Previously…

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It wasn't normal for the Shades to immediately hunt down new arrivals. They could be bluffing, or attempting to intimidate, but maybe they had made a mistake. Normally, a serious threat was immediately teleported into a killing chamber for immediate execution, but maybe they had failed to pick up on the danger.

It was a small spot of hope, but to Varos it was enough. If he could stop the Shades from capturing them immediately, they just might recover.

He held his staff in one hand, and an untested device in the other. He fired several bursts of lightning from his staff to make noise and draw the attention of the hunters, while continuing to run in the opposite direction from the arrivals.

He encountered a group of half a dozen Shades around a tight corner, almost at point-blank range. He immediately ducked behind the corner before they could fire, while throwing the device out. The Shades rushed to overwhelm him, but the device triggered, collapsing the dimensional borders briefly and causing an uncontrolled burst of chaotic fourth-dimensional energy. Several Shades went down immediately, their wards overwhelmed by the furst.

Varos aimed his staff at the first Shade to recover, and blasted him with a sustained barrage of lightning, overwhelming his wards and killing him before he could draw his weapon. Then, Varos dashed away. He triggered the haste module in his armor, accelerating his body and mind for a second to gain twenty meters of distance.

He encountered a different group of Shades. As he ran past an intersection, a pink bolt of energy struck him head on. It would have been an instant knockout, if not for the weak warding field Varos’ armor projected. It wasn’t enough to block the full effect, briefly stunning Varos, causing him to lose his footing, but he wasn’t out yet.

Varos pushed himself around a corner, only to encounter a dead end. Thinking quickly, he developed a new plan. He waited just around the corner for the Shades to move in to confirm their kill. As one of them rounded the corner, his knife was drawn, and the wave of pain nearly incapacitated Varos. He managed to activate his haste module again, and for that brief window, his faster perception could overcome the pain.

He slammed the end of his staff into the Shade and channeled a wave of electricity through it, breaking their wards. He rushed into the Shade, slamming him into the opposite wall, then fled down a different cave section. The Shades fired a few shots at him as his speed returned to normal, but their shots missed.

He knew the caverns ahead of him opened up above. If he could reach them, he might be able to move to a different layer of the cave to throw off the pursuit.

But before Varos could reach the opening, a group of three Shades moved into position, directly ahead of him. He panicked, immediately dropping to the ground and throwing out another arcane device. The Shades opened fire, but a wall sprung up in front of Varos, blocking the bolts.

The other group of Shades caught up behind him. He deployed a second piece of cover behind him, but it would only be a temporary measure. He needed a plan, quickly.

Wait. His armor was currently in the process of recharging. If he held out for long enough, he might be able to use a burst of power to dash through the Shades in front of him and get enough elevation to get to the high ground. He would most likely get hit multiple times, but if his warding held, he might be able to recover fast enough to get away.

"Hello, Varos." It was the voice of one of the Matriarchs, seemingly being broadcast directly into his mind. "Your diversion was pointless. I considered ignoring you to hunt them down anyways, but you’re a bigger prize. Don’t get me wrong, the new arrivals are minor threats to us, but my Shades have been clamoring for tougher prey. Their leader, Annabelle Lee, might even put up a decent fight."

How did he already know her name, when Varos himself hadn't heard of it? With that kind of divination, the Shades probably knew the exact location of their "secret" hideout. They were only staying away to keep the game going.

“Normally, you'd be our prize for the day. But I think it’ll be a more appropriate torture to make you bring down the very group you attempted to protect."

Several of the Shades threw their knives at Varos' cover. He had to make his move, now.

He triggered his haste module, slammed into the cover ahead of him, and charged through. The barrier flew out ahead of him, blocking several attacks from the front before slamming into the Shades in its path, but his armor still took two bolts, one from in front of him and one from a shooter behind him.

Varos managed to stay in control of his body for just long enough to swing off of an immovable rod in his hand, turning his high horizontal speed into a vertical arc. It was just enough to land hard on a higher level of cave, and he struggled to get back on his feet and move before the Shades caught up.

But then, he noticed the Matriarch standing in front of him, her skin a distinctive shade of blueish grey. She was wearing an ornate red dress bejeweled with gemstones, and was covered in silver and gold jewelry. Varos knew that almost all of it was enchanted to the highest degree.

Why was a Matriarch in a hunt? Varos now had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deal a permanent blow to the Shades. At least, if he could somehow beat the Matriarch’s magic, and punch through her hardened wards.

The Matriarch fired a pink bolt of energy from one of her hands. Varos somehow rolled to dodge it, but the projectile homed in on him and impacted. His warding fields didn't have enough time to recharge from the previous hits, and did not block the impact. He was paralyzed.

"I’d like you to continue thinking your attempts to resist are effective," the Matriarch said. “After all, you keep this fun for us.”

The Matriarch pulled Varos’s body upright with telekinesis.

“Unfortunately, you didn’t win this time.”

The Matriarch began a mental invasion. Varos held out for a few minutes, but the Matriarch gradually wore him down, finding cracks in his defenses. Soon, she was entirely in control.