Walking through the forest, the sounds of nature rang out putting the group on high alert. You never knew what you'd find out here.
As they trekked deeper, they found a trail that led them further in. Their objective: find an artifact buried somewhere deep within the ruins at the forest's heart.
Holding out a compass, Arthur kept careful track of their heading as they followed the trail. Even if it didn't lead straight to the center, it was a good landmark to build familiarity with in case things went array.
'If we keep going northwest we should reach the center of the forest but the trail runs closer to north than northwest. Well, still better than walking blind through the foliage.'
Tucking the compass back into his coat, Arthur kept moving. The rest of the group followed, small talk kept to a minimum so as not to draw anything their way.
The further they went down the narrow trail the more the forest changed around them. The tall trees grew thicker the deeper they pushed, their canopies knitting together overhead until the light came through in thin broken strips rather than clean shafts. Whatever lived up in those heights would have near-perfect camouflage.
'My rune should warn me if anything of intent to harm is near but if we walk straight into the territory of some beast it won't matter. Best to be ready for anything.'
And just as the thought settled, the path ahead gave him a problem.
Blocking their route, a cluster of trees lay toppled over one another, trunks crossed and tangled into a wall of bark and broken branches that weren't going anywhere without a significant amount of effort.
But off to the side, where the blockage pushed the eye naturally, another path had opened up a break in the treeline that curved away deeper into the forest, almost inviting.
"Now what, Captain?" Mars asked, already standing at the edge of the new path, looking down it with his hands on his hips.
Frowning, Arthur walked up to the fallen trees and crouched down.
'It's obvious someone caused this. The question is whether it was Caroline or someone else.'
Standing up Arthur turned back to his squad.
"I'm not sure exactly what's going on but from what I can tell however, whoever knocked down those trees wants us to go down the new path. Whether that's Caroline or someone else I have no idea, so best to be on our toes."
"Then do we go down the path or push through the blockage?" Amy asked, while stretching with her staff.
"We'll take the new path." Arthur said. "But first—"
Pulling out his wand he flicked his wrist, fingers moving in a tight precise pattern as an intricate glyph etched itself into the air in front of him.
"We need to see who's nearby."
The glyph then expands laying on the floor and like a sub woofer a pulse radiant from the ground spreading out in all surroundings. It emitted a low frequency sound as it scanned for anything with mana from the depths of the ground to the sky of the trees.
For a moment nothing happened until…
"Shit."
Something dropped from the canopy.
Thud!
The impact sent a shudder through the ground and kicked up a burst of loose dirt and dead leaves that rolled outward in a low wave. For a moment all you could see was a smoke of dust and debris but then two eyes opened in the middle of it.
Green in color, its eyes narrowing on sight like that of a hunter finding their prey, a presence descended on all those it cast its gaze upon. A sense of dread flooding their minds.
The dust thinned.
Peaking through a panter large like a work horse it's black fur clear to see as the sky light shines down coating it in an array of light. It sat low to the ground, its shoulders rolling slowly as if it was straightening itself from the landing. And slowly it walked forward stalking its prey.
The panther's pupils thinned to a hair.
Then it lunged.
Arthur threw himself sideways, claws raking the air where his chest had been half a second ago. He hit the dirt shoulder-first and rolled upright, wand already coming up.
"Scatter!"
Everyone dashed back leaving only Garrett in front to deal with the beast.
Garrett planted wide and threw up a partial stone wall to split the panther's attention.
"Nature's Thorns!"
Not to leave Garrett to fend for himself Amy follows up erupting thorns from the ground, thick and barbed, coiling around the panther's front legs. It snarled at the sight pulling its paws with great strength breaking free as it leaped away circling.
Arthur watched it circle, those green eyes cutting between squad members with a hunter's patience. Calculating.
Its gaze settled on Amy.
It lunged.
"AHHH!" Screaming, Amy takes cover behind the stone wall, using it to block the path of the beast.
"Don't you dare hurt my friend!" Mars jumps straight into the fray.
Flames roared up his arms as he launched himself at the panther, closing the distance fast. The panther, recognizing Mars as a threat, met him head on, its claws glowing with a white light.
Striking out the two clashed Mars flames against the panther claws.
CLANG!
The impact rang out like steel on steel. Mars's flames flared on contact and the panther's clawed grip held firm. Two forces meeting, neither giving.
Then the white glow pulsed.
Mars grunted as the force behind it doubled, his boots carving two long grooves through the dirt as the panther's raw strength shoved him back three full steps. He caught himself, flames guttering at his knuckles, arm shaking from the contest.
"Strong—!"
The panther pulled back its claw and lunged again, faster this time, pressing the advantage before Mars could reset his footing.
Mars threw himself sideways, barely clearing the swipe. The claws carved through empty air where his chest had been.
"Too close!" He hit the ground in a roll and bounced upright, putting distance between them.
'It must be at least peak bronze if not early silver if it's able to push back Mars and to have mana empower attacks as well. Is it the apex…' Arthur, taking note, watches as the panther goes back to circling around picking the moment when it's best to strike.
Not giving it a moment to settle, Angela wisps out blast after blast, each shot hammering the ground just ahead of the panther's paws and forcing it to keep moving, keep dodging, never finding its footing. No wasted shots. Just relentless pressure, each burst calculated to herd rather than kill.
Garrett worked in tandem with her. Every time the panther shifted direction another stone wall ground up from the earth cutting off the route, boxing it tighter with each pass.
The beast was running out of room and it knew it.
"Keep it pinned, I'm almost done with my spell!" Arthur waving his wand he works to create the glyph chain spell again only this time with a slight modification from before.
However the panther had other plans.
ROAR!
The sound hit like a physical thing not just pure sound a wave of mana was infused in it amplifying the attack making it even more deadly.
"Arghh!"
Arthur's hands flew to his ears, the half-formed chain shattering apart as his concentration broke. He dropped to one knee, vision swimming, the ringing so sharp it blotted out everything else.
Through watering eyes he watched the panther move.
It had already chosen its target.
Mars still staggered from the roar, one hand pressed to the side of his head didn't see the claws coming until they were already there.
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