Haven's Addiction

When the barrier went down, I screamed a resounding “What the crap?” of astonishment and fear.

I looked over at Gerald and his eyes were wide with surprise and terror. He had no clue what was going on either. I looked back at Edic and Vincent. They stood by the campfire, their mouths just as agape. On the far side of the camp behind them, the injured man sat at the edge of chalk outline, his hand covered in chalk where he broke the seal. The man leaped away from the broken seal transforming into one of the hairy wolf-like beasts in mid air.

The howling was a ruse, and the man I tried to help was a plant. While we were all mesmerized by the howling, wondering if our cover was blown, he slipped away and broke the seal. Now we stood in the middle of a clearing with absolutely no cover and half a dozen slobbering hairy beasts who could plainly see us.

Vincent followed the direction of my eyes and immediately lunged at the man/wolf with a blur of supernatural speed, blade in hand. Edic followed him, hoping to rectify the damage to the seal and put the barrier back up. I turned to see that the beasts hadn’t hesitated in charging us as soon as the barrier went down. Neither did their 20 friends who had been lurking in the edge of the trees waiting for their chance to strike as well, along with a dozen more who jumped out of another part of the forest to flank us. I was instantly, and horrifyingly, reminded that this wasn’t like hunting wild game back home. These were intelligent creatures that would outsmart you if you let your guard down. We had been duped.

Ok, I had been duped. But I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

Gerald immediately launched a gout of flame directly at the nearest group of wolves. Other spells were shot at the attackers, injuring them. Boregard launched several throwing knives that hit their targets, drawing blood, but not slowing their charge. He brought out his sword as they came within range.

I took a different route. My weapons were based more on mass destruction than precision. I brought out the rifle with the under-mounted grenade launcher. I had yet to use it because there were only a few grenades to fire and it’s not like I was going to be able to run out to the ammo store for refills. I aimed it at the largest group of swarming hair and drool that came from the same location in the woods as the others. The grenade shot forth like a bullet. The kickback was less than I thought it would be, and was only as strong as the shotgun. There was no denying that it was going to hit something. There were so many of them charging in mass that there would be no questioning its effect, but I didn’t have time to wait for the results. I ripped two of the enchanted buttons off my cloak that I got from Fenton, turned, and thrown them like a pitcher with a fast ball at the beasts that were charging to flank us.

The buttons were already in flight when I heard the grenade detonate. The blast was incredibly loud, I had no way to silence the grenades like I did the guns. I not only heard the blast, but could physically feel the concussive force as it pushed the air in our direction. Oddly enough, my first reaction was that Gerald would be pissed because I officially blew our cover with the noise. Oh well, if we survived he could chew me out all he wanted, I could deal with that.

While the buttons were in midair I spoke the command word to make them explode on impact. I brought the rifle back up and turned around towards Gerald and Boregard. The majority of the monsters they attacked were already down, as they finished off the last one in tandem. Gerald slowed its speed down with a spell while Boregard leaped at it with such force that he knocked it to the ground, driving his blade into its hide all the way to the hilt.

I turned then to the creatures that had been in the path of the grenade. It successfully dwindled their numbers in half, whether they were injured or dead. It all happened so quickly that clods of dirt were still falling back to the earth. But it didn’t stop their assault. Those who were still able, continued their advance on us at top speed.

While the beasts were incredibly fast when in a charge, they didn’t have much grace in maneuverability. A few on the edges of the blast still had their momentum, the rest were getting their bearings before charging again. Instead of firing the rifle on full auto like a movie villain, I took a moment to carefully take shots at the creatures closest to us, plugging a couple rounds into them until moving to the next one. I stopped a few of them with my efforts, but if they didn’t go down completely, they showed no sign of being bothered by the bullet holes that ravaged their bodies. My efforts were redoubled by Gerald’s deadly spells as waves of energy shot at the creatures, making them howl in pain and slow their attack in ways that my bullets didn’t. The creatures weren’t very easy to take down. I got lucky with the first massive one plugging several rounds into it. Now I knew how hunters felt when a charging black bear bore down on them.

