Meager Power

I burst into action, sprinting in the direction indicated. I wasn't at full power - I lacked my favored weapon completely - but I could definitely help somehow. Sounds of combat echoed into the chamber past the sounds of the storm, yips and yelps and yells all combining into what had to be a tumultuous fight. As I reached the entrance to the Sanctuary, I spotted what had flung the man. A wolf, unnaturally large (or perhaps naturally, for this place,) careened towards him. I definitely could tell what part of it was unnatural, though. Its entire back left leg had been subsumed by weird tendrils of blue that were almost translucent, slick with water from the rain. It wriggled around like it was growing all sorts of cilia, but with no regularity or pattern. It was a disgusting mess, honestly, and it made me feel squirmy inside, in a way that even the mimic hadn't.

But I wasn't going to let this thing tear out the throat of the first native we'd met, no ma'am. I raised my arm and shot a Mana Bolt at it as I slid out into the weather. It clearly hadn't been expecting other combatants to come in from this angle so I was able to easily knock it off its balance, crashing into the ground and sliding across the wet ground. I wasted no time in stepping up and slamming my foot down on its head and sending a Spark into it to make sure it was down. Rachel caught up to me and speared its head with her blade as I stepped off of it. We both turned our attention to the man who was struggling to get to his feet, and pointing away from himself into the forest.

"Please! My wife - my party is fighting the tainted. We are outnumbered!"

"On it!" I yelled, slapping Rachel on the shoulder and running ahead. Even in the darkness of the stormy night, I could see flashes of movement as well as a few sources of light. A torch had fallen to the ground on the mountainside, but had somehow not gone out. Two different balls of light bobbed at various points, connected to things that were moving quickly. More wolves could be heard, as well as the roar of something bigger; a bear, maybe.

Of course I wondered what the tainted were. The wolf? Blue stuff? Who are these people and why are they here? But in the moment, I shuffled those thoughts away. None of that mattered. We had some people to fuckin' save.

Nothing came properly into view until my feet left the platform that marked the edge of the temple from the rest of the wild. I spotted flashes here and there. The wolves numbered at least a dozen, but given they were clever hunters, I bet there were some hidden, even as the rest fought. Five different figures besides the beasts fought. I picked the closest one and used a Dash to move into a flying kick that intercepted a wolf that threatened one of the people's flank and took a moment to sink my dagger into its skull, unpleasantly wriggling with that weird blue tentacle stuff. I got my bearings, looking around wildly and shouting, "Allies! Two of us. Where we needed?"

I'd landed next to someone who was vaguely human, but not quite. Long, pointed ears and clear golden eyes peered at me from the shitty torchlight, and features that seemed just too alien to be on a human stuck out to me. An elf? An elf! But they just pointed with their hand - which I now saw held a hell of a sword that glistened with blood - in the direction where the other lights beckoned. They said something I didn't understand, but I figured well enough. I broke into a run in that direction, the slight incline adding to the travel time, but not significant enough to really bother me. I'd already spent a couple days out here, after all, gathering wood and materials for my living area.

I approached one of the bobs just as I saw them go down. I cursed under my breath and Dashed forward again to make myself a target to the trio of wolves that savaged whoever it was on the ground, hopefully saving them from death in the moment. I snarled at them as well as I reached out to Spark one to get it to sit still enough to jab my dagger into its eye. The other two canines turned and nipped at me, forcing me backwards. I had to Parry one of them as the other flanked me, and I realized that these were some very proficient fighters. Unless I got help, just these two wolves were going to overwhelm me. Had the labyrinth been easy mode after all?

Fuck that. I rushed into another strike and instead of letting one of them get their fangs around my side, I swung around and shoved my dagger into its mouth sideways. I didn't have the angle to stab it in any way, but it was gonna have a terrible fucking time biting down on a blade like that. Or so I thought, but my eyes widened as it just started bleeding a little and rammed into me with its shoulder instead. I barely managed to keep my footing, and was able to put a Mana Bolt into the back of its head, but now I was severely off balance and the other wolf was jumping at my head. Before I had to Dash away, however, a sword appeared from beside the beast, shoved straight through its neck and slammed it into the ground. Wild brown eyes met mine in the dark. Rachel had caught up!

