Chapter 294
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“Garth, look out!”
Joseph’s warning gave the grizzled warrior just enough time to raise his blade to parry as a fleshy spear erupted from one of the fallen mushroom soldiers. He followed with a heavy stomp, then jumped back as hundreds of small flaming orbs crashed into the advancing mushroom vanguard. The conflagration scattered the attackers, creating a pocket of security, at least for now.
Garth spared a quick glance back at his team, who looked wrung-out but otherwise unharmed. They’d been attacking the fungal colony for the better part of three days now, and progress had stalled greatly. Chester Drake and his teams were facing similar issues on the other side of the settlement; the resistance growing overwhelming by sheer force of numbers.
As the flames from Joseph’s attack began to fade, Garth made the call. “Fall back to rally point Delta. We’ll fortify, rest, and make another incursion soon.”
As one, his team nodded, and began their retreat, careful to cover their withdrawal with a steady barrage of long-distance attacks, courtesy of Joseph and Mary Ellen. Finally, upon reaching their own fortification, the mushrooms ceased their pursuit. The rally point was austere, a prefabricated two-story habitation with a large metal wall in front that extended a few dozen meters in each direction.
With the numbers at their disposal, the mushroom soldiers could overwhelm it, though not before Garth and Joseph extracted an extreme cost as they made their retreat. Fortunately, the mushrooms didn’t seem to have the appetite to pay it. At least not yet, Garth thought. So far, they’d only encountered E Grade mushrooms. Their bodies were long, stretchy, and humanoid, though from everything they’d been able to tell, they were legitimately just mushrooms.
It was an oddity, to be sure. Most of the awakened fungal creatures that had been recorded were either stationary or parasitic. Records of free-roaming mushrooms existed, but those were typically in C Grade or even beyond. To see E Grades wandering around was unusual. Of course, the other issue that they still faced was the missing D Grade. The scans were clear that at least one was in the area, and they still hadn’t seen any hint of its existence.
“Everybody, settle in and get some rest,” Garth said, stepping up to the second floor of the habitation. “I’ll take the first watch. Be ready to set out again in six hours.”
“Yes, sir!” they replied, expressions of relief clear as they got settled in to their spots.
Looking out at the field they’d escaped from, Garth brought up his nav bracelet and made a call to Chester. A moment later, the man answered.
“Mr. Boltsbury, a pleasure to hear from you. How is the incursion working on your end?”
“Progress on our side has almost completely stalled,” Garth admitted. “What about for you?”
“The same, I’m afraid. I doubt we’ve slain less than a thousand of the soldiers, and yet they continue to send more. The consolation is that the rest of the fungal colony has stopped expanding. We appear to be draining its resources as quickly as it can send them.”
Garth nodded, having seen the same. “That’s a lucky thing, for sure. It’s almost certain, then, that the colony is creating the foot soldiers?”
“It seems likely,” Chester replied. “If there were this many available before, the colony should have expanded significantly faster. During the scans of its initial growth, there were only a few dozen of these creatures shambling about at any given time.”
“We’ll keep the pressure on, then. My team needs some time to rest, then we’ll be back at it. I gave them six hours.”
“In the meantime, I will continue to a longer-range bombardment while your people recharge. With any luck, we’ll flush out the D Grade, and we can put this whole thing behind us sooner rather than later. Take care, Mr. Boltsbury.”
“You as well, Chester.”
Garth could hear the distant rumbling of cracking stone, a sign that Chester had already begun his work. That’s a weakness we’ll need to consider, Garth thought, considering his own team. Their general lack of true long-distance support was a challenge. Of course, Chester could do much more than just long-range attacks, but the value in situations like these was tremendous.
After all of this time spent exploring and fighting, Garth knew that change in his team was inevitable. Johannes was the most homesick of the bunch, with Mary Ellen not far behind. He believed Joseph still enjoyed the adventure; the purpose that accompanied a mission, but Mary Ellen was more important to him than any of that. And Arianna… Well, the young lady was fiery, driven, and would never admit that she missed her family. Garth saw through that.
Letting out a sigh, he looked across the crags toward the fungal colony. Minutes turned into hours as he stared, his mind wandering. The time to pass along his guard came and went, and he stayed on the balcony, giving them a little more time. They all deserve to get a good night’s rest. Not to be stuck on a planet on the back-end of nowhere fighting mushroom monsters. Not for the first time, Garth thought about the deals he’d struck to get here, to earn his place with Corthian Mining. His options had been limited, and aligning the Earthlings with them had been the best bet he had at the time. Now, though, he longed for an opportunity to give them something more. Not just subsistence, but a shot at real prosperity.
An alert from his nav bracelet snapped him back to his thoughts, and when he heard the message, his blood ran cold.
Boltsbury,
Several D Grade presences have been spotted, moving quickly. One of them is heading your way. Hold on until we can get reinforcements to you. I am on my way personally.
