A curtain of utter darkness appeared about twenty paces out, quickly growing to encircle them and block out all light. There was a moment of blindness before everything turned a dull green. Yurielius was glowing, softly illuminating everything up to the wall of pure black. Lord Yueryurn was barking orders while his men fell in around the mass of vegetation. With no idea where the threat was coming from, I stayed put with Elmidath for now.

Once the soldiers were in position, silence reigned, disturbed only by the slight metallic sounds whenever one of the demons shifted in place. We gripped our weapons tight, awaiting the horrors to come. After a short while, the darkness flickered and a new foe emerged.

A vaguely humanoid shape, towering several feet above the tallest man present, lurched into the light. Formed of what appeared to be tightly packed earth, it was covered in uniform lines of long spikes. It lurched towards them, the ground trembling with every step, before a wave of Tertium burst forth and rushed past it. Howling, they threw themselves at the waiting demons and the battle was joined in earnest.

Elmidath made no move toward the front lines, instead focusing on drawing forth her blood and I remained with her. I could do more good here making sure she was safe, than I could in the chaotic melee ahead. Taking her time, Elmidath struck at the Tertium whenever she had a clear shot.

There were at least a few dozen of the beasts, but for all their ferocity it was clear that Yueryurn’s soldiers were getting the better of them. However, it seemed they were only the beginning. The earthen giant lumbered forward, trampling a wounded Tertium and slamming into the Primis line. Brave as they were, the soldiers scattered before the bulwark of dirt and let it pass rather than be trampled. Their weapons bit into it as it went, digging furrows in its body but failing to make any meaningful impression on the construct.

I was about to ask Elmidath if there was anything she could do to stop it, when I spotted something hurtling through the air toward us and pulled her from its path. A ball of some dark inky substance impacted where we’d been standing, leaving behind a foul-smelling pool. The first was followed by many more such projectiles, and I retreated back toward Yurielius with Elmidath. Branches opened to admit us, then closed once more.

One of the missiles splattered against the wooden barrier and a few droplets got through. I tried to brush them off, but the stuff stuck to me like glue. Ignoring it for now, I turned to Elmidath. We were safe for the moment, which gave us a little time to plan. “What’re we going to do about that thing?”

I gestured toward the Ortisfel’s creation, just in case she needed reminding.

“Probably best that we leave it to the others, I doubt I can do much to stop it.”

She punctuated her statement by spearing another of the Tertium, which had broken after the chaos caused by the giant hitting the demons’ formation and the rain that followed. Dark puddles dotted the battlefield, impeding many of the Primis soldiers. An unlucky few had been all but immobilised by the goo. Elmidath seemed safe enough here, so I decided to make myself useful.

“Fine, then I’m going out there. Call me if you need me, alright?”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“You too.”

I was all too aware of how little I could accomplish with my sword against what was essentially a pile of dirt, and so I focused on what I could do. Running to the edge of the battle, I cut down a Tertium engaged with one of the soldiers and continued away from Yurielius. There’d soon be no safe ground to stand on if the loathsome barrage continued much longer, so it was time to do something potentially very stupid.

I reached the wall of darkness and took a deep breath before ploughing forward. Blind and suddenly cold, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. A few paces in and I was under the night sky once more. Several strange creatures were arrayed around the black dome, appearing somewhat like large, lop-sided bags of dark flesh with a gaping hole in the centre from which they disgorged their sticky projectiles. The foul stench was even stronger at the source. Combined with the wet flapping sounds every time they launched a new ball of gunk; it was absolutely disgusting to witness.

Fortunately, unlike the walking avalanche, they appeared relatively unthreatening. Grasping Shotensho, I brought it to bear on the closest monstrosity. My blade’s rusted steel cleaved through leathery hide and the soft tissue beneath, spilling the putrid liquid across the earth. The creature collapsed into a wet heap which pulled my weapon down with it. Freeing it took some doing, but I managed to reclaim it. I turned to the next foe, eager to deal death, only for it to fall over. For a moment I thought someone else had slain it, until it unleashed a deluge of impeding liquid. The next thing I knew, I was stuck to the ground, flailing around blind and breathless. I tore at the goo covering my face, succeeding only in further trapping my hands.

