It was strangely cold for midsummer.
My breath came out in a huff as I darted around a tree trunk, flattening my back against the smooth wood. As I paused to reassess my surroundings, I noted how grateful I was for the change in temperature, however odd it might be. Perhaps the Roil was to blame - But then again, who knows? All I knew for sure was that the chill air and slight breeze kept me from overheating as I ran, and that it dulled my quarry's senses enough so that they were a little less dangerous than usual. Perfect. I could just kill what I needed and then go straight home. It had been a long day, and every single one of my muscles felt as if it were throbbing, not to mention the fact that my eyelids drooped whenever I stood still for too long. I needed to go to bed. Eat and wash first, perhaps, but then go to bed and sleep till sun's height the next day. Ah yes, that would be nice…
But just then, I was pulled out of my reverie by the shrieking cry of a baloth – one that sounded far closer than it should have.
My heart leapt in my chest as I spun, and for a horrible moment I couldn't concentrate past the tight grip of fear on me to tap into the mana of the forest all around, to sink my mental fingers deep into the wells of green that flowed through every trunk, every stem, every blade of grass. But then, in a rush, I made the connection, and I felt my body surge with power even as the hulking form of the baloth thundered through the trees and into sight.
I lifted my hands in front of me, and at my unspoken command a little creature made of tangled vines flickered into life at my feet. I let the baloth charge closer, closer – but just as it neared enough to skewer me on one of its lowered head spikes, I whispered something under my breath, and the vine-thing suddenly stretched and entwined its tendrils into a thick net that caught the baloth and sent it crashing to the ground. The beast thrashed about, roaring, but try as it might, it couldn't get free. I took this moment to whisper something else, and an instant later the baloth was scooped up by heavy branches that dipped low, and then passed higher, from branch to branch, before being thrown down with astounding force. I had barely enough time to crouch and brace myself for impact. The subsequent boom, accompanied by a sickening crunch that signaled the beast's skull cracking, shook the earth, and me along with it. When the tremors passed and the baloth finally lay still, I sighed in relief and allowed myself a triumphant grin. I could feel my body relax. That had to have been record time for a kill!
With a wave of my hand, I dismissed the summoned creature, and then pushed myself to my feet so I could walk over and affectionately stroke the bark of the tree that had aided me, carefully avoiding the blood that was beginning to pour from the dead baloth and pool around my boots. "Thank you," I murmured, smiling as I felt the pulse of mana from within the tree that I always fancied to be its heartbeat. "You were a great help, as always."
The tree responded by reaching one of its tinier limbs down and gently caressing a stray lock of my hair, turned from white blond to nearly brown by the mud that I had fallen in earlier.
I laughed at the gesture. "Yes, I know – I need to take a bath, don't I? This stuff is all over me." Reaching down, I picked a piece of dirt off the hem of my hunting dress. "And wash my clothes, too. They're pretty filthy."
Just then, I felt any icy claw of dread rake across my stomach.
I let out a gasp at the strength of the emotion, and the abruptness, and I could do nothing to stop it from bringing me to my knees. With each passing second it intensified, pulling the breath from my lungs until I felt as if I were suffocating. I wielded magic of considerable power, and I even got a taste of it in return from time to time, but…I had never felt anything remotely like this before. To be honest, I didn't even know if it was magic. What in the name of the Roil was going on?
But then, with a start, I recognized the withering touch of black mana.
It was on me before I knew what was happening.
There was a horrible, ghastly wail that sounded like a thousand tortured souls packed into one breath, and then two immense, razor-like claws – real ones this time – sunk into the forest floor on either side of me. An equally immense mass of metallic chest followed, then jagged, spindly legs that planted themselves inches away from my chest. I was fenced in.
Choking back panic, I forced myself to look up – And immediately regretted the decision, because what I saw made me want to scream.
Above me loomed the creature's head, which was disproportionately small for its body but still large enough to dwarf my entire torso. A metallic mask covered where its face should have been, similar in material to the metal covering its chest, and two utterly black holes served as eyes that thinned and stretched grotesquely all the way down to its chin. Above its head floated several hedron-like shapes, spinning and twirling in irregular patterns that made me dizzy to watch. I didn't watch for more than a second, though – There were other, more important things to worry about. Like not dying.
Grunting, I rolled to the side just in time to avoid one of the spindly legs spearing me in the gut, and I thrust my consciousness out to the forest around me, and to the rolling hills and stinking swamps that I knew lay beyond. The mana of those places sensed my desperation, and it filled me to the brim in a swirling vortex, an incomprehensible mass that sent me reeling. I couldn't hold onto the differing powers for long, however, and it was a mere moment later that I let it all burst forth from my body in a tremendous explosion. A rift appeared in the air before the creature, shimmering and shifting as it caught the light. The creature shrieked and reared up, legs clawing the air, but before it had time to react further, it was being pulled headfirst into the distortion. Another wail echoed through the trees as its body swiftly disappeared from view, and once it was completely gone the rift simply closed and vanished as well.
I sank down into the bloody dirt, my chest heaving. What was that thing?
But I didn't have time to contemplate the answer, because a deafening chorus of wails announced the arrival of reinforcements from hell.
This time I reacted instantly, letting out a furious cry as I thrust my clenched fists to my sides and lifted my head to the canopy above me. I called upon whatever green mana I hadn't drained dry to bring forth three towering creatures from the aether – great trees with limbs made of gnarled sections of trunk and faces carved into bark – and I entreated them to attack the incomers, to protect their summoner. They creaked and groaned as they obeyed, moving forth to meet the nightmarish swarm head-on.
It was no use. The trees had barely gotten in two swipes on one of the creatures before they were surrounded by ten more, and each hacked to pieces that dissipated as soon as they tumbled to the ground.
Exhausted from my expenditure of power, I fell to my knees. My breath was coming in ragged gasps as I pleaded, frantically, for help from the trees around me again.
This time, there was no answer.
More and more creatures poured into the grove around me from all sides, some identical to the one I had first killed and its brethren, and others of entirely different shapes, sizes, and even mana signatures. Each one was more terrifying than the last, with limbs that flung outward at impossible angles or gaping maws of teeth as long as my forearm, or tentacles that writhed and extended toward me, snakelike, presumably to wrap around me and squeeze the life from my body.
As the horde drew closer, I felt a terror like nothing I had ever known.
As they formed a circle around me and slowly, methodically, reached out, I screamed.
No! I don't want to die!
As that final thought raced through my mind, I felt something swell inside me, something that seemed to erupt from my very center. At first it was like a hum, vibrating my core and spreading outward to my arms and legs as I knelt, drained and helpless, before the dozens of creatures that would in mere moments be the bringers of my death.
But then that hum quickened and turned into a pulsating heat, scorching veins and nerves alike as it raced throughout not only my body, but through my soul.
Inside me, everything was on fire now.
For a moment, time seemed to slow down.
And then, without pretense, my body and soul and everything around me exploded in a blaze of heat and light.
I screamed again as the unearthly inferno whirled around me, around everything – And as I lost myself within its flames, I felt nothing at all.
When I had previously imagined my own death – idle thoughts that I had never let linger too long in a mind that could be put to use towards other, better things – I had always guessed that it would be a great night, falling over me like a shroud that took away every sight and sound and touch, leaving nothing but a darkness that held neither moon nor stars.
I was wrong. There was only light.