-Malcolm
Fixing his eyes on the horizon, he saw it. It was humanoid, like the others, though this mushroom had dark crimson coloring as compared to the oranges and pinks of the others they’d faced. It was heading toward his location at a dead sprint, covering impressive ground with each stride.
“Team, to me!” Garth called, drawing his blade. “This is the real deal. Stay back, and offer supporting fire if you can. Arianna, defend the casters, and buy time if it makes a break for you. And please, lend me your strength.”
With the last words, Garth activated Leader’s Mantle. The sweeping cloak of mana emerged from his back as he felt power flow into him. His team were hurriedly getting into position as he leapt over the fortification to meet the D Grade in single combat. Whether it was actually hoping to attack them, or just retreating under the pressure of Chester’s barrage, Garth wasn’t going to let it get by him easily.
As it closed the distance, Garth got a good look at the strange creature. Dozens of mushroom stalks rose from where its head and face would otherwise have been, making it look like the creature wore a crown. Long, crimson stalks interwove across its arms and legs, with tatters of some type of fabric still present here and there on its flesh. Compared to the sluggish movements of the other mushrooms, this one had fast, jerky motions, with its limbs almost seeming to extend and contract as it ran.
Before he could examine further, it let out an unearthly howl, exposing a mouth full of cracked and yellow teeth. One of its arms extended backwards, then snapped toward Garth like it was made of rubber. Grotesque claws reached for him as it struck, but Garth already stepped to the side, bringing his sword up in a single fluid motion. Unlike the other mushrooms, his blade met resistance partway through as the mushroom creature screamed again, its other arm lashing out toward Garth’s face.
Pivoting, he dislodged his blade while batting away the other limb with the flat of the blade. Then, angling his weapon, Garth turned his hips and slashed, hoping to separate the creature’s head from its shoulders. Unfortunately, it ducked at the last moment, the sword only slashing through a handful of the mushroom crowns.
Crimson flesh wriggled and writhed as the cuts began to regenerate, but Garth could have sworn he caught a glimpse of dark skin hidden behind the budding mushrooms. The creature swiped at him again, its arm already completely healed, and Garth responded with a heavier mana-infused slash, catching the arm and splitting it lengthwise to the shoulder. Another slashing attack grazed his shoulder in the exchange, though Leader’s Mantle blunted the worst of the damage.
In this close proximity, he wasn’t able to bring the blade fully to bear, so with a grunt he landed a heavy knee into the creature’s gut, followed by a pommel strike to the back of its head. The monster fell toward the ground, barely scrambling away from the downward slash that followed it toward the ground. As it escaped, its injuries mended once again. The damn thing’s tenacious, I’ll give it that, Garth grumbled to himself, taking his stance as mana flowed through him. If it regenerates through the smaller attacks, let’s see how it handles this.
The moment it took a step, he activated Skyrend, launching a mighty blade of mana that tore into the resilient mushroom creature, leaving bits and pieces of mushroom stalks strewn across the ground as its main body was knocked back nearly thirty meters. Flaming spheres cascaded down shortly after, the flames igniting small wriggling bits as they attempted to regenerate.
Still, the main body wasn’t out of the fight yet. Garth’s attack had stripped away much of the mushroom flesh, and Garth stared in horror at the sight in front of him. Unlike the others, this was no mushroom. A human torso with a nasty cut sat at the heart of the humanoid creature as fungal tendrils erupted from the wound, winding themselves back around the body.
“What kind of monster are you?” Garth breathed, readying his sword for another attack.
Dozens of spear-like tendrils shot out from the creature, attempting to impale Garth from range. Too slow, too direct. He parried one, cut through another, and sidestepped the rest. To his surprise, after he got out of the way, the tendrils turned toward him. Still, he was a professional soldier. Two more quick swipes with his blade, and the tendrils were gone.
The creature howled again, extending its arms to slash at Garth. He took a deep breath, and launched another Skyrend, this time managing to take both of its arms. As D Grades went, this one was unimpressive. Leader’s Mantle was likely overkill, though he got a strange feeling of foreboding in his gut as the monstrosity stood up on shaky feet once more.
It lunged for Garth, who met its charge, slashing some of the newly-regenerated mushrooms before they could fully reform. Definitely not combat focused, he thought, dodging another sloppy lunge as he shoulder-checked the creature, nearly knocking it over and allowing him to land another horizontal slash, this one catching it where its face should be.
It reeled back, many of the mushrooms covering its head having been damaged by the slash. With its slower regeneration, Garth finally got a good look at the face beneath the stalks. A familiar face, that once captivated a room with friendly dark eyes and an easy smile. The face of a man who wasn’t afraid to put himself in grave danger to save his friends, even as an unawakened.
“Amir,” Garth breathed out, numbness and disbelief coursing through him in equal measure. “What the hell happened to you?”