Panicking, I willed myself back to Elmidath. The clinging fetid mass went with me as I appeared beside her, adhering firmly to Yurielius.

Elmidath’s eyes widened at the sight of me. “What the hell happened?”

Unable to speak, I was forced to reply through our mental link. “Just help me.”

“I’ll try.”

She formed a short blade, which succeeded mostly in stirring the goo around without displacing much before her weapon dissipated to nothing.

“Hurry up.”

I was desperately resisting the urge to gasp for air, I didn’t want to know what it was like to have this crap inside me.

“I’m trying.”

Rather than relying on her power, she tried to grab hold of the sticky substance and pull it free. The sole result of which was that she almost got her hand stuck to me and she bit her lip in frustration.

“I can’t get it off.”

“Try harder.”

I had nothing of use to contribute as far as suggestions went. It was hard to think at all with my lungs burning and my consciousness fading.

After a brief handwringing, Elmidath formed another blade only to withdraw it without using it. She halfway formed another implement before thinking better of it and dissolving that one too.

“Do something!”

Hesitating, she brought forth a much larger body of red-orange and was shaping it into some sort of sheet when I felt the goo lose its grip on me. It slid to the ground in rivulets and I fell to my knees, gulping down air. Once I’d recovered enough to see straight, I noticed a steady stream of green particles spewing from all around us. Wherever they touched the black adherent, it turned to a pale grey liquid that pooled harmlessly beneath me.

Now that I could speak, my first impulse was to lambaste Elmidath with my cutting sarcastic wit, but I reined myself in. It wasn’t her fault, there was probably little to nothing she could have done to help me. And, to her credit, she was already kneeling down to give me a hand. “Are you okay?”

I got up with her assistance. “For now.”

I expected her to make a remark about how remarkably little time it had taken me to do something stupid, but she just looked relieved. “What happened out there?”

I gestured towards the puddle at my feet. “I went looking for the source of that stuff. There’s things out there launching it at us, so I killed one and then I got doused in that crap.”

“You probably had the right idea; we do need to get rid of them. I’d say it’s worth another try.”

“Right or not, it still nearly got me killed.”

“I’ll come with you this time.”

“Fine.”

We emerged from Yurielius’s protective clutches back onto the battlefield. Most of the Tertium were down, along with some of the soldiers. The focus now was on the earthen construct, as it slowly tore its way through Yurelius’s outer layers. There was a glimmer of blue before it, and I realized it was Yueryurn. Or more precisely the pale blue aura surrounding him. It was darkest at the front, where Yueryurn was attempting to hold back the tide of soil.

Glad that they had things at least somewhat in hand, I rushed off into the dark with Elmidath. We broke free of the obscuring wall and were confronted with the horrible fleshy sacks that continued to spew their filth at the gathered soldiery.

“How should we do this? I don’t want to get to covered in that gunk again.”

“Stay close to me. I’ll do my best to shield us if they turn on us; you just worry about killing them as quickly as possible.”

“Done.”

I surged forward, all too happy to put an end to these monstrosities, forcing Elmidath to run after me. Trusting that she’d be able to catch up before anything happened, I brought my blade down on the nearest foe and cleaved right through it. It wheezed as it sunk into a deflated heap and I darted off toward the next.

I was closing in when it lowered its mouth, or whatever orifice was dispensing the foul muck, and I immediately slowed. Just as I’d hoped, Elmidath conjured a scarlet shield before the both of us, intercepting the fetid torrent. Her protection didn’t hold for long, but it was enough to keep most of it off us, and give me enough time to cut another heap of flesh open.

I dispatched the remaining two in similar fashion and we paused to take in the situation. None of the slain showed any signs of life, nor were there any new threats in sight out here. Content, I ran back toward Yurielius, with Elmidath trailing behind.