The sun was just beginning to set behind the hills and trees to the west, darkening the sky beneath the dome. The sparks of red and black energy became even more pronounced and the flickering light made everything seem otherworldly.

The dome had contracted inward by several feet over the last few minutes and seemed to be growing thicker, even as the energy that supported it had grown wilder and less stable. A crack of thunder cut through the din of the wind, just as something louder and far more dangerous howled in the distance.

I could feel the earth trembling beneath my feet as I watched hundreds of gargantuan, bovine-like creatures charge through the tree line to the south, leaving behind a trail of devastation. The percussion of their thunderous hooves vied and harmonized with the howling gale to create a symphony of discordant chaos. It was a music of opposites; the furious cords of a raging sky clashed with the unrelenting percussion of the quaking earth.

I covered my visor with one hand as a cloud of dust obscured my vision. As the wind grew stronger, I was pelted with what felt like shotgun blasts of small pebbles and clumps of dirt. The alternating gusts were growing stronger as the dome drew closer.

The wind shifted direction again, quieting just as the sun was fully obscured. As the quiet light faded into darkness, furious cries rose up to fills its absence. I shook in fear and anticipation for battle — a dark part of my mind calling out for blood.

Was this hell? Perhaps I had died in that crash and none of this was real? Monsters and demons didn’t stampede through Charleston.

I second guessed myself, but I stood firm. I looked back at the still form of Telvy and her … no, Shora deserved a name. The injured woman looked almost peaceful as Telvy continued to cradle her against her chest.

Perhaps this was Hell, but I didn’t have to give in. I could fight, and perhaps find some solace in those who fought beside me.

It remembered a fitting phrase, but I couldn’t remember where I had heard it. Abandon all hope ye who enter here … I couldn’t believe that. If I had to stand before those fiery gates I would not abandon hope. I would storm the dungeons of hell and take the Devil’s head, or at least die trying.

I didn’t recognize my own thoughts, I realized as I shook my head. These weren’t devils, just beasts. Large and terrible beasts.

My eyes widened as I got my first clear view of what was charging towards me. They towered over the empty plains that separated us. Each was nearly as tall as a house and half as wide. The word that stuck in my mind was … behemoths.

They charged at me above thunderous hooves. Long, twisting horns protruded from their heads in numerous spirals, no two beasts had the same number. Each protrusion ended in jagged tips and cruel sickle-like hooks.

The behemoths’ massive bodies were supported by four shaggy legs and covered in a layer of short, dark fur. Their heads were snarling masks of rage and folded flesh behind a Cheshire grin of large triangular teeth.

The largest of the behemoths slowed as it threw its head back in a roar. The howl seemed almost mournful and was loud and clear enough for the challenge to rise above the pandemonium that shook both earth and sky.

I focused on the creature to the point of ignoring the dozens of others that were beginning to overtake it. Its head was tucked between a matted mane of red hair and its single eye glowed bright orange with a dancing light as if a wildfire burned within it.

The short fur on the creature's back was purple but dark enough to be almost black. Unlike the hooves that most of its followers had, this beast’s feet were clawed and left massive gouges in the earth behind it. It had a proud and regal air as if it were a paragon of its species.

This creature, this king behemoth, continued to wail as the rest of the pack charged forward. They bent around and even leaped above their leader, its howl never wavering even as hooves and bodies pressed around and over it.

Shit, they were moving faster than I realized. I couldn’t just stand still and hope for the best. I didn’t need to fight them all. I merely needed to delay them long enough for Telvy to finish or for her sisters to return.

Either one of those possibilities would end the fight. Or so I hooped.

I just had to find a way to annoy and distract the monsters enough that they ignored the archmage. I had no illusions that she would stop to aid me before her work was complete, but I was sure she would step in once she finished. Less than two minutes to go.

I can do this, I thought.

My spells weren’t powerful enough and mana was thin. I had only one resource that might help, though I was hesitant to use it. I felt a growing connection to something I didn’t understand, and the Fisher was far too happy to encourage me down this path.

What choice did I have?

The Eldritch energy was as thick as dirt this close to the border of the dome in contrast to the nearly complete lack I had felt closer to the Yorktown. The swirling area that was feeding energy to the dome was siphoning away the energy in large quantities, but this same attraction kept the area near the dome heavy with the crackling black and red energy.

I used Eldritch Mimicry to hide Telvy and Shora, as well as the small kingfisher guarding over them, in the illusion of a granite boulder. The only weapon I’d been provided for this mission was a small handle that I knew could extend into a full-length staff, practically useless against a stampede. Luckily, I had collected the rifle dropped by the injured Peacekeeper.