I looked at the wolf that had taken my dagger, angry, but remembered that there was a downed person here. I pointed at the fight ahead and said "Go! I gotta rearm!" I didn't bother checking to see if Rachel followed the order, sliding to my knees next to the injured person. As far as I could tell, they appeared to be human, but definitely conscious. Breathing, though. A nasty gash was opened up on their side and one of their arms was turned to a very unpleasant angle. They looked up at me and breathed out "thanks." They wheezed. "I'll be fine. Help the others."

Where was their weapon? I could make do with whatever. I queried them, and they pointed a little away next to a tree, and sure enough, it was on the ground right next to it. I couldn't help the grin that tore across my face, though. I sent a wordless prayer of thanks to Nollnine, even if She had no place in this wonderful coincidence, and retrieved the sturdy spear. It felt great to be armed properly again. I nodded to the downed person and pointed at the Sanctuary. "Shelter there." I took off after the rest of the noises.

Only a few seconds separated my departure from the wounded person and seeing the rest of the combatants. There was a small clearing of almost flat ground in this part of the mountainous forest, and four figures stood arrayed against a huge amount of the wolves that were both circling around and harassing them. The first was obviously Rachel, her short figure belying a weak point in their defense. The Bulwark would do whatever she needed to put up her defense. The other figures were interesting, though. Very interesting.

The first had the appearance of an older woman, wearing a simple but drenched dress of indeterminate material. It was clearly not what one would expect her to be wearing in a fight, but then again, I really didn't get the impression that their group had chosen this particular engagement. She had a thick crossbow in her arms and was firing as fast as she could, and either the thing was ridiculously easy to use, or she was ridiculously strong, as reloading the heavy thing was causing her no trouble.

Number two of the unknowns was far more interesting to my eyes. Clawed hands, covered in dark scales, emanated from a thick hooded cloak that probably provided a great deal of privacy and cover most of the time, but it was ripped up in several places. They had a human-like face, but with some very odd parts to it. Their nose was stubby, and with their face in a nasty growl, I spied that pretty much all of their teeth were viciously pointed. I thought the cloak might be hiding some sort of tail as well, but I couldn't be sure. They were waving their arms about, clearly projecting some sort of magical power that came from the appendages. A vibrant orange in color, the walls of force they conjured emanated no light of their own but seemed to glint in the dark anyway despite the only source of light coming from the little ball of light that floated above the final newcomer.

Now this one, this one was interesting. They towered over their companions, a good half of a meter on each of them, and that wasn't counting the fucking wizard hat that sat upon their head, pointed and floppy and all of that. My heart leapt at how fucking silly and awesome that was, but had to tamp down on that emotion quickly. They were facing away from me, but were wearing some sort of leather armor that looked like it had also taken a beating. Interestingly, they wielded a staff of some kind, and they used it judiciously as an aid of some kind with their magic. A near-constant barrage of savagely serrated icicles formed in the air and soared into the too-large pack of wolves. Still, not the coolest part. No, the coolest part was that their torso terminated in a forest green (no pun intended) snake tail that glistened in the rain. An honest-to-goddess lamia! Now that's fantasy.

Having taken stock, I rushed toward the line and took advantage of the positioning to make quick work of the wolves that had their backs to me. The rain was hell on vision, but it meant I could sneak up on these beasties. Every single one of them had that odd blue addition somewhere on their body, and it was never anything other than completely gross. I barely registered that, though, as I picked a direction and began to tear into the encirclement. And now, holding a spear in my hands, it was fucking simple. It was easy. This felt right.