Boregard left my peripheral sight as he ran to Edic and Vincent’s aid so they could get the barrier back up. All I could do was hold my own to keep the creatures at bay until he got it fixed, and pray that it would be enough. With the ferocity these creatures held in their eyes, I doubted whether the barrier would stop them from coming through. Even if it did, would we be able to stop them when it happened?

I didn’t know exactly what these creatures were yet, but I knew of their nature from my training in the Danger Room. They were big and fast. Their primary tactic was to charge their target as quickly as possible in a swarm, hopefully intimidating their prey to turn tail and run so they could pounce on it from behind with their superior speed. Their mass and momentum were their greatest attributes. They weren’t used to attacking a formidable foe. They sneak up on them whenever they could, catching them by surprise, like they had done with us, and tackling it to the ground while they mauled it to death with claws and teeth.

I took a moment to turn towards the beasts that were flanking us. In my intent at firing on the survivors of the grenade attack I hadn’t heard the blast of the enchanted buttons I threw. The effects were even more devastating than the grenade. Half of their ranks were thinned, laying in a charred tangled mess, and nearly all of their fur was on fire. Unlike the grenades that exploded in a burst of shrapnel, the buttons detonated into balls of fire that left scorch marks on all the earth around the point of impact. That didn’t seem to faze them. They continued on, heading straight towards Edic to stop him before he could fix the seal. I fired at a few of them, bringing them to a grinding halt with the remaining bullets in the clip. When it came up empty I dispersed it and brought out the other rifle. The magic of the bracelets was significantly quicker than reloading the clip.

I turned back to the mob of tormentors still coming at us, five strong, four as Gerald sent one flying away with a spell. I could hear Edic in the distance yell out “Clear” and the beginnings of the shield starting to come up.

I didn’t get to enjoy the satisfaction it would bring as I went flying through the air for what seemed like eternity and finally plummeting to the ground. I felt the energy of the barrier going up, but something wasn’t right. I tumbled and rolled on the ground with a mass of hair on top of me, the rifle slipping from my grasp. I managed to keep hold of it in front of me only to have a massive pair of jaws clamp on to the hard metal. As I struggled with the beast on top of me, trying to wrench the rifle from my grasp, I realized that the initial creature I put down wasn’t all the way dead. A moment of panic hit that when the beast pounced on me it knocked us outside the protection of the barrier. I was on my own. There was no way I would be able to get aid from the others without them breaking cover behind the barrier.

I gave up the rifle, releasing it from my grasp entirely. The beast jerked its head back from the force. The fraction of a second it took it to toss the rifle aside and come at me with its gaping maw was all I needed to bring out the shotgun, barrel pointed directly at it. The distance between us was so close that the shotgun appeared muzzle to muzzle. I didn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger. It didn’t go flying up and away from me like I expected it would. Instead the massive hairy beast went limp and fell to one side in a heap of bloody mess.

I had to struggle to get out from under the thing because its heavy corpse was still laying on my legs, pinning them to the ground. When I finally got out from underneath it I became disoriented. The camp was completely gone. I knew which direction the beast had thrown me and where the camp should have been, but it simply wasn’t there. It took me a moment to realize it was a result of the shield surrounding it. The area where the camp should have been looked exactly like it did before we arrived. Strangely, I felt no desire to try and get back into the camp. Instead I had the overwhelming urge to turn away and start walking in the opposite direction.

As I turned away I became immediately thankful for the secondary effect of the barrier, because the horde of slobbering beasts were still descending upon me with alarming speed. In the frantic pace of it all, and the fact that I was still dizzy I had completely forgotten how much danger I was in. Now that the rest of their quarry vanished, I had their undivided attention. I unloaded with the shotgun at the onrushing beasts, knocking them back. The first blast hit the closest one, and the rest immediately scattered, fanning out. After the first one went down their tactics changed drastically. While they looked like slobbering mindless beasts, it was obvious at this point that there was intelligence behind them. In a few seconds I realized what was happening.