I had some training in Peacekeeper weaponry, but I had never held a piece of tech this advanced. Talith had once demonstrated the alternate modes of fire on a much smaller version of the weapon, and she had briefly described some of the different configurations Peacekeeper rifles could take. I didn’t know how to access any of them.

I would just have to content myself with an oversized machine gun with near limitless ammo.

I had no idea how the technology worked, but Talith had tried to explain by telling me that Peacekeeper rifles shaved nearly microscopic threads from a block of metal before propelling those “bullets” at incredible speeds. This created not only impressive stopping power but was nearly recoilless and a single “block” of ammo could contain tens of thousands of rounds.

I ran away from the illusion that was hiding Telvy, firing at the beasts as I ran parallel to the herd. I didn’t bother aiming, I was bound to hit something with that many targets. Besides, I just needed to piss them off a bit. At last, something I was good at.

As I ran I also began to draw in eldritch energy, consolidating it around myself in tight bands. It frustrated me that now that I had my connection to the system restored I could no longer store the energy within my body or even reinforce the existing structures.

I still had the thin latticework I had built from the small amounts of energy I had collected during my imprisonment, but I had been unable to add to it. Any energy that touched my skin was slowly converted or consumed by the system itself.

Those existing threads had potential, but I had still only managed minor success in using them in any meaningful way.

The shaking grew more intense as the herd grew closer, so I dropped to one knee to steady my aim. I had yet to change the stampede’s direction as if they were completely ignoring my potshots.

The rifle was powerful, but so were the hides of the beasts. Each shot would draw blood, but the thick fur and skin of the creatures were strong enough that the wounds were mostly superficial annoyances.

I was only able to bring down a single creature through luck and by concentrating all my fire on its head. Most of my shots missed, but enough hit that it began to slow before a single shot found its eye. It fell with an inaudible crash as it was buried in a sea of flesh and hooves. Still, the others ignored me.

If I was going to draw the herd’s attention I would need to act fast, as they had already cleared nearly half the distance. I needed more firepower ... or a better target.

I smiled and turned my sights towards the behemoth king who was hiding somewhere in the middle of the heard. Its massive size made it easy to pick out, but there were too many bodies between us to get a clear shot.

“Shit,” I screamed in frustration.

For a moment I considered abandoning Telvy. The dome was made of eldritch energy, so I could most likely break through it given enough time. The Peacekeepers would likely all die, but I wasn’t exactly a fan of theirs at this point.

I might have left, but I just couldn’t ignore the memory of the injured woman Telvy was trying to save. They both needed me. They had trusted me.

“You fuckers better appreciate this!”

I charged closer to the herd, quickly gaining ground as their stampede continued in my general direction. Fuck, Finn why are you doing this? I asked myself. Are they worth your life?

I had originally believed that the Peacekeepers would be invaluable to the survival of New Charleston and its residents, but the interplanetary soldiers had shown a remarkable amount of bad faith. Like most soldiers, I could only trust them to follow orders and uphold the interests of their superiors.

I didn’t trust any of them — despite my fondness for a few of their number.

The thing that brought me back from this line of thinking was Tiller. He was still at the Yorktown, and the only reason he had been there at all was because of me. Thinking back to the time I had spent with him, his sister, and Pastor Belk, I couldn’t bring myself to abandon him.

I couldn’t leave.

Instead, I continued to yell profanities as I ran towards a charging horde of devils. I would have to trust in luck, magic, and high tech alien armor to keep me alive through a blender of horns, hooves, and flesh. Easy peasy.

I didn’t have a plan, but I noticed that the herd reacted much like most earth animals did while running in a group. They were not in a blind panic and would still act to avoid obstacles. Much like horses avoiding a fallen rider, they had jumped over and parted around their king and the single member I had killed. Not a hoof had touched either.

I could use that.

I took control of all the eldritch energy I could handle. I shook with concentration as the energy almost proved to be too much. Some of the energy escaped my control in the form of a spiral of interlocked threads. The backlash raked uselessly across my armor but managed to gouge two thick lines from the armor over my right arm.

I was flung to the ground but managed to recover into a tight roll. More importantly, I was able to keep control of most of the energy. Two football-field-sized lines of sharpened palisades grew from the earth, much like the smaller versions I had used on the bridge.

I really hope this works.

My legs revolted for a moment and I almost missed the timing, but I made it to the first row of spikes just before the herd. I positioned myself low to the ground with the spikes angled towards the stampede. Now I just had to wait for the leap of faith.

I slammed my eyes shut in fear as the first behemoths reached the obstacle. My teeth shook from the force of the first landing and I could feel the massive forms raining down in front of me like meteors.

