Raptor's form dove in a straight swoop, the cool turbulence bleeding over his temples. As he passed over the field, his eyes narrowed, piercing in their gaze. His mouth sneered involuntarily, as he could make out another pack of Waigs cresting the hilltop. Scanning down, he circled near Phil's solid stance....
A spark of movement....to his right.
The treeline.
Ed growled with a decisive grunt, heaving the fragmented standard of his mace.....
....straight at Phil Smith.
The moment seemed to slow in his perception, Euro's visual coordination skimming the ticks of a second. Between the blink of an eye, the mace collided with a single red shaft, splintering the projectile into matchsticks.
Phil's eyes jerked to his right as the mace embedded the damp soil directly beside his foot. The Alpha Waig suddenly growled a bit, Smith momentarily distracted.
"Shhh! Shhh!" he soothed mentally as well as verbally. "...it's okay...there's no one else around.....the water is fresh....rolling off the cliff in cool, clean gulps.....that's right..."
The creature's eyes, dazed off in the distance of its mind, lulled and hung, even as his tongue darted unconsciously out of its mouth.
"...why not take a nap..." he continued. "...the sun is warm, and inviting today...let it soothe you....rest your exhausted soul against the silken embrace of the high grass....that's right....sleep.........sleep.............sleep.........."
The creature finally slumped to the ground, resting peacefully unaware of the battle around him. And, one by one, the rest of the pack followed suit...
On the edge of the treeline, Drake ricocheted from limb to limb, fragments of loose leaves, and twigs, drizzling down in his wake. Two more arrows buried themselves along the trunk of what looked to be a sturdy oak, Marshall's now-bare feet slapping against the steady bark.
He somersaulted sideways, another arrow sliding directly under him. He landed in a low crouch, immediately spinning on one foot. His outstretched leg swept the ankles of two more archers, their shots going wild. He was back up, planting a single kick directly into the chest of a third attacker, as his head jerked back-and-right....an arrow whizzing past his left cheek.
Drake turned, and in one smooth motion, ran straight up the side of the tree. Backflipping in unison, four more shafts followed his path up the bark. The Vanguardian came down, immediately flowing into a series of quick backflips. The last flip bounced him higher, giving his body time to spin along the momentum, landing a solid roundhouse-kick into a shattering jaw.
He jerked his left arm up with a strained grunt, a swinging bow breaking along his forearm. Driving the man's nasal cavity with a solid flathand, Drake instantly rammed both of his elbows to each side, catching two archers in the throats.
The two bodies crumpled to the ground, clutching their throats in winded gasps....and the clearing beneath the canopy of trees went silent....
Drake panted a bit, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"...out of shape..." he murmured to himself.
After only a brief pause, he bolted straight for another low-hanging branch, effortlessly swinging off of it, flying higher into the branches....headed for the next position of archers.....
"Grimm! Grimm!!" Danny yelled, slapping the avatar's skulled visage a few times. "Come on man....snap out of it! We need you!"
Grimm didn't move, his enormous form silent, and still.
"...fuck..." Hearn growled.
Adem's eyes were wide, slumped against the wheel of the wooden cart. He stared around, back and forth, trying to pinpoint the sounds around him. His blind-like gaze settled onto Grimm's form directly in front of him.
"....it eats him...." he commented.
"What?" Danny jerked his eyes towards the alien.
"...this...this land...." he said, staring back off with a wide-eyed blindness. "...it eats him, as it does the rest of us...."
Danny sighed, rolling his eyes with exasperation.
"Well, thanks for the diagnosis---"
He dove flat against Grimm's chest, two arrows flying past. Adem didn't flinch as the crimson shafts lodged into the wood right next to his head.
"Adem, get down!" Danny barked with annoyance.
Adem slinked a bit further down on the ground. His fingers running over cool metal, he pulled Grimm's axe from its rest, holding the broad, flat metal over his upper torso...using the wide span of silver as a make-shift shield.
Two more Wiags lunged down towards the Vanguards position, Danny immediatey leaping to meet them. His mouth chattered a few words, his musculature altering to fit the needed requirements of the genetic blend.
"You! New guy!" Sam yelled.
"Epice--"
"Whatever!" the shapeshifter yelled, dropping another Waig with his morphed hand-blade. "Work your mojo! Do something!"
Michaels opened his mouth to respond, pausing....
"I...I don't control it that easily....it could be worse if I--"
"I don't care!!" he replied, the ferocity of battle growing larger and faster around them. "Hit these fuckers with all you've got!"
