She shuddered. “...I’m not ready to face Teyva Rani yet.”

“You will be,” Elat grunted, “You’re tough as it is,” He got to his feet, “Now let’s get some sleep. We still have three days of walking ahead of us.”