As my eyes slowly opened I could see an ocean of flesh and fur stretching out before me, but the heard had split. A large group had moved to avoid the spikes and were beginning to circle around to join the others. I watched this second herd, looking for …

Yes, there he is!

I dismissed the palisades of crackling black and red energy. A few beasts that had been unlucky enough to get stuck on the spikes crashed into the ground. At least one was dead and several more cried out in pain. A drop in the bucket.

The first half of the heard was still heading towards my illusionary boulder, while the half led by the king was quickly moving to join them. I acted by creating another row of spikes as far ahead of the herd as I could. With a bit of luck, they would alter course to avoid it.

I created a much smaller row in front of the king’s portion of the herd and positioned myself behind it to use as cover. I was moving incredibly quickly, but the first half of the herd had already reached the spikes by the time I had the king in my sights.

I dropped to one knee and took aim at the creature’s sole remaining eye. Curved horns that spiraled around the king behemoth’s head deflected my bullets and I failed to find my mark. I did manage to draw blood on its face and neck prompting it to finally abandon its howling and turn its damaged visage towards me.

As its eye met my own I felt fear so intense that I almost dropped my rifle, my steady firing pausing for a moment. Despite the overwhelming advantages the creatures held in size and numbers, for the first time I began to realize that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Images of …

No, I’ve felt this before. I won’t be controlled that easily.

Long interactions with the Fisher had trained me to notice subtle changes in my own thinking. This was a skill — a mental attack. I had felt similar emotions when using the Eye of Madness.

Two could play at that game. A slit in my forehead appeared and slowly began to open revealing a glowing eye. As the effects of the skill reached the King, I felt the fear that was paralyzing me begin to recede. I immediately closed the eye, but it was too late.

In that one fraction of a second, my mind was filled with the memory of my young being taken, and a deep primal fear for their safety gripped me. I saw cages and the dead. So many dead. Among them my own mate. Small things covered in skins not their own danced around my herd casting black magics.

I had to get them back … would do anything. Even submit.

I saw a cub, brown and gold with two blue, glowing eyes, a rare coloring dating back to the time of the first herds. I howled in terror as the flesh began to dissolve from the cub’s flesh. I roared and pulled against the chains that bound me. One of the small things turned its acid towards me, blinding one of my eyes. Still, I struggled but the chains burned and grew tighter.

Then the true nightmares came. I saw creatures made of soft, bulbous flesh and covered in mouthless teeth and mismatched appendages. They tore at flesh and invaded minds — demanding obedience and offering freedom for a price.

The last thing I saw was a face. One of the small things. She had cast aside her coverings to reveal a body that was neither alive nor dead. One half of the small thing seemed a corpse and the other young and strong as if a line had been drawn down the center of it. Even its scent was strange.

As my mind became my own again, that image stuck with me. I had recognized the face, but it was impossible. How could she be …

I slammed closed the Eye of Madness, but it continued to burn like a red-hot coal in the middle of my forehead. The images burned into my memory were far more painful. I tried to forget them, to cast them aside as foreign but they had become a permanent part of me. I would forever mourn the death of children, cubs I had never met.

I slowly opened my other, lesser eyes and looked up to find that every one of the behemoths had come to a stop — and they were all staring at me. I saw a look I recognized as sadness as the king regarded me. He knew I had seen, and his looked seemed to hold a silent question.

Would you do any different?

I felt sympathy for the creature, but I used that momentary confusion to my advantage. I took the row of spikes I had created and drew them into the air before launching them all towards the king. It would have been enough to darken the sky, had the sun not been hidden behind the hills and rolling clouds of fog to the west.

The spears of black-red energy came down as thick as rain and pierced both flesh and earth. I began to flee to the east. As I ran I could hear the king charging behind me — barely harmed or slowed by my attack.

A moment later the rest of the herd began to move, but they no longer moved in a single direction. Instead, they fled in every direction, an uncontrollable burst of chaos that that threatened my plans to protect Telvy and Shora. How could I direct the herd now?

I used the rifle to fire blindly behind me at the gaining king behemoth, but if any of the shots landed then they failed to draw a reaction. I continued to create a row of spikes between myself and behemoth but it just threw itself into the murderous wall in a spiteful rage, without regard for self-preservation.

Soon, the closest members of the herd recovered and began to join the king in his chase. He roared at the sky, breaking the momentary confusion of the other behemoths. Within moments, they were all charging directly towards me.

It’s always nice when a plan comes together, I thought.

I needed to increase my speed, but I was out of options. The only possibility was one I had only experimented with on a small scale. I would need to directly control the latticework of energy that I had constructed throughout my body. It had the potential to amplify my strength and speed if used correctly.

The most terrifying words in the English language echoed through my mind as I gathered all the energy in my legs into a tight coil.

What could go wrong?