We processed the entirety of the situation in a split second. Seven of them. No space to fight them all at once; trees will give them vertical movement and block our line of sight. Plans flashed behind our eyes as we split apart and circled their formation. Press the surprise. Drop the suspended ones and retreat. Find out how they move in close quarters.
Our initial attack caught the beasts before they had a chance to react to our intrusion. I kicked hard against an upturned stump and launched into the air, sailing up to the level of the highest hanging monster. Taking my sword in both hands, I plunged the blade straight through the center of the beast’s suspended torso, severing the spinal cord I knew was buried deep beneath the chitinous armor. It gave a single, violent shudder before it fell limp, hanging between the trees with its scythes and talons still embedded deep in the wood. I perched on the swinging body for a brief moment before I withdrew my sword and jumped backwards, dislodging the dead beast from the trees down onto its scrambling companions.
While I struck from the air, Lia attacked from the ground. Her swords whipped up in symmetrical arcs that severed the back legs of the lowest-hanging beast, causing it to swing forward and collapse onto the corpse pile as rotten purple blood gushed from its wounds. The onyx blades clashed above her head in a shower of golden sparks, instantly combining into a brutal greataxe. She hammered the weapon down with a fearsome roar and split the wounded beast through its midsection, spilling its putrid entrails over its stunned allies. The mountain of monsters writhed with flailing limbs and spurting blood as Lia reformed her longswords and dashed away, regrouping with me a dozen yards from the scene.
Marin crashed to a halt at her designated distance behind us and looked upon the scene with an expression of pure horror. Her wide eyes were locked on the foremost beast, which glistened beneath the sanguine light of the canopy as it finally began to right itself and move towards us. Its bladed arms scraped against mossy roots as it crawled out of the tangle and skittered forward. The speed with which it moved was unnerving and entirely unexpected; where the trees grew too close together for it to run normally, it reached its scythes up and clambered sideways along the emberwoods, vaulting from tree to tree in a terrifying display of acrobatics.
“Back!” I shouted, waving Marin away. “Back, now!” The three of us sprinted along the path we had followed into the forest as the monsters formed up and gave chase behind us. It was difficult to map the positions of the five remaining beasts without Detection, but our Enhanced Senses gave us accurate enough directions via the harsh clacking of talons and the fetid stench of blood. A second layer of dread set in as the sounds and smells spread apart into a wide semicircle, the edges of which raced ahead of us on either side. Pack tactics. Flanking.
Our deepened mental bond flared to life, and our voices spoke in matched echoes as we created our new plan of attack.
They’ll catch us if we match Marin’s speed, but—
—we can’t fight them all at once in here—
—especially not with her with us.
She can make us space to fight—
—if we give her time.
We’ll split their pack apart—
—and choose our battles until then.
We can do this.
“Marin, we need your help. Can you help us?” Lia asked as we ran. Marin’s eyes scanned the surrounding trees for signs of the pursuing creatures with a singular focus, leaving the question unanswered. “Marin,” Lia persisted, more sharply, “listen to me. We need you if we’re going to get out of this alive.” The command snapped the girl out of her fearful silence, and she gave Lia a small nod. “When I give the signal, we’re going to stop running, and you’re going to knock down as many trees as you can, as fast as you can.”
Marin’s mouth moved to respond, but no noise came out apart from a hoarse wheeze as she struggled to keep up her frantic retreat. “I—I can do it,” she repeated in a raspy voice, flexing her gauntleted fingers in anticipation.
As soon as I heard the confirmation, I cut hard to one side and sprinted away from Lia and Marin, doubling my speed on an intercept course with the beast that led the right flank. The tight arc it followed in an effort to get ahead of us left it separated from the rest of the pack, and I rushed ahead to press my one-on-one advantage. Just as we had hoped, the closest two beasts broke off from their advance and swarmed towards me; now separated from my group, I appeared just as isolated as my prey. You’re clear.
“Now, Marin!” A melodic knell sounded through the forest as Marin skidded to a stop and rang her fists together. She leaned back and held up an armored fist, then rocketed at the nearest tree with reckless abandon. I watched through Lia’s eyes as the tree trunk vaporized into a glorious hail of splinters and sawdust, sending leaves fluttering madly through the air as the top half of the emberwood rained down in massive, spiked chunks. Marin