Their initial attack had been based on the ploy of the barrier coming down and rushing us enmasse, trampling us while we were relatively defenseless. Now with the shield back up, and me being the only person available to attack, their strategy changed. They lost their advantage of surprise, and needed to play it smart. They saw the destructive power of my weapons, but also had me vastly outnumbered. All of the surviving furballs were now focused on me. If they could find my weakness I was a goner. I wasn’t about to show any weakness.

They steadily slunk like the predators they were through the grass, surrounding me. I let them. I reached out with my Sense to locate them. I was completely surrounded, but I knew exactly where each of them were. They all took their position about twenty feet away from me. After the first one I hit with the shotgun, they could already tell the deadliest range of the weapon. I stood my ground appearing to focus on the one directly in front of me. The silence of the night was scary and awkward. If not for the fact that I could read their location with my Sense, I never would have known they were there. I couldn’t see or hear them. I could have easily imagined standing in a field out in the country lying on a blanket next to my wife, gazing at the stars in relative safety. Ignorance is bliss, until a mangy monster jumps out of the forest and eats you.

I knew it was going to happen, so I waited patiently until it did, whilstling the Jeapordy theme to settle my nerves. Then one of them behind me lunged. I could immediately sense where it was when it did. I reflexively placed my Psionic energy shield under it as I turned. By the time I brought the shotgun to bear on it, the beast was only a few feet away. With one concussive blast from the shotgun pellets, the creature went flying into the air. The buoyancy of the energy shield enabled it to advance on me even faster, but also sent the creature flying several dozen feet in the air like something straight out of a cartoon. I was momentarily distracted by the fact that without the force of gravity an object would continue in the direction it was going. The hairy beast continued to soar at the same trajectory like a cotton ball caught in the wind. When it was far enough away I dropped the shield, and it plummeted like a stone to the ground. I couldn’t see where it landed because my attention was immediately diverted back to the dozen or so others still lurking.

They were much more cautious in striking this time. A couple tried pouncing and met the same fate as their predecessor. I didn’t know if the shotgun blast or the plummet to the earth killed any of them or not, but they didn’t return to the fray. While I picked them off one by one, I knew that it was only a temporary fix. It would only be a matter of time before they found a way past my defenses or decided to bum rush me all at once. I hoped that those on the inside of the barrier were working on a way to come to my aid, but I couldn’t rely on it. There wasn’t much they could do without exposing themselves. I had to take survival into my own hands. If they all decided to rush at me from all side, there was nothing I could do to stop them other than take a few of them with me, guns blazing.

I made my decision without stopping to think about it, there wasn’t time for rational thought to get in the way of survival instinct. I reached into my bottomless bag to withdraw one of the flash/bang grenades, pulled the pin, and dropped it on the ground near me. I placed my hands over my ears, clenched my eyes shut, and waited. They could tell that I was up to something, so they made their move. I could sense all of them charging at once, but I shut off my Sense. I didn’t know what would happen when the grenade went off, and didn’t want to risk being mentally blinded. In all honesty I didn’t know what was going to happen anyway. I never encountered a flash/bang grenade before, but on the upside, neither had they.

It was obvious when the grenade went off. The incredibly loud bang could be heard even with my hands over my ears, and still left a slight ringing. The bright flash still pierced through my eyelids even though I made an effort to look away, but at least it wasn’t enough to hinder my vision. There wasn’t time to admire the wonders of modern warfare. As soon as it detonated I activated the invisibility of my cloak and sprinted in the opening I scouted before the blast, a gap in their line where one had lunged at me before I sent it on a permanent vacation via shotgun express. As I ran I felt one of them brush past me in full sprint in the direction I had been moments before. Once I felt I was clear I whipped around, guns at the ready. The sight before me was something to behold.

The mass of hairy creatures swarmed around blindly where I just stood. It was like a hive of giant hairy bees buzzing around in every direction. They had absolutely no clue where I went, but were so determined that they tried mauling every inch of the place in trying to get me, claws slashing through empty air. They couldn’t even see each other, and often attacked each other by mistake. They were making it easier for me. Whenever they made contact they mauled the source of it, attacking each other for a few seconds until they realized their mistake.

