“Preparations are on schedule? We’re moving everyone up to the lord’s colony today?” I ask as we all stand around a table, looking over the same scrawled out map as the last time. The forest is lousy with various territories marked out in different colours, though they’re not all equally dangerous.

“Everything is as expected.” Nel replies, staring over the map. “If we’re going through with the attack tomorrow, we’ll need to have everyone moved up today. Waiting until after the attack would be too much of a risk.”

“I agree. Are we expecting to be attacked on the way?” I ask, “It’s been rather quiet since I’ve gotten back.”

“Paskel won’t leave us alone now. He’s out there, waiting for us.” Tkarn says, staring through the walls around us, seeing devils in every shadow.

“So, we should expect an ambush?” I ask.

“We should.” Red nods. “From what I’ve seen so far of the gremlins and this Paskel, I expect that we’ll have wild beasts lured towards us while their mages are going to pull us into the ground, like what happened with you and Eshya.”

“We can’t clear out the tunnels in advance?” I ask.

“I’ve done everything I can, but I don’t expect it to make much of a difference.” Red says. “The powerful wood weavers can make new tunnels with barely any effort; we can’t stop them from sneaking under us. Not without equivalent mages at least.”

“We’ve been fighting them off, but when they want to retreat, there’s no chasing them.” Lakesh hisses, “I’ll be glad to have them cornered where they can’t run from us.”

“Glad to see I’m not the only one excited for tomorrow.” I say, “Do you think you can handle them if they attack us while we’re running?”

“We can handle ourselves against them.” He says, “We are not, however, trained to be escorting people through dangerous terrain. If the untrained civilians are running on foot, we’re going to lose people.”

“Best we stay off the ground, then. Bessy?” I ask for the silent puff ball in the corner. “Are you up for carrying a bunch of us through a dangerous forest filled with beasts, gremlins, and all sorts of things that want to see us dead?”

She blinks up at me before bobbing up and down happily, as close as a clear yes as I can expect from her. If my experiences with her so far are anything to go by, she knows what she’s doing at least.

“She can carry everyone?” Lakesh asks, raising a brow. “Some magic spell?”

“No.” I reply with a shrug “She just grows a bunch of tentacles and picks everyone up.”

He keeps his doubts quiet, but they’re still expressed quite loudly in his expression.

“Which leaves her without much means of defending herself.” Red says, looking over everyone here. “Which is why the rest of us are going to have to ensure that she’s well-guarded. The enemy can’t pull her under the surface like they can to the rest of us, but there’s plenty of other dangers here.

“We can’t afford to stand still and try and defend if we’re ambushed, either. The longer they hold us in one spot, the more time their poisons have to take effect, and the more beasts they can lure in to attack us.”

“So, we make a run for it, and blast anything that gets in our way?” I ask. “Isn’t there a more elegant plan? Tricking our enemy, or distracting them, or something?”

“Can any of you think of a way to trick or distract these gremlins?” Red asks, looking questioningly to the rest of the warriors gathered here. “Then we use simple tactics. We move fast, and we throw aside any enemies that get in the way. There’s no fucking this up so long as we keep moving.”

No one speaks a complaint, and most nod in agreement to the plan. It seems things are settled.

“We’ve got the protective armour with us here already.” I say, looking at the cloaks, inset with dark crystal in a small chain around the neck. “They should be capable of taking a few hits before they run dry. We’ll pass it out to the soldiers, then?”

“Ah, I’d suggest otherwise.” Lakesh says shaking his head. “It is a curious device, and could help one day, but the mana density of the crystal will take some getting used to. We need to be fast on our feet, and that would mess with a warrior’s balance. Wrap the civilians up in them instead, it won’t bother them as much, I’d hope.”

“I’ll take your advice on that then.” I reply, letting Red continue.

“Then I think we should talk formations.” Red says. “Kyra. You’re much too vulnerable to be running around on the ground, and much too powerful to be left out of the operation. I have a special plan for where to place you.”

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this…?” I ask, peering at her as she smiles up at me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Whoah, okay this was a great plan Red. I love it!” I cry as Bessy waves me around with a big fluffy tentacle, a few beast corpses are held up beside me to use for mana when we get ambushed.