Fuck yeah. I realized I was laughing as I tore into the wolves, but I was also getting overwhelmed. There were so many of them! Where were they all coming from? I had taken down at least ten by this point, and had no time to rest. I flinched away as one of them came from my left, realizing I was about to take a nasty hit, but it was suddenly stopped in midair as it collided with that weird wall of orange. I glanced over to see the clawed person flash me a thumbs-up. Damn right, some signs were universal. That gave me enough room to start being proactive, taking fights against the creatures at my pace and throwing them off balance with my spells and skills instead of rushing at top speed.

For a moment, it seemed like we were gaining the upper hand. The five of us were doing well, the wolves actually seemed to be dwindling. I took a few hits here and there, but nothing that fucked with me too bad. It wasn't to last, however. Crashing through the trees, a bit away from where I'd entered the clearing, a figured was tossed through the air. The elf I'd saved soared several meters before doing a ridiculous turn in midair to dig their heels into the ground and drag themselves to a stop. Crimson liquid dripped heavily from the side of their face, and I was shocked to have to acknowledge that they had lost an ear in the short time we'd been separate. The reason why, however, made itself known quickly.

Barreling through the trees hot on the elf's heels was an enormous beast, and I'd been correct to wonder about a bear. I really wasn't correct about any more than that, though. The thing was absolutely huge. It had to be at least four meters from paw to shoulder, and its body was covered in wounds, both old and new. The back half of its bulk had been completely subsumed by the gross blue mess, a writhing mass of tentacles that for some reason chose to imitate the bear's natural legs, though very poorly. They functioned, sure, but no one with eyes would every accuse the thing of looking even remotely normal. Its voice carried across the clearing and I took stock once again.

The wolves were dwindling. We couldn't let this fucker get to the clump of our allies, but we couldn't afford to stop repelling the pack's assault either. It was way more than I was used to, and no one was saying anything, so I made the decision. I used Dash to fling myself toward the big bastard and called out to the clearing at the top of my voice. "Rachel, crossbow, ice mage, you're on wolves! Barrier person, assist me and sword over here!"

I hoped they would do as I said. If not, I was going to be in trouble, because as slippery as I was (pun actually intended that time), that thing was just fucking huge. The elf seemed to acknowledge me, but I did see their eyes narrow at seeing me wielding their ally's spear. No time to waste, though. The bear's momentum carried it toward the elf and I used that to slide in under it and administer a Spark directly to its stomach. I stabbed it with the spear and with a start realized just how fast the thing was as a paw came down to vivisect me. I kicked at the paw, activating my Parry, and shot another Spark into it. If one wasn't enough...

A roar of pain was my reward for pumping another jolt of electricity into the monster. For a long moment, the tentacles on its back half drooped and the bear leaned forward. I heard the elf grunt as they hacked away at the suddenly vulnerable head while I made some room between it and me, but a moment was all it was. A claw swiped out with surprising quickness at the elf, and I was expecting a sickening sound, but instead watched as an orange barrier popped up in front of the attack. It wasn't fully enough, though, as the strike broke through the magic and still managed to send the elf a few lengths away. I hissed out a breath as I realized they weren't getting back up.

The bear's eyes sought me and surged in my direction, forcing me to depend on Dash to keep distance from its deadly attacks. Mana was low. Endurance was starting to get low. I needed to play for time and get my allies in the fight. For a few minutes, I played cat and mouse with the big asshole, depending on the barrier person to cover for when I fucked up. Not only were my resources getting low, but I was getting tired, too. My Perseverance skill might be useful, but it wasn't able to keep up with the constant minutes of fight that I was enduring. My legs pounded against the not-quite-even ground, jolts of rock and stone in my way forcing me to be much more conservative than I wanted. The berserker had been one thing, but this bear was gigantic. Just like with the mimic, I needed assistance.