For a moment I wondered if I needed to do anything at all. They might just kill each other in an attempt to find me, but I also knew it wouldn’t take long before the effects of their blindness wore off. I opened fire with rapid fire pistols in both hands from my safe position under the cover of invisibility. It was like shooting fish in a barrel; giant hairy piranhas. They didn’t stand a chance. I unloaded everything I had in the pistols, taking aim to make every shot count. There was a certain degree of difficulty in keeping the guns steady, they kept wanting to arch upwards, but I managed to keep them fairly steady as I fanned them out over the whole killing field.

I needed to put in new clips to finish the job. There was plenty of time to reload the old fashioned way. They still didn’t know exactly where to find me, and the initial barrage injured them all in one way or another, either from bullets or their own friendly fire, so that they weren’t quick to pounce even if they did figure out where I shot from. I didn’t know if the invisibility of the cloak masked the muzzle flare that came in a constant torrent, but they didn’t so much as look directly at me before they finally fell to the ground permanently.

When the dust settled and I was sure there was no more movement I removed my invisibility and called out, “olly olly oxen free”.

I could feel the crackling of energy as the campsite appeared, and the light from the campfire once again illuminated the field brightly. Once inside they promptly put the barrier back up. Everyone stared at me in awe, and a little afraid. I had taken on a squad of deadly, whatever the hell they were, and hadn’t even broken a sweat. From their vantage, once the flash/bang grenade went off, I disappeared and the enemy started dropping like flies. They couldn’t even tell that their comrades were dying around them until it was too late.

Nobody would say a word to me, not even Gerald, which was surprising. I fully expected him to give me hell for letting them past the barrier in the first place. Even though I essentially just stood around shooting at things, I was still tired. The recoil of firing all those rounds was murder on my arms. The strain of creating the gravity shield multiple times sucked a lot of energy out of me too. I was still relatively new to Psionics and hadn’t built up much stamina yet. Leaving my Sense wide open for such a long period of time was especially draining, not just physically but mentally as well. The whole encounter from the moment the shill came out of the forest to my return to camp was maybe thirty minutes, but my heart raced like a locomotive the entire time. Now my heart rate and adrenaline level were coming down.

“My shift is over,” I muttered as I headed straight to my bedroll, the machine pistols still firmly grasped in each hand. “Someone else can take over.”

I wasn’t sure if I fell asleep or passed out.

When I woke in the morning they were already in the process of tearing down camp. By the time I reloaded all my weapons and spare clips, and got myself a bite to eat, they were all ready to go. I was famished and actually grateful for the bland food for a change. Outside of the barrier was completely barren with no sign of the struggle that occurred the night before, except for the charred plants and earth where the buttons had detonated into fireballs and grenades, and dead grass as a result of Gerald’s spells. None of the beasts were anywhere to be found.

Surprisingly, Gerald was the first to speak to me. “They are gone. Most of them walked away in the middle of the night. They carried their injured and dead with them.”

I couldn’t hardly believe it. There wasn’t a single one of them in walking condition when re-entered the camp. How the hell were they still able to pick up and leave, let alone carry the rest of the dead weight with them?

“They were werewolves,” he injected, sensing my confusion.

“So, I couldn’t permanently harm them because I didn’t have any silver bullets?”

“What are you talking about?” He looked at me like I was a complete idiot. “Enchanted projectiles would have helped, but they had some sort of regeneration to them that isn’t common for lycans.”

At first I thought he was being arrogant and rubbing it in, trying to make my epic firefight seem less significant. Then I realize that he was right. None of my bullets were enchanted, so they wouldn’t have caused any permanent damage to a lycanthrope unless I got an instant kill shot. They didn’t have a Wolverine level of healing factor, but because of the natural magic that enabled them to shape change at will, they were highly resistant to normal forms of attack.

“So what’s the plan now?” I asked.

“We walk to Placid,” he responded plainly.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

I didn’t get it. There was no way it could be that easy, especially since they were still lurking out in the woods, waiting for us.

“They know what to expect now,” I said carefully. “We’ve lost our element of surprise.”

“That we have.” There was a long, awkward pause. “But we also know their weakness.”

