Ducking behind an overturned table, a flaming carapace-covered half-meter-long needle the width of my finger flies towards over my head and embeds itself into the wooden beam of the bakery where I had just been enjoying a bit of sweets. The needle covered in black fire sticks two inches into the wood and then flashes black and turns to ash, leaving behind a nasty black burn-scar. Staying out of the line of fire as Vic taught me, I swap out the bolt cartridge of my crossbow with a fresh one from my storage ring. The bold on my silvery crossbow glows a slight purple as I inject mana into it to engage its lightning effect. I hear the chittering and clacking of the creatures that had just rudely interrupted my dessert.

Next to me is a human male and next to him is a human female slightly older. I think? I still cannot tell how old humans are just by their appearance. The pair are scrunching themselves up in a ball and I can see their terrified faces in the flashing yellow mana lights as they shiver in fear.

“I will fire in a moment,” I call out to them in Common. “When I do, run for the street out that large window." I point to where a large pane of glass used to be but has since broken due to taking multiple blows from the needle projectiles. “Or the back,” I offer as an alternative. “They may let you in." I point to the archway leading to the back of the bakery where they used to make my delicious cake.

I change my position so I'm crouching facing the threat and ready myself.

C’mon Aria, you can do this. Just like at the range and how Gina taught you. Quick but smooth. Breathe.

I calm my mind, take a breath, and thrust my legs downward to stand with them deeply bent. I see my targets and fire four times in rapid succession but I duck back down before more needles come flying into my position. I hear screeches as my bolts strike the enemy followed by thumps and whizzes as the needles punch into the steel table I’m using as cover or fly overhead. The terrified humans hadn’t moved. Damnit.

I let out a frustrated exhalation of air as I try to recall how I got into this situation.

***

This cake is sooooooo good! It absolutely baffles me that Vic doesn’t like cake. Or sweets. Or food for that matter. I wonder when the last time he ate was. Licking the icing off my fork reminds me of his birthday. I can feel my face getting hot at the memory of my boldness. He told me it was his best birthday ever and I smile thinking of it. Then the smile fades into a sad frown as I recall his current condition.

Two fingers to my ear, I ask for the umpteenth time, “Nothing new, Jo?”

Vic’s self-aware nanomachine consciousness, Jocelyne (or ‘Jo’ as we call her), responds in my earcomm.

Nothing new. I’m sorry, Sweetie…

I knew the answer before I asked but I did it out of a mix of habit and hope. Jo would let me know if anything changed with my human guardian protector.

Jo interrupts my thoughts with a warning.

Aria, there are reports of moderate-scale combat in your vicinity. It may be wise to relocate…

I blink at that. This is one of the most popular areas in all of Sea Saddle City. The Pike is a foodie’s dream with nothing but restaurants, cafes, and bakeries. I'm at a nice little shop where the owners, a human male named Johnathan and a gnome female who everyone calls “Denni” for short, serve the most delicious desserts anyone could ask for. The only sweet pastry they don’t offer is, sadly, chocolate. That delectable confection may be the greatest creation in the entire short history of the human species. It is also the hardest to come by and therefore the most expensive.

Bringing my attention back to the moment with a shake of my head, I ask Jo, “Details?” while still holding my fingers to my ear.

I learned from Vic to be precise and short in my orders and requests. The longer one speaks, the more chances there are for miscommunications resultings in objective failure.

Accounts vary. However, there are sufficient matching reports that I believe there is an insectile beast outbreak somewhere in or near The Pike…

“Affirmative," I respond to her. Then I stand and call out loudly in Common to the filled bakery. “Everyone, there is a beast outbreak nearby, I recommend you leave immediately and attempt to find a shelter."

Immediately following that statement I tap the silver ring with an azure blue stone embedded into it and my outrageously expensive glittering silvery crossbow appears in my hands, loaded and ready to combat.

In this day and age, when someone announces “beast outbreak,” sensible people pay attention. The crowd starts to call out with questions, exclamations, and a good amount of foul language. There are even one or two denials from the truly foolish.