Minutes ticked by, but eventually, my vigil was rewarded. I hadn't managed to get in a single hit since that first strike, but now, the ranged support was here. I spotted Rachel as she shield charged the bear, actually managing to knock its bulk slightly off balance and allowing me to strike forward with my spear. I thought it was a huge gamble of a move, but I needn't have been worried. As soon as Rachel stepped away from the ursine creature and entirely blocked a strike from it (hot damn that's cool), a thick rod of ice pierced through the bear's side. A glance over showed that all the wolves lay dead. The crossbow lady flung out bolts as fast as she could, each one sinking into the beast enough to start drawing significant blood. I took to harrying it again as well, making sure that we could bring it down.

We could bring it down. Absolutely. Maybe not if it had been just Rachel and I, but this group, we could. Smaller icicles cut into the bear along its flank, and I could tell it was starting to flag. Its movements were slower, and it was beginning to stumble around. I think in that moment, we all metaphorically smelled blood. My spear found a good spot to pierce its neck. Rachel brought her sword against its side, seemingly finding the perfect spot to almost unzip the thing with her weapon. A crossbow bolt sunk directly into its eye as once again, one of those big ice rods shot forward and stuck one of its forelimbs to the ground. It roared, but it was done. I pulled out my weapon, but the killing blow was taken by the elf who had managed to get to their feet. While its mouth was wide and screaming, it fell to the ground, and the elf used both hands to stab their sword through the roof of its mouth into its brain, killing it as certainly as I'd ever seen. It flopped to the ground, the wriggling blue tendrils that comprised its back half collapsing into a pile of unpleasant worms that connected to the bear.

We all stood around, breathing heavily, but after just a moment the elf turned their sword directly at me. It was certainly intimidating, but the maneuver lacked a bit of gravity as their weapon threatened to succumb to said force.

"Where is Arla? You have her spear. And the professor?"

Arla must be the person I left behind. Professor was probably the guy at the Sanctuary. "She was breathing but I lost my weapon. Injured. This way," I said, pointing with my off hand and planting the head of the spear into the ground to show that I wasn't looking for a fight. I motioned for the elf to take it as I jogged ahead but took a moment to address the group. "Rachel! Get them to the Sanctuary! The Professor is probably still there. I hope."

"You hope?" They snapped at me angrily, but took the spear and followed me.

I didn't dignify them with a response, feeling too worn all of a sudden. Thankfully, it wasn't super far for us to go before we reached Arla, who was actually sitting up against a tree, having dragged herself there. Her teeth showed in a grin at our approach.

"Heya," she said, voice heavy with pain. "Who'd we lose?"

"If the Professor is okay, then miraculously, no one," the elf responded. "You need help?"

"I could use a hand, definitely." Arla looked at me. "So, who're you?"

"Let's do introductions all at once, aye?" I suggested. "We're sheltered in the temple."

She laughed, but hissed in pain right after. "We got beat here anyway, huh? Prof's gonna be pissed. Alright. Thenishale, you good?"

The elf - Thenishale - shook their head. "I feel like shit. Stranger, sorry for snapping at you. Can I ask you to help Arla to shelter?"

Eh, I understood. They were worried about their companion. I nodded, and offered a hand to Arla, who took it, leaning against me heavily. She looked around. "Fucking tainted. You need to find your dagger?"

"Nah, I got others. C'mon, let's get your wounds looked at. Yours too... Thenishale?"

They nodded. "Yes. I'm already feeling lightheaded and should lie down as soon as possible. Basrith will be able to heal me."

We were silent as we trod toward the light of the Sanctuary, only the patter of rain and the thoom of nearby thunder accompanying our short jaunt. But, before long, we made it to our destination. The other group had made it there first, with the crossbow lady fiercely embracing the older guy. I smiled. Introductions were certainly in order, but at the moment, I'd take the win we just pulled from the jaws of danger. Questions would come after, certainly, but hey, now they owed us. I met Rachel's gaze and watched her eyebrow go up inquisitively. I gave a shrug with the shoulder that wasn't supporting Arla, but nodded at her with a grin. Could have gone worse.