Now I was thoroughly confused. I swear I think he chuckled on the inside. “They could have waited until today to get us in the forest,” he explained. “The Borkin weed was obviously planted intentionally to cover their scent. Boregard wouldn’t have been able to detect them. They would likely have been lying in wait until we walked right by, and then caught us by surprise. They must have seen an opportunity to spring a trap on us in our own camp. At worst they would have fallen back and still gotten us in the woods, but you crippled them enough that we may not see anything of them until we reach Placid.” It almost sounded like a compliment. “Even so, we will take precautions. We now know how to avoid them.” I felt like an idiot because I couldn’t see what it was. I chose to say nothing to implicate my ignorance.

“We will shroud ourselves from sight on the way to Placid.”

“Won’t they still spot us?”

“They won’t be able to. The wolves rely primarily on their sense of smell to hunt. Placidious is arrogant enough that he overlooked this. Apparently his arrogance has rubbed off on his underlings, or they wouldn’t have attacked us last night.”

His theory made sense. They may not have been able to smell us, but they could still take cover in the woods, waiting patiently, until we were literally right on top of them. They would have ripped us apart before we even knew they were there, likely using the same ‘injured man’ ploy to set up their trap. When the flash/bang went off, they were completely lost. They didn’t have sight, sound, or smell to go by. So if we went invisible and crept quietly we might be able to literally walk right past them. Considering the beating they’d gotten the night before, the wolves might not be up for a fight anyway. At least I hoped as much.

After the camp was torn down, we went to the edge of the woods. They used invisibility spells and I used my cloak after letting the horses go. There was no way we would be able to make it through the forest discreetly on horseback. The horses were well trained, and would likely make it back to Basin City if they didn’t cross any predators along the way. Gerald made a cord of rope invisible that we all held onto so we couldn’t get lost, since we wouldn’t be able to see or hear each other. I removed some of the silencing magnets from my guns so we could tie them to the laces of our boots to reduce the threat of discovery by noise. Edic applied some ointment to our exposed skin to help us further disguise our scent. After a crash course from Vincent on how to walk through the forest stealthily, and from Boregard on important signals to communicate with, we were on our way.

Even with these safeguards it was nerve wracking to walk into the dark foreboding woods. I brought up the rear of the line. I couldn’t see or hear any of the others. The only reassurance that I wasn’t completely alone in the middle of the creepy forest was the gentle tugging of the cord in my hand, leading me towards Placid. We walked as briskly as we could throughout the day, trying to avoid bumping into any foliage, which wasn’t easy. This was the thickest forest I had ever encountered. Every time I bumped a leaf or branch with even the slightest movement I felt my heart jump, thinking for sure that a wolf lurking nearby that saw it and would immediately pounce. The image of their sharp gnashing teeth was still fresh in my mind.

Gerald would send brief telepathic commands whenever we would take a break to eat or drink. Other than that we continued on in silence. It was too eerie for my taste. We needed to make it to Placid before dark. While there were likely dangers waiting for us there as well, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as if we were caught in the forest after dark. We wouldn’t be able to set up a barrier to protect ourselves with. Several times we came to a halt without any explanation. I stood quietly, completely motionless with my heart thudding in my throat, seemingly loud enough that anyone nearby would hear it. After a while of aching silence we would begin moving again.

The werewolves must have taken territory over the forest for some time. The forest was clear of any other predators that might pose a threat to us, but the complete lack of life made the trek even more eery and unsettling. There wasn’t so much as a tweeting bird the entire time. I never knew that being stealthy could be so exhausting. I had to crouch and step cautiously for miles on end while carefully ducking below branches and around twigs. Fortunately my trek was aided by literally following in their footsteps. The depressions in the earth of their footsteps were faint but noticeable, leaving a clear trail for me to follow. It was likely that the wolves could pick up on our trail, but we didn’t have time to cover our tracks that thoroughly.

The forest was so thick with trees that very little sunlight made it through the canopy of leaves, filling our trek with a dull gloom that further aided to the eeriness. That coupled with the uncomfortable silence, I couldn’t even hear the steps of my companions or myself, made for an agonizingly terrifying experience. With my adrenaline pumping full tilt, I was thoroughly exhausted before noon. However, the worst part of it all was that for some indiscernible reason, throughout the entire day the theme song to the A-Team was stuck in my head, playing on a continuous loop.