“There may be little time,” I call out again, even louder to be heard over the tumult. “You should find shelter. Quickly.”

From inside the back, Johnathan, a man with a mighty voice and equally mighty gut, bulls through the passageway into the back where the baking magica happens.

He calls in a voice that nearly shakes the glass throughout the store, “Shut up all a y’all! We got a basement shelter that’ll hold y'all in here. Follow me folks."

He looks around at everyone but skips past me. His tiny gnome partner skips in after him and says in her squeaky voice, “Stay calm and orderly or I’ll whack you good." She brandishes a large copper spoon dripping with some sort of red creation that looks sweet and delicious.

She then sees me standing with my crossbow and says, “Oh. Hello, Aria."

She looks at the group that hasn’t moved and pokes Johnathan in a thigh as wide as her with her elbow. He looks down and she makes a gesture at the frozen crowd.

He glares at the frozen group. “Move or die!” he bellows. “Ya got one minute to follow or I lock y’all out."

He looks at me and nods. I nod back. I got to know Johnathan and Denni in my short time in Sea Saddle City through spending tons of coin on their delectable goods. He is actually a really nice man but really just wants to focus on his work. He loves to bake and anything that stops him from doing so gets his fire up. He’s quite a sight with an enchanted shotgun. His weight offsets most if not all of the recoil. Denni is something of a weapon enthusiast and we chat about them sometimes. She told me in a whisper one day when she brought me my cake that Johnathan bought a flamethrower add-on for his shotgun. I don’t envy any of the creatures that come near his shop.

I return to the present when everyone stands and starts to move. Well everyone but two humans who are apparently deniers.

“This is The Pike,” the lady says with a scoff. “No monster can get in here. You’re being foolish."

The man sitting across from her nods vigorously. “Yes indeed,” he declares confidently. “I’m going to finish my pie and then when nothing happens you’ll all realize-”

His moronic rant is cut off by a loud crashing sound from outside the bakery. Then the floor starts to shake slightly and the previously slow crowd speeds its way into the back.

“Go or die,” Johnathan calls to the group and then turns around and heads back to the kitchen.

Suddenly the entire area is filled with flashing yellow mana lights, warning everyone that the gryphon shit is about to hit the air infuser.

I run over to the idiot couple and scream at them while pointing at the back of the bakery. “Get up and run, fools!"

They are just frozen and looking terrified. I wave my hands in front of them and call out again to go. They switch their vacant terrified gazes to me and just stare. There is another smashing sound behind me, this one close and I duck down. I grab the table in front of me – thankfully not a grav table – and overturn it to face the noise. It is heavy and steel and hopefully can hold up to a few blows at least. I grab the two frozen humans and drag them down by their collars to hide behind the table.

What a bunch of morons. I briefly wonder what Vic would do with such idiots before returning my attention to the threat.

I stick my head over the table and look towards the noise. What I see is a creature that looks somewhat familiar, but not really. It is about a meter tall, made of three brown circular pieces of carapace, and is held above the ground by six skinny legs. Two large brown antennae twitch constantly while another pair of pincers in the front of his head open and close exposing a hole between them acting as its mouth.

With that alone I would say it is an infused – perhaps even engorged – ant. It’s the rest of the creature that makes it appear anything but a normal insect.

Ranger Bob taught me and Vic quite a bit about animal life on this world. As odd as it may sound, that man has been my baseline for learning about creatures of all types. He offered numerous episodes of his fantastic show on the mana-infused insect life of this planet, and since this world has trillions of insects that makes sense.

In this case, the creatures crashing their way through the shop's windows, door, and walls would definitely be the insect known as an ant… well, except for all the flaming growths on their bodies.

These creatures appear to be infected with something that has created spikes all over their carapaces. These range from inches in length to as big as half a meter and glow with a pulsing black flame. That can’t be good.

Aria, you need to get out now…