The others who aren’t particularly capable in a fight are gathered up in Bessy’s other tentacles, but held closer to her body. Most of them look decidedly unwell, some are even throwing up the contents of their stomachs as they sway gently from side to side.

“I can see all around from up here.” I say, gazing out over our entire formation. I’m so glad that Red thought of this.

“Pay attention to our messages.” Red calls out to me. “You have to support all sides, don’t waste your shots.”

“Got it!” I shout back, giving her a thumbs up.

Vii, and Rare, our little pet dragon, fly up to me soon after. They’re responsible for keeping the skies clear with some help from Red he floats over the front of our formation.

With Red leading us, I’m not sure there’s much down here that could stop our charge.

Eshya is frightfully close to the front of our formation, but I have to put my trust in her abilities.

Nel is bundled up with the other non-combatants, her fighting abilities not quite up to par with the enemies we’re going to be facing.

Thresh is the same. The girl was up all night working on all sorts of different potions while getting used to her new Skills. I think we’ve made a good impression on her, now we just have to hope that she’s not easily scared away.

There’s a surprising number of freed beasts who are capable of fighting alongside us already, or at least I hope they are, because they have their spears and shields and are running along the ground with the rest of my fighters.

“We’re off!” Red shouts, leading us away at a good speed. I carefully gaze through the thick forest. Looking over every tree with suspicion.

It’s possible that there’s no ambush.

It’s possible that everything is going to be fine, and the beasts will keep out of our way, and everything will be nice and smooth and perfect.

I doubt it.

There isn’t really any particular path that we’re following, but the crushed ferns certainly mark our passage, in a way that no one could miss. Not that we’re overly concerned that anyone will follow us, not when they could as easily attack from any other direction.

Beasts cry, birds squawk, and insects make the most awful sounds, but nothing attacks us. No ambush snaps closed around us, and no pits open beneath the feet of our warriors.

The tension rises the longer we travel, as if we’re getting closer to that ambush with every step, yet when we do finally reach the entrance to the lords colony, there’s been no ambush. Not even an upset animal that has tried us during our run.

“Hold.” Red shouts while sending the same over our group chat. None of the trained soldiers let their guard down, and I quickly regain my own focus.

It’s a little too silent here.

“Are there any sentries on duty?!” Red shouts, peering into the usual hiding places. There’s a hint of movement, a second before a bolt flies out from a bush towards Red. She flicks it aside with the back of her hand, scanning the forest around for more as Lakesh dives towards the one who loosed on her.

The tall lizard man tears through the brush, another of his men right on his tail. A short moment later he walks out with the beast in his grasp.

A gremlin, it’s cracked grey skin looks less than healthy. A large gash along its head is bleeding down the side of its face and a few puncture wounds mar its torso. The creature was barely alive when it attacked.

It doesn’t seem to care about its injuries, struggling against Lakesh’s grip for a moment before the warrior bites into its neck, drinking it dry while still gazing out across the forest.

“Well shit.” I say, looking about the forest for more of them.

“It seems we’re not the only ones the gremlins are unhappy with.” She says, carefully lifting up the body of one of the smaller reptilian people which was hiding under a few ferns. One of the guards most likely. “Nel, send warnings up there and see what they know. This is recent, it could be that the intruders haven’t been found.”

“On it.” Nel replies, her eyes glazing over as she starts sending out messages.

“We can’t stay here.” Red says, looking cautiously about the forest.

“Then we go up.” I suggest, looking up into the flowing waters that fill the tree. The portal that leads up into the lords colony.

“It’s possibly a trap.” Lakesh grumbles spitting out the desiccated gremlin remains. “Even if it’s not, we’re going to stumble into the enemy up there.”

“We will, but it’s better for us to fight up there than down here.” Red declares. “Lakesh, you’re with me. We’re going to act as the vanguard and ensure that everything is dead before the others follow. Understood?”

“Understood.” He nods eagerly, his mouth still dripping with blood.

It’s always nice to see my minions getting along.

“Follow us when ordered.” She declares. “Kyra, I’ll leave the command here to you.”

“I’ll take care of it.” I say, itching at my arms as I gaze out over the forest, looking for more of the little freaks ready to bother us.