As the sun began to set in the sky, I wondered if we would make it to Placid in time. Then we came to a sudden stop. I could see clearly ahead of me because nothing obstructed my view. Their invisibility was far superior than mine.

Ahead of us the entire forest looked like an alien landscape, which was odd considering I had been in an alien world for weeks now. Smooth gray stones about the size of my fist covered everything. The bizarre thing was that they weren’t just littering the ground, but were even adorning the trees up to a about two feet off the ground.

What the hell? I wondered to myself, still not daring say it out loud. A clearing could be seen a hundred feet away. Beyond that, across a field, I could faintly make out the walls of a city. I got out my binoculars and confirmed that it was indeed the high walls of a fortified town. For the first time since we entered the forest, Gerald broke the silence.

“What do you make of it?” He whispered from up ahead.

I had no clue, and was a little disconcerted that he didn’t know either. Then I realized he wasn’t talking to me. Since I couldn’t see him there was no way to tell.

“Let me take a closer look,” Edic whispered back.

I felt him release the cord and carefully work his way up to the strange rock garden. After a few moments we all crowded together several feet from the stones. It was the most bizarre huddle ever. We sat on the forest floor in a circle facing each other while we took a break. We didn’t dare remove our invisibility just yet, even if our goal was within sight. Since we couldn’t see each other it was like having a seance with a group of ghosts.

Edic informed us that the stones were actually Burstshrooms. The outer layer was a very thin membrane. Inside was packed tightly with spores putting so much pressure on the outer skin that the slightest touch would cause them to burst open with an explosive force. The explosion itself wouldn’t be harmful to us, but would cover us in spores that would cause a terrible rash. It’s like bits of poison ivy that comes flying at you at high speeds. The spores were highly toxic and would cause skin irritation as it burned its way into the body. Enough of them would make our limbs lock up and our throats close up, resulting in death. It was officially the most evil sounding plant I’d ever heard of.

“Wait,” Vincent spoke up. It took me a while to know who was speaking. I don’t think I had heard him say a single word since we left the castle. Not being able to see him didn’t help any. “There is a trap within the Burstshrooms.”

“Can you read it?” Gerald asked. I could almost hear Vincent nod.

“Magecrystals.” Everyone else blurted out their own unique brand of profanity at this.

“And that means?” I left it out in the air, hoping someone would explain it to me.

“Crystals that are sensitive to magical energies. If magic is released near them they are set off. They are commonly attached to a trap of some kind. Release any kind of spell in its presence and a trap is triggered.”

“What do you think the trap is?” I asked.

“I could be nothing more than an alarm to alert patrols. Then again, it could be anything. Most likely they would just set off a large cluster of Burstshrooms.”

“So if we use any magical means to try and get past the exploding mushrooms, we get a face full of toxic portabello.”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Just great,” I moaned.

We sat there discussing a way to get past them. We didn’t have much time before the sun completely set, and wouldn’t stand a chance if we were caught in the dark this close to Placid’s ‘fence’. We could possibly look for another way around, but agreed that it was likely pointless. Much like the forest with its werewolf guardians, the spore-fields likely circled the entire city. We could possibly climb a few branches up and go from tree to tree above the shrooms, but if we knocked so much as a leaf loose that fell to the ground we would be surrounded in a cloud of spores. There was so much foliage that there was no avoiding bumping into at least something. We sat in silence racking our brains to find some way past them.

I had to admit that Placidious’s defense system was genius. I’m sure it took lot of work to get the Burstshrooms to thrive over such a large area, but once there they provided the perfect defense. There was no need to set up guards to patrol the perimeter. It was like an electrified fence that needed no maintaining, or even electricity for that matter. Even if the spores didn’t kill us, the fact that they went off will bring the wolves right to our location. Any minute now one of the wolves would likely walk right by us on patrol. We may have been invisible, but our tracks weren’t. Once they came by there would be no hiding. If we didn’t find a way to get past the shrooms, and fast, we would be lambs to the slaughter.

I never did like mushrooms.