Low-Fantasy Occultist

Vultures circled overhead in slow spirals, their grey shapes blending against the sun and easy to overlook. However, Nick’s senses instantly detected them the moment they shifted focus to attack and began their descent.

“Another one,” he said, pointing in their direction.

A shadow fell from the sky, wings folding tightly around a lean body with a hooked beak and claws that shimmered like metal. It dove straight at Lina, shrieking.

The Shard’s orb flashed, and a lance of golden light shot upward.

The vulture twisted with incredible agility, but it wasn’t quick enough, as the bolt clipped its wing, sending it spinning away with a strangled screech, and it crashed onto the ground in a chaotic tumble.

“You can finish it,” Nick said absently as it tried to push itself up.

Not that these things give me much experience anymore. I’m beginning to understand why everyone slows down a lot in the upper levels.

Yvonne didn’t need the encouragement as her axe swung down, and the vulture’s head rolled across the dirt.

More shadows broke away from the circling flock, picking up speed.

“Here we go,” Malik muttered, bringing his shield up.

The vultures weren’t individually terrifying, but in large groups, and with their nasty habit of diving for eyes and exposed throats, they could become a problem.

Unfortunately for the monsters, their team was very skilled at handling such problems.

Joran’s beads of green fire turned several into shrieking comets as they dove, burning wings to cinders, and made them plummet. Raphael twisted space so two more collided mid-flight, and Mikel’s implosions turned others into bursts of blood and feathers.

Nick didn’t even need to call lightning for most of them. A few precise [Jet Streams] to pierce through wings, a [Spirit Blast] to a particularly large and resilient one, and the rest fell apart under his teammates’ assault.