Eradication
Running down the hill we all activate our boosts.
Rose: Minor boost defense, moderate boost endurance, minor boost speed, moderate boost strength.
Rayla: Minor boost defense, minor boost endurance, minor boost speed, minor boost strength.
Sher Aka: Major boost defense, moderate boost endurance, minor boost speed, minor boost strength.
John: Minor boost endurance, moderate boost speed.
“Three on the left, two on the right!”
“Got it!”
Holding up her shield, Sher Aka runs around the corner with her spear, impaling two of them from a distance and blocking the third one charging her with her shield, slamming it to the ground and impaling it while Rayla runs to the right and in quick succession slices open the throats of the two rattes.
“John! Swarm from the second right!”
“On it! Shadows all consuming, a void fathomless and deep, I stare into the abyss for it to stare back. Dark Tendrils!”
As the group of twenty rattes rounds the corner a black mass of tendrils appears beneath their feet pulling at them and dragging them to the ground.
“Manya!”
“On it!” Her neck expanding, Scarlet lets out a large flame burning through the street, engulfing both the trapped rattes and some more in the distance. The air now filled with screams and the smell of burning flesh and fur we approach further into the town.
“Four left! Seven right! Swarm of sixty ahead, I got them!”
While Sher Aka takes the right and Rayla the left I line up my shot with one of John’s enchanted arrows hitting straight into the swarm killing some of them on impact and then releasing another black mass of tendrils.
“Scarlet you r-”
Bam!
There is blood splatter on the walls next to me as Scarlet punches two Rattes that were trying to assassinate me by jumping on top of me from the roof.
“Thanks manya!”
“You’re welcome, sis!”
“Can you get those up ahead?”
“Nope, a little too occupied!”
She says punching another Rattes to death and kicking one into the wall.
“Alright, I’ll get them then!”
“What!? No, stay here where I-”
Two more rattes attack her, disrupting what she was trying to say while I pull out my dagger and run into the swarm, my fire cloak aura extending to about a meter around me. It’s not quite deadly that way but even being near me is like running into a fire. Using this to my advantage I jump into the swarm as the dark tendrils dissipate. Most of the rattes just cower in pain from the heat, some try to run away and some more try a last ditch effort to attack me but thanks to my superior speed and them being weakened I mow them down witho-
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
A volley of crossbow bolts shoots towards me. Three of them barely miss but the other two pierce my shoulder and torso. Unable to draw my bow like this I run back towards the others, Scarlet flying towards me and transforming into her draconic form when the second volley hits. The bolts bouncing off of her scales, she runs at them, eats one of them whole, slaps the other four into the wall with her claw and breathes fire down the hallway.
“You fucking idiot!” John yells, “Tendrils of the dark, bring my foe to me. Dark Pull!”
A black tendril emerges from John, grabbing me and pulling me towards him.
“Scarlet! Come back, we need to stay in formation!”
“I don’t think she hears you John,” Rayla answers before whistling loudly with her fingers causing Scarlet to turn around and quickly run back to us transforming back into her polymorphed form right before she would trample us.
“How’s Rose!?”
“Hurt, bring me two rattes, alive.” John commands.
“On it!” Scarlet says and rushes into one of the side streets while Sher Aka and Rayla defend our position.
John meanwhile pulls out his first aid kit and applies pressure to my wounds.
With there seemingly not being an end to the horde another swarm approaches us. Thankfully Scarlet comes back just in time to burn them to a crisp, holding two rattes in her hands.
“I’ve brought them!”
“Good,” putting his hands on the rattes John chants, “A life for a life, as is equal and fair. Dark Sacrifice.”
The Rattes then slowly seem to get drained in Scarlet’s hand until only dried out husks are in their place while John seems to get coated in dark mana and puts his hand on me,
“Life a mysterious thing, transfer vitality from me to another. Life Transfer.”
As his mana enters my body I slowly feel my wounds close allowing me to get up again.
“Can you stand?”
“I can fight!”
“There is no way you can fight in this con-watch out!”
Another volley flies towards us, this time from above. Thankfully both Sher Aka and Scarlet get there in time to shield us from it.
The fighting then continues for another twenty minutes or so before finally calming down as most rattes are now either dead, have fled or are hiding.
Rayla yells, “Alright, let’s retreat! We’ll check up again when everyone has recovered!”
“Wait, ane! Shouldn’t we eradicate them all now that they have lost the will to fight?”
“No! We need to get you treatment right now and everyone else needs to recover.”
“But I’m fine!”
“Rose! This is an order. Retreat!”
“Tsk…Okay.”
Reluctantly I follow her order and we retreat. I run with them for about five minutes before my rituals run out and I suddenly fall unconscious.