"I..." he stammered, uncertain.
"Do it!!" Sam repeated, another creature lunging at him.
In a fit of panic, Michaels quickly reached up to each of his shoulders....
....switching his harness off....
Then, closing his eyes, he slowly began raising his hands. His teeth gritted.
His face strained red with concentration.
His arms began to tremble.
And, just when he thought he couldn't handle the strain anymore.....
.....nothing happened.
His eyes snapped open, staring at his hands with a perplexed confusion.
"I...why didn't it....I don't understa--"
His words were suddenly cut off, as the ground began to tremble violently.
Michaels fell to the ground, as did most everyone else....the quake growing in depth and violence....
"I did it!!" he yelled with a wide smile, holding his fist up in triumph.
...and the ground began to fissure and split...
Michaels expression fell, as his eyes widened.
"...uh-oh...I did it...?" he said with a growing fear.
The fissures crawled over the field, widening with the quaking earth.
Ozzy was crawling along the shaking firmament, as an enormous fissure split open under him. The lower half of his body dropped into the opening, as he clawed with quick panic against the grass, trying to hold on.
"Brawler!" Mason Templar yelled, leaping from his crouched position. He landed chest first against the ground, stretching Caliburne straight out.
Ozzy grabbed the end of the blade, gripping as tightly as possible, trying to pull himself up....
....and the ground ripped open under him, his hand slipping off the blade....
The soil split directly up to Mason, who quickly jerked the emerald sword up, planting it firmly into a still solid segment of ground. His lower torso, slipped down off the edge of the abyss, as Raptor shot past behind him, headed in a straight free-fall dive directly into the mouth of the opening....
"Got you!" Priest yelled, grabbing Templar's wrist.
"Bah!" he retorted between grunts. "I am in no need of being gotten!"
And, even as Priest pulled him free from the embrace of the void below, Ed shot back up out of the widening chasm, Ozzy hoisted under one arm.
"Michaels!!" Danny yelled above the thunderous roar. "Shut it off!!"
"I--" the rookie began, his eyes suddenly widening.
Before him.....before them all.....the ground seized and lifted along the edge of the wide hilltop. Steam began to bubble and boil, as the ground pushed further and further up into a cone-like shape....
"...oh super fuck..." Michaels sighed. "...I did it alright..."
Glowing magma began to burst from the tip of the coned earth, spewing lava with a cracking thunder.
"Jeezus Criste'!!" Baxter yelled, Raptor taking evasive manuevers, as red-hot fire sprayed into the skies around them.
"Everyone!! Bail out! Bail out!!" Danny began yelled.
And, without warning, a light-violet energy wave suddenly ripped across the fields, enveloping every Vanguard member instantly.
And, like that.....they vanished.
The magma spewed forth, covering the field with a violent eruption. The Archers of the forest retreated as quickly as the Waigs....
*******************
Lord Godbolt's servant stood on the high balconey, built into the precipace of the ashen cliffside. His unearthly eyes stared out over the distance with a fearful silence, even as a thunder broke faintly in the distance.
"What was that?!" the voice of Lord Godbolt announced from inside.
The servant opened his mouth to reply, but, could not, as he stared out into the glowing horizon.
"Sir....I....uh..."
"SPEAK, HOUND! Did I not give you a tongue to wag? Speak!!" the voice came again.
"Well...sir....it appears that we now have a.....volcanoe.....to our east...."
***********************
The waterfall splashed with a rhythmic beat, the cool water lapping against Ozzy's face.
He suddenly bolted upright, eyes opening with a startled gasp...
"No more rice!!" he yelled for no apparent reason.
He blinked for a moment, looking around.
"Steady..." Phil said, gripping him by his outstrecthed hand. "...it takes a moment..."
Everyone was slowly coming to, gathering their wits in a groggy state....
"...what....what the hell happened?" Danny asked, looking around at the completely new geographic location. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere safe....for now...." Sam replied calmly.
"How did we get here?" Drake asked, looking back and forth at the two mountains that crested on either side of their view.
"That was sorcery...." Sam replied, rubbing his neck. "....you get used to the feel of it..."
"Sorcery?" Priest asked.
"Aye, the youth speaks the truth!" Templar nodded. "I have felt the after-burn of the devilish power such as this before."
"But....who did this?" Banshee asked.
"I don't know...." Sam said. "....but, it seems that Vanguard has an ally somewhere...."