“It shouldn’t take more than a minute.” Red declares before diving into the stream with the rest of her team of powerful warriors. Surprisingly Eshya makes the cut, giving me a little smile and a wave before she’s taken away by the current.

“Alright, we’re not waiting long. Let’s make sure that nothing-”

“Above!” Vii shouts, throwing wind blades at the figure falling from the sky. Without wings, the chitinous figure kicks against the trees to direct its fall. If it wasn’t for cackling laughter I’d think it a wild beast.

“Paskel!” Takrn shouts in fright.

“Oh, fuck off!” I shout, as he tosses down a few little bags filled with swirling spells. Each one streams a sickly yellow-green smoke, filling the air and obscuring the figure of the creature called Paskel.

I quickly fire off my prepared spells at him, but while my magic can pierce through things quite reliably, it’s currently not very good at tracking a moving target.

“As you wish!” Paskel shouts back down as he kicks off of the trees and makes a rapid escape in the haze. It doesn’t take very long at all for him to disappear entirely, but the sickly fog that he leaves behind isn’t so easily dispersed.

Vii tries using her wind magic to gather up the bags to throw them aside, but the moment her winds touch them they blast out explosively. Her winds aren’t able to contain the particles spewed all over, poison grenades… great.

As I breath the sickly powder into my lungs, I pull the mana from it, and try to cough it all up. Only to draw in more of the poison with each breath. Everyone’s coughing the same as I, and it’s quickly apparent that even Bessy is being affected by it.

“Red, is it safe? We’ve been hit with poison and need healing ASAP.”

“There’s more poison up here. The healer is unavailable. Keep the alchemist conscious at all costs, and get up here!”

“Done.”

“Everyone in the stream, now!” I shout, “Bessy, bring me to Thresh!”

As we dive into the upwards flowing waters, Thresh is roughly shoved into my side. The rushing water tears at me, but I pay it no mind as I reach out to our potion maker. If the healer is out of play, then… shit… brewing up an antidote on the spot is all we’ve got.

I carefully apply my mana drain on her, pulling at the poison in her lungs. It’s strangely easy to find, the mana somehow very different from everything else inside her body. All my experience at pulling out chips makes the distinction in mana that much easier.

We tumble up through the water, thrown onto the drain we normally end up in. A half dozen gremlin corpses lay scattered about the room and through the sickly haze filling the air I can see Red and her team standing at the ready, almost entirely unaffected by the poison.

“The healer?” I ask, choking on the sulphurous poison in the air.

“Dying, or dead.” Green-feet hisses walking out of the hall deeper in. “Come with me. The poison isn’t as bad further in. Any chance you have a healer with you?”

“An alchemist.” I say.

“They better be good.” He grumbles, leading us in. “Another wave of gremlins is going to be coming for us soon, with more poison on them too. Are any of you able to fight with us?”

“A few.” I say, walking up alongside Red now that we’re reasonably safe. “How bad is it?”

“Without something to fix this poison problem?” Green-feet grumbles before spitting up a mouthful of blood. “Bad.”

“Got it. Thresh, can you fix this?” I ask, looking back towards her.

“I… I’ll need some things. Liver of a powerful monster, dense water, and…” She lists a few more things but I turn my focus back to Red.

“Red, you think you can put together a team for a fetch quest?” I ask her.

“Yes, ma’am.” Red replies, quickly getting the list from Thresh.

“More gremlins!” Shouts one of Green-feet’s soldiers at our back.

“Seems we have some work to do.” I say, ordering everyone into positions, while pulling as much poison from them as I can.

I can’t erase the poison entirely, but I can severely limit how much more damage it can do by pulling the mana from it. Seconds after clearing it away, they just breath more of the poison in. The Sisyphean task has only just begun as the gremlins show their faces.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 2002 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Defence 97% 97% Offense 0% 68% Mana Sense 0% 96% Recovery 0% 44% Gluttony 0% 34% Misc. 0% 44% Efficiency 97% 100%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Reactive defence

-Fire burst punch

-Annihilation magic

-Charged casting (Annihilation)

-Mana form flow fixer

-Branching magic

-Swimming